The Legend Thief - Part 5: The Cure

Chapter 26: The Sandstorm (Part 2)

"The... way deserrtt animals sssurvive ssandssstorms is by digging a hole!" Bell informed but her voice was barely heard.

"DIG A HOLE!" Raichu translated.

With the combined strength of the four future-world leaders and a random person, they were able to dig a hole.

"Well, now we have to cover it!" Shell said, already commanding her Pokemon to freeze the entrance.

"We can... wet the ground!" Raichu thought.

"Then throw the mud onto the ice!" Bell continued.

"And then burn the mud into rocks!" Quinci finished.

"Guys," Shell sighed, "that is not how rocks form."

"I thought they formed on layers and layers of PRESSURE. We are now under PRESSURE in more ways than one," Bell explained.

Shell made no comment on that. And then Bell realized it was way too quiet for seven people to be in the room.

"Guys," Raichu said, speaking everyone's thoughts, "There are only four of us."

Right when Bell was about to say "Raichu are", Raichu screamed, "Yes! The old team is back (plus Bell)!"

"Uh oh," Shell said, dreading the worst. "What if-"

"Let's dig a tunnel," Bell said, "Maybe we will find an exit!"

"That sounds like our only option," Quinci agreed. "Plus, we might even bump into them.

"Well, they can't be luckier than us. We are safe here!" Raichu said while tunneling. The pokemon were able, with combined moves, to prevent the roof from collapsing. The friends also put pillars up for support, but unfortunately, had to rely on emergency fire pokemon to see. "This is the life. The others can't have better conditions than this."

---

Meanwhile, Pichu, Rudia, and Ravisu relaxed over a hot lake at the bottom of the desert.

"We've hit the jackpot," Pichu said, swimming around freely. "There is no way my brother can top this!"

"Yeah, I don't even know how there is a lake-cave in the middle of the desert, but it sure is nice," Rudia smiled, enjoying her happy life. The group were supplied matchsticks that Rudia always carried around while swimming and wood from some dead plant and naturally set up a campfire.

"Well, what do we do after this?" Pichu asked.

"This probably leads to something up in the surface, like a lake or something," Ravisu said, toying with the dried up fruit next to the dead plant. It looked like it was once blue, she thought. It smells like a berry! Wonder how a vine got down here.

"IE QSUset I kax dher sonmtheon," a voice suddenly echoed. Then, the wall collapsed and behind it were the rest of the friends. "Omg!" Bell exclaimed, "a pool!"

Then the roof fell down, carrying loads and loads of PRESSURE.

***

Ash Ketchup flew over the Gobi Desert on Zapdos. Something appeared in the distance. Was it a... a mushroom? As they got closer, Ash realized it was a sandstorm brewing ahead. Zapdos was tired of flying.

"Ugh..." Zapdos groaned. "Can we just, like, wait out this storm? My wings are killing me!" His wings flapped weakly as he struggled to carry Ash's weight.

"No," Ash said. "We must reach the oasis before they do!"

"Easy for you to say!" Zapdos grumbled. "You're not the one who has to fly all the way to the oasis in this heat. Plus, I'm thirsty! And hungry!"

Ash rolled his eyes. Zapdos was his form of travel, and they were flying for 5 hours straight.

"Fine," Ash relented. "But right when this storm stops, we get moving again."

"Yay!" Zapdos cheered, wings falling uselessly at his sides. They took a nosedive toward the sandy floor, dry air rushing up into their faces. It took everything Ash had not to scream as the desert rushed toward them. At the last possible second, Zapdos opened his wings, breaking the fall.

***

That feeling in the morning, when you really don't want to wake up and just bury yourself in your blanket?

This was a thousand times worse.

Shelly didn't even know where up or down was. Her sense of direction had been shattered as if it was a glass compass. Everything, the air, the ground, was just grimy scratchy sand pressing down on her. She tried to move her hands to lift herself, but the sand dragged her limbs back like handcuffs. Her long turtleneck spared her a few sandless breaths, and it was these she used to yell with. Her final cries for help, muffled by the sand. But the cloth soon slipped, and sand pooled into her nose and mouth. Air was nonexistent in this dark meaningless world.

This was her end. Her untethering from life. Regrets and memories flashed through her mind, and though they were all painful, Shelly clung onto them for they were still a sign of life. But the images soon flickered away, until only faint strings of words wavered in the blackness.

Optimistic nihilism...

... survive for three minutes without oxygen...

... at six, it means the end...

All my friends...

... Shark... Mom... Dad...

Goodbye...

And then there was nothing.