Beyond the Shadows
Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Kawaii baby Eevees go out to all who reviewed and/or will review! I apologize for the confusing-ness of the last chapter, but I can assure you it was supposed to be that way! This chapter will (hopefully) clear things up a little. Nah…actually it probably won't. But I do know one thing, it will bring up even more questions! *That's your cue for a groan!*
I know I've said this before, but I think it should be stressed…. This is not for people who can't handle gore, and dark, angst elements in stories. I don't want any complaints about it anymore because I've warned about it twice now and all this stuff does have a purpose, believe it or not. But be happy; this is just a cute little chapter. Some [very] mild drama, some little sweet stuff, and other odds and ends. Have fuuun!
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Chapter Two: Somber Spirit
Misty gazed in patient rapture at the scintillating stars that freckled the indigo sky, murmuring something mellifluously under caught breath as her teal eyes glistened in an almost aberrant way.
Rhythmic waves lapped serenely against the sandy shore, only inches from her red and yellow sneakers, and gained rolling momentum as the wind picked up vaguely to finger her fiery hair. The supple swishing of the waves whooshing against the sand was the only sound breaking the hush in the feeble moonlight. She stared solemnly out into the frostily glinting lake; her face delicately hinting fascination.
Her footprints were matching shadows in the palely glittering sands, leading from a field of new grass shoots to where she was at the moment, by the lakeside. She peeked behind her shoulder in the direction she had come from as inconspicuously as she could, sighing and biting her lip in a way that seemed to suggest imminent tears. Her eyes dulled coolly as she was confirmed that all around her was quiet. There was no one behind her, no one in front of her, she was alone. She felt that was the way it needed to be for the moment.
Although the night was deep, she was as awake as she could be, and perceptible to everything. The breezy nighttime air was tickling her skin, and it smelled faintly of ephemeral rain showers and freshly cut grass.
However, despite her seeming sorrow, she somehow knew something incredible, something that would change everything, was going to happen tonight. She could feel it in the air.
She whirled around nimbly, her eyes dancing peculiarly, to survey the starlit pathway to the sleeping bags again. She had been waiting for hours now, and her unwavering patience proved that something was definitely up.
Yet her anomalous, somber mood was pierced by uncertainty for a fleet moment.
How was it she could feel something that was not there?
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A small yellow figure stirred.
He uncurled himself leisurely, producing a yawn that appeared quite immense for the little electric rodent he was, and lifted his warm body from his cozy spot on the gray sleeping bag momentarily to shift position. In a sleepy routine check on his surroundings, he opened his sleep-bleared chocolate eyes for a moment and blinked innocently into the night's dimness as he felt himself drifting back off into the enjoyable mystification of sleep. His lengthy ears twitched pleasurably.
But his contented daze was shattered into a million fragments as his eyes traveled comfortably down from the starry sky down to the red sleeping bag that lay flat a few feet away.
"Piiika?" He cried softly into the night as he realized that Misty's sleeping bag was empty.
"Chuuu…." He moaned in disappointment. He was quite reluctant to leave his comfy corner on Ash's sleeping bag and his hazel eyes twinkled unenthusiastically as he crawled into the cold dutifully to inform Ash of Misty's disappearance.
Pikachu quivered bitterly in disgruntlement as he scampered up the sleeping bag to Ash's head. Ash was snoring softly like always.
Deep down, Pikachu knew that there was no reason to be concerned, but the shallow, and usually conscious part of him telling him to relay what he knew to Ash shined through and he figured this was definitely something Ash should know.
Impatient to get back to sleeping, Pikachu muttered one boisterous "Pika pik, pikachuuu!" in Ash's face to absolutely no response, then decided he would have to resort to more serious measures.
He held his jagged tail erect in the cool wind, making a battle pose on Ash's black T-shirt as a warm-up. Eyes glinting mischievously black in the surrounding gloom, he stiffened all four of his paws on the material of Ash's shirt and whispered vengefully, "Kaaa chuuu!"
Crackling white streams of electricity twisted out of his scarlet cheeks, and Pikachu skillfully maneuvered the coiling voltage through his paws and into Ash's peaceful body.
Ash was a sound sleeper, but not that sound.
