LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 15: Nurture
“^So, any more questions for now?^” Autumn asked.
Despite the utter weirdness of the creature being discussed, not even two entire classes of kids could maintain a steady output of questions forever; the Indeedee left with no responses for the first time in what felt like hours. She definitely didn’t mind, and neither did Geiger after having to do more talking in one extended session than he usually did in a week. Still, it’d be a shame for their class to end on a flat note like that.
No, there were much better ways of reinforcing the knowledge she’d been trying to drill into their heads. “^Alrighty! Now, how about you discuss what you’ve all just learned with your friends? We and other teachers are here, so if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask!^”
On cue, the entire clearing exploded into a cacophony of murmurs, growls, and whispers; what felt like a dozen different discussions starting off before she could even finish the sentence. Quite a lot of sudden noise for her ears and horns alike, but the Indeedee would tolerate a bit of over-stimulation if it meant the kids would be more effectively swayed.
And, even more importantly, she could exchange more than a couple of words with the adults, now that the little ones were occupied. “^How are you holding up, Geiger?^”
A drawn out grunt and a staggered stretch weren’t the most inspiring of responses to a question like that, but the words that followed made up for it somewhat. “I’m managing, I think. Glad to be of help, though, good gods, my throat is taking a beating,” he chuckled.
“^Won’t hurt to grab a drink at Viv’s after we’re done here,^” Autumn suggested.
“That it won’t, indeed. As an aside… I can’t say I’m not curious about your personal involvement in the girl’s situation, Autumn. The way Oliver described your request made it look... unusually pointed for you.”
“^That’s... an accurate way of describing it, yeah. Hard to be too detached with my daughter having been Anne’s primary point of contact with the village for the past couple days, and having gotten a very good look at what brought her here in the first place.^”
“Hmm, about that. I’ve heard a lot about ‘what’ but very little of ‘why’, and I won’t deny my curiosity about that. Ultimately, I only know so much about humanity, and to hear about a child escaping her home to her doom sets off more alarms to my head than a practice emergency drill at the facility I worked at.”
Autumn had exactly zero idea about what his comparison meant in terms of words, but everything about what emotions came with it, and those were inarguable. She sighed, “^Ultimately, it comes down to an abusive family making her fear for her life.^”
Geiger didn’t respond immediately, his tone instead lowering into a drawn out grumble. The charge in his body spiked enough to produce visible discharge between his horns and tails for a brief moment. “I see. I am terribly sorry. Suppose it only makes sense to prepare everyone for accepting a new head in our fold, even if it’s an unusual one.”
“^I hope so, yes.^”
The uncertainty in Autumn’s voice caught the Electivire’s attention right away; eyes narrowing with another, brighter flash between his horns. “And I’d hope something as self-evident as a girl’s need for safety isn’t being called into question by anyone beyond an annoying, xenophobic child...”
“^I wish,^” Autumn whispered.
Immediately, his right hand clenched into a tight fist, the Thunder Punch’s charge fierce enough to catch the attention of many nearby kids. “It sounds like I ought to... talk sense into someone,” he muttered through teeth.
“^Geiger, please. I know you mean well, but I can’t imagine intimidation achieving anything but making things worse.^”
The Electivire grumbled again before exhaling with a slump, his bulky body nodding as he eased out. He knew better than this, and even if he was too old for trying to plead with terrible people instead of being forward and harsh with them, his preferences came second with actually important matters like that. “You aren’t wrong, Autumn, but... who’s holding it up?”
“^From what Aria told me, the scout council decided to hold a vote about what shall happen to the girl, and I sensed from Ana that the vote ended up being deferred until tomorrow.^”
Geiger went through the faces of increasing familiarity in his head; grumbling in various degrees as he thought through everyone involved in a decision like that and their probable level of disagreement.
“Ah yes, that explains why Lumi was even more wound up than usual last night, even Lyn sensed. I ought to try having that discussion with him again. Won’t hurt in any case. I know Ori less, but picking his brain about all this in return for some technical knowledge sounds doable. Wish I had concrete advice for Marco, though you probably know better already—”
“^Marco won’t be a problem. He’s on Anne’s side after I helped him uncover some of what happened that led her here.^”
Geiger smirked, “Ha, that’s swell. Knew he could be reasonable sometimes. With anyone else, I imagine that all my presence would do would be to put them on the defensive, and even I’m knowledgeable enough about people to know to avoid that. It looks like you’ve got it under control then~.”
“^I wish. The uncertainty grinds away at us all so much. I do what I can, and I hope it’ll prove enough,^” Autumn sighed.
“Sounds like all the other great people I know,” he reassured.
The Indeedee didn’t expect a compliment considering the terseness of the situation, but she couldn’t deny it having helped a hefty deal. Her light chuckle split the Electric-type’s expression with a warm, if tired, smile.
“^Thank you, Geiger. You know, I might even join you for some tea, if you’d be willing to wait for me~.^”
“It’d be my pleasure, Autumn. Before any of that, though, there’s this little fellow that I’ve been meaning to ask a Psychic about,” the Electivire said, patting the Magnemite still attached to his arm. Their singular eye was open all the way, constantly scanning around the area. It was hard to pick their emotions out from the crowd, especially with her slipping skill, but what Autumn could make out was… very confused and worried.
Oh dear.
“^Of course, Geiger! Now, you mentioned how they followed Lumi back here over from the human town, right?^” she asked.
“That’s what he’d described, yes.”
“^Hope it’s something innocuous, then. Alright, let me try,^” Autumn muttered as the arm-magnet was lowered into her reach. She focused on getting through the metal shell and into the mind contained within; carefully stroking the top of their spherical main body as she spoke up, “^Hello there, sweetie!^”
Their eye shot wide open immediately. The slight zap along her paw made Autumn flinch, but she persevered, observing the lil’ one’s reactions with as many senses as she could manage. “^Yep, yep, that’s me talking to you! What’s your name?^”
Not much happened for the next few moments. The Magnemite’s eye remained closed as they thought through that question; their side magnets slumping as they grew sadder. The sight brought a frown to the Indeedee’s face, making her redouble her efforts towards communicating with the stray little one—very little one, it felt like. Much of what went on in their head was only partially formed; not unlike what she’d experienced with Cadence and Bell when they were too young to even walk.
