Author's Note: I actually planned for this chapter to end at a farther point, just to find a good stopping point and that I already had past my word minimum. Anyway, hope I don't get too confusing with the few third person shifts here and there. -EeveeInHeat

Silver

- Chapter 14: Warming Up -

Silver woke up with Eve being much closer than she had been last night, again. Seeing that it was starting to get light outside, Silver eased away from her and slowly got up. Checking on her, he was glad to note that her fever was slightly down, though she still had one.

Almost dreading going back out into the cold, Silver headed over to the entrance. Once out, Silver sighed to see that it had snowed again last night, the snow rising a few inches. In fact, he was sure that the snow was about a foot high, while he was only a foot tall.

Sighing, Silver stepped out into the snow, pausing as the snow seeped its icy feel into his leg. He was glad to note, though, that the snow was compacted enough that he didn't sink down too much, allowing him to mostly walk along the top of the snow.

Looking around, Silver saw a rather large hump in the snow nearby. Hopping through the snow, Silver quickly made his way over to it. He padded at it, removing the snow from the bush. With part of the snow gone, Silver was able to see it was really a berry bush, though he didn't recognize the berries. Though a few of the berries were shriveling, the rest were still ripe and ready to be picked.

Reaching down, Silver was about to snap off a branch, when he noticed the rather large leaf under the branches. The large leaf appeared strong and was still a healthy green color with the protection of the bush. With its slightly cupped shape with a strong, long stem, it would be a perfect thing to carry berries on.

Silver pulled it out, placing it gently beside him. Instead of snapping off the branches on the bushes like normal, Silver began to snip the berries off, placing them on the leaf. He enjoyed not breaking off branches, for they were both cumbersome and shortened the amount of berries that could grow on the bush next year until the branch regrew.

With his new leaf carrier full, Silver headed back to the den. As he climbed back inside, he was glad to see that Eve was already awake and sitting up. Sliding the berries over to the pile, he went over to Eve.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Slightly better," Eve said. "What do I do?"

"You need to stay in here and rest," Silver ordered. "You're still sick and need to get better."

Eve sighed, but laid back down.

"Are you thirsty?" Silver asked.

Eve looked away, but murmured, "A little."

Nodding, Silver grabbed the leaf and went back outside, heading toward the river. Going to the edge, Silver knocked off a piece of the ice on the river, pulling it onto the snow before it was washed away. After collecting a few more pieces of the ice, he piled them onto his helpful leaf and dragged it back to the den. Not wanting it all to melt, he left the ice in the snow just outside the den.

Bringing back in the leaf and one piece of ice for Eve, Silver brought it over to Eve. "Here you go," Silver said, placing it in front of her.

"Thank you," Eve said quietly, before licking at the ice quickly.

"I'll be back soon," Silver promised, grabbing his leaf and heading out.

He shivered slightly as he stepped back out into the snow, but went out again, heading for the first usual hump in the snow that would signify a berry bush. Reaching it, Silver lunged forward to knock the snow off, only to backpedal quickly as something sharp pricked his nose. Shaking his head from the sudden pain, Silver watched as a few droplets of his blood hit the ground.

Wondering what it was, Silver more cautiously pawed the snow off of the bush. Once done, Silver found himself looking at a thorn bush, most likely what was a flowering bush back in the spring and summer.

Silver pressed his nose against the snow for a second, effectively numbing it and the pain. Shaking the little bit of snow that stayed on, Silver headed for the next hump close by, making sure to go at it slower than before.

After filling his leaf once more with berries, he headed back to the den, his nose still dropping blood every few minutes as he went. Inside the den, he found Eve by the stockpile, pulling the berries off the branches from before and separating them into two piles.

She looked up quickly as he entered. "I thought I could help still while I stayed here," she said.

Piling the berries onto the already present pile, Silver nodded. "If you get tired, though, rest, okay?"

She nodded, but paused. "Silver, you're bleeding," she said, a note of concern in her voice.

"It's just a scratch from a thorn bush," Silver said.

She looked at him a little concerned still, but went back to separating the berries.

Silver took a lingering glance at her before heading back out into the winter landscape, wondering if that concern was meant for more than friendship. Was she caring for him because she was starting to like him as well?

Knowing he would just entangle himself in his thoughts again, Silver pushed them away and focused on gathering berries. The rest of the day was just gathering berries off of any bushes Silver could find and pulling them back to the den.

The sun was setting as Silver brought back his last load. After gathering berries all day through the high snow, he was tired. However, he knew his feelings were partially numbed by the cold, making him wonder how tired he really was. He was still glad to see the tree that overshadowed their den as he came back.

