Nanuluk's view
The young Electrike looked around wildly. He was dangling by his scruff in a Scizor's pinschers. They had just landed in a dirt clearing, surrounded by pines and tall grass. To the left side, he could see a small mountain. On his right, he could see several caves and gaping holes leading to underground tunnels. Booths and roughly built shelves with odd arrays of items crammed onto them were scattered around. Smoke billowed out of one of the caves and sounds of clanking metal could be heard from it. An Excadrill carrying a box of metal spikes emerged from one of the caves. He passed his box to a Bisharp standing at a nearby booth, who took the spikes and arranged them with other pieces of battle armor. 'Where am I?'
Nanuluk could only watch as a large Aggron approached. The steel type scanned him over with an unreadable expression. The Electrike felt that the Aggron's piercing blue eyes could see right through him, and he wanted to shrink away from the horns that felt dangerously close to his face.
Finally the Aggron spoke, "Not the best choice to go with an electric type, but at least you came back with something." The Aggron turned to glare at a nearby Skarmory. "At least you're not like some that abandon your catch and stroll on in here without anything to show for yourself just because of a little setback." The Skarmory swallowed nervously and quickly scuttled off into one of the caves.
The Scizor cleared his throat. "Well, I know his typing isn't exactly what I'd call ordeal. However, I found him wandering by himself, and it seemed like a waste of good opportunity just to leave him there. Plus he didn't put up much of a fight, either."
"Fine. Put him with the rest, then," the Aggron said before turning away without much more interest. The rest? The Scizor carried him inside the mountain's entrance, while Nanuluk was still in a state of shock and disbelief. 'NO! This isn't happening to me! IT'S NOT! This is all...just a bad dream! I'm going to wake up and I'm going to be back home! Yeah, and then I'll laugh about this. Come on! JUST WAKE UP ALREADY!'
The inside of the mountain was incredibly vast with endless tunnels and caverns. A few piles of burning sticks offered scant lighting. The area swarmed with busy pokémon. The Scizor took a path that lead to a long corridor and stopped at an entrance with a Zangoose waiting just outside of it.
The Zangoose looked at Nanuluk in a similar manner that the Aggron had used before. "About time," she snorted. "We're running low. At the rate you' re bringing them in, we're gonna run all out." Her gaze suddenly hardened. "And you you know what that means," she icily hissed. Nanuluk had no idea what she was talking about, but his stomach filled with an odd kind of dread that he had never felt before. 'I don't like these pokémon...they're bad. Why do they even want me here? And what did she mean by "running low"? What are they going to do to me? I wonder if they're going to kill me. I wish Mother was here. She wouldn't let them do it...I don't want to die!'
"Keep your fur on, Shuriken," the Scizor snorted. "It's just been going slow these past few days. It'll pick up soon enough."
"It better!" she growled. Then the Zangoose stepped aside. Suddenly Nanuluk found himself being tossed into the air and was hurled into the entrance that the Zangoose had been standing in front of. He slammed into the ground with a thud. Quickly scrambling to his paws, he jumped up to run away. But found that there was no were to go. He was standing in a small, dimly lit room. The source of the light came from a torch burning high on the wall.
The Electric type backed away and pressed himself against the wall, wanting to put as much distance between him and the other two pokémon as possible. Frantically looking around the room, he finally noticed other pokémon sitting there. A Minccino had curled itself into a ball with its tail wrapped tightly around it, as if it was trying to hide itself. A Cleffa had covered its face and was rocking back and forth. A Teddiursa glumly looked up for a second, and then stared back at the ground. A female Nidoran was softly crying, while a male one sat beside her, blankly staring off into space. Finally, he saw a Rattata was looking back at him with interest. The purple rat suddenly brightened and walked up with a cheerful, "Hi!" which seemed oddly out of place considering the circumstances.
"Um...hello?" Nanuluk replied, not quite sure how to respond.
"My name is Ethan! What's your name?" the Rattata enthusiastically asked.
"Nanuluk," he answered. The Electrike cocked his head in confusion. This Rattata acted like nothing was wrong- like they were talking in normal conditions instead of being held hostage. The happy rat seemed very out of place here.
"Cool!" Ethan replied. Pointing at the Teddiursa he said, "That's Brody. Those two over there," he gestured to the Nidoran, "are Carter and Nora. They're brother and sister." Then, he pointed to the Cleffa, "That's Lola. Oh, and the Minccino over there is Valerie." None of the named pokémon bothered to look up, with the exception of Valerie, who peeked out from among her tail for a moment and then quickly covered herself back up again. Ethan shrugged, "Guess I'm the one who really talks much around here."
