Chapter Two

I stare at him. He stares at me. Get out. I think. Get out now! Run!

But I don't. His eyes bore into me. Though they are human eyes, they are not evil. They are the color of the leaves of the magnolia tree. And his hair is as brown as it's bark. His skin is a pale olive color.

I soon notice the heat from his body is gone, and he is smiling. He coughs once or twice, and then smiles again. His teeth are whiter than a magnolia flower, and he even smells like one.

I cautiously back up. Realizing he is near the entrance, I prepare for cruel hands to grip me. I close my eyes.

When I open them, though, the boy is gone.

I stare for a moment, unsure of what to do. Scuffling from outside tells of a creature. I slowly peer out. A pidgy is pecking at the ground for wurmple. I prepare to leap.

I know of humans who feed pokemon a special food, but out in the wild, we don't have that. We feed ourselves, and for a fox pokemon, a bird pokemon is the perfect prey.

The pidgy suddenly stands up strait. It's prey forgotten; it flies away, giving a sharp alarm call.

"No!" I howl.

I forget there are usually things that scare prey, and fail to see the boy lumbering through the snow. I move back into my den as the boy nears. I look up as he enters the den again.

I let out a low growl, both from fear and from anger that he would just waltz into my home.

He laughs.

There is something in his hand. A round three dimensional object, it is hollow and the color of a caterpie. The object is engulfed with steam, and the smell wafts over my scent glands.

It is sometimes hard to describe a smell. I'll do the best I can.

The mist brought with it the smell of herbs. Lavender. The scent is sharp and warm, tainted with something else. I take a deeper breath. The steam is damp, and the other thing I tasted was honey. Honey and creamy milk.

My mouth waters, and I come over to the boy and peer into the object from curiosity. There is a liquid, slightly brown, but golden through and through. Swirls of milk and honey dance through the liquid, creating a beautiful performance.

He takes a small object out of a hidden fold in one of his pelts. It is round, but flatter than the thing filled with the liquid.

I back away, and he pours some of the concoction into the new object. The boy edges the thing closer to me, and I wonder if it's safe.

The boy puts the object to his lips and swallows the mixture. He lowers the object and smiles.

I turn my attention to the thing in front of me, and decide that if a human could drink it, anything could. I cautiously lick up a few drops.

My eyes widen. The taste is strange, yet beautiful. The liquid swirls around my mouth and warms my entire body. The milk blends with the honey to create a beautiful melody. The lavender taste sparks against the mixture and creates a symphony, all performing for the luxury of my taste buds.

I greedily lick up more drops of the liquid, and soon the symphony ends.

My body is tingling with warmth. I feel as though I could heat a human den!

The boy is smiling at me, and I wonder what compelled him to this act of kindness. He has obtained my trust, and we soon begin communicating.

Though all humans can here from a pokemon is a pokemon saying it's own name, we create a way to understand each other.

I can understand human speech, and luckily this boy can read footprints.

I ask him is name.

"My name's Jake- what's your name?" he answers.

I create an array of footprints, all leading to the answer.

"You have no name? You are just called 'Vulpix'?" Jake asks.

I nod, and wipe the dust clear, erasing my footprints.

He blinks, then focuses his eyes on me.

"I have a question for you, vulpix." Jake says.

I look up.

"Would you be willing to join me in my travels around the world? I've been hoping to find a partner." He asks.

I don't know what to say. My whole life I've been against the idea of having a human as my friend. Now, a human is asking if I would be his partner. I consider this, and realize he didn't ask me to fight or do anything for him. He just asked my to be his partner.

I decide.

Dancing on the dust on the floor of my den, I create the words that I need. Step north, slide west. Three steps east, and slide again west. I continue making paw prints until my thoughts are clear.

"I will."