Chapter 5
Deepness
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She was falling.
Hera fell through the darkness, the winds whipping her fur and her face as she whirled in the air. She almost felt like she was within a hurricane, if it wasn't for the fact that she was being pulled down, and not up.
It was so silent.
The dark depths, the increasing speed, the difficulty to breath. It like she was back at the door, the cold black claws gripping her. She felt like she was back at Proteus' back, feeling his sleek ebony coat over solid muscles. She could almost feel him, there with her.
So peaceful.
Her mind was numb. There was no fear. She accepted her fate, almost joyfully. The pain would be gone soon. The hollow would be gone soon.
She fell through the murky blackness, her heart numb and her mind empty.
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Proteus was paralyzed with shock. He could do nothing; only watch the hole where Hera had just fallen, the fearow hit by debris and rocks, plummeting into deep oblivion.
If it weren't for her, he wouldn't be alive right then. After she gripped the bid's neck, the attack had missed him and instead hit the ceiling around them. Proteus had jumped for safety, missing falling into the abyss himself by mere inches.
The battle still raged mercilessly overhead, and it seemed like it was drawing into the base. Proteus' side hurt like hell, and he saw the blood, trickling thickly through his skin.
"Ow, my bloody fucking head," Rocker said as he wobbled up. "Did somebody check the license plate of the snorlax that hit me?"
"Rocker!" Proteus called him, brought back to reality by the porcupine's rambling. "It's Hera! She fell!"
The hedgehog seemed not to hear him right. "Hera did what?"
"She fell in the hole, dammit!" he screamed, the fact that he sworn not even occurring to him.
"What hole?" the ground type asked, before he saw the crater. His eyes became as wide as saucers. "Holy shit!"
Proteus wasn't listening to him anymore, images of Hera falling, screaming and hitting the bottom, her body left almost unrecognizable, dancing merrily in his mind like a sick joke. He shook his head furiously; he couldn't think like that. She was alive! Alive! He had to have faith. He had to ask the Gods to care for her. But, right then, he needed to go down there, and save her.
He didn't even have to think about it, not even had to concentrate, the instinct and the situation all that was necessary. Before he could even register, he was an espeon, and this time he knew he was an espeon for he could feel the fear and the rage that lingered in the air like a sickening cloud.
Rocker, he beckoned the porcupine, who must have had the greatest scare of his life, considering how far he jumped. I'm taking us both down. Relax and clear your mind, and it'll be easier for me.
Rocker nodded, even though relaxing would be a real challenge for him right then. Proteus could tell that having talked to the hedgehog's mind directly scared the crap out of him, but there was no other way to get his full attention.
The eon closed his eyes, trying to block the other thoughts and emotions around him. It wasn't easy, the assaulting feelings like a full stampede of tauros, but he managed. He reached through the threads of reality to Rocker, and he gripped his body. He nullified gravity, and created kinesis. It was mostly instinct but, being the first time he had done that, he still had to work around things a little. When he was done with Rocker, he focused on himself, and repeated the process.
He opened his eyes and faced the abyss, he and Rocker floating down quite quickly, into the roaring darkness.
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The caves beneath the Team Rocket base were unknown to the humans that lived on the surface, ancient galleries of gray and black and brown rock, with almost no connection to the outside except for the tunnels created by the rock and ground types that lived within.
Within those tunnels, there was a natural lake of waters as clear as sapphires, inhabited by many aquatic pokemon, especially woopers and quagsires, who were dominant in that underground. Any light that touched the clear surface was reflected through the walls of the cave, creating an intricate spider web of light beams.
The pokemon had been startled by the energy ray that had streaked from the ceiling and into the lake, creating a new communication with the outside. They were even more shocked when two pokemon fell from the hole into the cold waters. None dared approach the place afterwards, and most fled to other spaces of the underground.
Everything was peaceful for a long moment; the only sound the soft whisper of the breeze that flowed within the galleries and the distant sounds of battle.
Hera gasped for air as she resurfaced from the lake's bottom. She padded to the shore, labouredly making her numb limbs move through the water, which was even harder since she couldn't use all her four paws. The water was really cold.
When she reached the muddy earth, taking a moment to get her breath beck, she looked at the lake. The fearow was floating on the surface, unmoving, and there was a dark and consistently increasing pool next to his head, contrasting with the deep blue of the waters. By the surprised look of his face, it was obvious that he had died instantly.
