Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do however own Alex, and this characterization of a member of the Darkrai, Purugly, Kricketune, Ponyta, and Murkrow species.
Chapter Ten:
Death's Shadow
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Darkrai felt a sudden stab of dread come through the unusually quiet empathy link as Alex's will flexed and drew the legendary out into the world. The dark type glanced at the other Pokémon already on the field and noted their concerned expressions. So, Darkrai wasn't the only one to feel that. Murkrow formed next, and instantly went to perch on the legendary's shoulder, as oddly silent as the rest of the team.
The sun was just going down above the small forested clearing while the first pale stars of evening were outshined by the nearly full moon taking residence in the sky. Alex stood before the group of Pokémon looking drained, face warring between pallor and redness as she stared blankly in their direction.
"We've… been a team for awhile now," Alex began, "some of us since nearly the beginning, and others who've only just joined. All of us though have been impacted in some small, but meaningful way by the oldest of our group… who is no longer among us." The trainer paused, dropping her gaze to the ground for a long moment before speaking again. "A few hours ago, a group of people broke into Professor Rowan's lab and started tearing up the place. Mightyena refused to let them into the nursery and was killed protecting the eggs inside."
Silence resounded in the clearing as Alex continued, "Guys, Mighty's gone. And… he's gone."
The trainer simply stood there, staring at the ground while her team tried to process that statement.
"Boss?" Murkrow spoke up, "What's that mean?"
Darkrai looked at the little bird, transferring her to one talon while it stroked her feathers with another. "It means that Mightyena is dead."
"Dead?"
"He is gone, and will not come back."
Murkrow cocked her head, confused. "Why not? Doesn't he like us anymore?"
Darkrai shook its head. "No, I'm sure Mightyena likes us very much, still. Where he has gone, he simply cannot come back from."
The little bird blinked. "Can we visit him, Boss?"
"No! No we can't!" Ponyta yelled, "He's gone forever, and we'll never see him again. He. Is. Dead!" The fire colt sobbed, turning away from the group and bolting off into the woods.
"I will find him," Kricketune spoke for the first time in nearly two days, then walked sedately in the direction that Ponyta had run away in.
Murkrow glanced back to Darkrai with a troubled expression on her tiny little face. "But I don't want him to be gone, Boss. He was gonna teach me how to Snarl."
The legendary spoke quietly as it continued to brush the smaller dark type's plumage. "No one wants him to be gone, Minion. It's just something that happened that we have to deal with. Like how the sun comes up every morning and goes down every night. You can't change it."
Darkrai looked back up to the two remaining in the clearing. Alex had begun setting up camp in an almost mechanical way, while Purugly simply stared at the place the trainer had been standing earlier and blinked slowly.
"Minion?"
"Yeah, Boss?"
"How about you go find some kindling for the fire pit?" Darkrai asked the little bird on its arm. "Don't stray too far," the legendary added as Murkrow took off with a nod.
Alone, Darkrai hovered over to Purugly and settled on the grass next to her. "Purugly? Are you okay?"
"I can't…" the fat cat began, still staring and blinking at empty air. "He can't be gone… He's invincible."
"Invincible?" Darkrai asked.
Purugly nodded, finally showing some sign of life. "He is… was… untouchable. Nothing affected him." The fat cat lowered her gaze to the ground. "About a year ago, back when I was a Glameow, I was running with some… unsavory characters. It was all good fun for me—all I had to do was use Captivate and sit there while the other guys would dart in and pickpocket whatever unlucky sap had stopped to gawk at me." Purugly's mouth twitched at the memory. "It's funny how some moves have different effects on humans than Pokémon.
