Chapter Ten-Airo

Pain. She was certainly no stranger to this pain. However, the combination of pain and exhilaration was altogether something new to Kojau, and both flared inside her at equally high levels, so she didn't know what was up or down or here or there anymore…only the feelings.

Then, everything changed. The wild exhilaration left the wolf like pokemon as she plummeted toward the sea and saw the cement wall of the cage rushing up to meet her. It was replaced by terrible agony as the flames roaring along her back ate into her skin. She felt the first real stirrings of fear as she fell toward the wall and the black acid, for she was certain she was going to fall into that death below her that the arcanine had gone into.

WHAM!

Stars seemed to explode before Kojau's eyes as she hit the wall. She could hear a cracking noise, and pain great enough to eclipse that of her burns exploded in one of her front legs. She opened her mouth, but only a strangled squeak came forth as she began to tumble from the wall. It seemed to take a harrowing eternity, and she couldn't force her mind to decide whether or not she was falling toward the sea or the acid. At that point, she was past caring, only wanting the pain to end.

She fell.

Cold. The pain coursing through the pokemon's body was replaced by an intense cold, and she felt water wash over her battered body, putting out the fire raging on her shoulders and back in an instant. A slight, peaceful smile spread across her muzzle as she sank deeper and deeper into the sea, the momentum of her fall carrying her down a ways.

The water. Flowing tides, drifting endlessly, spirit trapped inside a body that should have died long ago but somehow kept on. All air squashed from her lungs, rubble on the bottom of the sea, dreams her only hold on life…

The air was leaving Kojau's lungs rapidly. She floated several feet underwater, bubbles slowly issuing from her parted jaws and gliding lazily to the top of the water. It seemed so close, and yet so far away…

Everything was entirely fascinating from this viewpoint. The sky above her was hazy and unclear and strangely beautiful through the water. She could see a blurred image of the sun in that sky, and the clouds were as pale reflections of some distant reality. It seemed that she could float here forever, though she supposed she would sink if she tried. The pain seemed as dull now as her world was.

Leaves falling from the trees outside the window seemed to create reflections of a troubled destiny. Voices calling from beyond the grave on the voice of winter's first tidings, and with it her world was thrown into chaos…September's promise.

Memories, Kojau thought as the bubbles floating to the surface grew scarcer. Only memories. Why now, though? Why at this time when she couldn't focus on them, couldn't pay attention to them?

A presence.

Kojau flinched. Now, that had definitely not been a memory. There was a presence up…somewhere. Above, perhaps?

The pokemon extended her senses cautiously, casting about around herself. The human…seemed to be leaving, as he was a ways away now and rapidly disappearing from her detection. The arcanine was gone altogether, so the presence above her...

Kojau focused intently above herself and to the right a ways, focusing on the faint image of the large building and the plank she had fallen from and the small black shape on that plank. There. That was where the presence was. A familiar aura, full of energy and life and mystery. Kiete.

Kojau's chest felt tight. There was a fuzzy blackness closing in around her. She thought she could hear a far-away noise, above, and took a few seconds to realize it was Kiete, practically screaming down at her.

He's going to shout himself hoarse, she though, wondering how long he had been at it. A few seconds later, she found herself paddling weakly toward the surface of the water, using only one paw, as her other didn't seem to want to work for her and protested painfully when she tried to move it.

"---UP!" The mightyena's head broke the surface just in time to catch the tail end of that the umbreon above her had been shouting. Simply floating now as she let the sea hold her upright, she squinted against the morning sun and peered up at him. For a long moment, they both simply stared at one another.

"Kojau…" Kiete's voice, sounding scratchy and relieved, drifted down to her on a warm breeze. "Are you…all right?"

Kojau twitched an ear, flinching a bit as the various pains began to hit her, her previous rush of adrenalin fading away. Her useless leg throbbed and didn't feel right. Her paws hurt, and she fancied that perhaps the black goop she had stepped in before had opened sores on them. Her shoulders burned and felt raw in the air and sunlight. "No," She said finally, voice somewhat stronger than Kiete's.

Kiete was silent for a time, seeming to be at a loss for what to say to her. He finally spoke up, however, sounding almost on the verge of tears. "Are…you going to die?"

"No!" The word left Kojau's mouth before she even had time to consider it. Somehow, dieing seemed very bad at this particular moment. "No, I won't die…though I don't exactly see how I'm going to get back to you at the moment…" Her gaze was on the fence that sloped back in from the sea and went on along the shore, separating herself from the umbreon should he come down from the building...well, if he didn't jump into the sea.

Kiete gave it a glance as well, laughing weakly. "Well, I suppose that is a problem." He regarded the fence for a time, then looked down at Kojau again, the morning light hitting his black fur and making it shine with radiance. "Kojau, you need to get back on land. The fence there, it slopes out of the sea a ways from you and along the shoreline. If you can get to that shore, we can figure something out." He frowned. "You stand a chance of drowning if you float there too long."

