Chapter Fourteen: A Scorched-Earth Policy
"I have a scorched-earth policy! I just burn everything to the ground!" - Courtney, Pokémon Adventures: Ruby & Sapphire
(Frost POV)
Grande City lay in wait on the horizon. Team Arctic had finally reached the Crownlands. Behind us lay snow-covered earth thirty miles wide and seventy across. The change was sudden and the Pokémon here were not ready. I knew there would be consequences to such a radical shift. Many died. But even as I stepped over the frozen body of one of Sheerest Cold's unfortunates, I knew in my heart I was doing the right thing. I was sacrificing a few for the sake of many, for the sake of—
Something approaching.
Regice stopped. I raised my claw and signal my Pokémon to halt. A pink-red spark shone in the smoky black sky.
-..- -.-.- .-.. Regice's yellow eyes flashed as they spoke.
"What is it?" I asked. "What's wrong?"
-.-.. - ..- -. .. .- -. ..
Streaks of light crossed the sky, comings towards us at break-neck speed. Its movements were erratic and jumpy; it didn't seem to be in control of its direction at such velocity. Then suddenly it was hovering above us. Regice's sibling, a being of an ancient era, when giants and reptiles ruled the earth. Regidrago.
Except their body had been radically changed. Their face had been wiped clean, leaving only black fang-like markings over its pink-red belly. The dragon's head that made up their arms had become two small cannons on either side. Their legs were black and bulky, and a long lashing tail with pink-red fire streamed from the tip and ran down in two fang-like streaks. They'd grown what appeared to be wings, yet instead of membranes jets of alternating red and pink fire seeped from the bone. Most grotesquely of all, from the top of their body a Charizard's neck and head had sprouted. Its eyes were there in the black Charizard's skull, dozens of blinking blue lights.
.-. .-.-. .-.- - -.
Regice said. Their words were still beyond my understanding. I wondered if the Grande Mage would have been able to translate them, if I should have tried harder to interrogate him. Blasted Bulbasaur had been too strong for me.
At first Regidrago looked to their fellow God, then their eyes rove across my Pokémon, across the great path of ice left behind us, before finally resting on me.
"A world of ice," they said in my own language, "is that it?"
"We wish to free all Pokémon of Itori from the tyranny we've existed under for generations," I declared, "so we may all live as we were meant to."
The Charizard's head arched an eyebrow.
"Interesting," they sounded pleased. I allowed myself a breath of relief. "You limit yourself to just Itori?"
"It is not for me to say how other lands conduct themselves. But Itori is our home."
"Understandable. But what if they were to invade? The metamorphosis occurring on this land is happening again on every continent in our World."
"There are many other lands to rule if you wish," I said, stepping forward, freezing the expression on my face to protect it from fear, "but this land belongs to the ice Pokémon, and in but a few days the Polar Region will be all that remains."
"Interesting," they tilted their head, "and what then?"
"… Come again?"
"What do you intend to do with your land after you've taken it?"
"We will build a thriving new civilisation," I said with a smile, "one bolder and grander than ever before."
The flame at the end of the God's tail blazed.
"Wrong answer."
The ground shook like a melting glacier as holes appeared in the snow. Out climbed lumbering Pokémon made entirely of bronze, Whiscash and Marshtomp and Piloswine and Golurk and Scrafty and Fraxure and Flamigo and Charizard.
"What the hell is this?!" my admin Blake yelled.
- ..-. .. -.- ..-. -.-. ..- . .- -. .- .-... ... -.- .-.-. -. .. -
Regice said.
.-. .. -. .- -.-. -..- -.-. -.-.- - -.-.
Regidrago responded.
"What is it?!" I demanded of the dragon god. "What are you saying to them?!"
Silver flashed across the snow as the bronze Pokémon fired their bizarre attacks. Each glob of liquid metal spread across the bodies of my Pokémon. One of my smaller soldiers, a Snorunt, was covered completely in one hit, and stood there mid-stride as if frozen solid. My Pokémon sent a volley of attacks in retaliation, but they glanced uselessly off bronze bodies. The statues marched forward, seemingly unstoppable.
.- -...- .-. -.-.- .-
Regice said.
The Bronze Pokémon stopped. They looked to Regice, up to Regidrago. It's hard to read emotions on a frozen face, but they almost seemed confused.
