N-Black is back with a new chapter of Legacy and boy do I have plans for this story! Anyways the results of this week's poll are…
Question: Do You Like the Question of the Day?
It's 'aight: 2
And all the rest are ZERO! Well I'll continue on with this and see where it goes… As for the best answer, this semi-prestigious award is bestowed upon Arm-flailing-Carlos! Carlos has been with both stories from the start and is an invaluable reviewer and brainstorming partner! You're an amazing reader and I hope that you make a story of your own someday! Also be sure to check in at the beginning of the week to vote on the new poll! There will be a new poll every week so vote! Anyways… enough idle chatter… there is an adventure awaiting you…
Chapter 8: A Chance Meeting
Lexie was exhausted. They had been traveling for two days with little to no rest. It didn't help that they got lost about a dozen times before an old farmer showed them the way to the city. The sight of the farmer was painful. The memories of seeing the barn on fire and Minako's mother being killed were still fresh in her mind. She had seen dead people in her work as a police officer, but she had never seen anyone die. It made her stomach turn just thinking about it. However, she was holding herself together, but the same couldn't be said for Minako. She was silent the entire trip, so silent that it seemed like she was never there. Lexie couldn't blame her for being that way. Seeing someone you love die is never easy…
Lexie's lamentations were interrupted by the bumpiness of the road. Every time her Rapidash would take a step, her thighs would chafe against the saddle. The Pokémon looked tired and so did Justin and Minako. Lexie had some experience with horse-back riding, but Justin didn't have any. After the adrenaline of their escape wore off, Justin had a hard time keeping on the saddle and the Rapidash wasn't making it any easier. It tried to buck him off numerous times when he pulled the reins too hard.
"Hey Justin?" The black-haired boy turned his head to reveal drooping eyes.
"Yes?" He sounded far off and his head bobbed up and down from the overwhelming exhaustion.
"We should stop and take a break." From what she could tell, he nodded, but it could've just been his head dropping again. They stopped at the edge of the dirt road and unsaddled. It felt reassuring to walk on the ground by herself, but the soreness in her inner thighs made her waddle more than walk. Before Justin could see her and crack an insult, she sat down and closed her eyes. She heard a thud and saw that Justin had fallen to the ground. "What's wrong with you?"
"My legs… feel like… jelly…" She couldn't help but smile at his misfortune. No riding experience and they had been traveling for two straight days meant that his thighs were probably rubbed raw. Minako attended to him and propped him up. She still didn't speak, but she worked quickly. How long would it take for her to come to terms with her parent's deaths? Days? Months? Years? Maybe she would never accept it as fact and live her life quietly and sullenly. Lexie wanted to help her, but if she tried to sympathize she would just bring up her own bad memories. For the time being, Minako checked Rapidash and Lexie basked in the warmth of the sun. A nice sunny day was rare in Black City thanks to the pollution, but in this world the sun always shined brilliantly. Just feeling the warmth of the sun made her feel better. She got up and much to her surprise, her tiredness and soreness were gone. It was if someone had changed her batteries.
It seems like the break was helping the Rapidash as well. After Minako had taken their saddles off and tied them to a nearby tree, they let their brilliant flaming manes flow free. They looked so majestic when they were like this. The Rapidash seemed to exude such strength and grace whenever they were cloaked in flame. Lexie looked ahead and saw the thin layer of the city's horizon. She looked farther and saw the blue expanse of the sea. So they were going to have to travel by boat… Lexie never liked boats. Every time she set foot on one, she would immediately feel queasy. The boat didn't have to move, she just had to be on it and that was it.
"Come on Lexie, you can do this!" They had taken a good break so they should get back on the road. She turned to tell Justin, but he was busy inspecting Daichi's sword. His eyes were focused on the blade and the burning manes of the Rapidash made the metallic surface shimmer. During their travels, he had told her about what had happened in the barn while she was knocked out when Minako was asleep. He may have been a criminal, but he had a heart. Having Minako up while he explained the details of her father's death wouldn't have been the wisest choice of action. During his story, Lexie felt burning hatred to see Wallace punished. The smug knight was the complete opposite of what she had expected him to be. These men weren't knights… they were barbarians.
Lexie's thoughts on the story were stopped by the sound of the rustling of the bushes ahead of them. Out of the brush came a tall guy with messy black hair who wore clothes that looked modern. He was picking thorns out of his rather fancy looking jacket and pulling twigs out his hair. A second guy jumped out of the tree above of him and landed with finesse of a cat. He looked like he was from this world, but his hair and eye color gave her doubts. The man was thin and tall, but not as tall as the other, he had dark green hair that covered his left eye and the exposed eye looked as red as ruby. Her eyes went back to the taller one and he looked vaguely familiar.
"Hey Cy, did we really have to go through the thick part of the forest? I have splinters in places where the sun don't shine." What a lovely mental image. The green haired man simply sighed and continued on without him. "I'm just sayin' man. You knew that there were thorns and bushes all over the place and you didn't tell me!"
"Carlos I warned you about them, but you took off ahead of me without listening!" Carlos? The name wasn't ringing any bells. Justin sheathed the sword and stood up.
"Carlos?" The tall boy turned around and a smile crossed his lips.
"Justin is that you?" The man named Cy turned his head sharply. His hands hovered over weapons that eerily resembled police officer billy clubs.
"You know this person?"
"Yes, that's the guy I've been looking for!" Cy looked as if he were going to ask more questions, but Carlos ran ahead and met up with Justin. He was starting to seem more familiar the longer he stood next to Justin.
