Ruby: Ahem. *Stands in the center of the screen, smiling sweetly* Greetings! Shadow, Thunder, and Shard can't join you at the moment. They're a bit... heh, well, you don't want to know.
Lobo: *Pokes head in * Uh, Ruby?
Ruby: *Snarls* Don't interrupt! At least be courteous to our... *Motions to you* ...guests.
Lobo: *Blinks dully* Oh. Hi, unfortunate readers! Unfortunate because you're stuck listening to us...
Ruby: *Snarl deepens* Get to the point.
Lobo: I was just wondering if I could eat Shard when you're done with this thing. She seems pretty sweet. *Grins wickedly*
Ruby: *Frowns* If anyone's going to kill her, it's me. And she's not worthy to be your prey! That pathetic runt!
Lobo: Ugh, fine. I won't as long as you catch me a raticate later or something... *Groans* Guess I'll return to guarding them. *Stalks away*
Ruby: Good! *Returns full attention to her audience* Apologizes for that interruption. Where was I? ...Oh, yes. I'm hijacking this broadcast, or whatever in Arceus' name this is called.
Lobo: *Yells from off-screen* An author's note!
Ruby: *Hisses* Return to your post!
Lobo: Fiiine...
Ruby: Anyways. *Peels lips back, exposing her blood-rotting fangs* From this moment further, your host won't be the mutated scum you know as the author. Instead, you receive the awfully delighting opportunity to hear my thoughts on this story. *Sits in a polite manner, tail lashing back and forth sharply* Oh, but first, there are a couple things I need to address. *Pulls out flashcards* First of all, today is the birthday of a close friend of Shadow's! Don't think I care? I do, honestly! My gift to the birthday girl is exceptional torture. *Savagely grins* Happy birthday, friend of Shadow's.
Me: AHHH! THIS ISN'T MY BED!
Ruby: Second, anyone who comments about my bad fur day I will personally track down and gorge out their hearts! And... hmm... *Tosses some flashcards over her shoulder, uninterested at the writing on them*
Lobo: Quiet down, pest! Or I'll make you!
Me: AAAHHH! MONSTER!
Ruby: Er... yes! This card is mediocre. So, thirdly, are any of you uncomfortable? Would you like a snack? I have a cookie... Nah, I'm kidding. I don't give two hairballs about how any of you are feeling. Now! *Throws the rest of the flashcards somewhere* Time for my thoughts...
Me: *A whacking sound is heard from off-screen*
Lobo: OW!
Ruby: *Sighs roughly* It seems I can't ignore this situation any longer. It seems that the author scum is awake, and she wields her self-defense spatula. I thought I ordered Lobo to take that away from her... *Hisses to self* Farewell for now, readers. Remember, threatening and murdering is the only way to get what you want in life.
Me: LIAR!
Ruby: SILENCE! *Insert words that aren't child-friendly here* Ugh, she's annoying. Enjoy you pathetic chapter. If I could, I would severely alter this chapter up to my liking, but to my dismay, Shadow has antivirus installed on her laptop...
Me: EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL E-!
Ruby: ...and I could only manage to adjust the chapter name. Do you also like it? I believe it is pretty clever - you'll find out why when you finish reading - and it's certainly better than the blunt title Shadow had before. Farewell for now!
Me: EVIL! *Smack smack*
Lobo: OW! STOP THAT!
Petal's POV
I gazed out of my den with leaden eyes, wearily witnessing the sunlight dim outside as shadows connected between the trees. I dragged an apricot paw onto my muzzle and allowed it to rest there, weakly shaking my head as my wilted tail slowly curved to touch my flank. The day had uneventfully, almost dreadfully, crawled by for me, but it was final. The Spring Festival ended, and I had missed it all. I softly growled and clawed at my disordered, uncomfortable grass bed at this realization; it was Sugarcane's first ever Spring Festival, and I had been confined in my den the entire time due to my sickness. What a terrible day...
If I managed to gather enough strength to walk that morning, I would've seized the opportunity to waltz out into the lively forest, insisting that I felt alive and healthy despite my actual condition. Unfortunately, I could hardly move my paws around and struggled to even crack open an eye. If not for Lily visiting me before the first strips of dawn highlighted the treetops, I probably would have fallen into a much worse state at the time. My minccino friend forcefully fed me berries, changed the contents of my bed with fresher grass, and kept her vigilant eyes on my scrawny frame until the canopy poured weak rays of sunlight upon the spring grass. I felt so pathetic at the time. Then, she reluctantly departed to Serperior's Spa for some "outrageous discount," abandoning me in the lonely cave.
I continued writhing around along my haphazard bed of grass. A nigh unbearable fever had me craving for the refreshing sense of rain, my burning throat throbbed whenever I attempted to eat, and other symptoms of this horrible cold devastated my body. Despite my silent urging for this suffering to vanish, it didn't cease, but the intensity of my symptoms did lighten up as time fluttered by. Once cooling darkness descended on Sugarcane, I could finally stand and walk around, albeit a little shakily.
My eyes stuck to the aspens and birches outside; part of me yearned to run around thoughtlessly in the early night's air, but a more reasonable side thought the temptation for leaving wasn't strong enough to bring me away from my bed's comfort. Since I submitted to the lazy impulse, I numbly continued to rest, doing nothing more than thinking and staring.
A sigh slipped up my hoarse throat after a while. The only Pokémon I'd seen that day were Lily, strangers walking around outside, and Skylar; the pidgeotto thankfully dropped off a few berries at one point. I'd been hoping that Shard would visit, too, but according to the meek glaceon, she would be on her first date with that rotten Thunder and most likely wouldn't check up on me. Was it so much for them to stop by, though? Even to just ask how I was doing? I would've appreciated a bowl of water in the least; I had nothing to drink all day besides warm, sticky berry juice. My parched and flaring throat would've felt so much better if she did, and even a piece of ice would've done justice.
Stupid, stupid Thunder, I thought angrily, clenching my paws. Whenever I fell sick in the past, Shard refused to leave my side unless to fetch something such as fruit or water and I always did the same to her. Unfortunately, ever since that jolteon came along, Shard never hung out as much. Grating my teeth, I recalled the time when Shard had to choose to spend the day with either me or Thunder, and she didn't pick her faithful grass-type pal. She promised that we would hang out later when that happened, but she carelessly broke the promise because the two became a couple that night. I'd rarely seen Shard since then. Stupid, stupid Thunder.
It definitely aggravated me that we didn't hang out much because of the jolteon, but I wasn't mad at Shard personally. Thunder kindled my hatred and anger. Selfish, angered thoughts stormed through my mind - he's stolen Shard; he's stolen one of my best friends - but the electric-type taking away my ice-type friend wasn't the source of my rage, either. Simply, I knew that at any time, he could easily hurt her. He already had, actually: when he dated Ruby. I distinctly recalled Shard limping into my den one day, tear streaks visible on her cheeks with her usually beautiful, cheerful eyes being raw with melancholy. He could harm Shard again with just mere words and mindless actions. I vexed him for that.
