* II: Acceptance *
By the time the train had crossed over the border into North Carolina it was already eleven at night. Delta stirred slightly in his seat as he looked out the window at the passing scenery. He had been on the train for several hours, now, and he was growing impatient and jittery. He couldn't sleep. Dark types never slept much.
The train ran over each track segment making a repetitious 'clunking' noise. Delta's heart raced, until it beat in unison with the clunking of the train. A bead of sweat made its way down Delta's forehead. Maybe he should have just traveled on foot, like he usually does, but what about Anubis' red and white cage? It would have been too hard for the small cat to have traveled with it in his maw. Delta figured once the train arrived, he would release Anubis and have him carry his own ball.
Finally, the train stopped at its destination, summing up the amount of time Delta had travelled to nearly five hours. Delta snuck out of the station and found a large, vacant parking lot. It was a good place for Delta to burn off the energy that had built up inside him. Nearly five minutes later, once Delta was tired of running in circles, he picked up the sphere and disappeared into the trees, leaving the parking lot behind.
The umbreon wanted to find a nice place to spend the night, preferably a quiet beach or an open field. He headed east until he could sense the air beginning to dampen. He felt a calm breeze, one that smelt of salty water. Delta's golden rings began to glow dimly as he neared a beach. He emerged from the forest and was greeted by the sound of the roaring waves. In between the forest and the sea was a strip of sand dunes, covered in shrubbery. As Delta searched for a place to rest, he began to feel a little apprehensive about releasing Anubis. 'He is going to be pissed when he finds out where he is,' Delta thought.
Finally, Delta came upon a large patch of sand atop one of the dunes. There were no plants growing there, so Delta decided it would be the most comfortable place to try and relax. He sat down and played with the sand for a moment with his paws. He sighed and prepared for Anubis' scowl, setting the ball down and pushing lightly against its button.
Anubis appeared in front of Delta, who backed away, startled by the abrupt explosion of red light. Anubis looked around, but to his discomfort, he couldn't see anything. A loud crashing noise sounded in his ears. "H-Hello?"
Delta looked at the odd jackal-human, tilting his head to the side.
"Master?" the lucario called out. Then, he frowned. "Delta?" He kneeled down and felt the ground surrounding him. It felt much like the sand box! Was he back in his yard? He turned around and noticed the faint glow of the golden rings. They hovered in mid-air, eerily. "Oh. Delta," he said, folding his arms.
"H-Hi, Anoobus," Delta greeted him nervously.
Anubis looked at the moon, listening to the sound of the waves crashing. He was not in his sand box. He was somewhere else. Near the ocean, perhaps? "You've kidnapped me."
"I had to."
"Where are we?" Anubis looked to Delta. His unscathed eye was gradually getting used to the dark. He could see the umbreon's outline. He could also sense the trepidation the umbreon felt.
"Well," Delta said, unsteadily. "You may not like the answer..."
"Tell me. Are we still in Socastee? Are we in Forestbrook? Bucksport? Tell me, now!"
"Uh-huuhu-huh... North Carolina."
"North Caroli – North Carolina!?" Anubis yelled in disbelief as his fell to the ground, a paw on his forehead. He stared up at the moon, breathing heavily. "You..." he turned to Delta, feeling another familiar sensation. He felt angry towards Delta. He wanted to yell his heart out at the cat for kidnapping him, for taking him away from his family. But... this was how he felt when his trainer took him away from his real family. He remembered the fury he felt when he was released from his cage to find that he was in a different country, far away from his loved ones. Rage built inside him with each command and order he was given, until he felt like he could snap. He had no choice but to blank out his anger and the rest of his negative emotions by forcing himself to accept his new life and look on the bright side of things.
Anubis didn't know whether he should take his newly unlocked anger out on Delta or his trainer. His trainer wasn't there with him, it was only Delta. He screamed at the sky in a fit of hatred and confusion. This made Delta recoil in shock. When Anubis couldn't scream anymore, he fell on his back, relaxed, and stared at the sky, panting. Delta gave him a moment to collect himself.
