Connected Rivers (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7



A week passed by with occasional updates given from Ace every day or two. To Kelvin’s dismay, it wasn’t anything he wanted to hear. Each time he handed over the berries Scaevola collected, only to hear the same line. “Still no sign of him yet, he must be taking time off to rest himself.” But he was determined not to give up that easily. That necklace was very important to him; he couldn’t just let some big bully come take it away from him like that. Never mind the pain and suffering he’d been inflicting on others for so long, just based on the accounts Mya and the others had given.

Kelvin climbed up from the river after a nice long swim to relax and calm his mind, shaking off the excess water from his fur. He let out a sigh as he looked down at his reflection, seeing his bare neck again, a painful reminder of what Cinder had stolen.

“Maybe I’ll go take a walk, no use sitting around doing nothing,” he muttered and walked off. His body felt much better now after his run-in with the powerful shiny Typhlosion, making it much easier to swim and walk around like he was used to without any pain. It was a quiet day, with a few birds chirping in the sky and the sun shining down through the tree’s cover. He thought briefly about what Ría might be up to right about now, and if he should maybe see if she wanted to do anything together. She did need more time to warm up to him, after all.

Then his mind started to wander further... from simple thoughts of sitting together and enjoying each other’s company, up to cuddling. Then having that cuddling leading to something a little more... intimate. Putting his paws all over that slender, well-toned, beautiful body of hers... rubbing all along her chest and down her back... Kelvin could feel himself getting excited by the ideas, until suddenly...

“Ack, get away!” a voice shrieked nearby. Kelvin snapped out of his fantasy world and stopped to look around.

“Huh? What’s going on?” he shouted in surprise. Some noise nearby caught his attention, looking in that general direction. “Sounded like it came from over there, like someone’s in trouble... I’d better check it out!” Wasting no more time, he ran that way, and hearing the sounds more clearly now. It sounded like someone was in a fight, but he couldn’t tell who just yet.

“You won’t get me that easily!” the voice shouted again, a distinctly feminine tone speaking out. For some reason it sounded like someone Kelvin had heard before, but he couldn’t exactly tell whom. He took position behind a nearby tree using a bush for cover to look and see before jumping in. To his surprise, it was that Lopunny girl he and Ría met before.

‘What was her name again, Cinnamon?’ Kelvin thought to himself. Now didn’t look like the time to ask, she seemed caught up trying to fight off a Growlithe. He watched closely, trying to figure out if he should help or if she had it under control. It leapt at her with his jaws wide open, as Cinnamon tried to jump back away from him. But he caught her on the leg and bit down hard.

“Gah! L-let go of me!” she shouted, bringing down a hard elbow into the back of the Growlithe’s head. The force of the blow was enough to release him from her leg, but it refused to give up so easily. Even through the pain in her leg, she stood strong and waited for him. He charged again, but this time she reacted before her assailant could get close, bringing her foot up fast to kick him hard in the jaw. The Fire-type Pokémon flew back through the air, crashing hard to the ground in a heap, struggling to get back up.

“Wow... that’s one powerful kick she has...” Kelvin uttered quietly, in awe at both the strength of the kick and the reaction time it took for her to get it off. Not to mention doing it with one leg not at 100%. Cinnamon seemed to let up from seeing her opponent staying down, as if leaving it at that. The Growlithe tried to stand again, but his legs were shaky. He tried to walk back towards her again, growling lowly.

“Y-you’re not getting rid of me that easy, runt!” he shouted, rearing his head back to try and shoot an Ember attack at her. Cinnamon saw it coming and hopped out of the way, before bolting forward and delivering a mighty punch into the Growlithe’s face, right in the nose. He stumbled backwards from the blow, falling down on his side and groaning in pain.

