Dawn of the Shadows (Drakonnas / Grey) [M]

[Drakonnas]

Zorua watched as the Charmeleon, Joka, made his way over to her, wondering what he wanted. He spoke, and Zoey's eyes widened just a bit, she had misread him. "I'm sorry, I guess I misunderstood you." She said, smiling. His next comment surprised her again, he apparently didn't like being thanked. He was an odd pokemon, to be sure. "Why don't you sit down?" She asked him, gesturing to the ground next to her. "It's probably more comfortable than standing." He asked her about her memory, and Zoey closed her eyes, trying to think. But he started laughing out loud a few moments later, and she had no idea why. Was he laughing at her? Or something completely different?

Deciding to cast it off as something that wasn't her, Zoey spoke, hesitantly. "It's all a big blank... I can't remember much. All I recall is that... My name is Zoey, and that I... I don't know... Ugh, this hurts..." She said, shaking her head a little bit as the rain continued to fall. "I think... the number seventeen comes up, though I don't know why... Just bits and pieces of information, as significant as grains of sand in a snowstorm..." She said sighing.

"Why can't I remember? What happened to me to cause me to lose my memory? Wouldn't someone know me, or have seen me before? But no one knows me, no one has ever seen me before. So... who was my family? Did I have a family? Who was I? Who am I?" She was talking more to herself at this point, but then realized that Joka was still there. She had no idea how to reply to him, or talk with him. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk. But maybe something he said would spark some sort of a conversation. "Do you have a family?" She asked him, head tilted a little to the side in curiosity.

"And... do you know of any place I can stay while I try to regain my memory? I'm not asking for you to shelter me, I just wanted to know if you knew of a place where I could stay... I'm willing to work if needed, but I can't just stay out here in the open... Not if there are pokemon who want to kill me out here..." She said, frowning.

[Ashen]

Joka didn't seem to be paying attention to the Pokemon speak, but he was. He was looking out at the grey sky, watching the clouds pour out their sorrows onto the world.
"Seventeen?" Joka repeated under his breath. "Maybe it's your number. Like a Spiritomb's number is one-oh-eight."
As she continued on, the Charmeleon started pacing. He hadn't taken a seat like Zoey had suggest, he was quite comfortable with standing. He seemed to be thinking, but not of her.
"Not necessarily," he answered after a while. "Maybe you were a loner, like me. No one knows me." At her question, Joka stopped pacing and made direct eye contact with her, unable to give her an answer.

He kept eye contact for a few seconds before turning to the tree. She went on, giving him time to think on the question.
She needed a place to stay. So did he. And maybe...
No.
"The inns are all closed. They're scared of an infected getting a room and raising hell. So you better find a place." He straightened his spine before using ember on the tree, burning the bark.
His small fire cackled in the rain, eating away at the tree until the rain put it out. It had made a niche in the tree just big enough for a small Pokemon to fit in. They would be safe, too; no predator would be able to fit in such a crevice.
"Try that," Joka said, turning away from it. He stretched his claws and let out a yawn.
And he thought of Zoey's question.

Did he have a family?
Well, what was a family? Your blood, right? In that case, no, he didn't. Or maybe he did. Joka didn't know, either. He didn't know anything about his life before his mom had found him. In this way, he was kind of like Zoey. But that was ages ago, he had been raised by his adoptive family.
Did they count?
They weren't a family to him, just Pokemon who had raised him and cared for him. But they probably hadn't even noticed he was gone.
Joka sat next to the tree, keeping his glowing tail beside him to protect it from the rain. He looked down to the rope around his neck, the little trinket from a life he didn't know.
Do you have a family?
Joka just shrugged his shoulders and lost himself in the memories attached to his little tooth, the memories he could not remember.

[Drakonnas]

As Joka told her that he was a loner, Zoey nodded. She had no idea what her personality was like. Was she a loner? Was that why she was alone in the world? Or had something happened to her, so terrible that she had forgotten it? He seemed unable to answer her question about family, and she watched respectfully and quietly as he seemed to contemplate what to say. Instead, he turned his attention to her shelter issue, and seemingly burned a hole in the tree that she could fit into. The tree was gigantic, and a hole to fit her comfortably wasn't going to be an issue for it.

