Chapter 10 – Buried Treasure

"Have you secured it?"

"No, I'm sorry. Some others interfered…"

"I see. Continue your attempts, and do not let them suspect anything. I must have it, I have waited too long for it to slip away once again…"

"Affirmative."

"End connection."

.

Unless you've been helpless and at the mercy of a hungry predator, you have never been truly afraid.

The Staravia hopped toward me. I stared at it with wide eyes, my throat suddenly dry. "Um, nice bird…"

It stopped a few feet away from me and stared at me for several long moments. Then it attacked.

I gave a muffled scream as the Staravia stabbed its beak into my back. Burying my face in the grass and shutting my eyes, I tried to ignore the agony, but didn't succeed, instead sobbing and writhing in pain as it ripped repeatedly at my exposed back. I covered my head and the back of my neck with my arms, knowing that I couldn't let it get to my throat.

Then it stopped, leaving only a throbbing pain in my back. I opened my eyes in confusion, lifting my face, which I now realized was stained with tears.

The Staravia was looking down at me, its beak stained red with my blood. Staring up at it, I whimpered pitifully, wondering why it had stopped and knowing that considering it was still there, I wouldn't like the answer.

"S-stop, please," I begged, not even knowing if it could understand me. It apparently didn't, because it gave no reaction.

After a moment, I spotted something a few feet away. It was a tree, raised partially above the ground, with roots forming a cage-like structure under it. Immediately I brightened, thinking that if I could get under it I would be safer. But then I moaned in despair as I realized that it was a few inches out of my reach. It would be very difficult just to get to it, and there was almost no chance of getting there before the Staravia killed me. I was tired, too, and dizzy from blood loss.

But still I tried, after all, I would definitely be killed if I didn't move, and a slim chance was better than none. Keeping my arms on the back of my neck to shield it, I started to wriggle toward the tree. I didn't go anywhere, unfortunately, but even more unfortunate was that the Staravia then nudged me with its beak, flipping me over.

I instantly realized why it had stopped. It decided that I wasn't dying quickly enough, and so had decided to go for my heart or throat, like I had figured. I quickly moved my arms to cover my chest, flinching as pressure was put on my damaged back.

The orange and black bloodstained beak flashed down, stabbing into my stomach area. I gasped, writhing, but kept my arms where they were. Next it moved to peck at my throat, but I shifted out of the way, barely dodging it.

The Staravia then bit down on one arm, hard. I gritted my teeth, struggling to keep both arms over my heart. I can't expose that area… I can live without an arm.

Then the bird-like Pokemon placed one clawed foot over me to hold me in place, while still biting down on my arm. I gasped in pain. Now, the combination of all the injuries I had sustained, plus the weight of its foot and the sharp pain in my arm, became too much. My vision became clouded, as my body went limp, utterly defeated.

No, I can't die now! I vaguely saw the Staravia let go of my arm, which fell limply to my side, followed by my other arm on my other side. The bird-like Pokemon raised its beak, stabbing toward my now exposed chest…

…And missed my heart, luckily. It still hurt, though, as it pierced through my skin once again. I screamed, writhing, and battered weakly at my attacker with one arm as it withdrew its beak. Then its foot slipped, probably on my blood, and the Staravia fell on me.

I had no time to brace myself. I gasped, trying to breathe, as it began struggling instinctually. A wing hit my face, and for a moment I had no idea where I was, there was only confusion and intense pain.

I felt a jarring thud, as my back collided with something forcefully. Collapsing to the ground and breathing heavily, I managed to analyze my surroundings after a moment. I had somehow ended up with my back against one root of the tree I had noticed earlier, the Staravia picking itself up a short distance away.

As it turned to me, I automatically wrapped one arm around the root behind me, turning myself around and, with a herculean effort fueled completely by my will to live, pulled myself between two roots and under the tree. I just barely fit, which was good, as that meant that it would be difficult for the Staravia to follow, being much larger than me.

Once I wedged myself under the tree, there was a groan from the ground underneath me, and it suddenly fell away. I cried out in alarm as I fell into darkness.

.

