Dawn of a Legend [Yuletide 2020]
Dec 30, 2020 19:18:41 GMT
Post by Dtmahanen on Dec 30, 2020 19:18:41 GMT
Hello, everyone! Here's my second Yuletide fic, this one written for cross_off! I hope you all enjoy as well!
There is a serenity to it. A sort of peace that can’t quite be matched anywhere else.
Jasmine sits on the beachhead of Olivine City. Her steelix, Clash, is sprawled out beside her, her massive form extending to the horizon.
Or rather, what passes for a horizon in the inky blackness of night.
The night before had been restless. Distant sounds of storms and crashing waves had emerged from the Whirl Islands at around 3 in the morning, much stronger than the normal fare, jogging Jasmine from her sleep. Rushing over to Amphy in the lighthouse, all either of the two of them could make out was a storm of some kind swirling in the distant. It loomed large and dark, like a typhoon twisting and bending the air around it.
Even now, small vestiges of it remain.
Jasmine is unable to fall asleep considering the noise and weather, so she’s content enough to wait with Clash at the Olivine beach. Though the storm is still somewhat present in the distance, it’s far enough away where all the two of them can feel is a stiff breeze. Amphy is more than content to stay in the lighthouse, though. She was never much of a fan of rain.
“Whaddaya think, bud?” she asks Clash, stroking her metallic snout. “Is it something we need to warn the town about, or is it just a freak storm?” The steelix lets out a low grunt in response, seemingly more interested in munching on some of the stones that frame each side of the sands than answering her question. Jasmine chuckles a bit at her companion’s nonchalance.
Nothing ever phases her, huh?
Perhaps that’s what she would say, were it not for Clash suddenly raising her gigantic head from the ground. She snarls, pointing her neck toward the sea like a pointer dog, training her vision at some distant point in the horizon. Jasmine, curious, looks in that direction as well.
And it’s then that she notices the figure swimming towards them.
Or figures, rather, as the approaching shape takes form as two separate figures, both framed in an eerie yellow light. The first, and larger of the two, is a blue-and-yellow fish with big, curious red eyes and a glowing angler appendage. Riding this lanturn is a smaller, humanoid figure, wearing a large white cap and sporting short pigtails.
Jasmine recognizes her immediately.
“Lyra!” she shouts, giving the girl a large wave to get her attention. “Over here!” The girl, now noticing Jasmine on the beach, gives a big toothy smile as she returns the gesture. She then signals her lanturn to move a little faster, and in no time at all, the two of them reach the shore.
“Jasmine!” the younger girl says. “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?” She rushes onto the shore, words spilling out of her mouth as she runs. “Wait, sorry, I know you, like, live here, but like, what’re you doing up right now, it’s like five in the morning, shouldn’t you be asleep, or at the very least getting ready for your Gym Battles for the day, or –”
“OKAY, okay!” Jasmine interjects, barely able to hold in a belly laugh. “It’s good to see you too.” Her face turns serious again. “The storm woke me up. You just came from the west.”
“Yeah, I stopped by Cianwood for a bit, wanted to say hello to Chuck and go to the Safari Zone, since it’d been a while and –”
“Lyra, focus,” Jasmine chuckles. “You passed through the Whirl Islands to get here, right?”
“Uh-huh, sure did!”
“And you’re not at all concerned about the storm that was raging over there not even a couple of hours ago?”
A look of realization dawns on Lyra. “OOOOOOOOOOOH. Yeah. That.” She looks over towards the horizon, where the first purples of morning are slowly beginning to crest over the distant waves. “Does Clash mind if I sit? I feel like I need to sit down while I tell you this.”
Clash shakes her head in deference as she lays her head back onto the ground. The two women laugh as they lean onto her metal body. As they do so, Lyra unlatches a pokéball from her belt. However, just from a glance, Jasmine can tell that it isn’t a normal ball, as its upper hemisphere is purple with pink bulges, rather than the standard red.
“Where did you get that?” Jasmine asks, her face pale with shock.
“Professor Elm gave it to me, actually,” Lyra responds, flipping it over in her hand. “As thanks for helping deal with the Team Rocket resurgence. And, like, I didn’t think much of it until I went to Ecruteak City on the way to Mahogany Town. A bunch of women wearing kimonos stopped me, and said that I’d sorta, like, proven myself or something, and wanted to test me.”
