Silent Skies

Chapter 3

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Maddie gasped, and hurriedly put down the food she was carrying. Looking around, she pushed aside the bed, hoping that her pokemon was still nearby. When she failed to find it amongst the mess by her bed, she dashed forward, searching her particular alleyway. Nothing.

She moved forward, looking through everything that could possibly hide a small animal. Just then, the alleyway split into three, creating a much larger area for the Entei to get lost in. She looked up the right path, saw nothing, then looked ahead. Still nothing. Now, she looked left, hoping to see something that would indicate where the baby was. Her eyes lingered there a moment, wishing to see anything.

Just then, as if responding to her wish, a pile of paper shuffled and collapsed slightly. Maddie bit her lip and raced forward, then dropped to her knees and searched through the rubbish. Suddenly, her hands hit something furry, and with a sigh of releif, lifted a mischevious looking puppy out of the pile.

The girl hugged the pokemon to her chest, thanking whoever looked down upon them that her baby was safe. She smiled, and stood up, taking the Entei back to her place.

Maddie looked the pokemon with a wry smile on her face.

'How did I get attached to you so quickly?' She asked it. 'I've never been attached to anything in my life!'

Setting the Entei down, she reached backwards for the food she had gathered. Her fingers brushed over the milk, then dropped down onto the can.

'Ah!' She gasped as the ragged edge of the can caught her finger and tore the skin. Maddie stuck her fingers into her mouth, then searched around for any sort of cloth. There was nothing except Entei's bed. She bit back the pain, then decided not to use the cloth there. She sighed, then looked around for anything that could be used to hold soup. Again nothing. Trying not to get frustrated, she picked up the can carefully with her undamaged hand and poured a little bit onto the ground in front of the Entei. The pokemon sniffed at it, confused, then lapped it up greedily as it realised the substance was edible.

Maddie smiled, despite the fingers in her mouth. It was wonderful to have something to cheer you up. Usually, a life on the streets was fairly serious, even though the street kids here were always willing to help others if they could. Helping someone now could end up saving your life later. Debts did that. It was strange though. One might think that they would keep to themselves, save everything for themselves, to survive. Maybe they did. Maybe it was only this particular area that was like that.

She shrugged off her thoughts, and poured more soup onto the ground. Maddie shuffled backwards, and leaned up against the wall. Next to her, a plank of wood leaned up against the wall. With her free hand, she set down the soup can, picked the wood up, and placed it on the ground beside her. Wood was always useful. In some way or another.

Looking back towards her Entei, she felt almost ashamed. Already, it was such a noble creature, and yet it had to eat food off the ground. She shook her head, and looked back at the wood, thinking. Suddenly, an idea hit her. Looking closer, there was a patch of softer wood - wet or rotten, perhaps. If that could be scooped out, she would at least have some sort of container to hold liquids. She couldn't very well pour milk onto the ground. It would roll right down the slope.

Taking her fingers out of her mouth, Maddie looked over them. It hadn't stopped bleeding fully, but it would do. Grabbing a peice of metal she found underneath the cardboard, she began to scoop bits of soft wood out of the centre of the plank. Once, she stopped to pour a little more soup out, for fear of Entei cutting itself, but soon was back to making her bowl. In a few minutes, she had made herself a crude bowl in the wood. While it was not anywhere near perfect, she still was proud of it. Just then, she realised she had never tried to make anything before, just make do with what she had. Maddie smiled, wondering what caring for her pokemon would get her to do next.

She reached for the milk, and poured a little into her bowl. A little bit soaked in, but it mostly stayed in the hole she had poured it in. She smiled again, and pushed it over to Entei, who immediately emptied it. Maddie laughed, and poured another three bowls for her pokemon. After the fourth bowl, the Entei decided it had drank enough, and retreated back to it's bed, licking its lips for any food left there.

After a moment, Maddie looked down at the bowl and frowned. Then, she shook her head. No, this bowl would be just for Entei. She could make another one later. For now, she was perfectly able to drink out of the carton, like she had before. She shrugged, drank her fill, then set the milk down with the rest of the food. She yawned, and lay down next to her Entei for a moment, smiling and looking up at the clouds.

~ ~ ~

A few hours later, Maddie was jolted back to her senses when Entei walked over and stepped on her stomach.

'You're heavy!' She exclaimed, picking her pokemon up.

It growled at her playfully, and squirmed out of her grip. She put it down, then turned to rummage through her stuff. After a moment she pulled out a tattered grey bag, which looked badly made and very worn out. She had found it a while ago, but had never used it. Now, she could.

Lifting the baby Entei, she placed it in the bag, then lifted it over her shoulder. As worn out as it was, it held. Entei was able to sit down, yet still watch what was going on.

She walked up the alleyways, gradually making her way to the main road. It was very busy now, and many people were wandering down the road. Maddie smiled. Today, she would start properly caring for her pokemon.

She stepped into the Goldenrod Pokemon Mart, and made her way up the stairs. She walked up to the man who was behind the counter and asked to see what he was selling.

The man paused a moment, then showed his goods.

Maddie blanched. These were so expensive! She looked down at the few coins she held in her hand, every bit saved from a young age. Now she remembered why she had stayed away from here.

She shook her head, and retreated down the stairs, then fled out the door. Maddie bit her lip.

'I guess I'll have to make you your stuff.' She commented, not ready to rely on theiving as a source of income.

Maddie slowly made her way back down the alleyway, scouring the walls for wood, cardboard, plastic - anything that might be made into something useful.

At last she returned to her place, armed with a large bundle of materials. She was suprised at what she had found, and realised that she had never looked for that sort of stuff before. Considering the amount laying around, she doubted anyone else did, either.

In her bundle were 7 sturdy planks of wood, 2 sheets of plastic, one small, one very large, and three thick cardboard boxes. She put her materials down, then turned to fetch a broken gate she had noticed as she passed a side alley.

It was difficult to lift, but somehow she managed it, ending up dragging it back to her place.

She looked at her spoils, and began to assemble the planks of wood in a kind of shelter for her Entei. Leaning up against the wall, with one heavy plank to keep them in place, the planks made a satisfactory 'house'.

She placed the sheet of plastic on top of the wood, and while it had a few holes, it generally made a fairly rain-proof shelter for her pokemon.

She placed a cardboard box on the ground underneath, to soften and warm the hard, cold ground. On top of that lay Entei's blankets, making a home that Maddie was jealous of.

'You lucky thing!' She whispered to Entei as it climbed into it's bed. It yipped a greeting, then fell asleep. Maddie smiled, then got to work on her own shelter.

It was much the same as her pokemon's, the gate used instead of the planks. Unfortunately, the top was rounded, and it rolled onto it's side, making it difficult to use as a roof. But it was all she had. She used the large sheet of plastic to partly cover the gate, even though it had many holes, and would let as much rain in as it would keep out. She shrugged, and resumed her building. It had begun to drizzle, and while she moved as quickly as she could, the cardboard boxes were a bit soggy before she got them under the shelter of the gate.

Maddie yawned, and crawled inside the shelter. It wasn't much - rain came in from every side, but at least it kept out more than just a cardboard box. She looked over at Entei's shelter - It was holding the rain off fairly well. Maddie smiled, an occurrance which until recently, happened rarely. Now, she seemed to smiled every time she glanced at Entei.

She yawned, and curled up, ignoring the rain as she always had, slowly falling asleep despite the awful conditions.

One day it will get better. She thought, as she fell asleep. In fact, it's already starting.