“That oughta teach you to try attacking me again!” Cinnamon responded, barely even sounding tired after that. She flicked an ear, hearing someone coming up from behind, and without thinking swung her leg around for a roundhouse kick. “Ack, stay away!” Before Kelvin knew it, her foot was colliding with his face, sending him stumbling to the side as well. He had tried to come out from the bush to check on her after watching, not anticipating such a reaction.

“Gah!” he exclaimed, groaning painfully as he tried to keep his balance. He rubbed his cheek as he tried to look towards her, wincing from the stinging sensation. “Geez, some greeting that is...”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were there!” Cinnamon apologized, rushing over to his side quickly and helping keep him steady. “Are you okay? I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly...”

“Ugh, should’ve given me some kind of warning before you do that... could break someone’s jaw with a kick like that...” Kelvin groaned, balancing on her until he could hold himself up again.

“But if I did that, the person sneaking up on me will know what’s coming...” she answered, not quite catching what he meant. “That’s my natural reaction if I sense someone behind me, but usually I can stop myself before I make contact if I see who it is first. I’m really sorry about that, though.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it too much...” Kelvin assured. “Besides, your leg looks like it could use some attention, too. Maybe I could help you with that.” He motioned at the wound the Growlithe had left, which was starting to bleed now. She looked down at it, almost startled by it.

“Oh, right! I almost forgot about that, I’d appreciate the help, really,” she said with a friendly smile, trying to hide her nervousness from him. They were interrupted by the sound of the Growlithe slowly coming back to his feet, almost stumbling as he walked away gingerly.

“That’s the last time I take hunting advice from that red and yellow beast...” he muttered under ragged breath. Cinnamon twitched one of her ears, catching word of it. Kelvin appeared to hear it, too, as he rushed over to stop the Growlithe, feeling like it sounded familiar to him.

“Whoa, hold on a second... what’s that about a red and yellow beast?” he asked. “Sounds strangely familiar to me...”

“Yeah, me too...” Cinnamon chimed in, as she turned to look back at them, too. She seemed curious about it, though a little fearful as well, like she knew who it was and was afraid to hear she was right...

“Ugh, just some... big, fierce Pokemon I ran into before... I was hunting for food for my family, and he told me that Lopunny are pretty weak and really delicious... but apparently he lied to me about that, you’re anything but weak...” The Growlithe finished explaining. “Now get out of my way...” he barked before making his way off again, clearly still feeling the effects of the battle. Kelvin looked back to Cinnamon, who seemed a little petrified by it.

“Hm... you don’t think he meant Cinder, do you? I don’t know, maybe I’m being quick to judge, but he’s just the first “red and yellow, big, fierce beast” that comes to mind for me,” he commented, coming back over to her side to check on the wound again.

“It’s possible, I guess...” she replied in a quiet tone. She seemed to zone out some, getting lost in thought as she reflected on what happened.

“Well, wait here and try to stay safe while I get some stuff for your wounds,” Kelvin stated as he got up. She didn’t respond, but gave a slow nod to acknowledge it, so he headed off to search. Cinnamon sat there looking down at the ground, keeping her leg turned to watch the bleeding wound. She didn’t want to show it but when that Growlithe first appeared before, she was scared it wasn’t alone and kept expecting more to appear. It made her uncomfortable to see one again, especially such a vicious and hungry one.

“I wonder... c-can I trust him enough to tell him about it...?” she quietly asked herself. It was a painful story to remember, even though it’d been long enough to not bother her as much as it used to. Kelvin seemed like a friendly guy to her, and trustworthy above all, surely he’d be willing to listen. A few minutes passed by before she heard bushes rattling behind her, signaling someone was coming. Alertly she turned her head to look, her ear twitching. “Huh? Who’s there?”

“It’s just me, calm down,” Kelvin answered as he emerged from the thicket of bushes and trees, cradling some berries in his arms. “I got various kinds I could find, since I’m not sure which ones you like best. But most importantly found some Oran berries to help out.” He came by her side again to sit down, setting the berries next to her.

