Is gone? Was gone. Has been gone. Gone for... for longer than I care to remember.

Drawing in a breath, I released it through my mouth, watching the mist curl outward around my beak in the dim moonlight. Shifting my feet, I listened to the snow crunch, shaking little bits of ice from the feathers of my legs. I could not see my surroundings, the sun not yet having broken across the horizon... but I knew what was out there. The shadows gave me no concern, for I knew their form in the day, large mountains of ice, rocks, and snow, glistening, grey, jagged and still beautiful yet cold, very cold. Before, the cold had never bothered me. Now, I could feel it. It circled my body, tugging at my feathers, nipping at exposed bits of skin. Even when it warmed, the mountains were never truly warm... not since Moltres...

I shook my head, ruffled my feathers, and settled further in the snow, using it to shelter myself from the hungry chill that howled round me.

The day the balance shifted was one marked by all our kind. We had no clue, at that time, what had happened. It was just... a sense of something off, something amiss. Some described it as a sudden change in the air, others as a sharp prick along the spine. Regardless, we all knew something had happened, something very, very wrong. The lesser of our species panicked, trying to run from it without even knowing what it was or where to run to. The wiser of our kind merely waited, lingering around to find what caused the shift.

They didn't have to wait long.

Over the years, I pieced together scattered reports from those I'd come across. As far as I could gather, it seemed as though a cluster of humans had declared themselves strongest over all the land. Rather than fighting honorably, either with their bodies or having their Pokémon allies assisting, they had created things, things that I cannot fully fathom. Some mentioned sticks that shone and cracked like Zapdos' thunder, flinging pebbles into the body. Others mentioned berries the size of small eggs that were thrown and exploded, causing more damage than a Voltorb. Even still, I heard the strangest tales of beasts close to the size of a Snorlax which the humans would ride inside and use a hollow, steel log to spit out huge pieces of metal with such speed that it would destroy whatever it hit. They wielded these... devices, rather than Pokémon. Many times I hurt my head, trying to fathom their reasons for doing so, but I could never understand it and my heart would wind up aching for the loss this decision caused. Not to those humans, I care not for their lives... but for the humans who stood against them. Those of us who stood against them. Who fought honorably.

And lost.

We are strong. We have abilities that humans do not... and yet they created things, things more horrifying than any Pokémon, with attacks meant to kill, destroy. They created devices to find us, to hunt us... and the group of "superior humans" slowly began to wipe out our kind, our people. I can only guess they didn't want us to challenge their strength... or they didn't like our kind.

Stretching a wing out, I hissed slowly. The chill swept under the wing, stinging the area under it, but I needed to move the wing. Recently, they grew stiff without movement, making it harder to fly. I worried that one day, they would fail me in midflight, as Zapdos' had failed him, though for another reason.

They fought. Moltres... Zapdos... I...I did not fight. Perhaps I should have, perhaps it would have made a difference. We are... they were... I am a legendary, after all. But while we are meant to (were meant to) maintain the balance, our destruction would only hasten its departure. I tried to tell them that once... but Moltres, too hot headed to listen... insisting we had to fight... That she could hear the cries of our brethren, beseeching us to battle. Her flames almost scorched me as her anger flared... and Zapdos was no better. Electricity crackling round him, silent while looking out at the sky, watching for those metal birds with humans inside their stomachs, controlling them.

[We need to fight, brother.] Moltres insisted. [We need to stop them before they kill us all.]

[And if they kill us, the balance will further deteriorate, sister. We must wait.]

Her wing flew at my face, I can still smell the singe of feathers as she shrieked at me. [I would rather die fighting them than live and listen as our people die! To remain alive and know we could have helped! You stay on your mountain, maintain your ice, brother!]

She flapped her wings and, in a swirl of gold and red, raced like a comet across the sky. Zapdos... he said nothing, but turned his head to look at me, lock eyes with me, and held my gaze for several seconds before he too, took off.

