Shard: Welcome back to Thunder and Ice!
Thunder: Best story ever… right everybody?
Me: Please stop talking about that stuff guys, or else they'll start hating this.
Thunder: You can't tell us what to do.
Shard: Shadow… please just gets on with the story.
Me: …
Thunder: Short much? Shadow doesn't own Pokémon.
Shard's POV
1 week later…
I woke up, stretched for a sec, ate a few berries; put the heart necklace around my neck, and everything I usually did in a typical morning. I gazed outside, to see the snow, still powdery, but a bit slushy as well. It had been a few days into spring, several flowers blooming already. Outside was pretty warm, a very nice day. The dawn was very gorgeous.
It had been a whole week ever since I've seen Thunder. I've wanted to get the Poké he'd dropped at Forest Grotto back to him, but I haven't seen him since. The only stuff that happened during that week was some battle at that cliff, and some sort of fight in the middle of Orchard Hillside, which no one tried to stop until it got out of hand, with an apple tree catching on fire. Luckily, the fire was put out on the tree before it could've spread, but that apple tree was burned to the core, charred and ruined.
I walked out into the snow, partly slushy. Maybe Star would know where Thunder lived, since she was a very social-type Pokémon that loves making friends with everyone. I headed south toward her den instantly, running along the snow in beautiful Frosty hills. Snow changed to grass after a matter of minutes, the grass a dark shade of green.
I padded along the grass, toward Star's den. I passed by a few boulders which I used as landmarks for her den. Puffy clouds floated above and a small breeze circled around me as I ran. I got closer to the den, when…
BAM!
I was sent clear across the grass, face planting in the end. Surprised, I immediately got off the ground, spitting out some grass. Angry, I faced whoever had ran into me. When I saw who it was, I started to shiver fearfully, my paws glued to the spot, instant change in my emotions. The luxio rubbed his head from the impact, painfully. His black fur was matted and his claws razor sharp unlike other luxio, with piercing eyes. The luxio was with a shinx, another lion-like Pokémon, and it was actually a very cute kid. The shinx was checking to see if the luxio was okay.
The luxio starred at me with a grudging glare. "You?!" he snarled through clenched teeth. He quickly climbed onto all four paws. The shinx looked partly confused, but decided to copy his buddy and act scary.
"I-I…" I stuttered. This luxio was Ruby's, that devilish luxray's, brother. His name is Lobo, and he was just like Ruby, except he had a heart. I had no idea who the shinx was though, but probably a member of their clan.
"How dare you run into me!" he growled, digging his sharp claws into the earth.
"I… I… You… you ran I-into me!" I stammered, trying to seem tough, even though I knew they could see right through it.
He growled, already losing his temper. "I'll give you one, and I mean ONE second to get out of my sight or I'll tear you to shreds!" he screamed.
I then got paralyzed from his threat. I wanted to run, but… I just didn't know. His threat seemed to leave me stunned on the spot, shivering fearfully.
"That's IT!" he hollered, before he came charging quickly, his little sidekick shinx trying to imitate Lobo. I gasped, and only started to run when I heard the crackle of electricity. His lips were pulled back in a sickening snarl, yellow dagger-like teeth ready to sink into me. I quickly turned around, and made a run for it. I nearly tripped over my paws clumsily, but made a save, and kept running fearfully. Lobo made a deafening roar, and I started to sprint faster and faster. My necklace dangled loosely around my neck as I ran. I started to pant like crazy.
I dodged a few pine trees as I ran, but then I looked back, wondering if he was still chasing me. He was surprisingly really close, with the shinx struggling to keep up. When he saw I looked back, he growled menacingly, his fur charged with his electricity. I made one of those pitiful squeals, and looked forward and tried to run faster, but I couldn't run any faster. I nearly fell when dodging a tree, and I nearly messed up jumping over some rocks. It was only a matter of time before I slipped up.
