Author: Hey Alisa? Come check this out.
Alisa: What do you want? Woah! What the… Who said my name?
Author: Isn't it cool! I installed it last night. It tells people who's talking.
Alisa: But does this mean… Hey! He said it again! Who's talking?
Author: Isn't it cool though? Do you like it?
Alisa: No! I hate it! We should go back to the old version. (Searches room for the person who's talking) What the heck? Why did he say that? How does he know what I'm doing? Where are you!
Author: (Laughs). Relax Alisa. Hey? You don't need to say aloud that I laughed. The audience can hear that.
Alisa: Yeah! And quit saying my name before I talk! It's annoying!
Narrator: Ok.
Author: There, that settles everything. Just say names when we talk. Except for Alisa because she hates that.
Umbreon: Good. Now I don't have to hear my name every time… Ok? Umbreon! Really? I have a name!
Narrator: Well what do you want me to call you?
Umbreon: You can call me… Lord of darkness and time! No, ruler of all the earth! No, the coolest Umbreon in all of history!
Narrator: Ok, I'll say that from now on.
Author: Good, that's settled. I'm starting to regret this new software but maybe it'll help with understanding the author notes. Not that any of you guys read them anyways ;)
Immature Umbreon: Yeah. Nobody reads… Alright! That's it! (Finds narrator behind the couch) Hah! You're dead now!
Narrator: No wait! I didn't mean it! (Get's tackled by immature Umbreon)
Author: Um, well that went well. Anyways, sorry that this chapter is sort of short. And I'm definitely sorry that I haven't written anything in TWO WEEKS! I'm pretty sure the next chapter should make up for this one's shortness :P
Selfish Umbreon: I think it's been like three weeks since you've written anything. (Continues to tackle Narrator)
Author: Whatever. Let me know if you guys have any questions. And thank you so much for reviews! You guys are all awesome!
Narrator: Enjoy! Ow! (Gets bitten by immature Umbreon)
…
(On a side note, what do you guys think about putting names with the chapters? Or better yet, do any of you want me to put a summary of what happened earlier before each chapter? Let me know if you want this to happen or if it'll help with your reading. Have a bodacious day!)
Chapter 37
Tailo ran, and ran, and ran.
By the time he stopped, he was standing next to the small stream that flowed near Razors cave. The Eevee's cave however was already out of sight. Tailo had ran as far as he dared. Even the grass around him was less green than before.
The Fennekin finally stopped. He stood there heaving. His neck stung deeply.
Even worse than his neck, were his emotions. Anger, pain, fear… He could hear paw steps coming up to him quickly. Shadow was catching up to him.
The poor Fennekin was crying. What had he done?
Shadow ran right up, and skid around to face him in the eyes. "Tailo!"
Tailo snapped awake. He forced his red eyes to look up and he saw Shadow's worried look.
Tailo tried to speak, but he couldn't. He tried but his mouth shuddered and he struggled to even breath. He was in too much shock.
Shadow realized what was going on. He didn't know what happened though, just that this tough Fennekin had something done to him that was horrible. "Tailo. Come on, talk! What happened!"
Tailo tried again. He opened his mouth. But stopped and backed up. He slipped and struggled to stand upright. His paws were shaking even when he was sitting down.
"What happened?" Shadow demanded. "How am I supposed to stop the danger if you won't tell me? Who attacked you?"
Tailo's ears shot up. He stared at Shadow in wonder.
"Was," He found his voice, but it was just a whisper. "Was I, attacked?" He looked down at his neck fur straining to see where the stinging was coming from. The Fennekin was in too much shock to think.
There was blood. Blood dripped from his neck. The Fennekin started to feel nauseous just by staring at it.
Shadow stared as the Fennekin started to black out. Tailo collapsed to the ground and lay still.
The lack of movement helped his mind to recover. "Shadow? What…"
Shadow interrupted him. He looked about him in worry. "Tailo? Where is it? What attacked you?"
Tailo tried to think again. He remembered what happened slowly. Did someone attack him? Or did he attack someone?
Shadow tried his best to help. The Fennekin was injured but it wasn't too bad. Shadow knelt down and held his paws against the wound knowing that it would help. The wound hurt a lot but if it wasn't for Tailo's shock he would've been crying from the wound and not his feelings.
Tailo tried again. He was finally able to breath. "Shadow? I, I hit…" He stopped. His face fell to the ground and his eyes closed. He was too tired to think, too scared to try.
Shadow tried a different approach. "Ok. Just calm down instead. Try and recover."
Immediately the Fennekin panicked. "No. No, I need to talk." His voice stuttered again and his panic set in
"Tailo. Please?" Shadow pleaded.
Tailo tried to stand. His paws shook and his tail twitched back and forth.
"Sh, Shadow?" He whispered. He tried to talk but nothing came out. His voice still twitched with shock. His tail stood unnaturally erect, his ears strained against his head. Even his eyes stared at Shadow with the utmost fear.
Shadow didn't know what to do. "Tailo? Please! Sit down or you'll faint."
Tailo did sit down. He obeyed the Umbreon and lay down while recovering from his panic. He didn't realize that half of why he was so tired was from running so far.
Tailo couldn't talk, so he tried a different approach. He held his paw about half a foot above the ground.
Shadow thought he understood what he was trying to do. He stared at the paw wondering what the Fennekin was trying to say. What was half a foot above the ground?
Shadow thought he saw what the Fennekin was trying to say. He looked again at his paw and noticed that there was blood on it, and it wasn't from the injury on his neck.
Shadow understood what was going on. "Did you kill it?" Shadow asked. "What attacked you? Is there something wild out there?"
Tailo shook his head. The father started whimpering. It was all he could manage to do while he held his paw above the ground. It shook with worry.
Shadow didn't know what to do. He started pacing. "Is everyone safe? Do we need to go back? Did you kill the attacker or not?" The Umbreon turned around and made sure nothing else was out there. "If there's a wild Pokemon, then we need…"
Tailo had enough. He couldn't speak, he couldn't communicate. His nerves gave out. He needed Shadow to understand and the Umbreon wasn't listening to him.
He grabbed Shadow by the neck and pulled him in as close as he could. The Umbreon was forced to stare him in the eyes and smell his fear.
Again, Tailo held his paw stiffly above the ground. Exactly half a foot. Shadow was forced to stare at it.
Shadow stared into the Fennekin's eyes. He could see it. When he was this close, he could almost feel it resonating from the frightened father. It wasn't fear of being attacked. It was the kind of fear that resonates when someone knows they did something bad.
Shadow glanced down at the Fennekin's blood stained paw. There was only one thing that stood about half a foot above the ground.
"Did you," Shadow gulped. "Hit a… cub?"
