"You see, the problem with words is that words have power. When a certain amount of knowledge (and therefore power) is pushed together, little rifts in the abstract plane can appear. This naturally causes problems to people who happen to have large collections of antique spell books and can get rather confusing and downright silly." - Terry Pratchett.
Words apparently have power in large quantities as well xD
Uh... it's from a book xD? I don't know, Cassandra sounds like it was a name for a witch. *cheats looks it up anyway* Greek mythology about a girl granted ability to prophesy by Apollo?
You're so damn close... The reference in the book is most likely a reference to the Cassandra from Greek Mythology.
As for content and ratings, it's obviously not going to be a happy shiny romp around Johto where everyone smiles and vomits rainbows, but it's not exactly a gritty, hyper-realistic dystopia. Stuff will happen and it's not always suitable for younger audiences.
I suppose I'll start a PM list if anyone wants to be on it. Just ask and ye shall be rewarded.
This chapter has some backstory and some plot. You know how it is. Longest chapter yet at nearly ten full pages xD
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Chapter 4
“If you're still there when I open the door, I swear I'll call the police!”
The two girls looked at each other and then back at the door as it swung open. A man appeared dressed in a knitted cardigan and tan slacks, he looked quite young, late twenties at the most. “Oh, it's you Cassandra, sorry about the shout but they've been back with increasing frequency lately. I'm really getting sick of it. Do you know how many times I've had to replace the windows?”
“Yeah I know, it's stupid. If they took the time to get to know you they'd see your nothing like your father.”
The man sighed and nodded his head, when he looked up he noticed Zaniah stood slightly to the side, “Who's your friend?”
Cassandra perked up slightly upon hearing the question, “Oh sorry, this is Zaniah, I met her in the Violet gym. I won by the way-” the man gave a smile. “-she lives down in Union and she's showing me the best way to get to Union Cave.”
The man held his hand out and Zaniah shook it, “I'm Pat. Pat Bonham. I'm surprised you don't know the name considering you live so close.”
Zaniah looked at the floor sheepishly as if embarrassed. “We don't have a television or get the newspaper, I don't know much about the world outside Union except from what I've seen in Violet Town the few times I've been there.”
Pat looked slightly saddened. “I suppose that's all the more reason for you to get out there and explore the world, I see you have a chingling so you're probably a trainer, right? I know Cassandra here has just started her journey and she knows a fair bit about training already, perhaps she could help and mentor you?” Cassandra nodded at this idea, “Anyway, if you'd like, I could put the kettle on and I'll tell you why those kids keep throwing stones at my house.”
Cassandra immediately took the offer up, but stopped when she noticed Zaniah was having some slight doubts, “Don't worry, he's a really good friend of my dads.” She held her hand out and smiled, “Trust me.”
Zaniah let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding and grabbed the outstretched hand, being pulled into the small house. When she entered, she didn't expect what she saw. There was only a single large room on the bottom, along the back wall was a row of computers running various things Zaniah didn't understand, there were multiple desks with papers scattered on them and even more filing cabinets which Zaniah could only guess held more papers. She was lead upstairs where she was surprised to find the front room, if it could be called a front room whilst being upstairs.
It would seem Cassandra was accustomed to coming here as she immediately sat on the black leather couch and pulled up a foot rest. Zaniah, feeling awkward, merely sat on the edge of the seat with her back as straight as a ruler and her hands held on her lap.
“Will you loosen up, Pat's a great guy, he's like my uncle.”
“Sugar?” came a shout from the kitchen.
“Just one please,” answered Cassandra.
“None for me thank you,” replied Zaniah apprehensively.
Returning from the kitchen with three mugs in hand, Pat placed them on three coasters set out on the coffee table giving the specific mugs to their respective drinkers. Zaniah got a plain green mug. Cassandra sat drinking from a white mug, her feet tucked close to her body. Pat drank from a mug bearing the slogan
'Pi isn't 3.14. It's delicious!' Zaniah mentally face palmed at the incredibly nerdy mug, as a physical face palm may very well have gotten hot tea all over her face.
