Love in the Time of Turbulence

Chapter 9: A History

Many people seemed to think that Dalton would be Seamus' father, but I misdirected them: he was Merle's father. I'm kind of almost happy I was able to fool you. And now for a chapter that should elucidate more. Chapter 9 time!

Chapter 9

A History

Ash watched as Seamus' body fell off. He didn't even scream, the shock so evident on his face. All he heard was the fall, and what sounded like an all too ominous thud of Seamus hitting something on the way down. It was no surprise, given how high up they were and that he had essentially been put into a freefall. Ash knew he had to act without thinking. He ran straight for the edge, only for his leg to be grabbed.

"You need to be kept...out of...the way..." Merle was saying. Ash looked back as she said it and could tell she was barely moving her mouth, her teeth gritting as she spat it out. Ash struggled to break free, but the girl's grip was absolute. He could have screamed inside; what was with all of these very physically capable girls beating him up lately?

"No. You need to get out of mine!" Ash yelled. Mustering the strength in his other leg, he kicked at Merle's arm, causing the girl's grip to slacken. There was no way he was losing now, not after all that physical ninja training he'd put in with Greninja. That would just be an embarrassment. Ash flung himself upward. The move seemed to have surprised Merle, because she didn't react as Ash slammed his head into hers. She finally let go and stumbled backward.

Quickly regaining his balance, Ash ran straight at the edge. Merle was growling behind him, like she wanted to really rip him into two. That was enough incentive to not stop at all. He just kept his legs going, eyes swiveling from side to side as he looked for an appropriate place to jump off. He quickly caught sight of one of the highest branches of a pine tree. It would suck, but...Merle's snarling sounded so close to him and with a final burst he jumped off.

His timing was a little off, unfortunately. The airship was finally righting itself, which meant the back end was no longer pointing towards the forest. That gave too much distance. The back of Ash's feet hit the airship as he jumped off and sent him spiraling. Frantically waving his hands, it seemed like pure luck that his fist enclosed around a branch and left him precariously hanging there as the airship moved off a little further. He would have sighed in relief, but there was still way too much danger at play. For one thing, from where he was, he could see Seamus hanging over another tree's branch below, very clearly unconscious judging from the cut on his head and the position of his body. Then there was the bigger issue of Merle leaping from a crouch towards him.

"Come on..." Ash groaned out. This escape was not turning out the way he hoped it would. Still, he wasn't about to take chances with Merle hurtling straight towards him. He let go of the branch and dropped to a slightly lower one, his feet landing firmly on it. It was a good thing that it was thick enough to support him. Merle landed on the branch where he had been just moments before and Ash could see her eyes focusing on Seamus.

"Talonflame, I choose..." Ash started to scream, reaching for his belt, when he realized (or rather, remembered) that his faithful Pokémon were no longer there. The whole situation just got a lot more difficult. Now he had to escape from Merle while grabbing Seamus, and all of it without a single Pokémon! Or, that was what he thought, until he peered through the pine needles and noticed a nest of Pineco resting there. It was dangerous, but with Merle practically stalking him, he had no choice.

Taking note of the fact that Seamus was still another level of branches below him on the adjacent tree, Ash allowed himself to slip off the edge of the branch he was on. As he did so, a large chunk of the old branch snapped off, just as planned. His landing wasn't quite as planned, bruising his knee a little, but he was able to at least put some distance between him and the girl. She was currently circling the tree and its branches in an attempt to get down to him. Clasping the broken tree branch a little tighter, Ash wound his arm up. All right...time to throw it like a Water Shuriken.