A Dragon's Tail
Tail 1: Rachael's Tail – Contamination
Tail 1-3: A Bitter Rivalry
"Well, look who it is…" Jasper spoke with a snide voice. "What are you doing here, white-blood? Can't find someone willing to talk to you?"
"Spit your tongue elsewhere, grass-face." Zenpai crossed his blade-like arm. "Just a minute and you already hit on anyone you met. That's the typical grass type for me."
"And going around and judging random Pokemon, that's the typical bug type for me." Jasper spoke.
"What?!" Zenpai spoke out. "You want some from me?!"
"Of course! But I doubt a low-skilled type like you is going to hurt me." Jasper spoke.
After the speech ended, both Zenpai and Jasper got into an attacking stance. Jasper drew out a long katana from its sheath while Zenpai picked a kunai from his hidden pocket.
"W…Wait!" Rachael spoke as both Jasper and Zenpai prepared to attack each other. "W…Why must you fight?!"
"Because I must show that grass-face what I made of." Zenpai answered.
"And I couldn't possibly lose to the white-blood in front of a cutie pie, right?" Jasper answered.
"W…Wait!" Rachael tried to calm both of them again, but it was too late as the battle had already started!
"Take this, grass-face!" Zenpai dashed up to Jasper with a very high speed move and slashed Jasper with his kunai, but Jasper could block his attack by using his katana!
"What's that slowly moving, white-blood? Or should I say, a slowly moving from a lowly type?" Jasper mocked and thrust Zenpai with his katana, and then he slashed Zenpai! But Zenpai easily dodged the attack!
"You foolish grass-face, or should I say, xxx-face?" Zenpai spoke.
"Grrr!" Jasper hissed and dashed up to Zenpai to attack, but again Zenpai could dodge his attack by leaping away from him.
"Come back here you white-blood!" Jasper roared as he chased after the Scyther, which led both of them into the Leafburg Forest, the thick forest of the Principality of Leafburg, leaving Rachael at the exit of the school alone.
"Z…Zenpai! Jasper!" Rachael tried to call both of them, but it seemed like both of them went too deep into the forest so they couldn't hear her voice.
'W…What should I do?' Rachael asked a question to herself, but she couldn't find an answer, so she decided to go back to her home, the Paradise Farm.
"Good evening, mother!" Rachael greeted as she entered the house, attracting the Leavanny's attention from her sewing.
"Welcome back, my dear." Leavanny put the needles and the silk yarn she used to sew the cloth down on her lap and greeted Rachael with her soft voice. "How was your school today? Did you have fun?"
"Yes! It was fun!" Rachael answered with a cheerful voice. "And guess what, mother? We got exchange students from the Leafburg City!"
"Exchange students from the Leafburg City?" Leavanny said. "What kind of Pokemon are they?"
"They are a Sceptile and a Scyther!" Rachael answered.
"!"
The Leavanny dropped the silk yarn she used to sew on the floor after hearing Rachael's word about the exchanging students.
"M…Mother?!" Rachael became shocked after seeing her mother's reaction. "W…What's wrong? Are you feeling well?"
"N…nothing, my dear." Leavanny quickly picked the silk yarn she dropped.
"Mother, I think you work too hard. Please take a rest once in a while." Rachael said to her mother with a concerning voice.
"Don't worry about me, my dear. Anyway…" Leavanny changed the subject. "Rachael, did you say that the exchange students are a Sceptile and a Scyther, right?"
"Yes, mom."
"Then, why don't you ask both of them to come and visit our farm sometimes? I am sure they will like it here…" Leavanny spoke.
"That's wonderful! B…But…" Rachael started to become uncertain on how to phrase her next words.
"What's wrong, my dear?" Leavanny asked.
"Both of them didn't seem to be friendly to each other. In other words, I think they HATE each other…" Rachael answered while recalling of their skirmish at the exit of the school.
"…I see… Anyway, I still think both of them should come, and at the same time too." Leavanny spoke, much to Rachael's surprise.
"A…Are you sure?!" Rachael asked.
"Don't worry, my dear." Leavanny reassured her daughter. "Now, why don't you have dinner? I have prepared your favorite Fruit Salad for you."
"Wow!" Rachael said with an innocent voice. "Thank! Mother, I love you!" Rachael hugged her mother.
