Thin Line Between Love and Rage

Cromwell sat atop a sheer cliff face that bordered the forest, gazing down to leisurely observe any happenings in Nest of Seances Ranch.  The pokemon down below looked Joltik-size from this height.  He spotted Marina, a respected, older member of the ranch, swimming about in the pond, accompanied by the usual trio of Norbert, Wysteria, and Sherrin.
 
The hoppip Sherrin seemed to be going on and on about something, while Norbert and Wysteria attempted to slow her words.  Marina just kept nodding, although Cromwell doubted she was taking in every word the little pokemon was saying.

“She still hasn’t evolved yet,” One of Cromwell’s heads chattered, turning to the other head.  Cromwell could tell the other wanted to gossip by the gleam in his eerie green eyes.

“Hmph,” The more sensible head sighed, turning away.  “Gossip is not in good taste, you know.  Some just choose not to evolve, is all.”

“HEH, that’s garbage,” The other head cackled.  “So some pokemon just wish to stay weak and small forever?  What foolish thinking!”

“I’m not going to argue with you.  You’re me,” Cromwell growled in response.  Splitting into two heads had gotten…confusing since evolution.  “We should think the same way.  Yes.  You are weaker if you do not evolve.  But battling is not for everyone.  If everyone was strong, we would not be the strongest, right?”

The power hungry head took a breath, then paused: his other self had a point.

The two were interrupted with a sudden whoosh and the crackling sound of a fire from behind them.

“Talking to yourself again, Cromwell?” The mystery being chuckled fondly.

“Ohhh, shut up,” The dragon/fairy/ghost type replied gruffly, turning around.  As he had suspected: it was the mother figure of the ranch, Anna Beth.  She flew a bit closer then coiled around herself, enjoying the view down below with him.

“You’ve been awfully pensive lately,” The dragonair cross mumbled, not looking at him, but the pokemon below.  She knew him well: if he was calmly spoken to and given his space, he would give more answers.  “What’s up?  Or do you not want to talk about it?”

“It’s fine,” Cromwell answered after a pause, nodding.  “It’s…well…er.”

He stood, walking over to the lone tree on the cliff side, clawing at the roots distractedly.

“Well, if Cromwell won’t answer, Crommy will.  What’s wrong?” Anna Beth continued with a smile, wriggling her serpentine body a bit closer to the other dragon.

“We’re simply at an emotional impasse,” Cromwell answered before Crommy butted in loudly.

“WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS ALL THAT MUCH.”

Anna Beth paused, surprised by the answer, then began to laugh heartily.

“H-hey!  This isn’t funny!” Cromwell protested, ghostly energy flaring up from his tail and a greenish blush forming on his white faces.

“It’s not!  I’m so sorry, oh goodness, but I was never expecting you to be shy!” Anna Beth giggled in response.  “What happened to all that confidence, huh?”

“I am confident!  I am an amazing specimen!” Cromwell roared, puffing out his chest and stamping the ground in certainty.

“YEAH!  We’re GREAT!” Crommy added with another cackle.

“Okaaaay, Mr. Amazing Specimen.  So what’s the problem?” Anna Beth prompted, scooting closer to her friend curiously.

Cromwell clawed at the loose earth under his feet again before coughing and speaking up once again.

“It’s…Saria.”

“Saria?” Anna Beth replied, clarity and understanding hitting her like a thunderbolt.  Right!  Cromwell had recently been lifemated!  And the poor guy didn’t know how  to handle all of that! “O-oh!  You’re…ah, nervous!  About your lifemate?”

“E-exactly,” The Zweilous cross responded, flopping to the ground in defeat.  “She’s coming over to the ranch soon, you know.  She’s from the same ranch that my mother and brat of a sister hail from.”  He paused for a moment before mumbling, “Perhaps they’ll be showing up, too.  We need to become better acquainted, you see…and I’m not sure how to go about doing that.  I’m a warrior, not a lover.  That sort of thing is…” He grimaced before growling, “More…Faulkner’s speed.”

