Test of Fate, Part One
Chapter Three-Evening Decisions
Theo turned to look up at the sky again, shielding her eyes from the glare of the setting sun. She was on the road again, because Brooke had finally found it, and it was much faster to travel that way. Theo was on a hill now, staring out across the area in front of her which, was lit up by the setting sun. A wind blew, rustling her clothing and blowing her blond hair out behind her. The flag she carried snapped in the breeze.
Theo clutched the shaft tightly against her chest, refusing to let it go. She and Brooke had run for hours, away from that place where they had found the flag and that trainer. They hadn't stopped running until they had reached the road. Brooke had never left Theo's side. When they had been too tired to run, they had walked, because stopping had never been an option for them. Theo paused now though, staring out at the growing twilight. She leaned against a tree and looked down at her pokemon.
Brooke was, in a word, exhausted. Bulbasaurs and all of their evolutions are not long distance runners, and the hours of running this one had just done were enough to leave her feeling tired, and her stubby legs little more than condensed jelly. She caught Theo's eyes, and stared up into the girl's golden brown eyes through her own amber ones. "Bulba…" she whimpered.
Theo readjusted her bandanna, trying to get wisps of her long hair out of her eyes. She sighed, staring down at Brooke. "I'm sorry." She said regretfully, "I should have recalled you. That wasn't very fair of me at all."
Brooke closed her eyes and shook her head. "Bulba, bulbasaur saur saur bulba."
Now it was Theo's turn to shake her head. "I wish I could understand what you're saying," she said. Brooke rolled her brown eyes, then leaned her weight against Theo's calf.
"Bulba," she said again. Theo sighed.
"It's getting late," she said, staring out at the sunset again, "Perhaps we should find a camping site or something. Settle down for the night." Brooke nodded in agreement, and Theo rubbed the pokemon's head. "You think so too? Okay then, that's the plan. Wanna sniff something out for us?"
Brooke was off immediately, nose to the ground and her eyes fixed ahead of them. She'd found some new energy somewhere inside herself, enough to help her sore feet go where her sensitive nose was leading. Brooke traveled downhill again, Theo on her tail. The pokemon wandered off the path, searching the ground. There, ahead of them!
"Bulbasaur!" she cried triumphantly. Theo looked up, staring into the new clearing. It was on a hill, but one side was shaded over by a giant rock and some trees and bushes. In the soft light of dusk, the grass of the area had turned an extraordinary red color, like blood. The road ran off to one side, curving away from the small campsite. It was the perfect spot really- completely sheltered from the prying eyes of other trainers who might want to take Theo's flag while she slept. The human girl grinned.
"This is perfect, Brooke," Theo said, looking around once again. "Really perfect."
The bulbasaur beamed, and Theo walked ahead of her. She sat down ungracefully, sighing loudly and leaning her back against the rock. Her legs were throbbing a little now, and Theo could barely feel her toes. She had walked a lot today. More than she ever had before.
She hoped she wasn't going to pay for it in the morning.
Theo smiled a little, then looked down at Brooke, who had crawled up beside her. "Man," Theo groaned, rolling her shoulders and sighing again, "What I wouldn't give for some painkillers right now. Advil, or something."
"Bulbasaur…" Brooke agreed, and flopped down next to her trainer. Theo moved a little, making room for the somewhat broad pokemon. That bulb took up a lot of room.
"Maybe that's part of the challenge of this," Theo thought out loud, rubbing her thighs, "You gotta be in good shape to take this kind of exercise."
"Bulba?"
Theo shrugged. "Nevermind," she said, tired. "Just thinking, y'know." She looked down at the tired pokemon. Brooke was sweating a little, and her amber eyes were half closed with weariness. Theo frowned in concern. "You wanna go back in your pokeball?"
Brooke nodded wearily, and Theo smiled. She reached for her belt, fingers searching until she found what she thought was the Bulbasaur's ball. Unfortunately, when the girl pressed the button, a red beam of light shot out, and Nari came out, shaking her yellow head.
"Pika…" she growled irritably.
Theo laughed weakly. "Sorry," she said quickly, rubbing the back of her head. She found the right pokeball this time, and pulled it off her belt. "I guess it takes some practice to get this kind of thing right…" She smiled at Brooke. "Sleep well. You deserve a good rest." And the pressed the button and recalled the pokemon.
