"The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration"
—"Losing It" from Signals by Rush.
Vince dashed along the forest floor without a hitch. Running on his hindpaws of course wasn't ideal, but he could still manage. While the stone wasn't heavy, it still affected his balance somewhat, but not so much he had to slow down. This was the farthest he'd ever made, the fastest, and he wasn't even tired. He couldn't help a little smirk as his paws padded along the ground. He was gonna make it back to mom and brother.
He hopped behind a tree, listening intently for any footsteps pursuing him, waiting just a moment for his heart to quiet down. Birds chirping, bugs buzzing, but no paws plopping. His smirk widened. He almost wanted to jump up and cheer but knew he didn't have the time to waste.
Taking in a breath, his nose picked up a scent in the air. It was a faint, fresh scent. A mix of dirt, sweat, with just a hint of blood and death. Predator. He sniffed again, trying to find the direction of its source. Straight ahead. He couldn't run away. Running back would just send him right back to Ampaw, and East or West probably wouldn't get him away fast enough, especially not on his hindpaws. He'd have to fight.
For just a moment, his breaths quickened. No! he reprimanded himself. He'd done plenty of training these past few weeks to prepare for this exact situation. He steadied his breath and set the orb down, dropping to all fours. He heard grass crunching ever-so-silently under paw. The stench grew stronger, becoming almost oppressive. He felt his fur stand on end. Running away really appealed to him. But he couldn't.
A thin, faded-black muzzle revealed itself out of the flora, a pair of piercing eyes, an almost glowing circle on its forehead, and black ears (not too dissimilar in shape from a pikachu's, though noticeably larger) followed behind. Umbreon, whispered the far reaches of his mind. He didn't know how, but he knew it was a dark type, and that it didn't seem quite right. The more it revealed itself, the more faded, gray fur he saw. "Rare to see one of you so far from the colony," she sneered, "I almost thought my nose had finally gone." Her voice sent a shiver down his spine. It was a low, menacing growl. He tried to hide it, but her smirk showed he failed. "I'm surprised you haven't run off, little pichu," she chuckled, "Do you really think I'm too old to be a threat?"
Vince stood his ground, forcing a sneer across his face. He couldn't show fear. "I'm not a pichu!" he denied, digging his paws into the dirt. She didn't reply. Just lowered her head to bare her teeth. Vince clenched his jaw, refusing to let himself think of just how easily those teeth could bite into him and end it.
The air stood still. The wind went silent. Not a branch of a tree shook. The two remained motionless in their stand-off. Then, in one tiny twitch, she was right in front of him, paw raised and jaw agape, bearing down on him. He launched himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a paw slashing him and let out a loud, "Chu!" with his electric blast. She flinched as the shock hit her but didn't hesitate to turn and face him once more, now with an even deeper sneer.
The moment she lifted her paw for another attack, he dashed forward, letting loose another blast. It hit again, but he couldn't get away before her other paw swiped across his back, launching him to the side. While he tumbled, rolling across the forest floor, she didn't hesitate a moment, slashing at him while he tried to regain footing.
In a disoriented panic, he just shocked all around him in a desperate attempt to stop the onslaught. It bought him just enough time to stand up and face her once again. He was panting. Her breath seemed steady but hitched just enough to let him know he'd done damage. Still, she seemed in better shape.
But she wasn't moving in. They both faced off, waiting for the other to move. Vince took the chance to catch his breath, steadying it to a slow, relaxed pace. He tried to relax. Tension slows you down he remembered. His breath steadied, so he began to focus his electricity, bringing it to the edge of his cheeks. He waited for any twitch, movement, flinch, no matter how slight to blast her, but she didn't move. She stayed completely still, chest barely rising when she breathed. Not an inch, not a flinch, she remained immobile.
