((OOC: Okay, here is a joint post between me and Fuyu! The navy text is for Ethan/Kumiho and the turquoise text is for Soul.))
Ethan shook his head quietly. Azea was happily buzzing against his back. "Ledi... Ledi... ledi..." He was inquisitive on the reasons why he would be so excitable. Sear had nearly charred him ten minutes prior to now and yet here he was, clinging in a manner that reminded Ethan of young children. "Ledi... Ledi... Ledi..." Berry... Berry... Berry...
Blackie barked irritably. "Bre..." Dear god you Papaya addict shut up already... He padded next to Ethan with a growl. That insect was going to remain stupid wasn't it?
Ethan listened to this passively, glancing around with an obsrver's eye. He caught glimpse of someone under a tree. Should he go and disturb them? He probably should not, as Azea would likely cause anger. Blackie sniffed and snorted.
Soul sighed, the shadow under the tree was pretty cool and welcoming. He took out one of the Sitrus berries he had found in the tree and gave it to Honeycomb. The Combee just sniffed it gently at first, this wasn't what she was used to back home in the hive and it most certainly did not seem like food worthy of a princess! But she took an unwilling bite out of it anyways, she might as well get used to this. It was probably the best food she was going to get while staying with this dirty boy.
"Heh, not your taste princess?" Soul laughed and took a big bite out of another Sitrus Berry.
"Com, combee, comb!" Honeycomb answered with a snobby look on he face.
"Cecilia, what did she say?" Soul asked his Panpour who was busy trying to gobble down an Oran Berry. Sigh, he needed to learn Honeycomb's way of speaking, every Pokémon had a different way of pronouncing or romanizing words that only other Pokémon could understand. And humans, to some degree at least.
"She said that it is food fit for a ruffian like yourself but she might as well take it since she won't get any better." Cecilia said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She really didn't like the spoiled princess-brat, but the Vespiquen queen insisted on it.
"I guess so!" Soul turned to Honeycomb with a laugh, "But I guess it'll teach you to make it in the real world, eh?"
"Com." Honeycomb said. Soul actually understood this one, it meant "Hmph."
Soul then looked up and spotted something odd. Something REALLY odd. It was what looked like an ordinary human except it had Umbreon ears on it's head as well as a tail... Soul got up, put his mask on, pulled the hood over his masked face and started to walk slowly towards the creature. He wanted to know what it was and if it was dangerous or not...
Ethan paused in the middle of the road and took a step back to stand on the grass. The sun was thankfully not burning but the long sleeves made it warm. Azea climbed onto his head and stuck his face in his own. "Ian? Ledi?" Can I find Berries now? Ethan blinked in bemusement. Azea took that as a yes and flew off, making a happy noise.
Blackie snorted. "Breon..." "Peace and quiet thank the dragons... He pawed at Ethan's ankle, causing the boy to kneel and pet him absently, staring around him. Ethan disliked the quiet, especially since he knew someone was nearby. It made him anxious, hence why he hated staying at home when everybody was around. It was like being in a nest of Seviper...
The ears atop his head twitched and Ethan stilled. There was a soft crunch of footsteps edging closer to him. Perhaps the person from underneath the tree. There were multiple options about the reasons why. The person could be passing through, they could want to ask questions that Ethan knew he could not answer. They could want a battle.
However, Ethan concluded only one thing would catch someone's attention about him. He smiled now and spoke: "Are you curious about me?"
Soul flinched for a bit when he noticed the Umbreon ears twitch as if they were really a part of this creature's body... It disturbed him slightly. The creature then turned around with a smile plastered on it's face and asked a question. Was Soul curious about him? Indeed, this... Whatever it was gave off an... Alluring feeling to Soul, almost like when you see Ledybas and Ledians flying around in a summer night. Fittingly enough, the creature seemed to be accompanied by a Ledian, a Umbreon (also VERY fitting) and a Pansear...
Soul's pupils shrunk faster than what was possible for most human beings it seemed. He got a knot in his throat and sweat started to break out in his forehead. He eventually decided that as long as he kept his distance, the Fire-type wouldn't hurt him.
"One question." he said, carfully checking the fire-monkey's movements, "What are you?" he asked.
Ethan looked up at the older male. He was permanently trapped in that curse of short bones wasn't he? He would have sighed but chose not to, examining the cape wrapped around this person and the faint white that appeared when the wind blew the right way. A mask... Hmm... He saw the various holes and rips and inwardly winced. It would be eaten by Venomoths eventually. He scratched at Blackie's ears and followed the boy's eyes, seeing them watching Sear. "Are you wary of my monkey?"
"Um! Bre...Duh! I'd be wary of the psycho if I didn't know by now I could kick his butt...
"PAN!" Shut up you stupid freak! I'll kill you as soon as I get this guy!
"Eon..." Not even you are stupid enough to try that...
"Sea! Pan!" Shut. Up. The Pansear froze as Ethan returned him silently, his smile unchanged.
"That's that now isn't it," he mused. "I suppose I should answer you question shouldn't I?" He stood up straight and let Blackie climb into his arms. "I am a Moon Child. I am Kumiho." Blackie snickered derisively.
"Bree...." Cause that's totally the right answer dude. Totally. You jerk. He seemed perfectly happy about this fact, even content with the excited chirps of Azea in his ear.
Soul listened, the creature asked him if he was wary of the Pansear that it apparently labeled as 'his'. Soul sighed, was this just another human? He did call the Pansear his, as if it was some sort of property? Soul gave of a slight snort, but before he could answer the question, the Umbreon cut in. The Pansear answered quickly, Soul took a slightly panicked step back as the monkey said that he'd kill the Umbreon after finishing Soul off.
After a somewhat heated argument, the Pansear was returned to it's Pokéball. Soul let out a sigh of relief, good, now he didn't have to worry about that...
