FINALLY! It's been ages!
After what felt like a year and a half, we finally made it off of that stupid frozen mountain. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty neat and all, but I had long since grown sick of the cold temperature, especially the wet frost that clung to my fur. Having fur was almost starting to feel normal!
My thoughts though were mostly occupied with what Rebecca had said about me. Was I really to be a "Great Leader?" I've never led anything! Even when I was in girl scouts! I mean, sure I've had to take lead in a group project or something in school, but that was nothing like this! Was all that stuff she said a load of crap?!
Leaders are supposed to be, I dunno, smart or something! I know I'm not! Plus, they have to keep a level head with things, and Sam is far more levelheaded than I am. I don't want to be a leader!
Laura had taken us back to her cabin for the night, and then we started our way down to the bottom the next morning. By the time we reached the base of the mountain, it was almost noon. We stopped for lunch on a tall cliff, so that we were high enough to see the path ahead.
"How long until we get to see Bart?" Rou asked Laura in-between pecks of his sandwich.
"Depends." Laura said thoughtfully. "Maybe about a week or two?"
Rou let off a (possibly rude?) chirp and went back to eating his sandwich. Guess he's still slightly annoyed about his blessing or something.
"How are you holding up?"
I looked back over to see Sam looking at me. "Oh, uhh... Fine I guess." I said. I didn't want to talk to him about my worries.
"Good." Sam said, finally now starting on his sandwich. I didn't realize that he wanted to make sure everything was okay before eating. It's strange how he does stuff like that. Weirdo.
I look over at Laura. She's eating her sandwich peacefully, watching the trees and stuff. I wonder what she's thinking about.
My stomach growled. I look down at my own food, which looks to be some kind of sandwich in a small container, lying at my feet. I then realized a problem.
How am I supposed to get it out when I don't have hands?
I stare down at the dumb container, trying to figure how I could open it. This wasn't a problem with berries and stuff I've eaten here before, since I could just stuff them in my mouth. But how the heck do I get a sandwich out of a tupperware container? I don't want to ask for help because I'm supposed to be some 'great leader' or something. How can I be a great leader if I can't even figure out how to open up a stupid box? No one had said anything to me about it, so for pokemon like me, there's gotta be some trick to it.
I decided to start with the lid. It's kinda hard to get my paws in the correct position, because the tupperware kept shifting in the grass. I eventually got the container propped between my thighs, which helped a ton, since it kept it from moving. After wedging a paw under the lip of the plastic lid, I tried pushing the lid up. My paw slipped and I almost lost the whole container in my folley. I tried it again, but this time slipping my tiny claws under the lid.
After getting my tiny claws under the lid and pulling hard, I lost my balance and fell over backwards, doing a backwards somersault down the slope and thwacking my back against the dirt pile behind me. I breathed hard in frustration.
"Need a little help?"
I looked back up to find Laura and the others watching me with an amused expression. Laura was the one who had asked.
"Fine." I mumbled. I padded back over and laid down on my front after shoving the evil tupperware over to them. I watched in annoyance as Laura opened it with ease and offered me the sandwich.
I snatched the sandwich in my mouth and laid back down, eating the sandwich in frustrated silence. Stupid paws. How does anyone do anything with these...?
"Y-you know, if you had asked, any of us would've-" Sam started.
"Would've helped me open the flippin' tupperware? But I didn't, did I?!" I said sharply. "That's because I'm a stupid leader, isn't it?!"
Sam was staring at me, wide-eyed.
Laura spoke up immediately. "You probably should-"
"I should what, huh? Be like you?" I was feeling pretty riled up now. "What I don't understand is why aren't you leading us?!! You're the better leader! I couldn't even keep us awake in the snow!"
"Now hold on-" Laura started.
"In fact, if it wasn't for you, we'd probably all be dead! A stupid dog, a bird, and a lizard, still sleeping in the snow!" I was really angry now, I didn't even care.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Laura shouted with a force that made me flinch. She pointed at me. "You. Wait over there." She pointed at the forest nearby.
I was about to say something else but then she interrupted me again even more sternly.
"Now."
I scoffed and huffed my way over to the woods.
—— —— —— —— ——
I got past the treeline and angrily sat down, leaning with my back up against a rock. What was the deal with them? I mean, I know I probably shouted a little, but couldn't Laura see the stress I was under? I'm being forced to be a leader! She's a natural one! What's her problem?
After a few minutes, Laura finally came over to join me. I waited for her to talk first.
"What was that about?" She asked. She didn't really ask though, it was more like a demand.
I was surprised by her demanding, so I gave my answer flat-out: "I'm supposed to be some great leader, but I'm not! What are you-"
"-No." she interrupted me, "You need to settle down."
I glared at her, but kept quiet.
She was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever been a leader before, Eva?"
Are we really going down this path? "No, I haven't."
"Do you know what a leader does?" she asked.
I grew frustrated again. "Yeah I know what a leader does." How could Laura be so insensitive? My blood wanted to boil.
Laura calmly continued. "You yelled at Sam, who has shown you nothing but kindness. That is not a great start to being a leader. This is why I ask."
