Heart's Like The Tides: Chapter 6 – First Meetings and Reunions
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
Authoresses Note: Here's Chapter 6, enjoy it. It's all about Derak so expect the next chapters to contain the other plot lines and the other characters that haven't been seen for awhile. Leave your thoughts if you'd like.
They stood in terror yet they refused to show external fear to the monsters that now faced them. By appearance they were about the size of an Absol only much worse. They were red and black stripped with four yellow and black stripped legs and on their backs were another two leg like appendages. They possessed a stinger on their forehead and rear end and had an insect like sideways mouth.
But what were worse were their eyes. Their eyes were large looked as if they were made up of many smaller eyes. They were giant spiders and they grossly outnumbered the small Absol pack. Derak feared that this would be the end of them. Now he would never see his beloved Abha again. Or his unborn child. A deep sorrow clasped his heart as he thought of the terms on which he and Abha left each other.
No one spoke as the two groups of pokemon faced each other in a shootout style. Silence seemed to overtake the entire forest until finally the largest of the spiders, presumably the leader, stepped forward to the front and opened his mouth to speak.
"I am very glad that you are here, powerful Absol Derak." He said in a deep voice with the occasional click of his mouth before sinking into a low bow by spreading his front legs widely. The other spider-like pokemon did the same.
The Absols were all confused. A moment ago they had been standing in terror of the large arachnids and now they were being bowed before.
As the group of pokemon rose once more Derak spoke directly to the leader.
"Thanks but may I ask how you know me?" He asked kindly but with underlying suspicion.
The pokemon nodded. "I apologize. But before I explain the entire story of how you are known in my pack I believe you would be more comfortable if you and your friends were given proper nourishment." He clicked his mouth suddenly and two spiders walked forward dragging a large form in a web. They withdrew the web and left the freshly killed Stantler in front of the group of ravenously hungry Absols.
"We'll leave you to your meal. After you've finished you can decide whether you wish to leave with full stomachs or hear what we have to say. Our colony lives just into the dense part of these woods. You can enter them by coming in straight ahead. I promise that no one from the colony will cause you or your friends any harm.
"Thank you." Derak said as his teammates started to tear at the unfortunate kill's flesh. "But may I know your name first?"
"I am Zeus, leader of the Ariados. I hope that we shall get a chance to speak with one another." He said before clicking his mouth once more and retreating back into the foliage, his colony following behind him.
"This kill is fresh Derak. Come and eat your fill." One of the males said as he ripped off a large chunk.
Derak was very curious about these pokemon. They had just given him and his team an entire kill that must've taken several colony members to take down. Surely if they wanted to harm them then they would've attacked while they were weak and underfed. He pushed these thoughts aside as his hunger took over his brain and the smell of the delicious kill was overwhelming. He dug in with the others and soon enough they were completely full and only the deer pokemon's skeleton remained.
Derak stood facing the entrance to the portion of the forest that Zeus had directed him.
"Should we go Derak?" A female asked him.
He paused for a moment before nodding. "They gave us food, plenty of it even, when we were vulnerable. We should have the manners to hear them out. I'll go ahead though. The rest of you stay here just in case." He said.
He started to walk in but the others followed anyways. He stopped and turned around.
"If you think we're leaving you then you're crazy. We're all in this together." One of the younger members spoke up. Derak smiled.
"Okay. You can come. But if anything happens then don't try and be a hero and save me, got it?" He asked.
They contemplated it but finally after his stare they nodded.
"Good. Now follow closely behind me." The small group of Absols followed in a tight knit group but as the forest became more and more dense they were forced to slightly move out. Finally they were met with the eyes of the Ariados which they followed until they reached a clearing.
The group couldn't help but gasp. They had assumed a large group of Ariados that they had met along the side of the forest had been the entire colony. But now they appeared to only be a small fraction. The clearing was huge. Ariados were everywhere. Some were hanging in trees by a silky thread coming from their rears and some were with smaller and green versions of themselves, presumably their unevolved forms.
They stood in shock before Zeus approached them once more. Derak hadn't actually noticed him approaching because he blended in with the rest of the Ariados. Once he was closer Derak could easily recognize him though. He was much larger than the average Ariados.
"I'm glad that you came Derak." He said in his deep voice.
