Chapter 20: Runaway
The crunch of frosted twigs and leaves broke the stillness of the predawn air as the runaway ambled forward avoiding the main road out of Littleroot. Pulling her arms in Karis shivered against the biting air despite the down coat she wore. Reaching a small private clearing she stopped and looked back at the sleeping town.
"Haah, despite doing this countless times already I still feel a little guilty." The dark type sighed and blew a puff of air into her hands seeking to warm them up.
*crunch*
Alerted by the sound of frozen branches snapping and hitting each other, Karis turned to the source of the noise.
"Man, this place has really become so overgrown since I left, or was it always like this?" Terry muttered as he ripped his scarf and winter coat free from the bare leafless bush that caught him. While readjusting his clothes and pulling twigs from his headband Terry greeted the surprised dark type, "Hey Karis."
"Terry what are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"Well this is where I lived for the past five years after all so it stands to reason that I would know the best paths through the surrounding forest. Besides this path is the only one that leads out of town. As for why I'm here," Terry looked her straight in the eye; unable to meet his gaze she shifted her line of sight away from him. "I'm following you; I want to ask you to comeback."
"I'm not coming back. I've made up my mind and I don't plan on letting you changing it." Karis tried to appear firm in her decision.
"Okay. I won't try to change your mind."
"What…?" Karis was momentarily surprised by his response. A miserable mix of emotions she did not care to identify nestled itself into her heart. This is what I wanted a clean break with no messy emotions to deal with. After all I should have-
"So where are we going?" Terry's strange question cut through her thoughts, stopping them in their tracks.
Wait, what? "What did you…? You know that I'm running away and leaving all of you guys behind right?"
"And I said that I was following you." Terry simply replied. "I won't let you runaway alone."
"What about the others?"
"I'm sure they would catch up. Emy's got this almost radar like ability; she seems to always be able to find me no matter what. Even without the Delta bond it useless to hide from her." Terry wore a troubled expression.
"Wouldn't she be furious when she found you?"
"Yeah she would, but I'm willing to face her wrath if it meant that you don't have to be alone."
"I've done nothing but have fun at your expense. I been trying to cause you trouble so you wouldn't miss me when I leave."
"You didn't drive us away very well; besides in its own way the trouble you caused was sort of fun."
"You really are an idiot aren't you." Karis felt slightly touched by his words, but the warm feeling only increased her internal pain.
"Why does everyone think that?" Terry half heatedly complained.
"It's because you are an idiot, a nice idiot, but an idiot nonetheless." A slight smile showed up on her face for an instant before disappearing. "And that is all the more reason for me to leave."
"I know that you think you need to run, well I mean I know the reason why you're trying to run away. But that's why I can't let you run." Terry's voice became firm. "You can't run away just because you're afraid of tragedy, it's hard to stop once you start."
"How did you…?" Karis sighed when she figured out how he could possibly know the reason behind. "You were outside the door weren't you? Damn I should have just ignored Rosa and left right away."
"I'm glad you didn't." Karis's expression darkened with a gloomy emotion as Terry continued, "I and the others, we all love you and don't want to see you leave."
"I don't want to leave either…" she muttered in a barely audible voice. "It's just… that…"
"It's just that it's too scary to think of what might happen, right?" Terry took a step closer and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Yeah…" The dark type hugged her arms closer, leaving his hand where he placed it. Her vision grew watery as she tightened her jaw.
"You don't have to worry about that," Terry stepped in again and pulled her into an embrace, "I won't promise something so haphazard like 'nothing bad will ever happen,' but I will promise that should anything bad happen we'll work it out together, and if I'm unable to… well we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it."
"Heh." She gave a short laugh, "That's still pretty irresponsible …but alright I'll have a little faith and stick around a little while longer."
They stood still for some time longer despite the cold air before heading back to the warmth of the house. Maybe this time it's alright to get a little attached. Karis left her thoughts unspoken as Terry lead her back inside.
"I'm sorry."
"For running away?" Terry asked turning back to the dark type.
"That too." She gave him a slight smile as she walked towards Terry's home.
Heading into the still sleeping house the two of them stole up the stairs as quietly as possible, but as Terry entered his room he tripped over something just beyond the threshold causing a clamor that surprisingly woke no one. Rolling to his side he looked back to see what had tangled his legs. Snaking its way up his leg was a verdant vine that lazily rubbed its bud against his knee. The vine's owner was slumped against the door frame the light sounds of sleep drifting from her slightly opened mouth.
"Sheesh, did Emy try making an early warning system or something?" Terry complained as he tried to extract himself from his tangled obstruction. While Terry was in the middle of freeing himself Emy must have sensed his presence, because she rolled over grabbing onto him in a tight embrace and sleepily muttered his name.