“Oh, thank you...” Cinnamon sighed in relief. She glanced to the pile of assorted berries, picking up a few of the Oran berries first to start on.

“As for that cut, we’re going to have to do something with that...” Kelvin said. “Can’t just leave it open like that, after all.” Cinnamon looked around as she sat back, eating the soft berry slowly. Scanning the area, she spotted a Caterpie crawling up to a tree branch nearby, and after she finished with the berry, pointed up towards it.

“How about that Caterpie there...? We could get it to use String Shot, right?”

“Eh?” Kelvin looked where she was directing, seeing it up between the leaves of the tree now. “Hey, yeah, that could work. First, let me clean it up for you, too.” The Floatzel moved down closer to the wound and being careful, shot a Water Gun to wash it up. He stood up and pulled a leaf from the tree behind them to dry it off somewhat, which caused her to wince somewhat. Finishing up he looked over his handiwork with a smile. “There, now to coax that Caterpie to wrap it up...” He turned his attention back to the tree branch again, making sure it was still up there after the slight delay.

“What do you suggest we do, Kelvin?” she asked curiously, shifting her attention to him again. She picked up another berry to begin eating, feeling the pain slowly soothed by the berry’s healing effects.

“I think I got an idea... but I’d suggest maybe standing up first, so that there’s a better chance it hits where we want.” Cinnamon nodded and got up as she ate, using the tree for balance. She watched as Kelvin walked across the small clearing to the other tree, looking up at the Caterpie as it sat perched on the branch, then glanced back to where Cinnamon was to line himself up for what he had planned. “Alright, hope you’re ready for it... I’m gonna try to dodge the attack and if I got this right, it should get your leg. Let’s hope this works...” He took hold of the tree’s sturdy base, taking a short breath before using his strength to shake the tree violently. The Caterpie struggled to cling to the branch in a helpless effort to stay put, soon crashing down to the ground with an angry squeal. It got upright again, staring angrily at its offender. Kelvin backed away a few feet as it fell down, making sure it’d use the move with some range, and taunted it.

Growing more angry that he was taunting it after shaking it from the tree, the Caterpie made a small growl and stood up to fire a String Shot at him, hoping to teach him a lesson for that. But Kelvin swiftly jumped to the side as the attack came his way, missing him and wrapping around the wounded Lopunny’s leg as planned. Kelvin turned to look towards her, happy to see the plan work out right.

“There, it worked just like I thought,” he said with a proud look. Moments later he felt something ram into his ankle, almost taking that foot out from under him. “Gah! The fuck was that?” Regaining himself, he looked down to see the Caterpie, which had attempted to Tackle him out of its anger.

“Oh my, looks like you got it mad...” Cinnamon chuckled, watching it try to attack him like that. It tried once more to use Tackle, this time headbutting Kelvin in the stomach from leaping off the ground. Stumbling back a couple of steps, he eyed the Caterpie closely.

“Yeah, and if it keeps that up, I’ll be angry, too...” As it tried to lunge for him again, he grabbed it and lifted it off the ground, causing it to squeal and squirm in frustration. “Gah, calm down, you little bastard! I’m just putting you back in the tree!” He jogged over to the tree before it could escape his grasp, putting it back on the tree to leave it alone. “There, glad that’s over...” he sighed and walked back to sit by Cinnamon, as the Caterpie went back into its tree to relax on a higher branch, still unhappy.

“That was a lot more trouble than I expected it to be... but at least we got my wound covered...” Cinnamon said. She finished up on the berries as Kelvin checked on the makeshift bandage, catching a glimpse the odd marking on her hip that he hadn’t really noticed before.

“Yeah, I guess so... mind if I ask what this marking is for on your hip? It looks pretty interesting...” Kelvin asked, sitting back again to listen. She gasped for a moment, a little choked up by the question, but she slowly regained herself and looked to him.