“^If you don’t have or can’t remember your name, that’s okay, too, sweetie. You’re safe here, no matter what. Do you recall following anyone yesterday?^”
A careful nod; much of their tension finally relaxing enough to start gradually detaching themselves from Geiger’s arm. The Electivire wasn’t rushing them along either, free hand contributing his own affection to whatever careful extent it was capable of.
“They... like me. Not like... others,” the Magnemite thought as hard as they could.
“^They were like you? Just how Geiger beside you is also like you?^” Autumn asked. The unnamed Steel-type took their time chewing through her words, but once they did, their shaky nod confirmed her hypothesis. “^Seems Lumi was the first Electric-type they’ve ever seen, so they followed them, Geiger.^”
“Either they’re very young, or that human village is an absolute hole in the ground,” Geiger commented.
“^I’ve a strong feeling both are true. In any case—do you remember having any parents or friends in there, little one? Someone who would look out for you?^”
This time, their eye swerved from side to side after a moment of thought; the sight deflating Autumn’s expression a decent bit. “No... only me. Others... mean. Threw things at me and ran away...”
“Hmm. Yeah, that figures,” the Electivire sighed.
“^Oh? What do you mean, Geiger?^”
“Where I worked, Magnemite were considered pests, since they ate the electricity our facility produced. I had to shoo groups of them away once or twice because otherwise they’d start becoming a problem. I imagine most humans don’t view them too favorably.”
Autumn sighed at that description. It made sense, but she didn’t need further reminders about the... less than pleasant nature of humanity when taken as a whole and not as singular, lost children.
Geiger continued, “Sounds like this little one hatched on their own, didn’t get the friendliest of greetings from the human village, and spent a while sticking to a transformer, a power cable, or a substation. Uhhh, large boxes with electricity in them or long, metal, electric cables. Does that sound accurate, little one?”
Moment of thought, a relatively confident nod.
“Yep. Feel free to stick to me for now, then. We’ll figure something out. Alright, I’m way overdue for a drink, and afterwards I’ll ask Viv to help show the little one around. Who knows, maybe we’ll attend Jovan’s classes tomorrow to start working on our language right away, ha! Anyhow. Care to join us for some tea, Autumn—”
Before the Electivire could finish shooting his shot, though, his and Autumn’s focus was taken up by several kids eagerly trying to catch their attention. “Mr. Geiger, Mr. Geiger!” the Zangoose at the front of the group asked.
From what the Indeedee could piece together, they had a fair bit of an argument just now; Blossom and Hawthorne both left about as irate as each other as the other three saw it fit to settle their argument by asking the adults more questions.
“Yes, ...”
“^Grace.^”
“...Grace?” Geiger asked.
The Zangoose blinked flatly at the Electric-type needing to be reminded of her name again, before going through with her contribution to the discussion at hand, “The human, uh... these weird balls of theirs. How dangerous are they?”
“Extremely so,” the Electivire answered flatly.
Seeing the growing smirk on the Espurr’s expression, Autumn followed right up, “^Which is why it’s good that Anne does not have any, nor is she in a position to ever obtain them.^”
“I told you!” Blossom triumphed. If there was any more smugness in her voice, it would’ve been dripping down her beak.
“That doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous, Blossom!” Hawthorne shouted back, not taking her idea getting discarded well.
“How would she even hurt us, huh!?” the Dartrix insisted, prying her eyes open just to leer at the Espurr. It felt special in a grim, amusing way.
“They have their other evil tools! They stole our gifts and are using them for themselves!”
“...is that true?” the Gloom asked, weary and even a bit fearful. The idea of their own strengths being used against them was a deeply unnerving one.
Which is why it was very fortunate that it just wasn’t true in the slightest.
“No, of course not,” Geiger explained. “Some of their contraptions mimic certain parts of what we can do, but for every crude imitation there are at least three other feats I’ve never seen them get anywhere near close to reproducing. Psychic feats, control over plant life, Fairy tricks, might of Dragons... to the best of my knowledge, all those are completely unattainable to humanity.”
“A ha!” Blossom exclaimed, triumphant.
Unfortunately for her, Geiger wasn’t quite done yet, “Consequently, some of their most dangerous inventions don’t map onto any specific type. The blue glowing energy source in the facility I worked at wasn’t anything Electric in nature despite its glow, and I have exactly zero idea about what else it could be. Human weapons of choice are similarly type-less, stretched handheld devices capable of launching metal slugs at speeds fast enough to be imperceptible, striking targets before they can react—”
“...wouldn’t that be Steel-type?” the Gloom asked, throwing a wrench into Geiger’s explanation.
The small gathering took a while processing Mint’s question, mostly through the form of blinking slowly at once another. Off to the side, Hawthorne was almost celebrating in place at the ‘good fortune’ of Geiger having brought up an actual threat with human contraptions, finally!
Autumn rolled her eyes repeatedly.
“I have... no idea,” the Electivire admitted. “I’ll ask Ori about it later, now that you brought that up. In either case, considering that I’ve only ever seen that kind of weapon be carried by dedicated adult security guards and nobody else, I heavily doubt a child would be capable of getting their hands on one.”
And immediately, the Espurr’s mood deflated again, the Indeedee having to do everything in her power not to giggle at sensing that. She spoke, “^Indeed, she doesn’t have one of these devices. Really, the most dangerous item I’ve seen in her possession was a metal knife; similar in size to Grace’s claws, with nowhere near the raw strength backing it up. And that’s it.^”
As the Zangoose examined her paws, the rest of the group thought through the implications of what they just heard described, minds arriving at wildly different conclusions. Autumn wished she didn’t get to sense Hawthorne’s, but thankfully for once it wouldn’t be the Espurr that spoke up first.
“With how weak she sounds, won’t she need someone to accompany and protect her?” the Stunky asked without his signature bravado for once, the genuine curiosity making the Indeedee smile.
