Child of Thorns [Platinum Retelling]
Feb 3, 2019 20:54:48 GMT
Post by SilverRockets on Feb 3, 2019 20:54:48 GMT
Summary:
Chapter 1: The Rising Dawn
Eterna Forest - 6 A.M
Metchi got tired of running, which always spelled bad news for whoever was chasing her.
She veered right and threw herself beneath a fallen tree trunk and now rested between a broad, moss covered rock and a small mound of earth and grass.
She heard their steps, seven or eight pair of feet tapping against the wet floor of the forest, and tried her best to control her breathing. It wasn't easy; she'd been smoking before the group of jackasses fell on top of her, forcing her to drop her last cigarette and run for her life. She wasn't sure which one of two she found more offensive.
Relax, she told herself. Breathe in and breathe out, ignore the burning pain in your lungs and focus on finding a way out.
She wasn't sure if the voice was hers or not, but it was good advice nonetheless. Thinking was good, thinking distracted you from the Everything around me sucks and focused you on the Okay, we can make it out of this.
Problem was, plans and ideas were hard to come by recently. She'd lost her backpack, lost everything she'd managed to scavenge for the past weeks and was left with an empty cigarette pack and a heavy steel lighter, old enough to have been made in war times.
"Let me take control."
She couldn't help but wince at the feeling of someone else speaking inside her mind. That certainly wasn't her voice, which coupled with the warmth flashing behind her eyes could mean one thing.
"I can handle this," she whispered, her voice being drowned by the incesant steps around her. "I just need an opening to escape."
"That will not be possible without risking our lives to a degree that I find unacceptable. I will eliminate them."
A painful, cold shiver ran down her spine. Great, she was more scared of her partner than the actual goons trying to kill her.
"There has to be another way," she pleaded.
"I admire your valor, but you're letting your emotions get the better of you. They saw us. They will report us to Jupiter or Mars or even worse, Saturn. We can't let them go."
She closed her eyes and swallowed down all the anger and fear building up inside her. She pushed them to the furthest part of her mind, where they wouldn't interfere with her mission. To think she'd have to do this again...
She let her body fall against the cold grass, "Fine, but take over completely. I don't want to see it."
Before consciousness left her she saw one of them appear from behind a nearby tree. She was young, probably younger than her, and was dressed in the grey and black uniform she was so familiar with. Her eyes went wide with surprise, and immediately her expression changed to one of fury.
"Here she is!" she yelled for the entire forest to hear. "You! Give us back what you stole! Give us back Az...!"
Her hand moved on its own, covered in a powerful golden glow, and she fell into a silent darkness.
Waking came with a painful jolt, followed by enough dizziness she almost fell to the ground. Thick bangs of pink hair obscured her vision, and after a few moments of standing still she realized nothing in her body hurt, which was good. She closed and opened her hands, trying to get back the sensation of touch, and then looked around.
A big mistake. All eight bodies were laying on the cold ground, their limbs motionless and their eyes dull. None of them were breathing.
She stared wordlessly for what felt like an eternity. A boundless fury grew from her stomach outward, coating her skin completely. The grass and dirt rustled beneath her feet.
"Y-you... I told you to..." she stammered, the words not quite coming to her. "I didn't want to..."
"That was all the time I could keep your conciousness at bay. I am sorry."
She choked down on the vulgar variations of I don't believe you forming in her head and simply closed her eyes, forcing herself to take deep breaths. It was done, and there was nothing she could do about it. Just another few names to add to the list of people who'd end up dead because of her.
She spoke in as firm a voice as she could manage, "Let's go. I don't want to stay here any longer."
She took two steps before the voice interrupted her again.
"You should take whatever they had in them. We need supplies, and they won't be using them anymore."
Her feet stopped. She stood still for a few heartbeats, and turned toward the corpses.
"I hate you so much," she whispered, voice devoid of all strength.
Twinleaf Town - 9 A.M
Inyssa was a human burrito at the moment, reason why she didn't notice someone entering her house. She was technically awake, but being wrapped in three different blankets and with the morning cold assaulting her she would need at least half an hour to get up.
Three consecutive knocks resounded through her room, and half conscious she let out pale whispers of vulgarity. She pushed herself to her feet, still surrounded by blankets, and searched for the light switch in the darkness of the room, making sure she didn't step into any of her pens or notebooks.
