~\({O})/~
21.
Void and Shadow
~\({O})/~
Ruined Colony
~Riolu~
The storm was gone the next morning, when the sky turned blood-red again. Riolu rose, staring blankly into the distance and waiting for the events of the day to inevitably come back to him. When they did, he suddenly felt much less peppy. Next to him, Athena slept, looking much more tired than he felt.
"Come on…" Riolu muttered, shaking the sleeping form of Bryony awake. "Get up!"
Bryony stirred, groaning incoherently. She slowly sat up, looking at Riolu wearily.
"Wha… What happened?" she yawned. "I had the worst nightmare last night."
Riolu frowned, then took a deep breath. "I'll bet it was more than just a nightmare," he said.
Exiting the hovel they had fallen asleep in, Riolu and Bryony walked (or, in Bryony's case, slid) back to the wrecked remains of the camp that had once held everymon in Pokemon Plaza. Bryony's pigtails flopped down in horror as she gazed around at the ruins of the camp.
"They…" she gasped, but couldn't bring herself to say anything further. Riolu walked forward towards, the camp, undisturbed.
"We should scavenge before we go," he said. "Maybe they left something for us to eat."
Bryony's flippers trembled. Then she yelled to the blood-red sky wordlessly in grief.
"I just need… five minutes… will you let me have that, please?"
She didn't even look at him. Riolu nodded, then walked off into what remained of the campsite. He'd find some food while they waited.
~\({O})/~
Just like Riolu had thought, the camp had a lot of food lying around, ripe for the picking. Unfortunately, little of that food was still in edible condition. Withered roots and what looked like the husks of what once was fruit lay on the ground, bruised beyond repair. The portable silo that held the water had collapsed in the night, and had turned a good portion of the ground to mud. Riolu picked whatever bits and pieces he could get off the ground in edible condition, and eventually gave up on the prospect of water that wasn't from the sea.
He handed a smelly root to Bryony on his way back from the camp.
"…What's this?" she asked after a minute, looking down at it.
"Food," Riolu said. "I ate them for a week, and others must have been eating them too."
"There were fruits on the Air Continent," Bryony said, sniffing the root. "I know because we took some with us."
"Well, not anymore," Riolu said. "They were all smashed to mush."
He took a bite from his own root, grimacing slightly at the taste before walking forward in the direction of the mountain.
Reverse Mountain became a beacon for them as they travelled; a final destination that was always visible and ever-present. Riolu walked back through the seas of rust-red sand, passing the tree-tangled hearts without much commotion. At one point, he bent over and began to hack away bits and pieces of the roots with his paws. Bryony watched him in silent horror as he chopped away at the roots, finally picking up one very large one and hauling it over his back.
"Did you just…" Riolu heard Bryony mutter in shock behind him, but she was quickly silent after that.
It was half a day's journey back to the ruins of that old village, and Riolu quickly led Bryony towards where he knew the Litwick's clearing was.
"It's just this way," he said to her as they walked. The mountain's large figure loomed above them, much more ominous now than it had been from a distance. Riolu entered the clearing with the large root, but found that it was empty. Just like when he had first entered. Maybe they were just hiding because of Bryony.
"I'm back!" he hollered out. "Sorry for leaving!"
Only silence greeted him. Riolu tilted his head. No, that wasn't right. They were hiding.
"Anymon there?" he called out again. Silence greeted him. Not even the wind whistled through the rotting branches of the trees.
"C'mon guys!" Riolu yelled. "This isn't funny!"
He couldn't hear any answer. Bryony tilted her head at him.
"Solosis?!" Riolu called out. "Anymon?!"
"There's no-mon here," Athena said.
"But there was!" Riolu argued, spinning around to look at her. The expression on his face was worried and desperate. "There were over a hundred litwick here just yesterday! And somemon called 'Solosis' too! Where could they all have gone?"
"You won't like the answer," Bryony said, folding her flippers in a huff.
"What does that mean?" Riolu yelled at her.
"It's just like what happened to my pokemon," Bryony said. "There's only one reason over a hundred pokemon disappear in one day: A Shadow got 'em. That, or they all decided to move at once. But that's unlikely. You have to assume the worst."
"They have to have moved somewhere," Riolu said. "I'm not going to believe a Void Shadow got them. Not until I see it with my own eyes."
"You're seeing it now!" Bryony snapped at him. "Did anything you saw last night stick? They carve destruction in their paths, and they leave nothing behind. They're gone, Riolu; you have to assume they're gone. You have to assume the only way out is up there." She pointed to the mountain above them. "Keep it together. We both have to keep it together."
Riolu's gaze lowered, and he was silent. He began to trudge off in the direction of the mountain.
"I still want to look for them."
~\({O})/~
"Solosis – the leader of that litwick group – she said she would come up to that mountain every day and look for a way out," Riolu said, as they headed up a largish hill on the way to the mountain. Riolu could see a trio of buildings at the very top, and Reverse Mountain loomed over it all in the distance. "But she always came back at the end of the day empty-handed."
"Did you ever go there with her?" Bryony asked, inching her way up the hill after him with her flippers.
"No, I only stayed a week," Riolu muttered. They reached the top of the hill, stopping at a fork in the road.
"Around that building," Riolu said, pointing at the ruins of the building directly in front of him. To both the left and right lay two other buildings, both in similar condition. A path led around the remains of the middle one and straight down the hill. Riolu braced himself, and then slid down the hill on his rump.
He left Bryony behind. She tried to slide after him, but ended up hitting a rock and tumbled all the way down instead. She crashed into Riolu from behind, and they both tumbled to the ground in a heap.
