(Kathrin)
My name is Kathrin. I am the Third General of Karma. I am seventy-five years old, and a Flygon with unique features, such as some of my body is blue instead of red, and my wings are yellow instead of red, like other Flygon's. As Caius has probably told you, I am the fastest general there is of the group, no doubt about it. I enjoy building anything I can to help someone, and I am the navigator for us and help with anything I can within our small group of six now. Caius recently handed me an egg that belonged to Alvar, a Delphox from the city of Ai. Caius hadn't really told us anything on what happened while he went for his quote unquote "walk," but it brought this egg into our group. I guess I should start from the beginning and try to make it brief. So basically, we were in the fortress of Balachandra, preparing for an incoming attack from the Truett's. However, after we grouped up at our rally point, Caius told us we would be going to find a special contact. A long-lost rival named Xerneas. We made our way to Hoopa, who told us we needed to find Celebi, then took us directly south of a small village named Ake. It was after then that Caius told us who our contact was. Being introduced to the locals wasn't exactly the most pleasant of ideals. The villagers had dropped down from some nearby trees, thinking we were some group called "The Rangers." After we told them who we were, we were taken into the small village and made plans with a Weavile named Clark, to capture a Ranger and interrogate them for the location of their base. Our plan consisted of leveling out the village without destroying everything, which was provided by yours truly, and then to build a large building and spread fake rumors that all the loot everyone had would be stockpiled in that building. Plans changed however, when Caius, the next day, had somehow bagged one himself! Carinthia and Lilith tried interrogating the Hypno, later known as Ford, first, but he refused to talk. Afterwards, Caius went in himself and went to deal with the situation. During that time, we had made the plans to help the citizens of Ake by flattening their village so they could build to different villages and cities. After the first earthquake that I had caused, there was practically no damage done to the village, aside from the tower, where Clark would make the village announcements from on top. Caius came out of the prison, being successful in his interrogation, and went to talk to Clark and Sarah about the news. After we had checked the last of everything, I started the second earthquake, flattening the village and making it level with everything else. It no later after that, that Ford had been killed by a Ranger for blabbing his mouth off. Caius went towards a place that was near Mythic Forest, a location where it was rumored that Celebi roamed. Caius, however got himself captured, and we devised a plan to free him, which worked, but we ended up getting captured by someone named Tane Azalea, a Decidueye. After we were dragged to a place called the arena, Caius found out that Tane Azalea is actually one of his caretakers, who's actual name is Nate. We took Nate a most of the Rangers back to Ake without any trouble from them at all. When we returned, I went and helped form a part of the wall around Ake. It was a small town, so it wasn't that hard, and it was quite fun in my opinion. After several minutes, Caius came running to me and announced that Celebi was actually here in Ake. We got transported to a different place and time entirely when Celebi brought us through a time hole I guess. The only problem was, we were literally falling from the sky. Caius had gotten me awake and I snatched up everyone before we collided with the ground. We then ran into a city called Ai and were rescued from the locals by a Leafeon named Mark. We were then taken to a run-down factory near the edge of the city, where we were introduced to a Medicham named Dinh. Mysterious little woman in my opinion. After then, Caius pulled a little trick on the four of us thanks to Mark and learned that I may have had some feelings for him. I mean, I'm sorry, but he's just so... I can't keep my eyes off of him, and when I do, it's normally on the battlefield. But after Lilith and Carinthia had roughed him up a little bit, he woke up at some point and wondered into the city. We didn't notice because we were too busy trying understand why Mark did such a thing to us. Only after he had explained it did it make sense a little bit. Even after then we were off and on about why he shouldn't have done it, even if it did reveal a few feelings. Once we noticed that Caius was gone, we immediately started looking around for him, but we couldn't find him anywhere within the factory. It was Mark's son, Knud who told us what he did. When he told us he had gone for a walk, my heart started racing. I wanted to go and look for him immediately, but the others convinced me it was best to just wait for him to come back. He did eventually come back after almost three hours of being gone. He didn't return alone however. That's when we met the Delphox name Alvar, who was badly injured in some sort of fight I'm guessing. Caius tried everything he did to try and save her, but she knew she was going to pass on. Her last wish, was to make sure Caius took care of the egg and make sure that the child lived. After she passed on, Caius handed me the egg and started to walk off. Lilith tried to catch him, but Sarah stopped her. And that pretty much catches you up. Sorry if it wasn't short, I just didn't want to miss too many details. Anyway, Sarah and Lilith got into a fight, but it was short lived when we felt the ground shake violently.
