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Chapter XXVIII - Paradise
Misa said something about me that got us thinking. Why do you want to go back, after all? Doing that would make me disappear, and I thought we were having fun together.
There is no we. Please don't call it 'we'.
You're avoiding the question.
...
I know you don't like me that much. You're scared of me. I've always been there though, ever since you woke up and felt like you weren't yourself anymore. Even if you didn't really notice me, I was there to show you that you could still be Ray, no matter what you look like. You even felt like me sometimes. And we liked it, too…
… Yes. I did.
So why don't you like me?
Because you're not real. Because we're getting this fixed as soon as we… I… Find Mew. It's all going to go back to normal. The way it should be.
You said we liked it.
Yeah, I get it! I don't need someone to tell me that! Hell, if it weren't for all the crazy stuff surrounding this whole situation, I might've actually enjoyed this! Being… Like this… But it can't keep going on. Just because something feels good doesn't mean it should last forever.
It's more than just feeling good, though. It feels… Right. Like it was supposed to be like this. Like Mew showed up in your life just so we could meet.
N-no. It doesn't. It will never feel right. I won't belie-
You know how we feel, no matter how hard you deny it. How we felt when Skipp coached us. How we felt when we fought Misa. How we feel everytime we step out under the moon, or use Illusions. That wasn't fake. That wasn't me. That was us.
The aroma and the noise of the space around me caught up long before my thoughts did. While I instantly figured the sound was that of running water, the fragrance was, while not foreign, unidentifiable. It was oddly relaxing, soothing, even.
The echoes of a conversation rang in my head, but simply that. I remembered nothing of its contents. I bemusedly reached up with a paw to wipe my face, realizing a tear had fallen from my right eye.
It was then I actually opened my eyes, realizing I was in an unfamiliar setting about a second afterwards.
I jumped up, instantly on my hackles and ears perked. It was very dark in the room, even by my sight's standards, but I was able to make out the soft fabric I'd been laying upon to be some sort of moss. The quiet drip of water reverberated off of stone walls, only tall enough to carry a roof perhaps only two times taller than myself.
It seemed I was in a small alcove of sorts, small as it was. The only side not made of stone was covered in a leafy fabric I took to be some kind of rustic curtain. I wasn't ready yet to see what was on the other side.
My mind instantly snapped to Misa. It was obvious we weren't in the abandoned den anymore, and the small dragon was nowhere to be found. Worried, I took a step forward only to find I'd stepped in something damp.
I leaned down to take a whiff of the mysterious material before I'd bothered to even look at it. I'd been getting more adept at using my sense of smell, but the fact I'd subconsciously opted to use my nose before my eyes created an anxious feeling I pushed to the back of my mind.
It was another bit of moss, but much more porous, and soaked what my nose told me was water. Curious, I gave it a quick lap of my tongue.
I noticed right then how dry my throat felt. I quickly gave the bit of moss another lick. And another. The ball of moss held a surprising amount of water inside it, and soon I was experimenting with different ways to squeeze it for more of what it could offer.
It was a start.
I'd very quickly had my fill, meaning it was now time to take the next step. Part of me wanted to call out for Misa, but I still didn't know the situation to its fullest.
Were we in danger, though? It seemed like the floral curtain before me wasn't in any way meant to imprison me. The bed I'd been laying on was soft and I'd been given water to drink. Taking further inventory, I again noticed the fragrancy of the area, as well as the fact the soreness that'd previously plagued me had just about vanished.
Had somebody found us? Or had Misa found somebody to help? I couldn't see why she would do such a thing, so it had to be the former. The structure I found myself in wasn't manmade, but I couldn't rule out the possibility another trainer had found us.
I blanched. Had Jake followed us all the way to wherever we'd ended up? It was possible, but I put it long past the inexperienced trainer to pull off such a setup as this. A bed, a viable way of collecting water; there was no way he and his utter lack of thriftiness could've done this alone..
I eyed the curtain suspiciously. Whatever was filling the air with fragrance and the sound of running water had to be beyond. No matter what, I would have to look outside eventually.
Mind set on Misa, I took a step forward, narrowing my eyes. I nosed my way quietly into what seemed to be the vines that made up the curtain, sticking my head out soon afterwards.
I had to squint for a moment, the sunlight much too bright after immediately following the darkness of the alcove. It seemed I was still indoors, the same style of curtain, albeit loosely-tied enough to let sunlight in, covered an entrance to the outside world, just large enough for an adult human to walk in. What was most odd, however, was the fact that, through the entrance, I could see the running water I'd heard up until that point.
Water was pouring down from above, creating a nearly completely clear veil of water a few paces in front of the entrance. A pool of water laid beyond, but I couldn't quite make out what was further out.
The same stone walls I'd encountered before now made up the rest of the wallspace. What differed, however, were what was on them. Long shelves, seemingly chiseled out of the stone itself, were home to dozens upon dozens of plants, most of which I'd seen at one point while traveling around Unova.
Some flowers sat on their lonesome, or perhaps in piles of a similar species. Most common, however, was an odd kind of wrap, constructed using palm fronds and tied together using what seemed to be purple string. Many of the wraps were intentionally made to allow a petal or two of whatever flower was presumably inside to show, distinguishing each one from the rest.
A 'table', nothing more than a large tree trunk, using roots for legs and cut small enough to allow someone of my stature to peer over the top, sat in the center of the spacious area. The trunk was so wide as to fit a dozen or more plants on it, presumably taken from the walls. One of the palm leaf wraps was burning slowly on the table, gray smoke rising in wisps. My nose told me almost instantly this was the scent I'd noticed. Lavender? Skyla had used fragrances like this before, but why was it here?
Over the running water I could hear voices, but there was nobody to be seen. There were, however, multiple exits leading back, further into the cave. There were more rooms?
Cautious, I stepped out, sniffing the air for any traces of anything threatening. The lavender, however, drowned out anything I could've potentially identified.
Because of this, I took the few paces necessary to the tree trunk table. On it were a few instruments, some of which had repurposed human-made tools. A pair of scissors, a pestle and mortar carved from stone. Palm fronds, presumably those used to create the wraps seen on the walls, were present as well. The purple string used to tie them together, upon closer inspection, wasn't string.
It was hair. Fur, rather, cut from its source and left on the table in clumps, ready to be fashioned into a string with which the wraps could be tied up.
What is all this?
My mind told me to smell it. I paused for a second, however. In the last few minutes, I'd relied on my sense of smell a few different times to help me get my bearings. When had that started happening? Thinking about it made my heart race.
