Chapter 8: The Dark Rill The town still lay in ruins from the carnage that had taken place recently, and though there were a few people scattered about the town, rebuilding shattered lives, burying loved ones, and attempting to restore order to the general chaos, the silence so think James could clearly hear the wind whistle through his feathers and rustle his black cloak. "I...It's a ghost town," Jasper remarked mournfully. James nodded silently and took Jasper's hand. "Let's find your grandma huh?" he said quietly. The gravel crunched under two sets of boots as the main path leading to the center of the town, the only sound that dared break the silence. The wind howled softly and mournfully through unseen ruins, the burning stares of the remaining citizens turned upon the winged stranger walking with one of their own. "I know all these people, what are they looking at?" he muttered uneasily. "Me, don't worry about it. Not every day you see a guy with huge blue wings and a tail you know," James mused. Jasper relaxed hearing his friend's easy tone, and pointed to a small cottage down the road they traveled. "There! Grandma's house! And there's smoke coming from it! I knew I could count on her to stay!" he cried sprinting forward. James watched him go, crossing both arms over his chest with a smiled, enjoying the delight he took in visiting a family member. He never spoke of his parents, and the few times he had he spoke with a belittling attitude of them. His expression shifted however, when he heard a few young men step from behind the charred ruins of a once grand church and stare at him. They were very secretive, and James was more than slightly irked that they would speak about him in such obvious tones behind his back. "Do you see that?" "Of course I do! I'm not blind! Man, the guests here get freakier every time!" "Think he can really fly with those?" "Why else would he have them retard?" James smirked at the small dispute that had arisen and spread his wings, lofting into the sky deftly as to prove that yes, his spectacular appendages did indeed function. A collective gasp rose from the youths, and James couldn't help but chuckle at their terrified shrieks as he turned a deft flip midair, dropping dramatically from the sky to land next to Jasper at the doorstep of an ancient house. He pulled his wings back into his sides, sighing in relief and adjusting them appropriately before casting an arrogant grin down to the boy. "Was that fun James?" he asked sarcastically. "Actually it was, and it felt really good too, I haven't flown in a long time," he answered smugly. Jasper stifled a laugh and raised his fist to the door, hesitating only briefly before rapping twice in quick succession. No answer came to his signal, and he swallowed hard as the silence deepened, the wind still whistling, forsaken, through trees, and the burnt frames of houses that once stood proud. The doorknob creaked as it suddenly began to turn slowly in the door startling both whom stood waiting for it, and James looked up as it was opened a mere eye's width. The side of an ancient wrinkled face appeared in the crack, scouring the odd looking young man who stood at her doorstep, failing to notice Jasper at his feet. "What do you want?" she asked in a throaty feminine voice. Jasper sighed in exasperation and raised his arm to draw her attention. "It's me Grandma! Jasper!" he cried from below her. Her expression softened after glaring harshly at James and she flung the door open and knelt, gathering the boy into her arms. "Oh Jasper! After your parents were killed, I thought they'd gotten you too!" she exclaimed. He hugged her back, and they remained silent for just a few precious moments before they both stood, and the woman ushered him inside. James made a move to follow, but was stopped by the old harridan, the harsh glare again distorting her ancient features. "You carry a sword youth, did you come to gloat over your victory? Alliance bastard!" she yelled motioning to the blade of the wind at his side and pointing an accusing finger at him. Shocked, James put his hands up and took a step backward. "Oh no, Ma'am, I'm with the resistance! I even saved Jasper!" he said defensively. "Grandma it's okay! He's telling the truth! James is with the resistance! I came back to help him!" Jasper cried, seeing the verbal assault to his friend and rushing to the door. James smiled at him gratefully as he tugged his grandmother away from the door, and she reluctantly let him in. Jasper wrapped his arms about his waist and James knelt to hug him back. "Please help him Grandma, he's my best friend in the whole wide world and he really needs it!" Jasper begged. The woman sighed as she realized how tightly her Grandson was holding on to this strange man, and understood the hurt in both pairs of emerald green eyes, noticing something else. The young man, James as Jasper had called him, had a tuft of blue feathers protruding from beneath his black cloak. She gasped in wonder and threw the heavy black fabric to the side, revealing the pair of gossamer blue wings and tail. "Oh, I-" he sputtered, his cheeks