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Human Experiences 3

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Literature Text

Chapter 3:  

Touko awoke to find herself in a small tent, a cool breeze blowing in through the open flap. Forcing her eyes to adjust to the harsh light of day, she sat up and surveyed her surroundings. Sitting behind her, rocking back and forth idly, was her Darmanitan. Every so often he would exhale, letting out a puff of balmy air, heating the tent as effectively as a fire would.

"Thanks, pal," she said drowsily. Her Darmanitan soaked up the complement and let out a small cry of happiness. She reached over and stoked its head lazily as she tried to piece together everything that had happened to make her feel so utterly tired.

The memory of the previous day's events hit her like a blow to the stomach. Had she really accomplished so much in such a short span of time? Curiosity got the better of her and pushed her to her feet. Her back let out a weary pop as she stood and her legs seemed to creak and moan under her weight. The pain in her muscles was excruciating as she forced them to pull on stiff joints as she exited the tent.

To her surprise, she found herself in the middle of a lush and pristine forest. The scent of mossy dampness and earthy wetness danced around her and she found herself reinvigorated, all traces of exhaustion seemed to fade from her mind. The sun still hung high in the sky; she had not slept as long as she had thought. Her stomach let out a low grumble and she suddenly became aware of the fact that she had not eaten anything in a very long time.  

She poked her head back into the tent and looked for her bag but did not see it anywhere. She walked the perimeter of her make shift campsite, turning over small logs in desperation, but to avail; it was as if it had disappeared into thin air.

"I don't suppose you know where my bag is, do you?" she asked her Darmanitan playfully.  He looked back at her with his big eyes, still huffing out hot air to keep her tent warm. "I didn't think so," she said, laughing a little. "Too bad N isn't here; you might actually be able to answer him."

N. She gasped a little as she realized he wasn't with her. She looked around her frantically, as though she expected him to materialize magically from the air. He wouldn't just leave me in a strange forest, would he? she thought. Anger bubbled up inside her as her mind conjured up an image of N flying off to some unknown land with all of her possessions, meager though they were. She kicked at the ground in frustration as she let her imagination carry her away.

As she swore very loudly at a tree she pictured as N, she heard the sound of sneakers sloshing against the damp forest floor. Her Darmanitan appeared at her side, ready to defend her against the possible intruder, hitting the ground wildly with its massive fists.

"Easy," she cooed. "It's probably just another trainer trying to find their way out." He snorted in acknowledgement, but remained in a defensive posture in front of her legs.

As she reassuringly stroked his head, the saplings to her left began to rustle and before she could make out his body, she saw N's head towering above the little trees. He clambered through them awkwardly, trying to avoid bending their trunks as much as he could. She laughed as his long hair became entangled in their tiny branches; she laughed harder still when he had to rip them off and untangle them from his unruly mane.  She surveyed his body from head to toe; her eyes went wide as she saw the state he was currently in.

"What happened to you out there?" she exclaimed, running forward to meet him. Her Darmanitan followed her closely, still cautiously guarding her.

"What do you mean?" N asked, perplexed.

"Look at you clothes! You look like you've been through a war zone."

His right jacket sleeve had been ripped from the rest of his jacket, dangling feebly by a few threads. His khakis were soaked to the ankle in mud and dirt; a small patch of his black thermal had been ripped away from the hem and a layer of dried blood clung to his hands. His hair, now full of twigs and leaves, hung wildly around his head, sticking up at strange and improbable angles. The only thing that was in reasonably good condition was her pink satchel, which he had slung over his shoulder.

"Touko," he said, chuckling, "what do you think you look like right now?"

She hadn't given it much thought, actually. Hesitantly, she ran her hands through her hair; well, she tried to anyway. At the back of her head she found a massive rat's nest, no doubt constructed from her wild open air ride on the back of a dragon. Horrified, she yanked her bag off his shoulder and found her mirror. She opened it slowly, as though it were immensely heavy, and held it up to her face with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man walking to the gallows.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked.  

Her hair hung limply in an oily and tangled mess on her head; she was almost certain that she was never going to get her brush through it. Her face was smeared with her own blood and dirt. Her shirt was in tatters, missing several large pieces; her shorts, although already thoroughly distressed, now had an unpleasant, sea-sick coloration to them from all the excess filth they had accumulated.

N shook with laughter as she hastily tried to rub off the dirt from her face.

"This isn't funny," she whined. "Look at me! It looks like a gang of feral Liepards attacked me!"

As the image of Touko running screaming from a crazed and derelict Liepard filled his head, N had to remind himself that laughing at her probably wasn't the best thing to do. This proved extremely difficult as she began to spastically clean whatever part of her body she happened to glance at.   

"You don't look that bad," he said soothingly.

"Not that bad?" she hissed. "I supposed it hasn't occurred to you that there aren't any other clothes in my bag. I'm stuck like this until we can get to a town and who knows how long that'll be!" she pouted, sitting on the ground in utter despair. "What I wouldn't give for a bath…"

N sat on the ground next to her, looking as wild as she did. "Here," he said, proffering her some plump berries he had found in the forest. "I went looking for something for you to eat; that's why I took your bag." She nodded her head in begrudging recognition, pushing his berry filled hand away. He popped one in his mouth and chewed deliberately; her stomach gave a feeble gurgle and he smiled.
"You know," he said playfully, "I think I saw a pond with clear water while I was foraging, but I doubt you'd be interested in that." She turned and looked at him, her dirty face painted with desperation. "I could probably find it again…" he said lightly. He held his hand up to his face, pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in cleaning his finger nails.