"What was that?" Sarah asked concerned.
"I don't know." I replied. Then we felt the ground shake another time.
"There it is again!" Carinthia said balancing herself.
"I'm not getting a good feeling about this." Lilith said uncomfortably. Suddenly, Mark's son came down the stairs energetically.
"Everyone! Come take a look outside! There's fireworks going on outside!" Knud said yelling to everyone. A few of the children ran upstairs to see the fireworks.
"That's strange." Mark said puzzled. "There's no event going on that calls for fireworks." Sarah walked out towards one of the broken windows and looked outside.
"Hey girls, you might want to come take a look at this." Sarah said calling us near the window. We all had a look of puzzle on our faces, but we all came to the windows nonetheless. What we saw, was definitely not fireworks. As we looked outside, about three-thousand feet away. I could see a figure spitting out fire. It didn't take much to convince me that was Caius. He was probably getting his anger out or something.
"Geez, what's got him so railed up about a stranger?" Lilith asked.
"I don't think it's so much about the stranger." I said looking at Lilith. "I think it's the trauma he just experienced from losing her."
"Why? He's not her husband." Lilith countered.
"It's about the egg." Sarah clarified. "He lost his parents when he was young, he doesn't want anyone else living like that."
"That makes more sense." Lilith said looking back outside the window. I looked outside the window, looking at the fire almost a mile away.
"I'm getting a little scared." I said backing away from the window.
"Just let him burn out." Sarah recommended. "He needs time alone to vent out whatever he is going through."
"I've sometimes had the feeling that he's hiding too much." Carinthia said trying to see all the fire.
"Sometimes it's best that way." I said holding onto the egg.
"Don't you think he'd be better if he told us though?" Carinthia asked turning around towards me.
"If he does," I countered, "it's best he does it at his own time, not when we want to know." Just as I said this, I felt something kick inside the egg, almost knocking it out of my arms, but I quickly caught it before it could escape.
"Everything okay there Kathrin?" Carinthia asked seeing the scene.
"Yeah, I think the egg is close to hatching though." I said getting a better grip on the egg.
"When do you think he'll cool down?" Lilith asked.
"Who knows, but we should probably leave him alone." Sarah recommended. Sarah turned towards Mark, who had seen and heard everything. "You should probably get the kids inside. I don't want them getting hurt."
"I agree." Mark said. "I'll go gather them right now." Mark ran off to go get the children inside. I could hear their whining from the window, which made me giggle a little bit. Youths were always so fascinated by everything they saw that wasn't a part of their everyday lives. I looked at the egg in my arms and listened closely. I even moved my heard towards the egg to see if I could hear better. As I listened closely, I could hear the faint noise of something moving around inside the egg. When I found my mate, I always envisioned us having a large family. Hearing something move inside the egg almost made me feel like the dream came true. I pulled my head back and gave a sigh of relief. Lilith took a look at the egg, then at me.
"Do you think it would be okay if I held the egg for a little bit?" Lilith asked. I looked at Lilith and gave a smile.
"Is someone feeling left out?" I teased while holding back from snickering. Lilith gave me a soft glare in reply. "I'm just messing with you, just be careful with it." I handed the egg to Lilith, making sure she had a good grip on the egg in case it kicked like it did for me.
"It's so warm." Lilith said amazed.
"One of the many mysteries of life my friend." Carinthia said smiling.
"Hopefully it stays warm, we don't want this egg dying on us." Sarah said looking at the egg.
