Umbreon- Out of the Spotlight
It was a completely dark environment within the cave. It was always cool and dark within the stone chamber, and this how the Umbreon that lived there like it.
Umbreon swayed his head back and forth happily, humming to himself softly as he walked through the cavern, kicking a small rock that he had found. A small smile was on his face as he continued to kick the rock ahead of him, amused with the pattern of the makeshift beat the repeated clattering of the rock made. He swayed his head back and forth, his ears moving in time with the clicking sound of the rock. However, he was suddenly stopped by a sound he was far too used to within the cavern. It was the sound of silence.
Slightly confused, Umbreon looked ahead of him, using his excellent night vision to see why the rock no longer made any noise. It soon became clear to him that the cavern forked a few feet ahead of him. The cave continued further on down the path to his left, but the straight path ahead of him came to dead end. This dead end was made up of a pile of rocks of various sizes, probably the result of a cave in, possibly many years ago. Umbreon peered at the mound of earth, and then gave a smile of delight when he saw his rock wedged into the mound right at the base.
Umbreon ran right to the mound of earth and began pawing at his rock with his small front right paw. Glaring at it, Umbreon brought his paw down hard onto the rock and tried to pry it out. His ears and tail stood up straight as he struggled to pull his rock out, but eventually Umbreon let out the breath he was holding in and panted for a bit. Then, more determined than ever, he crouched down low so that his small rock was at nose level. He then opened his mouth and bit onto his rock, dragging his body back as he pulled as hard as he could. Eventually the rock came out with a pop, and Umbreon quickly sat up on his haunches, smiling adorably around the rock in his mouth. However, in the very same second, his eyes were attracted by the small beam of sunlight that shone down through the hole the rock once occupied. The beam made a small spot of light centimeters away from Umbreon's forepaws.
Umbreon cried out in fear, dropping his rock and he frantically scrambled backwards, flailing his legs as his ears fell back and his eyes went wide. Once he was a good distance away, Umbreon lay on his back, breathing heavily as he calmed himself down. Then, he slowly got up onto his feet and turned to leave. However, his attention was once again grabbed by a crumbling and cracking sound.
He stared up at the remnants of the cave in, and watched as bits of rock began to fall from the mound. Suddenly, another beam of sunlight shot out through another small hole in the mound, falling to the right of Umbreon. This caused him to jump and twist his body away from it. Another shaft of light came down to Umbreon's left, causing him to cry out and sit up on his haunches with his forepaws up and together and his ears standing up straight. He stood perfectly still in this position between the two beams of light, staring straight at the mound of earth.
Eventually, the crumbling and cracking ceased, and the cavern was silent once more. Umbreon's nose twitched, and he gave a soft sniff as he gave the mound a nervous stare. Then, he carefully put his forepaws down, and slowly took three steps back. Then, he released the tension in his ears, allowing them to go back to their natural position, and gracefully turned around and took a step forward. A loud crumbling behind him caused his ears to stand up straight again, and Umbreon cried out as he bounded forward as fast as his legs could carry him. When he approached the cavern wall ahead of him, he put all four paws down and drifted in a tight 180 degree turn. Then he popped himself up onto his hind legs and struck the wall with his back and his forepaws spread eagled.
Umbreon stood up against the wall, his chest heaving from his heavy breathing as he stared at the large pool of sunlight that streamed in through the newly reopened mouth of the cave. The light reached just a millimeter away from Umbreon's hind paws, forcing him to flatten himself against the cavern wall as much as he could. Umbreon's eyes darted around frantically, desperately searching for a way to escape his entrapment, when a new sound caught his attention. It was a cracking sound, and it was coming from the wall his back was up against.
A look of confusion briefly crossed Umbreon's face, right before the section of the wall behind him broke and fell backwards, along with Umbreon. The oblong section of rock fell onto the sloped floor of the cavern hidden behind it, and it quickly started to slide down the incline, and it accelerated rapidly. Umbreon quickly flipped himself right side up and quickly got his bearings on the sliding platform. It was one and a half times as wide as him, and one and a half times as long as him. It was large enough for him to balance on, and he planted his feet firmly as he rode down on the stone board.
