And I'm back! Sorry this is late. Didn't realise I hadn't updated this month.

Chapter 5 – Wasting Time and Preparation

Crystal

"Where's dad?" I asked. We had just returned from napping on the dirt mound and found that neither my father nor brother were home yet.

"I don't know. Did you find Acura?"

"No, we thought maybe he had moved."

"He's usually home by now. Keep an eye on your cousins, will you? I'm going to find him." Mom said as she got up and exited the den.

Aeden and I replied and turned to the three Eevees.

"Can we play a game?" the male Eevee asked.

"No, not right now. You've been playing all day." I replied.

"Aww, come on." The three Eevees whined.

"Here's an idea." Aeden spoke up. "How about we play the waiting game?"

"The waiting game?" the three replied in unison.

"Yeah, here are the rules. We'll all see how long we can keep from moving? If you move, you're out. Wanna try it?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" The three cheered. I had to admit, he was pretty good. We moved over to the sleeping chamber and sat in a circle, staring at each other.

"I'm going to win this game! I'm going to beat all of you!" The male Eevee cried.

"Okay. Ready?" Aeden asked, shaking himself wildly. We all mimicked his shaking and sat down. "Begin!" He shouted.

I don't know how long this went, but two of the three Eevee had fallen asleep and the male was beginning to nod off.

I smiled at Aeden, and behind that scarf, I couldn't tell if he was still awake or not. I didn't want to lose, but decided that he didn't say we couldn't talk.

I looked at him and whispered to him. "Still awake?"

"Yeah." He whispered back.

The third eevee fell asleep, yet stayed standing. It was a very impressive feat, and I stood up and stretched. The male Eevee opened an eye and caught me. I shushed him before he yelled, but his eyes held his excitement. 'This may take longer than I thought.'

I walked around the circle and carried my female cousins to their bed and watched as Aeden and the remaining Eevee continued to sit there. Aeden would tap his paw a couple times, and said that that was so we knew he wasn't asleep. We agreed that it worked, and I went outside to see if Mother was coming back yet. She was and I walked towards her. ""Did you find him?"

"No. He may be with your father."

"Just so you know, Aeden got them playing a waiting game."

"How did that work out?"

"Two of them are asleep, and one is still facing off against Aeden. The goal is to be the last one who hasn't moved."

Mother laughed. "Is that so? Well, I think it's a wonderful game. I'm surprised you got them to participate." She made sure to keep her voice quiet so we wouldn't distract them.

"It wasn't that hard. Sibling rivalry and all that." I smiled.

Aeden

'Geez, this kid won't fall asleep.' I thought to myself. He had begun tapping as well, and was no doubt grinning at me. Ember and Crystal came inside and looked in our direction. The two now acted as referees and it took another half hour before I finally collapsed. I just couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed too and began to laugh. Crystal shushed him and he went to a whisper.

"I won. I beat all of you." He grinned. Crystal stepped over him and picked him up by the scruff of the neck and lowered him into his bed with his sisters.

She then waited until he fell asleep.

"I gave up. He was too determined. There was absolutely no way of ending this horrible game."

Ember smiled. "Well, that sure is an interesting game." She walked over to my stiff body and whispered into my ear. "I could beat you."

"I have no doubt about it. The goal was to get them to fall asleep." I replied. I then stood up and walked to the entryway, where I began to stretch.

As I did so, I heard and felt my joints popping. I heard Crystal and Ember gasp at the sound, and I could imagine their surprised expressions.

"You must've really been stiff. I don't think I've ever heard so many pops in my life." Ember said.

I looked at her and tilted my head. "Which reminds me, could you please get this scarf off? I can't stand it anymore."

"Oh, of course." Ember replied, untying the wretched fabric and removing it from my head. I took my paws and rubbed them against my damp fur.

"Gah, that feels better." My eyes were open all the way, and I could see a faint light, like it was miles away. I smiled. "At least my eyes are healing."

"Can you can see something?" Crystal asked, moving in front of me.

"Yeah, a very faint light. I hope I'll be able to see properly when this week is over."

"Yeah, me too. I'd hate to have to guide you every step of the way forever. You'd miss out on so many things in life." Crystal replied, nudging me with a paw and I smiled at her.

Dinner came and left, Acura returned and glared at me, but Flare didn't return. I guess he had some errands to run. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't know much about this family. What did they do when they aren't playing around and relaxing?

The answer to that would come sooner than I thought.

The next morning

"Rise and shine you three. We have a busy day today." Ember said as we woke up.

"Ugh… It's earlier than usual." Crystal complained.

"Aeden, I suggest you stay here until your eyes have healed. I'm not sure you're ready for going to town." Ember told me, paw on my shoulder.

"Wait, we're going to town? What are we doing?" Acura asked.

"Buying meat, of course. Can't live on berries our whole lives, now can we?" Ember retorted.

It was evident that Acura did not like going to town. He grunted a reply and walked to the entryway. Acura and Crystal left with baskets for the meat and I was left in Ember's care.

We left the den and split paths; Crystal and Acura going right, into the forest, while Ember and I went to the river. When we were alone, I turned to her and asked the question that had been bugging me since last night's dinner.

"What is your job?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ember asked.

"What does everyone do when they aren't relaxing or playing around?" I asked again, laying it out to her.

"Ah, our work. Well, I usually take care of the family and do the shopping. Crystal and Acura go to school in the spring and summer, and my husband is on the court for the Royal Family."

"Royal Family?"

"Yes. They summoned him for whatever reason. He does more than political business. For example, when the royal family doesn't need him, he's an event organizer."

"An event organizer?" I asked. I felt that I was becoming repetitive.

"Yes, events like celebrations, wedding, even funerals." Ember replied cheerfully.

"Really? I had no idea."

"It's not your fault. We usually don't talk about work unless something important or interesting happened. The children don't care for it."

We had reached the path to the river and began making our way down slowly. I didn't need as much help as last time, and made my way to the gravel myself.

"You're getting better, Aeden." She complimented me.

"Thanks. Though it's still a little tricky, I'm glad I'm not wearing that scarf."

Crystal

"We go back to school next week." I sighed.

"I don't want to hear it. They always assign us too much work." My brother huffed.

"Stop complaining. Deep down, you know it's for a good cause." I replied. I'd been walking in silence for ten minutes, while Acura complained about various things.

"Pssh. Yeah, to torture us."

"Okay, how about this? Stop talking. You've been complaining since we left, and it's getting on my nerves."

"Why should I? You're not the boss of me."

"I don't want to hear it, okay?" I retaliated.

This went on for a few more minutes before we decided that neither one of us were going to talk. At all.

We made it to town, a large community of various buildings, all housing supplies, Pokémon, and services. I'll save the description for later, when Aeden sees it. His reaction was so much better than ours. None the less, we got the meat, completed our other tasks, and headed back home.