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 Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:57 pm
Zinnia reached as far above her head as she could to get to the next handhold. As soon as she began to pull herself up, the loose rock crumbled from the wall and tumbled far, far down. Zinnia clung to the sheer rock face with her feet and other hand, squinting her eyes shut in fear. She felt cold sweat trickle down her back and face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and searched for a new handhold. She could not fail. If she got that flower, then the lives of people and pokemon alike could be so much more comfortable...
"Where's that brat?" asked a middle-ranking Rocket back at the base.
"We sent her off to pick a flower," chuckled another. "She was getting on our nerves. Poor thing; she'll be out of our faces for at least an hour, trying to find a flower that isn't even real!" He grinned in quite an unsympathetic way.
"At last, some peace!" sighed a Rocket Grunt who happened to walk into the room.
"Shut up," said the mid-ranked Rockets together.
Zinnia gritted her teeth and pulled herself up. It seemed stable enough. Maybe she should have asked for Zyk and Shadow's help... Zyk could probably find the dangerous rocks in a second and Shadow Mew could just teleport up to the top. But Zinnia had to do this herself, or it would only prove her uselessness even more. More than anything, anything, Zinnia wanted to be useful. So even though she was hot and dirty and tired, she would scale this cliff and retrieve the flower. That would show everybody at the base... Tears suddenly clouded Zin's eyes. She lifted a hand to wipe them impatiently away, but that was a fatal mistake.
Shadow Mew raised her head. She had been napping invisibly next to Zyk the Zubat back at the Rocket base, but now something felt off, unsafe. She lifted silently into the air, glanced around with her bright purple eyes, and drifted out of the room. She pricked up her ears and heard the disjointed conversation of the Rockets who had been laughing about Zinnia earlier. Shadow Mew's eyes widened in mild surprise and suddenly teleported away. She had to go fetch Zinnia before she could foolishly get herself hurt...
In the process of wiping her eyes, Zinnia allowed all of the weight to be taken off of her arms. The rocks under her feet were just barely holding her, so the extra strain was too much; the rocks broke from underneath her, causing to fall back. Time seemed to slow down for the young Rocket. She slowly looked down and saw the rocks break apart a centimeter a second. She couldn't even scream; only watch in terror. There was nothing she could do. She didn't even try to catch herself with her arms. After several minutes (or at least it seemed to take that long), Zinnia was falling through empty space. The cliff was so steep that she wasn't hit by any jutting rocks, but she found that she couldn't breathe. It was oddly calming, to see the world upside down. Zinnia slowly, slowly smiled and a tear ran slower than a snail down-- or rather, up-- her cheek. She couldn't breathe....
And then normal time resumed, and Zinnia was falling. She screamed so loudly that it seemed to tear her throat apart from the inside. And then there was blackness-- and then, nothing.
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 9:56 pm
Mountain patrolling was just a little something to occupy time…mainly when larger scale assaults were not being actively constructed. It was easy prey for a member of Team Rocket to pick off a trainer or two from high up in the mountains, simply to keep their pokemon quota for the month filled. Sighing heavily and tugging on the short swords strap resting on his shoulder, Bones showed wasn’t really into this part of the job.
Cooper was trotting at a nice pace, hopping from ledge to outcropping in a seasoned manner with the rocket perched on his back. It was these walks that he enjoyed taking with his pet human the most, especially when they didn’t run into anyone and have to at least look like they were trying to take their pokemon. It got tiring, and was bad for them…being that he simply couldn’t use his roar attack to scare them off, knowing the repercussions could be rockslides from the echoes. Still, it sometimes paid off and lost items of value were found nestled in the rocky embankments.
Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun for a moment and scanning the area for the next area to look over, Bones eyed something outside of the mountain ridge’s usual scenery of rock and withered plant. It was a person with oddly bright colored blue hair, climbing a really high ledge known for its dangerous stability to those who were regulars here. Glancing down, Bones and Coopers gaze met, and he nodded to the Arcanine with its legs already coiled to move. A few chance stones loosed their way down, as the dog cleared the gap a broken boulder created. Keeping his eyes on the figure, he wondered if there was anything worth getting in return from this person…when he noticed their uniforms matched. A fellow rocked out here? …and without a pokemon?!
