Chapter 22

Blake

I've been waiting for days. Days of imprisonment, at least in my mind. Everyday, I'm only allowed one hour of training. One hour to really prove to myself that I'm not weak. One hour to lose myself in the air. One hour to be free. The other three hours that are in place of my usual training have been wasted.

Some of that time is spent back in the infirmary. A doctor was assigned to make sure that my wing is healing. They still don't believe that I took a hit from a Hyper Beam and survived without permanent damage. They assume it was some sort of attack from either Moltres, Zapdos, or Articuno. The question is, which one? That's what my doctor asked me. I told him the answer, but he wouldn't believe that I could possibly survive the damage taken from a Hyper Beam. So, he asked his associate and his associate asked someone else. Pretty soon, it's one of the many talks that float around in the infirmary. The mystery case of the Staravia. Not a mystery to me, though.

The other hours of the day, I've been sentenced to bedrest. I hate it the most. There is nothing to do. Sometimes April comes in with that red cloth in her hand, but she's not chattering like her usual self. I'm worried about her.

But it's not the thing that I dwell on the most. What seeps in my mind is far more concerning than April. The Raptor squadron battle is raging on somewhere miles away and I'm here wasting away every precious second in bed! If that's not guilt, I don't know what is. So, most nights, I don't think about it for long. Instead, I force myself to sleep. This is my life until a few days later, after my usual prescribed nap.

When I wake up a few hours later, I'm greeted with some panicked shouts from outside my living quarters. My body is on full alert in seconds. As I take a quick glance sideways, April is still on her bed, but she's out like a light. I ignore her and spring into full action. It's been awhile since anything happened and I want every part of it.

I waddle on my talons out from under the curtain to see a huge mob of pokemon rushing in one direction down the passageway. I've never seen our tribe of Skyborne in such a disorganized state ever before. I know instantly that something is seriously wrong. My mind, not as fast as my body to wake up from sleep, can't process it all. But, I still want to know what this is all about. So, I fall into the current of pushing pokemon, being swept away to an unthinkable destination.

I can't see at all where everyone is going. All I can see is the Skarmory in front of me, the Ledian to the right of me, and a Tailow to the left of me. Wait. Tailow? I look again and, sure enough, the empty eyes, focusing on a spot in the distance, belonged to the Tailow. I looked to his two tail feathers. The mark that I know would be there was there. "Ty!" It's hard for him to hear me over the noise of the crowd, but he hears me and looks to his right.

"Blake!" He recognizes me instantly. We manage to fight the crowd and get closer together. "I'm so glad to see you again!" He has to shout, but it's enough for me. I look briefly around, but no one else from the primary raptor squadron is to be seen. I look back to Ty.

"Good to see you, too, bro!" I grin at him and he grins back. "So what's this about?" If I'm to know eventually, better to be told than to find out myself.

But, Ty's eyes go from happy-to-see-you to his usual blank stare with a touch of sadness. His smile disappears. "Well..." After that, he looks forward. I follow his gaze to see the crowd in front spreading out and taking off from the ground. I realize that the path led me to the final evolution training grounds. Ty and I are at the front and we take to the air like everyone else. I look around and all the equipment has a pokemon perched on top. I've never seen anything like it before. Me and Ty dive down a bit and take a perch on a ring, suspended from two threads. I look to Ty for an answer once we're settled. He nods down towards the ground. I follow his gaze. And my heart drops like a rock.

The Raptor squadron is gathered on the ground along with the medics that once swarmed me. However, there are more patients laying on white sheets on the ground than medics to care for them. Each sheet is stained all over with crimson red. I shudder. The pokemon, our Raptors, lie on all of them. They have gashes, burns, broken bones. I see one pokemon whose wings are bent in ways that makes my stomach twist. I can't speak in the presence of the carnage, the casualties, the pain that erupts far below. Their moans of pain reach far up into the cavern along with the professional-sounding words of the medics.

I search over the bodies that are either hurt badly, on the threshold of death, or already dead. Each one burns into my eyes, the bloody truth of the war summed up in this picture. As I scan, one catches my eye. It takes awhile for him to come into my mind, but as soon as it hits me, I'm off the perch and diving downwards. I scream his name. I hear Ty follow and I see other medics or one of the few standing warriors take notice of me. Ty yells at me to come back. I pay him no attention. Coming closer to the ground, I flap my wings for cushioning. My talons hit the ground and I rush over to his side. The medics don't even try to stop me. In no time, I'm at his side. Standing on the edge of the white cloth, painted completely in his blood. His body is motionless. I don't see his chest rise and fall. His eyes are wide open and vacant. I hear Ty come up beside me. A medic walks over as well and puts his arm around my shoulder. I stare at the motionless body in disbelief. Then, I break down into tears right there, for all of Skyborne to see. I don't care. I don't care what they think of me. He was my teacher.

And now, Sheetsu's gone.