Warning, dark.

December 29th, 2017. 7:00 am.

My sleep had not been constant. Many times when I shifted in my sleep I was woken by the pain in my broken arm. When it came time to actually get up, it was very hard to do so. Lavender however hopped on my head a couple times to "help" me with that. "Come on sleepyhead! Wake up and check out the hot springs!" The heat from the place had kept the air in the cave comfortably warm. I yawned widely and loudly, but got up. I stepped groggily out if the cave and looked out at the hot springs. They were a nice clear blue you could feel the steam in your nose. It was quite nice. "Hop in!" Lavender leapt off my head and landed in the water with a small splash. She surfaced and shook her head off. "This is water even a cat like me can enjoy!"

The little feline was full of energy. I didn't jump in because it would cause a lot of pain for my arm, but I did step in and walk into a part where the water reached my neck. It was pleasantly warm and soothed my muscles, and helped numb the pain in my broken arm a little bit. "Mmmm. This does feel quite nice." The cat swam over to me and I could tell she was probably gonna splash me based on the playful look on her face. I took the initiative and ran my good arm over the surface of the water, creating a small wave that covered even her head. She shook herself off again and stuck her tongue out."

"Meanie!"

"Don't pretend that you weren't gonna do the same." She gave an innocent smile, but I wasn't falling for it. I was like that as a kid. I knew all the tricks and had used them myself. She shrugged her shoulders and began swimming around. I waded over to the side, one that was sort of like a pool in that it went straight up to the surface. It was shallow enough that I was able to sit down, and so I did. I leaned back a little bit, and before I knew it, my eyes had shut.

"Wakey wakey." My eyes opened and I looked around. The Purrloin was sitting on the edge of the water and was looking at me. "You looked so peaceful while you were sleeping. I just couldn't wake you, but I went and got breakfast." She had a small pile of berries next to her. There were even a couple Oran Berries that, upon looking around more, seemed to manage to grow around this hot spring even now due to the warm air. I hadn't realized I had nodded off. Looking up at the sun, I could see it was around midday. I stood up with a stretch and stepped out of the water. I shook myself off, but not too vigorously so as not to disturb my arm. I sat down next to her and began to eat the berries she had brought me. She looked up at me and began purring. I reached down and gently scratched her ear. She pressed her head into it and then began rubbing my leg with her body.

After a few minutes of petting her and eating, she climbed back onto my head and we set off. She reached down and began to scratch at my left ear in return. I smiled and kept walking. "So Logan, due to this delayed start, we'll probably arrive at my territory around midnight." I gave a nod and said that was ok. Then, her voice turned serious. "So, one thing of note. That pack of Houndooms that forced me off the cliff, we have to pass through their territory."

"I see. Well that shouldn't be that much of a problem so long as they aren't patrolling that area of the territory."

"Logan, there's something I want you to promise me. I've seen those Houndooms hunting their prey. They're very vicious. They don't wait for their victim to die before they start eating. No matter what happens, don't let them get me alive."

The tone of her voice told me what she meant. I was surprised by her taking about such a mature topic. She didn't want to be killed by the Houndooms because of how much it would hurt and how long it would take. If there was no other option, she wanted me to take her like quickly and painlessly. "I promise. They won't get you."

We kept walking without interruption until the sun began to go down. We had started going up and I could smell Houndoom piss on the wind. We were getting close to their territory. There was a very steep incline to our right, and our left began to become an increasingly tall cliff. I could tell the moment we passed by the border to their territory because their scent became stronger. I spoke softly to her. "Keep quiet. We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves."

We, I, continued to walk, I tried to stay low to lower how visible I would be. After some time, it had become dusk. Daylight would be gone soon. Which was fine for us since feline and canine eyes were excellent at night. I began to think that we would get through without any trouble, I heard a loud howl not far from us, followed by one on the opposite side of me.

"Well shit." I deadpanned. Before I could do anything, we were surrounded by the fire wolves. I used Hone Claws preemptively to give me as much of an edge as I could. My claws temporarily hardened and I became more focused. A large female stood in front of me.

"There's no way a vulpine like yourself couldn't smell that this territory was taken. So why are you here, and why are you with her?" Yeah this was gonna end with a fight. She was very confrontational. I wanted to at least try to talk my way out of this, but with what happened with the Lucario the previous day, yeah I had little hope in that.

"Just taking her home. Nothing bad. Just passing through."

"So you thought that after we tried to kill her, that bringing her back here wouldn't piss us off? Are you stupid?" She did have a point. Predators tended to not be forgiving to other predators no matter how young they were. They were always a potential danger to their territory when they grew up.

"No. The plan was that we'd pass through without you lot ever knowing we were here. Clearly that plan failed. Look I don't want any trouble. Just let us by and you'll never see me again. I promise." I lowered my voice to where only Lavender could hear me. "Hold on tight. This is gonna be rough." She tightened her grip on my mane.