"Come in, Sarah," she said with a raspy voice, and turned around to the solitary chair where she'd hung her clothes.
An older woman entered the room. She was short and stubby, with dark hair that fell to her shoulders, "How did you know it was me?"
"Well, you didn't break anything while coming up to my room so you're not Barry," Inyssa threw the blankets to the floor and started changing into her usual outfit, "and it's still morning so you're clearly not my mother."
She let out a short, fruity laugh, "Right. Sorry for waking you up so early. And for entering your house without permission."
"'s fine. Barry's woken me up plenty of times and with even less tact. This is nice, in comparison," she tried to sound courteous, though she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. If anyone deserved such a treatment it was Sarah. "So, can I help you with anything?"
Sarah showed her a smile with a clear apology glued to it.
"I know it's really early and it's not your responsibility, but could you please go find him?" the worry lines on the woman's face were as clear as if they were sculpted in marble. "I need to be at work by ten and I can't go looking for him right now."
Inyssa closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Barry. Of course it was Barry.
"Sarah, come on. I know he's a klutz but I don't think he's in trouble. He's probably just climbing trees or crashing into things."
The woman took a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Normally I would agree, but he gave me this before he left. I think he wanted me to give it to you."
Inyssa grabbed the paper and unfolded it, revealing a short and very clumsily written letter. All the words were wobbly, as if someone had written them as fast as humanly possible:
Hey Niss! Did you see the thing in the TV!? The reporter thingy, they were talking about professor Rowan! Looks like he came back from his journey to wherever and now he's back in Sandgem Town!
He's like a super smart dude and he's full of Pokemon to give to kids and we're more than kids! Come on Niss we can't let this opportunity pass, I'm going crazy waiting for my eighteenth birthday and when he sees what great trainers we are he'll give us a Pokemon for sure and we can go in our travels!
I'll wait for you in Route 201, we'll figure something out to get to Sandgem, maybe we can ride a bike, or a Rhydon! I'll wait as long as I can, if you're late I'm fining you a million dollars!
Barry
She lowered the letter, an indescribable look on her face, "Dear Synn... I don't... how does he get these ideas?"
"I don't know," Sarah sighed, "but I'm really worried that he'll be impatient and run through the tall grass without a Pokemon. I don't want him to get hurt."
Inyssa crumpled the paper furiously in her hands, swallowing her frustration down. That dumbass, what the hell was he thinking? She didn't want to believe he'd be stupid enough to cross the route by himself, but she knew how much he hated not being able to do something. The last months had been a nightmare: with his eighteenth birthday so close the kid had been twice as energetic as usual, only talking about how much he wanted a Pokemon. Not that she minded, she was quite similar in that regard, but it became a problem when it affected someone other than her.
She felt bad for Sarah. Taking care of that Emolga in human form must've been the equivalent of having a full time job, on top of her actual full time job.
"I'll go get him," she told her, resigned. "I'll bring him back, even if I have to drag him by his stupid scarf."
"Oh, thank you so much," Sarah was about to grab Inyssa's hand in thanks, but she stopped herself in time. "I'll be sure to order something delicious for both of you when I get back."
Inyssa showed her a warm, yet tired smile. She didn't have anything to do for the day, like usual. She could waste some time looking for her idiot of a friend.
"I'll be on my way then. I'll make sure to punch him in the face for worrying you so much."
Inyssa was half dead by the time she arrived at Route 201. She reached the sign marking the start of the path and had to stop to breathe, leaning against it. Her legs felt like jelly, her lungs were like a furnace and her mouth was as dry as a desert. Still, she had to find Barry before he did anything dangerous. Well, more dangerous than usual.
Luckily, the boy seemed to have held his Ponytas for once in his life and was waiting for her a few feet ahead.
He was tall and slim, with blond hair in a disheveled, crescent haircut. From behind she could see him arms crossed, impatiently slamming his foot on the dirt. Ahead of him lay a long patch of tall grass, which he looked like he was going to cross any second now.
"B... Barry, hey Barry!" she slowly walked towards him, gasping between words. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, just don't. Please."
