Snow's Journey - Chapter 2
#2 of Snow's Journey
Author's Notes - I don't own Pokemon, Game Freak, or anything else copyrighted in my stories. Charecters (other than obvious ones) are my own, please ask before using them for any reason. As always, Thanks to NightWolf020 for the help.
Chapter 2 - Survival
Damn that night was cold, I thought to myself thinking back. Though, I should be thankful it didn't rain. That really would've made it worse: a gouged leg, a badly hurt Umbreon, and god knows how far down the river we were carried, I had my work cut out for me. I don't remember what time I got up but I knew it was late. The sun was long gone and the moon was thankfully full, giving me some hope that we may yet get back to the house alive. With nothing having found us by now, I assumed whatever was chasing the Umbreon had either passed by, or gave up looking for it, so I took the time to check the poor thing and make sure it was still alive. I reached over and rested the back of my hand in front of its mouth and hoped to feel the reassuring heat of its breath. After a few tense moments, I felt the warm, shallow breath from the creature and thanked Acreus it hadn't passed away while I slept.
With renewed hope that we may yet get through this, I tried to get up, grimacing at the excruciating pain. 'God damn it!' I shouted at no one, forgetting about what had happened to my leg. Looking at my calf, I couldn't see how bad it was but knew I couldn't put any weight on it. Must've caught the tip of a Goldeen's horn and hit the tendon I guessed, all I could tell was at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. With my leg unable to bear my weight, let alone the Umbreon's as well, I needed to to find a suitable stick to prop myself up. I couldn't very well crawl back to town in the middle of the night and expect to be left alone by any hungry Pokemon. Looking around the alcove, I saw a tree about fifteen feet from me that had fallen over. After a short crawl, I looked it over, searching for a branch that would be able to support my weight during the trek and not snap, sending us to the ground and more than likely breaking something in the process. 'Ah ha, this'll do quite nicely' I said to myself, finding a branch about four feet in length, with a single large stump protruding out about two-thirds up the branch. Taking out my knife, yet again thankful I hadn't taken my belt off when I stripped to jump in the basin, I used the serrated backside of the knife and sawed into the base of the branch that was still attached to the tree.
After about fifteen minutes of working into the tree, I was able to chop away the remaining bit and finally separate it from the trunk, giving me a fairly decent walking stick that I was confidant wouldn't buckle with our combined weight. I stripped away some of the rough bark near the top, shaved off the sawed end to make it more comfortable, shaved off more bark near the stub where my hand would hold onto, and gave it a quick test. After a few small steps and satisfied with my work, I decided it was time to get the hell out of here. Gently picking up the Umbreon and setting it on my shoulder with its head facing back, I set out North towards the direction of our property, keeping a eye on the river a ways off to my left. I knew we had to have been carried out at least a few miles down from the waterfall as I had almost no recollection of this part of the forest. It was old to say the least, fallen trees every now and then, moss devouring them while fungi of all types littered the forest floor. If I hadn't had sight of the river, we would've undoubtedly had been in a far worse situation. Survival training or not, being lost in an old forest at night, with an injured Pokemon, would've cost us both our lives, simply due to our injuries or exposure.
The going was rough to say the least with no sense of time. Fatigue was starting to set in from the grueling hike through the old forest, and the pain from my left leg was getting worse. My calf felt like it was on fire from the strain of walking, even with most of my weight on my right side and the rest of it leaning on my make-shift crutch. With my mind focused on how tied I was and the pain radiating from my body, my crutch slipped out from under me, sending me face first into the forest floor. Pushing myself up, I noticed the Umbreon had been thrown from my shoulder, landing a few feet in front in of me, seemingly no worse for wear. 'Well this is going great..' I said aloud, looking at the Umbreon who was still unconscious. It was at that moment I felt as if something had its eyes on me, peering from the shadows with murderous intent, freezing me to my core with fear. I couldn't look around, knowing it would alert my stalker, which could be a fatal mistake. Whatever had its eyes on me knew we were hurt, weak, and tired. An easy meal...
I slowly crawled over to the Umbreon, taking care to make as little noise as possible, hoping I could at least hear it if it moved. I needed to get out of here before our stalker decides to make us his next meal. My heart was loud in my ears, sweat streaming down my face, and my body was beginning to tense up. Leaves rustled from behind me as our attacker made itself known, forcing me to turn my body to face it, and grabbed my crutch to defend myself. To my shock, a large Ekans was slithering with frightening speed towards us. With almost no time to defend myself, the Ekans charged at me with its fangs, missing my head by an inch and hitting the ground. I rolled over and struck out at the snake with my crutch, just barely grazing the side of its long body. Reeling from its first failed attack, it backed away a moment, regaining its composure and looking over at the Umbreon, before turning away and slithering towards the helpless fox, completely ignoring me. Before it had the chance however, I grabbed the snake's long body and got a clean hit across its head when it turned to face me with full force behind the crutch, knocking it out.
