The silhouette of your partner was shaky behind you in this part of the Slumbering Weald. You and your Zoroark weren't even halfway into the woods when the fog had grown thick and grey, seeming to envelop the trees and plants around you, and threatening to swallow you with it. The grey haze felt like it was closing in, and for a moment, as you were walking, thought it just might. Your hopes were already not too high, as you kept looking over your shoulder at your partner. She was lumbering a ways behind you, staring absentmindedly at the ground. One foot after the other, she slowly followed your path, her eyes seeming unfocused and distant. Every now and again you slowed your pace to make sure she kept up, despite the creeps that the fog was giving you.
"C'mon, girl..." you cood softly to the shape behind you. "We're getting there. Just a little farther, I promise." At this rate, you weren't even sure that she was hearing you. This strange behavior had been lasting too long now, and you felt guilty for not trying to do something sooner about it. At the same time, though, you didn't exactly know what there even WAS to do about it.
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A few weeks ago, you remembered that she had woken you up one night, shaking your arm quietly. You'd groaned and opened your eyes, not expecting what you were going to see. You'd maybe even expected it to be Bede before Zoroark, as you hadn't recalled her waking you up before. She normally made herself comfortable on either her bed next to yours or the couch in the other room. You quickly sat up, half of the sleep immediately vanishing from your tired eyes as you reached to put a hand on her arm. A sound escaped her. Something like a whimper.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" you asked her. She'd waited not another second before crawling over you and onto the bed. You felt the shifting weight carefully settle next to you, taking a few turns before curling herself up into a big lump of hair beside you. For a second, you huffed, as you had a twin size bed in this apartment and not enough room for a whole other you-sized creature in this bed, but another second later your expression softened. It had only been about a week or two since she'd evolved. She was probably still getting adjusted to being your size when she used to be about mid thigh level. Sometimes you could tell she missed being small and able to curl up in your lap. You reached out gently in the dark and found her head within her mess of hair, feeling her relax at your touch. Though she tried to hide it, you thought you felt a slight shudder in her breathing.
"Bad dream..?"
"Aaaarrk..." was her response, no louder than a whisper in the silence of your room. Despite waking you up in the dead middle of the night, she sounded more tired than yourself. Or less tired and more drained. Like it wasn't her first time.
"Feel free to stay here," You reassured her, getting comfortable again. "That's what I'm here for." You quietly ran the back of your knuckles over her head and lightly scratched behind one of her ears. She seemed to relax, her body puffing slightly before letting out a big long sigh, her body melting down into the blankets. You smiled and rolled back over again, letting yourself quietly drift back to sleep.
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Thinking of that night bothered you a little more now than it did that first night. It wouldn't have bothered you, had you not known she'd repeat this action almost night after night afterwards, almost like clockwork. Some nights her shakes of your arm seemed more urgent than others. Some nights you didn't even notice her climb in with you while others she startled you so bad that you scared her. It had been almost two weeks into this when you finally decided to pay a visit to Professor Sonia and Professor Hop, hoping they'd have some answers to her recurring nightmares. It had started to affect her in the day. She became almost narcoleptic in that time, dozing off seemingly at random at wherever she happened to be at the time. She grew noticeably more irritable, waving you off whenever you asked if she was feeling okay. Refused to come with you the last time you wanted to go visit Bede for the day. At her very worst, her fur had started to look dull and unkempt, her eyes tired, and she'd even started refusing to eat.
You took the ferry from Hammerlocke to Wedgehurst, keeping her close with you, as you worried at this point she wouldn't be able to find her way like this if she got lost. You didn't keep her in her pokeball regularly, and you weren't sure if now was a good time to coop her up in there. Many warm greetings from friends later and the room grew suspiciously tense as Professor Sonia looked over Zoroark, doing a general check of the essentials. Hop had never had a chance to do a check on a Zoroark before and watched closely as she examined her, but also tried to maintain a respectful distance. He'd seen the worry in your eyes and tried his best to not make that worse.
