Note: Here it is! Part 2 of Chapter 9. I needed to do some research for names here and I would very much like to thank Jordan-TheFox for helping with the names. Also, thanks a lot for the reviews. They were just what I needed to continue writing!
Arashi's POV:
Things were starting to clear up now out here in the open space, I never felt so happy, so joyful, so... free.
I stole a glance at Umi, who swam slowly behind me. I couldn't help but smile to the fact that it was she who had allowed me to come along.
I wanted to speak to her to break the silence yet my shyness prevented me from doing so.
I finally decided to break the ice and asked her, "Where do you think we should stay, Umi?"
"I'm fine with any place as long as I'm with you," she replied.
I don't know if she's doing this on purpose, but if she is, she's definitely doing a good job of making me as uncomfortable as possible as my face was already burning.
We spent the whole day swimming through the pristine blue ocean. The reflection of light after passing through the rippling ocean currents made Umi sparkle like the Sapphire I was going to give her... Oh! I had almost forgotten! I've had it with me ever since I've left my tribe but failed to give it to her... I wonder if it is even time to do so...
Soon, the dark spell of dusk had fallen upon us. By that time, I had managed to find a suitable place for us to spend the night. I had found a spot secluded from the harsh ocean currents, soft warm sand dotted the seabed along with the healthy green glow of seaweed to cushion us in our sleep.
"Well, Umi... what do you think?" I eagerly asked.
Her face seemed to light up upon hearing my voice.
"Oh, it's wonderful," she complimented as she coiled her tail around mine.
I slightly turned red after she had done so. I don't know how she's able to make me feel really uncomfortable just like that.
She suddenly noticed what she was doing and, in a fit of embarrassment, quickly pulled her tail back.
"Erm... Well... Uh... Sorry!" Umi stammered, obviously showing that she was also embarrassed by her actions too.
She slowly laid down right next to me, which slightly unnerved me. She didn't seem to notice and rested her head on my body, which I couldn't help but smile a little.
Maybe... I should give it to her now?
No! What was I thinking... Not yet, she might suspect something if I do so right now...
You'll have to tell her sooner or later, Kip's voice rang in my head.
I sighed. I tried to muster all my courage. It took about ten minutes for me to muster enough courage to open my mouth and speak.
"Umi?" I asked, avoiding her eyes and looking upwards.
I slowly continued, "Well... There's something I want to tell you."
"Yes?" she smiled, apparently blushing a little too.
"Well... Uh... I wanted to g-give you something..." the words hopelessly sailed out of my mouth.
At that moment, I began clumsily searching for the small blue gem. I hated the fact that whenever she made me nervous, I somehow managed to look like a cluttering fool in front of her.
All of a sudden, a screech-like sound rang out and shattered my eardrums.
"There, that's what he looked like!" a voice hastily boomed, "That's the one who kidnapped my son!"
By now, Umi and I were alerted to the fact that we were not alone, and from what the voices were saying, this might not be good company.
A Huntail hastily swam up to us; the Huntail launched himself forward attacking Umi with a Crunch attack.
I was worried upon seeing her injured. I had to do something! I tried to fight back but the other Huntail had already dispatched me with a Confuse Ray attack.
After the odd ray had hit me, everything became a blur. The whole world was a mix of colors and I could not even differentiate who was who.
I had one chance. I would risk my strongest attack. If it hit, we would be saved; however, if it missed, things would go bad... very bad.
I lunged forward and used an attack that I rarely ever used: Thrash. I thrashed about and, because I was still confused, hit something rough and... hard.
The last thing I heard was Umi crying out to me for help, but I had soon passed out after the concussion.
I slowly stirred awake, there was an awful pain in my head and my body felt sore after all that.
Everything was still a blur, but it slowly faded. When I soon came to my senses, I quickly surveyed the area.
I was in a bright and spacious cavern; the cavern had numerous holes as though the cavern was a combination of numerous internal chambers of a coral bed.
I tried to lift my body and swim out, but just as I moved, a searing pain shot through my body.
It must've been because of the Thrash attack that missed, I thought.
I lay down on the rough and sandy floor to ease the pain. I hope nothing like this happened to Umi... Umi! No! That Huntail better not touch her! I don't care what I have to give to keep her safe, even my life.
After the pain faded, I immediately shot upwards and began to swim out the cavern.
"Halt," a voice called out.
I turned around and immediately recognized the speaker, however distant, to be a Gorebyss... a female one to be precise.
