Chapter sixteen:
Scarred
Howl's eyes snapped open, his fur damp with cold sweat.
Darkness enveloped his surroundings, and there was a faint cool breeze that he felt, for some reason, nowhere except on his head. Slowly his memories caught up with him, and he remembered the wound on his abdomen.
He had felt sickened by the dull, and truly gut-rending pain, and the keen awareness of the dangerous amount of blood he had been losing had done nothing to help his mental state.
In the depths of his mind a voice wondered; was this it? Had he eluded the inevitable end long enough? Had it finally found him?
He tried to move. His limbs were still present – and working as they should be, but were unusually heavy and stiff. He breathed in a deep, slow lungful of cool air and picked up a small number of scents, two of which he recognised quite plainly.
So if those two particular humans were here, then…
With more difficulty than he'd been expecting, he managed to raise a paw up to his chest and felt a rapid beat against his palm.
Sally, who was seated with her back against the cave's wall, heard a low, hoarse exhale and whipped her head round towards its source.
When she dimly saw a familiar shadowy outline moving, she was left speechless. She felt for Rowan's lantern and lit it before crawling towards the Pokémon.
"You're OK…"
How strange her voice had sounded. How shaken, how timid, how very unlike her own.
Howl's voice came through to her.
"Whe-"
But the voice had not even finished the first word of a sentence before it fell silent again.
"Sorry?" she replied.
Howl clenched his teeth and tried again.
"Where-"
-and again he broke off. Something was wrong. Every time he attempted to talk, the beginning of one word alone was all she could make out before some uncanny sound would drift in and drown out his voice.
"I-I can't-" she began helplessly, before the Pokémon tried a third time, and for a moment all she heard was the sound of that eerie interference before the Pokémon groaned and clutched his skull, eyes clenched shut, teeth bared and in unmistakeable agony.
"Stop!" she said, "If it's straining you, then stop it.
We're back in the cave. All of us. Rowan's here – he woke up after you defeated that other Pokémon. He's fine. A little shaken up, but he's fine. Well, we're both shaken up, but alive. We're all alive."
A minute passed. Then the Pokémon's paws released his skull and he seemed to relax a little.
"Wat-…"
What?" she said. He moved his right paw to point at something and said the word again,
"Wa-r…"
"Oh," she said, "Right, yeah, of course. Water. Water…"
She reached for her luggage and took out a flask, poured its contents into the lid and handed it carefully to him as he propped his back on the wall. The instant the cup was out of her grasp, it slipped out of his and clattered onto the ground, the clear liquid dousing the earth between them.
The Pokémon groaned irritably and tried to retrieve it, but she said at once,
"No, no, no – it's okay," -picked up the lid once more, filled it again and edged in a little closer,
"It's okay…"
She brought the cup to his mouth and tipped it cautiously up, allowing first a small amount in, then a little more, and then refilling it before repeating the process until the flask was depleted by at least half of its contents.
The Pokémon rested his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, breathing deeply, until he half-opened them again and forced a weak smile at her.
"You…" she murmured. Her eyes were beginning to burn, and her voice shook.
"How…? You were stabbed and bleeding out – but you lived. You fought off an entire village by yourself, five armed soldiers, and then that… that other Pokémon…"
She shook her head, and the tears she'd fought so hard to repress began to fall freely down her cheeks.
"How…? How are you still alive?"
His expression was nothing short of amused as he held his palms up in a clueless gesture.
A hoarse laugh escaped her and she wiped her eyes on her hand.
"How do you feel?"
His expression darkened. He knew all too well how to describe what he was feeling – and was not unfamiliar to it, but that made it no more welcome to him.
He felt sickened to his very core.
Beneath his skin he felt a burning heat that threatened to engulf his entire being, and outside it he felt as though the air was like that of the frozen tundra clawing away at his flesh and leaving him numb all over. His limbs ached, his throat was dry and sore, and his head felt as though it would split open by the lightest tap.
He lifted his arm and pointed again to the flask, and she refilled the cup once more, but this time he held it without her assistance. When the flask was empty, through tired eyes he looked at her and raised his right paw to his chest – at the very tip of the spike – and bowed his head to her before lowering himself awkwardly onto the bedding, closing his eyes, and falling back asleep.
When she was sure of his slumber, she felt a wild desire to embrace the weakened creature – the Pokémon who had fought so hard and continued to do so for them and them alone, the creature who refused to die until their safety was ensured! She felt they didn't deserve such a noble protector, she felt that he had done nothing to deserve the suffering he was undergoing on their behalf! All she wanted to do was run out into the wide, open world and find some miracle cure that would relieve him of all his pain.
