The crashing of waves echoed throughout the area and the familiar scent of the ocean motivated my body to stir from a sleepy state. Strong winds pushed my body back and forth but it felt like obstructions in the ground prevented my body from moving. Falling droplets of water told me it was raining as well; raining very rough. I gave every part of my body a twitch for any pain, feeling my wing free from any ice but still numb. Whatever I was on, it too was swaying roughly from what I assumed was waves. I forced open my heavy eyes, blinking several times before focusing to the sight of a grey, spiked rock I was laid out on. It wasn't surface of land, but a shell surrounded by water on all sides. Raising my head, I saw a tall blue neck that connected to the spiked shell.
I couldn't really believe it. Through the grogginess of sleep, eventually my memories began piecing together to make sense of and recognize the Pokémon I was being carried by.
"Vinelle?" I spoke softly into her mind, still squinting my eyes to make sure it was actually her.
The lapras turned her head around while avoiding high level waves, gazing at me with a relieved smile. Her smile soon vanished when she returned her concentration back to swimming. "Hold on," she told me with a soft voice.
My body was spread out across her back with my wings and tail dipped into the water and my neck supported on the highest point of Vinelle's shell. Pulses of aching pain raced through my wings, preventing me from folding them. The ice was gone, but the pain wasn't. Where it was numb, it was now weak and sore to my muscles. I decided it would be better if I didn't move.
We were in the midst of a crisis. I don't know why but the ocean was angry; I've never seen such fierce waves that unbalanced Vinelle after every hit. The conditions of the sky and water were similar to when I first saw it, but better. Or is it worse? Do people enjoy falling water, a dark grey sky, and high air currents? I find it very enjoyable when the droplets hit my body as well as the wind; it feels refreshing and it cools me down.
Land was not far off from where we were; I recognized certain areas judging from tree formations and water streams.
The wind kept pushing at my body with strong gusts. If not for Vinelle's spiked back, I would have fallen off. "Why is the sky mad? Was it my fault?" I asked her truthfully.
Vinelle in return fought with the water before finally answering. "It's not mad. We're in a storm right now." I barely heared her since she didn't look behind thanks to waves.
Without hesitation, I asked the question that was stuck in my head ever since she went back into her Pokéball, not thinking if it was a touchy subject. "What happened Vinelle? Why did you stay inside your Pokéball for so long?"
The one eyed glare she gave me was uncomfortable and a little terrifying. I lowered my head and kept my eyes on the water instead.
"I think I should be asking the questions," she replied with a harsh voice, returning her eyes ahead. "How come I found you fainted? What happened?" Her voice was very firm which made me shiver slightly.
"I...I got attacked by trainers." That reminded me! James. Was he alright? How come he was in pain? I turned my head around immediately to the place I thought was where I escaped from, but the majority of the sight was being blocked by the storm.
"What?! Who attacked you? Do you know?" I quickly looked at Vinelle, surprised at her sudden flash of anger I saw in her eyes.
"No. I was with someone named James. He wanted to come see how you were doing until we stopped to watch a battle. I don't know what happened, but one of the Pokémon created a storm of ice that...hurt badly. That's why I rushed away."
She was silent, deviating around high waves.
I slowly raised my head to try catch look at her face, wondering if I did something she didn't want me to. "Are you...angry?" I made my telepathy voice very quiet to show her I was afraid of upsetting her.
"You can tell me more when we get out of this storm Nylus," she replied in a firm tone.
It was my turn to become silent. I couldn't figure out what was causing her negative feelings. Assuming it was because of me, I lowered my head and remained motionless.
I didn't know where we were headed, but I got an idea judging when I caught sight of large rocks piercing the surface of the water. It was the one place that always intrigued me. I looked past Vinelle to see all the waves crashing against the rocks and notice strong water currents in its surroundings. Even the clouds were rumbling loudly as we neared the rock formation. The currents I noticed turned out to be large whirlpools that began pulling us from a far distance away.
From the ocean floor, whirlpools weren't uncommon. Occasionally, I would play in the light ones and test my strength in stronger ones. While they were helpful and fun, it was one of the only few activities I did, and it quickly became old.
