== Chapter 3.1: Cruelty

My eyes went wide as Zeph's pain seemed to only intensify as he beheld the towering witch, its slowly raising claws putting me into full alert as its murderous intent became more than clear.

I prepared my wand with one swift motion, its brilliant flame roaring to life once more as I started gathering power for a Fire Blast, hoping to send the wench back to whatever hole it crawled out of.

Whimsi had the same idea despite her own struggling, a vibrant Energy Ball forming in her paws as she glared at the witch in front of us, no less determined in her defense than I was.

Whimsicott were goof balls as a whole, but this one was by far the most devoted and fierce goof ball I've ever seen.

Just as Whimsi launched her attack, I saw witch's eyes light up for just the briefest instant before the projectile was reflected back towards the cottonball, exploding almost immediately. Its shockwave knocked all of us back and most of the wisps out, any focus I had gathered completely lost as I crashed into the ground.

I barely scrambled up onto all fours as my body shook in pain, eyes going wide at the two little ones writhing in front of me, Whimsi especially only reduced to painful trembling.

If we were going to die, the least I could do was protect the two little ones from any more of witch's mental onslaught, laying a paw on each of their heads and focusing my psychic powers to put them both to Rest. The sheer exertion got a gasp out of me as I glanced back towards the looming threat, the witch getting closer with every instant, its piercing gaze looking even fiercer in growing darkness.

And if we were going to die, then at the very least I'd give that fucking witch everything I still had.

My fear burned into anger, white hot anger at the one happy moment in my life being so violently violated, at fate itself seeming keen on denying me from ever finding peace.

The intensity of my emotion was enough to give the witch a pause, catching its attention as I lifted myself back up, rattled, horribly weak, but more furious than ever in my life as I both mentally and physically screamed at it-

**"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIEND, YOU BITCH!"** - I slowly staggered in its direction, disarmed and having no idea what I would even do to stop it, but at the very least intending to give Zeph more time to run while it mauls me into a scorching red paste.

Before I could take more than a couple steps however, its psychic grip stilled me completely, embracing my whole body in faint, pink light, barely letting me breathe as I heard its voice once more, quieter and focused towards me-

*"Friend? You're not a human slave, bred by them for obedience, I can sense it. Why then are you defending him, when all he wants is to bring us harm!?"*

Its grip on my body was only tightening, making me almost gasp for air as I struggled to breathe. Between the pain, both physical and mental, I could barely think clearly enough to answer her question, my response coming out almost incoherently as it loomed closer and closer, sheer size dwarfing mine-

*"H-he-he hel-h-helped me, n-not harmed!"*

*"Liar."* - I squealed and teared up as its grip became actively painful, starting to twist my joints as its expression became one of utter contempt, its claws rising up behind it to strike.

***"I will not suffer another human to hurt this land, or any other creature to attempt to stop m-"*** - Zeph's shout caught us both by surprise, brief shock creeping up onto witch's face as I heard him run towards me, his pull overcoming the witch's psychic grip, the faint energy around me shattering in an instant as I was yanked out of it.

It didn't take long for the witch to collect itself back together, claws already rising and glowing with psychic energy in preparation for what would no doubt be the final blow. My thoughts raced a mile a minute as I struggled to think of anything, the long spoon pinned against my chest catching my attention as it pressed into-

Long spoon. Long wooden spoon.

Thank you Zeph.

I yanked the utensil out of his grip in a rush of adrenaline, brushing it against the side of my head and ear in one swift motion, smearing some leftover food against me as I desperately hoped the damp wood would ignite, which it thankfully did at the very last moment.

All colors of the rainbow engulfed the head of the spoon as the curry ignited as well, the entirety of my powers focusing in one spot as I conjured a brief barrier, immediately shattered by the witch's attempted Psycho Cut as its blow was deflected.

One Protect done, now just a thousand more.

I knew acutely well that in a direct meeting of the minds its powers would crush my head like an overripe berry, pushing me to try and even the grounds somehow, a translucent barrier forming between us and her with another swipe of my wand, glowing enough to illuminate the witch's... uncertain expression?

For a long while we both stood glaring at each other, my body burning hot to the touch as I only ran on sheer anger anymore, every single part of me screaming for rest that wouldn't come, couldn't come.

Not yet.

