Thread: A Wish on Freedom- Part 6 Epilogue

Hello everyone!

I had this idea for a story ages ago about slavery in the Pokemon World. The idea wasn't too well recievwed when I first suggested it, but I think that my plot will be able to pull it off! I hope you all enjoy reading, and be cautioned for some derogitary terms for blacks later in the story.

A Wish on Freedom

Part 1: New Adventure Dawning

Olivine City was the busiest part of Johto. It was an industrial city, built heavily on the new discovery of steel-type Pokemon, which was helping to construct a lot of the city, and all parts of the region. But Olivine was mainly bustling as it was a busy commercial and industrial port: the main railways from Goldenrod ended here, with lots of produce, minerals and materials being brought here to be shipped to other regions. And the wealthy people of the land came here to sail to other regions, or trainers with decent cash would go and try Kanto, Hoenn or Sinnoh out for size. Olivine residents were mainly for the men and their families who worked there, and they all got on well enough.

And most of their food came from Miltank Meadows.

Miltank Meadows was a farm, several kilometres up the hill from Olivine. Trainers passed it on their way from Ecruteak to Olivine, and there was a small train platform outside the main gates, where the morning and afternoon freight trains would collect their goods and take it to Olivine. The farm was surrounded by two metre high, dark green hedges. The only break was a wrought iron gate, which lead straight into a closed off courtyard. Miltank Meadows produced milk from Miltank, wool from Mareep and Flaafy, eggs from Torchic and Combusken, and meat from Miltank, Tauros, Combusken and Grumpig. They made a wealthy living, with a huge farmhouse in the middle of the fields, and the farmer, Edmund Parrish, his wife Grace, their sons Victor and Marvin, and their daughter Judith lived a happy lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for their workers.


Chapter 1: Dawn

April 1st 1910

As the sun rose up into the sky, its bright orange light began to shine through windows all across the regions, waking up the residents.

At the bottom of the Miltank Meadows paddock, there was a tall, wooden structure. It was built into the ground, so that the roof barely stretched over the top of the hedge. Too most people passing, it looked like the top of some sort of storage facility, and few people questioned it’s existence. No one knew the true horror that that building held.
Several times a year, Edmund Parrish would go to an orphanage in Ecruteak City. There, he would pick a poor, innocent little orphan out, with grand promises to give them a healthy lifestyle working on his farm. The nuns that ran the orphanage loved this idea, and were always willing to help with the paperwork, and bide Edmund and his new orphan goodbye.

But once they got back behind the hedges, Edmund and his sons began breaking the orphan in. They frightened the orphan, saying they would track them down and kill them if they ever ran away. Then, they would show them around the different fields, such as the fields where the vegetables grew, and the stables and barnhouse where the Miltank were milked by the female slaves. Then, there were taken down to the tower. The slaves all called it ‘Lucifer’s Cage’, as it was probably the most hellish place on the property. Boys slept in the big lower floor, though it was covered with mud and flith, while the girls slept in the cramped upper floor, with barely any room to move. The slaves there were of all different races, as Edmund like the nuns to think he was ‘multicultural’. Edmund told the orphans that they would get a decent living on the farm, and that they should be happy they aren’t turned into meat and sold alongside dead Tauros. Then, the new slave would be left alone in the tower to cry over their horrific new life.

This was the life Victoria Freeman lived.

Five years ago, her parents had been walking through Ecruteak City, when a white gang jumped them. Her father swiftly sent his Machamp out and defeated the gang, but they angrily retaliated and attacked her parents with knifes. The police found their bodies, throats slit, on the side of the road the next morning. Ten year old Victoria was left alone and distraught, and was sent to the Ecruteak Orphanage. She was stuck there for three years, before Edmund came one September morning, and choose her and another black girl, Gwenda, to come and work on his farm.

Victoria had been terrified, as Victor and Marvin towered over here, and the Tauros, Grumpig and Edmund’s Blaziken came across as terrifying. Thankfully, she was partnered with Gwenda, who she knew a little from the orphanage, and they mainly had to tend to Miltank and collecting eggs and wool. They also had to help load stuff onto the freight trains. They were always changed into nice clothing when they did this, so the driver and firemen wouldn’t suspect a thing. Most nights, Victoria cried herself to sleep, as she couldn’t bear the horror of this place.

