Chapter 8: Fight or Flight
Kephra was awoken that morning by a frantic shake on the shoulder. He had apparently fallen asleep while on guard duty and had forgotten to wake Absalom for his shift. His eyes shot open and he reached for his spear, heart hammering in his chest. It was just before dawn, the outdoors the murky gray with the twilight before the sunrise, where everything is cloaked in the fading fragments of night. He looked up to find the inn keeper looking down at him, her expression panicked.
"You have to leave! Now!" she hissed.
"What do you mean?" He asked, fearful but groggy all at once.
"I think some of my guests found out about you, but I don't know how or why yet." she explained, her words in a rush, like a dam breaking under toe force of a river.
"The Tao soldiers?" Kephra clarified, sitting upright with a start and she nodded.
"What do you mean, Tao soldiers?" Absalom replied, the medicinal satchel over one shoulder already.
"I had spotted some Tao soldiers in the inn," Kaphra said, almost chagrined. "I thought though, that we would be able to just grab some food, and a place to stay without their notice."
"Well, that's a shame," Micah snorted, hobbling on his leg. The stitches seemed to hold up and his leg looked much better than before, not nearly as swollen and red. "We need to leave now then."
"Agreed." Kephra shouldered the pack from the previous night. He turned to the inn keeper. "We thank you for you help. Without you, we would be much worse off than ever before. May the All-Father and his children bless you and your endeavors."
The inn-keeper nodded and handed what looked to be a walking stick, shaved down to Micah's height. "This will help you walk." she told the raichu. The raichu nodded, throat too tight for words. As the trio hurried out, the inn keeper grabbed Kephra by the wrist.
"I am so sorry for bringing this down all on you, but before you leave, I want you to remember this: "The Murkrow flies in the forest"."
Kephra was baffled by the statement. He stopped. "What?" he asked, wanting for some clarification.
She shook her head, not giving an answer, and shoved him roughly forward towards the exit. "Go!"
Kephra stumbled but began to ran behind his compatriots, into the dusty gray world of the dawn.
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She returned to the main camp, loot in hand. Her rebels had constructed sleds out of willow branches, tying them together with whatever they could find. Some had lashed their bows to the sleds, using the bow as a yoke as they pulled them through the forest. The day was beginning to break into evening, the sun beginning to set over the horizon. The main camp was built in a clearing just on the other side of a low mountain range, which were more like a series of rather large and sheer hills. Some of the camp was in the clearing, but the large majority of the site was built into the woods, camouflaged by the local landscape. The camp was a five day trip away from where General Tiber's army was currently camped, about sixty to seventy miles away, depending on the route they took. The emboar would have his tusks in a twist if he were to find out how close they were, Rain smirked.
"Which he won't," she told herself. Supposedly, according to her father, General Tamar Imasu, the army was to move out and help reinforce an old fortress complex known as Fort Karydos, named after the lord who ordered the construction, who, had been a famous warrior in his youth. Rain studied the patchy tents pitched in the clearing, tens upon tens of them in tidy rows, making some vague semblance of an army. They reminded her of a mismatched field of mushrooms, sprouting up in the aftermath of a rainstorm. Their efforts to make a true army were in vain, Rain thought to herself. War wasn't won on a battlefield where the armies lined up and then charged. War was won in shadows, with the deprivation of food and soldiers a little at a time, of wraiths striking and then vanishing, leaving corpses in their wake, so that by the end of the war, the enemy is terrified of their own shadows, fearing that someone or something will lash out.
That was how wars are won, Rain thought. Her adoptive father didn't quite agree with it, a source of contention between the two, but he was considerate to allow her to wage her little "shadow war", he had called it. It was, at the moment, the only way he held an advantage over the piggish general, until Imasu was able to face the general face to face on . Someday he would see things her way, Rain hoped.
She stopped a fellow soldier, a blastoise carrying a basket of iron and tin ingots for the smiths at the forge. Thankfully they were so far away that not even the sharpest eyed pidgeot could not see their smoke. "Is General Imasu here?"
The blastoise nodded. "He's in his tent. He's making some final preparations with some of the commanding officers for that move to Ft. Karydos."
