Connected Rivers (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3



Three years had passed and Kelvin was still all alone, without any friends or family to care about him. He woke up one morning and looked to his side to see he was alone. Letting out a sigh, he got up and grumbled to himself. “Grawr… I’ll never find someone who wants to stay with me for more than a night…” He stretched out and yawned tiredly, rubbing his eyes as he stood up. He headed over to the riverside and looked at the water at his reflection, seeing how miserable he looked. “I’m so sick of being alone, it’s been over three years now… maybe I really should just get out of here now. I’m more than old enough to explore what’s down the river,” Kelvin said to himself.

Kelvin decided to do some fishing to try and ease his mind and catch some breakfast. So after readying himself, he dove into the river and swam around in search of his meal. He caught some fish after a little while and came back to shore to eat his food quietly. As he ate his fish, he watched the area around him, looking at it with slight disgust. “I think I should head out of here after I eat, I’m sick of life here, it’s too depressing,” Kelvin commented to himself. He finished eating his fish quietly, then stood up and looked upstream again. He took a deep breath and took a step forward finally. Slowly he started walking along the riverside, until he finally picked up the pace to a normal speed, trying not to think too much about where he was going, or what he was leaving behind.

Time passed him by, scenery changed slowly, and he was beginning to wonder how far he’d come. “No, don’t worry about it…” Kelvin assured himself, shaking his head to shake the thoughts. “That place isn’t home anymore, there should be no homesickness now.” With that, he continued on his way, his mind wandering to the thought of what to do when he got to the new home. He anxiously kept going, looking forward to seeing the new area.



Kelvin arrived deep in the unfamiliar forest, noticing how much everything looked in this area. The trees looked different, all sorts of berries sprouted from the bushes, and overall the scenery was different from what he was used to.

“Well, this must be the other forest, nothing looks the same here…” he said, looking around with intrigue. He continued walking along, and then the sound of rushing water caught his attention. “I hear the river, it must be close by. I haven’t had a good relaxing swim in a while, maybe I should go check it out and see if I meet anyone new.” Following the sound of the water, Kelvin made his way over to the river and looked out over it for a moment, taking a moment to think. He scanned the water to see if he could find anybody else, but it appeared to be just him. So without thinking any longer, he dove into the cool water and began swimming along calmly, enjoying himself again. It had been a while since he truly felt relieved just from swimming like this. The calm current made it easy as well, allowing him to go at his own pace.

“Man, I never knew how relaxing swimming could be,” Kelvin said to himself as he came back up for air. He took a moment to float around at the surface, taking a small break, before diving back under and swimming some more. He kept along for a short while longer before he swam back to the surface again. “Whew, I think I need a break now…” he commented, panting a little as he slowly swam over to the shore and climbed out. Looking around for a place to take a short rest, he spotted a tree with plenty of shade. “That one looks really good.” He walked over to the tree and sat down, leaning back against it. However, his weight shook the tree and from it, a Spinarak dropped down and landed on its back.

“Huh? What’s that thing?” the startled Floatzel remarked as he saw the spider fall to the ground nearby. No sooner than he could say anything, it hopped to its many legs and glared at him with an angry look in its eyes, the face on its back changing to an angry expression. “Uhh… I don’t like how this looks…” he noted, a little tension growing as he stared at it. Then with great speed, the Spinarak leapt at him and used Poison Sting on his arm with its sharp fangs.

“Oww! Fuck!” Kelvin shouted, cringing at the immense pain and gasping sharply as his skin was penetrated by it. The Spinarak let go and leapt off, gave him one last evil stare and marched off to find a different tree. “Aghh… god damn, I must’ve disrupted it or something…” he commented, looking between his new wound and the tree branches above. He grabbed at his arm and winced in pain at it, feeling unsettled by the Pokémon’s poison running through his body. Thinking quickly, he stood up and began frantically searching for some Pecha berries to get rid of the feeling. “I better hurry up and get this taken care of, I got no time to waste on this.”



Ría walked along quietly through the forest, on her way to the river. She sighed as her mind continued to race. Thoughts about her life swirled around at a rapid pace. Whether she’d ever find someone who cared about her, how she’d treated her old friends before, how everybody hated her because of how she acted. She needed some time to relax, calm down, and stop thinking of these things for a while at least. To accomplish this, she figured she’d go spend some time in the river by herself, alone, and maybe even get some quick rest while she was at it…

It all sounded so nice, and as she swam out to the center of the river, her problems seemed to slowly drift away. She laid back on the surface, allowing her floatation sac to buoy herself on the flowing water. Time passed by slowly as she relaxed in the river, shutting her eyes slowly. “... mh, this is nice... kinda forgot how good this felt..." she calmly whispered to herself.