I groaned as I reawakened, never having been aware of falling unconscious. My entire body ached, but surprisingly I wasn't in as much pain as I should have been. I sensed that I was lying on my back, on a hard, rocky surface.

Opening my eyes, I was immediately dazzled by a bright light from above me. Quickly closing them again, I tried to assess my surroundings.

"Takumi, you're awake now. Are you alright?" The voice was inside my head. I recognized it, it was Avari's voice.

I thought for a moment, before responding. "I don't know… What happened?"

Now Kaden spoke. "We realized we'd… left you before too long, but we couldn't find you. Until we heard you screaming, then we followed your voice. There was a trail of blood, leading down here, so we came after you…"

Jirachi's voice came now. "I healed you, but I couldn't do it all the way since I wasn't completely recovered from doing it yesterday. You have scars now, and you'll probably be dizzy for a while. You lost a lot of blood, what happened?"

I processed this. "I was attacked by a Staravia. It wanted to eat me… Where are we? I went under the tree, and then…"

"We're in some sort of underground cavern." It was Yarona who answered. "It was under a tree, we had to uproot it to fit under."

"Oh." I tried to sit up, before I realized something. "Wait, my arm. Where is it?!" I can't feel my right arm!

I immediately opened my eyes, turning my head to my right. My arm was there, and unless I was mistaken, it was still connected to me. But I couldn't feel it, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't move it.

"Your arm?" Jirachi floated into my view, landing on the rocky floor next to me. "It's still there… It was bleeding pretty badly, though."

I reached over with my other arm, tapping my right one. I didn't register it at all. "Why can't I feel it?" With a feeling of growing dread, I proceeded to pound on my right arm as hard as I could, several times. Nothing.

Avari appeared now, alighting next to Jirachi. She watched me worriedly. "Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself."

I let my left arm fall back to my side. In a choked voice, I asked, "What's wrong with me?"

Jirachi glanced at my numb arm. "I don't know. I wasn't able to heal you all the way, like I said before… You can't feel it? It might be nerve damage… If it is, you probably won't be able to ever use it again, at least not as well as before."

I closed my eyes, whimpering in despair. "Then you might as well kill me now, I won't live long without it anyway. If I go back to the ocean, I'll just starve or get eaten because I can't swim."

There was a silence for a moment, before Avari answered. "Don't worry, we'll take care of you. It's our fault, we left you behind…"

"No, it's my fault, if I hadn't insisted on coming with you, it wouldn't have happened. I know I'm just slowing you all down, you should leave me here. …I don't know what I would tell Marina, anyway."

"Who?"

I opened my eyes, glancing around at the others. We were surrounded by rock, and a light shone down from above, providing just enough illumination to see by. The others watched me in curiosity, as they waited for my answer. "Marina, my friend. She's a Phione, too. I haven't seen her since that storm. I don't know if I could ever find her again, though, especially with my arm like this." I nudged my right arm with my left to prove my point, and like before I didn't feel anything.

There was a second of silence, before Kaden grinned. "Heh, so you have a girlfriend after all…"

I felt my face heat up as I processed that. "What, no, she's not…"

He sniggered. "You just turned red."

Jirachi glared at him. "Shut up, he just lost the use of his arm, too."

Kaden instantly looked contrite. "Oh, right. I'm sorry."

I sighed. "It's okay. I do like her a little, I guess…"

There was an awkward silence, as I felt myself blush again. "What? …By the way, where are we?"

Avari stared at me. "Didn't we tell you, we're under that tree?"

"Yes, but it looks like some kind of cavern… What's it doing under the tree?"

Kaden shrugged, answering. "Who knows? It's all rock, though. We've only been here for a few minutes, and already we can tell that. It's not that large."

I sat up, supporting myself on my left arm. Glancing around the small black cavern, I frowned. "But something must have made it. The tree's roots couldn't have, it's all rock." I braced myself, reaching out toward a protruding rock nearby and using it to drag myself closer to a wall. I then, as the others looked on, tapped the aforementioned wall.

The wall immediately crumbled away, sending up a cloud of dust.