Remembrance
Dec 8, 2020 9:05:37 GMT -8
Post by DrakeX on Dec 8, 2020 9:05:37 GMT -8
Chapter Ten
Djengati Monastery - Remembrance
Djengati Monastery - Remembrance
"Grrrargh!"
With a mighty roar, the rampardos crushes the biggest of boulders blocking the passage way and allowing them entrance. Greeting them is another massive room which their handheld flashlights cannot hope to fully illuminate. Looking backwards, she nods towards the mostly dark room and receives an affirmative bark from her companion who quickly darts inside. Ignoring the shuffling Rock type beside her, the woman hunkers down so as to not make herself an easy target for any hidden Pokémon inside wanting to rip her head off. The wait is tense, but luckily short as her houndoom soon barks in a tone signifying that the are up ahead is safe. Just as she expected.
What she did not expect are the three sharp, terse barks followed by a long whine. Her eyes along with her co-worker's widen as they recognize the signal for a body whose physical state cannot be determined without any visual confirmation. The woman quickly scrambles to her feet while her peer orders his rampardos to hasten its work of clearing the entrance before he yells at the men in the back to prepare for a retrieval along with first aid, oh god she hopes that they can administer it. She does not know how the person has survived all these weeks down here, but pray for their health she does.
Running up to her Pokémon, the woman looks down at him so that he can lead her in the right direction. Once he does, she quickly follows until they come to a stop a few feet away from their find, the explorer slowly raising her flashlight so she can take in as much as possible. The sight that greets here would have brought her a rookie to tears, but she has long since gotten used to it.
Resting on the remains of a pillar wide enough for two hariyama's to sumowrestle, a man blankly blinks as the beam of light enters his eyes; prompting her to lower her aim slightly. Any sign of civilization is hard to find on the person, his hairdo resembling a rattata's nest more than anything with bits and pieces sticking out and grime slathered all over. The lack of lustre as well as the spots of discolouration speak of the man's lack of self-care, however that is but the start of his dishevelled state. His face looks utterly gaunt and sports impressively shaggy stubble, as if he has neither shaved nor eaten a decent meal in days if not weeks. Something the explorer can imagine, especially if this poor man has been stuck here since the accident all those weeks ago.
His clothes are almost non-existent, barely hanging on by their threads with the left sleeve of his shirt ripped off nicely showcasing the dried-up blood trailing down to his fingers. A glance downwards showcases that the sleeve has been used as a makeshift bandage around the thigh, showing her that his pants consist more out of holes than actual fabric. Surrounding the man are the remains of his meals, consisting of wrappers for protein bars known to the explorer to be filled with energy and calories but lacking any taste whatsoever along with the bare remains of some berries. A couple of bottles are scattered around closer to the rescuer, some filled with a dubious liquid of which she has neither want no reason to find out what is inside.
But it's the eyes that get to her. No matter how many times she goes through this process, she never finds it any easier to deal with the dead, dispassionate look in the eyes of those they find after such accidents. Neither those of the living, or the dead. Those empty, blue eyes stare at her as if she is not even there. Probably wondering whether or not she even IS there, and not another figment of his imagination. Of hope against all hope that someone has actually gone through the trouble to find him, that he isn't going to die here all alone and forgotten.
The hold on her light tightens and she grits her teeth in determination. This is what she has joined up for, and while she might not love every part of it, the moment when those dead eyes regain their glimmer of hope is exactly why she does what she does.
"Hey! We found a survivor!" The holder of the flash light yells out, immediately moving towards the exhausted man as another member of the team exclaims jubilation right back at her from further back.
"Hey, buddy, are you oka- Whoa nelly!" The woman stumbles backwards when her houndoom grabs her by the back of her jacket, just in time to avoid a whip attempting to strangle her. Aiming her flashlight to the side, the woman blanches as she comes face to face with the assaulter, her own Pokémon raising it hackles at the aggressive stance it possesses. The houndoom quickly moves in front of her and she quickly scrambles through her mind to come up with the most fitting way to deal with an aggressive element when they have a weak human nearby.
"... Ca- Calm down..." A raspy voice, clearly out of practice, echoes out softly - emotionlessly - immediately grabbing the trio's attention.
