A Weird Feraligatr, You Are!

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*N-nng…damn it...w-why does everything...hurt…?* A being thought to himself...

A voice from inside a nearby tent began wondering aloud as he rose from his unintentional rest. Brandon sat up a bit to his own regret, his core beginning to surge in pain for some reason. Regardless, he sat up and soon stood up following that, trying to keep upright. Why he was in such pain was not known to him at the moment.

Looking down at his arms, he noticed that his usual overcoat had a sleeve with a decent sized cut in it. The opening to the cut revealed what should be his arm, but that was obscured by another layer--one not usually there--of fresh bandages. Brandon imagined underneath the tightly wrapped bandage was a nasty gash; In fact, he noticed that he had bandages in multiple spots of his body. This included his right leg, his left arm, and the right side of his chest.

“Huh…?”

Brandon recognized that he was in his own tent, the one he used when he and the rest of the crew settled down for the day. All his nearly-nonexistent belongings were intact, the only thing that wasn’t entirely was him technically. Holding himself as upright as possible, the Feraligatr slowly made his way out of the tent.

Sunrise was in the middle of its glorious premier, warm colors scattering across the horizon and painting every cloud in sight with its beautiful pastel personality. The light reflected off of a nearby river, as the tents for all of the crew had been set a few meters away. Having a clean, sparkly source of water, Brandon walked over and carefully knelt down. His own reflection was barely visible against the intensity of the sunset, however it did not take much detail to see that he was pretty roughed up. His clothes, which were still the only set that he had, were abhorrent destroyed in the spots surrounding the bandages on his body. There was also a gash across his face that was light and healing, but still looked rather unbecoming right underneath his mask.

*What...happened…? Where...where is everyone…?*

 While thought circulated throughout his head, Brandon leaned forward and cupped his claws, scooping some of the cold water up to wash his face. After a refreshing few moments of pain relief, he carefully propped himself upright and turned back towards the tent. Taking no more than a single step forward, as if his mind has been read before, he nearly bumped into a figure that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

“Gah..!”

Brandon stumbled back and fell onto his rear, grunting as he looked up; After all, it wasn’t like he wasn’t in enough pain already.

 “Hah! You got scaredddd! Some thief you are!~” A bubbly, cheery voice laughed, standing tall in front of him. Ayu, a peppy Meowth, was smirking down at him, unable to control her laughter. Brandon let out a huff and got himself up again; Now that he was upright, the near two-foot difference between them was apparent as he looked down at her.

 They weren’t exactly close, and Brandon was still rather weary of Ayu. All he really knew about her, aside from the fact that she had been traveling with Isshin before ending up part of their crew, was that she was entirely a wildcard.

 “I’ve been waiting behind the tent for like...an hour now! It was boring, you should have woken up sooner! But was it worth it, absolutely!” Ayu teased, looking up at the Feraligatr with a mischievous grin.

 “Hmp…” Brandon grunted, rubbing his own arm and trying to relieve the reignited pain. “What..happened? Where..is uh...everyone else…?””

 “Oh, they really did a number on you! You can’t even remember!” Ayu responded, more to herself than Brandon seemingly. “We were traveling and following this stream and then--woosh!--we got attacked by some crooks! They struck you--bam!--right in the back and you were pissed! But you were being a slow poke and were lagging behind everyone, so they got enough hits in on you to knock you down before we ran back to help! And then-”

 As the cat’s story continued as detailed as possible, Brandon held his head a bit. Now it came back to him, those bandits *had* gotten a cheap blow on him, although he wasn’t nearly as far from the group as Ayu was explaining. The details really didn’t matter though; What mainly mattered was that Brandon had been injured because of that.

 “And...everyone else…?” He then asked, figuring that if anyone else was around they probably would have checked on him the moment sound was heard from his tent.

 “Oh, them?” Ayu said. “They went out to scout a little more since we’re still quite far from the destination. And I didn’t want to walk around that much, so they told me to just stay on guard with you until you recovered!~”

“Just..you? Okay...thank you, I suppose…”

 Brandon was as quiet as one could get. Not only was he not used to traveling with an entire group, but he never thought exactly that he would end up traveling with those he still thought of as complete strangers. How was he supposed to trust any of these people fully? It was apparent that Ayu, assuming she was the one who bandaged him up, was reliable to a degree. The last thing Brandon wanted to do was not show gratitude for such a helpful gesture, but he wasn’t in much of a mood for small talk with Ayu.

 “...How far...out is our destination…?” Brandon inquired quietly, looking at his ruined clothing.

 “Ummmmm. A mile or two, or three...or ten. I can’t remember the exact number. Although there is a city on the way we’re probbbably gonna stop at for materials.” Ayu explained to him.