It would be the least she could do after all he had done.
"You okay?"
Rowan's voice spoke from directly beside her. She hadn't heard him approach.
"Yeah." She heard her own voice and looked away towards a rock beside her ankle,
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Silence reigned for several seconds.
Rowan went on softly,
"Hey. Ever since we were kids, you've always done your best, haven't you? No matter how impossible it seemed, you always wanted to at least try. We've used everything we have on us – treated him every way we could think of – and used exactly what he told us to. We've done everything we can for him – and done it all perfectly. Seriously, Sally, think back to that exact second he blacked out and all the way to now and tell me if we made even one little mistake."
She wiped her nose roughly on her sleeve and forced her face into a painful smile.
"I know, I know. I'm fine, Rowan, honestly. What're you doing up? Thought you were sound asleep."
"Yeah, I was."
"So why are you awake?"
"Because I woke up? Do I need a reason?"
"You should rest. That thing got you good."
"Nah. I had it all under control."
"Oh really?"
"Absolutely. That was all a part of my master plan: let him think I was beaten, then make a big comeback the second he dropped his guard."
She laughed.
"You're stupid," she said, though it was not an insult.
"How's your head?" she asked, trying to see the bandage she had tied.
"Better," he replied, "Stings a little, but I'm pretty sure it's alright now."
"I really hope so. The poor thing must feel neglected enough as it is – wouldn't do if part of it couldn't even work right anymore."
"Hey!"
He jabbed her arm with his fist and she retaliated with a punch of her own.
Presently they decided it would be best for them to leave their guide in peace, and moved away towards the mouth of the cave and sat across from each other, looking out into the horizon.
"So, what was it like?" Rowan asked, "The fight," he added when she looked puzzled, "Must've been epic. A Pokémon fighting another Pokémon! What was it like?"
She couldn't remember clearly, for all that he pestered her for details. All she remembered was her own overwhelming fear; fear of her own battered, injured body that had shackled her to the spot, fear for the condition of Rowan, fear for the condition of Howl who, after losing so much vitality had fought ferociously against their attacker, and above all, what was going to happen. Was the attacker going to be fended off, or was it going to overpower their protector and go for them next? That was all she remembered thinking and feeling at the time, though she told Rowan none of it. Eventually he gave up on the subject and reached into his satchel for something.
"Oh, no way!" he exclaimed suddenly, receiving a hiss of silence from her, but to no avail.
"What?" she asked as his face lit up with excitement.
"I can't believe it didn't get smashed!" he said, pulling a long object wrapped in a paper bag out and staring joyously at it before pulling its concealment away.
"Seriously! Falling down that slope, getting thrown around by a Pokémon, and still…! Must be sign. Or karma. Somethin'."
"What… Rowan – is that–"
He paused, the darkly-coloured bottle an inch away from his lips.
"…liquor?" she finished.
He glanced between her and the bottle briefly before answering,
"No."
She frowned and made to lean closer to see it, but he sipped the bottle quickly and hid the label behind his hand.
"You've just had liquor on you this whole time?" she asked dryly.
"It's not liquor!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it actually is."
"N-No, it…! All right, OK, yes, it is!" he cried and she shushed him again.
"Okay, yeah, it is. You got me. So what?"
"I'm fairly positive that drinking after suffering a blow to the head is not a good idea."
"I told you, I'm fine! It doesn't hurt anymore, and it's not even bleeding now! Look-"
He lifted the bandage for her to see.
"Okay? Sheesh, I thought you'd be cool about this…"
"Rowan, it's not just that… You're underage."
"So?! We're both X-marked criminals – As far as the law's concerned, we're both traitors to our entire species! Nobody's gonna care about a little drinking if we get caught!"
He brought the bottle to his lips and tipped it back heavily, swallowing audibly for about three seconds before gagging and letting it down, trying his best to look unperturbed.
"Rowan…" said Sally wearily, "No. Just no. I'm the responsible adult here-"
"Responsible," he scoffed, "Yeah, right."
"-and I really shouldn't be condoning this," she went on.
"Whatever."
He drank some more of the bottle's contents, though at a much slower, more cautious pace, and thanks to that he was able to make out Sally's tone.
"Rowan? I really shouldn't be condoning this."
He glanced towards her, saw her expression, and hesitated. Then he groaned and hung his head, holding the bottle out to her.