Calm down… Just because you use your nose doesn't mean you're forgetting how to use your eyes. Get a hold of yourself.
I took a deep breath. I didn't know why I felt anxious about getting more used to my body. I was overreacting.
Closing my eyes, I leaned in to get an idea of the scent. I was shocked to notice I actually recognized it. I'd only smelled it once before, but my mind, despite having been only half-conscious at the time, showed me exactly where and when I'd seen it before.
The being to which this fur belonged was the one that'd taken me from the den Misa and I were in. The event was completely out of mind until that moment, never having even happened before this scent opened the memory. I felt my energy surge, prompting me to take a step back.
My nose… Actually did something?
I had to calm down before the buzz of my energy became too much to handle. I knew my nose to be useful to an extent, but to go as far as to open up blocked memory with just a single whiff of a scent I'd only encountered once before…
I was getting too ahead of myself. Just because I solved the mystery of our disappearance, I still didn't know where Misa was, nor where I was.
I sniffed the air again, hoping to find something I'd missed. The lavender was still overwhelming, but I was able to pick up trace amounts of the same, purple-furred entity. I moved around, nose in the air, worrying deep down about how stupid I looked. However, this strategy proved successful. As soon as I found the scent in stronger force, I followed it.
Tracking it was slow, and in hindsight I probably would have just moved and checked periodically, rather than stalking about the space with my nose in the air. That's what I did, however, eventually drawing me to one of the exits on the perimeter of the room. Those voices I'd heard before were much stronger now, just beyond the wall. A male and female, by the sounds of it.
"Do me a favor and keep an eye on the Aspear stock. We're still a ways out from the solstice, but the seniors tend to come in around this time just to complain about a chill. It's usually easier to just give them what they want."
"Gotcha."
"No worries about finding it immediately. Aspear is a winter Berry, and survives in the cold better than almost any other Berry out there."
"Is it just used for chills, though? Unless an ice-type attacks, is it really that useful?"
"You'd be surprised how many get frostbitten from staying in the snow too long. That, and sometimes you get hatchlings that run out on the lake when it freezes over on a dare. Aspear really comes in handy for when they fall in."
"Cool. Also, while you're her-AAH!"
I'd been so engrossed in the conversation as not to realize the female's voice was approaching until she'd already rounded the corner.
I jumped back as well, nearly as shocked as she, though not for the same reasons.
Standing in front of me was another Zorua.
"Gods, what are you doing?!" she chastised, having taken a few steps back. "Just standing behind the corner like that?!"
I took a step back, eyes widening. A Zorua? She'd startled me, of course, but there was another, glaringly obvious issue at hand.
"Y-you… You're…"
"How'd you even get back here? Did Zaph not stop you?"
"I… Huh?"
"Hey Shep! I thought that one senior with the infection was the only one staying in the alcoves. There's a random junior back here."
"Sh-shiny…"
I'd seen Shiny Pokémon before, of course. A few trainers I'd met kept them as trophies, and there were, at times, exhibition shows in the larger cities my team and I had stopped in while on our journey. Collectors from all around the region would show off their captures, some even owning three, four, or rarely, an entire team of Shiny Pokémon. Zorua in themselves were exceedingly rare to find, but this was the first time I'd ever encountered a Shiny Zorua in person.
Her fur was a much more muted, lighter gray than my own, and the colored accents on her head, eyelids, and paws were a sharp, teal blue as opposed to the normal crimson red. I caught myself staring deep into her unnaturally red eyes, as if my own mind were verifying to itself what I was seeing was, in fact, real.
"Oh, he's awake? That was the next thing I wanted to talk to you about…"
My mouth dropped even further as the second voice, the male one, rounded the corner. I had to look up to view him properly, but the impact was nonetheless the same. The same, pale tone of gray fur. Sporting claws to match a similarly-colored violet mane, the Shiny Zoroark's yellow eyes glanced over me curtly.
"You're awake," he said, smiling amicably. "No need to shield your presence—we already knew you were here. Welcome back to life."
Shielding my presence? What did he mean? I couldn't take time to ponder it, instead opting to take a few steps back, mouth agape. I couldn't get past the fact not only one, but two Shinies stood before me. How was this possible?
"Huh? Why didn't I know about this guy until now?" the Zorua asked, turning up to face the Zoroark.
He shrugged his shoulders, walking past us both to approach the crude table I'd examined earlier.
"Shep…?"
"I found him on my way back from the starfall. He was sick, dehydrated, and out of food. Couldn't just leave him there."
I said nothing, taking another unsure step back. He hadn't mentioned Misa… Where had he taken her?
"I had my doubts, but you're really not from Eterna, are you?" the Zoroark asked me.
I kept my silence further, watching the shiny as he sat down on the floor, picking out a few herbs from the table before using the pestle and mortar to grind them together, keeping his eyes on me all the while. I gulped.
"Can you at least talk?"
The Zorua was asking me questions now, circling around me in order to enter my field of vision. I once again caught myself staring into those red eyes…
"M-Mhm…" I forced out, compelling myself to regain at least a little bit of my composure.
"Nox, is it?"
I nodded.
"Is there something on my face?"
"N-no!" I spouted, quickly averting my gaze to look at something, anything else. I could feel my tail dart in between my legs.
"No need to be nervous," the Zoroark said from across the room, finishing his concoction by pouring a bit of water into the mortar and pestle, allowing the ground-up herbs to either dissolve or float to the surface like a soup. "Whatever you're running from, it won't find you here."
"R-Running? No! No, I'm not running."
I was able to postpone my nervousness regarding the rarity of the creatures I saw before me, putting aside thoughts on the possibility of such an encounter. I didn't like their inquiries, and I needed to shift gears.
"Right, so you just taught yourself how to hide your spiritual presence and sneak around like that on a whim? I get being frightened when you wake up in a new place, but to go as far as to mask yourself from the get-go so I can't detect you… You're really scared of something, aren'tcha?"
What is this guy talking about? Would it just be best to play along?
"W-well… There's a, uh…"
"Let me guess. Trainer? I don't mean to be rude, but you still reek of human."
I bit my lip, nodding quickly. It wasn't really a lie.
"He captured Misa, but wasn't able to capture me… We escaped, and tried getting away, but… We got lost."
The Zoroark had since come back, squatting down to place the mortar before me like a bowl.
"Drink that when you get the chance."
"What is it?"
