literature

'You're all that Matters' (Late Chap. 4 sub.)

Deviation Actions

Tinytank138's avatar
By
Published:
392 Views

Literature Text

"Where is everyone?"

The entire clearing that was once brimming full of Pokémon resembled that of a ghost town. Not a single Pokémon was in sight, and the only noises heard were wind rustling the surrounding foliage on the surface. Akino allowed his gaze to sweep the landscape before it landed on Acacia who was giving a sheepish smile. "You just had to hear the story huh." Acacia lifted his wings in exclamation "It's not like I knew they were leaving so soon! We know where they went anyway so we can just bring up their rear! They could have overlooked something we might spot!"

As Acacia scrambled for an excuse, Akino pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance before sighing. "Alright, let's just head down there. Let's not be any more late than we already are." He turned to the entrance everyone had entered before back to the altaria who had recently been accompanying him on all the recent missions. He didn't want to bring him along. However, his persistence was commendable...yet annoying. If he just made Acacia remain on the sidelines and out of range from harm, then he had done his job of protecting his dear friend.

It was much more important to him than finishing the mission.

"These are caves, so know that you can't fly very high. It would be best to stay on the ground so you can dodge easier. Keep your distance as well, you have plenty of ranged attacks you could use." Akino instructed, his tail flicking lightly behind him as he peered into the mouth of the large cave entrance.

"Or- ya know you could just say 'Be careful Acacia because I really cherish you and I don't want you to get hurt.'" Acacia attempted to mimic Akino's deep voice, doing better than one may have expected considering his voice was a higher pitch. He raised his brow and chuckled as Akino turned to look at the large bird with an unamused expression. "Considering you said that you knew damn well what I meant." He snorted and turned to make his way down into the cave until suddenly he was swept off his paws, being enveloped in white cottony wings.  His limbs extended out and stiffened, the only noise coming from his maw being a grunt of surprise. "Oh Akino!~" His voice was as if a princess had just witnessed her prince slay the monster holding her captive and had just opened her arms to coax her rescuer into her embrace. "It touches me that you worry so~" Acacia spoke in an over the top touched tone, cradling the masculine mon like a babe in his wings.

"Acacia put me down."

The shiny electrike's tone was deadpan, looking up to Acacia with a half-lidded gaze, already tired of his friend's antics. "No! I gotta protect you from the nasty ol' poison mist, and you are as vulnerable as a glameow in a trap without this warding charm!" The altaria began stepping to the entrance, the shiny electrike now beginning to squirm in his grasp. "Acacia, no I'm serious you-" The altaria suddenly curved the edge of his cottony wing to cover Akino's mouth to shush him. "So am I." He whispered, lowering his head right in front of his face, staring into his eyes with a mischievous twinkle.

"Wha-"

Without hesitation, Acacia cried out loudly, his voiced reverberation off the cave walls as he suddenly raced inside.

"SOOOO AMMM I~~~~!"

"ACACIA."

----------

"The area ahead has the highest concentration of the poisonous gas...after we head down the slope, I think that's all there is down there...Madeline already has the totems from what I heard but they have her trapped down in these caverns..." Akino spoke, pacing at the top of the drop down into the gas, turning to face the altaria who was sulking on the ground near him. Akino awaited a response to his analysis, however, Acacia remained silent and avoided eye contact.

"Don't tell me you are still mad." He finally sighed, and approached the cloudy Pokémon, staring down at him as his head rested in the dirt. Another long moment passed before Acacia finally lifted his head, eyes watering. "Why did you not let me carry you!" Akino blinked, a bit dumbfounded. "....Are you serious...?"  In a quick motion, Acacia instantly rose to his feet.

"Yes!"

"We have more important thing to worry abo-" "No, this is important Akino!" Acacia severed his words with his own, lifting his wings up to emphasize his words. "When I was just a swablu, you would always hold me so close to your chest and protect me! It was such a wonderful feeling to know you were protected! I just-" He hesitated a moment, Akino taking the time to glance around to make sure no one was listening. This was pretty personal stuff between them after all.

"I just want you to have the same feeling of protection! I evolved not too long after you left- and now I'm bigger than you and even stronger than I was the in the past. I just want you to know you're not alone! You never have to be alone again..."

"Acacia..."

The altaria lifted his bowed head slightly to get level with Akino's face. His paw lifted to wipe a tear away that had been accumulating in his eye before it drew away from caressing his cheek. "I'm sorry. But you know very well why I won't let you...and no one can protect me. Not even you." His voice was monotone and without emotion despite Acacia having had spilled his emotions onto the electrike. Just like that, he dismissed his words as if a heartless monster incapable of feeling them.

