Chapter 13
April
My hands wrap around my feet and my head is tucked in. I hear whispers around me. Whispers that promise death. They dare me to come out, taunting me. With their voices, I hear deafening explosions. Cries of battle, cries of pain. My own cries of fear.
I'm huddled on a fork in the branch of a tree below the battlefield. Tears stream down my cheeks. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I can't do this! I can't be the warrior that the want me to be. I scrunch tighter in my little crevice. Maybe if I make myself small enough, the Wings of Legend will go away.
I hear thuds around me. They've been resounding in my head for the entire time. I've wondered what they are for the entire time. I look up and unveil my face, wet with tears. Then, I let out a shrill scream. Scattered around my little tree are black heaps. They look like piles of sticks. Some are big. Some are small like a twig. The blackness is because they are charred, but that is not the thing that haunts me. If I get a closer look...
They are bare skeletons.
I scream again. They've been burned alive. Most bones have snapped upon impact. Some have their skulls intact. The hollowed-out eye sockets stare back at me. I break into a meltdown right then and there. It's too much. The war. The ambush. The lives. The fire. The bones. It's too much. Voices screech louder in my head. They torment me, hurt me, their cries filled with lust. I shudder uncontrollably, completely terrified and alone in a graveyard.
Then, I hear the scream from above.
I look up into an opening through the trees that reveals a blue sky. A black feathery pokemon, a Staravia, is hurdling and flailing to meet his death. He cries out in panic, the scream echoing in my ears. The voices in my head stop in their tracks and the only sound I hear is of the Staravia.
I feel my heart pulling me upward. My body still trembles. The voices still don't speak, but I know what they want. They want me to catch him. To save his life. But, going out in the open, right in the view of the Wings of Legend, would most likely end both of our lives. His life or potentially my life. A war rages on inside as well as around me. The voices come back. They chant something that I cannot make out. I my head pounds in rhythm with my heart. I start breathing heavily. "Stop!" I yell at no one. I look up again, and before I have a second thought, I'm in the air, darting to catch Staravia.
My eyes are trained on that black figure in panic. I'm deadly calm, despite the episode that just happened. My wings beat at lightning speed. The Staravia gets closer to the point where I see the fear in his eyes. I fly faster. I feel the wind blowing past me, whispering encouragement into my ears. I don't need it. I've got all the determination I need. I get a couple of feet apart from the pokemon.
And I feel a thud on my back.
I look behind me and the Staravia is sprawled across my backside, unconscious. My wings are still free and beating fast. I make a sharp bank and the mountain of Skyborne comes in sight. I hear roars far behind me. Five roars in unison. They're all from the Wings of Legend, I can tell. Yet, only five. That's when I see movement a distance away from me. Flying far to the right of us are many pokemon, all holding onto a fiery bird. The lead of the pack is a Dragonair that seems almost familiar. But, that's not what makes me almost stop flying. The fiery bird that is their captive is Moltres.
That's when I hear a loud, painful moan from my passenger. The Staravia is badly injured. He needs help and fast. I fly ahead as fast as my wings can carry me, the home of Skyborne getting larger. I start breathing harder again from exhaustion. Heavy cargo, little wings, not a good result. The Dragonair flies next to me. "Thank Arceus! He's alright!"
"Well, ...haff... he's hurt bad." I wheeze out.
"Lemme take him back. You've done enough just by saving him." She looks earnest and, again, very familiar. But, this is my chance to prove something to myself. I don't know what, but I've got to do this on my own.
"No, I've got him." I manage to get out. She looks at me with a bit of concern, nods, and flies back to her legendary prize. I fly faster. Maybe it was a mistake. She is faster than I am. Besides, hearing from the shallow breaths of Staravia, I can tell that he's fading fast.
My two feet touch ground at last in one of the take off\landing caves in Skyborne. I carry the Staravia piggy-back style. Yet, I don't have to do it for long. A bunch of other pokemon that look just like me come to my side. Most of them are Togetics. I stare in a bit surprise. It's not like I've never seen them before. It's just that now I have evolved and now we look exactly the same. Except, they wear special scarves, red with a plus-sign on the front, that serve as uniforms. I recognize the uniforms from when I skinned my knee when I was a Togepi and got bandaged up by another Togetic. They're the medics of Skyborne.
They remove Staravia from my back before I can even blink. Two Togetic move him onto a white stretcher. I get a good look at the pokemon for the first time. He's still out cold, his eyes two thin lines. He looks strong with his muscular build, yet broken from whatever hit him. His feathers are matted down against his body, painted crimson red with blood. He lays there unmoving except for his rising and falling chest. It's the last thing I see before the swarm of Togetics, led by the two carrying the Staravia, trots off. I follow them I want to know how it will turn out.
The white flock doesn't notice me running behind them. It's been awhile since I used my feet. I kinda forgot I had them. But, my eyes are trained on the two Togetic blocking the view of the stretcher. We turn a corner into an entrance that is blocked by the spiny heads of the Togetics. One nurse notices that I don't have a red scarf. She steps in front of me. "Excuse me, you're not allowed in the infirmary." I stare her down.
"Please, I need to know if he'll be alright." My eyes plead for something. I don't want reassurance. I want the truth. She puts her hands on my shoulders.
"He was banged up really badly, but I think he'll survive. What was it that hit him? It'll help with the treatment." I give her a blank stare. I really don't know. I just shake my head. She sighs. "Well, it will take a few days, maybe a week for him to recover, but the injuries weren't fatal or permanent." I nod, study my feet for one last second, and take off. Leaving the Staravia in their healing hands.