Ch. 10-The Burden
After she fell back asleep, she had a horrifying nightmare.
"Kenshin, who are you?"
"That doesn't matter, does it?" Then he would try kiss her.
She would back away. "Who are you?"
"Your super sexy brother, obviously. Wanna kiss again?"
Then she screamed, and woke up, all sweaty. "Just a dream… he is probably not your brother." Yet no matter what she said to herself, she knew that the lack of Sylveons could make it a completely real possibility.
"Kenshin." She nudged him gently, and he pulled himself up and yawned.
"Mmph. What is it, Asami?"
"You know… your mother's name… what was it?"
"My mom's name? Why?"
"Oh, just a little curious…"
He frowned at her. "I'll tell you once you tell me why you need to know."
"Well, umm… I was just thinking… if both our mothers are Sylveons, then could it be that we… might be… related?"
He thought about it for a bit, then said, "I don't know. Could be. We could be half-siblings. Which would be… pretty nasty." He made a disgusted face, and Asami gulped. "Well, my mom's name… I honestly don't know…"
"WHAT? How do you not know your mother's name?"
He shrugged. "It didn't really matter. She took care of me, and that was that."
She sighed. "Well, there goes any chance of us finding out if we are siblings…"
"Hang on. How old are you?"
"Umm… 15 and about a month.
"I'm 15 and about 8 months… so technically, if my mom gave birth to me, then was impregnated the next day, and gave birth to you waaayy prematurely, and you happened to grow to full size…"
"So…"
"It's very unlikely. And I mean very. I wouldn't be too concerned about it."
She couldn't shake the thought. "Is it still possible?"
"Yeah. Definitely possible, highly unlikely."
She sighed. "This has to be one of the weirdest, most awkward moments ever."
He shrugged. "You're still very attractive. But for the moment, yeah… I'm not going to kiss you until we have solid proof…"
"Agreed."
Mitsuki and Ko were waking up now. Mitsuki yawned before looking at them. "You two look like you're just seen the inside of a Shedninja. What happened?"
Kenshin sighed. "We thought about our parents, and believe that we could be half-siblings. We don't know for sure…"
"EEWW!" said Mitsuki. "That has to be one of the grossest things I've ever heard!"
"Shut up! We don't know for sure!" Kenshin sounded a little upset, then looked outside the window into the sunlight. "Hmm… we should get moving. Something…"
He didn't finish speaking before he slowly formed a star of water (he can do that?!) then spun around and threw it into a far corner. It hit something before it touched the door, and then promptly fell down.
Kenshin walked over toward where the shuriken of water had fallen, then slowly planted his foot on the shuriken. Suddenly, a Kecleon appeared, apparently KO'd. "Hmph. Do you recognize this guy?"
Asami looked at him. "Yeah, that's Toru. He… he's one of our spies!"
The shuriken quickly vaporized, then Kenshin picked up his small body. "Not a very good spy, is he?"
She shrugged. "You're not gonna kill him though, right?"
"No. I wouldn't kill him. But we have to run. He knows we're here, and I'll bet my tail the army isn't far behind. Let's move."
The four of them quietly walked out of the inn, and looked around carefully. Asami recognized some of her father's soldiers there, in particular, Zun the Lucario. Zun was a skilled fighter, and was known for his ferocity in battle. As much as she respected Kenshin, she knew a fight would result in injury.
Kenshin seemed to feel it, then said, "Quietly follow Ko. They'll expect us to be together, so if they see an Espeon with an Umbreon, they'll assume it wasn't you. Ko!"
"Yeah, Kenshin?"
"Get Asami out of this building. I'll take care of getting Mitsuki out."
The two of them nodded at each other, then Ko walked to Asami's side. "Wrap your tail around mine," he said quietly, and she did as instructed.
"Halt!" It was Zun.
Ko sighed. "What is it? I'm taking my girlfriend home."
"What are your names?"
"I'm Ko the Umbreon, and this is… umm… Aria."