“^Initially she probably will, Zephyr, same as any other recent arrival or little one who can’t get around by themselves yet. That’s just a matter of communication and not defense, though. Nobody is gonna be attacking her.^”
Despite the confidence in Autumn’s words, thinking of that possibility brought up more than a bit of uncomfortable uncertainty; the non-zero risk of something exactly like that happening threatened to fry her mind. She hoped nobody would speak up to question that assumption—
“But what if they do?”
Goddammit, Zephyr.
“^Well... in that case, they’d be judged just as if they’d attacked anyone else unprovoked, if not harsher because of the sheer power disparity.^”
“Why does the human get special treatment!?” the Espurr screeched.
“I imagine for the very same reasons we’d all judge people harsher for striking a defenseless child over a capable adult, Hawthorne,” Geiger grunted, shutting Hawthorne up.
As well as the Indeedee was hiding her disappointment with the Psychic kitten, the same absolutely couldn’t be said for the Electivire; his words somehow getting even flatter each time he spoke. It was not unearned in the slightest, even if somewhat rough for a child. Autumn just sighed in equal mix relief and worry.
“Maybe that just means she’ll need multiple people to protect her!” Zephyr chimed in. His conclusion was hard to disagree with, though he and the Indeedee felt very different about it. What she could make out of his enthusiasm took her off guard, but... actually, hold on. Hold right on~
“^That wouldn’t be a bad idea, Zephyr. Are you thinking of... anyone in specific~?^” Autumn asked; her question as leading as her expression was smug. A small pang of guilt shot through her at putting the Stunky in such an obviously uncomfortable position. Though, if it meant that Anne would indeed end up with multiple pairs of eyes looking after her, then Autumn wasn’t about to let the means get in the way of the ends.
As she’d expected, the Stunky’s response was very hesitant, at least at the start. He stammered, “I-I—umm... I-I could p-probably do it…”
Autumn giggled while internally counting down the time it’d take for him to break through that uncertainty and rocket through straight into more of his confidence and desire to prove himself, no matter what.
Eight seconds.
“...y-yeah, I could do it! I’ll do it! C-can I do it?” Zephyr asked, determined.
Autumn giggled, “^Teehee, we’ll see Zephyr, but it’s very nice of you to offer. There are still many unknowns about her stay here, but once they’re dealt with, once we’re looking for people to look after Anne during her day-to-day life for those first few weeks or months... we’ll know who to ask~.^”
The Stunky sighed deeply at the best possible response. Acknowledgment helped his poor confidence, while the deferral made his eagerness non-binding, avoiding the potential regret of getting into way more than he’d bargained for only to then heavily regret it and make himself look like a dummy for inevitably failing to rise to the challenge... “O-okay. Thank you, Mrs. Autumn...”
“^You’re welcome, sweetie~. Now, did you all—^”
“See, I told you she isn’t dangerous!” Blossom cut in, more confident than she ever got. Hawthorne responded to the contrary soon after, and by the time the other three rejoined the discussion, it was much too late for their teacher to even think about chiming in directly anymore.
She giggled as she waved Geiger off, glad to have gotten some sense into the kids. Now, time to repeat that feat with the adults.
The two daycare minders weren’t too difficult to find amidst the crowd, standing way above almost all the little ones in their care. Just that realization wasn’t extremely helpful on its own, not with both of them having their paws occupied by looking after the extra-sized class, even with the help of the other pair of teachers. Still, it’d really help for her to talk with them directly without interruption, which left... getting the little ones out of the picture, somehow.
Before Autumn could attempt just that, one particularly lively tyke caught her attention. After trying and failing to reach the two caretakers that oversaw the littlest ones, the blue and black kitten finally noticed her, trying to catch her attention by the means of tapping her leg. Considering his proximity to Lumi… yeah, Autumn could spare the moment.
“^Hello there, Lyn! Can I help you~?^” she greeted, smiling.
The Shinx mewled before trying to concentrate on words, many of which still came with noticeable difficulty. Still, he persisted, shifting from paw to paw before coming up with a simple question, “What you talked about?”
Guess Pearl’s concerns about some of the younger kids missing the point even with translation were valid in the end. “^Well, we talked about Anne, the human girl at the clinic. What your dad has been worrying so much about.^”
The latter addition probably counted as underhanded, but the Indeedee didn’t have it in her to care, especially not with it finally making everything click for Lyn. He reeled back a bit, eyes growing wide, but ultimately gave it however much thought a few-month-old Shinx was capable of. “Oooooh. Not mean?” he asked, meowing.
If there was one singular fact they’ve been trying to drill for the past couple of hours, it was that. Autumn nodded eagerly at Lyn’s question, “^Yes, exactly! She’s not mean, your dad is just worrying for no reason.^”
“He worries a lot!” the Shinx squeaked.
If only it was just that Lyn, if only it was just that. “^Yep, but now you know better! Are you gonna be taking a nap soon?^”
“Noooo, not yet!”
Right. From what she remembered when checking up on Bell, naps came when Jovan and Pearl called for them. And since they were technically sharing caretaker duties, maybe they’d all listen to her as well… only one way to find out. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be too annoyed at her afterwards.
“^Hey, everyone! We’ve had a great discussion so far, but it’s time for a nap now, especially for the younger of us! Get yourselves comfortable near Elder Ana, and sweet dreams!^”
Autumn had no idea how having daggers stared into her by three separate pairs of eyes felt like before, and it proved to be an experience she’d rather not have to repeat anytime soon. Unpleasant, sure—but anything for Anne. Anything.
“^It ain’t nap time yet!^” the Grumpig shouted at her telepathically, making the Indeedee wince.
“^I know, but I need to chat with you two and had to get your hands free for a while!^”
Pearl didn’t expect that response, eyes going wide as she carefully herded the gathered children to get comfy beside the Torkoal Elder. The latter glared at Autumn for effectively getting immobilized, right as she was in the middle of talking with some young’uns, no less. Highly annoying, but… she found it hard to get too annoyed, not with this many kids around.
