Chapter Text
-Tourmaline Desert-
Looking out the train window, Kuro frowned. As far as deserts went, the Tourmaline Desert seemed more like a barren wasteland with all the wreckage and skeletons shining under the moonlight. There hadn't been a single sign of life for miles either, adding to the desert's desolate appearance.
More importantly, the fact the train was coasting through the desert meant it was nearing its destination. That should've been good news, and yet it only made the silver-haired male even more anxious. It all lied in the nature of the destination itself.
Reborn City of the Reborn region - the only city inside the Allied Regions under Unova to rank dead last in city rankings for the last decade.
'Why anyone would wanna go there is beyond me.' The sage-like words of that stationmaster echoed within Kuro's mind, causing him to grimace.
There were so many irredeemable qualities that Kuro didn't even know where to begin with when listing what was wrong with the city.
High poverty rate, low mortality rate, high crime rate, top contributor to global pollution, and so on and so forth. Calling it a glorified garbage dump was a compliment. The city's- no. The ENTIRE region's reputation was so terrible, it might as well have not even been apart of the A.R.U, much less the rest of the world.
As far as Kuro knew, only big time mega corporations and businesses like the Global Joy Institute and Silph Co. took the risk to operate within the region. Even then, the Rebornian branches of said corporations did some real shady stuff under the scene. As for individual people themselves, the region was considered so worthless, nobody important cared enough to establish influence within it.
Heck, not even Kuro's parents had eyes or ears within the region, as miraculous as that seemed.
...
That was the ONE and ONLY reason he needed to go there in the first place.
'They probably noticed I've been gone by now...' Kuro winced sourly at the thought and in an attempt to distract himself, he tore his eyes away from the window to look elsewhere. There were only six other passengers besides him, five of which likely around his age, eighteen or so. From what he could eavesdrop, they all had another thing in common.
The desire to challenge the Reborn League.
Again, Kuro could hear the stationmaster click his tongue disapprovingly. 'And yet, buncha you ambitious Trainer-type folk have been headin' out in droves.'
Maybe they wanted a challenge? Or the other leagues were too expensive? Whatever the case was, Kuro had his own reason and they had theirs. Not like he would know since he hadn't actually talked to any of them, even as some began to chat with one another.
Kuro expected that; planned it even. He intentionally covered a good portion of his face with pitch-black shades and a gray baseball cap, and for good measure, he sat in the far corner of the cabin with his back against the wall. The quieter he was, the less attention he'd get, and the less likely the chance was for someone to recognize him. This is all to say, his self-imposed isolation eased him if anything.
It was the possibility he COULD get recognized that kept him on his toes. At any moment, the wrong person could get too suspicious and his whole plan would be-
"Hi!"
Kuro jumped, a jolt of pain running through him as his leg hit the table. Rather than reel from the impact, he looked up, meeting two curious purple eyes staring at him. They belonged to the sixth passenger on the train: a notably older woman with cascading white hair.
She'd been walking around the cabin, clipboard in hand as she asked some of the other passengers questions. Was she a government official? A police officer? Arceus, he hoped not.
"Sorry, I wanted to get to you earlier, but I didn't expect for everything else to take so long!" She apologized, tugging at her black scarf draping over a loose gray shirt. Below that she wore a metal belt, purple jeans, and black combat boots. Casual clothing, sure, but they might as well have been a police uniform. Unaware of his suspicion, she asked, "May I sit here?"
Kuro nodded rigidly, eying her as she slid into the booth, sitting directly opposite to him. She was rather unmoved by his coldness, going as far as to even extend her hand out for a handshake.
Smiling, the woman explained, "My name's Amethyst, but you can call me Ame. You probably already know, but I'm the manager of the Reborn League."
She dropped the title casually, but to Kuro, it was a massive bombshell. One that made him feel like such an idiot. He'd gotten so caught up in his worries that he completely forgot that the League manager said beforehand about meeting with them on the train AND what said manager looked like.
If that wasn't embarrassing enough, he'd been giving her a bad impression the entire time.
Eager to fix that, Kuro grabbed her hand while making an effort to smile. "Kuro. Uh, nice to meet you, Ameth- Ame!"
"Kuro...?" Ame trailed off.
"JUST Kuro's fine."
