Chapter 5: Bravery
Chapter 5: Bravery
The entry into the forest was heavily shrouded by the dense foliage: the twisting bends and turns made vision almost impossible. I muttered to myself, as I instinctively checked my pack.
"I suppose this is the way I need to go, right?"
*
Don't ask me, you were the one reading the map.*
I glanced at Nil, who had begun giving me a mocking stare. I had nearly forgotten that she could talk now. It was at this time that I realized that she was a jerk.
“Why weren’t you answering me earlier?”
*
I didn’t think it was important.*
“And this is?”
*
No, but it is funny.*
"Are you going to act like this from now on?"
*
I don't see a reason why not!*
I shrugged my shoulders in resignation and stepped into the forest.
The forest was not as dark as I expected; despite the lack of direct sunlight, I could see quite clearly. The bends in the path I had seen from outside, while still there, weren't as sharp as I had assumed. It still made travel extremely difficult, and the lack of a path or signs prevented knowing which way was directly through the forest. Many of the paths we took lead to dead ends, or to trainers.
Either way, we spent a large amount of time training, whether we liked it or not. Nil and I both agreed that this task, while boring, painful, and slow was entirely necessary. By the third dead end we had encountered, I decided to instead just follow the left wall. Several minutes, and another dozen dead ends later, we finally stepped out into an area that was different than the rest of the forest.
We stood in the center of a clearing, with the sun directly visible overhead. To the east, west, and south of the clearing lay identical paths: almost indistinguishable. Had I not marked the trees I had passed earlier, it would have been entirely possible for me to have accidentally turned back around. The real interest, however, lay to the north. Nestled in the undergrowth sat a mansion. The mansion was built out of dark, solid wood, most of which the rain and the sun had bleached beige. Its windows had long since caved in, leaving no indication whether they were smashed in, or had fallen apart naturally. A young boy sat on the cobblestone path to the mansion, likely just starting on his journey. Beside the boy sat a Shinx; this one was laying down, either asleep, or trying its best to do so.
Curious on what exactly this structure was, I approached the trainer, ready for a battle if necessary. What I got instead, was a discussion.
"Oh hey there! This is pretty cool, huh?"
I was taken aback by how upbeat this trainer was. My journey had been doom and gloom, perhaps I was just unlucky? I considered this for a moment, before just deciding upon asking about what the structure was.
“Do you know what this place is called?”
"The sign over there says “Chateau”, but I’m not sure what that means. It sounds like a different language."
I followed the boy's pointing finger to a crumbling sign attached to a fallen mailbox. It indeed said Chateau, but the sign was in such disrepair that any other text on the sign was unreadable.
“What brings you here?” I asked the boy, as I carefully opened the mailbox, hoping to find something. I retrieved a small stack of coins, which I hastily pocketed. The boy continued speaking, oblivious to what I was doing.
"I was hoping to check it out, but I thought that I’d get lost if I went in alone. By the way, we never introduced each other! My name’s Jack, and this is Sparky!"
The Shinx raised its head momentarily upon hearing its name, before setting itself back down again.
"What’s your name? How old are you? How many badges do you have? I have one, but I’m hoping to get another before the end of the week! Where are you from?" he pestered.
I wasn’t ready to admit what my name was, as I had given up on my journey, and had hoped to start anew. Even worse, I wasn’t willing to admit I was further behind than this kid, even though I started much earlier than him. I pulled a random name out of the air, and went with two badges as my alibi. I personally doubted that he knew where my hometown was, and felt fine just describing it in broad terms.
“My name’s Vis. I'm thirteen. I've got two badges. I'm from south of Sinnoh, from a little town on the border.
"Wait, thirteen?"
Jack gave me a confused look for a moment.
"Mum said I couldn't leave until I was fourteen! I begged and pleaded, but they said, "No, you're not ready yet! No, it's not safe!". How on earth did you convince your parents to let you go early?"
I scratched the back of my neck. This kid was older than me, but acted much, much younger. Perhaps it was what I had done, or what I had experienced that made me seem older.
"Actually, I didn't have a choice. They said I was the right age, and gave me my Pokemon. That happened a year ago."
"WHAT? You were twelve? My folks are such jerks! I wanted to start since I was nine!"
I felt like explaining to him why not having enough preparation was a bad thing, but I didn't feel like crushing his spirit.
"I never told you the name of my Pokemon. This here... Wait, you can tell him yourself, right?"
