The Journey of 1000 Miles- Ch.1 The First Step~

~Viridian Forest 11:15 AM~
.:A thunderstorm the night prior has left the earth soft and wet. Only a few rocks that remained dry under the forest canopy are safe to sit on. The packed mud doesn't seem to cling much unless you get to a watery puddle. The leaves are still dripping a few drops of rainwater down, especially when disturbed by a breeze or wild Pokemon. The bird types can be seen in the trees, grooming themselves and shaking off the dew, feathers ruffled up. The bug type surface to avoid water puddles, many can be seen clinging to the sides of the trees. Here, we meet our heroes-:.

The soft sound of feet on the soft earthy floor could be heard, though only by those with very keen hearing. Her feet were clad in small earthy sandals, open heel, open toe, white top. She had a worn pair of shorts on, that seemed to be cut offs from an old pair of blue jeans. She had on a white low cut tank top, with an airy plaid button up shirt on over it, tied up instead of buttoned.

She stood at a rather average height for girls, about 5' 6" with a rather slender frame. Her auburn hair reached about shoulder length, and she currently had it parted to the left, tied up into a messy bun with her 'bangs' hanging freely. She brushed one of the long strands from in front of her hazel-green eyes, tucking it gently behind her ear as she walked along.

A set of paws followed her silently, the black claws feeling the earth beneath them as they walked without a sound. The feline like body was coated with long, white fur and a mix of a cat-human like face. It had what looked like a black sickle sticking out off the top of its head, and black scythe for a tail. The species was known as Absol, and were often known to 'bring' disaster. In reality, they could simply sense it, and tried to warn others.

This particular Absol was named Absolom, meaning 'Peace is My Father'. He chose to follow around this young girl, as she was haunted. Misfortune seemed to follow her due to it, things trying to set her astray from her path. He followed close to protect her from these dangers. He was her guardian, in a sense.

The girl looked about 13 or 14 years old, yet she was 16 in truth. Her name was Meiline Koto, and she had recently begun her journey. Absol had joined her, and is slowly learning of way to communicate with her, so she too may know of the dangers he predicts. She halted her march through the woods, glancing around. It was much larger than she'd anticipated, and she'd been traveling for a couple hours easily.

"Absolom...I hope I didn't get us lost..." she muttered, letting out a soft sigh. Absolom merely shook his head calmly standing by her side. He then glanced up, and slowly took a step forward, keeping his gaze on her with one paw lifted. "Alright, we can keep moving," she said, knowing that's what he was implying. She began to walk again, Absolom now walking smoothly.

Moments later, a loud snapping sound could be heard, and a large branch fell with a crash to the forest floor! Mei stumbled back a few steps, then carefully noted where the branch fell. It was right where she'd been standing only moments earlier! "Th..thanks, Absolom..." she stuttered, then turned to face forward again. Absolom nodded silently, and they continued on their way through the forest.

((Sorry, centered is a pain to read on this phone.))

It was then that a boy crossed paths with the girl. He wears a black collared shirt with a tie on it and shorts a little lower than usual, checkered with green and red. His face was vacant of expression.

His hair is dark-brown, or black, the kind you can never say for sure. It was short and only reached to his ears and no further. It is naturally straight and looks neat.

A Lucario is at his side and it also seemed vacant of expression. Both of them emitted with strong aura. Lucario is in a pose as he is walking that looks like he is ready for anything.

The boy accidentally bumped into her. "Sorry,..." he said. His voice sounded a bit young and he was speaking with a rude voice.

-his real thoughts-

'What will I do with this power? I don't want to hurt anyone else with it. It would be best to move on, don't do anything that will cause too much attention... Just move on!' He thought to himself.

Last edited by Alekion on Wed May 25, 2011 1:36 am; edited 1 time in total

As Mei turned, she ran smack into...a boy? She fell to the ground, rubbing her head having slammed it against something hard. Absolom was quickly at her side to help her out, not being able to predict such a man-made disaster. "Oww..." she mumbled, using Absolom as a balance to help her up. He helped by nudging her upward as she began to stand.

"Didn't see that one coming, did you Absolom?" she asked, still rubbing her head, which seemed to have acquired a cut on it. She laughed a bit, removing her hand and patting the Absol, who shook his head in disappointment. He hated failing to protect her. "It's fine. You can't protect me from every bump, bruise and scrape that comes my way, after all. Besides, you already saved me from worse today," she said smiling and glancing back at the large branch on the ground.

