Turn Back
by goobogoobaHer feet press on bedrock-like soil, hip grazing bushes of silver spikes. Beside the Sandslash were lines of rotten trees, hands outstretched to form the canopy, desperately catching what little light that had remained. The trail she walks on, peppered with floating bits of earth, led into a veil of darkness that had completely enveloped her surroundings.
Amber is looking for her partner, Nathan. He’s gone missing ever since time had frozen over.
There is a village north of here. Past the forests, beneath the mountain range. It’s the only place she knows that is still alive. Hopefully. They’d recognize a Pokémon that’s not a Shaymin.
The journey is short, but the planet’s paralysis had made the trek particularly difficult. She had started from a town not half a day’s worth of walking from here. In that time, or possibly more, she had nearly exhausted all but a few scraps of bandage and spoiled berries which had to be discarded. Her body numb from the fatigue and the bruises, eyes sore from the relentless pitch black.
One step past the cobblestone and two steps past the gray meadow and arrive at the footsteps of Dialga’s hell.
But a short hike into the wrecked chaos of a broken God left less and less to expect. Amber couldn’t turn back even if she wanted to. There were no options but to keep moving on.
And kept moving on she did.
Some distance up ahead, she felt the cold of still water. Almost like liquefied ice. Amber held up her light. It was not too bright, but bright enough. She was standing on the riverbank, and across the same river, barely noticeable, hazy silhouettes stretched on high and further back.
A glance at her crumpled up map revealed that a river was indeed somewhere north, near the forest boundary and the exit. She was not sure if there were multiple, but it seemed unlikely. She was moving in the right direction.
Amber set the toolbox down, opened the clasps, and inventoried whatever remained inside. A handful of unusable Poke, Wonder Orbs, some odd gravelerock and seeds. To her dismay, however, there were only two apples and an oran berry left. It would last her a while… but she’d no doubt starve. She would have to take a slight detour.
After spending some time navigating through the dense, hardened foliage, she arrived at a small opening of grassland.
A gaping hole had appeared in the ground, and the air was slowly tearing her apart.
It was not merely from intuition that a field of distortion was found so easily. Even with the planet’s paralysis, there was movement. The crushing vibrations in the air. The twitching of the dead grass. The pebbles slowly rearranging themselves as they approached the cave mouth. This would be her first time entering a mystery dungeon in too long, and, for all she knew, she could be walking straight up death’s door.
It was far from an ideal situation, but she needed food. She’d be better off in there than starving to death alone in the forest. She’d spent her entire life dealing with these kinds of situations, and now, she just needs to get out of this alive.
Amber took a deep breath.
“Y-You’re an explorer?”
Amber was leaning on wet stone. She gawked at the Pokémon, a big toolbox around its shoulder, carrying a single torch but bright enough to illuminate the entire chamber. A bright red scarf wrapped around its neck. It was another Sandslash.
“You alright?” He responded with a warm smile.
“Yeah…” She whimpered, but snapped back with sudden energy, “But what took you guys so long? It’s been hours, hasn’t it? The cave is just a short walk down the forest trail.”
“… I wasn’t exactly prepared to journey down to the seventeenth floor today.” He set down his toolbox. “Sorry, but you’re hurt, aren’t you?” Almost immediately after those words, she could feel the pain emitting from her bruised ankle again.
But before she could fully draw her attention back to the clasping of a toolbox, the Sandslash was now crouching over her, equipped with an oran berry, a cloth, and some rolls of bandage.
“Here. I brought supplies.” He crushed and smeared the oran juice over the piece of cloth. “Let me patch your leg right up, then we can safely get out of—“
“I-I can do this myself! You don’t have to…” She couldn’t think of anything else.
Amber was an explorer. Basic first aid is what every explorer should know! She doesn’t need anyone’s help. She can do this by herself.
After a short pause… he simply handed her the supplies, to which she accepted. “Here you go, then.”
