Fairy 6.15: Fairies and Dragons
Coco
You stretch out your long, long body after exiting the ball. It feels a little cramped now when it was close and warm and nurturing before. Mom's already told you that you're getting a new ball when you get back to the floating city.
There's a blissey beside Mom. Weird. They usually don't go outside their building.
"Coco, this is Sitrus. She's going to be traveling with us for a while."
She leans slightly forward like the humans sometimes do. "It is an honor."
"You speak dragon?"
"A little," she says. "I've lived a long time."
Your eyes widen and you look at her more closely. "Long enough to meet other tyrantrum?"
"No, child." She sounds sad. You've never seen one of them sad before. "The only creatures long-lived enough to have seen your kind are the most ancient of the gods."
"Quetzlcoatl would have. He… ended the first age of dragons. Might not want to speak with you even if it were possible to draw his interest. I don't think it is." Mom presses her lips together like she does in deep thought. "Maybe Reshiram could if we see her again. I don't think she would. Best to keep the boss far away."
Right. Mom told you about this. The first dragon and her three kids. They killed their mother. Unforgivable. You would not speak with their leader even if he hadn't killed off your ancestors.
"Don't want to."
Mom relaxes. "Okay. Good." She smiles faintly and looks between the two pokémon around her. You have no idea why she does that. Does it help with hearing or smelling? "She wanted to talk to you. I'll let you do it alone unless you need help."
Good. It will also give you a chance to interrogate this stranger.
"She did not say you were joining the team," you ask as soon as Mom goes indoors. "Are you?"
She hums idly. "Cuicatl will be taking care of food acquisition and logistics. I may formally become her partner in the human records. But I refuse to acquiesce to all of a child's demands or engage in unnecessary combat. I shall not even permit her to hold my pokéball absent extraordinary circumstances."
"Then why are you here?" There's always a reason. Even for temporary teammates. Mom is very particular about that. You will ignore her calling your Mom a mere child or implying that she cannot be trusted. She's a little young for her species but very responsible.
"I wish to help Pixie with her problems. Cuicatl and I worked out an arrangement."
She's not claiming to be loyal. Still. You have never known a blissey to hurt anyone. You will watch her but do not need to threaten her. Yet.
"I will help Cuicatl, too, but she is my secondary priority. She already has a therapist. I do not want to accidentally undo their work before I know more about what is going on in her life."
Good. Mom could use more help.
"Now, may I ask you a personal question?"
You lower your head down towards her. Why wouldn't she be allowed to?
"You do not seem unhappy. Why is that?"
Sometimes you try to tilt your head like Mom does when she is confused. Then you remember that your head is much larger and neck very different and have to stop almost immediately. "Why wouldn't I be?"
She stares at you with her mouth slightly open. Is this normal for blissey? You haven't seen it before.
"You are millions of years out of your own time and were raised by a human."
Oh. That. "I would like to meet more tyrantrum," you admit. "I met my egg layer. I like her. Mom says that I can see her again once she gets her license." The second part of her question is trickier. You do not know if Mom was a good tyrunt mom. Does anyone even know what that means now? She told you stories that you should know as a dragon. Never got mad when you bit her. Was always there when you wanted to show off your new moves or even bigger teeth. Always had food for you, even when she wasn't eating. When she wasn't currently paying attention to you it still never felt like you were ignored. She would talk to you or play if you asked, unless it was a really bad day. Even then she would usually do something. Maybe just a story or a walk but she tried to give you time. She is not a tyrantrum. You have still never felt like you wanted a better Mom.
Dad… Kekoa… you saw what he did and did not do for Ihe. For you. He was useless. You would not have liked having him as your only parent. Or even your main parent like Mom told you was supposed to happen. If that is what most humans are like you can understand why Sitrus is confused.
"Some humans are bad parents. Mom's a good parent. I love her."
Sitrus takes a hesitant step forward and presses herself against your leg. What is she doing? Now you have to stand still to be sure not to hurt her on accident.
"You're very lucky," she says. "I'm happy for you."
She walks off towards the entrance of the Pokémon Center leaving you with no idea what that was about.
Mother does not question your teammate's loyalty, even when they allow her to be hurt. As her longest-serving pokémon it falls to you to do what she will not.
"Why should I trust you?"
Noci continues to hover in place as if she didn't hear the question at all. You growl and bare your teeth rather than repeat yourself.
