Story Notes:
The chapters in this story are in no way connected to each other, except for the fact that they are all inspired by song lyrics from "There's a river in the valley made of melting snow", by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, formerly The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band, formerly A Silver Mt. Zion (ASMZ) and, at one point, The Silver Mountain Reveries. There will be 36 chapters, with none of them having more than 2000 words. Each will have its own topic, according to the individual titles. Each will have different characters and a different setting, in order to show just how many topics this song deals with. Speaking of which, in case you'd like to listen to it, you can find it on YouTube. I recommend this song; I've been listening to it for about three years now, and it just never gets old. There are so many things that come to my mind when listening to it, so now I'm trying to write them all down. Since the chapters are going to be really short, I think I'll be able to put a new one online every two days or so, depending on how much time I have. I know there are other projects I should be working on, but now I suddenly had this idea and I'd really like to see how it turns out. It's a bit hard to write stories that are so very short and still meaningful, but luckily they don't have to stand on their own, as they are mostly ways to interprete the song they are based on. Well, I hope I'll be able to update as often and as quickly as I am planning to, and I hope you'll enjoy reading and listening to "There's a river in the valley made of melting snow".
...in these times... of wandering soldiers...
PLEASE NOTE: I do not own Pokémon, and I have to say that I'm kind of proud of it, because the idea of capturing animal-like creatures to make them fight each other is pretty sick, actually. Be this as it may, every species of Pokémon referred to in the following text and everything else that is a part of the Pokémon franchise is the property of their rightful owner, however, the actual story belongs to me. The title belongs to Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band/ The Silver Mountain Reveries. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thank you.
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Have you never heard that there's a river in the valley made of melting snow...?
...in these times... of wandering soldiers...
The large clearing was filled with Cubones and Marowaks, who were watching the parade. It was noisier than anything else the rest of the forest had ever heard before, as they were yelling, clapping and screaming the names of their loved ones, cheering them on to do their best in the upcoming events. At the edge of the clearing, more Marowaks had positioned themselves, beating hollow tree trunks with their thick bone clubs, creating a steady rhythm to which the soldiers were marching.
The generals were in the front, followed by all the units of their respective brigade. All the soldiers were male, all of them were strong Marowaks. They kept their weapons raised, letting them swirl in their paws as they marched, heading into the forest. The stream of Marowaks seemed never ending. They all came out of the forest, walked across the clearing and disappeared on the other side. They all looked the same, they all swung their bone clubs in the same way, and they were all completely focused on their task. Not even one of them risked to take a short glance at his mate or his children that he left behind, but nobody expected them to. The eagerly awaited war lay straight ahead, and now it was all up to them to defend their home and the honor of their tribe.
After a while, there came no more Marowaks, except for the generals of the last few brigades. These consisted entirely of Cubones, who were doing their best to keep up with their older counterparts. However, they were not quite as disciplined; sometimes they waved at someone in the crowd, or they shouted something, which was drowned out by the steady noise. However, there was one voice that could simply not be overheard; it belonged to one of the generals, who was currently marching across the clearing with his young troops.
"See the courage of these young Cubones!" he yelled, while swinging his bone club back and forth. "Truly, they are the best of what this tribe has to offer! Willing to risk their lives in the greatest of all wars! Willing to do anything that is necessary to protect their families! They may be young, but they are heroes, and heroes can never lose! Just watch how they...!"
"No!" a shrill, female voice suddenly came from somewhere in the crowd. It had been even louder than the general's, so the Marowak stopped talking and turned his head to the right. There were motions in the crowd, as the Pokémon were being shoved aside. "Not my son! Not my son!" Finally, a female Marowak, who seemed very flustered, broke through the lines and reached the middle of the clearing. She headed straight for one of the Cubones in the brigade, grabbed him by one of his front paws and began dragging him off, even though he tried his best to resist. "We're going home, Aril," she remarked firmly. However, before she had the chance to leave the center of the clearing together with Aril, she felt the general's big club lightly touch her shoulder. The female froze as she heard his voice coming from directly behind her.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he spoke calmly, "may I ask what you're doing?" The female did not turn around. Quite apparently, the parade had stopped, and everyone had suddenly gotten silent to witness what was going to happen now.