The male presented himself as a Moon Child? Kumiho? Did this mean that he was human? The Umbreon gave a snickering comment about how jerkish this male seemed. Soul gave off a slight chuckle,
"I like your Umbreon's comment." he said, amusement being the main theme of his voice right now. "But, then you are a human?" he asked with a hint of dissapointment in his voice. Soul then contradicted himself, why would this be a human? He has those Umbreon ears, they react to sound... So it's like they would be part of him... This was giving Soul a slight headache, human or not, this one was strange.
"Bre... on Umbre...." Physically maybe... but the jury's out on anywhere else... you little monster. Blackie was perfectly happy insulting Ethan. It was a quirk Ethan allowed, since he didn't know what was said or care. Blackie was his. That wouldn't change unless Ethan himself was at fault. That was usually how everything happened...
"You don't have to worry," Ethan said to the other, smiling brighter. "Sear wants to kill me not you." He observed the boy could possibly understand Blackie. Hm... useful but to him it wouldn't matter. Blackie and Sear made themselves perfectly clear and he would get on the same wavelength as Azea soon enough.
"On!"That's cause you're crazy fox-boy. Ethan laughed a little, falsely of course. Almost everything about him was fake. No one was interested in the real person. No one that was here...
"Am I a human?" Ethan repeated. "I don't really see why it matters. The truth to the world is that I appear a strange human and the truth to me is that I do not feel human and do not think of myself as such. I do not feel as an Umbreon either." Though that is expected of me... "I am merely a living being, nothing more. That is the end truth I see." His tail swished at his words and he brushed at his shirt sleeve. He was used to the appendages he wore. Kumiho never took his ears and tail off; to him it would be like cutting off an arm. Whether they were real or not, they were real to him. So it was fine to him.
He was just another oddity in the universe, just like the rest of his family.
Soul chuckled a bit at the Umbreon's comments towards it's trainer. Said person then reassured that the Pansear was out to kill HIM, not Soul. The young boy wasn't too certain about this, the monkey DID say that he'd take on the Umbreon once he was done with Soul. But that was maybe just a misiterpretation or the Pansear's sick way off telling a joke...
Kumiho then stated that he thought of himself neither as human nor Pokémon. Fair enough.
"Fine then, if you do not see yourself as human I see no reason to show hostility towards you." Soul said, he then made a small bow before the boy,
"Greetings, Moon Child Kumiho. I am Wildboy, one of the Pokémon." Soul said in an awfully polite manner for someone as himself. The young boy chuckled, if this boy lived in Januvale he had to have heard the name 'Wildboy' at least once. Soul was quite the celebrity in the little town.
By now, Soul's Pokémon decided to go over to their trainer to see what he was up to. Cecilia climbed up on his head and with a slight blush she asked:
"Mr. Soul, who are these people?"
"This is Kumiho." Soul said and scratched Cecilia gently on her back. The monkey looked at the boy with the Umbreon-ears and quickly turned away, she was way too shy. Bolt just plopped down on the ground beside Soul, his eyes fixed at Blackie, he could feel a light tingling whenever he was close to another from his evolutionary-tree. Honeycomb lazily floated over to Soul, she couldn't care less about what that savage was doing.
Blackie glanced at Wildboy as Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Bre on." Just don't tick off the firebug. He doesn't know or care who you are. He's after this blockhead. Course he won't do it though. Fox-boy scares him.
Ethan kept his eyebrow delicately raised. Humans equal hostility eh? Fair enough. He was Wildboy... Ethan knew of him but had never considered the knowledge particularly exciting. It was unlikely he would have met him unless by chance or in this case his own oddities. "I know of you," he said quietly after a moment, smiling passively. "I always heard you were quite contemptuous. But then again, the rumors have called me so as well."
"Bre..." Cause it's true. Blackie glanced down at Bolt. "Um bre...." Are you trying for the whole "too cool" look? Cause you look constipated.
Azea grinned. "Ledi..." "Berry..."
"Oh? Your friend must have a great authority to scare a Pokémon who is hostile to him." Soul said with a small laugh to Blackie, the Umbreon seemed to speak his mind often and without consideration of others. Soul listened as Kumiho explained that he in fact knew of Wildboy. The young man smiled behind his mask, the Moon Child must be from Januvale then...
"I see no reason why you shouldn't be aware of me." he said with a surprising overconfidence, Soul then realized his mistake an modested a little. "As for the contemptuous part, the humans who have called me contemptuous are perfectly correct. I DO show contempt. But only towards them." he continued.
Bolt looked at Blackie with a arrogant smile on his lips,
"Jol, jol."(I don't need to PLAY cool. Since I know that I am already cool.) he said. To him, it almost seemed like the Umbreon was trying to get him off his high horse, knock him down a peg if you would. But he wasn't gonna let the Dark-type have THAT much fun.
"Co, omb. Bee."(Hm? Another ruffian? And one imitating a Pokémon? Pshuch.) Honeycomb snorted as she looked at Kumiho, her gaze then turned to Azea. "Comb, co, bee."(Ah, this one seems to have a one-track mind,) she smiled, (But what else is to be expected from a lower bug as yourself?) the Combee-princess had never liked Ledians or Ledybas. While others of her speices thought they were pretty, she found them annoying. Their glow heavily disturbed her beauty-sleep.
Blackie shrugged. "Buhree..."Get him emotional... or look into his eyes. You'll feel it then. That authority... Blackie relaxed as Ethan's fingers stroked his head gently. He knew this was a careful thing. Blackie looked down at Jolt. "Umbre..." "It's amazing what you say you know, since a cool person doesn't look like he's trying to shove dirt off his nose. He snickered derisively. He was as bad as Ethan.
