The situation was quickly taking a turn for the worse.
The brief pause in conversation allowed for Shadow to catch the distant sounds of fighting occurring elsewhere in the forest, and he gritted his teeth. They had lingered too long in the forest to fully escape the ongoing conflict, but all the same, their primary concern was now the Ariados perched above their heads.
With thick spider webs sealing off their escape route, the only path available to them was to turn their backs to the spider and go forward. The entire atmosphere of the forest was consumed by tension and fear, a sensation that Shadow experienced deep within his gut.
"I am not playing games with you," Renard said sternly, addressing the Ariados, his eyes focused into an intense glare. "They are under my care, and any threat to their safety will be dealt with as necessary."
"How scary," Ariana replied in a sing-song voice, and she ended the comment with a hiss-like snicker. Leaf growled in reply, and Shadow scanned their surroundings, searching for some way out of this predicament.
There was something incredibly off about the arachnid, apart from her vaguely unnatural blue coloration. The dark color helped her to blend in with the darkness of the forest, and the darkness was only becoming more complete as black clouds gathered in the sky overhead, barely visible through the tiny gaps in the branches that formed the canopy of the Eterna Forest.
The Espeon glanced inquisitively towards Renard, and the Ninetales gave a subtle nod, wordlessly communicating for Shadow and Leaf to take shelter behind Renard. Shadow nudged Leaf, and began inching nearer to Renard, but as soon as he started moving, Ariana fired a line of webbing from her mouth with alarming velocity. The line latched onto one of Shadow's hind legs, and he felt his body pitch forward when the captured leg refused to move properly in sync with the rest of his body. His face was the first thing to hit the dirt, and he yelped in surprise and pain.
Leaf growled with alarming aggression, spinning to glare up at the Ariados.
"Not so fast, darlings," Ariana crooned, using her fangs to clip the other end of the web line, and she swiftly tied it to the branch she was presently perched upon. She relaxed her grasp on the branch, and descended to the next branch, bringing herself closer to the ground.
Shadow struggled to free his leg from the webbing, but the more he twisted and pulled, the more tightly the spider's silk seemed to cling, and with the other end secured to an overhead branch, he was unable to create enough slack in the line to stand back up. It was the most frustrating and humiliating form of helplessness he had experienced to date, with one of his hind legs forcibly elevated, and a dangerous enemy perched out of his reach.
Leaf flicked his head, and fired off several razor-edged leaves at the suspended web line, but the special fluid coating the web line deflected the projectiles by a hair, leaving the strand unscathed. The Leafeon blinked in surprise, now regarding the line with greater concern.
"Now, little darlings, I understand that the two of you assaulted some of my associates during our operation last week," Ariana murmured, clicking her fangs and crawling along the tree branch, now positioned directly above the two Eeveelutions. "Care to shed some light as to your motives in doing so?"
"They were attacking other bugs!" Leaf snapped, his tan fur bristling. "And one of them was my friend!"
"Oh?" Ariana's eyes lit up with an ominous blue glow. "So you admit to being an ally to my enemies. How unfortunate."
"Now wait a second," Shadow interjected angrily, and the Ariados' attention shifted to him instead. Despite his awkward positioning, the Espeon was still able to look up at the arachnid overhead. "We're not even involved in your stupid conflict here," he growled seriously. "You can't just label Leaf as an enemy because he has a Beedrill friend, and then justify attacking us over that. He's barely older than a kit!"
"And what's your excuse, then?" Ariana asked silkily. Shadow blinked, a little taken aback by the question. The shiny Ariados clicked her fangs to punctuate her statement before continuing, "You fought with my associates as well. Even if I forgive the transgressions of the littlest one, the label of an enemy can still be applied to you for your actions. Is that not so?"
"That's enough," Renard said sharply, stepping forward, and Shadow shivered at the audible coldness in the fox's voice. He really wasn't playing games, and his tone reminded him of when Renard had told him what he was capable of doing with his curses. "They are not a part of your territory war, and you will allow them to leave the forest unharmed."
"I might have considered it normally," Ariana countered pleasantly, her attention shifting to Renard. "But the timing is so convenient - coinciding with another of our operations, and then to have them march so boldly in the direction of my nest. I cannot afford to let them wander free, when they are allies of the Hive's loyalist scum..."
As if the last words of the sentence was a cue, a buzzing sound filled the air, and a flash of yellow and black burst out from the trees. The large hornet Pokemon drew back one of its vicious stinger forelegs and stabbed it at the shiny Ariados.
