0-0-Ninetales-0-0

I cannot recall how long it has been since I've met Houndoom andC Absol. I can safely say it has been well over four weeks, as after we had cycled through the three of us, it was my turn again to hunt for the week. I did not mind taking turns, as it kept Houndoom happy, gave me a chance to provide for my pack members, and let the three of us recoup our energy reserves. Overall, life has been pretty good. It wasn't anything extravagant, but just wandering through the forests and plains was an alright life for me.

"I have returned," I announced as I dragged my catch into a cave. It has been getting colder over the last month and a half. While I can very easily handle the cold and so could Houndoom, Absol did struggle a bit; she didn't have fire or a natural resilience to the cold. So Houndoom and I both volunteered to take over her week of hunting until it had gotten warmer. "Hey Ninetales," Absol made an attempt to walk over to the mouth of the cave, and I glared at her. "Stay where you are, it is cold outside. I can handle dragging a dead animal into our home," I ordered. The Disaster Pokemon's body cringed. "But I wanna help. I wanna help, but it's too cold for me to help out," she whimpered.

After I dragged the dead deer into the cave, I dropped the leg from my mouth, and padded over to Absol. "Trust me, I know you hate having to sit in this cave, but your fur isn't as thick as mine, and you aren't part Fire Type. I know I sometimes come off as a bit harsh when you make a move towards the mouth of the cave, but I simply do not want you to get sick. Nor would I particularly be happy with you freezing to death in the winter. Now come get your share of food," I said. Absol nodded in a manner that an upset Vulpix kit would, and stood up to retrieve her portion.

Houndoom was already at the deer carcass, his muzzle was covered in blood; he had just taken his share. "So, how was the hunt?" Houndoom asked. His head tilted as his eyes rounded out and focused on me. "Well, it went well. An Ursurang, an actual Ursurang and not some weird looking one, lended a paw in helping me find the deer. In return, I froze our catches into place. Then we went our separate ways… I think that Ursurang is getting ready for hibernation while we are all preparing to bunker down for winter ourselves," I said.

I gestured towards a pile of meat, leftovers from previous hunting trips after we had chosen this den to call home. I had covered the whole thing in a very thin, but cold sheet of ice and the pile was getting bigger and bigger. Just because Houndoom and I were resistant to the cold, it didn't mean that we were immune to it. We are simply living creatures, and like all life, we have our limits. Sure, I doubt it'll get to the point of it being unbearable, but it was better to be safe than sorry during the winter.

Houndoom took a step back from the deer as Absol began to dig into her meal. "So Houndoom, Absol, when are you two just going to tie the knot up?" My other two pack members' heads jerked up and focused on me. "What?" They both blurted out to my pleasure. "Houndoom, do not act like you just reserved the stomach for Absol. I know both of you quite enjoy that part," I then put on a goofy grin. "And I know Absol certainly also leaves the stomach for you in case your crush," Houndoom's hackles rose as I finished that sentence. "Listen, Sure I use Absol as a pillow a lot… and the part where I stare at I also stare at her a bunch, but that does not mean we're in love. You…" Houndoom paused as Absol planted a kiss on his cheek. "D'aww… big scary Houndoom is frozen into place by a kiss," both me and Absol had a good laugh at that. I turned to the other female and she shrugged. "I suppose I wouldn't mind trying this out," Absol then pushed the poor dog to the ground, and curled up into him.

"Hey now! I'm a Houndoom and you're an Absol," Houndoom managed to get out before promptly burying himself in his friend's fur. How adorable. "And you two can technically breed. So it'll work out if you two become mates," I rolled my eyes and placed a paw on the Houndoom's back. "You don't have to if you do not want to, I am merely teasing, and I believe Absol is as well," I said before backing off. "I mean, I'd like to court Absol if she's willing to let me do that," Houndoom said quietly. I could tell that the poor guy was nervous. Absol cooed and planted a kiss on the Houndoom and laid her head on top of his. "I wouldn't mind at all. It'll be nice to have a mate,' she said sweetly.

0-0-Absol-0-0

Ninetales had walked into the corner of our den, away from me and Houndoom. It was likely to try and give us some privacy, even if we both knew she could still easily hear us. Whatever, it's the thought that counts. Plus I don't think Ninetales would do anything with what we said against us… except to tease us dammit! Oh well, her teasing had brought me and Houndoom together, well, to court each other, so I guess sometimes her teasing is welcomed. And I will say… Houndoom looked pretty cute when buried himself into my mane as an attempt to escape our friend's teasing.

