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Cinder and Bone: Chapter 1

Story by Iguessineedanaccount (a.k.a. Squirtle)

Artwork by Argon Vile

Porn by next chapter, I promise

"...Wait, so. Left shoulder, guard head, cross to right shoulder, right leg, guard right leg...thrust?"

"Head, then thrust."

"Right. Okay."

Chespin positioned himself again. He raised his right hand, holding a branch in front of him. A master might have called his form sloppy; however, his instructor remained silent. Closing his eyes, Chespin took a deep breath. He focused, running through the form one last time in his head. His eyes snapped open as he took in a sharp breath, then slashed diagonally across with his branch. It flowed smoothly up to parry an invisible blade descending on his head, then semi-twirled over his hood before delivering another cross slash from the opposite direction. His wrist instinctively snapped the branch back to his side as if it had been blocked, then immediately forced the mock weapon into an upward diagonal swing. He followed through with this one, letting his arm come across the full length of his body. But there was another step...what was it? Shit, no, uh...

Like clockwork, he felt the sharp sting of a small rock hitting his shoulder. He winced; anything more and he would have received another stone.

His instructor's only note was a condescending *tsk*.

Chespin reset again, his shoulder already used to the bruising. He vaguely wished just once the rock might miss, or at least hit him somewhere other than that two inch patch of skin it always did. But this was a hope he'd long since learned to repress.

"Okay. Left shoulder, guard head, cross to right shoulder, right leg, guard right leg, head, thrust. Cmon."

His branch glided through the air with a grace he had been unaccustomed to just days before. It felt swifter, stronger...dangerous. The motions were not effortless, but there was a freedom to his movements that had until recently eluded him...

And suddenly, he found himself stabbing forward, impaling his imagined foe upon a dulled wooden point. His expression lifted; a smile flitted across his face. He felt his master's eyes upon him.

"...Good. Again."

He performed the set again. And once more.

And once more. This time, however, Chespin lost himself in the motion, and without noticing, his overhand swing evolved from a harassing slash to a crushing two-handed blow, followed by an exaggerated driving stab that left both arms extended in front of him and one leg trailing well behind. He quickly realized his overzealous mistake and, with a twirl of the wooden weapon, returned to a somewhat sheepish standing position. He chanced a glance toward his master, who, as usual, was unreadable through his skull helmet.

"...A bit unorthodox. But passionate." His eyes almost seemed to glimmer, though it was hard to be sure. "Rather like myself." Marowak remained as he was, both hands resting on one end of his bone, the other end of which was pressed into the grass. "I think this is a good place to stop for today."

Chespin let out a little sigh of relief; it had been his idea, sure, but a reprieve was always nice. He threw his branch arm behind his head and held it across his body with his free hand, stretching.

"Sheesh. You sure know how to make a guy sore, Maro."

Marowak thought for a moment.

"If you are not weaker now than you were when we began, you have given up nothing, and have thus gained nothing in return."

"I didn't know you were the philosophical type."

"That's moreso equivalence than it is philosophy, Chespin."

The two began their walk back to camp. Marowak took his form of combat pretty seriously, so their training often involved finding a secluded area where they wouldn't be disturbed. Their master, despite being a well-renowned trainer, was pretty lenient with his pokemon's wanderings. Marowak and Chespin heading off together probably didn't concern him too much; if anything, he was probably glad one of his usual party members was getting acquainted with 'the new guy'.

"So...did you like, come up with all this stuff on your own, or..."

Marowak took his usual beat before answering.

"Most of what you've learned so far was taught to me by others. Some of the later techniques I will show you, should you choose to continue practicing with me, are of my own design. When you're a familiar face in the Pokemon League, as I have become, your opponents begin to study your moves in hopes of finding a weakness. The best way to avoid being predictable is to be unpredictable. For me, this often requires the invention and constant revision of unusual maneuvers my opponents will not expect."

"Huh. Cool. Sounds kind of difficult."

"Life is a struggle; we have only our bodies and our minds with which to meet it. "

"Yeah okay now you're being philosophical."

"...Yes. While most of my renown can be attributed to my physical prowess and quick thinking, I also enjoy taking some time to ponder the larger questions in life."

Chespin snrked.

"Sheesh. You don't do too much normal pokemon stuff, do you?"

