Chapter Three-The City
The sun was high in the sky, a golden disk rising over the forest. Its pale rays seemed to make the green leaves of the trees glisten metallically, and the bits of granite in the shiny rocks on the road caught this light and glinted.
Kojau liked it. It seemed much better than the night, in her opinion. She liked the way the sun streamed down on her back, as if to heal her battered body. She enjoyed the glint it made on the road she walked upon.
It was a nice day, she thought. The sun wasn't too hot, and cooling breezes blew all around. Birds chirped nearby, and their happiness seemed to break Kojau's sober mood and make her feel nice as well. Perhaps this was the start of something a little better than her past. Maybe things would change.
It was all she could hope for, she knew. Despite the fact that she wasn't supposed to really hope…or perhaps, she hadn't hoped before…despite that, she was very hopeful now. Everything about her seemed that way, and, when she thought about it, she realized that the mere action of living in the first place was a sign of hope and trust in the future. She wondered why more beings didn't understand this and make of life what it was meant to be, instead of spreading misery and hurt. That really wasn't supposed to be in life, when she thought about it.
There was a growing feeling of light in her consciousness, and it made her feel nice and safe. The terrors of last night had gradually chased each other away as the run rose in its glory. Kojau quite liked the sun. That seemed wrong, somehow, but she didn't really care. She had an odd feeling that she hadn't had enough of the sun before, and it seemed quite new and wondrous to her now.
She could sense that there was something coming up before her. Soon, she would be able to see what it was. She had the feeling it was some sort of human settlement, one of those places with buildings and stores and houses, usually all crammed together. Kojau didn't really understand how humans could live packed in like that, but then, she didn't understand humans.
A car was coming up, and the mightyena slipped to the side of the road, continuing on the side. The large metallic monster appeared over the hill and went bumping past her, wheels rolling along.
Kojau found herself staring at it, and caught a glimpse of a person in the passenger's side looking back at her. There seemed to be pity in that human's eyes, and Kojau thought it was probably because of her condition. She looked as if she was about to drop dead, she supposed, with her ribs showing and her fur dull. But there was light in her eyes, she knew that, and she thought she wouldn't be dieing any time soon. Or at least, she hoped…
The car slowed down a bit as the person in the passenger side said something to the person in front. Kojau could feel both humans' gaze on her as she plodded on. She paused, then turned around and smiled at them. They seemed to like this. If it made them happier, Kojau felt happier as well.
The car sped up and disappeared off down the road, and the lone pokemon paused a moment to look after it. She felt like some traveler crossing a desert who had just seen a tumbleweed roll past. She marveled at how the car could come into her life and be gone just as quickly.
She imagined that everything around her was sand, white sand, and that the road was a cleared space leading through it and into infinity. The trees became large pillars of white rock standing around her, and the bushes scraggly tumbleweeds sitting around in one place because there was no wind to speed them on their journey.
She almost wished for another car to come by as she lost herself in this wonderful fantasy. Then, her mind would make up something for it to be, and everything would be somehow complete. She had not had completeness for a long time, she thought, and it would be nice to have it once more, if only for a few precious moments in her consciousness.
But no more cars came rumbling along the already unused road, and gradually Kojau's fantasy came down around her and she was left blinking in disappointment at the forest stretching before her. No matter how hard she tried to grasp the image of the cool, soothing desert once more, she couldn't. Reality was harsh.
She wondered vaguely if she was going insane. The desert had seemed so real…almost as if she had seen it before, somewhere. Perhaps in her dreams. Yes, that would make the most sense. But it had seemed to achingly real, so hauntingly familiar and beautiful. Kojau felt sadness welling up inside her, and a sense of loss made her throat sting. The only thing worse than this was that she had no idea what she had lost.
The mightyena paused in her mechanic trotting. The city was near her, probably just over this hill. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see it. Wait…she could see it. The darkness of her eyelids faded into the image of a large bustling city that stretched on and on, almost like a miniature kingdom. There were many buildings, many different parts of town, and it went on indefinitely, for miles. Trees and parks dotted its interiors, and cars rumbled along busy streets. People walked the sidewalks.
Kojau shook the image from her mind. How could she possibly see this if she hadn't even seen in before? But then, maybe she had. Who knew? Definitely not herself, though that didn't seem right. Nothing really seemed right when she thought about it.
