Dark 5.7: The Ninetales' Curse
Pixie
You hate Secondborn. Hate. Her.
She acts like she's better than everyone. Better than you. She isn't. She isn't smarter, she isn't prettier, she isn't stronger, and she doesn't deserve to act like she is.
Mother acts like she is, too. Like Secondborn is almost as perfect as her.
Now Mother is helping her learn to control her ice. She can only make waves of cold air. Barely enough to ruffle your fur. Certainly not strong enough to hunt with. Mother is still lavishing her with praise and anger writhes under your skin like a parasite.
She has done nothing to deserve this. You rear your head back, take a deep breath, and shoot a beam of pure ice into the sky. It rises several body lengths before shattering and falling down as hail.
You puff up your fur with pride and turn to brag to Secondborn. "I'm stronger than you."
"You have almost twice as many tails," Mother answers. "Secondborn is learning quickly. She may be stronger than you when she has two less."
That just makes the intruder puff up her fur. Like she deserves it. You growl at her before Mother steps in between you.
She's still mad about Skysong. You didn't even want to go meet her. Openliver kidnapped you and took you there. You've told her this. Openliver told her. You did nothing wrong. You're still her daughter. You should be getting her love. Not some vulpix she just met and instantly decided she wanted. You're special. You're her firstborn. She loves you.
Finally, someone loved you. And now she's mad because of a human you left behind. A human who isn't even trying to steal you back.
"I'll go practice on my own," you hiss.
Mother doesn't even react. That's. Fine. You'll just show her how strong you are.
You aren't as stealthy as you should be. Anger is moving your legs in long, forceful strides. Your coat is too visible against the lowland plants, even at night. You still find a few slow or dumb rats and put them to sleep. You even found what looked like the three-tails equivalent of Opeliver's stupid, smelly, sleepy bear. You put him to sleep and whacked him in the brain a few times for good measure.
All of this is wrong. Mother shouldn't be wasting her time on someone weak.
That's not what nine-tails do. It's not what Avalanche did…
If Mother were a human, you would assume you were being left. You would've already pissed on her bed and screamed in her ear and hid her toys out of revenge. You can't. You can still return from this. Things can still be okay.
Things will still be okay.
Your new mother will see how smart and pretty and strong you are.
Things will be different.
Your hunt ends when a feeling of tiredness creeps through you from muzzle to tails. Not like Mother's attack. More like the all-consuming tiredness you felt in the white room where the humans took you after you left the mountain. After the smiling humans in black hurt you. Because they could. Because you didn't stop them. Because nothing mattered anymore.
The moon shone and faded and returned since you last spoke with Skysong. Now it's almost half-lit. She will return for you, soon, and Openliver will kidnap you and you will talk to her because that's what you agreed to. Should you tell Openliver not to?
A sigh runs through your body and you collapse into the grass with legs splayed out. You don't want to abandon her. You remember the saltwater flowing down her face when she talked about not being able to say goodbye to her brother. You should at least face her when you tell her not to come back.
Kalani will be upset.
With you.
With Skysong.
With Openliver.
You could avoid all of that. Maybe you should. Skysong already has a new team member. A bug. She replaced you with a bug. She deserves…
You don't know what she deserves. You still don't know what curse to give her because you don't hate her. You don't want to punish her. How do you punish someone without punishing them? You can't. There's no way to do what Mother wants while also doing what you want.
A soft rain begins to fall. In the distance you hear Mother take Secondborn into Openliver's home. You just can't find the energy to move.
Its only when the rain begins to soak through your fur that instinct drives you to run as fast as you can to shelter. Mother crinkles her nose and glares at you when you push your way through the door flap.
"Wet fur. You aren't sleeping on my bed."
Fine. Openliver caused this problem, he can deal with it. You walk into his room, jump on the bed, and shake the water off of your coat.
You end up spending the night in your pokéball.
Mother and Secondborn were withdrawn and taken to the Pokémon Center. You were withdrawn and taken to another building deeper in the city. Openliver didn't ask you if you wanted to see Skysong. There was no chance for debate. One moment you were preening yourself while glaring at Secondborn, the next you were in a world of wind and ice. You bury yourself into the snow and think. Mother won't know if you talk to Skysong or not. She'll say you did and blame you either way. You might as well talk to her. Then make it clear that you can't do this again. For a glorious moment you were wrapped in a mother's love and you will not lose it. Not for her, not for anyone.