Normally I would prefer to bypass them underwater, but instead Vinelle chose to push on through by swimming in between two of them. Halfway through, one of the whirlpools nearly pulled us in but she quickly corrected the angle and pulled out of it. Being pulled into the twisting current wouldn't have affected me in a normal condition since I could easily escape it underwater, but I suppose she prefers swimming through them. We made in past the barrage of whirlpools and to the surface of rocks.
The rocks weren't too much interesting. They spanned out quite far and high but I only noticed one or two places where trails were created. Vinelle surprised me though when she decided to dive underwater. While under, she slowed her speed so I wouldn't float off her back before finding and swimming through a hole in the side of the landform that was big enough to fit four lapras'. Apparently the underwater cave led upwards that extended inside the rock formation; that's where she took me. She swam upwards until we reached the water's limit and surfaced into a cave illuminated by the light from where we just came from. Reflections of water ripples were casted on the ceiling and walls of the circular room and I found two long exits that led horizontally deeper into the cave.
I examined the room with awe. "Wow. Where are we?"
Vinelle slowly swam to the edge of the rocky floor before lowering herself in the water as best she could, intending to let me off her back, looking at me. "This is the place I wanted to show you: The Whirl Islands."
At the mention of our location, I instantly got excited and raised my head at her when I remembered that she told me I might see another lugia here, possibly my mother. Without thinking about my recent injuries, I tried leaping off of her back but my muscles gave way and I instead tumbled off, hitting the ground on my back with my body spread out. I could barely move one of my wings as I groaned in the added soreness.
Vinelle gasped, "are you okay?"
I opened my eyes from my upside down position. "My wing is sore, but I'm fine..."
She used her head to help me turn right side up and onto my feet. "You be more careful." I nodded in approval before she continued. "It was a good thing I found you. For a moment, you had me scared because you weren't moving. I don't ever want you going near people okay?"
I looked deep into her eyes with a ready explanation that James and Sarah didn't hurt me. "But James didn't ha-"
"Nylus, I don't care," she interrupted firmly. "He might have been nice but other people might have seen you." In my current state, I pathetically curled my body, feeling guilty that I defied her. She noticed and sighed, lowering her head so it was at the same height as mine. "I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all."
I remained silent, hiding my face under my wing at the thought of never seeing James and Sarah again. They were the two people who I first met. Plus they seemed like they cared about me and my well being of a so called "legendary Pokémon". Why am I considered a legendary? What have I done? Vinelle doesn't like me going near people but...all people aren't aggressive, are they? No. James wasn't one of those people; he wanted to help me learn to fly.
With my face hidden from her sight, I heard her shift away by the sound of it. "I'm sorry if I was too harsh," she said sympathetically. "Let me make it up to you. Wait here and I'll be back with something to eat." And with that, I heard her submerge before the cave turned silent except for the dripping of water droplets from the rocky ceiling.
I was hungry, but that was the least of my worries. What I really wanted was to learn; both the positive and negative activities, especially to fly. Above all, I wanted to search for my mother, who I believe is living above water level. After attempting to move, I immediately stopped when a sharp pain hit my wings. In this condition, I can't do anything until my body is healed up.
It's so lonely in here.
((((()))))
We stayed in that hidden cave for a day now, as Vinelle calls it, while she brought me food when I was hungry and helped me move when I couldn't. To pass the time, we talked about topics such as how most people lived, how the world is made up of water, air, and land, and the fact that Pokémon are diverse; some being rare and others common. The most interesting matter she brought up was the time she spent with her trainer: Lerane. From what she told me, Lerane was a teenage girl who loved Pokémon battles and strived on seeking out uncommon and potentially powerful Pokémon that she could raise. At the question of how they got separated, she quickly turned quiet or switched topics for conversation. I don't understand why she kept that subject hidden within herself.
The most notable part of the night was the passing of Pokémon. Vinelle said that one group of Pokémon we encountered was krabby. All they did was stare with huge eyes while they passed us and down the cave. But we also saw another lone Pokémon who stopped to glare at us, more specifically me, before running off; one that had a magnificent white coat and ran on four legs. The Pokémon looked like it had a black blade for a tail and another blade on its head. I've never seen such beautiful white fur before. When I tried communicating to the Pokémon via telepathy, it only responded by taking a few steps toward us before glancing where it came from and sprinting off. Vinelle didn't know what Pokémon it was and neither did I, but I told myself I would try meet it again someday.
