Chapter 4
"They're coming!"
"What?" Lily jumped up from her small bed within the cave. Damn… why am I so excited? "Can you see them?" The Ninetales was staring out the cave entrance.
"Yeah. I see Epime and… my Siarnaq… we will be together…"
"Wait! I'm only in my bra and panty! I can't have Tsunami see me like this!" Lily panicked. "Umm… I know! Try stall while I put on my dress!"
"Fine!" The Ninetales was staring out the cave entrance. Her tail shook in excitement.
Where the hell is my dress? She had left the cave to bathe last night, then had gotten dressed… she normally slept without a dress, since it was normally so hot. She looked through her books. None of them would do her any good in finding her dress. Her other dresses were all drying outside too…
"P-Pallene?!" She heard a happy male voice.
"Siarnaq!" She hid behind a large rock, and peered over it to see the Ninetales passionately kissing a rather handsome Absol. A little ways behind stood Tsunami, while the Staravia Aero flapped next to him. The Vaporeon stepped on something, and looked down to pick it up. My dress…
He frowned as he realized what it was. "A dress. I wonder whose it is…?"
"Tsunami!" she squeaked in embarrassment. "It's mine!" Luckily, the rock covered everything beneath her head.
He turned to the rock. "Oh, hey Lily. Here." It flew over the rock, and she caught it. She sighed, then slipped it over herself, then stepped out from behind the rock. The Absol and Pallene were embracing each other, eyes teary.
"Oh, Pallene…"
"Siarnaq…"
Lily walked next to Tsunami, and he looked at her. "How are you?" she asked him.
"Good. I found one of my friends from my past. What about you?"
"Fine. How about you?"
He shot her a slightly amused glance. "I'm very well."
Aero looked at her, eyes wide. "Whoa, hottie alert! If we were able to mate with you, I would totally get on that!"
They both turned to the Staravia. Lily rolled her eyes. She had heard a lot of perverted comments before. "As if." She turned away from him, back to Tsunami.
He was watching the other two, who had now collapsed to their knees in tears. "They sure are emotional," commented the Vaporeon.
"No shit," added on Aero.
"I don't think I could cry like that for being away from someone unless I really loved them." Lily thought of what her mentor had told her, and felt her blood turn to ice. You're mine. My little apprentice. And I love that. That terrible night… the things he had done to her… she did her best not to think about it.
"Are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost-type," remarked Tsunami.
Burying that memory away, she said, "I'm fine. Hey, can I show you something? We can give our friends some personal space."
"Okay."
She led him into the cave's depths, where she had been brewing some potions. Her scepter lit the way as Tsunami followed her. As far as she could tell, the Staravia had left them alone, which was fine by her. "See this?" She gently held up a vial.
"Yeah?" It bubbled pink.
"This is a very powerful aphrodisiac." She gently placed it down. "And this is the opposite, a potion that relieves lust." The second vile glowed yellow.
"Ah… I see." He stared at the yellow liquid thoughtfully. "I mean… an aphrodisiac is always nice… but I mean, being able poison their mind with lust could be terrible. The yellow vial… what would you use that for?"
"Well… honestly, over the years, I've developed the occasional longing for the touch of… well, you get it. Every time I'm heating, I take one of these to cool off."
"A little unnecessary information…" he awkwardly chuckled.
"Oh, right." She blushed gently, then sheepishly added, "Sorry. That was rather inappropriate."
He smiled, then said, "So how was Pallene?"
"Oh, so you really do know her. Yeah, she's really nice. About a day after you guys left, she came here, cut up. I fixed her up, and told her about how you passed through. She mentioned she might have known you, so she stayed here with me."
The Vaporeon nodded thoughtfully. "I met up with Siarnaq, that scythe-wielding Absol. He said…"
"I know. Pallene told me everything… it must be terrible."
He blinked. "Terrible?"
"Well," she began with a shrug, "I mean, my past is rather disturbing. I wish to say no more about it. But it makes me who I am today. I mean, you… well, you don't know anything about who you are."
"I… what happened in your past?" A hint of curiosity edged his voice.
Memories of her mentor's touch flooded her mind, hearing her own screams, tasting her salty tears… She forced herself to calm down. "Like I said, I don't want to think about the past." She turned away.
