There was a slight stutter of the engine, followed by the crackle of electricity within the wires above, and suddenly I would find that we were moving. It was a little startling, I'd have to admit. Before then, I couldn't recall a time where I rode on any sort of vehicle, so this was a completely new experience for me.
Once the train picked up speed, my paws would wobble and skid against the red, old, dusty carpet floor- It was only then that a short, orange arm thrust forward and kept me from falling flat on my face. "Hey, you'll get used to it." Sulker murmured, crouching down next to me to keep me steady. My face lit up with relief, and I quietly nodded to the Scrafty. There was a moment of silence, and it gave me time to wonder about the situation I was in. It wasn't really a BAD thing, riding out of the city... but then again, the city was all I had ever known- and once my mother went and disappeared that one night, everything became so much harder to bear. Even though I was too young to realize it then, I had made a life there and it felt strange to leave it for the first time. I guess it was just me asking myself whether or not I was okay with doing this. I HAD agreed to it out loud, of course.
"Hey. Kutsu. I've got a question or two for ya." Sulker's voice broke up the silence, and I could feel his arms drawing up and away from my fur. When I turned to face him, the Scrafty had jumped up onto one of the cushioned seats within the train, with his back flat up against the window. "Well, okay. What's the question...?" I tilted my head, wondering what he had in store for me. "Well..." He began, clearing his throat; "You're still kind of a mystery. Tell me something interesting about yourself."
"Uhh...Something interesting, huh?" My gaze dropped to the floor, as I wondered what to say. There really wasn't too much about myself that I found all that interesting to share with others, aside from the fact that I often painted my face with berries. "Well, I uh...live by myself. What about that?" I said. The fellow dark type pokemon blinked and stretched his arm out forth to rub the back of his head. "Depressing." He replied, "Very admirable, but kind of depressing. Not really the kind of info I was looking for. What else, then?"
It took me about an entire minute to figure out something cool about myself, but it eventually came forth. "Oh! I can read since my mum taught me! A lot of canine pokemon at my age can't read!" I jumped up, and let my poofy tail stick up in delight while being happy to continue. "And, and... I don't really like meat all that much, I actually enjoy all kinds of berries instead!"
"Huh." Sulker tapped his fingers against the old built-in table, nodding slowly with what I had said. Eventually, he'd close his eyes and chuckle, "So the tiny fox is both a little Einstein and a pre-vegetarian. That's actually somewhat adorable!" The comment had made my cheeks flush red, and I giggled along with him. "Nuh, I'm not adorable! That's a girl thing!" I'd squeak. How did he think of ME as being adorable?
Another awkward silence filled the room, leaving my tail to slowly lower to the ground. All that could be heard now was the gentle rustling of the train as it continued to steam forward across the rusty, steel tracks below. Once again, Sulker was the one to break the unbearable silence. He leaned forward, coughing; "I guess if that's all there is to say, maybe it's my turn. If there's anything you're wondering about me, now's the time to ask."
As I sat back to think, I found that there was a lot to questions for the Scrafty to answer. Not necessarily about him or his history, but more of why he took such an immediate interest in bringing me along with him. These were one of his routine trips outside the city, and he transported pokemon back and forth, but today, it didn't seem like there was anyone else but me, Sulker, and Zippy. There were definitely suspicions boiling in my head, but that wasn't to say I didn't trust him or Zippy.
The worlds came out of my maw before I had a chance to think any further. "Why me?" And suddenly, another eerie silence. He just stared at me- didn't say a thing."It's cool and all, really...! I'm...enjoying myself! But I..uh.." My voice slowly became inaudible, driven to a halt by my growing hesitation. What was he thinking, that Scrafty...?
Sulker held his expression for a while but seemed to have trouble finding his response. Finally, he sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. There's something about you, ya know? Something that needs fixing. You can probably assume that my knucklehead of a brother blabbed on about you for the longest time, right up to this very moment..." The Scrafty's voice trailed off, and he stopped for a moment, that gaze slowly shifting down to his knees before he decided to continue on. My ears twitched, and I would simply continue to listen. "He kept talkin' about you like you needed 'saving'. He was always sort of strange, and it took me a while to figure out what he meant. He wants you to get out of the city for a while, you know? Experience a fresh environment- stuff like that. But don't get confused about my motives; I do this for all sorts of pokemon every day. You're not all that different from them."
"Alright...I uh...I think I understand." I uttered, wondering if I had said a little too much before. Hopefully, I hadn't offended him...? He'd chuckle, looking off to the side at my short, meaningless reply. "Look, Kutsu... Whether or not you get me or zippy right now isn't really what's important," He said. "Just relax a little. Have a good time; 'cuz we're letting you have a free ride outside of that stinky, rotting pile of structures back there." I simply nodded and met his gaze- trying not to be rude and all. Surely he wasn't ignoring the fact that he wasn't charging me for the ride, but maybe zippy had paid for both of us to get on beforehand. It definitely was a thought, but as sulker said, did the 'how' or 'why' of the situation really matter at this point?
Before he had a chance to say something else, zippy opened the barely-visible compartment door, coming from the next car over. It was actually an open car if I remembered correctly. Anyway, the bouncy scraggy leaped forward and shot his arm up behind him. "You guys, we're finally approaching! I can see light!"