I looked beyond the darkness where the mysterious Pokémon disappeared into. "Do you think it lives here?"
"It might," she curiously responded. "Maybe it'll come back. It's almost dark out. Is your wing feeling better?"
One small movement of my sore wing told me all I needed instantly. "No. It still hurts."
"Okay. We'll stay here until it heals."
I gazed to the ground, remembering what she told me before giving her a cornered look. "Vinelle...?"
"Yes?"
"Do...you think my mother is in the place...somewhere?"
Vinelle gave me another one of those sympathetic looks at the mention. "It's tough to tell Nylus. Maybe she lives deeper in this cave, but maybe she never came here. I'm sorry but I don't know for sure."
After hearing her out, I lowered my body and head to the ground disappointingly before curling myself into a ball again. "Oh."
"It must be hard on you."
"...Yes...and no. I've taught myself to loosen those bonds years ago but I never forgot. Once you said sightings of my kind were seen in this rock formation, my forgotten emotions returned and caught up to me again in hope I would see her once more."
"Hope is not lost you know. Hey, cheer up," she encouraged, angling her head so I could see her face. "Tomorrow, we'll go look. How's that sound?"
Feeling better, I nodded.
"Good. We'll go on-" She stopped herself when the ground shook vigorously with a low rumbling sound, shaking loose rocks from walls and vibrating ones already on the floor.
I panicked, instinctively getting to my feet in search for the source. "What's going on?"
Vinelle too was turning her head left and right for answers. "I don't know."
Masses of dirt particles fell from the rocky ceiling above us and onto the ground continuously. The ground was shaking so much that I couldn't find secure footing which caused me to use my wings for stabilization, but in the end I tumbled over as soon as I added pressure onto the sore one.
"Let's go Nylus! It's safer underwater!" Vinelle yelled.
After struggling to get off the ground, I rushed towards Vinelle until she screamed horrifically for me to stop, which I did. I glanced up and rushed a few paces back to witness a whole section of the ceiling collapse consisting of huge boulders and debris. If I'd not stopped, I would have been crushed.
My heart was beating ten times faster as I realized I was separated from Vinelle and our waterway exit. Whatever was causing the quake lessened but did not stop. I rushed right up to the boulders and searched for a hole in all corners but to no avail. Surprisingly my telepathic connection remained which meant Vinelle was still directly on the other end. "I can't get out!"
Her voice was barely audible through the rumbling and the rocks in front of us but I managed to piece together what she said. "Hold on! Get back!" After doing what she said, I saw one or two boulders start to freeze up in their joints. A couple moments later, the freezing stopped accompanied by a scream from Vinelle. Fear for her safety, I rushed back up to the newly created wall and heard a loud splash.
The telepathic connection between us was severed. I did the next best thing and tried using communicating through speech instead, but even through my horrible sounds, I didn't receive any response. Judging from what I heard, the ceiling caved in from Vinelle's position; I only hope she didn't get hurt.
"Vinelle!" I tried again, but nothing.
I heard the sound of grinding rocks again from above and quickly looked up to check. I went wide eyed the instant I saw masses of rocks falling down on top of me.
I wasn't so lucky.
Instinctively crying out in pain, my left wing and my tail were crushed and stuck under a pile of rocks as well as two boulders. The pure weight of the rocks dug deep into my wing and I swear I felt a couple pierce through. I cried in agony until the quakes stopped shortly after, even then I groaned in intense pain. With the mass of the rocks, it was impossible for me to struggle out and I was too weak to use the ability my mother once showed me.
With eyes closed shut, tears ran down the side of my face and onto the ground steadily. I guess I was lucky that my head wasn't crushed or my whole body. The pain from the ice attack was nothing compared to the agonising pain I was experiencing now. This time the uninjured wing was pulsating badly from the shortage of blood now that it was crushed, as well as the end of my tail.
I tried using telepathy again in a small radius with what energy I had left, but it was useless. There was no other Pokémon on my side to help. And Vinelle...
It hurts.
"Vinelle...Please help..."
