Paul and Dawn: First Light

Chapter 58: United

Chapter 58: United 

After recollecting myself, trying to come up with a plan that wouldn't fail, I glanced out at Team Magma again- Tom was lying on the ground, not moving, though I heard him moaning in pain. The Houndoom had gotten off of him. It appeared that he'd only used Flamethrower on Tom's arm, so he wasn't dead. 

"Now," the hooded leader petted his Houndoom's head lazily, "does anyone else have any more suggestions as to our next move?" 

"No, Commander Fuller," they said hastily. 

"Good." Commander Fuller smiled. "We'll use that girl's Pokemon to accomplish any tasks we need done and we'll use her to manipulate people into giving us what we want, threatening to kill her if they don't comply. That's why Team Magma failed before. We were too soft. If you really want something, you just go and take it. 

"Violet!" the Commander shouted and a woman to his right jumped a little. "Do a perimeter check. Make sure no one is snooping around, especially since Tom here was rude enough to be so loud. Rob, go drag Tom into the cave. Tie him up and don't speak to him. All of you, back to your positions. Go!" 

They dispersed among the tents to their own destinations. Fuller and his Houndoom strode off into the darkness, walking alongside the mountain's edge with some sort of device in his hands. Rob went to attend to Tom and I saw Violet begin making her way into the woods. The others were grabbing packs and talking. They were about thirty feet from the cave's entrance, most of them facing away. I assumed Violet would find me if I didn't move in the next couple minutes and tried to figure out my best plan of action. 

Wait until they were asleep? That seemed safe, though at least one of them would be on watch. Still, I could take out one guard. I didn't know if Dawn was hurt badly or needed medical attention. They hadn't seemed to care if they hurt her while they were dragging her away. The Commander obviously didn't even care about his own team's condition, which meant Dawn was more likely seriously hurt. 

I watched as the other members of Team Magma began casually walking in groups, all of them beginning to joke around now that they weren't being loomed over by their leader. 

Now seemed like a good a time as any. 

"Bagon." I lowered him to the ground and whispered, "You need to stay here." 

He was about to retort, but I interrupted, "I'll be fine. Just stay here, keep quiet, and don't get caught. If something goes wrong and you hear me shouting, then you can attack them. I doubt it will come to that. Do you understand?" 

He unhappily nodded and I placed a hand on his head, wishing us both luck silently before going on my way.  

I quickly made my way to the tent closest to the forest, ducking behind it. No one had seen me, so I carefully made my way from tent to tent, avoiding all of the Team Magma members who weren't paying any attention in this direction. Amazed at their lax security considering they had a hostage, I cautiously rounded the last part of the path that led to the cave's entrance without being spotted. 

I slowly entered the cave. It was pretty large with a wide, high ceiling. Water trickled from the top, plopping down into puddles. The sound created a massive echo effect, making me feel like someone was following me. It was about ten feet across and I kept along the right edge, peeking around the corners of jutted out rock to see what was ahead. 

More light was coming from the back and I approached cautiously, practically gluing myself to the wall. About twenty feet into the cave I noticed the sound of people shifting their weight. I stopped moving and studied the scene. The light illuminated Tom who was tied up along the left wall ten feet ahead of me. He stared right back fearfully for a long second- I noticed he had wide, innocent blue eyes. They reminded me of Dawn's. Tom glanced up at something and I followed his line of sight.