Ana’s weak spot, whether she was willing to admit to it or not.
A couple minutes of herding cats, dogs, reptiles, birds, and plants over, the daycare group could finish settling into slumber. Many of them were so used to the Elder’s warmth they were out the moment their little heads touched the warm grass surrounding the Fire-type.
With that done, and their minders temporarily switching tracks to look at the now much smaller group of awake kids, Autumn could finally chat them both up, “^I apologize for the sudden intrusion like that, but this is important, now that you’ve both heard your share about Anne. If she ends up staying, I want you both to have a more or less defined idea of how her stay under the care of you two would go like, just so that I or Aria can bring it up to the Elders when arguing for her.^”
“^And what makes ya so sure we’re for it?^” Pearl asked, still annoyed somewhat. Her words were uncertain, pretended to raise a contrary point to what the Indeedee was clearly assuming of them... but all it took was one disbelieving look from Autumn to melt through that excuse, the Grumpig faltering soon after.
“^I may be old, Pearl, but I’m not stupid. You don’t choose to spend your days helping the little ones out if you hate children, and if there’s anyone that interacts with enough toddlers to help that fact completely overcome their prejudices, it’s also you two.^”
The two caretakers each had to hold in a wince at being seen through so cleanly, Pearl yielding first before Jovan followed, “Yeah... With what you said, breaks my heart to imagine someone so weak ending up on her own again, with no family to take care of her. Maybe with one of us by their side, watching out for them~?”
“Liiiike a trainer mon, nooo~?” a hissing voice asked, catching the caretakers’ attention.
Autumn was glad to see the Serperior. She would have had to talk to him about this anyway, and now she could address all the teachers in their village at the same time—Cinder aside. However, she wasn’t sure of the Grass-type’s attitude towards Anne, even despite all the reassurances that she wasn’t a threat.
Hopefully, her and Geiger’s effort wasn’t for naught.
“^That’s... one hell of a comparison, Oliver, but I’d be lying if it’s a wholly inaccurate one.^” Autumn admitted. “^Part of me wonders whether Anne had ever considered an outcome like that, running away with Ember on their own, following in that whole harrowing ‘trainer’ footsteps just to get away from her family.^”
“Oh golly, I hope not,” Jovan shuddered.
“^Yup, for the girl’s sake...^” Pearl followed.
“Can’t imagine Ember would be too happy were that ever the cassssssse~.”
Jovan and Pearl’s responses were predictable enough, but the same couldn’t be said for Oliver’s. Autumn tried to defend the girl, “^She really didn’t strike me as being so naïve as to think that mons would ever join a trainer entirely voluntarily. Even if she did and she had considered a journey like that, I don’t think that’s a sign of her being evil. Merely of her having been taught that such dynamic is right and just for everyone involved.^”
“^How dim d’ya hafta be to buy into that?^” the Grumpig hollered.
For a while, Autumn wrecked her head to come up with a retort to Pearl’s words; part of her almost giving up on the bad faith question before a potential answer hit her. “^Not stupid, just taught that humans and mons are somehow so different as to be utterly incomparable. That we think and live in completely different ways. That one of those groups is normal beings, and the other are monsters whose only goal is to fight... or enslave.^”
Her allusion thankfully hit true, judging by the waves of unease that went through the teachers and the older kids nearby alike.
The Indeedee continued, “^I’ve felt what she thinks of us when I tended to her yesterday at the clinic. She wasn’t evil, she was just ignorant of the truth of us being more alike than either wants to think, and I’m willing to bet that the same is true with many, many other humans.^”
“But that wouldn’t have jussssstified her actionsssss had she taken Ember for a... ‘trainer’ journey,” the Serperior argued.
“^No, of course not, Oliver, but that’s not what happened, was it? Now, if we could kindly move on from scary hypotheticals and back to the reality in front of us. Jovan, Pearl, what obstacles do you see between Anne and potentially joining your group once her living situation is sorted, and she’s ready to learn the language?^” Autumn asked pointedly, stirring the group from its stupor.
The two caretakers considered the risks of a whole human just joining in like that. And the more they thought... the less grave dangers they came up with—at least, for anyone aside from the human herself.
“^Keepin’ her safe from tha other young’uns’s the crux of it. You and Geiger drove in how flimsy humans are, and now I’m worryin’ about someone hurting the girl by accident—’specially the youngest kiddos...^” the Grumpig muttered.
Autumn couldn’t help but worry at Pearl’s words. It was one thing to have the confidence that no sane adult would just randomly assault a child, no matter how much they disliked the shape of their body; but children were another case entirely. A much messier, more uncertain case, Autumn ‘hmm’ and ‘haw’-ing as she considered the possibilities.
Or at least, until the answer came from beside her. “Well, I imagine it’ssss a ssssssliding ssssscale of rissssk, no? Keep the human with older, lesssss rissssky kidssss, and ssssstresssss being ssssafe,” Oliver proposed.
The Indeedee didn’t expect the Serperior of all people to be chiming in with advice to help Anne stay, but she wasn’t gonna look the gifted snake in the mouth. “^Exactly. Young Poison or Fire-types would likely be a bit too risky, especially early on, but Reya or Bell? Those wouldn’t hurt a stray leaf, and I imagine Reya in particular to be more than eager to keep a potential friend safe.^”
“Asssssuming she doessssn’t punch them...”
“That’s hardly fair to say~; she hasn’t done that in a few Moons now,” Jovan giggled. “She’s grown way past that... huh... uh... can any of you spot her?”
The Wigglytuff’s comment had the assembled teachers look around the entire clearing in search of the Riolu, unable to find her. Autumn asked, worried, “^I thought Lariat came and picked her up?^”
“^Awfully early for him, love, but... I reckon could’ve happened. Hardly the first time he’d snuck away with her without tellin’ us. Yeah, prolly that’s it,^” Pearl reassured. Her delivery wasn’t very confident, but at least there was the fact of the Lucario scout being particularly well suited for searching for his daughter, should it ever come to that.
