Chapter 9, or Old Feelings, with minimal editing because fuck it, I'm tired.
I had fun writing this... which is weird, because lately writing hasn't been so fun lately. What can I say, dramatic scenes with run-on sentences are amusing.
Thank you all readers and reviewers and followers and favorite-ers: you honestly mean the world to me. Please forgive me if I'm ever curt or say something hypocritical or stupid, and remember that I would never be where I am today without you all, because without your support I would've quit this site long ago.
That being said, please enjoy this chapter and do tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. However, I do own the plot.
He figured he should be happy that he and his mates were finally on their way to the ship called the Ingenium, but all he could summon up was a deep pit of despair and fear, in place of where his heart might be. After all, his father was on that ship with those awful pirates – and he didn't even know if Norman was dead or alive, and he didn't know which would be worse, to be honest. He had told himself he would never have to see the man again, when he embarked on his journey with these oddball pirates – but the Zaffiro, it seemed, hadn't been so rapid enough for him to run away from his problems.
Because, oh Arceus, what if he went onto that ship and saw his dad bleeding out on its deck? Or, or his father holding a sword and coming after him with a vicious grin? Or the worst of all, what if his father was still alive and they killed him, right in front of Ruby's eyes?
He buried his face in the space between his knees, his whole body quivering with a violent shudder. He had squeezed himself in the corner made by the poop deck (heh) and the railing on the side of the ship, curling in a ball with his arms locked around his knees and Zuzu sleeping peaceful besides him. No one bothered him, though several sent him concerned glances, and he had seen Blue arguing with Sapphire while pointing to him at some moment in time. But he knew that the girl captain had simply said exactly what he thought, which was "He just needs some time to himself, that's all." Sometimes it scared him, to realize how well she knew him.
His thoughts began to circle once more, and he wondered, what chance did they have against Giovanni's crew, anyway? They were older, wiser, stronger, more experienced, less naïve. And who were they, this motley, ragtag crew – just a group of kids, amateurs, struggling to find a place to stake their claim on the world, wasn't that it? Ruby wasn't sure if they were going to be saviors or they were sailing to their own death. But then again, every crewmember here had beef with the villains of the Ingenium. He had learned much about his mates over the past few days.
"Giovanni was responsible for the destruction of our hometown," Blue had told him, with Green and Red steely-eyed besides her.
"Giovanni burned the forest I had called home to the ground." That was from Yellow, and her soft voice had gone hard and stony at the mention of his name.
"Giovanni killed our families, and he left Silver mortally wounded when we found him," Crystal informed him with a matter-of-fact sort of tone, her emotions kept under lock and key with the ease of long practice. Gold was silent, for once, behind her, and with some coaxing from the girl, Silver unbuttoned his white shirt, showing Ruby X-shaped scars on both his skinny chest and back: they were clear markings from the Persian that the evil captain so treasured.
"If I hadn't found Sapphire, I would never have known that Archie and Maxie had been responsible for the death of my parents," Emerald had told him, and then he tapped the gem on the center of his forehead. "They'd been and still are after this." Ruby still did not know what the gem was meant to do.
"One of our friends betrayed us and left us for dead." White said this with her arms crossed and her mouth set in a thin line. Cheren, Bianca and especially Black were just as set on revenge as she, it seemed, given how their expressions changed at the mention of the person as well.
"What was his name?"
He received no response for a very long time, and then Cheren spoke up and said, with a rare iciness that was so cold it chilled his own bones to the marrow, "We called him N, but his full first name is Natural."
So all right, everyone was out for blood, which was why they were sailing to engage the Ingenium in combat; Ruby couldn't argue with that. But at the same time, he was afraid they were all going to die in vain, and then Giovanni, and the rest of his main crew, would get away with everything and more.
He could try to call it off. He still had time. They were near the coast at this point, but it wasn't as if they could turn around and sail away as quickly as their could. They weren't going with the wind right now, which was why Silver was on deck, supervising the tacking, and if they spun the ship around –
"Ship on the horizon!" Emerald's voice sounded tinny from how high up he was, but then Black heard and he repeated the observation in that ridiculously loud voice of his.
Ruby let out a shuddery sigh, getting to his feet and scooping a drowsy Zuzu into his arms. It was now or never, he realized with a grimace, and he joined the large gaggle of teenagers congregating on deck, surrounding their girl captain with Pokeballs on hand. Platina gently bumped his shoulder with hers, silently asking if he was all right, but he didn't meet her eyes her and instead focused his attention entirely on the only one who really mattered.
"I have no inspiration speech to tell you," Sapphire told them, and everyone was as silent as a tomb. Even the Wingulls and Pelipper's constant chatter quieted, and only the waves beating against the hull could be heard as she said softly, "We're here for revenge and nothing more, nothing less. We won't leave without it."
