First Impressions
DISCLAIMER: All characters and properties are copyright their respective owners. All original characters, plot, and concept is copyright 2008-2010 Shen. The author is in no way associated or affiliated with any third-party. This original fiction was created with no intention of any copyright infringement against any third-party, and is purely for fan enjoyment. Do not redistribute.
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The following morning was completely the opposite of the sunshine from the previous day. Gloomy clouds covered the sky, threatening to let loose upon the forest below anytime soon.
With her innate ability, Kilia knew it was about to happen any minute now.
The stark-white Absol trekked slowly through the forest, looking for some trace that the rebel Pokémon had come through. However, for now she was hopelessly lost. She wasn't worried, though, and even enjoyed going alone through the beautiful forest. Some company would've been nice, she mused.
She felt it before it happened, and a bolt of lightning careened across the clouds like a great rip in the cotton looking things in the sky. Thunder boomed a second later, and the clouds unleashed their load on the earth below. And unleash they did.
Kilia was very quickly soaked to the bone in the warm rain, and sighed in contentment. She loved the feel of the rain in her dirty fur, soothing her aching muscles and joints, and she had what seemed to be bucket loads constantly being dumped on her. Travel had been long and hard, but it would all be worth it when she found the rebels. After she did, Paradise would only be the next step away.
Fatigue of her trip remained even after sleeping all night, and she desperately needed rest once more. So, she was relieved when she found a hollowed, empty log lying on the forest floor. Ignoring the smell of what seemed to be a wet Poochyena family, she crawled into the log and curled up. As soon as she crawled in, though, the rain had stopped. Of course... Kilia thought moodily as she began to drift back off to sleep...
She wasn't as alone as she thought she was...
At that moment, a white-and-red scarred figure was making his way towards Kilia's resting place, having been following her ever since seeing her some time ago. He'd been intrigued by her and was curious about her. Was she a rebel? Was she wild? Why was her fur completely white? He didn't know why he was so interested, but he was, and his pride wouldn't let him turn his back on his quest for knowledge now that he was so close.
Kilia, unawares of the fact that the Zangoose named Nakkura was coming, slept undisturbed.
Elsewhere, underground, Avaron dug through the soil like a fish cleaving through water, trying to keep away from the rain that would weaken his already sore joints. However, he paid these no mind as he continued to "swim" through the dirt, knocking his head on a couple of tree roots as he went under the forest. Thinking of this fact, he decided to surface and look around. Gravity pulled him down as he angled straight up, but he was the stronger force. He burst from the soil head and claws first... only to bump his head on a low tree branch.
"Bloody trees..." he muttered, rubbing his head lightly. He pulled himself from the ground and looked up, surprised to find that the sky had stopped dumping buckets on them and settled for more of a sprinkle. However, there was now the new addition of fog through the trees, light as it may be. It was the sort of gloomy day that only the ones who liked this moisture enjoyed; Avaron just wasn't one of those who did, being a ground-type Pokémon.
He looked around some more, and was surprised to see a Zangoose sitting on a rock behind a log, within which slept a lone, ghostly Absol. A lone stream of sunlight from the heavens bathed the Zangoose's ears in a bright gold glow, almost God-like...
These new scents tickled Kilia's nose and woke her. She shook her head through the grogginess that came with sleep-fatigue, and realized the scents were real: two males were near her. Fearing she had trespassed on someone's territory, she tried to extricate herself from the log, but quickly found out that she was stuck, curled up in the log in a most unmanageable position. With a growl and a little bit of flailing, she managed to dislodge herself and tumbled from the hollow log... right into a cold, muddy puddle. Giving a yelp of surprise, she leapt out of it and shook her fur vigorously, flinging mud and dirt from it.
Shaking, she turned to face Nakkura, whom she hadn't seen before. Maybe it was because she was so young, or maybe it was because he had the high ground, but the Zangoose looked damned intimidating to her. He stared down on her with golden orbs, examining her.
Fearing it was his territory and that he was prepared to fight, she quickly bowed her head, saying in a frantic voice, "I'm sorry... if this is where you live, I didn't know. I mean, there's no scent..." She then tried to make her fur stand down, because it was standing straight up in her fright. Then she remembered... there was a scent that she'd smelled, but it wasn't the Zangoose's; it was of a family of Poochyena...musty, wet Poochyena. She sighed a bit and relaxed, realizing she hadn't trespassed on his turf. However, she wasn't stupid; it didn't mean the Zangoose wouldn't be hostile with her. She backed slowly, keeping ready should a battle ensue.