The wolf like creature eventually came to a large hill. It rose toward the sky, and the old road went up it and over. There would probably be a nice view at the top of the large hill, Kojau thought. She liked views. She had a feeling she had always liked views. But then, nothing was definite with her anymore. She could only surmise.
The hill was steep and large, and Kojau had to lean forward when ascending it to avoid falling backwards. Her paws hurt where they connected to the rest of her legs, and she limped slightly as the hill's incline put even more pressure on them than before.
Somehow, what was at the top of the hill didn't really surprise her. Sprawling in the distance before her was the huge city almost exactly as she had imagined it, and a ways beyond it glistened the sea. If Kojau squinted, she could just make out the large cargo ships as tiny black dots. It was certainly a very large city, but it didn't really intimidate Kojau, for she continued single-mindedly on.
She wondered what exactly she would do when she got to the city. When she thought about it, just entering at a busy place didn't seem quite right. She was a pokemon, and there were a lot of humans in that city. And humans captured pokemon.
She wondered why humans captured pokemon. They had all sort of other weapons of war, a bit too many, actually, and they could certainly defend themselves if they chose to. Kojau could understand keeping pokemon as pets, but sucking them into tiny, claustrophobic balls and battling them against one another? That caused pain and hurt, and it seemed to Kojau that only a very sick mind would get a kick out of seeing two creatures try to kill each other.
Perhaps this was just a fact of life, though. Things killing other things for food was a fact of life, and that wasn't exactly nice. Life wasn't nice. But everything had a purpose, and Kojau couldn't see the purpose of battling pokemon. Perhaps it gave the trainers some sort of sick pleasure, some feeling of power.
Thinking about this, the mightyena decided that she really didn't want to risk being captured, because that might mean being forced to hurt other beings. She did not want to be involved in hurting others unnecessarily. Maybe for food, but not anything else.
Going into the city directly meant taking a big risk of being captured. But she wanted to enter the city. Besides, this road didn't look too well traveled, so she supposed it didn't lead to a busy part of the city.
Well, she would see. The city was still rather far away, though the trees were thinning out somewhat. The smell of cars and humans drifted toward her on the air, though no more cars passed her. The road she walked was in a state of disrepair, with grass growing through breaks in the cement, so it would follow that not many cars would be driving on it. Perhaps the car she had seen earlier had been something of a rarity. If it was, that was special. She needed something special to hold onto and think about.
The sun was high in the sky by the time the road started turning to the left, still going toward the city. Kojau continued to follow it, never stopping to rest or hunt. She wondered about this in the back of her mind, but if she felt she didn't need to stop, she supposed that was good.
The road led toward the western side of the city, and Kojau tried to see what it looked like. Though she was still far away, she could make out some old looking buildings and alleyways. It didn't seem as busy as the rest of the city to her, and it looked as if it might not be as good and clean as the busier parts of the city. Kojau wondered if the humans had omegas, and if the omegas lived in districts such as this.
It was nearing evening once more as Kojau finally neared the city. She didn't think it felt too much liked she had been walking that long, but she obviously had.
The mightyena paused for a moment as the first few houses came up beside her. The trees had thinned out all the way now, and the forest was behind her. The road twisted onward into the city. Looking about herself, Kojau could see how the houses here were trashy, and many of them looked abandoned, weeds choking the yards. There were no signs of life here except for a few birds flying about.
Shrugging mentally, Kojau stepped off the road and mounted one of the sidewalks nearby, padding along it and looking about herself. She supposed she ought to find some place to stay for the night, as the shadows frightened her, but this place on the outskirts of the city just seemed too eerily silent. Kojau was reminded of a ghost that hadn't quite faded away yet.
Night fell as she went on, and the houses, though they still looked poor, started to show signs of life. The buildings grew larger, though they still looked a bit trashy. The road had fizzled out a while ago, and a more used looking one had branched off it to take its place.
Kojau stopped, peering at the houses. A child laughed in one, and the sound made her feel glad. Light seeped from behind closed curtains in another across from her, and the faint hum of some TV could be heard.
Kojau decided that she felt better now that there was more life around, though she had to be wary of the humans.
Looking ahead of herself, she noticed how the road branched off once more, forking. One part of it led off to some rather tall buildings, and another let off to the west, probably going somewhere to the outskirts of the city.
Kojau took the road going east without much hesitation, keeping to the sidewalk and looking about herself now and then. She didn't much fancy being in the outskirts of the city again, and this road looked as if it led somewhere with a bit more life.
