A/N: Hey all! I bet those few of you that actually read this thought I had given up!
...well...me too.
But this is the only thing I had inspiration in, so it was either writing in this or writing in nothing. So I decided to write in this and see if I could conjure up maybe at least one review for this chappie...please?
Okay, so there's a lot going on in this chapter; it introduces one of the antagonists, there's crap going on with just about all of the good guys (aside from the one dude that hasn't shown up yet) and I'm trying to fit together all of the characters' personalities at this point, so bear with the messiness.
Please please please PLEASE! I really need some sort of support in this to keep on going! I know that OC-based stories aren't that popular, but I will throw in canon characters in the near chapters!
Chapter 3: Bondage
Foliage was all around them, green cushioning all other color. A canopy shaded the life below, dampening the impact of the bright, summer sun. The ground was soft and moist, rain of the night prior cooling the land. A few clouds remained above the barrier of leaves, lingering for a chance of a second shower to provide for its land down below. They moved in slow motion from the slightly chilly breeze that crawled across Earth's surface.
"Oiii! Break time!"
Kimiko plopped herself down on the cool grass with a large, highly-exaggerated sigh. She began to dig in her bag, and after doing so, quickly pulled out a bag of cookies. It took less time to get it open and a handful in her mouth than for the crumbs to hit the ground. She smirked at Ronin and Mara, who were standing before her with unimpressed looks on their faces, and then held out a single cookie between her fingers, putting on a curious face. "Cookie?"
Mara instantly put on a grin and snatched up the sweet in question, the whole cookie past her lips at once. Her face filled with pleasure at the taste and she exclaimed with delight, "These are Lava Cookies from Hoenn, aren't they? I know their taste anywhere!" She was quick to drop down next to her senior and reach into the bag for more. It had been several years since she had gone to Lavaridge and scarfed down the town's unique delicacies.
Ronin smiled awkwardly at them, feeling rather out of place. He was honest with himself; he wasn't particularly fond of Lava Cookies and wasn't about to walk over there and eat something just to have something in common that could strike up some random conversation with M—Wait, what was he doing? Didn't he just convince himself he wasn't going to eat—? No! he had to get his hand out of the bag. Out. Of. The. Bag. Now.
…
…Clearly, he wasn't very good at listening to his own demands.
He tried to take his mind off of the current subject of thought, his eyes veering off to a Spinarak in a nearby tree. He mentally named off a good moveset he'd teach one and went through its strengths and weaknesses before mentally noting not to mention its presence to Mara, as she possessed a slight phobia of certain arachnid creatures, these being one.
Watching the green spider, he turned his head slightly to the side. Something wasn't right. It was acting in an abnormal manner; it seemed kind of...skittish maybe? What was its stigma, he wondered. He then noticed, the light hitting the tree in just the precise way, it, from trunk upward, was entirely encased in a silvery, practically undetectable web, fitting the limbs and branches like a glove.
A rustle of nearby bushes sent the Spinarak skittering frantically, driving Ronin from his thoughts. His frosted blue eyes veered in the direction of the sound. He caught sight of a familiar figure running, shouted to him, which surprised the unsuspecting runner, and startled him further by pursuing and in just a few short strides tackling him down into the dirt. He didn't have to wrestle with the guy long, because what time had taught him was how to quickly pin his arms behind his back. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, reaching with one hand towards a Pokeball on his belt. His eyebrows slanted into a hard expression that he hardly ever put on.
The guy couldn't have been much more than twenty, judging by the shape of his face and lack of perpetual creases marked upon it. His dark hair was arranged in every direction without order, aside from his bangs that were matted on his forehead from sweat. His brilliant yellow eyes were pointed sharply back at the snow-haired boy, his mouth a nonchalant, flat line. Not a word came from his lips to answer his given question.
Instead of retrieving a Pokeball like his original intent, Ronin jabbed his middle and index fingers into the tender spot on the back of the man's neck, causing him in response to squeeze his eyes shut and wince in irritation. "What are you doing in Johto, Pyre?"
