Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon, its characters, locations, or names. All of them, with the exception of original characters, ideas, and places, belong to Nintendo.
Credits: Vanika and Silvanus belong to me.
AN: Hm. Yes, if any of you remember, in my profile I had a thing that mentioned NaNoWriMo. Well, I am just now getting to the end of the story (I'm in the last 10,000 words needed or so), and I'm deciding at the moment whether to make it longer, or cut it off and finish off one of the plot lines in a sequel. I'll figure it out sometime soon. :) Before I let you go off, please not that this might not be my best work. I had to do a lot of things with it I normally wouldn't try, a lot of filler was used, and it probably has something like three anti-climaxes. XD Haha. Anyway, just remember that this was done without my 'inner editor' for the most part, except for the last three or four chapters.
Warning: Yes, this is one of my normal RivalSibling fan fictions (ohhhh, I named it! XD), I am doing something slightly different this time around. For the most part, looking back on all of my past fan fictions I tended to avoid writing through the more adult scenes. In this one, I attempted to just plow right through it rather then avoid it altogether. Though it isn't horribly graphic, it is still in there. There'll probably be two or three of them (one for a serious scene, one for humor near the end of the story, and...not sure about number three. Maybe there isn't a number three). I can, if I need to, take it out or more that chapter to another site, who knows though. o.0 I need to find out if that one is allowed...anyway, to the prologue!
- Prologue -
The dusky hallway rang with the sound of yelling voices, as the couple bickered hotly. It happened every week, with it starting when the man would arrive to take the kids out. The woman would refuse to let him, he'd get upset, and the arguing would start.
That was six hours ago. Ever since one in the afternoon, there had been shouts and screams coming from the living room. To most, the noise would merely be annoying, something to block out and ignore. To a child though, it was the apocalypse of her family.
In one of the upstairs bedrooms, sitting in a cubbyhole with a blanket and teddy bear, was a small child. She could be no older then six-years-old, with the big eyes and round face of her age. There were tears welling up in her eyes as there were more shouts and the sound of a door slamming. There was silence.
Her breathing fast, she edged out into the open room, the blanket trailing behind her on the floor. She could hear the angry, hurried footsteps of her mother downstairs, and the creak of the kitchen door. Waiting for the sound of the stair's groaning she watched the closed bedroom door. For several minutes, the only thing she heard was the loud curses her mother said, a thud, then nothing.
Shuffling over to the dresser, she pulled open the bottom drawer and took out several pairs of socks and shorts, tossing them onto the bed. Using the small chair that was kept nearby, she opened the higher up drawers to get out more clothing, and some of the toys stored on top of the wooden dresser. They all were also tossed on the pile.
Running into the bathroom, she took her toothbrush from the cup on the counter and her favorite towel from the linen closet, along with her favorite bath toy – a sail boat – to add to the pile. Making sure all of her favorites were there, she took the small backpack she used for preschool and put the toys and clothes in it, stomping her feet when it all wouldn't fit. Looking over everything, she discarded several articles of clothing to make room for the toys.
Toys were a person's most important items, and none could be spared. With a sniffle, she forced the backpack shut and shrugged it on, the bulky weight toppling her over. Struggling to get up, she opened her bedroom door and walked out, taking to the stairs. With her short legs, she could only take one at a time; the length of it was bangs, thuds, and sniffles as she loudly make her way downstairs.
Passing by the kitchen, she peeked in to see her mother, sitting at the table with a glass and a bottle of a nasty looking green liquid in it. She wondered why her mother always drank it, but no matter the reason, it always made her act nastily to her and her older brother. Rubbing her runny nose, she came up to the back door, and fought it open as she half hung from it with her too-short arms.
As the old thing made a long, wailing creaking sound, she looked up at the vase that sat on a table by the open doorway, sniffled again, and stepped out into the open yard. She wouldn't make her mother or father suffer again.
- - -
"You lost her! How the hell do you lose a child in your own damned house!" he roared, as the woman weeped on the couch. She looked up at him with puffy blue eyes, mumbling nonsense. It was trying his patience. "This is what happens when you have the kids! At least Gary has been staying with Dad, so he isn't being neglected by you!"
"Me! You blame this on me! She's just as much your daughter as mine!" she shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at him, "I did nothing wrong, mister! Nothing!"
