The weather next morning did not look favorable in our perspective. The sky was overcast with rolling and tumbling dark clouds, the smell of rain heavy in the air. Judging by the size of the oncoming forbearing blanket of rain, I could tell that this was not going to be a light drizzle. Mandite noticed it too, as he fitted himself into armor.
"C'mon," he said, hoisting his backpack onto his head, "before the rain catches up to us – we want to cover as much ground as possible." Aurora and I followed Mandite's ascent up yet another mountain top. The rocky slopes were barren, devoid of life and anything but us and the rock that constructed it. We cleared the peak and began our descent, carefully watching each other's footsteps to ensure that someone will be aware if one of us slipped and could do something about it. It was a rather steep decline, and harsh on the feet. Wincing from the pain on the bottom of my feet, I began to envy Mandite's protective shoes. Even worse, the first drops of the rain fell, making the ground slippery and dangerous. But, all three of us being very adept to such difficulties, kept skidding down the mountain side. I glanced at the other two to make sure they were doing fine; Mandite could practically roll down the mountain if he fell, or use his cape to transport himself down to the bottom of this mountain if he slipped, so I suppose he was all right for now. I looked back at Aurora. Her body seemed to be easily running down the mountainside, knowing what foot hold to take seemingly by pure instinct. There was no hard concentration on her part – all the maneuvers she has performed to keep herself in balance at such a slop and terrain was done like it was natural. Well, I suppose she has some reason for that – she was part of the terrestrial colony of lucarios, so they lived and traveled about the mountain ranges all their lives. I turned my gaze away to focus where I was putting my feet.
"Let's go this way," Mandite yelled to us, "I think I see something." By now, the rain had turned into a hazy drizzle, the sight around us slowly being enfolded into the hands of a gray fog. I closed my eyes, so that my aura vision can peer through the blanketing grays and see Mandite and Aurora clearly. I just have to trust Mandite to lead me down the right path, for I couldn't see rocks very well being that they did not posses aura. So, I followed Mandite's exact path across the rocky terrain. Up ahead, somewhere at a high point farther down the path Mandite was taking was a thick source of aura. I could feel the energy radiating from that powerful source.
"Mandite!" Aurora cried from behind me through the thickening rainfall. Mandite turned around, his yellow eyes peering out from the hole in his gleaming mask.
"Stop! Don't go any farther!" she cried. I could see Mandite turn around, his yellow eyes disappear, and then turned back towards us. I knew he was trying to register something in his mind.
"It will support me for a little bit!" he called back, and before Aurora could say something else, the little warrior tossed his back pack to me, and dashed off. I caught the heavy, sodden load, and stepped to follow him.
"Lucario, don't!" I turned around to see Aurora's eyes, a firm paw on my arm. The flaming magenta fire showed great concern, and anxiety through all its dancing spectacle. The way her expression was hard, and her burning eyes were intense made me stop my movements to follow Mandite. Around us, the storm's worst was finally evident as thunder boomed throughout the mountainside. The wind was picking up, and lightning tore across the sky, but Aurora remained undaunted. She had let go of my arm to watch Mandite climb a precarious, jagged outcrop jutting from the mist towards something I could barely see through my eyes, but I felt that it was the source of aura I had seen earlier. I followed the figure up the outcropping.
"Shouldn't we help him?" I asked Aurora, who kept her eyes on Mandite.
