A Refreshing Respite from a Lethargic Life


"Now where do I begin? I guess it began while I was in my mother's egg-"

"No kidding!" The interruption comes from a moderately sized Cubone sitting next to me. Even with his thick skull mask, I can clearly see his eyes rolling sarcastically in the light of the campfire.

"Well, why don't you just start us off then?" I dryly remark.

The Cubone smirks, "It all started while Wanderer here was in his mommy's egg-"

"Shove that femur in your mouth, Bones!"

I let out a quick cough, and once again began to address the audience of pokemon gathered around me. "I was born on a bright and sunny day..."

-----

There was no cloud in the sky, nor breeze in the leaves of the tree as I inhaled my first breath of life. It was a serene and peaceful moment, joyous for my mother. She hoped that with a male in the family I could advance the rank of our line of descent. With a male, my offspring could be immediately indoctrinated into the ranks of the hunters. This may not sound like much to you all, but for a family of gatherers, a single hunter in the family could be a blessing for our entire family line.

My mother had hoped for a sign on my birth, and she got one. My birthday is the day that our tribe attacked and murdered countless Marowak, nomads who were stopping temporarily in our valley. Their warriors were beaten down by our vicious sharpclaws, which is the name we give to the elite Zangoose warriors of our tribe. They barely stood a chance. Their temporary campsite, a grotto in a cliff wall, was forever stained with dark crimson Marowak blood.

Only three males escaped, and they were never heard from again. The women and children were brought back to the camp to be given away. The warriors got the women to do with whatever they wished to, and the children were given to the hunters as slaves. There were more children than there were hunters, however, so our family was able to snag one for ourselves.

My first night out of my egg was filled with the sounds of crying and screaming females. I was also crying, but unlike them, I had no good reason to be doing so.

I never would have become the dancer, singer or magician I am today without the help of Jynx. A band of them, like the Marowak, would come through the valley every half of a year and trade their trinkets for food and other items to ease their passage. Unlike the Marowak, however, we would never attack the Jynx. Our tribe had a lot of superstition related to their race and we were afraid of what they'd do to us if they did attack. They were pacifists, but that didn't mean that they couldn't defend themselves.

The first time they came through was three weeks after my birth. My mother tried to keep me inside, but with all the confusion, I was easily able to slip out. I ran over towards the Jynx's camp where I could hear the jingle of tambourines, loud uproarious singing, laughter, and other signs of merriment even from a far distance.

I was panting by the time I arrived, but I was not disappointed with what I saw. The Jynx were dancing and singing with captivating patterns and melodies all throughout their campsite, intermingling between the multiple fires they had set up. The Zangoose from our tribe sat in a corner discussing the semi-annual deals and rumors of nearby tribes. I made sure to stay far away from them. I didn't want an early ending for the fun I was so sure of having!

As a child I couldn't think through all my actions, or really even let myself think at all before I did what I impulsively wanted to do. Therefore, I wandered into sight on the side of the camp that didn't have all the 'grouchy pack officials.'

There was a fair deal of argument between the four Jynx that found me as to whether I should just be brought back to our camp, because the Jynx, as much as the superstition favored them, didn't want to take the chance of being viewed as kidnappers. They eventually gave into my begging and pleading and asked me what I wanted.

"I want to learn to dance like you!"

So they taught me. Semi-annually, whenever they would come by, I'd sneak out of camp and they'd do their best to teach me the intricacies of the swaying and coordination of their dancing.

By their second visit I had gotten a lot better from practicing in the woods where no one could see, using a large fern that I dug up as a sort of makeshift partner. I loved every moment I spent practicing, with and without the Jynx. I got ample opportunity to learn, for the nomads would normally stay for a week and a half. So, by the end of my second visit, they invited me to join in one of their nightly campfire dances, on the obvious condition that I stay away from any other Zangoose. I eagerly accepted.

My first dance was completely amazing; I was just completely swept up in the experience! As the male, I was supposed to be leading, but more often than not the kind Jynx would help push me in the right directions or into the correct turns and spins.

Aside from dance, I learned a lot from the Jynx that helped me when I left on my travels. I learned some common herbs and poultices that I could find or make nearly anywhere. They taught me how to test if a berry was safe for eating or whether a stream had clean enough water to drink. These skills later proved to be invaluable.

I also learned from the Jynx some of the magic tricks that the rest of the Zangoose were so stunned and afraid of. When they would show off in front of the village, the rest of the tribe would be cowering in fear and awe as I watched intently. I don't think they would have taught me either, if I hadn't figured out one of their sleights of hand on my own.

It was just a simple parlor trick, but I was still incredibly proud when I showed it off to one of the Jynx that had taught me how to dance (I'll show all of you the trick later and see if any of the youngsters in this audience has eye to see how it's done). But anyway, they decided that they'd show me more. By now they knew that I wouldn't betray their secrets any more than one of their own would.

One trick they taught me involved slipping a pinch of glitter out from a pocket in their dress while the other hand moved in a way to distract their audience. I obviously didn't have any pockets, so I was forced to improvise. I used one of the Jynx's bone needles to poke a hole in a dozen or so berries, which I chose in the same color as my fur, and then filled each with the glitter. I then stuck a tiny dab of honey on the hole I made in each, both sealing the hole, and allowing the berry to be stuck to my paw. On my first attempt I used too much honey, so the glitter, when I popped the berries, they just ran down my paw in a sticky, albeit sparkly, honey mixture. After a bit of practice, however I got it perfect (If any of you are interested, we're willing to trade some of these stuffed berries away, and teach you how to use them).

