JFought
Sloooowly writing...
Serebii Holiday Gift Exchange 2018 Prompt: “Hiding from the cold, together,” requested by Namohysip.
Summary: The winter solstice is in a couple days, and Diana isn’t very happy about it. But when that bitterness manages get her and her friend stuck in the cold wilderness, she’s ends up finding that maybe there’s a point to this whole winter celebration thing after all.
EDIT 2022: I did another editing pass of this story and posted it to The Thousand Roads forums. The version of the story here is outdated, and contains references that might confuse you because of thatand also it has typos and formatting mistakes. I left the version here intact for the sake of history, and aside from the outdated references it's still mostly the same story, but I would recommend checking out the version on Thousand Roads instead. You can find it here.
Anyway, I’m not sure how to rate this, but I think PG? Involves a dark theme, and like one swear, but otherwise it’s tame. Another thing I’m obligated to point out again is that it’s a Liberian one-shot, which means it takes place in the same world as other things I have wrote (blah blah blah check signature blah blah blah). However, due to those precautions I mentioned, everything here is self-contained, so don’t worry about not knowing about a character or missing context or whatever.
And with that, on with the one-shot.
It’s Cold Outside
It was cold.
The door opened. No sound was made. The buizel who had opened it just as silently stepped outside. Snow gently fell from the sky, fluttering in the cold wind and chilling the pokémon’s fur. No words were spoken as the buizel carefully closed the door behind her, flinching when the lock made a slight *click!* Apprehensively, she waited for something to happen, but nothing did, and with a sigh she left behind the door and the large, lavish manor connected to it.
As the buizel made her way away from the manor and into the city proper, the world started to become loud. The neat, cobble streets of the mercantile district were filled with customers, shopkeepers, passerby, and everything in between, and talk of trade flew through the air. “Last shipment for oran berries! Store up while they’re still in stock!” “I’d like two, please!” “Too cold? How about a scarf for the winter season!” “What sizes do you have?” “And here we have a wooden figure of the King, the perfect gift for the solstice!” “Oh, I just barely have enough Poké for that. If only it were cheaper...” The buizel liked all this noise. It made the city of Kristiled feel alive, as opposed to the insufferable silence of the manor. But she wasn’t here to loiter; she had places to be, and so she kept going, past the stalls and storefronts and neatly plowed roads.
She continued into the residential district. It was quieter here, as well as somewhat cramped. Kristiled was smaller than it probably should have been, though in their defense the city planners probably never expected a city in the middle of frozen tundra to grow any larger than a couple hundred citizens. Most had already left for the afternoon, but a few ice-type ‘mon were still roaming the streets making idle chatter. “Hey there, fine weather today, isn’t it?” “Yeah, but those clouds don’t look like they’re going to be kind to us later.” The buizel shivered a little, and hurried down the road faster than before. The white brick houses grew more crowded and run-down, only the road staying pristine as she took all the right turns into poorer and poorer areas. Along the way, she noticed an icy sandslash standing in front of a broken door. “Everything’s too expensive, I’m worried we might not be able to afford anything for her this year.” The buizel lifted her brow, then shrugged it off. Somewhere further down, another door opened, and she could hear the voice of a mother to her child: “Come back early, you hear? It gets colder than usual this time of year.” The buizel hugged herself. She was fine. Not an ice-type, but she was used to the cold and had a thick coat of winter fur to help. So no one needed to worry about her.
Her route ended in front of a (relatively) large building, proudly labeled “KRISTILED DOJO.” The sign looked to have been repainted, probably in anticipation of last-minute solstice shoppers looking to rent TMs or create appointments. “Not that he sees much business anyways,” the buizel thought.
She pushed open the door, and sure enough, the place was devoid of customers. A lone lucario meditated in the middle of the large, empty room, legs crossed and arms in some sort of pose. The buizel shivered. “Why didn’t he set up a fire in here?”
She walked up to him and asked: “What are you doing?”
“Meditating.”
“In the cold?”
He lifted open one eye and smirked. “Didn’t you know that the cold helps with meditating?”
“I know it helps with pneumonia.”
That broke his concentration. The lucario broke into a fit of laughter and fell backwards. The buizel just watched, unamused. Eventually, he regained his composure and began to push himself up. “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor, Diana!”
“I wasn’t joking.” Diana sighed. The lucario who ran this dojo was named Nestor. He was pretty old, gray hairs lining his muzzle. According to advertisements he was also wise, but Diana found that hard to believe sometimes.
Composed, Nestor stood up. “So, what brings you here today? Shouldn’t you be with your family on the solstice?”
“It’s not the solstice,” Diana replied.
“But it will be soon. You don’t have to come here every day, y’know.”
She crossed her arms. “You come here everyday.”
Nestor looked like he was about to say something, but rubbed the back of his head instead. “Eh, that’s fair,” he said, shrugging it off. “I’ll go get a training dummy.”
“And set a fire.”
“And set a fire.”
The lucario went off towards the fire pit in the corner of the room, gave it a good, fiery Blaze Kick, and casually walked to the storage closet. “He sure likes to take his time.” In the half year that Diana had been coming here, she learned that it was common for him to do everything as slowly as possible. It was probably because he was old, but half the time it felt like Nestor did things just to infuriate her. Like some kind of all-knowing jerk.
He came out with the dummy and drove its stake into a well-worn hole in the floor, one in a row of many similarly worn holes. “It’s ready. Let’s see how far you’ve come.”
Diana pulled off the coin purse that had been hanging around her neck and sized the dummy up. It was wooden: a log placed on a stake, with a pillow for a head. It was also already burnt, just a step away from being used as fuel for the fire pit. “What is he doing, giving me firewood to train with?!” But she supposed it didn’t matter; as long as it could take a hit.
So, feeling slightly insulted, she focused energy into her paw, and allowed it to burst into flames.
“Careful Diana,” Nestor warned. “If you don’t control your flame, then you’ll set the dummy on fire.”
“I know.” This was a test, then. And an easy one at that. “I’ll show him.”
With immense concentration and effort, the buizel launched a Fire Punch at the wooden dummy. It didn’t catch. Her confidence validated, Diana hit it again, and again. “four… five… six… seven…” She punched with a slow rhythm, making sure not to overexert herself and accidently set it on fire. At some point, she could hear the door open, complete with a frigid blast of air, but Diana tried to ignore it. “twelve… thirteen… I’ll show them too… fifteen…”
And on the next punch, her attack exploded. The sudden force surprised her, and Diana found herself looking at the ceiling, a newly created heat source hovering near her tails. She pushed herself up, and sure enough, she failed. The dummy was on fire.
“You let yourself get distracted,” said Nestor, who offered his paw. She rejected it and got to her feet with indignance. Nestor just shook his head. “And we were so close too. Just a couple more punches and that would’ve been it for this set.” He looked over to the new visitors: a sandshrew and a snover. “Hey, could one of you youngsters help put out this fire real quick?” he asked, pointing to the flaming dummy.
“Uh, yeah sure,” said the snover. She did as told and held out one of her arms to use Powder Snow, putting it out. Diana sulked as she watched.
Nestor went back into the storage closet and came back with an oran berry in his paws. He gave it to Diana. “Here.” She took it and started nibbling slowly at it. Nestor glared. “You need to be more careful, Diana,” he scolded. “You’ve made good progress, but just because using Fire Punch doesn’t give you first-degree burns anymore doesn’t mean you’re ready to use it all willy-nilly.”
Diana went hot with embarrassment. “I know that,” she said, trying to save face in front of the visitors. Visitors that she knew. She turned to them. “Why did you two have to come in right now anyway?”
The snover shifted around, and the sandshrew squeaked. “We just wanted to watch you…” she said.
“Yeah, we’re sorry,” apologized the snover.
Nestor sighed. “You two don’t need to be sorry about anything. And don’t go blamin’ them Diana.”
The buizel stuffed the rest of the berry in her mouth, wiped her face and crossed her arms. “It’s true.”
“I’m serious here.” He shook his head. “Buizel like you aren’t meant to be playing around with fire. Literally! As a delta pokémon, it’s your responsibility to be in control of your power, so it’s always on you if something goes wrong.”
Diana watched Nestor go to retrieve the burnt dummy and throw it in the fire pit. Bitter, she muttered under her breath: “It’s not my fault you set me up…”
The lucario’s ears shot upright, and he sighed again. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, eh…? Welp.” He moved to close the storage closet, then started walking towards the door.
Diana became alert. “Wait, what’re you doing?!”
“I’m closing up shop for the day.” Nestor opened the door, letting the cold air in. “No one’s really coming over besides you, and I figured the time’d be better spent with my grandkids. Can’t keep them waiting a couple days before the solstice, y’know!”
“But wait!” Diana held out her paw to stop him. “If you leave now, I-I won’t pay you!”
He just shrugged. “Eh. Didn’t need it anyway. You can hang here if you want, just be sure to put the fire out. See ya next month!” He waved, then closed the door behind him as he left.
Diana stared at the door. “What the… What the hell?!” She turned to her “friends,” fuming.
The sandshrew cowered, and the snover held up her paws. “We’re sorry, seriously! We didn’t know that-!”
“Whatever!” Diana grabbed her coin purse and started heading towards the door. “We’re leaving.”
“But, what about the fire?” the sandshrew spoke up.
“Leave it.” Diana hoped the dojo burned down while she was gone.
She opened the door into the outside, cold air ruffling her fur and falling snow causing her to shiver, but she pushed past it, stomping down the street towards the park. Her two accomplices took their time, but eventually they came running behind her.
“Those two…” They were her friends, in the sense that they followed her wherever she went. Not really much like friends, actually. It’s been like this for the six months Diana had been venturing into the city: go to the dojo, find these two watching her, and go to the park. Not that she minded all that much. They usually didn’t do a lot of talking, but she knew a few things.
The snover was named Klara, and was the more talkative and practical of the two. She always seemed a bit more “into it” than the sandshrew, always the first to watch at the dojo, and coming with different questions for Diana every time. She had an aunt, but didn’t really talk about herself or her family all that often. Neither of them did, but Diana didn’t either, so it worked out.
