The bright sun covered the sleeping island with its warm blanket. The sands continued to dance as the rapidly crashing waves tried to grasp further inland. A few calls from the local pokemon pierced through the air.
Hiru rose particularly early that day, waiting on the sands of Cianwood's beach for any signs of movement on the disturbed sea. He could still make out the shimmers of the lighthouse dissipating into the morning sun when Ward suddenly leapt on his back. They both fell into the sand, which got all over Hiru's hair.
"Aw jeez, Ward!" Hiru chuckled lightly. "You honestly know the best ways to say happy birthday. Let's try not eating my entire cake this year, ok?" Ward gallantly shuffled his weight back and fourth. Hiru stood and scratched the eager Slowpoke before making his way back into town.
He knew Leah, the woman who raised him for the last eight years, would have something planned. She wasn't the type to let special occasions pass by without event. As Hiru approached the pharmacy that morning, he saw the locals gathered.
"Happy Birthday!" A chorus of voices rang out as Hiru and Ward walked into the pharmacy. Kirk came over with his two pokemon and vigorously cheered. Chuck nearly stole the show when he lifted two rocks in the middle of the party. The Pokemon Seer watched from a small corner, a mixed look of happiness and worry on her face. Even Cameron decided to stop by and take some commemorative photos for his collection.
Leah strolled casually up to Hiru and offered him a soda. He accepted it and, as always, poured a little into a dish for Ward first.
"You're getting quite old, Hiru," Leah commented. "You should be out there exploring what the world has to offer."
"We both know why that can't happen." Hiru sighed, a bit off put.
"The world is ailing, Hiru. As a healer, that's something that we can see. Maybe we are the only types of people who can fix that. No one in the world has our herbs, you know." She winked at him before joining the party.
Ward looked up, splashing soda onto Hiru.
"Oh gross, Ward!" Hiru grunted as he quickly backed up. He shook the drops off as a few people giggled at the sight. Ward seemed pleased with himself. Then, without transition, his eyes became glued to the sea.
Hiru quickly understood and took off onto the beach. Before people could rush out to see where he went, Hiru and Ward were in the water.
"We've trained for this, Ward. Time to put it into practice!" Ward barked back a determined comply and Hiru moved onto Ward's back.
"He taught him how to surf..." Chuck whispered.
Leah scratched her head and gave a small grin. "Yeah. It didn't take long. Those two have a special bond. But what are they doing?"
Suddenly a small ship was seen exiting the tempest of the Whirling Isles. Two figures could be seen attempting desperately to keep the small ship they had afloat.
Breaking the waves, Ward rushed Hiru towards the oncoming travelers. As they got closer the figures slowly came into focus.
Two young girls were struggling to overcome the pull of the mighty vortex. One had a small mudkip using water gun to attempt to propel the ship and the other had poliwag using its tail to steer.
As he was nearly upon them, he could make out their features. The taller had hair that went to her shoulders in a dirty blonde hue. Her figure was very fit but not bulked. She wore a loose fitting shirt with shorts and had the newest running shoes strapped on her feet.
The other girl was holding on for dear life to the side of the tiny ship and the first girl. Her hair was up in a pony tail. She had a sundress on with pair of shorts underneath. The waves crashed around her dark purple hair. Her figure was on the border of becoming too frail, but she wasn't quite there yet. Her grip onto the ship and componion proved that.
Hiru quickly jumped from Ward onto the small ship and yelled, "Let Ward get you to shore!"
The blonde girl's eyes grew furious. "Did you just say, 'let the lord get you, you whore'?! I should smack..!" A wave cut her off as they all nearly fell from the impact. Ward knew he had to act right then. He quickly moved to the back of the ship and used surf.
The ship went flying towards the shore. The girls and their pokemon let lose a primal scream as they crashed into the shore, sending everyone flying. The blonde landed face first into the sand with her shy companion coming to a stop next to her. The poliwag was rolling around in the sand and mudkip landed on her owners butt.
Hiru gracefully landed feet first and Ward triumphantly strode to his side. The shy girl slowly looked up as the blonde kicked her feet, knocking the mudkip off, before surging from her hole.
"What are you trying to do, kill us?!" she cried, spitting sand from her mouth and rubbing her eyes vehemantly.
Hiru couldn't help but hold back his laughter as he replied, "N-no.. I was just trying to help you guys get to shore." He turned quickly before she could see him about to lose it at the sight of her and her mudkip spitting sand.
"Thank you," the shy girl finally added. They both looked down at her and her poliwag. "My name is Maggie and this is my poliwag, Waddle." Waddle made a small squeak before retreating to her owners lap.
"Hi, I'm Hiru. This guy who saved your lives is Ward." Ward elegantly bowed, before falling forward slowly into the sand. He quickly shook his head before smiling agian.