Kilia heard a noise behind her and turned, preparing a Slash attack, sure that someone was sneaking up on her. When she saw the Sandshrew a distance away, just staring at her, she relaxed again, putting her paw down. What's a Sandshrew doing all the way out here? she thought to herself; Sandshrew weren't common in that area, because they liked the drier, more arid places. Maybe another looking for Paradise.
She glanced back Nakkura, and noticed he hadn't come after her...or even moved. Taking the pause in activity, she shook her fur vigorously, getting rid of the excess water drops soaking her. This was wasted, as the clouds covered the hole in the sky and began raining again, but not as strong. She looked into the sky and sighed.
Avaron wasn't taking the new rainfall well. He pressed himself against the tree, which had a thick canopy of leaves that let very little rain through. As he did this, Kilia giggled a little. He glared over at her, muttering, "Oh, you think that's funny, do ya?"
The Absol stopped and took a somber expression suddenly, bowing her head slightly towards him. "I apologize, Sandshrew. I didn't mean it in an insulting way."
"Pfeh..." Avaron exhaled, "The name's Avaron, not 'Sandshrew,' thanks." While he did say this gruffly, he said it respectfully and as kindly as he could manage.
Kilia smiled. "Nice to meet you, Avaron. I am Kilia."
"So, what are you to doing out here, exactly?" came another gruff voice behind Kilia. She whirled around to see the Zangoose had hopped off the rock and was walking towards them slowly on his hind legs.
"I'm looking for Paradise, of course" Kilia responded, "As I'm sure you are, as well."
Nakkura smirked. "Clever girl." The smile faded as he regarded the white Absol. "I don't know about you, but in my opinion, it isn't smart to be looking for something like that alone in these times."
Kilia frowned. "Well, I've been looking for the rebel group for some time now. However, if it comes down to it, I think I can manage." Kilia smiled again as she said the last part. "I wouldn't mind company in the least. Would it be alright if I tagged along with you?"
Nakkura was slightly taken aback by the sudden request, but his surprise only showed for an instant. He thought a moment, a paw resting near his mouth with the claws tucked against the pad. After a minute or so, he lowered his paw and nodded. "Sure, why not? Might as well...I'm sure the others have moved on without me anyway, so I'm without traveling companions myself." He held out a paw in greeting. "My name is Nakkura. It's nice to meet you, Kilia." He then looked over to the Sandshrew. "Do you want to come along as well?"
The Sandshrew gazed at him, deep in thought himself. Finally, he shrugged and said, "Eh, why the hell not...You seem better company then those damned suicidal kids I was with before, anyway." He stepped towards him (careful to stay under the protection of the foliage) and held out his paw. "Name's Avaron, if you didn't catch it earlier."
Nakkura grabbed his offered paw lightly and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Avaron." He then looked between the two. "So, which way should we head now?"
Kilia chuckled. "The hell you asking me for? I dunno my way around here. I just want to find the rebel group fast as possible."
Avaron merely shrugged.
Nakkura sighed, scratching behind his head. "Well, alright. I think they went-"
Before Nakkura could finish, however, something ran into him and bowled him over.
Kilia and Avaron jumped back, startled by the arrival of something small and orange running into Nakkura. They gazed as a Buizel extricated herself from the Zangoose, amid a few curses on Nakkura's part.
"Nakkura! Are you okay?" Kilia asked.
Nakkura growled, his fur bristling with annoyance. "I would be if this furball'd get off me!" he said loudly. He finally sat up as she got off of him, his fur ruffled and untidy. Out of habit, he licked his fur flat before talking to the at the one who had run into him. He looked at the Buizel. She gazed at him with cerulean eyes; there was something in those eyes that suggested she knew him from somewhere, yet Nakkura was sure he'd never met this orange water Pokémon before. He stood and gazed at her with one fierce gold eye. "Why'd you do that, anyway?" he asked her gruffly, "You trip or something?"
