We start this chapter off again with Krissa and her mother. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.
"Hmm...Well, he seems very confused, A tiny bit sad, and maybe even a bit angry." Krissa sat at the kitchen table. She flipped through the pages in her sketchbook until she came to the newest one. The perspective was looking downwards and it was of a large boulder about 500 feet down the side of a rock wall. There was the shadow of the boulder, and then extending from it was an irregularity, which was not the shape of the rock. It was rather angular, and Krissa had a hard time figuring out where the rock ended and the person began. There was a small bush above the rock, and that seemed to create enough shadows of light and dark that made the persons head appear distorted. At least to her. She didn't know the real truth, which was that the two large triangles were what she had assumed were clusters of leaves were not leaves, but ears.
"Is that so?" Mrs. Micheals stopped what she was doing, which was cutting up peppers for breakfast. Krissa had come in rather late, and she had wondered what she had been doing. Now she was being given the breakdown. She put the peppers in the omelet mix, and sat on a stool to listen.
"Yeah. He asked me why I wanted to be friends with him...I told him that everyone needs a friend. I also told him he seemed very said. He was really quiet after that, I thought he left. But his shadow was still there. I think he got mad at me, 'cause he basically told me to go home after-wards. Oh! Thanks mum." Krissa took her omelet from Mrs. Micheals. "I left him the sandwich you made." She said quietly. "That's OK. Did he like it?"
"I don't think he ate it." Krissa frowned. Mrs. Micheals looked thoughtful for a second. "I'll bet he did. I bet he waited till you left. People are funny, sometimes. They can be stingy, selfish, or proud, anything really, but not many will turn down a gift. Especially a gift of food. In many cases, food can be an icebreaker between people." Mrs. Micheals sat for a minute with her plate of food. "Do you think he likes me?" Krissa asked, sticking a piece of egg on her fork and looking at it. "How does he act around you?"
Mrs. Micheals asked. "Well...He always talks in this weird gentlemanly fashion. He likes to speak in short sentences, and he doesn't speak very much. He seems to be angry at me for talking to him but... I don't think he realizes it but he acts very...lonely. And uncaring. Like...he doesn't care about what I do...or say. Yet he is still curious. Isn't that weird?" Krissa chewed her egg slowly. Her mom looked up at her from across the table. "Weird? No, that's not weird. I don't think he's used to people. Maybe he just doesn't know how to act."
"Maybe. But he doesn't seem like that...he seems more...like he knows people but doeskin want to talk to them? I mean...This is so weird." Krissa finished her omelet and put her plate in the sink. "I'm going to go up to my room for a bit. Then maybe ill go see if I can find him again. Ok?"
"That's fine dear. But remember! Be back before dinner, because if you're not I'm going to ground you until dirt comes out your ears." Mrs. Micheals glanced sharply at Krissa, who cringed at the thought. Not when she was so close to figuring out this mystery! "Alright mom. Ill be back, I promise." She went up the stairs.
Opening the door to her room she surveyed it. Nothing was out of place. Her Raichu alarm clock was sitting on her bedside table, next to her bed which was plain except for a green comforter and a laptop. The rest of the room was plain, white walls with green trim and a dresser in a corner of the room. She sat on her bed and opened up her laptop. "So...first, the weather." She pulled up a weather site and read the forecast. "Hmm...Today it's supposed to be mostly sunny. 'Mostly sunny with a slight cloud cover later in the evening, followed by fog in the morning'...Hmm." She shut the laptop and dumped her knapsack on the bed, sorting out its contents.
"Hmm...Calculator...pencils...drawings stuff...a book, a tightly folded blanket and an emergency flare. Well...I guess that's ok. I could do with some food though." Krissa walked downstairs and looked through the cupboard, grabbing a water bottle, filling it with water and then grabbing a couple Nanabs and a carton of razz berries. She went to the fridge looking around for something to take...but she didn't find anything. She went up to her room and stuck the fruit in her knapsack. She also grabbed a blue hoodie and a pair of socks, wrapping the hoodie around her waist and sticking the socks in her knapsack. She stood and looked over her attire. It was different today; she had a brown shirt and pair of jean shorts, along with her hiking boots and her fingerless gloves. She grabbed her beanie off the bed post and stuck it into her hair. "There! That should do it."
