Shine
I wish it wasn't so cold…
I really hated the cold weather, but I suppose my frail frame didn't really help with that distaste. Crescent didn't seem to mind it, despite her body noticeably shivering every now and then, she didn't say a word about it. Then again, she could just be hiding it. As far as I could see, she didn't complain about much unless the topic was me. Then she just wouldn't care.
"Almost there…" Crescent said in anticipation. "I'm not sure if I'm prepared to have this talk with Ark." You and me both.
"Who knows? Maybe it'll end in a more positive way than we're expecting. Maybe this is all a huge misunderstanding and-"
"I know I told you to think more positively, but that's pushing it. We're probably gonna get yelled at for pissing off the big guy." I was cut off, but reasonably. She was right.
"Right, right…" I sighed. Our surroundings had progressively thinner trees the farther we walked, from needing to actively change our path to avoid them, to practically being able to wrap ourselves around them. The sun was on the verge of exiting our vision, not helping the cold air. A mass of clouds were also beginning to gather, so getting back to our small camp was preferable. "What do you think will come of running into… her?"
"Not sure. We clearly don't understand the situation we're in, so we should be ready for anything." Crescent replied, solidifying my anxiety. "It was good of you to get us out of there, we don't know what she's capable of." I just wish I could do that consistently. "By the way, do you have any control over that… teleporting thing?"
"Depends what you mean by control." I repeated my sigh from before. "I can keep my bearings for the most part it seems, but I have no clue how to accurately… aim it? The two times I've done it with you it's mostly been random." I looked to the dirt ground as I walked. "I have no clue how to use it to move a specific distance, or direction for that matter. I just kind of did it, like an instinct."
"Well, we can find time to practice after we're done with this. Be careful though, it drained you to do it the first time, don't overdo it." I nodded absentmindedly as she spoke. "Try not to use it if you can help it. It seems dangerous to do that without caution if you're still blank on how it works.
"Aye Aye."
Our freezing travels made slow but sure progress. As we neared our destination, our anxiety worsened just like the weather. Once Ark's back was in our sights, the two of us froze in place. In front of him was a large lake, one that I frequently used to wake myself up. He seemed to be looking down at it, at his reflection. A gust of wind sent each blade of grass forward, at the time a shiver went down my spine. Whether the cause of it was the wind or fear, I had no clue.
Time passed, Crescent and I stayed silent. Ark knew we were there, but the garchomp didn't pay us any mind yet. He was thinking about something clearly, likely nothing we were related to. We waited and waited, until at the signal of another cold breeze, Ark turned towards us. His green eyes pierced the two of us far more than any cold shock could. I couldn't read any of the emotions he may have had behind the stare, luckily, I wasn't alone.
"I'm very annoyed." Ark said, firmly. "Why couldn't you two just be good and follow what I said to do? I didn't want to lose more employees here, they're freakin' hard to come by." He finished with a sigh. My body stiffened as each word was released.
"Shine, pay attention please." Crescent quietly said, taking a single step forward. I silently nodded behind her, not saying a ward, at a loss. She didn't look as if she was about to solve this through speaking.
"Usually I'd be more lenient, I hate needing to find more pokemon to handle this kind of thing. Sadly though, It's not my choice." Ark began walking towards us. He didn't run, he wasn't even trying to move quick it seemed, he was merely approaching. He had a menacing air around him. I felt myself continuously shrink as he came closer and closer.
"Who have we been working for?" Crescent prodded, taking a few steps back. I followed the action, staying behind her as best I could. Ark didn't reply though. His body very briefly emitted a dull, violet light. It was gone just as quickly as it appeared, but I didn't like it one bit.
The next moment, his body lurched forward, and he began soaring towards us at a high speed.
As he began quickly closing the gap, I couldn't get my legs to move. Everything around me felt as if it was frozen.
"Move!"
Crescent's shout woke me up, as did a harsh shove from her ribbon, encouraging me to run to the side, getting out of the way of Ark as best I could. Crescent dodged the other way, and we narrowly avoided the quick charge. He stopped and gave the two of us each a quick glance, before tensing one of his claws, burying it into the ground.