“Haha, Faulkner lays it on a bit too thick,” The Dragonair/Trevanant/Charmeleon chuckled.  “This is the oldest advice in the book, but I think you just need to be yourself.  If you’ve clicked already, and the ranch owners think that you are meant for each other, then I think you have this in the bag already.”

“You SURE, sister?” Crommy squawked before Cromwell hit the other head, irritated.

“Mmmhmm.  Positive.”

“Cromwell?”

Both of the dragon types straightened at the shout from down below.  Cromwell took a few steps closer to the cliff’s edge, and peeked down below.  His heart almost skipped a beat when he made out a small blue bunny with pink fluff speaking with a few of his ranch mates.

“It’s her, she’s here,” The zweilous cross breathed, frantically pacing around in a circle now.

“Relax!  Just strut your stuff and have a conversation with her.  Not a big deal,” Anna Beth reassured, giving her friend a playful nudge.

Cromwell flashed a rare smile at the girl, filled with a new sense of calm from her words.

“Thank you, Anna Beth…really,” He muttered before running down the ravine to the forest.

“Hey, Cromwell, your girlfriieeeend’s here,” Tony called from a few yards away, making kissy faces as the dragon type ran past.  Annoyed, Crommy fired a confuse ray beam at the weasel pokemon before trotting up to the main clearing.

“Hey there, DARLIN’,” Crommy called out from behind the dragon rabbit with a grin.

“Silence, you fool,” Cromwell hissed in response as Saria whirled around.

“Cromwell!” The buneary cross cried out happily, bounding up to the much larger pokemon and wrapping her tiny paws around one of his legs in a hug.  “Oohh, it’s so nice to see you again!”

A green blush crept onto the dragon type’s face again.

“Heh, uh…well, the feeling is mutual,” He sputtered, noticing that the two lovebirds were attracting quite the crowd.  Among the few ranch members, Faulkner especially looked excited.  “Hey!  NOTHING to see here!  Mind your own damn business!”

“Ooohhh, I don’t mind if anyone watches.  I just want to talk!  Or go on a walk!” The rabbit dragon bounced excitedly.  “I don’t really mind.  What do you like to do for fun?”

“Uhm.”

Damn.  He wasn’t a really fun guy, per se…he took it on himself to be the leader and make sure everything on the ranch was running smoothly, as well as train himself to his peak ability.

“I train quite a bit, and make sure everything’s going all right around the ranch.  As the ranch leader, I need to keep everything running smoothly for our master,” Cromwell answered matter-of-factly.

“Oooh, ranch leader, huh?  Sounds fancy.  Who declared you that: yourself?”

A few faces in the crowd smirked and giggled at Saria’s response.  Cromwell growled softly, a bit flustered for once in his life.

“I-I am the most capable—“

“Awww, I’m just playing around.  Sorry, didn’t mean anything by it,” Saria soothed, nuzzling her face in the Zweilous cross’s fluff for a moment.  “Maybe you can show me around your ranch first, huh?  Then I’ll kick your butt in the battle arena, pinky,” She challenged after backing away, a playful gleam in her purple eyes.

Cromwell grinned down at the plucky rabbit, a surge of happiness that he was not akin to entering his body. He felt like he could scale a mountain.  Was this friendship?  No, it was something else: he didn’t feel like this around Anna Beth.  At least, not anymore.  Budding romance, perhaps?  Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as he thought.

“I’d love that,” He answered, before someone interrupted the two.

“Pathetic. Simply pathetic.  Never thought you’d become this weak, brother.  You were always so driven…hmph.  Suppose I’ll be the strongest now.”

Cromwell snarled, turning around to face his sister.

“Resonance.  I should have known you would follow her.”

“Follow her?  Ha!  I simply wanted to visit my little brother: is that so much of a crime?” The Aromatisse/Zweilous cross scoffed, approaching the two with a pair of smirks.

“You are only older by a few meager minutes,” The Spiritomb cross growled in response, clawing the ground in aggravation.