"Freeze them!" I ordered my soldiers.
The air sparkled white with hundreds of ice-type attacks. They glanced off metallic bodies, leaving small wet patches that quickly melt away. The Bronze Pokémon look on as if untouched. Then the silver attacks start firing again, and my Pokémon ran screaming for cover they wouldn't find. Regice put their hand to their forehead.
"Civilisation has no place in this world," said the Charizard head.
"You would have us all live like savages?!" I retorted.
"The opposite. I would have you all live like Pokémon." Fire glowed in the God's belly. "Or die as our enemies."
A blast of flame, straight as a pillar. It was like nothing I'd ever seen, turning the air itself to a shimmer. All the fear I'd ever felt rushed through my body and I was frozen to the spot. It was a horror that made the world stop and terribly I knew I was about to die—
Regice stepped in front of me, hands coated in ice. They crossed them over their face to shield the blow, but the fire attack was far stronger. Smoke and steam blinded us.
-..-. ..- .- .- -
Regice said.
Ice Beam moved far faster, striking Regidrago just below the Charizard's neck growing from their body, where I imagined their heart must be. They grunted from the pain and glared down at us with bared teeth glowing orange with embers.
.-. .-. .. - - .- .-.- -.-.
Regice said.
Enemy..- ..-.- .-.. -. .-... -.-. .-.- -.-. 。Get in my-.-. .-. .- .-.- .. -. ..
Two overlapping voices responded.
A ball of ice formed between my hands. I fired it into the air above the two Gods. Hail fell, bouncing loudly off the Charizard's head growing from Regidrago's body.
Regice fired another Ice Beam but this time Regidrago twisted their body to dodge. They flew high into the air, into the black clouds. There was a moment of eerie silence.
A pink-red flash of fire as Regidrago came speeding towards us, ghosts twisting around their body, a thousand snapping dragons merging into one great winged beast making the air scream. As it barrelled towards us, Regice fired Ice Beam. It shots straight into the dragon's gaping maw and forces Regidrago to pull away, choking on it. Their wings of fire flared as they pulled back.
My Pokémon were crying out for help. I could no longer hear my admin's voices. I saw a Bronze Blastoise missing an ear lumbering through the hail towards me. I remember Blake telling me his son lost an ear to frostbite. The Bronze Blastoise's cannons glowed silver; I struck it across the face with Iron Tail. It fell into the snow like stone, not like a Pokémon, yet I felt as though I'd struck down a living being.
A twisting leviathan came snapping through the air, hail sizzling off its scales. Regice drove their icy fist into its whiskered jaw, shattering it into pink-red sparkles that hung in the air. Regidrago spoke again, two voices cutting in and out:
I have also received tutoring -.- -.-.- .. .-... -.-. -.- .-... -..-. ... -.
An icy wind picked up around us, sucking in the hail, swirling around Regidrago. An orange glow began in their belly and moved up their neck, into their mouth—
Zap Cannon was laser-accurate and struck them right in the throat. Regidrago grabbed it and hacked, their mouth smoking. I spread my arms wide to summon a mighty Blizzard from the snow-coated land behind us. Regidrago growled as hail buffeted them from all directions and the gale pushed them backwards. I raised my arms up, and they didn't see the rocks floating behind and just above them.
Red fire burned between their jaws, but they were too slow. I slammed my arms down into the snow and the rocks dropped; their body hit the ground, sending up a great flurry of snow, and stayed there, pinned beneath enough rock to build the room of a castle.
- ...- .- -.
said Regice.
Suddenly the great mound was moving. Rocks bigger than me tumbled as Regidrago lifted their head. They jerked their arms this way and that and more boulders fell. Finally they stood, king of the hill, atop the Rock Tomb. But they'd taken quite a few hits, and I knew Regice was at almost full health. And they weren't alone, either. They had me.
My admin Isaac cried out in agony and I heard something heavy hit the snow. No matter. Once we defeated this final enemy, we would find the best healers in Itori. For now, all my focus must be here. This would be my greatest battle of all.
..-. .. -.. .. .-.-. ..-. .. -.-. .-.-. -.-. .-. -.-. .- -.-. -. -.-. ... .-. .- .-.. .. - - -.-. .-.. -.-. - -.-. -. ...- .-. .-
said Regice.
