Fighting 3.5: Ancestor Stories
Pixie
[9:23:51]
Much has happened the last few days.
First: The Moon was eaten by a monster. You have taken up a quest to scream at the monster, this ‘Necerezma,’ until it gives the moon back. Some of the moon’s light shines through jagged lines in the sky like those in a pane of cracked ice. The Moon can hear you. Her hunter will fear you and The Moon will know that her beloved foxes still care for her.
It is a purpose. It is useful. You are useful. You deserve to be kept. You are better than nothing.
Everyone else must be wrong. You will prove them wrong. You will be the best guide fox and then climb the mountain and make Avalanche take you back and kick out one of your siblings instead.
You’ve already made progress. You scared the eevee so badly that its trainer ran away, too.
You now spend most of your time trapped in a small cave with Skysong, Bloodrage, and two other humans you haven’t bothered to name. There are too many of them and they rarely leave. One of the nameless ones even stepped on your tail. A fire tails would kill them for that. You thought about it but then that might be ‘bad behavior’ and Skysong might think you are a bad, worthless fox even though she would be very wrong.
Skysong knows now that you are much better than Eggbreath. One of the nameless humans has a fluffy sparkslinger. You got Eggbreath to see it as food and after two (failed) hunts, she’s now in her ball and away from Skysong almost all the time. Eggbreath is also very dumb. She was asking why the sky was dark so you told her a giant fox ate the world. She believed it. Idiot. A fox’s breath would smell much better than the wind outside.
(People call you bad and worthless, but no one has ever called you ugly.)
Eyerock is often somewhere else, which is also good for you. Skysong prefers her as a guide just because she is warm, floats, doesn’t sleep, can see in total darkness, and immediately obeys all orders without question. Even though she is horribly hot, ugly, and has no personality. But at least the rock knows her place. You growl at her to leave and she at least looks away. She doesn’t try to steal food from you. Once she even attacked something when you asked. She is a useful servant. You just need to make sure that Skysong doesn’t rely on her as a guide.
The rock is here right now but she isn’t helping with the biggest problem at the moment: Skysong has been poisoned. If she dies there will be no one to give you food and scratches and cuddles. This cannot be allowed to happen.
She has not left her bed since she got back from the bird-smelling human. She will not talk to you. Or Bloodrage. Eggbreath hasn’t been out of her ball since then, but you doubt your trainer would talk to the dumb baby over you. Maybe she’s silent talking with Eyerock. Sometimes the rock even lowers down to touch Skysong only to back away at the last second without helping.
Skysong has slept once or twice, never for long. Otherwise she’s been quietly marking her bedding with saltwater. Humans think it is disgusting to use urine to do it, but it’s fine as long as the salty water comes from their eyes. They are truly strange and lost creatures.
As always, all the work falls to you.
You can’t smell any blood so there will not be a physical wound to look at. Probably was not a bite or sting, then. She must have inhaled or drank the poison. There still might be a bruise somewhere. You need to know if she can walk. With graceful steps you walk to her hindlegs and begin to probe them for vulnerabilities with your paws. Skysong shifts underneath you but never hisses. There is no wound there. You steadily move up her body and aside from a brief swat when you tried to check her groin for wounds you are able to feel everything. No bruising. No bones out of their strange human places. She can walk.
“Get up. We are going to the healing rooms,” you tell her.
“Why?” she mutters, foolishly.
“Because you are poisoned.”
She huffs. {No, I’m not.}
“You won’t move.”
{That’s because…} She growls and rolls over, sliding you off so that you’re between her body and the wall. Rude.
“They can heal poison.” You know. The stupid mushroom bugs sprayed yucky fake snow in your face once and you had to go there. It was the first thing they did whenever threatened. No growls or roars or ice. No fur, even. You’re glad you got rid of them.
{Not. Poisoned.}
You bite her ear because she’s being ridiculous. “Hurt.” She swats you away even though it was just a little nip. A ninetales wouldn’t have even felt it.
“Stop,” she grumbles.
You have an incredibly clever idea. “Have to pee.”
She sighs. {How bad?}
“Now.”
{Can it…}
You begin to howl. “Now.”
“I think she wants something,” one of the nameless humans says.
“Yeah. I guess.” Skysong actually swings her hindlegs off over the edge of her bed and begins to stand. For an unimportant human. Instead of for you. It takes everything you have to ignore the insult. Mostly. You still swat her leg with one of your tails.