Now, two years later, Victoria was fifteen years old, and she was lying on the floor, staring up at the wooden ceiling, as orange dawn sunlight shone through the window. Victoria had long gone past the days when she cried to sleep, but now she struggled to sleep against how uncomfortable the floor was. She slept with only a thin blanket, and used her clothes as a pillow. Most nights, the older girls would stay up late, sharing dreams and swapping tales from before they came here, waiting until they became tired. The white girls had had much simpler lives, with their parents being killed in train crashes or from illness. Both the black and Hispanic girls had had worse upbringings, having to deal with discrimination, which lead to them having less enjoyable lives. Gwenda was the only one who never shared her story, choosing her time to read from a tattered novel she had had for years.

As Victoria yawned and stood up, she could see that several other girls were waking up as well, and getting ready for the days work. Two girls kneeled around the small jug with water in it, taking sips to quench their thirst. Victoria smiled at them, and looked down at a hand mirror that had belonged to her mother. Victoria was very beautiful, with dark brown eyes, long black hair, and a warm smile. She was thin due to a lack of food, and it showed in her shallow cheeks and thin stomach. But, as one of the girls always joked, at least they weren’t overweight. Victoria remembered this and smiled, but it only highlighted the sadness in her eyes.

“Victoria, this is yours right?” Victoria stopped looking at herself sadly and looked around. Gwenda, who slept beside her, had woken up, and was slowly standing up whilst yawning. She was shorter and bit pudgier than Victoria, but had a much bigger smile and nice short hair. She was holding up a yellowed newspaper article, and passed it over to her friend.

“My article, thanks!” Victoria smiled, and took it back. The title read HOENN START FESTIVAL A GREAT SUCCESS. When they had been at the orphanage, Victoria saw in the newspaper about a special festival in Lilycove City in Hoenn. They had a big celebration to celebrate Jirachi, a legendary Pokemon that could grant wishes. Victoria had never seen a picture of it, but the Pokemon sounded just magical, and Victoria always had dreams about trying to find it, but never quite getting there.

“Wake up ladies, wake up!”

The cold voice that echoed up the staircase caused all the sleeping girls to open their eyes. They all knew that voice, and the familiar sound of his cane hitting the stairs. All of the girls leapt up, and stood together in a line.

The Minder was a malicious, nasty old man. He had been in charge of the slaves for years, watching over them so that Edmund wouldn’t have too as much. But, late last year, one male slave got so angry at the Minder that he set the Tauros free. They trampled him, and severely broke his leg. It had healed over the time, but now the Minder walked with a cane in one hand, and his one metre long, black leather whip in the other.

He finished walking up the stairs, and stared at the girls. His hair was silver, and his face was sun damaged and had lots of scars on it, make him looking creepy and nasty. He wore a smart white shirt and long black pants, which wasn’t really appropriate clothing for being out in the sun all day, but the Minder enjoyed looking tidy.

“This room is a mess!” He snarled. “I want it cleaned up tonight after work, or no dinner!” He was always finding ways to try and take away their meals. “There is some bread downstairs for breakfast, but you need to get dressed first. Now hurry up!” He barked, and began limping and clunking away.

“I hate him so much.” Gwenda muttered.

“I hate this place more.” Victoria replied grouchily, as she grabbed her makeshift pillow and unravelled it, to reveal a filthy pink dress with matching hat, and a white apron. Everyone checked the Minder was out of sight before taking off their nightdresses and pulling their work ones on.

“Let’s just get out and hope this day goes well… enough.” Victoria said with false happiness. Gwenda smiled, and the two linked arms as they headed downstairs.

And you needed to post 2 treads about the same thing why?

The other one was an idea, this one is a draft, and will be the thread where I post the actual story. No need to be rude

Hey I wasn't pointing that you're rude (because I'm not), I was just curious

Sorry, this story is just stressing me a bit

Chapter 2: Work


Things at Miltank Meadows always had a certain routine.