"Normal pokemon stuff? What would that include? Battling? Training? Interacting with humans? These are the events governing many pokemon's lives, and I meet them all exceptionally. If anything, I would say I'm the exemplar of a good pokemon."

"Haha, and humble too!"

Chespin smiled, putting a hand on his forehead.

"For cryin out loud, do you think about anything other than fighting? I think your brain got hard wired to the battle circuit or something...Here's some philosophy for you: your fans gave you a mask. Or-or you presented them with one. Whatever. You got so used to wearing it that it's all that you recognize about yourself anymore. 'Battle this, train that'...those are just things that people expect pokemon to do. What about everything else that goes into living?...What goes on underneath that skull, hm?"

Marowak stopped walking, staring off into the trees. Chespin waited, expecting a ponderous response. Instead, he received only a hard shove as Marowak's straightened right elbow smashed into his upper chest, effortlessly clotheslining him. Chespin's sharp, potentially retaliatory inhale matched the sound of a whirring blur that sliced through the air just above his head. His back hit the ground with a dull thud. Marowak twirled his bone in front of him with his left hand in a defensive motion. No projectile followed the first. He stopped.

"Get up, Chespin."

Chespin, hoping to regain any intimidating impression he might have conveyed before being flattened, performed a quick recovery roll that he'd practiced the last few days. Now on his feet, he looked around. He noted how tense Marowak seemed and assumed a guarded stance, branch firmly clasped in front of him.

"...What-"

"Shh!"

Marowak's eyes scanned the foliage around them. Chespin turned to see what had narrowly missed his face; a few feet away, he spotted a sharp, needle-like spike embedded in the grass. Following Marowak's lead, he also began looking for signs of activity in the nearby underbrush. Save for the faint whistle of the wind through the leaves, the silence was complete.

"You are trespassing."

The voice was deep and strangely ominous; it set Chespin off a little.

"This territory is currently contested."

Chespin decided it would be best to let Marowak handle the situation. After a moment, the ground type responded.

"We were not aware. We are only travelers, we meant no disrespect."

There was another pause, then the voice sighed. Chespin flinched as a bolt of pink and gray suddenly flashed down in front of them from a nearby tree limb. The form revealed itself to be an accelgor. The husked bug type eyed both of them in a half-wary, half-annoyed way.

"You leave me in a difficult position. While I sympathize with you, the fact remains that we must maintain a presence in the area. In this case, that means insuring that no pokemon feels entitled to simply walk through."

Marowak tsk'd.

"Surely you could make an exception? We want no trouble."

The accelgor sighed. He put the tip of his arm to his forehead and closed his eyes in thought. When he opened them again, he returned Marowak's inquisitive gaze.

"I'm sorry, but I simply can't. Nothing personal."

Marowak raised his bone and pointed at the accelgor.

"This will not end well for you if you choose to continue on the path you're heading down."

The accelgor's expression seemed to both light up and darken simultaneously.

"I fear it will end far worse for you, and in the future I would caution you to use better discretion in choosing your own path."

The accelgor made a low, buzzing hum. From the undergrowth emerged three other pokemon: a scyther, a pinsir, and a carnivine. The pinsir clacked its horns. The scyther slid one of its scythes along the other, then repeated the motion with the blades switched, as if whetting them. They made a thin, sharp, almost metallic sound. A low hum came from above; looking up, Chespin found the source of the first shot of conflict in a beedrill hovering overhead. Suddenly feeling inspired, Chespin took a step in front of Marowak to stop him from doing something aggressive and smiled at their potential foes.

"Hey hey wait, we can be friendly, right? Come on! Our camp's set up a little ways off, let's all head over and grab a bite to eat, yeah? Our master's a top notch cook, even when we're on the road! Whaddya say?"

Chespin's tail wagged. His front tooth stood out prominently in his smile. The scyther returned the grin. Her voice was sweet and mildly playful.

"He's cute....I'll try not to leave any scars on his face."

Chespin's smile quickly dissipated. The carnivine snapped his jaws in a hideous motion.

"I imagine he tastes like candy. Or meat. I'm not particular."

As Chespin stepped back to Marowak's side, Marowak leered at the other pokemon, as if daring any of them to come forward. Everyone including Chespin watched as he positioned his bone at his side in a somewhat open stance. Time seemed to stand still.