"You're okay?" Carlos puffed out his chest with confidence and smiled.
"I can handle myself and you know that!" Justin looked him over from top to bottom and nodded.
"Same goofy grin. Check. Same messy hair that refuses to stay down. Check. Ego the size of a whale…" Carlos playfully pushed him and the two laughed. It was the kind of laugh that old friends shared. Cy walked over to them and coughed. Justin looked with confusion at the strange looking person.
"Who're you?" Cy was clearly agitated despite his attempt to hide it.
"My name is Cy and I presume that you're the person that Carlos was looking for?"
"You're right about that." Justin looked him over and Cy let out a sigh. It seemed like he was used to people looking at him strangely. "Carlos, are you sure we can trust him?"
Carlos shrugged. "I guess so. He's helped me out since I came to this place." He rolled his neck and placed his arms at the back of his head in a relaxed position. "That reminds me, where's Elesa?"
"That's the thing I was going to ask you!"
"You mean you don't know?" The two of them were worried about Elesa and the more that they speculated about what had happened to her, the more out of hand they'll be. Lexie stepped forward and cleared her throat to get all their attention.
"Look, I'm sure that's she's fine for the time being. Why don't we just focus on what we are here to do?" Carlos looked at her with astonishment in his eyes.
"W-Wait is that Lexie?!" She had remembered that same look. It was from an arrest a while back.
"Justin, what is she doing here?"
"I asked myself the same question. Before we came to this place, she was trying to arrest me, but I guess her and the cops saved my life from those Cartel clowns." Now Lexie recalled his face. He was the suspect of a bank robbery. It was a big heist and everyone thought it was pulled off by a professional, but turns out it was just a really lucky thief.
"I remember you now… you're Carlos Del Grove. I busted you for that bank robbery a few months back and by your relation to Justin… I'm guessing you haven't changed your life style." Carlos crossed his arms and shot her an accusing look.
"A man has to do what they got to do in order to survive… especially in a place like Black City!"
"Enough!" Cy shouted. His pale face was red from the frustration. "These pointless accusations are getting us nowhere!"
"Yeah Lexie…" Carlos whispered underneath his breath. Cy ignored him and continued speaking.
"I don't know about you three, but there isn't a moment to waste! If you want to find your friend you must not get sidetracked." The redness in his face drained and he appeared to be calm. "I suggest that we move on. I have wasted enough time as it is." Cy continued on ahead without them. He had a certain passion that drove him forward. He was looking for something, but she knew that he wouldn't trust the two of them with the information.
"What's his problem?" Justin asked. Carlos sighed. He knew more than he was letting on.
"I'll tell you on the way to the city." It seemed he finally noticed the Rapidash and Minako on the side of the road. Minako was watching nervously from behind the broad body of the Rapidash. "So you guys are riding those? I saw some of them when I first got here, but it was a little close for comfort."
"We should get moving before Cy gets too far ahead." Said Lexie. She wasn't planning on riding the Rapidash too soon because of her thighs so they walked, leading the flaming horses by the reins. Minako got closer to Justin. She was still silent, but Lexie could tell that she clung to him because of Daichi's last wish. Justin was in possession of her father's sword now so it only seemed right for her to go to him for protection and comfort. The thought of weapons brought a new thought to her mind. She still carried the pistols. They were stored safely in a pouch on the saddle and would no doubt come in handy later on.
She glanced at the two boys. They were engaged in conversation. Carlos's mouth was moving so fast that he stumbled over his words. She couldn't notice the awkwardness of how Justin held the sword. If he had to fight and his life depended on the sword, he would be dead before he could draw it. She pulled out one of the pistols and looked at them again. Could she trust them to not to become criminals in this world? The answer wasn't clear so she hid the gun in the pouch again. Until she was certain that she could trust the two of them, she wouldn't take any chances. It may seem cold-hearted but trust was hard to come by in Black City. If she were going to entrust them with a gun, she would need full confidence and faith in them so that nothing bad could happen. Bad memories flooded through her. The boy's chat ended and Justin broke the chain of painful memories she was relieving with a question.
"Lexie, what happened to leaving and traveling by yourself?" That was true. She had decided that she was going to leave with or without him, but with all the things that happened to them, she thought it best to stick together until they made it home.
"I… had a change of heart." The two of them raised eyebrows at her response.
"Really?" She gave them a confident smile.
"Of course! People can change can't they?" Justin scoffed and smiled at her answer. "What's so funny?" He looked at her with a smile, but his eyes held seriousness in them.
"People can change? You'd do well to remember that." He returned to his conversation with Carlos and left Lexie pondering about his statement. What did he mean by that? She brushed off the thoughts. It would do her no good to think about it right now. Lexie glance ahead and saw that Cy was still going forward. Whatever he was going to do he had his mind set on it. She still had trouble believing what she was doing. Here she was, traveling in an unknown world that contained Pokémon and her only company was a strange green haired person, a traumatized farm girl, and two criminals that she personally arrested. The whole thing felt like it was arranged by fate somehow…
Hooray! Chapter eight is done! Justin, Lexie, and Minako have met up with Carlos and the mysterious Cy! What are Cy's intentions and will Lexie ever come to trust Carlos and Justin? Now for the Question of the Day!
If you were a Pokéball, what kind would you be and why?
Leave your answer in a review or PM me it! I'll see you guys on Saturday!
-N-Black, out
