Dawn: part 7
-x-
Nightfall and the death toll confirmed the victims to be Leaf and Ethan. Dawn mourned for the boy for a few moments, but that was as long as she could spare for him. She and Lucas had to keep moving, or more accurately, had to find May Birch's location before morning, or else Lucas's plan wouldn't work. When he had explained it to Dawn, she had first been terrified and refused to take part in such a dangerous enterprise, but after a few minutes of coaxing she had sullenly agreed. It was all they had, even if she didn't like it. They would have to try.
The plan was fairly simple, but required some precision to work. Firstly, as stated, they needed to find May—that was probably the hardest part. Luckily Lucas seemed to have some kind of an idea from what he'd heard from the twins, so they were working with that. Secondly, Lucas would return to the Cornucopia and reveal May's location to the twins and lead one of them to May, preferably before the girl was awake. In order to keep both of them from coming along he would probably have to reveal that Dawn was in the area, as to make the other stay behind and guard their camp.
Then, as soon as the other twin was fighting with May, Lucas would sneak back to where Dawn was waiting and they would take down the other twin. Hopefully this would lead to a situation where only either one of the twins or May remained on the arena with them.
It was incredibly risky. In fact, both of them agreed that there was a chance that they could both be killed even while looking for May, but the larger risk was on Lucas. Dawn didn't want to lead him to his death, but the boy waved her off with a typical smile of his.
"C'mon, let's face it… I'm still weak from that illness and there's no guarantee that it won't come back. I don't have my pokémon or any kind of a weapon. I'm not going to make it out of here alive unless there's some kind of a miracle and miracles don't happen in the Trainer games."
Despite talking about his death, Lucas was calmer than Dawn remembered him ever being. He didn't sound bitter at all, no matter that it wasn't fair at all that he had to die, and that nearly brought tears to Dawn's eyes. She would be bitter in his stead.
"But you, on the other hand," the boy went on, turning to face her. "You have all the chances in the world. So if I cannot win this, I can at least help you get home alive. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, yeah?"
For a while the girl was unable to speak, fearing that nothing but sobs would come out. Finally she murmured weakly: "If you say so."
Lucas grinned, but the smile was without real feeling.
It took them a good part of the night, which they spent fully alert and moving as fast and silent as humanly possible, but they actually managed to find May, who fortunately was heavily asleep and as such didn't rouse when the other stumbled upon her. She was up in a tree, which Lucas guessed to be surrounded with traps of all sorts. Her pokémon wasn't out, but both Sinnoh trainers swore that the girl was clutching its pokéball in her sleep. Silently they retreated back to where they couldn't be heard and headed together towards the Cornucopia.
It was a few hours until sunrise… if they moved fast they could still follow through with their plan. Everything was silent and dark in the forest as they walked. Adrenalin was pumping in Dawn's veins, forcing her to move faster still. It's going to work, she kept telling herself, but couldn't stop wishing that they had more time—not because they couldn't make it, but rather because she didn't want to let the boy go just yet. Far too soon Lucas stopped on his tracks and turned to her.
"Okay, this is it," he said sternly. "This is where we part ways. The Cornucopia meadow is just a bit further away. You head into that direction," he pointed to their right, "and there will be bushes there, right by the edge of the forest. You'll have to be really careful, but you should be able to view the Cornucopia and keep an eye on things. If all goes well and I get one of them to come with me, you should wait for me there in the bushes."
"Wait," Dawn whispered frantically. "What do I do if you leave but don't come back?"
Lucas shrugged. "I'll try to, but if I can't… well, then you just have to try and make it on your own. Try to count hours. If I'm not back in three, then consider me dead."
Dawn felt torn apart, but she smiled. "Good luck Lucas."
"Yeah," he answered the smile, "you too Dawn stone, you too."
-x-
Waiting was tedious and horrible. From her hiding place in the bushes Dawn watched Lucas nearly get killed in front of her eyes, before the twins actually stopped and considered what he had to offer. She couldn't hear what they were saying, not completely, but from their positions she guessed that they had taken the bait and sighed in relief, hoping that it wouldn't be short-lived. It took some more talking and then the boy was leaving with Lucas, a pleased expression on his face as far as Dawn could see.
The girl slumped back down, calling out her pokémon. It was some kind of a serpent, and grass-type. It would be more difficult to beat with Jo being water-type, but she didn't want to worry about that, not yet. So many things could still go wrong. Dawn sat back and smiled a bit. It should take Lucas an hour to lead the boy—whatever his name was, something German if Dawn remembered correctly—to May and another to get back. Until then she had nothing better to do than to think of strategies in the darkness of the creeping morning.