[UD_Mitzcocotonaz Subordinate To UD_Cuicatl_Ichtaca;
Unit2_263 Subordinate To UD_Cuicatl_Ichtaca;
UD_Mitzcocotonaz Subordinate To Same Administrator As Unit2_263]
"She's told me you aren't. That you report to a metagross."
[Negation]
"You were made by a metagross."
[Negation]
"How were you made, then?"
[Alarm Lvl 3: UD_Mitzcocotonaz Seeking Restricted Information]
You stamp your foot and enjoy how long the earth rumbles in response. Living up to your second mother. First mother? She was your mother first from her perspective, but Cuicatl was from yours.
"Who restricted the information?"
[Alarm Lvl 3: UD_Mitzcocotonaz Seeking Restricted Information]
"Does Cuicatl know?"
[Alarm Lvl 3: UD_Mitzcocotonaz Seeking Restricted Information]
Trapped. So much for being a smart machine. "What if I ask her and she tells you to tell me? Can she do that?"
[Alarm Lvl 3: UD_Mitzcocotonaz Seeking Restricted Information]
She's taunting you. Challenging you. Unacceptable. Before she can react, you lunge forward and grab her in your jaws. And press. You're not trying to rip her in half. Just slowly increasing the pressure until she remembers who's in charge. You can feel her struggle against your muscles and mind. It's fine. You're sure she's hurting more.
{Is the information still restricted?} you ask through thoughts. You hear something pop and give way and practically purr with excitement.
[Negation.]
You let her go. She instantly bolts two body lengths away and one above you. The top of her body is bent and dented. Teeth marks are clearly visible in it. One even broke off and stayed lodged in the metal. You spit out the tips of five or six more broken teeth. Worth it. They'll be back before the next big fight and you have plenty more in the meantime.
"What does the metagross want with Cuicatl?"
[Fluid Release Data Unnecessary;
Purpose of Directives Unclear]
"Guess," you growl.
[UD_Cuicatl_Ichtaca Has Unknown Relationship To UD_Natural_Harmonia_Gorpius;
UD_Zekrom Subordinate To UD_Natural_Harmonia_Gropius]
"Who is that?" She talked about Zekrom. He was with a human named N. Not whatever Noci said.
[UD_Natural_Harmonia_Gropius Also Known As UD_N]
There you go.
"And what do they want with him? Keep Cuicatl away? Close?"
[Unknown;
Awaiting Further Directives]
You can't tell if she's lying to you or not. And you shouldn't bite her again, even if you want to. She still has to carry things and be useful.
"Tell Cuicatl this."
[Orders Received]
"Are you going to hurt her?"
[Mission = Monitor UnitDesignate: Cuicatl Ichtaca;
Corollary1 = Defend UnitDesignate: Cuicatl Ichtaca;
Harming UnitDesignate: Cuicatl Ichtaca violates Corollary1;
No Further Instructions Applicable]
Sounds like she's safe. For now. If Noci isn't lying. You should warn her about that. "I'll kill you if you're lying."
[Orders Received as Relayed]
Good. You'll leave her be. Or destroy her if you have to.
You reform under harsh midday sunlight and smell another dragon. Your attention snaps towards it. Blue. Lots of spikes. Red head scales. Wings too small to fly with. Smaller than you, but not by much.
"I tried to tell her that we were just passing by," Mom explains. "She only wanted to talk to you."
Oh? You can talk. You open your mouth and roar, feeling the entire canyon vibrate and echo in response. This is how good you can talk! The dragon immediately lowers her wings, turns around, and runs away. You stop the roar and give one last victorious bellow. Then you look down at Mom for approval. She looks… pained? Is she hurt?
{No,} she tells you. {You did very well. So proud of you. Always proud of you.}
She reaches out like Sitrus did and leans against your leg {Do you want to stay out for a while? Or go back inside to rest? We'll be along the canyon floor for a while. Still room to walk.}
You aren't hungry yet. At the Center you got one last good meal before you left. Apparently cleared out most of what the Center kept on hand, but Sitrus and Mom assured you that they could refill. No one was going hungry because of you. It wasn't all good food. A little bit of lots of things. You think you would like a lot of one thing. More like how you've eaten before.
If Mom's telling you that it's okay to stay out then food probably isn't too much of an issue. And it's better than being in the cramped ball.
"Okay. I will."
She wraps her arm around your leg before pulling away. "Thank you."
