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.
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