Skysong will understand. She wants to go back to her own mountain.
You reform in a larger room than Skysong usually stays in. There's a picture rock in the corner, a bed big enough that Mother could sprawl out on it, and many small contraptions that Openliver has in his home but none of your trainers ever had in their temporary rooms. Skysong is seated on a chair. Openliver stands behind you.
"Mind if I talk to Shirona while you hang out?" Openliver asks.
"No problem. She's in Room 113."
"Bye, Pixie. See you in an hour."
You don't acknowledge him. He shouldn't have done this. Kalani's wrath will be his fault and he won't be the one to suffer it.
Skysong stands up and slowly moves to the bed, a hand held out in front of her to feel for it. She finds her way before you can get into the guide position and sits down. You jump up beside her. Very soft. You approve of her new home. Even if it doesn't really smell like her yet. Probably just a very temporary one.
"I like the room," you tell her.
She laughs. Quietly. Melodically. Like her name. "Dr. Karashina picked it. I wouldn't have paid for it myself."
"Where are we?"
"Hau'oli City. Just a little bit away from where you are. I needed to file some forms for my thesis."
Her what?
"I need to convince some important humans that I can keep Coco when she gets older."
Oh. She doesn't want to lose more people. You understand. Even if you never liked Eggbreath. "Will it be hard?"
Skysong hesitantly reaches out a hand. You sniff it before rubbing your face against it. She smells more like Growlsleeper than usual. Odd.
"I don't know," she finally says. "I hope not. I… I don't know what to do if it doesn't work."
"It will," you maybe lie. Always best to think of good things. You can go home. You will show everyone. You deserve everything. When you don't—that's bad and you don't do it and you shouldn't do it because you are, in fact, the best at everything. Second best at everything. Next to Mother. You are better than your siblings. Better than nothing.
Skysong smiles without baring her teeth. She puts her hand out towards your head and rubs the side before stroking your ears. "Thank you." For a while you sit there and bask in the petting. The only sound is your purring. You will need to tell her you can't see her anymore. It can wait until after pets. "I've been thinking a lot about what I did wrong with you," Skysong finally says. "I took Leo—the golisopod, joined after you left—out and he found a game he really liked. A human game. Wants to play more in the future. And. I never really focused on what things you wanted to do outside of traveling and battle. Like, if there were hobbies you wanted to explore. Or something you wanted to do after the island challenge I could have set you up for. I should have treated you like a person with your own goals and future. I didn't. I'm sorry."
Goals and future? What's that about? And does she think you would want to play human games?
"I don't understand."
"Well. Like." She sighs and leans back on her hands. Which means she stops petting you. Terrible. "We could have been exploring different things. Like, I don't know, we could have tried a contest to see if you like those. Or gone to more places or. Maybe the art museum? You're smart. Good eye for pretty things. You could maybe make art or something. I should have been trying to see if you could have a life outside of being by my side. Treating you like your own person."
You still aren't sure if you can follow where she's going.
"Okay, fine. Let's try again. It feels like all the stuff I did with you was designed to help me. Training helped me clear trials. Exploring was mostly for VStar. I got you treats sometimes. I don't think we ever did anything that was entirely for you. I did stuff that was entirely for me that none of you got anything out of. I should have returned the favor."
You're… not sure that anyone has ever done something entirely for you. Something big, anyway. Bigger than treats and petting. Avalanche trained you. Helped you survive. The Mountain was different from the human world, though. There were no 'hobbies.' You hunted. You slept. You defended your territory. You learned the old stories. Sometimes you would explore. Wasting energy just meant you would have to hunt more later, and hunts were never guaranteed to end with food in your mouth. The humans have more food than they know what to do with. They can waste energy on anything and everything and still know they will have enough.
Well, some humans have more than enough food. Skysong always made it sound like she could barely afford her 'hunts.' Even though there were berries and prey everywhere around her. You've never heard Openliver or Mother worry about that. Some of your past trainers didn't, either.
Is Skysong just a bad hunter? Is that why she wants predators? To help her hunt?
She could have just asked.
"Is there anything you want out of life?" she asks you. "Some goal you want to accomplish or…"
"I want to go back to the mountain," you tell her. "Show Avalanche how strong I am. Kick one of my siblings off. I…" You pause. Is that still what you want? You have Mother now. You don't need Avalanche or your old home. You have a new one, right? Even if it's too hot. Even if Mother punishes you in ways that Avalanche never did.