…
Fenara ran as far as she could. She ran by the stream, ironically the same way her father had ran, but she was still a mile behind him and Shadow. About twenty yards away stood Razor's cave. She didn't even notice though.
Fenara couldn't tell where she was. Her paw slipped and she felt the stinging pain coming from it. She tripped and rolled on her face.
She lay there. Her breathing was frantic. Her tail twitched in panic. What the heck had happened?
Razor finally caught up to her. "Fennekin!"
Fenara jumped right up. Her weight was crooked on the side where her paw was injured. Her vision was too blurry to tell who was speaking.
She caught sight of who was coming. Immediately she growled. "Don't touch me Razor!" Fenara screamed in anger.
Razor stopped. He couldn't take his eyes away from his friend that he had saved. He took one look at the young cub and knew that FEnara was going to faint if she didn't calm down.
"Fennekin. Listen. You need to calm…"
Fenara couldn't hear him further. The sounds around her blurred into one. Razor was yelling her name but she didn't hear a thing. She barely felt it as Razor ran up and helped to keep her stable but it wasn't enough.
The world started to turn. Fenara's eyes drooped shut and she collapsed to the ground. Finally, the pain in her paw was gone. She was able to feel some peace at last. Only because she had fainted.
Razor wanted to curse under his breath. He looked around him.
Razor looked around him. He couldn't see anyone, but he knew people would be searching soon. The fight against him and Tailo wasn't exactly a quiet one. The whole pack was going to be wondering what all the yelling was about.
Razor wiped his paw against his mouth. He regretted it when he saw blood on his paw fur. If anyone came by and saw him before he cleaned up, they would think he had killed someone.
He almost did. He didn't mean too, Fenara was under attack. He had to bite Tailo, he had no choice.
Razor was glad that he didn't bite to kill. He almost did, but stopped himself just before it was too late. It was the first time Razor disobeyed his instincts when they told him to kill.
Razor heard someone coming. He looked out but couldn't see anyone. He had blood on his face, and Fenara in front of him was unconscious. This didn't look good.
Razor made his choice. He grabbed Fenara and dragged her as quickly as he could to his cave twenty yards away.
Razor finally made it. It wasn't enough to leave her there, he dragged the Fennekin through the dust all the way to the back and lay her down gently. He looked at the paw and knew that it was bad. It may even be broken, hopefully not or Fenara was going to feel it for the next week.
Razor didn't know what to do. Why did Tailo attack? He tried to hit his own daughter? What was wrong with this pack?
Pack? Razor knew what he needed to do. He needed to find Alisa. And then the other Fennekin and the Jolteon that was there last night. They all needed to talk.
First however, he was getting the taste of blood out of his mouth. The Eevee ran for the stream hoping no one was watching.
…
Tailo had gotten his point across. Shadow understood what happened.
Shadow thought they were under attack or something. He didn't know that the attacker, was his own leader.
The Umbreon backed up. He shook his head in worry.
Tailo had said it. He stood up with the fear gone. "Shadow?"
Shadow refused to answer. He kept shaking his head trying not to accept it.
Tailo had hit a cub? "Who did you hit?" Shadow whispered.
Tailo didn't answer. He stepped forward towards the frightened Umbreon. "Shadow? Please. It's ok."
Shadow started growling."No. No! Who did you hit! Did you hit Alisa? Or Jake!" The Umbreon got his claws out ready to kill if needed.
The Umbreon stepped closer. Tailo spoke as quickly as he could.
"Fenara." Tailo managed to answer. "I, I hit Fenara's paw."
Shadow's tail fell limp. He felt a mixture of two emotions instantly.
The first was relief. It wasn't Jake or Alisa, they were safe, no one had harmed them.
The second was anger. It burned inside him as a father.
The Umbreon dared to challenge his leader. "You hit your cub? Why!"
"I didn't mean to." Tailo complained. He was forced to step back from the growling Umbreon. "It, it was an accident."
"An accident!" Shadow couldn't help his screaming. He tried to control himself but it was hopeless. "You hit your own daughter? How's that an accident! How dare you!"
Tailo wouldn't take this. His worry turned straight to anger. "I know what I've done. I regret it. I'm sorry." He growled right back at Shadow, challenging his statement.
Shadow couldn't hold it in. To hit your own cub was something so sick, so disturbing, what was wrong with Tailo? "How can you hit your own daughter? You drew blood! Are you insane!"
Tailo didn't know what to do. The Umbreon was challenging him, tension was rising. "Shadow? Please? I can explain."
Shadow didn't know what to do. His anger was rising. Tailo stood up just as tall as him.
He wanted to hit him. It wasn't for hitting the cub, it wasn't for Tailo's mistakes, it was because of his wife. This darn Fennekin…
No! The Umbreon turned around and took three steps the other way before he did something he would regret. He forced himself to sit. It was the hardest decision of his life. He wanted to slap this Fennekin with his claws out and show him how it feels.
Tailo didn't know what to do. Shadow was trying to ignore him "Shadow? Please? It was an accident. I didn't mean to. Razor jumped…"
"I don't care how it happened!" Shadow couldn't even stand to look his friend in the eyes. He turned around and stared at the stream beside them. "It's just, how could you? Do you care at all?" There was a sense of something deeper in his words.
Tailo sat completely. he was wondering, why wasn't he crying? He was the father and Shadow was giving a bigger reaction to Fenara being struck even though he didn't do it.
Tailo tried to recall what happened. Time moved too quickly for him to think. "Shadow? Did I black out?"
"Almost." Shadow answered. It was the first answer he gave where he wasn't yelling at Tailo. The Umbreon stored his anger inside him.
Tailo tried to think. Ok, so he hit Fenara. His neck was still injured. He was pretty sure that's what happened. He even remembered what caused his anger in the first place.
Tailo remembered why he got angry. His daughter, she wished for love. Not for his own wife!
It was all her fault anyways.
Tailo didn't know what to do. He tried so hard to keep the thoughts deep down inside but they were springing out. He was getting more and more angry. "We should head back."
"No. You can't." Shadow turned back around, his anger was still present. "You need to clean your fur before you go back. No else knows what's going on. We need to keep this a secret."
Tailo thought about it. He nodded in agreement. He didn't' want anyone else in the pack knowing that he had struck his daughter.
Tailo turned and walked to the stream. It wasn't too far. He dipped his head in and immediately felt better.
Shadow followed after him. He was furious. Why wasn't Tailo crying from this?
How could that father hit his cub and not even care? It was sick. It wasn't normal.
Shadow waited until Tailo brought his head out of the water. He knew he had to ask it.
"Tailo?" The Fennekin turned around. "Did you mean to you hit her?"
Tailo stared at his friend. Of course he didn't mean it. Shadow stared at him waiting for an answer.