Krissa nodded to herself and walked downstairs. Her mom was sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading a book. "Bye dear! Take your time, but not too long! Remember, till dirt comes out your ears!" Krissa waved at her mom and walked back out the door. She made it to the edge of the woods before she noticed something, a slight paw print in the dirt. Too small to be a passing Skitty, Krissa looked around. "I know you're out there...I'm going to get you today, Umbreon." She called, peering around.
There! A pair of yellow eyes stared at her. Krissa slowly edged to the hollow tree and bent down. The Umbreon shot out from it and Krissa almost fell backwards. Today, however, it stopped. And Krissa noticed something else. "You're hurt..." The Umbreon slowly walked over to her, and Krissa could see the long cut on the side of its head. She put a hand out, and the Umbreon seemed to purr as she stroked it.
"What's this?" Krissa took her hand away from the sleek black fur. There were long strands of something sticky draped across its back, and they stuck to her hands. "Spider web? What spider is big enough to mess with you?" The Umbreon fixed her with a stare, and then dashed to the edge of the woods, stopping long enough to glance backwards at her. "You want me to follow you?" Krissa questioned. "Bree!" It dashed away, leaving Krissa to dash after it. Every time she lost sight of it, it would reappear in front of her, and then dash away again. Not too long after wards, not long running full speed anyway, she came across a large clearing. Well, not so much clearing as crater. It was a very large indentation on the ground, but grass and weeds had grown on it.
The Umbreon sat on a large stone at the very edge. Krissa started to run over to it, but tripped on something hard stuck in the ground. "What-Whooa!" She made a thump and a puff of dust arose from where she fell. She got up and inspected what she had fallen over. It was a tablet, gold in color and had weird glyphs on it. And...It was also covered in spider web? She looked around, noticing for the first time that the clearing was draped with webbing. She got up quickly. It would have to be a big spider to make this much web...She looked around and stuck the tablet into her knapsack for inspection later. The Umbreon was gone, Krissa thought glumly. Maybe it was time to go as well, before the spider got back. She had heard of Spinarak, and she knew there was an evolved form...but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was called.
Briskly walking out of the clearing, she wondered what the tablet was. She wandered around for a minute before she realized where she was. She started laughing, and pushed through some bushes to reveal the familiar cave, the waterfall and the stream...She was right back where she had woken up. She called out, wondering if Ren was in the cave. "Ren? Are you here?" No answer. She walked into the cave. Nope, no Ren. But there was the cloth the sandwich had been wrapped in, and the drawing she had left for him. She smiled with satisfaction. So he had eaten it. She turned around and walked back out of the cave. Sitting under a tree, she waited. Ren would have to come back sometime. Closing her eyes, she slipped into a light sleep.
While she slept, Ren was off in another part of the woods. Something was here that shouldn't be, and it was hurting the Pokémon. He sighed as he came across yet another Pokémon; a Beedrill caught in a fitful sleep and wrapped in a cocoon of silk. "Silk... Some Spinarak must have evolved and thought he could become the boss of the woods. Humph. Why is it only I appear to be capable of helping out these days?" Ren looked up to the sky. As he unwrapped the Beedrill it began to wake. 'Bii...' Ren sighed. There. It blinked at him, and then flew off to join its buddies, who were hovering overhead. Ren got up and walked off. Time for a nap. And where to go for that? When he didn't want to be disturbed, he always went to his cave and slept in his hammock. And heaven help any Ariados if it came within ten feet of him.
"Wha?" Krissa was startled at the sound, blinking her eyes open, just in time to see something move, but as she rubbed them, it became apparent nothing was there. "Uhm...Hello? Ren, that you?"
Ren gaped at her. Walking in the clearing he had felt, rather then saw her, and stood staring at her, then shaking his head and jumping into the nearest tree.