Maybe she would be able to find some alley to sleep in if she continued along here. There didn't seem to be many humans outside, and the one that she saw only shot her a passing glance as he walked by on the opposite sidewalk, clearly intent upon getting somewhere.
The buildings were growing taller, and Kojau peered up at them in awe. She wondered how humans could build such mighty things and keep them from swaying and crumbling to the ground. It seemed impossible to her, and she decided that humans were definitely creatures of many surprises, not to mention as industrious as a tunneling digglet.
The sidewalk she walked upon gradually became busier. Kojau found herself walking by the occasional human, and her senses went on hyper aware.
The people walking by seemed not to notice her at first, but soon she started to feel their eyes on her. There was fear in their faces, fear and…anger? But what was there to be angry about? She hadn't done anything. She only tried to look as small as possible as she walked on. She didn't think she looked like much of a threat, and was going to keep it that way. The majority of these humans seemed rather hostile.
Kojau wondered with a chill what it would be like in the daytime on this sidewalk. It would probably be much busier, and something unpleasant might happen to her if she walked the sidewalks and streets then.
She noticed that there was also fear here. The humans here had a feeling of desperation about them, and they dressed shabbily. Their hair smelled of grease, their bodies of dirt. They also seemed to fear her as well as whatever also it was they were distrustful towards, and shied away from her.
Kojau didn't like this. She didn't want the humans to fear her. The feeling of being feared seemed familiar and alien at the same time, and it made the thick black fur going down her back prickle and stand up. It also made her feel vaguely sick, as if…as if…
Kojau nearly growled in frustration as her mental barriers slammed up full force, right when she was on the edge of remembering something important. Of course, she held that sound back. It would only make the humans fear her more.
There was someone on the sidewalk across from her. She could feel him watching her intently, and had to fight the urge to look up. She didn't want to show an interest in these humans, as they might take it badly. And humans were very unpredictable when they took things badly.
The someone on the other side of the sidewalk was moving as she did, eyes following her. Eventually, she heard him shout something, and a blast of red light stopped her in her tracks. She blinked, feeling disoriented, and peered over at the other side of the sidewalk, seeing no other alternative.
There was a tall, skinny boy standing over there, confidence written in his stance. He held a pokeball in his hand, and a girafarig stood proudly in front of him, front hooves overlapping the sidewalk and resting on the street. It was glaring at Kojau, who only looked at it mildly, thinking obscurely that the boy had made a very bad choice on his pokemon.
"Stomp!" The shout of the boy came to her ears, and she frowned a bit as the girafarig looked both ways across the street before coming toward her menacingly. The people had stopped, pausing to watch the spectacle, or perhaps not wishing to be caught in the crossfire.
Kojau stood calmly as it came forward. She blinked when it reached the sidewalk she stood upon, only then backing up a few steps. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
The pokemon stopped in its tracks, looking at her oddly. "For what?" It-he, she supposed-looked confused. He had never met another pokemon who had apologized to him before it even attacked.
"For whatever it is that I did to you. It must have been pretty bad if you want to pound me into the sidewalk." She eyed his hooves, flinching a bit. They looked quite hard and painful to be hit by.
"No, you did nothing." The girafarig snorted. "My trainer just wants you. Besides, you look as if you could use some nourishment." It eyed the skinny pokemon.
"But I don't want to be caught." Kojau looked up at him with her deep eyes, expression pleading. "Please, I don't want to fight, I don't want to hurt you…" The thought of hurting another pokemon made her feel queasy inside, like she was about to throw up.
"Stomp, c'mon!" The boy's shout rang across the street as the girafarig stared at the mightyena. She seemed oddly different than he had imagined dark types. Though she was emaciated and starved looking, her eyes were bright and she seemed to shine with an elusive sort of inner radiance. At the same time, though, there was something about her that made him very uneasy.
"I'll tell you what," He finally said, reaching a decision. "You run away, and I'll pretend to chase you and then loose you in the alleys. Just keep following the sidewalk, then take a detour down one of the alleys leading off from it. I don't think I'll be able to fit in the smaller ones, but you might be able to." He suddenly reared up and brought his hooves into the air over Kojau's head, winking down at her.
Not needing any other encouragement, the pokemon shot off, hearing the hooves thump down behind her on the sidewalk. She ignored the gasps of the numerous people she raced through, bounding across the side street and racing along another sidewalk. The girafarig was in hot pursuit behind her, and it was hard not to imagine that he was really out to beat her to the ground.
