Hey everyone, I'm just gonna spout out the same yada yada yada so the character aren't mine, story is.
Don't take the story, you know how to contact me.
Please read and review.
Hope you enjoy
Chapter 7
A small group navigated their way around a wide twisting river.
Two boys and one girl walked alongside the river, the shorter boy checked his map.
The taller boy looked at the map, took it from the younger boy and turned it right way up.
The girl with them rolled her eyes and continued on ahead of them, apparently needing no map or compass. The smaller boy, Ash caught up with her and fell into step with her.
"So Misty going to Viridian, where are you from?" Ash asked conversationally.
"Does it matter?" Misty asked.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?" Brock asked, lining up with them.
"You don't?" Misty asked.
"Pikachu didn't like me at first either" Ash began.
"Ok now you've stunned me" Misty deadpanned.
"But I didn't give up on her and I'm not giving up on you "Ash continued on ignoring Misty.
"Viridian" Misty reluctantly admitted.
"Yeah we're going there" Brock said, annoyed.
"Where I'm from, bright spark! How did you two manage to make it past your own front doors?"
"Viridian's a pretty cool town. I had to go there when I got Pikachu because I got her really badly hurt and I had to get her to a Pokemon centre before..you know" Ash trailed off, looking down at the ground,ashamed.
The corner of Misty's lips twitched involuntarily.
"So first Pikachu then me, do all of your friendships have to start with some near death experience? "she asked with a hint of humour in her voice.
Ash looked at her and saw her smirk.
"You DO have a sense of humour!" he exclaimed.
"See, we're finding out things about you already" Brock added with a grin.
"So you going back to see your family?" Ash asked, settling down on a rock on the river bed and taking his backpack off.
Apparently it was lunchtime.
Misty fixed a determined gaze upon the river.
Brock saw this is a sign that she really didn't want to discuss her family life and so he gestured to Ash to stop this line of questioning.
Much to Brock's relief , Ash seemed to pick up on the hint and fell silent.
"So you don't seem to have any pokeballs, I assume you're not a trainer?" Brock began.
Misty looked at him seriously.
"I don't like trainers" she replied crisply.
"Hey what did we do?" Ash asked, defensively.
"Never seemed right to me. Wasn't raised the same way as you were" she replied, her voice was cold with anger
"Looks like that" Ash admitted, watching her strangely.
Misty fell silent as Brock set up camp and began mixing ingredients into a black pot.
While he was pulling out various cans and packets, he pulled out a newspaper which caught her eyes.
Misty walked past Brock wordlessly, picked up the paper and sat cross legged,leaning into the tree.
Brock cast a glance towards her and the paper.
Ash started reading over her shoulder.
"Hey theres something here about the Waterflower sisters" he called out to Brock.
Misty furrowed her brow and looked at Ash ,puzzled.
"Who?"
"The gym leaders at Cerulean Gym" Brock explained.
"Never heard of them?"Ash asked curiously.
Misty shook her head.
"So it would seem" she replied
"It says here that they're still in some sort of custody battle" Brock remarked.
Misty didn't reply, she was focused on reading the story.
"The sensational sisters of Cerulean continue to cause a stir with their ongoing custody battle.
Daisy , Lily, and Violet Waterflower are still engaged in a bitter custodial battle over their youngest sister who was placed in foster care at the age of three and has been adopted since.
After a horrific accident, the girls were left without parents at the age of eight and the three sisters were separated from their youngest sister by the courts.
After being separated from their sister until they were of legal age, the girls have campaigning for the legal return of the youth.
Twelve years after the separation and the girls still have not seen their sister.
Their social worker has called it an 'atrocious and disgusting insult to justice that a family cannot be reunited' The Waterflowers have hired a lawyer and will continue to fight until their sister has been returned to their custody"
Misty shrugged it off, wasn't her business and she never could understand other peoples preoccupation with everyone else's lives.
Brock looked at the photo in the paper and clenched his fist.
"They will be mine" he promised himself aloud.
Misty threw him a doubtful glance.
