Chapter Two-Deka
(Bringing in a new character in this chapter. Don't worry, Kojau will come in in the next chapter and the few after that, most likely. She is, after all, my main character.Since the two featured in this chapter are going to play a part in the story, I thought it wise to bring them in now. They will probably show up sporadically throughout the story's chapters until Kojau meets them or something of the sort. Oh, and thank you for the reviews! It's really encouraging.)
Deka wasn't there when the houndoom was brought in. On the contrary, she was in the gardens, walking the neat cobblestone paths.
She loved the gardens. Even though the smell of oil and smoke and who knows what else hung in the air around them, Deka could have cared less. The high walls hid whatever was behind them from view, and the vine trellises climbing them made them seem pleasant, less of a barrier than something to feast the eyes upon. Plus, Deka would never have considered the thought of escape. She liked being led around by the scarf about her neck, and she liked the human who led her.
Marci. The human woman was tall, and her long hair was a shade of reddish brown, which attracted Deka. She always spoke softly, and her large, dark eyes gave her a gentle appearance. She knew where Deka liked to be petted and fondled.
Deka liked humans in general, but she particularly liked Marci, and she liked even better the walks around the garden Marci took her on. The garden walks were probably the only time the ninetales got to go out into the outside world. She didn't care, though. The building was fine as well.
She was headed toward the building currently, and she peered up at it as the soft scarf around her neck urged her on. It was a large building, very tall, with many levels. It was also very wide, and inside it seemed as if it went on forever and ever. Of course, Deka had never explored it. She had never been allowed to. She did not find this strange, as she had grown accustomed to the idea that humans were fond of keeping secrets. She wondered if she was a secret, as well. It wasn't a bad idea.
Hallways. They were inside the building now, having come in from the gardens by a small side door. Deka knew these hallways like the back of her paw. Marci always led her up the same uniform white hallways, lit brightly by a small chain of lights imbedded in the ceiling.
There were rooms along those halls as well, many rooms. Deka occasionally heard cries of pain and anger emit from these rooms, but she paid them no heed. Marci always praised the ninetales for this, and to Deka there was no higher reward then being praised by Marci. Besides, humans always did things for a reason. If pokemon really were being hurt behind those ordinary doors, they must have deserved it.
Her own room was behind a door very similar to the ones of the rooms in the hall. Now that she thought about it, Deka realized it was exactly the same. But it was still special, in her opinion, as was her room.
She loved her room. It was very long, and covered in a soft grey rug that felt good to her paws. Its walls were a creamy color, and a few pictures of greenery hung on them. She also had her toys there, and her food and water givers. To Deka, there was no better pastime than peering out the window at the end of the room overlooking the gardens, and seeing the other pokemon be led around…except perhaps being there herself.
She was going to the room now, she knew, as she and Marci had already passed the door that led to the labs. The labs were where Deka had gained the ability to speak human, though Marci told her repeatedly never to. She had no idea why this was. Marci couldn't understand pokemon, she was sure of that, but the only time she was allowed to speak human was when she was safely in her room. And Marci never stuck around to chat then.
They were at her room now. Marci was fondling her ears with the hand that held the end of the scarf, while the other was reaching up to unlock the doors that led to that room. The key clicked in the lock as Deka leaned into Marci's hand, and the door swung open. And there, caged in a corner of her room, was the houndoom.
"I don't think you're even here." Deka sprawled out on the grey carpet of her room as she peered at the houndoom through eyes slitted with content. He ignored her, eyes stony and seeming to stare straight past her. As usual.
He had been here for two days, and he had ignored her for all of them. He hadn't even moved. All he did was sit there and stare off into the distance, not even a flicker of an expression crossing his face.
Deka had tried everything to gain his attention. She had talked for hours on end to him, first in pokemon and then in human. She had thought she had seen a flicker of an expression cross his face when she started to speak in human, but it was hard to tell. She had tried to dig under his cage to tip it over, but that hadn't worked. She had danced in front of him, fluffing up her luxurious nine tails, and she had even stood on top of his cage and made faces at him from above. Through it all, he hadn't even twitched. The only things that ever moved about him was his slow, measured breathing and the glint of light that traveled gradually across his two curving horns as the sun changed its position in the sky and shone through the window.
Now, as the ninetales rolled about on the floor, sensuously enjoying the feel of the carpet on her back, she wondered if he was even aware of anything. He hadn't moved for the two days he was here, and the humans hadn't come inside to take him outside for his needs or to give him food. He was like one of the gargoyles crowning the building, Deka supposed, in that he never moved and sat like some dark sentinel in his cage.
"Why did they even bring you in…?" Deka got to her paws and began to lick at her cream colored coat, one eye on the houndoom, just in case he moved. Of course, he didn't.
"You're like some statue," she told him conversationally, finishing with her grooming and sauntering over to the pipe that gave her water. All she had to do was lap at it and it opened and gave her a drink. She did this now, retaining some in her mouth and walking over to the cage again. He was a fire type, right? So perhaps water would get him move.
