Chapter 18: The Man and his Meowstic
The pack wasn't far away, just a little ways ahead of Shard and Blade. But the air felt colder than usual, the chasm they'd been staying in wasn't very hospitable to anyone, least of all a sneasel runt and his mother. It was cold, colder than usual here. Food was scarce and other Pokémon had long since adapted and held a distinct advantage over the pack. Powerful Metang and Metagross. Large and lumbering Piloswine. Clefairy, Solrock, and Lunatone. Dozens of pokemon dotted the area, but despite this obviously bad choice, Cleave led the pack through.
Blade followed quietly behind Shard, she seemed rather unhappy. "What's wrong Mom?"
"Oh nothing dear" she wore a false smile. Blade knew she was unhappy, but he left it be, he couldn't do anything to help her after all. She was suddenly lost in thought. 'You bastard Cleave….you did this on purpose…you knew this place was too dangerous for Blade. Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep trying to kill him, why do you keep trying to make me abandon him?' She glared forward at the alpha weavile.
He led the pack with a smirk on his face, though no one said it aloud the entire pack knew this was another plot to dispose of the runt. That little mistake continued to be nothing more than a stain upon his reputation, and he wanted to wipe that stain away. Not yet, that would come later, first he needed Shard to be tired.
*Weeks Later*
As they continued on through the chasm they found a small cave entrance where they decided they would take refuge. Barely a cave, the entire pack filled it with ease, it left little room for Blade to stay away from the others safely. That's when it began. "Shard!" Cleave called out "We're going hunting! Now, everyone, move your asses!" The entire hunting party set off within moments. Blade was once again alone. He didn't even get a chance to run before several Sneasel and Weavile set about beating him down. They weren't to kill him, just beat him down and throw him out. Even when he hit the ground they picked him back up and beat him down again, and again, and again, and again until his face was bloodied and bruised, his feathers crooked, and little energy left in his body. After beating him to a pulp, the group tossed him out of the cave. When he went to crawl back they started walking out, and with what little energy he had, he got up and ran away. He knew he shouldn't have, he knew his mother would be terrified when she came back, but he didn't think he had much choice.
*With Shard*
The pink ice type slid under the smaller Piloswine slashing it's legs. Cleave slid by as well, slashing the others. Together with her alpha they struck the killing blow, all while the other hunters distracted the rest of the Piloswine herd. Finally with their dinner secured they took the now deceased Piloswine and left as quickly as possible, dragging the dead body away. They reached the cave within mere minutes when Shard noticed Blade was gone.
"Blade's gone" she spoke to Cleave, "I'm going to find him."
"You'll miss out on dinner darling, are you sure he's worth starving for?"
"Fuck you" she took off running, following his scent closely.
*With Blade*
The only way his situation could get worse was if he outright asked if it possibly could. He was being chased down by several Piloswine, seemingly for no reason. Normally he'd likely have escaped easily, but considering how beat up he was and how exhausted he was, he could barely get more than a few feet away from them. Then one struck him in the back knocking him down. Before they could lay upon him Shard came from the side driving a claw into one and tearing the fur and flesh away from it. The group of Piloswine, still enraged, turned to attack her. She weaved around their attacks with precision only instinct could provide. Her body moved on its own, her face held no focus but that of a mother out to save her child. And with it she fought. It was a rather impressive display of skill, she was almost untouched, but due to what she was doing fatigue began to set in. And she was quickly overwhelmed. The Piloswine then turned back to Blade having subdued her. She struggled to move as she watched them slam Blade knocking the poor little guy out. Shard stood up, forcing herself beyond her limits. The Piloswine were moving forward looking to trample the younger Sneasel. She broke into a weak sprint trying to reach her son before them, but no amount of trying could allow her to do so. She stumbled and hit the ground just before they trampled the boy.
"Blade!" She cried out in horror.
A voice rang out against the area "Mystic, stop them!" Suddenly the Piloswine were stopped in their tracks and tossed back, in their place stood a male Meowstic clad in a rather adorable lab coat and glasses, and just behind him a young man, also dressed in a lab coat, his hair was blue and spiked in every direction. "Go get that Sneasel while I take care of this little guy." The Meowstic nodded and ran over to Shard, gently lifting her onto his back and carrying her over to the man. He set her down carefully beside Blade as the man pulled some bottles from a satchel hanging down his back. He sprayed the first bottle over Shard and she felt her wounds seemingly vanish. Then he held the other one over Blade.
Shard was about to stop him, but the Meowstic spoke up "It's going to wake him up, don't worry. This is Lyte, I'm Mystic, sorry we won't be staying for too long, we just couldn't let you die like that."
Lyte sprayed the bottle over Blade and the Sneasel began to stir. Then he pulled two more items from the satchel. Another bottle and a small device with a needle. He gently pressed the needle to Blade's ankle and a quiet sound was released as a smaller device was shot into the sneasel's leg. He let out a small whine as Lyte sprayed the other bottle over him healing his wounds completely. Blade, unable to keep himself up, passed out just barely catching a glimpse of Lyte for a few moments. The man and his Meowstic took their leave and Shard lifted Blade and carried him back to the cave "Oh Cleave is gonna be pissed" she smiled happily at that.
