Dark Skies (open)

[Sam]

Isabella didn't know how long she could fly and hold Mika any more. Her wings were burning from the strain of flying all the way from Valedsea City, across Albatross Lake, into the heart of the Sierra Mountains. There was still a ways to go before they reached the battle fortress, but she had to stop. It was all too much.

Her anger wasn't gone. It was ebbing away, but there was still some fires in her from the conversation between Mika and Marc. She was not a Pokemon. Pokemorphs were created to become the most powerful race of all. And Isabella refused to be treated as a mere Pokemon, a slave of the humans. And she wouldn't be treated like a human, a flawless, selfish human that commands others to work for them. No, she was better. And if Marc was truly a Pokemorph, well, then he was a terrible example of what they were supposed to be.

Finding a good spot to land, a small, shallow cave, Isabella began her incline down, spiraling so not to have to go at such a sharp angle. Finally, she set Mika down lightly and let go of her arms. Free of her burden, Isabella swooped up, then back down, finally coming to rest near the edge of the cliff. She slowly turned back into morph form, her anger more sustainable now. She gritted her teeth as she looked at Mika. "I'll be nice to you, if you are nice to me."

[shades]

Mika had made i rough map in her head of the path they had traveled. It still didn't help at all though, she didnt know anything but here, and there. Isabella set her down rather gentley. There was a slight fall, but an easy landing for mika. There area she was in know was colder. She stepped back into the cave, and emereged in pants, a tank top, and her coat. She returned spinarak, who was rather tired, and then looked over a Isabella.

The girl was strong. She was feirce. But uncontrolable. That was not a good sale. BUt she knew what she was doing. She knew where she was. But as Isabella warned Mika, mika did not take it seriously. She never did. She may be moral enough to treat pokmeon decent, but all round shewwas evil. After she sold them, not her problem. Where they went, who they went to, no care at all. Only the heartless could do that.

She looked at isabella,and answered her calmly. "I do not expect you to be nice to me, neither do I care. What do you want to eat?"

Now mika sat down, and pulled out flint, then made a small pile of twigs and began to work on a fire. deep in her coat, she pulled out a large metal slab, and placed it above the fire on a little platform made of more sticks. She would soon be able to coke. She now needed meat.

[Sam]

Isabella watched Mika create a fire before her eyes. She'd always wanted to learn Flamethrower, being a dragon and all, but she'd never been able to learn it herself. It wasn't in her basic moveset, so she'd have to have someone teach it too her. That thought made a thin stream of gray smoke rise from her nose, something she did when she was annoyed, not exactly angry. Well, then again, she was young and she had many years left to become as powerful as possible. To answer Mika's question, she shook her head to tell her she wasn't hungry. She was still feeling sick inside because of the argument before.

What had taken her to evil thoughts, extreme anger, and deadly vengeance? The fact that the two had been treating her like a Pokemon. And that boy! He, a Pokemorph, sticking up for another, then letting them crash down. Isabella gritted her teeth. And who's fault was that? Hers. She was the one that got pissed and blew up at him, causing him to backfire on her. Then she thought...Mika was the one treating her like that. Mika was the heartless one, someone who didn't care about the difference between human and Pokemon. They were all prey to her. So, why was she defending this...this...monster?

Because she believed she could save her. The answer came flawlessly to her. She'd met many Pokemon over the past year. Like, oh that dear Nindorina that got lost in the woods, the Herecross that needed help learning to fight, and the Ledian family that were broke and homeless, oh and that kind old Cherrim with the Cofagrigus problem. And then one human, a small child, even younger then her, that was kept from Pokemon for his life. He was a polite little boy. But that was then. And he was young and his problem small. Mika...she could easily be a lost case.

Then Isabella realized something. Something that was so obvious, she scolded herself for being so ignorant. Mika was a Pokemon Hunter. So far, the only thing nice she'd done for Isabella was heal her leg for her. And that was so she could walk. So, if she put Mika in the center as the bad guy and Marc as the good guy...

Everything fit. Pokemorphs naturally trusted each other. Pokemon were good too. But humans? Humans were weak, pathetic, selfish, and cruel. So Isabella devised a plan. A plan that included leaving Mika when she wasn't aware. And another plan, in the back of her head. Of rebellion.

Rebellion...

