P
oKeTeCh CaMp 3ASH
Ash carefully hid the rest of his porridge under a stone. James wasn't the best cook in the world.
He glanced beside him and saw Kishi doing the same thing.
"Hey, Kishi?" he asked, his voice deepening with concern "I'm worried about Misty...she's been acting so weird lately...I was wondering if maybe you would read her mind...just to see...how she is..."
The last thing Ash expected was for Kishi to agree with him. "Yeah," she sighed "I'm worried too, I know it's wrong, but I think it is about time we did something to try and understand what she is going through. We're her closest friends."
Ash bit his lip. "When?"
"Now?" Kishi suggested bleakly.
"Um...OK...we'll just go...somewhere, though, 'cos everyone is still eating breakfast here," Ash mumbled "We'll go down the Lagoon,"
Kishi and Ash straightened up and left, dropping their bowls in the dishes bucket for later cleaning.
GABBY
"Shit! Gary that was fucking freaky..." Gabby hissed at him, spooning her remaining porridge onto the grass.
James's cooking was obviously not a success with the people.
"Fuck yeah," he agreed heartily
"What if they complain to Gyabunga or something?" she fretted.
Gary raised an eyebrow comically "What if they come after us...while we sleep...the only sound that alerts us of their presence will be a slow..." Gary paused to enter a state of laborious, ragged breathing. "The faint **insert heavy breathing here** will be the last thing you hear...then it is **cutting motion with hand** all over,"
Gabby shivered. "Shut up Gary."
"How's Belle?" Gary asked.
"Distant." Gabby replied "She really got excited...perhaps too excited..."
"Aroused?"
"Possibly." Gabby thought for a moment "And how's James?"
Gray made a gagging face "Obviously from the state of this porridge, he isn't too good. He was shitting himself, not literally, last night...he's now one disturbed kid."
"How's sharing a tent with Misty?" Gary asked, "Has she slit anybody's throat yet?"
"It's not too bad, she has a funny snore. She doesn't talk to us. She kinda keeps to herself. It's better than sharing with Joy though. She's all over Belle like a rash."
"Kinky lesbian sex and arousal by cults?" Gary mused, stroking his chin "Hmm...she is an 'interesting' one all right..."
"You want her?" Gabby inquired.
"Maybe. Is she over Butch?"
"Hope so. By the way, how is Butch?"
Gary grinned and pointed "Check him out!"
Butch was wearing baggy cargo shorts and a navy blue muscle shirt, and Cassidy, Jessibelle, Snap and James were crowding around him.
Gabby smiled. "He's back to normal? See ya, Gary, I want to talk to him, okay? Bye!"
ASH
Ash watched with interest as Kishi's eyes flew open, revealing themselves as narrowed globes of blue light.
Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead...and there was a slight humming sound.
Ash bit his lip and held his breath.
Kishi was sitting cross-legged on the ground, her hands palm-down upon the blades of grass. Ash noted that her arms were shaking mildly. All her muscles were taught, she looked under enormous strain.
Then she relaxed.
She blinked a few times, her eyes fading back to their normal swirling, mass of colours.
"What happened...?" Ash demanded, but in a slow, breathless voice.
Kishi's eyes watered. "Ash...we have to do something. I'm sick of this inaction...now that I know..."
"Know what?" Ash breathed.
Kishi met his eyes slowly "She's mad Ash. She's crazy...insane...disturbed, whatever..."
Ash's eyes too, brimmed with tears. "What?!"
"She refers to herself as the Old Misty...you know, the one...that you...um...well to be blunt, fell in love with,"
Ash blushed, but said nothing.
"And also as the New Misty, the bitchy one. She is letting the 'New Misty' control everything she does...but she switches sometimes..."
"Schizophrenia," Ash stated.
"No...Schizophrenia is actually a different condition, it's been proven. It's called Disassociative Identity Disorder. I'm doing Psychology...we covered that a while ago. She must have had some trauma in the past where some aspect of her personality has split off...like rape or abuse...or..." she looked directly at him "severe emotional trauma. There are usually two or more distinct personality states that control behaviour," Kishi informed him sadly.
"We don't cover anything like that in Pokemon Studies," Ash said wistfully "Incidentally, did you know that Paras burrow underground to eat tree roots?"
Kishi glared at Ash.
He cowered. "Is there any way to stop it...?"
Kishi thought back. "Self help...you know, meditation, hypnosis and things like that."
"Sounds like it is right up your alley then." Ash said sadly.
Kishi went quiet.