The sandshrew, youngest of the three, was named Inna, and Diana had no clue why she followed her. Of the two, Inna was always just… there. She didn’t talk much, usually just watched silently, and was kind of a wimp. It never once looked as if she was interested in any of what Diana did, but she kept coming back, so clearly she wanted to be there. She had both a mother and a father; Diana has met both of them, usually because one of them always come out to the park to bring her back home before sunset. They were nice ‘mon, who cared for their daughter. Diana figured it was nice, to have parents like that.
The trio finally reached the park, a small clearing of sorts surrounded by a low wall. It was called a park, but it was only a park in the sense that it was a lot of land with no buildings. The ground was entirely snow, and only a couple hardy spruces stood to break up the expanse. But it was also the place for children in Kristiled, being one of the few open spaces, and an open space of snow always invites improvisation. So Diana hopped over the wall, Klara and Inna close behind, and leaned against it, watching the various ice-types build their snow forts and have snowball fights and whatever else they decided to do.
The park was also the best place for rumors, which is what Diana was really here for. Rumors about parents engaging in shady deals in the underground of the Guild Center; about the “Great Kecleon Conspiracy” trying to take over the world one city at a time; about a kid last year who apparently built a replica of Kristiled’s Ice Palace in this very park, and was never seen again afterwards; about the “Three Terrors of East Park,” and how their leader is secretly a noble who lives in some fancy mansion in the northern district. That fancy mansion only had so many books on so many things, and in those six months of secret outings, she never once regretted getting to see the real world.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. She regretted it a little bit. She stared at Inna, absentmindedly making something in the snow, without a care in the world. “Only a little bit.”
“What are you doing?” Diana asked.
Inna didn’t look up from the pile of snow she was gathering. “Making a snowrunt.”
Diana and Klara just stared. Sometimes she wished she could change the name of “Three Terrors” to “Two Terrors and That One Kid Who Won’t Stop Following Us.”
She looked away, tried to ignore it, and scanned the park for the usual group of gossipers. They’ve been getting crafty in their attempts to keep Diana away from them lately. Making igloos to hide in, ducking behind walls, having a snowball fight while talking. But this time, they were simply in the far corner, talking nonchalantly. As if somehow the Two Terrors weren’t going to be a threat to them today.
Diana pushed herself off the wall, stomping through the snow towards them. Klara followed close behind, and Inna stayed back to continue making her snowrunt. As the duo approached, Diana could hear the hushed voices of the group.
“You don’t really think he’ll get you that, do you? They’re supposed to be rare.”
“My dad said that’s how he got one! And I want to evolve now!”
“Can we see if you do get it? I heard they’re supposed to be really-”
“What’re you all talking about?”
The group of eight pokémon went stiff. Those facing her looked in fear, while those with their backs turned slowly looked behind them. A sneasel in the group shouted to a lone eevee. “I thought we told you to keep watch!”
“I forgot, okay?!” he responded, ears dropped.
“Hey,” Diana growled. “I asked you all a question. I want to know what you were talking about.”
“W-we weren’t talking about anything,” cowered a vulpix.
“Don’t play dumb with me: I heard you talking about getting something,” Diana said, pointing at him.
A smoochum stepped forward. “Well, it is time for the solstice, and…”
“And what?” Diana raised her fist. “Stop being coy, or I’ll make you tell me.”
The group collectively flinched. The two snorunt cousins huddled together. They knew that even the combined might of all eight couldn’t take down Diana. They knew that because they tried it once, and she beat them all without even getting hit. The eevee in the group flinched the hardest, still remembering how a month ago he got his own older brother to fight her, and he lost too.
“Someday, I’ll be the strongest Pokémon in the world,” Diana remembered saying to the battered and bruised Glaceon. “Don’t you forget it.”
“We were talking about the solstice!” the eevee blurted out. “And The Saint!”
Diana tilted her head. “The Saint? Who’s that?”
Gasps echoed throughout the group, the mood turning from fear to disbelief. They began whispering amongst each other.
“She doesn’t know who The Saint is?!”
“How does she not know who The Saint is?”
“Maybe she really is rich!”
“I think I feel sorry for her...”
Irritated at the inability of the gossipers to answer her questions, the buizel turned to Klara. “Klara, tell me who The Saint is.”
“Oh, uh, basically he’s some guy who comes around on the winter solstice and gives gifts to everyone.” When Diana scoffed, Klara gave a bewildered look. “You... really don’t know who he is?”
The group had ceased talking, all eyes on Diana. “Giving gifts to everyone, huh?” The festivities of Krisitled were always lost on her, but that had to be the most ridiculous of all she had heard. “I never got gifts from anyone on the solstice.”
Everyone seemed to have been made uncomfortable by that, all looking as if there was something they wanted to say in retaliation. Finally, a swinub muttered what everyone was thinking: “Of course no one would want to give you presents on the solstice.”
Diana heard that, the words slicing through her like butter. But instead, she grinned. “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”
“You know what? I don’t think this ‘Saint’ guy exists.”
A second round of gasps. The smoochum glared. “He does too!”
“Yeah!” exclaimed the eevee. “If he doesn’t exist, then who’s giving everyone presents?!”
“It’s probably your parents. Why do you think everyone goes shopping before the solstice?”
Klara spoke up, uncertainty glimmering in her eyes. “Isn’t it to store up food for the winter?”
“Not you too!” Did everyone believe in this lie? “That’s just the kind of excuse you’d hear if they were trying to keep secrets!”
“Admit it!” The eevee came stomping up, a bold fury overtaking him. “You’re just jealous that no one give you gifts on the solstice!”
“Ha! As if I have anything to be jealous of!” Diana scoffed. “You just don’t want to admit I’m right!”
“No you’re not!”
“Yes I am!”
“No, you’re not!”
They went on like this for a while. Klara looked back to Inna. She was searching the ground for eyes to put on her snowrunt.
Suddenly, the eevee broke the chain. “I’ll fight you!”
And a third round of gasps. The vulpix acted quickly and tried to pull back on his ear. “Don’t do it, Emil! It’s not worth it!”
Diana was just amused. “You think you can take me?”
Emil pulled away from his friend looked up at Diana. “I’ve been training! I can beat you up!”
“Not at the dojo you haven’t,” the buizel pointed out.
“But I have! So let’s fight right now, and if I win, you admit you’re wrong!”
Diana looked down at him. Even if he was a little stronger now, it only took one look to be able to tell how quickly the battle would end. “Instantly.” And if she was going to fight someone…
“No.” She turned around and walked off.
“What?! No?!” cried out a shocked Emil. “But… if you run away then that’s forfeit! You admit you’re wrong!”
Diana turned around, angry. “I don’t admit anything, and I’m definitely not wrong about The Saint!” She turned her nose upwards. “I just don’t think you’re worth it.”
The eevee shook, as if the words themselves were her attack. Tears welled in his eyes, and he broke down on the spot. “Oops… I might have been too blunt. Oh well. It’s better to make him cry than to beat him to a pulp.” Diana looked away and continued, leaving the crying eevee to get comforted by his friends.
Klara ran to catch up as they headed back towards Inna. “You could’ve beat him, y’know,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t fight him.” Diana sighed, remembering what Nestor had drilled into her countless times. “Because when a fight is unfair, it’s barely a fight.”
The two made it to Inna, who was standing proudly before her small, conical creation. It had gray pebbles for eyes; Diana noticed a hole in the snow nearby where she must have dug to find them.
Inna turned around. “What do you think?” she asked somewhat self-consciously. Diana wasn’t an expert on snow creations, but the snowrunt was pretty amateurish. It had no features besides the eyes and was only about as big as the young sandshrew herself, who was only barely over half Diana’s height.
“It could be bigger,” Diana pointed out. “Like an actual snorunt.”
Inna poked her claws together. “Well, I’m not that big yet…”
“I think it looks cute,” said Klara.
“Thanks. I think so too.”
Diana decided to ignore them both and went back to leaning against the wall. She could see Emil in the distance, still glaring at her. She started to fiddle with the coin purse, hoping to block it out.
“What’s wrong?” Inna asked. Klara absentmindedly kicked some snow around, apprehensive of what Diana might say.
And then: “Do either of you believe in The Saint?”
Klara flinched, and the sandshrew was taken aback. “Of course I do!” she earnestly answered.
“Of course you would,” Diana thought to herself. “But why? How do you know he exists?”
“Well, he leaves letters, and presents, and my parents don’t know where they come from, so…”
“But what if they’re lying to you?”
Inna was taken aback by the question. “Whu… What do you mean lie to me?!”
“They probably don’t want to tell you the truth,” Diana continued. “I bet it's all just some… ploy. To make up someone who cares about you.”
“You’re…” Inna’s eyes began to tear up. “You’re wrong! Momma and Pa would never lie to me! And The Saint is real, I know he is!”
Anger began to boil up inside Diana’s stomach. “Why is everyone so insistent on this?!”
And then she remembered something. A horrible little something that would shut her “friend” up immediately. And after a little hesitation, Diana went against her better judgement and said it.
“You know,” she began, a knowing smile growing on her face. “On the way to the dojo, I saw your mom talking about how everything in the market is too expensive.”
“What…?”
“And you know what she said? She said that she might not be able to give you any gifts this year. So if you want proof that The Saint is not real, just wait a couple days. See what happens.”
Inna stood there, tears in her eyes, processing what was just said. And then suddenly, she turned and ran away. Diana watched her as she ran out of the park and out of sight.
Klara shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t you think you went a little too far?”
Diana huffed, and crossed her arms. “She’ll be fine.” She turned her gaze towards the snover. “What about you? Do you believe in The Saint?”
Klara avoided her gaze. “I mean… I’ve been wondering about it, but… I think he might still be real. Maybe.”
“Maybe…” She thought about Inna and the gossiping kids. It wasn’t a maybe to them. It was certainty. “They’re taking this way too seriously. It’s just some guy who give presents. That’s literally all he is. Don’t they have enough ‘mon who care for them?”
