Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The Reawakening
Petals fell from a sprawling cherry blossom tree, fluttering down to the ground without a care. The Pidgeys and Spearow flew across the cherry blossom forest as their tweeting echoed through out the sky. The crisp sweet aromas of the fluttering petals and cherry blossom filled the air, while the sound of Pokémon and hushing wind ushered an air of tranquility. The world was at peace and it felt like nothing could disrupt it.
But somehow, amidst the peace, a gaping wound, a massive smoldering crater, bored into the ground ruining the harmonious scene of the cherry blossom forest. In that crater… laid a single half-buried, orange fox, she was sprawled across the ground and looked more like a corpse than she did a vibrant, elegant braixen
The world nervously watched, The cherry reach down their branches like arms towards the braixen as the motionless fox laid within the crater, trapped the purgatory between life and death. A petal floated down onto the fox’s stomach, as if trying to bring the fox back to life with its gentle touch.
The corpse began to stir like a cartoon being reanimated, parts of her wriggled weirdly like a rubber hose, her eyes began to twitch… her hand slowly reached out… her eyes eventually opened up revealing irises of bright orange like the sun.
She slowly lifted herself off the ground and looked around and then turned to her distinctive four tails. She brushed off the petal and turned to her right.
Next to the Braixen, penetrating and piercing the coarse grounding next to her was a sword. She carefully yanks the sword out of the ground, peering and the shining silver blade, on it was engraved in symbols was “Solaris”. She stared at the blade blankly trying to make sense of what “Solaris” meant. Her brain jogged through her memories. Her foot tapped impatiently while thinking: “What is Solaris… What is a Solaris…”. She eventually came to the conclusion that it was her name.
“... I see. My name is Solaris.” The Braixen uttered under her breath tiredly.
“I’ll shorten it to Sol. Sol sounds good…” Sol shrugged, satisfied with the name.
She looked around at the ancient forest surrounding her. The verdant green grass swayed in the soft billowing wind which the petals fluttered in. It was all unfamiliar to her.
“But where am I and what… what is my purpose…?” Solaris asked herself. A perplexed expression spread across her face before briefly waving off the thought as more thoughts entered her mind.
She began to try to muster up her memories, but nothing came back. Complete blankness. Defeated, Sol put the sword into her tail as if she had done this before. She summoned all her strength and climbed her way out of the large crater. It was an arduous climb, after all, her body was exhausted and heavy because she did just wake up after… who knows how long.
She wandered her way through the forest, on the way encountering many oddities. Large claw marks across the ground, vines that emanated an odd golden energy and large scorch marks lined the grass the tree trunks. She wondered to herself… “what could have caused these…”
“I hope to never find out, the thing that caused them must have been powerful.” she said, frowning in concern but still clueless about anything. “I suppose I should find some form of shelter, like a town.
After a few hours of tiring walking, she approached a cliff with a massive tree towering above it. Below the cliff was a loud, lively, bustling village of Pokémon. The homes were a pristine cream white colour and the roofs were a dark navy blue made from a tough stone, smoke rised from the village and a warm glow was emitted from it. She carelessly peered over the cliff to get a better look at the village.
“I wonder what’s down there... or what food’s down there!” Sol excitedly said at the thought of food and curiosity of what is to come.
The Braixen carelessly lurched over the cliff, which had no fencing whatsoever and clumsily began to lose her balance, she flung her arms out in an attempt to save herself from her death, but she lost the battle for life and was sent flying down the tall cliff to her seemingly untimely demise.
A rush of wind passed by her, the sensation of it calmed her down, she lost her expression like all her wonder for the world was lost. She was falling to the apparent doom. She fell with a blank expression, she shut her eyes and fully accepted her death. As she fell, she began thinking about what her life was and what it could have been. Her mind thought of things. Things such as: “Maybe in the future I could have been a powerful swordsman… maybe I could have had a lover and children… But I guess it’s never gonna happen now is i-”
Moments later, Solaris felt her body hit the ground, or at least she thought so. She opened her eyes, but she wasn’t dead. She was fully awake in the mortal realm as before. A look of bewilderment spread across her face and her eyes popped out of their sockets cartoonishly as she heaved herself off the ground onto her uninjured and clearly unbroken feet.
She stared at her paws, fully expecting it to be covered in her own blood and completely shattered, but instead all there was were splotches of dirt and blades of green grass between her fingers.
“How..." She paused for a moment to regather her senses.
I should have died...” her eyes still wide open in shock. She scraped her empty brain for any explanations for this impossible feat she had performed. her confusion lasted for a few seconds before shaking the thought off and focusing on the task at hand.
She sighed and began making her way towards the village. She slowly crept towards the village, catching glimpses of the bright, warm yellow light of the village. Her eyes glistened wondering what could await her at the village. All she thought of was the warmth and comfort and… “Food food food food food!” her brain repeated constantly while making her way there.
On her journey, she wandered past more oddities… claw marks, scorching hot craters and overgrown plants. She wondered about her past and what could have caused these phenomenons and the odd flora. “What’s this and what’s that?” Her mind was full of curiosities of this new world she had awakened to. The sun began to lower and the sky slowly turned orange.
The aroma of grilled food floated towards her nose, she caught a whiff of it and smiled as her stomach began to grumble, after all. Who wouldn’t be hungry after awakening from a long rest. She grinned at the thought of food and swiftly made her way quickly to the village, with the only thought in her head being food, and because of that thought, she began to drool, before hastily wiping it off.
She eventually arrived at the village. Pokémon chattering and wandering around the streets freely and laughter filled the air, the village had a joyous aura. The braixen smiles gently as she approaches the lively village, admiring the buildings and all the street food. A few of the Pokémon stared at the braixen baffled at her four, plump tails and the blade she carried within them.