"Oran and Cheri stalk mixed with water and Razz juice. Your muscles are still sore, no?"
"H-how did you…"
"You were stiff when I found you in that Patrat den. The Oran gives you energy, while the Cheri helps alleviate some of the lactic acid. Water should be obvious, you need the hydration, and the Razz helps with the taste."
I simply stared blankly as he stood back up, crossing the room once again to reach the table.
"Do you mind the lavender? Aromatherapy is one of my favorite means of medicine. I have different flower wraps of all kinds meant to be burned, if that'd be preferable."
"My friend… Where is she?"
"Friend?" the Zorua interjected.
"Right to business, are we?" the Zoroark said. "Unfortunately, the rules of this place are quite concrete. Your friend is right where I left her, for now."
"Okay… Thank you for letting me know."
I suddenly got up to leave, and made my way towards (what seemed most likely to be) the entrance.
"In a rush? You don't even know the right way."
"Shouldn't be too hard. Thank you for the help."
The Zoroark seemed much more interested in his herbs than quelling my anxiety about the situation as a whole. I couldn't afford to be caught up in another time-sink, especially since Misa's safety wasn't guaranteed. Jake was still after us, after all.
The medicine 'mon, however, openly chuckled at my remark. I stopped in my tracks to turn back towards him.
"What's funny?"
"No, no, don't mind me. Zyra?"
The Zorua had been silently watching the conversation from aside. She perked up, eyeing the Zoroark curiously.
"Show Nox here your view of the lake. Give him a nice introduction to Eterna."
"You know my name?"
"Your friend told me. Zyra?"
The Zorua gave me a quick glance out of the corner of her eye before moving. For some reason, I found myself unable to match her gaze as she passed by me.
I peered at the Zoroark scrutinously, to which he simply nodded his head towards the Zorua. What was so important it had to be showed to me?
I sighed to myself for a moment before reluctantly following. It would be a lot less complicated to simply follow their whims, rather than try and force my way to answers.
However, all of that left my head as we crossed the entryway and onto the stone balcony beyond.
The area was evidently behind a small waterfall, the source of which was somewhere above and the bottom directly in front of us, a pool about the same size as the room indoors. There were no visible exits to the outside world from where we stood, unless I wanted to go for a swim. The falling water was so tranquil as to appear transparent, hardly blurring my vision of what was beyond.
And was it a sight to behold…
Water, reflecting a more refreshing orange than the sky of dusk itself. It took me a few seconds to realize I wasn't in fact, looking out towards a mirror. It was a lake, almost completely circular around and perhaps a thousand feet across. Its water was completely still, not a ripple in sight.
The only blemish was a small island, home to a gargantuan tree, if it could even be called that. It was easily the largest I had ever seen. Two trunks, one black and one white, wove around one another to create something of a helix, a spiral stretching into the sky. While this tree had no canopy, or even branches to speak of, its leaves could be found in sporadic spots along either trunk. It seemed the center, the eye of the tornado this miracle of nature resembled, was hollow, and yet its access point was nowhere to be seen.
No bridges connected the island with the beaches, nor did any boats sail on the water. Everything was still.
It was then I was able to get a sense of scope for where I was. It seemed the pool, on the edge of which I stood gobsmacked, was a portion of a stream that fed the lake. A unnaturally pristine sandy beach stretched around the lake's perimeter, complete with palm trees I knew for a fact not to be native to Unova.
Perhaps fifty structures rose from the ground on the outskirts of the lake, most of which were made from a rudimentary mix of clay and wood. Very few of these were independent structures, and even fewer rose five feet or more from the ground. It would be more accurate to call many of the buildings structurally stable mounds.
Dirt paths wound around these structures to create a complicated, seemingly unorganized network. Maybe a dozen streams, similar to the one before me, cut through the land all to feed the lake. Many of these were bridged over in regular intervals along the paths.
All of this, however, was not the subject of my awe. Instead, it was those who inhabited the space.
As the sun set, more and more emerged from their daytime sleep. Some mingled with their peers, while others went about their business, each seeming to know the system of paths like the back of their claws.
Similar throughout all, however, were the red accents among their black fur.
"No way…"
"You're really not from Eterna?"
That name… Again, it sounded familiar.
"N-no. I don't… I don't understand. How is this…"
"They say Zorua can't survive on their own outside of here. How did you?"
"..."
"Whatever," Zyra sighed, turning to go back inside. "Welcome to paradise, I guess."
My eyes had never left the village, darting from inhabitant to inhabitant, wondering if my eyes were simply deceiving me.
There were hundreds of them. Zorua and Zoroark alike.
"Yeah, but everybody in Unova's on high-alert, and don't they already have machines implemented to detect Illusions? All kinds of energy, for that matter. Absolutely no Pokémon allowed outside their balls, and they have ways to make sure that rule is followed."
"Aren't you just able to transform into the kid? You've done that, right?"
"If I had control over human genes, Ray would be at least five feet taller than he is right now. I've thought about it, and this is the only thing I can think of that can potentially work."
"So, we just have to be friendly with him?"
Victor jumped into the conversation unexpectedly, drawing eyes.
"I mean, that should be easy enough, right? We just get to know him, and when the time comes, get him to do us that favor."
Somin turned back to Mew, taking Victor's words into account.
"What about mind control? Could you do that?"
"I can't use mind control, Somin, don't be stupid. I can only control people by possessing them, in a way, with my energy. Even then, it looks super unnatural. People would know immediately that something was up."
"Why couldn't we just let him go, then? Erase his memories and let him get a replacement Pokénav on his own, and steal it from him when the coast is clear?"
"That's what I thought at first, but I went and checked up on the Opelucid trainer hub, and it looks like the entire city is on lockdown after the explosion that took out Darkrai. They're framing it on Ray, saying it was a failed attempt at replicating the Mt. Chimney explosion. The closest trainer hub to the one in Opelucid that's able to replace league-sponsored gear is in Lacunosa, and that's way too far away. He would just sit in Opelucid, waiting for the lockdown to clear, which could take weeks."
"Why not drop him off in Lacunosa, then?" Vita asked.
"I can fabricate some memories, but a complete overhaul that puts you on the complete other side of the region? The effort alone wouldn't be worth it, especially considering there's no way I can guarantee I wouldn't slip up and accidentally leave something contradictory in there."
"So the plan instead is to get the kid to trust us, even though we're basically international criminals everyone in the world is trying to find and capture," Jet deadpanned, looking at Mew with eyes completely full of reluctance.
