Ch 12: You're Not Alone

   A bright light shining through Rustfur's eyelids slowly brought him around. He soon wished he hadn't; he could feel every heartbeat pounding like a trip hammer in the back of his head. It was some time before he had enough strength to stand up. When he did, the first thing he saw was a good sized crater directly in front of him. Looking down into the hole, he saw Dusk's broken body at the bottom.

   Looking up again, he just happened to glance across the crater and spot a small pile  on the other side. Something deep inside him told him to hurry. As he neared the small heap, he could clearly see that it was colored brown.

   "Sapphire! No!" he shouted hoarsely, immediately by her side. "Sapphire! Say something! Please!" Even as he said this, he felt tears forcing themselves into his eyes. He couldn't believe it; he had lost the one he cared about the most.

   Sapphire found herself standing in the middle of a large grassy field. Looking around, she couldn't see any other Pokemon at all. She was startled when she heard someone call out her name.

   "Sapphire!"

   Whirling quickly, she was astonished at what she saw. An Umbreon and Espeon were slowly padding towards her. Running towards them, she asked, "Mom? Dad?"

   The two figures said nothing, but when Sapphire reached them she knew instantly that they were her parents. For the first time in a long time she felt safe and completely happy.

   "I've missed you so much. I thought I'd never see either of you again."

   The Umbreon spoke in a tender, motherly voice, "Sapphire, you've grown so much." Saying this, the Umbreon bent and licked Sapphire warmly on her head.

   "I'm so glad you're okay. Now we can always be together, and nothing will ever separate us again." Sapphire said happily.

   This time the Espeon spoke, "No, Sapphire, we can't."

   "W-why?" she asked, eyes wide.

   "Because," the Umbreon began, "this is just a dream."

   "N-no..." stammered Sapphire, backing away and shaking her head in disbelief. "It's too real to be a dream."

   "Sapphire, listen." the Espeon said firmly. "You're asleep. We're here to warn you."

   "About what?" she wondered, still reluctant to believe this was a dream.

   "In the near future, you will come across someone who is known as a Pokemon Hunter. If you're not careful, you will be caught." the Umbreon cautioned.

   Sapphire was a little unnerved by this news, but she didn't worry about it right now. "If this is a dream, will I ever see you again?" she asked, sadness clearly evident in her voice.

   "Only time will tell." her father said calmly. Having said this, he and Sapphire's mother slowly began fading away.

   "NO! Don't go! I don't want to lose you again!" cried Sapphire, tears streaming from her deep blue eyes. "You're the only two who've ever loved me!"

   Rustfur noticed a strange noise coming from Sapphire. Was she crying? That meant she was alive. "Sapphire? It's okay, I'm here." he called softly to her, as she snuffled and wriggled back and forth in her sleep. Rustfur sat down next to her and began gently caressing her trembling head with his tongue.

   "No...no! Don't leave me! Please don't go!"

   Rustfur now knew why she was crying. She was dreaming about her parents.

   "No! Please! Don't leave!" As her parents slowly faded, so too did the sunny field they were in. Just before they completely disappeared, Sapphire heard them both say,

   "We love you, Sapphire."

   They then vanished, the field disappearing too, leaving a void blacker than midnight. Sapphire stood cowering in the black space, feeling terrified and alone.

   Her own voice sounded small and scared. "Mom? Dad? Please...come back. I-I'm scared." she pleaded, glancing back and forth nervously. A voice from the darkness startled her.

   "Sapphire, you're not alone." The voice sounded surprisingly like her mother's. "There is someone who does care about you, and you know them better than you might think."

   With her mother's words echoing through her mind, Sapphire blinked several times against the bright sunlight.

   "Rustfur? Is that you?"

   When her eyes became accustomed to the light, Sapphire saw Rustfur seated at her head. "Sapphire, you're okay." he sighed, his voice weak with relief.

   "Ugh. What happened? Wait, where's Dusk!?"

   "Apparently, you killed him."

   "What?"

   "Take a look." Rustfur offered.

   With a good amount of effort, Sapphire stood up and turned around. Sating open-mouthed at the large hole in the ground, she turned to Rustfur and asked, "Did I do that?"

   "You mean you don't know if you did that?"

   "Not really. I was only worried about protecting you." she said shyly.

   Rustfur smiled, remembering when he had said the same thing to her. "Thank you." he replied softly. "So," Rustfur turned to the tree that Sapphire had pushed into the clearing. "What were you doing with this tree anyway?"

   "Training."

   "Training?"

   "Yes. After my father died, I promised myself that I would become stronger."

   "If you don't mind me asking, why?"

   "So if I ever met someone that I cared deeply for, I could protect them with all of my strength."

