A Saving Grace - Chapter 1: The Crash and The Meeting
A Saving Grace
Chapter 1: The Crash and The Meeting
Henry gave a sigh. Right now the 17-year-old was leaning over the railing of the S.S. Maria, one of the largest cruise ships out there, bored out of his mind. He had light brown hair and green eyes. His thin figure and loner-attitude didn't make him very popular. Right now he was wearing a simple pair of Jeans and a T-shirt. He was on a luxury cruise with his family, something that was supposed to be fun. He wished that he had a friend to bring along - like a pokemon or something. Unfortunantly, his parents, the lawyers that they were, found pokemon childish and that they had no value. His brother was probably out wooing some girl, along with his father. His mother would be too busy tanning to notice her husband going on his... what was it, fifth affair? Henry loved his parents (to an extent), what child didn't? But alot of times he wished he could just get away from them, from everyone - from the private schools with the self-absorbed people.
He just looked out into the shimmering water. He started to take a little stroll around the abandoned deck. Everyone was most likely either in bed or having dinner. The whole place was silent and honestly he liked it that way. His life was mostly quiet and lonely, he didn't really have that many friends. All the kids at his school all cared about gossip and flashy clothes. Much to his parents disapproval, his current clothes were his normal attire and it was a reason the kids didn't like him.
He always wanted to go on an adventure - to do something great. He wanted to go on a journey. He wanted to take on the Unova-League or the Johto-League... or whatever league! To have pokemon friends. To have... friends. He always thought of what pokemon he would have - would it be a Zangoose? Or a Raichu? A Shinx? A Zigzagoon? He didn't know, or care for that matter, all he knew was that they'd be his best friends and he'd talk for hours with them.
He had strange ability - he could hear pokemon. Everyone could hear them say their names, but the little times he'd actually seen some pokemon, he could hear their conversations. His mother and father said the skill was useless while his brother punched him and said he was a lier. But it was true - it was weird and it made little sense, but it was true. He wished that he actually got to test out his ability more - that his parents would let him see more pokemon. But it just wasn't meant to be - he'd be a lawyer, probably work for his parent's law firm, do nothing but just exploit the legal system for profit.
Henry began to head back to his room where he would be kicked out by his brother would kick him out and he'd have to sleep in the hall again. He was a step away from the door before... BEEP! The alarms began to go off, and in literally a second the calm, sereine and peaceful quietness erupted into a cesspool of screaming and hysteria. Then the annoucements came "Attention, All passengers please head back to your room and-" The anouncer had to yell to get his point across, before....
SMASH
Henry was sent flying back to the wall, his body soon rushed with a feeling of overwhelming pain. He felt the boat moving... it was turning! His body began to slide towards the turningness, all he could think was I AM GOING TO DIE! he then, impulsively, grabbed onto the railing. He was hanging of the edge, a slip away from death. He felt his moist hands starting to slip as he looked down and was horrified what he saw. He saw people flying - people were falling of the boat! The water was right below him, if he let go, he'd die... he couldn't
The boat began tilt more, a little more and the boat would be turned over completely. He then felt something strange. Looking around, he noticed something - he was falling too. He didn't scream, he simply just looked up with frightened eyes. He then hit the water. It hurt like hell, but at least he was alive, Barely. He could feel the icy-cold water starting to shut down his body. He had to stay awake, if he fell asleep, he was as good as dead. He looked around for a surface he could board - if he could get out of this water, he might live. So, through the deafening screams, he made it to a nearby wood. He had to push by the bodies... It was horrible. As he pushed by the last body... he noticed something. The body... The body... It was his mother. She looked so peaceful.... She... She was gone. No! he'll... have to mourn later, he had to stay alive!
He hopped aboard the wood and started to look around for other survivors, all he saw were bodies, bodies floating about the water... He began to paddle so he wouldn't be crushed by falling debrees. He began to become drowsy before passing out...
.............
Grace began her daily walk along the beach. She did one once a morning to keep up a healthy weight and it helped that the sea was so magnificent. She walked along the yellow grains, loving the the feeling between her feet. She enjoyed her walk until... she noticed something strange. There was a piece of wood with some strange pokemon on it. She ran over to it, turning the thing over. It was really weird... it's fur was only on its head, and it had a strange muzzel.... wait, what were those old stories her mom used to tell her... it was a human!
