Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Charon's Pursuit ❯ Katar ( Chapter 12 )

CHAPTER 12

Tsk, tsk, tsk…that’s no way to treat the fauna. They mean no harm to anyone…

Waaaaaah! It hurts! It hurts so much! Waaaaah!

There, there, my dear oak tree…it will heal over time, just you wait…though that’s gonna leave one hell of a mark.

WAAAAAAAH!

Hey, calm down! You’re a grown tree, aren’t you? The others would hold great respect for you bearing a scar like that. Your saplings would be proud!

Sniff…I guess so…but still! That meatbag is so mean! What did I do to have my poor bark gashed like that!? AYE! Don’t touch it, it’s still tender!

My dear tree…you forget that I am not composed of solid matter. Besides, I only want to see if the sap has hardened. No sense letting you bleed to death, right?

…No…

Well, there you go! Anyways, the sap HAS hardened, so I don’t see why you’re whining so much. It is hard to feel sorry for a hypochondriac, don’t you know that?

B-But it was so unexpected! No warning, no signs of danger at all! Oh, the cruel injustice! WAAAAAAH!

Stop crying already! Sheesh! If this animal violated you so badly, can’t you tell me what it looks like? You know poetic justice is one of the specialties of my kin…and I happen to be the head-honcho, just to let you know.

Sniff…really?

Yes, really! Now name the perp already!

Aiee! Don’t rush me, I’m still in pain! Ok…it was definitely a meatbag...a male one; on top of that…white fur, with a red streak on the chest and face…fierce eyes…and- ACK! Don’t make me think of those horrible claws! Waaaaaaah!

…Crybaby…

I am NOT a crybaby!

Yes you are.

No I’m NOT!! WAAAAAAH!

Knock it off already! You gave me enough information for me to deal with the perp, alright? There’s nothing to cry about anymore.

Sniff…really?

Yes…there’s only one forest dweller that fits your description. His name’s Katar. Usually he’s rather benign, but I guess something really ticked him-…oh…

W-what? What is it?

My accomplices just informed me that Katar has snapped. His mate, Pata, was taken from him by humans…now that he’s the only zangoose left, the mammal is boiling with hatred and is on the verge of committing a vile atrocity. In this case you should be glad you are a tree…if you were an animal, Katar may have done much worse…

…

With mating season in full swing, his anger puts the whole forest in danger of chaos…I have to deal with this personally…in a covert manner, that is. A hands-on approach would not be appropriate, for not everything can be solved by…oh…well, this is going to be interesting…

What? Why…why are you smiling like that?

Some foreigners are about to attempt to bypass Katar with the help of a mountain dweller…and, except for one, they don’t stand a ghost of a chance to survive if they fail with this scheme. I must leave you know…it’s been awhile since I have been entertained.

Enter…tained? B-but won’t you try to save them?

I’m not a babysitter. If they want to reside in my domain they have to show they possess the strength to survive life’s hardships. Otherwise, they’re better off dead. Now, I bid you goodbye.

…

******************************************************************

Tension was in the air. It seemed to float above the heads of the travelers, amongst the grey clouds of the orange sky, like a guillotine crusted with dried blood, awaiting the moment to come crashing down with the rain that pelted their fur and flesh. Any fears that the vulpixes, chus, and jigglypuff had casted upon each other withered away, replaced by a unanimous fear of the zangoose.

As they huddled closer together while taking their first steps into the forest (Calien and Lily side-by-side, Ivy clutching to her caretaker’s back, and Charon and Marshie juxtaposed on both sides of the fox couple,) all eyes searched through the bushes, the trees, and the persistent rain for their enemy. While none of them (save for Marshie) had ever seen a Zangoose before, the jigglypuff’s description of the creature was harrowing. A creature of Charon’s height already possessed an intimidating size for the common forest dweller; but even he would be easily dwarfed by the claw-wielding monster, making the zangoose a terrifying behemoth in the travelers’ eyes.

“Marshie,” Charon spoke in a hushed manner to the jigglypuff as they walked, not peeling his eyes away from their surroundings, “The forest is much too quiet…this zangoose...it feels like he’s going to ambush us.”

“That’s about the size of it,” Marshie replied in a similar tone, “A zangoose can gut a fella faster than a snake can bite, and that’s ‘cause they hate snakes to the bone. If any of ya was a snake you’d have no chance at all…he’d zone in on ya and rip ya to pieces.”