-.- -. -.-. -. ..-. ..- -...- -.-.- .. -...- ..- -. -..- .-.. .. -.- -.-. - - ..-. .. -.- .- -.- .- -.- .-... ..-.. -. -..-. ..-.. .. -.- ..-.. -.-.. .-.. .. -.-.. -.
said Regidrago.
..-. .. .-.-. -.-. .- -.- .- .-. ...- .-. -. - ..-. .. ..-.. .. ... - .. - - .- ..-. .. - -. -. .-.. ..- -..- .-. - -.- .-. .-
said Regice.
-. .. .-.. .. .-.. - ... ..- ..-.. .. ...- -.- -..- -. .. -.- -. -.-. -. ..-. ..- ..-. .. - ..-.- .- ...- -.-. ..- - .-.- -.-.
said Regidrago.
Regice says nothing for a moment. Bronze footsteps shake the earth.
-.- .-.. .-. .-
said Regice.
-.-.. ..-.- -.- .-.- .. -.-. - ..- - ..- .-... ...- .-... ..-.- .-.- -.-.. -. -.. ..-. -.- -..-. .-.-. -.- -.-. .-.-. -.- .. .-.-. .-.. .. - - .-.- .. .- .-. .. .-.-. -.-. .-. ...- -. -..-. ..- .-... -.-.- .- -.- .. .-.-. -.-. - ..- ..-.. -.-. .-.- .-... -. -.- .-.-. - ...- ..-. .. -. .. .- -.-. -..-. ..-.. .. -. ..- ..-.. -.-. .-.- -.-.
said Regidrago.
Someone was calling my name. The others were calling for their "Boss". But I couldn't tear my eyes away from this.
.-.- .. -..-. They paused. -.- -. -.-. -. ..-. -.- .-.. - ... .-.- .. -.- .-. .-
said Regice.
.-.. - ... -.-. .-. - .-. .- ..-.. .- ..- .- ..-.- .-.- .. -.- .-. .- -.- .- .-. -.- ..-. .. -.. .. .-.-. .-.- .. .- -. -. -. .. .- .-. -.. .. .-.-. -...- .- .-... -.-.. .-. .. -.-.. -. .- ..-.. .-.. .-.-. .-.. .. -.- .-.- -.-. -. - ... -.- -.- -. -.-. -. ..-. ..- .-.. ..-.- -.-.- -..- .-... ..- -... .. -. -.-. .-.-. -.- .. .-.-. .-.. .. .-. .-.. -. .-. .- .-.. ...- .-. - ..-.. -... .. .-.- .. -.- .-. .- .-..
said Regidrago.
Regice says nothing. Regidrago continued.
-.-.- .-.-. .-.. -.-. .-.- - ..- - .-... -.- ...- ..- - ..-.. .-.. .. .-.- .. -.-.. -.—.
Suddenly Regice and I met eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, before Regice began floating away.
"Wait," I said, meekly, pathetically, "where are you going?"
"Frost!" someone cried. "Please, help us!"
Regice was now directly beneath Regidrago, looking up at them, as if for direction.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Boss! Make them stop!"
Regidrago took to the air again and turned to leave. Regice floated after them.
"No!" I screamed. I ran after them, tripped. I looked down to see another frozen body. I slammed my claws on the ground. "Please! I beg of you! Don't leave us to this fate!"
Gather the others -.-. -..- .. ..- -..-. -. -.-. .-. - .-.- .- .-.-
Regidrago said.
("We can't stop them!)
("Please, no!")
"I'll do anything!" I cried.
"Anything?" said Regidrago.
"Anything!"
They looked over their shoulder at me.
"Then perish."
Another leviathan came soaring through the air. I scrambled to my feet and raised my arms, wind whipping up behind me. But the glowing dragon went right over my head. It crashed into the mountainside behind us and once again the ground was rumbling, so hard I lost my footing. Silver flashes filled the air. I ordered my Pokémon to take cover. Roughly a third of them had been turned to silver. All my admins were gone. They'd always been the bravest of Team Arctic's ranks.
The earth roared as great white clouds roll down the mountainside. Big enough to bury us all.
"Boss!" I heard a small voice cry.
"Help us!" came another.
I was at the edge of the avalanche. There was a chance I might just make it. I pushed my pathetic body to my feet and grabbed the two closest Pokémon and ran.
