Me: I'm sad.
Fawn: I wanna boast about that being due to Star's special nightmare and death whip cream, but I haven't used it yet…
Me: Yep, and I'm not sad because of the suspense for whenever you'll do that.
Fawn: Then why so sad?
Me: Because… what I wrote last chapter… IS REALLY FEELY.
Star: *Cough* And confusing, and mysterious, and weird. *Cough*
Me: DON'T HINT-HINT WITH FAWN AROUND. *Raises spatula-modified broom* GET!
Star: *Scrams, leaving a smoggy dust cloud in her wake*
Fawn: Oh… Well, you won't let me read last chapter, so I don't know what—
Me: FOR GOOD REASONS.
Fawn: I WANT TO KNOWWWWW.
Me: I WOULD RATHER STOP SHIPPING SHARUNDER THAN TELL YOU!
Fawn: WHAAAAT?!
Me: Actually, that's not true.
Fawn: Phew.
Me: OR IS IT. *Dramatic music*
Fawn: OW, MY BRAIN HURTS.
Me: It hurts because Star is behind you as we speak, and she injected something into your ears that breaks you down from the inside out, and that's because the secret ingredient to her nightmare and death cream is MELTED FENNEKIN BRAINS.
Fawn: WHAAAAAAAT?! *Spins around* …SHE'S NOT TH-THERE!
Me: Yeah, she was never there. I was just kidding. ;) OR WAS I?!
Fawn: *Faints*
Me: YES! I HAVE GOTTEN MY REVENGE! :D *Performs a happy jig*
Thunder's POV
In the loneliest shadows of the den, I curled up with my disgruntled thoughts being gnawed at by guilt and self-hatred. It was tormenting, not doing anything, unable to sleep. My shaken body longed for rest but my thoughts had other intentions: to suffer, to wallow in grief, to allow depression and regret stack atop one another in a messy heap among my thoughts, and it scared away all notions of sleep for the night. I had allowed Shard to flee after savagely zapping her, believing that we needed some time apart, but she still hadn't returned to my den even after nightfall. Tears threatened to soak my paws, but I withheld them with the belief that she'd eventually return. She will, right?
Ugh… Why did I hurt her?
She's still not back yet, but I need to apologize… This hurts. Is this what she feels?
Why did I do that? I should've chased after her! I hope she's okay… I'm horrible… stupid… Shard, Aqua, I'm so sorry, I'm an idiot—
Fwoosh!
Most traces of darkness scurried away from around me, replaced by the brightening glow of summer orange firelight. I blinked, winced, and then glared at the charring logs of timber lighting the center of the den, but more specifically at the condescending flareon right beside it. She stood tall with her perfectly black nose pointed more up than down as always, and a bit of fiery arrogance twinkled in those embers of irises. She liked setting campfires for light, never for warmth, and so the almost-summer night would feel hotter than usual. I preferred chill over heat, honestly.
"I never taught you to sulk like such," she muttered. Refusing to gaze her way any longer, I stifled my scalding gaze with dirtied paws, almost shamefully so. She snorted, quickly growing outraged already. "Thunder, please! This grudge is petty. You shall never solve anything by falling to the foolish stubbornness of an upset cub; now stop acting rebellious and get up."
My voice was tired, raspy, but nonetheless resolute. "No."
"Fine. You'll get over her eventually."
"I love her."
"That lowly mongrel does not deserve your golden heart."
"She deserves it more than you ever should. Leave me alone." I shifted until my back faced her and the bothersome fire, and I slumped silently into my mostly departed shadows once more. I'm the one who doesn't deserve her heart, though. I shouldn't have gotten angry. What is wrong with me…? Why did I do that?!
Dandelion's seething was too noisy to tune out from my thoughts. "Th-Thunder… How dare—!"
"Heeeey, I see ya got the bonfire going!" hastily chirped Bone. His lighthearted capering thudded lightly throughout the cave as he returned from the forest to intervene with our animosities, but he extinguished neither of them in the least. The grudging fire in my thoughts only continued to sizzle and fester towards that inconsiderate flareon. "Uh… Thunder, son! Are ya feelin' any better, I hope?" He paused, awaiting an answer, but he only acknowledged silence. He roughly cleared his throat. "Well, I found this full bush of Pechas just right outside, and they're all plump an' ripe an' beggin' for picking and I thought—"
"I'm good." There was only one thing they could do to put my grudge to rest, and cheap bribing wasn't it.
"A-ah, another time, then…" The comical umbreon proceeded to laugh it off and try some meaningless conversation with Dandelion, but she obviously felt too vexed to joke around with the dark-type. She hadn't even toned down her aggravation even the slightest bit for her mate.
"You've been out scouring for frivolous fruit hotspots this entire time? Our daughter is out there, kidnapped, scared out of her little mind, and you decide that berries triumph all importance?!"
He weakly chuckled. "Dandi, please calm down… I like it when you're calm, heh."
The words didn't reach her. They rarely did whenever she steamed up like that. "No… no! I will not! Aqua is probably dead, Thunder is out of his right mind, and I'm the only one with some actual sense within this intolerable chaos! Calming down would be irrational; no one would listen to me otherwise."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… but we've been keepin' that secret from Thunder all his life, and now he knows—"
"Yeah, I know he knows. He needs to accept it and move on, not have us kiss up to his paws and beseech for forgiveness."
"But… I-I just wanted to help…"
Despite my efforts towards silencing their voices from my head, their words screeched in my ears and the poisonous flames only spread further inside me. Facing the two eons, I snared the flareon with an abhorrent look. "Stop starting all the stupid arguments, Mom. Fighting won't get us anywhere, and yelling just makes everything worse."
Unreasonable anger continued to darken her expression. "Thunder, why don't you just—!"
"Dandi, Thundie, Aqua wouldn't want this…" Our eyes swiveled to the sheepish umbreon. "Sorry, Dandi, I should've been searching for 'er instead of berries. I'll go right now." He seemed very reluctant to follow through with his words, but he began padding towards the entrance, prepping to venture through the night-laden woods once more. Instinctively, I stretched a paw for him; I'd rather stay with the cheery umbreon instead of that irritating fire-type. "I'll find Shard and Aqua while you two work out all these problems, 'kay?" His signature chuckle. "Don't set anything ablaze while I'm out." Mom huffed. I forced a tired grin and I weakly waved in farewell, preferring the eons found over chatting with Bone. He winked whimsically before his luminescent rings buzzed to life and he pranced outside, merging with the darkness, embracing the night. Only the sultry crackling and snapping of the bonfire's flames remained to ward off any silence.
Mom, as stubborn as she claimed me to be, kept her back turned and leered sharply at the wilderness. I gazed wearily at the transfixing red-orange light and breathed the ash-scented air in wait for her to start our conversation, knowing all too well that voicing my opinions first would spark greater flames and resentment. When charcoal black completely covered the steadily dying timber, she did open her snout, the flareon not budging in the least to glance back. "I will openly admit that I have been rather… trying, this evening."
"…Trying?"
"Trying, difficult, irksome, whichever synonyms strikes your fancy." She rolled her eyes, gave a regal sigh, shifted around so her eyes grazed into mine, and then her jaws clenched for a moment. "Apologies, they are in order, yes?"
