Kingdoms
My eyes are the talk of the town. Touko told me to ignore them; Black eyes are "interesting" she says. Not to my parents, who abandoned me, not to those living here, who shun me, and I can't help but feel as if I don't belong. I promise though, I will overcome my challenges. But when I and 7 others get transported to a new world we are going to get more than we bargained for. OCxOC
~Chapter 6~
:D Here's the next chappy!
(And if you want to know what the characters look like, just look at the cover image. Maria, Summer and Raven are all there. Raven is in the right hand bottom corner.)
And the reason I'm getting this out so early is because I'm not feeling well (boo!) but that means I don't have to go places and do things so I'm free to write. ^.^
Raven is about to fly off when Alice stops him. "Wait," she says. "Take Summer and Maria with you."
Summer, Raven, and I all give her a look of shock, though Summer's face was the most surprise.
"Why?" he asks, and I suddenly get the impression he thinks we're a burden; I glower at him.
Summer jumps up and down. "I haven't gone in a while!" she cheers. "Yippy!"
"Gone?" I say in confusion.
Alice turns to me. "You weren't the first to appear here," she tells me. "And I was hoping to get to tell you everything before something big like this came up, but I guess my explanation will have to wait."
"Eh!?" I yelp. "You know stuff!? Why didn't you tell me earlier!?"
"You seemed very exhausted and I didn't want to stress you out."
I yank my braids. "GAH! You're stressing me out now!"
I hear Raven let out a small breath of air and I whirl around. "I won't be a nuisance, so stop thinking that!" I snap.
"Whoa!" Summer whistles. "She read you like a book!"
Raven just looks at me, and I cross my arms, then suddenly remember something. "So wait, you've done something like this before?" I ask Summer.
She nods. "Eh...just once, but it was very hard, and the Blues attacked us mercilessly."
"So-"
"I'm leaving," Raven says.
"Wait outside," Alice says, "they will be out in a minute."
He nods, and runs off. I realize he isn't wearing a cloak, and frown before following Summer into our room. She runs over to the wardrobe.
Alice follows us in and pulls me to the side. "I just want to tell you," she says. "That here, you need to protect yourself."
I frown. "Umm, okay." "There are two ways to do so, which someone like you can do immediately," she says. "Either you can summon pokemon to you to help you fight, or you can borrow powers from pokemon. Be sure to concentrate and all will be fine." I give her a look, but she only smiles and leaves. That's when I look over to see a cloak lying on the floor.
Picking it up, I remember that Raven had let me lie on it back when he saved me from the Blues. Guess I never returned it to him. Pulling it on, I fasten it around my neck as Summer turns around with a cloak of her own.
"Oh! I guess I don't have to tell you to put one on then!" she says.
I frown. "I just put it on because..."
It's Raven's.
I slap myself. "Because it was there."
"Well, we have to wear these because if we don't the Blues or the Greens will see our eyes and attack, or they will see our strange clothes, and still attack."
I blanch. "They seem...murderous," I mumble.
"Who cares!" she says. "I love danger! Let's go outside with Raven!" She grabs my hand and drags me outside.
"Hooold it!" I yelp. After running through the halls and down several flights of stairs, we arrive by the gate to the castle. So we were in the castle the whole time...
I look up and see Raven is wearing another cloak. "Let's hurry," he says. "Your delay might have killed the person." I feel my face drain of color, and the three of us run down the street past people and...pokemon.
Both Summer and Raven pull up their hoods, and I do the same. Before long, we're running back up the hill from before, except this time, we head to the East.
"Where are we going?" I ask Summer as the two of us follow Raven.
"I'm guessing the person landed in Green territory," she replies.
"Landed?"
"Yeah, like how you popped out of no where. I did the same, but I was in Blue territory. I almost got mauled by the Blues and their pokemon."
I shudder. "How can you say that so calmly?"
"Eh...I dunno."
We're silent for a while as we run, until I lean over to Summer again.
"Why does Raven wear an eye patch?" I whisper.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure," she says. "But apparently from the rumors, his eye was cut out a long time ago."
I gulp. "That's gruesome..."
She nods. "I wasn't around back then, so I'm not entirely sure about it, and Alice won't tell me." She shrugs and we're both quiet for the rest of the run.