"Ow..:" Riolu grumbled, rubbing his head and looking down at the ground. He saw large roots, staring him straight in the face. And they smelled putrid. Riolu's eyes followed the roots are far as they could, watching them snake and tangle their way through the ground until they spiraled up and around another beating tree-heart in the distance.
Bryony lifted herself back up, gazing at the same thing Riolu was.
"What are those things…" Riolu muttered to himself.
"It was only a theory," Bryony began, but then paused for a minute. "But I think they're mystery dungeons."
"What's a mystery dungeon?" Riolu picked himself up and began to walk through the mess of roots. Bryony followed, but she had a harder time of navigating the roots than Riolu did.
"Mystery dungeons are… places that don't make sense. They form over completely ordinary spots of land and then they twist them. The insides look like a maze, made out of whatever the mystery dungeon formed over. And at the center, there's an Anchorstone – the original spot of land that the dungeon formed on, hidden deep in its depths. There are land dungeons, water dungeons, sky dungeons… Wartortle was even considering the possibility of a space dungeon."
Riolu thought for a moment. "You think that's what's on top of Reverse Mountain?"
"No-mon knows," Bryony said. "I'd prefer the way back, myself."
There was nothing else to say, and they walked at a steady pace in silence. Soon, they reached the base of Reverse Mountain.
Even from this close, the mountain shone, and Riolu could feel the heat pulsing from it. It reverberated through the air, and all of the sudden Riolu felt like he was standing in a desert. And then he saw what had puzzled Solosis all this time: From the very bottom of the mountain up to a point that Riolu couldn't see was a smooth, insurmountable cliff. No ledges to climb on, and no
"How do we climb that?" Bryony asked.
"I don't know if we can," Riolu answered.
~\({O})/~
The Ancient Barrow
~Espurr~
Riolu and Espurr ran down the Barrow's narrow halls, splashing in the swamp water as they went. They could still hear the Shadow lurking in the distance behind them.
"Where are you taking us?" Espurr called out as they ran.
"The next floor up!" Riolu called back.
The goo ahead of them sudden began to bubble. Espurr directed a beam of mental energy directly into the water, which flared up and slammed into the wall. The Shadow retreated into the goo just long enough for Espurr and Riolu to pass and round a corner.
"But the floors go down here," Espurr yelled to Riolu as they ran. "Not up!"
"Think again," Riolu replied, not even looking at her. "Look!"
He pointed ahead, and then Espurr saw what he did: just ahead of them was the Staircase. It led up, its perfect steps shining despite being surrounded on all sides by filth.
"What are you waiting for?!" Riolu yelled, noticing that she had slowed down. "Do you want Nyarlathotep to get you?"
Espurr considered her options. The Stairs weren't supposed to lead up. What if that was the final Staircase, and they both exited the dungeon? That would mean Tricky and the rest of them were still behind her. But at the same time… being caught by Nyarlathotep over a whim wasn't an option either.
"Hey!" Riolu called out. "Creepy cat! Snap out of it!"
"It's Espurr," Espurr said. And then the walls began to shift again, so she ran like the wind. She reached Riolu, grabbing his arm and pulling them onto the Stairway. They vanished together, and the next thing Espurr and Riolu knew they were deposited straight onto the swamp water of another dungeon floor. Espurr let out a breath of relief – they must have been deep in the dungeon after all.
They both sat there in the swamp for a moment, catching their breaths. Nyarlathotep didn't follow.
~\({O})/~
The Voidlands
~Riolu~
It had been roughly a week, and both Riolu and Bryony had come to the depressing conclusion: There was no way to scale Reverse Mountain. The cliff was made of solid rock; there would be no digging into it. It had no ridges or ledges, so there was no climbing it the conventional way. And neither Riolu nor Bryony could fly. Riolu was stumped, as was Bryony; soon they fell into a routine of collecting roots from heart-trees in the area for food and searching for another way out in the meantime. Riolu took to sneaking away in the morning and exploring the remains of the nearby village during the day. Perhaps there might have been something he could find there!
As the week passed, he found things. Ruined things, but still things he could use to build with. He didn't know what Bryony was up to, but Riolu came up with a nifty plan on his own: If he couldn't pierce the stone of Reverse Mountain with his own claws, he'd do it with a grapping hook! Now all he had to do was build one.
The wrecked buildings in what was obviously the center of town had many more odds and ends to choose from than the ones on the town outskirts. Riolu nicked a few sharp knives from the large building in the center, and some rope from the stall to the left. There was a burnt tent to the southeast side of the square that held nothing useful. Riolu kicked some of the ruined tent remains aside, slinging the rope and knife over his shoulder. It didn't look like there was anything else here, he decided. He looked up at the sky; it was beginning to turn black. He should have left an hour ago.
Riolu turned around, but caught sight of movement from behind him. He spun around – had a void shadow snuck up on him unawares?
But what he saw was the fuzzy, faint outline of what looked like a pokemon, heading into one of the ruined houses in the square. It spared a look outside, glancing in Riolu's general direction for a second. Riolu quickly hid behind the tent with his rope and knife. It was a few moments before he peeked out again.
Curiosity overtook him – what was it? Slowly, Riolu crept out of hiding and tiptoed over to the house. He stepped over what little remained of the wall, heading down the hallway once he realized what had been the living room was empty. He peeked into the room on the left, and caught sight of the shadow—
Startled, Riolu lost his balance for a minute. He stumbled into the dresser on the right, creating a loud
'bang!' before quickly darting out of the room. The last he saw of the shadow was it quickly sitting up.
~\({O})/~
"What's that?" Bryony asked, eyeing the rope and knives Riolu had slung over his shoulder. She had a sack (also collected from the nearby town), filled with more of the gross-smelling roots.
"It's something for the mountain," Riolu said, trying to fiddle with it. "Maybe we can pierce it this way."
