I wasn't aware… hearts could beat this fast.
Whether the cause is the roaring screams penetrating my eardrums, or the uneven dirt striking my balance; my heart wouldn't stall for a moment. Despite the anchor in my chest, passing out in the dust wasn't ideal for my pride. I pushed off with the jelly holding my body up, managing to hurl myself away from the water crashing into the ground below.
Tumbling and tossing forward, kicking up a cloud in my wake, I managed to avoid a fatal strike. The radiating light from the sky reflected off of the waterfall, blurring my perception of everything in front of me. Gasps and surprised squeals filled my senses, I could hardly follow the movements of the aquatic creature pursuing me. I barely inhaled before concentrating on my bearings, launching sharpened leaves from both sides, right at the blurry image of my opponent. Despite reaching their target in less than a second, each of the couple vanished into a horizontal stream, never completing their journey.
The same body of water steadied in the air, before slowly pulling away to the side. My eyes adjusted to the previous burst of sunlight, and for the first time since the start of our confrontation, I clearly saw the vaporeon. Drops of water slid down her face, holding a determined and passionate gaze. Each of her fins twitched as she slowly rotated to my left, daring me to move again. A collection of water spiraled across her left foreleg, extending outward right above her paw, forming a giant tendril of water in the air. The light from above gave her a look I consider divine.
Lurching my head forward, a moist leaf hanging between my eyes, I charged forward through the dirt, thinking a physical approach would end much better than my previous plans. Without wasting a second, she copied me, dashing ahead more quickly than myself. I flinched, hesitating in my movements, not assisted at all by the increasing volume on all sides of us. Holding back even slightly resulted in a crash against my skull, courtesy of the water pokemon opposing me. In the moment I took to curl back in pain, I had been tightly grasped in the airborne water she kept conjured. I grit my teeth as she tightened her grip, no amount of struggling even allowed the slightest movement. My entire midsection was covered, only a single foreleg, half of a hind leg, and my head free of the watery prison.
Swallowing every cough I needed to let out, I tensed my body, gathering the energy for one more strike. Without being able to take a single breath, I let one more blade free from my back leg. Seemingly without thinking, she leaned her head to the side, easily avoiding it. Beyond a slight change in expression, I accomplished nothing.
She rose me higher into the air, pushing me towards the screaming of the small crowd surrounding us. I was then swung to the side and released, hurdling through the air until smashing into the circular stone walls that surrounded us, cracking the foundation. I was out of breath, gasping for even the smallest bit of air. Despite seeing doubles and not hearing myself think, I knew exactly what had happened. I could finally release my anxieties and let my body relax.
An announcement was made, one I couldn't make out no matter how hard I tried. Hardly able to see a thing, I laid motionless, wanting nothing more than to breathe properly. Every muscle in my body ached, My mind had been exhausted, it was time to face reality and recover.
Maybe if I fake being unconscious, someone will carry me out of here…
Instead of my somewhat immature plan playing out how I desired, I felt the last thing I wanted to think about splash against my face. Only this time, it was cold.
My body lurched up and I shot to my paws, an intense shiver coating my body. It felt like Kyurem had just woken me up with a blizzard. I looked from side to side in a panic, still unable to comprehend the situation. After my moment of panic, my eyes set on the same pokemon that just scared the life out of me. Her glowing, purple irises met my own, no longer holding the same convicted gaze, instead, a curious one overtook her features. The water that previously glistened over her body was still present, just as radiant as before.
We stared at one another for a few moments. Her face screamed that she wanted to say something, yet she stayed silent. I didn't want to interrupt her thought process, so I decided to be quiet as well. Or I tried to, at least.
"Are you alright?" Slipped out of my mouth. Something about her silence bugged me, and I couldn't really help myself.
"I- um-" She tripped over her words, getting me to tilt my head.
"S-Shouldn't I be asking you that?" The vaporeon asked bashfully, awkwardly tapping her paws on the ground. A short pause took place. I wasn't too sure how to react. Her voice seemed firm, slightly forceful, yet hesitant and shy. I don't think I'd ever heard such an odd combination of tones in one sentence. I found it entertaining, and thus, chuckled.
