Chapter 2: Silvia's Tribe
(Thank you everyone for your support so far, I only hope the support with continue to grow. Please enjoy. ^_^)
{Silvia's Point of View}
(Before Rui's death in Fruits, Spices and Gardevoir. If this story confuses you, read that one first, it'll clear up a lot. If you're caught up, please enjoy.)
-Year 509-
I was sitting at our table, drinking a cold beer as Rui played with our oldest daughter. We named her Alivia, a cute female Ralts, and Rui's personal favorite. I watched as he gently tossed her in the air and caught her, the little happy squeals she released said it all. When the fun was over, Rui held her, kissing her head before looking at me.
My wonderful mate asked me, "What's wrong Silvia?"
I looked at my cup of beer before sighing, "Did I... ever tell you why I left my village?"
Rui sat down, petting our daughter, "No, why ask all of a sudden?"
I stared into the cup, thinking about the hundreds of years I spent wandering around, "I... I'm pretty sure I told you that I wanted to explore the world."
Rui nodded, "Yeah, I remember that, but you never said why."
I looked at him sadly, "I could never get a mate... my sister stole them all."
Rui looked down at Alivia sadly, "Oh yeah... She did..."
Alivia looked up at Rui with wide, curious eyes, "Ralts?"
I smiled at my daughter as she hugged Rui. She could sense his sadness already. Although speaking is still out of her reach, I'm positive she'll learn quickly. She is her father's daughter after all. Rui hugged her, kissing one of her horns before standing up with her in his arms. He walked over to me, pulling up a seat to have us sit face to face.
Rui gently rocked Alivia, "You know... you never did tell me what you went through on your journey... how long did it take for you to reach Yargrove?"
I smiled at Alivia, noticing her eyes begin to close, "I left my village when I was 408 years old... I found that village when I was 519. I was there for nearly 400 years."
Rui smirked at me, "So you're not 1000 years old like you so proudly declare."
I blushed, looking aside, "Stupid male, I can still say I'm 1000 years old. It's only a couple of years for me."
Rui's face suddenly got serious, "Silvia... you know what's going to happen to me... right?"
I flinched, 'Don't you dare bring up dying.' I shook my head, smiling, "I know everything you silly boy."
Rui looked down at Alivia, gently petting her sleeping head, "...Tell me... can you... can you withstand my death?"
I closed my eyes, feigning a smile, "What? Do you think I'd be devastated?" I giggled, adding in a playful remark, "I would never cry of you, no matter what."
Rui got up, taking our daughter to her room, but he ordered me to stay sitting on that chair. When he laid her on her bed, Rui quietly left the room and closed the door, "I'm very disappointed in you."
I was shocked to hear him say that, "Disappointed?"
Rui sat in front of me, giving me the most deathly serious look I've ever seen from him, "That was horrible to say, even if it was a joke."
I looked down, "I... I'm sorry."
I didn't notice I was crying until a tear dripped off my round chin. It fell towards my cupped hands, but didn't land on my skin. In fact, it landed on Rui's hands. He put his on mine to comfort me. I looked up to see he still looked serious but smiled warmly.
He said, "It's okay Silvia. I just want you to know one thing. I'm glad you jumped in my cart and lived with me, even if one day you and history will forget about me."
The tears came out faster as my heart skipped a beat. I pulled my hands free, standing up and shouted, "Do you think of me as a cheap maiden! Rui, you will never be forgotten! I won't let that happen! You will be remembered as the world's greatest trader! I'll never ever forget you! I love you for fuck's sake!"
I reeled my arm back to knock some sense into him, but Rui stood up. Without stopping, he gently cupped my cheeks and kissed me. I still wanted to hit him, but slowly my arm dropped to hang on my side. The kiss lasted a lot longer than I expected. My tears kept coming, my inner fears pouring out just from this kiss.
When Rui pulled back, our spit was connected for a bit before breaking, "I love you too Silvia." He caressed my cheek, wiping a few tears, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
I hugged him, crying into his shoulder, "You idiot... oh Arceus... you stupid idiot..."