Skysong ignores it and slips your harness on. You lead her out the door and down the halls. Bloodrage follows at a distance. Rude. You are a better guide than he is even when he can see. You stop at the right door and give the right tail nudges to tell her there’s a door to the right. She does her weird spinning thing and starts to feel for the knob.
“This doesn’t feel like an exit door,” she says. “The kitchen? You still going on about eggs.”
She had been given some this morning. She would not give them to you. Even though you would have wanted them a lot more. Said something about rashes. You are still upset, yes. But this isn’t the kitchen door.
“No.”
“Then what does it lead to.” You don’t answer that one. “The med wing, then. I told you that I’m fine.”
Two of your tails flick into each other in annoyance. She was just supposed to go through the door.
“Do you actually have to pee?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Whatever. Take me outside.”
“Mind if I come?” Bloodrage asks, finally making himself known. Although Skysong probably heard him like you did.
“Sure. Fine.”
It is a terrible lie, even by human standards. You still take her outside so you can scream at the moon eater and mark your territory. If Skysong won’t let you help her then you will at least do the other very important things that need doing.
Bloodrage starts to talk after you stop screaming and begin to mark. There are a lot of pokémon here who think this is their territory. It takes you a while to tell them all that this is actually yours and they should leave before you kill them.
“You good?”
“Yes.”
He doesn’t seem to believe it. “Anything happen?”
“I had tea with her sister and one of her pokémon. That’s all.”
Bloodrage dramatically exhales. Quietly. Not like a scream. “Alright, who am I beating up?”
“I guess I should say I’m sorry.”
“Uh. What? Nah, she hurt you.”
“To you. Sorry to you. I found out she had a hawlucha and… yeah, I get why you hated me.”
He doesn’t answer immediately. Just listens to the sound of threats trickling out of you. Wait. Eggbreath isn’t here. Hah! She forgot to let the baby out. And you are not going to correct her.
“Thought you already apologized.”
You aren’t going to complain about a chance to stay out longer. You start exploring, Eyerock following close behind.
“Then I’m sorry again.”
He grunts. “This isn’t how you act when you’re mad. Seriously, did she hurt you? Threaten you? Because if she did—”
“Don’t.” The word is almost sharp as it hangs in the air. You glance back towards them, exploration ignored. “Maybe you’re fine if your parents loved you, but if they didn’t…” Her speech breaks up into distress calls and saltwater marking. You trot back to get carry cuddles and help her feel better. Her arms are shaking a little too much for it to be comfortable but you don’t say anything because you a very good and helpful fox.
“I—what does that mean.”
“Forget it,” Skysong mumbles. “Just go away.”
“You said that your mom is a pro trainer, right? Did you run into her or—”
“She’s fucking dead, Kekoa.”
He goes quiet for a long time. “Anything else I should know?”
Cuicatl laughs. Joylessly. Not quite like the bone-human’s terrible, mocking laugh. But not like her usual ones. “You mean ‘what else are you lying about,’ right?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Again, humans are bad liars. It was only a matter of time before Skysong’s were revealed, even by a particularly dumb and angry human.
“Not much,” Skysong says. “She was a pro battler. She did leave me—well, my dad,” her heart starts beating faster beside you as she says it, “a hydreigon. Just… please leave.” Her voice breaks down to almost a whisper at the end and more saltwater starts to flow. “Please?”
Bloodrage gets up, even takes a few steps towards the fire-type pokémon lighting up the doorway, before he abruptly stops. “Really, though, who should I beat up?”
“I can kill them, too,” you huff. Humans are terrible fighters. Even the angry ones.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“My teacher…” Skysong sits you down in her lap and gives you a quick headpat. “She has a ghost bird. Please don’t attack her.”
“Ghost… bird… Fuck. Did it talk to the dead, or use their voices or—”
“Yeah.”
Bloodrage starts moving, his footsteps pounding loud against the ground like he’s trying to scare off a predator by making noise. It doesn’t actually work against ninetales. You’re fearless and it just lets you know where prey are.
“Oricorio. Listen, Cuicatl, whatever it said—they’re liars. Horrible liars. I thought about getting one, once, but then I started reading about what they do to people and—just don’t listen to it, okay? It wasn’t your Mom speaking.”
Skysong says nothing. She barely reacts at all.
“Cuicatl—”
“Go. Away.”
It’s practically a bark with fangs bared. One final warning to leave her territory before a fight starts. She couldn’t back the threat up by herself, but you’re there so it is a very serious one.
“I… fine.” And he finally leaves.
