AGNPH Stories
 

Forgotten Instincts by darfix

 

Episode 056: Love Thy Politics

Author Note: Alright, that is #3, the bonus episode and "season finale". I do not know when I will be getting the next episode out, but this year I will not be making specific promises, I will be writing them when I have the incentive to do so. It may mean less chapters, but it'll mean better quality, I am sure. It is now 11:47 PM (CST), December 31st, 2006. I made a new years resolution to do 2 episodes per month at the beginning of this year. I have upheld that resolution and promise, and I hope you have enjoyed my work. I hope to put out some more for you soon, and I hope you stay interested :) You've all been fun, and thanks a lot for "staying tuned" ^^; Happy New Year!

Forgotten Instincts
Episode 056
"Love Thy Politics"
By Darfix


Deciding to tell the truth, the Eevee responds, "...I'm an Eevee, we're a species similar to your own, but different as well."

The young Poochyena does not respond, but remains quiet, giving Darfix the impression she might not completely understand. Deciding to change the subject, he smiles a little, his tail wagging and asks, "What might I ask is the name of the one who kept me from starvation?" he asks in a somewhat playful manner. Giving her alleged age, she might find joy if being made out to be a big heroine.

He can tell she gets a little happier at the intention, her cannot see her tail wagging, but judging by how low her muzzle is to the ground, he can picture he cute little body wagging with her tail and hind section in the air, wagging as well. Such thoughts should be erased, however, when trying to have a meaningful conversation with one who is not your mateâ�"and even younger than the girl that you friend is most likely in trouble with for having "fun" with.

"Oh, my name is Taylie, Darfix! I'm glad you liked the meat!" she responds excitedly with a smile visible on her exposed muzzle.

The Eevee cannot help but smile at the innocent display of excitement, she was obviously a commoner, as opposed to Kitusi and Skylia. It was apparent she lacked attention, or perhaps just craved more on the attention from someone who was different from herself?

"But tell me, Taylie..." he whispers, swallowing down the meat now, "Won't you get in trouble offering me this kind of help? I'd hate for you to get in trouble on my account..."

"Hmm...no, I might get scolded, but...nothing that hurts or anything," she replies, still sounding pretty merry about the ordeal, "If it's painful, then it's never any fun..." she insists.

"I wouldn't imagine a scolding is fun either," Darfix comments, now finding himself with a greater need for companionship. Sure, he had only been "locked up" for a short while, but it doesn't take much sometimes before one needs a hug, or a good equivalent. He finds himself padding closer to her muzzle again.

"Well, it's notâ�"but..." the young Poochyena replies, suddenly gasping lightly and growing a little tense when she feels his muzzle come in light contact with hers again, "Darfix?"

"You don't mind I hope? I'd just like to get to know my little savior better, is all..." he whispers to her, lightly nuzzling her muzzle with his own. It was interesting, in comparison, her muzzle was about the size of his. Normally, Poochyena muzzles are moderately long, but because of her size and age, her muzzle was closer to the length and shape of an Eevee. This resulted in a unique, but enjoyable experience for the Eevee at least.

"Nâ�"no, I just wasn't expecting it..." she replies, smiling a bit. She then lightly nuzzles him back to show she was not scared, "It didn't hurt after all!"

Darfix chuckles lightly and nods, "I'd hope not, I wouldn't want to be responsible for hurting my savior..."

She blushes a little bit, her tail wagging gleefully behind her, "So when are you coming out of there so we can play?"

That question caused reality to set back in again, forcing a bit of silence to consume Darfix. Because he did not want to leave her waiting or worried, he decided to reply as soon as he could.

"I am not sure, to be honest...hopefully soon..."

Meanwhile, Edge and Kyotsu had made mediocre progress so far with their pursuit in returning back upstream to return Kyotsu to his friends. As they grew closer with each and every slow, occasionally painful step, Edge begins to wonder. If she aided him in getting back to his friends, just what might be fate be? So far she had no reason to believe what she was doing was discovered by her boss, but she could not ignore the considerable resources that the Noctowl had at his disposal. Not to mention the many friends that even she did not know about. Asking to go with them on their journey would endanger their lives as well, something she did not want to be responsible for.

"Kyotsu, I..." Edge suddenly comments out of the blue, groaning some and lying down, not moving her right hind leg.

"Edge?" Kyotsu asks, turning his head over his shoulder to see her lying prone. He frowns and slowly walks over to her, nosing her side, "Are you okay?"

"My leg..." she comments softly, giving it a slight twitch, "It's really hurting now, I don't know if I can go on..."

