Chapter Seven - Return to the Mountain
Special Thanks to: Polarissb
Thank the legends I didn't wake her up… Evening thought as he watched Echoes's sleeping form. Good thing we weren't too close, or she would've woken too.
He observed the den, taking notice of the sibling pile the cubs were in, heads leaning on shoulders or bellies or rufflet down and braviary feathers. They looked so peaceful, not even caring about the world's horrors or their own safety. As far as they knew, they were safe.
Evening's gaze lingered on them for a while, then broke away to reason through his dream.
Go assess the old territory…
The absol stepped out of the den, being careful not to wake anyone.
A mutter from Echoes stopped Evening's heart. He looked back at his mate and found her still asleep, merely mumbling in her dreams. Even her legs twitched. He continued on until he assumed he'd be out of earshot, then bolted for the exit of the tunnel system.
The wind proved to be harsher than normal, battering against Evening's fur and freezing over his eyes. The cold seeped into his skin, chilling his bones.
He took several steps somewhere in front of him. He didn't even know where he was going. A few more blind steps into the night shook the absol's senses. He pushed forward, not even knowing where "forward" was, but he pressed on.
Long after the cold had gotten to him, he collapsed in the snow, curling up to conserve what little heat remained. His breath froze long before it even left his maw, his tongue dry and stiff.
Go assess the territory… Did she not know it was downright impossible to get there in this weather?! He gazed out into the storm, obscuring his vision to several feet in front of him.
In the storm, a faint outline of a figure emerged, black and easy to see. It wasn't until it was closer that Evening could discern what it was.
"Bringer of Nightmares…" he rasped, snow peppering his body. "I'm doing what you wanted. Help me…" He closed his eyes and returned to his curled position.
A moment later, warmth sheltered him from the cold. He twisted his head to look behind him and found the greater absol stretching her wing to shield his smaller frame.
"Thank you…"
The two remained until the storm calmed. As soon as it became easier to see, the greater absol was gone, her only traces of existence in the fallen snow.
Evening looked around to figure out where he was and found the cliff that lined both territories' outskirts. The stone not too far from him was a part of the old territory, he remembered it. The absol studied it on all sides, then noticed the scratches on the side reading "absol", a quadrupedal symbol with the distinct horn on the right side of its head. Even those who couldn't read Weavilian could at least figure out it was that.
Now with his sense of direction, the absol walked to the tunnel system. In a few minutes, he stepped through the opening into the cave. He sniffed the air, smelling for any nearby beartic.
Not close here…
He walked through the tunnel, taking great care in having his claws remain quiet. Remembering the layout, he peeked around every corner and checked behind him frequently. As he reached the den, his steps were light and silent. The scent of beartic overwhelmed his senses.
Who is here…?
The absol peeked in, finding the sleeping forms of three beartic. As he stared, he noticed the hazy sight of two empty nests.
Where are they?
Evening slowly stepped away from the den's entrance. He held his breath, only hearing the snores of the beartic.
Then his back hit a wall of fur. The absol's muscles froze in fear.
"What's this, Grizzle?" a gruff, yet amused voice said behind Evening.
"I don't know, Icecap," Grizzle replied, her voice drenched in sarcasm. "It's too big to be a cubchoo, but too small to be a beartic."
A heavy paw slammed on Evening's back, forcing him into the ground below him. Evening inhaled sharply from the pain.
"It must be that cowardly absol that ran off a while back." Reeking, hot breath warmed the back of his head. "I knew you were a coward, running off after you put our finest beartic out of commission and killed four of us. I'm surprised you actually showed up. Griz, get the others."
Grizzle walked from behind Evening to the den's entrance. She yelled into the den, but Evening didn't hear what she said. His fear drowned out the world. He scrambled beneath Icecap's serrated claws, kicking and yowling, to which the beartic held him tighter. "We don't need you running away, Absol."
"Aw, he's scared." Grizzle cooed, three beartic behind her. "What would our leader order us to do with a meddlesome trespasser?"
"Let's kill him." one of the beartic with Grizzle said. "And hang his body up to show what happens to meddlesome trespassers."
"It's bad luck to kill an absol." Evening cried beneath Icecap. "You'll be cursed by the chaos pokémon of legend if you do! I swear it!"
"Yeah, and I'm a dead bird." Icecap growled.
The absol turned to his left, his horn almost touching the ground, as he tried to glance over at Icecap. "I killed four of your people in one fight. Do you think one extra beartic is going to matter?" As he spoke, the bitter taste of gas burned in his throat.
The beartic looked at each other for a long moment.
"And, for a moment, just think about this." Evening said, waiting a bit for the gas to spread. "This place was completely barren of your kind when I came with my mate. I thought it would be a great place to raise cubs. For a month, no one claimed it, so we settled here. Now, enter the beartic, who are going to take the resources I need to support my mate and future cubs. They would not leave me, so I put them to sleep and made them leave. Then more came on my territory that your kind have not claimed and beat my mate and shattered the egg of one of my daughters. She had a name, you see, Hope For Better Days Ahead. And she had a life she would live if I was left alone with my family." He paused.