"Mom…" After all the heated discussion earlier, this all seemed too easy, too half-hearted. She was rushing apologizes to end my troubling attitude already: typical of the hot-headed flareon. She played this rushed trick on me as a cub all the time to end my pouts and whines."Tell me. Why- why would you ever keep such an important secret from me? Being born with humans is a serious part of my past, and not knowing about it… it made me hurt her…"
Predictably, she groaned and gave an exasperated roll of the eyes. "Don't bring her up again. I'm sick of that faint-hearted milksop. Let us just—"
"I love her, Mom."
"You certainly do not for you neglected to give chase when she fled." She shook her head, disappointment scrawled all across her countenance. "You abandon her in the unfavorable night. You rush back here, expecting her to return, thinking this time apart would meld the crack in your so-called relationship on its own… but she chooses not to. This is just infatuation for the both of you, don't you realize?"
My paws itched, pleading to unsheathe my claws, and my instincts yearned to release all the ions stocked in my fur in a full-fledged attack; because she seemed so calm, so certain that not even friendship suited us. I refused to repeat past mistakes, however, and my heart would not harden into a frigid one of bronze; I would not continue harming the ones I cherished, no matter how trying they were. So, biting my tongue, I rejected the emotions of an uncontrolled beast and stuttered out, "W-we really do need time alone… to reflect on this, and see if my action is at all forgivable…"
Almost growling, she reeled her lips back, exposing diamond white, diamond sharp canines. "Then halt your pathetic garbling on missing this… this whelp! You chose this outcome—feel content with it! Arceus! You… you can be incessantly fickle at times."
Eyes shifting, paws fidgeting, I struggled to suppress lashing out again. "Bu… but Mom—"
"Shush!" She smugly took advantage of my submissive attitude, allowing not a sentence past my lips. "It is like you became a blinded rattata and it is piteous. This is nothing more but infatuation, Shard shall not return, you two are simply finished in terms of romantic endeavors. Move on with your life without Shard; I am sure she's conducting the same as we speak…"
"…No, Mom." It never worked well on my part to endure her painful words, these lies, these biased assumptions; I would not listen. "You don't know her—know… know us…!" My heart ached as if coiled in barbed vines; it ached from my mistake, ached for Shard, and this sense of yearning couldn't be for naught. "You assume you know all the tiniest details on my life, but you don't, not anymore. All relationships have little hiccups here in there, but if they rise up above the obstacles, it's really meant to be." There was doubt crossing my mind on if my words held truth… but I followed my heart, and my heart followed the truth. Mom's ugly scowl and ferocious eyes would not discourage me.
"Never before have I met such a nice, considerate Pokémon. Shard… she… no one is truly perfect, but she is… sh-she is in my eyes. She might be the opposite to you, imperfect to you, but no one could be better than Shard to me. The way she gets emotional so easily makes my heart bounce, and I wish I could protect her from all the dangers in the world, from all the hot-shot manectrics and sadistic luxrays. A-and… we may know little about each others' pasts, and that has broken us apart a little, but our pasts don't matter. Only our thoughts in the now decide who we are."
Swallowing thickly, I choked out the rest of the emotions that I chained inside me for so long: the feelings and words I never managed to tell Shard sooner. "Don't you feel this way with Bone? We, we connect, we're linked, our hearts match… and even if our hearts aren't the perfect pair, they're nearly there. So, if everything for us was truly, forever over, my heart wouldn't still be beating.
"Because I love her, and she loves me."
Dumb shock. That's all that coated her eyes, the only emotion showing—the rest of her body was unperturbed; stiff and proper with her lavish tail not in the least bit ruffled—and she slowly, numbly blinked. "Thunder… do you mean all of this…?"
I nodded firmly; it was impossible to be mistaken. The warm, comforting feeling curdling in my chest couldn't be anything but. "I've talked about Shard so many times tonight because it's true and you still neglect to understand: I, love, her. I don't think I've said it to her anytime lately, which is horrible of me to think… but, it's true…" Inhaling calmly, profoundly, I collected all courage I possessed and glared Dandelion straight into her bewildered eyes, and telling by her shock visibly worsening, she understood the intensity of them. "There's only one thing you and Bone can do to put my grudge to rest. So… please, Mom. Apologize. For… everything."
"Bu… I, I…" Her haughty composure, shattered; her thoughtless arrogance, swept aside. Once more, nothing but hissing and cackling of the fire frightened off silence, and then she replied with a struggling voice. "M-my actions… yes, they have been remarkably discourteous, ill-mannered, I admit. If anyone has been playing the role of a troublesome cub lately, it would most probably be… be I. Thus, I sincerely apologize for all I have done. For hurting you, hurting Shard, hiding truth of your past, and only worsening the tension between everyone. I… am sorry."
In the smoke-cluttered den beneath the mellow, amber-hued glow of delicate flames, everything seemed to brighten a bit, without the fire's aid. Adorning a tenuous grin, I weakly mumbled, "Thank you… You usually don't set aside your pride to apologize."
"Thunder, y-you…" My ears rose, showing a sliver of surprise towards the flareon's pitchy voice. She bashfully looked elsewhere, hiding sight of her scarlet eyes usually burning with such passion, such spirit, but they must've seemed cracked and waterlogged in that moment. "That plebian has already stolen my son away from me, apparently… along with that sweet heart of yours." Nothing could describe her better in that moment than heartbroken. "I, I never wanted you to grow up, but you have changed so much over the last season. Changed beyond reverse… You are practically gone." Her voice stooped to a disbelieving whisper. "Gone…"
I debated whether to stay mute or voice against the manner, and wanting to cheer up my mother won out in the end. "I'm not gone, Mom… I haven't really chan—"
Her voice shot right back. "You have, you have! I didn't manage to scare her away with mentions of dastardly humans and your relation with them and so you are now distancing yourself from I, moving to her side… only Bone is still faithful to me. There is a lack of loyalty in this ruthless wilderness and that's all I want, loyalty, the perfect, obedient family with steadfast offspring that would never forget those that introduced them to this world…" She sighed, forlorn, seemingly defeated. "I worked after this dream for so long, nothing but this for seasons and seasons, but I am unfortunate and life only spits poison at mothers nowadays and all effort was in vain. Futile. Wasted. A wasted wish, a wasted adulthood… because outsiders are leeching away at my- at our family: us. I miss Solar so greatly… and I loathe the notion of you departing as well, pursuing an invisible horizon that rests just out of my reach." Her eyes glittered with tears, but the glimmering veil soon dried out; Mom never cried. Her extensive pride refuted the idea of weeping and vulnerability in general. She had raised me with the same sky-high standards, too, and so I adopted the same attribute… but she probably never cried since her cub days.
It hurt to speak. "I-I'm sorry for making this harder for you and having your fears a reality, but I… I really must venture out into the world." She rushed a breath, inhaling sharply, her normally undisturbed, luxurious pelt looking ever so slightly muddled for once. She almost seemed submitting, merciful, which was extraordinarily rare for her nature. "Mom, I… I would love it if I could stay in that cramped tree home with you and Dad forever. With Aqua and Solar, too. However, if I did, this breathtaking new life you've gifted me would cease. My experiences would never matter, and my life would remain predictable and dull. Adventure and thrill lives in my blood, I've learned, so I can't just… stay. After all, if you or Bone never left your own homes, this little misfit family of ours wouldn't exist."
