Chapter 54: Cave of Dangers
Despite the fact that Firefly wasn't with them at the time everyone was in a joyous mood. Team Rocket's base in Ichis had been brought down and all the Pokémon that were held within were now free from Giovanni's tyrannical clutches.
"To be able to walk like this without having a dome over your head… oh, how I've longed for this," Ole sighed in bliss.
"Is it everything you thought it would be?" Farris asked.
"That and more," Ole said.
"Well I'm happy for you. Hopefully things will…" Farris suddenly paused and started to giggle.
"What is it?" Ole asked.
"Take a look at Houkai over there," she said, stifling a laugh. Looking ahead Ole saw the Jolteon walking alongside Firestar and Solarflare, clearly trying to hit on them.
"Think he has a chance?" Farris inquired.
"Houkai? He's nice and all, but about as smooth as sandpaper," Ole said. The two of them watched as Houkai used what he believed to be his best moves on the two Vulpix.
"You know, it's a real shame to see two lovely ladies like yourselves alone like this," he spoke. "Why don't you let me keep you company."
"I do appreciate the offer, but I'm not looking to get into a serious relationship just yet," Firestar explained. "You understand, right?"
"Oh… yeah. Of course," Houkai stammered. With Firestar shooting him down he turned his attention to Solarflare.
"How about you? Would you like to…" To his surprise she had vanished.
"Hey… where did she go?" he wondered.
"Take a look back there," Firestar said. Looking behind him Houkai was devastated to see Solarflare and Sage walking together, clearly having a good time. He hung his head in defeat.
"And lover boy strikes out again," Inferno commented.
"And here I thought I'd finally found a mate," Houkai sighed. As he moped Firestar placed a comforting paw on his back.
"Cheer up. You'll find that special someone soon enough," she said. Up towards the front of the group Indigo and Shadowfire saw what transpired and had a good laugh.
"Those two sure do know how to tease, even if they don't know they're doing it," the male Vulpix commented.
"Firefly was the same way," Indigo said.
"Was she? I didn't know she had it in her," Shadowfire remarked.
"Yeah. I wonder if she's made it to Crescent Moon Island yet?" Indigo pondered.
"If she hasn't she must be pretty close by now," Shadowfire said.
"Yeah," Indigo agreed. "Pretty soon we'll have our 'Queen' back with us."
"Then we'd better find her a proper kingdom to come home to," Shadowfire suggested. With a nod from Indigo the group continued their trek through the Ichis region.
Miles away from the Ichis mainland was a body of land known as Crescent Moon Island, a large island that housed the Pokémon Elder Council. It was here where Pokémon would be tested by the Council members in order to become royalty. It was also here that a lone Lapras carrying a special passenger was swimming.
"Hey. We're here," she said to her passenger. Orange wings unfolded to reveal the body of a six-tailed fox.
"Forgive me. I must have dozed off," Firefly apologized.
"That's quite alright. It was a long trip, after all," Lapras said. The two of them stared at the island.
"So that's Crescent Moon Island," Firefly said. "This is where my destiny has lead me." Moments later a gentle breeze blew by. Spreading her wings Firefly caught the breeze and was lifted into the air.
"Thank you for the ride, Lapras," Firefly said.
"It was my pleasure. Good luck," Lapras replied. Firefly paused to wave goodbye before flying off towards the island. As she approached the island multiple questions flooded her mind… what was the Trial of Selection like? Was she strong enough to pass it? What would happen afterwards? Within minutes she landed on the beach. Ahead of her was a lush jungle.
"Guess I have to go through this jungle to reach them," she assumed. With that Firefly entered the jungle. With any luck she'd discover the location of the Pokémon Elder Council.
As she traveled deeper into the jungle Firefly found it became more and more dense, at times blocking out the sun. Despite this she had no problem pressing on. It was almost as if an invisible force was guiding her, leading her to where she needed to be. Rather than question it she continued to traverse deeper into the jungle. She eventually came upon a cave. Peering inside she could tell it was uninhabited, and yet she could sense life within.
"Maybe… Maybe this is where I'm supposed to go next," she assumed. With the cave being as dark as it was it was a bit intimidating, but at the same time she knew she couldn't show any weakness. And so, with a deep breath, she entered the cave. She had only taken a few steps before it became incredibly dark, almost too dark for her to see even with her excellent night vision.
