Chapter Three
Lost
After the chaotic events of the morning, Andrew felt that the quiet walk he was undergoing now was quite dull in comparison. Not that he considered that a bad thing, at least in this situation; however, now that he had time to think about his actions more, he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty. Although the now-named Cari had seemingly forgiven him, Andrew had still tried to essentially murder her after what appeared to be her saving his life.
What irked him the most was that the more he thought about the situation, the more he started to believe what he'd said to her was less of a spur-of-a-moment thing. Andrew is not a stupid man, and he can easily recognize the terrain around him bears little resemblance to the blood-soaked ground of northern Virginia that he'd grown ever so tragically familiar with over three years of war. He truly was starting to feel more and more lost every minute that went by.
"The damn season isn't even the same, and I think isolated or not; someone would've found out about talking blue coyotes by now," he grumbles quietly, glaring up at the colored leaves of the trees around him as if they were a personal insult.
He pauses when he hears the paw steps ahead of him halt and relaxes his look when he shifts his gaze to his new traveling partner, who is staring at him curiously, head tilted slightly.
"Rarrio?" she queries.
Guessing what she'd asked, Andrew replies, "No, nothing is wrong. I've just got a lot on my mind,"
Something Andrew can't quite describe flashes across her crimson eyes as she stares at him a moment longer; then the moment passes, and she turns around and resumes walking. Feeling mildly unnerved now, he hesitates a moment before following her again.
'Maybe this wasn't such a great idea,' Andrew thinks; however, before he can further pursue that line of thought, the trees begin to thin out slightly, and he can make out the cabin he'd fled from. Stepping out of the woodline, he watches Cari enter through the already-ajar front door. Choosing to linger outside for a moment, Andrew winces when he sees the broken-out window that he'd jumped through. That is something that would not make the list of his proudest moments.
Deciding he'd stalled for too long, Andrew takes a deep breath and follows after Cari, entering the building. Absently, he notices her standing off to the side and rummaging through what appears to be a series of cabinets in the kitchen, though she takes a second to glance at him when he walks in before returning to what she is doing. Ignoring her, he walks towards the center of the room and finds what he'd been looking for: his weapon, though now coated in a small layer of dust, still lay discarded on the floor. Evidently, Cari hadn't thought anything more of it at the time.
Bending over, he picks up the piece, instantly feeling more at ease with the reassuring weight in his hands. Giving it a shake to knock the dust off, he quickly checks the weapon over for any damage. Satisfied by the lack thereof, he leans it against a wall and starts investigating the rest of the cabin.
First, Andrew walks over to the glass-faced box he remembered from when he'd awoken; bending over slightly to get his head level with it, he frowns. There wasn't anything inside of it, at least that he could see, and the rest of the box seemed constructed of some strange material he didn't recognize. Rapping his fingers against the glass, he finally shrugs and steps away.
'What a curious thing,' he thinks before turning his attention towards the rest of the room.
The next thing that catches his eye is the tri-bladed contraption on the ceiling. Standing on the tips of his toes beneath it, he tries to strain to reach it; however, his reach is a couple of inches short. Abandoning his efforts, he sighs and heads over to inspect some shelves on the other side of the room instead.
He sees a couple of books with worn-looking bindings that seem to be about something called 'Sinnoh' and its history. Dismissing them, he turns his attention to the next object that catches his attention, a jewelry box, though one that'd been empty for years, if the dust inside is anything to go by. The last object of note is something that causes his eyes to widen.
A photograph in a simple wooden frame displays an older man with his arm around a younger man, most likely a relative; both are grinning widely. There was just one thing that was a problem: the photograph was in color.
For several moments, Andrew simply gapes at it before he reaches forward and grabs it from the shelf, holding it in his hands and squinting at it as if to reveal some deception. The photograph remained the same, and Andrew's irritation and bewilderment only rose. A colored photo wasn't possible: everyone knew that, yet here was one in his hands.
Minutes go by, and Andrew remains standing with the photo in his hands, his mind slowly starting to connect various dots. The season, the terrain, everything he'd seen so far: it was all different from Virginia, from what he was used to.
