Chapter 7: With The Tears Of Dragons

At the South end of Lavender Town, the high cliffs were met by rickety wooden bridge that stretched off into the hazy distance over the ocean far below. Occasionally connecting with the mainland for extra support, and slowly slanting downward, Route 12 served as the most direct path from Lavender to Maiden's Peak.

To the left of the old bridge, however, were a set of wooden stairs that hugged the rough curves of the sea battered cliff face, winding their way down to a long wooden walkway at about the midway point, as well as the rocky beach below.

It was to the walkway that Miranda lead Misty, the old staircase protesting their passage with loud creaking sounds as the sound of the surf battered the unpleasant looking beach below.

"When the tide's high," the courier explained, "the water comes up to within a few feet of here."

"Ever have any problem with flooding?" Misty inquired, running her hand along the guardrail as she watched the sea below.

"Not really," Miranda replied with a shrug, her voice growing distant as they drew closer to an area where the wall of rock gave way to an enormous, yet shallow cave, "Hm. Okay, we're here. Watch your step..."

It wasn't long before Misty could see why the sea wasn't a problem. The walkway terminated at the mouth of the cave, and a set of stone steps, carved straight from the rock lead them up an incline to where the darkness of the cave dispelled most of the natural light.

"That's strange," commented Misty, shivering against the cold and trying to make out the odd markings on the wall before her as Miranda fiddled with a flashlight.

"My grandfather did those," Miranda replied quietly, her voice echoing slightly as the enormous set of double doors before them were illuminated in all their splendor.

They stood nearly twelve feet in height, made of the same dark mithril that was found in the Lavender Mountains. As Miranda had said, her paternal grandfather had done a great deal of work on the doors in his time. The main focus was of the two dragonites who stood facing one another with blissful expressions of love upon their faces as a swarm of their dratini children slithered and coiled about, forming decorative patterns.

"He worked on this nearly everyday after he retired," Miranda continued as Misty's eyes followed the patterns, observing the small shapes of fish leaping from unseen waters as the young dragons chased them.

"It must have taken him forever," she commented as Miranda pulled an enormous skeleton key out of her coat pocket and held it before her as she walked forward.

"He never finished it," the courier said sadly as the circle of light shifted, causing the edges of the door to became more apparent, their depicted scenes left incomplete, yet still compelling, "My father said that it's better this way-" she slotted the key into the ornate lock near the feet of the two dragons "-it makes it seem as though his father's coming back one day to finish it..."

Miranda took a deep breath before turning the heavy key. Within the doors, the mechanism made awful grinding noises of protest, but after a moment they were followed by a loud, almost booming -clunk- as the lock settled into place.

"They're still beautiful," assured Misty as the courier put away the key before sliding her hand behind one of the intricate carvings and giving the door a sharp pull.

"I know," grunted Miranda as the door swung open with surprising ease, "And the hinges my dad made aren't too bad either!"

Misty chuckled as the courier dragged the door most of the way open, but had to quickly hold her nose as the dank smell of decay and neglect issued forth from the interior.

"Give it a minute," commented Miranda, her arms suddenly going around Misty and holding her protectively.

"This was a happy place once, right?" Misty inquired after a moment of standing in the dear darkness, "You didn't always keep the doors sealed and unvisited, did you?"

"Goodness no," chuckled Miranda sadly, "when Selece and Undine lived here, we didn't need to lock it. Generally speaking a twelve-foot tall, five hundred plus pound dragons tend to deter thieves. And with two of them guarding their eggs, you'd have to be crazy to burst in and try anything."

"But they'd make a tempting target for 'you know who'," Misty muttered bitterly, immediately regretting the comment as Miranda stiffened, "Oh! I'm sorry-!"

"No, no," the woman assured her, "It's true. A mated pare of dragonites living so close to humans, laying a clutch of eggs every five years or so does make a tempting target. And that's what started all this..."

"So, um, what did you do with the other dratini's that were born here?" Misty inquired, changing the subject before Miranda became to upset.

"Oh, for the most part we let them go," the courier replied with a shrug, "We gave away two or three here and there, but the others we let leave when they were old enough. They're an endangered species by any standards, and we wanted to do your part to make sure they didn't become extinct. I suppose the group that hatched before Umi's clutch have all evolved by now. And the ones before them will probably be laying their eggs in the Spring."

"That's a nice thought," smiled Misty, thinking about the swarms of dratini that would one day populate the coastal waters of some far off island, away from humans and their problems.

Miranda nodded, shining her flashlight beyond the doors and giving the air a careful sniff. "Okay," she said, steeling herself against what was to come, "It should be alright now.

