Salvation
Chapter 3
Meridian waved goodbye to Daphne as she walked home, and sighed contentedly. She loved spending time with her friend, despite the obvious differences between them. Meridian was from a rather well-to-do family, where Daphne's parent's often had a struggle to pay the rent on their small apartment. Daphne already had a job to help her family pay said rent, but Meridian had only just considered working today, when she'd heard about the Pokemon Zoo from Mr. Applegate. That was part of the reason that Daphne had been forced to give up Ankara. They just couldn't afford to keep the little Mankey anymore. The real thing that united the two, however, was their love of Pokemon, and it was also the thing that Donovan loved to make fun of them for.
They had both known Donovan for a good few years now, and they always wished they didn't. He was obnoxious, crude, uncaring. The only redeeming quality was his moderate good looks, but that wasn't much of a redeeming quality in Meridian's eyes. As Daphne tended to follow Meridian on most things, that was how she'd voiced her views too.
A small scuffling in the bushes brough Meridian out of her thoughts. She looked at the shrubs beside the door, and again heard the scuffling, and saw the leaves move. Curious as ever, she bent down to take a look at what it was, taking care to keep herself in a pose that would mean no threat to it, (if it was a creature, anyway), but to make sure she could jump back quickly if it attacked her.
Parting the leaves, she looked down, and her face instantly softened. A tiny Pichu lay curled up under the leaves, shivering with cold, and trying desperately to hide itself from any would-be-predators.It opened a tiny black eye to look at Meridian, then shook violently, tiny sparks jumping off its fur, but it made no move to get away.
Meridian had learned enough about Pokemon behavior to know that the little Pichu had thought its time had come, and was accepting it, if not liking it. Her heart ached for the poor little thing, and, against her better judgements, she scooped it up gently in her arms, tucking her light jacket around it to help keep it warm, and carried it back inside the house. It was a foolish move for two reasons. One, the Pichu may have parents that still lived here, and Pikachu and Raichu were notorious for defending thir children at any cost. Two, it may be someone's pet. Baby Pokemon weren't often found so easily in the wild. Still, if it was someone's pet, she'd tear them a new hole for leaving such a defenceless creature out alone where anything could happen to it, and her own Pokemon could frighten off any Pikachu or Raichu that came looking for their baby. If none of those things happened, she'd found herself a new pet.
The first thing she did was to turn up the heat in the house, making it warmer for the Pichu. the Chu line didn't like the cold very much, and at such a young stage of development, they were especially vunerable to it. She lay the PIchu down n the chouch, still wrapped in her jacket for extra warmth. Second, she got a little bit of Pokemon food down from the cupboard, and mixed it in with some water to make it easier to swallow. She didn't know how long the Pichu had gone without food, and she didn't want to overfeed it or give it something it couldn't digest. She remembered from her books that the Chu line liked naturally sweet things, like apples, so she set aside a little applesauce for later, in case it felt like a midnight snack.
Vanyel trotted out of Maridian's room to see what the fuss was all about, and as soon as it caught sight of the new Pokemon, it stopped and sniffed the air. "Ratta!" it cried in confusion and indignance at its home being disturbed my a newcomer.
Meridian looked vaguely smpathetic as she pulled out a tiny spoon and carried to bowl of food over to where the Pichu lay. "Sorry, Vanyel, but this is an emergency. I'll introduce you two later, but right now, this poor thing needs food." She sat down and scooped up the Pichu in her arms again, cradling it's head and trying to tempt it with the promise of food.
It worked. As soon as the Pichu smelled the food and felt the spoon at the corner of its mouth, it opened its eyes and sniffed at it delecately, as if afraid to eat what its body cried out for. Cautiously, it stuck out a tiny pink tongue and tasted the thick substance it was being offered. Seeming to like it, it gave a weak but happy cry of, "Chu!" and commenced eating what was on the spoon.
Meridian laughed softly. This was a little survivor.
Vanyel jumped up on the couch beside the two and got his first good look at the newcomer. It looked so small and helpless, moreso than he himself did. Vanyel knew that he looked small and weak, but he also knew he was far from it. His bite had caused more than one would-be thief to run away. This little thing, though, could barely shoot off sparks that would make his fur fuzz with static. It really couldn't survive on its own out there.
The little rat's heart softened, and it began to inch its way to the feeding Pichu, who showed no objection. Soon, it was curled against the little yellow jacket-wrapped bosy that Meridian held, and the Pichu did no more than giggle at the furry warmth the Rattata offered. Meridian herself giggled at Vanyel's attempt and success at making a friend, and that made Vanyel feel so much better about having a new Pokemon in the house.
Soon the Pichu had eaten its fill, and had fallen asleep. Rattata jumped down as Meridian rose and carried the Pichu to her bedroom. Vanyel followed.