Unfortunately, no answer was also an answer. The Umbreon's ears fell straight down and his back paws gave out. Tailo realized that Shadow knew the truth.
Tailo did want to hit his daughter. Shadow couldn't take it anymore. "You, you sick father!"
"Shadow? Please?" Tailo tried his best to explain.
"No, no!" Shadow stood his ground. He growled at the Fennekin. "You, you did want to hit her. You've never liked her anyways! You've always hated your own daughter since two years ago!"
Shadow dared to cross the line. He couldn't help himself. Tailo was starting to cry but Shadow was just too frustrated.
Tailo didn't care did he? He didn't care about Eseral. He didn't care for Fenara. Shadow couldn't take it any longer.
Shadow stepped forward until he was only a few inches from Tailo's face. "You've never been sorry. You've never been sorry since it happened. All you ever cared about was your mistake. It wasn't about Fenara, it was about you!"
Tailo grabbed the Umbreon's mouth so hard it nearly broke his jaw. He shoved it to the ground and forced the Umbreon to hold still. He didn't even notice if he was struggling to breath or not. Luckily Shadow's nose was still free.
Shadow struggled, but eventually stopped moving. He gave up, all the anger he had vented from him. He was still glad he said it though. It had to be said. He was tired of living with this screw up. It was all Tailo's fault!
Tailo let him go. He challenged the Umbreon's position. "How dare you speak of her? You don't know what I've been through!"
"You know it's true!" Shadow yelled back. "You made your wish! I knew you lied! None of this would have ever happened if it wasn't for your stupid decisions!"
"I lost Louara." Tailo said it without anger, he stored it inside him instead of yelling it out at his friend. He would remain in control, or at least pretend to be in control.
Shadow didn't care for Louara. He cared for his own wife. "You lost Louara? Well I lost Eseral! I lost her! I never get to see…"
Tailo snarled so loudly, the Umbreon was forced to quit talking.
"It doesn't have to be that way." Tailo tried reasoning. "We can't let anyone know. We can still continue on."
Shadow knew this. He knew they could still hide it, but it was just so hard. "You don't care do you? You don't even mind that she's gone. You don't care for Eseral at all!" The Umbreon knelt down and pulled his claws out. Tailo did the same. He hoped the Umbreon wouldn't attack.
Tailo minded a great deal. HIs anger was ready to explode against this dark Pokemon any second.
"Shadow. Please?" Tailo asked. "Just, stop."
Shadow didn't listen. "You don't even care. You know what your problem is Fennekin? You don't care what's right. You regret your decision don't you?" He paused for a while, remembering exactly what happened.
Shadow whispered under his breath. He hoped Tailo wouldn't hear it, but he did.
"You don't care Tailo. You lied to her. You would've wished that your own cub would die!"
The Fennekin had enough. He tackled Shadow into the stream with the intent of ripping his heart out. The two fought until blood was showing from every scratch they could get on the other.
Tailo cared a great deal. He cared too much. Not for his daughter, but for his wife. It had been haunting him for two years now and every time he stared at his daughter, he was reminded of what happened.
It was all the young cub's fault anyways.
…
Fenara was starting to recover. Sand? Why was there sand below her? Or was it dirt? She still couldn't see a thing. Her head had a monstrous headache from something. The rest of her body felt numb.
Her sense of smell came back. This slight musty smell made it obvious that she wasn't outside anymore. Was she inside a cave? Something was holding her paw up gently.
Fenara opened her eyes, blinking because everything was still fuzzy. She didn't know where she was but something brown was standing in front of her and touching her paw.
Wait a minute. Something brown? Cave? Did that mean that Razor was here?
Fenara tried to move. The Eevee gently pushed her back down before she managed to touch anything with her damaged paw.
"Stay still Fennekin." Razor ordered calmly. FEnara tried to panic but was too tired to even move. It scared her that Razor was standing so close.
Razor let go of her paw, gently laying it back down. "Stay calm, or you might faint again."
Fenara didn't like his words. She had fainted? It sounded so scary, why was she here?
Razor gently lay Fenara's paw back down where it was. The minute it touched the sand by her side, she yelped.
"Ow!" Fenara squirmed and Razor held her down.
"Fennekin. Stop." Razor demanded. He gripped her paw again and looked at it.
Fenara found her voice. "Don't, touch me." She growled. This Eevee needed to back off and leave her alone because she was about to freak out.
Razor didn't care. He stared at her paw. The blood still continued to drip. It was nearly broken since the Fennekin decided to run on it for some distance. It didn't look good.
Razor knew what he needed. "Listen. Stay here." He put her paw back down and made sure to be more careful this time. "Don't stand up and don't even try to move. I'll be right back."
"What?" Fenara tried to move her head as the Eevee ran out of the cave. Where was he going? "Wait."
It was too late. Razor disappeared around the corner. Fenara was left alone to her own thoughts.
Fenara didn't care about the first thing Razor said. She wasn't taking orders from a deranged Eevee. She had to get out of here.
She tried to move and then stand up. Immediately the paw flared up in pain and she collapsed to the ground. The pain didn't go away for twenty seconds while she lay on the ground crying.
Fenara tried to think. She opened her eyes again but didn't dare to move her paw in case that stinging came back. "Ow. It hurts."
"Fenara?"
The Fennekin's ears jumped straight up. She looked towards the entrance of the cave by tilting her head.
Her ear lowered. An Umbreon was staring at her around the corner.
Oh no, it was Alisa. "Fenara? What are doing?"
Fenara wasn't sure if she was angry, or relieved. Alisa was standing at the entrance to the cave, staring at her like she was in trouble or something.
Fenara didn't want to answer. She wanted to get out of here. She rolled over and tried again.
Fenara tried again to stand. The minute her paw touched the floor she screamed in pain. Alisa ran right in and stared at the squirming Fennekin.
The sight made the Umbreon laugh. She failed to see the blood on Fenara's paw. "What are you doing? You know this is Razor's cave right?" It just occurred to Alisa, why would Fenara be all the way out here?
Fenara couldn't take it. It hurt so much. What the heck was wrong with her paw?
Alisa sat down since Fenara finally stopped squirming about. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "You know that the entire pack is looking for you right?"
Fenara didn't answer. Alisa wondered if perhaps she should go find someone. "Here, I'll go get Tailo."
"No!"
Alisa stopped. She turned around and Fenara was staring right at her.
"Alisa. Please? Don't leave." Fenara stopped when she happened to move her paw slightly. It still stung even when she thought about it.
Now Alisa really felt like she needed to leave. She looked around her in every direction.
Was this some kind of joke or something? "Um, Fenara? What are you doing? Why don't you stand up?"
