A/N:
There isn't going to be many observed changes in the first few chapters. And that's because I don't believe in improving on perfection. :3 Actually, more of because there really isn't much to improve on, and these chapters are for the benefit of the non-OC-submitting readers. I have, however, put a new spin on tone - it's probably less serious now than it was before, but whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you.
Let's reply some reviews now.
emosewa-13: Speaking from experience now, are we? X3 In all seriousness, I hope I can live up to your praise - I'm definitely going to put my own spin into things, and the Legendaries will show up every now and then - probably during hiatus or bonus chapters or something.
WereDragon EX: I'm hoping I can live up to her reputation and expertise - mine is...admittedly less-than-stellar, but I'll try. And yes, there may be omake chapters with our Legendaries sprinkled here and there, if I'm stalling for time and can't think of what to write next.
Magus Black: Oh, so you do? Let's see if you're right. In any case, I'll do my best.
JJun: I am now reminded of how many people were her fans, me included. Here's to hoping I can live up to all your expectations. Cheers.
ShadeZyro: I'm curious myself, actually. I only have the first ten-or-so chapter arc planned out, and beyond that, it's a wild, wild world. Hopefully, I can lead it to success...Fingers crossed.
Altomere: Thank you for the praise!
We're All Okay: You sure did - I hope I'll do her justice through this!
Duskzilla: Thanks, Dusk. Hope to see more of you as we go along, although I'm pretty sure through Rift, that'll be inevitable. :)
P.S. Actually, there might be something I need to make clear. I should mention that the human characters won't be the only people talking in PC:C; The Pokemon are getting in on the conversation aspect too, so, just to make it clear, here's a nifty little index:
"This," - denotes human speech, unless accented for emphasis with italics, e.g. "This sucks!"
This - denotes human thought, unless accented for emphasis with bold, e.g. This rocks!
"These," - denotes Pokemon speech, with same formatting as thought, e.g. "These socks!"
In any case, I hope you enjoy this first chapter - whether it's your first time, or all over again! Cheers!
Phantom's Crown: Crusade
Chapter 1
Mae
"Stop! The King's guards command it! Stop! Thief!"
Yeah, like I'll stop because you asked me to, said thief thought. She hugged the two bags closer to her, unwilling to surrender them. Turning around, she took in the dusty, dirty, bland surroundings.
Light, lilac eyes darted around, alive with excitement. The fifteen-year-old girl smirked as she scanned the streets below for the source of the protests.
There they are! Delighted, she looked down at the two small figures clad in armour, brandishing their spears.
"Relinquish what you have stolen, and we'll see to it that your death is less painful!" the shorter, stouter guard spat.
Mae sighed in response. "How reassuring!" she shouted back, answering their vexatious demands. "I'm sure my mother would love it if you turned up at her door one day with my severed head in a box!"
"We speak with the voice of the King!" The taller, lankier of the two hollered.
She ignored that. The King didn't have a very elegant voice, after all.
"Okay, fiiiiiine...I'll give this back to you…" Her insolent eyes blinked as she dangled the smaller bag in front of her. It was filled halfway, and coins rattled when the girl shook it. "But only if you catch me!"
"Thief! How dare you not abide by the King's laws!"
Mae only stayed long enough to see the reactions on the guards' fuming faces. She laughed and spun around, auburn hair whipping wildly in the wind. Leaping from one roof to another, she landed with light thumps, as she had done a thousand times before.
A professional thief always had to look flashy and cool, no?
"Fat, slow, and sluggish!" she taunted, "Is that why they posted you here in Dusk City?"
"Return those two bags to us!" one of the two shrieked furiously. "The King won't be pleased!"
"All the better for me!"
They were following on foot, considerably slower because of their heavy armour and long spears. Mae, on the other hand, had a clear view of where they were, and could dodge any flying spears, should they decide to throw one. Spears weren't javelins though, so she highly doubted they would even be able to hit her if they tried.
"We'll reduce your sentence to life imprisonment!" a guard yelled, in an effort to sound generous.
Ignoring that, Mae leapt down another building, and knelt behind a tall, crumbling wall.
"Sorry, Talis," the auburn-haired girl whispered to the second bag. It wriggled slightly, and a muffled whine was heard. "You'll be out soon, sweetling."
Tucking the bag full of coins inside her cloak, and clutching tightly onto the second one, she took a sharp turn into a dark, musty alley. She knew that the guards were close behind; their shouts and curses helped her pinpoint their location. She grinned.
