Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon, but the characters are mine.

"Take it easy, hun...it will only hurt more if you try to rush things," I murmured to the female eevee as she leaned heavily against me.

"I no longer need your help," she replied stiffly, limping ahead of me. "But..thank you..." She said, in so soft a tone I had to strain my ears to hear.

Sighing under my breath, I followed closely behind. Being predominantly matriarchal, my tribe emphasized a policy of respect towards females. This was due to the fact that there were very few females in the wild; only ten percent, or so I've heard. Of course, it is of no surprise that they are much sought after.

I kept my options open, of course, but finding a mate was low on my list of priorities. My goal was to first become an accomplished fighter then go back to my tribe and prove my worth as a warrior. Then, in my coming of age ceremony I would accept an elemental stone of my choice. I had decided long ago that I wanted to become a vaporeon. A mate would only impede my progress.

To this day, I still have no clear idea as to why I first approached Onyx. Maybe it was pity, or, some might say, an inner, instinctual drive to find a partner. Whether or not this is the case, I don't know. She was the only female, after all. Seeing even a glimpse of femininity in a small society populated by males was a pure, honest relief, no matter the age of the female in discussion. If she was a kit, her presence would remind us of a little sister or a kithood friend. An older female was a mother figure, there to provide love and support and guidance. And if she was in her prime...she was worth being close to, whether as a friend or something more. Still, I can't say that I regret speaking to her that first night, even if it did end disastrously. For so long I gave her space and watched her, watched the repeated attempts of the other males to woo her fail, which struck me as odd. Most females loved the attention; this one scorned it. Such an unusual characteristic piqued my interest.

And, admittedly, there were also her physical attributes. She was a slightly darker shade of brown than most eevees, a soft, lustrous auburn. Her physical build was normal for most females, but what caught my attention was her eyes; Deep, black eyes that shone with intelligence, yet revealed nothing of the lady who possessed them. I could just by looking into them that there was a story behind them. Now that I had at least drawn her attention, I wanted to establish an emotional connection. She was a living being, with her own thoughts and interests and personality, and I was not going to even attempt to take that away from her by acting like an ideal mate and taking unfair advantage of her in the end. At most, what I wanted from her now was honest friendship.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts I almost stumbled over her when she stopped abruptly at the top of a hill overlooking the Clan Headquarters.

"Do you want me to carry you?" I asked, racing back towards her. She shook her head.

"No...it's just..." She hesitated, her obsidian eyes sad and fearful, as if she were dreading something. But what?

I followed her gaze to the Clan building. She feared returning to the clan? I was completely baffled, that is until I realized her attention was drawn not to the building, but to the small group of male eevees that clustered in a field that lay between us and the HQ.

Mock battles between young male eevees was a common occurrence within eevee packs, tribes, and clans. Within Packs, short, physical fights were a quick way to establish dominance and settle disputes. Eevees from Tribes, like me, never fought one another except during battle training or under certain conditions. Clan eevees merely did this for sport. In the wild, fights like these were usually held in the presence of females, especially during the courting season. I knew things could get a little out of hand if they saw me with her. Of course, I could certainly defend the both of us but at what cost? No, I wasn't willing to take that chance. I turned away and started walking down another path.

"Where are you going?" I turned my head to look at her, still on the rise. She hadn't followed.

"Would you not rather take the long way around and enter in through the back?" She looked so small and fragile, as if one strong blow would break her body. Then I remembered. Only real fighters were accepted into the Clan. Her looks were deceiving. She opened her mouth and closed it, as if afraid to answer.

"It'll take about an hour if you let me carry you," I offered just as she shook her head in refusal. The look of determination on her face made my heart beat perhaps a little faster. Perhaps.

"No...that will take too long," she shook her head. "I want to cut through here. It'll be only twenty minutes if I go fast enough." I growled inwardly. Great Suicune! I swore silently. Did she really have a death wish for me?

"Storm?"