"What about that house?" Bryony asked.
"What house?"
"The house on the island. Y'know, the one that's still standing?"
That was news to Riolu. The one thing he hadn't seen for a while (besides other pokemon) was a completely standing building.
"Where?" he asked.
"To the south," Bryony said. "There's just… there's something about it. You can feel it there. I feel like it's worth checking out. You think we should do that when…" she looked up at the black sky, hesitant to say 'day'. "…When the sky's red again?"
Riolu just nodded.
~\({O})/~
Slowly coming to. Daybreak came earlier than Riolu thought, but he rose with it anyway. Bryony was still asleep, and Riolu didn't try waking her. She'd just slow him down.
He made the trek up to Reverse Mountain with his knife and rope in hand. Riolu had spent last night tying them together, even though he didn't know the first thing about tying knots and his stubby paws didn't help with that in the least. He just had to hope it held together well.
The base of Reverse Mountain was as hard and volcanic as ever. Riolu flinched just from the heat. He looked up, and saw the stop of the mountain was wreathed in burning flames, just as it had been from afar. Was this really a good idea? The heat was beginning to make Riolu pant.
But there was nothing to do but try. Riolu let the rope he held go slack until the knife hit the stone below him with a clang. Then he started swinging. Over and over in circles, the knife gaining more momentum as it went—
—Riolu's eyes widened and he quickly ducked just before the knife could clip off a good portion of his ear. The knife flew over his head and embedded itself deep into the stone behind him.
Losing his balance, Riolu fell backwards onto the ground. Hearing the sound of the knife embedding itself into the stone, he looked around and saw the knife's blade sticking out of the rock. Had it… had it been a success?
Riolu quickly jumped to his feet, scurrying over and pulling on the handle. It gave, but not without some resistance. Riolu pulled out the knife, but the momentum sent him falling back and landing on his tail. Riolu flinched from the pain, but then looked down at the knife in his hand. It had worked. It had really worked! This was a breakthrough! He… he had to get back to Athena. Riolu jumped to his feet, grabbed the rest of the rope, and began to run back towards the forest clearing.
He felt an urge to close his eyes while running, and so he did. Riolu felt the feelers on either side of his head begin to vibrate, and all of the sudden he couldsee – the knife in his hand, where everything in the forest was, and a tree he was heading right towards – Riolu course-corrected just in time. He felt everything. This was amaz—
—Riolu hit a tree root he hadn't seen and tripped. He landed on the knife, but thankfully it was flat. Riolu slowly picked himself up, a bit shaken. He'd walk the rest of the way.
~\({O})/~
Village Square
By the time that Riolu made it back to the forest clearing, Bryony was already long gone. For a moment, Riolu freaked out- had she left him to fend for himself? Had she been… taken? Were the Shadows already here?
But if they were here, then Riolu knew this clearing was no longer safe. It was better to go to the ruined village.
It wasn't until he reached the deserted village square that he caught sight of Athena sliding herself down the pathway towards the south side of town. He quickly ran to catch up with her.
"Bryony!" he called out, catching up. Bryony looked back at him, her face relaxing as she saw who it was.
"Where were you?" Riolu panted out as he caught up. "I saw the camp deserted and I thought…"
"I thought the same thing." Bryony continued to slide herself along, not even sparing another look at Riolu. "If you were going to leave, you should have said something to me. I had no choice but to assume a Shadow got you."
"Well…" Riolu muttered. "You left me too."
"You did it first."
Riolu folded his arms, puffed out his cheeks, and made a loud 'pffffffft' noise.
"So where are we going?" he asked a moment later.
"I'm going to check out that building I told you about last night," Bryony said. "I just… I have this feeling about it. I want to check."
Riolu was silent after that. Only the knife, swinging idly from the rope slung over Riolu's shoulder, made any noise.
"There it is," Bryony said after a while. They had outwalked nearly all the houses at this point, and the biggest thing ahead of them was a hill with a large dead tree on it. Out on an island right in front of them was what looked like the creepiest house Riolu had ever seen. A rickety bridge led all the way across the lake of water onto the island. Riolu stared at it hesitantly.
"…Are you sure?" he asked.
"Why not?" Bryony answered. "What have we got to lose?"
"You two are wasting your time."
Both Riolu and Bryony spun around. Bryony's eyes lightened at what she saw.
"Charlotte!" she gasped. Seviper Charlotte slithered up from the path ahead of them, a pissed look upon her face.
"I… have been tailing you guys… for almost a week now…" she gasped out.
Bryony suddenly rushed forward and enveloped Charlotte in a hug. Riolu was suspicious.
"I thought you were dead!" she bawled out, burying her face in Charlotte's scales. Charlotte bore the hug as well as she could, but Riolu could tell she wasn't remotely in the mood for hugs.
"Anyways," Charlotte said, gently shaking Bryony off herself, "There's no point in entering that building. I camped out in there once. It's all just swamp water and muck."
"But…" Bryony wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at the house. "There's no hurt in looking, right?"
Riolu's head tilted.
"yeah," he said. "Why only say that now?"
Charlotte didn't answer.
"So where do you guys camp out?" she asked. "I haven't had a comfortable place to sleep for over a week."
"We don't exactly sleep in beds…" Bryony said.
"What about my question?" Riolu asked. Charlotte glanced at him.
"I didn't hear you ask any question."
"I asked why you're so intent on us not going into that house," Riolu said. He gripped the rope the knife was attached to, just in case. Charlotte's eyes followed him.
"Like I said," she repeated harshly. "There's nothing in there but muck."
"Then you won't mind if we go in and look," Riolu said. And with that, he turned around and strode towards the house.
"nO—" Charlotte suddenly screamed, and she slithered towards Riolu quicker than Bryony could react.
