Moonlight's Quest (Part 2)

Moonlight was quiet as she and Umbreon left camp.  Clover had woken up later than she usually did, but she apologized and made both Moonlight and Umbreon the leaf bundles as soon as she could.  Moonlight now wore hers around her neck, with Umbreon doing the same thing.  His bundle, however, was accompanied by his last two orbs of moon dust and an inky black stone from the jar that Five had given him.  Oddly enough, everything around Umbreon's neck layered perfectly.  The black stone on top, the two leafy balls of moon dust below it and on either side, and the herb bundle below and between those.  Moonlight shrugged.  Clover had a good design sense.

Her father looked like he was deep in thought.  Moonlight didn't ask him what it was about (she hated it when Pokémon did that to her...), but he definitely looked worried about something.  Maybe she should ask.  "Is something wrong, Dad?"

He jumped a little as she spoke, like he had forgotten she was there.  "Hm?"

"You look worried about something."

Umbreon hesitated before answering.  "No, it's nothing.  It'll be fine."

Clearly, it wasn't, as he went right back to his troubled thoughts as soon as his daughter didn't answer.  Moonlight barely held back from rolling her eyes.  Let's play "Piece Together What Dad is Being Really Cryptic About."

Clue #1:  It's something that Umbreon is pretending to not be concerned about.
Possible answers:  Espeon/the rest of the family (this was usually the answer), something that he thinks Moonlight shouldn't worry about, something that he doesn't want Moonlight to worry/think about, or, the worst case scenario, something that he's deliberately keeping from Moonlight.

These answers were too broad.  Next clue.

Clue #2:  He said it will be fine.  Future tense.
Possible answers:  He's worried about Espeon being in charge while he, Splash, and Surf are all away, he's worried about Espeon watching over both the Clan and her four other kits on her own, or he knows something about Dark Cave that Moonlight doesn't.  No.  Scratch the last one.  He knows something about Dark Cave that he doesn't want Moonlight to know.

More specific, but there were still too many possibilities.

Clue #3:  It will be fine.  Non-gender specific.
Possible answers:  This one doesn't completely take out the Espeon/family related possibilities, but it greatly reduces the odds of being about someone he cares about.  If it were Espeon or Moonlight's siblings (or both), he probably would have said "she" or "they."  That left the pre-formed knowledge of Dark Cave wide open.

So that was it.  ...Unless it was something else.

Clue #4:  He didn't stop worrying about it after Moonlight said something.  In fact, if anything, he's more worried now.
Possible answers:  Whatever he knows about Dark Cave is so bad that he's considering telling Moonlight that they should turn back right now, something along the lines of "Darkrai lives in this cave and secretly planning the destruction of the universe and if we go anywhere near this place he will kill us and everyone that we care about," or...  He had another premonition.  He had only mentioned it in passing when Moonlight was still Two, but he had gotten one right before the explosion, and she knew about one that he had right before Espeon and Sunbeam got into trouble on their Power Quest, despite Umbreon not telling her about it.  What if he had gotten another premonition before he and Moonlight left?

Bingo.

It all fit.  Umbreon knew Moonlight very well (better than she would have ever admitted under any circumstances ever).  He knew that she'd go on this Power Quest whether he was with her or not.  She had dutifully endured being grounded, but now she wanted OUT OF CAMP.  If her father's warning had been really big, he probably would have told her about it and then helped her find another place.  She would have been annoyed, but grateful that he had kept her from walking to Yveltal's door. 

But if it was small enough to worry him but not deter Moonlight, then he wouldn't say anything, and just stick by her side and do his best to keep her safe.  She appreciated the thought, but she could take care of herself.  ...Like I proved that... she thought glumly as she kept walking silently alongside her father.

Still...  No matter how much she denied it, her father's premonition worried her.  She was going to go on this Power Quest anyway, but she still had to wonder how much trouble they were in for.  She suddenly wished she could see the future like Sunbeam.

They walked on in silence until the sun started to set.  It was Umbreon who finally broke the silence.  "We should set up a place to sleep for the night."

Moonlight stopped and looked over her shoulder at her father.  "Why?  We're Umbreons.  We get the same amount of energy from the moon that we do from sleeping."

"Because that's only if you sit still and don't move.  We could go one night on it without any problems, but I'd rather not."

Moonlight was about to argue, then realized that Umbreon probably wanted to save his energy for whatever was giving him bad vibes.  She could give him that.  "...All right.  But I'm not sleeping.  I'm watching the moon."

He nodded acceptingly, then turned his attention towards the roots of a nearby tree and started digging into a small space that was already open.  Moonlight scanned the surrounding trees, trying to pick the one with the best view and then figuring out how to climb it. 

