Ch. 1 Afternoon

Chapter 1 - Afternoon

The wind was almost non-existent. All I felt was the stillness and sun shining down from almost directly above me. It was... peaceful. Things had been so stressful lately, but I was managing to let myself unwind a little. A light breeze drifted by, unnoticeable until flitting in intensity. It was warm, however, and barely moved a few strands of hair on my bangs, so I simply smiled and my eyes remained gently closed. My hands were comfortably folded behind my head, separating my hair from the sea of sand beneath. I slowed my breathing and let myself just... relax.

Bam! Something collided with my unprotected right side and caused me to lose my breath! I gasped for air and crunched up, lifting my upper body off the sand and wincing. Damn! It felt like a mallet had collided with my ribs! That could only mean one thing...

Opening my eyes into a glare, I looked up at my twin sister, Jessica. She snickered down at me and smirked playfully. "Asleep yet, Bro?" she asked merrily, tilting her head.

"Damn it, Sis! Will you watch your own strength!" I exclaimed, wheezing. The air stubbornly was still holding strike over my lungs. For a brief moment, her eyes softened a little. Just a little... Then she snickered again and frolicked off towards the water.

I sighed and stared after her for a while longer. "Come on, Bro! You can't waste the day away sleeping!" she exclaimed merrily towards me. Groaning, I decided she was probably right and struggled to my feet, dusting my swimming trunks off. With the sand flaking off, some of the suit's natural blue and gray was starting to show through again.

Looking upwards once more, I saw that she had already gotten to the water and was doing a playful spinning motion. The water sprayed off her legs as she spun, and her fluffy tail bobbed back and forth. He. She was usually such a klutz. I guess a lot of that changed after thresholding.   She was a vulpine pokégirl, just like our mother.   Her skin was a pale color, not much different than mine, but she had a long and bushy tail coming out just above her butt, and two fox ears sticking off the top of her head. The fur of the tail and ears was a beautiful white color, while her eyes had become a light blue, also mimicking the shape of a fox. She was very beautiful, overall, and I didn't mind complimenting her at least. Her long hair reached mid-back, and was as straight as possible, yet a blue color. The color of it made me a little jealous. My hair was black like Dad's.

"Don't go too far out!" was shouted from the opposite way of the direction I was running. I spun and waved towards my Mom on the shore to signify that I had at least heard her. My sister was almost a copy of her, just a lot smaller. Heh. In many areas... but I tried not to stare. She was my own mother for crying out loud! Dad was unpacking the beach gear next to her, laying out towels on the sand. He was a little taller than my Mom, so probably about 5'11". He was built solidly and still had quite a lot of muscle, despite being almost forty and having his hair start to show grays. I teased him about it all the time, in which he'd always respond by breaking into lengthy stories about his Tamer days and how the "youngsters" back then had much more respect. Sis hated it, but really, I just liked hearing the stories.

Dad was an amazing Tamer, from what I've heard. Not just from him, either. He was a deeply respected member of the community, and gained a lot of respect, in and out of the Blue League. He served loyally for quite a few years, and was always there to give a helping hand. No heroics, but humbly helping people. That's what I liked the most, I think.

My foot hit something cold and went out from under me, then. Widening my eyes, I gave a loud yelp as I went over backwards, watching my right foot go skyward as my left couldn't balance my body's weight on it any longer! The last thing I heard about hitting the water, back first, was Jessica's burst of laughter... Damn her!

Growling as I surfaced again, I glared over at her. She was still laughing hysterically at me and grinning with glee. I looked back towards shore and saw the telltale patch of ice in the sand, the waves washing slowly over it. I glared back at her and she just smirked. She was the ice type of a Pokégirl variant called the Foxymaiden. She had just started practicing ice manipulation a week ago, but she still loved pranks. Mom was a lot better at them, but that's to be expected I suppose. Mom was a Pokéwoman, after all. Mother just smirked towards me before going back to her book while laying on the towel. I shook my head and walked towards my sister, who was just smiling at me now.

