Tempest

"Jiang, what the hell were you thinking!" I yelled, "No wait, let me guess - YOU WEREN"T!"

The boy bowed his head in shame, "Sorry Tempest, I didn't know it was a spearow egg. Honest, cross my heart and hope to die."

"You're going to suffer a fate worse than death if you don't start picking up your act. Who says I can't ditch you right here, right now?"

"Give him a break, Temp. He's just a kid, we can't leave him." Mei Ling came to the boy’s defence, flying to my far right on the back of her dragon.

"Who says your opinion counts for anything?" I snapped.

The five of us flew in a steady course upwards, our destination; Evergreen Island.

Seth and Lethe - oh high and bloody mighty Princess, heir to throne of whoop whoop, in the land of Timbuktoo that know even cared about, on the back of the blonde's half dog, half bird pokemon. The thief on her thee's and thou's speaking Alavar, me on my beloved Artemis, and stupid little Jiang, on my Nymbis. The wind ruffled my blue black fringe, a part of my body that I took great pride in despite its many split ends and infamous scruffiness.

We had argued about where we were going to go first, Lethe wanted the nearest civilization possible, Jiang didn't care unless I went there too, Mei Ling wanted Tangerine Isle, and Seth? Well, all he wanted was a bloody mirror. Thankfully, I didn't have to look at that pompous ass, Odomp any longer. We'd left the snoozing giant down on the ground to fend for himself, not that he could, he was probably still dreaming. I myself, wanted to go to Evergreen, it was the closest island around, and I wanted, needed, required, yearned for that first badge of the Iris League. I was already a week behind schedule, and with three leagues still to go, I really didn't have much time to spare. Artemis's icy wings guided her higher into the atmosphere and tiny goose-bumps appeared on my skin. My ponytail streamed through the hole in the back of my orange Island League cap. My clothes rustled in the wind. The backpack I'd received as an award from Officer Jenny last week had become dull with dust, no longer the bright golden luminance. The straps dug achingly into my shoulders, and I could already feel blisters developing on the raw skin.

"Ease off Tempest, she’s right you know." Coo-ee squawked, gliding to my right, a warm thermal catching beneath his beautiful sunset plumed wings and thus lifting him higher. His wondrous fan-like tail fluttered behind him in a glorious display of the hues of the sunset itself. My sour mood lessened at the sound of his voice, he was always able to cheer me up - when he wasn't ignoring an order. I was lucky I'd been able to capture him, bloody hell, now that was a challenge! If I hadn't thrown that pokeball when I did, he would have wiped me off the face of the earth.

"Yeah, I'm only little." Jiang added in a small voice. He rode cross legged on my Nymbis off somewhere to my right.

"You really can't blame him," Mei Ling yawned, lying on her back between Alavar's wings, hands folded behind her head, "He doesn't really know any better."

Jiang agreed vigorously, "Yeah!"

Rage swelled inside me, Coo-ee sensed my sudden change of mood and had the sense to veer away giving Artemis warning looks which clearly said, "She's gonna blow."

And I did.

People described losing your temper as 'blowing a fuse'. I blew a hundred.

"Don't give me that shit about him being too bloody young! When I was ten, I had the common sense not to go anywhere near a damn spearow egg. He's got a bloody brain, SO HE'S GOT NO FUCKING EXCUSE!"

Seth cringed at the sound of my screaming voice and Lethe paled considerably.

A strong gust developed.

Mei Ling winced. "Jiang, this is as far as I go sticking up for you. You're on your own now buddy."

I twisted so that I could glare at Jiang full in the face, so he could see the fury etched on my face and the infuriation in my stormy eyes. The red head gulped, pulling the scarlet bandana over his eyes in an attempt to somehow magically disappear.

Fat chance.

"You are the most stupid pea brained idiotic idiot, that I have ever met!"

The gust howled around us, increasing in strength with every spiteful, hate filled word I spat.

I didn't notice.

"You are lower than a snake's belly, and I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire!"