"I'm taking my son home," she said, firmly holding on to the Cubone's paw, apparently not even noticing that he was shouting at her and trying to free himself.
"Quiet down, soldier!" the general commanded, and Aril immediately fell silent. The Marowak then walked around the female and stared at her.
"You should be proud of your son," he stated. The female shook her head.
"I've already lost my mate to this war," she replied lowly. "I'm not going to let the same thing happen to my son." Even though the general's face was obscured by his bone mask, she could tell he was smirking.
"He will be a hero," he said.
"No," Aril's mother spoke, "he will get killed, just like his father. He..." She fell silent as the male stepped towards her. He was a bit taller than her, and there was something about him that was terribly intimidating. Maybe it was the fact that he was the leader of a small army of children.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," he spoke loudly, "but I doubt you have anything to say in this matter. Your son will go to war, and you will stay home to wait for his glorious return." Aril's mother took a deep breath and lowered her gaze.
"Please don't take him away," she mumbled. The general looked over her shoulder and at his young soldiers.
"We are going to war," he said. "You there, come and free your comrade from this female." One of the Cubones started to move, but stopped again as the female Marowak raised her head.
"No, wait!" she shouted, her grip around her son's paw tightening. The general turned his head towards her again. "There... There has to be something I can do... please, I'll do anything if you just let him stay home, please..." She had spoken those words rather quickly and only noticed what they truly meant when she could feel the male in front of her eying her up.
"Anything?" he repeated in a very low tone. The female closed her eyes and shivered inwardly. This was completely and utterly terrible, but her son's life was at stake. She knew she had to do anything she could to save him, now matter how disgusting it was to even think of it.
"Yes," she replied tonelessly. "Anything." She could not see the broad grin on the general's face, but she could imagine it.
"That's the spirit," he spoke, and then turned his head to look at Aril. "You can go home, soldier. There is something very important that your mother and I need to talk about." The Cubone looked up at him and shook his head.
"But... General..." he began, but was immediately cut off by the Marowak.
"That was an order, soldier!" he yelled. "Go home immediately and wait for your mother! And you," he pointed at one of the other Cubones in the brigade, "I hereby appoint you to the rank of honorary general. Now go and lead your troops to victory!" At first it looked like the little Cubone could not believe how lucky he was, but then he raised his club and nodded.
"Yes, sir!" he shouted. "Thank you very much, sir!" The brigade started marching again, and the parade went on. Aril stared at his mother for a second, then decided to follow his general's orders and went home. Shortly after he had disappeared in the noisy crowd, the two Marowaks walked away in a different direction.
Aril hated his mother for what she had done to him. It had always been his dream to fight in the war and to become a hero, but because of her, this could not possibly happen anymore. As the days went by, he just kept staring at her angrily. Sometimes she broke out in tears, and it made Aril feel bad for a moment. However, this never lasted long, as his anger seemed to be stronger than any other emotion.
The young Cubone did not understand why the general came to visit their den at least once every week, and he did not understand why his mother always told him to go outside and play when this happened, either. What he also did not understand was why the general was not fighting in the war. Aril assumed it had to do something with his mother, and this made him even angrier. If the war was lost, it would be her fault. Apparently she hated her tribe and did everything in her power to sabotage the troops. Whenever Aril tried to ask the general anything about this matter, he just pushed him aside and told him to leave the den.
The young Cubone became more frustrated with every passing day. He hoped that something would change, but nothing happened. Aril knew he had been born to fight; it was what his general had always used to tell him. Nothing could possibly be worse than having to stay with his mother while his comrades became heroes.