"I'm sorry, but this is the new policy." He said quietly, before ripping his claw out from the earth below, causing a stream of rocks to fly out of the ground, all in a line towards me. I was in a small state of shock, and thus didn't react appropriately, ending with a stone smacking into one of my forelegs. I let a small shriek free, as the force pushed me onto the ground below, tumbling away a few feet. An intense ache went down my foreleg, as if the bone was rattling under my skin.
Ark looked in my direction and bolted again, straight for me. Before making it halfway, he jumped to the side, avoiding a burst of light coming his way, courtesy of Crescent. He stomped on the ground and unleashed another group of rocks, hurtling towards me once more. I quickly got up, ignoring my screaming foreleg, and rolled out of the way of another mishap. Ark turned his back to me, his attention now on Crescent.
"This doesn't have to be painful, just let it happen and you'll both be soundly resting soon." Ark rubbed his claws on one another, as if sharpening them. Crescent scoffed, spitting on the ground below.
"Not gonna happen. You'll have to take me on before I yield." Crescent crouched down, her ribbons extending to either side of her, clearly ready to fight back. With an annoyed sigh, Ark charged at her just as he did to us previously, his claws crossed in front of him. Crescent slowly backed up as he quickly approached, observing how he moved. When Ark fully closed the gap, he unleashed his claws onto either side of his body forcefully, Crescent sliding under it and headbutting his midsection. Ark was stunned for a very brief moment, allowing Crescent to wrap her ribbons around his arms, both of them beginning to glow a bright pink light.
The two stayed in the same position, Ark seemingly struggling against the force that he was grasped with. He threw his body to the side intensely, attempting to break the grip, but Crescent spun herself to face him again, standing strong in front of him.
"Try me." She spat her words into his face, and unleashed a huge moonblast, forming from her forehead. The energy connected with Ark point-blank, making him flinch, but not much more. Crescent's expression held a small phase of shock, but she re-focused herself right away, keeping Ark tangled up in her ribbons.
"You should know that I wouldn't be so reckless with you two if I didn't know I could easily take you both on." Ark quickly turned his head and bit into one of the ribbons, gaining a sudden yelp from Crescent, her hold with said ribbon loosening. Ark ducked his head forward and slammed it into Crescent's forehead, sending her reeling backwards, her eyes tightly shut. She took a few steps back, recovering a firm shake of her head. The initial impact made me flinch, it must have hurt.
Ark's attention seemingly focused on Crescent and only Crescent. The injury he got me with isolated me from being any sort of threat in his mind it seems. That is, if I was ever one to begin with. Any pressure I tried to put on my leg wasn't going to fly, the thing screamed at me upon even the thought of walking on it. I might be able to awkwardly hop, but that's all. A little desperate for solutions, I looked at the ground around me, spinning in a small circle. I noticed the group of rocks that were just hurled at me, spread all around me.
While I was distracted, Ark looked towards me again, curiously switching his head between the two of us. He seemed to be weary of something, though it didn't seem like we were the concern. Using the small window, Crescent launched another shining blast at Ark, only for him to casually lift his arm and absorb the impact, not moving an inch. For the first time… ever really, I saw Crescent's expression morph into one of concern.
"Weird. Oh well." Ark said to himself quietly, turning to Crescent again. She seemed as if she tensed her body, before giving Ark a cocky smirk, instead of the face she held moments prior.
"I see you have very rough skin." She calmly spoke, lowering her head without breaking eye contact. I wasn't sure what I was expecting from her, but the current attitude she put forward was certainly nowhere near the top. Her facial features fluctuated from one emotion to the next so seamlessly.
"By all means, keep up that facade. It'll make my job way easier." Ark approached Crescent as he talked, fully extending his left arm, the moonlight reflecting off of his claw. I attempted once more to stand straight, wanting to help Crescent in some way shape or form. Sadly, the blow to my leg made it next to impossible.