[shades]

Mika shurgged at Isabella's answer for food. "Your eating anyway." Mika commented. Of course she wouldn't force Isabella to eat if she absolutley refused, but it was more of an ecouragement too. If mika wanted Isabella to become an acomplice of hers, the girl needed to trust her. And she jst lost her preference in dinner.

Mika now comfortabley back in the lie low routine, paid little attention to Isabella. She justs focused on the task of dinner. She pulled out thin, pathetic strips of chicken froma plastic bag deep in her coat. She was low on rations. Probelm for later. She laid the two strips on the flat metal and began cooking.

[Sam]

(BAH, why put me in THAT corner? )

Isabella looked over at the sizzling pan, her stomach growling. For a second she forgot about her anger and rebellious plan, but then remembered that she had given her answer already. Too bad, it smelled good.

She wanted, desperately, to switch to Pokemon form. She felt safest in that at the moment, considering what she now thought of Mika. However comfortable she was in her morph form, her Pokemon form was protective.

All of a sudden, her eyes began to droop. She was so tired after all the arguing and flying she'd done today and all the excitement of meeting a hunter and a pokemorph. And that rebellious thought...well it needed energy, right? But falling asleep right now would be a very dumb thing to do and Isabella couldn't spare the sleep. She began telling herself, don't go to sleep. Don't go to sleep. Dont...go to...sleeeeeep...

And her eyes closed and her mind drifted off.

[shades]

Mika was still completley unaware of whatever isabella was doing. she was aware of her, definetley. but isabella wasn't doing anything questionable. So mika carefully studied her sizling chicken.

As it turned to a delicate tender, golden color, mika moved the slice of metal. She looked at her hand, shruged, and picked up a slabe of met, carful not burn herself. She didn mind the dirt, because it as just that; dirt. she only washed her hands when touching things that werent nature, as in germs. a desaese was caought after contact with humans. Dirt didnt do that. Mika went to ofer the plate to isabella, but she was asleep. sighing, she set it down. she could eat cold chicken when she woke.

Mika than mulled over her plans to catch dangerous pokemon.

[Sam]

Isabella dreamed. Unusually. She never dreamed and then remembered. But she did.

She dreamed that she was sitting next to her mother. No one else. They were outside, staring at the beautiful sun set over the rolling hills. Isabella was seven, a year before she killed her brother. The best moment of her life. Snacks were spread out in front of them, empty sandwich wrappers, bags of chips, red licorice, and, Isabella's favorite, two covered bowls of potato and ham soup. They sat there, crushing crackers into their soup and eating it delicately with spoons as the sun sent orange rays across the sky, causing the clouds to seem purple. And then came the moment that Isabella would never and could never forget. The sun sank one more degree in the sky, and a huge robe of multicolored light shot across the sky, illuminating everything. Isabella reached out to touch it, feeling a wonderful coolness spread across her hand. She felt her mother's arm fall onto her shoulder. "Remember, my little angel, this time of day is the time in which we remember love. And this day, every year, we remember how much we love." She reached out and touched the purple light as well. "This is the Day of Remembrance, Isabella." She smiled and kissed her head. "Happy Birthday, and remember, no matter what, I will always love you."

Isabella woke with a start, tears spilling down her eyes. She'd all but forgotten that day, the day before her eighth birthday. She raised her head and looked out the cave. It was still light, but the light was fading, and turning red. But...Mika. If she left the cave to watch the sunset, then Mika might suspect something. Whatever. This was an important time. She quickly got up and turned to Mika. "I-I need to see something. I'll be back in a moment." She turned towards the edge of the cave and spread her wings, shooting up towards the cliff. She looked to the side...but she wasn't high enough. And she couldn't miss this. So she changed directly into a Pokemon and jumped into the air, not resting until she reached the top of the nearest mountain. She hoped that Mika wouldn't think she was running away.

By the time she was at the top, the sun was almost gone, but not quiet. She perched herself on a rock and turned back into morph form. She faced the setting sun and waited. And waited. And waited.

And then it went one degree lower in the sky and the purple light exploded around her. She gasped. It wasn't just a dream. She hadn't imagined that day. The light was real. She reached forward, lightly touching with her fingers. It was colder then it was on the hill, but it was still as pleasant. She closed her eyes and smiled. The light seemed to wash away all of her worries and fears, just for that moment. The Day of Remembrance had been today, and she had missed all but the end. She lay down on the rock and felt the cool light wash over her. She smiled again and her conscious fell over her.