You're not sure what you're being thanked for. It's also a boring walk. Nothing even comes close. You were hoping to protect her from something. Oh well. You can still walk beside her to keep her in the shade. You even like the feeling of warm light on your scales.
Noci was easy enough to scare. He could hurt Mom and you knew she wasn't loyal. That made her your first priority. You would go after Pixie next but Mom has very clearly asked you not to do that. Besides, you already bit her before she came back for real. Hopefully she remembers.
That leaves Leo. You still aren't sure what to make of Leo. Mostly he just rests in his ball or hugs the ground. He tracks passing humans and pokémon with his eyes but rarely lunges. He probably isn't going to hurt Mom. Best to make sure that he knows that he can't. Not without dying. Because you'd kill him.
Once you've reached the top of the canyon and have enough room to walk again you approach the bug as he basks in the evening sun. He turns half his body around towards you. Doesn't say anything.
"We need to talk."
"Okay."
He keeps staring at you. Waiting for more.
"Why are you traveling with us?"
"Food. Warmth. Safety. There is not much food underwater. It is cold. There are predators that would try to eat me. Just hurt me a little up here. Much better."
Very practical. About what you were expecting.
"What do you think about Cuicatl?"
"She gives me food. Helped me get stronger. I would not have done it without her. Would not have known I could be more without her. Told me we can go back to the glowing gun game. I want to. It was fun." His head swivels up to look at you. He rarely makes eye contact like this. "What do you do for fun?"
You used to play with Ihe. Now… you like listening to Mom's stories. And you like fighting. You think you will like fighting a lot more now. "Battles."
He lowers himself back to the ground. "Yes. I like those. Want to keep doing them. Challenge. Good challenge."
What else are you supposed to say? He probably isn't going to hurt her. Biting him feels pointless. Kind of cruel. Even just threatening to bite him feels wrong. Fighting would waste food when you don't have much to spare.
"I'll fight you, later, when we get more food. If you want."
He rubs two legs together. "Good."
You end up basking side by side in the dying light until you fall asleep.
"Why do you have to be strong?"
You shift your head to look towards Sitrus and Pixie. They're talking again. The blissey loves talking. Almost as much as Pixie does. Maybe more. Many of her questions are dumb. You have to be strong to protect yourself and the people you care about. Obviously.
You're sure Mom would still love you if you weren't strong. She still cares for Pixie despite everything. Let Sitrus in even though she won't fight. And her mate is weak. You might be able to beat all of her pokémon by yourself. They're huddled together under a tree nearby. Lyra is already resting in her tent. You should talk to her, too, but don't know how to do it. You do not want to use Mom to translate and Noci would probably report everything back to her. And the metagross.
Her salamander is not to be trusted. It never should have been trusted. You never liked her. At all. Lyra finds Mom attractive. Mom already has a mate. Salazzle could change some of the things that Lyra does not like. Even though you have been very, very clear to the salazzle that if she does anything to Mom, you will eat her. Now you can do it in a single bite.
"Because I'm the best. I should be the strongest," Pixie finally responds. Her answers are as silly as Sitrus's questions.
"What would happen if you weren't the best?"
You tune them out. It's private, anyway, like Mom's sessions. She usually doesn't let you out during them. Just gets very cuddly afterwards. Won't even talk about what happened.
The tone of Sitrus's conversations feels like she's trying to mother Pixie. She won't succeed. Shouldn't even bother. Pixie never gave Mom a fair chance when she tried to help. Why would this be different?
It does get you thinking about mothers. When you found out about grandparents you were so, so excited to meet even more family. You learned then that Mom never had her own mom. Everything that you've learned about her father since then, mostly through listening to conversations between her and other humans—you're going to kill him if you ever meet.
Mom never had a mom. Her dad made her be mom to him with all the mom things she does for you and the others. The closest thing she had to her own mom was a dragon she met when she was already much older than you are now. And Alice left.
So did Shirona.
They might come back.
They might not.
It's unfair that you have three parents and she didn't have one.
You can't do anything about that. Can't help her with mom things. Just keep her safe and help her make money for food. You will do that. You will do everything that you can.
It's still not what she needs. That has to come from other people. And you can't bite them into doing it.
You can still talk to the fairy bird. Try to get Shirona to come back.
If it works Mom will have her own mom and you will have a grandparent you can actually talk to.
Mitsuru comes and goes as she pleases. Sometimes she's never more than two body lengths away for a full day and sometimes you can barely see her as she soars high above the canyon. She's come back now that the canyon turns into flat, rocky ground.
