A WAAPT Legend: Northern Shadow

Misadventures in 13th Century Hisui

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rmctagg09
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A WAAPT Legend: Northern Shadow

Post by rmctagg09 »

(Originally posted July 8, 2015)

So, if you're reading this welcome to A WAAPT Legend: Northern Shadow, a story that takes place in Sinnoh (Or rather, Hisui) and the Battle Zone around 800 years before the events of WAAPT proper. It stars Hotene, a PokéAinu Dark Obscuric who finds herself charged with taking on a Glitchmon that threatens the entire island with the help of the treasures of the lake trio and her Pokémon.

I'm also assuming that if you're reading this you're probably related to the RP somehow, but if not I have decided to make an effort to try making this story understandable so that even non-WAAPTers would be able to appreciate it.

Without further ado, let's get this thing started.

Prologue: The Being That Came From The Sky


As you know, in this world there exist many wondrous creatures known as Pokémon. Many live their lives in the wild, uninvolved in the affairs of humans. Other Pokémon work with humans, including those who travel with Pokémon trainers of all stripes. Then there are those who our people call kamui, who have helped and hindered us over the millennia. However, there is a fourth group, those who are kamui, but corrupt the Earth with their very presence. You may be aware of what happened more than four years ago with the Unnumbered One, but there was once a corruption that threatened the region long, long before. It began with a battle where our whole world was at stake...

Above the Planet, around 800 years ago

It was not really in the nature of the more powerful legendaries to feel fear, in particular the fear of death. Shaymin, Latii, Mew? While it was difficult to pull off, it was indeed possible for mortals to kill them permanently. As for the legendaries that could be justifiably described as "gods," rather than the "powerful spirit" level of many others, on the other hand, it was impossible to kill them in a way that truly lasted. Whether, for instance, Ho-Oh and Lugia with their reincarnation, the super-ancient Pokémon that revived following the Volcano Rites, or the creation trio that were simply impossible to kill due to being the embodiments of the physical universe. That said, those final legendaries in question did feel something very close when faced with their opponent.

"This thing… I knew we did not manage to destroy them all at the beginning," Dialga said, or rather emitted telepathically, as he floated to the front of the group consisting of himself and his siblings.

"THIS IS THE END FOR YOU, CORRUPTED ONE!", Palkia bellowed as she followed close behind.

"What games we shall play afterwards, my siblings!" Giratina exclaimed as he came last.

The "thing" in question was a leftover from a time even further ago, back when the Original One had hatched from His Egg or as some would argue considering His true nature, Their Eggs, created the celestial dragons and the lake trio, and created the multiverse from nothing. This leftover, a survivor of battles from the beginnings of creation had been rediscovered by the draconic trio, and by Arceus' edict they had chased it across several universes already, only to corner it above this particular planet in this particular universe. With a telepathic challenging roar from the abomination, the battle began.

The abomination, a formless black mass of an indeterminate yet incredibly massive size, attacked with tendrils and a powerful energy blast that could attack on a multidimensional level as they warped spacetime in ways only barely comprehensible by mortals. Indeed, if a mortal were to view the abomination and its attacks in their true form, they would likely go mad. The legendaries, dodging, parrying, and directly attacking, were not exactly in forms mortals would consider palatable either.

Dialga, the Archwyrm and Lord of Time, could be best described as a vaguely draconic dark blue mass, covered in a seemingly infinite number of diamonds. His sister, Palkia the Celestial Wyrm and Lord of Space, assumed a form that appeared to be bubbles or pearls of infinite mass and volume. Their brother Giratina, the Lord of Dimensions, had a form even more alien than the Origin Forme mortals commonly thought to be his true form rather than an approximation of what their minds formed in order to comprehend him. He was covered in what appeared to be thorns the color of the Griseous Orb. No mortals were there to watch, and therefore the Celestial Dragons could take on their true forms rarely seen out of their own personal dimensions.

The battle seemed to go on endlessly as each side tried to eradicate the other, but the abomination, it was evident to anyone that could see, was waging a losing battle. The celestial dragons were, for lack of a better term, merciless. Palkia sliced into it with what could only be described as blades of an imperceptible sharpness that cut through dimensions as easily as they hacked the abomination’s dark mass into pieces. Dialga and Giratina circled around, waiting to figuratively pounce upon and finish off anything that managed to wriggle away into much smaller but still dangerous abominations formed by Palkia’s handiwork. As the planet rotated below, the dragons prepared to rid themselves of the ancient corruption that had plagued the multiverse for so long.