She peered up at the sky and watched the clouds roll by at a controlled pace. Her mind began drifting off as she watched, enjoying the time to relax for once. Thoughts about when she’d ever find someplace she belonged came in followed with if she could ever find love somewhere as well. She let out a heavy sigh, wondering how long all that could take. “Some day…” she assured herself, “... maybe some day I'll find some friends or somethin'... who knows... maybe I could find a cute guy along the way..." Ría shook her head some and quietly told herself “now isn’t the time to be worrying about that, I just need to relax right now…”

Suddenly a Pidgeotto came into view overhead, flying by carrying a couple of berries in its talons. But as it flew over her head, one of the berries slipped out of its grasp and dropped down towards Ría’s face. As she opened her eyes again, she noticed the object falling towards her and before she knew it, the berry splattered all over her face. “Ugh, damnit…” grumbled the Floatzel as she got up from her laid back position, reaching up with an arm to wipe it away from her eyes.

In the meantime, Kelvin was walking back towards the riverside after having consumed a couple of berries, feeling much better.

“Damn that Spinarak… it’s lucky I found those berries…” he groaned as he walked along. He rubbed his stomach a little as it began grumbling at him. “Hm, still pretty hungry, though… maybe I should try and catch some fish.” Kelvin approached the river and dove into the water after a moment. Ría heard the splash from where she was and quickly stopped wiping off the berry from her face to look where the sound came from.

“Huh? Who just jumped in?” she wondered to herself quietly, but there was no sign of anybody. She sighed and shook her head. " Hm... thought I heard something. I guess my mopin's makin' me a little jumpy… eh, oh well." She went back to trying to get the berry off her face, not thinking too much about the noise. Kelvin continued swimming along under the surface, spotting a fish nearby. His eyes lit up as he quickly began swimming after it, twirling his tails to gain speed as the fish tried to escape his pursuit.

‘Get back here, you!’ he thought to himself, not wanting to scare it further. Eventually he finally caught up to it and reached forward, grabbing it by the tail to slow it down. ‘Gotcha!’ he exclaimed excitedly in his mind. The fish tried to struggle as he reached forward with his other paw and wrestled with it to the surface of the water, causing a splash upon reaching the top again. Ría moved her arm away in time to see the splash coming at her, getting her body wet and washing off a little of the berry juice.

"W-whoa! ... What the... what's going on? What is that?” she remarked, startled by the suddenness of it. But Kelvin didn’t respond, instead still struggled with his catch, splashing all around violently trying to get the fish under control. In the process, Ría continued being splashed even more, causing her to get more annoyed, unable to tell who, or what, it was doing this. She grew more irritated and shouted again to try and get its attention.

“Hey! What’s going on over there? What’re you do-“ she growled, but was cut off as another big splash came up in her face, getting some in her mouth as well. She backed off a bit, choking a little from the water, as Kelvin continued wrestling the fish still, focused on it now more than ever. Ría took a moment to clear her throat before snarling and swimming over to see what the commotion was. But as she approached, the fish’s tail slapped her in the muzzle, causing her to stop and back up a bit again. “Rrr… damnit!” she shouted out in frustration. Kelvin finally managed to get the fish under control as he bit into its side and took off for the shore to beat it over the ground until it stopped moving.

“There we go, finally can eat,” he said with a sigh of relief. Ría noticed him finally settle down and snarled slightly to herself again, thinking mentally ‘Finally I can tell this damned guy off…’ She swam over behind him and without alerting him over her presence, she began ranting at him.

“What’s the big idea, huh? Causing all that commotion and splashing me like that to try and get my attention?” Kelvin turned around, startled by the angered voice behind him, and looked at her.

“Wha? What’re you talking about?” he replied, somewhat confused what she was so mad about. Ría’s expression softened for a moment as she got a good look at his face, thinking to herself ‘... he's... not bad...’ for a moment. But she quickly shook her head to snap out of it. ‘... But that isn’t gonna 'scuse the jackass.’ She glared him down again with her golden eyes, still fiery about the incident.

“ ... Back there... in the water!” she shouted, pointing back to where they had been before. “Ya kept splashin' me while fighting with that stupid fish of yours while I was tryin’ to talk! Not to mention the damn thing smacked me in the face!" Annoyed, she continued, fitting her rant with some bitterness. "Have ya ever bothered to stop 'n' listen to when there's someone callin' ya out? Or was just there too much water in your ears?"

Kelvin looked back at her, admiring slightly what he could see of her body with them both in the water. “Sorry about it then, I didn’t know you were there before. I was too focused on getting this fish to eat that I didn’t hear you all too well. I really didn’t mean to get you so mad like this,” he explained, nervously reaching up to rub the back of his head, allowing for her to see his unusually spiky arm fins. Her eyes averted to said fins, somewhat impressed as she's never seen such features in other Floatzels, but shook it off and regained her glare.

