Pokémon World Online
Part 29: The Reluctant Return
Disclaimer: I don't own the usual stuff. You should know that by now. Holy cow, 29 parts. Next part will be 30 o.o that's the most I have EVER written for anything ever ; Yes, that was in need of two evers. This part is dedicated to all those fic writers who have stuck with their work for the long haul. I salute you guys.
ooo
A slash of clawed hand. A Cold smirk on full lips and flash of sharp teeth underneath. Sweet, sweet voice filling her ears with vicious flow of words, "I love you, why did you kill me?"
Aura yelped quietly trough her nightmare and her eyes snapped open as she sat upright from her place of sleep. She breathed heavily and hugged her knees close to her, trying to push the nightmare away. That was in the past and this was the future. She managed to calm herself and her sleep mutterings didn't appear to have wakened anyone.
Aura thought she was the first awake as she opened her eyes and noticed the party around her still asleep. Twilmer was curled next to a rock and beside Victoria. Sparia slept soundly at her own side. Emily23 and Bunneary were close by, Trellaine was snoozing on the ground near Twilmer, and Drix had fallen asleep leaning against a rock. Aura then noticed she was short one herbalist as she noticed the Vileplume snoozing by itself. She stood and looked around. She then noticed the herbalist near a dead tree, gazing up at the long, gnarled branches. She strode over to him, startling him by the sound her boots made on the stone. "Oh, hi," Helium smiled with a wave.
"Hi there," Aura greeted. No matter how long she had been traveling with the herbalist, his choice of pink robes still greatly amused her. She rolled her shoulders and nearly gasped in pain.
"What's wrong?" Helium asked in a voice full of concern.
"My muscles are so tight from sleeping on the ground, and the wounds don't help any," Aura groaned. The pain sensors connected to this game had gotten too advanced. Then an evil idea popped into her head. "Mind giving me a hand with them?" she asked slyly.
"What do you mean?" Helium asked, and then blushed as Aura walked close to him and turned her back to him and took her shirt off. "Aura?" he asked unsure of himself.
"If you could redress my wounds for me," she grinned slyly, looking back at the boy over her shoulder and enjoying the look of embarrassment on the poor boy's face.
"Umm, well, I suppose I can," Helium mumbled nervously, getting some healing herbs from his bag.
"Also, if you wouldn't mind giving me a shoulder massage while your back there," Aura said slyly, causing Helium to drop his bag of herbs.
"Umm, I..." Helium was speechless, picking his herbs back up, and with shaking hands, half-heartedly massaged Aura's shoulders. He grabbed a bottle of potion and used it in combination with his herbs to massage her wounds gently. He wasn't very good and whenever he went over the wounds, she would wince slightly, but keep her composure and manage not to call out. If this had been Helium, he would have called out a long time ago, but then again he tended to be a bit more emotional than most guys...and apparently girls as well judging from Twilmer and Aura. "I wish I was as strong as you," Helium remarked when he had finished the massage and began to wrap the wounds in herb treated bandages.
"No you don't," Aura sighed, closing her eyes. "I've been through a lot to get where I am. I wouldn't wish my burdens on anyone." She picked up a pebble form the ground and began to move it through her fingers absentmindedly. "I just hope you'll never have to experience some of the pains I've gone through." Aura stood when her bandages were done being fixed and cleared her throat as she slid her shirt and vest back on. "Come on kid, let's head back." Helium nodded, glad to be out of the awkward situation.
ooo
"Yes, more ramen please. No, no horses are allowed," Twilmer muttered in her sleep. She had a bad habit for talking in her sleep, which used to get her in trouble when she was younger. "34 farms in my yard's enough," Twilmer muttered. Aura looked over at her amused as she and Helium arrived back at the camp.
Beside her, Victoria's paws were moving and her face was twitching as if she were running and fighting. Just another sign of how similar the two really were. "Wea," Victoria muttered.
"Aura, more to the left," Twilmer muttered. Aura jerked and looked at the sleeping grace master, who had rolled over and was dangerously close to crushing Victoria underneath her. "That's worth 10 dollars," Twilmer snorted and curled into a little ball. Aura snickered and looked over at Helium who looked very confused.
"Yes, Aura, I love you too, now hand me some gravy." Twilmer snorted again and her breathing began to quicken. Her eyes sprung open and she sat up. "That was a strange dream," she commented to herself sleepily as she was about to lie back down.
"Enlighten me," Aura commented, scaring Twilmer, who jumped. She cursed slightly as she stood. "Such a graceful grace master," Aura teased. Twilmer gave her an extremely dirty look. "Anyways, the dream?" Aura demanded more than asked.