"This is ridiculous," she commented. "I can barely see my own paw in front of my fa…aaaaaaa!" There was no ground where she next stepped, causing her to fall down a 15-foot drop. She tried to regain her bearings, but was unable to before she hit the ground.
"D-Damn… that hurt," she groaned. She slowly got to her feet and began checking herself out to make sure she wasn't seriously injured. Everything appeared fine until she went to flap her wings. When she moved her right wing a sharp pain shot through her body.
"Crap… my right wing is messed up," she said. She didn't know to what extent, but she did know she wouldn't be able to fly until it was healed. She was about to take some time to heal when…
"There's no time. You must hurry…" She looked around for the source of the voice, but she was all alone. She couldn't place it, but something about the voice sounded familiar. She thought about trying to heal herself anyway, but decided against it.
"Guess I'll be hoofing it from here on out," she sighed. Doing her best to block out the pain she continued to walk deeper into the cave. After a few minutes she was faced with a rather steep cliff. Looking up it appeared to be close to 20 feet high. Normally she'd just fly to the top, but with her injured wing that was impossible, leaving her with only one option.
"Looks like I'm climbing," she said. Firefly always considered herself fit, but this would be a daunting task even for her. Still, she would not let this deter her. She walked up to the wall and, after finding some footholds, began climbing. At the 10 foot mark things were looking good for Firefly. That changed, though, when one of her footholds broke away from the wall, causing her to fall all the way back down. She landed on her back, further injuring her right wing. She inhaled sharply and grasped her right side, a sharp pang of pain shooting through.
"Ah, damn! If it wasn't broke before it sure as Hell is now!" she gasped. Her wing was throbbing in pain, but she still managed to rise up to her feet. Gazing at the cliff in front of her she slowly walked up to it and tried once again, this time at a much slower pace. Once she reached the 10 foot mark the pain from her wing plus her own exhaustion were beginning to take their toll on her.
"N-No… I can't give in. I must finish this," she chanted, urging herself on. Through sheer determination she continued her climb. As she neared the top her strength began to waver. Each inch felt more like a mile.
"J-Just… a little… h-higher…" she panted. Though her body ached and screamed for her to stop she forced herself on. With one final surge of strength she forced herself to the top of the cliff, collapsing in a fit of exhaustion.
"F-Finally… made it…" she gasped. Her body was running on empty and her wing was beginning to feel numb. Despite this she continued to feel something urging her on. She couldn't explain what it was, but she felt compelled to obey. With this in mind she got up and walked on, her feet dragging along the ground.
"I don't know… where this will lead… but I hope I find a place to rest soon," she panted.
Minutes after scaling the cliff Firefly came upon a rather large lake of some kind. The lake was quite wide, stretching from one side of the wall to the other and close to 20 feet from where she was standing to the other side. At first it appeared to be filled with very dirty water, but when Firefly touched it with her paw she was surprised to find that the dirty water was in fact mud.
"This is going to be messy," she commented. She was about to try and swim across when she spotted some stones that appeared to be floating on the surface. As she approached them she noticed they stretched all the way to the other side.
"Now that's what I call convenient," she said. As she stared at the stones she heard footsteps approaching from behind. Whirling around she spotted another Pokémon, a Lopunny.
"Finally! I was beginning to think I was going in circles," she complained. She then looked up and spotted Firefly. She gazed at the winged Vulpix with a look of disdain.
"Ugh… why do I always run into the freaks of the world?" the Lopunny groaned. Firefly growled. If there was one thing she hated it was being called a freak.
"I suppose you think you'll pass the test," the Lopunny said. "Well you can just forget it. When it's all said and done the name Queen Diva will be known throughout the land!" The Lopunny, obviously named Diva, glanced out across the mud pit.
"Hmph… as if this will stop me," she scoffed. Without batting an eye she leapt from the bank onto one of the stones.
"Come now! I thought this was supposed to be a challenge!" she shouted.
"Man… someone is sure of themselves," Firefly whispered. As she watched Diva leap from one stone to the next Firefly realized that she needed to get going herself. As carefully as she could she placed a paw on the first stone and eased herself onto it.
"What's wrong? You forget how to use those wings of yours?" Diva taunted. Firefly glared at her.
"She is really starting to piss me off," she growled. As she watched Diva continued to jump from one stone to the next, showing almost no effort.
