Forum Thread

Title: Evolution (Wildfyre's Beginnings)

A Rockruff awoke with a stretch, and sneezed when her nose picked up the scent of smoke. She groaned as she saw the dense fog that surrounded their den. Wait. Fog? In the hottest part of the year? Smoke. Ohmygosh! There was a fire nearby! With the amount of smoke and heat, it was super super close.

She began to yip and yap as loud as possible. Quickly, but not fast enough, the others stirred. Once several of them began to bark, the ones who slept deeply awoke. Everyone was in a panic. Nobody knew what to do or who to follow, and none of them had the courage to take charge.

Her first bark came out squeaky, which got a few laughs. The next bark came out more confident. It didn’t take long until the den followed her barked out orders with no hesitation.

There was a small spring in the cave. Each of them leapt in to soak themselves and then stood in a single file line from the entrance to the back of the cave. After the leader dunked herself into the spring, she raced to the front of the line and placed the tip of her tail right in front of the mouth of the pup behind her.

Three. Two. One. Bite! At that, each pup, except for the last three Lycanroc, gave a whimper as they bit down hard upon the tail of the pup in front of them. Then, Lead leapt forward and raced into the forest. As one, the line of Rockruff and Lycanroc bobbed and weaved in the path she chose. After a few minutes, everyone was out of the forest and in the grasslands. The loud noise that could be heard in the distance signified the soon-to-be arrival of the humans, and that meant they were all safe. Except….

Lead lifted an ear and tilted her head. No. Wait…Yes! Amidst the screams of the various other Pokémon that sought safety, in the distance could be heard the mewls of a Litten. Without a thought or second to spare, Lead took off back into the fiery forest. As much as they hated felines, there was no way she’d allow another Pokémon to be hurt when she could stop it.

How a Litten got into the forest, she had no clue, but she shoved those thoughts aside and focused only upon the direction from which the cries came. Finally, she found the poor thing with her paw stuck in a trap. Grr. Poachers. But that wasn’t the biggest problem.

Forest burned just mere feet from them. It would be a very close call. Lead jumped onto the device and began to paw and gnaw at it. Though, to be honest, she had no real clue how to open the contraption. Thankfully, the fire burned slowly. Five minutes later, Lead managed to squeeze it open just enough for the Litten to slip her paw out.

Without a care for her rescuer, the Litten limped off to safety. Lead breathed a sigh of relief, only to whimper when she realized the fire had surrounded the clearing. The last way out was down the path the Litten just traveled. And so, she raced towards her exit, only to yelp as it closed off right in front of her nose.

Backwards she stepped, straight into the center of the clearing. Lead spun in a circle, but sadly, there truly was no way out, and the fire only came closer and closer. Panic began to set in. Cough. The smoke was too thick. Couldn’t breathe. Eyes burned. Cough. Barely could she hear voices. Humans. Wouldn’t make it in time.

She collapsed, unconscious to the forest floor. Just as the fire prepared to touch her body, she began to glow. A fact she was completely unaware of, mind you. Lead raised several feet into the air, enveloped in a ball of light. Awake now, she could feel powers within change her bit by bit. Seconds passed, and the power placed her upon the ground.

Everything looked different. Smaller. No. She was…Taller? A glance at her tooshie told her that she had evolved. But, strangely enough, she did not look like the other Lycanroc that were a part of her den. Her tail was a big floof of fire, and her fur was different. Not only that, but the fire no longer hurt her.

Lead reached out a paw to the wall of flame, and instead of a burn, a small piece of fire danced on her paw before it sputtered. So awestruck was she that she barely heard the humans arrive to put out the wildfire. She yipped once as a jet of water from one of their Pokémon startled her, and she leapt through the flames to return to her denmates.

On her way there, her forever name came to her. Wildfyre. What a perfect name to celebrate this strange yet amazing change.

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Title: Second Chance (Sakura's Beginnings)

Warmth. Happiness. Love.

What more could a stuffed animal ask for? To be played with every day. To be cleaned with dirty, sewed when ripped, dried when wet. To be the first and last thought on their child’s mind each day. To be held tightly while cried on, or cuddled gently during sleep. No. There was nothing else in the world that could make life better. But, as I’ve just found out, there is something that can destroy your world. And that, my darlings, is being cast aside when you are no longer relevant.

I’d been with my child. We were having a picnic when their parents began discussing how pathetic it was to be fifteen and still carry around a stuffed animal. I wasn’t listening very well, for I knew in my fiber, that there was no way my child would betray me. But I was wrong. Horribly wrong. For as the picnic ended, I was given one final hug. My child then wrapped his favorite scarf around my neck and placed me upon the ground.

The passage of time was meaningless to me; therefore, I had no knowledge of how long I lay there, feeling the ants crawl upon me. The only thing I knew is that my child would come back for me. Had to. I was their world. Again. I was mistaken.

Not long later, the summer rains came, and I spent my time shivering. Unknown to humans, we hold minor sentience. We can think and feel. But with the realization I trembled so, I realized that changes were happening within me. It was as if the devastation of my soul and shattering of my heart were transforming me.

At some point, I must have lost awareness, for I awoke, dry, under a cherry blossom tree. Upon my chest was a blossom, and, beside me, grinned a Mismagius. I noticed a strange burning sensation, and I inhaled. The act terrified me, and I jumped into a sitting position.

For the next several minutes, I was completely unaware of anything except my exploration of myself. Through mysterious means, I was somehow alive. Once I’d accepted this weirdness, I turned to the Mismagius, and opened my mouth. But, even though I’d listened to human speech for many years, I had no idea how to form them with my mouth.

All of a sudden, the Mismagius disappeared, and I was terrified that it, too, for some reason, had chosen to abandon me. But in its absence, I could see an unusual Midday Lycanroc approaching. They had fur as red as flames, golden socks, half the head mane, and living fire for a tail. For a split second, I felt ashamed for thinking poorly of my rescuer, who, although they did leave me, it was only done after help arrived.

After what seemed like forever, the newcomer finally approached, and sniffed me. A few seconds passed, and then it licked my face once, and told me flat out how we were going to be best of friends forever and ever and ever.

Though I was scared of making a new friend so soon after my loss, there was a look in the wolf’s eyes that said she wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. She’d claimed me as her bff, and there was nothing I could do about it. I reached up and removed the scarf from around my neck. I told her that it was the last gift I’d been given by my human, and, to celebrate this moment, it was now hers.

She ruffed in delight, and allowed me to place it around her neck. The Lycanroc went to the nearby river to take in her new accessory. She yipped excitedly, and ran several circles around me before collapsing in front of me. Her tail flowed back and forth, as if it were wagging.

A blossom fell upon her nose, and she almost blew it off. But instead of huffing it away, she carefully stood and bent down a bit, as if offering it to me. When I didn’t, she placed it upon my head, and then dragged me to the water so I could see my reflection.

In that moment, I learned a very important lesson. Sometimes, life will throw things at you. You’ll bend. Break. Maybe even shatter. But you need the pain to further your life. Without it, you’d never make that decision, or take that path. Everything you experience is meant to bring you to a better place.

Never shall I forget the day that I, Sakura, met Wildfyre.

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