Episode 055: Stranger Than Stranger
Author Note: #2 of month 12 for your reading (hopefully) pleasure. Not so much in the sexual department, but it's taking on a sort of Judge Judy/Law and Order theme isn't it? :P I hope you enjoy it, I will be writing the promised bonus episode for this month as a thanks for your patience. That will effectively end the year for 2006 episodes and end what I think could be considered the first "season" of Forgotten Instincts (even though it started in 2004). Either way you look at it, I hope it brings you/brought you plenty of reading joy :)
Forgotten Instincts
Episode 055
"Stranger Than Stranger"
By Darfix
Yukoni trembles as she can sense the source of the noise that startled her drawing near. She can only imagine who it might be. A total stranger looking for a meal? One of those responsible for sending her community into total chaos? Either way, she was prepared to bolt if she sensed danger.
After what seems like an hour of nervous waiting, soon, a Ninetales' head pops out of the brush. Yukoni immediately recognizes the male as one of the community's educators. Rarko, who was her educator, which basically acted like a teacher to many of the younger Vulpixes in the community, is rendered surprised to see one of his "students" out without a parent.
"Yukoni?" he asks, curiously taking a step closer, "Is that you? What in Johto are you doing out here all alone? Did you not hear the thunder earlier? It is dangerous to be out by yourself..."
The juvenile Vulpix lowers her ears and her stance, slowly opting to set down her food supply, "I know, master," she whispers. To teach discipline, the students of educators in the Vulpix tribe were taught to call their educators master. This was customary. "Iâ�"am worried about my sister, her male, andâ�"my father. I cannotâ�"just sit alone while they are in potential danger..."
"Yukoni," he whispers, sighing a bit, "As noble as your cause, I am afraid your plan is a bit foolish. You lack the strength to defend yourself, and your food supplyâ�"well, it will only last you short of a day. Butâ�"you say Sariku is in trouble? Sheâ�"has a lover too?"
Yukoni nods, "She went after him after hearing the thunderâ�"father followed, looking for her."
Rarko nods upon hearing Yukoni's words, "Sariku was one of my favorite students when I had her under my wing. Yukoni, do me a favorâ�"go back to your mother, I will have the chief send some of us to look for your father and sister specifically, okay?"
Yukoni nods timidly, looking up at him with teary eyes. Perhaps she was embarrassed that she made a fool of herself in front of him, or the emotions may have just gotten to her.
Rarko, seeing her in this state, bites his tongue a little and leans down to lightly nuzzle her side, giving her cheek a lick. Such a line was never to be crossed in an educator-student relationship. As a result, Yukoni gasps and freezes when he touches her.
"Forgive my rudeness, butâ�"you look in need of comfort. Go now to your mother, I will make your situation known to the head figures."
Yukoni nods, managing to pull herself out of the state of shock from his touching her so that she could proceed back to her mother's den in defeat. As soon as she turns her back to him and begins to walk away, he turns to look back at her.
"Oh, and Yukoni?" he calls to her.
She stops and turns to look at him worriedly. Was she to be scolded for allowing him to touch her?
"I expect to see you with the rest of your peers tomorrow, just the same, okay?" he asks, perhaps trying to be professional after this mishap he made earlier.
Yukoni merely nods and proceeds with her withdrawal.
In the mean time, Tardro had managed to successfully escort Darfix, Niktsu, and Skylia back to the Mightyena tribe's main encampment, which was basically a wooded thicket that provided excellent shelter and stealth for all Mightyenas within it. It provided ample defense, for any attacker would not know where to go to seek his prey, and most likely end up prey himself. There are also hollowed out trees, and a clearing within this thicket, most likely used for the meeting places for the elders of the tribe. No doubt it would be used today to decide Niktsu's and Darfix' fates.
"Do you thinkâ�"they'll kill us?" Niktsu asks Darfix softly as they are escorted into the thicket.
"How should I know?" the Eevee retorts, "I know nothing about these creatures..."
"Well, you seem to know a good deal about their tribe. You pinned that guy who threatened Skylia back there. He didn't know how to respond." the Flareon replies.