Males couldn't be trusted, I knew. The ones I'd known in my life always went from a friendly Pokémon to a monstrous, vile being. A perfect example would've been Lobo: the luxio who used to be Shard's friend. Learning that he turned on her and made his clan kill Shard's parents had added to my suspicions that males weren't trustworthy. However, that tragedy just contributed to my belief; it wasn't what ultimately led me to discover that guys weren't virtuous. I realized the truth on that horrible, dreaded night... No, I thought dismissively, don't think about it. This day is bad enough as it is. Since it already came to mind, unfortunately, it was a struggle to push the memories away.
An idea popped up, providing me a way to easily shrug off the horrible memories. "I should... I should take a walk," I lightly mumbled. My voice croaked and rasped, and I roughly coughed after speaking. The air billowing into the den was cold and tempting, and I wanted nothing more than to walk outside. With tingling, itchy paws and a queasy stomach, I spiritedly lumbered onto my maple brown paws and, after snatching a quick breather, tottered out of my musty cave.
Stepping onto cold grass and into biting, rampant winds seemed slightly foreign. I missed the cooling touch of nature so much. My apricot fur started to lose the extra heat it stored from my illness already, but I remained sickly hot as I felt something like an inferno rage along in my stomach. Feeling uncomfortable from this hot-cold sensation, I deeply inhaled the freezing air and enjoyed it sliding down my swollen throat. Once I appreciated yet another calming breather, I chose a random direction and ungainly padded off.
With my slightly numbed legs and weak muscles, I walked pretty slow and tripped more than what I liked, but I still had the pleasure to enjoy the invigorating air and nature at its finest. Over the previous couple of days, I forgot the serenity of having grass under my paws and gusts of wind whipping through a hot pelt. It'd been a while since there such a windy night came since the weather stayed perfect for so long, but maybe it only felt that way because of my weakened state? Nonetheless, it was the best part of the day for me, because I wasn't laying deathly sick on a disordered bed of grass.
My thoughts from earlier slowly dawdled back to me: Shard, Thunder, and the heartbreaking sensation of betrayal. I groaned from this and picked up the pace, but I stumbled all the more often. Stupid, stupid Thunder... stealing Shard away and being such a typical guy and gah! I kicked at the nearest rock, venting my frustrations. If I don't separate those two, Shard will be hurt again like with Lobo. She'll be hurt like I was and I can't have that happen! I can't... she can't... I didn't want to start worrying about Shard again that night; I needed to relax. I pacified myself with a profound inhale and exhale, and then I continued loping through the windy, energizing night.
I walked as much as I could with racing thoughts and constant stumbling until I couldn't any longer. My legs trembled, my headache grew worse with each paw step, and my shoulders and tail felt stuffed with rocks. After heavily collapsing in the grass, I dragged myself towards the closest tree and shoved my aching back against its dark brown trunk, taking a much needed rest. The wind quickly soothed my uncomfortable condition enough so that I could've drifted into a dreamless sleep right then and there, but I knew better than to do so in the dangerous area. Ghost- and dark-types plagued the forest at night, and I certainly didn't want to drift asleep in such an unsafe atmosphere.
Next to a tree root that shallowly jutted out of the ground sat a patch of leaves. I stared stagnantly at it, blinking drowsily as my mind wandered. It wasn't velvetleaf mallow, the common leaves used for dressing wounds, but smooth, dark green leaves attached to a thin vine coiling along the base of the tree. That's... a five-leaved ivy... if I'm not mistaking. I gazed groggily at it for a moment longer before my eyelids peeled back. Arceus! I think a little about that night earlier and I come by this?! These aren't even that common here! It's like fate wants me to recollect about that horrible event. A shudder crept up from beneath my pelt and I groaned, tossing my forelegs over my eyes as I slammed my muzzle against the small, delicate patch of five-leaved ivy. I don't want to think about it. I don't, I don't, I don't.
But it had been so long. There were good moments along with the bad, and I had to admit that I loved reminiscing about those good events. I found myself struggling to push the memories away yet again, but whether I liked it or not, I thought about a certain Pokémon I saw during that bloodcurdling night. Not necessarily that tragic night's events, - no way I could bring myself to think about it, or at least not yet - but just a nice and old friend. I met him when I was still an eevee and before Shard's parents had perished: when my name wasn't Petal.
"Moon! Moooon!" My eyes fluttered open and I glimpsed up, meeting a pair of cheerful, animated eyes. I failed to stifle a yawn as the eevee eagerly dragged me to my paws. "C'mon, Moon. It's such a nice day!" She frantically waved her tiny, fuzzy paws at the sky as I tiredly smiled. "Are you just gonna sleep it away? Not on my watch!" With those violet-hued eyes brimming with nothing but joy, she tugged at my paw lightly with her teeth and led me away from my den. After quickly calling back to Mom and Dad that I headed out to play, I shook my paw out of Shard's mouth and lazily ran alongside her.
We stopped darting along when we reached a small field not too far away from home. It was a sacred spot to Shard and I because we always went there to play; no one else knew about the isolated area, too. We took a moment to do nothing but pant, saliva and sweat lining our pink tongues, and Shard was first to recover from exhaustion. She bounced a good distance away from me and crouched, her cream-tipped tail wagging playfully as she splayed her paws wide apart. I glanced sideways at the energetic cub.
"Let's play hide-and-seek," she pleaded. "You hide! I seek!" Shard loved being the seeker while I enjoyed the thrill of a hider, so I happily agreed with a bobbing nod. "Yay! Okay, okay, you get thirty heartbeats to hide anywhere nearby - like always." She promptly swerved around to face away from me, tossed a paw over each eye, and began counting. "One, two, three, four, uh, f-five...?" I didn't waste my time. Before she reached seven, I was already out of the field and in the underbrush, nimbly searching for the perfect hiding spot.
My paws swiftly carried me past alders and birches, but I made sure not to run straight away from our secluded field. I circled the playtime spot from a distance, following the rule of staying nearby, and didn't find an adequate place to hide until I heard the playful eevee holler, "Thirty!" A dip in the ground greeted my sight, resting beneath a gnarled tree root belonging to an oak. Covering the tree root and around it were leaves - more specifically five-leaved ivy - along with pine green moss and various twigs that would help me hide. The tall, dusty tree was scary with the gray-brown bark and jagged branches curving at all sorts of angles, but the hiding spot was one of a kind and I wouldn't pass it by.
To throw Shard off track, I dashed over to a birch tree standing close by, ran several circles around it, and left claw marks in its white bark to leave a strong scent. When satisfied, I silently stalked back to the tree root and crawled into the dip beneath it, curling up tightly within the snug space and concentrating on keeping my breathing mellow. She'll never find me, I smugly thought. This place is perfect.