"Let's just go," I growled, stalking ahead of her. I immediately regretted my attitude when she flinched, but I was too annoyed to apologize.

I led the way straight down the field, passing within several yards of the fighting eevees in doing so. I was secretly panicking in my mind though. It wouldn't take long for them to put two and two together and come to the wrong conclusion, given our slightly disheveled appearence, and the fact that she was visibly tired and trailing so close to me her eartip brushed my flank. Several of my peers, led by an older male named Barb, came over to greet me. They smelled strongly of musk, a masculine scent that made my fur bristle.

"We were out looking for you last night, Storm. You missed out on-" Barb stopped when he noticed Onyx on my other side. "Oh. Who's your friend? His fur color is unusual. Is he foreign?" Onyx twitched.

I nearly sighed in relief. He wasn't close enough to recognize her or take in enough scent to identify her as female. "Well, my companion-"

"Onyx?" One of them said disbelievingly as she stood up straighter and met his gaze.

"What do you want now?" She asked curtly, the lack of masculinity in her voice causing the other eevees to gasp when they realized exactly who she was.

The male stepped closer, taking on a more dominant stance as he stared her down. "You never came back last night," He said accusingly. "A female like you shouldn't be out so late by herself. Unless..." He eyed me suspiciously, and a few of his companions followed suit. I glared back, raising my head and tail higher. I was not going to be bullied into subordination for something so mundane as jealousy. I'd sooner bare my throat to a seviper's fangs.

"It's none of your business what I do when off duty, Rend. Now let us pass," Onyx half-snarled. A few of his companions came over to stand on either side of him, effectively blocking her from leaving.

"It's our business if I say it is!" He snapped back.

Onyx' raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

I smirked and sat down, not even bothering to hide my satisfaction. It was nice seeing her anger directed at someone else for a change.

"Wh-what I meant was," Rend fumbled for the right words. His voice lowered to a near whisper. "Why him?" The other eevees, save for Barb, watched her intently.

That caught her off guard. "What?"

"Don't play dumb. If you think any of us are going to sit by and let this go on right under our noses-"

"Let WHAT go on?" She lashed her tail angrily. "I told you, it's none of your business whom I choose to spend my time with. "

"You never gave me, or anyone else here a chance. You wouldn't give us the time of day, yet you wind up rubbing tails with the arrogant twit who thinks he's too good to have a mate." His last sentence was directed at me, still smirking at him.

"It is only a matter of time before this comes to blows. I think you should intervene before something serious happens," Barb murmured in my ear. Due to the fact that his mate had died a few years ago, he was unwilling to look for a new one. Therefore, he was above the rivalries held by younger eevees.

"Just a second. I want to see where this is going," I murmured back. Meanwhile, Onyx was getting more agitated.

"Who said I was rubbing tails with anyone?!" She hissed, baring her teeth.

"It looks that way," He retorted, brushing a stray leaf off her shoulder. "You both look as if you just rolled out of bed."

"I can't believe this,"she muttered under her breath. In truth, she had groomed herself this morning. I watched her myself. However, given the amount of undergrowth we had to go through not to mention the time she tripped in a patch of dirt, she really couldn't be blamed for looking a little scruffy."I got in trouble and he happened to be there so he helped me."

"You had an itch you couldn't reach and he was lucky enough to be there." He glared at me while ignoring her outraged cry. "So you took advantage of a poor female in heat I see."

"Are you stupid?" I deadpanned. If he used his nose, he would find that her scent gave no indication of a desire to mate. Then again, he was most likely in denial that Onyx would choose a different mate after all his attempts at courtship. Blaming it all on heat masked his failure."Are you sure she just wasn't interested in you?" I said, smirking when he flinched.

"Sh-shut up. You don't know anything."

"And you can't take a hint when she says 'no'."

"Can we just go?"Onyx broke in, shooting the both of us an angry glare. "I do not desire to sit about arguing for the rest of the day." Rend pressed closer to her, ignoring her warning growl.

