Light the Hollows
A young Vulpix sat in the meadow behind the fence, pushing a Chesto toward his den with his nose. Tall, cool grass swayed in the wind, tickling his nose. He sneezed as the tiny blue cone rolled down into the foxhole.
"Silly, it's faster to just pick them up!" called a voice. Blinking, the Vulpix turned around to see a Zigzagoon with a quiver of arrows squeezing through a gap in the fence, tumbling onto the grass.
"That fence is getting rough! I hope your master comes back and fixes it soon," she remarked, though she didn't sound troubled at all that several strands of fur had snagged on the fence's timbers. "What're you doing, Darren? Storing up for the winter?"
Chocolate and cream, like a hot fudge sundae. That's what he thought of whenever he looked at Kayla's striped fur. "Y-yeah, something like that," he stammered, as his friend padded over to him, his tails swaying wide. The fox glanced down to the chestnut by his paws, grinning weakly. "Just getting something to eat for the day"
"Oh, you and your chestnuts," chortled Kayla, shaking her head. The Zigzagoon poked Darren's chest until he looked at her again. "Haha! Tyler Taillow says that chestnuts hold the key to eternal life, whatever that means..."
When he didn't reply, she frowned at him. "Oh, come on, you're almost always playing with those chestnuts. Don't you sometimes feel a need to ever like, talk to other people? These days won't last forever, you know."
Yawning again, the Vulpix rolled over onto his back as she poked him some more. "Nah, I'm good," mumbled Darren, glancing up at his friend, a cool breeze on his pads. "Why would I need to go out and talk to anyone, when everyone come to- h-hey! stop that!" The fox squirmed as the Zigzagoon tickled his belly, sending him into tiny fits of laughter.
Grinning, Kayla ruffled his fur. "Oh, I know! I just think you're silly about that," sighed the Zigzagoon, her fur brushing against his. "I bet you're afraid of the world out there, aren't you?"
The fox chuckled nervously as he got to his paws. "Well, I've lived here all my life, you know," said the Vulpix, glancing to the wooden-post fence on the edge of the meadow, separating him from the trees and the shrubbery beyond. "I guess I'm just afraid what it's like out there."
Kayla blinked, then grinned and nodded. "Don't be silly," said the Zigzagoon, stepping over to the Vulpix. "I think you're just reluctant because of what happened with the Wingull last time. It's not your fault that bird wasn't looking down when it decided to make a delivery!"
Pretending not to hear, the Vulpix scooped up the chestnut with a tail and tossed it up into the air, paws outstretched as if to catch it. "Oh, I know what you need," said the Zigzagoon with a big smile. "How about a song? I'm sure that'll cheer you right up!"
Darren cringed as the Zigzagoon began to sing. "Come now, O angel of mine!" sang Kayla, swaying from side to side, tugging at the Vulpix until he swayed with her. "To the meadows of the west, where the sun shines bright, and the rain falls light! Where the grass grows green, and kindness always seen. Tonight, your arrows will fly-"
"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Tugging free from the Zigzagoon's paw, Darren stared at Kayla.. "You're always so cheerful," said the Vulpix weakly. He glanced around the meadow, as if afraid what others might think of him. "Why are you always so- so bouncy like this?"
Kayla's smile faded, her ears sinkng slightly. "Well, why can't you be happier?" asked the Zigzagoon as she looked back at Darren, the laughter gone from her voice. "You're so morose these days... can't you just lighten up a little?"
The Vulpix's ears sagged. "Come on," he protested, a chestnut rolling by his paws and off into the grass. The Zigzagoon stepped back from him, frowning. "I just feel that I've grown up a bit, and that..., well, maybe you-look, I just don't want to look r!"
Kayla cringed, and at once Darren realized he shouldn't have said that. "Sorry if I was annoying you," mumbled the Zigzagoon, her ears drooping. "I didn't mean to- I just... well... I'd best be going. See you later!" Whirling around, she squeezed back out under the fence and out of sight.
Sighing, the Vulpix looked down at his paws. He'd have to apologize to her later, but for now, there was work to do. Peeking in his den, he checked the growing pile of chestnuts in the corner.
More food. He'd definitely need a lot more. Best to finish before the Geodudes came down from the mountains. Sure, it might still be summer now, but it was never too early to start stocking up his food stores.
Stepping outside, he glanced up to the old house on the meadow. The house outside was silent, just as it had been since last autumn.
One nut at a time, Darren carefully stacked the thirteen Chestos into a pyramid with his tails. Just twelve nuts from Master's trees. Fewer and fewer Chestos had fallen from their branches over the last two years...