She felt like she was getting into a rhythm with her father, or at least an understanding.  He gave her space, and she listened to him.  If he pushed her, she'd stop listening to him and do what she wanted to do.  She liked figuring things out on her own.  She may have been the second oldest, but she was by far the most independent.

Mapping out a good path to the top of one of the taller trees, Moonlight jumped high, hooking her paws over the lowest branch and pulling herself up.  Bolt would have been proud of that.  She worked her way up through the branches, her mind still on her father's premonition.  What could it have been about?  Maybe it's something along the lines of what happened to Sunbeam with human intervention.  If so, she'd heard from Four that Umbreon was no stranger to attacking humans that threatened his kits, and Moonlight herself was no slouch, either, and she had a grudge against humans.  Besides, hadn't she had enough freedom restriction on the behalf of humans for one lifetime?

She reached the top and sat down in the crook of a bough, laying down so that she was comfortable as the moon started to peek above the horizon.  She glanced down at her father, who was shaking the dirt out of his fur from the shelter that he had dug.  He had placed it so that the moon's light would still fall on him later in the night.  He was smart.

Moonlight sighed quietly as she looked back up at the darkening sky.  She and Umbreon were both strong, resilient, and smart.  They could get out of whatever obstacles this Power Quest threw at them.

As if to undermine her confidence, she saw a Murkrow fly past to the north.  That was the direction that she and her father were heading to get to Dark Cave.  She saw a Murkrow at night, towards where their destination was.  Great.

Just another bad omen on top of an already troubling premonition.

Moonlight's Quest (Part 1)

Snow couldn't top staring.  Her best friend, though still a bit rough around the edges, was airborne!

Clover looked like she was really getting the hang of this.  She dipped one wing low, circling around the clearing, only giving an extra flap when she started to cruise too low to the snow-covered ground.  Her balance was still wobbly, but she was doing it.  She was flying.  Snow could tell that she was focusing intently on her flight, trying to keep every detail right to stay up.   She may have figured it out, but that didn't mean that she had flying instincts.

Clover looped into a banking turn, attempting a figure 8 over the clearing, but her return trip on the diagonal put her in a direct line with Snow.  Just before she had to turn, their eyes locked.

Snow saw Clover's eyes go wide with surprise, shame, and a little fear before the Leafeon lost her concentration and flew straight into the tree over Snow's head with a squeal.

"Clover!" Snow shouted, breaking out of the trance.  "Are you ok?"

Amidst the rustling of leaves and branches, Clover whispered a reply.  "I...  I think so..." she said, disentangling herself from the tree.  "How...?"

Snow stepped towards the base of the tree, where she could see her best friend pressed against the trunk.  "I'm sorry, Clover...  I shouldn't have..."

"...How long did you know?"

"Just now," Snow responded quietly, not taking her eyes off the Leafeon in the branches.  When Clover didn't answer, Snow looked down.  "For what it's worth...  You're a beautiful flier, Clover."

Her friend said nothing for a long time.  Just as Snow was about to go back to camp to let her process the change of events, she whispered something.  It was barely audible.  "You...  You think so?"

Snow turned back towards Clover.  "Yes.  You are."  Again, there was a short silence before Snow asked the question that had been on her mind since her friend had started acting strange.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

Clover hesitated, then spoke as she started to slowly climb down the tree.  "I wanted it to be a surprise...  I wanted to be more...  used to them."

Snow shook her head.  "Clover, I know you like I know my own mind.  You won't ever be used to them, and I don't think you'll ever like them, but that wasn't my question.  Why didn't you tell me?"

She stopped a few boughs above the bottom.  After a long pause, she said, "...Snow, I'm sorry.  I thought about telling you so many times, and there were so many times that I almost did, but then I got cold paws and couldn't do it, but I really wanted to, because you're the only one who wouldn't tell or push me, or make me do anything, you're just amazing like that, you won't make me do anything that I don't want to do, but I was just too nervous to say anything, and..."

"Shhh...." Snow whispered quietly, consoling her best friend.

"...I'm sorry," Clover finally finished, climbing all the way to the ground.

Snow just nuzzled her friend.  "It's ok.  I'm sorry I followed you.  I was just worried, that's all.  I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Clover leaned on Snow's shoulder.  "Well...  Once I actually get it right...  and can do it reliably...  I want you to tell everyone."

Snow shook her head.  "I will tell some Eevees.  I want you to tell some of them, too."

Clover looked daunted by the task, but she shook her head.  Snow was right.  She had to do this herself.  "...Ok.  I will."

The Glaceon nodded with a smile.  "Good for you.  Now, I think we should get back to camp so that you can sleep."

Clover smiled back at her.  "I usually come back in after one crash landing anyway."