   Rustfur felt something deep inside him twinge. Did what she had just said mean that... His thoughts were interrupted when Sapphire continued to speak.

   "Rustfur, you're the first, other than my parents, that has shown kindness to me." she said warmly, drawing up against him. "You've saved my life twice. You care about me. No one has ever cared about me. I've always been untrusting of everyone I've met. That is, before I met you."

   What she said next took him completely by surprise, even though he had wanted to hear it ever since he had met her.

   "Rustfur, I love you."

   Rustfur now knew what his father had meant when he said "different kind of love." He was relieved; now that he knew how Sapphire felt towards him, it would be much easier to tell her his feelings.

   Staring into the deep cerulean eyes that perfectly matched her name, he said quietly,

   "I love you too."

   Sapphire placed her head on Rustfur's shoulder. Tilting his head slightly, Rustfur laid his head lightly on Sapphire's own. Sapphire now understood what her mother had told her in her dream. Thank you, Mom. You were right, there is someone who loves me. Thank you for telling me. Life will be much easier with Rustfur by my side. Sapphire silently thanked her mother for telling her how Rustfur felt towards her. Then, closing her ocean-hued eyes, she snuggled up against him, enjoying the warmth and the soft, fluffy feel of his brown fur.

   For what seemed like an eternity to them, they remained still and reveled in their newfound feelings for each other. This was only disturbed by a slight sniff from Sapphire.

   "What's wrong?" asked Rustfur, in a concerned voice.

   "I'm fine." Sapphire reassured him, ears straight up, as she listened intently to whatever she had scented. "Something's out there." she finally said.

   Rustfur didn't doubt her for a second; she could probably hear the wingbeat of a Fearow, half a mile away on a misty day. "Do you have any idea what it might be?"

   "No." Sapphire answered quietly, still focusing her keen hearing on finding out what was approaching them. She sniffed the breeze once more and then responded, "It smells familiar though."

   Rustfur sniffed the air as well, but his sense of smell wasn't as acute as Sapphire's was, so he couldn't smell a thing.

   "Let's get up against the log." Rustfur suggested.

   Sapphire nodded and followed him to what used to be the top of the tree. As Rustfur cautiously poked his head around the end of the tremendous log, a gust of wind came whistling through the trees and hit him directly in the face, ruffling his fur. This strong breeze also carried a familiar scent. The sight of two Pokemon stepping out of the foliage confirmed the smell.

   "Mom! Dad!"

   Rustfur jumped out from behind the fallen tree and sped towards his approaching parents.

   Seeing their son coming towards them, they broke into a run, calling out his name.

   "Rustfur!"

   Knowing now that there was no threat, Sapphire stepped out from behind the tree and padded after Rustfur.

   Leafpool was the first to reach her son. "Where've you been? When we woke up this morning and couldn't find you, we thought Dusk might have taken you." As she reprimanded him, she also placed lick after lick on the top of his small head.

   "Actually, Mom, Dusk won't be bothering anyone anymore."

   "Why?" asked Fireheart, stepping up behind his mate.

   "He's dead." Rustfur answered bluntly.

   "Dead? How?" his parents asked in unison, eyes wide at this hard-to-believe statement.

   "I killed him."

   Rustfur had no need to turn around to see who was speaking. He knew the familiar tone of Sapphire's voice like he knew the back of his paw.

   "You did?" Leafpool said in astonishment, staring wide-eyed at the small blue-eyed Eevee.

   Sapphire nodded and replied, "Yes, I did. When I saw Dusk knock Rustfur unconscious, I guess my quick temper got the better of me and I sort of lost it."

   "Thank you, Sapphire." Fireheart said solemnly, dipping his head to her.

   "Y-you're welcome." she stammered, blushing slightly at having Rustfur's father personally thank her. She felt slightly awkward, until Rustfur tapped her shoulder with his tail. Looking over at him, she rested her head on his left shoulder. As she stared deeply into his soft hazel eyes, all of her cares and worries disappeared.

   "Rustfur?"

   He nearly jumped out of his skin when his mother called his name. Leafpool chuckled to herself. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was only going to ask you if you were hungry."

   With all the excitement in the past couple days, Rustfur had forgotten that he hadn't eaten at all during that period.

   "You're right. I am hungry." he said, stomach gurgling slightly.

   "Good. Let's go and find some lunch, then." Fireheart suggested.

   "Lunch?" Rustfur echoed.

   "Yes, lunch. If you look down you'll notice that you have almost no shadow. It's almost noon." His mother explained. Saying this, she turned and began walking towards the forest. She signaled for Rustfur to follow her with a swish of her tail.

   Rustfur set off after his mother, with Sapphire at his side. They ducked into the undergrowth where Leafpool had disappeared, their tail-tips slightly twined together.