Ame leaned back, giving him some sort of look before jotting something down on her clipboard. "Hey," she stopped and looked back up at him, squinting her eyes. "You got quite a… familiar face, like I've seen you somewhere before. Have you… done anything League related in the past?
Shit.
ShitshitshitshitshitshitsthishitSHIT!
Did she know? How the fuck did she know? HOW could she have known? Was it the name? The hair? He KNEW he should've gone with that hair dye and fake name when he had the chance.
"W-well," Kuro stammered, his brain stalling. "I-"
"Eh, I must be thinking of someone else," Ame immediately dismissed the idea, unknowingly causing Kuro to choke. She continued, "Probably that whole 'edgy loner' type of vibe you're giving off. Anyways, I'm asking this more as a formality buuuuut, you registered for the Reborn League Circuit, correct? If so, you'd be one of our late registries."
Kuro jumped at the opportunity to change the topic. "Yep! That's me!" He gave her last words some thought, asking, "That not a problem, is it?"
"Oh nononono! Of course not! The more the merrier, y'know?" Ame grinned. "We're finally just getting things off the ground again, and…" She lowered her eyes, frowning. "Truth is, after the... INCIDENT a few years ago, the whole region was almost completely abandoned... even by the Pokémon."
Kuro forced himself not to say anything snarky. A whole list of problems plagued the region, so her emphasis on one event in particular was… actually kinda weird.
"Honestly, I don't even get why so many of you wanna take on the Reborn League." There wasn't a single hint of irony in her voice. "With how much of a shithole Reborn is, I thought getting at least one challenger would be getting lucky! I actually feel kinda bad for you all now…"
'Is she trying to advertise her League or not?!'
She waved away her previous statements. "But hey, don't let that worry you! Reborn City might not be an ideal place-"
"You just called it a shithole," Kuro deadpanned.
"-but our Gym Leaders are like nothing you've ever seen!" Ame declared, giving an 'ok!' sign for good measure.
Kuro didn't really believe her, given what he already knew about the region and its main city, but he went along with it regardless. "Alright."
"Good! Anyways..."
Kuro allowed himself to zone out a bit as Ame rambled on. He was still pretty tense, but everything was going smoothly so far. Strangely so. Frighteningly so. He couldn't believe how easy it had all been. It was a huge gamble for sure, but if all went will, the payoff would be incredible.
Suddenly, out the window, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
"Huh?" Kuro lazily looked out the window, turned back to Ame, and then immediately did a double take. "What the..."
Running alongside the train was a quadrupedal beast, its dark blue claws digging into the dirt as it managed to keep up with the speed of the train. The rest of its body was covered in white fur with the exception of its face and a scythe like horn protruding from its head.
'An Absol,' Kuro realized, otherwise at a loss of words.
It was a strange sight for a number of reasons.
One, it was the first sign of life Kuro had seen for miles. Two, as Absols were common in the mountains near his hometown, he knew they stayed away from civilization, meaning one approaching a moving train was highly unusual. And three, he-
The Absol turned to him.
Not at the train, not even at the window, but at HIM.
The Absol's crimson eyes seemed to pierce through his shades, like it was examining Kuro, judging him. It gave him the creeps. He wanted to look away, but he didn't. And then, it opened its mouth. Kuro didn't know how to explain it but somehow, even over the loud rumbling of the train, even with the barrier of the window, he could hear a voice.
"You're in deep shit lil brah."
And then, it broke away from the train, disappearing into the night.
Scared and especially dumbfounded, Kuro blinked. "Huh?"
"Kuro?" Ame said, reminding Kuro she'd been speaking to him the entire time.
"Oh, um, sorry! Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm just a bit tired." He faked a yawn. "What was that last part again?"
Even with the smooth save, he couldn't help but think about what just happened. Not because it was creepy, but because of something else or rather a gut feeling.
Something told him that seeing an Absol always meant something specifically, but for the life of him, he couldn't quite remember what it meant.
"As I was saying, once we disembark, I'll lead all of you to the Grand Hall. There, you'll immediately be given starter Pokémon to really kick off your League Circuit!" Ame paused. "Sound good?"
Starter Pokémon... Yeah... He was just doing a league circuit, nothing more nothing less.
