- N - = Nicky's part
- J - = my part
Chapter 015 - Awkwardness
- J -
"Forget about the Onix!" Amethyst screamed, seeing that Stephanie and even Riley kept facing the wild pokémon when the cave was collapsing. "RUN!"
She wanted to run away desperately as well, but she had to get her pokémon back to their pokéballs first.
After avoiding a falling rock, Amethyst had tripped because of some random, smaller rock. Her purple eyes looked directly into Stephanie's brown eyes, who didn't seem to be capable of running away while she looked at the woman.
"Run... dammit..." Amethyst thought, gritting her teeth in pain.
Her left ankle hurt too much... But there was no time...
Suddenly, she saw Laelaps tackling the scared teen and taking her with him throughout the cave corridor...
"At least she'll be saf-"
Just a second after losing sight of Laelaps, Amethyst felt something shielding her. Before closing her eyes, she was able to see a pair of arms covered by blue sleeves and gloved hands around her, pressing against the ground.
"Riley...?"
The horrible sound of the rocks crashing against each other didn't even let her hear her own thoughts! Amethyst tightened her eyes, scared. But she knew, somewhat, that everything was going to be okay...
...because she felt Riley's warm body against her, protecting her, and the power of Aura protecting them both. That's it, she trusted Riley.
Amethyst clinged to that thought and stayed like that until the awful noise of the smashing rocks ended. And she was alive! Her ankle still hurt, but she would fix that later... The purple-eyed woman wasn't sure if she was still able to hear, though.
But she heard Riley coughing a little. Fine, she wasn't deaf.
Suddenly, Amethyst felt as if someone was cradling her... and brushing her chestnut (now dirty) hair off her forehead. She blushed. Did Riley think that she was asleep...?
It was a warm moment, very romantic too... but that wasn't the perfect place. It wasn't the perfect moment, either...
"Are you alright, Amethyst? I can't keep this up much longer…"
Little by little, Amethyst opened her purple eyes and looked softly at Riley. There he was, protecting her with his life, only that...
"Ri-Riley..." Amethyst muttered. "I-I..."
...he was at his last. His arms trembling because of the effort it was taking to keep the Aura shield up.
Although she knew it wasn't going to help, Amethyst pressed her hands against Riley's chest, her eyes teary, preventing him to not collapse...
Thanks goodness Rodent saved them! Amethyst was speechless, she couldn't find words to thank the little rat... well, that and that she was too tired even to talk...
For some odd reason, though, she didn't feel bad. Riley was with her... and Stephanie was with Laelaps, so she HAD to be alright! All they had to care about was digging to get out from the cave...
"...Amethyst. In the meantime, are you hurt? Your pokemon, will they be alright?"
"I-I'm fine, Riley..." Amethyst said, softly; she coughed. "My ankle hurts, but don't worry, Dew will heal me now..."
She wanted to praise him for being so courageous, so maybe she could liven his tired expression, but that wasn't the moment...
...Instead, the tiny woman took off some dirt and dust from Riley's nose and left cheek.
"You had... something on your face, hehe." Amethyst giggled. "Mmh, Riley... could you put me down, please? I'll be okay..."
Once on the ground, Amethyst looked for Dew's pokéball in her bag. First, she found a parlyz heal.
"Oh, no...!" She exclaimed, disappointed. "I've had this parlyz heal with me all this time! If I had known, I would have healed Dew before and this mess wouldn't have been necessary!"
"I fail so badly as a trainer...!" Amethyst screamed, clearly mad at herself.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Roark? Anybody? ...Please?"
"Stephanie Brown?"
Roark made his way troughout the cave until he found Stephanie... with Laelaps? And a collapsed corridor next to them?
"Stephanie!" Roark exclaimed. "Just what in the world has happened? What did you do to my mines?"
Then, he noticed multiple scratches and wounds on the teen's face and legs. But Rodent wasn't with her! Instead, Laelaps was!