“Well… guess your stomach was just talkin’ louder than I was…” Ría said, folding her arms and puffing a bit. “Maybe it’ll shut up once ya start eatin’ the fish.” Kelvin chuckled somewhat hesitantly and looked back at his fish.

“Heh, yeah… maybe it will. Again, I’m sorry for disturbing you, though.” He turned around and lifted himself out of the water, and picked up his fish. He looked back down at her one more time before heading off. “Well, see you around then, I guess.” With that, he walked off. Ría stared at him for a moment, her grip on the grudge faint and fading, which then ended on a distressed sigh. She turned her head around, her body curving over along with her neck, and looked down for a moment before glancing over at him one more time.

"... eh... guess I did it again... " she grunted to herself before lowering her gaze back down in the grass. " Cold as always... maybe this whole... 'travelling' crap isn't what I needed..." She slid herself out of the rippling water, shook it all off her fur, and started to walk away on her own, pondering a little more. " ... guess I just need 'ta embrace it a little more... it's tough bein' alone..."

Kelvin continued along his own way, thinking about his encounter with that female. ‘She sure looked nice, even if she was probably more bitter than most of the females I run into… can’t help but wonder if she’s ever friendlier than that.’ He shrugged his shoulders and kept walking, leaning his head back to stare at the sky. “I doubt it matters much, not like I’ll see her again I’m sure… nobody ever wants to find me twice without wanting to kick my ass.”



A week passed and Ría was still alone. She hasn't seen nor heard of that male Floatzel at all during that time, not even made someone new to be acquainted with. She was starting to wonder why she bothered to take up this new life in the first place, seeing as how it's doing nothing for her. As well, she also wondered why she didn't bother to apologize to the man, as well as ask for his name. With all of this guilt pressed down on her, it's as if her loneliness was getting so bad, that her mind was beginning to trick her into thinking there would be anybody who could like her, or even stand being near her, let alone the male Floatzel Kelvin.

“... meh... who'm I kidding... this 'new life' crap is startin' to feel like a dream full of lies... ” Ría grumbled to herself, sighing sadly as she walked along, not paying much attention to where she was going. “"... maybe it is... I'm not a likeable girl anyway... can't even keep one friend...” She continued slumping along the path, through the various trees and things. Suddenly a screeching sound caught her attention, and she picked her head up alertly to look around. “… what the hell was that?” She glanced around further before shrugging it off, seeing nothing around, and went to continue on. “... am I losin' it again...?”

There was a sudden rustling of bushes nearby, as the sound got louder, accompanied by a growl. Ría stopped again and looked in that direction. “Okay, that time I know I heard something.” She slowly approached the bush with great caution. Without warning, a Vigoroth leaped up from the bush with its arms raised, screaming loudly. “Ahh--!” she screamed, her eyes widened for a moment as she stumbled backwards.

“TRESPASSER! LEAVE NOW! TRESPASSER! THESE TREES ARE MINE! MIIINE!” shouted the Vigoroth as it came lunging forward with its claws extended. Ría regained her stance and tried to leap back to avoid its first attack.

“Gah! H-how… the crap was I supposed to know that?! I just got he--“ she tried to explain, but before she could finish the Vigoroth slashed her hard across the face. She cringed and hissed as she backed up further, clutching her cheek. But before long, she slammed hard into a tree and stared up fearfully as he approached. Vigoroth came in closer, bearing more of his fangs and raising his sharp claws up again as he prepared to tear her apart.

“I HATE TRESPASSERS! TRESPASSING POKEMON ALWAYS TRY TO TAKE THINGS AND MISTREAT THE TREES I LIVE NEAR, EVEN TRY KICKING ME OUT! I CAN TRUST NO ONE, SO LEAVE! LEAVE OR YOU WILL SUFFER!” he screamed, glaring at Ría with his beady eyes. Thinking quickly, she ducked and rolled out of the way as his claws came flying at her, getting lodged in the side of the tree. “ARGH! NO, MY TREES!” He glared over to where she was, looking more enraged than before.

Ría stood up and tried to catch her breath while she could, licking the side of her cheek and noticing the blood running down her face. ‘Shit… I’m bleeding, too…?’ she thought, slightly frightened and looking panicked. Her attention went back on the Vigoroth as he finally yanked his claws free.