"Well you-" I paused. Did I really yell at Sam? "Well- well I'm under a lot of pressure okay!?"
"How do you think Sam felt when he was dragging you and the bird in the snow?"
I paused. Laura took this as a sign to continue.
"What about when he got tired? Or when he tied his scarf to the tree with numb fingers?"
A shiver ran down my spine. "I- I-"
"Or, most especially, when he got so cold and tired that he couldn't move anymore, and still tried to keep you guys warm? I saw the way he curled around you two. That overly-anxious kid was fully willing to sacrifice himself for you. It was him who saved you, not me."
This was a lot to process. I just kind of sat there for a moment.
"Being a leader is more than just taking the lead. It requires sacrifice on your part. You have to be willing to accept your teammates even with their struggles and fears, and to help them grow. That's part of being a team."
"But.. I'm no leader..." I finally spoke up. "How can I help others if I can't even do stuff by myself?"
Laura got down on one knee and put a paw on my shoulder. I looked up into her crimson-colored eyes. "Leaders aren't supposed to be perfect. But what makes a good leader is being able to admit you've got problems too. Being a leader is about standing up for the better good, and being willing to ask for help. If you're going to be a leader, then you're got to learn to be humble."
I had felt so scared and overwhelmed on the hill. Now I feel somewhat relieved. But there's no way I can trust myself not to make a mistake like that again. How did Rebecca expect me to be a leader after something like that? Maybe with Laura's help? "How do I become a leader? ...Would you help me with it?" I asked Laura.
"Sure. Can't say I'm gonna do everything for you, but I can try and teach you what I know. First though, if you're ready, you're gonna have to apologize to Sam and Rou."
I felt pretty bad about that. I mean, I DID shout at the first person who was not only kind to me, but genuinely believed me when I first came to this world. Sam had never been mean or rude to me, so it was so unfair for me to say that to him. Sam is pretty sensitive, so I really hope I didn't hurt his feelings too bad...
And Rou... well, he probably got pretty ruffled up too.
I took a few deep breaths, and then said that I was ready. Laura helped me up, and I slowly made my way out of the forest. We slowly made our way up the hill, the whole time I'm trying to think of what I should say. 'I'm sorry? It won't happen again?' or 'Sam, you're my best friend and you've done so much for me, could you please forgive me?' I'm really not sure what I could say.
When I finally got up to the top of the hill, I saw Sam talking to a large white pelican-like Pokémon with a huge beak. He waved it off as it flew away, right before he noticed me coming towards him. I looked down at the grass immediately as I continued slowly making my way over to him.
I eventually made my way right before him. I couldn't walk forward anymore. I needed to say something. I noticed that Rou was no longer nearby. I reluctantly looked up. He was looking right at me, that dumb friendly face and those genuine eyes.
Oh gosh, why is this so hard? I guess just because he's been so nice to me, and I have no reason to be hard on him? I opened my mouth.
And it all just spilled out.
"I'm sorry Sam I didn't mean it and I know you're a good friend and I don't want to hurt you and I'm sorry I just got mad and I want you to know that you're a great friend and I-"
"Eva, it's okay. I know you didn't mean it."
"You... what?"
"Eva," Sam said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you were frustrated. I know that people say things when they're angry, and they don't always mean what they say. Plus, you came over here and you looked really scared! How could I get angry at my best friend, especially when they're terrified and trying to apologize?!"
Why did Sam seem so cheerful? Was he really forgiving me that quickly?! This was insane!
"Sam, no.. it's not okay. I said-"
"It doesn't matter what you said!" Sam laughed. "What matters is you came back to apologize, you wanted to fix things. That matters much more to me than how you felt when you were angry."
Sam was so genuine, so positive. No wonder I felt bad.
A few tears gathered in my eyes. " Sam..." I hugged him. I wasn't much of a physical person I don't think, but I hugged him.
"-You're the best friend a person could have." I finished.
He hugged me back, and after we finished, I turned around to see Rou standing awkwardly a couple feet away. Laura was further back, watching me with a smile on her face.
I came up to reel and knelt down to look at him eye-to-eye. I looked into his eyes.
"Rou, I'm sorry if I said anything mean to you. I didn't mean it, okay?"
"It's okay. I really wasn't expecting your outburst..." Rou started to say before a smile crept up on his beak. "But I thought it was kinda funny that you got mad over a sandwich."
Oh gosh.
"Hey, paws are hard to use okay!" I playfully responded as Sam passed me my sandwich from earlier.
"Really? I've never had any problems." Laura chimed in.
"Well, you were born a Pokémon! You don't count!" I said before taking a bite. Mmm, some sort of jam?
"Yeah, but I also had to go through evolution, so..."
I gulp down a bite of sandwich. "Wait, evolution? What do you mean?"
Author's notes:
Hey again guys! College has kept me so busy! I am halfway through my third semester, and then I'm going to work over the summer! I have slowly been hacking away at this whenever I needed a good distraction! I'm sorry it's taken so long but you know, life happens. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far and let me know if you have any questions or whatever. You can direct message me, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I see it!
Thanks again for reading!
Miles