Some bird hooted in the trees above Theo, and the girl started in surprise. She put Brooke's pokeball back on her belt, then reached for Nari's. "Sorry," she apologized to the pokemon again. "You wanna go back in?"
Nari looked up at Theo, her dark eyes reproachful. "Pi pika pika chu chu pikachu pi…" she scolded, then began to walk around the campsite on all fours, inspecting it.
Theo sighed, and dropped her head onto her chest. Her thick hair fell out of her bandanna again and into her eyes. She didn't understand what Nari had said, but, obviously, the pokemon wanted to stay out of her pokeball now. Theo didn't mind, of course. She liked company, even if it was only a pokemon she couldn't understand. The girl sat up straighter, lifting her head and tucking the stray hairs behind her ears. She reached back and slipped her backpack off her shoulders, dropping it on the ground next to her. She began to rummage through it.
Nari looked up from the dead leaf she had been toying with, ears perking in interest. She moved a little closer to the human.
Theo pulled out some assorted things- the book of matches, a snack bar, and her map. The sun was sinking now, and the evening light was fading fast. She got up then, stretching a little. Her muscles seemed to moan. "Nari?" she asked.
"Ka?"
"Could you help me gather firewood?"
Her ears flicked back and forth in consideration. Then she nodded, and set off again, tail held jauntily high. Theo followed after her, pausing only long enough to pick up the red flag again.
She wasn't going to let that out of her sight.
The two collected wood for a little, then came back to the campsite and began to set up. Theo made a little pile of dry wood, then lit a match and put it to it. It didn't catch. She tried again. Still nothing. Theo sighed a little, then sat back, hands on her thighs. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. "Crap." She said, and drummed her fingers on her knees. Well, it was getting dark now and she didn't have a way to make a fire. She tried again with the matches, but the wood still didn't catch. She sighed, feeling a bit lost.
Nari came forward then, dark eyes taking in her trainer's unhappiness. "Pika!" she chirped, getting Theo's attention. The girl looked up.
"What?" she asked.
The Pikachu came forward, then closed her eyes. Her ears flattened against the sides of her head. "Ka-chu…" she grumbled, and electricity crackled at her cheeks. A few sparks flew off, landing in the pile of twigs and bark. They lit up, glowing red. Theo leaned over quickly, tucking her hair behind her ears and blowing gently on the flames. She added larger pieces of wood as the flames began to catch. When the fire was crackling pleasantly, Theo looked over at her pokemon. Nari was settled on her haunches, scratching behind one ear with a hind paw. Theo smiled a little.
"Thanks," she said.
Nari looked up at her, blinked, then went back to grooming.
Theo settled her back against the rock again, trying to get comfortable. The sun had set now, and the dark sky was just beginning to show stars. Theo watched them for a minute, hands in her lap. Then her stomach growled, and she reached for the power bar she had left out. She unwrapped it and began to pick at it. Theo was very hungry, it was true, but she only had a little bit of food and needed to save it, if she could. She reached for the map at her side, and pulled it up onto her lap. She began to read it.
Nari looked over at her trainer after a bit, surprised at her quietness. The girl was reading something, her dark brows furrowed and her lips mouthing words around the bits of food she occasionally ate. The paper on her lap seemed to be confusing her. Nari sauntered over on all fours, then put her front paws up on Theo's knee.
"Ka-chu?" she asked, poking the paper. Her ears flicked back in forth in confusion.
"It's a map," Theo said, distracted. "I'm trying to figure out where we are now."
"Ka…?"
Theo sat up straighter, running her hands down her back. She was sore from bending over for so long. She put the map down on the ground in front of her, so that Nari could see it. "See?" she said, pointing to it. "This is the Corral. We started there. Then…I think these were the lakes we stopped at, when I met all of you." Nari nodded, and Theo studied the map a little more. "And then we wandered off the path right here…" She traced her fingers along the map, following the path she thought they had made. "And then we found the flag…right here, because the path curved just like that." She pointed to the perfect arc in the road she saw on the map. Nari cocked her head to one side, following Theo's gaze and hands.
"Pika? Pi pi pika chu pika chu chu."