"How do you do that? Just be strong enough?"
"Yes."
Why wouldn't it be?
"Then why doesn't your new Mother go back?"
Wait. She has a point. Kalani fought The Moon and lived. She might even be stronger than The Eldest of Elders. Why hasn't she gone back? It can't be that she loves Openliver or Rockfur. She doesn't seem to like either of them that much.
Huh.
Is it… is there no going back? No matter how strong you are?
That can't be true.
That isn't true.
Why would a human know anything about that?
"I can't see you anymore," you tell her. To get away from these lies. "Mother is still mad at me for going back. And she has a new kit, who is very weak, but she acts like she loves her more because she hasn't gone back to her old trainer."
Skysong reaches over and ruffles the fur on top of your head. You will allow it. Because it is the last time. "I'll miss you," she says.
"You aren't going to fight for me?"
She just shakes her head. "I can't tell you that I want you to be happy and then keep you from it. If this is what you want, I won't stop you. I already tried and… and I don't want to make that mistake again."
Is she still blaming herself for what the bird did? That wasn't her fault. It was the bird's. You already told her that. You know she's stupid and it takes a few times for her to understand something, but this isn't a hard thing to get.
"Would you like to see Noci again? Coco's out after last time—I'm still so, so sorry, by the way—but Noci promised to behave."
"Why would I want to see Eyerock?"
Seriously, why? It's just a rock that liked to watch you pee or ask you dumb questions.
"Just thought you might."
"I don't."
"Okay." Skysong goes back to stroking your left ear. She keeps one finger inside the ear and rubs one along the outside. It is perfect. "Do you want to talk about how things have been for you?"
They have been going badly and it is sort of because of her. "No." You don't blame her. Just… don't want to talk about it with her.
She nods. "Um. I guess I can tell you about me?" You don't say anything. Whatever keeps her petting you. "Genesis and I are dating now."
Wait. Isn't she too young to mate? She isn't fully grown yet. Maybe an eight-tails. Do humans practice mating before they can actually do it? There's probably no harm in it with two females. When they're older one can just go out, have sex with a male, and then they can raise their kits. It is probably best if Growlsleeper does it. She has no defects. No more than any other human, at least.
Skysong pulls her hand back and coughs. Violently. It sounds like she's choking. You stand up and try to decide how to help. Should you scream? That would summon someone who knows more about humans. Before you make up your mind she stops and waves a hand. "Sorry. Just. Picked up some of your thoughts. No. We aren't getting pregnant. Just. Dating."
A pre-mating thing, then. Humans. So weird.
She extends a hand and begins stroking the fur on your neck when she finds it. "I'll be in town for another day or two if you do change your mind. If you change your mind after that you can have Dr. Kukui talk to me. I won't mind. It just might take me a few days if I'm far away from the cities."
You hum without meaning anything. Just to give her the idea that you'll think about it. Even if you won't.
Openliver lets you stay out of your ball as you ride back through the city. He doesn't talk to you. He wouldn't understand it if you talked to him. You're glad you did this. You know you'll pay for it. However much you deny wanting to go. Whatever Openliver says. It won't matter. But if you just give it a moon or two, things will go back to normal. Mother will realize how much better you are than Secondborn. Maybe she'll even kick her out. Make her go back to the humans for being such a disappointment. Then you'll have all of her love to yourself. You just have to wait.
Mother is waiting for you outside Openliver's home. Secondborn isn't anywhere to be seen. As soon as you jump out of the car she lunges forward and picks you up by the scruff. She walks far away, almost halfway up the big hill, before finally letting you down.
"I told you not to abandon me ever again," Mother hisses.
"Openliver did it!"
"Then you should have fought!"
"I did!" you lie. There's no way for her to know otherwise.
"Then why does your entire head smell like the human?"
…
You hadn't thought that far ahead.
"She attacked my head!"
"Then why didn't you bite her?"
"I did!"
She barks and rushes forward. Her open jaws stop an eyelash away from your face. "Why do you lie to me?"
"I…" No. No more lies. She's too smart. You can only tell the truth. The truths that are good for you. "I told her I wouldn't see her again. She agreed not to see me anymore. I just needed to make sure she wouldn't come back."