Not much time passed until Shard toddled into the area. I moved my head so I could slightly peer out of my hiding spot, but I didn't move enough to make my head visible to the zestful eevee. Shard gingerly sniffed the ground, hoping to pick up a trace of my scent. For a split heartbeat, she raised her head and looked in my direction with pricked ears, but she sniffed the air again and her head whirled to face the nearby birch. She dropped into a stealth position. Her ears pressed stiffly against her head and that fluffy tail hovered right over the blades of grass.
She crawled forward with such a level of concentrated silence, and when she stood close enough to the birch, she lunged past it. She twirled on a paw and faced it, but her eyes rounded when she saw I wasn't behind the tall tree. "Doh..." Her shoulders sagged and tail slumped; she dejectedly padded away and vanished within a group of shrubs. I exhaled the breath I didn't mean to hold and sharply inhaled, relief washing through me as I giggled and curled up tighter. Brimming with joy, I awaited Shard to give up and announce me as winner. It was only a matter of time.
A comforting weariness took over my form after some time, threatening to overcome me with sleep. I fought against the temptation before eventually giving in; my eyes gently closed and breathing grew even and slow. When on the brink of deep slumber, the soft touch of a paw pad tapped my forehead. I gasped and tried leaping to my paws, but my back painfully smacked against the tree root and I fell back down, whimpering uncontrollably.
"D-dang it, Shard. How'd you find... me...?" My voice cracked on the last word. When I turned my gaze up, I didn't see purple eyes and brown fur. Maroon eyes bored into my hazel, and the Pokémon had a pelt matching the color of dull emeralds. I never saw this Pokémon before. "Ah!" Impulsively, I tried climbing onto my paws again, but my back just slammed against the tree root again and I was whimpering all the more.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The voice sounded masculine yet squeaky, and I didn't have to closely observe the Pokémon to discover it was a male cub. After I managed to stop wincing, I noticed his paw held out to me, and I gratefully took the offering and grabbed it. Once he helped me out, he questioned, "Did I scare you too bad?" The concern in his voice sounded sincere.
"Uh, I wasn't scared..." I looked away and shuffled my forepaws together: what I always did when lying. Silence settled, and when I finally acknowledged the situation at paw, newfound anger surged through me. "Hey, how'd you find me? This is the perfect spot for hiding!" I puffed out my chest and stood tall, proudly adding, "And I'm the best hider!"
"Pfft..." My ears pricked in alarm. "I highly doubt that." His snickering rattled my ears and I leered at the green-furred Pokémon. He blinked dumbly at my heated stare and then he shrugged, further fueling my rage. "You left errors all over the place," he calmly explained. He padded around me and moved to the other side of the tree root, gesturing at the dip in the ground. "When you were hiding, your fur showed a lot from this end, not to mention you forgot to cover your scent here." He glanced at the birch tree not too far away. "Because of the paw imprints circling that tree and those claw marks, it's very obvious that you made a decoy to draw others away, giving anyone searching for you clues to where you are." He stared pointedly at the small, dark green patches of five-leaved ivy by his paws. "Lastly, you stepped over a lot of moss and these leaves, leaving imprints that can easily be used to track you down." He sighed and shook his head. "See what I mean?"
My mouth hung open, but my shock at his knowledge quickly faded as thoughtless anger settled in. "You're such a know-it-all, huh? You're only a cub! I'd like to see you hide... You can't possibly know that much."
He shook his head again. "My father trains me all the time for these things. Battling, stealth, tracking, and constantly taught about various Pokémon species." I gave him an odd stare as his red eyes briskly scanned me. "Want proof that I'm intelligent? Fine. You're an eevee. You can evolve into eight different species because of your special genetics, allowing you to adapt to basically any biome out there. Your kind is rare to come by, but since Sugarcane is so far away from human civilizations, the eevee family is slightly common in this area."
Sometime during his speech, my anger had faded away. I slowly blinked, struggling to understand his words. "What the heck is a human?" I muttered after a while. He seemed surprised.
"Your parents haven't told you about humans yet?" I hesitated, but I shook my head and lowered my ears, thinking I needed to be ashamed. "Well, imagine a machop. Humans are like them, but bigger and wear strange material they call clothes. They also don't live in forests or mountains. Uh, most of them don't, anyways. I think some do."
"They sound... strange."
He quickly nodded. "They are. They also live in giant trees without leaves or branches called buildings, and they have these weird items called Poké Balls that control Pokémon. Talk about scary."
My hackles rose. "Control Pokémon?!" My voice came out shrill and layered with fright. My breathing quickened, and the green-furred Pokémon hurriedly placed his paws on my shoulders, gazing right into my eyes.
"Don't worry, don't worry. The nearest human civilization is at least a week's walk from here. We're safe." I didn't understand some of his words, but I got the gist. I calmed down and backed away from the Pokémon, and we stayed silent for a moment until a croaky voice hollered something in the distance. Since the Pokémon who yelled was so far away, I couldn't make out the words. I didn't recognize the voice in the least, but the green-furred Pokémon's pelt stood on end and his eyes lit up with concern: he sure did recognize the voice.
"Oh, sorry. I gotta go. My dad's calling for me." The cub was already braced to dash by the time I understood his words. My entire pelt bristled in surprise.
"Wait, don't go yet! I never found out your name." I barely managed to keep him from running off. He glanced at me with intimidating, stony eyes and didn't answer right away. "I... I'm Moon," I added timidly.
"...I'm Pine," he answered, and the green-furred, red-eyed Pokémon sprinted away. My eyes traced him until he was swallowed up in the vegetation and I kept my stare on where he vanished for a quick, silent moment until someone tackled my flank and sent us rolling.
"Haha! Found ya!" Shard exclaimed. She tightened her forelegs around me to pull me into an affectionate hug, and I blinked dumbly a couple times, trying to figure out what happened. "I knew I would find you! I didn't lose hope in the least!"
"Uh... g-good job, Shard..." I shoved Pine into the back of my thoughts and squirmed uncomfortably in Shard's hug. Then, once she released me, she eagerly took off to hiding and I dazedly began counting.
I rested for long enough. After clumsily returning to my apricot paws, I continued through the breezy, sinister area and ignored the feverish feeling of illness churning in my stomach. As I continued away from the brown-barked tree with the five-leaved ivy, I couldn't prevent some more information about my old friend from whirling through my thoughts.
