Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[TheGOAT]

“No doubt,” Astrid said, nodding tersely and raising a clenched paw. “I’ve got this huge lump in my chest about it, I gotta admit… but I like our chances too. I’m ready to give it all I’ve got.”

She glanced off to the wayside, towards that fancy-looking park again. Once more, she’d grown antsy to check it out—not that she would leave Brisa alone here. She was eager not to let their chance encounter end just yet. And it was just the two of them.

“Hey Brisa. Ever been to the park?” Her eyes sparkled; it took a considerable effort not to beg outright. “Wannaaaa explore?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa cocked her head and perked her ears.

"I've been fer a walk there of a quiet night or two, sure. Ain't seen much of it in the light, though. ...Ain't explored it with a friend, neither."

She smiled. "Shall we?"

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid grinned so wide that she flashed her fangs. “We shall.”

They began to walk, side by side, and wow, Astrid was so happy for it. She likened the dome above to rolling clouds across a blue sky, just for the atmosphere it would bring. Indeed, she would pretend if she had to. No problem. She’d pretend everything was fine if it meant that this quality time wouldn’t be stolen from her. The universe could spare the two of them these fleeting moments of peace.

The park stretched on for what felt like light years, obfuscated only by the trees lining the walkways and dotting the fields. Astrid loved it. It was so open—like the Colosseum. So open. Even the walkways, in all their multicolored glory, caught her by surprise with how expansive they got up close. It was designed that way for the Legends, she assumed.

“Whatcha wanna do together?” she finally said, still beaming. It didn’t seem like her attitude would change regardless of Brisa’s answer. And it hardly mattered anyway, because she kept talking. “…Ooh! I could teach you how to ice skate? These walkways are perfect.

“…Ahh, well, that might be too much. F-for, y’know, right before the battle. So, maybe we could just sit and talk?” Astrid squinted at something a long ways behind Brisa, visible in a gap between the walkway trees. “…Or. Or we can check out”—she pointed and grinned wider—“that huge tree at the center of the park!”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa smiled to herself as Astrid's mad excitement continued. Sometimes it seemed the gal just had radiance in her blood, so earnest and eager all the time as she was. It was . . . not charming, so much as reassuring. That joy was still possible. That she could have fun, so long as they were together.

"Y'know . . . I bet the view from up there is somethin' else," said Brisa, her mouth slowly splitting into a wide grin.

Don't think about work, Brisa. Just enjoy how much Astrid wants to spend time together. How much you want to be with her.

The tree looked like an easy enough climb for her, all things considered. She was a mountain luxio, after all.

"C'mon, let's get up there," said Brisa. "Y'can teach me to skate next time."

 

[TheGOAT]

The walkways would not take them there, but the fields would. Beautiful. They were trimmed to perfection and seemed to stretch on for miles, even though it wasn’t quite that far to the tree.

Astrid rapidly picked up speed. They fell into a steady jog, side by side once more. Not unlike when they’d raced along the beach. Not unlike when they’d raced into battle, time and time again.



thanks Chibi :)

But things were—somehow—simpler this time. Not life and death, not quite yet. Not even a friendly competition. This time they were just enjoying the moment for all it was worth, the death above be damned. Their speed picked up further. They were too alive to care.

Astrid had seen how Brisa had lit up when she saw her, and how she talked. When had she ever been treated this way? Where had that one friend been who she could dash across fields with and talk about girl stuff with because it was fun? It made her heart feel…

She glanced back at Brisa, who glided across the grass at her flank. Briefly, eye contact was made.

I hope you’re having as much fun as I am, Brisa. Thank you.

She lingered on that for a long while, right up until they reached the tree. Initially, Astrid gaped at its size. What a climb this would be! Her paws weren’t designed for this and she knew it. But she was already drawing a line from branch to branch, mentally charting how she’d start the journey.

“I bet it’ll get flakier near the top, but these lower branches look more solid.” Astrid figured most of the ones closest to the ground were thicker than her entire body. She nudged her friend playfully. “Taking a wild guess that you’re a good climber? Mmm?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The way Astrid looked at her sometimes... It was almost as if– She shut the thought out. Just enjoy it. Enjoy the casual physical contact. Enjoy how happy she is to be with you. Enjoy how happy you are. For once.

