Meloaf101 
The Other Other White Meat
Posts: 96
(12/10/03 8:52 pm)
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Remember me? No? Well maybe you remember my fic? Oh...
Hey there, its Meloaf again! For those of you who've been here since the beginning, you might have some vague memory of me. I used to contribute a lot more, but school and other duties pulled me away from here. Jade talked me into coming back, but I'm still not quite sure if I want to...
Anyway, I definately knew i wanted to repost the first (and currently only) fic I ever started writing when jade told me about some sort of repost contest. Looking back on it, I am somewhat dissapointed by it, but I still want to post it to see what everyone thinks of it. I hope you enjoy it! Actually, this is an incomplete version because I deleted the one with all the EZ codes that made it look good.
The Strife
Chapter 1
The little village of Kobi was a peaceful place; a small, ten hut farming community surrounded by woodlands where almost anyone was welcome. Most of the huts were crude, one room buildings made of sticks, mud, and hay with stones at the base for support; with a small hole in the top center of the roof for smoke to flow out of. In the center of the village, there was a huge stone shrine that depicted a Celebi, the forest spirit, in hopes that the forest spirit would protect the village from harm. To the left of the village, there were the wheat and cornfields that provided most of the village’s food, along with an apricorn orchard, where Kurtis, the village craftsman, made apriballs. [Note: pokeballs haven’t been invented yet, and since apricorns were what they used before pokeballs, it’s only natural to call apricorn balls apriballs.] To the right of the village lay the Great Forest, which unlike the rest of the woods, seemed to be shrouded in a mist, where the forest spirit supposedly lived. Trade was not an important part of village lifestyle, but whenever a wayward hunter passed through, he could always find a place to rid himself of his hides.
As evening fell, farmers began unhitching their Tauros’ as they finished the fall’s final harvest; wives were brewing up batches of rum; children were gathering in the village square, and the village elders were pulling out their drums as everyone prepared to celebrate the end of the harvest week. Everything seemed completely normal to seventeen-year-old Mikan, but little did he know that by the night’s end his world would be changed forever.
Hmm… I wonder why Henry and Allan haven’t returned yet. They never miss the festival. Mikan thought, as he listened to the rhythmic beat of the music and observed the cheerful scene the festival (and the rum) created every year. To his left, the village elders and some farmers were playing assorted instruments, mostly drums. To his right, the small children were dancing in circles with each other next to the bonfire while their parents sat and talked while sipping their rum. The forest spirit had indeed been generous this year, for the harvest was plentiful and the festival was merry.
“Something wrong, son?” Ben, Mikan’s father, asked.
“Just a bit worried about Henry and Allan. They haven’t returned from their hunt yet.”
“Aye. They’re probably on their way back right now. After all, they both turned eighteen last week and must help each other kill a Stantler before returning to the village if they want to be viewed as men.“
“Aye.” Mikan sighed, as he walked over to the bonfire and took a cup of hot rum.
*~*~*~*
“Lord Xavier,” a short, elfish-looking man said, “our scouts have reported a small farming village next to the forest approximately one mile from here, and they appear to have carved an entrance into the Great Forest. What are your orders?
Lord Xavier looked at the crimson sky and sighed. “What do you THINK my orders are, you fool? Were we not instructed to kill anyone who sees us enter the forest?
“Y-yes, my lord, we were.”
“Good. What do we do then?”
“Err…destroy the village?”
“Very good! I’m glad to see that all of my soldiers are not total idiots. Now go tell the troops to pack up and get ready to be on the move. I want to catch them by surprise.”
“Yes my lord.”
Heh, looks like I’ll get to eat tonight after all… Xavier thought as he mounted his Rapidash, Firebolt.
*~*~*~*
“Henry! Methinks I see a Stantler!” Allan whispered excitedly to his brother.
“Where? I’m getting cold and it’s almost dark, so you’d better be right.”
“Over there. See that little creek by the big oak tree? If that’s not a Stantler drinking, then what is it?”
“Aye! It is! Shh, be quiet, or you’ll scare it away.”
Allan pulled out his bow, grabbed an arrow from its quiver, and prepared to shoot. Just then,
“Ahh- Ahhh- ACHOO!”