Even if Reborn wasn't the best of cities... Okay even if Reborn might be the worst city in the A.R.U, it was bound to have a decent league.
Right?
Right!
"Yeah that sound's great," Kuro smiled, brushing off his previous worry.
She was about to say something else when the overhead lights began suddenly began to flicker, plunging the cabin in and out of darkness. A shiver ran through Kuro's body, accompanied by a abrupt drop of temperature. It all would've seen so cliché if not for the fact he was already on edge.
"Did... Did it just get c-cold all of a sudden or is it just me?" He stammered.
Kuro didn't get an answer. He watched as her already fair face went pale from the cold, or was it from fear? What disturbed him the most, however, was her gaze. Her eyes were wide, glassy, and unfocused. It was like she wasn't staring at him anymore, but directly behind... him...?
He froze.
SOMETHING was breathing down his neck.
Kuro shot up to his feet, spinning around to find… nothing.
That shouldn't be surprising since a wall was directly behind it. No sooner after, the lights stopped flickering and the temperature returned to normal. The whole ordeal seemed to have briefly surprised the rest of the passengers, but they all were relatively unfazed. Everybody, except Kuro.
"Kuro? Why'd you suddenly stand up?" Ame tried to ask innocently, but her voice betrayed her.
She saw it. She saw whatever had been behind him.
And there HAD been something behind him. Just not anymore? He felt... But now... Clearly it... There couldn't have been... He couldn't imagined it. No, he couldn't have! He felt it. He really did!
Right?
Right...?
Click
"Fuck," Before he could collapse from the conflicting emotions, Kuro caught himself on the table with one hand while massaging his head with the other.
This only made Ame more worried. "Are you doing okay?"
Click
He let out a genuine yawn. "Like I said, just a bit tired. I just... it doesn't matter."
Maybe he shouldn't have left in the middle of night.
Click
Maybe... Maybe he shouldn't have left at all. Should he have really even left like he did? Leaving without as much as a vague goodbye note?
Maybe this wasn't right at all. Maybe this had all been one giant-
Click
Kuro reflexively looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but he sure as hell heard it "Did you hear that?"
He glanced back to Ame who remained silent, her gaze fixed on the window beside her.
"Ame?"
Click
Ame squinted her eyes. "That's odd... We just entered the city borders, but..."
Click
He didn't like the sound of that. "But what?"
Click
"Something's not right," Ame mumbled. She snapped to her feet, her voice becoming more urgent and frantic. "Something not right! We should be slowing down by now!"
Click
Whatever that noise had been, it was louder now. Faster too. Though he had no clue what it was, something about it made Kuro feel sick in the stomach. The chatter in the cabin morphed into a small panic, some even getting up from their seats as well. Kuro searched the cabin for an answer, anything.
Fortunately, it came to him in the form of memory suddenly resurfacing.
'Absol: The Disaster Pokémon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger.'
Unfortunately, it came far too late.
Click-
"GET DOWN!" Kuro's scream was drowned out when the first blast rang out.
The explosion knocked him against the table, the sound of the impact and his violent wheezing drowned out by the cacophany of noises around him.
The sound of metal screeching as pieces crashed together.
A deafening roar as the second or third explosion rendered him deaf.
Screams of people being burned alive…
Even after Kuro forced his eyes shut, all he could see what a burning white. Something warm- no, SEARING HOT was nearing his skin.
This was it, wasn't it?
Huh.
Strangely, he didn't feel fear or anger.
Only disappointment.
Just as Kuro was about to accept his fate, he heard something. A voice? There was little to no time to think before something grabbed him. There was the sound of glass shattering followed by a loud thud as a body hit concrete. Probably HIS body, if the pain burning his dulled senses meant anything.
*You blacked out!
-Lower Peridot Ward-
Silence. A cold yet deafening silence accompanied Kuro as he saw nothing but black.
"...y! ...y, are you... okay?" A muffled voice tried to reach him.
Something groaned. No wait, that was him. Kuro tried to move, but all his muscles felt numb.
"Don't... on me... now!" The voice - Ame - reached out to him once more. With renewed vigor, Kuro tried to force his body up with what strength he could muster.
Somewhere, a muscle twitched.
"Kuro... KURO WAKE UP!"
And then the world came rushing back.