Jasmine’s eyes widen. “You … you were granted an audience with the Kimono Sisters?” She exhales sharply. “Lyra, that’s something that doesn’t just, like, happen. Not unless they deem you worthy of something big.” Her back straightens in realization. “No.” She jolts to her feet. “NO! You’re kidding me.”
Lyra gives a bit of a sheepish grin. “So I may have, sorta, y’know, caused that storm a couple of hours ago.”
“THE KIMONO SISTERS TOOK YOU TO FACE LUGIA??!!”
The words hang in the air, pregnant with meaning. Everyone in Johto worth their salt knows what Lugia is. The Beast of Storms. The Riptide Leviathan. It is the reason why the Whirl Islands are so dangerous to pass through, or so the legend tells.
And if what Lyra is implying is true…
“I didn’t just … face it,” she whispers, gazing at the Master Ball in her hand. “I … won.”
As dawn begins to break over the rocky shores of Olivine City, Jasmine plops back onto the sand. She looks at Lyra, her face and hat framed perfectly by the bright red ball of the sun as it crests over the waves. It’s a majestic site, yet so intimate due to their closeness.
She almost can’t bear to look at her.
“And to think,” she mutters, “that only a couple of months ago, you were just a new Trainer with four badges to your name.”
“Y’know, it’s funny, actually,” Lyra responds. “I still have to get Blackthorn’s.”
Jasmine lets out a guffaw. “Well I can tell you that Clair doesn’t stand a chance. Not if … y’know…”
“Yeah…” Lyra looks at Jasmine again, and now she sees what she hadn’t before. There are dark circles under her eyes, almost bags. Her floppy hat, far from being the angelic halo against the sun she’d seen earlier, is sagging, almost falling in front of her eyes. “Can I just … rest for a bit?” Lyra continues. “It’s been a long day and…” She pauses. “It’s been way too long since I’ve enjoyed a sunrise.”
No words are needed. The two of them sit down again. Clash, having ingested some of the rock from the beach, curls around them.
And the two women, one still in awe of the legend sprawled out next to her, gaze at the horizon, witness to the coming dawn.
Dawn of a Legend
There is a serenity to it. A sort of peace that can’t quite be matched anywhere else.
Jasmine sits on the beachhead of Olivine City. Her steelix, Clash, is sprawled out beside her, her massive form extending to the horizon.
Or rather, what passes for a horizon in the inky blackness of night.
The night before had been restless. Distant sounds of storms and crashing waves had emerged from the Whirl Islands at around 3 in the morning, much stronger than the normal fare, jogging Jasmine from her sleep. Rushing over to Amphy in the lighthouse, all either of the two of them could make out was a storm of some kind swirling in the distant. It loomed large and dark, like a typhoon twisting and bending the air around it.
Even now, small vestiges of it remain.
Jasmine is unable to fall asleep considering the noise and weather, so she’s content enough to wait with Clash at the Olivine beach. Though the storm is still somewhat present in the distance, it’s far enough away where all the two of them can feel is a stiff breeze. Amphy is more than content to stay in the lighthouse, though. She was never much of a fan of rain.
“Whaddaya think, bud?” she asks Clash, stroking her metallic snout. “Is it something we need to warn the town about, or is it just a freak storm?” The steelix lets out a low grunt in response, seemingly more interested in munching on some of the stones that frame each side of the sands than answering her question. Jasmine chuckles a bit at her companion’s nonchalance.
Nothing ever phases her, huh?
Perhaps that’s what she would say, were it not for Clash suddenly raising her gigantic head from the ground. She snarls, pointing her neck toward the sea like a pointer dog, training her vision at some distant point in the horizon. Jasmine, curious, looks in that direction as well.
And it’s then that she notices the figure swimming towards them.
Or figures, rather, as the approaching shape takes form as two separate figures, both framed in an eerie yellow light. The first, and larger of the two, is a blue-and-yellow fish with big, curious red eyes and a glowing angler appendage. Riding this lanturn is a smaller, humanoid figure, wearing a large white cap and sporting short pigtails.
Jasmine recognizes her immediately.