She meddled with the oran cloth, messily wrapping the bandages around her ankle—at times, even failing to have them fixed correctly. She tried readjusting her position, but no attempt was better than the last. The whole time, the Sandslash was watching attentively. She hated how nothing she was trying worked, but surely it’s just taking her longer than expected—
A chuckle finally interrupts the scene. She stared at the ground, pouting. Cheeks red from pure embarrassment.
“… That’s alright. Just let me help.” He approached her, and this time, she finally let him treat the injury.
“You’re looking to become an explorer, are you?” He asked, still focused on the treatment process.
“Yeah…”
“You have a lot to learn still.” He let out a small laugh. “But you do have potential. Getting through seventeen floors isn’t exactly a cakewalk. That’s worth some congratulations.”
A smile slowly crept up on her face. She’s not walking home with only a bruised knee today, at least.
After a while, the Sandslash rose up from his position, swinging the toolbox around to his back. “All’s good. Are you able to walk?” He said as he reached out a hand for her. Though she stumbled a bit, the pain was slightly more bearable and she could move her legs just fine. “Yeah, I think so.”
“That’s good. We’ll be moving out now.” He picked up the torch on the ground, using his claws and, if she had to guess, some sort of seed powder to relight its covered head.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around… A bit odd, isn’t it?” He turned to face her. “How we’re the same species and all.”
“Um… Just call me Amber…” She reluctantly replied. “What about yours?”
“Call me Nathan.” He smiled, then returned his focus on the dark. “I guess life’s a bit strange sometimes.”
The caverns should be home to a Sandslash like her.
The distortion had truly run its course in this mystery dungeon, because there was nothing but the darkness, encased by unnaturally flat stony walls and ceilings connected by corridors stretched too long and too thin, digging through the earth almost like an infection but echoing in an eerie, deafening silence.
For a long time, unearthing mystery dungeons had been closer to a fad than a matter of developmental interest. The mutual feeling among the daring explorers had been, though mixed with a hint of wariness, a deep fascination and excitement. She could remember her eyes heavy, half asleep, with the sun barely on the horizon, working herself up to push through the rowdy crowds, already forming near the bulletin and outlaw boards. Her days at the guild demanded no rest from her, but in some ways, it truly was home.
Amber felt none of that here. She felt rejected. This dungeon would not allow her here. It would get rid of her soon enough.
… For now, she had found what she came here for. Though half-rotten, roughed up and spotted with dirt, the few apples she came across looked edible enough. She put them in the toolbox and moved on.
Amber enters a passageway. Even with the light loyal to her side, the darkness would not let up. She wondered if she could even make anything out without her subtle night vision.
But. Arm to the right, trace her claws along the rocks, move along the right side of the wall. If she keeps doing this, eventually she’d have traversed the entire floor without missing a single room. She’s bound to find the stairs sooner or later. Nathan taught her that.
And luckily, Arceus was still kind enough, for the dungeon wasn’t as populated as she had feared. She could still feel their presence, but only occasionally would they emerge to bear their fangs, cry out their silent growls, before unceremoniously retreating into the dark. Amber tried not to dwell on their dejected, pearly white eyes.
She’ll be out of here soon. There’s only a few floors left. The uncanny cave structure was starting to loosen, giving way to rougher earth, and uneven rock formations that were more resembling the natural space it so crudely mimicked.
Things were going easy on her for once.
Amber crawls uphill, crates on her back. Each step felt like tromping through an open swamp. They’ve been at it since noon, but there’s still no end in sight.
She threw the crates onto the ground, and flopped down onto the grass. “Just how much did we have in the storage…?”
“Somewhere over a thousand entries,” Nathan responded, “closer to twelve hundred, I think.” Boxes were neatly stacked on his arms, and were labeled with varying colors and handwriting, specifying each into their own categories.
Amber sighed, looked around at the bags strewn across the grass and stared up at the sky in defeat, scrutinizing over all of the times she felt it was necessary to pick up just one more item. She didn’t know there was karma for being a hoarder.
