All know the feeling of deafening submergence. We are conceived in it and we are born from it. And after we have lived out our lives, we return to it. We don't know when we are to depart from this state, or if we ever do. We only know of that floating sensation that lasts for seemingly eternity.
One such soul floated on this line between life and death, unbeknownst to her which side she would take. Her consciousness was barely there, barely feeling or noticing anything beyond the abyss of nothingness; questioning if she was even there at all. And then, a breakthrough, a decisive shift in the emptiness of the void that determined her destination.
A bright light filled her vision, overtaking the darkness accompanied by a voice, "Young soul still inexperienced and new, what unfortunate events that have brought you to this place." it echoed, its voice filling the empty space.
"What is this place?" the soul asked.
"A starting line and an end point. Although, for you, I would say the former best suits your current situation."
My current situation she thought internally, her mind referring back to the voice's first words, "But wait, what did you mean by 'unfortunate events'? Are you saying that I died? Then… shouldn't this be the end?"
"In normal circumstances, but your circumstances aren't normal. You see, you are needed elsewhere, in a world far different than your own… and yet somewhat familiar."
"But why me? Why send me?"
"I cannot answer that, but, in due time, it'll all become clear to you."
The light began to fluctuate, flashing blindingly and dimming in intervals. "What's going on?" she questioned in an alarmed tone.
"It seems your time here is up. When you awaken, you'll find yourself in this world in a vessel that befits you. I wish you the best of luck on your quest."
The light became brighter, overwhelming brighter as it consumed her. "Wait! Don't just end it so vaguely! Say it so I understand! Hey!" her voice shouted without response as her consciousness vanished from the space.
~uwu~
Abruptly, her eyes opened to the sky, gasping as she awoke from what seemed like a dream. She found herself laying with her back against a forest floor with the sun shining down into her eyes. Uncomfortably so as they squinted at the bright light. What am I doing sleeping in a place like this? she questioned as she brought her hand up to shield her face. Or, at least, what was supposed to be her hand, but what she found instead was a golden paw blocking the sun from her face. It took her a moment to take notice of the appendage, turning it slowly and wiggling the little toes until she realized it was her doing making the paw move.
Her eyes widened as she shot up from her downed position. N-No way, she felt up and down her body, feeling the soft fur against her paw pads. She grabbed at the fluffy tail lying behind her and the ears that stood upright on her head. Nonononono she screamed internally, beginning to run down the beaten forest trail, too focused on her own panic to realize she was running on four legs instead of two.
The trail led her to a flowing stream, where upon the water's surface she could see what she had become, "IT MADE ME A FENNEKIN?!" she screamed loudly as she stared down at the reflection with a terrified look in her eyes.
"Would you keep it down? Some of us are asleep at this hour." an owl, or noctowl in this case, called down to her from her tree hollow, looking bothered and a bit cranky.
"S-Sorry…" she called back instinctively, it only coming as a second thought that she was even speaking to a noctowl.
She took a second glance into the water, her expression deescalating from shock to distressed and disturbed. Her head tilted from one side to the next, her mind willing the muscles in her tall ear to flick downward to test the feeling. No doubt, that's really me in there… her face drooped as she came to the conclusion, but the expression did not last as she came to a possibility she had overlooked. No, wait. Maybe I'm still asleep. Right, that could be it. I'm just dream, she thought. However, at the same time, she wasn't one hundred percent certain, and, hence, left her current situation in an ambiguous state.
There was one way she could find out for certain: the flowing stream with its cool, refreshing water beckoned her to utilize it and test her theory. If this truly was a dream, then there would be no harm in placing her head under the water and breathing it like a fish. A simple solution for a complicated problem. Without a second thought, she pushed her head under the running current, remaining under for five seconds, then ten and thirty but not finding it any easier to breath. It was actually becoming difficult, maybe a little suffocating. It was a couple more seconds until she realized she couldn't breathe at all before bursting her head from the surface.
"Not a dream! It's not a dream!" she coughed, some of the water getting into her lungs at the end of it.
"So, I'm not dreaming… and I've really become a fennekin. I see what it meant by new but familiar now." she mumbled as she wandered through the forest, taking the time alone to think aloud to herself and get her bearings on her predicament. "But pokemon are only supposed to exist in video games, how can I just be put in their world? Don't tell me it made me the protagonist or something, I can't deal with that kind of pressure…" she breathed out a heavy sigh as her eyes watched the blades of grass passing by her, along with the little stubs that pressed against them, "Why me…?" she groaned.
