Ello! Yes, I know it's been a long time and I sincerely apologize. School and swimming and new projects have been obstacles. I assure you, though, that I am determined to see this story through to the end. I may take extended breaks, yes, but I will NEVER quit until Skyborne is done.
Chapter 42
Blake
My wings slice across the clouds, scattering white fluffs of air with my wake. We've already been flying for a few hours, but I breathe in the precious fresh air while I can. The purity and feeling of being up this high seems overwhelming. I close my eyes, taking everything in. I've been up in the sky twice before, but it takes my breath away every time.
"We're heading down!" My eyes fly open to the voice ahead, reverberating through the open sky. One by one, the pokemon ahead of us slope into a dive. I focus and follow suit as the wave comes to me. "To that clearing!" The leader of the flock points out. I spot it coming up fast right down my beak.
My wings snap open and I feel like I'm being pulled backwards, but my talons hit the damp, lush earth. I search around me to find that many pokemon are already in the trees surrounding the clearing. Even Dawn and April are scurrying to the trees. I realize that I'm in the middle of many gazes and I shrink towards the trees. Suddenly, I feel that someone is behind me. I whip around to find a Salamence leering down at me with his white chest puffed out big and proud. "Take a perch, soldier." His voice booms at me, the same voice calling the shots at the front. I humbly nod and rush to where Dawn and April are where they've saved me a perch. On my way, I hear murmurs and a few giggles. What I wouldn't give to just disappear right now.
"Alright, listen up!" The Salamence roars. "My name is Rashi. I'm from the Dragon squadron and I was assigned to lead this operation. Now, I want everyone to look around them." Some eyes obey, some are still trained on Rashi, including my own. "These pokemon are your teammates, brothers, sisters, teachers, and lifelines. If you want to survive this, you're going to need everyone to have your back and you have to have everyone's back in return. Because we are not in Skyborne anymore, boys and girls. We are not in some namby pamby camp out. We are not even in a big and dangerous battle. We are in a war that will decide the fate of the world. And I want every second to be treated as such. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yessir!" Everyone shouts in unison.
"Good. Now, as Kitiro said, we are going to strike Giratina when the Wings of Legend aren't there for him to hide behind. However, we have to wait for the Wings of Legend to leave before we can go. We just so happen to be sitting right above where the Wings of Legend should pass. So, this is going to be your home for the next day or two. You are going to practice your moves that are most damage-dealing against Giratina in the meantime. We'll station a look-out to alert us when the Wings of Legend pass by overhead. Then, we'll take off. So like I said, you're going to be working on your moves. Dismissed."
Some pokemon jump down from their perches and find training partners. A few go off to train on their own. Most stay on their perches either not sure what to do or a bit in a trance on the loud performance Rashi just gave. I turn to Dawn and April. "Well, that was an interesting experience." They both smile and nod. I barely notice when Rashi sneaks ever so silently to an area with a lot of trees filled with pokemon.
"What's everyone doing!? Get the lazy out of your wings and get to work!" He barks. About half of us fall out of the tree, including April, from surprise. The rest jump pretty high and scramble for an area to practice at. I'm about to fly off myself when someone taps me on the wing. I turn around to find Torik smiling down at me.
"I'm looking for a partner to practice with. Would you like to help?" I blink. It seems a little odd for a higher-up to be asking me to be his practice partner. Not to mention older. But, I just nod and I follow him to the sky above. "So, what move do you know?"
"Um, I know Astonish. I'm also part normal type, so Giratina's ghost moves won't affect me..." I mumble behind him.
"Astonish, eh? Not that powerful if you ask me. Rashi said that you need to learn a move that deals the most damage, correct?"
"Um, yessir."
"Well, I've seen a couple of other raptors use a move that deals a lot of damage to anyone. It's a bit risky, but powerful. It's called Brave Bird. I don't know it, but I know what it looks like." I perk right up at the words "risky but powerful".
"Could you show me?" I catch up to him as we fly a few feet above the treeline.
"That's why I suggested it." With that, Torik flies up higher into the sky cast shadows as they pass over the sun. "Okay, Brave Bird is pretty simple, but hard at the same time. What you're going to do is fly in a steep decline to gain some speed and then level out, flying as fast as you can." Torik lines his body vertical and breaks into a dive, going faster and faster as his body hurdles towards the ground. Just as he's about to hit the treetops, he opens his wings and blows past me in a blinding speed. I watch him as Torik drags for what seems like an eternity before he finally comes to a stop and turns back around. Too out of breath to speak, Torik just nods at me to do the same. I swallow hard and fly up towards the sun, my still-injured beak pointing at the center. "Okay, Blake. Now, try it!" I hear Torik's voice far down below. I turn around and arc into a dive.
Gravity pulls me down and my beak points to the upcoming treetops. Time slows down, despite the speed. My eyes squint from the wind blowing at my face. My wings press against my body to hide themselves until they practically merge with my feathers. The adrenaline rockets to a boil inside of me. I grin as the leafy roof is within feet of me. Then, I unfurl my wings.
I'm jerked to almost a stop and pain shoots through both my shoulders. I grimace at the shock. Toughing it out, I adjust my position and glide across the treeline, scattering leaves to dance in the wind as I pass by. The feeling feels infinite. I feel power surging through every nerve in my body. Then, it all goes wrong.
My wings almost freeze up and become useless. They won't listen to my commands and I drop head first into the forest. I cringe and branches claw at my wings and body. I slam against the bark of a tree and drop to the ground like a rock. My lungs struggle to force oxygen into my body and I can't move anything. I hear Torik's voice getting closer and, pretty soon, he's at my side. "Are you alright, Blake?" Somehow, I start to move again and manage to pick myself back up.
"Y-yeah. What happened?"
"I'm guessing your body couldn't take that much energy at once..." Torik's voice trails off. I sigh and readjust my wings to tuck neatly and comfortably behind me. "It's a hard move and no one really can perfect it on the first try." I just nod and follow him back up the sky.
"Torik?" I get his attention.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you doing this for me?" Torik takes a moment to think about my question. He doesn't have to spend all this effort to help me out like this.
"Well, Rashi told us to have each other's backs, didn't he?" I smile at him and nod. "How about we work on some other moves. I've still to practice my Dark Pulse with you."
Oh, no. Not more training! I promise, this part will blow by fast, okay? We'll get to the final battle soon.