Inferno, Ch 6
Hello once more. EmDrago is back with another one. Sorry for the delay, things have been kinda hectic. At any rate, let's move this on.
Suspicion…
Blaze and Lora appeared in a bright flash in a forest, near a civilian city. Blaze shrank back in fear; the last time they had been to a city, Team Rocket had found them in less than a day. Blaze shivered at the memory, and Lora said
"You stay here, and I'll take care of the supplies."
"Are you sure? I don't want you getting hurt, and a lone Gardevoir isn't exactly inconspicuous, you know."
Lora rolled her eyes and said
"I know that, but I'm not without protection. Besides, we need the supplies, and you can't go in without being noticed."
Blaze growled in frustration and Lora quickly amended
"It's not your fault, I'm not saying that. But the fact remains that you're easily spotted, and there isn't much we can do about it."
Blaze thought for a second, then asked
"What if we got me one of those hooded jackets? One with a large hood, so it could cover up my horns?"
Lora placed a hand to her chin and thought for a second, then reached up and lightly grasped one of the horns that made a V on his forehead. When she brought her arm down, she shook her head and said
"No, that won't work. Even if we could find a hood large enough to cover your horns, it would make the hood assume a strange shape. It would cause too much suspicion, and that's the last thing we need right now. I have a bit of money left over, so I'll see how much we can get, but then we'll have to rely on hunting and foraging."
Blaze hesitated, then nodded, telling her
"Just be careful. If you're not back by sundown, I'm coming for you, no matter the risk."
Lora knew she couldn't dissuade him, so she agreed. She hugged him, then stood straight and walked into the town, trying to be as easy-going as possible. Some people gave her looks, but nothing overly worrisome.
Blaze's POV
As Blaze watched her go, his worry for her well-being increased, but he knew there was nothing he could do without automatically giving themselves away. He sat down at the base of a tree, making sure he couldn't see the town and that he couldn't be seen. All he could do now was wait on Lora, but he really didn't want to wait so long. While she was around, he felt almost normal again.
But now that she had left, not only did he feel exposed, he also began to think about the grunt he had killed back in the underground cavern. After having relocated, the man began haunting his dreams. All he could see was the man's face, at least until it burst into flames. He lowered his head and buried his face into his arms, trying to smother the flames in his eyes. But it didn't work, since fire burns brightest in the dark.
He lifted his face with a gasp, then growled in frustration.
"The bastard deserved it, he would have taken me back where I would have been subjected to the worst tortures. I was acting in self-defense, I'm completely justified" he told himself. His frustration wore off, to be replaced by anxiety. He rested his chin against his arms and thought
"But if that's the case, then why do I feel so guilty?"
Lora's POV
Lora walked through the town, conscious of the looks she was attracting. Most were just curious, as pokemon weren't always traveling through towns unless they were accompanied by their trainer. Luckily, Lora had taken a precaution and had blaze capture her. It had been tortuous to him, and took a week of coaxing and negotiating with him before he consented to do it, and he had immediately let her out afterwards, vowing he would never put her back in there again. Lora didn't care much for it herself, but if push came to shove, she would use it.
She walked up to a map of the town and searched for a shop or mart of some sort. It wasn't food so much that she needed, but if she could spare for it she would. No, what they needed were the more lasting supplies, preferably something like sleeping bags. A bit of a long shot, but maybe it could be done. She looked carefully around, then reached under her skirt and pulled out a small bag which she used to carry what money they could find. There were many nights when she and Blaze had scrounged around wishing wells and some fountains.
Lora felt guilty about the acts, of course, but their survival was more important than wishes that were nothing more than pipe dreams. Blaze's own wish was to be free of Team Rocket and never be bothered by them again. Lora opened the bag and peered inside. The amount they had decreased substantially after making a specific purchase to afford more material for Blaze's clothes. If he was going to be noticed, might as well do it with flare. Although now she was beginning to rethink her opinion.
"Looking for something?" someone said behind her. She jumped and hid the bag of money behind her back as she faced her visitor. It was a tall boy, who looked about sixteen or so, and his major color seemed to be black. He was wearing black jeans, long-sleeved shirt, shoes and fingerless leather gloves. The only change in color was a bright green sweater vest, which Lora thought clashed horribly with the rest of his outfit.
He also had black eyes and hair, which went everywhere in spikes but hung over his forehead. He wore an earring in his left ear and a kind but curious expression.
