PLEASE NOTE: I do not own Pokémon, and I have to say that I’m kind of proud of it, because the idea of capturing animal-like creatures to make them fight each other is pretty sick, actually. Be this as it may, every species of Pokémon referred to in the following text and everything else that is a part of the Pokémon franchise is the property of their rightful owner, however, the actual story belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended.


WARNING: This story contains sexual intercourse between one female and one male Pokémon. This story may also contain incest. If this bothers you in some way, then I advise you not to read further. I am not responsible for any kinds of mental damages that this story may or may not cause.


Thank you.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Ruin of the Meek

Part 2: They cannot go back



The sky had become cloudy, but it did not look like it was going to rain. Every now and then a dim light managed to shine through the foggy gray layer that made the night even darker. The air seemed to be heavy and unforgiving; then again, everything did. Moon could hardly even feel her legs anymore as she simply kept walking, her father’s weight almost completely resting on her.
It had been hours since they had left their den in search of a new home, and Moon couldn’t help but wonder when the sun would finally come up. It appeared to her like she had been walking for an entire day already. She could hear the river flowing somewhere to their left. This was the only direction they had; when looking for a place to settle down, it was always a good idea to stay near the water.
Whenever she looked at her father she could see his head hung low. The yellow rings in his fur were almost invisible. They were hardly even glowing anymore, and thus they had more or less been consumed by the dark parts of the Umbreon’s fur. Pharion’s paws moved slowly and somewhat automatically. It was clear to Moon that he did not know where they were going or why they were walking at all. She did not know what he was thinking about, or what he would do if he suddenly could not lean on her anymore. He would probably just fall over and not get up again.
Moon turned her head back to what lay in front of her and clenched her teeth. All she could feel was a certain numbness that slowly seemed to take control over her body and an irritatingly large amount of pain whenever she moved a muscle. However, she knew she had to stay focused and keep walking. What mattered the most was to get her father as far away from their former home as she could; everything else was secondary.
It was hard to really see anything in the darkness, and this, in turn, made it very difficult to notice all the roots, rocks and bushes, which could make Moon or her father tumble and fall over if they did not pay enough attention. As Pharion didn’t seem to take notice of anything that was going on around him, it was all up to the Espeon to make sure that there would not be an accident. In order to keep herself going, she silently told herself over and over again that the sun would rise any moment now. As soon as there was a bit of light, everything would be a lot easier. She would be able to see all the little obstacles on the ground and maybe they’d even find a new den, just for themselves. They had to be very far away from where Reska was by now, so it would probably be a good idea to start looking for a new home…
Moon's ears twitched as they picked up a low, pained groan coming from her side. She turned her head to look at her father and saw him slowly sinking to the ground. His paws simply seemed to give way and his weight was taken off of his daughter as he lay down.

“Daddy!” Worried about her father, the Espeon lowered her head and nuzzled his cheek. She could see that his eyes were closed, and his breathing had become deep and regular. The exhaustion had apparently been too much for him to take; he was fast asleep. Moon did not know what to do. She looked around for a moment. Not a single Pokémon seemed to be nearby. However, she knew she could not count on this. It could be dangerous to just fall asleep out in the open. Any predator looking for food would be able to easily take advantage of such a situation. For a moment the Espeon thought about waking her father, but this probably wouldn’t be of any use. Pharion was obviously too tired to go on; he had to rest. The same was true for Moon, of course, but she knew she couldn’t sleep. It was absolutely necessary for her to stay awake. She knew she would never be able to forgive herself if she let anything happen to her father.
The Espeon sat down and sighed lowly. Her legs hurt and she had trouble keeping her head raised, but she knew she would instantly fall asleep if she was to lie down. She took a deep breath, looked up at the sky and waited for the sun to rise.



It was as if a thick cloud had entered Pharion’s mind. Thinking alone seemed like an impossibly hard task already, and remembering anything was completely out of the question. He had retreated deeply into himself. All that was left of him was his very core, which apparently was not interested in controlling his body. He felt like he was trapped in a cage on the bottom of a very deep lake. All of his thoughts, memories and feelings were above the surface, but down here, there was only him and nothing else…
He woke up. It was immediately clear to him that he had not been sleeping for a very long time, as he was still feeling exhausted. However, the golden light of the morning sun seemed to pierce through his eyelids, and he knew that he couldn’t just fall asleep again. Very slowly, he raised his head a little. His neck was stiff, and there was a dull pain coming from somewhere; he couldn’t quite locate it. The Umbreon opened his eyes. The sun was uncomfortably bright, but it quickly became blocked by a truly beautiful face. Pharion smiled broadly. He knew who that was.

“…Reska…” He was still unable to think clearly, but he remembered his mate. Reska was all he had, his only memory, and he didn’t need anything else. However, the Espeon slowly shook her head.

“No, daddy,” she spoke lowly, “it’s me…” She lowered her head and Pharion felt her give him a soft lick across his cheek. It was a nice, soothing feeling, but he was confused. He had not heard Reska speak to him. This Espeon’s voice sounded a little higher and softer…

“…my… sweetie…” He blinked. So far, he had not quite grasped what was going on. Pharion remembered his daughter. She looked a lot like her mother, she was kind, gentle and caring. He loved her very much, and it always made him happy when she was with him.
The Umbreon quickly rose to his paws, even though he felt like he might just fall over again. Moon took a step back and watched as he shook his head and then looked around. There were trees and bushes, there was the bright blue sky and there was the green grass below him. He could hear the sound of water flowing nearby. Pharion couldn’t understand why his daughter and he weren’t in their den.

“Where are we?” he asked. His gaze came to rest on the Espeon in front of him, who suddenly looked worried. “Where is your mother…?” Moon blinked. She stepped closer towards her father again.

“Daddy… Don’t you remember what happened…?” Her voice was low, and it seemed like she was expecting something terrible to happen. Pharion slowly sat down on the ground, trying to get his mind to work again. He remembered Moon. He remembered Reska. He remembered her leaving him alone at night – that was alright, she just needed a bit of time for herself, Pharion knew he could be pretty bothersome at times, so it was alright – and he remembered that he had followed her, and… he remembered others…

“No… no… this… I…”

“Daddy…” Moon rubbed her cheek along the side of her father’s neck. “Daddy, listen… I’m here for you. Things will be alright. We'll find a new home, and everything will be better. Don’t worry, daddy…”

Pharion noticed himself thinking that he should be feeling desperate and terribly lonely. However, there were no such feelings to be found in him. He wasn’t angry, either. He was nothing. The Umbreon realized that there was truly nothing left. He could not feel anymore…
However, this could not be right. There was still some warmth left inside of him. He blinked. His daughter was sitting right in front of him. Reska was gone, but Moon was still there. Pharion had always loved his daughter. He knew she needed him. When Reska had betrayed him, she had taken everything, but this feeling would always remain. It was all that was left; everything else had been replaced by a cold, dull, painful emptiness.
Pharion’s nose came in touch with his daughter’s as he looked deeply into her eyes. He could see her blush beneath her bright fur, but she did not turn away.

“…have you been awake all night long, my sweetie…?” His voice was so low that Moon wouldn’t have been able to understand him if he hadn’t been sitting right in front of her. She nodded lightly.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I… I had to keep watch… I didn’t want anything to happen to you…”

“…you need to rest, my sweetie…”

“I can’t, daddy… we have to keep going, we…”

“…don’t worry…” Pharion gave his daughter a caring lick along her muzzle. She shivered slightly, and the expression in her dark eyes changed for a moment. The Umbreon noticed that there was something she was holding back, a secret, maybe… he decided to keep this in mind, as there were more important things right now. “…I’ll carry you…” Moon blinked and shook her head.

“You don't have to do that, daddy, I'll be fine...”

“...my sweetie...” Pharion kept his eyes on her and noticed that she was willing to do just about anything in order to make him feel better. This was not right. A good father should never make his daughter worry so much. “...I know you love me, but I don't want you to hurt yourself because you want things to be easier for me... you're really tired, so I'll carry you...” He fell silent as he noticed his daughter looking at him somewhat strangely. However, it was not possible for him to tell what she was thinking, as she quickly turned her head to the side.

“Do you really know that I love you?” she asked lowly. This question confused the Umbreon a little, but he nodded anyway.

“...of course I do, my sweetie...” He smiled at her. Moon needed him. He had to be a good father now, and a good father always thought of his children first. As long as he did not think too much about Reska, things would be fine. Pharion could still feel the dull pain that came from inside of him, but he could not allow himself to pay it any attention. That would be selfish. “...I love you, too...”

“Daddy...” Once again it seemed like there was something that Moon really wanted to say, but she didn't, for some reason. Pharion became increasingly worried about his daughter. She really had to be terribly exhausted, and there were so many things she had to bother with... She had to get some rest, or else she might just break down.

“...without you, my sweetie, I couldn't have gone anywhere last night...” he spoke softly. He lay down on the ground and kept looking up at the Espeon in front of him. “...you were there when I needed you the most... let me do the same for you now, please...” Moon seemed reluctant.

“You... You really don't have to...” His gaze met with hers. He was looking at her in such a pleading way that it became impossible for Moon to refuse his offer. She lowered her head. “Alright...” she mumbled as she slowly walked around him. “But please promise me that you'll take a break if I'm too heavy, or if you get too tired...” She stepped forwards, so that she was now standing right above him. Pharion turned his head to look up at her and nodded.

“...I promise... you don't have to worry about me, my sweetie...” The Umbreon slowly rose to his paws, and as he had finished standing up, Moon was lying on his back. He was a bit taller than her, so it seemed to work well; her paws did not touch the ground. Pharion was a little surprised, as his daughter was lighter than he had imagined.

“Are you sure you're going to be fine, daddy?” Moon sounded worried. In order to show his daughter that he had no trouble carrying her, Pharion began walking, once again paying attention to staying near the river.

“...don't worry, my sweetie...” was all he said. His daughter sighed lowly, and then he could feel her licking the back of his left ear. Her tongue ran from its base all the way to the tip, and Pharion couldn't help but purr softly. As far as he could recall, he had never been caressed in such a tender way before.
After a while he felt his daughter's cheek resting on the back of his neck. She did not move anymore and just lay on top of him, silent and peaceful. Pharion was glad she had fallen asleep. She would certainly feel better as soon as she woke up again.




It was rather quiet in the forest. Every now and then a low voice could be heard, somewhere far off in the distance, or a bird type flew above Pharion and cast a shadow upon him for a short moment. There were a few clouds in the sky, but they did not block the sun. The Umbreon took a deep breath. His legs felt a bit heavy, but it made him feel good that he was doing something for his daughter. However, the absence of anyone he could talk to painfully reminded him of the many times Reska had left him alone at night and it immediately became harder to keep walking. But the Umbreon could feel Moon's warmth, and he knew she trusted him. Reska did not need him, and he... did not need her, either... she had never loved him, and he... 
his mind seemed to slow down. These thoughts were completely unknown to him. Things did not make sense. All of a sudden he wondered why he was walking away from his mate. He was supposed to be with her, and if she did not want him as her mate, he should at least be her servant... but then there was Moon, and she wanted both him and her to get as far away from Reska as possible. She wanted this for his sake, and something told him that he could not trust his own feelings at the moment. Everything was confusing; only one thing was still clear and undoubtedly true. Pharion loved his daughter, he only wanted her to be happy and he knew he could always trust her. She wanted them to find a new home. The reason was not important. It was something he could focus on, something that gave him a direction.
It became easier to move his paws again as he began to pay more attention to his surroundings. His daughter deserved only the best. Pharion knew he had to find a place that was both protected and made for a comfortable home. And if all else failed, he'd just have to build one by himself.
It took a few hours until the Umbreon finally found what he had been looking for. Had he cared about it, he would have noticed that his paws had started to hurt from all the walking with Moon resting on his back. However, this was completely unimportant to him. Right now his entire attention was focused on a small hill that lay to his left. There were hardly any trees standing around it, but the hill itself was almost completely covered in large bushes. Some of them had thorns, others did not. In any way, they were all very dense and it was not possible to see through their branches. It was the perfect place to stay. Pharion quickly examined the hill; no one had taken possession of it yet. The Umbreon nodded to himself, stepped behind one of the bushes without thorns and lay down. Very carefully, he rolled over onto his side, so that Moon came to rest on the ground. He smiled softly as he noticed that this had not made her wake up. Pharion then turned towards the hill. It was relatively steep on this side. The Umbreon decided not to waste any more time and began to dig.






Moon slowly opened her eyes as she woke up. She raised her head and yawned deeply. At first she did not know where she was or what had happened. She didn't understand why she was lying behind a bush or where that strange scratching sound was coming from, and it made her worry that her father was nowhere to be seen. The Espeon quickly stood up and noticed the hole in the side of the hill. She slowly approached it; it was large enough for her father to fit through if he kept his head low. Freshly dug up earth seemed to be just about everywhere around it. The light of the afternoon sun seemed to have a bit of trouble finding its way inside because of the thick canopy in front of the hole. Moon looked inside and noticed a certain faint yellow glow.

“Is that you, daddy?” The scratching sound stopped almost immediately, and the Umbreon's red eyes became visible.

“...yes, my sweetie, it's me...” Moon heard him sigh deeply. “...I'm really sorry, I... I actually wanted to get done with this before you'd wake up...” The Espeon shook her head.

“Please don't put so much pressure on yourself, daddy...” She stopped talking as she noticed how strange it made her feel to speak to her father from this position. “May I come inside?”

“...of course you may, my sweetie...” Pharion's voice was shivering slightly. “...but... I'm not finished yet, I'll make it a lot better...” Moon did not know why her father seemed to be so unsure; after all, she had never said he'd have to do something like this for her. Still, she simply decided to first take a look at their new den and worry about such things later.
She entered the hole and immediately ducked slightly, even though there was enough room for her to stand upright. The ground seemed a bit loose, but as she looked up she could see that the ceiling was absolutely firm and gripped by an uncountable number of roots. It would certainly not come down, and that was by far the most important part about digging a den. The small passageway let downwards at a light angle. After just a few steps it opened up into a larger, round room, where Pharion was waiting. Moon gasped as she noticed how much her father had been digging already; she would never have thought that such a large amount of work could be done in such a small amount of time. The room was not nearly as big as their old den, but it was certainly large enough for both Pharion and Moon to turn around and move relatively freely. There was a lot of loose earth piled up at the wall; the Umbreon had not brought it outside yet. In the combined light of her gem and Pharion's yellow rings, the Espeon could see her father looking at her with an uncertain smile.

“...do... do you like it, my sweetie...?” He kept his voice low, but he was standing very close to his daughter, so she did not have any trouble understanding him. Moon looked around once more and nodded, showing her father a broad, reassuring smile.

“It's wonderful!” she exclaimed. It seemed to her like a huge weight got lifted from her father's body. He raised his head a little higher, his rings became a bit brighter and his tail started to wag lightly.

“...I'm so glad to hear that, my sweetie...” His voice was not shivering anymore. He turned his head towards the wall. “...I can dig a second room for you, if you'd like me to... a place just for yourself, you know...” Moon shook her head, and her expression became concerned. Her father had a tendency to overworking himself for the ones he loved. 

“No... daddy, please, you've done so much already...” Pharion smiled reassuringly, even though there still seemed to be a bit of uncertainty noticeable in his deep red eyes.

“...it wouldn't be a problem, my sweetie... I'm sure you'd like to have some privacy every once in a while, you're a fully grown female, after all... You deserve to have your own room...” The Espeon stepped closer towards her father. It was hardly even visible on his dark fur, but he was dirty all over. This wasn't surprising, of course, but it served to remind Moon just how hard it had to have been to dig so much within such a short amount of time.

“I don't want my own room, daddy...” she spoke lowly while giving him a soft lick across his cheek. She could taste the earth on her tongue, but it didn't matter to her. “I want to be close to you all the time...” Her father seemed to be a bit reluctant, but then he nodded.

“...if... if that's really what you want, my sweetie...” He looked around for a moment. “...anyway, I'd better get back to work... this cave needs to be bigger...”

“Are you sure about that, daddy?” Her father was sitting right in the middle of the small den. She walked around him once, and then showed him a warm smile. “I'd say there's enough room for the two of us, so it's perfect the way it is.”

“...it is...?” Pharion asked in an unbelieving tone. “...but... it's not even half the size of our former home, and Reska always told me it was too small...”

“I'm not Reska, daddy,” Moon replied firmly. “I am Moon, your daughter. I respect you, and I appreciate everything you do for me.” The Umbreon lowered his gaze.

“...I don't do nearly enough...” he mumbled. “...you deserve much better than this, and...”