She'd been told a few stories about humans - none of them good. She was taught that they were the spawn of Darkrai, the worst of the worst. They'd steal you from your family and force you to fight. She shuddered at the stories she'd been told. But her uncle Flecher used to belong to those humans - and he said they weren't THAT bad, he said after their journey the human let him go. Still, she believed her mother's stories...
But this human... he seemed special. Different. Plus she couldn't just leave someone here to die! She started to drag the human back to her den. Boy this thing's heavy.... Grace thought as she continued to drag the human
................
......Ugh...
I.. must be... dead.
I guess death's not THAT bad....
I mean it's boring....
Henry's eyes shot open as he was greeted with a dark green moss. At the moment he seemed to be lying down on a bed of the moss, a bit elevated of the ground by a bit of dirt. Where was he? Heaven? It didn't seem like heaven... I mean don't get me wrong, it seems nice... it's just i didn't expect there to be dirt in heaven... He looked around. It was completely made of dirt (except for the moss and a few leaves) and there was a large opening. The whole thing seemed man-made. But was it? The better question was where was he?
Soon his question was answered in the blink of an eye; a giant, most likely 200 pound, Nidoqueen. It - well Nidoqueen are an only female species, so SHE was entering the hut with various berries - Cheri, Tamato, Oran, Etc. Henry let out a small yelp as he kept his eyes glued on the pokemon. What if she was going to eat him? Those berries would give some nice flavour to him, wouldn't they? The Nidoqueen then noticed he was up. "You're up! I'm so glad you're- I forgot... you're human, can't hear me..." The Nidoqueen said as she set the berries down on a leaf.
"I can hear you."
"What?"
"What?"
"What did you say?" The Nidoqueen asked, not really getting his joke
"What did you say?" He repeated
"You can understand me?"
"You can - screw it, yes i can understand pokemon... i've had it since i was born..." Henry explained
"Oh uh... well this will be easier then i thought..." She trailed off before asking another question "So... where'd you come from?" The previous memories Henry's mind had been trying so hard to block; one minute he was moping around on the deck and the next he was hanging for his life on the metal railing. He remember the bodies... his mother... Henry began to sob into his hands as the Nidoqueen looked on with shocked eyes. Grace walked over to him and gave him a hug. He didn't shy away, actually leaning into it. He sobbed into her neck as she started to pat him on the back. After a few minutes, he pulled away. "You don't have to tell me, it's okay" Henry began to sob a little "It's okay... It's - I'll tell you" "You don't have to if you don't want, i'm sorry for ask-"
"No no... i want to tell you. I was on this cruise with my family... and then the ship crashed and... i saw my mother face down... she was..." He began to cry more "Shhhh, it's okay..."
"No it's not okay! My mother is dead and for all i know the rest of my family is too! I have no one!" He began to cry harder. Grace began to touch as this time he back up at her touch. "You have someone" Grace said softly "W-Who" She paused for a second "Me." Henry stopped for a second before giving her a hug before whispering in her ear "Thank you" As she whispered 'You're Welcome' back
After i few minutes they stopped their hug. "I'm - I'm sorry Ms, i've cried and gave you a hug twice and i don't even know your name." Henry said, giving a sniff "I'm Grace." "Henry" he replied the two sat in silence until Henry broke it
"So... Grace, why'd you save me?" The Nidoqueen began to explain herself "Why wouldn't i save a pokemon- human in need!"
"Well it's just... where i come from, nobody saves anyone without getting something first."
"Pardon me, but you must come from a horrible place!"
"Guess i never thought about it- oh wait, i think about it 24 times a day..." Grace gave a small giggle then grabbed the berries "Hungry?" She asked "Immensely." Henry stated as he popped a couple of Oran berries into his mouth. He gave her a berry stained-teeth smile to which Grace giggled. They both ate the berries, Henry surprised at the sweetness and sourness of the fruits. "These are delicious!" He said as he bit into yet another - his fifth of this kind - Cheri berry. As he was about to grab another berry, Grace pulled away the leaf "I think you've had enough." Henry then gave her the puppy eyes. "Fine." She said as she tossed him another one.