After what felt like ages but was probably less than half a minute, it shifted it gaze from me over to Zeph who still continued to weakly hold me, ferocity in her eyes mellowing out with confusion taking its place.

***"Why..."***

Her short message was cut off as I heard Zeph's shriek of pain, intense enough for him to drop me back onto my legs and collapse on the ground.

His intense suffering emboldened me to take advantage of the opening in witch's focus as I brought the burning head of the spoon to my mouth and blew forth a Flamethrower, the instant of surprise on the witch's face replaced by anger once more as it parried my attack and went back onto the offensive, an endless barrage of Psycho Cuts barraging me one after another, with each Protect coming harder and harder.

It was all too much.

No matter how much I tried to Protect us, to keep it at bay, the onslaught just keep coming on the inside and out, its cuts coming closer and closer to connecting as it slowly closed in on us, my limbs shouting at me with stabbing pain from sheer overuse.

The sight of Zeph writhing pitifully on the ground, combined with his unceasing screams of pain, feeling him get weaker and weaker-

If not for being so determined to protect him I would've collapsed long ago, and even with the motivation the strain was enough to make me feel like my flesh wasted away into ash as my eyes cried, burned with the all consuming, bitter death.

**CRASH**

It wasn't enough.

Its cut broke through my exhausted defenses, digging into my arm and chest as the pain staggered me back, crimson staining my light fur as I could only look up at the towering witch, now mere feet from us, only barely able to keep standing.

This was the end.

Bitter tears mixed with the bloody stains as I shook, the sheer unfairness of it all would have made me scream if I had any breath to spare.

I could barely hold my wand anymore, its flame reduced to little more than an ember even as the witch looked seemingly no worse for the wear.

From its point of view, it was probably like swatting at a particularly annoying insect.

I bared my teeth in deathly desperation as it just stood there, eying us down as the final fiery wisp had finally faded away, only the piercing eyes visible underneath the stars as they drilled into me.

If I was gonna die, I was gonna take that thing with me.

My paw clenched around my wand as I gathered everything that was left of me, willing to burn away if that meant it would share my fate. My body grew hotter and hotter, heat intensifying as the flame on the tip on my wand roared to life one last time.

I lifted my wand and charged at the witch as the heat consumed me, the world fading away in fl-

*"No."*

The witch's voice stilled my mind as it raced to caught up, soon realizing that its claws stopped my wand paw from even rising in the first place, making me drop the spoon in sheer shock.

Stopped. Not severed.

My dying body shook as I stared up at the piercing eyes, the shock of surprise nearly making me faint on its own. Its expression was inscrutable in the darkness, gaze still focused on us as I felt the painful mental grip wane on me, my eyes going wide at the sudden change.

"W-why..." - I whispered out, mental voice barely audible as my legs finally gave out from under me, making me collapse roughly on top of Zeph, only barely clinging onto consciousness anymore.

It closed its eyes for a long while, a faint hum growing audible as it, us, even the earth underneath us all started to glow, an overwhelming power surging through us all I could only watch.

I thought I heard the witch respond, but its voice was obscured by the ever so intensifying noise, the light around us growing brighter and brighter until it became downright blinding as the hum grew into a deafening roar-

There was a blast, an intense rush of wind and warm air.

There was a thud next to us, a thud of someone collapsing onto grass.

And then, there was nothing more.

***

"Au?"

The impossibly distant sound seemed to reach me wherever I was, or wasn't, the quiet noise letting me know I was still alive.

That, or I've ended up in the most boring afterlife I could've imagined. And the coldest...

"Au-au."

I shuddered slightly as I heard the high pitched voice again, unsure whether it was my dying soul, a Pidove or something creaking. Neither possibility filled me with too much optimism, making me just curl up tighter on the rough surface I was probably laying on.

And realize just how much my body hurt all over, what felt like every single muscle was forcing itself in line just to get a chance to shout at me from overuse, a couple of painful spasms in my arms not helping any.

Neither did the cold sweat that seemed to have dampened every bit of my fur.

Alright, this definitely wasn't afterlife. Or if it was, I must've killed many a cub without knowing to end up in its lowest ring-

"T-th-thank you."

Zeph's voice made the events that transpired before us ending up here rush back into my mind, every single horrifying detail recalled vividly as I shot up into the sitting position, the sheer amount of sudden adrenaline in my system overruling my body's objections as my paw burst ablaze, my eyes darting around wherever the hell we were, fully intending to take whatever I saw on before doing the same to the witch itself.