Mother growls and turns around, striking you in the face with one of her tails and pushing you back. Almost to the edge of a crevasse. A small crevasse. You would have lived. Probably. "Enough. You have stalled long enough. How am I cursing her?"
Skysong's close. Too close. Mother could maybe find her. Even with all of the smells of the city… Is there some way to warn Openliver?
"Tell me. Now."
"I don't know! I haven't thought of anything."
"Then you admit to being dumb? Any child of mine could have thought of nine ways to ruin her before falling asleep."
You don't want to admit to that now. You're smart. So smart. Really.
"What does she want?" Kalani asks. "What does she want more than anything else?"
That's simple. Kind of. She wants the same thing everyone does.
"She wants to go home and see her family again."
Mother stops moving and locks in place. Then she slowly moves, lowering one tail after another before she finally sits down. "The nine-tails' curse," she finally whispers. "Knowing home and losing it forever."
You get the feeling she isn't talking about a curse a nine-tails have cast. She's talking about a curse cast upon you. "Who cursed us?" you ask. "Can't we fight them?"
She twitches her left ear. No. They can't be fought. "We did it to ourselves. We should just kill our rejects. It would be kinder." She looks into your eyes and for maybe the first time you can see hurt in hers. They look like yours do in reflections when you've forgotten that you're better than everyone. Better than your siblings. Better than nothing. "I know what I can do now. Thank you, Firstborn."
That doesn't tell you exactly what the curse is. And Mother doesn't sound excited. Just… accepting. Sad? Tired? Does that mean it isn't a bad one? She's mad that it isn't a good, strong curse like she wanted?
Will things be okay after all?
"You can't go back and break the curse?" you ask her. "Couldn't you just kill one of the other nine-tails, take their territory?"
"I have you and Secondborn and you have me," she answers. "That's almost as good."
It doesn't sound like she believes it.
You don't, either.
There really is no going back, then. Living with a nine-tails on the surface, competing with your "sister," that's all there is.
It's good!
Someone loves you.
You think back to what the stupid eevee told you at the tournament. That the nine-tails are obsessed with The Mountain, with proving that they shouldn't have been left. And why wouldn't they be? You knew perfection. And then it was gone and you can never have it again.
What's even the point? You could get stronger and show Avalanche she was wrong but it sounds like she still wouldn't take you back.
"I'm still disappointed in you," Mother says. Then she turns around and walks back down the hill. She doesn't object (or seem to notice at all) when you follow after her.
She only turns to bare her teeth and growl when you try to follow her up the steps to Openliver's home.
Fine.
You can sleep outside tonight.
Mother will remember how good you are and how much she loves you soon enough.
Rockfur comes down after night has long settled. The home above you is quiet now. Mother and Secondborn went to sleep early. Openliver and his mate have been asleep for a lot longer. Yet Rockfur, who is never awake at night, is here. You don't send him away. Company is… tolerable.
He doesn't say anything. Just curls up in the sand. Maybe that's more comfortable for a rock than it is for you.
You crawl out from under the building and look up at the half-full moon. Hummy had a loud, soft, hideous pink ball as her other pokémon. He wouldn't shut up. Ever. You remember him babbling on about how half-full moons were his favorite. If you hadn't been watching before you wouldn't know if they were growing or fading. That the choice, in that moment, was yours. You told him he was an idiot. You couldn't affect the moon. Only watch it. Besides, the best moons were the dark ones when you could hunt without being seen.
Sometimes you think about how stupid he was when you look up at the half-full moons. Now you'll probably think about Skysong, too.
Skysong and her maddeningly human question.
"What do you want to do?" you ask Rockruff. "Not now. Later. For the rest of your life."
"Now you're asking the right questions." He stands up and joins you in the dim moonlight. "I owe our leader more than I can repay. He fed me when I was hungry and guided me when I was lost. He cares for me. Makes sure I have what I want. And I want to care for others. Give back what I was given. I thought I wanted to raise my own puppies. I still would. I will also take care of his litter." He glances over to you. "I asked Kalani if I could help with hers. She told me no. She's…"
"Perfect." Obviously.
"I think she was content when our leader was battling more. But she would never say it. How could she be happy when it wasn't what she had before? Then she saw you and decided that she was going to have what she wanted as a puppy. That nothing else mattered. And she insists that everything has to be just as she wanted it to be. Perfect. Her idea of perfect. So that she can be happy."