The blonde crossed her arms and turned her nose up. "We had it handled." Hiru quickly swaggered up to her.
"Looked to me like you were about to fly head first into the storm."
"You... all you did was save us some time." She looked a bit embarrassed at the proximity of Hiru's face. "This amazing pokemon is Gracie, the best Mudkip you'll ever see. My name is Hailey."
"So I'll call you hail," Hiru quickly interjected, "because you seem to hit like a storm of hail."
Hailey stomped her foot and held a fist up to Hiru.
Suddenly the party of Cianwood residence appeared on the scene. Leah ran up and hugged Hiru before dropping down to pet Ward.
"Excuse me," Hailey announced to the group. "I'm Hailey, and this is Maggie. We've been sent by our families in Lavaridge Town to find the Cianwood pharmacy. The town seems to have a sickness that no local medicines can heal."
The various people began to mutter to themselves. Leah stood and nodded.
"I'm Leah, the current pharmacy healer. We can send medicines with you back home." She looked at Hiru expectantly. "But, you're going to have to learn how to use it."
Maggie twiddled her fingers before Hailey crossed her arms, visibly nervous.
"I can only spend a day learning. Hopefully that will be enough."
Hiru knew that was no where near enough. He spent the last eight years doing nearly nothing else and he only felt moderately comfortable using the special healing herbs. Ward looked to Hiru as if he was waiting for an answer.
The rest of the afternoon Leah spent with Hailey and Maggie trying to teach them a crash course on the intricacies of the medicine. Hiru watched while Ward played with Waddle and Gracie. Whenever the girls needed a break, Leah would bring treats for the three. Ward only left Hiru's side to claim his beloved treat before returning.
That night, the girls were hard at work repairing their small vessel. Leah and Hiru were giving them a hand as they prepared to journey back home the next day.
"They're not ready," Hiru cautioned. "They barely even know how to use potions, much less our herbs."
Leah shook her head. "If only we had someone that knew how to use the herbs properly that was young enough to travel."
"I know where you're going with this. You know I can't leave here, Leah. Even if they are more likely to kill a pokemon than save it." Hiru looked torn. Dusk fell minutes before, and the glimmer of the lighthouse was visible beyond the chaotic waves.
He turned to leave, Ward right by his side. Leah came over to see that the girls were safely stocked on the herbs.
"E-excuse me," asked Maggie. Leah turned, curious about hearing the girls soft voice.
"Yes, dear?"
"Could we have some of those pokemon candies for the road... I know Waddle loves them." Waddle wiggled a bit with excitement.
"Of course! I'll give you plenty for the road." She handed them to both girls before leaving.
Maggie let out a weary sigh before handing most of them to Hailey.
"Let's hope that Leah's right about this," Hailey said, sighing as she put some of the candies in her pockets.
Hiru woke up an hour before the sun would hit the island, as usual. He was a whole year older now, so he figured he'd try to change his routine.
But not yet.. he thought to himself as he looked out the window to see the last glimmers of the lighthouse before dawn. It was always such a surreal moment, being able to see the huge beacon of light at such a far distance. Sailors would often say that if it wasn't for that light, they could be lost for days. Ever since the Whirling Isle's became so rough, however, most sailors end up lost before they get to Cianwood.
He reached up to grab some fruit for himself and Ward. He quickly peeled an orange and tossed half on the ground. After a minute he realized he didn't hear the familiar slurping noise that he was used to.
Panicking, he rushed out onto the beach.
"Ward? Ward!?" He caught sight of the tiny vessel slowly making it's way to the south. Behind it, wading slowly towards some candy, was Ward.
Without thinking, Hiru leaped into the water and swam as fast as he could towards the girls. He felt anxious, yet for some reason an overwhelming sense of freedom came over him during his chase. He had felt like the island would be his home for the rest of his life, and now something inside told him otherwise.
Without a word, Hiru jumped on board the ship. There was Hailey, luring his unsuspecting friend Ward onto the ship. Maggie turned and gasped at the soaked man on board their ship.
"She told me you'd come if he did," Hailey stated calmly. Hiru looked back towards the beach and saw Leah waving.
A large sigh came from Hiru as he glanced at Ward. The sense of wonder that he saw within the small slowpoke's eyes was more then enough to figure out what he wanted.
"Alright, alright," He uttered, as if talking to Leah. "I'm only doing this to make sure your pokemon don't die when you try to heal them. Then I'm coming home."
The girls cheered and hugged him. Having not had many interactions with girls his age, Hiru got flustered and tried to squirm out of the embrace to no avail. Ward, Waddle, and Gracie jumped around their feet together.
They set off to the south, but their ship was not strong enough to avoid the Whirling Isle's anymore. The ship began to lurch menacingly towards the spinning pools of water.