"There's no point in arguing with you, anymore," Anubis finally sighed. He wasn't going back to his trainer's house and that was that. But what if his trainer finds him? Who knows what hell would ensue. "My trainer... will be angry when he finds out. He'll be angry when he can't awe his lady friends anymore," Anubis chuckled to himself.
"He's not going to find you, okay? You don't have anything to worry about, unless he's planted one of those tracking chips inside you, but, quite frankly, I'd be surprised if he had that kind of money."
"Fine, okay," the dog muttered, trying to accept his abduction.
Delta laid himself on the cool sand and looked at the moonlit ocean. "It's different here in America. There are no trainers, anymore. Training animals is far too passé, so people catch them and... enslave them. Has your master ever actually made you practice your moves?"
"What do you mean by my moves?" Anubis replied quizzically.
"You know, your attacks. Your Thunderbolts or your Giga Drains or whatever."
"Oh, my aura spheres? My trainer only made me use those for impressing his girlfriends," Anubis stated, gently caressing his hurt eye. "I-I see what you mean, Delta. Yes, he made me work and do his chores. I see why he wouldn't be considered a trainer."
"I'm glad you're finally coming out of your shell," Delta smiled. There was a moment of silence that followed before Anubis spoke up.
"So... no one trains animals anymore?"
"No, we're sentient and can understand what the humans can say. We're reliable and loyal... Some of us, that is. So one day, one of the humans said 'Hey, animal battles are getting super boring and I don't have time for them anyway, what with all these chores. I know, I'll make the animals do my chores for me, while I watch the moving picture screen, eat some food, maybe have a wank.' Man, was Egypt as bad as this?"
"Egypt isn't really as advance as America, so no," Anubis smiled, remembering how it was like. "I kind of liked it that way."
"Yeah, Jesus, euck, maybe you've heard of this already: Humans now force their pets to mate with them!"
"Yeah, I'm aware. If I was female, there would be no doubt my trainer would have... you know. With me. Everyday..."
Delta shook his head in disgust. "I don't know about you, but humans are ugly as hell. All pink and squishy and fat. I'd rather mate with... a muk!"
Anubis shuddered at the thought of the acidic blob engulfing his genitals. "I'd rather mate with a trubbish."
Delta grinned, wickedly. "Oh, you wanna play this game, do ya? I'd rather mate with a bidoof."
"Bidoof? Really? Sure, they're annoying and all, but they're not really that unattractive... I'd rather mate with a gothita. Those things were all over Egypt."
"I'd rather mate with a jynx."
Anubis chuckled. "I'd rather mate with... a miltank!"
"Ah, you think you can win this? I'd rather mate with... a slaking! Boom!" Delta shouted as he jumped into the air.
"...You."
"Automatic win!"
It was at that point that the umbreon and the lucario started to consider themselves as friends. Minor friends, for now, but their friendship could grow. Seeing as they were probably going to be traveling together now, they would probably be spending a decent amount of time together. Anubis smiled and patted Delta on the head. "I'm going to get some rest."
"What?" Delta frowned. The fun had come to an end. "You're just gonna leave me? Weren't you sleeping in your orb?"
"Being in that orb is like, well, being dead, I guess."
"Hey, Anubis, how long have you lived here?"
"About a year."
Delta was utterly astonished. "Only a year? But-but your English is so fluent!"
Anubis laughed, turning on his side to face Delta. "You know, I'm not as dumb as you think. I caught on quickly. We lucario are pretty wise animals."
"Not when it comes to getting captured and enslaved, though," Delta replied.
"Perhaps you're right."
Delta looked at the lucario, who was positioning himself on the sand and slowly closing his eye. Delta didn't want to spend his sleepless night alone. He wanted to learn more about Anubis and what Luxor was like. "Uh... What's the most kinkiest thing you've ever done?" Delta was not good at starting conversations.
"Egyptians don't really... do a lot of that kind of stuff. They don't indulge in bestiality like certain other places." Anubis stretched out and yawned, shifting around to get comfortable again.
