Last of the Wilds [Private]

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga nodded as Viola suggested covering their tracks, and even leading a false trail to try and throw off any followers, it made sense. "I guess you're right," he said simply, looking around briefly, before pointing along the bank of river, in the upstream direction. "How about we go that way for a bit, lead out a false trail along the river, then come back and head into the woods instead?" he offered, simply, already standing and taking a few hobbling steps, testing his three-legged gait, which suddenly reminded him of a critical flaw in their plan.

His wound, while cleaned up and no longer bleeding, still stung furiously, leaving the shiny Pokemon wondering if he'd be able to use that leg for the rest of the day. Sighing, he turned back to Viola. "This isn't going to work," he said softly. "If we take too long leading a false trail, they could catch up to us, and as it is, neither of us should be moving fast. I can barely walk on this leg, and I still think you shouldn't be moving around at all," he added, concerned for Viola. She had suggested the possibility that the Arbok might have cracked a rib or two, which Tanga knew meant she should be keeping still and resting it off. If only his stupid eyes worked properly...

Shaking off the thought before it could lead him into another depression episode, Tanga gave the Vulpix with him a helpless look. "I guess we just have to settle for covering what tracks we do leave...we don't have time to make a false trail," he said regretfully, heading over to a nearby tree, grabbing the branch and giving it a solid yank, which didn't have enough force behind it. A second yank, enhanced by a weak Thunder Fang attack to burn the base of the branch, finally brought the thickly-leaved tree limb free, the Luxray holding it in his mouth as he turned back to Viola, plainly suggesting he would hang back and cover their tracks while they moved. "Come on," he mumbled through the mouthful of wood and leaves. "We'd better get moving."

----------

As Storm explained their task, Rumble just nodded at the end of every sentence, seeming almost bored...he just wanted something to shock and bite, not an explanation of what he was attacking...as long as it satisfied his boredom, he couldn't care less.

Tani, on the other paw, listened more intently, and as she nodded, and headed off after him as he headed out, she was about to break off and take her place in the formation when a sudden realisation hit her. "Wait, back up," she suddenly rushed out. "You said one of the targets was a shiny Luxray? Were there any more details?" she asked, her interest in the answer obvious, as she made no attempt to hide it.

Wild Pokemon were an extremely rare occurrance now, aside from the more parasitic and useless ones...streams, rivers and lakes were still full of Magikarp, for instance. As such, Tani realised that a wild, shiny Luxray would be a very rare occurance...so much so that she only knew of one shiny Luxray that was still alive that could possibly have lived in this area, and if her hunch was correct, then this would make this mission all the more enjoyable for her...she could actually be hunting Tanga for more than just enjoyment this time...provided it was actually him, that is.

[Zorayda]

Viola’s gaze softened when Tanga limped about, sheepishly explaining that he couldn’t use the trick she’d though up.

“That’s okay, Tanga, we’ll just have to make due with what we’ve g—“ Here, she had to pause—a sudden, sharp jolt in her ribs made her yip loudly in pain, catching her off-guard. She’d almost forgotten about her own injuries while worrying about Tanga’s leg—she really needed some rest. But for now… they really needed to get into some cover, or at least grounds where a battle would be to their advantage.

“O w, ow, ow…” she gasped, curling up into herself. “Give…me… just… a second…” she panted. The pain made her grit her teeth, but as quickly at it came, the pain passed. “Wow, that hurt,” she said unnecessarily, getting shakily to her feet. “Um… I guess we should get going…” she finished awkwardly, starting forward gingerly.

----------
Storm raised an eyebrow at Tani’s sudden halt, mildly irritated at the interruption.

“Yes, Ngaya said something about a silver tail… and blue eyes,” he said slowly, frowining. “Why? Do you know this luxray? I assume he must have been part of your pack, am I correct?” The jolteon began walking again, not really caring about his subordinate’s past, but listening all the same for extra details on their target’s behavior. If Tani knew how the target would possibly act in this circumstance, they might have an easier time finding them in the winding forest.

Their trainer caught up to them, his squat legs making him have to trot briskly to keep up with his Pokemon teams’ long-legged gait. Storm wrinkled his nose in slight disgust before continuing his trot, Tani and Rumble flanking him closely. The jolteon sniffed at the air delicately, his being a bit more developed than the two cats that walked with him. He picked up the faint scent of scorched wood and his ears perked forward.