“Do we really have to move all of our stuff here?”
“There isn’t enough storage for everyone in this town.” Nathan set down his share of the stuff. “We can’t afford the extra charges anyway. And I’d say our lovely little cottage is looking quite spacious, no?”
Amber rolled her eyes at the unsatisfying answer.
“Not my fault the guild didn’t want to accommodate seniors,” Nathan shrugged. “Besides, you did the picking yourself. Not my fault we ended up in the middle of nowhere.”
“Like you could find a better spot…” Amber turned towards Nathan. He was trying to rearrange the boxes so they could fit in an even more limited space, and had completely ignored her remark.
“You won’t find such a lovely little cottage very conveniently closer to town.” She added.
“I might.” A smirk forms on his face. Amber blows a razz berry in response.
“Anyway, we’re wasting daylight. The Kangaskhan might close soon. Got to hurry up or else we’d be waiting until they open back up tomorrow.”
Amber tried her best to pick herself up, but the soft grass had already paralyzed her from the waist down. She struggled with every attempt to muster up the required strength, never failing to trip over shortly afterwards. Has she gotten weak knees already?
Oh well, no point pushing herself any further now. Amber lay down for a moment, reassuring Nathan that she’d be up soon with a begrudging yes.
And there, lying on the grass, feeling the breeze roll by, listening to the distant chirps of the Hoothoot, watching the hues of pink and yellow dance over the sunset…
Carrying boxes is just a small price to pay for a happy dream come true.
The sudden echo of her claws scratching against the stone, though very subtle, made evident the sheer size of the chamber she was in.
Amber raised her light a bit further up. There’s nothing out there. The only thing keeping her company was the silent begging of her knees for a quick rest, and her troubling stomach tugging at every chance for a bite out of an apple.
She’ll worry about all that once she gets out. For now, she needs to focus. There’s not much left of this mystery dungeon, after all.
Amber follows a sudden turn into yet another corridor. Judging by the size of the previous room, and if the Distortion hasn’t fully collapsed under itself, this particular floor should be relatively quick to explore. The stairs would be more difficult to locate, but that’s the least of her worries for now—the bigger room space would mean less chambers to slog through.
She entered the next chamber and immediately met with a swarm of tiny, white glowing eyes.
A bellowing cry sounded back at her.
It was a Monster House.
Amber hurriedly ran back into the tunnel. She let the stalagmites jab into her scales and rushed through the passageways, dashing around corners by forcefully pushing herself against the walls.
Behind her, silhouettes morph into sprawling packs of Rattatas and Nidorans. Their hundred little legs trample down the tunnels, closing the distance. Their eyes rapidly overlapped as they tore each other apart to advance on their prey.
With fresh adrenaline, she threw her light, hastily untied the strap and dug into her toolbox. There had to be something. Anything. Her hands rummage through the contents before clawing on the rough texture of a seed she knew too well.
With no time to waste, she emerged and turned towards the opening, crushed and swallowed the seed in its entirety, before throwing a salvo of flames right above the entrance. The sudden explosion lit the chamber up in blinding light, blasting off enough dust and debris to completely cover up the tunnel in a thick smoke.
And there, within all the madness and the chaos, as she sought desperately for any hope of escape, one unmistakable sight immediately caught her attention.
The stairs.
But just as she took a step forward, the tiniest squeak emerged from the rubble. Then the sound of marching footsteps. Then sounds of rock and stone being shoveled away like an enraged Dugtrio forcing its way through the earth.
So she ran, and ran like hell she did. Her numbing legs and sounds and screams of ferals hurling their corpses in desperate chance to jab their fangs into her hides… they would not stop her. She kept on running. Stopping would mean death, and she was not going to die now.
Amber reaches the descending steps, and instinctively turns to the advancing crowd of ferals. Their eyes meet hers in a mindless rage.