"We also don't want it becoming a hard-boiled egg either." I added.
"Yeah, but the only way for that to happen is if someone intentionally bakes the egg." Carinthia stated.
"I'm not letting that happen while I'm taking care of it." I said looking around. "But do you mind if you hold onto that egg for a little bit Lilith? I want to go check something out."
"It's Caius, isn't it?" Lilith asked bluntly. I flinched a little bit. She hit the nail on the head.
"What makes you think you can get to him?" Carinthia asked. "Is it because you still have your feelings for him?"
"Please, we all said we wouldn't talk about this in public." I said blushing a little bit. Lilith and the others gave a sigh.
"Go ahead, although don't be surprised if he hurts you by accident." Lilith warned. I walked down the stairs to the ground floor and walked outside the door. After I stepped outside, I stretched my wings out, finally getting some feeling back in them from having to fold them inside. I flapped my wings and I took to the air. As I flew over towards Caius, I began to see more clearly what he had done. He had created several small craters in the ground. Probably from striking the ground with his scythe. He continued to strike the ground, with his fists instead, and they were creating the same effect as what I thought was being used with his scythe. I thought about calling out his name, but then I saw him striking the same spot, creating a larger crater than the others. After striking it multiple times, he fell to his knees. I started to land a few feet away. When I made contact with the ground, I started walking over towards him.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"No, I'm not." Caius replied breaking through his tears.
"It's the egg, isn't it?" I asked.
"Another being now has to live through what I've lived." Caius said bitterly. "I could have saved her. I could have saved her life and she could have been taking care of her child! If only I had treated her wound when I first met her." I looked at Caius, a bit sorrowful. He and I relate in some ways concerning our pasts.
"Who did this to her?" I asked trying to find out what happened. Caius picked his scythe up and gripped it tightly.
"It was those three heartless murderers." Caius said with his voice dripping venom. "If I ever get my hands on them again, I'll kill them right where they stand." I'd never seen this side of Caius before. I mean I saw him when he battled that monster called Luke back at the Arena, but never with so much hatred in his voice. I walked up to Caius and sat down next to him.
"Life is full of Pokémon like those three." I said looking at the stars. "It's why Pokémon like me take up the risks of dying, so that others can enjoy a peaceful life."
"Please, don't say that." Caius said. "I don't want anyone else dying."
"I don't plan on dying for a very long time." I replied looking at Caius. Caius looked at me with tears still in his eyes and gave a small smile. "What, why are you giving me that look?" Caius began to laugh softly.
"Oh, it's nothing." Caius replied wiping the tears. "I'm just remembering when I found out you had a crush on me." I gave a deep sigh.
"Maybe it would have been better if I did leave you alone." I said trying to hide my blushing.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." Caius said sitting down. I looked at Caius again and saw him slouching into himself. "There's so many things I should have done differently." I tried to lift his spirits a little.
"We all make mistakes in our lives." I said. "Nobody is perfect. We all have one fault or another."
"My fault is not reacting quick enough." Caius said looking at himself. This was not what I intended, but I needed to get him out of his little despair fit.
"Okay, you know what, stop doing that." I said looking at Caius.
"Doing what?" Caius asked turning his head to me.
"Stop being so depressing." I said more sternly. "I've known you ever since you became a general, and this isn't you. So stop being so depressing and lighten up." Caius chuckled a little bit to himself.
"I'm so pathetic." He said. "I've been charged with taking care of an egg and I can't even take care of myself."
"You've been taking care of yourself just fine." I countered. "You're one of my best friends and I can't see you being so down on yourself. Seeing you like this makes me depressed a little bit."
"Being alone does that to you I guess." Caius said looking at the stars.
"But you're not alone." I said grabbing Caius shoulder. "You have us." Caius gave a curious look at me, then chuckled again.