And then she thought about it some more. “She took it pretty seriously though… Maybe I was a little harsh. But I just don’t understand. Why would a parent make a lie like that?” From what she could tell, the difference between this lie and the kind of lies her father had told was that this lie didn’t hide anything meaningful. It was just little white lie that the kids put their faith in. “Maybe I’m messing things up. Her parents are good, they probably have some kind of reason.” Diana shivered. “They’ll probably be angry at me then, and if they are...”
A couple moments passed. Diana looked to Klara. “What direction did she head in, anyway?”
“I think she went east.”
“But her house isn’t east. Did she…?” With a sigh, Diana pushed off the wall. “I’m going to go look for her.”
Klara nodded. “Okay.”
And so, Diana left the park behind to follow Inna. “East from here is the city exit. She didn’t leave the city, did she?” She began to move more quickly, anxiety and guilt starting to build up within as she realized that she must have been much harsher than she thought if she managed to drive Inna out of the city. “She’s never done this before… But she couldn’t have gotten too far.”
She found herself in front of one of the three openings in the city walls. Out there, the vast expanse of the tundra lay bare, stretching endlessly into the distance. Diana scanned the ground for footprints. There were a few sets, one of which was notably smaller than the others. “And they’re heading north…”
Diana began to follow, trudging northbound through the snow, away from the noise of Kristiled and back into the quiet. Kristiled’s east wall went on for a while, but Inna’s footprints went farther. Diana found herself dumbfounded that she could have even made it this far. Anxiety began to turn into anger. “Why does she care so much?! You’d think she’d just-” A snowflake landed on Diana’s nose, and she sneezed. “...Go to her parents or something. They would be willing to comfort her.”
The world grew colder, quieter, and whiter. Kristiled was left far behind, the only sound being Diana making her own tracks. The snow blew gently in the wind, a little more plentiful than before, ominous looking clouds gathering on the horizon. “Those ‘mon in town were right. I better make this quick.” Far off in the distance, she could see the tracks end. And as she got closer, she began to make out a shape camouflaged against the snow. “Inna?!” Diana called out. The shape turned around. Sure enough. But Inna went back to staring at the skyline. “What is she looking… at…”
As the perspective began to shift with proximity, Diana finally noticed the cliff Inna was sitting in front of. A forest stretched off into the distance, the snow fall making it all seem like a daytime illusion.
“What are you doing here? It’s dangerous,” Diana asked as she approached. When Inna didn’t respond immediately, she prompted: “Well?”
Inna spoke softly. “Before I met you, I’d always come here. Whenever I felt sad. Or angry. Or lonely.” She looked up and spoke louder. “It’s really pretty here, and it helps calm me down. Momma always said it was good to find things that calm you down.”
“Oh.” Diana pondered the sandshrew’s explanation. “Before you met me? Why haven’t you come here since?”
“I never needed to.” Inna wiped her eyes. “B-but you...”
And the anger turned back to guilt. “I was too harsh. I shouldn’t have said that at all.”
Diana looked back up at the storm on the horizon. “Come on, we need to go back.” She walked forward to grab Inna’s arm.
But Inna pulled back. “No! I wanna be alone right now!”
“But-”
As Inna backed away, the snow gave out from under her. And just like that-
“No!” Diana jumped forward to grab her, and ended up sailing right off the cliff.
~~~
Diana’s whole body ached. Her head felt constricted, and she soon realized it was because her float sac was inflated far past where it was supposed to be. She let out a deep breath, letting the air out, and once it was back to a stable level, she pushed herself out of the buizel-shaped hole in the snow. She looked around, and quickly found herself shivering, the cold finally catching up.
“What happened? Wait, my-” She checked her neck and found her coin pouch still there. Good. Her father probably would not have given her a new one had she lost it. “But isn’t there something else I should be worrying about?”
“Wait, Inna!” Diana got to her feet and looked around again. Right now, she was at the bottom of the cliff, between the cliff wall and the coniferous forest. “Is she in the forest?” Diana began to move in that direction. “I remember I jumped after her, but where-”
Diana suddenly noticed a weird mound of white just in front of her, motionless in the snow. “Inna?” She knocked on the shell, and Inna slowly curled out of her dome-like position.
“Am I dead?” she asked, clearly shaken by the fall.
“No, but…” Diana looked back at the cliff wall. “...but it’s going to be hard getting back.”
Inna got up and followed Diana’s stare. Her eyes widened at the sight of the cliff. “How are we going to get back?” she asked, anxiety gripping the edges of her voice.
“I don’t know.” Diana looked in both directions and tried to remember what she knew about the map of this area. Kristiled was on a plateau of sorts, with the cliff stretching all the way west until it hit the ocean. To the east, it eventually sloped downwards to meet sea level, but from what she could see, it went on for quite a while. “Definitely not short enough to get to Kristiled before the blizzard hits.” She looked up at the sky. “Or before night falls.” Yet, it was the only option, unless they were willing to try and scale the rocky cliff wall.
“Maybe we should wait,” Inna suggested. “Everyone will notice we’re gone eventually, right?”
Diana hadn’t considered that, but she considered it from a different angle. “Oh no, my father! I won’t be home in time for sunset, which means he’ll be angry...”
She shook her head. “It’s not plausible. You saw the sky, didn’t you? The blizzard will hit us before they get here.”
Inna looked down. “I didn’t think about that…” And she began to tear up. “What do we do? I’m scared…”
She immediately went to hug Diana, who almost jumped. “What the?!” Inna’s body was cold to the touch, and super uncomfortable. Diana wasn’t sure how to react at all. “We’ll, uh,” She tried to peel herself away, but Inna just pressed against her harder. “We’ll go east and try to find shelter, okay?” she said, hoping that’d be enough to get her to let go.
Luckily, it was. The sandshrew sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Okay.”
And so Diana and Inna began their trek eastward, in hopes of finding something to escape the blizzard and hide out. As they went, the wind grew sharper, and the sky, darker. A reminder that they needed to hurry. Diana shivered. “Or at least get lucky.” All the while, Inna’s expectant stare bore into her back. Every once in a while, Diana looked behind her to see Inna still sporting that stare. “I never realized she trusted me this much.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. The added pressure of expectation both weighed on her and drove her forward. “But I can’t let her down.”
She tried to go over scenarios where they couldn’t find shelter. What would she do then? “We could make an igloo, though neither of us are very good at snow creations. I could also use fire, but I can only keep it up for so long. But if worst comes to worst…”
That’s when she realized something. “Then Inna will be fine. She’s an ice-type. She’s built to survive this kind of weather. I’m… not.” The thought was frightening, but also… comforting? Regardless, she still found herself shivering at the next gust of wind.
An hour passed. The sky grew dark, and not because of the clouds. The wind started to pick up, and the trees shook, as if in anticipation. Diana scanned the wall ahead. “Is there anywhere for us to- wait!” Up ahead, she could see an oddly colored patch of wall. Diana quickened her pace, Inna following close behind. It was a cave, locked behind a wall of ice. “The ice doesn’t seem that thick. I bet I could punch through it.”
“Did you find something?” asked Inna. She brightened up immediately when she saw the cave. “A cave?! Can you-?”
“Of course I can. Just give me a moment.” Diana pulled her paw back and focused her energy into it. Within no time at all, it burst into flames. “I don’t need to worry about control this time.”
But she could imagine Nestor watching, and shaking his head. “You think making your attack explode is a good thing? Maybe in battle! But not right now. Last thing anyone needs is for you to blow yourself up.” Diana found herself slightly pissed off at that. She channeled the feeling into a punch and began her attack. She could hear the ice crack, and feel the ice start to melt under her paw. She continued with a slow rhythm, trying to focus and avoid letting her Fire Punch get out of control. Inna silently watched.
And then, the wall cracked, and with another punch it shattered. The ice wall fell to pieces, the only remnants lying on the edges. Diana stepped into the cave. It was dark, and the light outside revealed that it was actually fairly shallow. It was also protected from the wind, though Diana still found herself shivering. “This is good enough, but we need to start a fire.”
Inna stepped into the cave. “We’re going to stay here?”
“Yes, but we need materials for a fire.” Diana looked to the forest outside. “We don’t have what’s necessary to cut down a whole tree, but maybe we can take the branches.”
She walked outside and looked around. Inna spoke up. “I can help with that.”
Diana turned and raised her brow. “You can?”
“Yeah. I can climb, and cut down branches.” She showed off her claws, which, Diana had to admit, were definitely more impressive than hers.
“But no, I have to do this myself.” “Climb? What if you fall?” Diana asked, hoping to dissuade her.
“I won’t. Falling off the cliff was scary, but this isn’t that bad. I think I can handle it. And also...” Inna tapped her claws together. “This is my fault, so I want to make myself useful.”
“What? Inna, this isn’t your fault. It’s…” Diana sighed. “I really have to admit this, don’t I?” It’s my fault. Just leave it to me.”
“But-”
Diana turned away, not letting the sandshrew get in another word. She walked right up to the nearest spruce tree and pushed her way through the ground-level branches. “Okay, so where do I start?”
“...”
“I don’t know where to start.”
She just stared at the trunk. “I can’t cut it. I don’t know any moves for that.” She tried bending a tree branch, hoping it’d maybe snap off. But the tree would not have it that way. Even when she put all of her weight on it, the branch held.
Meanwhile, Diana could hear a *THUNK!* coming from nearby. She wandered out of the spruce, and saw Inna sticking her claws into a fir tree. “Didn’t I tell you to-”
Inna removed her claws and slashed at a low hanging branch. It detached immediately. “Oh.”
“See? I can help. So please?” Inna asked.
Diana felt embarrassed, to be shown up by someone so much weaker than her. She almost wanted to be defiant and say no, but a particularly nasty gust of wind hit Diana’s back, causing her to hunch over and shiver. “Fine. You can deal with it.”
Inna smiled. “Thank you.” And she immediately went to work. Diana sulked back to the cave. At least she didn’t have to deal with the wind anymore.
She sat down on the cave floor and lit a fire on her paw. She knew she should be conserving her energy, but right now, she was freezing. Diana held the warmth of her own fire close, and let it melt away her troubles. She could only hold it for so long however, and within five minutes she recognized that she couldn’t keep it for longer without jeopardizing herself. The fire went out, and the cold came back immediately. “I hope she hurries up.”