"Where the hell am I?" he mutters as, with shaking hands, he returns the photograph to its resting place, his gaze still lingering upon it. Forcibly tearing his gaze from it, he steps away from the shelves and almost bumps into Cari, who narrowly slides to the side to avoid him.
"Ah, sorry about that. I was spaced out," Andrew admits, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Rurrcar," Cari responds, fidgeting slightly. It takes Andrew a moment to realize she's holding something: A white bag with a blue exterior outline and several pictures of cookies.
Returning his eyes to hers, he raises an eyebrow and asks, "Is something wrong?"
"Carrio, rru cari," Cari says before holding the bag towards him.
Taking the bag, he's surprised when it makes a crinkling noise. Realizing the bag is not made of familiar material raises his curiosity, and he's somewhat disappointed to find it's already open and empty. Looking back at Cari, who seems expectant of something, he says, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you want from me."
She seems equally disappointed and frustrated as she points at the bag, tapping her paw against the bag and drawing his attention to what he realizes is a label.
"You want me to read this?" he queries, starting to formulate an idea as to what she wants.
A small grin forms across her muzzle, and she nods, causing Andrew to chuckle as he responds, "Alright, let's see. Bindies chocolate chip bite-sized cookies, a bite you can trust. That isn't the worst branding I've ever heard, honestly. Though I have no clue how you can keep cookies fresh long enough to sell, this Bindie must be quite ingenious."
Andrews's bemusement grows when Cari takes the bag from his hand, looks at the label, then back at him. The grin on her muzzle is a full-blown smile now, and she says something faster than he can understand.
"I take it you like these then?" he guesses and is confirmed when Cari nods, seeming somewhat embarrassed now that her excitement has worn off.
"Well, if we keep movin' together and we ever run into this Bindie fellow, I'll see if I can scrape together a few bucks to buy you a bag or two," Andrew promises.
Eyes widening, Cari takes a step forward and hesitantly asks, "Rurcari, cario?"
"Uh…sure," he replies.
Apparently, it was the correct thing to say because Cari's smile returns, and she makes an odd rumbling noise he can't quite decipher.
"It's a deal then, I suppose. Though, at the moment, I'm not sure how to fulfill it. I hate to admit it, but you're probably more familiar with what's around here than I am. Hell, I barely recognize half the stuff in this cabin."
Cari tilts her head in the way Andrew was starting to associate with curiosity or bemusement and replies, "Rurrio?"
Andrew shrugs before elaborating, "Last I remember…" his face darkens slightly, and he coughs before continuing, "Well, I wasn't here. I don't recognize anything around here, and this might sound mad, but the season isn't even right. Last I remember, it was the dead of summer, and I mean the dead of summer. Scorching heat and all. Honestly, I've wondered if I'm still even in Virginia."
Cari doesn't respond, simply listening quietly with her arms crossed; when he finishes, a brief look of frustration crosses her features before she sighs and steps forward, grabbing him by the wrist and flicking her head towards the door.
Interpreting her meaning, Andrew nods and walks to the door before stepping outside. A second later, Cari follows and gestures to the woods with a paw. Before Andrew can say anything, she bends over and uses her paw to draw a rough image of several houses with a street going through them, then gestures towards a specific direction again.
"There's a town that way?" Andrew asks for confirmation, and a surge of hope rises within himself when Cari nods in response. Then she draws another image of two stick figures walking toward it before turning back to him and pointing at herself, him, and then the direction of the town.
"You want to head there together?" Andrew asks, and he feels surprisingly happy when Cari closes her eyes in contentment and nods.
Glancing up at the sky, Andrew guesses that it's around midday by the position of the sun, which is directly overhead in the sky. Looking back towards the cabin, then towards Cari, he says, "Well, alright then. Just let me grab my rifle, and we can get going."
Stepping back into the cabin, he does just that, shifting the rifle up to his right shoulder when he steps out, lockplate high enough that if Andrew turned his head to the right, he could kiss it.
He doesn't miss how Cari eyes the Springfield with unease, and he looks at her oddly in response. After all, this was the same creature that had been staring directly into the barrel of it two days prior. Andrew had no clue what had caused her to develop the sudden wariness of it but decided it didn't matter all that much; after all, when it comes to firearms, cautiousness is intelligence.