Generally, Sonia ended up telling you that she looked normal overall. Nothing was wrong with her physically, and that it was more of a psychological problem. When you ended up asking what you could do about the nightmares, she'd suggested you go into the Slumbering Weald. Down by the shrine, specifically, as she thought the calming air and waters around there would help alleviate her stresses (especially from living in a lively place like Hammerlocke), and maybe help her sleep easier that night. If you felt confident enough, you could even plan to set up camp there and spend the night. She'd also told you that Hop should come with you, as he was planning on studying the shrine the next day, as there was still some writings on the pillars that they had to decipher, and it would take a good few hours anyways to record all of them.
She accentuated this point to you, as she warned it was CRUCIAL that you NOT go into the Slumbering Weald alone. Despite the legendary dogs being gone for several years now, there were still very dangerous and powerful pokemon deeper in the woods that you'd need help getting past.
And here you were. Alone, with Zoroark, about halfway into the Slumbering Weald. You had really meant to wait outside of Hop's house, like he'd asked you to, but looking at Zoroark trying desperately not to fall asleep while standing up...It put a sinking and guilty feeling in your chest. You almost couldn't stand to look at her anymore. You'd suddenly stood up, swelling with a foolish bravery as you walked over to your partner, quietly grabbing her hand in yours and starting to lead her along. You could tell she wanted to argue with you, but not a sound escaped her.
At the moment she seemed to be a shell of what she was when you'd entered the woods. She didn't really respond to any of your calls to her, and neither did she look at you. You fell back to grab her hand again, just trying to gently urge her along the path. Carefully you waded your way through the tall tufts of grass. You both slowly managed to slip past some Wheezing floating through the fog. Along the lines you and her were spotted by a pair of wild Corviknight sitting on some low stumps, though luckily, this time, they decided to leave you alone, as you were walking rather briskly and seemed like you'd be out of their way soon enough. You passed an Orbeetle on the way as well and for a moment you felt Zoroark's body shake as you passed by, feeling her squeeze your hand. You gently squeezed back and then sighed in relief when you spotted a soft yellow light starting to break through the fog.
"We've almost made it!" You didn't notice that you were briskly jogging by this point and pulling Zoroark along behind you. Slowly the fog started to fade and more of the shrine came into view, the warm light starting to grow and light up your face. About a few good feet from the foot of the shrine a low sound started to escape Zoroark's throat, and you didn't really have a second to react before she pulled herself out of your grip, stumbling to a standstill a few feet behind you. You'd never heard her make that sound before.
"C'mon girl, we're right here! You did it!" You'd turned and held your arms out to her, realizing quietly that you hadn't done so since she was a little Zorua. Her head lifted to look at you. It didn't look like she was thinking the same thing as you. In fact, you started to question if she was looking past you instead. For a minute, though, her feet didn't move. She just stood there staring idly at you for a few seconds, her gaze now seeming spaced and almost freaked out.
"Zoroark?" Your arms fell a little bit, a little discouraged. But then the heaviness of the situation hit you.
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The previous night, Hop let you stay in Leon's room. It wasn't being used, so of course it was open. You meant to doze off early to be ready for tomorrow, but worry over your partner kept you awake for longer than you'd hoped. You stared down at Zoroark who was curled up on a rug in the center of the floor. It was dark, but you could see her shape rising and falling gently. She was silent. Relief had washed over you, and you'd finally nestled further into the blankets. Sleep had finally started to come along when you felt someone touch your arm right on the brink of sleep. You jerked back awake again, eyes snapping open and instinctively pulling your arm back. The shape of your partner now stood next to the bed. While you weren't surprised it was her anymore, the suddenness of her appearance made you almost shiver. It felt like it was no more than a few seconds since you closed your eyes. Eventually you waved it off as it being your imagination and looked up at your partner.