My breathing was out-of-control, and I attempted to dodge another pine tree. It felt like we have been in this chase forever, my paws aching. When I tried to dodge a pine tree, I crossed my paws, and fell face forward into the tree. I fell limply to the ground, breathing hard, eyes closed. I knew they were close, so I quickly tried to get up, but I fell back down on the ground, exhausted. Opening my eyes, I saw Lobo, less than a yard away. The shinx was trailing behind, and it took him a minute to catch up with Lobo. Lobo didn't seem exhausted, but he was just breathing hard. His mouth curved into an evil smile, his yellow teeth giving off another level of cruelty. I made another, high-pitched, pitiful squeal.
"I've finally caught you… runt!" he screeched, edging closer. My back lay against the pine tree trunk, being too tired to run anymore. Legs trembling, I made another worthless squeal. No one would be out here in this middle of the forest this early in the morning. Breathing hard, I watched him torment me, creating suspense by holding back the attack.
"Won't you fight back you runt?!" he demanded, his electricity crackling in the air intimidatingly.
"Y-Y-You k-k-know why L-L-Lobo," I stammered frightened. He knew very well why I didn't attack, and he was now mocking me about it!
"Oh yeah, I forgotten," he said sarcastically, than gave out a devilish laugh. The shinx didn't seem to like doing what Lobo was doing, standing back.
The shinx stood in his spot, starting to look a little freaked out, while Lobo started to edge toward me, slowly, mockingly, frighteningly. I was frozen in the spot, bracing for the pain.
Thunder's POV
I woke up slowly on my new straw bed. I stretched a bit, got an Oran berry to eat from the berry pile I had, and wrapped my awesome red scarf around my neck. I was going to meet up with Falcon today at The Cliff so he could help me with a few fighting tactics. We decided to get up early and head over there before anyone else got there first. I quickly left the den, and ran toward The Cliff along the fresh spring grass.
After a few minutes of intense running, I saw a blue Pokémon running through the trees in the opposite direction of me, a couple meters away. I stopped instantly to check it out. I watched as a luxio and a shinx chased after some Pokémon, but I didn't see the other one clearly. They didn't seem to notice me.
Falcon could wait, so I decided to turn around and chase after them, secretly. I dashed forward with a quick attack, and caught up with the luxio in about ten or twenty seconds. I slowed down, hoping for them to not notice me. I saw the Pokémon being chased, and I was surprised. It was Shard, that glaceon I had met about a week ago. She was frightened and freaked out, while the luxio tailed behind in a hot pursuit. The luxio seemed very determined to sink his deadly looking fangs into Shard. I stayed on the sidelines out of sight for a few minutes, and then cut in when the time was right.
Shard had looked exhausted, and very scared. She could hardly evade some of the obstacles. She was going to slip up soon, I knew it. That was when she accidently crashed into a pine tree with a thud, falling limply to the ground. I gasped as she didn't get up, and when she tried, she fell back down. She was definitely exhausted from the chase. The luxio was pushing her limits, and I quickly skidded to a stop, and burrowed into some underbrush to stay hidden. I peered out, and saw them talking, the luxio looking devilish and Shard about to scream. Shard gave out two squeals, and I felt so bad for her. As the luxio started to edge toward her, I climbed out of the bush. I didn't care what Shard had done, but she needed help before that luxio ripped her limb from limb.
I jumped out of the bush and landed in attack position, Shard protected behind me and the luxio and shinx a few feet in front of me. I had a threatening snarl and made a deep, defensive growl. My fur immediately charges up with electricity. "Leave her alone," I growled protectively.
The luxio was very surprised by the sudden outburst. "When did little miss runt over there get a body guard?" he asked teasingly.
"Leave her alone," I repeated, my fur crackling with electricity, his fur lessening in volts.
"Stay out of this!" he ordered. I stood my ground, showing no sign of retreat or regret. I wasn't going to let Shard get a paw laid on her.
"Leave," I roared, ready to zap this Pokémon to ashes.