"Well, you ready?" he asks as he shifts his accouterments around slightly to get more comfortable; there wasn't an officer or NCO around that could shout at him for it, and professionalism was the last thing on his mind.
Still eying the weapon he now carries, Cari gives a nod before turning and starting to head for the woods. Remaining a moment, Andrew turns around, gazes at the cabin, and ponders the mysteries it still holds within it. Brought out of his thoughts by a distant shout of 'Rurcario,' he shakes his head and begins heading after Cari.
Swiftly catching up to her, he slows his pace to match hers and asks, "Say, I've been meaning to ask; I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you? I'm not familiar with your uh… kind, I suppose is the word for it."
Cari looks at him and makes an odd rumbling noise that he almost mistakes as a growl. A couple of seconds later, he realizes she's laughing, and soon after, Andrew starts chuckling too.
"Yeah, yeah. I know it's not the most tactful thing to ask, but in my defense, tact is one of the things you leave behind in the army." Andrew half-heartedly defends himself, still chuckling.
When she stops laughing, Cari looks at him and says, "Lucario."
"Lucario? That's what you are?" Andrew asks to confirm. After all, half the time Cari spoke, it sounded like she was saying that anyway, or at least variations of it.
Cari nods, and Andrew hums in response but doesn't say anything further.
The next several hours are passed primarily in companionable silence, the only real consistent sounds being the distant chirping of birds, the barely discernable paw-steps of Cari, and the loud tromping of Andrew. Occasionally, Andrew could make out an animal darting through the underbrush, but from the glimpses he caught of them, they all seemed… wrong. He didn't consider himself an expert on wildlife by any means, but he liked to believe he was well-traveled; fighting across the East Coast brings you to all sorts of places and lets you see sights you wouldn't have otherwise.
In all his travels, he'd never seen as much strangeness as he had within the last three hours. Cari was one thing, but the oversized grey birds with the obnoxious cries, the freakishly large insects, and other similar creatures had Andrew on edge. At one point, he had even loaded his rifle, much to Cari's visible discomfort. Andrew wasn't sure if it was the scent of the black powder or if Cari had started getting an idea of what the weapon was capable of, but ever since he'd loaded it, she'd been staying ahead of him instead of walking at his side.
Overall, Andrew felt like he was steadily reaching a breaking point and had seriously begun wondering if the pit he had been pushed into in Cold Harbor had led him to hell or purgatory. Nothing else made sense; not even the cabin had held anything with more than vague familiarity attached to it, and thinking of the photograph still brought him discomfort. Ironically, it was Cari whom he'd mentally attached a vague semblance of normality; at least he could somewhat speak with her, and being a 'Lucario' aside, she seemed relatively trustworthy.
Grumbling discontentedly, Andrew shifts his grip on his rifle and rolls his right shoulder before returning the gun to its resting place. Then he resumes glaring at his surroundings as if expecting some new monstrosity to appear any second. Because of this, he's taken completely by surprise when he walks directly into Cari, who'd suddenly halted ahead of him.
"Ah- what the?" he exclaims. Before he can continue, the now irritated-looking Lucario shoves a paw over his mouth, then gestures to her ears with the other and flicks her head over to the left before looking back at him.
She drops her paw after he nods at her, his gaze sharpening as he tries to peer toward the direction she'd gestured towards. Unable to make out anything through the trees, he takes a step closer and allows his rifle to drop, the butt touching the ground as his hand grasps it near the uppermost band to keep it stable before whispering, "What is it?"
Cari flicks an ear in response, and getting her meaning, Andrew tries to strain his hearing to hear what Cari is hearing. After a few moments of being unable to detect anything out of the ordinary, he nearly gives up before just faintly he hears it. On the edge of his hearing, he can make out the distant sound of someone shouting, followed by a crash, most likely a falling tree, and Andrew glances at Cari in concern.
"Sounds like someone might be in trouble," he remarks, tightening his grip ever so slightly on his rifle.
