I’m honestly pleased that the region of this new Pokémon game looks partially Northern-European inspired. This could be the kind of world building with Sláine that I’ve been waiting to expound upon.
The specter sobs, paralyzed with the terrifying sight before her eyes. Could it really be true? Is this truly what lay in front of her? Whether she chose to believe it or not, this was her...
Click below to read the full story!
This was the first full story I ever did for Sláine, which delves into what transpired before her... passing. The story contains very somber and depressing themes involving death. You have been warned!
For as long as I have lived on as a ghost of my former self, my past memories have become corrupted, waves of information trying to pry its way back into my mind, only for it to become forced back out. I’ve tried desperately to purge the corruption away and recall what happened, but to no avail. That is, until I found myself gazing upon the familiar village I grew up in; traditionally crafted homes and structures built under a gentle snowfall, all under the watchful eye of a six-bladed windmill.
“Dendemille Town…” I muttered. Suddenly my vision began to blur and my eyes slowly closed, an image beginning to form in my mind. At that moment I could feel the corruption leave my mind, and my thoughts gather. It all became clear… I remembered everything, as if it only occurred the day before.
My parents were a couple of performing Noiverns in Dendemille who always put on vibrant shows for the rest of the townspeople. They had a large following, and were revered as one of Dendemille’s most favored performers. Whenever they went out they would always bring me along with them to socialize with everyone. This ceremonial dress I wear… yes, my mother handcrafted it so one day I would eventually join them on stage; it was their dream to one day become one of the most renowned acts in all of Kalos, and they wanted me to join them on their journey to the top. All things considered it was a very jovial and outgoing experience with so many people giving us their undivided attention, and at the end of the day… I hated it. I hated having to always go out with them and talk with people; no matter where I wandered off to there would always be someone prepared to strike up a conversation with me. I felt so suffocated… and there was no escaping it. Why couldn’t I be left alone? Why?
Every day it would be a consistent routine; get brought into town with family, watch my parents perform, and then socialize with everyone in town. I always tried to find an opportunity to break away from the crowd, but to no avail. Even when I did find an opening to sneak away I was still spotted by someone, and it felt like they were hunting me down. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone? Why? I always asked myself this, but I never got an answer.
As the days went by it progressively got worse and worse. Were there even this many townspeople to begin with? I could not even begin to understand where they were all coming from, but eventually I had reached a breaking point.
I had stepped outside one morning just to get a light snack, like a piece of fruit, or perhaps an assortment of oats to cook into a healthy dish? That was when it happened. In the blink of an eye a group of people called out and immediately swarmed around me. The onslaught of questions kicked into high gear, and my mentality was nearing its limit.
Every inquiry I was bombarded with felt like a jab to my very soul. “You’re the daughter of those performers aren’t you? What are you doing out this early? What do you think of your parents’ shows? Do you want to follow in their footsteps? Have you thought of your own routine yet? Doesn’t it excite you to one day be that famous yourself? How come you’re so quiet? Are you sure you’re entertainment material? Do you think you have the skill to match the success of your parents? It must be such a burden to have to live up to those standards.”
Not once did I know how to answer any of those questions, and never at any time did I have an opportunity to reply back to them. I was backed against a wall, on the verge of panic-stricken tears, when out from the side of my view I could see my parents waving and heading over in my direction. Rather than give a sigh of relief though I could only feel my distress well up further, anxious thoughts racing through my head of how they would get me more involved in the relentless barrage of questions. Being forced into such a taxing situation I decided I only had one option left.
With nothing more I could do, I forced my eyes shut, and I ran. I ran away as fast as I could towards the northern region past Dendemille. I could hear my parents and other townsfolk call out to me, but I couldn’t even bare to look back, not even at my own family, as I dashed with all my might through the thick, snow covered trees. The tears ran across my cheeks as I lamented over the horrifying decision I had made, but there was no turning back now; I couldn’t bare to spend another second forcing myself to be with people I never wanted to talk with in the first place, and so I continued to run.
Eventually my escape had quickly brought me up to the mouth of a frighteningly iced over cave. A worn out, dilapidated sign next to it bore the words “Frost Cavern” in a faded out color. Left in disrepair, with no indication of it ever being used again, I considered how desolate such a place was, but I couldn’t turn back; I had to keep going until I knew I was truly in solitude.
Eventually I could run no longer, breathless, with my legs pushed to their absolute limit. As I took a moment to catch my breath I perked my ears into the air. The feedback gave me an unsympathetic cross-breeze echoing throughout, but not a single indication of a voice other than my own breathing could be heard, and for a moment I felt a wave of happiness flow through my body. Finally… I had lost them, I was finally alone, and I could at last have an opportunity to hear myself think. No more performances, no more crowd noise, and no more socializing.
Just when I thought I could finally give a sigh of relief, however, a bitter chill brushed against my skin and I finally opened my eyes. Ice, snow, and frost as far as the eye could see, and regardless of where I averted my gaze to I could see nothing but the multitude of endless, frozen over tunnels that made up the heart of Frost Cavern. With a traumatic thump in my heart I finally uttered, “Where… am I?”
My remark echoed sadly throughout the iced-over passageways, and when I heard absolutely nothing back in reply it dawned on me how alone I truly was at that moment. The feeling stung the very core of my being; this was not how I wanted it to be, and with that ever-darkening fear welling up inside me, along with a blanket of unfeeling, hostile coldness wrapping itself along my body, I knew immediately I could not be here any longer.