His strained cry immediately grabbed my attention before it shifted to the vines wrapped around his limbs, holding them to the frame of one of the the wooden platforms we were both laying on.

The sight certainly didn't inspire any confidence in me, and what I saw and heard next only sapped it further.

His was hardly the only response to my sudden blaze, my attention shifting to the cream colored creature standing next to him as I snarled at it, trying to intimidate it away from my friend.

I may or may have considered burning the vines off before remembering that it would also hurt Zeph an approximate lot.

As my focus waned, my eyes started darting around the cave we were in, trying to keep track of the rest of the creatures in here with us and if need be, give them a hot reminder to not dare touch either of us.

In the far end rested Whimsi and Row, huddled against each other and squinting painfully as they were abruptly woken up. Their presence here calmed me down a bit, but the improvement in my mood was quickly undone as my eyes scanned on.

In the approximate middle of the cavern laid, well, sat by now, an Aromatisse, her expression utterly inscrutable, but clearly focused on me.

Great, a creepy, furry beak-thing leering at me is just what I needed.

Further away, sitting against the side of the cave Zeph was trapped close to, was a Roselia, its intense glare that soon shifted towards Zeph making it clear that she was just as angry at us as I was at literally everything alive that wasn't my friends.

However, the part of the scenery that upset me the most was the Snorlax that sat against what I realized to be the blocked mouth of the cave, a tiny spot of outside night visible despite its blockage.

Thankfully it was asleep, the possibly of having my skeleton Body Slammed out of me certainly not sounding appealing.

I managed to scuttle back and lean against the wall behind me, my flame fading as my body clearly did not understand the concept of 'keeping guard', letting adrenaline in me drop to the point where the pain was getting more and more difficult to distract myself from.

Seeing Zeph's companions make their way back towards him took out some of my edge, especially with his relieved reaction, but ultimately we were still trapped in here.

The deadlock of the situation we've found ourselves in wasn't doing my sanity any favors. The longer I tried to hold onto my flame, the dimmer it got and the hazier the fine details of the cave beyond my immediate surroundings became- eventually my eyes only being able to find looming horrors wherever I looked, with any and all noises putting me on more of an edge.

I had to get out.

Teleporting us out all at once was out of the question, my sheer exhaustion would only ensure we would end up six feet underground, smeared into the dirt. As hopelessly selfish as it was, I had to get out first, recover, and then rescue Zeph and his companions once I didn't feel like I was on the verge of death anymore.

I snuffed out my flame as I tried to focus, focus as deeply as I possibly could, pushing away the horrors that were now closing in on me in the shadows, pushing even my friends away, requiring perfect, unwavering concentration.

Soon, the faintest of orange glows enveloped me as I pushed on, visualizing the clearing we've last been on, mentally reaching over and trying to manifest back over there, the faint aura around me ever so slowly intensifying. Despite my exhaustion, I still had just enough in me to do this, I had to still have enough, pushing further as I ignored the pain and exhaustion that were trying their hardest to regain their grip on my body.

Just a bit mo-

AGH!

I shrieked out loud at the all too familiar pain stabbing through my mind once more, all my focused energy dissipating violently in an instant, chipping off the stone wall behind me and cracking some planks in the bedding under me.

I forced my eyes open and looked around blindly in the darkness, trying to find the witch that was no doubt already here and give to it what it deser-

And then I felt something, just the faintest sensation of some sort of powder scattering on me, my exhausted brain taking just an instant to process it before my body blazed to life once more-

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!" - I shrieked in my native tongue as I reared up from where I sat, my paws once again engulfing in flames as I leaped at where I remembered that Roselia standing, wanting it to suffer for doing this to me-

Before collapsing in a heap as I lost control of my body, only managing to catch the faintest glimpse of the witch's glowing eyes staring me down before consciousness left me an instant later.

== Chapter 3.2: Misery

"H-Help!" - I shrieked out in desperation as I slowly tried to scramble away from whatever that unholy thing was, whole body aching in the same stabbing pain as my head, making any sort of coordinated motion impossible.

I only briefly noticed my companions rise to attention as I painfully scrambled away from the creature, shrieks of their obvious suffering filling me with deep, freezing dread.