Azea looked at the Combee. "Ledi dian." I just want a Berry. Reminders are good for remembering."Dialed." Don't be mean to him. Kumiho beat me and he could beat you too. Just because you're a Combee who will be queen doesn't make you any better than me. Princesses are supposed to treat people well. HE went back to hugging Ethan's arm. Azea was a simple bug. You beat him in a fight, you were respectable. He would always listen to you. He would help anyone in his swarm. What was complicated about that?
Kumiho nodded a little. "Why?" he asked abruptly. "Creatures are imperfect I have observed. Calling an entire race beneath you is to give arrogance and an unfortunate cost of underestimation of their abilities. There's no point in being contemptuous when..." he trailed off slowly. "Never mind. I suppose your mind is set on your truth. I will not try to change it."
Blackie made a quiet purr. He was with this human because he was crazy. And because Ethan was worth respecting. The boy thought deeply, thinking of words he didn't consider. He was too neutral to be ordinary and he was too weak to be extraordinary. It made Blackie curious. THis new fellow, whoever he was, he was strong... yet deprived of something vital. Blackie didn't need Psychic to tell him that.
Athourity... Soul was growing more and more curious of Kumiho as the time passed, he was certainly one of the more interesting creatures Soul had met in his life.
Bolt growled, "Oh really?! How about you come down and say that to my face! Instead of sitting on your trainer looking like you own everything!" he was getting angry, his fur started to get spikier and spikier as it got more charged with electricity.
"Comb, comb-"(Oh? I believe that I would have no problem at all beating the one you call 'Kumiho'. He doesn't look extraordinary to me and-) Honwycomb was cut off in the middle of her "reasoning" with Azea by a certain Panpour gripping her wing,
"Pan, pan!"(Shut your mouth princess-brat. If you are going to travel with us, you have to learn to be nice!) Cecilia said in an annoyed tone. Honeycomb just started whining and squealing in pain,
"Combee, comb!"(Get your hands off me, you dirty creature!) she yelled at Cecilia.
"Panpour, pan."(I'm terribly sorry for her, she is just a spoiled bratty princess.) Cecilia turned to Azea with a look in her eyes that said: "Please forgive me."
Soul chuckled,
"You act like I don't know how humans work, of course I know that there are ones whose strenght or cleverness outmatch mine. BUT, there are more of those who are inferior to me than the ones who are superior." he said, "It would be foolish to try to change my view of things, however, I would still like to hear your argument." Soul sat down on the ground, the grass brushed against his legs and back. The young boy thereafter continued: "Even if I am a wild savage living away from humanity, I'm still reasonable enough to have a conversation with."
Kumiho shook his head. "The truth is something one must find on their own. I should not influence yours by giving you the one I have come to. It is incredibly likely the real answer has not been found as of now anyways." He sat down as well, allowing Blackie to leap off and face Bolt. "The answer that can be come to without emotion or influence from any one side of a story. So I cannot say, but thank you for asking." He was slightly pleased the male had asked, his expression unchanged to prove so. People did not care for his opinion normally. He didn't glance up at Soul, preferring to think with his head rested passively against his knees.
Blackie sauntered over. "Umbreon..." Temper temper... HE chuckled. "Breon..." I'm happy to tell you that you're an uncool moron. Cause you are! His eyes began to glow pink. "Bre." And a challenge sounds like fun...
"Blackie." The dark-furred Pokemon paused. Ethan didn't glance up nor did his tone waver. "It'd be rude to fight during a conversation." Blackie tensed slightly, hesitating. Then he nodded swiftly, laying down obediently. HE growled softly.
Azea grinned. "Ledi!" It's cool! And you have bad reasoning missy," he added to Honeycomb.
Soul listened and nodded carefully to Kumiho's reasoning, he could agree with that. He liked talking to Kumiho, the boy gave him sort of an "intelligent letout" that he didn't recieve from talking to Pokémon. Granted the creatures were not stupid, it was just that they could have sort of a lacking in flavoured conversation-skills. They were simple, yet complex creatures who even Soul had some problems understanding from time to time.
"There is no need to thank me Kumiho. Any sane person would like to hear your reasoning for things." he said.
"JOL, eon!"(WHAT?! Okay fine, I'm going to beat you to a pulp right here and now!) Bolt growled. His fur was at this point sharp as needles and crackling with electricity. Soul just put his hand on Bolt's head and started to pet the Jolteon. He then ran his hand down the Electric-type's back making the fur soften, almost as if Soul was absorbing Bolt's electricity.
"Now, now Bolt. Calm down..." he said gently.
"Com-"(How dar-) Honeycomb was cut off yet again by Cecilia pinching her wing pretty hard.
"Pan!"(Stay quiet!). Cecilia then turned to Azea again, "Panpour, pan?"(Um excuse me but... Your friend Kumiho... How come that he has those Umbreon-ears?) she blushed a bit. The water-monkey was meeting more people and Pokémon than she would've ever thought. All that time with Joresh hadn't made her used to talking to other people or Pokémon.
Ethan's smile dimmed slightly but other than that there was a peace about him, hiding the discomfort this whole conversation was giving him. Someone consciously listening to his words was rare. And rare made him wary. It implied something, a something that was new territory. Interesting... a new puzzle. Yes Wildboy would be a very interesting puzzle. He seemed emotional deep down, like a well was threatening to burst at the slightest touch. "Gratitude leaves way for more interactions, more beneficial ones," he said gently after a moment. "And rare occasions are an even more important time to do so."
Blackie raised an eyebrow. "Umbre..." For a second there I thought you were a Fire-type...
Azea smiled again, the happy insect he was. HE wondered where this question had come from for only an instant. "Ledi! Dia!" He said his family gave him the ears. I dunno much else. Sorry!
"Yes," Soul agreed, "Rare occasions are among the best times to learn about something. Since they are so rare. Like right now for example, I have never met someone like you before in my life. That is a rare occurrance for me and thus I am also very curious of you." he gave off a relaxed laughter, for once a conversation with something that wasn't a Pokémon didn't make him feel threatened.