WHOOSH! The wind screamed, an endless shrieking of gusts and cold, cold zephyrs. My voice was momentarily drowned out, before I raised it even louder.

"What is going on?" Lethe wailed hysterically, clutching Seth's leather jacket in fear. Her full length jacket was blown roughly behind her as the brawny gusts tore into her.

"You're a cough drop! Beecham's Pill! A dingaling! Dingbat! Dropkick! Droob! Drongo! Ningnong! Mopoke! Wally!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Mei Ling struggle with her hair as it whipped into her face, blinding her with a million ivy strands.

"Tempest, calm - !" The rest of what she screamed was whipped away as the winds grew stronger and stronger. Coo-ee screeched in alarm as he lost control and was sent into a fierce tailspin of squawks and feathers. It was only with extreme difficulty that he was able to regain composure. His wings were pumping furiously, battling against the persistent winds battering against him from all sides. He opened his beak and yelled something, but his voice was torn away. Under normal circumstances I would have recalled him back into his pokeball, but it wasn't a normal circumstance. I was seething, unable to think rationally under the veil of anger cloaking me. Livid.

I wasn't even aware of my own hair flying madly, my clothes flapping with a frenzied life of its own, my hat clinging desperately to my head in a struggling endeavour to be kept away from the snatching gusts. Artemis screamed, and I was almost thrown off as she was whipped back against the winds. Alavar cried out in panic, his leathery wings pumping crazily whilst Mei Ling gripped an emerald fin in both hands, fighting to hold on. The gryffon swore as his huge fifteen foot tall body battled against one of nature's most terrifying weapons, his fear-stricken passengers clutching desperately onto his fur. All this I saw, yet couldn't quite comprehend, I was so rapt up in my anger.

"You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag! You'd get lost in a revolver door! You - "

Jiang screamed. Hell, I wasn't being that harsh!!

"Tempest help!" The boy lost his grip on the cloud pokemon. His arms flailed wildly, trying desperately to regain his balance. He teetered on the edge and it seemed in slow motion that a sudden, rough gust of wind hurled him off balance and sent him plummeting through the air.

"Tempest!"

I hesitated one second too late. Jiang dissapeared through a cloud. Nimbus shrieked, tearing after him.

"Come back!" I cried, enraged that he had the nerve to run away like that. Tapping Artemis's body with my heels, I ordered her to go after him. Feathers asunder, her direction completely confused in the roaring wind, she merely shot in the direction that I pointed. We raced through the clouds, I forgot about the others. Forgot about the developing storm.

I had one thought: Strangle Jiang before he went splat.

WHOOOSH!! A furious gust blew me off course. My articuno screeched in alarm, I struggled to remain stable while she was thrown into a furious tailspin. Artemis squawked in terror, panic swelled in me and I let out a piercing shriek. The ice pokemon suddenly jerked right, caught by surprise as her feathers were ripped from my hand and I was flung violently into the sky.

I screamed. The air rushed passed me, my hair ripped upwards. I tumbled, down, down, down.

CRASH!!!!!!

Something hard, as hard as a rock, thundered into me. The falling sensation ceased, replaced with immeasurable pain ripping its way into my body. My cry cut off abruptly.

Dizzy, my vision slurred, I lay still, unable to move lest it brought more unbearable pain.

Then......... darkness.

Mei Ling

Why was it so cold? I wasn't ice-skating again was I? I hated ice-skating. I was a useless ice skater and the rink was cold. I hated the cold. I shivered and that single sudden movement overwhelmed me with agony. I whimpered, lying as still as I could. Tears welled in my eyes. My vision whirled in circles, dizzying, fuzzy, then slowly at a snail's pace, it began to clear. Angry grey thunderheads rolled above me. The sky suddenly lit up as lightning streaked across the heavens.

One split second.

It was all it took.

I marvelled at the ferocity, the sheer power of nature.

My senses ever so slowly came back to me. It took a while, but I had patience, and I waited till I regained all feeling, till the pain became a dull ache. I lay there for a while, just listening, resting.