*
According to this human here, my name is Nil, other human.*
Jack looked at me in confusion. He glanced at me, then at Nil. Finally, he scratched his head and replied.
"Umm… I didn’t... quite catch that. Could you repeat that again?"
*
My. name. Is. Nil.*
“Did you hear it that time?”
The boy rolled his eyes at me. I could hear him calling me crazy under his breath.
"How about you say it this time. It’s pretty hard to understand your Umbreon, what with the ACCENT, and I don’t like the way it’s snarling at me."
“Her name is Nil.”
"Okay, since you two are here, do you mind helping me check out this house? I want help in case I fall down or something and I need someone to pull me out. Also, Sparky won’t stop growling when we get near the door for some reason."
“Sure, why not. I’m pretty good at this sort of thing."
*
Heh…*
I glared at Nil, before joining Jack in approaching the front door.
The tempurature around the house plummeted as we approached the front door. The same unnatural feeling that surrounded the lake before was also present here: the feeling of being watched was undeniable. Sparky followed closely behind Jack, obviously unwilling to follow him, but doing so nonetheless. I glanced down to Nil; her hackles were raised, but she seemed much less afraid than Sparky. Jack made an offhand comment about Nil's appearance.
"I didn't know Umbreons could look like that. I thought Jolteons were the only Eevees that had spiky hair."
I pushed aside the everpresent feeling of dread to respond.
"Maybe she's just scared."
*
Am not...*
"I don't think I've ever heard of a trainer Pokemon that looked different when afraid. Maybe yours is just special."
"Haha, that's entirely possible. It's really cold here; much colder than I'd think it'd be inside the forest."
*
I’m pretty sure there’s something behind that door.*
Following Nil's advice, I glanced back towards the door. Through the empty windows, I could see shifting movement, however moments later, it was replaced with a dense mist. Jack had begun quivering, although whether it was caused by the cold or by the feeling of dread, I could not tell. He obviously was trying his best to hide his fear, and judging by how he was watching me, assumed I couldn't see him out of the corner of my eye. We reached the door, with me slightly ahead, and I turned around, causing Jack to jump. I did my best to pretend that I couldn't tell that he was afraid.
“Well, let’s get this over with. Can you count down to open the door?”
Jack gulped, and took up a position on the other side of the doorway. He began counting down, voice wavering.
‘One…. Two….”
Jack’s shivering increased in frequency as he got ready.
“THREE!”
We quickly threw the door open, and stepped through the doorway. The entryway was deserted, saved for mangled tapestries hanging from the walls. A ruined staircase snaked upwards, leading to a large room, guarded by solid-looking doors. Moving shapes danced in the corner of my vision, but disappeared when I turned to face them. The bottom floor was flooded with dense fog that came up to my chest; I couldn't help but feel as if the fog was trying to devour me.
*
This place is a wreck. And I can almost bet that it's haunted.*
Nil’s comment mirrored my concerns. Meanwhile, Jack’s entire body was shaking, but when he had returned to trying his best to hide his fear.
"I… I… I think we should check out that big room…"
Nodding my head, I removed a rubber mallet from my backpack, and approached the staircase. With utmost care, I firmly struck one of the lower steps, which returned a loud thunk. I had repeated this five more times, when Jack’s question interrupted me.
"What are you doing?"
“I'm testing to make sure this staircase can hold a person's weight. I don’t trust it not to collapse.”
"Oh. that makes sense. I'll just stand down here while you do that, then."
My paranoia paid off, as several previously solid-looking steps shattered into foul-smelling wood dust when struck. Eventually, I cleared a safe path up the staircase, which Jack used to follow me up. As I reached for his hand to help him up over a gap, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Unlike the other phantasms, this one did not dissipate when I turned to face it. It had the shape of a woman, clothed in a bonnet and a dress, and was facing away from us. It quickly glided around a corner, out of sight.
“Did you just see that?” I asked Jack.
"See what?"
“That woman. She went around that corner.”
"Are you sure? You seem… a bit paranoid… and a little bit insane..."
“I’m going, you can either come or not. It's your choice.”
With that statement, all traces of Jack pretending to be brave disappeared in an instant.
"PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HERE… it’s scary…"
“After we check out this area I want to see, I promise to help you look in the big room.”
