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Author's Notes & Part One

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
NOTE (August 19th 2022): Made minor edits to Part 1. Nothing plot-relevant, just some dialogue and prose.

---

Yes! I managed to get this posted in time after all. It took a sprint of over 1.3k words on the last day, but it was worth it.

So, this is that "vampire story" I've been talking about on Discord. It's another PMD-but-no-dungeons story, this time about a shy and insecure noivern... and vampires. Wanna know more? Read it.

I would rate this story roughly as teen as it does have vampires and therefore some guaranteed blood, but the content and tone are still well away from mature territory. Hunter, Haunted this is not. It does deal with some misogyny, though, mainly internalized. Language is mild.

That's about everything I have to say. I have no preferences for critique - any feedback given is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Noivern Nella (by me, 2022)
nella_2022.png

Noivern Nella (by me, 2021)
nellarecolor.png

Incineroar Leander (by me)
leander2022.png

Mismagius Teru (by me)
teru_2022.png

Caramel, Nella, Mother by @unrepentantAuthor
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---

battycover.png

BATTY!

Synopsis:
Nella is a shy, lonely noivern who works a waitress job by day and escapes to her romance novels by night - but everything changes after a fateful encounter with a wild zubat infected with vampirism plunges her into the hidden world of vampiric pokémon.

Genre:
Drama, Horror, Romance

Started:
31 Oct 2021

Status:
Completed (4th Sep 2023)

Length:
49 000 words
(measured 4th Sep 2023)

---

Part One

---​


Ding!

“Coming!” Nella shouted, rushing out of the kitchen, coins clinking inside the pouch on her belt. A sour-faced gumshoos sat behind the counter, untrimmed claws tapping impatiently on its wooden surface. Nella sighed under her breath, then forced a smile.

“Welcome to Martha’s,” the noivern said. “How may I serve you?”

“I wanna see some cod and potatoes and fast,” the gumshoos growled. “I’m starvin’.”

Nella nodded. “Right away, sir. Feel free to show yourself to a table if you’d like.”

“I just sat down. I ain’t gettin’ back up.”

Another stealthy sigh. “That’s alright. We’ll start working on your order right away.”

“And a beer!” the gumshoos shouted after her as she entered the heat and steam of the kitchen. “Hey, did ya hear me?”’

“Yes, sir!” Nella shouted back. She turned to the kitchen staff - Swampert Harvey and Ursaring Sophie on this current shift - and relayed the order of a plate of cod and potatoes.

“We ran out of cod,” responded Harvey, scooping up a pair of fried eggs off his pan and to a plate which another waitress, Golduck Daisy, took in her hands and rushed off to serve. “They’ll have to ask for something else.”

Nella blinked. How wonderful.

She forced a smile onto her face once again and returned to the counter.

“I’m sorry, but we’re out of cod. Would you like something else instead?”

"Out of cod?" the gumshoos huffed - but shook his head and skimmed the menu again. "Berry mash, then."

"Alright, we'll get right on it!" said Nella and slipped back into the kitchen. "We need one bowl of berry mash!" she yelled.

"Can't make it," shouted back Sophie, inserting a meat pie into the oven. "Out of tamato."

Nella froze. "Are you serious?"

"'Fraid I am."

She clacked her claws together. "Can't we make it without tamato? It's just a little part of it, right?"

"Sorry, but you know how Martha feels about going off-recipe. Just ask them to get something else."

Nella's shoulders slumped, but Martha was Martha. While she would yell even when you stuck to her orders, it would stay at that - try things your own way, though, and your job was on the line.

Nella took a deep breath, plastered that smile back on her face and finally returned to the counter.

"I'm sorry," she said, already seeing the annoyance flare up in the gumshoos' eyes, "but berry mash is also unavailable at the moment. Would you like so-"

A bang of the gumshoos' paw on the counter quieted her.

"Son of a muk!" the gumshoos spat. "Do you serve food here or not?"

On reflex, Nella shielded her body with her wings. Pressure built up in her ears.

No! She closed her eyes and flexed her toes, focusing on the wooden floor beneath her feet. Slowly, the pressure weakened.

"Hey! Are you listenin'?"

It strengthened again. It threatened to burst. She took deep breaths, focused, focused. She pictured a familiar blue face, black beady eyes, white beak and cheeks, and her mother saying those words in her sing-song voice:

"A good girl is a quiet girl."

She opened her eyes and the world was clear again.

She brought that smile back on her face.

"We truly apologize for the unavailability of those menu options," she said, voice bright, "but I'm sure we have other options available you would like. Please try choosing another item."

The gumshoos' eyes had widened at her sudden change in behavior, but they soon drooped back to half-closed. "Feh." He waved his arm lazily and turned around. "I'll find someplace else."

Nella watched as the gumshoos slouched out, his long tail dragging behind him, surely saving whoever was on cleaning duty that day some time. Only once the door had slammed shut in his wake could Nella let her forced vigor melt away.

Needing some time to feel presentable again, she slipped back in the kitchen, leaned against a wall and sighed.

It's alright. I'll be here for just a minute, then get back. There was no one in line. Surely they can't need me again so soon --

Ding!


She wanted to scream. But she didn't. A good girl was a quiet girl.

She took just a little more time to herself - surely the customer would prefer a little delay over being served by an anxious mess - before walking back out. She wished this customer wouldn't be as rude, but accepted the possibility. She had no other option, anyway.

She raised her gaze to meet the ringer of the bell, preparing to stick that smile on her lips once again - but as her eyes met the mon behind the counter, she could not suppress her surprise.

A white, gold-striped incineroar dressed in brown leather stood behind the counter, posture proud but calm and face neutral. Nella's gaze flicked around his body, his blue eyes, his muscular arms, his grayish-brown chest peeking out from his open coat, his cheek tufts that were long enough to drape over his broad shoulders… with the exception of his colors, it was like Incineroar Arthur had leapt right off the pages of Lionhearted, ready to woo the plain little seamstress with his fierce strength but noble heart...

So men like him really did exist.

"Hello?"

Nella flinched, remembering where she was and what she was supposed to do. "Uh, welcome to Wart- I mean --" Blood rushed to her face, making her nose an even deeper red than usual. She spent half a second to pull herself together, then tried again. "Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"

"...Yes," the stranger answered, thankfully without any ire - or so Nella hoped, at least. He looked down at the menu on the counter. "I would like the cod and potatoes."

Nella's nose must have been glowing right then.

“We’re sorry,” she said, taking care to pronounce each word right, “but that option is currently unavailable.” She paused. “The berry mash is also unavailable. Please order some item other than those two.”

“Oh.” The incineroar eyed the menu again. “Is the beef stew available?”

She nodded, and hoped dearly that she would be right.

”That, then,” he said, “and… you wouldn’t happen to have any wine, would you?”

At least that one wasn’t on the menu to begin with. It made talking a bit easier, though her face was still burning. “Sorry, but we do not serve wine. We do serve beer, if you’d like that?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just have some milk, then.”

“Milk and beef stew,” Nella repeated to etch them in her mind. “Coming right up. Feel free to choose a table in the meantime.”

She curtsied - why did she curtsy? They didn’t do that there! But the stranger, he seemed so noble…

She escaped into the kitchen before she could do anything weirder. She took a deep breath, then shouted to the staff. “Beef stew for one!”

“Will do!” shouted back Harvey.

She sighed in relief. Finally something worked out.

She turned around to return, pausing briefly to let the butterfree in her belly settle, then stepped back out into the scene. But as soon as she spotted the stranger again, sitting by a nearby table, their eyes met and all those little bugs leapt aflutter again.

But she still had a job to do. She grabbed a glass from beneath the counter and fetched a jug of milk from the icebox. She brought both to the stranger and poured the glass full - with great caution, as she knew she'd never forgive herself if she spilled the milk right there and then.

"There you go," she said and forced herself to give the polite amount of eye contact. The stranger thanked her with a smile - he smiled at me! - which Nella acknowledged with a nod before returning to the counter. She placed the jug back in the icebox and then… and then… oh dear, she didn't have anything to do, did she? She'd have to simply stand there, in full view of that handsome stranger, and stay presentable the whole time.

She glanced at the stranger. He wasn't drinking and showed no intentions to do so. He must have been the type to wait for his food before starting his drink. Should she have asked if he wanted the milk right away before giving it to him? Now it would sit there getting warmer for no reason. Oh, stupid, stupid.

Though maybe he'd change his mind. Maybe he'd start drinking and her mistake wouldn't have mattered so much. She stood still in wait until she realized how rude of her it was to stare. Her gaze hopped from that table to another, then another, another and another. She would check for any customers that may have finished - a reasonable activity for a waitress - but the answer was always no. As a result, more and more often her eyes lingered on the stranger, examining his unique looks and apparel.

Why did he wear all that leather? Was he cold? But if he was cold, why didn't his jacket have any sleeves? Was he hiding something he was ashamed of, like furless patches or scars? She did notice a nick in his ear. Perhaps he fought often. But he was clearly no ruffian, no, he must have been a professional. But he had no uniform - at least it didn't look like it. Was he someone for hire? Was he a bounty hunter? A mercenary? An assassin? But weren't assassins not supposed to draw attention to themselves? Or was he such a wanted mon that he felt it necessary to walk in protective wear out on the town? But then, again, why no sleeves? It made no sense --

Her thoughts shattered as the stranger returned her look. She'd been caught staring. She'd messed up yet again. Oh, why couldn't she do anything right?

"Nella!"

She jumped in her skin, then turned around. Harvey's wide head peeked out of the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry," Harvey grumbled, "but you didn't react when I tapped the wall."

Nella sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Beef stew's ready. Been ready for a while."

Nella's face froze while her stomach plummeted through the floor.

"Whoa, you alright?"

Could Daisy serve this one? Nella wanted to say, but knew Harvey wouldn't have asked her if the golduck was available. Her shift had probably ended. Closing time wasn't that far off.

Instead, Nella forcibly thawed her face. "Oh, yes, sorry. There's nothing to worry about. Let's go."

She followed Harvey to the kitchen and soon spotted the bowl of stew on a tray ready to go. It was no longer steaming, but a quick wave of her wing above it confirmed it was still sufficiently warm to serve. She nodded her thanks to Harvey, picked up the tray and once again headed out into the cold.

Just get over there, give him the bowl and then get out, she told herself. But don't forget to be polite. Oh, just... do it the way you always do and you'll be as good as invisible.

Her stiff steps finally took her to the stranger's table. As he shifted his attention from studying the flowing patterns in the wood of the table to her, Nella remembered to smile. Always smile when looked at.

"Here's your beef stew," she said, setting the bowl on the table. "Enjoy your meal!"

She turned around to leave, her heartbeat slowly turning triumphant - she did it, it was over --

"Excuse me."

And the rhythm of her heart fell into chaos again.

She turned to the stranger, unable to look him in the eye and settling for his forehead. "Y-yes…?"

"Is it alright for me to pray here?"

"Pray?" It took a second to process the word. Why would he pray? Did he mean saying grace? She'd seen other customers do it and Martha had never said anything about it, so it must have been fine by her. "Sure?" she said, questioning tone unintentional, but a second try wasn't worth it.

"To be clear, it will not be in the name of Mew or Arceus or any other deity you've likely heard of," the incineroar said, pulling a necklace out from under his coat. It had a curious pendant - a round, blue, sparkling stone encircled by a brass ring with four spikes pointing up, down, left and right. "I am a follower of Solgaleo."

The stranger was right - Nella had never heard of a deity like that, not that her family was all that spiritual. She nearly said yes without much further thought, but then realized Martha likely wouldn't want any demon-worship taking place in her establishment.

"Well, um, that depends," started Nella. "What do you intend to pray for?"

"Not for anything, really," the stranger said. "Only to thank Him for the day."

Nella clacked her claws together in thought. "I… suppose that's alright. As long as you're not bothering anybody."

The stranger nodded. "You have my word. Thank you."

"Sure." Nella nodded back, sensing her cue to exit. "Enjoy your… meal."

She turned and walked away quickly before he could see her once again reddening face.

Having reached the relative safety of the counter, Nella dared to look back. The incineroar had his hands together and eyes closed, seemingly speaking something too quietly to hear over the other customers. A wave of relief washed over her, even if she never really expected the stranger to start trouble.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the opening of the door. A group of three new customers arrived. Nella brought that polite smile back onto her face again - though this time, it seemed a lot easier.

---​

"Thank you, have a good night!"

She waved the tangrowth, raichu and weavile goodbye with one wing with a pouch of coins in the other. The bar was now empty of customers save for one - the white-furred incineroar. On her way back to the counter, she stole yet another glimpse at the stranger to confirm it, and indeed, he was still there, at that moment watching the three mon leave.

Closing time was soon at hand, though. She'd have to ask him to leave. It didn't seem like he had any stew or milk left, so why was he still --

Nella blanched. He needed her to collect his payment for the meal!

As much as she wanted to just run away and hide, she knew that'd eliminate whatever was left of her chance to keep her job if Martha were to find out. And then Mother would find out --

No, there was no time for that! A customer, likely a furious one, was waiting!

She ran - no, ladies do not run, she skipped - to the stranger, and as soon as he turned to her, she began her plea for forgiveness.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Incineroar! I-I neglected to serve you. I'll collect your payment right away. O-or actually, it's on the house! I'll cover the expenses. Please don't think less of our establishment - the fault was mine alone. Is there anything else I can --"

She quieted as the stranger raised his palm. He doesn't want to hear my excuses. Oh, heavens, I'm finished --

"It's quite alright."

The absence of bile in his voice left Nella frozen. She hadn't thought of how to respond to a reaction like this.

"I was in no hurry to leave," the stranger continued, "so I wanted to stay a while longer, simply watching mon come and go. In my profession, respite is precious, and I welcome a moment of peace whenever one comes."

Nella brought her claws together, gaze dropping to the floor. "You don't have to downplay my mistake," she quietly said. "You can be upset."

"There's nothing to be upset about," he assured. "If I really wanted to leave, I simply would have called you."

Nella dared to look at the stranger’s face again. There was nothing but honesty in those sky-blue eyes. She felt like a fool, making such a scene, and blood quickly rushed to her face again.

“Th-thank you,” she could manage.

The stranger sat up straighter. “You know, I’ve never seen a noivern with wings pink on the underside.”

“Really?” Nella spread her left wing to display the color. “Well, I guess I've only ever met a few other noivern in my life so I suppose I don’t really know how rare or common it is...”

“I’ve seen quite a few,” said the stranger. “They’ve had green, blue, teal, gray, white, even red under their wings - but never pink.” He smiled. “It’s a very nice color.”

Nella blinked, unsure how to take the compliment - it had been very long since the last time she received one, after all. “Um, thank you,” she peeped. “I… I like your colors, too.” She also liked everything else, but knew saying that would come off overbearing.

The stranger's smile widened, making his whiskers rise by just a bit. His face looked so soft. Nella's heart quickened. With each moment, he resembled Lionhearted's Arthur even more - but he was real.

"I'd be surprised if you'd seen other white incineroar," the stranger said. "We are very few, and live quite far from here."

“You come from far away?” asked Nella, immediately reconsidering her choice. With a question like that, she was really taking part in the conversation. Now she was responsible for being worth his time…

“Albaton,” he said. “Have you heard of it?”

Nella shook her head. “Not that I know much of anything...” she mumbled.

“No, that is the common response.”

He then slid back his chair and got up. She didn’t insult him, did she?

“You know, I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself yet,” he said and offered a hand. “Incineroar Leander.”

“N-Noivern Nella,” Nella responded and gingerly inserted her claws into his hand. Her fingers were much smaller, much more delicate - and much colder, she realized when the incineroar squeezed her fingers, spreading warmth all the way up to her elbow. His grip was firm but softened by his fur and paw pads. His claws weren’t sharp like those of four-legged felines - likely due to an inability to retract them, she deduced as she pondered the structure of his hand.

Then, the embrace broke, and the warmth disappeared. Nella drew her claws back to her chest. They were nowhere near as warm.

Leander lowered his hand. “So, do you have plans for this evening?”

Nella’s ears twitched.

He asked for plans. That meant he liked her. Wanted to spend more time with her. Get to know her better. See her more times afterwards. Enter a relationship. Possibly, hopefully, marry.

No, she was getting ahead of herself. Especially since she couldn’t see him today anyway.

“Actually, I have to go to bed early tonight,” she said. “To have the energy for tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see. What about tomorrow night, then?”

“Well...”

Technically, she had made no plans, but she already knew tomorrow would be just as tiring.

“I feel like it would be the same,” she said, defeated.

“Ah. Shame.”

She sighed. “Yes, it is...”

A silence hung in the air as Nella pondered whether there was any day that could work. There was Sunday with no work, but that was four days away - far too long to make a gentleman wait. Though if he suggested that, it would mean he was willing...

“Right,” said Leander, snapping Nella out of her thoughts. “I should pay.”

Pay. The incineroar dug a pouch out of his pocket. He was paying. This conversation was ending. He did not want to wait beyond tomorrow. Perhaps he wouldn’t even be in town anymore - it was clear he was a traveller.

“How much was it?”

”Um, one silver, four bronze.”

He picked out the necessary coins and handed them to Nella with a smile. “Here you are.”

She took just a second to admire that smile, that warmth, good intent, pressing it into her memory as a memento of what could have been. Leander, the white incineroar with golden stripes.

She took the coins and slid them to her pouch. “Thank you, have a good...night.”

The automatic phrase had ended the conversation for her.

Leander nodded. “Have a good night as well, Nella. And sleep well.”

With that, he turned around and headed for the door. The seconds it took for him to reach it felt more like minutes. Then, he opened the door, gave a final smile, stepped through and closed the door behind him.

She stood in silence.

Well, there was nothing more to do there. She should store away the coins.

She made her way to the counter, her claws producing hollow clicks against the wooden floor. She took out her key and opened the coin drawer. One by one, she took a coin from her pouch and dropped it to its container. Copper in the copper container, bronze in the bronze container, silver in the silver container, gold in the... just kidding. No one brought gold here.

She sighed.

See, it doesn’t pay to be a working woman on her own, said a familiar voice inside her head. That’s just how the world works.

Nella grasped her forehead with a wing. Of course. Of course Mother would come back now.

She tried to stay calm and made her counterpoint. You agreed that the worklife would give me experience.

I did, darling, a year ago. But frankly, darling, I doubt these little odd jobs have anything to teach you anymore. And you’re not getting any younger.

I’m only nineteen, Mother.

Only, you say… Nelly, darling, I've told you this before. I have seen noivern and I tell you they do not age with grace. That fur’s only going to get bristlier. Gray hairs start popping up here and there. And your teeth - they’ll keep growing. But if you charm a man now, he’ll be blinded for life - in his eyes, you’ll be young forever.


For a split second, Nella saw herself beside Leander.

Oh! Mother gasped. Who is this gentleman?

Nella squeezed her eyes shut. No one. He’s not real... she tried, but her memories of their meeting replayed on their own.

You let him go? the altaria shouted, puffing her plumage and throwing her wings in the air - Nella had to admit it was quite unladylike for someone so preoccupied with elegance. What were you thinking?

Mother, I have to think about my job! If I come in tired again and start messing up orders, e-even though I’m really trying --

You know I would give you anything you needed if it helped you find a man!


Nella paused. She was right. Mother would gladly support her… but what if she couldn’t make it work with him?

At least you’d have learned something - something that’d help you a lot more than anything you could possibly learn from running errands in that lousy pub!

She might actually say that.

And, darling - if a man really did show his interest, with you on the job nonetheless, you’ve cleared the hardest hurdle. You have a chance. After all this waiting, you have a chance. And you’re just going to throw it away?

Nella opened her eyes. She wouldn’t.

She shut the drawer and locked it, shoved the remaining coins in her pouch and ran for the door. Yes, ran - she had to make it in time. She could even fly - well, actually, she couldn’t. This section of town was a no-fly zone for mon of her weight class, and she wouldn’t be able to meet him if she was arrested. She had to settle for running.

She burst out the door with enough force to make her wings ache. She looked right and she looked left - no sight of the stranger, but she’d search all night if she had to.

Where was the nearest inn? He may be on the way there if he’s a traveller. Trevor’s was closest, right? It was eastward - so she should go right at first. She dashed that way until the junction, where she took another right --

There, in the distance, a tall figure clad in brown leather, white fur, it's him, it's him!

But who was that standing beside him?

Tall, slim, green and white… a gardevoir.

She laughed.

He laughed.

Nella's heart sank.

The gardevoir's dress danced in the breeze. Her voice was bright, but not shrill, and her speech had the perfect tempo and enunciation. Whenever she laughed, she raised her hand to her mouth, and at all moments her posture stayed flawless.

No wonder he was captivated. She was perfect.

And Nella could never compete.

---​

Scrape, scrape, scrape. The broom's bristly hairs brushing against the floorboards was the only thing keeping the restaurant from dead silence.

The others had left long ago - even Amal, who was tasked with depositing the day's profits in Martha's stead, and she usually stayed the longest. But she was not the one who dreaded going back to her empty quarters. With all those books of silly stories of love and passion that would never come true.

Nella sighed, probably for the seventeenth time by now, and the cycle of thoughts began anew.

She should have said she was free. She should have realized sooner how valuable the opportunity was. She shouldn't have let him go. Even if it made her look desperate. She was desperate! She would've settled for much less, and yet she had the chance to catch the perfect man - or the best man she could ever get.

Could she, even? Maybe it was all a trick to begin with? Maybe that gardevoir was in on it? But what was there to gain from courting some dowdy little waitress? She wasn't rich - she barely got by. She wasn't important - her family wasn't that influential. And she already knew she wasn’t pretty.

That incineroar must have had something wrong with him. He did belong to some weird religion. Maybe he was searching for a woman to sacrifice to his god in some dark, twisted ritual…

...no, she'd been reading too many books.

A clanking came from the door. Someone was trying to open the lock.

Nella's fur stood on end, bristlier than ever, and she grasped the broom tighter. "Wh-who's there?"

The door opened, and a familiar nidoqueen stepped through.

"Calm down, it's just me," said Martha, closing the door.

Nella sighed in relief. "What brings you here?” she then asked. “I thought you were going to be elsewhere until Thursday.”

“I thought so, too,” said Martha, marching right past Nella into the kitchen, “until I heard Greedent Gustav was coming.”

Nella followed her. “Um… who is that?”

“The mon who will make or break my career,” Martha said, opening cupboard after cupboard, checking all pouches and containers inside. “If he decides to drop by during his stay in Lepach, that is.”

“So… he’s a food critic?”

“He’s the food critic. In this backwater corner of the kingdom, anyway...” She dashed past Nella to another set of cupboards, blind to the noivern-tail that was in her way and would have tripped her had Nella not withdrawn it at the last moment. “I need to make sure we’re not running low on anything that can’t be bought at the market tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, I see."

Gradually, Martha's motions became more patient. "Okay, so far so good," she mumbled. "Everything seems to be in order…"

But on the next cupboard, she froze.

She turned to Nella with one pouch in her hand. "Is this all the bitterleaf we have?"

"Umm… I-I don't know, I don't work in the kitchen?"

Martha ignored her and checked the remaining cupboards. She then reached into one drawer, took out a slip of blank paper and began writing.

Nella began wondering if it'd be better for her to leave, but right then --

"Noivern!" the nidoqueen barked.

Nella yipped. "Y-yes?"

Martha folded the slip. "You've been to Zem's before, right?"

"Zem's?"

"Drowzee Zem's!" Martha snapped, and Nella cowered.

"I-I remember a drowzee… do you mean the potionmaker?"

"Of course I mean the potionmaker," Martha grumbled. "But you remember the way to his house?"

"Yes, I do." She thought so, at least.

Martha handed her the slip and the empty pouch of bitterleaf. "Go to him and ask for bitterleaf. The slip will tell him that I'll pay later, and handsomely."

Nella paused. "What, now?"

"Yes!"

Absolutely not, Nella thought at first. Don't be selfish, she thought right after. You can't let your employer take advantage of you, she thought after that. She wrestled with those thoughts until she finally made her choice - standing her ground. She opened her mouth --

"You'll get tomorrow off, obviously," said Martha. "I need to meet Mr. Greedent in person, anyway, and the best way to do that is to do some waitressing myself. I'll handle your shift."

Oh. That made it a lot more reasonable. And she supposed she still didn't want to go home, anyway…

The nidoqueen smacked her tail against the floor, impatient. "Well? Are you going or what?"

"I-I'm going," Nella stuttered. Oh boy, I suppose I'm going.

"Good."

Nella took the slip and the pouch and stored them in her bag. Martha quickly brought her a lantern and… another pouch? This one was much smaller and red in coloration.

"Spores of morelull," said Martha as she handed it over. "Throw 'em towards anyone or anything giving you trouble. A handful ought to put even a raging tauros to bed. Don't breathe 'em in yourself. That should go without saying," she muttered.

“Um… thanks?”

“Don’t mention it. Now go, go, go! The sooner you come back, the sooner we can both get some sleep.” The nidoqueen rushed Nella back to the dining space and to the front door.

“But wh-what if the drowzee isn’t home?” asked Nella while the nidoqueen lit her lantern. “Or he doesn’t have bitterleaf? Or he has some, but doesn’t want to share?”

“Well, then I guess we’re all screwed.”

Lantern lit, Martha opened the door and gave Nella one last shove. “Good luck,” she said, and with that, she slammed the door.

---​

Oh dear. Oh dear. Was this the right path? Should she have taken a right instead?

The wind strengthened, howling like a houndoom as it drained more warmth from her body. The lantern rattled, and the flame inside flickered. Don’t go out, don’t go out…

It did not. The wind calmed again. Nella sighed.

Though it wasn’t as if much relief could be felt in a scene like this. Layers and layers of cloud filled the sky, eliminating any chance of seeing the full moon Nella knew had to be there and shrouding the earth and all that stood upon it in darkness.

At least she had good hearing. All noivern did. Many times her mother had reprimanded her for eavesdropping when she brought up something that wasn’t intended for her to hear, but she’d never really tried to hear it - well, most of the time.

Even now, her ears would catch all sorts of sounds she didn’t need to hear. Rustling of leaves or calls of nightbirds were completely natural for a forest-flanking path like this, but it didn’t stop her from flinching each time. A constant weak pressure remained behind her ears, but she knew she could contain it.

At least those sounds were still relatively distant. Even if her first reaction was fear, whatever her imagination could cook up was still far enough away to fly away from in an emergency. How well she could fly in this wind was another question, but just knowing she wasn’t explicitly trapped calmed her mind just a little.

Though she probably shouldn’t fly away at the first sign of danger. She had the morelull spores. If she didn’t even try to rely on them, Martha would surely chew her out on abandoning her quest so easily. Not to mention that she could have --

No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t bellow.

In any case, it was unlikely for her to cross paths with anything all that dangerous. Houndoom and ursaring were the largest predators around Lepach, and both were quickly hunted down or chased away after sightings. They had become more wary of civilized mon, too, and seemed to know that bothering one would mean a whole lot more bothering them.

Far away, something let out a peep. Nella froze until she’d fully processed the sound.

Just a zubat, she thought. Probably out hunting. It does seem like the best time for it...

She continued to walk, and the zubat continued to peep. She thought about the little thing catching mosquitoes in the air and nibbling on them with its tiny teeth. She smiled. She couldn’t understand why Mother was afraid of them. They were harmless! Mother said they fluttered so quickly, that they were unpredictable, but that seemed no different than a bird of the same size to Nella. And they only ate insects. They would flee from anything larger than them, unless they were guarding a nest, defending their family, and who couldn’t relate to that…

She noticed the peeping was getting closer. Sure, why not. Perhaps she could catch a glimpse of it in action - though it felt more likely that it’d leave the moment it really noticed her.

It kept approaching, and she felt more at ease. Even if it would only last for a while, she wouldn’t be travelling alone. She began glancing over her shoulder for a chance to spot the zubat against the slightly-brighter sky.

There it was! It was coming her way. Strange. It must have been a particularly daring zubat to fly this close. Or maybe it hadn’t noticed her at all. That theory felt more likely by the second as the zubat glided closer, headed straight towards --

Nella ducked, and the zubat zoomed past right above her head.

“Hey, watch out!” said Nella. “I’m trying to wal-”

The zubat turned in midair and dove at her with a screech. In the lantern’s faint light, she saw its fangs - double their usual size, curved, and sharp as needles.

There was something terribly wrong with this zubat.

She dodged the attack and opened her wings wide, then flapped them at the crazed mon. “G-go away!”

The zubat continued its assault, unfazed by the display. Nella shielded herself with a wing, though regretted it soon after as she felt a stinging pain in the membrane. The zubat had sank in its teeth.

Despite the pain it brought, she shook the zubat off. Pressure thumped in her ears, but no, no, she would not bellow, she had another weapon, she would use that. She scrambled for the red pouch in her bag, slipped in her hand and grabbed as much as she could, then folded her wing and threw the powder at the zubat.

The spores spread out like flour, but glowed in rainbow colors. The cloud enveloped the zubat, but its frantic flapping blew some of it back - and before Nella had even blinked, she’d breathed the spores in.

She ran away from the cloud, but the effects were too quick. The lantern slipped from her hand as her limbs became weak, and soon her body met the ground. As her conscious thoughts dispersed, one instinct finally gained control - but it was too late. The pressure in her ears had already deflated.

Beside her, she heard a thump. After that, nothing followed.

---​
 
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MintyMimix

Otherworldly Dessert
Location
Florida
Pronouns
They/Them
Partners
  1. lurantis
  2. noivern-astrea
There's a lot of themes of grappling with a self-made Noivern versus traditional roles, and it's fascinating to read from the perspective of someone caught right in between her desires and what she's been taught (Nella's design is absolutely adorable, by the way)!

No wonder he was captivated. She was perfect.

And Nella could never compete.

This broke my heart. It was almost certainly a misunderstanding, but even so, seeing Nella jump to that conclusion just made me want to hold her and say "It's okay sweetie, it's okay..."

With all those books of silly stories of love and passion that would never come true.

She really has been thinking of romance for quite some time, huh?

She dashed past Nella to another set of cupboards, blind to the noivern-tail that was in her way and would have tripped her had Nella not withdrawn it at the last moment.

Really love this detail and many other details that really sells home that these are still Pokémon - especially in this case where it also adds to Martha and Nella's characters (Nella being considerate of others to an almost debilitating degree, while Martha is more focused on her own self).

Oh dear. Oh dear. Was this the right path? Should she have taken a right instead?

Again, the subtle worldbuilding is phenomenal - night isn't clear, paths aren't fully marked and mapped, and having spores of morelull for safety was considered necessary commonplace. Great way of making it feel raw yet fantastical.

Beside her, she heard a thump. After that, nothing followed.
Looks like she's going to be turned into a vampire, and considering that Leander praised a being of sunlight... This can only end in even more conflict and misunderstanding, hoo boy.

This is getting really juicy and I'm excited to see what's to come!
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
So, it’s been a while. I’ve come back for a minute and nothing else. Not because I like Pokemon or anything, baka, but I’m always down for more canis content and this delivered.

Nella immediately came across as sympathetic. I’m totally not biased because I’ve worked in a restaurant before. Totally. But Nella is a great protagonist because of how she deals with this situation she’s been thrust in (working with petty customers) and her implied backstory, which has loads of hints of emotional abuse. I really felt for her and I wanted to see her find the man she wants (even if that doesn’t solve her deeper self esteem issues), as well as find out about what happened in her past.

I’m especially excited to see how the story will progress once she becomes Nella Swan. Especially for such a gentle and flustered character such as her. And I’m also intrigued by the religious Incineroar (and also hoping he isn’t a cult leader/murderer considering your track record of overly religious villains).

I don’t have any complaints so far, this is solid stuff as ever. Looking forward to the next chapter.
 

BossCar

Pokémon Trainer
Pronouns
He/His
Yes! I managed to get this posted in time after all. It took a sprint of over 1.3k words on the last day, but it was worth it.

So, this is that "vampire story" I've been talking about on Discord. It's another PMD-but-no-dungeons story, this time about a shy and insecure noivern... and vampires. Wanna know more? Read it.

I would rate this story roughly as teen as it does have vampires and therefore some guaranteed blood, but the content and tone are still well away from mature territory. Hunter, Haunted this is not. It does deal with some misogyny, though, mainly internalized. Language is mild.

That's about everything I have to say. I have no preferences for critique - any feedback given is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Noivern Nella (by me)
View attachment 1727

---

BATTY!

Synopsis:
Nella is a shy, lonely noivern who works a waitress job by day and escapes to her romance novels by night - but everything changes after a fateful encounter with a wild zubat infected with vampirism plunges her into the hidden world of vampiric Pokémon.

Genre:
Drama, Horror, Romance

Started:
31 Oct 2021

Status:
Ongoing

Length:
Unknown

---

Part One

---​


Ding!

“Coming!” Nella shouted, rushing out of the kitchen, coins clinking inside the pouch on her belt. A sour-faced gumshoos sat behind the counter, untrimmed claws tapping impatiently on its wooden surface. Nella sighed under her breath, then forced a smile.

“Welcome to Martha’s,” the noivern said. “How may I serve you?”

“I wanna see some cod and potatoes and fast,” the gumshoos growled. “I’m starvin’.”

Nella nodded. “Right away, sir. Feel free to show yourself to a table if you’d like.”

“I just sat down. I ain’t gettin’ back up.”

Another stealthy sigh. “That’s alright. We’ll start working on your order right away.”

“And a beer!” the gumshoos shouted after her as she entered the heat and steam of the kitchen. “Hey, did ya hear me?”’

“Yes, sir!” Nella shouted back. She turned to the kitchen staff - Swampert Harvey and Ursaring Sophie on this current shift - and relayed the order of a plate of cod and potatoes.

“We ran out of cod,” responded Harvey, scooping up a pair of fried eggs off his pan and to a plate which another waitress, Golduck Daisy, took in her hands and rushed off to serve. “They’ll have to ask for something else.”

Nella blinked. Lovely.

She forced a smile onto her face once again and returned to the counter.

“I’m sorry, but we’re out of cod. Would you like something else instead?”

"Out of cod?" the gumshoos huffed - but shook his head and skimmed the menu again. "Berry mash, then."

"Alright, we'll get right on it!" said Nella and slipped back into the kitchen. "We need one bowl of berry mash!" she yelled.

"Can't make it," shouted back Sophie, inserting a meat pie into the oven. "Out of tamato."

Nella froze. "Oh, you can't be serious."

"'Fraid I am."

She clacked her claws together. "Can't we make it without tamato? It's just a little part of it, right?"

"Sorry, but you know how Martha feels about going off-recipe. Just ask them to get something else."