Kojau sighed to herself, ears drooping a bit. She wanted to just float here, to feel her connection to the sea, to find herself out in the swirling waters. Gazing out into the distance at the vast expanse of water, a great longing came over her. She needed to cross this sea…to get to the other side. But…not now. Now was not the time.

The mightyena slowly paddled around so she was facing the fence and began to make her way laboriously toward it. Paddling with one leg was slow progress, though, and the gentle waves seemed determined to push her back. However, Kojau kept on, trying not to get too discouraged, until she finally felt firm ground under her good paw. Digging her claws into the sand, she remained floating near the fence.

Kiete, standing on the firm end of the plank above, looked down at her. "You gonna be OK there?" He called down to her, voice sounding relieved that she had made it to shore.

"Yea…I think. I've got a hold on the…the shore here…" Kojau panted slightly, surprised at how much energy she had had to exert to accomplish the simple task of swimming to the shore. A thought suddenly hit her, and she peered up at Kiete with a quizzical expression. "Kiete…the arcanine…what do you see of it?" A morbid desire to know had hit her.

Kiete frowned, ears drooping. He seemed about to say something, casting a sidelong glance into the cage in the sea, then shuddering and looking back down at Kojau. "I…" His voice sounded oddly strained, and Kojau fancied his fur was slightly bristled. "I…I'll tell you later…I'm coming down to the fence now." And with that, he was gone, racing back down the stairs, into the building and out of sight.

Kojau frowned a bit. He had sounded so disturbed there. Something bad must have happened to the arcanine…but then, what had she expected? She had already had a pretty good idea of the pokemon's fate.

Did she pity it, though? She thought maybe she ought to feel somewhat guilty, as it had been partially her fault the arcanine had died. But, she had been running for her life, and it had been trying to murder her, so… Still, though, the idea of killing except for food unsettled her.

And for food…oddly, she couldn't remember a time when she had killed for food, though she was sure she had. She could remember being taught to hunt when a poochyena, before her recollections came to a halt…but she couldn't actually remember killing anything. She wondered vaguely if she could bring herself to should the opportunity present itself. She didn't appear to really need any food at all, so wouldn't it be a bit of a waste to kill something…? Well, she would look a mess if she didn't eat, she knew. Unnaturally skinny before, she didn't know what she would look like if she didn't eat altogether.

Well, she was a mess at the moment, most likely. If her shoulders looked as bad as they felt…well, it wouldn't be good, not at all.

A sound alerted her, and she glanced over at the large building. Soon enough, Kiete came running out to the back of it, claws making a barely discernible noise on the sidewalk. His rings were rather faint, she saw, as if with exhaustion. Well, that was to be expected, as he had been through a lot lately…

"I'm comin'…" His voice drifted to her ears as he leaped off the sidewalk and to the earth, dodging around a few bad spots on the ground before racing up to the fence. After trotting along it for a bit, he finally came to the spot Kojau now floated a ways off from.

"Hullo," Kojau said, not quite knowing what else to say to the umbreon at the moment. After a time, she added, "What to you plan to do?"

Kiete peered at her for a moment, looking her over, flinching a bit as his eyes landed on her shoulders. "I…well, I don't really have a plan." He grinned faintly. "I never actually did. When I was standing up there at the fence where we came in at and I sensed that you were in trouble, I just sort of ran headlong into things…suppose I was lucky that man didn't kill me or anything."

"Do you know where the man went?" The mightyena looked slightly interested. She didn't sense him at all anymore…she wondered why he had left. Perhaps he thought she had drowned in the sea, or maybe he was only going back to get another…robot. She somehow couldn't bring herself to think of the arcanine as a pokemon like herself, because that would mean comparing it to herself…

"Well…he ran outside after the arcanine, after he shook me off his hand." Kiete scratched an ear with his forepaw briefly, mussing up the tuft of fur on his head. "Banged my head on the wall of that one room really hard…think I fainted for a bit." He winced. "Anyway, he ran outside, and that's all I can really tell you. I woke up when he was leaving or after he left, I think."

"Ah." Kojau nodded slowly. Well, that made sense, she supposed. She probably would have left also, though she did not like putting herself in that human's place. Now, the question was, what would she have left for? Reinforcements? Some sort of backup? Perhaps another of those mindless servants? Well, it wouldn't be good for her if any of those was true…she couldn't possibly stay here without risking endangering herself further.

Kiete was peering off down the fence, yellow eyes seeming to blaze in the sun. He looked very clever suddenly, with that fiery intellect…like another side of him he hadn't shown yet. However, it was gone very soon, and he turned back to her. "I'm going to go scout down the fence. Give a shout if anything happens…I need to look for some sort of weak spot or something."

