The Path of Destiny
Chapter 41 - A Place of Rest or a Place of Danger?
Sometime in the late morning, Blazefang woke. Glancing around in confusion for a moment, the houndour stood up shakily, leaves crunching beneath his paws. Suddenly remembering where he was, he clawed the ground in annoyance. He wasn’t quite ready to go back to the white growlithe and her friends, but he wanted to see if any of them had brought back prey.
He had started to head back to the group when he stopped himself. “What do I need them for?” he growled aloud, turning and walking deeper into the forest. “I can catch some for myself!” He was feeling rather irritated that he had even considered asking them for help.
The houndour paused for any sound or smell of prey, but all the strange forest scents confused him, making the task of focusing on just one very difficult. Blazefang shuddered; he wasn’t used to hunting among all these trees. “There are other houndour who live in forests that can do it,” he whispered to himself. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”
Blazefang moved forward as silently as he could, scanning the area ahead for prey. He soon spotted a starly, but as he edged closer, the grass around him swished, sending the pokémon flying upward with a frightened squawk.
Growling to himself, the houndour walked further into the trees, knowing that the bird would probably have scared off any other prey nearby. After a while, he slowed down, moving forward silently again and searching for sight or smell of a meal.
As he crept further, a familiar scent filled his nostrils, one that he was used to by now, and that he didn’t like. Scyther. Blazefang tensed, looking around through the screen of leaves and foliage, remembering the way Thunder had darted at him so quickly when he had first found Snowcrystal’s group after running from Cyclone. She had been injured, and he didn’t want to think about what a healthy scyther could do. Fearfully, he began backing away, staring around at the green scenery as if he expected a scyther to jump out at him from anywhere.
As he was backing up, something cannoned into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Blazefang turned over quickly, but instead of a scyther, he only saw Spark, the growlithe’s jolteon friend.
“Scared you!” the electric type said with a grin. “Not so tough without your pack are you?”
“You idiot!” Blazefang growled, leaping up indignantly. “You’ve just scared off all the prey, you know that?”
Spark seemed only mildly concerned. “Oh, so what! There’s plenty more deeper in the woods. I’m an experienced forest hunter, you know,” he added proudly.
Blazefang bared his teeth in a snarl as Spark pushed past him. With any luck, he thought, the scyther who’d left the scent behind would make a tasty snack of the jolteon. Chuckling to himself, the houndour lay his head on his paws as he watched Spark, further up ahead, blunder after a zigzagoon who’d run across his path. The frightened pokémon was pelting away toward a thick clump of bushes, but just before it reached it, Spark caught up to it and leapt upon it, pressing it down onto the forest floor and biting down swiftly on its neck. Blazefang’s eyes widened in surprise. “You caught that?” he cried in disbelief, running over to the jolteon.
“I told you I was a perfect forest hunter!” Spark replied, beaming. “And I bet you thought I couldn’t do it. You know what? I might just give this to Stormblade; I know it makes you mad!”
Blazefang was about to retort that Stormblade hadn’t been able to eat much of what anyone had been bringing him for the past few days, but stopped himself when he noticed the bushes behind Spark rustling. He began backing away, and Spark, still looking smug, didn’t even bother to ask why.
It was only when the sound of something emerging from the bushes right behind him met Spark’s ears that the jolteon whirled around in fright, just as a forest scyther stopped right in front of him.
Blazefang could see that Spark was frozen in surprise. Ignoring him, the houndour turned to run, only to be confronted by a second scyther that reminded him a bit of Thunder. This one had several deep scars covering its face, and one of the pointed spikes on its head had been broken off. Blazefang wished he could fire a flamethrower in its face, but he knew that would be a bad idea for several reasons, as would attempting to run away. He decided that being submissive was the only other option. He just hoped that the scyther didn’t want to eat him. He was used to being afraid of Thunder, but these scyther weren’t just strong…they were also uninjured.
“What are you doing here?” growled the one in front of Spark, and though Blazefang was staring at the ground and not looking in that direction, he guessed from its voice that the first scyther was female. He didn’t dare glance up at the one staring down at him; he was too afraid it would attack, though he did realize that if it had wanted to eat him, it would have killed him already.
“We’re just trying to hunt!” Spark blurted out. “You see, I-”
“This is our forest,” the scyther stated firmly. “You can’t hunt here.”
