Chapter 14

Sacrifices

The Weavile sped toward Terron and Zekra, ready to strike the two with the glowing, steel power in his claws.

Zekra was quick to change into a Weavile and immediately grabbed Terron once she had finished the transformation. With her newfound Weavile speed, Zekra darted out of the way, taking Terron and the bag around him with her.

The two barely managed to avoid the attack. Had Zekra waited a second longer, Terron probably would have received a nasty blow from the enemy.

"So you can change into other Pokémon," the Weavile said in an almost impressed tone. "I wasn't quite sure if you had enough skill to accomplish that. You seemed so weak, that I didn't know if you had the capability to use basic Zorua skills."

"Shut up!" Zekra retorted.

Zekra dropped Terron and ran toward the Weavile, preparing to use her own Weavile claws. She closed in on the foe, but before her attack could connect, the Weavile managed to grab her wrist. He then flung her into the air.

"Even though you pretend to be me, you're still too slow," the Weavile said. "You have no chance of beating me in a match of speed."

The Weavile jumped toward Zekra as she descended and furiously slashed away at her. Zekra screamed as the claws raked her body, causing her to abruptly change back into a Zorua. Once she had gone back to normal, the Weavile grabbed her paw and slammed her into Terron.

The two slid backwards, kicking up dust and scraping their skins. Once their momentum stopped, the two awkwardly got to their feet. Zekra started to pant from exhaustion while Terron readied his weapon so that he could get his turn in the battle.

Terron was just about to throw his weapon at the airborne Weavile, but before he could, the Weavile let out a large breath toward the two.

It was not just cold air that escaped from the Weavile's maw. Large clumps of snow escaped from the enemy's mouth and descended onto the children with such powerful impact.

Terron held up his arms to block out the ice while Zekra shut her eyes and turned her head away.

FWWWWOOOO!

The second the ice made contact with Terron, the Cubone started to scream. He had never felt this much pain before.

The snow was so cold. So cold… yet it burned.

This ice might as well have been white-hot flames.

The ice was starting to overwhelm him. Ice crystals formed on his skin, slowly turning him into a living icicle.

Terron's instincts screamed not to become a part of the ice.

Ice… Ice… was his enemy.

I have to get rid of this ice! Terron thought in desperation. This ice… I hate it! Get away from me! I don't want to be frozen! Stay away from me, ice!

The Cubone struggled to avoid his unwanted fate, but his body only responded by sending waves of burning pain throughout him.

THE ICE… IT STINGS!

Terron glanced at Zekra, finding that she was also being assaulted by the snow, but didn't seem in nearly as much pain as Terron. Her paws were slowly becoming encased in the ice, making it so that she couldn't get out of the blizzard.

Before Terron could make further notes of what was happening to his companion, he felt the ice wrap around his hands and feet.

GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!

It spread so that only his head was left uncovered, bringing the burning wherever the ice touched.

Terron started to hyperventilate.

PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP!

THUD! THUD!

Terron and Zekra were blown backwards, removing them from their icy prison as they hit the ground. Despite the pain of the new attack, Terron let out a sigh of happiness, as he no longer felt the ice.

He was free of its chilling clutches.

That relief was short-lived, however, when Terron noticed the Weavile was standing directly over them. His claws were raised high so he could deliver a lethal blow to the Cubone and Zorua.

Zekra and Terron attempted to run, but their muscles were stiff from having suffered from the blizzard. Their bodies wouldn't move sufficiently.

"Looks like you're both weakened down enough so that you'll die by my next strike," the Weavile said. "The ice should be numbing you and make pain less noticeable. So, if you want this quick and painless, I recommend you stay still. You want that, don't you? Or would you prefer a painful death, where you try to escape and I'm forced to weaken you down some more through blood loss?"

Zekra glared at the Weavile and tried to pounce at him. However, her muscles remained frozen and made her attack weak. The Weavile was easily able to avoid it.

"Time to put an end to you two," the Weavile said. "I've wasted enough time. I have a task to accomplish, and I won't let you kids waste any more of that precious task time."

Terron watched in horror as the Weavile brought his claws down toward the two.

He was going to rip them apart.

Terron tried to get out of the way, but the Weavile was moving too fast, and the Cubone's body remained sluggish from the ice.

All he could do was continue to watch.

Terron closed his eyes.

"MEEEEEIIII!"

Terron's eyes shot open. He could recognize that voice from anywhere.