I guess I should just let her have her fun. That's the whole reason we'd come out to this beach, after all. Both my sister and I's birthday was in two weeks. She was borne two minutes ahead of me. She'd went through threshold three weeks ago, after falling off a ladder while bringing a package of roof tiles up to my dad. We'd had a long talk after that, about what it meant and what was going to happen from now on. Jessica was a Pokégirl now. She needed someone to tame her, and she was only allowed to go without a Tamer until she was fifteen. So in two weeks, she'd be leaving us. 

A Tamer had already stopped by and talked to us about it. He seemed really nice, and wanted to pick her up when she was fifteen. He said he'd even bring her back to visit every once in a while! Jess was really happy after that, but I still wouldn't get to see her very often, which kind of depressed me. I'd grown up with Jess and Kari. That would be losing a big part of my life!

Speaking of Kari, her family was late again. Nice people, but horrible sense of timing. They lived across the street from us. Kari was a year younger than Jessica and I, but we all got along really well. We went to the same school together and everything. Kari's mom is an elf type if I recall. An ElfQueen maybe? Kari's a little unusual, as she actually has a blood gift! She can make plants grow really fast. It's cool to watch, but she won't show me very often. She says it might make her threshold, and she wants to remain human. I don't really see why, as having Pokégirl powers would be so much cooler! But she was a quiet and reserved girl, so I guess the life of adventure doesn't really appeal to her that much.

"Thinking about Kari again?" Jessica suddenly asked, smirking. I glared idly at her before kicking water up towards her. She laughed and held her hands up to keep it out of her face. At least I got some on her tail. She hated getting it wet… Her two piece got soaked as well, and I couldn't help but stare at it for a few seconds. Then I felt a stirring and quickly looked away. Dang it… she was my sister.   "Uh oh, you want to tame me too?" she followed, laughing again.

This time I pounced her totally into the water, glaring all the while. I could almost hear her laughing under the water as she easily broke my hold and shoved me away from her. Above water again, I stared irritably at her. "Ew! You're my sister, that's disgusting!" I exclaimed, shaking my head towards her. She just laughed.

"You're such a guy. You should go into Taming like Dad. Then you'd get lots of girls, anyway…" she exclaimed merrily, winking at me. Despite trying my hardest to murder her with my eyes, I could feel my face getting warm.

"Oh stop it! I just want to find a nice human girl to settle down with after school…" I protested, defending my pride.

Jessica snickered as she started to walk past me, dripping wet still. "That's not what other parts of you think…" she muttered, just passing me. My eyes widened and I looked down, blushing furiously as she must have noticed my issues down there. I started to sink slightly into the water as I saw her… fingers touch the surface near my side?! Oh no…

My yelp was MUCH louder this time as I discovered my entire midsection frozen in a block of ice! She was already running towards shore laughing by the time I shouted, and tried my best to hop along after her. "You bitch! Why'd you do that!" I screamed, feeling the almost burning sensation flooding through my abdomen! Her laughter only heightened in octave as I struggled to push the ice block off me without ripping my skin off…

"Watch the language, young man! And Jessica, apologize for freezing your brother's swimming trunks…" Dad yelled sternly from his blanket next to Mom.  He looked like he was barely holding in laughter, though… Damn it!

Jessica snickered more as she finally stopped running and brought her fist down on the top of the ice block! Stars exploded in my vision as that stabbing, yet familiar pain burst through my abdomen and I fell to my knees in the sand, chunks of ice crumbling all around me. The stabbing was pervasive and I tried to curl into a little ball to protect my nether regions from further abuse! "Hey, he needed some cooling off down there anyway!" she shouted back, laughing. Despite the intense agony, I actually managed a blush again.