Someone called out, "cheers to that", probably Gold, and they were quickly shut up by what was most likely an elbow to the stomach.
Sapphire ignored the interruption. "As for battle plan, we need adequate defense, but we will be focusing almost entirely on offense. All Pokemon should be ready to launch attacks on the opposing ships, and those with defensive moves should be prepared to use them. As such, I expect those with Fire-types to be on boarding crew, Water-types on the defense. Grass-types I would suggest to be on the defense as well, however I know that most are very strong fighters as well. Do as you please, but be wise about it." At her expectant silence afterwards, Red called out, "Aye, Captain," earning him several chuckles from other crew members. Even Sapphire smiled slightly, though it was obvious she was tense and ready for action.
"All of you are free to board the other ship or stay here as you desire, though I expect Gold to be on the charge and for Silver to hang back." Both Johto natives nodded at that, metallic gazes smooth and expressionless. Her own was steely and matched her voice in hardness as she informed them, "I don't want to lose anyone, so exercise utmost caution.
"Other than that, have no mercy. They must pay for the crimes they have committed, and I'll leave it to you whether you spare them," here she bared sharp teeth, "or kill them."
Some of the kids here were only twelve, Ruby knew – he was part of that group – and yet they all nodded, steadfast and certain. What they had gone through had aged them several years, and on this ship, all were equal, no matter what age or nationality. He could not help feel a twinge of fear, pity, sorrow at the fire in White's intense brown eyes, her hands clenched into fists at her side; for whatever reason, and for better or for worse, these kids were ready to throw their lives into the face of danger just for the sake of making what was wrong right.
He felt sick to his already uneasy stomach and resisted the strong urge to throw up, as his crewmates dispersed into strategic positions besides him. Soon he was alone with Sapphire in the middle of the deck, and she stepped up to him and placed both hands on his shoulders. "I understand if you want to sit out," she began.
"No," Ruby said forcefully, cutting off the rest of her words. "My father is on that ship. I can't leave him there."
Sapphire nodded, tilting her head after the fact. She was silent, seemingly considering what to say as her eyes remained intent on his face; then she seemed to come to a conclusion with herself and told him, "He abandoned and mistreated you."
He nodded, once, his eyes dropping to the toes of his boots. "I know. I don't owe him anything."
The girl captain blinked. "So why do it?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, and Zuzu leaned against his shin. "I just have to."
Her hands remained on his shoulders for a few moments, an act of silent comfort, before dropping away to her sides. When he didn't look up, she hesitantly placed a hand under his chin and forced him to meet her eyes. "We'll be fine," she said softly, her fingers lingering for some seconds before she pulled away, and his red eyes were fixated on hers as she added, "We'll do what we set out to do."
If you say so, a treacherous part of his mind snickered, but he merely nodded and turned away, trotting to where Bianca was standing with her Samurott. The giant Water-type had looked incredibly fierce the first time Ruby had laid eyes on it, but he had learned quickly enough that it had picked up on Bianca's natural gentleness; even now, in the fact of a battle, it lowered its head and nudged Zuzu softly as greeting, while the Mudkip squeaked one out for it.
"Ooh, this is so nerve-wracking, isn't it?" Bianca murmured, wringing her petite hands at waist-level, her light orange overcoat shimmering in the limited light. Ruby nodded wordlessly and the blonde continued, "I hope Black and White don't go too overboard. Will you keep an eye on them for me, Ruby?"
"Sure," he replied, and she shot him a small, grateful smile that slowly faded. There was no other talking on deck, and while everyone kept to their positions and kept the ship moving where they wanted to go, all eyes were on the target slowly coming into detail. Even Black was refraining from shouting commands, knowing full well that the crew knew what they were doing.
It was only when they had sailed for a few minutes more that Black called out, his voice quieter than usual, "Boarding crew assemble, all with Water-types to the bow," that anyone really began to move, and Ruby found himself swept up with the rest of them, with Bianca silent on one side and the usually relaxed Blue taut as a bowstring on the other. They watched and waited, and Sapphire looked through a telescope with her Blaziken standing proud at her side, and then with a wave of her hand Black commanded, "Hydro Cannon!"
That had been a move he'd once tried to teach Zuzu, with the instructions from a yellowed textbook in his father's library; he had ultimately failed, which wasn't a surprise given his inexperience. As the other Water-types near him prepped for the move, he merely told his Mudkip, "Hydro Pump," and held onto the small body as the sheer force of the water released pushed Zuzu back into his hands. When the other Pokemon joined his, the boat began to creak forward, slowly at first but then with gaining speed. Ruby only dared to look back for a second, but he saw that the opposite ship was growing larger in the horizon, and it was close enough that he could make out the black speck of its flag.