The Weavile hesitated, sparing Terron's life. He looked around cautiously, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

A particular Mienfoo jumped off a ledge overlooking the battle sight and landed right behind the Weavile. The Weavile turned around to face this threat, but when he did that, the Mienfoo put her paw onto the Weavile's chest.

The Weavile's eyes grew when he realized what was happening.

BOOM!

The white light erupted from the Mienfoo's paw, sending the Weavile flying backwards.

After being blown a few feet away, the Weavile abruptly got back to his feet. There was a weakened look in his eyes due to the very effective attack, but the Weavile was far from finished.

"You…" the Weavile snarled at the Mienfoo. "I remember you. I saw you when I was climbing up this mountain. Why are you helping those kids? You're a wild! Those kids mean nothing to you!"

The Mienfoo said nothing.

"Well, if you're going to side with those two," the Weavile said, "then I'm going to have to kill you too!"

The Weavile rushed forward, claws ready to slash away at the fighting-type. The Mienfoo responded to this by sprinting forward as well, her speed equivalent to the Weavile's.

The Weavile leapt at the Mienfoo once he got close enough, swiping his claws furiously at her. Rather than attempt to dodge the attacks, the Mienfoo sprang at the Weavile and delivered a powerful kick. The Mienfoo received a fair share of scraps from having chosen not to avoid the attack, but it seemed worth it as the Weavile was knocked back.

The Weavile swiftly got to his feet, and seeing that his clawing wouldn't help in the battle, tried a different tactic.

The Weavile rushed at the Mienfoo once more, but rather than strike with his claws, he blew a gust of frigid air and sleet at the Mienfoo. Seeing this, the Mienfoo spat out a barrage of star-shaped energies from her mouth to intercept the attack.

Expected by none, both of their attacks swept past one another's and impacted their desired targets.

Stars slammed into the Weavile's face. Ice pelted the Mienfoo's body.

Both cringed at the pain.

The Mienfoo rubbed her face to rid herself of the frost that had was covering her eyes. The rest of her body was coated with the cold, but she didn't seem to pay much attention to that, possibly because the ice didn't affect her as much due to her typing.

The Weavile was much quicker to recover, unfortunately, due to the Mienfoo's attack not having any side effects. Once he saw that the Mienfoo was occupied, he readied himself for a surprise attack.

The Weavile put his claws close together and slowly, a dark purple sphere formed between the claws. It crackled with black energy.

Terron, who had been attempting to get his body to work properly, saw what was being created in the Weavile's hands. He had seen King use that same attack.

He knew what that attack was supposed to do.

Even if fighting-types were resistant to dark powers, Terron knew that this attack was still powerful enough to cause immense damage.

Before Terron could warn the Mienfoo, the Weavile released the power of Dark Pulse upon the fighting-type.

Black rings struck the Mienfoo just as she became aware of the oncoming attack.

"MEEEEEEIIII!"

The rings sunk into the Mienfoo's heart, where it absorbed every last bit of the attack.

When the attack ceased, the Mienfoo fell to her knees, panting as her muscles trembled. Her eyes darted around aimlessly.

"Mei… Mei…"

Her voice was filled with panic and fear, a drastic change from her mellow, focused tone.

Terron could only imagine what the Dark Pulse had implanted in her soul.

With his opponent now down, the Weavile took the opportunity to strike. His right claw started to glow white as he sped forward. There was nothing to stop his attack.

He aimed for the disoriented Mienfoo's heart.

Terron scrambled to his feet, fighting off the numbness.

But by the time Terron had managed to stand…

SLASH!

"EEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The Weavile's attack had connected.

Blood was leaking out of the Mienfoo's body and it stained the Weavile's claw.

The attack, however, did not strike the chest of the Mienfoo.

At the very last second, she managed to gain enough composure to understand what was going on.

She had attempted to stop the attack.

Now, the Mienfoo's right arm was blocking her heart. She had three deep, bloody streaks in that arm.

The Weavile stood a few feet away from her, scowling at how he had missed his chance to finish off the fighting-type. Still, the Weavile didn't remain discouraged. He'd finish off this Mienfoo one way or another. The Mienfoo was still disoriented. She couldn't properly dodge the attacks.

SLASH!

Three more claw marks formed on the Mienfoo's other arm, though these weren't as deep.

SLASH!

More marks appeared across her face. The streaks just barely missed her eyes, sparing her the possibility of becoming permanently blinded.

Zekra finally managed to get to her feet. Once she saw the gruesome scene happening before her, she looked over at Terron.

