I'm really proud of these next two chapters. I typed them both up as one, but I realized I needed to put them into two parts to try to keep the pacing together, or some such. The action starts to slow down in this chapter, and lots of shippyness finds its way in. Enjoy Chapter 6!
"May!" Ash and Drew shouted. Ash turned and leapt from Flygon and dove to catch May, who was belting out an ear drum melting screech, her eyes clenched shut. When she felt herself land in the strong arms of a boy, she stopped screaming and opened her tear filled eyes to see Ash looking down at her, giving her a smile.
"Grab onto me, May," he told her, calmly yet sternly. The girl obeyed and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck, her face planted in his chest. Ash used one of his newly freed hands to reach for a Pokéball. He held it out and opened it in the palm of his hand, and his familiar Swellow appeared. "Swellow, grab on to my shoulders and help us glide down!" Ash commanded his Flying type. Pikachu, currently residing on Ash's shoulder unzipped and climbed into Ash's pack as the swallow Pokémon obeyed and landed his talons on Ash's shoulders. The combined weight of Ash, May, Pikachu, and both of their packs took the Pokémon by surprise and he dug his talons into Ash's flesh. Swellow felt what was happening and gawked at his trainer's face. Ash looked up at him and shouted, "It's alright. Just do what you gotta do!" Swellow nodded and spread his wings to help lower their airspeed.
Flygon tiring, and Masquerain still weakened from the battle, Drew could only sit and watch as Ash and May fell towards a lake. "Damn it…" he cursed himself with clinched fists. He decided to fly his Pokémon to the center to get it healed, and return with more help.
His talons gripping his trainer's flesh, Swellow glided Ash and May to the best of his ability towards a lake below them. As he descended, he could feel himself ripping his friends flesh. Ash cringed as the sharp claws of his Pokémon cut against him. May's eyes filled with horror when she saw what Swellow was doing to Ash. Before she could voice her concern, Swellow loosened his grip on Ash, letting his talons slip from the boy's shoulders into the ring on the top his pack. Ash let his grip on May go for a moment to let his arms slip out of his pack and allow Swellow to carry it himself. Afterwards he immediately clutched May again in his arms as they plummeted into the cold waters of the lake. Pikachu looked down as he saw Ash and May fall into the lake. "Pikapi…" the electric Pokémon muttered sadly. Swellow flew and landed on the shore of the lake, waiting for Ash to surface.
Amidst all of the Water Pokémon in the lake, Ash held May in his arms and swam with his legs to what looked like to him the shore. Seeing the surface of the water above him, he held May above him in order to get her to breach the surface first. May opened her mouth gratefully took in the fresh air. Ash stood up from under the water and held May in his arms. He walked up to the shore and dropped May into the grass. Ash fell to his knees and rolled over on to his back, breathing heavily. After coughing for a bit, May sat up and looked over at Ash. It was obvious he was in a great deal of pain. Swellow and Pikachu flew from the other side of the lake, having landed opposite of where Ash had decided to swim. The bird Pokémon stood on his master's pack, and Pikachu leapt out of it and ran to his friend and placed his hands on Ash's face. Ash opened his eyes to see Pikachu, and the electric Pokémon smiled in relief. Ash attempted to sit up, but the pain in his shoulders dragged him back down. May crawled over to the injured trainer. "Oh, Ash…" she saw the holes in his sweatshirt. The threads loosely covering the punctures were stained with blood. She gripped the bottom of his sweatshirt and began to pull it over his head.
"May, what're you…" Ash managed to get out before the shirt covered his mouth. The movement of his arms caused him to scream in pain. Luckily for May, his scream was muffled in the wet sweatshirt. After the sweatshirt was discarded, May knew that the black shirt the boy was wearing had to come next. She could see the bleeding through the shirt. Ash watched with some kind of horror on his face as May continued to undress the upper-half of his body. The black shirt fit his lightly muscular form more tightly than the sweatshirt, and being wet made it stick to Ash even tighter. May tugged on his hard and managed to pull off the offending shirt. Once again, Ash screamed when his arms were moved by the garment. This time the scream hit May's ears, but she knew she had to do something. With out being treated, Ash could die from his wounds. Tears appeared in her eyes, especially after she saw Ash's shoulders without clothing. Blood was streaming down his body in a slow, yet steady, flow.
In desperation, May untied the wet bandana from her hair. She rung it out tightly and then, using as much strength as she could muster, ripped her bandana in half. Ash watched as her a few tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She leaned over top of Ash and began to tie one half of her bandana around each of her friend's wounds. "Let me know if it's too tight…" May whispered to him as she tugged the fabric taught around the wound and began to tie it tightly. Ash cringed a bit when May finished tying the first shoulder. She looked down at his face, her eyes full of tears and worry.
He forced himself into a smile, and said, "It's alright. Thank you, May." She nodded and began to tie the other half of her bandana around her friend's shoulder.
May sat back and stood up. Her wet hair clung to the sides of her face. Her wet clothes showed off her figure even more than usually. Ash's hat, sweatshirt and black tee where in a muddy pile, having been hastily discarded by May. The sight of May soaking wet and the thought of himself half-exposed brought a smile, and then a chuckle to his face. Soon, he couldn't help it from boiling over into a full laughter. May began to snicker as well, and then exploded with laughter, falling down on her rear, laughing hysterically.
Swellow and even Pikachu, who is normally in sync with Ash, were confused at what had just happened. The Pokémon stood dumbstruck as the trainers laughed so loudly that the native Pokémon began to fly away.
"Are you gonna be alright, Ash," May asked him, wiping the tears that had formed from the laughter away from her eyes.