SNAP
Snap didn't really consider Butch as a friend. He was happy that Butch had finally 'seen the light', as he had put it, and had found himself again. He said he'd had an identity crisis. The funny thing was, Snap was sure Butch had no idea what he was saying.
The worrying thing was the way Cassidy was punching him playfully and smiling, joking around. He knew that Cass and Butch had been inseparable best friends.
Snap knew he had no right to be jealous.
But it wasn't stopping him.
JESSI
"KIDS! CIRCLE TIME! GET TO THE TREE!" Wendy screamed. Hollered. Bellowed. It was frightening that a woman who appeared as ladylike and small as Wendy Lawson could scream that loudly.
Jessi merely lifted herself up off the fallen log she was sitting on and onto another one only a metre away.
She was now only sitting six metres away from Wendy. She didn't honestly want to get too close.
"Now firstly, we are all going to go on a half day lunch hike, then we will split into tent groups and take short hikes from our lunch area, finishing about six o'clock. Then we will return for dinner at seven, an hour or so of free time, and then a game of Spotlight."
Explosive cheers sounded, Jessi's voice just one in a large chorus. Jessi was the undisputed year 7, 8 and 9 camp Spotlight Champion. Not only was she able to contort her body to fit neatly in odd shaped cavities and tree hollows, but she could run like the wind back to base. And when she was in charge of the torch, her lightning quick senses lead her to getting everybody out.
Jessi was surprised however, that Jessibelle looked so delighted at the prospect of a childish game, something that she always hated.
Beside her James, who had never quite been 'athletically inclined' was looking increasingly more nervous. He and Jessi had used to have an unspoken agreement not to catch each other out, which Jessi frequently violated, but James had never ever broken.
"That's all," Wendy shrugged "OK, time to allocate food."
SNAP
There was about half an hour until lunchtime, and he and Cassidy were meandering along, holding hands. They were in about the middle of a sparsely lined group on a relatively bland track, surrounded by open valleys and fierce hills.
It was nothing compared to the Year 9 Tari Karingu hike.
Snap had a question on his mind. "Cass..."
"Mm?"
"Are you a virgin?"
Cassidy's eyes fell silent, and for the first time, she looked away from him. "What does it matter?" she mumbled.
"I just want to know," Snap persisted "You haven't told me much about yourself...and I just want to know...if you are ready."
Cassidy shrugged. "I'm 16, I'm a B student...you know all there is to know."
"Except well...that..." Snap whispered.
"Look, it doesn't matter."
"Are you, or aren't you?"
Cassidy drew away from him, removing her hand from his. "I have to go."
"Cass!" Snap called after her, but she stormed on ahead.
ASH
Ash and Kishi rose up behind Misty, they were close to the front of the hiking procession.
"Misty?" Kishi asked softly.
Misty waited a moment or two, and then she turned towards them, stopping. "What the hell do you want?"
"The old Misty back for just a moment," Ash spluttered, blushing.
"What the fuck?!" Misty laughed.
Kishi took Misty's hands in her own. "Misty...Ash and I are really worried about you..."
"Fuck off!" Misty scoffed, pulling away.
"You are suffering from a mental disorder." Kishi stated simply, tears rushing down her face.
Misty gasped, raising a hand to her reddened cheek. Her eyes widened with a painful realisation. "Shut up, you wankers have no idea what you are on about," she hissed.
"Misty, you need help." Ash pleaded with her "Please come back."
Misty lowered her head and dropped suddenly to her knees, her fingers intertwining with the lush grass beneath her. "Oh shit..." she whispered hoarsely.
Misty's body heaved several times before her head lurched forward and she threw up.
"Misty!" Ash and Kishi gaped in unison, rushing to either side of her.
"Ash?" Misty mumbled, her fingers fumbling at his face.
He hurriedly took her hand. "Yes?"
"I lo-...I'm...sorry..."
Ash shivered, wondering what she had been going to say before she had cut herself off. "That's...OK...I am the one that is sorry, though..." Ash uttered, confused.
"I gotta go..." Misty wailed, rising to her feet and half-running, half-jogging away.
"Shit," Kishi cursed, looking at the fading mass of vomit upon the ground.
Ash didn't understand why Kishi was so upset; Misty was back to normal, she was just confused...wouldn't anyone be after such an ordeal?
GABBY
"Ah shit Gary, look at Belle," Gabby lamented "Three guesses what she is planning to do tonight."
"I'll guess," Gary spoke playfully "Firstly me."
