Author's Note

This is a remake of “Years and Years of Stored-Up Words”, which I deleted because I was unhappy with it.

Usually, I don’t like to use PokéSpeak, but I thought it would be fitting for this story.

A Kirinriki Tale

For what she could only assume had been years, every day of Autumn Blaze’s life had been the same. She would wake up, talk to the vegetables, talk to Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands, venture out into the jungle for breakfast, and then sit down at the edge of the cliff and just look at the view for hours and hours and hours. A rainbow spread across the savannah far below, where a river wound its way towards the misty horizon, as a cool wind swept her mane. The view was beautiful... but it hurt. It served as a constant reminder that she had no-one to share it with, a constant reminder of her banishment.

Today, as she went looking for something to eat in the jungle, she noticed a variety of fruit she’d never seen before: a magenta mangosteen. Curiously, she lifted it up with her magic, only to notice that... the mangosteen had a face? Its cheerful expression quickly turned terrified as it struggled to get out of her light blue aura. Feeling pity for the poor thing, she gently placed it down, where it quickly bounded away into a bush.

She was about to continue her search, when she heard something rustling in that same bush. Judging from the sound it made, it seemed to be much bigger than the mangosteen, or a squirrel. She approached it, and something that looked like the world’s shortest giraffe, slightly taller than her, stepped out, its steps wobbly. Its large eyes looked surprised, but also curious.

Cautiously, Autumn Blaze approached the giraffe. “Oh, hello, are you lost? I’ve never seen anything that looks like you around here. I thought giraffes lived in the savannah, be-lao here - I mean below, I haven’t said it in a while, sorry - but then you’re not exactly a normal giraffe, are you? What’s your name? My name’s Autumn Blaze, pleased to meet you! Wait, can you even understand what I'm saying?” She held out her hoof, but quickly put it down. “Oh, I must be crazy! I’m talking to a giraffe, for crying out loud!” She melodramatically gestured with her forelimbs.

“Gira...farig?” the giraffe stammered, starting to back away in concern.

“Oh, right, I should slow down.” Autumn Blaze took a deep breath. “Let’s start from the top. Are you lost?” The giraffe nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Girafarig,” it replied flatly.

“Girafarig? Is it because you’re not quite a giraffe, but not quite a thingymajig, so you’re a Girafarig?”

Girafarig shook its head. “Gira, GIRAFARIG!” It stomped a front hoof on the ground in annoyance, its teeth gritted in frustration.

“Is that really all you can say? Is this like some new secret code language, where you only say your name? Oh, I’d love to learn a new language!” As Autumn Blaze briefly reared in joy, Girafarig sighed. “Aww, don’t be sad. Now I finally have somekirin to talk to! Even though you’re not a kirin - you know what I meant - did you?” Girafarig tilted its head. “Now, it’s been great knowing you, Girafarig, but I have my own things to do. See you later!”

After a long trek through the jungle that involved her almost being eaten by a giant, yellow pitcher plant, Autumn Blaze decided to call it a day and eat one of those freshly green coconuts that inexplicably grew at the edge of the jungle, not far from her humble shack. Not that she minded - she loved coconuts! It was both a drink, and a snack!

She was about to stare at the view beyond the cliff, when she noticed something that made her gasp in horror - something had knocked over her basket of cabbages! She rushed over to check - the one she’d drawn a face on was still intact - good, good - but who had eaten them? She noticed a few scraps of leaves, that formed a trail that lead straight to the culprit!

“Girafarig?” she asked. It turned to look at her slowly, still munching on the cabbage. “Wait, you are Girafarig, right? You’re not just another giraffe-thingymajig - a girafamajig?” Girafarig nodded reluctantly.

“Those were my favourite cabbages! You can’t just eat those!” she exclaimed, exasperated. She felt her ears warm up as fire began to form around them, but she took a deep breath to stop it.

Girafarig stared at her, concentrating hard. She noticed that it had a smaller head with sharp teeth where its tail should be, but thankfully, she couldn’t see anything that looked like its bite marks. Was it even functional? She hoped not. Girafarig, meanwhile, looked confused, and then once again stomped its hoof in frustration.

