Ok so it's been a while. All I can say is, when you work my job, it gets hectic as hell when Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the holidays in general roll around. It gets very busy, so I've decided to break this story up in "seasons" after each season concludes I'll take some time away from the story to fine tune my planning and decide how I want the time to run. So anyways, onward with season two. Off the top of my head... I'll call this season The Reason. Yeah I know not very good, but I literally came up with it as I typed this so cut me some slack. I'm lazy ok?
January 9th, 2019. 7:00 am.
Ben woke up and after a quick shower, he hurried to the lobby so he could check on Logan. He SHOULD be awake now. He waited until the Nurse was available, skipping breakfast for the time being, and once she was, he quickly walked up to her. When she saw him, her normally cheerful face dropped. Ben's heart sank. "I'm sorry Ben. He's still in his coma. I don't know why he won't wake up."
Ben sighed sadly. He was hoping Logan would be up and they could begin the process of healing, but it would seem that had to wait. "May I see him at least?" She nodded and simply told him to come and go as he pleased so long as he didn't touch anything. He readily agreed and went to the back to check on the dark vulpine. He was still motionless apart from his breathing. "Hey Logan... it's Ben. I... I just wanted to see you. I hope you're ok... I don't know what it's like for you right now... being like this, but it's not easy on me either. I know I like to say partner around you, but as your... trainer, I'm supposed to protect you as well as help you become better, and I clearly failed if you wanted to take you own life." Ben began to tear up. "I'm sorry Logan... I failed you... I'm sorry."
"Nnnnnnngh not... fault..."
Ben sniffed as his nose started running due to his crying. Was Logan trying to say it wasn't Ben's fault? That seemed most likely. "It is my fault! I know you're hurting, granted I don't know what from, but I know that you're dealing with something very bad. You even told me you want to die, and yet I failed to keep you from hurting yourself! I don't know what you went through, or how bad it was, so I can't rightfully blame you. That means the blame falls to me."
No other words were said. After a few minutes of quiet apart from occasional sobs and sniffs. After a while he excused himself after promising to see Logan again soon.
Ben's POV...
January 9th, 2019. 12:00 pm.
I went out to Route 2 and sat on a bench right before town. I needed to think about how I could help Logan when he came out of his coma, maybe even help him out of it. For a while I didn't even start. I just sat on the bench with my tail curled by my side. I then started crying again. I was a mess. The weight of what burden Logan was carrying was overflowing onto me. 'I don't know what to do! How can I help him when I'm barely holding myself together!? I want to be a good trainer and I'm fucking it up!' With my vision blurred I punched the bench. I didn't even notice the sting in my webbed hand because I was so upset with myself. There had to be something I could do. I need to be there for him now, because he doesn't have anyone. He's alone in this world besides me. He's been alone for a while. Why? Zoroarks are social creatures that live in packs. What has made him want to live such a lonely life? I mean, I know he's not exactly a nice guy... or is he? What was he like between his departure from his family, and when he took up territory in Route 1? Was he more like a normal Zoroark? Kind and caring? Sure Zoroarks killed, but they're carnivores. They need to eat meat to survive, but they never just killed for no reason. In fact they often tried to avoid having to hurt Pokémon, humans, and anthros who trespassed by using their illusions to hide their dens. They were nice Pokémon by nature. Was Logan different as an anthro, or did some external factor twist his personality? I have to find out what happened so that I can help him. For now though, I just need to be there for him. Show him that he can rely on me. It's all that I can do for him right now. When I finally returned to the real world, I noticed it was getting dark.
"Damn I was sitting there for some time."
Logan's POV...
February 1st, 2019. 11:42 am.
I've been sitting here for almost a month now, barely able to communicate with the world outside my head, and only being moved around a bit to keep my blood flowing. Near total isolation, and yet... I don't feel alone. Ben has visited me three times a day each day since... January 9th I think. He talks to me as if I was a friend. Tells me about his day, about the progress of training with the rest of the team. Every single day he talks with me as if... as if I wasn't someone who has mostly threatened him and made his life tougher. Why does he stick by me? Why doesn't he just cut and run? I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear from him again after he informed me he had beaten the Gym here. I was so sure he would leave me. In fact I think part of me was hoping he would just leave me here to rot. That may have been why I hadn't come out of this coma. I felt like I had just given up. I wanted to just lay here and die. Yet... he wouldn't give up on me, even though I had given up on myself.
'He really cares about you ya know. He's worried about you, but he's trying to be tough for you.'
Yeah, I know. I... I'm scared... what if... what if history repeats itself? If that happens again...
'You feel attached to him. I know you do. You tried to put up a front, and yet he managed to get through it.'
Only one of us knows how.
'There is only one of us you fool. I am you.'
Point taken. I just don't know how to deal with this. I've been so mean for so long, that... it's just how I am now... what if it's too late to go back?
I wouldn't receive an answer as Ben came back in. He came in after every meal. He must have just finished lunch.
"Hey Logan. I have great news. I finally came up with a name for Oshawott. Not sure how good it is though. I've gone with Nito Ichi. It's Japanese and it's a two swords fighting style. I know that Oshawott fights with one shell and not two swords, but Dewott uses two shells so I don't think it's THAT bad... it could've been much worse. I got the idea from looking up stuff on my phone."
I wanted to laugh at that. It was certainly unique.
Ben then sighed and stayed quiet for some time before speaking again, this time with notable sorrow in his voice. "You know, I'm really scared that you may never come out of this. I want you up and moving again. I mean I swear I won't leave you no matter how long it takes, but I hope you come out of this soon."
I feel horrible that I'm making him so worried. He's probably been feeling like this since I went into this. I have to make this right! I have to wake up! OPEN YOUR EYES!
Slowly, my eyes opened, and for the first time in a long time, I had control over my body. I turned my head to Ben, who was looking down at the floor. With a raspy voice, I spoke. "Hey, don't beat yourself up."
Having said a full sentence caught Ben's attention, and his eyes widened when he saw me fully awake.