As Umbreon steadied his breathing, he began to loosen up and smile a bit as he rode smoothly through the tunnel at his brisk pace. His look of enjoyment was suddenly replaced by fear as he spotted bars of sunlight piercing the darkness and coming straight down from a number of small holes in the cavern's ceiling. Umbreon swallowed hard, and he bent down low as his ride quickly approached the beams of light that came down in various angles from above.
Umbreon leaned to the left quickly to shift the platform to one side, avoiding a pair of beams that made an X in front of him. Then he quickly lifted his left legs high and balance precariously on his right legs to avoid another beam of light he nearly slid right into. He then fell as flat as he possibly could to avoid another pair of beams that formed an upside-down V. Then, he shifted all his weight to the right to avoid a trio of beams that came straight down in his path.
The rock board reached the bottom of the incline and continued to slide speedily through the now level cavern. Umbreon stood up and grinned triumphantly, but then his ears shot up and he screamed when he saw that he was rapidly approaching the exit of the cavern. His eyes widened as he could clearly see the bright sunlight outside. Umbreon looked left and right, then he looked down and took a deep breath. He quickly stepped to the very front edge of the rock platform he was riding on, opened his mouth, and fired a Shadow Ball down on the edge of it. This caused the platform to suddenly flip into the air while still moving forward. Umbreon was carried along with it, and flew out of the cavern under the cover of the stone. He flew forward for a few feet, until he landed on the grass with the stone slab right on top of him.
The slab was still for a moment, then it slowly rose as Umbreon pushed himself up with the rock on his back. He groaned as he struggled to carry the massive weight, his eyes shifting back and forth until he spotted the shadow being cast by the tall trunk of the nearby tree. A look of gratitude crossed his face as he slowly crawled over to the tree. After an agonizing minute, Umbreon reached the tree trunk, and used all of his strength to throw off the slab on his back. He gasped out in relief as he crawled over to the tree trunk and rested with his back to it.
He sat there, eyes closed and breathing heavily, resting for quite a while. Eventually, he opened his eyes and got a look at his surroundings. In front of him and slightly to the right were the cavern filled mountains in which he lived. Around him was the surrounding forest. Umbreon looked down at the shadow of the tree before him, and his eyes were drawn to his left hindpaw. He immediately noticed that the tips of his toes were in the sunlight. Umbreon shouted fearfully as he slid himself backwards quickly, his eyes wide as he stared at his hind paw. With a panicked look in his eyes, Umbreon reached out with his forepaws, grabbed his left hind leg, pulled it up, and stuck his left hindpaw into his mouth. Umbreon sucked his paw for a second or two, his eyes becoming calm as his ears relaxed. Then his eyes opened wide again as he froze. Umbreon slowly looked down at his hind leg, then immediately pulled his foot out of his mouth and stuck his tongue out in disgust, using his forepaws to wipe off his tongue quickly. After a few frantic moments, Umbreon looked down at the shadow he was sitting in. He was surprised to find that it had shifted slightly.
With a look of intrigue, Umbreon turned towards the shaded, bushy area where a cave entrance waited. Keeping him from getting there was a patch of ground unshaded from the sunlight. However, as Umbreon eyed the current direction of the tree shadow, and then looked at where it had originally fell, a clever smile spread across his face. He chuckled to himself and sat up with his back to the tree, keeping his eye on the long shadow of the tree trunk.
It took plenty of patience, and awareness of how the shadow was moving, but Umbreon was able to slowly move along with the creeping shadow. He kept this up until, finally, the shadow formed a straight path from the tree to the bushes a few yards away. Umbreon practically jumped up onto his paws, eagerly chuckling as he stepped lively in the cover of the tree's shadow towards the mountain.