Zoey climbed up into the indent in the tree, it was surprisingly cozy and comfortable, she wouldn't have expected it to be. It was just big enough for her, and she lay down, still dripping from the rain. "Do you have a safe place to stay?" She asked, concerned for Joka's wellfare. Why? She didn't honestly know. He had helped her, she just wanted to make sure that he had a safe place to go as well. She had assumed that he would have had a family to go back to, or a home to go to, but now, she wasn't quite so sure.

The lightning flashed brilliantly, illuminating the world in a vibrant, luminescent glow for a fraction of a second, before the thunder boomed like cannonshots, growing louder and more frequent. If that wasn't enough, the wind was really picking up pace now, and was howling through the trees rather voraciously. It was difficult to hear her own voice over the din, and she wasn't sure if Joka could hear anything she was saying... She could only hope that this storm would pass soon...

[Ashen]

Do you have a safe place to stay?
The Zorua was asking too many questions, and they were hard questions to answer. Joka straightened, thinking of the answer.
He thought of the house by Limbre Falls, the house he had grown up in, the house that was the closest thing he had to a home. It was his place to stay, his place to eat and sleep and think.
But now...it couldn't be.
With Tobi needing so much attention, Joka felt uncomfortable in that house. In that house of dragons, he felt like an outcast now more than ever. And no, there were no reported cases of the darkness being contagious, but the sadness was.
Every time his mother stepped out of Tobi's room, Joka didn't want to see her expression. Every time his father flew out of Tobi's chambers, Joka didn't want to see the pain in his eyes. No, Joka wasn't scared of the darkness.
He was scared of what it did. Not to the infected, but to the ones around them.

The obvious answer to Zoey's question was no, he did not have a place to stay.
Tobi could kill him if he went home, like he had already tried to do. The saddened air would suffocate him, choking out any vitality Joka had left. His parents, though understandably, neglected him, which meant anything could happen when he wasn't under their wings.
That was why he was exploring, wasn't it? So they wouldn't have to feed another Pokemon?
So they could concentrate on Tobi getting better, if Tobi ever got better.

"No," Joka answered at the exact moment thunder boomed overhead, drowning his voice in the storm. He cleared his throat and repeated the syllable, louder.
No, he didn't.
He lay down on the ground in front of the tree and curled into a ball. This is how he'd be sleeping tonight, prone to any nocturnal creature that wanted him dead.
But he had no choice. And in the end, did it even matter?
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. And Joka did not want to live to see the day the darkness claimed him, too.
Because with Tobi, Tobias still had people who cared about him. He had people fighting with him.
But with Joka, they'd kill him off in a heartbeat, no chance for a cure.

[Drakonnas]

Zoey eventually fell asleep, she wasn't able to hear Joka's words over the din, heck, she could hardly hear herself. It made all attempts at conversation obsolete. She sighed, and closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep. Weird dreams plagued her sleep. They didn't make sense, some of them were scary, some of them just were, and some were plain weird, her mind simply running rampant.

The storm eventually abated, the rain let up, and the sky cleared a little bit, so that the moon was gently shining down on the drenched world below, creating a sort of iridescent, gentle glow about the world. Rainwater occasionally dripped form the leaves of trees, and an occasional Hoothoot was heard serenading. Even though Joka was asleep, as was Zoey, the gentle and mysterious world around them seemed somehow less threatening.

When Zoey woke the next morning, she felt quite relaxed, oddly peaceful. She opened her eyes, and saw a thick mist all around them. The fog was deep and rather difficult to see through, it had a very interesting effect on the landscape. The previous night, it had seemed scary and intimidating, now it was mysterious and haunting. But at the same time, comforting. There was no noise to be heard at all, which was discomforting, but at the same time, peaceful. She wondered if Joka was still there.

Zoey spent some time trying to think, trying to remember anything form her past. The only thing she could remember was a pair of blood-red eyes, and a glowing yellow smile... She tried to shake that memory out, it terrified her for some reason. Had something bad happened to her?

