Escape (Angel and Shelby)

[AshenAngel]

The full moon hung high overhead, coating the land in a cool blue glow. Lights were on in a small town bordering a large forest. A dark figure dashed across the vast miltank fields, with a group of farmers hot on his tail, wielding bright flashlights, shovels and rakes. "Stop that gijinka!" They hollered, spooking a flock of starlies from their slumber.
That dark figure was a lucario gijinka, caught stealing moomoo milk from one of the barns. And now he was running for his life- an all too common situation if you asked him- with his stolen goods in hand. His ears were pinned back, and a single fence stood between him and his escape. Unfortunately, the fence was big and tall, built to keep an angry miltank contained. And he definately wasn't a big and tall teen. He paused for just a second, trying to see if he could still make the jump with his hands full. That was when the farmers finally caught up. Throwing rocks at the gijinka, they showed no signs of stopping. Dropping the milk, the gijinka didn't waste time jumping up, grabbing the edge of the wall, and hauling himself over the edge. He had more than a few fresh scrapes and bruises, and his stomach felt emptier than ever. If he knew the farmers as well as he thought he did, it would be minutes before they would send out the houndoors, poochyenas, zigzagoons, and growlithes after him. So he kept running into the forest, hoping to put as much distance between himself and the farmers as he possibly could. His long blue hair fell into his face, sometimes obscuring his vision.
Very suddenly, his feet slipped out from under him and he crashed to the ground. He glanced back to see what he slipped on, and a feeling of dread swept over him. A large muk was towering over him, looking very pissed off. It shot a ball of sludge at the gijinka before it slid away.
He could feel the poison slipping into his system, and he felt weakened already. This was just not his night.

((Here's a picture of him, just to help clarify.))

 

[Shelby]

It were moments like this when she hated what she was. Hated the fact that others didn't accept who and what she was, hated the fact that she couldn't live a peaceful life where ever she decided to stay. Always keeping a guard up, always having to watch her back, never able to trust a single being that stay on this Earth. As she traversed her way through the trees of the forest she ran through, the Umbreon Gijinka turned to look back at her pursuers, cursing under her breath as she heard the panting of the Growlithes that chased after her, the pounding feet of the humans traveling right behind them. They were loud, getting closer and closer to her, their lights flicking this way and that, their shouts echoing off the trees that stood in their way. She had to find a way to lose them; she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to run for.

With a grunt she turned her head back to look in the direction that she was running in, taking note of the stinging pain that whipped across her face as she ran through thickets of bushes, twigs and various sticks smacking against her face and arms, as well as her legs. She ignored it though, willing herself to push that pain down and to just run. Jumping over rocks and boulders, she zig zagged her way in a pattern that would, hopefully, disorient her chasers, however she wasn't lucky enough for that to actually work. They were still right behind her. Then again, she figured, the fact that the yellow lights against her skin- the circles on her upper arm and thighs, as well as right against her forehead and on the tips of her ears and tail- were ways that they were able to keep track of her. And to think, normally the patterned lights on her that wold shine at night would scare littler Pokemon away; now they were a means to help her enemies.

Sweat trickled down her skin as she continued running, the barking from the 'normal' Pokemon evading her senses. Where could she go?

It was in that moment, however, that she noticed a dip in the path ahead of her, making her skid to a stop before she toppled over her. Her panting was heavy, her mind running with thoughts. When she turned around to see that they were ready to attack, the Growlithe's mouths poised open, she knew she had to do it. She had to jump. And so she did. Unfortunately she was unable to get her footing right as she fell down the hill, causing her to roll and skid, more rocks and twigs pinching at her skin. Maybe this was a bad decision.

Finally she had come to the end of the hill, however when she did so the only think that stopped her was another being. The wind had been knocked out of her as she crashed into the other being, her body being sent back to the ground then. She groaned, winching in pain as she rolled onto her back and looked up at the sky, the moon shining down on her. She didn't know if she could keep doing this.