"Jol."(Nope, just an Electric-type.) Bolt said to Blackie, he didn't like the mind games of Dark- or Psychic-type Pokémon. They were just too complex for him sometimes.
"P-Pan... Pour..."(N-No sorry... I didn't even know where that question came from, I shouldn't stick my nose in others businesses...) Cecilia turned away her gaze, the shyness was getting the better of her.
Ethan nodded slowly. "I do not meet conversationalists often myself. I suppose we should enjoy this while we can." He was not going to say he did not feel safe. That would be rude even though it was true. Ethan naturally didn't feel safe around strangers. He didn't feel safe around others period. However, playing it cool always worked, always. Because his cool was the slightly insane sort of feel anyway.
"On." I think I hurt your brain.
Azea waved her off. "Ledi!" It's okay! I wanna know too.
"If we're supposed to enjoy this moment, I suggest that we lay down." Soul said as he laid down in in the warm grass, it gently rustled as the young boy's back came in contact with it. Soul liked the grass, it was like a green carpet made for anyone to walk upon. He started to get happier, the gnawing feeling of Squee's disappearance was still there however, Soul was unsure if he would ever forget it... He started to philosophize about himself, slowly drifting off into the twisted world of his own mind, he almost forgot that Kumiho was there. But the boy had some sort of calming effect on Soul, he couldn't quite put his finger on why, but it just was that way...
"Eon."(Pshush. It's gonna have to more than that to break me.) Bolt said.
Cecilia blushed, "Well he IS your trainer, it'd only be natural for you to want to know about him." she said in a quiet tone.
Ethan watched him lay down and remained sitting up. He liked the grass against his fingers but he wanted his ears to remain in the air to listen and react better. Plus... he liked the wind. One of the few things he could openly admit to liking was the scent, sound, and feel of the air. It itched at his skin at times, pulling at the pulsing urge to fly that had been something his father had called "The Dragon's Tempation". It was too bad the man had died before he could have learned why. Too bad... yes that was the emotion wasn't it?
Ethan was not aware of what effect he had. His Pokemon were however and it annoyed the fire out of Sear. Azea didn't particularly care but Blackie did. It concerned him. Humans did not normally exude that peaceful feeling, that sensation of pure unalterable acceptance of whatever the truth could be. For such an odd creature it was... disturbing. And Blackie kept an eye on everything that was disturbing.
Not like this idiot in front of him but close."Umbre." I said hurt not break. Are your eardrums broken kit?
Azea nodded. "Ledi dia de." He'll tell us when he's ready. Friends tell each other things after all. And Kumiho needs friends. Even I know how lonely he is. He said this very casually, as if it weren't strange to say a child was anything but normal. As if everything would be fine. Though to Azea they would. Now about that Berry...
As Soul was laying on the ground, he could not only feel the grass beneath him, but also the sound of wind above him. As he stared at the sky, the clouds started taking on various shapes. Soul liked when this happened, it was like his imagination was free to run about and do as it pleased.
"Tell me Kumiho... How come that you have the ears and tail similar to that of an Umbreon?" Soul continued to stare at the sky, he was at peace. How calm.
"Eon-te!"(No, they are not broken. It is just that you can mix up words sometimes.) Bolt said. This Umbreon was beginning to go from annoying to boring.
"Pan, pan."(Of course, Mr. Soul hasn't told us too much about himself. But I guess he will in due time!) Cecilia smiled, succesfully holding back her shyness for a while.
Blackie pawed at Ethan's arm and was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears. Ethan took a slow deep breath. There came the question. Everybody asked him that and he would sometimes lie, make it look like a child's fantasy. For others he told the truth, that when the moon was bright or dark in the night sky he felt a rush run through his body like he was planning to run until the earth shattered beneath his feet and he had no limbs. He would say that around his uncle's Pokemon he felt a strange sense of longing as he had with Blackie.
But even if he told them that, he could not tell them about the emptiness, the nakedness that came when he didn't have them on. He couldn't talk about how comforting they were to him on nights when he felt lonely and cold. Nor could he explain that he didn't know a life without being an Umbreon child, that his family had made him what he was.
So Ethan smiled softly. "Because I don't feel right without them. I have had them for so long I don't remember not having them." There the simple, emotional reason. It was a truth.
Blackie snorted at the Jolteon. "On?" Touchy much?
Soul observed how Kumiho took a deep breath. He got the indication that The Moon Child had gotten this question posed to him many, MANY times. He was probably so tired of it that it wasn't even remotely funny in any way. However, Soul WAS curious, and his curiosity was one factor that had never kept him away from things.
As Kumiho explained to Soul why, he nodded slowly and sat up. He pointed at his mask,
"I guess that I know how you feel to some extent. I don't like taking off this mask either, I only do it when eating or somethong else. This happens rarely though." he said. In an effort to stay at the same state of peace, Soul gently rocked back and forth a couple of times.
"Jo."(Hehe, no.) he answered back.
Blackie snorted and said nothing. This creature bored him. He would listen to the humans instead.
Ethan nodded softly in understanding. He was connecting with a person. That was unusual. He tugged at one of his black silver locks and sighed lightly. "Hear me Mother Mew," he said softly, using an old prayer his mother had taught him. It was one of the only superstitions she believed. If you prayed to the wind eventually Mew would hear you. "Your child calls to you, calls you for rest..."
Bolt yawned and laid down on the ground as Blackie went away. Good, now he didn't have to be bothered by that idiot.
Soul listened to Kumiho's prayer, it was one that was directed to Mew. Soul had always had an immense amount of respect for the legendaries, but he never prayed to them. Of course they might be able to hear him, but what was the use? He didn't need help with something big enough to call upon the ones of the legends. He lived a simple life...
Mother Mew... Mother... Mother... Mother...
