I FINALLY got over my nearly annoyingly long writer's block for this and the credit for that goes to Kimiko Heroux. Last night she brought over a "new" DS game that was really fun and despite being released in 2009 its graphics are closer to some of the newer games, possibly even early 3DS. So I was all excited about that this morning, and then Mom ordered me one on the internet, so I was even more excited about that, and because of all that I got hyper from it, and then I used something I find that helps with writer's block: chocolate. So all of that helped.
Chapter nine might not be awhile, especially with some new projects I'm working on, including two that I'm really excited about.
And also some credit goes to KuraOkami13. The Lost Mermaid and Her Dragon chapter 13 helped inspire this chapter.
Shinx hung onto the rock, its paws slowly slipping. Lance walked into the river, the water coming up past his knees.
"Isn't that dangerous?! I can use have Kitty get Shinx back!"
"No, that will only put your Butterfree in danger. Shinx won't risk using an electrical attack because he'll get shocked, too."
Yellow still didn't look convinced and followed him; the water would have come up to her waist if it were several inches deeper. "Are you sure this is safe?"
Lance turned to look at her. "Go back and wait for me."
"But-"
Shinx slipped, falling into the water, yowling as it was swept away. Yellow took one step in attempt to help it, her foot falling into a hole, making her trip into the river, the current too strong for her to fight. She screamed before disappearing beneath the surface. Chuchu ran back and forth along the edge of the river, screeching. Not too far from the Pikachu was the bag that held Yellow's Pokeballs….
Another large tree branch drifted by. Lance hung onto it to keep from falling under the surface. Yellow had managed to get her head above the water, though wasn't able to keep it that way for extended periods of time. She hung onto a tree branch that had gotten caught between two rocks, her exhaustion was clear.
Now if she only hung on long enough for him to either get there or, if her branch came loose, until the river became more shallow, where she'd be able to get out of the water no matter how fast it was running.
A piece of a tree branch passed him, its broken edges smashed into Yellow's tree branch, breaking it into two splintered pieces. Yellow's half of the branch began rushing down the river, her weight making it tip and forcing her to fall back into the water. She stayed above the surface for just a few seconds before going under. Lance's branch just happened to be too long and jarred to a halt between two rocks. A large, heavy chunk of a branch hit one end of it, wedging it there.
Yellow still hadn't come back up… Lance dove under the branch, the current pushing him faster than before. He came to a sudden stop when his arm hit a rock. With his other arm he lifted himself up for air before diving back in. The next rock he nearly hit was a little taller and wider than the last. He tried lifting himself up, his arm collapsing and his hold loosened. With is good arm he lifted himself up and looked around.
There were fewer rocks, which meant this was where the river ran faster. If Yellow was unconscious and had gotten caught in that…. Just a short distance up the river was a cluster of reeds, some of them bent. Deeper within them were hints of a darkened yellow color.
Lance pushed off his rock towards the reeds, needing to grab onto a few of them to keep from passing. Now that he was closer he could see Yellow had, in fact, gotten caught in them. She was unconscious, and a gash was on her forehead. She had lost her hair band, her hair hanging messily around her. Lance managed to pull her out with his injured arm, needing the other to keep them above water.
For a moment he looked back at the swifter running water and let go of the reeds. The sudden rush of water almost caught him off guard, coming close to shoving him beneath the surface. He came to a sudden stop, pain jolting up his leg. He waited until the pain lessened before tugged his caught foot out of where ever it had gotten caught. The splint must have been caught between two rocks… He yanked harder, this time there were two cracks; one he heard and the other he felt. He half cried out, choking on water.
Water crashed over his head, surprising him and making him cough even more, unable to use his good arm to get them back to the surface because of the strong current. His vision began to darken as his lungs screamed for air. No…
Everything around him began to slow. Just as he started to lose consciousness the water began to rush again, only from the side in a burst so powerful it threw him out of the river and onto solid ground, the impact knocking the water and air out of his lungs and waking him up. He lied there, stunned, for a moment until he could breathe again. What was that?
He carefully sat up finding Yellow next to him, her breathing still shallow.
"Pika!" Yellow's Dodrio ran over, Chuchu sitting on its back with the rest of their things, including a water-logged Shinx. Chuchu leaped off and shook Yellow, screeching.
"I'll take care of her. Go help Shinx." Chuchu stared up at him, reluctant, before going to the other Electric-type. He looked back at Yellow. Now what? He glanced at Chuchu, the small Pokemon's actions of pressing on Shinx's chest and then breathing into its mouth was both helpful and not very encouraging at the same time. He slowly looked back at Yellow and hesitantly copied Chuchu's first action. Why why why why why why why? Let this be enough…. It wasn't. Why….? He sighed before copying Chuchu's last action.
Yellow coughed and jerked awake, banging her head against Lance's. "Ow…." She held her head and looked around. "Where…?"
Lance wrapped his cape around her. "You fell in the river and got knocked out. I'm not sure where we are now."
"You… tried to save me?"
"….Yes. I must have blacked out for a moment. I'm not sure what saved us."
"Oh…." She looked over at Shinx, it finally waking up, sneezed, and crawled over to her, shivering.
"I think he's going to behave now."
"Good." Lance carefully stood up and limped over to the Dodrio, getting Yellow's bag for her.
Yellow watched his movements. He answered her question before she could ask. "It's broken and yes I injured my arm."
Yellow looked at her Pikachu. "Can you find some short, sturdy sticks and a few long, slender ones that are strong?" Chuchu nodded and darted away. The small Pokemon came back a short time later with the sticks. Yellow motioned Lance to come over to her.
"If if isn't set properly it will heal wrong and have to be re-broken. We can just ignore-"
Yellow shook her head. "Kitty can use Psychic. That's how I fixed my broken leg." She looked up at her Pokemon. "Stun Spore and Sleep Powder."
The butterfly nodded and used the attacks over Lance's foot, making it lose all feeling. Its eyes began to glow and it used String Shot to help Yellow create another splint. It repeated the process for Lance's arm.
Lance smiled softly and then glared at Shinx. "I do not." A moment of silence followed. Lance looked back at Yellow, smiling again. "I heard his thoughts."