 “I see...thank you…”

 Brandon went into his tent to make sure all his gear was with him, as the only one that had been off as far as he knew was his belt and dagger. Once that was strapped around his waist, Brandon noticed the dagger was through the end of its sheath; In fact, the sheath itself was in shambles too, barely hanging on by a thread to keep the dagger in place.

 With everything in order, the Feraligatr exited his tent. He stretched a moment, ignoring the pain, and began to walk in the direction they had been traveling the previous day. As long as he followed the river, he shouldn’t have to worry about getting lost.

 “HEY! HEY! WAIT A SECCCCCC!” Ayu’s voice shouted from still relatively close, still yelling as she ran and approached Brandon. “WHEREEEE ARE YOU GOING?? YOURE STILL HURT!”

 Brandon shook his head to shake off the pain that was now in his ears from the yelling, also reaching up to wipe a bit of accidental spit off his face and mask.

 “I’m..going to get...material. These are... my only clothes.” He explained, trying to control his irritation from being stopped.

 “That’s crazy, you can’t do that! That’s miles out of a walk still and you’re hurt!” Ayu tried to convince him, moving a bit closer and causing Brandon to take a step back.

 “Hey, I’m not a child...I can handle myself…”

 “Yeah, any non-injured person could. You aren’t that right now!”

 “...I’ll be fine, damn it.”

 Not giving Ayu much of a chance to respond after that, Brandon began to walk again towards his destination. After a few moments, he felt a paw grab his shoulder and turn him around. Ayu looked up at him with a paw on his shoulder, her expression much more serious than usual.

“Stop being stubborn, you’re gonna hurt yourself more.” She scolded.

“No, I’m not. Thanks, but I can handle myself.” Brandon fired back, more firmly this time. “Stop treating me like a child.”

“If not a child, how about a partner then?”

“..Partner?”

“We’re traveling together in this group. We should have each other’s backs.”

“...”

“...If not stay...then at least let me join if your pain starts acting up.”

Brandon rubbed behind his head in slight confusion. Perhaps he was being rather rigid in his decision and lacking in logic, but...why was she so obsessed with the well being of a stranger? Either way, people normally would have backed down by this point so Brandon got the memo that he was cornered.

“If you insist...thank you…” The Feraligatr finally said, offering a smile in return.

 Immediately, Ayu’s tone shifted back to that of her usual, playful self. She pranced over to grab some stuff out of her tent before meeting up with Brandon again.

“Glad you finally came to your senses, you weirdo…~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮”

 Both turned to follow the flow of the river, walking parallel to the occurring sunset. The horizon was showing the dying light of twilight, the moon poking its head out from behind nearby clouds. The night would fall roughly in about an hour, and the darkest of the night would fall within two based on how many clouds seemed to be moving in the direction of the moon. At least if they had the moonlight it wouldn’t be as dangerous, so at the least they should try to return before then.

 *I wish I had a lanturn or something. I hate being restricted to just mere hours to do something…* Brandon thought to himself. *Two hours is just…-*

“-what it looks like!” Ayu laughed a bit, looking over at the Feraligatr, snapping him back to reality again.

“Huh…?” He then asked, having not even acknowledged her speaking while his head was in the clouds.

“Did you not hear me? You realllllllllly suck at focusing on people!” She laughed again, this time directly at him. “I was saying that you smiled earlier. I never knew what it looked like, I guess you do have emotions!”

“Oh...of course I do..why wouldn’t I?”

“I dunno. You’re kinda boring usually.”

“...”

“And you act sooo stoic and stern. It’s like you’re a walking body! No life in you--you’re like a ghost!~”

“...Let’s...stop discussing this…”

“Fineeeee. Blech, be entertaining for even just a minute!”

The walk down the river seemed to be at least a bit soothing. The gentle flow of the water was calming to Brandon, and helped him focus less on the physical pain that he had been ignoring all this time. Ayu had been humming and singing a bit as they walked, not necessarily a composed song but just a random jumble of words; While Brandon would normally find this to be disruptive to his peace, for some reason he found this insignificant singing to be rather comforting. After all, it wasn’t exactly like her voice was the worst in the world.

With a firm control over his breathing and energy, Brandon looked up at the sky again. There were more clouds in the distance than he had anticipated. Being that it was a low breeze night, the clouds march was slower than the pace of a snail, but surely enough they would still block the moon’s reflective light quicker than he had anticipated.

“The clouds are...moving faster than I expected. We may have less moonli-”

*Clank!*

 The sound of Brandon’s ice dagger hitting the bank of the river startled both of the travelers, making them jump forward defensively. It was only after Brandon realized that his dagger wasn’t in its sheath that he realized it was laying on the riverbank, thankfully it had not fallen in. The sheath that had been in shambles previously had finally succumbed to its damage and realized the weapon, no longer usable.

