Thunder: Welcome back to another chapter of Thunder and Ice!
Me: I promised I would type it and get it up as fast as I could, but I had to go back a few times to revise it.
Shard: You'll finally find out the secret in this chapter!
Me: I am so sorry for leaving you at a sad ending last chapter; I couldn't make the chapters too long for you guys.
Thunder: You sure are talking a lot this time around Shadow.
Me: I'm not talking that much… well maybe, I don't care. I'm just a bit excited, that's all.
Shard: If you're so excited, then stop talking and start the story!
Thunder: *Feels like he's forgetting something*
Shard: Okay, back to Thunder and Ice! Shadow doesn't own Pokémon!
Thunder: *Remembers* Wait! Will someone answer- *Shard covers his muzzle with her paw*.
Shard's POV
With my head down, we walked into Cedar Square, Petal still by my side. We haven't shared a word ever since we were back at her den, when she talked about the secret. It had been awkward the whole way. When we arrived at Cedar Square, it was really crowded with continuous talk; I could hardly even understand what they were saying except for blah, blah, blah! Then an announcement from The Great Sequoias platform went off, a booming voice from a loudred.
About 20-30 minutes later…
The Swords of Justice finished the end of their speech, and they all headed back into The Great Sequoias. Deafening chatter rose up again, making it hard to hear once more. I remembered previous meetings in Cedar Square, and knew I had to get out fast, or become a doormat. My leafeon friend still seemed dazed from the announcement. I lifted my crystal tail and smacked Petal in the face, snapping her out of her trance, than I leaned in close and yelled in her ear, "Hurry, before we are turned into rug skinned carpets!" Petal seemed to understand what we were in and we ran out of Cedar Square swiftly, hearing the crunch of leaves below our paws, leftover leaves that survived from all the way back in autumn. Soon, we were out of Cedar Square, with no injuries and only a few dead leaves in our fur.
"Man, I always hate that," Petal groaned, trying to get the leaves out of her apricot fur.
"What can you do? Anyone who can control that could control the legendary Pokémon themselves," I joked, scratching a few dead leaves out of my icy fur.
Petal laughed. "I can't seem to get these leaves out! Even though I'm a grass type, I don't prefer dead leaves in my fur… so hard to get out."
"This so far is a wonderful birthday," I mumbled sarcastically.
Petal turned to face me, a look of concern on her face, which usually is rare. "Don't say it like that Shard; I know that this day will get better for you." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"You know? You know this day is going to get better? How can you know, it's not like you can predict the future," I argued, losing my temper.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help-" Petal started, but I cut her off.
"Help?! Talking and trying to predict the future won't help anything Petal! The only way I can feel better is for you to tell me the secret or for once get a present from of you guys!" I screamed, uncontrollably. After I let those negative feelings out, I felt so guilty for yelling at Petal. I sounded selfish and greedy about presents. I didn't mean to say that, but I meant to say that I have been having the worst birthday ever, which also would sting a bit. Petal stood next to me, stunned. Most likely because I yelled at her and that isn't in my shy nature at all.
"I-I'm sorry, Petal." I started. "My anger got the best of me, I just-"
"No Shard, hold it right there," Petal interrupted. For a second, it sounded like she was going to scold me.
"Shard, I'm the one who should be sorry. This must have been the worst day ever for you since… that incident long ago… and I have not even tried to make it better." The mention of the incident made me shiver. "I should have been more humble Shard, come on, follow me." Before I could object or say another word, Petal started to run. I groaned, knowing I had to follow her. I dashed after Petal in hot pursuit, and in a minute, we were running side by side.
Petal and I stood at a steady pace. I started to pant a bit, so tired from running around all day. I watched as Petal teasingly ran ahead of me, and I dragged behind her defiantly, not in the mood for a race. We ended up at Petal's den, for some weird reason.