His theory is affirmed when she nods, and for a moment, both of them stand still in consideration before suddenly Andrew hefts his rifle onto his shoulder and, with a, "Well, what are we waiting for then?" begins shoving his way through the foliage in the direction of the shouting.
With his back turned to her, he completely misses the small smile that crosses Cari's muzzle before she begins following after him.
After several minutes of shoving his way through dense foliage and forcibly restraining himself from loudly swearing when a pricker-covered branch smacks him on the head, Andrew can finally start to make out the shouting he'd heard better. While the words themselves aren't yet distinct, Andrew can discern the voice seems to belong to someone who sounds young. A deep concern developing within him, Andrew keeps pushing forward: all too familiar with how disorienting thick forestry can be with judging distance.
For a second, his mind flashes back to the first day of battle at Cold Harbor, gunfire erupting all around him and disorienting smoke filling the air. On that day, entire companies were massacred not even two hundred feet from his regiment, and barely anyone knew, the only sounds able to be made out being localized musket fire.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Andrew finally shoves through one final patch of underbrush and emerges on the edge of a proper dirt path.
At the first sign of proper civilization he'd seen in days, he's rendered temporarily speechless, a surge of emotion in his breast making him nearly want to whoop with joy before a cry of, "Chimchar, no!" draws him back to reality.
Taking cover behind a tree, he peaks around, and what he sees confounds him. A boy, dressed in some of the oddest clothes Andrew had ever seen and who couldn't be older than eleven, is clutching a battered orange monkey close to his chest. Meanwhile, an absolutely bizarre creature that Andrew could describe as nothing other than a pig head on legs, with some vague simian traits attached to it and a pulsating vein on its head, is towering over the child.
Andrew quickly returns to his senses when the thing huffs loudly, a visible puff of air emitted from its snout as it starts advancing on the crying kid. Taking a deep breath, Andrew raises his rifle to his shoulder and leans against the tree for stability. With a hand on the trigger and the other just behind the lowermost band, he takes a breath and aims at the advancing creature.
Just as he's about to fire, a rough shove from behind takes him completely by surprise, causing him to drop the rifle, and when he turns, the furious face of Cari is what greets him.
"What the hell are you d-" he starts, unable to finish his sentence before the Lucario dashes out into the path and slams into the pig-monkey from the side, sending it flying with an enraged squeal.
Before the thing can stand, Cari presses her paws together, and something incredible happens. A brightly colored, swirling orb of energy begins to rapidly form before, with a sudden push forward from Cari, it's sent surging into her dazed opponent. An explosion of color flashes, and just as quickly as it appeared, it vanishes.
Cari, who's now fallen into some sort of fighting stance Andrew doesn't recognize, is fixing the downed creature with an intense stare. After a few seconds, to Andrew's shock, it starts to rise to its feet, though it now looks quite battered.
"Carrio, rruri." She says tensely, though the only response she receives is an angry bellow before the thing hurls itself at her. Cari manages to dodge several rapid blows from the thing's fists before an opening reveals itself, and she strikes, swiftly jabbing with her left paw, spike facing outward. The strike impacts the creature's face and is quickly followed by several others before a low kick, similar to the one she'd used on Andrew, sends it to the ground.
To Andrew, the whole fight seemed very one-sided, with Cari almost seeming to know where the creature planned on striking before it did so, not to mention whatever it was she'd done with that orb. Just thinking of that gave Andrew a splitting headache and raised several questions he didn't want to address at the present moment.
A few tense seconds pass, but Cari visibly relaxes when the thing doesn't stand back up. Turning towards Andrew, she crosses her arms and stares at him as if having made some grand point. Andrew's return gaze is filled with suspicion, and he finds himself performing the Sign of the Cross before his attention is drawn by the child he'd nearly forgotten about in the chaos.
"Holy cow! That was awesome; is that your Lucario, sir? You didn't even have to give her commands! She knew exactly how to handle that Primeape! You must be a great trainer." the kid loudly rambles, looking completely awe-struck as he runs up to Andrew, monkey still clutched in his arms.
"Wha- I didn't train any-" Andrew starts before the kid cuts him off, another onslaught of words overwhelming Andrew.