Fenara sighed. The pain had faded. She decided that no matter what, she wasn't going to stand up again.
She decided not to answer. Mostly because she didn't want to explain to Alisa how she managed to break her paw.
Alisa took another step back. "Here, I'm going to go find father. Maybe he can…"
She stopped. Another Pokemon walked up to the entrance to the cave.
It was Razor. He had a bright Oran berry in his mouth, holding it by the stem. Immediately both Pokemon's eyes shot wide.
Alisa stared at him in wonder. "Hey? Where did you get that?"
Razor didn't even acknowledge her presence. He quickly ran right up to Fenara, and sat down in front of her.
Fenara realized that Razor was going to help her. "Razor? Don't touch me. I mean it."
Razor laughed. He took the berry and squished it in his paws. All the juices flowed everywhere on the ground.
"Hey?" Alisa complained. She licked her lips. "That's not fair. I want some."
Razor chuckled even further. "Well, go and break your paw and I'll get some for you too." He gently picked up Fenara's broken paw and it took everything in her to not try and claw his face off. What was he doing thinking he could touch her? She wanted to stand up on her own.
Alisa had thought this was a joke, up until now. Razor took the juice all over his paw and rubbed it on Fenara's cut.
The Fennekin already felt relieved. The cold liquid helped to ooze her pain. Even when Razor touched her it didn't hurt anymore.
Alisa realized, this actually was a serious injury. She ran right up to Fenara's side and looked.
She couldn't quite see it, the injury had been cleaned. The berry did it's work. All Alisa could see was a deep red line cutting halfway into her paw.
She gulped and stood back. Was Fenara actually hurt? "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Yes." Razor replied. He looked up at the worried Umbreon. "After we're done talking, you get to carry her back."
Both Fenara and Alisa looked surprised. They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Why do I have to carry her!"
"Why do I need to be carried?" Fenara asked at the same time. "I can walk just fine." She tried to move but Razor pushed her down painfully.
Razor smiled. "Well, for the next few days, you're not going anywhere unless someone drags you there." He took his paw away since he was done applying the Oran berry to the injury and Fenara let her paw fall to the ground. It touched the dirt but didn't sting this time. "That cut was deep enough to touch your muscle. You won't be able to use it for at least a day. Maybe two." Razor had experience with deep cuts, he had a few himself from when he was alone.
Fenara stared at him in confusion. Alisa figured it didn't look that bad. It was just a small cut, there wasn't even any blood left.
Razor rolled his eyes when he realized that she didn't understand his meaning. "It means, that you broke your paw Fennekin. You won't be able to stand up on your own."
Fenara gulped. When Razor turned to Alisa, she rolled over and tried to stand anyways.
The instant her paw hit the ground… "OW!"
Razor jumped and pushed Fenara onto her side. Her broken paw landed upright and took all the pressure off it. The stinging pain shot right back just as bad as it was before.
"Dang it Fennekin." Razor scolded her looking at the injury. It was still the same, luckily. If she tried that again she could seriously injure it "Didn't I tell you not to do that?"
Fenara growled slightly. Who cared what Razor said? She really wanted to stand upright but the pain made that impossible.
Finally, the pain subsided. Fenara was able to breath and reminded herself to never stand up again. She wouldn't even try so she just lay on her back awkwardly since that was how she had landed. It felt weird to not be able to stand.
She had an idea. "Can I stand, on three paws?"
"No!" Razor instantly commanded. "Don't try anything! If your lucky, you won't break it down to the bone you moron."
Fenara didn't like name calling. She growled and wanted to fight. Then she remembered what happened to her paw.
The Fennekin felt so defeated. She lifted the limp appendage close to her face so she could see the damage. Razor and Alisa leaned in to stare at the injury.
Fenara managed a glance at it. Compared to her normal paw, this one bent sideways like a slightly broken toothpick. The deep red gash where Tailo had cut was still evident like someone took a pen and drew across it. Except, the slit was almost halfway into her paw. Fenara stared at the twisted paw like something was wrong. It was obvious why she couldn't move it now, the muscles inside had been cut deep, any movement was risking the paw breaking further.
Now Fenara felt weak. She sighed and let her head fall. How long was she going to have to be carried around everywhere now? Why was she always the one getting hurt?
"You know." Razor felt he had to say this aloud. He couldn't help but laugh at the fact that his nemesis had a broken paw. "If you didn't try to run on it, you probably would've been able to stand right now." He chuckled. Didn't all Pokemon know not to run when they had a broken paw?
Fenara growled. She let her head back down in defeat. Why was Razor mocking her at a time like this. Was it because she couldn't do anything about it.
Alisa couldn't help but laugh also. Razor continued with his insults, making sure to take a step back first. "It didn't really help that you don't know how to fight either. You need to learn to dodge an attack."
Fenara swore, if she had all four of her paws working right now, she would cut off his tongue. Her paw stung a little at the thought but it was generous of Razor to use one of his stored berries on her injury.
Razor couldn't help himself. He thought his advice was helping her, he didn't realize that he was actually just making her more angry. Besides, if Fenara didn't learn, she would probably break her paw again later. "Listen Fennekin. The next time someone as large as Tailo attacks you, make sure…"
"Tailo hit you!" Alisa squeaked. Her ears shot straight upright and she stared at Fenara.
Fenara realized what happened. Her eyes shot wide.
They both stared at Alisa. She wasn't sure, but the way they looked at her proved it. "Tailo, hit you?" Alisa whispered.
Alisa didn't know what to do. She looked down at her friends and could tell that this was supposed to be a secret. It wasn't like she stumbled upon an accident that no one was supposed to know about.
Razor stepped forward. "Alisa?" He could tell that she was scared. Fenara was begging her from where she lay to not tell anyone. She couldn't let anyone else know what happened.
Alisa backed up slowly. She needed to tell someone, this wasn't ok. She ran for the entrance to the cave and turned to head right back to the pack.
"Alisa? Wait!" Razor took off after her. They couldn't let anyone know about this! This had to stay a secret. What would happen if the pack found out that their leader attacked his own cub.
Alisa disappeared from sight. Soon after, Razor was gone too. All that was left was the lonely Fennekin who couldn't even roll over and stand up.
Fenara lay there on her back, it was the only thing she could do to avoid pain in her paw. The sounds around her grew quiet and she heard her thoughts.
She started to cry. Her father had hit her. It was an accident, or was it? She remembered the way he growled at her when he overheard what she said.
Her father knew that she wished for something, she didn't wish for her own mother like she wanted, what was wrong with her?
Fenara rolled over and tried to stand. The poor cub screamed and cried because it hurt so much. There was nothing she could do but cry her heart out and lay there like a helpless Pokemon.