"Gary, be serious," Gabby scolded "She is getting so high on this cult thing. I'm worried."
"Me too...should I ask her out?"
"I thought that you wanted Cassidy." Gabby said forcefully.
"Bah, I changed my mind. She's taken." Gary shrugged.
"What happened to this 'she is the one and only love of my life' crap you were dealing then?" Gabby demanded, exasperated.
"I'm over it." He replied simply. "I'll ask her tomorrow..." he yawned "I'm too lazy to catch up to her. She is too far ahead."
Gabby wondered why Gary suffered from a completely unromantic lack of commitment, and what it was exactly that made him so endearing.
"James likes you." Gary informed her.
"No really?" Gabby intoned sarcastically "You're quick."
"He wants to ask you out, but he is too shy," Gary explained.
Gabby sighed. "I really don't want to get involved with him, he is too refined and all; he's no fun."
"Not like me."
"You can think that."
"I do."
Gabby laughed lightly, ruffling her friend's spiky brown hair.
"Would you go out with him if he asked you?" Gary inquired.
"No." Gabby snapped instantly.
"He'll get hurt then," Gary shrugged.
"Why...?" Gabby groaned "Gary what you have done?"
"I sort of told him that you liked him and that you would say yes if he asked you out...and that the best time was lunchtime today."
"Oh fuck!" Gabby moaned "Why the hell did you say that?!"
"I did it for you, Gabs, you haven't been on a date in about a two months, it is unhealthy."
"I went out with Sean and Beau from the public high school last week and the week before!" Gabby exclaimed.
"But they aren't like James," Gary teased "Come on, you know you want to."
"I don't want to," Gabby insisted, hitting Gary lightly over the shoulder.
Gary grinned "That's what I'm here for,"
"Jerk," Gabby sneered half-heartedly.
"Yep." Gary nodded happily.
SNAP
After lunch, Snap and Cassidy went for a little walk by themselves before they would have to split back into their tent groups.
"So...why won't you just tell me?" Snap asked, stopping in front of a small group of bushes. He turned to face Cassidy.
"Why won't you just get over it?" Cassidy demanded, taking a step closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Because you are my girlfriend and I want to know." Snap informed her.
"Uh-huh, sure," Cassidy smiled, kissing him slowly, forcing him backwards.
Snap stumbled, and laughing, he fell over into the bushes.
And then he screamed.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
JAMES
James, Gabby, Butch, Gary and Jessibelle came running as soon as they heard the scream. They closed in on it, James's heart pounding.
As his fearful vision cleared he could make out Cassidy standing back from Snap, her hand clutching at her throat, and Snap himself, panting raggedly, his shirt lying discarded upon the ground. Flies and an awful smell added to the James's confusion.
"Ow, ew man, that is gross," Gary sniffed, appalled. He pointed a twig into the bushes.
James promised himself that he wouldn't look until everybody else had.
Snap retched.
"Oh that is seriously festy." Gabby agreed, putting a hand on Gary's shoulder.
Butch looked both disgusted and impressed. "That is pretty cool."
"It's awesome," Jessibelle breathed, holding her nose and having a closer look.
James then promised himself that he wouldn't look at all.
"It scared the fucking shit out of me!" Snap moaned "Agh...it is all over my fucking shirt...I'll never get it clean."
"The only thing that frightened me was your scream," Cassidy uttered "This isn't really shocking or out of place, is it? I mean come on."
Curiosity overcame apprehension, and James peered into the space between the broken branches and dried leaves.
"Oh shit..." he gasped. It was a body.
The body of a Tauros, however, but still a body, brutally slashed open. Off-red and brown entrails surrounding it. And flies. And an almost three-dimensional odour.
Repulse joined blood in the flow through James's veins and he ran off to throw up.
GARY
It was about twenty minutes after Snap's 'discovery', a mutilated Tauros corpse in the bushes, and the tent groups were assembled and hiking back to Base Camp.
"What killed it?" James whispered, looking over his shoulder at Snap, currently clothed in one of Butch's baggy USA T-shirts.
Gary shrugged, slightly put off by James's childlike fear "I dunno. Persian, Arcanine..."
"It was killed recently..." James thought back, shuddering "It was so fresh..."
"Things that rancid are rarely fresh man," Gary said, shaking his head.
"Why wasn't it eaten?" James brooded.
"I guess a Persian got it, they don't eat their catch if they don't want it. So trust me on this man, I do know my Pokemon."
"But...it would have to be a big Persian to bring down a Tauros," James argued softly.