He jolted awake, lifting his head, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and blinking into the enclosing shadows.
"Wha? Whassa matter Pikachu?" Ash mumbled, words slurred by grogginess.
"Pikapi, Pikachupi pik pika chuuu chu pika, piii cha ka chuuu!" Pikachu chattered frantically, pointing in various directions and attempting quite confusingly to charade that Misty wasn't in her sleeping bag. Luckily Ash understood Pikachu's dialect quite well, and he got the message before Pikachu even started showing off his futile acting skills.
Ash shrugged, his blurry brown eyes roving from Misty's empty sleeping bag to scanning his surroundings. He yawned flatly, then acknowledged that he had understood what Pikachu had said with a distracted "She isn't here, is she?"
Then his eyes cleared, along with his mind, apparently. "Wha? Where'd she go, Pikachu?"
Pikachu cocked his head with a soft "Chuuu…pika…."
Ash scowled in mystified inquiry. "You don't know, either, do you? Well, I guess we should go look for her." He sighed loudly, turning his head to his distraught looking furry companion. "I'll bet she's just fine, but still…."
"Chu." Pikachu nodded in understanding, reacting to Ash's comment with a forced smile.
Ash sat gradually up, peering around at his surroundings, causing Pikachu to topple off of his chest and back onto the sleeping bag with a padded thud. Pikachu was very tempted to go back to sleep as he felt the silky fabric beneath his paws, but he cared about Misty enough to resist.
The shadow of the gnarled old oak they were camping under casted swaying dapples of shadows on Ash as he squinted into the dark in an effort to find Misty without getting up. Pikachu sensed Ash's human eyes weren't strong enough to penetrate the murk of night so he scuttled speedily over to Ash's backpack, unzipped it, and began to dig through it deftly. A few short seconds later Pikachu bounced out of the green backpack with an obliging "Pika!" and scampered back over to Ash, plastic red flashlight gripped tightly in pika teeth.
"Thanks Pikachu." Ash soothingly stroked Pikachu on the head, then took the flashlight from Pikachu's mouth so he could respond.
"Chaaa-aaa!" Pikachu squeaked back happily, flashing a "v for victory" sign.
"Hmmm…." Ash hummed in a questioning fashion as he flicked the flashlight's switch into the on position. The bright beam spread out in front of him, resting bluntly on springy green shoots of new grass that were sprouting a few feet away.
Finally able to see, Ash maneuvered the captured ray of light over the valley. Its distinct illumination swept over waving patches of emerald green grass, and finally reflected off the calm water of the nearby lake.
"There she is." Ash turned to Pikachu. "See? Nothing to worry about, she's always liked the water. I wonder what she's doing there at this hour, though…."
"Pikaaa…." Pikachu sighed, in both relief and exasperation, letting his ears drop. He rose up on his hind legs as high as he could in lookout, much in the manner of a bipedal rabbit. Sure enough, there was Misty's slim silhouette, black against the starlit waves undulating in front of her. Her trademark side ponytail was obviously put down, as it was missing from her outline.
Again looking to his poképal for advice, he inquired, "What do you say Pikachu, should we go back to sleep or should we go see what she's doing over there?"
Pikachu's ears slacked even farther. "Chuuu…." He said unwillingly, turning his polished gaze away from Ash's hopeful eyes in lethargic disinclination. Trying not to feel guilty for abandoning his best friend, he curled back up on the sleeping bag, letting out a drowsy sigh as indication that he was too tuckered out to be curious.
"Okay, I get it little guy." Ash replied to his tired electric mouse, casually smiling at his buddy's actions. "I'll go alone." Ostensibly curiosity had gotten the best of the kid.
After tying his shoes hurriedly, he stood up, giving Pikachu a finalized pat on the back and instinctually plunking his beloved hat upon his head. He clicked the flashlight off so his eyes would adjust to the dark, as he figured Misty wouldn't be too pleased to have a flashlight shined in her eyes. Ash knew from years of painful experience that Misty's temper could be downright dangerous, even over things that seemed quite insignificant to him.
'You can never be too careful with that girl,' he thought, scowling and rubbing the bruise on his head from the last time he had tested her explosive disposition.