After finishing the dinner and helping her mother with the usual chores, Rachael went back to her room and put her bag near the table. She then started doing the history homework for tomorrow's class. She already finished most of it yesterday, only three questions remained.
'So boring…' Rachael thought to herself. 'Now where to start?'
: What are the Hero/ine of Legend?
Rachael wrote the answer to the question.
"Hero/ine of Legend are a group of Pokemon who received the power from the god Arceus. With the power flowing through their veins, they are sworn to protect the world from falling into the chaos. When the chaos was finally vanquished, they will guard the world of Pokemon silently behind the shadow. Should they unable to protect the world anymore, the power of legend shall be granted to the one who shared the same blood as the former Hero/ine instead. If the former Hero/ine of Legend didn't have anyone who shared the same blood with them, the power of legend shall choose a new Pokemon who will become the next Hero/ine of Legend. With 18 types of Pokemon, there are 18 Hero/ine of Legend, but some may not appear during each time the chaos thieved the realm. The last time the Hero/ine of Legend appeared was 30 years ago, during the Fallen Crisis. There are 14 Hero/ine of Legend at that time, and now they are watching over us. Should the chaos rise up, either they or their descendant shall fight for the sake of the world again."
Rachael then moved to the next question.
QIX: What is the Fallen Crisis?
'Another boring question…' Rachael wrote the answer.
"Fallen Crisis happened 30 years ago. The cause of it was from a demon dragon, who was sealed under the continent of Symmetria. It plagued the land by raising the dead against the law of nature and disrupted the cycle of the season, turning the continent of Symmetria into the realm of everlasting winter. But with the power, courage and wisdom, 14 Hero/ine of Legend finally defeat the demon dragon, thus ended the Fallen Crisis. But because of the everlasting winter and the demon dragon's lurking under the continent of Symmetria, the end of Fallen Crisis caused the continent of Symmetria to twist, changing the location of many places on the continent, such as the land that is now the Shadowlost Territory was once an island south of the mainland Symmetria."
Rachael made a yawn. Then she moved to the last question.
QXV: How many great wars occurred on the continent of Symmetria since the Fallen Crisis until today?
'That's it! The last question.' Rachael thought to herself before writing the answer.
"There are five great wars that occurred on the continent of Symmetria. They are…
-War of the Snowlost Peninsula
-War of Jasmine
-Bloodmoon War
-Civilusion War
-War over the Windsky Plateau"
Normally, a student would write a few descriptions about each war, but not for Rachael.
'Why should I write the descriptions when the question didn't tell me to?' Rachael thought to herself. 'Writing the descriptions won't make me get a better score for the homework, plus I am so sleepy…'
Rachael closed the notebook and put it in her bag, and then she changed her cloth to the pajamas and moved to her bed. But before she fell asleep, she picked a book that was on the night stand. It is a book about a fairy tale her mother gave her. Rachael opened it and started reading the fairy tale, the War of Jasmine…
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom of an abundant forest, where the grass type Pokemon and bug type Pokemon lived together in harmony. This kingdom was ruled by Princess Floria and her beloved knight Sir Jedi. However, one day, the rebel army of bug type Pokemon attacked, and Sir Jedi had to go into the battle. Before he left, he gave a promise to Princess Floria that once he could suppress the rebellion, he will come back and ask her for marriage…
Sir Jedi's forest army fought valiantly with the insect rebel, but in the end, the forest army couldn't stand against the almighty insect rebel, thus the kingdom fell into the control of Sir Scither, the leader of the insect rebellion, and none ever heard of what happened to Sir Jedi again…
Without Sir Jedi, Princess Floria was forced to get married with Sir Scither, despite having no love for him. Sir Scither always tried to make her happy, but never shall her reveal a sight of happiness to him, much to the grief of everyone, be a grass type or a bug type…
Finally, the day of their marriage had come. Princess Floria entered the wedding without a smile on her face, and Sir Scither couldn't say that he is happy…
But during the most important moment of the wedding, a sound of battle cry echoed through the wedding hall, followed by the voice of someone…
"The survivors of the forest army attack!"
"Impossible!"
Much to everyone's surprise, several Pokemon from the forest army appeared in the hall and started attacking the insect soldiers! And while the insect soldiers were busy fighting the forest soldiers, the knight of the forest appeared!