I felt Rui's hand on the back of my head, holding me there. His scent... body... voice... they're... they're the world's greatest comfort. I feel so safe here... in his arms... My hands gripped his back as I began to realize how much I don't want him to leave me one day.
Rui kissed my head, "I'm scared too Silvia. I won't always be there for you when you need me... but that's okay."
I slowly pulled back, looking into his eyes, tearful, "Why's that?"
Rui placed his hand on my cheek, "It's because you're brilliant, Silvia."
My heart skipped a beat at his sincere words, "You..."
My mouth wasn't able to speak, I just stared at his, blushing until he kissed my open mouth. He held my head there as I wrapped my arms around his neck. My sadness began to go away as the damn tears stopped coming. When Rui pulled back, I pulled him into another kiss.
He tried to pull back again, but I pulled him close and laid my face into his chest. I was almost crying again, "Please... please don't leave me."
I... I sounded so pitiful. I could feel more tears coming until Rui picked me up. I blushed hard, wrapping around his neck as he sat on the chair. My blush never faded as his face smiled, mere inches from mine.
Rui whispered, "Tell me more. I want to hear your whole life before we met."
I nodded quickly, sitting on his lap, "I'll tell you more, but when it's time for bed, which is soon, I'll need you to-"
Rui shushed me, "I know exactly what you want, Silvia. Please, continue the story."
I smiled, laying my forehead against his, "Fine."
- 850 years before the beginning of Fruits, Spices, and Gardevoir -
I was a gardevoir now, in a couple years I'll be fully trained. Our village has lived in peace for 50 years after my mother negotiated a trade with one of our rival tribes. They were human slavers, something that pissed me off because my father was human. I never ask what happened to him, but I can guess that he left my mother relatively quickly. My sister agreed to visiting the rival tribe once a week. I'm not sure what she does there, but I have the feeling it involves sleeping around. I could feel a bit of hatred form inside my heart. My sister is nothing more than a whorish bitch. My friends have already become mates, close to becoming a full family. Many disagreed with this, but I supported them. They were my friends after all.
My mother came up to me, "Silvia, have you seen Freight?"
I thought about it. Freight is a gallade that recently moved to our village. He used to live with a group of humans until they were attacked by, what they called, bandits. When they left, the entire village was destroyed. Everyone, except him, was killed mercilessly. The original humans I had known in my youth were already dead.
My mother got my attention again, "Well!?"
I shook my head, "I do not know mother."
My mother shook her head, "That's not good. I sent him into the forest to search for firewood."
I looked down, "Winter has been quite harsh lately."
My mother placed a hand on my shoulder to comfort me, "It will be okay Silvia."
I asked her, "Will it? This Winter came so quickly we didn't get a chance to harvest any food."
She closed her eyes, putting both hands on my shoulders, "Silvia... we will be fine. I just need you to go into the forest and look for Freight. Without that firewood our bonfires will go out."
I raised a finger up to bite it gently, "We would freeze to death..."
Mother nodded, "Yes, that is why you must go."
I agreed with my mother, quickly grabbing a few mightyena pelts to keep myself warm. While I'm walking, I'll continue my explanation of what's changed. When the humans started getting older, I began to realize how... different they are from us. I never got older, and before I knew it, we were digging holes for them. I've never been so sad... one year means nothing to me, but is an eternity to humans. I find myself asking strange questions. Was I kind to them? Did I disappoint them? Did they hate me? I never wondered that, I always... I guess I always thought they'd live with us forever. That isn't the case however. I know now, a human lives every day like it's their last. If I make a friend, I'll always do what I can to make every day matter.
-1 hour later -
I still couldn't find Freight, but I did find something worse. Blood. There was a fight, meaning Freight attacked someone, was attacked, or he wasn't here at all and it never mattered. Mightyena hunt in packs, always careful in a fight to never intentionally harm one member of their pack.
