Hey people. I'm not John, the guy who's been writing this story for you. I'm the guy that uses this account to read other people's stories to comment and favorite, follow, etc. Not to say that some of these aren't John's, but a majority of his comments and stories that he had favorited and followed are of my doing. The point is, John has been injured, not that badly, but injured none the less. We both work at the same restaurant and I am hosting John while he stays in the United States (He's a Brit), I am (name's Isaac by the way) a server, and John is a busser. What happened was that I was carrying about nine 16oz glasses from a table John and I were clearing when I stumbled and fell. The tower of glasses shattered, all over John. He has a lot of cuts, some are going to scar (at least that's what the doctor said). Now John being John just went to the bathroom, pulled out all the glass, used the first aid kit to patch himself up, got a new shirt (the one he had on was shredded), and went back to work. But after work we did go to a doctor and he's going to be staying at a hospital for a few days, maybe a week or so. The cuts aren't that bad, not deep or long. The largest is a little less than three inches going across his chest. However he's got some on his hand because he was carrying some glass as well, and that shattered in the whole mess as well. Needless to say that cut his hands up a bit. All of this happened on Wednesday, and typing is a challenge for him (even with Advil). So right about now he's hanging out in a hospital watching TV or something, probably reading a book actually, he's weird like that. But this affects you because even though I snuck his laptop, phone and headphones (didn't really have to sneak the phone in, they allow that) I doubt he'll finish the chapter for you, but who knows, he might stick it out and type up whatever else he's got in store for you. I'm typing this up on Friday at 3:37 PM (without John knowing), a little early from when he updates because he probably won't even notice this little section I'm adding when he goes to upload the chapter. I'm not sure if he'll wait to update or if he'll just give what he's already typed. He's already at 7,927 words though, so I think he'll give you what he's got. Anyway, sorry to inconvenience you, it was pretty much all my fault.
Hey everybody, did you like the last chapter? I hope so, because I'm not even going to start off where I finished. That's right, you don't even get to see the resolution of that little hiccup. Instead, you get to see this chapter (and maybe next chapter as well) in Ruby's POV and it's all about what he's doing at the castle while Ash is off kissing princesses and getting his Pokemon. So you finally get to see what happens when Ruby talks to Sapphire. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the story up to this point and will continue to do so with this chapter and those to come. The end is near, no matter how much I don't want it to be
Mr. J: Well I thank you again and a thousand times over. That title is one you own with every right. Ha! you think that's awkward, just wait till Ash gets back
Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: I got the idea form the Diglett cave in Kanto, I remembered it form when I looked up a picture of the region for a place where the rebel's base could be. Oh I already have the whole conversation planned out, I'm looking forward to typing that. I'm glad to hear it, thanks again for being there the whole way.
Chapter 29: What the Heart Wants
-Ruby's POV-
When I was in training, Maxie gave me so much knowledge and experience. He taught me so many things, like how to be a leader, how to shoot a bow, how to use a shield, how to command a battalion, and so much more. The little things he said always stuck with me like "It's not about how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward" and "Rumors have much in common with feathers, it's rare that either one holds much weight". One of my favorites was when I was learning to fire a bow and I hit the target at one-hundred meters for the first time and he told me to go for one-hundred and fifty. I asked him "Should I go till I get it right?"
He just frowned at me with that look of his that said 'you know better' and said "Till you don't get it wrong". I spent the whole next week firing arrow after arrow at that target that stood one-hundred and fifty meters away. I didn't stop until I hit it twenty out of twenty times, and when I showed him, all I got was a nod. No, good job, no, well done, not even a smile. But that single nod meant the world to me. Maxie had never openly praised someone unless he had to for politics and all that shit. The best I ever got form him was three claps when I took on four Magma Core members at once.
All his sayings like "Even the toughest challenge can defeat the undefeatable. It's about how you come back that makes you who you are" and "The bravest men are those who know what's in front of them, glory and danger alike, and yet do not hesitate to go out and meet it" everyone of them was embedded in my brain and have helped me through so many challenges I have faced.
If he were here, he'd tell Ash that "Revenge is an act of passion and vengeance is one of justice. Injuries are revenged, and crimes are avenged". Maxie was one of the wisest men I have ever had the honor of knowing. So when Sapphire Birch, the woman I loved... no, the woman I love, turned her back on me when I was scrambling to get my men up a cliff to save our lives, I was angry, bitter, depressed, but most of all, heartbroken.
And when she began to talk to me when I came back, I wanted so desperately to turn my back on her and walk away. It would've been the sweetest revenge I would ever taste in my life. But Maxie's words rang in my head "To refrain from imitation, is the best form of revenge". I had forgiven her when she abandoned me and my comrades, but that did not mean I had to be nice, or friendly in any way.
I stuck to that mentality for a very long time. Surprisingly though, it was Ash who convinced me to talk to her. The guy who is so bent on revenge that he can't even think properly is giving me advice.
What's even crazier is that he is dead right, and I knew that from the start. I guess I just needed someone to yell that in my ear for me to accept it. I'm kind of stupid like that. I sighed as I watched the rider race towards one of the outposts, a satchel off identical messages written by the king hanging off the side of the saddle, attached by only a few ropes.
That talk was going to happen sooner or later, I'm not particularly looking forward to it. I turned around and headed towards the barracks where my team was bound to be.
