We had been walking for nearly a hundred paces, it was Houndoom's turn to lead our little group forward, and it was honestly quite peaceful. Some Pidgey were singing, so were some Starly. The voices of all the Pidgey around us sounded crystal clear and high in pitch, while the flock of Starly sounded a bit rougher and deeper in tone. It mixed quite well, harmonizing into something to distract us from the monotony of walking through a forest where the scenery seemingly never changed. I glanced behind Ninetales, who had been following in the back, regardless of if we offered to let her take the lead for an hour. I often had found myself envying how pretty she looked; Ninetales in general were quite pretty, but Alolan ones were particularly beautiful.
The Ninetales' ears perked and she immediately broke off from our group, sniffing at the ground all the while. "Where the heck are you going?" Houndoom asked. He grunted when our new companion seemingly didn't seem to acknowledge him. Before either of us could go run after her, she vanished into the bushes, as if she just entirely disappeared. She didn't even leave behind a scent. Now, I knew that these nine tailed freaks could manipulate what others' minds can see, but it still didn't put me at ease. Whatever, if she wanted to break off from our group, so be it. It's no fur off my hide at least.
"Fine! If you don't wanna listen and stick with us, then it's not my problem!" Houndoom growled before offering to let me take the lead. I happily took part, but kept going along the path we had been walking; no point in changing direction right? That would only make it take longer for us to get somewhere. I happily started trotting along, Houndoom at my side, and the minutes slowly started blending into hours, and the sun was setting.
"Can we take a rest?" I asked as I started to have a noticeable limp; my paws hurt from walking so much. In fact, I was generally just tired because we hadn't had anything to eat for a whole day. A severe lack of food can do quite a bit to the body after a long period of time. My stomach grumbled at how empty it was when Houndoom nodded. "I can go look for food while you wait here. It's my turn to hunt anyways and I know you're starving. Like any gentle-hellhound, I'll get the lady some food," Houndoom said. "Are you implying that you would like to court me?" I asked.
We both had a good laugh at that. There was no way Houndoom would find me attractive. There was also no way I could find him attractive… albeit he is quite well muscled, made for a good pillow, and wasn't too shabby in the looks. I shook my head of those thoughts once a bush started rustling. Somebody, or multiple somebodys was stalking around us and I shot up from my spot. I could almost feel Houndoom building fire up in his throat while I got ready to lunge at whatever was stalking us. "Get out of the bushes! We know you're here. So if you don't want to be our dinner, you'll come out."
"Calm down, Houndoom. It is only I," Ninetales stuck her head out of the bush then pulled it back in. "I thought you wanted to go off and be on your own," I said. "So why'd you come back? Actually, why'd you wander off? Did some human offer you a nice, comfy bed?" I asked. Ninetales' head popped back out of the bushes with a weird Pokemon's hoofed leg in her mouth. She had her rear to us as she dragged an entire corpse out into the clearing. Her coat was stained in blood that likely wasn't hers. The corpse was that of a weird looking Sawsbuck… Well, I've never seen one of those before, so maybe this could be an entirely normal Sawsbuck. Eitherway, she had found dinner. Ninetales spat the leg out of her mouth and turned to us. "I was only getting food. I could tell you two were hungry and I know that I'm older than both of you. So it is my job to provide food," Ninetales sat down.
There was a noticeable chunk of meat missing from the dead Pokemon. "I already had my share, so do not worry about me. I highly doubt that you do anyways, but I would like it if you pretended to care about me being gone. You know, show an emotion other than disgust when I return with a catch," Ninetales said. I could feel the sarcasm slowly drip into her words as she spoke. She had noticed how Houndoom and I were practically snarling the moment her head popped into view.
"Now if you excuse me, that thing left a mark on my hind leg, so I would like to tend to my wound before it becomes infected," Ninetales said. With that, she turned her back to use and stretched out her right leg and started licking at it. The Sawsbuck's antlers must've nicked her there. There were a few noticeable whimpers as Ninetales presumably licked where her injury was. Houndoom and I took no concern in that; licking wounds stung even if it did help to heal faster. Without second thought, we walked over to the carcass and started to dig in.