“Lyra!” she shouts, giving the girl a large wave to get her attention. “Over here!” The girl, now noticing Jasmine on the beach, gives a big toothy smile as she returns the gesture. She then signals her lanturn to move a little faster, and in no time at all, the two of them reach the shore.
“Jasmine!” the younger girl says. “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?” She rushes onto the shore, words spilling out of her mouth as she runs. “Wait, sorry, I know you, like, live here, but like, what’re you doing up right now, it’s like five in the morning, shouldn’t you be asleep, or at the very least getting ready for your Gym Battles for the day, or –”
“OKAY, okay!” Jasmine interjects, barely able to hold in a belly laugh. “It’s good to see you too.” Her face turns serious again. “The storm woke me up. You just came from the west.”
“Yeah, I stopped by Cianwood for a bit, wanted to say hello to Chuck and go to the Safari Zone, since it’d been a while and –”
“Lyra, focus,” Jasmine chuckles. “You passed through the Whirl Islands to get here, right?”
“Uh-huh, sure did!”
“And you’re not at all concerned about the storm that was raging over there not even a couple of hours ago?”
A look of realization dawns on Lyra. “OOOOOOOOOOOH. Yeah. That.” She looks over towards the horizon, where the first purples of morning are slowly beginning to crest over the distant waves. “Does Clash mind if I sit? I feel like I need to sit down while I tell you this.”
Clash shakes her head in deference as she lays her head back onto the ground. The two women laugh as they lean onto her metal body. As they do so, Lyra unlatches a pokéball from her belt. However, just from a glance, Jasmine can tell that it isn’t a normal ball, as its upper hemisphere is purple with pink bulges, rather than the standard red.
“Where did you get that?” Jasmine asks, her face pale with shock.
“Professor Elm gave it to me, actually,” Lyra responds, flipping it over in her hand. “As thanks for helping deal with the Team Rocket resurgence. And, like, I didn’t think much of it until I went to Ecruteak City on the way to Mahogany Town. A bunch of women wearing kimonos stopped me, and said that I’d sorta, like, proven myself or something, and wanted to test me.”
Jasmine’s eyes widen. “You … you were granted an audience with the Kimono Sisters?” She exhales sharply. “Lyra, that’s something that doesn’t just, like, happen. Not unless they deem you worthy of something big.” Her back straightens in realization. “No.” She jolts to her feet. “NO! You’re kidding me.”
Lyra gives a bit of a sheepish grin. “So I may have, sorta, y’know, caused that storm a couple of hours ago.”
“THE KIMONO SISTERS TOOK YOU TO FACE LUGIA??!!”
The words hang in the air, pregnant with meaning. Everyone in Johto worth their salt knows what Lugia is. The Beast of Storms. The Riptide Leviathan. It is the reason why the Whirl Islands are so dangerous to pass through, or so the legend tells.
And if what Lyra is implying is true…
“I didn’t just … face it,” she whispers, gazing at the Master Ball in her hand. “I … won.”
As dawn begins to break over the rocky shores of Olivine City, Jasmine plops back onto the sand. She looks at Lyra, her face and hat framed perfectly by the bright red ball of the sun as it crests over the waves. It’s a majestic site, yet so intimate due to their closeness.
She almost can’t bear to look at her.
“And to think,” she mutters, “that only a couple of months ago, you were just a new Trainer with four badges to your name.”
“Y’know, it’s funny, actually,” Lyra responds. “I still have to get Blackthorn’s.”
Jasmine lets out a guffaw. “Well I can tell you that Clair doesn’t stand a chance. Not if … y’know…”
“Yeah…” Lyra looks at Jasmine again, and now she sees what she hadn’t before. There are dark circles under her eyes, almost bags. Her floppy hat, far from being the angelic halo against the sun she’d seen earlier, is sagging, almost falling in front of her eyes. “Can I just … rest for a bit?” Lyra continues. “It’s been a long day and…” She pauses. “It’s been way too long since I’ve enjoyed a sunrise.”
No words are needed. The two of them sit down again. Clash, having ingested some of the rock from the beach, curls around them.
And the two women, one still in awe of the legend sprawled out next to her, gaze at the horizon, witness to the coming dawn.