PMD - Saving Sophie - E6.2 P1

And so begins our tale of woe. Sorry buys, this is gonna be a long read XD


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Sia was awake the night they decided to finally leave. She waited, laying on her bed as she listened to them go, tears sliding down her cheeks. If only they'd stayed longer... then perhaps she wouldn't have to do this... not yet. She didn't want to do it ever, really. But she had no choice...

Cael, unlike Sia, was oblivious to the fact his teammates had left. He was sound asleep in his room.

She waited for hours, till she was calm enough to go out and retrieve the note they'd left.

The note was very simple in the message it gave and rather messy in the writing thanks to Dusty's lack of thumbs and ability to write. It stated, 'Sorry. Thanks for being great friends. We will miss you all. Dusty and Eva.' By the end the writing got harder to read, it seemed Dusty had a difficult time writing it.

Sia bit her lip to keep the tears back. "Idiot..." She whispered. Her orders were to burn the note but... she couldn't. Instead of burning it she folded it carefully, pocketing it under her hat. Inhaling deeply, she moved back to her room, waiting for sunrise.

Sunrise came soon enough, and after a while the first movement in the base came with Cael coming out of his room. Even though he had slept all night it didn't look like it, his sleep hadn't been restful and he had dealt with bad dreams which still lingered even after he was awake. Looking around a little he had dreaded leaving his room, Eva was always the first one awake and he didn't want to see her.

Realizing he was the first up was an odd feeling, which grew even odder when he realized how quiet the base was. He'd learned not long after moving in Dusty snored. Not loud enough to wake someone up in another room, but loud enough you could tell if he was still asleep in the morning when you left your own room. Walking towards the Herdier's room he moved the curtain door enough to look in and realized there was no one inside.

What was going on?

Sia was in her room, wiping the last of her tears before leaving to confront Cael. She felt bad, but there wasn't much she could do besides follow the plan. At least for now. She listened as Cael left his room, quietly waiting to see what he'd do upon discovering the other two gone.

Cael sighed softly before turning and walking over to the room they stored the food. He didn't check Eva's room, today he really didn't care if she was there or not. If Dusty wasn't here then she probably wasn't either. Those two always seemed to stick together. Hell even when Eva was... for lack of energy to think up a better word, bitch to him, Dusty still went after her! Grabbing an apple Cael took a bite out of it then walked to the seating area that surrounded the fire place which just had glowing embers right now. The fire barely went out in this place, it was really the only major source of light in the place at night. At least the base had windows now for the daytime.

Sia finally moved to open the curtain to her room, yawning as she walked out. "Oh... morning Cael."

"Morning..." Cael muttered, taking another bite of the apple. Well at least Sia was here. He'd gone to bed so early that he didn't even remember seeing her last night.

Sia sat by the fire, eying him. Eva had done a nasty number on the poor guy, but it made this easier. "You okay? You look like you haven't slept well."

Cael shrugged a little, "Bad night I guess for nightmares..." He said, still not looking at Sia.

"Mmh... does it have anything to do with you and the others leaving early yesterday from the planting? Or... the fact the two left really early this morning saying they wanted to do something without you tagging along?"

Cael's tail twitched a little at the question, flames sparking more then usual. After taking one last bite from the apple Cael tossed the core in the fire and stood. "Don't want to talk about it..." He muttered.

"Hmm, figured as much." She frowned, "Cael... if you really wanna put those two out of your mind, why not do something different today?"

"Really I just... don't wanna do anything today." Cael admitted with a soft sigh. His mind felt in a slump today, he wasn't sure if he could deal with others if he couldn't even put on his normal smile.

"You know, there's one poke who might help cheer you up." She said softly, "Sophie's been wanting to spend some time with you for a while, she told me so yesterday after you left from planting."

"Really?" Cael asked, turning to look at Sia for the first time. Maybe talking to Sophie would help him feel better. It normally did.

Sia nodded, "How bout you and her have a picnic by the river north of the city? There's a small patch of grassy hill beside one part that's really pretty!" She smiled.

Cael brightened just a little when he heard that, "Really? That might be nice. Think you could show me where it is?"

"Of course! Better grab some stuff to eat though, how bout you get ready, and then I'll show you the spot." She hopped to her feet, then looked as if she'd gotten an idea. "Oh, how bout you wait there and I bring Sophie along myself... surprise her?"

Cael finally gave Sia a smile and nodded, "That might be good for the both of us. I'll pack up some food alright? Then we'll head out."

"Good! I'mma grab some breakfast for myself." She said, moving to rummage the pantry.

Cael nodded a little and headed to his room to grab a bag to fill with food. Part of him was excited to go see Sophie but... Sighing softly he leaned against the wall, his mind kept going back to what Eva said... and where he had heard those kinda things before.

Sia helped Cael prepare food for the picnic, then the two left the base. Sia led Cael north of the village, chatting happily about how excited Sophie would be at being able to spend the day with Cael.

Cael didn't talk a lot, but listened to Sia and seemed to be trying to feel better. His mind was still drifting off but listening to someone helped a bit. "Thanks for this Sia..." He finally said, trying to smile. "I... really need this."

Sia felt a pang of guilt stab through her chest painfully. She smiled cheerfully. "You do, and you'd better treat Sophie well, remember she can sense your mood well."

Cael nodded a little, "T-Thats true... that will be... hard to hide..." He muttered before sighing.

"Well don't hide it, just... try not to let others' words define you, kay?" Sia smiled, "You're the only one who can decide what you're worth to others."

