After a bit of struggling, Ruby's head popped out of the snow, looking around as the sun was beginning to set. She shivered violently.
"It's coooooold!" She whined, pushing herself out of the snow and looking around and spotting nothing but snow. "Helloooo?" She called out, getting only the echo of her voice in response. "Delphox!?" No answer. "Mommy?" Silence. Ruby clutched herself in an effort to keep warm as she grew more and more scared. A large shadow appeared over her, and she gasped, whirling around. "Delphox?" She came face to face with angry looking Abomasnow, and just barely jumped away from the Ice Punch that slammed the ground in front of her. She let out a loud squeak and ran, the Abomasnow hot on her heels, throwing Ice Punches and Wood Hammers without leeway. Ruby was shrieking as she ran towards a nearby cave. What she wasn't expecting was a steep slop just inside the cave's mouth, which she promptly tumbled down painfully, smacking into various rocks on the way down. The Abomasnow shrugged and walked away as Ruby came to a painfull stop at the bottom of the rocky slope. She sat up, covered in scrapes and bruises, her quivering lip bleeding as tears brimmed in her eyes. She let out a choked sob as she looked around the dark cave system she had found herself lost in. She shakily stood up, then yelped as a sharp pain ran through her arm. Ruby found herself unable to move her arm without severe pain. With a whimper, she moved forward winto a dark cave.
A cloud of dust exploded into the air as the Mawile crashed to the ground, blood trailing down her arm from the gaping wound in her shoulder. Unlike many other Mawile, who were yellow and black, this particular one was yellow and purple. She grimaced, attempting to push herself up, only for a swift kick to the stomach to knock her back down.
"Stay down sparkles." A voice chuckled, followed a higher pitched voice being sent into a fit of giggles. The two Mawile standing above her showed no remorse as the male landed yet another kickto the shiny's face, while the female giggled yet again.
"That's enough you two." The two a ubusive Mawile stiffened as a fourth joined the fray. This one was twice the size of a regular Mawile, and it showed. He practically radiated power. The two normal Mawile gave a quick bow of respect before bolting. The Alpha Mawile took one look at the beaten shiny and gave a huff. "Get up and do the job that was assigned to you. You're not exempt from anything just because you're hurt." No, not her, but were it any other Mawile he would have insisted they go home and heal up. But not her. She was a shiny Pokémon. She winced as she pushed herself to her feet, clutching her bleeding shoulder as she dejectedly stumbled further into the cave system. "And don't you dare bleed all over the ore you find, else you're scraping the dried blood off with your fingers sparkles." She winced. There was that word again: Sparkles. What was just any other word to a human being was the Pokémon equivalent of a racial slur, directed towards shiny Pokémon. She leaned against the cave wall, blood steadily forming on the ground as she steadied her breathing.
*Sniff*
Her breath hitched. She went stiff as she peered into the darkness of the cave, wondering where the sound had come from.
*Sob* The choked sob caught Mawile off guard.
'Someone's... Crying?' With great hesitation, she stepped forward into the darkness. Tentative, careful steps across the cold stone floor, closer to the source of the sound. Mawile froze stiff. Laying against a very steep slope was the source of the sound.
'A... Human?' The Mawile community in this cave system was known for their intense hatred of humans. They were under orders to attack humans on sight, but...
'She looks so... Young... So vulnerable...' The small human was bruised, bleeding, and clutching at her arm, tears streaming down her small, pale face.
'She's hurt... What should I do? Should I attack while she's vulnerable? She hasn't even noticed me... I-' Mawile's foot inched forward, accidentally kicking a small rock, which clttered noisely against the stone floor. The girl looked up, and wide red eyes met wide red eyes. The human illuminated by the light streaming in from above, and the Mawile shrouded in the darkness of the cave. For what felt like and eternity, the two stared at eachother, neither moving, and neither speaking. Both like statues, until the little girl opened her mouth.
"Hello."
Mawile turned and bolted.