-Geez, this chapter is going to be...dark, probably really dark. I swear I felt so stressed out after this one it isn't even funny, but I decided if I were going to get better at writing then I would need to step out of my comfort zone at times. God, I'm going to need to play some video games after this one or something, need to get my stress under control again. Not-so-fun fact, this may very well be the darkest chapter I have ever written. Which may not be much compared to some other stories, but for me? It is quite dark. Words just cannot explain...ugh.
BIG WARNING: This chapter may be considered Mature due to blood and probably some language! The entire story will not be like this! As far as I know, it will be just this chapter! I will not mark the whole story as mature as I am sure there is a younger audience below 17 years of age that would like to read this. And the story will not be full of blood and language (I didn't enjoy writing this chapter, to begin with).
With that out of the way, try to enjoy this? I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I'm not everyone, am I? I sure as hell won't judge you for liking it either! To each their own right?
-NFD
-DO NOT READ YET! READ THE ABOVE WARNING FIRST!-
Every day starts the same way.
I wake early in the morning, an hour or two before the sun begins to peek over the dismal horizon. Quickly and silently moving my way through my "home" and into the seemingly deserted world, but I know better than that. It is dangerous outside, and we all know it. Out here, death is a constant. Whether its cause is the Taken or the environment around it happens all the time. I have never seen living foliage outside before. Everything is just...dead.
I do not know for sure how all of this came to be, it just is. Those who claim to know the history of this world all have different stories. From a battle of the gods to disease or even a war with a being called humans. I do not believe in them, not like my sister did. I believe in the substantial evidence of what happened. So, every morning I bend some rules my father had given me and leave my shelter to find that evidence. And about a week ago, I saw something...concerning.
There was a huge building, it was old and beaten, but outside there was a large amount of Taken, although these ones didn't seem to be unintelligent. You see, Taken are known to be mindless pokemon, merely doing what they are told without a second thought, but they are dangerous and extremely unpredictable. The only way to know if someone is Taken is their eyes, they're just black. That is it, no color, no pupil, just black. So, if these ones are actually intelligent...well...
Let's just say it would be bad.
I arrived at the building I had found that day, and once again I gave in to curiosity and searched for a way inside. As they say, curiosity killed the Skitty, but that doesn't apply to me. I'm not a Skitty, obviously, what kind of Skitty has brown fur? I pushed that thought aside as I finally found what looked to be a hole in a wall. Darting between views of the Taken around me I made my way towards the hole. Once inside, I was greeted with the slight stench of blood and the fantastic view of a shelf in shambles just in front of me, effectively hiding the hole from sight.
Creeping my way around the collapsed shelf, the first thing I noticed was that it was utterly silent. Looking around the dark room revealed nothing interesting — only a bland piece of large cloth with a blue "X" on it. Disappointed, I headed towards the doorway and began to wander the halls. Hiding in the shadows or rubble laid haphazardly along the hallways seemed to work and any Taken that passed looked far too occupied to even notice my presence.
This went on for a while, moving along the hallways aimlessly and exploring new rooms that I come by. Every room was vacant and virtually the same throughout the building. Plain, four walls, debris everywhere, and a flat ceiling. Excluding one room, it didn't have a ceiling. Instead, the ceiling looked like it was blown away letting the clouded sky show through it. Aside from that, it was the same. So why are the Taken guarding this place? What's so special about it? And why do they all act like they aren't actually Taken at all? Growing bored, I paced the edges of my current room dragging my brown tail and looking for something, anything, entertaining whatsoever.
My ears perked up at the sound of voices echoing in the hallways. Finally! Scrambling to hide behind the doorframe, I strained my ears to listen to the voices just within earshot.
"-ubject is refusing to cooperate with our...methods, sir, what would you have me do? We cannot continue this for much longer or she will-"
"Yes, yes," came an irritated and cracked male voice, "I am aware that it will die. Use another one of those fluids we found here, yes? They worked before so they must work again."
"W-We can't! We've run out!" A voice that sounded feminine protested.
"Then do something! Anything! I am not going to let all of those resources go to waste on a failed project!" The voice lowered, "now get it done, or I will find someone who will. And don't get too attached to it, that will only hinder our progress. We don't want that do we?"
"No, sir..."
"Good. I will be taking my leave, when I return, there had better be progress. Or else." The sound of footsteps echoing the halls grew quieter until there was nothing left.
After a few seconds, there was a sigh, "young one, I know you are here. Show yourself." I froze and internally panicked. How does she know?! I didn't make any noise! Maybe it's someone else...? I held still and waited.
"I am not going to harm you, come out of the room...please."