"Your right, I do have the four of you." Caius said finally cracking a smile. He looked back at the stars. "Thank you, Kathrin, I really needed you here." My heart started pounding inside my chest. I wasn't exactly used to receiving compliments like Caius. I guess my excitement was showing, because I noticed my tail was waging. Before Caius could notice, I laid on my back to get it to stop. I tried to act like nothing happened and look up at the stars. The moon was full, and its light shined on us brightly. I took another look at Caius and saw him slumped back down like before. An idea came into mind on how to get his mind off of events. I rolled over and brought myself up to my feet. I extended my arm out towards Caius.
"Climb on." I said. Caius stared at me for a minute, confused. "Come on, you'll enjoy it." He looked at my hand for a second, then took it and I lifted him up onto his feet. After he grabbed his scythe and got on my back, I took to the skies, slowly but surely. I put us in the air several hundred feet in the air, high enough to where the buildings below looked as small as a Durrant.
"You sure this is safe?" Caius asked a bit concerned.
"Positive." I replied. "With me, you won't need to worry about anything."
"So, what is it that you had in mind?" Caius asked.
"You'll see." I said smugly. I started to glide around, going a bit slow so that he could take in what I was about to show him. We dove into a few clouds and got a little wet, but we still enjoyed the flight. When we popped out of a cloud, I pointed towards the city of Ai. "Over there. Take a look." Caius and I looked at the city from this high. I have to admit, even though its citizens were questionable, the city itself with the lights on looked beautiful. I could tell Caius was impressed a little bit, I was as well. This was one thing I could enjoy when I flew. I could always enjoy the sights of the land and see the beauty in everything.
"How'd you know that the city lit up like this?" Caius asked.
"I didn't." I replied turning my head to see him. "I just knew that cities loved showing off their lights in the evening, so I figured, why would this one be any different?"
"Kathrin, you are clever." Caius complimented. I gave a grin and turned my head back. As I looked down, I saw a lake to the side of the city about maybe two miles away. This was playing out too well in my favor. This was going to be hook, line, and sinker.
"Hold on tight." I said to Caius. "We're going for a ride." Caius snapped out from watching the city lights and used an arm to wrap around my body. After I felt he had a good grip on me, I folded my wings and let out a loud cheer as we started crashing towards the lake. We were dropping very quickly with our combined weight. I could tell that Caius was having an adrenaline rush because I could feel his heart pounding on my back. Just before we collided with the lake, I threw open my wings and we started to fly across the surface of the lake. I started laughing loudly when we were above the lake. Caius started joining in too. I started to have the tips of my wings touch the water, just to get the feeling of cool water on them. As we came across the end of the lake, I used the rest of our momentum to bring us higher into the air.
"Well Kathrin, I'm impressed." Caius said. "No one has gotten my adrenaline going like this in a while."
"I'm just glad I could finally cheer you up." I said looking at Caius. "But we should probably head back, it's getting late."
"Alright, let's get going then." Caius agreed. I flew us back over towards the factory. I felt a lot better knowing that Caius had a good time and that I could help clear his mind a little bit. As we landed, we walked back into the factory and went back up to the third floor. It was to our surprise that we saw Lilith holding the egg high above her head from the other children who wanted to see it. Caius immediately got the egg from Lilith and the children were taken back to their parents. After then, Mark met up with us for something important going on tomorrow.
"Now that we know that the machine works on Caius, we'd like to get things moving along." Mark said looking at the five of us. "I'd like to be able to get a layout of the city without being noticed. Others have tried, but they've gone missing. We don't know where they could be."
"Have you tried buying a map of the city?" Caius asked holding the egg.
"Those only show key locations for visitors, nothing more." Mark said shaking his head. "I need an actual detailed map of the city, or more specifically, the north side. That's where most of the government areas are, so there will be those who give you a strange look."
"So, we're basically creating a mapped area for you, why is that?" Lilith asked.
"We think that's where everyone is being held captive, I'm sure of it, but Dinh has her doubts." Mark replied.
"Wait, being held captive by who?" Sarah asked.
