Chapter Eleven - Mysteries of the Horizon
Special Thanks to: Polarissb
Azure crept through the tall grass, alert of his surroundings. He was being hunted. He tried being quiet like Evening had showed him, as quiet as a half-coordinated sneasel cub can be, but to little avail. The predator would soon catch up to him. In the corner of his eye, he caught the predator's figure in the tall grass. It was smelling for him.
The sneasel ran in the opposite direction. The predator detected him. It had no need to be stealthy anymore; its prey was considered caught. The predator lunged out, snarling. It pinned Azure to the ground under its large paw. The sneasel played dead, wishing he didn't get caught.
"And you're dead." Evening said, lifting his paw. "At least you lasted longer than your clutchmates."
Azure stood, shaking his fur out. "Why can't I stay hided?"
"This is why we practice, Azure, so you can stay hidden. If you try to hide in a spot that doesn't make as much noise, a predator hunting you will search elsewhere." The absol lowered his head to his son. "Come on, let's go to the others." He picked the sneasel up by his scruff.
Azure instinctively didn't move as his father carried him to his mother, brother, and sister.
"He lasted pretty long," Echoes remarked.
"Ugh, why does he always win?" Flurry whined.
Evening set Azure down. "Because he's rather smart in where he hides. The first place he hides in is in the shade of a bush with blue flowers. Not a cotton field."
Flurry gave Evening a dour glare.
"Then how come I got found first?" Chill asked, his tails low to the ground.
"You were just unfortunate I tripped over you." Evening said. "If I hadn't, you'd remain uncaught for a while longer."
Chill stared at the dirt at his feet.
"Hey, you'll get better." Echoes encouraged, nosing her biggest son. "Everyone gets better with practice."
Evening nodded. "Come on. Let's keep going." He led the group, Echoes making sure all the cubs were between them.
It was two days since they left the mountain. After that, the same events would happen over and over again. They'd travel for hours, occasionally meeting another pokémon, to which Evening would warn them of the imminent storm, and continue onward across the densely-wooded thicket.
As dawn rose, they settled to rest. Evening took care of the cubs while Echoes fished in a stream. Azure laid around, finding the dirt wall of the den fascinatingly boring. Chill stretched beside his father while Flurry groomed herself.
"Da," Chill yipped. "Tell us a story of the harbingers."
Azure's ear twitched. Finally, something to shake things up.
Evening yawned, rolling onto his back to stretch. He relaxed, allowing the sneasels to jump up on his belly and snuggle in his soft fur. Flurry and Chill took up the invitation, while Azure just flopped to his other side.
The absol paused, thinking. He inhaled, then exhaled, the sneasels rising and falling on his belly. "Once, there was a young son of an oracle. This pokémon and his father were shunned by other pokémon. One day, the oracle left, abandoning the son and leaving him alone in the world. Shortly after he left, the son had a message given to him by the Whisperer of Death, saying good times were ahead, only to be shattered by an unnecessary death.
"You see, one day, the young pokémon met eyes with the chieftain's daughter, a beautiful young pokémon with the grace of a swanna. The two met later in the day, exchanging their woes of daily life and learning to trust one another. The female's parents, a revered warrior and his chieftain mate, both were gone, so instead, her guardian, a pokémon of nobility, reared her to become chieftain one day. However, the oracle's son and the chieftain's daughter met in secret over and over, slowly falling in love.
"After months of meeting in secret, the oracle's son asked the chieftain's daughter to become his mate, to which she agreed. She did not reveal this to the public, but soon it became clear she'd taken on a mate. When the guardian found out, she demanded to know who the father of the chieftain's daughter's cubs was. She was silent, but the guardian did learn the identity of the lover. The guardian confronted the oracle's son, cursing him for mingling his bad blood with nobility. Then she announced she would kill him.
"The young pokémon fought back, defending himself from certain death. He never truly gained an upper claw in the fight. After a long battle, the guardian finally got the young pokémon at her mercy. Desperate, the young pokémon struck upward, right to her throat. He heaved her weight off him and backed away, horrified at his actions. At first, he felt horrible that he'd done such a thing, but as he watched her bleed out, as he heard her curse him, his heart hardened, and he left her there to die.