 “Damn it…” Brandon sighed, picking up the dagger and holding it close. “Yet another thing to fix…”

 “You could probably get another sheath in the lower class district of the city.” Ayu suggested to him. Her gaze focused for a moment on the dagger he held, keeping it close to him. “‘Ya know, that dagger is just as weird as you! In fact, it shouldn’t even be in one piece! When you got beat by those crooks, it shattered! But...now it’s back together...it doesn’t even have dents in the ice! What even is it anyway?”

 The onslaught of questions continued from Ayu. Although Brandon tried to stay cognizant of her speaking this time around, his mind did slip again for a single thought:

*It shattered, again? After I got knocked out? This is the second time now...it’s just like...that moment…*

 The Feraligatr suddenly held his head a bit as they walked, and Ayu was so busy interrogating him that she hadn’t noticed. The headache didn't last more than a few seconds, however it was more than enough to throw him off. After all, it seemed to occur whenever he thought too much about the dagger. But that wasn't the point of right now, so Brandon figured it would be better to not focus on that in this conversation.

“I...don’t know much...about the dagger. Sorry…” Brandon said, rubbing his forehead. He was just dreading everything right now; Why so much physical pain today? Talk about bad luck!

 Eventually the topic became uninteresting to Ayu as no proper answers could be provided, so she just went back to her normal lollygagging while they continued to travel.

Roughly half an hour later, a city could be seen in the distance. It wasn’t the biggest place in the world, but it was large enough to guarantee that they would find what they needed somewhere within there.

“You...hail from Ryukanshi, right? Do you know where this is?” Brandon then asked, looking down at the cat.

“Err oopsie...I honestly...didn’t take a look at...the map before we left. I can’t remember where we are off the top of my head..” Ayu chuckled sheepishly, looking away slightly.

“It’s...not a big deal. I’m just curious…”

 A few minutes of walking later and soon the two found themselves entering the city. The outskirts within the walls seemed to be relatively standard. Some basic houses and buildings lined the street, with people going on with their nightly activities. Although many of these people were heading home, there were plenty that went into shady alleyways and eyed those who went by with malicious intent nearby.

On the occasion, they would come across someone begging for money or just seemingly having no place to go. Brandon automatically emphasized with these people. Even back at Kittlescor he had nowhere to go except abandoned, destroyed ships in Ripyard Coast. At least he technically had minimal shelter, as it seemed a few of these people didn’t even have that. Regardless of his heightened sense of empathy, he pushed on, for he couldn’t help these people anytime soon.

Ayu must have seen the look in his eyes, through his wooden mask, as she ushered him on. Carefully, they navigated the streets and avoided specific spots, at least Ayu did and just happened to guide Brandon along with her.

“Wowwww, that’s a lot of people laying on the road.” She nonchalantly said, pushing forward.

“Are...you sure that...it’s safe around here?” Brandon whispered to her, having noticed a few more eyes on him than he was comfortable with.

“Uhhh...notttt exactlyyyy...but we’ll be fine!” Ayu responded, rushing away from the topic.

The answer was not reassuring to the Feraligatr in the slightest. Brandon worried about how his attire would be seen in this area mainly more than anything else. Although his clothes weren’t high quality, especially considering they were torn to shreds at the moment. However, overall they just weren’t quite at the same poverty level that these people’s clothes resembled. Hopefully his attire won't cause issues here.

Once they had arrived at the market area, they were surprised to find that it was quite barren. It wasn’t *that* late at night, at least night to warrant everyone closing down shop so early.

“Not even one store..” Brandon sighed, rubbing behind his head.

“Huh, guess they closed early. Oh well.” Ayu shrugged

“Can’t blame someone for...wanting to close up early every so often I guess. Especially if...you’ve got a family to go home to…”

Ayu looked around at the area before looking up at Brandon.

“Oh hey, we could head up the city and go to the noble district! It’s fun to go there and they’ve got nicer stuff!~” She suggested

“That’s permitted, to enter a class higher than you are?”

“There’s nothing saying you can’t!”

“Is it safe to do so?”

“...yeah, perfectly safe sometimes!”

“*Sometimes?*”

“Come onnnn let’s go before they close too!”

 At this point, they didn’t seem to have many other options. Based on the sky, they had roughly an hour before nightfall truly fell unless they could get a cheap lanturn and oil in the city too, but that would more than likely be more money than it was worth to them. The only other option was to leave now, empty handed.

 “Let’s just make it quick. I don’t care much about being ostracized for my class. Wouldn’t be the first time anyway.” Brandon explained, letting Ayu start leading the way.

 “Really, even in Kittlescor of all places?” She asked, beginning to walk towards the next class district.

 “I’m...a lowlife thief, in a mask...that doesn’t correlate well with most. I guess I don’t entirely blame them either. But it is what it is.”

