An Eevee's Life
Chapter 6: Missing
Midnight walked beside Luna, their tails wrapping around each other. They exited their new room into what used to be their old room. Now that Jolt had gotten older, they had dug two new tunnels from the old room so each of them could have a room.
They could see the sunlight from the already risen sun outside filtering into their den. They headed down the next tunnel and were in the main entrance. Violet was there by the food pile like usual. Lance and Leaf were by a wall, eating lunch.
Midnight grabbed one more berry than usual. They had missed breakfast and he was hungry. They had gone to sleep late last night, playing around in their new den. Luna and Midnight settled down by an unoccupied wall and started to eat. Midnight finished first, even though he had picked more food than Luna and started to groom her. Luna finished her meal soon after and started to groom him, too.
Midnight loved to groom Luna's soft fur. Her smell drifted around his nose as he straightened all her fur. They finished and leaned against each other, content just to be in each other's presence. It had been over half a year since he had left with Jolt to find a thunder stone, but Midnight still never tired of her presence.
Things had been peaceful and not much had happened since then. The only real change was the bulge starting to form near Lucy's stomach. Everyone was awaiting her announcement. She hadn't said anything but it was only a matter of time before someone finally confronted her and ask if she was pregnant. Luna informed him she only had a week before she laid her egg by the size of the bulge.
Lucy's attitude had completely changed with this development. Her usual teasing and joking were replaced with a helpful and more mature outlook on life. Midnight hadn't noticed it until it was gone, but he had gotten used to the teasing and actually missed it, if only a little.
Midnight felt Luna start to doze beside him. Her soft breathing was like a lullaby to his ears. He put his head down and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment. Everything was peaceful and calm.
Pawsteps could suddenly be heard outside the cave. The paws were moving at a rapid pace, pounding the forest floor as the creature ran. Midnight raised his head and pricked his ears. Luna woke from her doze and stretched a little. Violet sat calmly, letting Midnight know it wasn't an enemy. Leaf and Lance looked up from their conversation. Blaze and Lucy started coming out of their room.
That left only two candidates for who it was: Rain or Jolt. Midnight sat up as he realized this, just as it came in. It was Rain. She was dripping water everywhere, though it didn't disguise the smell of her being in heat. In fact, the water seemed to intensify the smell. Her face was an unnaturally pale blue, as though she had seen her own ghost. Her breathe was coming in short gasps.
Blaze stepped forward and took control, "What's wrong, Rain? Did something bad happen?"
Rain nodded, still trying to catch her breathe. Finally, she managed to slow her breathing to a point where she could talk. However, as soon as she did, she started to break down sobbing. In between sobs, she kept saying one phrase repeatedly, "I'm sorry."
Midnight felt his face drain. What had she done that had affected her this badly? Suddenly, he thought he knew as her smell drifted over to him again, and he hoped he was wrong. He hoped he was dead wrong.
Blaze tried to get her to talk, "What's wrong, Rain? We need to know."
"It's . . . It's all my fault," she stammered. "I-I was chasing Jolt. I knew I shouldn't have been, but I was. I chased him to the river and he slipped on the bank and fell in. I tried to get him, but the current was too strong. He . . . he fell over the . . . the waterfall outside the territory." Once again, she broke out crying completely.
Okay, Midnight was dead wrong, but now Midnight wished he had been right. They all knew how dangerous the waterfall was, even though most of them hadn't seen it. Midnight had to stop himself from lunging at Rain's throat right there and then.
Luna's face had pale significantly. Midnight heard her mutter 'no' in disbelief a couple times before breaking down and crying. She pressed her head against Midnight's chest. Midnight put a paw around her and brought her close, trying to comfort her and hold back his feelings of rage and grief.
When Rain had confessed what she did, Leaf and Lance backed away from her, while Lucy gave her a glare that could melt stone. That was most surprising as Lucy had never given an angry look that was meaningful. Blaze hung his head and looked away from Rain, unable to look at her anymore. Violet got up and walked over to Luna and helped Midnight to comfort her.
Midnight was comforting Luna when he felt a tail tap him on the shoulder. He glanced back to see Violet. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Midnight, there still may be hope. He may have survived the falls. If he did, you need to hurry if he is to survive. He will be injured, so he might not be able to help himself."
Her words sent hope soaring through him. Jolt could have survived. No matter how small the chance, he would go and look. He wouldn't give up on his son.
He leaned over Luna again and whispered, "Luna." Luna didn't look up, but her sobs became quieter so he took this as a sign to continue. "Luna, our son may be alive."
