Chapter #4Into This World, We're Thrown... by: Unknown Alternative Title: WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP
“It smells like they went down there…” You point down into a thick, dark swamp, trees sprouting from the water and twisting high in the air.
“Into the swamp? Goodness!” the nidoqueen frowned. “Are you sure they went that way, sweetheart? I can’t imagine what business they’d have in a place like that…”
You sniffed around for confirmation, and surely enough, you could clearly smell their scent leading down into the bog. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure…” you reply.
She considers her course of action for a second. “Well… alright…” she relents, offering you a hand. “Hop on my back, little one. I’ll have to wade through.” You felt a little guilty having her do all this for you, but you don’t think you could find your parents by yourself. You certainly don’t want to go for a swim in the swamp waters. You let the nidoqueen gently take you in her hands, and place you on her shoulders. The nidoqueen wades into the disgusting swamp water, the brown much coming all the way up to her chest, even at her size. The canopy over the swamp shrouded it in darkness, and through the tangled mess of vines and trees, you quickly lost all sense of direction. You would occasionally flinch at the sound of something splashing in the water nearby, but you never spot anything more than an errant magikarp. “Smell them anywhere?” the nidoqueen asked, obviously not enjoying her impromptu swim.
You sniff at the air, but the natural smell of the swamp overpowers everything else. “I can’t smell anything in this swamp!” you report, your heart sinking. How are you ever going to find them?
“We’ll have to check around on the other side,” the nidoqueen sighed, not particularly fond of this neck of the woods. Seeing your fear, she tries to calm you with some light conversation as she travels. “So, tell me… these Pokemon we're searching for. What are they like?”
You think about her question for a long time. Your parents are all you know, so you’ve never really analyzed them. You suppose you’ve taken them for granted. “They’re… really nice. Sort of like you. But…” you shrug. “They’re always worried about something. Always telling me things are just too dangerous. I guess that’s why I’m such a wimp…” You chuckled a bit to yourself, but the nidoqueen only frowned.
“I think you’re braver than you think you are, little one,” the nidoqueen said. “You know, I was your size once, too. And back then, I never would’ve gone off on my own like you did.”
“Really?” Your ears perked up, a little surprised by this.
Seeing your expression, the nidoqueen giggled. “Certainly!” she smiled, warmly. “I used to be a tiny little thing; but that never really mattered. Once I learned to venture out of my comfort zone, I grew the confidence I needed to make it on my own. I think you will, too.” You think about her words for a while. You, striking out on your own? You couldn’t even imagine it! But the way things are turning out… you may have to. After about a half hour, you were startled by the sounds of splashing. You looked around, only to realize that dozens of aquatic Pokemon were swimming through the water around you, as if fleeing from something. “Ooh! Don’t be scared, little critters!” the nidoqueen giggles. “I’m not here to hurt you!” She lets her guard down, but you don’t for a second. For some reason, you could sense there was something… sinister about this.
Eventually, you hear something loud down the path the Pokemon were fleeing from, as if something huge was slinking through the water. Your heart seizes in your chest as you realize you were being watched, and you poked the nidoqueen in the shoulder. “I… I d-don’t think you’re the Pokemon they’re running from…” you whisper.
As if on cue, a humongous figure leaped from the water, lightning fast. A feraligatr! She had to be at least the size of the nidoqueen, if not larger, and just as voluptuous to match. Worse, she looked pissed -- feral, in fact. The two of you had absolutely no time to react before the feraligatr tackled the nidoqueen, sending you flying. You land in the murky, cold swamp water, which blighted out all light, further disorienting you. By the time you manage to surface, the two huge women are in fierce battle, with the feraligatr trying to dunk the nidoqueen’s head beneath the water. Managing to resurface, the nidoqueen looks you in the eyes, and shouts “Run!” before she’s dunked under once again.
Run? You couldn’t just leave her! You remembered that conversation you had just a half hour earlier. You just had to be brave… confident. You had to be strong, like the nidoqueen was. But just as you were about to come up with a plan, the feraligatr glanced at you. It was just a glance, but her expression was more fierce, more powerful, than anything you’d ever witnessed in your life. In that moment, you realized that you were hopelessly out of your league.
Who are you kidding? You’re a wimp. A coward. You can’t save anybody.
You swam away as fast as you could.
---
You swam until your lungs burned for fresh air, and your arms screamed for relief. Finally, just as your body was about to give way, you reached the edge of the swamp. You dragged yourself, coughing, onto the shore, pulling yourself up by the vines. Once safely on land, you laid on your back and sobbed. You sobbed for a long time.
Eventually you were too exhausted to even cry any longer, and you had to put yourself together and think about what you’d gotten yourself into. Already, you were alone again, and it was all your fault. You felt like you had just lost your parents all over again. The nidoqueen… could she be okay? You felt lost without her, like you couldn’t possibly decide what to do next. Such a big, dangerous world out there, and you knew nothing about it…
Just as you sat down on the shore to cry for a while, a new, sylphlike figure rises slowly from the water... | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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