"Arceus, Zoroark, don't scare me like that." You quietly hissed in the dark. For a moment, she kept silently looking at you, a sliver of a reaction coming across her face. Her eyes remained locked on you for another full second before she took a step back. For a second you thought you saw confusion cross her gaze, like she didn't know how she'd gotten up from the floor. She then silently plopped herself back down a few feet from the bed and rubbed her eyes. A frustrated growl left her as she shook her head. Your blood ran cold. This was starting to freak you out. A lot.
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Looking at her now, she was a spitting image of herself sitting on the floor at Hop's house. Somehow it had morphed itself into something worse. What you registered as a normal stare a second ago suddenly turned into the look of a cornered animal. You knew her fur was unkempt before, but now it seemed to be standing on end. She stood with her back slightly hunched, her arms dangling towards the ground unnaturally, almost like a werewolf.
Carefully, you took a step closer, arms still open, and what you could force of a soft smile on your face. She made that sound again. Something that sounded somewhere between a snarl and a hiss coming from deep in her throat. The sound sent a shiver straight up your back. You stepped back again. This pokemon you'd practically grown up with was now staring at you with cold and unknowing eyes, like she'd never seen you before in her life. You worried that if you moved she would either charge you or run away. Hell, it seemed like if you gave her another minute, she'd remember that she was the size of you and gladly do the former. Putting it simply, she had claws and sharp teeth, and you didn't.
"Zoroark...? Sweetheart, it's me." you cood softly, not realizing that your voice had started to shake.
"Zoroark."
That pokedex entry from when she evolved started to ring in your ears.
"Average height is around 152cm, or approximately 5'3". Average weight is around 81kg or approximately 179lbs. "
"Stories say those who tried to catch Zoroark were trapped in an illusion and punished."
You stared at her. Stared into those cold blue eyes. The ones that woke you up in the middle of the night. The ones that greeted you when she'd evolved. The ones she'd had since you could remember. They were once warm and happy and now tormented by many, many sleepless nights. Her pupils were no more than pinpricks. There was no more familiarity left in her eyes. Only fear remained.
Oh, what had gone wrong? What could you have done??
Zoroark finally moved, if ever so slightly. She dropped her stance a little more, letting her hands touch the ground. You saw drool starting to drip from her mouth and hit the ground, her jaw starting to sit agape and letting her sharp teeth shine out plain as day for you to see. A shiver ripped down your spine, letting your foot slowly slide back a step, keeping your arms up, but this time defensively. You tried desperately to control your breathing and stay calm, but there was a knot at your throat. You just couldn't grasp it. One moment everything was going to be fine, and the next you're standing cornered at the very end of the Slumbering Weald by your very own best friend. Quivering. Terrified that she would panic and lash out at one wrong move. It terrified you even more that she was staring at you. Her eyes looked almost glassed over from this distance, like shining a light at a plotting Liepard and seeing their eyes shine glassy yellow. Like a pair of eyes you could see peeking out of your closet in the dark.
You brought your stance down slightly. Slowly and ever so carefully you started stepping to the side, keeping your eyes on her at all times. Eye contact sometimes could be seen as a threat, but for a Zoroark, breaking eye contact could mean they could use an illusion on you. All you needed to do was get past her. You could do that, or simply wait for Hop to come find you. That seemed like a better idea for a second until you realized that he could easily get hurt too. Just seeing another person she wouldn't recognize show up would probably be enough to send her tumbling off the edge. And you weren't going to stand around and see Hop get hurt because of something you did.
Her head followed you.
Trying to keep your distance, you dipped a little into the ditch by the stream, keeping your eyes locked on her. But your foot hit the edge at a weird angle and-
There was sound and instinctively you put your left arm up to shield your face.