Trembling, the Buizel shook her head slowly. "No, it's just...I thought you were someone I knew. I'm sorry, sir." she apologized in a quiet voice.
"Who are you?" the Zangoose asked, now looking at her with both eyes. His eyes had softened as they peered into her own.
"I'm...Shinko..." she said. Then she looked up at him and half-smiled before having the sad look on her face. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and blurted out, "You wanna be friends?!"
This took Nakkura, Kilia, and Avaron all by surprise...and it seemed Shinko as well. She blinked, eyes wide. Then she closed them as they began brimming with tears. "I-I'm sorry..." she stammered.
Nakkura blinked. "Um...don't men-"
Before he could finish, she turned around and bolted, tears flying off her face.
"Shinko, wait!" Kilia yelled, running after her.
Nakkura, confused by what had happened since Shinko arrived, just blinked before sighing and sitting back down. "Today's gonna be a long day..."
Shinko ran away on all fours as fast as she could, thinking, How could I've been so stupid?! Why'd I just come out and say that?! She cried harder as she ran, unseeing...and almost right into a Larvitar. She never noticed, and kept running.
Luckily, Shen the Larvitar did notice, and sidestepped out of her way before she could run into him. Gazing after her, he asked, more to himself, "What was that all about...?"
As the Larvitar came into view, Kilia skidded to a halt just past him, seeing that Shinko had almost run into him. She noticed his question, turned to face him, and said, "That's a good question, little one."
Shen started and looked at her, showing his odd, intimidating eyes: blood red where it should be white, and black where the iris should be. It was a frightening sight, coupled with the long, deep scar that cut across his back from his left shoulder down to his right hip. However, his eyes were not furrowed in anger...rather, they were wide with fright and uncertainty.
Kilia gave a tiny sniff of the air, noting his male scent, young it may be. She looked over him, saying, "She didn't hurt you, did she?"
Shen turned fully to face her quickly, as if hiding his scar from her equally odd eyes. He shook his head to answer her question. "Uh, no...no, I'm perfectly fine."
Nakkura had seen that Kilia had stopped, and got up on his hind feet and walked over to see her looking over the newcomer. He smirked; this day was turning out to be interesting. Already, he's met four others after leaving his small group. He stopped a little bit behind the Larvitar and saw the scar on his back. He opened his eyes wide, feeling sorry for the Larvitar. Whatever caused that to him must've been lethal.
Shen noticed his presence and gazed at him over his shoulder, displaying his eyes to him as well. Nakkura grunted in surprise. Those eyes are gonna cause him unwanted trouble, I'm sure... he thought.
Kilia looked up and said to Nakkura, "I'm gonna go after Shinko." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and bolted after the Buizel.
She had only run a moment when the Buizel came into her view; apparently, she'd stopped and was just standing on her hinds, looking up into a tree. She stopped a small distance away and walked up slowly. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.
Shinko looked at the Absol over her shoulder and smiled a little before looking back at the treetops. "Sorry back there. I...I dunno what came over me back there."
Kilia crept closer, confused. "What are...you doing?" she asked tentatively.
"Oh...just thinking." Shinko responded. "I crashed into grumpy back there cause he reminded me of someone I left behind." She sighed, and turned her body fully to face Kilia. She was smiling, and her tears were gone; the only evidence there were any were the lines of matted fur beneath her eyes and down her face from there. "Again, I'm sorry."
Kilia chuckled a little and padded closer. "No worries; I'm sure he's over it by now anyway." She turned around and took a few steps in the direction she came from before stopping and looking over her shoulder at Shinko. "Come on, let's go back."
Shinko thought a sec, then nodded. "I wanna apologize to the Zangoose anyway. By the way, what's your name?"
Kilia smiled warmly. "I'm Kilia. It's nice to meet you, Shinko."
Shinko nodded, grinning. "Yeah, nice to meet you, too." With that, she ran on all fours next to Kilia, and the two took of back to the other three.
When they arrived about a minute later, they saw that Nakkura and Avaron had hardly moved, save for the fact that Nakkura was sitting down. One major difference, Kilia noticed, is that the little Larvitar was no longer with them. She hoped he was okay, he looked like he was terrified of something.
Nakkura looked in their direction as he heard their paws approaching. he smiled and stood on his hind legs again. "Ah, it's the Buizel with the emotional problems." he said jokingly, "Shinko, wasn't it?"