"Sister, NOW!!!", Dialga cried, sending out a Roar of Time stronger than any ever fired on the planet below with a mighty "SKREEE!", as Giratina shifted dimensions and backed him up with a Shadow Force. Together, the raw Obscuric antimatter combined with Dialga's spacetime warping opened its way to the corruption's core.

"IT'S OVER!", Palkia screamed, as her Spacial Rend slashed through the core in more than four dimensions, reacting with the antimatter left over from Giratina to cause a matter-antimatter chain reaction that warped spacetime with a brilliant light, destroying the abomination as it sent out one last psychic screech.

"So guys," Giratina said while approaching his siblings. "Now that that thing's gone, you feel up for game 'night' in the Distortion World?"

"SURE, WHY NOT? I COULD USE A BREAK AFTER CHASING THIS THING FOR FATHER.", Palkia replied.

As the dragons left this reality, however, it became obvious that the abomination's destruction was not complete. Somehow, a small piece of it managed to survive the final assault. From their perspective, it was little more than a speck not worth the trouble of properly destroying. However, to a mortal or even some of the lesser deities it would be a potentially lethal threat. The lone piece entered the atmosphere like a meteor, its uncontrolled descent sending it towards the southern portion of the northernmost island of a certain archipelago.

Southern Hisui, sometime in this world's answer to the early 13th Century

It was a normal night in that part of Hisui, save for the constellations appearing slightly distorted from their normal formation. Kricketune played their songs while a pride of Luxray moved to corner and kill a Stantler. One of the Luxio paused from devouring the kill upon noticing what appeared to be a falling star that seemed to be moving directly towards them, and cried to warn the rest of the pride. However, by then it was already too late, and the "falling star" made impact right where they were feeding, instantly killing them and everything else in the forest within a mile radius of the now freshly excavated crater.

The surviving mass, a black semi-solid with the consistency of tar that was perhaps about as intelligent as the plankton floating in the sea, mainly sat and waited in its crater for a very long time. While the mons of the Hisuian forest who were lucky enough to not be in its blast radius didn't quite understand what they were dealing with, most understood that something that ate mons and humans and seemed impervious to any and all attacks was to be avoided, following several futile attempts to try to rid themselves of the abomination. Included among those who'd failed were even a group of Aura Guardians who were active in that part of Hisui. Despite its dangerous nature, if not for an unfortunate stroke of fate, it likely would've remained just another isolated hazard that would have been shunned and avoided by the natives of that part of the region.

Nonetheless, one night a Noctowl flying from the north perched right above the mass, ignorant of what the local mons had long learnt to avoid. As the Flying type flew directly over the mass, a tendril rose from the ooze, grabbed it mid-flight, and dragged it into the mote of the great abomination.

The poor Pokémon, like so many other beings before it, was absorbed to become part of its biomass. However, by this point the mote had started to achieve intelligence from the minds of the creatures it had managed to ensnare. The unfortunate Noctowl was simply the last sapient it needed, and after its absorption the mote started to change as its mass drew back into itself. Using the Noctowl as a template, it formed itself into a being much like its "parent" progenitor, albeit much weaker and less insanity inducing if one were to look at it. The avian abomination then took to the skies, heading northwest on what appeared to be a random whim.

For while its choice of flight path was a whim on the part of the abomination, it is important to note one thing: Destiny is never left to chance, and the new abomination would meet the being that would end up slaying it as a result of its random choice.

Meanwhile, a certain Flying type appeared by a cliff as the abomination lifted off. The Xatu muttered, keeping a steady monotone throughout its monologue, "So my visions have come to pass, I must inform Lady Mesprit about the abomination's release. That thing will bring nothing but trouble on not only Hisui, but the entire island if left unchecked," before teleporting away.
Last edited by rmctagg09 on 2021-Nov-04 03:10, edited 1 time in total.
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rmctagg09
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Re: A WAAPT Legend: Northern Shadow

Post by rmctagg09 »

(Originally posted June 25, 2017)

First off, I have to apologize for taking almost two years to publish this next chapter, but writer's block can be such a pain sometimes. Second of all, I must thank Tangent, Tracer, and Silent for helping me with this.

Please enjoy.