Pyre really wasn't the name he possessed; in truth, Ronin knew not his real identity. The origin was rooted from a run-in the two had at Mt. Pyre in Hoenn. The conspiracy put forth an enemy relationship between the two, as at that time Pyre had been a criminal, and Ronin happened to be the one to attempt his apprehension. Since their meeting in Hoenn, however, they hadn't crossed paths, but the last Ronin had heard of the thief, the man had been the instigator of a massacre in Sinnoh that had ended twenty-four lives.
Kimiko was next to arrive on the scene, Isis her Glaceon poised and ready for combat. At the sight of the wanted man, she stopped short, and Mara, who had been close behind, slammed into her back. The brunette didn't flinch at the unintended hit from behind. "Pyre? You [insert derogatory phrases here]! What is your business here?" she snapped, her expression instantly morphing to match her twin's.
Again, nothing came from the criminal's mouth, but as Kimiko had more of a temper than her younger brother, it meant all the more to her. She didn't take being ignored very well; she glowered in annoyance, and she reached for her Blaziken's Pokeball. As her fingers slid over the surface of the metal orb, she decided against it and instead took out a Zippo lighter. She held it out and began to flick the flame on and off, an innocent look crossing over her face as she pretended to examine the little flame. "Let's see what you say when your hair earns a wig of fire…"
He gave her a look of Death itself. "You. Wouldn't."
The girl returned him an evil smirk. "You're thinkin' of my twin here. Ya see, 'lil baby brother Ron wouldn't, but me…" She put the flame up mere millimeters from his nose. "…I would."
Not much had happened after Sorano had run unknowingly into a fight with that chick with the red-gold hair. They sat with their arms folded across their chests and their backs to each other, demanding each other to answer questions that had little to no relevance to much of anything. The main thing that Sorano learned was the girl's name. Thea Harmac. She was an Ecruteak dweller that pretty much had nothing in common with her. The only reason they were still together was merely a battle of wits—or rather, moreover of stubbornness. It seemed that they had somehow gotten into their heads that a departure would mean that they failed a combat of tolerance.
It was pretty pathetic in its entirety, but both of them were too mulish to admit it.
"So what's your team consist of?" Sorano questioned after a period of silence. Her voice came out flat, so it sounded more like a statement than an inquiry. She played with the wristband on her right arm, having pulled it off and was spinning it around her index finger.
Thea didn't speak for a while. Her wood-colored eyes were staring down at the ground with an expression that looked as though she thought that if she glared hard enough, it would spontaneously combust. "It's none of your business," she scoffed. "And stop playing with your wristband."
"You're not even facing me! How do you see what I'm doing?" The ebony-haired girl suddenly smirked before pulling the wristband off her other wrist and spinning them both around her index fingers on each hand. "How 'bout this? Is this better? Should I get up and sing and dance too?" Even though she couldn't see the cold teen, she still could feel the anger radiating off of her form. Oh ho ho, this is so much fun. She's gonna wanna commit bloody murder.
The girl jumped to her feet and scowled at Sorano. "Oh my God, do you ever shut up?"
The answer was simple enough. "Nope!"
Pyre was going to pay for what he did. Ronin repeated the words over and over to himself as he breezed swiftly past foliage. "It was uncalled for, even for him," he scoffed, his gaze darting about in search for the criminal's figure moving about in the green. He tried to ignore the burning on his cheek and how frustrated he was that one moment of distraction let Pyre get away. The happening was burned into his mind and the more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. No matter how much the teen racked his brain, he couldn't figure out why Pyre had to be so perverse.
Even at a time when he was being threatened by Kimiko, he had the nerve to slap Mara's butt and question seductively, "Hey, is this seat taken?"
It was all downhill after that. It was normally his sister's job to be the one with the temper, but he had reacted without thinking. Isis had tried to Ice Beam the thief and render him immobile, but even the Eevee Evolution was caught off-guard when Ronin had slammed his fist into Pyre's face, and even more so when he punched him back, and thus, her attack was delayed just enough for the target to get away unscathed. And so now there they were, in pursuit of him with Ronin barely keeping him in his sight.