She walked over to the cage and shot the water from her mouth like some odd fountain, right at the houndoom's face. "I'm a squirtle!"
He didn't move, which disappointed her somewhat. She supposed that was to be expected, though. His eyes did seem vaguely disgusted as the water dripped down the front side of the cage before his face. Deka didn't know if that was good or bad, but she was getting fed up with this.
"You're boring." She pressed her nose to the front of the cage, smearing it in the water. "Why won't you talk?" Her voice had a bit of a nasal ring to it, as her nose was plugged up from being squashed against the cage.
He did nothing.
"You're dumb."
Nothing.
"You're weird."
Still nothing.
"You're a…umm…an embarrassment to your kind!" She had heard Marci once say something along those lines to another human who worked with her who had messed up. "You're…umm…you're a coward! You-Yaiii!"
Deka jerked backwards as a torrent of flame blasted out at her face, the heat of it palpable even through the cage. She lost her balance in her hurry to get away and tripped over backward, falling ungracefully to the floor in font of the houndoom, who was on his feet and glaring at her angrily.
"And what are you? A human's disgusting pet?" The words were hissed out quietly between clenched jaws, and his eyes glowed slightly as he glared at her. He was quite tall when he stood, really, and the muscles rippled under his sleek black fur as his long horns glinted dangerously in the light.
Deka found herself wishing she could sink into the floor under his glare, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his…or even move, for that matter. The ninetales whimpered in her fear.
With a sigh of disgust, he turned his head away and broke eye contact. "Pitiable."
Deka shut her eyes tightly and lay perfectly still until her trembling stopped. She didn't want to have to look into his eyes again, and she could feel his gaze on her.
"Oh, do stop cowering." He spoke again after what seemed an eternity, voice a bit more gentle than before.
Deka opened one eye, then the other. He was looking down at her, but his gaze no longer seemed to entrap her, and his eyes no longer glowed. She stared up at him, still laying prostrate on the floor, fearing to move. He was scary.
"What's that on your head?" She started as he spoke once more, after a long period of silence, voice a bit sharper than before.
"What on my head?" She finally ventured cautiously to her paws, sitting in front of him. She studied him as she waited for him to answer, gaze ranging over his lanky, well built frame, lingering in fascination on his pointed tail.
"That thing on your head," he growled, motioning with his long, orangey muzzle. "That human thing." His tail flicked under her gaze as if it possessed a mind of its own.
"Oh, that…" Deka's eyes rolled up as if to peer through her skull to view the top of her head. There was a small black collar there, going around the side of her face and in front of her ears. It formed a large band at the top of her head, a band with several buttons on it. She had tugged at it a few times before, but her head hurt every time she did so, and it seemed to be attached somehow, for twin stings assaulted her whenever it was jerked. It had been there for as long as she could remember. "It's…it's just there."
"Yes, but it shouldn't be." The houndoom narrowed his eyes at her, staring at the top of her head. "It's not normal, you know?" When she did nothing, he snapped at her. "Do you!"
"Uhm…yea…I mean, no. I mean…" Deka had gotten to her paws by now and was backing away from him. He wasn't very nice seeming. She supposed she ought to have expected that, though. The surplus of dark types here seemed to dislike her for some reason or other, houndoom in particular. Why had she even wanted to wake him up…?
The houndoom heaved a sigh and lowered his wolfish muzzle to gaze down at his paws. The expression of mild consternation that had been on his face earlier intensified, as though he was thinking about something. He did not speak.
After a time, Deka judged it safe to move. The ninetales got to her paws and padded off toward the window at the end of the room, glancing back at him as she reached it. He had done nothing, hadn't even glanced at her.
Shrugging it off, she took one of her chew toys in her mouth and settled down in front of the window to relax.
The next day, Deka awoke to find him pacing his cage, demon's tail lashing angrily behind him. Agitation etched his strong features, and his eyes burned with a silent, fervent light.
He whirled about and leered at her as she approached his cage, eyes glowing an eerie red. "What did they do to me?" His voice was like a raging fire, and Deka could almost feel the flames reaching up to scorch her fur…
"What…do you mean?" She tore her vision away from his face with difficulty, though it was better than yesterday. She hadn't even been able to move then.
"Why is it that I do not hunger?" His voice was low now, murderous. "Why is it that I do not long for water after three days? Why is it that I do not feel needs as every other pokemon must? WHY!" He practically roared out the last word, and a torrent of heated flames gushed out against the cage wall, so intense that they obscured the houndoom for a moment.
Deka yelped in surprise and tripped clumsily to the side, trying to get out of the way of the flames…just in case they somehow found their way out of the cage and caught her. The fox like pokemon backed up slowly as the flames died down, revealing the cage's occupant once more. Deka trembled a bit in fear.
The houndoom regarded her coolly, any hint of his previous anger gone. "You really are pathetic…"
Deka slunk off to the other side of the room, turning her back to him and curling up miserably on the floor, wishing he had never come.
"Why do you not try to escape?" The houndoom's voice came to Deka as Marci shooed her into the room after her daily walk in the gardens. "Why not flame that human? You could do so easily."