I heard cries muffled by heavy blankets of white hitting bodies and pinning them underneath. The rumbling that made my teeth chatter and the muscles in my legs ache carried on and on until the mountain finally stilled, and all about me was silent.
Snow coated my back. I looked down to see the Pokémon in my arms: a Pixie Vulpix and a Snom. Both look younger than a year old. I dragged children into this.
The little ones shivered in my arms.
"It's okay," I told them, "it's all going to be okay. I'm going to protect you. If it costs me my life, I'm going to protect you."
And it would cost me my life, I imagined. I would be found by my enemies and killed. If not the Skarsgards, if not the Varias, if not Team Miner or the Dojo or the Treasure Hunters, then it would be that great behemoth in the sky, or it would be Regice, who I believed my whole life would be our salvation.
My friends were statues behind me. My army was reduced to three. Even now the bronze creatures were climbing free, I could hear their metal bodies sifting through the snow. I was completely and utterly doomed.
Until a Vulcan Diglett popped out of the ground.
(Dreigo POV)
Dei stirred in my arms. He mumbled something and I hushed him gently. We were coming out of the ground.
"Where's Zweil?" he whispered.
"He's got a very special mission ahead of him. Don't worry, he'll be safe."
I hoped I'd managed to hide the anxiety in my voice. A Clodsire placed her feet on the floor of the tunnel, eerie purple light glowing through the cracks.
"Where are we now?" my brother asked.
"We're underneath King Ash Field," I said as the earth shifted around us, "we're going to meet with Queen Octavia, our scouts tell us she's reached Grande City."
"We're going to fight her?"
"No, I think we're going to fight with her."
The tunnel opened and dim daylight shone through. We emerged onto the field where the Battle of the Dragons took place, the one I never fought on so I could keep my family safe. I looked north-east to where the dome of the tower peaked out from behind the redwood forest. Zweil had been gone for a few hours and there was no sign of him or his Pokémon. I knew I needed to trust him. Zweil was a masterful conjurer.
Suddenly the hair on my neck stood on end as hot wind beat down from a darkening sky. I held my baby brother tight to my chest. My soldiers froze. The Pokémon— the God— the monster, stared down at us with countless slow-blinking blue pupils, hovering oddly still without so much as a beat of his wings. They looked like the calm before the storm.
I was reminded then of something Alex used to say, usually after we'd concluded a meeting about our attack on Ruby Forest. It was about what his next plan of action would be after we'd won and I was busy ruling the Kingdom. Every time he'd given the same unfathomable answer:
"I want to tame a Legendary Pokémon."
He'd his sights set on Moltres. He would be more than a king, I knew, if he ever succeeded. He would be a God in his own right. Fitzroy had taken the idea ten steps further - he'd merged his very body and soul with one.
"Human," came their mangled voice. The wind picked up as they spoke, tugging at my collar, Dei's fur, forcing some of the smaller Pokémon to duck low to the ground.
"There are no humans here!" I called up. Not technically true, as Mr. Finley and the Grovyle (who apparently is also a human?) were hiding underground just a few feet away, but what Regiroy didn't know couldn't hurt us.
Regiroy raised their head, focusing all one hundred eyes on Grande City instead.
"All of this," they said, "is of humans."
Suddenly the winds were so strong even the heaviest of us couldn't fight it anymore; Varia and Earthspringer alike held onto at anything or anyone they could grab. Pink-red light glowed between the teeth on Regiroy's torso.
"It will destroy us all."
The light reached into the sky then shattered. The wind became a hurricane, sucking the meteors in and spitting them back out all around us.
"Walls!" cried the Clodsire.
Suddenly the ground beneath us collapsed and we were six feet under. Walls of earth had risen up around us in seconds, shielding us from most of the onslaught. One of the flaming dragon's heads blew a hole just behind me, and through it I saw Grande City burning, all the way from the meadows in the south to the redwoods in the east. Screams met the howling wind as Pokémon ran for their lives. I saw my old friend Rei dressed in a Skarsgard's guardsmon uniform, lifting an I-beam off a Charmander and calling for help. Meteors broke like fireworks against the ground. Dei was trembling in my arms.
"Go," I said, lowering him, "grab your friends and take them somewhere safe."
"There is nowhere safe!" a silver-clad Sinkhole Stunfisk yelled.