In her own little pity party state, she had lost track of the world and her surroundings, hardly noticing the little gathering of zangooses up ahead or the zangoose that was crouched right in front of her path. Of course, she smacked herself right into his backside, calling her back to reality.
"Oh, sorry." she apologized as she moved around the zangoose to continue walking on.
The follow up action was left incomplete, however, as the zangoose's clawed hand found itself pressed firmly against her head, "Hey, squirt. You think you can just assault me and walk away like it was nothing?" he asked, turning her head to look at him.
Assault? she questioned, "It was just an accident. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I apologized for it." she defended as her eyes looked away.
"Nah, man. I saw it with my own eyes, you came right at him trying to start something with us." one of his friends chimed in with his unwanted two-sense.
"Right? I oughta rip you to shreds for thinking you can come at me from behind like that. But lucky you, I'm feeling generous. I'll forget your little attack for, say, 500 coins." he smirked, his true intentions finally showing.
Is this a shakedown?! she began to tremble and shake, never having to deal with violent situations like these before, "I… I don't have anything on me though…" she tried moving away, but his hold on her was still strong.
"Oh? So you want to do this the hard way, then?" the zangoose asked as he began to reach his second hand over to her.
Her eyes widened as her body filled with an urge to protect herself and a fire that built up in her chest. "L-Let me go!" she called out as her body spat out little pieces of fire from her mouth into his face, making him coil back to put out the flames on his fur.
"Now you really done it, squirt…" his teeth clenched, his voice carrying so much resentment for the little fennekin that dared to fight back.
With an excessive amount of force, his hand pushed against the back of her neck, pushing her down into the grass. She let out a yelp before her eyes looked back at the zangoose looming over her helpless body.
"You wanted a fight, right? Let's fight." he spoke menacingly, his claws lighting up as he prepared to slash into her.
Her eyes closed tightly, bracing for the impact but finding that it never came. Above her, the zangoose was hit against his back, force palmed off her and sent tumbling into a nearby tree trunk with a hard thud. Her eyes opened slowly, finding a new figure in front of her, shielding her from the angry zangooses.
"Again with this? Haven't you jerks learned to pick on someone your own size?" a riolu spoke up to them, standing up for the frighten fennekin.
"You brat…" the tossed zangoose growled as his friends began to surround the two with claws and fangs bared, leaving him to cut off their exit, "You'll pay for that cheap shot." he readied his own claws as he began to close in.
"When I give the signal, run." the riolu whispered, bringing her to attention.
What is she planning when we're outnumbered and surrounded? she questioned but did not reject her direction.
"Now! Sand Attack!" she shouted as she threw sand into the lead zangoose's eyes, leaving him momentarily blinded.
"Sonova-!" the zangoose exclaimed as he furiously rubbed his eyes.
Immediately, the two took off, running past the zangoose quickly.
"Don't just stand there! Get 'em!" the zangoose shouted, his eyes watering and red, still barely able to see out of them.
At his word, the zangoose began to chase after them, the sound of their feet behind luring the fennekin's head to look.
"Don't look back!" the riolu warned her before she could turn her head completely, keeping her attention on her savior.
The two weaved through the trees and thickets, their escape route almost maze like as they worked to lose the gang of zangoose.
"In here." she said with a more hushed tone, careful not to let her voice carry as the two ducked into a fragrant bush of small red fruit.
The zangooses were none the wiser, running right past them in their pursuit, leaving them officially lost.
"I think we'll be safe in here, but we should wait until the coast is clear." the riolu stated as her eyes looked towards the direction of their fading footsteps, "But man, you really had a close call there-" she stopped herself as she saw the tears welling up in the fennekin's eyes and falling down her face.
She began to panic slightly, her voice growing more frantic, "W-whoa, hey! What's wrong? Did they hurt you anywhere?" she asked, tilting her head down to look at her face.
Her lips pursed tightly, her head shaking a firm 'no'.
"Then why are you crying...?" the riolu asked, her tone growing more worried.
"That…that was really scary… I thought he was really going to rip me apart…" she cried, sobbing and sniffling as the tears ran down her cheeks.
