The First Steps of a Dark Lord (FATE)

[Deleted]

Rarda, Vriezen as she was known here, was heading down the halls, finding her way to the head instructors office. No doubt she was in trouble for ditching her practice partner again.  She didn't like to be held back, and she rarely had a practice partner that could keep up with her on the courses and exercises. She started to swing one of her extra long braids, which normally hung almost brushing the floor, in a circle next to her lazily, wondering if shed be put to cleaning duty again. She didnt like it, but it kept her from being kicked out of the only organization that probably would allow her to cause as much mayhem as she wanted.

It wasn't a great way of life, but she enjoyed it. The surprise on their faces, the shock, and the fact that someone was paying attention, all added to the joy, the excitement of causing trouble, breaking something, but Team Rocket had given her a place of refuge, an alternative from waiting in jail cells... She had a place to hide out, people to reward her for what she was good at : Not being good. She didn't want to screw that up, so she always took whatever alternative they offered her, from cleaning, cuts in her rations, even extra training hours required. She would graduate eventually. She was good, and they couldn't deny that. What she was also, unfortunately for the moment, was stubborn and defiant. But thats what kept her going, thats what kept her with Team Rocket. She would have quit long ago if it wasn't her own stubbornness, or her liking of being liked and rewarded for her wrong doings. This way, she got two kinds of attention, the kind she was used to, being chased and sought after to be imprisoned, and a better kind, the kind of congratulations, gifts and rewards. She kinda like having both, cause the first one kept her blood pumping, and made things interesting. The second, gave her a reason to keep doing it.

She almost walked past it, as she was thinking about all this, and sighed a bit, as she knocked on the door, waiting to be let in by the Head Instructor. She was familiar with him, as he was the one who assigned her all her punishment and extra assignments. She just hoped it wasn't scrubbing the toilets again...

[The Almighty Fate!]

The Head Instructor sat at his desk finishing some paperwork on some of the newest team members of Team Rocket. A couple of them were just starting out on their Pokemon journey, as they weren't allowed to receive Pokemon anyway. He was going to assign them to take care of a couple of Pokemon that were caught and were going to be sold later that week.

They were in pretty rough shape for being shipped from only one area away. For pete's sake! You'd think that these feather-brains would have learned by now. Just because they're not allowed to have Pokemon doesn't mean they can't touch or feed the freaking things! They were so badly off that he had an Ekans on his hands that had to recover before he was sold. He had refused to eat anything and wouldn't respond to any of the staff downstairs in the containment unit when they first got there.

He decided that one of the newer members would take care of it, so the workers could do something productive. It'd be kind of like a punishment, right? Dealing with a snake Pokemon that refused to eat. Since she had missed partner practice, and, in all the reports he had seen of her, failed to realize that they all did in fact rely on each other. If she wasn't going to pull her normal duties, she would have to do this. He heard a knock on his door and he looked up at the clock. He thought to himself, A little late. He rolled his eyes, straightened his papers, and set them aside. Might as well get this over with.

"Come in."

[Deleted]

She opened the door and stepped in, kicking it closed with the back of her foot before proceeding to his desk, and giving a salute, as he was her superior in rank, but thats where most of the formalities were left. They knew each other pretty well by now, despite him trying to keep things professional every time they met. "Hey there, boss man. You called for me?" she simply stated, a little lax, which she knew would irritate him, but she knew he wouldn't kick her out, not for something so small. He would just make her punishment extra difficult. As always. She knew when to stop pushing, she learned her first week how hard he really could push her with punishment.

She looked at the stack of papers on his desk, noticing a picture of what looked like a snake pokemon, though it was in black and white. Her attention was quickly called back to him as he adressed her, a smirk appearing on her face. She couldn't help it. He acted a lot like the police officers she dealt with growing up, upset and stern, but it was different with him too. He could crack a malicious smile every now and again, and she knew that she couldn't back out of whatever he sent her to do. She supposed it was one of those "love/hate" relationships she heard so much about. It was actually kinda fun, but she hated the part where she had to eventually give him the higher ground so she could stay. But, in a way, that was her way of staying above him. Following the rules, and staying there another day to irritate him. It was part of why she was smirking now, but what he had for her was something new, and she didn't know how to feel about it. 

[The Almighty Fate!]

Her kicking the door shut and casual improper greeting didn't fare well for her and she knew it. He was already in a grumpy mood from the damn paper work and the incompetent cadets (and even some lieutenants) he had to deal with. He was already ready for lunch but it seems that his assistant was late with his lunch. He brought himself back from his thoughts and glanced down at the paper work she had noticed. Maybe she had already guessed what her punishment would be. Maybe not. Every TR member needed a Pokemon, and this one really did seem to suit her well. Worthless and desperate for attention. He ahem-ed. "Cadet, you know you do not address me as such." He knew that it didn't matter what he said or did. She wouldn't fall into line with this group, and that suited him and the rest of the group just fine. Sporadic actions and lots of them were one of the reasons that no one messed with TR members.