"You had better not be joking," she grumbled sourly as she stood up. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and grabbed a small pot from the inside of the tent.  N stood up and walked her to the edge of the clearing.

"The trees get pretty dense back here," he said. "Take my hand so we don't get separated."

She gingerly took his hand as she thought about how odd it was for him to actually ask her to touch him. She could have cared less at the moment, however; she just wanted to get clean. As he pulled her forward, she felt a tug on her vest. She turned to see her Darmanitan looking up at her with pleadingly.

"Sorry, not this time," she said to him. "You can keep watch on the tent. Make sure no nasty Venipedes sneak into my sleeping bag, kay?"

He let out a low cry; N chuckled. "He says he's afraid you're going to eat me if he doesn't come."

She crossed her arms angrily and sighed. He pulled harder on her vest, almost knocking her off balance. "Alright, alright," she said, tired of fighting a losing battle. "You can come, but you have to stay in your pokeball while we walk. We can't have you starting any fires." Darmanitan eagerly returned to his pokeball and they continued forward, hand in hand.  

N navigated through the trees with ease, as though he had lived in this forest his whole life. It was strange to see him so comfortable, so relaxed with his surroundings. Every now and then he would stop and point out a tree to her, listing off its scientific name and what kind of Pokémon liked to live in them. She nodded politely, trying to keep her mounting fury in check. By the time they reached the pond, her arms ached from the weight of the pot and her legs wobbled like they were made of jelly.

She walked to the water's edge and inspected it thoughtfully. It glistened and sparkled in the sun, like polished glass. She kneeled down next to it and dipped the pot she had been carrying with her into; after it was filled, she set it on the shore next to her and dipped her hand back in the water. It still held the heat from the summer sun in it. She let her arm sink lower and lower in the water until she was lying on her stomach, her arm now submerged up to her shoulder.  

She rose to her feet and kicked off her combat boots with ease. She let her feet enjoy the moisture of the ground, spreading her toes wide. She tore her vest off hastily and tossed it in the water-filled pot to soak while she bathed. As she began to pull her shirt off, a quiet and shaky voice said, "I'll wait for you just beyond those trees."

She blushed; she had once again completely forgotten about N. Smoothing down her shirt, she turned around to see him staring intently at the ground, his face several deeper shades of red than crimson. He tugged at his hair nervously, several twigs falling out of it like a massive bird's nest; she half expected him to cover his eyes with his fingers. She walked over to him calmly and undid her belt

"Touko," he said, his voice shaking with anxiety and shock.

She rolled her eyes. "Here," she said handing it to him. "Watch my Pokémon for me. I won't be long."

As he took her belt from her, she could feel his hand trembling. She smiled at his innocence; he could be positively adorable sometimes. She brushed his wild hair back away from his face. As her fingers grazed his skin, he felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet. She moved in closer to him; he found himself so stunned that he was unable to move. It was as if he had become rooted to the ground, just another tree in the forest. He wondered if she ever felt this way when he touched her. She put her arms around his neck and gave him a gentle hug. Remaining quite shaky, N slowly put his arms around her, trying not to think about how soft her skin felt.

"Thank you for showing me this place," she whispered.

She pulled away from him and walked back toward the water. Still in a daze, N's feet seemed to carry him into the forest on instinct alone. He exhaled for what felt like the first time in several years. The last twenty-four hours had felt so strange.  Sitting down in exhaustion, he clenched his fists and closed his eyes, hoping to get some clarity. As his eyes drooped closed, however, all he found himself thinking about was how the sun looked on Touko's semi-bare back and how her hair fell so elegantly. He wanted so badly to join her in the water.

He heard a splash and the sound of Touko's laughter. He sighed, feeling as though the water had splashed him in the face. The sobering realization that he would have no idea what to even do with her hit him like brick in the face. Dejectedly, he took out Zoroark's pokeball and called out the Pokémon.

Zoroark stretched and yawn lazily before walking over to where N sat. It cocked its head curiously as it took in N's ragged appearance. "What happened to you?" it asked, concern filling its voice. "Are we not at your castle anymore?"

"It is a very long story," N said quietly. Touko let out another bright peel of laughter. Zoroark lifted its head and pointed its ears in the direction the sound came from.

"Who is that?" Zoroark inquired, worried about the safety of his friend.

"Just a girl," N said, sighing sourly. That was the understatement of his life. Touko felt like anything but just a girl presently. Sensing the unease of his long-time companion, Zoroark nestled itself down next to N and sat in silence next to him as N continued to listen to the sound Touko's laughter. N let his hand drift down to Zoroark's head and petted him, trying to desperately to think of anything but Touko.  

"What is troubling you, N?" Zoroark asked after some time had passed.

N leaned his head back against a tree in angst-ladden anguish. "I don't know how to swim."
So this is the third chapter in my fan-fic titled "Human Experiences." You can read chapter 2 here link. There's also a link to chapter 1 on that page as well.

Well, really, it's more like chapter 3 part 1. This whole section got really long, so I just decided to split them up into 2 submissions. I'm going to have the second half up sometime this weekend, likely tomorrow or early Sunday.

If you find any errors I made with things like spelling or grammer, please tell me. It is very late at night (or very early in the morning) and I have been awake for about 22 hours today, so my brain is kinda not in proof-reading mode right now. HOORAY for being a college student that never sleeps! XD

This section was incredibly fun to write. Seriously, I love this section.

Particularly the last line.

This picture was not drawn by me All credit should go to the fabulous person. link

Hope you enjoy!

PS--You can read chapter4 here now :) link
© 2011 - 2024 allieanthrax
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Kitsune-chan93's avatar
loving this already