He looked pretty skeptical, definitely showing signs of retreating. "Fine," he snarled bitterly, before he ran off into the trees with his shinx friend. When I was sure he was gone, I stopped my wild electricity, got out of attack posture, turned around and checked on Shard. She looked so frightened, so freaked out, so… hurt. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was shivering hard, her paws grabbing hard onto the spring grass.
"Shard, are you okay?" I asked, seriously worried. She opened her eyes slowly, and she had the most frightened look in her eyes. She seemed to calm down when she saw me, but still was looking scared. Her purple eyes were full of hold-backed tears. She looked as if she was going to burst out right then.
I wasn't wrong. She let the tears come running, unable to hold them back. She ran forward and rested her head on my shoulder, her warm tears sinking into my fur. She seemed to wrap her paws around me, like if I wasn't there, she would be tortured again. I put a paw on her back in support. She was so miserable, her tears soaking into my yellow pelt. She could take all the time she wanted, I didn't really mind.
"So… so scared," she mumbled miserably. I felt so sorry for her. After a few minutes, she pulled back, wiping her eyes with her blue paw.
"I'm… I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to do that, it's just that I was so scared, I just kind of lost it."
"It is okay, that seemed very frightening," I agreed sincerely. "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah," she answered, calmer. We made eye contact, her eyes looking way calmer than a few minutes before. We held the gaze for a minute, passing no words. Her eyes seemed to shine in the dawn light, despite the tears. She seemed to calm down when we starred at each other. She broke the stare, turning away, and I saw her blushing, with a cute smile on her face. I tried to think of what to say next.
"Hey Shard, do you want to hang out today or something?" I asked. Falcon would understand. Plus, it would give us a good chance to hang out with each other, Shard and I.
She looked up, smiling. "Sure," she answered confidently. I smiled back.
"Come on," I said, making a slow jog toward Silver Falls, that waterfall I was showed last week. I looked behind, Shard happily racing after me. After we ran a while, Shard ran ahead of me in a burst of energy. A race… this was going to be fun.
I ran hard, quickly running side by side, but decided not to use all I had, since I definitely too fast for Shard. She sped in front of me, and I ran ahead of her. In the end, I slowed down, and let her win kindly. We arrived at the base of Silver Falls, at the lake called Silver Waters.
"That was exciting," Shard exclaimed, finally not shy around me anymore. There were few Pokémon here at the waterfall, just lounging around, minding their business.
"Hey Thunder," Shard exclaimed. "Follow me; I know how to get to the top of Silver Falls! It's a beautiful view." We both smiled.
"Then what are we waiting for!" I yelled happily. She ran to the right side of the waterfall, and I followed. We ran side by side as we went up a small hill, a huge pile of rocks, and walked beside a river.
"Do you know what this river is called?" Shard asked.
"Let me take a guess, Silver River?" I answered
"Yep!" she replied.
We walked a little bit by the river, toward the edge of the waterfall. The grass was wet and a really dark shade of green up here. When we were at the edge of the cliff, where all the water fell down, we stopped and took in the beauty.
The mountains far in the distance could be easily seen from here. The mountains were on some other island, with the sun barely above it. The sky by the sun was pink and yellow, a mix of warm colors for a beautiful sight. I could see Frosty Hills, Orchard Hillside, and Forest Grotto. I saw several Pokémon already at Forest Grotto and Orchard Hillside, but they looked so small from up here. The water gleamed below, as if stars were in the water, and the sound of the waterfall up here wasn't like the crashing sound below, but more rhythmic, and I know how weird that sounds. The pine trees had darker shades of pine needles on the top of the tree, which was pretty cool.
"Wow, it's beautiful," I remarked.
"I know, it's fantastic," Shard agreed.
While we stood there, I decided that we should talk a bit. "So Shard, why was that luxio and shinx chasing you?" I asked, still staring at the view.
She didn't answer for a minute, and then she started. "The luxio's name is Lobo, and that shinx must be a part of his clan. Lobo is my enemy's brother, who has a greedy grudge against me." I looked over at her, and she had a serious expression.