Shit shit shit shit! Rigidly, and knowing I was caught, I stood up and picked my way out of the room on full alert for any threats. Finally making into view of the newcomer, it looked like a very dirty, not to mention very tired, Pikachu. If the eyes are any indication she isn't Taken, thankfully.
She gave a smile, "there you are. Not very often I get to see normal pokemon around here. What is an Eevee such as yourself doing in such a...terrible place?"
I hesitated, she must've noticed as she continued on, "I am not going to hurt you. Trust me, I never wanted to hurt anyone." Her shoulders and tail sagged as she looked down, "I am only doing this to survive, I can't find a way to escape." She took a deep breath, then visibly perked up again, "but now you're here! You made it in here somehow, which means we can get out! Right?"
I stayed silent and didn't move, not a clue how to continue, I haven't seen another normal pokemon since...well, let's just say it's been a long time.
Seeing as I wasn't going to respond her smile faded, "I know you probably don't trust me, or maybe you're mute, I dunno. Either way, please, just come with me, I promise I do not want to do his dirty work, but I have to do it, or he kills me!"
Feeling a little more trusting, I mustered the courage to talk, "w-what work?"
She forced a smile, "thank you for talking...ugh, you have no idea how long it's been." She paused for a moment, "but I...really don't want to explain it. I can show you though, just, follow me? They won't attack you if you're with me!"
I hesitated once again, do I want to put that must trust in her? I mean, she isn't a Taken, but what if she is lying and she really does want to work for them? Curiosity was egging me on to follow her, but fear told me to run as far as possible. She simply looked back at me with a hopeful expression, fiddling with her paws in front of her. She doesn't look like she is evil, only dirty. I inwardly sighed and forced myself to walk closer to her, ignoring my instincts screaming at me to turn away. At about a body length away I stopped and stared back at her.
She smiled brightly, "awesome! Let's go! I'll show you what is going on, then we can leave this damned place!" Dropping to all fours, she began moving at a steady pace down the hallway just behind her. I broke into a jog to stick with her and into the unknown halls.
(o^-^o)
We traveled for a long time down the hallways and past many doorways, any Taken that we passed only glared at me and refused to look at the Pikachu leading me. When I asked her about it, she merely said "they just do" and refused to speak any more on the subject.
It took about an hour until we finally stopped. I looked around us and struggled to catch my breath, I really need to run more often. She sat in front of me and waited for me to recover, once I did she gestured to a doorframe that looked like all the others, except this one had a large piece of cloth draped from the top effectively blocking the entire entrance.
The smell of blood was heavy now, choking even. I gagged when I accidentally took too large of a breath through my nose. She cringed but didn't seem to gag as I did.
"Sorry, this may be a bit much for you."
"How can you-?"
"I'm used to it," she shrugged, "this...erm...this is what I wanted to show you, it's...uh...why I wanted to leave. In this room is the 'Project' that I am sure you heard about when you were eavesdropping. Yes, I did know you were listening." I said nothing. Instead, I stared at the big cloth in the way and curiously began to move towards it.
She jumped in front of me, "woah, hold up there! I need to warn you about something first. Something I really am not proud of...I-I just can't explain how horrible I feel about all this." I stared at her with a confused expression. "Okay, just, um...know that I am so, so sorry for what you are about to see. I..." She stopped with a look in her eyes that I couldn't quite understand, they almost looked...horrified?
She took a deep breath, which I found impossible here, then she continued in a whisper, "okay, here we go..."
Painfully slowly, she moved the cloth to allow her passage into the room. Cautiously, I followed her and shouldered the fabric out of the way. Immediately I was blinded by the light in the room, it took a few seconds of blinking my eyes to see what was in front of me. Once I could, I instantly regretted it.
I recoiled in horror at the view in front of me. There was blood everywhere, mostly old, but it stained nearly everything around the center of the circular room. All of it was easily shown from the torches laid out along the edges. Then, something in the center of the room seemed to drag my eyes to it. I thought everything around me was horrifying, that was nothing compared to what is in the very center of the room.
Hanging there by four chains, was another Eevee, like me. However, the chains weren't clasped around its body. The chains came from the ceiling and ended as what I can only assume were spikes that were impaled into the very top of each of its shoulders on all four legs, leaving it suspended in the air, head dangling from gravity, her fur covered in blood, in one of the most horrifying ways I could imagine.
My jaw was left hanging open, and I felt like I was hyperventilating. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the Eevee in front of me.
"I'm so sorry! Really! Please calm down! I-I didn't know what else to do! The Boss was going to kill me if I didn't listen to him! I didn't kill her though! She's alive! I've done everything I can to keep her alive and to lessen the pain. I-I didn't mean for it to go this far...I swear..." She trailed off.
