AN: hey there! Welcome to my fanfic! Please, tell me what you think, and all opinions are appreciated. I may be new to the site, but that's no excuse to go easy on me if you don't like it. This is, obviously, copyrighted by Disney and Nintendo and all that stuff.
The second the girl hit the ground, the houndour was on full alert. Ears strained upright and body rigid, a low guttural noise barely escaped her throat before being silenced as she stared intensely at the attackers. To her disbelief, they were laughing! As the girl did that strange thing again, they only laughed harder. Having understood the conversation before, she waited for the girl to do something, to get up and give them a run for their money. But she didn't get up, and instead a heavy surge of that sad smell started coming off her. As the terrible kids walked off, the houndour came to her conclusion: that was what made the girl so sad. 'case closed! Now that my curiosity's been settled, I can leave.' The pokemon turned, but before she could take a step, she froze.
She wanted to move along, but something deep inside her was screaming 'no!' try as she might, she couldn't walk away from the girl. That would make her no better than those other rotten kids, and they were low, despicable even.
While it's true that dark-type pokemon aren't known for being kind souls, they aren't heartless, and the houndour was no exception. To be truthful, their long history of living in packs made them very family-oriented and protective, occasionally becoming companions for those unafraid of them. They are, after all, based on dogs. However, people that cared for them were few and far between, seeing them as violent dogs because of the dark colors and skull marks, as well as the fact that they were paired with fire type. But this did not change the fact that she could not leave the girl In this state.
And so, with real meaning beyond curiosity, the houndour once more longed to cheer her up. She approached and licked the girl's small form, then sat down in the mud beside her, and shared in her sorrow. After a moment of doing this, that that irresistible urge quieted and she stood up and nudged the girl, indicating she wanted her to do the same. A slobbery lick or two and the girl was up again, glaring at her. The fierce spirit she obviously contained was ignited once more, and so was her sense of pride, apparently. "get off, mr. slobber!" trying not to be offended at being called a 'mr.', the houndour obliged. "I don't need your sympathy." The houndour experimentally licked her hand again, and the girl spoke again. "I don't need your pity either." She crossed her arms and turned away. The houndour turned as well to walk off, thinking her job was done, but that strange urge started up again after a few steps. It still screamed at her, saying to go back to the girl and help, to not walk off, and it aroused an instinct so strong it was almost as if gravity itself was pulling her to the girl. Somewhat reluctantly, she turned back to follow the girl, a tiny growl and a puff of smoke voicing her frustrations. The girl flinched, thinking the growl was intended for her, and the houndour quickly stopped, but continued thinking.' Why am I so unsettled by the idea that this girl is sad? Is it really that she needs my attention? Or that something in me wants hers? No, I'll figure out what she needs to be happy. Then maybe this feeling deep in my gut will leave and I can go.'
Having decided, the houndour went over to the girl and gave her a subtle nudge. When the girl began moving, the houndour trotted along at her side, and found her mouth parted in that doggie smile. 'This girl is a mystery.. This is kinda fun!' The girl, however, appeared to have different thoughts.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she stopped walking and turned to the still-smiling houndour. "look, I'm going home. You should go be off to whatever game you came from before opening time, got it?" the houndour nodded, but once more followed the girl when she began walking.
The girl made another stop. "you go home now, go away." She said dismissively, trying to turn the pokemon around. A part of her wanted to leave like the girl said, she had just shown that she didn't want the houndour there, but the instinct said no, and the mystery of how to cheer the girl up waited for answers. This was a chance to have a real adventure, and the fact that helping this girl was in that road was just a coincidence. So instead she pressed into the side of the girl and made it clear that she was to stay for the ride.
(POV. shift)
Vanellope looked long at the dog-like thing before her, and nearly let her jaw drop from disbelief before catching it. This thing was stubborn, and for some reason wanted to stay near her. 'It just doesn't add up!' she thought in a frustrated manner. Nothing was supposed to bother her, and here this thing was, trying to worm it's way through her walls to the softer, more vulnerable core.
'probably so it can backstab me later.' She thought bitterly. But it was evident it simply wouldn't leave, so she would just not pay attention to it. And no matter what happened, she would not give it a name. Because that would be letting it get attached to her, and then all hopes of it leaving her alone were gone. Maybe she could just get it off her case by hiding in diet cola mountain, that seemed to work for the other problems she might have.