"Thanks, buddy," she said sweetly, taking it from him and knocking it back herself.
Rowan watched irritably as more and more of the dark liquid was steadily drained away, crossing below half-full in merely a matter of seconds.
"Ah, come on!" he cried desperately as even more continued to disappear, and at last Sally stopped for air, smacked her lips and said nonchalantly,
"Good stuff," handing it back to him.
Hardly a quarter of the bottle remained filled.
"I…!" Rowan stammered in pure disbelief, "…I hate you."
"Oh please," she scoffed, " I could've drained the whole thing if I wanted to. In fact, maybe I should have, now that I think about it…"
"How are you a responsible adult?!" Rowan demanded, and when she gave no reply, he lifted the bottle back to his lips and muttered, "How?" before continuing to sip at a significantly slower pace.
Sally looked into the dark cave and felt her thoughts returning once again to the thinly-buried fear that still remained. What was going to happen to them? How long would they be in this cave for? Was Howl going to recover? If not, what would happen to The Forest? Would they alone be responsible for the downfall of The Forest and its Guardian?
'No!' she told herself as they felt the wind begin to push droplets of the returning rain into their unsuspecting midst,
'That won't happen. I don't care what we have to do or how long it takes. I won't let it happen!'
She heard Rowan mention something about moving further in, out of the rain's reach, and she agreed, only-half aware of what she was saying.
The guild members climbed the ladder out into the open first with Wigglytuff leading the way, Chatot flying above their heads, and Howl at the rear.
"Okay, everyone!" said the Guildmaster as the group stood in a circle at the cliff-top, Diglett and Dugtrio surfacing out of the ground among them simultaneously,
"We'll have to split into pairs, spread out and find Illume ASAP. Remember, Giratina shouldn't know we're back here, but then again, he clearly doesn't think like most Pokémon, so we shouldn't take chances. Do not – I repeat – do not call out unless youabsolutelyhave to! Far as we know, he could be above us right this very second, waiting. So, Loudred, I'm afraid you're just going to have to make no vocal sounds whatsoever."
The gargantuan-mouthed Pokémon nodded his great head.
"UNDERSTOO-"
Before anybody could shush him, Loudred's eyes went wide and in a few short seconds, he slapped his hands over his mouth, regained his composure, brushed imaginary dust off his chest and nodded firmly.
"The timer starts as soon as we reach the foot of the cliff," Wigglytuff went on resolutely, "You are to search your designated locations as thoroughly and quickly as you can, and be on guard as you do! We have precisely ten minutes to find Illume. If any pair finds her, you are to keep her where she is at all costs. The fact that she snuck out while being severely injured proves how well she's coping with all this… and how unlikely she is to follow orders when we find her. If any pair has not returned when we regroup at the foot of the cliff, we'll assume they have either found her or are in some kind of trouble, and will head to their designated location immediately! Ten minutes for each of us. We can't afford to risk using our Moves as a signal or making a lot of noise, and we must be quick! Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" they all replied.
"Good.
Sunflora and Bidoof: you two search the main square of the town.
Loudred and Corphish: you two head down to the beach and check the cave.
Diglett-"
"Wherever my son goes, I am going with him!" said Dugtrio suddenly and aggressively.
"I was going to tell you two to go together and search the north-eastern outskirts of town," said Wigglytuff before continuing to dole out his instructions,
"Chimecho and Croagunk: you two are to head for the south-eastern side outside of town, and, Chatot: I want you to stick to the path and try to shift between Diglett, Dugtrio, Chimecho and Croagunk's groups to cover the space between them.
And, Howl; you're with me," he said at last, turning to face him, "We'll take the far-side of town and Sharpedo Bluff."
The Guildmaster heard the hushed wave of muttering that seemed to pass between the guild members, and turned to face them all with a sombre expression.
"Yes, everyone," he said quietly, "Yes. This is Howl. He's late; very late, but he didn'tbreak his word. Our hellos can wait until we locate our missing comrade."
The guild members seemed to rouse themselves, and Howl tore his gaze away as Wigglytuff lead him to the forefront of their formation and down the steps of the cliff.
As they hurried down the stone steps, Chatot suddenly flew in and began a hushed conversation with Wigglytuff. Though he tried to hear what was being said, Howl could not make out a word through the rushing air over his ears. Though at one point he heard quite distinctly,
"No, Chatot! I don't want to!"
"I don't want to either, Wigglytuff! Of course I don't! But if it comes to it, then there is simply no other way…"
And with that, their talk had returned to silence, and so it had continued right until the final steps came into view.