"Lofn." Mark replied. "The same Pokémon that has probably done so many other things trying to get Caius here." Mark paused for a minute to catch his breath, then continued. "She has multiple body-guards and has Pokémon patrolling the north side. It's just riddled with captives, I'm so sure of it."
"What do her body guards consist of?" Caius asked.
"There's a widespread of different Pokémon that are under her command, but she has five that manage the entire battalion." Mark said. Caius thought for a minute, then I saw his eyes get as wide as they could go.
"Are three of the five a Gabite, a Houndoom, and a Scrafty?" Caius asked. The question took Mark completely off guard.
"Yes, but, how did you know about that?" Mark asked a bit astonished. Caius clenched his teeth tightly.
"Those were the three that killed Alvar." Caius said angrily. I quickly stepped between the two.
"Caius, don't you get like that again." I warned Caius.
"Those three are Sar, Filmore, and Devante. The others are Cedlio and Atol."
"Devante, Filmore, and Sar." Caius said repeating the names. "They're nothing more but cold-blooded murderers."
"Chances are, if they saw you and told Lofn, she'll have the city on high alert now." Mark pondered. "Did they see your face at all?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it." Caius replied. "I sent them a clear message to their leader after I nearly killed them." Mark gave a grim look.
"This isn't good. We'll have to keep you here until we are ready to start the final plans." Mark said looking at Caius. Knud came running up out of nowhere.
"Did I hear right? Caius gets to stay with us?" Knud asked excitedly.
"Knud, now isn't the time." Mark said trying to shoo off Knud.
"But Dad! I want to play with Caius." Knud whined. Caius regained his composure and crouched down.
"I'll come and play with you in a minute Knud, for now, do what your dad says and go be with the other kids." Caius said making sure he had a good grip on the egg.
"Alright." Knud said a little disappointed. Knud ran off and Caius stood back up.
"Sorry about that." Mark said looking a bit embarrassed.
"You're fine." Carinthia said waving it off. "Kids gotta be kids."
"Anyway, I'll need you four to go around and draw down what is on the north side." Mark ordered. "But not now, it's getting a bit late and I'm sure you're all tired."
"It's getting that way." Lilith replied.
"I'll brief you on the rest tomorrow then." Mark acknowledged. Mark turned away and walked off. Caius walked with the egg towards Knud, being careful not to drop the egg while carrying his scythe. Before I could go anywhere, Sarah caught me.
"Kathrin, could I talk to you for a minute?" Sarah asked.
"Sure, is something wrong?" I asked.
"No, nothing is wrong, at least, I hope not. But there are a few things I would like to ask." Sarah said looking at Caius.
"What is it?" I asked a bit nervously.
"How did you get him to calm down? He seems like another day has passed." Sarah said seeing Caius playing with Knud.
"He was burnt out on his own really, I just helped extinguish the embers." I replied.
"Okay, then where did you two go after Caius climbed on your back?" Sarah asked looking at me. I wasn't expecting that.
"You saw that?" I asked a bit embarrassed.
"I had a feeling that you two would do something and continued watching after you had left." Sarah agreed. I blushed a little bit.
"I just took him up into the sky to help him get his thoughts off the Delphox was all." I said avoiding eye contact.
"Did you fly over Ai?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, just to see the lights from the city, that's all." I confirmed. Sarah let out a deep sigh.
"Alright then, I'm going to have to ask you to promise me something then." Sarah said plainly.
"What is it?" I asked curious.
"When you flew away from my vision, I saw a disaster that isn't all that pleasant." Sarah said.
"Isn't that the point of a disaster?" I countered.
"Please, let me finish." Sarah said. "The guards saw you from the ground, they saw Caius and now they are after you and him. If you go out there, you will be captured and killed." I flinched, this time, staggering back a little bit.
"They saw us?! But how? We were several hundred feet in the air!" I said surprised.
"I don't really know, but they saw you in the sky, they tried going after you, but they lost you when you flew back here." Sarah said. "So I need you to promise to stay with Caius until Mark has made his plans."