Riolu acted fast. He grabbed the rope and threw.
Bryony screamed and then edged herself away from Charlotte, who now had Riolu's knife stuck halfway through her head. She looked at Riolu in horror.
Why would you do that?!" she screeched at him.
"That's not who you think it is," Riolu said.
The knife slid out of Seviper's skull on its own and it the ground with a thump. 'Seviper' – very much alive – looked up at them both with eyes that weren't right. She grinned at them with a mouth full of too many fangs.
"gOt Me."
And then its face split open. Bryony yelped and edged all the way back to where Riolu stood on the bridge. Quills grew out of its back. It grew limbs, and then claws. The last of the dull blue and yellow scales were eaten up by murky black goop, and then Nyarlathotep stood before them in Its full glory.
A silent understanding was reached between both Riolu and Bryony – run. And so they did. Riolu ran like the wind; he could outrun a Shadow! But it was only a few seconds before he noticed that Bryony wasn't keeping up with him. She had to slide her way across the ground – that wasn't fast enough! Nyarlathotep took chase, and Riolu gave in. He ran back, scooped Bryony up, and began to drag her along. What was left of the rope on his shoulder began to unravel.
They were fast, but not fast enough. Nyarlathotep charged. A swipe of its claws, and Bryony was knocked to the side. Riolu was pinned to the ground.
Nyarlathotep leaned over Riolu, and the nightmare goo that dripped from its body stained Riolu's chest. Riolu struggled furiously, but it was all in vain. Nyarlathotep opened its mouth of fangs that took up its whole face, and began to lean in towards Riolu. Riolu closed up his eyes and scrunched up his nose to avoid the putrid smell, turning away. He couldn't believe he was going to be eaten…
Water drenched him—
"Over here!"
Bryony's voice rattled through the sound of Nyarlathotep's breath, and in an instant its head turned towards the other pokemon and its ginormous hand was off Riolu's chest.
Riolu acted fast – he reeled in the rope, until he could grasp the handle of the kitchen knife. Nyarlathotep began to romp towards Bryony, who couldn't get away in time, and that was when Riolu made his move. He took aim, and threw the knife as hard as he could.
It embedded itself in the back of Nyarlathotep's head. Nyarlathotep turned its head to look at Riolu, and Riolu saw the tip of the knife sticking out of its jaw. He tugged on the rope.
Another stream of water hit Nyarlathotep, but before the void shadow could react Riolu ran up and shoved one of Nyarlathotep's legs out from under it. The shadow lost its balance, narrowly avoiding falling on Riolu or Bryony. It collapsed on the ground with a loud thud, and Riolu quickly got to his feet.
Already, the goo was beginning to lose its shape and reform into Nyarlathotep's standing position. Riolu forgot about retrieving the knife and rope, and picked up Bryony instead.
The path would be too easy; Riolu bolted off into the woods instead. He knew where he was going. The distant screech of Nyarlathotep rang out from far behind them.
A hunting call.
~\({O})/~
Riolu could tell he had made it just by the smell. He sped into the clearing where the heart-tree he had slept by the night he had left the litwick camp was, collapsing to the ground and dropping Brionne the second he was out of the trees. He panted in exhaustion, then wrinkled up his nose. This place smelled more awful than he remembered.
Bryony picked herself up from the ground, dusting her flippers off. She said nothing. The two of them sat there for a few seconds, completely silent. Neither commented on the smell.
Bryony sniffled.
"I just really wanted to believe it," she mumbled. "I really wanted to believe she wasn't dead."
She curled up on the ground and stuck her head in her flippers, and then all was silent.
~\({O})/~
They slept in the trees that night, using what little branches remained as cover. Every so often a pidgeot would soar over the forest, scouting out below. The instinctive urge to call out for help every time he saw the bird-shaped silhouette fly across the night sky came to his mind often, but Riolu knew better. He knew what it was, and it wasn't a pidgeot.
The sky began to slowly turn red again, but Riolu hadn't slept a wink.
Bryony still wasn't talking in the morning. Even when they both climbed out of the tree they were sleeping in. They ate a silent breakfast of roots and drank some water that Riolu had collected from the riverbank by the ruined village, and then they went their separate ways. It was dangerous, now that they knew what was lurking nearby, but they couldn't just wait around and do nothing. They knew Nyarlathotep wouldn't stop until it had found them.
Riolu went back down to the town to see if he could gather some more knives. He had taken the biggest one yesterday, but surely the others would work. He just needed two (and some more rope). He made his way down to the center of the village just like he had the other day, and entered the large café building to the north.
The knives had been lying around in a pile next to all the other silverware. That was where Riolu had left them yesterday. That was why he tensed up when he entered the kitchen, and saw that all of it was gone. Riolu quickly looked around to make sure nothing else was gone. There was only one reason those knives would be gone. Had it known that Riolu was going to come back here?
All of the sudden he scrambled over and his under the counter. He could hear something approaching from outside – heavy breathing. Damnit – it hadknown. This was a trap! Riolu knew he couldn't stay here; Nyarlathotep would find him at this rate. There had to be a way out.
Riolu's ears pricked up as, above the counter he heard Nyarlathotep enter the room. It looked around, sniffing. It smelled him. Riolu looked around for a moment, looking for something – anything = to use. His eyes settled on a frying pan.
There was a hole in the wall to his left. From what Riolu remembered Nyarlathotep's true form didn't have any eyes. It navigated from memory, smell, and hearing. He slowly crept over to the frying pan and picked it up from the ground, making sure to make as little of a sound at possible. He glanced at the hole, and he heard Nyarlathotep begin to tromp towards his position. It was now or never Riolu aimed for the hole, and then he threw the pan. It clanged against a building in the distance, and Riolu heard Nyarlathotep snarl. It leapt over the wall, heading out in a different direction after where it thought Riolu was going.