"Regardless," Darfix comments, "What I have learned was pieced together from what Skylia told me. All I can guess at this point, is they aren't savage, so I doubt they'll just flat out kill us without some form of a trial..."
"What we need to do, is get Skylia to tell her father the truth..." Niktsu comments softly, keeping his head on a swivel as the convoy approaches the clearing, revealing a great deal of Mightyenas and Poochyenas of all shapes and sizes.
"...I am not sure that's a good idea," Darfix comments, "If half of what that jerk said is true, their chief will castrate you, if you're lucky..."
"Silent you two!" one of the escorts growls, snapping at Darfix' tail to quiet him down, "We are approaching the chief...show your respect."
As the soldier says this, all of the Mightyenas and Poochyenas in the area begin to bow their heads to the chief, who sits perched on a stump overlooking the rest of the crowd. He is an elderly looking sort, but still appears to hold a deal of strength. He seems troubled, however, even as his species bow down to him respectfully, even Tardro.
It takes Darfix and Niktsu a moment to bow as well, as their minds were fixated on whether or not they'd live through this. Their concern was justly placed.
"Tardro," the chief speaks aloud, "What is the meaning of this parade?" he asks, gazing down at the bowing form of the one who seeks his position.
"Sir, we have found your daughter at the paws of this Flareon and this Eevee." Tardro comments, turning his head slightly in order to command Skylia be shown to the leader, but before he can speak, Xauzo interrupts him.
"Skylia?! Is it true?" he shouts, standing up to all fours and peering into the crowd for his daughter. The Poochyena, though frightened of her captors, immediately proceeds to bound forward towards her father. She leaps behind his fore legs and hugs them promptly, shivering a bit as she does so.
Xauzo smiles down at his daughter whilst his younger daughter sits at his right side, watching as her older sister returns. The Poochyena smiles and rushes between her father's fore legs as well to greet her sister, giving her a happy lick on the cheek after pouncing her.
Such a sight would warm the heart of most, but Xauzo was a Mightyena of justice and he quickly turns his attention to the Darfix and Niktsu.
"So, you two found my daughter, did you?"
"That's corrâ�"" Darfix attempts to respond quickly, but is interrupted by Tardro's words and a sudden growl right at his neck, as one of his escorts try to shut him up.
"They what you to think that sir! But in truth, their involvement with your daughter is much more complicated than that...for you see, the Flareon decided to take it upon himself to educate her in the ways of--"
This time Tardro is interrupted as Darfix interjects, "Wait just a second! These claims ar--"
The Mightyena behind him stomps down on his tail, causing him to yelp, cringing afterwards.
The chief is not amused, he can tell something strange is afoot and instantly takes control of the interruptions, speaking in a vexed manner, "Everyone except the following are to clear from this area immediately. Tardro, the Eevee, the Flareon, and my Skylia. Everyone elseâ�"go about your business."
Tardro can feel a bit of tension shoot through his body as he allegedly upset his chief, which no doubt made his case a little more difficult to speak convincingly.
As those not mentioned begin to exit, Skylia's sister included, the remaining Pokémon assume military-like postures. All excluding Darfix and Niktsu, who are unfamiliar with the ways of this tribe in particular, which they would soon find out was responsible for some strange forms of justice with even stranger ways of dealing with trials.
"Soâ�"Tardro, you accuse the Flareon and Eevee of something they apparently believe is untrue. You do realize this means we will move to trial, and I will hear each and every one of your cases? Are you prepared for that, Tardro?"
"...yes, sir..."
"Good. Now that we have silence, I would like to hear your side of the story first, Tardro." Xauzo insists, sitting back down and listening intently to Tardro's side.
Niktsu tenses up considerably and Darfix notices this. The Eevee nudges him and gives him a worried look. He proceeds to whisper a warning, "Don't interrupt himâ�"it seems to upset the--"
"Guards!" Xauzo suddenly shouts out loud, causing two Mightyena soldiers to rush into the clearing.
"Escort the Eevee to a safe place and keep him there until I say so. Interruptions will not be tolerated!"
Darfix's jaw drops as he finds himself ejected from the "court room" for a mere whispering. Though he had plenty of unfriendly vocal comments on his mind, he decided to keep them to himself for Niktsu's sake. With a hint of a blush and an embarrassed smile, he shrugs his shoulders to Niktsu and whispers, "...good luck..." before being picked up by the nape of the neck and escorted off, disappearing into the tall, brow grass of the thicket.
