From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: [PW!] Fallarbor Fallout Date: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 5:31 PM Chet Weaver - Chicks Dig Giant Robots wrote: > With the fire and the forest laid to waste, Keaton let the zanbatou drop > and fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Aerie, Derek, Cass, and their > Pokemon soon dug themselves out of the shallow earth and ran to Keaton's > side. > > "I'm fine," Keaton panted. "I just... need to recharge. Just... find > Kitsu. She may be hurt..." > > Without further provocation, Aerie flew away from Keaton and began > digging next to a half-buried bisento. All at once she heaved Kitsu out > of the ground, who then clung to her, staring wild-eyed and fearful at > the polearm lodged in the dirt. > > "What... I..." Kitsu stammered, her gaze fixed on the Hellstrike > Bisento. "That... I... What... This... No, no, no!" > > She looked around at the destruction around her. She hugged Aerie > tighter, whimpering slightly as she rocked back and forth. Clinging to one another as they were, Kitsu and Aerie had to be prodded to move. It did not take long to reach Lavaridge, where Keaton and Cass guided the troubled girls into one of the public hot springs before joining Derek at the pokemon center. "Kitsu, I know you're scared right now, but I need you to talk to me." Kitsu kept whimpering. Aerie sighed. Telepathy would have been easier - but too easy. She needed Kitsu to focus, at least a little bit. "Come on, Kitsu. Just concentrate on the words, and let them speak themselves." She sensed a moment of concentration, like a single gentle wave surrendering to calm waters, though the opposite metaphor was closer to Kitsu's condition. "You can do it. Just say 'I...'." "I-i...i..." "'...love you.'" "L-lo...what?!?" Kitsu blinked, her panic broken. Aerie snickered. "Gotcha." "Oooh!" Kitsu frowned and pushed Aerie's head underwater. An ekans slithered past the Aenarian's wrist and coiled up her arm, eliciting a "Yip!" and a brush off. A second later, Aerie's normal head poked back out of the water. "Sorry. I forgot who we just fought." "N-no..." Kitsu sighed, head pointed directly away from Aerie so as to avoid looking into even her reflection's eyes. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You were right, that IS a powerful attack. Too powerful." Aerie's face went poker. "There's no such thing as 'always too powerful'. Just overkill for certain occasions." The wereninetails groaned. "Another bit of 'wisdom' from Doppler?" Aerie blinked. "Umm...yeah. Part of the programming he gave me. I've been sorting through it. I think, in this case, it means you shouldn't give up mastering your weapon. Just find out how powerful it really is, so you can use it appropriately. Like, if you ever had to save my-uh, *Jordan's* life." Kitsu smiled, still facing away from Aerie. "Or yours." "Yeah, well, I was trying to think what would be the most important thing in the world to you." Silence reigned for another moment, then Kitsu turned around and swept up Aerie in a hug. "If I ever had to choose between my life or yours..." Kitsu murmured, eyes closed so she could better lay her cheek in the younger one's hair. "I hope I never have to." Had anyone been able to see Aerie's face, currently buried in Kitsu's chest, they would have seen one of those mixes of surprise, joy, and a hint of worry completely foreign to those who have never cared for another. "Umm...Aerie? You're melting." "Sorry." "Hmm." Kitsu tried to ignore the bright light coming from somewhere nearby. Thankfully, it soon faded, leaving her free to feel her companion, gently rocking back and forth in the warm mineral water, perhaps a bit cramped in the hug, her breasts now- Kitsu let go. Aerie blinked, a bit surprised. "Is something wrong?" "You've grown up." The girl smiled. "Thanks, but-" "No, literally. Look at yourself." Kitsu backed away a little so Aerie could see her own reflection. She was not that different. A head taller, twin slight bulges where she used to be flat, and a few internal sensations that she only now paid attention to. Aerie slowly stretched each of her muscles one at a time, cautiously trying out her new body. "Is that it? I thought you'd be, well, like me." Kitsu patted one of her own ample breasts. "I think there'll be more, but not for a while." Aerie took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "This was going to hurt, but you made me forget to suffer." She smiled. "Thank you." "Umm." Kitsu's expression reflected the dark thought that had just occurred to you. "One of your parents told you about the pidgeys and the beedrills, right? Because..." "'Cause I'm probably able to have kids now?" Aerie winked. "Yeah, yeah. Especially since I'm half-ditto: I can breed with almost anything. Don't worry, I know all about that. But if I had less self control right now, it'd be a good thing we're both girls." Kitsu blushed, wide-eyed. "AERIE!" The girl chuckled and splashed her friend, starting a wave fight rarely equalled in the pokemon world outside of magikarp pools. TBC? (NS: And here I thought I'd never need a WG update... ^_- )