The newcomer is strange, thought the little rat. It's cute, but it smells funny, like danger and wild and things from far away. It doesn't smell at all like what is in this area. Vanyel himself wasn't exactly local. He had been found outside Crimsonton, which was a good three day's travel by Rapidash. (Two days by Pidgeot.) But he still knew how things smelled, and the Pichu didn't smell right. Maybe it was because it had been found when it was so near death, but he doubted it. Even near-death things smelled near-death, and the Pichu smelled well-cared for.
The only problem was, it still didn't smell like a Pichu.
Vanyel, before he had been found by Meridian, knew a tribe of Raichu in the wild, and was trusted among them as a bringer of food for the younger ones. He'd met some Pichu before, and he got along wonderfully with the little things, despite the fact that he always left with his fur standing on end from the static those things gave off. He knew what a Pichu smelled like. That thing Meridian brought into the house looked like a Pichu. It acted like a Pichu. But for all it smelled like, it could have been a Ditto! And Vanyel couldn't place the smell other than something wild and powerful and unknown.
Putting his apprehensions aside for his owner's sake, Vanyel kept quiet on the subject, and watched closely as Meridian tucked the Pichu into a little nest made of old clothing, and placed it gently next to the heater for warmth.
Meridian sat back on her heels and watched the little Pichu sleeping for a few minutes before she spoke. "Cute little thing, isn't it, Vanyel?" Vanyel slumped down beside her, a hurt but pleading expression on his little ratty face. Meridian chuckled. "Don't worry, it's not my favorite," she said as she picked him up and held him to her chest. "It couldn't replace you if it tried."
Vanyel felt somewhat relieved.
Pichu floated in a sea of fragmented dreams. Mostly bad images, bad feelings, bad smells and sounds that it didn't recognize.
It always started off well. Being in a forest, surrounded by cool dark leaves and plants and sticks. The slight metallic feel that changed the air when a Pikachu or Raichu passed by. Happy times, when images were just starting to become clear to his eyes, and smells were just starting to take on meaning.
Then it always ended.
He could still hear the shreaks of frightened Pikacu and Raichu as they ran, or tried to defend whatever it was that had disturbed their peaceful forest life. The cries for help always ended quickly, though. That was the only blessing. He remembered being huddled against the bodies of his brothers and sisters, their warmth being his only comfort. They shuddered against him, none of them able to clearly see what was attacking them.
But the smell was there. That hard and wild smell that none of them had ever smelled before in their short lives. It was strong and scary, powerful and unknown, so many things all at once. It overwhelmed them all as it drew close, the beast's huge form casting a shadow over the shivering mass. Then, as gently as a mother Raichu, it picked up the little Pichu between it's jaws, and bounded away, leaving the others behind. Pichu could see nothing but blurry shapes whisk by them, and feel the wind sting his little face, which was already wet and sticky from tears.
Being fed food in a dark cave was what came next. His eyesight got better, but there was little to see in a place where only one wall had the light of day coming from it. The food was always meat, dead things that smelled bad and tasted even worse. Still, even one so young knew that it was either eat or die, so eat he did. He was sick and weak for the first little while, but gradually grew better when he realised that there was nothing else coming to him.
His only comfort really, came when he slept. He dreamed of the times before he was taken to the dark cave. He couldn't see anything in his dreams, but the smells, the sounds were always there. The feel of this brothers and sisters and they ran and tumbled on the soft warm grass, and the taste of berries in his mouth as his mother brough them something to eat. Then it was always interrupted, not by memories is being taken, but by the feel of a large creature, the creature that had taken him, curling up around him and giving him warmth in the darkness.
He sometimes woke up to hear a soft and deep, "Rai . . . " come from the creature. He knew the sound from the elder of his kind, the Raichu, and began to associate the creature with one of his own kind.
One day, after an unknown length of time in the cave, the Pichu was taken outside by the creature. The light hurt so badly, as his eyes had adjusted to the dark after all that time, and he cringed in pain as a first reaction. He felt a warm rough tongue run over his back, calming him, and then being picked up in the jaws of the creature. Once again, as they ran, he felt the wind on his face, but it didn't hurt this time, and there were no tears on his soft fur. It was a surprising amount of fun for the little thing.
Soon enough, though, it saw strange things, and began to get scared. Huge tree-like things make of stone, with clear block in some places, and noisy metal things on wheels that smelled bad and made him cough. The fun had ended, and he began to get scared. Where was he being taken.
He let out a tiny sigh of relief when the creature put him down behind a small bush, but he sqeaked in fright when he was it was right beside one of the stone trees. He begged and pleaded wordlessly to be taken away, but the creature paid him no heed. It ran off in a flash, and the Pichu could see it no more.
Cold, frightened, and growing hungry, he curled up under the leaves of the bush and shivered himself to sleep.