Again in the tree branches Ren scowled down at her. Why? All he wanted was peace! Time to nap, maybe! Maybe if he stayed silent she would leave. So he carefully sat down on the branch, crossing his legs and staring at her. Maybe he would take a nap right here. "I could have sworn I heard something..." Krissa muttered. She got up and slowly walked around, peering up at the treetops and around the bushes. Ren sighed, and closed his eyes.
In his minds eye a streak of lightning appeared and arced towards him. He tried to move, to dodge, but it hit his small body, sending him crashing into a wall of a city, face first. Rivulets of blood ran down his face as he got up, from where his muzzle had been slammed into the wall. He turned his head towards the one who had shocked him- "Ren! Is that you?" Ren woke with a start.
"Hmm?" The query slipped out his mouth before he could stop it. The girls' reaction was immediate. "I knew it! You are here. You're very quiet when you walk. How was your day?"
Ren sighed. So much for her leaving. Resigning himself to his fate he said; "Slightly more interesting then yesterday."
"What, why?" Krissa walked back over to the tree she was sitting under, a large Elm tree.
"Because there have been...disturbances. Thus making my days varied, therefore interesting."
"Disturbances? Like what?" Arceus this girl was annoying. But her tone wasn't questioning this time, which made Ren wonder. He decided to answer.
"All day today I have met different Pokémon wrapped up in webbing. Many Pokémon there were, Weedle, Caterpie, even Beedrill, which are big. Something that would attack without prompt is dangerous and needs to be dealt with."
"Oh. I met an Umbreon today, I've seen her around. But today she was hurt, cut on her head and she had silk draped on her back. She showed me this." Krissa took the tablet out of her bag. "Look at this."
"Hmm? Oh, a tablet. What's it say?" Ren sounded genuinely curious.
"I don't know. It's in glyphs. But it has pictures on it. There's what looks like a shooting star on it. Some Pokémon, I can't tell, it's too old and faded. Do you want it? You'll have to come get it..." Krissa said in a singsong voice. If he did, she would see what he looked like. But to her disappointment, he said no. "Keep it. It may prove useful." Krissa couldn't tell, but Ren was actually very interested in it, he even activated his Aura Sight and looked at it. But what he saw made him think 'that was weird.' The thing gave off a weird aura, with many colors. As Ren looked at it, his mind began to buzz. Not a nice buzz either.
He deactivated his sensors. 'I don't like it. It is a bad thing.' He thought. With a start, he realized Krissa wasn't underneath the tree anymore. Where? He looked around, trying to find her. "Hmm..." He again used Aura Sight. Well, tried to. "What? Why..." He swiveled his head around to look at the tablet. His frown changed into a glare.
"Why what?" Krissa appeared out of his cave. "Never mind. It was nothing of importance to you."
"Oh...ok. So what do you think of it? I left so you could come take a look at it without me seeing you...but I guess you didn't. Did you?" She had moved...to let him look at it?
"How...thoughtful. I did not, however."
"Oh. Ill move and let you then." Krissa got up and turned around, covering her eyes. In the branches, Ren watched with interest. So, she was finally going to respect his wishes? Well...That was the first time someone had ever done that. Maybe it was time for him to take a chance. Slowly, carefully, He hopped down from the tree. He froze and watched her for any sign she was going to whip around.
Again, carefully he padded over to the tablet. Standing right in front if it, he watched her. She didn't move. He studied the tablet. She was right. It was too faded to read. But he knew one thing. He did not like being near it. At all. The closer he got to it, the more uncomfortable he became. The buzzing filled his sensitive ears and resonated through the sensors on the back of his head. It gave him a headache, and foolishly he wondered what would happen if he touched it.
He decided not to; becoming more uneasy by the second, he ran over to the tree he had been sitting in and leapt up into it. "You can turn around now." She did, turning around quickly. Too quickly. She wanted to see him. Badly.
And we end it with a game of cat and mouse, with Ren as the mouse avoiding the cats gaze. XD