Nella's shoulders slumped in defeat.

But Martha was Martha. While she would yell even when you stuck to her orders, it would stay at that - try things your own way, though, and your job was on the line.

She took a deep breath, plastered that smile back on her face and finally returned to the counter.

"I'm sorry," she said, already seeing the annoyance flare up in the gumshoos' eyes, "but berry mash is also unavailable at the moment. Would you like so-"

A bang of the gumshoos' paw on the counter quieted her.

"Son of a muk!" the gumshoos spat. "Do you serve food here or not?"

On reflex, Nella shielded her body with her wings. Pressure built up in her ears.

No! She closed her eyes and flexed her toes, focusing on the wooden floor beneath her soles. Slowly, the pressure weakened.

"Hey! Are you listenin'?"

It strengthened again. It threatened to burst. She took deep breaths, focused, focused. She pictured a familiar blue face, black beady eyes, white beak and cheeks, and her mother saying those words in her sing-song voice:

"A good girl is a quiet girl."

She opened her eyes and the world was clear again.

She brought that smile back on her face.

"We truly apologize for the unavailability of those menu options," she said, voice bright, "but I'm sure we have other options available you would like. Please try choosing another item."

The gumshoos' eyes had widened at her sudden change in behavior, but they soon drooped back to half-closed. "Feh." He waved his arm lazily and turned around. "I'll find someplace else."

Nella watched as the gumshoos slouched out, his long tail dragging behind him, surely saving whoever was on cleaning duty that day some time. Only once the door had slammed shut on his wake could Nella let her forced vigor melt away.

Needing some time to feel presentable again, she slipped back in the kitchen, leaned against a wall and sighed.

It's alright. I'll be here for just a minute, then get back. There was no one in line. Surely they can't need me again so soon --

Ding!


She wanted to scream. But she didn't. A good girl was a quiet girl.

She took just a little more time to herself - a small delay a customer would surely see as being within reasonable response time - then walked back out. She wished this customer wouldn't be as rude, but accepted the possibility. She had no other option, anyway.

She raised her gaze to meet the ringer of the bell, preparing to stick that smile on her lips once again - but as her eyes met the mon behind the counter, she could not suppress her surprise.

A white, gold-striped incineroar dressed in brown leather stood behind the counter, posture proud but calm and face neutral. Nella's gaze flicked around his body, his blue eyes, his muscular arms, his grayish-brown chest peeking out from his open coat, his cheek tufts that were long enough to drape over his broad shoulders… with the exception of his colors, it was like Incineroar Arthur had leapt right off the pages of Lionhearted, ready to woo the plain little flower shop worker with his fierce strength but noble heart...

So men like him really did exist.

"Hello?"

Nella flinched, remembering where she was and what she was supposed to do. "Uh, welcome to Wart- I mean --" Blood rushed to her face, making her nose an even deeper red than usual. She spent half a second to pull herself together, then tried again. "Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"

"...Yes," the stranger answered, thankfully without any ire - or so Nella hoped, at least. He looked down at the menu on the counter. "I would like the cod and potatoes."

Nella's nose must have been glowing right then.

“We’re sorry,” she said, taking care to pronounce each word right, “but that option is currently unavailable.” She paused. “The berry mash is also unavailable. Please order some item other than those two.”

“Oh.” The incineroar eyed the menu again. “Is the beef stew available?”

She nodded, and hoped dearly that she would be right.

”That, then,” he said, “and… you wouldn’t happen to have any wine, would you?”

At least that one wasn’t on the menu to begin with. It made talking a bit easier, though her face was still burning. “Sorry, but we do not serve wine. We do serve beer, if you’d like that?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just have some milk, then.”

“Milk and beef stew,” Nella repeated to etch them in her mind. “Coming right up. Feel free to choose a table in the meantime.”

She curtsied - why did she curtsy? They didn’t do that there! But the stranger, he seemed so noble…

She escaped into the kitchen before she could do anything weirder. She took a deep breath, then shouted to the staff. “Beef stew for one!”

“Will do!” shouted back Harvey.

She sighed in relief. Finally something worked out.

She turned around to return, pausing briefly to let the butterfree in her belly settle, then stepped back out into the scene. But as soon as she spotted the stranger again, sitting by a nearby table, their eyes met and all those little bugs leapt aflutter again.

But she still had a job to do. She grabbed a glass from beneath the counter and fetched a jug of milk from the icebox. She brought both to the stranger and poured the glass full - with great caution, as she knew she'd never forgive herself if she spilled the milk right there and then.

"There you go," she said and forced herself to give the polite amount of eye contact. The stranger thanked her with a smile - he smiled at me! - which Nella acknowledged with a nod, then returned to the counter. She returned the jug to the icebox and then… and then… oh gosh, she didn't have anything to do, did she? She'd have to simply stand there, in full view of that handsome stranger, and stay presentable the whole time.

She glanced at the stranger. He wasn't drinking and showed no intentions to do so. He must have been the type to wait for his food before starting his drink. Should she have asked if he wanted the milk right away before giving it to him? Now it would sit there getting warmer for no reason. Oh, stupid, stupid.

Though maybe he'd change his mind. Maybe he'd start drinking and her mistake wouldn't have mattered so much. She stood still in wait until she realized how rude of her it was to stare. Her gaze hopped from that table to another, then another, another and another. She would check for any customers that may have finished - a reasonable activity for a waitress - but the answer was always no. As a result, more and more often her eyes lingered on the stranger, examining his unique looks and apparel.

Why did he wear all that leather? Was he cold? But if he was cold, why didn't his jacket have any sleeves? Was he hiding something he was ashamed of, like furless patches or scars? She did notice a nick in his ear. Perhaps he fought often. But he was clearly no ruffian, no, he must have been a professional. But he had no uniform - at least it didn't look like it. Was he someone for hire? Was he a bounty hunter? A mercenary? An assassin? But weren't assassins not supposed to draw attention to themselves? Or was he such a wanted mon that he felt it necessary to walk in protective wear out on the town? But then, again, why no sleeves? It made no sense --

Her thoughts shattered as the stranger returned her look. She'd been caught staring. She'd messed up yet again. Oh, why couldn't she do anything right?

"Nella!"

She jumped in her skin, then turned around. Harvey's wide head peeked out of the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry," Harvey grumbled, "but you didn't react when I tapped the wall."

Nella sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Beef stew's ready. Been ready for a while."

Nella's face contorted to a grimace so intense it was Harvey's time to flinch.

"Whoa, you alright?"

Can't Daisy serve it? Nella wanted to say, but knew Harvey wouldn't ask her if the golduck was available. Her shift had probably ended. Closing time wasn't that far off.

Instead, Nella shook the expression off her face. "Oh, yes, sorry. There's nothing to worry about. Let's go."

She followed Harvey to the kitchen and soon spotted the bowl of stew on a tray ready to go. It was no longer steaming, but a quick wave of her hand above it confirmed it was still sufficiently warm to serve. She nodded her thanks to Harvey, picked up the tray and once again headed out into the cold.

Just get over there, give him the bowl and then get out, she told herself. But don't forget to be polite. Oh, just... do it the way you always do and you'll be as good as invisible.

Her stiff steps finally took her to the stranger's table. As he shifted his attention from studying the flowing patterns in the wood of the table to her, Nella remembered to smile. Always smile when looked at.

"Here's your beef stew," she said, setting the bowl on the table. "Enjoy your meal!"

She turned around to leave, her heartbeat slowly turning triumphant - she did it, it was over --

"Excuse me."

And the rhythm of her heart fell into chaos again.

She turned to the stranger, unable to look him in the eye and settling for his forehead. "Y-yes…?"

"Is it alright for me to pray here?"

"Pray?" It took a second to process the word. Why would he pray? Did he mean saying grace? She'd seen other customers do it and Martha had never said anything about it, so it must have been fine by her. "Sure?" she said, questioning tone unintentional, but a second try wasn't worth it.

"To be clear, it will not be in the name of Mew or Arceus or any other deity you've likely heard of," the incineroar said, pulling a necklace out from under his coat. It had a curious pendant - a round, blue, sparkling stone encircled by a brass ring with four spikes pointing up, down, left and right. "I am a follower of Solgaleo."

The stranger was right - Nella had never heard of a deity like that, not that her family was all that spiritual. She nearly said yes without much further thought, but then realized Martha likely wouldn't want any demon-worship taking place in her establishment.

"Well, um, that depends," started Nella. "What do you intend to pray for?"

"Not for anything, really," the stranger said. "Only to thank Him for the day."

Nella clicked her claws together in thought. "I… suppose that's alright. As long as you're not bothering anybody."

The stranger nodded. "You have my word. Thank you."

"Sure." Nella nodded back, sensing her cue to exit. "Enjoy your… meal."

She turned and walked away quickly before he could see her once again reddening face.

Having reached the relative safety of the counter, Nella dared to look back. The incineroar had his hands together and eyes closed, seemingly speaking something too quietly to hear over the other customers. A wave of relief washed over her, even if she never really expected the stranger to start trouble.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the opening of the door. A group of three new customers arrived. Nella brought that polite smile back onto her face again - though this time, it seemed a lot easier.

---​

"Thank you, have a good night!"

She waved the tangrowth, raichu and weavile goodbye with one hand with a pouch of coins in the other. The bar was now empty of customers save for one - the white-furred incineroar. On her way back to the counter, she stole yet another glimpse at the stranger to confirm it, and indeed, he was still there, at that moment watching the three mon leave.

Closing time was soon at hand, though. She'd have to ask him to leave. It didn't seem like he had any stew or milk left, so why was he still --

Nella blanched. He needed her to collect his payment for the meal!

As much as she wanted to just run away and hide, she knew that'd eliminate whatever was left of her chance to keep her job if Martha were to find out. And then Mother would find out. Another disappointment --

No, there was no time for that! A customer, likely a furious one, was waiting!

She ran - no, ladies do not run, she skipped - to the stranger, and as soon as he turned to her, she began her plea for forgiveness.

"A thousand apologies, Mr. Incineroar! I-I've neglected to serve you as fit. I'll collect your payment right away. O-or actually, it's on the house! I'll cover the expenses. Please don't think less of our establishment - the fault was purely mine. Is there anything else I can --"

She quieted as the stranger raised his palm. He doesn't want to hear my excuses. Oh, heavens, I'm finished --

"It's quite alright."

The absence of bile in his voice left Nella frozen. She hadn't thought of how to respond to a reaction like this.

"I was in no hurry to leave," the stranger continued, "so I wanted to stay a while longer, simply watching mon come and go. In my profession, respite is precious, and I welcome a moment of peace whenever one comes."

Nella brought her claws together, gaze dropping to the floor. "You don't have to downplay my mistake," she quietly said. "You can be upset."

"There's nothing to be upset about," he assured. "If I really wanted to leave, I simply would have called you."

Nella dared to look at the stranger’s face again. There was nothing but honesty in those sky-blue eyes. She felt like a fool, making such a scene, and blood quickly rushed to her face again.

“Th-thanks,” she could manage.

The stranger sat up straighter. “You know, I’ve never seen a noivern with wings pink on the underside.”

“Really?” Nella spread her left wing to display the hue. “Well, I guess I’ve only met a few other noivern so I guess I don’t really know how rare or common it is...”

“I’ve seen quite a few,” said the stranger. “They’ve had green, blue, teal, gray, white, even red under their wings - but never pink.” He smiled. “It’s a very nice color.”

Nella blinked, unsure how to take the compliment - it had been very long since the last time she received one, after all. “Um, thank you,” she peeped. “I… I like your colors, too.” She also liked everything else, but knew saying that would come off overbearing.

The stranger's smile widened, making his whiskers rise by just a bit. His face looked so soft. Nella's heart quickened. With each moment, he resembled Lionhearted's Arthur even more - but he was real.

"I'd be surprised if you'd seen other white incineroar," the stranger said. "We are very few, and live quite far from here."

“You come from far away?” asked Nella, immediately reconsidering her choice. With a question like that, she was really taking part in the conversation. Now she was responsible for being worth his time…

“Albaton,” he said. “Have you heard of it?”

Nella shook her head. “Not that I know much of anything...” she mumbled.

“No, that is the common response.”

He then slid back his chair and got up. She didn’t insult him, did she?

“You know, I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself yet,” he said and offered a hand. “Incineroar Leander.”

“N-Noivern Nella,” Nella responded and gingerly inserted her hand into his. It was much smaller, much more delicate - and much colder, she realized when the incineroar squeezed her hand, spreading warmth all the way up to her elbow. His grip was firm, but softened by his fur and paw pads. His claws weren’t sharp like those of four-legged felines - likely due to an inability to retract them, she deduced as she pondered the structure of his hand.

Then, the embrace broke, and the warmth disappeared. Nella drew her hand back to her chest. It was nowhere as warm.

Leander lowered his hand. “So, do you have plans for this evening?”

Nella’s ears twitched.

He asked for plans. That meant he liked her. Wanted to spend more time with her. Get to know her better. See her more times afterwards. Enter a relationship. Possibly, hopefully, marry.

No, she was getting ahead of herself. She couldn’t see him today, anyway, and she should say that…

“Actually, I have to go to bed early tonight,” she said. “To have the energy for tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see. What about tomorrow night, then?”

“Well...”

Technically, she had made no plans, but she had a feeling tomorrow would be tiring, too.

“I feel like it would be the same,” she said, defeated.

“Ah. Shame.”

She sighed. “Yes, it is...”

A silence hung in the air as Nella pondered whether there was any day that could work. There was Sunday with no work, but that was four days away - far too long to make a gentleman wait. Though if he suggested that, it would mean he was willing...

“Right,” said Leander, snapping Nella out of her thoughts. “I should pay.”

Pay. The incineroar dug a pouch out of his pocket. He was paying. This conversation was ending. He did not want to wait beyond tomorrow. Perhaps he wouldn’t even be in town anymore - it was clear he was a traveller.

“How much was it?”

”Um, one silver, four bronze.”

He picked out the necessary coins and handed them to Nella with a smile. “Here you are.”

She took just a second to admire that smile, that warmth, good intent, pressing it into her memory as a memento of what could have been. Leander, the white incineroar with golden stripes.

She took the coins and slid them to her pouch. “Thank you, have a good...night.”

The automatic phrase had ended the conversation for her.

Leander nodded. “Have a good night as well, Nella. And sleep well.”

With that, he turned around and headed for the door. The seconds it took for him to reach it felt more like minutes. Then, he opened the door, gave a final smile, stepped through and closed the door behind him.

She stood in silence.

Well, there was nothing more to do there. She should store away the coins.

She made her way to the counter, her claws producing hollow clicks against the wooden floor. She took out her key and opened the coin drawer. One by one, she took a coin from her pouch and dropped it to its container. Copper in the copper container, bronze in the bronze container, silver in the silver container, gold in the... just kidding. No one brought gold here.

She sighed as Mother’s voice came in uninvited again.

See, it doesn’t pay to be a working woman on her own. That’s just how the world works.

But you agreed it would give me experience,
thought Nella back.

I did, darling, four months ago. But frankly, dearie, I doubt these little odd jobs have anything to teach you anymore. And you’re not getting any younger.

I’m only nineteen!

Only, you say… Nelly, darling, I have seen noivern and I tell you they do not age with grace. That fur’s only going to get bristlier. Gray hairs start popping up here and there. And your teeth - they’ll keep growing. But if you charm a man now, he’ll be blinded for life - in his eyes, you’ll be young forever.


For a split second, she saw herself beside Leander.

Oh! Mother gasped. Who is this gentleman?

Nella squeezed her eyes shut. No one. He’s not real...

But one can never keep a secret from themselves.

You let him go?! the altaria screeched, throwing her wings in the air, plumage puffed. And she was the one demanding Nella be ladylike… What were you thinking?!

Mother, I have to think about my job! If I come in tired again and start messing up orders, e-even though I’m really trying --

You know I would give you anything you needed if it helped you find a man!


Nella paused. She was right. Mother would gladly support her… but what if she couldn’t make it work with him?

At least you’d have learned something - something that’d help you a lot more than anything you could possibly learn from running errands in that lousy pub!

She might actually say that.

And, darling - if a man really did show his interest, with you on the job nonetheless, you’ve cleared the hardest hurdle. You have a chance. After all this waiting, you have a chance. And you’re just going to throw it away?

Nella opened her eyes. She wouldn’t.

She shut the drawer and locked it, shoved the remaining coins in her pouch and ran for the door. Yes, ran. He fancied her already, she could run. She could even fly - well, actually, she couldn’t. This section of town was a no-fly zone for mon of her weight class, and she wouldn’t be able to meet him if she was arrested. She had to settle for running.

She bust out the door with enough force to make her wings ache. She looked right and she looked left - no sight of the stranger, but she’d search all night if she had to.

Where was the nearest inn? He may be on the way there if he’s a traveller. Trevor’s was closest, right? It was eastward - so she should go right at first. She dashed that way until the junction, where she took another right --

There, in the distance, a tall figure clad in brown leather, white fur, it's him, it's him!

But who was that standing beside him?

Tall, slim, green and white… a gardevoir.

She laughed.

He laughed.

Nella's heart sank.

The gardevoir's dress danced in the breeze. Her voice was bright, but not shrill, and her speech had the perfect tempo and enunciation. Whenever she laughed, she raised her hand to her mouth, and at all moments her posture stayed flawless.

No wonder he was captivated. She was perfect.

And Nella could never compete.

---​

Scrape, scrape, scrape. The broom's bristly hairs brushing against the floorboards was the only thing keeping the restaurant from dead silence.

The others had left long ago - even Amal, who was tasked with depositing the day's profits in Martha's stead, and she usually stayed the longest. But she was not the one who dreaded going back to her empty quarters. With all those books of silly stories of love and passion that would never come true.

Nella sighed, probably for the seventeenth time by now, and the cycle of thoughts began anew.

She should have said she was free. She should have realized sooner how valuable the opportunity was. She shouldn't have let him go. Even if it made her look desperate. She was desperate! She would've settled for much less, and yet she had the chance to catch the perfect man - or the best man she could ever get.

Could she, even? Maybe it was all a trick to begin with? Maybe that gardevoir was in on it? But what was there to gain from courting some dowdy little waitress? She wasn't rich - she barely got by. She wasn't important - her family was unremarkable. And she already knew she wasn’t pretty.

That incineroar must have had something wrong with him. He did belong to some weird religion. Maybe he was searching for a woman to sacrifice to his god in some dark, twisted ritual…

...no, she'd been reading too many books.

A clanking came from the door. Someone was trying to open the lock.

Nella's fur stood on end, bristlier than ever, and she grasped the broom tighter. "Wh-who's there?"

The door opened, and a familiar nidoqueen stepped through.

"Calm down, it's just me," said Martha, closing the door.

Nella sighed in relief. "What brings you here?” she then asked. “I thought you were going to be elsewhere until Thursday.”

“I thought to, soo,” said Martha, marching right past Nella into the kitchen, “until I heard Greedent Gustav was coming.”

Nella followed her. “Um… who is that?”

“The mon who will make or break my career,” Martha said, opening cupboard after cupboard, checking all pouches and containers inside. “If he decides to drop by during his stay in Lepach, that is.”

“So… he’s a food critic?”

“He’s the food critic. In this backwater corner of the kingdom, anyway...” She dashed past Nella to another set of cupboards, blind to the noivern-tail that was in her way and would have tripped her had Nella not withdrawn it at the last moment. “I need to make sure we’re not running low on anything that can’t be bought at the market tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, I see."

Gradually, Martha's motions became more patient. "Okay, so far so good," she mumbled. "Everything seems to be in order…"

But on the next cupboard, she froze.

She turned to Nella with one pouch in her hand. "Is this all the bitterleaf we have?"

"Umm… I-I don't know, I don't work in the kitchen?"

Martha ignored her and checked the remaining cupboards. She then reached into one drawer, took out a slip of blank paper and began writing.

Nella began wondering if it'd be better for her to leave, but right then --

"Noivern!" the nidoqueen barked.

Nella yipped. "Y-yes?"

Martha folded the slip. "You've been to Zem's before, right?"

"Zem's?"

"Drowzee Zem's!" Martha snapped, and Nella cowered.

There's no need to yell… "I remember a drowzee… do you mean the potionmaker?"

"Of course I mean the potionmaker," Martha grumbled. "But you remember the way to his house?"

"Yes, I do." She thought so, at least.

Martha handed her the slip and the empty pouch of bitterleaf. "Go to him and ask for bitterleaf. The slip will tell him that I'll pay later, and handsomely."

Nella paused. "What, now?"

"Yes!"

Absolutely not, Nella thought at first. Don't argue with your employer, she thought right after. She wrestled that thought for control over her tongue, but eventually, she won. She opened her mouth --

"You'll get tomorrow off, obviously," said Martha. "I need to meet Mr. Greedent in person, anyway, and the best way to do that is to do some waitressing myself. I'll handle your shift."

Oh. That made it a lot more reasonable. And she supposed she still didn't want to go home, anyway…

The nidoqueen slammed her tail against the floor, impatient. "Well? Are you going or what?"

"I-I'm going," Nella stuttered. Oh boy, I suppose I'm going.

"Good."

Nella took the slip and the pouch and stored them in her bag. Martha quickly brought her a lantern and… another pouch? This one was much smaller and red in coloration.

"Spores of morelull," said Martha as she handed it over. "Throw 'em towards anyone or anything giving you trouble. A handful ought to put even a raging tauros to bed. Don't breathe 'em in yourself. That should go without saying," she muttered.

“Um… thanks?”

“Don’t mention it. Now go, go, go! The sooner you come back, the sooner we can both get some sleep.” The nidoqueen rushed Nella back to the dining space and to the front door.

“But wh-what if the drowzee isn’t home?” asked Nella while the nidoqueen lit her lantern. “Or he doesn’t have bitterleaf? Or he has some, but doesn’t want to share?”

“Well, then I guess we’re all screwed.”

Lantern lit, Martha opened the door and gave Nella one last shove. “Good luck,” she said, and with that, she slammed the door.

---​

Oh dear. Oh dear. Was this the right path? Should she have taken a right instead?

The wind strengthened, howling like a houndoom as it drained more warmth from her body. The lantern rattled, and the flame inside flickered. Don’t go out, don’t go out…

It did not. The wind calmed again. Nella sighed.

Though it wasn’t as if much relief could be felt in a scene like this. Layers and layers of cloud filled the sky, eliminating any chance of seeing the full moon Nella knew had to be there and shrouding the earth and all that stood upon it in darkness.

At least she had good hearing. All noivern did. Many times her mother had reprimanded her for eavesdropping when she brought up something that wasn’t intended for her to hear, but she’d never really tried to hear it - well, most of the time.

Even now, her ears would catch all sorts of sounds she didn’t need to hear. Rustling of leaves or calls of nightbirds were completely natural for a forest-flanking path like this, but it didn’t stop her from flinching each time. A constant weak pressure remained behind her ears, but she knew she could contain it.

At least those sounds were still relatively distant. Even if her first reaction was fear, whatever her imagination could cook up was still far enough away to fly away from in an emergency. How well she could fly in this wind was another question, but just knowing she wasn’t explicitly trapped calmed her mind just a little.

Though she probably shouldn’t fly away at the first sign of danger. She had the morelull spores. If she didn’t even try to rely on them, Martha would surely chew her out on abandoning her quest so easily. Not to mention that she could have --

No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t bellow.

In any case, it was unlikely for her to cross paths with anything all that dangerous. Houndoom and ursaring were the largest predators around Lepach, and both were quickly hunted down or chased away after sightings. They had become more wary of civilized mon, too, and seemed to know that bothering one would mean a whole lot more bothering them.

Far away, something let out a peep. Nella froze until she’d fully processed the sound.

Just a zubat, she thought. Probably out hunting. It does seem like the best time for it...

She continued to walk, and the zubat continued to peep. She thought about the little thing catching mosquitoes in the air and nibbling on them with its tiny teeth. She smiled. She couldn’t understand why Mother was afraid of them. They were harmless! Mother said they fluttered so quickly, that they were unpredictable, but that seemed no different than a bird of the same size to Nella. And they only ate insects. They would flee from anything larger than them, unless they were guarding a nest, defending their family, and who couldn’t relate to that…

She noticed the peeping was getting closer. Sure, why not. Perhaps she could catch a glimpse of it in action - though it felt more likely that it’d leave the moment it really noticed her.

It kept approaching, and she felt more at ease. Even if it would only last for a while, she wouldn’t be travelling alone. She began glancing over her shoulder for a chance to spot the zubat against the slightly-brighter sky.

There it was! It was coming her way. Strange. It must have been a particularly daring zubat to fly this close. Or maybe it hadn’t noticed her at all. That theory felt more likely by the second as the zubat glided closer, headed straight towards --

Nella ducked, and the zubat zoomed past right above her head.

“Hey, watch out!” said Nella. “I’m walking over h-”

The zubat turned in midair and dove at her with a screech. In the lantern’s faint light, she saw its fangs - double their usual size, curved, and sharp as needles.

There was something terribly wrong with this zubat.

She dodged the attack and opened her wings wide, then flapped them at the crazed mon. “G-go away!”

The zubat continued its assault, unfazed by the display. Nella shielded herself with a wing, though regretted it soon after as she felt a stinging pain in the membrane. The zubat had sank in its teeth.

Despite the pain it brought, she shook the zubat off. Pressure thumped in her ears, but no, no, she would not bellow, she had another weapon, she would use that. She scrambled for the red pouch in her bag, slipped in her hand and grabbed as much as she could, then folded her wing and threw the powder at the zubat.

The spores spread out like flour, but glowed in rainbow colors. The cloud enveloped the zubat, but its frantic flapping blew some of it back - and before Nella had even blinked, she’d breathed the spores in.

She ran away from the cloud, but the effects were too quick. The lantern slipped from her hand as her limbs became weak, and soon her body met the ground. As her conscious thoughts dispersed, one instinct finally gained control - but it was too late. The pressure in her ears had already deflated.

Beside her, she heard a thump. After that, nothing followed.

---​
Hi there, here for catnip!

First off, this is quite the interesting take on a PMD-like fic. Don't see this kind of thing everyday. The dymaics are interesting. It seems Nella's been wanting a "Prince Charming" to come into her life for sometime, eh?

She took just a little more time to herself - a small delay a customer would surely see as being within reasonable response time - then walked back out. She wished this customer wouldn't be as rude, but accepted the possibility. She had no other option, anyway.

She raised her gaze to meet the ringer of the bell, preparing to stick that smile on her lips once again - but as her eyes met the mon behind the counter, she could not suppress her surprise.

A white, gold-striped incineroar dressed in brown leather stood behind the counter, posture proud but calm and face neutral. Nella's gaze flicked around his body, his blue eyes, his muscular arms, his grayish-brown chest peeking out from his open coat, his cheek tufts that were long enough to drape over his broad shoulders… with the exception of his colors, it was like Incineroar Arthur had leapt right off the pages of Lionhearted, ready to woo the plain little flower shop worker with his fierce strength but noble heart...

So men like him really did exist.

"Hello?"

Nella flinched, remembering where she was and what she was supposed to do. "Uh, welcome to Wart- I mean --" Blood rushed to her face, making her nose an even deeper red than usual. She spent half a second to pull herself together, then tried again. "Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"

"...Yes," the stranger answered, thankfully without any ire - or so Nella hoped, at least. He looked down at the menu on the counter. "I would like the cod and potatoes."

I like this bit a lot, and she must've been reading those romance books a lot. You can tell that she's captivated by the description given from her perspective. She's taken by him right from the start, and her dialogue shows that too.

There, in the distance, a tall figure clad in brown leather, white fur, it's him, it's him!

But who was that standing beside him?

Tall, slim, green and white… a gardevoir.

She laughed.

He laughed.

Nella's heart sank.

The gardevoir's dress danced in the breeze. Her voice was bright, but not shrill, and her speech had the perfect tempo and enunciation. Whenever she laughed, she raised her hand to her mouth, and at all moments her posture stayed flawless.

No wonder he was captivated. She was perfect.

And Nella could never compete.
Also a good description from her perspective. But oof, that must've shattered her heart to see someone that she was so taken by engaging with somebody else. But it could all be just a misunderstanding. I kinda sense some sort of societal pressure behind the curtians, but maybe that's just me.

The zubat continued its assault, unfazed by the display. Nella shielded herself with a wing, though regretted it soon after as she felt a stinging pain in the membrane. The zubat had sank in its teeth.

Despite the pain it brought, she shook the zubat off. Pressure thumped in her ears, but no, no, she would not bellow, she had another weapon, she would use that. She scrambled for the red pouch in her bag, slipped in her hand and grabbed as much as she could, then folded her wing and threw the powder at the zubat.

The spores spread out like flour, but glowed in rainbow colors. The cloud enveloped the zubat, but its frantic flapping blew some of it back - and before Nella had even blinked, she’d breathed the spores in.

She ran away from the cloud, but the effects were too quick. The lantern slipped from her hand as her limbs became weak, and soon her body met the ground. As her conscious thoughts dispersed, one instinct finally gained control - but it was too late. The pressure in her ears had already deflated.

Beside her, she heard a thump. After that, nothing followed.
Another good description here, and I like how this ended. Something is defitenly very wrong with this Zubat, and the way it's written gives off a sense of suspense and mystery.

I do wonder about the Incineroar, though. Seems a little too good to be true that she had that encounter prior, you know what I mean?

I'm not too familiar with PMD or PMD-like stories, so I don't think there's any critique I can give. I'm not even good at giving crit beyond minor things, and I don't see anything like that here. But in any case, I think you've got a good thing going on here, and you're defitenly a good writer. I'm still thankful that you crit helped to boost Chapter 1, as those earlier chapters of mine were really weak.

Keep up the good work!
 

Pen

the cat is mightier than the pen
Staff
Partners
  1. dratini
  2. dratini-pen
  3. dratini-pen2
Ah, this was a charming first chapter. I enjoyed the quick sense of place--the establishment comes off as very lived-in, with details like the cook's finnicky-ness about sticking to the berry mash recipe and established procedures like tapping the wall. The use of humor was particularly effective in the opening gag with the dishes not being available on the menu--it's funny precisely because it's predictable. The struggle of customer service is an easily relatable one and I felt immersed in Nella's life and concerns right away. I don't know if you've seen Aggretsuko, but I got some Aggretsuko vibes from the moment where Nella almost snaps and then forces her self to be calm and pleasant. Her anxious character voice was a lot of fun and made the mundane happenings feel significant, because they are to Nella. That sort of anxious series of questions and descriptions, like when she's staring at the incineror, is something you always do well. You did a nice job translating irl mysogynistic tropes into the pokeverse with the stuff about her fur only growing bristlier. It's interesting that she has all these fantasies, but when the incineroar seems to be making a move to ask her out, she refuses with a pretty weak excuse. Maybe her interest is more fantasy and other people's projected desires than her own. The worldbuilding hints around religion were also intriguing to me. Solgeo correlates with the sun, which would make the most obvious conclusion here that the incineror is some sort of vampire hunter (leading to inevitable conflict now that Nella's bitten). It was a fun, breezy read, and I will happily read more when another part comes out!

"Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"
So smooth.

She nearly said yes without much further thought, but then realized Martha likely wouldn't want any demon-worship taking place in her establishment.
Lmao.

That meant he liked her. Wanted to spend more time with her. Get to know her better. See her more times afterwards. Enter a relationship. Possibly, hopefully, marry.
Sloooow down, girl.

Maybe he was searching for a woman to sacrifice to his god in some dark, twisted ritual…
In a canis fic? Never!

“But wh-what if the drowzee isn’t home?” asked Nella while the nidoqueen lit her lantern. “Or he doesn’t have bitterleaf? Or he has some, but doesn’t want to share?”

“Well, then I guess we’re all screwed.”
Heh. Loved the clash of these two very different personalities here.
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
I have to admit, I was rather uncertain about this story as a contains a lot of elements that don't appeal to me personally: vampires, romance, naive girl character who swoons, hot buff dude, non-traditional PMD, etc (which, none of these are inherently bad just not my flavor)

But I have to say, I found myself drawn in by your prose and characters! While Nella is usually the archetype of character that might bother me, I felt drawn to her struggle here. Very early on we are given strong characterization for her, and her motivations and desires, as well as behavior. The simple use of the lines such as 'a good girl is a quite girl' from her apparently Altaria mother give good context.

Nella is used to being constantly suppressed by her mother, who (if I had to wager a guess), doesn't know a lot about Noiverns. To me Nella feels caged in her current life, and escapes via these books she reads, dreaming of finding what she's missing in a romance. (Relief from her mother, acceptance, or maybe both?)

The dialogue between her and Incineroar was great. It was an excellent balance of Nella being lovestruck, without veering too far into unbelievability. Also, there's a wonderful level of awareness with which this story is written - clearly you know of the pitfalls of these sorts of stories, but to me this reads as intentionally utilizing the tropes but exploring them in a much more interesting way.

As a whole I don't have any criticisms to say here, as I felt engaged and interested the whole time. Good stuff! And heavy agree, big Aggretsuko vibes wow

"Can't make it," shouted back Sophie, inserting a meat pie into the oven. "Out of tamato."
:pain: Okay but freal this is how it always is, I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me, working in restaurants. I think this was the moment I decided I was hooked lol. Details!

Just a zubat, she thought.
10/10, cause there's a Zubat in your story.
 
Part Two

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
NOTE (September 3rd 2023): Made minor edits to Teru's dialogue, making his character appear calmer and more experienced.

two months seems like a long time but its actually pretty good for a chapter the author had 0 plans for at the end of the previous. anyway! batty continues, at last. and i kind of have an outline for the story now also so that takes like what, two years of the projected finish date.

rating for this chapter (yeah i know theyre called parts but theyre basically chapters shut up) is teen for description of blood (without injury or violence), description of burning and burns as well as body dysmorphia from said burns. enjoy!

---

Part Two

---​

Voices. There were voices around her. They were talking about something, but she couldn’t tell what…

She tried to move, but the blanket on her seemed to weigh a ton. It tried to push her back down into the sea of slumber, but she had just enough willpower to keep herself from sinking.

Her eyes were closed, but she guessed she wasn’t in her bedroom. The air smelled different, with a faint scent of manure to it, and she could hear quacking in the background. A farm, she guessed, but what was she doing there?

At least the mattress was softer than her own. The blanket was thicker, too. Whoever had brought her here owned some good beds. Who had brought her here? Had it been the people the voices belonged to?

She tried to speak, but her mouth barely moved, and no sound would come from her throat. Still, the voices seemed to notice - they became more alert, more focused, and soon one of them spoke directly to her. She still couldn't tell what he'd said, but he clearly wanted her attention. As both her eyelids and lips were still sealed with molasses, she tried to twitch her ear instead.

