Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Silvia looked up as the sound of wings flapping neared her window. The Seviper's camp was slightly different from the Zangoose's. Most of their camps were tunnels dug deep into the ground, with small opening peeking slightly above, which included the top half of Silvia's room. Moments later, Lark flew through, landing on a plank of wood she used as a table.
"Hey Lark. Good to see you."
"Hey Silvia. I got a letter from Aaron. He sounded urgent." Holding it up, she plucked it from his open talon with her tail. With his job done, Lark got up and flew back out her window, returning to the tree he was taking a nap in.
Laying the note on her table, she used the tip of her tail to unroll it. Aaron's writing was rather sloppy, like he had made the note fast. Written on it was a short message, only a few lines long, which read:
"Silvia, when night falls, meet me in the usual spot. I have to talk to you about something important."
-Aaron
Silvia reread the note a second time. The usual spot was a deep part of the forest near the centre. Not many Pokemon came near it, and they had already planned escape routes if they needed to escape fast. They both knew what would happen if they were to be discovered…
But what confused her was that he wanted to meet her at night. They almost never travelled out a night, for fear of someone discovering them.
"Whatever he wants to talk about must be that important to risk being seen…"
Once night had fallen, Silvia waited for everyone else to fall asleep before she quietly sneak out her window and headed for the usual spot. She had taken the route so many times over the past, that she could now get there with her eyes closed, so the dark wasn't bothering her.
Aaron was already waiting there when she arrived, sitting on a nearby stump. He hadn't seen her yet because her black scales blended in with the darkness of the night. Silently slithering up next to him, she leaned even closer to him, her head next to his ear.
"Tired of waiting?" He literaly nearly leapt out of his skin as she suddenly spoke, falling off the stump he was sitting on. She started laughing as he got back up.
"That is not funny!"
"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Surprising you never get's old!"
"Sigh…I'm just glad you were able to come out here."
"That reminds me. What is so important that we needed to meet in the middle of the night?"
Aaron grew silent as she asked this question. He seemed afraid to ask, but eventually, he spoke.
"Silvia…we've been friends for a long time right?"
Silvia was confused by his question.
"Ya…several years now."
"…And we'll continue to be friends for years to come right?"
"Aaron…your not making any sense. What did you really call me out here to talk about?"
He once again grew silent as he tried to think of how to tell her.
"I had a talk with my dad after we left. He said that in a few days, I could go through the same thing my brother did."
Silvia quickly realised what he was talking about.
"You mean…"
"Yes. I'm talking about The Marking."
No one knew how the actual rivalry between Zangoose and Seviper started. But there was something that everyone knew. That the ones who started it had fought for one last time. To the death.
The battle raged on for several days, neither giving the other even an inch .Over the course of which, several different wounds had been given to both fighters, red blood staining the Zangooses fur, while the Sevipers black and gold painted scales were colored purple by it's blood. After a long and tiring battle, it all ended in one swift moment, both rivals dealing a deathblow to the other.
Since then, all Seviper and Zangoose go through a change when they become an adult. Over the course of three days, they would rapidly grow in size, growing up to twice or three times their original size. Zangoose would loose all their fur, while Seviper would shed their old skin, both would grow back with the same markings as the wounds inflicted by their ancestors. Needless to say…it wasn't a very pleasant process. Aaron had been unable to sleep because of his brother screaming and thrashing around.
"When that happens, I'll gain my claws and start going on hunting missions with dad."
"So?"
"So…when that happens, we will no longer be able to meet. We'll cease to being friends."
"Wow…I never thought of that."
"And that's not the worst part. Game isn't the only thing we hunt. We also hunt…our enemies. Seviper…like you."
Silvia grew quiet as she realised why he was so worried. She too could go through the Marking at any time. If that happened, they would go from best friends, to worst enemies. That was something that neither of them wanted.
Trying to cheer up her friend, she started to coil around him, her form of a hug. He looked up at her as her scales touched the back of his neck, her head appearing next to his.
"Look, no matter what will happen, you and I will still be friends. Even if we have to fight against one another, it'll just be like the games we used to play."
