Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 87 - Sunken Eyes

Oh, right—he hadn't found a single Oran Berry since then. He had given them all to—

"Jerry, we need to keep going," Owen urged. "Mom's out there, and so are the others. We have to go and—you can fly, right?"

"Barely. I'm running on an empty stomach." He pointed at the wraith. "We eating or not?"

"We can't just find some berries or something?"

"No," Jerry snapped. "First, like I said, berries for food just doesn't cut it for me. And second, all the berries here are poisonous."

Another cruel wind blew across the wastes outside. Some of the dust kicked up and flew into the cave, littering the ground and adding to its dry layer. Jerry used his wing to shield himself from a small cloud that blew into the cave, and then the wind settled. Through it all, Owen stood in complete stillness.

"Poisonous?" Owen repeated.

"Yeah. It happened in the south before annexation, actually. I don't know the details, but berries in southern Dungeons—before Anam got in and did renewed blessings or whatever mumbo-jumbo he calls it... Sometimes the distortion corrupts the berries and other items inside. Oran Berries in particular were notorious for their false healing. We called them Oren Berries, because they looked just like 'em, and you had to really inspect it to tell that it's fake."

"Poisonous..."

"Uh, yeah. So don't eat them if you find any. Long time ago, I found out the hard way."

A rumble followed, a bit louder this time, and that made Jerry look back nervously. "We should get deeper into the cave," he muttered. "C'mon, Owen. Stay behind me so your flame doesn't give us away. Sometimes those things bend down and stare inside, so we gotta keep to the dark. Don't make any noise."

Owen said something in reply, but he didn't remember what he said the moment it left his mouth. Maybe just an affirmative, because Jerry kept going, prodding him to walk. Owen followed on reflex, but his eyes were empty and aimless, mind elsewhere.

"C'mon, kid, focus."

The dead wraith remained where it was—it looked a bit more deflated than a few seconds ago.

Jerry draped a wing over Owen, hiding the Charmander completely from the mouth of the cave. His flame, dim as it was, gently lit up the inside of the Aerodactyl's wings. He reached toward it out of sheer curiosity, but a shadow looming over the cave's entrance made him freeze.

That was a big rumble. Was it the same one from before, or a different one? It seemed somehow bigger. And then came a deep groan, a grunt, and then air whistling through huge nostrils. Jerry had his head turned back, watching intently. His body was ready to bolt in any direction—even though they were completely trapped.

Owen heard a heart, but it wasn't his own. He glanced at Jerry and saw his chest throbbing to each beat. Jerry's expression wasn't clear from Owen's angle, but his jaw was clenched, ready for battle. There hadn't been a shake for a while.

Jerry smelled a lot like the dust. But there was a bit more to him, too, that Owen couldn't really describe. It was oddly comforting, though... If only because it was something different. He was tempted to lean closer, but didn't want to distract Jerry or accidentally make a noise.

And then, the shadow left the cave, and the shaking ground indicated the titan was moving away. Jerry still didn't move, each beat of his heart echoing in Owen's ears—it made his own pulse quicken and deepen.

After what felt like forever, Jerry finally loosened up and took his wings off of Owen. "Didn't even look into the cave," he said. "Maybe they just aren't interested, or they didn't see it. Don't care. Let's eat and bail."