"He's a teenage boy, Dear. It's to be expected…" Mom replied, in normal tone but still managing to reach us with her voice without looking up from her book. I groaned and fell sideways, just wishing I could bury myself in the sand and hide for a few hours…

It seemed like an eternity, but the stabbing finally started retreating again. I hoped I could still have children in the future! I sighed but remained on my side, staring at the sand in front of me. After a few moments or so, Jessica slowly sat down next to me. "Mmm… sorry, Keith. I didn't mean to hurt you…" she apologized, speaking softly now.

"You still can't control the ice very well, can you?" I asked, looking up at her and noticing she'd lost her smile and was just staring ahead at the sand.

After a few more seconds, she shook her head slowly. "No, not really. It's difficult to control and my emotions run wild when using it. I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually have to be precise during a battle or something…" she replied, resting her chin on her knees and tucking her legs into her chest. I sat up then and she let herself tilt sideways, resting her head on my left shoulder. We stayed like that for quite a while.

My sister and I were always close. We were twins, so there was a bond there, sure, but ours seems to have drove deeper than that. To something akin of empathy. I hadn't been tested for blood gifts yet, but I doubt I had actual empathy. It only seemed to work with her. The only blood trait I knew I had was the eyes so far. I'd gotten them at the same time she thresholded. They're nothing special. So far as I can tell, my vision may have improved a little bit. Nothing noticeable. But the iris is definitely vulpine in shape, now, being almost cat-like most of the time. Nothing compared to the change in my sister, of course. Dad wanted to wait until I was fifteen to take me in to get tested for blood traits. I was a late bloomer it would seem, but I think he just wants to give as much attention to Jessica as possible right now, which is understandable.

Dad finally finished setting up the beach towels when we looked up again. He just smiled softly at us for a few seconds before unpacking the makeshift volleyball net he'd made us when we were younger. I nodded and stood up, helping him draw out the next and attach it to each of the carved poles. Not many really played anymore, but it was still good exercise and a lot of fun.  It's a pity it lost so much popularity after the war, I guess.

Jessica smiled again once it was set up and stood. I smirked and dug for the ball in the bag of supplies we'd brought. By the time I'd found it, I saw another shape in my peripheral vision, rounding the corner of the tree line and coming into view along the beach. Sis gave a squeal of delight behind me and I heard rapid patting sounds in the sand moving towards their direction, followed by, "Kari! You finally made it!"

I didn't really have to look, but I did anyway, if only to check out what bathing suit she was wearing as soon as humanly possible. Kari was walking along the boardwalk and heading towards the dip to the beach. She was wearing a dark green one piece that did a fairly good job hiding her skin. Her chest was still developing anyway, so I wasn't expecting her to be too exposed. She looked beyond adorable to me, though. Something about the way she looked at me just made me want to protect her. Her mother was trailing slowly behind her, and seemed to be staring out at the water, oblivious to the fox Pokégirl sprinting towards them. I guess Sis' personality hadn't changed much after threshold, so they were probably used to it by now… She was also in a one piece, but hand a towel draped over her shoulders as well.

The two girls collided, more or less, fifty feet away from me or so. Jessica practically pounced on Kari, causing her to drop the bag she was carrying from the force of the impact. Sis had her in what looked to be a consciousness rending hug. I winced as memories of pain drifted through my mind. Kari smiled softly, regardless of the probable discomfort, until Sis let her go. She was then hauled roughly over to where I was at rapid speed. "Come on, Kari! You can be on Keith's team! He'll probably need the help…" she said rapidly as she ran. She was probably right…

"Just don't kill her before she can even serve," I muttered, watching Kari get dragged along, barely managing to stay on her feet with a bewildered look in her eyes.

Sis waved her hand in a nonchalant manner in my direction before depositing the bewildered girl at the base of the net, sitting in the sand. She blinked a couple times, attempting to re-orient herself, and I extended a hand down to her. She watches it descend and hesitated a few seconds before snapping out of whatever it was going through her head and smiling softly. She looked up at me as she took my hand, and I helped her to her feet. She remained gripping my hand for a few moments after and looked at me carefully.

