- The next morning -
~ Knock Knock ~
I wake up to the sound of knocking on the hatch to our den. Usually I always get woken by one or both of my kids jumping around me, telling me to finally get up. And there should only be a paw full of 'mon that even know of our den.
As I leave my room, I can see Tolan and Cari peeking out of theirs. They must have been woken up by the loud knocking, too. Or, more likely, they were awake already and came out to investigate like I did.
I signal them to go back inside their room, an order they apparently don't want to understand.
~ Knock Knock ~
I can hear it knocking again on the outside. This time a voice goes alongside the knocking.
"Cyder?' You home?"
I know that voice. What a relieve.
I walk to the hatch, to open it and let him inside. And sure enough: A middle-aged Treecko, carrying a blue bag around his shoulder is standing before me. A 'mon I know and love like a brother: Treek.
"Hey Treek. What are you doing here? I thought you were visiting your family in Gloom Woods."
"I was. But I'm back now. So I came by to..."
Before Treek can explain himself, I get knocked to the side by two very excited Cynderquils, yelling their greetings.
"Uncle Treek! - You're back! - We missed you! - Did you bring something for us?"
"Hehe. Hey Kids. You bet'cha I brought something for you."
"Ok kids. That's enough. Let's all get back inside and prepare some break first."
I don't have to tell the kids twice. They rush back indoors and go on to prepare some of our finer dishes for break first. When alone, we usually always eat straight out of our paws, since that is quicker and doesn't leave any dirty dishes behind that we would have to clean up afterwards. But almost every time we do so, I tell them that we can only do that when we are among ourselves. And never, when there are guests.
"Oh Cyder. No need to do that. I've already eaten and even brought some food for you guys."
"You shouldn't have."
"Sure I had to. It's the least I could do after not seeing you for such a long time."
"It's only been half a year."
"Isn't that long enough already?"
I give him a hearty smile and finally step to the side, as I just notice that I was blocking the entrance to the den the whole time, thus making it impossible for Treek to actually enter.
Inside, the kids have already prepared a small wooden table we have set aside for these occasions. I build it a little less than a year ago, during the spring when all of nature comes back to live.
It is handcrafter out of a very dark wood. But the wood isn't that dark my nature. The tree this table consists of caught on fire when I tried to teach my kids some basic fire moves last winter.
Tolan was very excited back then and thought he already mastered his Ember. He told me that and said he wanted to proof it to me. I agreed and pointed to the second stone of five, we had set up to use for target practice.
"Try to hit that one", I said to him, knowing full well that he would fail, but also knowing that he needed to see for himself that he required more practice.
He flared his fire and I was able to see the flames leaking out of his head and back, beginning to melt the snow surrounding him as he charged up his attack.
Fixated on the stone I pointed to, he opened his mouth only a few moments later to release the fire he was holding back. Only to completely miss any of the rocks and instead hit a nearby tree, which immediately began to smolder and caught on fire.
Startled by the damage he had caused and annoyed at his inability of hitting his target, he stepped backwards as I sighed.
The reason us fire-types always train our moves in the cold season, when all the still water turns solid, is because it is less likely for us to catch the terrain on fire.
But both I and Tolan had underestimated his Ember, as the sight of a burning tree trunk was reflecting from our eyes.
While Tolan just stood there shocked and I was running over to the tree, Cari grabbed a bucket of liquid water we had set aside as a precaution from inside.
With Cari's help, I was able to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to any of the other surrounding trees.
Tolan was very ashamed of himself, but I told him that it was going to be fine. I held him in my arms and said that it was all part of the learning experience.
Since that day we always go to the beach for our fire training, but the tree that Tolan hit didn't regain any of its leaves when nature returned them to all the other trees, at which point I decided to cut it down and build the table that Treek is now sitting down next to.
"Ok kids. Gather around. You were right, in that I do have presents for you."
I take one of the platters the kids sat down with me to the kitchen, to fill it with some Orans for the four of us. We had a good harvest this year, before it got cold outside again. And we have more than enough reserves of all kinds of berries, to nourish us until it gets warmer again.
I can hear Treek presenting his gifts to my kids, while I fill the platter. From the sounds of it they are getting a new TM for a move, that scientist call Hidden Power.
As I go back to the break first table, I can see it. It is one of the older models: The ones that break after only being used once. So it looks like we're going to have a competition sooner or later, to see who gets to learn it.
As I set down the platter Treek speaks to me "You didn't need to bring food. I said I already ate and even brought some with me."
He opens the bag he brought with him, which is now sitting next to him and the table and continues by pulling out two smaller ones. One of them is making rattling sounds as Treek handles it, while the other one remains silent.
After emptying both bags on the platter next to the Orans I brought, I can count two Sitrus Berries and five Red Gummies.
