Finally! New chapter! Worked really hard on this one! ^_^
whakamole = thank you I'm honored! I only hope I can continue to keep your attention!
FANDOM FANFIC REQUEST OF THE CHAPTER: Doctor Who
To say I was proficient at tracking scents would be a gross overstatement, I quickly realized. Just because I could pick up a scent, didn't mean I could follow it.
After following the Sandshrew scent for five minutes, I found myself at an apple tree. That was when I realized that at least part of the fruity smell coming from the abandoned burrow must have been from a fruit larder. I also realized I was hungry, and Gold was too, judging from the way he looked up at the apples. I paced around the base of the tree looking for any fallen apples but only found one, too rotten to be edible. Even after stretching myself up against the tree trunk and lengthening myself so I was nearly Gold's height, I was still far too short. The lowest tree branch was at least six feet above my head. Even if I stood on Gold's head, I wouldn't have a hope of getting up, let alone getting down. Giving up, we back tracked about fifty feet so I could find the scent again and we were on our way.
Half an hour later, I raised my head and broke my concentration when a Ratatta ran past. I had to sift through forest-y scents to find it again. But it was hard. This is what I could smell: moisture (dew still on the stems of grass though it was 1 PM), something sour (probably some pee), a pungent odor (must have come from a plant or Pokemon), something mulchy (dirt), an dry earthy scent (Gold) and finally, the slightly sweet, earthiness.
By the time I had relocated the scent, I realized that several minutes had lapsed and hurried on to follow it.
An hour later, at 2 PM, I wasn't paying attention and circled around and nearly started following Gold's scent.
Said Sandshrew gave me a quizzical look, noticing my dumb mistake. "Maybe we should take a break for a little while. We don't know how far away they are, we could still have hours to go."
I was surprised at his words but agreed readily, sifting through the grass with my nose in attempt to find something to eat. I was really missing lunch right about now. Gold's stomach growled at that moment.
Gold looked displeased. "I've been getting soft getting meals at the same time, I guess. A month back, I would've been able ta skip a meal or two without so much trouble."
"What do Sandshrew eat?" I asked, still pawing at bushing and grass for something edible.
"Nuts, vegetables, some types a roots, berries, fruit, a couple types of bark in a pinch, and different plants." Gold drawled, "How about Eevee?"
"I was never wild but I have a strong feeling-instinct- that it's safe for me to eat, well, berries, foods like beans and fruit, but also a couple types of vegetables and…well, meat."
Gold didn't seem very daunted by that. "Yeah, I figured you were a carnivore. I've only encountered a couple of 'em in the wild, but they are alike in some ways, I guess. Sharp teeth an' stuff."
The conversation dissipated while we both rested until the sun slightly dimmed.
4 PM (20 hours remaining): 2 miles away from the city
"Let's get moving." Gold said, rolling backwards and uncurling himself so he was standing up.
I picked up the scent quickly and we set off again at a brisk pace, picking our way through the thinning forest.
7 PM (17 hours remaining): 8 miles away from the city
I stopped. The trail was getting stronger and stronger. So there was an issue I wanted resolved right now. I turned to Gold.
"I'm hungry. Let's find food."
Gold seemed to like that idea and started off near an interesting plant. I stood, watching curiously to see what he would do. At the roots of an old tree, I started pulling up dirt in short awkward movements, as his claws were slightly too small to hold any substantial amount of dirt. He started collecting a pile of acorns and then started to strip off lengths of bark. He turned around with his collection and noticed me.
"That doesn't look too appetizing." I commented, giving it a curious sniff.
"Yeah well, it doesn't taste great, but I could go for the calories," he said chewing a strip of sticky-looking bark. "Go find your own food. I don't care what it is."
It took me a moment to understand what he was insinuating, so I nodded, and wandered away, looking for anything edible.
Strange, small berries clustered on trees looked delicious but their scent screamed 'dangerous' and I steered clear though hunger was gnawing at my stomach. I overturned leaves and rocks in effort to find something I might be able to stomach.
Eventually, I did find some strange large nuts with a tough outer shell. Quickly, I gathered up four and pulled a large leaf off a low-growing plant to tuck them in. Feeling vaguely accomplished, I carried my find gingerly back to where Gold was.
"So what did I find?" I asked setting my bundle down next to Gold, who had just finished one strip of bark. Evidently, I was hard to chew.
Gold picked up a nut to examine it. "Chestnut. You open it and eat what's inside. Can ya even eat these?"
I shrugged. "Something is telling me it isn't something an Eevee would normally eat, but I do know that its a food I can eat if I'm in a pinch."
I pushed two over to Gold, who accepted and gnawed on the outer shell until it cracked. Upon pulling it apart, I saw a brown nut and pulled it out of its casing.
It was pretty bad tasting and woody. But I felt my stomach's low whines subside after I finished it. I pondered giving my other chestnut to Gold as well, he seemed to be enjoying them after all, but I doubted I could keep going on an empty stomach so I reluctantly ate the second one as well.
Ten minutes later, we were walking again, my stomach slightly uncomfortable from the food that ideally shouldn't have been eaten but I was almost too excited by the ever-strengthening scent to pay much attention to it.
"Gold, I think we're here."
Gold and I had hardly taken five more pawsteps before my ears picked up rustling and squeaks. I opened my mouth to warn Gold but he had picked up the noise as well and had already started running towards it.
