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Night of the Storm

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

Taryn

I’m quite sure Leo knew I was the one following him the whole time, even through he never turned back. Form there, it was likely that he guessed Uriel went with Kysta instead.

Finally, he stopped and sighed.

“Hey Taryn, I blew it again, didn’t I?”

I couldn’t think of a way to respond, so I remained silent.

“Every time I want to say something, it never comes out the way I expect it to.” Leo sat down by the side of the path. “Words can’t always describe what’s in your heart.”

“I suppose...” I nodded.

“You and Uriel, you want to help us make up, don’t you? It’s really nice of you, but...”

Leo shook his head.

“Great, here I am spilling my guts to a little dinosaur with a leaf on her head.”

“Hey!” I protested.

“Sorry.” He patted my head. “I can’t even get the message to you. But well, you’re with Kysta a lot, so what do you think I should do?”

“Erm...well...” That was something I didn’t really want to be asked.

“Let’s say if you were in my position with Uriel instead, what would you do?” Leo shrugged with a smile.

My eyes went wide in shock.

“OK, maybe that was a bad comparison.”

I extended a vine and whacked him on the head.

“Ow! Hey!”

“Quite beating around the bush!” I practically yelled. “If you really like her, go apologize first and tell her how you feel!”

Leo’s learnt to understand my language almost as well as Uriel’s, and with the additional help of waving my vines and putting on a face for emphasis, he got the idea.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He nodded. “I suppose we should go back for them and...huh?”

Leo had just notice lights further up the pathway.

“Taryn, come on!”

Together, we jogged up the path and found ourselves at the entrance of the small inn.

“You’ve barely made it in time son.” The innkeeper, a white bearded old man, spoke as we entered. “A storm’s blowing up, and it’s getting mighty chilly out there.”

“Wait, a snow storm?” Leo gasped.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine here.”

“No, I had a friend who went down the left path. Is that...”

“Hold on, the one leading down to the valley?”

“Valley?! That one on the map with those steep paths?!” Leo’s face was extremely flushed. “No...Kysta and Uriel! I have to go back for them!!”

“Wait kid! It’s too dangerous!” The innkeeper protested. “The storms coming from the left side of the mountain! It’ll hit this area any minute now!! It’s...”

Ignoring the rest of his sentence, I followed Leo out the door.

“Taryn, you stay here! You can’t handle the cold!” He ordered.

“No way, I’m coming.” I gave him a firm stare. “I care about the people out there as much as you do!”

“Taryn...”

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Uriel

“Just why are you following me?” Kysta snapped. “I don’t need a bodyguard, you know.”

At that moment, she stumbled and I dashed forward to catch her arm.

“But you’ll need some help.” I told her.

Kysta glanced towards me and looked around.

“Taryn’s not here. I take it she went after Leo?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Jeez, that guy...” Kysta moaned. “I just...just....argh! Great!”

“Taryn really is just like you.” I commented. “Thickheaded, unappreciative and unable to admit that she’d wrong.”

I didn’t realize however that Kysta understood every word I said.

“Thickheaded?! Hey, don’t think I didn’t catch that! I ‘hear’ you as well as I do for Taryn!”

“Eep...” I backed away.

“Don’t worry buddy, I guess, well....I am too stubborn sometimes.” She sighed.

“Hey, you know Leo is that way too.” I shrugged.

“Is that why you two are trying to get us together?”

“Yeah. Huh?! No!” I stammered. “I mean...it was Taryn’s idea!”

“Oh, forget it!” Kysta continued walking forward for a bit, but suddenly stopped. “Hey, you feel that?”

“Yeah, it feels like...whoa!!”

A strong gust of icy cold wind howled past us. Kysta let off a short scream and I instinctively shielded her with my body. A harsh storm was definitely brewing up. And it was coming at the narrow trail with full force.