Whatever, he was ready to attack, so he shot his shock at her and dashed to the side, watching as she took the full brunt of the attack, her eyes flaring with fury. Before the flash of his attack had faded, she was on top of him, clenching her jaw over his torso. He screamed in pain as her teeth pierced his flesh, reflexively sending out all the electricity he had on stand-by. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to get her to flinch and release him. He scurried away, turning back with ragged breath.
She didn't hesitate her pursuit this time, immediately running after him. He dove between her legs, her swipes barely missing as he dashed beneath her, letting out a half-hearted shock as he passed her hindpaws. He panted, new cuts stinging with every step, but he still had energy. In fact, he felt more energy pumping into him. It filled every inch of his body. And it was still growing. It filled him so much, it started to burn. He had to let it out however he could.
Turning on his heels, he saw the umbreon had just begun to face him. He didn't even wait for her to come closer before blindly launching his blast at her. The shock engulfed both of them, freezing them in place. He couldn't stop. The energy kept flowing, most of it filling him no matter how much he shot out. It hurt, worse than the bite had even, but somehow still felt good. Like stretching a sore muscle.
He lost control completely, no longer able to send the blast at the umbreon, but she didn't approach him once the attack stopped. His body began to glow. He felt his bones snap, limbs, torso, everything growing larger, his jaw squaring off just in time for his growing cheeks to round it back out, keeping his face nice and plump looking, his ears folding in on themselves, arms thickening and each forepaw getting a set of five nubbins, his tail grew longer, zig-zagging into its iconic lightning shape, his fur grew a deeper shade of yellow across his body but stayed the same light shade on his belly, yellow fur replacing his black scarf, covering all but the tips of his ears, two stripes of gold brown appearing across his back, that same color at the base of his tail, the pink on his cheeks turning a dark red.
His mind reeled with pain, energy, so much stimuli he barely noticed the umbreon dash at him in time to leap to the side. He tried to think, but he couldn't. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything. It was all so hazy. A lurch shifted its way across his mind, as he jumped back to evade the umbreon again. He was fighting. Fighting for his life. Nothing else mattered.
"Pika-chu!" he screamed, launching a much stronger blast of electricity than before at the umbreon, completely freezing her in place as it flowed through her. She gasped, smoke wafting off her singed fur. She didn't move, even after the shock stopped, only twitching slightly as the residual electricity flowed its way through her. She was panting. Her eyes were filled with pain, desperate. A touch of disappointment poked its way out of her leer.
In a flash, the fury in her expression disappeared, pained sadness replacing it completely. It grew almost pitiable, her ragged breaths getting more and more pained as she gasped for air. Her legs shook as she stepped forward. He didn't even think she could make it over, almost wanted to help her despite her goal. He lifted a paw to step back and her legs stiffened, sturdy once more as she dashed forward and slashed her claws just above his eyes.
He leapt away and grimaced, pulling a paw to his new wound just in time for a burst of dirt to fly into his eyes. Without sight, he tossed a bolt blindly in front of him, just hoping it would hit her. Jaws clenching around his torso once again let him know that either it didn't hit, or it wasn't enough to stop her. He let out a desperate shock again, sending all of it into her gaping maw and wiggling his way out, managing to dig a few of her teeth deeper before she released him.
His right forepaw came up and wiped the mix of dirt and blood out of his eyes, only for more blood to leak into his left. Wiping again was too risky, he just shut it, staring intently at the umbreon who again stood still. Her limbs were shaking, but he didn't let his guard down this time. With just one eye, he doubted his aim from this distance. He needed another way to shock her. He remembered the times he shocked her when she bit him: while he usually used his cheeks to shock, those shocks had come from all over him, bursting all at once.
Mustering the courage he had left, he pulled all the electricity he had left into his cheeks and charged forward, letting it flow around him, filling his whole body with the charge before slamming into her and had it burst into her ragged form.
The blast launched both of them, throwing him back. His right forepaw twisted under his torso as his body collided with the ground, erupting into pain and forcing him to give up landing upright and instead roll helplessly across the ground. He listened for her to get up. Silence. He could barely even hear her breath. She laid still. He let out a sigh of relief, but the sound of paws approaching behind him cut it short. Panting, forcing himself up despite the growing pain, his vision faded in and out while he turned around.
