"He's awake!"
"OK. I'll be right there..."
"Don't try to move." A distorted voice talks directly to me. "You're badly hurt after the Houndoom hit you with his fireball while you were still partially out of phase."
Noticing that I can hear, the next thing I sense in a constant beating in my ears. It is my heartbeat, but I still don't know who is talking to me.
"Who..." I begin to stammer.
"Don't!" The voice answers. "Don't speak and keep your body relaxed. You'll be fine."
'My body...' I think to myself, as the words remind me of its existence.
'Arceus damn it!' Is the next thought I find myself having. 'Why did you have to reactivate my nerves?'
The pain is immense in some parts of my body, while I completely fail to feel others. Where my arms and legs should be, I can only feel an unpleasant tingling.
The voice I heard before begins talking again.
"You had us worry whether or not you were gon'na make it for a while there, but everything's going to be fine."
I still don't know who the voice belongs to, as it continues to explain. "You literally knocked the breath out of the Houndoom. Only thing is that the fireball you punched out of him hit you a moment later."
"Urgh." I try to speak again, as I can barely find myself able to formulate any sound at all with the air escaping my lungs.
"I said don't!" The voice scolds me immediately. "Everything and everyone is fine. You rescued us all. Nina's, Tolan and Cari are all here. Even the fire fang you used to take me out is slowly wearing off."
Everything that happens starts rushing back to me, but I don't have time to think about it when ground below me jerks, distracting me and adding onto the already immense pain.
"Damn!" The voice apparently belonging to Treek says again. "There must have been something on those stupid tracks again."
'Tracks...' I repeat the word in my mind. 'So we must have managed to escape.'
Apparently reading my thoughts, Treek continues. "Yes. We did manage to escape in the train as it left Kossary. And I think we managed to shake off any pursuers."
"It all happened very fast, but Nina was the one who actually rescued you and dragged you the remaining distance to get on the train, while Antar, that's the name of the Houndoom, must have thought he actually killed you as he didn't even try to stop her before it was too late."
"As a matter of fact: you weren't breathing when you finally got here."
Everything starts coming back and I remember the voice I heard at the start of my journey. It told me that I ~wasn't done yet~.
'I assume that has something to do with me being the Holder.' I think to myself, knowing that there couldn't be a more boring explanation, but also knowing that I won't be able to figure out what it meant since I have no idea whose voice that was. And due to the state of my body, I decide not to think about it for the time being.
"We were able to bring you back with some of the supplies Nina was able to get her paws on. She actually managed to get ahold of a bunch of Sitrus berries, so despite the state of your body, you should find yourself back to full health in a matter of one or two days."
'Good to hear.' I think as a response, while I'm not able to open my mouth to actually say so.
Some time passes, during which Tolan, Cari and Nina each take their time to talk to me, to either tell me how stupid is was of me to risk my life to safe them while still mostly thanking me for actually doing so.
Nina especially is quite surprised that I went to the trouble of rescuing her instead of just taking Cari and leaving her behind.
"You could have escaped without getting yourself hurt..." She says gratefully. "But you chose not to leave me behind, just to almost die because of that decision."
Cari is just as thankful, but portrays her emotions by mostly crying into my ear while carefully petting my head.
"Thank you." She says before pausing to sniffle for a moment. "It was so scary. - I though he was going to eat me. *sniff*"
Since Tolan was already on the train when everything went down, his response isn't about thanking me, and instead focuses of what he thinks of me after that stunt.
"I'm really proud of you, dad." He explains to me. "When I grow up, I want to be just as courageous as you."
When it is finally Treek's turn to speak with me, not a single word falls at first. I'm still not able to open my eyes, leaving me to wonder about his presence.
"Sorry." His voice finally begins to snivel after a while. "I just never learn. - I was going to make the same mistake again."
The others seem to be puzzled by his act, as I can hear a barely audible "huh" muffled by the constant rattling of the train.
"I wish..." He begins anew. "I wish I could finally understand what it feels like."
He sniffs again and start having troubles talking as he continues. "I... I just... I just hope you can find it in your head to forgive me again, even if your heart won't be able to share the opinion."
I am deeply moved and I try to respond in any way I can. I want to try and carefully touch his arm or leg. I want to tell him that it's OK and nothing went wrong this time. Or maybe just give him a nod.
I wish I could see his face, but all I can do is simply continue lying where I am, when something inside of me finally gives in and provides me with the strength to open my mouth.
"It's..." I begin and can hear shuffling, probably resulting from Treek moving closer towards my head as to better understand me.
"...OK." I cut my sentence short as the strain I'm putting my mouth and neck under is already starting to take its toll and everything begins to hurt like hell again.
The whimpering sets back in, as I can feel a tear drop on my stomach. However, it could just as well be something else or nothing at all, because with almost all my senses oversaturated with pain, it is quite difficult to tell the difference.