A purple projectile was launched from the unhinged jaw of Ark, speeding into Crescent's head. Despite not taking much damage, she flinched from the sudden move, leading into an easy opening for Ark to exploit. His claw was lurched forward, aiming right for Crescent's vitals. She reacted fast enough to avoid getting impaled, but not fast enough to avoid a gash being ripped into her cheek. Crescent's face contorted into one of pain, but not agony. Without letting out as much as a grunt, her eyes lit up fluorescently. Her glare forced Ark back a few steps, she did something to him. He leaned his head to the side, wincing while recoiling back. Crescent used the opportunity to jump forward, attempting to dig her glowing fangs into the side of Ark's midsection.
I felt my body jump in slight excitement, which sank back down moments later. Crescent immediately backed off, squealing out with blood leaking down the side of her cheek. She stumbled down a bit, trying to rub the blood away with her forepaw, lacking in success. Ark recovered from his slight headache, glancing down at Crescent.
"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Ark took a calming breath after speaking, taking a step forward. Panic rapidly filled my brain, accepting that Crescent couldn't do much to Ark. I looked back at the rubble that was tossed at me earlier, focusing my mind on my surroundings. Two of the larger pieces of stone were lifted slowly into the air, and then hurled right at Ark with high speed. A loud crack signaled both of them slamming into his back, one after the other. His whole body tripped forward, before he whipped around to look in my direction.
A frustrated gaze was thrown at me, alongside the same purple blast that was hurled at Crescent moments before. I mentally picked up two more rocks, throwing one to block the attack, the other right at Ark. It was too slow to be effective, easily strafed by the garchomp. As he turned to face me, his body forcefully fell forward, tumbling across a few feet of the ground. Crescent was on all fours behind him, blood still pouring from her jaw.
Ark shot up and dove across the ground much more quickly than I thought he could move, slamming one of his rear claws against the side of her head, opposite to the earlier strike. The impact grounded her once more, alongside creating two more nasty scratches on her cheek, opposite to the single, deeper cut. Before I could react, Ark turned my way again, slamming a claw into the ground. I felt the ground beneath me quiver, and a sharp pain shot itself into one of my hind legs. I screeched from the intense, piercing pain, my head slowly turning behind me. A sharp stalagmite erupted from the ground, directly through my right hind leg. The red fluid pouring from the wound made me lightheaded, but not enough to distract me from the searing pain. I didn't even have time to react to the attack from the ground, before a rock slammed into my head.
My vision blurred far beyond seeing doubles, not even able to make out the grass in front of my face. My entire body felt numb. No pain, no nausea, no confusion, just numbness. Numbness and cold air. I couldn't even lift my head from the ground, I couldn't determine left or right, I couldn't think. All I could do is let my mind wander into darkness.
Crescent
I spit out as much blood as I could from the cuts inside my mouth. My eyes focused, nothing but dirt and grass filling every inch of my sight. I slowly lifted my head off of the ground, glancing passed the garchomp standing within ten feet. I saw Shine, laying on the ground, unmoving. Blood was coating the grass around him, but it wasn't enough to convince me he was dead. Definitely unconscious, but not dead. At least, I told myself that over and over.
My eyes looked up to the predator who we came here to talk to. His expression wasn't one of aggression, or annoyance, just frustration. He kicked me onto my back and stepped on my chest, putting firm pressure behind the action. I winced, my body resisting the pressure.
"You two are more resilient than I gave you credit for. If the policy didn't change, you'd both grow to be great assets." He said, looking down at me. I was totally at Ark's mercy. I was stuck, he could resist anything I could do to him, I was useless.
"What's the policy you're talking about?" I fruitlessly asked, doing my best not to stammer. I wanted to push against his force, but I knew nothing would come of it.
"Nothing you need to know." Ark said quietly, pushing his leg down, pressuring my chest intensely. I grit my teeth, my legs twitching without my control.
"C-Come on, I'm about to die anyway, right? T-Talk." I barely got each word out. I couldn't show my discomfort though, not to the one causing it. Instead, I looked into Ark's eyes, and I smiled.
"Not how this works, sorry." More force was applied to my chest. I felt my ribs start to crack, so I bit down harder. My smile held strong, looking right into Ark's eyes.
"T-This isn't easy for you, is it?"