Zoey wanted to blend in with the tree for a moment, wishing she could hide herself from those evil eyes, and to her surprise, the air around her shifted, and formed some sort of an illusion, it was as if the hole in the tree had never happened, as if she wasn't there... The illusion startled her, and made her wonder how it had happened... Did she have some sort of ability that let her create illusions?

[Ashen]

The sound of Zoey's soft snores joined the orchestra of nature around Joka. The rain was falling in a rhythmic pattern, the wind was whistling through the trees, the Hoothoot were humming, the Kricketune were singing. The world seemed so at peace.
Joka wished that were true.
He was sitting by the tree, looking out at the dark world ahead. He couldn't sleep; if a predator came he'd be done for. He needed to stay awake, and stay alert. He also had a lot on his mind.
Joka was thinking of the darkness, just like he had every night since it overcome his world. He was wondering what had caused it, and how it would be stopped, if it would be stopped. He wondered if he'd be taken over before the darkness's spread was put to an end.
There was too much to think about for Joka to even begin counting Mareep.

Joka was awake all night.
Nothing had happened, except an Absol had wandered up to him, wordlessly looked him over, and walked away. The rain had let up during the night, and by morning it wasn't even drizzling. Joka considered that a good thing, one of few that came his way.

By the time the sun began riding over the horizon, Joka was entirely exhausted. But then, he had barely gotten any sleep in the past four days, and by now was used to it.
He peered into the tree to see if Zoey was still asleep, but she was gone.
And so was the hole.
It didn't make sense. Joka had been awake all night. He would have seen her wander off. And the niche in the tree, that couldn't just fade, could it?
Joka paused. Zoey was a Zorua, and they could do illusions of sorts. Right? Joka had never met a Zorua and wasn't entirely positive.
"Zo?" he called in a quiet, low tone. He didn't know if she would hear; he didn't even know if she was there. "I ought to get moving," he said to Zoey and to himself. He nodded to himself and started walking, wondering where he should go today.

[Drakonnas]

Zoey hopped out of the little hole in the tree, and landed with a little sploosh in a small puddle. Sighing, she looked around. "What's up, Joka? Did you sleep ok during the storm?" She asked him, walking over to where he was standing. She could easily make out his form in the thick fog, the embers burning on his tail were a clear beacon to her, she could see it fairly easily.

She shook off some of the extra water that was clinging to her fur, when suddenly, out of the blue, something smashed into her. A large stinger pierced her side, and she could feel some sort of venom enter her system. A large beedrill was attacking her. It's eyes glowed red, and it hummed and hissed in fury.

"You... grahaahaa... Ever since.... asaagghhh... That... you die..." Zoey yelped a little bit in pain as the venom entered her bloodstream, she felt like she was burning up from the inside... She fought back, and managed to throw the Beedrill off of her. She attacked despite her injuries, trying to get the Beedrill to leave her alone.

"Joka!" She managed to cry as the bug pokemon hit her with a twinneedle. That hurt, a lot, and she needed to finish this fight now, or she might actually faint, or worse, die. The poison was really taking its toll on her, and she had to find some of those oran berries, or whatnot before she took any more damage. But... despite that need, the Beedrill was relentless.

What had caused the spread of this infection? Why had it suddenly appeared? Was it only in this area? Or was it everywhere? At this rate, Zoey was afraid for her life. She hadn't seen the Beedrill coming, the fog had hidden him. And yet, he had no problems seeing her... As another poison sting hit, she tried to get up, or call for help, or something to get Joka's attention. She couldn't keep relying on his help... She had to grow stronger, more battle ready. She had to, or she would perish.

- - - Updated - - -

Zoey hopped out of the little hole in the tree, and landed with a little sploosh in a small puddle. Sighing, she looked around. "What's up, Joka? Did you sleep ok during the storm?" She asked him, walking over to where he was standing. She could easily make out his form in the thick fog, the embers burning on his tail were a clear beacon to her, she could see it fairly easily.

She shook off some of the extra water that was clinging to her fur, when suddenly, out of the blue, something smashed into her. A large stinger pierced her side, and she could feel some sort of venom enter her system. A large beedrill was attacking her. It's eyes glowed red, and it hummed and hissed in fury.