 “I mean, i’m not saying you are one, but your words--”

 Ayu’s speaking was interrupted by a lot of commotion in the distance. They had entered the next district’s marketplace and it was lively as ever, no signs of closing anytime soon. Everything needed could be found there, from bread and dairy to fine cuts of meat, and full on sets of clothing. The prices were definitely about as jacked up at Brandon had anticipated, luckily he had brushed up on conversions between countries recently. He could tell that all the prices charged way too much yeo for normal to slightly-better quality wares, but at least it was something.

 Making their way over to the direction of the market, they got quite a few stares from all those passing by of higher status. Murmurs began to circulate between these people, as their eyes were locked specifically on Brandon and his unsatisfactory appearance. Ayu had worried about Brandon keeping his temper around those who did not try to hide their distaste for him, but to her surprise it didn’t seem to hurt his pride.

 *Then again...does he have any pride left in himself to be shattered,* Ayu wondered to herself.

 “They really will just let any peasant beyond these walls anymore. Disgraceful.”

 “What a disgusting outsider. Can’t even mend his clothes properly.”

 “This one definitely isn’t from around here...who would travel with them? All they do is get into trouble and make others’ lives worse.”

 The last comment caused Brandon to wince again. He remained staring ahead, getting closer to one of the stands in the market that offered material to fix his clothes. Ayu looked up at him, seeing pain beyond the mask in his eyes. Something about the last statement had really hit him.

“Brandon…” Ayu began to say

“Don’t.” Brandon growled quietly, shaking his head. “Let’s...just get what we need and leave.”

“Yes, right. Get the...things and stuff.”

Once at the stand, the seller seemed to be hesitant to sell to Brandon. However, after the Feraligatr explained he had been attacked from behind and that he simply wanted to fix his clothes so his family wouldn’t see him as weak--a little white lie that seemed to be effective in these parts--the vendor decided to sell to him. He got the material he needed for his coat, and asked about possibly getting a near sheath and strap for his dagger. Although that vendor didn’t have any, he did send them over to one who, with the clothing seller’s reassurance, sold Brandon another cheap, leather sheath for his belt.

 With all of that out of the way, Brandon pocketed the fabric he had bought, having spent pretty much all the Yeo he had left on it.

“Good...let’s get out of here…” Brandon huffed quietly, heading towards the exit back into the poverty class. At this point, he didn’t even seem to wait for Ayu to guide him back through the city. He seemed rather desperate to not take such a personal blow to his mentality again, especially one he heavily agreed with.

“Is that a cat or a mouse? I can’t quite tell. She’s just that dirty.”

Hearing one of the voices, Brandon immediately stopped. That comment had been aimed at Ayu this time, not him.

“Ahaha...just keep moving...” Ayu whispered to him, pushing him forward a bit.

 “Just another worthless drifter. That’s right, go back to where you belong, you filth.”

 Brandon stopped in his tracks again, growling under his breath. He reached over and began to draw his dagger suddenly.

 “You’ve got nerve…!”

 Just as he was turning, Ayu grabbed his arm and spun him around again, staring into his eyes, trying to keep him under control.

 “Haha, hey now...don’t do that...ahaha...*no seriously, don’t do that Brandon. Stop that, move. Now. Please.*” She whispered, shoving him ahead with much more force this time, doing it repeatedly.

 Against Brandon’s own will, he ignored the rude noble and continued out, hastily leaving the city as a whole. Once they found the river, they were in the clear no matter how dark it would get back from lack of moonlight, they just had to be more cautious of thieves.

“Nope...I still can’t.” Ayu nonchalantly said out of nowhere as they approached the campsite, looking over at Brandon. No one else seemed to be back yet, but probably would be back shortly.

“Hmm…?” He questioned

“Can’t figure you out.” She responded. “I can’t tell if you were even thinking back there! You’re so willing to move on from people insulting you but the second I get one my way, you nearly fight! Were you trying to get us kicked out? Or better yet, arrested?!”

Brandon was rightfully taken aback at the sudden statement, not even having any responses.

“Hey now, wait a second…!”

“Dumbbbbbbb. Learn to use your head, ‘gatr boy!”

Not giving Brandon much a chance to respond, Ayu went over to her tent and went inside for the night. The Feraligatr still remained speechless as he looked at her tent, before going over to his. Now he had even more emotional weight on his shoulders, especially since she was right in more than one way; He really hadn't been thinking.

He sighed as he took off his gear and threw it onto the floor. Now resting, the physical pain had caught up to him again. Now he laid on his lumpy sleeping bag, covered with nothing more than those few bandages. He never even got a chance to properly thank Ayu for bandaging him up after the attack.

*Now I’ve done it. This is why I stay alone and quiet, Ayu.* Brandon thought to himself, blowing out the candle that was lit nearby him and closing his eyes. *But...I’ve got a feeling you wouldn’t accept that as an answer...I’ll have to come up with a better one.*