literature

Ch 13: Let the Rain Fall

Deviation Actions

Eeveexpert's avatar
By
Published:
1.1K Views

Literature Text

   Rustfur stood lightly on his feet, senses alert, prepared to dodge the imminent attack. However, he had no idea which direction it would be launched from.

   It had been a little over one day since Rustfur and his family had escaped from Dusk and his minions, with a new friend and family member. Rustfur gave a shout of surprise as he was knocked clean off his feet by a heavy impact.

   As he tumbled head over tail with his attacker still on top of him, he heard a voice call out to him,

   "Extend your paws now and try to throw me!"

   Rustfur attempted to perform the move, but couldn't throw the weight of his assaulter off him. He came skidding to a stop on his back, his adversary effortlessly pinning him down with one paw. Looking up, he saw Sapphire standing over him. He squirmed in an effort to free himself, but soon gave up.

   "I give! I give! I'm done. You win."

   Sapphire removed her paw from Rustfur's chest allowing him to sit up. Shaking his head to stop it swimming, he sat up slowly. It always amazed him how much strength Sapphire had in her legs. She had prevented him from rising with just one paw, and she was smaller than him, though not by much.

   "Wanna keep going?" she asked, a touch of a laugh in her voice.

   "No, no, I know when I'm beat." he replied, slightly winded from the effort.

   "Okay, just remember, when you're going to throw someone like that, you've got to roll backwards and extend your paws almost at the same time, and the quicker the better."

   "How do you know all this?" Rustfur asked, amazed.

   "My father taught me." she answered solemnly.

   "Oh..." he said quietly, not wanting to push the sensitive subject further.

   There was an awkward silence following Rustfur's comment. He began nervously licking his tail to hide his embarrassment. He was so occupied with this, he didn't notice Sapphire until she brushed up against him.

   "Rustfur, it's okay. You don't have to be shy about that subject around me."

   "Okay, I understand." he murmured compassionately.

   "Well, how did the first day of training go?"

   Recognizing the voice, Rustfur turned and saw his mother coming towards him.

   "I've still got a lot to learn before I'm half as skilled as Sapphire." he said, smiling at her and standing up stiffly.

   "Are you okay?" Leafpool's voice was suddenly filled with concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"

   Hearing the note of anxiety in her voice, Sapphire became a little uneasy. Her ears came down and she began nervously kneading the ground with her forepaws, staring at the space between them.

   Rustfur noticed his and quickly came to her defense. "Mom! Sapphire would never hurt me! I'm fine!"

   His mother was slightly surprised at the level of his voice; Rustfur was normally calm and even-tempered. But when she saw how Sapphire smiled at him and nuzzled up against his side, Leafpool knew why he had said what he did, and the tone he said it in.

   "I'm sorry Sapphire. I didn't mean anything against you."

   The young Eevee looked towards Leafpool and answered, "I understand. You're his mother and it's natural for you to worry about him." As she finished speaking, Sapphire looked back to Rustfur and lightly brushed his cheek with her nosetip.

   "What I actually came over to tell you was that Fireheart is back and there are berries waiting for you both, if you're hungry."

   "I could do with something to eat." Sapphire responded. "What about you?" she finished, glancing at Rustfur.

   "That sounds good." he answered, stretching slightly to loosen his sore muscles.

   Sapphire stood up and followed Rustfur, who began padding after his mother. A short distance later they came to a small, grassy copse encircled by trees. Off to one side, in the shade of a tree, Ravenpaw was curled up, sleeping soundly. He was asleep because he had acted as lookout through the night. Glancing around, Rustfur caught sight of his father just across the clearing.

   Rustfur started towards him, calling out as he went. "Hey, Dad, what's for breakfast?"

   Fireheart smiled and answered, "Your favorite."

   Hearing his good news, Rustfur increased his pace with Sapphire matching his faster stride. They quickly reached the small pile of berries sitting in front of the smiling Flareon.

   "There's some for you as well, Sapphire." Fireheart added in a fatherly tone.

   Sapphire couldn't help but return Fireheart's kindly smile. Since she had joined up with Rustfur's family, his parents had treated her like one of their own children. Maybe they had sensed that she was an orphan. She didn't question it much, she felt happy, and that was all that mattered. "Thank you." she responded politely, crouching down to take a bit of the soft pink berry.

   Rustfur respectfully stood to one side and patiently waited for Sapphire to eat her fill. When she finished, she stood back up licking her lips. "All right, your turn, Rustfur."