"If this is the best they can throw at me I'll be Queen in no time," the Lopunny scoffed. She took one final leap and landed on the opposite bank, but in her haste she lost her footing slightly and stumbled back into the mud pit.
"Shit! And I just groomed myself too!" Diva griped. "There had better be a bath at the end of this cave or I am going to be quite cross!"
"Heh… and they say Vulpix and Ninetails are stuck-up," Firefly commented. She paused, curious to see what the Lopunny would look like once she pulled herself out of the mud. It looked like she would get her wish, but just as Diva began pulling herself out she stopped.
"H-Hey! What the Hell is going on?" she shouted. She struggled and squirmed, but nothing she did could get her out.
"There's… no way… I'm… letting… this… stop… me!" Diva grunted. She clawed at the ground, straining to get her legs out of the mud. She managed to pull one leg out, but what Firefly saw shocked her. What appeared to be a small tentacle was wrapped around Diva's leg.
"What the… Just what is the deal with this mud pit?" Firefly wondered.
"Hey! Let go of me this instant!" Diva demanded. She tried to wrench her leg free, but the tentacle yanked her leg back into the mud, pulling the Lopunny deeper into the mud. She was up to her armpits with the tentacles slowly pulling her further and further down. Almost instantly Firefly's instincts told her to help. Even though she couldn't stand the arrogant Pokémon it was against her nature to turn a blind eye to someone in need.
"Hang on! I'm coming!" she barked. She quickly made her way to the other side, being careful not to fall in herself. She then made her way over to Diva, but when she reached her…
"Leave her…"
"W-What?" Firefly stuttered.
"Leave her…" the voice repeated.
"But I can't! She'll die!" Firefly argued.
"That is her fate. It is not your place to save her…" the voice explained. This went against everything Firefly believed.
"I… I can't… I can't just leave her!" Firefly argued.
"Hey! Are you just going to stand there babbling or are you going to get me out of here?" Diva shouted.
"Her arrogance was her downfall. Don't let your kindness be yours…" the voice warned. Firefly didn't know what to do. Should she ignore her own instincts and abandon Diva, or should she try and assist her regardless of the dangers involved?
"There is no time. You must hurry…" Firefly was faced with a difficult decision. After thinking on it for a few more seconds she came to a decision.
"I'm sorry… I cannot help you," she said.
"W-What? What do you mean you can't help me?" Diva screeched.
"I am sorry, but I have pressing matters I must attend to. Because of that I must continue on," Firefly explained.
"Listen! I don't give a damn what else you have to do! You are getting me out of this before you do another damn thing!" Diva demanded.
"I can't!" Firefly replied. "As much as I want to I can't help you. I'm sorry." Having nothing left to say Firefly turned to walk away, but as she did Diva glared at her in hatred.
"Since you won't help me… let's see how well you can help yourself!" She reached forward as far as she could and grabbed one of Firefly's tails.
"Hey! What are you… ah!" The next thing Firefly knew Diva had yanked her backwards, tossing her into the mud pit.
"No! I have to get out!" she shouted. She tried swimming through the muck towards the bank, but the tentacles had her within their deadly embrace within seconds and had begun pulling her down as well. As she struggled to stay above the mud she looked over at Diva. The Lopunny glared at her.
"W-Why? Why did you do that?" Firefly questioned.
"If I can't have the throne… then no one will!" she cackled. Those were her last words before she was pulled under, her fate sealed. Seeing Diva pulled under sent Firefly into a panic. She desperately thrashed about to try and free herself, but each movement only made her sink deeper.
"No! I can't die! Not here!" she screamed. By now she was up to her neck in the mire. Her paws were completely submerged. As she continued to struggle a tentacle shot out of the mud and wrapped around her muzzle. This sent her into a frenzy as she tried to keep her head above the mud. However, the tentacles proved to be much too strong for her. After a short struggle Firefly's head was slowly pulled under, her panic-stricken eyes staring up at the ceiling of the cave.
Then… all was silent…
Things have taken a turn for the worst. Due to a malicious act from a vengeful Lopunny it appears as though Firefly has failed in her quest, and possibly lost her life. Will she manage to pull herself out of this predicament? Or will this truly be her final resting place? Find out in the next chapter of Firefly: Queen of the New Breed!
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