Her lover glanced over, anxious to catch a glimpse into the private lives of the creatures that once dwelt beyond the doors. "I don't know if the lights'll still work though," Miranda added, taking Misty by the hand and leading to the threshold, "But if not, there should still be some torches I can light."

"I'm not worried," replied Misty, her curiosity becoming overwhelming as Miranda stepped carefully from the rock-strewn floor, and out onto soft, cool sands within the room.

Miranda nodded, taking a deep breath as she found a large lever on the wall near the door. "Just be sure to get out of here if the lighting system explodes," she chuckled nervously, and yanked the lever up before pushing it into place.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then, as the low hum of electricity filled the echoing cavern, several well placed, but dim lights flared to life, with only a few exploding with loud popping sounds in protest.

"That should do it," Miranda said quietly as the cavern was filled with an eerie, yet almost natural looking light, revealing its expansive sand covered floor, and high vaulted ceiling that could have contained Miranda's entire house.

"It's huge!" commented Misty, her voice echoing loudly as she walked deeper into the cave, suddenly noticing the peculiar patterns in sand. The trails of footprints that staggered about, the long stretch where the sand parted, blown to either side, reviling the stone floor beneath. The splatterings of dried blood that still clung darkly and ominously to the sand, the peculiar patch where it had been turned to glass, "Oh... Oh, Miri!"

Miranda didn't hear her, the courier's senses felt clouded as a numbness suddenly overcame her and she slumped to her knees, her vision blurring with tears. "I- I can see it..." she choked, not really feeling Misty's arms around her, nearly unaware of her beloved's suddenly worried tone, "I can see it all now. The patterns of their footprints. The broken egg shells. Those little holes in the far wall... All the blood. I can see it here, Misty. I can see how it all happened..."

The sun was setting as they stood at the top of the stairs, their arms about each other, watching the sky change from blue to a combination of orange and violet on the horizon. "It won't be long now," said Vivian, sighing heavily as her head rested against her husband's chest, her eyes tracking the movements of a distant flock of sea birds.

The tall man smiled, hugging his beloved a little closer at the thought of the controlled chaos of a half dozen new born dratini's slithering about the cavern below, driving their parents crazy yet again.

"It'll be a learning experience for Miri, I suppose," Nicholas said thoughtfully, "If she wants to carry on after us, she'd best learn everything she can about dragons."

Vivian glanced up at her husband, smiling mysteriously. "Oh?" she inquired, her tone sounding slightly disappointed, "I thought you were planning on living forever? I know I am."

Laughter had always come easily to her husband, and now was no exception. "I would," he said at last, leaning in closer so that their lips almost touched, "But I have this horrible feeling that eternity isn't long enough to show you how much I love you."

Vivian sighed contentedly, giving him a gentle kiss. "We'll see then, now won't we?" she chuckled, taking her husband's hand and beginning to lead him away.

"Viv, wait!" Nicholas whispered, his voice loosing all levity as the woman turned around to face him, her long dark hair spinning about her as she magenta eyes went from joyful to serious.

"What is it?" she inquired suspiciously as her husband closed his eyes and listened carefully, trying to hear something over the sound of the sea as the tide came in.

Nicholas raised his index finger to signal that he needed a moment, but the noise that met both their ears needed no concentration to be heard. The shrill tones of bellowed warnings suddenly echoed from the cavern below them, sending unpleasant chills down their spines.

"Undine!" Vivian exclaimed, letting go of Nicholas's hand and sprinting over to where they'd parked the car before hitting the concealed latch that would spring the trunk open.

"Hold on!" her husband called as loud as he could, leaning over the guardrail and bellowing for all he was worth, only to have his call be answered by a loud angry sound.

"They're in trouble!" he called back to Vivian as she ran up to him, his cloudy gray eyes full of panic, "They need us!"

"I know," replied Vivian, trying to both remain in control and sound reassuring as she checked the sword she'd grabbed from the trunk, "Now let's go!"

Nicholas nodded, feeling half helpless as he followed his wife down the rickety wooden steps two at a time.

But as they neared the walkway, with the rising tide only a meter or so below it, a raised human voice rang out as a warning to others. "They're here!" it shouted, just before a peculiar rush of air sound filled their ears, and a silvery blur raced towards them.

"Nicholas!" exclaimed Vivian, turning on her heel without thinking as she grabbed her oncoming husband and threw them both off the staircase towards the ocean below.

He had little time to argue, for as they fell, the staircase behind them exploded into splinters along with a portion of the cliff face. "I missed!" the voice called again as the Lilcamps hit the water and struggled against the rising water back toward the walkway.

"Hold on!" sputtered Vivian, as they treaded the icy cold water and waited for a large enough wave.