Chapter 1: When Owls Attack


My life before the events of that night was pretty simple, I suppose. I wasn't really that much different from anyone else living in my kotan, but I guess what did make me different was that I would end up choosing the path I'd be led on afterwards...


Shutnai Kotan, Southwest Hisui


Far from the abomination that was heading to the northwest, the inhabitants of a village, a kotan, were just beginning their day. Located right near a river by the coast, the locals commonly fished out Water types from both bodies of water, while also gathering and hunting in the forests nearby. Within it, a small Teddiursa slipped inside one of the houses, or cisey, and headed for the children's quarters. Upon entering, he headed for one of the platforms commonly used for beds with mats for privacy, and took this opportunity to poke its occupant in their face, repeatedly.

"Hotene, Hotene, wake up!" the Teddiursa cried.

The occupant in question, giving the Teddisursa an annoyed yet resigned look for getting awoken from her dreams responded, "I'll get up in a sec, Poro, is this about food?"

"You bet!" the Teddiursa in question replied.

Of course, Hotene couldn't understand exactly what her Teddiursa partner was saying word for word, but like all humans who spent enough time with Pokémon, she could always get the gist of what the one bonded with her was saying. It helped that her partner was also a bit of a glutton, so the Monese word for "food" was one she basically knew by heart.

"Sometimes I swear you could compete with a Snorlax in an eating contest and win, little kamui." Hotene said as she sat up and looked into a well polished circular piece of metal obtained through trade with the people of the south.

Looking back was a young woman with a slightly tanned complexion and a broad nose, with shoulder-length thick wavy black hair and deep brown eyes. Her hands and upper arms were covered in the geometric tatoos common to the women of her homeland, while her lips had what appeared to be the beginnings of a smile tattoo, her anchi-piri, to be completed once she married and had children.

"Sapo, sapo!" cred a younger voice, "Weren't you going to help me practice with my Obscura today?"

"...And there's my cue." Hotene thought before saying, "Akihi, I'll be right there."

Upon exiting their cise, the siblings headed over to a designated spot in the nearby forest where they could practice using their abilities.

For Hotene wasn't exactly what people outside her community would call a baseline human, as with a left clenched fist purple energy surged forth and became visible, the young woman taking this opportunity to do a brief exercise involving her powers to her younger brother.

For in this world there was the Wave, and the Wave separated into two aspects, Aura and Obscura, which themselves separated into halves, forming a quartet. Hotene was a Dark Obscuric in particular, the rarest type, and one that was often unfairly maligned by others outside of their community. She was aware of the purges that had taken place centuries ago that drove her people from the lands further south, that had also led to many Obscurics running to Hisui in order to escape getting slaughtered. However, that wasn't the thing that was occupying her mind at the moment.

Further south, deeper into the forests, their neighbors had visited bringing news of some sort of monster that had come from the stars and had infested a large portion of forest for its own personal domain. Hotene wasn't quite sure if she actually believed the stories, but it was still a subject of great concern.

In the meantime though, the need to train was a bit more important.

"Hotene, could you show me how you can do that thing with your arrows?" her younger brother asked.

"It's simple," Hotene replied as she fired an arrow dead center into a wooden target before grabbing another, "You focus your Obscura into a point..."

As she nocked the second arrow to her bow, Obscura started forming around the arrowhead as she brought the bowstring back.

"...And then, once it's ready, you fire." she said as she released it.

The arrow flew true and struck another target, leaving nothing but splinters.

"Whoa!" her younger brother yelled, "That's amazing Hotene!"

"Eh," she replied, shrugging, "It's pretty simple, even the weakest Aurics can do stuff like that."

"Hmm…. can you make an illusion?” he asked.

Suddenly, he felt an odd crawling sensation, only to see what appeared to be Spinarak crawling all over him.

"Get them off me!," he yelled, patting down his attush with an increasing level of terror.

"Oh fine…" Hotene giggled as she dispelled the illusion. Illusionary pranks never did get old, after all, even if most people around their kotan could do them.

"Very funny," her brother dryly remarked. “You could have just made a little fire on the ground or something, you know?”

"Well you did ask me to show you an illusion, but you never told me what kind or where." Hotene remarked, wearing a very pleased smirk.

Her brother pouted and was about to retort when he turned his eyes towards the sea and grew pensive.

"What's wrong?," Hotene asked, concerned.