She could not believe they were once living Pokémon. She could not believe those eyes belonged to any Pokémon. Eyes of lifeless bodies and mindless husks claimed by the Distortion. Burnt into her vision. They were the eyes of—
“N-Nathan?”
The light flickers faintly. It feels light.
She moved against the pleading of her body.
She was not simply unhurt. Each heavy breath, each drum of the lung, shed loose scales and dripped blood and sweat, weighing her down as much as it allowed her a step forward. Her claws hung desperately to the cracks in the wall, lest she collapsed onto the cold stone.
But Amber was still standing.
A blur of light, partially blocking her vision, momentarily brought her back to the days bygone. As if she were back there again, watching the fading sunlight through the windows of the guild dormitory. Watching the day wasting away because the Kecleon forgot to refill his stock on time. Watching the sun fall from the sky as she and Nathan sat on the hillside, and underneath the old tree.
There’s a part of her that has yet to let go of this past, because she knows. Things can go back to how they once were. All it needed was time. All she needed was Nathan back to her side, then everything else can fall into place, and then everything else can return to normal again.
Amber was still standing. There’s just a little more to go.
“Nathan. Look at me. Can you hear me?”
“… What are you staring at? What’s over there, Nathan?”
Amber stopped. She heard something.
Noise that wouldn’t naturally be.
They are still chasing her.
She stood her guard. She could not run any further. She will wait for an opening… and when it appears, she will strike. It will be a problematic fight, but she can and will escape with her life. She just needs to play her cards right—
Immediately, three Pokémon emerged from the darkness and flew past her at incredible speed, leaving behind in their wake a wide gash in her lower abdomen.
“Nathan!”
The door’s agape.
She tore through the shattered living room and flung the door open, despite its new weight.
It’s all still there. The grass, the trees, and the sky all sickly gray and smelled of death because there was nothing left in anything. It’s all so twistedly and mercilessly mocking her misery. Arceus could only take, not give…
And now He had to take Nathan away from her.
Amber knelt with sore and ached sputters, sobbing. She caught a glimpse of herself in the midst of tears. A broken Sandslash, stripped of everything she loved and cherished, stuck in a horrible, unending nightmare. Time had stopped, and yet, in an ironic, horrible fate, she was still suffering even when everything had run its course.
… But she now also has nothing left to give.
She’s tired. If there was nothing left for Him to take, then she had everything and anything to take back from His tyranny. Arceus is a damned fool. She won’t kneel any longer, and now, she will bring Nathan back to her by whatever means necessary.
For her sake, and for his sake. They will be back together again.
She lifted her head… and all she could see was the tree line.
Amber tastes blood.
The air rattles behind her. Quick and delicate movements. She was struggling to maintain her stance, but she could still notice them all. They will lunge again. Dodging it is out of the question. Fighting back is the only way forward.
So to hell with it.
Amber striked her claws at the ground and spawned a torrent of gravel and dust. The three ferals swooped in before the duststorm bombarded their vision, filling their lungs with sand. Within the chaos, she watched intently, eyes wide open. Blood was gushing out and mixing in with the sand but claws were at the ready. She strikes again.
The weight of her body flattens the legs of one. The others, disorientated from the dust storm, shrieked at the sudden noise and lunged at the source. Instead of latching their fangs onto her scales, however, they both met the dull end of her thrusting claws. More dust were kicked up as their bodies flopped lifelessly onto the dirty stone. Amber looked down and stared at the last one remaining. Panicking and manically spasming, clawing against her grip. Bleached eyes filled with terror.
She laughed. She didn’t know whether it was at the cruel irony or the desperation of the Pokémon that she laughed. But it didn’t matter. Amber pressed her feet with crushing force. A high-pitched yelp was instantly halted to a complete silence.
The dust settles.
A sudden gasp escaped her lungs. Slowly, she felt cold and tired. The stench of blood starts to become overwhelming. In her dazed, aching head, there was an urgent need for life. She was losing life. She was losing blood.
Amber lightly taps and feels the gash that formed on her underbelly. She uses the other to reach for the bag and to fetch an oran berry or two. She thinks she needs more.