“What are you talking about?” Spark replied. “No one group of pokémon owns the forest!”
“I beg to differ,” the scyther replied icily. “Get out.”
The scyther nearest to Blazefang moved forward threateningly, and Blazefang backed away. He wondered if it was safe to leave yet, or whether the scyther would attack them once they turned their backs.
“Spark?” a voice from behind them called. Blazefang turned to see Redclaw pushing his way through the bushes, followed by Wildflame and Snowcrystal. Seeing the scyther, Redclaw growled, the long tan fur of his mane rising along his neck. “Leave him alone,” he snarled at the bug types, walking toward Spark with the other two canines at his side.
To Blazefang’s surprise, neither scyther looked intimidated by the fire types, and watched calmly as the three approached.
“Redclaw,” Snowcrystal whispered, “do you think those scyther could help Stormblade?”
Blazefang felt like rolling his eyes. These scyther were threatening them! And what could a scyther do to help heal wounds? They were only good at hurting things!
Without waiting for the arcanine’s answer, the white growlithe padded forward and stood in front of the scyther next to Spark. Blazefang looked up and watched carefully, not sure how they would react.
Snowcrystal stared up at the much taller pokémon, feeling suddenly vulnerable despite her type advantage over the scyther. This pokémon was much bigger and stronger than she was. Quivering, Snowcrystal tried to look her in the eyes. “Listen,” she began hesitantly, “we have a scyther friend who’s hurt, and we-”
“Why should we care?” the scyther replied. “That scyther is not a part of our swarm.” Snowcrystal could see the scyther’s body tense, as if the only thing keeping the pokémon from leaping at her was the fact that she and her companion were outnumbered.
Snowcrystal glanced at Redclaw, who looked back at her helplessly. She knew that he wanted to leave, but if these scyther wanted to chase them out of the forest, where else could they go? She glanced at the other scyther, the mean-looking one who seemed seconds away from attacking Blazefang, wondering if she should even attempt to talk to him. Before she had a chance to make a decision, however, she heard the bushes in front of them rustle, and a third scyther stepped out.
Alarmed, Snowcrystal was about to run back to Redclaw, thinking that the other scyther in the swarm had heard the commotion and come to help their companions. However, she quickly realized that not only was this third scyther alone, but that there was something odd about him. As he came out of the bushes into plain sight, it was easy to see what it was. This scyther was missing an arm. She stared in surprise, but that didn’t last long as she was distracted by the reaction of the other two scyther, who had turned to glare at him.
“What do you want?” the one closest to Snowcrystal growled.
“I think we should help the other scyther,” the newcomer replied calmly, though Snowcrystal could see that he was looking at the other two with an air of fear.
“Why should we help a loner?” the scarred scyther asked him calmly, as if waiting to see if the new scyther had any sort of logical reason.
“They may not be from our swarm, but they’re still a scyther,” the third scyther replied. “I say we should help. These pokémon are weak,” he added, gesturing to Snowcrystal and the others with a nod of his head. “They couldn’t do much harm to our swarm anyway, but they do outnumber you two, and with type advantages at that. I wouldn’t try chasing them away.”
The scarred scyther rounded on him. Looking at them both facing each other, Snowcrystal noticed that the scyther with the scarred face was taller than the other, though not quite as tall as Stormblade. “Don’t tell me what to do,” the scarred scyther growled, “unless you think you can win a battle with only one blade.”
The smaller scyther seemed to get the message, and immediately backed off, a scared look in his eyes.
“Get out of here!” the female shouted, and the newcomer slinked away into the bushes and disappeared.
Snowcrystal backed up as the two remaining scyther faced them, knowing that she and her friends could not afford a fight, especially when there were four members of the group already injured. She was wondering whether or not to try and run when a fourth scyther emerged from the trees near where the other two were standing.
Snowcrystal could see that this scyther was old, but he was not alone. There were a few young scyther who followed him into the clearing, all looking agitated at the sight of the strange pokémon.
“What’s going on here?” the old scyther demanded, staring straight at Redclaw as if he assumed that the arcanine was the leader of the band of travelers.
It was the scyther that Snowcrystal had tried to speak to who answered first. “They were trespassing,” she explained. “They hunted in our territory and killed a zigzagoon.” The scyther bent down toward the carcass and picked it up, tossing it toward where her companion, or mate, was standing.
