Author's Notes
Okay so writer's block decided to fight me. I'm losing inspiration to continue, big time. It's been here for a few months, but I'm getting to the point where I can't fight it off so easy.
If I drop off the face of the earth for a few days, weeks, months, or years after this chapter, y'all'll know why. Of course, you can always add me on Discord if you want. (Fluffy#3016)
Without further ado, let's begin.
Daisy's Point of View
As the human's head peaked from my den, my paws took control and made me step back.
He blinked once. I blinked back. The human soon gave me a slow wave.
"Great," I thought, "a gesture I can understand!"
I gave a wave back, Fawn giving a hesitant nod. I began to walk forward toward the human, my zorua friend slowly following in my paw-steps.
The human attempted to crawl out of the den, grimacing and grunting as he did so. Fawn and I stopped in front of him, simply watching. His forearms were covered in dirt and grass stains, and his short hair was knotted from sweat. His face turned red from the struggle of crawling out, a small droplet of sweat rolling down his cheek. Or, was it a tear? To this day, I still couldn't tell you.
"You need any help there?" I inquired, momentarily forgetting the language barrier. He simply stopped moving and stared at me. I rolled my eyes, grabbing onto his arm and helping to pull him out. He flinched away looking unsure, but soon accepted the help.
I could see now that his leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Fawn made a squeal, causing the human and I to look in her direction.
"Eww! That's so gross!" she whined. "You're touching it!"
"Fawn, it's not poisonous or anything," I said.
The zorua walked up to the human's leg, getting his attention.
"Look, its leg is all weird and wrong!" She jabbed a paw into it for emphasis, causing the human to roar in pain and make her back off.
"Fawn, it's broken!" I yelled.
"Oh... Sorry..." She backed up a bit, blushing and averting her eyes.
I gently licked the human's face.
"You're fine, I'm sorry about her."
He jerked back and looked at me weirdly. He said something I couldn't understand, so I just stared and tilted my head. This human's language was incredibly complex, something I couldn't easily replicate with my limited range of cries and yips. Every evolution line speaks different from other species, but most pokémon are able to create similar sounds enough for us to cobble together a cohesive language.
He sighed and seemed to think for a moment. The human soon seemed to get an idea. He pointed at me, causing me to back up a bit out of reflex, and tilted his head.
I tilted my head once more. He pointed to his mouth, and then back at me.
"Uhh, Daisy?" I turned to face Fawn, who had called for me. "I think he wants your name?"
It seemed like a reasonable idea, but I wasn't sure. Well, it didn't hurt to try I guess. I turned back to the human and slowly spoke my name.
"Daisy."
He looked at my, and flexed his jaw around before attempting to mimic my speech.
"Flower?"
It was close in pokémon tongue, but not quite the same. I spoke my name once more, this time a bit slower.
"Daisy."
"Dai..sy... Daisy...?"
I nodded at him, eliciting a smile. He then pointed at Fawn.
"Uh... me?"
"Uhme?" the human spoke.
"What? No!"
He blinked and tilted his head.
"Whatno?"
Fawn was about to protest again, but I stuffed a paw in her mouth. The human looked over to me.
I pointed at the zorua, and spoke her name as clearly as I could.
"Fawn."
"Fawn... Fawn?" the human hummed, looking to the zorua for confirmation.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, nodding frantically. "Is he slow or something? You know, in the head?"
I simply shrugged.
"I don't know, but you didn't exactly tell him the right name."
Fawn looked away again.
"Oh... Oh yeah..."
I turned to the human, and pointed toward him.
"Your turn?"
He blinked, and spoke his name.
"Mac?" With my limited range of noises, I couldn't make an exact mimic, but he seemed content with it.
Mac just shrugged and nodded.
"Fawn, could you fetch some oran or stirus berries? We're gonna need as many as we can to help heal his leg faster."
The zorua nodded with newfound determination.
"Yes ma'am!"
As the zorua ran off I walked to Mac's leg and looked him in the eye.
"This is gonna hurt, mkay?" I spoke softly, as I placed my paws on the leg. He flinched, and eyed me carefully. Before he had the chance to say anything, I forced the bone back into place.
Mac shouted in pain, and kicked me in the face. I cried out as the blow knocked me a few feet away.
It wasn't that hard, but it still hurt.