Unheard of!
Wanting to yell out to the person, he frowned crookedly in frustration. It was a rookie he finally identified. Just out on her own…climbing a mountain in a SKIRT no less…and he had to wonder what madness possessed her to do so. Letting a click of disapproval leave his lips, his heart dropped when the footing the girl had gave way, and her weight shifted…the wrong way. Grasping Coopers mane tightly, Bones barked out to his pokemon companion the plan.
“Cooper, JUMP!”
His voice was commanding and sure, as his eyes never moved from this tracking of her life threatening fall. As Cooper moved fluidly, Bones worked with him so as not to fall off or hinder his pokemon from making this leap. After a second or two, a piercing scream was uttered from the falling person, but quickly stopped a moment after. It was then the large fire type sprung as high as his six foot tall body could carry him, beneath the mentally projected path of the girls fall.
Reaching out with a calculated calmness laced with urgency, everything was just timed as so. The form falling from the sky slipped into his thin arms with most of the impact against his chest and the pokemon’s neck fluff. Having her in his grip, he tightened it as fast as a trap so as not to lose her. As Cooper landed his large paws and distributed his weight, remnants of gravel and sand kicked up around them as the finish to his good show of skill.
Bones coughed for a moment and cleared his lungs, before easing his grip on her so as not to hurt her anymore. Cut up and scraped…but otherwise, alive. Letting himself relax for a moment, Bones smiled a small bit. “Nice Extreme Speed, boy.” He praised Cooper, who raised his ears and barked a happy note. Chuckling, he shifted his grip on the small rocket girl and nodded.
“Lets go back for home. Something tells me that the base isn’t a good idea to bring this…uh, girl back to…”
WHY did she not have a pokemon with her? That was a most unsettling point for him, as his own pokemon turned to go from the scene of drama only moments before. Trotting off and setting the pace, the city eventually came into view. In no time, they would be home, and he could patch the girl up a bit and find out her story. He was hoping it would be an easy one to tell.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 6:15 am
((I think you meant for me to speed it up a little, right?)) Seconds after Bones and Cooper disappeared, Shadow Mew teleported in. Her purple eyes scanned the area almost frantically; Shadow Mew was feeling something close to fear. But she couldn't see Zinnia anywhere. She looked all over the mountain and the ground, but there was no sign. Her instinctive feeling of unease had left her-- perhaps she had merely imagined it.
Giving the place a final look around, Shadow Mew returned to Zyk at the base. Hopefully Zinnia would return quickly to prove that everything was okay after all...*** Zinnia suddenly regained consciousness and sat up too quickly; her head spun and she almost fell over where she sat. "Where am I? What's going on?" she gasped. Her throat felt raw and her voice was raspy. She fixed a blurry gaze on Bones. "Who-- who're you?" she said, though it caused her pain to speak. She could not recognize Bones with her vision so strange.
Zinnia clutched her head and rested it on her knees until she could think and see straight. Luckily, Zinnia always wore black shorts under her skirt. When she looked up again, she realized it was Bones-- or at least, she knew his face, though she did not remember his name. "You're... B... Bill...?" That wasn't right, she knew, but she really did not remember his name.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 4:27 pm
Watching as the young girl struggled against her body’s recent trauma, Bones winced out of sympathy…but only slightly. Placing his hand on the back of her head, he gently persuaded the young girl to lean most of her weight against his chest and shoulder once more, not wanting to see more injuries in the long run.
“Shhh. You had an accident, so quit trying to talk.” He tried to speak in a soothing manner, but until she got looked over could he really rest easy. Perhaps damage was minimal, and at best she was just scared and scraped.