“They haven’t crossed into our territory yet,” the old scyther pointed out.
“So, you ‘own the forest,’ huh?” Spark scoffed, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Redclaw.
The scyther ignored him. “They were close enough, Skyscythe,” she retorted. “Let’s just get rid of them now.”
“We’re just passing through…” Wildflame told the scyther. “That is, after we’ve rested for a bit.”
“But there are two scyther with us,” Snowcrystal added. “You might be able to help them…somehow…we just want a safe place to stay, and this forest is the safest place we’ve found. But…can you at least try-”
“Yes, I think those scyther must really know how to heal Forbidden Attack wounds,” Blazefang muttered sarcastically as he backed up close to Wildflame. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Go on, then,” the scarred scyther scoffed.
“They won’t be safe out in the forest,” one of the young scyther whispered loud enough for the travelers to hear. “All the pokémon who’ve moved here since the old forest burned down...and well, some of them are dangerous. And we keep having to remind them that we were here first.”
Snowcrystal felt a wave of fear rush over her; they had left the four injured pokémon all alone! Before she could say anything, Redclaw decided to speak.
“I suppose things must be hard for you then,” he told the group of scyther carefully, knowing very well that it was now his group that was outnumbered. “We only want a safe place to stay until our friends recover or we find another suitable resting place. If you let us stay in your territory, those of us who can will catch prey for you. Lots of it,” he added quickly, and Snowcrystal saw him stiffen as he waited for the scyther’s answer.
“Why should we trust you?” one of the scyther asked warily.
“Our injured friends would be where you can see them,” Redclaw replied carefully. “At your mercy. I can assure you that we wouldn’t do anything that could put them in danger. We have no interest in harming any of you…we’ve seen enough of senseless fighting.”
Most of the scyther looked uncertain, and the two that Snowcrystal had first seen looked ready to slice Redclaw apart. Yet the old one, Skyscythe, who Snowcrystal thought might be the leader of the swarm, looked back up at the arcanine with calmness in his eyes. “Show us the scyther you were talking about,” he said quietly. “Then we will see.”
Redclaw promptly led the way back to where the others were resting, while Snowcrystal trailed behind, trying not to let her fear of these strangers show. The group of scyther were walking around them without fear, most of them seeming curious about the odd band of strangers. She heard Blazefang’s pawsteps as he crept up beside her and whispered in her ear, “You do realize that Redclaw’s just being foolish, right? If Thunder goes berserk, he basically just sentenced those four to their deaths!”
Snowcrystal shivered. As much as she hated to admit it, Blazefang had a point.
-ooo-
Upon reaching the clearing where the others were resting, Snowcrystal realized with some surprise that Thunder wasn’t there. She couldn’t quite identify which way the scyther had gone, but at the moment she was mainly focused on wondering why she had left. Not knowing whether to be relieved or worried, she walked beside Redclaw, who headed to where Stormblade lay.
Stormblade was lying on his side, looking almost as still as a dead pokémon. Snowcrystal was about to move closer when Rosie growled and backed away, watching one of the strange scyther come into view.
“Don’t worry,” Redclaw told her, though the uncertainty in his voice was not quite hidden, “they’re going to take us to a safer place.”
“Where’s Thunder?” Snowcrystal whispered to Rosie as two of the scyther, one of them Skyscythe, followed Redclaw.
“She wandered off somewhere, I don’t know!” Rosie whispered back, sounding agitated.
Wildflame approached the two of them, looking worriedly at the scyther group. “We can find Thunder later,” she whispered quickly.
Snowcrystal turned to see that a few of the other scyther had started staring at Stormblade in either horror or morbid curiosity.
“He’s definitely not a scyther from anywhere around here,” one of them muttered. “And I don’t think he’s from the old forest either.”
“Should we try and help somehow?” one of them asked, sounding in shock.
“No, he’s as good as dead,” another replied casually.
Snowcrystal peered at Stormblade, seeing no response from him. She doubted that he was even aware of the other scyther next to him.
“We just want to be taken to a safe place,” Redclaw told the forest pokémon. “And remember, we are willing to hunt for you. We can take care of Stormblade ourselves.”
