Many years later…
The meadow was looking abnormally pretty this day. The morning sun shone down across the wildflowers blooming in the emerging springtime, the retreating winter cold being replaced by a pleasant warmth that wafted through the air. The buzzing sounds of life echoed through the space; chirps of birds and the scurrying of various animals, indicating that life had emerged from its slumber once more.
Amidst this natural peace, an imposing figure approached in the direction of the sun, his strong and proud mount trotting confidently with power as the pair approached the meadow, the various creatures stopping to steal a peek as the two figures came into few.
"Here we are," one of them said, the glare of the sun ebbing to reveal the powerfully built figure of a man, his body clad in shining armor and a golden crown resting atop his golden-trimmed hair. The man looked around the area with a hard look in his eyes, his face scarred with the telltale signs of battle and strife of previous years. Under him, a Galarian Rapidash of great majesty scanned the scenery along with him, his dark spiral horn glowing with a quiet magic around it.
"Aldus… do you think she's still here?" the man mused, hopping off the Galarian Rapidash and setting his eyes to the horizon beyond, his hands stroking his long beard as he thought to himself. The Rapidash only neighed in response, nodding his head in an "I don't know" gesture with his eyes closed.
"Well, I would understand if she wasn't, but I still need to try," he declared, strolling to the center of the meadow with a purposeful stride in his gait. Prince Charlos, now the king, stood proudly in the morning light, his hands raising to his mouth as he called out the name of a person he hadn't seen in so long:
"BRANWEN!"
The king's voice echoed through the air, reaching as far into the wind as it could before slowly fading away, the only response being given back to the king being the slow rustle of the grass and the gentle sounds of life reverberating around him. And still, the king waited patiently, settling himself down on the green grass like he had done years before, awaiting with bated breath the appearance of his beloved once more.
"BRAN! IT IS ME, CHARLOS! COME OUT SO I CAN AHOLD YOUR ANGELIC FACE!"
And yet, nothing came. The King waited and waited, a bead of sweat trickling down his brow, yet naught a sign of his maiden make itself apparent. His attention was finally driven from his trance by his loyal Rapidash, nuzzling his cheek in an appeasing yet somber manner. The King just sighed, disappointment blooming in his chest. It truly did seem like that final night was the last he would see of her; whether she be moved on from the likes of him, or perhaps something more morbid, he couldn't know, and he likely would never know. All he could say was that he didn't detest her decision; no one in their right mind would stick around after being abandoned like that. So, reluctantly, the King rose to his feet once more, ready to climb on his steed and ride away back to his home, ready to move on as Bran seemingly had so long ago.
And yet, just as the Rapidash had turned and began trotting back to whence it came, a faint sound stopped him in his tracks. The two turned their heads towards a familiar line of shrubbery in the distance, the sound growing in frequency as a rustle could be heard under the thick foliage. Excitement bubbled in the King's heart, happiness and relief crossing his features. Eagerly, the King descended back down to the ground and approached once more, careful in his movements and actions; anything could be hiding under that bush, after all.
"Branwen…" the king said, his guard on high with a nervous smile on his face, "If you are there, please, show yourself to me…"
The rustling slowed somewhat, whatever was hiding in there seeming to be receptive to his words. Slowly, a figure began to emerge from the darkness, the king's eager eyes falling upon…
…a small Sentret, its curious gaze falling upon his with childish innocence.
The King was taken aback, not expecting the Pokemon to step in the place of his beloved Branwen. The Sentret, for its part, only stood silently in front of the confused man, its expression speaking of the desire to approach closer but unsure if the man was dangerous or not. The King decided that some action was in order, so he stretched out his arm to the Pokemon and called out to it.
"Well met, little one. Do not fret, I will not harm you."
"Sentret?"
"Yes, of course, it's a promise. Come now, I welcome your presence with open arms!"
The Sentret blinked, a small smile curling on its mouth as it slowly drew closer. The Pokemon stopped in front of the king's outstretched arm, taking a good long sniff of his hand. The King watched along patiently, hoping that it would not turn on him as the small creature slowly took in his scent.
Suddenly, the Sentret froze in place, eyes flying back to the man with what could only be described as a starstruck expression. It took a few paces back, the Pokemon's small body beginning to tremble with shock, tears welling up in its oval-shaped eyes.
"…little one? What's wrong?"