It was the fourth day he had been here, in her room, and he hadn't been let out of his cage yet. Deka wondered if he ever got bored in there, but if he did, he never showed it.
"Well, he seems to have gotten used to you." Marci patted Deka on the head as she began to shut the door to the room, looking very expectant about something or other. However, she was out of the room before the ninetales could ask her just what it was she seemed to be looking forward to.
"Flame?" Deka asked as the door shut behind her. She padded up to the houndoom's cage, stretching lazily, mouth opening in a yawn and revealing her pristine canines. "I don't know what you're talking about…" She ended her yawn, shuddering pleasantly.
The houndoom snorted, fading tongues of smoke coiling up from between his jaws and dissipating against the top of the cage. "You heard me. Flame. You know, flamethrower, ember, fire spine…" He trailed off sarcastically, eyeing Deka.
The ninetales, however, truly had no idea of what he was talking about. Flame? Her? She did not flame. She had never flamed before in her life…at least, not when she could remember. She looked at him questioningly.
He shook his head in disbelief after scrutinizing her closely for a few seconds, as if trying to ascertain her truthfulness. "I don't believe it. You can't produce any kind of fire at all? Nothing?"
She shook her head, shifting uneasily from foot to foot and feeling uncomfortable. She didn't want him to go into one of his 'moods.'
But he only looked at her oddly, eyes seeming…pitying? Somehow, the look disturbed her. "You poor, poor thing." He spoke softly for the first time, neither frowning not smiling.
He did not speak for the entirety of that day, and Deka made no move to try to get him to. Somehow, his earlier words had disturbed her greatly, but she could not tell why.
It bothered her as she settled down to sleep near her window, feeling the cool air rushing in from the air vent overhead cool her. He had made it sound like she should be able to flame, as if it was natural. Perhaps others like her were able to flame? She, after all, had never seen another ninetales or vulpix. As far as she knew, she was the only one there.
Did that make her special? Did that mean that, just maybe, the humans treated her better than the other pokemon? Those pokemon that cried pitiably from behind those heavy doors…perhaps they weren't bad, after all? Perhaps whatever was happening to them would happen to her in time? But no, that couldn't be. It just couldn't. The humans were good and kind, and she had always been good. Whenever she went to the labs, something pleasant always happened, like her suddenly knowing how to speak human.
Nevertheless, it troubled her greatly. Eventually, she drifted off into troubled dreams that she knew she wouldn't be able to recall in the morning.
When she awoke, she realized that something seemed to be different. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Deka tried to tell what it was. She let her vision drift to the side of her…and found herself staring at a black, shackled paw inches from her muzzle.
With a yelp, she leaped to her paws…or attempted to. Still unsteady and thick with sleep, she nearly tripped over and managed to sit down right before she fell.
The houndoom only regarded her with a kind of cool amusement, eyes shining a bit in the light from the window.
Not knowing what to say, Deka peered around frantically, staring at his cage. It was still there, but the door was open.
"I didn't escape." She started again at the sound of his voice, peering nervously back at him. What if he chose to go psycho again and flamed her? She didn't want that to happen.
"The door opened," he continued, pawing at his face. "Opened just a few minutes ago. Tried flaming the walls, but nothing happened. Figures. Humans have to make sure everything is secure, and they're actually pretty good at doing it." He paused as he noticed her nervousness, and that amused expression crept onto his face. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Though, you can't really blame me."
Deka could only nod numbly, feeling oddly relieved. Fully awake now, the ninetales blinked at the houndoom, studying him.
"Well, I never told you my name." He spoke conversationally, and much to her surprise, he bowed to her, just missing touching the floor with his nose. "I am Crosius."
Trying to shake out of her shocked state, Deka managed a faint smile. "Deka Minus C. But…everyone calls me Deka." She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a warmth creep into his eyes, seeming to thaw the coldness that had been there before. Perhaps, she thought, just perhaps they could be friends.
Somewhere near the top of the building, Marci was talking to a small man.
"It worked? He didn't burn her?" The woman looked expectantly at the man, fingers trailing through her long red hair.
"Indeed it did." He looked a bit nervous. "He made no aggressive movements toward her, and it actually appeared that there was some form of communication between them."
Marci smiled, eyes lighting up. "Good. It would be a pity if we lost little Deka that early…" She sighed. "She is one of my more favored occupants."
The man made no reply to this, and Marci chuckled after a moment, a deep, rich sound. Leaning back in her chair, she interlaced her long fingers. "I know I shouldn't get too attached to her, though. Their personalities tend to change with our little experiments. But it is for the good of the people, you know. The sooner we win this war, the better." She paused. "Though it is a pity…such a pity. She would have made a fine, loyal companion pokemon."
The man still didn't speak. He seemed nervous of Marci, but he knew not to leave. Her moods could swing very unpredictably, and it was best to act as if he wasn't here for now.
But Marci only gazed out the window and off into the distance, a slight, whimsical smiled on her face, quite hiding the demon that the man had learned lurked beneath. "Such a pity…" The words were breathed once more from her perfect, cherry red lips, as if to herald things to come…