Riolu wasted no time. He picked himself up from under the counter and quickly looked around the kitchen once more. Come on – where were the knives?
Not here, it became obvious. Riolu decided to continue onwards. He quickly sped out the back door of the building and headed around the left side to the front. He quickly stopped when his eyes were met with the very sight that he didn't want to see: a void shadow prowling around in the middle of the square. Riolu froze. Had Nyarlathotep come back that quickly?
Sniff.
Riolu's head turned towards the alleyway where he had come from, where heavy sniffing sounds were emerging. There was another one! It dawned on Riolu: Nyarlathotep had brought friends.
How many? And how to get out of this? Riolu silently leapt the next wall.
He found the knives in a pile in the middle of the living room. A bang from behind him, and he realized he had to keep moving. He snatched up two of the knives and ran down the hallway. He made a left turn into one of the two bedrooms at the end, and took a moment to relax. A sudden screech from one of the void shadows outside shocked Riolu and made himself tumble into one of the bookshelf at the very end. It rattled noisily, and Riolu did his best to stop it from rattling.
Then he noticed the ghost had sat up.
Riolu was slightly scared, but he was scared of the Void Shadows more. He set the knives on the floor and then walked out from behind the bookcase. The ghost continued to stare at him. It looked about his height, and it distorted the background around itself a little, but what was it? Riolu took a step closer. The ghost stumbled back until it was leaning against a wall. Or rather, thin air where a wall once was. Riolu walked forward, up until he was face to face with the shadow. He tilted his head when it didn't react. Why wasn't it responding?
moving through the floorboards.
smelling the air for him.
Riolu knew what it was, and he realized he had no more time to waste on this ghost. He charged straight through it, but he felt nothing. Landing on the ground outside of the house, he quickly got to his feet, picked up the knives, and began to run into the square again. Not a second later a Void Shadow charged through the wall Riolu had just jumped over, setting its sights on him. It was Nyarlathotep.
Nyarlathotep screeched, and all of the other void shadows focused on its call. They saw Riolu. Riolu took a right turn into some of the other houses. He ducked and dodged through the alleyways, looking for ways to evade them. How was he going to escape. Just… just think. Riolu ducked into an empty house for a minute and collapsed against the wall where no-mon could see him. The void shadows… they followed their noses, right? So all Riolu had to do was mask his scent. But the only way he knew how to do that was with water. And…
…And he was near a riverbank. It all clicked. If he could get to the riverbank, then…
Riolu quickly sat up with the knives. He could hear the Void Shadows getting near. It was time to go. If he had any hope of reaching the water before they caught him, he had to leave now.
Riolu weaved through the town, heading in a loop back to the town center. He could see the riverbank from here, and it was just a few meters away… Riolu began to full out sprint. So close; he closed his eyes as he ran. One of the knives nicked his leg. Riolu hit the ground hard. The knives went flying and landed hilt-up in a nearby ditch. Riolu pulled himself to his feet and groaned. A roar sounded from right behind him. How had they gotten so close? Riolu looked back, and saw that a Shadow was galloping right for him. He forgot all about the knives and dived into the rivier.
It was dark and silent under the riverbank. Riolu couldn't hear the screeches of the void shadow from under here, but he also couldn't breathe. Speaking of… he needed to get some air. Riolu swam towards the surface, breaking it and gasping for air. He floated along, paddling occasionally to stay afloat.
~\({O})/~
~Bryony~
Bryony slid herself through the landscape, yawning. She didn't know where she was going, just that she needed to take a stroll. Something to clear her mind of… yesterday. Something to help her forget. She'd been at it for she didn't know how long either, but it had been a while. She didn't even know where she was now. She had abandoned the forest long ago, and instead a long field of half-charred dead bushes lay in front of her.
She trudged on in silence for a while, until the sound of voices caught her ears. Brionne looked towards where they were coming from in confusion. More shadows?
"Look at the mukking sky, Eevee! Does that look normal to you? I'd rather have had a markup over this!"
"Stop lecturing me like it's my fault! Do you think I brought us out here with the intention of getting us stranded wherever this is? Who does that? Not me! Back off!"
"I have every right to lecture you! This was your idea in the first place! If not for you I'd be sleeping in a bed right now, all comfy! Instead I slept on the ground, like an animal!"
If these were Shadows then this was the most elaborate ruse Bryony had ever come across. She decided to investigate further.
"Hey!" she called out, approaching the arguing 'mon from a distance. A fletchinder and an eevee quit their argument for a second to stare at her.
"Quiet!" they both told her in unison, and then went back to arguing. Bryony slid herself closer to them silently. She was sure they weren't Shadows now.
"We thought we told you to muk off," Eevee hissed at Bryony as she slid herself up to them.
Bryony tilted her head. "Do you guys realize where you are right now?" she said.
"I wish…" Fletchinder grumbled.
"Okay. This is going to sound weird," Bryony said, "but the both of you need to come with me. For your own safety."
Both Eevee and Fletchinder looked at each other.
~\({O})/~
Riolu slowly floated down the river, bobbing along and paddling himself towards the nearest shore away from town. He pulled himself out onto the riverbank, shaking himself off. He was soaked, but it was also hot enough here that the water felt more refreshing than anything else. He cast a look back towards the village in the distance. He'd lost the Shadows… for now. It was time to get away from here, before he was caught again. Riolu passed a large, destroyed archway on his way out of the town. He'd never been down this way before, and in the distance he could see what looked like a field of charred plains.