Which wasn't too far from the truth.

His paw lifted and undid the warding charm from Acacia's throat and tied it around his ankle. The altaria's expression looked shattered by his words and widened his stance slightly for the sole purpose to keep himself from collapsing onto the ground. "I'm going to scout ahead" Akino merely said as he approached the steep slope. "Stay here. I won't be long." Before he could step down, Acacia words cause his movements to cease.

"I hate him."

Akino turned his head slightly just to see Acacia's sad eyes once more. They were not enraged by his words, if anything, he was more upset than he previously was. His tone was relatively level, only shaking a bit here and there as he spoke. "I hate him," he repeated, "He made you too scared to get too close to others, to scared to feel comfort as if it would make you weak or dependent on someone. I hate that he has broken you so much, to where I'm not sure I can even mend the damage anymore." Akino listened, yet his expression remained unchanging. "But that doesn't mean...I will stop trying to help you Akino." His tone faltered and he buried his face into his wing to stifle his coming sobs. "I hate him...I hate him..." though muffled, it was clear as to what the altaria had been saying in between his sobs. Akino stood still for what seemed like an eternity before he faced the descent once more. He inhaled deeply before nodding.

"I hate my father as well."

In a brief movement, he hopped down and slid down into the poisonous gas, leaving his friend behind.

----------

The shiny electrike squinted his eyes as the poisonous gas enveloped him, his charm twinkling as it came into contact with it, protecting him from being poisoned. He landed onto the lowest part before he allowed his body to begin to glow and lead his way. His eyes flicked and waited for any noise to meet his ears, which it soon did. Pattering feet sounded around him and he constantly turned his head to face the direction it was coming from. However, the area was very open and the noise reverberated all around him, making it hard to pinpoint the user.

He suddenly whipped around as he felt a presence behind him and forced discharge to fire off his body harshly engulfing him and his attacker. "Hey! Watch it! No need to be so on edge pal!"

Without hesitation, Akino once more lashed out and tackled the still unknown Pokémon, pinning it beneath his weight. Only then did he get a good look at who the Pokémon was.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Call me Gonzales! I joined the guild expedition into these here caves and I shamefully admit I got lost." The Skunky sighed with a smile and closed his eyes "Now mind getting off me?"

He seemed rather lax for being someone who just got attacked by a stranger... Akino's brows furrowed and he hesitated. He knew to be wary of anyone, especially in these circumstances with Madeline on the loose and capable of shapeshifting. This Pokémon's sudden appearance was far too convenient. "You could tell me where the group is, or even where the exit is. That would be-" Without even giving him a chance to finish his sentence, Akino's maw opened wide and lunged at his head. As if magic the skunky vanished, however, that was not the case. The Pokémon shrunk into the form of a rattata and scurried beneath his stomach as he teeth crunched down on nothing but thin air.

"Madeline!" The electrike snapped and turned, knowing damn well he was right to have been wary. As he turned to the grinning rattata he staggered slightly, his head spinning. "Ugh- what-?" In the ratatta's tiny paws was his warding charm that she must have taken from his ankle as she evaded his attack. "Sorry pup, I don't have time to deal with you, I got other things to attend to." Her body once more began to morph, but this time she turned into something all too familiar. With a swift movement, she tied the charm back around her ankle before she grinned. "I do believe I need to reunite with that altaria you seem so fond of...Acacia was it?"

Akino's eyes widened as he stared at what seemed to be the spitting image of himself, her transform ability copying his appearance exactly. "Buh bai!" With a sudden leap, Akino had been vaulted over, the electrike snarling and whipping around to try and bite her ankle as he passed, yet just missed. He shook his head as if it was an attempt to remove his poison status before he began to follow, the poison not slowing him down as much as one would suspect.

He had to get to Acacia...and fast.

------

Upon hearing a fast approach of steps pitter-pattering ever closer, Acacia stood up and turned his attention to the path branching off from the one Akino had previously taken. He set up his guard before it instantly dropped as he saw Akino run into view. "Akino, you're okay!" He spoke, seeming extremely relieved. Akino paused and panted, catching his breath more before looking up.

"Acacia, we caught her."

He blinked in surprise and approached "Wait, what? I thought you were just scouting ahead though?" Akino swallowed, seeming to recover from being out of breath. "I was, but I encountered the main group down there and they needed back up- they cornered her in the deep sections. She is being taken back now as we speak." He had explained, Acacia smiling wide. "How wonderful! I'm glad we were able to do this without so much as a hitch!" The altaria giggled and hopped up and down. "Well let's get out of here then! I'm dying to get something to eat!" Akino chuckled and smiled up at him "Yeah- I'd like that."