He met Sapphire's eyes even with the distance that separated them, and the fear that reflected his own clenched his insides. Confident or not, no one was sure of their chance of success, for this wasn't just a simple raid: this was a matter of life and death. Failure, after all, was not an option.
He shivered and tore his gaze away from hers, with more effort than he thought it would take. Zuzu squeaked when his grip on the Pokemon loosened, threatening to throw the creature overboard, and he quickly focused the majority of his attention back onto the Mudkip.
Then things went very quickly, because Black shouted, "All hands to port!" and he ran with the others to the railing, and then he called, "Blast Burn!" and everything went to hell. Ruby did not understand what the boatswain met until unholy heat scorched his skin and flames spouted out from the port side Zaffiro. He did a quick scan while stumbling a few steps back, shielding a squealing Zuzu in his arms: Green, Gold, Pearl, White, Black and Sapphire's Pokemon had seemingly learned what he had been told was called the ultimate move (reading textbooks had been a pastime of his). He had never seen it performed in person; he was in shock when the opposing ship did not burst into flames.
Speaking of the Ingenium, the thing was massive, perhaps three, four times the size of the rather dinky Zaffiro. Suddenly the chances of winning seemed so low Ruby began to berate himself for even mentioning the ship's location to his captain. And the crewmembers opposite them were not faces he would've liked to see under any circumstance; they looked weathered, cruel, dirty, gleeful, one was close enough and looked vaguely familiar, with a shock of blue hair –
He was holding Norman by the collar of his worn sweater, he was sneering and laughing, his father seemed so ancient and his eyes raised and saw him and he looked so, so tired, and Ruby's blood chilled to ice and then the man was dragging his father away from him and someone was saying, in a deep voice, "Kill him," and his world turned red at the edges and someone was screaming "Let him go!" and then he realized, oh wait, that was him, and he tried to force himself to calm down. Someone was murmuring in his ear, "Shh, you're fine," and Sapphire's voice helped bring him back down and he gasped, stumbled back, and he was back and then, and then -
And then there was a young man, with bushy, lime-green hair tied into a ponytail, and both White and Black let out indescribable yet somehow matching screeches of utter pain and despair and anger, such anger, it was as they had been shot, and Ruby realized maybe they had, because that must be N, the one who betrayed them all those years ago, a bullet straight through the heart and the exit wound revealed itself at the sight of him.
Gold yelled something, and bodies around him moved and surged forward, and then Green was on his Charizard and toasting the sails and the people below on the opposite ship, but water from one of the crewmates on the Ingenium put it out, and Ruby pinpointed the source right when Crystal pounced upon them with her Meganium and Arceus when had she even gotten there and he realized only he, Cheren, Bianca, Dia were left and where was his dad, where was his dad, where was his dad?
He leapt across the median of water that separated the two ships, Zuzu in hand, landed with a roll, and drew a puny dagger as a sword fell upon him, intent on separated his head from his body. He looked up at the face of his attacker and felt the blood drain from his face.
"We finally meet, boy," the man uttered, his voice growly and harsh and terrible and familiar, and Ruby snapped his fingers and pulled his lips back into a violent snarl and parried and lashed out as Zuzu intercepted the Persian aiming for him.
His scars burned like they were on fire and his arm hurt from blocking Giovanni's blow, but he didn't care, no, where was his dad, he had to find his father. The man across from him struck again, he deflected it and screamed hoarsely for Red, for Gold, for someone with a feud against the man to take him on, and then Silver appeared out of nowhere with deadly ice in his metallic eyes, didn't Sapphire want him to stay back? Giovanni chuckled, and at Silver's nod Ruby ran away.
He didn't run far, with Zuzu scampering besides him, and he dodged and weaved and ducked around all the fighting, he subdued some of the crew and pretty much threw some guy who was shouting his name was Petrel and he didn't want to fight over the side of the ship (it was an accident, really, it was) and there was the blue-haired man with a Toxicroak with his father kneeling motionlessly on the deck. He wasn't fighting, he wasn't moving, he had given up, unacceptable given how he had raised his own son, "Zuzu, do something!"
The Mudkip was not of the creative sort, so it simply Hydro Pumped both the Toxicroak and its master into oblivion, the water pounding the pair right into the railing and then over the side of the boat. Ruby would worry later if he had killed the strange man as he hurried over to his dad and raised his head to look at the man's fast. It was ghostly, pale, gaunt, unshaven, and he stroked a hand along the man's cheek as heat stung his eyes.
"I'm so sorry," the man whispered, so quietly that Ruby wondered if Norman thought he was in a dream. His head drooped, and Ruby lifted it up again as his father added, barely above breathing, "I'm so sorry, Ruby, I'm so sorry."