This was a test. It felt that way, at least. The entire reason Diana had decided to leave her manor and see Kristiled for herself was to learn how to use fire attacks. And in doing so, she found herself in a situation where that fire was integral to her survival. She remembered how she had asked her father, as politely as she could, if she could begin training in the fire-type. But he said no, you’re not ready. Focus on other types and moves first. It wasn’t until after she started leaving that she realized he wasn’t actually worried about “readiness.” But that didn’t matter: now was her chance to prove him wrong.
After a while, Inna appeared at the entrance to the cave. “Can you help me bring the branches back?”
Diana nodded and followed her outside. The cold wind hit her hard, and snow fell furiously. “The blizzard is practically on top of us!” She pushed through anyway, and saw a completely stripped fir tree.
“I wasn’t sure how much was enough, so…” Inna said with embarrassment.
“N-No, i-it’s fine.” Diana moved to start gathering branches. “It’s almost done. Then we’ll have a fire again.” The knowledge of warmth drove her on through the cold.
The branches were all cut into more manageable pieces, though the pine needles made them a bit uncomfortable to move. Despite that, the two managed to gather the branches into the cave, where they piled them up near the back. “Just in case the fire is too hot,” Diana explained. When it was all said and done, she lit her paw up and gave it a good fire punch, immediately illuminating the cave and bringing respite from the decreasing temperature outside. Diana sighed and slid against the wall. “Finally…” The fire the two worked together to create was much warmer than the one Diana had for herself. It also smelled a bit odd, probably because of the burning leaves, but that was a small price to pay.
Inna sat on the wall opposite to her and looked outside. “It’s starting to get dark.”
“Good thing we gathered so much wood then,” Diana remarked. “It might last us all night.”
“All night?” Inna looked worried. “Do you think we’ll get home in time for the solstice?”
Diana completely forgot about that. “Will we?” “Maybe, if we spend tomorrow traveling back,” she answered. “But it might be better if we wait for help.”
“I know. I’m just worried that, maybe it’ll take too long.”
The buizel thought about it. “Does it really matter? You’ll probably still get presents.”
“Yeah, but… but it won’t be the same. I don’t wanna miss the solstice.” Inna was almost on the verge of tears.
Diana felt her heart crack a little. “I don’t want to see her cry. What do I do…?” She couldn’t think of anything. Admittedly, she wasn’t sure how to comfort others. “But uh, something quick. What would I want to hear…?”
“What do you usually do?” she asked without thinking. “Er, on the solstice, I mean.”
“What do I…? W-well, we all wake up, a-and we look on the table for the presents, and they come with a letter.” Inna started to calm down. “And then, my momma reads the letter The Saint sent us, and I open the presents.”
“The Saint again…” Diana frowned, but she let the sandshrew continue. “And after that, we go visit our family and spend the rest of the day eating, and playing, and having fun. And I get to talk to everyone, and…” Inna wiped her face. “And I don’t want to miss it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Diana. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, but it did sound nice. “This is working.” “If we get back, what kind of presents do you want to get?”
Inna looked up, excitement lighting up in her eyes. “Well, I was thinking about getting a scarf.”
“A scarf?” Diana considered the thought. “But why would you need a scarf? Aren’t you already fine in the cold?”
“Yeah, but I saw an adventurer wear one once, and it looked so warm. I’d like to try one.” Inna started thinking about other things. “And… I also asked for an eviolite.”
“An eviolite? What would you need one of those for?”
“Well, they’re supposed to make you stronger if you’re not evolved yet, and I thought it’d be useful.” She seemed a bit sheepish. “Or I could give it to Klara. I think she’d like it.”
“Eviolite are supposed to be expensive though. No wonder her parents couldn’t buy everything.” Diana shook off the thought. “Is that all?”
“No, there’s one more. I always ask for nanab berries. They’re my favorite berry, but they don’t really grow around here. The Saint gave them to me one year, and I really liked them, so…”
Diana has had them before. “I guess they’re okay.”
Inna seemed much better now. But in the process, Diana only found herself feeling wishful. “Makes me wish that…” She closed her eyes, a bitter feeling rising up. At least she could leave the subject behind now.
But then: “What do you do on the solstice?”
Diana didn’t expect that. The blizzard outside grew louder, coming down with full force now. “Huh?”
“Well, you were pretty angry about it before, so I was wondering…” Inna tapped her claws together. For some reason that made Diana feel like she had to say something.
“I-I… don’t understand it.”
“What do you mean?”
Diana sighed. “Meeting with family, throwing a party, The Saint… I don’t get any of it. We don’t do any of that.”
Now it was Inna’s turn to be taken aback. She almost didn’t seem to understand at first. “Then… Is that why you don’t believe in The Saint? Don’t you still get presents?”
That struck a fuse. Anger started to build up. “No, I don’t. I told you we don’t do that.”
“But-”
“We don’t visit family, we don’t have any feast, or throw any party, and we don’t give any presents!”
“But-!”
“I mean, how can The Saint exist if I’ve just heard of him? If he’s supposed to give presents to everybody, why haven’t I ever gotten anything?!”
Inna went quiet. She was contemplating something. Similar to when Diana was contemplating saying the words that put them into this situation.
Then, she said it. “Momma said that The Saint doesn’t give presents to children who’ve been bad.”
Diana blinked. “What…” Cogs turned in her head. Anger dissipated into nothing. Everything clicked at once.
And she started to cry.
She tried to use her arm to hide it, but it was no use. Her laboured breath and streaks of tears made it obvious to Inna. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know,” Diana said between sobs. It was a lie. Deep down, she knew exactly why she was crying, but she was afraid to admit it to herself.
And then, out of nowhere, something latched onto her side. It felt heavy, and warm, and when Diana opened her eyes, she found Inna hugging her. She stopped sobbing. “Wh… What are you-?”
Inna whispered, her head buried into Diana’s arm. “Pa said that if someone’s crying, it’s because they need something. And Momma said it’s because they need a hug.”
Diana had never figured such things, but then again, this was the second time in her life that she had been hugged. “Inna cares about me… I didn’t think anyone did.” Before long, Diana found herself leaning into the hug. The two just sat there, fire and blizzard going on on opposite sides of the cave.
Eventually, Diana wiped her face and said, “I think I’m okay now.” Inna detached herself and went back to her spot on the opposite wall. Diana sighed. “You know I’m a noble, right?” Inna was hesitant, but she nodded. “I figured you did. Do you know what nobles do?”
Inna shook her head. “I know they’re rich, but nothing else.”
“Well, they don’t really do that much. Some of them are involved with the King, but he’s the one who chooses which ones are. The main reason we’re there is for when the King dies.” Diana looked to the side, away from Inna. “When he dies, someone else has to take his place, and they do that by putting all of the nobles of the generation below him into a fighting tournament. And whoever wins becomes King. Or Queen. That’s how the current King was decided, and…” She sighed again. “And my father is the King’s older brother. He lost.”
“Wait, you’re-?”
“Then I come along, and I’m a delta Pokémon, which means increased combat ability and unrestricted type access through magic. Which gives me an advantage over everyone else.”
When Diana looked back, she saw the troubled expression on Inna’s face. “So… Your pa wants you to win for him?”
“...Yeah.” “It’s an understatement, but yeah.”
“What about your momma?”
“I don’t have one. She left a long time ago.”
“What?” Inna looked down. “I don’t understand…”
“I don’t expect you to,” replied Diana. “I just felt like I could talk about it with you. That’s all.”
“Okay…”
It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that she didn’t get it. But what really surprised Diana was that despite her lack of understanding, she still listened. “Despite everything, she keeps following me.” Diana had to know.
“You know, I was wondering. Why do you hang out with me?” she asked.
Inna looked up. “Well… I don’t have any other friends.” She poked her claws together. “And Momma said that, if you see someone who looks lonely, then that means they want friends, too. You always looked so lonely, so I thought maybe you’d want to be my friend,” she explained. “And, I like following you. It feels safe. I don’t feel lonely around you or Klara.”
“Oh.” Diana thought to herself. “I didn’t realize she was lonely too. I mean, it seems like she has everything.” She sighed. “Except friends. And… I haven’t been a very good one.”
“I’m sorry.”
Inna tilted her head. “What for?”
“For saying The Saint wasn’t real. And getting us into this mess.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay, I don’t blame you. You didn’t mean it.”
“Forgiven that easily?” Diana had to hold back another tear. “You’re way too forgiving, you know that?”
Inna looked embarrassed. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No,” She found herself yawning. “No, it’s fine. I think I’m just tired.”
“*yawn* ...Me too,” Inna said, rubbing her eyes.
“So, we’ll go to sleep for tonight?”
Inna looked back outside at the howling blizzard. She shivered. “If we have to…”
Diana wasn’t sure what was up with that, but she shrugged it off. “I think I just want to go to sleep.” She lay down on her side and let her floatation sac deflate, back against the wall. The cave floor wasn’t the bed she was used to, but the fire close by and the presence of a friend made it better, somehow. Or maybe she was just drowsy. “See you in the morning, Inna.”
“Good night…”
Diana could hear the unease, but she was asleep before she could consider it.
~~~
(continued in next post.)
Summary: The winter solstice is in a couple days, and Diana isn’t very happy about it. But when that bitterness manages get her and her friend stuck in the cold wilderness, she’s ends up finding that maybe there’s a point to this whole winter celebration thing after all.