"My dream? Well, it was strange, Jeffery, my butler, wanted to have a ramen party, but he kept trying to invite these horses, so I told him to buy farms for them if he wanted them so badly. Well, I invited you guys, and you offered to give me a Pichu tattoo. Then we had steak and I asked you to pass me the gravy." Twilmer concluded simply.
"Uh-huh, yeah, I don't think that that was everything," Aura smirked, teasing the poor admin. Twilmer cleared her throat as she blushed, but didn't say anything.
"Mind if I go and practice for a bit before the others wake up?" she asked, suddenly not wanting to be with the group.
"Be our guest," Aura nodded.
"Victoria, what do you say to a little practice?" Twilmer asked with a yawn. Practice seemed like a good way to get her mind off of things as her head was swimming with thoughts of Dream, Arceus, and everything that had been happening recently. She tried to will the thoughts away, but they kept returning with a vengeance... Victoria grinned and nodded. The two took off, jumping agilely about the mountain from rock to rock, meeting claw and staff when their paths crossed. Twilmer felt at complete bliss as her thoughts ebbed away and she concentrated solely on where the next rock was and where her next foot hold should be. Twilmer slowed and came to a stop, feeling better after finally being able to practice her grace master moves again. "I've still got it," Twilmer grinned cockily.
Ooo
The sunrise was beautiful and the Ho-oh chick added his two cents about his appreciation as he cawed loudly and noisily, awaking the party members that had still been asleep. "Morning already?" Emily23 groaned as she sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Orange anyone?" Trellaine offered as he sat up, holding out his shoulder for the Ho-oh chick to land on.
Drix opened one eye as he heard the party stir. He grunted. "You know, SOME people still like to sleep," Drix said. He definitely wasn't a morning-person.
"What we disturbed your beauty sleep?" Aura asked with a smirk and her hands on her hips. Drix merely grunted and turned back over to try and recapture sleep.
"This won't do. We'll never leave if he goes back to sleep," Twilmer groaned, and then got a brilliant idea. "Hey Max, how about you wake this bloke up?" Max yawned and fired a water gun at Drix.
Drix jumped up with a yell and stared daggers at Twilmer. "I'm so getting you for that." Drix pulled out his sword; however a grumble from his stomach stopped him. "I'm getting you after breakfast." He narrowed his eyes as he took an orange from Trellaine. Twilmer gave Drix a very rude gesture with her right hand. He merely grunted as he took a bite from the citrus fruit.
ooo
After breakfast had been eaten, Twilmer pulled out the warp stone and prayed to Arceus. She heard a chime sound and the stone glowed slightly. She had figured this would work. The stone had been blessed and would take them to the place where they had warped into Firewall, which meant Greensboro. "Ready guys?" Twilmer asked as she held the stone.
"Time to take that psycho bitch down," Drix swung his sword around before putting into his hilt, very gracefully Twilmer noted.
"About fucking time," Aura smirked, giving her own display with her katanas, wincing slightly in pain.
"Here you go," Helium handed her some herbs. "For your wounds," he elaborated.
"Thanks," Aura smirked, taking them from him.
"Let's get this show on the road," Emily23 bounced up and down eagerly while twirling her pole, Bunneary bouncing beside her.
"Alright then." Twilmer took off her pendant and stashed it into her inventory. PWO Corp didn't know she had been given her true form back and she intended to keep them ignorant in this department. She detested becoming a Pichu again, especially after the lovely training session she had just had, but it had to be done. "Everyone ready?"
"I'm not," Trellaine replied simply. The group looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Twilmer asked irritated; however her recent reinstatement as a Pichu made her much less threatening.
"I've decided to stay here and keep an eye on things. I'm not planning on building an army or anything like that, but I would like to study why this place of all areas was chosen to harbor the glitch," Trellaine said as he scratched the Ho-oh Chick under its chin.
"You sure? We could really use you." Aura looked over at him, but could tell his mind was set.
"I think you guys are more than able to take care of yourselves. I do wish you luck," Trellaine waved. "Oh, and Twilmer," he tossed her a small orb, "use that if you ever need me." Before Twilmer could ask how, the mage had teleported away.
"Hacker," Twilmer muttered as she examined the orb and put it into her inventory. She had to admit that she would miss her old friend even as annoying as he was. "Alright, is anyone else staying?"
"I'll be here for you this time," Helium said softly causing Twilmer to blush.
"Just get on with it," Drix groaned.
"Fine then. Everyone grab a hold of me like before," Twilmer said. She produced the warp stone and everyone got a hold of the tiny, pudgy Pichu. They spun around and when Twilmer next opened her eyes, she had to shut them once more. They were standing in the bright sunlight of the grassy field right outside the town where Ken Sugimori had chased them down. "It's now or never!" Twilmer punched her little fist into the air.
"Let's get that bitch," Drix said eagerly.
ooo
End Part 29
Short, but it gets us to the next part