"Oh… um, I'm just… looking for a shop… my master needed some supplies, but he was busy, so he sent me to get them. Do you know where I could find some?"
The boy grinned and told her
"Well, you're lucky you appeared in Celadon City, home to the great Celadon Department store. They have pretty much everything you could ever need, and then some. Need help getting over there?"
Lora began to feel nervous, but she kept herself as calm as possible and replied
"Oh, that's very kind of you, but could I just get directions there?"
The boy raised an eyebrow but said
"Alright, just head down toward the end of this street and hang a right. It's at the end, you can't miss it. It's very colorful, covered with banners."
Lora nodded and said
"Thank you, Mister…?"
"Oh, my name is Loki Del Desierto Rojo, but my friends call me Loki Riko." Lora cocked her head in confusion, but she bowed and said
"Thank you for your kindness, Loki. I'll see you around, perhaps."
As she turned, Loki waved her off and said to himself
"Hmm, better watch out for this one…"
Lora walked down to the end of the street and turned right as Loki had suggested, and looked at the end of the street. She saw a massive building that was indeed covered in banners advertising multitudes of items. She gulped nervously and continued forward, doing her best to ignore the stares she was getting as she approached the department store.
She walked inside and was blasted by the air conditioning, making her shiver a bit. One of the greeters looked at her and said
"Excuse me, do you have a permit or a trainer?"
Lora held up the pokeball she had Blaze capture her in, and the man nodded and said
"Very well, enjoy our selection."
Lora nodded and walked further in. She shivered again at the air conditioning and began to look around. She saw a sign near two sets of red doors with strange buttons which she recognized as elevators. She approached the sign and tried to read it. During her time in Team Rocket, she had tried to become literate, but the Rockets had been worried that mothering units would warn the outside world as to what was happening, so they were stridently kept illiterate. That was also why she would have such a large price on her head, so to speak. She now carried damning information against them, but they were in the hopes that until she could be contained and disposed of, the authorities wouldn't listen to a pokemon or believe any story she told them.
Lora sighed in resignation; she couldn't make much sense of the words on the sheet, so she had to manually search through everything. The first floor didn't appear to have anything on it, so she walked up the stairs to the second floor. There she began to see a much larger crowd, making her nervous. She went to the elevator and pressed the up arrow button, hoping to get out of this crowd.
The doors opened and she rushed inside. The elevator attendant appeared surprised at the hurry of the green and white humanoid pokemon, but she soon cleared it and asked
"Where would you like to go?"
Lora looked over the colored map of the store provided on the wall and pointed to the top of the store. The attendant nodded and pushed a button with the number "6" on it, which began to glow. The elevator started to lift, and after a moment a bell dinged and the attendant said
"Sixth floor, Rooftop Atrium. Thank you, come again."
Lora exited the elevator and looked around. There was a much smaller crowd now, but the only thing that appeared to be here were a few machines that had a large colorful drink on the front, and on a black, metal strip on the right side was a set of buttons with more pictures on them. Lora watched as a human put a couple of coins into a slot, then pushed one of the buttons. The machine clattered for a second, then a bottle filled with a white liquid, which Lora believed to be milk, popped out in an open slot near the bottom. The human retrieved his prize and went back to his seat.
Curious, Lora approached the strange machine and looked it over. She pressed against the front, and it bent back; she quickly let go and it popped back into place. She looked on the black strip and observed the buttons. There were only three, one of them had a picture of a plastic bottle with water in them, the middle one was a yellow can, and the top one was the bottle of milk. She pressed the button for the yellow can, and a small red screen flashed something she couldn't read.
"You need to put your money in first, you know" an irritated voice told her. Lora whirled around and looked at a paunchy man with his arms crossed in irritation. Lora backed away in shame and defeat, her head hung low. The man scoffed and walked up to the machine. He took some coins out of his pocket, then sifted through them. He picked several out, then inserted them into a small slot under the red screen. Numbers appeared on the screen, changing with each coin he put in. Then he pressed the button for the yellow can, which popped out in the open part of the machine.
He pulled the can out, then spared Lora a passing glance with a scoff. Lora went back to the machine, then brought out her bag of money. She chose some of the bigger coins, then began inserting them into the slot she had seen earlier. She watched the numbers steadily climb, and after she inserted one more coin, she noticed that the red numbers on the screen matched the numbers on the picture for the yellow can. Tentatively, she pressed the button for the yellow can, and after the machine rattled more than it usually did, catching everyone's attention, two yellow cans appeared in the open slot.
