M1-Unity- AF - 3

The low rumble of a hungry stomach awakened the Flaaffy as she stirred, her mouth paper dry. She opened her eyes to a pounding headache and shaking limbs, but at least she was warm and safe. A blurred view greeted her vision but that didn’t bother her; her hearing and smell were good enough to make up for her poor sight.  

Shifting aside the blanket, Darasheep rose and stumbled slightly, one of her paws raising half heartedly to her sleep tousled hair before deeming it not important. Half ignoring the food, she went towards the water instead, splashing her face to rid the sleep from her eyes. While Gooseka slept on she drank some of the refreshing liquid to slake her thirst before eating enough food to fill her empty stomach. Running her paws through her messy hair, the Flaaffy carefully preened her side curls so that they framed her features while leaving the top undone. It was too thick to be tamed properly, especially when her partner found it suitable to be his nesting grounds.

Speaking of which...

“Gooseka.” the electric sheep called to the water bird, who stirred and gave a sleepy grumble before looking at her with bleary eyes. She gave him a very soft smile before giving her tail a stroke, the jewel on the end seeming to give off a pleasing ring as if enjoying being petted. “Are you hungry? There’s food left over from last night if you want some.”

The Ducklett stared at the food before staring at her, giving a very slow nod and getting up to waddle over and sit down next to his partner. He pecked at the food gently while Darasheep chewed thoughtfully, watching the sun rise through the single window that adorned their room. It was beautiful; she didn’t get up so early in the morning these days, preferring to sleep in. Granted her sleeping schedule wasn’t the greatest, but she meant to fix that. A new place meant a new start; she could even change her name if she wanted. But that was silly. She wanted a new name the same amount she wanted a hole in her head.

While her thoughts wandered and shifted in their own darting patterns she was barely aware of Gooseka eating beside her, concentrating on the warmth of the sunlight filtering into their room, the dust motes tickling her nose and the taste of food in her mouth. Taking stock of her state yesterday she was still a little sore, but it could have been much worse.

That in itself, was a relief.  

Later that morning the pair found themselves outside, wandering through the town to gain a better view of the place. At least they had a place to stay for now and the owner seemed nice enough. It seemed they were going to be in Andaluust for quite a while because of the fog, so they took it upon themselves to find out more about where they were going to stay, neither of them having heard much about the place in general.

All there seemed to be was shops and soon the pair were somewhat bored. They had almost gotten into a few tussles with some groups of Pokemon who thought it would be fun to tease newcomers, but Gooseka and Darasheep had shown them they weren’t to be messed with so they had scattered.  

Slowly they picked their way downtown, the water duck making sure his partner didn’t run into anything by using his sharp vision to catch dips in the road and Pokemon who suddenly stepped into their way, warning them off with sharp honks and even sharper words. Many Pokemon seemed eager to leave after one row to which the electric sheep had to use a very slight electrical attack to warn them away from her partner, almost shocking him in the process.  

So they continued onwards, dodging crowds and ignoring the yelling vendors that called out to every Pokemon that passed by. They didn’t seem to care that someone didn’t want to buy something, but at least they didn’t try and reach out to grab at passing Pokemon, more than likely figuring that it would result in either a smashed shop or some sort of injury.  

"Dara?”  

Startled out of her thoughts, the fluffy Pokemon halted in midstep to try and stare up at her partner without much success. She would get her eye poked out by accident if she went any closer and that was something she didn’t want at all. Darn her bad eyesight! If there was only some way to fix it she would do anything to not be half blind all the time.

“Hm? What is it, Gooseka?"

The Ducklett in question raised one of his wings to point at something in the middle of the center of town. Darasheep blinked in surprise. It seemed she had wandered a bit too aimlessly in her musings. She wondered slightly why her partner hadn’t stopped her and probably thought it wasn’t a good time. Granted he only really did so whenever she was about to either run into or trip over something, neither of which seemed to be the problem at the moment.

“There’s an extremely weird looking statue over there. You seen that?”

Darasheep’s heart sped up slightly in a mix of fear and excitement at the word “weird”. Whenever her partner said it, that usually meant something was very strange and they had to go test what it was, something she didn’t mind. Taking things apart made life worthwhile if one could figure out what made it tick, to then put it back together with some improvements. With a huff she straightened and fluffed out her wool, a gleam in those sharp eyes as she stepped forwards with a renewed purpose.

“Really? Let’s go check it out.”

It didn’t take the pair long to get to the center of town, where everything was more crowded, but at the same time they were easily able to get about. The paved stones were smooth and no one seemed to want to bother them, though there was a sense of unease about the air. None of this bothered the electric sheep, who surged forwards through the groups of Pokemon with the itching of a mechanic tickling her paws. She wanted to see some sort of weird machinery that only this town could offer and take it apart piece by lovely piece.  

A raised wing covering her eyes almost made her jump out of her rubbery skin and she halted instantly, her long tail swinging behind her as Gooseka let out a honk. She felt his webbed feet press down on her head wool gently as he repositioned himself to then give a powerful flap that almost made her tumble backwards as he made his own way to the ground. From there he tapped on one of her legs to get her attention, causing her to bend over, her nose almost touching his beak in an effort to see him clearly.  

“Geese, Dara!” the water duck began in a somewhat worried manner. “I know you like walking, but you almost knocked your head into that big statue thingy!”

“Oops. Sorry, Gooseka. I’ll be more careful.” Darasheep promised as she then picked up the feather covered Pokemon and placed him on top of her head where she could keep track of him and so that she wouldn’t run into anything else.

“What would you be without me as your guide?”

“A very sorry Darasheep.” The Flaaffy giggled as she tried to make her own joke.

“A Darasheep with constant headache.” Gooseka added and made himself comfortable where he sat.

A slight blush mantled her cheeks as her blue eyes lowered very slightly, her tail dipping down in a shy manner. She chuckled again before moving closer towards the statue, trying not to accidentally run into it. Gooseka kept a look out for any signs of danger, his sharp black eyes moving smoothly about the area.  

“It’s so big!” she mused as if in a trance, one curious paw reaching up to touch against the soft looking moss that surrounded the statues legs. “It looks so real too... almost like it could come to life at any second and start moving!”

As if heeding her words there was a suddenly flash from up above and the statue gave a great shudder, causing Darasheep to, in fright jump backwards quite a bit, slipping on some water that someone had spilled earlier and landing on her behind. In horror she watched the once still statue surge forwards, smashing through a building that was in its way. Giving no regard to the screaming Pokemon that surrounded it, the statue charged up an attack in one of its hands and released it, blowing aside another building and a shop in one single blast.

With yelling, screaming and running Pokemon surrounding them, Darasheep and Gooseka were somewhat overwhelmed, the Flaaffy more than the Ducklett because all she could focus on was the noise that the statue was making. It made her heart rise high into her throat, sweat break out on her forehead even though the day was somewhat cool and a tremor pass through her entire body.

“BoOOOOooooooOOOooommMMMMmmmmm”

Gooseka watched from his perch on top of Darasheep’s head, to then reach down and gently pat the sides of the electric sheep’s face with his wings, causing her to blink and snap out of her stupor. Shakily she got to her hooves to start backing away at Goosekas hastily whispered advice, trying to control her trembling limbs. It would be a while until she calmed down even with her partner trying to soothe her, because of all the thoughts. One was etched in her mind, lurking in the darkest parts to cause her fright every time she was alone.

Were there other statues that came to life such as that?