The dejected frown engraved into her pristine snout began curling at the edges: the slightest smile. "Eventually, I want to raise my own great family, but I wouldn't be able to back in Maplewood. A piece of my heart will always belong with you and Bone, but this place, Sugarcane… it's my new home."
She almost became teary-eyed again. "When did you ever sound like an inspiration? Such a poet you are, dearie."
Like a resounding clap of thunder, the moment was ruined. "Mooomm…" She giggled as I groaned.
"Yeah, that's the Thunder I know." The content fire-type sniffled for the first and last time that night before her sunset-themed pelt fully settled and arrogance twinkled back into her eyes. "Now, let us finally wind down and snooze this night into a memory. I'm sure your father will return with Aqua… and Shard… by sunrise." She languidly crossed her dainty paws, yawned, and settled her head between those elegantly long forelegs. Her delicate ears casually twitched down against her head, and that magnificent tail curled about her side as she began retiring to her dreams.
Contrasting her relaxed veneer, my eyes rounded. My relief at burying fresh grudges was short-lived, thinning within the sooty, whistling breeze. Shard, Aqua… Fizzy worry streamed through my heart and throat, I couldn't help but yelp out, "But what if they aren't here? N-not by morning, I mean?"
The dimming flames in her eyes lingered open for a moment longer. "If your claims of love stand as truth… have some faith in your sweethearts." Without another heartbeat, her eyelids fluttered shut and her chest soon smoothed to rising at a slow, rhythmic pace, the flareon almost instantly slumbering. Maintaining her signature feistiness always leeched most of Dandelion's energy, and so she always fell asleep as if she dashed around relentlessly the entire day.
Drowsiness sapped at my nerves and disordered thoughts. It stung to fret too long on my favorite glaceon and adorable little sister anymore, and the heaviness brought along by exhaustion practically rooted me to the floor. Despite being sprawled on dusty, rocky ground instead of the moldy straw an unconscious leafeon hogged, the transition from consciousness to dreamless sleep happened too smoothly.
A rough, inconsiderate shove stirred me from unconsciousness. I lightly gripped the maroon scarf left around my neck and grumbled a warning growl, half-asleep and seeking more rest. "Get up, Blunder." When my eyes eventually fluttered open into a squint and I sniffed the smoky air once, soaking azure blinded my vision: nothing but dark blue that felt uncomfortably sticky. I sharply raised my head and immediately felt the tightness of a cramp knotted in my neck, causing me to cringe. "O-ow…"
"Ah, I kicked that a little too hard, didn't I?" The Pokémon forced a mocking sigh. "Whoops." Telling from that cynical, incredibly familiar tone, she couldn't care less about the berry juice stinging my eyes. Her rudeness hardly mattered in the moment, though: it was Petal. She was up and conscious and sounded like nothing ever harmed her throughout the days prior. I scrambled hurriedly to my tired paws, ignoring all cramps and inklings of drowsiness, almost crumbling pathetically back to the rough floor from rushing my beaten body to stand. From my hasty actions, Petal snickered. "You're that surprised I'm up? Ahh, forget it…" Disregarding my surprise, she quietly sat tall and revealed a little smirk, her personality and attitude exactly the same as before. She acted as if no Velvetleaf cloaked her limbs, no wounds or scratches marred her skin, and tried so hard to banish any rasp from her tone. Her care towards such things was beyond obvious, and I had not an idea on her incentive to do cloak her momentary weakness. "I have some questions, and we can't afford to dawdle too much so let's get to it."
"Straight to the point, huh?" I chuckled dryly, wiping the final, savory droplets of blue from my vision and accidentally staining my paw with it. "Welp, I wanted to first congratulate you on making it through these last few days, but whatev—" Without warning, she surged forward in a swift, fluid motion. The narrow leaf on her head swung and stopped near my throat, within a claw's length of it, and the wilted edges appeared sharper than usual. She was not in her usual mocking mood, I realized; not even within the margins of it. "Can't you tell I'm serious right now? These are important questions!"
"P-Petal, we both have enough cuts already. You don't have to result to vio…" The leaf rustled closer, pressing against my throat threateningly, challengingly. However, to the leafeon's eventual dismay, the situation wasn't as dangerous as I bet she believed; the leaf was smooth, the edges duller than sharper, and her fake reign over the situation was comical. The flighty leafeon didn't know any moves that honed her features into lethal appendages, nothing like Iron Tail… minus Bite, but leaves biting? Seriously? Sure, there were carnivine, living fly traps, and probably a few other exceptions, but Petal looked like a sapling in comparison to them. Spirit like a bothersome thorn, appearance like a sweet ole dandelion—
"Will you comply or not?"
"Of course! I don't want any unnecessary injuries… or deaths."
A moment of silence—not even the sizzling of fire remained for it had whittled away overnight. Then, pouting but satisfied, she backed away somewhat and sat again at an appropriate distance "So… first, your mother wanted me to tell you that she's out in search for your sister, and as for your father…" She nodded towards the heavily dozing umbreon on the messy, mildewy straw Petal slept on beforehand; Bone snored nice and lightly like a restful ponyta, it made me snicker. "Right before your mother left, we had some berries together and she told me some… interesting things. But I want to confirm them, hence my questions."
Impulsively, I reached back and scratched the back of my head, realizing exactly how many important events she snored through. "Yeah, quite a bit happened while—"
"So, you discovered you were born with humans. Correct?" After shrugging off the irritation of being interrupted, I nodded, grudgingly. "Huh. I expected out of all of them, that would be a lie… And your little sister, Ague or something, she was that eevee I tried rescuing at the beach from Ruby. Also correct?"
"It's Aqua, and yes."
"Whatever. And your mother's really in search for her? Aqua's truly missing?" Another nod. That would be a horrible thing to fib about. "And, lastly… you attacked Shard yesterday and she fled from you? You also didn't give chase?" Her perked ears and acute eyes wouldn't permit any lying, and her hazel-hued stare never seemed so fervently earnest. Reluctantly, I nodded again, and her already glaring eyes sharpened even more so. Her first layer of anger began to show. "Blunder… how dare you! After letting you and Shard hang out, you break both of our trusts?!"
At least Petal had some trust in me… Had. Meekly, I averted my gaze. "Emotions got the better of me. It happens to all of us…" I detested forcing out that short, nonchalant reply and simply shrug, my sensitively crafted emotions too complex for such a response, but the stubborn leafeon would take advantage of me of I showed I cared: just like Dandelion had.
"Everything you do will always affect Shard. Learn to control yourself, or I'll personally… I'll…" Her tail started thrashing, and those lively, hazel eyes reflected some worrying intentions.
"U-uh, please, don't say you'll hurt me in some gruesome way or something. That's what one of those Arceus-forsaken luxrays would do."
Her tensed muscles and wild tail relaxed a little. "If I'm not assertive, you'll never take me seriously."
My wedge of concern withered and I snickered, my little grin deepening, and a frown sculpted itself into Petal's muzzle. She's just like Dandelion. "You're so childish that I'll never think of you seriously."