I walked through the door, immediately greeted by a poker game involving David, Thomas, Matt (he looked bored though), and five Aqua Guard soldiers and Sapphire herself. Everyone was still in and four cards lay on the table, a ten of diamonds, a four of spades, a jack of clubs, and an ace of spades and the pot had eighteen bronze pieces, everyone appeared to be waiting for someone to make a decision. David sighed and threw his cards on the table "I'm out" he muttered angrily, his cards revealing a two and a seven, an unfortunate hand.
Sapphire put in two silver coins with a barely contained smile, raising the ante. Everyone called except for two of the Aqua members, leaving Thomas, Matt, and two of the Aqua soldiers and Sapphire. Matt (who was the dealer this round) flipped the last card over, revealing a three of spades. Sappire raised by three gold coins, followed by another soldier folding, the other calling, Thomas raising her by six silver coins. Everyone called him on it and flipped there cards simultaneously.
Thomas smirked at his hand, a three of diamonds and a jack of hearts, a two pair. But the smirk fell off his face when he saw that Sapphire had a three of three of hearts and an ace of hearts, beating his hand with the higher card. The other soldier looked down in defeat, only having a four of spades and a queen of hearts. "Hahahah suckas. I win!" Sapphire exclaimed, doing a little dance
Thomas sighed and looked at Matt who looked at his hand with a bored expression "I didn't match up any cards" he said with indifference. His hand was a queen of spades and a king of spades.
"Then why didn't you fold?" Thomas exclaimed, Matt just shrugged "Because the King and Queen should see everything they are involved with to the end" he said
"This sin't real life dumbass, it's a card game that you bet money on"
"Uh Thomas?" the soldier who lost said
"What Craig?"
"It's just, Matt has five of a kind and a royal flush"
"...What?"
"He has a-"
"I know what he has dammit. Matt! why didn't you say anything?"
Matt looked at him "I won?"
"Yes you won!" Thomas said incredulously
"But I didn't match up any cards" he said, a confused look in his eyes
"Didn't you listen to anything I said when I explained this to you? There are more ways to win than just matching up the cards"
"Oh come on, why didn't you say anythin' instead of gettin' my hopes up! I thought I won because of you!" she shouted at Matt. "Oh... Okay" he said before dragging all his winnings across the table. It totaled up to eighteen bronze pieces, forty two silver pieces, and fifteen gold pieces. "Lucky bastard" David said with a good natured grin, not upset because he only lost two bronze pieces.
"Easy for you to say, you didn't just lose four weeks pay" the soldier who lost muttered
"Matt you're insanely lucky you know that right?" I said, making my presence known. David immediately stood for his chair as did Matt and Thomas "General on deck" he yelled, getting the attention of almost everyone in the barracks.
"At ease" I muttered tiredly. King Norman had officially "promoted me" to general, so now my men felt an obligation to do that. The Aqua Guard had for a while too, but they stopped when I asked them too during training. I asked my team to as well, but now matter how much I punished them during training, making them do more laps, stepping on their back hen they did push ups, waking them up only two hours after they go to sleep to start training again, they refused to stop treating him like this.
They relaxed and sat back down "What do you need boss?" David asked. At least they went back to normal after I said "at ease".
"We going hard today and tomorrow. We got something big coming up, and we're going to need to be perfect to pull it off. So expect ling nights and early mornings. Last day you're going to get some rest though"
"Got it, you want me to relay the message to Butch and Sam?" David asked, I nodded.
"Eh boss, you want in on the game?" Thomas asked. I thought for a moment before grinning "Why the hell not? I make in a week more than you do in a month"
"Fuck you too boss, fuck you too" Thomas said, grinning along with me. I dragged a chair over and sat myself in between Matt and one of the Aqua Guard members. Matt passed the deck over to me and passed the small blind over to the soldier on my right and he passed the big blind to his right, giving it to David.
I shuffled the cards twice before slicing the deck into fourths and mixing the fourths together as the final shuffle. I dealt out two cards to each person before pausing, allowing everyone to place bets or fold. Everyone except Thomas rapped their knuckles on the table after putting the two copper coins to reach the big blind. Thomas folded to reveal a two and a five.
I put three cards on the table, an eight of diamonds, a jack of clubs, and a five of diamonds. I waited for everyone to play out their hand, at the end of the round the bet was raised by three copper pieces by one of the Aqua Guards, resulting in the other two folding, their cards being a four of spades and a nine of hearts and the others being a three of diamonds and a queen of clubs.
Matt and David also folded, Matt having two tens, one of diamonds and the other of hearts. He got some questioning looks when he folded but he didn't seem to care. David had a queen of spades and a six of hearts. This left just the Aqua Guard, Sapphire, and I, until the soldier threw in his hand, showing his seven and ace, both of hearts.
That left just me and Sapphire as I flipped the fourth card over, showing a king of diamonds. "I'd suggest ya fold now. This hand ain't losin' to yours" Sapphire said, looking me straight in the eye as she slowly put out two silver coins, and didn't hesitate for a moment to match her raise giving her an equally cool gaze in return "You've never been able to beat me Sapphire, you only managed to when I let you. I flipped over the final card, revealing an ace of clubs.
She held my gaze for a while, her eyes betraying her thoughts "If you think you can beat me with this poor showmanship of a "pokerface" than you are horribly mistaken. I can read you like a book Sapph" I lightened my tone when I said her old nickname, making me sound a few years younger, more innocent and playful. It's intended effect was instantaneous.