Almost diving back into the less cold den, Silver quickly dumped the last of the berries onto the pile. Eve was lying back down, having pulled all the branches off earlier. Now that he was back, Eve slowly started to get back up. Silver brought another ice piece for her and then started searching the berry pile. He sighed as he realized they had no sweet berries, meaning Eve would have to eat something else.

Coming up beside him, Eve grabbed a few berries and sat down to eat. Getting his own dinner, Silver admired how Eve ignored her favoring and ate the berries. Her face showed how much she disliked it, but she continued to eat them.

Finishing up her few berries, Eve asked, "When do you think I'll be able to go out?"

Silver shrugged. "I'm not sure. I wasn't even sure you were sick until the Bibarel told me. I don't think you should go out until your fever is fully gone, though," Silver said.

Eve sighed quietly, looking down at her paws. "You shouldn't have to be doing this all just for me, though. I should be helping."

"You can't help that you're sick," Silver pointed out.

Eve sighed again, though. Finished with their meal, Eve went over and curled up at her usual spot. Silver paused, unsure if he should lay down next to her again. She was getting better, and it wasn't that cold inside the den. However, as he glanced back over at Eve, he saw her watching him, an almost hopeful look on her face. He inwardly sighed as he realized she still wanted him to lay next to her.

As Silver laid down next to her, he noticed the fever was less than it had been before, meaning she was probably getting better. He hadn't got much information from the kind Bibarel and could only hope it meant she was getting well. Silver fell asleep, hoping there had been an additional reason for Eve wanting him next to her besides warmth.

(0)

Silver opened his eyes to see that it was still night. He wondered why he had woken until he heard a soft sound. He thought Eve was moving around for a second, before realizing that Eve's body was still against his side. Her even breathing proved that she was still asleep.

Silver perked his ears, listening again. He paused as he heard another of the soft sounds, confirming he hadn't imagined it. Confused, Silver quietly sniffed the air and tensed as he smelt something different in the air. He couldn't identify it, but he knew that it was something living; someone else was in the den.

Though alarm shot through Silver immediately, he froze, unsure of what to do at first. He heard another of the soft sounds and realized that the sound was closer; or maybe it was just his panicking nerves. Needing some kind of action at the moment, Silver shook his head slightly to break from the tight grip of fear that had grabbed him. This moment was a time to act, not freeze up. He needed to start thinking straight.

Moving slowly, Silver eased into a crouching position, making sure not to disturb Eve next to him. He heard another of the soft sounds and deduced them to be slow pawsteps. His ears pricked at an added noise; this one the sound of sniffing, as though it was searching for something.

Realizing Eve was closer to the entrance, Silver stepped over her, putting himself between the new intruder and the Eevee. However, as he maneuvered into the new position, his pawsteps landed harder than expected, and a low growl instantly vibrated from the area where Silver had located the intruder. The growl sent shivers down his spine as he imagined the opponent, no light to stop his imagination from adding to its actual figure.

Suddenly, Silver was taken off his feet as something rammed into his side. The blow carried him and his assailant over Eve, and Silver offhandedly hoped that it hadn't noticed her. They fell roughly to the ground again, and Silver immediately began to struggle. However, he was quickly pinned before he could retaliate, keeping his paws still.

Silver swallowed nervously as he felt hot breath against his neck. The enemy was probably going for a quick killing bite. Thinking quickly, Silver suddenly remembered his tail, the one thing that wasn't pinned. Concentrating his power in the appendage, the bushy tail started to glow white slightly. The slight light from it reflected off the burrows walls slight, showing Silver exactly what the intruder was.

The Pokemon was slightly larger than his size, though small enough to have gotten through the tunnel with little difficulty. Its skin was covered in short, black fur, with a short stubby tail. The fur left off of the muzzle, showing its angry red skin around the mouth and contrasting the many menacing teeth in its maw. With the two ears matching the shape of its tail, Silver recognized it as a Houndour.

The Houndour was leaning over him, ready to bite. It froze as the little light illuminated the small den. It looked back for the source of the light, only to see Silver's tail arching up as he attacked. Silver whacked the Pokemon as hard as he could from his position, though it was weaker with no leverage under his feet. However, the attack was enough to knock the Houndour off of him and throw him a little away.

Silver quickly got up out of the weak position, his belly quickly being hidden from attack. Glancing over, Silver saw that Eve's outline was starting to stir from the commotion, though he couldn't see very clearly in the dark.

Looking back over at the assailant, he saw that the Houndour had taken his momentary lapse in attention to its advantage and was now charging at him. Ramming into Silver's side, the dog winced slightly, but continued pushing into Silver until it rammed him against the wall.

After pressing against the wall for another half second, it backed up and let Silver fall to the ground. Silver's legs almost gave out as they found earth underneath them again, but he stayed steady and glared at the spot he thought the Houndour was. He started to gather energy in his back legs to tackle it, but flinched as he felt teeth sink into his left ear.