Frantically, I studied the surroundings. One side of the trail went against the mountainside, while the other led right off a steep slope, down to the barely visible forest below. The cliff leading downwards was blocked only by a flimsy set of wooden railings.

“This is not a good position to be in!” Kysta shouted over the raging winds. “We have to get back to the junction!”

“I know!!”

Clinging onto each other, we slowly made our way back along the path. The winds were getting stronger and blowing snow and ice into our faces. Snarling in frustration, I wiped the snow out of my eyes as I tried to concentrate on the path.

As much as I wanted to just burst out with my flames, it wouldn’t be of any help in this situation. That was my forte put to waste.

I’m not sure if it was Kysta or myself, but one of us lost our footing, stumbling and dragging the other down with him. What I know was that I shoved Kysta against the mountainside, the force of the motion pushing me dangerously close towards the edge of the cliff.

“Uriel!!”

I went down on all fours, desperately digging my claws into the ground. All I caught however was snow and water, causing me to slide further and further away.

“Uriel!” Kysta was tensing to rush forward and help me.

“No! It’s too dangerous!” I yelled.

“Oh shut up and give me your claw!”

Kysta stubbornly pressed forward. With one hand, I shoved my fluttering mane out of my face and stretched, our fingers drawing closer and closer.

Suddenly, the wooden railings nearby were blown apart. As they came flying towards us, I leapt up and shoved Kysta down.

I heard a loud bang as the planks smashed into my head, and saw nothing but blackness after that.

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Taryn

“Over there!!” I pointed.

Braving the fierce storm, Leo and I pushed ourselves back down the path, round the bend and onto the left-hand trail our friends had taken earlier. We were running without regard to our own danger of slipping on the icy ground, but because of that, we were able to spot the two figures in time.

“Kysta! Uriel!!” Leo yelled.

“Leo?! Here!!” Kysta looked up. “Hurry! He’s hurt!!”

Kysta was down on her knees, with both hands grabbing onto Uriel’s front claws. The Blaziken was lying facedown on the floor and not moving, save the winds which were dragging his limp body along.

I realized that there were red blood stains in the snow, close to his head.

Instead of rushing in immediately, Leo hesitated, squinting. I didn’t understand why until I tried to move closer for myself.

By some stroke of luck, Leo and I had paused beside a large, rocky outcropping with a slight alcove in the mountain side. That combination created a reasonable shelter that gave the two of us some protection from the winds, which were blowing against the ‘sheltered area’ instead.

However, Kysta and Uriel didn’t have the luxury of that protection.

“Aaarrrgghhhhh!!!” Kysta screamed, as the pair began to slide closer to the edge of the cliff.

“Catch this!” I shouted, shooting a vine out as far as I could.

Kysta caught my vine with one hand and pulled it around Uriel and herself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t strong enough to pull them both back.

“Give me another vine!” Leo ordered from behind.

Without looking back, I complied and felt him tugging on it before it pulled taunt. Leo had wrapped my vine around a large boulder and I happily tightened my grip, whilst trying to focus on Kysta and Uriel.

Leo’s quick thinking stopped me from sliding forward, but I was still stuck trying to haul them back.

“You don’t have anymore vines, do you?” Leo called.

“No, this is all I’ve got!” I replied. “What do you think I am?! A Venusaur?!”

“OK! OK! Then just hold still!”

Using my vines for support, Leo made his way towards the others.

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Uriel

“Uriel! Wake up! Please!”

I groaned, opening my eyes to find Leo kneeling over me.

“Ugh...ouch...” I muttered.

“Great! I’m so glad you’re all right!” Leo smiled. “You’ve got several cuts at the side of your face, but it doesn’t look like anything serious.”

“Boys, I hate to break up this sweet little moment, but we’ve got to get under some cover!” Kysta cut in.

“There’s an alcove shielded from the winds a few feet back, where Taryn is standing!” Leo said.

“Yeah, I saw it too! It might be our only chance!”

“Go, get to Taryn first!” Leo nudged her.