Pine and I hadn't seen each other again until a couple days later. I was chasing a venomoth when I saw Pine, alone, and nervously ran over to him. Skylar and Shard couldn't play that day and I didn't know Star yet, so I gained an urge to hang out with the green-furred Pokémon. He agreed to my pleading - reluctantly because he didn't want to stop his private training - and we played silly games together until it was an hour before sunset. I remembered how he hesitantly revealed that his dad didn't want him to have friends; they would distract him from training, he said. That's the only thing his dad, a gruff nidorino, wanted him to do: train, train, and train some more. That poison-type wanted his one and only cub to grow up as one of the strongest Pokémon in all Sugarcane. Sadly, his mother didn't stand up for her cub, so Pine was completely subjected to becoming a battle-lethal Pokémon.
Pine said he wanted to see me again despite his father's rules: we would be secret friends. My new friend begged me not tell another soul about him so we could continue being buddies, and I promised. I also stayed true to my word; even Shard and my parents didn't know about Pine. Pine, Pine, Pine...
With a violent shake of the head, I pushed away the memories of my old friend and distracted myself with other thoughts. I didn't want to look back on the night that forged my hate for all males - excluding my dad, actually. I could never hate my dad. Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on my steps that pressed along the spring grass and flowers, thinking about the Spring Festival and berries and Shard: anything but Pine.
The wind seemed to grow colder as I walked on through the night. I had trekked through some very dense foliage since I embarked away from my den, but empty spaces between the trees started appearing more often. Either I was close to a popular landmark in Sugarcane such as Silver Falls, or I neared the edge of the forest. I sincerely doubted the latter because my den sat around the middle of Sugarcane; thus, I mentally prepared myself to run into a place like Cedar Square or Orchard Hillside.
Not much later, the trees vanished and Forest Grotto crossed my sight. The place was almost entirely vacant, 'almost' because a couple Pokémon still lingered around the area. All the shops were closed, so they were most likely just idly chatting and would depart for their homes soon. I probably should've headed back home; I was pretty far from it. But I didn't. I hated the feeling of burning up in that stuffy den and refused to return home just yet. I tiredly reeled past the plethora of shops and returned to slowly lumbering through heavily-packed vegetation. The cold breeze; soft grass; blossomed daisies; healthy violets. I never stopped enjoying nature and its gorgeous setting.
Sadly, Pine hadn't fully left my mind. Oak trees caught my interest, five-leaved ivy seemed common, and I spotted several birches, making the name Pine blare in my head. As the time went by, the trees and plants reminded more and more of the green-furred Pokémon. After all, places like Forest Grotto and Serperior's Spa didn't exist in Sugarcane so many years ago, so we bonded over nature. He was the one to show me the greatness of nature, really. He taught me the differences between many trees, all kinds of leaves, and the wonders of nature in all seasons - excluding winter. We weren't friends long enough.
One of my hind paws stepped on something fuzzy, startling me slightly. I sluggishly swayed backwards and faced the plant I stepped on: a patch of velvetleaf mallow. Even that sent some memories of my old pal flowing through my head. Pine, Pine, Pine... I sat down, picked out one of the large, velvet-textured leaves, and twirled it around in my paw. The first time I ever laid my eyes on those strange leaves was during a clove of seasons: autumn was ending, but it wasn't exactly winter yet. I remembered the event so clearly. The day started out crummy and uneventful, but the end of it turned out to be life changing for the better.
The air was crisp and trees were bare. A collage of leaves decorated the ground in crumbly browns, fiery reds, warming oranges, and brittle yellows. The sky wasn't exactly pleasant with the sun blotted out by puffy, light gray clouds. It didn't seem like a storm was coming, but the sun wouldn't shine too much on Sugarcane for at least a couple of days.
At the top of a short hill, dotted with magnolia trees and littered with leaves, stood Pine and I. Shard would've been by my side instead if she didn't decide to play at Ruby's for the day. My newly-made friend was teaching me about the wonders of climbing trees, and magnolias were perfect to try out on with their low and sturdy branches. Although neither of us had hands, Pine only said not to let it deter us. He climbed up a couple of the magnolia's branches with the nimbleness off a mankey, and I watched him quietly from the base of the tree, hesitating. "That doesn't look too safe..." I doubtfully mumbled. I looked up at my friend, seeing him beckoning with a heartwarming smile. Finally, I tensed my muscles and leapt, slinging my forelegs around the nearest bough.
Pine clambered down and helped me adjust to walking on the branches. It was incredibly tough at first, but his constant help and motivation kept me pushing forward. We both eventually made it to the midpoint of the magnolia's height, both of us laughing and messing around a little too much. He shouted that he'd race me to the top, and I too hastily leapt after him and didn't place my hind paws down firmly enough. I started falling and thrashed around before managing to grab the closest branch, but it was brittle and dead, making it briskly snap from the pressure and I toppled off.
I scrambled blindly for purchase until my forelegs hooked around a sturdy branch. I didn't pull myself up just yet, recovering from horrible shock and trying to control my wild breathing. When I numbly pulled myself onto the bough, which hung dangerously close to the leaf-coated ground, I inspected my disheveled fur and limbs for any wounds. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then I glanced at my left forepaw and gasped, tears quickly brimming. "P-Pine! I... I'm hurt!" Instantly, the scuffling sound of the quadrupedal shafting his way down the tree rustled into my ears. I shut my eyes so tightly it almost hurt; it was the only thing to keep tears from spilling out.
Holding up my left forepaw towards Pine, he clasped it in his paw and softly brushed the top of the mangled, brown fur. "It's not too bad, Moon," he calmly reassured. "It's nothing more than a cut."
"But it's bleeding!" I whimpered in complaint. "I've never gotten hurt this bad. Wh-what do I do?!"
"What we do," the gently corrected, "is wash the cut over with some water to rid of any infections, and we'll dress it with some velvetleaf mallow. Now let's get out of this tree and search for a lake, okay?" Biting my bottom lip, I quietly nodded and he helped me down the tree.
It didn't take long for us to find a little lake to dip my injured paw in. Pine told me to continue washing it while he searched for the velvetleaf to dress the cut with; I didn't understand what 'dressing' or 'velvetleaf mallow' was at the time, but I remained silent as he left. When he returned, I stared in awe at the peculiar leaves in his snout. "What is...?"
He dropped the strangely textured leaves and answered, "Velvetleaf mallow. Hold out your paw." When he noticed it was sopping wet, he dried it with one velvetleaf and tossed the damp plant at the lake, using the remaining pieces to wrap around my paw. My eyes squinted and brows furrowed as he tied small, precise knots with the delicate leaves only by using his muzzle. After a while, he tugged the leaves for the last time before backing away. "Does it feel better?"
I lightly moved the tended paw to pressure it against the ground. "It feels weird," I said, raising and lowering the leaf-covered appendage.
"It should since this is the first time you have something bandaged," he responded nonchalantly. Silence perched between us for a moment, Pine falling into a sort of deep thought. From experience, I knew he was deciding what to do next. I fidgeted nervously with my leaf-covered paw until his red eyes snapped open. "Let's head back to the magnolias." I squeaked in fright. "Not for tree climbing, mind you. Just to relax." I contemplated his words before nodding my agreement, and he guided us back to the small hill blanketed in colorful leaves.