“He wasn’t lying,” Skysong mutters once the door slams shut. “If he was, it would hurt but I’d deal. He wasn’t. Everything he said was…”
Him? Dead people? Oh.
“The brother you think you killed?” The whole thing is silly. Not only did she not kill her brother, but even if she had she shouldn’t feel bad about it.
“Did kill.”
“No, you didn’t.” You really are going to have to do more to train her. She shouldn’t act like she’s poisoned just because she thinks she did something she didn’t. That will make it harder for you to tell when she’s actually poisoned. “His cut got runny or,” you stretch out and yawn despite yourself, “something like that.” You barely remember what, exactly, happened, just that she was being particularly strange during that talk. Said that she’d killed someone when she hadn’t. Said that she would never leave you. All lies, even if it sounded like she believed them.
You remember one small detail, though, because you do have a very good memory.
“Your brother asked you not to tell people he was hurt?” It makes sense. Don’t want to appear weak. Become prey.
“Yeah…”
“So how is it your fault?”
“I miss him,” she says, even though it isn’t an answer. “And…” she trails off for long enough that you start to doubt she will continue. Your gaze drifts back up the sky, dark and scarred. Maybe a bird flies under one of the cracks. Or a cloud. Or a giant metal human-made bird. “If one of us had to die, it shouldn’t have been him.”
Now she’s making no sense. Are more than just her eyes defective? She is alive. The living are supposed to survive. It’s their entire purpose. And in any case… “No. I don’t think I would have liked him as much. You are female. Females are better than males.”
“Oh?” There’s some lightness in her voice. That’s usually good. “I guess we are prettier.”
“Definitely.”
Skysong sets you down next to her.
She seemed to have liked the fire bird’s story yesterday. And there is a story about a dumb human who was mad about something similar. Maybe she’ll like it.
“Do you want to hear an ancestor story?”
“A what?”
“A story about the past. Good and bad ninetales, gods—”
“Myths. We call them myths.”
A much worse name.
“Do you want to hear one?”
She huffs but settles down into her bench a little more. “Okay. Just don’t take too long. It’s getting cold.”
“It isn’t cold.” It’s actually still too hot.
“I don’t have fur.”
Oh. That is terrible.
You sit like Avalanche did when she told you stories, hindquarters on the ground and front legs extended, looking down on her kits. Her tails swished behind her with the beats of the story. You don’t have your experience but maybe you can do okay.
“There was a pretty fire tales named Forest Queen. She lived near a village of humans and sometimes helped them think of things in exchange for food and not being bothered.” She might get the wrong idea. Need to correct. “She could have killed the them all if they bothered her. She just didn’t want to do it.”
“Noted.”
“One day…”
*
One bright morning a very big human came to the edge of her home and waited. This was not the usual human they sent to ask for her wisdom. She curiously approached and asked him why he was there.
“They say you are the wisest creature in these lands,” the man said. And he was right. “I need your counsel.”
“Speak your problem.”
He told her that five moons ago he had his senses controlled by a ghost. Believing he was protecting his family from predators he killed them instead, only to have the ghost leave him once the bodies had cooled. Now he wandered the land to learn what he could do to wipe their blood from his hands.
*
“No one really gets why he said that,” you add. “There wouldn’t still be blood on his hands that many moons later.”
“Just an expression,” Skysong says. Quieter than usual. “He wanted to know how he could be forgiven. Make up for what he had done.”
Forgiveness. Debts. Humans have strange concepts. Injuries against another ninetales are settled quickly by fang and ice. If the injurer wins then it was their right to do it. Humans let it grow and grow until their entire mountain is involved.
*
“I have nine tasks for you,” Forest Queen said. “One for each of my tails. Then you shall find what you are searching for.”
First, he made her a big burrow with a good scratching post and a series of tubes to drain it when it rained. This would help her raise her kits. Then he cleared the forest of a pack of bone wolves that might threaten them. He built a series of small rivers from the nearby lake to the Forest Queen’s den so that she might drink easily and then to the town so their crops would have water and they would not bother her every time the rain failed to fall. He found a rare fruit that could heal injuries and planted trees for it in the forest. On and on he did what the Forest Queen asked and served her well. The nearby village flourished and needed to bother her less and the forest was safe for her new litter. The man even took a new mate with the humans he worked alongside.
As the trials went on the man bared his teeth more and walked with lighter steps. At the end, when all his tasks were done, the man returned and asked for one more task.
“Have you not found what you were looking for?” the Forest Queen asked.