"Uh, yeah. I'm used to cliffside scree more'n aboreal climbin', but yeah. Let me go ahead, I'll find you a good path. Maybe y'can glean somethin' of my technique!"

She began her ascent confidently, and found that while it wasn't quite like a cliffside, in some ways it was less challenging. She felt Astrid's eyes on her as she gripped each hold in her ascent, going slowly to test the climb for a novice climber with a different body. Yeah. Astrid could pull this off for sure. With each leg of the journey, she turned and watched Astrid follow in her pawholds, ready to catch her with an Arrest if need be. She never did.

At last, they reached the top, or at least a solid branch near enough to the apex of the canopy. Brisa took a seat with a satisfied grin, and looked to her friend, and out across the city.

"Hey, check out that goddamn view, partner!"

It was surely less pleasant than it ought to be, under the blacklight, but it was still more than impressive. From her perch in the massive tree, she could see people going about their lives, even in these conditions, each of them with a tiny purpose, each of them with as many concerns and cares as anyone else. Destiny Village wasn't designed from the ground, but from this kind of view, looking down, seeing how everything connected, or ought to, in a world where you couldn't be alone.

For a moment, Brisa felt she understood why some folks loved cities.

"Hey. Astrid. Let's come back up here after th'fight, see what it looks like in real sunlight, huh? Would ya like that?"

 

[TheGOAT]

Some far-off instinct called to Astrid as she made her first jump, reminding her of her birthplace. Of climbing across frozen rocks to survive, or do what young little Vulpix like her did. How far she’d come since then.

Her Expedition Society skills would be much better here. For years, she’d had a mountain range in her backyard. But this was not quite the same. Not for her lanky body or her nine flowing tails, which, at first, seemed to have a penchant for catching on anything they could every time she leapt. A few jumps in, Astrid stopped briefly to tuck them into one another, as she’d done a few times in the past for similar inconvenient situations. Then she looked up, and—

Brisa was still making steady progress, now several jumps ahead. As she jumped again, Astrid flinched at the sheer distance she was willing to attempt, briefly drawing in a breath to call her name. But Brisa never faltered. She only glided like a bird from branch to branch, like she wasn’t even touching them.

Wow…

Feeling overwhelmingly inspired, Astrid extended a paw, shut her eyes, and clenched.

Strength flowed through her body. Her tails suddenly weren’t so cumbersome after all, and the lingering ache in her chest? Gone, for now.

At once, Astrid abandoned her branch for the next. And the next. Energy flowed through her as she tailed her friend, gaining on her here and there and ultimately catching up at the end. She’d pushed herself hard to do it. Really hard.

"Hey. Astrid. Let's come back up here after th'fight, see what it looks like in real sunlight, huh? Would ya like that?"

“Yeah! Yeah, I would love that. Maaaybe this could be like, our ‘spot!’” Astrid took in the horizon once more. “Not that it’s bad right now, either. I guess, in a weird sort of way, this view we’re looking at is unique. We’ll never see anything exactly like this again. Even if it’s not how we’d like things to look, it’s still…”

Astrid’s voice had fallen to a whisper, then trailed off. She frowned, appearing unsure how to finish, and shifted tentatively towards her friend. Her expression had hardened, save only for her eyes.

“Hey, um. Brisa? Can… I confess something to you?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa marvelled at Astrid, a gal with sparkling eyes who looked at a view like this and thought this is unique. A moment, and a memory, all their own and unlike any other. A place they could return to and recall this experience, when things were better. 'Ours.'

Sky and stars. She really did love Astrid.

Brisa? Can… I confess something to you?

Wind and weather and wilderness this was the moment if there was ever gonna be one. Brisa's heart was galloping. Not for the first time, she cursed her collection of dreadful romance novels back home for getting her fucking hopes up. She didn't dare believe that Astrid was about to say what she wanted Astrid to say. Fuck. Fuck...

"Yeah, Astrid? I, uh . . . I'm listenin'. What is it?"