"YOU MADE ME DEFILE MY OWN PRECIOUS TERRITORY! YOU BETTER GET READY, NOW I'LL SHOW NO MERCY!" he yelled before leaping at her this time with his claws. Thinking quickly again, Ría shoots the dirt in front of her with a Water Gun and uses Mud Slap, throwing the mud at his face before he reaches her. The mud splattered all over his face, getting in his eyes and slightly in his mouth. “URGH! WH-WHAT IS THIS?!” shouted the beast as it stumbled back, vigorously trying to wipe the mud away.

"... heh... I-I got you now, you wily bastard..." Ría said with a smirk before taking advantage of the chance. She fired an Aqua Jet at him, slamming the Vigoroth back into a tree. But to no surprise, he leapt up after a moment looking even more pissed than before. Ría leaned forward, thinking she had time to hit him with another Aqua Jet, but didn’t realize that her previous attack washed away enough of the mud for him to see her coming. The Vigoroth seized the chance and reached forward with his claws and slashed her hard across the face just as she fired the attack, pushing him back somewhat as she took the blunt of the encounter.

“Ugh, that was t-too close...!” Ría grunted out as she stumbled backwards, cringing from the blow. She reached up to her face and touched the bloody cut, wincing in pain at feeling how deep and painful it was to the touch. “Sh-shit… I better get out here so I can take care of this…” Ignoring the Vigoroth, she tried to take off for a berry bush nearby. But the Vigoroth was quick to react as he looked up and saw the intruder trying to run away.

“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY! YOU MUST PAY FOR TRESPASSING IN MY LAND!” he screamed out. Within a moment’s notice he was standing in front of her at the bush, glaring down at her with his beady eyes. Ría let out a startled gasp as he appeared there, backing away a couple steps as not to run into him. Before she could do anything, she saw another large claw flying at her head, so she dodged it as best she could.

“Whoa, way too close for comfort there…” she muttered to herself, panting some. Wasting no time however, the Vigoroth continued his relentless assault on the Floatzel, causing her to continue jumping back and doing all she could to avoid being hit again by his powerful strikes. But her run came to an end as she suddenly felt something under her foot, and slipped to the ground on a wet rock from all the water attacks she used before. She crashed into some bushes to the side, grunting in pain, frustration, and nervousness as she tried to catch her breath. “Erk… d-damnit…”

Before long, she opened an eye and looked up as she felt a large shadow loom over her, and there stood the Vigoroth with an angry smirk. She tried to suck in a deep breath to push him away with a Water Gun, but suddenly seemingly from nowhere as the beast leaned in to attack, a large burst of water from another Water Gun shot through the air and sent the Vigoroth flying off to the side, crashing hard to the ground. Ría stopped her attack and blinked in shock, wondering where the blast came from.

“… uh… whoa, did I do that…?” she said slowly, taking the moment to catch her breath again as she glanced around from in the bush. Then suddenly she heard a familiar sounding voice close by calling to her.

“Hey there… you need a hand?” Ría looked up to see Kelvin standing there, extending a paw to help her up. Taking the time to realize it was him again, she couldn't help but blink, having a bit of a mental struggle as to whether or not she should take him up on his offer. She then shook her head, allowing a weak smile to form across her muzzle.

"... Uhh, sure..." she responded, taking his paw and then rose back up, her chest heaving a bit due to her panting, noting that she's regaining her energy, most of which was startled out of her. Kelvin smiled back for a moment as he helped her up from the bush, but the smile quickly vanished after she was standing again.

“Clearly there’s no time to waste chatting, and you look pretty worn out. Get behind me, I’ll take care of him for you,” he said sternly, his attention turned back to the Vigoroth, who was angrily getting back up again in the meantime. Ría, hesitant, nodded as she shook her head and focused on the matter at hand. She wanted to handle it herself, now that she's more aware and feeling more reassured, but knew that in her condition against that strong and agile enemy, she would be better not to continue fighting it for a moment or two. Plus that strong male was here to help, so why not sit back and watch him in action? She decided to follow his orders, taking refuge behind him near a tree until it was safe to get some berries for her wounds, but also in a position to help if needed.

“SO YOU DARE DEFY ME AND PROTECT THIS INTRUDER? FINE, I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE TOO!” shouted the Vigoroth at his new target. Kelvin smirked slightly as the Vigoroth flew forward at him, not backing down at all which made Ría question if he knew what he was up against. The Vigoroth took a hard slash at Kelvin’s head, but he quickly ducked under the swipe and before the beast could react, Kelvin came roaring back up with a hard uppercut into his jaw. He stumbled backwards, cringing and growling as he clutched his jaw. “GRAWR! I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO INTRUDERS WHO DISOBEY ME!”