Gorebyss had long bodies that were mostly pink in coloration, their lips curve together to make a sharp beak-like mouth, they also had an upper fin and lower fin bringing about a resemblance to a Huntail's tail and they also had a purple tail, which bore a resemblance to the fin on a Huntail's head. Gorebyss are also known to thrive in Southern Seas though I had no clue of our present location.
"What?" I asked, feeling embarrassed with such a short and informal response.
"My son," she sternly said, "was kidnapped by that Milotic you were with!"
She had yelled quite ferociously with an accusing glare that pierced my eyes. However, seeing that this could just be a misunderstanding, I decided not to argue yet and explain it to her instead.
"No, you must be mistaken," I assured, trying to defend Umi.
"My husband saw everything with his own eyes!" she spat angrily, "Are you denying everything my husband saw? Tell me the location of my son, and you might not suffer the same fate as he!"
He? I thought, This must be it! This could be the contradiction that I could use to turn the whole situation against her! Noting that she never saw the crime herself, she will not be able to defend herself with no such evidence against my claim!
"Um..." I started, "you never saw the Milotic firsthand, have you?"
She firmly shook her head, "No."
"Then how'd you know it was a he and not a she for my partner, erm- friend is actually a girl," I explained, "and since you have not witnessed the crime yourself, you have no right to accuse her of such actions without at least hearing her out!"
"LIES!" she yelled, her temper probably reaching boiling point already, "I cannot trust your words, for you are an ally of the kidnapper. Therefore, I owe you no more mercy, only destruction."
Crud! Just what I wanted, another battle... Who knew parents could be so unreasonable when they have problems concerning their children. Still, I better be thankful that this was just a Gorebyss... Back at my tribe, a fellow Gyarados had lost her child and went on a four week rampage, the sight after she had calmed down was not... very pretty...
I quickly tried to escape; I was so close to one of those holes...
And somehow I stopped, my body was being held in a definite area, I couldn't move any direction no matter how much I tried. I turned around to see that the Gorebyss had blocked my escape with an attack called Psychic.
"I have no time for this! I have to find Umi!" I cursed to myself.
I quickly retaliated with a Stone Edge, however, the Gorebyss gracefully dodged the powerful yet inaccurate attack.
"First you aid in taking away my son, now you dare fight back!" she angrily scorned while launching a Water Pulse attack.
The Water Pulse attack, although not very effective to my kind, managed to confuse me which minimized my chances of escaping.
I had to strike back, I just had to. I immediately tried to launch another Stone Edge attack even though I was confused. I didn't know if I had successfully hit her until I heard a groan from her. Finally! A lucky break, if only I could just escape...
Before I could do anything, I was hit hard with Psychic again. Thankfully, I snapped out of my confusion and struck back with my Waterfall attack.
Although it was not very effective, my odds of winning were becoming quite evident. However, she turned the tides when several Gorebyss and Huntail surrounded and outnumbered me. Things were looking bad as they closed in on me. Then, I suddenly struck an idea. I slowly waited for any of the opponents to draw closer. When they finally came crowding around, I quickly shoved one of them, a Huntail apparently, to block one of the Gorebyss's attacks and it started a riot or confusion among them. While they were busy fighting in such a small space, I quietly slipped out.
I swam as far as I could, only stopping after reaching a considerable distance to recover from the battle I just had. I hoped that Umi was okay... I couldn't bear the thought of her in such a dangerous situation.
I surveyed my surroundings and easily identified it as the location Umi and I were attacked. I quickly scooped up my important belongings (especially the gift) and began to ponder on my next move.
I looked down at the blue gem and sighed.
Will I ever see you again, Umi? I thought.
I shook my head out of such painful thoughts; I shouldn't be wasting time sulking when I could be finding her right now.
I paced back and forth, thinking of where she could possibly be, but then I heard the faint sound of a child crying.
I followed the sound over to a rock in an unnoticed corner of the reef; there I found a small injured Clamperl.
Clamperl were mainly small Pokémon. Their bodies consist of two halves of a shell to protect their soft flesh inside, atop their flesh lie a single pearl which is where their face is located. Clamperl also have numerous scratches on their five-ridged shell to determine how old one is.
I approached the little thing; however it quickly noticed my presence.
"Who's there?" the Clamperl yelled.
"I-I'm just here to help!" I tried to convince the terrified Clamperl.
The young Clamperl apparently didn't trust me and, in a nervous frenzy, jumped up at me and Clamped onto my scaly flesh.
I yelped in pain, but (sometime later) I managed to shake him off without hurting him.
It took a while, but I managed to calm him down and heal some of his injuries.
"So..." I began to ask, "are you lost?"
