The Walk to the Shrine

Narakun was shocked that Miyhika thought that she could reveal a secret like that-- especially after Narakun had sworn not to tell.

"At Team Rocket, they would definetly kill someone if they suspected any hint of disloyalty, or if they failed to complete an important mission...But they'd never create and oppurtunity to kill people..." she said brokenly.

"There, the only way you could be the least bit satisfied would be if you were leader, a lieutenant, or a scientist. The worst was being a lab experiment..." she explained. "The lucky ones are the ones that die. Me and Mikala are the only ones who have ever escaped, thought I think that they didn't try to stop Mikala. She hardly knew what she was there for, and couldn't reveal any important secrets."

"Anyhow, the luckiest are dead; because those scientists are completely mad, and so is the leader." she said, biting back bitter tears as she thought of those she had known that had been in the labs, almost all of which had died. "They...they deformed people. They took their body parts and DNA and mixed it with a Pokemon's. It was horrible." she said, her eyes slightly wet. "They called them Pokemorphs. The scientists saw them as the most indestructable army, Rocket's future military."

By now, tears were running freely down Narakun's cheeks. "Even though they were all born as pure humans, they were treated like dirt. After they had transformed, no one cared what happened to them anymore." She stopped for a moment, pondering whether or not to go on. She did.

"I...I think that me and Mikala were some of the next ones. Along with two of my other childhood friends. They...They're probably either Pokemorph right now, or, if they're lucky, then I hope that they're dead. For their sake." she said, her voice steady, but her face glistening with her salty tears.

Angrily, she wiped her face, drying the tears. "Well, I guess that maybe I should start to look for Sakura. I need my choker back." she said.

She stepped up to the shrine and peered inside. Dark passageways twisted into what seemed to be endless night.

"She's...in there?" Narakun asked, her voice trembling.

Oh no, Sakura! she thought frantically. What were you thinking?! This place looks like it could crumble and fall any second!

Narakun looked wide-eyed at Miyhika. Panic was written all over her face-- not for herself, but for her beloved Umbreon, who had been with her through every harsh and wonderful moment of her childhood up until now.

Miyhika bowed her head. "Tanpopo, Raion, Rikelle, Shippuu, and Ganjou were the ones that escaped with Yuri and I.

"0215 was the one that was killed on the way of escape. The worse thing about it was....like with you, the luckyones were killed. Some of the kids.....if they failed, some of them were taken away. They were never seen again."

Miyhika looked up at Narakun. "I'll go get Sakura, if you like. I'll be in and out so fast that hte building won't have time to fall."

Narakun thought about this for a moment.

"No," she said after a while. "You better not. You may be fast enough to get in and out without the shrine falling on you, but think of the other possibilities. For one, this shrine looks ancient, and think of how Hitorii might feel if it just crumbled to pieces. It pays homage to an important Pokemon. If we're quiet and careful, we might be able to get in and out without it falling down. And, it's so dark in there that you might not be able to see where you're going. Sakura could be hiding, or really deep into the shrine....Maybe I should go and get Rakki and Taimatsu...."

Narakun sighed, not really knowing what to do.

Miyhika nodded, realizing the wisdom in her words.

"Who are Rakki and Taimatsu?" she asked, her voice expressionless but quite curious.

((How can she sound expressionless but curious at the same time? "Curious" can be and emotion...))

Narakun scratched the back of her neck in embaressment. "Sorry," she said. "They're my Gardevoir and Charmander. I have... a lot of Pokemon. But I tend to carry around my Dark Pokemon with me. It's hard not to have favorites... But anyway, I keep a lot of different Pokemon for numerous reasons, one of which being that any Rocket normally only has a couple of Pokemon, so having a different one every time someone sees me helps me hide out."

"Anyhow, I was thinking that they might be helpful because Rakki can Teleport us out of the Shrine once we find Sakura, and Taimatsu is small, so he'll fit down there, but he can at least make it easier to find our way around with his flaming tail." she explained. "But, I don't know if we have the time to do that. Sakura will probably hide in there until I find her, because someone might recognize her or my choker, come find me and see my mark," Narakun said, pointing to the tatoo on her neck.

"Whaddya think we should do?" she asked, suprising herself by asking someone else for advice.

(( I meant she sounded expressionless but deep down she was curious....))

Miyhika thought. "I know!" She said, suddenly.

"Kitsune," she whispered softly, and almost immidiately Kitsune stepped out of the bushes.

Miyhika turned to Narakun. "Kitsune could go in, and tell Sakura to come out, and that it's safe. We can keep a look out for bystanders, so no one can sneak up on us and see your mark. And Kitsune could sniff out Sakura..." she trailed off.

Narakun pondered this for a moment, then looked back inside. "Hold on," she said. "Maybe I can just go in real quick and see if Sakura isn't too deep inside...I'll be out in less than a minute if she's not near the entrance."

She crouched, and very slowly, she half crawled into the almost completely dark shrine.

Narakun cautiously felt forward with her feet before she stepped anywhere. Inside, she couldn't see a single thing, but she could tell that she was going down some stairs.

This doesn't look too good, she thought, as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness, trying to see something, if there was anything to see. If Sakura were nearby, I would be able to see her eyes and rings glowing, but I can't see anything right now.

Narakun carefully stood up, afraid of hitting her head on the ceiling and sending down an avalanche of rocks on top of her. She decided to go only a little bit further, then head back if Sakura wasn't here.