"Nakkura!" Kilia snapped at him, drawing up to him and halting, "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?!"
Shinko giggled. "Nah, he actually got me right on that one. Don't worry about it." She, too, stood on her hinds and held an orange paw out to Nakkura. "I wanted to apologize for running into you earlier."
Nakkura took the paw in his own (careful to have his claws tucked back), smiling, which looked a little odd on his fierce visage. "Don't worry about it. I suppose you already know my name, eh?" He glanced at Kilia at that.
Shinko giggled again. "Yeah. Nakkura's a good name." She let go of his paw.
Kilia took another step forward. "By the way, what happened to the Larvitar Shinko almost ran into?"
"I almost ran into a Larvitar?"
Nakkura shrugged. "Dunno, but I think I scared him off..."
"What?!" Kilia exclaimed, "What did you do or say?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Nakkura responded indignantly, "He asked me as soon as you left if we knew where Paradise was, and I answered him like anyone else would: I told him, 'No, I dunno where the hell Paradise is! What the hell are you asking me for?!' Honestly, I don't know what it is about me that's so intimidating." Even a simpleton would know he was joking around...sort of.
"Oh, yeah, real nice, Nakkura." Kilia scoffed. However, she smiled the next second. "I suppose that we should be getting off to find where Paradise is, huh?"
Shinko perked her head up at that. "Oh! Can I come with you guys to find Paradise? Traveling alone hasn't exactly been the best..."
Kilia smiled. "Well, sure, why not?"
"Why do I get the feeling that by the time we do get somewhere, you'll have invited a hundred more Pokémon to join us?" Nakkura asked with a smirk. That earned him a small smack on the jaw with her scythe-like horn. "Alright, sheesh..."
Avaron got up, his arthritis-ridden joints creaking a little. "So, we finally gonna go now? An old codger like myself can't sit in one spot for long, especially if a rainstorm had stopped and you happened to also be weak to water." He stretched a little.
"Oh, is pops feeling sore?" Shinko asked with a sly smile.
"Pfeh..." Avaron exhaled indignantly, "I could still give you a whompin', ya little-"
All four of them jumped suddenly and turned their heads as one as a scream pierced the calm air, tearing at their hearts...
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The following morning was completely the opposite of the sunshine from the previous day. Gloomy clouds covered the sky, threatening to let loose upon the forest below anytime soon.
With her innate ability, Kilia knew it was about to happen any minute now.
The stark-white Absol trekked slowly through the forest, looking for some trace that the rebel Pokémon had come through. However, for now she was hopelessly lost. She wasn't worried, though, and even enjoyed going alone through the beautiful forest. Some company would've been nice, she mused.
She felt it before it happened, and a bolt of lightning careened across the clouds like a great rip in the cotton looking things in the sky. Thunder boomed a second later, and the clouds unleashed their load on the earth below. And unleash they did.
Kilia was very quickly soaked to the bone in the warm rain, and sighed in contentment. She loved the feel of the rain in her dirty fur, soothing her aching muscles and joints, and she had what seemed to be bucket loads constantly being dumped on her. Travel had been long and hard, but it would all be worth it when she found the rebels. After she did, Paradise would only be the next step away.
Fatigue of her trip remained even after sleeping all night, and she desperately needed rest once more. So, she was relieved when she found a hollowed, empty log lying on the forest floor. Ignoring the smell of what seemed to be a wet Poochyena family, she crawled into the log and curled up. As soon as she crawled in, though, the rain had stopped. Of course... Kilia thought moodily as she began to drift back off to sleep...
She wasn't as alone as she thought she was...
At that moment, a white-and-red scarred figure was making his way towards Kilia's resting place, having been following her ever since seeing her some time ago. He'd been intrigued by her and was curious about her. Was she a rebel? Was she wild? Why was her fur completely white? He didn't know why he was so interested, but he was, and his pride wouldn't let him turn his back on his quest for knowledge now that he was so close.
Kilia, unawares of the fact that the Zangoose named Nakkura was coming, slept undisturbed.
