Hello again everyone, I'm back with another chapter of Umbra Aeternam. Hope this ones better than the least one.
"Here it is, home sweet home" Jules announced as he and I stepped towards a large rock formation. I tilted my head in confusion as I investigated the rock, seeing no indication of an entrance. For a moment I feared that the Jolteon had led me astray and towards some kind of ambush.
"Do you need to get your eyes checked, its just a rock" I said and walked up to examine it further, and just as I expected, it was completely solid. I looked back at Jules with a questioning face, meeting his amused one.
"That's the beauty of it, sometimes the eyes can deceive" He replied and walked past me towards a small bush sitting adjacent to the formation. He reached a paw inside it and I heard a noticeable click before the ground began to rumble. I instinctively dropped into a defensive stance as I looked all around me, finally turning to see the rock actually start to move back from the wall, revealing a small cave entrance. I stared in aww at the technical genius these Pokémon seemed to possess.
"I know right, I reacted the same way the first time I saw it, now go ahead in. I'll meet you at the end, gotta go warn them your coming." With that said, he dashed off ahead of me into the darkness. I blinked as I looked at the entrance before shrugging it off and stepping up into the cave. I felt my paw sink about an inch after clearing the entrance, followed by the door quickly sliding back into place, enshrouding me in darkness. The lack of light posed no problem for me since I was a dark type, which blessed me with excellent night vision.
I made my way further through the twists and turns of the cave and finally rounded one last corner before being greeted by a faint patch of light in the distance. I ran towards the source of light, knowing that it had to lead to the exit, and skidded to a stop when I had finally reached it.
"Whoa." Was all I could say as I glanced all around at the scene before me. It was a giant clearing, possibly even bigger than Lumiose City back in Kalos, and it was filled to the brim with every known eeveeloution. Espeon, Sylveon, Flareon, they were only a few species I could see from my point of view. I saw a giant glacier, a field that rivaled a football stadium, a lake so large that even all of the lakes in Sinnoh combined would have been put to shame, and so much more. There was no way in the nine hells that this was natural, I looked like they dug out and discarded an entire mountain range just to build this.
"Impressive isn't it." I heard someone say from behind me, scaring the living daylight out of me. The being quickly found itself planted in the dirt with my paw held over its face. I released a sigh of relief after seeing it was only Jules. I apologized and helped him back up to his paws and lightly dusted him off with a paw. "Dang dude, you really are strong."
I shrugged and watched him go about stretching out his body and cracking his neck, releasing the kinks I had put in it during my reaction. After he was all set, he gestured for me to follow him again and ran ahead at a speed that only a Jolteon could achieve. I just followed him with my eyes as he ran down the little hill the exit was on and towards a large hut that looked to be of human design. He leapt through the entrance just as I started sauntering over to where he had gone.
I wondered why, during my peaceful walk to the hut, the Jolteon hadn't run back out to find out what was taking me so long to get there, but the sight behind the little curtain door gave me the answers I needed.
I saw that Jules was currently pinned beneath a slightly larger Glaceon, who looked like he was having a really good time annoying the mon.
"Come on bro, get off, your too heavy!" Jules shouted and intensified his thrashing to try and free himself from, who I assumed, was his brother.
"No way bud, you were gone for the last three days, you left me all alone. I worried so much about you." The Glaceon replied in an upset tone that I knew was fake.
"Seriously, I don't want you to embarrass me in front of my new friend!" I had that sneaking suspicion he was referring to me so I cleared my throat to try and gain their attention. It seemed to remedy the situation as they were both immediately too distracted to keep up their play fighting.
"Ooh, who's tall, dark, and handsome over here?" The Glaceon asked, instantly making me very uncomfortable. Jules seemed to have a similar reaction as he glared at his brother and punched him in the ribs.
"Dude, not cool." He scolded and looked at me with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him, he prefers a males touch and isn't shy about letting anyone know about it."
I shrugged and did a quick look around the hut, seeing nothing of interest except a platform raised slightly higher than the rest of the wooden floor. In that moment of distraction, a certain someone took the opportunity to get really close to me. I went rigid from the sudden coldness that made its way onto my side.
"I'm also not shy about telling anyone what I really want." I heard the Glaceon whisper into my ear. I barely managed to hold myself back from tossing this guy through the wall.
"JESSIE!" Jules shouted and tackled his brother, making the now identified Jessie fly back and out of the entrance. "What you get you freaking pervert!"
I blinked at the sight of this 'Brotherly love' I was witnessing. I stopped him from apologizing for his brothers actions, letting him know that I really didn't care. He nodded and walked over to a small podium situated next to the raised platform, which held a small slab of stone with multiple etches in it. I recognized it as the Pokémon written language, something I was amazed to find actually existed in the first place.
"Alright, we need to make an appointment with the council...look at that, seems there free for tonight, how convenient." He said and used his claw to write a message directly on the slab. I had no idea what he wrote though since I couldn't read PokéRunes in the first place.
"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" I asked, making him pause mid-scratch. He turned to give me a confident smirk that actually intrigued me.
"Nope, cause I'm confident I can get you to want to stay by tonight." He stated and finished his writing.