"Them?" she asked with disdain.
"Yeah why?" Brock asked eying Misty suspiciously.
"They're completely perfect" Misty's tone indicated that this was the worst thing they could be .
"Whats wrong with perfect?" Brock inquired curiously.
Misty dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand.
"Its boring! I like mistakes and screw ups. You're not always second guessing..." Misty paused and then groaned. "Why am I telling YOU this? You guys have never even given a glance to someone who isn't all perky, cheerful, sweet, happy and perfect all the time! "
"Hey thats not true!" Ash objected, speaking up for the first time in the conversation.
Misty looked at him with a bored expression.
"We've met loads of different people and we don't always like the people you talk about. I've never fell for anyone like that"
Misty smirked at the triumph in his voice.
Brock coughed out "Giselle" which caused two very reactions.
Ash waved his arms frantically, trying to silence Brock and Misty turned on her heel, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Who?" she asked after a moment.
Brock felt his courage filter away under the intense glare of the the red head.
He fumbled in his bad and pulled out a small photo album and flicked through the pages landing on a picture of Giselle.
Misty stared at the small photo, her cheeks turned red as she did.
She whirled on a nervous Ash.
"You lying hypocrite, she's as perfect as you can get! You.. I don't care, I really don't!" with that she stalked off but was stopped by Ash's voice.
"What kind of guy do YOU fall for?"
Misty threw a dark look over her shoulder and turn forwards again.
"I don't fall for anything or anyone and I don't know why you think I care about your lovelife's"
Misty walked away from them and when she was a fair distance away from them , she sat down on the ground and crossed her legs like she was meditating.
"Why do I care?" she asked herself in slight confusion.
Back at camp Ash was letting out pent up frustration.
"I mean what IS her problem, she's calm one minute and kinda cu...not such a pain and the next minute she screaming her head off and we still don't know anything about her!
Nobody should have to put with that but yet we do all the time? Why do we put up with her screaming and "
"Cause you think she's hot" Brock answered casually with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Yeah but...WHAT! NO WAY!!!!" Ash roared, the trees nearly shook with the noise.
Ash climbed into his sleeping bag and punched his pillow a few times for good measure.
"I do NOT always fall for the perfect girl" he grumbled.
"Not this time, anyway" Brock teased before a pillow collided with the back of his head.
Misty found her way back to camp and when she arrived, she saw both boys sound alseep and a sleeping bag laid out for her.
She smiled in spite of herself and climbed into it, settling down for the night.
Misty tossed and turned but sleep was still evading her.
Eventually she rolled onto her back and stared up at the sparkling diamonds that were sprinkled liberally into a blanket of black and blue making up the clear sky.
She was never one to stop and just take in her scenery, she was always on the move, always working out her next move and always scoffing at those who talked about stopping to smell the roses.
But ever since she had met the two boys, even though it was only a day or so ago, she found herself watching the world more.
Not through the eyes or world weary traveler but through the eyes of a little girl who had just discovered a whole new world to be explored.
Turning her head to the left, she watched the two boys forms as they slept.
They were both sound asleep in their sleeping blanket, murmuring every now and again, one would talk about how all the ladies would get their turn and the other would talk about how all the trainers would get their turn.
She watched them, a gentle caring expression crossed her features.
She was beginning to like them and as much as she hated to admit it , she was close to considering them friends and that scared her.
Hanging around with them made her feel like a normal teenage girl which was something she never considered herself to be.
Turning away she tried to ignore that warm feeling currently seeping through her body and thoughts and tried to focus on her goals.
She couldn't bring the guys with her but she didn't know how she was going to get rid of them.
When they had first met she was considering losing them at the first available opportunity but the longer she stayed with them, the more reluctantly attached she became and now she she felt she owed them an explanation.
She laughed at herself bitterly over that, all her life she never once felt any responsibility of explaining herself or her motives to anyone.
Funny how even a little bit of affection seemed to crack her so easily when she spent her whole life building up defenses.