The beartic didn't say anything, likely reflecting on his words.
"Do you think I have a right to defend my territory and my family from intruders?" Evening added.
The beartic seemed convinced, but neither allowed him to leave or continued to harass him.
If this fails, I can at least burn something… he thought. Something that will make them pay.
One of the beartic with Grizzle sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"
The other beartic sniffed the air.
Evening's pelt chilled. They're onto me.
"Smells like the heatmor when they're getting ready to blast fire." another beartic said.
"But we drove out the heatmor from this part of the mountain ages ago." Grizzle added. "What could that be?"
Icecap dug his claws into Evening's back. "Were you going to pull something, Absol?" The beartic tossed the absol aside, scraping the smaller one's fresh back wound against the abrasive rock. A long, jagged scar ran down his belly, hidden by his belly fluff.
"What's this?" Icecap inquired, pressing the tip of his first claw on the scar.
Evening scrambled to stand on all fours. He swatted away Icecap's paw and tried to stumble away. Sharp teeth dug into his hind leg, dragging him back to the center of the beartic. Another beartic knocked Evening to his side, exposing his belly again.
"A fragile weak spot." Grizzle noted. "How did you even survive that?" She snapped at his forelimb, making him howl in pain. His throat glowed, ready to blast fire from his jaws.
"He's going to burn us!" another beartic roared.
Icecap delivered a swift blow with the side of his paw to Evening's throat. The absol choked. In his fit, Grizzle released his leg and flipped him on his belly. Icecap slammed his head on the ground, his jaw burning with pain from the unreleased fire and the hard ground beneath.
Icecap roared a slew of curses, pressing Evening's head against the rocky floor. "Don't you ever do that, you hear me?!" He squeezed the absol's skull, shouting even more curses and insults at him. After a few moments of anger, Icecap calmed down, loosening his grip on Evening. "What should we do with him?"
"Let's drown him!" Grizzle stood on all fours, the fur on her legs a dark brown. "Or open up that scar he's got! Or suffocate him! No! Break his neck!"
"Those are too quick, Griz." Icecap growled. "Let's kill him slowly, painfully… Why don't we starve him?" He lowered his head to Evening's ear. "Doesn't that sound like fun?"
The other beartic agreed through nods and rumblings in the throat.
"All right, freeze him and bring him to that empty den."
"You're making a bad decision, Beartic." Evening said. His answer was a slam to the ground.
"Shut it!"
Evening lay in his frozen prison, ice still melting from his fur and draining into the stream beside him. Three beartic guarded the entrance.
Echoes is going to worry… It should be afternoon by now…
He wished to lay on his right side, but his horn prevented him from getting comfortable.
Couldn't it be smoother?
With the ice mostly melted, Evening could move his limbs. The absol stood and paced around his former den; what he once called home now his prison.
The irony.
He thought of the greater absol in his dreams.
What was I supposed to learn from this, Bringer of Nightmares? he asked no one, feeling a little tired. It's obvious these beartic won't listen to reason. They just want their territory and revenge.
Evening looked around the den, noticing the mossy nests the beartic never removed. An idea struck his head.
I can't make a full blast…but I can at least use this as kindling.
He stooped down to light the edge of the nest on fire, then, once lit, he backed away to the farthest point in the den. He waited a bit, letting the smell of burnt moss waft through the air before he executed his plan.
After a few moments, one of the beartic guards turned to another. "Do you smell something burning?"
The beartic turned, seeing the now blazing fire burn the nest.
"I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD'VE MUZZLED HIM!" Grizzle roared.
Two guards barged into the den, breathing ice on the fire while Evening slipped through the entrance. Grizzle noticed him and tackled him from behind. Evening swung his head back, flinging his horn to defend.
Two ear-shredding screeches echoed through the tunnel.
One from Evening, where the beartic sank her teeth into the side of his face.
The other from Grizzle, where the absol's horn dug straight up her mouth and through her head, killing her nearly instantly.
The weight from the dead beartic pulled Evening down. He struggled to pry her corpse loose from him, but a wedged-in tooth remained steadfast. The shouting down the hall shifted, sounding confused and disorganized.
"HEY, HE'S GETTING AWAY!"
Evening turned to the voice, shuffling to pry loose his horn.
Get off…
Evening finally pried the beartic off his horn. He fumbled to the exit, planting weak mind traps as he left. Once he finally came to the entrance, he planted a stronger mind trap fueled with fear.
That should…keep them from… His mind blanked for a moment before the right word came to mind. Pursuit…
The thought of the trail to his home took up his mind. Each step drained him even emptier than he currently was.
Have to get…to Echoes.
The cold rock greeted his feet.
Almost there…
He collapsed on his nest at his den, curling up and quietly whimpering from the pain. After a moment of recovery, he noticed Echoes and the cubs weren't there. He felt glad they didn't have to see him like this. He didn't want them to see him like this. The urge to groom his fur overwhelmed him, but he couldn't do it himself. It hurt too much.
He slipped into sleep just after seeing Echoes return and groom his face.