“I have. That is why I will continue to serve.”
*
Skysong leans far enough back that you can crawl onto her chest without falling off. You don’t have to keep the post now that the ancestor story is told. “I think I get it,” she says. “It’s about helping the people who can be helped rather than focusing on the past.”
“No. It’s just a way for ninetales to trick humans into doing work. One of the first things vulpix are taught about humans.”
She hums and her chest vibrates beneath you. At least she’s better sounding than Hummy was. “I don’t think I get it, but I have an idea. What if my thesis was about pokémon myths—ancestor stories? Alice taught me a lot. If every species has them, maybe…”
Yes. Good. This is much better than her lizard talk one. Now you can actually help. And you know a lot of stories to be useful with.
“I will help.”
She reaches a hand to your back and begins to gently stroke it. “Thanks, Pix. I’m lucky to have you.”
You purr in contentment. You helped her. You will help her. You will be useful and loved and she will never leave you.
Life is good.
[9:10:40]
Life is terrible.
Skysong rolled over onto your tails twice in the night. Her heartrate is still a little fast and she’s still marking her territory with saltwater. You failed to fix her. She might be mad at you for that.
And she let Eggbreath out. The one chance you get to mark your territory in peace is interrupted by a smelly lizard screaming at the sky. You lose focus on your marking and walk over to the place that Skysong is sitting. Still a chance to fit things. It’s a little hard to get onto the bench with her since you can’t just set up the jump by sight. Have to actually stand on your hindlegs and pull yourself up onto it. She notices your effort and rewards you with ear scratches. Excellent. She isn’t mad. Not with you.
You roll onto your back and let her scratch your belly. She’s a little too careful with it. Her delicate petting is really better for head scratches, but sometimes you have to at least try. Besides, petting you makes her happy. When her breaths are almost like pants it can sometimes make her breathe slower. That probably means she’s healed by it. Maybe. Humans are strange.
“Do you want another ancestor story?” you ask. She wants more. You can help her know more.
“I guess it can’t hurt.”
It’s a good start.
Eggbreath jumps up beside you, tail thumping against the bench. “Storytime!”
Less good. You whip a tail into her face before getting into the storytelling pose.
*
Long ago and across the sea, one clan of humans torched the city of another clan as humans are wont to do. In the blaze, the nest of the Rainbow God was burned. As the Rainbow God descended to survey the damage, he found the bodies of three foxes in his temple. They had come to pray to the Rainbow God to spare the pokémon of the city, but their prayers had gone unheard. The Rainbow God had been too focused on the burning building to hear their pleas. He was filled with shame and revived them into beings so powerful they would never again live in fear of humans.
Generations passed as the Rainbow God aimlessly wandered the skies of the world, refusing to nest again in the world of humans. Eventually his flights led him back to his old temple. There he found many foxes like the ones who he had revived years before. He cast a shadow shaped like a fox and descended. He asked the foxes why they stayed in the ruined temple.
The matriarch answered. “To keep the grave of our ancestors safe and await the return of the Rainbow God, so that we might thank him for his kindness.”
The Rainbow God was moved to reveal his true form. As the foxes looked on in awe, he gave his response to the matriarch.
“For your devotion and service, I will bless you and set you apart from the other foxes. You will be my emissaries and guardians, protecting humans and pokémon alike and enforcing the will of the gods.”
Ashes poured from the god’s wings and became bound to the foxes, transforming them from ordinary eevee into majestic ninetales.
Half a life later a clan of humans engaged in an expedition of discovery. To ensure they stayed in the good graces of The Worldtraveler they brought along a family of ninetales to transmit their prayers and pass on the word of the gods. They arrived on the shores of a new land after many moons at sea.
Alongside the humans the ninetales went from island to island, meeting each guardian in turn. The island gods received the ninetales warmly and each conferred a small blessing unto them. The Sea Guardian gifted them control of the weather itself. The Thunder Guardian gifted them even longer and more beautiful fur. The Mind Guardian gifted them some of her great wisdom. The Earth Guardian gifted them even greater longevity.
*
“Tapu Koko’s a war god, right? How did he give you nicer fur?”
“Thunder god. Thunder makes fur stick up.”
“Huh.” She runs a hand along your back. “That makes sense.”
“Obviously.”
