Starlight Aurate
Ad Jesum per Mariam | pfp by kintsugi
- Location
- Route 123
- Partners
-
Hi everyone! I wrote three drabbles, as given in the thread for the Fourth Anniversary Drabble Bingo. MANY thanks to @Torchic W. Pip for making this card for me at the last minute! I had a lot of fun!
I hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave any thoughts you have while reading them!
Done! Thanks so much for giving me the prompts, Torchic!
I hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave any thoughts you have while reading them!
Done! Thanks so much for giving me the prompts, Torchic!
“Please… make it stop…”
“Again, Ninetales.”
A blue flame lit up the dark room. A man’s face, lined with terror, was thrown into contrast as he stared in horror at the beast before him. An elegant Pokemon with cream-colored fur glared mercilessly at him with scarlet eyes, her jaws parted. An azure flame danced between her jaws for less than a second before vanishing. The man screamed in agony.
Darkness.
Silence.
Whether seconds, minutes, or hours passed, Tabitha couldn’t tell. But sure enough, Courtney and her Ninetales strode out of the blackness and into the hallway.
“Did Cozmo say anything about its location?”
Courtney eyed him coolly. “I thought you’d be asking why he left. He went on and on about regretting it—he couldn’t stop begging us for mercy.”
“That’s in the past,” Tabitha said briskly. “We need to focus on the present. And that means locating the meteor and finding Groudon.”
Courtney smiled. “So typical of you, isn’t it? Always concerned about the practicals. I like to make sure that he sees punishment.” She glanced through a window, where the setting sun dyed the mountainscape a blood red.
“Rewarded as a traitor deserves.”
“Again, Ninetales.”
A blue flame lit up the dark room. A man’s face, lined with terror, was thrown into contrast as he stared in horror at the beast before him. An elegant Pokemon with cream-colored fur glared mercilessly at him with scarlet eyes, her jaws parted. An azure flame danced between her jaws for less than a second before vanishing. The man screamed in agony.
Darkness.
Silence.
Whether seconds, minutes, or hours passed, Tabitha couldn’t tell. But sure enough, Courtney and her Ninetales strode out of the blackness and into the hallway.
“Did Cozmo say anything about its location?”
Courtney eyed him coolly. “I thought you’d be asking why he left. He went on and on about regretting it—he couldn’t stop begging us for mercy.”
“That’s in the past,” Tabitha said briskly. “We need to focus on the present. And that means locating the meteor and finding Groudon.”
Courtney smiled. “So typical of you, isn’t it? Always concerned about the practicals. I like to make sure that he sees punishment.” She glanced through a window, where the setting sun dyed the mountainscape a blood red.
“Rewarded as a traitor deserves.”
“ ‘Six dots open three doors.’ That’s what my grandma always said!”
“But what does that even mean?”
Celio looked skeptically at his friend. Elly stood in the middle of the cavern, glancing up at the stalactites with awe. He grimaced in annoyance.
“Come on, Elly! We took my Wailord and your Relicanth to this abandoned little cave that no one goes to. You said your grandma spoke about it all the time! I’d like to see at least something here. Isn’t it supposed to have all sorts of dark tales and creepy myths surrounding it?”
Celio walked to the center of the room to join Elly. He looked up; water from the cave entrance bounced sunlight onto the cave ceiling, causing it to dance with swimming blue lines. It did look pretty neat.
“I don’t know, Celio! That’s stuff that my grandma always heard growing up. She said it was passed down in her family for thousands of years. There were also some poems…” Elly tapped her chin and thoughtfully closed her eyes.
“In this cave we have lived.
We owe all to the Pokemon.
But, we sealed the Pokemon away.
We feared it.
Those with courage, those with hope.
Open a door. An eternal Pokemon waits.”
“Is that real? I want to see an eternal Pokemon! Come on, my Wailord and I are brave enough!”
“I don’t know! It’s something my family heard about in our legends—there’s supposed to be a different riddle for different caves, and this is supposed to be one of them. But nobody has ever found out what this cave holds. And the riddles don’t make sense—something about ‘new time, hope and love,’ and ‘waiting for time to pass twice.’ ”
Celio grimaced. They came all the way out here just to find nothing? He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling again, and soon, his thoughts were lost in the dancing blue lines of dappling water-light.
“Celio?”
“Hm?”
He looked back at Elly. The light coming from the cave mouth was much dimmer than when they arrived. How long had they been standing there?
“We should probably go now. I don’t want to head out in the dark.”
“Yeah…”
Before either of them could take a step, the earth rumbled. The cave floor shook so violently that Celio and Elly dropped to their hands and knees. The walls wiggled as if made of jelly, stalactites and stalagmites snapping in twine. With a mighty roar, the blank face of the cave blasted open, sending rocks and dirt flying everywhere. Celio and Elly wrapped their arms around each other, eyes clenched against the deluge of dirt on their eyes and fear in their hearts.
