Chapter 10

In a way, Jolt's wish had been granted; when the two Jolteons arrived at the cave, they were met by the rest of the cave's inhabitants, who it appeared had been waiting for them. Jolt just looked at them, confused, but when Sparky saw this, she couldn't help but feel a slight nervousness begin to form in the pit of her stomach. When Jolt stepped forward and crossed the threshold of the cave, it was dead silent. In front of him stood Snow, but the Jolteon couldn't read the mix of emotions on her face. He started towards her but was stopped when Midnight blocked his path.

"Good morning, honey!" she said loudly, flashing Jolt a grin that intimidated him.

"Honey?" Sparky repeated, confused, but Midnight continued on, ignoring the interruption.

"I hope you've had a good morning, because I sure haven't." At this, the Umbreon began to move, circling the Jolteon with unsettlingly precise footsteps. "Its been a real pain trying to explain to all of my roommates why they can't have you, you know." Midnight stopped just behind the stunned Jolt, then turned around and spoke just behind his ear, but loud enough for everyone else to hear. "I was hoping you'd help me explain to them that you're MY mate."

For a tense second, Jolt just stood there, totally frozen. He had figured that Midnight would press this eventually, but he'd hoped that when she did, they could talk about what happened in private. Instead, she chose the absolute last place that he wanted to breach the subject with her in. The cave was silent while Jolt's mind raced to come up with a reply, but his mind drew a total blank. The tense quiet was thick enough to be sliced with a claw, and as it drew on and on, it began choking the Jolteon. Just when he was about to suffocate, the trance he was in was shattered by one of the last voices he thought he would've heard.

"That's enough, Midnight. His silence is all the proof I need." Everyone turned to see a rather annoyed-looking Snow march right up to Midnight and push herself in between the two. "If you two were the inseparable couple you said you were, he would've agreed with you by now," she continued. The normally quiet and passive Glaceon stunned Midnight in much the same way she had stunned Jolt. "I don't know what you've done to or with him, but things obviously aren't the way you think they are."

Midnight recovered from her paralysis much faster than Jolt did. Her eyes narrowed, and a low, hateful growl emanated from her throat. She took a threatening step towards Snow, who didn't flinch or change her annoyed expression in the slightest.

"You little whelp…" Midnight seethed, and the situation might have erupted into violence very shortly after that if the Umbreon hadn't been interrupted by Sparky.

"You might have mated with him Midnight," she said as she stepped forward. "But don't think that you're with him now because of it."

"But…" Midnight tried to protest, but Sparky's words might as well have been a painful arrow that was shot straight into her side. That was exactly what she was afraid of hearing, and coming from someone that she actually respected made them hurt that much more. All around her they were staring, and she suddenly felt very alone. The Umbreon was already out the entrance of the cave and into the snow before the first tear rolled down her cheek.

Jolt watched Midnight run off with a mixture of discomfort and sadness. He hadn't really known how he wanted things to be resolved between the two of them, but it certainly hadn't been like this. He debated running after her for a moment but was stopped by Snow's cool paw as it worked its way into his. He turned around to see her looking at him, but she didn't seem mad. This might have served to cheer Jolt up some if guilt hadn't wormed its way into the mix of emotions he currently had stewing in his gut.

At the mouth of the cave, a triumphant Sparky stood, glowing silently. Not only had she dealt with Midnight and bailed her love out of that situation, but she had probably just taken care of some competition, all with a few words said on the fly. Around her, the others were staring at either the direction Midnight had run off in or Sparky herself with ranging emotions on their faces, but the Jolteon couldn't really bring herself to care. No one seemed to know what to do, so she decided to make the first move. She calmly made her way over to Jolt and brushed her pelt up against his, causing several sparks to fly as their charged furs made contact.