Once the workers were woken up at the crack of dawn, they had half an hour to get dressed, eat, and assemble outside the silo. They would then stand there for up to an hour while Edmund got ready. If anyone tried to sit down or complained about standing, the Minder will pull his whip out, and teach that person, and the others, a good lesson.

Once Edmund finally arrived, riding on his Rapidash, he would make some nasty remark such as “poor little orphans” or “idiotic slaves” just to try and annoy them, and would then set them to work.

The jobs were separated by gender, as Edmund didn’t think girls would be able to handle some of the other jobs. The male workers were sent to tend the fields, ploughing it or controlling the Tauros that did that, and helped slaughter animals, shear the Mareep, and did maintenance work. The girls had to milk the Miltank, collect eggs from the Torchic, and sometimes helped with gardening or painting, if they had been well behaved.

Today, Victoria and Gwenda were working together, milking one of the youngest Miltank, one called Millicent.

“MIIIIIILLLL!” She mooed, and bounced around happily as the two girls approached. Victoria was carrying a bucket, while Gwenda had a stool for them to sit on.

“Hello girl, how are you?” Victoria asked, and stroked Millicent’s head with her free hand.

“Miltank Mil!” Millicent smiled, and nuzzled against Victoria’s hand.

“She is so cute!” Gwenda squealed, and gave Millicent a big hug.

Than, she placed the stool down, which Victoria flopped down on, and then worked on tying a rope to a leather collar around Millicent’s neck. Some of the younger cows got a bit carried away during milking, so they had a collar and were kept in control. Millicent saw the rope and huffed, and got down onto all fours.

“That’s a good girl.” Victoria said, and she made sure her apron was covering her work dress, and put the bucket under Millicent and bent down. Gwenda wandered over to a half eaten hay bale, and she flopped down onto it.

“Yawn!” She growled, and slouched over the golden coloured bale. “This job is so boring! I wish we could help with the gardening.”

“The Minder said we can’t for another week.” Victoria answered, as she tugged at Millicent’s utter.

“Stupid Betty, why couldn’t she insult people a bit quieter?” Gwenda huffed. Victoria looked over at her and laughed.

“Or, you know, just not insult anyone?” Victoria suggested.

“We both know that’s impossible.” Gwenda smirked, and the two friends laughed.

“Mil!” Millicent huffed, and glared at Victoria.

“Sorry girl, do you want to be in on the conversation as well?” Victoria asked with a smile, and went back to milking here. Gwenda kept laughing for a minute, but one of the other Miltank mooed in protest, so Gwenda just stared out of the open doors. Victor and Marvin were riding around the paddocks on Ponyta, ordering the slaves to work faster. Several boos were towing big carts, fill of hay bales, across the fields, and were struggling to get over one bit. But Victor and Marvin just yelled insults and used whips to hit their backs.

“Disgusting.” Gwenda sighed, and her eyes narrowed in her anger. Victor and Marvin resembled Tauros themselves: huge bodies, tanned from being in the sun a lot, and bushy, brown, curly hair. But they both looked like they had been punched in the nose, and had swollen, sunburnt faces.

“Yes, those boys are very vile.” Victoria snarled, and gave a too hard of a tug on Millicent’s utter.

“MIIIIILLL!” She wailed, and angrily kicked at the back wall.

“Sorry girl, sorry, I didn’t mean too!” Victoria apologised, and quickly gave Millicent a hug. Millicent still looked cross, so Gwenda came over joined in. After a few minutes, Millicent finally smiled, and got up and hugged the two back.

“How beautiful.” A voice said, and the three turned around.

Andrew Kingston was one of the eldest male workers on the farm. Age sixteen, he had longish brown hair, a decent build from all of his work, handsome blue eyes, a semi tan and scars from whipping. Victoria and Gwenda admired him, for both his good looks and his ability to stay calm under the pressure of the farm. He had been here for eight years, so knew the place well, and was well past the Minder and Edmund’s insults.

“Oh, hello Andrew, what are you doing here?” Victoria asked, and she felt herself blushing.