"Where did that sneak go?" she heard one say aloud, soon followed by an atrocious string of cuss words. "I'll be sure to tell Frances to clean these alleys up...are those Rattatas?"
"We could always take one of those peasant girls, and say she was the thief…"
Turning a left, Mae ran into yet another smaller, darker alleyway, that stank even more and had three times as many Rattatas as the last one did. The brick walls stood tall and high, proud against the creeping vines that were slowly spreading over them. The sun barely cast a shadow here, and Mae could hardly see the faint silhouettes of abandoned doors and broken streetlamps from decades ago.
After glancing around to make sure that she hadn't been followed, Mae sighed with relief. The exhilaration had quickly died down when the guards ended up losing track of her, but it sure had been fun to toy with them. The guards in Dusk City had always been mediocre.
And they would probably stay mediocre, in fact. After all, Dusk City would never be worthy of the King's eyes.
"Vul!"
The 'object' inside the second bag squirmed, letting out cries of protest. Mae sighed, and settled it on the ground.
"I didn't know how else I was gonna sneak you through the crowd," she explained apologetically, "The guards would have taken you away."
The reddish-brown six-tailed Pokémon shook her pelt, and glared at Mae, her brown eyes alive with defiance. "Vulpix!"
Mae laughed. "Alright then." She stood up, and grabbed an unlit torch from one of the metal stands. "Light the way, Talis."
The Vulpix bared its teeth at the piece of wood, as if imagining that it was a dangerous foe.
"Pix!" it shouted, letting out three small streaks of fire from its mouth. One completely missed, and went skittering off somewhere, dying quickly. The other two sparks caught the wooden torch, and set it alight with flames.
"Vuplix!" Talis yipped, slightly proud with herself for accomplishing such a feat.
Mae grinned, and scratched her partner behind the ears. "You're amazing, Talis." Her partner purred in response. "I don't know what I'd do without a fire-type partner."
"Nothing at all."
"Don't get too overconfident there." Mae rolled her eyes. Sure, she couldn't understand her, but she got the general tone.
With the torch to light their way, Mae had no trouble finding the dull, creaking, rotting, brown piece of wood. All it took was a few steps forward, then to the right. The vines had been cut away neatly here, showing an obvious outline of a door. She pushed it open easily, causing cobwebs and dust to rain down. "It's dark."
"Obviously." Talis shook her pelt, creating a cloud of dust.
"Now… where are the stairs…" Mae mumbled aloud.
"Oh, here!" With a squeak of triumph, she began ascending, holding the torch with one hand and gripping onto the bars with the other. Talis followed with ease, hopping up the decaying steps. The old floorboards creaked under their weight, but nevertheless, they withstood.
"Home, sweet home!" Once the auburn-haired girl was at the top of the short flight of stairs, she ran forward. Sunlight touched her face, and the fire torch seemed to burn less brighter, now that it wasn't in the darkness. She threw the torch into a basin of water, having no further need of it. "Amazing, huh? I'm so glad we found this place."
Talis soon followed, and the two stood side by side, gazing out of the huge, gaping hole in the damaged room into the scenery beyond.
When Sprout Tower had been in its glory days, the halls had been lit with candles, and the rooms emitted a mantra of peace for the musing monks. Passageways were always dark, and a sage would await trainers seeking experience in the shadows, challenging any and all he deemed worthy. Legendary trainers from all over Johto had braved the tower at least once during their rookie days, and many more had visited it for blessings on their journey ahead. The tower endured earthquakes, attacks, and stood tall and proud, flaunting the power of the Bellsprout.
But alas, when the King abolished the Pokémon League, Sprout Tower finally saw its looming end. The monks that once defended it deserted, and its halls were left to Rattatas to desecrate.
Now, it was just the humble home of a thieving girl and her only Pokémon. Heck, the city itself was nothing but a shadow of its former glory. Its original name had faded away long ago, leaving people to rechristen the murky town 'Dusk City'.
"Dusk City…" Mae whispered. "The city of nostalgic scents… Violet City…"
"Vul."
The sun was setting in the west, lighting up the sky with a flare of orange and red. All the sprawling buildings below were pathetically small and ugly, compared to the regal sunset. Mae squinted, watching the small citizens below with her sharp eyes. She glanced at the horizon; perhaps she could catch a glimpse of Kanto from here. Mount Silver was in sight, looming in the distance, but she couldn't see any of the towns…
Shrugging, Mae scooped up Talis, ignoring her cries of protest gleefully. She took out the bag of coins she had 'conveniently found', and threw it on a table.
