The Path of Destiny

[Scytherwolf]

The Path of Destiny
Chapter 26 - Journey Through Darkness

Snowcrystal, Spark, Wildflame, and Rosie had continued walking at a slow pace. Rosie, who was trying her best not to complain, had been struggling to keep up with the others. When one of her friends asked her if she was all right, she would simply make a short reply saying she was, and continue hobbling after the others.

“Snowcrystal?” Spark asked as he limped over the grass. “Do you think we should stop and rest? I don’t see why we have to keep going like this…we have no clue where to start looking for Articuno…”

Snowcrystal was about to agree that they rest when Wildflame interrupted them. “Humans are near,” the houndoom stated quietly, sniffing the air, “and a pokémon. We have to go…”

Fearfully, the four pokémon increased their pace, running through the tall grass without looking behind them. Up ahead, Wildflame spotted a tall group of rocks with a dark gaping hole at their base. “We can hide in that cave!” she cried, noticing that Rosie and Spark were starting to have trouble keeping up.

As soon as they reached the large grayish stones, the four pokémon darted into the cave, keeping to the shadows and huddling against the cold rock. Snowcrystal turned around, noticing drops of water trickling down the walls.

“Do you think they’re poachers?” Spark asked Wildflame fearfully, distracting Snowcrystal.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Wildflame replied. “All humans are bad news for us, now quiet!”

Snowcrystal found her thoughts drifting back to the strange wounds Thunder had gotten from the poachers. Those wounds had seemed small, but they had been very deep, and bled a lot. She hated to think of a poacher giving a pokémon a wound like that in their neck; they would die for sure.

These thoughts only worried her further, and she edged backwards into the cave, fearful the humans might walk closer and spot them.

Suddenly, without warning, a clawed paw covered her muzzle, and a thick vine looped around her neck. Snowcrystal made a strangled cry, causing the others to turn towards her.

Wildflame rushed forward, but long vines looped around her paws, bringing her crashing to the ground. Rosie and Spark were soon in the same state, other vines wrapping around their muzzles and silencing them. Spark’s head had struck a rock, and he seemed too dazed to use any electric attacks.

Snowcrystal snapped at the paw covering her mouth, causing its owner to yelp and draw back. Struggling against the vine on her neck, she moved towards the others, hoping a fire attack could free them, when suddenly a strange, choking scent filled the air around them.

Snowcrystal coughed as the pungent fumes become stronger, and she began to feel dizzy and disoriented. She soon stumbled over her own paws, landing flat on the ground. She was tired…very tired… She tried to fight it, but her efforts seemed to be useless as she continued to breathe in the scent and her vision started to fade. She struggled to stay awake, but a few moments later, her senses faded into blackness as the pokémon who had attacked gathered around them.

-ooo-

Justin stopped and stared. For a moment, if only just a split second, he had thought he had seen the white growlithe and some other pokémon running in the distance. He sighed, realizing that it could have been any other white-furred pokémon, and decided not to mention it to Katie.

They had traveled far, and not found any sign of the growlithe. Katie, however, had a new goal in mind. She had told Justin that she believed many rare pokémon lived in the areas most trainers didn’t bother to explore. She had explained that she planned on exploring those areas, though how far she was going to explore, Justin didn’t know for sure. He was actually pleased with the idea, for it gave him a chance to make a new discovery. What if there were even other species of pokémon out there just waiting to be found?

Whether there were or not, traveling through more uncharted areas would be a lot better than having to watch Katie follow the routes, battling other trainers and winning gym badges in the cities, which was something he could no longer do. At least here he’d be able to be of help, as he’d had plenty of experience traveling in the wilderness when he was a trainer.

Watching Katie’s shinx and poochyena happily chasing each other, Justin fingered the poké ball he always carried in his pocket. He knew he really wasn’t allowed to use it on a pokémon, though he was sure the police would make an exception if he found something new or rare and made a discovery. Sometime, he hoped, they would find a very rare pokémon and he’d have a chance to use it, and if they could find the white growlithe…it would be a good target.