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I sighed as I felt the blood on my leg begin to clot; the healing process had begun. Behind me I could hear my new packmates take their fill of the deer I had just brought back. Why humans called those that were beyond me. They were clearly a Sawsbuck that had lost their main in the Summer, and also lacked the distinctive leaves in its antlers. That thought left my head as I realized how filthy I was. My blood began to boil as I realized that I let blood get into my coat, so I stood up and wandered off to find water.
While I could ask Houndoom or Absol to groom me, I highly doubt they would. That job was only reserved for mates or very close friends… At least, that's how Ninetales worked. Grooming was the ultimate, most genuine way to tell another Ninetales or Vulpix that you loved them… I wish I had groomed my son more before that horrible day. Now I will never ever get the chance… but there is that tiny hope that I will get the chance to. I stopped just before a pond, hopped in, and back out. I shook myself until my head hurt and looked in the water back at my reflection.
Just like magic, the blood had washed out of my fur and it made me smile with pride. While I didn't have a trainer, I did have pride in how I looked. What good Ninetales didn't? For those who had trainers, it was a chance to look very elegant for their beloved human, and clean fur meant that the fur was likely very soft and healthy. I know a few Ninetales that happily would let their trainers use them as a pillow, while using their tails as a blanket. The things captive Ninetales did for their trainers was disgusting. How could they let their tails be used as blankets? Something so sacred just to be used for warmth? I chuckled; I did the same but for packmates who did not give a single damn about me.
Well, for me at least, my newly clean coat would mean that there was an odd chance that I may be able to find a new mate. If I ever want another one that is. I would love to have my first mate, to have my child with me, both at my side. My mate curled up around me while I curled up around our son. That was something I could only do in my dreams… but that simply won't happen. And I refuse to have a new mate as we Ninetales mated for life. It seemed a bit odd that we were so loyal to our mates, even when said mate passed away, but there was no way I could betray my mate after promising I would always be his.
Captive Ninetales were quite similar, except for with their humans who have a meager 80 to 100 year lifespan. They often would guard the dens, belongings, or graves of their beloved trainers and I could not fault them for that. Our trust is not something we easily give out, I don't even fully trust my new packmates yet, and when we trust somebody or another Ninetales then that means that we loved them. With love comes loyalty, loyalty that is very important to Ninetales and Vulpix around the world. To our loved ones, they were worth dying for, even when they pass away.
I pulled away from the pond's edge and crept back to where Absol and Houndoom were. Both of them were piled together, their bellies facing the deer I had caught. The deer itself was mostly gone, excluding the bones and head, which would likely get the attention of a few scavengers. That didn't bother me as every creature needed food, even the trees do, so I would happily leave whatever remained of the dead animal so others may have a meal. I bowed my head towards the animal, as it had served its purpose of feeding another being. One day everything dies, is broken down, and the young take over the world. That is how life works, eat, sleep, mate, love, die, and be washed away by time.
"So, are you two going to admit that you would like to mate with each other?" I said, breaking the silence amongst our little camp. "And would you just go away already? You nosy, nosy Ninetales," Absol said. "I would, but we agreed to be a pack. So no, I will not go away," I laid down and laid my tails over myself. These two didn't deserve to be covered up while we rested; I only did so in the cave because they comforted me. Now it seemed like our little moment in the cave never happened to these two though. It is quite the shame; I'd happily consider them friends, maybe even love them and swear my loyalty to them had we just remained the way we were in that cave.
Whatever, my purpose was to just get these two animals to eat, follow them around, and wallow in the fact that I don't feel any closer to finding my child. I was just a member of the pack doing my job to provide for the younger members among them, even if they didn't really like me. The sheer difference between Vulpix and these two was massive. My kit would have lept at the opportunity to start cuddling with me after he had his fill of whatever I caught at the time. To groom me, to do anything to show his appreciation for caring and loving him. It was honestly kind of adorable how we would wrap his tiny little fore legs around my snout and start grooming the ridge in between my eyes.
Now I was getting a stink eye from Houndoom. The second that I find my child, I am leaving this group. At least then, I will have somebody who celebrates my existence rather than tolerates it.
I would celebrate and praise Arceus every single day if I could find my Vulpix again.