Ivy squeezed harder on Lily’s back, now burying her face, whimpering, into the vulpix’s red fur. The maiden vulpix dipped her head, saddened by her inability to console the pichu. She felt trapped in the same chokehold of fear as the offspring. She inched closer to Calien’s side as they walked, seeking comfort in his warmth as some of her tails intertwined with his own. In normal circumstances, the male fox would most definitely have blushed at the intimacy, regardless of the recent turbulence between them…but instead he was looking up to the sky, great concern written across his face.

“The rain grows stronger,” Calien said, “Not even the forest canopy could withstand a downpour…at this rate, Lily and I would not be able to use our flame. But we cannot take shelter…we would be sitting ducks.”

Charon peered upwards. His eyes squint as the falling rain, growing heavier and louder by the passing minute, gradually soaked his body as well as his companions and the surrounding trees. The thousands of water-drops pummeling the forest called out to the dwellers with their percussion, filling the air with the unified, tranquil roll of aquatic drums, in defiance of the imminent danger of the unseen enemy.

I don’t like this…I don’t like it at all, Charon thought. He scanned the premises again as the group continued their nervous footsteps. There’s no decent shelter nearby…Calien and Lily might be rendered defenseless…and the sound of the rain is making it impossible to listen to his movements. We might not know where that zangoose is hiding until he strikes!

“Guys, we have to form a circle, now,” Charon said urgently.

“A circle?” Calien questioned.

“Yes, a circle! Come on, all of you! Encircle that tree over there!” Charon barked.

“But wh-.”

“No questions! Just do it!”

Charon rushed over to a nearby oak tree. The others reluctantly followed suit. Moments later, the drenched group of mammals surrounded the tree in all directions, mingling amongst its roots, their back facing the trunk. The branches of this oak tree were too light to shield the ‘chus, the vulpixes, and the jigglypuff from the shower of rain now falling upon them. Ivy, her body chilled, began to sneeze to the side of Lily, as though not to cover the maiden vulpix’s fur coat in germs. The whole lot of them shivered as they continued to be saturated in the falling water.

“This is terrible,” Lily said, her tone quivering as her emotions were taking their toll.

“Is there a reason we are taking position around this tree like fools with a death wish?” Calien complained, before he had to sneeze.

“It’s just as foolish to try going anywhere in this goddamn rain, nevermind with a psychopath at large!” The raichu snapped, “Now shut up and keep an eye out.”

“Since when were you the boss of me?” Calien asked irritatingly.

“Believe me; I know what I’m doing. Besides, I doubt you have a better idea at the moment,” Charon rebutted.

“You all hush now!” Marshie chastised, puffing up its body, “He’ll jump us for sure if we’re distracted!”

The group quieted down again. As they stood amidst the pouring rain around that tree, they felt their feet sink into the ground as the dirt became slippery mud. Charon and the others constantly squinted as the raindrops frequently invaded their eyes. Calien stiffened his posture, staring outwards as best as he could like a guard dog, while Lily’s face began to nod down to the ground, her body filled with as much despair and sickness as the trembling offspring on her back. Marshie scanned the area constantly left to right, his huge eyes shifting like an erratic pendulum of a grandfather clock.

The raichu pressed his back hard against the tree, the same way he pressed against the rock in the cave where he first met the two vulpixes. His teeth clenched together and his forepaws tightly gripped the bark of the tree as the beating of his heart grew in strength.

I cannot hear anything but the rain…but he’s out there…I know it. He’s waiting for his opportunity, and like hell I’m going to give it to him, Charon thought, as the electric sacs in his cheeks began to spark, I didn’t come this far just to be slaughtered by a lunatic!

As the minutes passed by, the tension in the air grew higher and higher. Anxiety gripped its iron fist tighter on them all. Every dark shadow, every rustle of a branch or bush, seemed to betray the lurking, hidden form of the zangoose; and yet the rain continued its downpour, caring not for the lives of these mammals in a foreign land.

“Guys…I don’t want to stay here…it isn’t safe,” Lily pleaded, the knot in her stomach so tight that she was on the verge of throwing up.

“It is not safe whatever we do,” Calien said, teetering on the edge of panic, “it is as though someone up above wants us to die.”

“Leave that human crap out of this!” Marshie snapped (even more so than Charon had ever snapped), “It’s not gonna help us get out of this alive.”