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," I said.
"A long time ago, I wandered into her clan, as an eevee kit," she continued, as if I wasn't there and she was talking to herself. "She was a shinx. We… we were great friends." She stammered a bit on the last sentence.
"I was looking for her, and then I walked up into her den, and called out her name. She wasn't home, but her brother, Lobo, was. He… he came up to me, and said hi. We started to hang out together for a while. One time… we, we came up to the top of the waterfall, at night. He… he… he tried to kiss me." I jaw dropped.
"But you guys were just kids, right?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah, but he always wanted to mature faster so he could grow stronger," she replied, her voice raspy. "Anyways, I backed off before he could, and he got really angry at me. He thought that I loved him, but I said no. He growled at me, now hating me, and then threatened to tell his sister. I honestly had no idea what would happen if he did that, so I called him bluff. He ran away into the forest, angrily. I headed home after that. The next day… she… they…" she stopped talking. We didn't talk for a while, and just watched the sun go up slightly.
"I'm sorry I asked," I apologized.
"It's okay, it's good to get it off my chest," she responded.
"Well," I decided to change the subject. "What's your favorite berry?"
"Sitrus berries," she answered.
"Really, mine too."
"Yeah, it seems like everyone likes Oran and Pecha berries because they're more common, and everyone likes sweet flavors."
"I know, few people actually like Sitrus better than Oran, it's weird."
"Now… what's your favorite color?" she asked.
"Blue," I answered.
"Mine too."
"I see why," she started. "Your blue eyes are a nice shade of blue, they're cute." I smiled at the compliment. I looked over at her, and she was looking down at the ground, blushing. I didn't get why she blushed yet.
"Thanks, you have pretty eyes too," I complimented. She seemed to blush even more. Maybe when she's complimented or something, she blushes. I looked back at the view, but not at the sun, since it was too bright to stare at now.
"Hey Thunder," Shard started. "Do you want to head over to Orchard Hillside?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Why not?" she replied cleverly. Oh well, that was good enough persuasiveness right there.
"Okay, let's go," I agreed. "Race you to the bottom!" I yelled, before I ran back by the river. I looked behind me to see her following. I dashed down the rocks, and down the hill, but I tripped running down on the hill, and started to roll down. I didn't stop rolling down till I reached the bottom, and was laughing the whole time. I tried to get up, but I leaned to one side and fell again, dizzy. I laughed again. I looked up to see Shard rolling down the hill as well. She ran into me and we both laughed. We both got up, smiling.
"Come on, let's go," I said, still partly laughing, and we started to run side by side the whole way there.
Several Pokémon were there already. Some Pokémon were checking out that charred tree from that fight a few days ago, while most were just talking. Shard said she'd go and get apples for both of us while I waited there. I agreed, and watched her as she ran toward the apple trees.
Ruby's POV
With my friend, Emolga, we decided to go get a few apples from Orchard Hillside. We walked into the opening of the place, several Pokémon coming over to greet me. It was great to popular. There were several compliments and a few snide remarks. I told Emolga to go get the apples since I was a bit busy. I answered a few questions, but when the Pokémon seemed to keep coming, I told everyone to get away. They did as I said, since no one talks back to me, since everyone knows I'm popular. I walked across the field, and sat down in the shade of a pine tree, waiting for Emolga to bring the apples. I relaxed, lying down on the fresh spring grass. I'm glad that the apples had grown in so fast, despite there were only blooming blossoms on the branches a week ago. This spring apparently was coming up faster than usual.
That's when my eyes rested on someone. It was a jolteon, with cute blue eyes and wild fur, with the cutest red scarf. This Pokémon had to be new to the forest, since I would've noticed him before. What a cute Pokémon, he looked so handsome. I purred at the thought of him. He was alone, so it was probably time to introduce myself.
I got up and dashed over to him, but when I got close, I tried to act cool and look cute. I purred cutely, to get his attention. He looked over at me, looking a bit confused. I walked over to him slowly.