-ooo-

When Redclaw woke, he found himself in complete darkness. Dazed, he tried to move, finding himself trapped beneath large pieces of wood and metal. Feeling panicked, he pushed with his back legs against the ground, scrabbling forward until he was free. Hearing some of the pieces of wood collapse, he shuddered, but nothing else happened. Confused by the darkness, Redclaw blew a tiny flame into the air, looking at the scene around him before it flickered out.

He was in a hollow space, most likely deep within the collapsed building. A part of the wall to the left of him had held, forming the small enclosed space when the floors above him had collapsed.

Standing up, Redclaw limped around the area, feeling the walls with his nose and paws while occasionally using a small bit of flame, trying to determine if there was any way out. Finding none, he looked around frantically, alarm filling his mind as he remembered that Stormblade had fallen too.

Finding it hard to walk with all the chunks of debris on the floor, Redclaw searched for any sign of his friend, knowing he had to be nearby. After a moment, he paused as the scent of blood reached him.

Walking toward it, he found a large wooden beam that took up a big part of the enclosed space. He hadn’t given it much notice before, but now he could tell that the blood smell was coming from that direction. Following the beam, he came to where rubble blocked off any exit, but there was no sign of Stormblade, even though the scent of blood was strong.

Redclaw paused before starting to dig through the rubble. After pushing aside a few slabs of wood, he came across an even smaller space. Stormblade was lying inside, half covered by broken wood or metal. Redclaw crawled in halfway, grabbing Stormblade’s wing in his mouth and carefully dragging him out of the small space, before sitting beside him near the large wooden beam he had found earlier.

Stormblade’s left wing was torn to shreds near the top, and Redclaw could see various other cuts and bruises along the scyther’s body. He nudged Stormblade, expecting a response, but getting none. Leaning closer to him, the arcanine could hear his friend’s feeble breathing. Relieved, Redclaw lay down beside him, knowing there was nothing more to do now but wait. Wait, and hope for a miracle.

As time dragged by, Redclaw stayed beside Stormblade, feeling unusually tired. Stormblade had woken up a little while ago, and had been coughing a lot, which worried Redclaw. He knew that Stormblade had breathed in the smoke and needed to get to where there was fresh air, but there seemed to be no way out unless he moved a lot of the rubble, and even then…would there still be a way out at all? Redclaw closed his eyes, trying to calm down. He was starting to get a headache, and the wounds he had gotten from the fall pained him.

Stormblade was faring a lot worse; the gash on his head had started to bleed again and the pain had intensified. Though his burns had been at least somewhat protected by bandages, the scyther’s weakened state meant that it was a wonder he’d survived at all.

As Stormblade tried to rest, Redclaw got up and searched around the room yet again for a way out, like he had done before. Wearily, he pushed against the heap of rubble that blocked one side of the small area, but it barely budged. Sighing, he walked over to Stormblade, who had started coughing again, and sat down.

“There has to be some way out of here…” Stormblade whispered weakly to Redclaw once his coughing had subsided. “I think the only way is to climb back up…”

Redclaw looked upward, using the light of a small, flickering ember attack to brighten up the area. Above them, the ceiling had collapsed, and so had most of the one above it. Yet what surprised him was that the long wooden beam that took up a good part of their area seemed to lead up to what was once one of the higher floors. Redclaw quickly created another small flame, looking as closely as he could. There looked to be a way they could climb further using the rubble.

“You’re right…” Redclaw murmured, letting the flame die away. “The only problem is the climbing…” He turned to Stormblade, and though he couldn’t see the scyther’s face, the silence that followed his statement was enough to tell him that Stormblade was afraid…afraid he wasn’t going to make it out.

Looking up at the beam, Redclaw pressed his paw against it. Leaning against the rest of the rubble, it seemed sturdy enough for him to climb, if he climbed quickly. Gripping it with his claws, the arcanine scrabbled up the pile of rubble using the beam until he reached a flat surface above, and climbed up onto it. He turned and looked down at Stormblade, softly blowing a small flame to light the scyther’s way and make his climb easier.

Stormblade, doing his best to endure the pain from his many wounds, tried to climb up the beam multiple times, but each attempt failed. At last, overcome by exhaustion, he sat down, his injured wing hanging limply at his side.