We shoved are backs against the light brown trunk of a magnolia, snuggling up under a small mound of leaves. I held my injured paw close to my creamy mane and gazed past leafless branches, noticing streaks of faded pink streaming through spots of the gray sky. "I think it's getting close to sunset," I quietly murmured, glancing at Pine. He looked up from his forepaws and at the clouds, eyes narrowing as he considered the possibility.
"It is. If I don't get home from 'private training' after sunset, I will get in trouble with my father." That was what his dad thought Pine was doing when he really hanged out with me. Private training: when he trained on his own time. He still trained by himself, but not when I was around.
My ears lowered and shoulders slumped. "Do you... d-do you have to go now?" I meekly asked. His red eyes glimpsed over, his stony stare locking with my admittedly teary one. He remained frozen stiff for a moment, and then he shook his head. A tiny smile twitched onto my muzzle. He shrugged, displayed a half-smile, and chuckled, which was something he rarely did.
A comfortable silence, and then, "Moon, mind if I ask you something? I've been thinking about this for a while now." I gave the quadrupedal a curious and quizzical stare, wordlessly telling him to ask. "What are you planning to evolve into?"
My answer came out sharp and quick. "A umbreon."
Pine just stared, his eyes unreadable. "Oh really?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "So that's why you're practicing your hiding and stealth skills a bunch? In all honesty, I think a dark-type doesn't fit you too well." My back straightened and I glared at him, but he casually looked at the gray sky like he said nothing offensive. He hadn't actually, but I considered his words to be very rude. I never took brutal honesty that well.
"Excuse me? You can't tell me what to be!" He sighed. I puffed out my cheeks and steeled my glare.
"But your parents can?" My glare didn't waver. He sighed. "Your name is Moon. Your parents named you that, and it practically screams umbreon more than any other evolution. That's what your parents want you to be, right?" My hateful look weakened until I dropped it and looked down at my forepaws nervously, but I still didn't respond. His words were true. Just like Pine's dad expected him to train nonstop, my parents expected me to evolve into a dark-type. They wanted me to master hunting and stealth skills so I could protect myself easily, and being a umbreon naturally gave me those skills. I couldn't disappoint my parents. "In my opinion," Pine continued, "you have a too bright personality. I can imagine you as a vaporeon, or maybe a leafeon, but not a umbreon. What do you really want to be, Moon?"
I gnawed on my bottom lip. He spoke the absolute truth - I envied his observation skills and intelligence - but I didn't want to admit it. I felt tempted to answer with a loud "umbreon" and insist that I did want to evolve into the sneaky dark-type, but I didn't. I closed my eyes, cowering slightly, and whispered, "I dunno..." A knowing look twinkled in Pine's eyes as I confirmed his suspicions.
"You know what, Moon?" My eyes remained shut and muzzle didn't open. "I got a present for you." My ears and tail twitched, but I didn't glance at my friend just yet. His paw tapped my shoulder after a moment. "Open your eyes." I obeyed after a slight pause; in his paws was a flower, a sunflower to be specific. It appeared slightly trampled and had missing petals. "Happy birthday," he weakly joked with a snicker.
"Pine... you got that off the ground," I stated, pouting. "That's not a real present."
"Oh, but it is." He gingerly lifted one of my ears with a soft paw, settled the sunflower beneath it, and gingerly moved my ear back into its original position. "A gift from nature..." He stepped back, eying the spot where the flower rested. I tried glancing up at it, but I couldn't look up that far. "You look nice. Maybe you should wear flowers by your ears regularly."
"It feels weird."
He chuckled. "Everything is weird when you first try it. So you haven't worn flowers by your ears before? I thought girls did that all the time." He adjusted the sunflower a bit as I playfully nudged his shoulder, and then we locked gazes. Something warm and tingly stirred in my tummy - something I never felt before - but I shrugged it off by looking away. "Nature is all around us, Moon. You're always interested to hear about different kinds of plants all the time. Every time when you've seen a new tree, flower, or a strangely shaped leaf, you always ask me about it, and don't deny this. You love nature and the gifts it bestows us, but you don't embrace it, do you?" He picked up a golden leaf from the ground and placed it on my leaf-wrapped forepaw. "Happy birthday."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not so special when I see you pick it up."
"You're not listening, are you?" His voice turned strangely angry, making my hackles rise. "Nature is a gift no matter what the circumstances. Be grateful for the grass below your paws and leaves above your head. Love both the perfect days and the ones filled with stormy skies. Appreciate the days where you wish nothing more for glaring light to cease, and when it's so cold that all you want to feel that intense, summer sun." He moved the golden leaf into my injured paw and cupped his own paw over it, strongly boring his eyes into mine. "Don't take these gifts for granted. Trust me when I say that you'll miss forests, lakes, and clear views of the sky if you're taken away from it all. So... enjoy nature."
I shrugged his paw off of mine and looked away. "Pine..." I trailed off. Hesitantly, I scooped the leaf into both of my forepaws and raised it to my nose. I lightly sniffed it, picking up the strong whiff of late autumn and bits of the crisp air. I focused intensely on the frail item, noting every line, curve, and chipped edge as I softly rubbed a paw pad against its brittle and worn texture. "P-Pine... I... I want to be a... leafeon."
He cracked a smile. "Well, you know what?" I met his soft, red-eyed gaze. "That fits you just fine."
If not for Pine, I would've evolved into a umbreon and I'd still be called Moon. If I still allowed my parents to make decisions that I needed to do, - such as my evolution - I knew I'd be regretful. I was so glad that I took my own path instead of letting my parents lead me down another. A wrong path; a wrong life.
I dropped the velvetleaf from my apricot paws and staggered off through Sugarcane once more. Ever since that special moment with Pine, I loved flowers whether in prime condition or wilted, and cared for both the tiniest of saplings to the oldest trees. All leaves were special, and I enjoyed both clear skies and stormy ones. Even if Pine and I weren't friends anymore, I would always be somewhat grateful to him for showing me how spectacular nature could be.
As I slowly trotted farther from Forest Grotto and my den, I stared up through holes in the treetops to view the sky above. A beautiful half-moon had perched in the swirly darkness. Thin and wispy clouds blended in and spiraled almost unnoticeably across the coal black sky, and there were endless amounts of stars as beautiful decorations. A soft, whistling breeze whipped through my short pelt and grass licked at my paws, causing a smile to curve onto my lips. If I evolved into a umbreon, would I appreciate nature at night? I wondered. Probably, but not by much.
