Chapter 3: Dream of Forgotten Spring "Something is coming," breathed the body on the edge of the river. It had been at least a day, long enough for him to recover enough to be able to sit up and eat something. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a white-cloaked figure and a black Taichu appeared around the bend, the white clutching one hand over the area where its eyes should be. The Taichu suddenly stopped and the figure stood motionless. Finally, it bent in the stream, splashing water on its face, desperate to try and get something off. The body in the bushes fingered the Pokeball around its neck, wondering whether to attack or not. "Who's there?" the white cloak asked, looking up. The body shifted and moved farther back into the shadows. "Please, I won't hurt you if you are for saving Crystalmir. I am the Lost Rose." The Lost Rose? The body slunk back to the edge, just behind some bushes, "But the Lost Rose cannot truly be thy name. Speak it now." The white cloak stood still for a moment, then, slowly, it drew back its hood, revealing a beautiful face, the red eyes tearing up, the sides marred with something the color of ash. "I am Ayesha Rubinia. Show thyself, you who cloaks your identity in shadow." "Ayesha?" came the reply. From the bushes rose a figure clad in a green cloak, the fine features sprinkled with blood, the oak tree hair tied in a neat braid. The eyes shone green, with shards of black and gold floating threw them, now wide with shock as they stared back at the female in the stream. "Shigeru!" Ayesha cried. Taichu ran up and began to rub against the Rebellion Master. Ayesha slogged through the water, rubbing her eyes, trying to make sure he was real. "Satoshi, it has been...three long years." Shigeru scratched Taichu and motioned for Ayesha to join him in the underbrush. Desperate for a hiding spot with her eyes as damaged as they were, Ayesha followed placidly, settling herself near him when they reached his makeshift camp. "Any news from Auburn Autumn or Diamond Lily?" he asked as she tried to get a fire going. "I heard a rumor Satoshi was in the Kenji Area," Ayesha said as she watched him, still rubbing her eyes. "But as for Sivitri, she remains in shadow." "I thought as much," Shigeru sighed and leaned back, a small blaze eating away at the rotting wood he used as fuel. "Where have you been then?" Ayesha pressed; brining Taichu to her chest like you might hug a cat sometimes. Shigeru stared up through somewhat bare branches, the sky beginning to darken as night approached. "Trying to find a way home." "Home?" Ayesha chuckled. "You mean...the Indigo?" Shigeru nodded, "Yes. I thought that if I got back to the Indigo, I might be able to bring back help and the odds would be evened. But so far I have failed." Shigeru closed his eyes and lay back, imagining all the times he thought he had a lead, but in the end it was a rumor and nothing more. Due to this deep thought remembering, he jumped three feet in the air when he felt cool fingers brushing his skin. "What are you doing?" he asked, pulling his shirt back down. Ayesha looked at him seriously, "You are wounded, Shigeru. I was only going to tend to it before it became infected." "You forget, Rose, that I heal faster then you," Shigeru pointed out. "I am Forgotten Spring, remember?" "Aye, I remember," Ayesha chuckled and backed off, her hands up in mock surrender. Taichu curled up in the space left between the two old friends, determined to be the mediator in case an argument should break out. He found himself gently prodded, and turned to face Ayesha. She nodded to the stream and then blinked. Taichu nodded and rose, grabbing a dock leaf from a nearby, low hanging branch. "How were you wounded?" asked Ayesha. "Hmm?" Shigeru thought back. "General Snyther caught me unguarded and drove me to the edge of a cliff. I fell onto a ledge and played dead. He left and I crawled down and into the river, floating her for as long as I could. A Doomhound was near the stream a little ways ahead, so I crawled out here, and now I've found you." "Snyther was careless then," Ayesha responded. "Not like the Rock General." "Tell me about it," Shigeru shrugged. "I'm just glad he was." Ayesha nodded in return as Taichu came up, the dock leaf now completely soaked. "Thank you," she whispered to her Pokemon and placed the dock leaf over one eye. "You okay? You were washing your face earlier, but I thought it was a girl thing," Shigeru asked, turning to face her more fully. "I'm fine," Ayesha said, removing the dock leaf, rubbing her eyes as she placed it on the ground. "Just something in the air that's bugging me." Ayesha stiffened instantly as his hands wrapped around her face and he turned her to face him. He peered closely at her eyes, his face mere inches from hers. He rubbed his thumb very close to one eye, making her wince. He drew back and looked at his fingers. He lifted his thumb to his lips and licked it experimentally. Grimacing, he spat the substance out promptly. "Ash," he said. He looked at her, concern showing in his green eyes, "You got hot ash in your eyes?" Ayesha rubbed them again, "Yes. Pyra used it as a last