As my father had told me many years ago, we all must learn something new everyday. And the very first thing I had learned this morning was that someone actually awoken earlier than I did.
"Get up! Get up!" I felt something shove my side, and heard a young voice, "Rise and shine! Let's get up and at 'em!" I groaned in protest – I am a early riser, but this early? My eyes remained sealed.
"Wake-y, wake-y!" Mandite pulled on one of my eyelids blew on my eye. I growled, immediately springing to my feet, rubbing my burning eye. Mandite cackled, a mischievous glint in his glowing eyes. I looked over to Aurora, who was beginning to sit up. She let out a soft moan, and rubbed her eyes.
"You are awake." I said, smiling. She looked up at me, her lids drooped slightly over her magenta eyes out of sleepiness.
"Am now." she said, and yawned. Slowly, she got to her feet, and steadied herself, clearing her head. Mandite skipped over, fluttering his little wings in cheeriness, mind bright and fully awake. Meanwhile, Aurora and I remained drowsy, weary from sleep.
"Finally, you two are up!" he exclaimed happily, "the sun is going to rise in another hour, so let's find something to eat for breakfast so we can go by the time it reaches over that peak." Mandite pointed to a distant mountain on the horizon. As for now, the sky around it remained indigo. Blinking the last of my sleep out of my eyes, I stretched – I do not start thai chi until the sun rises.
"What's for breakfast?" Mandite stopped his prancing to look curiously at me. I frowned back at him – usually, we only eat when we were hungry, and certainly I didn't feel hungry at the moment.
"We don't have regular meals, Mandite." Aurora stated calmly, Mandite looked rather shocked and perplexed, then.
"You guys are so weird." he mumbled, "Where I come from, I have regular mealtimes – ample and frequent." I blinked; did he mean to tell us that he ate incredible amounts of food? I started to wonder, that if he did eat as often and luxurious as he said, how are we supposed to feed him while we have to travel long distances often without stop for food nor water. I looked to Aurora, and I could tell that she was thinking along the same lines as I was. She gave me a worried look.
[How are we going to deal with this, Lucario?] she asked, her voice soft within the boundaries of my mind. I tried to think of a wise response, but none came to mind.
[I am not exactly sure.] I answered, and sighed. We both looked back to Mandite, who was looking back and forth between the two of us.
"I could just pick up food along the way," he said, "I eat really fast." We looked at each other again. [Is this possible?] I asked. She looked away, slightly.
[We could try for today,] she said, blinking and looking up at me, [I mean, what else do we do?] Gently, I nodded and looked down on the young warrior, tilting my head.
"Fine, then." I said, "You can eat along the way." Mandite, once dulled, brightened and clapped his hands together.
"Great!" he piped up, and skipped around again. I tilted my vision back on the horizon, awaiting for the sun to rise. I heard some soft paddings and I rotated my head to see Aurora walking towards me. I turned the rest of my body so that I fully faced her. She stopped in front of me, tilting her head up slightly so she can look me in the eye. I look down on her, thinking that she may have came to close to my personal space for my comforts. I slowly stepped back, to make it seem I am just shifting my weight to a more comfortable position. Aurora squints her eyes and then shook her head. I knew she came to me to ask a question – as usual.
"Did Mandite tell you what he eats?" she asked. I shook my my head – Mandite told me nothing about what his diet consisted of, only that it was a heavy load of it. She only sighed, not speaking further, and turned away to look at the ground. I could tell that she was thinking deeply – I bent my head to try and see what expression she was feeling. As far as I could tell, she only appears to be in deep thought. Under normal circumstances, I would have just left her to carry out my early morning duties, but this morning I stayed, and out of my own surprise, called her name without thinking it through – I don't even have a reason for talking to her. For some odd reason, I just wanted to.
"Aurora?" Her name had already slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine carefully. I glanced to the side uncomfortably and bit back my tongue, in order to keep quiet. What was wrong with me?
"Lucario," she stepped closer to me, and I felt the blood pounding through my ears, but why I wasn't too sure, "is there -" she stopped, and peered into my eyes again, the fire dancing in bright magenta shades. She stepped closer still, and I couldn't help but shrink away – it was my unconscious reaction. She was too close for my comforts. Aurora stepped back and looked away.
"Never mind." she simply said, and turned to attend to Mandite, who's shouts were heard through the early morning air. I watched her leave, thinking about my confused feelings, not knowing how to describe them – I don't even know what they are. I shook my head, trying my best to clear my thoughts. The sun will rise shortly, and I must have a fresh mind and quieted soul in order to function properly. But I feel restless this morning, my concentration fractured. I closed my eyes and awaited the approach of dawn.
