Chapter XIII: Soul Whispers
An especially large bump on the road sent Fay leaping upwards, hitting her head on the wagon ceiling...
again.
"That was the tenth time!" Luno informed her cheerfully, wagging his tail in delight.
"You don't have to look so bloody happy about it." Fay grit out while rubbing the sore spot on her head. She was very quickly getting tired of this "charming" ride through the forest.
"I miss Yarch's ship." she complained grumpily. "I mean, sure the trip ended with me almost drowning, then freezing, then getting killed by an insane pokemon, then being captured, but at least there were cocktails."
"We should be
there already." she added crossly, "It's almost dark."
Her wish came true in the form of a sudden halt which caused her to lunge forward, her head colliding with an odd, seemingly useless chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Eleven!"
"Oh,
shut up!"
She practically burst out of the wagon in a very Kveroslava-like way, happy to finally have firm ground under her feet, only to encounter Svadlav's grinning, hopeful face.
"That was some ride, wasn't it?" he said in the proud tone of someone who is personally responsible for the "comfort".
Fay glared at him, but her temper waned at his optimistic expression.
"Um- yeah." she waited exactly three seconds to avoid sounding too eager before she asked, "Are we there yet?"
"Yes, we are and in good time too!" the girl who looked like Lola giggled as she passed by with an armful of dishes, "We'll have lunch together and then turn back."
Fay looked around and realised that everyone was busy with cooking-oriented chores. Svadlav went to join Senka and Ilvire who had gathered up some dry branches to build a fire and Kveroslava was fussing nearby, while tossing various vegetables into a large pot.
Luno tilted his head, staring at the commotion.
"They sure do like making lunch." he said with a fascinated look, "I wonder if they have mil- hey!"
He yelped out the last part when the little girl suddenly ran up to them and scooped him up, hugging him tightly.
"Aaaaaw, you're so cuuuute!" she cooed with delight, "What's his name?"
Fay snickered at the sight of her pokemon trying to wriggle away from the girl desperately.
"Luno." she said with a slightly wicked grin, "He
really likes to cuddle."
There was an outraged groan from the Eevee.
"Oh, I'll get you- argh!" he yelped when Senka squeezed him even tighter, "Tell her to pack it in!"
Sound of timid footsteps caught Fay's attention and she looked over her shoulder to see that Ilvire had approached them and was watching the scene wistfully. He was an odd child, quiet and shy. While his sister, Senka, was a right little chatterbox, eager to go everywhere and speak to everyone, he was her polar opposite. In fact, Fay could almost
swear she hadn't heard the boy utter a single word during the whole trip.
If she had to guess, Fay would say that Ilvire wasn't more than ten years old. He was a small boy with a thick mass of unruly, coal-black hair and huge brown eyes which always seemed fearful of something. When he realised he was noticed, he flinched almost guiltily, but Fay grinned at him before he got the chance to run off.
"Hey, Ilvire, you want to play too?" she offered gently, "Here, come and meet Woopy."
Ignoring the odd way the boy stared at her while she was speaking, she pulled out her other pokeball and, a second later, the little Wooper landed on the ground with a delighted squeal. She looked up at Fay with a huge smile and then wobbled towards Luno who had just managed to squirm his way to freedom where she tried to eat his tail in an affectionate way.
"What the- stop that!" the Eevee snapped as he jerked his soft tail away, causing Woopy to squeak with delight and chase after it.
The boy smiled hesitantly as he approached her and reached out to pat the little blue pokemon, causing her to halt in her pursuit after Luno and nuzzle the outstretched hand happily.
"Aw, that's nice!" Senka giggled, "He only smiles like that when he's playin' with pokemon. Pity he can't have his own."
Fay looked at her in surprise.
"No? Why not?" she asked without thinking, "He's old enough..."
"It is better that way." a voice startled Fay from behind and she turned around to look at Kveroslava who sat close by, slicing some carrots.
"He couldn't raise a pokemon properly even if he caught one." the old woman said, "Can't speak or hear, poor dechki."