The Vaporeon's face was… could it be? Concern…? That was a look she hadn't seen since her parents had passed away. Strange, she thought. It's a rather nice feeling, actually. "Lily… you want to go check up on our friends?"
"Oh, sure."
They walked back to find the two others sleeping. The Absol's arms were wrapped around the Ninetale's stomach. They were peacefully snoring away.
"Aww, how cute…" commented Lily.
Aero flapped in front of Tsunami. "Where did you two come from?"
"Lily was just showing me some potions she had been making."
"Oh, so you didn't making ou-mmph!" The Vaporeon had quickly shut the flying-type's beak.
Lily giggled. "Let him go, Tsunami."
The Vaporeon gave the Staravia a death glare before letting him go. He sighed, then looked at the two cuddled up. "So what should we do? Should we wake them?"
"Nah." Lily looked outside the cave, where the sun was setting. "Oh, I know! Could you and Aero fetch me some things to cook? We could have a feast tonight!"
He blinked. "Like… what? Vegetables? Berries? Herbs? Fish?"
"Yeah! I can cook pretty well…"
"Alright. C'mon Aero, get that smirk off your face."
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"This is it, Landon. You're cornered." A Machamp and Primeape had cornered the Umbreon.
Landon wore a long cloak that matched his fur, black as midnight. The dark type was holding his arm. He grit his teeth. "You… no, this isn't over." He stepped back, then looked over the edge. The Earth seemed very far down. It would be a long fall from these ruins. He looked back at his pursuers, who were slowly advancing. Landon had angered the explorers on these ruins after he had taken some of their food.
"We're going to rip your limbs off one by one!" screeched the Primeape eagerly.
One more attack, thought Landon. With his last bit of energy, he launched a dark pulse, blinding the fighting types more than doing any damage. They snarled, and he hurled himself off the ledge. Madison… I'm sorry…
He kept his eyes closed as he felt the air rushing through his fur. His cloak trailed behind him, fluttering in the wind. Time seemed to slow down as he plummeted to the Earth below. Memories of his parents flowed through him. Then his mate's happy face appeared. Her mood lifting smile, her soft caress… she had gone missing two ago. He had desperately searched to try find her. He had even explored the floating ruins, deemed to be so unstable that only the most seasoned explorer would visit. But he was not an explorer. He was a mercenary.
The fall was taking so much longer than he expected. Am I dead?
A deep voice growled. "Fool, you're not dead. You should be."
He dared to open his eyes. He was floating a mile above the Earth. In front of him was the most fearful sight he had ever seen. Eyes red, skin white, and the largest pokemon he had ever seen. "P-Palkia!"
The white Pokemon snarled. "You. I've gone through so much to try get your attention. But not even taking your mate got-"
"M-Madison? You-you kidnapped her?"
The white Pokemon smiled evilly. "Of course." The two of them floated there. Palkia opened his left palm. In it was his mate.
"M-Madison!" he yelled. She was lying unconscious. The young Leafeon looked weak. Landon turned to Palkia, more outraged than he had ever been in his life. "Why?" he asked quietly. He was never one to explode.
The massive dragon bared his teeth. "I have a proposition for you. You succeed, and you may have your mate back."
The Umbreon narrowed his eyes. "What is your proposition?"
"Not too long ago, four Pokemon were sent to my tower for execution. They escaped of course. They also nearly killed me. I killed one of them, but three of them escaped."
"And if I refuse this job?"
Palkia laughed, then slowly wrapped his fingers around his mate in gentle pressure. "Then your young Leafeon is dead."
Landon swallowed. This was a position a mercenary never wanted to be in. "Tell me… what kinds are they?"
"Well well…" grinned Palkia. "It looks like we have a deal."
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Hmm… this will work. Tsunami munched on a piece or radish he had found. He promptly cut a few more. He got ready to head back the cave when he stopped. On his left was a small pond with water. In the center was a large pink flower. A lily… hey… Looking around carefully to make sure Aero wasn't watching, he pulled it towards him using the water. He pulled out his sword, then sliced it off. He slipped it into his pocket, then continued on his way back to the cave.
"Ah, there you are Tsunami!" It was Aero. "Hey, what's that pink thing in your pock-?"
"It's nothing," he said quickly. "Just a radish I want to keep for myself."
