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Walking in the
Darkness! In
By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)
“Hmmm...this looks like the place the locals told us about.” Alken commented.
Hiking through the mountain trail
had proved to be a difficult task, but the pair had finally managed it. Night
had fallen and together, they were resting at the side of the path leading down
to the Dragon Realm’s version of
“Well, I’m blind, so don’t ask me.” Abetos growled.
“Sorry...I...”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I just keep forgetting.” Alken shook his head.
“Hey, you know I don’t blame you for what happened to me.” The Houndoom said, lying down beside his friend.
“It’s much more relieving to hear that in a voice I can actually understand.” Alken smiled. “That’s one thing I at least like about ending up in this crazy ‘alternate’ world.”
“Let’s see, you don’t have to worry about some Team Rocket hit squad busting in and trying to kill you too. You’d fit in just nicely if you were a Pokemon.”
“...” Alken stood up and moved away from their campfire.
“Huh? Did I say something wrong?”
“Oh, it’s not that Abetos. Remember what the village elder was telling us earlier?”
“The long story about the Great Wars, the current Dragon/Pokemon war, this ‘other’ world and all? I admit, I wasn’t really listening.”
“Doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m
hoping to get a more detailed explanation in this
“And then what?”
“I don’t know, really.” Alken admitted. “Even if we could get back to our world, I’d certainly have second thoughts about going back.”
“Would Nala change your mind?” Abetos asked, raising his head.
“Huh?!”
“Come on, since the whole Chimera Incident, you’ve been secretly watching over her. Think I wouldn’t notice such a thing? You l....”
“Abetos, don’t use the ‘L’ word!”
“Erm...yeah, sorry. Got carried away.”
The two stared uneasily at each other for a moment before a strong gust of wind nearly blew their campfire out.
“Let’s just call it a day.” Alken suggested.
Even as the pair lay down to rest, neither one noticed an odd, winged shape hovering some distance off. Not like they could’ve seen in, for this particular creature was shrouded by a cloak of invisibility.
“They’ve Dark elementals.” A soft, female voice whispered. “Both. I wonder if they’re the ones?”
Silently, the mysterious
eavesdropper flew off into the
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Abetos moved towards the study room’s door and found Alken was still talking to the other human, Dr. Sid. He’d been there practically the whole day since they’d arrived at the lab. They’d gotten a whole lot of information chucked at them at once, a little too much for the Houndoom to handle.
Abetos was after all, used to the ‘simple life’ of just taking battle orders. And currently, he just wanted to find a good spot to lie down and take a nap.
He found it ironic through that Alken, no matter which world he was in, had to hide his face to prevent attracting too much attention. Here, he did so by wearing a large trench coat and pulling a hat low over his face.
The Alakazam, Epsilon, happened to walk past and Abetos gave him a grunt of acknowledgement after recognizing his scent. Without waiting for a response, he continued on and almost fell down the stairs.
Frustrated, he felt his way down and entered the first room at the bottom. Although it seemed empty at first, his enhanced sense of smell quickly detected another presence in the room.
“Anyone here?” Abetos called. “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”
“Hmmm...” A voice spoke. “You’re....blind?”
“Yes.” Abetos replied dryly.
“I see. Well, this is sort of a lounge, so feel free to use it. Not that it matters to me anyway.”
Abetos nodded, through he couldn’t understand why there was a sense of scorn in the figure’s voice. That was until he brushed into something while moving past a sofa.
“Damn, my tail’s fallen again. Grrrr....I can’t even lift it up....”
Abetos stopped short, feeling the motionless, scaly object in front of his face.
“Are you Zian, the Dragon?” He queried.
When he received no answer, Abetos listened more carefully for the sounds of breathing and neatly leapt up onto the couch. Reaching out lightly with a paw, he felt around until he touched the shoulder of the dragon.
“I’ll take it as you are.” Abetos remarked, leaning back against the couch.
“Can’t you see I’m not in the mood?!” Zian gave off a faint growl of annoyance.