My regular life back with the camp had grown to be kind of distant. No one said anything, or made accusations, but there were plenty rumors going around about how The Jynx were turning me into one of them. I guess that's true, because I sure as hell didn't want to be anything like Timm, the pompous leader of our tribe; his royal fatness, as the more daring of the kids called him, but even then they'd only do it behind the backs of the adults. No one would dare insult him in front of anyone but a trusted friend.

I didn't have many friends. In fact, the only friend I had was our Cubone slave, Gary, who we received during the raid on the night of my birth. He was slightly older than me, but we got along together pretty well. One night we were joking together, and I made some sort of joke about his bones, I can't really remember which one it was, since I've made so many since, but ever since then, I've called the guy 'Bones.'

By the time the Jynx's third visit had come I had learned all the basics, some of the more advanced steps, in their style of dance, and had become a pretty good magician.

I was always a pretty spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, as any of my band can tell you, so it just kind of dawned on me the morning of the last day the nomadic tribe was with us that I had more of a place out in the wild than I did gathering berries for the pack's royalty to feast on.

So I left.

First I snuck off towards the Jynx's camp, where I flagged down one of them that I knew pretty well. I told her that I was running away, and she replied, in complete honesty, that she wasn't at all surprised. They had been waiting for the day that I would decide do just that. In parting, with a lot more hugs than I would have cared for, they gave me a couple of trinkets to trade with, the paraphernalia I would need for the magic they taught me, and a small wheeled cart to carry it all in.

I profusely thanked them, and with that, I was off! At least, I was off for the five or so minutes until I realized that I didn't have any food.

I hid my supply cart in a small rocky outcropping, using a couple of ferns to completely conceal it, and then rushed back in the direction of my pack's camp. As I snuck through the trees, I heard a small rustle in a nearby hedge. Bones popped out, looking somewhat disgruntled, pulling leaves and twigs out of his fur.

"Bones!" I whispered harshly. I don't really know why I whispered, there most likely wouldn't be anyone within earshot, anyway. I guess I just liked to play it safe.

The poor guy nearly jumped out of his skin in fright when he turned around to find me standing directly next to him.

"What are you doing out here?" His voice was hushed, but spoken with urgency, which was completely reasonable. Our pack didn't allow pokemon to leave the camp on their own until they reach two years old and formally enter adulthood. This wouldn't be for a number of weeks for me.

"I'm running away!"

Beneath his boney mask, I saw his eyes light up in complete surprise. He begins cautiously, "I don't thi-"

"Don't be such a spoil sport!" I interrupt. I pause for a second before realizing, "Hey, you should come with me!"

Bones rolled his eyes; we both knew that he'd go along with me if for no other reason than keeping me safe. Plus, he had the benefit of me not quite understanding his role as a slave yet. I thought of the guy as a sibling; he'd be on equal status with me if we ran off together. He realized this, luckily allowing us to skip the that argument we usually have before doing something this stupid.

"Wa-"

"Call me Wanderer now, I never liked my dusty old name! I'm going be a new me!"

"...Alright," he resigned, "but why in the sweet name of Arceus are you heading back to camp?"

"Well, if we're going to be leaving, we're going to need food," I responded nonchalantly.

"You're going to steal it?" He stared at me in shock.

"Of course, how else would I get it!"

"You could hunt. Maybe do some fishing or gather berries. I don't know, we'll manage, but Dialga-fucking-damn it! If they catch you, you'll be in for a nice slow death! They won't hold back; I mean it's not like you actually do anything for the tribe. I'm sure they'll use you to serve as a great example for the children!" By the end of his tirade, the Cubone's bone club was inches from my head, the back of which was incidentally flattened against a tree trunk with the rest of my body.

I was almost as surprised as he was, I mean he'd never really been the type to shout, let alone lash out at me like that. He was always kind of shy (which I'm proud to say I had some part in changing) and the last pokemon you'd expect to do anything that could be considered rash.

"A...Alright,"I responded, somewhat unsure how to react. He quickly backed up and lowered the bone when he realized what he was doing.

"I... I'm sorry, but if you do something stupid like that; you could get us both killed."

I nodded, still slightly uneasy, but, in order to make him feel a bit more at ease, I gave him a quick pat on the back and then started off again in the direction of the supply cart. "Before I left, the Jynx gave me some stuff for our travels, though no food. I guess they wanted us to make sure we didn't travel on their rations only to run out too far from the pack and die of hunger."

The Cubone nodded, "well, I guess we should get moving before someone realizes we're gone. I doubt they'll look to hard, but if we aren't a good distance away by sunset, they'll probably find us."

I readily agreed and, albeit trying to be discreet, noticeably picked up my pace.
-----

"Did they catch you?" Chimes in a wide eyed young zigzagoon.

"Nah, if they did, I probably wouldn't be here to tell this story to all of you!"

"That was boring!" a brash growlithe pipes out, stomping one of his front paws on the ground, "I want to hear something exciting!"

His mother immediately hushes him, whispering a motherly rant on why it's bad to be so rude.

"It's fine, miss!" I redirect my attention towards the pup, "In fact, how would you like to hear about the time that we went head to head with the largest ursaring you've ever laid eyes on?" I slowly enunciate my words, the growlithe hanging onto every syllable I feed him.

"Y... Yeah, I'd love to hear that!"

"Great! But first, I have to tell you about how we met Skipper and Aroma!"

"Aww..."Chapter End Notes:Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop by the review section and leave me anything from a comment to a full-blown critique! (I'm a man, I can handle it!)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, and is applicable for all consecutive chapters that follow.