The winds blew fiercely. This, Ari reasoned, was going to bring about a terrible storm. Taking note of the slowly darkening clouds forming above the little town she lived in, she quickly made her way out of the shop and was immediately hit with a burst of cold air. It felt painful and unnatural compared to the shop's warm and comforting heat.
"Hey girl, close that door please! You're letting in all the cold!" the shopkeeper yelled out.
"Sorry!" she shouted back as she grabbed her bag and headed for her van. She cursed silently to herself for forgetting to wear a coat. She had worn only two short-sleeved shirts, a black pair of jeans, and brown boots, neglecting some of the more important gear for conditions like this. Calmly, she pulled out her car keys, placed her bag inside, then sat in the driver's seat and turned on the car. After checking to make sure she wouldn't have any sort of easily avoidable accidents, she made her way over to her home, a ride that took up nearly two hours to complete. By the time she made it home and parked her van in the garage, the storm was well under way and began to cover everything in white.
"Phew! I'm glad I made it in time. I thought I was going to be frozen," Ari commented. She looked outside from her bedroom window and saw that nearly everything was buried by the snowstorm. Looking at her driveway, she reasoned that she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, which was fine to her since she had ample supplies for such an occasion. Opting to stay in her soaking wet clothes, she went into her living room and lit the fireplace. She was sure that her wet clothes wouldn't actually hurt her, and since she didn't want to change at the moment, she sat down in one of her recliners and turned on the television. A news report had come up advising people about the blizzard and how to stay safe during such a storm. "I already know all of this," she said dryly as she changed the channel. By the time she found something she wanted to watch, she became dazed and weary and turned off the television. Before she could go to sleep, however, a loud knock on her front door startled her and she sprung back to life, wondering who could be visiting her at a time like this.
She rushed to the door and quickly opened it, not bothering to look through her peephole to identify the stranger. The stranger in question could not be identified for it was wearing a long, brown, and snow-covered cloak that completely surrounded every part of its body save for its head, which appeared to be buried under a bright furry hat and covered by a beautiful white scarf. The figure stood a few inches taller than her and its eyes appeared to have a blood red color that seemed to put Ari in a slight daze before she cleared her throat.
"Who are you?" she asked the stranger calmly. The appearance of this stranger disturbed her slightly, but she was more focused on whether the stranger would be hostile or friendly. An awkward, speechless silence passed before she decided to be the friendly person and stepped aside as if inviting the stranger into her home. The person quickly walked inside, stopping when it reached the living room. Confused, Ari shut the door and walked into the living room, avoiding the snow-covered parts of the floor.
"Who are you?" she asked the stranger again, keeping her distance. "Are you here on a mission?"
"You let me in..." the stranger finally said in a calmer, indistinguishable voice, "but why?"
"You looked cold and I wasn't going to leave you out there in such a storm," Ari responded, all pangs of annoyance at the stranger's silence pacified by its calmness. "It just wouldn't be fair to someone I don't even know yet. Any chance you'll be willing to tell me about yourself?"
The stranger looked towards her as if surprised by her words. "Why are you so fixated on who I am and not my appearance? I'm curious about this."
"I don't want to be one of those persons who see how someone looks without finding out their personality. It's just not right, you know, and I'm hoping to make myself be good in my own right," she responded with a smile. The stranger turned away from her and looked into the steadily burning orange flame in the fireplace. Ari turned off the living room's lights, letting the fire light up the room instead. "If you're staying, do you want to tell me at a later time today? I promise to be hospitable," she offered.
"That sounds nice, and you seem like a really nice girl, far nicer than the other people I met earlier. If I tell you who I am and show you how I look, will you let me stay for a few nights?" The stranger appeared to be shuffling uneasily underneath all of the winter gear it wore. Interpreting this as a sign that the stranger was cold, Ari motioned for the stranger to sit down by the fireplace. She took a seat next to the stranger and shifted to the fetal position with her legs outstretched.
"Of course," Ari replied. "I'm bound by my word. You can stay for as long as you like if you really want to." The wood in the fire crackled as it burned, causing a few sparks to dance around the area.
"Very well, it is a deal. Just one more thing."
"What's that?"
"Please do not get freaked out," he replied nervously, sighing. Suddenly Ari had a bad feeling that she might have let the wrong person into her home. As the stranger stood up and began to remove the winter gear, Ari turned away and found herself silently wishing that she had paid more attention to her late-father's instruction of not opening home doors to strangers. A minute later, the stranger announced that it was okay to turn around.
Standing in front of her was a masculine figure wearing a slightly torn blue shirt and shorts that were heavily damaged. On his feet he actually did not wear anything. His feet, along with the rest of his body, were covered in what appeared to be golden-colored fur. His hair, having the same color as his fur, hung down from the top of his head to half of his back. A fox-like muzzle with a black nose on the end adorned his face. Behind him were nine long, beautiful, golden-furred tails with orange tips, though they, as well as his triangular ears and red eyes, seemed to be pointed towards the ground, expecting to go through yet another bout of anguish.
"What's wrong? What happened to you?" she asked, catching him completely off guard.
"Huh?" he managed to say as he perked up. Now it was his turn to be confused. She didn't seem the least bit interested in the fact that he was what was commonly referred to as a pokémorph, a ninetales pokémorph to be specific. She seemed blind to his highly attractive body, instead focusing on his story.