Kelvin smiled again and kept himself in a defensive position. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Right as the Vigoroth recovered from the surprise uppercut, Kelvin fired a Water Pulse at him, which knocked him back once more. He stumbled backwards from the attack, holding his head with a dazed look on his face, appearing to be confused. Kelvin rushed forward to take advantage, throwing a hard punch into his stomach, causing him to double over clutching his stomach.

“URGH! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS” Vigoroth cried out through the pain and confusion. But Kelvin didn’t waste any more time, grabbing him before he could stand back up and quickly using an Ice Fang on his shoulder, keeping his teeth buried deep to let the freezing chill take full effect before letting go and leaping back.

“There, let’s see you attack now,” Kelvin remarked, as he stood ready, staring at the Pokémon. The Vigoroth cringed in pain as he tried to stand up having a difficult time now. He tried to lift his arm, but the shoulder was too numb from the Ice Fang to move. Instead he tried lifting his other arm and swung for Kelvin’s chest. Kelvin saw it coming and attempted to leap back to avoid it, but was a little slow and felt the sting of the claws graze across his chest. “Ack!” he groaned, grabbing for the wound. “Caught me off guard that time…” He watched carefully as the Vigoroth attempted to attack again, but missed in the heat of his confusion. Kelvin stayed back and waited for his chance before leaping up and delivering a hard elbow to the back of Vigoroth’s head, which knocked the heavier opponent out cold.

Ría stepped forward to approach Kelvin slowly after seeing it crash to the ground. “... heh... ya put on quite a show there, you...” she said, admittedly entertained and somewhat impressed by what she's seen, ignoring the cuts on her for a moment. “... I guess I oughta save ya for helpin' me out… ... I coulda taken that ugly thing down myself, but he was all over the place 'n' didn't give me much time to act... sooo, nice that ya came around to help.” Kelvin turned to look back at her, smiling slightly.

“Heh, it’s nothing… I was just walking along, heard all the commotion over here, then saw you falling back into that bush… it only seemed logical I come help you out,” he responded. He noticed the large painful cut on her face as he continued. “It’s over now anyway, so maybe you should take care of that cut on your face…”

“... could say the same for your chest there... that stupid ugly li'l bastard nicked ya too...” Ría commented, pointing at the small wound on the male Floatzel’s body. He glanced down at it and sort of smirked.

“It’s nothing compared to you… but maybe we could go find some berries together then… could be a chance to get to know each other better.” Ría stood for a moment, glancing to the side, debating if she really wants to take up on his offer... she hardly knew him, and just one kind deed is not enough to convince her to come along with Kelvin. However, she knew she needed her wounds to be tended to, feeling a tiny streak of blood run down across her fur, trailing from where the Vigoroth attacked, wincing. Sighing, she looked back up at him and put on yet another awkward 'smile', and responded with "... Uhh... yeah, sure, we can... I guess...”

Kelvin turned around to begin walking, waving an arm to signal her to follow along. Ría rolled her eyes, a silent expression of annoyance, knowing that she's going to follow him. Quietly treading along the way to a pitstop, she decided to clear her throat and give some small talk a try. She doubted if she'll see him soon again after this, so she wanted to at least patch things up with him if not make a friend. “… so… whatcha been doin’ around this place, huh? Didn’t think we’d be seein’ each other again so soon…”

“Well, I just moved here somewhat recently, actually…” Kelvin responded. He glanced back at her while they continued walking. “I got sick of life at my old home up river from here, since it was too lonely and there was nothing for me there anymore. I figured I’d see what this place has to offer instead, and I like it so far. How about you then?”

"Mm, m'kay... well, for me..." Ría began, looking down, kind of watching her feet alternate with her webbed toes brushing along the grass. "I came here 'cause I got nowhere to go... back in my older home, I lost all my friends 'n' next to nobody likes me there at all, so I thought ‘... what the hell am I stayin' here for...?’ then got up 'n' decided to look for a new place... can't seem to find a steady one." She shrugged her shoulders and puffed a bit before finishing. "It sucks that way…”

Kelvin took a moment to let her story sink in before nodding his head slowly. “That certainly does suck to deal with. Maybe we’ll both get a change of luck here in this forest then.”

She nodded quietly, her eyes now somewhat sloping softly with some depression. "Yeah... but then 'gain, that's kinda what I get for the way I act..." She swayed her head to the side, her tails slumping. " ... I never really cared much about anythin'... that's why I don't have friends anymore... plus that's why my fighting kinda sucks since I don't do much of it...”

“Well, I’ve been fighting my whole life it seems like… it’s basically the only thing I know besides pain.” Kelvin dropped his head slightly as he slowed down. “Never actually had any friends or people who cared about me as long as I can remember, so I’m pretty willing to risking myself to help others. It wouldn’t matter to anybody if something happens to me.” He gave a half-hearted chuckle at it to try and lighten things up, looking around at their surroundings again to check if there were any berries around yet. The female, golden-eyed Floatzel gave a weak, sly smirk.