Of course, if that were to happen, then he’d also be very, very annoyed at them for having lost her in all the commotion in the first place, and an annoyed Lariat is how one ended up having to run away from the punishment that accompanied such a situation. Namely, him looking at the guilty parties in a really sad, heartbreakingly disappointed way.
With no survivors.
“^Right-o. Anywho—’course Reya wouldn’t punch her! Sure not if she’s already charmed Bell.^”
“^Than that sounds like her personal daycare posse taken care of, eh Pearl~?^” Autumn chuckled. The Grumpig might not have liked that framing of it; but even he couldn’t deny that yeah, it was a solution, if not a bulletproof one. Then again, when it came to mon-proofing anything, nothing was ever fully ‘bulletproof’.
Just ask all the huts that ever went down by accident.
“^I... I s’pose,^” the Grumpig admitted. ^”’Specially if she can wear anythin’ that’d block debris. Those pebbles can be awfully sharp, and Geiger went on how human hide ain’t... durable.^”
“^Nope, it really didn’t feel like that from what I’ve interacted with her. She has some clothes with her, but I don’t know if anything is large or durable enough for that purpose. Maybe I’ll have to sit down with the knitting needles again after all, ha!^”
“What’s thaaat I heeear about knittiiing~?” an old, slow, croaky voice asked. It fit the Lilligant it belonged to, age-weathered and wrapped in a thick, hand-knitted shawl. A large bulb, obscured by a long scarf, rested on top of the spot her flower bloomed from in the spring.
One hell of an outfit to just sneak on all four of them with, but—if her looking up at them from a group of chatting kids was any sign—it was exactly what had just happened.
“^Oh, it’s...^” Autumn tried to brush Lavender’s concern aside—before stopping and giving it some thought. There wasn’t anyone around the place more suited for making something specifically for Anne as the Lilligant, not with her expertise; and crossing the line from just reassurance to actual gifts would help further cement Anne’s place here, both for her and for the rest of the village.
Of course, it remained to be seen whether Lavender herself would agree to such an arrangement, and there was only one way to find out. “^Actually. Lavender, we were discussing some kinds of clothes that Anne could really use if she ends up staying, and a thick, outer shawl would help her a lot, I think. Of course, I understand if you’d rather not do that—^”
“Whyyyyy wooould I nooot?” the Lilligant asked, confused.
Well, that was easy.
“^I more so meant that just in case, but... thank you, Lavender.^”
“Ahahaha, of coooourse I’ll heeeelp a liiittle one ouuuut. And I’ve eveeeeen heard of heeer being friends with Embeeeer! A matching paaaair of shawls would be soooooo sweeeeet. Sol, wake up, we have a new project to tackle!”
The elderly Grass-type accompanied her last sentence by reaching up and forcefully prodding the hidden bulb on top of her head; the being underneath the knitted fabric squirming in response. They squeaked, grumbled, and finally dared to peek out, revealing their brown face flanked by a pair of green horns. “Wassup, mom?”
“A neeeeeew project! A laaaarge one, too!” the Lilligant answered.
“Somethin’ fancy?”
“Hmmmm... I suppose if we weeeeere to take Ember’s outfit for fixeeees we could enhance it a bit to match this new one~.”
“Wait, matchin’ it with Ember’s thing? Who we makin’ it for, Cadence?” the Whimsicott asked.
“The humaaan!”
“WHAT!?” the Fairy-type shouted, his mom’s calm yet utterly insane answer making him float a few feet in the air out of sheer shock.
A colder gust immediately forced him back down into warmth, much to the Lilligant’s amusement. “I meaaaant what I said, Sol! It’s sweeeet when friends have matching ouuuutfits!”
“Since when is i—are they staying?” Sol corrected himself at seeing Autumn’s features narrow at seeing yet another person depersonify the innocent human in their care. Despite that, though, his point hit the rest of the group true; their attention turning towards Autumn, one after another.
“Hmm... I suuuuppose you’d be the first to know if that did haaaappen, Sol,” Lavender admitted. “Autumn, dear, mind claaaarifying?”
She didn’t mind, but good gods, she hated having to admit to the cruel reality that still awaited the girl. “^It’s not definitively settled yet. The scout council will hold a vote to decide her outcome, but I’m confident they’ll agree that she should stay with us for good, and so I think it’s a good idea to start working on making her welcome as warm as can be in advance.^”
Much of Autumn’s confidence was pretense, but thankfully nobody but her knew that. Pearl could vaguely guess based on the changes in her emotional state, but of the two, the Grumpig was the much worse Psychic when it came to sensing emotion, bringing a hidden sigh of relief to the Indeedee’s body.
Thankfully, her answer was enough for the Lilligant. “Well, thaaaat’s enough for me! Warm clothes for a cooooold child, and Ember’s friend noooo less!” Her enthusiasm wasn’t epidemic-level infectious, not with her quiet, creaky delivery, but the Indeedee still appreciated it.
“And what if she’s gone in the end, mom?” the Whimsicott asked.
“Then we repuuurpose it, Soool! Hardly the fiiirst time.”
“But that’s such a waste, doncha think?”
“What’s waaaaste is not taking an opportuuuuunity to greet the new arrival, Sol.”
The Whimsicott rolled his eyes and grumbled on top of his mom, but he couldn’t deny she had a point. A gift like that would be quite sweet, the humanity of its recipient aside... though, what is it about them and Ember of all people? Some fresh gossip? “Right, right, right... uh, whatsat about the human and Ember again, Autumn? Didn’t catch that.”
“^They’re old friends, Sol. I know it’s not something you’ve heard about a lot, and all I can say to that is... trauma changes people. It can meddle with emotions, it can mess with memories, it can change us as people to our very core. Ember’s fear of humans was and is genuine, but Anne here has always been the one exception to that rule.^”
In all likelihood, Autumn could’ve probably afforded to spill the beans about Ember’s memories by now, especially with the kids being distracted and her being able to make that knowledge stay within this small group. It would feel vindicating for sure, but at the same time... it would’ve been yet another distraction from the actual point. Lavender’s help was much more valuable than an opportunity to vent her frustrations, and she didn’t want to distract the elderly Lilligant with drama that didn’t really affect any of this, and which nobody ought to know about but the people directly involved.