"Run!"

Marowak's instruction, despite being abrupt, was received well by his chipmunk counterpart; the pair turned and sprinted away as fast as they could. As he fast approached the treeline, it seemed to Chespin that they were well on their way out of there. Suddenly, sharp leaves began to slice through the air in front of them, creating an impenetrable wall of potential pain. The pair skidded to a halt. They turned to face their opponents again. They had closed the gap relatively quickly, save for the carnivine, who maintained his leaf storm from a distance. Chespin was once again drawn to the scyther's insidious smile.

"Well. It was worth a try," quipped Marowak to Chespin.

"Feel free to tire yourselves out a bit more," replied the scyther.

There was a brief moment of tension: both parties sizing up the other, considering who to target, bracing themselves...the scyther whipsered something to the pinsir, who nodded and made another clacking sound with his mouth.

A thin whizzing noise drew both Marowak and Chespin's attention upward. A line of glowing points flew toward them from the beedrill. Chespin took a few hasty steps out of the way while Marowak instead took one strong sidestep and went low, ducking under a few of the trailing needles. Chespin took a quick glance up at the beedrill to see if any more pins would follow; by the time he looked back down, the scyther was already bearing down on him, a raised scythe-like arm which gleamed in the sunlight. With a meep, the grass type raised his branch in front of him again. The scyther's blade descended in a flash of silver; Chespin barely managed to get his branch in front of her arm in a parrying motion. Unfortunately, his block did not have the desired effect; the false sword careened through the air away from him as the hooded chipmunk quickly found himself weaponless. The deadly mistress smiled in her half-alluring way.

"Oh dear...I was hoping you might be able to dance with me a bit before we cut to the chase."

"...Do you prefer swing or salsa?"

The scyther raised her arm. Left with few options, the grass type dove forward, sliding between the mantis's legs. The scyther stumbled a bit, surprised despite her speed. Chespin took the opportunity to grab her legs from behind and yank hard. The grass type, however, found the femme fatale not on her face, as he'd hoped, but instead hovering with the aid of her wings. She giggled.

"Well aren't you full of surprises."

Chespin released his grip on her legs and darted for the treeline, hoping to put some distance between himself and the deadly bug.

---

Luckily, his progress was not impeded by the carnivine, who, along with the pinsir and the beedrill, had focused their attention on Marowak. Between the relentless stream of leaves and needles slicing through the air around him, the ground type found himself constantly dodging attacks. He was a river of motion; his movements posessed a perhaps coarse but still beautiful fluidity. He stepped sideways, spinning his bone to parry a slew of razor leaves, then spun, dropping low. A wave of needles passed inches above his skull as he extended his bone mid-spin. The rapidly approaching pinsir's legs were swiftly knocked from under him as Marowak's bone came full circle. As the particularly thick-shelled bug floated in the air for a moment, Marowak firmly planted his lead foot to halt his spin. His bone slashed through the air as he raised it, then descended in a crushing blow on the pinsir's side. The bug hit the ground hard; before he had time to wince, however, Marowak was using his body as a step to propel himself forward at the special attackers. With one powerful push he lunged forward and upward at the beedrill; his body blurred in a palette of tan and white as he spun into the jump. The beedrill's compound eyes were just quick enough to catch Marowak's arm ripping through the air, sending his bone on a straight course with the bee's chest. The beedril just managed to avoid the bonemerang with a flutter to the side; Marowak's bone reversed direction, arcing around and hurtling back to him. Marowak landed with his hand outstretched, expectant; however, he felt his feet each suddenly wrapped around by something tendril-like. He quickly found his face slammed into the grass as the carnivine's vines gave a hard tug and proceeded to reel the bony lizard in. Marowak, despite being dragged on his belly, pushed himself into the air with his hands, tucking forward. He reached to his feet mid-flip, grabbing the vines laced around them. The small spike on his tail slammed into the ground, acting like an anchor and slowing his progress toward the carnivine's gaping maw; he ended up lying on the ground, vines in hand. Using what leverage he could afford from his back, he yanked as hard as he could on the vines; he felt them slacken some as the carnivine, caught off guard by the motion, was pulled forward and off balance. Marowak, without skipping a beat, yanked each vine hard away from his feet, disentangling their grip. His feet now freed, he rolled forward, coming to a standing position, both vines still in hand. He twisted forcefully in place, pulling the vines as hard as he could. They tensed. The carnivine shortly found his previous position with the ground type reversed as he hurtled through the air. Marowak released his grip, and a dull thunk a moment later accompanied the carnivine's head smacking into a tree.