" So... ya were gettin' your ass kicked?" Ría responded, rolling her eyes somewhat. She then turned her head to the other side, now getting back to her own experiences. "... I didn't have much o' that until today... but whatever ya had, it couldn't have been as bad as bein' off'd by your ex-friends, then kicked into the dirt, left to live alone..." She blinked slowly, emitting a sad sigh. " ... and I'm not gonna lie, it hurt a lot...” she mumbled, wanting to continue, but let her sentence stop to a floating end, signifying how bad it made her feel if words were not enough.

“That certainly isn’t a lot of fun either from the sounds of it… but at least you did have friends, which is something,” Kelvin said, trying to be reassuring. “I just had shitty parents and nobody who cared about me except myself. People trying to take shit from me, beat me up because they thought I was weak, treated like nothing I could do was good enough…” He sighed again and looked back at her. “But I don’t want to bore you with my life, you probably don’t care either like the rest of the world.”

Ría could only sigh at Kelvin's assumption, making her feel as if she's failing already. "... I didn't even say anything like that... 'sides, I asked first, didn't I...?" grumbled the female Floatzel, turning her head to look at him with some frustration. However, one side of her mind had to agree with Kelvin to some extent, though the other is at least trying to assert a little more liveliness. Afterwards, Ría grunted, then turned to him fully, stopping for a moment. "... here... " she began, "... how bout we stop moping for now, and find a spot to get better already...?"

“Yeah… that’d be a good idea. We can talk more after we’re not bleeding and in pain physically,” Kelvin answered, noticing a tree nearby with some berry-filled bushes nearby. “There, those look good to you?”

She turned her head to the direction Kelvin pointed, blinking slowly and boredly. After a brief moment of silence, she shrugged and nodded. " ... Yeah, that's okay. It works," she affirmed, heading that way herself. Kelvin gave a relieved look as he followed along to the tree and the bushes. He bent over to look around in the bush and gathered some berries he thought looked good and sat down, offering some to her.

“Here, I got plenty of berries for us to share, help yourself to as many as you’d like or need,” he commented, taking a couple to eat for himself. Settled down next to the bush, she edged a hand toward the fruit-bearing foliage before noticing some berries were offered to her, her eyes straying over to the bundle, noticing Kelvin's offering them to her. She paused for a few seconds and blinked, not expecting him to willingly offer her anything.

" ... Thanks...?" she finally muttered, reaching for them and grabbing the handful, beginning to pick and pop the fruit into her mouth.

“It’s no problem, you probably need them more than I do anyway… you took a bigger share of the pain than I did back there,” Kelvin said softly with a smile. “Besides, nothing wrong with sharing with a good looking gal like yourself.” He took a couple more berries and ate them as well, still looking over at her as he sat back against the tree.

Ría nearly choked in the middle of her gnawing on the juicy fruits. "Gh--!" she gasped with her mouth half full, being complimented for the first time in her life. She settled down, cleared her throat, swallowed the food, then looked at him, her facial expression looking something bewildered. " ... Did... did you just say I was... cute, or something?"

“Yeah… I hope I didn’t offend or anything, just hard for me to not notice…” Kelvin nervously replied, afraid that he may have done something wrong. “Hard taking my eyes away, really, you got a nice body… you’re free to smack me or whatever if you like, I probably shouldn’t have said anything about it…” He turned his head to the side, looking slightly ashamed for being so open with someone he hasn’t known for too long.

Ría just stayed on her knees, giving a puzzled at him with somewhat skewed eyes. She then glanced at herself, and back at him after the physical comment. " ... my... body? " This only made her even further confused, since she hasn't been complimented for personality nor body-wise, and as such, doesn't know how to respond, except with... " ... what's so... "nice" about it?"

“Well, it’s got nice curves, I guess… I don’t think I’ve seen someone who looks as good as you before…” Kelvin answered, somewhat blushing a bit. “And it certainly seems like you can be friendly with some time. You didn’t show it our first meeting, but I’ve noticed now you’re not as bad as I thought before…” He shrugged a bit and ate a few more berries, hoping he wasn’t making her mad at him.

“... uhh...” was all the female Floatzel could respond with, glancing down. She then shook her head and looked back at him. “... Thanks...?” She eventually said, not quite sincere, obviously showing she's new to being complimented, and as such, she doesn't fully believe him. At that time, the pain sparked a bit of her attention, reminding her that she still needs to heal. She leaned over while going back to eating her berries, grunting. “... stupid slashes...”