"Yes. I can work on making him a bit more susceptible to suggestion, but as far as I see it, getting the kid, Jake's his name by the way, to trust us is the only way we're gonna be able to do this.
"Again," Victor said, jumping back into the fray, "I think it should be easy enough. We just tell him the truth about what's happening, maybe minus the parts about Mew, and he'll understand."
"How can you say that so surely?" Jet challenged, "If we're being completely demonized back in society, then what are you gonna do if he just rejects you from the get-go?"
"Try harder," Victor responded confidently, prompting Jet to groan.
"He's probably right," Somin said, looking between the two of them. "If anyone's gonna try and butter this kid up, it should be Victor, maybe with me there to translat—"
"I think it'd be best if you stayed as far away from Jake as possible, Somin."
"Why, Vita?"
"You've already scared him enough, and I may have lost control back in Unova and… Well, frightened him. Victor is our best bet here."
The Durant shone proudly with the trust, eyes closing happily.
"Thank you. Victor, if you're willing, go and see him regularly, and start by getting to know his Pokémon. If you're making progress, maybe you can bring someone else along eventually. Just take it slow for now."
"Aye aye."
"As for the rest of why I wanted to see you all, it's about Alder. It shouldn't be a surprise when I say this many missing Primes are starting to have an effect on the world, and it should be even less of a surprise that this needs to end, now, before anybody else is captured."
"How bad are we talking?"
"Armageddon, potentially."
Axle whistled at the reveal, putting audibly what everyone was thinking in the moment.
"I want to find Ray just as much as all of you do, but I'm also Mew, and I have an obligation to try and fix what's happening. To end this. And, because of that, I may start appearing here less and less until I get together a group of remaining Primes that's strong enough to stop Alder."
"So we're just left here, stranded, with no way to find him?"
Mew looked at Jet solemnly.
"We've scoured the forest around Opelucid as much as we can, and I tried tracking him down using what memories Jake had of his location. It's likely he could be anywhere in the region by now."
"That's it, then? Convincing the kid to help us is our only option?"
Mew was taken aback for a moment at how briefly the team had seemed to care about the consequences of the UPF's actions. All they cared about was Ray. Perhaps this meant they trusted her enough to handle the larger situation at hand? Maybe a few of them did, but it was obvious none were very keen on prioritizing the fate of the world over their own trainer.
She wasn't either, of course.
"I think it is. I'll be checking back in occasionally, but for the most part I'll be gone, looking for as much help as we can. I'll also look around in Unova from time to time, see if there's any clues about where Ray is."
"Mew…"
Mew looked at Somin. He seemed to have a thought on the tip of his tongue, but held back.
"Just… Be safe."
"Right. And if Drayden tries anything, kill him. No games. Reshiram's cool-headed enough to put the fate of the world over a grudge if you do end up having to go that far."
"I doubt we'd get past Vulcan. Even with all five of us…"
"I'll know if something happens and be back here faster than any of you can blink. You all be safe, too. We can get through this."
"We're trusting you."
Mew smiled for a moment, content with Somin's encouragement. She couldn't tell if he'd really changed regarding his attitude towards her, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.
"Cya."
Just like that, she was gone.
"I still can't get over the fact you're both Shiny…"
Shep obviously found humor in the remark, considering his smirk to come soon afterwards. It looked way too similar to Somin's.
"Don't usually get that around here. All the 'mon here are used to us off-colors."
Zyra was not having the same reaction, as if the mention of her Shininess completely put her off.
"Isn't Shiny the term the humans use? Well, I suppose you've had your fair share of those, haven't you?"
"You could say that…"
"They say us 'Shinies' have an affinity for healing, and I gotta agree. It's part of how things work around here. On the off chance a 'Shiny' is born, they're brought up in the ways of medicine. Our fur tends to vitalize anything we may use it for, which is why I tie together all of our herbal wraps with fur from my mane."
What a hippie.
"Darkrai's never failed to gift us with a new off-color whenever the need arises. Sure, there are those that try to help out, but we're the only ones that're actually able to make the medicine itself."
"Well, that's nice of him."
I couldn't help but think about how Darkrai himself had been actively trying to kill me not 72 hours before.
"Then, uh, I should probably thank you for the medicine, and for helping us out. Misa and I should probably start, y'know, heading on our way."
The generally uninterested Zyra's curiosity was peaked by my sudden farewell. Shep eyed me skeptically.
"You're funny," Shep said, gaze never breaking. "Juniors can't survive outside of Entra, not without a senior to protect them."
"Have for a while and probably will in the future. Again, thanks for helping us, but I'd really like to know where my friend is so we can leave. We're trying to find our people."
"Our people? We are your people, kid. Your own kind. Isn't it beautiful out there?"
Shep motioned towards the outside, where I'd previously seen the hundreds Zorua and Zoroark roaming the hidden village.
"How long has it been since you've seen someone else like you? Never? That's the problem with being as rare as we are: it gets lonely if we don't stick together."
"What is this place?" I redirected. I'd had an idea brewing in my head for quite a while on where we could possibly be, thought I wanted some form of affirmation. With that, I could at least place myself on a map.
"It's paradise. The Entree's roots extend for miles around, giving us the power to cast an otherwise impossible, permanent illusion over our paradise here, Entra. No human has, or ever will, be able to find this place. You'll be safe."
I didn't like that response, though his explanation had confirmed my suspicions. The Entree forest was an unexplored region in the dead center of Unova. Urban legend had warned against any human's approach, as many who entered the forest had either disappeared or found themselves lost for weeks, no matter how closely they may have adhered to a map.
And yet, I recognized the name for much more.
It was Somin's birthplace.
A young boy was trekking through a forest in silence, alone.
It was nearly midday and the boy found it a suitable time to stop for lunch. Seating himself on a fallen tree, he started rummaging through his pack for a staple since he'd began on the trail, a bagel and whatever peanut butter packets he had stolen from the Pokémon Center cafeteria.
The boy had quickly learned the weight that came with regular meals, and eventually had to come to terms with the reality of the situation. Even then, however, he thought dragging about a medium-sized bag of Pokéchow was an efficient way to feed his starter. It was the most heavy item in his entire pack, and he'd made the decision to substitute his tent's rainfly in order to carry it.
Seeing it was a suitable time for the single Pokémon to eat as well, he released his Snivy from her ball. She directed an indifferent stare towards the boy upon materializing.
