Chapter Text
It was out looking for food when it found her. A tiny human, barely able to walk on its own, all alone in the middle of a blizzard. The little girl looked up and it could see the tear tracks that had frozen to her face and lips that had begun turning blue.
It expected the human to run. To fear it had come to claim her life and attempt in vain to escape its demise. What it didn’t expect was for the girl to give it a tiny smile and stumble towards it. So caught off guard it couldn’t move even when the girl clung to its leg.
It stared. At the little human that clung desperately to it when even other pokemon would run away in fear. At the little human shaking violently on the verge of death. Looking around it saw nothing but mountains of snow falling from the sky. No searching flames or calls for a lost child cutting through the darkness.
It looked back down, before picking the girl up and making its way back to its den.
Because deep down it knew what it felt like to be abandoned. Left in the cold to survive on its own. The terror as its body started to fail and darkness consumed it’s vision. So despite all the loathing it held for the ones who drove it from their home, it couldn’t just leave the tiny human to perish.
——
Rumors began to spread in the Pearl Clan settlement. Of a girl who wandered the Bonechill wastes. Some suspected she came from the time-space distortions that had begun appearing, as no child from their clan or the Diamond Clan had gone missing. Most however believed her a Zorua attempting to lure humans to their deaths.
Irida wasn’t sure she believed that last one. From what she’s heard from the ones who attempted to follow her the girl vanished without a trace. You’d think if a Zorua wanted to kill humans they would at least attempt to attack. On top of that, clothing had begun disappearing from the settlement and Zoruas simply didn't need clothing.
So when she saw the girl tending to an injured Snorunt Irida felt it was relatively ok to approach her. After all she had Glaceon with her and there wasn’t much a human could do when up against a pokemon.
As she creeped closer Irida could make out more details about her. What she originally thought was black hair was actually dark blue, and the girl did indeed wear torn and mismatched pearl clan outfits, with a red scarf that she was pretty sure was made from clothing she was personally missing.
Keeping a respectful distance Irida cleared her voice, “Excuse me.”
The girl bolted up and faced her, clutching the Snorunt to her body.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you bu-”
Before she can continue she falls to the ground as the girl chucks a ball of snow at her face. Once Irida wipes the last of the snow from her face she looks around to see the girl sprinting across the snowy landscape.
“Wha- Hey! Wait!”
Irida sprints after the girl, and despite having lived in the Alabaster Icelands her entire life she has trouble keeping up with the girl.
When she’s finally able to corner the girl Irida watches as she looks around distressed before setting the Snorunt down before turning to face her.
“I promise I’m not trying to hurt you! I just-”
The girl brings her pinkies to her mouth, and whistles out a familiar tune that pierces the air.
Irida isn’t sure what to expect when she hears the girl call for a noble. What she most definitely wasn’t expecting was for the Baneful Fox itself to land in front of her radiating pure malice.
‘Maybe the girl really was a Zorua…’