"Well, Iâ�"could carry you, if necessary?" the Vulpix suggests, sighing a bit as he sits down at her side. Truth be told he didn't owe her much, but he would feel guilty just leaving her here as potential prey to some scavenger looking for an easy kill.

"No, Iâ�"don't think that is a wise idea, considering the gash on your head and all..." Edge comments, "I don't want you getting dizzy and dropping us back into the drink, you know?"

Kyotsu sighs a little bit, stubbornness taking over his thoughts a bit, "Err, I hate to say it, but I'd rather take that chance...Litivia might think I am dead now, I don't want her to worry like that..."

Edge growls lightly, looking up at the Vulpix, "She'll have reason to think your dead if you really are deadâ�"do you think everyone survives a trip down the rapids like we just had? Noâ�"not many at all..."

Kyotsu finds himself growling at her a little, even if he knew she was right, "...whatever, justâ�"anything I can do to speed up the healing?"

Edge clears her throat as she wonders what she could logically ask for without sounding like she was just trying to stall him. As a result, she seems to have some trouble responding to him.

"Edge..." Kyotsu replies, "What do you need? I want to get to the top soon, so I suggest you hurry before I change my mind..."

She turns to him and narrows her eyes somewhat, "...that's cold of you, Iâ�"just need some rest, okay? Unless you can heal almost broken legs, I can't think of a thing you can do to help me...okay?"

Kyotsu grumbles a little and nods, "Fineâ�"fine...fair enough I suppose..."

Not a moment after Kyotsu finishes his statement, a voice familiar to Edge fills all four ears.

"Well, what do we have here?" a snaky voice asks as a large Seviper emerges from the path ahead of them, followed by a Raichu and a Houndoom behind them, and the Skarmory above.

Edge's eyes widen immediately at the sheer amount of force brought to find her and no doubt, hunt her down. She quickly raises her eyes to lock on with Cyanide's, "How come it took you guys so long?" she asks bitterly, though the use of words causes Kyotsu to panic.

"So, your goal was to catch me all this time?!" he shouts right into Edge's ear, beginning to growl at her viciously.

Edge cringes a bit as her ears are filled with a ringing pain after the Vulpix barks into them. After she recovers, she responds with, "No, you idiot! Don't you get it?! They're here for me because I HELPED you out instead of carry out my orders!"

Kyotsu rolls his eyes and growls some more, "I should kill you right now you lying bitch, I--"

Cyanide begins to laugh a bit, "You're a stupid male aren't you? No matterâ�"we can have some fun with you after we finish torturing your little friend here. No one double-crosses Yukon and gets away with it. You will both pay with your lives, and your bodies...we'll decide which order when we come to that bridge."

Neither Edge nor Kyotsu were fit to fight, and neither of them helped each other's necessary alliance at this point. Before either of them can come up with a game plan, the Houndoom and the Raichu had fired a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower in their direction. In unison, Cyanide arcs his head back and shoots it forward, releasing a thick glob of toxic from his fangs. Up above, the Skarmory waits for the perfect opportunity to strike, assuming it'd even be necessary...

Meanwhile, Tardro had finished his side of the argument during Niktsu's trial, and Niktsu was in the middle of pleading his case.

"Iâ�"do love her, actually...I have strong feelings for your daughter, sir," the Flareon admits, perhaps having noticed he lost defending himself against the charges of fornicating with her. Either that he was deciding to tell the truth so as to avoid mistrust with the chief? Whatever his reasons, he is praying on the inside he made the right choice.

"I want to be with herâ�"even if I am not a ruler of a tribe of Mightyenas, I just feel that comforted by her presence. Sure, Iâ�"amâ�"old enough to be one of her educators, but you know what, sirâ�"I never thought age mattered, and what I did with her was not a lie..." he comments, giving Skylia a worried look as he spills his guts. He wanted to say that she asked him to do itâ�"which was truthful, but at the same time he did not want to put the spot light on her and put her in a tough spot. Instead, he merely chose to say, "...I did not force her to do anything..."

A moment of silence falls upon the clearing. Tardro is grinning confidently after hearing Niktsu's case, assuming the Flareon was in very deep, very hot water right about now.

Xauzo seems to be contemplating a bit, but this goes on for only a moment before he says, "...Skylia, is there anything you'd like to add?"

Skylia glances at Niktsu with an equally worried demeanor to her expression, as he just shared with her moments before. Unfortunately, she cannot bring herself to speak. She sighs and lowers her head, her body slouching and her ears falling back.

Upon seeing this, Niktsu sighs heavily...he knew his ass was grass now...