I felt a hard level, slightly dusty ground beneath me. It was uncomfortable, but I didn't dare move for fear of the pain. A cold wind howled over me, brushing its cold caress across my skin. More lightning. The roar of distant thunder. Then, like water trickling through a widening crack in a dam; I started to remember. Little by little I recalled the events. It began slowly, gathering speed with every minute until the facts were thrown so fast at me, so hard, it burst from the giant hole in the wall of the concrete dam and I drowned in a sea of memories.

As suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. I lay frozen on the hard ground, left with a ringing headache and a cold anger at the bird trainer's stupidity. Heaving myself into a sitting position I ignored my body's screams of pain and glanced around me. I was sitting in a maze of endless red canyons and deep gorges, surrounded by nothing but huge slabs of red rocks soaring into the sky or angling sharply down at a deep slope. Scarlet cliffs rose around me, and crimson sand danced across the ground, carried by the wind. Mountains of the same red barren rocks stretched endlessly before me. I found myself sitting against the wall of a great red cliff on what seemed to be a dusty, rugged mountain path. Opposite me, the edge of the path veered sharply down into a deep rocky gulley whose bottom disappeared in the shadows below.

Gazing at the sky I judged it to be nightfall, though it was hard to tell with the dark clouds masking the sky. I was surprised at how late it was. The group had only set off early in the morning and it was already late into the afternoon. I pushed myself to my feet, wincing at the stiffness of my limbs and joints. After several moments of stretching and looking myself over for any injuries, I found nothing but cuts and bruises that weren't too severe. It was surprising, I was sure I’d fallen a long way and to have sustained no broken bones was a miracle. Digging out my kenghaskan tooth from beneath my shirt, I kissed my lucky charm fondly.

I was back in Lady Luck's graces.

Looking around at my surroundings, I came to the conclusion that I didn't have the faintest idea in hell of where I was and my best option was to find the others. The wind picked up and I felt the moist sensation of coming rain. My hands fell down towards my pokeballs and fear struck me grimly as I suddenly realized the worst. Dread strangled me and for a few seconds I forgot to breathe.

All five of them were gone.

So much for my damned good luck!

I swore. The fall must have caused the clips to come loose and scatter them away from me as I had hit the ground. Damn Tempest! Her and her stupid anger and that damned ego! She was the most arrogant, self-centred, conceited little cow I had ever met! I wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of her there and then. Her anger had almost got me killed, and who knows what had happened to the others! Where was Seth? Lethe? The boy, Jiang? What about the pokemon? If anything had happened to Alavar, Tempest would be history.

My first task: find the others.

Looking up and down the path I decided to see where the trail would lead if I followed it upwards. It would be a hard walk, but I guessed that if the others had fallen like I had, they'd be near the top. Or at least I hoped they'd be.

***

I was dead on my feet. Night had fallen and the wind had grown stronger with every waking moment. Added to the fact I was walking uphill and into the screaming winds, getting to the top was becoming a whole lot harder. The clouds were so thick that I couldn't even see the stars. It was a cold, yet humid night. Rain was imminent but I couldn't have given a rat's ass about it. I wanted to rest. I'd been walking for hours and had come across nothing. Seen no one. Nothing but rocks, dirt, and more rocks. The mountains loomed over me like giants, casting a black shadow across the land.

I gave up then, falling to my feet with a resigned groan. My shoes were dusted with dirt, and my clothes; torn and filthy. Wiping persperation from my forehead, my cheek nestled against the cool, hard ground. Fatigue and despair swept over me. My eyelids drooped heavy like bricks.

"SHREEEEEEEEEEE!"

I snapped awake, heart racing. What the hell was that?

"SHREEEEEEEEEEE!"

A sudden image of a tyranosaurus rex ripping a poor animal to shreds flashed through my mind as I lay, listening for the strange sound. I'd never heard anything like it before. It reminded me of the cry of an angry aerodactyl with a sore throat. The thought chilled me to the bone and brought forth goose-flecks to my skin.

