Living By The Wrong

It was late that night when the trio had decided to fall asleep. After yet another failed attempt at capturing Pikachuu, they had become tired to the point where they could barely even make the walk back to their balloon.

By barely, two of the three were able to do so. Nyarth had taken the greatest fall in their blast off and thus had received a rather large gash on his arm. He had been walking slower than usual, normally he was besides or in front of them but then, he had lagged back, tripping over his own paws as he walked.

Eventually, he had lost his balance and hit the ground with only a small, mumbled curse of pain. He hadn't even attempted to get back up and simply held his bleeding arm closer to his chest, ignoring the aching in his body and the blood seeping into his fur. His eyes had been shut and his senses had become fuzzy in the tiredness and pain.

In his state, he had not noticed that his two friends had stopped their walking and that one had begun to slowly walk over to him. The only time he realized what was happening was when he felt someone gently scoop him up into their arms and hold him almost like a child. Normally, he would protest, but now, all he wanted to do was fall asleep.

And yet, when someone began to gently pet the stop of his head, he weakly opened his eyes only to meet the gentle and caring eyes of his two best friends, the two best people in the world. It was only then did he allow his eyes to close and he drifted into sleep.

Kojiro had been the first to notice that Nyarth had fallen, having heard the lack of his slow walking behind them. Only when he stopped did Musashi follow his gaze to the clearly hurt and exhausted feline. She hadn't even said anything, she had simply walked over to him and, without so much as a second thought, picked him up, holding him like a child. She knew he hated that, but the state he was currently in prevented him from protesting.

It was rare that either of them had seen Nyarth in such a state but he had been the one behind the entire plan that day. And he had taken the large fall and suffered because of it. It was reasons like this that they cared about him so much. He had walked until he couldn't any longer. It was probably also one of those reasons as to why the feline was so trusting of them. Every time he was in trouble, they wouldn't rest until he was safe, the same vice versa.

So when Kojiro had waited for Musashi to continue walking, he had gently reached his hand over to the feline's head and began to gently pet it. Only then did he open his blue eyes and a small smile crept onto his face when he spotted the blurry shapes of his best friends. And when the scratch cat finally allowed himself to fall asleep, they continued on getting to their destination.

When they had reached the balloon, Kojiro had attempted to gently wake Nyarth up, only to receive a mumbled weak protest for him to let him sleep. The simple and aggravated response brought a smile to the blue haired man. At least he remained the same feline they loved so much when he was half asleep.

Deciding to do what he needed to without the scratch cat being awake, Kojiro had since settled the two of them in the balloon's basket in order to make sure he was alright. And so, he had carefully reached down his hand to the arm of which was bleeding slightly. Nyarth still had it clutched to his chest, where his chest fur was damped with blood.

Kojiro gently gripped the feline's arm and pulled it away from his chest. He didn't even resist. And the blue haired man was sure that if anyone but he or Musashi had done so, he would've fought with all he had to ensure that they didn't so much as touch him. It went to show just how much they trusted each other.

It didn't take much to clean away the blood on his fur and wrap a bandage around the gash on his arm. Even disinfecting the wound had only received the smallest of flinches from the feline. When he was done, Kojiro had gently lifted Nyarth back up and put him back down so he could crawl his way into his own smaller sleeping bag.

He curled up immediately inside of it, in a way that most other Pokemon would look at him strangely for. But since when was their friend ever Pokemon-like in the slightest? Since when had they ever treated him like a Pokemon to begin with? That's right. Never.

Musashi had already gotten into her own sleeping bag and she watched as Kojiro did the same. They remained next to each other, Nyarth placed in the middle of them. This was how they had always slept since they first became a team. And until the end of forever, they would never stop.

They had drifted off to sleep for a few delicate hours before Musashi was forced awake by a rather strange noise. A slurred mess of words spoken in an accent only owned by one person.

Musashi knew it was Nyarth and simply thought he was talking in his sleep like usual. Without opening her eyes, she spoke, her voice soft yet stern. "Kojiro, tell Nyarth to shut up" At first she got no reaction and the noises from the feline continued. She decided to try again. "Kojiro, I said-"

She was suddenly cut off by the quiet voice of the blue haired man, the one word he said ringing with desperation and worry. It was enough to make her open her eyes. "Musashi..."

The moment she did, she was met with the odd and admittedly worrisome picture of Kojiro sitting up in his sleeping bag and tracing his fingers down the head of a clearly distressed Nyarth. The man wore an expression of understanding concern and Nyarth... Musashi would have preferred not to have ever seen him in the state he was currently in.

The feline had his eyes screwed shut, his black ears planted back against his head. His fur was sticking up on ends and his claws dug into the fabric of his sleeping bag. But the most terrible thing about his state was the sounds that escaped him.

Nyarth was always a good actor and come hide and conceal his emotions a little too easily, so hearing such noises leave his mouth one after another was enough for Musashi's rather hard heart to soften, knowing there was something wrong with the scratch cat she had come to love over the years.

Small whimpers left him, his entire body shaking as if he was in some kind of pain. Every once in a while, a feeble cry would gain a hold of his vocal cords, followed by a series of pleas for help or mercy. Such words coming from him and not in a sarcastic tone was worrisome, enough to the point that Musashi straightened herself up to gently grab his injured arm, cringing as he flinched and cried out in sheer pain.

But before she could react, Kojiro finished gently petting him to look up to the red haired woman. He spoke, his voice serious and urgent as he explained what had to be done. "Musashi... He's having a nightmare, a bad one. I used to have them when I was a child and I know how to snap him out of it but... You have to help me"

A nightmare. It had been awhile since Musashi had had one of those. She knew it was obvious that Kojiro had had some kind of nightmares as a kid, what with living with the worst parents ever and being stuck with Jessebelle. But Nyarth? Tough, stubborn Nyarth? It was seemingly impossible. But the sight of the feline shaking underneath her grasp was enough to tell her otherwise. Although she hated taking orders from others, she was willing to do so now in order to help the scratch cat.

Sighing softly, Musashi met Kojiro's green eyes. "What do I have to do?" she asked softly, wincing once more when a whimper rang out from their furry friend.