"It's not safe," she said, "the path he takes is too weak to support neither of us." I looked at the rocky ground just beyond my feet, and realized we were standing close to the edge of a thinned cliff, in which great gashes further crippled the weak slab of stone. I stepped back a little, and then watched Mandite with greater concern. He must be careful, because I am quite sure the drop wouldn't be too pleasant for him. The figure had stopped shortly all of a sudden, and started to run back at a really fast rate. It was only seconds when we could see the gleam of Mandite's mask again, and he was yelling at us,
"GET DOWN, GET DOWN!!!!" waving his arms to signal to us to run. Just then, I could feel the ends of my fur raise and prickle. Before we had enough time to react, a bright, jagged ribbon of light shot down from the black sky and struck the ground just behind Mandite. The force from such a great power sent pieces of rock into the air. All three of us were blown back from the shock wave just as the shards of rock had. I felt myself land onto the ragged stone, and immediately rolled sideways and onto my feet. There was a sharp, stinging sensation spreading across my back as I looked around for my other two companions. Turning around, I found nothing in the dank scene. At once, I closed my eyes, and the world melted to darkness, with hints of blue here and there. Again, I scanned the sight, and this time, I found a figure lying still on the ground below the ledge I was standing on. Oh no...
"Aurora!" I leaped down, landing on my two feet, and ran towards her. Just beyond me, I saw her stir. I reopened my eyes, and knelt beside Aurora, whose magenta eyes were flickering brightly in the gloom, her face contorted with pain.
"Aurora," I panted, relieved to know she was alive, "are you hurt?"
"Where's Mandite?" she asked feebly, ignoring my question. I was about to answer that I didn't know yet, but the way her eyes demanded to know how Mandite was as soon as possible made me change my answer.
"I'll find him," I answered patting her paw reassuringly, "stay here." And, as promised, I got up, and started my search for Mandite. Luckily for me, it didn't take too long. I was running across the edge of a crevice in the mountain when I heard a loud voice call to me.
"Where have you been?!" I turned around to see Mandite running behind me, "I was looking all over for you!" The puffball caught up to me, readjusting his mask.
"Now," he said, his breathing somewhat labored, "where's Aurora?"
"Back there," I gestured with a jerk of my head, "follow me." And so we ran back to where Aurora was trying to get back to her feet. As we came closer, I could tell something was wrong. As soon as Aurora tried to stand, she crumbled back down with a pained wail.
"She must've hurt her foot or something," Mandite muttered, as soon as he saw that. When I reached her side, I could here soft whimpers coming from her as she lay curled up on the cold, rough ground, with one foot sticking out in an awkward position. I knelt down by her side, and gently coaxed her to lay on the ground straight, facing up. Her left foot was painfully twisted so that it pointed inwards, touching the heel of her right foot.
"We gotta find some cover," Mandite said, turning around so he got a good scan of the place, "I'll go and come back when I find something, okay? Stay here." Mandite dropped his backpack (in which he recovered after the lightning strike) on the ground beside me, and took off, quickly running out of sight. I blinked some rainwater from my eyes, and took the backpack to use to prop Aurora's head up. I then crawled over to her injured foot for a better look at it. I took it delicately with my two paws and examined it.
"How did this happen?" I asked her, looking up to see her face. Aurora sat up, using her two arms to support herself. Lightning from the sky illuminated the shadowed area of her pained expression.
"I fell on it," she said, gritting her teeth and wincing. I placed her foot down slowly and carefully.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" I asked crawling back over to her side. Aurora glanced down at her body briefly, and then looked up at me.