Cael smiled sadly but said nothing to Sia. What did you do when the words of others... said exactly what you were though?

Sia poked his cheek, then hopped away. "Besides, shouldn't you be proving them wrong by training hard?" She winked, "I'll be back with Sophie~"

Cael watched Sia leaving and nodded, "Alright, I'll wait here." He said, waving after her and watching her leave. Once he was alone he sighed softly and sat down. "Heh... how do you prove someone wrong... when they're the ones who are right?" he asked himself.

The attack came without warning, brutal and point-blank. The powerful hydro pump hit Cael's back and tail full force.

The charmander didn't stand a chance at the attack crying out in pain as the force of it through him forward a fair distance and then slammed him into the ground. Cael was unconscious the moment he was hit and the water had nearly taken out his flame it was so strong, all that was left was a small flame around the now quite wet tail and a bit of steam rising up with the sparks.

"Good work, now bind him up and take him to our waiting spot... Sia will be bringing Sophie soon." The sableye nodded with a smile as the large Carracosta clambered out of the water with a spool of metal wire to tie up the unconscious charmander.

Cael let out a soft groan as he was grabbed but besides that the much smaller pokemon was silent and limp. The attack had obviously done a great deal of damage.

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Sophie walked into the clearing with a small frown. She could feel Cael there, yes, but... "Cael... Cael, are you okay!?" She asked, frightened at his weakness as she moved towards him.

Cael was tightly bound to a stump with fence wire, his tail still quite weak due to the attack used to subdue him.

Hearing his name Cael groaned softly, his head moving a little as he struggled to gain consciousness. With his flame so weak his whole body felt drained of energy and it was making it hard for him to wake.

Sophie didn't understand what was wrong till she reached him, hands touching him and feeling the wire. "What... who di-"

"Ah, Sophie... at last we meet again." Came a voice behind her, sending shivers down her spine as she froze in place.

"Errrg...." Slowly Cael's eyes opened as he heard Sophie and felt her touch. It took him a moment to focus enough to look up and see her. What had happened? Why couldn't he move...?

Sophie's hand on Cael trembled. "Drogo." She breathed, standing slowly and turning towards the voice. Just the voice, because she couldn't sense him. "H...how?" Her voice was full of fear, and she could barely bring herself to move.

"You didn't think you'd remain a secret for that long, surely? Of course I'd find you sooner or later, my dear."

"W...Wha? Sophie what's..." Cael said softly, looking past her to see the sableye. What was going on?? Who was this guy?!

"And now that I finally have you, I can make sure you stay dead this time." He said calmly. Sophie shook her head, "No! I won't..." She froze, turning as she sensed someone walk up to Cael's side.

"Ah but you see... if you try to resist, the first to die will be your boyfriend here." The sableye said, as the carracosta put one flipper on Cael's head.

Cael twitched a little as he felt something on his head, trying to look behind him. "D-Don't touch... me..." He said, trying to move away somehow. He could tell this was really bad, they had to get out of here!

Sophie's shoulders slumped, turning back to Drogo. "Why?" She whimpered. "Why not just let me live in peace!"

"You know too much, my dear. I'm afraid I cannot leave you alone. No hard feelings." He smiled, then blurred into motion, claws raking. Sophie lifted her arms in instinctive defense, crying out as the shadow claw ripped at her arms. She crumpled to her knees, bleeding badly.

Cael looked back at the fight as he heard Sophie cry, eyes widening at the sight of the blood. "Sophie!" He called, struggling to somehow get free but between the wire and his body still feeling weak do to his fire the struggling did little.

The sableye watched her, smiling slightly. "You've grown stronger." Sophie bit her lip, shaking. She couldn't even try to attack him, or else Cael... she couldn't let them kill him. "Now then... I think it's time for you to say goodbye to your boyfriend. I think he's seen too much as well, don't you?" He nodded to the carracosta, who moved within Cael's field of vision as he prepared another hydro pump.

Sophie whipped around in shock. "No... NO!"

Cael's eyes widened in horror as he saw the attack coming, reactively trying to hide his tail behind his back. He was going to die! Desperately he used Hidden Power around himself, trying to make enough of a waterwall as even a bit of protection.

Sophie had something more drastic in mind. She didn't care what happened after... Cael could not die! Her horns began to glow, and as the hydro pump hit Cael's wall of water, slowed by it, hit him... before it hit him completely, he teleported away, reappearing inside the fireplace of Silver Fang's burrow, right in the fire.

When the water first hey Cael he let out a cry of pain but it turned to surprise as he was suddenly back at home and in the fireplace. He couldn't move immediately, laying on the coals and burning wood and tried to recover. While the hit hadn't hit him full force it still hurt a lot, and the other attack before hasn't been buffered at all. "Erg... S...Sophie!" He said after he was finally able to move, struggling to stand while his tail kept fully in the fire to dry it off and strengthen his flame. No... She was in danger!

It took him longer then he liked to climb out of the fire pit and make his way to the door, but luckily the fire had helped with his flame enough it wasn't so weak anymore. His whole body still hurt, but there wasn't the same drain of energy which helped him move easier the closer he got to the door. "Have to... get back... Sophie...!"

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You are at the beginning | Saving Sophie | Next

This side story is a colab between Hikaru, Kai, Shomaru and Zyo.

The teams are
Silver Fang
Bandit Bros
Team Spark
Soul Song
Frostbloom