Marowak might have taken a second to pat himself on the back if stomping footsteps bearing down on him hadn't dragged him back to reality. He caught the pinsir's horns out of the corner of his eye as they lowered to meet his waist. He didn't wait to find out their intention, instead opting to roll to the side. He recovered to his feet and immediately beelined for his bone, lying in the grass several yards away. The pinsir's footfalls dogged his movement. He dove forward into the grass, snatching up his weapon. As his back rolled across the ground, he felt several sharp pricks along his spine, but he hardly had time to acknowledge them as he gained his footing, spun around on his heel, and held his bone horizontally. He pushed it forward, jamming it between the pincers closing around him. The bone held fast, despite the pinsir's clearly strained efforts to break it. Frustrated, the bug type reared back, lifting the bone into the air. As Marowak retained a firm grip on his bone, this placed him directly on the bug's face. He pulled his fist back to punch, but was grabbed under both arms by the free hands of the pinsir. The bug proceeded to separate, with some difficulty, Marowak from his bone via a good tug down. With the ground type at his relative mercy, he promtly decided on a fitting course of action to make the little lizard hurt. He leapt up, leaning backward into the jump. Marowak found himself helpless to prevent gravity from pulling his head directly toward the ground as the pinsir delivered a jarring seismic toss to the reptile. His skull, thankfully, was thick, and protected him from a bit of the whiplash as it collided with the mercifully soft ground, but the attack did a good job of rattling him. He was forced to take a moment to regain his senses as he lay on his back in the new Marowak-sized dent in the ground. Sluggishly, he forced himself onto his side, then up onto all fours. As he began to stand, a familiar whizzing sound caught his attention, causing his adrenaline to pump again. Knowing he wouldn't be fast enough to dodge this one, he held his head in the direction of the noise (as best he could tell) and looked down. An armada of *plink*s rattled the top of his skull. He felt a sharp sting or two on his arm, a few in his tail, and one on his knee. He dropped the pained knee to the ground, which unfortunately only exacerbated his pain as the needlestuck there was pushed in deeper. He panted, his mind blank. His head throbbed, his knee stung with each little movement, his back felt as if it were repressing a scream of pain. His hand rested against the ground, vaguely brushing through the soft grass. He felt his fingersrubagainst something solid. He probed it with his fingers; the object was smooth, if a bit bumpy, and roughly spherical. He dug his fingers into the dirt around it and with a bit of effort yanked it up. A simple rock, orange-brown in color. He considered it a moment, then gripped it tightly and rose to his feet. His head lifted just in time to watch the pinsir cast his bone into the depths of the dense undergrowth.

He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. He centered himself. His pain slowly faded in his mind, reduced to a distant hum. His eyes opened again. When he let out his breath, it almost seemed to the two bugs watching him as if he exhaled smoke.

---

Chespin, meanwhile, was busy enough with one bug. She was faster, stronger, sharper, probably more perceptive...perhaps his only advantage was that he was in the thick of the woods now, a natural home away from home to him. Due to her having to slice her way through some of the fauna that he had simply leapt through, he had managed to buy himself some time away from her perceptive eyes. He'd taken advantage of the brief window of opportunity to set a few tricks in place. At the moment, he was crouched in a bush with his back turned in the direction he expected the scyther to emerge from. Another branch, albeit a little more bent than his usual weapon, was held firmly in his right hand.

He heard footsteps. He collected himself, taking a few deep breaths. I can do this. He stepped out of the bush, right into the eventual path of the scyther. She looked at him inquisitively. He sighed loudly.

"So listen, here's the thing, I think you're a really sweet girl, and maybe we could just call this off and try something less combative? Say, a nice walk?"

The scyther smirked.

"Are you aksing me on a date?"

"...Yes?"

She outright laughed.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm taken. Though I will gladly take something from you."