coloring with embarrassment. "You! You're the messenger of the wind!" she exclaimed as James stood, covering his wings again. He blinked in rapid succession, not quite believing his ears and regarded the old woman discerningly. "Yes," he answered simply, completely speechless that she had known instantly who he was. The old woman grew more excited at this, beckoning him eagerly to come with her to the living room. "Come on James!" Jasper piped enthusiastically and the messenger followed both his friend and the old woman into the small room situated in the center of the house. It was decorated with an assortment of artifacts lining worn and deeply reddened shelves ranging from elaborately dyed silks, to hand-painted paper lanterns. Several old and yellowed scrolls and books also lined one shelf in particular next to the singular glass paned window which was the only source of light in the room. James looked in wonder, suddenly reminded of Mr. Lao's shop where his entire adventure had begun, but his attention was focused, unmitigated and undivided, when his emerald eyes found a languid crystal ball that stood on a small makeshift pedestal on the floor, surrounded by a colorful assortment of exotic looking pillows. The woman suddenly appeared from the corner of his vision, moving to the oldest bookcase and searching through them with a gnarled and withered hand. She was an odd woman, and James couldn't help but frown in critical inspection of her tangled and nearly white hair that hung down to her waist and black robes. She took the most ragged book from her shelf with a groan of aching bones and seated herself on an elaborate crimson pillow lined with gold, opening the cover slowly and cautiously. Jasper squealed in delight and took the seat next to her as James stood apprehensively next to the crystal. It flickered as he approached it, and he reached his hand out furtively. "Don't touch that," he jumped at the abrasive voice of the old woman. "Sorry Missus..." he trailed off, unsure of how to address her. "Just call me Rose, and it's Miss now, I'm a widow," she answered practically, closing the book and setting it next to her on the floor. James sat heavily, his gaze never leaving the crystal and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "That's alright lad, now, what was your name again? And for the power's sake sit over here closer to us!" Rose called merrily. James smiled vaguely and stood up, taking a pillow next to Jasper. "James, my name is James," he said never taking his eyes from the still flickering orb a mere feet in front of him. "So, James, I take it you want something from me," Rose began looking to him for an explanation. Jasper's breath caught in his chest as he realized his friend was going to have to mention Jessie's death again, and he cried every time he had done so thus far. "Want me to? If you're gonna cry again-" he warned putting a decisive finger up in front of his nose. James smiled warmly, placed his hand back in his lap and patted him affectionately on the shoulder. "I can do it, don't worry so much about me! You know it's me that should be worrying about you and I really think that..." he said, but trailed off and swallowed hard as Rose urged him to stop avoiding the subject and begin his story, "right, where to start? Well, like Jasper said, I'm affiliated with the alliance, and tensions have been growing lately and my friend and I we-" Rose cut him off, "I don't want stories of the war! I know what's going on. You're here for personal reasons," she said. James sighed as her emerald eyes, the same color as both he and Jasper possessed looked not at, but through his, straining the truth from them vivaciously. "I-I lost, someone," he began with difficulty and Jasper sighed as he heard the beginnings of the inevitable tears, "my best friend in the world, Jessie." Rose nodded knowingly. "This Jessie meant a lot to you did she?" she asked. "She has been my best friend for longer than I want to remember, she meant everything to me! She meant more than life itself and- and," he was unable to finish, but Rose urged him on with a friendly gesture of her hand. "Continue lad!" she encouraged. "I loved her more than anything else in the world as well," James finally admitted, looking to the ground to hide his tears from Jasper. Rose raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Why are you coming to me for council over her death?" she asked. Jasper rolled his eyes, letting James cry some more and answered for him. "She's not dead Grandma, and we think it has something to do with the myth of Shadowrun!" he said. James began to cry harder at the mention of his deceased friend again, and Jasper slapped himself in the forehead lightly, cursing under his breath. Rose raised an eyebrow as the little boy was instantly at the sobbing James' side, and stood slowly, a feeling of nostalgia passing over her. She turned, her eyes scrutinizing the shelf behind her for one book in particular bound in grayed green leather. She located it, and eased it gently from its spot amidst the younger relatives and resumed her vigil next to Jasper. She