She ran inside, instructing me to wait outside. I groaned as she dashed in, still hating this day. A minute or two later, Petal bounded out, a leather handle for a sort of satchel around her neck, like a Treasure bag.
"Where'd you get that?" I asked.
"Some new shop at Forest Grotto," she answered. "We can go there later today if you want."
"Um… no thanks," I muttered.
"Well, okay, let's go!" she hollered, and ran off. I dashed after her, my paws starting to ache. The satchel dangled along Petal's neck as she ran, the leather case securely shut.
A short while later, with the sun in the middle of the sky, we arrived in front of a big den that I didn't recognize. We were close to the beach, and a salty aroma filled the air. This den appeared to be some sort of business, like what humans do.
"This is so cool Shard. Everyone around the forest has been making all these cool shops, and this one is what Pokémon call, 'Serperior Spa.' You have to have an appointment!" Petal exclaimed while shuffling her tan paws excitingly.
"…Okay?" I replied, nervous. I looked around the den, to reveal all of these attractions.
Inside the den, there was a counter with a servine at it, and I could see some Poké shining from behind the counter. There were all of these tree trunks farther inside, cut up to look like a small wooden bed, with straw on top for comfort. I saw some Pokémon on these cut-up logs and had mud covering their faces and sliced up Oran berries over their eyes. A few servine were giving them some sort of massage while they rested on the logs. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Outside of the den, there were Pokémon relaxing in some hot springs. Other Pokémon were relaxing in mud pits… seriously, what was with all this mud?
"Uh… Petal? What is all of this… stuff?" I questioned, undoubtedly confused.
"You'll have to see for yourself!" she answered mysteriously, and she walked into the spa calmly. I followed after her, hesitantly. I stood behind Petal at the counter shyly.
"We want the full package!" Petal announced in front of the servine clerk before she could reply.
"For your friend as well?" the servine asked. Petal gave a nod in reply, and then unlatched her satchel to reveal all of this Poké, and she picked some up in her mouth and placed it on the counter. She ended up taking a lot out. "Very well then," the clerk continued. "Head over to the spa beds, an attendant will take care of you shortly."
Petal obeyed obediently, and I followed after her, thinking this was just a little 'too' humane for Pokémon. She jumped up onto a 'spa bed' and settled down, the leaf on her head bobbing. I struggled to get on a spa bed by Petal, and then I settled down.
"You are going to absolutely love this Shard, 100% guaranteed!" Petal remarked.
"Well, I don't have any Poké with-" I started.
"No worries!" Petal interrupted. "It's on me Shard, just for you!" I smiled at her generosity.
"Thanks Petal, I can see this day getting better already."
"I told you!" Petal joked. We laughed a bit, and then stopped when one servine and one serperior came out. The servine and serperior were both holding carved, wooden pots full of mud and two slices of Oran berries each.
"Don't worry about the mud," Petal reassured. "It's actually quite soothing!"
The serperior came next to me, struggling with the pot and the Oran berry slices coiled up in his tail. He settled down the pot of mud and Oran berry slices next to me calmly, and then dipped his tail in the jar. He took his mud-covered tail out and started to rub it on my face. It felt soothing, but a bit slimy as well. I shrunk back a bit as he rubbed it over my face. My eyes were closed the whole time. When he told me to open my eyes, I did it hesitantly. I could see the mud on my face, and even though it felt weird at first, it felt better now than before.
The serperior could obviously know it was my first time here. "Okay, so next, I'll put these Oran berry slices over your eyes," he instructed. He was about to, but first, he said,
"You know, you have pretty eyes." I blushed at the compliment. "They're different from a normal glaceon's eyes. Also, they're a pretty shade of purple." I stopped blushing, getting the idea of what he meant. He grabbed the slices of the berries with his muddy tail finally, and he slowly placed them on my eyes, cutting off my eyesight. "I'll be right back," he explained, and when it went silent, I knew he was gone.
"Isn't this great, Shard?" I heard Petal ask.