She felt rather relieved as she finally saw one of the small alleys he was talking about. Skidding to a stop, she shot into it, skinny frame having no trouble entering. She could hear the other pokemon making mock frustrated noises as he snorted about the entrance to the alley, unable to fit.
Kojau decided that she definitely ought to be more careful from now on. That whole encounter with the trainer could have turned into something very bad for her, very bad indeed.
The mightyena was currently sitting in one of the alleyways, a deserted stretch of earth that led between the backs of what appeared to be a main street of some sort. Though she could hear humans bustling about not far from her, she knew they couldn't see her. For once, she felt safe and secure.
But the shadows were here again, along with the night. Kojau got the disorienting impression that they were swaying the earth upon which she sat, dancing about in front of her, reaching out to grab her. Though they did not move, it was as if they really were, and she was afraid they were going to claim her and wrap her in a darkness from which she could never escape.
Get a hold of yourself, she thought. Show some backbone! But even as she stared into the darker shadows, shades of the past seemed to be haunting her. She yelped as pain suddenly shot down her backbone, centering in her head, a great blinding flash that…but it wasn't there. It was gone now, leaving only a tingling feeling in her spine. And the shadows, spiteful as ever, seemed to be laughing at her.
Kojau whimpered under her breath, pressing her back up against the back of one of the shops making up the alleyway in an attempt to escape. But the shadows only seemed to come forward, moving toward her…or was she moving toward them? There seemed to be a bright light in her vision as the shadows encompassed her sight…and suddenly she found herself falling forward, landing ungracefully on her chest. She must have been leaning forward too much.
Kojau tried to clear the fuzzy feeling from her head as she sat up once more, uncomfortably aware that her fur seemed to be standing on end, making a prickling feeling all over her body.
Something was coming. The mightyena's head jerked up suddenly, as she sensed something. The shadows receded from her mind, fading into what they really were as she pricked her ears, listening. There was a thumping of something running, and the thick smell of fear and desperation.
Without really knowing what she was doing, Kojau got to her feet and scurried over toward the line of buildings nearby that made up the other side of the alley. She paced back and forth until she found a place where she could jump up on top and get a god foothold on one of these buildings, eventually coming to the top and climbing higher in this way until she reached the top.
There was something coming toward her on the ground, in front of the building she had just climbed. A long, lone sidewalk stretched before her, and there was some sort of small park nearby.
Shapes coming along the sidewalk. Five presences, one reeking of fear, the other four of excitement and anticipation. Kojau looked closer as they drew nearer. Umbreon. Another dark type. The golden ringed fox sped toward her, then under her, then off in the other direction. Kojau could hear his panting even from where she sat, and his paws drummed lightly on the moonlit sidewalk of the neighborhood. His rings glowed faintly in the night as he raced on, fear fueling his step. Kojau glanced back at his pursuers, and made out a granbull to be the next one. He had probably been following the umbreon's scent, but not that he had the eeveelution in sight he was running full out, relying on sight alone. Three humans ran along behind him, shouting excitedly among themselves. They all seemed to have long rifles tided to their belts, and brandished six pokeballs on their waists.
Kojau stared as the odd procession raced along under her, not even noticing her up on her perch, and tore off to the east, excitement radiating off the hunters. The mightyena didn't really know what to do. The whole thing had caught her a bit off guard, and one of her ears drooped in confusion, as it was wont to do at these times.
However, Kojau didn't have much time to think on this. There was a sudden light pattering on the building she had just climbed, then a warm glow illuminated the night as a flareon came up beside her, body radiating light in the night. She paused for a moment, not noticing Kojau, staring off down the sidewalk after the hunt. Her eyes narrowed vengefully as she sniffed the cool night air, and then she was gone, leaping off the building and tearing off down the street after the two pokemon and three humans, leaving a very confused Kojau in her wake.
The wolf like pokemon could practically feel the urgency in the air as she stared in amazement after the spectacle. It hung around like static. The fear and desperation of the umreon…the excitement of the hunters…the fiery, righteous anger of the flareon…they all seemed to blend to create a powerful feeling in the air. And it was to this feeling the Kojau found herself leaping off the building as the flareon had done, landing on the sidewalk before taking off after the hunt. She didn't know why she did it…she only knew that it felt right. And, as she sped along the moonlit sidewalk after the five, she couldn't help wondering what the future had in store for her here…she had a feeling it wasn't going to turn out pretty…
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