Knowing Sol, he’d be willing to... okay, maybe not kill but at least maim for a piece of gossip this juicy, and maybe it’d prove to be a decent bargaining chip in time? Something to consider for the future, and now it was the time to keep steering the discussion where she wanted it to go. “^Does that make sense?^” she asked.
“Uh, nope. Though if that’s the real deal, then that’s the real deal, I guess,” Sol shrugged. Not like being nonsense has ever stopped fresh, juicy rumors.
“^Real deal everyone would want a piece of, eh Sol?^”
The Whimsicott needed no further motivation; torn between the constant annoying reality of it being the middle of a cold, windy winter and his life’s goal to outdo Holly and Vivian in spreading fresh news around the place. Granted, the Azumarill cook inevitably won each time by the virtue of having much more and much hungrier of an audience to share info with, but it’s not like an unimportant fact like that had ever stopped him.
“Waaaait, I’ll need a lot of cotton foooooor this project!”
“I’ll do a sweep, grab a drink at Viv’s and be home before you get there, mom.”
“I knooow that! I don’t want you withering because of that cold. Go wrap yourseeeeelf in something aaaand then you can play gossip,” Lavender insisted.
“Oh c’mon, mom—”
“Sol.”
“Okay, okay...”
“Thaaaank you.”
“See ya’ll later, then~!” the Whimsicott squeaked, taking into the air.
Right as he was about to take off and push his body through riding the cold gust in the name of the closest thing to journalism in the village, his mom’s words interrupted him one more time, “Staaaay warm, love you!”
“Love you too, mom, so so much.”
And with a hug to the Lilligant’s head, Sol was off to the races, his mom sending him off with elderly, creaky laughter; shaking her head at his antics. “Incorrigiiiible. Wonderful. Anyhow—I’ll neeeeed a few measurements first!” Lavender sighed.
“^Well, I remember some things off the top of my head, but they’re more so estimates.^”
“If it’s a shaaaawl, then that’s fiiiine.”
“^Alright. As for height... Oliver!^”
The Serperior flinched at the sudden callout; almost having followed Jovan and Pearl’s lead in redirecting his attention back to the rest of the group of the little ones following Autumn getting swept up in a discussion with Lavender. Alas, the topic of the scary and unnerving human in their midst wasn’t quite done yet, it seemed. “Y-yesssss, Autumn?”
“^Mind making yourself taller?^” the Indeedee asked. Though, seeing that Oliver’s response was a few blinks and an expression as flat as possible for his serpentine snout to be, she explained, “^I mean, raise more of your body so your head ends up further up in the air.^”
The followup clarified Autumn’s request, but not necessarily its intent—still, the fellow teacher did as asked. The elements immediately chimed in and reminded him why he kept more of himself closer to the ground than usual during the winter, but he could bear through a bit more cold.
“^A bit more?^”
The things you do out of a shared profession.
Once more, he followed through, body shaking noticeably by now. Thankfully, no more would be needed; his coworker wasting no time and explaining, “^Lavender, Anne’s about this tall, I think. Won’t hurt to err on the taller side anyway, especially since she’s still young and will grow. You can relax now, Oliver, thank you so much.^”
The Lilligant duly noted everything in her head; well used to having to remember visual guesstimates without a well-defined system of measurements. Beside them, the Serperior eased out, shivering at the cold even more than usual, the Indeedee’s gentle embrace helping undo the frost along at least some of his body.
“Nooooted! Oliver, maybe you’d be interested in soooomething for this cold tooooo? Still have some spare Sol cotton, aaaaafter all,” Lavender suggested.
Oliver wasn’t sure which flustered him more, the hug or the offer, but as much as a part of him was keen on not letting him take either, deep down he wanted both, a lot. “Y-you’re welcome A-Autumn. And... w-won’t sssssay no, Lavender, though don’t worry about me if there are otherssssss that also need warmth—”
“Moooost others have been wrapped up since at least threeeee winters ago. You should’ve juuuuust asked,” the Lilligant chuckled.
Oops.
A couple of gentle pets helped the serpent work through most of the assorted embarrassment at that realization; his nervous chuckle only redoubling the affection coming his way.
“In eeeeither case, thaaaaank you for the help, Oliver! Won’t huuuurt to get started preparing for all this. Staaaaay calm everyoooone and gooood wishes for the girl!”
Lavender took her sweet time leaving, but that was about expected from her. As she waddled through snow, Autumn immediately switched gears to the next thing she could help Anne with. At least, before a gentle hiss took her out of it, her fellow teacher bringing up his own questions, “Autumn, do you mind me asssssking more about the human?”
“^Sure, go right ahead, Oliver.^”
“How do you envisssssion Cinder playing nice? And what will happen once she outgrowsssss the daycare?”
The first question was a can of Bugs of such colossal proportions that the Indeedee honestly didn’t even want to give it any thought. It’d end up depending on so many factors, almost all of them beyond the control of anyone but the Delphox herself; but the underlying outcome was set in stone, no matter what it would take for the vixen to play nice.
The second question, though... was more intesting to think about. “^Cinder can be mad all she wants; once Anne becomes a part of the village being mad is all she’ll be able to do if she doesn’t want to get exiled. Now, what will Anne do in our classes... knowledge is universal, though you’re right, she can’t practice any moves. I don’t really consider that a problem; she can just sit on the sidelines. Not like some physical activity won’t hurt even then—maybe she’ll train dodging?^”
“Dodging?”
“^Not like she can do much more in case of any actual strife, and even outside of combat, it’ll help her remain agile. You haven’t seen her, but I have. Human body looks really arboreal, I can imagine her learning how to climb onto things and help with construction projects and such. Garret will sure be glad about not having to ask birds for help with mounting things on trees constantly, ha. And that’s even without mentioning her art skills and all the fine muscle control.^”
“Huh. Nothing for ssssstrength, but plenty of agility?”