If the plan worked like Lucas had hoped, they would obviously have the element of surprise on their side. Instead of facing an unprepared opponent the girl would be against not only one but two trainers who were ready for the fight. Well, as ready as one could be to fight another child to the death, though Dawn doubted that the twins were children anymore. They could've easily been adults by the federation's standards, eighteen or seventeen already.
That was the age when most careers volunteered to take part in the games, she realized with a grimace, remembering another problem. The girl, though undermanned, was a career. It meant that she had been training for the games since she was little and as such was both physically and mentally more capable of injuring and killing them. Dawn hadn't ever even thought of killing another human, except in passing when thinking about the games and obviously a lot for the past week. Even so, she had no idea where to begin.
She buried her face in her hands for a moment, wishing that she could just disappear. It was all just too much, far too much for one person to bear, but she would have to try and pull through. She had made a promise. With newfound determination Dawn raised her head and fixed her eyes on the girl sitting by the Cornucopia.
Without a doubt, she was strong, maybe even stronger than Dawn and Lucas combined. There was no sense in trying to attack face on, unless they wanted to die. Dawn looked around as much as she could without moving. It would be fairly easy to sneak around the meadow without her noticing. If the girl didn't move much, Dawn could attack from the side while Lucas came from the back, from behind the Cornucopia where he could snatch himself a weapon.
No, she thought again, it's too risky. Possibly Lucas could come out from the woods looking like something was wrong. Maybe that would throw the girl off and then Dawn could sneak an attack on her from behind, pass a weapon to Lucas and keep one ho herself, use it if needed. That was better. It would give them a moment to get themselves sorted. Perhaps if she was sneaky enough she and Jo could even take out the serpent pokémon with one shot.
Actually, one shot was all they were going to get. If they missed that, they would probably be done for. Jo was good at defending her in water, but they weren't near enough to the river that flowed behind the Cornucopia. And even if they were, Jo wouldn't be able protect both her and Lucas, not with them so far apart. The girl was enough on her own, but if her pokémon survived their initial attack, it would be too much to handle.
Dawn swallowed, suddenly feeling the slight panic return. It was still dark, but it wasn't that long until sunrise. Lucas would be back much too soon.
She wasn't ready.
-x-
There had been no cannon shots, no sound in two hours and both Dawn and the girl with the serpent were getting anxious. Dawn had hope, still. At least Lucas hadn't been killed, which probably meant that he would be back any moment now. She kept holding tightly onto that thought, until she heard very, very quiet rustling right behind her. Her first instinct was to leap and run, fearing a wild pokémon or far worse, but the rational part of her brain forced her to remain still and wait. In a few moments he could make out Lucas crawling towards her. She smiled, but in a second more her smile faded, replaced by a look of horror.
The boy's right side was bloody and blackened, almost like… burned. Panic clutched tightly on Dawn's breath, images of the first day flashing before her eyes like the frames of a horror movie. She couldn't breathe, couldn't talk. She could only stare as the boy moved slowly towards him, wincing slightly with every movement. He tried to smile reassuringly, but it only made Dawn feel worse. When Lucas was close enough to touch she nearly let out a strangled gasp, but Lucas silenced her with a hand to her mouth.
"Shh," he cooed calmingly, as quiet as possible. "It's alright Dawn, yeah? I just got hit with a stray flame. They were fighting when I left, moving away from here. It's all alright. I'm fine. We're gonna be fine. We can still do this."
The girl nodded, trying to calm herself. A minute passed and she felt her breathing slow down to normal level. "You should go out," she murmured. "Say that something went wrong, that May's coming, anything to make her panic even slightly. I'll slip to the back and let out Jo from there. We need to take out the pokémon first."
"Use ice," Lucas hissed and Dawn wondered if it was because of the pain. "Grass-types are weak to it."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed breathlessly. "Yeah, okay. Ice, got it. I'll try to throw you a weapon from the Cornucopia so be prepared."
Lucas grinned weakly, suppressing a cough on his sleeve. "Get going Dawn, I'll wait exactly three minutes for you to get in position. Try the left side… it'll be easier to sneak from there."
"Okay," Dawn whispered, smiling a bit.