He stretches out and sits down beside you.
"She was better before. Now she's angering gods, angering our leader, hurting her own daughter, and trying to kill puppies and things still are not perfect and she is not happy. I'm worried about her. Where she'll go."
She's beautiful. Powerful. Intelligent. Perfect.
Even she isn't happy chasing after what you want. What every vulpix and nine-tails wants.
How?
Is that… is that all there is?
"Only if that's all you're looking for," Openliver says. Oh. Did you ask that aloud?
You look back to the half-full moon. The pink ball with creepy eyes said that it is what you make it.
Skysong wants you to find something that makes you happy.
Your eyes find their way back to the building where your mother and sister are asleep. You could still go back. Win back Mother's love. Have what you've always wanted.
Maybe she'll stop attacking your mind to teach you tricks. Insulting you in favor of your sister. Making you sleep in the sand. Maybe she won't curse Skysong.
Maybe you'll be happy and loved.
…
Or you could…
You don't know what would happen. What you would even be looking for. What you would find. You would push away your mother's love, the only thing you've ever wanted. For. Something. Maybe.
Your Mother's love.
She couldn't name anything about you that she loved. Was angry you even asked.
Skysong could.
She is not a nine-tails.
She cannot give you a home.
You look back at the building, the home, that you are not allowed in because of something you didn't do. That you may not be allowed into for things you are yet to not do.
Can Kalani give you a home?
Will you ever find one?
Is the nine-tails' curse to always, always, always be alone and unloved, no matter how perfect you are?
Maybe this is all there is for your kind.
Or maybe it isn't.
"Have you made your choice?" Rockfur asks.
"Yes."
His coat shimmers and sharpens.
"Then I will do what I can to take care of you. Now, go. Get as far as you can before she wakes up."
You never liked him much. You don't know why he's doing this for you. You're still glad he is. You look to the west, to the stain of the city lights on the night sky, and run.
It's hard to tell how long you have before Kalani wakes up. She's a light sleeper at night. But maybe she won't think anything's wrong at first. You could have just wandered off to practice hunting. Then it's possible that Rockfur and Openliver can stop her. She has a ball.
She broke yours before. She could break hers, too.
None of the other pokémon Openliver keeps can fight a nine-tails and win.
She's faster than you.
No! No point thinking about it. Just run.
Your ribs starts to hurt where the bird hit you just after you reach the edge of the city.
You start panting as you race away from a pack of black cats, hitting one of them straight in the coin with a blast of ice as you run by. Just in case they tried to stop you.
At some point you realize that you can't remember the exact streets Openliver went down on the way back. Just the first few big ones.
Hopefully you can find her by scent once you get close.
No. Not even her room really smelled like her yet. Cities have too many smells to pick hers out from a distance.
Um.
You could always scream.
Kalani could hear it.
Not if you scream inside your head!
You keep running.
You run on stone paths that hurt your paws.
You run on the black rivers when you can't hear anything big on them.
When your paws start to bleed you find a path of grass to run on.
You run and run and run and try not to wonder if Kalani is right behind you. If all of this was for nothing.
Your breaths are coming harder and harder and the bird's wound burns like a flame. You still can't smell Skysong. Don't know if she's even awake.
You collapse into a heap in the light of a metal tree.
You've run further than you have in a long time. Maybe ever. The sky is no longer anywhere near as dark.
Now you can only hope. You scream out for her in your mind and hope you get a response.
You do.
It's not one you wanted.
[Query: Purpose?]
Eyerock. Stupid eyerock. So faint you can barely make it out.
Maybe it wants you gone. Doesn't want to share its trainer with someone so much better.
You… you have to hope that it doesn't care.
'I need her to pick me up!' you scream-think. 'Now! I'm hurt.'
[Initiate ramming.]
You have no idea what that means. If Eyerock is coming alone. If Skysong will be with it.
If Kalani will arrive first.
It feels like a blessing from The Moon Herself when you see Eyerock float into the clearing, Skysong hunched down on top of it. She slides off after it lowers itself to the ground. And then just stands there until Eyerock holds out an arm. Right. She can't see where you are. And you don't want to scream. Just in case Kalani is here. You don't know what she would do to Skysong. You don't want to find out.