Like she had just noticed she was by a great body of clean water, she started quenching her thirst in large gulps, stopping only for breath. When she was finished, she felt more refreshed, but still tired and hungry.
Hera looked around her. The galleries were vast and wide, the roof towering many feet above her head. Coming back through where she got in was out of the question.
She turned and limped her way through the tunnel, seeing nothing but shadows and rock all around her. She walked until she caught something.
It was a scent, but not any scent, she knew, as she sniffed the air intensively. She recognized that scent, and it made her eyes see red and her throat growl. The smell was being brought by a small breeze that traveled through the dark passages.
She was tired and starving, and her ears were still far from recovered, but she had a hard and determined face and she followed the scent. The same face the fearow had before he had launched that attack.
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The strike was fierce, humans and pokemon fighting, battling, killing, dying. The flames illuminated everything, and the smoke covered everywhere. It was quite a sight. If you had a strong stomach, that is.
A woman sat in a large root of an ash tree, watching the onslaught from behind the forest line, her face hidden in the hood of her purple cloak and her lips twisted in a soft smile. She watched the fight with interest.
"Esper?" she called after some time, her voice silky and little louder than a whisper.
A flash of light from behind her, and an espeon stood in the grass, her forked tail swishing in the air leisurely and her green eyes watching the woman intently.
What may I do for you, Mistress? the eevee-lution asked her, her voice an echo in the lady's mind.
"Have you found him?"
No, not yet. Esper answered, ashamed. She dropped her head. His pattern is too erratic. It's too difficult.
"And for an average psychic it would be impossible," the cloaked woman told her. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Esper. You already did a great job of finding this location."
The fox shook her head. But it's not nearly enough for the Order. They won't be pleased if we fail.
"We have plenty of time." She seemed completely unconcerned, in contrast to the psychic pokemon. "Right now, take those thoughts off your cute little head and focus on the task at hand."
The espeon nodded, a little flushed from being called 'cute'. Yes, Mistress. And she disappeared in another flash, leaving the woman to calmly watch the carnage.
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Proteus floated down the dark makeshift cave with Rocker, concentrating for all he was worth on not letting them plummet down. The brown porcupine did not seem to be enjoying himself.
"Just how friggin' deep is this shit, anyway?" he asked, scared.
Proteus did not answer, and tried to block the ground type's voice as well. It was hard enough to maintain the power without him bickering and whining.
At last they left the vertical tunnel and found themselves on a great cave of colorful stones, lit gently by the faint light that came from small openings in the rock. They were floating perilously over a great body of water.
"Oh, crap!" Rocker exclaimed, starting to flail in the air. "It's water! I hate water! I just hate it! Just get me the fuck out of here!"
"Will you shut up?" Proteus growled, surprising himself once more. He didn't really understand how his temper was exploding lately. Maybe it was the evolution, or maybe it was the way things were happening to him. He didn't know, but he sure as hell knew that Rocker wasn't helping in anything.
They touched down in the muddy ground, Rocker losing no time in distancing himself as far as he could.
Ground types, the espeon thought, annoyed.
Proteus started to painfully resume his eevee self and, when he was finished, he found that the cold water was more than a giving, especially because transforming four times in a single day, he realized, was not good for your stomach or the spasms of your muscles, much less the pounding and burning all over your body. He fought against tears of pain.
"Hey, kiddo, you all right?" Rocker asked him, genuinely worried.
Proteus stopped drinking and looked at him sharply. No, I'm not all right, he thought bitterly. I'm hurt and sick and my side seems like it won't stop bleeding and I can't go home and one of my few friends out here could be as good as dead and overall my life went to fucking hell, thank you very much. But he said nothing, deciding to shrug off the sandslash and walk away from the lake instead.
"Well... all right, then," Rocker said a little awkwardly, apparently sensing the eevee's discomfort and lack of desire to socialize at the moment. "I'll just... go over there and try to sniff something." He hurried off, much to Proteus' relief.
The eevee then lay there in the cold earth, thinking about the current set of events as his body slowly became more comfortable to exist in, and realizing that events did not come one after the other. They came in packs, all at once, and lunged at you like a bunch of hungry arcanines when you least expected.
He looked around at the faint light rays reflected by the water and the walls, and his mind traveled back to his home, to the lush green forest and the clear lake and his family's den. When he opened his eyes again he almost thought he'd be there, at home, but instead he came face to face with the cold, hard and dark truth. He felt like crying.
