The Clans of Nines

Silver

Eve's heart dropped at the sight. An Arcanine? In the territory of the Ninetales? 

   This wasn't right. Surely not. The war of Nines was still going on. It couldn't be. 

   Another thought brought a fresh wave of anger to Eve's mind. Now was the opportunity to avenge her parents, their deaths. At least this one could be made to pay for their deaths. 

    But she was too weak to move, still paralyzed. The only thing keeping her conscious at this point was the hovering threat of death and her newly fueled hate of this Arcanine. 

    She blinked. Wait. Was it a Growlithe? Or an Arcanine? She could barely make out the features of the pokemon, but enough to see that it was of the line of evolution of Arcanine. 

      "Well. Look at what we have here," Houndoom said, surprised. "A Growlithe." 

  Houndoom's words confirmed that it was a Growlithe. Not an Arcanine. 

  "But still," Her mind said. "He's of the Arcanines. He can still be made to pay for your parents. For your pain. For your losses and suffering." 

    "Release the Vulpix at once," The Growlithe spoke, his voice rich with authority though young. Eve estimated that this Growlithe was about her age from his voice. 

      "Why? She is mine," Houndoom growled. 

   Rather than continue arguing, Growlithe sprang forwards, a Flamethrower beginning to flare up. 

  Houndoom met his flames with his own Flamethrower. 

     Eve coughed in the heavy smoke, before she heard the distinct sounds of combat, and the cry of Houndoom being hit somewhere. 

  "Fine then! Take your stupid Vulpix!" Houndoom growled, limping away. 

  The Pokemon retreated into the forest. 

      Growlithe looked at Eve, his eyes softening. 

    Then he picked her up and carried her off. Eve, too weak to resist, could only close her eyes. 

 When she awoke, it was day time. Odd. She must've slept through the night. 

   Then her memories rushed back to her. Growlithe! The fight! Eve sprung up and took in her unfamiliar surroundings. 

      She was in a grove, lying on top of a surprisingly soft bed of pine needles. 

   Eve winced, her head aching. When she tried to get up, her head swam, and she wobbled. 

    A warm chest of fur brushed against her back to steady her. She whipped her head around. It was him, the Growlithe, from the night she'd been attacked. The one...who had saved her. 

     "Now's your chance. You can avenge them," Her mind said. 

  "But then why would he save me?"  Eve wondered. She should find out, but proceed with the highest degree of caution. 

  "Hey. Are you alright?" Growlithe asked, so gentle with just the right touch of shyness that it seemed genuine. 

  Weird. Her clan always spoke of Arcanines as rotten, backstabbing mutts that didn't deserve to even be classified as a Pokemon.  

     Was there more to them than they thought?

      "Uhm..yeah," Eve replied nervously. 

  "I bet you're starving. Here, breakfast." Growlithe moved aside, revealing a pile of juicy, ripe berries. 

  Eve's stomach growled. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was. She'd skipped lunch and dinner yesterday. 

      Before she could stop herself, she crammed the berries into her mouth, exploding with juice and sweetness on her tongue. 

  Growlithe waited patiently for her to finish before introducing himself as Silver. 

      "That's a really pretty name," Eve said, before she could stop herself. It was just so honest. Silver smiled, his orange and black fur rippling with every slight movement. 

    "Why did you save me?" Eve asked, the question bursting out before she could stop herself. She bit her tongue. 

  Silver looked up from his own pile of berries, swallowing. "I guess my instincts just took over. I hate seeing pokemon in trouble, so I try to help whenever I can." 

     "Aren't we enemies?" Eve said. For a moment Silver's bright eyes dulled and he looked at the ground. 

 "I..I don't know why. You seem so friendly. Harmless. I don't know why this war started. What's the point? From both sides, there have been hundreds of casualties. What's the point of all these meaningless deaths? So...avoidable. And it's been going on for hundreds of years. My mother died from a Ninetales attack shortly after I was born. So it's been just me and my dad."

    Eve's heart softened, but her mind told her to stay on her guard. "My parents were both killed by Arcanines in the war." 

     Silver raised his gaze to Eve, which made Eve feel suddenly shy from the intensity of it. 

  "I guess we both hate it, huh?" 

         "But why did you save me? We're enemies. You knew that. You could've just left me to die to compensate for your mother's death," Eve said. 

    "That's what I thought at first," Silver admitted. "But my mom would disapprove. She was a kind one. Special. Always helping, no matter who it was. She even helped those on the other side. Vulpixes. And then once they had recovered enough, they backstabbed her. Called for backup. And she..she..." 

  "She died," Eve said, finishing Silver's sentence. 

      "Yeah." 

      "Anyways, where are we?" Eve asked, switching the topic as she sensed Silver wasn't really comfortable with the current one. 

   "Oh...yeah," Silver said, a bit flustered. "We're in my secret grove. I like to hang out here because it reminds me of my mom. My dad used to tell me she was a thing of nature. A healer too." 

       This truth nearly moved Eve to tears. They were both alike, yet enemies. 

  "How am I supposed to get back? I'm in the Arcanine territory after all." 

       "There's a path you can take. I can show you it," Silver said, but Eve didn't think she was imagining the sad expression on his face. 

    "How about I stay for the rest of the day, then we depart at sunset?" Eve suggested. This was probably not the best move, but Eve couldn't help it. He was just so...kind. Considerate. Putting others above himself, above his own needs. Selfless. 

    "Okay!" Silver perked up, his smile as dazzling as the sun. 

 "What should we do first?" Eve asked. 

      "Oh, there's tons we can do. But we've got to stay here. If anyone from my clan saw you...well..it would be bad. Really bad," Silver said with a slight air of disappointment. "We can berry pick, battle, train, gather flowers..really, you can choose whatever we do. You're the guest here." 

  "Well...how about we do some berry picking to warm up then you could uhm..help...help me train?" Eve asked, forcing herself to say the words. Though it hurt her pride, she knew it was necessary. She needed to get stronger. 

    "That sounds like a plan." Silver's deep brown eyes displayed warmth and happiness. It reminded Eve of the earth. 

 "How do we start?" Eve stretched, able to stand now without getting too dizzy. She bet it would be gone within an hour. 

     "Oh, it's easy. I'll show you the route. It's much more efficient this way...uh..." Silver looked at her expectantly. 

  "Eve," She supplied. 

   "Eve. You seem like a most kind pokemon. I think I'll enjoy my time with you." Silver nodded, beckoning for her to follow. 

  And follow, she did.