Moonlight woke up early.  Despite her neutral face, she was excited.  Not only did she have her freedom back, but her father was taking her on her Power Quest today.  It had taken some searching, but Sunbeam had finally found the place that Umbreon had so crudely mentioned.  It seemed like his vague description matched the unimaginative name of the place: Dark Cave.  So creative.

Her older sister woke up shortly after she did.  "Hey, Moonlight!" she chirped happily, stepping outside with her shiny sister and stretching out in the first rays of morning sunlight.

"Good morning," Moonlight responded.

"Are you excited for today?" Sunbeam asked as she carefully extracted her book from their family den via telekinesis.  It may not have been her strongest Psychic ability, but she was getting very good at it.

"A little," she answered honestly, expecting her sister's next words.

"Only a little?"

"This trip is about learning how to be an Umbreon.  It's not supposed to be fun."

"But it is fun!" Sunbeam insisted.  "You get to go on a big adventure to learn about your new powers!  Doesn't that make you a little excited?  Like all the adventures we pretended we went on as kits, but real?"

Moonlight tilted her head.  "Well...  A little, yes."

"Ha!" her sister said triumphantly as their parents stepped out of their den, being careful not to disturb their other three kits.

Espeon nuzzled her older daughter's cheek first.  "Good morning, you two."

"Morning, mother!" she responded happily.

Moonlight was less enthusiastic.  "Hi, Mom, Dad."  When she got a polite nod in response, she cut right to the chase.  "Can we leave for Dark Cave today, Dad?"

He paused, then looked at her with a sigh.  "I don't see why not...  just wait until Clover is up so that she can make the herb bundles in case of emergency." 

Moonlight nodded in agreement.  Judging by her sister's story, they could come in very handy.  "She's usually up pretty early.  I'll wait outside."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Umbreon watched his second eldest kit walk towards the bush den as Sunbeam went back to reading.  He looked at his mate.  "Should we wait for everyone to get up?  Should we even go now, what with Splash and Surf on their trip?"

 

Espeon entwined her tail with his to quiet his worries.  "Think about Moonlight.  Would she want to have a huge party before she left?"

 

She would not.  But it still left the concerns that he had about-

 

"I will be fine," she said quietly, leaning against his shoulder.  Umbreon still wasn't sure how she did things like that.  If he hadn't known any better, he would have said that she could read his mind just as well as anyone else's.

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Everyone already knows that she'd be leaving today anyway," Espeon reasoned.

 

Umbreon shrugged.  "Fair.  I guess."  Part of his reluctance was from his not wanting to leave Espeon again.  Hadn't they done enough of that?  Another part came from his dislike of Dark Cave.

 

But the third...

 

It came back in a familiar feeling.  He knew his daughter.  She'd leave for Dark Cave today, with or without him, no matter what he said or did to stop her.  Now, he HAD to go with her, if not just to protect her from whatever was causing this foreboding premonition that he was getting.

Snow Day Magic (Part 3)

Umbreon listened patiently as his mate finished explaining Splash's present for Surf.  The two Vaporeons were going to be away from camp for at least a week, if not longer, and until then, Espeon, Splash's closest friend, was in charge.  Umbreon got the feeling that he would be helping, too.

Finally, Espeon finished, bounding down from the announcement rock to land next to him.  "Hello, second-in-command," she said quietly with a loving smile.

Umbreon rubbed her cheek.  "Clan leader."

They pulled away after a few seconds, trying to figure out how to run the Eevee Clan.  Umbreon spoke first.  "I think everyone should have the rest of today off.  We all have Snow Day presents, the prey pile is pretty well-stocked, despite it being winter, and it's getting a bit late as it is."

"That sounds good," Espeon replied, leaning her head against Umbreon's shoulder.  "I think the kits want to play in the snow for a bit longer.  We'll have a bit of a chore getting them to settle down later."

Umbreon smiled.  "If by 'them,' you mean Three and Five, yes.  Yes, we will."  The two Eevees in question were playing games in the glittering snow, Five's flower wreath still looped around her ears.  Umbreon didn't think she'd ever take it off.

Umbreon looked away as Moonlight padded up to her parents.  "Mom?  Can I leave camp yet?"

"Tomorrow morning, yes, you may," Espeon replied.  Umbreon was impressed that Moonlight had actually complied with being grounded, though not terribly surprised.  Moonlight still felt guilty, and Espeon was very skilled at keeping their second eldest daughter in line.

Moonlight nodded.  "Thanks, Mom.  In that case, Dad?"

Umbreon wasn't sure where this was going or how he felt about it.  He tried not to show it.  "Yes?"

"Can you take me on my Power Quest?"  The question was, true to Moonlight's personality, straight to the point.

Umbreon hesitated.  "I...  Do you have somewhere in mind?"

