Connected Rivers (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5



“Come on, it’s just a little further ahead,” Kelvin called out as he walked along through the forest with Ría. “There’s a good amount of fish to catch around here most of the time, so we should be able to get some up here.” The couple had been together for a few weeks now and gradually had been spending more time together to get closer to each other, still giving the other time to be alone when desired. Things had been going well to this point, and now they were going to try fishing together for a change to see how well it’d work.

"Nnh, I'm gettin' there, hold on..." she sighed, tagging a little bit behind with lack of interest. She casually stepped through the woods with her arms folded behind her head, arching her body back and letting out a tender yawn, one eye winced as to keep track of where she's walking.

“Well, don’t take too long then, don’t want to have to catch everything myself after all,” he replied. He hurried along a bit more until reaching the shore and turned to look back as she slowly approached. “Here we are, how do you think we should do this then?” Ría looked out over the water, noticing how quiet the area was, which seemed ideal for catching fish.

“I’d rather catch my own… so I’d say we should both fish on our own, catch what ya want, then come back when we’re done,” she suggested.

“Sounds fine with me, should be easier anyway to catch whatever you want,” Kelvin said as he turned back to the river. “Let’s get going then.” He jumped into the river and swam off underwater, leaving Ría behind to come in when she was ready. She winced a bit from getting splashed slightly by his dive, taking a moment before jumping in for herself.

Time passed quickly as the two Floatzel swam around in the river fishing, occasionally coming up to catch their breath before going back under. They mostly stayed on their own to not interrupt the other, but a few times came close enough to see how the other was doing. Kelvin spotted a good-looking fish and smiled, thinking to himself how good a meal that one could make. He swam after it, his twin tails churning behind him like propellers to gain more speed in pursuit. He got up close and reached out to grab it, but just missed, causing him to get a little frustrated by it. He continued after it still, until a sound from the surface caught his attention, causing him to lose focus on the fish. Disgruntled by the failure as he saw the fish get away, Kelvin went back up to the surface and took a deep breath.

“Damnit, let it get away…” he complained, smacking the water with a paw in frustration. Then he heard the sounds again coming from beyond some nearby trees on the shore. “What’s that sound anyway? That must be what distracted me…” He swam towards the shore to listen for it more closely, the sound becoming clearer to him now. “Hm… sounds like talking… maybe I should get Ría and go check it out with her…” He went back to look for her again, stopping to let her finish catching a fish for herself. They went back to the shore together so she could enjoy her fish.

“… What is it?” she asked while getting the fish ready to eat.

“I heard some talking out beyond some trees down that way,” Kelvin replied, motioning to where he was fishing at before. “I thought we should check together in case it’s something we should be worried about.” Ría stood there for a moment in silence, taking in any nearby echoes. Before Kelvin could speak again out of awkwardness, Ría replied casually, "... I... kinda hear it. But... ya sure ya wanna go there? It may not be any of our business."

“Well, can’t be sure who or what it is unless we look into it,” Kelvin responded. “Or I could check it out myself if you’re not interested. No point making you do something you don’t want to do, after all.” Annoyed, though knowing they, let alone herself, have nothing else better to do, Ría shrugged and folded her arms with a neutral look.

"... eh..." she muttered, "... guess it couldn't hurt..."

“Then let’s go take a look,” Kelvin said as he turned to lead the way over to the noise. Ría slowly followed along behind him after a moment. As they continued together, the sound of the voices got louder and more distinct.

“This whole forest would be better off without that guy…” stated someone with a tomboyish female tone. Kelvin slowly inched his way into some nearby bushes to listen and see if he could hear more of the discussion before looking to see who it was.

“I know what you mean… he’s such a jerk…” chimed in another, who reminded Kelvin of a nervous childlike boy. Kelvin looked back towards Ría and nodded his head over to the group.

“Sounds like they’re talking about someone… but they don’t sound particularly threatening to me…” whispered Kelvin as to not draw attention to himself.

"... Uhh..." mumbled the female Floatzel, curious as to who the distant group are referring to. "... Ya think we should go up to 'em?" She asked to Kelvin in a silent tone.