I saw it in hers eyes, she was remembering the childhood we spent together. She blinked, her eyes glistening, something only I noticed. She put her cards on the table pushed them towards me, folding. I flipped them over to show everyone a king of spades and a jack of hearts, a two pair, and a high one at that. I laid my cards on the table, showing everyone
I had a nine of spades and a two of diamonds.
I had nothing, no pairs, no runs, no straights, it was a complete bluff. I stood from my chair to a silent room, everyone awestruck that I managed to bluff with such a terrible hand "I know you better than I know myself Sapph, and I'm the best there is at putting up masks" I said, repeating the nickname I never called her (to her face) "And you know me better than anyone" I said, picking up only what I bet, leaving the rest on the table before walking out of the barracks.
I looked up at the sun, wasn't even noon yet. The anticipation of the upcoming battle was killing me, three days including today. It was a short time in hindsight, we were probably going to be leaving in the night on the third day. I tried to think of something to do till I got everyone for training. Shrugging I went to go and check on our guests.
I walked towards the cafeteria, where I assumed they'd be, there was no way Lance would allow them to sleep in when such a important event was coming up. I pushed open the doors and saw all of them at the table they had been at last night. The one with a hat, Gold, noticed me and waved me over. I walked over and sat at the end of the table.
"Hey Ruby how's it going?" Red asked with a friendly smile
"I'm fine, but uh, what's up with her" I asked while pointing at Crystal. She had her arms folded on the table and her head lay on top of them, concealing her face. She groaned at the question "I'm hungover, I have massive headache, and I'm sore everywhere. If this is what drinking does then I'm never doing it again"
"Uh Crystal, soreness isn't an effect of drinking" Yellow said quietly.
"Then why am I sore?" Crystal groaned out. Gold began a coughing fit "You don't remember?" he asked her
"I barely remember a thing from last night" she said
"Oh thank Arceus" I heard him mutter. Unfortunately for him, Crystal heard it too. "What happened? Gold, what did you do?" she said, her tone lowering, becoming threatening "Ah, well, you see. When you're drunk off your mind, you get kind of... kinky"
"..."
"..."
"What?
"Well you took some clothes that were in the dresser and ripped off the sleeves and tied my hands to the top of the bed. You also took one of my knives and cut off my shirt and pants. Then you locked the door, now here comes the embarrassing part, you fucked me" Gold said, finishing in a flat voice
"Ppppphhhhhhh HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA" Black roared with laughter, soon joined in by everyone at the table except for Crystal who was just staring at Gold in shock and he just looked at her, gauging her reaction.
"I-I-I-I d-d-d-did w-what?"
"You jumped on top of me and rode me harder than a Rapidash" Gold said in a serious tone
"Did, did you, um... you know, inside?" Crystal asked in a small voice.
Gold paled at that "NO! no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was about to but you hopped off and-"
"OKAY! you don't need to go into detail" Crystal shouted before bowing her head in shame as another round of laughter echoed off the walls.
"I always knew you had it in you" White said while giving Crystal a congratulatory slap on the back "Please stop talking" Crystal mumbled while hiding her face in her hands, refusing to look up at anyone.
"I always knew you were bossy but I didn't think it went that far" Black said, causing yet another bout of laughter to erupt from the group. "Oh Moltres, I'm dying" Gold said while wiping a tear from his eye.
"Why are you laughing? This happened to you too" Crystal exclaimed
"Yeah, but I didn't tie you up to a bed and-"
"I GET IT!" Crystal said, cutting him off.
"Dear Mew you people are fun" I said, chuckling
"Well, what about you? You got any crazy drunk stories?" Gold said, looking at me expectantly. "I don't know, she'd kill me if I told anyone" I said cautiously
"Well now you got to tell us" Silver said
"Mmmmmmm, alright. One time, Samantha, David, and I were at a bar having some drinks. But the bar was having some sort of dancing competition, none of us were interested but David and I had to piss so we left, but when we came back, Samantha had downed both our drinks and had already downed four more. We saw her getting up to go get more at the bar and when she walked across the floor to get there, she won the dancing competition" Everyone at the table roared with laughter
"Hahahahaha that's, that's priceless, give us another" Gold said after he calmed down.
"Alright, well... this is a continuation of that story. After Sam had passed out on the table David drank all the drinks she somehow managed to bring back, and she brought a lot because the prize for the dancing competition was free drinks for the week. So I picked her up, being the most sober, and started to carry her home with me. I don't know how I didn't notice but at ever sign we passed, David just picked them up and carried them home with him. Everyone woke up surrounded by seventeen signs" Everyone started to laugh again
"But that's not even the half of it, before he collapsed, he had a fight with a Skitty... guess who won?"
"You're, y-you're killing m-me" Red said while laughing
"C-come on, one more" White said, practically begging
"Alright, but this is the last one okay? When I was a kid, my best friend was a wild girl, she liked to swing from vines and climb mountains and stuff so she never really focused on things that were in civilization. So one time, at my house, she picked a bottle of rum and had no idea what it was. Since it was in my house she assumed it was mine and she didn't care whether or not I would want her to, so she went up to my room and took a massive gulp, downing almost half of it. I happened to walk in the room the moment she jumped from a two story window and ran off into the woods. Three hours later, I found her arguing with a tree" yet another cacophony of laughter.
"Heaven almighty, that's hilarious" Gold said, tears in his eyes.
"Holy shit that was funny" Black said "Who was the girl?"
