//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: A New World, a New Ranger // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Abby’s eyes slowly opened to the sensation of a great warmth on her right side and an odd stroking sensation on her left. She blinked twice, turning to the right to see Kasai’s golden coat against her, he was clearly asleep if the way his rose and fell was anything to go by. The Ninetales shuddered as the memory of the dream washed over her. Princess Luna had helped... but... that was a bad memory... She slowly turned to her left to discover that the stroking sensation was coming from a green vine. Her eyes shift up a bit more to see a female Serperior staring down at her with warm smile. “Good morning... I hope you slept well,” she said, her voice instantly recognizable. It was her mother, Scarlet. Abby blinked slowly, unsure of what she was seeing or hearing. “...mom?” she asked quietly, her voice not quite rasping... instead it was just weak. The Serperior chuckled lightly. “Yes Abby it’s me, I’m not some hallucination,” she said, leaning her head down to deposit a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad to see you’re alright.” “Mom!” Abby exclaimed, surging upwards and all but tackling the Serperior before she let out a whimper as her vision swam. She felt a vine firmly warping around her waist as her mother gave her a nuzzle before she pulled the Ninetales off of her and back onto the bed. “Don’t push yourself too much, you don’t want ruin the stitches on your forehead,” she said, a vine resuming petting down her back. “I don’t think the doctors will like that very much,” she added with a small chuckle. The Serperior continued petting Abby, the Ninetales sighing as a sense of... peace and comfort spread over her. “Mom...” Abby said softly. “I... I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. Or... at least not for a long time.” Her mother continued petting her, another vine slipping out around the base of her neck to grab a glass of water and offer it for Abby to drink. Abby gladly accept it, the cool refreshing water bring moisture to her dry lips. “You’ll have to thank Ace for that. She made a call to the Guard's department in the town I was living in, and luckily the sheriff knew me well enough to instantly recognized my name. He helped me get on an express train that was headed to Las Pegasus and one of Ace’s Guards led me here... much to my surprise.” Abby didn’t say anything, she simply nuzzled against the Serperior’s side, embracing her as best she could. “At least it wasn’t any worse news...” Scarlet said with a heavy sigh. “Why do you always find yourself in very deep trouble, Abby?” she questioned, mostly out loud rather than directly to the Ninetails. “I don’t find trouble, trouble stalks me and then hits me over the head,” the Ninetales replied, still nuzzling the green flesh in front of her. “Clearly it does,” the Serperior said with a frown, eyeing the large stitches across Abby’s forehead. “... how bad was it?” Abby asked with a frown. “Did... did I get any brain damage or was it just a concussion? I mean I know that those are really awful for you too but-” “A concussion... and only damage to your skin. Your skull was able to do it’s job well enough and didn’t break, thank goodness,” Scarlet answered before Abby could ramble on. She sighed once more as she lean down to kiss her once more. “Still... I’m just happy nothing worse happened to you, I doubt Kasai would take your loss very well.” “Yeah, especially with me being pregnant,” Abby agreed without thinking about it. The Serperior blinked in complete surprised. “You’re pregnant?” “...shit.” Abby looked away and buried her face in Kasai’s back. “Please don’t hate me...” she mumbled quietly. “I’m not angry at you... I’m more angry at the pony who threw the brick,” Scarlet replied in a dark tone. “Arceus have mercy on that pony if that brick caused a single shred of damage to that baby you’re carrying.” “Yeah... tell me about it,” Abby agreed with a dark scowl. “But, I already knew you and Kasai were together a long time ago, so I kind-of figured you two have been hooking up quite a bit since you got here,” her mother added, changing the tone as she gave a sly smile down at her daughter. “Especially when I saw what Pokemon you’ve become and how Kasai never seems to leave your side.” “Yeah...” Abby trailed off and stared up at her mother. “You... you really don’t mind or hate me?” “If I did, I would probably have turned you into the Rangers faster than you even realized what was happening,” the Serperior stated matter of factly. “But I could see you two really did love each other, so I saw nothing wrong.” Abby moved forwards and nuzzled her mother, crying