Chapter 2: An Ally… (Part 1 of 2)
Morning broke as Sam awoke, his entire body sore. Sleeping on hard ground wasn’t easy, but he’d have to get used to it if he was going to find the answers he was seeking. Standing up, he grabbed his pack full of supplies and began the long walk towards the next civilization: The Midland Checkpoint. It was roughly two days trip from Root Village if you were going by foot no matter how you put it. Walking, one would just go at a steady pace, end up there in two days. Running, you would end up running out of energy and pass out, ending up making it in two days. Either way, Sam was going to take his sweet time with the walk. He’d never been outside the village and intended to make the most of it.
Several long hours of walking later, he stopped for a rest. Nothing had happened despite the time he’d spent walking. He'd seen a couple pokemon, a rare sight for someone such as himself, but other than that, nothing. Sam sighed, pulling one object out of his pack.
“Grandma said only to use these in case of an emergency…but I need them now…” he whispered, strapping the object to this leg. He grinned at the sight of it; it made him feel a little more powerful. The happy feelings gave him the energy to keep moving.
Not too long later, he spotted the first remarkable sight of the path. Several men had surrounded a small creature and were trying to coax it into a cage.
“Come on, get in the crate…” one cooed. Sam raised an eyebrow in confusion. He walked forwards towards the men.
“What are you doing?” he asked. The men jumped at the sudden voice. They turned to face him.
“Nothing, really…just catching this Pokémon, you know?” one said, looking Sam over. He obviously decided Sam wasn’t much of a threat. “But you’d better back off before we beat you down!”
Sam backed up, a look of worry on his face. These guys were turning on him just like that? He slowly backed up, getting into a loose fighting stance.
“I…I’m warning you, I’m really strong!” he stammered out the obvious lie. He sucked at fighting back in the village and he was pretty sure leaving wasn’t going to fix that problem. Much to his dismay, the men laughed.
“Kid, you must have a death wish or something. Just shut up, forget you saw anything and leave,” a second man called over. Sam backed up a little more. If he was going to fight, he’d need that. The third and final man stepped forward.
“I’ll deal with him, guys. You just keep working on that Shinx.” He pulled out roughly a three foot long chain. Sam cringed in fear. These guys were making such a big deal out of a little thing. Was it illegal or something?
“Thi…this is your last warning!” he warned, half in fear, half in a last ditch effort to avoid the beat down of his life. The man grinned.
“Ah shut up, kid. You’re goin’ down!” he yelled, swinging the chain. Sam, moving with all the speed he could muster, which turned out to be just enough, jumped backwards just in time. The chain crashed hard into the ground, causing a huge imprint. Sam gritted his teeth looked down at the pouch on his leg.
“Okay then…you asked for it!” Sam reached for the pouch on his leg. Flipping the top off, he slipped his finger through a metal hole…
“Kid, just give it up!” the man roared, whipping the chain back to go at Sam again. Sam pulled out the metal object, which was revealed to be a short metal knife, roughly six inches long. He spun it around his finger a couple times before grabbing it.
“Alright…now you’re going down!” he yelled, attempting to fake some confidence. He leapt forward at the man, who made no obvious moves initially. Instead, when Sam got close, he whipped his foot out, catching Sam hard in the gut. Sam flew backwards, clutching his stomach in pain. All the men laughed and Sam looked down at the ground.
“Kid, just give it up. You’re pathetic, honestly. Leave now and we’ll even let you live if you keep your damn mouth shut,” the first called. Sam gritted his teeth. He couldn’t leave. Leaving meant going back to the village. He was on his own…he couldn’t lose.
“N…no…” he coughed. The men laughed.
“Just learn you lesson, kid. Well, let’s go, boys. We’ve got the Shinx anyway.” The second picked up a cage and Sam could easily see the small creature pawing at the sides of the cage. Sam felt a tear slide down his cheek. He’d failed…and hadn’t even saved the poor creature. Still, maybe he could do something.
He raised his hand and took aim as best he could while on the ground. Swinging it forward, the knife flew forward…and crashed hard into the cage. The men were obviously startled. They turned to face him, all glaring.
“You stupid kid, why’d you do that? You’re lucky we’ve got places to be or we’d take you out right now or we’d take you down!” one roared. Sam sighed. He’d missed…but the cage had cracked. Maybe, just maybe the creature would escape. He sighed, letting the slow moving darkness take him.
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Meanwhile back in the village, a meeting was being called out in the town square. Standing on a podium was none other than Sam’s Grandma Yuki. Chatter echoed out from the crowd but the mayor and Yuki stood on the announcement podium.
“And you’re sure he’s really gone?” the mayor asked. Yuki looked sadly on the ground.
“Sir, he left me a letter saying he was leaving. He said he had to go find out what happened…” she whispered, producing Sam’s letter. The mayor took it and read it over, color fading from his face as he did.
“I…I see…well, if you’ll excuse me, I must go address the town,” the mayor struggled to say. Yuki nodded and walked away. Back in the safety of her own home she looked over the letter for what seemed like the thousandth time.
“Sam…” she whispered, fighting back tears. She could almost hear his voice; still feel him stomping to get the mud off his shoes before coming back through the door with a smile on his face from playing with the children around town. Slowly but surely, her tears dappled the floor of the house.
Later that evening while she lay in bed, she grabbed the ever familiar blanket. He may have been gone, but the blanket still made her feel safe. As she lifted it to wipe her tears, she noticed something; the sound of crinkling paper. Looking at it curiously, she searched it over. Before too long, she noticed a small pocket sewed into the lining.
“I’ve never seen this before…” she whispered, opening it up. From within it, several old pieces of paper slipped out…
Credit to The Blueprint for this beautiful banner!
Those people to claim to be my family members...
Pair Brother Cousin
