Chapter 5: the night life

Darla was having a pleasant dream, much more pleasant then the one she had in the barn. Despite being asleep, she was still active. There was a small smile under the bluk berry stains on her face. Her fluffy yellow wings twitched a little every so often. The most activity coming from Darla though, seemed to be from her feet. The three toes on each foot seemed too be wriggling, like they have lives of their own, rather then just being toes attached to a torchic's foot. This must have been a sure sign that Darla was happy. But what Darla didn't know was that she was not alone.

There was someone else close to the tree as well, concealed in the bushes. The only part one could see of it was a nose. It was a small nose, but a powerful one, it was black and square-shaped. The face it belonged on was a furry pattern of light brown and dark brown, in the form of wavy stripes. It also had a black mask over it's eyes. It was a zigzagoon. It had smelt the berries from a couple of yards away and wanted to eat some, but all it found was a sleeping torchic. Being curious, like how a zigzagoon should be, it was intrigued by the sleeping pokemon. So it wanted to have a closer look. So he crawled out of the bushes he was hiding in and waddled towards the sleeping Darla. He moved slowly and quietly not to disturb her. He crept closer and closer. Until he was just right next to her, he then got a good smell of Darla: she smelled of many things, bluk berries, razz berries, flowers, and of torchic. A human nose wouldn't be able to distinguish the different smells from each other, but this zigzagoon's nose could. He then decided to go even further, he started to lick the bluk berry juice of Darla's face. It was then that Darla woke with a start, she was quite startled to find a strange pokemon licking her while she was asleep. The Zigzagoon was just as startled as well, and ran of back into the bushes.

Darla was awake now. She noticed that the sun was setting, and the sky was glowing a pinkish orange colour, much like the sky does each time the sun sets. She wondered what night was like outside. She knew it was dark, but was it just as dark outside as it was in the barn? Darla had to see. She also noticed that dirt and wood chips was beginning to stick to her feet and toes, making them itch. It must have been the berry juice. Not only were they staining her legs black, but they were also making them sticky. She needed to find a way to wash it of. She walked around for a few minutes until she found what she was looking for.

The young torchic came to a lake. It was a quite lake which had a surface that looked like it was made of glass. The setting sun was also being reflected on the surface of the water, making it the same colour as the sky. It was a beautiful site, but Darla wasn't concerned about it right now. Her feet were getting itchy as dirt and sand were getting stuck to them. The young torchic's feet were quite sensitive. As she walked along the lake's edge, she tried to find the perfect spot to sit down. Being a fire type, she didn't want to fall in and drown. When she had found the perfect spot, she got really close to the edge of the water, she dipped both of her feet into the water. It was cool and refreshing on her toes, and they didn't itch anymore. The water was shallow enough that her toes can touch and prod the soft mud at the bottom. She dug them as deep as they could go, and grabbed some. she then brought her left foot above the water. the mud oozed out of her toes and fell into the water with small plopping sounds, and created ripples. As she was doing this, Darla had many questions about her: Why was she able to speak like a human? What was her goal in life? Does she have a family? Will she ever find them? There were so many questions she wanted answers to.

As she sat, the sky was getting darker and darker, the night was beginning. In the sky, a big white circle appeared, it was the moon. Stars were also appearing in the night sky. Darla was in awe of this, as she swelled her feet in the lake, which was reflecting the night sky on it's surface. She also saw that some of the stars seemed to be moving in the sky. She tried to get a closer look, she saw that they were in fact, Volbeat and Illumise, who were making patterns on top of the lake. As she looked closer, she started to tip, she screamed and suddenly... SPLASH! She fell in the water! The young pokemon hated getting wet, being a fire type, this was natural. Luckily, the water was only 2 inches deep, so she wouldn't drown. Darla quickly picked herself of and got out of the water as fast as she could. When she got out, she was soaking wet from head to toe, and she wanted a place to dry of. So she started walking away from the lake.

It was dark, and Darla was cold and wet. She didn't like this at all, and she was getting lost. She seemed to have been wandering around a bit for quite some time now. Occasionally she would trip over a tree root or rock that was in front of her but invisible in the darkness of the night. Eventually, She found what appeared to be lights in the distance. They glowed and twinkled just like the stars in the night sky. Something about them fascinated Darla as she gazed at the horizon. She wanted to go towards the bright lights, but it was very late and she felt sleepy. She found a small nook on the side of a tree, No one seemed to be home. It was the perfect place to dry herself and get some sleep. Then she could continue towards the lights tomorrow. Maybe she might find her family there. As she lay down to sleep, she wished upon a star, hoping she might find a purpose and happiness. Her eyelids were getting heavy, and soon drifted of to sleep, her toes soon wriggled by themselves once more in the darkness of the night.