A memento. "Be brave; be bold," his master would say, before heading out on a hunt. "I will never yield myself to the stars..."
A prayer? A quote from some obscure passage? He had never been quite sure what his master meant...
Suddenly, a scream shattered the evening, wresting Darren's attention from the chestnut stack."Huh?" he muttered, emerging from his den, glancing around the meadow. That voice-that was Kayla! But what was going on? Why was Kayla screaming?
Crossing the grass, he squeezed through the gap in the fence and out into the trees. His paws stumbled over something in the fading light-Kayla's bow! Had she accidentally left it here when she came to visit him, this morning? Growing alarmed, he picked up and hurried on towards her cries.
The screams were coming from the river-the opposite direction from Kayla's den. What was she doing over there? Hadn't he told about that one Vulpix den that had been washed away in the flood? And the mountains beyond the river... that was where his Master was headed when he last saw him-
Up ahead, a ring of tiki torches had been erected on the riverbank. The terrified screams from inside had faded to agonized groans. Dread filling his veins, the Vulpix raised the bow with his tails and hurried toward the outdoor circus-
In the middle of the circus, an Infernape loomed over a helpless captive, a scarlet-stained whip in one hand, flanked by two Machokes. A cheering circus troupe of Monfernos, Primeapes, Mr. Mimes, and Ambipoms was gathered around him in a large circle. All of them wore thick, clownish makeup: pale faces with exaggerated features, decorated with brightly colored stripes and polka-dots.
With a spasm of horror, Darren recognized Kayla's helpless form laying at Infernape's feet, her paws tightly bound and her body soaked with dark-red blood. His heart swelled, pounded, throbbed. A few feet away from the Zigzagoon lay her quiver, stomped flat by the clowns, the arrows broken and useless.
"Kayla!" he screamed. How did this happen? And to Kayla, of all people! Trembing, he stared at his agonized friend, the face which smiled at him each morning, the eyes that dulled when he pushed her away. The Zigzagoon's back was torn to bloody ribbons, her fur and restraints coated in a red lattice from head to tail.
Her eyes opened faintly. "Darren...?" she croaked, shaking beneath the cruel laughter of the circus, the crimson scent of death soaking into the dirt beneath her. Slowly, her gaze found him, and her features contorted with panic. "N-no... you mustn't be here!"
Numbly, Darren moved forward, his tails swiftly shifting into the form of a sling, taking aim at the vicious gaze of Kayla's tormentor. But before he could raise his tails so much as an inch, the clowns rushed at him with claws and crushing fists, seizing the Vulpix, grabbing his paws and tails. The bow was wrest from his tails, and the fox sank to the ground as the raving mob shoved him down.
An great, out-of-place laugh filled the air. "Welcome, one and all, to the Blood Circus," announced the Infernape, flourishing his whip and brutally striking Kayla once again. A mortified cry escaped Darren as if he had been flogged instead. "I am your ringmaster tonight: the great and powerful Mikhael!" The Zigzagoon's raw body shuddered as the cruel whip struck her again.
The clowns turned their eyes to their ringmaster with hearty applause, cheering him on. Winding up the bloody whip, Mikhael hooked it onto his studded belt and gave a theatrical bow. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages!" he crowed, the flames on his head flaring. "I present to you the beauty of agony, the magnificence of death..."
The Infernape swept his hand across the length of Kayla's body, pressing his fingers to her raw wounds as if to elicit some reaction, but she did not make so much as a whimper. "See this girl before me, and how she struggles in her final moments!"
A surge of crimson fury flooded Darren. He gave a furious scream and lunged at the Ringmaster, only to be flung back against the ground by the masses, and Mikhael's Machoke bodyguards burst into thick guffaws of laughter. A giggling Monferno picked up Kayla's bow and handed it to the ringmaster with exaggerated deference.
Hairy fingers curled around the grip, lifting the bow up into the light. "Ah, what is this?" whispered the Infernape as he tested the string's strength, his eyes gleaming. "Such a pretty treasure-" And with a flick of his nails, he severed the bowstring before Darren's and Kayla's eyes.
A pained cry tore from Darren's throat as the destringed bow reverberated like a quivering, dying heart before falling to the ground. Kayla trembled, her eyes watering; but she made no sound.
Lifting his head, an awful grin spread over Mikhael's features as his eyes met Darren's, taking delight in the the fox's outrage. Violently, uselessly, the Vulpix flailed against the clowns holding him down, cursing and shrieking.
