Leaping Into The Shadows
Summary
When Glameow finds a severely injered Pikachu in the forest, she takes it to her Clanmates to be healed. And after being healed by Glammeow and her friends, it forms a strong bond of trust and friendship between Glameow and Pikachu.
Pikachu Is Right Again
Pikachu leans against me, trying to steal some of my warmth. "Back off buster" I joke, teeth chattering. I very much wish for her warmth, as a matter of fact. There's a heavy wind. It comes through strong, even with the trees keeping it at bay. The night was cold and my teeth were chattering. Both me and Pikachu had wondered off to go explore near the borders outside of the forest. I can't imagine what it's like for Pokemon who live outside with no way to defend themselves and no way to catch their own pray. But we need to keep moving. The sun's already setting and we are completely lost.
"It's all my fault"I sigh, putting my paw on hers. She stops and turns to stare at me with her calm gaze.
"Your fault for what? For convincing me that it was a good idea to sneak out of camp? Because if your referring to that, then yes, it is your fault" Pikachu mutters, with a soft sigh and a small glair at me.
"Yeah, it kind of is. But we're in this together, and what's done is done. But I am NEVER sneaking out of camp, especially with you little weasel again, you hear me Glameow?" I laugh.
"You're right, it is my fault. But I'm not a weasel" I frown, but of course she knows it's a joking frown.
"Hay, where are we?" Pikachu asked, scanning the area with her sharp red-brown eyes. I sighed and rolled my eyes at my friend in playful exasperation.
"I don't know Pikachu, but I think it's going to rain soon." I muttered quietly, as I looked up at the sky. Pikachu, or Spark, sighed and huffed as we began to run trying to find a shelter to stay in for the night.
"UGH! I hate rain, it makes my pelt fluff out and stick to my sides!" I complained, as Pikachu looks back at me.
"I don't really mind rain. But it's getting hard to see anything anyways, so we should find a place to sleep for the night." Pikachu replied, as we continued to run.
"Well your not a cat, you're an electric mouse. You can handle being in storms" I muttered, as my eyes became slitted at the continuous downpour of rain that soaked through my pelt.
I had been the one who found Pikachy. I brought her back to camp and helped her recover, and me and Pikachu have been best friends ever since.
Pikachu and me are almost complete opposites, but absolutely inseparable. She's smart and enjoys herbs, with gentle words. Though, don't be too quick to judge her, because she's blunt and head on. I, am, however, much more evasive.
No one knows where Scorbunny came from, though Dusk, says Pikachu smelled faintly of Strawberries and dirt. Does it matter where Pikachu came from? Most Pokemon would say it does. Some are even suspicious, but that's all theory. All Pokemon with half a brain know that Pikachu was much too young to be a spy of Team Rocket. I rest my noggin on the matter, and zone back into my conversation with Pikachu.
"She's almost ready..." A garbled slimy voice echoes faintly through the shadows. I laugh at my silly imagination, and put my nose to the ground. Lightning crackles in the sky and thunder rumbles. A heavy rain begins pouring down. Great. What fun. "Shoot" I muttered.
The rain doesn't seam to bother Pikachu, who has fur that protects her from the cold, lucky. However, I, am not so lucky, I have short fur that holds water inside like a sponge, I give an unpleasant hiss, as I try and fail to shake the wetness from my pelt.
"We are going to be in so much trouble" Pikachu says with an exaggerated sigh.
"Yep" I say, "We should camp for the night, the sun's almost down and we can't see anything anyway. The storm clouds are too thick." Pikachu nods, and I scan our surroundings. I spot what I think is an abandoned fox den. It's in-between two rocks, and it leads underground. I slowly walk over, and sniff it. I'm mostly sure that it's abandoned.
"Pikachu, I found an abandoned fox's den that we can stay in for the night. Come on, let's go inside." I say, turning to look at Pikachu, who looked unsure about the whole thing.
"A fox's den? Pikachu, are you Mouse-brained?" Pikachu exclaims, crossing her arms and giving me a pointed look. I sighed and replied calmly.
"Listen, Pikachu, it's either this or get soaking wet." I explained, and Scorbunny gave a long, drawn-out sigh before she reluctantly nodded and we slowly trotted inside the den.
"I think it's safe," I call her over, and we trot into the den. Its warm and earthy smelling. But what I'm happiest about, is it's dry. We both shake to dry off, though her fur is still stuck to her sides and soggy.