I briefly observed the area, trying to spot hints for what part of Sugarcane I was in. I knew Forest Grotto rested on the west side of the forest, so I was around there. Possibly near Serperior's Spa or Sugarsand Beach, I guessed. I've wandered quite a bit, and it'll take some time to return home... Maybe I should head back? Scanning my surroundings once again, I shook my head. Nah! I've been cooped up in my den all day. Might as well enjoy the fresh air and get a drink of water from somewhere. There aren't many lakes around the west side of the forest, though... eh, I'll figure out something. With those thoughts in mind, I stretched out my limbs and started trotting through the trees again, uncaring to the sickly heat churning in my stomach anymore.
My paws carried me forth; I admired the foliage around me, and further delved into my blissful mood. I didn't know why I felt so happy all of a sudden. Ever since thinking back about Pine and how he taught me to embrace nature, I couldn't stop thinking about the wind and flowers scattered across Sugarcane. If only Pine was at my side, we could've tried climbing magnolias or rolling down hills: act like cubs again. Act like nothing bad ever happened between us. Pretend that a certain event never occurred and tore us apart...
As fast as a bolt of lightning, my mood went from utterly blissful to downright morose. If only males weren't untrustworthy, I could still be friends with him.My joyful trot through the trees turned into a sulky trudge.Pine, Pine, Pine... you've influenced me to become a leafeon, but you turned on me! Betrayed me... I shouldn't think of you as a friend again. Not even an old friend, no matter how much you've helped me, I just... can't... because of... no! Don't think about it! Don't!
It already went from trotting to trudging, and then to full-on dashing. My legs trembled unstably and throat burned again - after all, I was still sick - but the returning sensations of my terrible cold didn't convince me to slow down. I ran and ran, doing nothing but running until my legs gave out and I collapsed to the grassy floor. I broke out into a dash so I wouldn't think about the night, mentally screaming to hold back the memories, but I couldn't hold them off forever. If someone endured a tragic event at such a young age, it forever scarred your mind, and... sometimes... you can't... help... but remember...
Weeks passed since Pine taught me how rewarding nature could be. Since then, whenever we hung out, we rested periodically from our games to climb magnolia trees - Pine never pushed me to climb faster than my own pace anymore - or gaze at the clouds. The air was chilly, and all leaves on the ground rapidly turned a gloomy brown. Pine promised he would show me some of the unknown beauty of nature in the wintertime: I could hardly wait.
One day, the sky boomed with a depressing, dark gray color. Humidity weighed thickly in the air, and the scent of rain wafted all around. With frigid wind whirling into the den, I snuggled up against the warm, slippery flank of my dad, but I felt restless. Starlight weaved through the daunting sky while a barely visible, thin crescent palely beamed between a slit within the rumbling cumulonimbus clouds. My thoughts swarmed as my tired eyes weakly viewed the nightly scenery. I was weary, but so, so restless.
Pine and I hadn't hanged out ever since Shard started living with my family, which started about a week prior. That poor eevee had been unbelievably distraught by her parents' murders, and I stood by her side since then to lift the Pokémon's wilted spirits and to wipe away an onslaught of tears. I never imagined that Shard could've gone from befriending the luxray clan to being an enemy in their eyes. She started to constantly look so sad; heartbroken; scarred. My heart panged in sympathy for her.
The woeful eevee slept quietly behind me, her paws tightly clenched around my tail, as if afraid of me leaving. She had concerns in the right place, truthfully enough: I planned on sneaking out. Despite it being such an unexpected action to my family, I wanted to spend time with Pine. A week passed without us climbing a magnolia or playing hind-and-seek, after all. I really wanted to see him again and explain what had been happening, and maybe we could've played for a while if time permitted.
Taking a deep breath, I managed to collect my courage long enough to move away from my father's blue flank and, with a touch of guilt, shake away Shard's limp paws. I stalked out of the den and into the windy night, the salty scent of rain having my nose flare and hackles rise. A downpour could begin at any moment. With a last glimpse of the vaporeon, eevee, and espeon in the den, I sprinted into the foliage of Sugarcane.
The nippy breeze of early winter and sweet aroma of tree sap wafted into the night. Dashing through the raging winds, gusts of cold air whipping my fur in all directions, I did my best to locate where my green-furred friend always trained. According to the Pokémon, he and his dad practiced battling within the quietest parts of nighttime. If I can just find where they are - if I can attract Pine's attention without his dad noticing... I thought uncertainly. It was possible his dad held off training for the night because of the incoming storm, but if Pine's dad was a ruthless as my friend led me to believe, their training wouldn't be held off for another day.
Gales strengthened. Thunder rolled overhead. When my muscles started aching and paws grew sore, a dart of purple liquid hissed by my right ear, stimulating me to heavily drop to the ground and crawl into a shrub for cover. Once my rapid heartbeat had calmed, I reluctantly stuck my nose out of the thorny twigs and glanced around. There were no more signs of aimless Poison Stings. After a tension-filled moment, I spotted a violet-skinned creature with thick hide and jagged spines lining its back, and a sharp horn jutted out of its forehead. A nidorino. Without warning, a rush of emerald green rushed by the Pokémon with stubby feet, mercilessly clawing at its durable hide, but the nidorino didn't look affected in the least as he tackled his son.
"Is that all you got?!" His criticizing voice, gravelly and hoarse, lashed out brutally at my red-eyed friend laying beaten on the ground. The cub didn't stand until the nidorino's gruff rant came to an end. With a pained grunt, Pine raced forward and tackled headfirst into his father's flank, making the poison-type stumble but not tossing him off his feet. "You're weakening! Are you wasting your private training? You're so weak!" Another tackle. Another stumble. "Pathetic! Pathetic!"
With a frighteningly beastly and unruly scream, he roughly slammed into the nidorino's chest, knocking him backwards onto his hind legs. The cub nimbly veered beneath the poison-type and kicked his hind paws into the nidorino's fat stomach, forcing out his father's breath and sweeping him onto his back. The nidorino's barb-like spines tore into the ground, helplessly pinning the cruel Pokémon. "How's that for pathetic?!" Pine screamed with bared fangs. His enraged tone easily cut through the howling winds and I shuddered - not from the cold gusts, but Pine's animosity. He was always so level-headed, but witnessing such unhinged anger from him forced my paws and tail to tremble.
With the nidorino concentrating on rolling free and the wind billowing stronger than ever, I took the moment to attract Pine's attention. "Pah... P-Pine!" My words came out louder than anticipated. Fearfully, I clamped my paws over my muzzle and shrunk back in the bush, praying to Arceus that the nidorino didn't hear.
To my relief, the nidorino didn't show any signs of picking up my voice while Pine's eyes flickered in my direction. Stiffly, I waved over at my friend, signaling for the green-furred quadrupedal to come over. I wasn't sure if he actually nodded or if I imagined it, but Pine nonetheless called out to his father, "What about we begin practicing some stealth? That's what I've been focusing mostly on during my private training." He lied perfectly straight through his fangs. "You'll be impressed."