“Only girls are allowed in here, unless you are fixing something.” Gwenda added.

“I am aware of that.” Andrew said with a smirk, making Victoria giggle slightly. “The Minder wants you two to help load up the train, some of the other girls are busy dealing with some loose Torchic.

“MILLLTAANK!” Millicent huffed, angry about them leaving mid-milk. Andrew could sense the source of her grievance, and walked towards her. Victoria and Gwenda gasped as Andrew began petting her, and even gave her a quick hug.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon.” Andrew whispered, and Millicent smiled.

“That is brilliant, even we can’t do that!” Victoria gasped, as Millicent wandered over some hay to sit on while she waited.

“I suppose I know Pokemon a bit better.” Andrew teased, and began walking off. “You two coming?”

“Of course!” Gwenda replied, and linked arms with Victoria. “I bet they can see you blushing down in Olivine.” She added quietly.

“Don’t be rude!” Victoria whispered, but the two began laughing hysterically as they followed Andrew to the platform.


So, are you guys enjoying this so far?

Sorry for the delay, but I hope that this mini relaunch can reattract people

Chapter 3: Steam

One of the more relaxing, pleasant parts of the day was loading up the daily freight trains to Olivine.

Twice day, usually around nine in the morning and four in the afternoon, a steam engine, completing its run from Blackthorn to Olivine via Goldenrod would stop at the small grey platform just outside. Two empty trucks would be at the front of the train, waiting to be loaded with mainly milk vats from the farm, but also with the eggs, Pokemon carcases and wool that needed to be shipped off as well.

The platform led straight into an enclosed room where all of the supplies were waiting to be loaded on. The slaves would come out, dressed in neater clothing as not to raise suspicions, and they would help Victor and Marvin load everything quickly into the two trucks.

Today, things were no different. Victoria, Gwenda and Andrew rushed into a line behind about a dozen other slaves, who were quickly putting aprons and clean shirts over their clothes.

“One day we should just run out there and go ‘I’M A SLAVE’” Gwenda mumbled and Victoria struggled to hide her snigger.

“No talking, hurry up and look decent!” The deep yet slow voice of Victor Parrish boomed at them. Victor and Marvin were almost identical: greasy black hair, large pumpkin shaped heads, and fatty arms and stomachs that they disguised by tucking their shirts in. Victor was older, but that just meant he was fatter and a few inches taller than his brother, as they were as hideous, clueless and foul-smelling as the other.

“Let’s just hurry up with this, I do actually want to eat tonight.” Victoria said with a sigh as Victor moved away with thundering footsteps, and Gwenda nodded. The two girls tied each others aprons, and then they followed everyone else onto the platform.

The Blackthorn Freight Express was always a glorious sight to see. About fifty trucks and wagons, all of many different shapes, sizes and colours, connected in a long line that stretched all the way down Route 38. At the front of the train was one of the many steam engines that pulled, a glorious black metal beast, puffing white smoke and steam into the sky, and some of the slaves paused for a second to admire its beauty. Victoria’s parents always use to take her on the train, and had to fight back the memories, not wishing to break down in tears right now.

“Come on Victoria, you don’t want to get punished.” Andrew’s voice whispered softly into her air, and Victoria instantly perked up. The sixteen year old smiled warmly at her as she looked up, and then led her over to where Gwenda was struggling with a milk vat.

“Let’s get a move on!” Victoria said, and she grabbed one of the handles, and the two friends used all their strength to carry the heavy milk vat towards the open trucks. The train’s fireman opened up the doors for them, and Victoria and Gwenda waddled over a wooden plank to put the vat up against the wall.

“Let’s go find some wool, shall we?” Gwenda puffed, making Victoria laugh. Victor and Marvin chatted to the crew, leaving the slaves to do all the work. Most of the boys that had showed up carried a milk vat each, so Victoria and Gwenda retired to taken crates of eggs and bags of wool, which were much less strenuous. Within five minutes all of those things were stacked up in a truck, and Victoria and Gwenda stayed back with a few girls while the boys finished dealing with the milk vats.

“Hurry up you lot, the train needs to go!” Marvin boomed, shattering the silence the slaves had been working under.