"I don't think so," she replied, and leaned back on the backpack again. My paw reached out for hers, and Aurora took it, squeezing it from pain. At that moment, our eyes locked in on each other's, for once in a long time actually looking beyond just the pupils and into each other's feelings. It was truly by accident, but the outcome was an intense moment, not delicate as of before in which the rustle of leaves from the sighs of a zephyr could disturb it. There was thunder ravaging around us, and pelting rain against our fur. I don't know why I or she didn't look away, but we kept gazing without knowing what purpose it had in such action. My heart stirred within the depths of my feelings, but I didn't say a word. At the moment, I was too consumed by staring at Aurora's eyes, the flickering patterns puzzling me. Somehow, I could tell something was affecting her greatly, suddenly looking at me with some great, wide-eyed emotion. I don't know how to describe what I saw in those beautiful eyes, nor the confused feeling I felt when I saw that expression. Finally, I tore the chains that had my vision locked with hers, bowing my head to think, and so that Aurora couldn't see that I was embarrassed. At the current, there was no time for awkward silences for long pauses to reflect – Aurora was injured, and we were both soaked to the skin, our blue, black, and cream colored furs heavily weighted down with rain. I probably looked rather silly at the moment, come to think of it, with my fur all disarrayed and drooping. Aurora, on the other hand, seemed to be just as lovely as any other perfect day. Realizing that my mind had wandered again, I snapped my focus back to Aurora's condition.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked her. Aurora looked up at me, and I saw a glimpse in her eyes that made a clouding effect. Light, pink hues of smoke quickly frosted Aurora's eyes with swirling mist. Just as quickly as it came, it disappeared from view, engulfed by the regular fuchsia brand of fire. The expression she wore on her face made it impossible to tell how she felt at the moment – I couldn't even get a clue if she was feeling happy, sad, or anything at all. It wasn't a blank look, but I couldn't link it with any emotion at all. Aurora's face was set like that for the briefest instant, before she blinked and she looked quizzically at me.
"I don't know," she answered softly, "it's only my foot..."
"HEY!" My ears pricked up to the sound of a voice I longed to hear, for the voice would bring tidings of a dryer location and aid for Aurora. Mandite was running towards us, without his armor on.
"I found a cave," he called, stopping short to retrieve his backpack from under Aurora's head before turning around and running back, "follow me!"
"Well, wait up!" Aurora called back to Mandite, in which the little warrior replied in an inaudible shout through the deafening storm. I knelt on one knee, and scooped Aurora up the best I could without hurting her. I stood up, and looked down at her wide-eyed face. It would be difficult to remain somewhat agile with the use of two arms if I carried her like this.
"It may be better if you would hang on to my shoulders instead," I said, and Aurora nodded in agreement. I helped her move onto my back, where she wrapped both of her arms around my neck. I winced a little – the spike on her chest was poking uncomfortably into my back.
"Could you possibly leave a little space between..." Aurora knew what I was talking about. She used her knees to hold tight to my sides so she could lean back a little. The piercing feeling subsided, and I began to run down the side of the mountain, where Mandite had waited for us. Careful with Aurora's hurt foot, I followed Mandite across a ledge overlooking a narrow ravine, and up a pile of rocks that had fallen from the top of the mountain and lain to rest here. The three of us passed into a narrow crevice split in the great mountain. The tight walls, shiny, cold, and wet from the downpour, soon opened up to form a more spacious crater, with high, protective boundaries of stone. I stared upwards, feeling very small compared to the surrounding, towering walls.
"In here!" Mandite hissed, gesturing with a wave of his hand, and turned back. The child trotted over to where the collected rain ran down over the edge of an overhang, creating a tiny waterfall. Mandite went through the water and disappeared. I watched that spot for a while, not knowing what to do; cautiously, I approached, with Aurora still clinging to my back.
"Well," I heard Mandite's voice echo out from behind the smooth sheet of liquid, "what are you waiting for? It's perfectly dry here!" With that said, I bent down and passed underneath the cool, flowing boundary and set foot of cold but dry stone, worn smooth by water long ago. Perhaps it wasn't the most inviting place in the world; the cave ceiling was so low that I couldn't stand straight in it, and the whole place was succumbed by cold, heavy shadows. However, for the weary and wet travelers, this was perfectly fine. Before settling down to sit on the cold floor, Mandite performed the water-transporting technique with his cape, making each landing perfect and exiting out the cave with a flourish of his cape. Now that we and the rest of the belongings were nice and dry, we felt much more comfortable, and quickly attended to Aurora. But there was a problem.
"How are you going to treat her if it is dark?" I asked, and the lids over the bobbing yellow spots flattened in an unamused tone.
"I still can see, ya know," Mandite said, "you guys have really poor eyesight."