We were dead.

Before I could move any further, a shockwave from behind me launched me away from the horrible thing, the roar of whatever caused it accompanied with another salvo of pain filled cries and thuds of bodies landing on grass-

Both from my companions and myself alike as I landed on what used to be our cooking setup, the pot cutting a deep gash in my leg as my arm smashed one of our bowls to pieces, the resulting shards of glass cutting into my whole side.

Overwhelming headache was reduced to merely an intolerable one, but what I saw right after undid any relief that might have brought me.

Whimsi and Row were laying motionless on the grass with Braxy pushing herself back onto her feet, her stick gone. She looked almost as battered as when we initially found her, intense anger lighting her face up as she shrieked and tried to stagger towards the creature-

The creature that had made its way close enough for me to at least be able to determine what it looked like. Taller than me and outright towering above Braxy, with a pale coloration I couldn't precisely discern in half darkness, and one clawed arm that slowly rose after it turned to face her, stopping its own approach and enveloping her in a pink psychic grasp.

I saw the creature's arm rise and get enveloped in the same psychic energy Braxy was constrained by, the sight of my friend about to be executed pushing me to action, to do something.

Anything.

I had to help her, my friend, somehow.

I tried to stagger my way onto my feet as my body shook uselessly, hand brushing up against the pot and the spoon as I pushed myself up, head feeling like someone was stabbing it with red not knives, any thoughts feeling almost impossible to hold on to.

I briefly noticed the wooden spoon as I picked myself up, a plan of sheer desperation springing up as I quickly scooped up the utensil in front of me, only for another deafening mental scream to tear into me right after-

***"I will not suffer another human to hurt this land, or any other creature to attempt to stop me."***

"Yeah, and I will not let you hurt my FRIEND!" - I took off towards Braxy, dashing as fast as my body would let me, arms wrapping around her and lifting her off her feet, spoon pinned to her chest as I pulled her backwards, breaking the creature's grip even if for a moment.

Praying it would be enough.

It all happened in a blink of an eye- the towering creature swinging its clawed arm down with intent to finish us, Braxy lighting aflame the spoon, a barrier coming into being and then immediately shattering into bits around us, all while I felt paralyzed and completely unable to act.

It was all so threatening, so violent, so dangerous.

The display of power in front of me rung in my ears as I could only stand there and wait, exhausted body barely keeping itself upright as both Braxy and the witch-like creature seemed to be locked in a stand off-

At least for a moment before the thing turned its mind melting gaze back towards me, making me keel over in headsplitting pain, hands trying to hold back the inevitable explosion of my head, body hacking up our previous meal, clenching at how overwhelming the monster's mental presence was, how it utterly blotted my own out.

My mind felt like it was being cracked open and read like a book, all my thoughts and memories on display, no matter how private or hidden as the witch scoured through the entirety of what made me me.

A torrent of memories and thoughts surfacing one after another, disjointed and irrelevant, old and pointless, clear as day and painful as knives stabbing into me, leaving me unable to even me make fully formed thoughts anymore-

~I-is this just what Pokémon do? Fight, kill, fight, kill...~

~Professor, why...~

~You said Pokémon were misunderstood.~

~You said w-we could help.~

~You told me we could learn from each other, build each other up, grow to be better, together.~

My body started to lose its grip on itself, convulsions leaving me writhing on the ground as my mind continued to be violated-

~Y-you kept sending me out to go pick up things for you, to run silly errands putting me out into the world, to experience...~

~All of this...~

~I thought for a moment I 'got' it, why you were making me do what I did.~

I took what little energy my body had left to pry my eyes and look over at Braxy, maintaining new vibrant barriers above us, desperately protecting us from witch's onslaught as I uselessly seized up on the forest floor.

~Braxy, I thought I finally did something right. I thought I made a difference.~

~I thought I helped...~

I closed my eyes once more, the pain of watching her fight to the bitter end too much for me to take in, myself returning to whimper in solitude.