The voice reacted, thank the heavens. The pillow under her head began to rise, lifting her head, though she felt no hand underneath. The motion efficiently shooed away her slumber, leaving simple fatigue in its place.

"Mh...hh…" she tried, frustrated by her inability to form words but thrilled to at least be able to make a noise. Slowly but surely, she could open her eyes. Her vision was blurry and dark, but she could make out a large bowl filled with something red right before her face. It had a curious smell, but a delicious one, and her mouth began to water. She realized how thirsty she was.

The voice spoke again, likely belonging to the dark shape behind the bowl, and this time she could understand it. "Here, drink this."

She gladly accepted. As the edge of the bowl pressed against her lower lip and the fluid within flowed into her mouth, she drew in as much as she could as fast as she could.

She hadn't stopped to analyze the flavor, but it fortunately wasn't bad - it was the same as its smell, but naturally stronger. It resembled the juices of beef, but with the added sweetness and flavors of many berries - razz, pecha, cheri. Still, she was somehow certain this contained none of them, but was a flavor all on its own. A very good flavor. One she couldn't get enough of. But the bowl eventually emptied - wait, she'd really drunk the whole thing?

"I'll get you some more," said the voice as it withdrew the bowl. The pillow lowered back down, and she was lying comfortably again.

But much of the fatigue was already gone. Whatever that soup was, it worked quickly. She could open her eyes wider, and her sight slowly began to sharpen.

She seemed to be in some kind of log cabin. Her mattress was in no bed frame, but directly on the floor, which did make sense as the room looked like a combined kitchen and living room rather than a bedroom. Not too far from her was a table on which perched some mon covered in pale gray fuzz and a large pink nose on its face. A woobat, it seemed.

The mon noticed her staring, spread its wings and flitted to her side. "Hey," it whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…" Nella managed.

"Oh, don't worry, that's normal at this stage."

Stage…?

"What's your name?" the woobat asked, barely giving her time to think.

"Nel...la."

"Nella?" the mon repeated, and Nella gave a weak nod. The mon smiled. "Nice to meet you, Nella! I'm Paige! Like a page in a book, but an 'I' in the middle. Paige!"

Nella seemed to process all her words at a significant delay, which was especially unlucky when this Paige spoke a mile a minute. But Nella was still a lady, and a lady would respond. "Nice… to meet you, too."

Paige's smile widened, flapping her wings in excitement and lifting herself off the ground. Nella could now spot the little, beady eyes among and mostly covered by the fur on Paige's face. They glinted with joy. She really was happy to make her acquaintance. Nella couldn't see why, but she couldn't deny that the mon's energy was rubbing off on her.

In fact, she began to feel much more strength in her limbs, enough to try sitting up.

"Hey, hey, easy," she heard from further away, and soon the dark figure was back. A mismagius. His glowing blue eyes helped Nella realize he was supporting her body with telekinesis.

"Are you sure you're alright to sit?" the mismagius asked once she'd fully sat up. "You shouldn't exert yourself too much."

"I'm good," said Nella, words no longer slurred. "I think that soup you gave me really helped. What was in that, may I ask?"

The ghost paused. "Mmm… we'll get to that in a bit. Before that, I'd like you to tell me what you remember from before you passed out."

Right. That was a reasonable question. "Well, I think I was… on my way to Drowzee Zem's late at night, running an errand for my employer. Then there was… a wild zubat. I tried to befriend it, but it attacked me, and..." Her eyes widened as she remembered the horrid sight she'd witnessed. "Yes, there was something very wrong with it - it had these huge, sharp fangs! And it bit me --"

She pushed the blanket off her and checked the membrane of her left wing, but it seemed the kind mon had already noticed the wound and patched it up. She only felt a weak ache from it. Maybe the mismagius had cooked up some salve for pain relief, too.

"And after it bit you?" the mismagius encouraged her to finish.

"I, um… right! I took out some of the morelull spores my employer had given me and threw them, but I guess I breathed them in too and fainted." She held a brief pause. "How did you find me?"

"We were simply out and about when we spotted you lying there," said the mismagius. "And it's a good thing we did. That zubat… carried something that most doctors would not be familiar with."

She froze. That did not sound good. "What… do you mean?"

"Well…" the mismagius brought his tendrils together. "It is a certain type of ailment - not deadly, mind you - that causes the affected to have a particular reaction to strong light. It is, uh, somewhat painful, so light should be avoided, but I assure you, you can still freely walk around at nighttime. There is also the matter of diet…"

The mismagius stopped to gauge the noivern's reaction, but since her swirling thoughts had paralyzed her to the point of all external motion ceasing, he continued.

"Well, the diet is… different from what you're likely used to, and it may sound strange, but what your body now requires as its main source of energy and nutrients is…"

He stopped again. No reaction. He would simply have to spit it out.

"Blood."

The maelstrom that churned in Nella's mind now flipped direction.

An infection that made her sensitive to light. Okay. That part she could believe. There were plants that did something like that to the skin when touched, and that's why they were better off avoided.

A change in diet could make sense, too. There were illnesses caused by the lack of one substance or the excess of another, so the intake of that substance would have to be changed, which often reflected as a change in the things one ate.

But blood. Consumption of blood, and an aversion to the sun. This was a combination everyone knew could mean only one thing.

Finally, she spoke.

"This isn't funny."

The mismagius flinched. "Pardon me?"

"This is not a funny prank," Nella said, voice eerily calm. "It's just cruel. Please tell me what really happened."

The ghost's shoulders slumped, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, miss," he said, "but we are telling the truth."

"Yeah!" said Paige, flapping her wings again, this time in determination. "We would never lie about something like this! I swear it, Nella!"

Nella wanted to tell the fuzzball she had no right to speak her name, but she knew getting visibly mad was not the answer. A strong reaction was just what most pranksters wanted, and she would not give it to them. She was better than that.

She continued. "I appreciate your rescuing me very much, I truly do, but please, please do not lie to me like this."

The mismagius sighed again, glancing away with a pained expression. Nella's pulse quickened. Pressure formed behind her ears.

"No," she said, voice beginning to waver. "I have not become a vampire. Vampires are not real. They --"

"They are real!" interrupted Paige, fluttering off the floor and right in front of Nella. "Look!"

She opened her mouth wide and showed two large, needle-like fangs - just like the ones the zubat had had.

Nella screamed, recoiling back. Her pulse jumped from slowly quickening to record speed. Her ears locked from a massive influx of pressure, muffling all external sounds. Would she have to do it now? Would she die if she did not bellow?

A light blue glow enveloped the woobat and shoved it back. The mismagius' eyes matched the glow, and he seemed to scold Paige, who then cast an apologetic look towards Nella and fluttered out of the room with a guilty face.

The mismagius turned to Nella and spoke something to her, but she could not make it out. Instead, her thoughts returned onto their track. She just wanted to get out. Out of this room, out of this house, away from these strange mon. Relax somewhere to get rid of this pressure. Of course, bellowing would let it all out, but chances were that it wouldn’t even work on a ghost and the mismagius would simply get mad… or, possibly worse, it’d work on him and everyone else in the house and shatter their eardrums and ruin their lives just because she got a bit freaked out. They’d recoil and they’d show those pained, horrified faces, just like back then --

No, there was no time to pick at that old wound. She had to come up with a way to get out.

She looked around the room, masking her attempt to find the exit as simple curiosity. To her luck, she discovered a promising candidate quickly - light leaked in from the crevice of a door to the right.

“...ello? Can you hear me?”

She looked back to the mismagius whose words had become intelligible. It seemed the pressure in her ears had let up just enough for her to be able to hear speech. That was good. It meant she’d become calmer, more in control - and that she could put her plan in action.

“Um, excuse me,” she began, getting up on her feet, “may I use the restroom, please?”

“Oh, certainly,” said the mismagius and floated a bit ahead. “Follow me.”

She followed the ghost as he moved onward. She expected him to lead her through the door on the right, but he took her to the room ahead instead. To her relief, there was another door through which some light shined as well, though not as brightly. As the mismagius opened it and led her through, it became clear why.

They had entered a sort of walkway with a wooden skeleton covered with fabric. At the end of it appeared to be a regular outhouse. She supposed this structure was here to allow dry passage during the rain… and probably, for this house of loonies, dim passage during the day.

She studied the structure more carefully. The curtain-like covers fluttered slightly in the breeze that kept this space ventilated, catching only to the thin wooden pillars supporting the roof. She may be able to run or rip through and escape. That seemed to be her only option, so she'd have to go for it.

She slowed down an imperceptible amount to widen the distance between her and the ghost. Then she dove under the curtain.

"Wha-" the mismagius began, but Nella had already gotten through --

It was bright, it was hot, it was roasting her skin, what was this? It was like she'd run right up to a huge, blazing bonfire! She shielded herself with her wings, but folded them right back as the membranes hurt ten times as much, it had to be the lack of fur, ow, ow, ow! She had to get to some shade, instinct told her that, but how could she when she couldn't see, it was too bright even with her eyes closed! She whimpered in pain, running blindly, praying for a shadow to shroud her in its cooling, calming embrace, but none came! There was only an endless burning desert --

Something pulled at her tail. It yanked her off her feet and dragged her backwards, deaf to her protesting screams. But maybe it would drag her back into the shade? But it'd take her back to those crazy people! She had to flee, but where could she flee when there was nothing but fiery death around? And her limbs would not move, they'd become so weak, so drained. Was she dying? This felt like dying. But was death better than whatever she was being dragged into?

A shadow slid over her. The burning sensation began to fade. The white that had shined through her eyelids dimmed to a bearable red. She heard a voice yell something - the mismagius' voice - but she couldn't tell what. She couldn't hazard a guess, either, as within the next few seconds, her consciousness had left her.

---​

Soft…

It was soft where she lay, but she couldn't say she was comfortable. Most of her skin was covered in a thin layer of something cool and slimy, sharply contrasted by the dull heat right underneath. The membranes of her wings felt the hottest, but it did feel like the slime was keeping it from being even worse. She guessed it was some kind of salve.

She opened her eyes. She was in some kind of log cabin, likely a farmhouse, given the faint smell of manure and sounds of quacking in the background. Why did it feel so familiar…

She froze up as the memories rushed back - the woobat, the mismagius, the outhouse, the burning --

She looked down at herself.

Large patches of her fur had gone missing. The skin underneath was red and swollen.

A panicked sob escaped her throat. Tears came soon after. Even they burned. Her face was burned. And bald, probably. It had to look as hideous as the rest of her body. She was hideous…

More sobs. She knew it would mean someone would come, but she didn't care. What point was there in caring anymore? Her life was over. Good manners would get her nowhere with an ugly, ugly body like this. At best, she could be a beggar. But would such a sad life even be worth perpetuating?

Something fluttered on her right. She turned to see the woobat land next to her on the floor. The memory of the fangs she'd seen made her flinch - but seeing the guilty expression on the woobat’s face and remembering how nice the mon had been brought Nella just a little bit of comfort.

"...Hi," started Paige.

"Hi…" breathed Nella, halting her sobs.

"I'm sorry I scared you before," Paige said. "I'm not great with people."

"...That's okay." Nella wasn't really sure if it was, but she couldn't bring herself to give any other answer.

"Thanks."

A brief silence followed. It let Nella's thoughts and gaze return to her injuries. She cried quietly.

"Are you crying because you're afraid of us?"

"Huh?" Nella turned to Paige.

"We're not mean," Paige said. "I swear. Teru is really nice. And I think I'm nice. Cole isn't very friendly, but he's not mean. You don't have to be afraid."

"I…" Nella needed a moment to process what the woobat had said. "No, it's not that. I'm crying because…" She sniffled. "Because I look like this now…"

"Oh."

Nella turned back and resumed her crying, but only for a few seconds before Paige spoke again.

"It's gonna heal."

"Huh?" She turned to Paige again. She somewhat wished she didn't keep interrupting...

"It's gonna heal," Paige repeated. "Your skin. And your fur will grow back. Don't worry."

In silence, Nella looked back to her skin. It did not seem likely. She let out a heavy, wavering sigh. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No!" Paige contested, startling Nella, but hopping back as she realized her mistake. "I mean, no, that's not true. I know it's gonna heal, and I don't lie. I don't like lying."

Nella stared at Paige for a little while. It really seemed like she believed in what she was saying. But...

"How can you know that, though?" Nella asked, her voice gradually stabilizing.

"It happened to me, too. Twice!"

Nella tilted her head. "Really?"

Paige nodded fervently. "Yeah! First time was soon after I was turned, too. Second was just me being clumsy. But both times, the burns went away in a day! The fur took a few days longer to get back to normal.." She prodded at her shaggy coat with a wing. "But my fur is pretty long. For you, it might just be two or three days!"

The idea made Nella's heart dance - but how could that be true? She'd seen other mon with burns. Those spots stayed hairless even after years… but maybe her burns weren't as bad? Maybe noivern healed better? Or maybe Paige's species did, and she just wasn't taking that into consideration…

Paige suddenly hopped into flight. "Right! I should tell Teru you're awake. I'll be right back!"

With that, she flew out of the room, leaving Nella behind in silence. She didn't have to wait long, however, as the mon soon returned with the ghost from before. So Teru was his name…

The mismagius floated towards her, slowly so as not to alarm her. "Nella, was it?"

Nella nodded, though kept her eyes on the floor. She braced herself for a possible scolding.

"How are you feeling?"

The dull, aching heat rose to the front of her mind again. She glanced at her burnt skin. "Not very good."

Teru lowered himself onto the floor beside her. Paige did the same on her other side.

"I'm sorry about what happened,” Teru said. “I should have made sure you understood your condition before letting you so close to sunlight."

She looked at him, head tilted. He was apologizing? She was the one that had disobeyed… but he was the one with shame on his face.

"It's… alright," Nella mumbled. What was his plan?

Teru sighed. "Listen, I know all this is scary to you and you'd probably want nothing more than to go back home and figure things out there, but that just isn't something you can do right now. The sun is shining hard, and you're injured and confused. You need to stay indoors, at least until nightfall. Okay?"

Nella looked away from his turquoise eyes and gave a defeated nod. She still didn’t trust these people, but she had no choice but to comply for now.

“Alright, good.” Teru began to hover again. “You should eat. I’ll get you another bowl.”

"Ooh!" Paige hopped into flight and fluttered towards the kitchen. "Pour me one, too!"

A bowl… Nella thought back to the soup she’d been fed while Teru floated off to the kitchen to fetch something from the icebox. Two and two added together, and she blanched.

“W-was it, um…” she began, catching Teru and Paige's attention. “Was… the fluid in that bowl… what I think it was?”

Teru flinched, his tendrils curling up. “Oh, well… that depends,” he said. “It is blood, but it comes from livestock. Slowpoke, to be exact. No people are hurt in the making, not that the slowpoke really are, either.”

"They don't even flinch when Teru draws their blood," Paige added, perching on top of a cupboard.

“Slowpoke… blood." Nella's nose wrinkled, but then she remembered how good it had tasted. “How was it so sweet? Is slowpoke blood just like that?”

Teru shook his head. “Not regularly, no - it tastes like any other blood. But once a mon becomes vampiric, blood begins to taste different than it did as a mortal. Much sweeter, more desirable. It makes sense, as that's the main thing they'll be eating from then on.”

He lifted a large jug of red liquid from the icebox, fetched a bowl and a deep plate from the cupboard and began to pour. “It’s fortunate that the change in taste comes quickly for a new, transitioning vampire. What’s not so fortunate is that sensitivity to light also arrives quite fast. In a way, you were lucky to experience the adverse effects while you were still early in the transition. Had you waited a few more days before trying, I doubt you would’ve survived that stroll.”

Finished with the bowl, he filled the deep plate to the brim. Paige eagerly watched as he moved it from the counter to the table. Once it was down, she flitted down beside it. Nella expected her to lap it up with her tongue like any customer lacking hands at the restaurant would, but instead, she extended her fangs - Nella still shivered at the sight - and somehow began to suck the fluid through them.

She cast her gaze downward to avoid seeing it, but seeing her burnt body again, she couldn't help but wince.

"Oh, that will heal, I promise you."

She looked up at Teru, who'd arrived by her side with the bowl in telekinetic tow. The glow in his eyes was eerie, but the look they gave was gentle.

"Sunlight may do nasty things to a vampire, but in the dark, their regenerative abilities are astounding," he continued. "The pain and redness may be fully gone by nightfall already."

"Told you," Paige piped in, the fur around her mouth stained red.

"Until then, there's the salve I applied," Teru said. "Do you feel that it's helping?"

"Somewhat," said Nella. Now that she'd been told twice that it would heal, the sight of her skin became easier to bear. They could still be lying, but she couldn't think of a good reason why. If they wanted to keep her here against her will, they'd sooner convince her that she was in great peril and needed treatment for an indefinite period of time… unless they just wanted her to be quiet.

No, it started to seem more and more likely that these mon were really just trying to help. Help her now that she was…

She sighed, shoulders drooping. "Am I really a vampire?"

Teru gave a sad smile as he handed her the bowl. "I'm afraid so."

Nella took the bowl in her claws. Her mouth watered. She hated that. She didn't want to drink blood… no, she wanted to drink it - but she didn't want to want to drink blood. But she was hungry… or thirsty? Were those two supposed to be distinct feelings anymore?

In an effort to delay the decision to drink it or not, she looked back to Teru. "So… are you a vampire, too?"

Teru shook his head. "No, just a regular ghost. But neither ghosts nor vampires like the sun, nor do they get old or eat the way regular mon do, so I sympathise."

"That's why he runs this vampire shelter!" Paige added.

"Vampire shelter?" Nella repeated.

Teru waved a tendril. "Well, shelter makes it sound like something much bigger… but the idea is there." He pointed to Paige. "Paige here was once in roughly the same situation as you. I happened to pass her by when she'd been bitten, realized what was going on and brought her here before the sunrise could get her."

"I freaked out when I woke up and busted outside," Paige added, frowning. "Not fun. But Teru was really nice and understanding! I think he's the nicest person I've ever met, really."

"Oh, shush," Teru hummed with a smile. "But, yes, I ended up taking Paige in since she didn't really have anywhere else to."

"I'm glad he did, too. Otherwise those creepy cultists could've gotten me."

The few hairs Nella still had stood on end. "C-cultists?"

Teru shot Paige a disapproving glance, at which she flinched, then looked away in shame. He sighed. "It's not something you need to worry about now," he said, turning back to Nella. "We can talk about that later once you've had some time to rest and calm down."

"...Alright," said Nella. She looked at her bowl. She probably should drink it. But it was so weird…

"Um, Teru?"

Both Nella and Teru turned to Paige. Her bowl was empty.

"Does Nella have to drink blood right now?" Paige asked. "I know it's probably good for her, but it doesn't look like she wants to do that. Can't she still eat something normal for a while?"

Teru looked back to Nella, raising a tendril to his chin. "Hmm… Nella, does your mouth feel normal?"

"Huh?" She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Do you feel like your upper canines are loose, or that something solid would be forming above or behind them?"

"Loose…?" A confused frown rose to Nella's face, but it was soon replaced by terror. "Wait, do you mean… do you mean they're going to come off and be replaced by those…" She could barely form words with the image in her mind. "Those fangs?"

"Ah…" Teru's tendrils curled up again. "I'm afraid so."

Nella shivered. Well, of course. Something like that would be expected of the process of turning into a vampire. But what would it really mean? Would she have to keep her mouth closed or covered in public at all times to make sure no one would notice those horrid fangs? Was she even able to go out in public anymore? She had to stay inside during daylight, but even during the night, wherever there were people, there were bound to be lights…

“But,” Teru piped up, interrupting her thoughts, “back to the point: your mouth. Does it still feel normal?”

Nella felt her teeth and the roof of her mouth with her tongue. “I think so…”

“In that case, it’s very likely that you can still process regular foods at this time. There may be some late eggs in the farfetch’d-house if that’s something you’d be more comfortable eating.”

“Oh, I… I would very much like that, actually.” She gave both mon an appreciative look. “Thank you.”

Teru nodded and lifted the bowl away from Nella. He brought it to the kitchen, but before he could return the fluid to the jug, Paige chirped at him. Sighing, Teru poured a bit of the fluid into Paige’s bowl. Paige grinned.

A small smile appeared on Nella’s face, too.

---​

As soon as Teru had left the room to check the coop for eggs, Paige had begun questioning Nella about each aspect of her life - her hometown, her occupation, her family, her friends and more. With every answer Nella gave, she tried her best to hint that she was not comfortable with this level of interrogation, but these messages seemed only to go in one ear and out the other... wherever they may have been hidden under all that fuzz.

Thankfully, the woobat seemed to be tiring herself out. Once Teru arrived, he saw the sluggishness in Paige’s movements and suggested she go to bed - she was awake at a very unusual hour for a vampire, after all. At first, Paige resisted, but as she noticed the slurring of her own words, she relented and bid the two goodnight. Though it was daytime. It was something else Nella would have to get used to.

“Sorry about Paige,” Teru said once the woobat had withdrawn to her quarters, levitating two pale eggs in front of himself. “She’s just very excited to meet new people. As a vampire, she can’t exactly just go to town to make friends.”

Nella’s ears drew back. “The same’s going to apply to me, isn’t it?”

Teru sighed, placing the eggs on the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry. The life of a vampire is not an easy one.” He sat next to Nella, forming a faint smile on his face. “But I promise to help you. The same way I helped Paige and Cole. You’re free to stay here as long as you like.”

Nella looked into the mismagius’ now-dimmed eyes, finding no insincerity. “Do you mean it?”

Teru nodded.

Her claws rose to her mouth to partially conceal her widening smile. “You are so kind…” She frowned. “Oh, I wish I could repay you, but I have very little…” She grimaced. ”And it’s all back at the town.”

Teru raised a tendril to his chin. “You live in Lepach, right?”

“That’s right.”

He floated off his seat. “You probably have some possessions there that you would like to have with you, right?”

“Well…” Nella thought about her belongings. “I suppose toiletries, at least, are a good idea…” She blushed. “A-and perhaps some books…”

“You ought to take as much as you can carry. The more you have that’s familiar, the more at home you can feel here.”

Nella blinked. “Take? But I… I thought I couldn’t go in town anymore.”

Teru brought his tendrils behind his back. “I believe you’re still early enough in your transition that a visit to gather your belongings is possible - with some precautions taken, of course. You’ll wear something very covering to shield you from the lights of the city at night, and I’ll be there with you in case something goes wrong. But to keep both of us safe, we ought to be quick. Ghosts like me tend to… put people on edge in most places.”

Nella got up herself. “H-hold on, you’re really planning this?”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Teru said, “but I imagine you’d much prefer to have your items rather than not. And, unfortunately, time is of the essence - this is only possible while your transition is still ongoing.”

Nella closed her claws into fists, staring at the floor in thought. A moment later, she looked back up. “I’ll do it.”

Teru smiled. “Splendid. We’ll leave once night falls. In the meantime…”

He floated to the kitchen and began to heat the stove. “Two fried eggs coming up.”

---​

After having her dinner, Teru advised Nella to return to resting - she’d need to be awake and alert for the visit in town, not to mention she was still healing from her bout with the sun. Nella had no protests, feeling tired herself, and the house soon went quiet as the two last mon up lay down to bed. Well, the house itself did - the quacking of the farfetch’d and the occasional yawn of a slowpoke still persisted in the background. Thankfully, though, they were quiet enough for Nella to soon fall asleep.

Some dreamless hours later, she awoke to Teru gently calling her name. She opened her eyes to see the dim room illuminated by a teal glow coming from further away.

“Mmm… morning,” she said. “Or do I say ‘evening’?”

“We tend to say ‘morning’ here,” Teru replied. “How are you feeling?”

Nella paused to look down at her body. She couldn’t tell how red her skin still was under this particular light, but the sensation of heat had faded considerably, and she felt less tender overall. I really am recovering… she thought.

“Better than before,” she answered, sitting up. She squinted at the light source. “What’s that blue light? Is it some kind of ghost flame?”

Teru chuckled as he fetched the source of the glow, which looked like an oil lamp. “No, it’s regular fire. The glass is just dyed.”

Nella inspected the lamp as Teru held it closer. “Huh.”

“Vampires are only affected by light with warm components, like red or yellow,” Teru said. “Or that’s what my experiences seem to suggest. In any case, blue light like this is safe for vampires.”

“Oh!” Nella’s ears perked with intrigue. “That’s interesting. And a good thing, too, that we can still use some kind of light.”

Teru nodded. “Now, you ought to start getting ready. I’m almost finished myself.”

Nella got up. She actually felt some coolness on her skin as the air streamed past. It meant her fur still had more growing to do, but at least she could sense temperature past her burns now.

The room brightened with the glow of Teru’s telekinesis as he floated a dark cloak into Nella’s arms. “Try that on,” he prompted.

Nella complied. “Seems the right size,” she said while Teru put on a cloak of his own. “Comfortable, too.”

“Glad to hear.”

Another glow lit up, and a bag floated to Nella. Her eyes widened in recognition. “My bag!” she gasped. “I’d completely forgotten…” She checked the inside. There were her usual items, and then there was a familiar letter and two pouches…

She sighed. She’d definitely failed that job. She only hoped Martha had managed through the day just fine without her bitterleaf.

“What’s wrong?” Teru asked. “Is your key not there?”

“O-oh, no, it’s there. It’s just that my employer tasked me with something the night you found me… and now I’ve let her down.”

Teru floated to her, nearly placing a tendril on her shoulder before realizing the cold touch would likely not be appreciated. “I’d hazard a guess that whatever happened to them isn’t as serious as what happened to you,” he said. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about something that wasn’t your fault, anyway.”

But what if it was my fault? Nella thought, brow furrowed. What if I could have dodged that zubat? Thrown those spores correctly? Or maybe I even should’ve… She winced at the thought.

“Nella?”

She turned to Teru. He looked worried. Oh, she shouldn’t make people worry on her behalf. Though wasn’t she already causing that, having disappeared without a trace? Maybe she could write some kind of letter to Mother. Come up with some story that didn’t involve vampires - that’d only make her more worried.

“Nella.”

Nella flinched. “Right, yes. I’m ready to go.”

Teru floated more bags to view - five large ones. “Do you think this’ll be enough to carry what you need?”

The noivern’s face heat up. “Th-that is all too much,” she said. “I don’t even own enough things to fill all those bags.”

“Oh. Two, then?”

“Two is good, I think.” Nella reached for them, but they hovered away.

“Oh, no, I insist,” said Teru, a wide smile on his face. “You are still healing, you know.”

Nella brought her claws together. “Right.”

Bags in tow, Teru floated past her and opened the door. A moonlit landscape awaited beyond the frame.

"Should I be worried about that light?" asked Nella.

Teru shook his head. "This amount of light will only tingle," he said, "and that's for a fully transitioned vampire. You'll be alright."

She took his word and stepped out into the light. As promised, it did not hurt - though she did not like to look directly at the moon. Compared to the darkness, it was all too bright.

Just as soon as her nerves had calmed, however, a shadow swooped past the moon. She yipped and stepped closer to Teru, but the mismagius touched her reassuringly with a cloak-covered tendril.

"That's only Cole," he said. "One of us. He's going to keep a lookout from the skies while we walk and warn us if there's anything to worry about."

Teru raised a tendril and waved. The shadow returned near the moon, perched atop a tree and waved back. Nella could now recognize the silhouette.

"A crobat?" she asked, and Teru hummed an affirmation. She pouted. "Crobat, woobat, noivern… I guess vampirism only affects bat pokémon?"

"Correct," Teru said. "As far as I've seen, anyway."

The crobat waved again, though this time it seemed different. More forceful.

"What's he trying to say?" asked Nella.

"I think he just wants us to get going."

Nella blushed. "R-right."

Once Teru had locked the door, the two grounded mon began their journey. The crobat hopped off his perch and ascended much higher into the sky. The large circles he glided in reminded Nella of the mandibuzz in Kiss Me at High Noon. Oh, that was one book she ought to take with her...

She sank further into her thoughts, dividing all the belongings she could remember into ones to take and ones to leave. Mainly books. She hoped she wouldn’t be teased for reading in her new home…

She stole a glance at Teru. The mismagius appeared to be deep in thoughts of his own, but his expression remained tranquil.

Nella smiled to herself.

No, I think these people are nice.

---
 
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canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
I was going to make a "Me when someone mentions turquoise eyes: is this Wallace?" joke, but that would make me look like a loser and yeah I made the joke didn't I.
I'd be a damned hypocrite if I stopped anyone from self-shitposting. Keep Wallaceposting, queen.
Blue light glasses
damn! Glasses with blue-tinted lenses would actually help them not be blinded by lights as much. I guess I'll just say they can't get dyed glass that thin and clear easily.
Good stuff so far. I'm guessing this is a modern era fic? But I could be wrong. I bring this up because, when I read the first chapter, I imagined the diner to be similar to this one ice cream chain I used to go to, and we have mentions of things like outhouses. That's probably just because of the farm, and it's not a criticism or anything, just a "my brain is reading this fic in a weird way" comment.
Depends on what exactly "modern era" entails - I'm going for a roughly 1800s time period, though I'm kind of terrible at history. Luckily historical accuracy isn't as important in fantasy settings, especially ones with magical monsters in place of humans.

Thanks for the read and review! I hope chapter 3 can come out faster than this one, lol.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Hi Cani! Finally read this! It was very worth it, enough to put a rec in the blitz hype thread. I've read a little of your PMD fic before, and while they all have horror elements, this was the gentlest and slice of life-y of them by some margin. It's nice. I found it charming and funny and thoroughly enjoyable.

The character art is, as always, absolutely excellent. I adore your style and wish to consume you and absorb your powers.

Nella is good and cute and likeable basically instantly. We establish that she's constantly anxious and self-restraining, expects to be constantly berated, and is prone to flights of escapist fantasy. Later on when we see her self-policing for reasons of etiquette and professionalism, I can't help but be deeply sympathetic to her. Especially when she gets pushes around by the clientele and her boss, and then whumped hard by all the vampirism and burn stuff. Ouch! I'm very interested in the way she tries so hard not to scream – I bet she can she be Loud As Fuck when she does, excited for that to finally matter later on!

The way Nella fixates on Leander is actually adorable. It's something of a meet cute for sure, even if I find myself reluctant to root for the pairing this early on and how certain I am that it's gonna be star-crossed as hell. She makes him seem very charming, by way of your prose. I like that he wants milk, cat that he is. And she's such an anxious bean, bless her. It breaks my heart that she's run so ragged that she expects recrimination for every tiny thing, and again over her feeling crushed by LEander's interaction with Gardevoir. Genuinely laughed at her interpreting "do you have plans" as enough interest to constitute a potential path to marriage, and I've laughed several times at her habit of letting her mind wander into fantasy. It's very believable that she'd think this way, given the excerpts about her mother.

I also really like the names you've chosen for all the characters, by the way.

Also:

"AH'M WALKIN' 'ERE!"
NYvern used Boomburst

The whole last section was a massive oof, I feel so sorry for the poor gal, holy shit.

Chapter 2

Oh, Nella. Her reaction to her ordeal continues to be deeply sympathetic! Her plight is considerable and she is ill-equipped to deal with it, but still trying hard to be polite and to deal. That was definitely blood lmao. Very much expected a freakout about having drunk it, later. And those burns, yikes! They're well-described and I like that she immediately fucks herself up even worse in her poor mental state. Oof. And oh boy, her mundane life is fucking gone, and she hasn't even had a chance to process that yet! And oh boy, Leander is definitely a 'creepy cultist' and they are definitely vampire hunters, if that wasn't clear enough already!

Okay so, we've got a couple new characters this chapter, and like everyone else so far, they have good distinct voices. Actually, everything/everyone in this fic is pretty charming and well-described (though by 'charming' I mean that each scene has an enjoyable quality. The rude customer and Martha are not charmers!)

I particularly like Nella's progression from polite, distressed confusion, to suspicion and contempt, to begrudging fondness and sympathy. It feels appropriately paced, staggered out by the feed of information about her condition and their identities, with the knowledge of who they are making them more likeable characters for both Nella and the reader.

good fic pls update
 

love

Memento mori
Pronouns
he/him/it
Partners
  1. leafeon
It's a review of chapter 1 and 2. I switched to googledocs for no particular reason for the second chapter.

"Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"

lmao

“I’ve seen quite a few,” said the stranger. “They’ve had green, blue, teal, gray, white, even red under their wings - but never pink.” He smiled. “It’s a very nice color.”

Now that I'm reading this again, with knowledge from discord, I realize this probably foreshadows that he is a vampire hunter.

Also, I wonder why he asked about the prayer—is he fishing for some kind of reaction? I can't imagine there'd actually be any issue with it, given that he's not being conspicuous. I doubt anyone would even know he's praying to Solgaleo specifically.

The spores spread out like flour, but glowed in rainbow colors.

No comma here. I don't think a but is needed either ("The spores spread out like flour, glowing rainbow colors.")

Nella may be different from Red, but you still did a good job getting me into her head. The internalized misogyny is readily apparent, as is its harm—poor Nella suppresses a lot of feelings, and it really pains me that she feels compelled to rush into a romantic relationship even if she doesn't feel ready.

As crummy as all of that is, we also see the utility of her mindset. It wouldn't do her much good to lose her cool with an angry customer, especially given Martha's strictness. She's hard on herself, but so is everyone else. But is her mother right that it doesn't pay to be a working woman on her own in this story's world? Probably not entirely; after all, Martha runs a restaurant without a man's help, even if said restaurant doesn't always stock up on as much berry mash and cod as it should.

Given how others treat Nella, Leander being halfway decent is a breath of fresh air. Plus he's apparently hot, so it's understandable that she would be attracted to him.

The ending of chapter 1 really hammers home how deeply Nella has internalized the good = quiet thing and how, hm, maybe it's not always such a good principle to live by.

Anyway, I really want to give Nella a hug and look forward to her turn to the dark side.

Now I have read chapter 2. I'm sure something will go wrong on the way to grabbing Nella's stuff. Maybe they'll run into Leander? Only time will tell.

More chapter 2 comments/line edits can be found on this googledoc
 
Part Three

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
hey new chapter here or part or whatever. im gonna be honest and say that the next part is probably gonna take even longer to write since i dont even know what its gonna have. lol

rating for this chapter is teen for an emotionally abusive mother and not really anything else i think. enjoy

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Part Three

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While Nella had the luxury of not just one but two travel companions, the journey to Lepach still wasn’t easy on her nerves. She felt as jumpy as she had the previous night, flinching at each murkrow flying by or cawing. While there was moonlight to light her way this time, the earth and the trees were still largely dim, their shadows even moreso. Something could have easily been hiding in the darkest nooks, ready to jump out the moment she got too close...