He jumped at the sound of her voice, his hair getting seemingly pointier. He recovered almost instantly, and formed a massive grin on his face.
"Looks like you're late again Niss. Jeez, what's with your face? It looks like you ran for an hour."
"I ran for twenty minutes," she admitted.
"Wow, are we really that far from town? You must be as excited as I am for my super plan!"
"I'm not, I was just worr..." she stopped herself. If she wasn't already so agitated the red on her face would have been easy to notice. "It's cold, I didn't want to freeze coming here. And by the way..."
Inyssa drove her fist into Barry's arm, with as much force as she could manage.
The boy let out a screech, "Augh! The heck was that for?"
"For worrying Sarah," she replied, suddenly feeling a lot better. "And your plan is stupid, we can't cross the tall grass without Pokemon."
Barry's eyes gleamed at her words, like they did whenever he was about to explain his dubiously working plans.
"Alright, hear me out," his expression changed, already forgetting about the punch inflicted on him. "You know how wild Pokemon appear when you cross the grass? We just need to sprint as fast as we can through it and we'll be in the other side before you know it!"
Inyssa looked at him, mesmerized by his ability to warp logic into such a strange thing.
"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard. And I'm counting the time we tried to get honey from that Combee nest."
"Oh come on Niss, I'm really really sure about this one! Come on, let me show you!" he put his hands together, doing those Poochyena eyes that had stopped working on her years ago.
Without waiting for her response Barry turned around as fast as wind. He lowered his knees and put one hand on the ground, ready to start sprinting at any second.
"Here we go!"
"Barry, wait! Don't...!"
A booming voice shook the route, almost making them jump out of their skin.
"What do you think you're doing!? Stop right there, young man!"
Both kids froze on their tracks. Barry's body stood still for the first time since Inyssa arrived, and the girl herself felt chills up her spine. That voice...
They both turned at the same time, heart in their throats. Behind them stood an unreasonably tall man with ashen white hair and a thick mustache. He wore a dusty brown suit with a blue vest underneath. His eyes were cold and stern, and Inyssa felt like they were looking right through her. She recognized him instantly.
Professor Rowan had discovered them doing something stupid and dangerous, Inyssa realized. She opened her mouth without thinking and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Aw, fuck."
Metchi got tired of running, which always spelled bad news for whoever was chasing her.
She veered right and threw herself beneath a fallen tree trunk and now rested between a broad, moss covered rock and a small mound of earth and grass.
She heard their steps, seven or eight pair of feet tapping against the wet floor of the forest, and tried her best to control her breathing. It wasn't easy; she'd been smoking before the group of jackasses fell on top of her, forcing her to drop her last cigarette and run for her life. She wasn't sure which one of two she found more offensive.
Relax, she told herself. Breathe in and breathe out, ignore the burning pain in your lungs and focus on finding a way out.
She wasn't sure if the voice was hers or not, but it was good advice nonetheless. Thinking was good, thinking distracted you from the Everything around me sucks and focused you on the Okay, we can make it out of this.
Problem was, plans and ideas were hard to come by recently. She'd lost her backpack, lost everything she'd managed to scavenge for the past weeks and was left with an empty cigarette pack and a heavy steel lighter, old enough to have been made in war times.
"Let me take control."
She couldn't help but wince at the feeling of someone else speaking inside her mind. That certainly wasn't her voice, which coupled with the warmth flashing behind her eyes could mean one thing.
"I can handle this," she whispered, her voice being drowned by the incesant steps around her. "I just need an opening to escape."
"That will not be possible without risking our lives to a degree that I find unacceptable. I will eliminate them."
A painful, cold shiver ran down her spine. Great, she was more scared of her partner than the actual goons trying to kill her.
"There has to be another way," she pleaded.
"I admire your valor, but you're letting your emotions get the better of you. They saw us. They will report us to Jupiter or Mars or even worse, Saturn. We can't let them go."
She closed her eyes and swallowed down all the anger and fear building up inside her. She pushed them to the furthest part of her mind, where they wouldn't interfere with her mission. To think she'd have to do this again...
She let her body fall against the cold grass, "Fine, but take over completely. I don't want to see it."