"Yeah, who was it?" Yellow asked
"Her name is-"
"It wasn't my fault!" a familiar voice exclaimed walking up and bending over so she could loo-, glare at me. "You're the one who decided to drink an unknown substance Sapphire. It's completely your fault" I said with a smirk
"Well maybe if ya warned me about things like alcohol that wouldn't have happened" she said
"Sorry for assuming you wouldn't go through my cabinets and drink anything you found in there" I said, earning myself a glare
"So this is the girl that drank half a bottle of rum from your house?" Silver said with a raised eyebrow. I nodded "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Sapphire Birch, third general of the Aqua Guard and my old childhood friend" I said
There was silence for a moment "What were you thinking? Who the hell drinks some random liquid from a bottle just because they don't know what it is? It could've been poisonous for all you knew. And worst of all, you took it from your friends cabinet without even asking" Crystal said, lecturing her.
"Exactly, it was because it was Ruby's house that I didn't bother askin'. What's his is mine and what's mine is mine" Sapphire said
"Isn't it "what mine is yours and what's yours is mine?"" Yellow said tentatively
"Yeah, but he was too much of prissy boy to take anythin' from me. Weren't ya Ruby?" Sapphire said with a confident smirk
"Riiiiiiight" I said sarcastically
"Hey, if it wasn't for me toughenin' ya up you would've never made into the Magma Core" she said
"Mmhm, because pushing me off a cliff is definitely what got me here. Same with telling me we're going on a camping trip and bringing me four days away into the woods before simply abandoning me there"
"Alright the cliff thing was an accident, and the fake camping trip definitely helped" Sapphire defended
"Are you kidding me? I got attacked by a flock of Fearow, chased by a pack of Mightyena, and almost drowned by horde of water Pokemon. What made it worse is that my dad let you do that to me. And when I finally got back after a week and three days all I got was "why didn't you make it back sooner?". Explain to me how that is supposed to help me?"
"Of course it helped ya. Ya learned how to survive and everythin'. Besides, I wasn't far away, I was keepin' an eye on ya the whole time. Only on the last four days did I leave. And when you came back you had a lot of muscle on ya" she said
"Ph, we both know I already knew how to fight" I said
"That does't matter, you have never beat me in a real fight and ya never will" Sapphire said confidently. I raised an eyebrow, she wanted a fight, anyone could tell that. And who would I be to deny a woman what she desires. "You might as well be asking for a fight Sapphire" I said, standing up from the table and facing her. "I guess I am" she said.
"Tch" I put my hands in my pockets and began walking towards the armory, quickly followed by Sapphire. We both grabbed our swords, real swords, this would not be solved by a few bumps and bruises. By the time we reached the training fields, all the others had already found places to sit. "Are ya all really gonna watch this?" Sapphire asked them
"Lady, we're are going to see this argument from start to finish" Gold said with a thumbs up. I shrugged, didn't matter who watched us, it wouldn't change the inevitable outcome. I could see a few of them a little unnerved at the sight of real blades being used for practice but no one said anything.
I walked to one side of the arena and drew my sword, Sapphire mimicked my actions. I fished out a gold coin from my pocket, not needing to explain that when it hit the ground, the duel started. I paused for a moment, adjuring the piece of metal on my thumb while staring her in the eyes, which were brimming with determination. I flicked my thumb, sending the coin soaring into the air before gravity lured it back towards the earth
It seemed like one of those moments where time slowed down, neither of us had even glanced at the coin as it had ascended and descended. We had only stared right into each other's eyes, neither of our gazes wavering. This was the long awaited duel, one that I hadn't even realized I wanted until this moment as the coin was inches from the ground. This was important, because when you fight someone, you show your heart and soul on your blade, you leave nothing hidden. All your emotions are written on yours eyes, carved into them like a a scar.
Then, the moment ended, the soft clang of the coin hitting the ground seemed to echo off everything and come right back to me. Then, she was off. She came straight to me, not that I expected anything else, and just when she was a few meters away she she pushed to left, then the right, the the left, zigzagging her way towards me, keeping me guessing as to where she would stop and attack.
But when I said I should read her better than I could myself, I was not lying. I saw the slightest hesitation in one of her lunges, a small flex of her ankle, almost unnoticeable, and I knew it was coming before she even raised her blade. I had already parried her attack as she brought her sword up to attack and brought my sword down to attack but she rolled out of the way, barely though
She came straight back though, undaunted by her earlier failure. This time she started with an overhead, I had parried almost before she began the downward stroke. She feinted left and struck right, but she was an open book. I ducked under the attack and watched as it passed over my head. Now I was in close, I drove my fist right into he stomach, pushing her back a few feet.
But we weren't done, not by a long shot. She got back up and once again, came at me with renewed vigor and speed. 'Getting serious now are we? I like it' I thought with a grin. Block high, deflect slash, dodge lunge, parry overhead, roll left, slash up, dodge right, left cut, right feint followed by left slash.
Everything was clear to me, I felt clairvoyant, I felt... great
I must've looked sadistic, facing the possibility of death with a grin on my face. But I couldn't stop, I was enjoying myself too much. I parried another overhead then struck with a stab to her abdomen.
She twisted to the right and i found myself almost face to face with her. I knew where her sword was without even looking at it. I quickly drew my sword back and deflected the stab to the side, spinning around due to the speed that I had made the move with.