Soul remembered the days with his mother, and for the first time he felt at peace doing so. The tears came intinctivetly, but they weren't loud, obnoxious tears. They were more like silent and calm, Soul buried his head in his knees while the tears continued flowing silently.
Blackie sniffed the air lightly and barked at Azea, who flew over to him instantly. The Pokemon raised a paw and pointed in a seemingly random direction. Azea cheered and was gone. To Berry-hunting!
Kumiho didn't say anything about the tears. Rather, he let the boy cry it out in silence as the words tumbled out of his lips. Another note of evidence that prayer makes you weep. He filed it away for later, reminding himself to categorize it too. There were multiple reasons to cry during prayer, as well as in general. He couldn't exactly forget that too easily. This is why living beings are such a wonderful puzzle. They have pieces for everything. "To the Father Arceus who judged and found guilty let them be punished and freed, to live as they fell and be cursed for it..."
Soul smiled behind his mask, the tears was still flowing from his eyes, but they were getting thinner and thinner. He felt a refreshing sensation wash over him for some reason, it calmed him. Kumiho's prayers then changed, he started to pray to the Father Arceus.
Father Arceus... Father... Father... FATHER...
Soul felt an immense anger filling him up, his thoughts were directed to his father now. All those times he was drunk, all those times he beat Soul up, all that time in the basement... Soul punched the ground hard with his right hand, so hard that it actually almost hurt him. He started shaking with anger, Cecilia noticed this. She let go of Honeycomb's wing and ran over to her trainer. Meanwhile, the Combee just frowned and fluttered away to find something better to eat than those Sitrus Berries she had earlier.
"Pour, an, pa!"(Mr. Soul, is something the matter?!) she exclamied upon arriving at Wildboy's feet.
"Hu? N-No." Soul said and gritted his teeth. He shouldn't pull those he cared about into his problems. But still, it was a bit hard seeing how his brain worked, half of the time Soul didn't even know how it worked himself...
Blackie glanced at the angry boy and raised a black eyebrow. He glanced at Ethan, who didn't even react. There were more fearful things then a bursting temper. There was cold temper, rage with intent. There was cool determination. There was attachment... there was lust.
"Did you know?" Ethan began lightly, as though nothing had happened. "That the legends mostly have genders because of humans? Arceus is called Father because he punishes his warring children Dialga and Palkia... and locked away Giratina to keep him safe. He is called Father because of his stern hand and heart. But even women can be stern... so to characterize the god as such is foolish." He glanced almost slyly back at Soul, his smile changed to a sweet sort of expression. Blackie winced. That face scared him.
"A father's hand is scarier than a mother's heart they say... I wonder how true that actually is."
"Bre..." Kumiho...
"I always wonder about that... how the world fears Arceus and loves Mew, the one who birthed all Pokemon. Both are revered... it's such a wonderful puzzle." He smiled and looked up at the sky. "Then again, humans and Pokemon are different. It's why they're both so intriguing."
"Yes. From what I can understand, Arceus has a certain kind of appearance. It is divine, heavenly and beautiful, but it is also intimidating and unforgiving. Thus humans categorize it as 'male' and call it 'Father' due to how it looks. While Mew's appearance is rather small and feminine. The fact that it supposedly 'gave birth' to the entire species of Pokémon and presumably humans, only makes it seem more female. Thus humans catagorize call it 'Mother'." Soul had now calmed down a bit and began to go back to his more resonable self again. He paused for a moment to get some air, then he continued, "Although a mother can be very stern, this treat is often associated with fathers since they are 'the men of the family' and thus must act like one. By being strict." he stopped.
"Although I speak the truth when I say that my fater was a horrible man I still..." Soul drifted off slowly. His father, he had never thought about his father and not gotten enraged. But this time it was different he felt... Well, he couldn't quite put the finger on why...
"And then what do you deduct about us, who sees ourselves as neither human nor Pokémon?" Soul chuckled a bit.
Ethan let out a soft noise, unusual and neutral. "I suppose... but a mother can be a father and a father can be a mother." He seemed to cough. "And there are nice fathers I've heard... ones that are men without breaking a person.... my father was people say." Ethan seemed to laugh. "I don't remember to be honest." That was a lie, a horrible lie and he should be struck down for it. Inwardly he recoiled at himself a little.
"But your father... he was a weak man wasn't he? I bet you're stronger than he is." Flattery, a cold sort of poison, but one that patched holes all the same.
"I have somewhat of a hard time believing that. But what do I know? I'm just a simple savage." Soul laughed, he laid back into the grass and continued listening to Kumiho.
"You don't?" Soul said, there was something fishy about that statement. But he couldn't put his finger on why... Soul listened as Kumiho asked him about his father, or rather assumed that his father was weak. Soul especially reacted to the "I bet you're stronger than him"-part, he didn't really think that Kumiho was one to give compliments. The smell of fishiness increased a bit, he sat up and started to talk with a hint of carefulness.
"Yes he was. His main weakness was the alcohol. I would say that I'm stronger than him, since I outlived his torture." Soul felt wierd, he was opening up somewhat to a person that he just met... Strange...
"There are relationships where it happens," Kumiho said softly "It depends on personality really. You don't believe it unless you see it I suppose." His voice remained eerily flat as he registered the other's question. "Hmm... not really. He mostly taught me things, like how to always smile especially when you don't want to do it. He taught me to pursue the truth, the real one. I don't remember him being kind to me that often but perhaps that was a truth I couldn't see because I was too young to." He could feel a vague pain in his chest. As always he covered it with the happy peace he projected. Everyone believed it, which was just disturbing. Well except Pokemon but that's because they had better senses.
Kumiho couldn't help the odd laugh that burst from his lips. For a moment, there was a hint of darkness in his words, cold and dispassionate. "He shares that weakness with most of the world then. I don't know many people who don't fall to alcohol at some point in their lives. It doesn't make them completely weak; that's just what it does. No he had a weak soul I bet you, a thing already tethered to the grip that liquor fastens to the brain."