"Uh…" I tried to think of the right words. "I'm just a little confused right now," I replied.
"What's there to be confused about," Petal responded.
"It's just… why are we just sitting here, mud on our faces and slices of an Oran berry over our eyes?"
"The mud is supposed to do some sort of thing to get all that unnecessary oil on you fur off, and it's very rejuvenating! The Oran berry slices make your eyes less puffy and also get rid of those dark circles you get around your eyes," she answered, sounding like an expert.
"Ugh, I hate it when you get dark circles over your eyes."
"I know, right?" she agreed. "Hey Shard, I think that serperior was into you."
"No… he just likes my eye color. He's not into me, he's into my looks," I murmured grudgingly.
"Well you have to admit it's a pretty shade of purple," Petal exclaimed.
"True," I admitted.
At that time, I heard a slither, informing me that a serperior or two had come back. I then felt something rhythmically pound on my back, which felt very soothing and relaxing.
"W-w-what I-is t-this…" I asked, my voice being shaking with whoever was karate-chopping my back.
"I-it I-is c-called an m-m-massage," she replied, her voice muffled as well.
"It's a-a-awesome," I stated.
20 minutes later…
They removed the slices of Oran berry from my eyes, and chipped off the mud mask. I felt my blue fur around my face with my paws, and it didn't feel that different, except my face felt well.
"Shard, come outside, it's time for our mud treatments!" We walked out of the den, refreshed, and stood at the edge of a mud pit. Petal slowly climbed in, than relaxed in it. I followed her step, sitting next to her in the mud.
"This feels nice," I stated.
"That's what she said," Petal cracked.
"Not funny," I groaned. "Those jokes are terrible."
"I always wanted to try it!" Petal replied happily! We shared a few laughs.
About ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, Petal started to climb out. "We can't stay in too long," she explained as I crawled out.
"Next, we head over to the hot springs!" Petal told.
"Uh… Petal," I started, trying to get her attention.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm an ice type, as you can see," I continued, my tone a little bitter.
"I know, I know, but I'm going to go in, while you should go into this side pool, closest to the entrance. It's not a hot spring, it's basically just a pool of cold water," Petal explained.
"Oh… okay," I said. I wished she would have come with me, but I just had to wash off this mud. I padded away from the hot springs and other Pokémon, toward the closest circle of water by the entrance. I saw no steam coming out of it, and a cubchoo in it, so I knew it was safe.
I got all the mud off myself. I shook the leftover water from my fur. I headed back over to the hot springs, ready to leave this place with Petal.
At least Petal is making an attempt to spend time with me on my birthday, I thought bitterly.
I then silently scolded myself for such thoughts. How dare I start taking out my anger on my dearest friends, that's just sickening.I padded over to the hot springs, where I saw Petal relaxing with some other Pokémon. I stood by the hot springs for a few minutes, waiting for Petal to finish. Petal didn't seem to notice me till about five minutes of waiting has gone past.
"Oh, Shard, I didn't see you there," she informed. She slowly climbed out of the hot spring. "Okay, let's go Shard!" Petal exclaimed, and we walked away from Serperior Spa together, Petal's satchel around her neck again.
"So what's next Petal," I asked.
Petal seemed to look up into the sky. I looked up as well. The sky was a brilliant blue, with about no clouds in the sky. The sun was starting to descend, a small collage of warm colors mixed in the sky.
"Oh no, we got to hurry!" Petal screamed all of a sudden. I tilted my head, confused.
"What do you…?" I started, but Petal ran off and yelled,
"Hurry, there's no time to explain!" I shrugged, and dashed after her. I felt better with that spa treatment, so it was easier to run.
Petal ran ahead of me, looking back occasionally to see if I was following. I didn't know why Petal was doing this, but maybe it had something to do with the secret. I continued to run after her. Pine trees passed by quickly as we continued to run. This route seemed familiar, but I didn't know how. I knew I was on this route earlier today, but it was as if we were going back from where I came this morning.