Crying out in pain, Silver pulled back from the sudden pain, tearing his ear out of his opponent's fangs. Immediately, he felt a thick liquid start to seep out of the wound he had been given. Silver instinctively wanted to check on it, but reminded himself that he was in a battle.

Before Silver could recover enough to attack, though, the Houndour rammed heavily into him again, throwing him onto his back. Once again, he felt himself pinned down, this time with his tail trapped underneath his body, making him cry out as his tail was painfully squeezing and bending of the muscles and bone down there.

Hot breath once again hit Silver's face as the Houndour's mouth got closer. Not knowing what else to do, Silver desperately tried to thrash out of his captor's hold, but it had pinned him too well. Knowing that neither of them could see anyway in the dark, Silver still bared his fangs at where he guessed the Houndour's face to be, daring it to try anything in his false bravado. His last chance would be to let it bite and hope that it confused the location of his neck with all his mane fur.

Crouching low, Eve tried to take in what was going on. Somehow, Silver was fighting against some other Pokemon. He needed her help, but she still hadn't adjusted to the dim lighting out the den. Finally, Eve could tell Silver was being pinned from his movements. Taking action, she leapt at the Pokemon above him. Without being able to see, her attack didn't hit fully, but it still knocked the creature off balance some, making it give a yelp.

Silver immediately took advantage and threw the Houndour off of him. Eve paused to check on him and was worried when she smelt blood. She could hear Silver panting hard as he tried to catch his breath.

Suddenly, the den was filled with light, forcing Eve to half close her eyes from the sudden brightness. The Pokemon had formed a small ball of fire at its mouth, the light revealing that it was a Houndour. It immediately shot the fireball toward Silver, who was easily able to dodge the fully illuminated attack.

Eve gasped as the attack continued on and hit the food pile, immediately catching the many berries on fire. The new, more spread out fire lit the den even more as the battle continued. Eve wanted to attend to the fire and save their food supply, but knew the Houndour wasn't about to give them the chance.

Suddenly, the Houndour and Silver leapt at each other, meeting head on with their attacks. However, Silver couldn't match the Houndour's strength and was thrown back against the wall. The Houndour continued and hit Silver a second time as he tried to get up. Silver stayed down after the second blow, not moving as the Houndour approached with a large grin appearing.

Breaking out the trance that had taken hold of her, Eve launched herself at the assailant and battered him in the side. Unprepared, the Houndour was thrown away and fell to the ground. As it tried to get up, Eve returned its favor and rammed it again, speeding up with Quick Attack. The Houndour was thrown once again beside the small tunnel that served as an entrance, falling into a crumpled heap as it landed.

Panting slightly, Eve began to charge her power greatly. While her trainer didn't battle, he had taught her a move to protect herself from any attackers. He had told her Eevee didn't normally learn it, but he had found a way for her to do just as much damage as the move he called Giga Impact.

With her power gathered, Eve charged at the downed Houndour, sending it flying up the tunnel. It was howling in pain as it flew through the air and fell outside. Eve stopped as her muscles restricted from the heavy and sudden use. Panting hard, Eve waited for her muscles to unlock.

Eve glanced over as Silver came over to her, grimacing slightly from the pain. "Are you okay?" Silver asked, worry evident in his voice.

Her muscles starting to recover, Eve nodded slightly. "Yeah, my muscles just lock up for a little after that attack," she explained.

Silver suddenly froze for a second, before turning around and struggling over to the blazing pile that was once their provisions. Though Eve was worried about Silver's condition, she hurried over and quickly helped him start to throw dirt onto the pile, water not being accessible at the moment. Her movements much quicker than his, it still took a moment before the flame was out, the light disappearing with it.

As Silver began to go through the remains of the food pile, all Eve could worry about was him. He was obviously still in pain, and there was blood somewhere on him. Coming over to him, she saw he had pulled out a few berries, though not many.

Seeing an Oran berry among the meager collection, Eve moved it in front of Silver. "Here, eat this Oran berry; it should heal some of your wounds," Eve murmured, though forcibly.

As Silver leaned down to eat it without a comment, Eve checked him over in the dim light, finding that the blood was a wound on his ear. Eve silently began to lick it, cleaning the wound with long strokes of her tongue. After cleaning off the blood and few loose hairs, Eve was saddened to see a small nick in his ear that wouldn't heal.

Sighed, Eve said, "Your ear is going to have a nick in it from now on."

Silver sighed as he looked at the tiny amount of berries in front of him, despair almost setting in. Winter was coming on hard now, while food would soon be going bad from frost. With so little food, they had much bigger problems than his looks; they needed something to eat.