"I see a few cut marks on your face and your clothes are badly damaged," she responded, rising from his spot on the floor. "Any chance you'll be willing to tell me your story?"
"But...I-I thought for sure that...you would..."
"Run away? Call you names?" she guessed, frowning at his possible statement.
"Y-yeah."
"That stuff is for spineless weaklings," he replied bluntly, "and I am not a spineless weakling. I may be seventeen years old, but I am a lady of my word, and I refuse to let myself down to such a level. You can trust me, I swear." As she put her hands together as if to strengthen her point, she noticed that his eyes were shining brilliantly, a sign that he was on the verge of tears. "At the very least, don't worry." At this he leapt at her and pulled her into a hug, wrapping his nine tails around her, and began sobbing silently on her left shoulder. Ari let out a gasp as her eyes widened, surprised by his action.
"Do you...do you promise?" he asked her.
"I promise," she replied, patting him on the back. He felt so warm, as if a small fire inside of him had been rekindled, and she had forgotten about how wet her clothes were. "At the very least, do you have a name?"
"I...I never considered names," the pokémorphic ninetales began. He broke away from her and sat down in the recliner, holding his tails close. "I was in that lab for as long as I could remember. None of the humans there gave me a name and they were vile and cruel. After the lab blew up, I and the others like me escaped, and I wandered around trying to find some helter, but I only found rejection. To be honest I would have given up hope if I hadn't found you, Ari."
"Well, we can decide on a name for you later. I can make some soup for you if you want," she offered.
"That sounds nice," he responded, smiling at her.
Ari had made two bowls of soup while she waited, and in that time she returned to her bedroom and changed into her sleepwear, which was a black t-shirt and brown leg thermals. Putting on a gray robe, she looked outside; all she could see was a brilliant blue-white field and a purple-colored sky, a sign that the day would be coming to an end soon. Returning to the kitchen and bringing the two bowls of soup into the living room, she watched as he puhed his face into the bowl and began lapping up its contents without even letting it cool down, creating quite the mess. She found it sort of amusing even though she knew she would have to clean that up later and let out a few chuckles when he eventually brought his muzzle out of the bowl and looked at her.
"What's so funny?" he asked her, though he had an idea about how she would respond. "Have you never seen a pokémon eat before?" Soup water seemed to drip from his mouth and onto the carpeted floor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem insulting," she replied. "Actually I never did see a pokémon eat before. I'm not a trainer, you see -never saw myself capable of being one."
"I hadn't had something to eat in a long time, and your soup just tasted so good after the first taste that I just had to dig in," he said. As they ate the rest of their soup, with Ari finishing last, he sighed in contentment and put a hand over his stomach. "Thank you so much, Ari. Still," he began as he closed his eyes and leaned back, "it would be nice if I could go back to the way I was." His entire body suddenly shuddered and he glowed brilliantly, forcing Ari to cover her eyes and look away from him. When she was sure the light faded, she turned around and saw that he had become a regular ninetales. His clothes now hung loosely on him and left him disoriented for a few seconds before Ari helped him out of them. He was about a foot taller than most ninetales, but she was still taller than he was by a foot.
"What was that?" Ari asked him as he stepped off the chair he was on and faced her.
"Ni," he responded. Ari was now surprised that she couldn't understand his words anymore.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying now."
"Nine nin?"
"Is there a way for you to change back? I still can't understand you," she replied. In response the ninetales closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Another glow lit up the room, again forcing Ari to turn away and shield her eyes until the light disappeared once more. He was back in his pokémorphic form, his clothes no longer in tatters.
"Can you hear me now?" he asked her as he turned back around.
"Now I can."
"Good," he replied. "It seems I can change my form at any time if I concentrate hard enough, though I still can't be completely human. Most humans can't understand pokémon verbally, it seems. I guess I'll have to do something about that eventually," he said, mumbling the last part to himself as he looked at his tails. A yawn along with a few embers flew out of his mouth, and he looked at her wearily.
"I only have one bedroom, and my bed is only half-queen-sized," she remarked, getting the message that he was tired. "I'll let you sleep in my bed while I sleep down here," she offered, letting out a yawn as well.
"We can't just share the bed?" he asked her, smiling coyly at her.
"I don't think it would accomodate both of us. Neither of us would be very comfortable and I don't want to hurt you in any way," she answered with a neutral expression as she extinguished the fire in the fireplace. The ninetales seemed to develop a slight blush on his face, pulling up two of his tails in an attempt to cover it up. "What's wrong? You don't look too well. Is it because I put out the fire?"
"No no, it's not that," he explained, though he did like the fire. "I really don't know why, but I feel a lot more secure around you, Ari. The friends I had were very nice to me, but I really like being around you. I know that the day didn't even end yet, but I already feel like I won't live as long as I should if you're not with me. Please Ari," he begged, wrapping his arms and tails around her again, "let me share your bed with you. I promise I will not take up a lot of space." Ari felt a small heat rise to her cheeks at his affectionate touch and sighed.
"Okay," she finally replied, giving in, "but we need to decide on a name for you right now...What do you think of...'Brand'?"
"'Brand', huh...That has a pleasant ring to it," he replied. They stood there for a few more minutes before they yawned again and went upstairs to her room.