Henry sneezed. The surprised Stantler looked up from the creek, noticed his two assailants, and then took off running toward the rising moon.
“YOU IDIOT!!!” screamed Allan. “Couldn’t you hold the sneeze in for one measly minute?”
“Guess not, he he he….” Henry chuckled as he playfully lunged at Allan.
“Hey! Get offa me you— wait, what’s that light?“
“What light?”
“The light coming from the east. Looks like someone’s set up a camp.”
“Aye. Should we go take a look?”
“Well since you probably scared off every Stantler within the next five miles, I guess we could.”
As Henry and Allan stealthily crept toward the camp through the brush, they began picking up on their unknowing camper’s conversation.
“…And when we storm the village, you are to kill every inhabitant, down to the last crying baby!” a deep, booming voice commanded.
“YEAH!!!” numerous voices shouted in unison.
When Henry and Allan thought they were close enough to the camp without being spotted, they hid behind a bolder on a ledge to get a better look at the area. Instead of seeing a campground, they saw over forty rough-looking soldiers with assorted axes, swords, and bows. They were all facing a tall, muscular man dressed completely in black with his sword drawn, mounted on an unusually large Rapidash that seemed to be glowing. All the soldiers were wearing an emblem on their uniforms (if you could call blue rags sewn together to make crude shirts a uniform) in the shape of a shield that on one half showed the silhouette of a Fearow, the other half a Murkrow.
“Allan, what the Sneasel are a bunch of Ameroth soldiers doing out in the middle of the woods?”
“Shh! Be quiet! Do you want them to hear us?”
*~*~*~*
Xavier clutched his apriball as he turned to face his small “army” that the king had granted him to go on this expedition with. Most of them were criminals or murderers or something along that line, but he knew why the king had wanted him to take these men. When the expedition was over, and the forest spirit was captured, all the men who had had anything to do with this other than himself were to be killed to keep word from spreading that the forest spirit had been captured. Also, these men were not the kind to feel remorse for killing people, even women and children. He withdrew his sword from its seethe, then turned Firebolt to face his troops.
“All right men, our scouts have detected a small village approximately one mile northwest of here. So tonight, instead of setting up camp here and foraging for food, you are going to storm the village. And when you storm the village, you are to kill every inhabitant, down to the last crying baby! Then all of their livestock and food will be ours for the taking!”
“YEAH!!!” The soldiers shouted excitedly. They hadn’t had the chance to kill anything in days. Xavier had hoped that his little speech would get them worked up, because an excited soldier fought better than a disgruntled one.
“Now let’s move!” Ordered Xavier, as he prepared Firebolt to gallop off toward the village. Just then, a small pebble rolled down a small ledge that overlooked the entire area and hit Firebolt’s right hoof.
“HALT!” Xavier shouted over his soldier’s chatter as he signaled for his archers to prepare to shoot. “Who’s there? Show yourself now, or my archers will shoot!”
*~*~*~*
“Oh no Allan! We’ve been spotted! What do we do?” A very frightened Henry asked.
“Well, the big guy on the Rapidash said ‘Show yourself,’ so he only thinks that one of us is up here. You’re faster, so I’ll stay and try to distract him while you can run back to the village and warn everyone.”
“B-but, what about you?”
“Never mind that, just get out of here when I stand up.”
“Fine…”
The moment Allan stood up, an arrow sliced through his lower stomach, followed by two more hitting his right lung and left shoulder, knocking him down. Henry saw none of this, as he was running as fast as he could, hoping to reach the village in time to warn his friends and family.
As Allan lay bleeding on the ground, staring up at trees that were just beginning to lose their leaves, Xavier approached him. As he examined Allan’s fallen body, he realized Allan was still alive. He grabbed the blood-drenched boy, lifted him up, and showed his archers their hits.
“You call this a kill?! You missed the boy’s heart by nearly ten inches! If you want to kill someone with an arrow, you must either hit the head, neck, or heart!” Xavier growled. He then dropped the boy back on the boulder, pulled out his sterling silver sword, and struck a mighty blow, completely severing Allan’s head and neck from the rest of his body.
“Now that’s a kill.”