"Everyone."
Wigglytuff slowed to a sudden halt as he drew onto level ground and turned back to them as they struggled to stop themselves also.
Chatot hovered beside him and eyed the Guildmaster as he drew his eyes from his own feet and began shakily,
"I-If it… comes to it… If something happens that turns the tides completely against us – If it turns out that Giratina is here, and he finds out we're here too…" His voice tailed away, and his one visible eye clamped shut until Chatot said in a nurturing tone, "Go on."
Wigglytuff drew a breath, and shaped his expression into a cold, determined, and commanding one and spoke with a voice to equal it,
"…then you areallto make a retreatimmediatelyout of town. With or without Illume, you run. You flee with your lives."
The protest had barely even begun before Chatot said sharply,
"All of you, get a grip! It has to be this way! You were all there. You saw what Giratina's troops were like. You saw what he did to our poor town. It is cruel enough that we would even have to consider-"
"It is cruel enough that we would even consider abandoning our comrade!" cried Dugtrio indignantly, "It is shameful!"
"Illume saved my life when they attacked, she did!" said Bidoof.
"Enough!"
It was Wigglytuff who had demanded for silence.
"My friends… please… Not a single one of us wants this. Our goal in this search is to returnwithIllume! But if we really are to lose a comrade… don't make it worse by throwing your own life away. One loss is terrible enough."
The faces of the gathered Pokémon were all frozen in silent horror. But none more so than the face of the Pokémon who stood directly before the Guildmaster in a trance: his red eyes wide in total disbelief as to what he was hearing.
"Now, everyone! Move out! Let's find our Monferno comrade and get out of here for good!"
The guild members moved like a dividing current and hurried towards their designated areas, the fleeting glimpses of their faces that could be seen filled with a wild – almost furious determination, as though each and every one of them was fully intent on disobeying the cruelty of the order they had been given. But Wigglytuff and Chatot knew they wouldn't.
"Howl?"
Howl blinked and met his gaze. They stared in silence at each other, then Wigglytuff said,
"C'mon!" and made way for the far end of town, the recruit overtaking him immediately and sprinting across the centre and past Sunflora and Bidoof as they began their own searches, his mind a fire like the cursed blaze that still burned on the charred homes all around.
As they crossed the bridge, Wigglytuff took a left turn and checked the tent that had been owned by a merchant and proclaimed fortune-teller Pokémon, Xatu, and Howl saw him disappear below the ground to search the Pokémon's home. Or rather… what hadbeenhis home. For Xatu was gone. He had fled along with the recruits. Fled along with the Kecleon Brothers – whose supply store had been nothing short of life-saving to the guild Pokémon. Fled along with Kangaskhan – the most motherly Pokémon that the town had ever known, and who had loved and fussed over the recruits to no end. Whenever one had fallen ill or wounded or had just been in great need of comfort, it was a guarantee that Kangaskhan would always be the one to treat them until they were better. Years upon years of memories rattled through his brain. Memories of laughter, anger, and a seemingly endless current of happiness fought through to the centre of his mind as he searched the shops and the underground homes beneath the wreckage that stood above. After everything they had done for him, he had still done nothing to repay their kindness. No, all he had done was leave. Leave for his own selfish reasons, and return when it was too late.
He resurfaced and looked around. The Guildmaster had still not finished searching Xatu's home. The only place that remained to them was Sharpedo Bluff.
As he sprinted up to the very edge and looked out across the sea, he saw two red and blue specs that he recognised as Corphish and Loudred exiting the beach cave. They had not found Illume, and neither had he. There was nothing but two short rows of trees for cover on the bluff, and he didn't care how much Illume had apparently changed, he knew she smarter than to hide there.
He looked back over his shoulder and saw that Wigglytuff had finally completed his own search, and that he had no-one at his side. He waved an arm to him, beckoning, and Howl began to make way towards him. Their search had ended in failure, but as far as they knew, it had not done so for the others. The only thing they could do now was regroup.
A twig snapped underneath his foot, and with it came a sudden jolt to his brain. A feeling almost identical to how he felt at that very moment stirred within his memory. He had experienced something like this before, at the Kecleon Brothers' market. He remembered – as the little Riolu he'd been – poking his head over the counter and asking if the two had seen Kangaskhan, as she had not been at her home. The two had said that she had been consoling one of his fellow recruits, and at that exact moment he'd heard a twig snap just like in the present, and he'd looked to see Kangaskhan and Illume – as a Chimchar – walking side-by-side back along the path from Sharpedo Bluff. But Howl had seen the place clearly on his way through the town! He'd immediately spoken to Kangaskhan at the time, but realised now just how much it had baffled him! It was as though the two had just reappeared out of nowhere!