“This way,” he said quietly, and he headed straight towards Tanga and Viola—only a mile and a half behind the pair…

[Australian Chaos]

"Viola!" Tanga's cry caused him to drop the branch as she stopped mid-sentence, curling up as her ribs obviously gave her a nasty bout of pain. he limped to her side, cursing how helpless he was to help her, knowing that, if his eyes just worked, he could at least have an idea of how bad it was. But no...his eyes were defective, and he was useless to help Viola.

As the pain seemed to pass, and Viola shakily got to her feet, Tanga gave her a clearly worried look...her ribs were causing her a lot more pain than his leg was, it seemed...her wounds had to be more serious than she was letting on. As she suggested they keep moving, and started gingerly forward, Tanga limped as fast as he could, not only catching up to her, but deliberately moving in front of her and stopping.

"No, Viola," he said softly, his gaze almost pleading with her. "You can't hurt yourself by doing this...you need to rest for a bit. I know we need to keep moving, but there's no point if doing that injures..." he trailed off suddenly, his mind suddenly seeing an alternative, a whole new plan that could keep Viola relatively safe, keep them moving, and hopefully throw off any pursuers.

Still in front of Viola, Tanga lay down, before gesturing with his muzzle towards his back. "Get on," he said simply, a show of hesitation in his voice. His past had associated physical contact with pain...but their situation was desperate, and Tanga knew he had to just tough it up and get on with things...besides, Viola was a friend...his first friend. "You can't walk as you are, Viola...it's too risky. I'll carry you," he added, almost unnecessarily, hoping she would not argue.

----------

As Storm gave the extra details, Rumble took his first oppourtunity to speak up, as they walked on, getting into formation. "No way! It's really him!" he shouted, glee and excitement obvious. Tanga had been one of his favourite targets in the past...and now he had another chance to have a go at him.

Tani wasn't quite as exuberant as Rumble was, but the eagerness was obvious as she, too, spoke up. "Yes, Storm...this Luxray was, I hate to admit it, part of my former pack. His name's Tanga, and he's, to put it simply, a freak. We exiled him from our pack a few weeks before we were captured...pity, really, because we lost our best form of entertainment doing that."

As she explained all this, she grinned, knowing Storm would want to know any tactical advantages. "And don't worry about fighting him, the freak will be easy to catch...you probably won't have to even lay a paw on him. I'll tell you what; if you can deal with this Vulpix that's meant to be hanging around as well, I can deal with Tanga...Rumble can help either of us as needed," she added, looking at Rumble significantly, returning the muzzle-splitting grin he shot her way.

They were off to find Tanga...for the first time since his exile, Tani had the chance to play with the freak again, remind him of his place in the world...at the very bottom. But this Vulpiz was a strange addition...what was it doing with Tanga? Were they simply working together to survive, or was there something else she had missed. The idea of Tanga finding a friend never crossed her mind, she considered it impossible for a freak like him to ever befriend someone.

[Zorayda]

Viola hesitated as Tanga stood in front of her suddenly, a worried expression on his face.

"Tanga..." she began, but he was interrupting her, insisting that her ribs were too bad to keep going. "I... I'm fine, really, it's no--" and then the pain began again, worse than before. She yelped, a pup-like fox sound, and she gritted her teeth before looking up at him. "Um, yeah... maybe you're right..." she concluded, panting. But then she frowned at his suggestion.

"Tanga, you're hurt too, remember? But..." She bit her lip, sensing that he was right. They really had to keep moving, but her ribs were obviously worsening... she couldn't walk anymore without slowing them down even worse than Tanga's injured leg. She sighed through her nose finally. "Fine. But only a short distance until we find cover somewhere," she agreed reluctantly.

She pawed at his shoulder, bracing herself before she got on, and hopped up, putting her front paws on top of his head to get a bit of leverage and balancing her small back feet on his shoulders. It was... quite comfortable, actually. His spiky black mane tickled her nose and she giggled.

"Okay, I'm good," she said into his ear. She found that she quite liked Tanga's scent, a mix of woods and a thunderstorm and something else that was just the lion's own. She suddenly was aware of his discomfort, and she remembered that he was wary of being touched...