The nidorino momentarily halted in his struggling, still having the spikes along his back locked in the dirt. "Su... sure. You have as much time to find cover for how long it takes me to get - grr - up." With a fierce jerking motion, he nearly tugged his spines free from the dirt, and Pine didn't waste a heartbeat of time as he darted in my direction.
He only spent the time running past me to whisper one word: "Follow." The quadrupedal nipped lightly at my paw before melting into the undergrowth. I staggered before managing to keep up a constant run, and Pine purposely lagged behind so I could keep sight of him. A small throb pulsed in one of my hind legs from the strain of a sudden run, but I did my best to ignore it so the flashes of bright green fur wouldn't leave my vision. Then, when a strip of white sliced through the gray clouds and a great boom rattled the air, I clumsily smacked into my friend's warm flank.
Pine's face was impassive. His head sharply whirled in my direction, the red pair of eyes staring me down. "Moon, where have you been? And why are you here now out of all the times? My father could have seen you." His face betrayed no emotion, but he failed to keep his voice from sounding worried and, to an even lesser extent, relieved.
Having no traces of his anger around made me relax slightly and I boldly replied, "This is the only time I can explain what's been happening during the week... please, hear me out?"
My friend sighed. "Of course. Just, I beg of you, make it quick."
I nodded cheerfully and obliged to his request. When I mentally summarized what to tell him, I described the events of my week. The calamity of Shard's parents, the eevee's destroyed spirit, rarely receiving a chance all week to be alone: everything important. When finished, a deep frown rested on his lips. I expected him to offer some words of comfort, or at least a sentence on the matter, but he only muttered my name before trailing into silence. "Moon..." The sky flashed white and thunder filled my ears, causing me to jump back in fright. Pine merely stole a glimpse at the sky and his frown grew. "You need to go before my dad finds us. If he does, you know he'll never let me train on my own again."
A burst of wind whipped through my pelt and coldly rushed along my skin. I shivered and shook my head. Pine raised a brow. "But..." I wanted to play. All week, Shard could rarely get through a round of hide-and-seek without her bawling. She also didn't appreciate nature as much as I did no matter what I told her. No magnolia climbing. No cloud watching. "Sh-Shard has me to comfort her, but I need you to comfort me."
His nose ever so gently rubbed against my shoulder. My face warmed up within those freezing winds with a mild blush. He pulled back with a quirky smile. "As I do with you." Since he worded it so strangely, it took me a moment to realize what he meant. My heart lightly fluttered and then scowled at the ground, pretending to be disgusted. I didn't want him to know I actually liked being nuzzled. "We can hold off playing until your, heh, new sister is better. She needs you. Hey, but maybe you can sneak out again sometime and we can go tree climbing?"
I opened my mouth to shout a happy agreement and had my paws ready to carry me home, but a vague holler in the distance scared me motionless. The voice was strained; distressed; slightly familiar. It wasn't Shard or anyone I knew personally, but it was the croaky tone of the nidorino. My ears stiffened and my face paled. The poison-type sounded panicked and hysteric.
Pine's fur rose and eyes rounded, adding to my escalating fear. "M-my dad just called for me. Sounds urgent. I... I have to go-" Before he could bolt off, I stuck a foreleg in front of his chest. He didn't move around it to run away, instead stepping back and waiting for me to speak.
I slowly lowered the raised foreleg and did so. "He didn't say your name..." My words faded into the raging gusts surrounding us and I looked up, staring firmly into the quadrupedal's eyes.
A look of guilt and shame washed into Pine's expression. "He... he did, actually. What my father just yelled is m-my real name." He weakly bowed his head and crossed his forepaws. "I t-told you a fake name, because you would make fun of me if I said... gah! I'm sorry, okay?! My real name is too weird! My dad chose it because it means warrior. Now I need to go." He tossed his body forward for the beginning of a sprint, but I bit down firmly on one of his hind paws. It prevented him from slinking into the thick foliage and made his stomach smack hard against the haphazard grass and browning leaves. Unlike what I expected to do next, he harshly kicked his paw out of my mouth and swerved around on a paw to deliver a very infuriated glare. "My father needs me! Stop trying to hold me back!"
Shock forced me into a stunned state, but a rapidly growing sense of anger made me mobile again. I stood on the tips of my paws and sternly returned his glare, giving my best snarl. "You've lied to me for how many moons now?! I've told you basically everything about me: no secrets! But you've kept this from me? Y-yourreal name?" I couldn't sustain a solid tone, unused to yelling at others. "I-I don't care if you have a weird n-name or not! We're best friends... and sh-should tell nothing but the truth! Y-you should've-" Lightning blared and thunder roared. Following the crackling of the sky was a raindrop to my nose, which twitched from the cold touch, and that raindrop turned into a light drizzle within a matter of heartbeats.
"Oh, great..." Pine growled, subconsciously grinding his teeth together. Nothing but the sound of light rain and gnashing fangs reverberated in my ears for a moment and I continued glaring at my angered friend, awaiting him to make a move. Then, piercing the rhythmic pelting of raindrops asunder was a bellow of pain like no other. My heart skipped a beat before thumping crazily in my chest, and I shakily gazed in the direction of the nidorino's wail. Eyelids peeled back, Pine stepped towards where the cry of pain originated. "Father!" His green paws became a blur as he zipped away into the vegetation, and I swallowed thickly before pursuing the panicked Pokémon.
The rain fell quicker: stronger. As the storm increased in intensity, the purring of the raindrops lilted louder in my ears. Water quickly drenched me to the bone, and it incessantly dripped down the angles of my ears and legs. Wind carried dead leaves into the air and threatened to veer me into an aspen or alder, but I barely managed to keep my paws steady on the slippery ground. I managed to keep sight of a blur of green despite the soaked tufts of fur and endless raindrops invading my vision, and I remained at a dangerously fast pace so I wouldn't lose sight of my friend. My earlier anger had fled like a rattata into a burrow during that weather. Not only did I want to help Pine and his dad despite any consequences, but I needed to apologize.
My lungs quickly grew tired and sore, causing me to breathe in ragged, labored gasps as I nearly tripped with each step. Since my pace slowed to half its earlier speed, I lost sight of the green-furred quadrupedal within a moment's notice. I was alone in the storm: alone in the unfamiliar pattern of trees and bushes without any idea where home was. Regardless, I hurried off with sore muscles in the general direction of where Pine ran, desperately hoping to find my close friend again so I could be of aid and say I was sorry.
The pained, squeaky yell of a certain cub echoed from somewhere to my right. I stumbled forward and my snout was shoved into a puddle of miry mud, coating my creamy mane and muzzle. Panic coursing through my veins, I lurched to my paws, clawed off some of the mud from my fur, and I raced away towards my friend. I couldn't stop my exhausted muscles from carrying me into the slickened trunks of birches and larches, and I tripped down into the soggy soil numerous times until Pine's green pelt stuffed my vision.