Pat took a big sip from his mug and started his tale. “It was a stormy night... No wait, it was pleasantly breezy. Anyway, the weather is unimportant. The story begins before I was born, when my father was a child. He was a beginning trainer and he had just received his starter pokémon, now usually starter pokémon are docile towards humans, but this was a fair few decades ago and we didn't have the teaching methods we have today. Maybe if we did then...” Pat trailed off for a while and sighed, “...To make a long story short, his starter pokémon was unruly and didn't want to listen to him, during one of his first battles his pokémon decided not to attack the opponent and attack him. I think from that day, he give up his dreams of becoming a top trainer and resigned himself to the daily grind of education and eventual work. He hated pokémon for sure, but he never really openly expressed his distaste for them in public. He eventually met my mother and I was born.”
Zaniah, took it all in whilst drinking her tea. She was quite sure she knew where this was going, but to make sure, she kept on listening intently.
“My mother decided we couldn't keep living in the dingy flat we lived in at the time, so my mother and father went house hunting and they found this place just outside of Violet, it was just a village back then, a few houses and Sprout Tower. Whilst I was growing up, I heard my father read from the newspaper that the gym in Cherrygrove was being demolished, he was delighted to be sure, but then then it continued to say they were going to rebuild it in Violet and inject some cash into the area to urbanise it a bit. That meant a Pokémon Centre, a Pokémart, the trainers school and obviously, the massive gym you were successful in defeating Cassandra.-”
Here the girl smiled, obviously reliving the moment. And to be honest, so was Zaniah.
“My father was livid, as you'd expect. All of this was going to bring loads of trainers and pokémon right past his yard, when previously it was just the odd one passing through to get to Goldenrod (or Portside as it was called back then) or perhaps a trainer returning home. It was a few more years before I think anything really set him off, he might have been storing all his anger over the years and maybe released it in one big explosion. I was getting around ten years old and was quite the inquisitive little scamp. I'd play out in the forest, watching the wild pokémon, I'd even sometimes talk to the passing trainers and ask them what it was like being a trainer. Dear old dad had always said it was evil and that pokémon were as bad as the trainers. But from the small experiences with wild pokémon and trainers allayed any fears or questions I had about them, from watching them in the wild and studying their habits to listening to the fantastic tales the passing trainers had to tell about their times travelling with their pokémon and how they were invaluable allies. Dad didn't like that, so he sent me away.-”
Zaniah gasped, “He just sent you away?”
“Yeah, he got me a boat ticket, drove me to Portside and sent me to live with my Grandparents in Kanto. And I'll tell you for free, catching a two day boat ride alone when your eleven is a pretty traumatising experience.”
“He made you go by yourself? How awful.” Zaniah looked shocked.
“Yes, but compared to what he ended up doing, it was pretty nice. Anyway, My grandparents were nice people, they lived in a sleepy village by the name of Pallet. Life was alright, peaceful to be sure. But I found myself consistently straying into the wilder territories to look for pokémon; to be fair, what enjoyment can an eleven year old boy get from a town about a mile square, in which the majority of the land was used for farming and the only houses were sporadically placed along the plains? Out of the ten plus houses that existed, I hadn't seen a single other person around my age. I was desperate for contact with another child, I was even willing to go so far as talk to a girl if she was around my age, my eleven year old self was saying 'I don't care about cooties. Just let me talk to someone!'”
This comment garnered a laugh from the two girls. “Boys are idiots,” remarked Cassandra.
“That's about the basis of it yeah. So where was I? Oh right. I yearned for company and one day after a few weeks alone, I found it. A young boy was fishing in the stream, I jumped on the opportunity, I introduced myself and told him that I hadn't seen him around anywhere for the past month. He apparently just got there to stay with his grandparents to wait until his twelfth birthday so he could officially start as a Pokémon trainer. That bummed me out a bit, I find this new friend then I find out he's leaving soon to do something I would have loved to do. I asked his name, Samuel Oak he said.” Pat sighed reminiscently.