The shaking stopped. The two sat, arms around each other, hearts pounding furiously. Celio gasped—in spite of their embrace, the temperature plummeted. He opened his eyes—he could see his breath. White crystals of ice grew on the cave surfaces, lining the walls and turning the floor into a glass sheet. He could do nothing more than watch as ice encroached on the watery entrance, freezing it shut.
Elly inhaled sharply. Celio snapped his head around.
Six glowing yellow dots floated out of the darkness—the face of an icy behemoth that stood several meters taller than Celio and Elly. It floated through the hole in the wall, its—its face—turned to look at the humans. Celio clung to Elly more tightly than ever. He heard her chattering.
“We sealed it away… We feared it…”
“I’m sorry, Elly.”
“But what does that even mean?”
Celio looked skeptically at his friend. Elly stood in the middle of the cavern, glancing up at the stalactites with awe. He grimaced in annoyance.
“Come on, Elly! We took my Wailord and your Relicanth to this abandoned little cave that no one goes to. You said your grandma spoke about it all the time! I’d like to see at least something here. Isn’t it supposed to have all sorts of dark tales and creepy myths surrounding it?”
Celio walked to the center of the room to join Elly. He looked up; water from the cave entrance bounced sunlight onto the cave ceiling, causing it to dance with swimming blue lines. It did look pretty neat.
“I don’t know, Celio! That’s stuff that my grandma always heard growing up. She said it was passed down in her family for thousands of years. There were also some poems…” Elly tapped her chin and thoughtfully closed her eyes.
“In this cave we have lived.
We owe all to the Pokemon.
But, we sealed the Pokemon away.
We feared it.
Those with courage, those with hope.
Open a door. An eternal Pokemon waits.”
“Is that real? I want to see an eternal Pokemon! Come on, my Wailord and I are brave enough!”
“I don’t know! It’s something my family heard about in our legends—there’s supposed to be a different riddle for different caves, and this is supposed to be one of them. But nobody has ever found out what this cave holds. And the riddles don’t make sense—something about ‘new time, hope and love,’ and ‘waiting for time to pass twice.’ ”
Celio grimaced. They came all the way out here just to find nothing? He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling again, and soon, his thoughts were lost in the dancing blue lines of dappling water-light.
“Celio?”
“Hm?”
He looked back at Elly. The light coming from the cave mouth was much dimmer than when they arrived. How long had they been standing there?
“We should probably go now. I don’t want to head out in the dark.”
“Yeah…”
Before either of them could take a step, the earth rumbled. The cave floor shook so violently that Celio and Elly dropped to their hands and knees. The walls wiggled as if made of jelly, stalactites and stalagmites snapping in twine. With a mighty roar, the blank face of the cave blasted open, sending rocks and dirt flying everywhere. Celio and Elly wrapped their arms around each other, eyes clenched against the deluge of dirt on their eyes and fear in their hearts.
The shaking stopped. The two sat, arms around each other, hearts pounding furiously. Celio gasped—in spite of their embrace, the temperature plummeted. He opened his eyes—he could see his breath. White crystals of ice grew on the cave surfaces, lining the walls and turning the floor into a glass sheet. He could do nothing more than watch as ice encroached on the watery entrance, freezing it shut.
Elly inhaled sharply. Celio snapped his head around.
Six glowing yellow dots floated out of the darkness—the face of an icy behemoth that stood several meters taller than Celio and Elly. It floated through the hole in the wall, its—its face—turned to look at the humans. Celio clung to Elly more tightly than ever. He heard her chattering.
“We sealed it away… We feared it…”
“I’m sorry, Elly.”
The wind howled, whistling through the trees and the windows of the ancient structure. Draco looked up: a building towered hundreds of stories above him, its crown lost in the clouds. He glanced around.
There were a few shrubs and overgrown patches of grass. Beyond the shrubs were patchy trees, and in their midst, small columns of stone stood, the last remnants of a civilization long gone.
He glanced down at his Bagon, who hung right by his ankles, sniffing the area warily. Hugging his cloak more tightly around himself, Draco looked up at the building again.
Something was off. Maybe it was the overall feeling of dilapidation, of abandonment—but Draco felt that it had something to do with the place itself. He walked to the pillar, looking up at an inky mural etched into its side.
The outline of a great dragon descended on two dueling monsters, bringing peace to the chaos.
Peace…
His eyes fell to where the two monsters dueled. His family tradition was that his ancestors summoned Rayquaza to stop them. But how did they summon it?