She pulls out one of the bottles of healing spray as she gets close. "You said you were hurt?"
"Paws."
She bends down near where you're sitting. You pull yourself over the rest of the way.
"Sorry. I can't see you. Can you hold them out towards me?" She lowers a paw to the ground. You stick your bloodiest one forward to meet hers. The spray stings. It always does. The pain quickly begins to leave. You hold out another paw and she repeats it. By the time your backpaws are sprayed the front ones are already bleeding a lot less.
"What's going on?" she asks. "Glad to see you. Just confused."
"No time. Kalani might be chasing."
"Okay. Just. Hop onto Noci. Shirona—"
A pulse of ice thicker around than you are rockets across the clearing and knocks Eyerock back nine body lengths before it crashes down to the ground, totally frozen in ice a tail-length thick.
You turn around to see Kalani stalking her way out from behind a bush and into the grass.
In the red light of the dawn you can see blood and shards of stone in her fur. There's a burn on the side and all the fur around it is sticking up. Lightning damage. She still moves like she can't feel any of it. She looks you over with the cold judgment of a hunter sizing up their food before turning to Skysong.
{I have lost,} she begins. In your head. Probably in Skysong's. She said before that it wasn't worth talking to humans. Now she must really want Skysong to know whatever she's about to do. You see the girl take a step back and reach for her pockets. She doesn't send any of her pokémon out. {I have lost more than you can imagine. My siblings. My parents. My home. My entire race. I have grown six tails in exile. I have awakened to the spirits in exile. I had almost lost my dreams. My hope. Now you would steal that from me as well? Steal my firstborn child away in the night?}
"She made her choice," Skysong says. Her voice isn't shaking. The hand outside her pocket is. "If she wanted to leave you, then you no longer owned her. I stole nothing."
Kalani snarls and roars. "Liar!" She gnashes her teeth and a terrible wind races through the clearing. The grass under her freezes. Something crashes down to the ground behind you. Not that you'll look back to see what it was. Your eyes are locked onto Kalani now. A fox who could fight The Moon. Skysong doesn't have a chance. But there has to be something you can do…
…if only you could make your muscles move.
…if only you could find the courage to fight someone who can fight gods.
{I killed my own mother when I returned to The Mountain. Made her pay for taking the world away from me. Imagine what I will do to you, thief.}
Your eyes snap open as far open as they will go. Is that why she isn't allowed back? Vulpix inherit their parent's territory and awakening when they die. There are rules that any vulpix who kills their parent is killed so no one tries to make things go faster. How did she survive the judgment of The Eldest of Elders? Did she fight them? Kill them, too?
"When you k-illed your mother, d-id it bring you back to The M-mountain?" Skysong still sounds as calm as she can, even if she's shivering. Even if her teeth clack together in the cold without her will. "Will k-killing me make Pixie love you?"
You almost move when she says your name. Instead, you're still frozen in fear. What could you even do against someone like her?
Why is a human being braver than you?
{I will not kill you, thief. I will rip everything from you and make you live on. Your family. Your home. Everything. I will make you bare the nine-tails curse.}
Skysong laughs. Actually laughs. Melodically. At first. Then she starts wheezing and almost doubles over as the laughs turn into mad cackles. Is she… is she still sane?
"You're a year too late. My mother is dead. My brother is dead. My sister is gone. My home is an ocean away. I've stood at the edge of the sea and wanted to die. You want to talk about losing everything? Fine. I have. I've done bad things. I've never killed someone I loved over it. And I've learned from my mistakes." She reaches into her pocket and grabs three pokéballs… and tosses them to the side. Away from her. Out of reach. Definitely insane, then. "Last time I was afraid of losing more I denied Pixie her choice and got her hurt. I'm not doing that again. Pixie has her choice. She's made it. If you want to hurt me, fine. But I'm not letting anyone else get hurt."
Kalani stands still and silent. It seems like she can't understand what Skysong is doing, either.
{For a human, you are very brave.} The words are practically a soft whisper on the edge of your mind compared to the barely restrained roar before. {And very, very stupid. You are wrong, though. There is still something I can take. Your hope. The possibility that you see your family again. The possibility that you cross the sea and go home. You will know you will be alone forever.}
You can already feel the spirits laced into her words. Kalani shifts her hindlegs to pounce. If you're going to do something, it needs to be now.