She refrained from snarling, her body tensing again. "I hate to agree, but… I've been lax on protecting Shard and because of it, I allowed a trip-up like you claw her heart in half. I'll never make that mistake again, giving even the slightest trust to you anymore. And, in a way, my lack of responsibility is childish."
The little sense of humor in the air vanished as my jaws set. I would fix the damage done: I would. "I try to shrug off my emotions sometimes if everyone else is stressed… but the pressure was too much. My emotions poured out. And… I think you're too rude to me to deserve hearing this, but honest to Arceus, I am sorry. If I could promise anything to you to prove I'm committed to protecting Shard more so than hurting her, I'll agree to it in a heartbeat."
Hesitance, and then, her tone resentful and curt: "Fine. However, I won't consider trusting you after this unless Shard does so too." Dandelion and Petal were akin spirits in myriad ways, especially in terms of their unconquerable stubbornness, but Petal could show mercy on occasion. I was grateful for the chance and wouldn't waste it. "You're coming with me to find Shard and Aqua: hurry and get up."
"Now?"
"Now." I nodded in agreement, nothing but reckless resolve and determination paddling through my befuddled thoughts. I would fix this. "But first, please groom out the Oran juice around your eyes. The whole forest will laugh at you if you don't, myself included." To return the good-natured teasing between us, she winked, licked a paw pad, and pressed it roughly beside my right eye. I felt the azure liquid further smearing into my fur and glowered at her bitterly. "Are you going to clean yourself up or let me do that again?"
"Ugh, I got it…" I jabbed her with a paw and rudely shoved her back, and then I began licking at my paw pad and smoothing it over my eyes. Petal watched the beginning of the painfully slow process until she impatiently groaned, stomped back over, and slapped the back of my head. You're slow, her eyes seethed. "It's your fault I'm messy," I muttered, "and it's not like I have a lake right around the corner for washing this out."
"Yeah, but Silver Falls is nearby, right?"
"Yeah, but you said everyone would laugh and—"
"Toughen up. While there, we can find out if Shard or Aqua are there, so we're killing two pidove with one stone."
"You're never considerate."
"Shut up." I knocked that snide grin off her muzzle, but we had compromised, silently racing off into the lively vegetation. At least we canceled any chances of waking up a peacefully snoring umbreon with our never-ending arguments; after such a long and tiring night, he deserved an uninterrupted rest.
Unfortunate flowers were crushed in our haste and we trampled numerous shrubs. Petal sprinted at full haste despite being bedridden for so long—I had little to no trouble staying caught up with my impressive agility, but the reckless leafeon concerned me. I wouldn't question it, though, and we ran for a while longer before I noticed an unnatural rattling, light and steady, which originated from somewhere always nearby as we ran because it wouldn't fade. When we almost burst into the broad clearing of Silver Falls, the faint rumbling of the waterfall's forever-flowing current almost louder than the uncanny sound, I discovered it stemmed Petal. I leered at her accusingly."What's that rattling?"
Breaths momentarily escaping her, panting so heavily from unwisely pushing past the limits, she needed to slow to a stop and stabilize her breathing, to inhale, exhale, in and out and in—I became the impatient one until her bruised lungs were satisfied and she could speak coherently. "I-it's, uh…" She gestured lamely at her tail; plastic pink and purple beads decorated an otherwise plain string, seemingly too small to fit around Petal's neck. The makeshift accessory was hard to spot from the soft, almost transfixing fluttering of her somewhat wilted tail. "It's your sister's… n-necklace… It h-has that classic cub scent, anyway."
"What?" My forehead scrunched up, my thoughts already littered with inquiries. "Where did you find that, and why would you bring it? I haven't seen it anywhe—"
"When I woke up, I found it beneath me in the bedding. Your family's reeeally stupid for keeping it in straw and leaving it there, not even using it to track Ague…"
Placing a paw to my forehead, exasperated, I corrected, "Again, it's Aqua. Also, we know her scent by heart: she's family. Why would we need that to help us out?"
"Ugh, whatever…" She scoffed; I rolled my eyes. "I don't know it. Ugh, let's just hurry and clean off that silly Oran mask of yours."
"It looks like a mask?"
"Well… It's more like someone stepped on you and they had berry juice on their foot, but saying mask is easier."
"Wow, thanks…"
After light jogging, I was first breaking into the dynamic clearing. The rhythmic roaring and thrumming of a stream crashed into a moderate-sized lake with nil less than crystalline water: nothing significant had changed. Pokémon cluttered the area in uncomfortable proportions, various bug-types buzzing and hissing while languid water-types loitered among the ripple-laden waters. Even in plentiful woods with nothing but greenery, the early summer heat could easily dry up the toughest of Pokémon. As the sun lit up in intensity and glared more sweltering rays on the world, forest residents already sought out water to stay chill and hydrated in whether it being a group of caterpie sipping the surface, a tired bellossom shade-bathing not far to my left, or an ecstatic poochyena chasing his tail by the lake—
I gasped, recognizing the zippy canine instantly, especially with a snickering and chattering zorua at his side. As I evaded other Pokémon and advanced towards the couple, a little ball of yellow fluff between Star's forepaws caught my eye and the blaringly light hue of it startled me enough that I jarred to a halt. It seemed to be a cub with its tiny size, curled up tight within the trickster Pokémon's shadow and most likely sleeping with its stillness. I shouted for Fang when almost beside them, and as the silver-furred canine laid tawny-tinted eyes on me, serrated claws clammed onto my back and mercilessly tore a major chunk of fur out. Pain lighting up and horribly my stinging skin, I firmly bit my tongue and nearly drew blood, but it prevented myself from howling bloody murder and silencing the vicinity with it.
The culprit stepped before me with hazel eyes burning like the angry sun above, but she displayed a contrasting smile: a flamboyant and sugary grin. I constricted her with my agitated gaze. "Petal, that seriously hurt! I'm probably bleeding from that, you pulled so much out."
She fondled the tattered hairs of flaxen in her gray, blunted claws, so much upon her paw that it nearly hid sight of it. "Wait up for me next time, then. You abandoned me."
"If you don't want to be left behind then don't lag behind. That's practically asking for it." I shook my head gingerly, marveling. "You're so much different from Shard…"
"Hey, I'm only this brutish around you, Blunder. Not only do I have a lack of respect for you but it's… fun." She almost looked nervous upon saying that, but she faced a dumbly smiling zorua and poochyena before I fully discerned her thoughts on the prospect. I later realized she just hated to admit I actually entertained her. "Anyways…" Her expression beamed with sickeningly honest cheer. "Star, long time no see!"
Shifting from paw to paw, the peppy zorua yipped back, "Petaaaaal!" and she dashed over to us without a heartbeat of hesitance, tackling the typically uncouth leafeon in the foreleg and making Petal grimace from the pain. "Whew! You stink… like smoke… did you roast berries last night without me? Did you burn yourself, and that's why you're covered in Velvetleaf?" Petal just chuckled warmheartedly, rustling the midnight tuft of crimson-streaked fur on the zorua's head while shaking her head, and the dark-type childishly stuck her tongue out.