"Or you have really good eyesight," Aurora countered, and Mandite didn't say anything else. I had a feeling he was musing to himself, pleased. However, I couldn't see, so I couldn't really help. That left me with a deep pit that was siphoning my feelings from me. I wanted to help, and I want to make sure Aurora would be okay. I shifted my position in seating, uncomfortably.
"Is there any way I can help?" I asked to the glowing pair of amber eyes, which was busy looking through the newly dried backpack. My ears picked up the sound of a cloth being pulled out of the backpack.
"See?" Mandite exclaimed, obviously pleased with himself, "I knew it was good to bring gauze!" The yellow eyes bobbed over to where Aurora was laid down to rest. Even though they didn't produce their own light, Aurora's eyes were exceptionally capable of magnifying and reflecting the tiniest amount of light available. Her eyes had soft, red-violet embers adrift like tiny stars sifting in deep fuchsia nebulae. I raised my head to look at Mandite. It didn't seem like he acknowledged my question earlier, so I asked again.
"Could I -"
"I heard you the first time, Lucario," Mandite said, cutting my words short, "but I have to see what kind of injury this is first." In the dim light made by the lightning outside, I could see Mandite lift Aurora's twisted foot to investigate it closely. Aurora whimpered a little – I reached out and held her paw for comfort.
"Just as I thought," Mandite muttered to himself, placing the foot down carefully while tutting in disapproval, "Lucario, you've just been hired for an important job."
"It's gonna be a tough one," Mandite warned me, his eyes flashing a bright, jade color, "are you up to it?"
"I am," I nodded sharply.
"Good," Mandite said happily, "because you were gonna do it anyways." Mandite stood at Aurora's feet, casting a long, dark shadow along the cave ground and onto the walls every time lighting broke through the sky. With determined yellow eyes, devilish wings and hands behind the back, Mandite looked extremely sinister, as if something unfortunate was bound to happen. Aurora tensed, gripping my paw tightly.
"You are supposed to relax," Mandite said gravely, staying uncannily still. Aurora whimpered again, not feeling anymore relaxed. Without a warning, Mandite started to laugh – not an evil laugh, but just his normal, sing-song laugh.
"It's not that bad," he said reassuringly, "I'm not going to cut off you're foot, if that's what you're thinking. The whole process should take only a minute." With the sound of easygoing laughter warming the mood, Aurora relaxed, a small sigh of relief escaping her mouth. Mandite clapped his hands together.
"Now Lucario," Mandite instructed me, "you are going to hold Aurora so that she cannot struggle." The grip on my paw tightened again, and I gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Aurora dislocated her foot," he stated matter of factly, "and it is with the utmost importance that you must hold her down." I stared, not sure what to think of what will come next. Mandite shot a glare at me.
"Got that?" I could only nod, and trust Mandite. He had never let us down before. I wrapped my arms around Aurora's body, and held my paws tightly together, trying to make sure that my spike wasn't prodding into her back, as I shifted her onto my lap. I realized I felt rather awkward at the moment, holding Aurora like this. I felt my face flush with blood.
"Forgive me," I whispered in her ear. I felt the soft tip of her tail mingle with my own. Too nervous to say anything, she probably meant her gesture as forgiving. Mandite, perhaps seeing the fear in her eyes or the tightness of her muscles, gave a noticeable sigh of mock impatience.
"Stay calm Aurora," he said, "or else this would never work – you're making it more complicated than it is." Aurora loosened – only a little bit.
"Okay Lucario," Mandite said to me, "I am going to pull Aurora's foot to pop it back into position, all right? Whatever you do, don't let go!" I nodded, showing him that I understood.
"I pull on the count of three, so brace yourselves" Mandite told us, picking up Aurora's foot, "One, two, thr -" The three was drowned out by Aurora's pained wail. The sound of her voice petrified my heart, and my grip slackened so that Aurora was pulled somewhat out of my grasp. Immediately, as I looked at Aurora whimpering, I knew I hadn't done my job. But now I knew how hard this task was supposed to be – now, I must grit my own teeth and hear Aurora in incredible pain without flinching.