Months later, the remaining soldiers came back from the battlefields. Aril was there to greet them, as he wanted to witness their glorious return and listen to the stories they had to share. All the younger children and the female Marowaks were waiting, too, staring at the forest, hoping that nothing had happened to their loved ones.
The generals came first. They all seemed to be fine, and some of them had prepared long-winded speeches about how big a success the war had been. Aril listened attentively, but his thoughts were with his former comrades.
Then they finally staggered out of the dense forest.
Not more than maybe two dozen Cubones were left, and hardly any of them still had all of his limbs. Aril watched, completely shocked by what he saw. There seemed to be deep wounds everywhere. Arms and legs were missing. Female Marowaks wailed loudly, running towards their mutilated sons to embrace them. The other females kept staring at the forest, waiting for their children to return to them. However, no more Cubones came. Instead, a few dozen male Marowaks stepped out of the woods. They were not quite as badly injured as the children, but none of them were happy. Or glorious. Or heroic. Almost everyone's mask had deep cracks in it, and their eyes looked emotionless and empty.
Many females waited in vain for their respective mate or their children. After a while, some of them slowly turned around and walked away. Others started screaming and crying, throwing themselves to the ground, not even trying to keep their emotions under control. Wherever Aril looked, he saw something terrible.
For the next few days, the Cubone kept sitting in the den, thinking quietly to himself. He hardly even noticed it when his mother tried to talk to him, and he hardly even noticed it when he evolved into a Marowak just a short time after he had seen all those things. However, Aril knew he had become more mature, for now he understood. He understood everything. He understood why his mother had kept him at home, he understood what a war meant for the soldiers, and he understood what the general had done to his mother.
These new realizations did not let him sleep one night, so he reached for his bone club and left the den.
The next morning, the general was found dead in his cave. It was, however, very hard to identify him, as his entire skull had been crushed and parts of his brain were smeared all over the ground. Nobody really felt like further investigating what had happened here, and had anyone done it, they would not have been able to find Aril or his mother. Their den was empty, as the young Marowak had taken his mother by the paw and run away with her.
Thus, revenge had been had, but too much had been lost already. Too many things were gone, and they would never return.
The war had taken everything.
(1947 words)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter End Notes:I had to resubmit this chapter, since it got lost when the site went down. Well, I'm glad everything seems to be alright for now. Anyway, it was a bit hard for me to write this chapter, because... it's just awful. I'm not saying it's awfully written, I could have gone back to change that; what I mean is that the topic is so entirely disgusting that I really had a lot of problems with it. Well, I still hope that you got something out of reading this, and I also hope that everything will be alright for you, no matter where you are or who you are. As usual, if you'd like to comment, please write a review or send an email to [email protected] . Thank you very much for your interest.
Please be free...
-- Lion vom Silberwal
Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...in these times... of wandering soldiers...
The large clearing was filled with Cubones and Marowaks, who were watching the parade. It was noisier than anything else the rest of the forest had ever heard before, as they were yelling, clapping and screaming the names of their loved ones, cheering them on to do their best in the upcoming events. At the edge of the clearing, more Marowaks had positioned themselves, beating hollow tree trunks with their thick bone clubs, creating a steady rhythm to which the soldiers were marching.
The generals were in the front, followed by all the units of their respective brigade. All the soldiers were male, all of them were strong Marowaks. They kept their weapons raised, letting them swirl in their paws as they marched, heading into the forest. The stream of Marowaks seemed never ending. They all came out of the forest, walked across the clearing and disappeared on the other side. They all looked the same, they all swung their bone clubs in the same way, and they were all completely focused on their task. Not even one of them risked to take a short glance at his mate or his children that he left behind, but nobody expected them to. The eagerly awaited war lay straight ahead, and now it was all up to them to defend their home and the honor of their tribe.