Snow saw the way Jolt flinched when Sparky touched him. The Glaceon, recently emboldened by and still riding the high of adrenaline from confronting the Umbreon would not let this stand. She had just endured an entire morning of that yellow-ringed bitch gloating about screwing with HER Jolt twice, and there was no way that Sparky would take him away to do the same thing, even if she did own the cave they lived in. Like she had with Midnight, Snow moved in between the two Jolteons and began staring Sparky down, who wore an amused expression as this happened.

"Hey Snow, would you mind moving? I want Jolt to pick out a good spot in my room for this beautiful thunderstone he gave me." After that, she turned to face Jolt, who was currently alternating between staring at Snow and back at her, so she added, "I think it would look great near my bed. Though, that isn't the only thing I want in there.~"

Snow saw through Sparky's blatant attempt to distance her from Jolt emotionally like she had with Midnight, but the Glaceon remained as stone-faced as ever, wearing an annoyed scowl. Rather than moving aside, she grabbed Jolt by the arm and yanked him towards her, pulling him away from Sparky. Once again, the tense silence fell over the room and everyone looked uncomfortable except Snow and Sparky, who just looked pissed.

"Move it, Snow. I'm not gonna ask you again," Sparky growled, suddenly becoming very, very serious.

"Why should I? He isn't your mate," Snow shot back, putting as much venom into her words as she could.

"He isn't yours, either," Sparky retorted, quickly becoming tired of this game. "You might have come here with him, but he obviously doesn't care about you that much if he still went off with Midnight."

Snow knew exactly what Sparky was doing and tried not to let her anger overcome her and give in to Sparky's games. When the Jolteon mentioned Midnight, Snow didn't even need to think about what she was doing. She braced her hind legs and felt a rush of freezing air fill her mouth and harden her teeth as she prepared an ice fang that tear the smug right out of her.

"He isn't either of yours!" came a new voice from the crowd of onlookers, just in time to stop Snow from pouncing. All eyes focused on a nervous yet determined-looking Flame. "I… I like Jolt too! And I-I wanna be with him! He isn't either of yours, so I might as well make him mine!"

Jolt was taken aback by the Flareon's sudden confession. Her words would probably have turned his face the same shade of red as hers if a fight wasn't currently beginning right in front of him. Then out of nowhere, his vision shifted to the cave ceiling, which began moving. Only when everything slowed down did Jolt register that he had Breeze's ribbon wrapped around his leg and was now staring up at her. He scrambled to his feet just as the tension broke and almost every other person in that cave rushed him, fighting each other in the process. He watched, eyes widened with fear as he was quickly surrounded on all sides and fought over. They hit him while attacking each other, grabbed at him, tore at his pelt and even had his eye jabbed once. All of the shouting and confusion was overwhelming to the Jolteon, who felt his emotions slip away from him.

"That is ENOUGH!" He roared. Jolt's fur bristled for an instant before he unleashed a very powerful Discharge. The terrified Jolteon did not hold back and the attack sent everyone who was near him flying backwards, sparks leaping from their singed bodies.

Horror began to set in as Jolt realized what he'd just done. He scanned the forms of his friends that he had just blasted, making sure that everyone was still breathing at the very least. They were, but those who were the closest to him to caught the worst of the attack, and River was down for the count due to the type difference. Following the horror came rage as he calmed down just enough to be angry instead of scared.

"I do not belong to any of you!" Jolt shouted at those who were still conscious. Aside from this, he really didn't know what else to say. He quickly turned around and began stomping towards his room, only glancing over his shoulder once. He locked eyes with Snow and immediately began to regret just blasting everyone. He hoped she and everyone else would forgive him after a little while, but he didn't look back again.

Sparky had been thrown from her feet by the shockwave but hadn't been hurt by it. She quickly scrambled to pick up her thunderstone, then glanced at the pile of bodies for less than a second before retreating to her own room. She had been so close to sealing the deal with Jolt before they were interrupted, she thought as she walked. Before she had even crossed the threshold into her room, she decided that Snow was going to have to be removed from the picture, as soon as possible.