"I don't care what you think, just as long as it's about me. The best of us can find happiness in misery" - Fall Out Boy "I Don't Care"

20 In a Flash

Misty stopped struggling, going limp in my arms. For a second I wondered if she was even conscious, but soon she asked that we let go of her. We obliged, and she sank to the ground, keeping her head down. I wondered what was going through her head, yet I valued my life too much to ask.

The bracelet had stopped emitting heat, but the strange rain still fell. It began to fall more frequently, splattering like tiny tidal waves every time one hit the ground. I could almost hear the whistle of missiles as they bombarded us.

Dawn was still on the ground, panting heavily. Tears streamed down her pretty face, her eyes swollen pitifully. She was baring her teeth in an attempt not to scream. "Get my bag," she said forcefully.

May and Drew exchanged a confused look. "What do you mean?" said May.

"My backpack, darn it!" She was trying really hard not to swear. "I need my backpack, so give it to me!"

Drew looked around before snatching it. He placed it in front of her, and Dawn immediately began rummaging through it with her good arm.

She pulled out several feet of bandaging. "Get me a stick," she commanded. "A stiff one." We searched around, but being on a mountain, there weren't many trees.

Misty stood up and pulled out her mallet. To my surprise she yanked off the hammer part, leaving only the handle. "Here," she said quietly.

Dawn took it gratefully. "Okay," she breathed. Sweat was pouring down her face, which was screwed up in pain. "Drew," she said, "I need you to take my arm, and move it to the right until I tell you to stop."

Biting his lip, Drew knelt down and pushed her arm. Dawn winced and gritted her teeth.

"Easy!" she yelled. "That hur-ur-urt!"

Drew ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I don't think we should be doing this," he said, worry all over his voice.

"Hey," Dawn snapped. "Did you have three years of medical training? Didn't think so. So you shouldn't be making decisions like that, I should. Now move the arm!"

He stared at her, astounded. Finally he placed his hands on her arm and gently moved it into place. Dawn winced and stuffed her hat in her mouth in an effort not to scream. "Stop!" she gasped, yanking the hat out. "Now hold it there, and put the stick like… that!" Dawn carefully orchestrated Drew's movements, guiding him as he bound her arm with Misty's mallet handle as a splint.

"Like that?" Drew asked warily. He was usually so confident, but when it came to dressing wounds, he seemed to know as much as a rock would.

Dawn glanced down at it. "Yeah, that'll work. Thank you, Drew."

May glared at Drew. She placed her hands on her hips and promptly looked away, outraged yet determined to remain silent.

Misty kept her head down, afraid of what might meet her eyes if she looked up. "I'm sorry, Dawn," she whispered. "I don't know what I was doing."

Dawn remained on the ground, staring at Misty in silence. Suddenly, she got to her feet and wrapped her arms around Misty in a forgiving hug. "That's okay," she murmured. "I did call you something awful."

Misty laughed uneasily. I couldn't believe it. I'd always known Misty would never hurt someone severely, but I had never expected her to feel guilty after action she took. Yet here she was, guilty as a criminal, and scared as one being led to the chair. I wanted to hug her, despite everything. But she was a little busy hugging Dawn. So I congratulated Pikachu instead.

"Great job, buddy," I said cheerily.

Pikachu's left ear shot up into the air, erect. "Pikachu!" he said with a smile.

"Hey," Max called. "It's still raining."

I looked up, and another fat drop landed in my eyes. I blinked away the water, but I didn't feel any irresistible urge to fight my friends. The enchantment on the water had been lifted.

But it hadn't stopped raining.

My wrist was dry in contrast to the rest of my body. The bracelet was acting up again. God, was there no end to these dangers?

"Something else is wrong," I announced.

Paul hissed angrily. "Great."

Dawn tested her newly mended arm. "What should we do then?" she questioned, falling right back into easygoing innocence.

"You're the one with medical training, you think of something," May snapped.

We paid her no mind.

Drew scooped up his bag. "We should try to find shelter," he suggested.

"There aren't a lot of caves around here," Brock pointed out. "We're going to have to split up if we're going to find a place to stay."

"NO!" everyone said together. Brock cringed away from our resounding answer.

"No matter what happens," said Misty, "we've got to stay together. If we don't, Yacaeli will kill us that much easier."

Max joined our conversation. "I agree with Misty. We have to get moving."

"Right," I consented. "We'll keep going up until we find shelter. Okay?"

They all nodded. We started walking in the rain, putting our backpacks and coats over our heads in an effort to stay dry.

It started raining harder, the drops getting bigger. Soon one drop to the head was enough to knock you out for a good thirty seconds. We rushed up the mountain, panicking. The drops were huge and they hurt.

"Can you hear that?" Max called.

"What?" Drew replied. He was at the front of our escapade, and with Max at the back, he couldn't hear him. The pounding of the rain probably just added to the hearing impairment.