“^I... suppose, though of course I doubt she’s anywhere near as fast as most grown mons, mostly just dextrous, especially with her hands.^”
“Handssss?” Oliver asked, growing more and more confused.
“^Hard to imagine if you haven’t seen them. They’re honestly a bit creepy, really stretched out, very boney and visibly multisegmented, and so many fingers! I’ve seen her do miracles with their version of a charcoal stick though, so she’s obviously putting them to good use.^”
“It feelsssss like with every word you or Geiger ssssay I have even lessssss of an idea of what humanssss look like...”
It might have been a demoralizing comment in most contexts, but Autumn wasn’t about to reject a bit of laughter in the tense situation—even if it was at her own expense.
“^You’ll see in not too long! Until then, anything else you wanted to chat about?^”
The discussion about the mysterious, scary human thankfully didn’t last much longer after that, be it amongst teachers or students. Some were left uncertain, but many more were left bored. Human spook factor aside, in the end it’d be just another kid joining them eventually, and that was hardly a rare circumstance in itself. Many hoped she’d end up being nice, but some ultimately didn’t care either way—they were comfortable in their own friend circles and weren’t looking for expanding them all that much.
Not the best of mindsets, but it beat the profound discomfort many older villagers felt.
Holly might not have been the unrivaled champion of breaking through any such hesitancy, but she was incredibly adept at shining as much light on it as a non-Electric type is capable of. And when their food source puts people on the spot, most inevitably fall on the side of basic decency, be it as pretense or not. Even if it is the former, performative agreement is better than no agreement; and if someone has to pretend to be a good person for long enough, then there are decent odds that at least some of that pretense will melt into their brains and permanently change that.
Or at least, that’s the method the Azumarill swore by, even if expressed in much simpler, joke-heavy terms.
“^Good afternoon, Holly!^” Autumn psychically hollered into the pantry. She saw a blue paw reach out from the depths of the kitchen in response, as if telling her to hold while the rest of the attached rabbit dug through the pile of kitchenware in search of... something. The Indeedee didn’t mind waiting, chuckling to herself as she saw the items become increasingly strewn on the ground, some of them very obviously human and in a very rough state. Hopefully she wasn’t using these rust-covered ones for any cooking...
“There, bloody finally!” the Azumarill grunted. “I’ve the perfect bleedin’ saucepan for preserves and the thing just dove right in that pile and wouldn’t come out, for cryin’ out loud. Enough about dumb fruit though—Autumn! Does our skeleton artist need another snack!?”
The abrupt swerve in topic took the Psychic aback, as did the cook’s wording, but she didn’t let them get to her and continued, “^Well, I... I suppose it won’t hurt since she’s still recovering—but that’s not what I’m here for don’t go rushing in yet!^” she spoke as fast as mentally possible, only barely stopping the Azumarill from getting to cooking there and then.
“Alright, alright, I’ll grab you somethin’ too,” Holly teased.
“^Not that either! I... I had something else to talk with you about.^”
“Well, what is it? Don’t have all day—”
“^I want to use your tattletale powers for good!^”
“Excuse me, I’m not a... okay no, I can’t say that with a straight face. Whattcha plannin’?”
Autumn tried her hardest not to laugh as she continued, “^So, I need you to warm everyone’s opinion of our ‘skeleton artist’—^”
“What makes ya think I haven’t already been doin’ that~?” the Azumarill asked, brow raised.
...
Good point.
“^Well... thank you a lot in that case, Holly,^” Autumn sighed in relief.
The Azumarill smirked with a limp flick of her wrist, giving the worried grandma a big wink for her concerns. “^I’ve got it all under control babe, ever since day one~. Though... if you’ve got anythin’ more concrete I could use as ammo, I’d definitely help mooooore~.^”
Can’t ever resist that next bit of gossip, eh?
“^Heh, sure. I take you’ve heard of Anne and Ember being friends?^”
“Sol mentioned it in passing while flying past at mach three and I’ve zero idea in what way did he mean it, yes tell me everything about it!”
Autumn didn’t have to be told twice. “^They met around four to five years ago, when Ember was just a hatchling. Anne and her good human relatives spent the first couple of years raising Ember, and they were the closest friends one could imagine.^”
“Lemme guess—and then a terrible tragedy changed everythin’?” Holly joked. Though, even as someone as shameless as her couldn’t help but wince as she watched Autumn’s expression grow distraught in real time. It seemed she’d hit a bullseye, even if an accidental one and very… unsettling in its implications, especially with what she knew of Ember’s past. “Iiiiii think I can piece some of that togetha. Then they separated?”
“^M-mhm. It was Anne’s choice to protect Ember...^” Autumn muttered. As eager as the Indeedee had been just moments ago, having to confront all the grim tragedy in the girl’s past again significantly chilled her enthusiasm; her gaze drifting off into the middle distance as she tried to keep herself grounded. These weren’t her memories; she had very little idea about most of the details of the events that had transpired in them, but she knew she would carry some of them with herself until the end of her li—
*squeeze*
It was hard to keep falling down the spiral of a nervous breakdown while being held by an aqua rabbit and raised a foot into the air. “Say no more, Autumn! I get tha picture. You doin’ alright up there? Felt some bad juju creepin’ in and thought I’d intervene.”
“^I... yeah. Thank you, Holly.^”
“Anytime darlin’~. Ember remembered Anne, then the separation messed her up so much she ended up forgettin’? Fuckin’... tragic,” the Azumarill sighed. “I’ll do what I can to help love, doncha worry. Until then, want a bite if I’m already gonna be preparing something for Anne?”
“^Yes, I’ll take the usual—^”
“Ya got it~!”
Just as suddenly as she was lifted into an emergency hug, the Indeedee was lowered again; the cook dashing back into the warm confines of her kitchen and beginning her culinary magic to the rattle of an uncountable number of dishes. Some of Autumn wanted to come in and help clean the whole mess up out of gratitude, but the rest knew all too well that if there was any moment when the cook was legitimately dangerous, it was when someone came between her and her cooking—
“^Autumn?^” a low, telepathic voice interrupted her train of thought. Not one she was too familiar with in a vacuum, but circumstantial evidence helped her piece it together. Concerned, if trying its very hardest to cover it, not Psychic in origin, going through the effort of establishing private telepathy...