Umbreon passed by a Pecha Berry that lay on the unshaded ground about an inch away from the tree's shadow. However, his nose caused him to smoothly turn around and walk over to it. Umbreon stared at the berry, and his stomach grumbled. He hungrily licked his lips and bent down a bit to get closer to the Pecha Berry. He frowned at the light that shone down on the berry, and sighed as he remained in that position and waited.
After waiting for what felt like an even longer time than his first waiting period, the shade finally moved over the Pecha Berry. Umbreon gave a relieved chuckle as he hopped around a bit on his paws. Then he bent down and opened his mouth to claim the berry. However, before he could bite into it, a sinkhole suddenly opened up right beneath his paws, dropping him down into a dark cavern.
Umbreon landed solidly on his haunches, and blinked his widened eyes in disbelief. Then, the Pecha Berry bounced off the top of his head and proceeded to bounce off into the cavern. It came to a stop near the far end of the cavern, and Umbreon's eyes never left it. Umbreon gave his lips another lick, and then got on all fours and took a step forward. However, he was stopped in his tracks when with several crumbling noises, numerous holes opened up in the cavern's ceiling, causing many beams of light to shine down at various angles, falling in between him and the Pecha berry.
Umbreon's jaw dropped in disbelief, but then his stomach growled again. His ears stood up straight as he narrowed his eyes in determination. He took a very good look at the light beams in front of him that took up much of the space between him and the berry. Umbreon crouched down low and rocked his body forwards and backwards three times. Then, he made a leap forward, sailing over a pair of beams crossed like an X. He then landed on his forepaws and balanced on them as he stared at the beam of light right in front of him. He hopped to the left a few inches, and then flipped forward over a sharply angled beam. He landed on the ground and threw himself into a low roll under two more crossing beam of light. However, this sent him right towards another beam that shone straight down from the ceiling. Umbreon popped up onto his hind legs in a standing position, his forelegs pulled in close to his chest as he stared at the beam of light right in front of his nose. He then then leaned diagonally to his left and forward, reaching out with his forelegs to step around another light beam. He kicked up his hindlegs and spun around on his forelegs. He then laid flat and pushed off with his hindlegs to slide right underneath two final light beams. He felt the Pecha Berry against his head as he slid into it, and a look of delight and accomplishment appeared on his face.
Umbreon quickly stood up on all fours and devoured the Pecha Berry in one bite, chewing and swallowing with a smile on his face. Umbreon closed his eyes and gave a satisfied nod. Then, with a loud crack and a crumble, the wall right behind him that made the opposite end of the cavern fell, allowing a huge spotlight of sunlight to fall right on Umbreon.
Umbreon's eyes opened, and then he let out an agonized gasp before falling down flat on his side, kicking his legs wildly as he coughed and gagged. He spun around on his left side a few times, breathing heavy and loud as the Sun shone down on him. Umbreon let out a sob as tears welled up in his eyes. He shook his head in denial, grief and frustration filling his very being. He raised his right forepaw, shakily holding it between his face and the Sun. Then, with a final gasp, Umbreon closed his eyes and let his right foreleg fall limply to the cavern floor. Umbreon lay there with his tongue lolling out, remaining very still in the pool of sunlight.
Umbreon laid there for about a minute, then he opened his right eye and looked around. He then opened his other eye and got up on his haunches in a sitting position, a look of confusion and bewilderment on his face as he pulled his tongue back in and closed his mouth.
Umbreon placed his right forepaw on his heart and felt his heart beating. He breathed in and out a few times, and then slowly turned to look out of the large hole in the wall. He blinked solemnly, then burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that he fell onto his back and rolled around a bit.
After he was through laughing, he got up with a smile on his face and walked out into forest, where the Sun was still shining brightly in the sky. As he made his way happily through the forest, Umbreon swung his tail back and forth merrily and enjoyed the brand new sensation of the warm Sun on his fur.