Retribution

Chapter 2

            When I came to, I was looking up at a light blue ceiling.

            “Mistress? Are you awake now?” Torrent’s face came into view, the light reflecting off his goggles. His pinwheel was stuck in the back of his pocket, and was revolving slowly.

            “Yeah,” I responded, slightly disorientated. Slowly, I sat up, smiling when Torrent hovered nervously near me, the pinwheel turning slightly faster. But when I saw Brendan in a chair next to me, my smile vanished.

            “Brendan, I—” Only then did I realize he was sleeping. Reaching out cautiously, I ran my fingers through his hair, admiring how the sun glinted off the silver strands. The same sunlight softened the worried lines on his face.

            “Hey.”

            “Goddammit, Brendan!” I complained after flinching, my fingers almost impaling his eyes. “Stop doing that!”

            “If you didn’t want me to kiss you, why didn’t you tell me?” His voice was bitter and he didn’t look up. I scowled.

            “That wasn’t the reason I blacked out, stupid.”

            “Then what was?” I hesitated.

            “There was… someone was talking inside my head. And it hurt a lot.” The answer sounded just as stupid in the air as in my head.

            “Look, you don’t have to make excuses just so—”

            “I’m not lying!”

            “Yeah, whatever. Brendan stood up angrily, moving the chair back. “See you later.” He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

            “What the hell!” I exclaimed, smashing my head again and again into the pillow. After a moment, Torrent clambered over the bed and sat next to me. In the silence, I could feel hear his breathing, naturally shallow, like the waters of a creek.

            “So.” There was an awkward pause as he struggled for the right words to say. “How do you feel about this?”

            I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing and pulled the boy to my chest.

            “My little therapist,” I giggled, “where have you been in my life?”

            “Umm…” his brow furrowed, concentrating, “uhhh… Hoenn, right?”

I kissed the wrinkle in between his eyebrows.

Route 102 stretched before me in an endless sea of grass and light morning fog. I can’t say I wasn’t slightly nervous.

“Mistress? Are you okay?” Torrent tugged on my sleeve.

“Yeah, I’m just a little jumpy. I’ll be catching my first Pokémon!”

“Piece.” I stuck my tongue at my small companion. I took out the classic red and white Pokéball, or PEN, that I had gotten from Professor Birch, and took my first step into the grass.

“Mistress, what are you waiting for?”

“I don’t know… I kind of thought there would be a Piece on my first step.” I shrugged and was just about to take another step when I heard a chirp. Whirling around, I came face to face with a girl that looked like she was ten years old. She had long blue hair that curled around her white wings that had blue on the edges. The red bandana around her neck rustled when she chirped again. Her small, double daggers and slim golden bands around her ankles caught my eye. My Icon pinged in my pocket.

“Taillow, the TinySwallow Piece,” the cool female voice said when I took the Icon out and flipped it open, “Although it is small, it is very courageous. It will take on a larger SKARMORY on an equal footing. However, its will weakens if it becomes hungry.” Sure enough, the girl spread her wings, chirping angrily, and took off into the sky only to wing around in a tight circle and ram Torrent in the chest with a dagger.