Fay winced in surprise, suddenly realising that it wasn't because of shyness that Ilvire hadn't spoken to her at all.
"Oh! I see." she said with a quick glance to the boy who had happily joined Woopy in her pursuit of Luno's tail, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."
"It's okay." Senka put in helpfully, "He's always been like that. He'll go to mount Pearl and learn how to train pokemon without talking. I wish I could go too."
"Senka,
dosta!" Kveroslava cut her off sternly, causing the girl to stomp her foot angrily and run to Svadlav.
Fay smiled slightly at the childish gesture as she spoke to Kveroslava.
"So that's why you're sending him to Lotus." she said pensively, "I heard that the trainers from there don't have to speak in order to communicate with their pokemon. My brother trained there too, but he never spoke much about it. He even got himself a small house up there...he was planning to go back after beating the Elite Four."
Kveroslava snorted through her nose slightly.
"The mountain hides many secrets that appeal to young trainers." she said contemplatively, "It is a pity that the ones who know the most simply
do not talk about it."
She chuckled to herself as if she'd just heard a good joke, causing Fay to stare at her in utter bewilderment, but the girl didn't get to ask any further questions since she was suddenly startled by Fred's voice hollering from the direction of the woods.
"YOU CAN'T USE FURY ATTACK, YOU STUPID BIRD!" he bellowed, "YOU'RE A HOOTHOOT!!!"
Fay exchanged incredulous glances with Luno and they hurried in the direction Fred was shouting from, leaving Woopy behind to play with Ilvire.
They found the boy in a nearby clearing, gesticulating wildly while screaming at his Hoothoot who was observing him with not much more than polite interest.
"Peck!" he hollered at the little bird, "Peck! How hard can it bloody be!? If I had a beak,
I could do it!"
"Hey, that's no way to train a pokemon." Luno remarked in a disapproving tone, "I'm glad he's not
my trainer."
Fay grinned at him.
"Why, was that almost a compliment I just heard?" she asked with a beaming smile, causing her pokemon to glower at her.
"Don't count on it." Luno growled edgily, "I meant to say that there are worse trainers than even you."
It was then that Fred spotted them.
"Hopeless!" he snapped indignantly, "Just bloody
hopeless! He thinks he's a Spearow, he's using fury attack, for cripe's sake!"
Fay approached them and glanced down at the small bird who returned her look with a quizzical:"Frr?"
"Well...train him like a Spearow, then." Fay offered, "They're both birds, they both have beaks and wings, they should be able to perform similar attacks, if not same."
Fred stared at her in outraged astonishment.
"Train a Hoothoot as a
Spearow!?" he repeated with a revolted shudder, "I can't do that, I'm a professional! If I did that, I'd be the laughing stock of my entire Gym!"
Fay shrugged.
"But your pokemon would be happy." she pointed out rationally.
Fred glanced between her and his new pokemon frantically.
"Yeah, but- but- I
can't!" he stammered desperately, "I mean...he's- I'm- oh,
come on!"
Fay couldn't help sniggering.
"Oh,
very eloquent." she teased, "I can't imagine why your pokemon doesn't understand what you want from him."
Fred glared at the small bird darkly.
"Oh, he
understands." he grit out edgily when the Hoothoot puffed his feathers up with a spiteful glare, "He's just messing with my mind!"
"Yeah, that's
definitely it." Fay said sarcastically, "Just look at that machiavellian little face."
"Frr?" the Hoothoot said, blinking his large, red eyes at her, making her smile.
Fred glared at her but relaxed a bit.
"Maybe it's my fault." he admitted grudgingly, "I got so used to having strong, well-trained pokemon, I almost forgot how hard I worked to get them that way."
Luno bristled his fur.
"That's right!" he barked, "Typical human, blaming his pokemon for everything that goes wrong."
Fay glanced at her pokemon with gentle rebuke.
"Luno." she chided him softly, causing him to lower his ears and mutter something grumpy under his breath.
"Come on." she told Fred, "Let's go see if we can help with lunch."