After a only a very short while compared to most normal people, she could make out slight shapes in the darkness, with just barely enough light coming from the entrance to the shrine to see where she was going. Looking ahead, she could only see that the dark passageways seemed to go on forever. Looking up, she could also see that the ceiling was very high up, and was actually very well supported by several wooden beams, so that the ceiling was actually made almost completely of wood. Only the shrine's entrance seemed to be in disrepair, but in here, the wooden beams were strong. Old, but still strong.

"Miyhika," Narakun called softly, but her voice was amplified as it echoed through the large interior of the shrine. "Sakura isn't right here, but I think it's safe to come in here."

((Oh noes! Ringo-kun is being hunted by carnivorous bugs!! XD))

((I is here!!! Vwala!))

Miyhika slowly walked inside the shrine, until she met up with Narakun.

Kitsune padded on behind Miyhika, her hackles slowly rising with distaste. Something about the atmosephere....it made her edgy.


"Onward?" Miyhika asked Narakun softly.

((Sorry, Hika-chan, I kinda got impatient. Whoops?))

"Yeah, onward, I guess." Narakun said, a little louder.

Her voice echoed wuite a bit, but the structure was undisturbed.

She sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a flashlight." she said disappointedly.

Takibi was a Fire-type Pokemon, but he still wouldn't help her much. Unlike Pokemon like Cyndaquil and Charmander, he didn't have any natural flames unless he used an attack, which wasn't something Narakun intended to do. If one of her Pokemon attacked, then the whole place might come down, despite its stability.

Narakun stood for a moment. She observed their surroundings. The cavern walls were quite tall, which confused Narakun; They were barely beneath the ground level at all.

As she stood, she closed her eyes for a moment. She felt --not heard, but just felt, understood-- a voice. She couldn't quite understand what it was saying, as though it were far away, but she knew that it was there.

It called to her, invitingly and warmly, yet mysteriously, strangely.

"Do you feel that?...." Narakun asked distantly, the question directed at Miyhika and possibly even herself, and opened her eyes, more vibrant than ever.

As she continued to hear the little voice in her head became a bit clearer to her. It seemed childish, innocent.

Narakun wondered if the caller really was childish and innocent.

Narakun, hearing someone stomping down the stone stair quickly, whirled around and aimed a full-power punch, and her eyes seemed to turn red for a moment, just a very short moment. Her clenched fist stopped a quarter-inch away from the newcomer's face.

"Ringo-kun?!" Narakun asked in suprise. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Narakun had to resist an urge to slap him for scaring her so much, and for seeing her so scared; Narakun didn't like to show any weakness in front of people that she didn't know very well.

((Dang you, Ringo-kun, I had an exciting idea!! But it was gonna be in the shrine!

=_=+ Oh well...That's just a part of roleplay....You don't get to make up the whole story. It's partially determined by other people. -shrugs-

And... I'll post my RP later, I don't have any ideas (or time) right now. Gotta go to da stinken' school. XP))

((It's okay. It wasn't that I thought we had to leave the topic, your char just thought that we ad to get out of the shrine, but still continue RP. But...

Okay, here's how I envisioned it, and I think that Aima might have seen it this way, too, based on her description of the location on the Home Page:

The shrine pays homage to a legendary Pokemon, right? I figured that it must be Celebi, as it's supposedly the guardian of the forest, and twice in the anime, a shrine is involved to show respect for Celebi: once in Pokemon Chronicles, and in the Pokemon 4ever movie.

I thought that it might be fun if we went down to the end of the shrine, saw a stone statue or sumthin' of Celebi where Sakura has been paying respects and hiding out at the same time, met Celebi (squee?) and we get warped outta the shrine or sumthin', yadda yadda yadda. >_>

But then, I'm just sorta over-imaginative.

Nom nom. It's RP. Everyone contributes. XD))

Narakun's green eyes locked with his. She wasn't really short, but she wasn't very tall either, so she had to look up slightly to look him in the eye.

"Yes, I did hear something." she said steadily. "And perhaps you're right. Maybe we should leave."

Narakun paused for a dramatic effect. "You and Miyhika may leave if you wish, but I'm not going anywhere."

This was partially because she wasn't a coward, and would've said that in almost any situation. But right now, it was also becuase she had to find Sakura.

Miyhika heard it.

"I'm not leaving either," she spoke, no fear showing in her voice, just curiosity. "And, I'm not just being stubborn; Kitsune wants to follow the voice."

She pointed to the Espeon in front of them by a yard or two, who had her ears perked, and was glancing back to her trainer every few seconds impatiently.

"And I also am curious."

Now the voice was whispering louder.

A sudden wind rushed through, and whirled around Kitsune momentarily, and then disappeared.

Miyhika walked forward quickly, stopping by Kitsune.

"Kitsune isn't leaving, so neither am I," she said, looking back to Johnny Ringo. "And it seems that neither is Narakun, so you stand alone, Johnny Ringo."

Narakun glared at Johnny. Her eyes had a reddish tint, contrasting to the normal vibrant green.

She could feel his concern coming off of him in waves, like sound travelling through air.

But she really didn't care how concerned he was right now.

"Sakura is in the Shrine, and there isn't a way in the world that I'm leaving without her. I'm going in because I need her, and I need..."

Narakun glanced at Miyhika, not sure that she actually wanted to explain everything right then.

"With all due respect, we're not going anywhere, Ringo-kun, no matter what you say."