WHAM!
"OW!" I yelled as my head slammed against the roof of my den, violently yanking me out of a wonderful dream. I grunted irritably as I rubbed my head with a paw. Someone had pulled the emergency vine. I should go see to that. Praying that no one was attacking the camp again and thinking of the punishment that I would give if this was a prank, I slid into the water.
I let myself float to the surface, not seeing any motion above the water. Finally poking my head above water, I saw Snow. She was sitting still as ice as she watched me swim over and groggily pull myself from the pond. As I sat down, tiny snowflakes began fluttering down from the sky. Winter was officially here.
I looked at Snow when she didn't say anything. "...What is it, Snow? You woke me up. What for?"
Snow turned her attention from the change in the weather to me. "Sorry about that, Splash, but... something's wrong."
"I'll say something's wrong. Clover's not with you. It's now been three weeks since this thing was over, and until now, I haven't seen you outside of three pawsteps of her." I interrupted as she started to answer. "You know what else is wrong? I'm not asleep."
Snow gave me a look. "Splash."
"Sorry..." I muttered. "I get grumpy when I'm tired."
Snow nodded. "I've noticed. Listen, Splash... Something's off about Clover." I only tilted my head at her. She struggled to find words. "I mean... she's almost back to normal, but last night, she stepped on a thorn, and now she's limping again and-"
I broke her off. "You woke me up to tell me that Clover stepped on a thorn?"
Snow shook her head, her ear flaps making the snowflakes swirl. "No, no, that's not it at all. I'm just... trying to find the words." I waited as patiently as I could for her to speak. "...Something's off about Clover."
I closed my eyes and nodded. "Yes, we've established that."
She shook her head again. "No, like off off. Something's different about her. I know her like a sister. You know how no two Leafeons' tails look the same? Well, I can name every notch, tear, vein, and nick in Clover's, along with where it's placed. Something is not the same about her. The humans did something to her! I know it!"
"Like what?" I asked, a bit more concerned. Snow didn't talk this much unless she was stressed. Something was wrong.
"I don't know... she's gained some of her weight back, but she's still a bit thin from the ordeal. ...but that's not it... I can't quite put my paw on it... The only physical change I could possibly notice is that her shoulders seem... broader somehow."
I nodded thoughtfully, drowsiness slipping away and being replaced by concern. "I caught that too, but I thought that was a result of her exercising with you."
"No, that's been there since she returned. It feels the same, but it's not. I don't know what they did to her, but I don't like it."
I nudged her shoulder. "Hey. We'll figure this out. It's ok."
Snow nodded. "All right... Not a word of this to Clover. I asked two weeks ago, and she got pretty upset."
"Understandably!" I sympathized.
Snow stood up, causing more snowflakes to swirl around her. "Sorry I woke you up. I just didn't want to disturb Clover by talking with you about her in private."
I nodded "I understand... Good night." With that, I let myself fall back into the water, sank to the bottom, an them swam back to my den, where I quickly fell back to sleep.
When I woke up, the water near my bed was dull. Maybe it was still snowing. Whatever the case, I stood up and stretched, relaxing as much as I could before sliding into the water.
It was then I discovered why there wasn't as much sunlight reflecting into my den. The pond had frozen over! The snow must have kicked up last night. I smiled at the thought of what the camp would look like, swimming into Surf's den, which was just like mine, except for being on the other side of the pond.
I surfaced in his den, where he was currently stretching his legs and tail. He looked over as he heard me enter. "Hey, Splash, you're up rather early!"
I smiled at him. "I think it was the cold. It snowed last night and the pond froze over!"
He shook his head. "Dang it. I'll see if I can get through with Iron Tail." As the two of us dove into the chilly water, I heard him mutter behind be. "Did you freeze it yourself with Blizzard so that we could have some time together?" he said slyly. I slapped his flank with my tail.
The pond must have frozen fairly recently, for there wasn't much snow on the ice. I could see Espeon and Umbreon walking near the pond together, in sync, as always. They sat down and looked at us in perfect time with each other.
I waved at them and shouted, "ESPY! GET INFERNO!"
Her voice entered my head, filled with amusement. I can hear you just fine, Splash.
"Shut up," I said aloud jokingly.
She smiled, said something to Umbreon, then stood up and padded towards Bolt and Inferno's den. Surf arrived on the scene, shattering a part of the ice near the shore with Iron Tail. "It's pretty thin. No ice skating yet. Inferno will have to melt it until the weather gets a bit colder."
I smiled, recalling the events of last winter, including Bolt and Inferno skidding all over the pond like idiots until Bolt fell into Surf's and my access hole. "A certain Jolteon and Flareon will be disappointed. You know how much they love skating. Or rather, falling."