"Right, thank you." Rain left the pokemon alone and made her way through the maze of tents to find her adoptive father's, a large squarish tent the color of bright red with gold thread. Two poles with the standards of his former unit, the 41st Legion, a pale blue banner hanging down, with the gold and black silhouette of a ship on dark blue waves. The other pole was of bronze makings, the gold statue of the Skyking, Rayquaza, wrapped around like a caduceus, with rubies for eyes. Her adoptive father had disliked the gaudy tent the second he laid eyes on it. It had been a gift from the Steward of the Sky Kingdom, Merrow, so General Imasu had to keep it, despite his protests and rumblings about "burning the gaudy, ostentatious thing", in his words, more or less.
Just then, the flap of the tent flew open and her father stepped out of the tent. Unlike other members of his species, he nearly spent his time on his hind legs, finding it easier to manipulate his weapons, a pair of swords made of shell, carried on his forearms and a second pair of shorter scimitars made of metal, stashed away in a bright violet sash around his waist. He was able to fight with both sets of weapons handily, following the belief that "one is none, two is one". His fur was the deep blue hue, not unlike the depths of the ocean, darker than some of his kindred. Shell armor the shade of fresh cream covered his forearms and legs. He wore an elaborate but simple set of lacquered armor on his chest, shoulders and hips, very much in the Oriental style seen in the eastern spans of Kanjo. The armor was made of metal scales, layered on top each other to allow for flexibility but provide maximum protection, with a large metal cuirass covering his chest, the scales of metal hanging off of the cuirass, around his shoulders and hips. The armor was then lacquered with various shades of blue on top another, giving the appearance of the scintillating depths of the oceans. He decided to not wear his shell helm, lest he accidentally impale someone on it, he had told Rain. His large whiskers on his muzzle and snout were perpetually waxed, the wax imbued with a light, spicy note of the bay scent in the wax. The smell of bay was one Rain always associated with him. He was a samurott and at the moment, High General to the remnants of the Sky Kingdom's army.
"Ah, Rain," General Tamar Imasu held his arms out wide to envelop his daughter in a hug. He was not her real father. During a campaign along the sky Kingdom's western coast against the corsairs, he boarded a merchant ship that had recently been pillaged by the pirates. All the members of the ship had been brutally slain, save for a tiny riolu pup he found stashed away from the chaos. He had decided to raise the pup as his own daughter, since he had just lost his wife and son to illness. "I take it that your expedition go well?"
Rain nodded, allowing the older samurott to embrace her. "Very well. We managed to take another supply train right from under ole' Rufus' whiskers."
General Imasu chuckled at the thought. Since the start of the war, General Tiber had been keen on capturing General Imasu, then placing the samurott's head on a pike, the two having a convoluted and twisted history in their many interactions with each other over the years. Thankfully, the samurott had been clever enough to evade the emboar at every turn, managing to pull victory out from the jaws of defeat many times. He gestured her inside his tent. "Take a rest. The journey must have been arduous."
Rain shook her head. "Not as arduous as one would think, father. I've received word from Rei and his cronies that General Tiber is planning to move the siege engines towards the valley, using his troops to protect them."
Imasu shook his head. "If Tiber even gets a third of his siege engine near Ft. Karydos, then we're doomed. Very well, get as much information as you can plan the next operation. I have an army to move."
Imasu began to enter his tent once more, gesturing for Rain to join him, when she stopped him. "I have a request to make of you, father."
"What is it?"
"Zalya, my zorua spy, wishes to know if there is any word on her brother, Len."
Imasu's head drooped and Rain's heart sank. Len had been one of their better spies and saboteurs; however, at the battle at the ford near the city of Titus, Len, had been captured by the Tao soldiers. Since then, there had been little or no information on the zoroark.
"Can you come inside?" Imasu asked his daughter and she nodded. He gestured her inside and followed her in, shutting the flap behind him.
Rain sat in one of the cushions inside of the tent, reaching for a piece of bread and an apple. Imasu sat across from her, forearms across his knees. "I received word from Nimblefingers that yes, Len was indeed captured at the ford of Titus. He managed to masquerade himself as a noblemen from the Twin Monarchies of Kanjo and convinced the soldiers to ransom him at the Lapidus. He is now residing in the quarters of Viiker, the High Magistrate of the Empire"
Rain whistled at the sheer amazement of Len's ingenuity. He had been an actor before he became a spy, working with a local company before coming into General Imasu's services, along with his younger sister. "So he managed to survive the sacking at Titus, and is now working as a spy in the Magistrate's house?"