…
Razor finally managed to catch up to Alisa. Unfortunately, it was just too late.
Alisa ran straight for her father. The minute she saw his tall dark figure, she ran straight for him needing to tell him something. She saw him standing next to Tailo as they addressed the entire pack.
Everyone was watching. Razor held his breath and burst forward with his last energy. He had to stop Alisa!
"Dad! Dad! Tailo… Mmff!"
Alisa was shoved straight to the ground when Razor caught her. He pushed as hard as he could against the Umbreon's face and slammed her into the dirt where she wouldn't be quiet.
Everyone stopped. They all turned to see Alisa struggling with her face in the ground. One look and Tailo realized what was going on.
"Stop her!" He demanded. Shadow ran up and helped to hold her down. Soon, Alisa wasn't able to do anything except complain when her mouth got filled with dirt. Razor didn't let her go.
It was the oddest looking thing. One moment Tailo and Shadow were talking to the pack formally, and now Alisa was screaming into the dirt that she had to say something. The pack watched as Alisa struggled say anything. The worried Umbreon really wanted to talk.
Tailo suddenly turned and addressed the pack as if nothing had happened.
"Listen everyone." Tailo demanded. Everyone turned back around. Even Razor shifted his ears so he could hear better but he made sure to keep a firm grip on Alisa. It felt wrong, but he knew she had to stay quiet. This couldn't explode or things would get worse. He didn't want Alisa to know what happened.
Razor was scared. He took a glance at Tailo. Sure enough, his injury on his neck was bad. The little Eevee gulped and hoped that Alisa would understand why he almost killed Fenara's father.
Tailo continued from where he left off, ignoring the struggling Pokemon behind him. "Stay close to one another and don't go out too far from the pack. Make sure cubs stay here with everyone else. We can't let anyone get attacked by the wild Pokemon later on."
Razor flinched. He completely leg go of Alisa. "What?"
It was enough for Alisa to break free. She broke her mouth free and jumped upright throwing her father off with a strong kick.
"Dad! Fenara's paw is…"
The Umbreon tackled her again. He didn't hold back and shoved his daughter to the ground and told her to be quiet. Razor was too confused to know what to do. He looked back and forth between Tailo and Shadow and didn't even bother with Alisa.
Alisa took one look at her father, and gulped. There was a lot of fear in his eyes, for the first time, she wanted to stay quiet and not make any noise.
Everyone turned to Razor, he had that look on his face. A look of anger and confusion.
Razor glared at Tailo. "Wild Pokemon? What wild Pokemon?"
Tailo walked up to the Eevee slowly. He stood in front of everyone knowing he had to choose his words carefully.
The Fennekin smiled. "It's taken care of Razor. We dealt with the situation."
"What?" Alisa managed to find her voice and she slapped her father's paw off her mouth. "What do you mean? You hit…"
"Alisa!" Shadow snarled. "Be, quiet!"
Everyone stopped. They all stared at Shadow. He immediately regretted what he said. Poor Alisa fell still after hearing her father growl at her like that.
There was confusion. Alisa was scared, Shadow didn't want to hurt his daughter. Tailo tried to look like he was in control.
Razor knew what happened. He didn't want to say it aloud, but he knew that everyone in the world deserved to hear what Tailo did.
He glared at Tailo and whispered to him. "I know what you did."
Tailo flinched, but quickly smiled again. He stood up and stared out at everyone. "So does everyone else." Tailo responded. It confused the young Eevee, Tailo wouldn't tell them what happened would he? "That's why we all need to be careful."
Razor tried to piece it together. They were keeping this a secret? The fact that these two Pokemon had nearly killed one of their cubs was weird enough. How could they try to keep this a secret?
Razor took a step back. "What are you guys trying to do? What did you tell everyone?"
Tailo had that smile again. For the first time, it actually scared Razor. It was a fake smile that said everything was alright, when it wasn't.
Alisa finally broke free again. "Dad, get off me." Alisa was well trained and she threw her father off the minute she got a chance. She rolled over but obeyed her father's wish and decided to be quiet. Shadow had never felt so bad in his life. He wasn't supposed to have to hold his daughter down like that, it wasn't right.
Tailo waited a minute. The two cubs looked around at each other and then to the adults. Alisa couldn't help but wonder why her father tried to silence her. Razor hated every one of them except Alisa.
Alisa remembered what she was supposed to say. "Dad! It's Fenara. She was…"
"I know." Shadow interrupted. He looked over at Razor. "We all know. She was attacked by a wild Pokemon."
"What? No she wasn't!" Alisa interrupted. What was wrong with her father?
Shadow smiled. "Yes she was. Her paw got scratched when the Pokemon attacked. Tailo tried to rescue her in time."
Alisa was about to argue, but then she stopped. Razor's ears shot straight upright. He finally figured out what was going on.
The Eevee felt more angry than he had ever been in a long time. Arceus, they were keeping this a secret!
Alisa thought about it. But it did make sense. "She was attacked by a wild Pokemon?" She questioned. She looked over at Tailo.
Tailo smiled. He flinched when the action made his neck hurt but rubbing it helped to ease the pain. Razor couldn't help but stare at the injury. "Sorry Alisa. That's what happened though. I tried to stop the Pokemon but it ran away and bit my neck."
Tailo turned to Razor. His smile disappeared. "Is she ok?" He whispered. He needed to know if his daughter was safe.
Razor couldn't believe this. "I don't know, why don't you go find out yourself. She's your daughter." He hoped his message was clear to the father.
Tailo frowned, he didn't know why, but he actually growled at the young cub. Razor stood his ground though.
Razor stared right back at the Fennekin. It was then that he noticed that more fur on Tailo had been torn up than just his neck. There were small tufts pulled out, the Eevee's heightened senses immediately caught the fact that there was black fur in-between Tailo's claws.
The Eevee looked over at Shadow, same thing. Except the fur was tan and orange. They had been fighting. Interesting.
Razor didn't like this. Lies? Deceit? The two leaders fighting? He kept backing away when no one was looking. Alisa had her ears down as she sat and thought about what happened.
A wild Pokemon? She guessed that made sense. It made sense to the rest of the pack who heard. Even Fern and Fenray stood there, believing everything.
Alisa thought she finally pieced it together. "So, nobody attacked each other? It was just a wild Pokemon that broke her paw?"
Tailo flinched when he heard it. His daughter had a broken paw? Oh no. "Um, yes Alisa. We're sorry for the confusion. There's just a wild Pokemon out there and it attacked us. Me and Shadow scared it off." Tailo was glad for his lie, it covered the fact that both he and Shadow were covered in wounds.
Alisa frowned at the answer. "Wild Pokemon?" It sounded weird. The only Pokemon she knew out here was Razor.