"Working on it," the shiny Umbreon responded with a tilt of her head.  "Sunbeam has a book with a map of the region in it.  We're looking for a good place."

"Oh," was all Umbreon could say.  Points to his two evolved daughters for taking initiative, he supposed...

"Did you go somewhere?" Moonlight asked.

Umbreon had to think about it for a bit.  "...I suppose...  But it was accidental."  When Moonlight only watched him expectantly, he continued.  "There's an expansive cave that I was...  Well...  Chased into.  I did learn more about my abilities as a Dark Type there, I guess."  He didn't mention how utterly lost he had been.  That was just after he evolved, before he met Espeon, and not one of his proudest moments. 

He wanted to try and steer Moonlight away from there, but she already nodded.  "Thanks, Dad.  I'll find it on the map with Sunbeam."  She didn't even give Umbreon time to respond before turning around and walking back towards the log den.

Espeon looked at her mate.  "I never heard that story."

"Yeah, I didn't really enjoy it..." Umbreon replied without taking his eyes off of Moonlight.

"You know that she'll want to go there now, don't you?"

"Of course she will.  I can handle it now that I know what I'm doing, it just hasn't left the best impression on me, that's all."

"And you're willing to go to a place that has bad memories for you for your daughter," Espeon finished, speaking what Umbreon was secretly thinking.

Umbreon kept watching Moonlight.  She was strong, rebellious, and resourceful.  How bad could it be?  "Yep," was his only reply.

Snow looked up at the moon, which was just about visible over the trees.  Clover had just decided to turn in for the night.  She had been going to sleep on the early side for a while now, and despite what she said, she was waking up tired.  She was hiding something from Snow.  Why she would do that, Snow had no idea.

They had been best friends for a very long time.  They shared everything with each other.  How many times had Snow told Clover her secret fears or dreams that no one else knew about?  How many times had Clover confided in Snow about her nightmares about the events of last year?  She was still scarred for life from that.  Snow had taken it upon herself to comfort her whenever she had a nightmare, or was insecure about her "other ability" (Snow had promised to avoid saying "wings" simply because it upset Clover), or anything else that troubled her.  They were practically sisters.  Why was Clover keeping secrets from Snow?

Walking silently into her bush den, Snow's eyes took in the Leafeon that was sleeping in her nest near the herbs and berries.  Snow knew her so well.  She looked at Clover's tail.  Every tear, every nick, every notch, every vein.  Unique to every Leafeon, and Snow knew her well enough to be able to place what exactly was where.  She had already, she thought, looking at the miniature ice sculpture that she had made.  Even now, Snow was fairly certain that she was the only one who could tell where her wings were along her sides, and the only ones who could tell what she was thinking better than Snow could were Espeon and Sunbeam.

Snow had resolved since Clover had started acting up that she would not push her friend's privacy.  Both of them knew that she was hiding something, and neither was going to say anything.  Clover knew Snow just as well as Snow knew Clover.  She'd probably tell Snow at some point, but Snow was still hurt that Clover was hiding things from her.  Nevertheless, Snow refused to snoop around.  Clover would tell her when she was ready.  The Glaceon laid down in her nest, listening to her friend's quiet breathing.  It wasn't long before Snow was lulled into a very light sleep.

So light, in fact, that she woke up when Clover stood and carefully climbed out of her nest.  Snow usually slept very deeply, but she slowly became more aware as Clover left the bush den.  Snow blinked herself awake.  If she was leaving the den every night, it was no wonder she was tired in the mornings.  But where was she going?

No matter how many times Snow had told herself that she wouldn't pry, she couldn't stop herself from getting up and looking out the entrance to the den just in time to see Clover's tail vanish through the camp entrance.  She was leaving camp?

Don't do it... Snow thought to herself as she slipped out and followed, her paws silent on the moonlit snow.  She hasn't told you for a reason.  Stop... her mind said as she, too exited camp.

Snow didn't even need her tracking skills.  Clover had left paw prints in the snow as she walked.  Her mind remained firm in her efforts to avoid following Clover, but her paws rebelled, taking her towards wherever the Leafeon had been going.

She walked in the silence of the winter night for some time, dimply aware of where she was going.  She slowed down as the trees thinned.  Clover's paw prints had led her to the small clearing near the stand of beech trees.

In the middle stood Clover.  She was still, deep in thought.  After a few seconds, she took a deep breath and shifted her shoulders, showing her other ability.  "Ok, wings..." she muttered quietly.  "I don't like you and you don't like me.  ...But we're stuck with each other, so let's make the most of it."

Snow stood frozen in place, watching in amazement as Clover leaped into the air, beat her beautiful wings that she was always so ashamed to show to anyone else...

And flew.