"You wouldn't be the first one to try and convince me to do something, let's see if you can actually do it." I smirked, hoping he understood I was offering him a challenge. He caught on quickly and grinned before literally dragging me out the door.
"Oh I will, mark my words, I will convince you to stay and be my friend."
"Friend? I thought you just wanted me to stick around." I said after hearing that word again. He had already referred to me as his friend once, now he's saying he will convince me to both stay with the clan, and him.
"I do, but if you stay, you'll be my friend since all of the clan is my friend. Were all friends Dante, we all care and support each other. That's what family does." He stated, confusing me. I didn't quite understand how one could be both family and friend at the same time. Course there was a lot on that subject I didn't understand since I never had either.
"So your saying that, if I stay here, you and the rest of the clan would become both friends and family?"
"Exactly, see you get it." He instantly answered without any hint of deception in his tone. He was telling the honest truth...this got me thinking about staying, but I was still nowhere near being convinced yet. "Now come on, quickly, there's so much I have to show you."
If I had a berry for every time he told me to come on, I'd already be set for winter. The guy seemed way too excitable, but that was probably just the Jolteon he was.
"First we'll check out the field, its where a lot of the practice battles take place, as well as a few tournaments we hold every once in awhile."
"Tournaments?" I've never heard of a pack of wild Pokémon holding tournaments before.
"Yep, every year we hold a tournament to find out who's the strongest one in the clan. The winner of it all gets a lot of respect from the council and clan as well as a full month of off duty relaxation." Jules looked about ready to drool just from the thought of winning such a prize.
"I see...sounds like fun." I might have to watch it when this tournament kicks off, that's if I stay.
"It really is, I think you'd really shine in it, if your throwing me all over the place, then you'd have to be strong enough to win." I shrugged again and looked ahead at the field I saw when I first walked in. It seemed so much larger from here, it would probably take me over a minute to reach the other side in a full sprint.
"So, is this place used for anything else besides battling?" I asked, to which Jules replied by pointing behind me to a large group of eeveeloutions laying around the field, enjoying the heat of the sun.
"It's a good place to just relax and take a load off, I've even found myself here once or twice." I nodded and walked forward to try and scour the field for anything of interest, only to be dragged off once again towards another little habitat, as I have deemed it. I now found myself in front of the giant iceberg, unconsciously shivering from the sudden drop in temperature. "And here's the iceberg, its where's we store all of our food so it stays good for just a little longer. Its also the place to go on a hot summers day, unless you're a Flareon or Leafeon, they like I hot." I guess there was some kind of inside joke here since he had started giggling to himself. I stared at him like he was crazy before shaking my head moving forward to lay down on the cold stone below me.
"Hey, what are you doing, there's still so much I have to show you" he whined and tried to drag me out of there by my tail. I simply glanced back at him and curled up to rest, knowing he couldn't drag me out no matter how hard he tried.
"I've already seen everything, I know you want to take me to the lake next, and I really don't care. I just want to sleep for the first time in two days, so please let me be." I was basically begging him to leave me alone now, just wanting to let my body rest. The cool weather has always been my weakness, the feel of the cold against my fur made my fatigue even greater than it was before. I know it has been the death of me before, but that doesn't mean I don't still like it.
"But if I let you stay here, how will I convince you to stay in the clan?" I sighed and picked my head up to look into his eyes.
"Listen Jules, I know your going about trying to convince me to stay and all, which confuses the crap out or me by the way, but trust me when I say this. I won't leave right away unless I am told to. If I find a place I can feel safe at, then I won't leave it right away. I don't actually plan on leaving dude, not until I deem it necessary for me to, so you can relax." I more or less said that to get him to leave me, but behind everything I say is a hint of truth. I planned on staying as soon as I had seen how well hidden this place was, I just kept telling myself I wouldn't so I would stay convincing.
"Really, so you'll stay?" he asked hopefully. I nodded and watched him start to jump around in joy, laughing at how childish he truly was. "Yay, I have a new friend!"
"Let me stop you right there" I said, making him put a halt in his merry celebration. "I don't mean to sound harsh, but you are not my friend." The kid actually looked pretty hurt from my statement, I even saw his eyes moisten up a little.
"What, why?" he asked near tears.
"Because I don't trust you, we are still strangers to each other, it's a miracle I even followed you here in the first place. I'm going to get to know you better over time, and if I like what I learn, then we can be friends. Until then, we are strictly acquaintance, nothing more." He took on a crestfallen look, but nodded nonetheless.
"Yeah...okay, I guess I'll leave you alone for awhile. Feel free to walk around and explore the place, just don't destroy anything and I'll come fetch you tonight before the council meeting." After saying this, he kind of just left me alone, much to my surprise. I was amazed that he would leave a stranger alone in his home territory, knowing how strong I truly was. In the end, I didn't really think too hard on it since I truly didn't care enough to worry about it too much.
'Brain, shut up' I mentally sighed and snuggled further into myself, letting my fatigue take over and finally put me into a deep sleep that I haven't achieved since I was born.
"Excuse me...excuse me." I heard someone say as I felt something poking my side lightly. I raised my head with a yawn and drowsily looked to my side where I saw a small ball of brown and white fluff staring back at me.