I heard stories of their... "battles," though the word battle hardly suited the situation. Battles took place one on one, or sometimes paired... but it was those two against whole flocks of metal birds. There was no order, just a chaotic mess of flames, thunder, and metal seeds that filled the air.

Or so I heard.

I've seen survivors, from the battles. Some claimed to have fought with my siblings, though I cannot see the two having asked for such a thing. Regardless, whether they actually were fighting alongside my siblings or not, it was easy to tell those that fought. The metal seeds were cruel to the body, worse than Moltres' flames, my ice, or Zapdos' lightening.

Ours did not stay in the body and rot it from the inside out.

Several came like that, already half departed to the Great Divide where Our Creator greets us. They wanted me to heal them, but there was nothing I could do to "fix" them. My talons have not the skill to heal, only kill. I could only ease them, offer them a quiet spot to pass on. Some accepted, some declined. One, a Pikachu whose arm was almost clean off but still hanging by a thin thread of flesh, came hoping that it wasn't too late to reattach it. His ears were torn, pieces of fur falling from his body, his tail already lost. There was a hole on his chest that still bled, illness already clinging to him, death soon to arrive.

He spat at me when all I could offer was a peaceful departure and left, going to seek aide from someone else.

I found him later, frozen.

Shaking, I tried to tell myself it was only the cold, not the remembrance of his brown eyes staring outward, accusing me in both life and death, of my failing. What could I have done? Nothing, nothing than what I had already offered.

Shortly after that, my powers grew. It was abrupt, just as I was about to take my first flight for the day. It caused me to stop breathing and just... just stand still. Then, it happened again. A sudden flux as my powers surged. I could, I could feel my boundaries of control spreading outward, feel the rain in the sky shifting to snow, the water in the ocean changing to ice, the land slowly freezing as my power grew.

My siblings... were dead.

Zapdos first, from what accounts seem to indicate. Somehow, the humans had found them where they nested. He'd gotten to the air when the metal seeds had flown out and hit his wings, causing him to fall to his death. He took several out before he hit the ground, but it was of little comfort for me to hear that. Moltres was next. Enraged, she didn't fight as well as she should have. Her flames grew too hot and strong for her to contain... she killed many, saved many... but burned herself into nothingness.

Thus, the balance we maintained was gone.

I half hoped the great one from the sea would come again, bring them back, reset the balance. This was not the same as the other times, not a battle the three of us waged against each other... it was a fight where outsiders had upset everything! He should have come, should have fixed it!

...he never came.

I had wondered over that. Was there no chosen to summon him? Or was he already fighting? Or had he already been fighting and could no longer do so?

Either way, he never came... nor did my siblings.

I acted shameful that day. I am not proud of my actions, not now, but then, I was... beside myself. I could blame grief, or the sudden increase of power. But, no, I will not lower myself by claiming falsehoods. I was aware of my faculties.

I wanted them dead.

I wanted them as cold and as silent as my siblings.

I wanted the humans to suffer.

And I had the power to make it so.

For the first time since it had begun, I left my mountain. I flew higher than the metal birds, above the clouds, up in the air where most Flying types would have their wings freeze. I flew and brought my ice with me. Condemned with blood of our kind, innocent of any wrong. Healthy, injured. Enemy, Ally. Male, female, children... I discriminated against none. If they were exposed, if they were out during my flight, I passed the gift their kind had given me.

Suffering.

In the beginning, it was hail. I broke their bones as they broke Zapdos' wings. Buried them into the ground with lumps of ice, trying to force them as deeply into the dirt as my brother must have been pushed down.

Then, it was frost. A frost so cold it burned, so they could see how poor Moltres suffered. It peeled their skin off first, while they were still alive. Then the muscles froze, the bones, and the blood. Some remained conscious till their hearts ruptured into ice...

The same bit of ice that my rage formed my heart into.

Following that, I made it snow. And snow. And snow. As high as their ankles, as high as their knees, as high as their heads. When it was completely white, when nothing moved, I left.

I have been here ever since.