My question was met with silence, nothing more. Ark's face remained still, besides a small twitch in one of his eyes. Without another word exchanged, the force on my chest quickly increased, audible snaps ringing through the air. I coughed and let out a loud wail, unable to hold it in. My whole body shuddered, and my breathing quickly picked up, almost unable to get any air to my lungs. I was being crushed to death, and there wasn't anything I could do. So I didn't resist, I let the pain overflow me. Ignoring it wasn't an option anymore, letting out screams in agony couldn't be avoided.
All I could willingly do is look up, and smile.
My ears couldn't pick up sound, my eyes could only make out blobs of gray, slowly being consumed by black, empty space. I could barely think about anything, but two hopes rang out in my brain. One being the hope that my death wouldn't get any more painful than it already has been. The other, just a small thought to attempt to comfort myself even the slightest bit.
I hope I helped you at least a little.
Before my body fully gave up, the extreme pressure on my chest lifted in an instant, resulting in an intense cough erupting from me, following desperate gasps for air. My vision slowly focused, though not enough to make out clear shapes. I did notice however, that Ark definitely wasn't standing over me anymore. My whole body ached with each heavy breath I took, there was no way I would be able to observe my surroundings. I did begin to hear distant sounds, very distant, quiet sounds.
A force I couldn't see coming pushed my body over, putting me on my stomach. Everything was still blurry, but I'm almost certain I screamed louder this time. Every small movement hurt, being pushed over nearly made me pass out on the spot. My head was essentially digging into the dirt beneath me, but that wasn't good enough. I needed to figure out what was going on around me. With slow, weighted motions, I lifted my head up, my chin propping it up. A moment or two is all it took for my eyes to focus on two blurry, fast-moving figures.
One was clearly Ark. A tall, light gray shape with obvious claws on either side of them. The other was much less decipherable. Red fur was all I could really make out before it burrowed quickly into the ground, popping up a few feet away a second later. It had sharp claws too, possibly sharper looking than Ark's. The noises I've been hearing slowly got closer, until I could finally make out some of what was happening. I heard grunting, annoyed sighs, struggling, and the occasional cry of pain. The unknown pokemon was female, that much I could tell. I didn't only hear her though, Ark was making his fair share of discomforted noises.
My eyes were finally able to make out some clear imagery, not perfect, but enough. A lycanroc darted back and forth in front of Ark, slamming their entire body into him with a lot of momentum. It caused him to reel back, and better yet, the slashes he attempted to counter with right after didn't connect with anything other than air. Ark's new opponent dove into the ground again, disappearing in an instant. The garchomp ran to the hole in response and leaned his head back, blowing a strong stream of flames down the same hole. Before they could even reach the opening in the ground, the other pokemon shot up behind him, swiping her claws across one another, digging into Ark's back.
The wail came from him this time, as blood was finally drawn from the land shark. He angrily swiped his arm behind him, smacking the lycanroc away, getting a frustrated grunt in response. She rolled across the ground and jumped up, back on her hind legs. She released a growl, clearly not out of energy yet. That being said, Ark didn't exactly look tired himself. He wasn't exactly worn out in the time it took for him to subdue Shine and I. The two rushed against one another, back to slashing, dodging, and brawling. Ark stopped getting tripped up by his opponent's quick movements underground, and started to clearly read all of her movements. Each time she went in for an attack, she was dodged, blocked, and countered. She's doing way better than us.
I came to a realization while watching the two brawl one another. They had the other's undivided attention. Ark actually needed to focus on her, he must have figured that out after she hit him the first time. That means he's not looking at me.
I took a deep breath, and with all of my might, flipped my body so I was on my stomach once more. An extreme wave of pain shot through my body faster than light, but I clasped my teeth down on my bloodied lip to bear it without a sound. I squinted my eyes at Ark, trying to track his movements.
Left, right, left, left, right, le-
I stared at the two for what had to be longer than a few minutes, neither of them ever ceasing to go after one another. I finally had a read on how Ark moved, exactly what I needed. I took another breath, trying to calm myself through the intense discomfort in every part of my body. My eyes lit up, almost sparkling. I focused my mind on one thing, and one thing only. Every part of me felt heavy, heavy and unable to move. I didn't need to move though, not even an inch.