looked to James and tapped Jasper on the back, running a hand through his ebony hair lovingly. "Draw the curtains dear, make it as dark as possible," she instructed and Jasper nodded as he stood swiftly. James regained his composure, wiping the tears from his cheeks furiously and Rose ran a hand from his head down to the tips of his wings reassuringly. "There, there lad, dry your tears, I do believe I can help you," she said warmly. James sniffed back his tears and cleared his throat. "You have to help me get my Jess back, I'm nothing without her!" he groaned. Rose set a hand reassuringly on his shoulder and smiled deviously. "I'll do my best," she promised," now, sit down, and I'll begin." "For once, I'm not going to be weak, and I'll finally be able to repay Jess," James whispered under his breath as Rose opened the book in her lap. "Do you know who my husband was, James?" she asked in a low voice. "Jasper said he was the town elder, or something like that," he replied, shrugging. "Indeed he was, and he was an avid researcher of the seven powers and the messengers, but do you know how he died?" the old woman continued. James silently shook his head. "He was murdered, because he was close to finding out the truth," she said. "A-About Shadowrun?" James asked fearfully. "Yes, do you remember where the scroll said about where it was?" Rose asked. James sighed, sick of the monotonous interrogation and raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know I'd read the-" "I know lad, trust me, there is only one copy of the original, and my husband owned it, and now I do, for his ancestors used it long long ago, and it survived to this day. Shadowrun lies in the demons of this world, and we call those mountains up there, the demon," she said. James' eyes widened in shock and both he and Jasper gasped in wonder. "Y-You mean, what do I have to do? What is Shadowrun? What did your husband know?" James chirped excitedly. Rose held up a hand and flipped a few pages in the book, mumbling something slurred and undecipherable. The crystal jumped to life at her words, flaring with an intense purple aura that drowned all other light from the room, illuminating James' and Jasper's terrified features perfectly. "Shadowrun, is the doing of a beast unknown to any, and a menace to this world. It was the bane of Aradain many centuries ago, and so my ancestors sealed it in a place they called Shadowrun with a powerful spell to prevent it from causing further chaos. Of course its spirit still remains, and it wants nothing but domination and it will stop at nothing to get what it wants and that's one thing," she stopped, and James' breath caught in his chest, knowing what she would say, "souls." James looked away sharply, a feeling of dread twisting his stomach. "Jessie is the messenger of the mind! Hers must be worth like ten of any normal humans!" he shrieked. "Exactly, she's now in touch with more of her brain than any of us will ever use, hers may provide what the beast needs to break free of its bondage, and if she's half a strong as I pick up feelings from you, she should be able to hold on until you get there. Now, we'll check her. I can do it for you, but you'll have to concentrate hard. Think about her for me, and stare into the crystal," Rose instructed. James nodded and looked into the purple abyss of the crystal, reminding him of the color Jessie's eyes turned when she practiced her powers. He smiled as he thought of a few pleasant memories, waking up in each other's arms after Jessie had her nightmare. His smile broadened as he thought of being with her after he could save her, and tell her how much he loved her. Jessie's voice was nearly audible in his ears, tenderly whispering that she loved him back, and James could almost feel her passionate kiss upon his lips. The winged youth sighed wistfully as he envisioned waking up in Jessie's arms after making love to her, each of them pledging their soul to the other with the act, promising to love and cherish their love until the end of time. James leaned in to kiss his vision once again, but opened his eyes as he felt Jasper tug at his sleeve. "J-James?" He opened his eyes at his tone and gasped in sorrow at what his eyes met with. A crystal clear image of Jessie appeared in the purple haze, standing with her hand to her chest and eyes shut remorsefully, her loose red hair flowing behind her with an unheard wind. "Oh, Jessie," James breathed reaching out to touch the crystal, tears sliding silently to the floor. "Is she still alive?" Jasper asked, knowing his friend would want to know. "Her soul is, I don't know about her body, and her soul is fading quickly. I hate to say it, but I doubt she's still alive, and I doubt you can save her. The beast has found her weakness," Rose whispered ruefully. James stifled his tears, refusing to break down into sobs again, but was forced to look away as Jessie dropped to her knees, screaming his name at the top of her lungs. "I-It's me, they're using me to break her! I bet you anything that creature used us being in Team Rocket! They killed me in that one I know it! She's living her