Xavier then leaped off the ledge onto Firebolt, and began galloping toward the village.
“Onward men!” he yelled, as his soldiers began running after him.
*~*~*~*
Mikan ran his hand through his long, thick, tangled blonde hair as stared up at the star filled night sky, still wondering where his two friends were.
He watched as his mother and father played with his baby sister, Emma, who had just recently learned to walk. While his mother held Emma, his father would call her to him, and then he would hold her while Emma walked back to her mother.
A gigantic spit had been placed over the bonfire, and two Miltanks were being roasted. The grease that dripped off their bodies taunted the flames, asking them to jump higher and higher as the spit slowly rotated. A giant oak table was being set up in the center of the village next to the forest spirit’s shrine, where everyone would soon be eating as they feasted to celebrate the end autumn, and the beginning of winter.
The village aura was that of a peaceful, festive place, but Mikan still felt that something was out of place. He shrugged it off, and went over to his family’s hut to get his bongo drum. (Almost everyone in the village played some sort of instrument, and he was no exception)
As he entered the hut, he looked around. The floor was dirt, like most of the floors in the villages huts were. There were no windows, just a small hole at the top center of the roof to let smoke out. The fire in the center of the hut was starting to go out, so he put another log on it so he wouldn’t have to look for kindling in the morning. He went over to his wooden bench/chest, (the bottom of the bench seat opened up to reveal a small storage space) unhooked the latch, and opened it up. Inside were all of his unique possessions. It wasn’t hard to find the bongo, because the only other thing in the chest was his black apriball that was given to him by Kurtis, for his sixteenth birthday. He had never been interested in training, so he had never used it. He stuffed the ball in his ratatta-skin pants, and picked up his bongo.
Suddenly, the music outside came to a complete halt. Wondering what happened, he placed the bongo back in the chest and ran outside. As he ran outside, he noticed a small group of people had gathered around someone who was gasping for breath. As Mikan got closer, he realized who the person was.
“Henry! What happened? Where’s Allan?”
“Whoa now boy, let him catch his breath first.” Tom, the villages doctor said.
“I think…” Henry gasped, “Allan’s dead. Soldiers… lot’s of ‘em… coming this way. We must… do something… gonna… kill us all!”
Chapter 2
The villagers grew completely silent. Why would anyone want to attack their small village? No one had ever bothered with them before, and they held no political power, so why now?
“Are yeh completely sure of what you heard?” Ben asked.
“Allan’s dead, isn’t he?” said Henry, finally able to catch his breath. “What are you all standing around for? They’re on their way to destroy us as we speak! I know we have no military or defensive forces, but that doesn’t mean we have to take this lying down! Fellow farmers, don’t your Tauros’ and Miltanks know some fighting moves? Surely some of them do.”
“Well, meh Miltank knows Mega Kick,” said one farmer.
“And My Tauros has Strength!” called out another.
“Excellent! Now—“ Henry was suddenly cut off by a distinct cheer coming from just over the hill to the west, the direction the soldiers were coming. The night sky was suddenly lit ablaze by dozens of flaming arrows.
“Run!!!” screamed Mikan, but it was too late. Before anyone even had a chance to move, the arrows came down upon the village like fiery rain, striking huts and burning them, burning them to the ground.
*~*~*~*
As Xavier and his men approached the village, he saw what appeared to be a festival of some sort going on.
Excellent, a festival means more food will be out, and the people will be even less prepared than usual for such a surprise attack. Xaiver thought as he signaled his archers to ignite their arrows. Even he himself had never thought that he could think up a plan this devious. If they were going to destroy the entire village, why not start with the buildings first? That way these peasants would have no where to run, except for the forest, where they would surely be killed by the Houndours that hunted at night. Pure genius. “Archers! Aim for the buildings. Footmen, be prepared to kill the villagers. We must not let any of them escape.”
“YEA!” the soldiers shouted.
“Silence, you imbeciles! Do you want them to hear us? Archers, take aim. On my count, shoot. One…two…three…now!” The arrows flew into the air like great Moltres’ of destruction. Xavier chuckled to himself as the buildings were lit aflame and the peasants took flight. “Footmen, Attack them!” he ordered.