"Hi, you must be new to the forest, since I haven't noticed you before," I purred. He seemed to be very confused.
"Uh… yeah, I am," he answered skeptically.
"I'm Ruby, the popular luxray of Sugarcane," I introduced. "Everyone thinks I'm pretty, popular, and strong."
"Um… okay?" he answered kind of awkwardly.
"And you are?" I asked.
"Oh… uh… I'm Thunder," he answered, looking over his shoulder nervously.
"We should hang out some time," I purred.
"Uh…"
"Look, just ask anyone where the luxray clan is, they'll know, everyone knows." I winked at him, before I went back to the shade of the pine tree. Way to play it smooth. I looked back at him, and he was still staring at me.
He's mine, I thought with a purr. That was when Emolga came back with the apples. I grabbed the big red apple.
"Thanks Emolga," I thanked.
"No problem Ruby," she answered, and then she glided down next to me, and started eating while she was lying against my side.
While I kept munching into the delicious apple, I kept thinking over and over, with a purr, Thunder will be mine.
Shard's POV
With two apples, one in my mouth and one I carried clumsily in my left paw, I walked slowly back to Thunder. Today was a perfect day. I got to hang out with Thunder, we had great time together, I got rid of my nervousness around him, no more of me being lightheaded around him and no more awkwardness, and best of all, Ruby the luxray hasn't been here to ruin anything. I saw Thunder waiting in the same spot, on his back starring at the clouds. When I got closer, that's when he noticed me. He got up on his four paws again.
"Hi Shard," he greeted. "Thanks for getting me an apple." He quickly took the apple from my paw so I could walk normally again. I sat down next to him and we started to eat the apples, me smiling the whole time.
"Hey Shard, the craziest thing happened when you got the apples," Thunder brought up.
"Really, what is it?" I asked.
He took another bite of the apple and swallowed before he started. "A Pokémon came up to me, with some sort of cute act, wanting us to hang out and stuff, it was weird."
"Huh, really?" I replied. I wonder who he talked to.
"Yeah, I was actually pretty nervous. She said to ask anyone, and they would know where she lived. It was pretty strange, but she definitely wanted to get to know me."
"Huh," I wondered out loud. Could it have been Ruby, since she's popular? No, it couldn't be, there wasn't a motive… was there? I decided not to bring Ruby up.
"So Thunder, where do you want to go after we finish our apples?" I asked; glad that I could finally talk to him without stuttering.
"What about we stop by my place, I want to get my treasure bag so I could buy some stuff for us at Forest Grotto," he answered. I noticed that I was starting to blush, so I quickly looked away and took another bite out of my apple. I had to try and hide my crush on him better.
Thunder stood up. "Well I'm done," he stated. "What about you?"
"Almost," I responded, eating faster. After he waited for me for about a minute, I finished and stood up. "I'm ready."
"Okay, let's go, just follow me," he told, as we walked away from Orchard Hillside together. He started to head north, and after a while, we ended up at his den. I was glad I knew where his den was, since now I could come over when I wanted to hang out. Maybe we should stop by my den so I could give his Poké back.
"You can come inside if you want," he reassured. I smiled kindly. I followed him inside, gladly, and looked around his room. He had a small pile of berries in the back of the den, and a straw bed, and some Poké by the berry pile, but that was it. Maybe I could get one of those hollowed-out rocks so he could store his berries in it. Thunder went over to his straw bed, and grabbed a brown treasure bag with a blue lightning bolt on it.
"Cool treasure bag," I remarked.
"Thanks," he replied. We walked out of his den.
"Hey Shard," he started. "Want me to show you some landmarks so you can find my den easier?" I immediately blushed, and turned away.
"Of course," I responded, happily.
He showed me around the place. There was a group of three tree trunks, and a pile of rocks. The rocks had his scent on it, so that would help as well. "Thanks Thunder," I thanked. He smiled cutely, and then I looked away, afraid that I could start blushing again.