After several awkward seconds, I felt heat start to creep back up into my face, and couldn't help but stare at her soft, emerald eyes. "Thank you, Keith. It's nice to see you again…" she muttered suddenly, smiling brighter now and releasing my hand. She turned away just as I managed a stifled nod, and I mentally smacked myself in the forehead. "Y-yeah, nice to see you again too," I finally staggered out, after composing myself. What was it about her that turned my brain to mush?!

Jessica was snickering at me as Kari turned away, but she didn't say anything. Kari picked up the ball, smirked gently, and served with almost inhuman precision and speed…

* * * * *

"Damn it! You're kidding… this fucking tiny ass town doesn't even have a ranch?!" the loud customer asked.

The general store clerk shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, sir. There is no ranch near here.   Every new tamer gets sent across the channel to get their first Pokégirl. All the rest are caught feral," the clerk explained rapidly, a bit of sweat building up on his forehead.

The customer looked exceptionally dangerous. He had a long blade strapped across his back, under his cloak, so the hilt stuck out over his right shoulder. He was dressed mostly in blacks and dark grays, and had a full array of Pokéballs at his belt! He was kind of on the short side, with spiked, dark green hair sticking out in tufts from under the edges of his knit cap. His suit was an array of black straps, similar to the one composing his belt, crossing a few times over his chest, holding his shirt tightly to his chest. Below the waste were baggy khakis with heavy industrial boots. He made a steady thumping noise in them as he paced back and forth. "So you're telling me there's no way to order a specific Pokégirl in this hellhole?" he finally asked, glaring at the clerk again.

"N-no sir! Special orders need to be put in at the mainland ranch," the clerk hesitantly answered, fidgeting with his hands on the desk nervously.

The stranger in black stared with a death glare at the clerk for a few moments before growling and storming out of the shop…

* * * * *

I made a dive for the ball just as it came in and barely managed to skip it off my head! I ate sand hard and slid almost under the net. Kari came out of nowhere above me though and almost FOLLOWED the ball up! She whipped her arm out and bashed it down with all of her might, launching it just barely over the net's top and right at the sand below. Jessica made a dive for it, but she was way back in the other corner. She came within inches before it smashed into the sand…

"Yes!" I started to exclaim, briefly before the small girl landed on me, stomach first… My face was smashed into the sand… again… and I realized she was a lot heavier than I anticipated when falling five feet or so. She let out a muffled yelp when she landed on me, and I could feel her double over my back as she hit. The air was knocked out of both of us, and we became a gasping, writhing pile in the sand…

Jessica burst into laughter of course, and commented, "Wow, that was almost worth losing to see that! Damn you're vicious at this game, Kari…"

Kari finally got her breath back and crawled off me weakly. Being in pain still, I just kind of stayed where I was. "It was a good game, I'll admit. Keith pulled more weight than I thought he would. Um… are you okay?" she asked, looking down at me again.

I'd rolled over onto my back, but I couldn't get my breath back. Oh no… not again. I started coughing and curled into a ball, rolling to my side. My body started to ache again and didn't want to move correctly, like it was operating at way under its normal power. Jessica's eyes widened as I started spastically jerking in the sand!

"Oh crap! Mom! It's happening again!" she shouted, at the top of her lungs. I heard the distinct sound of footsteps running through sand then.

"Oh dear… I knew you were working yourself too hard. You need to be more careful, Keith…" came my mother's voice from above me. A light suddenly covered me completely and I could feel the shaking stop, strength returning to my muscles at the same time the air came back to my lungs slowly.

My vision finally stopped swimming and I looked up at the light receding back into Mom's palm. Her Cura magic worked again… I slowly sat up and shivered a little, still feeling dizzy. Jess propped me up using her arms and held me there. "You okay, Bro? We should have taken more breaks…" she finally muttered, sounding worried. 