"Anyway, I had just done the routine to this one trainer while the guys stole her bag, and we had met up again at our hiding place in an alleyway to go over the spoils. They dumped out the sack and all these item boxes and coins and Poké Balls came pouring out. It was like winning a jackpot at the casino! So many things… Then, this little yellow and green ball landed on top of the pile and just sat there, like a Cherri on top. One of the guys went to pick it up and see what was inside, but then…
"This huge black shadow fell on us, cast from the nearby streetlamp." Purugly grinned, worlds away. "We all pissed ourselves, thinking it was a police Growlithe. Then the Pokémon stepped forward. It was Mightyena, come to get Alex's bag back. He wasn't angry, oh no." The fat cat chuckled. "He was smug. So there I was, these two Staraptor and a Chatot behind me and this cocky-ass old fogy of a dark type in front, so what do I do? I use the move that started this all; Captivate.
"And you know what Mightyena said?" Purugly was laughing now, "He said, 'If you promise to not take anything, I'll let you leave.' Naturally, we all laughed at him. Then this Luxio fell out of the sky and landed behind us, glowing with an electric attack, all silhouetted in gold and crackling with power…" The fat cat sighed. "Anyway, the three bird brains took off and left me to deal with these two pissed off Pokémon. By this point, I was really freaking out—but all Mightyena did was ignore me and gather up the stuff in the bag. Right before he left with Luxio, though, he turned to me and asked if I was satisfied with my life. As if that was any of his business!"
Purugly shook her head. "I got all affronted and spat at him that of course I was satisfied with my life. You know what he said then? 'I didn't think so.' Then he just left. Just like that. I had never been so insulted before. Who the heck did this guy think he was?! Barging into my life like that…" The fat cat snorted. "But then I actually thought about it. Why was I skimming from the low life? How did it come to be that I hung out with the bottom of the barrel? None of us even liked each other—we just worked together when we got hungry enough.
"I knew I could be so much better if I wanted to be, so I followed this crazy old coot back to his trainer, and the rest is history." Purugly ended her tale, still staring into space, but perhaps a bit more thoughtfully than before.
Darkrai reflected for a minute. "I thought you joined the team because of Luxray."
The fat cat finally looked away from the air molecule she was trying to fry with her gaze and glanced up at the legendary. "Alex told you about that, huh?" At Darkrai's nod, she huffed ruefully. "Well, he was certainly part of it. Luxray was just about my age, and we had a… mutual interest in the opposite sex." Purugly paused, seeming to contemplate something for a moment before turning to the dark type fully. "Does it make me pathetic that I'm actually happy we're fleeing to Oreburgh just 'cause I'll get to see Luxray again?"
Darkrai glanced away, unsure of how to answer. The legendary's gaze fell upon Alex, who had pitched her tent with machine-like efficiency and was moving on to the portable fire pit. "I don't think it's wrong to comfort those close to you—or to want to be comforted by them." It looked back at Purugly, who once more seemed pensive. "I'm not sure—I'm still rather new at this."
The fat cat blinked. "I think you're right. We are what we are, and we are alive. For now." Purugly stood up, "I should go help Murkrow with the firewood," and abruptly left, leaving Darkrai alone in the clearing with Alex.
Taking a breath, the legendary hovered over to its trainer's side. "Alex?"
If the trainer heard it, she made no effort to respond, finishing with the fire pit and drawing out a table from her supplies.
"Alex?" Darkrai reached out to brush her shoulder. "Are you—"
The trainer yelped and jumped back when the dark type made contact, casting her gaze about wildly before finally focusing on the legendary's outstretched claws. "I-I'm sorry, Darkrai—I… could you… not touch me for awhile?" Alex looked away from the nightmare king's heartbroken expression. "It's just… Mightyena… That feeling reminds me of him."
Darkrai retracted its offer of physical comfort, shoving aside the instinct to snatch up the human and not let go until morning. It was surprisingly difficult, but the legendary wasn't going to go against its trainer's wishes when she was in such a fragile state. "Of course."
Alex smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, I just… can't."
"It's okay, Alex," Darkrai told her, "Whatever you need."
"Thanks…" The trainer glanced around the empty clearing. "Hey, do you… could you go find the others? It'll be dinner time soon and I'm getting a bit worried about Ponyta."
The legendary nodded, backing away to keep its eye on her for a moment longer before turning to go search for the missing Pokémon.