The search ended with Freight's body. It was mangled and twisted with chunks missing and blood everywhere. Only his head was intact. He had a shocked expression forever painted upon his face. Despite seeing him like this, I strangely didn't feel sad. Only... empty. I gripped the mightyena fur, wondering what I should do now. With a sigh, I used my psychic abilities to pick his shambles body up. It was a long walk home.
Returning with his body and no firewood was a terrible feeling. Everyone was shocked to see what had become of him. When I thought about it, even I was shocked. He was a gallade, mightyena can't beat him that easily... can they? The eldest gardevoir prepared his burial as I began to wonder what I should do now.
Catherine popped up behind me, "Hi sis!"
I looked away, unable to look her in the eyes, "Hi."
Catherine wrapped an arm around me, "Are you still made that I slept with your boy toy?"
I grit my teeth a bit, whispering, "You stole them from me."
Catherine laughed, "Silvia, if they were the type to be faithful, wouldn't they say no?"
I gasped at that, looking at her, "It's not just them, it's also you!"
Catherine shrugged, "Hey, I'm looking out for you. I don't want my sister to end up with a second rate male that cheats on her."
I stomped on the floor like a child, "So it's okay for you to seduce them!"
Catherine grinned, "Silvia, stop being a whiny bitch. The reason I came to talk to you is, I know where you can get more firewood for us."
I gave her a searching look, "Oh really? Then why haven't you gone to get it?"
Catherine laughed, "I'm too busy attracting potential mates to do such a tedious task. That's why mother, and I, are assigning it to you."
I was annoyed, but I still asked, "Well, where is it?"
Catherine answered my quickly, eyeing a male gardevoir that walked by, "Mmmmm, there's a human village nearby that has plenty of firewood. Go there and ask for some, worse comes to worse, just take it. Now if you'll excuse me."
Before I could say anything else, Catherine walked away. I wanted to attack her so badly, but I refrained myself from doing so. I could never beat her in practice, let alone in a full fledged battle. I felt a hand rub my back. When I looked over my shoulder, it was Aigis. She smiled at me, trying to sent comfort through our shards. It worked, I felt a strange warmth grow inside me.
I smiled at her, "Thank you Aigis."
Aigis hugged me, "You're my best friend, someone I'll trust until the day I die."
I turned around, returning her hug, "I'll never forget you if anything happens."
Aigis stopped the hug, smiling so coy, "You can't forget me, I'll be the mother of your favorite ralts."
I grabbed her hands, jumping in happiness, "You're going to have a ralts!?"
Aigis blushed hard, "Well... we haven't actually gotten that far, but we're close."
I smiled warmly, "Well, whenever it happens, I'll always be happy for you."
Aigis nodded, "So, what did she tell you?"
I groaned, looking aside, "She said I needed to go to a human village in order to get firewood."
Aigis gasped, "Oh! I know the one, I visited it with Izia. They're extremely kind humans... oh..."
Aigis looked down, clenching her hands together sadly. I had to ask, "Are you okay?"
Aigis wiped a tear, "I miss them..."
I hugged her, knowing who she meant, "I do too. It pains me to see them die of old age like that."
Aigis cried a little bit, "We grew up with them... do you... think we helped them live a good life?"
I held my kind hearted friend, "I sometimes wonder the exact same thing. They died so fast... I felt like we didn't have any time with them."
Aigis calmed down, pulling back, "I know... *sniffle*... I just wish we could bring them back. I miss them so much."
I shook my head, "We can never bring them back. As sad as that is, we need to accept that. Even Freight died today, that means our lives aren't as carefree as we thought."
Aigis piced her head up, hearing Izia calling her, "I'll be there in just a second! Silvia, the village is towards the great tree. Once you past it, and exit the forest, you should see it."
I nodded my thanks, "I'll see you when I come back."
I watched my friend go, feeling a bit envious of her. Then... I felt nothing but overwhelming joy for them. My wonderful friends are together and going to have a family soon. That's nothing to envy or frown upon, that's a great joy. Now, it's time I began my journey to the human village. Thanks to Aigis, I know where they are and I can pray that they'll help us.