“No, daddy, that's just not true.” Moon brought her nose under her father's muzzle and carefully lifted his head again. “Reska might have made you feel that way, but you shouldn't believe her. She didn't love you, she just wanted to hurt you.” Pharion looked at her and, once again, she could see the pain in his eyes. She knew it would still take a lot of time for him to get over this.

“...you... you shouldn't think of your mother as a bad person, my sweetie... she didn't hurt me intentionally, you see... it... it was my own fault, I just wasn't good enough for her...”

“She wasn't good enough for you, daddy!” Pharion ducked slightly, since she had gotten a bit louder. Moon sighed. “Listen, daddy... I love you, and I think you are a wonderful person. Reska, on the other paw...” She shook her head. “Reska doesn't matter,” she continued. “Reska doesn't love you, but I do. That is why you should trust me, daddy. I wouldn't lie to you.” Pharion kept looking at her for a moment, then he lowered his gaze again.

“...alright, my sweetie...” he said lowly. “...I'll believe anything you say...” Moon nodded slightly. She knew she would have to be very careful with her father.





Both the Espeon and the Umbreon did their best to get the loose earth out of their new den, so it did not take very long. Then they went to the river and washed the dirt out of their fur. They did not talk much, but Moon always made sure to keep her eyes on her father. She wanted to be ready to help him in case there was any sign of him feeling bad in any way. However, there did not seem to be anything uncommon about his behavior, except for him being very quiet. Moon figured he was thinking about something; against all probability, she hoped it was not Reska.
The sun was already beginning to set as they went to gather some food. Because of all the work he had done, Pharion seemed to be rather tired. However, the Espeon simply could not tell him to return to the den and wait for her to bring him something to eat, as she knew she should not leave him alone. Thus, she did her very best to find as much as she could, and carry it over to him. Pharion seemed to be a bit concerned that there would not be enough left for herself, but the Espeon smiled at him and said that she was not too hungry. He, however, had been carrying her and digging all day long, so he needed enough food in order to regain his strength. Even though Pharion was apparently not entirely comfortable with the idea of his daughter sacrificing anything for him, he decided to simply accept it; Moon figured he did not want to start an argument.
After a while they decided to return to their den. Since it had already gotten a bit dark and the area was still unfamiliar to them, they had to rely on their noses to get back safely. When they arrived, Moon noticed just how well their new home was hidden beneath the bushes; it was impossible to tell there was a hole in the hill for anyone who did not know that it existed. They crawled inside. When they had reached the round room, Pharion yawned deeply.

“...well... it's gotten pretty late...” He moved away from his daughter and lay down at the wall. He kept his head raised and smiled softly. “...thank you for all your help, my sweetie... have a good night now...” Moon remained standing where she was. She looked a little surprised.

“Do you want to sleep all by yourself, daddy?” This question seemed to confuse her father a little. Even though Moon could not see it under his dark fur, she was certain he blushed.

“...I... no, I... I just didn't want... to bother you...”

“Bother me?” The Espeon walked towards her father and lay down at his side. “Don't worry, daddy... I really want to be near you...” She gave him a long, affectionate lick along his ear and whispered: “I'm here for you, daddy... Right here, next to you, you can feel me... Don't worry now, just try to get some sleep and have a good night...” Her father gave a languorous sigh in response to her caresses. His head came to rest on his front paws and he closed his eyes, while the Espeon placed her head on the back of his neck in a protective manner. The yellow rings in his fur were glowing a little less now and Moon closed her eyes as well.
After a short while she heard his voice again.

“...my sweetie...?” It had been just a whisper; apparently he did not want to risk waking her, should she be asleep already.

“Yes, daddy?” she spoke lowly. Neither she nor her father moved.

“...I was just wondering...” he muttered, “...is there maybe something you'd like to tell me...?” Moon's ears twitched slightly. Her voice was shivering a little bit as she asked:

“How... how come you think that, daddy?”

“...it's just... you see, my sweetie, sometimes you look at me in a way that just tells me there's something on your mind that you'd really like to say...” Moon remained quiet for a moment. “...maybe I'm mistaken...” her father added quickly, “...or maybe you don't want to tell me... that'd be alright, really...”

“No, daddy, you're right,” Moon replied. She took a deep breath. “I'd really like to tell you, and I don't want to keep any secrets from you, it's just... It's... complicated...” She sighed. The Espeon knew she would have to tell her father exactly how she truly felt at one point, but so far the situation had never seemed to be fitting. However, they were alone with each other now. Reska was gone. Still, her father had to try and deal with his pain now, and Moon wanted to help him as much as possible. It certainly would not help anyone if she was to cause even more problems now... then again... maybe there would not even be any problems...

“...you can try to tell me, my sweetie... just because it's complicated doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to understand you...” Once again, Moon remained quiet. “...I won't judge you, my sweetie...” Pharion continued, “...if you think you've done something wrong, you can still tell me... I'll always love you...”

“I love you, too, daddy,” the Espeon replied. She kept her eyes closed and sighed a little. There was no point in making her father worry. If she kept quiet about this, things would just get worse. “Do... do you know how much I love you, daddy...?” Her voice was shivering again.

“...I'm pretty sure I do, my sweetie...” Pharion spoke softly. “...and I love you just as much, really...” Moon tried her best to remain calm. She had kept these words inside of her for quite some time. Now she had to watch out not to let them burst out all at once.

“I don't think you know just how much I love you, daddy,” she stated. “I... I wasn't able to tell you this with Reska being around, you see... I love you more than you think...” After these words, she remained silent, and so did Pharion. A few moments passed, then her father said:

“...I'm sorry, my sweetie... I don't think I understand what you mean...” Moon closed her eyes and breathed deeply, which seemed to be enough to make the Umbreon stop talking. She had never imagined that it could be so complicated to just tell her father exactly how she was feeling.

“I... I've always admired you, daddy,” she began in a low tone. She figured that her father would remain unable to understand her, unless she carefully explained things to him. “You've always been there to support me, you love me and you care about me, you've taught me everything I know. To me, you were the only source of happiness while I was growing up, and you still are... And yet, I always had to see Reska hurting you and yelling at you...” Moon could feel her father's warm body shiver slightly as she mentioned his former mate, so she quickly decided not to dwell on what the older Espeon had done. “You don't deserve to be treated that way, daddy,” she spoke firmly. “Sometimes I thought about how things might be in the future, and it had always been clear to me that, when it would come to finding a mate, I would never be able to love anyone who wasn't exactly like you... That's what I thought at first, daddy. I thought I should find someone just like you. But...” her voice became even lower and started shivering a little, “...the more I thought about it, daddy, the more I came to realize that I could never possibly have such feelings for just some random male who would happen to remind me of you... no... I... I recognized that you're the one I love, daddy... the only one I could ever possibly love...”

A long moment of silence followed, and Moon could not help but get increasingly worried by the second. As it became clear to her that her father would not say anything, she slowly moved her head and gave him a soft lick along the back of one of his ears.

“Will you be my mate, daddy...?” she whispered. “Please... I love you...” Pharion's ears twitched slightly. Then Moon heard his voice. It did not sound any different than usual, it was warm and soft, even though there had certainly seemed to be a hint of exhaustion and uncertainty in it since they had left their old den.

“...you must be feeling very tired, my sweetie...” he spoke. “...maybe we should talk about this tomorrow... today was very exhausting for both of us, and...” Moon waited for him to finish his sentence, but her father did not seem to know what else to say. She sighed inwardly, as she had hoped that Pharion would give her a clear answer. However, she knew that her father still wasn't feeling well, and maybe it would really help to first get some sleep. She decided to ask him only one more question:

“When I'm going to ask you to become my mate tomorrow, daddy...” She moved her tail and wrapped it around his. “...will you say yes?” Her father turned his head a little in her direction, but she still couldn't see his eyes. As he spoke, she could easily hear that he was already close to falling asleep.

“...if you want me to, my sweetie,” he mumbled, “then I probably will...”




Pharion’s mind still felt rather numb, and later on, it would seem almost impossible for him to clearly remember any details. He knew his daughter had been talking to him, and he knew that she had asked him something and that he had given her an answer, but the exact nature of their conversation would remain a mystery. Pure exhaustion slowly eradicated all his thoughts as Pharion fell asleep.
What he experienced was not quite a dream, and yet it was all but unconsciousness. He was fully aware of the fact that he was sleeping, and still there was nothing he could do against this condition. His eyes were closed and he lay motionlessly. Neither could he move any of his limbs, nor could he open his eyes, which seemed to make sense to him in a rather odd way; he was sleeping, after all, and in such a state he could not possibly gain control over his body. 
Pharion felt like a rock. He pictured himself as a big, gray stone, lying somewhere in a cave, not noticing anything around him, simply existing as an object within a dark, hollow space. However, he could not maintain this mental image any longer as he suddenly became painfully aware of his own thoughts. Of course, rocks did have neither thoughts nor memories, so Pharion could not possibly be such an inanimate object. Yet, he still remained unable to move, so there was nothing left for him to do other than focusing on his thoughts.
They scared him. Something terrible was hidden deep within his mind, something he did not want to remember again. There were images he did not want to see, there were words he did not want to hear, but there was no place where he could have hidden. He wanted to run away, but his body did not move, and wanting to escape from his own thoughts seemed like a ridiculous idea in the first place.
Pharion felt he would go insane if he were to be exposed to these thoughts for too long. There was nothing he could do about it, other than wake up, wake up, he had to wake up, he had to…


“Wake up! Wake up, daddy!”

Pharion opened his eyes. He was shivering. The first thing he saw was a red gem in an Espeon’s forehead. It was glistening in the sunlight, playing with it and breaking it apart into hundreds of tiny red rays. Pharion’s gaze wandered from the gem to the Espeon’s black eyes. He gasped.

“…Reska…?” There was a hint of worry in the Espeon’s beautiful eyes. She brought her face closer to his, and he could feel her nose gently touch his cheek.

“No, daddy…” she whispered. “It’s me, Moon…” She paused for a moment, then asked: “Did you dream of her?” Pharion became aware of the fact that he was panting a little. Moon had probably noticed that he had had an uneasy sleep, and because of this she had woken him. He shook his head.

”…no, I… I don’t think I did…” Pharion breathed deeply. Once again, he had made his daughter worry. He slowly stood up on his paws and Moon stepped backwards to give him room. After a moment, he even managed to smile weakly.

“…Moon, my sweetie…” He felt his heart ache as the young Espeon was looking at him. Pharion knew that a daughter should never have a reason to look at her father in such a way. It was time to get a hold of himself now, no matter how hard that would be.
He stepped closer towards her and softly nuzzled her cheek.

“…I just didn’t sleep too well, my sweetie… that’s nothing you should weigh down your mind with…” Moon moved her head and gave her father a soft lick along the back of his neck.

“I just want you to be happy, daddy,” she spoke lowly. “You know… as happy as you deserve to be…” Pharion swallowed. As far as he could see, he did not deserve to be happy at all; he had failed as Reska’s mate, and he kept making his daughter worry about him, and that just wasn’t right.

“…you are already making me happier than I deserve to be, my sweetie…” Moon retracted her head and simply looked at her father with a questioning expression. However, he decided that it would be better not to elaborate on his current feelings. This was something that he knew he had to protect his daughter from. He turned his head to the side, so she would not be able to look him directly in the eyes.

“…I think we should go find something to eat, my sweetie…” Pharion hoped she would not insist on continuing this conversation. From the corner of his eyes he could see Moon open her mouth. She remained silent, however, and simply nodded after a moment.





It was rather early in the morning, and Pharion could not help but wonder what Moon and he were going to do all day. They walked in silence, and Pharion was glad that the constant need of moving his paws gave him something to focus on. Moon was always at his side, and every now and then she glanced at him, which seemed to Pharion like there was a question on her mind that she did not dare ask. He figured she was still worried about him, and so he always responded with a weak smile, trying to tell her that he would be fine.
The river was the first place they visited, and they both had a refreshing drink of water. Then they went deeper into the forest and began gathering food while always staying very close to one another. It took them quite some time, but in the end they managed to bring two large piles of tasty plants and berries back into their den. They had not spoken a single word yet; instead, they had communicated through meaningful glances and slight nods, and the silence continued while they had their meal. Even though they both ate as much as they could, enough food remained so that they would even have enough to eat for the next day.

“…that tasted much better than usual, my sweetie…” Pharion said when they were done eating. “…you’ve done a great job gathering this…” The compliment made Moon smile, even though she knew, of course, that the good taste of their meal had been mostly due to the fact that Reska, who had always just picked up everything she had found, regardless of whether it was even edible or not, was not around. She decided not to mention this, and instead she just said:

“Thank you, daddy, but that’s just because you’ve taught me so well.” Pharion returned her smile, and to Moon it seemed to be not quite as weak as his smiles had been before. In order to not give her father a chance to return to his heavy thoughts, she quickly spoke: “It’s still early in the afternoon, daddy. Is there anything you’d like to do today?” The Umbreon lowered his head and his ears shivered slightly.

“…I… no, not really, my sweetie… I mean… I haven’t really thought about that…” Moon quickly moved closer towards him and carefully lifted his head by putting her nose under his short muzzle. As he looked at her again, she showed him a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry about that, daddy,” she spoke softly. “How about we just take a walk together? Wouldn’t that be nice?” Her father nodded slowly.

“…yes… that’d be great, my sweetie…” A soft giggle came from Moon, and Pharion felt her running her tongue along his cheek, to which he replied with an affirmative sigh. Just a moment later, the Espeon walked out of the den, closely followed by her father.



They explored their new surroundings for a while, still trying to get used to the area. Moon, however, paid much more attention to Pharion than to anything else. The movements of her paws were perfectly synchronized with his, so that she could easily walk at his side. After a bit of time had passed, she carefully wrapped her tail around his and smiled at him; he returned the gesture, which made her give a happy sigh.
The forest was calm and peaceful. Every now and then they could see or hear another Pokémon somewhere in the distance, but there was nothing that could have disturbed their walk.
Eventually, they reached a point where the forest ended rather abruptly, opening to a large, healthy, green meadow. Pharion and Moon could clearly see the horizon, and the both slowed their movements and then sat down on the ground.
With her gaze locked on the bright blue sky that never seemed to end, Moon slowly leaned against her father and purred happily. Pharion did not move, willingly letting her snuggle up to his side.

“Can we watch the sunset together, daddy?” she asked lowly. It took a few moments for her father to reply; maybe he had just been thinking about something…

“…it’s still going to take about one or two hours for the sun to start setting, my sweetie…” He was, indeed, sounding a bit absentminded. Moon figured he was wound up in looking at the horizon.

“I know that, daddy,” she whispered. “We can just wait a while, if you don’t mind…” Pharion nodded slowly.

“…we can wait for as long as you like, my sweetie…” Moon smiled and gave her father a peck on his cheek. He turned his head a little to look at her. Moon noticed that she was quickly losing herself in his deep, red eyes, and she knew she had to ask him now, or else she would just forget about it.

“Have you thought about what I told you yesterday, daddy?” Her voice was still barely above a whisper. Pharion blinked.

“…what do you mean, my sweetie…?” Moon did not quite know what to make of this question, but she kept smiling.

“I mean that I love you, daddy.” Her father gave her an affectionate lick across her forehead.

“…I love you, too, my sweetie…” Moon rested her cheek on his shoulder and just enjoyed being so close to her father for a moment. She thought about how wonderful it was to cuddle with him like this, without Reska being anywhere near them. No one would interrupt them. After such a long time of suffering that her father had had to endure, Moon could now finally start making things better for him.

“I don’t think you should be without a mate, daddy,” she spoke softly. “It’s just not good for you.” The Espeon raised her head again as she noticed a pained expression in Pharion’s eyes.

“…my sweetie…” he mumbled, but Moon quickly interrupted him, so that he would not have to let himself be tormented by awful thoughts again.

“I know you’re still thinking about Reska,” she said, “but… she betrayed you, daddy, and she has just always treated you badly… There is absolutely no reason to remain loyal to her, please believe me…” Pharion sighed deeply.

“…Reska is my one true love…” he spoke lowly. Moon shook her head and swallowed.

“That’s not true, daddy,” she whispered. “Reska deceived you. You thought she was an entirely different person, and that person is your one true love. That’s alright…” She smiled reassuringly. “Everyone can make mistakes… and it’s not even your fault, all this just happened because Reska always enjoyed hurting you… so it’s her fault, and her fault alone…”
Looking into her father’s eyes, it became increasingly difficult for Moon to talk. She knew that words alone could not possibly make Pharion feel better, and yet there were still some things that needed to be addressed.

“Your one true love is still waiting for you, daddy,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice from shivering. “Please think about it, daddy… Don’t you think that your one true love must be the one who only wants you to be happy? The one who dedicates her entire life to loving you and being there for you…?” Pharion remained silent. However, there was something in the way he was looking at Moon that made her feel that he had understood her very well. 