“You could always help.” Victoria muttered, and several of the girls giggled. One of the boys, Arthur, was red in the face and panting, yet he was dragging two of the vats across the platform, the scraping heard even over the loud steam engine.

“Stop doing that, you damage the vats!” Victor shouted. Victoria and Gwenda looked forward nervously as Arthur ignored his superior, continuing to scrape the vats along the ground.

“Stop it you moron!” Marvin snapped. Arthur stopped walking at this, and he looked angrily at the two men staring down at him. He looked over at the train crew watching them, and then over at his fellow slaves, all of whom didn’t know what to do, and then he smiled.

“YOU’RE THE MORON YOU BASTARD!” Arthur yelled. Angrily he thrust one of the vats forwards knocking Marvin over into Victor. While the brothers were distracted, he opened the lid of the vat and then pushed the metal canister over. There was a metallic ring as the vat hit the ground, and then the white liquid poured out over the platform. The slaves all gasped, and they stared in shock as Arthur simply stood there, staring angrily at the brothers in defiance, who were staring back equally as stunned as the slaves.

“You can go along now.” Victor growled to the crew. The driver went to say something, but Marvin angrily closed the doors, signalling for them to leave. A cloud of steam was sent over them all, and everyone watched as the train slowly made its way out of the station. Victor and Marvin waited for the train to be far enough out of distance, and the tension built and built, and some of the younger girls began shaking. Once the brakevan had passed the end of the platform, Victor grabbed the remaining mik vat and drove it into Arthur’s stomach.

“YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU NEARLY RUINED EVERYTHING!” Victor roared as Arthur collapsed to the floor. Marvin kicked Arthur between the legs and several girls shrieked. The brothers picked up the weeping boy and dragged him along the ground. Some of the male slaves, including Andrew, looked ready to defy them, but the brothers snarled and their courage was broken, and they could only step aside.

“BACK TO WORK!” Marvin yelled, leaving Victor to finish up with Arthur. The slaves all rushed through the door, some of them beginning to weep, and they rushed back to what they were doing.

“What are they going to do to him?” Gwenda whimpered as they reached the stables. Victoria watched as Victor pulled Arthur by his hair, trying to ignore the screams of pain, and they went inside the house.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’ll be pretty.” She replied. Gwenda sobbed, and the two friends hugged each other, not sure what to say or do, just to be there for one another.

I'm pleased to read a story with some different themes and aspects than the usual. I like the ideas of slavery (that doesn't sound right), struggle and release from bondage (which I assume is on its way). The characters and the plot, although somewhat mediocre, seem promising of development and interest. Several small mistakes here and there in the writing but overall reasonably well done. I leave contented and will continue reading :)

Finally, I have proof someone read this :D The characters are intentionally starting out a bit small at the moment, but they will be developed as the story progresses :)

Chapter 4: Punishment

Two days later….

Another day had begun at Miltank Meadows. As usual, they had woken up early, had a brief breakfast, and then been sent out to their work. The weather was the same it had been two days ago, the goods train arrived at the same time, and it seemed that nothing particularly different was happening.

But everyone was extremely tense.

Arthur hadn’t been seen since he had dropped the milk vats. He had been taken to “The Shack”, a stone shack in the far corners of the farm, far away from the hedges where the public could see or hear what was going on. Inside, slaves were beaten for misbehaving, abusive attitudes, defying orders or trying to escape. Most of the slaves here hadn’t been inside it, as many slaves died from the pain. They knew that it involved whipping, and sometimes other slaves would have to bring firewood to the door, and would be greeted by great heat as they passed the wood over. No one wanted to have to take the wood over, as it made them feel extremely guilty and was almost like a form of torture.

So Victoria was not pleased to be given the job today.

She had been pulled away from collecting eggs to take two baskets of logs towards the shack. It involved walking around the edge of the paddocks, away from valuable produce and pens.

“Wish me luck.” Victoria had said to Gwenda, before sighing, picking up the bucket and beginning to long journey towards The Shack. The ground was harder around the edges of the field, as Edmund never disturbed that area, building his pens and planting his crops far away from the fence’s edge. Several Tauros mooed at Victoria as she moved by, struggling with the wood. It was weighing down on her back, threatening to snap her in half.