Sighing a bit, Bones shook his head again thinking to the sight of her climbing the canyon wall all on her own. His long bangs flopped about as he scanned her with azure eye line. Most of her muscles were still completely tense from the adrenaline that pumped through her only minutes before, and her uniform was coated with earth in various forms of mud, sand, and the like. Cooper continued to plod along down the streets, while the pair balanced on his back rode with ease. They’d almost made it back to his apartment. For a moment, the young man considered just taking her to a local hospital, and then remembered both their Rocket status.
“Right.” He said to nobody, as Cooper knelt and he soundlessly slid to the concrete floor of the building’s lobby. Thankfully, she was small and light making it easy to open the door and carry her the rest of the three flights up to his apartment. Placing her gingerly upon the brightly colored and seemingly out of place futon, he looked her over once more…a familiar thought stirring in his mind. Zinnia…he believed her name was. Rumors of the over zealous newbie rocket flickered to life, tales that he’d heard from the circles he ran in. He’d worked with he before even, so why did she seem so out of place just now? Brushing off the thought, Bones sauntered towards the kitchen to obtain a glass of water for her. Liquids first, then once she was up to it, perhaps he could check to see if she was grievously injured.
Cooper flopped down beside the couch, and puppy sighed into the floor. Glancing up, he eyed the small hand dangling off the furniture. Coated in scrapes and mud, he began to lick gently against it with sympathy. He knew how it was to see a human hurt…his own pet human was injured quite frequently.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 6:16 pm
Zinnia flinched, taking her hand back slightly, when Cooper licked the stinging wounds. But she let her hand fall back within the tongue's reach almost immediately, smiling. She was happy that the arcanine wanted to take care of her because it reminded her so much of Zyk. She wished the tiny zubat were there, but he was probably going to sleep all day, since Zinnia hadn't told him she was going off on a mission.
The mission! Zinnia forced herself to sit upright, taking her hand away from Cooper once again. She swung her legs off of the futon and onto the floor and attempted to stand up, though her arms no longer seemed to be strong enough to push the rest of her body up. "I have to get back," she said shakily. "The flower-- medicine--" At last she found her feet, but she wobbled dangerously.
Zinnia hadn't been physically injured, other than some scrapes and bruises. But she had certainly been traumatized and was not thinking clearly. The best remedy was most likely sleep, but sleep was the last thing on Zinnia's mind. For some reason that she could not place, getting the imaginary flower was of the utmost importance.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:09 pm
Pacing back into the room with a water bottle swinging lightly in his two fingered grip, the plastic container hit the floor when Bones noticed what his guest was up to. More so just the fact that she was up, -period-. The corner of his mouth twitching in disapproval, his long legs carried him across the room without much effort on his part…something he couldn’t say for Zinnia. The girl was going to fall over if she didn’t watch herself, and just continue to strain her body to the point where he’d be forced to take her to a local clinic. This ordeal that could be fixed with rest alone was going to get blown way out of proportion at this rate. Probably even to where she might have to stay for days to recover in the hospital. Intravenous solutions and all.
“Alright…” He sighed at Zinnia, as in one motion he lifted her back into his arms with ease. Her short height and light weight were no match for his tall, albeit skinny form. Why did he always get stuck babysitting the younger rockets? And WHY pray tell was it always younger girls? Not a good look in general for a man his age, but a person in need…was just that. Sending her a ‘warning’ look, he plodded off once more with determination in his step. Passing up the futon, and making Cooper rise to sit on his rump and watch, Bones left the room and headed for his own. Curious for both of them, the arcanine trailed after tongue hanging out all the while.
“Apparently, I didn’t make myself clear.” A moment later, Zinnia found herself plopped down gently onto the plush bed. Dirt and such was still falling off her even as Bones spoke. “You are not going anywhere, not after the trauma you went through.” Bones words were firm and unwavering. Orders. “Perhaps the futon was not to your liking, but either way you’re going to rest before you hurt yourself further.”