“Well, you see... it’s a sign for tenderness, and the one on my forehead is for trust. They were given to me by my tribe when I was a child... many of us had symbols like it given to us...” Cinnamon began to explain. She turned her head to let him see the other marking, in case he hadn’t seen it before. “They’re like reminders of where we came from in a way, if that makes sense...”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool,” Kelvin replied, smiling to her some as he sat back, feeling like the bandage was all set. “So, where is this tribe of yours at? I don’t think I’ve seen another Lopunny around here besides you since I arrived in this forest.” Cinnamon fell silent for a moment, staring back at the ground again and pinned her ears back.

“I guess I can tell you my story then, if you’d like... it was maybe 7 or 8 months ago...” she began as Kelvin leaned in to listen.



Deep in the forest was a collection of Buneary and Lopunny, living together as a tribe, all bearing special markings to show traits and unity to where they came from. Cinnamon and her parents lived with them for a long while, and she had been happy with life there. She had become a Lopunny already and was still adjusting to her newfound strength that came with it along with friends. They hoped to never need such self-defense tactics and power, but it was always good to stay sharp and be prepared after all. Her parents continued to help her train and practice whenever able; being sure she learned everything they knew to keep her safe. But one day, Cinnamon and the others sensed something wasn’t right... they weren’t sure what or why, but things just weren’t feeling the same. She was sitting with her parents in their den, relaxing and having some berries for their meal, when suddenly there was some shouting outside.

“Danger alert! Everybody be on guard, there are reports of attackers coming this way from our scouts!” warned a Lopunny outside. Panicked by the startling news, everyone was scrambling outside to either escape or prepare to defend the tribe. Before long there were loud barks coming closer, only getting louder with each passing second, then finally appearing from behind the trees was a large group of Growlithe with a couple Arcanines in back to lead.

“Be careful, we’re being attacked by Growlithes!” shouted one of the main guards of the tribe. “Save all the Buneary, get them to safety! Men shall defend this area!” Widespread fear flowed through the tribe like wild fire as many tried to run the opposite direction of the attack with the younger members of the tribe. News caught up to Cinnamon and her parents as they came out of the den, looking for the best escape route.

“Quick, get out of here while you can! I’ll hold them back to give you guys time!” her dad shouted, not waiting for a response before darting off to help the others in the front lines. Cinnamon and her mother gave a short nod before going away from there. Tortured screams of pain and agony rained down on them in the back as the Growlithes aggressively attacked, burning and destroying the homes. The two Lopunny thought they were safe, in the clear from all the carnage, but suddenly a stray Growlithe jumped out and cornered the two of them.

“Well now, don’t you two look delicious? You’ll make a fine meal!” he called out, charging towards Cinnamon with his mouth wide ready to bite. Cinnamon hopped backwards away from him in a defensive maneuver as her mother quickly stepped in the way protectively.

“Go on, Cinnamon! I’m not about to let this beast harm you! Your father and I raised you to be a strong girl, and your safety is important to us, so I’ll protect you while you get out of here!” she quickly explained, giving a swift kick to knock the oncoming Growlithe away to buy them time.

“But mom... are you sure you’ll both be alright...?” Cinnamon asked nervously.

“Don’t worry about us, honey, just get to safety!” she barked back, keeping a close eye on the Growlithe as it recovered with an angry stare for them, barking loudly and viciously. Cinnamon gave a faint nod, realizing there was no other way and quickly turned to run off into the bushes to find a safe route. The terrified screams of her old friends and other family continued, echoing through the trees as she ran. She tried not to look back at anything happening back there, afraid of what she might see that she didn’t want to, afraid that someone was coming for her...

Eventually she came to a clearing in the forest and the sounds had all stopped. No more barking, screaming, anything of the sort... it was just quiet. She took a seat under a shady tree to the side, catching her breath and gathering her thoughts. Everything happened so fast, she barely had time to think before. One moment they were sitting together happily eating their meal peacefully... the next, there was warning from their scouts about danger approaching, and suddenly those Growlithe appeared to attack them. She didn’t want to think of what they might’ve done to her parents, to her friends, to everyone she’d known and grew up with. For all she knew, none of the others who hadn’t left ahead of time with the Buneary, didn’t make it out at all.