Over dinner - or maybe it was lunch, honestly he didn't know - he got to know more about her and wild pokemon daily life. She was a Nidoqueen - of course, she lived alone, without a 'mate' (She had explained to him that mates were like life partners, most pokemon got them), she had moved out of her parents den when she was 7, She's 14 ATM, and her parents visited her every month or so. She was the strongest pokemon on the island (appearantly it was called Fyre Isle, mainly because of the giant volcano) besides her parents and finally, no humans knew of or inhabitated the island.
After they finished lunch, He got up, stretched and headed outside with her. After being inside such a dark hut-thingy, the sun seemed like it was a foot away from earth. She kept right next to him, incase of any threats. She was known around the island and nobody dared to come near her den, but she could never be too careful. It would be hard to simply kill Henry and drag him away without her notice. She didn't want that to happen. She liked Henry in a totally platonic, friendshippy way... well at least she hopped he would consider her a friend, truth be told, she had no friends. She was well liked around the island, she helped many of the pokemon. Still, it made since she had no friends. Most pokemon didn't, only mates and children. After all, friendship could be a lie and they could steal or kill them. Grace knew Henry wouldn't. He defiantly couldn't kill her, and he wouldn't like to her, right? No... he just had a certain face that said he wouldn't. "Wow it's... really bright out here.." "That's probably because you've been inside all day" Henry gave a laugh.
Grace and Henry made their way to the lake, the local source of clean water for all the residents of Fyre Isle. Henry was currently using his hands as a water bowl, gulping a large amount of the blue liquid. Those berries - juicy as they may be/were - still made him very thirsty. Grace watched the human drink. She gave a giggle, the human looked very silly. She looked over at the other pokemon staring at him - some had fearful looks in their eyes, like he was going to capture him. Some had looks of anger - a quartet of Mightyena looked like they'd rush over and kill him at any moment. She knew the four, they called them F, E, A, and R. or Fear, respectively (At least they were smart enough to give themselves good names). They were ruthless, only looking out for themselves. They killed most things that came across them. the only reason she wasn't dead was because 1. she'd kill at least 2 of them, and if she did that they'd kill less, and 2. her parents would finish them off easily. They were hated around the island, but nobody could stop them, not even Grace. She wished she could, she did, but she'd died trying
She went over and nudged Henry "Hey Henry, let's get out of here.." Grace said to which Henry just nodded, gulping down his water. They headed back to the den and talk for some more time. This time they talked about Henry's previous life. As previously mentioned, he came from a rich family, a family of lawyers and congressmen. He and his brothers were to become lawyers and to keep guilty people out of prison. He once asked his dad if what he did was wrong, and heres what he said; "Son theres something that changes your perspective on 'mortality', it's called cold hard cash." He always hated that memory, it just gave a negative look on his father; but then again, his father was a negative guy... But his father was ALL that bad. He wasn't terrible, he was just a little.... evil, i guess. His brother took after his father, but his brother, Jay, was a bit more... physcial. He often beat Henry up. But it wasn't like his mother or father didn't stop him, its just they didn't do it enough. They were too busy keeping up with their social lives (His mother) or having affairs (His father). He wanted to be a trainer and his parents never let him. Grace was a bit horrified and sympathetic at the same time. She was taught trainers were the scummiest humans on earth, they were evil. She was also sympathetic because he couldn't live his dreams. He was also a vegetarian because it was a bit hard eating something you could have a convesation with.
After their chat, they had a nice meal of - surprise - more Oran berries. Grace let Henry had most of them because she wanted him to keep his strength up. After their meal, they played a game Henry taught her, Tic-Tac-Toe. By the end of the hour they started, she was triumphing against him. After their game, Henry and Grace went over to their bed. Henry cuddled up with Grace
"Hey Henry?"
"Ya?"
"I've.. been thinking about why you came HERE of all places"
"Oh? and why's that?"
"I think... that it's like... a 'second chance'"
"A second chance... i like that..." Henry said to himself before falling asleep.
END OF CHAPTER 1