I planted my paws down, but I slipped forward along the drenched ground and smacked into the quadrupedal; relief and joy flooded through me at the sight of my friend. I limply tightened my forelegs around the cub and buried my muzzle into his soaked and mud-spotted fur, murmuring into his somewhat warm and comforting flank. "I'm sorry, Pine! I didn't mean to get an-!"
He harshly shoved me away, snarling madly with his irises blazing like hungry embers. Dread sunk into my heart and I clumsily backed away, unable to keep my expression from contorting to reveal my mortified state. My mouth hung open as he lashed out in a fury of ranting. Tears swelled in Pine's eyes, but they didn't wash away the fiery anger that glazed them. He insulted. He cursed. Those lethal teeth gnashed together while feral growls tore out of his raspy throat.
My eyes remained on his outraged irises for a moment until I managed to gaze away, noticing a purple body next to him. It had jagged spines lining the back and a horn protruding out of the forehead: of course, the nidorino. Slightly behind the poison-type were three Pokémon with black and blue fur, one of them a shinx while the others being luxio. Each of the three felines had a varying amount of ghastly purple staining their fur that I guessed to be poison, and the nidorino carried several scorch marks across his tough hide, the most distinct one clearly blackened right on his chest.
The nidorino, shinx, and luxio all laid sprawled on the ground. A nauseous sensation forced me to turn away. I squeezed my eyes shut and directed my nose at the ground, fighting the sick churning in my stomach. The luxray clan?! They attacked Pine's dad? Probably got on their bad side, and the nidorino didn't go down without a fight... I gulped. They're all wounded and... motionless...
Pine's unrelenting words rattled loudly in my ears despite the appendages being pressed fixedly against my skull. Impulsively, I gnawed on my bottom lip, biting back tears. "If you didn't hold me back, I would be here in time to save him! I shouldn't have ever gone against his word... I should have never decided to be friends with you!"
He lunged, his paws outstretched and fangs displayed. Too stunned to evade, his paws slammed into my chest and sent us rolling backwards, and searing pain rippled through my left foreleg. His blunted claws ripped into my flank and burns ravaged my body. Despite my instincts screaming for me to attack, I refused to fight my friend, silently allowing the Pokémon to continue venting his undying ferocity. I'm sorry, my thoughts echoed. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
New streaks of pains soon ceased, only letting the already inflicted damage to torment me. With unsteady balance, I stood on wobbly legs and located the red-eyed quadrupedal, noticing his drenched and matted fur was flecked crimson. It wasn't his blood; I discovered this from the fact that maroon liquid iced his dull claws. "You're... a monster..." Pine breathed - ironically. His growling deepened before his bloodied paws started carrying him away. He was abandoning the lifeless felines, abandoning the deceased nidorino - abandoning his close friend.
My mind repeated and insisted on words with no truth. No! The friendship can be saved! It can, it can! I stepped after the fleeing Pokémon before my legs folded beneath my weight. With my stomach pressing against the muddy soil and tail limply curled along my flank, I vainly called out to my old friend. "P-Pine... Pine!" I took a deep breath and recalled the name I heard the nidorino holler earlier: his real name. "Faolan!"
To my overwhelming dismay, he didn't come back. Cold pinpricks of the unrelenting rain clawed at my wounds, and the wind never felt so cold.
Without my consent, tears coalesced in my eyes before silently edging down my cheeks. Sniffling, I wiped them away, and my apricot paws pushed me into a sluggish sit position. My paws curled and teeth clenched, yet most of my muscles were at ease. It feels so good to reminisce from time to time, especially when I'm alone...
Despite all the pain, all the betrayal and angst, I missed the electrike. I yearned for the nature-loving character that loved magnolias and spoke with such wise, influential words. If only I still had him as a friend, I probably wouldn't have such a strict view on guys. It was a sad truth, however, and I couldn't deny it. There's no such thing as a nice guy. There's no such thing as Pine. Only Faolan. I stood and inhaled slowly, enjoying the refreshing breezes down my throat, loving the vibrant smells of dusty tree bark and sweet pollen. For a moment, the mellow, heartwarming smile of the electric-type danced in my mind, and it seemed so clear: so real. When I exhaled, all that remained of those scents was the warm, stale air flowing past my tongue, and I frowned. Only Faolan.
I leaned my flank against the nearest tree and scanned the area. No ghost- or dark-types flickered before my vision. There was no rain or electrikes or blood. No wails or curses or howling winds. Only peaceful scenery with a slight breeze made my surroundings. The same scarring despair from that dreaded night, however, still constricted tightly around my heart.
As I wiped at my dampened cheek, a creature like a shadow, silent and nearly unnoticeable, slipped between two larches up ahead. I dully blinked a few times as the sight caught my attention, unsure if I imagined it or not. When a smaller shadow with a slim and stealthy physique had glinted between the same trees, my suspicions were confirmed. My frown deepened and eyes narrowed.
Forgetting about Pine, my sorrow, and the sickly warmth swirling in my stomach, I lowered into a stiff crouch and quietly pursued the two creatures.
Hey, shhh. I just barely escaped from a luxio's clutches and I'm currently hiding in a broom closet! I never knew I had one of these... Bleh. Whatever. Anyways, time for me to quietly type this author's note~
Wow. Just wow. ._. I didn't expect the flashbacks/memories/whatever-you-want-to-call-them to take up so much time. And, welp, there you have it! Now you know why Petal hates romance and basically all guys. Sad... ;-; Though no offence to all the males out there. Guys are great! Petal just doesn't know any better. :(
I meant to add a LOT more onto this chapter, but this plot thing with Petal took up about 11.5K, sooo... yeah. Hey, and I'm curious if any of this chapter made you readers sad at all. Did you realize Pine was an electrike, or Faolan, before it was revealed? Or did you think Pine was a strange bulbasaur or something like that? :D Or was it too confusing to read by knowing so little about Faolan/Pine's appearance? I've never written anything like this before, so I'm sure there are places in need of improvement. ^^;;;
Now another shipping has been introduced, and quite possibly the last shipping of this story: Moon x Pine. Hmm, what good shipping name would they make? MoonLight shipping, since Pine is an electric-type and Moon is, well, Moon? Eh, I dunno. I'm too tired at the moment to think of something too ingenious. -.-
...Hmph. Lobo just threw open the door to this broom closet. Looks like I'm out of time. So, Lobo! ALOHA~ *Dashes past him and out into the hall* YOU CAN'T CATCH ME! I'M THE GINGERBREAD SNIVY! KEHEHE! .D. (Anyone who gets that reference gets The Gingerbread Man- doh, cranberries, I just gave it away... x0x)