Kuro lurched forwards only to regret it a second after when a sharp pain hit him. Hard. Groaning, he clutched whatever hurt the most as he fought to blink back the dark spots clouding his vision. The only thing he could reliably make out was the silver haired woman crouching besides him.
He opened his mouth to say something only to start violently hacking out dust.
"Thank, Arceus," Ame sighed, grabbing his shoulders. With a bit of effort, she managed to help him up to his feet. "You're okay."
'Just barely.' Kuro thought, still coughing.
After Ame let him go, he stumbled a few steps on the concrete. Wait, concrete? Kuro grabbed onto a wall to regain his balance, more and more of the world began appearing around him.
And all he saw was gray.
Gray concrete, gray brick, gray buildings, gray fences, gray seas, gray smog, even his clothes and Ame were dusted gray. He thought he was color blind for a second until he stared out at the open sea. Through the thickness of the smog, he could make out the yellow sun rising above the murky waters.
It was morning? How long had he been out? Where even where they?
Wherever they were, they weren't on the train anymore. He looked around. They appeared to be in some sort of city docks? That was one of his questions answered at least.
"Where are we? What happened?" Kuro asked, turning to Ame who moved next to him.
"We're in the Lower Peridot Ward," She said without a second thought, holding out a pair of- SHADES!
Kuro brushed over his face to discover that while some of his bangs had been knocked down, coincidentally covering most of his upper face, it was otherwise exposed. Without thinking, he snatched his shades out of her hands, clumsily put them on, fixed his hair, and prayed she didn't get a good look at him.
She didn't seem to care. In fact, she was seemingly focused on something else as she added, "That train exploded right as we pulled into the station."
"Exploded...?"
Kuro followed Ame's gaze to- Oh.
He hadn't noticed the half-smoldering building behind them. He also hadn't noticed group of officers setting up a yellow tape perimeter around the debris nor that Quagsire putting out the last of the flames. That wall he was supporting himself on? One of the many not reduced to rubble.
It was all starting to come back to him. The Absol, the strange breathing down his neck, the explosion, him almost dying…
Oh. He DID almost die, didn't he?
...
"WHAT?!" Kuro's scream was higher than he probably would've wanted it to be, but he was more concerned with you know, almost DYING.
"Honestly, it's a miracle I could get us out of there at all," Ame commented much more lax than she should've. "I'm surprised we didn't burn up or die from collision. Everyone else..."
Should Kuro have been relieved he couldn't see any bodies or horrified that he couldn't even see any bodies? That too didn't matter since he felt sick all the same.
"Arceus…" Kuro couldn't breathe. "Arceus I almost died. My life… almost ended… A-and everyone else on that train... They... I... Holy shit..." He barely resisted the temptation to faint again. "I don't even know what to say. What the fuck, Ame..."
"It's... definitely a lot to take in," Ame agreed silently.
There was a short silence.
"And think about all that property damage… shoot, and we were doing so good on our budget too…"
"What?" Kuro slowly turned to her, something bubbling inside him.
Ame continued obliviously. "Maybe if I snip a little off wages then… Well, there's no use thinking about that now."
"What? What- What are you even- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO USE THINKING ABOUT THAT NOW?!" Kuro yelled, more shocked than appalled by the casualness of her reaction. "WE ALMOST DIED! PEOPLE DIED! WHAT THE FUCK, AME?!"
Kuro's cries fell on deaf ears as Ame inspected a particular piece of a wall. "Why did this have to happen today of all days... Who would even-"
"HEYHEYHEY!" A sickeningly peppy voice called out.
The suddenness of the voice made Kuro turn around. He saw some kind of cheerleader in a yellow outfit bounce onto the scene. Literally.
Her apple green ponytail bobbed up and down as she skipped past the yellow police tape, the officers present - though likely unhappy about it - doing nothing to apprehend her. She approached Kuro and Ame with such a smile to carefree it was unnerving in a place like this.
She met Ame's eyes, giving her a mock salute. "Captain Julia reporting for duty, boss!" .
Ame was having none of it. "Julia? What. Did. You. Do?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Julia exclaimed, stepping back dramatically. "I didn't do anything! I was at the Gymmie-Gym and then suddenly BOOOOM, so I came running!" She hopped up and down excitedly. "Cuz, you know, if things are exploding, I GOTTA be there to see it!"