The Clamperl nodded, well... at least slightly considering the heavy shell that covered his body.
"Well," he began to explain, "some Milotic attacked me after thrashing about the area.
"I was injured and wanted to escape but he had beat me up real badly which hindered my attempts to move. He was about to leave me after seeing my dad come after him, but he muttered to himself about using me to blackmail dad into cooperating with his search for someone named Umi.
"Later, however... I managed to escape while he was careless and ended up here without my parents." he ended, teary-eyed.
I froze upon hearing his tale. A Milotic... searching for Umi... Could it be that Arr-, what's his name? Armik! Could it be that Milotic Umi disliked so much? No... It's too early to imply, I barely even know the guy.
"You must have been through a lot," I whispered, trying to comfort the little guy.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a thought struck me.
"Say," I began to ask, "do your parents happen to be a Huntail and a Gorebyss?"
Clamperl, Huntail and Gorebyss all belong in the same evolutionary family. A Clamperl is able to evolve into either Huntail or Gorebyss upon exposure to a DeepSeaTooth or DeepSeaScale respectively. So, the logical conclusion would be that this Clamperl could be the "kidnapped" son!
The young child looked puzzled but nodded in confirmation.
I knew it! If I brought him back to the Gorebyss I had met earlier, I might be able to clear Umi's name and put her out of any danger!
I made a friendly gesture to the Clamperl, "I could take you back to your parents, I met them earlier!"
The young child's face brightened up, "Really?"
"Yeah," I answered, "but I need your help in clearing the name of my friend, whom they have accused of kidnapping you..."
The Clamperl sighed apologetically, "I see... Mom and Dad are always like that, I guess it's just because they care for me... I hope you understand..."
I nodded. I understood how parents feel about their children.
Speaking of which, dad's probably worried about you!
I shook my head. No, no matter what, I will not turn back.
After some preparations, I escorted the young Clamperl back to the cavern. Upon arriving, some Gorebyss and Huntail immediately took notice and immediately started to attack me.
They apparently thought I was holding the little guy hostage. They all launched Ice Beams at me, which I had no choice but to counter with a well-timed Aqua Tail.
Suddenly, the Gorebyss that I had battled finally emerged from the commotion of the other Gorebyss and Huntail.
"Hagamuri!" she cried with joy.
"Mom!" the small Clamperl returned her reply and swam off to her.
After mother and son had reunited, the Gorebyss regained her composure and looked towards my direction.
"You have fooled me," she said angrily, "you ran away claiming you didn't know anything and now you come here sailing with my son. Coincidence? I think not."
Uh-oh, things don't seem to be looking good for me, all the other Gorebyss and Huntail were also staring straight at me charging their attacks.
"STOP!" a voice yelled.
Everyone froze, and turned around in a puzzled manner wondering who had said that. But the one most puzzled was the Gorebyss mother.
"Hagamuri," she asked her son, "what is the meaning of this?"
Mother and son were soon locked in a discussion; I couldn't hear anything through the barely audible whispers.
The Gorebyss sighed and blushed red in humiliation.
She turned towards me and said, "I'm so very sorry about my behaviour to you. I must thank you though, for rescuing my son. Is there any way I may compensate for my rude behaviour?"
"That's okay," I eagerly replied, "But may I ask, where my part- I mean, friend is?"
The Gorebyss gravely replied, "I'm sorry, but she is currently with my husband. You see, he doesn't have a good temper..."
I began to worry, "What do I do then?"
"If we hurry," she answered, "We might be able to make it in time to save your mate."
I blushed what she said.
"Um... We're just friends," I shyly corrected her.
Her eyes twinkled upon hearing me shyly deny what she said.
"Well, there's always such a thing as first impressions," she smiled slyly, "and know that first impressions may factor more than just a prediction for the future."
I blushed even harder but dismissed it quickly.
"Can you lead the way to her? Please! We don't have much time," I pleaded, bringing her back to her seriousness.
We both swam out hurriedly.
Umi was at stake here. I have to get to her...
Wait for me... I'll be there for you, Umi... Just wait...
Note: And that's it for Chapter 9. Poor Arashi, he doesn't know that Umi's not in danger anymore, does he? He's stressing himself over nothing. Either way, I'm still trying to think on what to write for Chapter 10, I don't know if I'm gonna continue Umi and Arashi's story or what's happening back at the Milotic and Gyarados tribes. Suggestions for chapter 10 will be very much appreciated. Hope you all had fun reading this chapter, it was quite difficult to right. Don't forget to leave a review, however short. I love opinions. Seeya then~