Flying 3.11: Echoes
Pixie
January 16, 2020
"You sure you don't want to go?" Skysong asks Liar.
(She named herself Liar and all humans are liars. It was a very easy choice.)
"Yeah. Don't really want to deal with a, a jynx."
"Whatever. Meet up at noon? You and I go looking for floette, Cuicatl finds butterfree."
Liar sighs. "I get that you need the money from the captures, but do we need to do both at once? Splitting up feels a little dangerous."
"I'll be on the marked path," Skysong replies. "And the meadow is full of grass, flying, and bug-types. I have an ice-type with me with a rock-type in reserve. I'll be fine." Yes. She will be fine as long as you are nearby. It is good that she is learning. And you did such a good job keeping her safe on the trail. Much better than Eyerock or Eggbreath. You're starting to feel confident again that maybe she won't leave you. Maybe. Humans are… and you're…
It's really best to not think about it.
There aren't many plants on the mountain. A few sharp trees. Fuzzy patches on the sides of rocks. Balls of woody tails with scant green coverings. Sea level has many, many more. Too many.
This place once had lots and lots of them. You remember it from one of your earlier humans. It was filled with horrible yellow flowers that made your nose itch. Your nose is fine now; the whole field smells like dying plants. You hope they all die. You hope that it snows and everything freezes and the plants die. Then the whole island will be one big mountain for ninetales. It will be so big that ninetales will be able to keep as many as four vulpix for a while.
"Hey, Kekoa," Skysong says.
"Yeah?"
"You seen Noci today? She isn't answering me."
That does explain why she's using her stick. You'd thought that maybe she was just mad at the Eyerock.
"Cuicatl, I haven't seen shit today."
This is a very good point. The healing place in the big city had small floating things that created light. This one does not. Neither did the one before it. There's just a small rat who sometimes makes a spark. You are not allowed to eat this rat. It's very rude to just leave prey sitting there in front of you.
This healing place is also less crowded than you're used to; you had to share your space with lots of other filthy humans and their obnoxious friends in the city. But outside of the city, you've had a room with just yourself, your trainer, her ugly pets, and Liar.
"She isn't answering me and I can't sense her."
Bloodrage scoffs. "Just have the nurse check her tracker."
"Doesn't have one. Can't put it in her skin and she kept taking off her collar. Said she didn't want people to spy on her."
Something about that must be funny because Bloodrage starts laughing. "That's rich. They don't want people spying on them. But when they do it, that's fine."
Bloodrage uses different words to talk about Eyerock than Skysong does. Skysong calls her she, like she calls you. Kekoa won't. It makes sense. You are a girl. Girls are usually smart and pretty and Eyerock is not. Neither is Eggbreath; maybe she is also not a girl. She has what Skysong calls a "cloaca" and you don't know how to tell if those are male or female. You are very smart, so if you don't know it may not be able to be known. If it can't be known that she's a girl, then she isn't. They isn't. Yes, very good.
Skysong slowly exhales. "Something's bothering you about the jynx," she says. "But I'm trying not to listen to your thoughts about it. Want to tell me?"
"Trans shit."
'Trans shit' is a human thing. There are male and female vulpix and obviously the females are prettier and smarter. Male and female pairs make kits. There's still nothing stopping males from mating with males. They just need to find a pair of two females. Then that pair gets to keep four kits. That's the only difference, aside from females being way better in every way. Kind of weird that Bloodrage doesn't want to be female, but he's human so he's not very smart. Or maybe he wants to be ugly? Uglier, anyways. Humans were never pretty.
Wait. Being pretty doesn't even matter anymore. That's why Skysong cares about her stupid rock running off—she won't even be ashamed when other people see it's ugly. Oh no. You'd just been upset that no one could appreciate you before, but you hadn't thought about how much this helps the not-vulpix of the world. Somewhere an eevee is probably telling a human how much prettier they are than vulpix and it can't be proven wrong.
This is terrible. You roar at the Light Eater again so that it goes away. It doesn't work. You'll keep trying.
The humans stop moving. "What are we dealing with?" Bloodrage whispers.
"I think… she's just mad at Necrozma."
You bark 'yes.'
"Yeah. That's all."
Skysong steps forward with a swish of her stick. Another bad thing: if there's no light, she prefers her dumb stick to her very smart pokémon. Your only job right now is protecting her. That is still very hard, since she insists on getting herself hurt at every opportunity. Even told you not to protect her from a giant bird. Birds hate ice! You could've protected her! But no! She talks to it and takes in its stupid, violent son!