Huh. Kuro must've been so shocked, so surprised, so stupefied, it counteracted the extreme amounts of distress he was going through, thus reverting him back to a semi-normal emotional balance.
At least, that was the only bullshit excuse his tired mind could come up with. He only had one thing to say to all this.
"What the fuck, Ame?"
Ame let out a long and heavy sigh as she gestured to Julia. "She's with the league, and unfortunately for the both of us, she was the closest person I could call at such short notice." She refocused her attention back to the ruins of the train station. "Back to what's important, with the evidence given to me by the authorities, the timing, and the fact it was only OUR train specifically that was rigged to blow… I can conclude this WASN'T an accident."
"So... It was a deliberate attack on us specifically?" Kuro asked, trying to wrap his head around basically everything.
She nodded, then paused. "Or," she turned to Kuro, "maybe it was-"
"If they did want to destroy it, they could've tried a little harder! I mean, the structure's still standing!" Julia complained as if she were talking about the weather. "What's up with that! This is like a 6/10 job at best!"
"Are... Are you being serious right now?" Kuro asked, anger rising once more. "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! The ENTIRE train station was bombed, people DIED, and all you're complaining it wasn't WORSE?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
Julia giggled. "Everything!"
...Kuro didn't know how to respond to that, actually. So, he didn't.
"Dear Arceus, why me?" Ame mumbled to herself, running her hands through her hair. "Alright, look. Whoever was behind it could still be monitoring from nearby. I'll have the perimeter locked down. Julia, you stay here and keep a lookout. If we're lucky, we may be able to find them."
Julia saluted again, bouncing as she did. "You got it bossy boss!"
"You don't have to call-" Ame likely figured it was better not to waste her braincells, going along with it with a nod. "Good."
It took Kuro three seconds to realize Ame was walking away. "Hey, wait! Weren't you supposed to register us-" Kuro paused, giving the debris a quick glance, "- ME into the league?"
"That was the plan, but now I have to make a detour. Paperwork and all that jazz." Ame explained sheepishly. Her face lit up. "BUT, there is a local that was also meant to register today! I'll tell her to wait for you at the Grand hall! It's just down this road. You can't miss it. Oh, and before I forget..."
Kuro was surprised when Ame give him a genuine look of sympathy as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Listen. Sorry if I came off as a bit insensitive earlier. I guess dealing with stuff like this all the time has... desensitized me a little. I know you're probably scared, confused, and a little more than upset, but don't worry about ANY of this. Please. I promise, with the power invested in me, I'll give you the best League experience you can possibly have!" She turned around, giving him one last glance. "I'll see you soon at the Grand Hall."
Kuro watched as she crossed the police tape and vanished into the crowd that had gathered beyond it. At last, he couldn't take it anymore and collapsed against the wall of the ruined station.
"Damnit," He muttered as he tried to prevent the incoming migraine.
He'd expected to run into a bit of trouble, but not 'get blown to bits before even entering the fucking city' trouble! He couldn't even be properly traumatized before that crazy bitch Julia showed up! Wait, wasn't that actually a good thing? Whatever. Point was, this was too much for him.
Why'd he even come to this stupid city? Why did he do literally anything that landed him here? That stationmaster was right. He should've just tried out for the leagues in Unova, Galar, heck, even Kaskade! As a matter of fact, he shouldn't have left at all and stayed-
Nope.
He wasn't even going to entertain that line of thought.
Leaving was definitely the one thing he wouldn't regret, even if it led to all of this. Besides, regret wouldn't help him now. The most important thing to do would be thinking on what to do next.
He stared at the wreckage of once was the train station. Admittedly, Julia was right to an extent about the explosion since a good portion of the building was still standing. Realizing that, Kuro gave himself a good look.
His shades were fine but his hat was likely buried under three feet of stone. Besides some dust on his silver jacket and blue jeans, plus some scratches and a few first degree burns on his skin, he was fine.
Why? How?
He should've at least suffered a few higher degree burns or a broken bone, not that he was complaining. Ame was right about them surviving being a 'miracle.' That aside, he thought back to the moment the train exploded. It wasn't difficult to conclude that Ame was the one who saved them both.