"I brought my team if that's okay. And thanks for the food. We appreciate it greatly." Derak replied.
"That was no problem. As you can see there are many of us and we have plenty of able hunters." He said as he swept one of the appendages on his back around the clearing.
"You said that you were going to explain how you know of me. Could you tell me?" Derak asked.
Zeus nodded his head. "If you'll all just follow me then I'll tell you everything." He said before scuttling off. Derak trotted behind him and the others followed behind Derak. They reached another clearing off to the side except this one was much quieter due to the lack of clicking made by the hundreds of Ariados in the large clearing.
Ariados moved himself into a lying position and the others did the same. He sighed heavily.
"It's hard having so many of us in one place so small." He said sadly.
Derak was curious. "How come you don't go and find more room? I'm sure there are other places that you can all fit." He suggested.
Zeus chuckled slightly. "If only it were that simple. We used to have vast lands. Lands that were full of water and space. We lived comfortably once upon a time." He said sadly.
"What happened to them?" A male Absol spoke up. Zeus looked up at him with the crystal-like eyes.
"They were seized from us. The lands of my ancestors were stolen out from under us by a greedy pokemon named Akoni." He explained. The Absols all gasped.
"Akoni the Persian? He was killed last month! Surely you can return to your lands now?" Derak asked.
"We would love to go back. And we know he was killed. Word of your story has traveled far and wide. You have become an inspiration to us here. We couldn't fight, we were dreadfully outnumbered by his followers and we were forced into this tiny place." He said bitterly.
"Outnumbered? But there must be hundreds of you here! You could take out the Persians no problem." Derak exclaimed.
Zeus gave a sad laugh. "You haven't seen anything when it comes to the Persians yet. In your battle you faced only a portion of the Persians who worked for Akoni. However those Persians are just a small part of the large empire Akoni had built for himself. He has many powerful allies from all sorts of pokemon types. We would never stand a chance against them alone. We had to come here and live in less than ideal conditions. We thought we'd have to live out the rest of our colony's life here until we had heard of you and your feat." He said warmly to Derak and the eight Absols.
"How do you know about that?" Derak asked curiously.
"It has traveled very far Derak. Through the bird pokemon and the forest dwellers the news has been carried far and wide. You have brought us renewed hope Derak. We're not the only pack of pokemon that Akoni had defeated. There are plenty of packs and colonies that are in need of a true leader who can lead us all to freedom from the Persians clutches."
"Wait? Did you say a leader?" Derak asked suddenly. At Zeus's nod he continued. "But I can't lead an entire army. And are you saying you want to take on the entire Persian empire?" He asked with wide eyes.
"Every empire must fall." He said simply.
Derak looked taken aback. A male Absol spoke up. "That's impossible! If you and your colony could not even fare against these monster army then how can we? Who would join us?!" He questioned.
"Do you know how many packs have been oppressed by the Persians and their followers? Countless. They've been forced out of their rightful lands so that Akoni and his faithful pack leaders could take them over for themselves. Leaders from various types and pokemon species have been targeted by Akoni for being particularly evil or power hungry or greedy. He did the same to one of your members, did he not?"
The eight Absols behind Derak nodded and one female mouthed 'Wasaki' to the one beside her.
"There's been a war in the making for many years now. Akoni has left us all in such an unstable state that few packs have been untouched by his power. Let me ask you something Derak, do you want to join me and lead us? Do you want to do something about the current state of our world?" Zeus asked seriously.
The eight behind him held their breaths as Derak went silent. They couldn't see his face but they could tell he was thinking deeply by the look in Zeus's eyes who were watching his face closely.
Did he want to do something? Or better yet was he prepared to risk everything for the greater good of the world?
After a long pause he looked up, face full of fierce determination.
"I want to do something." He said boldly.
The eight behind him smiled. They would stay with him all the way.
Zeus clicked his mouth happily. "Great!" He exclaimed. "I have much to tell you about the various packs to watch out for and about whom we should be trying to win over."
Derak was about to speak up when a sudden familiar pokemon cry came from the skies. It was a screech that they had heard many times and they had hoped they would hear again. Derak smiled as his old friend landed beside him, safe and sound, but his smile fell as he saw the large orange dragon that stood at nearly six feet. He landed beside Avis and gave Derak a small yet toothy grin.