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We started back up on our way, with Houndoom leading us again. Our bellies were filled thanks to Ninetales hunting for us. I did feel a bit bad for sounding a bit harsh on the old Ninetales behind us, but we couldn't really apologize when said Pokemon started keeping her distance from us. This morning she was at either mine, or Houndoom's flank, and now she stood two of Houndoom's tail lengths behind us. She very clearly was bored of walking, and it looked as though her mood wasn't in the greatest of shape.
It hit me that I had cuddled with a Ninetales last night. Not just cuddle with her, but lay my head on top of hers in a protective manner. We were nice to her after hearing how she had been separated from her kit, how she loathed humans, how she'd give anything just to be with her child. We did that and the very next day, she ran off to hunt for us, and we had not thanked her at all. We hadn't shown her any appreciation either. Houndoom and I were quite simply bad packmates to her.
I peeked around my shoulder to see Ninetales staring up at the sky, either lost in its bright blue depths, or lost in thought. She hadn't even noticed that I was staring at her. While her eyes and mind seemed elsewhere, her ears seemed to pan and point at even the slightest of noise. Out of the three of us, she likely had the best hearing. I simply didn't have the ear structure that she did to hone in on what was around us, and I know Houndoom definitely didn't either. Her mind slowly fell onto the path in front of her and a small smile etched its way into her face.
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Even if I knew these two didn't like me, I did have an idea to make all this aimless walking a bit more bearable. I noted how Absol had been staring at me for a moment before she turned back forward. While I didn't mind, it was a bit unsettling. For all I knew she could be mentally cursing me. For all I knew I could get myself chased off or even killed for the idea I had in mind. I didn't care though. If this worked out, I could maybe grow a little closer to my packmates. If it fails… well, I'll be seeing my child in another life if Human's belief in religion is anything to go by.
I lowered myself to the ground, ran forward, and nipped at Houndoom's tail. Before he could react, I barked. "You're it!" Before running ahead, making sure to keep going in the direction we were already headed in. Absol and Houndoom seemed a bit shocked at first, before the Disaster Pokemon took off, just within tails' reach. Houndoom then ran after us, making sure to run just slow enough for me and Absol to be just out of reach.
Eventually Absol got tagged, I got tagged, and Houndoom got tagged again. We kept on running until I tripped over a root; after running for two hours, even we Ninetales can't stay light on our feet. "Oof!" I came hurtling and felt my tails get caught on a bush, my momentum did the rest of the work, and I yelped when my rear flared up. I quickly freed my tails from the bush and started whimpering as I tried my best to ease my pain. "Ninetales! Are you alright?" I opened my eyes and saw Absol sitting next to me, and to my surprise, looked concerned.
I nodded. "I got my tails caught in a bush when I tripped," I said. "You Ninetales and your big fancy tails! Nice and pretty but they get stuck in every little thing! I wouldn't be surprised if they get stuck in between each other!" Houndoom said in a joking manner. I would have appreciated the joke a bit more had my rear not been on fire from the tails being tugged on. "When that happens it is the absolute worst thing that can happen other than having my tails pulled out," I said. I shivered at the thought and continued licking the base of my tails.
"I will be fine. Us Ninetales just have very sensitive tails. Some humans believe we have them because our species was formed by nine old guys and our tails are the spirits of said old guys. Or that they have mysterious powers that allow us to live for so long," I couldn't help but chuckle. "None of that is true. We just don't like having people or Pokemon tugging on our tails because it hurts more than a Hyper Beam," I said. Absol nodded. "I can see that. You sure acted like you got hit by a Hyper Beam, drama queen," Absol shot at me.
My ears flattened as I pretended to be offended. "I am going to turn you into a Ninetales and pull your tails out. Then we'll see how dramatic I am!" I threatened. Absol backed away playfully. "No thanks. I like not being in pain!" We had a hearty laugh at that, and felt Houndoom sit down beside me, and practically forced me to lean on his side. "Y'know, for a Ninetales, you aren't too shabby," he said. He then allowed me to nuzzle up against his shoulder while we all regained our breath.
"Also… sorry about not thanking you for hunting for us," Absol said. I let a small grin make its way onto my face. We weren't exactly best friends yet, but we were making progress. I hope this is the start of a beautiful little friendship. Maybe, this could be like a second family to me. That was a nice thought, something I hoped this could become. We might not be related by blood, but given enough time…
Bond could hold us together stronger than any blood can.