Elsewhere, underground, Avaron dug through the soil like a fish cleaving through water, trying to keep away from the rain that would weaken his already sore joints. However, he paid these no mind as he continued to "swim" through the dirt, knocking his head on a couple of tree roots as he went under the forest. Thinking of this fact, he decided to surface and look around. Gravity pulled him down as he angled straight up, but he was the stronger force. He burst from the soil head and claws first... only to bump his head on a low tree branch.
"Bloody trees..." he muttered, rubbing his head lightly. He pulled himself from the ground and looked up, surprised to find that the sky had stopped dumping buckets on them and settled for more of a sprinkle. However, there was now the new addition of fog through the trees, light as it may be. It was the sort of gloomy day that only the ones who liked this moisture enjoyed; Avaron just wasn't one of those who did, being a ground-type Pokémon.
He looked around some more, and was surprised to see a Zangoose sitting on a rock behind a log, within which slept a lone, ghostly Absol. A lone stream of sunlight from the heavens bathed the Zangoose's ears in a bright gold glow, almost God-like...
These new scents tickled Kilia's nose and woke her. She shook her head through the grogginess that came with sleep-fatigue, and realized the scents were real: two males were near her. Fearing she had trespassed on someone's territory, she tried to extricate herself from the log, but quickly found out that she was stuck, curled up in the log in a most unmanageable position. With a growl and a little bit of flailing, she managed to dislodge herself and tumbled from the hollow log... right into a cold, muddy puddle. Giving a yelp of surprise, she leapt out of it and shook her fur vigorously, flinging mud and dirt from it.
Shaking, she turned to face Nakkura, whom she hadn't seen before. Maybe it was because she was so young, or maybe it was because he had the high ground, but the Zangoose looked damned intimidating to her. He stared down on her with golden orbs, examining her.
Fearing it was his territory and that he was prepared to fight, she quickly bowed her head, saying in a frantic voice, "I'm sorry... if this is where you live, I didn't know. I mean, there's no scent..." She then tried to make her fur stand down, because it was standing straight up in her fright. Then she remembered... there was a scent that she'd smelled, but it wasn't the Zangoose's; it was of a family of Poochyena...musty, wet Poochyena. She sighed a bit and relaxed, realizing she hadn't trespassed on his turf. However, she wasn't stupid; it didn't mean the Zangoose wouldn't be hostile with her. She backed slowly, keeping ready should a battle ensue.
Kilia heard a noise behind her and turned, preparing a Slash attack, sure that someone was sneaking up on her. When she saw the Sandshrew a distance away, just staring at her, she relaxed again, putting her paw down. What's a Sandshrew doing all the way out here? she thought to herself; Sandshrew weren't common in that area, because they liked the drier, more arid places. Maybe another looking for Paradise.
She glanced back Nakkura, and noticed he hadn't come after her...or even moved. Taking the pause in activity, she shook her fur vigorously, getting rid of the excess water drops soaking her. This was wasted, as the clouds covered the hole in the sky and began raining again, but not as strong. She looked into the sky and sighed.
Avaron wasn't taking the new rainfall well. He pressed himself against the tree, which had a thick canopy of leaves that let very little rain through. As he did this, Kilia giggled a little. He glared over at her, muttering, "Oh, you think that's funny, do ya?"
The Absol stopped and took a somber expression suddenly, bowing her head slightly towards him. "I apologize, Sandshrew. I didn't mean it in an insulting way."
"Pfeh..." Avaron exhaled, "The name's Avaron, not 'Sandshrew,' thanks." While he did say this gruffly, he said it respectfully and as kindly as he could manage.
Kilia smiled. "Nice to meet you, Avaron. I am Kilia."
"So, what are you to doing out here, exactly?" came another gruff voice behind Kilia. She whirled around to see the Zangoose had hopped off the rock and was walking towards them slowly on his hind legs.
"I'm looking for Paradise, of course" Kilia responded, "As I'm sure you are, as well."
Nakkura smirked. "Clever girl." The smile faded as he regarded the white Absol. "I don't know about you, but in my opinion, it isn't smart to be looking for something like that alone in these times."
Kilia frowned. "Well, I've been looking for the rebel group for some time now. However, if it comes down to it, I think I can manage." Kilia smiled again as she said the last part. "I wouldn't mind company in the least. Would it be alright if I tagged along with you?"