~*~
Just as promised, Mandite was a quickly-paced eater and had quite a knack of finding tidbits as well. I was afraid that he had a developed taste for specific foods, but it turns out that he is quite fond of eating a diversity of edibles, including an odd favorite – wildflowers. The young blue warrior, so short and unseen in the tall grasses, would pull down and pluck stalks of blooming flowers and pop them into his mouth. As for now, he wore none of his armor, which was wrapped tightly by his cape, a useful object for a blanket and a knapsack. Aurora would follow him, making sure of herself that he wasn't getting into too much trouble. At one point in time, he almost came close to being trampled by a torterra, but his quick reflexes pulled him out of harm's way. As for me, I am a mere observer, just watching the two. They would run around, laughing, and chasing each other. It's nice that Aurora finally had someone to run with, to laugh with.
To be a friend with. Once again, I felt guilty for never being much of a encouraging friend, or being any kind of a friend except for a friend that taught and no more. Seeing Aurora and Mandite laugh and race up and down the landscape was a sentimental delight for me – Aurora never looked so happy. The only regret I have is when it was time that Mandite would have to leave to go home and say good bye. How would Aurora react to this? I try not to think of it, so I only watch the two fool around. Eventually, Mandite stops for a brief moment and notices I have pulled myself away from the group.
"Lucario!" he yells, and takes one of my paws, dragging me over to the top of a flower-crested hill.
"What are you, a statue?" the little puffball joked, "C'mon – you are being a bum, sitting around like that!" He lets go of my paw once we reach the top, and he plucks off a bud, popping it into his mouth after a brief examination.
"Can we take a break? I'm starving!" And without an answer from me, he sits down and picks the little blooms. I sighed, rolling my eyes from exasperation, and perhaps amusement. It always seemed Mandite was always hungry, no matter how frequent he ate, or how much. Turning around, I spotted Aurora, racing uphill towards us, feet moving so fast it seemed she was flying. She skidded to a stop a few yards before me, flowers spraying everywhere. Yellow petals tickled my face, and I turned away to stop them from provoking a sneeze. Laughing, Aurora collapsed onto her haunches, her voice floating softly in my mind.
"So, you finally decided to join us?" she said, and I realized she was talking to me. I was about to answer, but then Mandite interrupted.
"You mean that I finally dragged his bum over here." he laughed, and Aurora smiled, and glances up at me. I only stare down at her, the wind blowing through my fur, my mind as dumb as a rock.
"Well sit down!" Aurora exclaimed, reaching up to tug on my paw. Blinking, I sat down alongside the other two. Certainly, I felt just as dumb as a rock – I wasn't really thinking of anything, just feeling as though I was in a dream.
"Are you all right?" Aurora gently reached out and touched my arm. Oh no – I felt myself choking, but only silently. I coughed, and my face flushed with heat. Am I ill? I tried to think of the last time I had water – that was two days ago. It was about time that I felt thirsty again, but was I really thirsty? Aurora was thinking along the same lines as I was, and she sniffed, her head swooning from side to side in search of the hint of moist earth.
"There's a brook due north from here – we can go there if you'd like." she said at last, and by now I had stopped flushing. I glanced over at Mandite, who had a pinched look on his little face. I couldn't help but wonder about what could he be thinking.
"I think we should go over there." he said, still staring with his mouth pinched, "you need something to eat, too." He held up a flower. I snorted, my mouth curling in disgust.
"No, thank you." I said, but Mandite only glared.
"I did not ask, I said – now eat before you waste away." Mandite handed me the flower, its yellow petals waving and bouncing in the wind. I simply held it, examining it closely. I thought flowers were for decorative and aromatic purposes, but never it came across my mind as for eating. The flower didn't seem so appealing to my appetite.
"Don't let your knowledge prejudice food," I looked to see Aurora, fuchsia flames leaping and flipping. She leaned forward and gently took the flower from my paw, and settled back. She stuck the bloom in her mouth and cleanly tore the stem away.
"See? Now it's your turn." She reached and plucked another flower and placed in my paws. I thought for a moment, thinking – was it possible for me to digest flowers? Plant eaters' digestive tract were designed to break down tough fibers, but what about me? As a child growing by the sea, I remember having to eat seaweed, but I never really enjoyed it. I grimaced, thinking about the slimy, green, rubbery algae being caught in my throat. Could this taste the same? Hesitantly, I sniffed the small budding, and sneezed from it tickling my nose.