"...Are you implying that we...because I don't really know much about bug anatomy, an-"

"No. No, I am not implying that. Perhaps this will give you an idea."

She drew one of her blades across her neck in a mock execution. Chespin instinctively reached to his own neck.

"Oh."

And with that, the scyther was sprinting at him. Thankfully, Chespin had left enough distance between her and himself that he could turn and start running again. However, he quickly felt her begin to close the gap. The scyther was just raising her blade to strike when, out of nowhere, a taut vine popped up in her path at chin-level. The few milliseconds she had to react were nowhere near enough to avoid it at her momentum, and she quickly found it biting into her chin. Her body was pulled into a backward flip, still moving forward. Chespin dove out of her way as she hurtled forward, smashing into a tree trunk with her back. Dazed, the scyther felt herself slide down the trunk in an almost comedic fashion before hitting her head again on the ground. She came to rest in a pile of round shapes that she shortly realized were something like tree nuts. She groaned. Chespin's voice seemed to talk down to her, figuratively and literally.

"Yeesh, that looked painful. I knew I was decent at tying knots, but that was especially tight. Yep...got a few tricks up my sleeves. For example, did you know that, with the right touch, I can make a bomb out of something small and hollow? Say, for example, the right kind of seed..."

The scyther felt something bounce off of her nose, as if it had fallen out of the tree. Her eyes shot wide as she grasped Chespin's hints; she tried to move, flailing in panic, but by then it was already too late.

"Boom."

Chespin leapt to the next tree, holding tightly to his makeshift sword, as an explosion rocked the base of the one he was in. The roar of the blast was accompanied by the loud splintering of wood. In the collage of orange and red unfolding below him, he managed to spot a shimmer of green and silver rocket through the air, skip off a tree trunk, then continue on its way. He followed it, ignoring the soon-to-be falling tree behind him.

It was a bit irksome to find the scyther, but the reflection of light off of her scythes betrayed her position to Chespin after a brief search. She lay spread-eagle, her face contorted into a painful grimace. He leapt deftly to the ground next to her. She opened her eyes, looking to the source of the noise. She tried to raise a claw, but it sagged back to the grass after a feeble effort. She coughed twice.

"Can't...believe...*cough*...a little rodent..."

Chespin half-smiled.

"Sorry."

The scyther looked at him with as much of her usual charm as she could muster. Her voice, however, was cold.

"For what?"

Chespin, in one swift motion, raised his branch and brought it down hard on the side of her head. Her eyes shot open in a brief moment of pain before closing. Her expression relaxed in her unconsciousness; Chespin couldn't help but think she still looked rather beautiful.

"That."

Chespin stood there for a moment, lost in thought. He quickly realized, however, he could be of use elsewhere. Bending down, he planted a quick kiss on the scyther's cheek. With that, he was off.

---

The pinsir let out a howl of pain as his eye met the cruel surface of Marowak's stone. He recoiled, groping at his socket with both hands. Marowak jumped forward, clearing a vine as it lashed under him. He kicked downward as he landed, burying a heel into the pinsir's other eye. The bug screamed, overwhelmed by agony. Marowak pushed off of his face with both feet, turning into a backflip. Another well-aimed vine narrowly snapped between the two combatants as they separated. Marowak would have picked another target had the pinsir not remained standing; however, with the thick-shelled bug still up, there was always the chance of retaliation. He lunged forward a final time, twirling, arms pressed firmly to his side. His skull met the pinsir's gut with a harsh crunching sound. The pinsir toppled backward and writhed, gasping for air. Marowak landed; he winced a little from the pain in his knee, but began a run at the carnivine in spite of it.

The vines continued their assault. They struck straight at him, as if trying to impale. His dodges felt a bit sluggish; once or twice the tip of a vine managed to tap his shoulder before glancing off and continuing on its course. His head felt clouded somehow, but he pressed on through the haze, intent on reaching the grass type. It was only when he saw the carnivine rear up and produce a cloud of spinning leaves that he prepared to change course. The leaves hissed toward him; he leapt to the side. However, instead of his feet meeting the ground, he instead felt a sharp point stab him hard in the stomach, hurling him off course, almost back into the center of the leaf storm. He felt the bite of several razors slicing across his skin. For all of this, he still managed to land in a crouched position. He wanted to get up, but the pain spreading through his abdomen kept him incapacitated for a moment. A moment was all the carnivine needed as he bound his vines around the ground type, squeezing the reptile tightly. Marowak felt the air forced from his lungs, but he was powerless to fight back. His captor brought the ground type to hang limply in front of his face. His smile spoke of a malicious glee. He laughed.