He was already running toward the Weavile, despite how tired and weak he felt. The bag he once carried was resting where he had been standing. He had abandoned in so that nothing could weigh him down.

The Weavile dealt a few more strikes, trying to wear down the Mienfoo so that she would be weak enough to kill in one shot. He was so busy doing this, in fact, that he didn't notice Terron coming up behind him. Just as the Weavile was going to deliver yet another slash to the wild one, Terron leaped toward the Weavile and grabbed hold of the scarf around his neck.

The sudden weight of the Cubone caused the Weavile to almost get choked by his own scarf and made him slip up. He fell onto his back, where the scarf slowly unraveled from his neck.

Terron, seeing an opportunity, rammed his weapon into the Weavile's head. The Weavile cringed from the bashing, but he only needed to be struck once before the Weavile grabbed Terron's bone and forced the Cubone to stop attacking.

"Oh, it's you again!" the Weavile said in exasperation. "I almost forgot you weren't dead yet. After I'm done with this Mienfoo, I'll deal with you."

Without warning, the Weavile flung Terron by the use of the bone club. Terron landed on the ground a couple yards away, feeling his back throb painfully. He slowly sat up, wanting to try attacking again. He wasn't sure if he could, but Terron didn't want to stand around and do nothing anymore.

All of a sudden, the Weavile became still. He no longer attacked. He started feeling around his neck where the scarf should have been, only to find it was gone.

"The scarf… where's the scarf?!" the Weavile cried, his voice becoming panicky. "Where is it?! Where?!"

The Weavile turned around to find Terron, who had the scarf in his grip. When Terron had been tossed, the Cubone had taken the scarf with him unintentionally. Terron looked at the scarf in his hands, finding it shocking that he managed to hold onto the scarf through that.

A strange look of desperation became apparent on the Weavile's face.

"Give me that scarf, kid!" the Weavile screamed.

The Weavile sped at Terron. Terron hastily got up and got ready to take off. Yet, the Cubone wasn't fast enough. The Weavile was already closing in on Terron as he managed to get to his feet.

"That scarf is mine!" the Weavile cried, his voice gaining a slightly insane tone to it. "That scarf means everything to me!"

Just then, Zekra as a Mienfoo came down upon the Weavile from high up and delivered a roundhouse kick to the enemy. The Weavile fell back since he been unable to block the attack in time.

"Terron!" Zekra cried. "Don't let him have the scarf! I don't know why this Weavile wants it so bad, but maybe we can use that to our advantage!"

As Zekra said this, the Weavile sprang at the Cubone, wanting to steal his scarf back. Just as Zekra was going to stop the Weavile, the original Mienfoo appeared in front of Terron. She was a complete mess with the various cuts bleeding profoundly, and her eyes were unable to focus, but the Mienfoo still stood strong.

As the Weavile leapt at her and Terron, the Mienfoo held out her paw and focused the white energy into it. She cringed from having to hold up her arm, but the Mienfoo wouldn't let the pain overwhelm her.

Just as the Weavile was to strike his claws into the Mienfoo since she was acting as a shield to Terron, the Mienfoo shoved her paw onto the Weavile's face.

BOOM!

White light filled the air as the Weavile was tossed back. The Mienfoo fell to the ground, the rapid blood loss starting to take its toll on her.

Terron looked at the Weavile.

He was slowly getting up. He was weaker, but he wasn't defeated. He was a long way from being defeated.

When Terron saw this, he finally realized something.

This battle… we can't win it. Terron thought. That Weavile's too powerful. We can't keep fighting. We're all just going to die.

Terron glanced at the scarf in his hand.

His grip tightened around the scarf as an idea formed in his head. He'd have to follow this idea if he wanted everyone to live.

Terron ran toward the edge of the mountain.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the Weavile cried to Terron. "Get back here with my scarf!"

The Weavile rushed forward, going much faster than he had throughout the battle. He went so fast that Zekra was unable to stop him as he ran right past her.

Terron stopped at the mountainside, where he could see the very bottom of the mountain. It was a very long way down.

Just as Terron was going to perform what he had in mind, the Weavile caught up with Terron and grabbed ahold of the scarf. He tried to yank it out of Terron's grip, but the Cubone refused to let go.

"Let go, kid," the Weavile said venomously. "Let go… I need this scarf… I NEED it…"

Suddenly, something started happening to one of the Weavile's claws. It was starting to change. A couple wisps of white were streaming out of his claw. Terron nearly released the scarf from shock, but he held on.

"GIVE ME THE SCARF!" the Weavile cried, his voice becoming utterly deranged. "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THIS SCARF MEANS TO ME!"