"Thank you, Skylia..." Xauzo speaks to his daughter, before lifting his head to gaze at both Niktsu and Tardro.

"Based on what you have told me, Tardro, this Flareon forced himself on my daughter with the aid of his friend, thus warranting execution for both of them. However, the Flareon tells me that you made threats to kill my daughterâ�"and that your goal was to get her seeded by your son merely so you could take my spot. He also admitted toâ�"administering his seed into her womb, but not forcefullyâ�"which means you would be entitled to execution for treasonâ�"threatening to kill my daughter, and he would be issued banishment after serving the tribe for his crimes. Returning would result in his execution."

Niktsu lifts his head a bit and clears his throat, he focuses on the chief and his daughterâ�"awaiting the inevitability of being "axed" so to speak.

"Since I have reasons to be concerned by both of your statements, and no real hard evidence to go upon, this is what we're going to do," the chief speaks, "Flareon, your Eevee friend will be released and given a vital task of great importance. This task could mean grave things for this tribe if not completedâ�"politics and such, I wish not to explain as it is far too complicated. Basically, I need someone not of Poochyena or Mightyena species to do it for me. If he succeeds and returns, he will earn his freedom, or your own. Whichever of you remains, must fight Tardro to the death. If you or he wins, Tardro will be the guilty party, and receive his execution. If Tardro wins, you will be the guilty party, and you or your friend will be executed by Tardro during the duel."

Some of the strangeness of this tribe's particular judicial system had just come into the light. A very primitive format of justice involving favors and duels to decide the victor. Though much simpler than deciding who is right and wrong, it definitely left room for a larger marginal error in who was guilty and who was not. Regardless, there was no choice, Niktsu timidly nods his worried head in response to the chief's statement, "...yes, sir..."

"Excellentâ�"your friend will be briefed on his mission, and you will take his place in confinement. Tardro, you will also be placed in confinement."

"Waitâ�"what? Sir, you can't be serious!"

"Enough of that, Tardro...guards, escort these two to separate cells please, and bring the Eevee to me."

With a prompt, "Yes sir!" spoken in unison by two of the soldier Mightyenas, Niktsu and Tardro are immediately brought to the area where Darfix was getting friendly with the adolescent Poochyena girl. With footsteps being heard behind him, Darfix turns quickly to the entrance, leaving Taylie's nose by it's lonesome.

"Darfix? What's the matter?" she asks curiously, not receiving a response. All she can hear are the exchanges that follow.

"Eevee, on your paws! You're coming with usâ�"the chief wishes to speak with you."

"...yes sirs."

"Flareon, into the cell, nowâ�"no fuss!"

"Right, right..."

A period of silence follows, Taylie finds herself trying to peer into the hole to see what happened. The results are minimal.

Before long, Darfix finds himself being dragged off by the nape of the neck again. At the end of his trip, he is dropped down at the fore paws of the chief. The last time Darfix was this close to a Mightyena of Xauzo's size and strength was before his father, Serko, abandoned him and his mother to the Rockets, resulting in his mother's death. Since that day, he hated male Mightyenas that reminded him of his father, yetâ�"he tried to hide that disdain, for his life, and that of his friend's is on the line.

"Eevee, you are being assigned a very important task dealing with some of the moreâ�"complicated politics involved between the many Mightyena tribes in this part. If you complete the task, your or your friend can go...the other is to battle it out to the death with Tardro to earn their freedom."

Darfix takes a bit of a deep breath as he is combating the many worries about Niktsu, Destiny, his hate for his father, and the possibilities of what he might have to do as a "favor" to earn his freedom. Politics often could get messy, after all.

"Your task is pretty simple, Eevee. I cannot send one of mine to do it because I would risk war between my tribe and this other one. However, the situation is as follows. The leader of this tribe had died in an accident. His mate died long ago, meaning one of his sons would have to take his seat as leader. However...he never had any sons, their only daughter was chosen as the new leader."

Darfix quirks a brow, gazing up at the Mightyena. After a pause, Darfix waiting for more to be added to the story while the chief awaited a response, Darfix finally says, "...and?"

"Well, she's very youngâ�"very foolish. Apparently there is something about her that makes her impressionable followers blind to the facts that she is a she, she is young, and she is foolish. It has never before happened among the tribes. Such a change could be disastrous, don't you think?"

"Just want do you want me to do, Xauro?" Darfix asks, beginning to grow impatient with the leader's lack for respect in females, especially youthful ones.

"Eevee, I need you to enter this tribe's territory, and kill princess Fukiya."

To Be Continued...
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