The mightyena gave a small nod, and turned her head slightly to watch the eon's progress on down the fence. He ran off in the eastern direction as opposed to westward, where the buildings thinned out. The fence, as far as Kojau could see, went along the grounds until it came to a sort of rocky hill. When it reached the hill, the fence sloped upward with it, rising up to eventually meet the ruins and the pace she and Kiete had broken into, earlier. It seemed so long ago now.

The young umbreon raced along the fence until he came to the hill. He seemed to linger at that spot for a time, and then climbed arduously up the hill a ways, along the fence, as if hoping to find a way for Kojau to get out there. The mightyena knew he wouldn't, and he eventually gave up and went sprinting down the hill again, pausing to look out the fence and beyond. Then, he turned and began to run back toward Kojau.

"Didn't find anything?" Kojau called out to him as he reached her once more, looking downcast, golden eyes dulled a bit.

"Nope," he replied, panting slightly. "Nothing. I didn't find anything. I don't think we'll…you'll…be as lucky getting out as you were getting in." He gave a long sigh. "There does appear to be one way out…along the fence on the other side, when it goes up the hill. But…you don't look in any shape to travel like that, and I wouldn't…"

"It's Ok." Kojau cut him off, dragging herself in from the water with her good paw, until she was standing in the surf. She somewhat regretted doing so as her shoulders throbbed with the exposure to the sun. Holding her left paw off the ground, the mightyena stood shakily there, panting a bit with the pain.

Kiete looked at her. "Are you OK?" He asked for the second time that day. The question was relatively meaningless, but Kojau recognized that he wanted to be reassured.

"I'm fine," she replied automatically, thinking this was probably a lie, but not caring. If it would make him feel better, she would say it. Besides, when did fine stop and not-fine begin? When one was dieing? Well, she wasn't dieing. At least, she didn't think so. This pain, though…it was so new and so familiar at the same time. It more than cancelled out the dull throb in her head, which she really had to think about to make present. This, though…this she couldn't take her mind off.

"OK." Kiete tried to smile, but the attempt fell short. "If…you'll follow me on down the fence, I think we can find a way to reunite up at the ruins…"

Kojau nodded her head, looking at her legs, one now useless. Would she ever regain the use of it? She didn't know. But she had to be brave now…she had to endure the pain, this feeling ravaging her body like electricity…she could do it, right? Just a little walk…to the top of the hill…

Kiete walked ahead of her, keeping his pace deliberately slow. It was a pleasant day outside, not too hot and not too cold, one of those pre-fall days, those perfect days when it's a crime to be inside. The sand was soft under the mightyena's sore paws, and yet it was easy to walk. Had this been in any other situation, she may have enjoyed it.

She was definitely not enjoying it now, though. The walk up the beach was rapidly turning into a nightmare she couldn't escape from, a waking hell. It wasn't just her leg, which seemed to grow worse and worse as she went on, and was wracked with a fresh bout of pain whenever she jarred it. Nor was it her shoulders, which still felt as though they were on fire. No, it was a combination of the two and a steadily growing nausea and cold feeling that seemed to permeate her entire being. For the first time in her life, Kojau felt absolutely horrid.

She tried to think of something else, of anything but the situation she now found herself having to endure. She even attempted to make contact with that safe, soothing place in her mind, the white desert, even though it was one of the things that had gotten her into this situation in the first place. However, her discomfort was so acute that she couldn't focus on anything for very long, nor could she lull herself into a meditative state. Every second, every awful moment, was painfully present, more real than anything she had known in her life so far.

Gradually, her walk deteriorated into a sort of stumble, her path unsteady and faltering. Eyes half closed, she was like a zombie, a creature arisen from the grave to walk the earth again. She was aware of the increasingly concerned looks Kiete kept tossing over his shoulder at her, but it was hard to concentrate on anything anymore, her thoughts shattered and tossed to the wind like the spores of a dandelion.

She did think of coming here, of the events that were now behind her. Had it all been worth it? She could see nothing that had come of it, nothing really. True, she had seen another of her 'kind' here, but had lost him just like that. She had gained no insight, nothing profound or deep. She wasn't any closer to knowing who she really was than before. And the worst thing was that it was all her fault, and she had put Kiete through part of it along with her.

But gradually even these thoughts faded away, replaced by that sick, ravaging feeling in her body as she grew weaker and weaker. The nausea was rising as well, and her eyes watered as her stomach suddenly gave a great lurch and burned painfully.

Kiete turned back sharply as the mightyena staggered out a few feet into the ocean, sides heaving, though she had next to nothing to throw up. But her body continued to try to force something up, until she felt as though her entire being was trying to make its way out of her through her stomach, away from this tortured body that was tormenting it so. She wasn't even aware of falling until the pain hit her like a hammer blow as her legs gave out under her, and a panicked cry came from Kiete.