"Tardro, please continue." Xauzo insists calmly.
Niktsu can feel his tail agitatedly moving back and forth behind him. Without Darfix, he felt he was without a close ally in the battle for his life. With Tardro spinning liesâ�"and truths to the chief, he felt he'd be dinner by nightfall.
Being dragged off, Darfix is carried passed Skylia's younger sister, the slightly smaller, but equally cute Poochyena. He blushes some and smiles in slight humiliation, "Hehâ�"hello there."
The young Poochyena, not used to the one on one attention her older sister received, quickly leaps up along side of the Mightyena taking Darfix away. She smiles and looks up at him, "Hello, my name is Kitusi, what's yours?"
Darfix was about to open his muzzle when the guard nips harder on the flesh of the elastic portion of his neck that allowed him to be carried off like a briefcase. Apparently, he was not suppose to socialize with the leader's daughter. It was so kind of this tribe to lay down the ground rules before rendering punishment for breaking any of the hidden laws.
It isn't long before the Eevee finds himself placed in a small, hollowed out tree, and then left under guard by both of the Mightyena guards. They remain stationed outside of the entrance, one on each side. Very protocol.
The Eevee sighs a bit and observes his surroundings. The den wasn't too bad, but the dirt floor reeked of the odor of many Mightyena. It wasn't a terrible odor, just abundant to the point of it being annoying to inhale.
Upon bringing his inspection to a close, he finally exhales and lies down on the dirt floor with his head on his paws. Right now he was deeply concerned about Destiny, and now, very much the same for Niktsu. His mind begins to wander and his eyes grow a little heavy causing him to doze off into a soft day dream.
"Hey, you..." a soft voice suddenly teases his ears. He groans a little, his tail sweeping the dirt on the floor back and forth a little with the motions of his tail.
"Pst...Tawnyena?"
"Tawnyena?" Darfix' mind thinks to itself a bit. What the hell could that be? Surely not something within his day dream.
"Come on, you should eat something..." the voice repeats.
"I must be going mad," Darfix thinks to himself as he chuckles on the inside, "Or I'm just very hungry..."
A bit of struggling is heard, a sound similar to a Pichu struggling in an Ariados' web, or a Nidoran digging a hole. The Eevee's ears twitch, but his eyes remain open, until another of his senses detect something. The scent of meat reaches his nose, causing his eyes now to open up and gaze in the direction of the sound.
All he can see is a small little muzzle sticking through a little bit of an opening within the hollowed out stump. The muzzle has a piece of meat stuck between it as the owner of the muzzle, on the outside, is reputably trying to get as much of it in as possible. The muzzle was kind of tiny, cute, youthful like it belonged to a Poochyena, but a younger one than Skylia, even Kitusi.
Darfix slowly crawls towards the opening, almost expecting it to be some kind of a trap.
"Who are youâ�"and why do you offer a prisoner food?"
"Please, Tawnyena...just accept my gift..." the voice speaks in a muffled manner, trying to talk while full of meat and pinched between the wood of the stump.
"Tawnyena...?" Darfix asks curiously, moving his own muzzle close enough to sniff the meat, slowly taking it from the cute, bound up muzzle after a somewhat enjoyable contact. It felt odd, but exciting to be touching muzzles with a stranger you didn't see.
"Yes, I'veâ�"never seen a Poochyena your color before," the owner of the muzzle comments, now panting a little as she tries to free her muzzle just enough to leave it inside, but still be able to talk, "You look kind of funny too, for a Poochyena..."
Darfix begins to nibble on the meat somewhat, finding it to be quite juicy, "It's Darfixâ�"and, I'm not a Poochyena..."
"You're not?" the muzzle owner asks, "Thenâ�"what are you?"
The curiosity within Darfix had reached a peak giving the new developments of this conversation. It would seem the Poochyena he was sharing this conversation with was being sympathetic towards him because she thought he was a uniquely colored and shaped, fellow Poochyena. Did he want to lose this alliance because he was not what she thought he was, or did he want to keep it and go along with her suspicion? Either decision left a few negative effects on the table. Right now he could use a friend, but a lie was a poor thing to forge a friendship on. Right now, he could only bring himself to chew on the meat as he pondered a logical response to the friendly stranger.