"Hey, kiddo, come here!" he heard Rocker call him, and he debated whether or not that was a good thing.
The brown pokemon had apparently found Hera's scent trailing all the way into the deep tunnels. What could she be doing in there? Proteus wondered. But he shook his head forcefully, willing his mind to stop thinking for once, just once, and leave him at peace.
He looked at the caves beyond. "Let's go," he said, and there was no room for arguing.
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Hera jumped away as gracefully as possible with just three working legs as another patch of the rocky roof came down towards her. The whole base seemed to be falling over her head, and new passages where opened by the minute. She could feel the earth shacking and she could faintly hear the blasts, shouts and screaming above her. That wasn't a battle. That was the fucking Armageddon! But of course, she could just be exaggerating.
The scent became clearer and stronger and she walked, and she could also tell that he was bleeding. Even better.
At one point, she noticed footsteps on the dusty cavern floor. Whoever created them seemed to be having a hard time moving in two legs, and there were dark spots all over them. They trailed deeper into the caves.
Hera continued moving, ignoring the pain in her left hind-leg and the stress of her muscles, until she turned a corner, and spotted him, an angry frown finding its way onto her determined face. It was almost time.
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Reden limped through the sinuous passages, his leg and his side hurting and bleeding like there was no tomorrow. He had to get to the surface and away from the base quickly.
The Rocket squad leader knew very well when there was no hope of success, and this was one of those times when keeping on fighting was simply stupid and suicidal. He had no idea who were those trainers and why the hell they were attacking them, but he sure as shit knew that they weren't kidding around.
He had found an entrance to those caves in the lowermost level of the Team Rocket base. In fact, it was more like a hole that leaded to the underground. He didn't remember being told of those tunnels when the base had been described to him in his debriefing before the pokemon center theft.
Before he had entered in the tunnel, he had made sure no one would be able to easily follow him. The two men that were with him at the time disagreed with his 'methods' and even tried to stop him. He had had to take care of them the hard way.
From there, it was a race against time to find another exit, which he was sure existed, since he had seen plenty ground type pokemon hiding in the dark corners of the tunnels, and he knew that they had to have got in there through somewhere. And if everything else failed, his houndoom could find a way out for him.
Reden kept tumbling hastily through the darkness, not noticing the small figure limping her way close behind him.
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Author's notes: I am truly sorry about the shortness and the lateness of this piece, but between traveling for Christmas and preparing stuff for the New Year, my life has been kind of a hassle. But, still, I managed to get it done. And don't worry, things are really gonna get spicy from now on. ;) Now, onto the reviews! ^ô^
Three A's, two C's, and PDBF: Hey, Cat! 'Sup? ^_^
Well, I do like the Dragon element the most, taking out Dark, of course, but if I was to make Proteus evolve into another element, then I think it would be Flying. I've actually written a fic with a Strateon, my flying type eevee-lution (Stratus + Eon = Strateon) and if you want stats, just ask me.
Silver Wing: Hmm... Could be.
Don't worry, if they die, it'll be for a good reason. ;)
Now, about your character, I don't know if it would be good to insert him, especially now that you put everything about him on the review for everyone to read. Plus, I don't enjoy using other people's characters, for the sake of creativity and because I need to practice creating my own characters. Not that Link isn't cool. He's great! I have an Umby with green eyes too! ^_^ His name is Odin! I'll introduce him to you some time. But thanks anyway!
clara200: Love is in the air... Don't we all love romance? ^^
And congratulations and thank-you's for your first review to my story. Hope to see you reading it until it's finished. (Which will probably be at the end of the world, at this rate...)
Subieko: Well, don't worry, you'll know soon enough. ^-^
You're welcome, but I didn't really fix it. FF.Net just took ages to update my profile and the chapter wouldn't work until then. **glares at FF.Net**
Yes, we all saw that.
And I'm glad you don't mind the swearing. I think it adds a comic relief. XD -- Can you see me laughing?
And thanks for all of the reviews at once!
Charm65: Charm, my love! (You don't mind me calling you that, do you?) I'm glad you finally reviewed me! **fire-works**
I thought it was cute too. ^-^
No, he's not a freak; he's just a little hard on himself. Poor thing. ;_; **sniff**
I don't know if this chappy was better than the last one, but hey, I do my best, don't I?
And thanks for your first review here!
I'd also like to thank Scott Kelly, SilverMoon and Pyr00tje for their support. If you guys are still reading this, of course.