The footmen eagerly took off for the village, each soldier eager to draw first blood.
*~*~*~*
Mikan couldn’t understand what was happening at first. Allan, dead? His village, under attack? Why? What had happened to cause this?
“Mikan, come on! We have to get out of here! The soldiers are on their way!” Ben called to his son. Mikan snapped out of his trance and began running with his father toward the forest. The Houndour were on patrol at this time of night, and they were known to be very territorial, so he might be needed to help fend them off. As Mikan ran past hut after hut that once belonged to his community, past his whole life, it finally sunk in that he was doomed. There was no way he or anyone in his village had even the slightest chance of defeating this enemy. If they could destroy an entire village without even showing themselves, then they surely must be unbeatable. Just then,
“Help me! *Cough* I’m trapped!” a voice screamed.
“Where are you?” Mikan called out to the voice.
“ *Cough* In my shop! Help!” Mikan immediately ran toward Kurtis’ Craft Shoppe, the only building that still stood fully upright. The hay roof was on fire, and looked like it would cave in any minute. As he reached the shop, the roof began to fall in.
“Footmen, Attack them!” A distant voice screamed. The army (much smaller than Mikan expected) began to charge toward the village.
“Don’t worry Kurtis! I’ll get you!” Mikan cried as he began to kick at the door, trying to get it to open. Finally the door gave way. The flames, now having more oxygen to fuel themselves with, leapt at Mikan, keeping him from entering the shop.
“Ahh! My *Cough* eyes! My eyes!” Kurtis screamed as the roof finally collapsed completely, throwing ash and hot burning coals in all directions. Now Mikan didn’t care if he would be burned. A close friend was in there, dying a slow and agonizing death. If there was something he could do about it, they by the forest spirit, he would.
“Hold on, I’m coming!” Mikan shouted as he entered the fallen burning building. The heat was unbearable. The flames greeted him with a cruel hug. Feeling the burning sensation almost instantly, Mikan dropped to the floor below the smoke and flames and began searching for Kurtis.
“Over here!” Kurtis called. “ *Cough* Under my desk!” Mikan looked through the flames, smoke and fallen debris for a desk. He was starting to feel dizzy from all the smoke, despite his lowered position. He spotted what looked like a desk (the smoke was really starting to fill the room) in the far right corner of the building.
Hope that’s it… Mikan thought as he slowly crawled toward the desk. “Kurtis! Say something!” he called out. No answer. “Kurtis? Where are you?” Still no answer. As Mikan reached the desk, he found Kurtis lying unconscious, holding a bag filled with what seemed to be apriballs. That greedy fool! Risking his life for a few stupid balls… Mikan thought as he began hitting Kurtis’ chest in the hopes of getting a breath out of him.
“ *Gasp!* *Cough* *Cough* ” Kurtis finally regained consciousness.
“Kurtis! Come on, we have to get out of here! The building’s about to cave in on us!
“Meh eyes… *Cough* can’t see…Ash *Cough* got in meh eyes…”
“It’s okay, just follow me. We’ll get out of this.”
That’s funny, is it just me, or is the fire starting to die down? Mikan wondered as he dragged Kurtis toward the door. The fired did indeed seem to be putting itself out. The flames weren’t as big or as plentiful as they were when Mikan entered the building. The fire seemed to be…dying.
As soon as Mikan and Kurtis were both completely out of the building, the whole thing collapsed. Instead of collapsing like a building normally would, with ash and hot coals flying everywhere, it seemed to do so in slow motion, with no debris flying anywhere at all. However, Mikan and Kurtis paid no attention to this strange feat as they crawled over to the overturned oak table and looked around at the chaotic frenzy that was once their village. (Not that Kurtis could look at much due to his (temporary?) blindness)
The whole village was now completely in ruins. Most of the buildings were burnt to the ground, and if they weren’t, footmen who had finished pillaging them were setting them aflame. The Forest Spirit’s shrine was completely destroyed, probably shattered by the one of the footmen who was too busy pillaging to pay attention too what he was destroying. The giant spit that was supposed to be roasting a nice plump Miltank had been transformed into a huge stake that all the women and children were tied to. A large man riding what seemed to be a Rapidash was shouting orders to some of the soldiers, if that was what they were.