small tears of joy into her mother’s scales. “I...thank you... thank you mom.” A soft smile crossed the Scarlet’s face as she let one of her vines hugged Abby gently. “You’re welcome my daughter, it was no problem for me. You’re not the first case of Pokephilia couple I turn a blind eye too.” “Really?” Abby asked blankly. “I’m not?” “No, you’re not,” she replied simply. “I know, shocking to hear from a top Ranger like me, but I guess you can say I’m a bit more open to the idea that love between a human and a Pokemon can be possible. If the feelings between the two of them are genuine and real.” “I have the same way of thinking,” Abby agreed with a nod as her tails wrapped around Kasai’s. “I actually made it my duty to track down the most wanted Pokephiles and see if their feelings were genuine or not. I did actually end up arresting a few of them... bastards” “I noticed that when checking up on you,” Scarlet said with a small nod. “You were very ‘noteworthy’ on how efficiently you were tracking them down. Save for some of those you said were ‘unable to be found’.” Abby smirked. “Yeah... I did a good damn job,” the Ninetales agreed with a grin. “Yes you did,” Scarlet said with a small chuckle. “It seems some of my training for you has stuck in that mind of yours,” she teased with a gentle nudge from a vine. “Seems like it...” Abby said as she noticed that the lights in the room were noticeably dimmed and that the sheets below here were white... and the fact that there was a sink and several pieces of medical equipment within sight. “I’m still in the hospital.” “Well yes, mostly for you to fully recover and Kasai didn’t really want them to disturb your sleep,” the Serperior said, giving a small gesture over at the Arcanine who let out a loud snore. “More like he didn’t want to be woken up,” Abby replied,, moving slowly over to lick Kasai’s sleeping face. “Oh well, at least we’re both safe.” “Which I’m very happy about,” the Serperior said with a soft smile as a vine trailed down Abby’s face. The vine slither back up into its slot on the base of her neck. “So... what mostly been happening to ya since you got here?” she inquired, shifting her serpent body around slightly to a more comfortable coil position. “Let’s see... joined the Guard... stopped a casino robber who turned out to be Vincent Neurum of all people, poor kid, helped reunite a Tyrantrum with his father... got a nasty head injury,” Abby listed off. “So almost like a normal day back on Earth huh?” her mother said with a single chuckle. “Oi! I didn’t get head injuries that often...” Abby said with a pout. “Do I really need to list the ones off the top of my memory?” Scarlet asked with a smirk. “I probably wouldn’t really remember them, especially right now,” the Ninetales answered with a small shake of her her head. “...especially after that dream.” The grass snake frowned slightly. “What dream?” “The one where it starts at my parents funeral and then skips to me stabbing him,” Abby said quietly. “You know the one...” “I see...” she said slowly, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. “I guess that would explain a bit of your... whimpering during the night.” “Yeah...” Abby trailed off. “And then Princess Luna showed up and talked to me for a little bit... it’s really just left me really drained...” The Serperior nodded her head slowly. “Well then, I won’t really harp on the subject then. Beside, you probably do need a bit more rest. Head injuries are hard to just get back up on.” “Right...” Abby let out a sigh and looked up at her mother. “Bend down please.” The Serperior did so, her ruby eyes at level with Abby’s own. The Ninetales leaned forward and before Scarlet knew what was happening, Abby’s tongue was coating her face in slobber as she was almost viciously licked. Scarlet blinked a bit blankly for a moment before slowly chuckling and nuzzling Abby’s head. Her vines came out to give the Ninetails several more pets down her back before she pulled her head away. “I’ll still be here when you wake up, rest assured in that.” Abby smiled and gave Scarlet a smile. “Thanks mom...” she then felt her brain beginning to cloud with sleep. “I’m going to bed now,” the Ninetales muttered as she curled up against Kasai’s side, the Arcanine rolling over in his sleep to hug her to his golden chest, an embrace that Abby freely let herself be pulled into. Scarlet smiled softly as she looked at her daughter and now son-in-law, happy they could be together like this without any hassle from the outside world. She felt her stomach rumbling a bit and sigh before she uncoiling her body. Hospital food had never been her favorite... and after sampling some of the dishes here, she was already missing the cooking of a certain Zoroark.