Or Bloodrage takes it in. That is better. Now you must stop her from talking to 'priests' who could let her adopt it. Skysong thinks that the world will end in darkness or something, which is wrong but something you can use. It's not like the moon is just going to tell her the truth.
…now you must stop Skysong from talking to the moon. At least that's one thing that's easier in the darkness.
"She do that a lot?"
Do what? You kind of forgot what they were talking about?
"Every time I take her out to pee. Except on the trail. She did a very good job of stopping herself there."
Yes! Even if the order makes no sense – don't save her from the Light Eater – you still obeyed it. That's how good and irreplaceable you are.
"Huh." Bloodrage does not sound impressed. Ungrateful. What has he been doing about the Light Eater? "How are we doing this, by the way? You just sending out a psychic signal or…"
"No. They don't talk to psychics." Yes! There is no way that she adopts one of these. "Read that online. I'll have to sing. And you'll have to dance."
Bloodrage stops walking. "What?"
"You didn't know that?"
"Uh. It was the only psychic-type that lived in the area and wouldn't give me brain cancer for fun. Gonna be honest, I didn't read that much. Because. Trans shit."
"Well, at least one of us did. Don't worry. I have a plan."
She sounds like a clever predator explaining their hunting strategy to their trapped prey.
There are metal beams leading into the cave. Otherwise the humans probably would have spent ages running their hand over a rock to find it. Once you step inside its. It's wonderful! So, so cold! Like the air coming out of one of their cold storage things, but everywhere! You remember the time that you got into Hummy's and slept there overnight. This is like that. But maybe better, because it feels so big. Wait. How come none of your other humans took you here? You've been in the area before. Now you feel cheated.
The humans keep walking with only a single "Shit, it's cold" from Bloodrage. After several glorious steps Skysong finally sits down.
"This place is flat." Her voice is answered by several slightly different ones. "You ready to do this?" Bloodrage mutters something that doesn't quite sound like human words. Skysong takes that as a 'yes.'
She sings. You've heard her before and it was nothing special, nothing like the cries of the elder ninetales as they talked to each other across the entire mountain. It's different here. Her own voice is almost lost at times as all the echoes answer. The only other sounds are the flow and drips of water. The song starts slow and a little deep. It gets faster and higher later, and she starts to tap her false hoof on the rock and then that starts to get replies. It's all in her actual language, the one you can't speak. It almost sounds… you don't know. Sad at first. Like Avalanche as she buried her children. And then. You don't know. Sometimes you wonder if human feelings are too different from real ones to understand.
The air grows even colder and you purr in happiness. Wait. The cold means something else is here. You don't stop purring, but you do perk your ears up and try to find the whatever-it-is. Hopefully not a jynx. You don't want to leave this cave so soon.
But Bloodrage begins to move in a strange pattern of footsteps and echoes. The song breaks for a second before it starts again, just a little bit worse than before. You nestle in beside Skysong to avoid Bloodrage's paws. You've had your tails stepped on enough times to know where this is going.
Throughout the song you hear Skysong quietly hiss in pain before carrying on. You ask if she's hurt but she doesn't answer. Just pulls you a little bit closer. The cold lunges closer and you prepare your strongest attack—not quickly enough. A loud slap echoes throughout the cave and Skysong lurches back. The jynx pulls away and you can see your aurora beam barely miss.
"I'm hurt," Skysong says. She sounds more angry than hurt. "Can't dance. But he can."
"Uh, right. Hi. I'm Kekoa…"
He goes through the words Skysong gave him. "They're probably starving," Skysong said. "They feed by making people dance, but no tourists are around for it. You can help feed one for a few days. She'll just have to help you in return."
Once he reaches the end of his speech the jynx starts to say… something. It sounds like a human language you don't know. And apparently Bloodrage doesn't either. "So, is that a yes. He starts to dance again. Skysong starts singing. That seems like a yes.
Liar and Skysong are sharing a room. Liar claimed the top beds, but there are still two down low. Eggbreath claimed one entirely for herself because she's greedy. You let her. This way Skysong is all yours.
"What was the song about?" you ask. Maybe it can be explained. Maybe it can't. If she is studying your stories, you can at least try to study hers at the same time. If only to see how much worse they are.
"Two things," she says. Which isn't an answer. "The world is reborn after it ends. One of the old gods has to sacrifice their life to become the sun and start the world again. The one who was supposed to, he didn't want to. Couldn't sacrifice himself for other people he didn't even know. Another leapt at the chance. Lit himself on fire so that humans could live."