Silence settles back in and I must have fallen asleep, because when I wake up I finally find myself able to open my eyes and move my mouth without being stopped by the massive amounts of pain still overwhelming me.
'The Sitrus berries must be working.' I explain to myself, as I blink my eyes a couple of times and finally manage to focus my eyes on my surroundings.
It is fairly dark where I am and no sky is visible. But looking around what little of a viewing angle I have, I can see a door that is letting some moonlight fall into the room I'm in.
I know where I am; at least I suspect to know. Treek told me that we managed to escape, so I assume I'm inside one of the train wagons we had originally planned to escape on.
Relieve settles in as I am able to hear the constant rattling of the wagon on the rails underlined with my heavy heartbeats. Usually, the constant movement and forces pulling on my body would make me sick, but all things considered, I actually feel pretty fine right now.
Still though, it is dark and I can't manage to get my arms to move. They don't tickle anymore, like they did the last time I was conscious, but I start to get worried because I can't see any of the others.
'They should all be here.' I think to myself while looking back out through the open door of the wagon.
Even though it is dark, the moonlight is shining from far above and I can see the terrain flying by. The train is currently passing through a dense pine forest, but not knowing how long we've already travelled for, I don't know which one. And without the ability to move, I can't go outside to take a closer look.
Not actually in pain, I try to fall asleep again when I suddenly hear a voice next to my head.
"Not the greatest of views, huh?" It talks to me.
It is Nina, but considering I can't move my head, I hadn't noticed her before she decided to speak up. And knowing I'd have trouble to respond to her, she moves into my view and sends me a look before staring out through the door like I did before.
I follow her with my eyes since who appear to be my bodies only muscle that I can move. Or rather should move, since I know that I shouldn't even try to move any of my muscles and instead give my body a fighting chance in recovery.
Nina sits lies down and supports her head with her front legs while continuing to stare outside. I don't know if she is expecting me to respond to what she said, but I am reminded of our intimate talk I had with her two nights ago.
Lying on my stomach, I can't see a lot of her from my point of view and can definitely only see a small portion of the terrain. After all: this is no passenger cart. It's an empty cargo wagon headed for someplace far away from Corasona.
The thought that we actually made it out hadn't crossed my mind yet, but then again we didn't make it out without getting detected.
Memories of our encounter with the Houndoom rush back as the events start replaying themselves in my mind's eye.
I was extremely careless in my approach, especially when I attacked Treek. Because by incapacitating him I threw away the possibility of him helping me in my endeavors. But then again, the Orb would have run out even faster if it would have had to distribute its energy between the two of us.
Lost in thought I find my mind slipping away in to the world of dreams, only to be hindered from reaching its goal when Nina starts talking again.
She is still talking with a clear and crisp voice without actually looking at me. And with her only visible from the corner of my eye I had already forgotten about her being there.
"You saved my life today." She begins, still staring out into the darkness.
From my point of view, I can see still only see the pine trees flying by, as start to wonder if there is something to darkness that only a dark type can see. After all: this is her terrain and from an evolutionary stand point, her time to shine. But even more though I am surprised about the sudden change of topic.
After some more time passes, she turns back towards me and our eyes meet. I don't know if she wanted to check if I'm still awake or if she was going to do something different if they weren't opened, but they are and our eyes make contact before she finally continues to talk.
"And today wasn't even the first time."
Her blank eyes are staring at me and I am confused that such emotionless eyes can belong to someone as emotional as her. In contrast to myself she is a being purely lead by its emotions, without the ability to think on its own without some instinct taking apart in her decision.
After a while of staring into her eyes, I finally notice that they are in fact portraying an emotion. They are not emotionless; they are blank. The poor fox doesn't know what to feel. She doesn't understand why I saved her. Because even though it was also Cari's life that I had rescued, I hope that I would have done the same if it was just Nina who was in trouble.
Immediately after I connect the dots, she breaks the contact and stares back out into the wilderness passing by, as if out of fear from my reaction.
I try to follow her but she is still sitting on the outside of my peripheral vision. And finally remembering that I should in fact be able to talk again, I try to strain my vocal cords to begin speaking to her.
It is hurting a bit as I begin, but with the Sitrus already flooding my body with their juices for some time now, I surprise myself by how little doing so is actually hurting me.
"You..." I being, still speaking very weakly. "You have no debt to me."
Nina turns towards me and all the emptiness in her eyes is gone. They are filled with anxiety and joy about me being able to react while carrying the longing to hear me speak more words for her.
"Cyder..." She whispers while her eyes look like they are getting bigger.
The moment I finished my first sentence she stopped looking at the terrain and dropped down in front of me, allowing me to look at her without any troubles.