Theo bit her lip and rubbed her chin, studying the map. "Hm," she said. "…I think I remember that cross road as well, so we must be past it now. Right…" she paused, searching. "Right here. We're here." Nari looked at where the girl's finger was pointing.
They were at a second crossroad now, and here the road split into two separate paths, one heading directly south and the other going west. Nari cocked her head to one side and chirped.
Theo smiled, satisfied. It was a good amount of land they had traveled over today, really. They had made good progress.
"Ka chu? Pii Pi ka chu."
Theo looked up at her pokemon. She smiled. "Sorry," she said, amused. "But I still can't understand a word you're saying."
The pokemon sighed exasperatedly, then tapped the map with one paw. Then she pointed to Theo. "Ka-chu?"
The girl blinked, then nodded. "Oh, I get it. Right. I'm looking at the map to figure out where we are, and what the best route to take next is. See, we're here now, but…There are two paths we could take." She pointed them out to Nari. The pikachu nodded again.
"Pika!"
"Now that we have a flag," Theo mused, "The only thing left to do is get to Sunset Island in the next two days." She studied the map again, looking at the paths. "Now…The path going south cuts straight through this forest area, down the mountain range, and then straight down through the rest of the park to the lake, where the Island is." She frowned, concerned. "The path to the west goes around this forest area. Hm. It's a lot longer…" She took another small bite of the food bar. "Hm…"
Nari looked at the map upside down, ears flicking back and forth. Then she looked up at Theo. "Pika….Pika pi pika chu chu pi pi chu?"
Theo rubbed her chin. "There's a path through the mountains. A shortcut. If we go through the forest, and then through mountain pass, we'll cut at least a day off the journey."
Nari's ears perked up and her eyes widened. "Ka-chu!" she exclaimed. Then her eyes narrowed, and she looked down at the map. Her stubby fingers traced their way along the map's surface, searchingly. "ka-chu…pi pi ka chu pi..." she said suddenly, and looked up at Theo, dark, fierce eyes suspicious.
Well, Theo didn't need to understand her pokemon to know what it was saying then. She sighed, and fiddled with her bandanna.
There must be a long route for a reason…
The human girl sighed, and read the map again. Her eyes strayed to chart at one side. "Oh." She said, and her eyebrows went up. "Oh."
"Pika?"
Theo shook her head. "Nothing." She lied quickly.
Nari's ears went back and she growled. Theo flinched. "Ah…I just found out why they have the long way around, is all." Her voice was a little weak.
Nari straightened, pulling herself up onto her hind legs. She looked quizzical. And demanding.
Theo sighed a little, then shifted her weight around. "Ah…The chart at the side says how dangerous one area is. One x: not safe. Two x's: dangerous. Three x's: …extremely dangerous." Theo took another bite of her bar, but had a lot of trouble swallowing.
Nari looked at the map again. Over the little green section that represented the forest Theo wanted to cut through was a number. Nari found the number on the chart, and her dark eyes widened.
"CHU!" she yelped.
Three x's. Three big, black x's.
"Chu chu pika chu chu!" she snapped, waving her paws around wildly. Theo flinched. She wasn't scared of Nari, really. No, that wasn't it. But it was hard to ignore the fact that the tiny mouse pokemon now looked extremely upset, and little electric sparks were crackling off her cheeks. Theo would have much preferred to not get electrocuted. She backed up a little, waving her hands in front of her.
"Okay okay, so maybe it's a little dangerous, but-"
"CHU!"
"Okay…A lot dangerous. But if we take the long way around, how do I know I'll make it there on time? It may be safer, but it's slower. And a trainer who gets a flag but doesn't make it to Sunset Island still loses." Theo sighed. "I'd rather risk a little danger and get there early than be safe about these things and not get there at all."
Nari's eyes narrowed, and she sat down on her haunches again, paws folded crossly over her chest. "Pikachu…" she muttered, but didn't complain any more than that.
"Look," Theo said quickly, pointing to the map again. "The forest- what do they call it…The Manya Jungle?- it's barely more than a mile or so wide. If we cut straight through it, sticking to the road, we'll be out of there before lunchtime. Besides…I highly doubt they'd put something in this park that we wouldn't be able to handle. It might be dangerous, but it must be doable." She smiled at Nari, genuinely convinced of her own safety. "And with pokemon like you and the others to protect me, what could possibly be out there that I couldn't handle?"