Ch 3: Moons and Sun

   A full twelve hours had passed and Leafpool still lay unconscious. A small pile of uneaten Sitrus berries sat near her head. Rustfur lay by her side, not having left her since he had laid down beside her the night before.

   Needlefur silently trotted up behind him and called to him quietly,

   "Rustfur, you need to eat something."

   "No, not until my mother wakes up." he said quietly.

   "Rustfur..." Needlefur sighed, "If she was going to come around she would have already. You need to eat something."

   "I'm not moving."

   "Rustfur..."

   "NO!" he stiffly responded.

   "I know this must be hard for you, but-"

   "No, you don't know what this is like for me."

   "Why wouldn't I?"

   "Because you never knew your mother like I know mine!" he shouted angrily, hot tears welling up in his eyes.

   Stung by the barbed truth of this statement, Needlefur was put at a loss for words momentarily. When she regained her power of speech she said quietly,

   "Just because I didn't know my parents doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to see a loved one in pain and not being able to do anything about it."

   "What do you mean?" Rustfur sniffed, having calmed down somewhat.

   "Well, several years ago, Ravenpaw came down with a mysterious illness."

   "What happened?" asked Rustfur, now completely focused on Needlefur's story.

   "One night, two years ago, in the Kanto Daycare, Torrentpaw and I were awoken by a strange noise, which sounded like a creature in pain. at first niehter of us knew what could be causing it, but some small voice inside me told me that something was very wrong. It was then that we spotted a dull blue glow coming from behind a small hill a short distance away. The cry then came again, but much sharper than before, and suddenly I knew what the sound was.

   'Ravenpaw!'

   I increased my pace to a swift run. When I crested the hill, I saw Ravenpaw lying on the ground, trembling slightly, and crying out softly. When I reached his side I noticed that the blue glow was emanating from the once-yellow rings on his body. When Torrentpaw caught up to me he asked worriedly,

   'What's wrong?'

   'I...I don't know.' I said.

   Upon hearing our voices, Ravenpaw slowly opened his eyes. He struggled to raise is jet-black head to meet our gaze.

   'M-mom, Dad? Is that you?' he murmured weakly as he looked at each of us through eyes filled with tears born of intense pain.

   'What happened?!' Torrentpaw and I exclaimed simultaneously.

   Before he could answer our question, his whole body was shaken violently by a horrible series of convulsions. As if in reaction to this, the glow coming from the rings on his body intensified and from his throat ripped a cry filled with incredible pain.

   'Aaaaggggghhhhh!!'

   That cry that issued from his mouth was filled with so much pain that it felt like a piece of my soul was being torn out of me." Here Needlefur paused to calm down, as recalling the memory of almost losing her second son had brought her to the verge of tears. Rustfur took advantage of this pause to ask,

   "What caused the illness?"

   Needlefur took a deep breath and continued,

   "When morning came and Ravenpaw had recovered enough to tell torrentpaw and I what had happened, he told us it was caused by what our Trainer called a 'blue moon'. Apparently, then are extremely rare and most Pokemon and their Trainers go their whole life without seeing even one. Due to Eevee's being evolved into Umbreons by the radiation that the moon gives off, only Umbreons are affected. It was the radiation of this blue moon that caused Ravenpaw's rings to glow blue instead of their usual yellow. It's said that if you see a blue moon you are to be considered extremely lucky. However, that night, I felt anything but lucky."

   "I wonder if I'll ever see a blue moon." Rustfur wondered out loud.

   "You already have."

   "Hunh?"

   You've already seen one," Needlefur replied as she sat down. "I'll never forget it, for three big reasons. One, I was worried that Ravenpaw would be struck with the condition again, but he assured me he would be fine, as Umbreons are only affected by a blue moon once, because a small amount of the radiation remains in their body and provides them an immunity to the illness. Two, it's nigh impossible for there to be two blue moons in such a small space as two years. Reason three, and the biggest reason of all; the blue moon occured the night you were born."

   "What?!" Rustfur exclaimed as he almost fell over in shock. "Are you serious?!"

   "Absolutely serious." she replied flatly.

   "Why don't I remember it then?" Rustfur questioned.

   "Hmmhmmhmm, you weren't an hour old yet." replied Needlefur with a slight chuckle.

   "Where were Swiftclaw and Frostpelt that night when Ravenpaw was sick?"

   "They weren't born yet."

   "Oh, I see." Rustfur said quietly. "Needlefur, could you excuse me for a minute?"

   Needlefur nodded politely.

   "Of course."

   As she watched the small lonely figure walk slowly back to the unconscious form still lying on the ground, she turned away and blinked back tears welling up in her eyes at the heartbreaking sight. She then saw Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw approaching, a hopeful look in their eyes.

   Needlefur arose and walked over to them. As she neared them, Swiftclaw spoke up,

   "I think we've figured out a way to use Morning Sun or Moonlight on another Pokemon."

   "Really?" asked Needlefur, "How?"

   "If one of use uses Morning Sun or Moonlight, the other can capture the healing energy with Psychic and redirect it into the intended body. However, due to Morning Sun and Moonlight being comprised of pure energy, and the fact that both of the users must sustain the attacks until the maneuver is finished, this is extremely tiring to perform." commented Swiftclaw.

   Needlefur shot an inquisitive glance at each of them and asked,

   "Do both of you feel up to trying it out?"

   "Absolutely."

   "Of course." replied Ravenpaw, "Whatever it takes to heal Leafpool."