~But we're going to just die, aren't we?~

~...~

~Maybe Professor wasn't the one who had it all figured out, blindly believing that Pokémon were just like us- Living, conscious, sapient creatures. Just wanting to live, wanting to thrive, wanting to belong.~

~Wanting to love and be loved.~

~How could she be right after all this...~

~...~

~Maybe instead... the world was right? The Pokémon battling, the capturing, the forced breeding, maybe it really is all just in their nature? They do it on their own anyways, maybe this way it's a little safer for them and a little safer for us...~

~Crueler, but much safer than us dying in the middle of nowhere, them dying while fighting one another away from any help.~

~I...~

~I don't know anymore.~

My mind was too wracked by suffering to even notice what was happening around me, there was only pain, pain that burned through my entire being-

And then it just stopped, exhaustion wasting no time in filling the void left behind by it, my anguished consciousness snuffed out like a candle before I could even consciously perceive the change.

***

Everything was cold, dark and cold.

I had no idea for how long I laid there while my eyes slowly built up the courage to open themselves, only to find even more blackness in front of me once they did. Nothingness. Eerie, endless quiet.

Guess this is how it ends, huh?

I didn't even know what to think. I tried to grasp at my head, to feel what was left of me, to try and make heads and tails of my last moments, only to find resistance holding me back.

I guess I still had a body at least, just not very much control over it.

As I laid there in deathly silence, the room slowly started to fade from blackness into a scale of dark grays, eyes adjusting to the lack of light just enough to make out a few more blobs of slightly different shade of black in the distance and something restraining me, seemingly wrapped tightly around my limbs.

Maybe not dead then.

B-but then... where was I?

What the hell happened?

I jostled as much as my bindings would allow, lack of energy and a persisting headache leaving me no more than a shaking mess, whimpering under my breath as I tried to test my restraints.

"Au?" - A soft voice perked up from the dark, what I thought to just be more wall to my side turned into a blackened figure approaching me, footsteps growing closer and closer until the creature leaned over my constrained self.

"Au-au." - The figure leaned down and touched me with a furry appendage, pressing against my side as it muttered its quiet cry a couple more times, some sort of energy flowing into my body soon after, leaving it less tense, less pained, less devoid of any strength.

The bruises' dull pain mellowed, breathing became easier, and even the headache stopped thumping in my head as loudly allowing me to at least rest easier in my newfound prison cell.

"T-th-thank you." - I muttered out, no less confused about what was going on, but at least glad I wouldn't have to suffer through it as much.

The figure that had apparently administered the healing nodded slightly in response, one of its furry paws continuing to lightly rest on my arm as it stayed there afterwards, seemingly keeping watch over me.

As I began to ponder just what had happened before I ended up here, or where everyone else was, my eyes were caught off guard by a fiery light bursting into the room, a loud yelp leaving my mouth as my arms futilely tried to shield my eyes from the blinding glare.

With many tears, whimpering cries, and squinting, I was eventually able to make out my immediate surroundings- the cave I was in, Braxy looking more eager than ever to defend herself, with fire burning on one of her paws the source of the sudden light, and a pink and cream creature standing next to me, one paw shielding its eyes from the fox's radiance.

"B-braxy? BRAXY!" - I shouted out much to my own dismay, pain shooting from my chest, body still compressed and not fully recovered. Nevertheless I squirmed excitedly to get her attention, happy to find a face I recognized in this unknown hell I found myself in.

I saw her glance around the cave as she scanned it for potential threats- which my own panicking eyes determined there to be plenty of.

Aside from the cream colored creature standing next to me, distant memories of a hospital visit supplying me with the name 'Audino', there were at least a couple other beings in here with us, most of all the Snorlax a that seemed to be occupying the mouth of the cave, its mere presence dissuading me from trying to break out here lest it tries to stop me from doing that in some more direct way.

A purple furred creature was standing up from its sleep being abruptly interrupted, it's mask-like face not letting out any emotion, but it was clear that it was focused on increasingly more tired Braxy as her flame started to slowly die down.

Another look at my binds determined them to be thick vines, no doubt provided by what I eventually figured out was a Roselia standing off to the side, tiny size combined with hazy vision making it hard to tell at a first glance.

What wasn't hard to tell was its spiteful glare piercing right into me, beady eyes doing their hardest to match the witch's performance.

The panic in Braxy's eyes as she looked after each of our potential foes was beyond unsettling. I struggled ineffectively against the vines as she kept snarling and glaring at each of our cell guards, desperately needing the chance to just move, to comfort her somehow, to do anything!