Before consciousness left her she saw one of them appear from behind a nearby tree. She was young, probably younger than her, and was dressed in the grey and black uniform she was so familiar with. Her eyes went wide with surprise, and immediately her expression changed to one of fury.
"Here she is!" she yelled for the entire forest to hear. "You! Give us back what you stole! Give us back Az...!"
Her hand moved on its own, covered in a powerful golden glow, and she fell into a silent darkness.
Waking came with a painful jolt, followed by enough dizziness she almost fell to the ground. Thick bangs of pink hair obscured her vision, and after a few moments of standing still she realized nothing in her body hurt, which was good. She closed and opened her hands, trying to get back the sensation of touch, and then looked around.
A big mistake. All eight bodies were laying on the cold ground, their limbs motionless and their eyes dull. None of them were breathing.
She stared wordlessly for what felt like an eternity. A boundless fury grew from her stomach outward, coating her skin completely. The grass and dirt rustled beneath her feet.
"Y-you... I told you to..." she stammered, the words not quite coming to her. "I didn't want to..."
"That was all the time I could keep your conciousness at bay. I am sorry."
She choked down on the vulgar variations of I don't believe you forming in her head and simply closed her eyes, forcing herself to take deep breaths. It was done, and there was nothing she could do about it. Just another few names to add to the list of people who'd end up dead because of her.
She spoke in as firm a voice as she could manage, "Let's go. I don't want to stay here any longer."
She took two steps before the voice interrupted her again.
"You should take whatever they had in them. We need supplies, and they won't be using them anymore."
Her feet stopped. She stood still for a few heartbeats, and turned toward the corpses.
"I hate you so much," she whispered, voice devoid of all strength.
Twinleaf Town - 9 A.M
Inyssa was a human burrito at the moment, reason why she didn't notice someone entering her house. She was technically awake, but being wrapped in three different blankets and with the morning cold assaulting her she would need at least half an hour to get up.
Three consecutive knocks resounded through her room, and half conscious she let out pale whispers of vulgarity. She pushed herself to her feet, still surrounded by blankets, and searched for the light switch in the darkness of the room, making sure she didn't step into any of her pens or notebooks.
"Come in, Sarah," she said with a raspy voice, and turned around to the solitary chair where she'd hung her clothes.
An older woman entered the room. She was short and stubby, with dark hair that fell to her shoulders, "How did you know it was me?"
"Well, you didn't break anything while coming up to my room so you're not Barry," Inyssa threw the blankets to the floor and started changing into her usual outfit, "and it's still morning so you're clearly not my mother."
She let out a short, fruity laugh, "Right. Sorry for waking you up so early. And for entering your house without permission."
"'s fine. Barry's woken me up plenty of times and with even less tact. This is nice, in comparison," she tried to sound courteous, though she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. If anyone deserved such a treatment it was Sarah. "So, can I help you with anything?"
Sarah showed her a smile with a clear apology glued to it.
"I know it's really early and it's not your responsibility, but could you please go find him?" the worry lines on the woman's face were as clear as if they were sculpted in marble. "I need to be at work by ten and I can't go looking for him right now."
Inyssa closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Barry. Of course it was Barry.
"Sarah, come on. I know he's a klutz but I don't think he's in trouble. He's probably just climbing trees or crashing into things."
The woman took a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Normally I would agree, but he gave me this before he left. I think he wanted me to give it to you."
Inyssa grabbed the paper and unfolded it, revealing a short and very clumsily written letter. All the words were wobbly, as if someone had written them as fast as humanly possible:
Hey Niss! Did you see the thing in the TV!? The reporter thingy, they were talking about professor Rowan! Looks like he came back from his journey to wherever and now he's back in Sandgem Town!
He's like a super smart dude and he's full of Pokemon to give to kids and we're more than kids! Come on Niss we can't let this opportunity pass, I'm going crazy waiting for my eighteenth birthday and when he sees what great trainers we are he'll give us a Pokemon for sure and we can go in our travels!
I'll wait for you in Route 201, we'll figure something out to get to Sandgem, maybe we can ride a bike, or a Rhydon! I'll wait as long as I can, if you're late I'm fining you a million dollars!
Barry
She lowered the letter, an indescribable look on her face, "Dear Synn... I don't... how does he get these ideas?"