Wait. Alisa sat down and pieced even more together in her head. Tailo turned back to the pack and kept talking.
Now Alisa was confused. The only Pokemon out here for miles was Razor. Razor owned all this land. She had never heard of just a wild Pokemon out here alone because Razor patrolled all of it. There weren't any wild Pokemon out here in the first place!
Razor was deep in thought. He had enough. He made his decision. He hated it, but he wouldn't stand here and take this.
Tailo finished talking to the pack. He failed to tell them about Fenara, just that she was there when they were attacked. Fenray was scared for his life at this but he stood near his mother.
time went by slowly. The other Pokemon left. Everyone went out to do their own thing.
Tailo walked back to the group. He stared at Shadow and barely nodded his head.
"Alisa?" Shadow asked. The Umbreon looked up from her thought.
"Alisa? I'm sorry for tackling you." Shadow announced. He felt his ears lower at the thought.
Alisa smiled. She actually enjoyed it. It was always fun to fight against her father.
Everything was silent. Then Razor looked up.
He stared right at Alisa. "I've made my decision." Razor announced. Everyone looked at him.
Tailo still had that cheeky smile of his. He crossed his eyes in confusion. "Um, what are you talking about?"
Razor continued. "You asked me a while ago if I would join the pack. I said I'd think about it."
Alisa perked up. A smile shot across her face. Was Razor going to join?
"I've decided, to leave." Razor got up and started to walk off.
Alisa's tail dropped straight to the ground.
She felt her throat starting to close. "Wh, what?" She whined. The tears were coming.
Razor turned to address her instead. If he was going to apologize to anyone, then it was going to be her. "I'm sorry Alisa. But you're dad and this Fennekin are… Morons." He turned to both of them. He thought parents should know better.
Shadow was offended. He didn't quite understand what the Eevee was saying. "How long do you plan to leave?"
Razor made his point more clear. "I said I'm leaving. I'm not coming back. I'm not joining, ever."
Shadow understood what he meant. Razor was gone? He would never join.
Tailo tried to talk. "Razor? We can…"
"Whyyyyy?" Alisa started to cry. She couldn't help it. She wanted Razor to stay.
Razor wasn't going to turn back. "I'm sorry Alisa. I'm staying in my cave. You can see me, but they need to stay away." At this, he growled at Tailo and Shadow. They got the message loud and clear.
Tailo was still confused. "Um, will you come back?"
What part of leaving wasn't the Fennekin understanding? Razor walked right up to Tailo. "I'm leaving. Forever. If you're going to lie to your pack about what you did, then I don't want to be anywhere near you!" He made his point very clear.
Razor stared down at the ground. He couldn't help himself. "You were just like my father." Nobody heard him except Tailo.
Razor made his point clear. He was done with this Fennekin. There were lies here, he hated it. He would be friends with Fenara and warn her of what her father really was.
Tailo was hurt, but he had his promise to make. "Very well." He sighed and looked at the ground.
Razor didn't know what it was. Maybe regret? He didn't want to leave, but he stood up and walked off. Shadow and Tailo stared at him the entire ways.
Shadow knew this hurt his daughter deeply. He needed to be a father now more than ever.
He knelt close to his crying daughter. "I'm sorry Alisa."
Alisa sniffed, then found her words. "Sorry?" She questioned. She looked up at her father in confusion.
It came out weird. Everyone stared at Alisa like she just missed the whole point. Razor was leaving the pack, did she not understand that?
Shadow said it again. He held his young daughter closer to him. "I'm sorry that you can't be with Razor?"
Now Alisa was frightened. Her ears shot straight up. "What? Why not?"
Everyone stopped. Even Razor stopped when he heard her say that.
Alisa was confused. "I can't be with him? I thought I was staying with him?"
"What!" Shadow blew up in worry.
Alisa smiled. "Well, I can stay in his cave can't I?" She sniffed again, getting back her tears.
Everyone realized what Alisa thought. Tailo's ears dropped. Razor's shot straight up.
Could she really stay with him? If he could still be with Alisa, then that would make everything perfect. Razor didn't want to leave because that would mean Alisa would stay behind.
Alisa looked out at all the confused looks. She looked at her father who's eyes were crossed in confusion from her statement.
Alisa stopped smiling. Wait, did her father not approve of this?
Shadow didn't know what to do. "Wh, what?" He asked his daughter.
Alisa pushed herself away from her father. "I'm going to stay with Razor. You can see me, but I'll live in the cave with him. I'm not leaving him!"
Now Tailo was concerned. "What? Alisa? You can't…"
"No." Shadow stood up. He didn't give it much thought but asked it anyways.
He stared at Razor who couldn't believe this. Shadow stared at Tailo who was furious and worried.
This was a terrible idea, but Shadow sighed and gave his daughter what she wanted. "Do, do you really want to leave Alisa? You live here, you always have."
Alisa didn't even hesitate. She answered by smiling at her father.
Shadow didn't know what to do. Razor was begging him for her to be able to leave. Tailo was glaring at him about ready to step in himself and make the decision for him.
Shadow knew what was right, he didn't like Razor. No one did. But what would Eseral do? The Umbreon stood up tall acknowledging his decision. "Ok. That's ok with me."
Alisa squeaked. Razor's perked up in delight. Really? She could stay with him?
Alisa kissed her father on the nose, and then ran off. Shadow had never felt so lonely in his life, but he made a wise decision. His relationship with his daughter was already crumbling.
In just moments, they were gone. The two cubs ran off by each other's side. It was almost like the fact that Razor left wasn't even there.
Shadow hoped that Alisa would come back. He watched as his daughter ran off. He didn't even like what he just did.
Alisa was so happy. It was always doubt and fear. Her father never trusted her with anything. But now? He actually said yes. There was a moment where she feared she would never see Razor again.
She ran right up to Razor and chased him to the cave. Shadow forced himself to look away before he regretted his decision and called her back.
Tailo ran right up to the Umbreon. "What do you think you're doing?" He whispered vehemently.
Shadow smiled. "Trusting my daughter. Like you should. You owe Fenara an explanation Tailo." At this, the Umbreon walked off further. He hoped he was making the right decision by losing trust in Tailo.
Tailo stood in complete shock. So not only did they lose Razor, but now Alisa was gone? "Shadow? What do you think you are doing? That's Alisa? We need to make sure the cubs are safe."
Shadow turned back around. "I trust her. You should too."
Tailo couldn't stand for this. He turned and stormed off. He needed to scold Fenara on what she was doing near Razor's cave earlier. He didn't even know that she was there right now.
Shadow turned back around. He was letting go of Alisa. It was hard, he didn't really trust Razor.
But what could he do? Eseral would want it. Shadow knew what he was going to do.