But she felt nothing.
There was nothing. The bag is not with her. Her eyes instinctively darted around the room. She could see, but there was still nothing. It hasn’t been with her? She felt light. No wonder she felt so light. She had forgotten to pick it up again when she pulled the Blast Seed out. She had left it behind.
Amber hated herself. She couldn’t help it. She sees it now, a graveyard. Filled with dirt and gravel littered with the lifeless bodies of her assailants and she at the center. She knows she will join them soon, that the fate she had cast upon them would be one she will now suffer herself. She had tried to defy death and had not only failed, but failed to impress it as well.
Her limping body fell and collapsed on the sandy floor. She felt her blood mixing in with the sand below. She felt the unwelcome of the dirt as it dug into the cuts and sent wriggling pain her way. Not even in her final breaths would the Distortion claim her as one of its own.
Amber started crying. Sobbing in pain. Throbbing, stabbing pain. It was unfair. Why was she the only one left to bear all of this suffering? Why couldn’t she escape this barren world as did so many others? Why was she to challenge Arceus in a game of fate? Was she destined? Cursed? Why did she do it?
No. She wanted to find Nathan. She knew she wasn’t lying to herself, but it felt wrong.
She was afraid. She doesn’t know anymore.
And, amidst all the pain and the dirt and the misery of it all, Amber wanted to close her eyes. But she couldn’t.
Because as they slowly drift down to the ground, staring at her own mangled reflection in the stone wet of blood and tears,
she sees a pair of white eyes staring straight back at her.
“I’ll have a talk with the Kecleons if you keep this up,” said Nathan as he finishes the last roll of bandage over her right arm. “Get you on the blacklist.”
“Hey! Not fair!” Amber barked back. He was a guild member, and could very easily do so. “I can handle things on my own. And I got pretty far this time!”
“And now you look every bit like a Silcoon,” Nathan responded, frowning. “… This is only making my job harder than it should be.”
“Your job?”
It didn’t take long for Nathan to acknowledge the tease—a quick turn, followed by a futile attempt to hide his faint flushes, hands comically fumbling with the toolbox. She snorted. She liked how he reacted every time she managed to get to him.
“Hey, maybe if I join the guild, you wouldn’t have to keep looking out for me every time.” Amber gestured towards the badge laying next to the toolbox.
He let out a smile. “Yeah, I’m sure. You’d be of great help in the request sorting department.”
Her pout turned into something more of a scowl.
The conversation fell silent as she fixed her gaze upon the grass. She wasn’t sure if Nathan actually meant it or not, but she wasn’t happy with that jab either way. Nathan seemed to pick up on this, though.
“Actually, I’ll do you one better.”
“Huh?” She turned her back around. Nathan was already standing with the toolbox neatly settled on his shoulders.
“I’ll let you join my team, how about that?”
“W-What?” Her eyes widened, staring in part awe and part disbelief. Mostly the latter. This wasn’t a normal get-back or any of the sort. Was he actually being serious?
Nathan crouched a bit, smirking. “What, what? I thought you always wanted this. Joining the guild and stuff. Seemed pretty obvious with how much you’re willing to get into trouble.”
“N-No! And that was completely out of left field…” Blood rushed to her face. “B-But you’re sure?”
“Only if you promise.” He held out his pinky, softly smiling. “To not get hurt again.”
“A… pinky promise?”
This was the cheesiest thing she had ever seen.
“Dude. I told you! I can handle—”
Nathan snorted. “And how would I know? Promise me you won’t get into trouble again and I might consider it.”
“… You’re the one who proposed it in the first place.”
But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She had dreamed of joining a guild for as long as she could remember! This was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Nathan didn’t say anything, but waited patiently for her response.
“A-Alright, fine…”
She finally held out her pinky in return, wrapping it around his. Nathan chuckled a bit.
“Um… I promise…”
“I promise I won’t get hurt again.”
0 Comments