Aves et Apis Chapter 8

More than once they had to basically play ‘Eeny, meeny, miny, moe’ when the underground river split. They dared not separate since neither of them knew their way around down here. At every split they stopped as best as they could for Napoleon to leave a mark on the wall so they would know their way back.

Despite finding the Shiny Skarmory-female relatively soon, there was still no sign of either Matthew or Elizabeth.

That he’d ever worry about the bee, Napoleon wouldn’t have believed if someone had told him that a week ago. Now he was praying as much for her survival as he was for the Honchkrow’s. In a strange way, he was certain he’d miss her crankiness should this end badly. She was a part of the farm...

He Ice Punch’ed a massive boulder in his way, shattering the rock into several pieces that got dragged along with the current. He hoped that somehow the two he was searching had managed to dodge it.

Ahead of him Marth glared back when he had to dodge free-swimming rocks now. The Floatzel merely gave an apologetic shrug as they came to yet another split.

“The water in this one is more fast-flowing...” Marth looked at the narrower tunnel, swimming against the flow as he looked at the other Water-type clinging to the wall.

“They will have been dragged down there if they passed this spot.” Napoleon agreed, again leaving his mark on the wall before allowing the raging current to drag him along. He hissed when he first got smashed against several boulders before being able to get his swimming under control.

The water sped up again, now leaving even the two Water-types nearly helpless against its' power.

“Hold on!” Marth screamed above the thundering waters. “There is a Waterfall up ahead.”

Napoleon looked where they were heading and indeed the water disappeared down a deep, dark hole there. He clung to a rock that miraculously was holding its’ own against the raging current as he watched Marth being dragged away.

He was about to let go and help the other when the Elite 8 screamed at him. “Stay there! And get ready to grab me!”

How he was supposed to do that when the other was yards away from him eluded the Floatzel.

Up until where the Dewgong’s eyes started to glow a vibrant blue and he shot up the underwater river again. He bit the orange arm, dragging the owner along.

“You know Waterfall?” Napoleon managed to climb onto the smooth white back, hissing lightly at the new wound on his arm.

“Master taught me the move after she returned from Johto.” Marth answered, putting more and more distance between them and the long fall they had just been heading for.

“What if they went down there?” The Floatzel looked over his shoulder one last time as they disappeared around the bend.

“Then we need to find another way. It’s too risky” The white male only stopped when the water’s current had lessened sufficiently. “Let’s take another route.”

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Far away, in a different part of the mountains, someone coughed weakly. He immediately regretted the move, since pain shot through his body from his broken ribs in protest.

He groaned pitifully, his body aching in parts he did not even realize could hurt this much. His wing – the one he was resting on – was screaming in agony, the broken bones not appreciating his weight at all.

Eventually deciding that he’d prefer a short pain in his ribs over the continued agony of his wing, he rolled onto his back, biting back a scream as he did so.

The massive Honchkrow panted as he remained like that, while silently assessing the damage he had suffered.

Many of his feathers had been ripped out by the raging current – these were particularly those of his ‘hat’ and tail – or had been broken when he had smashed against the countless rocks and walls on the way to this underground lake. Those that were left were slimed and dirty from the moss and algae growing on the rock-shore he was resting on.

Bruises and cuts littered his body, leaving even the smallest movement with a painful aftertaste.

It took him a while to get himself to move his head to look around. The only light in the cavern came from a far-away hole where the ceiling had collapsed, reflecting off the low waves that formed in the lake because of the entering and leaving river-water.

He would have been content to just let himself lay there while he waited for rescue until he saw a yellow-and-black form on the rocks nearby.

“Elizabeth...” Matthew croaked, struggling to somehow get back to his feet. It was a testament to his strength and determination that he managed, though even the powerful Honchkrow could not keep himself from collapsing in agony when he did manage to cross the short distance between them. “Elizabeth...”

He used his healthy wing to turn her over carefully, nearly knocking himself out with the pain that arched through his body at the move.

“Elizabeth?” He whispered, careful not to agitate his ribs too much. The Vespiquen looked almost worse than he did, which was saying something. It was at that moment that Matthew learned something new and most importantly, something terrifying: Bug-types do not breathe like most other living beings, their solid and unyielding exo-skeleton prevents them from doing so. Neither do they have a circulatory system, no proper heart from which one could detect a heart-beat. In that instance, Matthew realized that he had never been able to tell if Elizabeth had been asleep or simply resting with her eyes closed. He also realized that right now, that meant he could not tell whether she was merely unconscious... or dead.