 

[TheGOAT]

“Sometimes… I get mixed feelings about everything that’s happened to us.

“I’ll sit down to study this world’s history, or I’ll go out to train, or try to do anything at all related to this mission, and I just… I can’t. I can’t get myself to do it. I can’t be motivated because I’d be working towards the thing that will separate me from the best purpose I’ve ever had in my life, a-and from the best friends I’ve ever made. And—” she looked up, right at Joule’s stationary glow. “How silly is that?

“I mean, we’re here from our own worlds to save Cibus from the Blacklight and go home, right? We all knew that from the start. It was easy back then, but…” She shifted in place and spoke matter-of-factly. “Without the Blacklight, we wouldn’t have ever met. None of us would have. It wouldn’t have even been possible. And, when it’s over, when we win, we just leave.”

She managed a chuckle, but it didn’t last. The pressure in her forehead threatened to burst.

“…I’m scared, Brisa. I’m scared to leave. I-I’m scared of getting paralyzed in battle at a pivotal moment because of it. There are too many lives at stake for that. It’s stupid, i-it’s selfish… but it’s how I feel! This heartache won’t go away because I know all of this is just… temporary. And my heart is too weak to accept that right now.”

So much for the good vibes in our final hours.

Astrid took a deep breath and let it exhale slowly. “I just wanted my best friend to know. If we die, or if we win, I wanted someone to know how I felt.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

She felt silly, stupid, and selfish for expecting something else (because of course she got her hopes up) but this . . . this was heavy. Astrid couldn't have told anyone else this. She'd brought Brisa up here to confide in her. This was . . . special. And Brisa mustn't let her friend down.

Brisa listened carefully to everything the ninetales was saying, and found herself nodding along, humming or even wincing in sympathy and agreement. Hadn't she told people months ago that she didn't want to leave when they were done here? And for all she knew, it wouldn't be long now. This was all painfully familiar.

(She tried not to read into that word, heartache. Astrid wouldn't mean what Brisa would mean by it.)

“I just wanted my best friend to know. If we die, or if we win, I wanted someone to know how I felt.”

Brisa bit her lip. Oh...

"Thanks fer tellin' me, Astrid," she said, as softly as she could. "I hope it helps t'hear that I . . . feel pretty similarly myself. I wanna stay, after all this is over. I don't wanna part ways, or say goodbye. After this fight... I wanna win fer th'sake of this world, sure, but what I'm lookin' forward to ain't victory . . . it's more time with the people I've come to care about, and who care about me."

She took a painful breath, her chest aching.

"More time with you."

 

[TheGOAT]

“I wanna spend more time with you too,” Astrid whispered. “I wanna…”

What was that? It was so faint; only for a split second had Astrid caught Brisa hesitate, but she was sure of it. Her face was difficult to read—oop, and now they’d made eye contact. Were currently making. And it was sticking there.

“Hey. I-if you’re worried about me, you don’t have to be! You should be worried about…” No, that wasn’t it. She could tell. Astrid moved closer and delicately doubled down on the eye contact. “Brisa, what’s up?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa was certain that Astrid only thought of her as a friend, but... A moment like this? It seemed so possible. So easy to break the tension, if she could only justify it. Oh, it was agony not to know if telling her how she felt would make everything better, or only ruin it. She didn't want to ruin this, even if it hurt.

The worst part was, she had the bravery to come clean and talk it out, as she'd nearly done that one time just before Astrid evolved, but... With Joule approaching, it just wasn't safe to risk throwing Astrid off her game for the fight. But this couldn't go on like this forever. She'd have to find a way to eat her feelings for good, and if that meant getting them off her chest in front of Astrid afterwards, so be it.

Brisa somehow endured the physical closeness and the eye contact without the dam breaking.

"There's somethin' else weighin' on my heart," she explained, voice steady, "an' I wanna tell you about it, Astrid. But it's gotta wait until after we beat Joule. I ain't about t'rush it. ...That okay, partner?"

Her heart felt like it was bleeding in her chest. Oh, sky and stars...