"Stephanie?" The miner asked, looking at her closely. "You...! You're hurt! Oh, my Arceus!"
He took hastily some strips and bandages from a small case in his pocket. They were in a mess, but they were better than nothing...
"This will do for now." Roark said, bandaging the girl carefully. "I'm working on a very important project, but all the screams and clamors from this cave attracted my attention..."
The important project he was working on would have to wait, he was afraid. His friend's/guests' lives were more important!
"Say... What's happened, Stephanie?" Roark asked, nervous. "Why is... Laelaps with you, but not your Raticate? Where's Riley? And Amethyst? Are they... inside that cave?"
Roark bit his lip. Riley was a strong fellow, and if Amethyst was with him, he wouldn't have to worry about any of them, but... still...
"Go, Rampardos!" The ginger exclaimed, sending his pokémon out. "Use head smash to destroy the biggest boulders and then use dig and start making your way throughout the corridor!"
- N -
And the cavalry arrived.
"Stephanie Brown?"
Brown gasped in delight at the sight of another headlight flickering its way down the corridor. She barely noticed that she was blubbering incoherently as the Oreburgh Gym Leader came into view.
"Just what in the world has happened? What did you do to my mines?"
"I – the walls, they – I mean it – uh – buh…" She stammered disjointedly in shock. Finally realising she wasn't making much sense, she kicked the wall in frustration. "ARGH!
"– cheesebuckets." She swore.
Roark seemed to figure out the problem on his own, coming close to wrap her arm in a makeshift bandage. She didn't question what a first-aid kit was doing underground – she supposed accidents were common in the mines.
She looked at Roark in the light from her hardhat – he had a couple scratches himself. They were much too light for her to notice the night before, but they were there. For the briefest of moments, Brown though they looked oddly like claw marks.
"Ah-a-accidents happen often around here?" She was glad to finally form a sentence. She tried to laugh again, but ended up coughing on her own saliva. So much for that. "You look kinda banged up too."
She peeled one loose bandage off her arm, and blew her nose into it – giving off a liberal wet honking noise which amplified itself on the cavern walls. She looked up again, noticing the worried expression on Roark's face.
"Why is... Laelaps with you, but not your Raticate? Where's Riley? And Amethyst? Are they... inside that cave?"
She swallowed hard, hoping she had enough in her to tell him the whole story: "We were training and then I sat on an Onix and it wanted to kick my ass and then Amy got it confused and it started to knock down the ceiling and everything started falling – boom boom crash! – and then Laelaps took me out and Riley and Amy are still inside and so's Rodent and I'm really really really scared because they could be dead and this is all my stupid fault and I promise I'll bring my own chairs the next time I come in here I swear I will!"
She grabbed his shirt in desperation, bringing her face dangerously close to his: "Please, Mister Roark Mister Gym Leader Sir, you gotta help get my friends outta there! What if the beast gets them? I don't want them to get eated!"
Up close, she supposed, she looked batshit insane. Her eyes were puffy, her hair was ragged, snot was trailing down either side of her mouth. But she didn't quite care. All she knew was that someone had finally come to save them all, and that was all she needed.
Roark was biting his lip, looking worried and vulnerable, but at the same time rugged and resolute. For the briefest of moments, Brown began to understand why Serena enjoyed living with him so much.
As he sent out his Rampardos, Stephanie slumped down against the ground, pulling her legs to her chest. She wasn't so sure she'd enjoy what she'd see on the other side of those boulders; Images of Amy-and-Riley-shaped pancakes or Rodent smooshed open like a grape played in her mind, either that, or Serena's mysterious black beast feasting on their entrails. She wasn't so sure which was worse.
"I'm sorry we did this to your mine, Roark," She mumbled, remembering Riley mentioning how Roark's family owned the mine – part of which they'd just ruined. "We didn't mean to, we were just trying to train Rodent and then things got out of hand…"
The Lucario looked at her from a corner of his eye, a mixture of disdain and curiosity on his noble features.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Riley tried to stop himself from blushing as Amy's fingers caressed his face. He wasn't so sure it worked. He opened his mouth in a bid to ask her what she was doing, an expression of not-alltogether-unpleasant surprise playing on his face.