With a jolt he realized his dad was in a stupor as he kept repeating the same words over and over again, and he felt – betrayed, almost. Certainly unhappy, but most definitely he felt as if his father had let him down. He wanted his dad to help them fight, to do something to help, to take down those that had taken him away; instead, the man had been reduced to a sliver of his former dignity and strength and it was embarrassing as well as freaking annoying. Ugh. His father really never was there for him, was he –
"Watch out!" someone yelled, and then Pearl was right there and ran the lady right through the stomach with his blade. She collapsed, wheezing, as the blond cast his orange eyes down at him. "Pay attention! Battle's not over yet!" Ruby muttered an apology that Pearl did not stay to hear; his crewmate darted off with his fiery Infernape on his tail, cutlass out of its sheath and his screams promising death.
He had to get his father to safety. That was priority.
By some miracle Sapphire appeared by his side, unharmed and perfectly well, her blue eyes gleaming with mischief and – something else that probably had to do with the battle at hand. The sword at her side had blood dripping from the very edge, and while he felt sick to his stomach the urgency of which he needed to save his father kept him going. "Help me," he told her, hefting Norman's shoulders, and she didn't ask questions and grabbed him by the waist. They quickly made their way to starboard and unceremoniously threw the now-unconscious man onto the Zaffiro's decks; Bianca went to hover uncertainly but protectively with her Samurott, and Ruby felt confident enough to turn and plunge into the fray, with Sapphire at his side and Zuzu on his shoulder.
Then he was separated from her by a wall of flesh and the man that had taken everything away from him, no matter how little it had been, was in front of him, leering, with a bloody Silver lying motionlessly on deck a few meters away. Ruby looked around frantically for the Johto native's Pokemon – where had it gone? – and then had to block another fearsome blow that left him reeling. Zuzu, once again, took on the Persian and knocked it away with a well-timed Water Gun.
"I thought only one of you was alive, but it turns out you've led me to all of them!" Giovanni said with undisguised glee, and Ruby grimaced, feeling his arms burn with effort as he parried once again with his tiny dagger and retaliated with – just kidding, he dodged another lightning-fast blow by lunging to the side, and parry again, would he ever get on the offense? "You'll never make it out alive, I'm afraid!"
"You're wrong," Ruby huffed, and then fell silent as the blade caught on the flesh of his neck and dug slightly into his skin. He barely breathed as he locked eyes with the mighty captain of the most infernal ship he'd ever stepped foot on, and the battle around them faded. It was just him and Giovanni and the very thin blade of metal allowing him to remain alive, but for how long would that last, how long until he decided no, he wasn't worth leaving alive? Oh, but wait, he was planning on killing Ruby anyway.
Ruby giggled weakly, only to choke as the blade sank in another millimeter. Right, no sudden moments, and just to be sure Giovanni clamped a beefy hand onto his shoulder; being near death must be making him loopy.
"Your friends will be next," Giovanni told him, and then the sword was away and it was coming down sideways, it was all very slow in Ruby – and then, true as the stories say, his life flashed before his eyes, starting with his mother, and then her death and him hugging Norman's legs while the man held a black umbrella in the rain (fitting, that rain had been), and then Sapphire lighting up his day, and her pseudo-death bringing him back into a fog of uncertainty and fear, and then monotonous days of textbooks and learning and getting beat up and getting back up and working and then his days on the Zaffiro, his friends and his family.
His eyes opened and he felt an ocean of calm, and the words came unwarranted, clear as day. They caused the man across from him to laugh and to tighten his grip on the boy's body.
And then the blade came down and he felt nothing, nothing at all, all at once and once for all.
Somehow, she knew. She knew right away, and she ended the battle with the woman she was fighting with (Ariana, her mind supplied) and ran in no direction in particular. She felt pulled, she knew her body knew where to go even if she didn't, and a horrible sense of foreboding and terror left her gasping and shaking for the first time in ages.
There was a man of imposing height and stature and a terrified Mudkip beating the shit out of a Persian – Arceus that thing was strong – and then there was a pool of blood and. There was him. There was red over his face and his chest and oh Arceus, oh Arceus, what had happened, no no no no no, all she could think, was he breathing?
She didn't know, she couldn't find out without him seeing her, and she let out a sound that rivaled a banshee's and closed the distance between herself and the dreaded captain Giovanni with agility and grace. His sword met hers with a clang, and then her Blaziken was there to help strike down the Persian and support her during the fight, and she didn't care if she died or if she never made it. She wouldn't stop fighting, not ever, until the man in front of her paid for his sins in the most painful way possible, nobody ever took her family without her permission and especially not him, please not him, anybody but him –
Her words were incoherent to everyone but herself, the words mangled and destroyed by fear and desperation and fury, but they were there, and she would never forgive him for what he'd done, for leaving her alone without him knowing.
I love you.
I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY CLIFFHANGER HA HA HA HA HA HA HA