Despite being partners for nearly three months now, the duo still found themselves resenting the other. Most of these feelings came from the boy's perceived misfortune; the odds of receiving a female starter were small, and yet he'd been stuck with one. How was he supposed to conquer the League with a girl helping him?
Incompetency would be putting it lightly. While a few of his friends, who had started their respective journeys at the same time, already had a full team of six Pokémon to brag about, he had never been able to successfully capture a creature. As a result, he resigned himself to training his Snivy, despite its unfortunate sex, until it became a powerhouse. Then he'd only need one Pokémon to take everyone down, right?
He'd show them…
The boy, after a few minutes of trying, eventually gave up in trying to start a fire. Instead, he, hoping to save time, gave his Pokémon some food while he took an occasional nibble at his bagel. It was stale.
It was then he noticed it, a shiny, red apple, hanging from the tree above where he sat. Just the sight of it alone caused his stomach to growl in irritation. It was the perfect apple, never before had he seen something so quaint, yet so appealing.
"Hey, uh, Snivy?" he said, grabbing the grass Pokémon's attention. He had yet to give his starter a name; he didn't see the value in it, and wouldn't for a long while yet. "Do you think you can get that apple for me? You can have some if you want, I guess…"
The Snivy appeared to ponder the thought for a moment, and eventually proceeded to reach out her vines towards the fruit. The distance strained her extra appendages, as she'd not yet trained enough in handling them. However, she was able to grab a hold of the fruit, pick it, and bring it back down to the pair.
When her vines reached the ground however, the apple was not there. She narrowed her eyes, confused. She was sure she'd picked it.
"Well?"
The Snivy grumbled and looked back up at the tree. The apple was there again, as it, apparently, had been. She, once again, extended her vines to meet the fruit, this time following it closely with her eyes. She made absolutely sure she picked the fruit, and brought it down slowly, the red of the apple's skin peeking out from in between the green of her vines.
However, at one point during its descent, the apple disappeared, much to her surprise and frustration. Looking back up, she saw the apple in its original position, mocking her from where it hung.
Now positively furious, she started thrashing her vines around the canopy, not caring that she was making a scene. She repeated her name over and over again to the boy in frustration, though her curses made little more sense than gibberish to the human.
At one point, however, during the flailing of her vines, she hit something she hadn't accounted for. Something neither her nor her trainer could see. Said solid object let out a surprised squeak, before it went silent again. A good second later, the pair heard a thump on the ground, a fair distance away. From their proximity, even the boy's insensitive hearing heard a sharp snap, followed by light squealing and crying.
They were confused; that much was obvious. They looked at each other with the same expression, and started to move forward towards the unseen source of the sobbing. The boy leaned forward and crouched down, poking a finger at what was visibly nothing, yet where he believed to be the source of the sound.
He hit something fluffy, a gray mass of fur materialized in response out of nowhere at the end of his finger. He let out a surprised shout at the newcomer, scooting away a few feet.
The Snivy, however, did not have the same reaction. Instead, the first thing she noticed was an odd protrusion on the creature's left-front leg, making the limb bend at an unnatural angle. She narrowed her eyes.
As if to confirm her suspicions, she looked up at the tree, only to find the apple had disappeared. With a sigh, she realized what must've happened.
The boy's Pokédex spoke for her.
In its trademark metallic voice, the mysterious box, one which the Snivy never really understood, started speaking. "Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokémon. Zorua hides its true form by changing its shape into people and Pokémon, and loves to surprise others. They are well-known for the pranks they like to play on people using their illusions."
The apple was one of these tricks. Yet, while the Snivy knew she should feel mad at being the subject of the prank, she couldn't help but feel compassion for the hurt Pokémon. It was she, after all, who indirectly broke the Zorua's leg.
With a sigh, she got up and walked towards her trainer, who was assessing the situation with an innately excited eye. Zorua were incredibly rare! This had to be his stroke of luck!
Knowing he couldn't understand her, the Snivy started making motions with her vines towards the affected limb.
Once he caught sight of the break, however, his face scrunched up in an instinctual cringe. He turned towards his Snivy once again, attempting to figure how they were supposed to navigate the situation.
"Do I catch it?"
Snivy sent her trainer a glare.
"Fine, fine, that's cheating, I know… We should bring it to a Pokémon Center then, I guess," he said, sighing. "Should we really try to move it, though? With an injury like that? What do you think?"
The Snivy was shocked at the question, to the point where she took a step back in surprise when he uttered it. This was the first time the trainer had ever asked her for her advice on something, and it meant a lot to hear it, even if they had the language barrier between them. Was he starting to think of her as an intellectual equal?
No, probably not. The inquiry was most likely something unremarkable on the part of the human. She supposed he'd simply started talking to her purely out of boredom and loneliness.
She shook off that thought and began to think. After a few seconds, she came up with an idea, though she wasn't sure if her human would like it. She moved towards his backpack without a word, and started to dig through the largest pocket with her vines. When satisfied, she turned back towards the trainer, a confused look on his face.
She sighed, and gestured towards the backpack with her vines. As if to help him in understanding, she grabbed a few items and started pulling them out.
"Oh… I see… You want me to put it in the backpack?" the boy asked, causing the Snivy to nod fervently. She sighed, knowing she herself was probably smarter than the boy despite his tendency to treat her like a dumb beast.
"Okay, yeah… If I take out the rain jacket and carry it, it should make enough space. But you gotta try to convince it… You know, with me not being able to understand it and everything?"
She nodded and turned back towards the fox, who had since calmed down his squeals to a small sob. He was looking at the two oddly, fear flashing in his face.
"I'm sorry!" he blurted out, "I'm so, so, so, so sorry... I-I didn't mean to m-make you mad, I j-j-just… I don't know! Please don't capture me!"
The voice was male, that much the Snivy knew. Furthermore, it didn't sound old, maybe four months at the most, so, thankfully, a small bit younger than she herself. Maybe that could help her convince the wild Pokémon to come with them.
"Nah," she said, trying to keep up an aloof front for the sake of making the fox less reserved, "Actually, just the opposite. I want to help. Do you have a name?"
It was solely polite to ask. The Snivy had never been given a name, but wanted to know the Zorua's. Maybe familiarity would help soothe it?"
"S-S-Somin," he answered meekly.
"Well, Somin… We want to get you help, but in order to do that, we kinda need you to get in that bag."
The fox's eyes widened as it replied, "B-b-but why?! Why do I gotta go in the bag?"