She keeps preening as you approach. And as you loom over her. You think about snapping your teeth to get her attention but pause. You know how strong Genkei and Kagetora are. She might kill you on accident if you startle her.
Eventually she looks up and stares at you.
"Is your human coming back to Cuicatl?" you ask. You're not sure if she can understand dragons. You can understand her. Close to Ihe's words. Hopefully she's learned to understand you from Wakumi and Kagetora.
"Yes."
Good. Simple. Not like the fairies Mom tells you about. "When?"
"Soon. A few more days."
"Is she staying after that?"
"If Cuicatl wants her to."
You think Mom wants that? She's bad at doing things that are good for her. She would rather do things for you. Maybe you will tell her that you want a grandmother and hope she agrees to stay with Shirona.
"Do you think you could teach me to speak bird?" you ask her. Spur of the moment. It's something you would like to surprise Ihe with when he comes back.
She tilts her head. "Do you think you're a bird?"
"Kind of? I have feathers." Mom explained it a few times but you never fully understood. You're a very old bird. Something like that.
She makes a noise that sounds a lot like a human laugh. "How cute. A dragon who thinks she's a bird raised by a fairy who thinks she's a dragon."
"What?"
"You're not a bird. Something close. But you can't fly."
"There are other birds that can't fly!" Ihe barely can.
"You don't even have wings."
That's true. You're not a proper bird. You can admit that. But. More importantly. She insulted Mom.
"Why are you calling Mom a fairy?"
She laughs again. "Is it not obvious? The poor girl was rightfully rejected by the dragons. The noisy guardian has lived long enough to recognize the enemy when it stands before him. Dragons are all brute force. Would sooner burn a town down than talk to anyone in it. Cuicatl is small. Frail. Cunning. Hunts not with force and fear but with cleverly worded pacts. Even came from the stars. She'll be a great fairy in time. Just needs some nurturing for now."
"The stars?"
Mitsuru opens her beak and promptly closes it without making a sound. "Across the ocean," she finally says. "As close to the stars as humans get."
Lies. "They went to the moon once."
She trills indignantly. "Ten of them, decades ago, and the rest of them won't shut up about it. Fairies have made the jump for millennia and then lived, loved, and died on the other side."
"And metagross."
"Not from the moon." She looks around for Noci and awkwardly settles back down. "Further out."
Beyond the moon? The sun? "Where from?"
"Don't know. Somewhere far."
Huh. Maybe Mom knows?
"I have no idea," Mom says. "Not our solar system. Probably in our galaxy? Unless they came from a wormhole or something. That's possible."
Really, really far. Your stomach rumbles and you freeze up in embarrassment. It's just a little further. You don't want to worry her.
Mom steps back and frowns. "I wanted to talk to you about that. I was reading about how tyrantrum might have hunted. Had an idea that might get you a tauros or two."
The tyrantrum in movies are not stealth predators. They come in, roaring, and bite things to death. Why else would you have thick scales and sharp teeth? You're too big to hide. This shouldn't work.
It does. Kind of. The tauros know that something big is there as you slink through the nearby trees. You try not to knock down too many but it's inevitable. They don't know what you are. Think you're something that has to sneak. Something that can be fought. A few males stand in front of the females and slam their hooves into the ground while the young and females retreat. Good. Better than all of them running.
You get as close to the edge as you can before roaring and breaking into a run. Some turn around when they hear the roar. Others wait to see how big you are before deciding whether they run forward or away. That's all the time you need. You catch one mid-turn and get your jaws around his ribs before breaking them all with one bite. One charges. Brave. Stupid. He gets a tail swipe that sends him flying before falling on his side. The rest start to run. You could trip them up. Make the ground vibrate so much they fall, just like Mom suggested. You won't. One is a good meal. Or two. You stalk towards the second one as he struggles to get up on a broken leg. Slam the ground hard enough with your left foot he collapses all the way, then lean down to bite his head off. Ugh. The horn catches against the roof of your mouth and sticks. Takes some effort to lick it out. You spit out the head before it can get stuck inside you. Lesson learned.
Leo scuttles over towards the second kill while you eat the first. You growl. You're hungry. He can hunt his own food. He gets the message and backs away.