"Did you really think you could win? Between the type advantage and the strength in numbers, you were completely outmatched."

Marowak panted faintly in the grass type's grip. His eyes remained closed. The beedrill chimed in.

"Took long enough for the poison to kick in...I don't care if you're a ground type, those toxic spikes you rolled right into should have knocked you out ages ago. Guess you really wanted that extra sting in the gut, huh?"

The beedrill swooped in close, buzzing right next to the ground type's bony head.

"You know, we were going to let you walk away. Let you and anyone else treat it like a lesson for crossing us. But it seems you may very well have blinded our large friend over there. This changes your predicament considerably."

The bee leaned in even closer, speaking in a low voice just barely audible to the carnivine.

"Now, you die. Slowly. Painfully. Helpless to counteract the poison coursing through your body, despite all the resistance you've given it."

The carnivine squeezed again, and Marowak let out a faint moan this time. There was pain, and there was fatigue. His eyes felt heavy; if he let them, they would close, and he would drift off to sleep...

He thought he might be dreaming as the vines slackened. He gasped in air, barely realizing how little he'd had to breathe. His eyes fluttered open, settling on a half-lidded state. His vision was edged with a red tint. The carnivine was still there, looking surprised by something to his right. Marowak's head swayed, tilting to the general direction of the carnivine's gaze. He saw a face...it was familiar. Friendly. It was attached to a body. The body held a stick. It was a good stick. It was a white stick. It wasn't a stick.

---

Chespin stood over the crumpled beedrill, bone in hand. He tested its weight again in his grip; it still felt odd-as if it was heavy, despite it actually being relatively light and wieldy.

"Hm."

He looked up at the carnivine. He glanced over his shoulder at the pinsir, still a crumpled ball of pain. He returned his gaze to the flytrap.

"Looks like you're next."

Although Chespin didn't normally feel as confident as he sounded, this time he did. The carnivine couldn't help but feel a little twang of fear with all of his comrades out of commission. Keeping the Marowak gripped in his vines, he hissed, raising his usual storm of leaves. They hung in the air for a brief, almost beautiful second; then began their deadly dance. Chespin was quick, but he was not as graceful as his master; despite a fast turn and a few juking movements, several of the leaves managed to catch him. His limbs stung from the thin incisions suddenly lining them. He fell to both knees, leaving himself vulnerable. He waited.

The carnivine walked toward the rodent. His shadow loomed over the smaller pokemon as he leaned down. There were no words of taunting, no bitter laughter; just raw necessity. His jaw gaped wide, preparing to snap. And yet, as he clamped his jaws together, he found their progress suddenly impeded by something digging into both his upper and lower flap. Surprised, his gaze wandered downward...and met Chespin's eyes, staring back into his.

"Hope these taste as good as I do."

Chespin shoved his clenched fist forward, forcing it past Marowak's bone and down the carnivine's stem. As the plant gagged on the rodent's arm, Chespin opened his palm, and in its wake left a few seed bombs. He yanked his hand back, wrapped it around Marowak's bone, and tugged it free of the flytrap's mouth. Feeding off of the carnivine's confusion, Chespin fell forward, flattening the plant's maw shut with his body. The carnivine panicked, thrashing wildly for a few brief moments; then, with a few dull rumbles and a massive quiver, he fell stark still. As Chespin lessened the pressure against the carnivine's mouth, faint trickles of smoke began escaping between the flytrap's teeth.

Chespin got to his feet and moved over to Marowak. With some effort, he pulled the ground type free of his previous rope-like prison.

"Hey, Boss...y'still with me?"

Marowak's breathing, though present, was shallow. His eyes remained closed.

"...For...the time being..."

Chespin afforded himself a smile. Marowak blinked his eyes open.

"...I'm...surprised you...WE..."

Marowak winced again, moving a hand to his stomach. Chespin's hand covered the ground type's.

"Yeah. Me too."

"Me three."