“Oh, I really hope my parents and friends are fine... but it’d be too dangerous to go back and check...” Cinnamon tried to collect herself and plan what to do next. In the distance she could hear some extremely faint barks again for a brief moment, but she couldn’t tell if that was just her imagination or not. “Maybe I should get out of here and look for somewhere else to go then...” Then she walked off again into the depths of the forest...



“And that’s how I ended up here in this area of the forest, and where I got my markings from. I’ve mostly tried to stay under the radar since then because it’s hard to trust people.” Cinnamon finished her story and looked over to Kelvin slowly.

“Wow, that’s pretty terrible to hear... I’m sorry you had to go through something like that,” Kelvin responded in a solemn tone. He thought about it for a moment, trying to see if there might be a connection between this Growlithe attack today and the one months ago. “I wonder... do you think someone maybe set up both of these attacks? Or maybe someone suggested going after your tribe?”

“I don’t know... that would be rather difficult to believe, I guess, but at the same time hard deny...” she answered. Though it was an interesting point to make; the Growlithe from before mentioned being told Lopunny were easy prey, could it have been the same case with her tribe all that time ago? The clues suggested that Cinder helped set up this one, but could it truly be him behind the first one, too? It was a lot to think about for both of them, and could be entirely possible as well. But how could they prove such a thing? It wouldn’t be easy to figure out if they were truly curious, so for now it was probably best to leave it at that.

“Well, either way,” Kelvin continued, trying to break the silence. “You’re alright now and your leg should heal just fine with that makeshift bandage. Will you be fine on your own?”

“I think so, though might be tough to go far until my leg feels a little better,” Cinnamon answered, lightly rubbing at it a bit.

“Hm... perhaps I could stick around for the night with you, like a body guard. Make sure nobody tries to take advantage of you while you heal up.”

“You’d really want to do that for me...?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want anything worse happening to a nice girl like yourself, after all.” He gave a reassuring smile as he stayed by her side. Though he did have to remind himself he had Ría to think about, so needed to be careful he didn’t make any advances on her or even give the impression he was.

“Oh, well, thank you, Kelvin... I’d appreciate having you to help then... as long as you’re sure about it,” Cinnamon said with a shy blush. He gave a soft nod and lightly pet her shoulder some.

“No problem, I’m sure Ría won’t mind, I’m just helping out a friend.” The two settled down together by a tree and relaxed, eating a few of the leftover berries Kelvin collected before.



Later that night, Ría was trudging along through a thicker part of the forest, using the flickering moonlight peering down between the leaves to guide her way. She was hunting for Cinder to see if she could reason with him about getting the necklace back for Kelvin, so he’d stop making a big deal of it. As she moved carefully, she suddenly began to pick up a thick, smoky, musky scent up ahead. She continued along slowly, the smell only growing stronger, causing her to recoil a little bit.

“Blech, somethin’ sure smells rotten...” she muttered to herself, waving a paw to waft the scent away from her nose. Up ahead there appeared to be a brighter light, like a fire, on the ground in a small clearing. Carefully Ría moved in closer, ducking behind a tree to get a good look at who was there, and saw a large Pokémon there with yellow and red fur and flames on his back. “Hm, guessin’ that’s him...”

Cautiously she came out from the tree, advancing a little more, greeted by the sound of low growling, ripping, and biting coming from where the creature was sitting. It was all accompanied with some mumbling as well, insinuating whoever was there was eating or tasting something. Ría got a better look as the light from his back and the night sky made it easier to see, noticing it appeared to be Cinder. The smell she’d noticed earlier was strong as ever, but now was shared with the smell of cooked flesh and some fresh blood. It made her curious, and her attention wandered to the source, noticing a dismembered body of what once was a Stantler sitting by Cinder’s side. She winced and cringed at the sight, but finally mustered up the courage to step out from her hiding place and in front of Cinder after taking a deep breath.