“Are you alright?”

She yipped at the sudden break in silence, only to blush as she realized it had only been Teru.

"S-sorry," she said, then sighed. “I'm just a bit… nervous.”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize,” Teru said. “It’s perfectly understandable after what happened on your last walk. But I assure you that there’s nothing you need to worry about. If anything or anyone tries to give us trouble, Cole and I will send them running.”

Nella clasped her claws. “Are you strong?”

Teru smiled, gesturing to the two empty backpacks levitating after him with seemingly no effort on his part, only a constant blue glow in his eyes to show that he was the one keeping them up. “I’m no spring duck, but for us ghosts that means little. I say we only get better with age.”

“And Cole?”

“He is a crobat,” Teru said. “Not just any golbat becomes one. It takes a skilled fighter.”

“Oh, I see.” Nella looked at her feet, then bit her lip. “Should I have… known that?”

Teru tilted his head. “Hm? No, I wouldn’t say so. Not unless you were some kind of special expert on the zubat family. Then it’d probably be important to know.”

Nella clacked her claws together. “Sorry. I’m just… not always sure when it’s normal not to know things and when it isn’t.”

“Oh.” Teru brought a tendril to his chin. “Well, you’re free to ask me anything if you’re not sure. Of course, there’ll be plenty of things I don’t know, either.”

Nella gave a small smile. “Thanks.” She returned her gaze to the path ahead --

SKREEE-O-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO!

Nella jumped at the warbling screech with an alarmed yelp. Her wings flapped on their own, wanting to flee from the possible danger - but Teru’s calming shushes let Nella regain control over her body.

“What was that?” Nella whispered, looking in the direction of the noise, trying to estimate how far away it had come from. It didn’t seem to be near, at least…

“You don’t recognize it?”

Nella turned to Teru, her expression just as confused as his. “What do you mean?”

“That noise just now…” Teru gestured towards the direction of the screech. “That was a noivern’s bellow.”

Nella blinked, then looked where he had pointed. Somewhere out there was another noivern…

But that spark of curiosity was quickly overridden by dread. Was that what a noivern’s bellow sounded like? That horrible, ear-piercing warbled screech? She thought of that noise coming from her own mouth and ears, and her stomach sank. Mother really knew best...

“Have you never heard a noivern’s bellow before?” Teru asked, frowning in concern. “Have you never bellowed before?”

“No,” said Nella. “Or no, I have bellowed before - but only as a noibat. Not once since I evolved.”

And I’ll never do it again, she thought, but she already sensed that Teru thought she was odd for not bellowing. She didn’t want to be any weirder.

“...Huh.” Teru blinked. “I see.”

Nella breathed in tensely. “W-we should keep moving.”

“Right.” Teru nodded, and the two continued on their way.

Much to Nella's relief, no further bellows sounded during the rest of the walk. After having heard such a horrible noise, the caws of the murkrow no longer unnerved her as much, either. Eventually, they scaled the last hill, and the town of Lepach came to view.

I'm home, she instinctively thought, only to have to remind herself that it was no longer her home.

Before she could wallow too long in that melancholy, however, Teru stopped. He lowered the backpacks onto the ground next to him, and the glow in his eyes disappeared.

"Cole's coming down," he said.

Indeed, wingbeats quickly approached, and soon the crobat landed behind them.

“So,” the crobat began, “usual protocol?” His voice was more monotone than Nella would have expected based on his fierce, angry-looking eyes, but she supposed that was simply how crobat faces looked.

“I was thinking so,” Teru responded, “but Nella wouldn’t know about that. We should explain to her what we mean.”

Cole nodded and turned to Nella. “I’ll be flying above the city and looking out for trouble the way I’ve been doing on the way here, but how I’ll warn you of any danger will be different. If I simply shouted, people would realize I was present and part of your crew.

“Instead, I’ll mimic the sounds of a feral crobat - chirps for caution and a screech for immediate danger. Feral crobat are quite rare, so I doubt there’ll be an actual one flying around this town, but in case that happens, Teru should still recognize my voice. So look at him for a nod or something before you start fleeing.”

Nella clasped her claws. “Is it really so bad for vampires that I may have to run for my life?”

“You should fly instead of running,” Cole remarked.

Teru shot him a disapproving glare, then turned to Nella. “It’s better to play it safe,” he said. “But I’ll be there with you, and I’ll make sure we’ll get out of town safely if the need to flee comes.”

She crossed her wings, nervous, but the mismagius’ persistent gentle gaze forced the tension out of her shoulders. “Alright,” she said. “Thank you.”

“I guess that’s everything, then,” said Cole, taking steps backwards. “Good luck.”

“Good luck,” Teru said back, and the crobat took off, flying off into the gray sky.

"Alright," he then said, picking up one of the backpacks with his tendrils and slipping it on. "You carry the other one," he said to Nella. "I'll give this one to you when we get to your house."

Nella nodded and picked up the other backpack, but stopped to wonder how exactly she'd carry it - wings and a sleeveless cloak didn't mesh with a backpack. After a short assessment of different options, she chose to slip her handbag around her neck, resting the bag on her back. She then took the backpack into her arms, cradling it like a baby. A baby… no, now was not the time to think about such things.

"Well, if that's everything, we ought to get going," Teru said. Nella nodded, and the two set off on their way.

It wasn't long before they reached the city gates. The light of the lanterns made Nella's eyes squint and her skin tingle, but it wasn't particularly painful, and she had a feeling she'd get used to it. She looked to Teru to see if the ghost was feeling any effects, but froze in shock as she saw something under his cloak that had not been there before - legs.

"S-since when, uh, sorry -" she cleared her throat, pointing to Teru's new limbs with her tail - "since when have you had… those?"

Teru looked down, then chuckled. "Oh, right - I guess I forgot to warn you." He raised one leg and showed it off. It was slim and pointy like the leg of a gardevoir, only purple to match the rest of his body. "These legs are not real. They're only a small illusion I'm creating to appear less ghostly. I find that it tends to put a lot of mon more at ease."

"You can make illusions?" Nella asked, eyeing the leg - it seemed very real to her.

"Most ghosts have the ability to some extent," Teru answered, setting his leg back down. "But I only have the capacity for simple, small-scale illusions like these. A master gengar, on the other hand, could create an entire room filled with fake mon. I've seen something like that once, years ago. Very impressive, but very haunting."

"Oh! That's interesting..." Nella looked around, but saw no one else in the streets. "I guess you like to play it safe in case someone shows up."

Teru nodded, beginning to walk again. "It's too late to create the illusion after someone notices you. It's better to have it on constantly. It's not like it takes much effort."

"I see."

Right as Nella resumed walking, a townsmon emerged from behind a corner in an upcoming intersection - a ledian. Nella flinched and her fur raised on end, but Teru's calming voice took the edge off her fright.

"Just keep walking," he murmured. "We're not doing anything wrong."

Nella did as asked, though her heart pounded faster and faster as the mon approached. But that's all the ledian did, wings emitting a monotone buzz as they hovered on forward and, finally, past them.

Nella let out a sigh of relief, though she knew she couldn't be sure until they'd disappeared from sight. But looking over her shoulder would surely make her seem more suspicious. She had to press on, simply hoping that the buzzing wouldn't suddenly start getting closer instead of farther…

Eventually, though, it faded away. She wanted to look to make sure, but what if they were still there and had only stopped to look closer at these two very suspicious mon --

"They left," Teru said.

"Oh," she exhaled, "thank goodness."

Teru hummed. "It's a good thing we're only doing this once. This doesn't seem like it's good for your heart."

Nella tensed up again. "D-do I have to worry about heart problems? Or -- i-is my heart even gonna keep beating?"

"Oh, no, it'll keep beating," Teru replied, raising a tendril to calm her. "Just a figure of speech."

"I thought vam-" She stopped before she said the word - she shouldn't say it out loud here. "I mean, I thought, um, my kind weren't supposed to have their hearts beat anymore."

Teru shook his head. "That part's just a myth. As well as the mirror thing. Stories don't always get things right."

"I see…" She lowered her head. "I can ask you about anything related to v… my kind if I get a question, right?"

Teru smiled. "Of course. I already said so before, didn't I?"

Nella thought back, and yes, he had. She blushed, but smiled nonetheless. "Thanks."

They continued on their way through the town, Nella now slightly ahead to lead the way. As they gradually got closer to where she lived, they encountered a few other townsmon - some of them threw suspicious glances their way, but none stopped to stare or, heavens forbid, approach them. Still, it was nervewracking, and a little pressure kept up constantly at the back of Nella's ears.

Eventually, they reached Martha's. The familiar sight released some tension from Nella's shoulders, though it also twisted her gut - she still had the items from her failed quest in her little bag. She felt like she should return them, but knew it was simply too risky. Perhaps she could leave them at home along with some note to instruct whoever came by to return them. She should leave a note in general, explaining to anyone that came looking after her that she'd left… though maybe there wasn't time for that, either, and she was better off sending a letter sometime later. She decided to do that.

Fortunately, it was not a long walk from her workplace to her apartment, and soon enough they reached the right building. A smile appeared on Nella's face, but a frown quickly overwrote it. She stopped and turned to Teru. "Oh my goodness, this may be bad…"

"What is it?" Teru asked, worry in his voice.

Nella hugged the backpack in her arms. "I-I don't have the key… I mean, no tenant has the key. We're supposed to knock for the keymaster…"

She expected Teru to be shocked, but to her surprise, she instead received a smirk.

"Oh, we don't need the keymaster," he said, though Nella had no idea what he was suggesting. "Watch this."

He promptly raised a tendril and inserted it into the keyhole. Nella watched in bewilderment as quiet clacks sounded from the lock - and in a matter of seconds, the door opened.

Teru floated into the darkness inside and held the door for Nella, grinning. "Come on in."

Nella stepped in, jaw hanging. "How'd you… do that?"

"Just one of a few tricks I've taken up along the decades," Teru said, closing the door behind them. "Now…" He looked up the stairway. "Which floor?"

"Oh, it's only the second floor."

"That's good," Teru said, taking off his backpack. "I think I should stay in watch down here. I'll call you if anything suspicious starts to transpire."

Nella nodded. She transferred her backpack to one arm, grasping its handle instead, and took Teru's backpack in the other. These will be a lot to carry if I fill both to the brim, she thought. I hope I can manage it.

She then climbed a flight of stairs and arrived by the door to her apartment. She remembered the countless times she'd walked these same steps on her way home after a long day of work. But this would be the last. She'd never come here again…

She shook her head. She shouldn't get stuck in her thoughts. She was still on a tight schedule.

She lowered the backpacks to dig her key out of her handbag and unlock the door. Keeping her gaze on the bags, she grabbed them again and pushed her way in sideways in order to fit through the narrow doorway. Once through, she closed the door again in the case of some other tenant leaving their own apartment. She considered lighting her lamp to see in the dark, but realized that she actually didn’t need it. It probably wouldn’t be good for her, either, with her new condition --

A shriek from behind yanked every hair of her body on end. An indigo glow flooded the room - a draconic aura.

“Who are you?” the shrieker demanded. Nella’s heart pounded and her thoughts raced. Had her apartment already been leased to someone else? Was she intruding? But wait - that voice…

“Turn around,” the voice ordered, and she became sure of whose voice it was. Her stomach sank, sank, sank, but she knew she had to turn around, and she did…

She met the fiery gaze of an older altaria lying on her bed, cloaked in indigo energy. As the mon recognized her back, the altaria’s expression lost its fury, keeping only its shock.

“Nella?” she breathed. Her glow dimmed, but stayed bright enough to let her see in the dark. “Is that you?”

“Y-yes, Mother, it’s me…” Nella replied. “What, um, what are you doing here?”

“I was told that you’d gone missing,” Mother said, climbing out of the bed. “I came here to find out if it was true, and I stayed here for the night in case you came back…” She turned to the nightstand where Nella kept an oil lantern. “Hold on, let me light the lantern so that I can see you better.”

Nella’s heart jumped. She was still healing from her accident with the sun - there was no telling how Mother would react. “No, please, don’t!” she pleaded. “I-I mean, you really don’t have to --”

But it was too late. Her mother had grabbed a match and lit it and now she raised the globe and now she lit the wick…

“There we go”, Mother said, lowered the globe and turned around - and shrieked again. Nella tried to cover her face with her claws and her body with her wings, but then remembered her wings didn’t look any better --

“What happened to you?” Mother gasped, rushing up close - oh, there was no hiding it now. “Wh-wh-what happened to your skin? Your fur? Your wings?”

Nella’s throat tightened. So she really did look that horrible. Patchy fur, burnt skin… and those other mon in town had seen her, how ugly she was…

Tears rose to her eyes. A sob escaped her throat. Who was she kidding? She’d never look presentable again, if she’d even looked presentable before…

“You must tell me what happened,” Mother demanded. Nella thought of it -- no, no, she couldn’t! Her looks were bad enough, she couldn’t let her know she was now a bloodsucking monster, too! Oh, she wanted just to run away, run into the woods and hide in a cave for the rest of her days so that no one would have to look at her. But she couldn’t. She had to --

Right. She was here for a reason. She had to get a grip on herself and do what she came here to do. She’d disappointed enough people already. She didn’t want to disappoint Teru.

Sniffling, she opened the backpacks. “I-I need to pack.”

“What do you mean? Why do you need to pack? Talk to your mother, Nella!”

Nella bit her lip. She had to come up with an excuse. “I n-need to move,” she said, “because… I…”

She glanced around the apartment. It wasn’t the newest. Paint had started to peel…

“Mold!” she said. “There’s mold here. I can’t live here anymore.”

Mother’s eyes widened. She covered her beak with a wing. “Mold?” she repeated, disgusted. “There is mold here? Oh, how horrid!”

“Uh-huh,” Nella confirmed, dashing to her bedside drawer to take out her toiletry bag and money stash. She shoved them into one of the backpacks. What else did she want? Her books, right. Oh, but her clothes… no, clothes wouldn't do her any good. She wouldn't be going out in public anymore. But her books - her books would still serve her, even more so now that her life had become so terrible. She needed the fantasy. The escape. And she’d worked hard and saved up for many of them. She couldn’t let them go to waste.

“I-Is that why your skin is like that?” Mother asked. Right, she was still here. “Is the mold doing that to you?”

She had no better lie. “Yes, and that’s why I really have to leave,” she said, shoving her favorite books in the backpack. A Dragon’s Kiss, In The Heat of Passion, The Ice Prince, Love at High Noon, Lionhearted… that one she hadn’t even finished yet, good call. At least she could look forward to reading more of that later.

“Then we must leave here as soon as we can," Mother said, then moved to the closet and opened it. "I'll help you pack."

Nella grimaced. Mother was going to start packing her clothes, but they'd only slow her down.

"Mother, no…" she said. "There's no time. I-I have to leave soon."

The altaria turned to her. Nella's confidence fell the moment she saw those judging beady eyes again. They always made her feel so small, like she was still a noibat.

"What are you talking about?" Mother said. "You have to leave? You're coming home with me!"

Nella's heart jumped in her throat. Oh no. Oh no, but of course, of course she'd say that. Nella brought her claws to her forehead. Of course she'd want her to come with…

"And you'd pack your books instead of your clothes?" Mother muttered, nabbing a scarf and beginning to fold it. "It's a mystery how you've made it this long on your own…"

"No, no, Mother…" Nella skittered to Mother and tried to set her claws on her wings, but the altaria recoiled in alarm, as if Nella's burns were contagious. It wrenched the noivern's heart, but she still had to speak.

"I-I can't come home with you," Nella said.

Mother frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, um, the doctor said I had to stay at this specific place," Nella said. It was kind of true. "I-it has just the right temperature and hygiene and l-lighting conditions for helping me heal."

Mother waved a wing. "Oh, nonsense - that quack's just trying to squeeze more money out of you. No place is better than home! Come on, now, help me pack."

Nella clenched her teeth, feeling the pressure behind her ears grow again. As always, Mother didn't want to listen… but this time, Nella knew she was right. She still had to get Mother to leave her alone somehow…

"A-actually, Mother," Nella started, "why don't you go on ahead and let me pack? I wouldn't want you to catch the same thing as me."

"It really won't take that long, dear," Mother only said, "Especially if you'd stop bickering and help!"

Nella clenched a fist, increasingly desperate. "No, Mother, I insist."

Mother stopped. She turned to Nella again, irritation joined by a new partner on her face - suspicion. Nella's ears flattened back.

"You seem awfully determined to get me to leave," Mother spoke, putting her wings on her hips. Her words were slow but sharp. "Are you hiding something from me?"

Nella froze up. “N-no…”

As expected, Mother wasn’t convinced. She leaned in. “Be a good girl, now, and tell the truth.”

Nella’s heart pounded all too hard for her frail body. Mother’s eyes bore into her soul. She could never tell a convincing lie like this, not that she was any good at lying to begin with.

But she couldn’t tell Mother the truth, either. There was no way she would believe her. If Nella tried to explain that she was a vampire now, Mother would only get angrier, thinking Nella was spinning another lie, and a very stupid lie at that. If Nella still stuck with her claim no matter how Mother raged, Mother would force her to prove her story by marching her out into the sun and she’d -- she’d burn again, she might not even survive --

Tears filled her eyes again. She covered her face and sniffled. Oh, she was so helpless…

“Crying won’t help you here, little missy!” Mother snapped, her voice sharp as a knife. “Tell me the truth!”

Nella grimaced at Mother's words. She shouldn’t be crying, she knew that, but she didn’t know what else to do. Oh, Gods. Story of her life. She just didn’t know what to do. Everybody else knew, but she was just stupid. Or lazy, not paying enough attention. Maybe she should have planned ahead for this. She definitely should have planned ahead for this. That was the least she could have done! Instead, she let Teru do all the work, Teru and Cole. She was mooching off others’ goodwill again…

“Nella!”

“Leave me alone!” Nella snapped, spreading her wings - but she quickly folded them back and covered her mouth.

Mother's eyes were as wide as they could physically be. Her plumage was puffed, and her tail was raised. Nella could already tell what was about to come next.

“Don’t talk to your mother that way!” Mother exclaimed. “I came here, sick with worry, and this is how you repay my concern?”

Nella couldn’t bear to look at Mother, instead staring at the floorboards. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “I didn’t mean…”

“Well, clearly you meant something!” Mother snapped back. “If that’s how you react to your dear mother trying to help, surely you must think --”

Mother shrieked.

Nella flinched and uncovered her face. She followed Mother’s shocked gaze to a new presence in the room - Teru.

His cloak was gone, and so were his illusory legs. His turquoise eyes glared at the altaria with stern defiance. “She told you to leave her alone.”

“Wh-wh-who are you?” Mother screamed. “What do you want?”

“I want nothing but for you to stop terrorizing this kind young woman,” Teru said, gesturing to Nella. “And, please, do try to keep your voice down. You’ll wake up all the other residents at this rate.”

It was clear from Mother’s face that she took great offense at being told to pipe down, but she did not protest - it seemed that, even in a situation like this, etiquette came first.

Instead, she turned to Nella. “Do you know this… person?” she hissed.

Nella trembled, sniffling. “I, uhh…”

Teru floated to her side. “I’m her doctor,” he said, “and she needs to stay at our premises until her allergic reaction to the mold has subsided.”

Nella looked to Teru, who gave a knowing look back. He must have overheard their conversation.

“You don’t look like a doctor,” Mother said, voice wavering. She looked back to Nella. “You can’t trust this person, Nella. He’s got something nefarious on the mind.”

Teru frowned, folding his tendrils across his chest. “That’s quite a rude accusation.”

As Mother’s eyes stayed on Nella, she felt the pressure to speak up. “H-he helped me, Mother - free of charge, too,” Nella said. “He has been very kind.”

Mother shook her head. "Oh, darling, no, you cannot be this naive, going along with shady strangers like this…"

"He is not a shady stranger!" Nella said back, but recoiled at Mother's indignant glare. This was the second time she’d shouted at Mother already…

"You're awfully quick to defend him," said Mother. "Almost as if you're…" She gasped, eyes widening. "I see what's going on here now. You're trying to elope!"

Nella’s face distorted with bewilderment. “Huh?”

“You’re trying to run off with this man to who knows where and leave your job and responsibilities behind!”

“Oh, please,” Teru remarked, rolling his eyes.

Nella’s fists clenched. She tried her best not to raise her voice as she spoke - she wouldn’t do that a third time. “That… is an absurd accusation, Mother,” she said as patiently as she could.

“Is it?” Mother replied, craning her neck. “I asked around your workplace, and they all talked about how tired you had seemed. How you’d been making more mistakes than usual.”

Nella flinched, her blood running cold. So they’d noticed.

“It sounds to me that you were struggling to make it on your own, just like I said you would - but no, you were too proud to come back home and admit your mistake, so you pressed on in that sinking ship.”

Her heart beat even faster. She didn’t think it was possible.

And Mother still continued. “Then, in waltzes a mysterious foreigner with gentlemanly wiles, offering to take you away into a life of thrill and romance, and you decide to leave it all, run off, and leave your mother to pick up the pieces!”

Teru covered his face with a tendril. "We do not have time for this," he said, then turned to Nella. "Nella, are you done packing yet?"

But Nella didn't respond. Her stare was blank, focusing on nothing in particular, and her mouth hung ajar.

Sure, Mother was wrong about Teru. She was wrong about Nella eloping. But what she wasn't wrong about was practically everything else.

She was struggling. Every day was tiring, and every night was lonely. She tried and tried, but was a decent waitress at best, forgetting or misremembering orders and getting lost in daydreams. She was the last candidate for promotion - not that she could even handle the responsibility of anything more. She just didn't have it in her to be a working woman, which was precisely what Mother had told her, but she simply couldn’t admit it. But it wasn’t really pride that made her unable to do that. It was the fact that if she was unable to work and unable to be a lady… she was dead weight.

And she’d never be anything but a…

Hold on.

Nella snapped back to reality, her eyes on her apartment and her feet on the floorboards.

She was a vampire now.

She was a blood-sucking, undead monster, and she had no future either way.

There was no future. There was only the present.

Her fists clenched, claws digging into her palms, and she stepped past her mother.

“Wh-wha-?” left Mother’s beak, but it had no effect on Nella. The noivern reached the bookshelf, took five books from the end of one shelf and marched back to the second backpack. Only once the noivern shoved the books in did Mother speak again.

“Hey! I told you to pack clo-”

“Teru.”

Nella’s voice was eerily calm. She turned to the mismagius, eyes reddened from crying, but determined.

“Do you know any tricks that would get her out of the way?” she asked.

Teru blinked, stupefied, but soon shook himself out of his daze. “Uh, is hypnosis alright?”

Nella paused, but soon nodded. “Yes.”

Mother’s eyes widened. “H-how dare you!” she shouted. “I-I will not stand for th…”

In less than a second, her eyes drooped shut and her body went limp. Before she hit the floor, a blue glow enveloped her, stopping her fall and instead gently lifting her onto the bed.

Nella promptly picked up the backpack and fetched the other one as well. She turned to Teru. “I’m done.”

Teru nodded with some hesitation. “We ought to hurry,” he then said. “Your neighbors might get curious.”

Nella nodded back and carried the bags out into the hallway. Behind her back, the light of the lamp went out. Teru floated out of the room and closed the door, then picked up his crumpled coat off the floor of the hallway. It seemed that he’d left it behind before in order to phase through the wall.

Nella headed for the stairs, but Teru grabbed the bags with his telekinesis and quickly floated them downstairs by themselves. Nella gave Teru a brief look.

“An acceptable shortcut,” the mismagius whispered.

The two mon then made their way downstairs in silence. At the door, Teru slipped his coat back on, recreated his illusory legs and took one of the bags for himself. The two exchanged a nod and stepped outside.

Only once the door had closed behind them could Nella let herself sigh.

“It’s alright,” said Teru. “It’s over. All we have to do now is get home.”

Home.

Nella squeezed her eyes shut.

Yes, this place was no longer her home.

SKREEEEE-EEEEE-EEEE!

Nella’s eyes snapped open. She looked up to the sky and saw a crobat rapidly approaching.

“Cole,” Teru said.

Cole swerved down to the main road flanking them and stopped his plummet with rapid wingbeats, kicking up dust off the ground.

“What is it?” Teru asked, and he’d barely finished his sentence when the crobat answered.

“White Tiger!”

Nella’s heart jumped. She didn’t know what that meant, but the upset and urgency in Cole’s normally monotone voice told her it was something very bad.

She looked to Teru. The expression on the mismagius’ face was one of sheer terror.

Less than a second later, Teru gave his full response in two words.

“We’re going.”

---​
 
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SparklingEspeon

Back on Her Bullshit
Staff
Location
a Terrace of Indeterminate Location in Snowbelle
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. fennekin
  3. zoroark
Review of chapters 1 – 3

Hello! I’ve heard some things about Batty here and there, but it kind of just floated around in the back of my head for a while. Then I was idly browsing the forums one night, clicked on it by complete accident, and was like “…okay, why not”

And then I got sucked in, and now I’m here to publish several hundred words of me screeching about it like a gremlin,

Mixing vampires and pokemon in a serious sense is something that I’ve never actually… seen anywhere, so immediately you get originality points from me. I also appreciate that you aren’t going out of your way to make it particularly dark or brutal; seeing a Tokyo-ghoul type of scenario might have been cool but would also be very super heavy and would change the story a lot. In general I get a sense of “flipped script” here, with probably Leander being referred to as a cultist and the vampires being much more ethical and harmless than they appear.

From these few chapters, I’m already picking up a vibe of social regressiveness themes. There’s the way that the vampires are misunderstood, which I assume Leander plays into from his dialogue at the start and the mention of “White Tiger” at the end. (I think it’s also a really fun plot to have her be super totally into this guy, and then whoops, he wants to kill her actually! Nothing bad will come of this) But there’s also Mother, who by far takes the spotlight for dysfunctional and controlling. She’s ingrained several very conforming ideals in her child, which I guess isn’t abusive depending on the culture you were raised from, but she is also… extremely controlling. And very dead-set on the idea that you ARE going to come back with me, you ARE going to get married, no matter what, and don’t you dare disobey me, I control every aspect of your life forever. Which, when your kid is an adult and you’re dictating their life decisions… >.> I don’t like her much, and it’s clear as day to see how much her parenting techniques have messed Nella up. I guess if you’ve made a character people love to hate, it’s a sign of a good job :p

(I’ll also admit I wasn’t sure if you were trying to mimic a specific time period or if you’re just going for a timeless/stock “Pokemon-only world”—I get the feel most of this is set in a pre-industrial town setting, but I also got hard 1950’s diner vibes from the place Nella worked at and had initially assumed it would be much higher-tech. Just something that registered on my radar some of the way through; it’s valid to have a timeless world! But it did occur to me, especially given the origin of the modern vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.)

It's kind of harsh that vamps literally can’t touch slower-wavelength light at all, or they get burned. It must really suck to be one when even firelight can hurt you, that’s basically a life in isolation forever unless you find others like you :/ It does have me wondering what the nature of their affliction is, and how it can be cured. I assume you’re not looking to get into the science-y bits, but I do wonder if there’ll be a plot relevant idea of a cure at some point… or at least, something that makes it so they can walk in the sun without being burned.

On that note, I wonder if there’s actually like, a secret society of vampires or something. Paige, Neru, and Cole all feel like a small group, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s more that they know about. Neru in particular seems savvy, so even if they’re in hiding I feel like he would know where to find more vamps.

The only thing that really made me wonder was like… at one point, Nella concludes that this malady affects only bat pokemon, so assuming Neru is also a vampire… hmm. I guess I never saw mismagius as bats. But it does make me wonder if that’s meant to be a hint at a twist of some kind, or if you’re just counting them as bats for the purpose of this. I could see it going either way.

For plot hopes…

  • I really hope we go hard on the whole Leander/Nella thing. It’s a super subversive twist on the “love at first sight” trope, in part due to how she’s been raised, and I’m super here for it.
  • I think it would be interesting to see more vampires hanging around. We see five altogether including Nella, but I imagine there are more hanging around?
  • It would be interesting to see Mother get in on the story more. I feel like there’s more of the story to tell between her and Nella, and it would create a great sense of pressure tearing her between the vampire/pokemon lives. Not sure how you’d get her back in though—maybe Leander talks to her?
Overall, I’d say this is a strong beginning! As it is with most of my first-time reviews, I’ve not got too much to say, but I hope this served well enough for the three chapters that are out there. You said that you weren’t really sure where to take the story from here; I think that you’ve got all the components of a good beginning laid out in front of you. All you need is a good direction.

~SparklingEspeon
 

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
big review i quag :quag:

(I’ll also admit I wasn’t sure if you were trying to mimic a specific time period or if you’re just going for a timeless/stock “Pokemon-only world”—I get the feel most of this is set in a pre-industrial town setting, but I also got hard 1950’s diner vibes from the place Nella worked at and had initially assumed it would be much higher-tech. Just something that registered on my radar some of the way through; it’s valid to have a timeless world! But it did occur to me, especially given the origin of the modern vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.)

I'm pretty poor at history generally, but I'm trying to go for a roughly 1800s setting. Dracula by Bram Stoker was written in 1897, it seems, though I chose 1800s more on a vibe and the vague knowledge that it's when the literary genre of horror began.

On that note, I wonder if there’s actually like, a secret society of vampires or something. Paige, Neru, and Cole all feel like a small group, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s more that they know about. Neru in particular seems savvy, so even if they’re in hiding I feel like he would know where to find more vamps.

Oh, you'll see :)

The only thing that really made me wonder was like… at one point, Nella concludes that this malady affects only bat pokemon, so assuming Neru is also a vampire… hmm. I guess I never saw mismagius as bats. But it does make me wonder if that’s meant to be a hint at a twist of some kind, or if you’re just counting them as bats for the purpose of this. I could see it going either way.

Oh - Teru was never meant to be a vampire but rather a ghost that sympathizes with vampires due to ghosts also needing to shy away from the light and being feared by the general populace. There's this bit in Part 2:
In an effort to delay the decision to drink it or not, she looked back to Teru. "So… are you a vampire, too?"

Teru shook his head. "No, just a regular ghost. But neither ghosts nor vampires like the sun, nor do they get old or eat the way regular mon do, so I sympathise."

Thanks for the review and checking this fic out in general! While Part 4 is still in the outlining phase, I can say that I do at least have a smidgen more of an idea what it should contain, so I suppose progress has been made.
 

love

Memento mori
Pronouns
he/him/it
Partners
  1. leafeon
I read chapter 3 a bit ago but did not take notes. But I think it's nice to see Nella assert herself, with some help from Teru. I feel like having a friend almost might change her life as much as the vampirism, and I look forward to seeing how their relationship develops.

Anyway, Nella's mom really is something else. The fact that Nella isn't, like, immediately pissed that she's just chilling in her apartment speaks to her submissiveness. Her shame about not making it in the "real world" is relatable, but she's in the vampire world now, I guess, so she can find liberation. That is, if she can evade the clutches of the white tiger...
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. quilava-fobbie
  5. sneasel-kate
Heya, popping in as part of Catnip. I’d heard some good things about your PMD fare for a long while now, but somehow I’d just never gotten around to actually checking it out properly. So this seems like as good of a time as any to remedy that.

Part One

Ding!

“Coming!” Nella shouted, rushing out of the kitchen, coins clinking inside the pouch on her belt. A sour-faced gumshoos sat behind the counter, untrimmed claws tapping impatiently on its wooden surface. Nella sighed under her breath, then forced a smile.

“Welcome to Martha’s,” the noivern said. “How may I serve you?”

Ah yes, food service. Always a fun™ job to deal with there. Though I have to wonder how often those wings get in Nella’s way as a server.

“I wanna see some cod and potatoes and fast,” the gumshoos growled. “I’m starvin’.”

Nella nodded. “Right away, sir. Feel free to show yourself to a table if you’d like.”

“I just sat down. I ain’t gettin’ back up.”

… Nice customer there. Not. I get the feeling that this isn’t a rare experience for Nella in this story.

Another stealthy sigh. “That’s alright. We’ll start working on your order right away.”

“And a beer!” the gumshoos shouted after her as she entered the heat and steam of the kitchen. “Hey, did ya hear me?”’

Nella: “(Just ignore him, just ignore him…)” X(

“Yes, sir!” Nella shouted back. She turned to the kitchen staff - Swampert Harvey and Ursaring Sophie on this current shift - and relayed the order of a plate of cod and potatoes.

Whelp, nevermind that then. Though I suppose that pretending you didn’t hear someone as a Noivern would be bound to trip some BS detectors.

“We ran out of cod,” responded Harvey, scooping up a pair of fried eggs off his pan and to a plate which another waitress, Golduck Daisy, took in her hands and rushed off to serve. “They’ll have to ask for something else.”

Nella blinked. How wonderful.

Nella: “Harvey, you do realize that that Gumshoos is probably going to tear up the table once he hears about this, right?” >_>;
Harvey: “Yeah, well you’re supposed to kick the unruly customers out. Should be old hat to you, right?”

She forced a smile onto her face once again and returned to the counter.

“I’m sorry, but we’re out of cod. Would you like something else instead?”

giphy.gif


I can already tell this is going to be a disaster.

"Out of cod?" the gumshoos huffed - but shook his head and skimmed the menu again. "Berry mash, then."

"Alright, we'll get right on it!" said Nella and slipped back into the kitchen. "We need one bowl of berry mash!" she yelled.

"Can't make it," shouted back Sophie, inserting a meat pie into the oven. "Out of tamato."

Gumshoos:
916590528802480208.png

Nella:
8b4.gif

Nella froze. "Are you serious?"

"'Fraid I am."

She clacked her claws together. "Can't we make it without tamato? It's just a little part of it, right?"

inb4 berry mash tastes godawful without Tamato Berries.

"Sorry, but you know how Martha feels about going off-recipe. Just ask them to get something else."

Nella:
tomoko-kuroki-wata-mote.gif


Nella's shoulders slumped, but Martha was Martha. While she would yell even when you stuck to her orders, it would stay at that - try things your own way, though, and your job was on the line.

… Have you ever considered a different line of work, Nella? Since this… doesn’t exactly sound like a healthy workplace environment. .-.

Nella took a deep breath, plastered that smile back on her face and finally returned to the counter.

"I'm sorry," she said, already seeing the annoyance flare up in the gumshoos' eyes, "but berry mash is also unavailable at the moment. Would you like so-"

A bang of the gumshoos' paw on the counter quieted her.

"Son of a muk!" the gumshoos spat. "Do you serve food here or not?"