“Yeah, I’ll stay in front just in case,” he answered and slowly came up from bush to come out in front. Suddenly a very timid sounding female voice was heard, as if she heard the rumbling of the bushes.

“Huh? What was that sound?”

“What is it, Cinnamon?” asked the tomboy.

“I think I heard something over there in the bushes…”

“You don’t think it’s… him, right…?” asked the boy, sounding scared.

“It better not be. Besides, it’s three on one, he’d stand no chance against all of us at once,” the tomboy said with a bold, confident voice. “Come on out and show yourself!” Kelvin and Ría both glanced to each other for a moment before emerging from the bushes to come forward, revealing themselves to the group of Pokémon. They looked around, noticing a small Pachirisu with a red stripe instead of blue who looked rather young and frightened nearby. Next to him was a Lopunny, who was also noticeably nervous, with a strange marking on her forehead and hips. And finally there was a tomboyish looking Furret, staring at them. The group seemed to relax after a moment.

“Hey there… sorry for scaring you guys, hope we’re not bothering you at all…” Kelvin said meekly, waving a paw to show no harm. The three relaxed a little, but the Furret remained skeptical still.

“Who are you guys for one? And why are you here?” she asked in a curious tone.

“I’m Kelvin, and that’s my mate Ría,” Kelvin introduced, motioning back her way. Ría lazily waved at them as well, feeling a bit awkward how he referred to her as his “mate.” She was still so new to this whole thing that it still felt weird to hear that term. “We came here because we heard you guys talking about something, and we were curious as to what.”

“Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!” the Furret replied, trying to sound innocent as if she had no idea what he meant. “Also, before I forget, my name’s Mya. The Pachi there is Scaevola, but we all call him Scae, and the Lop’s Cinnamon.” The other two waved at the couple as well with their intros, Scae using his left paw as opposed to his right like the others. They both gave a quiet “Hello” in unison before going back to sitting quietly, letting Mya do the talking.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not being honest with us…?” asked Ría, raising an eyebrow at her. Mya just smirked and tried to string together a reply.

“What gives you that idea? We weren’t talking about anything,” she responded.

“Sure didn’t sound like nothing, I heard something about a “him” and that Scaevola guy sounded nervous about it. So why’re you hiding it from us?” Kelvin chimed in, stepping closer to her with a stern look on his face. She backed away a couple steps before snickering.

“Fine, fine, you got me… I just love playing tricks on people for fun is all, and you guys seemed so clueless about it I couldn’t help it,” she said with a chuckle. Ría simply rolled her eyes in disgust and crossed her arms as she stared at her, while Kelvin gave a disgruntled look. Mya continued after gathering herself. “Sorry about that. We were just talking about the infamous Cinder, and can never be too careful with him.” The Floatzel looked at each other, realizing neither of them had heard of this “Cinder” guy.

“Uhh… who’s Cinder?” Kelvin asked. The three looked stunned at him for not knowing.

“You mean… you don’t know him…?” gasped Scae in a nervous tone. “Good thing you haven’t met him yet then…”

“What’s so bad about ‘im?” Ría questioned.

“Well… once I was sitting around in a bush to hide from predators so I could groom myself…” Cinnamon began to explain, looking even more scared just to remember the story. “Then I heard something and stopped, and next thing I know there’s a big paw reaching into the bushes and grabbed my arm… then this loud booming voice followed and I tried to struggle free, but I couldn’t get loose…” She paused for a moment to collect herself.

“Who was it that grabbed you? What happened?” Kelvin asked, looking a little concerned as he stared at the shaking Lopunny girl.

“It… it was Cinder… h-he raped me there… then k-kicked me in the chest when he was d-done before leaving… it was horrible…” she replied, covering her face as she tried to relax. Mya came over to pat her on the shoulder to help calm her down.

“Yeesh, that’s awful… no wonder you’re afraid of this guy…” Ría said quietly. “Sorry that happened to ya.”

“My case wasn’t quite as bad as that, but I’ve had my own run-in with him, too,” Mya commented, looking back over at them while still trying to help calm Cinnamon down. “I hid in a bush because I heard someone coming and thought it’d be funny to stick my leg out and trip them. So I put my leg out there, it turned out to be Cinder who came along, and he tripped over me like I expected. And of course I laughed about it since it was pretty amusing, but I forgot to check who it was.”