She laid her head atop his, sighing gingerly to avoid hurting herself.

"Hey, Tanga..." she began softly, pausing a moment. "...Thank you."

----------.

Storm snorted at the two cats' excitement at finding out that they were hunting an old victim of theirs from their past... typical of the two ruthless lions, really. He didn't exactly hate Rumble and Tani, but sometimes their vicious attitudes made him dislike them. They didn't exactly have the sense of honor that the jolteon had... Storm never 'picked' on anyone if it wasn't necessary. It was a waste of time and it simply seemed beneath him.

Sniffing the air, he gave out a soft wuff in surprise as they came upon a river.

"They were here... but they must have gotten in the river, because their trail ends suddenly," he remarked, slightly impressed by their ingenuity. It seemed that wild Pokemon weren't entirely incompetent...

"They can't be far. Keep searching, they're close..." he lowered his voice, growling softly. He would finish this mission. "I can feel it."

[Australian Chaos]

As Viola protest his offer, saying he was hurt, too, he shook his head. "My injuries are nothing compared to yours...besides, I've dealt with worse," he added darkly, sadly noting to himself that he was not exaggerating in the slightest. his old pack had given him some nasty injuries in the past...he had always recovered from them, but the memories lingered.

Tanga had to resist the urge to shy away from every little touch of Viola's fur against his own as the little Vulpix climbed atop him, eventually settling herself in his mane, managing a small smile as she giggled, which helped ease some of his anxiety. As she mentioned she was ready, he slowly got back on his paws, putting a small amount of weight on his bad one now to make up for the added weight of Viola's frame. He was still limping heavily, and his leg hurt felt like someone was constantly firing a Thundershock up and down it, but he'd live, and more importantly, be able to get them both to safety.

As she whispered her thanks in his ear, Tanga managed one of the first genuine, full smiles he had ever produced in a long, long time, traces of his fangs showing. "It's no problem, Viola..." he answered back softly. "I...it's what friends do, right?" That last part came out as more of a hesitant question than a statement, showing that he was slightly afraid of assuming too much regarding his possible friendship with Viola. but despite that small fear, he limped off, carrying Viola with him as he wandered deeper into the woods...and completely forgetting about covering his tracks in the wake of the drama beforehand.

----------

Tani took Storm's silence to her suggestion as agreement, and grinned as she followed along beside him, both her and Rumble excited over the prospect of reuniting with the freak...oh, she'd have a nice catch-up chat with him, that was for sure...

When they reached the river, Storm commented on their prey's ingenuity, drawing a skeptical huff from Rumble, clearly not impressed with Storm giving Tanga any credit at all. Tani simply settled for frowning. She was initially inclined to agree with Rumble, but then, if Tanga had survived out in the wild...alone...for this long, he must had more skills than even she had predicted.

As Storm gave the order to keep searching, Tani looked around, her hunting instincts kicking in. They had followed their scent and tracks to the river, but here the scent trail ended, the tracks showing that they had indeed wandered into the river itself. She let her gaze move to the far side of the river as she wandered into the shallows herself, searching for something, some sign...there!

"Storm, over here!" she called, taking a few more steps into the river, her paw pointing to the far bank, where she had spotted tracks...although only one set now, leading away into the woods. The fact that only a Luxray's tracks were visible confused her briefly...where was the Vulpix? Her tracks were all over the place on the far bank, but it looked like they had parted ways, although there was no sign at all of where the Vulpix went. "It's only one set of tracks...but Tanga went that way," she commented, waiting on Storm's judgement on what to do next.

[Zorayda]

Viola giggled again at the luxray's question, feeling like a little pup as they moved. The sudden change in height was somehow exhilirating as they moved along, Viola adjusting to the hobbling gait of the lion.

"Of course," she answered simply. His fur was soft on her chin. Wanting to see a bit better, she wiggled up to get on top of his head a bit better. "So... is this what it's like to feel tall?" She inquired, ears perked forward and inattentive to her surroundings.

Suddenly, a sound made her whip around, gasping slightly in pain as her ribs twinged in protest.

"Oh, no... Tanga, we've got somebody following us!"