She continued staring up a the skies and didn't even notice when the boys snores lolled her into a deep slumber.
She found herself sitting on some soft grass staring out at a crystal clear pond. Misty recognised this place but she couldn't place her finger on it.
Cautiously, she started leaning over the pond and jumped back in alarm.
A girl of only five stared back at her as she peered into the water again.
Long red gold hair fell about her shoulders and down her back, framing a sweet innocent face with large teal eyes.
Misty stared at her younger self in shock before raising her small hand and flexing it before her eyes.
"Hi" Misty would've jumped at the surprise but she had become skilled in the art of masking emotions and as such managed to turn to the voice without so much as a gasp.
"Amy?' she asked in wonder.
A woman with long gleaming auburn hair with vivid green eyes and a bright smile giggled and sat down next to Misty.
"Who were you expecting, sweetie?" she asked,ruffling the child's hair.
"No one, I just..."
"Misty, honey I have some good news for you," Amy paused and looked away and then when she spoke again, it lacked the joy his voice usually held.
"Somebody wants to adopt you, sweetie" she continued, smiling.
Realisation dawned on her.
"No Amy! NO! I don't want to be adopted! No! Don't let him!" she wanted to cry that out, but her mouth wouldn't open.
She was sitting there, staring mutely at Amy while her mind screamed her objections.
"Mr Giovanni is a good man who can really look after you and ensure you lead a wonderful and fulfilled life"
"No!" Misty screamed out again but the scene faded away and next thing she knew she was sitting in the back of a limousine.
Her head was bowed and once or twice she raised her eyes to glimpse at the man who was to become her father.
He never looked at her, seemingly busy with the phone in the car and a Persian that sat on his lap.
Next to him a young enough man with chestnut hair and intelligent blues caught her eyes and smiled.
Misty cast her eyes downwards immediately.
The second man climbed over to her side of the car and smiled at her.
"Hey kid" he greeted gently.
Misty looked up at him fearfully and whispered a barely audible hello.
"I'm Matthew Fox" the man said extending his hand to shake.
Misty eyed him carefully.
"And you're Misty, aren't you?" he asked.
The young red head nodded.
"Thats Mr Giovanni, but truth is, you'll probably be spending more more time with me then with your foster father"
The car faded away much like the garden had and Misty was sitting in a steel chair, metal bands clamping her hands and feet to the chair .
Her long red hair lay in long strands on the floor, her red hair now went just past her chin.
Matthew looked at young girl shaking uncontrollably and felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
He swallowed and approached her with a syringe.
Misty watched him in terror and began shaking her head and struggling against her constraints. Someone in a black uniform appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her face roughly, forcing her to looked at them.
She let out a scream when she felt the sting of the needle penetrating the tender skin and screamed in agony as she felt the stinging transformed into a burning pain which spread out through her body in waves, each wave more painful than the last.
The pain overwhelmed and she wasn't entirely sure what was going on around her, she felt somebody muffle her voice with their hand and she couldn't remember if she jerked or struggled.
All she remembered was the pain and then passed out again.
When she opened her eyes again, she was older, about ten or eleven and was sitting on her large bed.
Matthew walked and crouched down ,leaning on the bed.
Misty was plucking strands of her hair that had turned blue from all the injections and was staring at them in a mirror.
"Hy kid" Misty shot her a dark look and didn't say a word.
She remembered that day, that was the day when she stopped caring about herself or anyone else.
Misty woke up with a start, truly scared by her own memories.
Nothing in her life made sense and it was a hard existence.
Overcome with guilt, she glanced towards the boys, and scrambled to her feet.
She frantically rummaged through their bags until she found was she was looking for.
Once she had finished writing a note, she took off, running as fast as she could, never looking back, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The next morning, the two boys read the note, stunned by the disappearance of their companion.
"I don't get it" Ash concluded, reading the note again.
There wasn't much to get.
The note was one line and written in a hurry.
"Couldn't do it"
To be continued.
Hey guys, hows it going?
Please read and review.
Happy Halloween
Lots of love
Nibbs