"So Houndoom, is there anything you'd like to talk about?" I broke the silence between us. "I-I…" Houndoom was certainly struggling. We are both quite young, with me being nearly 4 years old, while Houndoom was only older than I am by a month or so, Which made me wonder why Ninetales was so damn old. I mean if there is one thing about her species(that doesn't involve them being entitled pricks) then it's their ridiculously long lifespans. How would one be able to even live with watching their beloved trainer, their best friend, their mate wither away in front of them, with the full knowledge that your time isn't running out anytime soon? How is Ninetales holding a straight face despite how she watched hunters go after her sun before being transported into this strange world(thank you Ninetales for informing me about this a couple weeks after we had me).

"Well… how about Ninetales? It's been about a month and a half since we found her in that cave. What do you think of her?" Houndoom asked. I suppose that was something we could speak about… but would it be okay to talk about her behind her back? "Well, for a Ninetales she isn't that bad. She kind of treats me like I'm still freshly hatched, as in that she keeps trying to protect me. And I'm sure you've noticed her doing that to you right?" Houndoom nodded. "It is a bit endearing as to how protective she is of us… especially after how we treated her in the first few hours of our meeting," Houndoom said. I nodded. "I do like her, but it seems a bit off as to how she just moves on from pretty much watching her child get killed," he said.

"Isn't it a Ninetales thing to pretty much watch your loved ones die?" I asked.

"You are not too far off. Ninetales are all too used to watching our beloved trainers, kits, mates, pretty much anyone we hold dear die in front of us. I still do wish I had my Vulpix with me, but sadly that cannot be reality anymore…" we turned to see Ninetales in the corner, seemingly deflated and defeated. "But there is not much I can do other than keep living. I'm sure my son and mate would be angry at me for at least not making an attempt to live a happy life. I simply cannot give up on living. To do so would be betraying my loved ones' wishes. It's the same for trained Ninetales and their trainers."

"Sorry about talking about you behind your…" The Ninetales shook her head. "It is just a natural thing that happens. Don't worry, my feelings are not hurt. Now you two go to sleep, I'm sure you two love bugs would love to enjoy your first night together as a couple," she said before laying her head down, facing the cave.

We couldn't help but notice Ninetales sob in the corner.

0-0-0-0-0

A car pulled into a parking lot of a campsite, it wasn't anything fancy, as it was clearly a first car. With it being old and worn down. A door opened and two sets of paws and one set of shoes touched the gravel road. "Finally! We can go out camping again!" A young man said. A journal floated into his hand, he grinned as he read what had been written into it. "Sol, you definitely remember this campsite! C'mon, let's go get registered, and let's head back to that spot where we met."

Daniel allowed his Ninetales to lead the way through the trail, Chili, another Ninetales was walking beside him. The Pokemon in the group were happily prancing around, running ahead, doing anything while their trainer simply enjoyed the walk. It wasn't everyday that he could escape the city for the wilderness, thanks to his job in fast food simply not paying enough to do this so often. Whatever, five days was plenty of time to be out here… and this time he won't be running into an unexpected guest to ration food with.

The only thing he wished he did was choose to come out during the summer. It was getting cold, well, it was pretty chilly out, but it wasn't unbearably cold. Nothing that cuddling with a fire breathing fox can't handle can it? He at least didn't come unprepared; he had several changes of hoodies and long pants due to how much colder it was. "And… Here we are!" Daniel's backpack dropped to the ground as the tent came floating off. Within minutes, the tent was standing. "Oh come on! It took me hours to set up that thing when I first met you, Sol. Of course you had to get it on the first try," he grumbled before sitting down in front of the tent.

Sol then grabbed the notebook and wrote the following:

"I can't wait to scare the daylights out of you like I did the first time. Ninetales are usually pretty friendly… if you don't pull on our tails. Remember when you pulled on my tails? I'm still a little mad about that."

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah… sorry about that one bud, I honestly meant to go for the side of your body and not your tails." He said. Sol immediately met this apology by curling up into his trainer's lap. The young man let out a hearty laugh and wrapped his arms around his beloved Ninetales. "You Ninetales and your grudges. That happened a year ago. The journal then landed in his lap:

"Well, be lucky I chose not to curse you. I'm glad I didn't by the way. I now get a constant feeding and scratching machine."

Daniel groaned. "C'mon! I'm more than that right?" His Ninetales laughed and rolled over in his trainer's lap.

The young man then realized what else was missing; Chili was sitting on the opposite side of where the fire pit would be. "Chili, what are you doing over there? C'mon, join the dog pile!" Daniel offered his hand out, and the Alolan Ninetales scampered over much like a dog would. "Oof!" Daniel grunted as both of his Pokemon piled up on top of him for the night. Both foxes curled their tails up and around the trio as they began to drift off to sleep. They all knew there'd be a whole day of exploring tomorrow, and wanted to get a lot of rest for the hike.

Daniel forgot to set up a fire… but it simply wasn't needed.

so sorry about how long its been since theres been an update. this is a week late simply because i got burnt out. so i've decided i'm just gonna update this whenever i can instead of forcing myself to do this weekly.