"Oh! Floria!"
It was Sir Jedi. He survived the battle and was now prepared to take the kingdom back from the grasp of the insect rebel, as well as his beloved Floria from Sir Scither.
"Oh!" Princess Flora cried in joy. "Sir Jedi! I knew that you are alive! And I knew that you would come…"
"Hold it right there!" Sir Scither spoke up. "Princess Floria is mine! I won't let you take her away from me. Sir Jedi, I challenge you to a duel!"
"I accept your challenge!"
"Toops!"
The book 'War of Jasmine' fell onto the floor as the one who was reading it had already fallen into a deep sleep, leaving the story unfinished…
Several days later…
It had been two weeks since the day Jasper and Zenpai came to this school, and of course, both of them still snarled at each other every time they saw each other.
"…And that's the end of today's class." Teacher Butterfree announced. "Have a nice holiday."
"YEAH!"
The students in the class shouted out in joy as tomorrow is the start of nine-day holiday, meaning that there's no school for the entire next week!
Teacher Butterfree left the classroom. Some students then left the classroom too, and some students still stayed in the classroom and talked with their friends.
"Teehee!" Cheryl said. "I had waited so long for this holiday! My parents promised me to take me to the Cherry Blossom Trail in the Theocracy of Venturnome!"
"Me too!" Honey said. "For me, my parents will take me to the Opera House in the Dustorm Empire! I heard that there's a new beautiful songstress with a heavenly voice!"
"And I think that I will help my mother with the farm!" Rachael said before she remembered something
"Oh! I've got things to do!" Rachael picked her bag. "See you next week!"
"See you too, Rachael!" Cheryl and Honey greeted as Rachael left the class.
Rachael then moved around the school, trying to find where Jasper and Zenpai were. It didn't take much time as Rachael could tell where they are by the sound of their quarrelling.
"You grass-face!"
"You white-blood!"
"Ah! There you are!" Rachael spoke as she finally found Jasper and Zenpai, who were quarrelling with each other. Upon seeing Rachael, the duo's aggressive personas disappeared and was replaced with their usual personas.
"What's up, cutie?" Jasper greeted.
"Good afternoon, Rachael." Zenpai greeted. Then both Sceptile and Scyther faced each other again.
"She is talking to me, not you white-blood." Jasper hissed.
"Stick that thought to your xxx, grass-face." Zenpai threatened.
"Please calm down, both of you!" Rachael begged. "I was just wondering whether both of you are free right now? My mother wants both of you to visit our berry farm, the Paradise Farm!"
"Sure! I wouldn't reject an invitation from a cutie like you!" Jasper said.
"…I think I have time to spare, so why not?" Zenpai said, and then both of them were about to face each other again when Rachael quickly spoke up.
"T…Then let's go now. And please calm down, both of you, please… For the sake of my mother…"
"Hm…." Zenpai groaned and Jasper hissed, but they finally stopped their quarrelling.
"Here we are! Welcome to the Paradise Farm!"
Rachael led Jasper and Zenpai into a berry farm on the outskirt of the Forezon Village. Paradise Farm is the biggest berry farm in the Forezon Village. It grew many kinds of berry here, be the common one such as the Oran Berry or the rare one such as Chilan Berry. Not only berries, this farm also grew apples and seeds such as the Heal Seed and Reviver Seed, but not as much as the berry.
"First, let's go and meet mother!"
Rachael let Jasper and Zenpai to a beautiful house near the entrance of the farm. She then knocked the door.
"Mother! I brought my friends here today!"
Rachael then opened the door and led Jasper and Zenpai into the house, and then the Leavanny appeared with a basket of berries
"Good evening and welc—" Leavanny was about to greet when she saw Jasper and Zenpai. Almost immediately, the basket of berries slipped from her paw and fell towards the floor, but with his high speed, Zenpai quickly grabbed it before it hit the floor.
"Here you are." Zenpai handed the basket back to the Leavanny.
"T…Thank you." Leavanny's paw shook as she received the basket back from Zenpai, and Rachael could hear Jasper made a hiss in his throat.
"Mother, did you overwork again?" Rachael asked innocently. "You shouldn't work too much! It is not good for your health!"