EDIT 2022: I did another editing pass of this story and posted it to The Thousand Roads forums. The version of the story here is outdated, and contains references that might confuse you because of that
So, uh, yeah. Celebrating the new year with the gift fic one-shot. I promised last year that I’d do this, and I like to keep promises if I can, so here I am. Not to mention I really needed something to kick my writing pace into high gear considering the last… 10 months, now? Tbh, coming back from the dead to deliver the application at all made me super nervous, since that’s alerting a whole four people that I still exist (which is like oh god no not four that’s the number of death). But I submitted it, got a prompt, got inspired pretty much immediately, and this is the result. It’s Cold Outside is part me getting out some stuff that I always wanted to do, part me trying to make something in the Christmas spirit, and part me coming to terms with the fact that I am physically incapable of writing anything less than 5k words now. I kinda went into denial before skipping all the other stages into acceptance. I got the prompts, thought of a couple cute scenarios, then was suddenly hit with the wording of “Hiding from the cold, together.” Everything from there kinda just happened. As a result of things just happening, I ended up taking a few risks, and I dunno maybe I shouldn’t have. I was walking on thin ice the entire time, so to speak. I realized that if I were going to take risks, I needed to take a few precautions this time around. It was really only a fear last time (where I also took risks), but I figure the only reason it wasn’t anything more than a fear was because I got lucky. Really lucky. Hopefully, then, this wasn’t too off putting or out there. This is a Liberian one-shot, but I went out of my way to remove it from everything else, and only include elements after I had already deemed that Namohysip might like or otherwise be okay with them. In other words, I tried to be more careful this time, and if you think I failed, please tell me, because I need to know.
The end result is a weird combination of the two prompts. The big thing, of course, is “Hiding from the cold, together.” The other prompt was a lot more specific, and while this doesn’t follow all of the details, a lot of those elements do show up. Best way I can describe it is that the other prompt was used as a “secondary prompt” to the main “primary prompt.”
The end result is a weird combination of the two prompts. The big thing, of course, is “Hiding from the cold, together.” The other prompt was a lot more specific, and while this doesn’t follow all of the details, a lot of those elements do show up. Best way I can describe it is that the other prompt was used as a “secondary prompt” to the main “primary prompt.”
Anyway, I’m not sure how to rate this, but I think PG? Involves a dark theme, and like one swear, but otherwise it’s tame. Another thing I’m obligated to point out again is that it’s a Liberian one-shot, which means it takes place in the same world as other things I have wrote (blah blah blah check signature blah blah blah). However, due to those precautions I mentioned, everything here is self-contained, so don’t worry about not knowing about a character or missing context or whatever.
And with that, on with the one-shot.
It’s Cold Outside
It was cold.
The door opened. No sound was made. The buizel who had opened it just as silently stepped outside. Snow gently fell from the sky, fluttering in the cold wind and chilling the pokémon’s fur. No words were spoken as the buizel carefully closed the door behind her, flinching when the lock made a slight *click!* Apprehensively, she waited for something to happen, but nothing did, and with a sigh she left behind the door and the large, lavish manor connected to it.
As the buizel made her way away from the manor and into the city proper, the world started to become loud. The neat, cobble streets of the mercantile district were filled with customers, shopkeepers, passerby, and everything in between, and talk of trade flew through the air. “Last shipment for oran berries! Store up while they’re still in stock!” “I’d like two, please!” “Too cold? How about a scarf for the winter season!” “What sizes do you have?” “And here we have a wooden figure of the King, the perfect gift for the solstice!” “Oh, I just barely have enough Poké for that. If only it were cheaper...” The buizel liked all this noise. It made the city of Kristiled feel alive, as opposed to the insufferable silence of the manor. But she wasn’t here to loiter; she had places to be, and so she kept going, past the stalls and storefronts and neatly plowed roads.
She continued into the residential district. It was quieter here, as well as somewhat cramped. Kristiled was smaller than it probably should have been, though in their defense the city planners probably never expected a city in the middle of frozen tundra to grow any larger than a couple hundred citizens. Most had already left for the afternoon, but a few ice-type ‘mon were still roaming the streets making idle chatter. “Hey there, fine weather today, isn’t it?” “Yeah, but those clouds don’t look like they’re going to be kind to us later.” The buizel shivered a little, and hurried down the road faster than before. The white brick houses grew more crowded and run-down, only the road staying pristine as she took all the right turns into poorer and poorer areas. Along the way, she noticed an icy sandslash standing in front of a broken door. “Everything’s too expensive, I’m worried we might not be able to afford anything for her this year.” The buizel lifted her brow, then shrugged it off. Somewhere further down, another door opened, and she could hear the voice of a mother to her child: “Come back early, you hear? It gets colder than usual this time of year.” The buizel hugged herself. She was fine. Not an ice-type, but she was used to the cold and had a thick coat of winter fur to help. So no one needed to worry about her.
Her route ended in front of a (relatively) large building, proudly labeled “KRISTILED DOJO.” The sign looked to have been repainted, probably in anticipation of last-minute solstice shoppers looking to rent TMs or create appointments. “Not that he sees much business anyways,” the buizel thought.
She pushed open the door, and sure enough, the place was devoid of customers. A lone lucario meditated in the middle of the large, empty room, legs crossed and arms in some sort of pose. The buizel shivered. “Why didn’t he set up a fire in here?”
She walked up to him and asked: “What are you doing?”
“Meditating.”
“In the cold?”
He lifted open one eye and smirked. “Didn’t you know that the cold helps with meditating?”
“I know it helps with pneumonia.”
That broke his concentration. The lucario broke into a fit of laughter and fell backwards. The buizel just watched, unamused. Eventually, he regained his composure and began to push himself up. “I didn’t know you had a sense of humor, Diana!”
“I wasn’t joking.” Diana sighed. The lucario who ran this dojo was named Nestor. He was pretty old, gray hairs lining his muzzle. According to advertisements he was also wise, but Diana found that hard to believe sometimes.
Composed, Nestor stood up. “So, what brings you here today? Shouldn’t you be with your family on the solstice?”
“It’s not the solstice,” Diana replied.
“But it will be soon. You don’t have to come here every day, y’know.”
She crossed her arms. “You come here everyday.”
Nestor looked like he was about to say something, but rubbed the back of his head instead. “Eh, that’s fair,” he said, shrugging it off. “I’ll go get a training dummy.”
“And set a fire.”
“And set a fire.”
The lucario went off towards the fire pit in the corner of the room, gave it a good, fiery Blaze Kick, and casually walked to the storage closet. “He sure likes to take his time.” In the half year that Diana had been coming here, she learned that it was common for him to do everything as slowly as possible. It was probably because he was old, but half the time it felt like Nestor did things just to infuriate her. Like some kind of all-knowing jerk.
He came out with the dummy and drove its stake into a well-worn hole in the floor, one in a row of many similarly worn holes. “It’s ready. Let’s see how far you’ve come.”
Diana pulled off the coin purse that had been hanging around her neck and sized the dummy up. It was wooden: a log placed on a stake, with a pillow for a head. It was also already burnt, just a step away from being used as fuel for the fire pit. “What is he doing, giving me firewood to train with?!” But she supposed it didn’t matter; as long as it could take a hit.
So, feeling slightly insulted, she focused energy into her paw, and allowed it to burst into flames.
“Careful Diana,” Nestor warned. “If you don’t control your flame, then you’ll set the dummy on fire.”
“I know.” This was a test, then. And an easy one at that. “I’ll show him.”
With immense concentration and effort, the buizel launched a Fire Punch at the wooden dummy. It didn’t catch. Her confidence validated, Diana hit it again, and again. “four… five… six… seven…” She punched with a slow rhythm, making sure not to overexert herself and accidently set it on fire. At some point, she could hear the door open, complete with a frigid blast of air, but Diana tried to ignore it. “twelve… thirteen… I’ll show them too… fifteen…”
And on the next punch, her attack exploded. The sudden force surprised her, and Diana found herself looking at the ceiling, a newly created heat source hovering near her tails. She pushed herself up, and sure enough, she failed. The dummy was on fire.
“You let yourself get distracted,” said Nestor, who offered his paw. She rejected it and got to her feet with indignance. Nestor just shook his head. “And we were so close too. Just a couple more punches and that would’ve been it for this set.” He looked over to the new visitors: a sandshrew and a snover. “Hey, could one of you youngsters help put out this fire real quick?” he asked, pointing to the flaming dummy.
“Uh, yeah sure,” said the snover. She did as told and held out one of her arms to use Powder Snow, putting it out. Diana sulked as she watched.
Nestor went back into the storage closet and came back with an oran berry in his paws. He gave it to Diana. “Here.” She took it and started nibbling slowly at it. Nestor glared. “You need to be more careful, Diana,” he scolded. “You’ve made good progress, but just because using Fire Punch doesn’t give you first-degree burns anymore doesn’t mean you’re ready to use it all willy-nilly.”
Diana went hot with embarrassment. “I know that,” she said, trying to save face in front of the visitors. Visitors that she knew. She turned to them. “Why did you two have to come in right now anyway?”
The snover shifted around, and the sandshrew squeaked. “We just wanted to watch you…” she said.
“Yeah, we’re sorry,” apologized the snover.
Nestor sighed. “You two don’t need to be sorry about anything. And don’t go blamin’ them Diana.”
The buizel stuffed the rest of the berry in her mouth, wiped her face and crossed her arms. “It’s true.”
“I’m serious here.” He shook his head. “Buizel like you aren’t meant to be playing around with fire. Literally! As a delta pokémon, it’s your responsibility to be in control of your power, so it’s always on you if something goes wrong.”
Diana watched Nestor go to retrieve the burnt dummy and throw it in the fire pit. Bitter, she muttered under her breath: “It’s not my fault you set me up…”
The lucario’s ears shot upright, and he sighed again. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, eh…? Welp.” He moved to close the storage closet, then started walking towards the door.
Diana became alert. “Wait, what’re you doing?!”
“I’m closing up shop for the day.” Nestor opened the door, letting the cold air in. “No one’s really coming over besides you, and I figured the time’d be better spent with my grandkids. Can’t keep them waiting a couple days before the solstice, y’know!”
“But wait!” Diana held out her paw to stop him. “If you leave now, I-I won’t pay you!”
He just shrugged. “Eh. Didn’t need it anyway. You can hang here if you want, just be sure to put the fire out. See ya next month!” He waved, then closed the door behind him as he left.
Diana stared at the door. “What the… What the hell?!” She turned to her “friends,” fuming.
The sandshrew cowered, and the snover held up her paws. “We’re sorry, seriously! We didn’t know that-!”
“Whatever!” Diana grabbed her coin purse and started heading towards the door. “We’re leaving.”