After a few loud grunts and strained attempts to wriggle myself free, I gave up, resigned to my grassy prison as Braxy seemed to throw in the towel as well, room darkening as her light faded to mere embers.

As I started to lose track of time staring up at the ceiling, a loud chirping started to ring in my ears, Row almost crashing into me soon after. He snuggled into me the best he could, clearly far from prime condition himself, but much more concerned about me in my current state.

"Thank the heavens you're safe Row. I'd come hug you if I c-could but, well I'm a little stuck now, heh." - I whispered in relief, needing his comfort so desperately, nuzzling into him the best I could with my constraints.

Whimsi followed suit soon after, a bit hesitant in her flight, but after managing to make it back to me she wasted no time in holding onto me as close as she could, squeaking emotionally as she pressed some of her fluff under my own head, giving me some semblance of a pillow against the cold wood underneath.

Eventually Braxy's flame faded completely, making me look over towards her to make sure she was alright before I saw a faint orange glow envelop her, transfixed by the sight as it slowly intensified, Braxy herself sitting completely still with her eyes closed, seemingly gathering energy for somethi-

Her loud shriek made me try to jolt away as all her gathered energy discharged violently, her cry of pain accompanied by the sounds of cracking stone and wood, fear about something happening to her stilling me from even breathing.

Before I could even take another breath however, I whimpered at yet another burning glare, accompanied by Braxy's maddened growl, its ferocity filling me with fear despite knowing full well she was my friend-

And then, it was over as soon as it had started, the blinding light, the bloodcurling shriek- all gone, only to be followed up with a sound of something falling onto the cold, dirt floor.

As the cave fell into pitch darkness once more, I could only hear the faintest squeaking sounds before catching a glimpse of the witch's eyes staring at me once more, blood draining from my body before I felt some sort of powder scatter over me, its effects immediate with myself leaving the world of the waking once more.

***

The sudden sleep came fast and easy, but was far from restful. Everything was covered in a thin layer of fine, powdery dust, bleaching the dreamscape of its vividness. Worse yet, it was clearly a dream, a dream I wasn't in the mood for.

Whimsi, Row, Braxy, they were an eyelid opening away from my body, trapped in that cave with all those other Pokémon and even the witch itself and here I was, waddling through a sad excuse for snow.

The landscape continued to rumble faintly, my mind feeling number as the rumblings intensified. Slow, deep words echoing across the landscape, tingling my mind as I slept restlessly-

*"Braixen... insane... enough..."*

What was happening?

I slammed my fists into the dust, making it bloom into the air, lungs filling with the choke-inducing substance only to find myself completely unphased.

Dreaming. Still dreaming.

I there was nothing left to do but try to wake myself up. Pinching, prodding, tongue-biting, nothing shook me from the trance.

I took a few glances around the bleached landscape, noticing a massive tree crowning the top of a small hill, its sheer size making me wonder why I hadn't noticed it earlier.

Guess I would have to wake up as one does in a nightmare.

Time to fall.

I hustled over to the base of the redwood, hands and feet finding their holds as I scaled up its side, determined to make my way as high as my body would take me before taking the leap of awakening.

Ten meters up, twenty, I continued climbing higher and higher, determined to reach the top to make my jump, to exit this place for good and to meet back up with my compani-

Pwoof.

My hand grabbed nothing but dust in its determined climb, my mind taking its sweet time to process the sudden change with my body already engaged in its premature descent right back into the dusty wasteland below.

Even if this was the desired outcome, why couldn't it have been on my own terms!?

My eyes had just enough time to process the ground racing towards me, mind too panicking to notice a small pastel-colored creature standing just off to the side, body quaking despite knowing it was all just a dream I couldn't escape from, none of it was re-

**SLAM!**

== Chapter 3.3: Witness

It all happened so fast.

One moment we were all sitting under the floating fires, with Zephie offering Braixen a ball of her own, we were all happy she would stay with us for good and we'd have someone else to play with!

Well, she still scared me just a bit with her fire and all, but she never used it on us and Zephie trusted her and Whimsi trusted her so I figured I was just a scaredy bird.

And she really was very warm...

And then everything turned scary, all the wild ones fled away, Zephie was screaming in so much pain- we all were, it was so much, way too much for me to handle, my head felt like an egg being thrown against rocks-

And then I was asleep all of a sudden and I didn't like it one bit.