I hoped it was about the secret, because it was killing me inside. I just didn't like where the day was heading, and since it was close to being over… I just didn't know anymore.
Petal seemed to stop in her tracks, beside a den. I nearly ran right into her, but I jumped to the side. "What now Petal, can you tell me why we're here, or will you just keep another secret from me?"
"Just close your eyes," she ordered.
"What, why-"
"Just do it and I promise that it'll make sense later!" she interrupted.
I moaned, but did as instructed. Petal seemed to lead me somewhere, but I couldn't tell where. I waited, as she told me where to go, then she ordered me to stop.
"Petal, can you just tell me-"
"Now… open your eyes," she demanded, and I heard some snickering in the background. I was confused, so I opened my eyes as told.
"SURPRISE!" Pokémon screamed. I saw Star, my zorua friend. Skylar the pidgeotto was also there. Lily, the polite minccino was here as well! Even Nascha the noctowl was in Star's den with us.
My jaw hung open. I was at a loss of words. I couldn't think of anything to say.
"I…I... what the…" I stammered, still stunned with shock.
"Happy birthday Shard!" Star yelled happily.
"Do you like your surprise party?" Skylar cawed.
"We spent so much time working on it!" Nascha exclaimed sleepily.
"Say something!" Lily said, giggling.
"What… you guys…" I said, holding back the urge to cry tears of joy.
"I'm sorry we had to keep this from you Shard," Petal started. "The whole secret was this surprise party, and if you knew, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now wouldn't it?"
I couldn't hold in my happiness anymore. "Thanks everyone!" I screamed. "This is just amazing, I was totally off-guard, and I definitely didn't expect this!" Everyone seemed to be happy. I couldn't believe even Nascha made it, despite the time of day it was, and with her nestlings left at home.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Nascha said. Everyone else gave some comments as well, and after a bit of chatting, Star yelled,
"Alright, let's get this party started!" Then she did a flip in the air to show how excited she was. Petal tried doing it too, but ended up with a face plant to the ground.
"Epic fail," Skylar commented. We all laughed.
In Star's den, everything was awesome. She had Sitrus Berry cake, made from a friend Star knew who was a miltank. The miltank had her own business, making deserts with some other Pokémon, and the place was a huge success since Pokémon haven't seen anything like it before. In the corner of the den, there were presents wrapped up in giant leaves. Star and the others even planned games like races and other things. We stopped the games once it got dark outside, and moved on to the cake. We nearly gobbled it down, but Lily said otherwise. Lily made the cake into slices, like what humans did, and then we ate them. I didn't want this forest to get any more humane, but Lily was making it difficult and same thing with all these human-like shops popping up all around the forest.
It was time to unwrap the presents. They were all wrapped up with leaves, and some sap was used to keep it together. Nascha brought one over. "This one's from me," she said. She used her talons to claw the leaf up for me, to reveal at least a dozen Sitrus berries.
"Thanks Nascha," I started. "I was almost out of Sitrus berries, and you remembered my favorite berry!"
"Who doesn't have that as a favorite berry," Skylar joked. I pushed the berries to the side.
Next, Skylar flew over and picked up another leaf-wrapped present. She dropped it in front of me. "You'll absolutely love this present," Skylar exclaimed. She used her talons just like Nascha to open the present. Skylar's present was a square sheet of cloth. It was a sky blue color.
"Uh, what is this exactly?" I asked.
"It's something that humans use. It's called a 'blanket'."
Things are becoming too human in this forest, Kecleon shops and all the others were good enough, I thought. "It's great!" I exclaimed. "Looks like my rests are going to be better than ever!"
"There's nothing better than some beauty sleep," Lily mentioned.