Nodding, Kysta crawled forward, clinging onto Taryn’s extended vine.

“Hey Leo...” Kysta turned back. “I...”

“No need to say it now.” Leo winked. “We’ll talk about it under shelter, OK?”

“Yeah!” Kysta showed him a thumbs-up.

Glancing up, I saw Taryn further ahead, cringing as she faced the blizzard. I reached down and suddenly realized her extended vine was wrapped around my waist.

Man, Taryn’ll be hitting me very hard after this.

“Can you make it Uriel?” Leo looked down with concern.

“I’ll manage!” I breathed.

“Take it slow, but carefully!” Leo wrapped one arm around my waist and held on to Taryn’s vine with his other hand.

The winds were blowing up much more snow and ice than before, making that short distance seem like miles. I don’t know how long it took, but we finally made it within earshot of the girls.

“You owe me, big time!” Taryn called.

“Thanks!” I managed a slight grin.

Kysta reached over Taryn’s head and grabbed my claw pulling me towards the relative safety of the alcove.

Some snow abruptly flew into my eyes and I jerked back involuntarily. It startled Leo, and he released his grip on the vine, rolling backwards.

“AARRGHH!!!”

“NO!!” I attempted to grab his hand, but missed. The loss of blood was dulling both my reflexes and my vision.

“Leo!!” Taryn released the vine grasping onto the boulder and sent it towards Leo.

My partner was swift enough to grab it, but his body weight and momentum literally dragged Taryn off her feet.

She let go of me in panic, forcing me to roll over and slam my chest against the floor, holding her vine in my claws. Despite that, I was still being dragged towards the edge and Kysta grabbed on to my legs, pulling back as hard as she could.

Time seemed to slow down for me.

Taryn’s vine was slipping, and my claws were too numb from the cold to change my grip. I couldn’t think...I was barely conscious. I’ll remember that scene of Leo handing halfway over the side, Taryn in between and myself, facing both of them.

Then as time returned to normal, her vine slipped from my claws.

Horrified, I watched my trainer and my childhood friend fall over the edge.

“NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” I tried to go after them, but Kysta held me back.

“Uriel! You can’t!” She cried.

“Let me go! I have to! I can’t just leave them!!!” I roared, clawing about wildly.

My strength however, was completely drained, considering Kysta was able to pull me back by herself.

“Hey!! Anyone there??!!” Several voices came from the distance.

Multiple sets of lights pierced through the darkness of the storm, indicating that some humans had come.

“Help! Over here! Help!!” Kysta screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her wristwatch had a nightlight, which she flicked on to attract attention. I could barely keep my eyes open as the other humans moved towards our location.

All I could remember was looking over that particular cliff.

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Taryn

It was an odd bumping that stirred me back to consciousness. I forced my eyes open and saw Leo’s face. He was carrying me, shielding my face and trudging through the snow.

“Leo...”

He had a cut across his forehead, which was still bleeding. He seemed bruised in many places and parts of his outer jacket were torn.

“You’ll be all right Taryn.” He managed a smile.

“But you...”

“Don’t need to worry about me. Just try to stay awake girl.”

“Where...are...we?” I asked weakly.

“I don’t know.” Leo said as he continued.

Despite his weakened state, he continued nudging me ever so often. It seemed like ages of walking through this forested area, but he finally stopped and lay me down at the entrance to a small cavern.

Leo flicked on a lighter through its tiny flame was barely in any competition with the cold. With the light, he studied the cave and seemed satisfied. He moved me as far back in as he could, then sat down beside me.

I moved closer and huddled against him.

“I don’t have a Pokeball with me, otherwise, I could...” Leo began.

“No, I’d still stay out here with you!” I yelled. “We can make it through this, right?”

“Taryn...” He whispered. “Yeah...just, keep close.”

I responded by pressing my body against his.

“Thanks Taryn, for helping us out back there.” Leo said softly.