“^Hello Lariat, can I help?^”
The rest of Lucario was much like the voice she’d heard. Composed and calm on the surface, increasingly unnerved underneath; the pieces of the puzzle clicking together in the Indeedee’s mind with an almost audible ‘uh-oh’ as he asked, “^Where is Reya?^”
...damn it. Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it. No point of lying to a Lucario, let’s just get to the big mess, “^I... don’t know. I thought you came in earlier and picked her up.^”
She could swear she saw his composure decay in real time; eyes going from relaxed to wide and shaking in a split second. Before he could start panicking, though, a hunch hit her, one she grumbled at herself for not having realized sooner. “^Can you check for her aura at the clinic?^”
The implication of an injury didn’t help his calmness any, but the Lucario did as was asked of him. After a few moments of his bangles rising at the intensity of the aura flowing through them, Lariat had his answer.
Autumn followed up, keeping the Lucario from running over and checking up on his offspring with maximum force possible, “^Wait! She’s alright, promise, she’s not there because she got injured.^”
“^Then why else!?^” Lariat demanded to know.
“^Because Bell is there, and I mentioned that to her when she asked why isn’t he with the rest of the group.^”
Finally, the scout unwound; the situation coming together to paint the picture of his daughter being a silly pup unable to resist joining in her friend without even cluing anyone else in. Suppose he could take his time in that case. Hopefully, the Ralts himself wasn’t in there because of a health scare—
“^Glad that it is just that. Hope Bell gets better soon.^”
“^Oh he’s not there because he’s sick, he’s visiting Anne—with Marco and Cypress watching!^” Had Autumn added that latter detail even a split second later, Lariat would’ve already been gone in a flash of Extremespeed by the time she’d finished. Even if she’d kept the scout grounded, though, he was now firmly disgruntled, his eyes narrowing as they stared at her. She continued, “^They’re all being watched, there’s nothing to worry about—^”
“^She’s still in the same room as a human!^”
“^A human that’s about as threatening as a Metapod!^” Autumn argued. As calm and collected as she would’ve preferred to be, she didn’t take well to yet another person implying the danger of an injured orphan that she and her family were fighting for the safety of.
Fortunately, her raised voice did help, its unexpected fierceness interrupting the Lucario’s winding anxiety. It seemed that Reya was indeed safe, but so many questions remained. “^Why is Bell visiting the human in the first place?^”
“^Because she’s lonely, needs friends, and will probably stay with us for a while.^”
The last point took the Lucario aback in particular, the steely canine taking a half step back as his eyes widened. “^That is a very foolish decision.^”
“^Why?^” Autumn’s eyes narrowed, “^She’s a defenseless child.^”
“^She’s a human,^” Lariat insisted.
“^A defenseless child.^”
“^A human.^”
The Indeedee was about to bash her head into the nearest brick wall at making exactly zero headway in digging through the Lucario’s thick skull, some of her frustration bubbling up into the forefront of her mind. It definitely didn’t help in endearing the scout to her ideas, the realization annoying the Psychic grandma further.
Deep breaths, unwind, think through what is likely to click with him more. Something based on more than the surface level identity. How about, “^Well, what do you think we are, Lariat?^”
The Lucario blinked, not understanding where that question came through, half expecting to be tricked in some way. “^Not humans.^”
“^Not quite, we’re villagers.^”
“^Hiding away from humanity.^”
“^That’s right! Humanity, not ‘humans’,^” the Indeedee explained.
“^These are the same thing. Every human is a part of humanity. We have to hide from them all.^”
“^Even one whose own society rejected her so much it turned a blind eye to her abuse and forced her to run for her life? Even one that has no remaining family links with the rest of humanity!? Even one that never wants to go back!?^”
Autumn delivered her questions with more emotions than she’d wanted, but goddammit, she couldn’t help it. This was stressful, this was draining; she just wished she could get through everyone’s skulls and see it through that Anne be treated as a person and not a threat. Alas, she wouldn’t get to see whether she was successful with Lariat, the Lucario gone as soon as she’d gathered her bearings.
The frustration made her kick the brick wall of Holly’s stall, much to the immediate pain in her paw. He didn’t even deign her with a response, so unlike him. Did he just care this little about what she had to say? This was distressing. Being powerless in this serious of a situation was so distressing. Distressing, hopeless, and so many other things. It made her briefly doubt whether anything’d done today had helped in the slightest. Whether her effort would even amount to anything.
Whether Anne wasn’t already doomed—
*slam!*
Before her thoughts could creep towards despair again, a loud thud coming from the kitchen counter snagged her attention right back; the sights and scents of the sugary, buttery pastry helping in melting through the negative emotions. “There ya go, darlin’! Now, lemme get to Anne’s portion; with how thin she is, she’s gonna need three of these. Skin and bones, I tell ya!”
“^Th-thank you so much, Holly.^”
“Anytime~.”
Each bite of the sugary dough helped stave the worst of her muck off; a distraction as welcome as Autumn knew it was fleeting. Something simple to cheer her up, even if the doubts persisted underneath, just to keep the feeling of not having done enough at bay—
“M-Mrs. Autumn, we had a couple more questions about the human—”
“THEY DID WHAT!?”
Right as her gaze tried to focus on the small band of students that had tracked her through the village in search of more knowledge, a shrill shout from the pantry snagged everyone’s attention towards it. Autumn didn’t expect to see Cadence and Marco there, but whatever they had told the Azumarill, it had her leaning through the counter with the most aghast and then furious expression Autumn had ever seen her dish out.
Unnerving as the implications of that were, the Indeedee was sure the Gallade could deal with them. She had a different role to play in all this, a different way of helping out the human in their midst. After all, she already was helping—possibly more than she’d ever know.
“^What were your questions, sweeties?^”
She just had to hope it’d be enough in the end.