"I guess you should. I'm in a lot of pain, you know." I replied with an exaggerated tone, tilting my head up in feigned agony. It wasn't a total lie, as I honestly felt as if I was going to collapse, but I tried not to show that in my voice. Pretty sure I failed though.
"I'm sorry!" She shouted, hastily shaking her head left and right. "W-Wait, no I'm not! You shouldn't be here unless you expect to get hurt!" After backpedaling, the aquatic mon growled. Worried that I actually angered her, I bowed my head.
"I fully expect to feel more pain than I ever have, yes. You shouldn't… actually feel bad." I apologized, every so slightly awkward in my delivery. Or very awkward, no difference. "Good match though!"
My former opponent turned her head away, pouting. A stiff second or two passed, and I began to think reconciliation wasn't an option. My ears Twitched to the roars, continuing to persist despite my attempts to drown them out. I used the extreme volume as an excuse to turn around, and walk away.
I approached a tunnel, one that was wide, red bricks firmly held together by hardened cement. With each step taken, the overbearing noise got quieter, and quieter, before I was finally able to hear my own thoughts. I let out a relieved sigh into the cool air surrounding this passage, giving myself a small smile whilst humming. My mood was… surprisingly good considering the life I was heading into after this battle. Perhaps my brain intentionally decided to drown out my fear, in favor of meeting many new pokemon to talk with.
"H-Hey!" A voice echoed through the well lit entrance, followed by the pittering of paws on a dirt floor. My head creaked to the side, barely catching a blur blur in my peripherals. The anxious-looking vaporeon caught up with me, inhaling deeply, then releasing her air.
"W-What's your name?" She asked, her voice soft, miles less tense than the one I heard two minutes ago. Unable to resist the chance for more interaction, I perked my head up, swinging my body in the water type's direction.
"Blade, nice to meet you!" I bowed down, genuinely this time. "I'll be feeling the pain you inflicted upon me for the next three weeks, thank you madame."
"Oh shut up.." She retorted with an annoyed sigh. "S-Storm. Hopefully we can get along when we get to… there." The newly introduced pokemon's voice dropped slowly as her sentence went on.
"Ah, yes we should… hopefully get along when it comes to that." I tilted my head to the side, thinking of the oncoming trials. As well as how much this girl likely hated me. "Who knows? Maybe we'll be in different divisions, then we may not even see one another again."
"Yeah… no." Storm started. "So it turns out.. Since we were the last two standing, we're p-partners." Storm finished, walking passed me. I stood idle for a second, processing what had just been explained to me.
"Since when does… what?" I questioned, jogging to catch up to Storm. "Why didn't I know that? Why does-"
"One of the leaders told me before the last round started. Apparently their vision of putting together the best team is to… just pair the two winners together, the strongest contestants." She sighed. "And I get stuck with you…"
I scoffed in response to her comment. "Oh come on, you could do way worse! You can do way better, but that's besides the point."
"I don't think I believe you on that." Storm sped up a bit, and I followed suit. "Pure luck. That's how you've made it this far- do you even train yourself?" I slowed down a little bit, caught off guard by the blunt comments.
"I-I do, just… I may or may not be a slow learner." I produced the first stutter I had in months.
"So many other pokemon there would have been better fit for this. Do you even know what you're getting yourself into?" Storm continued. "So many die in this line of work. Sometimes with no chance whatsoever to even resist. You get attacked once when you're off-guard, and that's all. You're finished. Someone as laid back as you won't last a week, and I'll be left without a partner." The frustration overtaking Storm's voice became more intense. "You're not ready for this."
She let out a breath, seemingly calming down a little. I, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. My interpretation of her being shy and peaceful couldn't have been less accurate. Deciding it was better to bite my tongue, I walked a few inches behind her, a word not leaving my lips. And I'm her partner? How is this even going to-
I bumped into the vaporeon in front of me, causing her to stumble a little. I reactively hopped back and looked towards her as she shook her head, skin glistening beautifully.
"S-Sorry, I spaced out." I opened my mouth, but was cut off by Storm's apology. "Let's… try to make this work." I slumped my head to the side a bit, a confused expression coating my features.
What in the- Oh well.