Chespin recognized the voice and immediately turned to face it, bone raised, prepared to strike. However, the accelgor simply stood there, patient.

"Well you didn't expect me to just leave, did you? No, it's my job to monitor the goings-on around here, and as this was the most pressing..."

Chespin's voice was low as he responded.

"You saw what we did to your pals. We don't want any trouble, we never did. Just let us leave."

"Yes...I saw what you did to them...and I owe you for it. After your bone-headed friend finished with Pinsir and we'd, in turn, managed to subdue him, I believe the plan was to kill him."

Chespin stepped in front of Marowak's prone figure. The accelgor chuckled.

"I was going to offer to let you leave unharmed...but I see it's a pointless inquiry."

"..."

Accelgor made a low bow, never taking his eyes off of Chespin.

"Me first. I Insist."

Chespin mimicked the gesture, only dipping about half as low.

"After you."

The first blow hit like a sack of bricks laced with lightning. Chespin doubled over, clutching his gut. He looked up at the accelgor wide-eyed. The bug stood exactly where he'd been before, as if he hadn't moved at all. Chespin let out a faint moan. To his credit, he remained standing without even using the bone as a crutch as he tried to catch his breath.

"Hm. I guess you're not anything special after all. I'll have to re-evaluate my inferiors."

Chespin weakly brought Marowak's bone to bear. He held it with both hands. His palms were sweaty. He struggled as much with his fear as the pain.

"Go...easy...on the scyther..."

"Well aren't you thoughtful! But what about you? Should I 'take it easy' on you?"

Chespin spit.

"I'm gonna shove this bone so far up your ass, it'll come out the other side a beautiful butterfree."

The accelgor's brow furrowed as if in anger.

"How rude."

Chespin jumped a little as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun on his heel, straight into a hard backhanded smack across the cheek. He landed on his back. He blinked, shaking his head as he propped himself up on his elbows. Catching sight of a pink head, he tried to swing Marowak's bone at it; however, his wrist was caught by...a membrane-wrapped hand? He did a double take, looking at both accelgors. The one holding his hand wagged his free arm side to side in a reprimanding gesture. Chespin tried to punch that accelgor with his free hand, but, without actually seeing the accelgor's hand move, received another shot to the face for his troubles.

The accelgor's double, the one still standing, faded as the real accelgor put a hand on Chespin's chest. The grass type lifted his head, watching. He suddenly started feeling faint...why was accelgor's hand glowing...His head fell back, numb to the ground...A distant voice, muffled...

"Sleep now, little seed. T __he soil is a soft blanket. I_ t will wrap you in it's warmth; in time, it will shape you into a grand flower...shhh..._"

Chespin felt his eyes welling up for some inexplicable reason. He wanted to stay awake...hear more...a sweet fragrance, drifting through the air...bright...warm colors...

---

Accelgor continued to coo to the grass type. It was a sad thing to see them pass so young...and yet, in a way, quite wondrous. And this chespin was so full of life! Accelgor savored, no, basked in the vitality and strength flowing through his body. It was intoxicating, invigorating; perhaps the greatest joy in life. How ironic.

Marowak placed his hand on the back of the bug's neck and squeezed with a grip to match death's own.

Accelgor turned his head only slightly, not enough to see his captor. He smiled to himself.

"How ironic."

Marowak raised his left fist. Flames danced around it, flickering the deep red of blood. Except for the knuckles; the knuckles were the superheated white of bone.

It was a punch forged in a hundred thousand trials, superheated by passion, tempered through air, through wood, through ice, through stone, through steel. Through flesh. The flames continued to lap at the wispy threads of membrane hanging loosely over what remained of the accelgor's chest. Marowak's arm held rigid; He felt on its skin a ragged gasp, a tightening, a rattle. A release. The weight. His arm never flinched, even as it fought the lifeless pull from below. But it had other loads to carry.

His hand withdrew...........his knees dropped.......Chespin.............his arms, back, lifted.........his legs rose, moved.................................................his chest burned................he burned.............the fire would consume him whole............................

Stripes.

"Hm? Oh hey, Maro!"

Dizziness...Relief...

"Was wondering if you'd ever get back, we had to set aside some leftov-...oh, OH-"

Falling.

Black.

(continued in chapter 2)