"You... grahaahaa... Ever since.... asaagghhh... That... you die..." Zoey yelped a little bit in pain as the venom entered her bloodstream, she felt like she was burning up from the inside... She fought back, and managed to throw the Beedrill off of her. She attacked despite her injuries, trying to get the Beedrill to leave her alone.

"Joka!" She managed to cry as the bug pokemon hit her with a twinneedle. That hurt, a lot, and she needed to finish this fight now, or she might actually faint, or worse, die. The poison was really taking its toll on her, and she had to find some of those oran berries, or whatnot before she took any more damage. But... despite that need, the Beedrill was relentless.

What had caused the spread of this infection? Why had it suddenly appeared? Was it only in this area? Or was it everywhere? At this rate, Zoey was afraid for her life. She hadn't seen the Beedrill coming, the fog had hidden him. And yet, he had no problems seeing her... As another poison sting hit, she tried to get up, or call for help, or something to get Joka's attention. She couldn't keep relying on his help... She had to grow stronger, more battle ready. She had to, or she would perish.

[Ashen]

Zoey hopped out of the tree, proving that she was still there. She asked him if he had slept well, but Joka wasn't paying attention to her. He heard someone approaching. The beating of the wings were silent, but he felt them. There was a bug-type near them.
Joka's thoughts were confirmed when Zoey cried out in pain. Joka sighed. They were all going after the weak one, knowing she couldn't help herself.
So why did he keep helping her?

Joka approached the Beedrill and glared at it. "You had better leave her alone," he growled. But obviously the wild Pokemon wasn't going to listen to him. So he sent a fire spin over to the Beedrill, trapping it in a fiery whirlpool. The Beedrill would undoubtedly be done after that; bugs didn't stand a chance against Joka.
He turned back to Zoey. She was suffering from poison, which was another reason Beedrill were so annoying. Their buzzing and their stingers apparently weren't bad enough; the stingers needed to be dipped with poison, too. The poison would cripple her even more, and Joka couldn't afford that. She already looked incredibly weak.
Joka gave a large sigh. He looked back at the Beedrill, making sure it wouldn't get out of his vortex, and he slipped his claws under the Zorua.
Zoey wasn't heavy. Zorua usually weren't. Joka was surprised at how soft she was, but he tried not to think about it.
"Let's get you some Pecha berries," he mumbled, walking back to Limbre Falls.

He hated this.
This darkness, this dreariness that watched over the world. Why hadn't anyone found a cure? It had been days, but that should have been enough time.
Joka was tired of waiting on Pokemon to find a cure. He'd find one himself if he had to.
Besides, no one would miss him if he failed.

Joka set Zoey down in the middle of a path. "Here," he said. "Pechas. Eat some. It'll cure that pain that's seeping through your veins."
He sat down beside the bushes. Joka looked to the sky, but the haze was too thick to see the sun.
"You don't know who you are," he said to Zoey. "You have no idea." He looked at her. "What if I told you there was a way to regain your memory. Would you want to have it back?" He stood, becoming more confident in his idea. "What if I told you I was willing to take you to a Pokemon who could help you with your memory? Would you come with me?"

What was he doing?
Joka didn't know. But he was liking the sound of it.

Mew was a legendary Pokemon that knew everything. As much was rumored, anyway.
So maybe if Joka got to her, he could ask her what was going on. Why the darkness was taking over. How to stop it.
But no one had even seen Mew. Did she even exist anywhere other than in fairy tales?
Joka believed he had to find out.
He had to try.

[Drakonnas]

Zoey's vision was fading in and out, her hearing was rather fuzzy, and she was having a difficult time staying awake. She knew she had to fight it, or she would risk death. She was only somewhat aware of Joka picking her up, and carrying her somewhere. She had felt the heat from his fire attacks, and knew he had been there to help her. She felt badly that she had to have his help so often, this was the second time within a day he had saved her.

A little while later, he gently set her down, and got her some pecha berries. Zoey somehow managed to eat one, and almost instantly, the pain coursing through her was cured. How did he know his herbal medicines so well? She no longer was poisoned, but she was still fighting for consciousness, she needed some oran berries. Luckily, she had stored one of them from yesterday, and ate it, she had enough strength to keep going, but would need to get more.