“Sorry for making you uncomfortable like that…” he remarked, going back to eating quietly again afterwards, thinking he probably scared her somewhat now with his interest. “Well… are the berries helping you at least?” he added after a brief pause.

“… kinda, I guess...” she responded after ignoring his apology. “Stupid wounds still hurt... that damn thing's claws were sharper than I thought..." her eyes continued to wince. “... but I'll get over it soon, so... don't worry...”

“Yeah, certainly looks like he got you pretty good there… but you seem strong-willed to me, I won’t treat you like a kid about it…” Kelvin gave another re-assuring smile and continued to eat his own berries, carefully going to rub his own cut across his chest. “Mine’s still hurting too, but it’s nothing new being nicked up.” The female Floatzel responded with a low, jumbled murmur as she continued to feast on the fruit. She winced when she ate the especially tangy morsels, and once more after feeling something plop on her neck.

Curious, Ría dropped her fruit and raised her head, looking back at him. "... did ya spit on me?" Kelvin glanced over with a confused look of his own, raising an eyebrow at the accusation.

“What’re you talking about? Of course I didn’t.” he replied, then a moment later felt a drop of water fall on him as well on his muzzle. “Eh? Something fell on me now, too.” He curiously glanced up into the sky through the trees and noticed it was beginning to rain. He smiled slightly and looked back over at her again. “Well, seems like it’s starting to rain.” Ría could only blink in confusion prior to feeling another wet tap hitting her head, followed by an extra, and several more. Flustered, she glanced upwards along with Kelvin, and has noticed the clouds have blurred the skies into a darker, misty shade, beginning a downpour.

"... heh..." Ría began, with a subtle smirk. "... s'been a while since I've felt rain..." Kelvin gave a warm smile as he finished the berry he’d been eating.

“A little rain now and then is always good for us, so nice getting some again,” he commented as more rain drops pelted down on his body through the cover of the trees. Then a sudden loud crash of thunder was heard, followed shortly by a shot of lightning in the distance, causing Kelvin to jump slightly. “… Well, that certainly doesn’t sound good…”

A sharp gasp escaped from Ría's mouth in response to the painfully loud cracking noise of lightning. She blinked, not looking too nervous, but wasn't feeling very safe either. "Ugh... great, lightning... and the rain's gettin' heavier too..."

“Yeah… maybe we should go find someplace to hide for now to wait for it to pass,” Kelvin suggested, then glancing back over. “That is… unless you’d rather go on your own to find safety...”

" ... Uhh... " was all the female Floatzel could mutter before looking back and forth, thinking of a way to back out or suggest why she should do it alone. Considering the consequences, she realized she didn't know where to go, and stubbornly came to a mental conclusion that it'd be better to have help sometimes. She probably wouldn't be here now if she didn't have any thanks to Kelvin. With a sigh, she glanced at Kelvin, and replied, " ... um, I... I guess I could join ya..." Kelvin gave a satisfied smile and went to stand up, offering his paw to help her up as well.

“Great, I was kind of hoping you’d say that… come on, let’s go find somewhere safe to hide fast before this storm gets any worse…” he said, trying to remain calm through the situation despite a small fear in the back of his mind from the thunder and lighting.

"Nh... yeah... what ya said," muttered Ría hesitantly, standing up with him and shaking the pelting water off her face. With an eye somewhat winced, she scanned around, trying to locate some good shelter through all the flooding lines of raindrops partially obscuring her vision. "Gah, the rain's REALLY heavy, I can't see well..." growled the Floatzel, her fists kind of clenched.

“I know what you mean, it’s tough figuring out where to go…” Kelvin replied, trying to shield his eyes with a paw to scan the area. “Maybe we should just start moving for now and see if we can find something, it won’t do much good staying in this spot if we can’t see anything.”

" ... sure... sure, we can do that. You lead... " responded Ría, nodding her head into a vague direction in front of themselves. "Hope ya're not bad with directions..."

“Don’t worry, I may be new to this place, but I’ve got pretty good sense of direction still…” Kelvin replied, chuckling hesitantly as he went to walk forward a little quickly. He held his arm back to help make sure she didn’t fall behind too far while keeping his other arm over his eyes to continue looking around.

"... Better be true..." Ría replied skeptically. She stayed right behind the leading weasel, her eyes winced out of frustration with the dense downpour pounding on her head. She lined a paw just above her eyes like Kelvin is doing with his arm, keeping her pacing steady so she doesn't slip on mud or puddles that she wouldn't see in time. Kelvin continued to trudge along with her, flinching at each loud crash of thunder and lighting, but still battling through the heavy rain all the same. Finally after a little more walking, he spotted a large hallowed out tree just up the way.