"Hey!" I cried. "What was that for?!" I advanced on Mac with a huff.
He scooted backwards until he was up against a tree trunk. I sighed, deciding to let it go.
"That better have been a reflex," I said.
I leapt over to Mac, who flinched away. I nuzzled his cheek in an attempt to calm him down, but he still stayed stiff. He seemed to relax a little bit, but not much.
He reached out his large hand, causing me to look up in confusion. Mac laid his hand on my head and gently dragged it through my fur. He took his hand from my forehead, down my back, and along my tail before lifting the hand and repeating the motion.
It felt a bit weird, but was very calming to me. I crawled into his lap and curled up, letting Mac pet me gently. It didn't feel gross like when Fogg put his greasy, bony mitts on me, instead feeling like a friendly gesture. Affection, of some sort.
Maxwell's Point of View
I was awoken with a start by the loud cries outside of the den. After a moment, I managed to crawl forward and peak outside. I saw the leafeon from before and a zorua staring at a yellow pokémon that was too far away for me to properly identify.
After the yellow pokémon was out of sight, the zorua and leafeon.
They walked up to me, the zorua looking a bit scared. I tried to climb out of the den, but I didn't make much progress evident by the sweat drop rolling down my cheek from the effort. The leafeon took pity, and helped drag me out. After this was finished, the zorua squealed, causing the leafeon to look at her.
The two pokémon cried at each other for a little bit, before the zorua walked up to me. It jabbed at my leg, causing it to flare up in pain. I hollered from the burning sensation, causing both of the pokémon to hesitate.
They cried back and forth for a bit more, before looking back to me. The leafeon approached my gingerly, and licked my cheek with a soft murr.
I jolted back from the unexpected tongue against my cheek.
"Why did you lick me?" I asked. The leafeon tilted it's head and said nothing. Of course, wild pokémon probably couldn't understand humans. I decided that if I was to get out of this forest, I'd need to be able to communicate with the pokémon. But how?
I decided to start with something simple. Maybe I could get the names of the leafeon and zorua?
I pointed at the leafeon first, since she seemed the most open to interaction. She tilted her head further.
"How am I going to convey my question?" I thought. Then a new idea hit me like a mallet.
I opened my mouth, pointing to it and then the leafeon.
It tilted its head the other way, when the zorua said something to it. It seemed to understand now, and looked at me with it's deep brown eyes.
It spoke what I assumed was it's name. I didn't understand what it meant, but I tried to say it anyway.
It shook its head. No? Not right?
The leafeon repeated its name once more. I said it again, and the leafeon seemed content and nodded. I later learned that it meant Daisy, but that's not important right now.
I then turned and pointed to the zorua, who's pupils shrunk momentarily. It cried out what I assumed was its name, and I tried to repeat it.
It shook its head, and made a completely different sound. I tried to mimic the new one.
Daisy shoved a paw in its companion's mouth, and pointed at the zorua making another new noise. Probably its actual name.
I tried to make the sound. Twice, just to make sure. The leafeon smiled and nodded. Fawn was the zorua's name.
The two spoke with each other for a bit, Fawn looking sheepish as Daisy turned and pointed at me with a yip.
"Max," I simply said. Daisy tried their best to mimic the noise.
"Mac?"
While it wasn't perfect, it was good enough.
Daisy and Fawn spoke for a bit afterward, the latter soon running off.
Daisy walked up to my leg, laying their paws on it and shooting me an apologetic look. They yipped something at me, before shoving my bone back into place.
"AHH! God DAMN IT!" I shouted, kicking the frail leafeon away by reflex. When it recovered, it looked at me with hurt and anger, stamping forward toward me.
I backed up against a tree, feeling really bad for hurting the poor thing. Daisy seemed to take pity on me, sighing and returning to a neutral face. It walked up to me and nuzzled my cheek gently. I was put a bit on edge by it, but the gesture was sweet.
I reached out my hand and began to gently pet the leafeon, who stiffened up looking at me confused. As I pet along its back gently, it seemed to calm down.
Daisy climbed into my lap and curled up, content to let me pet their soft fur. I took the opportunity to play with it's ears and tail.
They looked like they were plants, and they felt like it too, but I wasn't completely sure. I'd have to ask someone when I got back home.
I down at the leafeon, who was starting to close it's eyes and breathe calmly.