“I would be a good mate to you, daddy,” she continued lowly. “I love you and I’ll never stop loving you. I promise I’ll always do anything you want, and I just want you to be happy, and…” She fell silent as Pharion slowly shook his head.

“…you… you’re my daughter, my sweetie…” he mumbled. Moon wrapped her tail around her father’s a bit more tightly than before.

“Yes, daddy, I am,” she spoke, “and I grew up loving you, only you. But now I’m an adult, daddy, and being your daughter just isn’t enough anymore…” She took a deep breath, always keeping up eye contact with Pharion. “I love you more than that, daddy. I want to be your mate, please… I want to be yours…” Moon did not know what she would do if he were to reject her. Pharion was the only one she had ever wanted to be with, and she knew he wanted her to be with him, too; however, did he want her to be more than just his daughter?
He would not reject her. He could not reject her. If there was one person in the entire world who loved her, then it had to be Pharion. He would understand how she was feeling, and he would love her just like she loved him.
Moon searched the Umbreon’s eyes for something that could tell her how he was feeling at the moment. All she was able to find was a slight shiver; however, her father did not move, he remained close to her, he did not try to push her away. Moon kept her gaze locked with his, and she knew there had to be a pleading expression in her eyes.

“…my sweetie… this isn’t right…” The Espeon shook her head. Of course, there were some hurdles that needed to be overcome, but she knew she could help her father understand.

“True love can never be wrong, daddy…” she spoke softly. “It doesn’t matter that I’m your daughter, I can still be your mate…” She gave him an affectionate lick along his muzzle and lowered her voice a little. “I’ll stay with you forever, daddy, and I’ll make you happy… I’ve always wanted to spend my entire life with you… There’s nothing wrong about that…” His eyes were red and deep, and all of a sudden Moon noticed just how fragile her father was. He seemed to silently talk to her, assuring her that he needed her, begging her to help him through these hard times.
“I’ll protect you, daddy,” Moon added. “You won’t be hurt like this again, I promise.” Pharion closed his eyes. It seemed to Moon like he did not want her to see how troubled he was.

“…do you really want this, my sweetie…?” he whispered. “…are you sure, have you thought about this enough…?” The Espeon nodded, even though her father could not see her.

“I’ve wanted this for years, daddy,” she replied, keeping her voice low and soft. “It has always been clear to me that you’re the only one I can ever love… I… I couldn’t possibly want anything more than this…” She fell silent for a moment, then she asked in a whisper: “Do you want it, too, daddy…?”

Pharion opened his eyes again. Such beauty must be protected from the likes of Reska, was Moon’s immediate thought. Her father seemed to be torn. She could not tell what he was thinking, but she knew that everything would be easier if the Umbreon did not have to deal with the pain that his former mate had brought upon him.

“…I have never been a good mate to your mother…” he said tonelessly. “…I… I don’t think I can be a good mate to anyone… I don’t want you to get hurt because of me, my sweetie…”

“You’re the best mate I could ever imagine, daddy,” Moon spoke firmly. “You’re so kind, and loving, and devoted… Believe me, every female who isn’t as cruel and heartless as Reska would deem herself the luckiest creature on earth if she could spend her life together with you…” Very slowly and without even really noticing it, the Espeon moved her head until her nose came in touch with her father’s. “Please don’t believe what Reska told you. No matter what she said, I know I’ll always be happy if I can be your mate, daddy. So… Please tell me, daddy…” She breathed deeply. “Do you want to be my mate, too…?” There was silence for a moment. Then, Pharion slowly opened his mouth, and only one single whispered word escaped his lips:

“…yes…”

Moon could feel the gem in her forehead glow brighter than ever before. She blinked twice, trying her best not to start crying in joy. She opened her mouth to say something, but her mind did not manage to find any words that would have been fitting for this situation; instead, it simply kept circulating around the fact that her father had just agreed to becoming her mate. Moon kept looking at him in silence for a moment. His eyes seemed a bit calmer than before, and he even showed her a warm smile.
All of a sudden, the Espeon felt like she could not possibly be close enough to Pharion. She was sitting right next to him and her tail was still wrapped around his, but she knew there had to be more. It seemed downright impossible for Moon to think clearly, and before she knew it, she had already locked lips with the Umbreon, and it felt to her like every single hair on her body stood up in excitement as she was finally doing what she had only dreamed of for so many years.
The Espeon was young and impatient, and it was the first kiss of her life. She had always lived with the desperate hope that her father would someday break free from the chains that Reska had forced upon him and recognize how much his own daughter loved him, and Moon had waited for this day. It had always been clear to her that she would either get together with Pharion, or just never have a mate at all. Now she wanted to put all of her feelings that she had kept secret for a much too long time into this one kiss, so that Pharion would know about her innermost thoughts, dreams and wishes.
The Umbreon, however, was calmer and more experienced. He certainly knew that such things should not be taken on too hastily. It did not take long for Moon to notice that she was being too impatient, and so she decided it would be better if she became a bit more passive and let her father guide her.
Both Pharion and Moon closed their eyes. Now that she could not see anything, what the Espeon was feeling seemed to become much more intense. Her tail around her father’s, her side against his and his lips on hers were all that the world was made of. There were no thoughts, no worries… Pharion was kissing her tenderly and affectionately, and Moon found herself leaning more and more against him. He was all that was holding her in the world; if it had not been for him, the Espeon had certainly disappeared, for she could not live, she could not exist without him.
Her father was so very gentle and Moon knew that he did not want to make anything happen against her will. However, the Espeon, even though she was already in a state of pure, dreamy bliss, both wanted and needed this to be a real kiss in every possible way, if only to assure herself and her father that they would forever be mates. She pushed herself closer towards him, making the kiss grow deeper, her tongue finding its way into his mouth. Moon did not quite know what to do next, but once again the Umbreon came to help; his tongue met hers, and beginning from her mouth, Moon could feel a wave of passionate warmth go through and take over her body. Her father began moving his tongue back and forth and around hers, and this new sensation made the moment truly perfect. Moon wanted it to last forever, as she tried her best to return Pharion’s loving caresses with her own tongue, which made her realize that there was still a bit she had to learn; however, there was no time to think about that at this moment, for she could not think, she could only feel, and everything she was feeling was so entirely wonderful that she would have cried out in pleasure, had this not meant that she would have had to break the kiss.

It seemed like it lasted forever, and yet it was over much too soon. Moon felt her father’s lips part from hers, and her legs seemed so weak that she was certain she would have fallen over, if she had not been leaning against him. Her cheek came to rest on the side of his neck and for a few moments she just kept her eyes closed, moaning lowly as she was still feeling warmer and more loved than she had ever felt before.
Her father gave her an affectionate lick along one of her ears, which sent another shiver of happiness down her spine. She almost could have fallen asleep right there, and everything would have been alright. For just a moment, she had forgotten about all that had happened before, and all that she remembered was that kiss; with it, her life had begun, and now she could see a bright, colorful future lying in front of her and Pharion. For a few more moments she basked in the afterglow of the kiss and the mental image of her father and her spending the rest of eternity snuggling with each other. Then she opened her eyes, a broad smile standing on her face.
When she saw the Umbreon, she immediately felt the need to kiss him again, but at the same time it appeared to her like she was so full of thoughts and emotions that she needed to tell her father about that she might just explode if she did not use this moment to talk to him. She opened her mouth, but her mind was not ready yet, and even though there was so much that she absolutely needed to say, it felt impossible to her to form even one coherent sentence. Still leaning against her father, Moon could feel each of his deep, slow breaths, and right in front of her face there was his, smiling at her with his warm, red eyes wide open.
The Espeon kept her gaze locked with his and waited until her mind had calmed down a little. The sky had gotten a bit darker, but that only seemed to make Pharion’s yellow rings shine more brightly. The longer Moon looked at him, the faster she could feel her heart beat. It had taken a short while for her to fully realize how the situation had changed. She was Pharion’s mate now. Now her father and she could live together and only for each other.

“I love you, Pharion,” she said lowly. Calling him “daddy” in this situation would have seemed inappropriate to Moon. Of course, she was still his daughter and it would always be that way, but now she was his mate, too, and she knew she should act accordingly. Her father nodded.

“…I love you, too, Moon…” he replied and gave her another lick along her ear. Moon would have tried to snuggle even closer to him, but she was rather certain that this would make her father fall over onto his side. Instead, she gave him a few affectionate licks along his muzzle, making him purr softly.



They remained sitting at the edge of the forest, staring into the distance. Only very rarely did one of them say anything, but even though Moon had felt like there was an uncountable number of things that she really needed to tell her father about, now it seemed to her like she did not need to say a single word. He knew how she was feeling, she did not need to explain it to him.
The sky slowly began turning orange and Pharion and his daughter watched the day end. The sun went down, and Moon imagined that it took the last bit of the older Espeon’s harmful influence with it. Reska was far away, she would not be able to hurt Pharion anymore. Instead, the moon came up and claimed its rightful position in the dark sky. The young Espeon looked up at it and smiled as the gentle, silvery light made the gem in her forehead glisten softly.

“An Umbreon’s one true love will always be the moon,” she stated lowly. Her mate turned his head towards her and she noticed that his fur did not look nearly as dark in the moonlight.
Shortly afterwards, they were locked in another deep kiss.








It was already a few hours after midnight when they finally got back to their den. Moon was feeling both tired and satisfied as she lay down at her father's side. She was certain he had already forgotten about his former mate. It was clear to her that she and the Umbreon simply belonged together, and thus it did not surprise her that just being close to her already seemed to make him feel so much better.
Moon purred happily as she felt her father giving her an affectionate lick across her cheek. Just a few moments later she had already drifted off to sleep, entering a realm of pleasant and peaceful dreams.

Pharion kept looking at his daughter as he was lying next to her, a soft smile standing on his face. He did not quite know what he was feeling or why he was feeling it. A lot of things had happened all of a sudden, and his mind had apparently been unable to catch up.
However, now that Moon was asleep, the preceding events seemed to unravel. Very slowly, the Umbreon realized what exactly had happened. He frowned. What his memories told him was difficult to believe, especially since he could not recall having made even a single conscious decision during the past few hours. And yet, it was still true, and he knew it; he had agreed to becoming his daughter's mate.
Pharion shook his head. Even though he remembered everything quite clearly, he still found himself unable to fully grasp it. Nothing made sense. It was ludicrous to think of himself as Moon's mate; he knew he would always only belong to Reska. Besides, he was Moon's father, so he could not even be her mate in the first place, it simply wasn't possible. And yet, it was even more impossible to ignore all the facts.
The Umbreon felt a terrible coldness slowly take over his body, which he could not quite explain to himself. He was painfully aware of all his memories, but they were simply unacceptable. This could not have happened. He would always only love Reska... Of course, he loved Moon, too, but she was his daughter, so things were different there... He had not become Moon's mate, no matter what his memories kept telling him, they had to be lying, yes, that had to be it, Pharion knew he was very tired, after all, so he could not possibly trust his own thoughts and feelings at the moment, he had to get some sleep, then he would be able to think clearly again, just a bit of sleep and everything would be alright, yes...

He lowered his head onto his front paws and closed his eyes...

Reska was there, somewhere; however, wherever she was, it was too far away. Pharion knew he belonged at her side, of course. He was her mate. And yet, there was something she had done, something terrible... After all, there had to be a reason for Pharion being so far away from her... Everything was a blur, and then there was Moon...

She was sitting on a small patch of grass, somewhere... Pharion did not know where he was, as everything that was more than a few meters away seemed to simply fade out of existence. He could only see Moon's back, but it was easily visible that she kept her head low, and Pharion was certain he could hear her sob lightly. She was sad, of course... sad and disappointed, she had always treated him very well and he had never really done anything for her, he had never been a good father, never... Pharion wanted to walk up to her side, but he could not move, all he could do was stand there and listen, and suddenly he wasn't even sure anymore if the Espeon was really his daughter, it might also have been Reska, they looked almost completely alike, after all... And there was a perfectly good reason for Reska to be crying, too, for he, Pharion, had never been a good mate, never... He faintly remembered that she had often asked him to do things for her, and he had never been able to fulfill her wishes, and now... Now he was even feeling like he had betrayed her, and he could not even clearly remember why he was feeling that way, all he knew was that he had done something wrong, he knew that because of him, things would never be alright again, it had all been his fault, his fault... It did not make any sense that he was not Reska's mate anymore, he had never stopped loving her, after all, but she... She deserved someone better than him, maybe that was the reason, Pharion did not know, he could not tell, he could not move... He wanted to open his mouth and ask Reska if there was anything he could do to make things better, but he could not speak, he could only watch and listen... Maybe it was Moon, maybe it was Reska, there was no way to tell, and what did it matter, he had disappointed them both, after all, even though it became increasingly hard for him to remember why, he was so confused, so confused... Reska was gone for some reason, but Moon was still there, and there was something she wanted him to do for her, was that right...? Pharion knew he had to do his best for the ones he loved, he always had to do his best, but maybe he just wasn't good enough, or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough, in any way it was all his fault, something was wrong, something was so terribly wrong that it would never be alright again, and it was his fault, only his...


Pharion awoke to the sound of rain pouring down outside of their den. He raised his head and opened his eyes, not knowing where he was, not knowing what was happening. He tried to remember something, anything, but this only served to make his head hurt.
He could see the sleek figure of an Espeon sitting near the entrance of the den, looking outside, her tail slowly moving back and forth. She was not crying, but maybe it was just because the heavy raindrops already seemed to be crying for her, so there was no need for the Espeon to do this on her own... Pharion was unable to tell whether this would make sense or not, he tried to think, but it was as if his mind entered another world as soon as he would think about anything other than what he was seeing right in front of him at the moment, and in this world, everything was a mystery that the Umbreon would never be able to solve.

Pharion tried to stand up, but his body was feeling a little odd and he could hardly even remember how to move his limbs, so he just stayed where he was. A low noise escaped from his muzzle, not quite a whimper, but not a word, either.
The Espeon immediately turned around and smiled at him. Pharion felt his strength returning to him and he quickly sat up. He had recognized her, he finally knew where he was and who he was, and he knew who she was...

“...Reska...” he gasped lowly. The Espeon's smile seemed to shiver a little and she shook her head.

“Moon,” she corrected him. Pharion blinked. Moon... Of course it was Moon, who else should it be? Reska was somewhere else, even though this certainly did not make things easier for the Umbreon to grasp. He belonged at Reska's side, so where was she...?

“...I'm sorry, my sweetie...” he mumbled and lowered his gaze a little. “...you look so much like your mother, you see...” Pharion knew that this was a big compliment; after all, nobody could ever possibly be more beautiful than Reska. Nevertheless, his daughter certainly deserved to hear this. Still, she was apparently not too happy about it.

“But I am not her, my love,” she spoke softly, even though her tail jerked a little, indicating that she was either feeling a bit angry or hurt. She stepped closer towards Pharion and nuzzled his cheek. “In fact, I am very different from her,” she added. The Umbreon swallowed.

“...my sweetie...” he said hesitantly, “...I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to say anything inappropriate... if I made you feel bad, then I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...” Moon slowly shook her head.

“Please don't worry about that,” she whispered. She then showed him an uncertain smile. “Did you... Did you have a good night, my love?” Pharion couldn't help but notice that his daughter had put an emphasis on the last two words. Once again, he was not sure what was going on, but then he raised his head a little and looked into her eyes.

“...my... love...” he mumbled. His mind went blank. He could only stare at his daughter for a short moment, then he felt new thoughts and feelings developing inside of him. There were things he needed to do, there were things he had promised to do, and nothing could be worse than disappointing his daughter, but... everything was different now. Moon was his mate. Pharion was completely unable to fully grasp all these changes, and so he slowly stopped thinking. There was something other than his mind controlling his body now, and the Umbreon felt himself opening his mouth and uttering these words:

“...I did not sleep too well... but now that I'm seeing you're here with me, my love, I'm already feeling much better...” The tiny part of Pharion that had remained conscious noticed that his daughter smiled broadly. Nothing made sense, but this fact did not stop anything from happening; a deep, passionate kiss followed, during which Pharion closed his eyes, and as everything went dark, the Umbreon himself seemed to vanish completely.





They remained where they were for about an hour, simply snuggling and kissing each other, and Moon felt that her deepest wishes and her most secret dreams had come true. After a while, she turned her head towards the entrance and cooed:

“I've looked outside, my love, and it seems like it's going to rain all day long... You know...” She turned her head back towards her father and gave him an affectionate lick across his cheek, making him close his eyes and gasp lowly. She then whispered in his ear: “We have enough food, and this really isn't a good day to go outside anyway... How about we just stay in here all day long, with each other? Would you like that, my love...?” She gave him another lick, this time along one of his large ears. The Umbreon kept his eyes closed and nodded slowly. However, he did not say anything, and Moon giggled softly.