"Nnn… No…." Emy held onto him tighter when Terry tried to extract himself from her grip.
"Hey Karis, help me." Terry whispered trying not to wake his sleeping alpha as she rolled over pulling him further into her embrace. Karis didn't say a word as she gave them an amused smile and placed a blanket over the both of them. Karis fell asleep in Terry's spot on the bed listening to her tamers quiet pleading.
After a week of rest and relaxation, Terry woke on holiday morning to find a beaming Lei staring down at his sleeping form as she sat on top of him.
"Hey Lei what's got you so excited?" Terry sleepily rubbed his eyes.
"It's almost time to exchange gifts!" Lei replied happily practically bouncing on his chest in her excitement.
"Am I the last one up?" Terry asked when she let him up so that he could start to get dressed.
"Yeah, I have been up for about three hours already, while the others woke up about half an hour ago."
"Are May and the others here yet?" Terry asked after a particularly big yawn.
"Yeah, they just arrived. I'll let everyone know you're awake." The Eva jumped down from the bed and made a beeline straight for the door, before she left Lei quickly spun around on one foot and said with a sweet smile, "See you downstairs."
"She hardly ever acts her age." Terry muttered to himself with a smile curling his mouth feeling the residual effects of her aura of cute linger, "But I suppose that is just a part of her charm."
Walking down the stairs Terry found that everybody had once again gathered in his family's living to celebrate this gift giving holiday.
"Good morning master." Emy greeted Terry at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of coffee.
Terry accepted the cup with a grateful thank you and sat down on the last free spot on the couch between Emy and Karis. Lazy holidays are the best, the tamer happily thought to himself.
"About time you woke up, lazy." May harassed him with the usual banter. "We were about to start without you."
"Well I guess I should just keep your gift for myself then." Terry replied.
"No wait! I'm sorry, don't do that!" May quickly panicked, but pouted when she saw his wide smile. "You ass, don't say that with such a straight face."
"Alright I believe everyone is here now," Terry's mother announced, "so let's start."
After everyone had handed over the gifts to the correct recipients they all opened their gifts starting with Lei. When she opened Terry's gift she found herself staring at the aqua blue sheen of the stone in her hands.
"Isn't this that water stone you received from your friend?" Lei asked surprised. "Isn't it worth a lot?"
"I'm not really sure how much it is worth exactly, but it has another worth that's greater than the monetary value. If of course you're okay with it."
She nodded with a wide happy smile and accepted the gift. Later after everyone had opened their gifts Terry found himself back in his room cleaning up and packing so that they could head out early in the morning.
Deciding to take a break Terry headed into the bathroom and settled into a relaxing bath, thankfully there were other bathrooms so Terry could take his time. Slouching in the single person bathtub Terry had a hot hand towel draped across his face while a relaxed and languid feeling filled his body.
"Who knew that leisurely traveling around was so hard." Terry muttered.
"Hey Terry are you in there?" A soft knock on the door was followed by Lei's light voice.
"Yeah~ I'm in here." Terry absentmindedly answered her affirmatively, feeling his consciousness drift off to a soft and fuzzy place.
"Good, I'm coming in."
"Mmm," It took a full minute for her words to register. "Wait, what?"
When Terry sat up and the towel on his face dropped off he was greeted with the sight of Lei discarding the last of her clothes into the hamper. Caught off guard by her unusually bold move Terry asked, "What are you doing?"
"Well I was really happy to receive your gift, so I wanted to show you my appreciation," A nice smile spread across her face just under her blushing cheeks, while she clasped her hands in front of her sex hiding herself from view while emphasizing her chest. "And I also wanted to show my new form to you first."
"Okay." Terry could feel his pulse start to race because of the way the normal type was acting, completely forgetting his fuzzy feeling from before.
An excited and happy smile crossed her face as she turned to pick up polished blue stone. When she touched it directly the stone shone with a bright light that quickly traveled over to her. When the light disappeared the stone was nowhere to be seen and Lei stood there in her new form.
Losing the fur from her previous form her skin shone with a light blue tint, as her hair became a darker blue shade similar to the deep ocean. Her vulpine ears had become longer and fin like, with a third fin on top of her head splitting her hair in half. Lei lifted and examined her arms, her sapphire eyes taking in her new appearance. Following her gaze Terry could see that webbing had formed in between her fingers reaching only to the second joint. Terry's eye traveled down her body to the tail swinging back and forth behind her. As she wrapped it around to her front the vertically split tail could be seen. Ridges running from where her tail met her spine stopped a little ways before the split in her tail; Lei experimentally flapped the two horizontal flukes.