The sound of footsteps was enough to still Cinder. His eyes grew hooded with annoyance as he slowly and tensely pulled his head into Ría's direction. With his sharp and bloodthirsty eyes furrowed into a somewhat frustrated glare, he lowered the cooked Stantler leg and stilled the approaching Floatzel with a forced "What the hell are you doing here? Can't you see I'm trying to eat?"

Her pupils shrunk, staying still for a moment as if a blade was held to her throat. Realizing it's too late to back out, the Floatzel took in another deep, albeit shaky, breath and batted her eyes a little, trying to relax. Even then, her voice is still tinged with awkwardness.  "... you're that fiery asshole who beat up Kelvin, right?"

Cinder could do nothing more than scoff, shaking his head as he glances down at the leg hungrily. "Doesn't sound familiar, nor do I give a damn..."

The passive carelessness provokes Ría into raising her voice a little more, her fists close to clenching. "Male Floatzel... used 'ta have a necklace, but said you took it from 'im... and then roughed him up. Ring any bells?"

" Oh, that." Again Cinder could make a few more unimpressed gestures as he proceeds to bite into his meal, panting through his nostrils. "He didn't need that piece of crap... a Slowpoke could make something better than that... 'sides, it's not like it makes him any tougher..." he mutters lowly, swallowing deeply and then puffing smoke out his nose. He then turns his gaze slightly to Ría. "In fact... he probably just uses it to cover his own weakness."

Weakness? For all Ría knows, Kelvin is definitely not a weakling. A pushover? Perhaps, but he is more than capable, which is enough to shake her head and raise her voice a little more, to defend him. "You'd know about being weak, huh? For being a damn bully?"

Cinder's eyes winced a little, though he wasn't planning on attacking. He just closed his eyes and muttered after gulping down another greedy mouthful of meat, " ... s'probably for his best that I broke it before he gets himself a real ass-kicking from other losers that are better than him."

"Oh, losers, huh..." Her voice lingered for a moment before thickening her tone. "... like you?"

The large, shiny Typhlosion paused, then rotated his thick neck in her direction, his expression stiff and cold. His voice, however, remained low, but still had power to it. "What did you say?"

She knew that was a step too far. Her spine shuddered with lethal anticipation based on her challenging words, but she didn't come this far verbally dancing with this beast just to run away with her tails between her legs. With a low, shaky breath and a tightened, focused gaze, she resumed, "I said, losers..." she squirted a thick blast of water into the dirt next to her, creating a thick mud puddle, "... like YOU!"

With that, the female Floatzel swiftly raked her claw into the mud and sprayed it in Cinder's direction with one swipe, splashing the earthly sludge in his face, over the fire, on his half-eaten leg, and ultimately landing on the slowly-rotting remainder of the Stantler corpse. Her scoop was so thick, that worms and a few smaller insects were seen crawling anxiously all over the deceased body, ultimately ruining what could've been Cinder's leftovers for another meal.

Cinder snarled as he took the Mud Slap to the face, the sting of moistened earth forcing his twitching eye to close. However, his true anger began to boil as he looked over at his leftover kill. The remaining carcass of the Stantler was tainted... SOILED... by the wet earth slathered on it. Most of it has been splashed into the torn, open wound where the removed leg was located. He watched in rage, disgust and absolute frustration as this was the final kick to the teeth for him; several bugs and worms writhing over and inside the corpse to overtake the kill, infesting it with further germs and rendering it inedible. The large, powerful Typhlosion slowly turned to Ría, stomping over to her with his head lowered and contorted face covered in shadow, leaving only his eyes to be clearly seen. He grabbed the Floatzel tightly by the neck, lifted her up just a few inches above the ground, and scowled at her.