He walked for a bit, letting the ambient heat dry his fur off. Soon he was among the field of dead bushes, and he stopped. This looked like a good place to turn around and figure out where he was. He needed to go… north. Yes. Riolu turned towards Reverse Mountain, and began to trudge in that direction.
Then his ear twitched.
In the distance, he heard what sounded like voices. One of them was Bryony's.
Bryony was here? Riolu spun in the direction of the voices, and saw Bryony leading what looked like two other pokemon onwards. And they were heading in the direction of the village. Riolu's tail went flat in horror. They were going the wrong way! They were going to—
Without thinking, he took off after them.
"Hey! Wait!" he called out at the top of his lungs as he ran. Whether that would attract that Shadows; he didn't care. He just needed to make sure they didn't walk into the trap.
Bryony didn't hear him. Riolu called out again, even louder this time. He was gaining ground on them, but not fast enough. They were nearly at the village gates.
"Stop! You're walking into a trap!" Riolu yelled, running towards them as fast as he could. Finally, Bryony turned around to look at Riolu, having heard him yelling but heard what he said. Copying Bryony, Fletchinder and Eevee turned around.
"Who's that?" Eevee asked.
"That's my friend," Bryony answered. "But what's he doing?"
It was too late. A Shadow romped down the path towards them, and only Riolu could see it. He pointed behind them and shouted desperately, but he was still too far away. They couldn't hear him.
Bryony didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. She was suddenly snatched up by a large, black hand, and when she turned around the maw of Nyarlathotep stared her in the face. Extra limbs shot out of its body and snared Eevee and Fletchinder as well. And even through they protested, it was all to no avail. Nyarlathotep's body split open into teeth, and all three pokemon were engulfed.
Riolu made a hard left and hid behind a bush before Nyarlathotep could see him. He was crying, but he did all he could to stay quiet. He couldn't be found. He just couldn't. He had to find a way out of here.
It was a few moments, but eventually he heard Nyarlathotep let out an abominable screech, and then it galloped away from where Riolu was.
Riolu clenched the rust-red dirt under his paws. This place… it ground you down until you were all alone. Hopeless. And that's when it got you. This was hell. There had to be a way out. There just… there had to. Riolu refused to believe he was trapped here. And if he was, then maybe being devoured by a Void Shadow was a merciful death.
And then the full force of reality hit him: He was all alone. Forever. Bryony… Solosis… Wartortle, who he had only known for a day but still enjoyed the company of… the litwick… all gone. Only he was left.
Riolu curled up in a ball, and for the rest of the day, he sobbed to himself.
~\({O})/~
Forest Clearing
One Week Later
~Riolu~
The sky boomed, and Reverse Mountain erupted in volcanic flame. Riolu fled through the woods, trying to get out of range from the falling bits of ash and fire.
It had all been so sudden. Previously, not a sound was to be heard rattling through the Voidlands. Even the void shadows had backed off after a while, grown disinterested with the prospect of having Riolu for lunch.
Riolu lived near the decaying heart tree in the woods southeast of the ruined village now. It was the only place his scent was stamped out; the only place that the void shadows wouldn't follow him. And none had. He ate what little roots had still grown from the tree's dead remains (it had died roughly a week ago), and drank from the lake. Every so often, he would sneak down to the village when the Shadows weren't looking and look around. The knives were long gone.
He still felt dizzy just at the thought that he was all alone here. He would see hallucinations in the woods – maybe Bryony's flipper, or the flame of a litwick – But they'd all be gone at a second glance. Not the tricks of a Shadow, but rather the tricks of a mind. Riolu needed an escape. And it was the ghost that provided it.
Riolu still had no idea what the ghost was. He could see it, but apparently it couldn't see him. The patrolling Void Shadows meant that he couldn't study the ghost full-time, but Riolu still went down to the ruined village every once in a while to study it. It slept during the day, for some reason.
And then… this. Riolu had been nibbling the last of the roots left on the dead heart-tree, when suddenly everything around him had suddenly exploded into noise. A pillar of flame erupted from the top of Reverse Mountain, and the sky rumbled and boomed with unseen thunder.
h
Unt.
F
iNd.
kILL.
Riolu heard the words, and they came from the skies. And then he heard a worse sound still: The sound of tens of Void Shadows all screeching in unison. It came from everywhere, and it uffeted Riolu's ears and he couldn't stop hearing it but it was unbearable—
Riolu crouched over, covering his ears the best he could. Ut the debris from above was beginning to land. A slab of burning rock crushed a couple of trees near him out of nowhere. It was several times bigger than Riolu was. Shaken, Riolu quickly continued onwards.
He fled south, until he could barely see the burning trees or the ruined village behind him. It was a place of death and despair, and once the fires hit it would e unlivable. Riolu was glad to leave it behind.
Eventually, he lost track of where he was going. All he knew was that it would be a while until the fires reached here. He had at least a few hours to a day. Riolu sat down against a dead tree, and gazed up at the erupting mountain in the distance. Every day, it seemed like his hopes of leaving got farther and farther away. His only way out, on top of that mountain; everymon said. Well, now it was going up in flames.
Riolu didn't cry. He didn't have any left in him. He took a deep breath, and simply watched the mountain erupt for a bit. He felt a peace that was foreign to him.
Slowly, the figures of several blue flames began to become visible once again. Riolu saw them flicker in the woods, but he ignored them. More hallucinations.
But were his hallucinations ever so clear? Riolu shot a second glance at them. They didn't disappear when he looked. He slowly rose from his sitting position. Was it true?
He watched as slowly, several candlestems followed the flames in visibility. His heart soared,a dn the next thing the litwick knew Riolu was running towards them in joy. He hugged the closest one – it didn't matter which one – tightly.
"I thought you guys were gone…" he muttered out, eyes closed.