I was in a bad spot, I had my back to her and I was spinning, but I knew what she was doing. I was watching her every move through the reflection on my blade, thankful we didn't use the wooden practice swords. I finished my turn and deflected another stab and spun once more, this time much faster thanks to the speed I gathered form the last one, and before anyone knew it, I had my sword at her throat and my hand grasping the hilt of her sword
I stared at her for a moment before saying what she had never ad to do before
"Yield"
I saw the look in her eyes, defiance, anger, frustration, and... happiness?
I blinked.
No, I could still see it, that was definetly happiness. "Yield" I said again, with a little more force. She smiled at me, before she surprised me. I guess you could call it the "shock value" in my open book.
She dropped the sword and stepped back before drawing a knife from the back of her belt. She lunged at me, bringing the knife up to run me through the gut.
To anyone it would've looked like I got stabbed. She collided with me, we both fell down, and she was laying on top of me. But there was a reason that I was chosen to succeed Maxie. I had grabbed the blade and turned it so the flat of it was pressed again my chest, and now hers too.
We stared at each other for a while, just looking into each other's eyes. Before I pushed the blade up a little more so the tip was pressing against her chest. I didn't say a word, but my eyes demanded for her to say I won.
"I yield" she said, but I saw no sadness or anger in her eyes, just that weird happiness
I could feel the grin stretching across my face "Great, but, uh, could you get off me now?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah, my bad" she while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly
"Holy shit! That was awesome! No wonder you guys got to become generals at such a young age" Gold exclaimed
"Actually, we're generals at this age because we are skilled yes, but all the experienced and older members are dead. You won't find anyone over thirty years old in the Aqua Guard or the Magma Core" I explained
"Regardless of your age, your speed and skill with a blade is impressive" Silver said. 'Good job, that redirected the mood fast' I thought
"But Ruby, that was amazing. You were blocking her attacks before she even began them. How did you do that?" Gold asked. I shrugged "Instinct I guess"
"Whatever it was, it was incredible" Red said. I just gave the a lop-sided smile before shoving one hand in my and resting the sword on my shoulder "Oi, Sapphire. Let's return these swords, and your knife" I said while walking back to the armory
She nodded and ran to catch up to me "Feelin' better now?" she asked while running in front of me and backpedaling so she could face me while walking. "Since when I had been feeling bad?" I questioned
"Ya know what I mean!" she said angrily
I gave her my trademark smirk, a little lop-sided, and as cocky as it gets "No, I'm afraid I don't. I woke up feeling okay, although my mood did dampen when Ash just waked by me, not a word, not even glance. He just had one hand holding his head, like he was thinking. And now he's gone for a bit, which made it a bit worse. But after, I won a poker game which was enjoyable, then I had fun telling stories, and then I won a duel. All in all a good day so far, and it's barely noon"
"That's a long time for somethin' ta go wrong" she said
I raised an eyebrow "Are you hoping for me to have a bad day? I know you don't like losing but you're sure as hell aren't a sore looser" I said
"I never said that, but ya still haven't answered my question" she said
'Well that plan failed' I thought. "Better is a loose term, I'm feeling satisfied, but satisfaction only stays for so long Sapphire" I said
"So ya still haven't forgiven me?" she asked, disappointment creeping into her voice. Neither of us had broken our stride during the entire conversation, but I ended that and stopped, giving her a hard look. I walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, dropping my sword. I slowly raised my hand to her face and cupped her cheek
Then I flicked her in the head
"Ow, what the hell Ruby?"
"Palkia, you're an idiot. Didn't I tell you? I forgave you a while ago. Although it still confuses me as to why you thought getting a fake boyfriend would make me jealous. I mean it worked, but that tactic was rather... cruel" I said "So for Arceus' sake, stop asking for me to forgive something that I don't care about anymore"
"How could you not care about it? We left you there, it was a horrible thing to do" Sapphire said
I nodded "True, true, And I can't say that if the roles were reversed that the Magma Core would leave you to die. We'd probably have jumped back down to help, if we didn't Maxie would've killed every last one of us and used our bodies as a bridge for you climb up" I said "But you don't see any of my men holding a grudge. I doubt anyone of my dead comrades holds a grudge, Maxie taught us that if you can sacrifice yourself for someone, no matter who they are, it makes you a hero. So yeah, you left us, but we also sacrificed ourselves so you could get away. Everyone of those men and woman died as a hero, and I'm proud of them for it, I bear no grudges" I said
"I think your crazy, if you did that ta me, I'd raise hell and earth ta get back at ya" Sapphire said
"Really?" I said with a disbelieving look
"Well maybe not you, but I'd get revenge on everyone in the Magma Core if they did" she said
I gave her a soft smile and put a hand on her head "That's because you didn't have Maxie as your teacher" I said before picking up my sword and walking to the armory again "I'll see you at training" I said with a wave directed behind my back
Breath in, one, two, three
Breath out, one, two, three
With that I pushed myself out of bed and walked over to my uniform, changing from the simple pair of shorts that I usually wore to bed. I peaked out of my window, about half past four. Internal clocks are great right?
