Chapter 47
April
My quick and careful hands work in a frenzy. I don't have much to work with, though. Just my red scarf and whatever vines or sticks I can salvage from my environment. However, they're good for tourniquets which is exactly what he needs right now. There is hardly any gore or blood on his body which is good, but his right arm is a sickly purple color and swelled up like a plum. The gruesome injury from his broken right arm makes a lump form in the back of my throat that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot swallow.
I wrap the thick vine around the stick so it's tight and unmoving, focusing on my work and avoiding any eye-contact with Grayos. I keep my chin low, but I can still feel the presence of his gaze trained hard on me. I work without a single word shared between us.
"April." He interrupts the silence. I glance up only for a moment that busy myself again. "April" he repeats. I shake my head a bit until he places his left clawed hand onto mine, still trying to tie off the vine. I stop all movement and lift my head to be inches away from his. I can feel his breath on mine and how warm it is but, I can also hear his raspy breathing. I'm completely speechless. All sound is locked inside of me. He's getting worse. I don't back away. I'm immobile. Grayos looks back down at where our hands are touching. When I look down as well, a Shiny Stone gleams in his claws like the sun. I regain my movement and swipe my hand away immediately like it was poison. Even if I touch it, I trigger evolution. The fear building inside of me reflects in my face like a mirror.
"Grayos, I-"
"Go." It's one simple word with infinite strength. "They need you. I'll be fine." A war erupts inside of me. What if he won't be fine? Do I take the stone? Do I refuse and continue to help Grayos? Do I have the healing hands that best place me among the healers or do I have the fighting heart of a warrior? I'm not Blake. I don't fight. I have the healing hands of a healer.
Yet, I look over my shoulder and see the real war in front of me. I freeze up and shudder as it rages on like a wildfire. Skyborne warriors are getting hurled in every direction, beaten and limp. I could help them continue to live or I could prevent more from dying. I cannot heal everyone, but I can help in defeating one. Without a second thought, I snatch up the Shiny Stone without even glancing behind me.
I feel a familiar power surging through me like a huge tidal wave crashing down on top of me and taking me with its waves. I jump up into the air and start hovering, flapping my wings at lightning speeds. My arms are half-forced and half-voluntarily stretched out to the side like a second pair of wings. The feeling is so incredible that I don't care what's happening to me. My wings beat a mile a minute in excitement and anticipation. Then, my wings stop altogether abruptly. I'm no longer trying to fly, yet I'm hovering far above Grayos with no effort at all. My arms are tingling from the sudden change. Each set of arms and wings move in unison to each other. I look at myself to see that they have merged into two powerful wings. I look down to Grayos who solemnly nods. With courage soaring through my wings, I dive faster than I've ever gone before to join that fray and unleash a courage I never knew I had.
I'm wrapped in a bright violet light as I dive closer and closer towards my target, Giratina. He's just getting up and out of the water he crashed in along with Blake. I only get to see him for half of a second, but he looks strong, powerful, and brave.
I fly faster than I've ever gone before and I'm scared if I might lose control. But, I urge myself to fly faster until I make contact. He never sees it coming as I land a perfect Sky Attack on him. Giratina is flung backwards and hits the wall with so much force, cracks in the rock crawl up the wall like spiders. Rocks from above start to fall, but I don't care. It's not the cavern I care about. It's Skyborne. It's my friends and I'd rather die fighting than let a single pokemon more die today.