"Ya…I guess." Even though he was still worried about what was about to happen, hearing her say that seemed to put him at ease a little. He smiled at her as his worries started to disappear.
"Well, I'd better get back before someone realises I'm gone." Uncoiling from around him, she started to head back.
"Wait!" She stopped and turned around as he called to her.
"Before you go, I…I have something to give to you." Reaching behind him, he pulled out the stone box he had kept in his room. She slithered over to him as he opened it, revealing the two gold bands inside.
"They're…beautiful."
Reaching into the box, he pulled out one of the rings and handed it to her. She let it slip onto her tail, hanging loosely against her scales. Aaron then grabbed the other one and placed it on his arm, this one hanging loosely as well.
"This way, even if we must part ways, we will always have something to remember each other by."
"Oh Aaron…thank you." Before he even knew what was happening, she reached over and planted a kiss on his cheek. He felt his face get warm as he started to blush.
"I…I…" He tried to say something, but he only started to stammer. But by the time he had regained himself, Silvia was already gone.
Two days later, Aaron awoke with a huge fever. Everything seemed to swim around him as he tried to focus, but that only made it worse. Over the next few hours, his fever continued to get worse. Along with that, his body temperature started to rise. It felt like his skin was on fire!
His mother frequently came in to check on him. On one such instance, she came it to see his left arm was hanging off the side of his mat. But that wasn't the only thing. His arm was also completely devoid of any fur, falling into a pile underneath. It seemed to by travelling up his arm, the fur around his shoulder slowly shedding from his body.
She took one look at it, before immediately leaving the room. Through his fever, Aaron heard voices from outside his door. He couldn't make out most of what they said, but there was one thing he heard as clear as day. It was his mom say,
"It is time. The Marking has begun."
At around the same time, Silvia was preparing to write another letter for Aaron. She was going to ask if they were able to hang out again and to thank him again for the gold band she was still wearing. She had already gotten out the ink and paper and was just dipping her tail in the inkwell…
Suddenly, a tremor seemed to shoot through her entire body. Her whole body shook, causing her to knock over the inkwell, berry juice spilling on the floor. But that was the least of her problems, as pain suddenly shot through her body, coming from everywhere. She started to trash around, her tail knocking over her desk with a loud thump.
Her mother rushed in because of the loud noise, to see her daughter convulsing on the floor. Motherly instincts kicking in, she rushed over to her daughter, worried for her.
"Silvia honey, are you alright? What's wrong?"
All she got was a scream for an answer, as Silvia's tail swung out and almost hit her in the head. Hearing the screaming, several hunter Seviper rushed to see what was wrong. They heard Silvia's mother yell, "Please! Someone help my Silvia!" as they entered, quickly slithering into her room. Upon entering, they saw Silvia violently thrashing around, her tail having already made several marks in the wall.
They immediately knew what was happening. The leader pointed to his two men. "You two, restrain her! Try and keep her from causing any more damage to herself!" Acting fast, the two hunters rushed Silvia, using their large tails to hold her down. She continued to move around, but she was held fast to the mat.
Her mother was on the verge of a panic attack from worry.
"What's wrong if her? Is she going to be alright?"
The lead hunter slithered over to her and looked her right in the eye before saying, "It is time. The Marking has begun."
2nd Day…
The second day was even worse then the first. Just as Aaron's fever broke, pain shot through his whole body. He sat upright, screaming as it felt like his insides were rearranging themselves. Most of his fur was gone by this point, revealing the gold band still on his right arm.
His paws were clutching his head, eyes shut from the pain. Had he had his eyes open, he would of seen his paws slowly getting bigger, as the bones inside of them suddenly started growing. He then began to thrash about, soon rolling off his bed and hitting the floor with a thud. He continued to convulse, twitching uncontrollably on the floor.
Somehow able to remain conscious through the pain, his now open eyes fell on the band still on his arm. That made him think of Silvia, his best friend. Even through all his pain, he silently wished that she was alright.
Silvia was far from alright. She had stopped thrashing around, lying now on her bed. Her mother had long since left the room by this point. Parents were unable to come near their children during the second and third days, even though many of them were worried sick.