Amidst this talk, Ivy began to whimper, burying her face into Lily’s coat.

“Lily, make her stop,” Calien blurted out, “Her crying will attract that zangoose!”

“I can’t make her do that, she’s just an offspring,” Lily eeped.

“But you must do SOMETHING! She could spell the death of us all!”

“Do you want me to smother her?! Do you!?” Lily cried out, “I’d rather give myself to the zangoose than ever lay a paw on her!”

“Calien, Lily, all of you! Shut up!” Charon shouted, “Leave the damn kid alone!”

Ivy’s pathetic whimpering suddenly became a desperate wail. The sheer expression of despair seemed to echo through the forest, silencing the quarrelers. Only the percussion of the rain was left in the air as the forest dwellers petrified, expecting the zangoose to leap from the bushes to slay them all.

Nothing.

Damn it…what the hell is that zangoose doing? What is he waiting for? He must be playing games with us…letting us become paranoid of everything…the sick bastard! Charon thought, as the sparks on his cheeks intensified along with his scowl. After the awkward silence had passed, he spoke quietly to the Jigglypuff, who stood next to him in their circle.

“Marshie…we need to take a gamble.”

“…A gamble?” Marshie questioned.

“How far can you reach with your voice?”

“How far? Well…I’d put the whole mountain asleep if I wanted, but I had the echo to help me.”

“Uh-huh. Listen carefully Marshie…I want you to use your voice.”

“Now?”

“Yes. Use it now.”

“But…we don’t even know if that zangoose is even nearby.”

“That’s true…but if he is and he’s aware of us, he’ll try to strike before you can finish your song.”

The jigglypuff gulped. “You want me…to be bait?”

“…I’m sorry…but I don’t know how else to do this. We have to lure this bastard out of hiding and defeat him somehow, or else we’ll never know peace in this forest.”

Marshie fell silent. The vulpixes and the pichu seemed not to be paying attention, nearly drained from the emotions taking their toll on their bodies.

“Please, Marshie…I don’t know about them, but I’d do all I can to stop this lunatic from taking any lives. Creatures like him have already forsaken their world…if they’re not put out of their misery, it…it leads to massacre.”

“You really think you can take on this zangoose, don’t you?” Marshie said solemnly.

Charon chuckled. “Not really. But there is too much to lose if I don’t even try,” He responded, as thoughts of Calien, Lily, and the pichu appeared in his mind, cursing silently for them ever getting involved with him.

The jigglypuff sighed. “Alright, I’ll sing…but keep in mind you guys will end up dozing too.”

“I’m willing to take that risk,” Charon replied.

Marshie looked to Lily, who also stood next to Marshie. “Are you guys ok with it?”

Calien and Lily reluctantly agreed, while Ivy remained silent. In her current state, the offspring would just want to be anywhere but out in this rain, never mind with the zangoose about.

The jigglypuff took in a deep breath, preparing his lungs. “Ok, then…here goes.”

Marshie began to sing his song. If he here not a creature of the wild, chances are his notes would have taken inspiration from human culture. Instead, his tune was a self-taught hymn: one continuous, deep, haunting note, filled with its own natural reverberation that seemed to reach out and summon the open, towering, awe-inspiring essence of the mountain that served as his home. At first the hymn sent shivers down the spines of the mammals, but as the note was sustained in their ears, drowsiness began to envelop their bodies.

I must stay awake…as long as I can, Charon thought, as the raichu bit down upon his lip, pressing harder on his back to keep a straight posture, The zangoose would have to strike…I know it…it’s just a matter of knowing where…

The song continued. The drowsiness gained ground. The travelers, save for the singing jigglypuff, slowly began their descent into the mud. Their legs trembled as they struggled in vain to resist the jigglypuff’s spell, so as to be ready when the attack would come. Charon gripped the tree with his paws as though trying to choke it in futility with the whole of his body.

Must…stay…awake!

Desperate to stay awake, Charon tossed his head back. The back of his noggin hit the tree trunk hard. A sharp, but tolerable pain shot into his skull as his vision momentarily peered upwards...and gasped.

OH SHIT!

Charon had no time to shout a warning. With a ferocious cry the zangoose, Katar, lying in wait high in the branches of the tree they surrounded, dove feet-first to the ground. Marshie cut his song short, and shot his eyes upward just in time to see the zangoose’s feet rapidly approaching him, intending to crush his body. Screams of horror erupted in Charon’s ears as Marshie frantically rolled away at the last moment, leaving the zangoose to violently splash mud as he landed on the wet ground.

