((Sorry for the lag, guys! I had work this evening.))
She couldn't really move. Not really, as in, if she tried her everything hurt.
"Mairead..." she moaned softly, "I feel like one big bruise."
There was little doubt she was one, considering the report Eithne had given earlier; a purple lump on her right thigh, a black eye, and a cut on her leg that could've been infected if Deirdre hadn't declared it clean. The Nidorina had been very good with bandaging, but her paws couldn't do what human hands could--if only there'd been any humans around...
The last thing she remembered was the high-pitched tenor of their captain, sounding the alarm over the intercom, and the boat's terrible tilt. Then, she remembered falling...and waking up here, almost too battered to call out her pokemon. Almost.
Not that being horribly mangled ever stopped Brigdet. No, sir.
The water rushed up the sand rythmically, tickling the soles of her feet. The rocky sand under her was warm, heated by the pounding sun. It sloped upwards towards some bushes, which quickly transformed into a scraggly forest. Mairead, her lower half poking out in arches above the sea, leaned over her trainer. The Milotic's eyes were soft and full of worry, and she made a noise of inquiry.
"I'll be okay," Bree tried, but her voice sounded tired. She moved a finger, but that only resulted in her entire arm freezing up in pain.
"We've found berries!"
Ah, there were Eithne and Deirdre with her salvation. For the first (and possibly last) time in their lives, the Nidorina and the Vulpix had put their differences aside for a common goal. They came out of the underbrush with big leaves wrapped aroung loads of plump berries--the best thing to get her back on her feet, fast.
The twain came up beside her, Dei dropping her leaf at a certain distance before meandering off towards the water. With a derisive snort, Eithne pulled both leaves towards her friend, and, taking a big berry between her teeth, gently set it at Bridget's lips. All ideas of hygiene aside, Bree took the fruit, biting into it, feeling its fresh juices dribbling down her throat.
"Mmm...s'yummy, Eith."
"That's good. (she said something Bridget didn't understand) These are good for pokemon, but I do not know if they are good for humans."
Mairead said something, but the timing was different, so she couldn't quite grasp--pokemon spoke in sequences, like morse code, so they understood each other, but it was so hard for humans--and she wished she could make out what they were saying, because it was about her. She was made to eat both berry bundles, one fruit at a time, and then Mairead bid her sleep, which she did, although she was plagued by visions of a dark, watery abyss.
She woke to the sun still overhead; around her, she heard voices. Stirring, she tried to sit up, and found, to her amazement, that she could--only, a pitchfork was poking into her chest when she tried.
"M'lord, the witch, she has awoken!" The man holding the instrument cried, motioning for another, bigger man to come forward.
"Well, foul creature, tell us--what dark arts are you practicing?"
She blinked groggily at him, and spoke in a growl, "I don't understand what you're saying. Where are my pokemon? Why are you prodding me with those pitchforks? What did I do?"
"M'lord, she speaks in tongues!"
"Quiet, fool! She is clearly possessed by the Demon!"
"Surely, sire, for I have seen the way she so deftly controlled the monsters."
"Look at her uncouth attire!" yelled a woman holding up a torch, "she must be a witch! She wears a man's trousers, and ne'er have I seen such a fabric!"
Witch? Possessed? What?
She got to her feet slowly, wincing at the crowd tried to push her back down; a snarl at them made the recoil in fear. She saw that moth of them were dressed in rough sack-cloth, and all were thin, with hair so dirty she saw the lice moving about, black teeth and hungry eyes. She saw that two of them were holding Dei down, and the Nidorina was making a horrible ruckus. Eithne was being held by another man, with rope around her muzzle and paws. But Mairead--May was by far the worse, for she was laying, unconscious, on hte beach, bleeding profusely from arrow-wounds--arrows!--and deep lashes and burns lefts by the pitchforks and torches. Bree grit her teeth, and tried to think of a plan.
"Let's burn her, m'lord!" One man proposed, and Bridget felt her blood run cold. The man referred to as "m'lord" came forward; dressed in bright velvet clothing, he looked well-fed and well-groomed. He allowed himself to toss the dirtier man aside with a disgusted expression.
"Do you know who I am, child? I am Lord Keith of Belltrane, and I own the fourth district of the city yonder. If you do not cooperate, I shall have you arrested and burned as a witch."
Bridget swallowed. What would Saoirse do? she thought, wishing for the collected pokemon's advice. She felt along her hip, found the Skarmory's pokeball with some relief. She still had one escape--but only if she played her cards right.
"So, witch? I have witnesses here that say you made monsters bring you food and tend to your injuries. Admit that you are plotting with the Demon!"
"Foul knaves!" she spat, trying to remember her boring eleventh grade English classes on Shakespeare. "Unhand me now, or I shall spite you all with a curse! A curse, I say! Or better--a hex! I shall have fire rain down upon your houses! My Dark Lord will not refuse a good servant like me!"