"Feast your eyes upon our next presentation!" announced the Infernape grandly, the Vulpix's snarls swept aside by the cheering crowd that was both troupe and audience. "Behold, the transfomative powers of misery! Behold, the power of flesh and blood!"
The blood in Darren's body boiled as Kayla lay soaked in her own blood, writhing with each new lash, sadistic laughter ringing in their ears. "Stop! Stop! STOP IT!" he shrieked, horrified and disgusted.
The circus went silent. Lowering his whip, Mikhael looked the Vulpix in the eyes. "So sentimental! So bitter! So tasteless," he chided with mock innocence, his voice without grandeur, without repentance. "A raccoon and a stick! Why do you care? Why do you feel so attached to things, little fox? Have you no taste for theatre?"
The ringmaster reached for his whip once again. "A critic has no right to judge that which he does not understand-"
"Don't touch her!" howled Darren, his vision blurring with hot tears, his claws digging into the ground, struggling to break free. His breath was hot, his fur dishelveled; a tumoltuous, unbidden fire was rolling in his belly. "Don't even think-don't touch MY FRIEND!"
The last two words erupted from his throat as a bestial roar, reverberating through the tent. Startled cries rose from the clowns; fearful glances were exchanged. On the ground, a strange gleam appeared in Kayla's eyes...
But the Infernape was not intimidated. "What a wonderful display! It appears we have our first applicant for the tamer's act," cried the ringmaster, clapping his hands. Excited whispers rose as Mikhael took a collar from his belt and held it up for all to see, their fear quickly dispelled. "Pure, unadulturated fury! You rant and rave now, but soon-you shall leap through hoops for me-"
The Vulpix's mind went blank as the ringmaster stepped over Kayla's broken body and approached with a cruel smile, his eyes gleaming. A chill ran down his spine as he stared at the collar, an icy needle of terror piercing his hot fury. Helplessly, the fox stared around the chanting crowd, lost in a thick haze of musk and Kayla's blood. Squatting down, the Ringmaster gestured for one Machoke to hold the Vulpix's head in place, and wrapped the collar around Darren's neck.
As Mikhael locked the buckle into place, the clowns finally released their hold on the Vulpix. Coughing, gasping, he slumped to the ground, his pulse slowing, intensifying, rising from a lithe vulpine's to a lage canine's. "N-no," croaked Kayla weakly, eyes filling with dismay as Darren's body throbbed with each mighty heartbeat. "Please... don't-"
"Sit back and enjoy the show, you ungrateful brat!" snapped the Infernape. "It's all part of the routine!" He rose to his feet and backflipped to his position in the center of the tent, leering down at the trembling Zigzagoon again. "Let's whip her some more! How many lashes, boys?" he called to the troupe, taking no notice of Darren's and Kayla's cries. "Ten? Twenty? Thirty?"
He stared up into the Ringmaster's sadistic, smug eyes, hatred in every strand of his fur. His friend was dying and he was helpless to help her, powerless over his own body. The entire world had been stained in the Vulpix's eyes, reshaped into a raw, ugly fascimile of its perfect self, and he could not unsee it, could not escape the trap of chaotic death and malicious life.
He knew this collar, knew its shape. This was the collar of his master's hunting companion, a fierce-eyed Houndour;. This collar could not possibly be on his neck- could not possibly have been in the Ringmaster's possession-not unless...
The fox could no longer think of his master's trees swaying in the gentle, caressing breeze, plump chestnuts dangling from their branches. All he could see was the Ringmaster, the Infernape's sadistic hands which spilled Kayla's warm, welt blood. Past and future were fleshed out and cursed. He felt fury swelling within his skull, down his spine; he felt the fire of a thousand hearts, swelling through him.
Baring his teeth, Darren sprang to his paws, his tails straightening out, his entire body bursting into flames. Panicking, the clowns recoiled from him, retreating to the edge of the tent with primate cries and squeals. With unrestrained fury, the blazing Vulpix sprang in front of Kayla's broken body protectively and spat a stream of sapphire-blue flames at Mikhael, engulfing the jester-king.
"AIEEE!" howled the Infernape with an exaggerated frown, leaping back from Darren and Kayla, waving his arms as he fell flat on his back. "Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie!" he screeched, rolling on the ground to smother the flames. "Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop and roll!"
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, the Infernape stopped abruptly in mid-roll and leapt to his feet. The flames on his head flashed brightly as they sucked up the sapphire flames like water into a straw. "Ta-da!" he crowed, mock rage replaced by a chilling grin. "Sorry, try again next time."