“From that day we were inseparable, we'd play in the fields and scare the murkrow away from the crops, we'd find wild pokémon in the nearby woods and watch silently as they go about their daily business. It was probably the happiest time of my life. The days went and it was nearing Sammy's, that was what I called him, twelfth birthday. I already had mine, but because of my father and most probably Sammy, I stayed to watch him leave for his. I still remember the day before his birthday, he told me 'It's not too late you know, there's a whole world of pokémon out there to see and study, and I can think of no better person to be my research assistant.' He was always into that kinda stuff. But what he told me that day, it made me finally realise. It was my own life and if I wanted to train pokémon, then I would. It doesn't matter if my father had a bad experience the one time, it wouldn't happen to me.”
Pat stopped and took another breath, he seemed lost in reminiscing for a while, until he shook himself out of it and took another big sip from his mug of tea, draining it completely. He placed the mug back onto the coaster and continued.
“With the consent of my grandparents, Sammy and me set off for Viridian City, the home of Percival Ashburton, noted Pokémon Professor and licensed to hand out starter pokémon to beginning trainers-”
“Do you have to receive a pokémon from someone with a license to become a trainer, because I got Varla from my grandmother.” Zaniah interrupted Pat mid sentence, much to the surprise of the man. He smiled however and continued.
“Not necessarily, but it levels the playing field slightly if all pokémon are obtained from a licensed person who will give equally powerful pokémon, so no one gets a starting advantage. That's why pokémon like chikorita, totodile and cyndaquil are popular starters for license holders to give out, they all have equal strengths and weaknesses against each other and each are equally as powerful. All pokémon given to beginning trainers by family members are usually encouraged to be newly hatched or young pokémon with little or no battling experience, it's all about being fair really, but you can get more variation if you get them from family members, as I can see with you Zaniah.”
“Oh right, thanks. It helps to know these things.” Zaniah felt slightly embarrassed for asking such a silly question and subsequently sipped her tea and stayed quiet.
“As I was saying, we received our pokémon and began our epic journey, toppling gym leaders and commanding powerful pokémon of our own. It was easy to see that Sammy was the more skilled trainer, but it didn't stop him pursuing his dreams of becoming a pokémon researcher. I on the other hand decided to go back to Johto to visit my dear old dad, my journey had taken about a year and a half and I had hoped he had simmered down some. I was dead wrong. I came back to the house and found police tape around the fence, I automatically assumed the worst, but it turned out a little different to what I expected. My dad had committed suicide after being cornered by the police and it turned out my mother had died about a month earlier.-”
Zaniah couldn't help but say something. “Both your parents died?”
“To be more precise, both my parents were killed. You see, my father killed my mother, he'd apparently been abusing her for years and I was unaware of it, one day he just went too far and she couldn't take it. He stayed in his house for days on end, no one knew anything about what had gone on, I think the loneliness got to him personally and he just cracked one day. There were calls to the police about missing persons, trainers who hadn't made it home when they said they would and hadn't turned up since, whispers about kids going out walking the family pokémon in the morning and not returning, those kinda things. They got to investigating and someone called about a strange smell coming from the old Bonham place. That's how he got cornered, the police knocked his door down and they found him cowering in the kitchen with a handgun held to his own head and before anyone could get close to him, he pulled the trigger. Well that was better than a confession to the police, they searched the house for evidence of the kidnappings when someone noted an odd smell coming from the basement, 'like burnt meat'. They went down and found several bodies, some human, some pokémon all scattered about the floor with obvious signs of fire damage. They found my mother bound to the head board in my parents bedroom, the bed had signs of being slept in so they could only assume he slept next to her body for the month after he killed her. I like to think it shows a slight bit of remorse on his part, others refuse to see any side of him as remorseful because of what else he did. And because my father wasn't around to harass, they went to the next best thing, me.”
“But why did they do that, you were away on your journey, surely people noticed that.” asked Zaniah.
