Vullaby and Mandibuzz

There was a breeze, enough to carry leaves in lazy flight. On the ground below, there was a layer of mud from the recently passed rain. There weren't any bigger Pokemon hanging around to cause trouble. It seemed like the perfect time. Stretching her tiny black wings out wide, Vullaby readied herself. "I'll do it today!" she said. Then she started running (more accurately, waddling) as fast as she could to the edge of the cliff. "Yaaaaaaaaa!"

Then the ground ended under her and she was still moving forward. The breeze moved around her wings. For a moment, she thought, 'I did it!' And then she plummeted downward. Vullaby tried frantically to flap her wings and fly, but all it did was turn her about in the air. She pulled her legs up and landed with a bone-snapping crack. Fortunately, they weren't her own bones.

Unfortunately, the source of the sound was the bone armor she wore. It fell to pieces off of her. "Oh no, I'm naked!" she cried, looking around flustered for something to cover up her weaker belly and rear area. But there wasn't anything down here; all of the bones were stored up near the nest. She'd have to get back up there.

Up the cliff, when she couldn't even fly by running off it. Vullaby felt disappointed that she couldn't, but worry about someone attacking her like this pushed her to try. The cliff was jagged, so she might be able to jump up the rocks. For the first few jumps, it was simple. But then her feet got hold of a weak muddy rock, which threatened to crumble under even her small weight. Vullaby kept her wings out while trying to balance, but that moved the rock enough that it broke off. Quickly, she jumped to another rock that was so small that she could barely get both of her feet on it.

"I wish I could fly," she said, looking up at the sky.

There, she saw her mother Mandibuzz circling around to watch the ground. Then, Mandibuzz dove down. A bellow followed and she returned to the sky carrying a living Bouffalant in her claws. The land Pokemon struggled to hit her, but Mandibuzz simply hurled it back to the ground when she got above a nearby tree. Bouffalant bellowed again, daring her to come down and fight. However, she wouldn't follow that and climbed back into the sky again.

Vullaby watched the whole scene in admiration. "I want to fly and be strong and beautiful like that," she said. Then she clicked her beak and lifted her head. "I will be! But I want that time to come soon."

For now, she had to work on getting back to her mother's nest. Vullaby continued to jump from place to place, watching more carefully now for weak points. Once, she had to grip into a patch of dirt in the cliff because there wasn't a better place to go from the last spot. She worried about it giving way, but the clay held strong. When she was less than a foot from the top, she landed on a spot that started to slide her back down to the bottom. Not wanting to do that climb all over again, she flapped her wings and jumped with all her might to reach another foothold, then the top.

She hurried away from the edge once she reached the top. Then she turned around and spent a moment catching her breath. "Phew, that was a lot of work," she said to herself. "I wish there was an easier place to learn flying, so I could do it myself." However, there was still the matter of replacing her armor. She went to the hole in the rocks where her mother stored the bones.

Later on, Mandibuzz returned with a fresh meal in her claws. "Time to eat," she said, but then peered into the bone hole. "Vullaby dear, what are you doing?"

"Ummm..." She looked around at the various bones that she had been trying to piece together. "I had to replace my armor, so I thought I'd make it pretty like yours. I tried to do what you do, but it won't work." She tried to duck her head under her wings, worried about getting scolded for breaking her armor.

However, Mandibuzz chuckled at that. "There's magic to it, and I haven't taught it to you. Go wear one of the skulls; it suits you better than trying to cobble smaller bones into the right shape."

"Okay, Momma," she said, disappointed that she'd have to stick with the skulls. Finding a clean and dry one of the right size, she flipped it upside-down and put her legs through the eye holes.

As she came out, Mandibuzz nudged her towards the food. "Now how did you lose your armor?"

"I wanted to fly," Vullaby said, pointing to the edge of the cliff. She explained how she thought the moving air would help her get started, but then it wasn't enough to carry her and she had to climb back up. "Do you think if I tried when the winds were stronger, I could fly?"

"No, don't try that," her mother said. "Stronger winds would just blow you around and you could get hurt. The problem isn't the wind, it's your wings. They're too small to support you now."

"Oh?" She spread her wings out, but even that didn't match the length of one of her mother's wings. "But I thought mine had gotten bigger today."

Mandibuzz nudged her chin, to better her posture. "Just a little. You won't be able to fly for a long time. Focus on making your body stronger and someday, you'll be able to grow into a Mandibuzz like me."

Vullaby's eyes widened. "And I'll be strong and beautiful like you? But how do I get that strong? I want to fly soon so you'll be proud of me!"

Laughing again, Mandibuzz bumped her head affectionately into Vullaby's. "But I am proud of you. You got all the way up the cliff on your own, which is quite a feat for a young one like you. You're the best gift ever given to me and I'll always love you, no matter what. For now, you need to battle others and be patient. You'll grow up when the time is right."

"Okay, Momma," she said. Hearing that more than made up for the disappointment in falling off the cliff today.

Mandibuzz then got some blood from their meal. "I could show you more closely how we make beautiful things with bones and blood. You might be able to do something simple; if not, just keep practicing every meal until you get it right."

Watching closely, Vullaby started thinking about what kind of bone decoration she wanted to wear first. It was a good day after all.

…

Vullaby B2/W2 entry: Their wings are too tiny to allow them to fly. They guard their posteriors with bones that were gathered by Mandibuzz.

Mandibuzz White entry: Watching from the sky, they swoop to strike weakened Pokemon on the ground. They decorate themselves with bones.

On the second day of Christmas... a story about family. Make sure that those you love know it is so.