“I love you,” she purred lowly, still keeping her muzzle very close to his ear. “I'm sure there are a whole lot of things we can do together, now that we're mates... What do you think, my dearest...?” She could see her father smile warmly, even though he was still keeping his eyes closed. It made her feel even happier than she already was.

“...I'll do anything you'd like me to do, my love...” he spoke softly. Moon could feel herself blush. Even though she had often dreamed of such a situation, she was feeling a bit nervous. After all, the Espeon was not quite sure what her father was expecting her to do now, or if he was expecting anything at all in the first place. In any way, Moon did not want to even risk disappointing him, and more than anything else she wanted to show him that she was a good mate.

“You should just relax a little, my sweet love,” she cooed. “I'd like to do something nice for you, you see... Just keep sitting there like that, and...” Moon lowered her gaze to get a better look at Pharion's body. “...spread your hind legs a little, please...” The Umbreon did as he was told; however, he also opened his eyes and it seemed to Moon like he was a bit worried.

“...my swee... my love...” He swallowed. “...listen... just because we're mates doesn't mean you'd have to...” The Espeon quickly showed him a broad smile and started wagging her tail from side to side.

“I'm doing this because I want it, my dearest,” she said quickly. “I want you to be happy... I want you to feel good...” She moved closer towards her father and brought her head under his chest. The sound of her father almost gasping for air reached her ears. “I'm your mate,” she continued in a soft, calming tone. “There's nothing wrong with me doing this for you, and there's nothing wrong with you enjoying it... Don't worry, my love...”

The Espeon had laid eyes on Pharion's private area. She had never seen his sheath and his testicles from this position and from such a close distance, so she waited for a moment and smiled at the thought of what she was going to do. Moon knew she was still inexperienced, and yet she suddenly felt very confident that she would be able to give her father exactly what he needed. They belonged together, of course, and thus they would be a perfect match in every possible way.

Lowering her head even further, she could now feel the Umbreon taking deep breaths right above her. Moon's large ears brushed along his chest and she could feel his heartbeat, which was noticeably faster than normal. Of course, he was anticipating her next actions, and thus Moon did not want to wait any longer. She moved her head and gave her father a long, slow lick along his testicles and his sheath, running her tongue through his short, dark fur.

Moon felt Pharion's body shiver slightly in response, which seemed to tell her to continue. She wasted no time and immediately licked her father again a few times, making him take even deeper breaths and even give a slight moan. Hearing that he apparently enjoyed what she was doing for him, the Espeon became rather wound up in what she was doing and did not even notice that her father's penis was now beginning to show itself. Moon decided to try something else and lowered her head even further. She opened her mouth, carefully took one of the Umbreon's testicles inside and began to gently suckle on it while also lapping at it with her tongue. It did not take long for her father to moan a little louder.

“...uuhhh... my... love...” This caught Moon's attention. She released Pharion's testicle from her mouth and noticed that her father was panting a little, which made her feel happy and satisfied, as she previously had not even dared to dream that she would be so good at this in spite of it being her first time. Moon raised her head a little and gasped as she suddenly saw her father's deeply red member standing atop his sheath, even though it had not yet reached its maximum size. The Espeon could hardly even wait anymore; she had already made her father feel so good with just a few licks, so she would certainly bring him pleasures beyond comparison as soon as she took his penis into her muzzle. Still, she was certain that such things should not be rushed, and she decided to just lick it a bit at first.

As her tongue touched the base of her father's growing erection, she could feel him wince slightly. Moon remained unmoving for a second and heard him say:

“...you... my love... you don't have to...” His voice was shivering, and Moon understood that he probably really wanted her to continue, yet he cared too much about her to not make sure that she was acting upon her own free will. Moon smiled broadly and, even though she could not see Pharion's face, managed to gently touch his nose with her forked tail.

“You'd never force me to do anything, I know...” she spoke lowly. “But... My love, please trust me... Right now I want nothing more than to make you feel good... This way...” It was hard for the Espeon to think clearly, as her gaze was still locked on Pharion's member. However, she knew that enough words had been spoken. It was time to get back to pleasing her mate.

She slowly ran her tongue along the length of her father's penis and she was certain that she could feel it harden under her soft touch. As Moon's tongue reached the tip, Pharion let out a long, drawn-out moan, which sent a shiver down her spine. He wanted her to go on, and she knew she would not stop until she made him climax. Moon kept licking the Umbreon's member, now increasing her speed and moving her tongue a little more, all the while watching her father's erection becoming bigger and harder. Pharion grunted lowly as it reached its maximum size and his daughter simply stared at it for a moment, grinning inwardly and purring at the thought of all the things she and her father would do together. She doubted that it would be possible for her to take his entire length into her short muzzle at once, but this probably wouldn't even be necessary. Once again she licked it, letting her tongue trail from its base all the way up to its tip, where she paused for a moment, listening to her father pant and watching his erection standing proudly, twitching a slight bit every once in a while.

Then she opened her mouth. This was it. She had thought about how it would be before, especially since she had become Pharion's mate last night. Moon knew she would do her very best to please her father; of course, she did not know much about how this worked, other than that it would certainly be a good idea to keep her teeth away from the most sensitive part of the Umbreon's body. Still, this was not a time for thinking. She would simply do what seemed right to her.

Moon lowered her head and carefully closed her lips around the tip of Pharion's penis. She was instantly rewarded with a pleasured purr coming from her father, and once again she began feeling very confident that she would certainly do a good job. The Espeon kept her head where it was and decided to keep using her tongue at first. She rubbed it across and along the tip of her father's erection, lapping and licking it, knowing that this was a good way to start. Pharion began moaning again and a rather odd taste suddenly filled Moon's mouth. She could feel that she had licked up some of her father's preseed, and she stopped her motions to consider whether she liked it or not. It did not take her long to decide that it actually did not taste bad and that she would certainly be able to get used to it. Before moving her tongue again, Moon swallowed, which made a larger part of the Umbreon's erection slip into her muzzle. She was a bit surprised, yet managed to accustom to it rather quickly. Moon continued working on Pharion's hard rod with her tongue, caressing it in every way she could think of, while simultaneously sucking on it a little, thus slowly taking more and more of it into her mouth. She was so focused on what she was doing that she hardly even heard her father speak between his soft moans and languorous purrs.

“...my... my love... oohhh... yes... my love...” Moon felt her father release more of his preseed right into her mouth. She quickly swallowed it all, as she was very eager to show him that she didn't mind. As she tried to lower her head even further onto Pharion's penis she began to feel slightly uncomfortable. About half of it was inside of her mouth now and the Espeon knew she would start gagging if she were to try to go down on it any further. Thus, she wanted to please her mate as much as she could with her tongue, which she was now using to give the Umbreon a few long, sensual licks along the underside of his erection, always ending right before the tip. Moon could feel the hard penis pulsing a little inside of her mouth, and it seemed to become warmer by the second. In addition, she was still hearing all manner of blissful sounds coming from her father, and she felt his body above her move and shiver slightly as his heart kept beating fast and he apparently became more and more excited. Moon kept massaging the underside of her mate's rod with her tongue and began sucking on it a bit more strongly than before, which seemed to be enough to make the Umbreon almost squeal in pleasure. More of his hot preseed shot into Moon's mouth and she kept sucking and swallowing without even really thinking about it anymore. Her mind was filled with the realization that she was probably making her father feel better and happier than he had ever felt before, and this was exactly what she had wanted to do for years.

Without even having noticed it, the Espeon had closed her eyes some time ago, probably so that she could better focus on pleasing her mate. She opened them about halfway and immediately saw that a big knot had formed at the base of Pharion's penis. Even though she had never had any practical experience, Moon still knew that this had to mean that she had brought her father very close to the peak of his pleasure. The facts that Pharion's moaning had become both louder and more constant and that she could taste his preseed every few moments only served to make it even clearer that he was nearing his climax. Moon realized that this was the last chance she had to further increase her mate's pleasure, and so she began paying more attention to the tip of his erection now, rubbing her tongue along it over and over again while she kept sucking, sensually massaging the tip of the Umbreon's penis with her slick organ.

As she had hoped, this proved to be more than enough. Pharion practically howled in pleasure as his hot erection went wild inside of Moon's mouth, twitching and almost vibrating as it released its warm semen. The Espeon had thought that her mate's preseed had prepared her for this, but it was much different from what had happened before. Moon swallowed as much as she could, but too much of Pharion's seed came too quickly and she could feel it dribble out of her mouth and onto her soft, purplish fur. However, with her father still moaning in ecstasy, she knew it was completely out of the question to just let his penis slip out of her mouth. For a few more moments she kept trying to swallow everything he gave her, and even though she was overwhelmed by the scale of her mate's orgasm she was still enjoying herself, simply because the Umbreon was apparently enjoying himself so much.

It did not take too long, however, for her mate's climax to end. His erection eventually stopped twitching and lost some of its hardness, and Moon felt the last remains of his semen slide down her throat. Pharion's moaning was replaced by heavy panting, and the Espeon suddenly began feeling a little concerned. Of course, she had made her father climax, but had it been good enough? After all, she did not know what he was used to from Reska, and Moon knew she absolutely had to be a better mate than her in every possible way...

She opened her mouth and raised her head a little, however not before giving her father a soft lick along his knot, which was still big and hard. The Umbreon answered with a low groan. Moon took a step back and looked up at him with a warm, and only slightly unsure smile.

“Did... Did you like it, my love?” she asked, trying her best not to sound too excited. Pharion slowly opened his eyes. They appeared to be a little unfocused at first, but after a few blinks he managed to recognize his mate. He was still panting, and his ears seemed to shiver a little, but he nodded slowly.

“...I... my love... it felt... incredible...” It seemed to be a bit difficult for him to talk while he was gasping for air, but these words were enough to make Moon's smile grow even broader. She instantly felt the desire to kiss him, but since the taste of his semen was still present in her mouth and since Pharion was still out of breath, it did not seem like such a good idea to her. Instead, she simply watched him return her smile for a moment. Looking into his deep, red eyes, she could see that every bad thought had been wiped from his mind. Still, there was another question she wanted to ask, and she could only hope that it would not make things worse again for her father. Moon lowered her gaze a little. She was certain that it would be better not to ask this question, but she simply had to know the answer; it suddenly seemed more important than anything else.
She took a deep breath.

“My dearest... please tell me,” she spoke lowly while glancing up at Pharion's face only by turning her eyes a little, “when was the last time Reska did this for you?”

The Umbreon blinked slowly. At first it appeared to Moon like he had not quite understood her question, and she immediately began to regret having asked it in the first place. Still, her father opened his mouth, and even though his gaze seemingly had become slightly clouded, he spoke:

“...she... she never did anything like that, my love...” he mumbled. The Espeon gasped. Of course, she probably should have expected this answer; after all, Reska had never done anything nice for anyone other than herself. Pharion noticed her surprise, and he blushed so heavily that it was even visible under his dark fur. “...years ago, I... I once asked her if we could try it, but...” He swallowed. “...she said it would be degrading, and... it was terribly selfish of me to ask her for this, and... she was right...” Moon quickly shook her head.

“No, Pharion, she wasn't,” she said firmly. “There's nothing degrading about making your mate happy. If she had loved you...” She stopped talking as she realized that finishing this sentence would probably only make Pharion feel even worse. Moon breathed deeply and started over: “I love you, and I promise I'll be a better mate to you than she ever was.” She showed her father a reassuring smile and her tail was dancing a little behind her, indicating that she was happy and excited. “I'll do this for you whenever you want, I swear... and I'll always be happy to do it,” she added after seeing a concerned frown appear on her father's face. Pharion lowered his head.

“...you're a much better mate than I deserve, my love...” he murmured. Moon shook her head and stepped closer towards him, softly rubbing her side along his. Inwardly, she sighed a little. Of course, her father still had to recover from how Reska had always treated him. He would certainly become happier and more confident in himself soon...





As the day went on, the rain outside seemed to become only heavier. Enough water came pouring down so that Moon and Pharion could simply stand on top of the hill with their heads reclined and their mouths wide open whenever they felt thirsty; of course, this also resulted in their fur becoming completely soaked, but it was still better than running all the way to the river and back again. They spent some time trying to move the bushes a little in order to make sure that there would not be too much water flowing into their den; it seemed to work rather well.
Of course, now that there were more leaves covering the entrance to their home it had become a bit darker inside of the cave, but Moon had nothing against it and she was sure that Pharion felt the same. She knew the gem in her forehead was glowing brighter than usual, which was due to her being in high spirits. Combined with the yellow light coming from the rings in Pharion's fur, the den was basked in a warm orange glimmer.
They both tried to shake the rain out of their fur, spraying drops of water all over the ground and the walls without really getting any drier. Moon was the one who decided that it was time to sit down and eat the remains of the food they had gathered the day before. Her father agreed with a nod.
During the meal, she looked up at him every few moments. He smiled at her whenever he noticed it and then went back to eating, which he did rather slowly, so it appeared to Moon like he actually was not hungry at all. She thought about whether or not she should say something, but Pharion was faster than her.

“...aren't you feeling cold, my swee...” He swallowed. “...my love...?” Of course, the Espeon had noticed that he had almost referred to her as if she was only his daughter. She took a deep breath, shook her head and then smiled at her father.

“Don't worry about me, my love. I'll be fine...” She frowned slightly as she took a closer look at the Umbreon. Because his fur was still wet, he was looking thinner than usual, and as she lowered her gaze to his paws she could see that he was shivering. Moon blinked.

“Pharion...” she spoke lowly as she stood up and moved closer towards him. Now that she was standing in front of him, her father lowered his ears and she couldn't help but get the impression that he was nervous. “What about you?” she continued in a caring tone. In addition to this, she gave him a soft lick across his cheek. “You seem to be freezing...” Her father quickly shook his head and smiled, but it looked weak and uncertain.

“...that's alright, it doesn't matter...” he said quickly. “...my love... if there's anything I can do for you...” Moon became more and more concerned. She lowered her head a little.

“My dearest...” She paused for a moment, then went on: “Would you like me to try and keep you warm?” Her father blinked and ducked slightly.

“...I... I'd never ask you to do something like that for me, my love...” he mumbled. “...I... Maybe you'd like me to do something nice for you instead...?” Moon sighed inwardly. It seemed that her father had still not understood that she was so very different from Reska. He would first have to grow accustomed to the fact that he now had a mate who deeply cared about him, someone who wanted him to be happy...

“Please lie down on your back, my sweetheart,” she spoke softly. Pharion did seem to be a bit surprised for a short moment, but he also appeared to be happy that there was something she wanted him to do. He immediately lay down and then rolled over onto his back.

“...like this, my love...?” he asked, still sounding a bit nervous. A quick look confirmed what Moon had already thought; the fur on his chest and belly was still dry, and she knew that the same was true for her.

“Yes, just like that...” she said while walking around her father. Moon showed him a broad smile. “Now, please don't move, my dearest, and keep all of your legs spread a little... Yes, like that...” The Espeon stepped forward so that she was now standing right above her father. She then lay down on top of him, lowering her body onto his very carefully, enjoying the feeling of her fur mixing with his. Pharion's rings began glowing a bit more brightly than before and he purred as he felt Moon so very close to him.

“I won't let you feel cold, my love,” she spoke in an affectionate tone, while running her tongue along his cheek once more. “You won't have to suffer anymore. You're with me now, and I won't let anyone hurt you. Don't worry,” she continued as she could clearly see that there was something her father wanted to say, but he was keeping himself from doing so. “If there's anything you'd like me to do for you or just something you'd like to talk about, you can always tell me. I care about you, my dearest...” Another lick across his cheek was enough to make him open his mouth. It was obvious that he was feeling embarrassed to speak these words:

“...my... my love... may I... may I please... hold you...?” It had taken some time for him to ask this question, and Moon responded by rubbing her body along his in an attempt to be even closer to him.

“That would be very nice,” she cooed. “Please go ahead, my love...” She could feel Pharion move his front paws very slowly. He eventually wrapped them around her back and began holding her gently, yet very close to him.

“...you... you don't have to let me do this if you don't want it, my love...” he said in his unsure tone. However, Moon just smiled and shook her head. She brought her mouth closer to one of his ears and whispered:

“I love you, Pharion. I want to be close to you, I don't want to ever leave your side... You may hold me for as long as you like... It makes me very happy, you know...” Finally, the warm, happy smile that Moon had wanted to see appeared on the Umbreon's face. Her gaze met his, and she immediately found herself unable to look away again. There was so much love and affection in his deep, red eyes, such a strong desire to make her happy... Moon did not have to think about what she was doing, she knew that there was only one possible way to act in such a situation.