You barely had time to recover from your foot slipping before her teeth clamped around your forearm. You felt your body spin around as her weight flung you over onto your back. Both of you were sent almost hurdling into the stream, immediately soaking both of you. Your whole body recoiled to the sudden attack, and you instinctively gasped loudly, letting out something that sounded like a yelp and a shriek. Any process of your mind vanished instantly as you stared at the creature that had you in its grasp. Unconsciously, you flailed and tried to pull your arm away but she had you good. Each attempt at pulling was only making her teeth sink deeper trying to hold onto you. You didn't feel any pain as much as you felt the pressure of her jaws biting down on your arm. It felt like your bones were going to crumble like paper.
She used her weight to hold you down under the shallow water as you struggled, digging both sets of her claws into your right shoulder and using it to pin you as she pulled her head up, quickly yanking your arm hard away from your body. There was a quick snap, and for a second she seemed to ease. She almost started to let go but only came back and bit harder, this time starting to shake her head around, much like a Yamper with a chew toy. Watching your arm now flail limply around in her mouth made you want to throw up. Now, a searing pain roared to life in your arm and burned up your shoulder. The sensation of ripping and tearing all up the limb made you wail in pain. You screamed out for anybody, trying hard to catch your breath after being shoved under the water again. It was no use trying to calm down now as you were already in full panic mode.
She was going to kill you. She was really trying to kill you.
You didn't want to hurt her, but the moment she let go of your arm to bite elsewhere you let loose a blow across her head with your other arm. It stunned her for just a moment, but a moment was all you needed. You kicked out with your legs and shuffled back, clutching your arm to you and backing away. Her eyes moved up to find yours again and made a lunge for you but you kicked out again, catching her square in the face. She fell further into the stream and was off put by the current running against her. You wasted absolutely no time. On trembling legs you got up, stumbled out of the stream, and ran.
Your arm was in shambles. It was definitely broken. Pain raged like a fire on your entire left side. It spread across your shoulder and into your chest and neck. You were still hyperventilating from the encounter and your heart was pounding. Adrenaline carried you like you'd never felt before. Blood pooled out through your sleeve and across your chest. How much of the liquid soaking your clothes was blood, you weren't sure. Water and tears were rolling down your face. You sobbed into those woods as you fled for your life. Suddenly, one coherent thing hit your lips and you immediately screamed it as you ran.
"HOOOOOOP!!" He was definitely around. He had to be. You'd only left about fifteen minutes before the meet up time. He had to be looking for you by now. He had to be.
"HOP! HOP, PLEASE!" You wailed. The fog was swallowing you again and shadows were starting to swirl in. What if it was Zoroark?? What if?? Your eyes clouded up with tears. About halfway through the woods again you saw a shape standing in the path, and you didn't think twice before pounding towards it.
"OI! Where the hell you been, mate??!" the shape yelled back at you. You didn't have time to slow down and practically rammed into him trying to stop. He instinctively grabbed onto you but quickly realized something was wrong. When you pulled away from running into him it left a blotch of blood on his lab coat.
"Wegottagonow,Hop!WegottagoNOWplease,Hop PLEASE!" You blubbered, pushing him back towards where he came from.
"Go? Where? Why? Bloody hell, your arm!! What happened?!"he blubbered back at you.
"P L E E A A S E!" You were begging at this point, sobbing openly as you shoved him this time. Quickly, he seemed to get his mind in gear, sprinting with you as you continued to bolt out of the Slumbering Weald. One after another your feet pounded the dirt, your arm still burning. You were starting to notice at this point you were getting numb below the elbow and couldn't move your fingers anymore. You couldn't even think straight anymore. Reaching his house you basically collapsed on your knees by his front gate. You were gasping for air, and trembling from the core of your chest. You still couldn't think. You were just so terrified.
"Mate! Oh heavens, don't go into shock on me, please." You heard Hop's voice quickly catching up with you. You didn't respond as you felt his hands slowly come behind you and try to lift you up. Your other hand and chest were coated in blood now starting to drip down the front of your shirt, and you felt dizzy staring down at your broken arm. Your body felt much heavier now.
"Hop...?"
You collapsed in his grip, and he caught you, as he had a feeling you might pass out.