Nakkura was slightly taken aback by the sudden request, but his surprise only showed for an instant. He thought a moment, a paw resting near his mouth with the claws tucked against the pad. After a minute or so, he lowered his paw and nodded. "Sure, why not? Might as well...I'm sure the others have moved on without me anyway, so I'm without traveling companions myself." He held out a paw in greeting. "My name is Nakkura. It's nice to meet you, Kilia." He then looked over to the Sandshrew. "Do you want to come along as well?"
The Sandshrew gazed at him, deep in thought himself. Finally, he shrugged and said, "Eh, why the hell not...You seem better company then those damned suicidal kids I was with before, anyway." He stepped towards him (careful to stay under the protection of the foliage) and held out his paw. "Name's Avaron, if you didn't catch it earlier."
Nakkura grabbed his offered paw lightly and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Avaron." He then looked between the two. "So, which way should we head now?"
Kilia chuckled. "The hell you asking me for? I dunno my way around here. I just want to find the rebel group fast as possible."
Avaron merely shrugged.
Nakkura sighed, scratching behind his head. "Well, alright. I think they went-"
Before Nakkura could finish, however, something ran into him and bowled him over.
Kilia and Avaron jumped back, startled by the arrival of something small and orange running into Nakkura. They gazed as a Buizel extricated herself from the Zangoose, amid a few curses on Nakkura's part.
"Nakkura! Are you okay?" Kilia asked.
Nakkura growled, his fur bristling with annoyance. "I would be if this furball'd get off me!" he said loudly. He finally sat up as she got off of him, his fur ruffled and untidy. Out of habit, he licked his fur flat before talking to the at the one who had run into him. He looked at the Buizel. She gazed at him with cerulean eyes; there was something in those eyes that suggested she knew him from somewhere, yet Nakkura was sure he'd never met this orange water Pokémon before. He stood and gazed at her with one fierce gold eye. "Why'd you do that, anyway?" he asked her gruffly, "You trip or something?"
Trembling, the Buizel shook her head slowly. "No, it's just...I thought you were someone I knew. I'm sorry, sir." she apologized in a quiet voice.
"Who are you?" the Zangoose asked, now looking at her with both eyes. His eyes had softened as they peered into her own.
"I'm...Shinko..." she said. Then she looked up at him and half-smiled before having the sad look on her face. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and blurted out, "You wanna be friends?!"
This took Nakkura, Kilia, and Avaron all by surprise...and it seemed Shinko as well. She blinked, eyes wide. Then she closed them as they began brimming with tears. "I-I'm sorry..." she stammered.
Nakkura blinked. "Um...don't men-"
Before he could finish, she turned around and bolted, tears flying off her face.
"Shinko, wait!" Kilia yelled, running after her.
Nakkura, confused by what had happened since Shinko arrived, just blinked before sighing and sitting back down. "Today's gonna be a long day..."
Shinko ran away on all fours as fast as she could, thinking, How could I've been so stupid?! Why'd I just come out and say that?! She cried harder as she ran, unseeing...and almost right into a Larvitar. She never noticed, and kept running.
Luckily, Shen the Larvitar did notice, and sidestepped out of her way before she could run into him. Gazing after her, he asked, more to himself, "What was that all about...?"
As the Larvitar came into view, Kilia skidded to a halt just past him, seeing that Shinko had almost run into him. She noticed his question, turned to face him, and said, "That's a good question, little one."
Shen started and looked at her, showing his odd, intimidating eyes: blood red where it should be white, and black where the iris should be. It was a frightening sight, coupled with the long, deep scar that cut across his back from his left shoulder down to his right hip. However, his eyes were not furrowed in anger...rather, they were wide with fright and uncertainty.
Kilia gave a tiny sniff of the air, noting his male scent, young it may be. She looked over him, saying, "She didn't hurt you, did she?"
Shen turned fully to face her quickly, as if hiding his scar from her equally odd eyes. He shook his head to answer her question. "Uh, no...no, I'm perfectly fine."
Nakkura had seen that Kilia had stopped, and got up on his hind feet and walked over to see her looking over the newcomer. He smirked; this day was turning out to be interesting. Already, he's met four others after leaving his small group. He stopped a little bit behind the Larvitar and saw the scar on his back. He opened his eyes wide, feeling sorry for the Larvitar. Whatever caused that to him must've been lethal.