Delta looked at him, sadly. He wished he wasn't such an insomniac, but that's the life of the dark type. He was vexed about his traits and type. Evolving into an umbreon was not the fate he had expected to undergo, nor was it a very preferable fate. "Fine, go to sleep, then. I'll just try to lullaby myself to sleep," He said, grumpily curling up into a ball.
Anubis' ears twitched a bit, but then relaxed. He began to hear a faint, muffled vocal coming from Delta.
"...-Mm lookin' for... tow-of learnin'... Mm lookin' for... copious... prize..." Delta softly sang to himself.
The lucario sensed an emotion of sadness dispersing from Delta. 'Is he singing? What's he doing? That melody...'
"...-Saw it n'your eyes... what m'lookin' for..."
'What is he singing?' Anubis wondered as his ears aimed themselves towards the whispering cat.
"...-Saw it n'your eyes... t'll make... me... live..."
'Huh, that melody,' Anubis somewhat recognized the song from when he lived with his master. It was an okay song, but nonetheless he still knew it enough to recite its lyrics. "All the sites of Paris... pale inside..."
Delta stopped singing and lifted his head to look at Anubis, who had started to sing along with him. He wore a look of surprise as he eyed Anubis. "...Your iris," Delta continued, simpering slightly.
"Tip the Eiffel Tower... with one glance, stained glass cathedrals... with one glint. You smashed it with your eyes... what I'm lookin' for... One blink and then my heart... wasn't there no more."
As they softly sang together, Anubis felt an aura of happiness drift from Delta, replacing his previous sorrowful emotions. Anubis felt happy, too. He felt like maybe Delta wasn't as bad as he originally opinionated him to be. Sure, he had technically kidnapped Anubis, but regardless, maybe it was for greater good.
Delta stopped singing and curiously asked Anubis where he had heard the song from.
"My master listened to a lot of soft rock," the dog replied. "But, of course, he listened to country music more often."
"Wow, it makes me so happy when someone recognizes the unpopular indie music I listen to," Delta said, cheerfully.
"Hey, Delta, what is that song about?"
"Hm," the cat stroked his chin, thinking of an answer. "Well, it's easy. You know the lyrics. Figure it out yourself."
"But I don't know what copious and glint mean. What is the Tower of Learning? Is it in Paris?"
"I don't know if that's a real thing or not."
"Alright, well, I'm going to sleep. For real this time." Anubis laid back down, deep in thought. Eventually, though, he drifted off to sleep, leaving Delta to watch the moon proceed on its celestial path.
Delta cared about Anubis, enough to risk his life rescuing him from an abusive madman. He could tell that Anubis wanted to go back to Egypt badly, so he pondered for a bit until he came up with an idea: Travel up north all the while earning (obtaining) money. By the time they reach Maine, they should surely have enough to afford a plane ticket. 'Buying the ticket may be hard... Do we need the internet to do that?' Once they receive the ticket, Anubis will board his plane and fly back to his home, leaving Delta to explore Canada: Deemed as one of the safest countries in the world. 'But... an animal boarding an airplane seems so preposterous. Dammit, this plan is full of flaws. But we'll try nonetheless. The look on his friends' and family's faces when they see Anubis for the first time in ages... Aw.'
Delta grinned eagerly as he looked at the starry night sky and listened to the soothing crashes of the waves.
About forty yards away from the sleeping lucario and star-gazing umbreon was a large, overgrowing Yaupon bush, slightly rustling on its dune. Inside the bush sat a large beast with a thick coat of golden fur. It observed the two from its distance, its red eyes easily picking up every detail about them despite the large distance between them and the lack of daytime light. Its keen eyes had no pupils, but even so, its accurate and clear surveillance substantiated that its eyesight wasn't impaired by all these factors.
'It seems the blue dog has officially joined Klepto. I better be more careful. It might be more aware of its surroundings and less oblivious than Klepto has proved to be. Shoot, that dog may really affect my 'mission'...' The beast frowned, its multiple tails swaying around aimlessly inside the Yaupon.