"I'll do my best!" I exclaimed, stepping forward to Storm's side. "Althoughhhhh, I can be dense. So be patient with me please." My words were only half sarcastic, but that didn't change the volume of the sigh that followed.
"Arceus help me.."
The two of us continued down the long, circular tunnel. One of us excited, the other annoyed, both of us anxious.
~Many cycles later~
?
A cool gust of wind shattered through my messy black fur, creating my first shiver of the season. Leaves of varying colors swayed through the air in front of me, dropping into pile after pile on the ground, creating colorful humps of color to cover the greenery below. I brought my nose down, the group of leaves below me bursting out as I sniffed passed them. Crunches and crackles rang through my ears, relaxing any tension I had built up. All it took was a moment of sniffing for me to accomplish my goal. My head shot up as soon as I processed the scent, a smile quickly washing over my face. Let's see how ripe they are.
I bolted in a linear path to the colorful bush picked up by my nose, shredding through each and every leaf in my way. As a storm of branches and greenery surrounded me, I reached my destination. Pushing my head through uncomfortable scratches from twigs, I managed to nab a bright pink berry, two blue stripes lining the outside of it. Before I could clamp my teeth into it, I spotted a small nincada, holding the same type of berry. It was likely a feral, it ripped into the fruit as if it was flesh of another pokemon. Luckily it didn't attack me, I didn't need that while hunting for food.
I slowly bit into the berry, sweet juices flowing all over my tongue from its interior. I chewed it into little fragments, and then swallowed it. Before I could dip my head in for another, the nincada feasting on the same tree as me slowly walked out of the bush, collapsing on the ground. I cautiously observed the bug, but couldn't find any injuries of any kind. No blood, no cracks, nothing. Maybe the poor fella just ran out of steam.
I leaned into the same bush once more and nabbed another berry, quickly consuming it before continuing on my way. My daily route through the expansive forest wasn't interrupted. As annoying as the lessening temperatures have been lately, so long as the winter months aren't here yet, I could still travel as per usual. Gently humming to myself, I made my way to the center of the labyrinth of trees, laying my eyes on a gorgeous body of water, watching small ripples tear into it the perfect surface, due to small gusts of wind. I immediately broke through the ice cold surface of the water with my head, taking a few big gulps of water. Bathing is going to suck this year…
I quickly lifted my head back above, my entire body rattling. After shaking my upper half to dry the risk of hypothermia away, I began jogging beyond the pond, on my way to connect back to my starting location. I couldn't help but be distracted by the mass of clouds above me though. They look pretty bad today, hopefully I have enough for the next few hours.
Through some careful traveling around the familiar grounds, I made it back to a small dent in a large hill, mostly grassy, but with a few large spots of dirt in the mix. I slid down the indentation, entering a small hole, which opened up into a rounded shelter, near the center of the hill's interior. The walls were nothing more than the dirt and rocks found underground, just sturdy enough to hold against most bad weather. Most.
On the ground laid three piles of leaves, stitched together by soft moss and vines. Two of which were lined up against the right side of the shelter, the other against the center of the left. In the corner of the room lay a small basket, one I haven't touched in ages. The lid covering it doesn't come off, so I gave up on wondering what's inside a while back. Right next to said basket, a bag created of the same material rested, filled halfway with an assortment of berries. I had just the right amount where I wouldn't go hungry in the event of a horrible storm. At least, not too hungry.
I spent a few moments sitting on one of the makeshift beds, the single one of the left. I had been out and about all day, a small bit of rest was greatly welcomed. My body slumped over and my eyes draped shut, not planning for sleep, nor resisting it. Considering how cold it was outside, the possibility of not finding any edible berries tomorrow crept into my head. The last few cold seasons that have passed weren't so bad, only resulting in a few days where I lacked nutrition. There's a ton of land to scavenge, but cold air reaches even further beyond that. Maybe I should go look for more before the rain…
With a small sigh, I accepted the responsible choice of gathering more food. After a few moments of relaxing, I pushed myself up once more. Before I got moving, my head instinctively tilted up, my nose twitching slightly. A horrid odor made its way into my small home, one that I didn't welcome. It only took a few seconds to force my head to jerk forward in disgust. Not wanting to deal with whatever the cause was, I left my den, reluctantly using my nose to track the source.