Katar bore his sharp teeth in a serpent smile; his fierce gaze alit with bloodlust. “Am I that weak to you? AM I!?” He shrieked.

Charon froze at the sight of the zangoose. The creature truly was a towering behemoth. The terrifying gaze, the wild pattern of his fur, the claws long enough to run the raichu straight through…no amount of description proved enough to prepare him for such a monstrosity. None.

For the first time in months, the raichu feared for his life.

The zangoose charged after the jigglypuff, his claws wildly swiping. Marshie dove with a shout behind a tree as the monster missed his mark, goring the tree itself instead. The two of them tangoed around that tree as Marshie tried desperately to get away from the creature trying to murder him, splashing water every which way.

“HELP ME!” Marshie cried, the terror ringing clearly in his voice. However, that help proved vaporous. Lily and Ivy already ran away, cowering in a bush, while Charon stood petrified in face of Katar’s ferocity. Calien, however, somehow mustered up the bravery to answer the call. The vulpix charged forward to close the distance, then he stopped in place, unleashing an inferno with a shout...only to find his own flame extinguished by the rain. His eyes opened wide as his vulnerability betrayed him.

Katar felt no lick of fire, but his instinct still dictated a threat behind him. Quickly breaking off from Marshie, the zangoose madly rushed to the luckless vulpix. As Marshie, overcome with panic, disappeared into the woods (thus deserting his companions) Charon watched in horror as Katar slashed Calien across his face. Lines of crimson streaked across Calien’s muzzle, cheek, and left eye as he fell to the ground with a cry of horrible pain. The fox’s blood bled profusely, mixing with the mud and water as Katar stood before him, the zangoose’s thirst for violence hardly sated.

“You all mock me!” Katar cried. “You think I’m weak because I couldn’t fight off the humans who stole Pata away from me! You spit in my face and laugh, enjoying my suffering! This forest is filled with nothing but monsters…you all deserve to DIE!”

Katar raised a claw up in the air, intending to bring it down upon the fallen vulpix for the fatal blow. That finally set off the Raichu. In desperation he rushed the zangoose, his electricity cackling around his body, primed to electrocute the monster…but he suddenly stopped, slid, and fell over as Lily stampeded from out of nowhere, wailing the name of her mate-to-be as she tackled the zangoose from the side, toppling the ambushed Katar into the mud. Ivy no longer rode on her back…the offspring was now cowering by her lonesome in her bush, watching helplessly the violence unfolding her.

“Lily, you idiot! Get away!” Charon cried out, his electricity dissipating as he struggled to get back on his feet, slipping on the ground, “You have no chance without your fire!”

Lily could not hear Charon’s words. She cared now only for saving Calien’s life, even if it meant sacrificing her own. Her carnivorous teeth bit deeply into Katar’s arm. Katar roared in pain. He shot back up to his feet, lifting the enraged maiden vulpix by the arm clenched in her muzzle, and franticly stumbled to the tree the travelers had surrounded. With a shout he whipped his arm against that tree, fiercely pounding Lily against the bark in the process, until the female fox dropped down to the ground, concussed and wracked with so much pain she could not even stand.

“Leave her alone, you BASTARD!” Charon roared, as he finally got back onto his feet. His electricity cackled again, eagerly awaiting to be unleashed…but before the raichu could unleash his power Katar had already closed the distance between them. The Zangoose stabbed his claws forward, impaling the raichu’s shoulders in unison. Charon choked on his breath as the pain paralyzed his body. He glared at Katar with wide eyes as he saw the serpent smile beaming from the zangoose.

“You will regret angering me,” Katar said to him solemnly, now lifting the raichu up from the ground by his claws, “I will gut you…I will make you bleed.”

Charon squirmed as the pains of crucifixion coursed through his body. “We…we did nothing to wrong you!” He stammered.

“You did everything to wrong me! Everyone in this forest did everything to wrong me! I should dismember you for even pretending to be innocent!” Katar snapped, as he pulled his claws back out of Charon only to knock the air out of him with a vicious kick. Charon crumbled to the muddy ground, much like Calien did only moments before.

“But there’s something else I have to do before ending your cruel existence,” Katar said. The zangoose turned to face Lily, who, in her battered state, had already begun to weep. “There is something that angers me more than those who mock me...it is knowing that some of them are female.”

