Swanna Girl and Braivary Man 3: The Rogue Hero

Chapter 18: Forgiveness

Warning: this chapter contains dark themes that were mentioned earlier in the book. Please, tread with caution.

(-o-)

My body shook as my head pounded harder than I had ever experienced before. In times like this, I knew it was best to stay still, but I couldn't move a muscle even if I wanted to as all I could feel was a burning sensation clawing down my arms and the sides of my body. My vision came in and out as I tried to force myself to stay conscious. While it wasn't the smartest decision I made, I was sick and tired of blacking out all the time. I wasn't going to let it happen, no matter how many attacks Gallade had to use.

It wasn't like Gallade to attack people for no reason. True, I didn't know him that well when he was a Ralts or a Kirlia as he was fairly new to Rudi's team, but he was Rudi's Pokémon. There was no way he would've done that on his own.

I had to constantly remind myself that as the Pokémon held my legs in one arm and back in the other. His arms were blades, so they would cut deeper into the wounds he had created just moments ago. It took every ounce of strength in me to not cry out from the pain. Not that it mattered. Draven walked in front of Gallade, glancing back at me in satisfaction.

"Let's try this again," Draven said as he opened the door.

Even though I knew what lied on the other side, my vision started to blur a bit. The next time I could see, I saw Rudi pushing back parts of my hair out of my face with a worried expression. His navy blue eyes widened as he carefully placed his hand over my forehead, then over my heart.

There was nothing I could do as I winced in pain. It wasn't even from Rudi's touch as he had taken his hands off of me. There was no reason I should have been reacting to the pain when I had ignored it for a while, except, pain was all I could feel. I bit the inside of my mouth, trying to convince Rudi that I was alright.

For a moment, I thought I was doing a good job until I heard Rudi's voice crack.

"Why? Why did you do this to her?" He asked hoarsely. I felt as if he said something else after it, but I wasn't sure as things I couldn't hear once again.

No! I wasn't going to let myself black out again. For a moment, I forced my eyes to open, seeing nothing but that bright light lightbulb dangling from the ceiling. It swayed back and forth as it started to flicker a bit.

That was all I could see as a sharp pain rippled down my back.

"...Only you...to save her," I overheard the older man's voice going in and out before Rudi screamed something at him. Whatever it was, I couldn't stay conscious to hear what he said. Instead, everything went dark.

(-o-)

Sore. Everything was sore. I could feel my head pounding before I could even open my eyes. My hands laid on my stomach while my head laid back on the bed I was sleeping on. A hand pressed against my forehead before it moved to push away any strands of hair that must've covered my face.

"Please be okay," I heard Rudi whisper.

For a moment, I wasn't going to respond. I didn't know how I could have responded. Flashes of what just happened replayed in the back of my mind. The things that Gallade did to me were unspeakable. I remember him sending multiple attacks on me that would cut into my body, leaving me in worse shape than I already was. No matter how much I tried to dodge the attacks, they just kept coming.

Hilbert might have taught me how to defend myself from other people, but never did he try to teach me a thing or two on fighting other Pokémon. Gallade was much faster, much stronger, and much swifter than I could've ever imagined. In the end, he had me pinned to the ground to use some head on attacks. There was no way I could've dodged them.