The Weavile released a breath of chilled air at Terron, causing Terron to scream as the ice crystals formed on his muzzle. This newfound pain caused him to yank the scarf with spastic movements, which surprisingly tore the scarf from the Weavile's grip. The Weavile's claws tore through the scarf upon having Terron rip it out of his hands, further damaging the fabric.

"You want this scarf?!" Terron cried through his pain. "Then TAKE IT!"

With as much strength as he could muster, Terron tossed the scarf off the mountainside. It plummeted down the mountain, slowly becoming smaller as the distance between it and Terron grew.

The Weavile didn't hesitate to go after the scarf. He jumped off the cliff with absolutely no reluctance, willing to risk his life to get the scarf. Terron watched the Weavile fall for a couple of seconds, listening to his shrill screams.

Terron shook off the crystals that rested on his head and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

He knew that he didn't win this battle. He had only delayed it.

The Weavile would be back if he managed to live.

Terron was rather sure that the Weavile had the capability to survive such a fall.

The Cubone retrieved the bag he had deserted and made his way over to Zekra, finding that she was back in her Zorua form and glancing down at the Mienfoo. The fighting-type wasn't moving, but she still appeared to be breathing.

Terron stopped in front of the wild Pokémon. Remorse slowly overcame him.

"She saved us…" Zekra said. "Why did she save us? Why did she come back to die for us?"

"I don't know," Terron replied. "But, we have to get out of here. That Weavile's going to come back. We need to get off this mountain and find the Drifblim."

Terron walked away, getting ready to go down the mountain. He didn't want to look at the Mienfoo any longer. He no longer wanted to feel pity on her. King had warned him about developing sympathy to wild Pokémon.

"Terron," Zekra called quietly.

The Cubone stopped.

"We were looking for a fighting-type to get bones from," Zekra started to say, her voice rather reluctant. "This Mienfoo… she's a fighting-type. She's dying, so killing her wouldn't be so hard. She has the bones you're looking for. And her head looks like it could make a good helmet for you…"

Terron glanced at the ground for a second. Zekra was right; this Mienfoo contained all that he was looking for. Taking those bones would be so easy…

The Cubone approached the Mienfoo. He stopped in front of her, seeing all of the cuts as they continued to leak blood.

This Mienfoo didn't have much longer to live.

The Cubone flipped her onto her back. Her eyes were still open, but they were glazed over. It was as though she wasn't aware of reality anymore.

Terron slowly raised his weapon to bring the sharp end of his bone into the wild one's heart.

I need these bones… I need the helmet…

Zekra stood back and waited for Terron to do what needed to be done.

I just need to kill her… that's all. I've knocked out several Pokémon before. I was even thinking that killing Pokémon wasn't so bad. It's easy. It's like knocking out Pokémon. Only… they never wake up.

Terron could feel himself shaking.

She's dying already. I just need to finish her off and put her out of her misery.

Terron grit his teeth.

I need to be stronger! Those bones are the key to that! The only way to get them is by killing her!

The Mienfoo's eyes fluttered from lightheadedness, then closed. She had lost too much blood. The end was growing near for her.

Terron glanced at her wounds, having small flashbacks of how the Mienfoo sustained them.

I… I don't care that she saved us! She's just a wild Pokémon!

Terron shut his eyes.

I don't owe anything to this Mienfoo!

Zekra turned away, not wanting to watch Terron's inner turmoil manifest itself in his facial expressions.

JUST KILL HER! LET ME KILL HER!

Thump.

Terron's club fell to the ground, next to Terron's side. Zekra looked back at the Cubone to find that he was gasping heavily. He looked like he was about to cry.

The Zorua cautiously went up to the Cubone and put her paw on his side.

"Terron…" Zekra said, trying to comfort him.

"We have to get this Mienfoo back to Aurora Town," Terron abruptly said, his words shaky.

Zekra looked at the Cubone in disbelief.

"Why?" Zekra asked. "I thought we were going to kill her. I mean, if you can't do it, I guess I could…"

"No, we're not killing her," Terron said firmly despite his broken state. "We're going to save her. The Fellowship should have a medical center. We'll take her there."

"But, how are we going to bring her down the mountain?" Zekra asked. "I mean, we can't just carry her. She's going to die soon at the rate she's bleeding. And that Weavile might find us…"

"You're going to bring us down the mountain," Terron then said. "You're going to change into a Drifblim and take us off this mountain through the air."