"Lucario!" Mandite yelled as he waved his arms.
"I know, I know, Mandite!" I said, stopping the volley of rants that was about to spew, "I promise I won't let go this time." Mandite glared at me.
"I certainly hope so," he said, "Now, let's try again." Aurora seemed to shed a single tear, but no more. I helped her into her previous seat in my lap, and folded my arms tight around her once more.
"Okay," Mandite said, lifting the foot up, "One, two, thr -" Aurora cried out even louder, but this time I only held to her tighter, hoping that the foot will find its way to its socket soon. Literally a second later, there was a loud "pop!" as the ankle joint finally met again with the foot, and Aurora sighed with ease. Mandite deftly wound the ankle with a thick roll of the gauze he had brought.
"Thank you, guys," Aurora spoke softly. Mandite only shrugged his wings as he tied a firm knot.
"No problem-o," he answered, giving the wrapped ankle a reassuring pat, "now don't walk on this just yet – it still needs to heal the old-fashioned way." Aurora nodded. Gently, I set her to the side of me, so that she leaned comfortably against a boulder that found its way into the cave we were in. Now that boulder lies in shelter from the elements, just as we were now. There was not a sound, except for the tranquil rushing of the water that formed a delicate barrier from the violent world on the outside. I caught a glance from her looking at me and I quickly smiled before turning to look at a grumbling Mandite two yards away at the other end of the cave; I suppose there was a new sound to listen to.
"You guys are lucky for packaged goods," he mumbled, holding up a plastic-wrapped fortune cookie, before returning it into the bottomless gloom of the bag, "Almost all the other food is wet – thank goodness Aurora's head kept the bread dry." I suppose not all is saved from moisture by the magical cape.
I don't know how long time has passed since we had left from our nighttime establishment earlier in the day, nor the time it was in the day at current. All I knew, however long we have traveled, it had drained quite a bit on my energy. This was perhaps one of the most adventurous and eventful days this journey has seen so far. It was all exciting to the extent of fear, but next time - as I thought sympathetically about Aurora's ankle - I hope no one gets hurt. Sitting peacefully with my thoughts, myself leaning too against the boulder, I felt the day's adventure close, and rest lulled my mind. But, before I plan to close my eyes to perhaps get an hour's nap, I needed to ask Mandite something that had burned in my mind for a while.
"Mandite?" I called to him from across the cave. Even though the little warrior was at the opposite wall of our shelter, it was in the same proximity of the usual distance he sat when we gathered around the meager campfire and slept under the open sky. So, the fact Mandite was at the other side of the cave did not bother me at all. Mandite had been eating a piece of slightly soggy bread when he looked up at me.
"Hmm?" he asked, his mouth still full of wheat product, by the sound of it. I turned the question mentally in my mind.
"Before the lightning strike," I started slowly, "what were you following? What was it?" There was a long pause. Whether it was Mandite swallowing his food, or the simple act of thinking which may not have been so simple at all. I saw the yellow eyes blink once before Mandite finally spoke.
"It was a portal," he said wearily. I felt a jolt in my stomach; a portal? Could it be the very one that will take Mandite home? Not that these were happy thoughts, though – Mandite would be gone, and Aurora would go back to Zhoke. Even if my life was in danger by this journey, I am glad that I have decided to take Mandite home that one fateful night, or else such wonderful and dreadful memories of all three of us together may have never occurred. I hoped I could draw this journey out as long as I can, but Mandite is probably homesick, and Aurora wants her love, so there must be haste in my part. Thinking about this portal made me think that maybe we had ended this journey a little too soon.
"I know what you're thinking," Mandite said, with a little childish laugh, "but I won't be packing my bags and heading home just yet – that portal was sealed." Sealed?