   He nodded and stepped forward to eat his share.  As he chewed his first bite, he was startled when a warm, soft body brushed against him. Hastily swallowing his mouthful, he looked to his left and saw Sapphire sitting next to him.

   "Thank you, but you don't have to treat me any different now that we love each other. Treat me like you would treat your best friend." she whispered into his ear.

   "But you are my best friend," he answered. "besides, I'm only acting how my father does. But if you insist on me just being myself, then I will." he added softly.

   "Rustfur..." Sapphire began quietly, "Sometimes you remind me so much of my father. That's just one of the things that I love about you."

   Rustfur felt his hear swell with pride at Sapphire's compliment. She truly loved him; there was no denying it, he had a friend for life. He felt the same way towards her, and everything felt absolutely perfect. He gently rested his chin between Sapphire's ears and took in her warn, comforting scent and the soft touch of her brown coat. He lightly felt her tongue brush over his cream-colored neckfur in a loving gesture. Then in a voice barely above a whisper she asked, "Did you get enough to eat?"

   Her question brought him back to reality. Then he realized he had only taken one bite. "Now that you mention it, I am still hungry." he answered, still light-headed with happiness.

   "Go on then, finish eating. I'll wait." she said, smiling.

   "Thank you." He nodded and bent down to resume eating. He was halfway through his second berry when he noticed Sapphire turn around. Still chewing, he turned around as well as spotted his mother padding towards him.

   "Did you two get enough to eat?" she inquired.

   Sapphire nodded politely in response. Rustfur spoke up, through a mouthful of sweet Pecha berry, "Mmmf. Not quite yet. I've still got one more berry to finish." Swallowing what he had in his mouth, he turned again and bit off another mouthful. Both Sapphire and Leafpool sat watching him finish off the pink berries. When he sat back up, having finished his meal, he, once again, had sticky berry juice on his face, although only in a small spot on his cheek. Before Leafpool could do or say anything, Sapphire stepped forward.

   "It's not as bad this time, but it still looks like you've got half of your last berry on your face." she said, a hint of laughter clearly evident in her voice as she brought her muzzle up to clean the stickiness from his fur. "There, that's better. You've got to learn to slow down when you eat." she added her azure eyes twinkling with amusement.

   "Fine." Rustfur snorted good-naturedly, pressing himself against her side.

   Leafpool silently watched her son pressed up against the one he cared for so much. Rustfur hadn't yet told her or Fireheart that he loved Sapphire; but it wasn't hard to see that he did. She had often noticed the way his eyes shone when he was around the young, blue-eyed Eevee. A yawn from behind caught Leafpool's attention and also that of the two Eevees. Across the clearing, Ravenpaw had woken up. He was in the process of stretching when Rustfur reached him; Sapphire closely following him. Sniffing the air, Ravenpaw greeted them. "I don't suppose you two saved any food for me?" he joked, raising a hind leg to scratch behind his coal-black ear.

   "Sorry, no. We didn't." Rustfur said, a little sheepishly.

   "Don't worry about it. I'll find something while we walk." Ravenpaw reassured him. "By the way, has my mom said anything about when we're breaking camp?"

   "Not yet, but I'm guessing it'll be soon, because all of us are awake now."

   Ravenpaw knew who it was before he even turned around. As he did so, he saw Fireheart coming towards him.

   "Swiftclaw and Frostpelt are already up?" Rustfur asked.

   As if summoned by his words, the two Pokemon pushed their way into the clearing.

   "Yes, we're both awake." Swiftclaw replied followed up by Frostpelt's quip, "Because we didn't have to keep watch last night."

   Ravenpaw gave a low but friendly growl. "Don't forget, you two get to keep watch tonight."

   "Yeah, you're right." Swiftclaw responded.

   Sapphire thought she could hear a hint of resignation in the Espeon's voice, and so she offered, "If you don't want to keep watch tonight, I will for you."

   "That's all right." Frostpelt answered. "You might be a little too young."

   "What?"

   Rustfur could sense Sapphire's quick temper brewing and before it could completely surface, he quickly cut in. "I don't see why she couldn't; she did beat Dusk, twice actually."

   "Good point." Swiftclaw agreed. "I guess you could try tomorrow night. Rustfur, you can too, if it's okay with your parents."

   "Of course." they said in unison.

   "Good, Ravenpaw, you're up."

   Hearing his name, the Umbreon looked away from his Espeon and Glaceon brothers to see his parents approaching, side by side. He called out to them, "I take it we're leaving now?"