The crowd stepped back, forming a ring around her; even the Lord, Sir Keith, looked frightened.
"My lord...does she speak the truth? Can she?"
"I...do not know. The powers of the Dark One are great."
"Indeed!" she crowed; and with that, snatched up Saoirse's pokeball, throwing it onto the ground. There was the usually bright flash of light, and then, the regal Skarmory stood on the sand, looking a bit shaken.
"What's happening, Bree?" she asked calmly, surveying the scene.
"They think I'm a witch and that I'm in with Evil or something. Act like my minion," she whispered, getting in close to the steel pokemon's dangerous head. The crowd, some of them shrieking in fear, was stepping even farther back.
Saoirse puffed up like a pincushion, her bladelike wings sticking out. A soft tinkling sound confirmed that someone was wetting their pants.
"The witch controls a sword-bird! Oh Lord above, save us!"
Bree blinked, trying to recall why this sounded familiar, and then it hit her.
In ancient times, people used SKARMORY's feathers as swords.
All the armor on their bodies, the knives at their hips--all of them, from a Skarmory's shedding. Saoirse emitted a powerful screech, flapping her razor-wings. Bridget grinned maliciously.
"Fools! Unhand my minions now, or I shall bid my powerful Sword-bird to warn all her kin, never to give their feathers to man. Then, you shall all be helpless!"
The men went pale. Immediately, Deirdre and Eithne were released. She returned them, along with Mairead, to their pokeballs. The crowd watched her, fascinated.
"You--" she pointed straight at a woman with knotted brown hair and a shabby dress, "bring me my bag! Immediately! If I see a single item missing, I shall have you beheaded, and every generation of your children cursed down to the last male heir!"
What a load of bullcrap. At this rate, she was just trying not to laugh at their petrified expressions, as they bustled about, returning the items they'd put in their pockets--her Super Potions, for one, and all her pokeballs, not to mention all kinds of random knicknacks. Eventually, she was able to hoist her bag over her shoulder.
The people watched with wide eyes as she mounted Saoirse and, very carefully, the Skarmory took off, her armored body reflecting the sunlight.
As they flew away from the scene, Bree finally let go of a few choked laughs, then calmed.
"Lord Ken or whatever his name was, said he owned a city nearby. We should go there."
"But first--let's land. You need to heal Mairead, I saw how battered she looked. The Pokeball will hold her in stasis, but it's not enough."
"And those rope marks on Eithne, and Dei's bruises...I don't even understand what was happening back there."
"Don't ask too much questions until you (she didn't understand this part), you'll only give yourself a headache."
Bree sighed, looking around to get a lay of the land; the forest below them, dark and dangerous, some fields beyond it, and then--a huge midieval-style city, complete with stone walls and towers and the whole shebang.
"Saoi, did we travel..."
"Through time? I don't know. It's a possibility, Celebi be merciful. If that's the case, then this forest, or at least part of it, belongs to that Lord, and that city..."
"We're in some kind of kingdom, then. Hey, there's a pocket of thick bushes--land there."
The big bird did, and Bree released her pokemon as quietly as she could, fishing out Potions to tend to them. Only once all three were able to move comfortably, did she finally realize her own injuries.
"Your bandages are red," Eithne admonished, "you should be more careful."
"Sorry, mum," Bridget muttered, taking a moment to rewrap the things. "I owe you one, Dei. You'd have made a good Chansey."
The Nidorina said something she couldn't understand, but it sounded alot like a string of curses.
"So, where to now?" Eithne picked up again, looking around. "The city seems like the only possible destination."
"Won't they be looking for us?"
"After the show you put on, they'll be too scared." Deirdre put in, scuffing the ground with a maniacal grin. She was speaking slowly, so her trainer could make out the sentence structure.
"I suppose they will be too scared of their last male heirs being cursed...so let's go for it." Bree fisted her hands and returned May, Eithne and Dei, climbing back onto Saoirse's back.
"I must admit, I'm intrigued at this situation," Saoi admitted once they were in the air, headed towards the tall stone spires of the city. "If we are in the past...or in some kind of minimalist, primitive society, this feels like an adventure."
"A dangerous adventure."
"Right. We have to be careful. I'll drop you off in this alleyway here. There's a market close by, trade a Potion for some more nondescript clothes and food."
Once she was off Saoi's back, with both feet on the cobblestone street, it struck her that should would be without any external help for some time.
She was flying solo from here on out, or so she thought.
She didn't make ten steps before she heard a voice yell out:
"Are you from the S.S. Elixer?!"
Wait. She fit that description!
"I do!" She yelped back, dashing towards the voice, too relieved to see a friendly face to care about being recognized.