 

[AshenAngel]

Hearing barking off in the distance, not coming from the farm he had just barely escaped from, the lucario gijinka shut his eyes and prayed that the dogs wouldn't come his way. He fishes around in his pocket, pulling out half of a pecha berry. His hands were shaky from the poison in his system. He knew that the remnants of the berry definately wouldn't be enough to completely stave off the poison, but he would last until morning, when he could hopefully find another pecha berry to eliminate the poison with. He ate the rest of the berry and stared up at the moon between the trees. It was a rare moment of peace, until the barking got closer. He quickly rose to his feet, dark red eyes fixed to the hill he was at the base of when he heard the backing and growling at the top. There was a small flash of orange light, and then a strange figure came tumbling down the hill. It wasn't an umbreon, nor was it a human... He was so focused on trying to identify the new threat that he didn't even think to get out of the way. He was knocked back onto his tail with the force of the impact, his red eyes staring at the female in shock. She was another gijinka.
He opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't quite sure what. Curse his blatant lack of social interaction. He carefully stood up, brushing himself off and wincing as he figured out exactly where his new bruises were. He finally figured out what he was going to say to the woman. "Are you alright?" He asked her in a quiet voice that was rough from disuse.

 

[Shelby]

Trying her best to get her bearings back together, trying to calm the heaviness of her breath, Umbreon ended up closing her eyes, wishing that all of this could end. She was still unaware of the figure beside her, only knowing that there was someone, or something, there, but she found herself to not care. Let it be another human, just ready to take her back to where ever she heard many gijinkas were taken, just ready to kill her, torture her perhaps. She didn't care anymore. She was tired of running, tired of trying to save her own life. If she was cursed to live the way she has been for years... What was the point of living? But, if she often thought that so much, why did she always find herself running away from them?

Only when she heard a voice by her did she snap her eyes open, the red eyes turning to look quickly at where the noise had come from. The voice was gruff, though quiet, however there was still this natural sense of tension that came to her at every voice she heard. "...No," she finally answered back, whispering the words from her throat as she finally located the source of the voice. A boy. No, a Pokemon... A gijinka. Someone like her. She turned her body then, grimacing as another pain shot up her leg at that point. Something wasn't right. "Not particularly."

Raising up on her elbows, she perked her ears up as the sound of barking and shouting that came from the direction of the hill, lights beginning to bounce off the trees that they sat around. "We need to go." There was a fear stricken look in her eyes as she stood herself up, pushing away the pain before looking towards the other gijinka. Maybe he would follow, or maybe he knew of a way to go? She wasn't exactly sure, but she wasn't about to sit around and wait either. Quickly she picked herself up and started running in the other direction, not taking a second to glance back at the other gijinka.

There had to be water around there, or something that would mask her scent from the Growlithes that were no doubt tracking her. She just had to find it.

 

[AshenAngel]

More running... Fantastic... Without much hesitation, the gijinka bolted after her, and quickly took the lead. "Follow me." His voice was still quiet and rough. He would never bring himself to understand the cruelty of humans, but he got the message that his kind wasn't welcome loud and clear. His lightweight, slender frame wove through the thickening brush like a wurmple wove silk. He slid down a steep bank, a hand going up to sheild his face from the low branches as he did so. Not too far off, he could hear the river flowing. The poison still in his bloodstream was beginning to take it's toll on the gijinka.

He made it out of the forest, onto the riverbank, and began to run alongside the river, which was reflecting the moonlight overhead. His feet barely made a sound as he raced across the loose stones that made up the bank, and he always kept a steady footing. A couple rocks poked out from the stream, covered in moss and definately slick due to the water that slipped around them. He sized up the jump to the first rock and took it. He stuck the landing, and looked to the next rock. The path he'd taken would definately slow down the humans, and buy them some time to safely cross over the river. He jumped to the next rock, and the next. He glanced back to the other gijinka, hoping she would follow.

 

[Shelby]

Perking her ears up a bit at the sight of the other gijinka taking the lead for the time being, Umbreon took no protest to the matter and followed closely behind the male. Turning her head to look back every once in a while, she could catch a glimpse in the distance of the lights that bounced around the area, causing her to duck down a little as she continued to run, hoping that her own lights wouldn't continue to lead those monsters down their path. The branches would still slap against her skin, herself not being as graceful as the other gijinka, and it just made her wonder all the more if he had been to this area before. Right now though, she wasn't about to question him. As long as he was leading her somewhere safe, somewhere where they wouldn't get caught, then she would be completely fine with it.