***
Fay had to admit it was good to eat with a family, even if it wasn't her own. It was true that the Longfellows were scattered all across Rylan most of the time, dad at his post at the League, Eru and Lea training, but it was an unwritten rule that, for every holiday, they'd get together at home and spend it as a family.
She found herself missing it suddenly, as she watched Ilvire and Senka engage in a playful joust over a potato with their forks and Kveroslava clucking disapprovingly while trying to cut Ilvire's unruly hair when the boy wasn't looking. They were comfortable with each other and they laughed often. They were a family.
Needless to say, when it was time to go separate ways, it was hard for everyone, especially Ilvire who looked like a betrayed puppy as he watched the small caravan disappear into the woods, his sister waving at him sadly from the last cart.
Fay sighed at the boy's dejected face and knelt in front of him with an encouraging smile. She tipped his chin so that he'd look at her while she was talking.
"Cheer up, Ilvire." she said gently, "This way you can get a pokemon someday. All yours, you know. Won't that be great?"
The little boy glared at her angrily, as if everything was her fault and trumped off to sit at the other end of the fire his family had left behind.
Fred rolled his eyes.
"Very smooth." he snickered, "I mean, you're a girl and all, shouldn't you feel a wave of warm, tender, maternal something-or-other?"
Fay threw him a venomous glare which grew even more toxic when Luno howled with laughter next to her feet.
"That's
not how it goes!" she snapped irritably as she went to sit by the fire, "What do I know about kids anyway? I was the youngest child!"
Fred grinned and rose his hands defensively as he backed away a bit and released his Hoothoot from the ball to train some more.
Luno came to sit next to Fay, still sniggering to himself.
"Maternal!" he repeated through breathless giggles, "
You! That's rich!"
Fay glared at him and spoke to her other pokemon.
"Go play with Luno's tail, Woopy." she ordered and the little Wooper squealed with delight as she launched herself towards the Eevee.
Luno jumped away with a yelp.
"That was
so cheap!" he barked as he ran from Woopy who pursued him happily around the fire.
***
It got dark after a little while and they all gathered around the fire, listening to its merry crackling. It cast warm, orange light all over old, mossy trees and softened the chilly night.
Luno was enjoying his warm milk, every now and then casting amused glances at Woopy who seemed to be trying to figure out how the Hoothoot made his feathers puff up, which the small bird was more than happy to demonstrate.
Fay watched them with a smile for a bit, sipping warm tea.
"Are you going to name him?" she asked Fred eventually, "I feel odd calling him 'the Hoothoot' all the time."
Fred threw a sour look at his pokemon.
"I haven't thought about it, really." he grit out, "But...yeah. I guess I should. I named all my other pokemon...maybe Nigel?"
Fay almost coughed her tea out through her nose giggling.
"
Nigel!? Who names a pokemon..." she guffawed out the last word, "Nigel!"
Woopy stared at her amused trainer before looking up at the bird and bursting out laughing in her own way. The Hoothoot puffed his feathers up and glared at Fred accusingly.
"Sheesh, everyone's a critic these days." the boy muttered tetchily, "Well until I hear a better suggestion, Nigel it is. So
there."
Fay tried to compose herself.
"Wh-well..." she gasped out, still suppressing giggles, "There are loads of better names. Let's see...Hoots, Seye...hm...Otto?"
"JASPER!!!" a third voice suddenly roared.
Fay almost dropped her mug from shock at the sudden noise. She and Fred exchanged stunned looks before jumping to their feet. They called back their pokemon and, after Fay showed Ilvire to follow them, they all hurried in the direction the clamor was coming from.
Just as Fred and Fay broke out of the shrubbery on one side of a small clearing, a boy roughly their age dashed out at the opposite end, apparently running from something. He slided to a stop when he spotted them and there was a frozen moment where they all just stared at each other. Fay had to admit that she'd never seen such a strange person in her entire life.