Zekra backed away as her jaw dropped open.

"Are you kidding me?!" Zekra asked in disbelief. "I can't do that! I can only change into Pokémon that are right in front of me! Plus, I don't think I can hold both of you!"

"Zekra, you have to," Terron replied, desperation entering his voice. "We have to make it up to this Mienfoo somehow. You only have to take us to the Drifblim. I'm sure they can take care of us from there. But, you're the only one who can get us to them fast enough. So please, Zekra, just try."

The Zorua glanced at the fighting-type, seeing the blood continue to flow out of her cuts.

Pity came upon her, both from considering Terron's words and realizing that the Mienfoo didn't deserve this awful fate, and from seeing Terron looking so miserable. Zekra had never seen him so melancholy.

The Zorua sighed as she closed her eyes to concentrate.

As she did this, the Cubone reached into his bag and pulled out an Oran berry. He squeezed the juice out of the fruit with his paws and poured it into the Mienfoo's mouth. He knew that the juice wouldn't cure the Mienfoo of her injuries, but it would at least give them more time to save the fighting-type.

After putting the dried-up fruit away, Terron watched as a light covered Zekra's form and slowly changed her. It took about a minute, but her outline became that of a Drifblim. When the light died down, however, the Cubone saw that Zekra's new form was flawed.

The streamer-like hands of the Drifblim were bent and crooked. The 'X' on her face was lopsided and her eyes were the same as her Zorua eyes. Still, she had become a Drifblim. Her current form was sufficient enough.

Zekra carefully wrapped two of her arms around the Mienfoo and wrapped one other arm around Terron. Carefully, she attempted to lift the two off the ground. It was a tiresome process, but Zekra managed to get all of them a couple feet into the air within thirty seconds.

"You guys are so heavy…" Zekra groaned. "I feel like I might accidentally let you go. I don't know if I can get us down the mountain this way."

"Just try," Terron said. "You're doing great so far."

Zekra drifted over to the cliffs and, after taking a deep breath, she went over the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, Zekra was unable to remain floating and the weight of Terron and the Mienfoo dragged her down. Terron clung to Zekra's arm as they plummeted down the mountain, watching the scenery fly past them at high speeds.

He could feel Zekra's grip around him starting to loosen. He grabbed ahold of her arm with one hand and used his other hand to grab the Mienfoo by the paw.

Not long after he did that, Zekra's hold on the two released. Though releasing the two didn't change much, as they were all falling down at the same speed, Terron still held onto his two companions. If he could get Zekra to fly again, at least she wouldn't need to use so much energy with carrying them. Terron would just hold on instead.

Terron gulped as he saw the land becoming nearer and nearer.

"Zekra!" Terron cried. "Please, Zekra! Try to fly again! We're going to die!"

The Drifblim looked upon Terron, her eyes filled with weariness.

"I'm… sorry," Zekra managed to say. "I can't… go on…"

"Yes you can!" Terron insisted. "You just need to stop us from falling and slowly get us to the ground! We're almost at the ground, so you don't need to do it for very long!"

Zekra tiredly looked at the upcoming ground. It was so close. It was probably thirty seconds away at the rate they were falling.

The Drifblim squeezed her eyes shut as she used the last bits of her strength to stop their descent. Terron squeezed the Mienfoo's paw tighter as he tried to keep his hold on her as well as on Zekra herself.

Terron glanced at the ground as their descent slowed. The spot they were going to land in was not too far away from the Drifblim. He could see that they were only a few hundred feet away.

Zekra was so close to making a complete stop in the middle of the air.

But then…

THUMP!

The three hit the ground.

Terron lost his grip on the girls as they all tumbled in separate directions.

Thankfully, none of them had sustained serious injuries from the fall. Zekra had managed to slow down their descent enough so that the impact wasn't life-threatening.

Terron slowly got to his feet, feeling sore from having hit the ground. He looked back at his companions to find that they were both unconscious. Zekra had already changed back into her usual form and was breathing shallowly. Her body was coated in the blood of the Mienfoo from holding the fighting-type.

The Cubone looked upon them in melancholy. Even though he was glad that Zekra had managed to save them, Terron felt guilty for making her use up all her energy.

She was just like the Mienfoo now.

"Hey, are you children alright?" a voice said behind Terron.

The Cubone turned around to find the two Drifblim floating besides him, appearing very concerned about what they were witnessing.

"We saw you falling from the mountain," one of the Drifblim spoke. "We came as fast as we could to help you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Terron said. "But my friends… they need help. I think Zekra will be fine with rest, but the Mienfoo… she's going to die unless we get her to the Fellowship soon."