She moved carefully, but fast. It seemed that the girl from Unova wasn't that good of a guard, because she didn't notice a thing even when Dawn accidently stumbled. Biting her lips she got up and continued making her way until she was on the edge of the forest securely behind the girls back and nearly out of sight. Then she slipped out from the cover of the trees and tiptoed to the Cornucopia. Its surface was cool to the touch when Dawn pressed against it, very quietly moving towards the mouth. She had just slipped inside when the girl suddenly rose up.
"Hey, brat," she called out, voice laced with suspicion. Dawn checked and saw that Lucas was limping into view from the woods. The serpent's attention was also caught by the approaching boy. As fast as she could, Dawn grabbed two long knives from the floor and her pokéball from her belt.
"Where'd you leave my brother?" The career went on. Lucas opened his mouth but didn't get a reply out, because Dawn chose that moment to throw out Jo as well as one of the knives. Her aim was off, but it graced the girls arm and she cried out in surprise and pain. Lucas leaped forward, revealing that he was still perfectly capable of running.
"Jo, ice the snake!" Dawn yelled, but the small water-type would've figured what to do even without her orders. It avoided the needle sharp leaves the serpent had sent out flying more as a reflex than as an actual attack and opened its beak to spit out ice missiles towards the threat.
The grass type tried to slither out of sight but was caught in the tail. It let out a wail of pain and rage, but it was too late. The missile had slowed it down just enough for Lucas, who had managed to get a hold of the knife, to land a clean shot, straight to the pokémon's neck. It hissed, but life was already fading out of its eyes.
Their victory was short lived as the career had already recovered from her initial surprise. She lunged towards Lucas with a knife in her hand—she must've had it on her, even though Dawn hadn't seen her holding one. With one neat kick she sent Jo flying on the way. Dawn started running forward, crying out Lucas's name. It was too late, she realized as she watched the girl tackle the boy to the ground. For a second she was frozen to the spot, before spurring to motion, taking a few running steps and throwing the other knife she still had with all her power.
It wasn't a perfect shot, not by any means, but it hit the girl on his lower back and she screamed. Down on the ground underneath her, Lucas struggled and managed to get a hold of his own knife pushing it sloppily into the girl's stomach.
Time seemed to slow down. With perfect clarity Dawn could see the way the girl's eyes widened. Her breath hitched and she struggled to get a sound out but couldn't. Lucas pulled the knife out of her body slowly, too slowly, blood streaming down from the wound. The girl looked down, her mouth opening. She brought her hands to her stomach, drenching them red. She coughed and streams of the same red liquid came flowing out of her mouth. Horrified, the career looked up choked on her breath once, twice and fell over.
-x-
Dawn rushed forward towards the girl now lying on top of Lucas motionless. On the way she called back Jo, hoping that the penguin was alright, because she didn't have the time to treat it just yet, not now. In a frantic frenzy she pried the career's body from Lucas, horrified to find that the girl was actually still alive just too shocked to react. The boy wheezed and opened his eyes with visible effort. There was blood all over and pooling around him. It isn't all his, Dawn kept repeating in her mind, it's the girl's blood, it isn't all his. She wanted to close her eyes and believe that when she opened them the boy would be okay, no wounds on his stomach. She wanted to hide from the truth a little longer, but Lucas didn't.
"Dawn," he rasped smiling up at her. The girl dropped down to her knees very carefully taking his head in her hands and lifting it to her lap. He winced softly, but didn't protest. "You know I'm going to die, right? But that's okay, that's fine, really. I knew I was going to die, I told you so, didn't I?"
He was rambling just like always even though his voice was weak and his breath coming raggedly. Dawn gave a choked laugh and absently realized that her cheeks were wet. She was crying. She hadn't even noticed.
"Hey," the boy mumbled but couldn't raise his hand even though he tried to. Dawn took it, holding it close to her and petting it softly. "Don't cry, Dawn stone... Smile. We did it, you should be happy. I'm happy. You're going to be alright and that," he coughed again, spitting out blood, "that really means a lot to me."
"Please, Lucas," Dawn whimpered. She didn't even know what she was trying to say. "Please, just… please…"
He smiled and closed his eyes. "I would've wanted to date you," he confessed quietly. "Back in home. I would've brought you flowers and…" his breath hitched and he couldn't go on.
"Yeah," Dawn replied quickly. "Yeah, I would've liked that."
Lucas opened his eyes again. "You would've?" He beamed. "I'm glad, Dawn stone," he mumbled. "I'm… really…"
The words died on his lips. Dawn waited for a few seconds.
"Lucas?" she whispered. The boy didn't reply.