I began to scurry through the numerous passageways, ignoring the oncoming numbness that was beginning to course through my legs, hoping in vein that I would find some kind of landmark I would recognize that would in turn take me to the exit of this abhorrent cave, but to no avail. Tears began to well up once more as I began to fear the worst. What have I done? All I wanted was to have some solitude, but not like this. I began to call out in desperation. “Mom! Dad! M-mama… papa… anyone, someone please answer me! Please! PLEASE! SOMEONE ANSWER ME! I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE ANYMORE!!”
I tried once more to call for help, the tears pouring down my cheeks and leaving a trail behind me as I ran further through what felt like an endless labyrinth, but eventually nothing came out, as if my own breath had failed me. The numbing coldness had begun to incapacitate my body, and I slowly collapsed onto the heartless, icy floor of the cavern. I tried in vein to lift up an arm, a finger, something, but anything I tried to render mobile was too numb and too heavy to budge an inch. The choked up tears ran down the side of my face and froze upon contact with the inconsolably cold ground, and I so desperately wanted to cry out for help once more.
Soon everything around me began to grow silent, and with nothing but the sound of my own, faint heartbeat pulsing through my ears I began to realize the absolute end that this would lead to. If only… I hadn’t been so terrified with talking to people then perhaps this never would have happened. Mom… Dad… you were only trying to help me overcome my anxieties, weren’t you? You knew I had been getting more and more withdrawn as I got older, and you wanted to do everything in your power to help me. But in the end this is how I repaid you; my desperate need to have solitude proved to be my most fatal mistake. My eyelids grew heavier, and with it my vision blurred. My heartbeat had slowed more… and more… until eventually… silence.
I soon broke out of the trance caused by my resurfaced memories, and as my eyes opened back up I suddenly found myself once again in front of the frozen mountain-scape that was Frost Cavern. I do not know what compelled me to once again enter its unyielding entryway once more, but perhaps deep down I yearned for some form of closure.
As I made my way further through the many ice-filled chambers my vision suddenly grew dark, along with my surroundings. “Darkness again...? What now...”
After a few moments the shroud dissipated and I found myself in the center of an icy chamber. As a looked down my gaze froze; not by the immense cold though, but rather in a state of pure disbelief that shook my very soul and caused tears to stream down my face.
In front of me was a figure, a Noivern, sprawled motionless on the heartless, glacial ground, covered head to toe in a layer of ice. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be clothed in a black and green dress with silver & gold ceremonial symbols embroidered into both the skirt and the hems. As I scanned further up I could see locks of pure, red hair draped over the figure’s shoulder and face with a glazed over stare that showed no signs of animation.
I collapsed to my knees as my tears dripped to the ground. I reached over slowly and placed a lamented hand onto the iced over tomb. Momma… papa… I’m so sorry.
Ｂ Ｒ Ｏ Ｋ Ｅ Ｎ (x)
(( Full version of my sidebar as requested. This is an older image, before I made this blog, so some of Sláine’s design aspects are not as accurate to how she looks now. ))
Slaine, did you ever have any friends when you were still alive?
“Although we never met in person we wrote to each other long distance through letters. It turned out she too had social anxieties, much like I did, so in a way we got along pretty well, and over the months we grew to trust each other more than sisters would…” the haunter explained, sighing heavily.Her face suddenly went paler than normal, eyes widening in despair. “No… oh no… What is going to happen when she finds out that I…No… no, no no… what have I done?”
Hang on Sláine, you mentioned about wanting to get away from what? I know your memory is still hazy but at least try. I just want to get to the bottom of this. -Anon
“…Being the only daughter to the town’s most popular pair of entertainers is… was the worst,” Sláine began. “I… already hated talking with people, but after a while the townsfolk started pressuring me into joining them… h-how was that fair? I didn’t even consider following in their footsteps, maybe… maybe I wanted to follow a different path for myself?”Suddenly a sensation of frustration and anger began to well up within her. “But no… even as much as I tried to ignore and avoid them they always bombarded me with questions and remarks every morning.‘Aren’t you happy that you can eventually do what they do on the big stage?’‘Don’t you feel privileged to do something that amazing?’
‘How come you’re so quiet?’
‘Are you sure you can handle living up to your parents’ legacies?’
‘It must be hard knowing the kinds of acts you’ll have to follow.’
‘I’m glad I’m not in your position, young lady.’
‘Don’t let your parents down, you hear?’”Sláine held her head in panic as her eyes grew wild and furious, a piercing glow that could shatter even the blackest darkness. “Haha… Hahahaha… all I ever wanted to say back to them was… ‘Shut up. Just shut up. JUST SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!’”The haunter cut herself off, the anger abruptly leaving her body, as her hands grew limp on the sides of her. She gave a vacant stare out into the abyss.“…But I wouldn’t say that… what would that solve? …Would it fix anything at all?” She murmured. “All I could do was silently listen to their bitter words and nod silently…”“Yes… of course… I have no choice… I can’t let everyone down… can I?”
“Back when I... when I was still alive... my parents didn’t know what to do with me. I was too afraid to talk with any of the townsfolk and so I instead hid myself away in my room or anywhere that they weren’t.
It didn’t help either that mother and father were the most popular performers in the entire town, so we were bombarded by so many people on a daily basis. Such jovial, happy moments, and at the end of the day...
...I hated it. I hated it all.”