“This…. is really…. painful….” Victoria panted, nearly collapsing over as she got closer and closer. No one worked this close to The Shack, and Victoria found it getting very lonely as she wandered towards the daunting shed. Her feet crunched over fallen twigs and dead leaves, a gentle yet silent breeze brushing over her. The Shack was getting nearer and nearer, and Victoria found herself walking slower and slower. She didn’t want to go this wicked place, this place where her friends had been tortured and killed. She felt sick about being so near here, with no idea what was happening to Arthur inside. Should we back away, should she just leave the wood and give some other reason for her early depature? But just as these thoughts entered her mind, the wooden door into The Shack opened. The Minder was standing there, dressed in only a singlet and shorts, showing his aging arms and his horrifically trampled leg.

“There you are girl, hurry up!” He barked. His whip was in his hand, and Victoria decided to hurry to avoid getting hit by it.

“Very sorry sir, I-” Victoria began, trying to think of an excuse, but the Minder just growled and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care why you’re late, just get in there!”

“Yes sir… wait, I have to go in there?” Victoria gasped, freezing a metre from the shack. She could hear voices inside and the intense heat was already making her feel hot. The Minder smiled and reached out, grabbing her dress with a sweaty hand. Victoria avoided his eyes, instead staring at the purple and black mark on his leg.

“We are a bit busy dealing with Artie here, so we need you to stoke the fire.” The Minder hissed, and he began pushing Victoria forwards. She wanted to protest, proclaim her innocence, but knew it would only meet deaf eyes. She tried to think about other things, like the eggs she would have to collect later or the hope they got some fresh bread tonight. But as soon as she entered The Shack, Victoria couldn’t distract herself anymore.

The Shack was a circular structure, completely stone in the inside as well as the outside. There were no windows, no lamps, no seats, nothing like that. There was a metal bath against one side, full of boiling water as steam was rising up. A large fire was burning inside a stone section, sparks flying everywhere as it began to die down.
But the thing that caught Victoria’s attention the most as she was shoved in was the scene opposite her.

Edmund Parrish was standing there, almost identical to his son except bigger, fitter and a much more brutal face. He was wearing a singlet and shorts as well, showing his hairy chest and legs off. He also had a whip in his hand, and had stopped what he was doing to see Victoria enter. There was no mistaking who they were whipping: Arthur had been stripped and was hanging from shackles in the roof. He was covered in sweat and blood, his chest and back having been horrifically ripped. There was a gag in his mouth, but Arthur’s eyes showed all the emotion: sadness, horror, pleading at Victoria. She was so shocked by the horrific look in his eyes that she forgot why she was there, where they were, didn’t focus on any other part of him, she just stared into his eyes, feeling her own heart breaking in two.

“Hurry up, we need to get back to work!” Edmund boomed. Victoria nodded, a little whimper escaping, and she raced over with the buckets of logs. She moved as swiftly as possible, sweat already mingling with the tears on her face. The room was so unbearably hot that Victoria was surprised that anyone could breathe inside this place.

“Go faster!” Edmund roared, and he angrily lashed out with his whip. Victoria gasped as it snapped against her back. She could feel the tear form in her dress, and she felt a strong, searing pain. She tipped the last of the logs in, which instantly caught alight and blasted her with more heat. Victoria grabbed the baskets and turned to leave, watching as Edmund began to undo the shackles. Victoria stared at Arthur, who was looking, if possible, even more terrified. A hand suddenly clasped around Victoria’s throat, and she turned to look into the Minder’s evil eyes.

“Make sure all your little friends hear about this, maybe than they’ll learn to respect their authorities!” He hissed, and he turned her head so she faced the bath. Edmund dragged Arthur across the floor, who was too weak to respond, all hope gone from inside. Victoria gasped as Arthur was picked up and placed in the hot water. That was when he began squirming, desperate to get out of the boiling water. Edmund grasped his head and held it under, and Victoria couldn’t take anymore.