He had given up hope. Eseral was dead. It was right for him to let go. He might as well get rid of the last thing that reminded him of the wife he used to have. It was supposed to be a gift to Alisa when she was old enough, but now it wouldn't matter. All it held to Shadow was the pain that he faced when his wife died.
Shadow started crying. Was he really doing this? Was he really going to let go of his wife, forever?
…
Alisa finally made it to the cave. Actually, she pranced the whole way there.
Razor ran in after her. He wasn't sure what to say. What was he supposed to do? He was going to be sharing his cave now?
"Alisa?" Razor asked getting the Umbreon to look back around. Razor wiped his paw over his mouth since he had kissed her again.
He stared at Alisa, and smiled. "You, you really want to stay?"
Alisa had a question herself that she wanted answered. Her smile disappeared. "Why don't you like my pack?"
Razor didn't understand. "What?"
Alisa tried again. The Umbreon sat down in the middle of the cave "Do you like my pack?"
Razor crossed his eyes. He did like the pack. Actually, he just liked her and a few other cubs. He hated everyone else.
Razor sighed and confessed. "It's your father I can't stand." And that Fennekin but he forgot to say that.
Alisa frowned. "Why?" She trusted him.
"Why do you think!" Razor couldn't believe this. Why else would he hate the Umbreon and Fennekin. "He was lying to you. You know that right? He held you down to the ground and snarled at you."
Alisa knew that. She also knew her father was lying. He never was a good liar. It was obvious when he tackled her and told her to be quiet.
Alisa didn't know what to do. "He, he trusts me." She managed to say. If Razor couldn't see that, then that was his fault.
"What about before you evolved?" Razor questioned. Alisa felt like the Eevee was getting angry. "What about then, when I put the symbol on the wall? Didn't he want you to be a Flareon."
Alisa started to cry. "You don't know." She stood back away from Razor. "He trusts me." She was trying more to convince herself than him.
Razor gave up. It was too much to handle. He looked around Alisa and stared at the back of the cave.
Fenara was fast asleep. Razor felt angered that she dared to sleep here, but it wasn't like she could go anywhere anyways. He let his anger go.
Razor had enough. "Alisa, we're going to talk. I'm telling everyone what happened."
Alisa was confused. "Um, you mean about the wild Pokemon?" She knew now that it was an obvious lie.
Razor was going to tell more than that. "We need to figure out what's going on." Razor commanded. He checked again on Fenara and made sure she was still asleep. The tired Fennekin had passed out a long time ago.
Razor made a quick decision. He walked up to the entrance to his cave. "No more lies. No more deceit." He stopped. "We'll figure it out without the adults. Go find Fenray, and the Jolteon." He told Alisa.
Alisa's ears shot up. "Find my brother? Why do you need to talk to him?"
"Because." Razor answered not really listening. He ran out of the cave and looked up finding it to be a few hours after midday. "We need to figure out what they are hiding. Believe me when I say it. They are hiding something." He was talking about Shadow and Tailo.
Alisa wasn't so sure. "Um, what do you mean? What are they hiding?"
Razor turned back around. "All I know is. Nobody acts like Tailo for a reason. There's something else amidst."
Alisa tried to piece it together but she couldn't. Razor seemed like he could put the pieces together better than she could. He had a quick mind, and quick minds worked like that.
Razor issued out commands. "Listen. Go find the Jolteon that was with you when you snuck out. You know who I'm talking about right?" Razor wasn't too sure on who this Jolteon was but he knew he belonged to the pack.
Alisa busted out laughing. "Jolteon? That's Jake. He's my brother!"
Razor's tail dropped straight to the ground. "What? Really?" His ears folded awkwardly since he didn't know this. The little Eevee actually look embarrassed.
"Yeah." Alisa couldn't stop laughing. "That Jolteon is my brother. Did you not know that?" She couldn't figure out how Razor never knew that. It was so obvious.
Razor gave it some thought, then forgot about it shaking his head. "Whatever. Just make sure that he's here. And then I'll… Wait? How is he your brother?" The Eevee just couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Alisa finally stopped laughing. "Ok. So you want me to find brother, and then you'll go find Fenray?"
Razor nodded. "Exactly. Everyone who was out last night by her cave needs to meet here. We'll talk about everything that's happening." Alisa failed to see the fact that Razor had stalked them last night anyways. He still couldn't believe that Jake was Alisa's brother. It made sense, but Alisa had a brother? Why did the Eevee never see him?
Alisa nodded. She wiped her eyes from her tears. "Ok. I'll go find my brother." She looked back at Fenara who was still sleeping. Wait, Fenara was asleep. It was a funny sight but at least she wasn't standing.
Razor nodded. He looked up at Alisa who was staring right back at him.
The Eevee felt terrible. "Alisa, I'm sorry. I really do like your pack."
Alisa walked up beside him. It was funny looking down at him since she was much taller. The strong Eevee could easily take her on in a fight still.
Alisa was confused. She remembered Razor's words that he had said. "Why don't you like my father?"
Razor was put on the spot. If there was one thing he wasn't going to do, it was lie to her.
Razor answered. "He, he reminds me of my father." Both the Fennekin and the Umbreon did.
Alisa didn't know this. Razor turned to walk off.
She didn't know why. It had been so long. Besides he looked so downhearted.
"Razor?" He turned around and stopped.
Alisa walked up slowly, they were outside the cave now. "I'm glad to stay with you. I'll go back to my pack in the morning. But, thanks."
Razor smiled. He didn't react fast enough when Alisa jumped up and kissed him. He almost stopped her with paw but it was too late.
Alisa smiled. "So, you'll find Fenray, and I'll find brother. Then what do we do?"
Razor stood there for a few seconds, and then smiled. He fell over and was fast asleep.
Immediately Alisa regretted kissing him. "Oops." She couldn't help but giggle at the weird looking Eevee. She forgot that she did that now as an Umbreon. Kisses had side effects and Razor was seeing a lot of stars right now from where he lay fast asleep.
Alisa ran off to go find both Fenray and Jake herself. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, but hopefully Razor would know what to do when he woke up.
Alisa made a decision. She knew where Fenray was, so she would find Jake first and then bring them both here on her own. Hopefully Tailo wouldn't find out what she was doing.
Where was Jake anyway?
…
Jake was having the time of his life. It was the best thing that had happened to him over the last two days.
It was sleep. Jake was allowed to sleep. After his curse and losing his mother, the cub was finally allowed to find some sleep.
He didn't dream, he didn't stir. Over the course of six hours, the Jolteon's fur was back to normal and his eyes were no longer red with worry.
When Jake awoke. The sun was six hours past midday. Razor had dragged Fenara to his cave two hours ago and Alisa was out searching for him.