Nella: “I’m… just going to take that as a ‘no’.” ._.;

On reflex, Nella shielded her body with her wings. Pressure built up in her ears.

No! She closed her eyes and flexed her toes, focusing on the wooden floor beneath her feet. Slowly, the pressure weakened.

Oh, so Nella doesn’t handle loud noises well. I mean, it makes sense given that she’s a Noivern with the famously sensitive hearing, but that still took me aback at first.

"Hey! Are you listenin'?"

It strengthened again. It threatened to burst. She took deep breaths, focused, focused. She pictured a familiar blue face, black beady eyes, white beak and cheeks, and her mother saying those words in her sing-song voice:

"A good girl is a quiet girl."

Oh, so her mother was an Altaria, huh? Wonder what the story was behind that one was unless this is one of those settings where species can also pass down from the father.

She opened her eyes and the world was clear again.

She brought that smile back on her face.

"We truly apologize for the unavailability of those menu options," she said, voice bright, "but I'm sure we have other options available you would like. Please try choosing another item."

Nella:
my-face-my-soul-21751576.png


The gumshoos' eyes had widened at her sudden change in behavior, but they soon drooped back to half-closed. "Feh." He waved his arm lazily and turned around. "I'll find someplace else."

Nella watched as the gumshoos slouched out, his long tail dragging behind him, surely saving whoever was on cleaning duty that day some time. Only once the door had slammed shut on his wake could Nella let her forced vigor melt away.

Nella: “(Well, so much for that tip…)” >_>;

Needing some time to feel presentable again, she slipped back in the kitchen, leaned against a wall and sighed.

It's alright. I'll be here for just a minute, then get back. There was no one in line. Surely they can't need me again so soon --

Ding!

Nella: “... Of course.” >.<

She wanted to scream. But she didn't. A good girl was a quiet girl.

Did Nella have a habit of breaking windows with her voice / ears back in the day? Since that feels like a rather peculiar thing to have drilled into her as a Noivern when their attacks are all built around being noisy.

I mean, having a mother with a non-shared species surely helped™, but it’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

She took just a little more time to herself - surely the customer would prefer a little delay over being served by an anxious mess - before walking back out. She wished this customer wouldn't be as rude, but accepted the possibility. She had no other option, anyway.

I’m wincing right now. This ‘mon really needs to find another line of work for her own sake. .-.

She raised her gaze to meet the ringer of the bell, preparing to stick that smile on her lips once again - but as her eyes met the mon behind the counter, she could not suppress her surprise.

A white, gold-striped incineroar dressed in brown leather stood behind the counter, posture proud but calm and face neutral. Nella's gaze flicked around his body, his blue eyes, his muscular arms, his grayish-brown chest peeking out from his open coat, his cheek tufts that were long enough to drape over his broad shoulders… with the exception of his colors, it was like Incineroar Arthur had leapt right off the pages of Lionhearted, ready to woo the plain little seamstress with his fierce strength but noble heart…

So men like him really did exist.

White Incineroar with gold stripes, huh? Well, it’s not a shiny, but not sure what the story behind that one is. Dye job, perhaps? Since Nella seems to be comparing this Incineroar to a fictional character that’s widely known.

"Hello?"

Nella flinched, remembering where she was and what she was supposed to do. "Uh, welcome to Wart- I mean --" Blood rushed to her face, making her nose an even deeper red than usual. She spent half a second to pull herself together, then tried again. "Welcome to Martha's. Would you like… food…?"

Nella:
MarvelousGorgeousHochstettersfrog-size_restricted.gif


"...Yes," the stranger answered, thankfully without any ire - or so Nella hoped, at least. He looked down at the menu on the counter. "I would like the cod and potatoes."

Nella:
200.gif

Nella's nose must have been glowing right then.

“We’re sorry,” she said, taking care to pronounce each word right, “but that option is currently unavailable.” She paused. “The berry mash is also unavailable. Please order some item other than those two.”

“Oh.” The incineroar eyed the menu again. “Is the beef stew available?”

inb4 it’s not with the way that this restaurant keeps its stock. :V

She nodded, and hoped dearly that she would be right.

”That, then,” he said, “and… you wouldn’t happen to have any wine, would you?”

Nella: “Sir, this is a diner. And not a particularly fancy one at that.”
401085511176814613.png

Leander: “Doesn’t hurt to ask, does it?” ^^;

At least that one wasn’t on the menu to begin with. It made talking a bit easier, though her face was still burning. “Sorry, but we do not serve wine. We do serve beer, if you’d like that?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just have some milk, then.”

… Why am I not surprised that a giant cat would have a hankering for milk as a casual drink?

“Milk and beef stew,” Nella repeated to etch them in her mind. “Coming right up. Feel free to choose a table in the meantime.”

She curtsied - why did she curtsy? They didn’t do that there! But the stranger, he seemed so noble…

… What does a Noivern curtsy look like anyways? Is that a thing they do with their wings? Or is Nella supposed to be wearing a dress right now?

She escaped into the kitchen before she could do anything weirder. She took a deep breath, then shouted to the staff. “Beef stew for one!”

“Will do!” shouted back Harvey.

She sighed in relief. Finally something worked out.

oreally.jpg


I mean, at the rate this story’s been going, I’m expecting her to drop the beef stew before it reaches Leander’s table at some point.

She turned around to return, pausing briefly to let the butterfree in her belly settle, then stepped back out into the scene. But as soon as she spotted the stranger again, sitting by a nearby table, their eyes met and all those little bugs leapt aflutter again.

Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good about my prediction of that beef stew not making it to Leander’s table successfully.

But she still had a job to do. She grabbed a glass from beneath the counter and fetched a jug of milk from the icebox. She brought both to the stranger and poured the glass full - with great caution, as she knew she'd never forgive herself if she spilled the milk right there and then.

… Is Nella the type to literally cry over spilled milk? Since I get the feeling that this is building up to a joke like that at her expense. :V

"There you go," she said and forced herself to give the polite amount of eye contact. The stranger thanked her with a smile - he smiled at me! - which Nella acknowledged with a nod before returning to the counter. She placed the jug back in the icebox and then… and then… oh dear, she didn't have anything to do, did she? She'd have to simply stand there, in full view of that handsome stranger, and stay presentable the whole time.

So how red is Nella’s nose right now? Since she’s rather obviously crushing on Leander there. :P

She glanced at the stranger. He wasn't drinking and showed no intentions to do so. He must have been the type to wait for his food before starting his drink. Should she have asked if he wanted the milk right away before giving it to him? Now it would sit there getting warmer for no reason. Oh, stupid, stupid.

What if Leander just likes his milk warm, though? It’s not that uncommon among cats, is it?

Though maybe he'd change his mind. Maybe he'd start drinking and her mistake wouldn't have mattered so much. She stood still in wait until she realized how rude of her it was to stare. Her gaze hopped from that table to another, then another, another and another. She would check for any customers that may have finished - a reasonable activity for a waitress - but the answer was always no. As a result, more and more often her eyes lingered on the stranger, examining his unique looks and apparel.

inb4 Leander isn’t drinking because he’s noticing Nella staring at him.

Why did he wear all that leather? Was he cold? But if he was cold, why didn't his jacket have any sleeves? Was he hiding something he was ashamed of, like furless patches or scars? She did notice a nick in his ear. Perhaps he fought often. But he was clearly no ruffian, no, he must have been a professional. But he had no uniform - at least it didn't look like it. Was he someone for hire? Was he a bounty hunter? A mercenary? An assassin? But weren't assassins not supposed to draw attention to themselves? Or was he such a wanted mon that he felt it necessary to walk in protective wear out on the town? But then, again, why no sleeves? It made no sense –

There is exactly no way that Nella isn’t staring super obviously at Leander right now.
803821849384583219.png


Her thoughts shattered as the stranger returned her look. She'd been caught staring. She'd messed up yet again. Oh, why couldn't she do anything right?

Yup, thought so.

"Nella!"

She jumped in her skin, then turned around. Harvey's wide head peeked out of the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry," Harvey grumbled, "but you didn't react when I tapped the wall."

Nella: “... I didn’t sleep well last night and it had nothing to do with the mysterious Incineroar at the table?” >///<
Harvey: “You realize I’d have believed that if you didn’t add the super-specific denial about the Incineroar, right?”
592603469265764372.png


Nella sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Beef stew's ready. Been ready for a while."

Oh yeah, that’s gonna be good for Nella’s self-esteem.

Nella's face froze while her stomach plummeted through the floor.

"Whoa, you alright?"

Oh, so Nella’s got a [white_face_shocked] expression right about now, huh?

Could Daisy serve this one? Nella wanted to say, but knew Harvey wouldn't have asked her if the golduck was available. Her shift had probably ended. Closing time wasn't that far off.

Instead, Nella forcibly thawed her face. "Oh, yes, sorry. There's nothing to worry about. Let's go."

Harvey: “...”
992880313871126549.png

Nella: “Look, there isn’t, alright?” >///<

She followed Harvey to the kitchen and soon spotted the bowl of stew on a tray ready to go. It was no longer steaming, but a quick wave of her wing above it confirmed it was still sufficiently warm to serve. She nodded her thanks to Harvey, picked up the tray and once again headed out into the cold.

Just get over there, give him the bowl and then get out, she told herself. But don't forget to be polite. Oh, just... do it the way you always do and you'll be as good as invisible.

Time to see whether or not that prediction about the beef stew will come to pass or not.

Her stiff steps finally took her to the stranger's table. As he shifted his attention from studying the flowing patterns in the wood of the table to her, Nella remembered to smile. Always smile when looked at.

Yeesh, Nella’s mom must’ve been quite the drill sergeant on “proper etiquette” for girls.

"Here's your beef stew," she said, setting the bowl on the table. "Enjoy your meal!"

She turned around to leave, her heartbeat slowly turning triumphant - she did it, it was over --

"Excuse me."

Life:
bdd.jpg

Nella: “I-Is this really necessary?!” >.<

And the rhythm of her heart fell into chaos again.

She turned to the stranger, unable to look him in the eye and settling for his forehead. "Y-yes…?"

"Is it alright for me to pray here?"

Leander: “Also, is there something wrong with my head fur? Since you’re staring kinda obviously at my forehead.” ^^;

"Pray?" It took a second to process the word. Why would he pray? Did he mean saying grace? She'd seen other customers do it and Martha had never said anything about it, so it must have been fine by her. "Sure?" she said, questioning tone unintentional, but a second try wasn't worth it.

"To be clear, it will not be in the name of Mew or Arceus or any other deity you've likely heard of," the incineroar said, pulling a necklace out from under his coat. It had a curious pendant - a round, blue, sparkling stone encircled by a brass ring with four spikes pointing up, down, left and right. "I am a follower of Solgaleo."

Oh, well that would explain the gold and white color scheme. Though I wonder if that really is a dye job or if Leander got it from some other process.

The stranger was right - Nella had never heard of a deity like that, not that her family was all that spiritual. She nearly said yes without much further thought, but then realized Martha likely wouldn't want any demon-worship taking place in her establishment.

I mean, how’s Martha feel about gods from other dimensions coming and poking their noses on lil’ ol’ Pokéarth? :V

"Well, um, that depends," started Nella. "What do you intend to pray for?"

"Not for anything, really," the stranger said. "Only to thank Him for the day."

Nella clacked her claws together in thought. "I… suppose that's alright. As long as you're not bothering anybody."

inb4 some super butthurt Lunala worshipper throws a fit over this five seconds later.

The stranger nodded. "You have my word. Thank you."

"Sure." Nella nodded back, sensing her cue to exit. "Enjoy your… meal."

She turned and walked away quickly before he could see her once again reddening face.

How was it not already beet red through this entire conversation with how obviously hard Nella was crushing on Arthur this whole scene? o<o

Having reached the relative safety of the counter, Nella dared to look back. The incineroar had his hands together and eyes closed, seemingly speaking something too quietly to hear over the other customers. A wave of relief washed over her, even if she never really expected the stranger to start trouble.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the opening of the door. A group of three new customers arrived. Nella brought that polite smile back onto her face again - though this time, it seemed a lot easier.

So how much of that is related to the fact that she likely has dreamy thoughts about gold-and-white Incineroar playing in her mind on loop right now? :P
"Thank you, have a good night!"

She waved the tangrowth, raichu and weavile goodbye with one wing with a pouch of coins in the other. The bar was now empty of customers save for one - the white-furred incineroar. On her way back to the counter, she stole yet another glimpse at the stranger to confirm it, and indeed, he was still there, at that moment watching the three mon leave.

Nella: “...” O///O

Closing time was soon at hand, though. She'd have to ask him to leave. It didn't seem like he had any stew or milk left, so why was he still --

Nella blanched. He needed her to collect his payment for the meal!

Oh boy, I can already tell that this is going to be quite an experience. ^^;

As much as she wanted to just run away and hide, she knew that'd eliminate whatever was left of her chance to keep her job if Martha were to find out. And then Mother would find out --

No, there was no time for that! A customer, likely a furious one, was waiting!

I mean, I know I joked about it with a couple gifs, but Nella really does remind me of Kuroki Tomoko as a character. If Tomoko was less actively antisocial and didn’t have her mind constantly in the gutter.

She ran - no, ladies do not run, she skipped - to the stranger, and as soon as he turned to her, she began her plea for forgiveness.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Incineroar! I-I neglected to serve you. I'll collect your payment right away. O-or actually, it's on the house! I'll cover the expenses. Please don't think less of our establishment - the fault was mine alone. Is there anything else I can --"

Honey, you realize that this is more likely to weird him out, not less, right?

She quieted as the stranger raised his palm. He doesn't want to hear my excuses. Oh, heavens, I'm finished --

"It's quite alright."

The absence of bile in his voice left Nella frozen. She hadn't thought of how to respond to a reaction like this.

… Just how often does Nella get dumped on on the job where she’s not used to this sort of reaction? Or is that just social anxiety in action?

"I was in no hurry to leave," the stranger continued, "so I wanted to stay a while longer, simply watching mon come and go. In my profession, respite is precious, and I welcome a moment of peace whenever one comes."

Nella: “And… uh… what is your profession again?” ^^;

Nella brought her claws together, gaze dropping to the floor. "You don't have to downplay my mistake," she quietly said. "You can be upset."

"There's nothing to be upset about," he assured. "If I really wanted to leave, I simply would have called you."

Nella dared to look at the stranger’s face again. There was nothing but honesty in those sky-blue eyes. She felt like a fool, making such a scene, and blood quickly rushed to her face again.

“Th-thank you,” she could manage.

She’s in wuuuuv~
772509210059210802.gif


The stranger sat up straighter. “You know, I’ve never seen a noivern with wings pink on the underside.”

Actually, what is the story behind that anyways? Since I did a quick species lookup, and Nella’s definitely not shiny from her art. I get the feeling that that wasn’t chosen just because for this story, though.

“Really?” Nella spread her left wing to display the color. “Well, I guess I've only ever met a few other noivern in my life so I suppose I don’t really know how rare or common it is...”

“I’ve seen quite a few,” said the stranger. “They’ve had green, blue, teal, gray, white, even red under their wings - but never pink.” He smiled. “It’s a very nice color.”

Filing that one away then. Off-canon spec appearances are pretty common in this setting, it sounds. Even if Nella’s still a rare bird in the end.

Nella blinked, unsure how to take the compliment - it had been very long since the last time she received one, after all. “Um, thank you,” she peeped. “I… I like your colors, too.” She also liked everything else, but knew saying that would come off overbearing.

Also, it might make him
701085210766344223.png
since if you really go to town describing what you like about Leander, I’m pretty sure you’re going to out yourself obviously crushing on him.
662499150147092533.png


The stranger's smile widened, making his whiskers rise by just a bit. His face looked so soft. Nella's heart quickened. With each moment, he resembled Lionhearted's Arthur even more - but he was real.

I kinda wonder if it should’ve been more explicitly stated what Lionhearted was. I’m assuming that it’s a romance novel from the way that Nella was talking about wooing, but a bit more clarity would’ve been nice for helping to get a bead on Nella’s tastes and the like.

"I'd be surprised if you'd seen other white incineroar," the stranger said. "We are very few, and live quite far from here."

“You come from far away?” asked Nella, immediately reconsidering her choice. With a question like that, she was really taking part in the conversation. Now she was responsible for being worth his time…

“Albaton,” he said. “Have you heard of it?”

“Albaton”, huh? Though if you have to ask the question...

Nella shook her head. “Not that I know much of anything...” she mumbled.

“No, that is the common response.”

He then slid back his chair and got up. She didn’t insult him, did she?

Leander: “Aren’t you being just a little hard on yourself right there?” ^^;
Nella: “No! No! I… should’ve honestly known my geography better, really.”
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“You know, I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself yet,” he said and offered a hand. “Incineroar Leander.

… I don’t know how it took me until this point to realize that this guy wasn’t called ‘Arthur’ and that ‘Arthur’ was the protagonist of Lionhearted. Though the name certainly would explain why Nella was getting Lionhearted vibes off him, given that it has the literal semantic meaning of “lion man”.

“N-Noivern Nella,” Nella responded and gingerly inserted her claws into his hand. Her fingers were much smaller, much more delicate - and much colder, she realized when the incineroar squeezed her fingers, spreading warmth all the way up to her elbow. His grip was firm but softened by his fur and paw pads. His claws weren’t sharp like those of four-legged felines - likely due to an inability to retract them, she deduced as she pondered the structure of his hand.

So just how hard is Nella blushing right about now? :V

Then, the embrace broke, and the warmth disappeared. Nella drew her claws back to her chest. They were nowhere near as warm.

Leander lowered his hand. “So, do you have plans for this evening?

Nella’s ears twitched.

… Wew, things are moving really quickly here. Not that I blame Leander for noticing that Nella was obviously crushing on him. o<o

He asked for plans. That meant he liked her. Wanted to spend more time with her. Get to know her better. See her more times afterwards. Enter a relationship. Possibly, hopefully, marry.

… And so is Nella, really. One ‘hey are you busy’ and Nella’s already got wedding bells ringing in her ears.
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No, she was getting ahead of herself. Especially since she couldn’t see him today anyway.

“Actually, I have to go to bed early tonight,” she said. “To have the energy for tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see. What about tomorrow night, then?”

Nella: “...” O///O
Leander: “Is that a ‘maybe’?” ^^

“Well...”

Technically, she had made no plans, but she already knew tomorrow would be just as tiring.

“I feel like it would be the same,” she said, defeated.

“Ah. Shame.”

She sighed. “Yes, it is...”

Whelp, so much for Nella’s romantic fantasies coming true anytime soon.

A silence hung in the air as Nella pondered whether there was any day that could work. There was Sunday with no work, but that was four days away - far too long to make a gentleman wait. Though if he suggested that, it would mean he was willing...

“Right,” said Leander, snapping Nella out of her thoughts. “I should pay.”

Should’ve spoken up a wee bit sooner there, Nella. :V

Pay. The incineroar dug a pouch out of his pocket. He was paying. This conversation was ending. He did not want to wait beyond tomorrow. Perhaps he wouldn’t even be in town anymore - it was clear he was a traveller.

“How much was it?”

”Um, one silver, four bronze.

Oh, so currency is non-decimalized in this setting, huh? Will keep that in mind for the future, but it’s a nice old-timey touch.

He picked out the necessary coins and handed them to Nella with a smile. “Here you are.”

She took just a second to admire that smile, that warmth, good intent, pressing it into her memory as a memento of what could have been. Leander, the white incineroar with golden stripes.

Nella, you realize that it’s a romance novel trope to go “hey wait!” after your crush before it’s too late to say anything, right?

She took the coins and slid them to her pouch. “Thank you, have a good...night.”

The automatic phrase had ended the conversation for her.

I can see the Nella x Leander ship taking on water and sinking below the waves in live-time.

Leander nodded. “Have a good night as well, Nella. And sleep well.”

With that, he turned around and headed for the door. The seconds it took for him to reach it felt more like minutes. Then, he opened the door, gave a final smile, stepped through and closed the door behind him.

She stood in silence.

Well, there was nothing more to do there. She should store away the coins.

Nella:
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She made her way to the counter, her claws producing hollow clicks against the wooden floor. She took out her key and opened the coin drawer. One by one, she took a coin from her pouch and dropped it into its container. Copper in the copper container, bronze in the bronze container, silver in the silver container, gold in the... just kidding. No one brought gold here.

Yeah, I kinda figured given that the diner was a bit of a dive. Though I wonder how those coins relate to each other value-wise.

She sighed.

See, it doesn’t pay to be a working woman on her own, said a familiar voice inside her head. That’s just how the world works.

Nella grasped her forehead with a wing. Of course. Of course Mother would come back now.

Yeesh, I see Nella’s mom was a big adherent to the Cult of Domesticity, since boy is that an uncomfortable train of thought.

She tried to stay calm and made her counterpoint. You agreed that the worklife would give me experience.

I did, darling, a year ago. But frankly, darling, I doubt these little odd jobs have anything to teach you anymore. And you’re not getting any younger.

I’m only nineteen, Mother.

I mean, on one level, I don’t think that Nella’s mom was offering her criticism from a healthy place. On another level, you usually want to move out of jobs like food service as soon as you can in life if you’re serious about growing a career.
Only, you say… Nelly, darling, I've told you this before. I have seen noivern and I tell you they do not age with grace. That fur’s only going to get bristlier. Gray hairs start popping up here and there. And your teeth - they’ll keep growing. But if you charm a man now, he’ll be blinded for life - in his eyes, you’ll be young forever.

Getting some major Aggretsuko vibes right about now, except Nella’s like 6 years younger than the protagonist of that show.

For a split second, Nella saw herself beside Leander.

Oh! Mother gasped. Who is this gentleman?

Nella squeezed her eyes shut. No one. He’s not real... she tried, but her memories of their meeting replayed on their own.

Hey now, a girl’s allowed to fantasize. Though it probably would’ve been better if you’d put a wing forward to not just let your memes be dreams, Nella.

You let him go? the altaria shouted, puffing her plumage and throwing her wings in the air - Nella had to admit it was quite unladylike for someone so preoccupied with elegance. What were you thinking?

Nella: “I… didn’t need to think about that, really.”
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Mother, I have to think about my job! If I come in tired again and start messing up orders, e-even though I’m really trying --

You know I would give you anything you needed if it helped you find a man!

Wow, it really is like Aggretsuko, since the character angling to marry her way out of the workforce and escape work drudgery is a consistent subplot for the first three seasons. Next thing, you’ll be telling me that Nella has a death metal hobby on the side. :V

Nella paused. She was right. Mother would gladly support her… but what if she couldn’t make it work with him?

At least you’d have learned something - something that’d help you a lot more than anything you could possibly learn from running errands in that lousy pub!

She might actually say that.

Mother of the year there! /s
And, darling - if a man really did show his interest, with you on the job nonetheless, you’ve cleared the hardest hurdle. You have a chance. After all this waiting, you have a chance. And you’re just going to throw it away?

Nella opened her eyes. She wouldn’t.

Oh, so she is going after Leander after all.

She shut the drawer and locked it, shoved the remaining coins in her pouch and ran for the door. Yes, ran - she had to make it in time. She could even fly - well, actually, she couldn’t. This section of town was a no-fly zone for mon of her weight class, and she wouldn’t be able to meet him if she was arrested. She had to settle for running.

Huh, wonder what the backstory behind that one is. Since you’d think that restrictions on flying would relate more to specific air corridors and takeoff/landing sites to use. But given how much life in general seems to have it out for Nella, I guess I should be less surprised that the law of the land is out to keep her grounded.

She burst out the door with enough force to make her wings ache. She looked right and she looked left - no sight of the stranger, but she’d search all night if she had to.

… Was the door still attached to its hinges afterwards? ^^;

Where was the nearest inn? He may be on the way there if he’s a traveller. Trevor’s was closest, right? It was eastward - so she should go right at first. She dashed that way until the junction, where she took another right --

There, in the distance, a tall figure clad in brown leather, white fur, it's him, it's him!

Can’t tell if this is about to get really cute or really, really concerning.

But who was that standing beside him?

Tall, slim, green and white… a gardevoir.

She laughed.

He laughed.
Nella's heart sank.

Oh hey, it’s this moment from The Simpsons playing out in live-time:

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The gardevoir's dress danced in the breeze. Her voice was bright, but not shrill, and her speech had the perfect tempo and enunciation. Whenever she laughed, she raised her hand to her mouth, and at all moments her posture stayed flawless.

No wonder he was captivated. She was perfect.

And Nella could never compete.

Ouch. Well that’s definitely not an enviable way to end a long day on the job.

Scrape, scrape, scrape. The broom's bristly hairs brushing against the floorboards was the only thing keeping the restaurant from dead silence.

The others had left long ago - even Amal, who was tasked with depositing the day's profits in Martha's stead, and she usually stayed the longest. But she was not the one who dreaded going back to her empty quarters. With all those books of silly stories of love and passion that would never come true.

… Wait, so Nella’s lodging is attached to the restaurant? I mean, it makes sense given that shopfront homes were the historical norm, but if that’s the case, I wonder if there was anything that could’ve been done to hint at this a bit earlier.

Nella sighed, probably for the seventeenth time by now, and the cycle of thoughts began anew.

She should have said she was free. She should have realized sooner how valuable the opportunity was. She shouldn't have let him go. Even if it made her look desperate. She was desperate! She would've settled for much less, and yet she had the chance to catch the perfect man - or the best man she could ever get.

I’m not convinced that this was really her last chance given that you went through the trouble to make artwork of Leander, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there later in the story.

Could she, even? Maybe it was all a trick to begin with? Maybe that gardevoir was in on it? But what was there to gain from courting some dowdy little waitress? She wasn't rich - she barely got by. She wasn't important - her family wasn't that influential. And she already knew she wasn’t pretty.

That incineroar must have had something wrong with him. He did belong to some weird religion. Maybe he was searching for a woman to sacrifice to his god in some dark, twisted ritual…

...no, she'd been reading too many books.

That now makes me morbidly curious as to if Nella has been betrayed by others in the past or else raised to have a strong distrust of strangers. Since boy did she pivot on going from “Leander’s dreamy” to “Leander probably had some sort of dark secret about him” quickly.

A clanking came from the door. Someone was trying to open the lock.

Nella's fur stood on end, bristlier than ever, and she grasped the broom tighter. "Wh-who's there?"

The door opened, and a familiar nidoqueen stepped through.

"Calm down, it's just me," said Martha, closing the door.

Nella: “... Not sure if that’s really an improvement to my expectations, but…” o_o;

Nella sighed in relief. "What brings you here?” she then asked. “I thought you were going to be elsewhere until Thursday.”

“I thought so, too,” said Martha, marching right past Nella into the kitchen, “until I heard Greedent Gustav was coming.”

Nella:
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Nella followed her. “Um… who is that?”

“The mon who will make or break my career,” Martha said, opening cupboard after cupboard, checking all pouches and containers inside. “If he decides to drop by during his stay in Lepach, that is.”

“So… he’s a food critic?”

“He’s the food critic. In this backwater corner of the kingdom, anyway...” She dashed past Nella to another set of cupboards, blind to the noivern-tail that was in her way and would have tripped her had Nella not withdrawn it at the last moment. “I need to make sure we’re not running low on anything that can’t be bought at the market tomorrow morning.”

Honey, considering your diner’s a greasy spoon, I don’t think that having a decent stock of ingredients is magically going to save you from a scathing review from Gustav.

“Oh, I see."

Gradually, Martha's motions became more patient. "Okay, so far so good," she mumbled. "Everything seems to be in order…"

But on the next cupboard, she froze.

She turned to Nella with one pouch in her hand. "Is this all the bitterleaf we have?"

Nella: “A-And if it is?”
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"Umm… I-I don't know, I don't work in the kitchen?"

Martha ignored her and checked the remaining cupboards. She then reached into one drawer, took out a slip of blank paper and began writing.

Nella began wondering if it'd be better for her to leave, but right then --

"Noivern!" the nidoqueen barked.

I’m guessing that that’s more than a little rude in this setting I’d frankly be shocked if Martha legitimately didn’t know the names of her employees.

Nella yipped. "Y-yes?"

Martha folded the slip. "You've been to Zem's before, right?"

"Zem's?"

"Drowzee Zem's!" Martha snapped, and Nella cowered.

Martha: “I’m just going to assume from your reaction that that’s a ‘no’ there.” >_>;

"I-I remember a drowzee… do you mean the potionmaker?"

"Of course I mean the potionmaker," Martha grumbled. "But you remember the way to his house?"

"Yes, I do." She thought so, at least.

Martha handed her the slip and the empty pouch of bitterleaf. "Go to him and ask for bitterleaf. The slip will tell him that I'll pay later, and handsomely."

Nella: “Wait, wha-? Right now?” ._.
Martha: “Yes right now! For crying out loud, Noivern are supposed to be nocturnal by nature, so this should be second nature to you!” >_>;

Nella paused. "What, now?"

"Yes!"

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Boy I love being able to predict where a story’s going, even if Martha hasn’t broken out the “you’re a bat” just yet.

Absolutely not, Nella thought at first. Don't be selfish, she thought right after. You can't let your employer take advantage of you, she thought after that. She wrestled with those thoughts until she finally made her choice - standing her ground. She opened her mouth --

"You'll get tomorrow off, obviously," said Martha. "I need to meet Mr. Greedent in person, anyway, and the best way to do that is to do some waitressing myself. I'll handle your shift."

Well, that certainly sounds like a convenient opening to go and chase after your romantic fantasies with Leander…

Oh. That made it a lot more reasonable. And she supposed she still didn't want to go home, anyway…

The nidoqueen smacked her tail against the floor, impatient. "Well? Are you going or what?"

Cue the overeager “of course” in 3… 2…

"I-I'm going," Nella stuttered. Oh boy, I suppose I'm going.

"Good."

Not as overeager as I expected, but still.

Nella took the slip and the pouch and stored them in her bag. Martha quickly brought her a lantern and… another pouch? This one was much smaller and red in coloration.

"Spores of morelull," said Martha as she handed it over. "Throw 'em towards anyone or anything giving you trouble. A handful ought to put even a raging tauros to bed. Don't breathe 'em in yourself. That should go without saying," she muttered.

“Um… thanks?”

Nella: “Wait, but I’m a Noivern. Why wouldn’t I just Boomburst-?”
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Martha: “Because items ignore the relative strength of your foes, now get going.

“Don’t mention it. Now go, go, go! The sooner you come back, the sooner we can both get some sleep.” The nidoqueen rushed Nella back to the dining space and to the front door.

“But wh-what if the drowzee isn’t home?” asked Nella while the nidoqueen lit her lantern. “Or he doesn’t have bitterleaf? Or he has some, but doesn’t want to share?”

“Well, then I guess we’re all screwed.”

Nella: “Gee, way to get me to think positive right now.” ._.

Lantern lit, Martha opened the door and gave Nella one last shove. “Good luck,” she said, and with that, she slammed the door.

Yeah, this girl really needs to find some different employment. .-.

Oh dear. Oh dear. Was this the right path? Should she have taken a right instead?

The wind strengthened, howling like a houndoom as it drained more warmth from her body. The lantern rattled, and the flame inside flickered. Don’t go out, don’t go out…

It did not. The wind calmed again. Nella sighed.

Wait, is Nella not able to relight the lantern if it did go out? One would think that something like a Dragon Breath would more than suffice at that. .-.

Though it wasn’t as if much relief could be felt in a scene like this. Layers and layers of clouds filled the sky, eliminating any chance of seeing the full moon Nella knew had to be there and shrouding the earth and all that stood upon it in darkness.

At least she had good hearing. All noivern did. Many times her mother had reprimanded her for eavesdropping when she brought up something that wasn’t intended for her to hear, but she’d never really tried to hear it - well, most of the time.

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Dunno how much I believe that or not, though Nella seems innocent enough for me to take that at face value.
Even now, her ears would catch all sorts of sounds she didn’t need to hear. Rustling of leaves or calls of nightbirds were completely natural for a forest-flanking path like this, but it didn’t stop her from flinching each time. A constant weak pressure remained behind her ears, but she knew she could contain it.

Oh, so Nella really doesn’t take loud noises well. Surprised that the threshold of effect is this low, but will note for the future.

At least those sounds were still relatively distant. Even if her first reaction was fear, whatever her imagination could cook up was still far enough away to fly away from in an emergency. How well she could fly in this wind was another question, but just knowing she wasn’t explicitly trapped calmed her mind just a little.

Watch as that changes in like five seconds.

Though she probably shouldn’t fly away at the first sign of danger. She had the morelull spores. If she didn’t even try to rely on them, Martha would surely chew her out on abandoning her quest so easily. Not to mention that she could have --

No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t bellow.

I kinda wonder if it makes sense to bring a reminder back to Nella’s mother’s instruction about being quiet here, since my initial instinct after reading this bit was admittedly “Wait, but why not? You’re a Noivern.”

In any case, it was unlikely for her to cross paths with anything all that dangerous. Houndoom and ursaring were the largest predators around Lepach, and both were quickly hunted down or chased away after sightings. They had become more wary of civilized mon, too, and seemed to know that bothering one would mean a whole lot more bothering them.

Oh, so like actual animals IRL. Though the fact that Nella’s talking about how they “had become” more wary of civilized mon would imply that once upon a time, they weren’t wary of them around Lepach…
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Far away, something let out a peep. Nella froze until she’d fully processed the sound.

Just a zubat, she thought. Probably out hunting. It does seem like the best time for it...

She continued to walk, and the zubat continued to peep. She thought about the little thing catching mosquitoes in the air and nibbling on them with its tiny teeth. She smiled. She couldn’t understand why Mother was afraid of them. They were harmless! Mother said they fluttered so quickly, that they were unpredictable, but that seemed no different than a bird of the same size to Nella. And they only ate insects. They would flee from anything larger than them, unless they were guarding a nest, defending their family, and who couldn’t relate to that…

Somehow I’m not convinced that they’re so harmless when they have number in their favor.

She noticed the peeping was getting closer. Sure, why not. Perhaps she could catch a glimpse of it in action - though it felt more likely that it’d leave the moment it really noticed her.

It kept approaching, and she felt more at ease. Even if it would only last for a while, she wouldn’t be travelling alone. She began glancing over her shoulder for a chance to spot the zubat against the slightly-brighter sky.

There it was! It was coming her way. Strange. It must have been a particularly daring zubat to fly this close. Or maybe it hadn’t noticed her at all. That theory felt more likely by the second as the zubat glided closer, headed straight towards –

Nella: “Wait, huh? Is it come right for me-?” o_o;

Nella ducked, and the zubat zoomed past right above her head.