nightmare!" he choked. Rose snapped her fingers, and the image of Jessie disappeared as the crystal flushed a milky white, the old daylight filtering back into the room. "The beast grows stronger with every passing moment, it's trapped there by an ancient spell, which drained its power and kept it sealed in the mountains, but the spell will be broken soon, you won't make it in time," she said. James leapt to his feet at the comment, taking Rose's shoulders aggressively. "How do you know? Who are you to tell me?!" he demanded. Rose sneered in contempt, and threw the young man off her. "My husband was the guardian of the ancient spell, and when he died, the secret to locking it died with him. The recent slaughter here has provided more than enough souls, the time draws near," she answered in a low voice. James swallowed hard, the realization of the situation finally beginning to clarify. "I don't care, I'm going to save her, which is the fastest way up the mountain?" he asked drawing his sword. "You are not going, you'll certainly be killed," the old woman answered. "If I die, so be it, I'll go out in a blaze of glory, and Jessie and I will be together either way," he said bitterly. "But James what about me? And Ash, and all your other friends?" Jasper asked piteously. James sighed, as in his fever to rescue his beloved Jessie, he had lost sight of his other friends and companions as well and squeezed his eyes shut in mental apportionment. Ash, Misty, Brock, Meowth, and Pikachu had been wonderfully kind to him, and had shared in his grief over Jessie. He had even cried on Ash's shoulder, as the boy had cried on his over the same thing, and he never imagined being kind to "The Twerps" back in his Team Rocket days. He hadn't realized it until Jasper mentioned them, but the rest of his friends meant just as much to him as Jessie did, but he was in love with her, and he knew their hearts belonged together, and he wouldn't deny himself happiness. If he had learned anything from her, it was that he wasn't worthless and stupid as he had considered himself as a child, but a strong and valiant soul, even if it was tender and loving most of the time. He was fighting for his one true love, and though his friends would miss him if he perished, life doesn't go on forever, but times does. "I...Don't complicate matters Jasper, I know I can save her," he answered at length deciding to spare them a soapbox lecture about friendship, death and devotion. Finally making up his mind, James opened his blazing emerald eyes and turned them to Rose, who set her face in a hard scowl and remained silent. "So flying it is," he said curtly as she gave no reply to his previous question, and re-sheathed the blade of the wind. Rose huffed loudly noting that James knew she wasn't going to answer him and threw her hands into the air in exasperation, turning away from both souls. "Do what you please James, I wash my hands of you. But if you get yourself killed don't blame me! Come on Jasper, let's set up the guestroom for you," she said, her tone changing suddenly as if James had never been there at all, or miraculously and instantly disappeared. Jasper's jaw dropped in horror at his Grandparent's suggestion and he was instantly at James' side, his arms wrapped around his waist affectionately. "No! I want to go with James," he said sternly. James smiled in reassurance at the boy's faith in him, and placed a hand on Jasper's shoulder tenderly. "Let's go kid," he said, grinning. Jasper nodded and they turned to go, ignoring the loud protests from Rose, but a deafening shriek echoed against the walls of the small room, originating at the crystal stopped everyone dead in their tracks. James' eyes went wild with fear as he recognized the scream and clasped a hand to his mouth. "Jessie!" The scream of agony and mental anguish resounded throughout the room again, this time followed by a fit of sobs. "James, if you can hear this, please forgive me, please. I never meant for you to be hurt, never meant for you to... Lose your life over me, I miss you so much! And I wish I could see you again for just five minutes, so I could tell you how much you meant to me, and apologize for every last time I hurt your feelings, every time I hit you, insulted you, acted like I didn't care. I cared about you James, and I sorely wish you knew that." James looked away, finally understanding that whatever was holding his beloved had a powerful ability to manipulate the mind. It was breaking her slowly through her own mind, as her own powers weren't developed enough to know that she wasn't in her tangible body. The monster had killed him for her to see, knowing that she cared deeply for him, and knowing that their trial in Team Rocket was especially painful. He knew now the significance of the dreams they both endured and that he was the only one capable of rescuing her. "Oh lord, James she must love you more than life itself! The beast knows exactly how to hurt her and it'll be moving in for the kill soon! All is lost," Rose muttered mournfully. "I bet I died in her arms," James mused spitefully, "well I'm sure as hell not going to