"Yes?" I asked the little eevee. The kid looked about ready to cry as I watched him frantically look around the area.
"Can you help me find my mommy?" I sighed and rose to my feet, stretching out my stiff muscles before turning to the sky, noticing that the sun was well past its median. I guessed I had been asleep for about seven hours, the longest I had ever slept. I still had about two hours before nightfall, so I guess I'd help the kid out.
"Sure thing bud, what does she look like?"
"Well, she's an Espeon with a blue crystal on her forehead, that's what she told me to tell someone if I got lost." I nodded and gestured for him to follow me as I started walking off in a random direction. He obediently followed and stuck close to me, making me glance down at him in surprise.
Does he really trust me enough to see me as a protective entity already. I would never have gotten this close to someone I had just met, especially if I was a child. Maybe its just how he was raised, to not see a threat when he see's an eeveeloution.
"Alright kid, do you know where she might be now?" He stared down in thought before looking back up at me with an unsure expression.
"I don't know, she always too busy running around the clan so she's never in the same place for a really long time." I sighed and started to ask around for any Espeon that fit the description. It honestly took me no time to find someone who could identify the kids mother. The vaporeon told me that she would probably be around the field trying to find her son since that's where she usually took him.
"I never asked, what's your name kid?" I asked the kit that basically walked right under me as we made our way towards the field.
"My names Riley...what's yours?" he asked back.
"Dante, pleasure to meet you Riley." I smiled and looked down at the kit as he walked between my forepaws. I felt weird being so close to the kit, to be around someone who was still so small and innocent. He knew nothing about how cruel the world was, he was experiencing something I never could. It actually brought a tear to my eye as I felt a drop of moisture stain the fur under my eye.
"Mr. Dante, are you alright?" he asked, noticing the wetness on my face. I nodded and reached a paw up to dry my fur. He looked like he was about to question me over the matter further, but was interrupted when he was suddenly picked up by an unknown force and went flying forward, only to be stopped right in front of an espeon.
"Oh Riley, my sweet baby boy!" I heard her cry out as she nuzzled the kit. That's when I noticed the large blue crystal on her forehead, telling me that this was his mother. I smiled at the reunion as I watched the kit giggle as he nuzzled his mother back. "Where did you go, I was so scared I would never find you."
"I got lost by the glacier mommy, that's where I met Mr. Dante, he helped me look for you." The espeon was now looking directly at me, her light purple eyes staring through me and right into my soul. I shivered under her gaze and smiled the best I could. She smiled back and calmly made her way towards me before curling her neck around mine in a canine version of a hug.
"Hello Dante, my name is Esther and I would like to offer you my sincerest gratitude for finding my son and returning him to me" she said with a bow.
"It wasn't a problem, I had little else to do." I smiled and calmly sat down before her. She smiled back and took her time to respond further, using the moment of silence to examine my form.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you before."
"You probably haven't, if you did then you would have been a long way from home" I said. She tilted her head curiously and I felt something poking my head, trying to get through to my mind. I knew she was trying to read my mind, as most Psychic types are notorious for doing, but failed to get though to my brain thanks to my typing.
"You know, all you have to do is ask, no need for the attempt at mind reading." She looked momentarily surprised at my comment until a small smile graced her lips.
"That would be most wise, would it not, very well then, my first question, why are you here?" She asked.
"Jules brought me here, says I could be of use to the clan or whatever."
"Of use how?"
"Not sure, I'm a strong battler so maybe a guard or scout or whatever they need me to do" I said with a shrug. She nodded and momentarily stopped her questioning to look down at her son as he curled up underneath her to take a nap. I smiled down at the adorable little kit as he tugged at my heart strings with his sheer cuteness.
"He's a pretty lucky kid" I thought out loud, catching Esther's attention.
"Why is that?" she asked, turning her attention back to me.
"He's lucky that he has a mother to raise and care for him...something I wish I could have had." I said the last part quietly, hoping to keep it to myself. I had forgotten how well tuned a Pokemon's ears can be, so she heard that entire sentence no problem.
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that." I waved off her concern and sighed to myself.
"No need to apologize, it is something I have not concerned myself over for a very long time. Please forget I ever even mentioned it." She nodded and asked me a few more questions before picking up her son, bidding me farewell since she was needed elsewhere at the moment. I found myself left alone in the field now, which was completely barren. I briefly wondered where everyone was before I noticed that the sun had now disappeared past the horizon, bathing the place in moonlight.
"Dude, what are you still doing here, your gonna miss the meeting, wouldn't look good since its over you staying here" I heard Jules say from behind me and I turned to look at him. I nodded and stood up to my paws, following close behind him as he led me to the meeting.
"Large numbers of Pokémon all discussing about me and asking questions about my personal life...what could go wrong" I joked, earning a chuckle out of Jules.
"Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long, you'll be a fully fledged member of the pack in just a few hours."
Though I didn't voice it, I sure hoped he was right.
There ya go, chapter 2 is up and running. As always, if you liked it, click that fave button and make me feel better about myself, and don't be afraid to leave a comment.
Bigshot out.