“It’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Kysta, and even old beak-face Uriel.” I breathed.

The two of us shared a short laugh.

“But speaking of them...”

“I’m sure they’re all right.” Leo stroked my head. “You believe that, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

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Uriel

Let me go! Let me go dammit!! I have to go after them!!

I was furious, utterly furious at waking up to find myself tied to a stretcher, somewhere inside a building. My jaws were tied shut, and the other restrains held my down at two positions along my arms, legs, torso and chest.

“What do we do?” A nearby human wondered. “He’s in a complete rage!”

“I don’t know...” Another replied.

“Ugh...just leave him with me.” A familiar female voice spoke.

The other humans moved away as Kysta approached.

“Uriel, I’ll take the gag off your mouth if you promise not to start spewing flames everywhere, OK?”

“Grrrr...” I managed a muffled growl.

“Uriel!”

Sighing, I nodded and allowed Kysta to remove the gag.

“Get me out of this thing!” I snapped. “I have to go after them Kysta!!”

“Uriel, you’re in bad shape! You can hardly even stand!! You’ll freeze if you go back out!!”

“I don’t care!! They mean everything to me!!” I yelled, tugging at the restrains.

“Then what about me?!” Kysta snapped.

“Huh...I...oh...” I fell silent.

Kysta leaned over the stretcher and I saw several claw marks on her left cheek, in addition to a bandage around her head.

“Did I...do that to you?” I bit my tongue, remembering my infuriated state of mind earlier.

“Forget about it, I understand.” She replied. “But the others...”

“There’s nothing we can do?”

“The storm’s gotten far too intense. They can’t go out now to look for them.” Kysta turned away, sniffing. “But Leo...he’s good at this outdoor survival stuff, right? I’m sure you know.”

“Not the best, but he does it well.” I nodded as best as I could from my lying position.

I felt the bandages at my left shoulder, at my left thigh and several plasters on my face. My muscles were stiff and aching from the cold.

My stretcher had been left close to a window, which I looked out to see nothing but the night sky and snow being blown past.

“Not a star in sight tonight.” Kysta muttered, for the lack of anything else to say. “Sky’s all dark tonight.”

“Leo likes talking about it though.” I told her. “About how the clearest skies...”

“...are infinitely high.” Kysta finished. “I know that one too. He likes to say that in our e-mails. It’s his way of brightening the mood. It’s like above all our troubles, the clear blue skies are way up there, bringing light upon the darkness.”

I turned and glanced out the window again.

“I know you did your best.” Kysta assured me. “But now, let’s believe in him then. Him and Taryn...”

As much as I wanted to do something, Kysta was right. I could only close my eyes and pray.

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Taryn

Cold...freezing...

I just couldn’t get that out of my mind.

“Taryn!” Leo shook me. “You hear that?”

“That...hey...yeah.”

An odd sound drew us both to the cavern’s entrance. It was a soft fluttering of wings, yet somehow audible through the storm.

“What the....?!” Leo muttered.

The storm made everything so difficult to see, but this shape seemed to have a bluish glow of its own. Hovering high up in the sky, it was...a bird-like shape, with wings that seemed almost translucent.

“Is that....?” I wondered.

“I just....don’t know...” Leo and I weakly drew back into the cavern. “Perhaps this...is our fate...”

Suddenly, something shook. No, the entire cavern was trembling.

“The storm must be pretty bad if it’s causing the cave to shake this much.” Leo gasped. “And this place doesn’t seem like it can take the shocks. Hold on Taryn!”

Leo grabbed me and begun to run.

Looking over his shoulder, I saw large pieces of rock falling from the ceiling. The loud crashing noises caused by them hitting the ground seemed to be creeping right up to us, becoming louder and louder as Leo dashed for the entrance.

I felt the cold wind from outside, and all of a sudden, I was sent spinning through the air. Everything was a blur, and I couldn’t tell one thing from the other.

Then, a strange calmness came over me.