If it's true, then he probably didn't do it for humans. It was for vulpix and ninetales. But it's not actually how the world started, so it doesn't matter.
"That's the first half of the song. The second is about a mother who dies giving birth. Her hopes for her children and…" She sighs and flops down on the bed. You take the opportunity to move from being curled up in her lap to being sprawled across her torso. "And other stuff. Neither of them are sad, the woman or the god. They'd do it again. It's. I like it."
You wonder if that's how your living siblings think about you. Let go for their comfort. Do they think you happily left the mountain to them?
"Fools."
"What?"
"They aren't happy about it. Just stuff other people make up to feel less bad."
She idly scratches your ear. "I… guess."
Skysong takes a very long time to silently think about your genius. Long enough that you start to wonder if she disagrees.
"IIt's just how you justify sending people off your mountains."
"Off your…" Her paw locks up before coming to rest on her chest. "I guess that's one way to think about sacrifice."
Her scent is off. Something is bothering her, but she doesn't want to talk about it. Humans are like that, sometimes. They won't shut up until it's actually important. You knead a paw against her. Your mother used to when she was checking for ticks or wounds. It felt nice. Maybe she'll like it. At first she jolts a little but then you can feel her muscles relaxing. And you can't feel any wounds. Or ticks. But since she doesn't have fur—maybe you should try her head? You get off her chest and walk behind her to try.
She laughs. A good sign? You keep going.
Something lurches and—Eggbreath took your spot. What. Was she awake the whole time?
"Mine," she growls.
Fine. But she doesn't know how to groom Skysong. You're still her favorite.
You're so sure of it that you can't even bring yourself to ask her.
However good the moment is it can never last. Skysong's stomach roars and she shifts awkwardly beneath you. "Guess we should be going out again," she says. "Still butterfree to catch."
As if you'd let her.
You lead Skysong back through the field of death. She plods on behind you much slower than normal. You hurry up and the little bell she put on your collar rings loudly. Good. She can move faster and stop dragging her stupid stick behind her. And if she's annoyed and out of breath then she will not be in the mood to make friends and you will not have to deal with smelly bugs.
You reach the edge of the wonderfully cold cave after passing the scents of five butterfree.
"Haven't found anything yet?"
"No. We are at the cold cave. Can I play there?"
"Pix," she groans.
"There may be butterfree in the cave."
"There aren't. Come on. Please."
You walk into the cave with Skysong behind you. Once her footsteps are answered from all sides she stops. "No. Out of the cave."
"Okay."
You keep walking forward. Skysong stops and stands strong. "Out. Now."
A hiss leaves your lips before you can stop it. This is strange for her. Is she finally showing who she really is? Or is she that upset over her stupid rock. You walk forward and the cave rings with the sounds of your bell. "Fine," Skysong says. "I'll do this with Coco."
She doesn't need you. She doesn't want you. Fine. You don't need her. You sit down and flick your seven-and-two-ninths tails behind you. It's cold. You really like the cold. But the ground is hard. You can feel all the bumps of the rock beneath your fur and there's no snow to cushion it.
Something loud splashes in the river running through the cave. Nothing big enough to be afraid of. A bat flies overhead and calls to its companions. You shoot out a powder snow B (the straight glowing one) but the light only shows how much you missed by. Oh. It also shows a lot of angry bats. An A (icy wind Skysong calls it, because it is a wind that is icy) slows most of them down but then it's time to run to the exit. None follow you; they wouldn't dare. You're still afraid one might defecate on your beautiful coat, so you still leave as soon as you can.
Eggbreath tackles you as soon as you're out. "Sister! Play?"
"After we find a butterfree," Skysong admonishes her.
A deep rumble comes from Eggbreath and she stamps her foot. "Want to play with sister."
"But won't you get cold? You can play indoors later."
Eggbreath stops to consider this. "Indoor play!"
"Good. I'll see you then." A flash of red light shows Coco's harness still lying on the ground. Skysong hadn't even been able to get it on. "The Pokémon Center sells frozen blood sticks. I can get you one if you find me more than one butterfree."
What. She could have bought you frozen blood at any time? And she didn't? Why? Do all of them sell frozen blood? Because now you want one whenever you have to sleep inside. At least one per night. Maybe three.
"Three."
"One a day for three days? I want you to leave room for real food."
"One a day always."
