Chapter 14 - The Dream
Disclaimer: I think I've said it more than enough times, but... I do not own Pokemon. I do own my characters. Deal with it.
Thanks to Rellymaster, Foxyjosh, Cedric Bale, pikachuhunter1, Teraunce, SorcererTech, ElementKiyoko, Wingless fate and ziggy9677 for reviewing! And thanks also to all those who added this story to their favorites/alerts, even if they didn't review! :D Last chapter was kinda... interesting, what with the alerts system being down and whatnot...
I apologize for the time I've made you guys wait, but I haven't had time. It's sad...
Just like I have said in previous chapters, my writing time is limited. Finals are gonna be soon, prom is coming up, yadda yadda... You know the rest.
Hmmm, when I was writing this chapter, I commented about summer being over. Sad, huh? It's quite a while ago since I last updated...
The Arcanine morph fell asleep, more out of exhaustion than out of habit. Everyone in the building breathed a sigh of relief. They could relax for a while.
The morph tossed and turned, her legs kicking out excitedly. She was swallowed up completely by her vivid dreams.
She was running, faster and harder than any other living creature nearby. Her mane trailed back, the wind whipping it wildly and caressing it. She ran as free as the clouds and as careless as the streams.
Slowing down to a walk, she crouched low, belly to the ground. Ears swiveling back and forth, straining to hear the sound of a heartbeat, of little paws scurrying and pattering about. Her jaws agape, she drew in deep breaths and examined the scents in the air. Very few prey were around.
She pressed onward, insistent. The tall grass rustled ever so softly as she moved among it, silent as a soft summer breeze. Her tail noiselessly switched from side to side, helping her balance the bulk on her body to avoid giving out her presence.
There.
A few bounds ahead, a small rodent nibbled away at a fruit. Her prey's furry brown body balanced perfectly on a stout, ringed tail. Its long ears twitched lazily, its happy, blissfully ignorant chirps serving to hide her movements as she crawled closer, closer. Its half-closed eyes stared down at its fruit. It would be quick and easy.
She leaned back on her haunches, shifting her weight back for a bounce that would bring her upon the creature. Her eyes ravenously sought out the spot that would easily dispatch the rodent, her primeval instincts urging her onward. An impulsive low growl escaped her maws, barely audible yet almost giving her away. She clamped her mouth shut, both to avoid any more stumbles and to suppress the delicious smell of the prey. She must bide her time.
The small rodent finished its fruit, licking the juice off its minuscule paws. Its eyes roamed the clearing aimlessly, examining the leaves on the trees, the clouds in the sky, and the shadows playing among the grass. Its gaze settled on a strange pattern in the grass, an irregularity of the space just ahead and to the side. Ears perked up, it stayed still, nose twitching slightly. She waited, as immobile as her prey. They were as statues, frozen in place and looking at each other.
The rodent broke the spell. Some instinct warned it of the danger it was in, and it bolted away, small paws and tail struggling to put as much distance as possible between itself and the strange spot.
Her paws thundered on the ground, her heart racing and the adrenaline pumping. The hunt was on. The grass brushed roughly against her sides, but her thick, lush coat protected her. Muscle and sinew straining to the limit, she pressed on, slowly gaining on the smaller creature. Its terrified squeals fell on deaf ears as the instinct to kill and survive arose in her. Her mouth watered, lubricating her sharp teeth in preparation for the kill.
The rodent ran in zigzags, its sharp turns throwing its heavier predator off. She snarled viciously in protest of being denied a quick and easy kill. Her jaws clamped shut mere fractions of an inch behind the rodent's back, spurring the little animal to greater efforts to outrun her.
It finally had the sense to scurry up a tree, disappearing high up into the more fragile branches of the tree. She skidded to a halt, growling and snarling up at her escaped prey. The rodent merely turned its back on her, tail waving mockingly.
She whirled around, shooting one last glare at the rodent. She knew it could spend all day on the tree, but she couldn't wait that long to eat. Springing forward, she sped away, in search of new prey.
Her pace slowed, her stomach twisting in hunger and protest. She felt weak, so weak. She had found nothing yet. The lush forest around her was full of prey, yet she could not hunt. There was something else drawing her away from the fat rodents. Some instinct was urging her forward, past the dens and burrows of unsuspecting creatures.
The shadows around her shifted, wavering slightly. She paused, glancing around uneasily. The forest felt... weird. She could no longer recognize the scents around her, the ones that were usually present every moment of the day. She pawed the ground anxiously, peering into the shadows.
A faint light off to the side caught her attention. Enthralled, she approached it carefully, all other thoughts of food driven from her mind. There was a small speck of light in a clearing, set under a cold, starless sky.
She approached cautiously, the light reflecting on her unsheathed claws, lighting up the tree trunks in strange ways.
The shadows shimmered, then exploded, surrounding her and blotting out the forest. She was falling, falling through the air, spinning in an attempt to land on her paws. Her breath was wrenched from her lungs, and she gasped frantically for air, her thoughts clouding over as her brain noticed the lack of oxygen.
She landed on a cold surface, mysteriously unharmed. Shaken, she drew in great lungfuls of air, her body shuddering. Once she could breathe regularly, she stood up and glanced around her, peering into the twilight. She could not make out anything in the dim gloom that surrounded her.
A blinding light came on, hurting her eyes. She whimpered and shut them, then tentatively cracked them open, waiting for them to adjust to the light. She was able to see faint lines and smudges of color through her tearing eyes, but nothing more. Shutting them again, she slowly waited as the painful colors burned onto her vision from the sudden flash of light faded.
Cracking them open once again, she could see a cold marble floor beneath her paws, polished and squeaky-clean. Mustering her courage, she straightened up and glanced around.
A ring of shadowed faces seated on a raised dais surrounded her. She could pick out familiar features and poses among them, some shorter, some taller. The rows of people stretched out infinitely, past the point where she could see them clearly. They all sat passively and indifferently, their heads tilted down to better look at her.
She glanced down at herself, a disgraceful mix of human and Pokemon DNA. She was neither fully one nor the other. She felt dirty, broken, filthy and ashamed. No longer could she face the world in this form. She did not belong in it. She could not claim any part in it.
She was filled with a sense of shame so powerful she cried out to the earth to swallow her up. She curled into herself, whimpering, wishing for it all to end, for the faces to look away from her. She couldn't stand the weight of their fixed eyes, searching, penetrating, silent.
The shadow faces looked on impassively, a blank expression on their faces. One by one, they faded back into a mass of shadows, none looking away before melting into the rest.
She covered her face with her paws, sobbing quietly, a silent tear dropping on the cold marble floor, unheeded and unheard by anyone but her. She was alone once again.
Ray stood outside the cell once again, determined to do something. He had scolded himself for running away before, and decided to venture into the cell. He input the access code, begging that he would be spared the morph's anger. The computer processed the code, then the door slid open with a low hiss as the heavy bolt withdrew. He cautiously stepped inside and looked around for the morph, only to find her on the floor staring at him, watching his every move.
He was surprised she hadn't attacked yet, or at least growled in warning. He was even more surprised when she opened her mouth and spoke. "What's on today's schedule?"