Redclaw made a sad, low-pitched whine, feeling hopeless. After a moment, Stormblade lifted his head and looked upward through the blackness. To Redclaw’s surprise, the injured scyther struggled to his feet again, attempting to climb up the beam another time. This time he sunk his scythes deeper into the wood as he went, helping himself to climb further.

Redclaw watched him, using another small fire attack to light up the area until Stormblade was close enough for the arcanine to help him up the rest of the way. Redclaw let Stormblade rest for a moment as he sat down again, feeling some of his hope returning. Stormblade was still weak, but it made Redclaw hopeful to know that he wasn’t going to give up easily.

As they were resting, Stormblade suddenly spoke up. “Do you smell that?” he asked in a weak voice. “There’s fresh air…coming from over here…”

Redclaw used yet another small fire attack to light the way as Stormblade awkwardly limped over to where a wall had collapsed, looking for any opening. Redclaw approached as Stormblade broke into a fit of coughing, and examined the collapsed wall himself.

After a few moments, he smelled what Stormblade had, and realized that there was a small opening near the top of the destroyed wall, where air was coming through. Frantically digging at the rubble, he used all his strength to push the large pieces of debris out of the way while Stormblade watched.

After a moment, the section of wall collapsed, raising a small cloud of dust. A couple pieces of the ceiling fell down, but most of it was supported by another part of the wall that had held still. Redclaw carefully peered inside the opening he had created using the light of fire. He noticed that most of the room ahead had been completely destroyed, and there was only a small space the two could stand in.

Redclaw could still faintly smell fresh air, and he walked forward, quickly realizing that it was coming from somewhere above them. Helping Stormblade climb over part of a collapsed wall, Redclaw reached another place where an opening led them into what was once another room. Obviously the ceiling from below had collapsed, but most of the one that was now above them hadn’t.

“This way,” Stormblade whispered, taking a few unsteady steps forward with the aid of his scythes. “I can smell the fresh air coming from-” He stopped mid-sentence, as the ground beneath him suddenly gave way. Redclaw darted forward, grabbing Stormblade’s wing in his teeth and yanking him back before he could fall through the opening.

“Careful!” The arcanine whispered to the cringing scyther. “Let me go first…”

Cautiously skirting the opening in the floor, Redclaw followed the faint scent of fresh air, soon spotting a dark opening at the base of a wall. “Through here!” he whispered, leading Stormblade toward it.

Slowly Redclaw crept inside, feeling something sharp brush against his fur as Stormblade followed, much more slowly. Several times, Redclaw had to duck or move to the side when a large piece of wood or rubble blocked his way. After a while of crawling over strewn debris and occasionally having to clear the way for Stormblade, he could smell the fresh air much stronger.

“I think we’re getting closer!” the arcanine shouted excitedly. After a short while of climbing and crawling, he could sense that they were very close to the surface. The fresh air could be smelled much clearer, and they had been climbing upwards through the destroyed building for a while.

Helping Stormblade, Redclaw walked forward, stopping when he felt a faint breeze. “This way!” he called, excited, as he made his way over the rubble-strewn floor, soon noticing a thin sliver of moonlight shining down on them through a small hole near the top of a thick wall.

Going ahead of Stormblade, Redclaw placed his front paws on the wall, peering up through the small opening. He couldn’t see much through the darkness, but he could tell that even if they broke through the wall, they would have to climb over a large heap of debris that blocked the way. Telling Stormblade to back up, Redclaw studied the wall for a weak point. “Guess I’ll have to make us a way out of here myself!” he told the scyther, determined, before running up and slamming his shoulder against the weakest part of the damaged wall.

-ooo-

Thunder woke up suddenly, feeling strangely wary and nervous. At first, she was unsure what had woken her. Then, a strange scent reached her and she froze, recognizing it instantly. Human… Standing up, Thunder darted behind the rock she had been laying against, watching the human come into view. She could not see him clearly, but he didn’t seem to have noticed her, as he had stopped near another rock and put something on the ground.