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah… I'll be okay. That sucked.   This body is so frustrating sometimes…" I muttered weakly. Forgot about that one. One curse I was born with. My constitution is extremely weak. After exertion, I have a tendency to be almost four times as tired as an average individual. I tried to keep myself in pretty good shape to somewhat counteract this, but it barely was noticeable most of the time. And when I did way above and beyond what I should usually exert, sometimes I lock up like that. That's one of the main reasons I was shying away from a Tamer career…

"Your eyes look good again. You seem to be recovering…" Kari muttered, leaning in to look into my right eye. I looked back, and she smiled gently before nodding.

Dad had walked over by now and was shaking his head towards me. "You know you have to watch yourself… but you guys at least had a lot of fun. And Kess has easily enough energy for a Cura or two during the day," he pointed out. Mom smiled and nodded softly. I noticed she was still holding her book from earlier. She was a highly intelligent Foxymaiden, loving to read most of the time. She was the Alpha of Dad's harem, and took up a heavy support role, learning magic to supplement her abilities. She formed a solid Delta bond with Dad and, after he retired, she became his sort of… life mate. Pokéwomen and Pokégirls weren't allowed to marry, so that was about as close as they got. She did give him two… reasonably healthy kids. Well, now a reasonably healthy kid and a Pokégirl.

"Yeah. I'm lucky Mom knows healing magic," I agreed, trying to flex my arm muscles to get them to wake up. I hated attacks like that. Why did I get a full blood curse, and then only get these stupid eyes? If they did something, maybe it would actually be worth it.

Kari grabbed my arm as I leaned forward, and helped pull me up. I nodded and smiled towards her, and she perked up happily. She then led me in the direction of Dad's makeshift "camping" area. I only say that because he tends to be a bit on the obsessive side and over-pack. The umbrella tent he had erected was practically room sized! Kari held on solidly to my arm until I was safely resting on one of the beach towels. She then knelt beside me and got a juice drink from the cooler, presenting it to me as Jessica strolled up.

"You baby him so much, Kari. Almost more than I do…" she commented, smirking and sitting down in the sand in front of the towel.

Kari nodded gently. "Well you two are good friends. And I worry about his condition a lot…" she informed, shifting off her knees and into a more sitting position next to me. She gently folded her hands in her lap while looking towards Jessica.

My sister shook her head before chuckling. Kari raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, but she just shook her head and winked? Amazingly enough, I saw a light pink tint flush across Kari's cheeks before her eyes narrowed a little and she whipped up a bit of sand at Jessica! My sister brought her tail into the path of the sand and blocked most of it before bursting into laughter. I was just terribly confused…

The sun was starting to set over the water, now, and I watched the lazy reflection of it slowly dwindle. The inevitable came, of course. "We should get going soon, gang. The path isn't exactly safe after nightfall," Dad finally pointed out. Sis sighed in a depressed manner so I smiled re-assuredly at her. She swatted me over the head with her tail as she stood up…

Kari stood while I was still glaring and, somehow latching onto my hand without me noticing, pulled me up too. "Are you sure you're okay to walk?" she asked softly as I wobbled, but regained my balance. I nodded and smiled towards her. She reluctantly released my arm, but nodded, affirming, "If you're sure…" She then turned and followed after Sis, lingering a little behind.

Dad finally finished packing up all of his crap, and followed after us, carrying his vast backpack along. The folding stands for the umbrellas literally were sticking out of the top of it. I told him he should just get a Poképack and save himself the trouble, but he always ignored me.

It was mostly dark when we got back to town. It was a good ten mile walk after all. Just as we hit town limits, a loud crack was heard from above, and the sky momentarily exploded into light! Jessica made a yelping noise and instantly grabbed my right arm. Kari snickered at her and shook her head. Then the rain began to fall. "Damn it…" I heard Dad mutter as we all began to run towards our block. The rain came down thick and hard, and only picked up speed as we neared our house. Sloshing of our feet through the thin layer of water gathering on the sidewalk was about all that could be heard. We seemed like the only ones out tonight.