The boy's dark blue eyes were the only thing that seemed sharp on him, everything else seemed rather scruffy; his auburn hair was shaggy and he was wearing a ridiculous brown, tweed suit which had seen better days. It was clean but shabby and patched on the elbows. He even had a silly, matching top hat, equally scruffy as the rest of his attire.
Before anyone had the chance to comment, the pursuers broke out of the bushes behind the strange boy along with their pokemon. Fay quickly scanned the company - there were two men and they did
not seem amused by this chase through the woods.
Yellow light flashed briefly as a Pikachu jumped from behind one of them and claimed a spot next to its trainer, waiting for a command. At the same time, there was a gentle gust and a Venomoth descended in front of the other man keeping airborne with slow, soft movements of its large wings.
There was something familiar about their dress style as well.
"Oh,
crap!" Fay gasped when she realised that she was facing yet another clash with Benedict's thugs. She threw a nervous look towards Ilvire and pulled him behind her in a vain attempt to keep him out of sight.
"Small world." Fred commented shortly as he reached for his pokeball with a dark look.
It seemed, though, that the attackers had no interest in them whatsoever. All their attention was focused on the person they were hunting.
"I-I've got you now, Jasper!" one of them panted, throwing the strange boy a murderous stare, "You're not weaseling out this time!"
The boy - Jasper, Fay assumed - took a shaky step back, grinning nervously at his attackers.
"Blimey, look who's here!" he beamed at them uneasily, "Fancy meeting you guys in these parts...eheh...imagine, running into each other in this huge forest, eh?"
The thug glared at him viciously:
"Cut the bollocks, Jasper!" he snapped, "We've been chasing you around all afternoon and you bloody know it! Now, the boss wants you alive but he didn't say anything about roughening you up a bit. What I'm trying to say is:
please – give me a bloody reason."
The strange boy took another step back towards Fay and Fred. He gulped loudly before grinning uneasily again.
"Easy now, mates, there's no need for all this bovver, is there now?" he adjusted his scuffed hat nervously, "I mean, we're all rich in the ol' gray matter, ain't we? Surely we can confer like adults."
"He's so weird..." Fred muttered, staring at the boy in bewilderment, "Er- should we help him out?"
Fay scratched her head uncomfortably.
"Well..." she started uncertainly, "We might as well have a listen first. I want to see what's going on."
"Argh...don't wait too long." Luno growled impatiently, "I feel kind of sorry for the poor guy."
The strange boy practically yelped as his pursuer motioned his Pikachu into battle position.
"Ay- now, wait, hang on!" he started babbling, "Are you
sure you want to go that way? I-uh...I mean...
come on, remember all the nice times we had..."
The man interrupted him darkly:
"Like the time you led us off the garden path, made me look like an idiot in front of the boss
and swindled me out of all my money?" he crackled his knuckles with a terrifying grin.
The boy's smile died for a second but he gulped and forced on a grin again.
"Ahaha...Kyle, my old friend, that was a misunderstanding. You see-er...I was just- it's not
safe to carry all that money around, so I-uh..."
He threw a desperate look to Fred and Fay over his shoulder, before jumping behind them suddenly and nudging them both forward.
"A-Aha!" he exclaimed, "Look yonder! A pair of valiant trainers comes to aid their colleague."
Fay cringed when both thugs suddenly glared murderously their way.
"Fred..." she grit out as she reached for her pokeball slowly, "Remind me to
thank that charming fellow later, will you?"
She hurled her pokeball at the thugs and Fred did the same only a second later.
"Go, Woopy!"
"Go, Nigel!"
"You're sticking with Nigel?"
"Yes! Can we fight now!?"
"Nigel is rather stiff, if you ask me..." Jasper commented idly from behind them, but Fred shut him up with a dark glare.
"We're
not." he said icily, before turning to battle, "Alright,
Nigel! Use Peck on the Venomoth!"
The small bird glanced at the large insect before looking up at Fred with a miserable chirp.
"Aw, the poor nipper is scared!" Jasper said sympathetically before cringing at the dark glare Fred was sending his way, "Er- I'll just shut up, then."
