Aria of the Wind

Author's Note:

Hey guys! So a bit of a surprise, this is a new series! Not a replacement by a long shot, but I needed something new to work on in between chapters of Team Eviolite. Something a bit lighter on plot. Besides, I've built up an excess of characters that won't get much use in Team Eviolite, so I figured I'd use them here. Hope you enjoy it!

This should be much lighter than Eviolite, so I can complete chapters faster. Also, you may notice a few changes in my writing style. Feel free to comment on them. It helps a lot! With that said, chapter two of Legend of Oracion is in the works, along with the first chapter to a little mystery project of mine.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this introduction. It may seem a bit familiar at first, but don't worry. I have plans. :)

Wind is the most calming thing in the world. Don't you agree? No matter what mood you're in, there's no denying the rush it gives you. On any particularly windy day when the wind ripples through your fur, you feel like you can do anything, find anything. Be anything. Not that I ever felt like I couldn't be anything, but it was exhilarating. Unless of course you were a mailman. Losing the mail to the wind would suck come to think of it. And if you couldn't catch it, you could be fired... I'm getting ahead of myself.

My name's Aria! Sounds musical doesn't it? My mom said it was a term for a long, accompanied solo music piece. Did I mention she's a huge music fan? To me, Aria sounded like the wind, so it was cool in my book.

Then there's my sister Flora. She didn't understand my obsession with wind, yet somehow the girl found a way to memorize every boring part of every book she'd ever read. You heard right. The boring parts. She never quoted the exciting parts. That's right, I said quoted. She did it to annoy me. I just knew it.

The three of us lived in a small house out in the middle of the woods. If you're wondering about our father, well. Flora always says showing's better than telling.

"Aria! What's taking you so long? We've gotta meet dad at the guild!" So much for showing...

"Just a minute! Gotta brush my fur!" That was a lie. As much as I loved my sister, I preferred to walk to town without hearing about her books, and she hated waiting for me to brush my fur.

"Never mind. I'll go on ahead. Just make sure not to be late!" There was an audible sigh followed by the slamming of a door.

I chuckled, retrieving my hat, a black straw fedora, from my dresser. A friend of my dad's had asked him to give it to me apparently, but I never saw who it was. According to my dad, he was some big shot. Exploring was something I took seriously, don't get me wrong, but I never bothered to memorize the names of the famous guys.

The door to my room opened. "Do you have to mess with your sister like that?" My mother, Esper entered. The espeon looked amused, but not in the obvious way. Like she was trying to hide it, but failing.

"I do it out of love."

"Yeah, we'll stop it. Can't you just walk with your sister?"

"But she-"

"-Talks too much about her book. I know. And you are falling behind in yours. It'd do you good to catch up some. Need I remind you that-"

"-I know. I'll catch up. Not in front of the readers!"

"The what?"

"Don't worry about it. So, what's Dad want this time?"

She sighed. "Probably just wants to see you. You know, he works himself too hard. Gets it into his head that he doesn't do enough, and he sleeps there. Do me a favor and drag him home for me will ya?" She levitated a brush over to me. "And brush your fur. You look like a joltik."

"Wha-? Do not!" I huffed as she left the room. Once I was sure she was gone, I grabbed the brush and started straightening my fur. "Call me a joltik will ya..."

Nova Forest:

Nova Forest was a great place to live. Warm pretty much year round (although we could use a little snow once in a while. Thanks climate.) and the clearings here were just beautiful. Ever taken a nap in a field of flowers under the shade of a lone tree in the middle of a pond? Well I have. And the wind! There was nothing better for mornings like these than grabbing a few Sitrus berries, taking a jog through a flowery field and letting the wind blow through your fur like you were flying. Trust me, it's amazing.

I was in the middle of my morning bath (I took a quick dip in a pond. Works wonders when you're sleepy.) when the sound of a tree falling made me shoot below the surface. Resurfacing, I paddled back to shore and looked towards the source of the noise. For such a relatively quiet forest, a tree falling was rare. Sure we had the occasional traveler or camper, but as far as I knew my family was the only one settled in Nova. Besides, the lumber industry did poorly in this area.

Nevertheless, I decided to investigate. Shaking out my fur, I headed for the source. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a camper before either. The residents of Irene village tended to avoid Nova for some reason. I'd heard rumors about it being haunted or something, but always passed them off as silly. Ghosts weren't real after all, or at least I'd never seen one if they were. And if they were, I guess it made life more exciting. Just one more thing to investigate after all.

After a bit of walking, I came across the culprit of the noise. Like I'd thought, it was a fallen tree. No, not fallen. Uprooted. Upon closer inspection, there was a massive crater in the trunk, but no sign of a cause. "Poor tree. Taken out in your prime."

Just then, my ear twitched. I pawed at it, trying to get it to stop. I always hated it when it did that. The feeling it created was just weird, as if I couldn't control my body.

"Ngh..." something nearby moaned.

I flipped around, scanning every direction. "Who?!" But there was nothing but trees. Either Keckleon was pulling a prank on me, or... I looked down and nearly jumped. "Oh geez! I'm so sorry!"

In my haste to examine the tree, I'd somehow failed to notice the buizel I'd stepped on who'd been...passed out in the grass. "Hey you!" I shook the stranger's shoulder. "Anyone ever tell you a nap in the grass is the best way to get bitten in the-"

The buizel's eyes shot open. "What the?!" He sat up, scanning the forest. "A forest? And it's huge!" He exclaimed, staring up at the treetops.

"Hey!" I clapped my paws. "You know, if you were training or something, you didn't have to take it out on that poor tree."

"Hmm?! Oh umm..." The buizel looked me up and down as if he'd never seen an eevee before. "Oh my god, you're cute!"

"Cute? What do you mean I'm cute? That a challenge or something?" I fumed. Admittedly, an overreaction, but I hated being called cute. People seemed to think they could get away with it because I was an eevee.

He rose his paws defensively. "A challenge? N-no! I was just saying you were cute! Honest!"

"Oh really? Just because I'm an eevee?"

"No! Well maybe..." He looked around again. "Where are we?"

"Nova Forest! Most relaxing place this side of Reval. Why?"

"Never heard of it..." He paused, staring at his paws. "Wait a minute! I'm a buizel?"

I sighed. I was starting to think the tree fell on this guy's head. "Yes, you're a buizel. Did you forget or something?"

"But I'm not... And come to think of it, pokémon don't talk." He frowned, taking another pause.

"Would ya quit talking nonsense? Of course pokémon talk!"

"Well yeah, maybe. But humans aren't supposed to hear it."

"The heck's a human?" I tapped my paw impatiently. "Are you stalling or something? Cause I'm not about to fall for some pick pocketing scheme."

"What? No! If you don't know what a human is, I... Well, it's hard to explain, but it's what I am, err, was. I guess it's kind of hard to believe though." He sighed, looking defeated. "Look, is there any way you'll believe me? Or at least, can you help me? I don't know where I am."

He seemed...delusional, but I wasn't one to turn down someone who needed help. Maybe I could find him a therapist. Guilds have those, right? "Fine. I'm actually heading somewhere that can help you with at least some of your problems, so you can tag along if you want."

"Some?" He stood up. "Well I guess it's better than nothing. Name's Lane by the way."

I smiled. For all it was worth, he didn't dwell on things for long. "I'm Aria. Nice to meet you Lane."