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It didn't take Darkrai very long to find Ponyta. The fire colt was standing over a puddle of water, staring at his reflection in the middle of a small clearing—more of a gap between the trees, really—fiery mane and tail lighting up the surrounding foliage and making the reflected glow from the water dance in orange and gold.
"Go away, Kricketune—I'm not in the mood for philosophy," Ponyta growled, not budging from his self-inflicted staring contest.
"I'm not Kricketune," Darkrai answered simply, settling at the edge of the clearing a few feet away from Ponyta, sensing that it would take more than a few seconds to collect the stray Pokémon.
The fire colt glanced to the legendary in surprise before returning his gaze to the water. "Oh."
Darkrai watched Ponyta watching himself and tried to figure out what to say as the silence stretched on.
"He was supposed to see me evolve," the fire colt mumbled, breaking the silence, "He promised he'd be there when it happened. But he lied."
The dark type didn't know what to say to that, so it kept quiet and let the young horse command the moment.
It took a long time for Ponyta to speak again, finally breaking from his position above the puddle to turn fully to Darkrai, voice small, "Do you think it's weird that I haven't evolved yet?"
The legendary blinked. "I don't know much about evolution, but I think it will happen when you're ready."
Ponyta lowered his head. "I guess I'm not ready, then." He sighed, glancing in the direction Darkrai had come from. "I'd better get back."
The legendary picked itself off the ground as the fire colt trotted away morosely. Darkrai was about to follow when Kricketune walked out of a nearby bush.
"Thank you. I was unable to get him to return on my own." The bug type nodded to Darkrai.
The dark type glanced away. "I didn't do anything."
"Yes," Kricketune sighed, "and that is my problem. I always do too much."
Darkrai looked back at her in surprise. "I hardly ever see you do anything at all."
The Cricket Pokémon watched the grass swirl in the breeze. "I tend to say the wrong thing, so I try not to speak too often."
The legendary merely narrowed its eyes in question.
"I try to be wise," Kricketune explained, "but I fear it mostly sounds pretentious. I use others' words because mine do not work very well."
Darkrai cocked its head. "I don't think that."
Kricketune chuckled lowly. "You have not heard me speak much."
"Well maybe you should speak more often then," the dark type retorted.
The bug type went silent for awhile, then looked up the stars peeking through the leaves above them. "My mother was a Xatu. I know she did not lay my egg, but she hatched me and raised me as her own, so that makes her my mother. She would often say things that made me think, and tell me things that would steal my words for many days. Some things she told me had not happened yet, but always did eventually. One day, she told me I would die in the full light of the guiding sun. The day before, she told me she would die after telling me I would. Then she did."
Darkrai settled back onto the grass as Kricketune continued to gaze at the night sky. "One thing she told me, I thought had come to pass twice already. Now I know it has." Kricketune raised her forelimb and traced constellations through the leaves. "She told me that a great darkness will come, and a great darkness will go. I met Mightyena right after she died, so I assumed that he was the first great darkness, and the second was my sorrow over her death—for then I met Alex, and the world was bright again."
Darkrai felt a wave of warmth at the thought of its trainer bringing light to the dark, but Kricketune continued, "I was wrong. Mightyena was not the first great darkness." She dropped her limb and turned to the dark type. "You were."
The legendary said nothing, unsure of how to take that as the bug type explained, "I thought at first that Mightyena retiring was the second great darkness going, but as we drew close to reuniting with him, I knew I was wrong. I knew he was going to die. And he did."
"You didn't say anything?" Darkrai asked without judgment.
"It was his time," Kricketune smiled sadly with her eyes, "Besides, I'm just a bug type. Who would listen to my low attempts at wisdom?"
Darkrai glared. "I would. I'm listening to you right now."
The sadness faded from her eyes slightly. "Thank you for that."
The legendary broke the silence that rose from that simple statement. "We should get back."
Kricketune nodded. "Yes"
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The rest of the Pokémon had already gathered when the pair made their way back to the clearing. Ponyta stood quietly with Purugly and Murkrow, watching Alex as she meticulously mixed four bowls of food and set three on the grass, keeping one on the table for the tiny bird who had moved on from baby food and could be fed as an adult.