"We nearly were," one of them said. It sounded indignant. Riolu looked up at it in confusion.
"We had a deal," another one of them continued. "Where did you go? Why did you leave us all to die?"
"I- I-" Riolu couldn't come up with a proper response. "There was this thing in the sky, and—"
He stopped, looking down. There was no excuse, he knew.
"I'm sorry."
There was silence between them for a moment. Then Riolu looked up.
"So where are the rest of you? Where's Solosis? How come you guys weren't at the camp when I came back two weeks ago?"
Tall-Flame came forward.
"This is all of us," he said. "All of us that are left. A monster attacked our camp. Solosis was eaten so we could get away. We…" Tall-Flame shuddered, reliving horrible memories. "We had nothing to eat. All those weeks of hunger… most of us disappeared!" he bawled, then broke down entirely into tears.
No-mon else spoke; they watched Tall-Flame cry, mourning all the dead litwick. Riolu was the first pokemon to break the silence.
"You guys don't have to forgive me. I… I don't know if I deserve it anyway."
He had the litwick's attention. They stared at him, skeptical but waiting for him to go on.
"I think I know where the way out is. Not on top of that mountain. But we have to wait for nightfall."
"You know for sure?" one of the litwick asked skeptically.
"Not for sure." Riolu shook his head. It's just a hunch of mine. But we've got nothing left to lose. Nothing but each other. Why not try?"
The litwick exchanged looks.
"Well…" one of them said. "I guess it's better than trying to go up the mountain of fire."
Tall-Flame slowly picked himself up off the ground and began to float again.
"I'm okay now," he said. "I still have breakdowns sometimes."
"So where's this way out you speak of?" another litwick piped up.
"I'm about to tell you now," Riolu said. "Gather around. Here's what we're going to do…"
~\({O})/~
"If we're going to get past the Void Shadows and escape this place, then we're going to have to be clever about it. That's why we use the fires to our advantage."
The fires quickly spread throughout the woods, catching from tree branch to tree branch and burning them all to the ground. Up above them, Reverse Mountain slowly began to return to a fiery simmer, but the damage was done – everything around it was alight.
"It'll reach the village by nightfall, and I'm willing to bet that fire hurts these creatures. We'll use the opportunity to slip past them."
It was nightfall, and the village burned. Void Shadows had prowled it relentlessly for the past week – the flames had sent them into hiding. Riolu slowly crept through the forest towards the fire. He could see the outskirts of the burning buildings, and he silently waved the litwick after him. They followed.
The Fires burned the trees all around them, and the fire burned brighter than Reverse Mountain did. Riolu took a step onto the pavement, flinching at how hot it was. Then he stepped ont it entirely. There was no time to complain about those things.
He didn't see any void shadows. Riolu crept forward into the village square, looking around at all the burning buildings.
"It's to the south," he said. "There's a house. It's the only one still standing, and it's on an island. It's there. That's the way out."
The litwick looked at each other.
"That's the Ancient Barrow," they said.
A board suddenly snapped amongst the burning structure. Riolu turned, and he saw it – standing amongst the flame was a void shadow. It leered at him menacingly from behind the wall of flame that separated them. But it didn't charge.
Go on, it taunted. See how far you get.
Riolu stared back in contempt. The Shadow couldn't see him, but he didn't care anymore. He turned around and began to walk towards the southern entrance. Then he broke into a run, ushering the litwick after him.
The buildings flew by as he ran, burning and bright. Riolu paced himself so that the litwick wouldn't be left behind. He closed his eyes, but then opened them wide.
He was just in time to see a Void Shadow sprint out of the wreckage, obstructing the path ahead. Riolu hit the ground and rolled under its legs, not skipping a beat. The litwick soared over it. The Void Shadow gave chase, but Riolu took a right turn into a building.
"Hide!" he hissed to the litwick. They did. The Void Shadow came barging in through the doorway, but it hit the top of the doorframe. The wall collapsed in on it, covering it in flame. It screeched.
Riolu quickly picked himself up and sprinted for the house's back door.
"Go!" he yelled, and the litwick zoomed out of hiding.
The buildings beyond their location had all been half-destroyed by the fire. Riolu crept through the alleyways, keeping clear of the flames that licked out into the street and keeping his eyes peeled for Shadows. There didn't seem to be any here. Riolu ushered the litwick all on.
"This has to be the south side of town," Riolu said after a while. They had maneuvered through the village for about five minutes, and seen neither hide nor hair of another Void Shadow.
"We're just a few buildings away, one of the litwick said. Riolu nodded, and crept up to the burning building ahead of him. He could see the main path just head. It was empty, but something wasn't right—
—The structure next to him was suddenly bowled over. Riolu barely jumped clear of the wreckage. He stuck the landing, but a Void Shadow swatted him to the ground just a few seconds later. It let out something between a screech and an angry roar. Riolu picked himself up and began to run for it.
He made his way onto the main path, but then realized the litwick weren't with him he looked back.
"Hey!" he called out to them. "Over here!"
The Shadow took notice. It glanced at him and snarled, but it was suddenly buffeted over the head with the attacks of the three litwick. They soared back onto the main path to join Riolu, and all four began to run south again.
"I can see it!" one of the litwick exclaimed as they ran. He pointed to an island in the distance, illuminated by the fierceness of the fire that it was engulfed in. For just a second, Riolu stopped in horror. The bridge was on fire too – that was the only way across! He had to get there before it collapsed. Fear overcame Riolu. He began to take off at high speeds, running towards the bridge as fast as he could. He forgot about the litwick, which he had left behind.