It was happening; as her lips found his, she felt every single part of her body ache with the deep, heartfelt wish of making her beloved mate truly happy.


She wanted him to know that she would protect him, and she wanted him to know that there was no need to be worried or afraid because she was here and she loved him... If there was anything that could make a kiss special, if there was anything that could make a kiss meaningful, then this had to be it...


Moon felt warmer and warmer with each passing moment, and she only hoped that her father could feel it, too. It was not possible to imagine a better time or a better place; they belonged here, they belonged together. Pharion tightened his embrace around her a little. He did not want to let go of her, Moon knew that he needed her... In more ways than just one maybe, she could not say, she could not be sure and it was unimportant anyway, she would simply let things happen, as she was certain they would progress exactly as they should. All possible disturbances were gone, she was with the one she loved...

As she slowly broke the kiss after a while, the Espeon could clearly see that her father was feeling more secure. His eyes seemed to silently tell her that he was ready to continue, ready to receive everything she could give him, ready to show her that he loved her just as much as she loved him.

“...you're very warm, my love...” he remarked in a low tone. Moon closed her eyes and nodded slightly. There was a happy smile standing on her face. Pharion gave her an affectionate lick across her cheek, making her purr softly. She then tried to cuddle even closer to the Umbreon, thus rubbing her body along his.

“...you seem to be rather excited, too...” he continued. Once again, Moon simply nodded. She opened her mouth and a low noise escaped her throat; it sounded a little bit like a whimper, and the Espeon blushed under her dense fur, even though she was certain that her father didn't mind. She could feel his front paws gently caressing her back and his nose touching her cheek, which seemed to increase the warmth in her body even more, making her feel a bit less comfortable and slightly impatient. However, for now she just kept slowly moving her body back and forth along the Umbreon's, and it made her blush even redder when she noticed that some of the fur in her crotch area had become a little damp and stuck to his.

“...there's no need to be nervous, my love...” she heard her father's soft, gentle voice. “...I can help you with that...” He was sounding just like she had always imagined it: reassuring, calm and affectionate, and Moon probably would have let out a blissful squeal, had she not quickly closed her mouth again. However, the slightly absent and disconnected tone that also lay in Pharion's voice went by unnoticed.

Moon kept pressing herself against him as they carefully rolled over, so that she was now lying on her back. Her eyes were still closed and she could not see a thing, but this only served to intensify what she was feeling. Pharion lightly kissed her neck, his lips barely even coming in touch with her skin, and then he let his tongue trail towards her chest, gently parting her fur and making her arch her body upwards a little. The Umbreon kept licking and kissing her chest for a few moments, continuously making Moon purr louder and louder as she felt the warmth in her body increase even more. Everything about her seemed to be heating up, and Pharion's tongue was cool and soothing, making the Espeon wish she could be feeling it all over her body, all at once.

She knew she was already panting heavily as her mate gave her several long licks down her belly, and even though it kept feeling better and better whenever his tongue touched her skin, she knew that it wasn't enough. Without even really noticing it she spread her hind legs widely and whined impatiently, hoping that Pharion knew what she needed so badly.

The Umbreon had to have raised his head, as Moon suddenly could not feel his gentle, cooling touch anymore. She held her breath for a moment. Then his tongue returned, and the Espeon simply could not even try to remain calm any longer. She cried out in pleasure as Pharion began licking her vagina, caressing its outer walls with his slick organ and lapping up Moon's juices that came pouring out. All the tension was gone, the Espeon did not need to try her best to stay patient any longer. She moaned loudly with every lick her mate gave her, now feeling hotter than ever before, which hardly even seemed to matter. Wave after wave of pure, perfect pleasure went through her body, making it tremble and twitch beyond her control. Moon had never felt anything like this before, and yet her mate had only just begun.

The Umbreon had apparently noticed her excitement, and he had to be determined to give her exactly what she was begging for with each of her unrestrained moans. She did not know where her tail was, she did not know where her paws were or even her head; the only part of her body she could actually feel was the region between her hind legs, as Pharion's tongue pressed down on her entrance a little harder than before, so it slid inside after just a short moment. Moon could only react by gasping for air and then letting out a long, blissful howl, as everything she had felt before, even though it had already been more wonderful than she could have ever imagined, paled in comparison to this. Her mate's tongue caressing her vagina from the inside was too much for her to handle, and she knew her climax was approaching quickly. However, this was not right, it wasn't the way it was supposed to be... There was more to it than that, there were even deeper, more intense feelings to be had, and even though it was Moon's first time she knew she needed it all...

“S... Stop... please... Ooohhh...” It was hard to speak between her heavy breaths and her even heavier moans, but Pharion seemed to understand her quite well. He immediately pulled his head away from her crotch, and Moon could not keep herself from letting out a disappointed sigh. She took a few deep breaths, smiling softly and waiting for her body to stop shivering. Then she opened her eyes and saw that her mate was looking at her in a very concerned way; of course, he probably thought he had done something wrong.

“Mmmhh... Don't worry, my love, it really felt wonderful...” she spoke lowly, trying to ignore the burning need that was building up in her crotch once more. “I just... Well...” Moon blushed as she suddenly felt a little silly. Pharion would certainly understand her a lot better if she were to just show him what she meant, rather than explaining it. The Umbreon watched quietly, yet still with a hint of worry in his caring eyes, as the Espeon rolled over onto her belly and then stood up on all fours. For a moment her legs felt a bit wobbly, but she still managed to stand perfectly still. Since she was not used to it, it did feel a bit embarrassing, but she still displayed herself to her mate as well as she could, keeping her hind legs spread and raising both her tail and her hindquarters while lowering her chest until she came in touch with the ground.

Moon took a deep breath and closed her eyes, silently wishing for things to progress just as she hoped. She was not quite certain what Pharion would do now, but he had become her mate, and they had already exchanged all kinds of affections, which had gotten more and more intimate... There was no reason not to continue now, but still, it was impossible to be completely sure...

The Espeon's ears twitched slightly as she heard her mate move. Just a moment later she could feel him, his body right above hers, his chest and belly slowly coming in touch with her back. Once again she could feel his heartbeat and a broad smile stood on her face as she opened her eyes. Moon saw his front paws right next to her shoulders, and as she turned her face a little to look at him, Pharion gave her a soft lick across her cheek. His eyes were silently asking a very important question and Moon simply replied with a languorous purr and a slight nod. Her mate's tongue then proceeded to travel along the backside of one of her big ears, and as he had reached its tip, he opened his mouth and took it inside, very gently nibbling on it. The Espeon immediately felt her body heat up again in response to Pharion's caresses, and her vagina began to almost ache in anticipation. She wriggled her hindquarters a bit, trying to tell Pharion what she needed him to do, but she stopped her movements and gasped lowly the moment she noticed her mate's condition. His erection had to be fully grown, and it seemed to be even harder than before when Moon had pleased him with her mouth. She could feel it touch her inner thigh, and it made her give a needy whimper.

The Umbreon understood. He moved his hindquarters until the tip of his hard rod came in touch with Moon's hot, wet entrance. Pharion seemed to hesitate for just a moment, then he began pushing forwards.

He was slow and gentle and tender. Moon could feel her vaginal lips being spread apart only by the very tip of his penis at first, but this alone was already enough to bring back everything she had experienced when her mate had licked her just a few moments ago. She purred happily and did her best to keep her body perfectly still, even though she was silently begging the Umbreon to push his erection deeper into her. However, Pharion took his time, and this certainly made everything just all the more enjoyable. Only very slowly did the tip of his rod reach the deeper regions of Moon's warm folds, and the Espeon let out a soft squeal as her walls were being spread apart so very tenderly. It did not take long for Pharion to open his mouth and begin to purr lowly and right into Moon's ear, making her know that this was an exceptional experience for him, too.

Then, the Umbreon's purring suddenly stopped, alongside with the movements of his hindquarters. Moon noticed that the tip of his penis had come in touch with something inside of her, something that prevented him from penetrating her further... She breathed deeply, closed her eyes and smiled.

“Go on, my love,” she cooed. “I'm ready...” However, her mate did not move. After a short moment she heard him mumble:

“...I... I don't want to hurt you, my swee... my love...” Moon opened her eyes again and turned her head a little so she could look at him. The expression of worry and even a bit of fear in his shivering red eyes made her instantly forget about how much she needed to feel him deeper inside of her.

“If you're feeling uncomfortable about this, my sweetheart...” She swallowed. It was hard for her to say these words, but she knew she would never forgive herself if she were to force her father to do this against his will. “You know... We don't have to...” Pharion slowly shook his head.

“...I just... I just don't want to hurt you... my love...” he repeated in a slightly shaky tone. “...I don't want you to get hurt... ever... my love...” His gaze seemed to become a bit unfocused, which made Moon feel more and more worried. Pharion's uneasiness was apparently growing with his reluctance, and the Espeon knew he would not be able to come to any kind of decision in this state. She did her best to smile at him, even though the pained look in his eyes made this very hard for her.

“It's not going to hurt, Pharion,” she said calmly, knowing that this would most probably turn out to be a lie. However, since this was the only way she could think of to help her mate, she regarded it as sufficiently justified. “I love you way too much for it to hurt.” Pharion blinked and his eyes met Moon's. She kept smiling, now feeling certain that the Umbreon's uneasiness was slowly disappearing.

“...are you sure about that, my love...?” he asked after a few moments of silence had passed. Moon nodded immediately and in an affirmative gesture she lowered her head and spread her hind legs a bit further.

“It'll be great, my love,” she purred. “Go on now, please... and don't worry about a thing...” Pharion gave a slight nod in response to her words. Knowing that it would happen rather soon now, Moon quickly turned her head so that she was looking forwards, making it impossible for her mate to see her face. Pharion lowered his body a bit, so that he was practically lying down on top of the Espeon, even though his weight was still being carried by his own paws. Moon could feel him move his hindquarters backwards a little, so that only the very tip of his erection remained inside of her. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, silently telling herself that she could not allow even the slightest noise to escape her muzzle.
Pharion gave her a soft kiss on the back of her head, and then she heard him whisper:

“...if it hurts, my love, please tell me... I'll stop immediately...” Moon sighed inwardly as she nodded slightly, knowing that she would rather die than tell her father that he had hurt her. However, this was not the right time to think about whether or not lying was acceptable in certain situations. She breathed deeply and mentally readied herself for what was to come.

Her eyes shot open, yet she did manage to keep her mouth closed as the Umbreon's hard rod tore through her hymen and buried itself deeply within her. Moon twitched a little and blinked a few times, trying her best not to shed any tears. She ignored the sudden sharp pain in her crotch as best as she could and instead focused on this one single thought of which she knew that it would always make her happy: finally, she had lost her virginity to her one true love, her mate, the one she had always adored and admired and cared for so deeply...

It worked. A soft smile spread on her face, she slowly closed her eyes again and gave a relatively weak, but unmistakably happy purr. The pain was forgotten; it had vanished in beautiful thoughts and anticipations of things to come. Pharion apparently understood her correctly as he now continued to carefully push his member deeper into her entrance, making Moon experience the previously unknown pleasure of her vagina being completely filled with a hard erection. She moaned and pushed herself back against her mate a little, loving the feeling of being penetrated so deeply. The Umbreon remained motionless for a moment, giving her ample opportunity to enjoy this new sensation.

He then pulled back a little bit, making Moon give a soft sigh. However, not even half of her mate's erection had left her sex before it was pushed inside once more, very gently spreading the Espeon's walls again, affectionately caressing her warm, wet depths. It was even better than the first time, and the feeling of Pharion's tongue running along the backside of one of her ears only added to the pleasure Moon was now experiencing. This time, her mate did not stop when he had filled her completely; instead, he immediately began repeating his motions, thus setting up a slow, tender pace, which seemed to be just perfect. There was nothing forceful about it, nothing impatient, nothing selfish. Every single one of the Umbreon's movements told Moon that he loved her, and as she felt herself being gently rocked back and forth, she could not help but squeal in excitement whenever Pharion pushed his hard rod into her. He seemed to go a little deeper every time; Moon found it to be incredible that there could be a feeling so fulfilling, a feeling that made her entire body radiate with a comfortable warmth.

It did not take long for her to stop thinking. Trying to hang on to anything rational appeared both futile and senseless to her at that moment, so she simply gave up, so that her entire existence could now be focused on this act of mating with the only one in the world whom she loved. The steady rhythm of her vagina seemingly being penetrated deeper and deeper and the feeling of Pharion's tongue caressing the tip of her ear, combined with his heartbeat, his slightly heavy breathing, the whole sensation of him being as close to her as only those who truly love each other can be was simply overwhelming, it made Moon feel more alive than she had ever felt before. Every single part of her body silently screamed for this to continue, she wished it would never stop, it was just too good to finally mate with Pharion after all these years during which she had desired to be closer to him than a daughter usually was to her father. More and more pleasure was building up while Moon could only lie there with her hindquarters raised, lost in it all, her mind too gone to be of any importance and her mouth open, releasing deep, heavy moans that the Espeon hardly even noticed, as her ears were just too eager to take in the sounds of her mate panting, purring and giving his own low moans of pleasure.

Pharion's erection was not the only thing filling Moon's vagina, as the Umbreon soon began releasing small spurts of his preseed into her. He stopped licking her ear and instead rested his head on the back of her neck, while pushing his member into her as deep as it would go, which made his panting become heavier. Moon almost would have lost control over herself as she felt her mate's knot being pressed against her outer walls; there was a part of her that wanted, or rather needed to have the Umbreon's knot inside of her, and yet there was another part of her that was afraid of it, reminding her that it would most likely hurt a lot to be spread apart further and to be penetrated even deeper. Pharion apparently knew this, too, and so he did not try to push his knot into her; instead, he began rubbing it along Moon's entrance, so that he was now caressing her vagina both from the inside and from the outside, which immediately made the Espeon sink even deeper into the realms of sexual pleasure, finally making her forget about everything else in the world. Her body was vibrating every now and then and her breathing had become erratic, she felt so much better than she ever would have thought was possible, and her mate still kept finding new ways of intensifying all these unknown sensations that Moon had only dreamed of for such a long time.

She thought of herself as paralyzed, but that was more than alright. Moon simply knew that she neither could nor wanted to move a muscle until it would be over. It had begun and it needed to be finished, which was a realization that somehow made its way through to the Espeon, in spite of her mind being very busy wishing that it would never end. There was something that had not happened yet, something that kept coming closer and closer, something that would be so utterly wonderful that simple thoughts could never possibly do it justice. Moon's heart was beating faster and faster in anticipation of this one crucial moment, making her blood rush through her body at an immense speed, which resulted in her becoming even more sensitive, especially in her lower regions. She could feel it, hear it and see it in front of her inner eye as her mate slowly pulled back again, leaving the deeper parts of her vagina feeling painfully empty for a short moment, until the Umbreon pushed his rod into her once more, not stopping until his knot made contact with her entrance. Moon was being pushed forward a little and her heart seemingly skipped a beat as she realized that it would only take one or two more such thrusts for her to reach her climax. The same seemed to be true for Pharion, who gave a long, languorous groan, which made an excited shiver run down Moon's spine as his short muzzle was right next to her ear.

The Umbreon picked up pace, which was good, since Moon knew she could not wait any longer. More and more of his erection seemed to leave her vagina and return with each thrust, until Pharion pulled nearly his entire length out of her, only to ram it back inside immediately afterwards. The Espeon howled and whimpered at the same time as she experienced yet another sensation that was entirely new to her; her vaginal muscles contracted around her mate's rod as she was taken away by her climax, away from every last bit of the world that had stayed with her until this moment and into a tornado of pleasure, where she was being thrown around at the will of an unknown god... She let it happen, as this was pure, untainted bliss, and also because she knew she would be powerless against it if she were to try to make it stop somehow. Her ears were filled with a nondescript, yet oddly pleasant swoosh, and only very faintly could she still hear Pharion's heavy and loud moans.

Moon was so far away from any kind of conceivable reality, and yet her body still seemed to be able to tell her what was going on. She could feel Pharion's knot being pressed against her entrance and his hot penis twitching inside of her as her mate filled her with his seed. It was pure, sticky warmth that was being shot into the Espeon, and had she not been panting and moaning loudly, she certainly would have given a long, happy purr. Still, Moon could not actually understand any of this, she knew what was happening, but she was unable to grasp it, as there was not the slightest bit of rational thought left inside of her. All she could be sure of was that something was going on, something that made her feel wonderful all over, and especially in the most private region of her body.