“But, what about the fire?” the sandshrew spoke up.
“Leave it.” Diana hoped the dojo burned down while she was gone.
She opened the door into the outside, cold air ruffling her fur and falling snow causing her to shiver, but she pushed past it, stomping down the street towards the park. Her two accomplices took their time, but eventually they came running behind her.
“Those two…” They were her friends, in the sense that they followed her wherever she went. Not really much like friends, actually. It’s been like this for the six months Diana had been venturing into the city: go to the dojo, find these two watching her, and go to the park. Not that she minded all that much. They usually didn’t do a lot of talking, but she knew a few things.
The snover was named Klara, and was the more talkative and practical of the two. She always seemed a bit more “into it” than the sandshrew, always the first to watch at the dojo, and coming with different questions for Diana every time. She had an aunt, but didn’t really talk about herself or her family all that often. Neither of them did, but Diana didn’t either, so it worked out.
The sandshrew, youngest of the three, was named Inna, and Diana had no clue why she followed her. Of the two, Inna was always just… there. She didn’t talk much, usually just watched silently, and was kind of a wimp. It never once looked as if she was interested in any of what Diana did, but she kept coming back, so clearly she wanted to be there. She had both a mother and a father; Diana has met both of them, usually because one of them always come out to the park to bring her back home before sunset. They were nice ‘mon, who cared for their daughter. Diana figured it was nice, to have parents like that.
The trio finally reached the park, a small clearing of sorts surrounded by a low wall. It was called a park, but it was only a park in the sense that it was a lot of land with no buildings. The ground was entirely snow, and only a couple hardy spruces stood to break up the expanse. But it was also the place for children in Kristiled, being one of the few open spaces, and an open space of snow always invites improvisation. So Diana hopped over the wall, Klara and Inna close behind, and leaned against it, watching the various ice-types build their snow forts and have snowball fights and whatever else they decided to do.
The park was also the best place for rumors, which is what Diana was really here for. Rumors about parents engaging in shady deals in the underground of the Guild Center; about the “Great Kecleon Conspiracy” trying to take over the world one city at a time; about a kid last year who apparently built a replica of Kristiled’s Ice Palace in this very park, and was never seen again afterwards; about the “Three Terrors of East Park,” and how their leader is secretly a noble who lives in some fancy mansion in the northern district. That fancy mansion only had so many books on so many things, and in those six months of secret outings, she never once regretted getting to see the real world.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. She regretted it a little bit. She stared at Inna, absentmindedly making something in the snow, without a care in the world. “Only a little bit.”
“What are you doing?” Diana asked.
Inna didn’t look up from the pile of snow she was gathering. “Making a snowrunt.”
Diana and Klara just stared. Sometimes she wished she could change the name of “Three Terrors” to “Two Terrors and That One Kid Who Won’t Stop Following Us.”
She looked away, tried to ignore it, and scanned the park for the usual group of gossipers. They’ve been getting crafty in their attempts to keep Diana away from them lately. Making igloos to hide in, ducking behind walls, having a snowball fight while talking. But this time, they were simply in the far corner, talking nonchalantly. As if somehow the Two Terrors weren’t going to be a threat to them today.
Diana pushed herself off the wall, stomping through the snow towards them. Klara followed close behind, and Inna stayed back to continue making her snowrunt. As the duo approached, Diana could hear the hushed voices of the group.
“You don’t really think he’ll get you that, do you? They’re supposed to be rare.”
“My dad said that’s how he got one! And I want to evolve now!”
“Can we see if you do get it? I heard they’re supposed to be really-”
“What’re you all talking about?”
The group of eight pokémon went stiff. Those facing her looked in fear, while those with their backs turned slowly looked behind them. A sneasel in the group shouted to a lone eevee. “I thought we told you to keep watch!”
“I forgot, okay?!” he responded, ears dropped.
“Hey,” Diana growled. “I asked you all a question. I want to know what you were talking about.”
“W-we weren’t talking about anything,” cowered a vulpix.
“Don’t play dumb with me: I heard you talking about getting something,” Diana said, pointing at him.
A smoochum stepped forward. “Well, it is time for the solstice, and…”
“And what?” Diana raised her fist. “Stop being coy, or I’ll make you tell me.”
The group collectively flinched. The two snorunt cousins huddled together. They knew that even the combined might of all eight couldn’t take down Diana. They knew that because they tried it once, and she beat them all without even getting hit. The eevee in the group flinched the hardest, still remembering how a month ago he got his own older brother to fight her, and he lost too.
“Someday, I’ll be the strongest Pokémon in the world,” Diana remembered saying to the battered and bruised Glaceon. “Don’t you forget it.”
“We were talking about the solstice!” the eevee blurted out. “And The Saint!”
Diana tilted her head. “The Saint? Who’s that?”
Gasps echoed throughout the group, the mood turning from fear to disbelief. They began whispering amongst each other.
“She doesn’t know who The Saint is?!”
“How does she not know who The Saint is?”
“Maybe she really is rich!”
“I think I feel sorry for her...”
Irritated at the inability of the gossipers to answer her questions, the buizel turned to Klara. “Klara, tell me who The Saint is.”
“Oh, uh, basically he’s some guy who comes around on the winter solstice and gives gifts to everyone.” When Diana scoffed, Klara gave a bewildered look. “You... really don’t know who he is?”
The group had ceased talking, all eyes on Diana. “Giving gifts to everyone, huh?” The festivities of Krisitled were always lost on her, but that had to be the most ridiculous of all she had heard. “I never got gifts from anyone on the solstice.”
Everyone seemed to have been made uncomfortable by that, all looking as if there was something they wanted to say in retaliation. Finally, a swinub muttered what everyone was thinking: “Of course no one would want to give you presents on the solstice.”
Diana heard that, the words slicing through her like butter. But instead, she grinned. “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”
“You know what? I don’t think this ‘Saint’ guy exists.”
A second round of gasps. The smoochum glared. “He does too!”
“Yeah!” exclaimed the eevee. “If he doesn’t exist, then who’s giving everyone presents?!”
“It’s probably your parents. Why do you think everyone goes shopping before the solstice?”
Klara spoke up, uncertainty glimmering in her eyes. “Isn’t it to store up food for the winter?”
“Not you too!” Did everyone believe in this lie? “That’s just the kind of excuse you’d hear if they were trying to keep secrets!”
“Admit it!” The eevee came stomping up, a bold fury overtaking him. “You’re just jealous that no one give you gifts on the solstice!”
“Ha! As if I have anything to be jealous of!” Diana scoffed. “You just don’t want to admit I’m right!”
“No you’re not!”
“Yes I am!”
“No, you’re not!”
They went on like this for a while. Klara looked back to Inna. She was searching the ground for eyes to put on her snowrunt.
Suddenly, the eevee broke the chain. “I’ll fight you!”
And a third round of gasps. The vulpix acted quickly and tried to pull back on his ear. “Don’t do it, Emil! It’s not worth it!”
Diana was just amused. “You think you can take me?”
Emil pulled away from his friend looked up at Diana. “I’ve been training! I can beat you up!”
“Not at the dojo you haven’t,” the buizel pointed out.
“But I have! So let’s fight right now, and if I win, you admit you’re wrong!”
Diana looked down at him. Even if he was a little stronger now, it only took one look to be able to tell how quickly the battle would end. “Instantly.” And if she was going to fight someone…
“No.” She turned around and walked off.
“What?! No?!” cried out a shocked Emil. “But… if you run away then that’s forfeit! You admit you’re wrong!”
Diana turned around, angry. “I don’t admit anything, and I’m definitely not wrong about The Saint!” She turned her nose upwards. “I just don’t think you’re worth it.”
The eevee shook, as if the words themselves were her attack. Tears welled in his eyes, and he broke down on the spot. “Oops… I might have been too blunt. Oh well. It’s better to make him cry than to beat him to a pulp.” Diana looked away and continued, leaving the crying eevee to get comforted by his friends.
Klara ran to catch up as they headed back towards Inna. “You could’ve beat him, y’know,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t fight him.” Diana sighed, remembering what Nestor had drilled into her countless times. “Because when a fight is unfair, it’s barely a fight.”
The two made it to Inna, who was standing proudly before her small, conical creation. It had gray pebbles for eyes; Diana noticed a hole in the snow nearby where she must have dug to find them.
Inna turned around. “What do you think?” she asked somewhat self-consciously. Diana wasn’t an expert on snow creations, but the snowrunt was pretty amateurish. It had no features besides the eyes and was only about as big as the young sandshrew herself, who was only barely over half Diana’s height.
“It could be bigger,” Diana pointed out. “Like an actual snorunt.”
Inna poked her claws together. “Well, I’m not that big yet…”
“I think it looks cute,” said Klara.
“Thanks. I think so too.”
Diana decided to ignore them both and went back to leaning against the wall. She could see Emil in the distance, still glaring at her. She started to fiddle with the coin purse, hoping to block it out.
“What’s wrong?” Inna asked. Klara absentmindedly kicked some snow around, apprehensive of what Diana might say.
And then: “Do either of you believe in The Saint?”
Klara flinched, and the sandshrew was taken aback. “Of course I do!” she earnestly answered.
“Of course you would,” Diana thought to herself. “But why? How do you know he exists?”
“Well, he leaves letters, and presents, and my parents don’t know where they come from, so…”
“But what if they’re lying to you?”
Inna was taken aback by the question. “Whu… What do you mean lie to me?!”
“They probably don’t want to tell you the truth,” Diana continued. “I bet it's all just some… ploy. To make up someone who cares about you.”
“You’re…” Inna’s eyes began to tear up. “You’re wrong! Momma and Pa would never lie to me! And The Saint is real, I know he is!”
Anger began to boil up inside Diana’s stomach. “Why is everyone so insistent on this?!”
And then she remembered something. A horrible little something that would shut her “friend” up immediately. And after a little hesitation, Diana went against her better judgement and said it.
“You know,” she began, a knowing smile growing on her face. “On the way to the dojo, I saw your mom talking about how everything in the market is too expensive.”
“What…?”
“And you know what she said? She said that she might not be able to give you any gifts this year. So if you want proof that The Saint is not real, just wait a couple days. See what happens.”