"Thuuuunder!" I merely sidestepped, avoiding the foolhardy lunge by the silly poochyena and he tumbled headfirst to a surprised tauros. Fang evaded a defensive kick of the bulky Pokémon's nimble hind legs, pinecone brown hooves nearly hurling the goofy canine into the sky and the oblivion beyond. "Oops! Sorry, stinky stranger. I thought you were a jolteon." He weakly patted the beast's flank and wobbled onto his klutzy paws, teetering my way, and the tauros reluctantly returned to grazing. "Thunderrrrr, you have a cool mask thing! Hug meeee!" Used to his antics, I allowed his fluffy forelegs to sling around my back, but he was so small that they couldn't reach all the way around. "Urrrrf… you're fat." He backed away awkwardly and gazed at his forelegs, quickly engrossing himself into his fluffy paws and I sighed. His mind never stuck to one topic for long.
"Just as random as ever. Uh, and I think you left a Pokémon back there…" Sparing a backwards glance at the fluffy ball of marigold not too far behind, I watched as two large, glistening red eyes blinked awake and its tiny frame quivered. Whether its gem-like eyes trembled with alarming fear from being alone or something else, I wouldn't know yet. This Pokémon, this fennekin cub… After a heartbeat or two of blankly staring at her, I finally recalled Shard's adventurous cub friend. "Fawn?"
Her terrified eyes widened and, oh so wildly, she shook her head swift enough to nearly flatten those large ears. "I-I am… Scarlet…" I barely heard her stuttering voice over the copious conversations held between adjacent groups of Pokémon. Innocently, and a bit louder, she asked, "A-aren't you… aren't you Sh-Shard's… mate?"
My ears and cheeks felt alight with a mild blush, and I timidly avoided staring directly into those curiosity-laden rubies. "Well, we're not exactly mates, but… that's technically the term, I-I guess…" I felt Petal's fierce eyes graze into my nape, as if challenging the truth of my words. Honestly, she had the right to—not for mating reasons, though—because of my fight with Shard, especially since I didn't know whether the glaceon was willing to forgive. She had to, though…
"Ermagersh, Petal! I got stuff to tell!" Star squeaked eagerly, standing on her hind legs and resting her forepaws on the interested leafeon's shoulders. "'Kay, so Fang and I planned to meet up here because it's starting to get hot, and we wanted to go on another date, and… Anyways, you know how I live kind of close to Frosty Hills? Welp, I was walking from my den to here when I smelled a familiar smell, the smell of the Fennekin Clan, and so I followed it and found Scarlet in a group of bushes, unconscious!" The mentioned fire-type had begun padding over with hunched shoulders and eyelids pinched shut; the recounting of the tale obviously troubled her.
However, the gossiping zorua continued. "At least a few dozen Pokémon must've passed Scarlet before I found her. She sure is lucky I got to her before a hungry predator did first… See, I was gonna take her back to the Fennekin Clan, her home, because it's the right thing to do—Fang and I visit that place all the time, at least every few days or so, so I know where it is—but she refused and wants to stay with me. So, I compromised, took her 'ere, but she hasn't told us anything about what happened yet! Well, which I'm fine with, as long as she's all right… but we eventually have to take her back. Anyways, isn't that weird? Do you have any advice, or could you perhaps convince her to, I dunno, head home?"
Scarlet reached Fang's side, her body's shuddering more patently than previously. She probably weathered a traumatizing event to appear so shaken. "I-I don't want to head home. My parents are just… j-just gonna scold me… Also, Fawn's probably out and about and I need to find her and… a-a-and…" Tears blurred her hopeless eyes. The fennekin looked mortified as she involuntarily recalled something horrifying and grisly and I wish she would reveal it. "So, jolteon… I'm sorry, Fawn talks about you and Shard all the time, but I can't remember your name as of n-now… u-um…"
"I'm Thunder," I provided, smiling reassuringly at the disgruntled cub.
"Oh! Y-yeah, it's really simple and that catches me off guard… th-thank you." Before continuing, she stole a glimpse of the other three quadrupedals; Star watched our conversation attentively, intrigued, Fang had returned to studying his paws again, and Petal gazed at puffy, scruffy, bumpy clouds far off in the sky, lost in thought. "Um, so Fawn said she's met you before, a little more than a week ago. She hangs out with Sh-Shard often and, and I was… w-wondering…" She paused, fumbling over her words, and I patiently waited until she collected her bearings. "U-u-um, could you bring Shard here, o-or bring me to Shard? If Fawn left the clangrounds, Shard would probably know about it." Admittedly, her phrasing was slightly suspicious; why say if?
"Sorry, Scarlet. Shard's been missing all night, and Petal and I are looking for her along with my little sister. If I knew where she was—"
"Whoa, Shardy's missing?!" Star shrieked, jaw hanging. Before she could fret on, Scarlet actually interrupted her:
"Please, bring m-me along!" I blinked, dumbfounded at the cub's solemn commitment. "I-I mean, if Shard went missing last night, and I did some… some stuff last night, which I think triggered Fawn to leave the clan, uh, I-I… I… she…" She shook her head, warding away the stammer in her tone. "They're probably together, somewhere, or maybe Fawn's with your… sister… It might not be a coincidence that all of them went missing. Maybe Shard disappeared because Fawn found her, or vice versa, or, or… something!"
"Why is she missing?" Star miserably continued. "Poor Shardy… Fang, we're definitely helping them now!" Her shock had rapidly diminished, leaving only unwavering diligence. The poochyena bobbed his head cheerfully; he looked elated just to remain by the zorua's side.
I know why Shard and Aqua are missing, Scarlet, Star… my thoughts rambled. Just don't know where they could be. But, you… Scarlet went through something. Maybe it involves Aqua, and so I want—I need to know… What did she do? "If I let you come with us, could you tell me what happened last night?"
"What? Wh-why?" She appalled the idea of uttering a word about it.
"I'm sorry, but it might be… beneficial."
"U-um… I, I dunno… It, it's really…" Since she begun tripping around with her words again, my gaze unconsciously wandered as she endeavored to control her stuttering, but then I glimpsed another set of red eyes across the lake. However, these eyes weren't like gems, nor did they resemble a wildfire like Dandelion's—there was a cold, cavernous touch to them. Shadowed and troubled, glittering with aggression, as if challenging everyone that so happened to meet the stormy glare. They were familiar, too—unmistakable. The cold-blooded orbs couldn't belong to anyone but Faolan. Spotting his static-laden tuffs of goldenrod and sea blue fur confirmed my initial thought and, detesting the idea of engaging in another battle so soon, I faced Scarlet and my stern gaze made her squeak and jump.
"Make your decision now, because we're leaving."
"Wh-wha…?" she murmured naïvely, swiveling her apple-shaped head around for any traces of danger.
"What? Why?" Petal added on, glowering with ears flicked back. "You haven't even washed off your face, and we both still reek like smoke. That's stupid."
Little ears going limp, Fang whimpered on, "And you guys just got here…"
Faolan had seen me, hence the electric-type vanishing from his spot and into the crowd, most likely meandering towards us. If we moved fast… "Someone I'm not exactly on good terms with is around here. We'll have to battle if he reaches us, so…" Scarlet jumped again at my stare. "Are you coming or not?" Flabbergasted, spluttering over her tongue, frantically scanning the crowd, she eventually managed to give a brief, shaky nod and I glanced about for the fiendish manectric again. "Okay then, we're going."