"Even if I tried with all my might, I wouldn't be able to get through." Mandite explained, apparently seeing the question in my eyes, "This treasure-hunt isn't over yet, Lucario." It was a relief to me, to know that I still had more time with the two, but also a pain. I wonder how much longer Aurora could go on without Zhoke, and how much longer I was putting Mandite in danger? Mandite, on the other hand, didn't take the whole problem to thought, obliviously investigating what supplies had been ruined by the rain, humming some sort of tune to himself as he rummaged around his backpack. How much did he know? How much did Aurora know, I thought as I turned around to check on her. Aurora by now had fallen asleep, looking rather at home – how she felt at current might as well be another story. Her foot looked normal, asides the fact there was a bulbous white wrapping around the ankle. Her arms were folded peacefully on her stomach, which raised slowly up and down as she breathed. I smiled – at least I knew she was all right, and sleeping well.
For a long while I sat in silence and watched the shadows within the little cave wax and wane, slowly winding around each little nook and cranny. The storm outside had stopped to reveal a golden sunset that lit up the walls of the small compartment within the rock. Perhaps even more stunning was when the sunlight aligned just so with the remnant of the heavy rainfall earlier in the day so that the waterfall was transformed into falling, liquid gold, holding the brilliant radiation of the sun within a material smoother than silk. Breath-taking would be the word for it, I thought. But sadly, the moment did not last long enough for me to rouse Aurora or Mandite, whom had fallen asleep during my silent vigil.
There was not much I could do for the time being, so I decided I will go outside, to perhaps take a last glimpse of the sun before it pulled its indigo-cloud blankets for the night. I passed through the waterfall, the cool liquid slipping down my fur, and out into the clearing. Now that it was light outside, I could see the environment more clearly. In fact, it felt so clear that I was able to think with an open, fresh mind again. It was as if the rain had cleansed my thoughts, I mused. My eyes soon spotted a side of the rocky walls that I knew I could scale. And so I went, up the rocky surface with stupendous ease, my feet placed in comfortable holdings. Up and up I went, before I found my claw tips brushing the edge. With a last hoist, I climbed over to the top, where I was greeted with a sight for my sore eyes. Deep rolling valleys laid before me, and above a sky so vast and painted with streaks of pink hues, splashes of orange, spreads of gold, with the exuberant sun beams of bright light overlaying it all, each ray evident, clear, and resplendent. Along the horizon and surrounding the forested valley below, with the mist from the rain rising and curling into the air, were rugged, snowy peaks, each holding out a golden thumb, dipped with the richness of the atmosphere around them. Who knows who else may be out here, watching the sacred scene before me – if there was anyone, they didn't show themselves. So, it seemed to me, I was the only one here, me and with the high-altitude wind that combed its fingers in my fur.
For the very first time in the longest time, I was alone and truly with myself. As I stood here, I let the vigor of the past days fall, the stress of searching for a psychic phenomenon just became dust in the wind. The scent from the forest below, hinted with the moisture of wet earth filled me. Closing my eyes, I spread my arms out, and pressed my paws together pointing upward.
The start of tai chi, finally allowing my body to slow down and perform such task again with the combination of the glorious environment surrounding me, made me feel I had been reborn in some way. A new start – a new beginning. But what new day of my metaphoric year will this lead to? Maybe in time, I will know.
As for now, I am at peace.
And now I just realize how boring this story must be - I tend to write more detailed text about the tiniest details rather than put more effort into the action. I actually put a lot of effort into the action, but I just don't know how to make it better than its sucky state right now. Hopefully, I'll learn.
As I have said on my profile, this story will be finished sometime before I go on vacation, which is in the month of July.
So... Yay or nay? Rate and Review please!
I give my thanks to Lupyne, King Sparky, Opengunner, Slasher Mask, and of course to my new dA readers who had the courtesy to come here: PrimeHunter01, BoltFraction, and Anime-ani-ani... Sorry I forgot! ^^;
And of course, I give my utmost gratitude to you, the reader! Thank you!