Silence spread across the street Solaris was on as everyone stared at the braixen, whispers were exchanged like the cold breeze that was traveling down the street at the time. Whispers of things such as “Isn’t that the braixen from the crater” or “Isn’t she supposed to be dead?”. Sol tried her best to ignore the quiet whispers and continued to wander through the streets looking for food.
The braixen randomly turned a corner into a small dark alley, the only light illuminating it was a warm, comforting orange light at the end of it. Out of curiosity and the need for a place of comfort due to her exhaustion, the fox crept towards the light. At the end of the alley was a mere corner shop. With a calming atmosphere with a front counter and a large sign saying: ramen shop. The braixen turned towards the shop and her eyes glistened.
It was a small, quaint corner ramen store with not so many customers with odd decorations that ranged from banners and paintings of what seemed to be powerful Pokmémon and a cheery looking Mr Mime as the shopkeeper. She was greeted by a short, blue eyed Mr Mime wearing an apron. The Mr Mime smiled at the sight of the braixen, the new customer.
“Come, take a seat! You seem exhausted, little miss!” The Mr Mime said welcomingly.
The braixen smiled tiredly and nodded as she took a seat. She looked around the shop noticing many ancient pieces of arts and depictions of strangely powerful Pokémon, they weren’t legendaries… more like powerful versions of regular Pokémons, she locked eyes with the figure of a braixen and stared at it for a while, not knowing why as she didn’t know who or what it was… but… It resembled her, but instead of four tails, it had just three, it also had similar facial scars, but it only had the scar at the bridge of the nose and not the ones on the cheek. She shook the thought off, before briefly breaking eye contact with it.
The Braixen hungrily and cheerily ordered a large bowl of ramen for herself. The Mr Mime nodded gleefully, though slightly shocked by Solaris’ appetite.
“You must be hungry!” The Mr Mime remarked.
Sol smiled before responding, “I haven’t eating anything ever since I woke up, hehehe…”
Mr Mime replied, “I understand you. Yes.”
The Mime smiled before returning into the kitchen and the Braixen waited while kicking her feet around patiently waiting and admiring the decoration of the shop.
“A nice warm bowl of ramen~ Thinking about his makes me even more hungry!” Her mind remarked.
After a few minutes the Mr Mine exits the kitchen. The chimes ring as the doors open, playing a satisfying melody. A large stream of smoke follows the Mr Mime follows him as the aroma of the ramen fills the room. Solaris grins once the delicious smell hit her nose. The stream of smoke left a streak of the smell of ramen from the Mr Mime to the kitchen to the left. The bowl of ramen sparkled in the warm light and Sol could see the noodles topped off at the top of the broth. Sol began to drool at the thought of food after who knows how long.
The Mr Mime casually strolls over to the Braixen’s table and plunks the bowl of hot steaming noodles on to the table, beautifully garnished. To Solaris, no other feeling could compare to the feeling of the smell of those noodles entering their nose. Sol took a deep breathe in and slurped at the ramen, swiftly making her way through the entire bowl.
“Is this how you usually eat? You must be ravenous to eat that fast!” The Mr Mime joked.
“Oh no! Haha, I just haven’t had anything this delicious in a long time!” Solaris responded.
The Mr Mime gently smiled and he eventually returned to the front counter. Sol swiftly finished the ramen and walked over to the counter. She stands at the front of the counter and remembers.
She has no money. A look of horror spread across her face. She stared blankly into her own empty head and stuttered out.
“I- uhm- I don’t have m-money sir.”
The Mr Mime responded in a state of shock, “You don't have what now!?”
Sol responded back with, “M-money…”
The Mr Mime sighed and shook his head.
"I'll give you two options. One, work at this ramen shop. Or two, go find your own work and make your own money." the Mr Mime said in a harsh tone.
Sol being Sol, a person who seemed to enjoy combat and not being stuck in a shop working, picked the second option, though not sure what to do to make the money.
The Mr Mime nodded understandingly at Sol and told her that he would recommend taking on rescue missions or becoming a sword for hire.. He turned to Sol’s sword. The Mr Mime noticed the quality of the blade. It’s metallic silver shined in the light and designs symbolizing the sun covered it.
“You have quite the impressive blade. Fox.” the Mr Mime remarked at the sight of such a blade.
Sol smiles and replies, “Thanks, I’m not sure where it’s from or how it’s made though…”
Mr Mime replies, “How could a swordsman not know who or where their blade was made? Anyways, something tells me, you’d do quite well in rescue missions or as a sword for hire. No need to worry about paying now though, Pay when you finally get a source of income.”
She thanked the Mr and nodded before leaving the shop.
“Thank you Mr Mime!” Solaris gleefully exclaimed.
“It’s been a pleasure, little braixen. Come back if you want more ramen! When you have money of course.” The Mr Mime responded jokingly
Sol replied amidst her own laughter doing her best to sound reliable, “Will do, sir!”
Solaris’ tails wagged without unrest at the thought of the thrilling missions she could take as a sword for hire. A bright grin appeared on her face, though still confused at what one must do to become a sword for hire.
Once again she wandered the streets again, now barren and empty now that the sky had darkened and the moon was out, unlike the orange sky she has seen before. She knew what she had to do. Get herself registered as a sword for hire.
But before that, Sol wandered off deep into the forest to the crater that she has woken up in once more and laid, leaning her head against a fallen log next to the smoldering earthy crater she had awoken from and fell asleep under a sky of glittering stars in the illuminated night sky. A calm smile spread across Sol’s face as she slept as she dreamt about the adventures to and the battles to be thought as she learned about the world and herself.Her curiosity and adventurousness had no bounds.