“Some people did, but that's the thing. The human individual is smart, the human people are a stupid and dangerous bunch. No matter who the group is made of, they will never listen to reason, arguing with a hundred minds is as useless as a magikarp attacking a dragonite. I couldn't stand the constant teasing and insults people threw at me, so I just left. I packed up my stuff and took a leaf out of Sammy's book, I went to Sinnoh to finish my education and become a man of research. So there I was, a fourteen year old boy with just enough money for his education and no friends to speak of, all alone in Sinnoh. By choice of course, but it was still a crushing experience. Term started and I took classes on Pokémon Breeding, Evolution Theory, and Pokémon Physiology. I was a fairly good student, I carried a B average throughout the classes and made friends with plenty of people, none better than erm... what's his name, I haven't thought about him in a long time, Rowan I think, I can't remember his first name. Anyway, he was in my Evolution Theory class, the best one in there, he aced so many tests they gave him an award at graduation for excellence in the field of Evolution. They say he would do great things in the field. You'd be shocked to find out that Rowan had a correspondence with none other than Samuel Oak, my old travelling buddy, he was shocked to hear that I'll tell you.”
“So you were almost fated to meet huh?” supplied Zaniah.
“You could probably say that. We're good friends and we bounce ideas of one another in the letters I send every now and then. I don't have a telephone you see, if anyone from Violet found out my number it'd be non stop calls, more abuse.”
“Why don't you move away for a while, maybe change your name? It worked for this one guy I knew back in Union, he'd gotten into a little trouble with some unsavoury types, he moved away for about a month and pretended he sold the house, changed his name, grew a beard and moved back. Hasn't been hassled since.” Zaniah stated matter-of-factly as if this was advice she gave everyone.
Cassandra sat up straight and stared at Zaniah, “You know, that could work. Plus, you'd suit a beard, or at least a goatee.”
“I don't know, wouldn't it be too much work?” Pat replied tentatively.
Zaniah told Pat that it would stop all the abuse and perhaps would make him a few more friends, get some interest from the ladies and that he could do his research in peace and quiet. Plus, he won't have to replace any more windows.
“That is a whole big list of pluses. Maybe I could visit Sammy again, see if he's gotten anywhere with that stupid electronic encyclopaedia of his. In fact, I think your right. I deserve a peaceful and quiet life, I'll start growing that beard right now. I would also need to go to Goldenrod, get the change of name, that's the nearest courthouse right? What should I pack, I might need to throw blankets over the computers and things to make it a bit more believable. I'll also need a For Sale sign.” Pat started rummaging through drawers talking avidly to himself.
Cassandra stood and dusted her hands, “Well. I think our work here is done, this is the happiest I've seen him in a long time you know.”
Zaniah laughed and grabbed the three mugs from the table and placed them in the nearby sink, she stared at Cassandra for a while as if mentally asking,
'well what should we do now?'
Cassandra answered by shouting a goodbye, “Thanks for the tea Pat, we'll leave you to the packing.”
“Yeah, bye.” added Zaniah hastily.
--
The pair, walked downstairs and let themselves out, took the time to scare away a few more kids hoping to throw stones at Pat's house and they were off heading to Union again. During the time listening to Pat's story, the sun had lowered considerably in the sky and it was starting to darken. Cassandra seemed to notice this and asked whether they should break out the camping gear.
“No need, it'll only take another hour or so walking and we'll be in Union, we have a Pokémon Centre if you need to heal your pokémon and your more than welcome to stay at my house for the night before you're off again.”
“You not coming with? I thought I'd implied that.” Cassandra asked confusedly.
Zaniah looked at her companion knowingly, “Yeah, I picked it up, I'm just not sure if I'm up for it any more, I just don't want to risk hurting Varla.”
“We've had this conversation before. I'm sure I swayed you to my way of thinking, but if it takes me until we get to Union, I'm damn sure I can do it again. I would have thought if anything, Pat's story would have inspired you more.”
“That depressed me more than it inspired me.”
Cassandra slapped her forehead, “Didn't you hear about what he said about his journey, about the friends he made and all the fun he had with his pokémon? You sure are a hard nut to crack, but I'll do it.”
Zaniah gave an involuntary giggle but tried to suppress it.