"We want to get you help for… that… And unless you want my trainer," she said, shuddering with that last word, "to carry you, I think this would be the best option."
"I… I, um… I don't know…"
"I can stay outside of my Pokéball with you, if you'd like," she offered, proceeding to shoot off a half hearted joke. "I wouldn't really want to be alone with the human either."
"What? Is he bad?"
"Nah, pretty harmless. Just dumb. I can probably hitch a ride on the kid's shoulder, so we can sit and talk."
"S-someone from my village will come and get me. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm okay," he grimaced. "It's not that bad."
The Snivy sighed. "Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. The kid's a Pokémon trainer, and it's basically his job to go around and catch Pokémon and put them into captivity."
"So why would I go with you guys?!"
Improvising, the grass-type continued. "He's not just gonna leave you alone, and I really can't do much to stop him. It's not like you can really run or try to defend yourself right now, either. He could easily just squeeze you into a tiny little ball forever and ever and make you his."
"H-he would do that?" the Zorua squeaked.
"Yup. I'm trying to help you out here." She rose her right arm as if taking an oath. "I promise, though, if you come with us now, you can go back home as soon as you're patched up."
With that promise, the Zorua felt forced in reluctantly consenting to the method of travel. With that, the Snivy helped him to his feet, careful not to put any weight on the broken limb.
It felt wrong to lie like that to the gullible creature; the human actually hadn't any Pokéballs with him. She knew, though, that no adults of his kind were around. He'd probably be eaten if he was left alone for a while longer.
"Do you want an Oran Berry?" the Snivy asked, "It can make the pain go away for a little bit."
"Uh, yeah… I remember somebody told me that once," he replied, fear of the human still seeping into his voice.
The Snivy nodded, and after making sure he was okay with it, hoisted the fox into the open backpack with her vines. Considering it was all one pouch, the boy helped Snivy close the drawstrings snugly around Somin as to prevent him from falling out. When ready, the Snivy gave a nod to the human, who hoisted the bag onto his shoulders.
The boy made a move for Snivy's Pokéball but she stopped him with a shake of her head. Instead, she, without much difficulty, climbed onto the boy's shoulder and started a conversation with the uneasy Zorua.
"You really shouldn't be outside your ball, Snivy."
She simply rolled her eyes at the remark, shaking her head towards Somin as if to discredit the human.
The boy quietly made a move to return Snivy, but she simply swatted the ball out of his hand with a vine and sent him a glare.
"Fine, fine, jeez…"
With the human distraction finally out of the way, Snivy felt inclined to begin with a formal introduction of both herself and the boy.
For a half an hour, all the trainer could hear was the constant back-and-forth conversation of noises that made no sense to him. It frustrated him greatly he couldn't understand what was going on, but kept walking forwards anyways, setting a brisk pace.
"I checked out the Pokénav, and it looks like there's a town maybe fifty miles north of Nimbasa that has a Pokémon Center. We should be able to get there by sunset, hopefully.
After voicing his plans, the trainer fell silent again, the duo on his shoulder and in his backpack resuming their conversation where they left off. When the Snivy saw a certain bush, however, she reached out with her vines to pluck a blue fruit from among its leaves. She said a few words to the Zorua and held it out for him to eat, which he did, grateful for the extra set of hands.
"Why are you being nice to me? Why not just capture me?"
"Why capture you?"
"I dunno… It's just what everybody said the humans did if you ever met them… They say we're not very common outside of our home, and humans try to take us more than they do any other kind of Pokémon."
"Lemme ask you something, then. Why come and play a prank on us if you're so scared of humans?"
"Well, he didn't look scary," Somin pouted, gazing briefly at the back of the boy's head. "I just wanted to be brave and try to get as close to one as I could. Gods, I'm gonna get an earful when I get back. I was, like, a whole half day's walk away from home…"
"Heh, yeah… I kinda feel like that too, sometimes… It's lonely, y'know? Even though we're on an adventure and can go wherever we want, I always feel like I'm trapped too. Especially since the human's just a kid, too, and doesn't really know what's he's doing."
"I know, right?! The rules are so dumb! Everyone always just keeps saying juniors can't leave home, but—"
"But what?"
"N-nothing… It's nothing."
"Juniors?"
"That's just what we call Zorua, before we evolve. But hey, if you don't like the human, why don't you try to escape?"
"Well…"
It was honestly a hard question. While Snivy could try and give the literal answer in 'he's able to track me down if I try running away', she wondered deep down if there was, perhaps, another reason she'd chosen to stay behind? Out of spite, perhaps?
"I just, kinda learned to deal with it. I hope every single day that things get better, that he'll figure out what he's doing and actually be successful, but that doesn't seem like something that's gonna happen anytime soon."
"So you've been all alone the whole time?"
"Yeah… You can say that. This whole 'trainer' thing is all I've really ever known. I was born to do this. And really, what would I do if I were to leave, y'know?"
"Be free?"
Vita chuckled for a moment at the face-value response.
"Maybe, but freedom won't fix the fact I don't have anyone that'll actually listen to me. That's just how it is."
Somin looked at Snivy with eyes full of pity. Snivy figured it was time to change the topic, before the Zorua could get invested. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel sorry enough for her to act rashly.
"But that's why I like talking to Pokémon like you whenever they spring up," Snivy said, letting an artificial smile stretch across her face. "You help me remember there's hope for the future."
"What's it like, being a 'mon that belongs to a trainer?"
With that, Snivy and Somin talked for several hours more as she explained the different aspects of the Pokémon League, training, and everything in between. She had no desire to indoctrinate the Zorua, but she couldn't help but notice the growing curiosity in his eyes. Gods, how long had it been since someone had actually taken interest in what she had to say?
Afterwards, it was Somin's turn to tell Snivy all about his world. His caretaker, his instructors. He never knew his mother or father, nor did any of his fellow Zorua. They were raised as a collective, as a community, reminding Snivy of her days before the boy had officially taken over as her trainer. She'd never known her parents either.
"But yeah, illusions are super cool. They try to teach us a lot of the boring stuff, like regular moves, but illusions are all I've ever really liked to use. Like, I know this one Zoroark that's able to make you see something super scary, and uses that to win his fights super easy. I want to be like that one day."
"When I eventually evolve into a Serperior, I'm apparently gonna be able to paralyze all my opponents with one glare. That's what I want to be able to do. Maybe the idiot we're riding on would actually listen to me then, when I can just glare at him and make him shut up."