“Get back to work!” The Minder laughed and shoved her out the door, closing it with a loud bang. Victoria fell against the hard earth, landing on her already injured back. Victoria didn’t care about this, she just began to sob. Someone she had known was being tortured only a few feet away, and Victoria could do nothing about it. They were forced to obey to these ruthless dictators that threatened them and their wellbeing.

Victoria could remember being so excited about being adopted, happy that she and Gwenda were being taken to a better home. Ever since she had arrived, her happiness, her hope, all the good thoughts and dreams she had once had were crushed. They were all turned into depressed shells of their past lives, and if they so much as said a word out of line they would find themselves kicked, hit, beaten, tortured or killed.

“I hate this place.” Victoria whimpered, and she laid there for a few more minutes, letting her tears come out. Once she was finally able to control herself, Victoria stood up and ran as fast as possible away from The Shack, not caring where she went or what she stood on, just desperate to get away from it all.

Pretty sadistic... I like it.

Nice chapter, great description of Victoria's emotions.

Ah, I love a fellow twisted mind :P And thanks, I enjoy trying to get my emotions across

Chapter 5: News

It didn’t take long for Victoria to run back towards the stables, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her. The buckets banged against each other as she ran between the different crop sections and past the pen that kept the Grumpig in. They all oinked at her as she went by, but Victoria didn’t care. Tears were streaming down her face, the image of Arthur’s bleeding body still stuck in her mind. It was nightmarish image that Victoria just couldn’t shake off, no matter how hard she tried. She thought of Gwenda, Andrew, the star festival, her parents, even of Victor and Marvin to try and distract herself, but nothing worked: Arthur’s horrified, hopeless eyes seemed to be constantly staring back at her.

“Oi, watch it!” A male voice snapped. Victoria hadn’t realised she had nearly run into another slave and a Tauros. The large brown Pokemon let out a loud moo in discomfort, and the slave gave Victoria a glaring look.

“Sorry, sorry!” Victoria whimpered, and she ran back around Tauros and sprinted off towards the house and stables. People stared at her as she ran past, most of them whispering amongst themselves and staring towards The Shack. Victoria didn’t want to answer any of their questions, she just wanted to forget that this event had ever happened. She raced past Grace Parrish’s flower garden and went straight towards the stables. Several girls were there, but Victoria moved straight towards Gwenda. As always, she was milking Millicent, who was chewing some hay.

“Hey, how was it?” Gwenda asked as she heard her footsteps. She froze as she saw the petrified look on her friends face and the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh my god, was it that bad?” Victoria nodded and then she collapsed forwards onto her friend, letting the tears come out and wrapped her arms around her friend for support. Gwenda hugged Victoria tightly and led her towards the stool and sat her down.

“Mil?” Millicent asked and stood up, giving Victoria a heavy pat on the back that nearly knocked her off the stool. Gwenda went to scold the Miltank, but Victoria managed to stop sobbing and sat up straight, wiping the tears away.

“I don’t really want to go into too much detail, but that place is just awful!” She whimpered. “I can see why so many of us end up dying there, it is just so cruel!”

“What do you mean?” Gwenda asked. She wanted to respect her friends wishes, but she was also anxious to know what the infamous Shack really contained. Victoria briefly explained what she had seen: the roaring fire, the whips, the bath of boiling water. She explained how Arthur had been stripped and was being whipped, but she left out the cold dead look in his eyes, not wanting Gwenda to have to picture that horrific image. By the time Victoria had finished explaining, several of the other girls had come around to listen to her, and many of them, including Gwenda, were beginning to cry.

“That sounds terrible!” One of the white girls gasped.

“I can’t believe they forced you to watch that!” A fellow milker added, and many of the girls nodded as they dabbed their eyes. Victoria could only nod as she let out a tiny sob. Millicent and several other Miltank even looked rather distressed about the whole situation, and they had a hushed conversation amongst themselves in their loud moos. Suddenly, there was the sound of a door banging, and everyone gasped as a little girl appeared behind them.