"What?! You know me Sarah, I love navigation! Asking me not to help with this mission is like asking a Magikarp not to learn Splash!" I argued.
"Promise me that you won't leave this factory. Please, it's for your safety as well as Caius'." Sarah pleaded. I struggled to stomach down my urge to defy her. She was more experienced than I and if I didn't, I'd get not only myself killed, but probably everyone in here. I reluctantly agreed not to go outside unless it was absolutely necessary.
"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this." I said annoyed.
"It's for the best." Sarah replied.
"I know, I guess I just need some rest." I said trying to calm down.
"You do that." Sarah said. "I'll see you in the morning." I was getting a head-ache from this. Navigation was in my blood! But if it was to protect the others around here, I was willing to push down my own desires. When I went over to Caius to tell him that I'd be staying with him, I thought he'd be a bit concerned with why.
"So, you're not going out to help huh?" Caius said thinking.
"Yeah, I was told that it would be better if I stayed here." I replied. Caius thought on my words a little bit.
"I think that would be best." Caius replied. The response caught me off guard.
"Why? Do you think I'm that reckless?" I asked concerned. Caius looked at me in surprise while holding Knud back from charging into his stomach.
"No, it's nothing like that." Caius said trying to assess the situation. "It's the egg really."
"Feel like you can't handle it on your own?" I asked chuckling a little bit.
"No, well, I guess, okay maybe." Caius said. "What I'm mainly concerned with is that since I've held it, the egg has shaken multiple times. It almost rolled off my lap at one point." I giggled a little bit.
"That's happened to me too, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to Lilith while she was holding it." I said looking at the egg. Sure enough, as I looked at it, it shook again. Knud look no less entertained by it moving.
"So what's inside it?" Knud asked.
"I'd imagine a Fennekin." I replied. "The mother was a Delphox." I choked on my words and looked directly at Caius. He seemed to have taken it fairly well. Just giving a calming smile to Knud.
"It's getting late Knud, why don't you go to sleep with your father?" Caius asked.
"He doesn't really care where I sleep, so long as he can see me, okay with it." Knud replied.
"Well I plan on sleeping on the roof, and I don't think your dad will enjoy you getting sick." Caius countered.
"Alright." Knud said a bit sad.
"Hey, don't worry, I'll be here tomorrow morning." Caius said rubbing Knud's head.
"Why do you keep messing with my hair like that?" Knud teased lightly tapping Caius' arm.
"Why are you so soft and adorable?" Caius countered. "Really, if you want me to stop rubbing your head, stop being so darn adorable."
"Alright, how about this?" Knud said. Knud then tried to pull a face, pushing his top jaw out, exposing his teeth, and crossing his eyes. Caius and I looked at each other and began to laugh softly.
"Nah, you'll have to do better than that." Caius replied rubbing Knud's head once more.
"Aw man, I tried hard on that too." Knud said trying to break free.
"Alright Caius, you've had your fun, now let him be." I said nudging Caius.
"Alright, alright." Caius said releasing Knud's head. Knud looked at Caius and at me and smiled.
"Run along now, you'll need all the energy for tomorrow." I said hurrying Knud along.
"See you tomorrow Caius!" Knud said walking off.
"I'm going to call it good tonight as well." Caius said standing up.
"Do you want me to watch the egg?" I asked Caius.
"No thanks." Caius responded. "I mean, unless you want to sleep on the roof with me." I had to pinch myself to stop myself from blushing.
"No thanks." I replied. "I like to stay warm when I rest."
"I stay warm just fine outside." Caius said picking up the egg. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah, I'll see you later Caius." I said walking towards a window. I saw Caius ascend up the stairs up to the roof. As I reached the window, I looked out at the sky. The stars seemed so beautiful outside. If only I could shine just like them. As I laid down on the ground, I thought of what would happen tomorrow. I was so tired that I guess I didn't even notice that my eyes were closing on their own. Sleep quickly enveloped my mind. Tomorrow was another day.