“So what happened to you then?” Kelvin asked. Even without knowing her for long, he got the feeling she must do that kind of thing a lot, so he’d have to watch out.

“Well, he heard me laughing, stalked over and shouted ‘So you think that’s funny, huh bitch?’ I didn’t recognize him at the time, so I didn’t know if he was angry or being sarcastic with me. I told him I thought it was, then he pulled me out of the bush and beat me up for it. After he was done, he sort of laughed in a mocking way at me and said ‘Still funny now, bitch?’, then he left.” When she finished, Mya looked down at the ground. “I swear, some people just can’t take a joke…”

“Geez, this guy sure sounds like a bastard. No wonder you all hate him,” Kelvin remarked, feeling some sympathy for the girls after hearing their stories. Ría looked over to Scae, who seemed to be nervous as well hearing all this.

“How about you then, little guy? Did this Cinder do anything to you?” she asked with a kind tone to make him feel a little more comfortable. Scae glanced over towards her and shamefully nodded, lowering his head again to look at her feet.

“Yeah… I went and collected some berries for myself before and was taking them back to a tree with me to store away for later… and then Cinder came along and told me to hand them over,” he began, shaking a little nervously. “I told him they were mine so I wouldn’t do it, and it made him angry. So he came over and beat me up, then stole all of them… though he also threw one of them at my face before he left, too…”

“Poor kid…” Ría responded. “How could anyone be such a jerk to a kid like that?” Kelvin shrugged and looked up towards Mya again.

“So, what is this guy anyway?” he asked.

“He’s a huge shiny Typhlosion, bigger than any Typhlosion I’ve ever seen before. It’s hard to miss him, really,” Mya answered.

“Thanks for the heads up, we’ll both be careful to watch out for him then,” Kelvin replied, looking back over to Ría. “Hopefully neither of us will have to deal with him, though.”

“Right, last thing any of us need is meeting THAT guy,” she agreed with a nod. Suddenly there was another rustling sound coming their way, and everybody shifted their attention to the source. The two Floatzel didn’t know what to expect, but the others seemed to remain calm. After several moments of anxious waiting, the sound closing in on their location, a furry head popped up from the bushes that looked similar to Mya. The creature emerged further to reveal itself to be a male Furret, looking around and noticing the two unfamiliar Pokémon.

“Huh? Who are those two?” he asked, curiously coming closer to the two of them with his nose twitching as he tried to catch their scent.

“This is Kelvin and Ría, they’re a couple Floatzel who found us. They didn’t know who Cinder was so we explained it to them,” Mya explained, glancing back over to them. “Guys, this is Acelin. He’s highly skilled at scouting, so we use him to look out for Cinder when we’re worried about where he is.” Ace waved a paw with a friendly smile.

“Well, pleased to meet you guys. Any friend of Mya’s is certainly a friend of mine,” he responded. The two waved back at him and gave a greeting of their own. “Anyway, just came to report that I haven’t seen Cinder around today, so I think we should be safe for now.”

“That’s a relief…” sighed Cinnamon. “I hope this means none of us have to deal with him then…”

“It should, but you can never be too sure with Cinder,” Ace warned. “I’d still keep an eye out and watch your back, he’s not the type to stay in hiding for a long time. If you guys need me, you know where to find me.” He turned around and prepared to leave. Mya and the others nodded as they waved to him.

“Wait, where exactly would we find you at?” Kelvin asked before he could go. Ace looked back over his shoulder at him, taking a good look at the Floatzel, almost admiring his body.

“I wouldn’t think a guy like you would need my help, but if you insist… you can always ask Mya or one of them. I’ll see you guys around now,” he replied, then turned and scurried off again into some bushes. Kelvin turned back to the others as the male Furret left.

“Well, guess I’ll count on you guys if we need him in that case,” he said with a shrug. “Nice meeting all of you, too.”