Darkrai hovered off to the side as the other Pokémon went at their meals with a quiet reserve that pained the legendary even more than the grave news they had all received that night. Floating up beside Alex, the dark type noticed something that bothered it greatly.
"You're not eating," Darkrai stated, watching the trainer stare into the blazing fire pit.
"I'm not hungry," she replied, not glancing up.
"Alex…" The legendary stopped itself from reaching out to her.
"I'm going to bed early," the trainer turned away without looking in Darkrai's direction, "I'll clean everything up in the morning."
Alex retreated to her tent while the dark type hovered in place, caught in a battle of wills with its instincts as they screamed at it to follow her. It felt so wrong to leave her alone right now, but Darkrai knew that its presence would just cause Alex more pain, so the nightmare king was left staring as the faded orange tent flap zipped up and cut the trainer off from view. The pull to be near her side barely diminished once she was out of sight, so Darkrai forced itself to turn away and busy itself with something else.
The other Pokémon all glanced away as the legendary turned its gaze to them, none of them wanting to meet its eyes. Darkrai ignored them, floating over to pick up their empty bowls and find a stream to wash them in, as it had seen Alex do many times before.
Settling a few minutes later at a small brook with the bowls in hand, Darkrai contemplated its place in this mess. The legendary hadn't known Mightyena very well—had only spoken to him on a few occasions, actually—and wasn't nearly as broken up over his death as the others seemed to be. It did strike the dark type as odd, however, that even Murkrow seemed depressed. Darkrai had only seen her talk to Mightyena once, yet she still seemed to feel far more sorrow than the legendary did at his passing. That is, once Darkrai had explained the concept.
The memory of the conversation it'd had with Murkrow made the legendary freeze mid-scrub. As far as it knew, Mightyena was the first and only being of any kind Darkrai had known to have died, and it had never had the concept explained to it by any other. Numbly, the nightmare king continued scrubbing.
It bothered Darkrai greatly that while it was ignorant of things like age, birth, and mating, it knew intimately what death was.
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End chapter.
Well.
Sorry I didn't answer any reviews last chapter, I didn't want the impact to be diminished by my inane ramblings.
I'm glad that that last part hit most of you hard—that moment signals a bit of a tone change in the story now that all the characters have been introduced and (hopefully!) have become a bit familiar. The story's about to really pick up now (well, we've got one more chapter to mourn Mighty before we see the shit that will hit the fan), and I hope you all stick around through the angst/fluff hurt/comfort so we can get to the point where some of this weird stuff starts making sense.
Oh, my reviewer who may or may not have figured out the page breaks and was unimpressed with the end of last chapter brought up a good point that I wanted to address last chapter, but couldn't:
I think I said it before, but I'll say it really clearly now—Alex and Darkrai are not going to have sex. At any point. Ever. The reasons for this are varied, but it mostly boils down to; Darkrai is genderless, thus does not naturally equate reproduction to good times; and Alex is a little squicked out by that kind of thing (that is to say, Pokemon/human sex). In so far as romance goes… Eh, I don't try to label relationships, and I don't want to spoil where this is going, but if the idea really freaks you out… Think 'soul mates' but without all the destiny crap. Just really, really close friends.
As for Darkrai's urges for physical contact… Let's just say that that'll be a plot point.
…That's not to say that that kind of thing won't be included at some point in this story (I'm certainly not against the concept), but it wouldn't be between Alex and Darkrai. It also wouldn't be at all detailed. If this fic gets an M rating, it wouldn't be because of that.
Oh, and Captain Buggles—thank you for that review. It made my whole week, which is really damn impressive considering I'd just gotten below 60% on both of the first tests of two very important courses. 'Sweet little goober of darkness' indeed.
Questions? Comments? …Concerns? Well, not even Darkrai can read your mind (?), so if there's something you want to say, make sure to post a review to let me know. I welcome constructive criticism. I will never yell at you for stating your opinion-but please include a reason if you're going to flame.