"... It's... fine... You can... rest... They're... here to... help..." With those words - tone unmistakenly final and authorative even without energy fueling it - the creature's shoulders slump in sheer relief. Immediately afterwards it fully deflates and crashes into the ground, clearly and completely utterly spent without its sense of responsibility and body's adrenaline keeping it alert. The woman and houndoom slowly relax their cautious stances but neither completely lower their guard. The woman slowly gets back up to her feet, warily watching the gaunt man with her free hand hovering over one of her other PokéBalls.
"Hello there, my name is Melissa and I'm part of the rescue team send to find any survivors to the explosion some weeks ago. It's taken us a long time to reach this low in the Monastery, so you cannot imagine how happy I am to have found you." She speaks softly - gently - but firmly, giving him some background information on the situation he might have completely forgotten about due to his ordeal. However as glad as she is, she must know one more thing.
"Are you aware of any other survivors?"
The man blinks owlishly at her, his eyes barely showcasing consciousness, before he slowly - more like an unkept, rusty mechanical doll than a human - shakes his head. "... No... No one... but me... ... So... so deep... so... long... So... cold... So. Hungry..." He coughs dryly as his vocal cords perform more actions in these few minutes than in the last couple of days.
Her shoulders drop slightly as a sigh of relief escapes her lips. A confident and reassuring smile forms on her face as she slowly comes nearer. She along with her houndoom keep a close eye on the downed Pokémon while scouting for any other possible lurkers. "Do you remember where you are? How long you've been here? Your name?"
A simple inquiry, one she has performed multiple times and received a multitude of responses to. From confusion, to sadness and frustration. She has dealt with them all, but what she gets from this man is not what she has ever received.
"... Where?... Here?... Name...? ... Y-Yes... I... I... remember... ... Hen ...drickson... Hehhe... Hendrickson... Hendrick-heheh-son No-heh... hehehhe... Hendrickson Novelton!" What started of as a mere whisper quickly gains track as his voice grows louder and louder with each spoken syllabel. He finishes the statement with a coarse bark, scraping his vocals cords together as a sharp glint enters his eyes and slightly unsettling woman and 'mon. By this time, the other members of the rescue party have reached them with each one of them shining their own beacon of light on the dirty and mentally exhausted man, making his facial expressions all the more visible. Much to the surprise and mild horror of the team, the man's blank face slowly morphs into a demented grin showcasing far more teeth than any of them feel comfortable with. Shocks course through his body as energy, something his body has had to do without for many days and is thus not ready for its return, and violently fill his veins as dry chuckles escape his lips.
"Hendrickson Novelton! ....... HehehehahahaHAHAHAHAH!" Throwing his head back he releases a deranged cackle, void of any reason and logic, cutting through the now completely silent chamber and unnerving all members of the rescue team. Not a single one moves forward to either calm the clearly mad man down or help him, and when he suddenly and without warning stops, they jolt as one. The look in the man's blue eyes, widened to their full capacity and positively glinting with demented madness, is snuffed out just before they roll into the back of his head. His body soon falls backwards, his back slamming into the pillar's remains, unconscious. The mad grin - with teeth, oh so many teeth - remains steadfastly fixed on his face.
The team members, clearly having never dealt with such a reaction, look at one another warily, very unsettled by the show they've gotten. Only when one of the more experienced members walks closer to the downed man, do the others realise that they have, in fact, been rooted to the spot for several minutes much to their shame. The man bends over the victim's body and shines a small penlight in their eyes, his bigger flashlight temporarily pocketed away. When the unconscious body makes no further movements, the man nods his head and switches between lights before addressing the crowd of excavationists.
"Right, he's down and out." His eyes survey the nearby area before he focuses on his men. "All right folks! Get your asses back into gear and look into any nook and cranny in this god forsaken place. This room seems located right below the cave-in on the surface but for all we know, there might be some survivors around he forgot or didn't even know about. With any luck we'll find some of his belongings to help with the identification."
"Sir, yes, sir!" The group immediately buzzes around the room in search for the previously mentioned. Nodding in satisfaction at his team, the veteran refocuses his attention on the malnourished man. A pair of geodudes gently, ever so gently, move the frail body from the pillar and onto a stretcher before they quickly make their way back to the surface.
A roar echoes from the far distance, briefly stiffening the entire team and spurring them on to hurry the hell up because none of them wanted to deal with whatever THAT was.
Melissa follows the the geodudes until she can no longer see them, before joining her fellows in the search. However she cannot help but air the question on everyone's mind. "Just what in Arceus' name happened down here?"
Word Count: 1,850
Total Word Count: 1,850
Total Word Count: 1,850