Ame, no matter how strange she was, had saved his life.
...
Kuro made his decision. He'd give the Reborn League circuit a shot. Not like he had many options to leave the region since he only packed enough cash to get by. Beyond that, he did owe Ame one and he figured the least he could do was register and check everything out.
Still, the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Fuck me..." He sighed.
"That's a bit sudden, but sure!"
Kuro yelped as he spun around to come face to face with Julia's frightfully eager expression. He stepped back and snarled, "Hey! Personal space!"
She didn't budge. "Did you get to see the train go BOOM?!" She squealed. "Ooh, I bet it looked so COOL!"
Ame's indifference was one thing - and she at least apologized for that - but Julia's hyper fixation on the blast that KILLED people made Kuro's blood boil.
Sure she was kind of hot - don't ask why that mattered to him - but he wasn't no simp.
"First of all, fuck you. Second of all, fuck you? Third of all, isn't this a crime scene?" He gestured to the yellow police tape surrounding the area. "Why'd the officers even let you by?!"
"Silly Billy! Ame told you that I'm part of the league!"
"I was hoping she was joking about that," Kuro deadpanned, though he knew of the implication of her words. If she was high enough in Reborn's Pokémon League, she could technically outrank officers. He knew that for sure.
"You're funny!" Julia giggled again. "Anyways, even if I wasn't, Jen and I go waywayWAY back! She'd let me through! In fact," she turned to the police officers "HEEEEEEY JEN! HOW ARE YOU GIRL?"
Every officer took a step away from the Officer Jenny spearheading the group. 'Jen,' realizing Julia was staring at her, grimaced, sending a discreet wave.
"...She's just a lil shy!" Julia clapped her hands, glancing back to Kuro. "You're Kuro right? Ame called you Kuro so you MUST be Kuro! You probably know by now, but I'm Julia! Captain of cheer, pep, and all things bubbly and bright!"
Once she declared that, she struck a pose with orange pompons she somehow pulled out of nowhere and held it. A second passed. She didn't move. Three seconds passed. Kuro blinked. After six seconds passed, Kuro had went from annoyed, to confused, and then annoyed again.
"So-"
"POP QUIZ!" Julia returned to life, scaring the crap out of Kuro again. "Are you, Mister Kuro, going to be taking on the Reborn League?"
"No," Kuro lied without missing a beat.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?" Julia gasped as if he admitted to murder. "That's no fun! You have to give it a try! You gotta! You gotta! You gotta! YougottaYougottayougottayougottayougottayougottayougottayougottayougotta-"
Kuro's eye twitched. Listening to her- no, BEING in her mere presence was taking days off his life. Some dark part of his brain thought it'd be better to have died in that explosion than dealing with this.
"-Yougottayougottayougotta- Wait. Didn't Ame just say she registered you?" The gears turning, Julia playfully elbowed Kuro. "Are you doing one of those things where you pull the Wooloo over my eyes? Veryyy tricky, Kuro."
Kuro pushed her elbow away from him. "Okay, fine, I'm doing the damn league. Why do you even care so much?"
"Well, I don't wanna brag but," she pointed to herself smugly, "I AM the Electric Gym Leader! Meaning I'll be the very first hurdle you have to overcome!"
For the love of- Of COURSE she'd be a Gym Leader and the first one at that. Kuro had to restrain himself from letting out a roar of pure unbridled rage as he attempted to calm himself down.
"That's... Great..." He hissed through his teeth.
"Glad you think so!" Julia looked at him expectantly. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go on! Get! Get down to the Grand Hall already!"
On one hand, he was glad to get away from her, but on the other hand, he didn't like that she was the one to dismiss him, but on the other other hand, he was glad to get away from her.
"Don't need to tell me twice," Kuro grumbled, shrugging off his sluggishness as he took a step forward and away from Julia.
It was after he took his second step that he assessed his surroundings and realized he'd forgotten which way the Grand Hall was supposed to be.
He sighed.
This was going to be one of THOSE days, wasn't it?
And that's chapter 1 finished! I'm releasing the first 3 chapters on the same day to really kick things off and I'm planning to release something once a week. Course, this may not always be the case. If you have any criticism or questions feel free to ask me! While this technically isn't my first story, I'd love to write the best story I possibly can! See you all next time!