"Hmph!" Star darted over and firmly grabbed Fang's paw in two of her own, her eyes locking on Fang's and expressing all her passions and intentions with just one stare. He just blinked. "While they're out and about, we'll also search for Shardy!"
The poochyena's thundering howl of agreement attracted many pairs of eyes."To Frosty Hills!" he announced triumphantly, as if charging into battle. As Petal gently picked up the shivering fennekin in her muzzle and placed her on my back, the zorua and poochyena had already trampled Pokémon in their rush away from Silver Falls and streaked out of sight. They left quite a few Pokémon gazing after them, visibly irritated. They never ceased to liven up the place.
"Hang on tight," I ordered gruffly, addressing Scarlet. The timid fire-type entwined her adorably small paws into my scarf as we squirmed free of the crowd and galloped into the cluttered vegetation without a second thought, without a backwards glance, without any faltering in our strides. Grass was crushed, flowers were destroyed, and jagged branches scratched at our skins; but none of this mattered. Faolan was nimble and swift, typical of all electric-types, and so we needed to gain as much distance as possible before he located our scent trails and sprinted in pursuit. It was possible since last time this happened—with Shard, the day I confessed my feelings to her—I evaded battling him when also near Silver Falls; he seemed to really like the place. He hadn't seen us back then, though, so… Technically, this was an entirely different story.
After nothing but thrashing through foliage with our reckless dashing, Petal coughed out, completely irked, "Who exactly are you on bad terms with?"
I waited before replying, first leaping over a shrub while trying to recall the twisty pronunciation: "Faolan. He's a very dark-minded manectric, and…" Nearly colliding head-first with a pale aspen, I briskly sidestepped and ricocheted off the thin trunk's side with a grunt. Scarlet squeaked a strident yelp and, halting for her sake, I finished, "W-we consider each other rivals. At least, I hope he does. Also… Scarlet? Because we must run, you'll have to wait a bit longer before explaining whatever happened , so—"
A painful, resounding thud echoed off the trees and I pivoted around, watching Petal totter and rub her head from crashing into the aspen. "A-ah… you, you said…" Those hazel eyes blinked alive with alarm as she… caught herself, from something, and she abruptly cleared her throat. I raised my eyebrows, silently questioning her. "Ah, I, I just thought I found Shard's scent. Sorry." She staggered around the aspen that still shuddered from the collision and hastily took off ahead with a faulty gait, and I jogged after, wondering again on her motives for working so hard.
Petal took the idea of keeping distance from the manectric extremely serious after that. Despite her tail dragging and shoulders sagging, she consistently tried to pick up the pace, panting, gasping, rasping, heaving. Only a few short moments had passed since the impact with the aspen when I forced us to rest. She detested the thought but stopped regardless, her lungs pathetically rendering her immobile. "No… we… Th-Thunder, why—"
"You'll kill yourself at this rate, and Scarlet can't handle such an intense pace." Even my own breathing came out tattered, which never happened unless I didn't restrict myself in a dash, and that said a lot as a jolteon. My struggle was worsened with the submissive fennekin gripping my fur so tightly; my skin itched horribly from her pulling, even more so from Petal yanking out quite a chunk of fur earlier.
"It's not th-that bad…" Scarlet insisted, but her horrible shaking being worse than before proved my point.
"N-no… I can… yeah, we, we can do this. The squirt can hold on." The tenacious leafeon breathed slowly and took a step, another step, sharply inhaled, and dropped to the ground in a quaking, hissing mess; she never looked so weak. It'd shock me if she managed a steady jog, let alone full-out bolting again.
"Petal, although we're not the greatest friends, if you could call us that… I care at least a bit for you. You just barely woke up from sleeping for a couple of days and your body isn't used to this toil, especially after the fight."
"Yeah, I know, b-but…" Propping her fatigued legs in place, she rose with a strained grunt and glared straight through me, her eyes jagged and frigid like icicles. "Shard, she n-needs me, and… Faolan, if he's really after us, if he h-hates you enough to follow us this far… Just, we need to get moving. Can't r-risk anything."
As much as it pained me to accept it, I admired Petal somewhat; she cared enough about Shard that she'd tear herself worn and ragged to insure her safety. Also, despite knowing so little about this rival of mine, she worked so laboriously to avoid him for my sake, or maybe so we encountered no delays… Either way, her unconditional responsibility was admirable. "Anyways, I, I think I've found… A-Aqua's scent."
My scruff bristled. "Wait, seriously?" She craned her neck back to remind her nose of my sister's scent on the necklace, sniffed the crushed grass beneath her abused paws, and firmly nodded.
"Take a whiff if you don't believe me. This is it. This should lead us to Ruby." She staggered forward before grimacing with clenched teeth, quickly leaning on the nearest tree for support. I shook my head.
"Us? You can barely stand. You should rest here."
"No… I, I…"
"Sorry, Petal. You've gone far past your limits and will only hold us back." The leafeon gripped me with a look she never casted me before. It pleaded for mercy, for compassion, for generosity or any sort of pity—but I couldn't cooperate. Just like Dandelion, when I demanded her to apologize declared I needed to move on through life. "What if Shard is there? Would you really want to stall us with her in danger? Even if she isn't, Aqua and I are very close, so this is as urgent to me as if this was Shard's scent… I can't slow down. I need move fast, even if I have to leave Scarlet with you." I expected Petal's eyes to darken at the rejection since she acted so stubborn, but, surprisingly, she hung her head in surrender and slowly lied down. No words needed: she agreed. Only because of Shard, her eyes read.
"B-but…" the fennekin weakly stuttered, "Fawn, she might also be there… I need to find her, or, or something…"
"If I'm running at… a speed close to what we just ran, do you think you could tell your story while I do so?" If there wasn't a weak scent trail to follow, I would push to my own insane limits, and I wouldn't allow Scarlet the opportunity of hanging on.
"W-well… I-I'll try m-my best. Fawn needs me…"
"Well, hold on tight and stop stuttering. I'm… pretty fast." With a final, forlorn glance at Petal and her exhausted form, I locked on to the missing eevee's fading scent and treaded as briskly as I could without losing track, and Scarlet rather unsteadily began the recollection of her horrendous night.
Petal's POV
They left me behind. I was forgotten, like a troublesome weight, like some sort of burden—but that's what I was. A burden; a setback; a weight they needed to shed. It hurt to accept that the little cub stayed on this rescue mission longer than I could, but it was my fault for breaking my limits. I wanted to find Shard as quickly as possible, but my desperation brought me down in the end…
Faolan… If he continued his rigorous training since I last saw him, when I still walked around on stubby, brown legs with a tail just as fluffy as the fennekin's, he could match even Thunder's greatest speed. There was no guarantee Faolan was very strong, but that stupid, reckless jolteon was so concerned when mentioning the manectric, and Thunder seemed at least decently strong fighting a few days back. He wouldn't fret unless Faolan was at a level close to his or greater, which must've been at least a little high. That strange manectric… I missed him.