---------

Storm's nose was of no use as he went around sniffing the the ground and the air. He grumbled incoherently as the team split up a few feet apart, searching for signs of the pair--bent grass blades, fur, anything--when Tani suddenly shouted from a bit away.

"Hm... I guess it's better than nothing," he concluded when he studied the tracks. One Pokemon was better than none... he barked at his trainer, alerting him to the presence of signs of the luxray, and the human followed them. "We'll follow these tracks until--" He suddenly squinted his eyes, gazing into the distance--there, a bright yellow speck! They were upon them!

"Team! There they are, after them!" He ordered, rushing forward. His paws pounded at the ground as he dashed towards the two Pokemon--the vulpix becoming more apparent as he neared them.

He leapt, snarling, until he landed in front of their path.

"Stop!" He growled, his spiky fur standing on end. He showed his teeth, hoping to intimidate them into cooperation. He knew that Tani and Rumble would be behind them, flanking them... he wondered if the two obviously injured Pokemon would put up a fight at all, or surrender...

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga smiled again as Viola answered affirmatively to his words, only to chuckle as she commented on her high perch...much higher than she was on the ground, at least. "Being tall isn't all its made out to be," he quipped back lightly, the confirmation of Viola's friendship putting him in a good mood...better than he'd felt in months, actually. As if to emphasise his point, he was forced to duck just seconds later to make sure he, and by extension Viola, weren't beheaded by a low tree branch. "See? Being smaller can be better, you know."

But a moment later, Tanga was forced to stop as Viola suddenly turned around, lest the sudden shift in balance caused him to fall over. "What is it?" he asked when he was certain his footing was sure again, only to get his answer a moment later, saying they had company. He made to turn around himself...only to stop as he heard a loud snarl, a Jolteon leaping clean over him, landing in front of him, clearly blocking their path. As the Jolteon called for them to stop, Tanga took an instinctive step back...both he and Viola were already hurt as it was, they did not need another fight so soon. "W-what do you want?" he asked, not bothering to try and appear calm...he ust hoped the Jolteon would leave them alone eventually, as he took another few steps back, trying to get some breathing room.

Only to freeze as another voice reached his ears, the familiarity of it chilling him to his very bones. "Oh, I think you already know the answer to that," Tani said, her voice in that sickly sweet tone Tanga knew all too well...one that made the Jolteon's attempt at intimidation seem feeble in comparison, at least to his mind.

In response to the voice, Tanga's body betrayed his pure terror as he shook, completely forgetting about Viola on his head as he scrunched his eyes shut, willing this to be a figment of his imagination, some sort of horrible nightmare...

"What's the matter, Tanga?" Tani spoke up again, making Tanga jump slightly, and banishing all his attempts to will their existance away. "Didn't you miss us? Or did your freakish nature take your speech as well as your sight?" her last comment was delivered without the sickly sweet tone, becoming much more dark and menacing, Tanga opening his eyes to find both Tani and Rumble, who he still knew as Zamani, now circling him, looks of unbridled glee on their faces at meeting their old punching bag once again.

Again, not waiting for an answer, Tani spoke up again, letting her voice pummel Tanga's psyche while Rumble intimidated him physically by letting his whole body crackle with built up electricity. "Now, help me out, Tanga, because I'm a little confused...how does a weak, pathetic, freakish, good-for-nothing Shinx like you survive out here in the wild for all this time? Even with this Vulpix hanging around, I'm astonished you made it. How did you get your companion to hang around such a waste of space like you, anyway? What lies did you pull to make her think highly enough of you to stick around, huh?"

Throughout this whole tirade, Tanga just remain silent, his stance lowering, along with his self-image, with each barrage of insults the Luxray threw at him. He had heard them, over and over, for so long, his mind had simply accept them as truths, and as such, he had no comeback, no matter how much each insult hurt. All he could do was take the psychological punishment as best he could, and pray they left him alone soon enough.

But Rumble was not content with this, especially seeing as Tanga was not responding, making the Luxray yelp and jump violently as the Luxio threw a nasty Thundershock at him, the sudden movement throwing Viola off him as the Luxio snarled. "You're blind, not mute, you freak! Answer her!" he roared, grinning despite his enraged tone...he was really going to enjoy this one, especially since Tanga would be captured at the end of it.