Lora reached down and grabbed both of them, wondering why she got two.
"Wow, you're lucky!" a small voice shouted behind her. She whirled around again and saw a small boy in a t-shirt and shorts with a hat staring at her. He said
"Not many people get the two-in-one win. Those machines have some kind of glitch or something where occasionally you can get an extra drink. The owners don't want to replace the machines because it actually put their drink sales through the roof. Good job on your first try!"
Lora smiled and nodded slightly. She went and sat in one of the chairs by the window overlooking the city. It was a very nice view since the city was comprised of a multitude of colors, creating attractive scenery. Lora looked down at one of the cans she held and saw they were both sealed. On top of each was some kind of compacted metal… thing. Curious, Lora reached a finger underneath the part of the tiny metal object that could be lifted and pulled it up.
There was a slight hiss from the can, the metal piece lifted up, and a hole appeared in the can. Lora peered inside and saw a yellowish liquid. A bit wary, she lifted the can toward her face and sniffed it. It had an aroma that put Sitrus berries in mind, and she experimentally stuck her tongue in it. The taste was much like Sitrus berries, but when she tried to adjust her tongue to taste more of it, she felt something sharp run across her tongue, cutting into it. With a sharp yelp, she yanked the can off her tongue, spilling some of the drink on the floor in front of her and drawing the attention of the patrons on the floor.
Lora stuck her tongue back out and ran her finger over the cut, showing blood on it. Worried, she stared warily at the beverage until the same boy came up to her and asked
"What's wrong? Did you get hurt or something?"
Lora hesitated, then nodded. The boy cocked his head and asked
"What happened?"
Lora began to mime what she did. She imitated pulling the top, then motioned her tongue going for the drink, then showed him the cut. The boy chuckled and said
"You've never had something in a can before, have you?"
Lora slowly shook her head, then the boy chuckled again. He motioned for the other can, making Lora hesitate. The boy smiled and said
"Don't worry, I won't take it. I just want to show you how you're supposed to drink it."
After another moment of hesitation, Lora surrendered the unopened can. The boy smiled and held it out slightly in front of him, then began to explain.
"Okay, all you have to do is pull open the tab" he pretended to do that to the unopened one "and lift the hole in the can towards your mouth. Make sure your mouth goes over the hole, or some of the drink will spill out onto you. Also, don't try to take too much, or you'll get the same result."
Lora watched the boy demonstrate lifting the can and tilting it toward his mouth. Then she tried doing the same thing, making sure to aim it perfectly at her mouth. Some of the liquid poured down her throat, making her cough and splutter. The boy pounded on her back to help her, and when she recovered she growled in frustration. All this trouble from one beverage?!
The boy chuckled again and said
"You might also want to be careful where exactly the drink goes. I figured I wouldn't have to explain that, but…" he shrugged as a finish to his statement. Lora growled again and raised the can back up to her lips, making sure the liquid didn't pour down her throat this time. Now in control of the beverage, she really tasted it for the first time, and once again she thought of Sitrus berries. She didn't mind sour things, but she had a preference for sweet.
She swallowed the beverage, making careful sure that she didn't breathe at the same time. Proud of her accomplishment, she lifted the can again and drank some more of it. She now had the hang of drinking from a can, and she smiled at the boy in thanks. He nodded and got up to leave. Lora finished the drink and threw the can into the trash basket, then held onto the remaining can, hoping to save it for Blaze. The crowd was slightly larger on this floor of the store, but not enough to offset her comfort. She looked at the available wares, but all there were was capsules and drinks of some sort, or at least that's what Lora saw.
She descended to the next floor and saw an assortment of brightly colored envelopes. With nothing else there, she visited the next floor which contained interesting discs. She waved for an attendant and motioned toward the discs, raising her eyebrows.
The attendant gave her a strange look and replied
"These are TMs, special discs that teach a trainer's pokemon moves they might be able to learn but can't do so normally. They're fairly expensive, but worth the money. Where's your trainer, anyway?"