Surf chuckled as I pulled myself out into the winter air, seeing the entire camp gently covered in a white blanket. All except for Bolt and Inferno's den, which had no snow within a tail length of it, forming a near-perfect circle around the rock. Surf followed me just as Espeon returned with a fluffed up Flareon.
"Stand back!" he called. "Inferno comin' through!" I rolled my eyes with a smile as he marched past. With a big puff of his chest, he used Flamethrower, extending it out across the pond, and sweeping it back and forth until all of the ice had melted. I put my tail in the water. It was quite warm.
I looked back at Inferno just as Bolt zipped up at lightning speeds. "Aww! I missed the ice!"
I turned towards the disappointed Jolteon. "Don't worry, it was too thin for skating anyway. You two would have fallen in."
"Ok..." Bolt muttered before turning to Inferno. "Let's make a snow Eevee!" Inferno nodded in excitement for the challenge of building, and not melting, a snow Eevee.
Glancing around camp, I realized that Snow and Clover were not present. Trotting to their den and seeing no one, I was about to ask Umbreon if he had seen them when I heard Clover's voice coming from Soursap's den.
"Soursap, please! You have to eat something! It's cloudy out today, and your leaves aren't strong enough to get energy in this lighting!"
I took a few steps closer to listen as Soursap responded. "Why should I!? I'm no use to anyone here! I can't see, I can't grow things, I can't hunt, I can't fight! You don't need me here! I'm old, blind, and defenseless! I might as well wait to die!"
Snow's voice answered. "Soursap, don't say that! You're the only thing that got Clover through that! She made a special request for Suicune to save you before she passed out from pain!"
Soursap shouted again. "You shouldn't have, Clover! I'm no use to anyone! And now winter's here! You need all the food you can get! I won't give you another mouth to feed that won't contribute! And if my ears hear correctly, you'll soon have five of those! You don't need another!"
Clover pleaded. "Soursap, please stop! Why are you so insistent on this!?"
Surf joined me in listening as Soursap practically screeched back, despite the constant rasp in his voice. "Because I'm no use to anyone! I never have been and I never will be!"
Ever the iceberg, Snow calmly responded. "What do you mean by 'never have been?'"
There was silence for a moment, during which Espeon and Umbreon joined Surf and me. Finally, Soursap's scratchy voice answered quietly. "I had a trainer once. I hatched with him as an Eevee. He wasn't a nice human. He almost never took care of me, and I was always alone. Then he sold me to another human. I couldn't defend myself then, either. He was terrible. He kicked me when I didn't behave or lost a battle, which was a lot. He kicked me for not evolving into an Umbreon, like he wanted me to. But I didn't want to be an Umbreon, and I didn't like him. Finally, I ran away. I barely made it to safety. I had so many wounds. I managed to evolve into a Leafeon, but I was still hurt pretty badly. As if that weren't bad enough, I evolved just before one of the harshest winters that I can remember."
Snow spoke. "I remember that winter. That was when I evolved. I wanted to be a Glaceon so badly, I almost froze to death before I evolved."
Soursap continued his story. "I thought I was going to die. But a human saved me, taking me to a Pokémon Center. Later, he took me in. He was nice to me. He didn't like to battle much, and never made me battle. Not once. He just liked my company, I guess. But then he lost a lot of money. He couldn't pay for his home. He had no choice but to sell me. Even then, I was a drag. Finally he sold me to the white coat humans where you found me, Clover. I was there for years. They made me blind and more useless than ever before."
No one said anything as he finished. I felt bad for Soursap. It explained why he was always so negative. It was all that he had ever known.
Espeon and Umbreon stood up and walked away slowly, Espeon looking like she was about to burst any second with her kits. Surf inclined his head towards the pond. I nodded. We stood up, walked across the snow, and sat down by the pond. Surf looked at me. "Splash?"
"Hm?"
"I get it now."
I nodded sadly. "Me too.
Silence followed for a few more seconds as we tried to feel the last of the warmth in the water with our tails. Finally, Surf spoke again. "Splash?"
"Hm?"
"You know how we give each other gifts 12 days after the first snow of winter?"
"Yeah?"
Surf looked at me with an odd expression. "This is a crazy idea, but..." He leaned in and whispered in my ear. He was right about it being crazy.
When he was finished pitching the idea, he pulled away and waited for my reaction. I gave it some thought. "...You know... He might actually like that."
Surf smiled. "I'll get Espeon and Umbreon."
I nodded. "I'll get Bolt.
"Shut up," I said aloud jokingly.
She smiled, said something to Umbreon, then stood up and padded towards Bolt and Inferno's den. Surf arrived on the scene, shattering a part of the ice near the shore with Iron Tail. "It's pretty thin. No ice skating yet. Inferno will have to melt it until the weather gets a bit colder."