Acacia's celebration was cut short, halting as soon as Akino had smiled at him. Not any smile, a wide toothy grin. His brows lowered slightly before his eyes shifted "Hum..How about we go help them actually? She could break away right?" He murmured, seeming uneasy now. "I know she is a master at deception, but the guilds are trustworthy enough to rely on them. Let's just go." Akino spoke, approaching Acacia now.

"You don't trust anyone Akino."

Akino's body stiffened slightly and his advance faltered, eyes narrowing. "You don't smile or laugh at such a small thing as me saying we should eat. You don't trust others, you would have said it was their problem, not ours." Acacia stepped forward his brows now furrowing.

"You chose the wrong Pokémon to copy Madeline."

The shiny electrike clenched his teeth and snarled before his body began to morph and change. "Acacia!" From the same area Madeline entered, came Akino who was having trouble walking completely straight from the poison. "You have to make sure she doesn't get away!"

From overhead, Madeline flew over in her new form as a honchkrow, shooting by and to the exit. Acacia hesitated and looked to her poisoned friend then to where Madeline had gone, before he inhaled deeply and nodded, racing off after Madeline.

-------

With long strides, Acacia quickly gained on Madeline, being faster on his two legs than Madeline was at flying. With a quick glance, Madeline looked behind herself before grinning, shooting out of the mouth of the cave and out onto the surface. Acacia clenched his beak before shooting into the air after her, his wings beating frantically to close the distance between them as quickly as he could. With a sudden extension of his talons, he grabbed onto her tail feathers and pulled back with his wings, fanning them out to decrease their speed.

"Let go you brat!" With a sudden turn, the blunt force of her wing connected with Acacia's head, sending him aside. Before Madeline could even begin flying off again, Acacia's head whipped back to her and fired an ice beam that connected with one of her wings, completely freezing it over in ice.

That was when she began to plummet.

Acacia beat his wings to stay airborne before he inhaled deeply to store power before making a sudden nose dive after her. His body began to engulf itself in a white light with features much sharper than his previous much rounder ones. Before Madeline collided with the ground, Acacia's talons collided with her back and grappled onto her before she could shoot away from the force.

He lifted his wings up and began to fly horizontal to the ground, dragging Madeline's body across the earth before letting go completely, the former leader tumbling violently before colliding with a tree. Acacia turned his wings to force himself to slow before tucking them in to step back into the ground, skidding slightly to stop completely. He approached the shifting body to then take back what rightfully belonged to Akino.

"Acacia!" A large portion of Pokémon poured out of the mouth of the cave, spotting both Acacia and Madeline, rushing over too quickly make sure Madeline couldn't get up again. From past the crowd where he previously heard the voice came, Akino now recovered from his poison that's to a Pecha Berry provided by the guild. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked, checking him over, soon noticing his bruised cheek. "Did she do this?" He tone went from worry to bloodlust in a manner of moments, looking to Madeline as if he was about to kill her over inflicting a mere bruise.

"Akino, no I'm fine." He reassured, using his wing to turn Akino's head back to face him. "Madeline is taken care of now, we don't need to worry anymore." He chuckled and lifted the warding charm to place in Akino's bag. Akino frowned and his eyes softened at his friend's gentleness. "Acacia you could have gotten really hurt." He started, only for Acacia to respond. "But I didn't. I'm not as fragile as you think Akino." He gave a sad smile, Akino quickly responding "I never mean it as an insult, I just!...It kills me to know that if you get hurt it's cause I wasn't able to protect you!"

Acacia was taken aback by his words already, but what he said next was something he wasn't ready for.

"If I can't protect myself from harm, then I need to make sure at the very least you're safe. Your life is more important to me than my own."

The altaria felt tears once more spring into his eyes and he closed them and pulled Akino in to hug, and though he didn't return it, he did not fight it in the slightest either.
Previous Page -

More bonding! I wonder why there is so much fluff before Chapter five? Llama-Emoji-12 (Left and Right) [V1] 


Tracking Madeline through the salt caves, recovering the stolen totems, and optionally capturing her will earn you 1 Scholars Rep.
© 2017 - 2025 Tinytank138
Comments3
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Marvel-ousNerd's avatar
Aw. Fraaaannds!! Akino really does need to trust a little more. There's pros and cons to being trusting and not.