Lora avoided the man's eyes and ducked away. Behind her, the attendant was suspicious but decided not to do anything. She made it to the staircase and looked around. Then she descended and saw she was back in the first room she had visited, the one with the large crowd. She took a deep breath, then entered the crowd. She began to move around, searching for the supplies she needed. Fortunately, it seemed that everything she needed was here. She grabbed a couple of sleeping bags and tents, a large pack, and some nonperishable foods. She waited in line to the counter, happy she found everything she needed. She just hoped she had enough to get it all. There was more she wanted, but she had to be realistic.
Eventually she came up to the counter and unloaded her supplies on the counter. The attendant smirked and pressed some buttons on a strange machine. A little black screen with oddly shaped green numbers flashed with each beep, and then the attendant told Lora
"That'll be two-hundred-fifty."
Lora brought out her bag and dumped the change on the counter, then pushed it all to him, smiling. Her smile dropped when she saw the attendant's face and could feel his anger through her chest spike. She cowed as he said maliciously
"What are you trying to pull, huh?! You think this is anywhere near enough to get this stuff?! I ought to-"
"Hold it!" a voice shouted, cutting the attendant off. Lora turned and saw the boy from earlier, Loki, approach them and say
"Excuse me sir, but is there any reason you're screaming at this poor Gardevoir?"
"She thinks she can pay for this stuff with chump change!"
Loki looked over the supplies and money quickly, then gasped and looked at Lora, saying
"Oh my, did I forget to give you the right amount again? Every time I do this, you wind up paying for it! You'll forgive me, won't you?" Lora just stood there, shocked. Loki shouted in anguish and said
"Alas, I have caused her too much suffering! I must remember to give her the right amount next time, lest she decide to leave me, for then I-"
"Look, I'm tired of your theatrics. Are you her owner or what?"
Loki stopped and nodded, saying
"Yes, I'm sorry about this. How much is it?"
"Two-hundred-fifty" the attendant huffed. Loki raised an eyebrow, but took his wallet out. He removed a small plastic card and swiped it through another machine, typed in some numbers, and the attendant bagged the supplies and handed them to Lora with a suspicious glare. Lora bowed to him and immediately turned tail, Loki following close behind. Lora walked for a minute before turning and saying
"Thank you very much. But why did you do that?"
Loki shrugged and said
"I like helping people. And it looked like you needed it. What're all those supplies for, anyway?"
Lora hesitated, unsure whether or not she could trust this human. He gently said
"Look, I don't want you thinkin' you owe me for getting you that stuff, so if you don't want to explain, that's fine."
Lora hesitated again, then shook her head and said
"No, you seem trustworthy. But we need to speak where no one else can hear."
Loki raised an eyebrow, then said
"Very well, follow me."
Lora walked with Loki throughout the large city, and while they sometimes got looks, there were not nearly as many as when Lora had first entered. Loki stopped in front of the Pokemon Center for the city and waited for the automatic doors to open. He led her through the center and to his rented room, where he locked the door and looked at her expectantly. She felt a stab of worry but pushed it down and began.
"These supplies are for a friend of mine and I. We're… traveling right now."
Loki had suspicion in his eyes and said
"You say that as if there were a better word to describe what you're really doing."
Lora flinched and replied
"Well, there is, but I don't want to say it."
Loki nodded, then motioned for her to continue.
"We have been mostly relying on the wild to provide for us, but with these supplies we might be able to travel better."
Loki thought for a second, then asked
"May I ask exactly where you plan on going?"
Lora hesitated again before saying
"We're only trying to find a safe place for now. Exactly where doesn't matter, just so long as we can escape."
Loki frowned.
"Escape what?"
Lora hesitated again before quietly asking in his mind
"Can you keep a secret?"
Loki nodded without a second thought, and Lora took a deep breath. Then she told him
"We're on the run from Team Rocket. They… did something horrible to my friend, and me as well, and we escaped. They're pursuing us to capture him and likely kill me. No one, not even the police, will listen to or believe us. I imagine you don't either, and I'll understand if you don't. If that's the case, I should leave now because my friend is waiting for me."
Loki thought for a minute, then unlocked the door and told Lora
"I won't tell a soul of your circumstances, but don't let me detain you any longer if your friend is waiting for you. I hope our paths will cross again."
Lora nodded and headed for the exit, stopping to bow to Loki and say
"Thank you again for your help."
Loki nodded and smiled, then said
"Anytime."
Lora left the building, drawing the attention of the nurse, and immediately set out for the woods to find Blaze and give him the good news.
And that marks the end of another chapter. dub-step syndicate king, I hope you found this to your liking. Remember to review, people!