"Woahh! You brought us gummies!" Cari and Tolan exclaim in unison.
We used to have a small farm for red gummies, since they truly do taste great, something that Treek never agreed to. In his opinion the Grass ones taste best. A statement to which I only responded with a shiver and the spitting out the gummy, he had handed to me back then. He later explained to me that the type of gummy you like is based on the type of your elemental core. He also talked about legends of a wondrous gummy that can be enjoyed by all elements. A legend which, to the greatest of our pleasures, turned out not to be a legend at all.
The reason why we don't have any gummy stocks in our backyard anymore isn't because of some of the ferals, who sometimes roam our land. But because Tolan and Cari were never able to hold themselves back, when I tasked them with replanting the stocks.
Seeing as there are five gummies and two Sitrus, I take one of the gummies and tell my kids to share the rest.
After having to settle them down and having to re-explain the meaning of sharing, all-the-while Treek is giggling behind his hands, I also manage to finally sit down at the table.
"So. What have you guys been up to lately?" Treek asks.
"You know. The usual. It's the cold time of the year, so we spend the day at the beach, training our fire moves."
Tolan interrupts me and says "I haven't missed a single target in the last four days."
Cari bickers back at him "You showoff. Do I have to remind you of setting that tree on fire last year?"
While I try to calm them down again and tell them to simply enjoy their gummies, Treek turns towards me and asks if that is really all we are doing the whole day.
"Well... Yes. Mostly. But like I said: It's cold, so there isn't really much of anything to do around here. No crops will grow during this time 'o year."
"Daddy is also telling us his story in the evenings."
"That's great Cari, but Cyder - that's not what I meant. I was talking about going out there and letting these kids explore the world."
"I don't think they're ready yet."
"How old are they now?"
"You know that. Three years."
"You remember how old I was, when I ran away from home?"
"You were two and a half years old", I answer with a defeated voice.
"Great! Then how about we head out for an adventure?" Treek asks the children.
"Yay! Adventure!"
'Oh Treek. I should have seen this coming from the moment you stepped through my hatch.'
After finishing our meals over some more idle conversation, during which Treek talked about his visit to his parents, everybody is in getting ready for the departure to our so-called adventure.
While I pack my good old adventuring bag, I find something slipping into my hands that I hadn't held in a long time.
It's my old exploration emblem. It's a small, white plate with a silver nugget sticking out of the middle of it. On its sides are two gold painted, wing shaped protrusions. As I turn it in my paw, my eyes fall on its backside. There, I can still clearly see four names engraved into it. Four names that I know all too well: Treek, Cyder, Mancerage and Stormcloud. I let out an audible sigh, as I read the last two names and proceed to put the badge back into my bag.
I put on my trusty hat and as I head out of my room I can see the others already and patiently waiting for me by the hatch.
"Are you all set, Cyder?"
"Yes. I'm ready to go."
"Then let's head out!"
After everybody is outside, I proceed to lock the hatch behind us and partially cover it with one of the nearby bushes.
"You're paranoid, Cyder. Nobody will ever find this place. And if they did, that little bush of yours aint gonna stop em."
Not reacting to his comment, I finish the job and rejoin him and my kids, who already seem to be way ahead of me.
While catching up to them, I can hear Cari talking to Treek.
"... But if you always have such a good time when visiting them, why did you run away when you were our age?"
"Ok. See, I had a falling out with my parents back when I was your age. They wanted me to go to Leafwood University and become a doctor of science. But I wanted to be a fighter and an explorer. To travel the lands, taking on every challenge I would encounter on the way, getting to be the strongest I could become while doing so. I wanted to fight the ferals and in the great tournaments I always used to watch in our Tele Orb."
"They told me I could still become the strongest I could be, by studying the world and outsmarting my foes. But I wouldn't have any of it."
"That is when I ran away from our clearing in Gloom Woods, something I've regretted ever since. My parents must have gone crazy with worry for me, but I didn't think of it at the time."
As he tells the story of his escape from home we reach to road connecting Lamborgy and Lavary. So I interrupt him and ask which direction we should go.
"It's an adventure. Let's let luck decide."
I agree, as he pulls out a poké coin.
"Tails and we go left, heads and we go right."
He continues, by throwing the coin in the air, then re-catching it with his right arm and slamming in on the backside of his left paw. Or that's what I am assuming he was going for, as the coin decides to change its trajectory, heading right at Tolan.
"Jautsch!" Tolan yelps.
"Ups. Sorry Tolan. I wasn't aiming for you, I swear."
As Tolan is rubbing his forehead and Cari is just sitting there giggling whilst receiving an angry glace from Tolan, the coin stops rolling across the gravel ground and shows a picture of a Meowth.
"Ok! Heads it is."
After being done laughing at Tolan, Cari exclaims "Lamborgy here we come!"