I walked towards the barracks, towards my team. I peaked through the door at everyone sleeping and I couldn't stop the grin from forming on my face. "GET YOUR LAZY ASSES UP! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO GET TO THE TRAINING FIELD!" I yelled at them, causing them to panic and scramble to get their clothes on
I calmly walked to the training ground, silently counting in my head
'two-hundred forty eight, two-hundred forty nine, two-hundred fifty, two-hundred fifty one' I counted while sitting down on a crate I placed in the middle of the field. "We're here!" Thomas yelled while him and the rest of my squad burst, that included my Blaziken and Scorch the Slugma, into the training field, standing at attention in front of me
"So it seems" I said with a bored look. Today I was not their friend, today, I was their leader. I grabbed a knife from my belt and stabbed the lid on the side of the crate, using it as a lever to open it. The lid fell to the ground, opening to reveal all sorts of training materials. Weights (they're heavy as shit), some jump ropes, a few buckets, some rope, and a large bundle of arrows.
"Today, we're going hard, just like we did yesterday. Except this time there's no Aqua Guard to hold you back, you all have my undivided attention so if I see one of you slaking off, you're all running to outpost 7 and back". I meant it too, I was not afraid to punish them. "This is the last day before we're off to the attack on Saffron. Tomorrow you get to sleep in and rest so we're going hard today"
"Thomas, you are going to take that weight vest, put it on and climb to the top of the tallest tower of the castle, I'll be timing you. And you'll know if I approve of your time or not. Butch, you're going to be going to that large rock over there and rolling it over and over to outpost one, I will also be timing you" I said while pointing to a large, flat rock that had rounded edges. it was about two feet thick and would flop down after the each flip.
Samantha, you'll be doing five-hundred jumps with the jump rope, after that I want you to sprint into the forest, grab sixteen rocks, and set the up in a zigzag pattern. You know what to do after that. David, you'll be dodging Scorch's flame-thrower with weights on, and if you get burned, suck it up. Matt, I set up target dummy's all around the castle and the city. Your job is to find everyone of them, shoot them from the designated position on this map, and bring me back the bandanna that I tied to each one of their arms. There are more than just one dummy per spot" I said while handing him a map that had red dots placed all around the castle and the city
"Boss, one of these is on the tallest tower of the castle, how am I going to see a dummy from that distance?"
I gave him a smile that held no friendliness "Figure it out, and tell Thomas to hurry when you see him" I said while drawing two circles on the ground and and sticking a sticking the middle, two makeshift clocks, as long as the sun stayed out.
"But, what are the buckets for?" David asked while pointing to them
"They're for when you throw up" I said in a happy tone while drawing the lines on the second clock
I looked up at them "Well? Get going!" I yelled at them. They all scrambled to go do their tasks, I looked up at Blaziken who had not been given a task "Let's go, I got something special for you" I said while walking out of the training ground towards the woods
I left Blaziken to train in the lake so he could build up a resilience to water attacks, as much as a fire type could at least. "You sure are a harsh leader" Riley said from behind me.
"Hn"
"That's all you got to say?" he asked
"That's all I need to say" I said while pulling my sword from its sheath "Are you ready?" I asks him. He grunted and drew his own sword "Let's do this" he said with a grin.
I ducked and spun under the first aura sphere and rolled to the left to dodge the second. I came up to face with Riley, who was already a few meters away. I dodged his stab, moving myself a few inches to the right so blade passed just millimeters away from my torso. I went to slash at his neck but he crouch down to dodge.
I quickly brought up my knee and connected it to his face, sending him sprawling back a few feet. I backed up, allowing him a moment to recover before I charged. He deflected my slash and countered with one of his own. I rolled under the attack and ended up just a little behind him. I swiped at his back, but he spun forward so he could face me, my sword missing my just inches.
"I guess it's time for me to get serious" Riley said, I saw his eyes glow a luminescent blue, and I knew getting a hit on him was about to become a lot harder. With his aura active, he basically has three-hundred sixty degree vision. I waited for him to attack me this time. He spun his sword a few times, a seemingly harmless action, but I knew better. He was building up torque, making his next attack a lot more powerful.
I watched his sword carefully, eyeing it's every move. He would attack when it's moving downward, getting more power in his attack.
I was wrong, his sword came down as as he began another turn, he quickly spun around, getting even more power in the attack and being able to strike from the side. I held my sword at an angle, holding the hilt above my head and pointing the blade downwards. His sword made contact and slid up mine, alleviating all the extra power he had built up.
Just as his sword reached the hilt of mine I disengaged our swords and spun around, slashing at his waist. But he jumped back, avoiding the attack. I knew it, it was going to be a lot harder to get a hit on him. I grinned
I guess I'll just have to be faster
I ripped the weights off my legs and wrists, throwing them into the air. Allowing me more freedom to move, and a destruction for Riley. He may be able to se everything right now, but he couldn't focus on everything. I raced towards the unsuspecting Aura Guardian, who only brought his eyes down from the weights, that had just begun their downward trip, when my fist was planted in his gut.
He stumbled back, but I gave him no break this time. I followed through with an overhead and he barely got his sword up in time fro the block. I brought my foot up and kicked him in the gut, not doing much damage, but stunning him a little.
"Oh man, now I look like an idiot to our gathering audience. I glanced around and saw the Aqua Guard was about to begin their training, but paused to watch the match. "Want to give them something ridiculous" I said
He grinned "Let's do some stupid shit"
He plunged his sword into the ground, freeing his hands which now held two fully formed aura spheres, before firing both off at me. I sidestepped one and rolled under the other before charging at Riley who had already grabbed his sword, but had another aura sphere in his free hand. He fired it off at close range, no time to spin.