"You're right. We won't ever see you again. You're both gonna die right here. GET THEM!" With the kill order given, I had no choice but to fight my way out. These weren't like the wolves I fought back in Pinwheel. They all attacked at once. I sent out a Dark Pulse from my body which pushed them all back. It didn't deal much damage, but it bought me some time. I picked one of them out and charged them. I delivered a slash across their neck which quickly led to them bleeding out. Now while my left arm may not have been working, both my legs were. I could hear at least two of them not far behind me and I leapt up. I hadn't been able to see how many there had been before the fight started, but I'm pretty sure there were at least a dozen of them. I had to stay defensive and take any chance to even the odds. I dropped down and landed on one of their backs. My weight coming down with so much force broke their spine and they were rendered incapacitated. I could feel heat moving towards me and I leapt to my right to avoid the Attack. By now they had all recovered from being thrown to the ground, or into trees, and came at me again. I fired off another Dark Pulse, but some of them were ready this time and those that were didn't get thrown to the ground again. Four of them closed in on me. Two in front, one to my left, and one to my right. I ran forwards and my claws glowed brightly with Fury Swipes. One of them blew fire at me, I slid under it and jammed them into its chin. As I pulled them out, the other bit into my hip. I yelled in pain before I stabbed it too. I got up and launched the one that had bit me at one of the other two. I then charged the other one. If I could use my illusions this could've all been avoided, but that broken arm still plagued me. This one also blew flames at me, and this time aimed it closer to the ground so I couldn't go under it. I took the hit but pushed through it. I cut its neck open too. Before I could gain my bearings, I felt a bite on my left leg. This one was quite powerful and it had sunk all the way down to the bone. The large female had managed to get her teeth into me. Crippling me further. I poked her in the eyes with my claws. Hopefully leaving her alive but crippled would allow me to have some leverage over the others. She howled in pain and let go. I grabbed her and showed her to the other Houndooms. "If you don't stop and let me go, your leader dies!" I made sure to keep my claws locked over her jaws to ensure she couldn't speak. They all stopped and looked to each other. The path behind us was clear, and that is where we needed to go. "I'm gonna set her down a hundred yards away. Count to 50 once I have and then you can come get her. Do we understand each other?" They nodded. Knowing if they didn't comply, she was done for.

I slowly stepped backwards, limping on my left leg. I wasn't far from passing out from my injuries and blood loss. I needed to get away. Once I got to about a hundred yards from them, I subtly hit her head against a tree to knock her out, ensuring it would be some time before she could order them to chase us, and then set her down. I kept my eyes on them, and they didn't move. I turned and began to hobble away. "Logan? Are you ok? You're bleeding a lot!"

"I'll be fine, probably. How much further?"

"Juse a few miles. You can make it!"

I continued going as fast as I could. I hardly used my left leg, which continued to bleed. My vision was becoming blurry as storm clouds began to gather. An hour after the fight, the storm started with a loud crack of thunder and a sudden downpouring of rain. "I... I don't know if... if I can keep going. I... I can't feel my leg."

"Come on Logan! It's just a little further, you can do it!" A few seconds later, we heard a rustling not too far behind us. I froze and turned my head. Lavender voiced my thoughts for me. "It's them!"

"What do we do?" I was completely out of ideas. I didn't know of any ways to buy time, and with my leg, I wouldn't be able to outrun them.

"Logan... you remember the promise you made... right?" My body shook as I fought back tears. I remembered. I nodded "Logan, please... I don't want..." Tears began to fall from my eyes. I had grown to care about her over these last couple days. I genuinely felt a bond. I don't know if it's because Purrloins were like Zoruas, or if I had just latched onto her emotionally after what I had gone through the day before, but I felt attached to her. Yet, I made a promise. My word meant something. If I made a promise, I kept it. No matter what. I put my claws against her chin.

"I'm sorry Lavender... I failed you... I'm... I'm sorry." I pushed my claws into her chin and into her brain. She went limp and fell to the ground... That was it... she was gone... I heard the rustling again, very close. I had to hide. I spotted a tree and staggered over to it. Using what little strength I had, I leapt up and managed to get myself on a sturdy branch that would hold my weight as my vision began to fade. The last thing I saw was a pair of figures approaching Lavender's body... They didn't look like Houndooms.

I woke up morning the next day. I looked at my leg and found that the wound had closed. It still hurt like a bitch, but I was no longer in immediate danger of dying. I groaned and dropped to the ground. My right leg took most of the impact. I looked over to where I had taken Lavender's life, and saw she wasn't there. Nothing was there. No body, no bones, nothing. I couldn't help but take a look. I labored over and managed to get there. I then noticed some prints on the ground. They were sort of faded from the rain, but I could tell that these were feline prints... Pokémon feline prints... I came to a realization that tore my heart out.

I had made a horrible mistake... Lavender's parents... her rescue... it had only been seconds away... and I killed her... an innocent child, and I killed her. I fell to my knees, and I let out a scream of pure agony as pain ripped through my heart.

And this is the end of Season 2 of The Otter and The Fox. Why, exactly, this has altered Logan's behavior so much will be laid out clearly in the next chapter. Until then I do have one other thing I'm going to post on a game I've been playing recently. It's a one shot but depending on how well it does I may make it a full story. It's not exactly a well known game though so I'm not gonna hold my breath. So until next time, I'll be seein ya.