You act without a thought, bashing your mind against hers in the sleep attack she taught you. For a moment Kalani relaxes. Even opens her jaws in a half-yawn. Then she turns to you. Her fur relaxes and her eyes shine. She almost seems proud. Before you can figure out why you feel the spirits race around you. Into you. The world turns to shades of grey as something from another plane rips through your body and soul and pins you to the spot.
The spirit lock. A way for one nine-tails to deny the other all their tricks so the fight will be fought with tooth and claw alone.
"Do you wish to fight me?" Kalani asks. Softly. In your own tongue. She doesn't sound angry. Almost excited. "To see if you have surpassed me? To see how far you have grown?"
She's still twice your size. Has another tail on you. She is awakened. A true nine-tails, not just a nine-tailed vulpix. You know she would win. She killed her own mother. Why wouldn't she kill her daughter, too? If you stay out of her way she will curse or kill Skysong. She will take you back. She may never trust you, but you will live to see another moon.
If you fight her, you will die and she will kill Skysong, too.
"Your choice, like your human said."
You don't know if anyone will follow Skysong when she doesn't immediately return. If Openliver has called for help and someone is looking for Kalani. If Openliver and his mate are even alive. If they are, if help is almost here, you could keep anyone from dying. If they are not, you could lose everything.
{It's okay,} Skysong tells you in your head. {I won't make you do this.}
Then your decision is made.
You're a vulpix. The blessed children of the Ashen Goddess across the sea and The Moon above Alola. You will not cower behind a human.
You are beautiful.
You are smart.
You are powerful.
It is time for you to prove it.
You step forward until you stand between Kalani and Skysong.
Kalani bares her teeth like a smiling human.
"I will rip out your tails and gift you to an eevee, where you belong."
What?
She lunges.
You dive to the side. It doesn't matter. She's faster. Her jaws clamp down on your back and press down like you're prey. Like you're meat. Your ribs scream. For a moment you think about giving up. Letting it happen. And then you see her leg in front of you and lash out. You clamp down on her ankle as hard as you can and hear something crack. She yelps in pain before dropping you.
You jump towards her throat. She just snatches you out of the air and holds you high above the ground, away from her legs. Then she shakes you while biting down. No. Even without any elements, without the ability to reach her, she won. She already won.
Kalani throws you to the ground. Before you can move she jumps on top of you and pins you with a paw. A claws presses onto your injured rib. She puts her other paw on your chin. A claw to your throat. She moves her head towards yours and you close your eyes to wait for the end. Instead, there's only pain in your ear. You feel her teeth bare down onto the tip of your right ear and pull. Something comes off with it. You flick the ear and find only pain in the parts of it you can still feel. Blood runs freely down your head.
Something slips around your mind. Around the spirits. Your muscles surge with power. The crystal dance. Skysong is helping you. Two tricks slip the spirit's grasp. One won't help – Kalani locked her tricks away as well. Only one is left. Not a good one.
You scream.
In pain.
In fear.
In defiance.
In hope.
The roar makes Kalani's eyes go wide and she takes several steps back. Away from you. She winces whenever the ankle you hurt touches the ground. You slowly pull yourself up and stare her down. Your body aches. Your ear and ribcage scream and you can feel every stab wound her teeth have made. You're still tired from running. You still stand. Even if it's all you can do.
You can't feel Skysong's mind anymore. Maybe she knocked herself out. That's good. At least she doesn't have to be awake for… whatever Kalani does.
Kalani recovers and slowly starts stalking forward again. "You got in one more hit than I thought you would. If only you had stayed. You could have been loved. Could have been my daughter."
You hear Skysong stirring behind you. Kalani looks over and bares her bloody, bloody teeth.
She walks forward, keeping as much weight off of her bad paw as she can, and stands over Skysong.
{Enough games. Now bare your curse.} The spirits flood the clearing. You can't even turn your whole body to watch, just your head. {You will die alone, un—}
Something moves. Something moves so quickly you can barely keep track of it with your eyes. One moment Kalani is standing over Skysong with the spirits flowing off of her and into the human. The next Kalani is gone and being thrown across the clearing. You blink and she's being held against the wall by the weird blue dog that healed your bite wound. Kalani takes hit after hit to the ribs. Something breaks. You can't tell if it's Kalani or the wall behind her or both.
