Swiftclaw was still fuming as his Flareon brother padded back into the makeshift camp.
"Swiftclaw! What's the matter?"
The Espeon didn't answer, but merely turned away, ignoring Fireheart's question.
"Come on, Swiftclaw. Tell me." Fireheart pleaded, coming up behind his brother.
"I don't want to talk about it." the Espeon murmured, stalking away from the concerned Flareon. He left Fireheart standing, a confused look on his face.
Leafpool gently brushed against her mate. "Don't worry, Fireheart. He's just a little worked up right now. He's your brother and he still loves you."
"I know, I just don't like seeing him like this."
"Just give him some time to cool off." Leafpool whispered as she gently licked Fireheart's ear.
Needlefur came trotting back into the small grassy clearing, a couple blue-gray Rawst berries in her mouth. Torrentpaw and Cinder followed her. Needlefur set her mouthful on the ground so she could speak. "Swiftclaw, we've got some breakfast for you."
"Thanks." he muttered impassively, approaching his mother to eat the Rawst berries.
Movement in the bushes across from Sapphire caught her attention. A quick sniff confirmed her guess as to what was approaching. An instant later, Ravenpaw and Frostpelt appeared out of the bushes. "It's about time you got back." she joked. "We were waiting on you."
Midday found the group of ten Pokemon standing in front of a cave set in an imposing rock face. Rustfur looked nervously at the gaping hole. "We have to go through that?"
"Yes, we do." Needlefur told him.
Rustfur was about to protest, but the sound of gravel crunching and several shouts interrupted him. A light emanated from the cave, growing bigger by the second.
"Move!" Torrentpaw shouted.
The ten Pokemon split into two groups of five, each one diving into the undergrowth on either side of the cave. No sooner had the leaves stopped rustling, than a Trainer came whizzing out of the cave, riding a two-wheeled object.
"What was that?" Sapphire asked, poking her head out of the bush.
"A Trainer." Rustfur answered, without thinking what Sapphire was asking about.
"I know that," she snorted. "I was asking about what they were riding on."
"Oh, that. It's a bike. Humans ride them around to get places faster." Rustfur explained.
"Gah! I forgot about this." Needlefur muttered. "This is a well-worn path used by many Trainers."
"So what's the problem?" Rustfur asked.
"Sapphire doesn't have a Trainer. I know it doesn't seem like it to you, Rustfur, but she's still a wild Pokemon. She can be caught." the Jolteon warned. "We'll have to be extremely careful. Thankfully the cave is rather short."
Looking across the path, Needlefur nodded to her mate and stepped out of the bushes and trotted warily into the cave.
Sapphire's sharp azure eyes let her easily see through the gloom, and her sensitive ears picked up the high-pitched clicks the Zubats used to navigate the dark cave. Rustfur stayed close to Sapphire, not because he was scared, but because he wanted to protect her.
Needlefur was right; the cave was short, and the group passed uneventfully through it in about fifteen minutes. On the other end of the cave the path continued on, lined by trees, much like the previous side, although they were much thicker.
Needlefur nodded toward the forest. "Let's get under the cover of those trees, so we can avoid as many Trainers as possible."
When they were safely amidst the trees, Sapphire asked Torrentpaw, "Can Rustfur and I keep watch tonight?"
Rustfur looked inquisitively at his parents, his gaze repeating Sapphire's question.
His mother nodded. "Yes, you can."
Rustfur looked back at Sapphire, a grin on his face. She had heard Leafpool's answer and was smiling as well. "So who's going to take first watch, you or me?"
Frostpelt smiled at Sapphire's eagerness and nudged her forward. "Let's wait until we actually stop for the night."
Several hours later, the sun had dropped below the treeline and the veil of night was quickly descending.
"All right, we can stop now." Needlefur said, punctuating her sentence with a huge yawn.
Rustfur tapped Sapphire with his tail. "Do you want me to take the first watch?"
"Are you sure you want to?" she asked, slightly concerned.
"Yes, if you go first, then have to wake me up, I won't be very attentive. Besides, it'll be darker when it's your turn."
"So?"
"Your eyes are much better than mine. You'll be able to see a whole lot better than I would."
"All right, you can go first. Wake me up if you get sleepy, though." Sapphire told him. The young Eevee then lay down and curled up.
Rustfur sat right behind her and draped his tail over her, causing the Eevee to look up at him through incredibly gentle blue eyes. "Good night, Sapphire." Rustfur whispered.
An overwhelming sense of pride hit Rustfur. Now he really felt like he was finally protecting Sapphire. As he looked down at the dozing Eevee in front of him, he was unaware of three pairs of eyes watching him from the gloomy undergrowth.
It seemed like no time had passed until Sapphire was woken up, at least for her. "Your turn." Rustfur murmured.
Sapphire blinked several times, then became instantly alert. She looked away from Rustfur and then shot off in that direction, using Quick Attack.