Tanga, knowing only more punishment was forthcoming, tried to form an answer. "I-I..." he stuttered, his voice now exceptionally small and weak. But he had no answer for them...he did not know what Viola saw in him, either. "...I d-don't k-k-know..." he finally managed to get out, his voice shaking so badly it was barely even audible...just how bad was it going to be this time?

[Zorayda]

Viola laughed at Tanga's comment, ducking her head under the branch along with the lion. She sensed his happiness and she grinned, satisfied that he was finally somewhat coming out of his shell... She really liked him, and was serious about being his friend.

"Yeah, but you get to be more intimidating," she added, pouting. She was always far too small to be anything less than adorable in battles...

But the sounds behind them grabbed her attention, and she let out a little 'oh!' of surprise when a tough-looking jolteon stopped them, showing his teeth. He was indeed scary, with his spiked fur and white, sharp teeth, but it was nothing compared to his companions... Viola turned her head around to see the luxio and luxray leering at them--or, more specifically, at Tanga. She instinctively ducked into the black and yellow luxray's mane, flattening her ears in fear. She sensed that she wasn't the only one, however--Tanga's sudden fright only heightened her own.

The two cats began circling the pair, and the jolteon simply watching with a sneer on his face, not interrupting. The words they were saying... so, they were the ones who had bullied and abused Tanga. The thought put a spike of anger through her fear like a pin to a balloon--and suddenly she forgot her terror. Yelping when she was flung away from Tanga, she struggled to stand, her ribs throbbing and making her take short breaths.

"Who the hell do you think you are," she began, her voice low. She could already feel angry tears begin in her eyes... "Are you proud of yourselves? Are you glad that you can belittle and torture another living being?" Viola looked up suddenly, honey eyes blazing... but her legs were trembling in pain. She wasn't going to last very long like this...

"For your information, I befriended Tanga because he has the kindest, most beautiful heart I've ever come across--and I wouldn't care if he was missing an ear, quite frankly." The 'blind' comments were confusing her, but the vulpix really didn't care what the cryptic words were about right now. All she knew was that her friend was hurting psychologically, and she had to protect him. She slowly walked over to Tanga, seeing him shake like a leaf.

"Tanga... it's okay, I won't leave you," she said, and turned to face the two cats, standing between them and her friend.

Meanwhile, Storm was looking on, very much impressed by the smaller and obviously outnumbered vulpix's bold speech. Now, that was a truly honorable Pokemon... not like the two bullies who now circled their victim. Something in that fox's eyes was vaguely familiar... the way she stood, her voice... He shook it off, glancing at the two 'normal'-colored cats.

"Rumble, Tani, that's enough. You heard what I said--no damaged goods," Storm said the last part coldly, looking at Tanga and Viola to remind them that they were still being captured as prisoners. He didn't want his standing up for them to be misconstrued as friendship. "Now, you two--come with us and nobody has to get hurt."

Viola growled at Storm's last words, her hackles raising--she would never become a prisoner of the humans. She'd rather stick it out and possibly die first...

"No, we won't!" She snarled. Storm blinked surprisedly a few times before scowling down at her.

"Fine, then you leave us no choice," he said calmly, and he nodded at Tani, allowing her to make an attack...

[Moonlight]

(OOC: Okay, so not the best intro post I've done, but AC mentioned last night I should put this up today. Hope it suffices.)


Her dark paws padded along the dying forest floor, shriveled weeds turning to dust under her tough pads. Shaking the human grime from her lush black and gray coat, snorting in disgust. She was far too close to the city for comfort, since the forest was dying here from pollution. And the last thing she needed as to attract trainers. Not at the moment.

Maura’s pink tongue lolled from her mouth as the walked, water dripping off of it every few steps. A thick leather collar cut into her throat, painfully tight. And the full tilt dash she had made to escape a mindlessly loyal manectric was not helping her any. Her ribs were heaving with the effort of drawing breath, strained and receiving little. But as the moments crept into hours, morning fading to noon, the dark wolf’s powerful and unquestionable stride had returned.

But as her nose followed the now lush grass, her ears suddenly pricked forward when she lifted her head. Catching a faint whiff of human scent on the breeze, lips curling up in aversion. A few hairs on her hackles rose instinctively, along with her tail. The stench of human was never good. And being this far into the forest, it only meant one thing – They were hunting someone. An escapee, more than likely.