(Caius)
I walked up the stairs and outside the door leading to the roof. I made sure I had a good grip on the egg in case it tried to break free again. Tonight, was an emotional cycle. My little walk through the City of Ai. The Accelgor that tried to get me to Adom. The attack from three commanders of Lofn, and the murder of a Delphox named Alvar. My enraged tantrum outside the factory and my new duty to raise this egg. Kathrin's attempt to cheer me up, and then the comfort of Knud's little playful nature. It sure couldn't get any wackier than that. Walking along the roof, I made my way over to the stone guardrail and sat down with my back against it. Kathrin did help me out a little. Okay, so maybe a little is an understatement, but I enjoyed her comfort. I just don't really know what to feel at this point. I'm just a bundle of emotions right now. I put my legs close to my chest and set the egg in between my chest and my legs, hoping to keep it warm throughout the night. My eyes watched the silver egg closely. When would it hatch? It certainly seemed like it was capable of doing it, but I guess it's just not its time yet. I looked up at the moon and let its light reflect of my eyes. As I looked up at the moon, my eye-lids began to close on their own.
"Show me how to be like you daddy." I heard in my head.
"Oh son, if you want to be like your old pops, you need to work hard no matter how impossible it may seem." The father said to his son. Those voices were un-mistakenly familiar. The image popped into my mind. A son, looking up to his father, who was hard at work cutting wood for the winter ahead.
"I don't care what it takes, I'm willing to do anything to be like you." The child said looking at his father.
"Then watch closely son." The father said. The figure got a small log on top of his claw and threw it into the air. The father jumped into the air and cut cleanly through the log, leaving it in three pieces.
"Alright, now let me try." The child said holding up a log. The child brought up his hand and tried to cut it like how his father had, instead, he ends up hitting his hand against the log, causing a small bruise to form from the impact. The son drew his hand back and started yelping.
"That's not going to work son. We have claws, you have hands. You will need more work before you can do what I do." The father said walking over to his son.
"It hurts Dad, make the pain stop please." The son asked trying to hold back tears.
"Let me take a look at it." The father said holding out his claw. The son put his hand in his father's claw the best he could. The father took a careful look at it. "You didn't break anything, but it will be swollen for a while."
"It still hurts." The son complained.
"Just do what I told you before and it should go away." The father said looking down at his son.
"But I'm not as good as you Dad." The son said looking up at his father.
"That's why you practice Caius, you won't get as good as me if you don't work on it yourself." The father explained. Then something unexpected happened. Both figures turned to me, as if barely noticing me for the first time.
"Who's that daddy?" The younger me asked pointing at me.
"It's an old friend of mine." The father said. "Now run on back inside, your mom should be getting lunch just about done."
"Alright Dad, I love you." Younger me said hugging his father.
"I love you too, now get going, we don't want it getting cold now." The father said patting his son on the head. The younger me ran off towards the north, running as fast as he could. My father walked up to me. Like my mom, my dad's face was covered in a mist. He stood over me. Even as an adult standing at 6'5, he towered over me. It made me wonder how I didn't fear being crushed by accident by my parents. "Looks like it's your turn now Caius." My father chuckled looking down at me. It took me a minute to be able to speak.
"It's been so long since I've seen you." I said trying to smile.
"Eighteen years to be exact." My father said being exact.
"And I feel that's eighteen years too many." I replied with tears now forming in my eyes.
"Don't cry now Caius, that's not what a general is supposed to do." My father said wiping away my tears. I chuckled a little bit and wiped my face with my hands.
"Sorry, I just wish you had been with me along the way." I said looking at my father. I couldn't really tell how, but under that mist, I could tell my father was smiling at me.
"Even though it may seem we're gone, we are always near Caius." My father said resting his head on my shoulder. I couldn't help but reach my hand into the mist and scratch his head. I always did it to my parents when I was young.
"I miss you Dad." I said calmly.