"Really? I thought that it looked like a flower."
"No."
Aero shot him a knowing grin. "Oh. I know who it's for now!"
Tsunami sighed. "What did you find?"
"Some Oran and some parsley."
"Oh good. You two are back. I've already started boiling some water." Lily grabbed the radishes and some carrots Tsunami had found earlier. He considered giving her the flower, but decided against it. Aero shot him an amused glance before giving over his own herbs.
"Is… something wrong?" The Espeon was looking at Tsunami curiously.
"Umm…"
"Oh, just spit it out! Tsunami got something for you!"
She smiled at him, those eyes more intimidating than the scythe-wielding Absol when he first met him. "Oh really?"
He gently reached into his pocket, then held out the flower. A bead of sweat dribbled down his face, and his arms were shaking as Lily's eyes opened wide. "I-I-I found this for you… you know, a Lily?" he said sheepishly.
She looked at him, face unreadable. "My… this is… beautiful." She sniffed the flower, eyes closed. "Mmm… when I was a young Eevee, I would love to smell these flowers." She put it on her ear. "Thank you Tsunami!" Her eyes shined. "That's sweet of you to think of me like that."
"Well… I mean, it's just natural right? Lily and lily?"
"I suppose…" She winked at him and said, "I'll begin cooking."
"Tsunami and Lily, sitting in a-"
"Aero?" said Lily.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." They all laughed.
"I don't think he knows how," added Tsunami. "Besides, I don't think of her that way."
"I- me neither. It was kind of you Tsunami."
Aero rolled his eyes. "Denial…"
After they ate that night, Tsunami sat down against the rock, getting ready to sleep. Siarnaq and Pallene were still sleeping, all cuddled up. The five had eaten, then, tired from the day's action, agreed to go to sleep.
"Hey…" He heard Lily sit down next to him against the rock. She wrapped her arms around her knees, her dress flowing onto the floor.
"Oh, hi Lily."
"I wanted to ask you… perhaps… you… well, do you think I'm attractive?"
He thought about how to answer this question. "W-well… I think you're very pretty… but you're also very gentle… a lot more gentle than the creepy sorceress you try to be."
She laughed. "I've heard those words a lot from men trying to get in bed with me."
"I…"
She shook her head, and gave a deep sigh. "I sense you're different, Tsunami, I really do."
He was shocked. "Hold on, I'm not trying to make a move on you, if that's what you're thinking."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh really?"
"Lily… have you ever thought about taking a mate?"
"No. Not once. I nearly didn't have a choice once, after that night…"
"That night?"
She didn't respond, but she was gently shivering now.
He leaned closer to her. "Tell me what happened. You're keeping a dark secret. Tell me what happened that night, and we can share the burden." He stroked her back soothingly, and she began speaking.
"On my tenth birthday, I began sorcery at West Lyon's. Over there, apprentices are assigned to mentors, and we train with them to make our magic stronger. My magic needs time to prepare, but is quite powerful, I assure you. But anyways, I worked with a Mightyena named Vail. Vail was 26, unmated, with no children. He was a talented sorcerer. I learned a lot from him. But he left me with a lot more than just that knowledge." She started to gently cry, her voice rising in pitch slightly. "Then it became too much for him. On my 13th birthday, he…" She burst into tears. "He touched me. I remember his hand running up my thigh, his lips against my breasts…" She stood there, shaking. "But he refused to enter me… he said he wasn't a rapist. As if what he didn't do was bad enough…" Her voice was angry, her body shaking. "That is why I hate you males… selfish perverts! That's what you all are!"
"Lily…" He hugged her. "It's alright."
She wiped the tears off her face. "No. He scarred me."
"Lily…"
She stood up. "I don't need your pity, Tsunami. I know you're nothing like him. But… I cannot risk it," she finished with a whisper.
"Lily, wait!"
But she vanished deep into the cave, letting the shadows absorb her.
Tsunami stood there, realization of what she just told him sinking in. I… I'm sorry for what happened Lily…
And from the shadows, where he couldn't see her, Lily was curled up. Tsunami… you're the boy I've dreamed of. But I mustn't let a male into my life. Ever. I'm sorry…
Hehe… sorry for the delay. I was on a trip, then my computer broke, then… well, you get it. Anyways, read and review! Again, sorry!