After a while, there came no more Marowaks, except for the generals of the last few brigades. These consisted entirely of Cubones, who were doing their best to keep up with their older counterparts. However, they were not quite as disciplined; sometimes they waved at someone in the crowd, or they shouted something, which was drowned out by the steady noise. However, there was one voice that could simply not be overheard; it belonged to one of the generals, who was currently marching across the clearing with his young troops.
"See the courage of these young Cubones!" he yelled, while swinging his bone club back and forth. "Truly, they are the best of what this tribe has to offer! Willing to risk their lives in the greatest of all wars! Willing to do anything that is necessary to protect their families! They may be young, but they are heroes, and heroes can never lose! Just watch how they...!"
"No!" a shrill, female voice suddenly came from somewhere in the crowd. It had been even louder than the general's, so the Marowak stopped talking and turned his head to the right. There were motions in the crowd, as the Pokémon were being shoved aside. "Not my son! Not my son!" Finally, a female Marowak, who seemed very flustered, broke through the lines and reached the middle of the clearing. She headed straight for one of the Cubones in the brigade, grabbed him by one of his front paws and began dragging him off, even though he tried his best to resist. "We're going home, Aril," she remarked firmly. However, before she had the chance to leave the center of the clearing together with Aril, she felt the general's big club lightly touch her shoulder. The female froze as she heard his voice coming from directly behind her.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he spoke calmly, "may I ask what you're doing?" The female did not turn around. Quite apparently, the parade had stopped, and everyone had suddenly gotten silent to witness what was going to happen now.
"I'm taking my son home," she said, firmly holding on to the Cubone's paw, apparently not even noticing that he was shouting at her and trying to free himself.
"Quiet down, soldier!" the general commanded, and Aril immediately fell silent. The Marowak then walked around the female and stared at her.
"You should be proud of your son," he stated. The female shook her head.
"I've already lost my mate to this war," she replied lowly. "I'm not going to let the same thing happen to my son." Even though the general's face was obscured by his bone mask, she could tell he was smirking.
"He will be a hero," he said.
"No," Aril's mother spoke, "he will get killed, just like his father. He..." She fell silent as the male stepped towards her. He was a bit taller than her, and there was something about him that was terribly intimidating. Maybe it was the fact that he was the leader of a small army of children.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," he spoke loudly, "but I doubt you have anything to say in this matter. Your son will go to war, and you will stay home to wait for his glorious return." Aril's mother took a deep breath and lowered her gaze.
"Please don't take him away," she mumbled. The general looked over her shoulder and at his young soldiers.
"We are going to war," he said. "You there, come and free your comrade from this female." One of the Cubones started to move, but stopped again as the female Marowak raised her head.
"No, wait!" she shouted, her grip around her son's paw tightening. The general turned his head towards her again. "There... There has to be something I can do... please, I'll do anything if you just let him stay home, please..." She had spoken those words rather quickly and only noticed what they truly meant when she could feel the male in front of her eying her up.
"Anything?" he repeated in a very low tone. The female closed her eyes and shivered inwardly. This was completely and utterly terrible, but her son's life was at stake. She knew she had to do anything she could to save him, now matter how disgusting it was to even think of it.
"Yes," she replied tonelessly. "Anything." She could not see the broad grin on the general's face, but she could imagine it.
"That's the spirit," he spoke, and then turned his head to look at Aril. "You can go home, soldier. There is something very important that your mother and I need to talk about." The Cubone looked up at him and shook his head.
"But... General..." he began, but was immediately cut off by the Marowak.
"That was an order, soldier!" he yelled. "Go home immediately and wait for your mother! And you," he pointed at one of the other Cubones in the brigade, "I hereby appoint you to the rank of honorary general. Now go and lead your troops to victory!" At first it looked like the little Cubone could not believe how lucky he was, but then he raised his club and nodded.
"Yes, sir!" he shouted. "Thank you very much, sir!" The brigade started marching again, and the parade went on. Aril stared at his mother for a second, then decided to follow his general's orders and went home. Shortly after he had disappeared in the noisy crowd, the two Marowaks walked away in a different direction.