The spirit lock on you fades and Kalani freezes the air around her before slamming a mental attack at the dog. She gets free and summons a blizzard before stumbling off into it. The dog just flexes and all the ice on him shatters and falls away. Blue fire forms in his hands and he launches it faster than you can see into the storm. Kalani screams and the winds slow. You blink and the dog is gone. Snowflakes are stirred up where he charged into the blizzard, into the nine-tails own element. Kalani screams again.
The storm fades to nothing. The dog stands victorious over the nine-tails. Every one of her legs is bent at an unnatural angle. So is at least one of her tails. She breathes heavily and slowly moves her head to look at you.
"Please," she mews like a newborn begging for milk. "Don't leave me."
The dog strikes her in the head and she collapses entirely. You can still hear a heartbeat. She's alive, for now. And you can still hear her begging in your mind. Is that what she looked like when she was a three-tails facing her own mother? Is that what you looked like? How many vulpix have been left at the bottom of the mountain, begging, begging, begging not to be left alone.
Your begging wasn't answered. Kalani's wasn't, either. Your mothers just turned around and walked back up The Mountain. Back to their territory. Back to their families. Away from you.
You don't like thinking that an eevee is right. But maybe the vulpix never leave the base of the mountain, begging to go back. Begging not to be left. Kalani… Kalani never moved on.
She still sounds like a three-tails.
Is that what you sound like?
Will anyone ever answer when you beg?
Should you turn around and… walk away? Find out what is off the mountain?
The dog presses a paw onto your head and warmth floods through your body. The pain of the running leaves your legs. Your ribs scream a little less. The flow of blood slows on the side of your face.
{There is only so much I can do,} he tells you. {We need to get you to a healer.}
"What about Eyerock?" you ask.
[Repairs commenced. 13% complete… 14% complete…]
You look over towards where it crashed down. It looks like the dog broke the ice off of it. There's just a big dent left on its side where the attack hit.
{She says she will be fine.}
Another human enters the clearing. The one Skysong calls Dr. Karashina. She isn't dressed in black this time. Just white, soft falsefur. Like she's trying to be a vulpix (and falling short). There's a scar above one of her eyes that her fur hid the last time you saw her. That eye doesn't move when she looks over the scene. "You know," she says dryly. "I would have lent you Genkei's ball if you'd just asked."
"Didn't know Kalani would be here," Skysong grumbles.
"Always assume there's danger behind a distress call."
"I—"
"We'll discuss this more at a later time. Genkei, is she safe to carry?"
{I would call a stretcher.}
Dr. Karashina pulls out her signaling rock and types in a number. You ignore it and look back at Kalani. She looks so much smaller when she's bleeding on the ground. How strong is the dog—Genkei, he deserves his chosen name—that he can effortlessly defeat a nine-tails that fought The Moon?
Skysong sits down next to you. "Are you okay?" she asks.
You don't know. You won't know if you can still hear out of both of your ears until the blood gets cleaned out. Human healing devices are good. It still took you a long time to heal both times you were this badly hurt. She definitely rebroke your rib. Probably a few others. Hopefully she didn't tear out any fur with her bites…
She doesn't ask you again when you don't answer.
"You're the one who got cursed."
"Right. Um. Do you think it matters that she didn't finish it?"
"Yes." Maybe. You only learn the details of how curses work when you awaken. The hostile spirits have mostly flowed out of her. Only a few remain in her blood, mixed in with the background of ghosts that accrue over a lifetime. That's probably good.
Dr. Karsahina stops talking and walks over. "Medics will be here in five. Now, we have one final decision to make." She kneels down and looks directly at you. "Will they heal Kalani back up or will she be dead when they arrive?"
She tried to kill you.
Tried to curse Skysong.
Killed her own mother.
You should want her dead.
You almost tell her to kill the nine-tails.
Then you remember her begging. The hurt in her eyes.
You aren't sure.
You don't answer.
Dr. Karashina keeps looking at you.
If you let her live, she might try to finish her curse.
She might kill you.
You close your eyes and give your answer.
Kalani was beautiful. Powerful. Smart. Someone loved her once.
She didn't deserve to die at sea level centuries before age weakened her bones and dulled her senses.
She didn't deserve to have her neck snapped by a mere dog.
She didn't deserve to lose her family twice.
She deserved better.
You all did.
You hope she finds happiness in the stars.