"You really saved me there, sir. I thought me and Chimchar were done for, that Primeape's been chasing us for hours after I ticked him off. I didn't even mean to; I swear!" the kid babbles before starting to repeat himself in a chain of thanking Andrew, talking about how 'cool' Cari was and other similar things.
While the kid talks, Andrew takes the time to try and get his bearings. The first thing he notices is the kid is wearing some strange black hat with a front-facing bill and a rear that hugs his head; emblazoned directly on the front of it is a half-red, half-white ball. The kid's red jacket didn't have a single button on it and seemed to be kept closed by some strange metal tab along a double series of metal rails, and his butternut trousers were cut off at the knees and covered in pockets. The final thing Andrew noted was the red and white bag the kid had slung over his shoulders, also emblazoned with the same ball logo as his hat.
It is around this time Andrew also realizes the kid has stopped talking and is simply staring at him as if waiting for a response, which Andrew somewhat awkwardly provides, "Uh - no problem, kid, but I gotta ask what in the name of god are you doing out here all alone with your pet? It's dangerous, you know."
The kid seems somewhat offended when Andrew calls his monkey a pet and replies, "Hey! Chimchar isn't my pet; he's my best friend - we've been through everything together, and my name isn't 'kid'; it's Johnny. As for what I'm doing? Well, mister, I'm going to challenge the Oreburgh gym, and once I beat the gym leader there, that'll be my first step to becoming a Pokemon master!"
Andrew stares before arriving at a swift conclusion, 'This kid is mad. What kind of godless hell have I found myself in.'
He's taken from his thoughts by the feeling of something soft on his shoulder, and turning, he can see Cari standing next to him, her head tilted slightly and crimson eyes filled with concern.
Before Andrew can say anything, Johnny diverts his attention to the now-present Lucario and says, "Wow, I'm so jealous, mister. I've always dreamed of having a Lucario, n-not that I'm not happy with Chimchar or anything, though! Though… hey, can I ask you a favor, please, mister?"
Still feeling overwhelmed, Andrew only nods in response, causing the kid to smile widely, as he reaches into a pocket and takes out a small blocky red thing, tapping it nervously with a finger.
"Well… I've never seen a Lucario in person, so I was wondering if you wouldn't let me scan her to unlock the Pokédex entry for Lucarios?" Johnny asks, seeming equal parts nervous and excited.
"Pokédex? Wha - I…" Andrew starts before looking over to Cari as if hoping she could provide some answers, though he's disappointed when all she does is shrug and look faintly amused. Sensing no support from that front, Andrew looks back at Johnny's expectant face and nods, not trusting his ability to speak.
Looking overjoyed, Johnny flips open the red brick in his hand, revealing two segments, and raises it towards Cari, who stares at it curiously. After a few seconds, a voice starts coming from the box, "Lucario, the Aura Pokémon, and the evolved form of Riolu. By sensing the aura of its opponents, Lucario can read their thoughts and movements."
Completely overwhelmed and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Andrew misses the kid thanking him and is only brought back to reality by a tug on his hand.
"Are you okay, mister?" Johnny asks, seeming like he's finally picked up on Andrew's state.
Gulping and taking a deep breath, Andrew lies, "Y-yeah. I'm fine, kid. Just had a long day."
The kid nods and looks around awkwardly before saying, "Well, mister, thank you again. I gotta take Chimchar to the nearest Pokécentre to fix him up, so I gotta get moving. Again, though, thank you."
"No problem… anyone would've done the same," Andrew mumbles out, almost as if on autopilot before something the kid said draws his attention.
"Wait a second, kid," he says, causing Johnny to turn around and look at him curiously,
"What is it, mister?"
"Do you know what direction the nearest town is?" Andrew asks, receiving a nod in response.
"You can get to Fairbrook if you walk a couple hours that way. They'll have a map at the Pokécentre there if you need further directions." Johnny says, pointing down the road in the direction Andrew assumes he had come from.
"Thanks." Andrew mumbles, receiving a 'You're welcome' before Johnny, with his monkey in his arms, starts walking down the path in the opposite direction.