[shades]

Mika heard a stirring Isabella. Her thoughts of how she was going to make it in this land were flowing through her mind. But they were broken. Mika saw a crying Isabella. The girl disappeared after mumbling, not even giving Mika the chance to ask why. The girl was so fast and flying, mika stood suddenly to watch her, and chocked ona peice of chicken.

After swallwoing it, and grabbing the last chunck left, she looked up. She watched Isabella land on a hill, and only seconds later the whole sky was bathed in purple above her. Mika reached one hand up and fel the gentle, cool purple light. Her brow furrowed as she brought her hand down. What was this? what else did this land hold? It made no sense to Mika, but for some reason it affected Isabella. As the light faded, Mika watched Isabella fall asleep on the rock. She sighed. As if falling asleep out in the open was a good idea.

Mika climbed her way up the hill, and lifted isabella while she slept. She then brought the morph back within the cave, hoping she wasn't a light sleeper, or wouldnt wake. She felt Serpior force his way out of the pokeball. He looked at Mika, and a smile appeared on his face. Mika was angry. She was always funny when she was angry.

Mika shot a horrible look at him. She was furious. Furious that she thought she could take care of a kid. She was getting soft. She was evil. Sorta. But she wasn't caring. She wasn't a mother. Why this girl had stumble upon her, she didn't know.

[Sam]

Isabella's wings fluttered in her sleep. She was dreaming again, but it was normal, because she wouldn't remember it when her eyes reopened. She wasn't aware that Mika had picked her up, only when she entered the tight air of the cave did her deep sleep begin to wear off. She had fallen asleep in open air, and her sharp senses could sense a change in air pressure. And the breeze no longer lulled her in a deep dream.

Her eyes opened to find herself on the dry floor of the cave. Darkness had fallen, and the purple light was gone. Her face fell. That was disappointing. She missed it already, and it would be another year before the Day of Remembrance would come again. Whatever. And what was this thought nagging at her brain? Escape? Rebellion? None of that mattered now. All that mattered was that she was alive and she wasn't alone in the world.

She rested her head again and fell asleep, this time through the night.

[shades]

Mika did not notice Isabella's stirrings. She was sitting in the mouth of the cave facing her own problems. If that pokemorph they had met on the beach resembled anything like the aeroian mafia, Mika was in danger. She had no pokemon to give them. They wouldn't accept Isabella if she tried, because they were pokemorphs. And she needed someone with power who knew the land untill she got started.

So her only option was to trade serpior. Her partner. Her first pokemon. But he'd be the only option if she wanted buisness in this land. She sighed, as her mind tracked back to the haunting words of her mother when she left home to build her buisness. Her father was off crushing some small company to build his empire. Her mother told her dont be like her father. dont bee heart less. "You still care for them." She said. "You are still humane when dealing with pokemon and others. But you father lost himself when he broke his partnership" Mika rembered the story of Shedon, her fathers buisness parrtner. They split, and her father was sucsessful. But thats when he became dark and void.

"Don't lose Serpior" Her mothes final warning. But maybe it wasn't a bad thing. And would it hurt th cold mika? She did not know. The thoughts swirled as she fellinto a light sleep. She woke when the sun hit her face. She looked up for serpior. And to her surprise, he was gone.

[Sam]

Finally, after one of the longest nights of Isabella's life, the sun rose and burned into her sensitive flesh. She awoke instantly, changing into morph form in surprise as the sudden morning dawned on her. As usual, the morning brought a personal rainy cloud over her head and a depression of thoughts to her mind. Everything was negative, worse than usual, since the purple light from the previous day. The sun was too bright, the sky too cloudless, the rocks to sharp and the cave too cramped. There was something else too, something very wrong, but Isabella was too angry that she barely noticed.

She stumbled into a standing position, eyes dark and thoughts pondering. What was to happen today? Yesterday's events were too disorienting to pass away. She was still fuming at both Mika and the foolish boy, his name she couldn't bother to remember. What she did remember was her circle of bad and good and how she'd put Mika in the center as bad. No...the boy belonged there. He'd betrayed Isabella in a time of need. Mika, she'd watched over Isabella the whole night while he did...whatever he was doing. Her hand clenched in rage. What if all Pokemorphs were like that? She'd met only one, the boy, and he had not lived up to her expectations. What if Pokemorphs were really bad? What if they were all just experiments of the humans, trying to create a new world? Yesterday was the Day of Remembrance? Well, then Isabella remembered.