Kimiko was right behind her twin, but Mara was back a bit farther. Despite the fact the redhead was the fastest runner of them all, the foliage was a challenge she wasn't very used to going through at a fast rate. Sure, she'd been chased by plenty an angry Pokemon, but something was not at all similar to those cases. Her mind went back to what that guy had done, each time causing her face to deepen in complexion with a combination of embarrassment and aggravation. Maybe it was the fact she was now going after that guy, maybe it was the image in her head of Ronin losing the cool he had always retained and striking Pyre on the cheek with a closed fist, but something brought her the sense that running after a criminal wasn't what she should be doing.
"This isn't really how I imagined spending my time…" she mumbled, out of nowhere falling and calling out several curse words when she tripped on a root underfoot. She sat up and checked herself for any sustained injuries. Her eyes went up from scanning herself only to meet the face of a small Pokemon staring at her. "A Cyndaquil?" Her mind went about in its search for information regarding the little Fire-type, trying to remember if this particular forest was home to that particular Starter.
Before she could make the deduction, it had taken her index finger in its little paw and tugged. The redhead knew what this was and so went up to her feet. "Lead the way, Cyndaquil." And followed the Pokemon off, away from the others in her party. It wasn't as though she hadn't ever traveled on her own before, but to find her suddenly missing was another thing entirely. She tried to mentally justify it and reasoned that at the rate she had been going, she wouldn't have been much use to them anyway. If a battle would've ensued, by the time she arrived on the scene, it probably would've been over.
Besides, she added, her green eyes locking onto the little shrew that was scampering just a few feet in front of her, I think I'm needed elsewhere.
She couldn't determine how far they traveled; the entire area around her looked all the same. For as far as she could see, she only took in greenness. Looking up, the breaks in the leaves that revealed the sky above were growing rarer with each step. She was nearing the heart of the forest where the trees grew thick, she knew. This is where most of the Pokemon native to the area dwelled, primarily for the reason not many Trainers traveled in this deep for the risk of going into the territory of a defensive clan of high-levelers.
Her feet halted her before she knew they had done so. She found herself staring down at a boy probably a few years younger than her. His deep blue eyes were focused on his ankle which was swollen a grisly color, his dark hair matted down with sweat, and his pale face tinged with red. At the sound of her figure pushing past bushes, his head turned and locked onto her face. It was marred with a frustration that was quickly overcome with perplexity.
"Your Cyndaquil led me here," was all she could say. And before he could make a response, she crouched down beside him and began digging in her bag. She pulled out medical tape and a jar of ointment. "Looks like you jarred it really hard. Nothing like IcyHot to relieve pain. I use it all the time with athletics." She gave him a smile, talking as if she was speaking to a child, as she began to apply the ointment using her middle and index fingers. At her touch, he flinched and she felt his whole body go rigid. "Sorry, sorry! I'll try to be more careful. You don't mind me doing this, do you?"
His mouth was slightly ajar before he decided to speak. "No, it's fine." He had a quiet, slightly gruff voice, one that reminded Mara of the sound of someone lightly writing on a board with chalk. "I must've dropped my medical kit somewhere when I was running…" He put his hand on his forehead in a facepalm-like manner, but without the self-abuse and more like he had a headache or something coming on. "Ugh, this would happen…"
To his surprise, the redhead let out a slight chuckle, causing him to return his gaze to her with a substantial amount of confusion written in his face. "Your accent." She paused when she began to wrap the boy's foot from just above the ankle down, but he didn't say anything in response. "You're from Kanto, aren't you?"
His eyes widened, caught off guard that she had noticed the slight difference between a Johto accent and a Kanto accent. "Y-yeah," he stuttered, suddenly insecure that she seemed to know things about him, even if they were things purely based off observation. "I'm from Saffron."