As we neared our house, I smiled over at Kari while running.  She half smiled back, but seemed sad for some reason. There wasn't time to ask her what was wrong, unfortunately. We reached our driveway and she waved gently at me from across the road. I returned the wave and stood there, watching until she went in the house. I heard heavy voices from inside, all the way from over here and frowned. Everyone else wasted no time in opening the door and storming inside, soggy and kind of irritable. At least Dad was. Mom seemed as contented and energetic as usual. Sis looked pissed, though, and was dripping from the tail badly… Finally making my way through the door, I watched everyone slowly and solemnly walk into the hallway.

I peeled off the now soaked towel and tossed it in the hamper before heading down the hallway myself, and into my room. Finally getting the soaking wet shorts off was a blessing. They were freezing at this point, and I had just about had them totally dry after the game. Walking over to my dresser, I pulled out a normal pair of shorts and boxers and rapidly changed, not bothering with a shirt as I'd sweat my ass off otherwise. I much preferred winter over summer, but at least I got to swim when the channel wasn't frozen. I turned and went to close the door to my room, noting the lights were off in the hallway already. Mom and Dad must have turned in early. Ah well. Maybe I'll just read for an hour or so before bed.

Staring into the darkness, I could make out suddenly a glowing pair of eyes. Blinking, I took a few moments to look closer, then chuckled. A deep sigh came from the dark before Jessica stepped into the light of my room in her nightgown. "Um… Brother…. Uh…" she started. Another crack echoed from the sky and the lights flickered slightly. She yipped weakly and shivered there.  

"Yes, you can stay with me, don't worry," I assured, already predicting this. She was such a baby during thunderstorms, but I couldn't really say no to her. I smiled gently at her.

"Oh, thank you, Bro! You're the best!" she gushed before closing the door behind her. Well, there goes reading… Doesn't look like the lights are going to hold anyway, so might as well turn in early.

I heard the light sound of cloth hitting the floor. Turning, I saw that she had reduced herself to just her bra and panties. Mentally, I shrugged. It was actually less revealing than her bikini, which I'd seen her in a few minutes earlier. She slipped under the covers shortly after me and used my right arm as a teddy bear, giving a periodic wince every time another thunderclap would sound. I turned off the lamp on my bedside table, and the room was plunged into darkness. I just lay there, listening to the rain for the longest time. Jess stopped shaking after ten minutes or so, and I felt her breathing deepen, as she was still latched onto my arm. I listened to her breathing and slowly let myself drift to sleep…

* * * * *

The only light was from the street lights higher above. The rain cascading around them caused an almost ethereal effect in the light. Tucked into the dark eve of alley next to the tavern, a dark figure crouched low to the side of the building.

"Fucking rain… This better not ruin my leather…" he muttered, trying his best to dial a number on his cell phone in the dark. It took him two or three tries before he finally entered the right number and put the phone to his ear.

"Yeah… hey… no, I know I'm late. Hey now, if you just let me put the number in the address book… Damn it! I know, security. They don't even have a fucking ranch on this island. There's no way to track Pokégirl records. Hell, they probably don't even write them down anywhere…" the man in mostly black started to speak into the phone. After several seconds, he winced again and held the phone from his ear, before responding, "No, no, no, I'm not giving up. I'll find her for you. Don't worry about it. Even if I have to search the entire fucking island! Just give me a little while longer…"

The click was audible and the man sighed as he pocketed the phone again.   A lingering silence persevered.

"Fucking rain…"

* * * * *

Another thunderclap went off. Kess was reading in bed as she listened to Jason brush his teeth. She smiled softly at him as he walked back in, only in sweat pants. He winked back at her as he slowly walked towards the bed. She raised her left eyebrow before noticing the very obvious bulge extending over half a foot down his pant leg. She smirked knowingly and set her book down on the bedside table…

Chapter 1 - End