Chapter 2 - More to the crowd

Dusk

I woke up the following morning, my gaze first falling on my gorgeous mate. The long pregnancy had hardly dented her slender form. She was simply perfect in every way, though I always felt that I could never fully understand her, and this only added to my love for her. This morning she was lying on her side, paws stretched out in front of her awkwardly, breathing deeply. I watched her for a moment, before turning to the now squirming form leaning against my chest. Lyte had obviously noticed my waking.

Hush now Lyte. There's no need for that.

She was obviously confused by the voice in her head, as she stopped squirming and began looking frantically for its source.

"Up here Lyte" I said before licking her head. She looked up and smiled, still half asleep. I then picked her up gently by the scruff of her neck, placing her in the fold of her mother's thin leaf-like tail, where sleep quickly claimed her. Then I set out to find food for Azalia. Before, I made sure I wiped the crusted fur beneath my eyes clean, still unable to push away thoughts of my poor Azure. I held back tears, though this time succeeding, I was still unable to get rid of the lump in the back of my throat.

I stepped out of our little makeshift shelter into the brisk morning. I tried to veer my gaze away from the area of unturned earth, just barely eeping the tears wanting to fall contained, however, te lump in my throat remained. I just needed to take my mind off of the subject…

The dampness of the morning air along with the dew coated grass now soaking through my paws sent an unpleasant chill up my spine. I shivered through my thin fur, unsettling a flock of starley who seemed to have been residing in the tree I was now standing under. A large drop of water then proceeded to land on my head. I looked up, my ears down due to the extra weight added by the water, and my shoulders slumped from the cold and my irritation at the situation. A young looking chatot greeted my view, its head cocked to one side, and the branch it had landed on still shaking. I saw that the water had fallen from a large leaf, and another drop was forming. I quickly stepped to one side to avoid it.

"Sorry, did I do that?"

"Yes, unfortunately enough for me" I said before shaking off the excess water from my fur. My paws were now completely soaked through. I sat down and began giving myself a full cleaning, in hopes of removing some of the water soaked into my ash grey fur.

The chatot then flew down to a branch at my view level. At least now it was easier to talk to… was this chatot male or female? I looked it over for a moment, figuring it was female, due to the more prominent chest. This chatot certainly had odd coloured wings…

"Aren't a chatot's wings supposed to be blue?" I said, before returning my amber gaze to my damp paws, starting on the uppermost left paw, due to me being more stable on my right.

"Aren't an umbreon's rings supposed to be yellow?"

"Touché" I then remembered why I had forced to wake up at such an unholy hour. "Would you by chance know the location of some pecha berries?"

"Pecha? Hmm… I think so… ill be back in a minute!" She said before flying off, nearly hitting a number of other branches, and sending another rain of pine-y water flying my way. I closed my eyes and sent a wave of psychic energy flowing upwards, giving me a clear view of the water, and where it would land. I skilfully avoided each, keeping myself as dry as I could for the moment.

I sighed and sat down in a dry patch of dirt underneath the tree, attempting to remove the remainder of the loose water that had seeped down to my back by rubbing it against the tree. That only resulted in me smelling stronger of pine. I sighed and continued licking, now trying to avoid the overpowering scent of pine.

The chatot then returned, landing in front of me, carrying a branch with 8 large, ripe pecha berries growing from it.

"You went to all that trouble just to get me some pecha berries?" I asked in surprise, though I was also confused as to how a bird of that size could carry that much at one time.

"Trouble? Trust me, I've done worse for worse." She said placing the berries before me. "My name is Blewe by the way."

"Dusk." I smiled. I honestly did enjoy this chatot. She had such a happy, spirited attitude. She was definitely someone I could stand to call friend in the future. "Could I by chance offer you a few of those berries as a thank you?"

"Well, as long as you're offering, I am famished… I just hadn't been able to find any wurmple this morning… I guess those starly beat me to it."

"Come on then."

"Alright, but brace yourself!"

"Brace myself? Brace myself for wha - " she then jumped up and placed herself gently on my back, unsubtly hinting at a free ride. I sighed with an amused smirk, then reached down to pick up the branch in my mouth, which I was barely able to do, it being so thick. I was still confounded as to how such a small creature had such strength and determination. Then again, I suppose it is better than her having to find a way to carry 8 pecha berries on their own.

"Onward faithful steed!"

"Really? Steed?"

"Sorry… I guess it's just early." She said with an embarrassed smile.

I chuckled "well, no harm done I suppose. Now, I really want to get back. This mist is making my fur heavy, and you being on my back isn't helping"

Say, would you be willing to travel with me and my family? I'm sure we'll need all the help we can get with our newborn.

"What? Who said that?"

Being partially psychic I have the ability to speak telepathically, and at the moment, it is much easier than having you attempt to decode my nonsensical mumbling. So, would that be a yes or no?

"Well, a yes then! I would be honoured."

Lovely! Now, let's get back there. I'm feeling a chill right now I'm afraid I'll never get rid of.

Authors notes

I thought i really got to outline dusk's character in this chapter more... i especially like being able to showcase his intelligence :)

I forgot to mention this is the first chapter, but i subconsiously thought of the name lyte after reading a friend's rough draft story 3 months ago. whoops! I just thought that i ought to give him some credit! Thanks again Will!