Pichu woke up suddenly, and cried out, unsure of where he was. Things smelled strange, and he was full of warm food, but that didn't do anything to calm him down. Only the feel of soft fur suddenly against his own was comforting, and he soon clamed down and went back to sleep, however fitfully.
Meridian jumped up as soon as she heard Pichu's cries, then chuckled softly as Vanyel ran and curled his body around the mouse's. It seemed to calm Pichu down, and Meridian was relived. The poor thing must have woken up and been unaware of where it was. That happened sometimes when wild Pokemon were first being domesticated.In fact, it had happened with Vanyel for the first little while. Meridian was quite used to it.
Meridian yawned and pulled out one of her magazines and began to read glancing up at Pichu and Vanyel every once in a while. She flipped once again to the article about the Pokemon Zoo, and sighed happily. What a day. Finding a new Pokemon to take care of, even for just a short time, and finding she had a well-paying job with something she loved dearly. Things just couldn't get much better.
Pichu turned over in his sleep.
Meridian grabbed her backpack and ran out the front door, almost running head first into Daphne, who stood with her finger out and ready to press the doorbell. Meridian screeched to a halt before she hit her friend."Daphne!" she exclaimed. "I didn't expect to see you here."
Daphne shrugged. "Felt like dropping by so we could walk to school. Is that okay? You seem a little rushed."
Meridian laughed. "No, I just had my hands full this morning. I was afraid I was going to be late." She closed the door behind her and locked it, and slung her pack over her shoulder as the two started walking.
"Hands full with what? Blaise giving you some trouble?"
Meridian shook her head. "No, for once. It was actually a new Pokemon."
"A new one?" asked Daphne before Meridian could say another word. "Did your parents come back and give you one? What was it?"
"Actually, they didn't. I found it in the bushes just outside the house after you'd left yesterday. A tiny little Pichu, all curled up and alone. I had to take the thing in, or else something would have killed it."
"A Pichu!" Daphne's eyes widened. "I've never seen any of those around here, let alone in front of your house! How'd it get there?"
"I'm not sure, but it looked abandonned. I'm going to feed it and take care of it until it gets a little stronger. If it wants, then it can go back into the wild. Maybe its mother was with it and had to leave for some reason. Maybe she hid it in the bushes and planned to come back for it later. I don't know. But it's too small to go back out there alone now. It's my responsibility."
Daphne's eyes grew soft. "Can I -- can I come over after school and see it?" she asked quietly.
Meridian smiled at her friend. "Sure! You can help me feed it, even! But I warn you, Vanyel's taken a liking to it. If he even thinks you're going to hurt it, he might bite you." She held up a hand with a Band-Aid on the back. "He already tried that on me."
"But Vanyel's always been so nice!" said Daphne, surprised that the little rat could have hurt Meridian. "Why would he do that?"
Meridian sensed her friend's concern. "Don't worry, it didn't hurt, and he didn't mean any harm. He seemed a little suspicious of Pichu when I first brought it in, but now he's acting like the thing's guardian. He won't let me take it out of his sight, and he always has to be around it. He's really the only reason I left the house this morning. I didn't really want to leave Pichu alone, and if Vanyel hadn't been so protective, I would have stayed home today."
Daphne laughed. "I can just picture it!"
The girls walked to school that way, talking and laughing as they always did. Meridian liked things that way. She had never really had too many friends in school, her preoccupation with Pokemon and having to take care of the house while her parents were away so much had prevented her from making any lasting friendships. Then Daphne came along, and the two found things they could share, much more than any of Meridian's past friends.
A few blocks from the school, Daphne stopped talking and grasped at Meridian's arm. "Do you smell that?" she asked.
Meridian sniffed cautiously at the air, and caught a whiff of smoke and burned wood. It was faint, but not coming along on the wind, which was blowing in the same direction the two girls were walking. Meridian nodded to her friend. "Yeah . . . Where do you think it's coming from?" she asked, their previous conversation lost now.
Daphne shrugged. "Dunno. But we could always go find out." Meridian nodded again, and the girls followed their noses as best they could.
It wasn't that they really wanted to see any burning building or people in danger. They both knew that even if they did find something like that, there'd be nothing either of them could do to help. But there was that curiosity nagging at them to find out where the smoke was coming from, and they couldn't ignore it. If nothing else, they'd at least have a good reason for being late for classes.
As they walked, the smell of smoke got stronger, and a mix between worry and excitement struck them. A fire this close to the school could mean no classes at all, or at least a more plausible excuse for being late. Many students would go to watch something so near, all thoughts of learning out of their heads for the brief moment that they watched the charred wood of a house, or a few dancing flames being quenched by water.
Then, as they rounded the last corner by the school, they stopped dead in their tracks. The school, or what was left of it, lay in heaps of rubble and still-burning wood. The smell of smoke was almost overpowering; thank goodness for the wind blowing it away from them rather than towards them. Here and there, jagged pieces of pale metal stuck out, the last remains of students' lockers, and Daphne turned away when she saw something that looked startling like a bloody arm near one.