Ariana's reaction speed was so great that it bordered on precognitive awareness. Her fangs parted and a thick strand of webbing launched from her jaws, striking the Beedrill squarely in the abdomen. For a moment, it seemed to have almost no effect on the impending strike, but a moment later, a massive surge of electricity passed through the Beedrill's entire body. It let out an inhuman shrieking sound and tumbled to the forest floor, where it crash-landed, twitching and convulsing in obvious agony.
Leaf let out a surprised cry, either at the sudden appearance of the Beedrill, or the speed at which it was taken out. Shadow continued to tug vainly at the web line securing his leg, hoping to make some sort of progress at freeing himself while the Ariados was distracted.
"An adorable effort," Ariana crooned mockingly to the fallen hornet. She clicked her fangs and her attention flicked towards the other trees around her. "But it's doubtful you were anything but a decoy to create an opening for your kin."
An idea suddenly occurred to Shadow, and he glanced upwards, towards the branch that the web securing his leg was attached to. If he tilted his head at just the right angle...
The Espeon took a deep breath and focused, directing energy to flow through his body and gather within the gem affixed to his forehead, which began to glow softly. Leaf spotted the glowing and hastily retreated a few paces, and as soon as the Leafeon was clear, Shadow released the stored energy, a psychic pulse erupting from his body and spiraling up into the trees. Ariana jerked as the psychic projectile soared past her, and she glanced up in time to see the branch above her break apart with a loud snapping sound. The branch toppled sideways, remaining connected to the tree trunk by a thin strip of bark, which snapped off when subjected to the strain of gravity.
Ariana recognized the danger in time to scuttle out of the way, as the broken branch collapsed upon her former perch, creating more than enough slack in the web line for Shadow to hastily climb back to his feet and back away before the severed branch fell to the forest floor with a loud crash. Leaf quickly helped him dislodge the rest of the line from his foot, and both of them looked back up at the tree.
"That was close, darlings," Ariana commented, sounding a little miffed by the sudden turn of events. Renard fanned out his tails and launched a purple wisp of flame from his mouth towards the Ariados. Her eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and purple waves of energy emanated from her body, swallowing up the Will-O-Wisp and promptly extinguishing it. "Tossing aside all pretense of being my enemies? Lovely, that makes things much easier," she mused.
"If you insist on endangering us, that leaves us little option but to strike back at you," Renard replied coldly.
"And I'm not going to just stand by while you hurt other bugs!" Leaf growled, his fur bristling outwards like a feral beast. Without waiting for a response, he flicked his head and launched another barrage of razor-tipped leaves towards the Ariados.
"How foolish," Ariana hissed. She lowered her head, better exposing the wicked barb upon her forehead. The poisonous horn glowed purple and she launched a thick, poisonous purple wad of gunk from it. Upon contact with the Razor Leaves, the gunk erupted into a thick cloud of poison, as if detonating an explosive of some kind. Any leaves that passed through the cloud fluttered back to the forest floor harmlessly, acidic holes devouring the green flesh and dulling the razor edges.
When the cloud dispersed, Ariana was no longer perched where she had been moments earlier, and Leaf flinched, his eyes darting around at the neighboring trees all around them. Shadow gritted his teeth, his gemstone glowing faintly in the darkness of the forest. His eyesight was fantastic, but Ariana's blue body blended in well with the shadows and leaves of the trees, and if she could disappear like that, it would be nearly impossible to keep track of her in combat.
Renard swiveled around slowly, his eyes scanning their surroundings, and he slowly made his way nearer to where Leaf and Shadow were standing. "Stay alert," he warned them solemnly. "I doubt she'll stick to the branches the whole time...while it keeps her out of range, her maneuverability will suffer for it."
"Ambush us from the shadows, then?" Shadow murmured, peering into the darkness among the trees on either side of the path. His ears twitched, straining to catch some sound that might indicate movement, like the scratching of claws against leaves. There were sounds in the distance, but barely anything closer by, apart from the occasional twitches from the downed Beedrill as it passed in and out of consciousness.
Leaf abruptly sat down and began to lick his paw idly, as if preparing to groom. Shadow cast him a blank look, which soon became a bewildered stare as the young Leafeon paid no attention to his older brother's confusion. Just when Shadow was about to object to Leaf doing something so pointless, he noticed that a pale green aura was beginning to surround the Leafeon's body, energy becoming drawn from the surplus of grass and trees in the vicinity. After a few moments, the Leafeon was positively glowing with natural plant energy, and the light was illuminating many of the shadowy areas around them.
"She's over there," Leaf whispered from the corner of his mouth, casually wiping his paw against his ear. Shadow looked at him blankly, and Leaf repeated the motion, more urgently, until it clicked that Leaf was using the motion to disguise the fact he was pointing his paw at something.