..~~~..
Raven suddenly halts, and holds up a hand signaling us to stop. All of us lie down on the grass, and look over the ledge.
Ten feet below us, there are some soldiers in green with arrows all pointed at someone lying on the ground, covering their head.
"Why are you to close to Blue territory?" a gruff voice asks. The figure below just hides their face.
"Let's take her back to the Grass Kingdom," another says.
Grass?
I guess I am too slow, because Summer and Raven are suddenly jumping down in front of the soldiers. Summer is by the person on the ground. I stand up, and follow, but land awkwardly on my ankle, and twist it painfully before crashing to the ground.
"GET THEM!" the Greens exclaim. I roll to the side as more arrows fly over my head.
So I'm going to go through this all over again!?
"There are two ways to protect yourself, which someone like you can do immediately," she says. "Either you can summon pokemon to you to help you fight, or you can borrow powers from pokemon. Be sure to concentrate and all will be fine."
Concentrate and pokemon will help me fight? I scramble over to a boulder, and hide behind it trying to regain my bearings. Raven is fighting half the soldiers with his knives while Summer is...
My eyes bug out. She's blowing an icy wind out of her mouth and freezing the arrows as they fly at her.
I don't realize I'm out in the open until I hear Summer shouts. "Watch out Mari!"
I duck as a lance flies over my head.
Summer suddenly grabs a boulder next to her which just so happens to be twice her size, and chucks it at a group of soldiers; they scatter. If Summer can do stuff like that then...can I do it too?
Putting my hands to the sides of my head, I close my eyes and concentrate.
"Maria, what are you doing!?" Summer exclaims.
"It's not working!" I shout back as my head starts to throb.
"You can't do anything!" she shoots back. "You don't even know how!" My brow furrows and I clench my teeth.
Something is starting to form in my mind...I just can't pin what it is. A sparkle of light start to glow behind my closed eyes, but it suddenly goes out as I hear Summer shriek.
My eyes flash open, and I see a boulder tipping over from above and falling straight for me.
My eyes widen, but I'm abruptly snatched up and carried to safety. I blink, and look up to see Raven holding me in his arms, looking very...stressed?
Summer is now in an angry whirlwind, and throwing boulders at the Greens.
"Retreat!" the leader calls, and they all run off with several pokemon I don't recognize in tow. Raven walks over to Summer before setting me down on the grass.
I feel very...strange. I could've DIED.
I pull my cloak around me tighter, trying to get my heart to stop beating so fast.
"Is she okay?" Raven asks Summer.
"Yeah, I think so."
Looking up I see Raven and Summer looking at an extremely tall girl lying on her stomach.
"Hey, you okay?" Summer asks.
The girl looks at us wide eyed. Raven helps her up, and I get a good look at her. She has long, pink-ish-red, blonde hair, is wearing a purple tank top, a black belt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Her green eyes are wide as she stares at us.
"Let's get her back," Raven says, and Summer lifts the girl onto her back with ease.
I stare at her. That girl has to be at least 5'9'' and Summer is CARRYING HER!?
Raven grabs my upper arm and pulls me to my feet. "Let's get out of Green Territory," he says.
..~~~..
Alice dabs a small towel against the face of whom we now know as: Lydia Rosenburg.
"Are you feeling better?" Alice asks. The girl nods, looking at the floor; she's hardly spoken.
"Summer," the Caretaker says, turning. "Please put her in Kat's room."
Summer nods, and jumps up before taking Lydia's hand and walking her out of the room. I look over at the small pool with the pokemon swimming around in it.
Where did Raven go? With perfect timing, he walks inside and looks at Alice. "I need to talk to you," he says, and she nods, before standing and following him out of the large room.
Raven slams the door behind him. I walk over to the waterfall, and sit before the pool, hugging my knees.
A pokemon I found to be called "Luvdisc" squirts water up in the air and it mists above my head.
Patting the heart shaped fish, I smile. "I bet he's going to tell her about my hindrance in his mission," I say. "He's probably pissed off that he had to save me again."
Sighing, I lie down on my side, still curled up. I can't believe the day is almost over. I need to get out of here soon and find Touko.