chance tactic to win a fight." "Poor thing," Shigeru said and wrapped his arm around her. "Stop rubbing those eyes. It only makes it worse. Stay here and I'll fetch some herbs to make it better." With that he got up and slinked off into the shadows of fading day. Taichu came and curled around Ayesha's shoulder where Shigeru had swung his arm earlier. Ayesha gently stroked Taichu. "Warmth." How long had it been? How long since she had felt the warmth of another human body in contact with her merely because they were friends, not mortal enemies? How long? "Taichu," she said after a moment. "Shimmy up that tree and see if you can get me a favor from a Pideotor, if there is one." Taichu nodded and did as bid. Ayesha lay back and closed her stinging eyes, waiting for reply. Shigeru sighed with relief as he found the last plant he needed for the remedy to help Ayesha's eyes. He had jumped when she placed her fingers on his side, and his heart had wrenched when he saw the concern she displayed for him when she saw the cut on his side. He had been without human companionship for well over three years now... Shaking his head he turned back towards the camp. Time to think about that later. Right now Ayesha needed his help and he would do all he could to give that help. "Ayesha," Shigeru whispered and shook the sleeping Rebellion Master. "Ayesha, wake up." Yawning cutely she looked up and blinked rapidly. She brought a hand up to rub her eyes, but Shigeru shot his own out and caught hold of hers. He clicked his tongue and wagged a finger at her. She smiled softly and rose to a sitting position. "What is it Shigeru?" "Put your head in my lap so I can dip this in your eyes," Shigeru instructed. "It will help them heal from the ash burns." Ayesha looked at him apprehensively. Shigeru finally just grabbed her shoulders and twisted her town in an expert moved. He folded his legs and placed her head lightly in his lap. Picking up a dock leaf under the bowl he used for the solution, he dipped it in and dropped small drops of it in her eyes, slowly, letting her blink and become comfortable with the odd smell and feel. "There, all done," he said after five minutes. Half the solution had been used, more for the morning. He looked down. Ayesha was staring up at him with a fond smile. "What?" "Nothing, it's just that...you're still the Shigeru I meant three years ago," Ayesha chuckled and rose. "Taichu! Any luck?" "TAICHU!" called down the Pokemon. The black electric rat bounced to the ground and started yapping excitedly in its own language, pointing up with its tail. Promptly, a large, lean bird fluttered down, big enough to carry the two Rebellion Masters on its back. Its feathers were creamish in color with a black feathers mask covering its eyes and coming down to tip of its beak. It's crest was ridiculously large, and colored brightly - red, yellow, and orange. Its wings spanned a good thirty feet lengthwise and the tips were stained black. It's tail feathers were rather long too, the tips coated with black. Its talons were at least a foot long, dyed red from past kills. Its amber eye took in the two before bowing slightly and settling itself near the fire, Taichu coming to sit next to it, staring at the humans. "A Pideotor?" Shigeru asked, looking to Ayesha. Pideotors where the final evolution of Pidgey, and could go much, much faster then the speed of sound, enough to create a sonic boom when they flew by. They were few and rare, and one just dropping down was not normal. "What is your dream...if you make it pack to Indigo?" asked Ayesha suddenly, capturing Shigeru's green eyes with her own red ones. "My dream?" Shigeru thought for a moment. "To get help and then come back here and free this land from the perpetual nightmare it is trapped in." "The Dream of the Forgotten Spring," Ayesha chuckled. "So that gossip was true." "Get from a harbor master?" Shigeru asked, raising an eyebrow. Ayesha nodded. "I want to make that dream come true, for I want it to be my own dream," she said. "To rid this land of a nightmare would be the greatest gift I could hope to give this land which my grandmother worked so hard to protect and make beautiful." "And the Pideotor?" Shigeru pressed. "To take us back to Indigo of course," Ayesha said. "Taichu says it has agreed, though it will not bring us back." Shigeru stared at her, then at Taichu, then at the Pideotor. A smile spread across his lips and he suddenly clasped Ayesha in a bear hug. "Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me!" "Shigeru...can't...breathe...," she gasped. "Oh! Sorry!" Shigeru laughed meekly. He let her go and leaned against a tree trunk. "When do we go then?" "As soon as you are ready," Ayesha said. "Pideotor would prepare twilight or early dawn." "Early dawn it is," Shigeru smiled and leaned against the tree once more. "Taichu, wake me up will you?" Taichu sparked its cheeks in reply and settled next to the now sleeping Pideotor. Ayesha smiled as she watched Shigeru sleep. Yes, this was the Dream of the Forgotten Spring. And soon it would become the Dream of the Lost Rose as well. She leaned back and soon was fast asleep, waiting for the dawn.