She quickly turned back to the boy, nearly completely forgetting about him already. "Oh I'm sorry...I'm sure it was probably my fault any...way..." she said, slowing at the end. The boy's expression seemed cold and harsh, yet her natural instinct told her something was wrong. "You alright there?" she asked. He didn't seem to have any cuts, not like the one she'd just acquired anyway.

Absolom walked forward a bit, sniffing the air of the Lucario and boy. They seemed to be putting off an aura, but it wasn't dark like those which followed Mei. He sat down beside Mei, nodding his head in approval. "Absolom seems to think you're fine. He doesn't sense anything dark around you anyway. But you do have a strong presence. I can see it all around you. It's not like others that I've seen though," Mei said, able to see his aura the same way she could see the dark things that followed her.

Natsume stopped. "Huh... you mean... you can see...?" He started. "Nothing's wrong." He lied. "I'm fine. Atleast you're ok." He said, still having the cold expression. "There's something interesting about you. Anyway, my name is Natsume. Natsume Hyuga." He said, keeping his hands in his pockets when most would usually bring out their hands for the other to shake. He did not want to do anything with even a slight chance to hurt her.

Lucario continued walking and bumped Natsume over, but helped him back up again.

Absolom watched with only slight amusement as the boy's own Pokemon sent him toppling over. He would never do such a thing to Mei. Then again, he wouldn't ever have to. He was far too busy trying to avoid such things happening to her, but they always seemed to find a way. He shook his head slightly, and silently.

Mei blushed a bit, completely forgetting it wasn't usual for people to see such things. "I'm sorry. People think I'm weird because of those kinds of things..." she muttered, kicking at the dirt a bit, hands neatly folded behind her back. She glanced back up to him, knowing he was lying. It created ripples in the aura around him when he did. Yet, she wouldn't press further. People were allowed to have their own secrets after all.

"I'm Mei. Meline Koto," she said, wiping a trickle of blood from the cut on her forehead. "Oh, and don't worry about that either. I'm used to bumps and scrapes." She paused a moment. Natsume felt very unnatural to her tongue. "Mind if I just call you Tsume?" she then asked, seeming to break out of the trance like state she'd been in while thinking of a nickname.

Absolom rolled his eyes, smiling inwardly at Mei. She could be very brash at times, and often liked to believe everyone was good. It was her downfall half of the time. She would let people walk all over her time and time again before putting her foot down, only deciding that particular individual wasn't fit for her company. He sighed a bit, he really commended her for it but wished she'd try being a bit more careful.

"Go ahead, call me what you want." Natsume said. Pulled out from his pocket a small band-aid and threw it to her. "Here, for the cut. I can't just leave you with some thing I did to you." He says to her, and his expression seemed to slowly soften. "Are you all alone?"

Lucario noticed the Absol and unnoticably scowled at it.

Absolom shot the Lucario a glare as it scowled, it could sense it though it wasn't overly obvious to the humans. Absolom was simply more in tune with things than they. He hadn't laughed nor done anything but sit by Mei's side and watch contently to deserve it. The fur on his shoulders bristled a bit, but he closed his eyes and it smoothed again. He wouldn't fall so low, not over something so petty.

Mei caught the bandaid and smiled. "No need really," she said, pointing to the cut. "See? Already stopped bleeding. I'm a quick healer," she chuckled just a bit. She was relieved to see his expression change a bit from the cold lifeless one it had been when she first saw him. It meant he was opening up a bit. A cold heart meant a cold world, Mei knew that all too well.

Absolom rose to his feet, then glanced up to the sky. "Sol..." he said quietly. This alone caught Mei's attention immediately, her expression changing to fear. Absolom's face was rather serious as he stared toward the sky. Mei's seemed worried as she watched him carefully. His face turned toward Mei's, then out to the forest again. He began walking, without any prompting.

"Alone? No...I've always got Absolom with me...I'd be lost without him..." she said, watching Absolom as she spoke. "I think we'd best follow him. He generally tries to lead me away from danger. He looked serious so..." She looked back to the boy. "You can come too, if you want..." she spoke, then turned and chased after her Absol.

"Alright. I'll follow." Natsume said. He quickly ran after, easily avoiding any tree stumps or roots in the ground. He had always been used to the forest, due to the training with Lucario he does. 'An absol... it can sense danger. I hope that won't mean me... the fire I possess... I don't want it to be a disaster. Atleast he can maybe... sense it before it actually happens.'