*~*~*~*
“This attack is going better than I thought…” Xavier chuckled to himself as he signaled for the footmen to start tying the peasant women and children to the stake.
“Lord Xavier, our footmen can’t find any more of the peasants.” The elfish-lieutenant reported. “I don’t think there are any more of them out there.”
“Very well. Throw the dead bodies in the fire. Their wives and children can die next to them.”
“Yes sir. Attention men, you are to gather up all the bodies you’ve killed and throw them into the fire immediately! “
The soldiers immediately stopped everything they were doing and began gathering up all the dead bodies. They piled them into the fire, one after another, until they were all roasting. The women and children were still tied to the stake, and had to watch the entire thing while the fire grew hotter and hotter and closer to them as each body was added.
*~*~*~*
Mikan could only watch as his father was picked up by two soldiers and hauled off into the fire. He tried to move, to shout “No! Not my father!” and attack the two soldiers. But he didn’t. He couldn’t do anything; it was like he was frozen in place. He couldn’t even think. All he could do is watch, watch as his father was thrown into the fire. Watch his mother and sister watch his father be thrown into the fire as their legs began to feel the intense heat a little more every time someone else landed in the fiery pit.
No…not Emma. They can’t do this to her! Mikan screamed within his own head.
“Mikan, what’s going on?” Kurtis asked.
“Burning…They- they’re burning them all at…at the stake…” Mikan whispered, his voice quivering.
“Great flying Sentrets! Look Mikan, I know yeh’ve got family over there, but there’s nothing yeh can do for them. We’ve got to escape or theirs no chance of us doing anything for them again! I’ve already lost my eyes tonight Mikan; please don’t let me lose you too.”
Mikan didn’t say anything. He just watched as the flames slowly reached for the stake, watched as all the women and children died a slow, painful, agonizing death. A rage unlike any other he had experienced before began to boil within him as he watched the stake, weakened by the fire, crack and the people fall and collapse into the fire. He crouched down and turned to face Kurtis, who was crouching next to him.
“Kurtis, I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to get vengeance on these cruel bastards…” Mikan said with a look of pure hate in his eyes.”
“Aye, I’m glad yeh finally snapped out of yer trance. Look, we’ve got to get outta here.”
“Aye. Here’s your precious bag, now follow me”
Mikan handed Kurtis his bag, then started to crouch-walk toward the forest. They’d have to camp there for the night if they wanted to escape detection. They’d have to chance the Houndour.
“Mikan? Where are yeh?” Kurtis called. Mikan then remembered that Mikan couldn’t see where he was going, and crept back towards him.
“Take my hand, old man. I’ll guide you.” Mikan said as he reached out and took Kurtis’ feeble hand.
“Aye, Thanks.”
Mikan and Kurtis started to creep away from the camp and towards the Great Forest, unaware of the surprises and dangers that awaited them.
Chapter 3
When Mikan was sure the soldiers couldn’t see them, he crept out from behind the overturned table with Kurtis holding his hand close behind him. The night sky had turned completely black from the smoke, and without the light of the burning village, it would be very hard to see whatever lurked in the Great Forest.
“All right Kurtis, we’re moving now. Don’t let go of my hand, OK?” Mikan whispered as he began slowly moving toward the forest.
“Aye,” Kurtis replied as he shifted the weight of his sack from his left shoulder to his right. “Let’s get moving.”
Mikan checked again to make sure that no soldiers could see them, then slowly began crawling toward the Great Forest with Kurtis tightly clutching his hand. It looked like they were going to make it after all.
*~*~*~*
Xavier looked over what was once a small pathetic village. The whole place (except the barn where the livestock were being kept) had almost completely been burned to the ground, and all of its inhabitants had met the same fate…but still, something was not right. He felt that he had missed something, or someone. Whenever he got premonitions like this, they were usually correct. But what was one person? Surely they wouldn’t make it through the night with all the wild Pokémon out there!
You’ve got to find the boy… His thoughts kept telling him. But Xavier wouldn’t listen. Instead, he stepped down from Firebolt, and watched as his men drank the warm rum in front of the bonfire and feasted on the roasted Miltank that had been cooking on the spit before they had torn it down.