“Okay, see you two lovebirds later then,” Mya said with a smirk as she waved. Scae and Cinnamon also waved their good byes to them as the two Floatzel walked off together. Mya looked back over at her two friends after. “Man, that Kelvin sure is sexy, I wouldn’t mind seeing him around again… though his girlfriend isn’t too bad to look at, either.” She chuckled to herself a little.

“Heh, y-yeah… especially their feet…” Scae muttered shyly with a nervous blush and a smile. Mya laughed a little more and rubbed his head as she replied with a friendly “You would be checking out that on them, huh?” He nodded shyly and looked down. In the meantime, Kelvin and Ría were on their way back towards the river to relax together again.



Later that night, Kelvin was back by his own tree relaxing, his fur all wet from just recently swimming in the river for some exercise. He yawned and stretched out as he leaned back against the tree, placing his arms behind his head.

“Hm, today wasn’t too bad… finally starting to make some new friends around here, so I can’t complain…” he said to himself with a sigh. “Though that whole thing about Cinder they warned us about has me a little worried… what if he comes after Ría…?” He shook his head and tried to forget about it. “Now isn’t the time to worry about that… she’s a strong girl, she can defend herself. For now I should just try and get some sleep…”

He leaned back against the tree again, closing his eyes and trying to rest, his necklace hanging around his neck still. But as much as he tried, Kelvin couldn’t fall asleep and was restless in his efforts. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of Ría came to mind, occasionally images of her in danger. Eventually he couldn’t take it anymore and slowly picked himself up.

“Ugh, I can’t sleep… I keep worrying about her too much…” he moaned to himself, looking around and noticing how dark it was already. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go look for her and maybe spend the night with her, make sure she’s protected.” With his plan in mind, he climbed to his feet and started to walk along, following the sounds of the river to lead his way. As Kelvin walked along, he began to hear some faint sounds of bushes rustling. He thought nothing of it as he continued, figuring it was just the wind. But the noise continued, growing louder as if something was coming closer.

“The hell is that sound…?” he questioned, stopping a moment to look around. “Argh, too dark to see anything, I can’t tell…” The sound grew louder and clearer, almost like quiet footsteps approaching. Kelvin was on guard now, slowly turning towards the source of the sound and tried to remain calm. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” Suddenly a large looking creature’s shadow appeared nearby in the bushes. A low, evil laugh came from the bush as the creature stepped out closer.

“Heh heh, wouldn’t you like to know?” responded the creature in a menacing voice. Then flames suddenly flared up from its back, showing a large and shiny-coloured Typhlosion. He smirked at Kelvin as the flames lit up the area, noticing the necklace around his neck. “Well well, what do we have here? A punk like you all by yourself in the forest… and that thing around your neck looks just as stupid as you do, too. I think I’ll be taking that with me so I can smash it to pieces!”

“Who are you calling stupid? And no you won’t, this necklace is mine!” Kelvin protested, trying not to show his fear. But as he got a good look at the Typhlosion, he realized the description Mya and the others gave fit this guy very well. “… Wait a second, you’re Cinder! That bully who’s been torturing everyone in this forest!” Cinder smirked and laughed heartily again at him.

“Ha, guess my reputation is more well known than I thought! Then I guess this should be a lot easier than I thought,” Cinder replied, then pointed at Kelvin. “Now how about you be a good little bitch and hand over that necklace?” He flashed an evil grin, showing his fangs, and outstretched his claws while still pointing. “Or do I have to take it from you by force? The choice is all yours.”

“You’re not taking anything, you asshole! I made this necklace myself, and I don’t plan on giving it to someone like YOU!” Kelvin shouted, moving into a fighting position. Cinder smirked again, giving a smug look as he raised his head a bit.

“Ha! This oughta be more fun than I thought pounding you to a bloody pulp AND taking that piece shit!” He raised his fist high above his head as it burst into flames, throwing a hard Fire Punch right into Kelvin’s cheek. Kelvin’s eyes widened seeing the attack coming, but wasn’t able to react in time from how fast it came at him, stumbling to the side holding his cheek after the hit.