"You saved my life too... twice." I continue to talk, still with a shaky voice and trying to suppress the urge of swallowing, since doing so would surely cause me a lot of pain, seeing how my body is still far away from being fully regenerated.
My injuries have truly been severe and I can't say that I would have look forward to my escape if I knew that this was going to be the state I would be in. Even though my body will recover over time, I feel like I came too close to dying today. And if it wasn't for the pain I'm still feeling, I'd be certain that this was all just my dying dream.
"When did I safe your life?" She asks confusedly. "If it hadn't been for me, Antar would have never been looking around Kossary. - He wasn't looking for you; he was looking for me. He must have suspected me to disguise my way through the fence and get out of Otheria on a train."
Before I can try to speak again, I see the wagon lighting up from a small candle light. I don't have to think twice whose it is, seeing how Cari should still be wearing her brace, leading me to conclude that it is Tolan who has summed his flame.
But I am surprised when I see that it actually is Cari carrying the light as she walks into my field of view, carrying the flicking candle without her brace anywhere to be seen.
"Dad." She whispers, walking up to Nina who is stands up as she arrives.
"How are you feeling?" She asks as I notice her holding a blood soaked scarf in her left paw.
"Are you cold? Are you hot? Do you want something to eat?"
Remembering my newfound ability to speak, I decide to her an answer. "No... Nothing."
Looking at Nina, Cari starts talking only to her. "I'm going to wake the others. They'll be glad that Cyder's finally conscious again."
I start to wander what she means by finally, but I satisfy myself by thinking that she only refers to being glad about me having healed to the point where I can talk.
Distracting myself from the burning in my back, I watch her walking out of view while I connect the hints that were already given to me.
'The blood in the scarf must be mine.' I start thinking. 'They probably used it to clean up the wound which should be on my back, considering that's where it hurts the most and the fact they laid me down on my stomach.'
'They've been using Sitrus Berries, meaning I should be back up on my feet in practically no time, since those can speed up healing enough to even regenerate the worst damages in less than twenty-four hours.'
I can see Treek and Tolan coming into view, followed by Cari and Nina escorting them.
Tolan yawns while Treek suppresses the urge and lies down on his stomach a meter in front of my face before starting to speak to me.
"I see you're awake again, dude." He begins. "You had us worried there for a while. We thought we had lost again you when you stopped responding yesterday."
"Yesterday?" I think out loudly, instantly regretting the action as my raw throat is overwhelmed with the urge to cough.
Doing my best to suppress the urge while squeezing my eyes, I can hear Treek ordering Nina to grab another Sitrus for me.
I can hear paws shuffling over the metal floor before I open my eyes again and repeat my question, this time taking care to spare my lungs from the abuse I put them through a moment ago.
"Yesterday?" I ask again, still speaking with a rough voice.
"Yes man." Treek responds while he looks past me, probably checking up on Nina's progress in procuring the berry.
"You've been out for more than a day." While receiving something I can only assume to be the promised Sitrus Berry from Nina, he continues after standing up to his knees and inching towards me.
"You had us worried you might never wake up again." He repeats himself as I willingly open my mouth and can feel the sweet aroma of the Berry spread through my mouth.
"You do know who you are and who we are, right? No lost memories or something like that?"
'How am I supposed to know if I lost memories.' I think to myself in an annoyed, imaginary tone. 'If I knew I lost a memory, it wouldn't be lost but simply not available.'
"Treek." I say as an answer to his question, indicating that I remember his name.
"Cyder." I continue while closing my eyes, indicating that I wasn't referring to anyone of them.
"Cari." I say after opening them again and looking at my daughter.
"To*cough*" I try to answer while looking at the other Cyndaquil, but fail to complete the word when a sudden urge to cough pops up and interrupts my speech, leaving me with an even more painful stinging in by chest.
"Shh." Treek begins anew. "Take it easy. - You could have just said ~no~ instead of coughing your blood everywhere."
I open my eyes again, as I held them closed while the coughing urge had its hold on me. And opening them again, I can see small, scattered sprinkles of blood on the floor and Treek's legs as he was standing in front of me.
Cari is offering him the bloody scarf I saw her holding before, but he rejects and instead proceeds to lean down to help me get an un-eaten chunk of the Sitrus back into my mouth. And again, I willingly open up to feel the sweet taste spread over my tongue and instantly start calming my nerves.
Treek finally accepts the scarf and cleans up the blood from his ankles before starting to talk to me again.
"Try not to say more than one word at a time for now." Be begins, now facing me again. "I know you probably have a lot of questions on your mind, but if you want to express them, try to speak slowly and make sure you don't forget to take pauses to give your voice a change to relax."
During a short moment of silence, he sits himself down, followed by Tolan, Cari and Nina talking seats next to him.