(Outskirts of the forest of Tall Trees)
- 3 hours later -
By the time I have reached the edge of the forest, I could see the sun was setting. I've never seen a sunset... it was so beautiful. It made me wonderful what else awaits me in the outside world... but then I realized it wouldn't be right to leave my home. I've been there my whole life. I know nothing of the outside world apart from a beautiful sunset.
With an encouraging breath, I began to walk towards the village I saw in the far distance. Black smoke rose from the village, making my eyes wide with happiness. I thought that meant they had firewood, plenty of firewood. The village was next to a smaller forest, one that's easier to cut down. I don't know how they cut trees down, but humans must be a remarkable species. The closer I got to the village, the faster my heart raised in anticipation to meet them. Little did I realize, things were not as I thought. The village had been attacked by bandits, the ones I've heard about.
I only realized this when I got close enough to see the buildings ablaze or destroyed. My legs never moved so fast as I ran to the village, willing to help anyway I could. I trapped the fires within psychic bubbles to deprive them of oxygen, effectively putting them out. Many of the people here were dead with cuts all over them. Then I realized, there were no children present at all. A few people were still alive, albeit, going to die without help. I went to work quickly, healing everyone I could while they were unconscious. I do not think all of them survived, but I was happy to save anyone I could. The last man I healed, looked at me in shock.
He said, "Aigis!?"
I shook my head, "No, I'm her friend. My name is Silvia."
He looked at his healed wounds, "Did you heal me?"
I nodded, "Yes."
He then tried to get up but he's too weak to stand, "What about the others?"
I stepped aside, "I healed all that I could, but I think most will make it. What happened here?"
The man panted, "They attacked us without warning."
I tilted my head in confusion, "They?"
He nodded quickly, "Men armed with sharp sticks attacked us. They were merciless, killing anyone and kidnapped all of the children."
I got up, glaring at the sky, "Where did they attack from?"
The man looked up at me, "They attacked from the east, towards where the sun is setting. Why?"
I started walking away, "It's where they must have gone now. I'll find them and save your children."
I left the village, going after the bastard that caused all this destruction. These people have done nothing wrong and they think they can get away with this!? No, they will feel my wrath for preying upon the innocent. After hearing what they did to Freight and these people, I hate any and all bandits.
I found the bandit camp after an hour of walking. The sun had already set, making a mask of darkness to hide me. The mightyena pelts helped me blend in perfectly. There were only about 15 men at the most. Two watched over the children they kidnapped. As I snuck up on them, I made sure to scab the situation as best I could. The villager was right, they were armed with sticks that have sharp rocks tied to them. This was going to be easier than I thought. After all, I didn't need to fight them if they end up fighting each other. Using my psychic influence, I made a few of them go crazy, freaking out the others. I could feel fear and confusion erupt from the camp, former friends killing each other because I merely tweaked their brain. When the tweaked were dead, I came out of hiding, shocking all of them. They spoke a language I've never heard before, possibly meaning they're from another land. Without mercy, I showed them true horror as I murdered them cruelly, letting one live to tell others what I've done here. The children were huddled toward, strange things called rope are tied around their wrists.
I approached one, tears coming down his face, "Please don't kill us."
I smiled at him, shocking everyone by petting his head gently, "Don't be silly, I'm taking you all back home."
They all looked at me wide eye, one asked, "Are you Aigis."
I shook my head, "Aigis is my friend. I came to your village to ask for firewood, but you were attacked. That's why I came here to save you."
They all seemed to cry, happy that I, an angel to them, has graced their lives. After freeing them, we walked back to their village, happy to find most of the parents waiting for us. The reunion was touching, seeing all these torn, beaten families back together made me smile. A few of them lost their parents and I gave them a kind choice. If they help me with the firewood, I would take them back to my village. The agreement was immediate, the town gave me all I needed. The eight children who followed, lived in the village for the rest of their lives.
(Wow, that was honestly quite a chapter for me. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please favorite, follow, and review to support this story. ^_^)