 

[TheGOAT]

So there was something. But as Astrid worked herself up to press further—she had to make sure her friend was okay!—the finality in Brisa’s tone gave her second thoughts. It didn’t seem like she’d change her mind.

Briefly, very briefly, fear struck Astrid’s heart. What if she can’t be friends with me anymore? What if she doesn’t want to get attached because our time is so short?

But, no, that didn’t sound right. Didn’t sound like Brisa. Astrid stared deeper into the Luxio’s eyes—a syrupy yellow that reflected the gray and purple monotony above. She wanted to see those same eyes reflect the sun and clouds on a beautiful day, like she had many times before on their outings together. They did end up in this position quite often, huh? As their staring drew on, Astrid knew, for a fact, it would happen again soon. After the battle, yes, they would come back here sometime. After the battle…

“Okay.” It was only a fleeting impulse that sent her forward, foreleg snaking around Brisa’s shoulder. Uninterested in a jagged, awkward quadruped hug, Astrid instead shifted adjacent to Brisa and wrapped her tails most of the way around her body. Feeling invigorated, she purred, “Whatever it is, I hope you feel better about it. Wait, that’s not super helpful, so… how about this.

“Whatever it is, no matter what, I promise to help you with it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just you and me. I have faith in you, partner.”

Maybe that would give her heart some rest in the meantime.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa let Astrid embrace her, and wrapped her own tail around some of the nine now holding her. She stiffened for a moment as her heart burst, and a couple of tears broke free, to be wiped dry at once, and then relaxed into her friend's body, grateful beyond measure for the comfort.

Heartache or no, Astrid's friendship was precious, and she would always be grateful for it. She knew, the two of them really could take on anything.

"That means a hell of a lot t'me, Astrid," she said, quietly. "'Cause I got faith in you too."

<><><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

"This place is really relaxing in twilight, huh?" Cal asked, swishing her newly Charmeleon tail left and right. She glanced at Luz, doing her absolute best not to look at Destiny Tower in the distance. "I know we don't usually hang around here, but it's been, you know, a nice change of scenery, y'know?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Cal sure was agitated. The reason was obvious, of course, but Luz was restless to do something about it. Maybe a good distraction?

"Yeah, fer sure," she said. "I bet y'could do some fantastic show-sparrin' here. Or go fer a race. Or meet all kinds of new people."

She pursed her lips—such as they were—and looked about for any interesting folks to talk to. It didn't seem like many people were about. So soon after the fight with Joule, that was no surprise. ...On second thought, maybe a sparring match or race wouldn't be the right thing. Maybe nothing was the right thing.

"Or just see somethin' new. Park's big enough to do some explorin', at any pace that suits ya."

 

[Namohysip]

"Y-yeah, sparring." Cal looked away again, like she wanted to say something, but didn't know what to go on about. Her mind was elsewhere, and she didn't want it to be there, so she quickly added, "Yeah, the twilight, um, you know. It's dark and stuff. But I don't really mind the dark too much." She fidgeted. "Maybe I can use some fire to light things up more... or something..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz smiled in her ordinary way, wide and earnest.

"Let's give it a go! I'll join ya in that."

She gave herself a little shake, and stirred some electrical energy into place across her fur. The luminosity didn't carry as far as Cal's flames might, but it was a bit of fun, and it made her feel powerful. It was good to be powerful.

"Congratulations on yer evolution," she added, then winced a little at the mention of yet another reminder of recent events. What wasn't, at this point?

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, thanks," Cal replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "I guess it was time to switch up how I looked, even if, you know, I don't think Ultra Shades evolve the normal way." She looked down, at the fire she had been making, but when the flames transitioned from gold to orange embers, she abruptly snuffed out the fire and looked away. She didn't say anything.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Aw, stars. This was getting beyond Luz. What would be helpful? Maybe she could talk about literally anything that had nothing to do with their hosts, at all. But she couldn't think of a darn thing. Luz took an uneasy breath, and solidified her paws enough that she could crack her knuckles—a favourite fidget of hers.

"I dunno what t'do with myself either," she admitted. "I kinda wanna get drunk, but that stuff don't work on us shades. And even that would just remind me of the last time I went to the cauldron with her."