Standing silently for several minutes, he just stares at the direction Johnny had walked off towards before a concerned-sounding "Rurrio" draws him from his thoughts, and turning to look at Cari, he can't help but feel suddenly angry.
"What the hell was that?!" he growls out, continuing before she has a chance to respond, "That fucking thing was about to attack that kid; what the hell were you doing shoving me like that?! Were you trying to show off with your fucking devil magic? And on that note, when were you going to tell me you could do that?! Seems like something that could just be a little bit important to know."
Looking indignant, Cari pins her ears to the back of her head and angrily retorts, but Andrew can't understand, driving his frustration further.
"I can't fucking understand you, I don't know how you can understand me, but it doesn't go both ways. This whole situation is a damn mess; I shouldn't even fucking be alive, you understand?" Andrew replies, sounding more exhausted than angry by the end.
Cari's gaze softens slightly, and she looks torn with indecision as she fidgets slightly, ears still pinned tightly to the back of her head as he yells,
"This is driving me mad, you hear me? I don't know what's going on anymore. I was dead, you hear me? Dead. I don't know if you understand what a soldier is, or an Army or any of that shit, but that's been my life for the past three years, and well…" Andrew trails off slightly before continuing his rant, "I finally ran out of luck. That goddamn butcher of a General sent us into a bloodbath, and I took a shot, sent me right on the ground, and I was knocked into a ditch by some poor bastard trying to advance behind me. Next thing I know, I'm waking up, and I have you dragging me to god knows where."
"I feel like I'm going insane, you hear me? We don't have any… talking boxes or Lucario's or…or colored photographs where I'm from. Everything is normal in the States, at least normal as can be, given the circumstances. From the moment I woke, it's been a madhouse, and I can't help but wonder if this all isn't just some half-cocked delusion invented by my dying mind, and I'm still just lying face-down in that ditch with all the other poor bastards that didn't make it."
Having finally had a chance to vent his frustrations, Andrew didn't feel anything other than exhausted, and he really was exhausted. All the weariness of three years of warfare had come down like a hammer on him, and now that he'd had a couple days of peace away from Army life, the memories were starting to flood in. Old friends, family, people Andrew had seen die, and even ones Andrew had killed with his own hands. It was getting to be too much, not to mention the nonsensical reality he'd found himself in on top of that.
Andrew's legs slowly give out on him, and as he slides down against the tree he's touching, he buries his head in his hands. Tears come to his eyes, and for the first time in years, Andrew sobs. Everything had finally just gotten to be too much, too nonsensical. It felt like his brain was about to break from everything he'd seen in such a short period. It'd drive any logical man crazy, and Andrew was no exception.
He barely registers the sensation of a hand - no, a paw on his shoulder as something warm settles in next to him.
"I want to go home. I want all this to end: no more creatures, no more war - no more Butcher Grant. I just want to see my mom and my sister again. I want my brother back; why did God choose me and not him? Why am I still alive, and he isn't? It isn't right." Andrew mumbles in between sobs, slowly rocking back and forth as the stunned Lucario at his side tries to think of something to do to help.
But no matter how hard she thinks, nothing comes to mind, and so the two just sit there for what feels to be hours. Even the Primeape Cari had bested eventually awakens and scurries off into the wilderness, and through the time that passes, all Andrew can do is think that he is well and truly lost.
AN
This one was... difficult honestly. I rewrote it a few times, and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I think I conveyed the point I was trying to get across in the end. I promise things aren't always going to be so gloomy, but I think this was necessary to allow Andrew to start coming to terms with his situation. He hasn't really had much time to actually process anything, and eventually, things just pile up. Also, for how small a part of the chapter it was, the battle scene probably kicked my ass the most, I just suck at writing combat.
Also, I know it's a little later than last Friday, however, life kind of caught up to me a bit, you know how it is. The next chapter should be in a week or so provided all goes well. I've also crossposted this onto Spacebattles, due to a friend recommending it to me.
Not really many new reviews to directly respond to, so I'll just generally say thank you to everyone who's left one, I read all of them and greatly appreciate each of them.
Anyhow, see you next time.