"Where are we?" Nanuluk asked. Desperately hoping to find some way to escape, he scanned around the room for anything he hadn't noticed before.
The Rattata stared at him for a moment. "In a mountain," he answered.
"I think he already knows that, dork!" Brody snorted.
"Well, what was I supposed to say?" Ethan snapped defensively. "That's all I know!"
"That's all you know?" Nanuluk asked in dismay.
"Well, I guess that's not entirely true," the Rattata admitted. "That's not ALL I know, but I don't know what to call this place exactly."
"Ok, I guess that doesn't matter," replied a flustered Nanuluk. "Just...just tell me everything you know about this place."
"Hmm...where to start?" Ethan asked thoughtfully, scratching his chin. Then, the Rattata began to carefully explain everything he knew about the Steel Searchers to the best of his knowledge, giving detail on what they did and what the captured pokémon were expected to do.
"So that's what she meant," Nanuluk quietly said to himself.
"Who?" asked Ethan.
"Her," the Electrike answered pointing to the Zangoose. "She said something about running low."
"Oh, that's Shuriken," replied Ethan in a quieter voice. "She's pretty much a guard around here, and no one ever gets past her." The Rattata looked around the room. "There usually is a lot more of us, but lately...let's just say a lot of things have been going wrong in the mines."
Nanuluk felt a shiver ripple through his fur at the last comment. "I have to get out of here!" he yelped.
"Don't we all?" huffed Brody. "But let's face it, we're gonna be stuck in this rotten place FOREVER!" The Teddiursa angrily slammed his fist on the ground.
"Nothing on earth lasts forever," Ethan said in response. The Rattata looked as if the words meant more to him than he was letting on.
"Has anyone escaped here...ever?" asked Nanuluk.
"No, but they've tried though," answered Ethan. "They've always been caught in the end. A couple tried to fight even their way out, but steel types are too hard to fight against. Some thought fighting Shuriken would be easier, but they were wrong...bad wrong."
"Alright lowlifes!" an unfamiliar voice snarled. "It's time for you to work!" Nanuluk shrunk in terror as a horrific looking Linoone entered the room. It was wearing some kind of steel armor. Curved spikes protruded from the metal covering its of metal covered it's hind legs. It's claws were reinforced with retractable steel. The parts of its body that wasn't covered in metal were engulfed with hideous scars. Three long scratch marks ran across it's left eye, which was a solid, milky-white color.
The other eye scanned them over. "You!" he pointed at Ethan, "And the new meat are coming with me!" Nanuluk glanced at Ethan, who gave a tiny nod in response. The Electrike shakily followed the two pokémon out. Once they had left the room, the Linoone brought up the rear. "Don't even think of running off," he threatened. "Unless of course," he broke off with a chuckle, "you want an eye like mine!"
The rest of the walk was in silence. Nanuluk's mind whirled with confusion as he tried to remember all of the routes and turns they took, but it soon became a jumbled mass of information. "Stop!" the Linoone suddenly commanded. "Icy rocks. Go get them," he ordered. Ethan nodded and went into a cavern. Nanuluk quickly went after him.
The ground instantly felt much colder. They were at the top of the cavern, a long spiraling walkway led down to the bottom. The cave oddly glistened with dim blue light which the Electrike might have found pretty, if he wasn't scared out of his mind. After a while, he noticed that the Linoone wasn't following them any longer. "He's not coming with us?" he asked in disbelief.
"No, Axel usually doesn't come down with us," Ethan answered. "None of them do. They only send us in places they don't think is safe enough for them," the Rattata curled his lip in disgust. "Which reminds me, if the air smells funny to you, please tell me. Your nose probably can smell better than mine can, and I really don't feel like breathing in toxic fumes today. I don't think there's any down here, but you can never be too sure."
"Got it," Nanuluk swallowed hard. Although, he did feel a little better knowing that a creepy pokémon wasn't breathing down his back anymore. The two made there way to the bottom of the walkway.
Ethan scampered over to a rocky wall. "Up there!" he pointed to a glittering patch of rock. "I'll climb up and throw them to you."
"Ok," Nanuluk replied. The Rattata nimbly jumped up the rocks, and was soon up to where he wanted to be. He tugged at the shining rocks and pulled one from the wall. Then, Ethan tossed the icy rock down to Nanuluk. After catching it, the Electrike felt it over with his paws. The shards of ice were even colder than the freezing floor.
"Here's another one!" Ethan happily called out. Soon they had a decent sized pile between the two of them. "Ok, I think that should do it," said Ethan peering down. Then the Rattata leapt down with a tiny thud. "Let's hurry up and get these up there," said the Rattata. Nanuluk nodded in agreement.