Now? I have seen none since that period. I am not so foolish to think them all dead, but they have not come to me, or come after me. Have they learned? No. I doubt it. The race seems to focus solely on power, who has it and how to get more. While Pokémon need it to survive, humans use it to dominate. They used us, then moved on to stronger, more dangerous devices to ensure their "power."

So what have I accomplished?

My eyes feel heavy but I kept them open, wanting to see the shadows fading as the sun slowly makes its way up, watching the dark melt as the light touches it.

I have lost my people. I have lost my siblings... and I have failed at my duty.

A sound gurgles inside my throat, a mix of a sob and a laugh. I open my beak to call out but close it. No one is there to answer. No one has been there. No one will respond.

Still... I find I can't keep it in and call out anyway.

Sunlight slowly starts touching the ice, sparkling silver and gold. I cry out again, my voice haggard and hopeful, crackling as ice on the warming river.

Nothing.

The wind runs by, stinging my eyes. Blinking, I try to ignore the pain when something catches my attention. It was faint, but I thought I heard something.

Moving to stand, my legs give out, leaving me to flap against the snow, trying to work myself free. Above the sound of my wings and wind, I hear it clearer this time. Trying to find the sound, the sun still gradually rising, I could almost swear it was Moltres, her light, bubbling notes slowly warming me. But she is gone.

Likely, it is just a memory, another fragment that I wish to be real but isn't.

Drawing in a breath, I can feel the cold enter my mouth and burn down my throat. Struggling has done little good to free myself so I stop, waiting till I can regain the strength in my legs. I must have sat too long and they've gone numb again...

A deep note, so deep it vibrates within my chest.

Zapdos?

I hear the clear notes again, mingling with the slow but steady deep notes. I can feel my chest rise and fall quickly, my breath quickening. Opening my mouth, I cry out again.

And am answered.

The sounds come closer and I flap my wings again, or try. They don't seem to be moving. Work! Work already! I need to fly! I need to get to them.

The more I tug and struggle, the less I seem to be accomplishing. Unable to get myself out of the snow, I just keep calling to them, singing to them, hoping they can hear my high pitched, crystal tones. I can't see them yet, but the sun has almost completely risen. I should be able to see them soon!

The sun's bright light finally cascades over the first mountain top, blinding me temporarily. When I open my eyes again, I can see them, my siblings. They're circling in front of the sun, still singing, waiting. Lunging forward, I almost felt myself move. My body feels heavier to me, but I'll make it work. I'll make it fly.

Drawing in a breath, I steady myself, bracing to try again. Closing my eyes, I call out again, ignoring the cold drops falling from my eyes, becoming ice as they run down my cheeks. Lifting my wings, I give one more flap and...

...

..

.

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Merry Christmas to your friend, Shiguya. I hope they like it... or at least find it tolerable.

-Pokegirl

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Re: "Give a Gift" request

by Shiguya � Dec 4th, '09, 18:36

This isn't mine, but a good friend who doesn't have an account here (consider it from me if that's a problem).

An aged Articuno (gender up to the writer, for the sake of writing this request will be called "he") is lying on the top of a snow covered mountain, having approached the end of his natural lifespan. In his final moments he reflects upon what he has experienced since the dawn of pokemon on the planet. Both Zapdos and Moltress have already died, along with most of the other legends. The world of pokemon has been receding for the last dozen centuries with him being the last gen 1 pokemon alive. As his life flickers before his eyes, he imagines he can hear moltress and zapdos calling to him like they used to one last time. The last thing he sees in his mind before dying is an image of zapdos and moltres circling, in brilliant sunlight, before he closes his eyes and dies.

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Chapter End Notes:Wow... I finally got something up here! Now, if only I could get some more... I almost had the Halloween one done on time but writing the sex scenes is hard. XP Matt's been busy with college but we think we may have found someone to help, we'll see. I hope so! Then I can get some more stories up! So, anyway... not dead yet! I feel fine! (Albeit guilty. God, it's so short >< )

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, and is applicable for all consecutive chapters that follow.