"You had... something on your face, hehe."
Oh. Oh, that.
"Mmh, Riley... could you put me down, please? I'll be okay..."
Right. He felt his cheeks grow warm, but he lowered her to the ground regardless. Rodent had finished with the last of the boulders, allowing him to finally do away with the shield. Tiny bits of sand rained down on his head, which he removed his hat to brush off.
"Riii?" The Raticate tilted his head to a side, as if asking if they were alright.
"We're fine, Rodent," He murmured, scratching the normal-type between his ears in the same way he'd seen Brown do. "Though I can't say the same for that Onix," He looked to the area where the Onix had been standing not fifteen minutes before – there was something cathartic about seeing the large snake fainted.
"Oh, no...!"
He turned around, surprised to see Amethyst on her feet as well. Laelaps had been right – she was much stronger than he gave her credit for. However, there wasn't strength on her face, just annoyance.
"I've had this parlyz heal with me all this time! If I had known, I would have healed Dew before and this mess wouldn't have been necessary! I fail so badly as a trainer...!"
Riley stared for a moment at her outburst – he'd never seen her quite so raw and emotional.
"Amethyst?" He planted both his hand firmly on her arms, "Amethyst, look at me. Amethyst – you've just survived a rockslide that would make any lesser human being beg for mercy and cry in terror – you handled your team with diligence and strength while facing one of the strongest Onixes I've yet seen – you are…" He swallowed.
"You are the strongest, most capable woman I know. And I don't want you to ever forget that."
Without remembering to put his hat on, without remembering how far they'd drifted apart, without even trying to remember where they were, he pulled her against his chest. Quietly, he breathed in the smell of her hair, lavender? Or lilac? Something purple and gentle just under his nose. He felt her heart beat against him, the compact firmness of her body, shaking, fragile yet firm, in his arms.
After what seemed like mere seconds, or hours, or a million lilac-scented days, he whispered to the air on top her head:
"Amethyst, I'm sorry. I should never have left you." He felt raw, tender, as if he was digging his heart out. It felt liberating.
"Will you-"
BOOM.
"OMIARCEUS YOU GUYS! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!"
Stephanie Brown stuck her head into freshly-pounded hole by the entrance, just behind the Rampardos that had dug it up. Delighted, Rodent shrilled and bounded into his trainer's arms, earning him a round of kisses and blubbered "I love you"s as the pair sunk to the floor in relief and ecstasy.
"Rampardos?" Riley stared at the hulking fossil pokemon. "That means… Roark? Are you here?"
He loosened his hold on the woman in his arms, allowing Amethyst to break free if she wanted to, but he refrained from stepping back himself.
"This… this is awkward," He mumbled, returning his hat to his head.
Roark tried to stay calm as he bandaged the nervous teen. He was a man of manners, after all, and never let panic get him, unlike his roomate.
"Well, yeah, we're used to accidents here." The ginger said. "Being a miner has its risks... but this mines are strong enough, after all. I don't know how would that cave collapse, really..."
- J -
The man listened to Stephanie's story, perplexed. Why would a wild Onix get so mad at a human? Maybe that was the Brown Effect Serena and Riley had been talking about?
Roark didn't have time to think as Stephanie grabbed his shirt. Whoa, she sure was upset! He thought, flickering repeatedly.
"Don't worry, Stephanie." The man said, as he sent out his Rampardos. "Everything's going to be alright... And don't worry! This is just a small part of the whole mine! And the fact hat it's gone down doesn't mean we can't restore it!"
"Keep going deeper, Rampardos!" Roark ordered.
Rampardos had turned the huge boulders into tiny rocks that he could easily destroy with his hard head, making his own way throughtout the debris.