Snowcrystal waited to see what Skyscythe would say, hoping with all her might that he wouldn’t refuse. She didn’t want to wander around in the wilderness in search of shelter anymore.
The old scyther looked at Stormblade, then at Redclaw. “We have to ask our leader,” he said simply, walking ahead. “Follow us.”
‘So he’s not the leader…’ Snowcrystal thought to herself, trailing after the others as they hesitantly began following the scyther. Redclaw looked at Stormblade and then carefully picked him up. Snowcrystal hoped he was unconscious, otherwise that would certainly be painful. Looking at Rosie, who was beside her, Snowcrystal knew that the ninetales felt the same way she did about walking into a scyther swarm’s territory. This was certainly not the sort of ‘safety’ she had expected to find in the forest.
-ooo-
As they moved through the trees, Snowcrystal found it harder and harder to see the scyther they were supposed to be following. For one, they were much faster than anyone in their group, and further on the foliage got thicker, hiding the green colored pokémon from view.
Snowcrystal was following Wildflame and Spark, who were ahead of the others, and seemed to be having just as hard a time at following the scyther as she was. She knew that Blazefang, Rosie, and Nightshade were just behind her, though she didn’t know how far behind Redclaw, who had to carry Stormblade, was.
As she followed Spark, her thoughts kept drifting back to Thunder, and whether it was really wise to leave without her knowing. ‘We can go back and get her once we find a safe place…’ she told herself silently.
After a while of running through thick underbrush, which made Snowcrystal feel rather uncomfortable and claustrophobic, the scyther pack ahead of them stopped.
“Stay right here,” one of them warned the group, and darted off into the trees.
“This doesn’t look like the home of a scyther swarm to me,” Rosie whispered to Snowcrystal, knowing that the other scyther were waiting around them somewhere, watching. “It just looks like any other part of the forest.”
“I don’t think this is where their caves…or…I mean, whatever scyther live in…are, Rosie,” Snowcrystal whispered back. “I don’t think they’d want us that close-”
She broke off immediately as the scyther who had left returned, followed by another, much taller and stronger looking scyther. This, Snowcrystal guessed, was the leader.
“That must be the one in charge,” Rosie whispered to her, echoing her thoughts.
“Yep,” Spark whispered to the two of them. “In a scyther swarm, the biggest and meanest bosses everyone else around-OW! Hey!” The jolteon turned and growled at Rosie, who had swatted him in the face with a paw.
The leader scyther looked over the newcomers warily, as if analyzing whether or not they were a possible threat to the swarm. Snowcrystal crouched closer down to the ground, trying not to seem threatening, although some part of her told her that she was far too small and slow to be any threat to the scyther. She glanced around, realizing that Redclaw still hadn’t caught up with them.
“Where are the injured scyther?” the leader asked, sounding suspicious.
Snowcrystal froze, wondering what this scyther would do if she thought that her friends had been lying. “They-” Snowcrystal began worriedly, but she didn’t get any further as, thankfully, Redclaw pushed his way through the bushes at that moment and set Stormblade’s limp form down behind the others.
The leader made her way past the others toward Stormblade, the old scyther, Skyscythe, following.
“I think we should try to give him some sort of protection,” Skyscythe told his leader. “But I really don’t like the idea of bringing strangers so close.”
“Protect him?” another scyther replied, walking closer to Stormblade. “The best thing we could do is to kill him and get it over with. Then these pokémon can leave.”
“Look, we want shelter too!” Blazefang growled. The scyther glared at him, but to Snowcrystal’s surprise, the houndour didn’t back down and returned the glare.
The lead scyther was leaning over Stormblade, peering at his injuries with an air of curiosity. Finally she straightened up and looked at the group of travelers, seeming completely unafraid of the fire types clustered around her. “He’s a strong scyther to have lasted this long,” she said after a moment. “I don’t know if there is any hope for him, but I will let him stay with the rest of us if you bring us prey. But you fire types…and you, jolteon and heracross, must stay away, and go no further than here.”
Snowcrystal opened her mouth to speak when one of the other scyther interrupted.
“Let him in? And let those strangers stay on our territory?” he shouted. “But most of them are fire types!”
“They’re far too weak from traveling to do much harm,” the leader replied. “And they aren’t from the old forest, I can tell. We can use the extra prey they bring. I can send some scyther to make sure they aren’t taking too much for themselves.”