"Hotene… do you think, we'll always be safe from the sisam?" He asked, "The elders say they circle like Staraptor around a carcass, waiting to take our home just like they already took the southern lands all those centuries ago."

Hotene put her hand to her chin and attempted to formulate a proper answer. She couldn't deny what her brother said, that the sisam, the settlers who came from the far south and claimed fealty to a "shogun" or "emperor" did seem to have a belief that all that was touched by the sun was theirs to take. Furthermore, after the defeat of the Obscura Chieftain An-noski more than 200 years ago by the Aura Guardians, the kotanutar had still remained united and managed to push the settlers to the lands at the foot of the far western mountains, where following negotiations mediated by the Aura Guardians, a ceasefire of sorts had been decided following several more decades of skirmishing between her people and theirs. That said, it was probably a matter of time before they attempted to encroach again, even if it took place long after both of them had died. Especially since their bandits would sometimes encroach deep into their territory and attack kotan like theirs for their goods.

While some of the merchants who came to trade had less of the naked contempt that those who lived closer to their lands had mentioned, and one had actually married into their kotan (Who was nice enough to teach them enough of their tongue to understand and be understood.), Hotene could not say she fully trusted them as a whole.

"The sisam are certainly a slippery bunch for the most part," she answered, "but for now there's kind of a peace between us, and I'm sure they don't want to break it either. For now, at least."

Her brother raised an eyebrow in response, seemingly unsure if he was fully convinced.

"Anyway", Hotene said, ruffling the hair on her brother's head, "there's no use worrying about that when we've got stuff to collect for the ritual tonight. Plenty of chances to practice your Obscura while we gather the necessary materials."

"Right," her brother stated, "Let's go then."

And so the two decided to go deeper into the forest.

Later that night


"That was a pretty good haul, don't you think?," Hotene said as they made their way to the ceremony site.

The hunt for both turned out to be fairly successful. Poro would chase mons out of the foliage and into the set-bow traps, hidden by her brother casting illusions that made them look like burrows or other forms of safety, on top of their more mundane forms of concealment. Hotene would finish them off with her arrows coated in the poison of the stems and roots of the surku plant, felling those not instantly killed by the set-bow traps fairly quickly.

"Definitely, sapo.", her brother replied.

After the dance that Hotene herself would take part in, their grandmother, the tuskur, or spiritual leader, of their kotan, would start the dealings with Kamui Fuchi, the goddess of the hearth. Indeed, it seemed like it would be any other ritual night for those in her kotan.

And then, there was a sudden screech that seemed loud enough to pierce the eardrums and sounded like that of a Noctowl, except greatly distorted. Both could hear cries of pain from elsewhere in the kotan as people started gathering weapons and Pokémon to potentially do battle with whatever was making those sounds, or running for shelter.

"What in the world was that?", Hotene asked, hands reaching for the Skarmory feather she normally kept on her person, the feather glowing purple as she instinctively infused it with Obscura.

"That" flew down and landed near the center of the kotan, where the river bisected it, letting out more of its foul cries. It had the shape of a Noctowl, but was black in color with skin that reminded Hotene of an extremely dense snowstorm. Its eyes glowed bright yellow, and it was by her estimate at least three to five times the size of a normal Noctowl.

"Attack it, attack that foul miscreation now!", yelled one of the warriors as the Not-Noctowl was pelted by a storm of Obscura charged arrows, regular arrows, and attacks fired from Pokémon. The action managed to make the creature stumble, but from the way it glared at them with murder in its eyes, Hotene could tell that it was more annoyed than truly hurt.

The Not-Noctowl then beat its wings and created a massive gale, that blew its adversaries away and destroying some unlucky cisey in its direct path. It then turned its eyes towards Hotene and her brother, its eyes seemingly oozing killing intent. Before either could react it was on them, slashing at them with its talons. Hotene managed to parry a few talon strikes with her feather, before the foul bird managed to pin them both to the ground, her brother in particular getting the brunt of the weight of its right foot.

"Why you-" Hotene yelled, enraged as the Not-Noctowl lowered its head to leer at them, beak prepared to attack their vitals.

But before it could finish them off, another barrage by the warriors hit the abomination full on, this time getting it to stumble. Poro then threw a torch at it, hitting the Not-Noctowl dead-on and causing it to fly up and momentarily hover over the kotan, before deciding to fly off further north, most likely in search of less annoying targets.