Meridian fought to find her voice again. "How - how . . . why did this . . . ?" She couldn't quite bring herself to say it.
Daphne dropped to the ground beside her friend, her body shaking with barely-controlled sobs. "Please tell me I imagined it. Oh god, please, tell me I imagined it!"
Meridian didn't have the time to console her friend, however, as a glimpse of something moving amongst the smoking heaps caught her attention. Between who piles, a pair of gleaming red eyes shone at her, coming from a shaded but noticable red body. Her brow furrowed in confusion. A Pokemon? No, no Pokemon would be in this area after an event like this, and there was certainly nothing living in the area to have caused this.
Tragedy forgotten briefly, she ran over possibilities in her mind. No Pokemon could have done this, so maybe it was a group of them. But why? A gang of bad-ass Fire trainers? No, unlikely in a town like this. It may not be the best in the world, but it was relatively safe from Pokemon gangs. A terrorist attack? But why would they bomb a school, and why so thoroughly? More imporant, why weren't any other nearby buildings affected by what was so obviously a deadly blaze?
Daphne stood up beside her, her breathing sounding somewhat shaky. "It's gone, isn't it?" she said, still unbelieving, even when Meridian nodded and agreed. There was a moment of silence, more out of confusion than respect for any who may have perished in this incident. The silence was broken, though, by Daphne asking, "What is that?"
Meridian followed her friend's gaze to the edge of the ruins, where she once again saw the reddish creature standing and staring at them. Then, without warning, it lept up and vanished.
Daphne asked what Meridian was still wondering. "Was that a Pokemon?"
Meridian shook her head. "I don't think so. I really don't know. I've never seen anything like it before . . . " She shook her head. "Come on. We should leave, call the police and let them know about this, if the still don't."
They turned and walked back the way they came, going only a few steps before Daphne caught Meridian's arm again. "Meridian," she began. "Maybe . . . maybe I'm not thinking clearly right now, but this could be our chance."
Meridian turned to her friend, whose eyes shone with some pale glimmer of hope. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it," she whispered hoarsely. "We're normally in school right now. When they find that mess, they'll all think we were in it, and think we were dead. If we go home now, we'll be the only ones left. But if we leave . . ." She let herself trail off.
Meridian's eyes widened as she fully realised what Daphne was implying. "Run away? Pretend we're dead? Good god, Daphne, people probably did die in that, and this is what you're thinking?! What is wrong with you?!" she cried, her voice rising in volume with every word.
Daphne paled, but did not back down. "I'm serious. Dammit, I can't go on like this at home much more, not when my interests lie elsewhere. You of all people should know that. And now I'm given the chance to go and get out of this city and actually make something of myself, and you won't even support me? I thought . . . I thought you'd be the first to think of leaving this place, going on the road and training."
Meridian sighed, trying to calm herself. "I would be, if I didn't have a future here. The Pokemon Zoo opens . . . I have all of them at home . . . mom and dad . . ." But try as she might, she couldn't find any solid thing that prevented her from leaving. Only her morals, which were slowly being pushed to the back of her mind, were telling her not to take such unfair advantage of a tragedy. She sighed in exasperation. "You're right," she finally admitted. "But still, I couldn't leave. All the Pokemon at home . . . that little Pichu couldn't survive a journey, not in the state it's still in! And my parents would wonder where I was."
Not if they think you're dead, came the thought in the back of her mind. They wouldn't think to look for you on the road. Meridian shook her head once again to clear those thoughts, and found that Daphne had once again begun to speak. "Take the Pokemon with you. You'll need them if we train, right? And this can be the start of new lives for the both of us. We talked about leaving once, remember?"
"Yes, but that was two years ago, under entirely different circumstance. No death, no burning piles of rubble, nothing like this," she countered. In the distance, police sirens began to grow louder, and the approach of cars was heard.
"This is it," prompted Daphne. "Now or never. What's it going to be?"
Listening to the sirens draw ever closer, Meridian made the only decision that felt somewhat right, and she took Daphne's hand. "I'll come with you," she said, her voice sounding more certain than she felt. "But we have to go home first. I have a few things I need to pick up."
Daphne nodded seriously, and gently pulled her hand free of Meridian's. The girls walked along in silence, heavy thoughts weighted on their minds as they tried to ignore the sirens that had now stopped beside the wreckage of the school.
Yeah, I know, I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't think of a better ending for this part. The worst thing is, I still can't! _ So you're just going to have to deal with this until I get some creativity back or something.I could have made it a bit better, I suppose, but then one of my plans for a later chapter would have been blown to smithereens, and I'd rather deal with a prob;em now than the possibility of multiple problems later.