That drew a hearty bit of laughter from Somin. Snivy did the same, reveling in the fact this was the first candid conversation she'd had with anyone for a long time.
"Does your leg hurt?"
"Huh? Oh right, I broke my leg… Heh… I hardly even remembered."
"That's how you know time's flown by, I guess. Think we're coming up on the end of the trail just up ahead."
The sun was starting to set around them. The human was panting heavily, the added weight of two small Pokémon doing little to help him out. And yet, as promised, they soon made it, trees thinning to reveal a trailhead, a paved road just behind it.
The boy had been able to catch one of the last buses in order to get to town, shirking away from other trainers as they noticed and marveled at the Zorua he carried in his backpack. Somin, sharply contrasting his jovial attitude not a few minutes before with Snivy, was feeling overwhelmed by the attention.
Snivy did all she could to reassure Somin during the bumpy ride, snaking a vine around his non-injured front leg and draping her arm over his neck.
"They're not gonna hurt you," she reassured, "They probably just haven't seen a Zorua before, that's all."
Somin pushed himself closer to the Snivy, anxiety prompting him to find solace in the single soul he could.
They'd soon made it to the Pokémon Center, and as the other hikers had dispersed their separate ways, the boy, the Snivy, and the Zorua were the only ones to find themselves going inside.
The boy was quick to explain the situation to the nurse on-duty at the time, to which she asked to inspect Somin. The Zorua let out a frightened whimper upon being lifted out of the bag and into the hands of the unfamiliar human. He instinctively tried squirming away, but a sharp pang of protest arose from his now-swollen foreleg. He looked at Snivy, positively terrified.
"You say you found him in the woods? He looks to be in good shape outside of his injury."
It was then the nurse took a tool and pressed it up against the back of Somin's neck. He was shaking at that point, the cold metal of the instrument hardly helping soothe his nerves.
Snivy took notice of this and quietly tugged on her trainer's pant leg. The human was quick to catch on soon thereafter.
"Could you please just help him? He's nervous enough as it is."
"You haven't caught him? He's not showing up on any Dex registry."
"What? No… No, I haven't."
"Sir, while it's all well and good that you brought him in, I'm afraid I won't be able to return him after the fact if he's not your Pokémon. That's just not how it works."
Somin was confused by what the nurse was saying initially, though a glance at Snivy's now-horrified face gave him all the information he needed. He resolved to escape then and there, wrenching himself out of the nurse's grasp, falling clumsily and with a yelp of pain, and leaping for the edge of the counter.
Snivy reached up with her vines, however, stopping Somin before he could make the much larger leap to the floor. She quickly hoisted herself up to his level after getting a hold of the counter's edge.
"Somin, it's okay… It's okay… Trust me."
"She just said I'm not gonna get to go back home! Snivy, please! Just let me go! My people can help fix me!"
Snivy glared at the nurse as she hastily reached back down to pick up Somin once again. She lashed out with her vines, roughly slapping away the woman's hand and eliciting a sharp gasp.
"Somin, please… You'd never make it back that far alone. Just please, stay with me."
The boy looked on the conversation happening with a solemn sense of guilt. Sighing, he turned to the nurse as she was looking about ready to give him an earful about his Snivy's behavior.
"I ran out of Pokéballs on the trail, and I wanted to get him help before I went to go pick some up. Would that be okay?"
Snivy whipped her head around towards the boy with an absolutely disgusted look on her face. Had this been his plan the whole time? To take the Zorua anyways, as soon as he was able to get to town?
In her absentmindedness, however, Snivy had failed to recognize the nurse's second attempt at picking up Somin, doing so without any backlash this time. He was crying now, too terrified to even move.
"That's fine. Just control your Snivy, please. I assume you'll want a bed?"
"Please."
"Your trainer card has you registered with no badges, so you'd be paying the full price. Is that alright?"
"Yeah. I'll go drop my stuff and run across the street for some Pokéballs."
Before Snivy could even do so much as protest, she felt herself grow weightless. While staring helplessly at Somin, the boy had taken the opportunity to recall her right back into her ball.
In being recalled that night, she knew for the first time what it was like to truly resent her trainer. Nothing he had done before had ever come close to this level of complete treachery.
Stooping so low to catch a Pokémon. She should've expected as much, but this… This was just evil. Not only did he break his own promise to Somin, but he forced Snivy to break her own. How could she even bear to face the frightened Zorua after this entire ordeal?
To say Snivy was shocked at being released so soon after being recalled was an understatement. After quickly realizing they were alone, however, save for a few other trainers occupying the other beds in the shared sleeping area, she lashed out with her vines once again, raking her trainer straight across the face.
The resounding slap was heard all around the room, demanding quiet. Even the trainer himself was stunned.
It was then Snivy began on a tirade, not caring for the fact her human couldn't even understand her. Only after her human recovered and forcibly put his hands to her mouth was she forced to stop. She even considered biting the boy then and there, but the earnestness in his eyes betrayed something else, something she didn't know.
"Do you want the Zorua to get adopted by some random nobody that walks through here? I get you're angry, but hear me out!"
Snivy opted to do so, though not without jerking her muzzle away from her trainer's hand. It reeked of peanut butter.
"You of all Pokémon should know how much I want him to be on our team, but it's just…"
He sighed.
"It's not right, and I know it's not right. Even if I want it. Even if you want it."
That last bit took Snivy aback. The last thing she wanted was for Somin to suffer under her trainer's comma—
"I know I haven't been the best there ever was, but I know you want a friend, and honestly, I've been pretty bad at that. Just because I didn't say anything on the way here doesn't mean I didn't hear you two chatting it up the entire time. I can tell you really like each other."
That still didn't justif—
"But no matter how much either of us may want him, it's just not right… I don't know if it's something wrong with me, throwing away this kind of chance, but I just couldn't live with myself knowing I took something from its home without permission and made it my slave. This entire league, Pokémon battling in itself, it's so much different than I ever thought it would've been.
And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been a bad trainer, and I feel just as bad for you that you're stuck with me as I am for being stuck with you. And it's because you don't want anyone else getting stuck with me that you're so adamant about protecting that Zorua. Which… That's why I'm gonna capture him so he's not given away, let the nurse give us the all-clear, walk back to where we found him, and let him go. It's… It's the right thing to do."
Snivy digested this for a few moments in a pensive state. She had never thought of her human as one to be candid or perceptible, and yet here he was now, emulating her exact state of mind. To a tee.
She simply sighed, eyes angling downwards.