“See, you are enjoying yourself. Admit-” she suddenly stopped talking and stared accusingly at Zaniah, who was still trying to suppress her laughter. “Your pulling my leg aren't you?”
Unable to contain it any longer, Zaniah unleashed a tirade of laughter but stopped as she realised Cassandra was staring menacingly at her. “-Oh crap.” Getting the message, the girl ran before Cassandra could make her move.
“Get back here!” she shouted, finally realising she'd have to run to catch her.
“You can't kill what you can't catch.” replied Zaniah, who was already quite the distance away. As a precaution, she had recalled Varla to her pokéball and stored it safely in her pocket.
Cassandra gave chase and immediately found Zaniah to be pretty slow,
'I knew there was a down side to having legs that thin' she thought. Legs unimpeded by such things as pants or jeans, Cassandra found it easier to catch the girl. When she was almost within arms length, she dived through the air catching Zaniah by the shoulders, forcing her to the floor. Oddly enough, the girl was laughing as Cassandra forced her onto her back, she placed her hands either side of her shoulders preventing the girls escape. Cassandra whole heartedly intended to say something, but all she could do was stare blankly into her brown eyes. Zaniah had noticed, stopped laughing and stared back, finally saying “hello?” shaking her head, Cassandra rolled off Zaniah and sat up on the grass.
“Sorry about that.” she said quietly.
“No, don't worry. I've not had a thrill like that in a long time, all that adrenaline rushing through my body, but you caught me pretty quick, I should really exercise more...”
The speech faded out of Cassandra's mind and all she could hear was the wind racing by her head, blowing her raven hair backwards. Sat up, staring blankly at nothing in particular, all she could do was think.
'Was that really what I thought it was?' She had never felt anything like it, the rush of adrenaline blocking all thought, the warm tingly sensation in her stomach.
'Maybe I'm ill? No that can't be it, I've felt good all day.' Then what? Surely it can't be...
“...Cassandra. Are you with us?” Zaniah, upon noticing her friend wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her rant about exercise decided the next best course of action was to wave a hand in front of her face and say her name.
When Cassandra finally blinked, Zaniah gave a sigh of relief. “That's twice now!”
“I'm sorry.” was all she could mumble.
“Will you stop apologising! Everybody spaces out every now and then, but not twice in quick succession. Maybe your ill?” Zaniah placed the back of her hand on Cassandra's forehead, “You do feel slightly hot and your pulse is going a mile a minute. Come on, not that far now, almost home.” Helping the girl up, Zaniah placed her arm around Cassandra's shoulder and they continued walking.
“You're pretty warm yourself,” mentioned Cassandra, whilst mentally berating herself for saying something so stupid.
“That must have been because of all the running, I haven't run like that since... a few days ago actually, but past then it's been a long time. It'll be dark soon, so I think we should hurry ourselves up.”
The two continued, Zaniah aiding Cassandra, who tried to tell the girl she could walk perfectly fine on her own, but Zaniah wasn't having any of it. “No.” she said, “You're ill and you need to conserve your energy, let me carry your bag for you.”
Cassandra begrudgingly agreed, she did feel light headed. “My bag isn't too heavy, I can carry it on my own.”
A few more minutes walking and the gates of Union could be seen through the trees. Not expecting to be back here so soon, Zaniah didn't really feel the need to rush home and meet up with the folks again. Which was good because she was sure Cassandra wouldn't be able to run for a while yet. Zaniah still revelled in seeing the brick houses and rustic gardens again.
When she saw her house, with it's low granite wall and colourful garden, she pointed it out to Cassandra, who now insisted she walk unaided. Pushing the gate open, Zaniah felt a burgeoning urge to skip to the door, but realised doing such a thing would seem childish in front of her new companion, speaking of which, Zaniah looked back and saw Cassandra stood at the gate. “It's alright, my parents won't bite. Trust me.” she held out her hand and waved her over. Cassandra walked over slowly and uneasily, it was always hard meeting other peoples parents, you always got the feeling that they were analysing your every move to see if you were worthy enough to be friends with their children.
Cassandra felt no different now.
'I bet they hate me.'