As the circus performers applauded, Darren glowered at the calm, unharmed Infernape, his body shaking from the collar's intensified blood pressure. How? How could the Infernape be so cool and composed? How could he be so casual, so indifferent about this?! Panting, growling, the seething Vulpix approached Mikhael with murder in his eyes-
"For our final act of the night, a lasso trick!" shouted the Infernape, brandishing his whip rapidly, its constricting coils stiill wet with Kayla's blood. Immidately, the whip ensnared Darren, wrapping around the Vulpix, digging into his flesh as the Ringmaster swung him up high into the air. At a second flick of his wrist, the fox was flung back down into the ground with a jarring impact.
Gasping, crying, Darren pawed at the air frantically as Mikhael yanked his whip free in one swift movement, eliciting another scream from the Vulpix, raw filaments slicing into him before sliding free.
"Ladies and gentlemen! This concludes our show," declared the Ringmaster as the circus performers cheered and applauded. "But alas! I'm afraid you've failed your audition, little fox..." The collar on his neck was loosened, removed; his blood pressure receeded, replaced by fatigue. "Good night, and I hope you join us again in the future-here at the BLOOD CIRCUS!"
One by one, tiki torches were uprooted. Disheveled, battered, his tails crushed under his body, the fox tried to stand; but cold, raw air clawed at him with the smallest movement. Helpless, he stared numbly as Mikhael and the Blood Circus marched into the starless night, with not the slightest hint of guilt on their hearts.
Seconds and minutes dragged by as the weary Vulpix finally pulled himself to his paws. The flow of time was unchanging in its rhythmic pace, neither stalling nor quickening... but for the two of them, time had stopped.
With mincing steps, he approached the Zigzagoon, her blood trickling onto the ground, her back shredded by the ringmaster's whip. "K-Kayla?" he whispered, his voice trembling, losing stability. "No... oh, no-"
Two soft yellow eyes gazed up from a mound of bloody fur with listless calm. "Darren," she croaked between shallow, trembling breaths, his tails pressing against her wounds in a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding. "Don't...don't do this-"
It wasn't enough. He couldn't stop her bleeding, couldn't save her. "Why?" he whispered desperately. He'd pushed her away this morning. She'd come to visit him, and he'd pushed her away, not knowing, not thinking, not appreciating her. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry- I wish I'd known-"
"Don't," she repeated more insistently, her features contorting with pain. "I know what it's like beyond the fence... so better me than you..." Horrified, the Vulpix stared at her as a shudder shook her body. "My... my bow-"
Fetching the now-useless stick in his jaws, he lay her bow across her mutilated belly. Breathing heavily, she ran a trembling, blood-coated paw down its length. "Thank you," she whispered, shuddering again with pain. Reaching up for him, she squeezed his paw weakly, tucking a small object into his tails. "Darren... please... would you sing for me?"
Though unable to hold back his tears, he nodded numbly, reluctantly, his belly filling with cold dread. How could he refuse such a request "Come now, O angel of mine," he whispered, staring into her eyes, his belly filling with cold dread. "To the meadows of the west... where the sun shines bright-where the rain falls light-"
Hot tears rolled down his cheeks and soaked into his fur; staring into the Zigzagoon's eyes, he clumsily brushed her head with a gentle paw. "Where the grass grows green, and kindness always s-seen-" His voice trembled as the rise and fall of Kayla's chest grew weaker, fainter. "T-tonight... your arrows will fly..."
With each line, Kayla's eyelids dipped lower and lower. "H-hands of mercy will raise the sun," he sang helplessly, gazing at her with silent, desperate pleas. "Open your eyes, d-dear flower of mine. T-together, our h-hearts will soar as one..."
Her eyes finally closing, the Zigzagoon went limp, her head falling back, slumping over the cool earth. Darren's throat and ribcage became constricted, and he choked out the final words: "A-always... shall our b-bond... endure."
Falling silent, he stared at his unmoving friend's body. Grief had seized hold of him, locking his nerves. Tearing his eyes away, he looked at Kayla's parting gift, tucked into his tails-a single Chesto berry, its blue husk stained with her blood.
His master's trees. The master who vanished last year with his trusted Houndour without a trace, until the Houndour's collar reappeared tonight. The master he had not once cried for, not once thanked. And now, Kayla too was gone.
Shaking horribly, unable to restrain his grief, he buried his muzzle in the Zigzagoon's belly and began to sob uncontrollably into her fur. For too long, he had thought only of the future, of impending threats-become so immersed in it and blinded himself to his surroundings; and now, the present was irreversibly to him, forever.