"Train me." She said, her voice shaking somewhat. "I cannot stay weak like this... Please train me, so I can get stronger... I don't want to be weak..." She said quietly, standing. she didn't thank him for his help, remembering how he had reacted to that the previous times.

And then Joka told her that there might be a way to regain her memories, and to figure out what was going on. Zoey looked at him interestedly. She needed to know. Even if it was a very bad background, she wanted to know what had happened, why she couldn't remember anything.

"I would definitely come." She said with a firm nod. "I may be weak, and not very useful... But I can do my best... I'm smart, that much I'm sure of." She said, stifling a yawn. "But... first, would you train me? I can't keep holding you back..." She said, not looking at him. "We need to find some more oran berries... Maybe it'd be a good idea to take some along with us just in case..."

[Ashen]

The poor Zorua's voice was so small, so weak, that Joka almost felt bad for her. Almost.
He had been steeled to apathy by now, and didn't need to feel sorry for anyone. Joka admired that about himself; small emotions just got in the way, anyway.
He didn't need puny feelings weighing him down.

So concentrated on her tone, he wasn't paying much attention to Zoey's words. He glared at her, at her plea.
Train her?
She wanted him to train her?
He turned away. Training was something you did alone, he believed. That's how he had done his training. That's why he was so strong now. He could have been a Charizard ages ago, he just didn't want to evolve.
Joka was a strong Pokemon.
But sharing that with this pathetic little Zorua? Zorua were weak by default. Their fur wasn't the best form of defense. They didn't have powerful jaws or claws.
How was he supposed to train her?

Joka wore a very small smile at Zoey's response to his question. Finding Mew would be easier with two, and if he failed he could always say Zoey had slowed him down, just to justify failure to himself.
He started walking, expecting the small Pokemon to follow. "By this rate, the town will be out of Orans because you keep needing them." He stopped and sniffed the air, trying to get a whiff of Oran berries. "Actually," he said, more to himself than to the Pokemon beside him. "There's a bunch of Sitrus berries near the cave..." He started again, heading for a cave that he had frequented to train himself, so many times before. Fire-types were naturally weak to natives to caves, rock-types. He had trained against his weakness until he could beat them without too much difficulty.
Yes, Joka had a lot of memories of training himself.
But what had the training been for? He had never known the answer to that question.
But perhaps it was this. He had trained so long to go find Mew, and save the world.
Joka scoffed. Yeah right.

Once they arrived at the cave's entrance, Joka approached a small garden. The last time he had been here the garden had more berries than this. Some of the bushes were dying.
He picked a Sitrus berry off of one of the branches and looked it over. He thought to what Zoey had suggested, earlier.
"You want to bring some berries with us?" he said in an oddly enthusiastic voice. "Oh, sure! Why don't I just put them in my pouch here-oh wait. I must have forgotten." Sarcasm gone, he said, "I'm not a Kangaskhan."
His tone was as bitter as the Aguav berries that were growing next to the Sitrus. Joka knew that, he just didn't care. He didn't use sarcasm to be mean. His intentions weren't to be a cruel Pokemon; he didn't want that at all.
His tone of voice naturally appeared rude. Only those who cared to get to know him knew that it wasn't.
So, no one.

Joka looked to the entrance of the cave. "If you want to get strong," he said to Zoey, "you're going to want to go against what you're weak against." He turned to her, eyeing her. "What are you? Just a dark-type? They're weak against fighting and bug, right?" He brought his claws to his chin, thinking. "There are a lot of bugs in the forest north of here. I have no problems with bugs, so I can just save you. Because we know you're going to fail. No one could succeed on their first try."
Joka's claws dropped to his side. Was he helping her? He smiled to himself. So he was. For once he wasn't being selfish. He wondered if Zoey would bail on him. If they'd ever make it to Mew.
What would he say?
He shook his thoughts away. "I think Zorua can use incinerate, can't they? Fire-type move, you'll be fine."
Joka walked up to Zoey. He came inches from her face and looked down on her. "You asked me to train you," he said. "I've spent years training myself to perfection. It wasn't easy to do. I've wanted to give up more times than I can count. You understand my training isn't easy. But before we start, before we go to the forest..."
Joka took a few steps away. His eyes locked on Zoey's. "Battle me," he commanded.