"The land threw into uproar as to who had killed the chieftain's daughter's guardian. Few knew she was even expecting, let alone who her lover was. The oracle's son and the chieftain's daughter resolved to run away together, which they did. No one heard from them ever again."
The abrupt ending made Azure want to hear more. It didn't end like most of the stories Evening or Echoes told them, sour and with no real resolution.
Apparently Flurry thought the same. "That's it?" she prompted, tilting her head to one side.
Evening shook his head. "No, but that's the bulk of the story. The couple lived as happy lives as they could…neither mostly happy nor mostly bad."
It was then that Azure noticed his mother standing at the entrance, carrying a fish in her jaws. Azure didn't know how long she'd been there, but judging from her expression, frazzled and nervous, she'd been there long enough. The weavile set the fish down on the smooth slate stone in the den.
"I've got a basculin for everyone," Echoes announced. "Be glad it's not a magikarp or a barboach."
Evening wrinkled his nose at the other fish listed. "Ugh, yes."
"What's a barboach?" Chill asked.
"It's an…edible fish, but it's so skinny, it's not worth the catch." The absol shooed his cubs off his belly and flipped over. "And magikarp takes forever to descale, whereas basculin doesn't have as many scales to remove before eating it." Evening divided up the basculin among his family, then roasted it with his fire. "Basculin tastes remarkable when it's set on fire, though."
As Azure ate his share of the basculin, he noticed the wary look his mother gave his father. Evening noticed Echoes, sat up from his meal, and tilted his head inquisitively. Echoes mouthed something to Evening Azure couldn't quite make out other than the first word, "What". Evening nodded, mouthing, "I'll explain later". The two returned to their meal, Echoes seeming on-edge.
After everyone finished eating and cleaned up the bones, Evening and Echoes took turns grooming the cubs before telling them to settle down for the night.
"We'll be outside talking," Echoes said, casting a nervous glance at Evening.
"Come out only if you need it." Evening added. "Unless someone's bleeding, has a bone broken, or is in agonizing pain, please don't interrupt us."
Azure settled in amongst his clutchmates, watching his mother and father exit the shallow den in the dappled pre-dawn light. For ages, he tried to relax his mind, but the air of tension between his parents kept him awake.
Why was Ma so worried about Da? Was it the story he told to us that got her mad? He lifted his head to see the early rays of sunlight shimmer down through the cave. Evening and Echoes hadn't returned. He checked his brother and sister to see if they were asleep, and after confirming it, slowly stood and quietly left the den.
He found the two curled up together, Evening resting his head on Echoes's shoulders and their tails entwined. An odd scent filled the air, one Azure hadn't smelled before. It surrounded the area, and it seemed as if they'd covered the place in the odd scent. Azure shook the thought away and returned to his more important topic.
"Ma?" Azure whispered. "Da? Can I ask you something?"
Echoes lazily lifted her eyelids. "Azure, what are you doing up?"
"Um…" the sneasel hummed, "I wanted to ask you something and I didn't think it was the best time…"
Echoes inhaled deeply, twisting and stretching out her limbs and spine, waking Evening up in the process. Evening moved off Echoes and resettled himself, trying to go back to sleep. "What is it, sweetie?" The weavile nosed for him to snuggle up beside her.
"You've acting weird since Da told me and my brother and sister the story. Why were you acting weird?"
Echoes paused, eying the white furball beside her. "It's…very sensitive…"
"Was it something Da did that made you mad?" Azure asked. "Was him telling us the story that got you mad?"
The weavile stared the sneasel in the eyes. "Azure, I'm not mad at your father. I'm anything but that. I'm more…worried." Her gaze softened.
"Why are you worried?"
She paused again, her feathers pressed against her head. "I'm not sure now is the best time to let you know of certain things. You are a child. Children shouldn't worry themselves over things like these." She touched his nose with hers. "When you are a year old, I will tell you why it had me anxious."
"How long will that take?"
Echoes smiled, stroking her son's pelt with a black claw. "You'll be a year before you know it." She groomed his pelt a little, easing him. "Now go back to the den and get some sleep. Da and I will be back shortly."
Azure stood, nodding while yawning. As much as he hated admitting it, he did feel rather drowsy. He made his way back to the den, then settled in for a dreamless sleep.