Lucario settled down and followed also, being more expedient and more nimble than Natsume. He eyed Natsume, wondering what he was thinking.

Absolom ran through the forest, taking a sharp turn off the beaten path as he went. Mei turned her head, halting her forward march to quickly sidestep, turning easily into a sprint and bounding over logs and twigs. For someone so accident prone, she didn't seem to be overly clutzy.

Absolom led them through the woods, the brush getting thicker and thicker as they went. Eventually, their pace slowed by a good deal, as they had to climb over under, and around many larger obstacles that couldn't be cleared with a well placed leap. Absolom leaped forward, slashing away some twigs and vines with his sickle like appendage, revealing a clearing ahead of them. He led them into it, calmly walking now.

Mei struggled to keep up a bit, but was trying hard since Absolom always risks himself for her. She knew he wouldn't go faster than she could handle, anyway. She finally arrived, panting as she entered the clearing. She glanced around in awe at the sight around her.

The moonlight trickled down gently, filing the area with a blue green hue. White flowers bloomed across the open field, nearly sparkling in the pale light. Trickling of water could be heard from a nearby brook, lush greenery all around. Wait...moonlight?

Mei paused, a bit scared. Her gaze shot up at the sky. It was pitch black besides the large glowing orb she'd become so familiar with. But...it was just morning not too long ago... she told herself, eyes widening as a bright light shot out of the sky.

It was large, glowing white hot with a tail like a kite. A falling star?! Mei backed up, nearly stumbling over Absolom who'd stepped behind her to stop her. It seemed he wanted her to see it, so she apparently wasn't in danger. The earth shook strongly, knocking everyone over. The area became very heated and a blinding bright light filled it. When it finally dimmed down, there was a crater before them, still steaming with red heated rocks all around.

Natsume was panting hard by the time they arrived at the spot. He doesn't usually run away from anything, take away running from something he doesn't know what it even is. When he saw the thing falling, is whole body froze. He didn't expect to see anything like that. 'What the heck is that?' he thought. When it hit the ground, he felll over. He didn't enjoy this. "You alright?" He asked the girl.

Lucario had almost fallen on top of Natsume and barely stopped himself. He looked at what it was, trying to figure it out. He is very curious about it.

Out from whatever fell comes a Jirachi. It looks weakly at them and falls to the ground.

"Huh? What...?" Natsume started, unable to finish. He got to his feet and walked up to the pokemon, unsure how to react. It was a weak pokemon, he felt the urge to help it... but how? all he can do is create fire.

Mei pulled herself up off the ground, rubbing her head again. At least this time it seemed she'd only gotten a bump to it. She stumbled a couple feet, still a bit dizzy after all the commotion. She glanced over to the boy, his voice sounded muffled and distant but she could make out his words. "Yeah, I'm okay..." she muttered very blankly, glancing over to the crater.

Absol took a few strong strides forward, then looked back to Mei. "You want me to follow you? Okay..." she said, still in a dazed kind of state, taking a step forward and placing a hand on Absolom's head. He stood as tall as he could, to make himself a good support for her as they walked forward.

The Jirachi appeared, floating weakly in a rather erratic pattern until it crashed. Mei opened her eyes widely. She'd never seen the Pokemon in flesh before, but recognized it from her astronomy books. Absolom smiled just a bit as Mei seemed to quickly recover, removing her hand and running over to the Jirachi's side.

She knelt down, looking it up and down. It was covered in soot and cuts from the landing. "Did you get into a fight or something up there?" she wondered aloud. Her hands were shaking, moving toward and away from the Jirachi again and again. Finally, she took off the plaid shirt she was wearing over the tank top, and gently scooped it up in it, wrapping it carefully as though it were a baby.

"It's badly hurt, Tsume..." she said, running the back of her index finger gently across the side of its face. "We should get it some help. A Pokemon center, or at least some sort of medical attention...I don't have any potions on me..." she muttered as an afterthought, knowing it wasn't in good condition by any means.

Natsume was worried, though he still tried to be calm. "The quickest way to a pokemon center is where? We just ran without paying any attention where we're going. Lucky for us, I got a pokenav.((The region he originally came from is hoenn.)) So it seems we are going to Pewter City since it's closer? I don't have any kind of herbs or potions or anything that can help." Natsume said. "Anything better you got?" he asked.