Aril hated his mother for what she had done to him. It had always been his dream to fight in the war and to become a hero, but because of her, this could not possibly happen anymore. As the days went by, he just kept staring at her angrily. Sometimes she broke out in tears, and it made Aril feel bad for a moment. However, this never lasted long, as his anger seemed to be stronger than any other emotion.
The young Cubone did not understand why the general came to visit their den at least once every week, and he did not understand why his mother always told him to go outside and play when this happened, either. What he also did not understand was why the general was not fighting in the war. Aril assumed it had to do something with his mother, and this made him even angrier. If the war was lost, it would be her fault. Apparently she hated her tribe and did everything in her power to sabotage the troops. Whenever Aril tried to ask the general anything about this matter, he just pushed him aside and told him to leave the den.
The young Cubone became more frustrated with every passing day. He hoped that something would change, but nothing happened. Aril knew he had been born to fight; it was what his general had always used to tell him. Nothing could possibly be worse than having to stay with his mother while his comrades became heroes.
Months later, the remaining soldiers came back from the battlefields. Aril was there to greet them, as he wanted to witness their glorious return and listen to the stories they had to share. All the younger children and the female Marowaks were waiting, too, staring at the forest, hoping that nothing had happened to their loved ones.
The generals came first. They all seemed to be fine, and some of them had prepared long-winded speeches about how big a success the war had been. Aril listened attentively, but his thoughts were with his former comrades.
Then they finally staggered out of the dense forest.
Not more than maybe two dozen Cubones were left, and hardly any of them still had all of his limbs. Aril watched, completely shocked by what he saw. There seemed to be deep wounds everywhere. Arms and legs were missing. Female Marowaks wailed loudly, running towards their mutilated sons to embrace them. The other females kept staring at the forest, waiting for their children to return to them. However, no more Cubones came. Instead, a few dozen male Marowaks stepped out of the woods. They were not quite as badly injured as the children, but none of them were happy. Or glorious. Or heroic. Almost everyone's mask had deep cracks in it, and their eyes looked emotionless and empty.
Many females waited in vain for their respective mate or their children. After a while, some of them slowly turned around and walked away. Others started screaming and crying, throwing themselves to the ground, not even trying to keep their emotions under control. Wherever Aril looked, he saw something terrible.
For the next few days, the Cubone kept sitting in the den, thinking quietly to himself. He hardly even noticed it when his mother tried to talk to him, and he hardly even noticed it when he evolved into a Marowak just a short time after he had seen all those things. However, Aril knew he had become more mature, for now he understood. He understood everything. He understood why his mother had kept him at home, he understood what a war meant for the soldiers, and he understood what the general had done to his mother.
These new realizations did not let him sleep one night, so he reached for his bone club and left the den.
The next morning, the general was found dead in his cave. It was, however, very hard to identify him, as his entire skull had been crushed and parts of his brain were smeared all over the ground. Nobody really felt like further investigating what had happened here, and had anyone done it, they would not have been able to find Aril or his mother. Their den was empty, as the young Marowak had taken his mother by the paw and run away with her.
Thus, revenge had been had, but too much had been lost already. Too many things were gone, and they would never return.
The war had taken everything.
(1947 words)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter End Notes:I had to resubmit this chapter, since it got lost when the site went down. Well, I'm glad everything seems to be alright for now. Anyway, it was a bit hard for me to write this chapter, because... it's just awful. I'm not saying it's awfully written, I could have gone back to change that; what I mean is that the topic is so entirely disgusting that I really had a lot of problems with it. Well, I still hope that you got something out of reading this, and I also hope that everything will be alright for you, no matter where you are or who you are. As usual, if you'd like to comment, please write a review or send an email to [email protected] . Thank you very much for your interest.
Please be free...
-- Lion vom Silberwal