He shook his head in disapproval. "You may have guessed why I have called you here." Despite everything, she was a very bright girl, according to her other instructors. "You have been given a new assignment. A punishment, really." He stopped to gauge her reaction to the news and prospect of new things. TR members needed to be ready for anything. "You are going to look after an Ekans until he is well again." He picked up a stack of papers that were bound together with the picture of the Ekans on the front. "You will report to me every day on his well being until you are done." He put the booklet on his desk, facing her. "At the end of your assignment, it will be decided whether you are able to take care of him..." He paused for a moment. "Permanently."

[Deleted]

She blinked, a bit surprised. Her punishment was a reward? That was a twist on things. Now was the time she had been waiting for all her life! A pokemon to raise and take care of. Her smirk stretched into a wide grin, and she went straight to the file as soon as it was pushed in front of her, reading it over excitedly. Finding out it wasnt eating, let alone listening to anyone, she chuckled a bit to herself. This is gonna be a tough one... Good start for me, I suppose. She pondered as she read how insubordinate this Ekans was, similar to herself, but in a different way. She actually ate, but didnt return her plate and things to the proper place, usually "forgetting" it on the table. 

She looked back up to him, as it became clear this was more than a punishment/reward. It was a test of her ability. Her grin vanished, as she believed this was her last test, and if she failed, she was the one that would be gone. She wasnt going to let him have that satisfaction, she was going to get this Ekans to not only eat, but jump on command and every other trick in the book she could think of. She stated, just as casually, but her usual smirk wasnt there, "Dont you worry Boss man. I'll teach this snake how to behave. Just cause I dont, doesnt mean that I dont know how." She turned, taking the papers with her, and headed towards the door, not waiting for him to dismiss her. She was eager to get started, and meet her new companion.

[The Almighty Fate!]

He had known since she had tagged along that she was a determined, bright young girl. While she was reading through the packet, he sat back patiently. He really thought that she might enjoy this punishment, as it wasn't really one. The reasoning behind giving her an Ekans (not quite hers yet), was to see if she was ready. If she was, she would begin to take new TR members under her wing, and then be able to move up the ranks. Her determination and cunning made her the clever cadet she is today. He was ready to bring in more cadets, as two others would receive Pokemon that were in bad condition. If any of them failed, they would get neither the Pokemon they were looking after or a position with TR. Pokemon were their bread and butter, their livelihood. If they couldn't take care of them, they were worth less money. TR wants top dollar for every Pokemon that comes through their doors. He remembered when he was a cadet.

His first Pokemon was given to him in the same fashion. His Growlithe had refused to take treatment for a sprained paw and would snarl at everyone in range, everyone that looked at him. He was extremely fond of his Growlithe. The ones that were injured too badly were put out of their misery, of course. The ones that made it in OK shape were sold as quickly as they could find buyers. The fact that she was so eager to get this Ekans to full health reminded him of his youth as a cadet and proved that she was ready to try her hand in the TR world. Maybe she would make a good lieutenant one day. Maybe.

[Deleted]

She rushed down the hall to the holding pens, looking mostly at her papers, reading and learning the condition and state of the ekans, only glancing up every so often to avoid literally running into people. She made a detour towards the cafeteria, barging into the kitchen, ignoring and pushing past the angry chef yelling at her in an accent she couldnt understand, finding several kinds of meats, and taking a knife to cut them into smaller, if very uneven, pieces. Putting these in a small box that was nearby, she took off, leaving the knife, and the mess, for the chef to clean up.

Making it to the door, she kicked it open, looking around, as the noises of caged pokemon filled the air. There were not that many, and only two individuals "looking after" them. One held a clip board and was pouring over it, while the other was looking at something else entirely, but their attention was grabbed the moment she barged in.



She looked them both over, and how none of the pokemon were really being taken care of, and furrowed her brow angerly. "Get out." she stated to them, and they didnt move, looking to each other, confused, and one tried to protest, but before he could say a word, she rushed up in his face, and punched the wall right behind him, with a loud CRACK, as she dented the wall slightly, but the crack came from her own hand. Not flinching despite the pain, she repeated herself, slowly. "Get... Out... Now." With that, they both scrambled out, not wanting her to actually hit them.



As soon as they were gone, she slammed the door, and put a chair up to it, barricading herself in with the pokemon. She looked around, as some of the pokemon had gone quiet, others still chattering in their own strange tongue. She found the ekans cage, and it was one of the quiet ones, huddled in the back corner of its cage. She walked over to it, and opened its cage, and sat outside of it, staring at it, her face expressionless, except for boredom perhaps, and a wince as she moved her hand, which she had probably broken in some way. Wasn't the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last. She held it with her other hand, as she stared at the Ekans, and eventually spoke to it. "... Hey. You doing alright?"