What was that for?

“...But they were just cabbages. I have plenty of other vegetables! I’d like you to meet Carrie the Carrot, and Barry the Banana Basket, and - I suppose you’re not interested, are you?” Girafarig shook its head. “I know something you’ll definitely love, though. Follow me!”

Autumn Blaze skipped towards the edge of the cliff and sat down, gazing at the view once again, Girafarig following slowly behind her.

“The view is amazing, isn't it? The way the rainbow shines over the whole valley, as if it connects everything... They say that this was the first rainbow in existence, and the pegasi were so impressed with it that they decided to create their own, and I understand why, but you just can't match the real deal, y'know? I've never seen a pegasus myself, though, so what do I know? Oh, there's so many things I want to see out there!” She raised her forelimbs in joy.

Girafarig tilted its head in confusion.

“I suppose you want to know why I haven't left this place yet.” GIrafarig shook its head, but Autumn Blaze continued anyway. “The Peaks of Peril - that’s where we are now - got their name for a reason. The rocks are so sharp and unstable that there's only one safe way down the mountain. Unfortunately... It requires going through the kirin’s village.” She sighed. Girafarig nodded, as if gesturing her to continue.

“You see, I lived in that village, a long, long time ago,” she continued, her voice unusually sombre. “It was great! Oh, I wish I could show it to you, it’s so beautiful! The houses are all built into the trees that grew all these colourful fruits, and it’s so much more inviting than the jungle where I found you! The kirin were great, too! Oh, Rain Shine - that’s our leader, by the way - had the most amazing singing voice ever, way better than mine! And I think I’m a great singer, not to brag or anything.” She sighed again. “But... there’s a downside to everything.”

“It all started one fine morning. The day had began so wonderfully! The sky was clear, the birds were singing, I was singing... but then a couple of kirin started arguing about something really minor - I don’t know what it was - and it eventually it spread to every kirin in the village! It got so heated - literally - that we ended up burning it down.” Girafarig looked startled. “Right, I suppose I should explain. You see, when kirin get really angry, we catch on FIRE and turn into niriks!” To emphasise her point, she waved her forelimbs in the air. “Ancient pony explorers thought they were two different species, not that I was alive back then, of course.”

“Anyway, Rain Shine decided that the best course of action would be to make sure such an argument would never happen again. Or any arguments. Or any talking at all. We were all forced to take a vow of silence - one we couldn’t break even if we wanted to. The Stream of Silence took away our voices - but also our emotions. Oh, I can’t begin to describe how awful it felt! It didn’t feel like being constantly sad, no - it was much worse than that. I had no will to interact with anykirin, or do anything other than basic necessities... it felt like there was a void inside of me, as if I couldn’t breathe, even though I could...” She placed a hoof against her chest. “I had almost forgotten my own name! Can you imagine?” Girafarig looked strangely annoyed at that. “But then, one day, I discovered the foal’s breath flowers by complete accident. I’d heard legends that they could cure silence, and guess what! They turned out to be true!”

Girafarig seemed interested to hear that.

“I tried to tell the other kirin how wonderful it was to talk again, but... they didn’t want that. Rain Shine gave me two options: either I could stay and live with them, or I could keep my voice. Not wanting to ever go back to that horrible numbness again, I... I chose to be banished to here instead.” Her throat ached as she tried to hold back tears, but one rolled down her cheek. “That... that was years ago. I am so glad you were willing to listen to me! I hope you never have to feel alone for all these years...” She noticed Girafarig look down in concern for a moment. “What’s the point of having a voice if you have nokirin to talk to? Even though you’re not a kirin - oh, you know what I meant...” Girafarig stepped closer, as if to comfort her.

Autumn Blaze collapsed crying, not knowing if her tears were ones of sadness or joy. But now that she finally had someone to share the view with, it looked that much more beautiful.

Today was not only the weirdest day of Georgina’s life, but also the worst. Yesterday she had been a human, finally starting her journey, but now she was a Girafarig? In the jungle? Didn’t those only live in grasslands or something? She didn’t know; she didn’t care!

