chapter 9: Red prison
Me: Okay! This chapter will be entirely Hotaru's point of view.
Lightning: -_- Joyful. We won't be showing up...
Me: Well, barely... ^ ^ Oh, and to those who sent an OC that hasn't been introduced yet, don't worry. They will show! Just saying, so no one feels left out.
Aveira: Aero doesn't own Pokemon or the OC sent to her.
Me: Now enjoy! Food is optional...
Hotaru's POV
I growled, showing my fangs that were getting longer. Then I was suddenly swept off my feet and shoved into Riaquar's bag, by Riaqhuar herself. The Red Demon continued to grin.
"Hide somewhere!" Aveira shouted.
What! She wanted us separated again?
"No!" I shouted, but she didn't get a chance to hear me as Riaqhuar took off into the trees. She stopped only a few yards away and we could still hear their attacks. Riaqhuar set her bag down, allowing me to climb out, and let out a huge sigh.
"I really hoped we wouldn't run into any shadowed Pokemon." She barely said.
"Well, um." I looked around. "Then you stay here and I'll help fight." I said. Today would be the day I started helping with the fighting. I was going to evolve just like Lightning.
"No. You can't leave, Hotaru." Riaqhuar said quickly. I turned to her, only to see that she really was scared. Her eyes were wide and pleading. And there was slight trembling in her limbs.
All right, then to start, I'll protect Riaqhuar. I trotted over to her and sat, listening intently to all of the sounds in the forest. I closed my eyes.
"What are you doing?" Riaqhuar asked.
"Protecting you." I responded, keeping my eyes closed. She didn't say anything. Then, my ears twitched when I hear a crack. The smoky smell of a shadowed quickly overwhelmed my nose, but ignored it. I got to my feet and scanned the area for the slightest movement. I'd seen Aveira do this a bunch of times before. She didn't do it as much now though. I caught a movement just before it disappeared and trained my eyes to that spot.
The movement didn't come back. Instead several Pokemon burst from the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere. A growl escaped from my throat and I took a protective stance in front of Riaqhuar. When the dust and dirt cleared, it revealed a shadowed sandlash, a mawile, and a roserade. The roserade surprised me because I never thought such a good Pokemon could be shadowed. Ever. I took a step back. This could be hard.
"Hotaru, we should run." Riaqhuar whispered to me.
"We won't let you." The sandslash announced.
"We'll take them." The mawile hissed at the roserade. "Put them to sleep."
"Sleep powder it is then." The roserade said, grinning.
"Hotaru, come on!" I heard Riaqhuar yell. She scooped me up, before I could even try to attack. She threw me ahead of her and started running on all fours. I followed, constantly glancing behind for the shadowed. Suddenly, the shadowed sandslash burst from the ground, hissing. We slid to a stop and tried to turn, only to come face to face with the sandslash as she leaped in front of us. "You can't escape." He snickered.
I whirled around to try to run again, but only saw the roserade looking down at me. I used tackle and she stepped to the side, dodging. She immediately followed her dodge with sleep powder, shaking her roses to release the powder. I backed away and turned to see the sanslash grinning at me. The mawile stood behind him, ready to attack. I looked at Riaqhuar, she looked back at me. Worry was clear on her face, but it soon disappeared as an unfocused look overpowered it.
Then there were two of her. No! I thought shaking my head furiously.
I heard a short laugh. "I think we've won here." My entire body seemed to be getting heavier with each second. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. Riaqhuar then fell to the ground, unconscious. I could barely growl as I stumbled over to her. "Get up." I slurred before falling to the ground myself. I stayed, not wanting to move. Only wanting to sleep. I felt my eyes close and got lost in darkness.
I opened my eyes to a dark room. I could see fine, but I knew it was dark. I struggled to get to my feet and looked around. Behind me stood a stone wall, covered in dried blood and dirt and urine and things I didn't even recognize. There were also two other Pokemon staring directly at me as if I was an alien. They were bound by all four limbs and when I looked down, I saw that I was too. I looked back up at the staring Pokemon and blinked at them. A male vulpix, and female umbreon, her gray scarf kept tight around her neck and the sweatbands around her paws were only slightly dirty, as if she'd been fighting.
"Where am I?" I barely made out.
The vupix scoffed. "Hell. That's where. You've been taken, just as we have. Stolen by the shadowed to face whatever wrath they want to put on us. You have no freedom here and don't even expect to get out. There are hundreds of shadowed that live here. Oh, if I were a legendary, I'd actually do something about this."
"Okay, Alasdair, that's enough." The umbreon said calmly. She turned to me. "I still think there's a way out."
"She's new too. She only been here a day." The vulpix said.
"How long have you been here?" I asked, truly curious.
"About a week." He said. "Can't you tell?" He turned so that I was able to see better. I gasped. His ribs easily shown, his fur discolored from dirt. It was bad, but it wasn't horrible. "They barely feed you here. And when they do, it's most likely scraps of whatever they don't want. Then there's the fact the shadowed don't eat a lot. They can go longer than normal Pokemon without a meal. It seems kinda unfair if you ask me."
"It's unnatural." The umbreon added.
"So what's your name, stranger?" The vulpix asked.
"Hotaru." I answered.
"Great, Hotaru. I'm Alasdair. And that's Echo."
"I can introduce myself." She exclaimed.
"Yeah, sure." Alasdair shrugged.
Then suddenly, I remembered. "Hey!" I shouted, causing both of their heads to snap towards me. "Did you see a buizel named Riaqhuar come by here?"
"Riaqhuar?" Alasdair asked. "That's a strange name."
"We haven't seen any buizel, Hotaru." Echo said, completely ignoring Alasdair's comment.
I started pacing, as much as I could, feeling my heart pound harder. "We have to get out somehow." I said more to myself than to the others. "Aveira wouldn't know how to find me and I don't know if Riaqhuar's alive or not." A whimper couldn't help escaping my lips. "And I was going to start protecting Pokemon today. I failed."
"Who's Aveira?" Alasdair asked.
"She's my sister." I paused. "Wait, she's actually a friend. Not my sister. But I guess she acts like one." Why had I called Aveira his sister? It just came out as if it were true. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts.
"Wait, you know other Pokemon who weren't taken?" Alasdair asked. I nodded. "I know a mightyena and a luxio. And then there's a meowth we just met, but I never got her name."
Echo stared at me, interest clear in her eyes. "What are their names? Are they strong? Do they know you're here? Could they come rescue us?"
I looked down. "Um, well, the mightyena's name is Aveira and Lightning's the luxio. I guess they're pretty strong. I don't think they know I'm here. And if they knew we were here, I'm sure they would be able to save us." I smiled at her.
"Well, now it's only a matter of waiting for them." Alasdair said.
I sighed. If only I could just save everyone myself. If only I was that strong.
Me: So, watcha think?
Alasdair: I think you've just finished chapter 9.
Echo: I do too.
Me: I like Echo's and Alasdair's character personalities. ^ ^ (though with Alasdair it's hard to make jokes...but I'll try...in a less depressing place)
Alasdair: What was that?
Me: Oh, nothing. Nothing. ^ ^
Alasdair:... So this guy walked into a bar-
Me: Review! ^ ^