To Be Continued...
Episode 055
"Stranger Than Stranger"
By Darfix
Yukoni trembles as she can sense the source of the noise that startled her drawing near. She can only imagine who it might be. A total stranger looking for a meal? One of those responsible for sending her community into total chaos? Either way, she was prepared to bolt if she sensed danger.
After what seems like an hour of nervous waiting, soon, a Ninetales' head pops out of the brush. Yukoni immediately recognizes the male as one of the community's educators. Rarko, who was her educator, which basically acted like a teacher to many of the younger Vulpixes in the community, is rendered surprised to see one of his "students" out without a parent.
"Yukoni?" he asks, curiously taking a step closer, "Is that you? What in Johto are you doing out here all alone? Did you not hear the thunder earlier? It is dangerous to be out by yourself..."
The juvenile Vulpix lowers her ears and her stance, slowly opting to set down her food supply, "I know, master," she whispers. To teach discipline, the students of educators in the Vulpix tribe were taught to call their educators master. This was customary. "Iâ�"am worried about my sister, her male, andâ�"my father. I cannotâ�"just sit alone while they are in potential danger..."
"Yukoni," he whispers, sighing a bit, "As noble as your cause, I am afraid your plan is a bit foolish. You lack the strength to defend yourself, and your food supplyâ�"well, it will only last you short of a day. Butâ�"you say Sariku is in trouble? Sheâ�"has a lover too?"
Yukoni nods, "She went after him after hearing the thunderâ�"father followed, looking for her."
Rarko nods upon hearing Yukoni's words, "Sariku was one of my favorite students when I had her under my wing. Yukoni, do me a favorâ�"go back to your mother, I will have the chief send some of us to look for your father and sister specifically, okay?"
Yukoni nods timidly, looking up at him with teary eyes. Perhaps she was embarrassed that she made a fool of herself in front of him, or the emotions may have just gotten to her.
Rarko, seeing her in this state, bites his tongue a little and leans down to lightly nuzzle her side, giving her cheek a lick. Such a line was never to be crossed in an educator-student relationship. As a result, Yukoni gasps and freezes when he touches her.
"Forgive my rudeness, butâ�"you look in need of comfort. Go now to your mother, I will make your situation known to the head figures."
Yukoni nods, managing to pull herself out of the state of shock from his touching her so that she could proceed back to her mother's den in defeat. As soon as she turns her back to him and begins to walk away, he turns to look back at her.
"Oh, and Yukoni?" he calls to her.
She stops and turns to look at him worriedly. Was she to be scolded for allowing him to touch her?
"I expect to see you with the rest of your peers tomorrow, just the same, okay?" he asks, perhaps trying to be professional after this mishap he made earlier.
Yukoni merely nods and proceeds with her withdrawal.
In the mean time, Tardro had managed to successfully escort Darfix, Niktsu, and Skylia back to the Mightyena tribe's main encampment, which was basically a wooded thicket that provided excellent shelter and stealth for all Mightyenas within it. It provided ample defense, for any attacker would not know where to go to seek his prey, and most likely end up prey himself. There are also hollowed out trees, and a clearing within this thicket, most likely used for the meeting places for the elders of the tribe. No doubt it would be used today to decide Niktsu's and Darfix' fates.
"Do you thinkâ�"they'll kill us?" Niktsu asks Darfix softly as they are escorted into the thicket.
"How should I know?" the Eevee retorts, "I know nothing about these creatures..."
"Well, you seem to know a good deal about their tribe. You pinned that guy who threatened Skylia back there. He didn't know how to respond." the Flareon replies.
"Regardless," Darfix comments, "What I have learned was pieced together from what Skylia told me. All I can guess at this point, is they aren't savage, so I doubt they'll just flat out kill us without some form of a trial..."
"What we need to do, is get Skylia to tell her father the truth..." Niktsu comments softly, keeping his head on a swivel as the convoy approaches the clearing, revealing a great deal of Mightyenas and Poochyenas of all shapes and sizes.