Shadow followed the gesture with his eyes, until his gaze rested on the shadowy space partially hidden from view by the fallen Beedrill on the path, and by focusing his gaze, he could barely make out the shape of the poisonous spider. How Leaf had even spotted the Ariados was anyone's guess.
Not wanting to waste time by questioning the matter, Shadow focused his energy and propelled a sphere of psychic energy across the path towards the partially hidden Ariados. Unfortunately, the shot went wide and detonated against the nearest tree, but it was enough to flush Ariana out of hiding. She scuttled forward with alarming speed, and spat another thick glob of poisonous gunk towards the Eeveelution brothers.
Shadow's body tensed, and a translucent barrier formed in front of his face, intercepting the Sludge Bomb, and causing it to detonate on impact. The cloud of purple smoke filled the air, and Shadow gagged from the scent alone, nearly losing his focus on the barrier.
Renard dashed forward to meet Ariana in the middle of the path, and his eyes glowed with an ominous purple light. His tails fanned outwards as if blown by a non-existent breeze, and a ring of black energy erupted from his body, expanding outwards like ripples in a pond. The black energy engulfed the Ariados' body and shoved her sideways, nearly causing her to go belly-up before she regained her footing. Hissing, she spat a line of webbing at the Ninetales, but he sidestepped it with surprising agility. Before she could respond, he spun around and several of his tails lashed against her body like a whip.
Ariana scuttled backwards, clicking her fangs aggressively, her blue eyes flashing with annoyance. At that moment, two more yellow and black-striped hornets burst out from the trees, on either side of the path. Leaf did a double-take at the sight of one of them.
"Bee-Bee?" he gasped. If the Beedrill acknowledged him, Shadow couldn't understand her, as the two Beedrill launched themselves at the Ariados. Renard blinked, but his attention didn't seem to be on Ariana, nor the new arrivals. Instead, he was touching a paw tenderly to the thicker fur defending his chest.
Ariana scuttled sideways, narrowly avoiding one of the Beedrills' stabs, and Bee-Bee slashed one of her forelegs like a sword, forcing the Ariados to back away another few steps. Her blue eyes gleamed, and her fangs parted. A line of webbing launched from her mouth, forcing the two Beedrill to scatter to evade, but as they did so, waves of dark purple energy emanated from the Ariados' body and encompassed Bee-Bee's entire body. The Beedrill buzzed violently, but the energy coursing through her body seemed to be making her movements sluggish, and she hit the ground once her wings were moving too slowly to keep her airborne.
"So, are these the best assassins the Hive can send my way?" Ariana mocked. She glanced at Bee-Bee and clicked her fangs threateningly. "I'll take care of you in a moment, darling," she whispered.
"Bee-Bee, are you okay?" Leaf asked, dashing over to the fallen Beedrill before Shadow could stop him. Ariana pivoted and launched a spear of webbing at the Leafeon, but Leaf dove forward onto his stomach, the webbing soaring just above him. He winced a little as he slid to a stop closer to his Beedrill friend, and Ariana was forced to avert her attention to the remaining Beedrill as it dashed towards her.
"Loyalist scum like you aren't worth devouring," Ariana hissed, and her forehead barb propelled another poisonous blob at the attacking Beedrill. It stabbed its tail stinger into the projectile, skewering it like a toothpick into an olive, and then drove one of its forelegs into Ariana's abdomen.
Ariana let out a shrill screech of pain, and her eyes glowed. Waves of energy expanded from her body, and sent the Beedrill reeling backwards as if it had been punched. Its red eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but Ariana scuttled forward with impossible speed and drove her forehead barb directly into its midsection, where its upper body met the striped abdomen. The Beedrill let out an inhuman screech, not unlike the disturbing sound that its already fallen kin had made when electricity had surged through its body, but Ariana wasn't finished. The visible section of the barb glowed with purple energy, and the Beedrill's screech broke off abruptly as its torso literally burst open as if a bomb had detonated within its stomach, and the two halves of its body fell to the grass, leaving the hornet's fate graphically unambiguous.
Leaf was shaking in horror, but Shadow could see that Bee-Bee had extended her foreleg, shielding his view of the carnage. The sound of the Beedrill's scream had been another matter, and even Renard appeared shaken by what they had witnessed and heard.
"Delicious," Ariana remarked, clicking her fangs with a noticeable smacking sound, as if she had just enjoyed a real treat. Shadow growled, and started forward, but Bee-Bee gestured fervently for him to stop, and he hesitated. "Your turn, sweetie," Ariana added, turning her attention to Bee-Bee next.