The scene that was unfolding in front of us was something I wasn't expecting. A flock of three Pidgey and a Pidgeotto were all circling an large hole in the ground much like that of the abandoned Sandshrew burrow we had recently come across. One, of the Pidgey, who had its head stuck in the hole, backed out, dragging a small Sandshrew with it. Then I noticed that there were two other Sandshrew scurrying around on the bare plain, using panicky and feeble sprints to avoid the swooping Pokemon's claws.
For a moment, the blood running through my veins felt sluggish. These were young Sandshrew. Marginally younger than me but about my size. My instincts shouted that this wasn't a battle, this was a hunt. A Pokemon as small as myself would be their easiest prey, even if I was better equipped to fight back, I was lacking in the weight department as well as the armor one.
Gold charging at the four avians knocked me out of my revelation though. I couldn't just leave him to fend for himself against these Pokemon, so taking a deep breath, I charged, mindful of any greedy talons looking for a nice, furry meal.
Unfortunately, right as I was running toward one of the three young Sandshrew, the Pidgeotto swooped by and scooped it up in his talons. My breath hitched in horror but before I knew what I was doing I changed direction and leaped into the air, just grabbing onto the Pokemon who was slow to ascend with its burden. The Pidgeotto vocally protested at the additional weight and pumped its wings more powerfully to support the additional weight. To my terror, the brown bird started gaining altitude. My forelegs were in a death grip the Pidgeotto's skinny legs while my back paws were on the Sandshrew's back. The yellow Pokemon squirmed and I found myself selfishly hoping it wouldn't get out just yet because only our combined weight was keeping us close to the ground.
Just great, I thought sourly as we reached five feet off the ground. I found myself morbidly deciding that I could probably survive a fall of anything less than fifteen feet. Not that it would be ideal.
A curious Pidgey coming a little too close to comfort brought my attention to the problem at hand again. Gripping tightly around Pidgeotto's leg, I buried my teeth deep directly behind its wing. Immediately, there was a tension, like a rope being pulled, between my jaw's grip. It tugged desperately as Pidgeotto squawked, but I held the muscle in place. The wing closest to me lost all power and we veered off, tumbling into the dirt, fifteen feet from where we had started.
The disoriented Sandshrew tore out of the Pidgeotto's loosened grip in a flash, scurrying over to the others. A Pidgey dove past me in effort to grab it, but as it flew by me, my jaws found their way around its neck and I used our combined weight and momentum to slam its head into the ground. It gave a out a cut off screech and wriggled feebly in my hold. Despite the circumstances, I felt bad for doing it but heck if it didn't look great.
Gold was battling the Pidgeotto now, who had apparently gotten its bearings back, one Pidgey lay sprawled unconscious by the side, one in my mouth and the last was heading straight towards me. Crap. I flinched, unable to react in time and the Pidgey and I collided.
…Or rather the Pidgey collided with the other Pidgey. The offending bird had rammed straight into the one in my mouth, causing them both damage. Deciding to take advantage of such a strange circumstance, I sprung onto the Pidgey and delivered a heavy tackle, effectively knocking it out.
Relieved, I took a step back to catch my breath, remembering several times before I could in no way, handle three enemies. I looked at Gold just in time to see him deliver a fast Rollout to the Pidgeotto, causing it to lay limp on the ground.
Finally, after several minutes and several awakening birds, taking to the air in panic, we were able to calm the young Ground-types.
At closer inspection, I noticed several differences between Gold and these young Sandshrew.
Gold's claws were proportionally much smaller but his limbs were slightly longer, as well as his body. I figured that Gold was probably more mobile than most Sandshrew because of it. And another thing, though several times, I had thought of Gold's eyes as coal black, they had a reflective baby blue to them, a strange non-sequtir of his personality. I had always thought it was a trait Sandshrew shared however the other Sandshrew's eyes where considerably darker. Almost entirely black. None of these were glaring differences however, in fact, if I hadn't been so familiar with Gold's appearance, I would have been hard-pressed to spot them.
Gold, as usual, didn't waste time with small talk. "Where are the other Sandshrew? The Sandslash?" I assumed Sandslash was an evolution. Huh. Didn't know Gold could evolve. When a moment passed without a response, he asked again, agitated, "Where's Markel? And Rune? Lucan?"
"They aren't here! They're out foraging! We've had problems with other Pokemon taking nearby resources so they gotta go farther and farther away!" One said under the pressure of Gold's piercing gaze. "Momma said they'd be home by Starshine!"
I turned to Gold, and asked softly, "Starshine?"
"About 8 PM, human time. When the stars brighten. They'll be back soon."
"Are we gonna wait for them? So you can battle?" I found myself reluctant for anymore fighting. I was hungry and tired but I didn't want him to miss his opportunity for closure.
"No," he spoke softly, "I've…I'm alright now." He looked up at the dim splatter of constellations beginning to appear with a soft smile on his face. I had never seen it before. His contentment was contagious.
I'll make him smile like that more often.
Gold looked back at the three Sandshrew. "Go back into your burrow and when the patrol gets back tell them about the Pidgey and to never leave the burrow unprotected like that but don't mention me."
And we walked away.
Alright, I want some feedback, feel free to answer all of these, but of course, you don't have to.
1. What do I most need to improve on?
2. Where did this fight scene rate in comparison to others?
3. How do you feel about Pokemon food chains?
4. General thoughts?