Zorua gazed at the sleeping form of his new companion, the warnings of his elders swirling through his mind.

'Never be seen, boy. The humans cannot be allowed to know of us.' 'Don't listen to any promises of friendship. They are lies, meant to lure us into captivity.' 'Do not, under any circumstance, allow yourself a life debt to an outsider. Our nature will compel us to repay it.'

Despite the numerous times he had heard the warnings repeated—and the various forms they had taken—he had done all three, in the span of a few hours no less.

His tribe wasn't here, however. His former friends had left him for dead and before long he had stumbled into the human hunter's trap. Then the human girl had come. She had seen him, and in her eyes had been pity, then curiosity and wonder. Then she had saved him, and he immediately knew why the elders had warned him.

He would protect the human with his life. It felt… meaningful, and warm in a way only his parents had made him feel before.

Then had come the most shocking part to Zorua, she had heard him.

Humans were deaf. This was the truth, indisputable, undeniable, immutable fact. The girl didn’t seem to care, she had spoken to him as if it were natural, normal even, and Zorua had been unable to contain his excitement.

This simple act from the girl had thrown much of what Zorua had been told into question. Had the elders lied? Or were they simply ignorant? And if they were so wrong about this, what else might they not know?

He was going to lead the girl to her fellow humans, regardless. However, he was now faced with a problem: The need to be seen.

He would need to disguise himself, but as what? He wasn’t skilled enough to manage a façade larger or smaller than himself yet. Perhaps a blitzle or small herdier? He would need to be silent either way, as he hadn’t yet learned to alter sound.

A blitzle, he decided, and took on the seeming of one, size unchanged.

The vulpine pokemon inspected his human again. She was shivering slightly, the cold of the early Autumn night evidently affecting her.

He frowned and stepped over to curl his body as far around her as possible, thoughts drifting back over the last two hours. She had showered him in affection, carried him until he had lied to her that he could stand without pain, and seemed genuine in how lost she was.

He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t feeling a level of connection with the girl.

Zorua’s musings were stalled as the girl began shivering again, worse than before. That wasn’t good, Zorua himself was starting to feel the cold and the human didn’t have a fur coat to help keep her warm.

He considered the problem. He didn’t have the hands or the knowledge many zoroark possessed to be able to start a fire with nothing save dried plants and time. He also lacked the uncommon ability to create and control fire-wisps some of his former tribe crowed about.

As a cold wind blew over them, Zorua realized he had to do something. How far was it to the human town? Perhaps back to the human farm? They had walked for quite some time, so Zorua felt it more likely he would be able to reach the human town first.

However, if he did so, he would need to leave Maeve behind. Unacceptable, he was the only thing keeping her warm and protected at the moment. What else could he do, though? It would be hours until the sun rose and brought warmth to the world again, and although he would be able to last, she wouldn't.

He felt then, that it was fortune, or perhaps misfortune, then, when the voice of another breached his increasing uncertainty, "Dying, she is? Waiting, you are? Dark thinking, failure is. When gone she is, take her I will?"

Zorua turned his eyes and thoughts to the intruder, a pokemon he didn’t recognize. A green ovaloid within a sphere of deeper green gel, unblinking black eyes observing both him and his human.

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"I don't know what to do," Zorua growled, rising to his paws. "But I won't let you near her. So if you don't want to help, leave."

“A challenge, you broach? Aid for victory, I offer. Wounded you are, acceptable this is.” The intruder spoke, glowing as she prepared to strike.

Despite being wounded, Zorua was fast. The moment his now opponent began to glow, he allowed his doubt, fear, pain, and once impotent anger at himself to flow freely.

He burned them all as fuel.

His claws lengthened, digging into the dirt as they grew sharper, the very air becoming heavy with his dark thoughts as he launched himself at the other pokemon.

The intruder’s attack, a wave of violet and indigo force, landed while Zorua was in mid-air, breaking upon the fox’s equine façade and doing nothing save stirring the air.

The spheroid pokemon was surprised, though she had little time to show this as Zorua landed upon her, raking his claws through her outer layer again and again. His fury at the seemingly inevitable death of the human he owed his life was made manifest in his strikes.

His opponent attempted to disengage with another colorful wave of force at first, but it seemed the energy wouldn't obey. Zorua kept scratching and swiping, becoming less enraged and more desperate as his thoughts were now focused on Maeve and the burning in his leg.

How could he save her? This other pokemon said they would offer aid when he won, but how could he trust that?

He was pushed back suddenly, as a shield of teal light expanded around the, now very wounded, spherical pokemon.

“…Win I cannot, clear to me it becomes.” She said, wounds beginning to heal as the shield faltered. “No ability to harm you I have.”

“Why did you challenge me like that!?” Zorua demanded, snarling in frustration.

“Thrill and strength I seek. …Though hungry, I am.” The other pokemon spoke. “Found both, I have. Solosis I am, and follow you I shall.”

“W- Why were y- you two fighting?” Zorua heard Maeve speak through chattering teeth. “Where i- is Zorua?”

The fox in question gave one last glare at the now-named Solosis, before he turned and let his guise dissolve, moving towards his human. "I thought I should conceal myself." He answered her last question first. "And I was trying to protect you from her."

“Succeed, you did.” Comments Solosis behind him.

“I- I s- see…” Maeve spoke uncertainly, continuing to shiver as she glanced between the two pokemon. “C- Can either of y- you use your m- magic to warm me u- up?”

“Magic, the human asks?” queried Solosis, moving next to Zorua.

“It’s n- not magic?” His human asked, now confused as well as freezing.

“…Listens, she does.”

"You said you would help," Zorua stated, still watching the human. "She needs heat, and the only thing I can think of is other humans."

“And leave you cannot.” Observed Solosis. “Attention I shall bring. A little time will I need.” She stated, before glowing and floating farther along the way Zorua had been leading Maeve.

Zorua watched her go, stepping over to wrap himself around Maeve again. He could feel the world growing colder.

“What d- did she mean b- by ‘l- listens’?” Maeve asked the fox, uncertainty in her tone.

“From what my elders told me, humans can’t understand us. You’re supposed to think us animals.” He murmured, thinking on what Solosis was doing.

She had said she would bring the human's attention, though that could be a ruse. Merely leave sight and wait for Maeve to freeze, a simple plan. If that did happen, Zorua would hunt Solosis down and ensure the pokemon would gain nothing from it.

…Except those with her power were meant to be intelligent, so she should know it would end in her death.

"You're s- so s- soft and warm," Maeve said sleepily, picking Zorua up and hugging him to her chest.

A moment of silence passed, only the increasing howl of wind their companion. “I’m g- going to die here, a- aren’t I?” The question was hardly a question. Despite the sleepy tone, she asked it with such certainty that it frightened Zorua.

"I- I don't know," Zorua admitted, desperately wishing he was a pansear, a tepig, or even a larvesta. Anything that could warm the girl up. "Solosis said she was trying to alert the humans, I hope she is…"

“Humans…?” Maeve said, voice drifting, “I wonder how they’ll get here…”

It took Zorua longer than he’d like to admit to realize the girl had fallen asleep.