I pushed myself off the ground, hitting the ground with my shoulder and rolling through it to come face to face with Riley. He pressed his advantage, firing off attack ofter attack, keeping me on the defensive. He locked his blade under the hilt of my sword and flicked his wrist, causing my to lose my sword and send it flying into the air.
I backed up, dodging his attack before glancing up at my sword. I had to time this perfectly, and make sure that Riley used the attack I need him to. I jerked to the right, dodging an overhead, then I duck under a stab, before moving to the right. Riley sent another slash my way, I glanced up at my sword, now was the time. I ducked under his slash and pushed his arm, pushing more momentum into his swing than he had originally put into it
He spun around and I saw him begin the attack I needed. I glanced up at my sword 'Shit! I miscalculated'
It was coming down behind me, time to improvise. Using instinct, I held me hand behind my back and grabbed where I predicated the hilt would be, not bothering to check if I had grabbed the hilt, I brought my sword up and blocked his powerful overhead. I pushed him back and pressed my advantage, trying moves and sequences a smart soldier would never do in battle. Most of them were flashy, some were just plain stupid unless they worked out, and some were downright crazy, but Riley was doing the same thing
I spun around, watching his movements on the flat of my blade just like I had done with Sapphire, before seeing his overhead about to cut my head in two. I finished my spin and deflected his over head, I dropped my sword and took out my saxe knife, a large knife that had some weight to it, good for assassinations.
I dropped below a slash and grabbed a fist full of dirt before throwing it into Riley's eyes. He stumbled back, dazed, dropped his sword and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the dirt out of them. I ran up to him and punched him in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground.
He slowly got himself back up and stood still for a moment, eyes closed. Then he ran at me, eyes still closed. I threw my knife at him, but to my surprise, he caught it in mid air, by the hilt. Dodge right, counter with left hook, duck under jab, jump over leg sweep, counter with three jabs to the stomach, block left, block right, duck under left hook, right kick... connected. Press advantage.
I went to attack him while he was down, but he rolled backwards and landed on his feet, this time, he was ready to use my knife. Avoid slash, block overhead, dodge upward diagonal slash, roll left, counter with two jabs to the left arm, block stab, push opponent away, press opponent. I followed through and blocked another overhead, but I quickly grabbed his hand, punching his wrist, causing him to let go of my knife.
I grabbed it as it fell and pressed Riley once more. Slash diagonally downward, block right hook, slash right, slash left, overhead slash. Riley brought out his arm and blocked my overhead. I saw him begin to try the same tactic I did, but I didn't give him the chance. I dropped the knife form my grasp and let it fall below his arms. I disengage myself form him and spun so I ended up behind him, grabbing the falling knife halfway through the spin.
I wrapped my arm around his throat and held the knife up to his throat "Yield?"
He sighed and slumped in my grasp "I Yield" he said in a defeated voice
I let him go and he turned to face me "You think we gave them a good show?" he said with a grin, his eyes still closed. "I'd say we did" I said, looking at the soldiers that had been watching
A few of them were clapping "Well I'm going to go get my eyes cleaned, I'll be back" he said while walking through a platoon that was walking towards a training ground. I watched him maneuver his way through them "Pst, fucking aura users" I grumbled, a little impressed at the way he could see without using his eyes.
Just as I turned away I heard a loud thump "Ow, son of a whore" I heard Riley yell. I looked back and saw him feeling his way on the walls towards the door. "You're a moron Riley!" I yelled at him, he just flipped me the bird before finding and entering the castle doors.
"Looking good hot stuff. You gave us quite a show" Blue said
"Yeah well, as I'm sure you noticed, I'm never going to use half of those moves in a battle" I said
"Still I believe that it would still require a vast amount of skill to implement those techniques even in a practice ring" Green said, appearing next to Blue. She jumped back a little "Damnit Green don't do that to me" she shouted at him. He just sent her a glare "now if you are finished chatting with Ruby, perhaps we should begin our own training session" Green said
'Yeah, yeah. Let's go send our guys through hell" Blue grumbled while walking to a separate training ground
I looked at the two clocks I made on the ground, almost seven o'clock. They've been gone for about an hour. I wasn't expecting Butch back anytime soon, Thomas was bound to be halfway down the tower at this point, Samantha had already grabbed the rocks (probably when I was sparring with Riley), I had no idea how far Matt was in his target practice, David and Scorch were doing that all day, and Blaziken was probably still going at it.
"Hey Ruby! Yq mind helpin' us while ya wait for your team?" Sapphire asked from halfway across the training field. I walked up a flight of stone stairs that led to the walls the surrounded the castle and sat on the edge, facing towards the Aqua Guard and my men. I nodded to her, showing my compliance.
"Alright! Platoon C go do war Ruby asks you to do, the rest of you are with us" Sapphire yelled out, causing a resounding groan to emit from the soldiers in platoon C. I grinned, they knew exactly how harsh I am when it comes to slaking off.
"Alright, first thing you have to do is run the entire length of the city. You have to go all the way around the walls, and if you aren't back in three hours, then you do it again, except that time it has to be in thirty minutes" I said "Now start running before I get Ash's Garchomp over here to start eating people"
They all paled, having seen the monstrous Pokemon before. Ash may not be here, but they didn't need to know that. They all sprinted out of the gates, not daring to face the punishment I set for them.