"So what do you want to hear James? I have offered you the response that you want, it was a harmless Pokemon killing, I have also said it was old age and disease. What do you want?" Gary demanded, seriously pissed off.
"What you think happened," James whimpered.
"In truth? It was the fucking cult dudes that we saw last night." Gary exploded, then he realised that he had been a bit too loud and he shut his mouth. "Happy?" he hissed.
James hung his head "Shit, Gary, aren't you scared at all?"
"Not fucking well likely," Gary snapped "I'm just sick of hearing about it all the time OK? Gabby and Belle never fucking shut up about it!"
"Take a pill man," James shivered "I'm going to talk to someone who can take my mind off of this..."
"You do it," Gary sneered. Stupid loser, his mind called out after James.
"Hey Butch!" James said loudly "Tell me about the time that you and Belle-"
Gary shut his ears off. He seriously did not want to hear about anyone else cavorting with Jessibelle. It was bad enough that she only paid attention to him to scatter her half-brained cult theories, but the thought of her with Butch...it made him...in no other terms, angry.
JENNY
"Do you think that it is right for Misty to treat Ash so badly?" Jenny demanded to the tired Kishi.
"Shut up Jenny!" Jessi exclaimed, slapping a hand onto her forehead "Nobody cares!"
"Exactly!" Joy agreed "Just shut up about Ash!"
"Mind your own business anyway!" Kishi jeered, finally snapping into the nastiness that had befallen the others. "You don't know either Ash or Misty so keep yourself out of it!"
Jenny crossed her arms with a bitter look. "What is the matter with you three? What happened to 'getting along'?"
Jessi, Joy and Kishi quickened their pace, desperate to escape.
"Agh..." Jenny groaned "Stuff you."
"Stop acting like you are so tough!" Jessi yelled, "You have no idea what the world is like!"
"Bimbo!" Jenny hollered after her.
GARY
"OK, man, here is the deal, I'll ask Belle out, you ask Gabby out," Gary nodded to James.
It was about quarter to seven, just before dinner, chicken burritos curtesy of Lance and Hitmonchan, and under the slowly darkening sky Gary was ready to pop the big question.
"Um...OK...I'll go and talk to her then..." James spoke softly.
"Sure, cool. HEY BELLE! COME HERE!" Gary yelled.
Jessibelle slowly turned away from her conversation with Gabby and reluctantly made her way over to him.
"Yes?" she yawned.
"I really like you, you know." Gary began with typical confidence; he had initiated the proposal many times before.
"Of course I know that." Jessibelle grinned "But just as friends, right?" Something about the flirtatious glimmer in her eyes compelled Gary to move closer.
"Oh no you don't...you see...Belle, I really like you." Gary grinned, brushing a stray hair from her face.
Jessibelle titled her head quizzically "Oh yeah?"
Gary got down on one knee in an oh-so-Gary comical gesture "I hope you say that, when I ask you, will you go out with me?"
Jessibelle paused reflectively.
"Don't you dare say that you will think about it." Gary warned, worry edging his voice.
"In that case..." Jessibelle whispered "I don't know...um...OK, well yes."
"Seriously yes?" grinned Gary "You ain't messin' with me?"
Jessibelle smiled sweetly. "Nup."
"Then come 'ere and give us a little kiss,"
JAMES
"Will you go out with me?" James asked, cutting the crap and getting straight to the point.
In front of him, Gabby blushed and hung her head. "You know that I don't feel that way about you James,"
"Couldn't you just try then?" James whined pathetically, his shoulders slumping.
"James I don't want to try and pretend with you," Gabby sighed "Every time that I feel our friendship strengthen, you always...do...this..."
James crumbled.
"No! Don't get me wrong," Gabby added hastily "I just don't want to spoil what we have...left..."
"Yeah..." James mumbled in a weak form of agreement.
"I'm sorry," Gabby apologised with a sympathetic smile.
"Me too." James murmured, watching her walk away from him.
MISTY
Misty lay on her back in the semi-darkness that her tent imposed upon her, breathing slowly and deeply, trying to comes to terms with an overwhelming does of reality.
It was like waking up as herself again, seeing her face in the mirror for the first time in years. It unnerved and unarmed her in a way that was previously unparalleled.
She was Misty and no one else. When she got depressed she was not a new person, but the same person she had always been...Misty...
And it wasn't her that changed, nor was it anybody else.
Their opinions of her had altered after she had tried to commit suicide, and her relations to them had in turn, altered. One sudden change after another, Misty had no other way to cope except to become someone else, harmless at first, but over time it had deformed her.