“Hey, watch out!” said Nella. “I’m trying to wal-”

The zubat turned in midair and dove at her with a screech. In the lantern’s faint light, she saw its fangs - double their usual size, curved, and sharp as needles.

Nella: “OkaynevermindmotherwasrightaboutZubat!
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There was something terribly wrong with this zubat.

She dodged the attack and opened her wings wide, then flapped them at the crazed mon. “G-go away!”

No, I’m pretty sure this is your cue to just “nope nope nope” out of here and fly away, Nella. Even if I’m pretty sure that you’re doomed by the plot to get bit since you still need to become a vampire.

The zubat continued its assault, unfazed by the display. Nella shielded herself with a wing, though regretted it soon after as she felt a stinging pain in the membrane. The zubat had sunk in its teeth.

Despite the pain it brought, she shook the zubat off. Pressure thumped in her ears, but no, no, she would not bellow, she had another weapon, she would use that. She scrambled for the red pouch in her bag, slipped in her hand and grabbed as much as she could, then folded her wing and threw the powder at the zubat.

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The spores spread out like flour, but glowed in rainbow colors. The cloud enveloped the zubat, but its frantic flapping blew some of it back - and before Nella had even blinked, she’d breathed the spores in.

Yeah, I knew something like that would happen. Should’ve just used Boomburst, Nella.

She ran away from the cloud, but the effects were too quick. The lantern slipped from her hand as her limbs became weak, and soon her body met the ground. As her conscious thoughts dispersed, one instinct finally gained control - but it was too late. The pressure in her ears had already deflated.

Beside her, she heard a thump. After that, nothing followed.

Nella: “D-Damn it, Martha’s never gonna let me hear the end of this, is she?” @.@

Alright, time for the recap:

As you could probably tell from the line-by-line, I liked the chapter. It’s put together very well, and it has a pretty goofy and offbeat atmosphere to it, if one with a bit of a lingering darker undertone in the background. Nella’s a pretty colorful personality, and you do a good job at painting a picture of a nervous wreck who has been hopped up on unrealistic expectations by just about everyone in her life, who is surrounded by about the last people she needs to be around for her mental well-being. Given the title of the story, I suspect that things will be getting worse for Nella before they get better on that front, especially once that vampirism comes into play.

As for things that I didn’t like about the chapter. There’s… not a whole lot to say on that front, really. The closest thing that I have to a major criticism of the chapter is that some details feel like they should've come out earlier to help ground Nella's situation for the readers and help them get a better vibe for her. But I can understand the flip side of that argument from an authorial perspective.

Good stuff there, @canisaries . I’ll be keeping this story on my radar for the future, since it’s definitely got charm to it, and the opening chapter did a pretty good job encouraging readers to sink their fangs into it. ^^
 
Part Four

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
hey all! chapter four is here. now i know i said this the last time and the time before that, but this time im also not sure what to write next, so it really might end up taking even longer. thank you for bearing with me anyway lol. though ill probably keep it shorter than this one. this one kinda ballooned, but whatever.

rating for this chapter is teen for an emotionally abusive mother again and some bowls of blood. enjoy!

---

Part Four

---​

Not even a second had passed since Teru's exclamation when Cole had already jumped back into flight. "This way!" the crobat shouted, heading towards the direction opposite of where the mon had originally entered the city.

Teru turned to Nella. "Can you fly?"

Rising panic blocked Nella's ability to speak, but she still found herself able to nod. This was enough to get the message across, though, and Teru moved on to the bags, coating them with the cyan light of telekinesis and lifting them up into the air, shortly followed by himself.

Nella scrambled to the main road and began to run. Once she reached her full speed, she leapt off the ground and beat her wings as hard as she could until she'd risen far enough above the buildings, able to ease herself into a glide.

Good, I still know how to fly, she thought to herself, though frowned once she realized how much further ahead the others were. For a moment, she worried she'd lag behind, but then she saw Teru look behind him and realized they'd make sure not to fly too fast. Right, Nella thought, looking at the bags hovering at the mismagius' side, it wouldn't make sense to bring my books along otherwise…

At that thought, her heart sank. Teru was hauling along her baggage even though they were presumably in mortal danger. She was slowing them all down just for some silly books…

She couldn't ruminate on that for long, however, as the two mon's silhouettes against the moonlit clouds began to descend. Nella peeked at the ground below and noticed the lack of lights and buildings. They had made it out of town.

Nella did her best to match her altitude and speed with the others. Eventually, they slowed down enough for Nella to tell the general area where they planned to land, and she glided down to a nearby spot at her own pace. She stabilized her landing with a few more wingbeats until her feet hit the ground. She let all tension leave her wings, and they drooped down, heavy as lead.

I really am out of shape, she thought, frowning. Another entry to add to a long list of faults…

No, now wasn’t the time. She shook the thought and looked around for the others until she found them a few dozen meters to her right. Teru’s blue glow had gone out, but the moonlight was still bright enough for her to be able to see them. Or her night vision had become better. She felt like Teru had mentioned something like that.

Nevertheless, she sprinted up to them. She found Cole perched atop one large root of a nearby maple while Teru sat on the grass. Or... Nella didn't really know if he was sitting. He wasn't hovering, but he also wasn't sitting like he'd sat before. Instead of folding his body neatly beneath himself, his body was stiff and conical, resembling some kind of pointy hat. He looked visibly tired, too, which Nella also hadn't witnessed before. He's that way because of me… she thought, her guilt worsening. She wanted to apologize right away, but Teru spoke first.

"Alright, good," Teru said, relief on his face, "you caught up. I was worried."

His voice lacked any hint of ire. He wasn’t mad. Or maybe he was and just didn’t show it. Nella’s ear flicked.

Teru sighed. “You’re probably wondering what all that was about.”

Well, that was true. She supposed that was a bit more important right now, anyway. She nodded.

Teru tilted his head towards Cole. “Cole here said he spotted a White Tiger,” he said, “and White Tigers are vampire hunters.”

Nella jolted at the words. "Hunters? There are vampire hunters?"

Teru nodded, frowning. “The White Tigers are an entire lineage dedicated to exterminating vampires.”

Nella’s stomach lurched. Exterminating vampires? Like Paige and Cole and herself?

“Wh-wh-why would they want to do that?” she asked. “We’re not hurting anyone!”

Teru folded his tendrils across his chest. “For the White Tigers, it’s a question of faith,” he explained with a somber expression. “They are followers of Solgaleo, a deity of the sun, and they believe that all vampires are evil beings cursed by Lunala, a demon of the night. In their eyes, a person turned vampiric is dead, their soul long gone, and all that’s left is a bloodthirsty monster. That's why they don't feel sorry killing them."

“That’s awful,” Nella breathed, tears already rising to her eyes, but a thought interrupted her. “Wait. Did you say Solgaleo?”

“Yes, I did.”

Nella’s throat tightened. “On the day that I was bitten by that zubat, a stranger came to the diner. H-he asked me if it was alright for him to pray to… Solgaleo.”

Teru’s eyes widened. “What did he look like?”

“He was a white-and-gold incineroar. Wearing leather.”

Teru and Cole exchanged a glance.

“B-but…” Nella began, covering her chest with her wings. “He was so friendly and-and he even… asked me out…”

He thought of Leander’s peaceful blue eyes, the warm touch of his hand, the way his whiskers rose when he smiled…

“H-h-how could he be someone so… horrible?”

Cole crossed his wings. ”Some people are just crazy.”

Nella didn’t respond. It was so… hard to believe. Would Leander, that chivalrous, noble mon, really attack anyone vampiric without a second thought? Would he attack her? Wouldn’t he see that she was still exactly the same person now that she’d been that day in the diner?

“Although…” Cole began, dispersing Nella’s thoughts. “I thought White Tigers weren’t supposed to fool around.”

Teru raised his head. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, the White Tiger I saw wasn’t alone,” Cole said, “but it certainly wasn’t another incineroar he was with. Instead, he was with a gardevoir… exchanging public displays of affection.”

The word ‘gardevoir’ hit Nella like a cold water gun. Of course…

Teru brought a tendril to his chin. “Well, he’s definitely straying from tradition, but I wouldn’t go and assume that meant he was any nicer to vampires than the Tigers I’ve seen. Even if the last I saw of them was quite a while ago…” He shook his head. “A lot of things can happen in a decade, but I doubt a lineage so old would change that quickly. We shouldn't be any less careful than we were already going to be.”

"Do you think he's here for the cult?" asked Cole.

Nella's ears perked. Teru noticed her reaction and sighed.

He turned to Nella. "I didn't want to talk about the cult thing when there was still so much else going on, but I guess it's better to get you up to speed." He crossed his tendrils again. "So, you know how I just told you about Solgaleo and Lunala?"

"Yes?"

"Well, this is somewhat of an extension of that. While an overwhelming majority of vampires are simply people with a curious condition, there are still vampires that actually do worship Lunala and have hostile intentions towards the nonvampiric, or dayfolk as they call them. Up until a few months ago, I thought that whole nonsense was a thing of the distant past, but since then, we've spotted some activity that, unfortunately, points to some kind of resurgence."

"What kind of… activity?" asked Nella, huddling against her folded wings.

"Cloaked figures walking around at night, bodies of stolen livestock dumped in the woods with barely a drop of blood left…" Teru lowered his head. "And sometimes people."

Nella's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth.

"What makes me believe they're specifically cultists of Lunala is one torn cloak we found," Teru added. "It had the sigil of that cult, a bleeding moon. It was unmistakable."

He raised his head again, his expression softening. "I know it sounds scary, but there's no need for you to worry. I've kept us safe so far, and I'll continue to do just that. And if this White Tiger lives up to his reputation, he might just take care of the whole issue for us."

"Let's hope he does," said Cole, hopping off the root. "We should get going."

Teru nodded and began to hover once more. "Cole's right. Let's go."

"Right," Nella said, prying her wings off her chest. Knowing even more dangers lurked out there now, she was eager to get back to the cabin. Or home, as it now was. She still had to get used to that thought.

As Teru's eyes lit up blue and the telekinetic energy surrounded Nella's bags once again, the shame she had momentarily forgotten made a sharp comeback. She was about to speak up and tell him she'd carry those in his stead, but realized quickly that wasn't actually something she could do. Her wings were exhausted.

Should she tell her to leave them, then? She didn't like the idea, but recognized it for selfish reasons and reprimanded herself accordingly. Still, they'd come this far… wouldn't it be bratty for her to change her mind now and say the items didn't actually matter?

Teru, already a few meters ahead, looked back at her. "Everything alright, Nella?"

He didn't seem too bothered. If he was, he didn't show it. Sighing to herself, Nella decided it was probably better to just keep things simple.

"Yes," she said, hurrying to catch up with the others. "Let's go."

---​

"Ah," sighed Teru, "finally."

Finally, indeed. While the trek back to the farmhouse had thankfully been uneventful, the physical and mental stress of the night's events had rendered them exhausted. Even Cole's rapidly beating wings had lost some of their vigor, changing his flight from a stable hover to a sort of midair hobble.

From the edge of the opening, they followed the path to the farmhouse and its front door. As Teru unlocked the door, Nella expected a dark and silent interior, but what they got was anything but. Blue light poured out, and so did a very chatty flying ball of fuzz.

"Hi! Hi! How did it go?" Paige greeted them, zipping around with more energy than the three arrivals had combined. "What was it like? What did you bring? Did you see anything weird?"

Teru sighed. "Paige, some room to breathe, please."

"Oh! Sorry," she said, zooming back in. The three mon entered the house alongside Nella's bags, which Teru was still carrying - though now he finally got to put them down. Nella flicked back her ears. It was clearly rough on him…

"I think it's time we all had something to eat," said Teru, floating to the icebox in the kitchen. He lifted out the same large jug as before, then fetched two deep plates and a bowl from the cupboard, but froze in place once he'd set them down on the dining table.

"Right," he said, looking to Nella. "I'll get you some eggs --"

Nella's eyes widened and raised her wings. "No, no, please," she said, "just pour me the blood." Teru had done more than enough for her today. Not being a princess about food was the least she could do.

Teru tilted his head. "Oh, are you sure?"

Nella nodded. "Yes. I-I wanna get used to it."

"Fair enough," Teru said, lifting up the jug and pouring the blood in the dishes while Nella sat by the table. "Though I'd indulge in mortal foods while I still could. Blood isn't bad by any means, but you may find yourself missing the flavors and textures of mortal foods. If you desperately wanted to experience them again post-transition, it would be possible, but you'd have to be prepared for some indigestion afterwards." All dishes filled, he set down the jug. "Not that I know from personal experience. Ghosts like me just feed off life energy." He returned the jug to the icebox and yawned. "And speaking of energy… I think I'm going to slip outside for a quick drain off the bushes and then go hibernate for a while. Catch Paige up to speed with what happened, won't you?"

"We will," Cole replied, perching on the table with Paige.

"Have a good meal, then," Teru said. "See you."

"See you," answered the bats in unison, Nella included. Promptly after, Teru phased through the wall and disappeared.

Paige and Cole leaned over their plates, extended their fangs and began to drink. Nella shuddered at the sight. She drew her own bowl a little closer and turned away from the others.

She wondered if that's how she'd be drinking in the future. Unlike Paige and Cole, her forelimbs were long and capable of picking up heavy objects, which meant she could pick up the bowl and pour the fluid into her mouth. The only case in which she'd really need her fangs was if she'd be sinking them into someone's neck --

She shuddered again. No, she'd never do that. And she was lucky to know she'd never have to do that in this house, where the blood was pre-harvested from slowpoke which they said didn't even mind the process…

She looked down into the deep red liquid, seeing her reflection off its surface. She couldn't tell if the burns were gone from her face, but she realized her skin no longer felt numb. She eyed her wings and body, but the color of the skin was still too hard to gauge under blue light. As she looked closer, though, she saw tiny, tiny hairs beginning to emerge from the skin.

A great warmth spread from her heart to the rest of her body. They really had spoken the truth - her fur would grow back. She'd look like herself again. The only change would be the fangs in her mouth, which she'd gladly take over burns and furless patches any day.

How long would it take for her fangs to come, though? She recalled Teru's question from earlier in the day, about whether her upper canines felt loose. She pushed her tongue against one. It nudged forward. The warmth in her chest turned to a chill.

"Nella?"

She flinched at Paige's sudden voice and turned her head. "Y-yes?"

The woobat eyed Nella's bowl. "Are you not hungry?"

"Oh, n-no, I am," Nella said, blushing. "I just got lost in thought…"

"Okay," said Paige, worriless once more, and returned to her plate.

Nella looked back at her bowl. She realized she was hungry, or thirsty, whatever it was. The red fluid began to resemble berry juice more than anything that coursed through the veins of living beings. It even smelled like it. Nella remembered how good it had tasted the first time, and her mouth watered.

She winced at the feeling, but pushed it away. She was a vampire now, alright? This was to be expected. And it wasn't like drinking blood was any worse than eating meat, which she'd done plenty of times without issue. Heck, drinking blood was probably better since the livestock didn't have to die. And no one here would judge her for it.

Well, except…

Nella, are you drinking blood? That's disgusting! Put that away right now!

Nella shook her head, frowning. No, Mother didn't understand! She didn't understand that Nella was a vampire now. That she'd have to adapt to a new kind of life, and drinking blood was part of it.

She lifted the bowl up to her mouth and drank from it quickly, quickly, before the second thoughts caught up with her. The flavor, simultaneously meaty and fruity, spread through her mouth and conquered her taste buds. She had to slow down and savor it. Had it truly tasted this good before? Was it better now that she was further into her transition? The only thing holding this experience back was the fact that it wasn't warm.

She realized what she had just thought and yanked away the bowl.

Before she could dwell on it, however, Paige spoke up.

"So," the woobat said, her plate empty, "catch me up on what?"

Cole raises his head from his plate. "There's a White Tiger in Lepach."

Paige leapt back. "What?" she shouted. Her fur rose up all over her body, making her look even fuzzier, which Nella didn't think was possible. "Are you serious?"

"I saw him," Cole replied, "and Nella saw him, too, the day before she wound up here."

Paige huddled her wings into her fluff. "A-are we gonna be okay?"

The woobat's worry was infectious, at least to Nella. She folded back her ears. She knew Cole would relay Teru's comforting response, but did she really know it was true?

"There's been no evidence to suggest he's after us," Cole said, "and Teru will protect us, anyway. We shouldn't worry."

"Okay…" Paige said, gaze cast down.

Nella felt a tug at her heart. She hadn't known Paige for long, but it felt all too wrong to see her quiet and apprehensive like this.

Could she do anything to cheer her up?

Nella's ears perked up. She turned to Paige. "H-hey, would you like to help me unpack?"

Paige looked up at Nella. In an instant, a grin spread on her face. “Yeah!”

Nella smiled back, warmth returning to her chest. “Lovely! Let’s go.”

She got off the bench and turned away, but Paige stopped her with her words.

“Hey, you still have some blood left. Do you not want it?”

Nella turned to the bowl. Right - there was still a little in it. She didn’t want to be rude, and it was likely better for her to finish her meal. Before any doubts could wrench back control, Nella grabbed the bowl and drank. When they finally caught up, the bowl was already empty.

“Alright,” she said, “let’s go.”

The two made their way to the backpacks Teru had set down beside the wall. The first thing Nella pulled out was her toiletry bag. She asked Paige where such things were kept in this house, and the woobat directed her to a drawer at the far corner of the kitchen. After placing the bag within, Nella fetched another item - this time, the little pouch where she kept the money she had that wasn't stored in the bank. It had some weight to it, but Nella knew that was simply because she'd forgotten to deposit for a while. A mistake that turned out to be fortunate… if she had any use for this money as a shut-in vampire. She should probably just give it to Teru if he was going to take care of her. That way it might help the others, too…

She returned the pouch to the backpack. "I guess I can put this back for now and talk to Teru about it later," she explained. Paige gave an acknowledging nod.

Nella pulled out the next item, though she already knew it'd be a book - she hadn't packed anything other than those beside her toiletries and money. The one she held in her hand she recognized easily even upside down. A lilligant in the embrace of a kommo-o… this was A Dragon's Kiss.

"Book!" Paige shouted, and flitted right behind Nella, startling the noivern. "What's it about?"

"Um, w-well…" Nella turned the book right side up. "I-it's about a kind and quiet lilligant florist in a nice little town which then gets raided by a wandering tribe of warriors led by a kommo-o. She's taken as captive, but then the kommo-o falls for her and treats her like an honored guest."

"And then she beats her up?" asked Paige, a little too close to Nella's ear. The ear flicked involuntarily, and Paige backed up.

"Um, no," Nella said quietly. "Sh-she sees that he isn't actually all that bad and falls for him back, but knows she can't let him get away with what he's done, so she demands he let the other townsfolk go and return their belongings. But the kommo-o has his pride and his father's reputation to live up to, so he can't do it…"

"Does she beat up his dad?"

"No," Nella said, knitting her brow. "This isn't a beat-people-up kind of book, it's a story about love."

"Aw, really?" Paige landed on the floor, frowning. "That sounds boring. Do you have any books about adventure?"

Nella lowered the book. "No, not really… I'm not so much for adventure."

"Well, I am," said Paige. "I like it when people go out and find cool stuff and get cool powers and solve mysteries and beat up monsters and bad guys! I like to write that stuff, too."

Nella tilted her head. "You write stories?"

Paige grinned. "Yep! Well, I mean, none of them are actually complete. A lot of them are still just in my head or in my notes. Actually writing out the text is pretty hard. But I'm gonna finish them eventually, and I'm gonna try to publish them!"

"Oh! That sounds great," Nella said, Paige's excitement spreading to her. "I guess that's something a vampire can still do."

"Yeah! Just because we can't go out during the day or see people a lot, it doesn't mean we have to just sit around feeling sad. Teru's a farmer, while I'm a writer, and Cole is… kind of a scout, I dunno. He flies around at night looking for any signs of trouble. He fishes, too. But he also helps around the farm, just like I do. My point is that we all have stuff to do, and I'm sure you'll find stuff you can do, too!"

The corners of Nella’s mouth rose in a shy smile as Paige spoke. These people still had professions and hobbies. They seemed… content. She still hadn’t spent a very long time with them, but if they were miserable, she would have surely seen it by now.

Nella still didn’t know how long it would take for her to get used to her new life, but for the first time, it felt like it might actually happen. She too might, somehow, find a way to be content.

You’re settling for being an old maid?

Mother’s voice sucker punched her in the chest, and she gasped.

All the effort I put into teaching you to be a lady, to get a better life, and you settle for being an old maid?

“What’s wrong?” asked Paige, but Nella wasn’t there anymore. She was inside her own head, talking to Mother, and she could not leave.

I bought you so many dresses. So much jewellery. And you didn’t even take any along with you. You tossed them aside and took your silly little books instead. Right after shouting at your mother and having a stranger put her to sleep. Your own mother!

Nella’s throat tightened, and her ears folded back. She’d asked someone to put her own mother to sleep. Explicitly against her will. And then… then she’d left her there, unconscious and all alone in that dark apartment.

She was a horrible, horrible daughter.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She grimaced, heart twisting. She’d been too preoccupied with herself and her own problems, vampires and cults and Leander, that she hadn’t given Mother any thought. She was selfish - as soon as things got a little difficult for her, she cared about no one else. Like a little kid, like a brat, which she had never stopped being. Everyone had problems. Everyone dealt with them and still remembered others. She couldn’t do that, she couldn’t be bothered. She was selfish.

“What’s wrong?” asked Paige again, more urgently this time, and fluttered close. “Did I say something bad?”

And now Nella was making other people upset. Being a burden, something she did very well.

“N-no, it’s nothing,” Nella sniffled. “I’m just… I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. Let’s just… keep unpacking.” She pulled out two more books, those stupid books, she shouldn’t have brought them, they were just wastes of space. “S-so where should I put these?”

“No, you’re sad,” Paige said. “I don’t want you to be sad. Tell me what’s wrong. Please?”

Nella glanced away, hugging her books, but knew the woobat’s stare was unyielding. She had to give some answer. But she didn’t want to tell the truth. There was so much to tell, and it would take so long to explain, and Paige wouldn’t be able to make her feel better anyway - it would simply be a waste of Paige’s time and sympathy. But maybe she could come up with something else, something simpler that was easy to comfort, something they’d talk about for a little bit and then be able to move on. But what? It wasn’t easy to think up on the spot…

“Well, it’s just that…” Nella started to buy herself some time, setting down the books. She looked down at her claws, then her wings and body. She couldn’t be sad about that anymore, though, since her hair was clearly growing back. Crying about getting fangs would be all too bratty. Not being able to go out… well, they’d just spoken about that, and she’d already smiled. What about something else related to that?

An idea finally came to her, and she went with it. “W-well,” she said, looking back to Paige, “I was just thinking about all the things I won’t be able to see or look at anymore. Like sunny summer days with flowers blooming and leaves and grass glowing green with the light passing through them…”

The meaning of her words then caught up with her, and her heart sank. That was all true. She’d never experience those things again. She’d never feel the gentle warmth of the sun on her skin again. She’d never -- oh, Gods. She’d never get to watch the sun set again.

“Oh, that…” Paige said, deflating. “Yeah, I can’t lie, that’s a bummer. But…” She perked up again. “There’s a lot of new stuff you can see! Like, stuff that was too dark to see before, like the world under nothing but starlight. And the moon… the moon’s kinda like the new sun! It just looks different and changes shape and sets and rises in different times. But just like the sun, it changes color when it’s near the horizon. It turns golden! And also, did you know? Did you know?”

Nella blinked, trying to keep up with everything Paige was saying. “Did I know… what?”

Paige paused and smiled. “There are moonbows.”

“Huh?” Nella tilted her head. “Moonbows?”

“They’re like rainbows, but with moonlight instead of the sun!”

Nella’s ears perked up. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Paige hopped up and down in excitement. “You couldn’t have ever seen them before because they were too faint, but vampires can actually see them! They’re really pretty!”

Nella brought her claws to her mouth, trying to imagine it, but couldn’t quite make it work. Still, she believed Paige. A moonbow… she wanted to see one.

Paige gasped suddenly. “Oh my gosh, and I forgot the best thing. Auroras! They’re so, so cool! They look like magic! And there’s still even more stuff to see, like the volbeat and the illumise, and all the other wild mon that only come out at night… I can’t wait for you to see them!”

Nella smiled again. “They sound… wonderful.” She placed her claws on top of her heart. “...Thank you.”

Oh, I see, you’re distracting yourself now. I suppose a couple of pretty sights is all it takes to make you forget all about your mother.

A frown overwrote the smile in the blink of an eye. She’d forgotten about her mother again. She… she really was awful.

Paige flinched - oh no. The woobat had seen Nella frown, and Nella's frown had been strong. She had to have realized Nella still wasn't okay. Oh, Gods, she was back at square one…

Paige scratched her fur with her wing-claw. "Um, so, we can't go see all that stuff right now, but there's something else I can show you!"

"O-oh, no, you don't have to," said Nella, raising her wings. "It's alright. I'll be fine."

"No, I wanna show you! It's a friend of mine. I always go see her when I'm down. She lives down by the slowpoke."

"Oh?" Nella's ears perked. There was still someone else living in this household? "Is she a vampire too?"

"No, but you'll see!" said Paige, smiling again, and headed for the door opposite the kitchen. "Let's go see her!"

Nella flinched, looking towards the backpacks. "B-but the unpacking…"

"It can wait! I mean, they're not going anywhere. Come on!"

Paige was right about that - they had all the time in the world. Nella concealed a sigh and followed the woobat. Maybe she'd succeed in hiding her worries on her second try. Then she could excuse herself to the outhouse and think things through over there, uninterrupted.

As she arrived by the door, Paige prompted Nella to pick up the nearby oil lantern, which she did. Paige perched on the handle of the door, which turned under her weight, then bounced off with enough force to open the door. Behind it was a long walkway similar to the one that led to the outhouse, though this one seemed to descend down a hill. It had no lamps of its own, but the blue light of the lantern in Nella’s grasp was more than enough to illuminate the way - not to mention the moonlight already leaking in underneath the curtain-like walls.

Nella entered the walkway after Paige and closed the door after them per the woobat's request. As they made their way through the surprisingly long hallway, the smell of slowpoke dung got stronger. Nella's nose wrinkled, but she knew mother would be much more disgusted.

Don't go there, Nella! You'll get all dirty and smelly!

It'll only be a minute,
Nella bargained. I just have to get Paige to think I'm okay. I-I'll be really careful and wash right after. Somehow…

Mother humphed in response, but thankfully said nothing else. Nella sighed in relief and kept walking.

Eventually, they reached a door at the end of the hallway. Paige jumped on this one's handle as well, but this time flapped her wings to pull it open instead.

They stepped through to enter a large barn. The stench of dung reached its peak, mixing in with the new scents of a farfetch’d coop and some traces of fish. On the right were piles of hay and sacks of grain, and on the left was a fenced enclosure with one, two, three, four, five pudgy slowpoke sleeping soundly. The farfetch’d, though, somewhere out of sight, seemed to be at least partly awake given the ambient quacking.

Right before them, on the opposite wall, was a small hinged flap - well, small to Nella, anyway. For Paige, it was just the right size. Either way, Nella was beginning to see where this was going…

Paige flitted up to the flap and looked back to Nella. “Put that lantern down on the floor, next to the wall,” she whispered, and Nella did as asked. Paige then grinned and poked her head out through the flap.

“Caramel!” she whisper-yelled. ”Come here!”

From outside came steps, rapid steps, as some creature got up to its feet and galloped ever closer to the building. Paige drew back from the flap and moved aside, and in just a few seconds, the creature burst through the flap.

With its fluffy coat, long ears and the floppy tongue hanging out as it panted, the mon was not hard to recognize. It was a furfrou, caramel brown, which was no doubt the inspiration for its name.

Caramel stamped her paws on the wooden floor to turn around, stumbling from her momentum, but uprighted herself just as quickly to dash for Paige. Nella's heart jumped as she thought the brown fluffball would slam right into the pale one, but the furfrou stopped itself just in time. Paige, on the other hand, showed no signs of worry - she must have known Caramel well enough to know she was safe.

The woobat laughed and reached out her wings to scratch Caramel under her neck. "Hello! Hello, baby, hello!" she cooed while Caramel wiggled and hopped in place, tail furiously wagging.

Suddenly, the furfrou turned her head to Nella, as if she'd only noticed the noivern now. She bounded for her next, causing Nella to flinch and wrap herself in her wings.

"Caramel!" Paige ordered, and Caramel stopped herself, though not without an inquisitive look thrown back at the woobat.

Paige hauled herself across the floor with the help of her wings. "Let's not overwhelm our new friend," she said to Caramel. "Be nice."

Caramel looked back at Nella, tail beginning to wag again. She stepped up to the noivern and curiously sniffed at her wings.

Nella let some tension leave her shoulders and looked at the furfrou more closely now that she could - the wet little nose with nostrils quivering, the amber eyes full of life. The irises were large enough for almost no white to show, a common indicator that a mon was feral rather than intelligent. It also made her very, very cute.

In the middle of that thought, Caramel looked up to her and smiled. Well, she wasn't smiling, she was panting, but it looked like smiling. Nevertheless, it made Nella smile back. She reached out her claws to give the furfrou a pet, but a familiar voice inside her head stopped her once again.

Don't you touch that dirty mutt! A lady does not romp with farm animals!

She pulled back. Paige noticed, judging by her puzzled expression, Oh no. Nella's facade was crumbling down again…

"What's the matter?" asked Paige. "Are you not good with --" Her eyes widened, and she grabbed onto Caramel's collar. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said. "I-I didn't even consider the possibility you might be afraid of dogs!"

Nella flinched. "Oh, no, it's not that, I just… um…"

Go ahead and let her know! Mother said. Tell her you don't want that horrid beast anywhere near you!

Nella brought her claws together. She wouldn't say what Mother said, that was quite rude, but if she just told Paige she was afraid of dogs after all, she would surely take Caramel away…

Sounds like a good plan, Mother said, and Nella prepared to say her line. While you're at it, tell that fuzzball to mind her own business. You don't want her dragging you down to this pigsty anymore.

Nella froze.

That's not nice, Mother, she thought. Paige has been very kind to me.

She's also been loud, pushy, immature, and utterly unladylike. It's about time someone told her how annoying she is.


Mother's words were sharp and prickly, and Nella felt the pain in Paige's place. The cold, wet shame she felt under her mother's scolding faded by the second, drying up and smoldering from the ember igniting in Nella's chest.

I will not say that.

Nella could practically see Mother’s eyes widen. Goodness! What’s with this sudden attitude?

Nella clenched her fists. If you’re going to insult these nice people, Mother, then I… I don’t want to listen to you.

Mother’s jaw dropped. How dare you! Ignoring your own mother? Twice in the same day?

Nella remembered her behaviour back at her apartment and winced. Still…

I am sorry about what I did, Mother, she thought, but I was in a hurry. I owed it to Teru to be quick. And now, I owe it to Paige to be nice to her. Didn’t you always say that an adult repaid all their debts?

Yes, but -- but…

I am not putting my own cleanliness and pride before the people that have helped me,
Nella thought. She looked down at Caramel again, who by now had sat down, head in a puzzled tilt. And… I’m gonna prove it.

Mother gasped. No! Don’t you dare touch that dog! Who knows where it’s been!

The fire in Nella’s chest burned brighter. It’s been on a farm, and that’s where I’m gonna be, too. If I really want to pay these people back, I’m gonna have to get used to getting dirty.

She extended her arm again. Caramel’s eyes sparked with joy, and the furfrou stood up.

Nella! Mother shouted. Stop this at once! I order you!

A quiet thought in the corner of Nella’s mind told her to obey. That she was being a brat, a bad girl. But she knew it wasn’t true.

She touched Caramel’s neck.

Caramel leaned into the touch, tail wagging ever faster. Mother screamed, but Nella no longer heard her words. She felt only the touch of warm fluff and saw only Caramel’s wide smile and adoring eyes. Eyes that spoke ‘I don’t know who you are, but I love you.’

Nella couldn’t stop herself from bringing in her other hand, too. She stepped closer to scratch Caramel on both sides, up and down along her neck. Caramel only got more excited, leaping right up to Nella and leaning against her body.

“See, isn’t it nice?” Paige said, grinning. “She’s so fluffy and cuddly!”

Nella realized the smile that had crept on her own face. It was very wide. Unladylike, even. But no, she didn’t care. Not right now, at least.

She dropped to her knees and let Caramel lean into her lap. Oh, she was so warm. She was so full of life. She was so happy, and that happiness was infectious. When had Nella last been this happy? When had Nella last… felt a warm touch?

A groan came from the left side of the room. Nella looked over and saw one of the slowpoke with its head raised, eyes squinted and judging.

“Uh, whoops,” said Paige, keeping her voice down. “I guess we better let get the slowpoke get their rest.” She flew up to the door. “But we can come see Caramel again when the sun comes up. The barn’s dark enough, so you don’t have to worry about the light.”

Nella nodded and got back up. Caramel sensed the noivern wouldn’t be petting her anymore and ran up to Paige instead.

“No, no,” said Paige, “we gotta go now.” She extended a wing, pointing to the flap. “Caramel, back out!”

The furfrou let out a whine, but trotted back to the flap. She paused for a moment, looking back at the two, and wagged her tail one last time before shooting back out to the yard.

Paige turned to Nella. “Are you ready to get back to unpacking?”

Nella gave a wide smile, an unladylike smile, and nodded.

---​
 
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Part Five

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
hey gamers, been a while. in a Funny turn of events, this one ballooned even more than the previous. i apologize that it doesnt have that much plot happen but the next one definitely will.

i don't actually think there's anything to really warn about in this chapter, but let's say the rating for this chapter is teen to be safe. lemme know if i missed something. enjoy!

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Part Five

---​

An eerie wind whistled as it crept through the nighttime forest. It snatched up dry, dead leaves along for the ride before tossing them away like a child bored with its toy and moving up to rustle the branches of the soot-black spruces.

Nella didn't know where she was. She knew she was probably somewhere near Lepach, at least in the same county, but that did her little good when she didn't know where the town was in relation to her.

Should she fly up in the sky and try to look for lights? She began to sprint and tried to take off, but the wind would not catch beneath her wings - it was like there was nothing there. She couldn't understand how that could be, but a few more tries later, she had to admit defeat and resign herself to continuing on foot. She just had to hope she'd come across some larger road she could follow.

SKREEE-O-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO!

Nella gasped. It was a noivern's bellow. But it wasn't like the bellow she'd heard before, no, it was colossal. It was loud enough for its echo to take seconds to dissipate, and it startled aflight numerous murkrow and starly.

She stepped closer to the edge of the path, closer to the trees, and continued there.