“I’m afraid I cannot see at all.”
“Well, excuse me for not being more sympathetic. Just go away.”
“Is that what you say to everybody?” Abetos pushed.
“Grrr...I can’t because I can’t do anything for myself any more!! I’m crippled!! I can’t even move anything below my neck! So just leave me alone!!” Zian yelled angrily.
“So, you want to be left alone to wallow in self pity? That’s not what I’d expect from what I’ve heard about you.”
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE?!” Zian snapped. “When your minds screams, but your body fails to respond?! Having wings that are useless now?! Being a prisoner in your own body, from which there’s no escape?!”
“I won’t lie and say I understand.” Abetos stood up, touching his blindfold with a paw. “But I will tell you about my own experience. Once, I didn’t need this thing. I could see once. But I made one mistake....and I’ll live the rest of my life in darkness because of it. But it didn’t stop me from fighting....from protecting the ones I care about!”
“Then why concern yourself with me?”
“Why? Because I WAS you, once.” Abetos replied. “When I first lost my sight, I felt useless, helpless, like a liability. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. I lost all hope in myself....”
The dog-like Pokemon pulled his blindfold off. Although his eyes remained closed, tears were still streaming from them.
“But there was someone. Someone I cared about.” He continued. “She didn’t give up on me...and she came through. She got me back on my feet....and yet....I couldn’t help her when she needed it the most. She paid the ultimate price because of it....”
Zian was silent for a long while before he finally managed to find some words.
“That....may be for you. But what could I possibly do, given my disability?”
“Use your head.” Abetos said, leaping off the couch and exiting the room without another word.
Zian moved his head as much as he could and lay back against the sofa, lost in thought.
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“That’s really quite a tale.” Alken said. “I can see why Kris never wanted to let me in on this.”
“I’m sure she had good reasons for it.” Sid replied.
“Don’t worry, I understand. Unfortunately, I’m part of it now.” Alken sighed.
He happened to turn and glance out the window. Standing on the path below was a humanoid figure completely covered in a brown cloak. It seemed to stare right back at him before throwing the hood down.
Alken was startled to see the face of a young, human girl.
“I have to go.” Alken muttered, getting up.
“Something up?” Sid asked, turning around. “Wait, where are you....?”
“Sorry, this is urgent!” Alken called back. “Abetos, come on!”
In no time, the ex-Rocket was joined by his partner and both were out the main door.
“Where did she....” Alken wondered. “There! Hey! Wait!”
The mysterious girl waved, as if beckoning them to follow, then broke into a run.
“Hold on!” Alken gave chase, running down a narrow alley and leaping over a fence.
He noted that the town still showed signs of the earlier battle as there was still some debris lying around the streets, along with burnt and damaged buildings.
However, the girl was his main focus. As he tailed her through the streets, Alken could’ve probably come up with a hundred and one questions to ask. It also seemed very strange to him as to how she always seemed to appear just out of reach, stop and wave, then continue running.
Eventually, the girl led them out of the city and towards the mountain path they’d come down earlier.
“She seems to want us to go up there.” Alken muttered. “This could be a trap, but I have to know...”
“Know what?” Abetos asked.
“Who that human girl is, and what she’s doing here.”
“That’s what we’ve been running around for?”
“Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that. Guess you never got close enough to catch her scent. Come on, looks like she’s headed up the same path we took.”
“Hey, there are dozens of scent trails here.” Abetos panted. “They’re all mixed up, and it’s hard even for me to tell.”
“Nevermind, she’s up there.” Alken replied. “We just have to.....yargh!!!”
The dirt path they were running across abruptly gave way beneath their feet, sending the two rolling down a long tunnel, screaming all the way.
THUMP!!
“Oww....” Abetos moaned. “Lucky this grass pile was here to cushion our fall.”
“Abetos, I’m the one on the grass. You’re on top of me.”
“Oh, sorry!”
