Alright! Finally got my new chapter up. This is the longest chapter yet and I hope the best. Please leave a review with some feedback so I can continue to improve my writing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I ever do I will let you know.
Chapter 4
The Deserter
Raven awoke the next morning, his mind still racing with questions. He looked about him hoping that the events of yesterday were all a dream he could dismiss without trouble. But alas, it was not to be. He had only to open eyes to see that everything was quite real, his fur, his tail, everything. "Arg" Raven growled in frustration "I want my body back!" He roared.
Saul leapt up from sleep at the roar. "Jeez, you could have waited until we were up," he said irritably. Slowly Saul got up and stared, annoyed, at Raven.
"Sorry," Raven replied.
"Humph," was all that Saul said.
Yawning, Dagan stood up and said, "can't we just get along?"
"Well, if you can get him to stop yelling, we might," Saul said
"Why do I even bother?" Dagan said to nobody in particular. "Anyway we best get something to eat before we head out today."
"I guess," Raven replied sullenly as he thought of his stupid wish.
"Hey, you're a Pokemon now. Stop being so glum," Saul said unconcernedly.
"You just make my blood boil," Raven replied.
"Oh boy, this will be a long trip," Dagan said to nobody.
As breakfast started, tempers flared up more and more. Saul kept on annoying Raven with his unconcerned remarks, and Saul could not stand how long it was taking Raven to adjust. Dagan, was just annoyed at the others for not getting along. The day continued as it had started, bad. After breakfast they had conferred among themselves when they should set out, Saul said to wait and enjoy having the house to themselves while Raven wanted to head out immediately and find his father's remains. This argument was finally settled by Dagan reminding them that they couldn't stay with the soldiers about.
And so they set out, a sneasel and his eevee companions off to find a dead man. "He better still be at the crash site," Saul said.
"They likely haven't moved it too far if it's not there," Raven said.
"Oh, that's comforting!" Saul replied.
"Guys let's just move out," Dagan said, trying to keep the peace.
"Fine, but this trip had better not be a waste of time," Saul said. Raven rolled his eyes, but he knew in his heart that his chances of finding his dad's body were slim in any case. Soon the trio left the house Raven had known behind. Trekking through the snow none of them noticed a small star shaped Pokemon looking at them from behind the house.
"Go, young lad. Arceus has a plan for all of this, just wait and you will understand." Smirking the small Jirachi floated off to tell its lord of its good work.
Dodging into an alley, Dagan waited to signal when the soldiers had passed by. "Time to go, we won't get another chance," He hissed to Raven and Saul behind him. Quickly the trio slipped to the edge of the fence surrounding the city and began to get over it. Soon all three stood in the snow outside the city. "Now which way?"
"East," Raven said immediately. "We need to go over Mount Silver and into the forests. But first we must navigate the rocks around here."
"That should be easy enough," Saul commented, setting off toward the mountain without a backward glance at his companions.
"Hey wait up!" Dagan called after him as he tried to work his way through the snow. "We need to stick together!" He said as he tripped into a snow drift.
"We lived on the streets for how long and you can't even remember how to get through snow?" Saul said showing how amused he was that his brother had fallen into the snow.
"It's been a few years since I had to, okay?" Dagan said.
"Yeah well maybe if you went outside with me you wou- " Saul began before a shout from Raven distracted him.
"Get down!" Raven shouted as he fell flat in the snow and loud whistle hissed through the air as something thudded into the tree behind him. Dagan and Saul immediately leapt into the snow drift as a human's silhouette was visible behind a tree 300 feet away. The Silhouette raised its rifle again before stopping.
"Phew, it was just a sneasel," The human said with a young feminine voice as it lowered the gun. "Rare to see one out of its cave this time of day." It steped out of the shadows. The woman, for indeed it was a woman, was young, probably about 19 at the oldest. Her black hair was contained partially under the soldier's cap she wore and her green eyes shown with fear and curiosity. She wore a Johto soldiers' uniform without any sign of which regiment she belonged to. "What's it doing out here?" she asked with her eyes focused so intently on Raven that she missed Dagan and Saul in the snow.
Raven's eyes were trained on the rifle the woman held and for a moment he couldn't say a thing then the woman looked apologetic. "Sorry, your shadow looked like a soldier coming to get me back," She said with a nervous glance around.
Raven wondered if she might be able to understand him and tried to say hello but all that came out was "Sneas."
She raised her eyebrow with confusion written on her face "Are you trying to talk to me?" She asked in bewilderment. Suddenly a Saul sneezed behind her and with a jolt of surprise she spun around, whipped her gun out, and fired at the spot Saul was standing a mere second before. "Eevees? What are all these Pokemon doing out?" Her surprised shout soon turned to nothingness as she remembered the danger she was in. "Dangit!" A shout sounded in the distance followed by a gunshot as the woman clutched her shoulder. "I really hate those guys," she said as blood dripped onto the ground.
Saul stood in horror at the sight of the blood, his eyes fixed on it as his breath came shorter and faster. "Saul calm down!" Dagan shouted at him. "We need to get out of here before we are shot too." More gunshots sounded and the yells of soldiers became apparent.
Dagan began guiding Saul from the scene and Raven started to run after them before turning back. "Dagan, we can't leave her."
"Are you sure it's wise? She's obviously a deserter from the army," He replied quickly.
"But she could die, I don't want a death on my head," Raven said as he ran back, a bullet clipped his feather ear as he ran. "Come on!" He said as he grabbed the woman's arm and ran.
"I see a cave up ahead," Dagan called back to the pair. They all broke into a run as a rubble sounded from above "Avalanche!" Sure enough the side of Mount Silver had given away due to the gunshots and was sliding down at an alarming speed. "Hurry!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Raven ran like the wind, his ice type prowess allowing him to virtually fly along the snow. The only thing weighing the young Sneasel down was the woman he led behind him. The avalanche had nearly reached the ground when they dived into the cave. "Let's never do that again," Raven panted from the wall he leaned on.
Raven was the first to grow accustomed to the light, he looked around and saw it was a medium sized chamber with some columns of stone holding up the back of the ceiling. "Well could be worse," he commented to himself. That's when he noticed the woman, she lay there half buried in the snow at the entrance, she was barely breathing with all the snow on her. "Oh, no." He started to pull her further into the cave but the snow held her firm to the spot. "Dagan, Saul give me a hand!"
"Okay!" Dagan ran over tripping over himself in the dark before grabbing the girl's sleeve. Together they managed to dig her out and drag her into the cave. "I guess we will be here awhile," Dagan said when he had caught his breath after the workout.
"Let's just hope we can get out of here," Saul said from the back of the cave. "I don't want to starve to death."
"Always a pessimist," Dagan said as he tried to revive the woman with licks.
Slowly the woman awoke. "Ugh." She sat up slowly rubbing her head. She tried to stand up but she instantly let out a cry of pain as she slumped back down. "My legs!" Raven glanced down at her legs and noticed blood on the back of one, as he moved closer to look at it. She pushed him aside and looked at it. "Just a small fracture," She said hopefully. She turned her head slowly around the cave. "Where is my rifle and pack?"
Dagan stepped forward with the pack dragging in the dust behind him. "Ah, thank you eevee," she opened up the pack and pulled out a small kerosene lamp and a box of matches. She struck a match and lit the lamp filling the cave with light causing Raven to cringe, shielding his eyes. "Much better," she said approvingly. "And I suppose I owe these three pokemon my life," she said with an amused look. Dagan gave a curt nod and sat down. "Well I might as well give you my name. My name is Ann, Ann Marie."