"I. Wasn't. Finished." With that seething remark, he pulled his arm back and RUSHED his claw across Ría's face with enough force to push her away and out of his grip. Crying sharply from agony, Ría was sent sliding along the dirt, left to writhe on her side as she almost pathetically placed her paw over her bleeding, ravaged cheek in order to suppress the flow of blood. She slowly brought herself back onto her feet with a little staggering, only to have the wind punched out of her from a giant blow to her gut.

"G-GCKH...!!" She slowly curled forward as air escaped her lungs, realizing the aggressive Typhlosion landed a solid knee blow to her stomach. The needlessly agitated Typhlosion couldn't even summon a smile unto his dangerously flustered, scowling face after seeing the poor Floatzel suffer so deeply. He grabbed her again by the neck, this time with both of his claws, lifting her just above the ground once more. His hell-bound gaze pierced Ría's pained golden eyes.

"It'd be a pain in the ass if you bother me like this again... " he muttered lowly, feeling the blood from Ría's right cheek flow over one of his claws, "... so maybe I should break your neck right now." Almost helplessly, Ría tried to keep herself balanced by pulling down on Cinder's arms to alleviate the stress on her throat a little; yet every time she struggled or tried to pull the Typhlosion's claws away, he slowly tightened his grip back up in return. She could barely snarl back at him with asymmetrically squinted eyes, panting desperately.

"S-s... stop... l-let go of me, y-you... you ugly bastard...!" she weakly cried out at him. At this point, insults wouldn't matter to Cinder, as it would not make a difference. However, her defiance barely catches his curiosity beneath his hardly-contained, seeping fury.

"You don't like me touching you, I see..." At this, he slowly set Ría down to the ground, then with a sudden burst of speed, he snakes and locks his arms across her frame VERY tightly against his body, contracting the muscles in his strong arms to squeeze the remaining air out of her. She didn't have quite the strength to struggle very well against his size, but Cinder gradually strengthened the squeeze on her regardless. "I may as well break your ribs instead, you little bitch!"

Consciousness was fleeting from the poor Floatzel as she did her best to go against Cinder's efforts, even attempting to claw and gnaw at his arms. Unfortunately, her eyes and head began to felt hazy as the crushing grip was worsening, crying out from strain.  Her throat is too contracted from the Typhlosion's grappling that she can't even muster a measely Water Gun to spray him with, tearing up somewhat. "S-s-stop... t-touching me...! Let... g-gah, let me gooo...!" The fiery beast kept rocking Ría around in his arms until he heard her agonizing wails of pain slowing down a little as he glares down at her silently.

"Fine... I'll let you go..." he slowly lifted his body off of Ría's back, then suddenly contorted back over her. "... after THIS!" Suddenly, a crackling surge of electricity drove over Cinder's body as he unleashed a close-ranged, concentrated Thunderbolt into Ría's weakened body with a triumphant roar, ultimately blasting her away from the force after letting go.

Ría, now numb and in a critical amount of pain from the squeeze and the shock, could only lay there, whimpering and panting quietly in a vaguely pleading sense. Tears softly rode over her cheeks, dripping across the wound on her face as she futilely attempted to pull herself up. The paralysis made this impossible, which only made her feel worse... and useless.

Cinder marched over her vulnerable body, menacingly glaring down as he casted his shadow over Ría, scoffing at her. " ... get in my way again, and you'll beg for me to kill you." He gave her a swift kick in the side for good measure, and then picked up some of the leftover mud and splashed it on her face, stinging the facial wound a little before turning around, hesitantly grabbing and pulling the carcass by the other leg and began to tread off elsewhere, planning to bury the now-worthless corpse.

Grunting, Ría's numb and aching form remained as it does now, laying on her stomach with her dazed and heavily traumatized face glancing blankly to the side, as if wishing for mercy... or to redo this encounter. Soon, the fatigue grows too strong to fight, and so she slowly and fearfully closes her eyes, hoping she can open them again…