As the pair dusted themselves off, they took a while to take in their new surroundings. To describe it simply, the place looked like a huge garden with a complete assortment of exotic plant life, stone ornaments, benches and a fountain in the center.
Tall trees went high up into the sky, their leaves forming a thick canopy that allowed only a little sunlight to seep through. Yet, several odd lampposts emitted enough light to see clearly. On closer examination, Alken found the ‘lampposts’ were actually glowing crystals on stands.
“What is this place?” He wondered out loud.
No sooner had he said that did he feel sudden gust of wind.
“Move it!!” Abetos screamed.
Instinctively, Alken rolled aside just as an invisible object whooshed past, smashing a nearby tree down.
“Something’s here....” The Houndoom growled. “I can hear it...”
Alken drew a gun from his belt pouch, a HK USP Tactical pistol. The weapon carried 12 shots, although it wouldn’t be of much good of he couldn’t see his opponent. He could, however, feel the rush of wind and managed to dodge another attack.
“My call.” Abetos growled.
The Houndoom paused for several uneasy moments before letting loose with a humongous Flamethrower. The attack found its mark, with its victim letting off a strange, high-pitched wail.
Their foe flickered into view for a second, apparently having lost the concentration of his invisibility cloak. Alken managed to fire twice, but it dodged the shots and spun around for another strike.
All of a sudden, the girl from before leapt down in front of them, holding her arms out wide.
“Everyone, stop this now! That’s enough!” She ordered.
Alken lowered his weapon in amazement as their attacker fully materialized. He was a blue and white Pokemon shaped somewhat like a jet plane – Latios.
“You shouldn’t bring strangers here Rynn.” Latios growled.
“They can help us brother, I know it.” Rynn insisted.
“Excuse me, but would you two mind telling me what’s going on here?” Alken asked.
“Yeah, why don’t you just get....URGH!!!”
Rynn shoved Latios’ face away.
“Don’t be so rude, we have guests you know.” Rynn smiled cheerfully. “Hi, I’m Rynn and this is my brother Ryan. He’s a really bad-mannered, so don’t mind him.”
“Hey....”
“Shhh....I’m still talking. Anyway, it’s really nice to meet you too.” She continued, shaking Alken’s hand. “I’m really sorry about deceiving you, but I sort of needed you to come over here. You’ll forgive me, won’t you? Ppppwwwweeeeaaaasssseeee?”
“Erm....OK.....” Alken sweatdropped.
“She’s hyperactive.” Ryan sighed.
“But you’re her brother, right? Then...how?” Alken muttered, glancing from Rynn to the Latios.
“Hehehe, you’re so easily fooled by what your eyes tell you.” Rynn giggled. “Here, close your eyes...”
“I...”
“Come on! Just close you eyes...good. Now put your hand on my forehead, like this. And....tada! You can open now!”
Alken found a red and white Latias in front of him and jumped back in surprise.
“WHOA!!” He started, jumping backwards.
“Hehe! My special ability is to bend light around myself, making me appear like all sorts of other things. I just choose something that would be familiar to you two.”
“I see.” Abetos nodded.
“Oh yeah, you’re probably wondering why I went through all that trouble of bringing you here. It’s cause, you see, we sort of need your help.”
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“So, you family takes it upon
themselves to watch over this
The siblings had taken Alken and his partner to a higher ledge of the mountain, where they’d gathered in a circle to rest by the light of a campfire.
“Yep, certainly is a family treasure.” Ryan replied. “They say a great amount of magical energy flows through the garden, and even more secrets are supposed to be locked away within.”
“So, this mysterious ‘Dark’ force, it just appeared one day?” Abetos queried.
“What I know is that I saw 7 flying objects I thought were shooting stars that night.” Rynn explained. “I was outside and didn’t think much of it, but then it happened that one of those things flew right into the mountain. It left a long, large crevasse in its side.”
“Why should that be important?”
“See, Ryan and I started to feel dark energies growing within. We aren’t exactly sure what it is, but neither of us can get close enough to examine it.”