I watched them leave before jumping off the wall and walking back over to my weights, tying them back around my legs and wrists. I walked back over to the crate and put some more weight in them, and put on a weight vest for myself. I walked back to the wall and put my hand on it for a moment, pausing to take a deep breath, before shooting off and running to the castle
I touched the castle and sprinted back to the the wall, back and forth, back and forth, over and over again. I only stopped when Thomas came running in and stop at attention in front of me. "I'm done boss" he said while gasping for breath
"Great, now go, and do it, again" I said in between breaths. He groaned before sprinting back from the way he came. "And tell me if you see a large group of blue clad soldiers cheating while running around the city walls" I yelled after him as I turned back and went about my sprints once again.
I began my cycle, sprints, strength training, sprints, strength training, sprints, and back to strength training. I only paused in between when a new platoon was sent over, one of my men came back, or if someone came up with a question (A few new recruits who wouldn't be joining us on this attack).
Platoon C came back after a while, most in under three hours, but a few stragglers came a little after. I found it in my heart to forgive them though, before I sent them out to do it again. All I was doing was bringing up their stamina, I couldn't teach them a new skill or trick in just two days. Those take weeks, even months to perfect.
It'd be more of a danger than an advantage if one of them tried a trick in battle that they didn't know. Finally, Butch came back, without a shirt on, an sweaty as fuck. he ran over to one of the buckets I had placed out and hurled everything he had left in his stomach into it (which probably wasn't much). He collapsed next to the bucket and stared at the sky "Your done Butch, go to the barracks and take a rest, but tell everyone else on the way there as well" I said. I could see the sun lowering, close to the horizon but not quite there.
So close, so close to the day that I will probably die
I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what was to come, before I walked to the mess hall, taking some food to my room. I wasn't in the mood for being social tonight. I slowly ate some steak, a salad, and some bread while reading a book. My room was one out of seven, one for each general of the Magma Core. In other words all those rooms belonged to me. The Aqua Guard general's wing was down the hall and to the left.
I was interrupted from my reading though, by a lock at the door. I stood and answered, met by Lance, and the three generals. Noticing this official, yet unofficial visit, I stood aside and let them all into the room. I let them make themselves comfortable, Sapphire on the bed, Blue next to her, Green in the chair I previously occupied, and Lance simply standing by the window.
"Ruby" Green started
I could already feel the anger boiling inside me. Whatever came next, I was not going to like. "We want you to keep yourself and your squad here tomorrow" Green said
Yup, I'm mad
"Fuck no! We're as much of a part of the military as you are, no matter big or small we are" I yelled
"You don't seem to understand, you're the leader of the Magma Core, you have to look out for you and your men's best interests. And that would be staying here, and restarting the Magma Core program" Green said
"Do not talk about my men like you know what they'd want. We are the only members of the Magma Core yeah, but that's ll the more reason for us to go. We need something to fight for. This is our chance for redemption, this is our chance to prove that we are not weak, and you're trying to take that from us" I said
"It's because you're the last members that we want you to stay behind. Only you know maxi's training technique's, the criteria in which he chooses the members for the Magma Core. If all of you die tomorrow then-"
"Then the Magma Core wouldn't deserve to continue" I interrupted "You abandoned us, left us for dead when all you had to do was help us up a cliff. I don't hold any grudges for that, we don't hold any grudges for that, but we deserve a chance to avenge those who fell at that cliffside, for all the Magma Core soldiers that died during this war. You owe us at least that much" I said
I saw Green grimace "Could you at least-"
"No, we're going, end of discussion" I said, silencing him with a glare. He sighed "If you plan on being so stubborn about it, the I guess I'll see you on the battlefield" he said with a smile.
"Your determination is admirable, I will await the day to seed your skill in action" Lance said
"See you tomorrow tough guy" Blue said as they all filed out. I took a deep breath before looking at the last remaining occupant of the room. Her head was down, refusing to look me in the eyes
"Sapphire" I said. She seemed to flinch at the sound of her name. "Look at me"
tap, tap, tap
"Sapphire? Are you cryi-"
"Stay" she whispered
"I can't do that"
"WHY NOT!" she yelled, finally looking up at me with tears streaming down her face "If ya go out there, you're gonna die! And what's worsens ya know it" she yelled at me
"Sapphire"
"Please, please don't go. I don't know what I'd do if ya died" she said, sobbing
I sighed and walked in front of her, crouching to look in her eyes which were aimed back at the floor "And what would I do if you died huh? Did you think about that?" I asked gently
She shook her head "Sapph, chances are neither of us is coming out of that mess alive. But I'd rather spend my last moments on the battlefield in the blood and dirt, protecting you, than living out my days and dying in my sleep, peacefully" I said, tilting her chin up to look at me
"Are you going to deny me a chance to look good here? After all that childhood of you being in the spotlight, at least let it shine me for once" I said with a smile. I'm not sure if that was the wrong or right thing to say, because she just jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck before crying into my shoulder.
"Shhhhh, shhhhhhh, shhhhhh. We're going ot be okay Sapph, we're both going to come out of this just fine" I said, comforting her. Eventually, her tears became sobs, and her sobs turned to shaky breaths, and that turned into soft, deep breaths.
She fell asleep
So that's the end of this chapter, I was debating making it longer, but whatever it already over 10,000. This week was a hectic week. but I managed to finish the chapter this morning, I couldn't manage to fall asleep so I just typed this up at like, 2 in the morning. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, requests, suggestions, hate, and anything else is always welcome. I hope you enjoyed, so till next time
-novaking2832