A few minutes later, Rampardos stopped, turned his head to his trainer and snarled at him.
"Ah! Stand up, Stephanie!" Roark exclaimed, cheered. "We're close!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Meanwhile, Amethyst was healing her ankle with Dew's help. The purple-eyed woman had cured Dew's paralysis and then Dew had calmed the pain on her ankle with her aromatherapy. Rodent kept digging and Riley was taking dust off his hat.
However, Amethyst just wouldn't stop muttering angrily about how much she hated her trainer skills. Then again, she had never liked battling, but that didn't mean she wanted to be a lame trainer!
"No, leave me alone." Amethyst grumbled at Riley took her for her arms; she was too embarrassed to look at his eyes. "And I've only survived because YOU have protected me! There's nothing t-!"
"You are the strongest, most capable woman I know. And I don't want you to ever forget that."
Amethyst went out of words. What had she just heard? She didn't even have time to process the meaning contained in those words. Because...
Riley, the man she had loved those last eight years, was hugging her. It was sudden, but still lovely... She noticed him breathing into her hair... But how could he? She was covered in dust! Amethyst's mind was blank...
"Amethyst, I'm sorry. I should never have left you."
Those whispers drove her practically crazy; she felt her face and ears turn bright red as her body grew warmer. Amethyst opened her mouth, but no sound came out from it. She felt so stupid! But she wasn't simply able to talk.
But then...
"OMIARCEUS YOU GUYS! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!"
Amethyst turned her head quickly. Roark and his Rampardos had just made a huge hole in the debris and had finally made their way to them. Stephanie and Rodent were already hugging and dancing in joy.
The chestnut-head let go off Riley's arms as soon as he loosened his hold. Not because she wasn't comfortable, but because...
"Stephanie!" Amethyst squealed, her eyes teary. "I mean... Ms. Brown! You're alright!"
...She felt so glad to see the teen was fine. Amethyst never doubted it, but anything could have happened, after all.
"Oh, my...!" Amethyst kept exclaiming; she brushed Stephanie's hair, happily. "You know what? Rodent's been very brave! He saved us, both me and Riley! I'm so proud...!"
Amethyst hugged Rodent, too, and planted a small kiss on his forehead before giving him back to Stephanie.
"Phew..." Roark said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I'm glad we made it... It's nice to see you're okay."
"Oh, Roark, thanks a lot for coming to save us." Amethyst said, bowing politely. "It could have taken us ages to get out from here, even with my Dragonite... She isn't used to dig amongst huge boulders, after all."
"It's nothing." Roark said, smiling. "Stephanie's screams leaded me here, so... And she told me what happened! I'm surprised to see you don't have any scratch on you, Amethyst."
"Oh." Amethyst said, blushing again. "Well... Riley shielded me..."
"Is that so?" Roark asked, joyful; he looked at his friend and approached him. "That's great! I knew Amethyst would be alright with you, Riley! I'm glad you protected her, you're awesome!"
To Roark, Riley had always been some kind of super trainer. When he was a kid, he had Riley as a model. Moreover, his father, Byron, always taked very well about him, so that had to mean Riley was a strong fellow! That's it, Roark had always looked up at him...
"Great work, my friend." Roark said, putting his hand on Riley's left shoulder. "I'll tell Serena to cook a special meal for you! You really deserve it!"
Amethyst smiled, but then heard Stephanie coughing.
"Mmh, I think we should breathe some... fresh air." The young woman said.
"You're right." Roark said, looking at her. "Come on, let's get out from here."
Roark leaded them outside the mine. Once outside, Amethyst stretched and breathed deeply. Although they were still in middle of coal and slag, she felt as if she was at the field.
"Aaah! This feels so good!" She exclaimed, relieved; she turned to the group. "Mmh, are any of you hurt? I can tell my Roserade to heal you..."
"I'm fine." Roark said, smiling at the caring woman. "And I've already put some bandages on Stephanie, but maybe your could calm her pain with your pokémon's help..."