[Deleted]

The Ekans stayed in its corner, quiet and unmoving. It just stared, without moving at all, not to get away, not to escape, nothing. She stared back at it, moving only slightly, as she kept trying to move her injured hand, wincing at the pain that was throbbing in it. She pulled out the box with the but up meat, and opened it, placing a piece at the edge of the cage, before sitting back, and waiting for movement. "Took this from the kitchen. Chef wasnt happy, but I think you need real food instead of the crap they are trying to force down your throat." It still didn't move, not even glancing at the meat she placed. This caused her to frown, kinda annoyed. "Hey, come on! Im putting my neck out so you can have a decent meal, alright? When they finally get that door open, I'm gonna get my ass kicked either way, but if you eat, your not going back in that cage. If you just let it sit there, then your going to be in there for a long time, and probably sold to someone who doesn't care at all about if you live or die!" She paused to catch her breath, and calm down a bit, and once she did, she said in more of a joke, "Besides, I didnt break my hand for fun, ya know. "

At that, the Ekans looked at the food she had placed, but still didnt move. It took it a minute to muster the will to slither closer to it, and after a moment of tongue flicking, getting a sniff of it as snakes do, swallowed it in one bite. She smiled, glad that things were moving along, and she opened the box, setting it in front of her. No sooner had she put it down, had the snake rushed it, and began gobbling the meat down. She laughed at him a bit, but didnt say anything or stop him. She got it for him after all. After it was done, which was fairly quick, it slithered its way to hide under the furnishing in the room, currently hiding under the cage of another pokemon, from the looks of it, a Growlith pen. The Growlith began barking at the Ekans, which quickly slithered under a desk in a tight space that Rarda lost sight of her. "Hey! No hiding! Come on! This isnt a step up!" And she ended up chasing the Ekans around for a while, knocking things over to try and find it, as it continued to roam about.

[Deleted]

CRASH! CRASH CRASH! This is what was heard as Rarda scrambled about the room, knocking everything from the water cooler to the filing cabinets to the floor, trying to find the run away Ekans. it kept slithering away, and hiding under more and more things, until finally, it was  back under the cages of other pokemon, as they made a ruckus, cheering it on perhaps. Rarda had knocked over literally everything, except the pokemon cages. She wasnt about to do that, as she knew that would get her in HUGE trouble. Injuring what was to be their profit margin was a bad idea, even she knew that. Not that she cared for the profit, but if she hurt that, then her freedom within Team Rocket would be cut as well, and shed be back out on the streets as a lowly thug for no one.

She sighed, and sat down right in front of the cage the Ekans was under, staring at it, as the Growlith was barking at her, and rather loudly. She glared at it, and growled back at it, but this did nothing more than to agitate the already upset Growlith. "What do you want? I dont have anything for you, im only interested in Ekans there, so would you shut up?!" But did nothing to calm things down. She was sure someone was going to be at the door in no time now...

The Ekans found her argueing with the Growlith a perfect opportunity to try to rush off, but she saw it and lunged, bragging it, as it began to freak out, and wrapped around her, as she wrestled with it, rolling over the ground, trying to gain the upper hand. They continued their little brawl, which consisted of her trying not to get crushed, and it trying to squeeze her into submission. This ended fairly soon, with both sprawled out on the ground, out of breath, and the room completely trashed.

But, it wasnt all for naught. The Ekans, after catching its breath, coiled up next to Rarda, and nudged her with its head, and when Rarda sat up, it slithered up and around her arm, and rested its head on her shoulder, just staring at her, with a soft hiss. She blinked and laughed, before saying "Ooh, haha! I see, you just need someone who is as tough as you, eh? Well, youve met your match, my friend!" She stood up, flinching as her hand twinged in pain, then looked at the door. "We are going to have alot of fun I think. But first, we gotta go take care of whatever punishment we are given for making this mess. It wont be so bad, so stop pouting." The Ekans wasnt actually pouting, but it didnt say anything. Even if it did, she wouldnt understand. Before unbarricading the door, she looked at Ekans and said "I think I'll call you... Venom." And with that, Venom hissed approval,squeezing her arm lightly. Rarda grinned, and began moving stuff out of the way of the door, and after opening it, headed down to the headmasters office.

[The Almighty Fate!]

He continued to sit at his desk as she left, and he glanced at the clock. He had a cadet that needed punishment in ten minutes, according to his notes that were dropped off every now and then. As the time passed, he heard clammoring outside of his door. It sounded like two people were arguing! Who could be arguing with each other within earshot of the Head Instructor? Whoever they were, they were retarded and he even thought to himself, it might be the newbie that needed discipline.