Zun looked at her, and for a moment, she thought he would stop her, but then he said, "Whatever. Move on."
The two of them walked outside. A few minutes later, Kenshin and Mitsuki came out.
Kenshin looked nervous. "I could feel it… that guy radiates power. And a lot of it. He looked like he could beat me in a matter of seconds…"
Asami decided not to think about it. "Where should we go now?"
Ko responded. "Keep heading North. There are numerous cities we can pass through. However, I heard there is a jungle around here somewhere that we have to go through. It's supposedly dangerous, so we should be careful."
The others all nodded in agreement. "Hey, you four, halt!"
It was Zun. "Run!" shouted Asami.
All four of them ran straight ahead, with the Lucario and his helpers in pursuit. Eventually, they came to the jungle.
They all stopped for a rest, and saw they had opened up a little bit of space. "Ready?" huffed Ko.
They all nodded then headed in.
Zun waved for his men to stop. "They won't make it through there. But we should wait at the other side just in case."
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Inside the jungle, they had to move slowly. The forest severely slowed them, and they were only about a fourth of the way through by nightfall.
They all split up to find food, and agreed to meet up back here.
"Be careful!" said Kenshin, before he disappeared. Ko and Mitsuki headed away together, and Asami sighed and turned around.
After awhile, Asami returned to the clearing to find that none of them were there yet.
"Hmm…" She sat there for awhile, eating some berries. But they still didn't return. "I should probably look for them…"
She got up and walked in the direction she had seen Kenshin walk, and, before she knew it, she heard voices. They were very low in pitch, and were incomprehensible.
She dove into some bushes on the side, and saw some large pink feet come past.
"Bleh bleh bleh?
"Blah! Bloh bleh!"
"Blaa…"
Likitungs! Behind them were three large sacks, being dragged across the ground. Oh no…
"Blargh?" One of them stopped in front of her, then bent over. Oh! She quietly slid behind a nearby tree. It stopped to look, but didn't see anything and continued moving.
"Whew!" She sat down, and tried to think. Chances were that those were her friends. It was the only answer. She had to follow them! She quietly slipped in behind the last Likitung, and followed their noises, just out of sight. Pretty soon, they came to a large clearing, and placed the sacks down. They dumped out the insides, and, as expected, her three friends were lying there unconscious.
"Blah!"
"Bleh bloh."
The three of them were then tied up, still unconscious. "Don't worry guys, I'll help you," she whispered.
She sat down, and tried to plan. "What would Kenshin do?" But she wan't Kenshin. Obviously, he would think out every possible plan, then choose the most effective. She thought of her options. There were some assets she had; planning, her psychic powers, and her charm. Hmm… this might actually work!
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Kenshin remembered waking up feeling a little sticky. Then he remembered. The Likitungs! They had come out of nowhere. He had done his best to fight them off, but even he couldn't take on 20 of them at once. He remembered getting hit with power whip, then fainting. It looked like Ko and Mitsuki had met a similar fate. They still seemed unconscious. But Asami… she wasn't there…
A few minutes later, he heard a noise behind him. He tried craning his neck to see, but couldn't see anything. Then he heard a voice. It was Asami!
"Excuse me! I was lost… I was wondering if you could help me!" She walked in front of Kenshin, but didn't look at him.
"Bleah?" One of the Likitungs spoke.
"I'm looking for my friends in the woods. If you help me find them, I'll give you boys a present!" She winked at them, and they all nodded.
"Bleh Blah! Bleeeh!" All the Likitungs fanned out through the jungle, seemingly forgetting about the three they had just captured.
"Kenshin! My Arceus, I thought you were done for!" She untied him, then gave him a hug. "Try wake up Mitsuki and Ko!"
He gently nudged the two of them, and their eyes blinked open. "I remember tongues everywhere… what a weird dream…" said Ko.
"We gotta go!" said Asami. "Those Likitungs will be back any second!"
They all ran after her, as fast as possible, but they still heard the voices, very angry. "We have to hide!" said Mitsuki. "There!"