The invisible trail took me behind the hill I lived inside of, a place I wasn't too fond of visiting because of the feral activity. I had prepared for such occurrences the day before though, so I wasn't too worried. I slowly dragged my paws forward, trying to make out what exactly I was smelling. It was some combination of burning, rotten berries, and what seemed to be blood. The scent of blood wasn't too uncommon to me, thanks to all of the mindless conflict between creatures here, but this smell was foreign. It was worse.
I kept following my nose. Following, and following, and following. For some reason the smell never got any stronger. Even as I approached, it never became harder to withstand, it never became unbearable.
Is it… moving?
Admittedly curious, I picked up my pace a little bit. Moving from a slow walk to a quick jog. I desired to know what exactly I was smelling, I couldn't even come close to a possibility in my brain. Twisting and turning through the dense forest, the scent slowly dissipated. I began jogging in small circles, going farther out into different areas, trying to pick it up again. After plenty of searching, I ended up losing it completely. I let out a slightly disappointed sigh, before turning in the direction of my home once more.
Waste of-
A small change in the wind caused my ears to quickly perk. I rolled to the tree closest to me and ducked behind it. I peeked out with one of my eyes, only opening it halfway. A fast-moving blur of motion blasted through the air above me, making my fur sway. It latched onto a different tree, clinging from one of its larger branches. It had white fur, sharp, black claws, streaks of red bleeding from each one of them. A… zangoose. I think.
It had a panicked expression, eyes darting around in all directions. I contemplated running for a moment, not knowing what kind of pokemon had just landed near me. There's no chance I'd get away if it attacked me though. I wasn't used to seeing ferals move that quickly. My nerves slowly grew as I held still, barely keeping my body from quivering. I didn't even think to quell my rings, which almost certainly began glowing at least a little.
An unknown number of heavy seconds passed, with thick tension slowly growing in the air. My heart rate steadily increased, my desire to get up and run nearly getting the better of me. Before I could act, another figure appeared right above the initial one. My eyes weren't able to determine where it even came from, almost as if it appeared out of thin air. The small bits of sunlight peeking through the heavy clouds reflected off of the body of the new pokemon, further obscuring my sight and making me unable to determine anything about the new figure.
Without warning; I heard a loud yelp, and both of the bodies shot to the ground, landing nearly right next to me in a cloud of dirt. My body was now certainly frozen, as the figures of the two finally became fully clear to my sight. The newest entree seemed to be covered in blades, two protruding out of its midsection, one on its head, with two sharp-looking clamps for hands. One of these clamps was tightly bound around the initial pokemon's neck, impairing its movement. The urge to pounce away reached its peak; although my legs didn't agree with me.
"Are you a new hire? I don't recognize you." The pokemon on top asked, with a deep, slightly scratchy voice. The… zangoose under him didn't reply immediately, nor did they struggle against what seemed to be a tight grip.
"I-I…" The white-furred pokemon stammered. "Get off of me. Please."
The shiny-looking one scoffed, before bringing back its free claw, smacking it against the other's face. Small drops of blood glided through the air and tainted the leaves surrounding the greenery, whilst a feral-sounding scream rang out into the air. That being said, it was clear that neither of these pokemon were ferals. Unusual.
"Answer the question. Otherwise your neck is snapped." The upper one's voice stagnated through each of his words. The bleak and threatening sound of it didn't waiver for a moment.
"Y-Yes! Very recent! Last week." I could hear the panicked breathing through their voice. It unnerved me.
"Unfortunately you were used as a sacrificial pawn. I suggest you live out here in the middle of nowhere from now on. I don't have to tell what would happen otherwise." The zangoose was released, followed by an instant retreat backward. They turned their head back to look at the attacker, visibly quivering as a result of the previous actions.
A few moments of heavy silence permeated through the air. The surprised zangoose seemed to be in the same position I found myself in, stuck. Thanks to closely observing the expressions of them both, I was able to pick up a few subtle twitches, as well tiny nods from the metallic one. It was as if he had been talking to someone, and agreeing with them. Seconds away from breaking through my anxieties and bolting away; he kept talking.