"That sound!" yelled Max. His glasses were being hit by a raindrop every now and again, thus messing up his vision. The young boy clung to Brock like a dog. "That sound!"

I tried to listen for it, but all I could hear was the slapping of the rain. But the bracelet started heating up. My heart rate sped up a little. There was something bad up ahead, and I really didn't want to know what it was.

Suddenly, our procession stopped. I nearly ran into Misty and Drew. "Why are we stopping?" called Misty over the wind and rain.

"There's a big trench in the way!" May yelled.

"What?" asked Brock.

I kept my ears strained, trying to hear both the conversations behind and in front of me. I felt my face form into a scowl, because the voices were getting harder to hear.

Suddenly, I was aware of a new noise. A rushing sound was steadily getting louder. I looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

And then, I looked up.

It was barely in my vision, but I could see it. I was reminded of hot days, lying on the sidewalk with Gary and looking down the street from a horizontal position. If you were at the right height, it looked like water was coming up the road. I told my mom this, and she explained to me it was a mirage.

This was no mirage. I had an awful feeling that this was real.

The water from the rain had collected somewhere at the top of the mountain, and now it was cascading down on us. I started to panic, the heat of the bracelet mimicking my emotions. "Uh oh," was all I could say.

"RUN!" yelled Max.

Out of panic, everyone broke into a sprint, which wasn't the best idea in the world. The water was coming down the entire side of the mountain; running forwards didn't provide an escape. In an instant our feet were swept out from under us. I lurched sideways, the rush of water knocking me down.

Suddenly I was buried under the water and being pulled away by the current. The water was so high over my head that there was no way I could get a breath. Blindly, I dug my nails into the muddy ground, hoping to get an anchor. My fingers clawed across the ground. Panic shot through me when I felt my feet no longer in contact with the mountain, but hanging in the air. The fear of falling over three thousand feet was enough for my hands to dig into the mud up to the wrists.

The bracelet seared with heat, but I couldn't see anything in the murky water. My backpack tugged with the water, begging to be let free. My supply of air was dangerously low. There was a dull pain in my head that grew as I ran out of oxygen.

Random things floated by me, invisible until they practically hit me in the face. Most of them I couldn't make out, as they were just dark shapes. I didn't want to open my mouth for fear something nasty would float in.

My eyes were ready to pop. My heart and lungs were constricted beyond belief, all the air squeezed out of them. I bloated my cheeks in an effort to preserve the air, but as we all know, that never works. There was a choking sensation in my throat, and it was as if something in my head popped.

Suddenly, my lids felt heavy. Why bother fighting anymore? A blissful sleep was waiting for me; all I had to do was close my eyes…

You will not die here.

I jumped (which was pretty weird underwater). Where had that voice come from? The pain in my head was unbelievable, but I wasn't about to die without knowing who spoke the last words I would ever hear.

"Hello?" I tried to say, but I instantly regretted it. A stream of bubbles escaped my mouth, the last of my air.

Hush, child. You will be fine.

Two voices? Huh? One was a girl, I was certain, while the other was a man. I didn't know where they were coming from, but the burning in my chest distracted me before I could make another conclusion about the voices.

Calm down, said the girl voice. Don't let the water take you. A fire can survive a dowsing, but only if it has the strength to.

I knew this voice. Maybe I'd heard it in a dream or something. But I knew it.

With new determination, I dug my fists into the mud even deeper. The heat of the bracelet was dulled by the muck, but I could still feel it warming my skin. My head was ready to explode, my blood starting to boil. I couldn't see. Heck, I could hardly think. I wanted to die, just so I could breathe again.

It took me a moment to notice, but the current was slowing down. Light was starting to shine through the water, a sign I was getting closer to the surface. But… I hadn't moved! The water level must have been shrinking!

My lips smiled without my consent. I wanted to leap with joy. My head broke the surface and I sucked in air with relish. I was soaking wet and freezing in the chilly wind, but I was alive. My head still throbbed from the oxygen depletion, but I was glad it did. The pain meant I wasn't nearly as injured as I thought.

Actually, I wasn't too sure about that. Maybe it meant it was worse. I needed to check with Dawn.

I looked around. The walls of the mountain were still trickling with straggling streams that hadn't made it in time for the grand assault. The trail we had been walking on was muddy and swamped with water. I pulled myself out of the muck with a sucking sound, my elbows coated in mud.

There was a tiny squeak, and I looked down behind me to see Pikachu clinging to the side of the mountain. "Pikachu!" I cried.

I tore off my jacket and lowered it for my best friend to grab. He looked up at me with panic, but he managed to take hold. I pulled him up slowly, and immediately began looking for others in need of help.

I blinked, needing to check again. Something was wrong.

Behind me, there was a coughing, and I looked down the way we had come. Paul was struggling back up from where he had been dangling off the side of the cliff. And he was the only one.

Where were the others?

*AN: Well, I had a rant here before, but I decided to get rid of it. Now we have a happy author's note! Yay! And this is the end of it! Woo hoo!*