Ethan looked over at them now and Blackie could almost see that light that sparkled in his eyes, the one he had seen him have at his home. Intense. "To be stronger than the past is to surpass it I've heard the tale told. To survive it proves power but to surpass it I suppose would make you one of the most powerful beings alive. I bet you can do that." Ethan looked away and hummed. "I bet you would too, just to prove how much stronger you are..."
Soul nodded,
"I'm not sure if I believe anything before I see it." Soul stopped for a second, why did he say that? Was it some sort of attempt to a joke? Sometimes he reall amazed himself. Soul listened as Kumiho claimed that his father had taught him a lot of things, seemingly useless to the practical person, but to the philosophical... So he lied earlier, it WAS something fishy about it. Soul began to doubt himself for opening up to Kumiho, the boy seemed like he could get what he wanted out of a person without even trying and for a wild one as Soul, it must be pretty easy to squeeze out information. Then, for a moment, Kumiho's happiness seemed to falter. Or was that just Soul's imagination? It had screwed him over before but...
Kumiho, laughed? Soul stopped again for a moment, the Moon Child was starting to get a bit unsettling, maybe too unsettling for Soul's good it would seem. The turqoise-haired boy noticed the darkness in Kumiho's words, it was getting more and more unsettling the further into the conversation it got.
"As the moon comes out, the creature's transform into what is in thier hearts."
Soul saw Kumiho starting to warp in front of his eyes, the boy turned pitch-black, his eyes bright yellow and he gained sort of a waving movememt. It was one of the Shadows... Soul heard the Shadow talka bout what makes you strong. Overcoming the past? Was there such a thing? Soul wasn't sure if that was even possible for him to do.
"Yes," he said, "I would try, even though there is close to no chances of winning." he sighed, better be on guard...
Ethan wasn't paying attention too much, smiling distantly. His mask was faltering. Not a big surprise due to the events of the past couple days and his severe lack of sleep but... "You never know until you try," he sing-songed. "And then you try until you die." Blackie nodded a little, laying his head on Ethan's lap. Kumiho pet it absently. Blackie could feel that Kumiho wasn't dangerous, not now anyway.
"Hehe..." Kumiho laughed again, the sound almost depressing. "You're starting to be afraid of me..." Not that much of a surprise to him. If people figured him out they were inevitably afraid. Well except Maya, who was a strange girl overall and... Elena... He squeezed his eyes shut. He did not want to think of his sister right now. It would make him vulnerable and he was not stupid enough to be vulnerable around someone with an animal's instincts.
"Um..." Blackie yawned. "Bre um bre..." Fox-boy you're a bigger savage than Smelly over here. Of course he's afraid of you and your prissy little shirts.
Soul knew that Kumiho was drifting off. He could both see and smell it. The shadow started to falter, it's menacing smile was replaced by a pair of black lips shut tightly. It's color started to fade away, it became more transparent. Across the sealed lips of the shadow escaped a sort of nursery-rhyme. Kumiho sat and sung it gently, his voice seemed to falter as well. Or maybe that was one of Soul's delusions? You couldn't be too sure all the time... The maked boy got the feeling of a person on the brink to insanity, only a certain set of words making making the person hold on. This could depend on two things;
Lack of sleep, or...
Just sheer mental onslaught.
Soul guessed that it was the first alternative, Kumiho wouldn't go mad would he? He seemed cooler than ice itself and wasn't likely to lose control like that.
"Afraid? Even though you took on a more frightful shape earlier it is starting to falter now..." Soul gave off a slight chuckle at Kumiho's seeming depression, this guy was full of surprises. But so was Wildboy himself. Soul sniffed in the air, was that something emotional in the air around Kumiho? Was he letting down his guard? Nah, that couldn't be it. Soul decided to stick along for the ride.
"Smelly? You hurt me dear Umbreon," Soul laughed, "While it may be true that his previous shape was unsettling for me, it has begund to decrease." Soul's psyche was of course no way as stabile as others around his age, but maybe he should leave that to Kumiho to deduce...
"Bre bre." I think you should still be afraid.
Kumiho pet his Pokemon dispassionately. He was tired, so very tired. But sleeping was dangerous out here."Elena..." Trying to block her out was a stupid idea. He was trying to remember her face now, young and innocent. Her hair was still blue and there was fake fire on her back... and... He quietly hummed, singing to himself. Or to her illusion. He wasn't sure anymore.
"Um bre." Fox-boy....
"Looking for a firefly," Ethan mumbled softly. "Looking for my little firefly, where did you cage her?" Oh he really needed more sleep. Even in his half-dazed, half-sane state, he knew the Wildboy wasn't completely well in the head. It was implied in the nickname. "Where did you lock up the little firefly..." He wondered what Elena was doing. Was she making friends? Was she singing silly songs like she always had? Was she happy....
His fingers curled in a lapse of sane control as he seemed to growl softly at nothing in particular. Anyone who made her sad would pay. He smiled dazedly in a distant sort of fury. He would make them pay dearly.
"I think you should be quite afraid, with or without your shadow," he said softly to Wildboy. "I'm nasty when I'm crossed people say.
Soul just sat there. He observed Kumiho go into some sort of trance-like sleep, a word had escaped his lips, "Elena". Soul's face was turned into a grin, that sort of evil grin a wild beast gets when he notices that his prey cannot escape him. So Kumiho HAD a weak side, Soul started to give off light snarls and excited yipps. He sounded like a savage beast going in for the kill.
He rose up from the ground and then proceeded to walk in Kumiho's direction, almost like a zombie. The boy would be an easy prey, Soul shook his head. He realized that he had thought of KILLING Kumiho... Why? Was it because the boy exposed his weakness? Did Soul really hate him? Deep down? No, that couldn't be it... Maybe his wild instincts told hil to do what a carnivore would've done to a wounded animal... Kumiho was no longer a shadow in Soul's eyes, the boy transformed yet again, but this time into a creature giving off light. An innocent, pure, untouched being. Soul couldn't bring himself to harm it.