In a flash, the Sentret fled back into the shade of the forest, the Pokemon screaming its name frantically with reckless abandon as it vanished fully into the dark foliage ahead. The King was now left alone in the meadow, dazed beyond description, his breaths hitched in his throat as he tried and failed to process what just happened. A frantic neighing sound reached his ears, hurried clopping approaching rapidly behind him. The King rose to his feet just as Aldus reached him with a panicked expression, frightened by the commotion and the potential threat to the man's safety. The King gently soothed the nervous Rapidash by petting his mane, assuring his friend that everything was fine.
"The Sentret, Aldus… it ran away from me…"
"Rap…?!" Aldus brayed, just as dumbfounded as the king was.
"I cannot say why, but…" the king looked back to the tree line where the Sentret had vanished. "…I believe we should leave as soon as possible. Come, Aldus, with haste!"
The Rapidash snorted in agreement, the king walking to his side as he prepared to hop in the waiting saddle. But before he could settle himself atop his steed, however, a loud sound grabbed his attention. The King turned to the tree line, the now distinct sight of multiple figures rushing toward him filling his vision. The King quickly readied himself into a battle position, pulling out his great broadsword in anticipation, his Galarian Rapidash also preparing for a fight as the silhouettes came into view.
"Aldus, get ready! Here they come!" The pair planted themselves in place, their guard on high as the enemy came into focus. The King gasped in shock, his sword ungracefully tumbling to the ground as his sight fell upon…
…his mate, Branwen, towering in front of him with burgeoning tears staining her eyes.
The Furret was standing as tall and as intimidating as she could, her face scrunched with flaring rage and bubbling emotion, her mouth curled into a barely restrained snarl that showcased her razor-sharp teeth. the Sentret from earlier now being joined by two others, all three clinging to their mother's fur in fear at the situation. The King took a step back, his hand resting on Aldus' mane as the Rapidash eyed the crazed monster, ready to counter anything she might try.
"Aldus… stand down. I'll take care of this."
The unicorn looked at him with a shocked expression, confused about what the king was trying to say. With a final huff, he nodded in defeat, stepping to the side as the king faced down his opponent, nothing now separating the most important man in the country from the enraged Furret standing in front of him.
"Bran…" he started to say, taking a tentative step towards his former lover, "It is me, Charlos…"
The Pokemon only stood in place, her expression only seeming to grow more frantic as he drew closer. "It is so nice to see you, it's…"
With a furious roar that shook even the trees, the Furret launched herself towards him like a cannonball, the king having no time to react as 150 pounds of fur and muscle barreled into his midsection, his crown tumbling off his head and into the grass as Bran pinned him down on the ground, her strong legs nailing his down with merciless abandon. The King could hear his Galarian Rapidash cry in panic, ready to do battle for his master, yet the king wanted nothing of the sort to occur.
"Aldus, please, stand down," he screamed hastily. "She's…!"
The King's words were literally slapped out of his mouth as a lone paw connected with his cheek, a painful sting now throbbing on his skin. The king was left stunned and dazed at the unexpected attack, looking up at the infuriated Pokemon with a dumbfounded expression.
"Bran, what are you…!"
SLAP!
"Ouch!" the king sputtered, but the Furret refused to let up even a tad, a torrent of strikes and smacks now lambasting his face as the unforgiving female took out its pent-up rage on the helpless man trapped below her. Aldus stared her down with a murderous expression, his horn now glowing with psychic energy strong enough to blast her into the depths of hell, yet the king raised his arm to stop him before he could unleash his attack, assuring the bloodthirsty unicorn that all was fine, and that no action was needed.
"FURRET! FURRET! FURRRETT!" the Pokemon was now howling with uncontrollable fury, the tears now streaming out of her quivering eyes like a waterfall, her screeches being slowly overtaken by a thick, choking sob. Soon enough, the strength of her attacks ebbed and faded away, the Pokemon finally losing her will to fight as she opted to wrap her arms around the king, the man gladly pulling her to his chest as the Furret wailed into the nape of his nape, her cries echoing through the wind and across the landscape like a despairing siren's call.
"FFFURRREEEEEETTT!"
The King only held her close, his hands stroking her head with a gentle touch as she grasped him tighter in return, both Aldus and the Sentret slowly approaching the pair with sorrowful expressions on their faces. Soon enough, her tears would cease their unyielding flow, and her sobs slowly turned down to shaky breaths as she continued to cling to the king as if her very life depended on it.
"Let it out, Bran, you deserve it," he whispered, his arms holding her in place as the Furret gently nuzzled his cheek in response. Eventually, the Pokemon would pull back and look him face to face, the King feeling a warmth of nostalgia and love at the sight of her familiar black eyes, some wayward tears still flowing out as she drank him up.