"Yes. Ingenious, isn't he?"
"And why haven't you told Zalya yet? She has spent almost a year believing that her brother is dead."
"Because," Imasu explained. "If she were to get word that her brother is alive, but behind enemy lines, she would fight tooth and nail to rescue him. I already lost one good spy, I don't want to lose another." He shook his head. "Perhaps someday, once we can get our footing again, we can get a rescue operation for Len, but until then, I can only pray to the All-Father and his Children that Len is smart enough to keep himself alive."
Rain nibbled at her apple, her appetite returned somewhat. Len was alive, but trapped in a gilded cage in the Magistrate's home. Now what?, she wondered. "What about Kurai?" she asked Imasu.
General Tamar Imasu shrugged, his pair of scimitars clinking in his sash. "Kurai has dropped off the map since I sent him off his mission northeast. I haven't heard anything from him in nearly two fortnights."
"Could he have deserted?"
"I doubt it. Vengeance for his sister is too strong for him to flippantly join our cause. He wants every Tao soldier to bathe in their own blood. I doubt he would simply disappear because he found something new to do."
Rain leaned back, arms crossed. "So now what?"
"Meet with Rei and his band of trouble-makers and see what they'll cough up for information," Imasu told her, getting up from his seat. He made his way over to a table placed in the back of the room. A large vellum map, the edges yellowed with age, placed across the top. He leaned over it, his eyes studying it. Rain took this as her sign to leave and she did so, taking with her another piece of fruit and a small piece of cheese, the apple a bribe to be used later.
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They made their way through the woods, panting and looking over their shoulders, waiting for the white and black tabards to materialize from between the trees like ghosts. Micah's leg had since given out, too much wear for the day, forcing Absalom to carry him piggy-back style, with Kephra in the lead, slashing and hacking through the undergrowth using the charmeleon's sword. It had been nearly five days since the miltank had warned them. Five days and four nights of running, with only small breaks for rest and food. They had since polished off the rations the miltank had given them and they had been forced to forage for berries and use Kephra's spear for spear fishing in the streams. The woods around them were ancient, the trunks gnarled and thick, telling the trio stories of their lives, storied that Absalom, Kephra and Micah had no desire to hear.
They stumbled upon a swiftly flowing stream, wild with the mountain runoff, soon to freeze with the breath of winter. Absalom hesitated, looking to either side of him for an easier, shallower way to pass through. There was none. The water was too high for him to pass through without extinguishing his tail, inevitably killing the chameleon. "We need to find another way!" Absalom shouted to Kephra. "I can't go through without killing myself!"
"I know!" Kephra shouted back over the roaring stream. "We'll have to travel south and find a shallower place to cross!"
"Lead the way!"
Kephra nodded and trekked south, Absalom and Micah behind him.
They had wandered south along the banks of the stream until they finally came across a ford shallow enough for Absalom to cross. In order to pass safely, they decided to hold hands as they crossed the bank, to make sure that none of them would be lost in the stream. Absalom precariously held Micah up with one hand while he clutched tightly to Kephra's, praying silently that he would not lose his grip.
Finally, the trio made it across, the rags that passed of as clothing sopping wet and cold. Kephra shivered with the cold bite of the water, but carried on, nevertheless. Evening was beginning to set on them, bringing with it even colder temperatures. Any sane person would settle for the night, but they couldn't, not without fear that the Tao soldiers wouldn't be upon them.
"We need to rest," Absalom panted, clearly exhausted.
"But where?" Kephra asked.
"I don't know, that's the problem."
"How about the trees?" Micah suggested. The two fire types shot him looks. "What, you've never climbed a tree before?"
"I've climbed a tree yes," Kephra told him. "Never slept in one though."
"Besides, how will we keep from falling out when we fall asleep?" Absalom argued.
"You sleep in a nook. It is possible to sleep in a tree and if I learned one thing, people never look up."
Kephra turned to Absalom. "It's unconventional, but it's brilliant," Kaphra admitted. Absalom nodded in agreement.
"Who gets to climb first?" Absalom joked weakly.
"You can. We can see your tail once you find a spot." Micah suggested.