The bed was nicer than the futon, defiantly more fluffy, and the odd thing was that Bones preferred to sleep on the floor if he could. Beds were for recovering, easier on the wounds he knew. Eyeing Zinnia, he crossed his arms for a moment and huffed a bit. How else to handle this? “What is your game? Why were you climbing that ridge? Nothing grows there, and its not safe for hiking…and certainly no pokemon live there…” Losing himself in mental pondering, he was trying not to think of how his other Rockets would treat him if they knew he was helping a little girl like this...seeing this situation. “What were you doing?”
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 5:58 am
Zinnia didn't even try to sit up again. She addressed the ceiling, her voice still sounding strained. "The flower-- they told me to get it. My superiors. Rockets. Said that the flower only grew there, and... They needed it for medicine..." Zinnia turned her head and caught sight of the water bottle. As soon as she saw it, she realized how incredibly thirsty she was.
She forced herself up partway, using the pillows for support. She pointed one scratched-up hand at the water and asked meekly, "Can I have that?"
Most people would probably have a more severe reaction to falling from so high up and narrowly escaping serious injury or even death. But this wasn't the first time Zinnia had gambled her life and won; she seemed to be past the point where mental shock could get the better of her. Perhaps she was stupid, but there was always the chance that she was just braver and more adventurous than most twelve-year olds.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 6:58 am
Wordlessly, Bones responded to her request and handed off the water bottle to one of her rather damaged hands. Still standing beside the bed he felt as if he was just looming over her harshly, and then plopped down carefully at the foot of the bed that Zinnia was too short to use. Eyeing the young rocket while she drank the cool liquid, he looked to the floor and then ran this hand through his floppy dark hair in thought. Obvious it was to him that she’d been sent on a fools’ errand, it wasn’t something the overly loyal girl saw. Perhaps it was best left unmentioned? No. That would be cruel.
Scratching at the back of his head, he tugged at the ribbed turtle neck he wore for a moment. Turning over ways in his mind to soften a blow, but there was no way. Soon realizing that he was still technically in Rocket attire, he quickly pulled off his coat and dropped it beside his feet on the floor in a pile. A few more seconds of silence followed before his voice cut through.
“They…lied to you.” Shifting into action fueled mostly by nervousness, Bones leaned forwards and with a seasoned reach under the bed…he pulled out a first aid kit. It was well used, something determined by a first glance. “There is no such thing, in those mountains.” Flipping it open he began to rummage through it, still not wanting to make eye contact with her. He hated to see trust broken, from any walk of life. Why did he have to break this to her? Looking up now at Zinnia, propped up against his pillows he found himself loosing a slight chuckle. Perhaps it was the only way they could get rid of such a hardy girl as herself…because most hazing wasn’t as intense as what they did to her. In an odd kind of way, it was a compliment to her talents. Still, the twisted world of the Rockets crept into his mind and he saw the real side then…not something with delusion and half-baked reasoning. Reaching out he held his palm open to her, knowing her fingers needed fixing. “Come on, give me a hand.”
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 1:59 pm
Zinnia listened, wide-eyed. She slowly lowered the bottle, holding it in her right hand, and extended her left for Bones's care. "I don't understand," she said. The water had made it easier to talk. "They said... Maybe they just found out about the flower recently, and they never told you?" Zinnia suggested rather desperately. "They wouldn't lie, would they? I... I risked my life, thinking that it would help save pokemon! Are you sure they lied? Maybe they were only mistaken...?"
Zinnia looked down and truly examined herself for the first time. She was startled at how battered and dirty she looked; it seemed like she should have been in a lot more pain than she was. "I bet Shadow knows for sure," Zinnia suddenly piped up. "I wish she were here, so I could ask..." Zinnia sighed. "I wish Zyk were here, too..."
Zinnia fell silent, still staring at her own body as if it were something she had never seen before.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:30 pm
“All I know, is that nothing lives on that ridge. Not naturally anyways.” Bones said while listening to her talking aloud. Wiping at the cuts and patching up each finger with some bandages. Either way, it sucked that was kind of stuck where he was...and he didn't know how to explain that she’d been hazed. It wasn’t one of the things that he was proud of being a rocket for. Could he really avoid being too blunt? Would it be kinder to just say it outright?