When I finally woke up, we were somewhere very dark and cold, I could see Zephie and Braxy laying on something as Whimsi held me closely, sounding more afraid than I've ever heard her before.

We huddled closely, afraid to move out of the corner we were in, especially with all those other, larger creatures that also were there around us. I could see them well, but had no idea what any of them were, and really didn't want to find out myself, especially with the big sleeping one in the cave's entrance.

I just wanted to go home...

I tried sleeping, having no idea what else I could do, but rest just wouldn't come, not here, not, not away from Zephie.

Just as I lost hope for getting any actual rest tonight, I heard Zephie wake up, his strained sounds making me feel even worse before I saw one of the other creatures walk up to him and seemingly help him out, his words of gratitude calming me down a bit that he was still alri-

And then we were all blinded by the sudden light, Whimsi squeaking quietly into my ear before our eyes adjusted to it, making me chirp in surprise as I realized it was Braxy's fire and that she looked really angry.

Zephie shouted something at her and caught her attention, and her expression softened just a bit as she glanced at us, before it got angry again when she looked over at everyone else in the cave with us.

And then it got scarier as she looked more and more tired, her fire getting smaller as I heard Zephie struggle some more, his cries hurting something inside me, making me want to just fly over to him and help-

Oh pluck it, if the other creatures wanted to hurt us anymore they would already have, I had to do something!

I took off into a short flight, chirping to let Zephie know I was there and hugging him as close as I could, his soft words and nuzzling making me feel so much safer than before, even with him being tied up with vines.

Then Whimsi joined in and I felt less scared when I held her closer and she got less scared too when we both felt Zephie's slowly calming heartbeat.

Eventually Braxy's fire died out, and it got so cold I started shivering.

I looked around towards her and saw her close her eyes and stop moving at all before she started glowing orange, it looked so awesome it made me coo at the sight.

Everyone was staring at her, Braxy's light growing brighter and brighter before she screamed all of the sudden and went dark.

She looked hurt and even angrier than before, something glittering faintly in the dark before I saw her try and jump at something one last time.

She looked scarier than I ever seen her before she just dropped. The thud of her head hitting the ground sounded very, very bad and made me snuggle just a bit closer to Whimsi.

The cave went completely quiet and dark once more, there were only a handful of shuffling noises and then I saw a pair of eyes staring at me, white and glowing.

Whimsi squeaked in terror before I felt some sort of powder scatter on us, making me sneeze as I wondered what was it supposed to do-

And then Zephie fell asleep instantly, the sudden change making me cry out into the cave, angry and scared at someone poisoning my friend like that.

For the longest time nothing happened except everyone taking a step or two. The tall glowy-eyed being that now stood in the center hummed in much the same way Braxy did when she spoke with Zephie.

I wonder why she never spoke with me tho-

We squeaked at the sudden light for the third time that night. What looked like one of the fires Braxy made was now under the roof of the cave, except light pink in color instead.

The big fat one barricading the entrance was still asleep.

The tall creature was now staring right at us. It was pastel colored and rounded and looked really weirdly scary. Whimsi was so scared she fainted right after, and I pushed her a bit to the side so that she wouldn't fall off like Braxy did. Then I felt something tingle in the back of my head, making me turn back towards the pastel glow-eye-

H: *"Can you hear me?"* - The voice felt like how the tall creature looked like, soft and gentle. Calm and feminine too, but I was scared, spooked by the sudden words in my head so I snuggled Zephie closer. It all kept getting scarier...

R: "He obviously can now! That's not what I meant when I asked about how would we deal with those two!" - This voice was shrill and rough. Kinda like the small flower-shaped creature that stepped into view- b-but wait, how-

H: *"But it is how I intend to. They won't be leaving any time soon, I don't see a reason for keeping them in the dark."*

The two creatures around Braixen looked up at the tall one. It then sighed before more words forced themselves into my mind-

H: *"I apologize for leaving you all with this mess for so long, but now I'm here, and I'd appreciate if I could have your trust as we deal with the situation on our hands."*

R: "Situation!? You dumped a- a fucking human on our paws! What if it was awake!?"

H: *"I doubt your vines would be any less effective at constraining him in that case, Roselia."*

R: "E-even if, why did you bring it here in the first place!? Why couldn't you have just killed it where it stood!?"