Why he had come here, she wasn’t sure, but she stayed put, watching with interest as the human set up a trap before moving onto another spot. This was a poacher…but what was he doing here?

Deciding it was best to move on in case the human had a gun, Thunder slipped away into the darkness, heading for the grove of trees. For some reason, seeing the poacher had made her unsettled, but she figured that if she left, she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

However, even once she was out of immediate danger, she still felt apprehensive, though she was unsure why. Pausing as she noticed a pidgey land on a small rock nearby, she pushed the thought from her mind. She was going to learn to survive and hunt on her own, so why worry?

Trying to keep quiet, Thunder edged closer to the pidgey, but it noticed her and flew away before she could get close enough to strike. Frustrated, she turned and ran toward the trees, deciding to try and hunt again when daylight came.

-ooo-

Redclaw felt the wall shake as he tackled it again, ignoring the pain that raced up his side and shoulder as he used his take down attack to damage the wall further. He could tell that it was close to breaking, and put all his strength into the next take down. Feeling a large section of the wall crumble and break, Redclaw tumbled through the opening, landing in a heap on a pile of debris outside.

Looking up, the arcanine saw what was left standing of the damaged building shake, and noticed another wall beginning to collapse. Springing to his paws and leaping back inside, he grabbed Stormblade’s uninjured wing in his jaws and pulled him through the opening, turning his head as the wall crumbled and dust filled the air.

Once it cleared, Redclaw let go of Stormblade and looked down at him. The scyther seemed a lot weaker than he had when they had been looking for a way out, and it worried him. However, he knew Stormblade only had to go a little further.

Lifting his head, Redclaw took a deep breath of the cool night air, looking gratefully at the starry sky. At last…they were free. Free from Team Rocket, and free from the destroyed building. Redclaw sighed and took another deep breath. Fresh air had never smelled so good.

His thoughts were interrupted by Stormblade’s pitiful-sounding coughing. Looking up at the large pieces of wood and metal surrounding them, Redclaw nudged the injured scyther to his feet. “It’s not much farther,” he told him. “We just have to climb over this…and move away from the building. Then we’ll be safe.”

“I want to get away…from this place…” Stormblade replied. “We need…to find Snowcrystal and the…others.”

“We need to find a healer,” Redclaw stated, looking over Stormblade’s bandaged wounds, “or the pokémon center building…though I’m not certain that’s safe…and I really don’t know where the city is from here.”

“We’re not…going to find any help…here…” Stormblade replied shakily, “but I’m not sure…how much farther I can go…”

“We should rest for a while,” Redclaw said calmly, helping Stormblade along as they climbed the pile of rubble and picked their way carefully over the rocks and strewn debris. “There should be a safe place…” His voice trailed off as he noticed something in the moonlight a little ways away…a group of trees. “Let’s head there,” Redclaw stated, and turned to Stormblade. “Do you think you can make it?”

Stormblade nodded slowly before coughing a few times, and worriedly, Redclaw helped him begin their short journey to the small group of trees.

-ooo-

It didn’t take long for Thunder to reach the trees, but to her disappointment, there were no streams or ponds, and no sign of prey either. The ground beneath her feet was dry, and there were hardly any plants other than the trees. Sighing in frustration, she turned and walked toward one of the larger trees, deciding to get some rest.

The snap of a twig behind her made her turn around, and she scented a pokémon, a fire type. Narrowing her eyes, she darted toward the sound, breaking through a group of small bushes and lashing out at the strange pokémon.

The fire type gave a cry of shock and stumbled backward, rubbing his paw against a stinging cut on the side of his face. Thunder stood still, realizing that the pokémon was Redclaw.

“Redclaw?” she shouted, confused. “What are you doing here? Are you being followed?”

Redclaw looked up, surprised. “Thunder?” he whispered, his shock quickly turning to relief. “You’re all right! And no…we aren’t…being followed…”

“We?” Thunder asked, and Redclaw noticed sadly that Thunder didn’t seem to be excited or relieved to see him, or at least if she was, she wasn’t showing it.