He didn’t know. Zinnia could have gotten seriously injured. Perhaps he needed to have a little talk with the other rockets…a violent little talk.
While checking over her arms for more injuries, the young man found that Zinnia’s hands were so small. She was tough, he had to admit…and he found this quite remarkable. Just how small and loyal she was in her heart…and these hands were hers to do whatever job she set herself too. He chuckled almost inaudibly.
“Zyk and Shadow?” he asked, hoping this might change the subject for the better. “Who are those two?”
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 3:42 pm
Zinnia was glad that the subject had changed to something she was always ready to talk about. "They're my best friends!" she said, grinning. "Shadow Mew-- I usually just call her Shadow-- is a mew! And Zyk is a zubat. They are almost always with me, but today I left without them because Zyk was sleeping and I was pretty sure that Shadow was tired as well; she hardly ever sleeps! I've never caught her asleep, but sometimes she has her eyes closed and stays really still, but she always tells me that she's awake before I even ask! I met Zyk in a cave a long time ago and he decided to stay with me after that. Shadow rescued me when I fell in a river a while back..."
Zinnia's chatter went on and on, her sentences getting longer and longer. Finally, when she could no longer run on what little air she had, she stopped to take a big breath. "And so that's who they are," she finished, nodding. Her face was a bit pink, either from her enjoyment of telling about her friends or from lack of breath, it was hard to tell.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:54 pm
Bones just chuckled lightly and shook his head in amusement, a slight smirk dancing on his lips. She really wasn't rocket material. Like he should talk. Folding closed the first aid kit, he stood and shuffled towards his closet. "Well, if you wish to see them again soon...which I'm sure they'd like to see you..." He tossed towards her lightly one of his own sleeping shirts. "You should rest up so they don't worry. Change into that, and try to rest...even for just a little bit. " He eyed her empty water bottle. "I can get you more water then too. You work hard, so take care of yourself for it." Bones was glad she was cheering up, but if she exerted herself too much her body could fight her unknowingly. The outcome could be more hurtful than her fall.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:51 pm
"Oh... Okay..." Zinnia said, looking disappointed. "No, wait!" Once again, she tried to get up, but winced and fell back. She felt like her entire body was covered with bruises. "I have to go back right away," she said insistently. "I... promised..." Zinnia's brown eyes seemed to burn with determination. "I have to get back to the base as soon as possible. Zyk will be so mad if I'm late..."
Zinnia seemed to be talking to herself now. "If... If Shadow's near, then maybe I can contact her..." Zinnia squeezed her eyes shut and began muttering under her breath. After a moment or two, she opened her eyes again. "Darn it... She's too far away..." Zinnia bit her lip, then looked back up at Bones. "You're a rocket, right? Please take me back. They'll probably forgive me for not getting the flower if I tell them their information was bad; I can't break my promise with Zyk! Not again..."
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:20 pm
Bones raised a brow at her and then sighed. "So its useless to get you to rest I see." After a moment of hesitation and mulling the situation over, he came to the conclusion that he was just trying to beat a gyarados downstream. It wasn't going to happen. Running his hand through his hair, the male sighed. "I can take you there, yes. But you have to rest once you get back with your pokemon team." He eyed her sternly now. "Promise that or you're not going anywhere." Folding his arms, he watched her, hoping she knew it was really for the best. Cooper whined from outside his bedroom door, hearing the tension in both their voices. Zinnia was stubborn, but so was he.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:50 am
"Mmmg..." Zinnia groaned. She sighed, then said, "Fine. I promise." Her fingers, however, were crossed behind her back.
"Okay, so let's go!" She said, attempting to get up again. "Ouch." Zinnia made a face as she bumped her scraped-up skin.
Meanwhile, Zyk had awoken to see only Shadow in the room. He went into a panic immediately, trying to get Shadow to open the door for him so that he could go look for Zinnia.
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