   The three of them continued towards Rustfur and his unconscious mother. When they were within earshot they could hear him crying softly and were clearly able to see his small body shaking with each sob. He looked up when Swiftclaw flicked him lightly on the ear with his pronged tail as they passed.

   "Rustfur, Swiftclaw and Ravenpaw believe they have found a way to heal your mother. They'll need a bit of space to do it though, so they need you to step back for a short time." said Needlefur.

   "Are you sure that it'll work?" Rustfur asked excitedly, looking up at Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw, a look of pure hope beaming from his tear-stained face.

   "Yes, although we'll only be able to do this once today. Morning Sun should have better effect due to your mother's body being part plant." replied Swiftclaw.

   "Okay, I guess we could try it." Rustfur sniffed, glancing back at his mother's body.

   Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw nodded understandingly and took a couple steps back from Leafpool. Rustfur and Needlefur did the same, to allow some space for the procedure that was about to be performed.

   Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw stood on opposite sides of Leafpool. Their eyes met for a split second and they both nodded slightly and knew exactly what they had to do.

   The jewel on Swiftclaw's forehead began to glow brightly as a ray of sunlight parted the gray early morning clouds and shot towards him.

   "Ravenpaw, now!" he called while looking at the rapidly descending sunbeam.

   Ravenpaw's normally red eyes took on an eerie blue glow that reminded Needlefur of that night when she almost lost him. She felt a chill run down her spine but continued watching. Just before the ray of light hit Swiftclaw it curved off at a sharp angle and illuminated Leafpool's body.

   Rustfur watched in awe while Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw worked in tandem to pump life-giving energy into his mother. When the light of Morning Sun faded, Ravenpaw and his younger brother collapsed. Rustfur bolted to his mother's side, asking quietly,

   "Mom? Mom, can you hear me?" When there was no response for some time, he called out again, in a slightly louder tone of voice, "Mom, if you can hear me, say something."

   Still nothing.

   Rustfur's voice had now risen to a shout.

   "Mom, please answer me!"

   No response.

   It didn't work. thought Rustfur, tears building up in his eyes for the second time that day.

   "Mom! Mom, please! Don't die! Please! Say something!"

   Needlefur stepped forward to comfort him, but Swiftclaw, who had just stood up, blocked her path with his tail.

   "Let him be." he said wearily.

   "Mom...please. I don't want you to die. Please...wake up." Rustfur said weakly as his tears splashed one by one onto his mother's head. When Rustfur opened his eyes to wipe them with the back of his paw, he noticed a tear that had rolled down his mother's face come to rest just above her mouth. Just as he closed his eyes again he heard an interesting sound. Upon opening his eyes to investigate the noise, he saw his mother's tongue flick out and lap up the tear. He fell back in astonishment. Swiftclaw's idea had worked!

   "M-mom? Can you hear me?" Rustfur asked, almost unable to believe that his mother was alive.

   "Rustfur? Is...is that you?" she murmured quietly.

   "Yes, it is." he sniffed.

   "What's wrong, Rustfur? It...it looks like you've been crying. Are you okay?" Leafpool asked beween deep breaths.

   "I thought you were, well..." He paused here as he tried to think of a word other thatn the rather harsh one that was the only one he could think of.

   "You thought I was what?"

   He finally decided to just come out and say it.

   "I thought you were dead."

   Leafpool's eyes opened wide when she heard this. She spoke quietly to Rustfur, who had broken down into a fresh bout of tears.

   "Oh, Rustfur, come here."

   He padded over and lay next to his mother. She pulled herself into a slightly more comfortable position where she was able to reach Rustfur's head.

   "Hush now. It's okay. Everything will be all right." she cooed, while gently drawing her tongue over his small brown head. "I would happily sacrifice my life several times over so that you could lead a full and happy life, and maybe find someone to settle down with."

   "Leafpool!"

   She looked up from Rustfur to see Ravenpaw, Swiftclaw, and Needlefur standing over her, a look of pure joy on each of their faces.

   "Hello. Where's everyone else?" she asked.

   "They're out collecting berries in the forest, but sould be getting back soon." replied Needlefur.

   "Is there anything we can get for you?" inquired Ravenpaw.

   "Actually, I am rather thirsty. It turns out tears aren't very good for satisfying thirst." she chuckled, looking down at Rustfur, who was smiling back at her through eyes shining with unshed tears of happiness.

   "We'll get it for you." said Ravenpaw, with a quick glance at Swiftclaw. "We could use a drink as well, after all the work we did."

   "I'll go too." added Rustfur, standing and blinking the tears out of his eyes.

   Needlefur walked up to Leafpool and sat down a short distance away. She  spoke to Leafpool like a mother would speak to her offspring.

   "It's good that you're still with us. Life would be very different if you hadn't some around."

   Well, let's just say I'm not ready to leave Rustfur and Fireheart just yet." Leafpool answered, a small twinkle of laughter in her eye.

   She turned her gaze away from the Jolteon sitting next to her towards the small Pokemon walking away from her, followed closely on each side by his uncles. Both of his ears stood straight up, as if he remembered something. He turned and jogged back to his mother, calling over his shoulder,

   "Hold on guys, I'll be right back."

   When he reached his mother, he softly licked her between the ears as she always did before he would fall asleep and whispered,

   "I love you."

   "I love you too." she responded, returning his kiss with a small lick on his cheek. "Run along. I'll catch up with you later if my leg will let me."

   Rustfur nodded and ran back to Ravenpaw and Swiftclaw, who were waiting where he had left them. As the trio continued towards the Daycare pond, they remained silent, the smiles on their faces saying everything.