Talan's world was panic. It blinded him, consumed rational
thought until he was left with only a haze of instinct. The pain of the
Pokemon's attack had been so extreme, so overwhelming, that the idea of
experiencing it again dissolved his usual calm into simple animal impulse.
There was shouting and noise close behind him but he didn't look back,
convinced he would see a white shape flying at his heels. There was a burning
in his chest and blood in his throat but he couldn't regain enough control to
even slow despite the protests of his straining body. There was no place to
hide, no way to fight, and so to run was all he had. He stumbled across a small
stream, soaking his ruined jeans as he lost his balance and fell to his knees,
fingers clawing into the mud as he tried to get his feet under him.
Without warning strong arms were wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his
sides. He screamed in frustration and fear, bucking against the grip that
didn't waver.
"It's alright! Calm down, it's safe!"
Between the pounding of his pulse and hard panting, he could scarcely hear the
shouted words, let alone make sense out of them. A rough growl bubbled from his
throat as he threw his head back hard in hopes of catching his captor's face.
The arms kept their hold and all too soon his meager supply of strength was
exhausted and he sagged, breath coming in small whining gasps. Shaking racked
his entire body, every muscle torn by mini seizures made his own body alien and
uncontrollable.
"You're fine. That's it. Relax."
Wearily he shifted as far as he was allowed, taking in a vaguely familiar
tanned face. It took a minute to place the visage as the same he 'd seen
staring down at him when he'd woken. His mind associated the stranger with the
Pokemon who'd attacked him and weakly he tried to pull away, the effort more
for show than a serious try at escape.
"Where?" he whispered, putting all the questions he needed answered
into the single word.
The other teen let him retreat, holding his hands out in a placating gesture.
"It's gone. I promise."
"Gone?" he repeated dumbly, driven to the edge of his endurance by
pain and stress. "Sure?"
"Positive," the stranger assured, his tone so matter of fact it was
difficult not to believe. Talan looked cautiously around, verifying for himself
that the immediate threat was gone. The darkness was close now, warm and
comforting, familiar now after a day that seemed spent more unconscious than
aware. He let himself slide into without struggle, happy for the rest it promised.
"That was strange," Ash said carefully. Brock looked up from where he
was adjusting their new companion's limp form into a comfortable position and
nodded in full, heartfelt agreement.
"He'll probably be a little more, um, sane when he wakes up. Seizures can
really mess you up," he offered, smiling in thanks when Misty deposited a
load of firewood nearby. He dearly hoped he was telling the truth and that the
confusion the other man had showed was just exhaustion and not anything deeper.
He'd put up quite a fight when Brock had caught up to him, the screaming fit so
extreme that for a moment the Pokemon breeder actually thought the stranger was
entering another convulsion. The fight had left him quickly though...a bit too
quickly for comfort, really, his gratitude at Brock's pledge of safety evident
and almost child like. Had Mew's blast destroyed something that couldn't be
fixed?
Shaking the question away, Brock took a good look at the stranger for the first
time as the other two got the small fire started. Dark brown hair fell halfway
down his back, tangled now with dirt and leaves and matted with sweat. His
features were fine boned and prominent, jutting cheekbones pointing to little
food for too long. He had the frame of a runner, all long limbs and angles.
Brock wagered that even when he wasn't half starved he was still on the slender
side, though right now he was so thin as to be almost painful to look at. His
clothing was old and torn, patched at all the major joints and stained darkly
with what might have been blood or only sweat. He looked about Brock's age,
though that was hard to really guess through the dirt and lines of stress.
One thing was certain to Brock's mind...this was no typical town boy out on a
Pokemon journey. Any registered traveler had free use of Pokemon centers and
hospitals. He doubted Talan had seen the inside of any town for a good long
time, though he couldn't fathom why that would be the case. Even if he'd run
into trouble at home there was always the next town, the next city. Youth these
days were expected to pick up and move around, encouraged by the town councils
to go out and see the world.
Talan woke slowly and to much more pleasant emotions than the last time. He was warm and covered with a thick blanket and all his various aches and pains seemed distant and vague. He stretched lazily and yawned, enjoying the hazy moments between sleeping and waking.
"Hey, you're up!" a young, high-pitched voice squealed practically in his ear. "How you feeling?"
He yelped in surprise, sitting up quickly as memories of the past night came rushing back. He looked around cautiously and with a jaded eye. A young boy was sitting by the remains of a campfire only a few feet away, grinning at him with a rather blank vapid look. A girl with odd hair stood next to the kid with a slightly less cheerful expression, though neither of the two looked outright hostile. Even if they did try anything he felt sure he could take them, even weak and shaky as he felt. They were just youngsters, probably playing games in the vast forest and unaware of the dangers he'd recently become so intimately familiar with.
"I'm fine," he said in answer, though now that he was fully awake every muscle and joint was reporting in with various complaints. He was fairly sure he'd strained everything it was possible to. He took a deep breath to test his ribs, pleased when only a dull ache presented itself and no stabbing agony. If only the blurry vision would clear he might actually consider himself in fair shape....
"You looked pretty bad yesterday. Why'd Mew hurt you?" the girl asked, plopping to the ground and resting her arms on raised knees.
"Mew?" he repeated, examining his memories and remembering the noises of the Pokemon that had hurt him so badly. "I tried to touch it." He flushed then, recalling his mad dash though the underbrush.
"I apologize for my behavior last night," he said stiffly, wrestling with the desire to pull the blanket over his head and hide there. Embarrassment wasn't an emotion he had to deal with often, spending so much of his time alone, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. "I do thank you for the assistance. I should leave now."
He threw back the sleeping bag and cover, fully intending to make a quick and dignified retreat back to his solitude.
It took a good twenty seconds before the draft made him realize he was bare assed naked.
He was really starting to suspect a worldwide conspiracy lately.