Giving Pikachu (who was already conked out belly-up on the end of his sleeping bag) an indistinct wave, Ash trudged out into the dimness. The lake wasn't far away, maybe four hundred yards, but Ash couldn't help but feel he was making some sort of significant journey. He brushed a stray strand of ebony hair out of his eyes with one green-gloved hand as he laughed internally at his own thoughts, and even more so at the fact he felt traces of little butterfrees flapping around in his stomach. He didn't have any reason to be nervous…did he?
As he strolled along the indistinct path, most likely fashioned by nomadic stantler, he crossed his arms, scanning the landscape with bored eyes. The whole place seemed to glimmer in the dusky twilight and the brilliant grass glowed mysteriously, illuminating the ground with a shallow yellowish lighting. During the day, the expansive valley had not seemed particularly interesting, save of course, for the fact Misty was delighted to be near such a beautiful lake. The grass was so bright it was distracting, and the hills were gentle slopes that loped towards the smoothly rolling horizon and optimistic sky, like most fields in this cheery world he lived in. Yet during the gleaming hours of the night, the beauty of the area seemed quite profound.
This fact did not escape Ash's roving eyes and wandering mind. He was normally too much in a hurry to notice such things as the simplistic splendor of the countryside, but as he ambled along, something about the place struck a passive chord deep in him, almost like he had been here before.
He sucked in a long breath of brisk, refreshing air, then puffed it back out in a somehow captivating plume of steam, and as his eyes met the clear, blotched sky, he halted in his tracks in pure awe.
As he let out a gasp of harnessed amazement, the most impressive display of sudden dazzling stars spread out before his very eyes, radiantly glittering like fractured crystals in a hidden sun. For a fast second an intense feeling of freedom rushed over his tired body, but as if it were a timid breeze on a humid evening, it soon hurried away. His eyes were yanked from the sky, though, as his ears picked up a supple breath floating in on the crisp air.
"Ashhh…." A whisper of inexplicably frigid air flowed against his neck, then cascaded, like a trickling waterfall, down his body to twist around his ankles like a pleased cat.
"Ashhh…." The feeling got colder rapidly, clenching his heart in a sensation of ice. He shivered violently, inexplicably frozen both in feeling and emotion. It was calling his name…. Louder and louder, it cried his name with increasing intensity, not only a polar blast in his ears, but almost in his very soul.
He felt the prickle of icy shards of fur against his arm, and as he tried to shake it away, shadowy pools of eyes appeared suddenly in front of his face, and he was held captive by the floating, phantom eyes of something…otherworldly. A stream of diffused lilac smoke framed a delicate, almost ocelot-like face, as it opened an unseen mouth to cry out his name again. Its tone seemed almost pleading…mournful…and its voice was frail. The foggy outline of the creature's face, which consisted of channeling lavender haze and its big, alluring eyes remained the only parts of it visible.
Ash fought the uncanny paralysis that was clutching his body in a grip of steel with all he had, and managed to choke out in a strangled half-scream, "Who are you?!"
The creature's black eyes expanded as it gazed deep into his hazel ones, causing him to quake with fear. A wisp of the suffocating smoke reached out and stroked his cheek coolly, its silky touch making him feel subdued. At the same time, he fought tears as also a strong wave of sorrow overcame him, and he felt a distant empathy with this somber…thing.
The creature's eyes filled with tears of glitzy silver, which dribbled, as if in slow motion, down an invisible cheek. "I'm so sorry…!" It squealed out of the blue, voice wracked with sobs. "I'm s-sooo s-s-sorry!" It sniveled hysterically again as its faint form began to fade into the gray of the night. He felt the cold rush out of him, like water draining from a sink, and he watched as a pale twinkle of lilac bobbed away, and disappeared from view.
For a drawn-out moment, Ash could only stand there, trembling vehemently but otherwise motionless.
"Ash!"
Ash broke out of his trance as he heard a familiar voice call his name, and then heard footsteps thudding towards him. Slowly he lifted his eyes from their place on the ground and tried distantly to smile as he saw Misty running towards him, a shy grin tugging at the sides of her mouth.
She stopped at his side, cocking her head to ask, "Ash? Is everything okay? I could hear you yelling something, even from the lake. I've been waiting for you there for hours!"