And seriously, Girafarig? Why couldn't she have been something cool, like a Charizard? That was how she knew this wasn’t a dream: why would she ever dream of being something so boring?

The second thing she realised was that she was starving. She felt as if she hadn’t eaten in a million years. What did Girafarig eat, anyway? Grass? There was no grass here, so she tried the next best thing: a bush. She took one bite of its leaves, and immediately spat it out. It was so bitter! She also realised how long her new tongue was, and couldn’t get it to comfortably sit in her mouth any more.

Suddenly, a round, pink Pokémon bounded right through the bush, cowering behind it in fear. It was a Bounsweet, right? She’d never seen one in person, not that she was really a “person” any more.

Curiously, Georgina stepped through the bush to see what could have possibly scared the Bounsweet, its twigs scraping against her fur, and saw the most harmless thing she’d ever seen. It was a quadruped of some sort, with soft cream fur, pale green scales running down its back and nose, and a curly orange mane. Weird, but no weirder than some Pokémon. It looked so plush, too, like a girly-girl’s toy she would have hated. The only part of it that looked remotely threatening was its maroon horn with two sharp branches. That was cool.

The... whatever it was, she couldn’t come up with a good name for it on the spot, seemed curious of her, too. “Oh, hello, are you lost? I’ve never seen anything that looks like you around here. I thought giraffes lived in the savannah, be-lao here - I mean below, I haven’t said it in a while, sorry - but then you’re not exactly a normal giraffe, are you? What’s your name? My name’s Autumn Blaze, pleased to meet you - what’s your name? Wait, can you even understand what I'm saying?” She held out her hoof, but quickly put it down. “Oh, I must be crazy! I’m talking to a giraffe, for crying out loud!” She - judging from the voice - suddenly said, all at once, without breathing, somehow.

Georgina was quite surprised that something that definitely wasn’t human - she hesitated to call it a “Pokémon” - could talk... but then she figured that if she was a Pokémon, she could probably understand them now.

“Um... what?” was all she could come up with, as she backed away slowly. This “Autumn Blaze” really creeped her out. Wasn’t personal space a universal concept?

“Oh, right, I should slow down.” Autumn Blaze took a deep breath. “Let’s start from the top. Are you lost?” Georgina nodded. “What’s your name?”

“Geogina,” she replied flatly.

“Girafarig? Is it because you’re not quite a giraffe, but not quite a thingymajig, so you’re a Girafarig?” Autumn Blaze replied. Georgina felt furious. Was this some kind of joke? Because it wasn’t funny.

“I said, GEORGINA!” she shouted exasperatedly, stomping her hoof on the ground in frustration.

“Is that really all you can say? Is this like some new secret code language, where you only say your name? Oh, I’d love to learn a new language!” Georgina sighed as Autumn Blaze performed some sort of inteprative dance on her hind legs. “Aww, don’t be sad. Now I finally have somekirin to talk to! Even though you’re not a kirin - you know what I meant - did you?” She tilted her head. “Now, it’s been great knowing you, Girafarig, but I have my own things to do. See you later!”

With that, Autumn Blaze skipped away deeper into the forest, leaving Georgina bewildered. So her suspicions were correct: she really wasn’t a Pokémon. Huh.

Georgina remembered that she was starving again, but didn’t know where to find food. The leaves on the trees were too high for her to reach, and she didn’t want to eat any fruits, just to be safe. That was basic survival, right? Instead, she followed her next instinct: follow the path. It would lead to civilisation, whatever civilisation there was in this crazy place, right?

Eventually, she reached a clearing on the edge of a cliff. She stared in awe at the rainbow that shined in the distance... until she noticed a shack to her left. She realised that she now had much better peripheral vision. So that was cool, she guessed.

What’s more, outside of that shack were vegetables! They looked just like farmed ones, too. So there was something resembling civilisation here! Wait... Girafarig could eat vegetables, right? Only one way to find out!

Curiously, she approached the vegetables. Most of them had faces drawn on them, but she noticed an entire basket of cabbages that didn’t! Okay, so the actual basket had a face on it, and so did one of the cabbages, but the others? They were free food!