Inna stood there, tears in her eyes, processing what was just said. And then suddenly, she turned and ran away. Diana watched her as she ran out of the park and out of sight.
Klara shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t you think you went a little too far?”
Diana huffed, and crossed her arms. “She’ll be fine.” She turned her gaze towards the snover. “What about you? Do you believe in The Saint?”
Klara avoided her gaze. “I mean… I’ve been wondering about it, but… I think he might still be real. Maybe.”
“Maybe…” She thought about Inna and the gossiping kids. It wasn’t a maybe to them. It was certainty. “They’re taking this way too seriously. It’s just some guy who give presents. That’s literally all he is. Don’t they have enough ‘mon who care for them?”
And then she thought about it some more. “She took it pretty seriously though… Maybe I was a little harsh. But I just don’t understand. Why would a parent make a lie like that?” From what she could tell, the difference between this lie and the kind of lies her father had told was that this lie didn’t hide anything meaningful. It was just little white lie that the kids put their faith in. “Maybe I’m messing things up. Her parents are good, they probably have some kind of reason.” Diana shivered. “They’ll probably be angry at me then, and if they are...”
A couple moments passed. Diana looked to Klara. “What direction did she head in, anyway?”
“I think she went east.”
“But her house isn’t east. Did she…?” With a sigh, Diana pushed off the wall. “I’m going to go look for her.”
Klara nodded. “Okay.”
And so, Diana left the park behind to follow Inna. “East from here is the city exit. She didn’t leave the city, did she?” She began to move more quickly, anxiety and guilt starting to build up within as she realized that she must have been much harsher than she thought if she managed to drive Inna out of the city. “She’s never done this before… But she couldn’t have gotten too far.”
She found herself in front of one of the three openings in the city walls. Out there, the vast expanse of the tundra lay bare, stretching endlessly into the distance. Diana scanned the ground for footprints. There were a few sets, one of which was notably smaller than the others. “And they’re heading north…”
Diana began to follow, trudging northbound through the snow, away from the noise of Kristiled and back into the quiet. Kristiled’s east wall went on for a while, but Inna’s footprints went farther. Diana found herself dumbfounded that she could have even made it this far. Anxiety began to turn into anger. “Why does she care so much?! You’d think she’d just-” A snowflake landed on Diana’s nose, and she sneezed. “...Go to her parents or something. They would be willing to comfort her.”
The world grew colder, quieter, and whiter. Kristiled was left far behind, the only sound being Diana making her own tracks. The snow blew gently in the wind, a little more plentiful than before, ominous looking clouds gathering on the horizon. “Those ‘mon in town were right. I better make this quick.” Far off in the distance, she could see the tracks end. And as she got closer, she began to make out a shape camouflaged against the snow. “Inna?!” Diana called out. The shape turned around. Sure enough. But Inna went back to staring at the skyline. “What is she looking… at…”
As the perspective began to shift with proximity, Diana finally noticed the cliff Inna was sitting in front of. A forest stretched off into the distance, the snow fall making it all seem like a daytime illusion.
“What are you doing here? It’s dangerous,” Diana asked as she approached. When Inna didn’t respond immediately, she prompted: “Well?”
Inna spoke softly. “Before I met you, I’d always come here. Whenever I felt sad. Or angry. Or lonely.” She looked up and spoke louder. “It’s really pretty here, and it helps calm me down. Momma always said it was good to find things that calm you down.”
“Oh.” Diana pondered the sandshrew’s explanation. “Before you met me? Why haven’t you come here since?”
“I never needed to.” Inna wiped her eyes. “B-but you...”
And the anger turned back to guilt. “I was too harsh. I shouldn’t have said that at all.”
Diana looked back up at the storm on the horizon. “Come on, we need to go back.” She walked forward to grab Inna’s arm.
But Inna pulled back. “No! I wanna be alone right now!”
“But-”
As Inna backed away, the snow gave out from under her. And just like that-
“No!” Diana jumped forward to grab her, and ended up sailing right off the cliff.
~~~
Diana’s whole body ached. Her head felt constricted, and she soon realized it was because her float sac was inflated far past where it was supposed to be. She let out a deep breath, letting the air out, and once it was back to a stable level, she pushed herself out of the buizel-shaped hole in the snow. She looked around, and quickly found herself shivering, the cold finally catching up.
“What happened? Wait, my-” She checked her neck and found her coin pouch still there. Good. Her father probably would not have given her a new one had she lost it. “But isn’t there something else I should be worrying about?”
“Wait, Inna!” Diana got to her feet and looked around again. Right now, she was at the bottom of the cliff, between the cliff wall and the coniferous forest. “Is she in the forest?” Diana began to move in that direction. “I remember I jumped after her, but where-”
Diana suddenly noticed a weird mound of white just in front of her, motionless in the snow. “Inna?” She knocked on the shell, and Inna slowly curled out of her dome-like position.
“Am I dead?” she asked, clearly shaken by the fall.
“No, but…” Diana looked back at the cliff wall. “...but it’s going to be hard getting back.”
Inna got up and followed Diana’s stare. Her eyes widened at the sight of the cliff. “How are we going to get back?” she asked, anxiety gripping the edges of her voice.
“I don’t know.” Diana looked in both directions and tried to remember what she knew about the map of this area. Kristiled was on a plateau of sorts, with the cliff stretching all the way west until it hit the ocean. To the east, it eventually sloped downwards to meet sea level, but from what she could see, it went on for quite a while. “Definitely not short enough to get to Kristiled before the blizzard hits.” She looked up at the sky. “Or before night falls.” Yet, it was the only option, unless they were willing to try and scale the rocky cliff wall.
“Maybe we should wait,” Inna suggested. “Everyone will notice we’re gone eventually, right?”
Diana hadn’t considered that, but she considered it from a different angle. “Oh no, my father! I won’t be home in time for sunset, which means he’ll be angry...”
She shook her head. “It’s not plausible. You saw the sky, didn’t you? The blizzard will hit us before they get here.”
Inna looked down. “I didn’t think about that…” And she began to tear up. “What do we do? I’m scared…”
She immediately went to hug Diana, who almost jumped. “What the?!” Inna’s body was cold to the touch, and super uncomfortable. Diana wasn’t sure how to react at all. “We’ll, uh,” She tried to peel herself away, but Inna just pressed against her harder. “We’ll go east and try to find shelter, okay?” she said, hoping that’d be enough to get her to let go.
Luckily, it was. The sandshrew sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Okay.”
And so Diana and Inna began their trek eastward, in hopes of finding something to escape the blizzard and hide out. As they went, the wind grew sharper, and the sky, darker. A reminder that they needed to hurry. Diana shivered. “Or at least get lucky.” All the while, Inna’s expectant stare bore into her back. Every once in a while, Diana looked behind her to see Inna still sporting that stare. “I never realized she trusted me this much.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. The added pressure of expectation both weighed on her and drove her forward. “But I can’t let her down.”
She tried to go over scenarios where they couldn’t find shelter. What would she do then? “We could make an igloo, though neither of us are very good at snow creations. I could also use fire, but I can only keep it up for so long. But if worst comes to worst…”
That’s when she realized something. “Then Inna will be fine. She’s an ice-type. She’s built to survive this kind of weather. I’m… not.” The thought was frightening, but also… comforting? Regardless, she still found herself shivering at the next gust of wind.
An hour passed. The sky grew dark, and not because of the clouds. The wind started to pick up, and the trees shook, as if in anticipation. Diana scanned the wall ahead. “Is there anywhere for us to- wait!” Up ahead, she could see an oddly colored patch of wall. Diana quickened her pace, Inna following close behind. It was a cave, locked behind a wall of ice. “The ice doesn’t seem that thick. I bet I could punch through it.”
“Did you find something?” asked Inna. She brightened up immediately when she saw the cave. “A cave?! Can you-?”
“Of course I can. Just give me a moment.” Diana pulled her paw back and focused her energy into it. Within no time at all, it burst into flames. “I don’t need to worry about control this time.”
But she could imagine Nestor watching, and shaking his head. “You think making your attack explode is a good thing? Maybe in battle! But not right now. Last thing anyone needs is for you to blow yourself up.” Diana found herself slightly pissed off at that. She channeled the feeling into a punch and began her attack. She could hear the ice crack, and feel the ice start to melt under her paw. She continued with a slow rhythm, trying to focus and avoid letting her Fire Punch get out of control. Inna silently watched.
And then, the wall cracked, and with another punch it shattered. The ice wall fell to pieces, the only remnants lying on the edges. Diana stepped into the cave. It was dark, and the light outside revealed that it was actually fairly shallow. It was also protected from the wind, though Diana still found herself shivering. “This is good enough, but we need to start a fire.”
Inna stepped into the cave. “We’re going to stay here?”
“Yes, but we need materials for a fire.” Diana looked to the forest outside. “We don’t have what’s necessary to cut down a whole tree, but maybe we can take the branches.”
She walked outside and looked around. Inna spoke up. “I can help with that.”
Diana turned and raised her brow. “You can?”
“Yeah. I can climb, and cut down branches.” She showed off her claws, which, Diana had to admit, were definitely more impressive than hers.
“But no, I have to do this myself.” “Climb? What if you fall?” Diana asked, hoping to dissuade her.
“I won’t. Falling off the cliff was scary, but this isn’t that bad. I think I can handle it. And also...” Inna tapped her claws together. “This is my fault, so I want to make myself useful.”
“What? Inna, this isn’t your fault. It’s…” Diana sighed. “I really have to admit this, don’t I?” It’s my fault. Just leave it to me.”
“But-”
Diana turned away, not letting the sandshrew get in another word. She walked right up to the nearest spruce tree and pushed her way through the ground-level branches. “Okay, so where do I start?”
“...”
“I don’t know where to start.”
She just stared at the trunk. “I can’t cut it. I don’t know any moves for that.” She tried bending a tree branch, hoping it’d maybe snap off. But the tree would not have it that way. Even when she put all of her weight on it, the branch held.