He was staring up at the sky, no breath coming from his mouth.
Dawn stroked his cheeks tenderly and let the tears flow.
She stayed like that, holding the boy until the cannons started. First one shot for the career girl followed soon after by one for Lucas and then a few minutes later, another. Dawn's instinct told her that she had to get out of there, had to move out before whoever was left came looking for her. Then she realized that she was alone, up against the last remaining trainer besides her. There was no use in running away. Gently she closed the boy's eyelids, lifted his head from her lap and rose up. Determined, she nodded towards the forest.
She hadn't been ready before but now… now, she would be prepared.
-x-
From the mouth of the Cornucopia Dawn watched the hovercraft come and pick up the bodies of the girl and Lucas. She released Jo from its ball and treated the penguin with the potions and ethers she found in the Cornucopia. As it turned out, the pokémon hadn't luckily been hurt that bad, it had just been knocked out from the impact. It cheered Dawn up, if only for a bit. At least she hadn't lost two friends that day.
After she was sure they were both in good enough condition, there was really nothing else to do. There were some berries and fruits lying about—courtesy of the now dead twins, she figured—so they both ate. Dawn didn't bother calling the penguin to its ball after that. She would need its help soon enough. They were waiting.
The sun was up already shining bright and low like it did in the mornings. Dawn was patient, all of her previous anxiety gone along with Lucas. It was, she figured, because now she had no one else but herself to worry about. Whoever came out of that forest had probably killed somebody she knew. It was revenge and the though felt both alien and comforting in her mind.
It took two hours, but Dawn picked up the sound of someone approaching immediately. It could've been a pokémon based on the rustling alone, but somehow she was certain it wasn't. She stood up, snapping Jo to attention. There was a knife in her hand, smaller than the ones from before and held so that it was hidden from view. She hoped it would be unexpected if she had to use it.
Slowly but surely a girl with a familiar red bandanna walked out of the woods and into the clearing. May Birch visibly radiated confidence with her bright blue eyes and a smirk that told tales of just how easy she thought winning would be.
It won't be easy, Dawn promised herself, as well as the memory of Lyra and Lucas, she'll be up for a surprise.
Never one for words, the older girl merely broke into a run, throwing out her pokéball. Dawn started to her left barking orders for Jo. The penguin sprayed water at the pokéball when it was still in air, knocking it off course and surprising May so much that she halted her run. Dawn called Jo into her ball, only barely managing it because of the distance and kept running straight towards the river.
May was at her heels much faster than she had expected, but it worked. She got to the river in time to release Jo once more. The penguin whisked up a wall of water that stopped them from being fried alive. On the shore the not anymore as little firebird cried out in irritation. Jo sent the wall crashing forward but the bird managed to get off the way barely, sending a ball fire into their direction.
Dawn ducked, grabbed Jo and threw the penguin into the air. It actually worked and the fire type was confused for just long enough for the smaller bird to land a hit straight on. Both pokémon flew on the ground. Dawn grinned for a second before she was suddenly yanked off her feet. While she had been avoiding the fire attacks, May had crept closer and was now pushing the struggling girl under water.
Dawn had water in her lungs and she tried to cough but there was no air, nothing to breath. Panic blinded her vision and she knew that it would make her drown even faster, but she couldn't help it, not until she remembered her trump card.
Aiming as well as she could while blind she turned the blade in her hand towards the girl somewhere above her and drove it into her flesh. The hold on her throat and shoulders loosened. Frantically, with more power than she was aware of possessing, she pushed up, gasping for breath as soon as she broke the water's surface.
She blinked, trying to see. Everything was red around her, the water dyed with May's blood. The girl herself was floating a bit further off. Dawn swam towards her and turned her around, not sure that she was dead and let out a strangled sound. The same knife that she'd held in her hands a minute before was sticking from the girl's neck, blood still pouring out from the wound.
May Birch stared at her with a blank expression of shock, unblinking.
The cannon sounded, followed by the booming voice of the announcer.
"Ladies and gentlemen! May I present you the champion of the 61stTrainer Games: Dawn DeBlanc from District Four! Congratulations!"
Dawn barely understood what the voice was saying. Her mind was raging in circles as she tried to get away from the red water, away from the dead girl floating about, away from the severity of her actions.
She barely made it to the banks before her vision faded to black.
-x-
A/N: Here we are—the shocking conclusion, which still breaks my heart even though I knew all along it was coming. I'll post the final chapter soon enough and then we'll see if Dawn is really alright.