Nanuluk sighed. He was the only one still awake in the tiny room. Ethan lay stretched out beside him, gently snoring. The Rattata had been talking until he finally wore himself out of exhaustion. They had done a lot more jobs, and Ethan chattered nonstop the whole time. The optimistic rat's happiness was contagious, almost numbing his fear away, almost.
Now, the Rattata was asleep, and all of his fear had returned along with a fierce homesickness. He kept trying to believe that this was all a dream...that he would wake up and everything would go away. But there was no denying it now, this was no dream. Sadly, he glanced up at the ceiling; he wouldn't see the stars tonight. He always could back home. 'Home. That's where the stars are...where my mother and father are...where Thunder Strike is...where I wish I was.'
A part of him still wanted to believe that he would be found. That they would come and take him back, but they didn't know where he was. There wasn't even a scent trail to follow.
Nanuluk looked back at Ethan. How did he do it? How could he always stay so happy, even when the world was so terrible to him? The Electrike sighed again and laid his head between his paws.
He awoke to a paw prodding his side. Blinking his eyes open, he saw Ethan poking him. He didn't even remember falling asleep. "Wakey wakey!" Ethan sang.
Nanuluk stood up with a groan and shook his fur out. He felt like he hadn't slept at all. "It's best if we're already awake before they come to get us," Ethan explained.
"When's breakfast?" the Electrike asked only half awake.
"Sorry, we don't get any. They say appetite will make us work harder. But we get lunch, though!" piped Ethan.
"Just lunch?" Nanuluk whined.
"Sometimes there is enough to save for later. But yeah, we pretty much just get lunch," Ethan finished.
Suddenly Axel entered the room. "Let's go, the day isn't going to wait for us to start," he huffed. Then the Linoone turned away and walked off. Nanuluk assumed that he had meant for him and Ethan to follow him again. As they followed him, Nanuluk was surprised that they were heading towards the mountain entrance. 'What's going on?' The sun shone brightly outside, it was almost blinding after spending so long in the dark. A tiny spark of hope flared up inside of him. 'Are we leaving?'
The Linoone walked outside and took a left turn. Ethan strolled out next with Nanuluk close behind him. The sunshine warmed his fur in a blissful way, better than it had felt in his life. 'I've never noticed just how good the sun felt, before.'
Nanuluk felt his heart sink as Axel stopped in front of a gaping hole in the mountain. "Get star pieces and anything else valuable," the Linoone ordered. Ethan faltered at the entrance for a second before going in, which sent a wave of unease over Nanuluk. As he peered in the dark interior, an ominous sense of foreboding crept over him. 'This place feels different somehow.' This mine was much darker than the other mines they had seen. Usually some kind of noise could be heard in the mines, whether it was dripping water or creaking objects. Yet, this one remained completely silent, as if it were a predator silently awaiting its prey.
Nanuluk's fur spiked up as he entered, all of his instincts screaming for him to run away. 'I wish I could!' Ahead of him, Ethan seemed to be a bit on edge too. "Ok, we have to be really careful here," the Rattata broke the silence. "This place can be dangerous. Just follow after me."
"Right," the Electrike answered. The two walked on until the came to a roughly built, wooden bridge. Wondering if he would be able to see the bottom, Nanuluk sent some sparks down in the deep crevice. With the little bit of lighting, he could see the black, hideously large space of nothingness that seemed to stretch on forever. No one could survive a fall into it.
Ethan carefully surveyed the bridge. "I think it'll hold us," the Rattata ventured, "but we should go one at a time." Then, Ethan slowly began to walk across the bridge. When he was half-way across, he stopped and started jumping up and down.
"ETHAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Nanuluk. "DO YOU WANT TO FALL DOWN?"
"I'm testing it," Ethan explained. "If it'll hold me jumping up and down, it'll hold you walking across it." Then, the Rattata merrily skipped across the bridge. "Okay! Your turn!"
"Next time warn somebody before plan on giving them a heart attack," grumbled Nanuluk as he crossed the bridge.
"No promises!" Ethan chirped. After a while, they stopped at a particularly bumpy wall. "You can usually dig out star pieces here," Ethan stated. Then, he set to work digging on the wall.
Nanuluk scraped against the wall, surprised by how easy it gave away. He felt something hard tumble down and hit the ground. Using his paw, he snatched from the ground and felt it over. It looked kind of like a star. Holding it up, he asked, "Is this a star piece?"