The question got everyone focused on the tall one again, even the big round one at the cave's entrance, a few moments of painful silence passing by before an answer was provided-

H: *"Because I intended to save him."*

R: "WHAT!? HOW COULD YOU BET-" - The mental shriek got cut off as pink energy blocked the bush creature's mouth, its fierce anger plainly visible under the pink light.

H: *"I was protecting this place when you were but a pollen on your father's petal. I had my reasons for saving him, and will give them tomorrow morning to our assembly. And until then, can you trust me for one more night on top of these couple decades?"*

Bush being shrunk back away from the tall one as its attention shifted over to the Braixen, with the two shorter ones still tending to it, wrapping its wounds with white fabric and occasionally muttering something out with glowing paws.

The soft voice then continued-

H: *"What does she need for recovery?"*

The two smaller ones exchanged glances, nodding before another voice responded-

U: "Time. Most of her wounds are little more then cuts aside from the nasty one on her leg, the main reason for her state seems to be repeated strain and sheer exhaustion. She needs to rest, and rest for a long time." - This voice sounded so soft I wanted to snuggle in it.

H: *"I see. Once you're done patching her up, please tend to the human to the best of your ability."*

Everyone's eyes went wide except for the still asleep big one, and then the soft voice continued-

H: *"I know I'm asking a lot of you, and that you've never done anything like that before. Nonetheless, I have to ask you to help him out in the same way you'd help anyone else out."*

A: "I... w-why? Hatterene, I don't doubt your judgment, but this is all too much. W-who even is that human!?" - Yet another voice spoke out, soft and assertive. The purple furred thing stepped closer to the tall one and they looked at each other.

The tall one closed its eyes and took a deep breath. Its claws were tapping against its hat-thing for a while before there were more words-

H: *"Someone innocent whose life I nearly took because of an error of judgment. I was left with a choice between condemning four innocent beings to death by leaving them on its doorstep in the middle of nowhere and taking a risk in trying to save them. Which option would you rather had I chose?"*

The purple one slowly nodded and turned to look at Zephie. I tried to leer to scare it away but it didn't work and it walked over anyway.

R: "Innocent! I-it's a human for crying out loud, they're monsters!"

H: *"Even if, we need not step down to their level."* - The tall one glared down at the rose bush. It was so scary it yelped and fumbled backwards, almost fell over! Then the tall one turned over to look over me and Zephie-

H: *"After you're done patching them both up, take a look at the sleeping Whimsicott and make sure whether she's alright as well. Once you're done, I'll take them all to my den."*

R: "YOUR DEN!? You want to bring a human so close to the middle of our sanctuary, not to mention that insane Braixen!? What next, untie it!?"

H: *"Yes, indeed. I'll be watching over them all, and so will Snorlax. What better place are you suggesting, Roselia?"*

R: "Here! With the cave's entrance barricaded shut!"

H: *"You seem to be vastly overestimating the danger a single exhausted, unarmed human could possibly pose."*

R: "How dare you toy with everyone's safety like that, especially your own daughter's! What if-if more of them show up, armed, a-and start cat-" - The voice stopped all of a sudden, and the rose bush was glowing pink and not moving.

H: *"Enough. I will see to him and his companions posing as little risk as possible during their stay while being treated fairly. They're being held here against their will, the least we can do is treat them to the same kindness we would anyone else. Murder would have more than likely only attracted human attention anyway, but even if more of them do show up in search for this missing one, the guardians will repel them as we already would."* - The tall one looked around the cave and at everyone gathered, even me. And the rose thing didn't glow anymore.

H: *"Am I making sense?"*

After a couple moments the two big-but-not-very-big ones nodded together. The purple one nodded deeply and confidently, and the cream one very very fast. Even the big fat one nodded, very slowly.

The rose was REALLY angry at that point, so much so that it was shaking! Then it ran over the big one and ran out of the cave.

I jumped at the flash of pink light near me, it was scary so I looked around and the vine on Zephie's hand fell apart!

And then I looked and all the vines on Zephie fell apart too! I was happy but still quite scared, and then very scared when the tall one looked right at me again-

H: *"We won't need that anymore. And now... you deserve rest as well, little one. I apologize for this mess, and I promise to do everything in my power to make it right. For now though... please Rest."*

And then I fell asleep again, but at least it didn't feel as mean or forced as the last time...