"Viv!" exclaimed Nicholas, grabbing wife's hand and pulling her out of the way just as something tore a hole through the walkway with something that splashed down near where her head had been, "Gun!"

Vivian cursed under her breath, pulling Nicholas under the walkway as the sound of the assailant's booted feet stomped above them and the loud click of his revolver sounded once more.

They both jumped involuntarily as the gun fired, ripping a second hole in the wood, and ricocheting off the rocky wall. "That's two..." Vivian muttered under her voice as they swam away from their current position and waited.

"Three..." she muttered nervously as a bullet hit the water two meters away and Nicholas pulled a pokeball from his coat pocket. "Nick!" she whispered harshly, "What are doing?!"

"Shh..." he cautioned, certain that his plan would work before whipping the ball as hard as he could, sending it hurtling through the air to where it hit for what was them, the roof.

Instantly, the assailant fired his gun, thrice.

"Come on..." Nicholas muttered through gritted teeth, the cold salt water causing him to shiver as he hoped his aim was true.

But as the ball hit the water, he realized that luck was on his side. With a click, it sprang open, sending its crimson wave of light straight up, through the openings between the wooden slats before rematerializing its occupant.

"Treant!" Nicholas exclaimed, "he's trying to kill us!"

"What the heck is that-?!" the assailant exclaimed as the sound of a speed loader clicked above them, followed by repeated gunfire and the shrill shrieking of a victreebel.

"He's a plant, he'll be fine!" assured Nicholas as he and Vivian swam further out to catch the large wave that was even now barreling towards them.

The sounds of gunfire were suddenly cut short by a man's panicked screams, suddenly silenced before being thrown over the edge some distance away. As the wave caught them, Nicholas noticed the way the man in the dark three-piece suit and dark sunglasses' body seemed dangerously emaciated and pale. The pained expression on his face making him seem forty years older, and the near complete lack of colour to his skin and hair made Nicholas question whether he was even still alive.

Treant turned as the huge wave washed up behind him, awkwardly depositing the two humans, and shrieked a warning, all eight of his tendrils flailing dangerously, hungry for a fresh victim.

"It's just us!" his trainer called, eliciting a happy cry from the plant as he bounded over to the two humans and hugged them both with his vines.

"We don't have time for this!" growled Vivian, her attention focused on the dragon's cave.

"Get help!" ordered Nicholas, "Get Frank! Get Laurna!"

The carnivorous pitcher-shaped plant nodded a confirmation, quickly letting the two humans go before attaching himself to the rock wall and climbing swiftly upwards using his tendrils like strong arms.

"Let's go!" replied Vivian, not waiting for back up as she drew her long, metal blade and ran full out towards the cavern.

Nicholas's eyes went wide for a moment as adrenaline filtered through his system when he realized that his wife had every intention of using the weapon. It wasn't simply the metal reinforced, sturdy wooden swords their couriers carried. It was an actual sword. A double-edged blade, forged from the mithril mined from the Lavender Mountains, meant for slaying Vivian's enemies, not simply stunning them into submission.

Just ahead of him, Vivian gripped the hilt of her sword a little tighter as she skidded to a halt and stared down the length of the short tunnel that lead to where they're dragons nested. To her surprise and intense anger, she could see three figures moving about the room. Two were distracting the dragons, moving about with what must have been well practiced leaps and dodges as Selece and Undine filled the room with focused bursts of searing flames. All the while, the third had succeeded in reaching the eggs, and was carefully loading them into a large metal crate.

"How dare you?!" exclaimed Vivian, rushing into the room without a second thought, running straight towards the thin woman in the dark suit who was quickly stealing the dragonite's eggs.

"Don't even think about it!" the woman laughed, her dark eyes gleaming with malevolence as she picked up a peculiar looking rifle with a wide nozzle and a huge metal canister atop it, pointing it at the clutch of eggs.

Vivian cursed angrily, stopping in her tracks as a jet of liquid nitrogen flew past her, followed by a scream of pain from her dragonite. "Undine!" the woman exclaimed as she stared in horror at her wounded pokemon, "Don't move!"

"Not a bad shot, if I do say so myself!" laughed the tall, handsome man who'd fired the blast as Selece angrily transposed himself between the human and Undine, his jaw clenched as flames licked at his bared razor sharp teeth.

"It'll be your last!" promised Vivian running towards the gunman and only half hearing her husband's exclamation as he tackled the third thief to the ground from behind.

"It's the-! The eggs!" called Nicholas, quickly realizing that what he thought was simply an extremely short human, was actually a machop dressed in an Armani suit, "They won't use their big techniques because of-!"