"Dreigo," Dei said, "all of my friends are gone."
Tears welled in my eyes. Pokémon were running back down the tunnel the way we came.
"You don't have to join them!" I argue.
"I'm a soldier, Dreigo," said my baby brother. "There's no going back now."
A building crumbled to the ground. We were out of time.
I set Dei down beside me and lifted myself a few feet above the ground, so I was hovering just above them.
"Pokémon of Itori!" my voice booms down the tunnel. "Your home is under attack! This monster is a threat to us all! Varia, Skarsgard, Earthspringer; there is no cloth left to divide us!"
A comet hit the ground just behind, showering my back with hot sparks. I spread my arms and wings, black against the burning orange light.
"Protect the city! Protect the Pokémon! Charge!"
I rushed out of the tunnel, followed by the footsteps and battle cries of the Pokémon behind me. The water-types and the ground-types and anyone else equipped to fight the fires ran straight for the city, while the rest of us charged the fields. To my surprise, Dei ran the other way. He want straight to the broken house to pull the Charmander out of the wreck.
Regiroy watched with an amused smile. I didn't waste time with pointless taunts. Light was already glowing in my belly as I cried:
"Fire at will!"
Glowing dragons soared into the sky, purple and orange and blue, red and green and gold. They bit and chewed and tore at the creature, who swatted them away as if they were bugs. My orange dragon shots into the air. Regiroy moved their head, grinning smugly down at me. Then it exploded behind their head, sending a shower of comets down on top of them.
Behind us, the Koganemizu no Keimusho collapsed. A Gyarados flew through the sky towards us. Black and purple viscera trickled onto the ground below. The Pokémon behind us dragged scores of civilians from the flames, and the soldiers on the battlefield readied their next volley. Regiroy watched us all with a look of disgust.
The winds picked up again.
(Octavia POV)
Grande City was burning.
Meteors were raining down on the buildings. Thousands of Pokémon now refugees hurried along the border, and thousands more were battling against the bronze soldiers. A few brave water-types and ground-types were trying to quell the blaze, but they were easy picking for silver attacks, and very soon there were none left. The fires of Grande City spread further as bronze soldiers tore its walls to the ground.
And there were the Varias, putting their lives on to the line to defend it. Soldiers in black-and-blue lined up in rows along the edge of the city, firing attacks at the sky, countering the meteors raining down on them, dousing the burning buildings, throwing themselves in the way of the bronze soldiers. Turning to silver.
A river of water flowed down from the north, and there, towering above the buildings, tall enough to stare into the sixth floor of my castle, was the Gyarados. She wasn't completely gold, not anymore. She was blue, with gold veins running through her skin like lapis lazuli. She looked furious, she looked ready to raze the whole city to the ground, but praise be to Moltres, she was trying to save it. Rain Dance clouds filled the sky, while purple-black Hydro Pumps doused the trees to stop the flames spreading to the farmlands.
Fitzroy roared. A giant sea serpent the size of a regular Gyarados was moving through the sky, headed straight towards Grande City. It had the pink-red hue of the Legendary Pokémon's body, with clusters of blue dots for eyes. It opened its jaws wide as it crashed against the castle's western wall. Within moments it had crumbled and fell away. I couldn't see it from where I was standing, but I knew the buildings below had just been crushed. The watchtower was gone, too.
That thing in the sky— What would you call it? Hell if I know. I don't even know that Legendary's name. But I sure as hell know Fitzroy.
Hydro Pump blasted from the Gyarados' mouth. Fitzroy launched some kind of fire attack, a laser-accurate pillar of fire. Huge clouds of steam came away as their attacks clashed. Evenly matched.
Then before either of them could respond another attack was coming their way. Dragon-type energy trailed behind him, forming rows of wings and a feathered tail that split into three prongs. I can't tell what kind of attack it was. Moltres, I couldn't tell anything with this Pokémon. But none of those attacks are normal, I knew that much. I knew every fire-type and dragon-type move in the books, and those techniques weren't written anywhere. The Giant tried to dodge but Fitzroy was too fast, she too large. The Gyarados roared as he crashed into her, tossing her backwards to collapse to the ground, crushing the trees beneath her.
"Zweil!"