"Pix… I'm sorry, but I don't have the money." You can hear her legs crunch up and her voice gets lower to the ground. "When my sister and I got kicked off our mountain, our father sent us to different places. I need money to find her. I'm already spending too much as it is and…" She takes a deep breath. "One a day until we get back on the trail. Final offer."
Humans keep six. This means that Skysong was in a full litter of nine. One got sick and died. Skysong says it's her fault. You still don't understand why. Two were kicked off. Eight out of nine lived. She must have had a very good father.
Still. This is a problem. She wants her stupid rock when it's gone. She wants her sister back, even if it means making you mad—and you are definitely better than her sister. Skysong won't settle for what she has. She wants to give love to everyone, like Ho'oilo. It's a problem that you'll have to tell her about later.
The wind picks up and you can faintly smell rain on it. You really need to hurry up now.
"Deal."
It doesn't take too long to find a smelly bug. They always come out when it rains, and they can sense it coming almost as well as you do. "Found one."
{Thanks.}
"Hey," Skysong calls out. "Butterfree. With the big wings and antennae. I can catch you if you want. Take you some place warm with enough food."
The bug immediately starts flying closer. Weird. Pokémon usually don't trust humans that much. You certainly didn't when you first saw one. With good reason, too. They can take you far, far away from home and never let you go back.
"Oh, and I can hear you if you say something. We can talk if you want."
"Freeeee!" The bug trills.
{I'll try to let you listen…}
Good. You deserve it. And it makes you trust her a little bit.
"Warm! Where is it warm!" It's a little garbled and it doesn't sound much like the stupid bug.
"We have big… caves that are still warm. And nectar we got before the sun went away. I can take you to one."
"Is there light?"
"There will be, yes. In a few days. We'll have to move you some place with light first."
"I remember when there was light everywhere! It wasn't there when I grew wings. I thought that winged ones just couldn't see until an older winged one told me what happened."
Skysong pauses. "I'm not sure what to say to that."
The butterfree trills in an obnoxiously high pitch. "That's because you live for ages."
"I guess. I'm only—actually that probably is a long time for you."
"Ooooh! How old?"
You snort. How silly. There's no way that Skysong could ever want one of these stupid, smelly bugs.
"Fifteen years. That's fifteen dry seasons and fifteen wet seasons."
You can hear the bug's wingbeats slow as she lands on the ground. "Many generations ago… I've never even heard of anyone that old." She beats her wings again. "Are you sure they let winged ones in to this place? There's a patch of light nearby but they keep us away. Say it's for other bugs. I think all of the winged ones should storm it at once: they can't stop us all if we fly reallh fast and low to the ground. But the others say that the humans have fire pokémon and they'd still win."
Maybe. You could easily defeat eighty-one butterfree yourself, even if they did attack all at once. Your ice is stronger than it's ever been and you can cast it out wide. You flick the nub of your eighth tail. Soon it will become a full tail and then you will grow a ninth and then you will be unstoppable.
"You would have to live in a human-built cave. Just making sure you get that, right?"
Fool. Trying to talk her prey out of being preyed upon. This is why she needs you.
"But it has light and food?"
"Yes."
"Good!"
Skysong hums, faintly. "Do you know where the big building where people stay is?"
"I think so! It's near the big water?"
"It is."
The bug trills again. "I can smell big water! And you make lots of noise."
"Good. Do you think some of the other winged ones would like to go with me as well?"
"Yes! We all need warm. And food. Many have already…" The bug's mental voice falters and the physical cries stop. "They needed warm and food."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The bug doesn't answer. "I've also lost family. I want to help you." She sounds sincere. You remember a pokémon one of your earlier humans told you about. It has big eyes and a fluffy tail. It cries and prey comes closer. Then the tail whips around and it's actually a giant mouth and it eats whatever wanted to help it. Skysong is like that now, pretending to be something she isn't so that her prey comes to her.
"I'll.." Water starts trickling down from the sky. The bug's scent shifts. "I'll find others. Bring them to the big water."
"Thank you."
You've just finished your delicious treat when the first bug arrives. Skysong asked you to bark when it happened, and you do it because you're the best and you deserve at least two of these snacks a day. The door opens and she steps out. "You here to be caught?"
A shrill cry, harsher than the last butterfree's, answers.
"Alright. Come to my voice. I'll catch you once I can feel you."
It takes a lot of restraint to let the bug get that close to your human, but you hold back. Catching these means more money means more treats. And maybe not another 'sister.' Maybe. If you just keep eating enough frozen blood than she won't have money for that and you win.