I dug a small whole in the dirt to lay in, and she does the same, right next to mine. We both curl up, and groom the wetness out of my fur. Well, in Pikachu's case, she wiped dirt and mud from my fur, her paws getting caped in dirt.
"Pikachu, you're paws are dirty now" I say, looking up at Scorbunny who just shrugged in response.
I awake to Pikachu petting the tuft of fur on my head. I don't know when we fell asleep, but sunlight was streaming in through the entrance of the den. We stand up, and quickly orient ourselves for the daytime and finding our way back to Camp.
I see a flash of orange fur, and suddenly, it's on top of me. A fox the size of a large boulder, biting me on the shoulder. I whirl around, and claw at it, but it's no use. It's four times as large as I am, and five times as strong. But I claw and bite anyway. I'm only five moons old, and I have no training, but I have to.
"PIKACHU! Leap on top of it! It'll try to squash you, but Ill get it's belly!" She nods, and leaps onto the fox, biting and scratching it's ears, eyes, and back. It whirls around, and eventually, like I predicted, it goes to lay on it's back, which will squish Pikachu. Before it can squash her flat, I rake my claws down it's underbelly, and it falls over on it's side, a puddle of blood forming around it's belly.
"We didn't just do that" Pikachu says, staring in disbelief at the dead fox.
"We did" Our eyes both shine with accomplishment, though, I'm seriously hurt, and Pikachu looks kind of exhausted.
"We need to get back to camp," I say, and Pikachu nodded.
"Well yeah" Pikachu says, staring at me.
"Follow me." We trot out of the den. The new leaf air is warmer today, and only a gentle breeze drifts by. It ruffles Pikachu's fur, and makes it dance around like little fairies.
We travel for a bit, and finally make it to the pine forest. "Hey, you're limping!" Pikachu says, annoyed that I didn't tell her earlier.
"We need to move, come on Pikachu" I say, sighing softly, we had no time to slow down, we need to keep moving.
"You. Are. Limping." Pikachu says, clearly annoyed that I hadn't told her.
"Yes, and I'll get healed back in camp." I said, in an attempt to stop Pikachu from pestering me.
"Fine" She mutters, and we continue. I'm glad to be back in the pine forest. It's dark and gloomy. The birch forest was bright and magic-like. My belly rumbles. Only now do I realise how hungry I am.
"Hey, we haven't eaten since yesterday at sunhigh! I've never gone this long!" I say, looking down at my paws with a sheepish smile on my face as I look back up at Pikachu.
"Me either!" We walk past the border marks, and finally come in site of camp. We both let out excited squeals, and run into camp. I do, rather awkwardly, due to my limp, but I'm just as excited. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Flurry comes stomping up to us, and I get a lump in my throat.
"Dun dun dun. We are so dead" I say in a small squeak.
"Yeah, no kidding" Pikachu says, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. I sigh and mentally prepare myself for the outburst that was to come any second now.
"WE'VE BEEN SEARCHING EVERYWHERE! AND YOU'RE HURT! DID YOU JUST GO AND HAVE A SLEEPOVER IN A FOXES DEN? STARCLAN, I THOUGHT I RAISED AT LEAST SLIGHTLY DISCIPLINED KITS, BUT NOPE!" Flurry yells, sweeping her gaze over both me and Pikachu.
"Flurry. Chill." I spoke up, stoping Flurry from her ranting.
"I don't normally agree with Glameow, but she's right. You seriously need to chill." Pikachu says, walking up beside me.
"Well, look at the runaways" Chesnutpaw says, joining the conversation.
"Chesnutpaw, go stick yourself up your own butthole" I say, already exasperated with him.
"Well hello, miss snarky!" He says with a sneer.
"Shut up. Just shut up." I say, glaring at him.
"Glameow, that's no way to treat your future mate!" Flurry says. I sighed and dug my paws into the dirt with a frustrated hiss.
"Hi Pikachu! Hi Glameow!" Came a familiar voice, me and Pikachu turned to see Wildkit and Willowkit running up to us.
Wildkit and Willowkit had been found outside of the forest about two months ago, they were only a moon younger then me and Pikachu.
"Why are you so mad Flurry?" Willowkit asks, looking up at Flurry with nervous blue eyes. Flurry sighed and turned to both Wildkit and Willowkit.