Lucario was ready to run again, not feeling as much stress as the rest of them from the rush.

Mei shook her head, standing up. "I've got nothing better myself. Seems Pewter City it is. We should go immediately," she said, swaddling the injured Pokemon. Absolom joined at her side, then nodded. He began to walk off in a direction into the forest. "I think he knows where he's going," she said, looking back to Tsume.

"Listen...I'm sorry. I'm actually really bad luck. Stuff like the branch and the meteor...that's like my everyday life. I'll understand if you don't want to be around me," she said, bowing to Tsume before turning in the direction Absolom ran off. "Of course, you're welcome to come with me if you wish too."

Mei ran of, catching up with Absolom who'd stopped and turned to wait for her atop a large log. He looked very majestic standing there, the daylight now filtering from above. Yes, the daylight had returned again, the silver orb nowhere to be seen in the sky. It was as if it had only happened because Mei was there. Odd things were about this girl, it could be seen plainly.

Mei carefully climbed onto the log, Absolom helping to hoist her up gently with Jirachi in her arms. She glanced back only momentarily to shoot a smile at Tsume before hopping off the other side. She landed and immediately started sprinting again, following her Absol once more to the edge of the wood.

Natsume quickly ran to catch up with Mei. "I... understand what it feels like to be rejected." Natsume said. "My own ability..." He brought up his hand and made a small fire. "It's being able to make flames. The main reason why I haven't really tried to have any physical contact with you." His face was hidden under his hair. "Are you sure... you would like someone like me traveling you? When I, unwillingly, burned down the whole town I lived in before being imported to this region? Not even my own parents accept me... Everyone usually calls me Pyromaster freak."

Lucario walked over to Natsume, trying to keep him from crying. He laid a paw(?) on his shoulder.

Mei slowed her pace to allow Tsume to catch up, as did Absolom. After all, he was merely showing them the way out now, not trying to lead her from imminent danger. He didn't mind slowing his pace, allowing the odd aura boy to catch up. Mei smiled at him as he approached, glad he decided to join her when most would be scared off by now by either her luck or personality.

"Fire huh? Maybe it has something to do with that strong aura around you. After all, no way you could be normal with so much of it," Mei said, seemingly un-phased by the fire that appeared in Tsume's palm. "So that's the 'main reason' then, huh? So is there another reason, or were you implying you wanted to make contact?" she joked teasingly at him.

Mei looked around. "You unwillingly burned down a village huh? Well, at least trees don't try to fall on you for no apparent reason," she said, hopping over another fallen branch. "And floods don't try to wash you out of towns, or volcanoes erupting just as you get settled onto the island," she listed, pointing out some of her bad luck. "I think I can handle anything you've got after what I've been through."

Absolom snorted a bit, shaking his body, rustling his fur. "Oh I'm sorry Absolom...What we've been through." Absolom nodded as if saying 'That's better' before he turned and continued walking again. Mei laughed at him a bit, then continued to follow. The tree line could be seen up ahead, they were near the edge.

((XD))

"According to the PokeNav, we're almost there." Natsume said, still following. "You may not be the luckiest... well all the more reason for my to stay with you." He extinguished the fire from his hand. "I just hope I won't be the bad luck."

(Posting off phone)
"Nah, I'm sure you won't be. My luck isn't caused by the people around me. There's other causes for it, but like I said before, your aura isn't like theirs," Mei said to Tsume before turning toward the treeline once more. Jirachi...hold on, we'll get you some help. Hope you're ready for us, Pewter City, 'cause here we come! Mei told herself silently, launching herself over a large log and instantly entering into a sprint for the exit.

Absolom nodded to the boy, then turned the way Mei had gone. He began to walk that way, giving a glance back to the boy that said 'Come along, then,' before he nearly disappeared in a flash. He was a silver streak across the forest floor, quickly hopping over obstacles as though they were nothing. He quickly surpassed Mei, and could be seen on the outskirts, waiting for her.

To be continued...

The Journey of 1000 Miles- Ch.2 Jirachi's Recovery~

» The Journey of 1000 Miles- Ch.2 Jirachi's Recovery~
» The Golden Brick Road (Miles and Enzo's journey) (Private)
» A thousand mile journey begins with one step (Mod required)
» A pokemon journey - episode 1 - the journey begins (open)
» Pokemon Journey - Episode I: A Coordinator's journey begins!