It did not last forever, but Moon was too busy catching her breath and basking in the comfortable warmth she was bathed in to be disappointed. Her mind seemed to slowly return to the world, it told her where she was, who she was and what had just happened, but none of that mattered all that much. The Espeon's eyes were closed and she could feel her hind legs shivering and her heart still pounding wildly, but she could not lie down just yet.
Her mate was panting heavily. His warm breath kept caressing one of her ears until he raised his head a little and, after just a moment of hesitating, slowly stepped backwards. His erection, which did not feel very hard anymore, left Moon's vagina, but the warmth of his semen stayed inside. Moon sighed happily and then began lowering her hindquarters onto the ground, knowing that this had just been the beginning. They were mates, they could do this every day and every night, there was no one who could tell them not to... The Espeon found herself already eagerly anticipating the next time they would do it, but she also knew she should not lose herself in such fantasies, at least not at the moment. She slowly raised her head and opened her eyes about halfway, looking over her shoulder at her mate.

“That was so good...” she whispered, finding it a little hard to move her mouth and her tongue so that they would form the words she had in mind. Pharion, who was sitting behind her, looked up and blinked.

“...did... did you really enjoy it, my love...?” he asked lowly, apparently very surprised at her words. Moon found herself too weak to chuckle, so she just closed her eyes and smiled broadly.

“Nothing could ever feel better than that...” she mumbled, now trying not to fall asleep. All of a sudden, she was feeling very tired, and she knew she would have only the most beautiful of dreams...

“...I'm so glad... my love...” Moon heard her mate stand up and walk up to her side. As he began giving her a few long, affectionate licks along the back of her neck and her head, she purred softly. There was no use in fighting it. Everything was so warm and wonderful and perfect, there was no tension, no problems... It was such a relaxing atmosphere that it was simply impossible for Moon to stay awake any longer.

“I love you... Pharion...” she murmured lowly. However, Moon did not hear her mate's reply, as she had already fallen asleep.





Something was not right.

Pharion was unable to clearly make out who the sleeping Espeon was. Reska and Moon looked so much alike, after all... well, it had to be Reska, there simply was no other possibility. Pharion knew he had just mated with her, and he was Reska's mate, so there was no way this Espeon could be anyone other than her. However, the Umbreon also knew, or at least seemed to know, that Reska was somewhere else. He could easily recognize that this was not their den; instead, it was the place that Moon and he had retreated to for reasons he could not clearly remember, and Reska had stayed at their old den. This apparently meant that the sleeping Espeon had to be Moon, because it was impossible for her mother to be here.

No matter how many times Pharion thought about it all, things simply refused to make sense. He knew he had just mated with this Espeon, he knew that he loved Reska so she was the only one he would ever do this with, and yet, Reska could not possibly be in this small cave. Pharion remembered that he had dug it for Moon and himself, and for no one else... Why was Reska not here? He needed her... Maybe she had tried to follow them, but something had happened, maybe she was in danger...

The Umbreon began feeling nervous and exhausted at the same time. What was wrong with him? He could not even seem to clearly recall anything that had happened in the past few hours, and he had apparently left Reska behind at some point... He knew he would never do such a thing, and yet it seemed to have happened. The thought of waking Moon in order to ask her what was going on crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, as it was impossible that this Espeon was his daughter, since he had just mated with her... Of course, he would never mate with his daughter, he would never even think about it. The sleeping Espeon could be neither Reska nor Moon, and yet she seemed to be both of them at the same time... Pondering this conundrum, Pharion could feel his thoughts becoming insanely heavy, and after just a moment, they completely refused to continue in any direction. Something unthinkable had to have happened, at some point and for some reason...

Pharion did not understand, and his head hurt terribly much. His paws gave way and he fell down on the ground. Reska, Moon... where were they? Who was that sleeping Espeon? Pharion could not think about it, every possibility seemed to be too awful to even consider. Nothing moved.
He did not think.
Time stopped.
He slept.

For a while, just for a short while... and as he awoke, he was feeling even worse...


It was night. The Espeon was still sleeping, and the rain had stopped. There was not the slightest bit of noise to be heard anywhere. Pharion knew that his yellow rings were glowing dimly, just like the Espeon's red gem of which he was certain that it was there, even though he could not see her face. Of course, every Espeon had such a gem...

He slowly rose to his paws and walked around the sleeping Espeon without looking at her. He raised his head and looked outside, trying to get a clear view on the moon and her light, but the bushes were in the way.

Moon...

He loved Moon, of course he did. She was his daughter. Pharion wanted her to be safe and happy, but still... there were things he would never do... then again, if she were to ask him... he knew he could never say no to anyone, especially not to those he loved...

Maybe Moon had asked him to... but that was impossible, she knew as well as he did that he was her father and she was his daughter... they could not be mates. 

Pharion turned his head towards the Espeon. He began to slightly wag his tail and smile a little. It was Moon, of course. There was just something about her that made her entire existence so very different from Reska's...

“...my sweetie...” he whispered. Moon flicked one of her ears a little, but she did not wake up. Pharion shook his head. He still did not understand a thing, but knowing that Moon was there made him feel a bit calmer.

He sat down and just looked at her for a few moments... or for hours, maybe... it was so hard to tell, as Pharion's mind was not working correctly. He thought and felt, but everything was vague and almost impossible to grasp and understand, so he just sat and watched over his daughter's sleep.

Sometimes she would move slightly, and the Umbreon always perked up his ears when this happened, as he thought she was going to wake up. It seemed important to him to greet her with a smile, so he did his best to forget about his confusion. It was true, Reska was not here. But Moon was. She was his daughter, he had to watch out for her. There was no use in letting her know how troubled he was feeling and that he hardly had any idea what was going on, as this would just make her worry. Of course, things were not alright for Pharion, but maybe they were for Moon, yes... they certainly were, she was smiling in her sleep, after all. Pharion knew he could not allow himself to risk ruining her happiness.

Still, there seemed to be a dull pain in the back of his head that he simply could not ignore. It kept telling him that something was terribly wrong. It kept reminding him that he was not at Reska's side. However, there was his daughter, too, and she needed him... Of course, he could not be in two places at once. Apparently, a decision was necessary, but Pharion did not understand why or how.

His head felt awfully heavy again and he noticed that the soft glow of his yellow rings had become fainter. It was still night. He did not know when Moon would wake up. Pharion imagined her being lost inside gentle dreams, where she was safe from all the trouble that had befallen him. Maybe he could join her. Maybe he could escape to another world, just for a while, until things would get better.

Pharion lay down right in front of his daughter. For a few more moments he kept watching her, his gaze wandering across her red gem, her closed eyes and the soft smile that was still standing on her face. Surely this world of dreams had to be a nice place when Moon apparently enjoyed her sleep so much. Pharion closed his eyes and waited for his exhaustion to overwhelm him.

He could not say where he ended up, but it certainly was not a nice place.





Things kept getting worse.

Moon had known from the very beginning that it would not be easy for her father to adapt to the new circumstances, but this seemed even more difficult for him than she had expected. Days and nights passed, but instead of him getting used to only having Moon around, he became more and more disoriented and confused. Whenever he woke up in the morning and saw his daughter, the first thing he said was:

“...Reska...?”

Even after Moon told him who she was, he never seemed to be truly convinced, at least not for long. Sometimes his gaze became somewhat unfocused, and afterwards he usually was unsure as to who she was and where they were.

Moon wanted to help him, of course, but nothing she did improved the situation. She stayed close to Pharion all the time, she smiled at him, snuggled with him and kissed him, and she always made sure to show him that he was the only one she would ever love and that she would always do anything he desired, but to no avail. Pharion never resisted, but neither could Moon ever be certain that he actually understood what she told him. He nodded and sometimes smiled back at her, yet his mind was apparently busy with something else.

Whenever she looked into his deep, red eyes, it felt to her like she was gazing upon a shattered world. There was an unspoken chaos, a painful loneliness, a fear both of what had already happened and what was yet to come... Moon could never keep up eye contact with the Umbreon for a very long time, but she was not sure if he even noticed.

Moon did her best to come up with ways to help her beloved Pharion. At first she thought it might make things better for him if she could just distract him from his troubles, so she tried to make him agree to mate with her again, or maybe just let her please him by using her mouth. However, Pharion did not even seem to understand what she was talking about when she mentioned any of this, and even as she lay down on her back and presented herself to him with her hind legs spread widely, he merely kept looking at her without saying anything. The Espeon had hoped that seeing her in such a position would trigger an instinct, a basic desire to mate that would still be intact within the Umbreon, but this bit of hope quickly turned into disappointment. All this made Moon worry even more, and she began getting a little frustrated as well. She could not help but feel that she was simply not good enough to make Pharion forget about his former mate. Moon was almost certain that he was still constantly thinking of Reska, and with each passing day he seemed to get more and more lost in those thoughts.

His condition appeared not to be quite as bad, or at least not as noticeable, when there was something he could easily focus on. Moon got the impression that the only moments that her father did not spend in utter confusion were those during which she and he were collecting food. He could still easily discern between edible and poisonous berries and mushrooms, and he always managed to find an at least slightly greater amount of food than the Espeon did.

The nights were by far not as lovely as Moon had hoped they would be when Pharion and she had become mates. She always lay down next to her father; sometimes she would face away from him, so that he would not be able to see that her eyes were wide open. Pharion usually fell asleep before she did, and then she could feel him twitch slightly and lowly mumble something unintelligible every once in a while. Whenever a soft whine came from her mate, Moon quickly turned her head to see if something had happened; however, her father was always fast asleep, even though there was a somewhat strained expression on his face and the yellow rings in his fur sometimes flickered a little.

Moon knew something had to be done, and yet she did not know what to do. Sometimes she had seemingly perfectly normal conversations with her father, only to find out later that he was unable to remember even a single word he or she had said; on other occasions, Pharion would not even give her an answer or give the slightest hint that would have told her that he was listening. Still, whenever she looked worried or troubled, Pharion would always regain consciousness for at least a few moments and ask her if she was alright and if there was anything he could do for her. Of course, Moon always told him she was fine; after all, there were enough things the Umbreon had to bother with already.


It was about noon one rather foggy day, when Moon finally reached a decision. The fact that Pharion always confused her with Reska in the morning, his blank and yet still pained expression, his uneasy sleep and the way he always appeared to expect someone else to be there, someone he obviously missed and needed, all told the Espeon exactly where the root of the problem was. Of course, she had hoped that simply getting her father away from their former home and always being there for him would be enough, but she knew she could not cling to that hope forever. Maybe it had all happened too quickly, so that the Umbreon had never actually been able to grasp any of this newfound reality that he and his daughter had built together. Since Moon could not help Pharion understand, he would have to do it by himself.

The Umbreon was sitting near the exit of their den, staring outside, even though the dense bushes obscured his view. Thin layers of mist had formed between the leaves, which were not looking quite as green and healthy as they once had. Moon carefully sat down at her mate's side and moved her tail a little, lightly touching his. Just like Pharion, she was looking outside, or rather at the leaves and the fog.

“My love?” she spoke after a while, keeping her voice very low. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at Pharion. He did not move in any way, and neither did he give an answer or even signal that he had heard her say anything at all. Moon decided to try again.

“My love?” She had been a little bit louder this time, but there was still no reply. She slowly shook her head and then looked at her father.

“My love? Pharion? Do you hear me?” When she paid very much attention, she could notice him breathing, and every once in a while he blinked. Had it not been for those two basic motions, he could have been a statue.

Moon swallowed. There was one more thing she knew she could try, but she felt very reluctant about this. It would simply be terribly inappropriate. Things had changed, after all, and yet... her mate had apparently not understood the nature of these changes, so it was probably necessary to undertake this attempt...

“Daddy...?” Pharion blinked. She could see him open his mouth and both of his ears twitched once.

“...my sweetie...?” Very slowly, he turned his head towards her. There was something in the way he was now looking at Moon that told her that he was feeling very relieved for some reason; however, after just a short moment he suddenly looked worried. 

“...is something wrong, my sweetie...?” he asked lowly, “...can I help you with anything...?” Without even really wanting it, the Espeon had to smile. She carefully brought her face closer to her father's; for a moment she wanted to kiss him, but then she quickly changed her mind and gave him a lick across his cheek instead.

“I'd just like to talk to you, daddy,” she spoke in a soft tone. Pharion now showed her a warm smile as well.

“...of course, my sweetie, we can talk about anything...” He stopped and looked around for a moment. When he continued talking, there was once again a hint of worry in his voice.

“...say, my sweetie, do you know where your mother is...? ...has she gone for a walk...?” Moon closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

“It's good you mention her, daddy,” she said without being certain if she was speaking the truth or not, “because it's her I wanted to talk to you about.” As she opened her eyes again, she saw that Pharion was looking at her attentively, with his ears perked up. He was apparently expecting her to explain why she wanted to talk about Reska.

“You... You're still thinking of her very often, aren't you, daddy?” Moon asked rather carefully. Pharion seemed to be a bit surprised by this question.

“...well... of course I am, my sweetie...” he spoke with a slight chuckle in his voice. “...I think of her all the time...” It was apparent that he was unable to see why this was a problem. For a moment, Moon did not quite know what she should say, but then she decided it would be best to just be honest. After all, she wanted to help her father regain his grasp on reality.

“You do remember what happened, don't you, daddy?” the Espeon continued in her careful tone. “You do remember what she did, right...?” She closely watched her father's face as he tried to recall the preceding events. Very slowly, his ears dropped and his red eyes became a bit pale. He lowered his head.

“...oh...” He breathed deeply, then he said hoarsely: “...yes, my sweetie... I remember...” Moon quickly brought her face closer to the Umbreon's and nudged his cheek with her nose.

“I'm worried about you, daddy,” she spoke lowly. “I thought you might feel better after spending some time without her, but...” She decided not to finish this sentence. Instead, she shook her head. “You have to stop thinking of her, daddy,” she went on in a softer tone. “You have to finish this. We'll go back to Reska and you'll tell her that you don't need her and that you never want to see her again, and then...” She smiled reassuringly. “Then things will be better... You'll see...” Pharion was looking at her again, but Moon was not sure if he had actually understood her. He blinked.

“...you... you want us to go back, my sweetie...?” he asked after a moment. Moon nodded quickly. Her father slowly turned his head towards their den's exit.

“I think we should go back so that you can tell Reska that you don't need her,” the Espeon repeated. “We... we need all this to be over, daddy. Don't you agree? Don't you think it would be nice if we could just live on and not be bothered by our past anymore?” Pharion did not move. Once again, Moon was not certain about whether or not he had even been able to understand her words. Then, however, he spoke:

“...you are probably right, my sweetie...” He sounded strangely absentminded. The Espeon did not quite know what to think of this reply. It bothered her that she could not see his eyes, so she stood up and walked around him until she blocked his view on the bushes outside of their den. It took a few seconds for her father to finally blink and focus his eyes on her.

“Reska is not good for you, daddy,” Moon remarked. There was a pained expression on the Umbreon's face.

“...but... my sweetie...” Moon cut him off by shaking her head.

“It wasn't good for you to be with her, daddy, and it's not good for you to still think of her. This has to stop.” Pharion ducked slightly and lowered his gaze. Moon realized that she had probably sounded rather intimidating, so she quickly smiled, which was not an easy thing to accomplish as she certainly was not in the right mood for this.

“I'll help you,” she continued in a warmer tone. “Don't worry, daddy...” She gave Pharion a soft lick across his forehead. “We'll go there together, and we'll come back together. I will be with you the whole time.” Very slowly, her father looked up at her again and smiled weakly.

“You have to tell her that you don't need her in order to put all of this behind you, daddy,” Moon went on. “You know, you can only start a new life once you've put a proper end to the one you've had before...” She paused for a moment, now feeling a bit unsure again. “You do understand what I'm saying, don't you, daddy...?” Pharion nodded. Moon noticed that he was still ducking slightly.

“...of course I do, my sweetie...” he said lowly. “...I understand everything you say...” His gaze had met hers, and as he kept looking into her eyes, the Espeon felt a little uncomfortable. However, she did not turn away, even though she could hardly take it to see how sad her father was looking.

“...I'm sorry... I'm sorry for making you worry, my sweetie...” he continued in a whisper. “...you shouldn't have to deal with me being this way... I'm sorry, my sweetie...” Moon quickly shook her head. All of a sudden, her mouth seemed to be very dry.

“That's alright... That's alright, daddy, you don't have to feel bad because of this...” She brought her face closer to his again. From the very bottom of her heart she wished that she could make him feel better with a kiss, just like it should be... She wished that all it took would be for her to show him how much she loved him and thus eradicate all his worries... However, she knew this would not work. He needed her to be his daughter now. This moment was still a part of his old life, wherein Reska was his mate and she was his daughter, and it would only confuse him if she were to act like his mate now... His old life had to end first, in order for his new life to begin.