"Sapphire!" Rustfur took off after her, forgetting he was watching his family.
Darn it! I've lost her! She's too fast for me. Rustfur thought irritably, looking around. Then he caught Sapphire's scent and began following it. Rustfur guessed she was still moving quickly, because although the trail was fresh, it took him a while to catch up to her.
"Sapphire! What are you doing?"
She spun around at his voice. "I'm going to evolve." she responded bluntly. "Moss Rock is right behind me."
"Are you sure you want to evolve?" Rustfur asked. "There's no going back once you do."
"I don't care. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I can protect you." she answered, determination flashing in her eyes.
"If it's what you want to do, I won't stop you." Rustfur relented.
Sapphire whirled around and lightly touched the moss-blanketed mass of stone with her nose. A cool, gentle energy filled her body. The soft sand-hued fur around her neck disappeared and was replaced by two small leaves that now sat just under her chin and the back of her neck. Her fur lightened, coming to the same shade that the fur around her neck had been. Her ears widened and lengthened, much like her tail, which was thinning out considerably. Her body slimmed out smoothly. Finally, a curled leaf appeared on her forehead, followed by small brown leaves appearing just above her still-brown paws.
The brilliant light surrounding her finally faded and she turned around to face Rustfur. As she opened her eyes, Rustfur saw they were still the same dazzling shade of cerulean.
While Rustfur had been following her, the sun had been working its way above the trees, and now a ray of light fell upon Sapphire, reflecting off her cream-colored fur. As he stared at the Leafeon now the same height as himself, something hit him like a Body Slam.
This Pokemon that was slowly coming towards him was unbelievably beautiful. The gracefulness and elegance with which she moved hid the fact that she was a fierce fighter. Her short coat did little to hide the definition of her muscles now clearly visible in her shoulders and legs.
Rustfur could feel the strength in her body as she brushed against him. Gently, she closed his mouth with her broad tail. "C'mon Rustfur, close your mouth before a Pidgey makes a nest in it. Let's find something to eat. Evolving makes a Pokemon hungry."
Rustfur turned and followed the slender Leafeon. His mind was focused on one thing: Sapphire's evolved from. He was so distracted by this, he didn't notice when she stopped by a bush of Pecha berries.
He walked right into her, knocking her over. They fell in a heap, with Rustfur's forepaws on either side of Sapphire's head. She looked up at him, feeling her face beginning to redden with Rustfur being so close to her. "W-what's the matter, Rustfur?" she stammered, blushing even harder.
Rustfur was still in a trance-like state and he murmured dreamily, "You're so beautiful..."
"W-wha...?" If it were possible, the already bright red visible on Sapphire's cheeks intensified even more. "T-thank you... R-Rustfur, can you let me up?"
The Espeon obeyed, stepping backward. Sapphire scrambled up and stared at Rustfur, who still had a glazed look in his amethyst eyes. "Hello? Rustfur...?" This attention he was giving her was scaring her slightly. She tried raising her voice a little. "Rustfur? Rustfur?" Still nothing. "Rustfur! Stop it!" she cried, lashing out a lithe paw with a speed and power that surprised her. She batted Rustfur in the side of the head. The blow knocked Rustfur clean off his feet. Sapphire gasped with shock. "Rustfur!" Apparently, her evolution had done more than just infatuate Rustfur; it looked like it had also doubled her physical strength. "Rustfur! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! I didn't even want to! You were just scaring me! I'm sorry!"
Rustfur groaned and shook his head. "Ow... Reminds me of when we met. You nailed me upside the head then, too. Wasn't I staring at you then, as well? I just can't get used to how beautiful you are."
"You really think I'm beautiful, Rustfur?" Sapphire asked, still blushing.
"Sapphire..." Rustfur could clearly see the red under her short, pale fur. "You're blushing. Do you not like me telling you you're beautiful?"
"No, no. I-it's not that." she quickly corrected him. "It's just that I'm not used to hearing that. You can keep telling me, as long as you're not daydreaming."
"Then this might be a little less flattering: You're extremely cute when you're blushing."
"Thank you Rustfur. That sounds better." she sighed. "I'll get used to you telling me that eventually."
"I don't know why you're shy about that. You are really cute."
Both Espeon and Leafeon spun around and froze at the sight. Three Absols stepped out of the trees. The largest was easily a foot or more taller than either Rustfur or Sapphire and had a long scar over one eye, suggesting he was no stranger to fighting. The other two were smaller, but bulkier.
"Ho ho, yer right, Boss. She is a pretty liddle one."
The three Dark-type Pokemon slowly approached the young Espeon and Leafeon, sneering wickedly.
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Author's Notes:
Evolution number two. But, will it help with fending off these Absols, who we might
have seen earlier?
To those who don't feel like waiting to read chapters that I have not yet posted,
allow me to refer you to my deviantArt page under the same name; "Eeveexpert".