"You look like you are working hard my child."
I turned to see Nora poking her head around the side of a tree.
"Yet, you don't look satisfied."
"I wasn't strong enough on the mission. I need to be stronger." I said as I began untying the broken pieces of log stick in the ropes. As the piece fell to the ground, I couldn't catch it from how exhausted my body was. They smacked the ground, and I breathed heavily over the piece.
"Why must you be stronger child? Do you not have a team to help support you when you are not strong?"
"I guess you haven't heard yet. I am not like the rest of the team. I am not a Pokémon Nora. I am a human brought here to save it." I said lifting my head toward her.
She looked at me with surprise, but not like everyone else. It was more astonishment or acknowledgment of what I told her.
"My mother told me stories of these amazing rescue teams that had saved our world from countless disasters. Darkness stealing the world tree, correcting the imbalance of nature, the fate of time itself, they were bedtime stories to fill my dreams with heroes and hope. I guess it's my day's turn to have the help of a hero. I am glad it's you child."
"Have any of the heroes before failed? Have any of them succumbed to the darkness that was plaguing the world?" My blood grew hotter as the words left my mouth. I thought about the joy I felt when my team survived the dungeon with Elizabeth. I was finally becoming happy. Things were becoming simple. Now I have this mountain of an obstacle presented to me. How am I expected to get over this? No one can walk this path, but I, cause apparently, it's mine, but I don't want it.
"I am no hero! I am no one special! How am I expected to do something greater than myself!" I fell to the ground in frustration and sadness.
I felt her rest a paw on my back and listened as she said, "Life has a funny way of having become more of what we were. That is the challenge of every day, to wake up and be better than what you were the day before."
I lifted my head and looked her in the eyes.
"I know you think that you have to walk this path alone, but in this world, life, not everyone walks a path by themselves. We are all walking the same path differently some trip and cause the path to be rough for some, and some stumble on their own and never get back up as they journey through life. We have friends that come and go along with family that finishes their path before others. Know that there are pokemon loved ones and friends that walk along with you to keep you standing and steady. Know that you are not alone."
She hugged me and I felt tears flow down my cheeks like a stream clearing a new path. I hugged her closely. I did not want to lose the feeling of relief and support from her. She let me go and smiled at me.
"Thank you Nor-Mother." I stood and began cleaning up the other broken logs to replace them with new ones.
Nora watched from the edge of the tree line. I could feel her warm aura. It made it easier to lift and prepare the logs for another round. As I finished replacing the last log, I felt a new aura enter the training ground. Katrina came up and hugged Nora. She then approached me and spoke, "We are a team remember? We do things together. "
I smiled and nodded in agreement. I saw Zeina and Carter enter the training ground and smiled as they began walking toward us. It was good to see them in better shape, even Zeina was barely limping and looked ready to fight.
Sir Lance quickly followed the rest of the squad into the training ground with a serious look on his face. He quickly gathered us together and we waited patiently for him to speak.
"My apologies for what I am about to do to the cheering feeling of aura that is here, but I think that we may have found something useful in our next step in defeating the Darkness. The Legendary pokemon spoke of a temple that may have some insight into our situation and will help us understand exactly what we may need from you, Caleb."
I saw Sir Lance begin to smile as the feeling of hope and joy seeped through all of us. I felt my own heart skip a beat at the thought of receiving more help. I looked at my squad and saw the strength we held between us.
Sir Lance's smile slowly faded away and he turned back to the ramp that led to the guild hallways. His happy demeanor changed, and I felt his aura pulse like a tidal wave as if he was trying to intimidate an enemy. I felt the cold dark feeling prick at the back of my head and wrap its cold dark fingers around my neck. I felt my fur begin to stand on end and followed the cold feeling to the ramp. I quickly looked at Katrina who was already preparing herself for some sort of attack. I looked back at the ramp and saw the color drain from the scenery to only greys blacks and whites. I felt the cold build and fear tried to penetrate my heart.
"We need to leave the guild." Sir Lance said, but a cackling laugh forced us all to freeze in place.
A purple tentacle emerged from the ramp and felt like the center of the coldness. A river of screaming and sounds of fighting followed the Lord into the training ground.
"Is it really time to leave Lance? Come now, can't we have just a little more fun? I wanted to play more with my new pet."Lord Ferris stated with hatred and excitement in his eyes.
The cold grew worse around me and I felt a sharp pain shot through my chest and spread through my arms. My ears began to ring and I grunted in pain as my body fought against my own wishes. I felt Katrina and Nora rush over to me as I fell to the ground in agony. I felt anger rise within my a dark feeling rush through my muscles just as they remembered this feeling.
"R-run. You n-eeed to run. Its c-coming." I tried to say through the spasms.
Katrina stopped and turned to the squad, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. The world was going dark around me. My mind grew numb and felt my muscles snap my bones and grow. My heart pumped with anger and rage. I tried to cry out for help as I felt the darkness squeeze my heart and mind. I was afraid.
(Thank you for reading the chapter and story. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review to help me improve the story.)