Draco slowly walked up the steps and into the Sky Pillar, Bagon hounding his steps. Once he entered the old building—full of nothing but cracked stones and overgrowing weeds—the atmosphere shifted.
Something wasn’t right.
He looked over. A spiral staircase lead to upper levels. Approaching it, he placed a foot on the bottommost stair, pausing. The staircase was very old—was it crumbling in some places? But the structure had held for this long—it could hold for at least one more passenger, couldn’t it?
He started up but almost immediately stopped. He looked down.
Bagon was gone.
“Bagon?”
“Gon! Gon!”
He heard the distant echoes of Bagon’s cries and saw, just a few metres away from the staircase leading upwards, another staircase descending below the Sky Pillar.
He hurried down the steps, not wanting to leave Bagon alone. But how could there be an underground layer? Wouldn’t it hit water?
Draco reached the bottom of the stairs. Sunlight filtered through cracks and holes in the ceiling, illuminating wooden panels and murals. He saw Bagon standing on a ledge before a large pit.
“Bagon! Be careful!”
Bagon looked up mournfully at Draco.
“What is it? Why do you look so sad? Are you scared? Tell me—what’s going on?”
Bagon pointed a claw upwards. Draco looked up and saw a mural decorating the lintel above the pit. It was that of a large, wiry dragon, standing before a single person with outstretched arms. Below the person knelt hundreds of smaller figures, their arms behind their backs. Draco’s heart raced as he studied the lone figure with outstretched arms—the tattoos and headdress were unmistakable. It was a Draconid—one of his own.
His eyes shifted to the group of people kneeling. They had no distinguishable features in the mural. They knelt submissively under Rayquaza’s eager gaze.
“Gon…”
He looked back at Bagon. The Pokemon’s eyes were just as sorrowful as before. This time, he pointed a claw into the pit. Draco looked—and his stomach dropped.
He understood. In the pit was a tangle of countless bones, all haphazardly thrown together. The last remnants of the peaceful Draconid peoples’ sacrifice to Rayquaza.
There were a few shrubs and overgrown patches of grass. Beyond the shrubs were patchy trees, and in their midst, small columns of stone stood, the last remnants of a civilization long gone.
He glanced down at his Bagon, who hung right by his ankles, sniffing the area warily. Hugging his cloak more tightly around himself, Draco looked up at the building again.
Something was off. Maybe it was the overall feeling of dilapidation, of abandonment—but Draco felt that it had something to do with the place itself. He walked to the pillar, looking up at an inky mural etched into its side.
The outline of a great dragon descended on two dueling monsters, bringing peace to the chaos.
Peace…
His eyes fell to where the two monsters dueled. His family tradition was that his ancestors summoned Rayquaza to stop them. But how did they summon it?
Draco slowly walked up the steps and into the Sky Pillar, Bagon hounding his steps. Once he entered the old building—full of nothing but cracked stones and overgrowing weeds—the atmosphere shifted.
Something wasn’t right.
He looked over. A spiral staircase lead to upper levels. Approaching it, he placed a foot on the bottommost stair, pausing. The staircase was very old—was it crumbling in some places? But the structure had held for this long—it could hold for at least one more passenger, couldn’t it?
He started up but almost immediately stopped. He looked down.
Bagon was gone.
“Bagon?”
“Gon! Gon!”
He heard the distant echoes of Bagon’s cries and saw, just a few metres away from the staircase leading upwards, another staircase descending below the Sky Pillar.
He hurried down the steps, not wanting to leave Bagon alone. But how could there be an underground layer? Wouldn’t it hit water?
Draco reached the bottom of the stairs. Sunlight filtered through cracks and holes in the ceiling, illuminating wooden panels and murals. He saw Bagon standing on a ledge before a large pit.
“Bagon! Be careful!”
Bagon looked up mournfully at Draco.
“What is it? Why do you look so sad? Are you scared? Tell me—what’s going on?”
Bagon pointed a claw upwards. Draco looked up and saw a mural decorating the lintel above the pit. It was that of a large, wiry dragon, standing before a single person with outstretched arms. Below the person knelt hundreds of smaller figures, their arms behind their backs. Draco’s heart raced as he studied the lone figure with outstretched arms—the tattoos and headdress were unmistakable. It was a Draconid—one of his own.
His eyes shifted to the group of people kneeling. They had no distinguishable features in the mural. They knelt submissively under Rayquaza’s eager gaze.
“Gon…”
He looked back at Bagon. The Pokemon’s eyes were just as sorrowful as before. This time, he pointed a claw into the pit. Draco looked—and his stomach dropped.
He understood. In the pit was a tangle of countless bones, all haphazardly thrown together. The last remnants of the peaceful Draconid peoples’ sacrifice to Rayquaza.