“We’re both part Psychic types.” Ryan agreed. “And the Dark elements hurt us pretty badly.”
“Hmmm...I can understand why you request my help, but what about Alken?”
“We can sense the same aura of Dark elements within your friend.”
“Within me?” Alken wondered. “Maybe it has something to do with me being in this alternate world.”
“I know it’s asking a lot.” Rynn spoke. “But you two don’t have to do it if you don’t want to....”
“Of course we’ll help!” The pair replied simultaneously, and then gave each other odd glances.
“Cause it’s the right....” Alken began.
“....thing to do.” His partner finished.
“Really? Thanks so much!”
“Don’t thank us yet, there’s still a chance we won’t be able to do anything.”
“Geez, you’re an optimist Alken.”
“We’ll need some equipment through.” Alken decided.
“Taken care off.” Rynn told them. “I have some rope and lighting equipment in my stash. Now, only thing left is to show you the hole. Well, it’s sort of....down there.”
Alken glanced over the ledge and found where she was pointing. It was a dark hole further down their side of the mountain, surrounded by several sharp rocks.
“Now...that’ll be a challenge.” Alken whistled. “Come on Abetos, let’s go.”
“Hey wait! You can’t possibly go in there at night!” Rynn protested.
“Let’s just say I like to live dangerously.” He replied with a wink.
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“So, who was the one who liked to live dangerously?” Abetos growled.
“Oh shut up. You’re not the one who’s doing the work!”
“I think you’re just out of shape. Haven’t been working out much, have you?”
“And you’re not exactly weightless either.”
The climb turned out to be much more difficult than Alken had expected. The Dragon siblings couldn’t get too close to the hole, but they’d managed to firmly secure Alken’s rope to thick tree above. And so, he’d descended with Abetos clinging to his back and a glowing ‘light crystal’ strapped to his belt.
Despite how it’d looked earlier, Alken had a hard time finding anything to grip onto.
“There’s a slight breeze blowing up from beneath us.” Abetos commented. “This hole must then either lead to an open area, or someplace with a source of wind.”
“Any idea how deep it is?” Alken asked, tossing a small pebble down.
Both fell silent as Abetos listened out for the sounds of the rock bouncing off the walls.
“I can’t hear if it did hit the bottom.” He reported. “Wind’s making too much noise. And so is your rope.”
“My rope? But what...”
Alken glanced up and suddenly realized why. His rope had gotten caught on a sharp outcropping and the friction of his tugging on it had been wearing the rope down. The sound Abetos had heard was probably the tearing of the rope fibers. The gunner gulped, seeing that it was on the verge of breaking.
“Uh-oh...”
“What? Is everything all right?” Abetos queried, shifting his weight.
That movement caused Alken to shift slightly as well. It just so happened that it was enough to snap what remained of the rope.
“AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!”
Screaming, the pair went plummeting into darkness.....for about 7 seconds.
“Gargh!!”
Both hit a surprisingly soft bottom, moaning as they struggled to their feet in the dark.
“Damn, twice in one day.” Alken muttered. “Oh crap! I’ve lost the light crystal!”
“How dark is it?”
“Pitch black.”
“Hehehe...”
“Hey, what’s so funny Abetos?!”
“Welcome to my world partner.” The Houndoom barked. “Just hang on to me and I’ll lead you around.”
“Perhaps for starters, you could tell me what we’re standing on.”
“This...erm....huh?”
“What?”
“I think it’s something alive.” Abetos cringed.
No sooner had he said that did the ‘ground’ begin to move, throwing both members sideways. Alken hit what he definitely knew was the rocky ground rather hard. Upon hearing his partner’s yelp of pain, he drew his gun and aimed towards the noise.
“Abetos?!”
“Damn! He’s here....ARUGH!!!”
Alken’s hand trembled, afraid to fire in fear of accidentally hitting his partner.
“Show me where you are!” He ordered, drawing a second USP pistol in his other hand.