Suddenly jolting into a paced trot, agile frame weaving through the trees as fast as endurance would allow.


Maura’s pace slowed as voices, both human and pokemon, reached her sensitive ears. Carefully placing her paws on the grass, avoiding detection. Thick ferns shadowing her face as she crouched, both ears perked forward. Her one working eye taking in the situation, lush black tail twitching slightly. The shadowed jade blending with her surroundings, aggravation creeping into her stance. Lithe muscles knotting in preparation, as if she were about to lunge.

Cool amusement slipping into her eyes at the vulpix’s definite gesture, though it quickly faded at the response. Three versus two, both of which appeared to be injured. She couldn’t walk out on them.

The mightyena’s soft gray muzzle curling back, a full throated growl tearing from her throat as she burst out of the foliage. Her tail high with authority, hackles raised.

[Australian Chaos]

Rumble chuckled as Tanga jumped away from his Thundershock, clearly terrified and defenceless despite his higher evolution stage. "You're just as pathetic as I remember, Tanga...if not more so," he spat, clearly disgusted by Tanga's apparant cowardice.

But the Luxio, along with Tani, stopped as the Vulpix spoke out, both of them astounded at the way she snapped back at them, scarcely able to comprehend the fact that someone was actually defending Tanga. Rumble looked ready to Thunderbolt the Vulpix into ashes for this, but as Tani recovered, she put a paw in front of the violent Luxio, stopping him as Viola calmly assurred Tanga she wasn't leaving, although the words did little to help Tanga in his current state.

Tani decided that, whether the Vulpix's comforting of the freak was genuine or not, Tanga had to be brought down another peg...he could not be allowed to think he was strong, that someone was looking out for him. "You know, you don't have to keep up the act," she said, her gaze locked on the Vulpix, although she smiled as she noticed Tanga's shock jump of surprise, knowing she was already sowing doubt in the Luxray's mind, making him doubt Viola's friendship. "You don't have to pretend any more...you can see him, you know what he is, so why bother pretending he's not?" she asked, smirking as she realised what the Vulpix's comment about the ear meant. "...Or...do you not know? Did he not tell you?"

Tanga, already sufferring so badly from the mental torture of his two old pack-mates, and the doubt about the truth behind Viola's friendship, went into complete panic at what Tani was suggesting. "N-no...Tani, p-p-please..." he all-but begged, pleading with her not to reveal his deepest secret.

"I guess he didn't, then," Tani said dismissively, smirking as she waved off Tanga's pleading. "He's blind, my little friend...not in the sense you're probably thinking of, but to us Luxray, he's as good as blind. You've seen his eyes, haven't you...those aren't just part of his stupid look, he hasn't got our enhanced vision. It's pathetic, really...so deformed he can't even see through things like the rest of us...he doesn't even deserve to be considered one of us..." her voice grew more venomous with each sentence, as her hatred of Tanga really brought itself to the front.

It was at this point that the Jolteon pulled both feline Pokemon back into line, reminding them that their targets were not to be hurt. but by this point, the damage was done...Tani revealing the true nature of his defective eyes had caused the last of the fight to leave Tanga. He sat down where he was, his head bowed, his stance showing complete and utter defeat as each breath came as a shuddering gasp, just barely shy of a sob...although the tears falling from behind his mane told everyone his self-control was gone. He was beaten, and all but broken, making no move as the Jolteon commanded them to come with him, ready to agree and be lead off to wherever they wanted to take him...he didn't care about being captured any more. No matter where he went, or what he did, he was alone, with no-one but his tormentors and a bunch of liars for company...there was no use fighting.

But when Viola defiantly refused to obey the Jolteon, Tanga looked up, his vision swimming with more tears as the Jolteon gave the signal for Tani to get violent. Even if Viola's friendship was all an act, it was still better than the crushing loneliness he had endured all his life. "No..." the cry was choked and strangled, desperate as he jumped up, ready to push Viola aside and take the Thunderbolt Tani was clearly winding up for...

Only for everyone to stop as a dark shape shot out of the foliage, the Mightyena's sudden appearance causing Tanga to back off once again...too much was happening to his battered, nearly broken mind, and he couldn't take much more of it.