"And I miss you too." My father said. "There isn't a day where I don't think of you. But just remember, I'll always be your daddy." The last word started echoing in my ears. It was a quiet echo, but then I started to realize that it wasn't my father's voice. My vision became blurry as I felt something on my chin. The darkness returned to my eyes. As I came too, I could still feel something rubbing on my chin. Knud? What could he be doing out here? As I started to open my eyes, I didn't see Knud. I saw two large red eyes, staring back at me, tears forming in its eyes. My eyes shot open as my head straightened up, hitting the guardrail. I put my hands on the back of my head, trying to ease the pain. The voice called out again, this time, I found out the voice came from this Pokémon.
"Daddy?" The Pokémon said trying to calm itself down. As I looked back up, I saw the eyes again, but then I could make out the face. A silver and white face with red fur sticking out of its ears, and a black nose. I massaged the back of my head. I was confused for a minute about why this Pokémon was calling my daddy, then my father's voice came back into my mind.
"Looks like it's your turn Caius." My eyes widened as I realized what he meant.
"Daddy!" The Pokémon said rubbing its fur into my chin. I tilted my head to the side and saw that the egg had shattered. My head looked back at the Fennekin. It had hatched while I was asleep, but how did I understand it? Did Pokémon know how to speak right from birth? That wouldn't make sense, Knud even said he was eleven-teen, but what if that was just the way he thought? "I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up!" The Fennekin said crying tears on my chest. My hands strained to lift themselves, but I forced them up and around the Fennekin and started to lightly hug it.
"It's alright." I said not really knowing what else to say. "I'm here." So, this was the night. The fifteenth moon on the seventh month during the seven-hundred and thirty-second year, this child was born.
"What happened to Mommy?" The Fennekin asked looking up at me. My heart stopped for a second. I continued to stare wide-eyed at the Fennekin. I managed to calm myself down a little bit.
"Mommy's not here." I replied a bit shamefully. "She's not going to be here." The Fennekin looked up at my expression and continued to cry into my chest. I tried the best I could to offer any kind of comfort. I felt extremely weird. Out of all the training I've had to do for myself and for others, nothing could have ever trained me for this. As I tried to think of what to do, I remembered something. A lullaby that was sung to me to calm me down when I was a child. My memory was a bit foggy, but I tried singing the best I could.
"Oh, my pure child, don't be afraid, you're in life's great escapade. No mountain, nor valley, nor sea, can be, too far for me to be your company. I'm here with you, and you're here with me, and we are one happy family. Don't cry my child, for I'll help you through, the pain, and the sorrow, and your misery to. If you ever find yourself alone and afraid, I'll come by to take them away. So sleep now my sweet child, and soon you'll awake, to a brand-new day, with a brand-new dawn, to our great lake. A lake filled with joy, and blissful dreams, no harm will come to you by any means." My memory blanked out after that. I knew that wasn't the full song, but I couldn't remember what the rest was. I started to scold myself for not being able to remember it all. I should have known better than to hope it would all come back as I sang along. I stopped however when I heard the soft breathing of the Fennekin on my chest. I looked down and saw her fast asleep. I blushed a little bit. I really didn't think it would succeed in making her fall asleep, I was just hoping that it would at least get her to stop crying. Looks like it did more than just that.
"It's alright Ayah, I'm here with you." I said stroking her head. I laid on my back, hoping to let Ayah get comfortable. This indeed was one crazy night. I closed my eyes, and welcome the sweet luxury of sleep.
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"It's your turn Caius."
One phrase I plan on fulfilling. I've always had a soft spot for tragic backstories, and this one seemed really fitting for Ayah. I actually came up with the lullaby entirely on my own, and it actually sounded pretty good in my head. Don't know how you all feel about it. This will come up later, that I can promise. Can I get some thumbs up for the newborn Fennekin? (Oh wait, there is no thumbs up feature, Oh well, just say it in the comments.) Also, who knew Caius could throw such a huge Tyrantrum?
Make sure to leave a comment, Vote, and share this story, it's going to have all sorts of emotions throughout the story. See you all, and have a wonderful day!