The area to his left suddenly lit up in the orange glow of the Houndoom’s Flamethrower ability. The light revealed Abetos firing at a terrifying creature. It was a much larger, serpent-like Dragon with black scales covering its entire body. Its limbs seemed rather small compared to its main body and tail. It was currently reared up, with a veil of skin opening at its head that formed a ‘hood’, almost like a King Cobra preparing to strike.
Alken didn’t need any more encouragement to start firing. However, his shots seemed to cause no damage at all. All they did was to attract the creature’s attention, turning its glowing yellow eyes towards Alken.
“Get down!” Abetos ceased his attack and tackled Alken, taking him down just as a spray of acid shot past them.
Plunged once again into darkness, Alken heard the fierce hissing of the strange liquid and decided that he didn’t want to know what it was. Too tired to muster a continuous burst, Abetos resorted to using short breaths of fire to light up the cavern, allowing Alken to see. It didn’t help that the Houndoom had to dodge the serpent’s attacks at the same time.
“Crap!” Alken struggled to reload his weapons in the dark. “I can barely see, no less hurt that thing. What the hell am I supposed to do?!”
Then, some odd sensation hit him. It was almost like a feeling or instinct that told him to close his eyes and focus. There were the sounds of the battle, Abetos howling and firing, and the creature hissing.
Wait, that’s it!
The serpent was hissing continuously, but its tone abruptly changed every time it struck. Alken timed his shot, listened for that different one and fired.
He was rewarded by the sounds of the creature screeching in pain.
“Wow, what did you do?!” Abetos gasped, dashing to his partner’s side.
“I figured out that he makes a different sound before he attacks. And he has to open his mouth to do that, so....”
“You sent some bullets down his throat. Nice, but we’re not out of the water yet!”
The serpent began thrashing about, shaking the cavern and throwing both off their feet.
“AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!”
“Abetos!!”
“Grrr....something’s stuck in my shoulder!!”
“Hang on! Move a little closer and I’ll pull it out!” Alken fumbled. “There, got it!”
“YEOWCH!!”
The object in Alken’s hands began to glow in a purplish light. Alken squinted as the dark cave suddenly lit up till it was as bright as day. It was almost as if the darkness was being absorbed into the thing in his hand, which he realized was a dark black colored crystal.
He could also see the serpent creature more clearly, which had a large amount of green blood squirting from its forehead as it thrashed round it pain. It was distraught for now, but Alken was sure it would come after then again.
“Someone’s...calling us...”Abetos suddenly spoke.
“Huh?”
“Don’t you hear it? Feel the power? It’s like there’s something within the crystal.”
“The crystal....?” Alken muttered,
holding it close to his chest. “Yes....I do feel something. This...Spirit
As he did that, his hand glowed as the Kanji symbol ‘Yami’, darkness, engraved itself on the back of his right fist and on Abetos’ two front paws.
“Hoero! Dragon Meld!” (Roar! Dragon Meld!)
The background changed as time seemed to stop, becoming a dark graveyard area. Alken dropped the crystal to the ground and it burst into a pool of dark energy. Abetos leapt into the ‘pool’ as both sank into it, disappearing completely.
From it, a new figure emerged, crawling its way out.
It was a 6 foot tall humanoid dragon, muscular built and covered in black, armor-like scales.
His face was concealed by a featureless gray mask, as if metal had been molded over his elongated dragon face. It covered the entire head down to the neck, but the mouth was still free to move. Two white fangs were visible in his jaws and two horns protruded from the back of his head.
He had five fingered hands and two toed feet, all ending in white claws/toes. His two pairs of red leathery wings appeared battered and torn up. There were gray shoulder pads, knee pads and sections beneath arms, along thighs and at waist. The tail too was gray through not very long or flexible.
Finally, the ‘Yami’ symbol was also on back of his fists.
With a fierce roar, the new Dragon immediately sprang into action. His hand transformed into razor sharp, curved, sickle-like swords, which joined to the wrists. He dashed back and forth, slashing at the injured serpent with his blades.