I didn't know why I panicked so much when Thunder spoke his name. It was unexpected, yeah, but I should've gotten over him after the uncountable seasons that'd whirled by. After an entire evolution, a change in attitude, and harvesting such a loathing for guys, some feelings still resided in my heart for him. I wondered if he spotted me back at Silver Falls, if he recognized me, if he became so 'dark-minded' as Thunder claimed, if he grew up into his cruel nidoran of a father… He probably was just as inane and crazed and abusive as all other guys, however, still fitting the stereotypical image that he planted in my head so long ago, but… the ache in my chest… this longing was telltale for what I still felt, what I'd always felt.
The soft crackling of electricity rumbled ahead, almost blending in with the gently roiling breeze from its weak volume. Faolan had followed, even moving so fast that he circled around us, and approached from the opposite direction. The little snippets of crackling grew louder, sounded jagged and threatening, and I braced to see his ugly snout and strangely charming crimson eyes when those quaking bushes would part to reveal the huge influencer of my past. The result of the kind-hearted, passionate electrike growing up without me—without us—without his father, a normal childhood… without so many things…
But it wasn't him; he wasn't coming. Neither a manectric nor electrike had a monstrous, ebony mane with golden irises. The dried blood on cut paws and broken claws, the aggressive fighting stance, those psychopathic eyes in which insanity couldn't be reversed from—the luxio had turned into a maniac. Lobo leapt from the shrubs with a deranged, distorted yowl and scrawled his claws messily into my flank, and he dragged out the most hoarse, conflicted scream I've ever heard from my own throat. The savage burning in my side was unbearable; I wished I wasn't alone…
Running around hectically with Thunder must've attracted the luxio… and since I had fallen down, almost unable to budge, I became an easy meal. He continued to cut away at me with both claws and electricity, but the wounds were shallower than the first. Slice, slice, slice, along my legs, across my forehead, up my tail, none of it fatal but just to manifest my agony. He wanted to play with his prey, playing with emotions and blood and life because only suffering entertained him from then on. Slice, slice, slice, one down my right eye and ceasing it shut, another destroying the delicate webbing between two of my toes, a third nearly chopping half my ear off… slice, slice, slice…
This was torture. I joked about Thunder's voice being torture, or having to bear with Lily's immense girly side, or merely scratching my paw pad on a sharp rock, but no… Not even going one-on-one against Ruby was this bad. Lobo strived to make my death as painful and torturous as possible, slowly draining my life away, and I carried false hope that stupid Blunder would hear my pain and the luxio's guffawing and return to fend him off as I limped to safety, but it would never happen. He would save one life while another perished behind his back, and it would be mine.
Actually… he did come. Not Thunder, but… A streak zipped out from the shrubbery and Lobo rolled from the stranger's hefty tackle. With the swift movements and only one of my eyes functional, all I could see was a blur of yellow-blue wrangling with a smaller black-blue until the yellow-blue shoved the black-blue against a tree and my will to not lose conscious finally focused my vision. A frighteningly gigantic paw pinning Lobo to the trunk, strangling the breath out of him, Faolan said in the stoniest, surliest voice, "I would rather not take your life, but I will if I must."
Spit foamed around the luxio's blood-caked fangs, and his pupils darted around wildly as he vainly clawed his hind paws at his captor's exposed chest, but his legs were too short and the chest too far for scarring damage. If Lobo had enough sanity left over to do anything else in his pinned position but gargle and wail, it would honestly surprise me. Any traces of the somewhat tamed Pokémon I saw in him as a shinx, when he befriended Shard… It wasn't realistic. This wasn't realistic. Everything that was happening—none of it made sense. When I watched Faolan shift his paw off Lobo's neck so he held the insane luxio by the bottom of his muzzle, I almost couldn't watch anymore and become more of a witness, almost overcome with stress and collapsing in a bawling mess because this couldn't be real.
But it was. All of it: the deadly swiftness of Faolan's other forepaw, the way it cleanly slit Lobo's throat, the way red gushed out and the emotion in Lobo's eyes froze in time… All of it was real, and the scene was forever engraved into my memories. Faolan released his belligerent grip and Lobo slid down the trunk, limp but stiff, dead. I never imagined Pine becoming such a monster… Lobo's blood sprinkled the manectric, sprayed across his ruthless, hollow eyes, and dampened the paw that stole the life. He gazed away from the luxio impassively; the efficient, cut-throat way he executed the death showed he wasn't a novice at this. Murderer.
Those dead eyes looked my way, but they… they weren't dead. Not sadistic or nonchalant or empty as they were before they glanced over, but sad. He was regretful, frustrated, angered, and sad, very sad. Faolan—Pine—he never looked so lost before. Then when he searched my eyes with his for a concise moment, hints of loneliness and disappointment arose. He hadn't realized who I was, and that was exactly what he was searching for: a trace of Moon. And he didn't find such a thing.
Quietly, I broke the heart-wrenching silence. "Tha… thank you…" My thoughts contrasted my grateful words. You thanked a murderer. He killed right before your eyes and reeks of blood now and could do the same with you at any heartbeat, and you thank him.
"He wanted to kill you for sport, not for a meal. The way he messed with you showed it all." This couldn't be Pine; he sounded so mournful, too, while Pine was always hopeful. "I can't stand these Pokémon, especially of this specific evolutionary chain." The Luxray Clan ended the life of his father, I recalled. Of course he hated them. "Killing should be for food and nothing else… That psychopath didn't deserve the painless death, but dragging out his demise out would only bring me to his level. Now, I shall get out your way and find somewhere to… wash off this blood…" With those lonely eyes, Faolan began to pad away. His bloodied paw left smeared imprints in the grass and he didn't chance a glimpse at the lifeless luxio; he had no actual responsibility over the body, and meat-seeking scavengers would eventually rid it.
If I suppressed the turmoil in my cacophony of thoughts, if I restrained the string of emotions in my heart and allowed him to walk away… I probably wouldn't see him again. But he hadn't even recognized me, and I wanted him to know. "P-Pine…"
Faolan heard my trembling voice, paused in his stride, and, after a few heartbeats of silence, he gazed back. Our eyes met and transfixed on each other's for a suspenseful, agonizing long-winded moment, and I couldn't decode anything from his eyes anymore except for surprise. "Moon?" I nervously nodded and gulped. Ever so cautiously, he began padding over, and… he chuckled. "And here I thought flirting with your 'sister' was wasted effort."
"Wait, Shard?" My reticence instantly crumbled. "You messed with Shard?! Why would you do that?" I snarled and if I wasn't so weak, I would've raced over and clawed him across the face. "That makes no sense! Ugh!" But none of this makes sense…
He winced at my bellowing. "You're even more hotheaded than before, hehe…" This couldn't be real. I couldn't converse with a murderer like with a close friend, and a murderer couldn't say such stupid things. I should've been scared or at least not outgoing… "I saw your sister not too long ago. Even though Shard and I haven't met before, I remembered you said she had purple eyes and wanted to be a glaceon, so I knew… I hoped that your sister would fall head-over-paws for my irresistible charm, so she would instantly tell you about me and you would know I evolved and… guess I'm wrong?"