"I don't know," Sarah sighed, "but I'm really worried that he'll be impatient and run through the tall grass without a Pokemon. I don't want him to get hurt."
Inyssa crumpled the paper furiously in her hands, swallowing her frustration down. That dumbass, what the hell was he thinking? She didn't want to believe he'd be stupid enough to cross the route by himself, but she knew how much he hated not being able to do something. The last months had been a nightmare: with his eighteenth birthday so close the kid had been twice as energetic as usual, only talking about how much he wanted a Pokemon. Not that she minded, she was quite similar in that regard, but it became a problem when it affected someone other than her.
She felt bad for Sarah. Taking care of that Emolga in human form must've been the equivalent of having a full time job, on top of her actual full time job.
"I'll go get him," she told her, resigned. "I'll bring him back, even if I have to drag him by his stupid scarf."
"Oh, thank you so much," Sarah was about to grab Inyssa's hand in thanks, but she stopped herself in time. "I'll be sure to order something delicious for both of you when I get back."
Inyssa showed her a warm, yet tired smile. She didn't have anything to do for the day, like usual. She could waste some time looking for her idiot of a friend.
"I'll be on my way then. I'll make sure to punch him in the face for worrying you so much."
Inyssa was half dead by the time she arrived at Route 201. She reached the sign marking the start of the path and had to stop to breathe, leaning against it. Her legs felt like jelly, her lungs were like a furnace and her mouth was as dry as a desert. Still, she had to find Barry before he did anything dangerous. Well, more dangerous than usual.
Luckily, the boy seemed to have held his Ponytas for once in his life and was waiting for her a few feet ahead.
He was tall and slim, with blond hair in a disheveled, crescent haircut. From behind she could see him arms crossed, impatiently slamming his foot on the dirt. Ahead of him lay a long patch of tall grass, which he looked like he was going to cross any second now.
"B... Barry, hey Barry!" she slowly walked towards him, gasping between words. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, just don't. Please."
He jumped at the sound of her voice, his hair getting seemingly pointier. He recovered almost instantly, and formed a massive grin on his face.
"Looks like you're late again Niss. Jeez, what's with your face? It looks like you ran for an hour."
"I ran for twenty minutes," she admitted.
"Wow, are we really that far from town? You must be as excited as I am for my super plan!"
"I'm not, I was just worr..." she stopped herself. If she wasn't already so agitated the red on her face would have been easy to notice. "It's cold, I didn't want to freeze coming here. And by the way..."
Inyssa drove her fist into Barry's arm, with as much force as she could manage.
The boy let out a screech, "Augh! The heck was that for?"
"For worrying Sarah," she replied, suddenly feeling a lot better. "And your plan is stupid, we can't cross the tall grass without Pokemon."
Barry's eyes gleamed at her words, like they did whenever he was about to explain his dubiously working plans.
"Alright, hear me out," his expression changed, already forgetting about the punch inflicted on him. "You know how wild Pokemon appear when you cross the grass? We just need to sprint as fast as we can through it and we'll be in the other side before you know it!"
Inyssa looked at him, mesmerized by his ability to warp logic into such a strange thing.
"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard. And I'm counting the time we tried to get honey from that Combee nest."
"Oh come on Niss, I'm really really sure about this one! Come on, let me show you!" he put his hands together, doing those Poochyena eyes that had stopped working on her years ago.
Without waiting for her response Barry turned around as fast as wind. He lowered his knees and put one hand on the ground, ready to start sprinting at any second.
"Here we go!"
"Barry, wait! Don't...!"
A booming voice shook the route, almost making them jump out of their skin.
"What do you think you're doing!? Stop right there, young man!"
Both kids froze on their tracks. Barry's body stood still for the first time since Inyssa arrived, and the girl herself felt chills up her spine. That voice...
They both turned at the same time, heart in their throats. Behind them stood an unreasonably tall man with ashen white hair and a thick mustache. He wore a dusty brown suit with a blue vest underneath. His eyes were cold and stern, and Inyssa felt like they were looking right through her. She recognized him instantly.
Professor Rowan had discovered them doing something stupid and dangerous, Inyssa realized. She opened her mouth without thinking and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Aw, fuck."
I'll try to keep this up and get to the later chapters!