"We'll be feasting tomorrow!" she announced happily, "That's enough to last us for a week!"
Talis couldn't do anything other than squirm, trying to writhe free of her partner's grasp.
"Maybe we should try exploring the world. What'cha say, Talis?" Mae asked. She threw herself onto a nearby wooden chair. Thank Arceus that thing hadn't broken yet… "There could be other people like us out there. People breaking the law and having Pokémon companions…"
The Vulpix leapt down from her partner's arms. A brief expression flitted across her face, which Mae could've sworn was scorn. "Vulpix."
"We could find someone to make your coat and tail look pretty. Even though that's, like, illegal."
"Pix!"
"Oh, the King wouldn't know," Mae assured her, amused, "His guards wouldn't know either, and I'm pretty sure none of them would even care. Maybe we could run off and live in the forest. There's one near the town next to Dusk City, though it's not as big...But I can still steal from the guards and rich slugs, can't I?"
Talis ignored that. She paced along the wooden floorboards, bristling slightly with caution whenever a breeze came whistling in. Mae laughed at that, and Talis spat embers at her.
Such was the relationship between the two fugitives.
"I wonder if you know any other moves other than Ember…" Mae mused aloud. "The Empire's Pokémon can use Flamethrower and stuff, you know? I saw some of them flying around Mount Silver the other day."
Talis looked outside at the city, hissing. "Let me at 'em!"
"We'll terrorize them when you get stronger!" Mae promised, grinning. "Those guards won't dare bother us again."
Mae relaxed, leaning back in her chair, slightly careful to not break any of the fragile legs. Talis jumped up and snuggled beside her, her warm fur slightly tickling her partner.
We'll never starve again when you get more powerful, she vowed, We'll never be short of gold and food, and we'll be able to walk through Dusk City without hiding our faces.
For an instant, she was lost in her fantasy, forgetting all about the King's stupid laws and the King's stupid, more powerful Pokémon, that would likely burn Talis to a crisp.
Talis' fur glowed in the fading sunlight, as she hummed contently.
Suddenly, the reddish-brown Pokémon stood up, as the last bars of sunlight slid away. She growled threateningly, her fur spiked and tail high.
Puzzled, Mae frowned. "Anything wrong Talis? You—"
"Vulpix!" Talis cried urgently, "Incom—"
It all happened so quickly. Somewhere, there was a loud crash, as one side of the tower collapsed. Panicking, Mae turned around, trying to find the cause of it. Dread dawned on her eyes as she looked out of the room's hole, where the sun was dimming and night was rising. "Oh no…"
Three huge shapes flew in the sky, streaking closer to Dusk City. Atop their backs were the dark figures of humans. They flew the King's banner: a red Charizard's outline against a black background.
The tower shook suddenly, scraping against the pillar that held it up. A roar echoed through the abandoned building, rocking the floor. Rattatas scurried out of their nests, squeaking with fear.
"Talis!" Mae shrieked, grabbing her partner. Her legs shook, and by instinct, she leapt off the side of the tower the way she jumped to flee from guards. A sudden sense of vertigo overwhelmed her as she began to fall.
I jumped, she thought stupidly, What was I expecting, a bungee cord?
A third roar caused another part of Sprout Tower to break away.
In that moment, the floor gave away in the very room Mae was in seconds ago. She was slightly glad that her and Talis weren't under all that rubble. But then, she turned her mind to a more pressing issue: she was racing towards the ground headfirst, at speeds so fast she was certain there wouldn't be much left of them both to clean up in the aftermath.
We're going to die, she thought with panic, pulling Talis closer to her.
Neutral
Mae and Talis (Vulpix) - (The Writer Formerly Known As) Skittlinq
A/N:
There wasn't much I wanted or needed to improve on from the first time we did this, so I felt the need to preserve it as it was. Needless to say, I take credit for only, like, 10% of the chapter.
Anywho, that's a wrap for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed and all, and I'll be back soon with another. Any criticism and/or suggestions for improvement based on the new tone and writing style (as subtle as it may be) is greatly appreciated, as is any speculation on where I'm taking this story.
That's all from me. Hope you continue to enjoy reading as much as I'm continuing to enjoy writing...again. Cheers! XD