"I…I am fine, Rachael." Leavanny told her daughter. "A…Anyway, I welcome both of you to the Paradise Farm. My name is Lydia the Leavanny, and I am the owner of the Paradise Farm."
"Greeting Madam Lydia." Zenpai bowed down. "My name is Zenpai Bugslash the Scyther. It is an honor to meet you."
"And I am Jasper Floratree the Sceptile." Jasper introduced himself. "I am so pleased to meet you."
Hearing both Pokemon's introduction made Lydia shocked and almost dropped the basket again, but Jasper could grab it before it hit the floor.
"Here you are." Jasper gave the basket back to Lydia while Zenpai groaned faintly.
"T…Thank…" This time, Lydia's paw shook even much more than when she received a basket from Zenpai. "P…Please make yourselves at home, both of you."
"Thank you." Jasper and Zenpai spoke at the same time, and then both of them faced each other again and resumed their 'long-awaited' fight.
"You grass-face!"
"You white-blood!"
"P…Please!" Lydia begged. "Not now! Let's come and have dinner with us. I had prepared a dinner for all of us! But please, no arguing during the meal."
Strangely, both Zenpai and Jasper quickly calmed down upon hearing Lydia's plea. Then Lydia led them into the dining room, where several dishes of food were on the table.
The four of them had dinner together. During the dinner, Rachael told a story of this farm to Jasper and Zenpai. Both Jasper and Zenpai didn't say much during the meal, and they didn't even get into a quarrel with each other.
"… And the berry that we grow most on this farm is the Oran Berry because it restores a lot of health to us!" Rachael said before noticing that Jasper and Zenpai had become quiet for quite a time. "I…I am sorry if my story bore you."
"No, I quite enjoyed your story." Jasper spoke and took a bite of an apple.
"…Me too…" Zenpai agreed.
"That reminds me…" Lydia seemed to remember something. "Rachael, I have a favor to ask you. Tomorrow, we have an order from a merchant in the Leafburg City, but our farm's deliveryman is sick, and I am busy tomorrow, so could I ask you to deliver the berries and seeds to the Leafburg City?"
"Leafburg City?! The forest capital of the Principality of Leafburg?!" Rachael said in amazement. "W…Wow! I… I have never gone to the Leafburg City before! I want to go there! So, yes! Mother, I will deliver the berries and seeds to the Leafburg City for you tomorrow!"
"Thank you, my dear." Lydia thanked. "But it will take you three days to reach the Leafburg City, so please take a good preparation."
"I will! Wow! To the Leafburg City!" Rachael couldn't hide her joy.
And then…
"…I will accompany you, Rachael." Zenpai spoke up, much to everyone's surprise.
"Zenpai?!" Rachael looked at Zenpai.
"It will take three days to go to the forest capital, and you have never been there before, so I think I should go with you. Plus, I will have to go back to the Leafburg City tomorrow too, so why don't we go together?" Zenpai spoke out.
"Never!" This time, Jasper spoke up.
"Jasper?!" Everyone turned their attention to Jasper. "I will also have to go back to the Leafburg City tomorrow too, so I will be the one who accompany Rachael to the forest capital, not you, white-blood."
"Why should she go with you, grass-face?!" Zenpai faced Jasper.
"Because you are a dxxxxxs, white-blood!"
"Say that again, you grass-face!"
"P…Please…" Rachael tried to calm both of them down. She looked at her mother, but her mother didn't get sad or angry. Instead, she... just smiled…
"M…Mother?"
Lydia smiled gently and looked at both Jasper and Zenpai, who were still quarrelling with each other.
"My, my… You don't have to pretend like that now we are here…"
"W…WHAT?!" Not only Rachael, Jasper and Zenpai also looked at Lydia.
" Mother, what does that mean?" Rachael asked.
Lydia still smiled gently and then she continued speaking.
"…Jasper and Zenpai, both of you don't hate each other… No… Both of you are actually very close to each other, right?"
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: End of the third sub-chapter of the first tail. I think thing went on too slow, so I will speed up thing for a bit. I am sorry if the first tail is so boring. But stay tuned! The second tail won't be this boring! I promise!
It seemed like Rachael is going to the adventure! And what happens with Jasper and Zenpai?
A special thanks to Ridin Valon for helping me with the error correction.