“I'm here to help you, daddy,” she whispered. “When you're not feeling alright for whatever reason, then you have to let me help you. I...” She swallowed. She was his daughter, not his mate. She had to remember this.

“I love you...” Instead of locking lips with him, she simply gave him a lick across his cheek. This really did seem to make him feel at least a little better, as he nodded.

“...I love you, too, my sweetie...” He returned this simple act of affection and then took a deep breath. “...I'll do whatever you want...” he added after a moment. “...I trust you, my sweetie... I... I have to say, I've been feeling very confused for the past few days, but... I'm sure things will be alright if I just do as you say...” Moon kept looking at her father for a short while. His tail was slowly moving from side to side and his weak smile was still slightly uncertain.

She turned her head away. Her father was ready to put his entire life in her paws, and she was about to lead him back to the one person in the world whose presence hurt him the most. Still, what else was there to do? She knew that simply being his daughter would never be enough to help her father through this loneliness that he had never known before, but unless he finally put an end to his terrible past, he would not be able to accept a new mate.


This had to be done, it was the only way... Still, Moon could not help feeling awfully uneasy about this plan.






Moon knew it would take some time for them to get back to their former home, so they set out right after they had gotten something to eat. The fog did not make things all too difficult, as they simply had to follow the river. For a while they just walked without saying anything; as usual, the Espeon paid attention to always staying very close to her father's side, so that he could feel she was there. Whenever she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, his expression seemed somewhat blank. She was not sure if he was even thinking about anything at all, but if he was, then it probably had something to do with Reska...

“You can do this, daddy,” she said after a long while of silence. Pharion blinked and turned his head towards her. They both slowed down their walking speed a little.

“...thank you, my sweetie...” he spoke lowly and once again showed her a rather weak smile. Moon tried to smile back at him, but it did not quite work.

“If there's anything you're worried about, daddy, we can talk about it,” she remarked, now trying to sound nonchalant in order to make her father feel more at ease. The smile on Pharion's face slowly faded. “You know, if... If there's something wrong...” she added quickly. Her father remained silent, but he kept looking at her. Since he could not see where he was going, he tripped over a root with one of his front paws and almost fell. However, he managed to stabilize himself by leaning on his daughter's side. Moon opened her mouth to ask if he had hurt himself, but as she noticed that the weak smile had reappeared on the Umbreon's face, she remained silent.

“...I'll be fine, my sweetie...” he finally replied. “...don't worry... don't worry, my sweetie...” His voice trailed off and he turned his head away. Moon was not quite sure whether this was because he did not want to look at her anymore or because he was now trying not to trip over anything again, but in any case she knew she would be unable to grant her father's wish. She decided to face forwards as well, but her thoughts remained with the Umbreon walking next to her.

“You're right, daddy,” she said after a while. “You will be fine. Everything will be fine...”





When they had set out to find a new home just for the two of them, it had taken them quite a while to finally reach the hill into which Pharion had dug their den; however, this had mostly been due to the fact that they had been moving very slowly the whole time. After all, Pharion had been leaning on his daughter at first, and after that he had carried her the rest of the way. Moon was sure that reaching their former home would not take them longer than a few hours, as long as they just kept up a steady pace. The Espeon figured that, since they had departed around noon, they would arrive at Reska's den in the evening, which meant that they could probably even get back home before midnight. Moon certainly did not want this to take any longer than absolutely necessary, so she kept increasing her walking speed. Pharion did not say anything about it and he seemed to be keeping up with her effortlessly; however, the Espeon was not sure whether this was because of his greater stamina, or rather because he thought it would bother her if he were to ask her to slow down.

Every once in a while she asked him how he was feeling. The Umbreon would then always show her his weak smile and assure her that he would be fine. Still, he sometimes did not sound very convinced by his own words.

“You have to be strong now, daddy,” she said after a while, still facing the way they were going, so she would not have to see the pained expression on her father's face.

“...I don't know how, my sweetie...” she heard his voice coming from her side. Moon lowered her gaze. The layer of fog had become much thinner now and the sound of flowing water coming from the river nearby seemed louder than ever before. She turned her head a little and watched her father's paws move. It was true, those were certainly not strong paws; instead, they seemed soft and careful. The Espeon remembered how she had lain on top of her mate and how he had held her. That was what those paws were for, to hold a loved one and gently caress them...

“It's not that hard, daddy,” Moon spoke as she turned her head away from his paws. “You just have to look at Reska and say that you don't need her. You just have to look at her and say “Reska, I don't need you and I want you out of my life forever.”” She paused for a moment and then finally looked at her father's face. “Do you think you can do that, daddy?” 

Moon immediately regretted having turned her head. Just these words appeared to have made Pharion feel even more miserable than ever before. He looked at her like he was silently pleading to be awoken from a nightmare that he was unable to escape from on his own.

“...I... can...” he mumbled lowly, “...if... if you want me to, my sweetie...” Moon immediately shook her head.

“You have to want it, daddy,” she replied firmly. “You have to really mean it when you say it. You have to put an end to this.” As her father's expression had not changed after a few moments had gone by, she added: “Remember all the awful things she has done to you, daddy. Remember that she has always been a terrible mate, remember that she never actually loved you...” She noticed that Pharion had begun to shiver slightly, so she decided to get to the point. “You don't need someone like that, daddy,” she said loudly. “You don't need someone who enjoys hurting you... You deserve better than that.” Moon smiled reassuringly, trying to silently convey that she was the one Pharion deserved. She could not be certain that he had understood this part, but at least he nodded after a while.

“...you're right, my sweetie...” he said. “...Reska is... Reska has never loved me...” He apparently wanted to keep talking, but it did not seem to work all that well. Moon decided to come to his aid:

“I know it'll be hard to tell her those things once she'll be right in front of you, daddy,” she spoke in a softer tone, “but I'll be there, too... I'll support you.” Once again, Pharion nodded. He did not say anything this time, but that was alright. Moon knew he had understood how important this was, and she also knew that he had understood that it was the truth. He did not need Reska, and all that was left to do was to tell her about this. Thus, it would be all up to him now.






As the sunlight slowly became weaker, the area around the two Pokémon looked more and more familiar. Moon remembered the times when Reska and she had been gathering food in these parts; it had never been a pleasant experience for the young Espeon, but at least this had made it possible for her father to spend some time without that demonic female, even though he had, of course, not been able to appreciate this.
It quickly became apparent that not only Moon began to recognize more and more of her surroundings, as Pharion was now walking at a faster speed than before. The Espeon looked at him, and saw that his eyes were apparently fixated on some point that lay beyond the closest trees, some point of which he knew that it was there somewhere and that he could probably already see with his mind's eye. It did not take long until Moon was not walking next to her father anymore, but clearly following him as he kept increasing his speed to the point at which he was almost running.

“Please try to stay calm, daddy,” she spoke loudly, hoping that Pharion was listening to her. “Remember, this isn't home. We've found a new home where we've found a new den, and that's all we need.” Upon hearing those words, the Umbreon slowed down a little and his ears drooped slightly.

“...I know, my sweetie...” he said, not sounding very excited about it. With two quick jumps, Moon had reached his side again.

“This won't take long, daddy,” she spoke, mostly trying to reassure herself of this fact. “We're almost there, and we'll be on our way back before you know it.” There came no reply from her father. He was just staring into the distance, as if he couldn't even see the forest right in front of him.

Only a few minutes later, they finally laid eyes upon their old den. Both Pharion and Moon stopped walking as they saw the hill on which the large tree stood. The entrance, framed by two thick roots, led into a cave conquered by such a thick darkness that it seemed like no light could ever possibly be brought inside. Still, nothing about it appeared threatening. The tall, strong tree atop the big hill blocked out the setting sun, so it was rather dark. Moon was on the lookout for the familiar red glow of an Espeon's gem somewhere in the area, but she could not see what her eyes were searching for. Her ears were pricked up, but all she heard were the sound of running water, which had become quite low again, and the faint rustle of wind playing with the leaves. Everything was like it had always been. The only thing missing was...

“Reska?” she had not shouted, but it had still been enough to make her father wince slightly. Moon stepped towards the entrance in the hill, now for the first time pondering the possibility that the older Espeon might have found a new home for herself as well. However, Moon was rather sure that Reska was not the right person for this. No, Reska would certainly keep living in this big and comfortable cave; it was much too bothersome to find or dig a new den somewhere else, and the older Espeon would surely not let herself be bothered by the past. As Moon came closer and closer to the entrance, she quickly found that she was right with her assumptions. Reska's scent, which now seemed very irritating and unwelcome to the younger Espeon, could still be picked up all over the hill.

She let her gaze wander across her old home with mixed feelings. When she had left together with her father, she had been absolutely certain that they would never return, and yet here they were. The big tree on top of the hill seemed to create a strangely comforting atmosphere, and Moon's thoughts returned to the fantasies she had used to have, wherein there had been only she and her father and no Reska, living together in the cave under this strong and protective tree. She sat down right in front of the entrance; after just a short while Pharion joined her. Neither of them said anything as they simply gazed into the darkness unfurling right in front of them.
However, before they even had the chance of becoming tempted to go inside, there came a voice from behind.

“It's interesting, isn't it? I was just getting used to not being bothered by the two of you anymore, and here you are again.” Moon and Pharion immediately turned around. It was exactly as Moon remembered it; the sharp, cold voice that always sounded at least mildly threatening, no matter what was being said. There was Reska, standing between them and the dense trees. The gem on her forehead was glowing angrily and her tail was slowly moving from side to side. However, Moon did not find her to be quite as intimidating as she had once been. Her fur looked a little untidy, and she had certainly become a bit thinner. Of course, Reska had never exactly been great at gathering food, and the thought of her aimlessly searching the surrounding area for something to eat actually made Moon smirk a little.
The younger Espeon turned her head to look at her father. Just the sight of Reska had made him duck, and his facial expression made it clear that he was feeling torn between being either happy or afraid.

“We'll leave as soon as we can,” Moon said while still keeping her eyes on her father. “We just came because there's something Pharion needs to tell you.” From the corner of her eyes she saw Reska sit down. An amused smile appeared on the older Espeon's face.

“I'm listening,” she said, now apparently very interested in whatever was going to happen next. Her stern gaze was locked with Pharion's, which certainly did not make this any easier for the Umbreon. He was shivering now, he had lowered his tail and he seemed barely able to keep looking at Reska.

“Go on,” the older female said after a moment of silence. “If it's so important that you came all the way here from wherever you're living now, then you shouldn't waste your time whimpering.” She was relentlessly staring at Pharion, and Moon suddenly knew that this would not work unless she came to her father's aid. She quickly stepped up to his side, lowered her head and gave him a soft lick across his cheek.

“Don't worry, Pharion,” she spoke in an, as she hoped, reassuring tone. “You can do it, it's just one sentence...” The Umbreon kept looking up at Reska, but his ears twitched slightly. He opened his mouth and whispered:

“...my... my sweetie...” Moon quickly moved her tail and wrapped it around her father's.

“I'm here, daddy,” she said softly. “I'm here, it's going to be alright... Just take a deep breath, and then...”

“You know, you shouldn't call him that,” Reska interrupted. Moon looked up at her and blinked.

“I shouldn't call him what?” she asked, profoundly confused. The older Espeon was now looking at her instead of her father. The amused smile on her face had turned into a mocking grin.

“I just thought it might be a little inappropriate for you to call him “daddy”, that's all,” Reska spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if it did not even really matter. All the time, her gaze was fixated on Moon, and her tail was still moving back and forth; she seemed to be excited about seeing the younger Espeon's reaction to her words. “You see, I highly doubt he's actually your father. I'm not saying it's impossible, but...” She was cut off by a suffocated sound that was like a pained howl and a desperate whine both at the same moment. Had Moon looked at Pharion, she would have seen that he had lain down on the ground and covered his eyes with his front paws while his whole body was shaking, but she could not turn her head away from the older female's grinning face.

“What... What did you just say...?” she gasped, still trying to fully understand what was happening at the moment. Reska rolled her eyes in a very theatrical fashion.

“I said that I don't think Pharion is actually your father,” she replied, now speaking very clearly. “If you ask me, there's a chance of about one in twenty that he is, but it might be even smaller than that...” She stopped talking for a moment and frowned.

“Don't look at me like that,” she then continued, now sounding very serious. “I was in heat. You'd have done the same.” These words were enough for Moon to regain her breath, so she quickly tried to snap back.

“I would never have...”

“Fine, fine! I don't care!” Reska had actually yelled this time, which made Moon close her mouth again. The older Espeon's gaze wandered back to Pharion, who was still lying on the ground with his front paws over his eyes, shivering wildly and whimpering between suffocated sobs. “I used to be very popular around males,” Reska went on in a lower tone that, however, still sounded very dangerous. “Just about everyone wanted me, and I was quite comfortable with that, actually. I even let this little wimp here have some fun with me, because... well, why not?” She nodded at Pharion. Moon opened her mouth again to say something, but Reska turned her head back towards her and continued: “Then I went into heat. I must admit that a little more self discipline would have been in order, but there was way too much fun yet to be had, and so the inevitable happened. I got pregnant.” She was now sounding as if she was directly accusing Moon for this, and it did not surprise the younger Espeon one bit. “Since I'm your mother, Moon, you should at least take this bit of advice from me: Don't ever let this happen to you, it apparently makes you a lot less attractive. Everyone was avoiding me all of a sudden, everyone seemed to be afraid they might be associated with this child...” She shivered slightly and shook her head. “Everyone except for Pharion, that is. He said he would always love me no matter what happened and all that, and, well, since it really is a pain to go out and look for food every day, especially when you're pregnant, I thought it might be a good idea to let him become my mate, so that he could do that for me. He was more than willing to believe that you were his child, and everything was fine until you were born, Moon.” The angry stare told the younger Espeon that Reska apparently thought of the event of her birth as an evil scheme forged by Moon to ruin the older female's life. “From the first second of your life you've bothered me. Children are always noisy and distracting, and they always need something... Of course, I could usually just let Pharion take care of you, but that didn't change the fact that I hardly wanted anything more than getting you out of our den. Well, and after way too many years, my wish finally came true. You were gone. So was Pharion, but I don't need him anymore, anyway. You can have him, just do with him whatever you want, but let me tell you, he's not nearly as useful as he should be. Still, now you've come back. Can't you just leave me alone? I'm so tired of you!”

Reska kept staring at Moon, but she was apparently done talking. The younger Espeon was now taking quick, yet deep breaths, trying her best not to lose her temper. Her mind, though blinded by anger, suddenly began paying attention to the shaking sobs coming from Pharion. She turned her head and looked at the dark, trembling figure of the Umbreon, whose yellow rings were glimmering weakly, and she realized that there was nothing that could possibly be said to help him overcome this misery. Words alone would never be able to convey enough comfort for him to get over the fact that the one who had been claiming to love him for so many years had actually betrayed him from the very beginning.

As Moon's gaze came to rest on Reska once more, she had already mostly stopped feeling angry. Instead, she was feeling calm and reasonable, more reasonable than she had ever felt before. She knew she had reached a perfectly logical conclusion. This did not have anything to do with anger or hatred, this was now all about what had to be done. She had thought that the only way to solve this problem was to talk to Reska, but talking was not enough, words were not enough when there was something that needed to be done. She should have realized this so much sooner...

“I will kill you,” she said. Moon watched Reska's stern and annoyed expression become slightly unstable.

“Don't be so melodramatic,” the older Espeon said, apparently trying to sound very certain that Moon would not actually go through with her threat. However, as the younger female took a step towards her, Reska moved backwards a bit and lowered her tail.

“I will kill you,” Moon repeated. Of course, this was the solution to everything. All of Pharion's sorrows had begun with Reska, so in order to put an end to his sorrows, someone had to put an end to Reska's life. Pharion was quite obviously not in the right condition for this, so Moon had to do it. It was all perfectly reasonable.

“I'd rethink that idea if I were you,” the older Espeon spoke lowly. The dangerous, threatening tone had found its way back into her voice. “I'm older and more experienced. There's no way you could win in a battle against me.” Moon did not reply; instead, she just stared at Reska. If the older female were to make the first move, she would be ready.

“Besides, I'm not alone, since you've brought someone I can easily gain control over,” Reska added. Then, in a completely different voice, she said: “Pharion, my love? I'm going to need you to protect me...” However, the Umbreon simply whined a little louder and did not move. Reska blinked. “Well, I suppose he's become even more useless than he used to be,” she remarked in a mocking tone. This was too much. All the anger and hatred suddenly returned, and Moon more than welcomed it.