My eyes start to close and I doze off.
..~~~..
Yawning, I sit up and I'm lying on my bed. Summer is snoring very loudly, and her bed looks like someone had a fight; she's practically falling off of it, not to mention her hair looks like a bird's nest.
Pushing the covers off, I sit up, and use my knuckles to shove myself to my feet. The early morning sun is shining through the window on the far end of the room, and I head over to the wardrobe.
Opening it, I see to my surprise a bunch of clothing that match the ones I came in completely. I'm caught in mid-yawn and blink. Well, at least they were considerate enough to make normal clothing for me. Summer's side has clothing like what she was wearing yesterday. Huh.
Shrugging off my dirty clothes, I go to put on some of the copies, but I see a plain tank top and some shorts and decide to put them on instead. Taking off my black headband, I set it down on my nightstand, and walk over to the door. Slipping my bare feet into some bunny slippers, I head out into the hallway.
Suddenly realizing I don't know what I should do, I head down to the kitchen where Summer gave me some cake yesterday. Hopefully there is still some left... I pass the stairs that lead down to the waterfall room and see Alice walking down them.
"Oh, I was about to go and speak with you," she says. "But now is a good time as well."
I stop and blink at her.
"I hope you don't find this as a way of making you stay in our world's Neutral territory, but our scouts have had sightings of a girl with the description of your cousin."
My eyes widen. "Really?! Where!? I want to go now and find her!"
Alice holds up her hand. "But you can't just run off into danger without knowing how to protect yourself. I'm sorry I sent you with them. You weren't ready and almost got hurt. I apologize for sending you with them."
I look at the floor remembering yesterday. I can't believe I've been here for a day and a half and I've almost died twice. She has a point.
"I'm hoping you will allow us to help you so that you can find her. I have so much to tell you, and since we've been having a difficult time since you got here, I haven't been able to tell you."
I nod.
"I'll tell you later when the others wake up. It might be a while, seeing that it is five in the morning."
I snort, feeling like an early bird. She smiles kindly. I suddenly frown. "What...did Raven talk with you about?" I ask.
The Caretaker sighs. "Well, no one can really tell what he's thinking, but I know he wasn't happy about you going with him," she says, then her eyes widen slightly. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant. He doesn't dislike you, Maria."
I let out a breath, and scratch the back of my head. "Eh...it's okay," I reply. "I'm used to people not liking me."
Sighing, I walk off feeling dejected. The kitchen is pretty much empty when I enter. Looking around, I see a small white box and smell the lingering scent of cake. I walk over to it, and suddenly hear a small yelp.
Glancing down, I see Cyndy looking at me in anger. I back up.
"Sorry," I say. "I didn't see you."
It scoffs at me. "Cyn cyn!" The tiny fiery pokemon walks away. I proceed to open the box, and blink in surprise to see that there is a small slice left with an icing inscription: Mari.
Smiling, I take it, and eat it bite by bite. It tastes heavenly.
"Oh," I hear someone say, and turn. A beautiful girl stands before me; I stare. Her hair is an icy-blue shade, pulled up in a high ponytail, and is wrapped around her left shoulder; her bangs are swept to the side. She's wearing a pink blouse, white shorts, and sagging black boots which I've seen some models wear. What really strikes me, are her big eyes; they are cerulean blue.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't know anyone was in here."
"I-it's a-alright," I stammer. "Who are you?"
She blinks. "Oh, I'm Luna," she says. "Luna Flores. But please call me Kat, everyone does."
I nod. "Oh, okay, I'm Maria."
She smiles. "So are you the new girl then?" she inquires. "Alice told me all about it. Oh! And Lydia is the other new girl. I met her last night because we're going to be rooming together from now on."
I frown. "From now on? How are you so sure?"
Kat's arms are crossed but she uses one hand to twirl the ends of her hair. "I've been here for...a long time," she says. "Almost as long as Raven, but not quite. I've become accustomed to living here."
I blink. "You mean..."
"No, you and Lydia are not the first to have dropped out of a portal and into this world."
Hehe! :) I love this ending. Plus, all the girl characters have appeared! Yay! Only three more guys and the main cast will be complete!
~Misty