Seeing the Ekans passed out before me, I knew this was the only chance I'd get. This was survival, life or death, and I could not take the chance that it would leave us alone when it woke up. I rushed over to the Ekans, unsheathed my knife, and plunged the blade into the back of its skull, killing it instantly. Adrenaline was coursing through my body, fear and anxiety being the only emotions making themselves felt. I knew I got lucky. The Ekans was young and inexperienced at battle. If it had been any older, it may not have made the mistake of turning its back to a Human still capable of fighting back. A Human with something to protect, looking over at the white Umbreon shining in the moonlight. At that moment, I realized I needed to save the creature not only physically, but emotionally as well. Whatever had happened before it came into my life didn't matter, no creature should look as helpless as this Umbreon did. Its white fur glowed bright in the moonlight, a stark contrast to the darkness around us, filling me with the strength I needed to get us out of here. I picked up my crutch, removed my knife from the Ekans' skull, returned it to its sheath, and looked around, just in case. With the coast clear anda fire now burning in my soul to save this Umbreon, I got up, picked up the fox, placed it on my shoulder, and continue onwards.
Giving up was not an option at this point. On my left, I could see we were beyond the rapids and were about a half a mile from the area of the waterfall. I figured it would take us another hour to reach the border of our property, and from there, another hour until we reached the house. The pace I kept was grueling to say the least, but I knew the faster I got to our property, the faster we would get help. I wasn't sure how much longer the Umbreon could hold on to life, I thought. It had already been a day and a half since it ran into me, quite literally, and there was no way to know how long it had been on the run from whatever was chasing it. The thought stopped me dead in my tracks, a chill shooting up my spine. What could've been chasing it? Not every Pokemon can summon such huge and powerful lightning bolts from out of thin air. 'No. I can't let these thoughts get to me' I thought to myself, knowing full well they might break my concentration, and I didn't feel like falling on my face again, nor did I want to give gravity another chance at breaking something. I trudged on, taking care at where I stepped from there on out. The forest became familiar, and I knew we were getting close. The river to my side tapered off into the distance, while I kept my direction towards the property. This part of the forest was home to Diglets and their evolved kin, leaving the land skittered with holes. Holes that could be home to a sleeping Pokemon, a sleeping Pokemon that if rudely woken up would defend itself if it had to, something I couldn't afford to happen.
At long last, the forest began to disappear, and a fence came into view. At last we had made it to the border of the property, but unfortunately, that also meant we were still another quarter mile from the house. Crawling in between the fence struts proved to be a small problem, but with care and with the help of the ever useful crutch, we made it through to the other side. The walk up to the house would be far easier from here on out, as much of the land in this area was mostly field. After about a half hour had passed I noticed the slow sunrise to the east, realizing it was nearly dawn. I figured I had to have woken up around midnight, and meant I had to have been walking for about six hours straight through the forest. Crossing a fielded area, I exited the tall grass and let out a heavy sigh of relief. The most beautiful thing I could have ever seen in my life finally came into the view. The house, in all its glory, was finally only another hundred feet away. Minutes later, I was at the front of the house, but was met with a very large problem. I had remembered that my keys were still in my pack, and as if to top it off, Jan's bike was not on the porch, meaning she had stayed over at Karen's. With all of that to add onto my problems, I simply chose to break the window next to the door. I unlocked it, headed straight for the phone, and called Professor Oak, praying he would answer at this hour. Thankfully, Professor Oak answered and after explinaing what had happened, he told me to wait for him while he came up to the house.
After I hung up with Professor Oak, or more accurately after he hung up on me while scrambling to his car, all I could do was go for the couch. Food wasn't important. Water wasn't important. Rest was the only thing my mind could fathom at that point, and with the Umbreon in my arms, I sat down on the couch and passed out almost on contact. I don't remember what happened after that. I assume Professor Oak found us and got us to his car before driving off to Pewter city where the nearest Pokecenter was. I woke up hours later in the Pokecenter in a daze, trying to understand where I was. Nobody was in the room except for me and once I realized the Umbreon was nowhere to be found, I screamed and started looking for it. Nurse Joy and a dozen Chanseys came running into the room after they heared me yelling and tried to calm me down. I frantically asked Nurse Joy where the Umbreon was and she told me it was resting. She told me that it was in critical care and for the most part was stable, but needed rest. I couldn't take no for an answer, and I tried to get up from my bed, much to the annoyance of the Chanseys, insisting I lay back down. I had to make sure the Umbreon was alive, but before I could get up, my world started to fade. I just barely noticed Nurse Joy with a syringe in hand, and injecting something into my IV intake before blacking out.
Special thanks to my dear friend NightWolf020 for the Grammar Naz- I mean, proof-reading and editing. <3