I turned around and there he was, flying through the steam. Dreigo was heading towards the Gyarados. Then one of Fitzroy's meteors struck him, and he fell smoking from the sky. He landed hard, and I saw his wings were glowing orange, burning away at the edges. He pushed at the ground, flapping his wings, but he couldn't get back up.
"Zweil!"
Then something horrifying happened. I started to see myself in him. He was crying now, crying for his brother. His brother who may have just perished.
I looked up at the sky and saw him, the one who killed my sister.
Dreigo slammed both of his arms to the ground in despair.
Fitzroy's horrible roar came again, a bizarre mechanical rhythm, and meteors were heading straight for us. Dreigo's wings were useless. He tried to roll away but there was silver water on the ground. He closed is eyes.
My Breaking Swipe spread wide, wider than I'd ever seen it. It caught three comets at once and sent them flying back the way they came. A fourth clipped the side of my helmet and one of the spikes came away.
Dreigo was breathing hard, but still managed to yell for his soldiers. He organised them in a fanned-out diamond shape, and at the exact moment Fitzroy began charging his attack, when his defences were lowest, the Varias fired.
They hit their mark. Fitzroy roared and pulled away, swiping blindly and stupidly as a toothy rainbow of glowing dragons bit and tore at him. Within seconds he was half a mile away from us. Moltres he could move fast.
Dreigo looked up at me with disbelief. Can't say I blame him.
I heard walls crumbling and saw the Gyarados climbing back up. But she wouldn't last much longer out of the water. I don't even know how they were planning on keeping her alive. Then again, given what Zweil's capable of…
"Oh thank the Gods," Dreigo breathed, even though wasn't Zweil handling her.
Or maybe he was. Just like in Alex's book.
"He's not going to reach Fitzroy from all the way back there," I said.
"You know that Pokémon?" he asked.
"He's the one who killed Topaz," I said.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He looked behind me, and I saw hate twisting his face. He and Topaz had been friends. He and I had been friends.
A columns of fire zig-zagged cleanly over the ground, cutting through rows and rows of well-organised Varia Pokémon. He was closer now, and my Skarsgard soldiers launched a firestorm of attacks from the north, while the Varias sent hoards of dragons from the east. Fitzroy had to pull back again to dodge both of them.
"I must confess," Dreigo said, propping himself up on one elbow, "I was going to use this crisis as an opportunity to stop you."
"Kill me, you mean."
He smiled that smarmy little smile of his. "Don't tell me you were thinking any different."
"I don't want to kill you, Dreigo."
"Neither do I."
"No, I'm sure you don't want me to kill you either."
He chuckled.
The soldiers' attacks rocketed into the sky, missed, came crashing back down onto the land below. Fitzroy cloaked himself in dragon energy and tore through them, ripping a straight line through their ranks even as steel weapons swung at him and close-range attacks pummelled him and Blast Seeds exploded against his body. Then, suddenly, something came drifting through the smoke towards us. A single red leaf. It rested on the ground between us.
We looked to Ruby Forest.
"If…" Dreigo stopped, rubbed his mouth with his back of his arm. "If the Rubies break through… if the Forest starts to spread again…"
"That's what you're thinking about?!" I snapped, and a little ember came from my mouth. "Right now?!"
"Would you shut up and let me talk for once?!" he roared back.
If we weren't in a life-or-death situation, I would have struck him. What did he mean, for once?!
Please. You know exactly what he means, Octavia.
I let Dreigo speak.
"I know the Pokémon inside aren't bad. I do. I think it's a terrible place that should never have been allowed to grow beyond a seed. But this?!" He gestured around him. "This is worse than anything I could have imagined. And I know when those Pokémon in there see what's happening to the outside world, they're going to feel the same way."
A flash. There were shapes approaching the edge of the Forest, red shapes, and specks here and there of blue, green orange. Lights of all different colours appeared as pinpricks across the Barrier. Then they spread.
"If I can get Zweil to distract Fitzroy, there may be time," Dreigo said, finally lifting himself back into the air, and extending his arm. "That is, if you're willing to try."
I stared at it for a moment. I knew I would have to take my gauntlet off, and I was afraid the damn thing would bite me. Then I heard one of my soldiers crying for help. I tossed my gauntlet to the ground and offered my hand. Dreigo's weird little mouth-hand took it, and we shook. It didn't bite.
I heard leaves crunching behind us. Something was approaching through the trees.