Ark dashed around the lycanroc and bashed his head into hers, getting a loud, short screech right after. She doubled back, stumbling a bit, just barely able to keep on her hind legs. Ark centered on her, lowering his head. He was getting ready to charge again, and finish her off. However, he gave me too much time to myself.
I closed my eyes, the glow from my eyes extending to the center of my forehead. A moment later, I released a bright, intense beam. Its color matched that of my fur, and the force of launching it sent me rolling back, loudly groaning in pain from the motion. Ark quickly looked in my direction with wide eyes, ducking down and rolling away. My attack passed by him, flying over his head. His face changed to one of relief, but only until he realized that the blast looped around, and hit the back of his head.
Ark flew forward, crashing into the ground. His head was dragged roughly through the dirt, until his motion finally stopped. The garchomp coughed, slowly pushing himself off of the ground, glaring in my direction. I gave him the same look I had been this whole time, without hesitation. A smile.
After he took a single step towards me, Ark, put one of his claws to his head, letting out a gasp and dropping, nearly face planting into the dirt again. He grit his teeth and pressed his forehead into the ground, groaning and twitching. The lycanroc dueling him took the opportunity to rush after him, aiming one of her claws to pierce his chest. Ark barely moved in time to prevent it, but he didn't avoid a sharp stab into his shoulder. A loud shriek was released by Ark, blood pouring from the newly inflicted stab wound. The lycanroc went for another sharp blow, but was countered with a hard headbutt, sending her back to the ground.
Ark placed his fin over his open shoulder, breathing as if he didn't have any oxygen in his lungs. He took a few steps back, looking between the slightly injured lycanroc and I, an uncomfortable look in his eye. Without a single word to either of us, he turned away and bolted. Fast. I was stunned at the speed he was able to sprint away, stunned and fearful. As he left my line of sight though, a few moments passed, and my body felt heavier than ever before. In place of my adrenaline, came only the extreme pain I was ignoring.
Within seconds, the new pokemon on the scene was kneeling over me, staring at my unusual mannerisms due to the state my body was in.
"Hey, hey, stop moving." She placed a paw on my back, making me flinch. "I can fix y-"
"N-Not me!" I blurted out, before tensing up again. "H-He needs help, please." I turned my head to Shine, who was still completely still. I received nothing more than a nod, before she sprinted over in his direction, looking down at him. Her face morphed into slight panic, before she ran into the nearby body of trees. Hopefully she's grabbing something and not abandoning us…
I curled one of my legs to test how much it hurt, and the result wasn't pleasant. Through a grimace, I moved my ribbons in front of me, digging them into the ground. I began slowly dragging myself towards Shine. With each centimeter I moved, the ground hurt me more and more. I felt like I was crawling across broken glass. You better be breathing.
A long, painful minute passed, and I finally made it face to face with Shine. I slowly lifted a paw and placed it on his head, grunting quietly at how much effort that simple action took. I felt around his ear, going down to his neck. I wanted to find one thing, and one thing only. The longer it took me to get my paw into place, the more anxious I felt. I hadn't been this scared in a while, in a long, long while. I needed an answer soon, or else I would go insane.
…
…
...
I feel his pulse.
As soon as I got the sensation, I looked down his body slowly, my eyes falling on his impaled leg. My heart rate tripled once I saw the pool of blood coming from him. The rock he was stuck with didn't match the size of his wound, so it wasn't stopping the bleeding. I moved one of my ribbons to it and slowly lifted his leg up, off of the sharp stone and onto the ground next to it. I was expecting Shine to wraithe around, but he didn't move an inch. That fact terrified me. I tightly bound his wound with one of my ribbons, hoping to stop as much blood as I could. You better fight hard. Or else you'll get heavier weights every day.
Much to my relief, the lycanroc came back into my vision from the wooded area, a small blue bag wrapped around her foreleg. She dropped down next to Shine and opened the bag, taking out a white cloth and a small bottle. She poured a thick, green liquid onto the rag, before setting the bottle onto the grass next to us.
"Move your ribbon." She asked of me, her voice shaky. She seemed collected, but I could tell she didn't feel too hot. Hoping to Arceus that we weren't being tricked, I unbound my ribbon from Shine, now drenched in his blood. She immediately wrapped the cloth around his open wound very tightly. She reached into her bag again, taking out an opaque syringe. She's pretty good with her paws.