Ash narrowed his eyes at her, wondering what the heck she was doing waiting for him at the lake at this hour. He noted quickly that her short hair was indeed down, as he had observed from the distance of the camp and he tried not to stare as he locked eyes with her. His voice tremulous and timorous, he queried diffidently, "Misty…h-have you ever s-seen a ghost?"
"You mean a ghost pokémon…right? Of course I-"
Ash cut her off abruptly with a stumbling correction. "N-no…I mean…like, like a real ghost…."
Misty's eyes took on a slightly concerned look as she stared into his eyes. "No…of course I haven't…why do you ask Ash?"
He directed his gaze away from her worried one as he mumbled, "Never mind."
"Are…you okay?" Misty inquired, twisting her head to the side in an attempt to regain eye contact with him.
Ash jerked roughly away as hastily as he could, feeling a mix of dread and revulsion as tears began to well uncontrollably in his eyes, and his body resumed shaking relentlessly.
"Ash? Ash, answer me!" Misty pleaded, her voice becoming more intense and fretful as she moved closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder apprehensively. She could feel him shuddering, and soon became worried enough to resort to more serious measures. She almost felt bad for doing it, but before she could change her mind, she put her hand beneath his chin and gently lifted his head so he was looking at her.
She gasped as she realized a few stray tears were seeping down his face, and he suddenly looked very pale. "Ash, you're crying! What's wrong? Please tell me, Ash." She cried, her voice now in that accustomed I'm-worried-about-you-so-you-better-tell-me-what's-wrong-right-now intonation.
"N-nothing…." Ash muttered dejectedly, tugging away from Misty's lingering touch on his face. "Nothing's wrong…."
Misty crossed her arms, scowling at her sulky friend. "I don't believe that for a second, Ash Ketchum. We've been friends for four years now, and I know you well enough by now that I realize I can't trust you when you say nothing's wrong."
Ash glanced at her through tear-blurred eyes, declaring uncertainly and under his breath, "I don't know what's wrong! I-I really don't…."
Misty put her hands on her hips in exasperation, but resolved that she should leave him alone, as her demanding an explanation was upsetting him. Just as she decided that, though, Ash shifted his feet and peeped at her timidly, his eyes meek and scared. "Misty?"
"Yeah Ash?"
"If you promise to believe me, I'll tell you what happened…." He gave a shaky sigh.
"I promise, then." Misty smiled at him reassuringly. After all, how weird could it possibly be? She wondered to herself, watching dully as Ash began to scuff his shoes in the dirt divertedly, then glimpse around at his settings anxiously.
"But first, let's get away from here…." Ash mumbled as he looked around, stepping a little closer to Misty. "I wish I had brought my pokémon…."
"Want to go to the lake?" Misty suggested; trying not become too agitated by how out of character Ash was acting.
He shrugged. "I guess."
"C'mon then!" She gave him an erratic grin, and gestured in the direction they were facing with a flick of her head.
Ash indistinctly tried to bring a lax smile to his slacked face, but ended up with not much more than a slight twitching on the sides of his mouth. Misty recognized his attempt, however, and began to walk forward, Ash at her side.
However, Ash's tension didn't dissolve the slightest bit when he started moving towards the lake. In fact, it increased. Misty kept close watch on her suddenly abnormally edgy and listless companion, and soon her alarm for her friend amplified yet more as she noticed that his flitting eyes were slightly glassy. He looked almost feverish with fear.
He looks like he's seen a ghost...and that would make perfect sense…. She contemplated, while reaching over to squeeze his hand. A sigh of relief sounded inside of her as he resisted her hand, and her pity. That was the Ash she knew and liked.
As they approached the lake, and the hissing of the waves reached their ears, Ash felt a pang of unrest sound in his stomach, and nausea began to whirl about his mind. A rising swell of panic was just breaking the coast in his heart, and he felt the streaming of the current pull at the little courage he had left, then sweep it away. He balked in the middle of the path, and stared at the lake. Something was terribly amiss there….
Misty looked back at Ash oddly, stopping to wait for him. "Come on, Ash!" She called supportively, then crossed her arms in frustration when he did nothing more than shift his still watering eyes to her.