“But we need someone to watch over Stormblade!” Snowcrystal cried. She didn’t trust the scyther to do anything other than find him a place to stay and leave him there. “And Nightshade is injured as well…” She didn’t know whether or not to mention Thunder, but she decided to keep quiet about it for now.
“All right then,” the leader replied. “Heracross are not our enemies. He may come, as well as you and the ninetales. But no others.”
Snowcrystal glanced at Rosie, who looked somewhat nervous. The scyther leader had purposely picked out the two weakest fire types in the group, and Snowcrystal could understand Rosie’s worry. ‘They’re only trying to protect themselves…’ Snowcrystal tried to assure herself.
“I’ll have to carry him,” Redclaw told the leader, pointing his muzzle to the barely conscious – or possibly unconscious – Stormblade. Snowcrystal felt worried. Stormblade had never been this bad for so long… “And there is another scyther in our group as well,” the arcanine added, distracting Snowcrystal from her thoughts. “I can go get her…after-”
“Then follow us,” the lead scyther replied icily, obviously a bit wary of Redclaw, who was probably the most powerful fire type in the group. She turned away and headed deeper into the forest with the other scyther.
“Come on,” Nightshade whispered, nudging Rosie, who looked as if she were in a trance.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Rosie whispered as she walked beside Nightshade and Snowcrystal as they followed Redclaw.
“Yes,” Snowcrystal told her. “They don’t want to hurt us…they just don’t want their families and friends to get hurt.”
Nervously, Rosie just nodded and followed Redclaw through the trees. Snowcrystal couldn’t even see the scyther anymore; she was just following Redclaw. After a few moments they emerged into a large clearing with a pond in the center. Snowcrystal could see several scyther standing in the water or gathered around it. All of them stared at the newcomers curiously as they emerged through the trees. Snowcrystal ignored them and watched Redclaw set the unmoving Stormblade down near some bushes at the edge of the clearing.
“Leave,” the leader scyther firmly told Redclaw, who, quickly but regretfully, turned and headed back through the bushes.
Snowcrystal and the others watched as a strange scyther wandered nearer, a female with unusually dark green armor and a pointier snout. She was smaller than most of the swarm’s members, and Snowcrystal realized that this scyther must be even younger than she was.
“So you let them stay?” the youngster asked the group who had brought the travelers back. Unlike most of the other scyther, she didn’t seem wary or afraid, just curious.
“What does it look like?” the scarred scyther who had been displeased with the idea from the start growled at her.
Ignoring the two, the lead scyther looked up as another swarm member from somewhere Snowcrystal couldn’t see called for her. “This is the place you will rest. Stay here,” she warned the newcomers. “Go to the pond only for water, and then come back. You aren’t allowed any further. And remember, there will always be someone watching you to make sure you do as I say.” She ran off, leaving them with the small group of scyther who had led them there.
Then that group split up, going their separate ways and giving the travelers wary glances. “Remember…” the scarred scyther hissed as he walked past them. “If you harm any of the scyther here, your friend will die.” Then he, too, ran off, leaving only the small scyther who was still staring curiously at them.
“Hey Bladewing, who are they?” another voice called, and an even smaller male scyther darted up to them faster than Snowcrystal would have thought possible, making her step back in surprise. “They aren’t scyther,” he continued, “so why are they here?”
“The Leader said they could stay,” Bladewing answered. “They’re going to get more food for us.”
“They don’t look like they can,” her friend growled. “And that’s a heracross. Heracross don’t even eat meat!”
“We’re not the ones who will be hunting,” Nightshade told him calmly, making the young scyther glare. Nightshade backed away, not because of the scyther’s reaction, but because he seemed nervous about something else. “I’m going to head into the forest…” he told Snowcrystal. “I won’t be far, and I’ll be back to see Stormblade-”
“Is this the scyther they were talking about?” the smallest scyther cried. Snowcrystal turned to see him standing over Stormblade. “I…I don’t think shelter is going to do him much good…” As if horrified by the sight, he darted away.
Nightshade moved toward Stormblade as Bladewing, the other small one, inched closer, when another, fully grown scyther stood in front of Stormblade, facing her. “Stay away from them!” he ordered, leading her away.