As she lay there, cracks started to run up her scaly body. Every so often, a patch would fall off, sometimes revealing a now golden patch of scales. Silvia was unable to move during the process, her body immobilised by the hardened and cracking scales surrounding her. She could do nothing but lay there as she continued to shed her skin.
Like her friend, she gazed up at the golden band still holding on to her growing body. Aaron had said that something like this would happen to him in a few days, she just wished he wasn't suffering.
3rd Day…
The third day was by far the worst. Unable to get up from his pain, Aaron was still lying on the floor. He had grown a considerable amount over the last couple of hours, now being at least twice his original size. Once again, his skin felt like it was on fire, as fur grew back all over his body.
But it didn't end there. As the fur grew back, several streaks seemed to be slowly advancing across his body, turning several patches of his fur red. Trying to get up, he was only able to get on all fours, as the pain became almost unbearable.
At the same time, he felt a pain in his mouth, as new teeth grew in, sharp, deadly and vicious looking teeth. Once that was done, he looked down at his front paws to see that his claws were growing as well, becoming two huge purple spikes on his paws.
"The same colour as those vile Seviper's blood." Aaron gasped as the thought suddenly entered into his head. Where had it come from? He didn't hate Seviper's. His beast friend was a Seviper!
"Friend? They're nothing but lying, savage monsters! They shouldn't even be called Pokemon, those beasts!" It was like there was a second being in his head, one who was twisting his mind to hate Sevipers. He tried to block out the voice, but that only caused the voice to speak louder, digging even deeper into his brain.
As the red markings of the Zangoose started to appear all over his body, he suddenly realised what was happening. The Marking not only changed you physically, but also mentally, to ensure that the feud between the Zangoose and Seviper would go one until only one species remained.
"No! I must fight it!" By this point, the ends on his paws were bright red, as well as his left ear and a huge jagged marking now ran across his chest. Because of his growing size, the gold band no longer hung loose, holding on to his arm, white fur covering up most of it. The red streak was almost done, red fur inching slowly towards his face.
"Why fight it? Soon you will have all the power you will need…to take down those worthless serpents!"
"No!!"
At that same moment, Silvia was trying to fight off the voice in her head as well. When her skin had finished shedding, she now several gold scales on her body, including several around her head that looked like a helmet. The blade on her tail had greatly grown in size and in deadliness, as well as a huge pair of fangs sticking out from the upper part of her mouth, dripping with venom. Like Aaron, the gold band she now wore no longer hung loosely against her scales.
Once that was finished though, the markings started, changing some of her black scales purple, shaped in jagged forms. As the strange voice had filled her head, she too had realised what it was trying to do.
"Stop! Please!" she begged the strange voice.
"Why would I stop what is destined to happen? Soon, you will find you enjoy the thrill you get from fighting those worthless creatures known as the Zangoose!"
"No!!"
They both let out a scream from opposite ends of the forest as their final markings began to show themselves. A streak of red fur formed its way over Aaron's left eye, looking like a huge scar. The scales around a gold scale on Silvia's eye turned to a shade of purple completely surrounding it. As the marks stopped, so did their screaming.
For a few minutes, neither of them moved. They just lay there, panting, eyes closed. Suddenly, Aaron's eyes shot open. His eyes had changed to a bright yellow colour, his pupil dilated to an almost fierce degree. Standing back up, he looked down at his claws and…smiled.
Silvia eyes snapped back open, revealing then to be now bright red. Coiling herself up to her full length, she dragged her blade tail against the floor, testing how sharp and deadly it was. She also started to smile.
"With these claws…
"With this blade…
"…all Seviper…
"…all Zangoose…"
"…must die!!" They both started laughing at their new powers, thinking of how they would use the powers to take out the other. They had both put up a good fight, resisting the voice inside their heads, but the Aaron and Silvia who had been best friends were gone. They were now an Aaron and Silvia who would kill the other without a second thought. Their memories of once being friends were gone, locked in their deep subconscious. But there was still one thing that remained of their friendships.
The two gold bands were still being worn by one another. Neither of them knew why they were wearing them, but those bands were the only thing keeping their friendship from completely disappearing. It was a slim hope, but it was their only hope...
End Chapter