"Never mind staying here, run somewhere far away. We're going to comb this area with fire pretty soon, don't get caught in all of it. I recommend not staying in one place for more than 24 hours." Right after finishing, the bladed pokemon turned around, vanishing within moments, quickly followed by the zangoose, disappearing at a slightly slower speed. I was having difficulties processing everything I had just heard, but as soon as I did, it hit me hard.
Fire… He's lighting this place on fire!?
I finally hopped up off of my frozen paws and ducked down into a full sprint, heading in the same direction as the pointy pokemon. I slid beyond every tree in my way as swiftly as I could, barely brushing past some of them. Unfortunately, chasing someone who seems to be hundreds of times quicker than you isn't very practical.
Out of the forest, he has to be leaving if he's burning it down. So…
I positioned myself so my path wouldn't be farther obscured by any plants, pushing forward in a straight line as fast as I could. I didn't take any time to think about where he might have been going when I actually made it out. Right now, getting there has to be the only priority. My running however, was quickly interrupted by a sharp sensation scraping across one of my back legs, resulting in an immediate tumble forward, and a faceplant to the ground.
Disoriented, I picked my head up and turned around, upset to see the orange and yellow fur of a growlithe, baring its teeth and growling aggressively in my direction. Seeing as two non-ferals were just close by, my first instinct was to assume this was the same, but the lack of speech implied otherwise. I held myself in place, as the small dog began rotating around me slowly, clearly in the mood to attack.
My legs were already moving backward, blindly stepping away from the feral. I didn't want to linger, I had a place to be for once. As quickly as I could, I turned and ducked my head, returning to my previous sprint, aside from an annoying burn in my hind leg. The crackling and snapping of leaves and branches behind me confirmed that it was chasing me. I took a sharp turn and began on a different route, as did the hound. I began swerving, taking another right turn, then a left one. Ultimately, I picked up my pace and leapt into the air, turning around to face my pursuer as soon as my paws met the ground again.
The growlithe didn't halt at all, matching my increase in speed. Right before its open maw reached me, it was tugged back by a thin green vine, tightly wrapped around both of its forelegs. It immediately fell to the ground, struggling against the grip, unable to free itself. I took a single breath of relief, taking another quick turn to get back to my original route.
Now that I was back on pace, I finally began approaching the edge of the massive forest. A strong rumble of thunder rang through my ears, an event that displeased me greatly. I shook my head and tried not to focus on it, finally making it out of the collection of trees. I tilted my head up to take in the unfamiliar area, although I should have done it sooner.
My body was halted on the spot and thrown back, my head ringing out in sudden pain, with a loud crack being the only noise I could make out.
Ohhhhhhh dear, let's see how this goes when I post it.
Hello there readers! It's been a while, just a little while. As you can see, this is something different. Somewhat recently, I read through Renewed Life. The whole thing. Literally the only thing I could think about the whole time is, "I can do better."
I did such a bad job at times, and even though I started it when I was quite a bit younger, I still find it very poor to continue off of. I've continued to try and make old ideas work, despite them being outdated and my opinions on them changing drastically as I write them. Characterization was pretty horrible in most cases, there were only one or two that I didn't hate upon re-reading. Even if quite a few people *did* enjoy it, I feel that I can make a much better version if I put my mind to it. That being said, I post these on the internet because there are people who enjoy reading them, and I understand not wanting to restart a story that you spent hours reading, based on its length.
SO
I'd like feedback. Would anyone actually like the idea of me redoing what I have so far, and continuing off of that? Or would everyone rather I just suck it up and make the rest of what I have currently, and make it work the best I can. I'll keep this chapter somewhat short so everyone can at least get a small taste of the changes I'd like to implement, or compare it to the original first chapter and let me know which opening you prefer. (Despite the first one being reliant on nothing but shock value and very poorly executed brooding, and a lot of telling with next to no showing :D)
I don't mean to be negative, but I would honestly love it if people would let me know what they want. You don't have to if you don't want to of course, but it would be very helpful to the conflicts in my mind! I can even make a list of all the things I really want to change or execute differently if that would help. So please consider it!
I hope everyone is doing well! Hopefully I'll have some more insight as to what I want to do in the future based on the response to this.
See you next chapter? Or chapter 58? Whatever you guys want!