She gently kicked the basket with a front hoof, knocking it over. She ate the cabbages, one at a time, and strangely, they tasted so much more delicious than they ever would have when she was a human. Maybe being a Girafarig wasn’t so bad after all!

...Wait, that’s the best thing that had happened to her so far? Eating vegetables? Is this what her life had become now?

Suddenly, Georgina heard someone gasp in horror. Shortly afterwards, she saw Autumn Blaze rushing towards her in her peripheral vision, then abruptly stopping.

“Girafarig?” she asked. Georgina turned to look at her slowly, still munching on the cabbage. “Wait, you are Girafarig, right? You’re not just another giraffe-thingymajig - a girafamajig?” She nodded reluctantly, wishing she could facepalm. Though now that she thought about it, it would be great if she had another Girafarig to talk to. It would certainly be better than this kirin (that was weather species was called, right?) who could not. Stop! TALKING!

“Those were my favourite cabbages! You can’t just eat those!” she exclaimed, exasperated.

Wait a minute... Girafarig had psychic powers, right? Georgina wondered if she could use telepathy to talk to her. She concentrated hard, and thought, What? I was hungry, okay? Autumn Blaze didn't respond, so Georgina stomped her hoof in frustration again.

“...But they were just cabbages. I have plenty of other vegetables! I’d like you to meet Carrie the Carrot, and Barry the Banana Basket, and - I suppose you’re not interested, are you?” Georgina shook her head. So she talked to those vegetables? It was official: Autumn Blaze really was crazy. “I know something you’ll definitely love, though. Follow me!”

Autumn Blaze skipped towards the edge of the cliff. Georgina reluctantly followed her. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She looked down, below the rainbow, to see a savannah sprawling out as far as the eye could see. She felt instinctively drawn to it, as if a voice inside of here was yelling: This is it! This is where I belong! Unfortunately, Girafarig were not known for their ability to survive falling long distances, and she couldn't see a way down the plateau.

“The view is amazing, isn't it? The way the rainbow shines over the whole valley, as if it connects everything... They say that this was the first rainbow in existence, and the pegasi were so impressed with it that they decided to create their own, and I understand why, but you just can't match the real deal, y'know? I've never seen a pegasus myself, though, so what do I know? Oh, there's so many things I want to see out there!” Autumn Blaze rambled, raising her forelimbs in joy.

Georgina tilted her head in confusion. What the heck was a pegasus? How did this rainbow exist without rain?

“I suppose you want to know why I haven't left this place yet.” Georgina shook her head, but Autumn Blaze continued anyway, because of course she did. “The Peaks of Peril - that’s where we are now - got their name for a reason. The rocks are so sharp and unstable that there's only one safe way down the mountain. Unfortunately... It requires going through the kirin’s village.” She sighed. This intrigued Georgina. She nodded, hoping it would convey that she wanted her to continue.

“You see, I lived in that village, a long, long time ago...”

One part of Autumn Blaze's story had particularmy intrigued Georgina: the foal's breath flowers. If they could cure silence through the power of magic or something, could they make her be able to say things that DIDN'T sound like "Girafarig" to a kirin's ears, right? Did that count as a form of silence? If course, she had no idea what those flowers even looked like...

“I am so glad you were willing to listen to me! I hope you never have to feel alone for all these years...” Georgina was reminded of someone she’d almost forgotten about in the midst of far more pressing issues: where was her starter, anyway? She suddenly felt a pang of sadness. They could have had a great journey together... but they never got the chance to. “What’s the point of having a voice if you have nokirin to talk to? Even though you’re not a kirin - oh, you know what I meant...”

Georgina slowly stepped towards Autumn Blaze, wanting to comfort her. At first, she found her annoying, but now she could sympathise with her... Or was it empathise? She always got those two words mixed up. Either way, she realised that they were similar: they were both alone in a world that they didn't understand, and one that didn't understand them, either. She'd only felt that way for half a day; she could only imagine what Autumn Blaze had been through. Scratch that: she didn't want to.

Georgina smiled as she stared at the view, the tight sensation of bittersweet tears forming around her eyes. Maybe being with Autumn Blaze wasn't so bad after all.