Nightshade sighed as the two walked away. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…” he muttered, trying to ignore the looks he got from scyther who were passing through the clearing.
“Well, it’s better than being out in the forest if there are dangerous pokémon around…” Snowcrystal replied, realizing how lucky they had been to have rested so near a scyther territory; the scents had probably scared off some of the aggressive pokémon.
“Yeah, but what about Thunder?” Rosie asked. “I don’t think things will go well if they decide to bring her here.”
Secretly, Snowcrystal agreed, though she was worried about Thunder being all alone. Where had she run off to, and why? She paused, letting Nightshade and Rosie talk quietly as she heard a few other scyther moving out into the forest somewhere behind her. They were talking, and she caught a few of their words.
“There’s still not much prey,” one of them was saying. “Too many other predators here now…”
“This forest is still much better than the last one...there were too many humans nearby,” the other replied. “And did you see that fire when it burned? I saw the smoke...it’s a good thing we were able to move long before that happened.”
Before Snowcrystal could hear the other’s reply, their voices faded into the distance. “The forest that burned down…that was where they lived before?” she whispered. She thought of all the pokémon who had lost their homes due to Blazefang’s Shadowflare attack and shuddered. She didn’t want to remind herself that the pokémon who had caused all that was traveling with them.
She briefly heard Nightshade get up and leave to go back into the forest, and Rosie lay down quietly before yet another scyther approached them. Snowcrystal tensed, not liking the idea of being stared at by strange pokémon, but relaxed a bit when she realized that she had seen this scyther before. It was the one that was missing an arm, the one who had stood up for them before.
The scyther was holding a spearow, which he dropped down in front of Rosie. The ninetales sniffed it cautiously.
“Aren’t we supposed to be hunting for you?” Rosie asked him, looking puzzled.
“Yes, but I thought you would be tired and I…” the scyther trailed off as he noticed some of the others approaching them rapidly. From the way he acted, Snowcrystal could tell that he was afraid.
The growlithe backed into the bushes as one of the scyther ran up to Rosie and snatched the spearow away from her, making the ninetales jump away in startled surprise.
“You didn’t catch that on our territory, did you, Darkfang?” one of the scyther asked, and Darkfang, who Snowcrystal realized was the scyther who had brought them the prey, stepped back a pace.
“I…”
“You did?” a second scyther growled. “You can’t waste our prey on them! They’re supposed to catch it themselves.”
Darkfang was silent and didn’t reply.
“I don’t understand why you’d care so much about these pokémon when they could be a threat…” the other scyther mumbled, but Snowcrystal could see that a few of the scyther with him didn’t seem hostile or threatened by her or her friends.
“Sorry…” Darkfang mumbled at last, staring at the ground.
The other scyther paused for a moment, and then added, “Oh, and I wanted to remind you...the next time you’re on guard, pay attention! A luxray strayed into the territory near where you were supposed to be watching last night.” Darkfang flinched, and the other scyther gave him a stern glare. “Make sure you don’t fall asleep again or start watching for ice birds in the sky anymore.”
“You still don’t believe me?” Darkfang replied. “Look, I did see it that day! I-”
Snowcrystal’s eyes widened in shock, but the scyther in the small group just gave Darkfang a disapproving look and then turned and left.
Snowcrystal turned to Darkfang, a look of surprise plastered over her face. Rosie, right next to her, looked a lot like how Snowcrystal felt, awed and disbelieving. After all this time, they could have just found a clue to finding Articuno. “You mean…what did you see? Did it look like…” she began, but Darkfang was heading away, probably without even hearing her. Forgetting the rules the scyther swarm had set for them, Snowcrystal ran after him. “Wait up!” she cried. “I need to talk.”
“Leave me alone,” Darkfang remarked, before changing direction and darting into the trees, away from the other scyther.
Snowcrystal paused for a moment and then chased after him, her heart pounding. ‘I have to find him…I have to find him and ask him about Articuno!’
-ooo-
Under the warm light of the sun and beneath the clouds that drifted slowly across the sky, Scytheclaw stood peering into the round pool that was formed by the river right beside the tall cliffs. The scizor had flown down beside it, staring into its clear depths and at the small statues of pokémon that adorned the rock which reached above the water at its center.