*
After receiving the gift of the Earth Guardian, the ninetales were summoned to the top of the world to meet The Moon. The goddess was so impressed by the stories, devotion and wisdom of the ninetales that she became jealous of the Rainbow God. She decided that she must have the foxes for her own. After luring the ninetales to sleep, The Moon cast a spell on them and extinguished their flames. Cold, cold ice was left in its place. The foxes could never again tolerate a long voyage across the warm seas. Instead, they were bound to the mountain and could never leave her for long.
To this day the ninetales honor their covenant with the Rainbow God to guide humans and pokémon and protect the sacred mountain of the Moon.
*
“She trapped you there and you serve her.” Skysong says it’s so quietly that a human might not be able to hear it. But you can because your hearing is much better.
“She’s jealous, but she’s still a goddess.”
“Hmm.”
Before she can say anything else her phone begins to hiss and rumble.
“Message from: VStar. Read it: Yes or No?”
“Yes,” she says.
“Mission Alert: Capture one luvdisc. Reward: $500. Location: Hau’oli Sea. Fishing expeditions will depart from Hau’oli City every day at 8:00 a.m. Reserve seats ahead of time. Flashlights and fishing poles may be rented from the central office. Expect waitlists for equipment rentals.”
You have not heard of luvdisc, but you know what ‘fish’ are. They are good. “Fish!”
“Not for you, Pix,” Skysong mutters. “Sorry.”
“No eggs or fish?” You thought you’d been good. She said she was lucky to have you. Why is—are you still being unlovable?
You want to ask the question more than anything. But you’re… you’re not afraid of the answer. You’re just so sure you don’t need to waste your breath asking.
Skysong stands up but Eggbreath does not jump down. Why? You can hear her breaths in the air, near Skysong’s heart. Oh. Why does she get carry-cuddles and you don’t? You even told her a story. “Pix, can you warn me if anything comes up?”
Nothing does. You follow behind Skysong as she can use her cane to scout for anything that you might miss. Like she doesn’t trust you. When you reenter the room she shares with Bloodrage it does not sound or smell like the nameless humans are present. “Mist and Titania out?” Skysong asks.
“Yeah. Probably out back with Tatty’s chinchou.”
Eggbreath lands with a thud beside you, apparently having jumped out of Skysong’s arms. She hurries to the other side of the room. You hear her sniffing around, probably seeing if the sparkslinger is near enough to kill.
“You get the text?” Skysong asks, lowering herself onto her bed. Bloodrage is above her on his. Odd. Humans usually like to look at each other when they talk. Maybe that doesn’t matter in the dark. Or if one can’t see.
“Yup. You gonna call them to get on the list?”
“No. Will you?”
Bloodrage sighs dramatically. “I don’t call people if I can help it. Plus, uh, vocal dysphoria.”
“Oh.” Cuicatl sprawls out on her bed. You jump onto her chest just as Eggbreath rushes back, cutting Eggbreath off from it. She doesn’t fight you because she knows that she’d lose, and she settles onto the much less comfortable legs of your trainer. “You want to talk about it?”
“No. Can you just make the damn call?”
“I would but…” She lowers her voice. Not low enough that you and Eggbreath or Eyerock can’t hear it. Wait? Where is Eyerock? You can’t smell her. “My gift doesn’t work over phones. And my actual Galarian isn’t that good.”
“Eyerock isn’t here,” you tell Skysong. Because that’s much more important than whatever she’s going on about.
“Eh.” She runs a hand through your headfur. It is very pleasant. “Nocitlālin says she’s out back with Mist and Titania. She’ll come back when they do.”
Your tails slump down behind you. “I don’t get to go to places without you.”
{We’ll talk about that later. Promise.}
Bloodrage says some stuff but you ignore it because it isn’t important. Instead, you plot your revenge on Eyerock. Maybe you could stick icicles on her side so she isn’t a good guide anymore.
“Already a waitlist. Somehow. They’ll text me later,” Bloodrage finally says.
“Cool.”
Bloodrage loudly shifts above you.
“Do you, uh, want to talk about it while the kids aren’t here.”
“Nope.”
“I can only imagine what—”
“Do you think we could watch Finneon’s Wake tonight? That has a luvdisc, right? The girls might like it. They’re probably scared with everything going on.”
“I… I think I can stream it.”
Neither says anything for a long time. Long enough that Eggbreath gets bored and hops up onto the bed on the other side of Skysong.
“I’m fine, Kekoa. Really. You don’t need to worry about me.”
He exhales softly. “Fine. Just let me know if you want to talk.”
“Thank you.”
She won’t need to, though. You’re here for her. And you’re good and useful and will help her.