She remembered how she was bullied by her own family. She remembered how her father had such high hopes that she would prove him right. She remembered the boy she had met, the one who's mother had fallen to Pokemorph as well. He had been like a father to her. He was human, not Pokemon and human. All human. And he was much better than the boy.

Maybe humans good be trusted. After all, Isabella was part human and the human side of he trusted the humans while the Pokemon side wavered. And finally, she snapped when she saw Mika's face. Something was wrong. And in that very moment, she decided to trust her. In that moment, a tiny seed was planted inside of her, the trust towards Mika, manifested from the post feelings of the Day of Remembrance.

Isabella stood up, he hatred towards Mika evaporating. "What's wrong?"

[shades]

(I might be a little rusty, don't judge me!)

Mika stood quickly. Her confusion was obvious. Never before in all her years and Serpior ever run off. Never once had he failed to be by her side. And now, he was gone. Her strongest pokemon, one of the few she even had, was gone. He couldn't have possibly known of her plans to trade him, could he? And even if he did, he knew this game. He wouldn't run off. He'd stand with pride. He'd be respectable. It was all business. So where did he go?

Mika looked up at Isabella's words. " Serpior is gone. I have no Idea where he went." Mika Reached into her pocket and let Spinarak out. She had the whole night to rest. And now she was Mika's only remaining pokemon.

"Where is he?" Spinarak looked at Mika blankly, and noticed her poor friend was gone. But where? She immediately did what Mika would have expected. Looked for tracks or evidence of his trail in the ground, but she was actually thinking long and hard. Serpior was sensitive. Only when it Came to Mika's opinion. Many times the poor pokemon feel into depression when he didn't meet Mika's expectations. But he had never run off. Something must be very wrong.

Mika spotted something then. A scale. Maybe he had left to shed, but that was unlikely. The way it laid in the ground, it looked like he was headed south. She motioned to Spinarak, who scurried toward her and climbed onto her shoulder. Then she turned to Isabella.

"You are coming with us."

[Sam]

Isabella's wings fluttered as confusion settled over. Serperior was missing? Just from looking at Mika and Serperior, anyone could see that Serperior was a loyal companion to Mika. Why would he run away? Isabella thought about her own previous thoughts of running away. They were ridiculous, impossible thoughts. She could not run away, she would not run away, why wouldn't Serperior think the same thing?

A prick of irritation when Mika demanded she followed. Of course she would follow. Did Mika think she was stupid or something? She'd already learned the hard way what would happen if she tried to escape or stay behind. She took a quick step forward and stared into Mika's face. "Where else would I go?" With a flourishing leap that would be impossible for any other girl her age, she leaped out of the cave and stood, waiting on the stone outside.

[shades]

Mika smiled to herself then. More of an evil smirk though. This girl already was following Mika without needing demand. She did remember this girl might be trying to trick her... but regardless, she needed to find serpior. For whatever reason, to sell him, for his skill, for his company, she needed him. Spinarak was still on her shoulder, lost in her own thoughts.

Spinarak was worried for serpior. Just as concerned as mika was. Also, she was worried this pokemorph might attack. Serpior was the strong one, but if mika had to handle things with just her, it could be bad. Her webs, if Mika wished, could be constricted, and would tangle around her, causing major pain. But it shouldn't come to that.

Back to Mika, she was concerned still. As mika landed in front of her, she realized this girl was much faster her in flight.

"Fly ahead?"

((Ooc: I have no idea where Im going with this))

[Sam]

Isabella nodded quickly and morphed into Pokemon form. She leaped off the rock and soared high into the sky. Oh, how wonderful it felt, once again, to soar high in the fresh airs of the sky. For a moment, she forgot all about Serperior and her troubles with Mika an Marc. Closing her eyes as she ascended, she flung out her arms and swooped to and fro with glee. The cool, morning wind whipped past her smooth, powerful body. Pulling herself together, she opened her eyes and made herself horizontal to the ground.

Her small moment gone, she searched the bare, earthy ground for signs of Mika's Serperior. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to see anything from so high up, she lowered herself just a little more. Her gaze continued to rake the ground, searching for that swift, green snake. Dropping a little more, she now looked around for Mika. There she was, like an ant against the gigantic stones of the mountains. She fell back, an idea formed in her head, and landed next to the hunter. Switching quickly to morph form, she said, "I can't see Serperior, but you could ride on my back and we could both look out for him."