"Whoo! S'cuse you!" Mandite whistled, "Allergic, eh?" I frowned – I did not have allergies at all; in fact, lucarios were not supposed to inherit allergies, for it wasn't part of their genetic trait. Only very rarely are we ill. I shook my head.
"No," I said, "I just think my nose is rather..." I didn't know how else to put it.
"... Ticklish." I finished, and shrugged. Mandite just burst out laughing. As for me, I didn't really know what was so funny. I raised an eyebrow, demanding to know.
"Ahh," Mandite pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, "it's just the way you said it that was – HAH!" And with that, Mandite began to roll around, tickled by words.
~*~
As time went by, and days turned into weeks, I had learned to tolerate my peculiar symptoms of my unknown disease. By now, we have established a firm bond between the three of us, although it was the other two who mainly did the talking. As we trudged on through mountains, prairies, forests, and deserts, Mandite would tell grand tales of his world in elaborate detail, leaving the two of us in awe. In turn, Aurora would tell some stories, but I couldn't say that would be an equal barter. However, Mandite seemed perfectly pleased to let his mouth do the telling. Now, it was late spring, the time of the year where the rivers would be swollen from snow melt high up in the mountains, but as we approached a dehydrated water bed hidden in a ravine, I could tell that the snow melt has not reached this point yet. We had been traveling along its pebble-laden shore for two days, now. It had been such a great river, suffocated by the freezing winter. The old banks were well over our heads, an amazement to us all. Our footsteps echoed through the ravine.
"Uggh!" Mandite said, stretching, "I want to go swimming!" That fact we already knew, for it was repeated twenty-three times yesterday and ten today. I nodded, acknowledging the fact. The truth was that I also longed to swim, just as Mandite did, an activity I haven't enjoyed since I have left my childhood home. Being part of the marine colony of lucarios, I have been raised as a strong swimmer ever since birth. If you wanted food, my father said, swim out to it – don't wait for it to come to you. I took his words of wisdom seriously, chasing fineons far out at sea at hours at a time starting when I was three. Ever since, I loved to feel the water flow through my fur, and feel its coolness and unpredictability. Water can either be calm, its surface mirroring the world above, or it can be sheer, wild power, taking form as crashing waves or surging rapids. Beneath the surface, it was a totally new world, peaceful and cool.
"Hey, that looks promising!" Mandite suddenly ran ahead and beyond the bend, where he disappeared from sight. Mandite is always seeing far ahead of things, far beyond my eyesight that's for sure. Pacing my footsteps quickly, I hurried to catch up to that little ball of energy. Suddenly, I stopped, noticing an absence – I turned around to see Aurora, walking very slowly. That is odd; normally she would run straight after Mandite, her own curiosity brimming over. But now she walked solemnly, footstep after footstep, looking very wary. In fact, she had been wary since we entered this ravine, saying nothing except when answering a question. I waited for her, but Aurora's pace seems to move even slower, every step seemingly to be taken in agony.
"Aurora," I said firmly but not so that it was strict, "we are waiting for you, please move a little faster." She looked up and then wearily walked at a faster pace. She reached my side, and I turned walk, matching the female's pace. She hated being alone, so I stayed with her. While walking alongside her, slowly closing the gap between us and Mandite, I wondered if there was something wrong with her legs. Was the pebble-laden floor hurting her feet? Was a pebble wedged painfully between her pads?
"Aurora," I began to ask, "is there something wrong with your foot?" Aurora stopped in her tracks, and thought for a moment. She lifted a foot and then pressed it down into the ground, testing for pain. She frowned and then said,
"I don't think so." and continued walking. It was my turn to ponder and frown – I knew something was wrong. I decided I will not let my attention dwell on such thoughts, so I left it be. We continued on in silence.
The pool Mandite had spotted from afar was indeed very promising, a strong survivor of the drought. It was big enough, clear enough, and deep enough to please me. Although I was yearning for bottomless waters, I cannot expect an ocean for every body of water – it will suffice. I couldn't stop smiling, my childish instincts finally awakening after a eight year slumber. I turned to look back at Aurora, but she merely stood there, not making any effort to join me. Instead, she asked a question.
"Where's Mandite?" I realized that I didn't see Mandite at all. I quickly glanced around. Where was that troublemaker? Thinking that maybe he was already in the water, I leaned over the water's edge and peered in. But was he really in there?