"How have you been, my fair maiden?" the king said with a smile, his hand raising to rest on the side of her head, the Furret sighing at his touch like it was soothing a burn. The Pokemon drew close, licking at the slap marks on his face in an apologetic gesture, the king letting out a hearty chuckle at her actions.
"You do not have to worry, my dear Branwen, I deserved it…" The man looked away solemnly, his eyes clouded with reflection and melancholy. "I have so much to tell you, I don't even know where to start…"
The king stole a look around, noticing now that the Sentret were once again clinging to their mother, crawling across her body and nuzzling her softly. To his right, Aldus had also made his presence known, staring down the Furret with a scowl as he settled down on the grass, a disapproving neigh blowing out of his nostrils.
"Aldus, all is forgiven, I assure you, no harm has been done." The king sighed, turning back to focus on Bran, the Pokemon now pressing her nose against his with a happy and loving expression, the Pokemon now past her initial feelings of betrayal and revenge and now just overjoyed that her love was alive and back in her arms once more.
"Now, to what I was saying beforehand… Branwen, I am truly sorry for leaving you that night. I knew that if I had stayed with you until morning, I would never have the heart to leave home and fight and that you would never let me go in the first place. So, I abandoned you and rode for the castle. Looking back on it now, I know what a terrible mistake that turned out to be. I cannot imagine the heartache you have experienced over these years, all because of me. I understand if you never forgive me; I have prepared to accept that fact this entire time."
"Furret…" the Pokemon whispered, her eyes searching his for any semblance of dishonesty, before she gave him a warm smile, giving him a short kiss as she pressed her nose closer to his with half-lidded eyes, the message as clear as day to the relieved man.
"…thank you, Branwen. You have no idea how much your acceptance means to me…" The king closed his eyes, thrumming up the strength to continue his speech. "But of course, this isn't the end of the story. The morning after, I finally set sail to fight in the war. True to my promise, my presence turned the stalemate around almost instantly. Just a few months after my arrival, our armies had subdued most of the enemy strongholds, and we were poised to overtake the capital and bring the conflict to its end. However…"
The King's voice trailed off, a cold dread now hanging in the air as he froze in face, a growing expression of trauma and terror crossing his face. Bran could feel the change in the air, her and her Sentret children exchanging confused and worried expressions with each other at the change in the atmosphere. A cursory glance at Aldus, however, only made things more confusing, the Rapidash carrying the same look of terror on his face as the king. With growing panic, the Furret turned back to the king, the worry and apprehension on her face growing exponentially with each passing second.
"Something terrible had arrived in the country. A pestilence, unlike anything the world has ever seen."
"F…Furret?"
"I… I don't even want to remember it, so horrific was the damage… in a flash, all our progress was wiped clean, both armies cut down to the bone and then some. Oh lord, what carnage…"
The king's horror was quickly overwhelming him, his breath growing ragged at the unwanted memories. A gentle paw on his skin brought him back down to earth, and he found himself looking back into Bran's sympathetic eyes, the Furret letting off consoling whimpers as she hugged him close, her forehead resting on his in a warm embrace.
"Furr… Furret…"
"Yes, but that's in the past now, is it? Thankfully, God and fate were not done with me, it seems. I barely managed to survive the bloodshed and the infection, but alas, I did not make it out unscathed. Shortly after the pestilence arrived at our doorstep, I contracted the disease." The king paused, his hand moving to the armor of his arm before taking it off, Branwen's eyes taking in the strange pustules dotting his damaged skin, her digits tracing along the scars with trembling touch.
"The pain was… unbearable. A living death, lasting both day and night. I was one of the fortunate ones who didn't succumb, though, of course, nothing was the same afterward. My strength was gone, my will sapped and destroyed. I began to realize how foolish I was, coming to fight for glory, when what I really should have pursued… was peace. And to make matters worse, after my recovery, I received the terrible news: the pestilence had hopped the channel and scythed through our kingdom, my father the king one of its victims. I was trapped, both physically and mentally. I felt like I had no place where I belonged anymore, adrift and entirely alone in enemy territory."
A long silence ensued, all parties taking in and processing the King's chilling words. It was clear that while the past few years had been hard on Bran and the others, nothing compared to the sheer suffering this man had gone through. And yet, he had come back, come back to all of them, just as confident and loving as he had always been. As the king held her close, Bran felt both intense sorrow and fortune swell up in her chest; sorrow for the suffering her love had been put through, and great fortune that she had claimed such a strong and amazing mate as he.