Slowly, he looked back over his shoulder began and searched the place more scrupulously, checking between the small trees, gazing up into their canopies and even feeling along the ground. And as he drew close to the shrub that the path curved around, something reached his notice. The shrub! Could it be?
He reached beneath its prickly thorns and felt the space below it, and what he found was something quite unlike solid earth! He located some leverage and pulled until the shrub was broken away from its roots. What he saw came as little more than a shock. The way that the shrub's roots had been forced to grow at such an angle so that it did not block off the stairway, but still used the greenery to hide it from view. And he realised: it had been grown at an angle to allow one to lift the plant out of the way without removing it completely as he had done!
"Wow, Kangaskhan…" he thought out-loud. He would never, in all his wildest dreams, have expected such a docile Pokémon to be so crafty. He dropped the shrub to one side, moved round to the top of the stairs, and made his way down them, into the ground of Sharpedo Bluff.
The moment the sound of the wind whistling around the bluff was silenced, Howl was on his guard. This hidden, underground place was not deserted.
There was somebody else ahead. Somebody else; waiting, lurking. Someone ahead was…
He stopped and listened more closely.
…Crying?
The alarm and realisation of what this meant caused a split-second's reaction to mislead his foot and push a rock down the step and clatter with an echo directly towards the stranger's ears, silencing their sobs.
"Illume?" he asked as loudly as he dared. "Illume! Please respond!"
He treaded forwards deftly, so silently even he could not hear his own footsteps, then he reached the entrance, backed against the wall and dipped his head around the corner before immediately pulling it back behind cover. He had seen no-one there. But how could that be? He braced his stance, leaned forwards slightly and looked up towards the ceiling just as a column of dust fell from directly above. In an instant, he knew he was in danger and leapt forward into the room as someone lunged down from the ceiling and struck at the place his head had been. The Pokémon who had struck hissed, and the ball of flame at the tip of her tail flared angrily as she stood before the doorway, claws shining at the ends of her fingers.
"Illume…!"
The word had barely left his mouth when it was met with a response livid with hatred.
"Get out."
Before he could say any more, his partner's arms were enveloped in red-hot fire and she ran at him, claws at the ready.
"Get out!"
Howl leapt to the side and continued to dodge away as she followed after him, remembering in the back of his mind what Fire-Type attacks meant for him now. Along with his evolution, he'd gained another Type with his power, causing certain areas of bone – forearms, legs, claws, and those protecting vital organs – to be covered with a metallic surface so that he was now a FightingandSteel-Type. And nothing spelled danger to metal quite like heat.
"Shadow scum!" Illume bellowed, "Get out of our town!"
She positioned her legs in a familiar stance and leapt forward for a kick, but Howl had been ready and grabbed the limb with both arms and hurled it upwards with so much newfound strength that she was flipped upside-down in mid-air, and an easy target for him to strike with Force Palm and send her straight into the opposite wall.
He yelled at her to stand down, but she seemed not to hear as she recovered her footing almost immediately and ran at him again. They wrestled within the cliff, striking, evading, parrying and countering until at last Illume's Move met with his own between them and the collision of their power sent each of them flying backwards into the walls.
Howl struggled upright and saw that Illume was already preparing to attack again and he thrust out his palms.
"Illume, stop! STOP!"
His partner's feet skidded along the floor and she recoiled, her expression full of anger and horrified alarm.
"What?!" she said, "You… You speak?
What… How… Giratina! You - Just how far does your cruelty extend?!"
"No, Illume!" Howl retorted, holding up his arms peaceably, "You're mistaken. I'm not… one of them. I'm just… I'm an outsider."
His partner glared warily.
"Who are you?"
"I'm not what's important right now," he said, "What are you doing here? Your comrades are looking everywhere for you. Why would you sneak out of wherever it is you were hiding?"
"You!" she spat, "I asked you who you were! Now answer me!"
His expression remained cold behind the fresh soot and ashes that still remained on his body, and eventually she answered.
"…It'shisfault. All of it. It's because of him that we're back here, waiting right under Giratina's nose, his fault that I got wounded in the fight and couldn't help the others – couldn't stop them from being taken down too. If he'd been here, we would've watched each-other's backs, just like always!"