Scytheclaw had always found this to be a peaceful place, and at the moment he wanted peace more than anything. It seemed that after the army had passed through the canyon and his pokémon had seen them, more and more of the tribe were talking about it…and were beginning to realize that he had been wrong. Very wrong.
Aside from his most loyal members, the pokémon were doubting in him. And a great many wanted a new leader…Moonlight the umbreon seemed to be the one most wanted to take his place. Scytheclaw felt worried and afraid. He was injured. He couldn’t fight if they tried to overthrow him, and he wondered if inflicting harsh punishments on rule breakers had really been wise; now that he was in a state of weakness it was likely they could take out bottled-up anger on him. If only he had managed to kill Nightshade and instill some more respect in them…but would that have been the best way to go about it? Scytheclaw had no idea what the best way to be a leader was, and it was this thought that scared him most of all. This leadership was all he had. If he lost it, everything would be over.
Worriedly, the scizor turned his gaze to look deeper into the pool at the arcanine statue that lay beneath the waters. As he did so, he thought he saw a peculiar glint off of the arcanine’s fangs. Curious, he peered closer, moving around until he saw the sparkle of some strange object again.
After a moment’s hesitation, Scytheclaw waded into the water. He shuddered; the water had always felt strange to him as a scizor. He had loved it as a scyther, but since his evolution he had always felt as if his body was too heavy and he was likely to drown. He hated that feeling.
He hesitated as he neared the deeper part of the water, where the arcanine statue lay. As he peered into the depths, he thought he saw the shimmer of something blue near the arcanine’s mouth.
“Scytheclaw?” a curious voice sounded from behind him, making him turn his head.
The scizor spotted a zangoose, one of his now few truly loyal followers, standing on a rock near the pool. Scytheclaw immediately got out of the water, pointing to the arcanine statue. “Go under the water!” he ordered. “There’s something strange about that statue.”
Puzzled, but unwilling to disobey in case he angered his leader, the zangoose slid into the water cautiously and vanished underneath the surface. It wasn’t long before he reappeared, looking puzzled. “There doesn’t seem to be anything odd about it…” he began. “But there’s some sort of gem stuck in its mouth…it looks shiny…I wonder if it’s some sort of rare-”
“Well, get it out,” Scytheclaw muttered impatiently. The zangoose nodded and vanished again.
He reappeared a second time, panting and out of breath. “It’s stuck, Scytheclaw,” he reported, and before he could hear any angry responses, he added, “I’ll try again!” before diving under.
Scytheclaw waited a little longer before the zangoose’s head broke the surface again. In his mouth he held an oddly shaped blue gem. Swimming over, he set it at Scytheclaw’s feet.
The scizor bent down to peer at the stone, noticing how strange it looked. It was smooth, like a river rock, but clear, with odd little patterns interlacing the inside. He reached out to feel its surface with the tip of his pincer.
Still treading water near the edge of the pool, the zangoose watched as his leader collapsed.
-ooo-
“You know, I really don’t think we’re going to find it, not after all this time. And you still only have five pokémon with you…why is it so important to save that last place for the growlithe?”
Katie sighed and glanced up from her pidgeot’s wing, which had been injured in a battle with a wild pokémon the day before. “I want to try training the growlithe right after I catch it,” she explained. “And with Pidgeot’s wing hurt, it could be a long time before we can get back…”
“Why don’t we head back now?” Justin replied, sounding angry. “I don’t like not having a flying pokémon to-”
“Pidgeot’s wing is taken care of. The injury wasn’t bad, it just needs time to heal,” Katie replied, now grateful that she had been given lessons on how to treat her pokémon if they got injured in the wild. “We’ve still got plenty of supplies, and the pokémon don’t have much of a problem finding more food for themselves. I still think there’s a lot to be discovered out here. I don’t want to head back yet.”
“You know, there’s probably a reason why trainers rarely ever venture this far…” Justin replied coldly, his voice trailing off.
“I don’t see what your problem is,” Katie replied crossly. “I thought you liked adventure.”
Justin said nothing and merely stared at the landscape ahead.
Katie sighed and returned Pidgeot, picking up her backpack and starting to walk forward. “Come on, then,” she called to Justin, still sounding annoyed.
Justin fingered the poké ball he still had in his pocket before following.
To be continued...
Bookmarks