Pausing a bit as they made it down to the side of a river, the Umbreon gijinka quickly got her bearings together and started back running again, no matter how her legs screamed at her to stop. She did have to take a quick pause, however, when she noticed the other jumping onto one of the rocks, causing her ears to flatten on her head, however she figured she had no other choice but to follow. So, steeling herself a quick breath, she jumped. Her foot slipped a little on the first rock, but after a little bit of scrambling she was able to righten herself up enough to be able to get a good enough footing to jump onto the next rock. The next one she jumped on hadn't made her struggle as much as well as the next ones after that.

As they traversed their ways across the rocks, they soon made it towards the end of the little path, making them end up a few feet away from the opposite side of the river where they could jump up to the grass again. She gave a quick, wavering glance to the gijinka before looking back over to the lip of the bank that stuck out, it being a bit higher than where they sat now. They had to jump to the other side...

Having a bit of a growl come from her throat, the rumbling causing it to hurt a bit, she readied herself to jump before she finally did. One of her feet ended up slipping out from under her, however she outstretched her arms before her and grabbed onto the blades of grass and dirt that she was able to get a hold of, only her upper body having made it across. Kicking her legs out and struggling to pull herself up, she could feel her body beginning to sleep back towards the river, grunts and groans coming from her mouth now as she tried her best to pull herself up. 'Come on, come on...'

Finally she was able to pull herself up though, after kicking dirt back below her, after slipping down a little bit, she pulled herself up and sat on the ground, panting as she leaned back over the edge to see how the other gijinka was fairing.

 

[AshenAngel]

The lucario gijinka watched as she struggled to get up onto the other side. He was tense and ready to catch her if she fell. He could hear the barking getting closer. He watched as she finally hauled herself up over the edge, and didn't waste any time following her lead. He landed the jump easily, due to him already making a difficult jump over a gigantic fence once that day.

He allowed himself to take a few breaths before he took off running again, the pace slower this time as he was just getting them out of sight from the other side of the river. They would be safe now. The humans wouldn't risk going for a swim over two gijinkas.

He stopped in a tiny clearing, sweat sliding down his reddened cheeks. He kept a hand on a nearby tree to keep himself steady. The poison was taking its toll on him. He really hated it when days went sour like this.

 

[Shelby]

And here she thought they were done with the running thing.

As soon as the other gijinka took of running in another direction, Umbreon followed after him, thankful for the fact that it was a bit of a slower pace, however it still left an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. No matter, because as soon as they had made it into a clearing, no other thing in sight save for a few flowers that sprung up from the grass beneath them, they had stopped. Thank goodness. Her knees buckled out beneath her, them shaking still with the effort of having to have carried her so quickly and such a far distance. Brushing strands of her black hair that fell over her face, she let the rest of it fall back behind it in waves that reached a few inches above the middle of her back, the strands damp with sweat.

It was a bit of a humid night, then again maybe that was just her imagination. But at least she was out of it. At least they were out of it. Right, the other gijinka. She turned her attention to look over at the hunched over figure that depended on a tree to keep him up right. He didn't look so good, but she couldn't help but think that it wasn't just from the exhaustion of running. "Are you okay?" She finally asked after being able to find her voice, it quivering a bit. Hesitantly she took a step towards him, giving the male a curious look.

 

[AshenAngel]

"No, not really." The lucario gijinka spoke quietly. "I had a bit of a run in with a muk before we bumped into each other." He explained gruffly, lowering himself to the ground to sit with his back against the tree. "There's a pecha berry bush close by, I just need to rest for a couple minutes." He continued. A chill raked through him, and a look of pain crossed his face. Perhaps that muk had poisoned him a bit worse than what he originally thought.

 

[Shelby]

She grimaced at his words, understanding what he meant about the implications behind his statement. Poison. Running into a Muk, especially an angered one, would only result in that if you weren't quick enough to get away, or if you weren't 'strong enough to defend yourself against it. More than likely he had probably been off guard, she figured, however nevertheless he was in pain, and eve Umbreon could tell that. She frowned as she looked down at him, moving forward again as he lowered himself to the ground. This wasn't good. She had to do something, at least for him because of how he had helped her. A debt for a debt.