She stumbled to her paws again. There was nothing else to do, but the world was so indefinite suddenly that she found herself not knowing what direction was up or down anymore, and everything whirled about her in a kind of haze.

And then they were on the move again, Kiete walking beside her this time as she inched along at an excruciatingly slow speed, feeling as though she would fall any moment, the world spinning alarmingly around her whenever she tried to look about herself. Keeping her eyes closed, she relied on her senses to guide her.

They were at the hill, where the fence began to sweep upward along with the incline of the earth. Kojau wasn't even aware of it until Kiete called out for her to stop, and she paused, swaying in place, sides heaving with her rasping, harsh breath. Cracking her eyes open, she could just make out the blurry stretch of the sea as it went on and on and on, this time fenceless, the land around it looking untouched and wild, as no humans came here anymore. She wondered if she would have gone on forever had not Kiete called her back. Perhaps the high tide would have eventually carried her out to sea and drowned her.

"Kojau…we need to keep going…c'mon, please listen to me…" Kiete's voice reached her ears, pleading, though it seemed faint to her. But then, everything seemed faint now, except for the pain.

Turning jerkily to face the umbreon, she realized he had probably been calling her for a time now. She must not have been listening very carefully, or she would have heard him.

"Just…we just need to go up the hill…" Kiete, already a ways up the hill, peered back down at her from inside the fence. "C'mon, Kojau, you can make it, you really can…"

Kojau heaved a great sigh, wincing a bit as her insides churned once more, though nothing else happened. Gazing out to sea, she decided that she would have to make it through this, if only to see what lay on the other side of that great body of water.

And so it was that she began ascending the hill.

If it had been painful before, it was agony now. The hill was fairly steep, and Kojau's breathing rattled brokenly inside her as she ascended it. The pain came in great fiery flashes whenever she made a move, darkness gathering around the edges of her vision. Her eyes watered with the sheer intensity of it all, and the moisture made wet lines down her cheeks like tears. Head hanging, tongue lolling from her mouth, she concentrated on her three good legs, for she was in danger of falling off balance with her left raised uselessly above the earth.

Kiete shouted encouragement down to her, always just a bit above her, as though trying to make her believe that it was possible to reach the top of the hill. She didn't know if she believed it herself. All she knew to believe in now was the pain, the pain that seemed to be her whole existence.

At one point, she slipped sideways on some loose stones and fell roughly against the fence. She did cry out then, having been relatively silent before. The sound was pitiful, like a distressed poochyena's cry, and she wondered how she could make such a noise now. This one noise seemed to release the rest, and she remained leaning against the fence, whimpering in her pain, thinking of how unfair it was, of how she would never be able to reach the top of the hill.

And then Kiete was beside her, hiding his own distress lest it discourage her further. He couldn't reach her very well through the fence, but, as he leaned gently against it where she was, she could feel his body and energy and optimism. And that was just enough to get her going again.

She felt a sort of dull amazement as she reached the top of the hill, and a sense of accomplishment. Even if she died here, she would always know she had overcome that final obstacle, gotten over the last hurdle, even if she was never able to cross the sea and know her true purpose.

The ruins loomed before her, and she looked down at the earth. Bleached looking, she thought. Subdued, drained of its color…except for a flash of white, nearly buried in a large patch of tall, withered looking greenery…though the green had a gray tone.

Kiete was saying something to her about 'finding a way,' though she wasn't really listening to him at that point. Ay any rate, he vanished into the building they had come through originally, claws making a small clattering noise as he ran across the ruined fence there, presumably to find a way to reach the mightyena.

The pain had dulled, and Kojau felt only a curious floating sensation as she stumbled toward the white she had seen. Her body seemed oddly distant now, its feelings not quite reaching her properly. There was a numbing sensation there as well, and she supposed to ought to worry her. It didn't, though, not really.

She tripped as she reached the grass and the white she had seen, and went falling forward, only a dull throb reaching her as her bad leg twisted under her. She made an attempt to rise…only to find all that happened was her mind shouted signals to her body that were ignored. She was aware of a blackness overtaking her vision, and she realized she was going to lose consciousness soon.

She had to see what that white was, though… With an extraordinary burst of willpower, the mightyena began to crawl forward, inching along like a snake until her nose was nearly touching the white. It was a sign, she saw. The faded letters seemed to swim before her, and she was aware of herself losing her grasp on the reality around her as darkness clouded her vision. However, before she went away, she was able to discern one word…or part of one; she couldn't be certain.

Airo.

(Sorry for not updating this in a while...I'm not dead, really! I'll try to update more after this. Again, sorry.)