"Ash…nothing's out to get you…it's okay…."
"No…. It's not…I can't go to that lake, Misty…. I just…can't…."
"Would you feel better if we just went back to the sleeping bags?"
"No."
"Well what do you want to do then?!"
"I want to get out of here, that's what!" Ash's voice was suddenly stronger, but still ridden with fear.
"Well Ash, it's the middle of the night! We can't go out traveling now!"
"Didn't stop you."
Misty glowered at him and gave an annoyed huff, narrowing her eyes.
"What are you doing out here anyway Misty?" Ash asked, the familiar stubborn attitude now dominating his tones.
Misty's eyes flickered. "I…. Well…to be honest…. I-I felt something too…. I don't know…." Her look of unease soon hardened over however. "Something is going on, I'll give you that," she admitted reluctantly. "But we can't leave now, I mean, what's the worst that could happen? We've got our pokémon to protect us."
"Pikachu's asleep." Ash murmured.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we woke him up, and I'll wake up Togetic, too. Will that calm you down?"
"Maybe."
"Togetic!" Misty shouted, "Pikachu! C'mon, wake up!"
Ash and Misty both turned around to focus their eyes on the now somewhat remote sleeping bags, where they watched as Togetic popped out of his pokéball and flapped over swiftly. It took Pikachu a little longer to wake up, but soon he too trotted obediently over to Ash's side.
Pikachu suppressed a thoroughly grumpy shock, and swiped at his eyes fuzzily as he peered up at Ash, wondering why Ash had allowed Misty to wake him from his deep slumber. Togetic, quite on the other hand, was as cheerful as can be, and chirped merrily as he fluttered recklessly around Misty, demanding a scratch under the chin. Misty more than happily obliged, and was quite pleased with how well Togetic reacted to her calling, even from inside his pokéball.
"Pikaa chu chu pika ka chu?" Why did you wake us up? Pikachu inquired groggily, settling on an unnoticed glare at Ash.
"We think there may be something weird going on, and we wanted some pokémon for protection, okay guys?" Misty requested. The request was obviously aimed at Pikachu, as Togetic was visibly delighted to be at their service, even at the late hour.
Pikachu's glare, though, suddenly turned soft as he picked up on Ash's vibes of nervousness. He looked up at Misty and answered, his voice now free of any fatigue that was previously present, "Pika…. Pika chuu Pikachupi." Yeah…. That's fine Misty.
"Piii?" Hmmm? Pikachu piped abruptly, thrusting his beady nose into the air and sniffing. "Pika chuuu pi kachu! Chuu chuu pika kaka!" I smell a pokémon! And it's really close! The little pokémon's fur bristled warily.
While normally this would have never failed to spark Ash's interest, he just blinked at Pikachu bluntly and said, "Okay. Any clue what kind, Pikachu?"
Pikachu vigorously nodded his head no, but then quickly added, "Pi pika pikachu cha chuuu kaaa, pika chu." It seems like a larger one, with fur.
"Let's just go to the lake."
Togetic made a smothered gasp that came out more like a whistle. "Toge tic tic toge!" I smell it too!
Ash gave a sarcastic smile. "Great, you guys turn into Growlithes just the moment we aren't looking for pokémon, don't you?"
Togetic giggled. "Toge tic!" Sure do!
Pikachu shrugged and replied more slowly. "Pika chu." Guess so.
"Well Ash, if you don't want to catch it, let's go already."
"No…I…d-don't…." Ash said this slowly, like he was deeply mulling over it, and he suddenly became conscious of what the encounter with the phantom creature had done to him. "It's weird…."
"Maybe…you're tired or something Ash…. Should we go back to the sleeping bags and go to bed or something…?"
Ash shook his head vehemently. The fear of going to the lake was softening and being overlapped by a perplexing desire to go there. It puzzled him how quickly and strangely his emotions kept changing…and how atypically ambivalent his mind was being.
So they continued their short and really quite pointless journey to the lake, and as they neared it, Misty realized an unnaturally straight line, about 4 feet tall, poking out of the ground on the side of the trail.