“There, that looks like a good place…” he remarked, pointing over at it. “Let’s go check it out quick…” As she slid up next to him, she leaned her head forward, squinted her eyes, and blinked. Shortly after, they widened, surprised at the sight she saw.

"Huh..." she began, "... looks like a nice stop to rest... let's try it." Kelvin nodded and quickly led them over and helped her crawl inside before following in and sitting down.

“Well, judging by how hard it’s coming down out there, I get the feeling we’ll be here a while…” he stated while catching his breath some. “I hope you don’t mind that then…”

Ría pursuited him into the tree den, noticing it's not inhabiting anything nor carrying a lingering smell, suggesting either the smell of rain has clouded over it or it hasn't been used in weeks. Now under some shelter and looking out the den and into the loud, heavy storm, she felt a little more at ease. " ... Huh? ... Yeah, sure, I don't mind..." she half-muttered, not paying full attention.

“Alright, let’s try to get comfortable then,” said Kelvin in response, coming to sit down close to her. He continued watching the rain come down outside the tree with her, for now keeping his arms to himself to try and not make her uncomfortable. Occasionally he couldn’t help but glance over at her to check, but for now figured he’d let her be unless she welcomed it. Ría's golden-yellow eyes glistened softly with ease as she continued to watch the rain fall from inside the tree den, allowing her back to rest up against the wooden wall of the shelter. Yawning, her lids began to lower slowly, up until she eventually lost herself into a gentle slumber, breathing delicately through her nostrils.



“Hey, Ría, time to get up…” a voice softly called out, as a paw nudged her shoulder. “Wake up…”

Ría groaned as she was bothered to wake up, but the nostalgic feeling caused her to raise her head up and open her eyes a bit more hastily than usual. "... E-emine...?" she muttered, half-asleep. Kelvin looked down at her with a confused look, hovering over her from the side.

“Emine? My name’s Kelvin, remember?” He let out a small laugh as he continued, “I guess you’re still tired then and can’t think straight yet.” Groaning, she rubbed her eyes and blinked, her vision ridding itself of its tired blur, now seeing clearly who it was that woke her.

" ... Uh...?" she muttered, before shaking her head and looking down. "Uh... yeah, yeah, sure... that's it..." she replied, not wanting to go into detail about where that came from. Kelvin gave a soft smile back at her, and patted her shoulder assuringly.

“It’s alright, look outside,” he commented. “The storm finally stopped while you were asleep.”

"It has, huh...?" replied Ría, elevating back up onto her knees and looking out, seeing the storm has now passed. She blinked for a few moments before allowing a subtle smile to form on her face. "... about time..."

“Yeah, I noticed you fall asleep so I stayed up to watch until it passed and to keep you protected if I had to,” Kelvin said, yawning reluctantly. “Heh, obviously a little tired myself now, but it was worth it anyway. Couldn’t let something happen to a fine lady like yourself. I figured you’d be happy to know the storm ended, which is why I woke you up now.” He sat back down again to relax some and give her space again. The female Floatzel could only roll her eyes at his compliments, though isn't as defensive about being complimented now, seeing as how she may as well get used to it if she sees him more often.

"... Thanks, I guess..." she started, kind of awkwardly due to not being familiar with tones of gratitude. "... Kelvin, right?" Kelvin nodded and gave a faint smile.

“Yeah, that’s right. Sorry if I’m still making you uncomfortable, it’s not often anyone is willing to spend this long with me… especially not when they’re as attractive as you are…” He gave a hesitant chuckle again, turning his head to the side nervously. “But anyway… the storm’s gone now, so we can leave the shelter. I’m sure you’ll want to head off on your own again, right?” Ría thought for a moment. Kelvin was the first person in a very long time to have actually bothered to help her and treat her well, let alone linger enough before being deterred by her uninterested self. She was still not fully convinced that she should trust him, though what he has done was very generous, and made her feel... rather welcome. With that, she rose out of the den, stretched and arched her frame with winding tails, then turned around and looked down at Kelvin.

"... guess it wouldn't hurt to hang out with ya a little longer." She smirked slyly afterwards. Kelvin looked somewhat surprised as he exited the den behind her and stood up as well.

“I… I’m glad to hear that…” he said with a smile creeping over him. He didn’t expect to hear her say that, and it caught him off guard somewhat. But it was a pleasant surprise to know she wanted to spend more time with him, and stood over by her. “So, shall we go find something to do together?” She expected him to seem pleased, so she folded her arms, chuckling a little to herself.

In response to his question, she said, "Whatever ya feel like... ya lead?" Kelvin nodded and led the way off with her in tow, happy to finally have a friend and someone to hang around with. ‘Now if only I can keep her friendship, that’d be a dream come true… or even something more…’ he thought to himself, shaking his head to concentrate on reality for now.