"I'm mad because Glameow and Pikachu snuck out of camp, AGAIN! STARCLAN! I thought I raised at least two disciplined kits!" Flurry said, turning back to both me and Scorbunny with a glair.
"Hay, Wildkit? Where is your mate?" Chesnutpaw asked, looking down at Wildkit who hissed at him and turned her head away.
"UGH! You mean Sunpelt? No thank you! He can go fall in a river for all I care!" Wildkit says, clearly irritated at the mention of Sunpelpt.
"Wildkit, that's no way to treat your future mate!" Flurry says. Wildkit sighed and dug her paws into the dirt with a frustrated hiss.
"Glameow, Wildkit. What is with you two being rude to your future mates?" Flurry asks, looking to both me and Wildkit with questioning blue eyes.
"I don't like being arranged to mate a cat who is rude and mean." I say, giving a simple answer. Wildkit's answer was the same.
Flurry sighed and flicked her tail in exasperation. This wasn't the first time that me and Wildkit complained about our disrespectful mates.
"Glameow, Pikachu, you two will go and speak with Dusk and he will decide what your punishment will be!" Flurry says, once more glaring at me and Pikachu. I sighed as me and Pikachu made our way to Dusk's den.
As me and Pikachu made our way to Dusk's den, Pikachu kept glaring at me.
"What?" I asked, "It's not my fault!" I replied, turning to look at her with my sharp gaze.
"Yeah, it kind of is your fault." She replied, huffing and turning her head away from me.
"What will our punishment be this time?" I whispered to Pikachu as we entered Shadow's den.
"I heard from both Flurry and Snow that you two snuck out of camp, AGAIN! I thought we raised you two better then this." Dusk says, staring at me and Pikachu with narrowed red eyes.
"We're really sorry father." I said, looking up at Shadow with sad eyes. Pikachu just sighed and flicked her ears.
"As punishment, you two will help Leafpool and Cinderpaw clean up the medicine den for a moon, and Glameow, your apprentice ceremony will be held back two moons." Dusk says, staring at me as he said the last part. I sighed softly and after Shadow listed off some more punishments, me and Pikachu left the den.
"But we're not medicine cats." I silently retorted, once we had left Shadow's den. Pikachu sighed softly and nodded her head in agreement.
"No, we're not, but no thanks to you, we have to clean the dirt place and we have to help Leafpool clean the medicine den for a month." Pikachu bitterly replied, as she glared at me.i just sighed and lowered my head, staring down at my paws.
"So you two snuck out of camp again?" Came the voice of Leafpool's apprentice, Cinderpaw, me and Pikachu looked up to see the gray she-cat staring at us with amusement shining in her eyes.
"Yeah, we did" Scorbunny replied, staring up at Cinderpaw who flicked her tail and turned to the entrance of the medicine den.
"Hi Leafpool, Litten and Scorbunny have to help us clean the medicine den" Cinderpaw told her mentor, who nodded, and set the herbs down and turned to stare at me and Scorbunny with her sharp gaze.
"I heard from both Dusk and Snow that you two snuck out of camp again, you two kits are only five moons old, your not suppose to leave camp until you have become apprentices" Leafpool scolded, and I lowered my head in shame, staring down at my paws.
"We just wanted to go exploring, it's no fun having to stay in camp all the time and we're not kits" Scorbunny chimed in, staring up at Leafpool with wide red-brown eyes. Leafpool just sighed and flicked her tail.
"Yes, you two are still young which means that you are still kits until you evolve" Leafpool explained, and Pikachu went stiff and her eyes narrowed at the mention of evolving.
'But why? Is Pikachu scared of evolving? Or does she simply not want to evolve? Or does she not like being called a kit? I need to ask her about it later. But what if she gets mad at me for asking? Should I just let it be for now? Yeah, I'll just let it be for now.' I thought to myself, as I silently observed Pikachu.
"Hay, Cinderpaw, mother needs some poppy seeds so she can get Spottedkit and Bluekit to sleep" we all looked to see Cinderpaw's sister, Hazelpaw, standing in the entrance of the den, Cinderpaw nodded and went to fetch some poppy seeds.
"At least both kits are healthy, no more green cough, ever since Rosekit died, I've been working hard to be the best Medicine cat that I can be. I don't want anymore cats or kits to die, Rosekit was the same age as these two kits" Cinderpaw said, gesturing with her tail at me and Pikachu.