Absalom sighed. "Then give me a boost." Kephra knelt, cupping his hands like a step. Absalom gripped the trunk with his claws, his left foot on Kephra's hands. His tail was stiff as a rod, to keep his balance, while his other foot was out to one side precariously. Kephra slowly lifted him up as Absalom gripped the trunk as he did so. The closest branch was about six feet above the ground and to Absalom's right. The charmeleon reached out with his hand, claws digging into the branch. Using Kephra's hands as a springboard, the former soldier launched himself onto the branch. He clung to it, his tail dangling over the edge, but he was solidly in the tree. He quickly disappeared into the depths of the ancient wood, his tail like a fiery brand, a falling star in the forest. A few minutes passed and Micah and Kephra waited anxiously for Absalom.
Soon, Absalom slid back down onto the same branch. "I found a large nook," he panted. "We can get Micah up first, then you." he told Kephra.
"Good idea." Kephra scooped up Micah, much to the raichu's protests, handing him off to Absalom. The pair went up into the tree, with only Absalom's tail to light the way. Then, Absalom cane back down.
"If you would follow me," Kephra nodded and slowly started to follow after the charmeleon. Kephra dutifully handed the spear to the charmeleon and he followed suit behind him. He gulped loudly as he slowly conquered each branch. Why did he even listen to these two? He hated heights. Right, it was his paranoia about the Tao soldiers that drove him to this. At least he was alive, half frightened out of his wits trying to sleep the All-Father knows how many feet off the safe solid ground. It was better this way than to be captured and either enslaved once more or worse, dead.
Absalom guided Kephra to a rather large hollow in between three very large branches. It was enough to comfortably fit the three of them without fear of falling out and it safely hid Absalom's tail away from any unwanted visitors. It would do for the night. Kaphra silently praised the All-Father for the small blessing and vowed to burn a candle in thanks.
"Welcome to our humble abode!" Micah joked, his walking stick resting across his belly. Kephra snorted and clambered into the hollow next to him.
"Well, this is remarkably cozy," Kephra admitted, the temptation to scream and climb back down almost too powerful to fight at this point. His fists were clenched as he fought to control his breathing and heart rate, which was slowly quickening the longer he sat in the tree. He did not wish to know how high up he was. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the dizzying feeling that was threatening to overwhelm his senses. It was like the world was careening out of control.
Kephra felt a slight paw resting on his thigh and he peeked over to find Micah looking at him, concerned. "What's wrong?"
"I hate heights," Kephra said, recalling the tower at Black Pit Mines. When he had been a child, he had climbed a tree, chasing after his brothers, but fell on one of the higher branches, gashing his chest and arm horribly from the branches clawing at him. Then, when he hit the ground, he then struck his scalp on a rock. The scar was still there, since hidden by his crest feathers.
"Maybe we should not have done this then." Absalom said, crawling in next to them, his tail loped lazily over his feet.
Kephra shook his head. "It is better to be alive and frightened, than to be safe and dead."
"You're crazy, you know that?" Absalom told him. Kephra merely shrugged, his concern for survival overriding any possible common sense the blaziken might have. He yawned, tonight to be the first long rest in nearly five days. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night." the charmeleon closed his eyes and fell asleep, snoring softly, the fire on his tail dimming to a soft glowing ember in the dark. Micah did likewise, leaving Kephra wide awake and in between his two companions. He tried closing his eyes, but he realized that he was far too awake to follow his comrades into sleep, despite his body's protests.
He leaned back in the hollow, looking up. The leaves on the trees were beginning to fall off, leaving the bare skeletons of the branches piercing the heavens with their shadows. The wind was cool across the downy feathers that covered most of his body, yet he was warm, thanks to the body heat of his companions and the heat emanating off Absalom's tail. That tail, Kephra realized, had done more for them since their escape from the Mines. He should memorialize it somehow, Kephra joked to himself. His glanced down at his person. His pants were ragged at the edges and covered with more stains and rips than he cared to count. Kephra surmised he must have reeked horrifically as well, considering he hadn't had a decent bath in a very long time, more than two years. He had time to occasionally wipe himself clean, using whatever water he could scrounge, but nothing with soap. It was a needless and useless necessity, working day after day in the dusty, dirty mine shafts.
He scratched the hollow of his neck and his claws clinked against the necklace the slave had given him the day of the Black Pit Mines' destruction. He had forgotten about the piece during their flight, the stone resting lightly on his body, so light he had forgotten it. He carefully pulled the leather thong over his neck and dangled the stone over Absalom's flame, truly studying it for the first time.