"We have to do what we did before, Ward. This time let's aim towards the south!"
Hailey clutched the sides of the boat. "This time, try not to kill us!" Maggie nodded in agreement.
Before Ward was ready to go, a huge wave crashed in front of the ship. Hiru was not expecting it and was thrust backwards off the ship. As he hit the water, an all too familiar feeling washed over him.
The water around him was chaotic and dark. The currents pulled him in all directions and he soon began to feel the same foreboding doom that Ward had felt before coming to the isles. Flashes of his mother's necklace came rushing back to Hiru as he struggled to find his bearings.
Then a pulsing purple eye caught his.
The roar was deafening, amplified by the fear already in Hiru's heart. Then the aftershock sent him crashing backwards in the water. It felt like he was piercing through at breakneck speeds.
Once the momentum stopped pushing him, he realized he was going to pass out and drown if he didn't get to the surface. He struggled to find what direction the light was coming from, but when he saw a glimmer he took off towards it. In the last second before his body was pushed too far, he broke into the air.
Coughing, Hiru quickly tried to stay afloat.
The air was thick with fog, so much so he couldn't see but a few feet in front of his face. An eerie aura filled his being as he glanced around the dense mists. He could hear a faint noise of splashing nearby and swam in that direction. Soon he came upon a small sandy island and quickly scrambled ashore. It was no larger than his old home, so he knew that it wasn't his final stop, but at least he could rest.
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and tears began coming out.
I'll never forgive myself if I lose you, too, Ward.
Just as he was about to let the tears flow, he heard a noise. An angry looking mudkip came sprawling from the fog and hurriedly ashore, dragging Maggie with her.
"Oh my goodness, Gracie. You saved her?" Gracie looked very proud and produced a huge bag of Cianwood herbs from it's mouth. It then collapsed with exhaustion. "You've saved more than her with this."
Hiru quickly set up a spot to lay Maggie down and tried to resuscitate her. Once she coughed up water, she quickly hugged Hiru.
"I'm so scared," was all she could mutter when she was in the embrace. Shivering, she clutched to Hiru. He soothed her as he glanced around at the surreal surroundings.
"Did you see if the others made it?" Hiru asked.
"I couldn't see much of anything, to be honest. I just remember a purple eye and a loud booming roar."
Hiru's heart grew heavy with fear. He hugged he closer, this time to try and gain some semblance of comfort for himself.
Finally, they released their hug and started to see the fog lift.
"Looks like they may have come this way as well then. Let's try to gather our strength and swim to that huge.. is that a volcano?"
A monumental mountain looking shape emerged from the clearing fog and the island they were near became visable. It looked as if the swim to the island was sizable yet managable if they took things slow. He used on of the herbs on the three of them to give them a bit of strength to make the journey and they were off.
Every now and then Maggie looked as if she was getting tuckered out, so Hiru would allow her to rest upon his back as they continued. Gracie was giving off the impression that she wanted no help at all, determined to make the swim.
After what seemed like hours, they reached the beaches of the island. It was very clearly a volcano, unlike anything Hiru had seen before. Maggie fell on her back to catch her breath, but joined Hiru in being awestruck by the huge landmass. Trying her best to hide it, Gracie curled into a ball to rest a bit from the arduios swim.
"So you've never left your home?" Maggie finally asked amidst the silence.
"No. I've always been there. Ever since I was born."
"I-I see," she muttered as she looked back down at the sand. Her wet ponytail was somehow still looking cute despite the horrifying journey it had been on. Hiru noticed that her eyes seemed to talk a lot more than she did. She placed a hand into the wet sands and attempted to grasp a clump. It fell out from her careful clutch back to where it came from.
Soon enough they were rested enough to walk. Dusk was coming so Hiru knew they had to find some sort of shelter. After a bit of walking they came upon what looked to be a pile of wood.
"Th-that's our ship," Maggie whimpered. Hiru quickly ran over to the wreckage to see what could find. It was empty, but there were no signs of anyone being significantly injured.
Gracie looked exhausted and Maggie was freezing. Hiru knew this would have to be their camp tonight.
"Let's try and start a fire. We'll have to stay here tonight." He began to break off pieces of wood and gather it into a fire. Leah had taught him how to build them because various fire types would need the warmth to stay comfortable. Once started, Maggie and Gracie quickly fell into a deep sleep, leaving Hiru on watch.
I will find you, Ward. I won't lose someone again.
A/N - I had a blast starting this chapter! I got a few very helpful tips on my writing style from the prologue which I tried to carry over to this opening chapter! It still seems a bit dramatic for me but I'm going to try to lighten the mood every now and then with this story!
Reviews are always welcomed and encouraged! Thanks for reading.
Dezz