“Gah, shit! He’s strong… I’ve gotta watch him more carefully…” he muttered to himself, feeling how warm his cheek felt from the lingering effects of the punch. He regained his focus after a moment and looked back to Cinder, who was menacingly stepping over with a wide toothy grin. “Now it’s my turn!” He quickly tried firing a Water Gun at Cinder, figuring he should have the advantage because it’s Fire vs. Water. But somehow Cinder avoided the attack with what looked like relative ease, and before Kelvin knew what happened, the Typhlosion was flying through the air at him and crash landed on top of him, slamming both to the ground heavily.

“I was right, you aren’t so tough!” Cinder scoffed as he picked himself up after a moment, snickering at him. Kelvin groaned painfully on the ground as the large Pokemon got off, slowly sitting up again. He took a look at the ground next to him and got an idea.

“Y-yeah, we’ll see about that!” he shouted before firing a quick blast of water at the ground and using a Mud Slap on him. Cinder flinched as the mud pelted against his chest with enough force to push him back a couple steps. He regained his balance and growled loudly after the attack.

“So, think this is some kind of game, eh bitch? Enough playing around!” he shouted angrily and stomped over, his large frame casting a shadow over Kelvin. He reached down for the Floatzel seated on the ground, grabbing him by the fur under his neck with a paw to lift him up and raise him to eye level, staring at him with a grin. “How about now, bitch? Think you’re strong still?” Kelvin winced in pain, grabbing Cinder’s arm and flailing his legs helplessly.

“G-gah, let go of me!” he shouted, trying to get free.

“Certainly…” replied Cinder as he smirked, then turned and thrusted the Floatzel hard against the side of tree almost effortlessly. Kelvin crashed hard into the tree face first, his limbs wrapping around it a moment before he fell onto his back with a loud groan of pain. “There, I let go, happy now?” Cinder laughed, slowly stepping over again.

“Agh…!” Kelvin shouted out, struggling to pick himself up, his whole head and body aching now from the blow. “I d-didn’t mean like that…!” He noticed Cinder coming his way and panicked, almost in too much pain to defend himself now. In desperation he tilted his head back against the ground and shot another Water Gun back at him. The attack hit, causing Cinder to stumble back with a loud angry snarl, shivering from the cold moistness of the water on his fur.

“Gck! … That’s it bitch, I’ve had enough of you!” he shouted, the fire on his back flaring up higher with his growing rage. He stormed over again, pressing his foot down hard on Kelvin’s chest against his ribs, digging the claws of his toes into him a little to add a bit more pain to it. Kelvin cried out painfully from the large, strong foot against his sore ribs, wincing and shuddering more from the claws digging in slightly as well.

“Gah, fuck! Th-that’s too much, stop! I’ll g-give it to you if you let m-me go!” he pleaded, desperate for the pain to stop. He wanted to fight back, but was growing weak from all the pain and his exhaustion from how late it was.

“Too late for that, you little punk! I ain’t letting you off the hook that easily!” Cinder responded, smirking down at him. Sparks began to crackle off his fur, inducing fear into Kelvin as he heard the sound of electricity nearby. He tried to open his eyes to look, noticing it was really coming from Cinder, causing him to make a scared gasp.

“Wh-what the…?! What kind of monster are you? How do you know electric attacks?” he said in a panic, wanting desperately to get away but knowing he can’t.

“Heh, wouldn’t YOU like to know?” Cinder replied with a menacing smile. After a moment, he unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt down into Kelvin, holding him still with his foot and smiling as his victim cried out painfully from the attack. Once he was finished, he looked down and removed his foot. “Well, you sure got a lot of fight in you, punk, but this oughta teach you to mess with me. Do yourself a favor and listen next time, and maybe I won’t be so rough on you.” He grinned and leaned down close, yanking the necklace away from Kelvin’s neck and dangling it in his face. “I’ll take that, thank you.” Then he stood back up and walked away, satisfied with his victory and laughing to himself.

“Ugh… th-that hurt… I f-feel so, gh… so weak now…” Kelvin muttered weakly to himself. “And he got my necklace… I g-gotta get it back…” Slowly he felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness, the pain too much to handle now. After a moment he was unconscious on the ground, his head dropping to the side, his bruised and beaten body left to rest by the tree alone.