Next, Petal went into the corner to get another one of those presents. She picked it up and carried it over, then dropped it in front of me. That time, I opened it myself, to reveal two big apples, and one perfect apple. "Aw… Petal, you shouldn't have," I commented. "I always wanted to try a perfect apple, where did you find this?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Petal replied. "Actually, that's for me to know and for you not to find out." Petal laughed, but no one else thought it was funny.
Star came over next with the present, dragging it clumsily across the den. It appeared to be really heavy. She ripped the leaves off before I could even touch it. The present was all of this Poké that glistered in the shallow light. There had to be at least a thousand or two Poké.
"Star, whoa," was all I was able to say. She smiled cutely.
"It was no problem Shard, and now you can go to some of those new shops at Forest Grotto!" Star screamed happily, knowing I loved her present.
"Me next," Lily said with her royal accent. She headed over to the corner of the den where all the presents used to be at, wrapped up in giant leaves. From where I sat, I didn't see anything in the corner. Lily bent over and picked up something small, wrapped up in crunchy, autumn leaves, instead of the big green leaves that recently have been growing back, but with no doubt, the packaging was prettier. It was a really small present though, in the shape of a disk.
Lily ran over to me excitingly. "Open it," she pleaded. I clumsily grabbed the disk-shaped present with my paws, and crunched the leaves, and after seconds, the present was revealed.
It was beautiful. It was a pretty necklace, a vibrant purple gem on the lace. The gem was a crystal, carved into the shape of a heart, shimmering in the low light. After I saw it, I immediately put it around my neck. "It's beautiful Lily, thank you so much!" I shouted. Lily was delighted that I loved the present.
Everyone came in closer to see the gleaming heart gem hanging around my neck. Everyone loved it, but not as much as I did. It matched my adorable purple eyes, and it was a wonderful gift. I've always seen some Pokémon around the forest wearing scarves or bows and stuff like that, and sometimes thought about having something like that myself.
"Lily, I absolutely love this present. It's so thoughtful," I mentioned once more.
"Lily, how did you even find it," Nascha asked, very interested.
"Well, I was walking through Forest Grotto, wondering what to get Shard for her birthday, when some poochyena holding a red scarf in his mouth knocked me over. I fell on the ground, and when I looked up, I saw the shop the poochyena was heading towards, and it was a place called 'Leavanny's Accessories'. I saw the necklace immediately, and I knew I just had to get it for you," Lily explained.
"This is very kind. Thank you so much for the presents everyone!"
The party ended with truth or dare. It ended up with Star going outside yelling, "I'm Italian and I'm proud!" from a dare, and Lily admitting that she still had a designer dress kept from when she was still with her owner. Other stuff happened during the game, but it wasn't that interesting. When the party ended, Nascha offered to help me take the presents over to my den, and I answered yes, since I had so much stuff. We gathered all the food gifts and the Poké and put it on the blanket, and Nascha picked it up into the air, and using the blanket to hold the gifts, flew in the direction of my den. I decided to wear the necklace home; since I was paranoid it could've fallen off the blanket.
Nascha went ahead without me. I stayed behind, saying bye to everyone else as they walked sleepily back to their homes. After everyone but Star was gone, I said farewell to Star, and left her trashed den, thinking if I should have stayed and helped.
I dashed toward the winter part of Sugarcane, the purple gem swinging around on the necklace. I could already see the outline of snow in the distance. I checked down and looked at the beautiful necklace. It was so beautiful, and Lily really did have good taste.
BAM!
I gasped as I get hurtled into by some Pokémon. I lost balance, and got thrown over in the grass. I struggled to get up, and gasped again when I saw who ran into me.
Author's Note: Cliffhanger! I bet you guys can guess who Thunder and Shard ran into already… right? Oh well, I tried my best getting this chapter up, but I had several plans over the weekend… but here it is! I'll try getting the next chapter up. I decided to stop telling the summary in the author notes, since you guys already read the story, so you don't really need a summary of it. If you guys want me to continue doing the summary at the end, or instead want me to start doing that at the beginning of the chapter, please comment in a review or private message!