"I think so," Ash attempted to sit up. He strained for a bit, but he ended sitting up. Pikachu gleefully leapt into Ash's lap and began to coo affectionately. Swellow smiled as much as a bird could, and then looked to where Ash's wounds were covered by May's bandana. He looked down and turned away from the others. Ash turned to Swellow and gave him some encouraging words. "Don't be so down, Swellow. You only did what you had to do," the trainer told his Pokémon, smiling. "If you didn't do it, May and I could have died"
"Swellow Swe!" The Pokémon protested, feeling he should be penalized for his actions.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Ash reached his hand over to the Flying-type. He clutched the bird by is underside and placed him gently into his lap. "I don't think any less of you because of this. You're still my friend." He continued talking, stroking his Pokémon's feathers. "I know you'd never hurt me on purpose. I love you, Swellow. You're a part of my family, just like my Mom and Pikachu and everyone else." These reassuring words, combined with the stroking he was receiving, managed to calm Swellow's nerves. Ash slowly reached for the Pokéball that belonged to Swellow, picked it up, expanded it to its maximum size, and pointed it at Swellow. "I think it's time for you to take a rest, Swellow." Ash said. A beam of red light shot from the ball to Swellow, reverting him into pure energy. Swellow returned to his Pokéball and Ash sighed, looking at the lake, with Pikachu sitting at his feet.
May, however, was staring at Ash, consumed with the scene she had just witnessed. Ash had leaned over to pick up his distraught Pokémon, even though his shoulders were in so much pain. He calmed him down by reassuring Swellow that he hadn't done anything wrong. He gently stroked Swellow, his calming touch easing the swallow Pokémon's distress. And to top it all off, May thought, he told Swellow that he loved him. Even easier than he could tell me.
Shaking the thoughts from her head momentarily, May spoke up to break the silence. "Hey, Ash, are you gonna be able to walk?" she asked him. "In could try to carry you if you need me to"
Ash blushed with embarrassment. "I uh… think I can do it on my own…" he stated. He struggled with his arms, but was unable to stand up. "I think I might need some help up first," he chuckled.
May walked around to his backside and sat down. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him in tightly. "N-now, just use your legs to stand up, alright? I'll help pull you up…" she said, slightly blushing. She was glad Ash hadn't been able to see. Ash pulled in his legs and began efforts to stand. May spread her legs apart so that they were alongside Ash's legs. She bent her knees, and then began to pull herself and Ash upright. May's arms squeezed Ash tightly, causing him to lose his breath. When May had finished the process of getting him to his feet, she let him go, and Ash breathed deeply for a moment. May thought for a moment, Great, he's gonna get on me for squeezing him so tight.
"Thanks, May," Ash said after catching his breath. This response caught May by surprise. Normally when Ash's personal space was invaded, he got extremely defensive, like with Tory in LaRousse City. "Could you carry my pack, May? I don't think my shoulders are up to it." May saw Ash smiling, but still weakened. She gave him a smile back, and turned and picked up his pack.
While she was leaning down to pick it up, Pikachu jumped onto her shoulder. "Oh, Pikachu!" May laughed, "Shouldn't you be hanging around Ash"
"You know as well as I do that if Pikachu was on my shoulder, it would hurt," Ash told May in a slightly teasing way. May nodded and welcomed Pikachu onto her shoulder. May put on Ash's pack, with the bottom of it sitting atop her own, wet pack. That was when May realized that she was still wet from her fall into the lake. She decided that it would be best not to worry about that right now, and it would be better to get a move on, to see if they could find a way back to their friends at the Pokémon Center.
"But how are we gonna find our way back?" May thought out loud. Nether of them had anyway to contact Brock, Max or the Pokémon Center.
"I think we should start moving," Ash advised her, "We don't know how long it'll take for anyone to find us. We also need to make sure we don't disturb the wild Pokémon too much and that we can make sure we don't get caught by Team Rocket"
May agreed, placing Ash's wet shirt and sweatshirt in the pack. She carried Ash's belongings away from the lake as the twosome plus Pikachu began walking through the forest. After maintaining small talk with Ash for a while, May's mind wandered back to Ash's compassion for Swellow. She remembered when she saw him sleeping next to Pikachu after he had fallen ill shortly after she met him, way back in Hoenn. Ash would always love his Pokémon more than any girl he met, she thought. But that's like him. He sees his Pokémon as part of his family. Some he treats like his brothers, like Pikachu. Others, May found herself thinking, he treats like his children. Sure, he disciplines them, but he loves them more than anything. More than me, anyway. She turned her thoughts away from that and remembered how he had taken Swellow into his strong arms. He was so gentle with Swellow. So kind. So loving. Ash would always be awkward while interacting with other people, but he could always express himself perfectly to his Pokémon. May realized this, and now knew where Ash's loving side had been all this time. He's not confidant around girls, she thought, and that's why he doesn't really understand love. May caught herself. Really doesn't understand 'romance.' she corrected herself. He easily knows what love is. Anyway, that's why he stuttered when he admitted to me how he felt. He was afraid that I would reject him, but because of his fear that I was in love with Drew, he thought that he would have to do something. That is so 'Ash' of him. It's just like when he battles, she thought. Ash does some pretty unpredictable things when backed up to a wall.
Remember Clark the Composer in the Houen League, when Ash had to bounce his Glalie around to build up speed? That's as unpredicable as they come, really. Anyway, that was my rational for having Ash spit out his feelings in chapter 2, because he himself felt like he had to, or else he would lose May.
Did you enjoy chapter 6? 7's just around the bend! Of course, I'd like it if you Review'D/Comment'D/Question'D, as well.
Arhm... I've been watching too much Homestar Runner recently.