Smiling she spun around to give a good look and asked, "What do you think?"
"You look cute." Terry's honest answer brightened her smile. She bounced over to her tamer and pulled him into a tight embrace. Pulling back slightly she gave him an appreciative kiss. As Terry licked her lips seeking to deepen the kiss he placed a hand on her chest; Lei sighed slightly and parted her lips for Terry's seeking tongue. She held her tamer's jaw as she too sought out more from their kiss. Breaking apart for air Terry gazed up into Lei's arousal hazed eyes. "Why don't you loin me in here?"
"Okay," The newly evolved water-type lightly nodded as she broke away from him long enough to get into the bath with him. She straddled his thighs as he sat up to accommodate her better, putting pressure just below his manhood as it stirred to life.
"I can't seem to reach you very well from this position," Terry commented as he ran his hands up her thighs and onto her hips then back down in in a slow caress. Immersing himself in the dominant role for her Terry added, "Why don't you touch yourself for me?"
"Yes Terry." She raised herself onto her knees raising her hips out of the lukewarm water allowing him full view of her. She barely hesitated as she ran her hands up her sides.
"I want you to forget for a moment that it's your hands touching you and pretend that their mine." Terry commanded. Lei only nodded as she ran her hands across her waist, her left hand traveling up and between her breasts as the other slipped downward and lingered on the small triangle of hair between her legs. Using her left hand she brushed it around and above chest then bringing it back down to cupping and lifting the swell of her breast. Brushing her hand upward she clasped her chest and pressed on her nipple with her palm and slowly rolled the hard bulb. Terry's gaze naturally travelled down her body resting on her right hand. She entwined her fingers in the fine hairs covering her mound. Tracing her outer lips Lei's fingers tightly trailed against the water and submerged below the water line in time with the sway of her hips.
"Your hands feel good," Lei muttered as her vision hazed over with arousal. Her fingers roamed up to her hidden clit and gently massaged all around it sending shivers of pleasure up her spine. Her left hand teased and tweaked her nipple in time with her right. As she pressed two fingers against her entrance Terry stopped her hand by placing his own on her arm causing her to whimper slightly as her ears twitched a bit.
"I want you to take your hand and attend to me as well, try moving both your hands at once." Terry ordered her in a sweet voice while pulling her hand over to his erect manhood and wrapped her fingers around him.
"It's warm…" She commented absentmindedly. Moving her hand without any guidance from him she found the right pressure and began with slow testing strokes. Her left hand dropped from her breast and found its way to her lower petals while she concentrated on him. Matching the rhythms in her two hands she rubbed his flagstaff in perfect harmony with the fingers of her left hand. Lei pressed two fingers into her entrance while she rubbing her palm into her clit. As her left hand drove her to pleasurable heights her right drove Terry's Lust into overdrive. Between the mind-rotting pleasures he received simply from the pressure from her hand wrapped around him and the quick rhythmic strokes he could easily believe that he was inside her. Placing his hands onto Lei's thighs he could feel his hips beginning to instinctively twitch and thrust into her hand seeking more pleasure from her. His movements were unconsciously transmitted through her hands surprising herself. She panted a complaint to him, "Not… so suddenly."
"Sorry…" He muttered barely in a state of mind to answer her. He continued to thrust into her hand creating waves in the cooling water, as his pace quickened so did the speed of her fingers causing her to moan out making her pleasure known. Her fingers brushed past a weak point causing Terry to jolt in her grasp, the movement passed through her hands as she was startled by him causing her body to arch and move backwards running her back into the faucet behind her.
"Shit, are you okay?" Terry asked when Lei exclaimed rubbing her back. Terry stood up out of the tub pulling her hand up with him and asked "How about we move locations?"
"Yeah that's a good idea." She said still holding the spot she hit, letting him lead her out of the bath and to the sink. Terry suddenly lifted her up causing her to shout in surprise again and grab onto his shoulders. His hardened member ground against her lips as he held her close as hungrily kissed her. Entwining their tongues as they shifted their bodies, she gasped when she felt him thrust into her breaking their kiss. She pulled him in close to her as Terry lifted her body and thrust his hips with short fast movements. Looking over his shoulder she could see herself in the mirror as she panted in ecstasy. Terry also noticed what she was looking and whispered in her ear. "What an erotic display, right Lei?"
She only nodded watching her own face distort in pleasure, and her body bounce and jump in his grasp. Her lust was driven to new heights as her hips came down to meet his. Panting in his ear she told him, "I'm almost there, just a little more."