"Okay…”
Together, we turned the corner, revealing a long hallway that led towards yet another door. This hallway was in much better shape than the rest of the house; not only was the decorative stained glass bordering the door intact, but the walls were decorated with various paintings as well. Jack checked to ensure we weren't being followed as we proceeded forwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the eyes of the paintings following us, and, unlike what I expected, they continued following me, even as I watched them. I neglected to mention this to Jack, as I doubted it would do anything besides unnerve him further. Teeth chattering, he choked out a question.
"This hallway is beyond creepy... I really think that something's watching us..."
He paused, before looking at me suspiciously.
"Hey... Why aren't YOU afraid?"
Of course, I could have told him the whole story, about how I was an experienced explorer, and how I had been through much worse. However, I doubted he would be as willing to trust me if I revealed that the results of my last exploration ended up with me walking into a trap. Instead, I deflected his question.
"I've been through worse."
*
Like having traps blow up in your face.*
"Shut up..." I muttered, "It was one time..." As I whispered to Nil, Jack began wringing his hands.
We reached the end of the hallway, and once again took up position on each side of the door. With a silent nod, we flung the door open and stepped through, fully expecting it to be empty. We were wrong. Oh, so very wrong.
Sparky's eyes unfocused, but he did not move. Nil bared her fangs, but took up a stance that would allow her to flee quickly. Jack stared confused at the room, obviously not aware of the Pandora's Box we had torn open. And me?
I saw ghosts. I had encountered Ghost Pokemon before, yes, but those were naturally occurring: they reproduced through eggs, just as any other kind of Pokemon would. They were simply infused with a different element. The spectres in front of me? These were real ghosts. Between the ethereal forms of the dead Pokemon, sat several in the shape of humans. Unlike the woman, their features were visible; they were pristine in form, besides bearing faces of pain, and despair. The crowd of ghosts parted as the spectre of the woman stepped forward, bonnet still concealing her face. Then, as one, the ghosts issued a booming ultimatum.
YOU HAVE TRESPASSED ON OUR DOMAIN. LEAVE OR ELSE WE WILL BE FORCED TO REMOVE YOU OURSELVES.
Jack had obviously heard them, as the squeak he emitted drew my attention to his face, now pale with terror. Sparky still showed no emotion, but had begun vibrating violently, as if all of his muscles had begun attempting to wrest control at once. Nil glanced towards me, biting remark at the ready, before immediately turning back towards the threat.
*
You don’t ever learn, do you.*
I stood dumbly for several moments as I took in the scene. Obviously, I didn't react fast enough for the ghosts' tastes. In an instant, dozens of angry spirits charged us like a hive of angry hornets, their shrieks and wails forming a deafening cacophony. At this point, I abandoned all hope of fighting our way out, grabbed Jack (who was not light, but manageable), and sprinted for the entrance. As soon as we began running, Sparky was behind us, running as fast as he could, but still dead-eyed and shaking. I was too panicked to check which stairs were safe, but to my luck, all of the ones I stood on held my weight. The door was open when we reached the landing, a courtesy which I would later attribute to the ghosts. Even so, I didn't care at the moment. All I could care about was getting the heck out of the forest.
Just as we exited the house, Jack ceased being unconscious. I could tell, because it was at that moment that he began screaming bloody murder. I quickly summed up the past minute, still trying desperately to sprint for safety.
“LOTS OF GHOSTS. START RUNNING YOU’RE HEAVY.”
Quite helpfully, he started running beside me, before glancing back at the roiling wall of angry spirits. Although it was obvious he couldn't SEE them, it was apparent that he could FEEL them, and knew that if he fell behind something terrible would happen. After what seemed like an eternity, we an exit to the forest, and not willing to spend another moment being chased, we lunged through.
After several moments of catching our breath, and fearfully checking to see if the ghosts had followed us out, we finally had enough breath to speak again.
"I’m… I’m…. I’m… I’m gonna go find a different way. Thanks for the rescue, but let’s not... let's NEVER go back there again."
He got up, called Sparky, and stumbled off into the distance. I couldn't help but notice Sparky was still shaking, and Jack was walking bow-legged.
In the distance, I could hear him calling me a lunatic.
Like clockwork, Nil's comment arrived just on cue.
*
Two for two! You’re really good at this.*
“Shut up.”
A nearby sign confirmed that we had somehow made it to the side of the forest we wanted to be on. In fact, Oreburgh city was only a brisk fifteen minute walk away.