The bug disappears in a big red flash. Skysong stands still before sighing and turning around with one of her spinning things. "How many more do you think are coming?"
You can hear at least one.
Skysong sits up in her nest and stares ahead. At one point she was listening to some stupid human drawl on about beldum, but her phone stopped talking a long time ago and she's still sitting up and staring. Not asleep: her heart rate is unsteady and fast. Eggbreath yawns and shakes herself awake on the other side of Skysong. The human still doesn't move.
"Outside?" Eggbreath asks. She's probably wiggling her butt like she does when she has to mark her territory. Even though Skysong can't see it. Stupid.
"Hmm?" Skysong says. She lets the sound hang, like she doesn't have any idea what else to say. "Oh, yeah, if you want."
"Want."
Skysong finally draws herself up on unsteady legs. You make sure to flick a tail against her and keep the leash in your mouth. Much as you hate Eyerock, you don't have to wear the harness much when they is around. There's no point in wearing it when no one can see how pretty it is.
You walk Skysong over to the big room with the flickering rat and then out into the wonderful cold. Eggbreath immediately screeches and Claws answers. They run towards each other and start their 'can I bite harder than you can scratch' game. You would play and easily win just by breathing cold breath, but then they'd attack you together and you might get their blood on your fur and that's terrible.
"How many have you caught?" Skysong asks.
"Seventeen butterfree for fifty-nine total," Liar answers. "Plus, five metapod." Why is she here with Bloodrage's stupid bird? And that is far, far too many bugs. Almost seven full sets of tails.
"Metapod?" Skysong asks. "How?"
"Butterfree carried them here. I don't know if VStar wants them, but maybe the DNR will."
It takes Skysong a while to answer that one. You take the opportunity to wander off a little bit into the cold. Sure enough there are some patches that need marked over. "Why would the DNR want them?"
"This feels like something they would do, like…" Liar sighs. "All it took was showing one butterfree that we had food and light, and then they all wanted here, right? Why couldn't the DNR do that? Then they could've gone to some conservation facility on the mainland and not just random collectors or whatever."
"Better collectors than dead."
"I know that. I just… hate that the pokémon dealers have a point for once." Liar huffs. "Still think you should quit though."
Skysong just hums in response. You hear her humming get lower to the ground before she softly settles into the grass near Liar. Since her lap is on the ground you run over to sit in it and get scritches. "Do we need to buy more balls?" she asks. "I don't think we had that many."
"I bought them. Don't worry about it."
"Thanks." Her scratches are a little half-hearted. You gently nip her finger so she knows to do better. And she does. After pulling her finger away and flicking your ear. Weakling.
"You know you could've traded off with Kekoa a while ago, right?"
"I know. He offered. I just needed to be alone for a bit. And you seemed, um, a little down."
"Oh." Her face scratches turn into long, slow strokes down the back. Also fine, but not quite as good. You'll let her keep doing it for a while. "I don't know where Noci is. I'm worried about her. That's all."
Liar shifts closer to Skysong, pushing you aside while she embraces your trainer. Rude. "She's a steel-type. I'm sure she's fine. Probably just exploring something interesting."
"Yeah…" Skysong gently leans away and Liar takes the hint to stop crowding you. And you didn't have to growl at either of them. "What's on your mind?"
"We met a florges. It was a little intense."
Skysong told you those were basically just big flowers. Liar's more pathetic than you'd thought if she's scared by one of those.
"Sorry."
"Don't be." Skysong slowly gets up, gently pushing you off her lap as a butterfree approaches. She catches it quickly enough and sits back down, letting you retake your throne. "She just reminded me of something bad that happened a long time ago. That's all." The scent of salt fills the air as she says it. Must have been really bad. Kicked-off-a-mountain bad.
This time Skysong scoots closer to Liar. You almost fall off! You don't whine because you're a beautiful, irreplaceable fox, but you grumble on the inside. The two stay locked together, irritatingly close, until another butterfree comes.
Skysong has been sitting in her bed staring at nothing again. Still torn up about her stupid rock. So it once again falls to you to make her feel better.
"I have an ancestor story for you." She doesn't answer. "Do you want to record it?"
"Later," she mumbles.
"Okay."
You begin.
Ninetales do not believe that love comes from the heart. Any fox who can hear knows that vulpix hearts start beating well before they are born. The mother does not have to give them blood after that. She does have to breathe for them, give them air. Love comes from the lungs. Sometimes children are born and the mother does not want to let go, wrapping her tether around the neck so they can never breathe on their own. They are choked with their mother's love.