Riolu closed his eyes, letting his nose and his feelers do the seeing for him. He was almost there, so close—
Riolu tripped over a rock and hit the ground hard. He groaned, and tried to lift himself up. Over where the island was – he was halfway there – the last of the bridge crumbled away into the water below. Riolu looked back at the litwick, then at the house. He could swim across. Freedom was so close…
Riolu looked back at the litwick. They'd catch up. Even now, they were floating right towards him. They'd be fine. He just had to get there himself—
The Void Shadow charged back onto the path, and it was livid. It smelled the litwick, and it heard them. It began to gallop in their direction, and only Riolu could see it. And that was when he made his decision.
Riolu leapt up, running back towards the litwick. He wasn't letting this happen again, not matter the cost—
With that thought, he felt something begin to collect in his paws; a foreign energy. It surged, and just before Riolu collided with the Shadow his paws met its chest. The attack sent them both flying backwards from each other. The litwick flew clear of the explosion.
Riolu pulled himself to his feet once more. He was dizzy. He could feel the energy leaving his paws, and smell the burning all around him, and see the brilliant orange flames and his ears were ringing. He was suddenly punched to the ground.
The Void Shadow picked him up, swung him around, and then batted him into the ground again. It swatted him into a house, and then pinned him to the ground again. It leaned in over him menacingly, but Riolu fought back. He clasped his paws together again, and managed to produce enough energy to repel the Shadow from his body. Riolu crawled along the ground, coughing, but he felt the Shadow's gooey claws wrap around his legs again and drag him back violently. It flipped him over, and then pinned his arms to the ground.
The Shadow didn't waste time. Its face split open into jaws and teeth, and they converged around Riolu—
A trio of embers suddenly batted the Shadow's head off of Riolu. Riolu looked where they came from, and he saw the Litwick swooping in from above! The next wave of embers hit a nearby structure, which collapsed on the void shadow. Riolu took the opportunity – he began to crawl away from the Shadow and got up to his feet. The Void Shadow was still struggling under the flaming wooden beam. Riolu struggled onto the path, but then he looked back at the litwick.
"Go!" one of them shouted at him. "We'll catch up!"
Riolu turned and ran. He ran, and he didn't look back. When he reached the water, he jumped into it without thinking and paddled his way across. He clawed his way onto the mud of the island, shaking himself off and pulling himself to his feet. He ached all over, but he was so close and he wasn't stopping now.
Finally, he reached the Barrow's doors. Riolu looked back at the burning village in the distance behind him. He couldn't see the litwick. Riolu scanned the sky, but he didn't see them there either. Had they been killed?
They'd catch up. They said they would. Riolu decided he'd take them up on it. He ducked in through the doors of the Ancient Barrow. The darkness dissolved after him.
Up above, Reverse Mountain erupted once more, sending fiery chunks up into the sky. Down below, the village continued to burn in silence.
The screeches of several Void Shadows could be heard.
~\({O})/~
Riolu stumbled into gooey black corridors full of messy swamp water. Behind him was more of the same. Where there had once been a door, there was now nothing but darkness and silence. Then it clicked for Riolu: Was this a mystery dungeon?
And if so… he looked up at the ground, realizing he couldn't see the roof. Maybe this was the way out.
In front of him sat a staircase. It was smooth as marble, and shone with a ghostly glow in the darkness. Riolu headed for it without question. It was time to escape this awful place once and for all.
~\({O})/~
The Ancient Barrow
~Espurr~
The dungeon was quiet as Espurr and Riolu walked through its hallways. It seemed that Nyarlathotep hadn't figured out where they were yet. As they walked, Espurr noticed that Riolu's body was getting less and less real-looking. Soon she could see the wall through him. She was about to say something, but Riolu suddenly broke out into a run. Espurr saw why: There was light ahead! This was the exit to the dungeon! Espurr's heart leapt, and she ran after him through the muck. How she wanted to escape from this place so badly! And yet…
The entrance was up ahead; a single doorway illuminated by morning daylight. All around them was the inside of an old and battered house, covered in black goo.
Riolu approached the doorway without hesitation. And the more of the light that spilled out onto him, the more of his body disappeared. He reached a paw out towards the door, watching it vanish completely.
"Come with me." Riolu looked back towards Espurr, holding a paw out.
"I told you I can't." Espurr stayed where she was, folding her arms. "I'm going back for my friends. If you want to leave, go ahead."
Riolu looked at the door. Then at Espurr. He groaned. It should have been a no-brainer! The door was right there. He was free! So… why did it make him feel crummy inside to leave?
"You're going to be alone out there, you know." Espurr stayed where she was, staring him directly in the eye. Her gaze was calculating, but Riolu saw a glimmer of daring in there as well. "There'll be no-mon out there for you. No-mon to keep you company. No-mon to help you when youreallyneed it, because you weren't there for them first."
Riolu was – for once – silent. Espurr took a deep breath in.
"My friends are still down in that dungeon," Espurr said. "I can feel them. I got them in this mess, and it's my responsibility to get them out. I'm not giving up on them. That's why I'm going back. If you want to run, I can't stop you. Run. But everymon stops running someday. You only get to choose when."
"So choose. Now." Espurr straightened herself up, brushing her dirty fur off and adjusting her scarf out of habit. "Are you coming with me, or are you running away?"
It was a moment before Riolu decided. Slowly, he trudged back into the dungeon, and Espurr saw his legs become visible again.
"Fine," he said. "Let's do it."
"Great." Espurr turned away from the dungeon entrance and began to jog back into the hall. "I think I saw another hall back this way!" she called back to him. "That's a good place to start."
Riolu cast one last glance back at the dungeon exit. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to live all alone either. He hoped this 'Espurr' knew what she was doing.
And with that thought, he took off after her before he lost sight. They weren't out of the woods yet.
~\({O})/~
Music of the week!
Murder (In Four Parts) - Thomas Newman