I smiled, recalling the events of last winter, including Bolt and Inferno skidding all over the pond like idiots until Bolt fell into Surf's and my access hole. "A certain Jolteon and Flareon will be disappointed. You know how much they love skating. Or rather, falling."
Surf chuckled as I pulled myself out into the winter air, seeing the entire camp gently covered in a white blanket. All except for Bolt and Inferno's den, which had no snow within a tail length of it, forming a near-perfect circle around the rock. Surf followed me just as Espeon returned with a fluffed up Flareon.
"Stand back!" he called. "Inferno comin' through!" I rolled my eyes with a smile as he marched past. With a big puff of his chest, he used Flamethrower, extending it out across the pond, and sweeping it back and forth until all of the ice had melted. I put my tail in the water. It was quite warm.
I looked back at Inferno just as Bolt zipped up at lightning speeds. "Aww! I missed the ice!"
I turned towards the disappointed Jolteon. "Don't worry, it was too thin for skating anyway. You two would have fallen in."
"Ok..." Bolt muttered before turning to Inferno. "Let's make a snow Eevee!" Inferno nodded in excitement for the challenge of building, and not melting, a snow Eevee.
Glancing around camp, I realized that Snow and Clover were not present. Trotting to their den and seeing no one, I was about to ask Umbreon if he had seen them when I heard Clover's voice coming from Soursap's den.
"Soursap, please! You have to eat something! It's cloudy out today, and your leaves aren't strong enough to get energy in this lighting!"
I took a few steps closer to listen as Soursap responded. "Why should I!? I'm no use to anyone here! I can't see, I can't grow things, I can't hunt, I can't fight! You don't need me here! I'm old, blind, and defenseless! I might as well wait to die!"
Snow's voice answered. "Soursap, don't say that! You're the only thing that got Clover through that! She made a special request for Suicune to save you before she passed out from pain!"
Soursap shouted again. "You shouldn't have, Clover! I'm no use to anyone! And now winter's here! You need all the food you can get! I won't give you another mouth to feed that won't contribute! And if my ears hear correctly, you'll soon have five of those! You don't need another!"
Clover pleaded. "Soursap, please stop! Why are you so insistent on this!?"
Surf joined me in listening as Soursap practically screeched back, despite the constant rasp in his voice. "Because I'm no use to anyone! I never have been and I never will be!"
Ever the iceberg, Snow calmly responded. "What do you mean by 'never have been?'"
There was silence for a moment, during which Espeon and Umbreon joined Surf and me. Finally, Soursap's scratchy voice answered quietly. "I had a trainer once. I hatched with him as an Eevee. He wasn't a nice human. He almost never took care of me, and I was always alone. Then he sold me to another human. I couldn't defend myself then, either. He was terrible. He kicked me when I didn't behave or lost a battle, which was a lot. He kicked me for not evolving into an Umbreon, like he wanted me to. But I didn't want to be an Umbreon, and I didn't like him. Finally, I ran away. I barely made it to safety. I had so many wounds. I managed to evolve into a Leafeon, but I was still hurt pretty badly. As if that weren't bad enough, I evolved just before one of the harshest winters that I can remember."
Snow spoke. "I remember that winter. That was when I evolved. I wanted to be a Glaceon so badly, I almost froze to death before I evolved."
Soursap continued his story. "I thought I was going to die. But a human saved me, taking me to a Pokémon Center. Later, he took me in. He was nice to me. He didn't like to battle much, and never made me battle. Not once. He just liked my company, I guess. But then he lost a lot of money. He couldn't pay for his home. He had no choice but to sell me. Even then, I was a drag. Finally he sold me to the white coat humans where you found me, Clover. I was there for years. They made me blind and more useless than ever before."
No one said anything as he finished. I felt bad for Soursap. It explained why he was always so negative. It was all that he had ever known.
Espeon and Umbreon stood up and walked away slowly, Espeon looking like she was about to burst any second with her kits. Surf inclined his head towards the pond. I nodded. We stood up, walked across the snow, and sat down by the pond. Surf looked at me. "Splash?"
"Hm?"
"I get it now."
I nodded sadly. "Me too.
Silence followed for a few more seconds as we tried to feel the last of the warmth in the water with our tails. Finally, Surf spoke again. "Splash?"
"Hm?"
"You know how we give each other gifts 12 days after the first snow of winter?"
"Yeah?"
Surf looked at me with an odd expression. "This is a crazy idea, but..." He leaned in and whispered in my ear. He was right about it being crazy.
When he was finished pitching the idea, he pulled away and waited for my reaction. I gave it some thought. "...You know... He might actually like that."
Surf smiled. "I'll get Espeon and Umbreon."
I nodded. "I'll get Bolt.
No comments:
Post a Comment