Sulker and I shared another quiet stare for a few moments, before beginning to slide down off from the comfy seats and back onto the messy carpet floor. "Alright, then." Sulker cleared his throat, before stepping aside and holding the door open for me. "Kutsu, c'mere. You won't want to miss this opportunity!" His smile seemed to shrivel up, once his eyes wandered open to zippy- who had climbed onto one of the seats and began scooting up to the window. "...And for the love of god, if I find ANY more prints on the glass, YOU'RE going to be wiping it clean! Got that?!" He glared at his little brother, who only rolled his eyes and turned back to the window. It was kind of funny, actually; this little relationship of theirs. Hell, I even found myself with a small grin, though I quickly hid it once I turned to sulker and followed him out the back.
"So what was he talking about? I don't see any light." I questioned the Scrafty, who simply leaned over the rim of the car and smirked. "Just wait for it. We're almost outside." He replied, resting his arms onto the glass rim and letting out a cough. I joined him by the edge, lifting my forepaws up onto the glass and glancing down at the tracks. It was a bit unsettling; it was so loud in the tunnel, MUCH louder than it was during our talk back in the train car. The low screech of the engine echoing through the cave, combined with the shaky, unstable ground we stood on, it made me think that everything was ready to fall apart or spontaneously combust, or whatever.
"Oooh yeah...here it is!" My ears twitched as they picked up the Scrafty's voice, and I looked around in confusion, desperate to see what he saw. What did he mean-?!
And then, out of nowhere, my entire world changed around me. The black, dull color of the tunnel ceiling just disappeared altogether, leaving a blue sky unlike any other I had ever seen. It was so clear; even with the clouds racing across it. They were a clear white, instead of the dirty damp gray my eyes had been so accustomed to viewing every day. It was like opening my eyes for the first time all over again; a breath of fresh air I was dying to engulf, yet it was a scene that I never knew even existed!
"Heh, you should see yourself right now! Your jaw looks like it just done fucked up!" The Scrafty laughed, jabbing my side playfully with his arm. A smirk formed on my face. "Oh, and who's fault is that, huh?~" I said, and with a huff, I gave him a tease of a shove right back, causing us both to share a glance from each other. These surprises just kept coming. Sulker suddenly pointed forward, and I couldn't believe my eyes. REAL grass! Fields, with trees way in the back! I counted all sorts of pokemon that I couldn't remember seeing back in the city, besides on pictures in those dusty old textbooks I'd borrow at the library.
These were sights I hadn't seen for myself before. And if I had, I was too young to ever remember what it was like. Even then, there was no doubt about it. With no sense of familiarity as my eyes were glued upon the land in front of me, I knew that this had to have been my first and only time on the outside. And boy, it was seriously worth it. Looking back, I couldn't even see the tall buildings or any hint of the gloomy sky where I had started. How far had we come for things to change so drastically?
A few minutes had gone by, though it seemed like forever that words weren't exchanged between the two of us, me and Sulker. After all, there wasn't much to say. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my fur, and hearing these unfamiliar sounds, words would have just gotten in the way. Although it seemed it would stay like this forever, the Scrafty finally turned towards me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Kutsu."
My ears jolted upward, and I quickly turned to sulker. He had that same old relaxed, lazy look in his eyes that I had quickly grown used to, but even then, I still found myself wondering what else the Scrafty had for me to hear. "I'm all ears! Uh..whats up?" I blinked, slowly glancing from the hand on my shoulder, back up to his patient expression. "Well..." He began, "What's the plan? What are you gonna do once we hit our stop? Zippy is getting off to go meet a few friends at the local town near here. But you? You haven't really seemed to talk much about it. You gonna go with him?"
Well, I thought about it for a second, before nodding. "Yup! I'm hoping he could show me around. But, I'm more of a loner anyway! After a day or so, I'm gonna go off and explore!" I snickered, letting my tail shake around from side to side. The Scrafty smiled and shifted his gaze back to that amazing view that lay ahead of us. "That's good to know. Be careful though..." he murmured, looking downward. "A group of pokemon, more like an organization, is making a whole lot of trouble for the people here recently. Polaris, or whatever. Don't concern yourself much with it, okay?"
I simply nodded, shrugging off the info and pushing it to the back of my mind. I had no idea how crucial that warning really was; how much it would become a part of my struggles. But I was a naive little Zorua, so what else was there to do? Shake in fear from something that sounded more like some half-baked rumor instead of a threat?
"Alright, Kutsu. I'm gonna go back inside. I'll escort you off when we get to town." He backed up, and I watched as he walked up to the train compartment door, only stopping to turn and wave one last time. "Just relax and take in the sights.~" And with that, he pulled the door open and disappeared within. For the first time in a few hours, I was left alone with my thoughts, and the beautiful world around me.
Minus the noisy roar of the engines and rusty metal wheels screeching away against the tracks, it really was peaceful, this scene of vast green and blue. Both colors mixed and met together perfectly to create a breathtaking horizon, while houses and pokemon served as dots of extra color that made it all that much better. It felt like a mistake to not call it a perfect masterpiece of nature, and I felt very lucky to be able to sit there and breathe it all in. It made me wonder how much more was out there in the world... obviously, from books, I knew. But I wanted to see it all for myself. Explorers did things like that, and the occupation always had appealed to me. Maybe I could become just that when I grew up! At least, those were just my thoughts.
I could feel it, finally. The drastic differences from weeks before... In such a short time, I found myself on a road that I was unfamiliar with. I was ecstatic, and couldn't wait to explore. I wasn't the same little fox that was too shy for simple words- I was gonna make something of this experience.
Whatever awaited for me in both the near and distant future, I vowed to embrace it all with open arms.
This was MY change of heart.