The sky around Jake was already starting to get dark but there was plenty of light out still. He couldn't tell what time it was with his blurry vision from waking up.
Jake woke up fully. He blinked and stared up at the sky. The sun was shining on his face.
He yawned. What had happened? Very slowly he rolled over and stood up feeling the energy in his legs again. His yawn wasn't even finished yet until he was finally stretched about ten seconds later. He quickly noticed that he was alone. Good, he didn't like it when people caught him taking naps in the daytime.
The Jolteon shook himself awake. That was a good sleep. It was still morning right? The Jolteon was excited to start training the cubs this morning like since he promised his father he would.
The Jolteon looked back up at the sky, reading the time by the sun. Immediately his smile disappeared.
"Oh shoot!" He ran back to his pack as fast as he could. Why was it so late in the afternoon! It wasn't morning. It was almost nighttime!
His bright yellow fur continued to shine with it's new energy. He had to get to his father now and explain what happened. He needed to get back before the pack wondered where he was.
Wait? Where was he. The Jolteon didn't stop running but tried to think at the same time. Why was he asleep in the meadow? Where was he? The pack seemed so far off.
The Jolteon was wide awake as the wind flew by his fur. He felt revived, but something kept pressing on his memory. He tried to recall what had happened earlier and why he fell asleep.
He was almost to the pack when he remembered. He had gone to see her more than four hours ago.
The Jolteon stopped. He skid to a halt and remembered everything that happened. He could see the pack just out on the horizon.
He remembered why he had left. He was supposed to see her at midday. He fell asleep after hearing what she said.
He remembered what she said. The Jolteon took a step back and fell to the ground.
"Do you miss your mother?" The words of the Ninetales played back in his head. "Because tomorrow you're going to see her."
Jake didn't know what to do. He backed up further shaking his head.
He needed to find his father. No, he needed to find Alisa, right now. The Jolteon ran back to the pack as fast as he could.
…
Alisa was out searching. It was only four hours past midday now, Jake was fast asleep. She tried searching around the pack for him but she didn't want to get seen by her father so she quickly left. She knew that he probably wanted to punish her when he saw her or maybe he would change his mind.
So she searched by the stream. It was really for her own benefit. She walked slowly and stopped many times to get a drink from the water. She even stopped at one point and stared at the water for about five minutes. It was really peaceful.
It helped to calm her mind. It helped to remind her that her father was trusting her. Somehow, she didn't like the look Tailo gave her when she asked if she could leave.
But she wasn't leaving Razor behind. The Umbreon got up and walked along the edge of the stream again, continuing in her search.
Where was her brother? She expected the Jolteon to just pop up anytime but she had been searching for a while and he was no where in sight.
In fact, she had been searching for too long. Jake wasn't anywhere nearby. Many of the pack members were even looking for him by now. Alisa didn't know that Tailo issued an order to be on the lookout for him because of that wild Pokemon that was hanging about. The lie had gone very far that the pack was too scared to even leave the area.
Alisa kept searching. She did a full circle scanning the horizon but nothing was in sight except for the stream and Razor's cave about fifty yards behind her. Wow, she really thought she had walked further than that.
A thought occurred to her. What was she doing searching out here? If brother was anywhere, he was back at the pack. The Jolteon never went out and got in trouble. Alisa realized how dumb it was to search way out here. Jake hated being near Razor's cave.
Alisa turned around regretting that she had to start over again. Something made a noise behind her.
Immediately Alisa ducked low and tried to hide. Her instincts suddenly yelled to survive. What was that?
Were there really wild Pokemon out here? Maybe there was. Her Umbreon instincts suddenly realized how bad it was to walk right next to the stream instead of hiding in the tall grass nearby. It was the middle of the day out and the sun was wearing her mind down. She wished it was dark out instead.
Alisa snuck off quickly into the thick grass. She turned around and tried to find out what made that noise. She only heard it once, it sounded like a splash. Why did it have to be light out? She would've been able to figure it out in seconds if the moon was out right now.
She sat and watched. She stared out where the noise was. It sounded like it was further up the stream but nothing was in her sight. The Umbreon was quickly one with the shadows and stayed hidden. It was Alisa's favorite thing to do.
…
Shadow had enough. The poor Umbreon was tired, stressed, and now he had just let go of his daughter. A thought kept coming back to him, what if she never came back? She wasn't old enough. This wasn't right.
It was much later in the day. It was over four hours past midday. His mood hadn't changed at all though. He was still furious about what happened earlier with him and Tailo, and his daughters actions didn't help.
The Umbreon tried his best to stay alone. He left Tailo to deal with the pack's issues. Even despite the warning of wild Pokemon he went out on his own and made sure no one followed him.
Shadow tried to find his daughter, but he didn't want to go near Razor's cave. How could he? He knew if he saw her than he would regret everything he said. No, he had to trust her. It was trusting Razor that was the hard part.
Why did Razor have to leave? Why did Alisa demand to go with him? The tired father stopped walking and stared into the small stream next to him. The water was over half a foot deep now in the center.
He stared at the stream below him. He had been walking along it now for twenty minutes.
It was quiet moments like this that he remembered most. Quiet times like this, when he wished for his wife.
Shadow started to cry. He stared down at his folded paw.
Why did Eseral have to die?
He had to let her go. Eseral was dead. He needed to look out after his daughter. Shadow made his decision and flipped his paw over revealing what he was holding.
It was a fire stone. A small, red, shiny, fire stone that held so much meaning to him.
It was the last thing he had to remember Eseral. It was supposed to be a gift to Alisa when she was old enough. Then she evolved into an Umbreon.
Then Eseral died. Then he lost trust in Tailo. The Umbreon threw the stone into the stream and ran. The stone made a splash behind him but he didn't turn around.
Shadow couldn't take it. He ran and wept because of his wife. Why wasn't she here to help him with this. She would never get to see her evolved cub, or even Jake again. It was too much. Shadow collapsed and prayed that somehow, he would get to see his wife again. He almost wished it was true.
The stone made a small splash. Alisa searched after she was done hiding but didn't find anything in the stream. She forgot about the sound and walked off to find Jake.
The red fire stone was supposed to be a gift. It was supposed to reunite the family when the youngest daughter got to evolve into her dream. Shadow still remembered the hopes he had of one day having his daughter evolve.
Now, it only showed the family's disunity. The pack was coming more and more to chaos. Tailo couldn't keep what he had done hidden forever.
With Eseral gone, with Louara dead, what could they do? Fenara was alone. Tailo was troubled. Alisa was worried. Now Shadow had given up all hope too.
"It's going to end." He cried into his paws. There was no hope left. Beware of Anger and Darkness. "It's all going to end."
It was all Tailo's fault anyways.