sit around here and watch my best friend die! I've taken a backseat to everything in life, to my parents, Team Rocket, and even Vinetra, but I am not going to sit back for this! Jessie needs me, and I won't let her down! I have to be strong for her, even if it's just this once! She's been strong for me for as long as I can remember, but this time Jess, I'm going to save you!" James yelled theatrically drawing his sword as he stormed toward the door. Jasper gave his Grandparent one last adoring embrace before rushing after the winged young man, calling out his name to hail him, and the old woman stood stationary as she watched them go. She blinked a few times in confusion, and even mild awe at the strength she knew James possessed. "If anyone can save the girl and Aradain itself, he can," she whispered and moved to cover the wildly pulsating purple crystal carefully, muttering a few lines of a poem her husband had known all his life and had been passed down from the generations. "Reach out to yourself like never you did; you alone can rescue a soul from the shadows which it slid." James closed his eyes against the stinging winds that whipped his shoulder length blue hair about his face as he sailed deftly through the air, artfully avoiding the tall spires of the last building of Shadow River that bordered the small ring of woodland that encircled the mountains. He knew what had happened to his friend now, and he knew what he had to do, and he wouldn't let what had intended to happen become so. Jessie had been killed, or perhaps it had been a mock death, he didn't know, but it was to ensure that no one would attempt to retrieve her. The beast, whatever it was had taken her to use to gain power to release itself from the ancient spell binding it to Shadowrun. James now understood his poem, as well as Jessie's myth, finally comprehending the purpose of Shadowrun. It was literally a river of souls, kept to build the power of the sadistic beast that controlled it and that was why the story mentioned people never coming back, or coming back corrupted. The body can't live without its soul, or a marred one. "James! Down there! Look!" Jasper wriggled an arm free from James' grasp, as he carried him in his arms as he flew. Sensing his panic, James looked to where the boy was pointing and, seeing nothing at all but the mountains beneath him, he shook his head. "What? I don't see anything!" he replied raising an eyebrow. "How can you not see that!? Land James! Right now!" Jasper cried with such authority, James complied with his wishes, dropping dexterously from the sky to perch on a small outcropping of rock just above a narrow valley. Only then did Jasper react to it, throwing his arms about James' waist and hiding his eyes, crying out in terror. James looked down into the seemingly lifeless valley and sighed when he saw merely rocks and a few scattered bushes and shrubs, holding Jasper tenderly. "There's nothing there, what's wrong?" he asked. "James... Believe in it, you have to believe to see!" he replied, his voice stricken with utter panic. This disturbed James, and he held him closer as the boy's breathing became labored and shallow, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. "Jasper, what!? Believe in what!?" he exclaimed. "T-the myth," he muttered and fell limp in James' arms. He gasped and gently laid the boy down, brushing his ebony hair away from his eyes. "No! Jasper! Jasper! Come on kid!" he hissed. Panic seized him as no response came from his friend and he slipped two shaking fingers beneath his chin. "Please still be here," he whispered, knowing if Jasper was dead, he would have no other reassurance of his strength. James heaved a sigh of relief as he found a strong steady pulse, and sat next to the unconscious form of the little boy, disturbed as to why he had passed out. He removed his black cloak and tucked it lovingly about Jasper's still form, standing as he did so. James smiled as he reluctantly left Jasper's side for a brief moment and peered over the edge of the cliff his friend had been so terrified of. He frowned as he still saw nothing but the same nearly white rocks, dirt, and assorted shrubbery he had seen before. "What did he mean, I have to believe in the myth?" he muttered sitting by the edge of the small cliff, "of course I believe in it!" James sat, crossing his legs and cupped his chin in his hands, his brow knitting deeply as he scrutinized the landscape in front of him, and he sighed as he finally began to doubt his reasons for being there. Perhaps he had been wrong all along, and his Jessie really was dead and gone forever, as nothing seemed to point to her still being in the mortal realm. He had seen the image in the crystal ball, but then again it could have been simply an illusion. "Oh Jessie, I need some sign from you!" he moaned. As if on cue, there was an abrupt and utterly complete silence as all movement halted. No wind rustled through the trees, no Pokemon dared move from their spots, and even James felt slightly afraid to breathe as a singular sound dared to break the silence. It began in the small valley below