The serpent brought its tail up and lashed out, slamming the ground as its opponent dodged, executing a series of fancy flips and summersaults. He then flashed across the field in an Extreme Speed technique, smashing the serpent into the wall.
The serpent let off a series of acidic breaths, forcing the Dragon to leap away. Putting his hands together, he utilized a Double Team to create multiple illusions of himself. As the serpent stared around, confused, his opponent came up behind him and knocked him over.
With his opponent down, the Dragon
raised a claw and gathered a dark ball of energy into it. He then hit the
ground with his fist and the dark energy gathered around him, exploding into a humongous
burst.
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“Hey, did you see that?!” Rynn gasped, flying over to the site of the explosion.
“Yeah, wonder what the heck happened?” Ryan replied.
“I hope Alken’s all right.”
“Over there!”
Rynn turned to see the humanoid dark Dragon emerging from a smothering hole in the side of the mountain.
“Wow...” She muttered.
“Just who is that?” Ryan wondered. “I’ve never heard of any Pokemon or Dragon like that!”
“Wow...he’s so....HOT!!” Rynn cried, giving a blushing, teary-eyed look.
“Hoh boy....” Ryan moaned, slapping his head.
The dark Dragon turned his head towards the siblings before glowing in a purple light and changing into two more familiar shapes.
“It’s Alken and Abetos!” Rynn swooped down towards the pair, who were lying on the ground and panting. “Guys, are you all right? What happened?! Were you that Dragon just now?!”
“We’re fine, but we don’t know what happened.” Abetos managed.
“But the Dragon....” Alken brought the crystal up and stared at it. “It was part us....but most of him.”
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Later, Alken was again resting by the side of the mountain path with Abetos by his side.
“You can hear his voice, right?” Alken was asking, indicating the crystal.
“Sort of.” Abetos replied. “But I suspect it’s more of a feeling he’s sending into our minds that an actual telepathic voice.”
“Yea, I think so too.”
“From what I can catch, he must be one of the Legendary Dragons we heard about. And apparently, he wasn’t a particularly good one. As in, the good and evil kind.”
“But he wants to change that now, doesn’t he.” Alken muttered, looking into Spirit Crystal. “Sounds a lot like me, doesn’t it? Hey friend, I wasn’t a good person in the past either. We can’t change what we did then, but we can make a difference now. We’ll find our redemption together, if you’re willing to.”
“Rynn, Ryan, how long have you been watching us?” Abetos suddenly jerked his head up.
“You’re sharp.” Ryan commented as the pair materialized.
“We’re really sorry to intrude, but that was pretty interesting.” Rynn added in. “But you’re OK with it, right?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Alken replied. “Did you two find out what happened?”
“Apparently, that Spirit Crystal of yours’ is what crashed into the side of the mountain earlier.” Ryan explained. “It’s a powerful source of dark elemental energy, as I’m sure you’ve found out.”
“And that serpent-like thingy you described must’ve come after it, seeking its power. Unfortunately, he couldn’t control it like you guys could.” Rynn continued. “It’s called a Naja Dragon by the way, a Poison elemental.”
“This crystal...and this Dragon.” Alken muttered. “I want to learn more about them.”
“Oh, you mean that really hot fellow you guys turned into?” Rynn swooned. “You’ve got to get him to come back here and introduce me once you can! I’ve never seen a more gorgeous and handsome Dragon before! Oh....my handsome prince, wherefore art thou? I can hear it now, the ringing of the wedding bells, the....”
“The only things ringing are the bells in your head.” Ryan growled, dragging his sister off by the ear.
“Ow! Ow! Not the ear!! Not the ear!!! OOWWWW!!!”
Alken and Abetos sweatdropped as the pair disappeared.
“Guess there are a lot of things in this crazy world that’ll stay the same, eh?” Abetos commented.
“And a lot that won’t.” Alken nodded. “I do know this through, our Dragon is the Legendary Warrior of Darkness. And his name....is Skiar.”