She watched her cry silently before starting to rub her back, "Yea, I bet. But it's okay now, you're safe." she said in an effort to comfort her, but her words had little effect as she continued to hiccup and sniffle away. Her eyes looked around at the bush, finding a nice, plump cluster of fruit.
"What's that...?" the fennekin asked softly.
"Try it, it's very good." she offered with a smile. "Here, see?" she picked off one, popping it into her mouth before smiling with glee as her face filled with exaggerated delight. "It's really yummy, it'll surely turn that frown into a smile real fast." she explained, her hand now insisting that she try one.
The crying fox looked down at it, staring for a moment before taking a hesitant bite. With just a minimal amount of pressure from her tongue, the fruit burst with its juices, filling her mouth with its sweet nectar.
"See? It's good, right?" she asked, confident in knowing the other's answer before she could even say it.
"Really good!" she answered, her voice now cheery as she smiled from ear to ear while taking another bite.
"There's the smile." her hand pressed against her head, petting her gently between her large ears.
She looked towards the riolu, her cheeks gaining a pink shade as she realized just how embarrassing her face looked being so happy all over the taste of a good snack. She turned away slightly to hide the flustered expression.
The riolu couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, "So, what's your name?"
"My name?" she asked in affirmation, turning her gaze to her only slightly.
"Yea. Oh, I guess I should go first if I'm asking. My name is Emizella."
"Emizella? Then… my name is Crystal."
~uwu~
The two remained in a shared silence for a while after that, a bit of the tension relieved in the fact that they now knew each other's names. So, although they continued to consume the bush's fruit in silence, it was a comfortable silence, a soothing silence with only the crunch and squish of the juices and seeds filling the air.
Emizella was the first to break this silence, their bellies now full and hunger sated.
"They should have forgotten all about us by now. We ought to be getting home." she stated, raising up to her feet and stretching out her arms and legs. "Where do you live? I'll be your personal escort." her offer came with a soft pat at her chest in assurance.
Crystal's eyes looked up at her briefly before averting her gaze. How do you tell someone you just met you're homeless because you're not from this world? Kinda like that, but less details, she concluded with a soft sigh.
"I don't really… have a home. At least not yet." she spoke hesitantly, trying not to make herself out to be too much of a charity case. Then again, if she wasn't a classifiable charity case in this situation, what was?
Emizella looked confused for a moment, leaning closer so she could really hear her, "What do you mean by that? You mean you don't have a place to sleep?"
Pretty much, "I said 'not yet'. I'm sure I can manage something for tonight… Oh! I can sleep here." her body flopped to the ground, rolling into the dirt as she tried to find herself a comfortable sleeping position. But it was a bit difficult with the fallen twigs and rocks and the smell of the fermenting fruit that fell long before they had arrived.
Emizella couldn't take watching her obvious discomfort for much longer, "Nope, nuh-uh. After all that you really think I'd leave you to sleep here? This is clubhouse material at best, not house-house material."
"Then what would you suggest?" Crystal asked as she sat herself up.
"Just come to my place. Unlike here, it's actually prepared to be used to sleep in."
She didn't want to assume she could just ask to crash at her place. After rescuing her from a gang of zangoose, dealing with her crying and comforting her afterwards, it felt like she was imposing a lot from a riolu she met just a couple of hours ago.
Even if it was for only a few hours, Emizella felt like she could read her like a book. It was easy to tell what she was thinking and just as easy to tell what she needed to hear. "Look, I've already invested this much. If I just leave you now, knowing that you don't have a place to sleep, I'm going to be kicking myself all night. And then I'm not going to be able to sleep." The bit of emphasis added was more for Crystal's emotional benefit than anything else.
The light smile that showed on her white muzzle told her that it worked.
"So, don't go worrying about your manners and pleasantries. Worry about yourself and rely on someone you can trust, like me." a wide smile spread across her face, dripping with friendliness and reliability. A paw extended towards her, a promise of support and dependability in the gesture.
A beat passed, contemplation passing in the fennekin's eyes. But she took her paw nonetheless, her own smaller, golden paw resting on the padding as Emizella pulled her gently into a standing position. With that returned paw, she agreed to place her trust in her, accept her support without complaint and worry about herself just a bit more.