The red-furred pokemon took the plastic off of the needle, and tossed it to the side. Before she could bring it closer to Shine though, I rose a ribbon and wrapped it around her foreleg, holding it in place.
"What's in that?" I asked, not ready to let her shoot Shine up with some random chemical.
"It'll help his leg wound heal, it's nothing bad." She tried to affirm, though I could feel her arm shaking under my bloody ribbon.
"Pro-" I coughed, spraying some blood from my face onto Shine. "P-Promise?" I sounded much more desperate than I wanted to.
"I swear." She replied, looking right into my eyes.
I gave a slow nod, slowly untying my ribbon from her foreleg. I wanted to press her so much more, but I didn't know what kind of state Shine was in. The possibility that she can help Shine seduced me too much to question her actions. The needle slowly made its way to Shine's neck, injecting him. I anxiously took a few breaths, trying to quell my uncertainties.
"W-What's your name?" I asked, trying to distract myself.
"Jewel." She replied, short and sweet. "You?"
"Crescent." I leaned my head against the ground, twitching uncomfortably. "T-Thank you. You got us out of a slightly sticky situation."
"It looked like more than slightly." She replied, looking down at me.
"Alright, very sticky situation. My point is that you saved us, so thank you." I would have bowed my head, but moving wasn't the first thing on my mind.
"No problem." Jewel put the syringe back into her bag, before glancing back at me. "I have more of those if you want one too. It'll make your pain a lot more bearable, even if you don't look like you have fatal injuries."
"Kind offer, but I think I'm good." I closed my eyes and sighed. "Broken ribs, some scratches and head trauma. I'll be fine."
"You don't sound too convincing."
"I know."
I took a few moments to calm my heart down, surprisingly managing to stay sane. I let my body slump against the ground, not attempting to move. I couldn't kick the thought that Ark was about to come back and finish us all off, but I certainly tried.
"Hey, what did you hit him with? He looked like he was in a lot of pain." Jewel asked, tilting her head a little bit.
"A special attack, it hits physically and hurts the brain. Not the most pleasant thing to experience." I replied. "It also follows anyone who I can track the movements of, but that part is kinda hard."
"Well, that let me stab the guy, it was a beautiful shot." Jewel praised, unexpectedly.
"Why thank you madame." I let out an entertained giggle, trying to take the edge off of myself.
"Why was he attacking you two exactly?" Jewel looked down at Shine's wound again, observing it.
"We pissed him off. I think." I paused for a second, thinking about all of Ark's words. "Or we… broke some policy? Or something? I have no clue." I sighed, not in the mood to pick my own brain.
"You shouldn't piss off a pokemon who can rail you in a battle." Jewel said, her tone not decipherable to me.
"Why thank you, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I sighed once more, turning my attention to Shine. He hadn't moved an inch, but he was breathing. I saw him get smacked in the head, and it wasn't pretty. Hopefully he's not suffering anything worse than a month of awful headaches.
Hang in there bud, for my sake.
I tried pushing myself up off the ground, ever so slightly applying pressure below my paws. My whole body screamed at me as soon as I attempted, causing many discomforting noises to erupt.
"Hey, hey, just relax." Jewel commanded, to which I rolled my eyes.
"Kinda hard to do that." I replied, leaning my body against the ground with an annoyed expression. "Ow…"
"Are you sure you don't need a supplement to help with your pain?"
"Positive. Just… Give me time to get myself together." I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. This is so annoying.
Shine and I barely got through this day alive. Now we don't have anyone to watch our backs either. Nothing to do, no goals to accomplish. I promised Shine something to distract him from his own head, and now that's gone. I almost got him killed, and now I've lied to him too. Again.
I felt a cold breeze pass over me, making my ears twitch. I halted my mind from wandering as best I could, though it could only help so much. I folded my ears against my head, burying it into the ground.
Please forgive me.
Hello Readers!
Hope all is well with the pandemic and whatnot! If you couldn't tell, that's the biggest reason I haven't been able to type much. But it's getting better, slowly but surely. Wishing you all the best!
See you next chapter!