"KALA-BUNGA!!!!!!" I turned my head quickly in time to see Mandite dash and leap into the air. He plummeted down deep into the reservoir, spraying me with a tidal wave. I blinked the water out of my eyes, and looked back to only have Mandite emerge and squirt a spout of water out his mouth and onto my unsuspecting face. I sputtered, shaking it off in disgust. Mandite cackled and flapped his wings, spraying droplets in all directions.
"C'mon! You guys take forever!" Mandite dove back down beneath the surface. I couldn't restrain my own glee any longer, so I waded through the shallow end. I got around knee deep when I remembered Aurora. Aurora... I turned to look back towards the shore, where she was sitting at the edge and hugging her knees close to her. I breathed, taking in the scene. She looked so forlorn, that it pained me too. I walked back over and knelt beside her, placing a reassuring paw on her shoulder. Aurora opened her eyes and glanced up at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, so softly and gently, "Can you swim?" Aurora's eyes widened and she let out a short bark.
"Hah, of course I can swim." But by the hesitation in her voice, the nervous edge, gave her feelings away – fear.
"Well, c'mon then." Mandite called from the water, and dove back under. I watched the bubbles disappear before turning back to Aurora. She looked even more afraid and torn. She sighed and rested her head on her knees. Something clicked in my head. Aurora was born in the mountains, which means that she was part of the terrestrial colony. They rarely swam at all, but they still could. Aurora, however, grew up without parents that could teach her how to glide through the water, or even float.
"Aurora," I asked, "are you afraid of the water?" She looked up at me, her head still resting. She looked so vulnerable, like a small child needing reassurance. Slowly, she nodded her head. I sighed, thinking what should I do. Aurora probably had once nearly drowned in her life, which would explain her fear of water. Usually, if it is something new, then she would have an enthusiastic curiosity, not a somber silence. I thought back on how I managed her depressed situations. I was still a teacher, wasn't I?
"Aurora, I can teach you how to swim." I offered, and she raised her head, her eyes brightening slightly, "I promise you will not drown – not while I'm here." I added hastily, for I couldn't promise complete safety while I wasn't around. Otherwise, I couldn't let her drown, not ever. I stood up and held out a paw for her take. She reached out and held it while I pulled her up. Aurora was once again on her feet, but she didn't let go of my paw. She only looked up at me, her eyes soft and gentle, flames licking her pupils. I felt at first stunned, but then my face started getting warm. Oh no – not again. I turned away, embarrassed, and pulled my paw out from her grasp. I looked back at Aurora; she also looked away uncomfortably, I think. I breathed deeply, and my face wasn't flushing with heat anymore. Relieved, I turned back to face Aurora, who stood there, looking at me impatiently.
"Well," she said, in a superficial way, "are you going to teach me how to swim?" I smiled in amusement, and matched her tone.
"Only if you are ready." I said. She smiled back, and I felt my heart stir. In my mind, I gritted my teeth, annoyed with the feeling. I walked into the water, and Aurora followed me, but stopped at the edge.
"Aurora," I said, turning back, "you can stand – it is shallow over here." She took a ginger step into the water, and another, and another following after that. I could tell that she was still quite frightened. I encouraged her to move deeper and deeper, but by the time she got to waist-deep, she wouldn't go any further. She protested when I tried to get her to move farther into the pool, so I left her be. In fact, I felt like joshing around – if the land was her turf for tomfoolery, then let the water be mine. I walked backward, still trying to persuade Aurora to go deeper when I pretended to slip. I let myself slide beneath the surface, and my aura vision replaced my sight. Oh, it was so good to be back. I carefully pulled my arms, navigating around Aurora, who was calling out my name. I could hear her muffled cries through the fluid, but I ignored it. I reached her backside when I decided to surprise her. I sent a plume of water cascading onto her body. She cried out in panic and whipped around. But the frightened expression vanished when she saw me laughing, and was replaced with an irritated face.
"Don't do that!" she scolded, reminding me of the times when I scolded her.
"You deserved it." I replied loftily and she huffed in defiance. It was amazing how the water brought back my long dead childhood pranks.
The rest of the time in the water continued on very much the same way it had in the beginning – me sneaking up and surprising Aurora, and her complaining about it. After a while, Mandite joined the fray, and together, we had a free for all splash-battle. Laughing and shouting, we let the hours passed before I realized that it was late afternoon. Soon, it would be cold, and one of us could get sick. Our little trio relieved the water of its beasts. Shaking off access water, we continued down our path through the ravine, the echoes of our laughs the only thing remaining at the still pool.
I'm SOOOOO sorry about the skipping around in the story! I had a brain fart. ^^;
I also apologize for the long wait - I was working on school stuff and playing Brawl (WHOO-HOO!)