Howl's insides plummeted, and he began to croak a reply, but then Illume strode towards the inner-wall of the bluff, opposite the side where the cliff opened like a mouth with teeth-like rocks framing the view of the sea.
"No," she said, "No. More than anything… it'smyfault for trusting him. Thinking he'd be here when I – whenwe needed him! I alone am responsible for bringing everyone back!"
"No…" he gagged, "Illume…!"
His childhood companion suddenly wailed and drove her fist straight into the rocky wall, leaving a visible crack in its surface that had not been there before.
"Why…!" she hissed,
"Why…? He said he'd come back. Hepromisedhe'd come back…!
All this time…
Not a single word from him, and all this time…!"
Suddenly Illume cried out – an anguished sound that did not do justice to the emotions that were flooding her, that had been building up for so long!
"HOWL!"
Her arms ablaze once more, Illume began to strike and pummel the wall before her, caving the rocks in bit by bit, all the while spewing verbal abuse at the Pokémon who had abandoned her. All her fears, all her doubts, all her suspicions – everything she had fought to repress on behalf of her childhood friend was let out for the world to hear;
Howl's evolution had made him hunger for more power;
Howl's evolution had made him want fame and glory as a warrior all for himself;
Howl's evolution had never even happened, and he had lost his life somehow along the journey;
And Howl's evolution had turned him into an irresistible Pokémon, and he had chosen another girl over the one whom he had sworn to that, no matter what, would remain his closest friend for all of time.
The Guildmaster stood silent in the doorway, unnoticed by either of them, and each of Illume's next words was punctuated with a strike at the wall which had now deepened by a whole two feet.
"Why – Won't – He – Come –BACK?!"
Illume fell to her knees, and Howl saw to his ever-deepening despair that she was crying! He'd not seen her cry for years!
His feet dragged across the floor as he forced himself to approach her and kneel directly at her side.
"Why…?" she whimpered, "All this time…! Waiting for so long…! He…promisedhe'd come back…!"
Howl put his arm around her shoulders, and when she looked at him, he made his way towards a little stone drinking fountain that just happened to be there.
"He will come back," he said, his voice surprisingly steady, "He will. You mean…everythingto him."
"No!" Wigglytuff suddenly said from the doorway,
"Stop! Er, Stranger! Don't!"
But Howl filled his paws with the clear liquid and began to splash it across his muzzle, working to remove the smallest mote of soot from every strand of fur on his face.
"When you first found him, a weak, frightened Riolu out in the middle of nowhere," he continued, "you did for him what so many others wouldn't. You took him in. You let him stay with you when you had no idea who he even was. You didn't see a potential threat. All you saw was someone who needed help."
"-Stop-!"
"-Neither of you had any family. Nobody else to turn to. You grew up together, trained in a guild together, and beat the odds countless times-"
"-HOWL, STOP-!"
Ignoring the Guildmaster's orders, Howl turned slowly to meet the eye of his attacker, his comrade, his childhood friend and went on without pause,
"If he had even a shred of decency… he would never abandon you. He would notallowhimself to get killed. No 'other girl' could ever be as important to me as the closest thing to a sister I have."
Words were beyond her. Her expression was inscrutable. Her entire body perfectly still.
His paw clutched the stone fountain.
"Illume… the words have come far too late, and they may mean nothing to you, but still… they're all I have.
If I could makeany of this up to you by apologising, I'd apologise for the rest of my days, if that's what it took. If I could just - go back and tell myself tonotleave, tonotevolve, I'd do it without hesitating and never look back. After everything this world has put you through already, you deserve better than me. I can't even begin to repay the kindness you've shown me.
I'm… sorry."
Whatever she had said or done in response to this was a blur to him. Whatever had transpired after the phenomenal stretch of silence was unclear. All he remembered was a blinding pain slashing across the right of his face and being hurtled across the room until his back landed hard against the teeth of the Sharpedo formation that the bluff was named for. Wigglytuff had been calling names into the air and Howl had instinctively rolled out of harm's way as a flaming creature lunged at him, her claws searching for a point to bury themselves deep into his flesh.
The Guildmaster's exclamation of horror brought him to his senses and he looked around. His attacker had disappeared. Before his tired brain had time to wonder, he heard a sound that wrenched him from the depths of mental fatigue. The distant sound of someone landing hard into the water far below.
"ILLUME!"
Back a few steps, running at full speed, and leaping out of the rocky maw. That was all he remembered doing as he too fell hard into the sea and began to drive himself deeper in, a miniscule spec of flame below catching his unharmed, open left eye.