CHPT 3 - ANDROMEDA RISING
Samuel stared up at the Pokémon standing in front of him, her white fur a stark contrast against the slowly setting sky. His eyes were wide, unblinking as he looked over her, more… humanoid than the last time he had seen her. "I-I…" He started, before a clawed hand reached down, pressing against the tree behind him. She wasn't nearly as tall as he was, standing closer to 5'4. Her fur covered her body, silky smooth – or at least it had been. In the time since they had last seen each other, it had grown less well kept, matted. Her hips were wide, just enough to where they were noticeable under all the fur, even now. Little tufts of fur gathered around her neck, a soft space that she had liked to bury herself into when she was embarrassed. Even after all these years, she could certainly be described as thick, even a little soft in her figure. She stared down at him, her hand moving to feel his cheek, leaving him rather speechless even still. It wasn't until she had properly made contact that she pulled away, glancing around quickly as she avoided his gaze. "W-what… Oh... Oh Arceus, what have I done to deserve this...?" The Absol asked this softly, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.
"I-I, what? I-I'm sorry, I didn't… listen to the sign, but… Please, I promise, I didn't… mean to, honest." Samuel spoke softly, unsure of why she had pulled away. He found himself standing, embarrassed at what he had caused as he was unsure if he should try and give her a hug, or attempt to calm her down.
The Absol looked at him once more, giving him a better view of her eyes. They were wilder than they had been, or at least as well as he could remember. "W-we really, need to like… be quiet, though. I don't know what all is out here, Andromeda, and it might be dangerous." Samuel spoke, even as the Absol couldn't quite believe her ears. "A-aha, its funny… you're getting better at these delusions, Andromeda, honestly." The Absol spoke quietly, a hushed voice that was barely a whisper, glancing back to her trainer. "I should've known this was just a dream when the ball opened, anyways…" Samuel reached towards her, taking her hand as he gave it a squeeze, his eyes locked on her. "It's really me, I promise. I'm… sorry for leaving you in there… B-but it wasn't for that long, right? Besides, we shouldn't be… talking out here. It might be dangerous. Just… come back to the house with me, okay?"
The walk back to the house was brisk, little sniffles from the Absol echoing in the Trainer's ears. He couldn't help but think that the guilt he had predicted would've been preferable to hearing her like this. Every few steps were laced with, "It's just a dream…" or" He isn't real… you're being silly, Andromeda..." Each one filled him with more doubt about how long he had truly been asleep, the ruined houses of Nuvema town falling apart around him. It seemed that his best bet was his old home, leading her inside the rickety building with half-standing half collapsed walls. Samuel looked to her, sitting down where the living room had once been, pulling her down with him. "Andromeda, please… lets just, talk about what happened, alright?"
It took nearly an hour for the pair to reach a point where Samuel was even being heard. The distrust was evident in Andromeda's eyes, glancing nervously to him, and then to the door. There had even come a point where she moved in between her trainer and the door, just as a display, though the message had been clear. Samuel tried to understand what she had been doing all this time, though it seemed that she was reluctant at best.
"Well, I mean, it was more like sleeping for me… Did you sleep, too?"
His question was met by a simple shake of the head, before she spoke.
"I was aware of every passing day, Master Samuel." It was ominous, no doubt, but that was how she had always been. The foreboding pokemon had lived up to her name for a while before the world went to hell, but this was a new level. The white furred pokemon ran her paws through her hair, preening in front of him as she maintained her view, eyes darting to the exits of the home.
"It was… A lot. I'm glad you're okay, though… I'm also sorry for my earlier display. You don't mind, do you? Now that we're finally together again, I mean, I don't think I could hold… anything against you, really. You're as wonderful as the day you left me, Master~" The words were like honey, yet dripped with concealed venom. It hadn't been his fault, he thought, glancing to the ground briefly, before feeling a clawed paw taking his once more. Andromeda's smile flashed him back to her, pulling the two closer. "I-I uh, well, I didn't… mean to, really… I'm sorry again, but… are you hungry? Maybe we can find some food, and then figure out what to do? We need to get some shelter, after all, and I don't quite think that this place is really… suitable anymore. We could hide downstairs, but… I really don't think I want to spend time there…"
The Absol leaned against him, shaking her head as she pressed her body closer to his. He hadn't realized she had gotten that close, a hand of hers snaking around his side, hugging him into her. "I'll take care of you… You don't have to worry, I promise, Master. Just… Let me deal with it all, and we'll get everything fixed." She spoke softly, Samuel not remembering her to have been so clingy, though he didn't ask too many questions at this point, nodding a touch. It was safer for her to deal with it, anyways. She was much stronger than him, especially considering that he had been asleep the entire time she was awake, too.
The Absol closed her eyes, the visage of the scratches on the walls, each one tallying a day she had spent without Samuel echoing in her mind. She had kept track, she had waited. She had never lost faith in her master, knowing he would one day return.
She was His, and He was Hers. It wasn't Samuel's fault that their return to the waking world had been lackluster. He just didn't realize how much 200 years of silence, painful silence, filled with imagined scenarios of their reunion, the fact that Andromeda had been planning every single moment of it, it all compounded. But, he didn't have anything to worry about anymore.
She was Andromeda, and she had found her missing Star. "I'll keep you safe, my Master, My Starlight, You'll never worry about a thing again…"