It took me a few moments, but I managed to close my jaw and swallow down the lump in my throat, "she's alive?"
"Well, yeah!"
"...where did you find her...?"
"In the uh, the ball."
"Ball?"
"This thing." It was with great difficulty that I tore my gaze from he Eevee and towards the Pikachu. She held up an old looking ball. It was heavily rusted, but I could still see some markings on it, namely a line that seemed to circle the entire middle of the ball and a little circle centered on that line.
My whole body was trembling still from the room we were in, and I tried not to look back to the Eevee. Mouth dry, I decided to try to divert my mind from the gruesome sight before me, "W-what is that?"
"Wish I knew, but she came out of it when I touched the circle here. Strange device."
Then there was a weak whisper, "It's called a Pokeball."
I jumped slightly at the sudden voice and looked back up to the only other pokemon in the room, the Eevee. Her eyes were half open, and her chest was heaving with every breath. She's awake?
"A-A Pokeball?" I asked.
Her gaze turned to me, it was weak, but it held so much anger, "yes, and it is mine. Now, who are you? Another one to torture me? To try and make me succumb to your will? I would rather kill you myself and shit on your corpse than give in to you. Your kind took my memories, but I don't need them to know what kind of pokemon you are-" She was interrupted by her coughing and wheezing causing her to sway slightly on the chains holding her. I was left speechless. She thinks...I'm one of the Taken?
"No no no! He isn't like that! He's free! He knows of a way out!" The Pikachu assured.
Her stare softened, then she whispered again, "heh, good, one so young shouldn't be enslaved. How did you get in here? Don't you know it's dangerous around here?"
"U-um...a hole in a w-wall. I k-kinda wandered around a-and hid until I h-heard voices." I stuttered.
She gave a barely noticeable smile, "you'd make a great Umbreon." She grunted in pain, "i-it sounds like you're a natural at stealth huh?"
"W-what's an Umbreon?" I asked, and she gave me a curious look.
"What is that voice?" I nearly jumped out of my skin from the echoes in the hallway behind me.
"Shit!" The Pikachu whispered, "they aren't scheduled to be here now!" Her eyes darted to mine, "we need to leave right now. Where is that hole in the wall?!"
"I-I don't..." wait...cloth, blue X... "Oh! it was in a room with a piece of fabric that had a blue X on it!"
"Not very descriptive, but I think I've got it." She looked up at the Eevee, and her eyes widened, "damnit, how are we going to get you down?!"
"It's gotten quiet! Let's go!" The voices were coming closer.
"Use the ball, point circle at me and push it..." She grunted. The Pikachu fumbled around with the ball nearly dropping it. Finally, she found the circle, pointed it at her, and pushed it. I watched with amazement as the ball instantly popped open, engulfed the Eevee in a flash of red light, pulled the light inside of it, and then snapped closed once again leaving the chains to dangle uselessly, soaked with blood.
"Holy crap!" The Pikachu exclaimed, "I can't believe that worked! Here! Catch!" She tossed it at me and in a panic I barely managed to catch it in my jaws. It tasted like rust, that was for sure. Then she grabbed a small bag with a strap that went over her shoulder, "now follow me! I know where that room is but you will have to show me the hole!"
I nodded awkwardly with the ball in my jaws. She bolted out the doorway with the fabric, and I was on her tail. As soon as we burst out the room, there was shouting behind us, and heavy footsteps began to give chase.
"Run faster!" She shouted from in front of me. Growling, I threw my legs harder into the ground and used my claws to dig into anything that I could. At this rate, I was sprinting faster than my body ever had sprinted before, fueled by adrenaline and fear I wasn't slowing down anytime soon.
We continued running down the halls, evidently, our pursuers were fed up with the chase as they began firing balls of shadow at us. I couldn't look behind me for fear of running into something, so I just prayed that they never hit me.
Apparently, fate decided against that.
One Shadowball had gotten lucky and exploded into the ground just behind me, sending me flying forward head over tail and crashing into a concrete wall just ahead. My vision exploded with colors as soon as I made impact with the wall then fell to the ground. I refused to let go of the ball, however, as it was still in my jaws, but my body refused to cooperate with me as I laid there on my side on the ground. With colors again exploding across my vision and my ears ringing as well as pain throughout my body signifying that I definitely had broken bones, it was hard to tell, but it looks like Pikachu is trying to talk to me. She must've given up as I felt my body get lifted and placed onto something else then immediately start to accelerate. After a few minutes, my vision cleared up enough to see me being carried on Pikachu's back with her looking back at me every few seconds.