Bee-Bee launched herself forward, her wings emitting a roaring sound that seemed to perfectly encapsulate her rage at seeing her comrade fall. Ariana scuttled to the side, only to cock her head in confusion as the Beedrill flew right past her, and stabbed one of her foreleg stingers into something amid the other Beedrill's remains.
Rising back into the air, Bee-Bee made a flourish of gestures amid angry buzzing, and Ariana clicked her fangs in amusement. Renard started to back up, moving out of range of the immediate conflict.
"What did she say?" Shadow asked Leaf uncomfortably. The Leafeon's expression was serious, with traces of anger within his eyes, yet he was backing away from the two aggressive Bug-type Pokemon.
"She said not to get in the way," Leaf answered quietly. "This is her battle."
Shadow opened his mouth to object, but Bee-Bee made another series of gestures and buzzing, the motions much more aggressive and angry. Leaf winced and averted his eyes uncomfortably, nuzzling against Shadow in a silent bid for comfort. Confused, the Espeon pulled Leaf closer to himself, and stroked the Leafeon's fur.
"What now?" he wondered.
"She's so angry. I...I don't like seeing her like that," Leaf whimpered. Shadow couldn't think of anything to say that might reassure his brother, so he remained silent, observing the two Bug-type Pokemon apprehensively. Renard was gradually making his way over to where the two of them were sitting, keeping a wary eye on Ariana and Bee-Bee.
"What are you waiting for, darling?" Ariana asked tauntingly, her blue eyes shimmering with amusement. "Aren't you going to avenge your allies? Or are you as spineless as all the other lackeys serving the Hive Queen, with no desire or purpose of their own?"
Bee-Bee lunged forward and stabbed her forelegs at Ariana, only to be sniped in the chest by a shot of webbing. Electricity surged through Bee-Bee's body, and she shrieked in pain. Leaf let out a wail of horror as Bee-Bee tumbled to the ground, sliding for a few seconds before going still. The Leafeon started forward, but Renard blocked the path with his tails.
"Move!" Leaf growled and actually snapped his teeth at one of the offending tails. Renard's eyes flashed in momentary anger before his expression relaxed again, and he shook his head. "I need to help her!" Leaf insisted.
"She's fine," Renard murmured. Leaf looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, only to pause as the Beedrill's wings buzzed to life, and she rose back into the air. "She did that fall on purpose to wipe off the Electroweb," the Ninetales explained softly. "She's still in this fight."
"Clever trick, darling," Ariana murmured, her eyes glinting as she observed the Beedrill closely. "Your devotion to a selfish ruler is quite astonishing, but ultimately, you are just another life the Queen deemed expendable," she continued mockingly.
Bee-Bee whipped both foreleg stingers forward, each one glowing white, and launched a barrage of small, white needle projectiles at the Ariados. The blue eyes of the arachnid glowed brightly, and a wave of dark purple energy expanded from her body, intercepting the needles and dissolving them without a trace.
"The queen adores the loyal subject only for their mindless obedience," Ariana hissed, her tone filled with as much venom as her fangs. "She holds no delusions about the chances of you succeeding on this mission. You are meant to die."
Bee-Bee buzzed angrily in response, and Leaf cringed, leaving Shadow more confused than ever. Interacting with the Beedrill in the past had been frustrating and bewildering, due to how Leaf would verbally respond to statements or questions that Shadow couldn't understand, but this was far worse, because Leaf's reactions barely even hinted at the context, and the Leafeon was so distraught by how things were developing that asking for a translation felt insensitive.
"Can't we...do something?" Shadow asked Renard. "Or even just...leave while we have a chance?"
"She insisted that no one interfere. To intrude would be to disrespect her wishes, and this conflict appears more deeply personal," Renard murmured softly, his expression melancholy. "And I can already tell that your brother will not cooperate if we tried to leave. For all intents and purposes, we are stuck here as unwilling observers. However, I do have one trump card in reserve should the situation call for it."
Shadow glanced at Renard inquisitively, but it was clear that he wasn't going to receive any better answer than that right now. He wasn't sure he saw the logic of sitting back and just allowing the situation to unfold without doing anything to help, because if Bee-Bee lost, then Ariana's focus was sure to return to them, and her attention had not been favorable in the first place.
Why did he keep ending up in situations like this every time he went anywhere near the forest? Was every visit to the forest going to result in some sort of mad scramble to keep his life? He was averaging four for four now, if he counted being attacked by that Pokemon trainer immediately after his second visit here.
Maybe Eterna Forest really WAS cursed.