"...I am not sure that's a good idea," Darfix comments, "If half of what that jerk said is true, their chief will castrate you, if you're lucky..."
"Silent you two!" one of the escorts growls, snapping at Darfix' tail to quiet him down, "We are approaching the chief...show your respect."
As the soldier says this, all of the Mightyenas and Poochyenas in the area begin to bow their heads to the chief, who sits perched on a stump overlooking the rest of the crowd. He is an elderly looking sort, but still appears to hold a deal of strength. He seems troubled, however, even as his species bow down to him respectfully, even Tardro.
It takes Darfix and Niktsu a moment to bow as well, as their minds were fixated on whether or not they'd live through this. Their concern was justly placed.
"Tardro," the chief speaks aloud, "What is the meaning of this parade?" he asks, gazing down at the bowing form of the one who seeks his position.
"Sir, we have found your daughter at the paws of this Flareon and this Eevee." Tardro comments, turning his head slightly in order to command Skylia be shown to the leader, but before he can speak, Xauzo interrupts him.
"Skylia?! Is it true?" he shouts, standing up to all fours and peering into the crowd for his daughter. The Poochyena, though frightened of her captors, immediately proceeds to bound forward towards her father. She leaps behind his fore legs and hugs them promptly, shivering a bit as she does so.
Xauzo smiles down at his daughter whilst his younger daughter sits at his right side, watching as her older sister returns. The Poochyena smiles and rushes between her father's fore legs as well to greet her sister, giving her a happy lick on the cheek after pouncing her.
Such a sight would warm the heart of most, but Xauzo was a Mightyena of justice and he quickly turns his attention to the Darfix and Niktsu.
"So, you two found my daughter, did you?"
"That's corrâ�"" Darfix attempts to respond quickly, but is interrupted by Tardro's words and a sudden growl right at his neck, as one of his escorts try to shut him up.
"They what you to think that sir! But in truth, their involvement with your daughter is much more complicated than that...for you see, the Flareon decided to take it upon himself to educate her in the ways of--"
This time Tardro is interrupted as Darfix interjects, "Wait just a second! These claims ar--"
The Mightyena behind him stomps down on his tail, causing him to yelp, cringing afterwards.
The chief is not amused, he can tell something strange is afoot and instantly takes control of the interruptions, speaking in a vexed manner, "Everyone except the following are to clear from this area immediately. Tardro, the Eevee, the Flareon, and my Skylia. Everyone elseâ�"go about your business."
Tardro can feel a bit of tension shoot through his body as he allegedly upset his chief, which no doubt made his case a little more difficult to speak convincingly.
As those not mentioned begin to exit, Skylia's sister included, the remaining Pokémon assume military-like postures. All excluding Darfix and Niktsu, who are unfamiliar with the ways of this tribe in particular, which they would soon find out was responsible for some strange forms of justice with even stranger ways of dealing with trials.
"Soâ�"Tardro, you accuse the Flareon and Eevee of something they apparently believe is untrue. You do realize this means we will move to trial, and I will hear each and every one of your cases? Are you prepared for that, Tardro?"
"...yes, sir..."
"Good. Now that we have silence, I would like to hear your side of the story first, Tardro." Xauzo insists, sitting back down and listening intently to Tardro's side.
Niktsu tenses up considerably and Darfix notices this. The Eevee nudges him and gives him a worried look. He proceeds to whisper a warning, "Don't interrupt himâ�"it seems to upset the--"
"Guards!" Xauzo suddenly shouts out loud, causing two Mightyena soldiers to rush into the clearing.
"Escort the Eevee to a safe place and keep him there until I say so. Interruptions will not be tolerated!"
Darfix's jaw drops as he finds himself ejected from the "court room" for a mere whispering. Though he had plenty of unfriendly vocal comments on his mind, he decided to keep them to himself for Niktsu's sake. With a hint of a blush and an embarrassed smile, he shrugs his shoulders to Niktsu and whispers, "...good luck..." before being picked up by the nape of the neck and escorted off, disappearing into the tall, brow grass of the thicket.
"Tardro, please continue." Xauzo insists calmly.