   Coming back into the clearing where they had woken up, Rustfur noticed Needlefur and Torrentpaw padding out of the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing, carrying something.

   Nearing them, the Jolteon and her mate set their mouthfuls on the ground and called out to their son.

   "Good, I see you found Rustfur."

   "We've got some food for you."

   Rustfur and Sapphire increased their pace to meet Needlefur. Reaching her, they noticed there weren't many berries. The other item was a medium-sized, shiny red piece of fruit Rustfur hadn't see before. He turned to Sapphire and asked, "What is that?"

   "It's an apple."

   Rustfur was about to start eating when he saw Sapphire bending down to eat the berries. "Here, Sapphire, eat this." he offered, nosing the apple towards her.

   "No, you take it." she gently refused, pushing it back with her paw.

   "You need it more than I do. You haven't eaten in two days either, and you've fought Softpaw and Dusk. Take it. It's okay." he insisted, pushing the apple back to her.

   "Fine, if you insist." she answered, a touch of laughter in her response. "Then you at least eat the berries." she added softly, nudging the four Pecha berries over to him.

   Rustfur nodded and bent down to eat the small pink berries. As he took a bite of one and chewed, relishing it's sweet taste, he glanced at Sapphire and suppressed a giggle; she'd just taken a bite of the juicy apple and had several drops of the juice running down her chin. His whole body shook as he desperately tried to prevent from spewing his mouthful of berry everywhere.

   "Mmmff!"

   Sapphire looked over at Rustfur and asked, "What's wrong?"

   It took him a little bit to stop laughing enough so that he could swallow his mouthful and be able to answer. When he finally did, he said, still giggling slightly, "You-you've got something on your face." He could no longer conceal his mirth and he finally gave way to peals of laughter.

   "Hahahahaha! Heeheehee!"

   "What's so funny?" demanded Sapphire.

   Rustfur was still giggling uncontrollably and he could only say two words, "Y-your face!"

   Sapphire brushed a paw over her face to see what he was talking about, and it came away sticky. She still didn't see what he was laughing at, so she turned to a small puddle that was next to her. Suddenly she knew the cause of Rustfur's laughter. Gazing into the water's reflective surface, she noticed that the fur on her chin was sticking out at odd angles.

   "I guess I was eating a little too quickly." she said sheepishly. However, Rustfur's laughter was extremely contagious, and soon she was giggling along with him.

   "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." apologized Rustfur, his giggles finally subsiding enough for him to speak.

   "It's all right." Sapphire said, breathless from all her laughing. "I needed a good laugh."

   Rustfur stood up and stepped toward her. "Let me help you."

   She sat still, eyes closed and smiling peacefully as Rustfur drew his soft tongue over the sticky patch of fur on her chin, effectively cleaning it. Normally, she would have blushed hotly at his touch, but she was now much more comfortable around him than she used to be. When he withdrew his tongue from her face she leaned forward and brushed against his cheek with her own, saying softly, "Thank you." Rustfur responded by gently placing a loving lick just under her nicked ear.

   "We need to get moving again. We don't know how long Eric will be gone, and all this business with Dusk has hung us up quite a bit.

   Rustfur overheard Needlefur and Torrentpaw speaking with his parents. He'd entirely forgotten the whole reason he and his family were in the forest.

   Sapphire was confused. "Where were you and your family headed?" she asked, glancing at Rustfur.

   "We came into the forest in pursuit of Team Galactic." he answered, his eyes becoming cold as he recalled how they had nearly killed his mother.

   "You didn't tell me that." Sapphire replied.

   "I completely forgot about it the night I met you." he answered sweetly, his eyes softening as he looked at the smiling azure-eyed Eevee pressed up against his side.

   "Do you mind if I tag along with you and your family?" she asked quietly. "I've got a score to settle with Team Galactic as well."

   "Sapphire, you don't need to ask. You're part of the family now. You can go anywhere we do." Rustfur answered warmly.

   "Thank you. You don't know what it means to me to hear that." she said happily, nuzzling Rustfur's cheek.

   The soft noise of paws padding across the dry earth caused Sapphire to look up, over her shoulder. Rustfur followed her gaze, spotting his parents coming towards him. His father called out to him, asking, "Did you get enough to eat?"

   Rustfur nodded and answered, "Yep." He then looked at Sapphire and asked softly, "Did you get enough?"

   "Mmmhmm." she responded, smiling contentedly.

   "If you're both full, then lte's go meet up with everyone else." Leafpool suggested.

   "All right." Rustfur said, standing up. Sapphire stood up as well, padding right alongside him. Merely being in his presence gave her a satisfying sense of safety, but there was something in the back of her mind that made her feel slightly uneasy.

   Unfortunately, she had no clue what it was.