him, at first seeming tame and calm, but rising in a hideous crescendo to a near deafening wail of tortured souls. "W-wha?" James croaked looking over his shoulder to see a black wisp of mist curl lazily past his vision and dissipate nearly instantly with a feminine shriek of terror, and he stood swiftly, his stomach twisting in terror as he drew his sword. He swallowed hard as he turned to face what he believed to be the source of the entity and tentatively stuck the tip of the blade into the slowly thickening black haze. "You do not believe," a disembodied voice whispered menacingly. James felt tears spring to his eyes, as if the voice was telling him he didn't love the woman he had ventured thus far to rescue, and didn't believe she was alive. "That's not true! I love Jessie and she's alive!" he shouted to console himself. He knew he believed it, and he stepped to the very edge of the miniscule escarpment glaring with ice rimmed emerald eyes to the valley, which he now recognized as a dry riverbed. It had to be some sort of test of his faith in himself and his abilities, verifying he was truly worthy for something. "She has perished, your search is futile," the voice called out again. James smiled, and closed his eyes, mentally visualizing Jessie, every curve of her well-toned body, her crimson mane of hair, her interchangeable sapphire and purple eyes and sighed wistfully. "My Jessie would never let herself be killed by the likes of you!" he cried, his eyes remaining shut. His stomach turned as his vision of his best friend took on a life of its own, seeming to be an image projected on the inside of his eyelids and she smiled at him, nodding before disappearing with a gentle pulse of purple light. "Jessie... You are with me," he breathed a single tear sliding down his cheek. He drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes, knowing exactly what he would see and raised his sword to the sky valiantly. The howl flared with a new intensity, the winds answering it with the emotional surge from their prophet, whipping his short blue hair savagely about his face. "I am the messenger of the wind, and I have just as much power as Jessie does! I know you have her and I want her back!" he called to the miasma of black and dark purple mist. It erupted from the river with a surge of purple electricity at James' defiant words, a pair of menacing eyes materializing out if it, turning their spiteful glare to the winged young man. "I sensed your return fool, you are ridiculously brave, but the girl is mine," the same voice hissed. The evil power was so obvious about it, James could almost feel it in his body, and he was forced to widen his stance to keep upright. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to raise his fiery emerald eyes to the black bane before him, and scowled at the entity, resting the tip of his sword in the dirt. "She'll never let you win! I challenge you! Take me, and if I can defeat you, I get Jessie back, I lose, and you can kill me, and have another soul for your collection!" he growled drawing his hand across his chest in a definitive gesture. There was silence from the beast as it pondered the mortal's suggestion, and James swore he could see it grin maliciously at him. "Hmmm, I love to play, let's see how good of a player you are, boy!" the voice spat suddenly. James gasped in terror as a veritable web of the ebon effluvium solidified into malevolent threads as they erupted from the body, suspended with an obvious abhorrence of all things good in the world in the air before him. James stood his ground against them, his heart soaring with bravery and love, and he didn't flinch as they rushed forward, entwining about his waist, forcing the air from his lungs with a constricting grasp. The winged young man held tightly to his sword, refusing to lose it as the entity lifted him from the ground, squeezing him tighter as it slowly receded into an unseen mouth of a cave beneath the rock formations that formed the run. Shadow flinched as she felt an unexpected surge of energy from her captive, crying out in surprise. "Something wrong master?" Rill asked apprehensively. "No! Let me concentrate, I'll enjoy testing this boy. He loves my link to the outside world!" she retorted angrily. "Sorry," Rill muttered genuinely and skulked off to make himself useful by polishing Shadow's crystal ball. James let his vision go black as the black muck beneath the heavy mist completely covered his body dragging him slowly underneath the earth to their residence in the shadow realm, his last thoughts before unconsciousness claimed him of Jessie. "Let's see how well he plays my games." Jasper sat up and let a single tear fall as we watched the last traces of his friend and the ethereal being disappear into the cavern, leaving only a small rill of inky black water in it's wake. He stood up, still clutching James' cloak, which he had woken up under to his chest, and walked solemnly to the edge of the cliff. He sighed and whispered a scant message, audible only to himself, and the winds, blowing timorously for the safety of their messenger. "Good luck James."