"That's right. You did nothing, and now we have a missing girl. She could be in trouble for all we know!" he snapped, slapping a hand across the seething woman's face. She sat in stunned silence, staring at him with wide eyes. The only sound was their heavy breathing, as they watched each other warily. "Call the police."
Without taking her eyes off of him, she leaned over and picked up the phone, dialing it for the emergency number. "This is not just my fault," she hissed, as the person on the line started talking, and went into explaining the situation.
Tapping his foot on the floor, he watched as she hung up, his anger gone, replaced by the overwhelming worry for the small child that had wondered off. His only daughter, missing, and his ex-wife being the cause of it…or was she? "Now, explain to me…what happened when I left?" he asked, his voice calm and soft.
She took a deep breath, soothing her nerves as much as she could, before explaining about how she had gone into the kitchen to get a drink. About how she had sat at the table with the bottle of brandy and just thought, until she had fallen asleep there at the table. He looked on thoughtfully, his eyebrows lowering in an expression of concentration. "What?" she asked.
"You mean to tell me…instead of going to see if she was still alright and her location, you went and got drunk?" She nodded, looking down at her slippered feet to hide her contorted face. He threw his arms up. "And you say I'm a horrible parent! At least I make sure they are safe and sound!"
"She was in her bedroom when you showed up earlier," she quietly admitted, peeking up as his eyes turned wide. She knew what was coming.
"In her bedroom! You lied to me, told me she was at a friend's house! She had to sit and listen to everything that happened today? No wonder she had gone missing!" He started pacing, frantically wringing his hands. "Never in my life…you are a horrible mother. You don't even know what might have just happened?"
She shook her head. He spun around to look at her, anger evident in his every move. "Woman, that child has had to listen to us argue ever since before the divorce, and then you have her in the house during that episode today and expect her to be unscathed and happy? If this isn't a case of her running away, I will be surprised!"
She shook her head. "No, my little girl wouldn't do that."
His lips were set in a firm line. "Obviously she would."
Storming up the stairs, he started toward the empty bedroom. His ex-wife followed behind, wiping away the stray tears as they entered. The bed was still made, with only the slightest disturbance from the pile that had lain on it. Around it was the various clothing that had been discarded in favor of the toys. The dresser's various drawers were left open, and clothes missing out of them. "Well?" he asked harshly, motioning around the room, "What have you to say?"
"No, no…she wouldn't, she wouldn't…" The woman fell back into sobs, as the weight of the situation was revealed to her. Going to look out of the window, he sighed.
"If we do not find her," he said, turning his head slightly, "I am holding you responsible for it. You will not be let off the hook for this." She cried.
- - -
Shivering, she looked around the dark trees, her eyes shining in fear. She could hear noises she hadn't heard before; creaks, groans, howls, and yowls that didn't sound friendly or familiar. None of it sounded nice to her, and she was cold. Cold and lonely.
Sitting down on the moist ground, she started crying, her nose running again, along with her eyes. She felt lost, confused, sad, and upset, and missed her mother, father, brother, and grandfather. She missed her bed and toys that had been left behind, and missed the cat that usually would be sneaking around the house.
There was a crunch, a snap, then silence. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she looked over at the two pairs of eyes that stared out at her from the brush. They both were blinking curiously, and there was a moment when one disappeared, then reappeared. The other pair did the same, then they both disappeared. The bushes moved as they headed farther into the forest, showing her where they were going. Being a child such as herself, she picked herself up and followed, tripping and running, after them as best she could.
When she was deep into the trees, she stopped and looked around. It looked darker and scarier then the place she had been, and her two guides were gone – or so she thought, as they came up behind her. One of them nudged her gently, as she turned about and saw the two creatures standing there. They looked like something out of one of her fairy tales, the ones where the knight saved the princess from giant monsters that breathed fire and had large sharp teeth. The only problem was, they were rather small, only about as tall as two of her, and didn't look like they could be all that dangerous to men wearing metal or to princesses in tall towers.
"Who are you?" she asked, looking at them with large green eyes. They tilted their heads, before their eyes started glowing.
Vanika, a feminine voice said within her head, startling her. She fell over, staring at them.
Silvanus, another voice, this one more masculine, said. Her eyes went even wider then before, as she started backing off, scooting on the ground. You fear us.
There is no need to. We are not here to harm you. The green one started forward, dark eyes glittering, and put a claw up in an almost human way to take her hand. Her lips formed a perfect 'O' as she leaned toward the female. We'll protect you, if you'll let us.