Ethan looked up from his digging . "Yup! Let's find more!" After collecting a decent sized pile of star pieces and a Dusk Stone, they set back out. Just after they had finished crossing the bridge again, Nanuluk heard a faint rumbling noise. 'Huh' The Electrike looked around for the source of the noise. Ethan padded back to him. "Hey, why are you stopping?"
"Listen!" Nanuluk hissed. The rumbling noise became louder along with cracking sounds.
"ROCK FALL!" Ethan shrieked and ran away, deserting his loot. Nanuluk pelted after him, also leaving his things behind. The rumbling noise became deafening as rocks and boulders crashed to the ground. Desperately, he tried to dodge the debris that was falling all around him. The Electrike soon overtook Ethan, though he could still hear him running behind him. Nanuluk yelped in pain as a falling rock smacked onto his shoulder, tearing the skin as it bounced off.
'Light! I can see daylight!' The outside entrance was tauntingly close, yet so far away. A huge boulder shook above it with angry sounding creaking. "We're not going to make it!" he yelped in despair.
"Don't give up!" Ethan insisted. "JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Nanuluk tore for the entrance, begging his legs to go faster. He gave a desperate leap for the entrance, and white, blinding light engulfed him. Closing his eyes against the glare, he felt himself fall and slam onto the ground. He heard a startled squeak, and then the world seemed to lurch beneath him with an intense racket that sent his head reeling.
When the ringing in his head finally stopped, he opened his eyes. Blinking, he sat up and looked around. He was outside. 'Where's Ethan? He was right behind me!' The Electrike looked back at the entrance. It was completely sealed off by the huge boulder. 'No...he couldn't be...' "Ethan?" he breathed.
Nanuluk approached the blocked entrance. "ETHAN!" he yelled. The Electrike pricked his ears and listened for a response. Tiny movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking down at the ground, he watched a small trickle of red seep out from underneath the boulder. It moved very slowly along the ground, staining the ground in its wake. Nanuluk took a horrified step back, his blood turning to ice. 'NO!'
Everything blurred as his eyes watered. Hot tears slid down his face as Nanuluk squeezed his eyes shut. 'Why Ethan? Of everybody here, why did he have to be the one to die? Why couldn't a bad pokémon have died instead?' Ethan...who was always so ridiculously happy and optimistic...the one who always tried to cheer him up...the only thing good about this wretched place...was gone. The Rattata's nonstop chattering would never be heard, again. 'And the last time he ever said anything...was to encourage me. I won't ever be able to tell him what that means to me.' "Nothing...on...earth...lasts...forever, Ethans words echoed in Nanuluk's mind.
Axel gave an angry snarl. "WASTE! ALL OF IT A COMPLETE WASTE!" the Linoone ranted. "All of those lovely star pieces...GONE! A good mine...COLLAPSED! And on top of that, the stupid rat had to go and get himself bashed in!"
The fur on Nanuluk's neck rose, his body shaking uncontrollably. "How DARE you? HOW DARE YOU?! This...is all...YOUR FAULT!"
The Electrike flung himself at the Linoone with a howl of pure rage. He sank his fangs into the right paw and felt his teeth pierce through the skin. Axel gave a shocked howl of pain, and then hurled the Electrike against the mountain. His previous injury shrieked in agony as it collided with the rough mountain exterior, and Nanuluk landed on the ground with a thud. His shoulder felt warm and sticky, but the Electrike was too dazed to look.
Axel angrily starred at his bloody paw. A savage light shone in the Linoone's seeing eye, and it narrowed until it was only a slit. The long metal claws unsheathed, glinting in the sunlight. "Fool!" the metal wearing Linoone icily hissed. "Did you really think that a little scrap of fur like you could take me? It's been an awfully long time since I've got to use these claws on a mangy brat. Now...let me show you...just what I can do with them!" Axel stalked towards him with deliberate slowness. Nanuluk wanted to run away, but tiredness had finally taken its toll on him, and he was unable to move.
Up until this point, Nanuluk had lost all fear of the Linoone. He didn't want to be afraid of him now, but it's hard to be brave when you know that metal claws are fixing to rip your flesh open. The Electrike took in the cruel, jagged claws and wished that it would be quick. 'So I really am going to die this time.' The Electrike watched the Linoone come closer and closer. He did not want this to be the last thing he saw before he died. Nanuluk looked around for something else to look at. His eyes fixed upon the sky. It had a stunningly blue hue with fluffy white clouds lazily floating by. Ironically beautiful for such a tragic day. 'I wonder if that's where I'll be soon. Or will I go all the way up to the stars?' So the Electrike watched the clouds and waited for his death.