Shen noticed his presence and gazed at him over his shoulder, displaying his eyes to him as well. Nakkura grunted in surprise. Those eyes are gonna cause him unwanted trouble, I'm sure... he thought.
Kilia looked up and said to Nakkura, "I'm gonna go after Shinko." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and bolted after the Buizel.
She had only run a moment when the Buizel came into her view; apparently, she'd stopped and was just standing on her hinds, looking up into a tree. She stopped a small distance away and walked up slowly. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.
Shinko looked at the Absol over her shoulder and smiled a little before looking back at the treetops. "Sorry back there. I...I dunno what came over me back there."
Kilia crept closer, confused. "What are...you doing?" she asked tentatively.
"Oh...just thinking." Shinko responded. "I crashed into grumpy back there cause he reminded me of someone I left behind." She sighed, and turned her body fully to face Kilia. She was smiling, and her tears were gone; the only evidence there were any were the lines of matted fur beneath her eyes and down her face from there. "Again, I'm sorry."
Kilia chuckled a little and padded closer. "No worries; I'm sure he's over it by now anyway." She turned around and took a few steps in the direction she came from before stopping and looking over her shoulder at Shinko. "Come on, let's go back."
Shinko thought a sec, then nodded. "I wanna apologize to the Zangoose anyway. By the way, what's your name?"
Kilia smiled warmly. "I'm Kilia. It's nice to meet you, Shinko."
Shinko nodded, grinning. "Yeah, nice to meet you, too." With that, she ran on all fours next to Kilia, and the two took of back to the other three.
When they arrived about a minute later, they saw that Nakkura and Avaron had hardly moved, save for the fact that Nakkura was sitting down. One major difference, Kilia noticed, is that the little Larvitar was no longer with them. She hoped he was okay, he looked like he was terrified of something.
Nakkura looked in their direction as he heard their paws approaching. he smiled and stood on his hind legs again. "Ah, it's the Buizel with the emotional problems." he said jokingly, "Shinko, wasn't it?"
"Nakkura!" Kilia snapped at him, drawing up to him and halting, "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?!"
Shinko giggled. "Nah, he actually got me right on that one. Don't worry about it." She, too, stood on her hinds and held an orange paw out to Nakkura. "I wanted to apologize for running into you earlier."
Nakkura took the paw in his own (careful to have his claws tucked back), smiling, which looked a little odd on his fierce visage. "Don't worry about it. I suppose you already know my name, eh?" He glanced at Kilia at that.
Shinko giggled again. "Yeah. Nakkura's a good name." She let go of his paw.
Kilia took another step forward. "By the way, what happened to the Larvitar Shinko almost ran into?"
"I almost ran into a Larvitar?"
Nakkura shrugged. "Dunno, but I think I scared him off..."
"What?!" Kilia exclaimed, "What did you do or say?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Nakkura responded indignantly, "He asked me as soon as you left if we knew where Paradise was, and I answered him like anyone else would: I told him, 'No, I dunno where the hell Paradise is! What the hell are you asking me for?!' Honestly, I don't know what it is about me that's so intimidating." Even a simpleton would know he was joking around...sort of.
"Oh, yeah, real nice, Nakkura." Kilia scoffed. However, she smiled the next second. "I suppose that we should be getting off to find where Paradise is, huh?"
Shinko perked her head up at that. "Oh! Can I come with you guys to find Paradise? Traveling alone hasn't exactly been the best..."
Kilia smiled. "Well, sure, why not?"
"Why do I get the feeling that by the time we do get somewhere, you'll have invited a hundred more Pokémon to join us?" Nakkura asked with a smirk. That earned him a small smack on the jaw with her scythe-like horn. "Alright, sheesh..."
Avaron got up, his arthritis-ridden joints creaking a little. "So, we finally gonna go now? An old codger like myself can't sit in one spot for long, especially if a rainstorm had stopped and you happened to also be weak to water." He stretched a little.
"Oh, is pops feeling sore?" Shinko asked with a sly smile.
"Pfeh..." Avaron exhaled indignantly, "I could still give you a whompin', ya little-"
All four of them jumped suddenly and turned their heads as one as a scream pierced the calm air, tearing at their hearts...