Luna's head came up at this and she looked at him with shock. "What?"
He continued to whisper in her ear, rather than have everyone hear, "I said, out son may be alive. He could have survived the waterfall."
He saw hope appear in her eyes, "Really, could he have really survived?"
He nodded, putting as much conviction as he could in it, "Yes, he could have. Stay here. I need to go now in order to get to him before he gets hurt even more."
Luna leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. "Then go now, while you have sunlight. I trust you, Midnight. Bring back our son."
Midnight kissed her quickly and ran out of the den, ignoring the confused looks the others gave him. He ran faster than he ever had before. His legs were pumped with adrenaline as he headed straight for the river. He reached it quickly and headed downstream, keeping off the slippery bank.
Midnight heard the waterfall before he saw it. Suddenly, he veered away from the river, unable to slow down in time while going straight before going over the cliff that suddenly appeared. Soon, he had slowed down and headed back along the cliff he had almost gone over.
He reached the waterfall and looked at it in wonder. Water came over the edge and plunged down into a pool about thirty feet below. It was a marvelous sight. He could feel droplets of water from it hit his fur.
He shook his head and focused on his mission again. He looked at the drop once again, but didn't see anything below besides the water. Seeing how tall the waterfall was disheartened Midnight greatly. No wonder everyone immediately thought it was over for Jolt. But no, he wouldn't stop. He had to get down there and look.
Unfortunately, no matter what direction he looked, he couldn't see a way down that was safe. The side of the river he was on was on a lower elevation than the other side, so Midnight headed away from the waterfall, following the cliff. He hoped that he would eventually find a way down.
Soon, night was falling and Midnight could feel the effects of hunger hitting him. He found a berry bush nearby and had a late supper. Once done, he laid down and fell asleep, hoping he would find Jolt in time.
Midnight got up and headed along the cliff, continuing to look for a way down. Midnight was starting to get thirsty and hoped to find a pond or some other source of water. Once again, his hope came true as it started to rain, hard.
Midnight held his mouth open for a bit and quenched his thirst. He really didn't want this rain, though. It lowered visibility, made things slippery, and added about ten pounds to him in wet fur. But Midnight endured and continued along the cliff edge.
Luckily, he found the ground started to have a downward slope to it. Midnight started to increase his pace, hoping to reach a way down. In between gusts of rain, he could see the bottom of the cliff start to have an upward slope, adding to Midnight's hope. He started to go faster and faster.
Suddenly, he slipped and fell, the wet grass and slope tripping him. He started to roll down the slope, going at an alarming rate. Finally, he hit something that stopped him. Midnight got up and shook the mud that now caked his fur.
His ears pricked up when he heard a growl. He turned around and saw the object he had hit was a Blastoise. Unfortunately, it appeared that he had woken it, and it wasn't happy about that. The cannons on its back lowered into an attack position.
Midnight jumped back and saw water shot out of the cannons at an unbelievable speed and hit where he had been. Midnight knew this battle might be one he couldn't win. Not only was he out of shape, but the Blastoise had powerful water attacks that were even more powerful in this heavy rain.
Midnight jumped back again as the cannons moved and shot again, but he slipped as he did and landed on his stomach. The Blastoise saw his momentary helplessness and withdrew into his shell. Midnight knew the Blastoise wouldn't just give up, especially when he had an advantage like this and suspected a trick.
Midnight knew he wouldn't be able to win this match. The Blastoise was a higher level and had an area advantage. He needed to get away where the Blastoise couldn't follow him, but where. Then it hit him: underground.
Midnight started digging at a fast pace. It was relatively easier as the ground was softer in this rain. He had just dug enough that his body wasn't above ground when he heard a large explosion at the entrance of his hole. He didn't look back to see what it was. He continued to dig and dig.
Soon, he reached air. How was that possible? He had been digging straight, not up. He looked out and saw he had dug right out to the cliff. He was excited to see he had dug far enough down that it was a simple jump down to the ground from here. He mentally smacked himself in the head for not thinking of this idea sooner. He jumped down and started headed back the way he had come, only on the correct side of the cliff this time.
Midnight found a berry bush and a small sheltered area under a tree and ate a soggy lunch. He groomed the mud from his fur and laid down. The battle had taken more from him than normal, probably because he had been walking a while before it.
He laid his head on his paws and waited for the rain to ease a little, taking the time to rest. As he did, he mentally encouraged his son to hold on just a little longer. He would be there soon.