"I'm sorry for hitting you."
Even though the boy couldn't understand her, the sentiment was still there. He smiled.
"I accept your apology."
Snivy's head popped back up. Had he just understood what she said?
"Can we just… Start over? From the beginning? I'm probably gonna screw up a lot more until I get the hang of this whole 'trainer' thing, but at least we could try to be cool with each other?"
He extended his hand, waiting for Snivy's response. She took a moment to ponder it, staring curiously into the boy's eyes. They held no resentment, no mistruth. He was genuine.
Closing her eyes, she refused to let herself show any emotion as she reached out with a vine and clasped it around his hand, shaking it as he did hers.
"It's nice to meet you," he said, only succeeding in ruining the mood. Snivy rolled her eyes.
"I'll try and get the nurse to let you back with the Zorua," the boy said soon after, standing up and outstretching his arm for the Snivy to climb on. "Tell him what's happening, and just keep him calm. It'll all be over soon."
With that, the boy set off once again with his Snivy in tow, soon to make it back to the front counter.
A small discussion regarding the Zorua's nerves ensued, leading the boy to suggest Snivy be allowed to stay with him. While the nurse was at first reluctant, she eventually agreed.
"Already broken enough rules tonight, so what the hell. I've just finished X-Raying the fracture, and it seems I'm going to have to set the bone. Snivy just has to behave, and try keep the Zorua as calm as possible while I sedate him."
"She will, trust me."
The nurse then accepted Snivy, prompting the trainer to wave a quick goodbye and turn to leave out the front door. As she was carried back to Somin's location, all Snivy could do was think about how she would start the conversation to come.
This Pokémon Center wasn't particularly large, meaning Somin was behind a closed door in one of two recovery rooms. Upon seeing him, curled up on the bed around his broken leg, Snivy could only liken him to a very frightened ball of fluff.
"Somin?"
No response. The nurse let Snivy down on the bed.
"Somin, are you okay?"
"Why, Snivy? Why are they doing this?"
She could hardly hear Somin through the choked-up sounds of his frightened tears.
"Somin, it's going to be okay. You don't have to worry about Ray taking you with us. We're bringing you back home after this is all over."
"That's what you said last time," he choked out, refusing to face Snivy. "I'm… I'm scared."
"It's okay," Snivy reiterated, stepping closer and wrapping a vine around Somin's good foreleg once again. Feeling as if it wasn't enough, she opted to lay down behind the Zorua, nesting her chin between his ears.
"You won't have to stay with us. You can go back home, to your people."
"Snivy…"
"Yeah?"
"I… I don't know if I want to go back home."
Her eyes widened drastically.
"I lied about what I said earlier. I wasn't trying to be brave and get close to a human. I was trying to go on an adventure. It's just… In Entra, everything's always the same, nobody ever questions what's happening or why. There's never anything new to explore. I wanted to escape."
Snivy felt his eyebrows crease as a few more tears fell down his face.
"In a way, I got what I wanted… I got my adventure, but for what? A broken leg, a bunch more humans than I ever wanted to meet? Talking to you, though, Snivy, I felt like I was talking to an exact copy of me, you know? Someone who was trapped, but didn't know whether or not they really wanted not to be trapped. You get what I'm saying?"
"I do…"
"I've never met someone like you before Snivy, and all I want right now is to be friends. But all these humans. I don't like them. I… I think I want to go back home, but I just… I'm so confused."
"We can do that. Ray said you can. He just wants to capture you so we can leave, go back to where we found you, and release you again."
"You said that name before… Ray… Who's Ray?"
"Oh, the human boy. My trainer… That's his name."
"Ray… Snivy, do you trust Ray?"
The question caught Snivy off guard, but a second was all she needed to formulate a response.
"Enough to keep his word, yes. Yes I do."
"Then… Then I'll trust him too."
"Are we all ready? The sooner we get this leg fixed, the sooner we can start healing."
The nurse's interruption was hardly appreciated, eliciting a glare from Snivy. Her preparations were complete, and all she needed was the go-ahead.
"Somin, do you know what the nurse has to do?"
"I've had friends that've broken their legs before. She needs to set it back, doesn't she?"
Snivy solemnly nodded. "The humans have medicine that can make you go to sleep, so it doesn't hurt. That's probably what the nurse is going to use."
Somin nervously bit down, nodding.
"Will you stay with me?"
"Of course."
Snivy nodded in the nurse's direction, as if to give her the green light. It was then she got up and moved away from Somin, though opting not to unwind her vine from around his good leg. Somin brought her vine up closer to his face, as if to hold it more tightly, and contracted his claws around it as the nurse moved in to inject his shoulder with a sedative.
His claws held fast for a few more seconds as his breath hitched, but slowly retracted as he lost consciousness. It was only when he closed his eyes that Snivy noticed he'd been watching her.
As promised, Snivy sat with him throughout the entire procedure, only loosening up a little as the nurse requested she move her vines away. She refused to completely unwind from around his foreleg, as if he, in his unconsciousness, could tell whether or not she was truly still there with him.
Somin took in a deep breath of the tropical air, stretching.
"Y'know… This place really reminds me of home."
"Home?"
"Where I'm from, y'know? Smack dab in the middle of Unova, but it had a sand beach around a lake just like this one. Clearest water you'll ever see."
"I wouldn't really know. You speak so little about it."
"Well, it wasn't really the paradise everyone made it out to be. It might've been for them, but once I got the taste of adventure, I was immediately hooked."
"Is that why you turned back and decided to follow us again? After Ray released you back into the woods?"
Somin turned around, smirking at Vita devilishly.
"Might've been for some…" he began, stepping closer and closer until he was right up against Vita. He gently stroked the curled, verdant extension sectioning off from her lower neck, guiding his claws down her torso. "Other reasons."
She stared down at him, amused.
"No! Snivy!" Vita mocked in as whiny a voice as she could manage. She turned without warning, refusing to give him so much as a playful glance and slithered towards the water. He could only follow, taking the verbal abuse. "Please don't leave me! Stay with me! The nurse scares me!"
Somin couldn't help but laugh at Vita's impression, soon to let himself go limp on top of her as she came to a rest where she'd stashed their egg, half-buried in the sand. Deft after years of practice, she coiled up around her mate, leaving him in a position in which he was content enough to sleep.
"We can make this work. We can trust Victor to work with the boy, Jake. We'll find him, Somin."
"I know we will. Night, Snivy."
"Good night."