“Stormblade is here too, in the clearing behind us…but he’s resting right now,” Redclaw explained. “We managed to escape those humans, and now Stormblade needs to get back to the city where the good humans can help-”

“Don’t bother,” Thunder muttered, turning away. “The building where the humans were ‘helping’ us is destroyed. I saw the smoke. It was burned. And you’d probably only get captured again if you went anywhere near that city!”

Redclaw paused for a moment, before sighing and continuing, “Then we need to find a healer…or…Stormblade’s friends…he said something about them, and I’ve seen them before. One was a white growlithe, right?”

“Yes…” Thunder replied, sounding annoyed.

“Do you know where they might be?” Redclaw asked hopefully, though he wasn’t sure that she would have any idea.

Thunder sighed and pointed in an eastward direction. “They were heading that way when I was traveling with them,” she explained in a dull tone. “I saw some sort of fire over in that direction before, but I haven’t seen any smoke so I suppose the fire is gone by now. You can head that way past the city, just be careful of poachers.”

“You’re coming with us…right?” Redclaw asked carefully, and Thunder didn’t answer. “We need to stay together,” Redclaw explained, worried. “There are too many dangers to wander off alone! If we find Stormblade’s friends, I think they can help us…we just can’t stay here for long. And if you go back the way we came from, you’ll only find rocky cliffs and sand…I think we should go in the direction Stormblade’s friends went. Stormblade is very weak…he needs someone who can help him.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Thunder growled as she heard Redclaw’s last statement about Stormblade. “I can’t do anything to help him. And if he’s too weak to go on, then that’s his problem.”

“But you have to stay with us!” Redclaw cried. “I know how to hunt, Thunder; you don’t!”

At that statement, Thunder paused for a moment and then just sighed. “Fine,” she muttered, “I’ll travel with you until my wounds heal and I learn how to hunt, but no longer than that.”

Satisfied, Redclaw smiled. “Well, if that’s what you want, that’s fine. Just please don’t run off when you’re in no condition to travel alone.” He turned and began walking back toward the trees. “Follow me,” he told her, “I found a good place to rest over here.”

Thunder reluctantly followed Redclaw as he led her over to a large clearing, quickly explaining everything to Stormblade, who was lying down nearby. The arcanine then walked over to where he’d managed to gather enough moss and leaves to make a nest. He gestured towards it with his muzzle, indicating that Thunder could sleep there, but she ignored him completely, flying up to a thick tree branch instead.

She lay down on the branch and looked down at Redclaw, who now lay curled up on the nest of dry leaves and moss. Thunder felt more worried; this wasn’t a good idea. She should be traveling alone, without depending on anyone…and now, she had agreed to let others help her…again.

Yet at the same time, she somehow felt glad that she wasn’t alone anymore. Even though she knew it was a bad idea, she felt some small comfort from being near these two pokémon, however injured and weak they were. And that thought only angered her more. She shouldn’t let them try to befriend her… Feeling frustrated with herself, but deciding to try and forget it for the time being, she closed her eyes, not knowing whether to feel relieved or angry with herself about the situation.

Thunder hadn’t been asleep for long when Stormblade’s coughing woke her. She tried to fall back asleep, but Stormblade soon began coughing again, and she stood up. Feeling a burst of anger, she flew down from the tree and landed in front of him, glaring at him. “Stormblade…” she growled, “how am I supposed to rest if you keep waking me up?” She kicked him lightly, before pointing to some trees on the other side of the clearing. “If you’re not going to stop coughing, then leave! Go over there where no one can hear you. I may be traveling with you for a while longer, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to put up with you all the time. Now go!” She motioned with her scythe in the same direction.

Stormblade looked up at the other scyther in confusion, feeling too weak to stand up and leave. But with another glare from Thunder, he reluctantly staggered to his feet and painfully hobbled away toward the other clearing. “Can you go any slower?” Thunder muttered angrily under her breath as she watched him limp away, before flying back onto the tree branch and lying down again. After a while she, like Redclaw, was fast asleep.

Stormblade, however, couldn’t sleep. Constantly distracted by pain and thirst, he found it hard to rest. After a while, he gave up trying, and lay down at the base of a tree away from the others, willing himself to fight through the pain and waiting for morning to come.

To be continued…