"I was stuck in Kalos for many years afterward, periods of fighting flaring up here and there, though it was clear that both sides had reached the end of the rope. Finally, a breaking point had been reached, and the Kalosian government reached out for a peace treaty, which we readily accepted. With our position on the continent now becoming untenable, we were forced to give up all the territories we conquered back to the Kalosians, and in turn, our armies were given safe passage to head home. The long war was over, yet still much needed to be done. I arrived at a kingdom devastated, both by the disease and the aftermath of long years of conflict. I wanted to go back to you as soon as possible, I truly did, but reality kept me chained to my newfound throne. Only recently have things settled down enough that I was allowed to leave and go see you. But, Branwen, I have one more thing to say to you, something I realized after all these years, yet was staring me in the face this entire time…"
The Furret's attention rose, her ears twitching cutely at the king's words.
"Furret?"
"...though I failed to achieve my father's aims, and though I have faced struggles and setbacks far more painful and difficult than any period in my life, I must come to terms with the fact that none of those things matter in the grand scheme of things. For the only thing that mattered in the end, at the very end… was you. Despite everything that has happened to me, staring death and despair in the face time and time again… your image was always right beside me, pushing me forward and keeping me alive no matter what new disaster was thrown at me. I couldn't fall and die knowing you were waiting for me, Bran… I needed to get back to you no matter what, even if I had to sacrifice everything to get there. I…"
The king fell silent, the soft pads of Bran's left paw placed tightly on his mouth, the Pokemon now shaking her head with tears in her eyes and a jovial smile on her face. With no hesitation, she pressed her soft lips against his, the two lovers finally connected once more after years and years of being apart. The Rapidash and the Sentret on Bran's back began crying out in celebration, cheering the couple on as they deepened their kiss. The feeling of her lips against his felt like his own slice of heaven, like all the toil and suffering he endured over these years had never happened and didn't matter. With a moan, the pair finally separated, the two locking eyes as the king spoke once more.
"Bran, I never want to leave you again. Please, come live with me in my castle. You and your children are most welcome."
"Furret!" she cried back joyfully, her tail wagging behind her rapidly with uncontrolled excitement. The Sentret by this point had made their way off their mother in favor of the king, grabbing and clamboring at his body with happy cries.
"Hahhah, you sure have some energetic kids, don't you?" the king mused, a sense of warmth in his chest as the Sentret began to climb on top of him. "Though, this likely means what I think it does, right?"
"Furret?" Bran hummed confusedly, looking at the king with a lost expression.
"Well, you have another mate, right? The father of your children? Otherwise, how could you…"
"Furret?!" she cried, seemingly asking him "What are you talking about?" The king was growing confused as well, deciding to take one of the Sentret in his hands, the young monster's eyes looking back at him with childlike curiosity.
"Sen…tret?"
The king smiled at the Pokemon's cuteness, his focus settling on its unwavering gaze. But as he took in the young one's appearance, he noticed something quite peculiar. Don't all Sentrets have a black eye color exclusively? But this Sentret's eye color is…
…green.
The king looked at the other Sentret, noticing the same pattern. He hadn't noticed it before, but it was glaringly obvious now. Light green, the color of emeralds. A muddy brown-green, almost like a bog. The king looked back at his Furret lover, the pieces clicking into place as he realized what this all meant.
"Bran… your children's eyes… does this mean…?"
The Furret pursed her lips in thought before she realized what the prince was trying to get at, a knowing smirk crossing her lips as she simply gave him a sharp nod, confirming all his suspicions to be true. The King's eyes fell upon the Sentret in his arms once more, his words tumbling out of his mouth with snowballing shock and emotion.
"Then these Sentret are your… our children? I'm a… father?"
It was like the world had frozen in place around the king; everything now falling into place as he understood the true gravity of the situation in front of him. He looked to the equally stunned Aldus lying next to him, the two males exchanging bewildered looks with each other as they grappled with the strange reality they now found themselves in. Bran only giggled lightly in response, stepping off the lap of her partner before making her way around him, wrapping her arms around his chest and tail around his waist as she nuzzled him with her whiskers, a loving purr reverberating from her throat. The Rapidash, wanting to give the reunited family some alone time, slowly rose to his feet, giving his friend a congratulatory nudge with his hoof before walking off with a sarcastic snort.
"Branwen…" the king whispered under his breath, choking back a sob of his own as he spoke, "I am so happy to be alive. Thank you for waiting for me. Thank you."
As his new family smothered him with all the love they could give, the king, once a prince, couldn't help but reflect. Though he had lost so much on the way, here, in the embrace of his queen and children, he had finally achieved the true final victory for any real warrior, a true fairy tale ending that he was now living in.
Home. He was finally home.