"Get your ass in here!" The bickering immediately stopped as the words left his mouth. As the door opened, he recognized them as two of the incompetent workers in the kennels, not the unruly youngster that he was expecting. "What is the meaning of this?" He frowned at them and crossed his arms. He had better things to do than to hear why they were abandoning their duties, but would give them a chance to explain.

"I don't know who she was, sir." The smaller of the two was a female, who spoke first. The male, who was only slightly larger, looked a little shaken. The female continued after glancing at her comrade. "She couldn't have been more than a cadet, sir, but she told us to leave." The male didn't seem to want to speak at all. The Head Instructor rolled his eyes. "And you just listened to this mysterious woman?" The woman looked taken aback at the question. "She had a cadet's name tag on." He perked up at this. Could it be? "Her name was Vriezen."

He erupted in rage and slammed his fists on the desk infront of him. He had given her responsibility and she chose to run with it, not caring who got in her way or what she damaged or put in danger. He stood up slowly, his fists still clenched and gritted through his teeth at the two caretakers, "Come with me."

The Head Instructor walked swiftly towards the kennels. He had heard the commotion, as had many others, who were now trailing behind him. In the group were one of his Lieutenants, a few cadets, and a few of their Pokemon. What the hell had gotten into this girl's head?!? Did she think that she now ruled Team Rocket because she got a Pokemon? An Ekans of all things, who was almost depleted of strength. With the way she was acting, he wondered if he had acted rashly giving her a chance to be something more than just riff raff. He shook his head and growled often as he made his way down the maze of hallways. As they rounded a corner, he ran right into her and the Pokemon. After recovering from almost being knocked over for not paying attention, he stood at his full height and roared down at her.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IRRESPONSIBLE YOU ARE???"

He clenched his fists over and over through the rage, trying to quell it. " I should take that damn Ekans from you! You have no right to have a Pokemon if this is the way you are going to treat your fellow members! No respect!" He paused for a second and took a deep breath. With an audience that he had forgotten about, he realized how this looked. They had no idea that she had been given that Pokemon as an assignment.

He glanced at the Ekans and saw that the life had returned to its eyes. He was impressed that she had completed her assignment so quickly. It looked as though the two had bonded quickly. He shook his head. Looking back at the crowd that had gathered, he simply stated, "This will be dealt with. Go back to your duties." He beckoned to Vriezen and began to stride down the hall parting the group that was still dispersing. "What the hell were you thinking?" He glanced back at the girl and the Pokemon. The bonded pair.

[Deleted]

Turning the corner, she wasnt looking at where she was going, having the Ekans around her left arm, looking at her right hand, as she waved it around, closed into a fist as much as possible without breaking it further, and trying to bop it on the nose without it biting her. Then he literally exploded at her, making her jump back, as she threw her left arm behind her to protect the Ekans, as she stared at the man, still taken back a bit, but she responded anyway.

"From your tone, and the crowd you brought, pretty damn irresponsible. Did I tick them all off?" She asked, stunned at her ability to upset people in so short an amount of time. She hadnt even interacted with most of them sense leaving the head instructors office, but a few she could see. Like the chef, the two flunkies who were in the kennels before she arrived. He yelled at her again, not so loudly this time, but no less viciously. But when he said he should take her Ekans, she narrowed her eyes and almost sent the Ekans at him. Not his pokemon, him. Right in the face. But he calmed down, and she stopped, hesitating, the Ekans hissing loudly, clinging tight onto her arm, but she didnt mind, so long as the Ekans didnt break her arm.

His rage seemed to subside just enough to regain his composure. Using this composure, he sent off the possy that had been following him, and beckoned her to follow. She did, reluctantly, petting her Ekans on the side of its head and neck, wherever that ended, following, as it hissed at the other Team Rocket members. When they were alone, they continued walking but the Head Instructor began to speak, keeping his questionings short and simple. He asked her what she was thinking, and she frowned deeply, giving a look saying that it should have been obvious. "If you havent already, you will be getting a complaint from the chef about someone barging into his kitchen, using his tools without his permission, and taking a random cut of meat from the kitchen. I didnt want to feed that normal crap to Venom here, I figured he would eat real food, rather than the synthetic junk that we feed most of the animals here." She paused to let this sink in, as they stopped outside his office. 

I also knew She wouldnt be cooperative with those two idiots in there, would you?" The last bit was directed towards the Ekans itself, where it hissed at their mention. "Showing her than I didnt care about them, but feeding her some good stuff, shows that I actually want to help her and get to know her. Its a trust thing." She finished, conveniently leaving out the part about letting it out of the cage and trashing the kennels.