Zaniah knocked three times and waited. A few seconds later, the sound of a lock being opened was heard and a thin, brown-haired, male figure wearing glasses stood in the doorway.
“Zaniah! I-we didn't expect you home so soon. And you've brought a friend I see.”
Zaniah's father smiled and she smiled back. “I'm not staying for long, me and my friend were heading for Union Cave... this is Cassandra by the way... when it started to get dark, so I thought we could stop in and have a roof over our heads for the night.”
Zaniah's father gave a hearty laugh, “There's always room for you and a friend at our place. You're just in time too, dinner's almost ready. I'll just go tell Alma she'll be serving for four.”
Cassandra found the opportunity to speak up before he left, “Thank you for letting me stay Mr. Grayson.”
“Don't worry about it and call me Hugh, Mr. Grayson is what they call me at work.” he said with a chuckle.
As he strode away into the kitchen at the other end of the hall, Zaniah motioned for Cassandra to follow her upstairs. “You can put your things in my room and then we can clean ourselves up before we go for dinner. I'm afraid falling over got us both rather dirty.” Cassandra nodded absent-mindedly.
“Okay then.” she replied meekly. What was worse than meeting someone else's parents? Using their bathroom, you're just too used to your own and the differences are kind of scary in a weird OCD kinda way.
“Give me your bag and I'll take it to my room. You can go first in the bathroom, it's just through that door there.” Zaniah pointed to a brown door just to her left.
“Is it alright if I just get a few clothes out of the bag, it's just these have got a bit of dirt on the front.” Cassandra asked.
“Yeah sure, I should get changed as well.” Zaniah looked down at the shirt she was wearing and pointed out various stains that had accumulated over that day. Cassandra pulled out some dark clothing and gave the bag back, Zaniah then turned and went through the door at the end of the corridor.
Cassandra entered the bathroom.
'I suppose it's not all that bad' she thought; it was relatively the same, perhaps the style was slightly different, but everything was in the same place. Calmed, Cassandra continued cleaning her self up, washing her hands and face and changing her clothes. She checked her self in the mirror to see if she was 'up to scratch.' She now wore a long, deep purple dress and a thin black shirt that covered her shoulders and upper arms. Her hair was still fairly messy looking, but it lay straighter than it usually would. Pleased with what she saw, Cassandra turned to leave but heard a knock at the door.
“You alright in there?” Zaniah's voice came from the other side of the door, laced slightly with concern.
Cassandra, instead of replying straight away, opened the door and simply said, “I'm fine. Your turn is it?”
Zaniah stood agape in the doorway. “Wow, you look fantastic” she said after regaining her bearings. “You do know that it's only my house, right? You're not meeting the Queen.”
Cassandra smiled, trying not to blush, “Yeah I know, I just wanted to look impressive so your parents will know you're not traipsing around Johto with an untrustworthy sort.”
Zaniah smiled back and put a hand on Cassandra's shoulder “If there's anything I've learnt over the past few hours of knowing you... It feels longer than that... anyway, if there's anything I've learnt, it's that I could trust you. And nothing my parents say could change that. Besides, I'm a teenager, I'd just rebel anyway.” Zaniah and Cassandra shared a laugh but Zaniah continued, “And yes, I do need the bathroom, so if you'd like to move out of the way, I'd be most appreciative.”
“I'll just go put these in my bag shall I? Last room on the corridor, right?”
“Yeah, you go do that, and I'll... you know, wash.” Zaniah slammed the door closed and Cassandra headed to the last room on the hallway, Zaniah's room.
Cassandra didn't really feel right being in Zaniah's room alone, even though she was invited. She saw her bag at the other side of the bed perched up against the wall, treading slowly and making sure not to touch anything or disturb the feel of the room, she stepped over to her bag and placed her dirty clothes in the top. Standing, Cassandra took a look around the room, the dark blue duvet and pillowcase set, the clean mahogany desk with a big golden framed mirror above it, the wooden dresser she was stood next to and the thick carpeted floor on which she was stood in only a thin pair of black socks.