Without questioning Terron as to why he suddenly had this Mienfoo with him or why he wanted to help her, the Drifblim immediately went over to the collapsed Pokémon and picked them up. They each held one Pokémon, wrapped tightly in their arms. The Drifblim holding the Mienfoo wrapped all of its arms around the wounds, attempting to stop the bleeding and give the Mienfoo more time to live.

The Drifblim that held Zekra then wrapped its arms around Terron before it took off into the sky with the other Drifblim. The sun was starting to set over the horizon, creating such a beautiful scene of color as the five flew through the air.

But none noticed it.

Aurora Town Fellowship Base

It was evening by the time the three made it to their destination. Even with the Drifblim flying as fast as they could, it had taken forty minutes to come to the Fellowship. The Drifblim gently set the children on the ground, carefully removing their arms from around their bodies.

Terron felt exhausted. He felt so sore from the fall, and from the fight with the mysterious Weavile. He would have taken a nap while he was flying, but he was too worried about the well-being of his companions. He had also eaten an Oran berry along the way, but he didn't feel it helped much.

"Thank you," Terron said to the Drifblim. "I'm not sure what we would have done if you weren't there."

"It's no problem," one of the Drifblim said. "We're glad to know you're safe as well."

Terron was about to say something, but then, he noticed a certain Pokémon climbing down the trunk of one of the trees.

It was Garter. He hastily made his way off the tree and went to Terron. He had a small smile on his face, as if he were excited about something. Garter was about to say something to Terron, but then, he noticed that something was very wrong with Terron's team. The Ariados glanced down at Zekra and the Mienfoo, who were lying motionless on the ground. His pleasant expression immediately disappeared.

"What… what happened to these two?" he asked, horrified by the sight.

"I'll explain later," Terron abruptly said. "This Mienfoo's going to die unless she gets some help. We need to get her inside. You have a medical center, don't you?"

"Yes, of course we do," Garter replied. "I'll take her there for you. What about Zekra, though? And you? You both look like a mess."

"I'll just take her to our room," Terron answered. "She just needs rest. She's tired from using her illusion abilities for too long. As for me… I'm fine. Don't worry about me. But please, hurry and help the Mienfoo. She's the one who needs the most assistance."

Garter nodded before wrapping up the Mienfoo's wounds in silk to temporarily block off the blood. He then put her onto his back and hurried away into another section of the base.

Terron sighed in relief and looked at his Zorua friend. Now, he just needed to take of her.

"Thanks once again," Terron said to the ghosts behind him. "I'll see you around."

"Will you be able to get Zekra to your room by yourself?" one of the asked, sounding concerned. "We could help you if you needed some."

"Yeah, I can manage on my own," Terron replied. "You two have given me so much help, though. I appreciate it."

Reluctantly, the Drifblim drifted away, going back to their transportation station. Terron carefully picked up Zekra and carried her inside of the tree. Holding her was tiresome and several times he felt he might collapse, but he kept going.

Fellowship members who were hanging around outside of their rooms noticed Terron passing by them.

"Hey, kid, do you need some help?" a Prinplup asked. "I don't think you should be carrying someone in the condition you're in."

"No, I don't need help," Terron said abruptly.

Terron continued walking. He didn't have to walk long to have another member notice him.

"I can help you if you, if you want," an Infernape offered. "You look like you could use some."

"No, I don't," Terron replied. "Please, leave me alone."

Many more Fellowship members asked if the Cubone needed help. Yet, every time, Terron denied them and kept going. He needed to do this himself.

He slowly climbed up the stairs of the base, feeling weaker with each step he took.

But Terron wouldn't stop. He needed to get to Zekra to her bed.

It's my fault she's like this. Terron thought. She's like this because I made her use those powers. I know I had a good reason, but I didn't think she'd actually collapse…

Terron stumbled, causing him to fall onto one of the steps.

I need to make it up to Zekra, somehow. Taking her back to the room myself isn't enough.

Terron wearily got to his feet and continued climbing.

I'm… a terrible friend.

After slogging up the stairs for what felt like an eternity, Terron finally made it back to their room. He carefully set her down in her pile of hay, making sure he didn't injure her in the process.

And then, unable to stay keep going, Terron collapsed onto the Zorua, his head landing on her back.

His eyes shut as his mind melted away into the regions of unconsciousness.

I'm sorry, Zekra.

Those were his last thoughts before Terron completely shut down.