You are supposed to accept death. Supposed to let go.
There's a video story that the humans watched on The Sun's Peak before The Long Night fell. It was about a grass-type human whose heart was too small, so he stole things from children to make up for it. The ninetales have no such story. Instead, they speak of Ho'oilo, a fox who had too much breath to give.
Ho'oilo delivered eight kits. One was choked by her mother's breath and seven kits remained. Ho'oilo was devastated and vowed that she would never lose another. For three long years she and her mate watched over them at every moment of every day and night. No more fell and the kits began to grow their third tail.
Others on the mountain became aware of this and began to fear she would keep them all and break the ancient laws. They went to the eldest of elders, voice of the moon, and pled their case. The eldest calmed them and descended to the territory of Ho'oilo to see the mother for herself. She approached the ninetales and her seven kits and calmed the storms around them.
"Ho'oilo," she said, "your children have begun to grow their third tail. Have you picked which two you will keep?"
"My lady, voice of the moon, I will keep all of my children."
The eldest snarled. "The mountain never grows. More ninetales means less food for all. No, you will keep two and only two."
Her mate bowed his head and lowered his tails to the ground. "Please, oh eldest one, let us keep them within our own territories. The balance need not be upset."
The eldest pondered this. "Very well," she said. "When all but two have starved everything will be resolved."
The parents did not believe her. They had protected seven kits thus far and they could continue to protect and feed their seven.
Word spread quickly of the eldest's judgment. Others began to obsess over their children's protection. Soon nearly every pair had many kits. Even older couples joined their territories once more so that they might have another litter.
The ice crabs were the first to go. Then the bats. Then the red birds. Soon almost nothing remained to eat. Some ninetales went down to hunt in the burning heat. Others began to turn on each other, first for hunting territory and then for fresh meat. The whole mountain fell into bloody war as the ninetales hunted each other. Many families found their litters dwindling to one kit or even none at all.
The eldest finally roared with the full power of the moon. All the ninetales that remained went to the peak to speak with her. Some were proud of recent victories and carried their heads high. One was still bloody from a recent kill. He dragged his tails behind him while the mother of his victim held back a vicious snarl.
"We must return to the old ways so that we all might live," the eldest proclaimed. "Only two kits for every pair." All agreed, for none can argue with the eldest of elders when they speak with the voice of the moon. "All will return to their old territories, but the lands of Ho'olio shall remain forever vacant."
Then where shall I go, my lady?" the cursed mother asked. "Where will my children live?"
The elder fanned her tails. She took no pride in what she must do, but this was hers to bare for her part in the bloody war. "Send your children forward to me."
The kits were nearly grown now. Some had seven, even eight tails. One, the most beloved child of Ho'olio, had grown her ninth but not yet ascended. The eldest stepped forth and took the smallest kit in her jaws like a loving mother reprimanding her child. She dug in her teeth and shook until the corpse stopped moving. The older ones whimpered as they each met the same fate one by one. None dared resist, for none can argue with the eldest of elders when they speak with the voice of the moon.
Ho'olio and her mate were spared the elder's wrath. Ho'olio returned to her territory with the bodies of her children and buried them under the snow. Then she leapt into the deepest crevasse in her lands, which is still known today as The Mother's Grave. Her mate took the excess vulpix of other parents with him when he left the mountain. No one knows what happened to them next.
All kits are taught the story of Ho'olio, the ninetales who almost choked the whole mountain with a mother's love.
"And you believe that?"
"It's true."
"Humans don't work like that. We can have—"
"You should stop caring about rocks and sisters and—"
"—anyone that isn't you?"
"Yes."
She hisses. "Pixie, I like you. Not enough to give up on everyone else. Just—"
"It's a dumb rock. Ugly. Keeps spying on you."
"You didn't hurt her, did you? Or run her off?"
"Maybe I did." You're very pretty. And strong. You might have scared her away.
Her paw wraps around your pokéball before you can tell her off. You disappear with a scream in your mouth—
-and reappear screaming.
Bloodrage coughs beside you. "This why I'm watching you tonight?"
Coward. Skysong won't even show up to hear why she's wrong.
"You can sleep on my bed if you want. Or not. Do whatever."
She's abandoned you. Just like you knew she would.
Typical.
Expected.
You were 100% right. As always.
You move across the room and find your way onto an empty bed. Getting close to humans isn't worth the body heat.