Eventually, a voice broke through the ringing in my ears as well, "-ey buddy! We are almost there, you have to tell me where the hole is! Can you even hear me? Tell me-"
I tried to talk with the ball in my mouth, "ack o roon ehind sel..."
She gave me a strange look then she rolled her eyes, "all I got was 'back of room' and 'behind something' right?" I nodded when she looked at me again; I yelped from a burst of pain in my neck. She gave me a concerned look but kept running anyway. Suddenly, we made a sudden right into a room. With a quick "sorry" she dropped me onto the ground from her back sending pain jolting through my body as I collapsed onto my side, then she whipped around and fired a bolt of lightning into the top of the door causing a large amount of rubble to fall into the doorway.
She let out a breath. Then turned to me and knelt down to inspect my body. She felt a few parts of my legs, my flank, and my neck. I dropped the Pokeball from my mouth, tears flowing down my cheeks as each of my injuries flared up each time she poked them.
"Bruises, broken ribs, a fractured hind leg, and possibly a concussion." She muttered while beginning a second inspection. Fighting my splitting headache and ignoring the ringing still in my ears, I tried to focus on my surroundings to locate the hole. Once I found the shelf, I gestured with a foreleg to get her attention, "behind the shelf, over there, the hole is over there."
She looked in that direction, then looked back to me, "no, we will take care of you first before we leave."
I tried to protest through the tears, "but-"
"And that is final." She muttered.
Standing up, she looked around the room, grabbed the cloth piece and two wooden boards from the shelf, then made her way back to me.
"I'm going to set your leg as best I can," she tore off a small piece of the cloth and put it into my mouth, "bite down on this and try not to yell, I won't lie to you, this is going to hurt." I squeezed my eyes shut feeling the tears leak through.
"Here we go." The pain came, and I bit down hard.
(o^-^o)
It is over; it is finally over. I laid there completely covered in sweat with my leg throbbing next to me. Completely encased in a makeshift splint, it didn't look like it was going anywhere. I'm just glad it is finally done.
"You did well, not a single peep from you! Keep breathing deeply too, no matter how much it hurts, if you don't, your ribs will not heal as they should." I nodded weakly, wincing each time I took a breath in. Okay, here," she grabbed the Pokeball and put it next to my mouth again, "pick this up, I'm going to try and get us out of here."
"Where?" I panted.
"Back home, I originally came here to find Dreamers and get them before they did." She gestured with a thumb to the collapsed entrance, "obviously, that didn't work out very well."
"Dreamers?" She blinked.
"You don't know what Dreamers are?" I shook my head. "Hmm, well, Dreamers are them," she pointed to the Pokeball, "stories say they are pokemon who lived since before the Collapse. Some are even veterans of the Extinction."
"Collapse? E-Extinction?"
"You don't know, do you? Didn't your parents ever tell you?"
"My parents..." I paused, pushing back the feelings that came with that memory and blinking back tears, "my family, t-they're dead."
"Oh, I'm sorry..." I shook my head slightly.
"It wasn't your fault."
We sat there awkwardly for a while; Uncomfortable, I tried to bounce back to before the awkward subject, "what about the Collapse or the Extinction? What are they?"
"It's...a little complicated, but I'll try to make it short. The Collapse is the event that caused the world to look like it is now, there used to be plant life everywhere, pokemon lived their lives happily, but...the Collapse happened. And the world is like this now because of it."
"Oh...what about the Extinction?"
"Heh, well..." She scratched the back of her head, "the Extinction is...er...was the war. The war between two human groups. Eventually, it lead to the humans destroying each other with some kind of devices which threw the humans into extinction and caused the Collapse. Hence the name, Extinction."
"So, Dreamers are like this ball, and they are part of an older war before the collapse?"
Well, yes and no, the Dreamers are the pokemon themselves that are inside the ball. The legends say the ball only works for that one pokemon, and inside the ball, they don't age or something like that. Just a few were a part of the war, others were...something, I don't really know that one."
I hummed and looked at the ball lying just next to my head. I wanted evidence right? Well, there is living evidence right there.
"Alright, enough story time, grab that ball, I'm going to carry you again, there shouldn't be any patrols out tonight so we should be able to get out fairly easily. Arceus willing."
Fighting the pain as she placed me on her back once again, I held tightly onto the ball in my jaws. Hopefully, wherever we are going, there will be food, shelter, and less danger.
Arceus willing, whoever he is.
-Don't forget to comment on what you think and vote! (Votes let other people see it easier!) The chapters after this one should have less blood in them, if not, then it will be said int he very beginning as a warning!
-NFD