"What's that…?" She asked herself under her breath, veering off to the side and uncovering the object of the pine needles, old leaves, and other such debris that was dangling from it.
Ash stopped walking quizzically, and Pikachu and Togetic both rushed to Misty's side in curiosity.
"I-it's a sign!" Misty declared, "And it says….'Welcome to Lake Long Lost'…. Guys…I think this may have been a landmark or something…."
She shifted out of the line of Ash's sight so he could see the sign, too.
It was obviously very old, and was basically just a jagged board nailed crudely to a stake. The once sunny yellow paint was chipped and coiling and turning green with age, but there was no question at all as to what it said.
"Well, this place is definitely deserted now," Ash stated bluntly, "and if it ever was something important, you sure can't tell now. I'm surprised we found this place at all."
Misty, Pikachu, and Togetic all nodded in agreement.
Ash ended the conversation with a dull "Hmmm."
"Toge?" Togetic piped, fluttering ahead of everyone else to the side of the lake. He peered in inquisitively, then began to tremble slightly. He looked up at Pikachu with a look of fear glinting off his dark indigo eyes, and cocked his head.
"Togetoge? Toge tok tic tic toge togetogetic…?" Pikachu? Why I don't have a reflection…?
Pikachu scrambled over, lowering his nose so it was just above the swaying water.
"Pipipi…Pika pika pikachu, pi…. Pik pi pikachu pika chu…." Togetic…I don't know, but…. I don't have one either….
"What's wrong guys?" Ash and Misty had just caught up with the two pokémon.
Pikachu looked solemnly up. "Pika chu pi pika…pika pika chupika pichupika!" This water is weird…it's not reflecting anything!
"Lemme see." Ash leaned over next to the perplexed pokémon, peeping with wide eyes into the crystal clear waters of the stowed-away lake. "Wait a minute you two, I have a reflection…."
But Ash jolted as he realized it was not his own. A black figure lurched out from the swelling shadows that were reflecting dimly off the lake's surface, lifting two rods of slimness from a blob of a head. A pair of claret cylinders snapped open and pooled sinister gloom.
Ash could hardly suppress his horror. He stumbled back two steps, then allowed his body to drop in the chilly sand.
He turned away from the menacing vision, faltering to his feet.
"Something scary is definitely going on here."
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Lake Long Lost…. The words boomed in his head and throbbed with memory. Why am I back here? Why am I being brought back to the place I'm still trying to forget? Why…?
His body was still choked with aches, and he figured he must've been out for a minimum amount of time, for he felt hardly better than he had before.
But then again…how could he be expected to act normal when he just found out he was somehow being pursued by his own memories…? When he was being forced by his own mind to run for miles upon miles…to never stop until his mind was again flooded with the all the pain…all the emotion…all the sorrow…. He lay down grumpily, sadly, and with a dispirited plop.
Trying to close his eyes…. Trying to forget…. Trying to remember what he was doing here…. Trying to figure out what his vision could have meant…. And trying to figure out what it had to do with him….
But most of all, he was trying to sleep. It was an attempt made in known vain, but it made him feel better to know he was trying. So he just lay there, listening the people and pokémon behind his shield of tangled thistles. He knew they were there, and he knew to some extent what they were. And he knew the pikachu and togetic knew he was there. And he didn't really care, until the human's voices triggered another twinge of an anguished memory.
Somewhere, somehow, he had heard these voices before.
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Author's Notes: Um…yeah. I didn't get *half* of what I wanted to get done done, but *sigh* oh well. Actually, that'll make it easier to write the next chapter. But don't expect it very soon. J I'm trying my hardest! Did you like the sort of kind of not really Ash and Misty moments? I hope so. ^_^ I apologize for how long it took me to write this! I'm writing so many stories, and with school and all…. My life is crazy. Wow, I packed a lot of paranormal stuff into this chapter, eh? Next chapter you'll understand what's happening, I promise. At least partially. The whole story of what happened will be in Chapter 4. Oh, you have no clue how much I would love it if you reviewed! I would be ecstatic! I'll tell you what, I'll drop you a nice little thank you e-mail if you review and leave your e-mail address. If you want an e-mail. If you don't, just say so in the review. I would just love a review sooo much! Thanks in advance to everyone!