   Torrentpaw merely nodded in response. As he and his Jolteon mate padded across the grassy clearing, the other Pokemon fell in behind them. Heading into the forest, Rustfur noticed several puffy clouds bunching up over the horizon. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he turned and trotted after Sapphire.

   As the shadows in the forest lengthened, the clouds Rustfur had noticed had become significantly darker and there was a heavy feeling upon the cool breeze that rippled through the trees. His ear twitched at a low rumble in the distance. Suddenly a small, wet object smacked him in the eye.

   "Ouch..."

   "What's the matter?" Sapphire asked, looking at him.

   "Something hit me in the eye."

   "It was probably a raindrop." she commented. "There's a storm coming."

   "How can you tell?" he asked, blinking repeatedly to get the offending water drop out of his eye.

   "The air is stiller than usual." she answered matter-of-factly.

   Rustfur paused to figure out how she could tell the difference in the air when another fat raindrop hit him square in the face, followed by another, and another, until it was coming down in sheets. A brilliant flash startled him slightly; but the resultant thunderclap almost caused him to jump out of his fur.

   "What was that?"

   "Thunder and lightning." Sapphire said calmly, not at all bothered by the loud noise.

   Fireheart irritably shook himself, scattering droplets everywhere. "Let's find some shelter before I'm soaked through to the bone." he muttered, flicking his ears uncomfortably.

   "You're right." agreed Ravenpaw.

   "Look! Just up ahead!"

   The eight other Pokemon hurried under the low overhanging branch that Needlefur had indicated. The tightly woven ceiling of branches and leaves provided an excellent shelter against the watery deluge. Fireheart rasped his tongue over his orange and yellow pelt to remove the excess water from it, as there was no room to shake it off in the small space. Soon it was completely dry and back to its original fluffy state. He called Rustfur over to him so he could keep him warm and comfortable.

   Rustfur got up from where he and Sapphire were drying themselves off, and walked over to his father. He pressed himself into his father's red-orange fur and felt his body warmth seep into his still-damp fur.

   "Sapphire, come on over." Rustfur invited, indicating that she could take his place. She stood up and stepped to Fireheart's side, sitting down where Rustfur had sat briefly before. As she brushed against Rustfur's father, she was surprised at how warm it was. A soft feeling caused her to look to her right; Rustfur was sitting next to her, staring out into the dark, rain-drenched forest. She didn't know whether it was the comforting warmth from Fireheart's fur or the rhythmic patter of the rain on the forest floor; but suddenly she felt drowsy. Her cobalt eyes slowly closed and her head dipped. Rustfur, by chance, looked down at Sapphire. She was sound asleep, breathing softly. A warm smile appeared on his face; Sapphire looked so peaceful curled up beside him. He couldn't imagine his life without her by his side.

   "I'm proud of you."

   Rustfur looked up and saw his father looking back at him, a smile on his face as well. "For what?" he asked, unsure of what his father meant.

   "I can see you're very fond of her." Fireheart said understandingly. "You're growing up so fast." he added, a faraway look in his eyes.

   Rustfur could feel himself blushing at his father's extremely kind words. However, when he looked down at Sapphire, his uneasiness melted away. Suddenly, he opened his mouth wide in an enormous yawn; he must have been more tired than he thought. He curled up next to Sapphire, and as the veil of sleep slowly covered him, he was vaguely aware of his father gently licking his ear. Then, finally, he drifted into sleep.
Ah, it feels good to be back to a bit of normalcy; you know, getting back to my friends at school and the like. I rather like this chapter, because after all the fighting and action in the past ones, it's kind of refreshing to write a peaceful, emotional chapter for a change(hence the title). Enjoy.

P.S.: Those of you who type stories directly into DA, please refrain from hitting the Escape key halfway through your submission. Thank you.

P.P.S.: I meant to put this up with the last chapter, but I methinks it might go better with this chapter ==>[link] (Guess who's relationship this fits.)
Yeah, I know it's country, just bear with me and listen to the lyrics.

Next Chapter ==>[link]

If you're coming across this chapter and haven't read the Prologue, click this ==>[link]

Pokemon and all related characters and names copyright Nintendo, 1995-2007
© 2007 - 2024 Eeveexpert
Comments8
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Wes1234's avatar
Well, I don't have to worry about the escape key because I type my fanfic in WordPad. :P

Everyone pretty much said what I feel about Rustfur and Sapphire. And it is nice to take a breather from all the action and drama that has taken place in the previous chapters. It gives us all a chance to let our minds relax a little. Great plotting! Next one, now... I just can't get enough of this fanfic! lol