"Ugh…," her brother groaned as he managed to get up.

While he managed to mostly avoid injury, his clothing was ripped and from what Hotene could tell, he'd suffered some bruising. As for the elder sister herself, she'd suffered similar injuries, and as Hotene looked around, she noted the destruction the Not-Noctowl had wrought not only on their persons, but on their home itself. While no one, human or Pokémon, had perished, a few of the cisey had been completely demolished by the gale, half of their surplus foods had ended up blown into the river, and various items lay strewn across the kotan. As she looked in the direction the Not-Noctowl, the wenkamui, left in, Hotene felt what could be best described as a great rage towards the destroyer of her village.

Several Hours Later


Within her kotan's meeting place, the entire village's population had filed in.

"That monster nearly destroyed our kotan, and we only managed to barely drive it off" one villager cried, "What do we do if it comes back?"

"I say we go after it," said one warrior, "We'll go gather as many warriors as we can from the neighboring kotan and kill it."

"Really?" replied another, "If those stories that have been circulating about a pool deep in the forest have any relation to this, that didn't work out too well for those Aura Guardians now did it? And it certainly didn't help tonight!"

"Please, everyone, you must calm down," the tuskur said, focusing on the center hearth, "We will not solve this if we just squabble amongst ourselves."

It was then, that a Xatu teleported right into the center of the room.

"Wait, a Xatu?" Hotene said, confused.

Xatu were seen as sacred messengers of the kamui by her people, so for one to suddenly appear in their midst meant that something important had happened indeed. While Hotene could understand Poro more or less, the tongues of other Pokémon still mostly eluded her, while the tuskur by contrast could understand many a mon language. After a few moments, the Xatu and the tuskur conversed for what seemed like an eternity before she chose to respond to the group at large.

"Hotene", she said, pointing at her, "The Xatu says that you are to head to Lake Verity to meet with Mesprit, and there you obtain the first thing you need in order to defeat this scourge. Of course, the choice to actually do so is yours, while Xatu predict the future, they do not decide it."

"Me?" responded Hotene. True, she did want revenge on the Not-Noctowl for the damage it did to Shutnai and for hurting her brother, but she was surprised that this Xatu who worked for the to kamui, the Three Sisters, would choose her, the tuskur's apprentice, instead of one of the warriors.

"That said…," the tuskur stated, "If you choose not to, Hotene, then the future may become very bleak indeed. The land will become barren, the crops will fail, and eventually, our kotan will die with it."

Hotene stood silently for a few seconds after hearing her words before she answered with an affirmative nod. She would heed the words of the Xatu and fight the Not-Noctowl, for the sake of everyone else, to protect their very way of life. Going by the similarly determined look on Poro's face, his mind on something other than food for once, she wouldn't be going alone.

The Next Morning


As day broke, Hotene and Poro left their kotan, heading towards the northwest in what they guessed would be the direction of Lake Verity. Beforehand, prayers had been made to Apasam Kamui, the god of the threshold, to protect Hotene and Poro on their journey, and her whole kotan gave her enough supplies out of what they could rescue out of the surplus to last the journey there.

"So, this is it then.", Hotene said as she and Poro stood at the boundaries of their kotan and taking everything in, not quite sure when they'd be seeing it again. Hisui, after all, was a big place, and it was unlikely their travels would lead them back there soon.

"If we stand here any longer, that'll make it harder to leave than it is already," Poro replied, gesturing towards the outskirts, "So I think we should get going."

Hotene briefly sighed before pulling on the strap of her pack and saying, "You're right, let's go."

And so the duo departed the home they'd spent their whole lives, in order to save it from a monster that appeared to threaten all they held dear.

Author's Notes



Shutnai: A river at the foot of a mountain.
Kotan: Village
Cise: House, plural cisey (Pronounced "chee-seh")
Kamui: Can mean "bear" or "god" depending on the situation; alternate spelling kamuy
Anchi-piri: Tattoos, derived from the terms anchi, meaning "obsidian" and piri meaning "cut"
Sapo: older sister
Akihi: younger brother
Sisam: "Foreigner" in general, but historically used to describe the Japanese in particular.
Surku: Poison made from the aconite or wolfsbane plant, can also refer to the plant itself.
Wenkamui: Evil god.
Tuskur: Shaman
To kamui: Lake gods


Last bumped by rmctagg09 on 2021-Nov-04 03:12.
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