The stone wasn't very large, about two inches long, in an oval shape. It was a pale shade of crimson red, with streaks of gold and dark red, giving if the appearance of fire, hence its name, "firehart". As Kephra studied it further, he swore he saw specks of blue and white in their as well, like the very heart of a fire. Towards the top of the stone, the watchog owner had cut out a crude hole, allowing him to tie the leather thong on it, making a necklace from it. He cradled it in the palm of his hand, wondering if all his recent encounters with fire were somehow connected to this, or if the Legendaries had decided to mess with his psyche, considering his species' natural affinity with fire.
He held it for a few more moments, the stone feeling warm as it sat there, like an ember in the palm of his hands as it absorbed the heat from the flames. He wondered how the watchog obtained such a simple and beautiful object. It could not have been a family heirloom, for the guards would have stripped it off his person as he entered the Mines. More than likely, the watchog uncovered it while working in one of the mine shafts and tucked it away from the view of the guards. The stone seemed to calm him, distracting him from the realization that he was, indeed, many feet off the ground. He fiddled with the smoothness of the stone, running his fingertips over the smooth surface, feeling every bump and groove, every crack. There were very few. He eyed it a little longer, seeing how the flames flickered and danced across the smooth surface, bringing the inner depths of the stone to life, the colors seeming to dance along with the fire's movements. He then reluctantly placed the leather thong back around his neck, one hand still clinging to it.
His heartbeat and breathing had slowed down, thankfully and Kephra settled into the nook of the tree, finally closing his eyes and lastly, falling asleep.
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He was awoken the following morning by Micah, shaking his wrist. Kephra managed to sit upright. During the night, a fog had rolled in, obscuring everything the wasn't directly in front of them. The world seemed damp and gray, the water droplets resting on their skin and feathers.
Just then, what sounded like a piercing howl broke through the murky silence, freezing their blood with fear.
The Tao soldiers had found them, it would seem.
"We need to get going," Absalom whispered harshly. "If they find us here, they'll have us pinned and we won't be able to go anywhere."
Kephra only nodded, no words needing to be said. Absalom clambered out of the hollow first, the sword strapped across his back in a makeshift scabbard. Kephra helped Micah out next, handing the walking stick to him. Then, Kephra climbed out, his shin banging against one of the branches. He inhaled sharply as his leg stung, but said no words. Fear had closed on their throats like an icy claw, their minds racing in a muddled mess as they considered their next move. Kephra decided that he would climb down first and Absalom and Micah would follow suit, Absalom assisting the injured raichu in every way he could.
His hands clenched tightly around each branch as he slowly climbed down, the threat of a misstep or missed branch due to the fog making the agonizingly slow climb even more so. The bark scraped against his person and his clothes and Kephra swore an errant twig or two created another rip in his already ragged pants. His right foot made contact with the earth at last and Kephra wanted to kiss the ground in relief, no matter how cold or wet it was. Something fell to the ground next to him, bringing twigs and dried dead leaves with it. Absalom had tossed his spear down from the hollow. It was a miracle that it did not break during the fall. Kephra kept it at his side as he waited for Micah and Absalom to make their way down as well.
Another howl echoed in the woods, sounding louder than before. They were getting closer, but hopefully not close enough to catch their scent. Eventually Micah and Absalom made their way down, first Micah, assisted by Absalom, the charmeleon following suit. To further keep the guards away, Absalom dimmed the fire on his tail, until it was nothing more than a small flame, barely enough to penetrate the fog.
"Which way?" Absalom asked, panic in his voice as they realized that they more than likely would not be able to discern any direction in the fog. They could barely see the sun, the fog was so thick, and they there fore could not use that as their point of reference.
"If I remember right," Kephra said, pointing. "We were heading that way last night, so we should head that way."
Another howl echoed in the fog and Micah shuddered with fright. "Let's get going then."
Kephra's fear of heights has been noted before, so it isn't something new :D.
And I really enjoyed writing that previous chapter for some odd reason. I think it was the motherly miltank, haha.
For Imasu's armor, it is largely based off the armor worn by the samurai in the later periods of their rule, when their technology was more developed. The only problem was describing it, since I could not mention the country of Japan, obviously. The Twin Monarchies of Kanjo do have some apparent eastern influences in their design, so I made the allusion to it in the desctiption.