Turning her head this way and that, she perked her ears for any noises that could possibly be around them to indicate any danger, but when she heard and saw nothing she quickly stood and started running towards the other end of the clearing. Again with the running, however this was for an entirely different reason. She dove herself into the thicket of trees and branches and leaves as she trekked her way a short distance through, lifting her nose in the air a bit so that she could catch the scent of anything. He had said that there was a pecha berry bush close by, so maybe she wasn't that far off from it.

It might have taken her a couple of minutes longer, but eventually she did find her way towards the pecha berry bush. The sight brought a smile across her lips, tiny pointed teeth peeking out from her upper lip. Unfortunately there were only two full berries handing from the bush, but she figured this was better than nothing. So after picking them, Umbreon navigated her way back over to where the Lucario gijinka still sat, her run now turning into a walk as she approached him.

"Will these be good enough for you? There were the only two left on the bush I could find." She held the berries out to him then, her ears folded on her head.

 

[AshenAngel]

The lucario gijinka watched as she turned and ran. Sitting alone in the moonlight, he honestly didn't expect her to come back. It was risky for people like them to be with eachother. It increased the risks of getting attacked or captured by some number that he really didn't care to think about. That was why it was so shocking to see her return. He thought that the sound of her footsteps had been another danger approaching, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of those glowing rings, he let out a breath of relief and allowed a tiny bit of surprise to show in his sharp red gaze. He was even more surprised to see that she had brought pecha berries with her.

An incredibly rare smile appeared on the lucario gijinka's face as he gently took the berries from the other gijinka. "Anything's better than nothing. Thank you." His voice still held the gruffness of disuse, but a warmer tone had softened it slightly. He quietly ate the first berry, already feeling the poison lessen inside of him. By the time he finished his second berry, the poison had left his system, and he was left feeling drained, worn down, and beaten. But his gratitude remained clear on his face.

 

[Shelby]

"It was... The least I could do," she spoke, nodding her head and taking a step back after the gijinka had taken the berries from her hand. "You're welcome." Again Umbreon found herself standing back a few feet away from the male, still a general distrust for him looming over her being, however there was the slightest bit of trust for him there. Nevertheless, it was still odd, and she knew she had to be cautious. All through her life she had learned to not trust others and just depend on yourself, otherwise you'll end up betrayed, hurt, and possibly even dead.

Her ears sinking at the thought, she quickly shook her head and sat herself back on the ground then. Maybe she should leave, and even she knew that, but she just couldn't find the energy to do so, nor did she even really want to. Scratching at the back of her neck, her tail curled around herself a little, she turned and looked away from the male then, sensing the look of gratitude from him, and it made her feel a little better about the situation. "What were they chasing you for? The ones after you?" Finally she picked her head to look up at him, finally speaking to him after moments of silence taking over them. She was just curious, and though she wasn't completely sure that he even had been running from anyone or anything, she could only assume so. After all, gijinka's were only running to try and survive.

 

[AshenAngel]

A weak laugh escaped the lucario gijinka. His red eyes drifted up to the stars, the sparkling constellations helping to settle his nerves after his long day. "It's a bit of a long story. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow." His words ended with a yawn, his hands cushioning his head as he rested back against the tree. He was beat. "Goodnight." His eyes drooped shut, and his ears flicked here and there, showing that he was still very alert despite the fact that he was asleep.

 

[Shelby]

Umbreon rose her brows at the gijinka's response, a little disappointed and irked to not have gotten a response back, however maybe it was for the best. Besides, it had been a long night, or rather it had been a long time trying to flee from the scene of those humans. She merely nodded her head to what he said, watching as he laid down, closed his eyes, and started to get back to sleep. Unfortunately she wasn't able to get herself to sleep that quickly, or to even get her mind on the concept of sleep. To wound up, despite the obvious exhaustion from the earlier events, to properly get her mind to shut down and just leave her be.

She paced around the clearing for a good while, her ears perking at every sound she heard, at every movement she thought she saw. Maybe she was just getting paranoid. No, she knew she was paranoid, with good reason, she figured, though she hated it so. It took her a couple more hours, but eventually she had laid herself down a little bit away from the other gijinka and closed her eyes. It would be a fitful rest, she knew, but nevertheless figured that something, or trying, was better than nothing.