Niktsu can feel his tail agitatedly moving back and forth behind him. Without Darfix, he felt he was without a close ally in the battle for his life. With Tardro spinning liesâ�"and truths to the chief, he felt he'd be dinner by nightfall.
Being dragged off, Darfix is carried passed Skylia's younger sister, the slightly smaller, but equally cute Poochyena. He blushes some and smiles in slight humiliation, "Hehâ�"hello there."
The young Poochyena, not used to the one on one attention her older sister received, quickly leaps up along side of the Mightyena taking Darfix away. She smiles and looks up at him, "Hello, my name is Kitusi, what's yours?"
Darfix was about to open his muzzle when the guard nips harder on the flesh of the elastic portion of his neck that allowed him to be carried off like a briefcase. Apparently, he was not suppose to socialize with the leader's daughter. It was so kind of this tribe to lay down the ground rules before rendering punishment for breaking any of the hidden laws.
It isn't long before the Eevee finds himself placed in a small, hollowed out tree, and then left under guard by both of the Mightyena guards. They remain stationed outside of the entrance, one on each side. Very protocol.
The Eevee sighs a bit and observes his surroundings. The den wasn't too bad, but the dirt floor reeked of the odor of many Mightyena. It wasn't a terrible odor, just abundant to the point of it being annoying to inhale.
Upon bringing his inspection to a close, he finally exhales and lies down on the dirt floor with his head on his paws. Right now he was deeply concerned about Destiny, and now, very much the same for Niktsu. His mind begins to wander and his eyes grow a little heavy causing him to doze off into a soft day dream.
"Hey, you..." a soft voice suddenly teases his ears. He groans a little, his tail sweeping the dirt on the floor back and forth a little with the motions of his tail.
"Pst...Tawnyena?"
"Tawnyena?" Darfix' mind thinks to itself a bit. What the hell could that be? Surely not something within his day dream.
"Come on, you should eat something..." the voice repeats.
"I must be going mad," Darfix thinks to himself as he chuckles on the inside, "Or I'm just very hungry..."
A bit of struggling is heard, a sound similar to a Pichu struggling in an Ariados' web, or a Nidoran digging a hole. The Eevee's ears twitch, but his eyes remain open, until another of his senses detect something. The scent of meat reaches his nose, causing his eyes now to open up and gaze in the direction of the sound.
All he can see is a small little muzzle sticking through a little bit of an opening within the hollowed out stump. The muzzle has a piece of meat stuck between it as the owner of the muzzle, on the outside, is reputably trying to get as much of it in as possible. The muzzle was kind of tiny, cute, youthful like it belonged to a Poochyena, but a younger one than Skylia, even Kitusi.
Darfix slowly crawls towards the opening, almost expecting it to be some kind of a trap.
"Who are youâ�"and why do you offer a prisoner food?"
"Please, Tawnyena...just accept my gift..." the voice speaks in a muffled manner, trying to talk while full of meat and pinched between the wood of the stump.
"Tawnyena...?" Darfix asks curiously, moving his own muzzle close enough to sniff the meat, slowly taking it from the cute, bound up muzzle after a somewhat enjoyable contact. It felt odd, but exciting to be touching muzzles with a stranger you didn't see.
"Yes, I'veâ�"never seen a Poochyena your color before," the owner of the muzzle comments, now panting a little as she tries to free her muzzle just enough to leave it inside, but still be able to talk, "You look kind of funny too, for a Poochyena..."
Darfix begins to nibble on the meat somewhat, finding it to be quite juicy, "It's Darfixâ�"and, I'm not a Poochyena..."
"You're not?" the muzzle owner asks, "Thenâ�"what are you?"
The curiosity within Darfix had reached a peak giving the new developments of this conversation. It would seem the Poochyena he was sharing this conversation with was being sympathetic towards him because she thought he was a uniquely colored and shaped, fellow Poochyena. Did he want to lose this alliance because he was not what she thought he was, or did he want to keep it and go along with her suspicion? Either decision left a few negative effects on the table. Right now he could use a friend, but a lie was a poor thing to forge a friendship on. Right now, he could only bring himself to chew on the meat as he pondered a logical response to the friendly stranger.
To Be Continued...