SKREEE-O-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO!

She jumped. That was closer.

She looked up, but she saw nothing, nothing but the black trees and the cold moonlit clouds. She hoped that noivern wouldn't see her, either. Noivern in the wild were usually skittish and their favorite food was fruit, but they also preyed upon small rodents and birds and other little mon… and if that noivern was as big as it sounded, it might just consider Nella small enough.

She walked faster. She tried to spread her wings to be lighter, but it was as useless as before. Was it something in the air?

She got her answer in the worst way possible - hearing slow, heavy wingbeats somewhere above.

SKREEE-O-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO!

It shook her to her core. Her ears closed up in response to the overpowering noise, and a pressure built up fast. No, she would not bellow. It wouldn't do a thing against a dragon that large, and if she were to die, she wanted to die with her promise intact.

She looked behind her and froze. A giant winged form flew in the distance - then swerved in her direction. Oh Gods, she had to hide.

She dove in between the spruces and clawed her way into the maze of branches. Strings of spiderweb caught on her wings, making her flinch, but she couldn't worry about that now. She took a few steps more before slipping under the branches of a larger spruce and lying down. She looked up and saw none of the sky. Good - that hopefully meant the noivern wouldn't see her, either.

Nella's heart beat in her throat as she listened for the wingbeats again. They were approaching, approaching, they'd be there soon, they'd be there in seconds - and in seconds, they were right above. A shadow slid over the forest floor. Past her. Didn't slow down, didn't react at all. She hadn't been seen.

Nella sighed all the air out of her lungs, thoroughly relieved. Now she only had to wait for this horrid beast to leave and she could get back on her way home, wherever that was…

Wait. The wingbeats… they turned around. They were coming back.

In an instant, the world lit up in indigo, accompanied by a horrible noise Nella's ears closed on. A beam of dragon fire razed the forest just a body-length away from Nella's hiding spot, obliterating the trees into smoking splinters.

Nella screamed and abandoned her cover. She couldn't help it. This was too terrifying. She tried to run in the opposite direction of the beam, but it circled over and leveled the woods in front of her as well. It circled back to close the shape before Nella could even think about heading in the last free direction. Now she was trapped, trapped in a ring of indigo flames.

The earth shook with a deafening thump - Nella's closed ears did little to muffle it. It had come from the original direction of the beam. Nella knew it had to be the monster. She turned around, and she was right.

The raging flames lit the monster all too well. Each tuft of hair in its coat, so bristly they looked like wires. The membranes of its wings, ragged like moth-eaten cloth. Its open, drooling maw with teeth like daggers and a tongue like a serpent. Everything was ugly.

Its eyes, though, required no light to be seen. In fact, they defied the blue light with a glow of their own. There were no whites, no pupils - only soulless, wild yellows that Nella still knew were staring right at her.

The beast roared and raised its wing, white light enveloping its claws and lengthening into blades. On a split-second hunch, Nella crouched and shielded her head with her wings, which turned out to be the right course of action as the monster slashed across the remaining trees. They fell with raging cracks and thumps, but none fell on Nella. For a moment, she felt lucky - but that quickly changed as she realized there was no longer nothing protecting her from the giant.

The giant knew this, too. It leapt forward, wings grabbing on to what remained of the spruces' trunks. Nella froze up. Her brain screamed at her to flee, but her body wouldn't listen. Not that it would have mattered. She had nowhere to flee. The indigo flames still raged all around her, and she had no space to take flight. She was, in short, doomed.

The monster opened its maw and lunged at her. Nella squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to meet her end.

But it did not come. What came was a burst of wind from her right. It was strong enough to topple her over, slamming her to the mossy ground, and it kept going. Nella opened her eyes, utterly confused, and saw the blue inferno around her diminish. The giant noivern no longer had its eyes on Nella, but the source of the sudden gale - a dark winged creature with something on its back, something glowing with bright cyan light.

Before Nella could look at it any closer, the creature swooped down, headed straight for the monster. The light took the shape of a blade which swung at the monster’s face, and the monster screeched in pain - it had to have connected. The giant noivern stumbled back, pawing at its muzzle, while the winged creature circled back around and landed right before the beast. From the clink of its feathers, Nella recognized it. A corviknight! And on its back…

The rider of the corviknight stood up on his saddle. He held forth his blade of cyan light.

“Begone, beast!” the rider roared. “Leave now, or be slain!”

The monster hissed with intense disdain, but backed away. It turned around and took off, the wind from its wings blowing out the rest of the indigo flames. It did not look back once as it flew for the horizon.

The blade of light - or aura, as Nella had realized by now - reduced to a floating wisp. It followed the rider as he turned to face Nella and leapt down off his steed. The rider's face was covered by a frog-mouth helmet, but two tall ears poked out from two holes on the top. Not that the rider's species wasn't already obvious.

“Are you alright, fair lady?” the armored lucario asked.

Nella realized she was still lying on the moss. The paleness of her skin soon switch to red.

“Y-yes, sir!” she said, climbing back onto her feet and brushing off any debris in a hurry. “I-I am alright, thank you.”

“This area is quite dangerous,” said the rider, walking up to Nella. “Are you lost?”

Nella grasped her arm. "Unfortunately, yes…"

"Come with me, then," the rider said. "I'll take you back to Lepach." He turned to return to his steed, but suddenly turned right back.

"Oh, where are my manners?" he said, placing a paw on his heart. "I haven't introduced myself."

He grabbed his helmet and lifted it off, revealing his face. His snout was long but sturdy and his eyes were like drops of amber, but the most magnificent feature of his was the long, thick black mane that had fallen out and settled on his broad shoulders. Its musk spread through the air and reached Nella's nostrils - without even intending, she drew more of it in.

"I am Lucario Wulfric," the lucario said, offering a paw to Nella. "What is your name?"

"N-Noivern Nella," Nella said, placing her claws on Wulfric's paw. "Pleasure to meet you."

The lucario stared her in the eye as he grasped her claws, not letting go. "Goodness," he breathed.

Nella's fur bristled. "Wh-what's that? Did I do something wrong?"

Wulfric shook his head. "No, no, it is simply that… I did not see before how beautiful you were."

Nella’s fur bristled - but in a good way. “You… you really think that?” she asked quietly.

Wulfric nodded, and Nella’s heart beat faster. He thinks I’m beautiful! she thought. I didn’t think I was, but maybe I am!

The lucario stepped closer, placing another paw on top of Nella's claws. He was so tall that she had to raise her head to meet his eyes. Looking up at his beautiful face, she somehow felt both anxious and at ease - her heart galloped and her face was hot with blush, but the tenseness in her muscles simply couldn't stick around under the lucario's gentle gaze. She felt as if she might just up and melt into putty as if she'd been a ditto all along.

But why did he come closer? Did he… really fancy her?

She tensed up again. Alright, Nella, she thought to herself, there is a handsome man right in front of you that seems to fancy you. Do not mess things up like you did last time.

"Noivern Nella…" Wulfric began, his voice almost a whisper. "Oh, if I could only woo a lady as beautiful, as sweet, as demure as you… but I am always too late." Defeated, he placed a paw on his forehead. “Alas, they are always taken.”

I’m free! I’m free! Nella’s thoughts screamed, but she knew she had to contain herself - she couldn’t appear desperate. She racked her brain for any line of dialogue from any of the books she’d read that would signal her availability in a graceful manner.

“Well, perhaps…” she began, buying herself some time while drawing back Wulfric’s attention. “Perhaps I… haven’t found the right one yet.”

The knight gasped, a spark igniting in his amber eyes. He lowered herself onto one knee with an air of nobility so strong it stole Nella’s breath right back. “Would you then, perhaps…” His words were painfully slow. “Allow me to try for that position?”

Nella’s heart jumped to her throat. There was no doubt about it now. This man wanted to be her beloved. A man wanted her - no, not just a man, a knight! The very epitome of gallantry, the greatest catch any woman could wish for! Oh, Mother would be so proud. Mother would squeal in glee once she got the news. She’d give Nella a hug, a wonderful tight hug with her cotton-soft wings, and she’d tell Nella how proud she was! She’d cry at their wedding, surely, and not of disappointment!

Oh, no, no, she shouldn’t get lost in thought now! She had to say yes! But she couldn’t - her lungs simply didn’t have the air - but she could still nod! She’d nod her head off! No, wait, no - she took her time and nodded like a lady would… though she didn’t know just how wide she’d already let her smile become. Oh, it didn’t matter! She saw it in Wulfric’s gaze - he was too enthralled to mind!

“My lady, I swear I will not disappoint you!” Wulfric declared, springing up. “I will make you the luckiest woman in the entire kingdom - nay, the entire world!”

He stepped forth for what seemed to be an attempt to embrace, but Nella flinched and stepped back - she didn't want to smack her face against a sheet of steel. Wulfric looked down and realized the reason for her apprehension.

"Ah," he said, "one moment." He reached for the straps of his armor and unbuckled them. He turned around to place the loose armor on the ground behind him, then turned back around and -- wow.

His chest was enormous. Nothing like the lucario she'd seen before. How had that chest even fit inside that armor? Nella glanced at the breastplate on the ground. It looked a lot wider now. It had to have been that way the whole time, she supposed.

"My lady, may I?" asked Wulfric, arms spread - oh Gods, those biceps too - and awaiting. For a moment, Nella wondered if it was appropriate to already get so physical with someone he'd only met moments ago, but the doubt dissipated as she remembered what had happened right before that. He'd saved her life. From a dragon. And he was a knight. The maiden embracing the knight was simply how the fairytale went.

Nella stepped forth again. "Yes, my brave knight," she said, looking into the lucario's amber eyes while he gazed back into hers.

She knew to expect him wrapping his arms around her, but she still flinched as it happened - she'd never experienced this before. It seemed that her reaction made Wulfric unsure about continuing as his embrace loosened, but Nella did want this, and she had to signal it somehow. She hesitated for a moment, but then took the plunge, pressing herself against Wulfric's chest.

Oh, he was warm, and his muscles were firm. His arms squeezed her closer with just the right amount of pressure. His chest spike caused no trouble as it was filed down to a smooth oval, likely to let him wear a breastplate in the first place, but it certainly didn't hurt his suitability as a lover…

She closed her eyes. This was it. This was what she'd been missing. A strong yet gentle companion to depend on, one she could come to feel safe and loved. Someone to provide for her so she didn't have to stay hungry to afford her rent. Someone to walk beside her on the street, to show that she was good enough, to show that she couldn't be so ugly or clumsy or airheaded if a man like this would take her. That was all she wanted. That was all she needed.

A horrible clatter cut short her thoughts. For a split second, she thought Wulfric had dropped another piece of his armor, but she quickly realized Wulfric was gone and so were the woods. She wasn't standing, either, but lying down on her side on a mattress on the floor, hugging her blanket. A moment later, she recognized the room she was in. Paige's room. They'd moved her bed there the night before. Or day. Ugh, so confusing.

She sighed. In any case, this was reality. What she'd experienced moments ago was not. Just a dream. A silly, silly dream.

She got up and listened to the noises from the kitchen. That was where the clatter had come from, too. Someone must have dropped something by accident. Paige, if Nella had to guess, since she heard her voice and… well, Paige was Paige. As she couldn't make out much of the speech with her still-groggy brain, though, Nella decided she should get up and take a look for herself. But not before folding her blanket. She looked at Paige's bed, too, but decided she shouldn't touch her things without permission, no matter how crumpled up her little blanket was.

She exited the room. On the other side of the door, she saw Cole perched on the dining table alongside two empty red-stained bowls. He and Paige had already had breakfast, it seemed. Nella checked the clock on the wall and saw that it was ten in the evening. Goodness! If vampires' daily rhythms were like those of regular folk but shifted by twelve hours, she'd really slept in.

"Oh, is it Nella that's out and about over there?" asked Teru's voice from the kitchen, the mismagius emerging into view shortly after. He saw Nella and smiled. "Morning!"

"Morning," Nella responded. "Um, sorry for waking up so late."

Teru waved a tendril. "It's quite alright! You're going through a lot of changes and your body needs the rest. And, to be honest, I probably had a hand in that as well."

Nella tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you were having a bad dream earlier, so I cast a little spell to make that dream more pleasant," Teru explained. "Oh, do tell me if I crossed any boundaries, though. I won't do it again if you don't want me to."

"Oh… huh." Nella placed her claws on her chin. That explains why the dream became so different after Wulfric arrived, she thought. "It's alright. Thank you."

Teru nodded, smiling, and returned to the kitchen. Nella stood still for a while, wondering what it was she was going to do next, until she remembered.

“Um, Teru?” she asked, stepping into the kitchen herself, catching Teru and Paige’s attention. “Do vampires still need to brush their teeth?”

“Truth be told, I’m not terribly sure,” Teru said. “But we’ve decided it’s better to be safe than sorry. It’s not as if there are dentists for vampires.”

“Right.” Nella glanced at the kitchen sink. “Do you do it here in the kitchen?”

“Indeed we do,” said Teru. “Just take a glass of cleansed water for it. In fact, here you go!” While speaking, his eyes glowed blue, and a similarly glowing glass floated out of the cupboard. The glow spread to the large glass jug of water Teru had told her was purified - same way the water was purified back home, with a Purify Orb. In his telekinetic hold, Teru uncorked the jug and poured the glass full of water, then handed it to Nella. Once she grabbed it, its glow disappeared.

“We’re just about done here in the kitchen,” Teru said, “so we’ll get out of your mane.”

“Your fluffy white mane!” Paige added. “It looks really soft, by the way. Just like my fur. Oh, and good morning.”

“Uh -- good morning,” Nella replied. The woobat smiled and flew away. Teru followed after her, but stopped at the edge of the room.

“Oh, speaking of teeth…” he started, turning back around. “How are your canines?”

Nella’s fur bristled somewhat at the mention of her changing teeth, but it really was the donphan in the room. She pushed her tongue against her canines. They gave way, but… they didn’t seem to give way any more than they had the day before.

“A little loose, but not any more than they were yesterday,” Nella said.

“I see,” Teru replied. “Don’t be alarmed if at any point they seem to stay the same way for a while,” he said. “The pace of development isn’t always constant.”

Why would I be alarmed at my teeth staying normal for longer? Nella thought, but nodded anyway. Teru nodded back and floated out of the room.

Nella fetched her toiletry bag off the shelf she’d placed it on before. She checked how much toothpaste she had - plenty, it seemed. Still, it could be wise to try and ration it. It wasn’t as if she had anyone to meet…

The thought sounded a lot less depressing before she put it into words in her mind. Her shoulders slumped. It really did seem like the only places she’d find romance in anymore would be her books and her dreams.

Not that it had really been any different before.

---​

Shortly after her morning chores, Nella's first real farm training began. Since there were still many places she hadn't seen of the property, her first step was to follow along on a guided tour. As Teru led her around the property and Paige offered… moral support, Nella supposed, she was shown the duckhouse, a little crop field of that existed really only for the livestock, and - to her surprise - the lake. While it was only a stone's throw away from the barn, she'd had no clue of its existence. Of course, in retrospect, it made a lot of sense. Slowpoke were semi-aquatic, and while they didn't necessarily need swimming water to survive, they were certainly much happier with it than without it.

What Nella didn't know was that slowpoke were most active during twilight. Apparently, their lazy image was partly due to people often seeing them during the day when they preferred to lounge around. This worked well for a house of ghosts and vampires, as the slowpoke could be fed after sunset and before sunrise. During the day, they had Caramel to watch them, and if an emergency occurred, Teru was still able to briefly go outside with the proper wear.

The farfetch'd, on the other hand, were rather flexible with their schedules to begin with. Paige had excitedly told Nella that they were able to sleep with one eye open, and so were a lot of other birds - though mainly feral ones. Nella was thankful for that. The thought of her mother watching her even when she was sleeping sent chills down her spine.

Once the tour ended, it was time to start the work. Teru showed Nella how they fed and brought water to the animals, how they gathered eggs from the coop and, unfortunately, how blood was drawn from a slowpoke. The thought and sight of it made her queasy, but at least the lack of reaction from the slowpoke proved to her that it really was a painless procedure. On top of that, she had Caramel sitting beside her, and stroking the furfrou’s neck was soothing. Mother really was missing out, not wanting to get close to any dogs…

After that came another less-than-pleasant chore, that being the shoveling of slowpoke dung. Teru told Nella that it was something he'd basically had to do all by himself until now given that the job was next to impossible for woobat and crobat to do. When he used his telekinesis to float the piles of dung into the wheelbarrow, Nella had to ask if Paige wasn't able to do that with her psychic powers.

"Nah, I can only blow stuff up," she replied. "Watch!"

"No!" shouted Teru, just in time to stop a telekinetic dung explosion.

Once the floor was more or less clear of dung, Teru grabbed the wheelbarrow and led Nella out to the corner of the farm where all the dung was dumped. He handed the empty wheelbarrow to her to push back to the barn so that she'd get a feel for it without overexerting herself. Slowpoke did produce a lot of dung, and she already knew that her arms weren't the strongest. She hadn't worked any physically demanding jobs before, after all. Sure, she had to carry plates for her waitress job, but she hadn't been one of those amazing waitresses that carried four or more plates at a time, no, she'd just been an average waitress. Well, worse than average…

The next chore was to go out and gather some hay and aquatic plants for the slowpoke and farfetch'd to eat. While Nella knew the lakeside wasn't going anywhere and that she'd probably be free to go there as much as she wanted during her spare time, she was delighted to get to visit the place again. The rippling of the water, the swirling of the wind, the chirps of the crickets and the way all these sounds echoed off the surface of the water… it was so tranquil.

Of course, that peace didn't last too long - she and Teru had to get to work. Against the quiet background, their churning of the water felt all the louder as they grabbed and ripped out handfuls of plant matter to place in their baskets. The water wasn't exactly warm, either. Nella thought briefly how nice it would be to warm up by a fireplace afterwards until she remembered that really was a no-go for a vampire. Her ears drooped, but then she wondered if that really was the case. The house had to be kept warm somehow. He decided to ask Teru, who explained to her that there was a special type of material he'd acquired that let through heat without letting through light, and that this was what was kept in front of the fireplace when it was lit. In practically the same breath, he also promised to light it up for Nella once they got back. Nella's face heated up. Was she that predictable?

Either way, the two continued working and eventually returned to the barn with baskets full of wet plant matter. After spreading the slimy mass onto a drying sheet, they made their way back to the farmhouse and Teru began setting up the fire he had promised.

"Alright, it's done," the mismagius said. "You can come out now."

Nella peeked out from the kitchen, making sure there was no deadly orange glow casting onto the living room. There wasn't. She was still cautious as she stepped into the room and turned to the fireplace, but when she felt no pain, she allowed herself to relax. She did feel heat, though. A nice, warm heat. She shuffled a bit closer. Yes, this was nice.

"Here," said Teru, and she turned her head to see a floating towel wrapped in cyan light. It unfolded and hovered onto her shoulders before Teru let it go. The towel draped over Nella's body and began absorbing the moisture from her fur right away.

"Thank you," Nella said, wrapping the towel around herself. She sighed, relieved, but mournfully reminded herself this would only be temporary. To know how much time she had exactly, she asked Teru.

"So, um… about how long is this break?"

"Break?" Teru repeated. "Oh, no, you're done for the day."

Nella's ears perked. "I-I am? But it's only been a couple of hours…"

"Well, there's nothing more for you to do today," said Teru, shrugging. "Besides, it's your first day, and you're still not fully vampiric, either. Frankly, some could argue this was too much."

"Oh. Well, I feel fine," Nella assured. "I used to do much longer days as a waitress."

"Well, in any case, you're off duty now," Teru said, floating over to the kitchen. "And it's time for dinner."

"Dinner!" a voice shouted from Paige's room - the woobat herself. It didn't take long until the door opened and the fuzzball flitted out. She stopped to look at Nella, hovering in midair, before landing next to her on the floor.

"You're wet," Paige pointed out. "Did you go swimming?"

"Actually, she helped me collect some plants," Teru said, arriving from the kitchen with two bowls of blood in tow. He lowered them before the two bats - the bigger bowl for Nella and the smaller bowl for Paige, of course.

"Oh, that!" Paige said, scrambling over to her bowl. "I tried that once. Almost drowned. Not my thing."

"I… see," Nella responded, though the woobat had already moved on to her dinner. Nella grabbed her own and drank slowly as it was rather cold.

In moments' time, there came a knock at the door. Teru floated over, looked through the peephole and opened the door. In flew Cole.

"Hey," he greeted. "Blood?"

"We just started dinner," Teru replied, closing the door. "You're right on time."

"Good," Cole replied and waddled over to the fireplace. "Fire's lit?"

"Nella helped me with collecting feed for the slowpoke," Teru explained, floating back to the kitchen. "The water was cold."

"I see."

In a minute, Teru returned with a bowl for Cole and set it before the crobat. Cole nodded as thanks, bared his fangs and dipped them in the liquid. It still made Nella shudder.

"So," Teru began, "did you see anything?"

Cole stood up to shake his head. "No Tiger."

Teru tilted his head. "Not a glimpse?"

"Nope."

"Any cult activity?"

"Nothing I could spot."

Teru brought a tendril to his chin. "I wonder if they might have heard there's a Tiger around, too."

He has a name, Nella pointed out in her mind, but scrubbed the thought right after. She shouldn't jump to defend a zealot that believed vampires were soulless monsters that had to be wiped off the face of the earth.

But was that what she was doing? The Leander she'd met was so different from the White Tiger Teru and Cole described. The Leander she'd met was… friendly, gentle. He wasn't… hateful. And Cole had said that White Tigers weren't supposed to have relations with other mon, which Leander had been caught doing! Teru had brushed this off, saying they couldn't assume Leander was any less hostile towards vampires than the White Tigers he had known, but… that didn't mean it couldn't be true.

If only there'd been some way to ask Leander directly, some way that didn't put them all at risk, but there wasn't. At least not anything Nella could come up with. They'd just have to assume the worst and act according to that belief.

Nella sighed. Of course, this was just her luck. A man finally showed interest in her, and she immediately went and ended up becoming the thing he hated most of all.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see how this plays out," Teru said. "Good work out there, Cole."

"Uh-huh," Cole voiced, fangs back in the blood, not bothering to stop siphoning to answer.

"And good work on your part, too, Nella," Teru added, making Nella flinch. "You did great for your first day on the job."

Nella felt her nose heat up. "Th-thanks," she said. It would have been rude to keep insisting she didn't really do that much at all.

"What about me, huh?" Paige asked, smirking. "Did I do good work?"

"I don't know what you did today," Teru said, "but if you got any writing done, I'd say so."

"Darn," Paige muttered. "I didn't."

Nella returned to her bowl and drank the rest. It was strange how just one bowl of blood could make her feel satiated for hours. She knew she could go for more, but she also knew she didn't need to. Even though it felt like she had only drunk a few cups of juice. She supposed that was a good thing - it was easier for Teru to support vampires that way - but she couldn't deny she missed the tastes and textures of regular food. Maybe she could still eat some more eggs in the evening. The condition of her teeth hadn't changed from yesterday.

"So, whatcha gonna do now that your first day of work is over?" asked Paige. Nella lowered her empty bowl to meet the woobat's eyes - or what little she could see of them through Paige's fur.

"Umm…" Nella looked to the fireplace. It was still surprising to hear she was done for the day. She had so much free time… had she really earned it?

"Well," she continued, "I think I wanna sit here a little longer, at least. The warmth is nice."

"How about after that?"

The corners of Nella’s mouth tightened as she thought about it. It would be smart for her to try and rest as best as she could so that she would have enough energy for tomorrow’s tasks, which would surely be more plentiful. But she also knew she should maintain a proper day-night-cycle - or night-day-cycle? Either way, she couldn’t go straight to bed, not that she’d be able to fall asleep this early in the day… night, anyway. What she should do, then, was whatever she used to do in her old life when she wasn’t dead tired. Which was…

“I think I’ll do some reading,” she said. The thought brought a small smile to her lips. She’d get to escape to a story again, and this was one activity that wouldn’t be any different here from what it was like in her old life. Only she couldn’t get any new books anymore… or could she? Teru still went to the market each morning to sell the eggs from the duck coop. Maybe he could stop by a bookstore every now and then… provided they had the money. Provided that she’d earned it.

“Ooh, more of your lovey-dovey books?” Paige replied, wiggling her body. Nella took it as an insult before realizing it was probably teasing at worst.

“Pretty much,” Nella said. “I have one I haven’t finished yet. It’s about…” She stopped, realizing she probably shouldn’t bring up the male lead’s species right now that a vampire-hunting incineroar was in the area. “Romance. All my books are. You wouldn’t be interested.”

“Probably not,” Paige replied bluntly. “You have fun, though!”

“I will, thanks.”

Paige nodded and waddled away. Nella looked to her right to see if Cole was still there. He was not - only his empty bowl was. She wondered briefly what that crobat did in his spare time before getting up, gathering the bowls and setting them on the kitchen counter. She would have washed them, too, if she hadn’t felt that to be too invasive at this stage. Teru had left the room a while ago, so she couldn’t ask.

She walked back to her spot before the fireplace, wrapped herself back in her towel, closed her eyes and took in the heat. She still felt a little guilty for doing no more work, but Teru clearly intended for her to rest for now. She’d do that the best she could - after all, she needed to prepare for tomorrow.

---​

She had even less to do the following day.

“What… what do you mean? What do you mean, ‘that’s everything’?’”

Teru tilted his head, confused. “I mean there’s nothing else for you to do today. Everything’s done. That’s it.”

Nella’s brow furrowed further. “B-but what about the feed? We didn’t go gather any feed…” She gestured towards the lake, or at least the doors that led to it from the barn.

“We gathered plenty of feed yesterday,” Teru replied. “There’s no need to get more. I mean, there wouldn’t be space for it on the drying sheet, anyway.”

“But that would mean…” Nella glanced around for a clock, but it didn’t seem the barn had one.

Teru sighed, raising his tendrils. “Yes, I know. It’s a short day. But vampires and ghosts - the likes of us don’t need as much as the nonvampiric do, and that’s why we don’t need to work as hard.” He put one tendril on his hip. “And it’s fairer that way, too, really, considering the other limitations we have to deal with.”

Nella clacked her claws together. “Surely there’s something I can do? I just… I-I don’t want to just be standing around. You’ve all been so kind to me, rescuing me once I’d been bitten, letting me live here, and that entire trip to Lepach… y-you put yourselves in danger just so I could get some of my belongings back!”

“Nella, Nella,” Teru repeated, lowering a tendril on Nella’s claws. She briefly shivered from its cold touch. “We didn’t do that so you’d be indebted to us. We did that because we wanted to help.” He briefly lowered a brow and glanced elsewhere. “Well, I wanted to help, but Cole never was the altruistic type. Point is, you don’t have to feel like you have to work off any debt. It was our choice to help you. Our duty, really. No one else around here is going to look out after new vampires. Well, no one but…” He cut himself short, and Nella could have sworn he had just shivered. He had been thinking of the cult.

“...Still,” Nella spoke up again - was she just being difficult now, actually? No, she was trying to tell them the truth, the truth that she really had many more work-hours left in her, work-hours she couldn’t just spend lazing around when the others had done so much for her and she’d done so little for them. “Still, I should… I should do more. Something. Any job, I don’t mind how dirty…”

In the back of her mind, Mother’s voice arose to protest the idea, but she kept it from surfacing. Mother wasn’t here now. Mother wasn’t in her life anymore, these mon were. And these were the mon she needed to serve. Mother… Mother couldn’t be repaid anymore, anyway. Nella was a vampire now. She was basically dead.

Seconds later, Nella realized she hadn’t said a word since trailing off. Neither had Teru. She lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. She’d forgotten to keep eye contact, too…

The mismagius held a tendril to his chin. His gaze was pensive. Then, he sighed again. “I’m sorry,” he said. “The fact of the matter is… it can get rather boring around here.”

Nella blinked. Boring…?

Did he think she was bored? That that’s why she was complaining?

She blanched. “No, no!” she said, raising her wings. “No, I’m not bored, no! That’s not what I meant! I’m not bored at all!” Well, that wasn’t entirely true… “I-I just want you to know that I’m grateful and -- I just really want to contribute and earn my keep and…”

“Nella, please!” Teru stopped her -- oh no, was he mad? “You’re doing everything you need to be doing and more. You’re still recovering, remember?”

Right. She wasn’t fully dead yet. Vampiric. Vampiric, not dead.

“I… I don’t feel weak, though,” Nella said, speaking more slowly now. “A-and all my fur is back. I can’t see any burns. How could I be…” She wrapped her wings around herself, taking a second to collect her thoughts. Her heart began to sink.

“Is it maybe…” she started, quieter than ever. “Th-that I’m just bad at this?”

Teru blinked. “Huh?”

She hugged herself tighter. “That I’m doing such a poor job at all these tasks that you don’t want me screwing things up any more?”

Teru stayed silent.

Of course. That was it. She should have seen it earlier. Should’ve gotten a clue. She was a burden. Just like she’d been to Mother. And just as Mother had still looked after her because that’s what a parent had to do, these people looked after her because they had to look after all vampires, because otherwise they’d go join that cult and start committing all kinds of atrocities --

“Nella.”

Nella looked back to Teru again. He looked… disappointed. Of course. She was a disappointment --

“Please stop telling yourself those lies.”

“...Huh?” left Nella’s throat. It was practically a squeak.

Teru held his gaze, not speaking for another few seconds. Finally, he sighed again, shaking his head. “The workday’s over, Nella. It genuinely just is. Go rest. Go relax. That’s what mon are supposed to do off hours, aren’t they?”

Since Teru wasn’t continuing, Nella gave a careful nod.

“So why would you be any different?”

Nella opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Even though she knew there was a reason. She just didn’t have the words for it.

“Go read that book you like, or talk to Paige,” Teru suggested. “Or just take a nap. It doesn’t matter. You’ve done your share, and you’ve done it well. That’s the truth.” He leaned in, a sterner look on his face. “And I hope you’re not calling me a liar.”

Nella flinched. “No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not.”

“Good,” Teru said, “because I’m not one.” He hovered over to the door to the walkway leading to the farmhouse and opened it. “Now, let’s go home.”

Part of Nella still wanted to argue, but a larger part knew the conversation was over.

“Alright,” she said, and followed Teru out of the barn.

---​

Two days later, lying in her new bed, Nella closed Lionhearted.

To finish reading a book was always a bittersweet affair. On one hand, the characters of the book got their happy ending - a wedding proposal from the noble incineroar to the lowly audino seamstress despite their difference in class and the disapproval of the incineroar’s house, followed by a lovely secret wedding by seaside cliffs to which only their true friends were invited. On the other hand, there was no more to read of them. They were gone. She could start the book all over again and get them back, but it would only be the same story, nothing new. It was still a sweet story, yes, but it would never be as exciting as it was the first time.

She wondered if she should have rationed the book more. She hadn’t expected to finish it so soon, being used to much less time for reading per day. Of course, she’d still rationed it to an extent - no more than two chapters a day, no matter how enticing, so that she could properly enjoy the journey instead of rushing to the end. If she simply had to read more, she’d read something from another book she’d already finished before - this time, it was A Dragon’s Kiss, as describing it to Paige the other day had made her nostalgic for it again. She supposed she’d primarily be reading the rest of that for the following days.

Right now, though, she still wanted to bask in what afterglow she had of Lionhearted. Images of Incineroar Arthur, echoes of his voice, sensations of his presence and warmth. And… then the memories of all the times she’d had to remind herself Arthur was black and red, not white and gold.

She frowned, squeezing her eyes shut. She really should have let Leander go by now. There was no way of meeting him and talking to him if he really was so hostile towards the vampiric. And she couldn’t go out, anyway, not outside the immediate vicinity of the farm, in case Leander was there. That’s what Teru had ordered. Only Cole had the right to fly around and scout for the Tiger, given he was a skilled flier and quick as lightning when he needed to be. Once or twice, Nella had had the thought of asking to accompany him, but she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to keep up, and if something went wrong… it would really go wrong.

She was better off sticking to the fictional men in her books. Or Wulfric, but the lucario hadn’t shown up in her dreams since that first night. Maybe even he’d gotten sick of her. Gods, wouldn’t that be pitiful. Rejected by her mind’s own creation.

A tapping came from the door - the kind of tapping that Paige’s wing-claw made as she attempted to knock. “Nella!” the woobat called soon after. “Come on out! There’s exciting news!”

Exciting news? What could that be? Nothing had happened to the status quo since her first day of work, and she hadn’t expected much after that. Well, sure, she’d had fun partaking in some games and other activities during everyone’s shared spare time - board games, card games, stories Teru had gathered throughout his long life, playing with Caramel - but those weren’t news. So what could have changed?

Well, there was only one way to find out. “Coming,” she said, placed down her book and made her way to the bedroom door. Once she’d stepped through, she saw Paige, Teru and Cole all gathered in the living room. She recalled overhearing some conversation before, but her mind was too engaged by the book to actually listen. And, well, eavesdropping was still rude.

“Hello,” Nella said, shyly waving a wing. Paige waved back, and Teru nodded. “So, um, what’s the news?”

Teru placed his tendrils on his hips and smiled. “Well, there is news, though I’m not sure how exciting you’ll find it,” he said. “But the gist is that, since Cole hasn’t seen any sign of the Tiger or cult activity for the past few days, I am ready to allow you to venture further away from the farm than before.”

“Oh!” Nella brought her claws to her chin. “That’s… good news. Yes, that’s good news.” She wasn’t sure how exciting it was, in particular. Relieving, yes, but she couldn’t quite see what new opportunities this would open up for them. Still, she didn’t want to be a wet blanket, and did what she could to feign a reaction of excitement.

Paige, though, clearly wasn’t feigning hers. “That’s not the best part, though!” she interjected. “It’s shroom and berry season!”

Nella tilted her head. “Shroom and… berry season?”

“The season for gathering mushrooms and berries!” Paige continued. “It started, like, two days ago, but we couldn’t go out gathering then. But now we can!”

“Oh,” Nella reacted, looking to Teru for a hint about whether or not she should share the woobat’s excitement. Cole didn’t seem to, at least. But did he get excited about anything?

Teru leaned back, still smiling. “I take it that you haven’t gone shroom or berry picking before,” he said. “But it can be quite exciting. Paige tells me it’s like a treasure hunt. If nothing else, it’s fresh air, and we could all use some more of it.” He furrowed his brow and glanced elsewhere. “‘We’ as in ‘you’, I mean. I don’t need to breathe.”

“But you have to be careful,” Cole spoke up, and Nella flinched - the crobat had stayed as still as a statue before this. “If you see any light or hear any noises from travellers, you have to scram. Fly back home. If it looks dire in any way, ditch whatever you gathered. The market price for mushrooms and berries isn’t anywhere near worth our safety.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Nella asked.