The boy will be the doom of you… another thought whispered. Again, he didn’t listen. He picked up an overturned wooden chair and sat down. He motioned to one of his men to get him some food. He might be of higher rank than his men, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t eat with them.
The boy has great power, power can be yours… his thoughts told him. Still, he ignored them. He took a bite into the leg of the roasted Miltank, and spat it out in disgust. Yuck. Well done. He loathed well done meat. Tossing the leg over to Firebolt, he took a sip of his rum, which was actually quite pleasant. Firebolt greedily tore the meat from its bone and gobbled it up.
“Tomorrow, that’s when we’ll go in search of the Forest Spirit…as well as the boy.” Xavier thought out loud.“ Yes…Tomorrow.”
*~*~*~*
Far away, in a cave on top of Mount Graveler, a mysterious figure looked into his shimmering crystal ball and watched as the small village of Kobi was destroyed. He watched as everyone ran toward the forest, only to be caught by mercenaries and thrown into a raging bonfire. He watched as a little boy, not more than sixteen, attempted to break down the door of a burning building, in hopes he could save his friend. He watched as the boy kicked at the door, not knowing he would die an incinerating death if the flaming insides of the house got that much air at one time. The Mysterious Figure had foreseen all of this; he had been dreaming about it for months. The dreams told him the boy must live, or all would be doomed. But why was he the one who had to keep him alive?
“The time has come!” he gasped as he looked away from his crystal ball.
The Mysterious Figure grabbed his wooden staff that was lying on a small rickety wooden table, began rotating it in a circular motion with his wrinkled hand, and began chanting an incantation.
Mekawa,
Shava bava,
Tookie tookie,
Bookie bookie,
Shimmy Yimmy,
Regawa mogana,
Shimmy yimmy,
Bookie bookie,
Tookie tookie,
Shava bava,
Mekawa
As soon as the incantation was finished, he rushed back to the crystal ball to see if the spell had worked. The ball showed the boy give one final kick at the door before it collapsed. Instead of an explosion that would have resulted in the boy’s fiery death, the fire seemed to weaken. The boy paid no attention to this, and ran into the building, searching for his friend.
“Excellent! The spell worked!” The Mysterious Figure shouted excitedly as he jumped up in the air. “Now to give the boy some guidance.” He stuck his staff in the soft dirt floor of the cave, and began writing something. The crystal ball showed a clearing in the Great Forest, and whatever the mysterious figure wrote appeared scratched in the ground. When he was finished, the crystal ball went blank again. “There, that should help him find his way…” he sighed as he plopped down onto a shabbily crafted wooden stool and looked into his crystal ball, watching the boy.
*~*~*~*
Silently and carefully crawling through the brambles, Mikan held Kurtis’s hand as he led the way out of the burning embers of a village once known as Kobi and into the Mysterious Forest. It had taken them the better part of an hour to evade the guards, but they were almost there.
“We’re entering the mist of the Forest now Kurtis, so watch your step.” Mikan whispered as he took his first step into the gray mist that surrounded the entire forest.
“Watch your step? Just how am I supposed to do that?” Kurtis retorted.
“Shh, keep your voice down old man! Do you want them to hear us?”
Suddenly, Mikan stepped on a twig.
“Mikan, w-was that you?” Kurtis mumbled, his voice trembling.
“Shh! Get down!” Mikan pushed Kurtis onto the ground, hoping they hadn’t attracted any attention.
“Eh Jojo! ‘Id yeh ‘ear that? Sounded like ah twig snappin’.” A voice bellowed.
“Prolly jus’ ah Houndour. ‘gnore it.” A second voice replied.
“Yeh sure? We was told tah ‘vestergate any strange sounds.”
“If’n you wanna go check it out, be meh guest!”
“Ah, I ‘uppose yer right. Les heed on ‘ack an grab a port.”
“Now yer talkin’!”
Whew, that was a close one. Mikan thought as he heard the two soldiers depart. We’d better hurry up and get out of here. He grabbed Kurtis’s hand again, and tugged it to let him know they were moving again.
Edited by: Meloaf101 at: 12/10/03 9:01 pm
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