So with that in mind, she set off running towards the mountain. She soon realized the thing was faster than her though, and decided to take the above approach: climb through trees to get there. She was more than capable of doing this quickly, and got down to the clearing in front of the entrance when she figured she had gotten rid of it. Strolling in casually, she was about to go sit on the self-made bed when she noticed something. There, sitting happily at the foot of the bed, was the dog thing. It had a smug expression on it's face, as if to say "what took you so long?".
"you just won't leave me alone!" she exclaimed angrily. How did it find this place? Then she noticed it's long muzzle. smell, of course. She mentally facepalmed for not having thought of that, and groaned. Why couldn't it see that she did not need it here? All of a sudden, the dog thing walked forward and pressed it's head into her hands, not wagging it's tail or making a sound, but trying to communicate silently.
Vanellope stared at the dog thing that she was now cradling the head of. It was being so open, and she couldn't find a drop of the spite and hate she found in the racers on any of it's body language, no matter how hard she tried.
Was this thing trying to be friends? She failed to understand. She looked at the light, chocolate brown eyes again. At first they seemed intimidating, but there was no anger there either. The eyes seemed to analyze her, and the expression softened after a bit. She looked for a while, still puzzled, then abruptly shoved the thing's head out of her arms and went to lay on her bed. Maybe this would make sense in the morning.
(POV. shift)
The houndour wanted to try and figure out this girl, try to explain the instinct that said to stay with her. She seemed more than strong enough to be alone, but something kept the houndour from leaving. When the girl climbed a tree and she couldn't follow, the houndour tracked her scent to a mountain. The entrance was very well-hidden, but soon the houndour got in. the homemade bed she found told her that this girl had lived here for a long time. The fact that no other people's scents were found there meant she was always alone. That was kind of upsetting.
' Is it really true that nobody else has tried to help? Maybe she did some sort of crime.. Who am I kidding? Too young. But, what is the reason behind this? Why do people seemingly treat this girl like dirt?' the houndour had time to think before the girl showed up. When she did show up, the houndour's pride at having beaten her was obvious.
Upon seeing the houndour, the girl made an angry shout." you just won't leave me alone!" the pokemon tried to think of some other way to say she was staying, and slowly walked forward, placing her whole head in the girl's arms. This was a gesture of trust, as it left the neck vulnerable for attack if the person decided to strike. While she did this she looked up at the girl, studying her features. The girl looked down, and they made eye contact. Intracate, blended forest hazel eyes looked at her, with green rims around the irises. As the houndour looked up into the girl's eyes, she found the reason she couldn't leave. The girl was sad, she knew that much, but what she didn't know was how long she had been that way. There wasn't much happy in the eyes, and she guessed it had been years. She could not leave because she felt she was responsible for the girl. Somewhere along the line her instinct had decided this. Somewhere along the line she had unknowingly deemed the girl her 'pack' , and she had to take care of her because of that. And so the light inside the dark type pokemon was lit, and the houndour wanted to prove that she could help.
The girl ended the train of thought, abruptly shoving the head away from her and going to lay down on the bed. Soon she was asleep, and the houndour was left to herself.
Deciding she needed to eat before thinking about it more, she poked around. A good-smelling brown substance she had seen before, called chocolate or something like that, was found and the houndour ate some. About two hours later, the houndour regretted that decision. Her stomach was not feeling right, and it hurt. She didn't want to get up, for fear that would make it hurt more. Just then an alarming thought came to her mind: what would the girl do? What would happen if the girl left without her? She guessed she would have to get up and follow, even if it hurt. Because she would prove that nothing happened to her pack, and this girl was included in that. She guessed she would just have to wait until morning to see what the girl would do.
AN: chapter 2! These are short, but I'm going to try and update a lot, so that hopefully shouldn't be a problem. Please, tell me what you think! Any feedback is appreciated, so don't be shy. Does anyone have an idea for the houndour's name? soon she will be receiving one, and I don't know what to do. I want it to be a teasing name, but at the same time it can't be too awful, cause I have to use it. I'm so clueless.