Ayita

"Ain't nothing to thank me for," she says, looking up at Briony. "You put up a good fight, but you're clearly no fighter. What are you doing in the Marsh?"

She looks to Rin, a smile greeting her girl...friend?

"I'm ok. Just got the wind knocked out of me."

Ayita collided with the ground, letting out a pained gasp. Landing back first on the ground wasn't fun. Even if she was more nimble and capable of handling Pokemon than the average person, she was still in fact just a person.

After a moment, she gets herself up to a sitting position, wincing.

as she attempted to use gravity and her own weight to pull the struggling girl out of the creature's maw!

...the fall was definitely going to hurt.

It's enough of a distraction. Ayita's finally on a stable branch. If she can somehow get the plant to flinch...

"Hang on!"

She dives at the Carnivine. If it clamped its jaw down on Briony, it was over. So she slammed her knife down on top of its head. Her other arm around the girl's waist

food?"

She wasn't entirely sure if punching the thing would do any good, but it was definitely better than just letting herself get swallowed!

Ayita for her part was climbing the tree. Not nearly as fast as Flare at getting the job done, but she knew that she had to at least cut that vine keeping the mystery girl captive.

"Hey, weird human! Don't just hang there, fight back," she calls out! "Are you really gonna let yourself become

food slowly. She wouldn't let the mysterious human suffer such a fate!

"Rin, I'm going in too," she says, pulling her knife from her belt. Without waiting for a response, Ayita rushes forward, brandishing her knife.

The assault seemed good. Grass types didn't like fire too much, Ayita knew. Yet the poor captive Trainer was in danger too!

She hated the idea of leaving Rin's side, but it really did seem like she needed to get involved. She wouldn't put it past the Carnivine to eat a human, and they digested

she shouted into the thicket!

Carnivine bites were rough, but at least she knew they didn't usually use their vines to ensnare. Usually they hang from trees and wait for their meals to get close.

It seemed like her old friend had seen the problem first. If it was up that high, and it was something normally aggressive, then it really could only be one thing right? It wasn't Yanmega mating season yet after all.

"Carnivine? That's dangerous," Ayita mentioned, "stay away from the trees,"

The marsh simply was too noisy for her tastes. What was it with humans and going deep into nature where they didn't belong.

. . . aside from the girl raised in the wild anyway.

The scream perked Ayita up. She takes a defensive stance in front of Rin, just in case something attacked.

"I see footprints already. Rin's feet aren't that size, and mine aren't either. So that means..."

"There's someone else in the marsh. I've just got this feeling...am I gonna have to pull someone else out of the muck this month?"

"I was right. It was comfy. In er...more ways than I figured. Soft..."

Rin would make the ideal mate in her opinion. Brave beyond words, incredibly bright, curves that Ayita found herself looking at...

"...d-don't want to frighten you," she says quietly.

Her own face was beet red. Did she really just promise a kiss to Rin? And did Rin just say she'd like that too?

"S-sorry uh...I-I'm super new to talking to humans and uh..."

Ayita is trying desperately to save face and not sound like she wants to do anything improper to her friend! Even though

"You'll do great! I'll be right behind you in case you fall."

She gives her a slight hug, and a small smile afterward.

"I know you can do it...and when we get up there, um..."

A reward...Rin would need a reward right?

"A kiss?"

"Mm," she says, nodding. "It's gonna be scary out there, but I know you'll help me with it."

Come to think of it, had Rin ever climbed a tree before? She'd kind of been helping her up to her hollow each night...

"Hey, wanna climb by yourself tonight?"

"I'm um...eheh...not opposed to it."

That nervous laugh she'd made was definitely making her self consious. Hopefully Rin didn't think she was weird?

"I do know one thing. I'm gonna keep protecting you from danger."

"Uh, sure! We can! I want to!"

Nodding quite a bit more enthusiastically than she'd like to admit!

"It'll be the last time I'm in my room too...so I wanna share it with you."

Granted, Ayita's bed was a hammock, so it'd be more like Rin resting on top of Ayita. She wondered if it'd even be comfy like that?

"Y-yes!"

She only ends up holding Rin closer as a result. Her heart was absolutely pounding right now...what was the next step in all of this?

"Uhm...before we leave, do you want to um...sleep together? I-I mean in the same bed!"

not going to be getting hurt, not while I'm here."

"I'm saying that where you go, I'm following."

She's realizing that her actions are probably a little...improper. Her body was really just moving on its own right now, the thought of being away from Rin felt like torture.

"You're the first human that hasn't looked at me like a freak. So you're

Her other hand moves on its own, it's only when it settles on Rin's waist that she realizes what she's doing. Pulling Rin closer.

"...I...I can't be apart from you. I won't go back to a world that you're not a part of."

"Rin I..."

Her speech is silenced as soon as their hands touch. Their fingers interlacing with each other, as if it was made to be. Rin's soft palms against Ayita's own course ones...she's suddenly realizing just how rough she probably looks.

"...um..."

Rin when Ayita's around. Would it really be too selfish of her to indulge in Rin's own need?

"...the world's scary, Rin...the human world..."

Her hand hesitantly draws closer to Rin's own...

"Outside...?"

She looks down at Rin's hand. Tempting...Rin had been so comfy to be around, and she wanted to linger in that comfort for as long as possible...would Rudey mind?

"...I...I..."

Her cheeks flush red as she realizes what Rin's telling her. Rin needs her. The world's less scary for

She reaches out to Rin, but soon retracts her hand.

"People are scary. They judge you for so many things. You never did that though, and that made me happy. I...I want to be selfish, but I can't do that to you."

"...I..."

No, she couldn't force Rin to stay here. She wanted to keep her, never let her only human friend go, but Rin didn't belong in the wilds. She knew that...

"...Rin I erm..."