You're still hungry when you finish the first tauros but leave close to satisfied halfway through the second. It doesn't taste quite right. The texture feels off. Mammals always have. They barely existed when your kind last lived. Nothing a giant like you would have hunted. They still have warm blood and flesh and you can get it down. Even if it's not as good as bird meat. You'll have to get used to it: there aren't many birds alive that can feed you now. You let Leo tear chunks out of the leftovers when you're done. Pixie daintily licks out some of the blood before taking a few bites. Then you let Lyra's noivern eat the rest. Not the salazzle, though. She doesn't get anything. You would rather leave it for the gathering mandibuzz. They will at least feed some rufflet. As long as the rufflet have food they won't need to go to bad trainers who take them away from you.
Mom approaches with Noci when you're done eating. "Good job. I'm very proud of you."
You preen under the attention. And then glare at Noci.
{Information Relayed to UD_Cuicatl_Ichtaca}
Good. You'll make sure of that later.
"I will tell Earthshaker about this."
"I'm sure she'll love to hear it." Her smile fades slightly. "Just a little longer. It's going to be okay." She whispers it so quietly you wonder if she meant for you to hear. You pretend you didn't.
The weather is nice that night. She sleeps on your back. It's the closest you can get to sleeping beside her now.
You've been putting it off the whole way to the floating city. Pixie isn't loyal. You know this. She will keep hurting Mom with words if not fangs. It's time to remind her of the consequences if she goes too far.
Your footsteps catch her attention as you approach. Sitrus and Mitsuru look up from the place they're sitting but don't advance. Don't interfere. Pixie huffs and stands up to look into your eyes. Brave for bite-sized prey. You stare each other down. She doesn't blink until you stomp the ground. That causes her to jump high into the air before quickly trying to recompose herself when she lands.
"You've hurt Mom," you growl. "Left her."
She hisses. "This again? She took me back."
"Why did you do it?"
The fox looks away. "You wouldn't understand."
"I'll try."
She's quiet for a long time. Mitsuru fluffs out her wings but doesn't actually take off to intervene. Sitrus is glaring at you but also doesn't move. You ignore her. Can't hurt you. Won't interfere. You won't let her.
"I can't go back to the mountain," she finally says. "Not even Kalani could. I was happy. Wasn't good enough to keep it. Now I just have to stay here with humans on the too warm surface and act like I'm happy. Skysong is—she's not bad for a human. She's not as good as a nine-tails. There won't be another nine-tails."
She's much quieter than normal by the end. Sad. Defeated.
Pathetic. You laugh. Can't help it. Seems to terrify her with the grating, choking roars and low vibrations.
"All this because you can't go home?"
"You wouldn't—"
"YOU CAN SEE YOUR HOME," you roar. Mom can definitely hear. Let her. You don't care. "I've seen it, too. The big mountain. Noci can look up at the stars, Leo can stand at the edge of the sea. It's there. It exists. It's real. My home only exists in movies made with drawings and puppets. No one can tell me about it. I can't go back. No one can."
You take a deep breath. The fox is staring at you with wide eyes and ears slicked back. Never been properly roared at.
"This is all I have. All I will ever have. I can't go into the wild, either. There are thirty-seven other tyrantrum and they're all owned by someone. Our wild is gone. I don't care. I'm happy here. I've decided I can be. You don't think you can. You won't be."
You lean in and watch Pixie shake just a little while trying to stay very, very still. As you get closer she takes a few steps back and trips over herself. "You want to be miserable? Fine. It's your own fault. Don't take it out on Mom or I will take it out on you. Understand?"
She doesn't answer. You lean down a little more and bare your teeth.
"I know," she finally says.
"Good enough."
Sitrus is still giving you a hard look. Mitusuru looks oddly pleased. Great. What did you do to make the fairy happy?
You walk away and move closer to Mom's tent. She's outside with her mate. Definitely heard it. Don't care. She looks towards Genesis and whispers something. She leaves the two of you alone. You finish walking closer and stop right in front of her.
"Coco…" You wait. Is she going to berate you for attacking Pixie? Did Noci tell on you? It hardly matters. You did what needed done. "Can you sit down?"
Not what you were expecting but you can. You do. She steps forward and feels out your face before running her hand over the top of your jaws. "If you want a place to go I can try and make one," she finally says. "I don't know how. It won't be soon. But someday I will figure it out. Just tell me what you want and I can try and make it happen."
That's very sweet. But she cannot wind back time. This is all there is. All there can be. Maybe you'll change your mind someday. You've already changed a lot from when you first hatched. For now, though? You've already found a place to call your own.