"SHREEEEEEEEEEE!"

There it was again! It was hard to tell which direction the noise had come from due to the fierce winds, but I knew, with grim realisation, that it was close.

And dangerous.

Fear, marked with curiosity forced me to my feet.

What type of pokemon made that type of noise?

Strange.

Very strange.

I breifly wondered -

I froze. Rooted to the spot. Something had changed. I could feel it. A tingle shivered up and down my spine and I felt - knew - that I had company.

Jiang

I awoke to find myself sitting in the middle of a gigantic bush of broken branches and dried grass. Groaning, I sat up, checking myself over for any major cuts or bruises. A hundred little scratches marked my body, a throbbing ache in my neck and my clothes were filthy, as if I'd been playing in the mud. I tiredly rubbed my eyes and realized the most fascinating thing. I wasn't in a bush at all.

I sat in the centre of a gigantic bird's nest.

"Cooooool!" I breathed in awe. I'd never seen a nest so big before! I couldn't wait to tell my friends about it. It was so big, I couldn't even see over the sides. The walls of the nest rose around me like the barricades of a little castle. Immediately forgetting about my fatigue and pain, I crawled on dirty hands and knees right up to the edge. The wall was high, very high, and I doubted that even if I stood up on my tip toes I'd be able to see over it.

"Well," I said to myself determinedly, "I'll just have to give it a shot. Tempest would do the same."

So I tried to stand up. It was impossible at first, my sneakers kept sinking through gaps between the twigs and grass. It took me several minutes to pull myself out again. Finally, I found a firm patch on the other side of the nest. It held me up with ease and if I remained on the strong makeshift platform of twigs, I wouldn't have any problem about sinking through and getting tangled again.

C-R-A-A-C-K! C-R-A-C-K!

Thunder rolled through the air above. Surprised, I looked up. The sky was a cold steel grey. Dark and brooding. Cold wind rushed in through the breaches in the nest, howling around me and leaving me shivering. I pulled my orange hood over my head in an attempt to keep out the chill. Purple lightning ignited the sky and seconds later, its thunderous roar echoed through my ears.

Wow, I'd never seen purple lightning before.

"Coooooooool!" I breathed.

After a while of staring at the sky, hoping to see some more violet streaks, my interest died and I turned my attention back to the wall. I placed both my hands on the tops of the nest with the hope that I might be able to lift myself up. The first droplet of cold rain splattered onto my thumb. Then more and more, giant rain droplets fell from the sky, falling quicker and quicker with each minute till I was pelted with rain and saturated within seconds. The roar of the storm filled my ears and I was blinded by the white spray. I constantly had to wipe my face with my wet jumper sleeve to stop the annoying drops flooding my face, but it was a losing battle and I eventually gave up.

Pitter patter pitter patter.

Determined more than ever to see over the barrier of dead weeds, twigs and branches, and possibly get shelter, I tried again to pull myself over. I struggled fruitlessly. It seemed I was too heavy to lift my feet more than a foot off the ground. Added onto that was the fact that the twigs dug into my palms and hurt like hell.

Pitter patter pitter patter.

Trying another tactic, I crouched, striving to see in between the branches. But the cold rushing wind screamed into my face, making my eyes water and blinding my vision. I stood up, crossed my arms and thought of another way I could do this. Meanwhile, the rain still came relentlessly pouring down, a torrent of icy water. My clothes were completely and utterly soaked.

I might as well have been pushed into a pool.

Well, I guess on a happier note, I wasn't as dirty as before.

I came to my final option, I'd just have to jump and see if I could see over the wall. Testing the ground once more so I wouldn't plunge through the floor and get stuck, I started jumping up and down, bouncing higher with every leap.

Up.

A wall of towering red rock, and judging by its smoothness and height, presumably a cliff face.

Up.

The tops of some giant boulders.

Up.

Strangely, the tops of some more nests.

Up.