We then stopped by my den in Frosty Hills, and I gave back his Poké. He thanked me, than we accidently made eye contact, and stayed like that for a few seconds. We both broke the eye contact at the same time. I showed him all the landmarks by my den. First of all, he already knew it was in Frosty Hills, and then I showed him a tree that was struck by lightning during a storm, so it had a mark from where it accidently caught on fire. Another one was a small lake, really close. It was frozen at the moment.
We didn't head over to Forest Grotto yet. Thunder left his treasure bag in my den, and I took off my Purple Heart necklace and set it beside Thunder's treasure bag. We played in the snow, mostly jumping in powdery snow piles like they were leaf piles, laughing. I hid in a pile of powdery snow for a moment, and when Thunder was passing by, looking for me, I jumped out and pinned him down. We both laughed. We then made eye contact again, and we both smiled.
I had a sudden urge to kiss him right there, but I held back.
We didn't move from that position for a few seconds, holding the intense gaze, us both smiling the whole time. Then I got off him, starting to blush, and I burrowed my muzzle into the snowy ground amusingly. We both laughed.
That's when we headed over to Forest Grotto, my heart necklace back around my neck and Thunder's awesome treasure bag around his shoulders. We walked side by side, and I did it shyly, after having that urge to kiss him.
When we were there, the sun was halfway down the sky. My stomach growled, since I hadn't eaten since it was morning, and we played in the snow about a quarter of the day. Thunder said he'd buy us each something from Ninetales Café. We headed in, and we both at the same time ordered a Sitrus berry smoothie. We both laughed. The vulpix who took our order went off and told Ninetales in the kitchen. We both started to talk while waiting. We sat down at one of the wooden tables cut out of logs, so we sat down on the ground, on the same side of the table.
"So Thunder, when do you want to hang out again?" I asked.
"What about in three days?" he replied. I nodded in reply.
Ninetales Café was a building cut out of wood, so the place was rectangular. The outside was painted orange from some berry juice, and then they used some red berry to make a flame design on the outside. All the wooden tables were basically wooden blocks, painted with a red berry. Several vulpix took orders and were waiters, while Ninetales was the one who made the meals. The counter where you gave your orders was just like the design outside, except the fire design was blue.
"So Shard, how long have you've been living in Sugarcane?" Thunder asked.
"All of my life, so about sixteen years."
"Wow, that's certainly a long time."
"Where was your home town?" I asked.
"Maplewood. It takes a whole day to get there."
"I've heard of Maplewood, isn't that a sort of resort forest for vacation and stuff?"
"Yeah," he answered.
That was when a vulpix came by, holding the drinks in wooden bowls with two of his six tails. He placed it in front of us. Thunder grabbed some Poké from his treasure bag and gave the vulpix money for the drinks.
We drank down fast, and left the wooden bowls at the table. We walked out, enjoying our time together. It was sunset, about time to go home.
"Thunder, so I'll see you in three days?"
"Yeah, I'll come over to your place, and we'll have a day just like this one." I smiled when he said that.
"Great, because I would love to hang out with you again," I replied. When I realized I used the word 'love' in that sentence, I looked away so I wouldn't start to blush or make any eye contact.
"I'll come over early in the morning," he explained.
"Great, can't wait for it!" I exclaimed.
He then winked at me with a cute wave of the paw, and I just couldn't help but blush, but I waved back anyway. I hoped he didn't notice me blush.
I started to walk home, love struck. That had to be the greatest day of my life by far. The day may have started on the wrong start, but the rest of the day was enchanting. I couldn't wait till Thunder came over in about three days. I walked home, a bit exhausted, and curled up on the blanket that Skylar had given to me, slowly falling into a deep slumber, smiling.
Author's Note: Hey guys, most romantic chapter of Thunder and Ice yet! I got this chapter up really fast, but the next chapter might be slow getting up. I can't wait to get some more romantic chapters up. Thanks for reading, Shadow Snivy out!