I knew he never stuck to traditional methods and preferred out-of-the-forest thinking, but that was too aggravating. "Of course she wouldn't love you, moron! That's insane! You could've done so many things other than that… ask around, something… Arceus, you're unbelievable." All of this was unbelievable. Was that demented luxio truly dead over there?
"Moon, you're still so childish. Haven't changed in the least."
"Neither have you, dummy… By the way, I'm… I'm Petal now."
"And I've never gone by Pine before, or dummy. I am Faolan."
"Well, nice to meet you, Faolan." He had earned so many nicknames from me. Moron. Dummy. Murderer. Pine…
His wholehearted chuckle was adorable. "Same back to ya', Petal Now."
Silence. In that instant, staring into the emotional pools of his eyes and seeing happiness, actual relief from seeing me again, and knowing he killed right before my eyes… I hated him. This seething fire stormed into my heart and ravaged across these enigmatic feelings I had for him. I could not love a murderer. I could not, never, nevernevernever… but… Lobo, the intolerable luxio had nearly trimmed my life away. Lobo deserved his fate more so than mercy on his life, and so it was stupid to blame Faolan for the, admittedly, right decision… I couldn't injure the joyful manectric if I wanted to, anyways: my legs were stiff and hardly budged. My body coveted for rest… It had been a tiresome evening.
"Can you stand?"
I centered a glare on him, but he stared back questioningly, innocently… "No. I've spent the last of my energy, and I can't even see out of both my eyes." He took this as an invitation to help and stepped closer; I instantly growled, alarming him. "However, I don't want your filthy red paws touching me."
"You're covered in blood as well, sweetheart."
"…Ugh. Fine." Trudging the rest of the way over, he hadn't even used his paws—it wouldn't make sense, honestly—and gently closed his jaws around the loose skin on the back of my neck, aiding me up. When I stood and he released his teeth, I staggered and had to lean on his furry flank, new flecks of crimson transferring from his horribly marred pelt to mine. "Agh, you're so… b-bulky…"
"Muscular, you mean?" As if his mocking voice wasn't enough, he wiggled his eyebrows and failed at what I assumed to be a seductive smile. I would've slapped him if I could.
"Unbelievable…"
"C'mon, let me be happy that I'm reunited with my precious Moon. I haven't felt like this in so long."
"Just… Faolan, after all that just happened, we're just… chatting, like close friends?"
"So?"
"That's not normal! Plus, I haven't heard an apology from you yet."
"For what? Killing someone that would've killed you and countless others if I hadn't?"
"With that perspective, it actually sounds… moral… but no. Dummy, it's why we broke up as friends in the first place. If you've at all matured, you'll—"
"If I'm not mistaken, you've always been the immature one."
"…Shut up…"
He chuckled the final time that day. "I regret everything that happened that one night. My father died by… ya'know, shinx and luxio… so an overreaction should've been expected. However, sincerely, I apologize… I attacked you out of blind rage, and it was incredibly foolish of me." He sighed, almost not voicing anything else, but he needed to. It was a healthy catharsis—emotional relief. "And, because of all my losses that day, I thought Arceus abandoned me and worshiped Darkrai for a good, long while. The Lord of Nightmares, for that is what my life had become."
My heart ached again; not from longing but from dreaded guilt. Faolan had ventured down such a dark, foggy, evil route in life, and there were so many things I could've done differently that night to prevent our chaotic lives. "I've recently switched back, and because I bested a certain jolteon at battle the day I did so… Arceus must've forgiven me for my mistake. I'm sure He is helping me out of my dreaded pit as we speak, especially since I've found you again." It had been a long, long while since someone touched my heart with mere words, and our eye contact continued a conversation that didn't need to be voiced… and so we left the subject at that.
"Now, which way to your den?" he asked.
"It's not too far east from here… It's close to where I used to live, if you remember where." I couldn't look for Shard until I recovered again, I finally realized; if only I hadn't stressed and pushed myself… but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found Aqua's scent for Thunder to follow, Lobo would still be killing, and I wouldn't have patched things up with Faolan. I'm sorry, Shard.
We began at a slow tread for my home. Faolan should've done his catharsis while we walked; leaning on his bristly, electricity-packed fur was too uncomfortable. "Thiiiis is gonna take a while," I mumbled tiredly.
"Hey, at least we're together?"
"That doesn't help."
"Yep, still childish."
"And you're still a know-it-all…"
"Whoa, that was an actual good comeback! Pokémon of the world, Petal isn't immature anymore—she's below average!"
"…Shut up…" Yet I couldn't help but grin.
This story has a bit of everything now. Romance, action, bloody deaths, tragedy, humor, and religious standpoints! A little bit of EVERYTHING! :D
An' there we go. This chapter… is long… as always… Seriously, the last time I wrote anything less than 6000 words was around ten chapters ago. Wow me. This is almost 12K. Petal, why do you keep making chapters around 12K?! xD
Oh gosh, when I reached Petal's POV, I realized that there are around three actual chapters left besides this one… and that's insane. I'm actually almost done! o_o Heck, and the third chapter is just an epilogue, and it'll most likely be extremely short (I'm guessing between 3K and 5K words, which is definitely short compared to 11K). I can hardly accept the fact that… that I AM ACTUALLY NEARLY DONE WITH A FANFICTION. I've been on this site for THREE AND A HALF YEARS, and it's taken me up till now to finish a fanfic. If only I managed to write these super long chapters faster… -w- Anyways, just… holy cow! Someone slap me because I can't stop freaking out! Well, that's probably because I've been typing so long and it's five in the morning. Whoops. Why aren't I tired? TTwTT
Star: *Slaps*
Me: …Well, I did ask for it. xD
…Seriously, guys. If you've stuck around this far, thank you so maawwwcchhh (obviously you have if you're reading this, why do I bother with 'if'? :3). Hey, and the most surprising plot twist has yet to come! Maybe? Actually, everything that happened last chapter might be more shocking than the actual climax of the story, or maybe it only seems like that to me because I've stayed up so late and I've anticipated the next chapter's events for so long… So excited to write it. X3
On another note, is it wrong that it's been easiest to describe Dandelion with all these mean words than it has been with all the nice characters in the story? It's just her personality is so different compared to the others… I have no idea why I like her so much. She's been such a youknowwhat lately until this chapter (does anyone still hate her? I revealed the reason for her selfish behavior, but I totally understand if you still hate the flareon for her crimes, heh… she's cruel~ :3)… Maybe her actions are understandable, but not forgivable, if that makes sense—
Ohmigosh, my clock alarm just went off. I forgot I set it for early in the morning, and OH GOSH IT'S SO LATE, OR SO EARLY! Hey, maybe I'll break my 36-hour streak of staying up. That'd be nice. :D
Eh, there's nothing else to say. Not really. I feel like I'm forgetting something again and it'll probably smack me dead in the face later, but it's evading me now. Welp, if you read this chapter all of this in one sitting then GET SOME SLEEP! Because this is long. At least take a break from staring at your screen; stand up and stretch, everybody. Ya gotta move it, move it… gotta move it, move it~
Another chapter in two weeks! :D It might just be one week since I have a lot of free time now, but I'm saying two weeks just to be safe… but it might be one week… so yaaaayyy! ^w^ *Happy jig*