He had no idea what to do. He barely had any electricity left, his paw hurt bad enough even without weight on it, no way he'd be able to use it, he could barely see, he could barely breathe, each cut across his body stung, his tail drooped to the ground, his limbs shook with each rapid heartbeat, his ears fell. The moment his fading vision made out two red cheeks and a yellow face, he collapsed to the ground.
"Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision"
His body ached, his mind ebbed in and out of awareness, he couldn't think straight. Images, memories flashed through his mind just long enough for him to see they were there, not long enough to recognize them. Why did everything hurt? He strained to think back, managing to just make out a memory of hitting, getting hit, sharing blows, shouts, whimpers: a battle.
A dull brown replaced the empty void. In trying to figure out why, he realized he'd opened his eyes. Blinking a few times, he confirmed he did retain control of them. He wanted to close them, to return to sleep, but knew his aching body wouldn't let him. He lay on his back, limbs splayed out for he couldn't tell how long before his sore muscles demanded to be stretched. With an agonized groan, he pulled his forepaws to his legs, rolling up into a sitting position despite his growing pain.
He let out another groan, pulling a paw to his aching head, using his other to wipe his tired eyes. It felt… wrong? They felt… bigger? More... movable? He looked down to see his paws really had changed. He could wiggle his new nubbins. He did. Thinking back, he could just barely remember talking to the umbreon before the battle. I'm not a pichu!
"I'm not a pichu," he mumbled to himself, paying close attention to the syllables. "Pi-ka-chu," he tested, gasping. He grabbed his ears and pulled them in view. Yellow, black at the end, pikachu ears. With growing excitement, he jerked around to look behind him, ignoring the shooting pain the movement brought. Wide at the end, zigging, zagging, a lightning bolt: a pikachu's tail! His tail! He had a pikachu's tail!
He leapt to his paws, his right forepaw and several other wounds crying out in pain, but he didn't care, he'd evolved! Cradling his paw in its twin, he shifted to his hindpaws and stumbled towards the burrow's entrance, forced to limp on all fours to get through. He'd evolved! He had to tell Ampaw! Just as he poked his head out of the hole, just before his eyes could adjust to the light, he slammed into someone, knocking both of them down.
Fruit, nuts, berries scattered across the ground, a few landing on his face while he stumbled to get up. Half-way up, a deep, piercing pain from a hole in his side had him wincing back to the ground. The other pikachu hurriedly helped him up. "Thanks," he hurriedly groaned, "Sorry, have you seen Ampaw?" He was so excited to tell Ampaw, he didn't even care how much his wounds were burning with pain, didn't even notice that Ampaw was the one helping him up until he looked at his confused expression for a bit. "Dad!" he shouted, throwing himself onto Ampaw for a hug, not realizing how much bigger he was and knocking them both to the ground again. He didn't care. "Dad, look! Dad! I evolved!" he cheered while Ampaw tried to help him up for a second time.
Ampaw's eyes fluctuated between frustrated, terrified, and relieved, a few tears building up inside. "Short Circuit," he finally mumbled, "You're okay." A smile stretched across his face; tears started spewing. "You're okay!" He yanked Short Circuit into a hug. "You did! You evolved!" He could barely get through a single syllable without sobbing. "Get back inside!" he demanded, a few chuckles interspersed, "You need to rest!"
Ampaw tried to walk him inside, but Short Circuit wouldn't go. "No, I made you drop all this stuff, I'm gonna—ow!" Just as he tried to bend over and pick up a berry, his side erupted in pain. He almost doubled over, but Ampaw caught him.
"I will take care of it!" he laughed, and the pair walked back into the burrow. Ampaw leaned him against a wall and ran back out to gather the food. With his excited goal fulfilled, endorphins wearing off, he slowly realized just how much pain he was in. His chest hurt, his back hurt, his paw hurt, every body part hurt at various, agonizing levels.