Meanwhile, Diana could hear a *THUNK!* coming from nearby. She wandered out of the spruce, and saw Inna sticking her claws into a fir tree. “Didn’t I tell you to-”
Inna removed her claws and slashed at a low hanging branch. It detached immediately. “Oh.”
“See? I can help. So please?” Inna asked.
Diana felt embarrassed, to be shown up by someone so much weaker than her. She almost wanted to be defiant and say no, but a particularly nasty gust of wind hit Diana’s back, causing her to hunch over and shiver. “Fine. You can deal with it.”
Inna smiled. “Thank you.” And she immediately went to work. Diana sulked back to the cave. At least she didn’t have to deal with the wind anymore.
She sat down on the cave floor and lit a fire on her paw. She knew she should be conserving her energy, but right now, she was freezing. Diana held the warmth of her own fire close, and let it melt away her troubles. She could only hold it for so long however, and within five minutes she recognized that she couldn’t keep it for longer without jeopardizing herself. The fire went out, and the cold came back immediately. “I hope she hurries up.”
This was a test. It felt that way, at least. The entire reason Diana had decided to leave her manor and see Kristiled for herself was to learn how to use fire attacks. And in doing so, she found herself in a situation where that fire was integral to her survival. She remembered how she had asked her father, as politely as she could, if she could begin training in the fire-type. But he said no, you’re not ready. Focus on other types and moves first. It wasn’t until after she started leaving that she realized he wasn’t actually worried about “readiness.” But that didn’t matter: now was her chance to prove him wrong.
After a while, Inna appeared at the entrance to the cave. “Can you help me bring the branches back?”
Diana nodded and followed her outside. The cold wind hit her hard, and snow fell furiously. “The blizzard is practically on top of us!” She pushed through anyway, and saw a completely stripped fir tree.
“I wasn’t sure how much was enough, so…” Inna said with embarrassment.
“N-No, i-it’s fine.” Diana moved to start gathering branches. “It’s almost done. Then we’ll have a fire again.” The knowledge of warmth drove her on through the cold.
The branches were all cut into more manageable pieces, though the pine needles made them a bit uncomfortable to move. Despite that, the two managed to gather the branches into the cave, where they piled them up near the back. “Just in case the fire is too hot,” Diana explained. When it was all said and done, she lit her paw up and gave it a good fire punch, immediately illuminating the cave and bringing respite from the decreasing temperature outside. Diana sighed and slid against the wall. “Finally…” The fire the two worked together to create was much warmer than the one Diana had for herself. It also smelled a bit odd, probably because of the burning leaves, but that was a small price to pay.
Inna sat on the wall opposite to her and looked outside. “It’s starting to get dark.”
“Good thing we gathered so much wood then,” Diana remarked. “It might last us all night.”
“All night?” Inna looked worried. “Do you think we’ll get home in time for the solstice?”
Diana completely forgot about that. “Will we?” “Maybe, if we spend tomorrow traveling back,” she answered. “But it might be better if we wait for help.”
“I know. I’m just worried that, maybe it’ll take too long.”
The buizel thought about it. “Does it really matter? You’ll probably still get presents.”
“Yeah, but… but it won’t be the same. I don’t wanna miss the solstice.” Inna was almost on the verge of tears.
Diana felt her heart crack a little. “I don’t want to see her cry. What do I do…?” She couldn’t think of anything. Admittedly, she wasn’t sure how to comfort others. “But uh, something quick. What would I want to hear…?”
“What do you usually do?” she asked without thinking. “Er, on the solstice, I mean.”
“What do I…? W-well, we all wake up, a-and we look on the table for the presents, and they come with a letter.” Inna started to calm down. “And then, my momma reads the letter The Saint sent us, and I open the presents.”
“The Saint again…” Diana frowned, but she let the sandshrew continue. “And after that, we go visit our family and spend the rest of the day eating, and playing, and having fun. And I get to talk to everyone, and…” Inna wiped her face. “And I don’t want to miss it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Diana. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, but it did sound nice. “This is working.” “If we get back, what kind of presents do you want to get?”
Inna looked up, excitement lighting up in her eyes. “Well, I was thinking about getting a scarf.”
“A scarf?” Diana considered the thought. “But why would you need a scarf? Aren’t you already fine in the cold?”
“Yeah, but I saw an adventurer wear one once, and it looked so warm. I’d like to try one.” Inna started thinking about other things. “And… I also asked for an eviolite.”
“An eviolite? What would you need one of those for?”
“Well, they’re supposed to make you stronger if you’re not evolved yet, and I thought it’d be useful.” She seemed a bit sheepish. “Or I could give it to Klara. I think she’d like it.”
“Eviolite are supposed to be expensive though. No wonder her parents couldn’t buy everything.” Diana shook off the thought. “Is that all?”
“No, there’s one more. I always ask for nanab berries. They’re my favorite berry, but they don’t really grow around here. The Saint gave them to me one year, and I really liked them, so…”
Diana has had them before. “I guess they’re okay.”
Inna seemed much better now. But in the process, Diana only found herself feeling wishful. “Makes me wish that…” She closed her eyes, a bitter feeling rising up. At least she could leave the subject behind now.
But then: “What do you do on the solstice?”
Diana didn’t expect that. The blizzard outside grew louder, coming down with full force now. “Huh?”
“Well, you were pretty angry about it before, so I was wondering…” Inna tapped her claws together. For some reason that made Diana feel like she had to say something.
“I-I… don’t understand it.”
“What do you mean?”
Diana sighed. “Meeting with family, throwing a party, The Saint… I don’t get any of it. We don’t do any of that.”
Now it was Inna’s turn to be taken aback. She almost didn’t seem to understand at first. “Then… Is that why you don’t believe in The Saint? Don’t you still get presents?”
That struck a fuse. Anger started to build up. “No, I don’t. I told you we don’t do that.”
“But-”
“We don’t visit family, we don’t have any feast, or throw any party, and we don’t give any presents!”
“But-!”
“I mean, how can The Saint exist if I’ve just heard of him? If he’s supposed to give presents to everybody, why haven’t I ever gotten anything?!”
Inna went quiet. She was contemplating something. Similar to when Diana was contemplating saying the words that put them into this situation.
Then, she said it. “Momma said that The Saint doesn’t give presents to children who’ve been bad.”
Diana blinked. “What…” Cogs turned in her head. Anger dissipated into nothing. Everything clicked at once.
And she started to cry.
She tried to use her arm to hide it, but it was no use. Her laboured breath and streaks of tears made it obvious to Inna. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know,” Diana said between sobs. It was a lie. Deep down, she knew exactly why she was crying, but she was afraid to admit it to herself.
And then, out of nowhere, something latched onto her side. It felt heavy, and warm, and when Diana opened her eyes, she found Inna hugging her. She stopped sobbing. “Wh… What are you-?”
Inna whispered, her head buried into Diana’s arm. “Pa said that if someone’s crying, it’s because they need something. And Momma said it’s because they need a hug.”
Diana had never figured such things, but then again, this was the second time in her life that she had been hugged. “Inna cares about me… I didn’t think anyone did.” Before long, Diana found herself leaning into the hug. The two just sat there, fire and blizzard going on on opposite sides of the cave.
Eventually, Diana wiped her face and said, “I think I’m okay now.” Inna detached herself and went back to her spot on the opposite wall. Diana sighed. “You know I’m a noble, right?” Inna was hesitant, but she nodded. “I figured you did. Do you know what nobles do?”
Inna shook her head. “I know they’re rich, but nothing else.”
“Well, they don’t really do that much. Some of them are involved with the King, but he’s the one who chooses which ones are. The main reason we’re there is for when the King dies.” Diana looked to the side, away from Inna. “When he dies, someone else has to take his place, and they do that by putting all of the nobles of the generation below him into a fighting tournament. And whoever wins becomes King. Or Queen. That’s how the current King was decided, and…” She sighed again. “And my father is the King’s older brother. He lost.”
“Wait, you’re-?”
“Then I come along, and I’m a delta Pokémon, which means increased combat ability and unrestricted type access through magic. Which gives me an advantage over everyone else.”
When Diana looked back, she saw the troubled expression on Inna’s face. “So… Your pa wants you to win for him?”
“...Yeah.” “It’s an understatement, but yeah.”
“What about your momma?”
“I don’t have one. She left a long time ago.”
“What?” Inna looked down. “I don’t understand…”
“I don’t expect you to,” replied Diana. “I just felt like I could talk about it with you. That’s all.”
“Okay…”
It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that she didn’t get it. But what really surprised Diana was that despite her lack of understanding, she still listened. “Despite everything, she keeps following me.” Diana had to know.
“You know, I was wondering. Why do you hang out with me?” she asked.
Inna looked up. “Well… I don’t have any other friends.” She poked her claws together. “And Momma said that, if you see someone who looks lonely, then that means they want friends, too. You always looked so lonely, so I thought maybe you’d want to be my friend,” she explained. “And, I like following you. It feels safe. I don’t feel lonely around you or Klara.”
“Oh.” Diana thought to herself. “I didn’t realize she was lonely too. I mean, it seems like she has everything.” She sighed. “Except friends. And… I haven’t been a very good one.”
“I’m sorry.”
Inna tilted her head. “What for?”
“For saying The Saint wasn’t real. And getting us into this mess.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay, I don’t blame you. You didn’t mean it.”
“Forgiven that easily?” Diana had to hold back another tear. “You’re way too forgiving, you know that?”
Inna looked embarrassed. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No,” She found herself yawning. “No, it’s fine. I think I’m just tired.”
“*yawn* ...Me too,” Inna said, rubbing her eyes.
“So, we’ll go to sleep for tonight?”
Inna looked back outside at the howling blizzard. She shivered. “If we have to…”
Diana wasn’t sure what was up with that, but she shrugged it off. “I think I just want to go to sleep.” She lay down on her side and let her floatation sac deflate, back against the wall. The cave floor wasn’t the bed she was used to, but the fire close by and the presence of a friend made it better, somehow. Or maybe she was just drowsy. “See you in the morning, Inna.”
“Good night…”
Diana could hear the unease, but she was asleep before she could consider it.
~~~
(continued in next post.)
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