Just as she was inspecting the poster of a band she'd never heard of, the door flew open and Cassandra jumped. Heart beating a mile a minute, she spun to see who opened the door but gasped as Zaniah was stood there wearing only a towel around her body, barely covering her lower half. “Oh Gods, I forgot you were in here!” She half shouted, turning scarlet.
Cassandra, a very similar colour to Zaniah, blocked her eyes and ran out of the room. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not looking.” She left the room and heard the door slam behind her. Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief and calmed herself down,
'it was a mistake, nothing was meant by it, just calm yourself and get ready for dinner.'
--
The four people currently situated in the small house were all sat around the dinner table, one on each side of the square table. In front of each person was a meal of home made cheese & tamato pizza, which each of the occupants were just about to eat.
Cassandra, not wanting to offend anyone, waited for someone else to take a bite before she did. Spying Zaniah having a taste and making a appreciative noise, she picked up a slice and tore off a small piece. 'Very nice' she thought, and so she took another bite and another, until she had finished eating. By this point everyone had either finished or had almost finished, Cassandra stood and went to put her plate in the sink but found herself being stopped by Zaniah's mother.
“No deary, you're a guest in this house and you'll do no such thing as washing up. I'll do that.” she said it in a caring way that seemed to imply
'I like things done my way' she sat down and watched as Zaniah's mother took all the plates from the table and put them in the sink. “I suppose you'll be wanting an early night so you can be on your way quicker?” Zaniah's mother asked from her place by the sink.
“Oh yes, I think we will. I've heard it's quite the trek through Union Cave and we'll need all the energy we can get.” Zaniah replied.
“It's also quite the journey from the exit to Azalea on the other side after you get through.” added Cassandra matter-of-factly.
Alma took a look at Cassandra for a short period of time before speaking, “I've been meaning to ask Cassandra, why are you taking this so late? I understand that Zaniah wanted to finish up her education before doing anything. Is your case any similar?”
Cassandra, taken aback by being asked a question didn't say anything for a while, “Not really. My dad needed help with work and couldn't afford to take on any help a few years back, now that he knows he can handle the finances and hire someone to help him, he said I was allowed to go off and journey if I wanted to. I went to the gym in Violet because I knew all the training I'd done in my spare time would help me beat the leader easily. That's where I met Zaniah, we were heading in the same direction so I tagged along, we hit it off so she offered to stay here so we had a decent roof over out heads for the night.” The three other people in the room sat (or stood, in Alma's case) and listened to the tale Cassandra was telling. “That's about it really.” she added quietly. “My dad calls himself a 'travelling merchant'. He travels around the place trading with the locals, making profits by buying from overstocked shops and selling to understocked ones. He's fairly good at catching a bargain so he usually gets a fair bit each time he does it.”
“Oh right.” replied Alma, thankfully glad no one caught the sarcasm and lack of interest in her voice. “You two should probably get sorted out for sleep, make sure you have all your things ready before you leave in the morning.”
Zaniah yawned, “Yeah, your right, it's been a long day. I feel pretty tired already, come on Cassandra, I'll show you where you're sleeping.”
The pair excused themselves and made their way back upstairs. At first Cassandra thought they were going to Zaniah's room but she stopped at a door just before it, “This is the guest room, we usually use it if relatives come round, but you should be fine, it has a bed and a few basic things. I'll just go grab your bag, you get comfortable.”
Just as Zaniah said, it looked pretty basic and seemed to be used mainly as storage, judging by the few cardboard boxes around the back wall. She sat on the bed and felt the cream duvet cover, quite soft and the mattress was quite springy.
'I should get a good night's sleep on this,' she thought. Just then, Zaniah appeared at the door and threw the bag to Cassandra.
“Good night.” She said simply, then disappeared again.
Cassandra undressed silently and pulled out some bed clothes from her bag, donning them, she climbed into the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a long day.
==
Holy crap! Zaniah's parents have names!?
Cassandra being the focal point of the narrative!?
Random Mr. Pokémon backstory!?
What is the world coming to? Cookies for anyone awesome enough to comment! Extra cookies for pointing out mistakes