"Oww," he groaned, wincing his eyes shut, accidentally wincing hard enough to get a surge of pain from above his left eye. "Ouch!" he shouted, loosening his grimace enough to stop the pain. He cradled his right paw and stopped moving entirely, hoping not to set off any more triggers of pain. He remained like that, completely unaware of his surroundings until he felt a rubbery sphere pressed against his paw. He peeked an eye open to see Ampaw offering him a bright blue oran berry.
He grabbed it tentatively with his left paw. It seemed… off, different? Wait, blue? His eyes popped open, cut on his brow making him wince again. "Color!" he shouted, "I can see color again!" He looked up at Ampaw with a grin.
Ampaw smiled back but tilted his head. "Again?" Again? Short Circuit tried to think of when he'd seen it before but couldn't come up with any idea.
As soon as the thought had come, he abandoned it, instead shoving the berry in Ampaw's and shouting, "Blue!" very triumphantly.
Ampaw laughed, pushing the berry back to Short Circuit's face. "Eat!" Short Circuit twisted his mouth a little, turning the berry over to examine it. He didn't like it, but he'd eaten it before, and he hurt way too much to pass up a healing opportunity. Biting down, he grimaced in preparation for the bitter onslaught. It never came. It tasted bitter, sure, but not so much that he couldn't enjoy the other flavors.
He looked up at Ampaw, juice smeared across his smile. "It's good!" he admitted, finishing it off. It still wasn't his favorite, not by a long shot, but he could stomach it. Leaning back, he tried to relax and let the healing wash over him.
Ampaw sat next to him. "So," he lightly nudged one of Short Circuit's lighter scratches, "How was your first battle?" he asked, trying to hide his concern beneath a smirk.
Short Circuit winced a bit at the touch but didn't hesitate to grin. "I won."
That deepened Ampaw's smile. "Good job!" he cheered, only a few skeptic glances at the boy's various wounds. Short Circuit tilted his head back, basking in victory.
While he thought about his first win, replaying each event, trying to memorize every detail, he had to wonder something. One little detail evaded him. "Why was I out there?" He tilted his head to look at Ampaw.
Ampaw looked confused, a bit scared, and started fiddling with his paws. "You, uh," he didn't seem to want to look at Short Circuit, "You don't remember?" Short Circuit shook his head. Ampaw kept his eyes on the ground. Silent. Short Circuit poked him in the side, trying to prod an answer out of him. "You were running away," he finally admitted. Shock splayed across Short Circuit's eyes, barely restrained. "You really don't remember?"
Short Circuit shook his head again, taking after Ampaw by fiddling with his paws. Running away? How could he leave the colony? How could he leave Ampaw? Volt? Voltail? A rock of guilt weighed down his stomach. "Why?" he mumbled, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
Ampaw seemed reluctant to give it as well, since he stayed silent for a while. "I don't know, you never told me." Neither spoke for a while, the burrow completely quiet save for Short Circuit's frequent whimpers. The silence was so palpable, Short Circuit barely heard Ampaw break it. "Does that mean you don't want to anymore?"
"No!" he shouted, hurt to be asked at all, tears streaking down his cheeks. "Of course not!" He turned to the side and wrapped his arms around Ampaw, ignoring the pain that movement brought. "I would never leave!" he wept, "I love you!" Ampaw didn't say a word, just wrapping his own arms around Short Circuit, his own tears streaming into Short Circuit's fur. They stayed like that for who knows how long, hugging, sobbing, soaking up each other's pain, grief, sorrow, hoping to warm each other's hearts.
"For you, the blind who once could see,
Bell tolls for thee, bell tolls for thee"
Review Response:
Cessless: Thanks for the compliments! You're right about the apocalyptic scenario being sort of ignored, I'm gonna try and put more detail into that in a few chapters of the rewrite. (And I don't think your comma usage is a problem, lol)