"Onyx, please say that you feel something for me. I'll forgive you for-"

"Rend, not now,"she growled, pinning her ears back.

"Just say-"

"I'm not looking for a mate."She started forward. He nudged her away from me, his friends circling her so she couldn't escape. The eevees who were staying out of the fight looked at each other and frowned. A few of them seemed to be willing themselves to speak up in her defense. Barb put a paw on Rend's shoulder.

"Son," he began.

"Well, then why are you still with-"

"Get out of my WAY!"Onyx snarled, cuffing his ear with the back of her paw. Rend stumbled backward, a look of pure shock on his face, before it was replaced by one of loathing. He raised his paw, claws glinting ominously. The world turned red.

He'd barely struck her across the face before I had him pinned to the ground, my teeth embedded in his throat. I kicked a leg out as one eevee-his friend- tried to get me from behind, my paw catching him under the jaw and sending him backward into a bush. Two more eevees crouched in front of me, as if debating whether or not to attack. I tightened my hold on my quarry, and they stepped back a few paces. Rend pawed feebly at my fur, trying to get me to dislodge. I held fast, my eyes boring into his. The look of shock and fear on his face only made me want to hurt him more. Humiliate him. I raised my head, my neck muscles easily handling the weight of my burden as I faced the remaining eevees.

"Who else wants to challenge me?" I growled, my speech a little hampered by the scruff in my mouth. "There's nothing stopping me from ripping the fur off this scumbag. Unless one you shameless mutts has the balls to try." I looked at his two remaining friends. "He's your companion, is he not?" I said coldly. "Won't you defend him?" One of them shook his head and backed away, but the other one sprang forward with a low growl.

Idiot.

I whipped my head around, muscles straining, and swung Rend at the other eevee, knocking him out from midair. They'd barely landed in a heap at my paws before I heard a scuffling noise behind me. I turned around just in time to see Onyx punch another eevee in the face before pinning him on his stomach. It was the same eevee who had chosen not to challenge me. He must have circled around me while I was occupied with his friend. I would have spent more time admonishing myself for falling for such a common tactic if not for the fact that Onyx's condition looked worse than before. All because of me. She was panting heavily, and her legs shook. Then she looked up and smiled tiredly at me.

"Are you okay?"Looking at me with big eyes. Without answering I padded over to her and, ignoring her protests, grabbed her chin and tilted her face up and to the side. The slash marks were parallel, and the sight of blood welling on her cheek made my fur bristle. Her cheek was already swelling. The bruises would come later. Despite all that she looked...

I dropped my paw and gritted my teeth. That was not how you treated a female. She may have struck first, but her blow wasn't meant to hurt. And he provoked her in the first place. He did not have the right to draw blood.

I swung around and walked stiff-legged towards Rend, who was by now struggling to get back on his paws. I lashed out a paw and knocked his legs out from under him and leaned close to his terrified face. "I should kill you...."I began, circling him.

"Wait." Onyx slipped between me and her former suitor. Her voice was much calmer than before, her eyes untainted by anger as she gazed into my own. "That's enough."

I met her gaze evenly and nodded as I came to my senses and stepped away from the fallen eevee. I was, on most days, a poised battler who made great efforts not to lose composure, even in the face of mockery or insult. But the last few minutes was different. It was like the gates to my inner anger were opened. It was an instinct to defend and protect Onyx, even to the point of killing all who threatened her. If not for the fact that she got hurt, I would have felt guilty for doing what I did to the other eevees. However, I knew my actions were justified. I did not regret a thing. Seeing the gratitude on her face only strengthened my resolve. Onyx closed her eyes as I bent down and licked her cheek. "Let's go home, love."She flinched. I was too weary to explain that my use of the word "love" was meant to be a term of comfort rather than endearment. She nodded slowly, and I was sure she understood.

The other eevees parted for us and, with heads held high, we walked onward towards the Clan Headquarters. Though we still weren't close enough to think of each other as friends, a mutual respect grew between us. And that was fine by me.