She pointed to a large waterfall, and Kenshin nodded. "It looks like there is a cave there! Lets go!" The four of them quickly went into the cave behind the waterfall, and waited quietly. After an hour, the noises died down.
"I'll check," said Kenshin, and before anyone could argue, he slipped into the water. He came back quickly, and said, "It's clear. We should start moving!"
But they were all tired, running through the night. "Let's rest here! It's so late!" said Asami. "We can bathe here too!" The four of them all walked out under the falls, and Ko and Mitsuki promptly started making out. "You two better not start making love again!" said Asami.
"Just leave them. Asami…" He turned to her, and she looked back at him.
"Yeah?"
"Even if you're my sister, I still love you, princess." He gave her a hug.
"I love you too. But we can't be mates if we're related… that's gross and inbreeding, Kenshin."
"Kenshin…" He heard a voice he had not heard in a long time.
He turned around. "Sister… Yumi…"
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Asami didn't know if she had met a pokemon as graceful as Yumi. Yumi was quiet polite, and shared her younger brother's good looks. If Kenshin had been a Flareon and a girl, she might have mistaken them.
The five of them sat around a fire within the cave, courtesy of Yumi. "Little brother… what are you doing here?"
"I've been accused of attempting to murder the emperor, so I had to escape."
She listened quietly. "How's dad?"
"Fine. Quiet as ever, lethal as ever."
She chuckled. "Yeah, that's dad."
"Where's Tsumochi? You know, your Manectric boyfriend."
She looked down. "Gone. We got into an argument not long ago, and we broke up." She sighed. "Dad was right. Maybe I shouldn't have left… who are your friends? I recognize that Umbreon… he has the same look as when he was an Eevee… Ko, right?"
He grinned. "Nice to meet you, Yumi. We've missed you…"
"I remember… you and my brother… the two prodigies!"
They both shrugged uncomfortably. "Kenshin has far surpassed me. But you were the talented one!"
She turned away. "Killing is wrong. That's why I left my dad. I couldn't do it. I sure hope he has changed…" She looked back at Asami. "You… Espeon… I don't recognize you. Nor the Glaceon."
"I'm Asami, and this is Mitsuki. Mitsuki is Ko's mate."
She studied Asami curiously. "You are my brother's girlfriend, aren't you?"
"No!" She blushed.
Yumi smiled, and said, "Denial, denial… Kenshin, you've sure scored…"
"Sister, please just shut up… besides, she might be related to us…"
"Oh really? I don't think so. How old are you?"
"15 and a month."
"Kenshin?"
"15 and seven months."
"There you have it, not related. In fact, I'm surprised Kenshin still remembers me. I left the tribe when Kenshin was one year, and I heard mom left shortly after. Mom wasn't pregnant at that time. So there you have it. Not related."
Mitsuki's legs collapsed in pure relief. "Thank, Arceus…"
Kenshin also looked relieved. "Yeah, thanks Yumi."
She blinked. "Well, it would have been a nasty surprise, eh? Here, Asami, come here. I want to talk to you. Privately, little brother."
Kenshin shrugged. "I was going to go wash up. But I'll talk to you outside, later."
She nodded, and Yumi beckoned her. "Asami… I need to talk to you about my brother."
She frowned. "What?"
"My brother is in love with you. I can tell. I've seen it enough times. Have you kissed, yet?"
"Yes. Once… no, twice, I think."
"Take care of my little brother, Asami. He's a special pokemon… but so are you. Oh right, one more thing… I can tell from a mark on your tail you two are mated. But judging from the two of you, it seems that you two aren't true mates. And I'm going to tell you a secret, and it's that I'm sterile. I cannot have kids, meaning Kenshin is the only one who can pass on our family name. And because you're the only one he can choose as a mate…"
"Oh my…"
"Exactly. Our whole family is counting on you, Asami. Our entire family needs you and Kenshin to have children some day!"
What's next? Sex? Naww, you'll have to wait awhile for that…;) But read and review!