"Maybe so. But what I'm looking at now is not a shadow. For it is a being of light that i rest my eyes upon..." Soul said, almost poetically. He reached Kumiho and sat down beside him. He opened his mouth behind the mask, and out came a melody. Wildboy's voice was soothing and calm now.
"Don't fret little Eevee,
Don't be sad.
To you I wouldn't do-o anything bad.
You are dear and precious to me,
Rest under the moon and you will see.
How you'll be ble-essed with a crest,
Black will be the new color of your chest.
Along with yellow eyes and blue rings,
Now you shouldn't be afraid of anything."
It was a song that Soul's mother used to sing to him when he was little. It was used to calm him down when he couldn't sleep, to soothe him when he couldn't stop crying and to cheer him up when he was feeling down. Soul saw that Kumiho needed sleep, and thus he sang for him to ease the boy. Now to see if he fell asleep...
Kumiho made a soft noise, sounding more like a laugh. Blackie was growling. He had nothing against the Wildboy idiot but you were not attacking Kumiho. He was stuck with the guy. He was not going to allow the guy he was stuck keeping an eye on to get killed. He was too interesting to lose track of. Jeez... insensitive humans.
Kumiho shook his head tiredly. "Blackie down."
"Um bre!" Frick that!
Kumiho laughed again, the sound as false as he was exhausted. "I don't know what you're trying to do forest one but a lullaby is not what I need now." He looked at the sky. "What I need... well, there's no words for it." Lying really was a reflex wasn't it? How... ironic perhaps?
"Ne... barking like that... were you trying to scare me?" He glanced at Wildboy. "I've observed that carnivorous Pokemon make those noises when trying to intimidate others while others are perfectly silent as they," He calmly rested his hand on the other's collarbone. "Tear them to pieces." He removed his hand casually. "Joking. I don't see a reason to kill you."
Soul looked calmly at Blackie barking at him, the sight wasn't intimidating at all. In fact, it was rather amusing. This Umbreon who claimed to dislike Kumiho was now protecting him? Soul couldn't help but chuckle, he had faced worse things than an agitated Umbreon. One of those being the reason to why he had a mask.
"Hm? I wasn't trying anything. You seemed tired and in need of sleep, thus, I sang you a song so that you coul rest a bit. I will not say that I had no intention to kill you, the thought did in fact pop up in my mind. However, it was not an act of hatred, moreso a reflex. You see that I am like a wild and agressive Pokémon, my mindset is like that due to a very special chain of events. Some might say it was unfortunate, but I say that it was more or less eye-opening." Soul said in a calm voice. He was a bit embarassed about the killing-part, but what are you gonna do? (<real good f***ing question there Soul As Kumiho said that what he needed was something difficult for him to describe. Soul let out a hysterical, or you might even say maiacal laughter,
"You having no words to describe something? Don't you try to fool me! I know that you are an observant person, and thus you should be able to phraze almost anything in words."
"Scare you? No, just my reflexes going out of hand." Soul said calmly. He felt the gentle touch of Kumiho's hand on his collarbone, what? What was this? Soul hadn't felt contact like this in years, he didn't think tht he would miss it either. Apparently, he was wrong. As Kumiho told a little joke about killing him, Soul chuckled.
"Not to be offending dear Kumiho, but I'm not too sure if you would last in battle against me..." he said, looking briefly at his claw-like hands.
Blackie snarled coldly and scowled. "Bre.. umbreon." I am not in the mood to go back on that boat. It probably sank anyway...
Kumiho shook his head. "You overestimate me," he said quietly. "It is difficult for me to describe living. I cannot put into words what I need because what I need is full of complex factors that I haven't learned enough to describe yet. Human things are so very puzzling." His smile flickered slightly. "But I like that, because puzzles are so very interesting." He grinned at Wildboy. "You haven't terrified me yet and I wonder if I could beat you..." he shrugged. "i'm sure we'll find out one of these days."
Blackie scoffed."Bre. On bre." "Hmph. He'd lose. You'd trick him. Azea appeared and landed on Kumiho's head, eating a Berry.
"Ledi!"
"Oh? Do I? Well maybe so, but I'm still sure that you can explain most of it." Soul just shrugged. Maybe he was overestimating Kumiho? Nah, that didn't seem like a valiable option considering how Kumiho was. It was more like he tried to lead Soul astray. Kumiho amused Soul, the boy was unpredictible, seemingly deep and somewhat mysterious. Just like himself. Minus the possible hallucinations and emotional instability that was.
"I guess so," Soul smiled and cracked his knuckles, "Heh, you know my dear Umbreon... I'm a little more than wild I tell you." he chuckled and dug his claws into the ground, making the dirt under his nails get a little thicker.
"Humans. Are interesting creatures depending on who you ask, but their morales will always be built on the same baisis."
Ethan chuckled darkly. "Everybody does that I suppose... expects things of me I cannot do." Did he just sound sad? Funny, he was not particularly good at expressing that emotion. "I cannot explain what I do not comprehend." He quietly rose to his feet. Azea flew off to float next to him.
"Ledi!" Ethan tilted his head and Azea babbled on for a moment. Blackie snorted.
"Umbreon. Bre on bre."I still would be concerned if I could care enough. Human morals are based on the same things as Pokemon ones. THey want to survive... though to be fair they're unorthodox about it.
"Hah! Well I guess that is because of the aura you give off. Caculating, confident and so on." Soul chuckled again. Seems like Kumiho's voice sounded sad... He gave off another chuckle, seems like the one least expected to show sadness in fact, did. It was all just so amusing.