Lily’s eyes opened wide as Katar slowly began to approach her. She froze right at the spot where she fell from being whipped against a tree, fearing the zangoose’s intent. Charon’s blood, despite that it was bleeding out of his shoulders, already began to boil.

“These weakling females mock me the same way that the males do,” Katar stated, “To say that it infuriates me would hardly scratch the surface. They think I am merely upset only because I have no one to mate with anymore; yet they never, EVER stop to think how much suffering Pata has to endure.”

“Tell me, little fox,” Katar said to Lily as he approached closer and closer, “Can you imagine a world where you are considered a cog in a machine? Can you imagine a world where you lack any freedom? Can you imagine a world where your only purpose is to bear one offspring after another that you can never tend for and raise, by the seed of a male you can never choose, a male who is driven mad with lust and charged to impregnate you, whether you will it or not, by any means necessary?”

Lily shook her head back and forth…”I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She wailed. Charon’s breathing quickened as the anger inside of him rose to a dangerous level…a level he had reached only once in his lifetime.

“Of course you don’t! Only a human could conceive something so atrocious!” Katar shouted, “But that’s why Pata was taken from me…those humans wanted zangoose pets…and since they find nothing wrong with mixing different species together, all they needed was a female! Do they care that they stole my right to her offspring!? Do they care that she was the only other zangoose in this entire forest!? No! And as much as I tried, THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO ABOUT IT!” Katar rushed forward and stabbed deeply into the tree Lily laid next to, the claw inches above her head. The maiden fox could only stare helplessly at the enraged zangoose, as Charon, eerily quiet, stood back upon his legs. His forepaws were tucked to his chest, shaking as a murderous rage threatened to tear his own body apart.

“What…what does that have to do with me?” Lily wept.

Katar pulled his claw out of the tree, peering down at the fox. “Being a female, I would have expected you to sympathize for the torture Pata has to endure now. But no…you females mock me all the same. You, and all the females in this forest, are IGNORANT of my mate’s suffering. If you’re so willing to discard Pata’s misfortune, you deserve to suffer the same as she is now!”

The shock through Lily’s mind was immense. “N-n-no! Wait! Don’t do this, please! I-I-It’s not right!” The maiden vulpix pleaded, struggling to get back up to run away. Katar quickly pinned her with his forearm, oblivious to what was going on behind him.

“It’s too late to beg for mercy!” Katar proclaimed, as he started to drag Lily’s squirming body away from the tree, “It is time for you to pay the price!”

“B-But I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU!” Lily wailed.

“Lies!” Katar snapped, “You try to delay the inevitable!” The zangoose drove Lily into the mud, trying to force her into position. The vulpix kicked in every direction, her underbody caked in the wet dirt.

“P-P-PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! DON’T DO THIS TO ME!” Lily cried, one last time.

“If you shout at me one more time, then I swear that I will-!”

That was as far as Katar ever got, for Charon, possessed by a demonic rage that charged an electric aura around his entire body, threw his weight at the zangoose with a harrowing cry. Katar lost his balance from the furious tackle of the raichu, sliding in the mud as the raichu drove the zangoose’s body straight into the tree. At the moment Katar slammed against the tree, Charon set off the full force of his electricity. Lightning enveloped the zangoose and the tree as the raichu electrocuted them both with power akin to a god. A thunderclap echoed through the atmosphere as the forest, for a brief moment, glowed with the light of a clear summer day.

The light and the thunder died away, allowing the rain to continue. All that remained was a burnt tree and a dead zangoose slumped over the Raichu’s own body. Stepping back, he let the limp body fall face-down into the mud. Lily stared at Charon, as one would stare at a monster.

“You…you killed him,” Lily eeped.

Charon stood at the tree, staring down at the lifeless body. Yes, he had killed Katar, but not just because Katar was about to violate the vulpix. The words of the zangoose had unearthed memories from his mind that he had kept suppressed ever since he first entered the wild. He had taken revenge on the zangoose, but killing him could not stop the flood. For the first time in a long while, Charon remembered how much of a monster he truly was.

He had to get away from them. Lily, Calien, Ivy…none of them were safe in his proximity. He had to run. He had to run as far and as fast as he can. And so he did, leaving a trail of blood that dripped from his shoulders.

“Charon, wait! Come back!” Lily called out to him…but she lacked the strength to follow.