The thug Jasper had addressed as 'Kyle' rolled his eyes.
"I don't have time for this." he growled, "Flik, zap that sorry excuse for a bird!"
The yellow pokemon grinned as he strained, sending a dancing wave of crackling electricity towards the small bird who cringed expecting a world of pain.
Fortunately, Fay managed to give a last second order.
"Woopy! Take the blow!"
The little Wooper hopped straight into the path of the lightning, allowing it to hit her and giggling in delight as the voltage only tickled her a bit.
"Stupid ground types..." Kyle muttered, "Use slam on the little bugger!"
The Pikachu hurled itself towards Woopy who waited until he got really close and then just danced away easily while the yellow rat crashed past her harmlessly.
"Oooh, she's good at that!" Luno commented, "That's how she got me too, that first time."
Fay looked over at Fred and Nigel, but the boy motioned towards his frightened Hoothoot helplessly. There was no way Nigel would fight today.
"Okay Luno, you'll have to fight too, Nigel's not well." she sighed.
The Eevee shuffled his fur readily.
"Hah! Finally! Order away!"
"Luno, use Quick Attack, don't let them catch you still!" Fay ordered, "Woopy, use Mud Slap on the Pikachu!"
Luno gave a short nod and dashed towards the Venomoth, developing such speed, he was barely visible while Woopy scooped up some dirt with her moist tail and hurled it happily towards the Pikachu.
Fay watched their advances anxiously. They could win this one, but if the attackers had any more pokemon, they were in for trouble. She became aware of annoying tapping on her shoulder so she glared at Jasper.
"
What?" she snapped.
The boy beamed at her charismatically.
"Terribly sorry to bother you, miss, but perchance I could help in my own, modest way?"
Fred glared at him with unbelieving indignation.
"You couldn't have done that before?" he snapped.
Jasper just grinned a wicked little grin and stepped out into the battlefield, waving his arms.
"Alright, pack it in!" he shouted, "Stop the battle! No more battling, please!"
The entire scene froze as everyone stared at the strange boy in a worn tweed suit and, probably, wondered at his sanity.
When he was sure he had everyone's attention, Jasper smirked.
"Ah, much better!" he said suavely, "Now, I wasn't going to do this, but..."
He pulled out a pokeball and rubbed it on his patched sleeve unhurriedly as he spoke on.
"But you gentlemen forced me. You
do know what this is, I imagine?"
Kyle paled as his eyes followed the pokeball nervously.
"You- you wouldn't
dare..."
Jasper shrugged idly.
"I don't see why not." he said blithely, "I mean, it's my only chance to get you chaps to leave me alone, so..."
He lifted the pokeball as if to throw it and the attackers burst out screaming and scrambled into the bushes frantically.
Jasper sniggered and tossed the pokeball, releasing what Fay
least expected to see...
To Be Continued: What sort of creature has Jasper unleashed? Why was he being pursued in the first place? Will Fay finally find her way to Lotus? What will she find there? Read in the next chapter:"Sound of Silence"
Right, then. Hmm, what to say? Next chappy coming up 5th of October. The "Crazy Time" of year is still on, though, and while I don't
think anything will come up on that day, you should probably have reservations ^.^' The possible delay (if any) will not be more than one day so the alternative date is 6th of October ;)
Now, then:
Well I guess it'll be a while...and Ria's work is cut out for her...so I'll say this now:
TRAINERS HAVE NO TRAINERS!!!
...^That applies to the chapter that was erased.
Um, sorry, Icha, but I understood NOTHING at all from that post ^.^' My brain is slow this morning and my memory is generally a lottery (you never know what will pop up ;) ) so, you'll forgove me, right? ^.^'
Nyah, not only that; I believe that any corrections Ria made to chapter 11 have vanished as well. Stupid database errors. T_T
Anyways, yeah, my essay has been handed in so I'm back and ready to review properly once the chapter gets back. ^^
Yay! ^o^ Looking forward to it! ;)
PS: My favourite character (besides Fay and Luno, that is) has entered the story! Whoooo! /dances/