“I’ll be scouting where I normally scout,” Cole replied. “That would be east, towards Lepach. You’ll be going west. That way, if I end up seeing the Tiger, I can get back to you before him and get us all back to the house safely.” He nodded his head towards Teru. “And Teru will be there, too. If it comes down to it, he’ll distract the Tiger somehow, buying us more time.”

Nella frowned, looking at Teru. “That sounds dangerous,” she said. “Are you sure that’s… worth us getting some mushrooms and berries?”

“Don’t you worry about me,” Teru said. “I haven’t lived this long by being reckless.” He raised a tendril. “And it’s not just about a trip for mushrooms and berries - it’s about intel, too. If we happen to encounter this Leander, I’ll be able to disguise myself and watch him from a safe distance. I’m hoping that might give me some clue as to what he’s really here for.” He brought his tendrils behind his back. “And if Leander’s not there, I will still be looking out for any signs of cult activity. There’s only so much Cole can see from up high.”

“I see,” Nella said. She stood silent for a few seconds. “So… when would this trip happen?”

“At the earliest? Right now -- well, after some blood,” Teru replied. “But if you feel particularly tired, it can wait until tomorrow.”

Nella took a moment to think. She’d just finished a book, and the next thing on her list would have been to read another book, one that she’d already read through before. Twice.

No, she wanted to go outside and have a walk. Spend some relaxing time in the real world instead of a fictional one. And Paige… Paige clearly wanted to go now. She didn’t want to get in the way of her joy.

“I’m alright with going now,” Nella said. “After the blood, I mean.”

Teru nodded, smiling. “Then it’s time for some blood. You all sit tight while I get you some.”

All three vampires nodded, and the mismagius floated to the kitchen. Nella hadn’t even realized how hungry she’d gotten while reading. It’d happened many times before. Some things never changed, she supposed.

“So,” started Paige, startling Nella, “you’ve never gone shroom hunting or berry picking before?”

Nella shook her head. “Mother wouldn’t really let me in the woods,” she said. “Didn’t want me getting dirty.”

I still don’t, Mother’s voice added. Nella flicked her ear and pushed away the thought. She’d gotten better at it in the past few days, though the pang of guilt in her belly never fully went away.

“That’s a shame,” Paige said, though then frowned. “Or… that’s actually cool! This way, I get to teach you all about it! Like which mushroom and berries are poisonous, and how you know if the good ones are ripe. Or, hm, actually, don’t go picking any mushrooms yet. Mushroom poison is, like, way worse than berry poison, and a lot of dangerous mushrooms look really similar to the good ones. But I can smell the difference!” To make a point, she sniffed loudly with her large nose. “It’s funny, how I’m good at smelling and you’re good at hearing, being a noivern. But I don’t think hearing is gonna help with telling what’s edible and what’s not. But it’ll definitely help with making sure no one sees us! Let me know right away if you hear something in the distance, okay?”

“I -- um, yes, of course,” Nella replied once her brain caught up with the woobat’s words.

“Nice! Oh, and I guess Cole is really good at seeing. The three of us would make a really good team if we all had to go look for something!”

Nella nodded quickly, trying her best to keep up. She had a gradually strengthening feeling that this walk in the woods might not end up being so relaxing after all…

Or maybe it would. Maybe they wouldn’t bump into anything. Then again, that wasn’t down to just luck. That was partly -- no, largely Nella’s responsibility. She had to use those sensitive ears of hers and listen constantly so that no one could catch them by surprise. Oh, she really hoped she’d be up to the task. It sounded so simple, and yet she had a lifetime of memories of messing up the simplest of things…

“Blood’s ready!” Teru called out as he emerged from the kitchen. Nella’s thoughts immediately jumped back to how hungry she was. Maybe that meant that her worries were unfounded. That they couldn’t actually be important enough if they were overwritten by something as trivial as hunger.

Maybe. But she’d just have to find out later.

---​
 
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unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Hi Cani! Glad to finally get stuck back into this. I really loved these latest three chapters, and was delighted to find that there was so much new content this time around. Batty! is charming and sweet and sad and funny and fascinating, and I want more. Good fic, please update~

With that said, here is some more specific commentary:

Chapter Three:

Poor Nella really can't get a break from her chronic whump, can she? If it isn't the onset of vampirism, it's angst about losing her hopes and dreams, shame and mental self-abuse, verbal haranguings from her awful mother, or outright terror. This girl is in such a sorry emotional state. It absolutely tracks, though, and she's easy to root for as a protagonist.

Her mother, though. What an intolerable bird. No wonder Nella is like that – this kind of unceasing scrutiny and uncompromising domination would give anyone CPTSD. Bless Teru for calling her out, and holy shit what a based ghost for helping her out like that, even if the hypnosis was a little shocking. Nice one, man. Nice one. Genuine holy shit moment for me, and very satisfying. I like that it serves to make Nella even more ashamed and guilt-poisoned afterwards, because of course it does.

It does mark an exciting moment of change for Nella, though! She's having a hard time adjusting to the idea of being a vampire, and a hard time adjusting to being a vampire, but it's actually less about the supernatural element, really, than it's about leaving home and behaving in ways her mother wouldn't approve of. She's becoming her own person, she's becoming more assertive, she's becoming more of an adult. It's slow, halting progress, but I love to see it!

Chapter Four:

Man, she really is super horny for Leander, huh? Horny or not, he's a good source of multiple kinds of angst for her, which I enjoy, and now the situation is complicated by the introduction of the Cult of Lunala, in opposition to his ostensible faith. I enjoy that. There's a lot of potential here, and I'm excited to see how it might play out~

Nella drinks blood for the first time, and that's a significant moment indeed. I like the mundane, practical, reasonable feel of this vampire house. I like that she's being looked after and yet feels on edge all the time because of how she was raised. I enjoy that she pushes to get used to the blood sooner rather than later, I enjoy that she is determined to do it right, since she's always scolding herself for assorted weaknesses and hesitations. Her Mother braingremlin is absolutely awful, just as much as the real thing, and I enjoy seeing her push back against it, and yet buckle constantly to it. And yet, she is cursed to berate herself and feel like a burden and cover up her feelings. Oh, Nella.

I genuinely found her exchange with Paige about losing sunsets but gaining moonbows and suchlike really touching and beautiful. Paige is adorable, and the collected beautiful things that vampires get to appreciate was just the most lovely moment. I hadn't considered them before, and it's a particularly good example of all the careful thought you put into all your writing.

The Caramel scene was adorable, and while Nella's distress from the Mother braingremlin and from Paige's concern was genuinely heartbreaking, and her arguing back with her own intrusive thoughts was triumphant and wonderful, I couldn't help but find the idea of Cute Puby overwhelming a screeching brain bird kindof hilarious and I have drawn a shitpost illustrating this for you.

nella caramel screm.jpg

Chapter Five:

Wowee, what a nightmare. Seems terribly self-directed, despite ostensibly being about the other noivern. Like, she's terrified of being monstrous herself, I think. Anyway, your love of writing nightmares has paid off in excellent nightmare writing. Love how it turns suddenly to intense HORNY for Wulfric, bless her. Genuinely well-executed and kindof hysterically funny for being so Nella, in a way, although I did keep wondering if, being a nightmare to begin with, Wulfric would turn on her and strike her down for vampirism or something. Anyway, bless Teru for improving her sleep, she deserved a little handsome lucario husbando, as a treat.

Nella's such a goddamn workaholic. I think her stress and shame at not pulling her weight and just that whole scene was really well done. I was practically willing Teru to pull his 'seriously cut it out' shtick by the end there. Your writing of Nella's catastrophising and cognitive distortions is on point, and I'm delighted with the outcome here, and the possibility of further character development from here. Maybe even fully embracing her vampirism, and taking control of her life...

This was a great read, I'm hype for future chapters! Keep it up, Cani!
 
Part Six

canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
hey all, it's been a while, all thanks to my current slow mental breakdown. nevertheless, i just finished part 6. i hope youll enjoy. the rating for this chapter is teen with nothing specific to warn for.

---

Part Six

---​

“Berry, berry, berry, so merry, merry, merry…”

As Paige continued to whisper-chant her little song, Nella’s ears flicked irritably. Part of her wanted to ask Paige to stop, but the other part knew that the woobat’s volume was well below any dangerous threshold. Heck, her wingbeats were roughly as loud. It was a joy Paige could afford, and Nella didn’t want to be a killjoy. She followed Paige in silence, carrying three empty baskets in her claws.

“This way,” the woobat suddenly said, cutting short her song and swerving to the left off the forest trail and onto a smaller path. A few more paces in, she fluttered down beside the trunk of an oak and sniffed at the gangly yellow mushrooms growing by its root.

“Yep, they’re good ones,” Paige confirmed. Nella took some small leaps to catch up and then began gathering the mushrooms. The first basket got its first fillings. Nella frowned and decided to ask the question that had vaguely been on her mind.

“What kinds of berries are we looking for, by the way?” she started. “We went past a lot of blueberries and lingonberries that looked quite alright to me. Is it not their season yet?”

“Oh, no, it is,” Paige responded, waving a wing, “but we wanna get the mushrooms first and then the berries. That way, we’re not hauling around so much weight when we’re shroom-hunting, and we can get the berries on the way back.”

“Oohhh… of course,” Nella replied, feeling stupid. “That does make sense.”

“Some years you get a lot of shrooms and some years you get little,” Paige said as Nella continued to collect the yellow mushrooms. “And it’s only the beginning of the season, too. But it pays to be out early! That way, someone else doesn’t get to the best spots first.”

“Is there a lot of competition?” Nella asked, tilting her head.

“Beats me,” Paige said. “We don’t really have neighbors to talk to. But I like to be prepared. It shows that I’m really serious about this gathering stuff!”

Nella nodded, picking the last mushroom. She hoped she’d eventually end up finding some activity of her own that she could be as excited about.

They returned to the main path and soon fell into a routine - Paige would sniff out mushrooms and lead Nella to them, and Nella would pick them for her. As it became more familiar, Nella's thoughts began to wander. She thought about Lionhearted, Incineroar Arthur and - oh, not Leander again --

"Hold on!" Paige suddenly shouted, startling Nella. Her sniffing became more intense until, without warning, she zoomed ahead.

"Truffles!" she exclaimed, disappearing into the bush.

"H-hey, wait up!" shouted Nella, struggling to weave her way through the vegetation. She tried to follow the sound of Paige's wingbeats, but her own rustling made it difficult. Eventually, she came upon a clearing. She looked around, but Paige was nowhere to be found.

Oh Gods, I hope she's around here somewhere, she thought, still trying to listen for wingbeats. I can't afford to get lost on my own…

Then she heard them - wingbeats. They were somewhere ahead and to her right. She took the path that led that way and caught up to find something fluttering…

It was a zubat. A wild zubat.

It noticed her, turned around and chirped. Nella saw its long vampiric fangs and she recoiled, but the zubat made no moves to attack. Instead, it lingered for a second or two, then casually flew away.

Did it sense that I was already a vampire? Nella wondered, but couldn't dwell on it. She had to go back and try and find Paige.

She returned to the clearing, but couldn't find where she'd originally come from. She clacked her claws together for a moment, trying to decide what to do, until her ears caught something far away. Speech.

It was coming from the right. Nella re-entered the path from before and moved forth until she came upon a road. Dozens of body-lengths away were two travellers whose shapes Nella couldn't recognize from this far away. One carried a lantern. A regular lantern, not one dyed blue.

Nella gasped. She'd forgotten she was a vampire now. She couldn't meet other people.

She hid back into the bushes, intending to flee, until she recognized one of the travelers' voices.

"Are you sure?" asked the incineroar who'd been plaguing her thoughts for so long - Leander.

"Yes, a bleeding crescent," answered the other voice, a stranger to Nella. "Couldn't forget a detail like that after such a scare."

Nella made sure she was far enough in the bushes before crouching to eavesdrop. If Leander was here, here and not near Lepach, what was he doing? Was he… was he after them?

She needed to find out. If Leander was after them, she needed to warn the others. Oh, but how would she ever find them? How would she even find her way back to the farmhouse?

The light of the lantern grew brighter as Leander and the other mon approached. Nella took some slow steps back --

The claws of her right foot caught on a tree root, and she found herself without her balance - and tumbled to the ground.

"What was that?" the stranger's voice hissed, panicked. "I-i-is it another one of them?"

"I'll find out for you," Leander said. The light brightened. Nella's heart pounded.

"Stranger!" Leander called out. "Show yourself!"

Oh no, oh no, Nella thought to herself. Should she show herself? She was a vampire. But did she look like one? From afar, she didn't. So maybe she should --

"Show yourself, or I will come over there and see for myself!"

Nella flinched. If he came close…

"A-alright!" she squeaked. "I-I'll show myself! But please, don't attack me!"

A short silence came. "Alright, we will not attack," Leander announced. "Now, come out to the road."

Nella gulped. Her ears began closing up. She -- if things went south, she might have to bellow…

But if she calmed the situation, there wouldn't be a need for that. She scrambled to her feet and weaved her way back onto the road, trembling with each step. Once her eyes met Leander's, his ears perked.

Nella's heart threatened to burst out of her chest. Could he tell she was a vampire? Or did he just --

"Nella," he breathed.

He recognized her. He recognized her from all those days ago.

"You two know each other?" asked the other traveller - a bibarel.

"Well, we've only met once," Leander said, "but there's been talk of her in the town." He looked to Nella. "Your mother says you've eloped?"

Blood rushed to Nella's nose, and she covered her mouth with a wing. "I, um…"

Leander chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm not going to drag you back to Lepach."

Nella lowered her wing. "...You're not?"

Leander shook his head. "I know what it's like to have overbearing family. I'm sure you're doing what's best for you."

"Oh." Nella looked down at her claws. "Thank you. That's kind of you."

"But I do want you to know something," Leander continued, and Nella looked back up at him. "It's dangerous to be out at night. There's a nasty disease going around that bat pokémon can catch. It's spread by infected wild zubat. I wouldn't want you to catch it."

"R-right," Nella got out. Clearly, Leander couldn't tell she was a vampire now, even with the light of the bibarel's lantern.

"I'd feel better knowing you were in safe company," Leander said. "Could I ask you to accompany us for a while?"

Nella blanched. "Umm…"

Well, what would she say? The safer option would have been to decline, but… if Leander couldn't tell what she was, she'd be safe with him, right? And she'd actually be able to talk with him, find out what his plans are. Something that would greatly benefit Teru and the others. A way for her to give back. And she couldn't deny that Leander's gentle gaze was not easy to say no to…

"Sure," Nella said before her senses could stop her. "I-I could take a break from gathering."

"So that's what you were doing," Leander remarked, eyeing her baskets as they all began to walk forth. "Helping out your fellow eloper?"

Nella flinched. "Uh, well…"

Leander raised a palm. "No need to answer if you're not comfortable. Just making conversation."

"No, no, it's…" Nella's nose flushed. "It's not quite like that. I'm not eloping with a man. I'm just… getting some distance. From my life. And my mother."

Leander nodded. "I understand. My own family has its own set of rules that I've found rather unreasonable. I've taken many an excursion to be able to break some of them in peace."

Nella's ears perked. "Like what?"

"Like… no women," Leander replied. "But I'm too much of a lover."

I'll say, Nella thought, remembering the gardevoir. The memory was a spray of cold water.

"I did see you with a gardevoir that one night," she said, but Leander let out an amused huff.

"That didn't go anywhere," he said. "She was too vain." He looked into Nella's eyes, catching her off guard. "Nothing like you."

Nella nearly tripped at those words. "You think so?"

"Well, that's the impression I got," he said. "Am I wrong?"

"Oh, no -- I mean, um…" Her nose was burning up. She had to look away. His gaze was so captivating, it felt dangerous.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologised. "I didn't mean to pry. Oh, what a hypocrite I am," he said, tapping his forehead, "judging people right after complaining about my family." Nella caught a glimpse of the bibarel rolling his eyes. "They're the ones that want me to do it. Another one of their rules, really." He shook his head.

Nella tilted her head. "Your family wants you to be judgmental?"

"Pretty much," Leander said. "And I'd rather not be that way. It sows the seeds of hate. I'd much rather help those that have fallen on the wrong path than arch my back and hiss at them."

Nella blinked. Could he be talking about vampires?

Suddenly, the bibarel stopped. "Alright," he said, "I'm sorry, but that's enough. I'm losing livestock here to some strange cult and you two are flirting? White Tiger, please, I implore you to take this more seriously."

Leander stopped, a surprised look on his face. In a moment, however, he found his composure and responded.

"You're right, Mr. Bibarel," he said. "I got carried away. I apologize." He took a bow. "Please, do tell more about your livestock."

The bibarel huffed. "That's more like it."

Nella quickly felt unwelcome. Even if the conversation was something she would benefit from hearing, it was none of her business. And if she was too pushy, that'd be suspicious in its own right…

"I-I think I should go," she said. "Um…" She turned to Leander, gazing into his blue eyes - Gods, he was so gorgeous. "Thank you for your concern, but I can make my way home safely by myself. I should give you two your privacy."

"Oh," voiced Leander, appearing disappointed but understanding. "Alright, Miss Nella. Do stay safe, then."

Nella nodded, heading for the bushes, but a fee last words from Leander stopped her.

"Do you suppose I'll ever see you again?" he asked, and Nella's heart jumped to her throat. "I'd very much like to."

"Um…" Nella turned around, heart pounding hard enough to make it difficult to breathe. He still wants to see me again. Maybe I still have --

No,
she reminded herself, no, I'm a vampire now. It could never work between us.

Or could it?
another voice inside her asked. Maybe he did mean vampires with his prior remark. Maybe he's open minded. And even if he wasn't and this relationship could never work out, it would still be useful to have contact with him, right? You could tell the others what Leander's up to. Pay them back for their hospitality, like you wanted.

"Miss Nella?"

Nella flinched as she returned to the present. "Um, well…" she started. "We'll just have to see, I suppose."

Leander smiled and nodded. "Alright, then. Farewell for now, Miss Nella."

"Farewell, Le- um, Mr. Incineroar."

With that, she slipped into the forest path between the bushes and slunk away. A dozen steps later, she pressed herself against a tree and looked back. She only saw the lantern's light, and even that was fading. She realized how her skin was starting to tingle. A consequence of prolonged exposure to low-intensity light, she guessed.

Then, she heard something from the woods. Wingbeats. Approaching. Nella gulped and held her baskets closer as the noise came closer and closer and --

"Nella!" hissed a familiar voice, and Nella recognized a familiar pale silhouette. Paige. Nella sighed with relief. She stood still as the woobat fluttered to her.

"Yes, it's me," Nella responded, and Paige sighed.

"Oh, thank the Gods, I was so freaked out," Paige said. "I'm so glad I found you. I'm sorry I ran off like that, I'll never do it again."

"Oh, no, i-it was my fault," Nella argued. "I should have kept up."

"No, it was me, I'm sure. But…" Paige shook her head. "Let's not dwell on that right now. Let's just go home."

That was something Nella could agree with. She nodded, and the two headed homewards - a direction Paige apparently knew. She must have moved around here before.

On their way back, Nella almost brought up having met Leander, but two things stopped her. First, Paige seemed shaken up enough as is, and second, she wasn't sure how much she should tell. She didn't think Paige really kept secrets from Teru, and she knew Teru had a very negative view of the White Tigers. He'd surely say that Nella meeting Leander again would be far too dangerous and not let her leave the farmhouse unsupervised anymore. Even though Leander hadn't noticed her vampirism at all…

Nella shook her head. She shouldn't tell him that they'd actually met - it'd be better if she only said she'd eavesdropped.

For the rest of the journey home, she didn't speak a word.

---​

Teru had frozen.

“You saw the White Tiger?” he repeated.

Nella nodded, uncertain at just how shocked the mismagius had become. “Yes,” she said, “and while I was hiding, I overheard --”

“Hiding?” Teru interrupted, now zooming up right up to Nella and causing the noivern to stumble back. “Didn’t I tell you to flee at any sign of other travellers?”

Nella blanched. He had said that, hadn’t he. “Well, yes, but… but they were too close,” she tried, “and if I’d fled, they would have noticed me --”

“They would have thought you were just a feral,” Teru interrupted again. “You should have run away!”

“B-but I had baskets. Ferals don’t carry --”

“I also told you to leave the baskets if anything like this would happen,” Teru pressed on, and Nella remembered again that Teru had indeed said so. She flattened back her ears.

“I-I’m sorry,” she mumbled, and she was, but she did not regret what she had done.

Silence fell over the living room. In a few moments’ time, Teru sighed.

“Alright, tell me what you overheard,” he said. “I still want to know.”

Nella raised her gaze from the floor. She’d been waiting for this. “Well,” she said, “Leander is definitely looking into the cult matter. The farmer he was talking to was saying something about his livestock and having seen a symbol of a bleeding crescent moon. Leander seemed to be familiar with it.”

Teru crossed his tendrils. “I see,” he said. He turned to stare at the blue lantern on the table. “Well, that’s partially good, partially bad. Good in that he might find that cult and put and end to it, bad in that he is out for vampire blood - or ashes, really.”

Nella’s ear flicked. “Actually…” she began.

“Hm? ‘Actually’ what?” asked Teru.

Nella thought again about what she was about to say. What she had heard was in no way solid evidence that Leander didn’t hate all vampires, and it was something that she would have been unlikely to overhear in a conversation between him and some farmer. Teru might realize that she’d actually met and spoken with Leander after all.

She decided not to say it. “Nevermind. I realized I said it already.”

“Oh, alright.” Teru sighed again, then turned back to Nella and Paige. “You probably already realize that this means both of you have to stay indoors again.”

“Aww,” Paige voiced. “That means no berry or shroom hunting.”

“I’ll keep trying to spy on the White Tiger with Cole,” Teru said. “Now nearer Wingtown than Lepach, if I know your path right. We’ll keep you posted on whatever we find out.”

Both girls nodded, and so did Cole.

“Alright, that’s enough of that for now,” said Teru, floating into the kitchen. “It’s high time for some blood!”

Nella’s ears perked - she had really gotten thirsty. Her attention, however, was quickly taken by Paige as the woobat hopped next to her.

“How come you didn’t tell me about the Tiger?” she asked, seeming hurt.

Nella’s belly twisted with a little guilt. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just didn’t want you to worry.”

“Okay…”

Paige said nothing more, only hopping back to the other corner of the table. Soon enough, Teru emerged with bowls of blood, and the crew had their dinner. Afterwards, Nella drew herself to her room - well, her and Paige’s. She looked to her bed and saw her closed copy of Lionhearted. She sighed.

But if things go well, she thought, reality might become a bit more like that book.

---​

Nella knew when her best and only opportunity was to see Leander again, and that was during one of Teru and Cole’s scouting sessions. Tonight was only the second time, but she knew she couldn’t wait longer, becoming more and more vampiric by the day. Her teeth had even loosened more since last time, though still hadn’t fallen away. She hoped they’d stay there for just a few days more.

As always, Paige was in their room, working on some notes and sketches for her story. Nella told her she’d be by the lake for a while, and Paige didn’t protest. The lake was still within the bounds of the property, so Teru didn’t mind them spending time there - at least not for long.

The weather was not ideal. Thick clouds blanketed the sky, rolling along with the stark wind, and in the distance, Nella could hear thunder. Nevertheless, she took a running start and took off into the swirling air. As a noivern, she was heavy enough to keep her balance and direction, but someone like Paige might not have been able.

She ascended on a column of warm air and began searching for any lone lights in the woods. She had no light source of her own, hoping the darkness would shroud her from Cole’s sharp eyes if she happened upon the same region.

Oh, wait - what if Teru and Cole found Leander first? Or found him when she was talking to him?

Nella’s flight wavered, but she forced herself to stabilize. If it happened, it happened. Teru could yell at her later. She simply had to take this chance. It might just make everything alright - her life, her new family’s life, the lives of any future vampires as they were accepted into Lepach with the blessing of a White Tiger. It was ambitious, and that was new for Nella, but so were a lot of other recent things. Her new circumstances required her to adapt.

As she got further and further from the farmhouse, she got more nervous, though she'd thought ahead this time and brought along a map in the little bag she carried. She hoped she'd be able to follow it home.

After thirty minutes of uneasy flight, she finally spotted a solitary light in the woods down below. She swerved down, slowing her speed, and took a closer look. Indeed, it looked to be Leander with a lantern in his hand. Nella took a deep breath. Here goes.

"Mr. Incineroar!" Nella called out, causing the figure in the dark to turn to her. His shoulders relaxed as he recognized the landing noivern.

"Dear me, Nella, you startled me," Leander said, bringing his free hand to his chest. "What brings you here? More gathering?"

Nella froze. She hadn't thought of an excuse for her visit. "Uh, n-no, just out for a flight," she stuttered.

"Well, then, it's fortunate that we bumped into one another," Leander said. "I was wondering when I'd meet you again."

Nella’s nose blushed. A man taking interest in her still proved exhilarating each time.

“So, Nella,” Leander continued, “why don’t you tell me more about yourself? I’m eager to know.”

“Oh! Alright, though there’s not much to tell,” Nella replied. “I’m a waitress -- or, I was a waitress, and I lived alone in a small rental apartment…”

She told him quite a lot of things. She told him more about her job, her mother, her interests, and amazingly enough he seemed to listen intently. After minutes of talking, she found herself sharing details that she probably shouldn’t, like how her father was a conman that left her mother while she was pregnant, but with Leander patiently listening, it seemed natural to tell everything. Everything up until the night she was turned, of course.

“That’s terrible,” Leander reacted. “Did your mother raise you all on her own?”

“She had help from her family,” Nella answered, “but it was mostly her, yes.”

Leander looked into the distance. “I was lucky to have both my parents,” he said, “even if they were quite strict.”

“How so?”

He looked into her eyes, and their walking pace slowed. “In my lineage,” he started, “all white litten are to be raised a certain way. We, the White Tigers, have a duty to protect others, and training starts already at childhood. And the rules don’t stop once you’re grown up.”

“You mentioned that before,” Nella said. “The last time we met.”

Leander nodded. “Of course, I also told you that I break some rules each now and then.”

“Like lovers,” Nella said, and Leander chuckled in response.

“Yes, true, but there are also other things.”

“Like what?”

“Well…” Leander tilted his head. “We White Tigers are supposed to protect the populace from… all sorts of threats,” he said, avoidant. “Like wild mon that are attacking the livestock. But I’ve found myself not wanting to dispose of these dangers plenty of times. They’re only following their instincts, doing what they were meant to do. I don’t think they should die for that.”

Nella’s fur bristled. He must be talking about vampires now, she thought.

“Still, it’s usually them or the livestock, and I have my duty,” Leander said, defeated. “If only we could talk things out… but it just doesn’t work like that.”

With a cult, the attackers must be very loyal to their masters, Nella thought. He probably hasn’t met a friendly vampire yet. That means I can change him!

“You’re such a kind soul,” she said, earning another gentle look from the incineroar. “You shouldn’t be forced to kill.”

Leander smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “You seem very kind yourself.”

He stopped walking, and so did Nella. He stepped closer. Nella’s hair stood on end. What is he thinking of?

“You’re very beautiful, you know,” Leander said, grasping Nella’s hand with his own. Chills ran down her spine. “Would it be out of line for me to kiss you?”

Nella’s nose became tamato red. Her thoughts ran wild. “N-no,” she got out. “P-please do, Mr. Incineroar.”

“Please, call me Leander,” the incineroar whispered, drawing closer to Nella’s face. His velvet fur had never looked softer, his blue eyes never kinder.

Is this it? Nella thought, chest pounding. My first kiss? Oh, I hope I’m doing this right…

Their lips approached each other, and Leander tilted his head slightly. Nella did the same in the opposite direction - they had to make sure their noses didn’t collide. She could already feel his warm breath. It felt hotter than any other breath she’d felt - was it because he was fire-type, or was it because she was so caught in the moment?

Finally, their lips met, pressing onto one another. Leander’s broad tongue slipped forth into her slightly ajar mouth --

A taste of blood spread across her tongue as his pushed her loose canine tooth back. He must have tasted it too as he pulled back with a worried look on his face. Nella’s heartbeat surged.

“What’s that?” he asked. “I tasted blood. Are you hurt?”

“Um, i-it’s nothing,” Nella insisted, turning around and grabbing her tooth to put it back in place -- but instead, it came loose. More blood followed. Oh no.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing,” Leander said, stepping past her to see what she was hiding. “Is that your…”

Suddenly, he froze. Nella saw the kindness drain from his eyes. It was replaced by dread.

“You’re…” he gasped. He stepped back. Without warning, he raised his lantern right up to Nella’s face. She recoiled away. Oh, no, no, no, no.

“You’re a vampire,” Leander hissed, and Nella’s blood turned to ice.

“W-wait!” Nella shouted, blood sputtering out of her gums. “I’m not like the others!”

Leander’s expression steeled. “To think I fell for your deception…”

“It wasn’t my intention!” she cried. “I mean, yes, I was hiding it, but that’s because I was afraid! I was going to tell you eventually --”

“Silence!” Leander roared, and Nella cowered back. He reached for the dagger on his belt and took it.

Nella gasped. “No, there’s no need for that! I-I’m different! I’m not hurting anyone!”

“Spare me your lies, demon!” he shouted, driving a metaphorical stake through her heart. It might not be metaphorical next time, her brain told her.

“Demon?” Nella whispered. “I’m the same Nella you met at the restaurant. I haven’t changed!”

“Don’t sully her memory, you vile thing!” Leander yelled, and his fur on his arms began to glow. It was blinding to look at, and Nella hissed at the loss of her sight. Pressure quickly began to build up in her ears. Leander’s next words were already muffled.

“She died the moment she was bitten!” he shouted. How close was he? Was he raising the blade? Was he about to kill her?

She had to defend herself. It was do or die. She remembered her promise, her promise never to bellow again, but it was in vain - she couldn’t afford to be a lady at this moment. She was a cornered animal.

He shouted something else, but the pressure was too high to hear it. It begged to burst. It even hurt to keep it there. So she let her instincts take over and she opened her mouth and she --

SKREEE-O-RO-RO-RO-RO-RO!

Her throat burned and her lungs ached. While her poor eyes still wanted to stay shut, she squinted in Leander's direction to see his glowing figure on the ground. He was immobilized. Her chance to escape was now.

She turned around and ran along the length of the road they'd been so merrily travelling only a minute ago. She flapped her wings until the ground beneath her disappeared, and she flew up into the dark sky.

Tap, tap. Droplets came down on her body. It was raining now. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She looked down, but everything was dark and hazy. Where would she find a safe place to rest? She couldn’t look at her map right now, not that it would have helped her. She simply kept flying.

In a minute or two, her thoughts finally calmed down enough to make sense. Her first response was to cry.

Teru had been right. Leander was just like the rest of the White Tigers. He didn’t think vampires were people. She’d been so stupid to think otherwise.

She noticed her skin was tingling. Probably a reaction to the light from Leander and his lantern. She hoped it wouldn’t be too visible. Teru might realize she’d been around someone otherwise. If she even made it back to the farmhouse, that was…

The sky flashed with a loud CRACK! Lightning had struck somewhere above her. It was definitely not safe to fly. She definitely needed to land and find shelter.

Still sniffling, she lowered her altitude, trying to tell open land apart from wooded areas, but it was difficult. Everything was dark. Maybe she’d just go for it.

She slowed her forward momentum and flapped in place, falling more or less vertically. The dark ground approached. She noticed she was on top of a few spruces a little too late. She fell onto their highest branches, thankfully not hard, but her landing was not a pretty one as she slid down the trees and fell the last two meters. She grunted and pulled herself upright. Everything was still more or less black. She used her wingtips to feel for a path and followed one.

The forest floor was wet and muddy. Nella could distantly hear her mother’s complaints as she made her way forward with no regard for cleanliness. Outside that, she heard the rain pouring down and not much else. She --

Her foot caught something in the dark, and she lost her balance, falling face first into the mud. She whimpered. What a mess she was…

…wait. Did she hear footsteps?

She got up, looked behind her and noticed a small, blue light. Like the lanterns at the farmhouse. Was it Teru?

“Teru?” she called out. “Teru, is that you?”

The blue light got stronger. Whoever carried it was approaching. It was… it was not Teru.

“Are you alright?” asked a voice - an unfamiliar one. It was female, older. The speaker’s silhouette looked draconic. She had other mon with her.

“I-I’m lost,” Nella answered, wondering whether or not these people were safe. They carried a blue lantern, so at least light wouldn’t be a problem… but why would their lantern be blue?

The female stepped closer. “Are you… nightfolk?”

Nella paused. Nightfolk… like a vampire? Were they vampires?

“If you are, don’t worry,” the female continued. “We are, too. And we can help.”

Nella nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m nightfolk.”

“Then come with us, dear,” the female said, and Nella saw what she was - an older noivern wearing a hooded cloak. “We’ll bring you to shelter.”

“Thank you,” Nella said, and the group began to move. She followed. In the light of the lantern, she was finally starting to see again. She eyed the other members of the group - a golbat, a gligar, a swoobat. All bat mon, wearing these cloaks. And on the chest of these cloaks, she saw…

…sigils of a bleeding moon.

---​
 
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unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
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Here's a mini blitz review for Chapter Six~

Oh, man, this one went off to a great start. The suspense when Nella is caught was actually delicious, though I was sure it work out more or less how it did, it pays to remind our protagonist just how much danger she could be in. The contrast of Leander going on about being too much of a lover, holy shit. The sound I made at that line. I can just imagine Nella relaxing as he reassures her and then making such a face at that line. Perfect. The cynical part of me wonders if his very obvious advances are in fact a deliberate trap, but I don't want to believe that. I like this awkward, polite, altruistic fella who is nonetheless absolutely terrifying for poor Nella in the specific context of this moment.

Teru's insistence that she should have handled the situation differently strikes a good balance. Oftentimes when a protagonist is chewed out like this, either the protag feels unreasonable, or the guardian figure does. In this case it's easy to sympathise with both. (Similarly, it's easy to see how Nella would believe that Leander's remorse about killing ferals would mean he'd sympathise with her, without it feeling contrived that in fact he does not.)

Leander's dreamy ideal interested polite moral heroic vibes feel like they're gonna be another dream sequence bait and switch, but no, no. He's really like this. Astonishing.

But then comes blood, revelation, accusations, fear, violence.

Go on and break my heart a little more, won't you?

sigils of a bleeding moon

Yeah okay that works :'D

Hype for the next one, distraught for this sweet noivern gal.
 
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