“Back to work or I’ll tell Father! Back to work or I’ll tell Minder!” The shrill little child yelled, and the slaves quickly rushed back to their stations. The little girl was Judith Parrish, the eight year old daughter of Edmund. She had long black hair done in a bun and always wore brightly coloured dresses (today’s was green) in order to stand out from the slaves. She was sly and mischievous, always sneaking around in order to catch the slaves off guard and then have them whipped or worse.

“That’s right, do your filthy work!” Judith sneered and she danced around, poking her tongue out and laughing shrilly, knowing they could do nothing in order to stop her.

“Little vermin, she’s the real cow here!” Gwenda hissed. Victoria stifled a laugh as she continued to milk Millicent, who had grown bored and gone back to eating hay. Judith was about to start another one of her jeering songs when the door to the stables from the house banged open. A woman appeared in the doorway, looking like an older, nicer version of Judith: long black hair, a long brown and black dress with a matching hat.

“Judith, I told you not to come out here!” Grace Parrish snapped. She was much nicer than the rest of her family, occasionally allowing the slaves to help with gardening or jobs around the house.

“But Mother, I want to throw things at them!” Judith laughed, and she grabbed some stones from the ground. Grace sighed and rushed forwards, grabbing her daughters hand and pulling her back towards the door. The slaves all knew Grace didn’t like having the slaves treated like this, and was always trying to tell her husband to set them free, care for them better or to stop harming them.

“Go to your room and don’t come out for half an hour!” Grace shouted and slammed the door in her daughter’s face. The slaves had paused for a moment, but they quickly went back to milking furiously. Grace headed in the direction of Victoria and Gwenda, and the two began working hard.

“Taaaank!” Millicent mooed angrily as Victoria tugged her utters a bit too hard.

“Sorry girl!” Victoria apologised in a nervous tone, and she quickly wiped away tears as Grace appeared in their part of the stables.

“Come now Victoria, I think that bucket’s full!” Gwenda boomed, avoiding eye contact with the wife of their owner. Grace simply laughed as Victoria and Gwenda swapped the buckets over, and the two girls nervously exchanged looks.

“I’m not going to punish you two, I’m not my husband!” Grace laughed, and the girls breathed out in relief. “I saw you heading towards The Shack and I felt terrible for you,” She continued, and Victoria nodded gravely as fresh tears began to roll. “so when I was reading the paper, I noticed this article and remembered seeing a similar one when I visited the tower.” Victoria and Gwenda exchanged curious looks, and they took the newspaper Grace had under her arm. The text was very fancy and hard to read, but their eyes caught the attention of a picture of the legendary Pokemon Jirachi. The caption read “PLANNING FOR 1910 HOENN STAR FESTIVAL BEGINS.”

“That’s like that article you have.” Gwenda said, but Victoria ignored her: a sudden sense of happiness began to flow through her body. The Star Festival article had always made her feel happy, the general idea of a Pokemon that could grant wishes and cure her of her miserable life was the main topic of all her dreams.

“May I keep this please article please?” Victoria asked quickly and excitedly. Gwenda was surprised by her excited tone, but Grace smiled and nodded.

“Of course, I’ll tell Edmund that I ripped it by accident.” She replied sweetly, and Victoria passed the rest of the newspaper over. She waved goodbye to the girls and walked backwards the house to deal with her daughter.

“Why are you so excited about it, it’s only a festival.” Gwenda scoffed as she replaced her friend on milking duties. Millicent yawned and watched Victoria pace around excitedly.

“Jirachi is a legendary Pokemon, it’s said to have the powers to grant wishes to people that desperately need them!” Victoria explained. “It is meant to appear somehow at this festival, and I’m going to go there and get my wish granted!” Gwenda nearly fell of her stool in shock, and she stared at Victoria with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Millicent’s eyes even bulged out of their sockets, bits of hay falling out of her mouth.

“Y-Y-You m-mean....” Gwenda stuttered, not sure what to say. Victoria smiled and bent down so only Gwenda would hear her.

“That’s right, I’m going to runaway from here.”

I'm interested to see how Victoria's going to escape and I actually kinda liked the introduction of Judith.

Their escape will be exciting, I promise :D And I'm glad you like Judith