“Leave him out of this!” she barked loudly, actually making Reska wince slightly. “This has gone on for way too long, and it's going to end here. I will kill you, and everything will be alright. Everything... Everything...” She found herself unable to talk, as pure rage told her that words were just a waste of time. There was something she needed to do. She lowered her body a bit, now getting ready to jump at the older female in front of her, who was looking at her with an odd mixture of amusement, arrogance and fear in her eyes, and it would all be over within just a few seconds...

“...my sweetie...” It had been nothing more than a faint whisper, but it managed to take Moon's thoughts away from attacking Reska. She blinked and slowly turned her head towards the Umbreon, who was now looking up at her. The fur on his face was messy and matted with tears, his yellow rings flickered slightly every once in a while and his eyes were... gone. There was no better word for it, as he seemed to be looking into himself rather than at Moon, and from the way he blankly stared at her she could tell that he did not actually see her, but rather something of which he thought it was her, something that was actually more real to him than she could ever be.

“Don't worry, daddy,” she said in a much more caring tone of voice than she would have thought she could produce in such a situation. “I'll make it stop. Everything's going to be alright, you'll see...”

“...no... my sweetie, don't... please don't... please...” Hearing the Umbreon's whispered words made Moon feel terribly uneasy. He had to be very confused at the moment; surely, he could not actually be wanting her to spare this demonic female who had ruined his entire life. From the corner of her eyes, Moon was still keeping her in sight, making sure Reska would not try to take advantage of the situation and just attack out of nowhere. However, this did not seem to be necessary, as the older Espeon appeared to be rather interested in what was going on at the moment.

“You don't know what you're saying, daddy,” Moon spoke firmly. “Reska is the one who caused all this, and everything will be fine once we can just live completely without her...”

“You wouldn't even be alive without me, you little brat,” Reska mumbled disparagingly, but neither Moon nor Pharion were listening to her.

“...please don't, my sweetie...” the Umbreon whispered, and his low voice seemed to become shakier with every word. “...let's just go home... please... my sweetie...” His yellow rings gleamed once more and then became nearly as dark as the rest of his fur. Moon kept looking into Pharion's eyes. Even though she was almost certain that he could not see her, he was silently pleading her to just walk away together with him. 
So there was Pharion on the one side, but on the other side there was Reska, and without her everything would be so much better, and they would not even need to return to their new den because they could stay right here, where they belonged... 
It would just be Pharion and Moon, living in this bigger and more comfortable den as mates, forever without Reska, and it would be just like the younger Espeon had dreamed countless times... 
But the Umbreon was lying there, shivering and in pain, and begging her not to murder the older female, and Moon knew that taking care of him was more important than making her own wishes come true, because she would be just like Reska if she were to disobey this one simple rule...

“Are you sure you don't want her to disappear forever, daddy?” she asked lowly. Pharion's red eyes shivered and his head twitched slightly. It seemed to Moon like he was keeping himself from looking at Reska.

“...don't kill her, my sweetie...” he whispered. “...please don't... don't kill her, my sweetie... let's go home... please...” Moon turned her head towards Reska, who was still watching with a hint of a triumphant grin standing on her face. The younger Espeon sighed. She remembered that she had always admired the Umbreon for all the things he had taught her. She remembered that he had always told her that the worst thing someone could do was to hurt someone else, and she remembered that this was one of the reasons she loved him.

“Yes, daddy...” she mumbled. “Let's go home...”

She was ready to help her father stand up, but he was back on all fours before she had even turned around to face him again. Moon quickly stepped up to his side, in case he wanted to lean on her, but he just looked at, or maybe through her for a moment and then began walking, moving his paws like he was a machine. He had stopped shivering, but now it seemed to Moon like if he were to fall over on his side, he would simply keep moving his paws in this walking motion, without even noticing or caring that it would not get him anywhere.
The younger Espeon quickly followed him, now distinctly avoiding looking at Reska. As they had gotten a few steps away from the den, she heard the older female shout after them in an annoyed tone:

“Remember to not come back this time! You can't believe how sick I am of seeing you!”

Then there was silence.






It was getting darker rather quickly. Moon had hoped that the absence of sunlight would result in the yellow rings in Pharion's fur glowing more brightly again, but so far they had remained completely lifeless. The Umbreon kept walking, staring straight ahead, seemingly not noticing anything that was going on around him. Moon was at his side, keeping her eyes wide open to make sure the Umbreon would not just walk into a tree.

“How are you feeling, daddy?” she asked after a while. Pharion's ears twitched. For just a tiny moment, it seemed, his rings gave off a bit of light.

“...bad, my sweetie...” he mumbled without slowing down his walking or even looking at the Espeon for a second. Moon swallowed.

“I want to help you, daddy,” she said lowly. Once again, she was certain to see a short, yellow flicker.

“...I know, my sweetie...” was all that Pharion had to say. Moon shook her head.

“You are both my father and my mate, Pharion,” she continued. “I want to be there for you as much as I can.” The Umbreon immediately stopped dead in his tracks, and so did Moon. He was not facing her, and yet she already knew what was coming.

“...I'm not your...”

“I don't care about what Reska said,” Moon interrupted him in a very firm tone. “You are my father, daddy, and I love you. Besides...” She lowered her head and softly nuzzled his cheek. “We're mates, and that's what matters the most.” Pharion remained immobile, as if he had become a statue of himself. Moon took this opportunity and quickly wrapped her tail around his.

“Don't worry now, my love,” she cooed, trying her very best to sound as reassuring as possible. What Reska had informed them of had been unsettling to say the least, but she knew there was no use in dwelling on this for too long. “We'll go home and rest for the night. Everything will be better tomorrow.”

The rings in Pharion's fur flickered once again. He did not turn his head to look at her, but after a short while Moon heard a weak:

“...yes, my love...”

They began walking again. Moon felt like she had not been very helpful so far, so she continued talking, hoping that there was something she could say that would make Pharion feel better.

“I am all you need, my love. You'll see, it'll be just the two of us now.”

“...yes, my love...”

“There won't be any bad memories. There's nothing you have to be afraid of. I'm with you, my love. I'll keep all those terrible things far away from you.”

“...yes, my love...”

“You'll be fine, Pharion. Everything will be fine. You just have to forget about everything and start over. It's really easy, I'm sure you can do it!”

“...yes, my love...”

The night came. Moon knew that somewhere above the tree tops, the Moon had to be standing, shining its light down upon the world. It was just a blind, silvery sphere and it meant nothing; and yet, the Espeon carried its name. There had to be something special about everything, no matter how bland or unimportant it seemed at first.
Moon only hoped she could be as special to Pharion as Reska had been.






Since they kept walking at a steady pace it did not take them very long to get home. Moon's paws had begun to hurt a while ago, but she knew that complaining about this would not help anyone. Still, she was very relieved when she saw that they had finally made it. A rather weak, pale ray of moonlight graced the small hill. Pharion stopped walking and looked up at the sky for a moment while the Espeon was watching him closely. He then turned his head and looked at her, his red eyes appearing to be a bit lighter than usual.

“It's gotten pretty late, my love,” she said lowly. “I think we should go to sleep.” Pharion nodded.

“...yes, my love...”

They entered their den and Moon watched as Pharion lay down and placed his head on his front paws. He kept his eyes open and was looking up at her with a rather blank expression. Moon stepped towards him, lowered her head and gave him a soft lick across his cheek, which made his yellow rings glow dimly for less than a second.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Pharion?” she whispered. The Umbreon closed his eyes.

“...I don't know, my love...”

Moon turned around and then carefully lay down next to him so that her cheek was touching his. She was moving her forked tail back and forth, lightly touching his back every now and then.

“I want to be a good mate for you, my love,” she continued lowly. “If there is anything you need me to do, I'll do it.” Her body was so close to the Umbreon's that she could feel him breathe slowly and deeply. Moon thought it was a strange thing how he could appear so calm, even in spite of all the mental torment he had had to endure. Now she knew that she should never have made him return to Reska, but it had seemed like such an important and perfectly reasonable thing at the time...

“...you are the best mate I could possibly have, my love...” Pharion said, making her smile a little. She kept looking at his face from the corner of her eyes, trying to find out what was going on inside of him. However, there was nothing about it that would have told her anything, so she spoke up again after a while:

“Are you feeling lonely, my dearest?” She waited for a few seconds during which she already thought the Umbreon had fallen asleep, but then he mumbled:

“...I'm not lonely, my love... you are with me...” Moon blinked. It was true; she was all that Pharion had left. She moved her head and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

“Are you feeling tired, my love?” she asked lowly. Her tail came in touch with his and she noticed that it shivered slightly, only for one very short moment.

“...yes, my love...” Pharion whispered almost inaudibly. “...I am feeling very tired...” The Espeon raised her head a bit so that her mouth was right next to Pharion's ear.

“I love you,” she spoke softly. “Sleep well... please...” There was a reply, but it was nothing but a low mumble that Moon could not understand. The Umbreon had fallen asleep.

Moon kept her head raised for a while and watched him. His rings still flickered sometimes, and the Espeon hoped they might eventually stay bright and yellow, but they always turned back to being almost invisible within Pharion's dark fur.
She sighed softly and lowered her head, letting her cheek come in touch with his again. All this walking and worrying had exhausted her very much, and so she did not fight it as sleep slowly began taking over her body. Her mind, however, was still completely focused on Pharion.
Moon was certain she would dream of him...






Pharion had lost consciousness.
He had been thrown into the untamed lands that lay beyond the border of what one could hope to possibly ever see or comprehend, and there was no way back. The wind was against him, he could do nothing about it. This was another place and he knew he did not belong here. He was supposed to be with his family. When he closed his eyes he could hear them, even though he could not understand what was being said, but he was certain they were suffering... because of him. Too many promises had been broken. Pharion did not remember what exactly he had said or done, but he knew there had been things that had been expected of him, and he had been unable to do what would have been necessary.
Aside from that, there was nothing he knew anymore. Everything felt unfamiliar and strange, and everything that he had once been certain of was gone. When he looked around, he could not see anything, as his new surroundings were impossible to grasp. There was something in the sky, if there was a sky at all... And there was something on the ground, if there was a ground... However, just knowing that things were there did not help at all. Something was always somewhere.
Trying to walk against the wind was useless and it somehow made all of Pharion's limbs hurt at once. It was clear that he would only be able to move ahead in one direction, but venturing deeper into these unknown lands that could not even exist and that still appeared to be there was completely out of the question.
He opened his mouth to shout for his mate, but his words were swallowed by everything that had forced itself into existence. Pharion knew he could not expect anyone to come to his aid, but still he decided to stay where he was. The only alternative was too terrifying to even consider, so he ducked and tried not to get blown away by the strong wind.

Pharion waited, and it felt like with every passing moment one more tiny part of him was taken by the wind and thrown into the everlasting nothingness. Still, he waited. The wind only became even stronger. Pharion knew that very soon he would be no more, as he was slowly losing everything that made him exist. These were the untamed lands, this was the one place that no living being should ever have to be lost in.
Of course, he could do nothing against the wind. It did not take long, and there was nothing left of him but a faint memory of two Espeons and an Umbreon, and then this was taken as well, blown into the lands where nothing could be understood, where everything was just waiting to decay.

Gone, gone... There was nothing left of him that he would have been able to grasp.



Pharion awoke. He was immediately overwhelmed by the fact that he could clearly notice his surroundings again. He noticed that it was night. He noticed that Moon was lying next to him, sleeping deeply. He noticed that Reska was not there.

Pharion...

There was a voice that seemingly came from nowhere, and this voice caused him to wake up once again. He had woken up twice, but that was impossible... unless there were two of him. Suddenly Pharion noticed that he had stood up. He found himself unable to recall that he had done this, and yet he also knew very well that he had stood up, why he had stood up and what he was going to do next. Reska was not here, so he had to go and find her.

Pharion...

That was completely ridiculous, he did not want to be with Reska. Still, his legs began to move and he could do nothing against it. The Umbreon wanted to stay where he was, at Moon's side, but he was not the one controlling his body. The other Pharion was, and the other Pharion wanted to find Reska.

Pharion, my love...

It was her. The one female whom he would always love, the only one in the world... And yet there were two of them, one was lying on the ground, still fast asleep, while the other one had to be somewhere outside. But this did not make any sense, Pharion knew he did not want to be with Reska, Moon did not want him to be with Reska. The yellow rings in his fur glowed brightly, but only for a second.

Pharion...

He left the den, staggering on trembling legs. This was not right, such a thing could not possibly happen. He could not stop thinking about Reska, but no matter how much he kept telling himself that he did not want to see her, his body kept moving forwards.

I love you, Pharion...

Pharion could not fight, he was not the right person for this. He did not want the other Pharion to take him to Reska. He wanted to go back into the den and fall asleep next to Moon. 

It will be alright, Pharion...

What was going on, what was happening? There was no way to tell, Pharion was somewhere else, Pharion was at a place where there was nothing happening. But, but... There was Moon, and he was certain she would want him to be with her instead, so why... why was he not with her? It was impossible to understand. And there was Reska, and... he remembered he was her mate, but things had happened... No, nothing could possibly happen, not where Pharion was.

Pharion...

He could hear this voice, and nothing else. It was both Moon's and Reska's, and there was wind, too. And there was the other Pharion, who was doing something, which was a ludicrous thought in itself. No one could possibly do anything.

I need you, Pharion...

He was padding through the forest, no, he was not, this was impossible. Things were different now. This was a different time and a different place, because it was no time and no place. There was no existence left and things could not be true.

Oh, Pharion...

There was a river, only for a short moment. Things could not exist for long enough in order to really be. Pharion knew he was glowing, his rings were the brightest light in the world. He had... no eyes, so he could not possibly see a river. It was all just a vague memory, nothing more. He was not an Umbreon, there was no such thing as an Umbreon. But there was Moon. And there was Reska, as the other Pharion recalled.

My Pharion...

They were friends now, because they had both understood that things could not possibly be understood. They were friends now, and they were at a place where nothing was, and Reska and Moon... They were memories, but they were important memories. Surely there would be a new world sooner or later, and Reska and Moon would find their way there.

Pharion...

There was nothing left to notice. All that could be done now was wait, because there was nothing, and when there was nothing, one would have to wait until there was something. It did not make sense, but it could not be understood anyway. There was nothing left to notice, so Pharion did not notice the cold water around his legs.

I love you, Pharion...

Pharion was another Pharion, but that was alright, they were friends. They both loved a different Espeon, and that was alright, too. Of course, they would never leave anyone they loved. There was a new way for everything, and Pharion did not notice as the current tossed him around and eventually forced him beneath the surface.

My sweet Pharion...

No matter where he was, no matter what happened, he knew he would always be able to hear this voice. Hearing this voice was possible, being with Moon was possible, being with Reska was possible, but going against the wind was not possible.

I need you, Pharion...

There was a moment, and it was an important moment, because there would never be a moment again. Pharion's last thought was with Reska, but from the very bottom of his heart he wished it could have been with Moon instead.

Pharion...

There was no Pharion anymore.












It was a night of a full moon. An old Espeon had climbed atop a small hill that was covered in bushes. She had not been here in years. She had not been here in decades. It had taken a long time for her to return, and she knew it would be only for this night.
Not far from her, there was a hole in the hill. It was barely even visible because of all the bushes, but she knew it was there. She also knew that nobody else knew it was there. She was the only one in the world who was aware of the empty den that lay right beneath her.
The Espeon looked up at the Moon and remembered yellow rings within an otherwise black fur; just a tiny, weak light during nighttime. She remembered how the gem on her forehead had used to give off a warm, red glow, almost as red as those deep, red and always pained eyes that she had never forgotten, even though it had been decades now since she had seen them.

“Oh, great world,” she spoke, and her voice seemed to break on every word. “How cruel of you to take from us all of our hopes and shatter our lives...”

Her forked tail was rustling through the bushes. She knew the hole was just slightly out of her reach.

“Keep destroying yourself if you must, but all we ever wanted was to live quietly and in peace...”

There had been an Umbreon living in that den, not for very long. The Espeon knew he was gone, not because he had wanted to leave, but because the world had taken him away.
She lowered her gaze. Looking at the moon made her feel terribly lonely. The moon had always belonged to the Umbreon, but he had never been able to reach out for it and keep it. And the Umbreon had never belonged to the world, he had belonged to the moon. Yet the world had taken him, out of jealousy, or cruelness.
In a moment the Espeon would begin her long journey home, to her own den, where nothing was waiting and where everything was empty. The Espeon would then lie down and sleep, and dream of those pained, red eyes and those yellow circles that had stopped glowing, just like her gem. However, there was one thing that still needed to be said, because it was a simple truth that nobody ever dared to admit, because everyone wanted the world to be a place where this would be a lie.



“Truly, it is the gentle-hearted who must suffer the most...”





(31861 words)