She appeared pleased that he didn't mind making conversation with her, even if it was casual things. This was evident by her satisfied smirk. "Yeah, you look like a city boy," she noted, taking a good look at his appearance a second time. "I'm from Sandgem Town in Sinnoh. The outskirts of town. I'm Mara Tsujyou, by the way."
When she held out his hand to try to help him up to his feet and give him support, he returned a small smile that the girl barely noticed and introduced himself, not forgetting the manners that were pounded into his head from his life in his home city. "Josiah Perez. Nice to meet you." He then decided to add the thought that came to mind, "And I'll be honest; you look like a country girl."
Pain coursed through every nerve within Target Cobalt's battered body. He had to force himself to flee from his home, the one place he could call his own, and now he had never felt so alone. His sister had always been with him, and he never thought he'd have to go on without her. He had been pursued, away from his secret dwelling, to the mainland where he had managed to escape his follower. It was when he had paused to rest within the safety of foliage that he had began to feel the pain that plagued him.
He didn't forget his promise to his sister. I will come for you…
The way he would fulfill it, he wasn't certain. Her location was usually something he could sense, but she was too far away for him to feel her being. There was no way for him to determine what the humans have done to her; the image of her body being enveloped in agony was all he saw and the sound of her scream echoed within his ears far louder than the sounds of the world around him. The night before haunted him like a bad dream, but every time he looked upon all of the gashes and bruises that he sustained, he knew it wasn't.
He loathed the human that did this to him, to his sister. The man's stormy, gray eyes were branded in his mind, burning like fire from the depths of hell. There needed to be some way for him to receive his due punishment for his actions. How, the dragon didn't know, but what he did know, was he wasn't going to stand by and let this human keep his sister captive. Measures had to be taken, and he wasn't about to go down without putting up a hell of a fight.
The distinct sound of rustling bushes snapped him immediately out of his thoughts, and his crimson-hued orbs stared into the distance just as a man met him face-to-face. The blue Pokemon didn't like the instantaneous smirk that appeared on the guy's face or the way his bright yellow eyes gazed at him through his dark hair like he was a prize. The tone that came from his lips gave more reason for wariness, "Well, hello there, Latios."
"Get away from that Pokemon, Pyre!" From behind the man, a seemingly albino teenager appeared, a PokeBall tight in his grasp. When the dark-haired guy turned to face him, but said nothing, he repeated himself, his voice harder. "I said, get away from that Latios."
Pyre merely changed his smirk to one that revealed his confidence more openly than moments before. "There's not much you can do, Ronin. You haven't been able to do anything before, so why start winning now?" He withdrew a PokeBall and clicked the center button to increase its size, but as soon as he did so, an Ice Beam shot past Ronin and froze it from his wrist upward to consume his hand.
Kimiko emerged, a grin of her own designed with the curves of her face. "Nice job, Isis." Her eyes didn't move to look at her Ice-type just at her feet when she congratulated her. Her gaze was poised on the Eon Pokemon, trying to read its face beyond that mask of blankness it tried to hold onto. "Latios…" Her face, too, went solemn after a moment of silence between them. Her mind focused on the Legendary, trying to make bondage with it with just her psyche.
She suddenly turned her head towards Pyre, but her eyes remained still. "You…don't like him…do you?" Her voice came out unusually quiet until her eyes unexpectedly shot towards the criminal when her voice grew cold. "Leave him alone." Her fingertips traced along the top of her Glaceon's head. "Isis, use Hail!"
The ice Eevee looked to the sky and closed her eyes, and just as she did so, clouds gathered and began to pelt the land below with pellets of ice. It came down in a hard shower that was too thick for normality that prevented seeing an arm's length away. The humans had to throw their arms up to protect themselves from being bombarded, but not for long, as the attack lasted only mere moments, just enough for Latios to disappear without a trace of his existence.
Pyre gave Kimiko a glare that threatened harm, but she beamed in a cheesy manner and laughed, "Come at me, bro."