“Even so…” Resonance tittered, tap dancing on her brother’s nerves now.  “I think that marked a difference in us, little Crommy.  Wasn’t it true that you were a clutch leftover?”

Both Cromwell and Crommy’s faces fell, completely taken aback by this jab.  It was as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

Resonance, sensing that she had struck a nerve, took a step forward and continued to exploit the weak spot.

“And your ranch owner took you out of pity, probably.  Yes, our owner really wanted to give you away—”

“You stop that RIGHT NOW!”

Resonance was flipped over with an, “OOF!” as a tail smacked into one of her faces.  Saria landed to the ground, baring her teeth angrily.

“You learned slam,” Cromwell noted, finally managing to shake himself out of what his sister had said to him.

“He’s not pitiful at all!” Saria cried, taking a brave step closer to her opponent. “He’s much stronger than you’ll ever be!  And I don’t know him incredibly well yet, but he seems awfully kind a-and smart, and—”

The rabbit dragon squeaked as she was fiercely headbutted out of the way.

“Annoying pest!” Resonance hissed, stomping angrily.  “I’m tired of you thinking you can do whatever the hell you want!  My brother may be turning into an idiot, but that doesn’t mean I am!  I won’t allow you two to get together."

It was as if Cromwell could actually feel fire building within his chest, despite his ghost/dragon/fairy typing.  How…how dare his sister!  She comes to his ranch with that attitude, insult him, and then attack his new life mate!  

“I’ll DESTROY you!” The dragon roared, a white hot rage consuming him now.  A bluish aura began dancing around him, roaring with the ancient power of dragons, and fed on his unbridled anger.  He came at his sister with a full blown tackle with a shriek of vengeance.

However, his efforts were for nothing as the attack literally phased through his sister.

“Outrage.  An impressive attack, brother, but I think you forgot that I’m part fairy type.”

Cromwell inhaled sharply in surprise before receiving a swift blast of fairy wind.  He tumbled backwards, dazed from the hit.  Despite his fairy typing, he was still a dragon, too, so the wind still hurt quite a bit.

“Cromwell!” Anna Beth called from the crowd, flame on her tail flaring up, ready to assist her friend in battle.

“This is between HER and I!” The Zweilous/Aromatisse/Spiritomb roared in response, getting up quickly.  Anna Beth nodded, respecting his wishes and floating back to the other spectators.

“All that boasting about battling.  I’m nearly bored,” Resonance sighed, looking up to the moon and beginning to glow.  “Oh, well.  Should be over with this next move.”

Cromwell realized at that moment that he had made a grave error.  He had let his rage get the best of him on the battlefield, and he would never allow that mistake to happen again.  He looked to Saria, making sure she was all right, before focusing back on his sister.  He had to be smart about this.  Raw power, he reminded himself, was not always how a battle was won.

“So bored you could nearly fall asleep?” The spiritomb cross cackled in response, eyes beginning to glow.

Resonance began to laugh before she saw his eyes.  Something about them seemed…off.  The more she looked at them, the more magnified they became.  And she suddenly felt…drowsy.  Eyelids heavy…

“Hmph,” The ghost dragon chuckled as a dark, cackling mist seeped out of his mouth.  It floated towards Resonance, then seemed to enter into her head.  She twitched a bit in her sleep with a whimper.  “I think a nightmare or two would serve you well.”

“Wow, you did it!” Saria cheered, bouncing over to her mate with a proud grin.  “Geeez, I wanted to help you, but you seemed pret-ty dang upset—”

“I can handle myself, thank you.  And are you all right?” Cromwell prompted, sitting down to get down to the bunny’s eye level.

“I dunno.  You got knocked back by a fairy wind, after all,” She snorted at Cromwell’s double eyeroll before continuing.  “And yeah!  It was just a headbutt.  I’m tougher than that, you know.”

“Good.  Because when she wakes up, I want you slamming her all the way back to Dragon’s Dream Ranch.”

“Can do!”