Eventually, every time that Misty felt out of control or depressed, there was someone else inside her who rose to the surface.
And now, Misty was mind-numbingly alone.
A few moments later, a nervous "Misty?" was intoned.
"Yes..." she murmured; only after replying realising who it was that was asking her.
Ash unzipped the tent flap and crawled inside. "How are you?" he asked her softly.
"Better...I suppose..." she whispered.
Ash lay down beside her. "I...know that you think I am stupid Misty...but I really missed you...I still do..."
Misty smiled and rolled over so that she faced him. "Me too."
Ash gently placed his head in the gap between Misty's chest and head. Misty laid her head next to his, a chaste gesture of a sorely missed friendship.
And then they lay there, each remembering everything that they had lived through together, and apart.
JESSI
It was about eight o'clock at night, and the much awaited but undeniably immature game of Spotlight was beginning.
"OK I am It. I get the torch, the tree is base, and I am going to kick your sorry butts to hell." Jessi announced in true simplicity, striking an arrogant pose.
"She's obviously never tried to hunt us out before, has she Hitmonchan?" Lance grinned.
"Yeah and a message to Kishi the Human Freak," Jessi sneered "No teleporting or materialising or whatever you happen to do."
Kishi frowned.
"I'm giving you to the count of forty." Jessi warned, turning her back.
JESSIBELLE
The landscape of grey tones raced up to meet her, and then was left in a blur behind her as she ran. The almost alien hillsides were devoid of colour; the grasses pale grey, the trees and shrubs dark grey splodges against a black, clouded sky.
"Where are you going?" Gary hissed, dashing behind her.
"Nowhere!" she breathed in annoyance...running further ahead.
"I know that you are going back to check out the cult dudes,"
Jessibelle urged her legs to run faster, and in response the top of the hut loomed nearer.
She jumped as Gary grabbed her hand. "Be careful babe," he whispered.
Jessibelle wrinkled her nose "I don't need to, I am Jessibelle, and I am always careful."
"Yeah...uh-huh..." said Gary, his high-pitched voice disbelieving.
Jessibelle jerked forward into a duck, throwing her body to the ground.
Gary collapsed beside her, his ribs rising and falling against her side. It was a touchingly intimate feeling, that Belle was momentarily speechless.
And then she remembered...she craned her neck to see what was happening. The same black-robed figures spiraled erratically around an object of identity undetermined. She squinted her blue eyes, focusing, and she counted twelve.
"How many are there?" Gary hissed.
"Twelve," Jessibelle hissed back.
Gary yawned, unable to hold it back. Jessibelle's eyes flashed furiously at him.
The figures stopped their unnatural gyrations and glared piercingly into the darkness. Jessibelle's spine tingled, and she knew that they could see her.
Uncontrollably, she rose to her feet. Gary refused to let go of her hand, and he unsuccessfully tried to pull her back down, a futile gesture, she was in the open and in full view.
The figures drew closer, almost hovering above the grass with their eerily fluid movements.
Transfixed into paralysis, Jessibelle refused to budge. Her eyes roved the closest figure, trying to locate a face in the folds of its hood.
Now they were less than ten metres from her, and instinct kicked back in. She dragged Gary to his feet and fled.
There was an indistinct holler behind her, possibly from a man, but subject to confirmation.
Heart pounding in her ears and her lungs heaving, something felt wrong as she powered herself back towards camp. There was no adrenaline rush greeting her, but an all over numbness, as though she was simply watching the world on a TV screen and was unable to physically play a part in it.
She was no longer conscious of Gary beside her, or of herself, but only of the figures that were all around her, pacing incessantly, waiting and bleeding.
Night forgot her, her reality shattering and succumbing to a blurred, faint state of forced awareness.
To Be Continued...
Ah...a Slipknot homage (waiting and bleeding, 'await and bleed', see?), some dodgy dialogue and romantic cliches, is there any more to life?
Ash and Misty fans...thank your stars I was feeling mellow as I wrote this, Cassidy and Snap fans (if there are any!) beware...and Jessibelle fans...you REALLY need to beware!
Nobody likes Jenny, Jessi's as pushy as ever, James is depressed, Gabby is a little shocked...what else can I muse on? Um...
Shihad, Muse, Rumanastone and Placebo are the four best bands in the world.
Dreams are the single consolation in your life,
So feel free to express yourself and your dreams
Because for us there is little else.
Love from,
Tenshi_Mew2