Putting on a final burst Terry headed into the final stretch, and released all of his pent lust when she clamped down him. A little bit later they were enjoying the afterglow with Lei in the bathtub relaxing in the renewed lukewarm water and Terry drying off to get dressed.
"Lazy days are nice." Lei sighed contently. Terry smiled to himself when she voiced the same opinion he had earlier. Turning on the hair dryer Terry was surprised when a column of baby powder rushed out of the machine. Coughing he turned toward the door he caught sight of a surprised and red face as its owner quickly shut the cracked door and fled.
"Was that Rosa just now?" Terry asked Lei between coughs.
"H-how long was she there?" the water type asked with red showing up in her cheeks.
"Apparently for a while," Terry's comment made Lei sink into the water until her mouth was submerged, her embarrassed groan turned to bubbles. The rest of the day passed at a leisurely pace and after an animated holiday dinner the group went to sleep early so that they could get a head start on the next day.
Heading out Terry and May's group were once again very thankful to the bikes they got from Mauville since it made the originally four to five day journey into a short two day trip with a short stay in the Rustboro pokecenter. On the second day they had to put the bikes away because the usually mild winter decided to dump all of its seasonal snow in just a few days. With the temperatures at their lowest for the season the group was tightly bundled into their winter attire as they trudged through the snow drifts.
"Do you hear something?" Karis asked interrupting the group's idle conversation.
"What?" Terry asked turning to the dark type.
"It sounds like sniffling, like someone's crying." Karis motioned to forest, "It's coming from over there."
Concerned Terry immediately set off into the direction she motioned towards as the others followed after. Ducking under bare branches and twigs they spotted little boy squatting down in the snowy forest sobbing and rubbing his eyes. Isn't that little Tommy from the daycare? Terry wondered as he walked over to the kid. Crouching down next to him Terry put a hand on Tommy's head catching his attention. "Hey Tommy what's wrong?"
"Mr. Terry?" *hic* the kid looked up and instantly recognized Terry and the rest of the group. With tears streaming down his face he cried out, "I can't find Elle!"
Tommy broke down into sobs again and held onto Terry as he patted the kid on the back. Trying to reassure the kid Terry smiled down at him and declared, "Don't worry we'll find her."
Standing up he took the little boy's hand and started their search for the tyamazon Pokekit named Elle with Karis in the lead following the various tracks in the snow. Thanks to Karis's keen senses they were able to determine which set of tracks belonged to Elle. Following them the search party came up to a large tree when they looked up they found the shivering Pokekit in the top most branches quietly sobbing while holding onto the trunk of the tree. Spotting her Tommy ran up to the roots and called up to her. "Elle!"
Startled the little Pokekit looked over the edge with a tear stained face. When she noticed her friend the fighting type moved away from the trunk and leaned forward to call out in a sobbing voice. "Help, I can't get down!"
"Well just stay right there and we'll come and get you." Terry called up to the stuck Pokekit. She nodded but as she adjusted her weight on the branch there was a loud crack as it gave way under Elle. Without thinking Terry charged out to catch her as she fell from the dangerous height. "Shit!"
Diving at the last moment Terry caught Elle before the Pokekit could hit the ground narrowly avoiding the branch as it struck the ground moments after he passed under it. His momentum carried him into the base of the tree and hitting it painfully he shook the tree knocking the snow in the branches loose.
"Master! Are you all right?!" Emy rushed over to her snow covered tamer.
"I'm fine, I only hit my head." Terry joked still holding onto the scared Pokekit as she clung to him.
"Elle!" Terry felt another impact as Tommy leapt onto him hugging both the tamer and the Pokekit in his arms and repeatedly said thank you over and over again. With that both of the young children broke into tears letting them know just how scared the two had been.
"There, there." Terry soothingly patted their heads and let them get it out of their systems. It took some time for the two to calm down but after they finally did they were all smiles as they walked along holding Terry hands.
"Thank you Mr. Terry," the two of them happily thanked Terry as he led them into the daycare, before running off to play with the others. Five minutes later the whole group was gathered around the fire place warming up.
"I'm glad they are okay." Terry said into a mug of hot chocolate still freezing from the snow shower from earlier.
"Yeah, we also got to see something nice." Emy commented with a small smile. Terry tilted his head in confusion, but Emy ignored him and didn't say anything more on the subject. Calling it a day the group retired to their beds in the daycare.
End of chapter 20
Author note
Sorry for taking so long everyone, I got stuck with a bad case of writers block this time around. I'm really thankful to all of my loyal readers who put up with the long wait time. So thank you and as always let me know what you liked and what you didn't.
Numbershooter
Right now everything is awesome everything is great.