"Everything isn't comprehendable. Some things aren't meant to be understood, but seeing how you are I guess that won't stop you." Soul was now laughing at the absurdness. If he would've known better you might say that Soul W. Grant did make a non-Pokémon friend this day.
"Yes. Unorthodox..." Soul's voice trailed off for a bit as he commented on Blackie's statement. He thought about how his father had acted to him, that was certainly much more than unorthodox. Soul gritted his teeth behind the mask, oh how he hated that man...
Ethan tilted his head. "I wonder if that's really it..." He snorted quietly. "There are things that are not meant to be understood but people are not one of them I have been told. Now the mysteries of life, as interesting as they are I will leave that to the ponderous queries of minions."
Blackie glanced at SOul and yawned. "Bre on." I was bein' polite about it. Humans get up to some strange stuff."
Soul shrugged,
"Yes. The human psyche, something complex yet frail. You want to understand it? Doesn't surprise me. You have the ears and tail of an Umbreon, a slick, devious Dark-type out to play with peoples minds. Much like a child plays with a doll." Kumiho couldn't see Soul's face behind the mask, and right now, it was probably for the best. He had an insane look. And not just the mental hospital type of insane. This was like watching a demon disguised as a human show it's true shape, this was one of the factors showing that Soul was not well at all. At all.
"The human mind is much like a table. It can be used to place all sorts of things on top of it, namely information, but once too much pressure is put on it," Soul braided his fingers together, "It breaks." He then pulled all his fingers backwards which resulted in a cracking-sound. He then laughed, a bit hysterically one might think, but Soul didn't pay mind to what others thought of him, not anymore at least.
Kumiho observed this strange boy from where he was and smiled innocently, leaning his head back slightly as a child would. "Did you know your eyes are trying to escape your skull when you talk like that?" he asked in a tone bordering on merry. "I think you're putting too much pressure on your brain when you do that. You should probably stop." Blackie cackled. "Hysterics are only amusing when you make someone else that way."
He looked up at the sky. "I once heard someone compare the psyche to a bottle of beer. It gets shaken up enough, thrown around and tossed aside, and when it breaks everything just dribbles out everywhere and makes a big mess which paper towels aren't particularly good at cleaning up." Ethan looked down now. and hummed. "Playing with mortal minds requires some finesse though. Breaking your toys makes it hard to play with them again. so you have to be careful because a broken toy is only useful on broken people.'
Ethan spoke these last words very matter-of-factly as he added. "Kind of like you." This statement was completely calm, as if he weren't afraid of the consequences. well he wasn't. Consequences were the least of his concerns.
Hm? Soul didn't know his eyes were trying to escape him, granted one was useless, but in the end he kinda felt like he needed it...
"Hah. My brain has handled worse pressure before," he widened the space between his arms as if he was to hug someone, "And look at what it became of me!" he giggled. "Yes, but I am not trying to be entertaining. I'm not sure if I'm trying to be ANYTHING really."
Soul listened to the beer-comparison to the human mind. It was also pretty accurate, it drew Soul's attention to his father for a split second but disappeared just as quickly as it came. "Yes, the human mind is a toy tht you can never piece together. You can glue all the pieces together, but you cannot make them fit." Soul laughed.
His ears perked up at Kumiho's comment. The young boy slowly started to walk in Kumiho's direction, he stopped in front of him and grabbed the collar of his shirt.
"I bet you wondered how I was going to react to that, correct?" Soul pressed his face closer to Kumiho's, "But even I am avare of my mental illness. In fact, I've gotten used to it and can work with it in many ways."
Ethan made an odd noise. "You're trying to be a Pokemon I think," he commented in a fake good cheer. "Because Pokemon seem easier to get along with." He shook his head distantly. "The pieces are never the right size in the first place and that's the reason people never seem too well and things break so easily."
Kumiho stared blankly at Soul as his face bored into his black eyes. Then he grinned, reached forward, and tweaked Soul's nose. THis was how children behaved, he recalled, remembering Elena again. "You're going to have to get over this whole trying to scare me thing," He commented dimly. This emotional thing was bizarre. How many feelings would he have to play to mess with people? Is this what humans do all the time? Seems tiring.
"I wonder how people react to everything," he said calmly. He wasn't particularly worried about his personal space invasion. "It's like wondering where air comes from and why Pokemon are random colors. You just do it without thinking."
"Of course. Pokémon are simple yet complex creatures, I act and live with them because I prefer their company." Soul looked Kumiho deeply in the eyes, making some sort of contact. Until Kumiho grabbed his nose that was. Soul jumped back with a yipp, he didn't enjoy getting touched too much. But he did feel some sort of weird warmth spreading across his face, why was this? He started to look around a bit confused as if there was an answer around him, he then decided to just leave it be.
"Scare you?" he said innocently, "I have no such intention of doing so... Do I really come off as trying to scare you?" he asked. This was an honest question actually, Soul hadn't been trying to give someone a scare since... Even he doesn't know when, he was just that crazy.
Ethan smirked a little bit and rose to his feet. Azea flew over his head and toward the path ahead, waving one of his fists excitedly. "It's more like a part of you wants to kill me but death threats have lost their effect after a time." Azea let out a burst of cries and Blackie snorted. Whatever it had been about, Ethan was certain it was interesting. At least Pokemon had mastered their puzzle.
"It seems Azea may want to leave..." Kumiho looked at the pink on the other male's nose and shook his head. He had a vague clue to what that was but it seemed unlikely.
Soul looked up at Kumiho, he apparently wanted to leave.
"Well then." Soul said in an unbelievably cheery tone, he called Jolt back into his Pokéball and jumped up in a tree, "I hope to meet you again sometime, Moon Child Kumiho..." then he started to jump from tree to tree in an effort to get somewhere.
Ethan chuckled. "Everything circles in the end. Farewell Pokemon child." He walked after Azea, who buzzed happily at him, probably something about berries. The fox child would never know.