Lost Lives

Prologue

A small mouse-like creature nibbled hungrily at an apple the size of its head, enjoying the shade of a tree on a late spring evening. Sharp fangs glistened brightly as they touched the thin rays of light filtering through leaves. The sweet juices of the fruit created slow rivulets of sticky liquid through dark lavender fur that were quickly cleaned away with the quick swipe of a tiny tongue. The Rattata’s white-tipped tail twitched with the pleasure of having plentiful food during this beautiful season.

Another creature was also enjoying this season of easy hunting. It dozed lazily in a shady spot speckled with spots of sunlight, eyes half closed. Despite the languid appearance, it still paid attention to its surroundings – specifically, a young Rattata sitting twenty feet away. The hunter spent a few more minutes in comfortable silence, letting the wind run along its coarse golden fur, before rising quietly to its feet and stretching its limbs.

The rodent was picking at the remnants of its meal, eating any edible scraps from the core. The predator walked downwind from it, stalking through the shade and behind bushes, savoring the delicious scent.

Fifteen feet away.

Ten.

A few more steps, and it would be at five feet away. The Jolteon licked its jowls and lowered itself into a crouch, slowing to a halt near a hedge. It flexed its muscles, preparing to stun its prey with an electric charge. Gathering the energy, it focused its aim on its target, let the static prickle its fur to a point, and let loose a shock of lightning.

A thunderous crack split the air, with the ground giving a violent shake and knocking both pokemon from their feet. It left them scrambling for safety as the earth tore itself apart around them. The Rattata made its escape from both horrors, running hastily into a deeper part of the forest. The Jolteon, however, was not so lucky.

White-blue lightning flashed before its eyes, dancing threateningly along the moving cracks in the ground. Searching for escapes, it found that one portion of the earth was still mostly intact. Acting on instinct, it allowed its paws to carry it away from what was becoming and island and towards the edge of the wooded area. As it approached the end of the devastated ground, however, a massive amount of blue electricity formed a wall in front of it, making its fur stand rigid from the sheer energy.

The electricity fought, jumped, and merged with itself to become a glowing mass in the form of arched doors. It seemed to cool down to stone in mere seconds, an eye inscribed in the center among many smaller impeccably carved symbols. The Jolteon stood frozen in awe of the amazing feature that had emerged from the ground, only barely registering the stillness of the earth.

Seconds later, it became aware of a certain aura emanating from the doors. The aura was uncomfortable, wrong somehow. Backing up from it, the pokemon turned its head from side to side in an effort to find an escape from this thing. If it could get away fast enough… if the doors could not harm it…

They opened; black arms of darkness with greedy hands emerged, mercilessly grabbing at the struggling Jolteon and taking it into their empty world of shadow before allowing the door to close and sink back into the ground, leaving only the remnants of an earthquake as a clue that it had been there.

Hope you enjoyed this prologue. Updates may be slow in coming, but this story will never be abandoned.

Beta’d by the amazing FHT. Who thinks she needs to start being paid for all her amazingness, yup yup. Send cash, cheques, Ed, or Vulpix to your lovely author; she'll direct them to me in full earnest. 'Till next time!