Story Notes:
This story has been bouncing around my head for a while now, I'm not sure but I'm fairly certain that this idea is origonal if nothing else.Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 10
Gemma moaned as she groggily picked her head up, looking around groggily for a bit as she woke up. A small blush appeared on her cheeks as she became aware of Simon's weight on her back she extended her vines and gently lifter Simon off her back, laying him down on the ground next to her. Turning to face him she nudged his side a few times gently whispering his name; however the only response she got was incoherent mumbling and him shuffling away from her prods. Sighing Gemma turned her attention to Pisces and Crystal, they proved to be much easier to wake a few nudges woke up Crystal and she woke her sister in short order.
The girls all turned to eye Simon "Sooooo" Pisces giggled "How should we wake him?"
Crystal laughed and shook her head "Let him sleep for a bit longer, he hasn't had a good night's seep in four days"
Pisces giggled poking Simon with her nose "Frisky for a human isn't he?"
Gemma blushed "It's been an unusual week for him." She defended
Crystal and Pisces both nodded "Fair enough"
"But anyway" Gemma continued "we need to wake him now regardless"
Crystal cocked her head to a side placing her paw on Simon's chest gently "Why?" she asked "Hasn't he earned his rest?" she added jokingly
Gemma blushed heavily "Yes, but that's not the point, the den is just a day's walk away so if we wake him now we should be able to get there before nightfall. With you in your condition I believe that getting back is our main goal" she paused before adding "Plus if I left waking him to you two we'd be here for at least another hour"
Crystal and Pisces giggled at the last sentence but otherwise agreed with Gemma "Good point," Pisces nodded "so how are we going to wake him?"
Crystal turned to Gemma "Aromatherapy?"
Gemma shook her head "I only use that occasionally, Simon hates it and I'm forced to agree. Suddenly snapping to full consciousness isn't nice."
Crystal nodded "Fine I'll wake him." She gently rested herself on Simon's chest and nuzzled his head cooing his name softly
It took a few minutes but Simon eventually began to return to consciousness, gently pushing Crystal away from his face he mumbled something about tickling under his breath.
Simon grumbled under his breath as he got up stretching his muscles "Hey girls" he yawned giving a small wave of his hand, his gaze lingering on Gemma as his cheeks flushed red.
"Morning" Crystal and Pisces replied happily, Gemma however gave a half mumbled "Hey" staring at the ground to hide her blush
Simon yawned again and walked over to his clothes dressing in a semi-stupor, clearly not entirely with it.
"Alright shall we get.." Gemma began her words trailing off into laughter as she spotted Simon trying to force his head through the arm hole of his t-shirt.
Once Simon was properly dressed the group set off, it took about half an hour for Simon to properly wake up.
"So" Simon asked as they walked "Am I going to get a good night' sleep this week?"
Crystal shook her head "Not if I can help it" she said with a wink
Pisces and Gemma both laughed although Gemma's cheeks still went slightly red, Simon laughed and shook his head "I don't know if I should be very happy or afraid." Crystal gave a small growl but didn't say anything
"Aren't you tired?" Pisces asked, considering how little sleep he appeared to have had Simon was very perceptive and active
Simon laughed and shook his head "Maybe a little"
Gemma giggled "Don't listen to him, he won't let on unless his dying. Sometimes not even then" she added shooting Simon an angry glare
"Let it go already!" Simon protested
"Never!" Gemma responded playfully
"What?!" Pisces and Gemma demanded
Simon sighed "I got stung by a Nidoran when we were climbing Mt. Coronet, It wasn't too bad"
"Wasn't too bad!" Gemma cried "You were basically sweating blood by the time you told me anything, and even then you insisted it was food poisoning!"
"I didn't want you to worry!" Simon defended "I've told you this a hundred times!"
Pisces and Crystal were watching the unfolding scene with a mix of humour and fascination "And I've told you that that is a stupid excuse!" Gemma retorted her voice filled with anger and annoyance "It makes me even more worried when I don't know what happened to you!"
Simon sighed "Let's just drop it okay? We just end up talking ourselves in circles every time we do this." He spoke in a much calmer voice his emotions clam and subdued
Gemma gave a small nod "Yeah."
The group walked in moderate silence for a while; occasionally they would stop if they heard something out of the ordinary but otherwise they made fairly steady progress.
"So Crystal" Simon spoke up slowing down so he was level with Gemma
"Yeah?" Crystal turned her head to look at Simon, Gemma shifting her vines to allow the movement without sacrificing the grip.
"You said you would tell us about how you knew Alex?" he questioned
"Ah!" Crystal nodded her head, looking around for any landmarks she noticed a small pond in the distance she knew from experience that this pond was six hours from the den "Well, we have enough time so sure." She nodded.
Simon and Gemma remained silent although Simon's imploring look begged her to continue and Gemma would have been giving her much the same look had she been able to turn her head enough to make eye contact.
"Well," Crystal began "Alex and Scar go well back, they practically grew up together, after Alex took control of the pack from his father.."
"He took the pack from his father!" Simon exclaimed surprised and slightly disgusted at the thought
Pisces nodded "Although the fight was fierce Alex did spare his father, he lived another few years working as an advisor to his son."
Simon nodded his disgust fading although he was still confused as to how anyone could fight their own father like that.
"Anyway." Crystal continued "Scar asked permission to go off and take control of a neighbouring tribe, Alex of course sent him off with his blessings."
Simon nodded "But how do you fit into this?"
Crystal huffed "I was getting to that. Me and Scar were just falling in love around then I when Scar left he took me with him, that was the first time I rally met Alex." She gave a small smile "As I'm sure you're aware Scar beat up Spine and took control of his pack. Alex of course was very happy for his friend and the two often met up, since I was his mate I came along for the trips and frequently met Alex" she gave a small smile "That's how I know so much about him, as for how I know so much about the pack.."
"..Your constant visits coupled with growing up there?" Simon supplied
Crystal nodded "Exactly."
"So we know you and Pisces are sisters" Gemma spoke up "but I thought Eevee came in litters, so how many siblings do you have?"
"Hmmm" Crystal mused "Good question, there were five of us but I only know where two are right now."
Pisces nodded "Ditto, so who do you know?"
"Well yoooooowwwww!" Crystal reply was lost in a cry as her lower body contracted
"What!" Gemma and Simon asked worried whilst Pisces merely gave a knowing but happy smile and waited for her sister to break the news.
"Put... me... down" Crystal panted
"What? Why!?" Gemma demanded
"Just please puooooowwww put me down!" Crystal gasped out through another cry
Gemma complied gently placing Crystal on the ground "What's wrong?" Simon demanded taking the question out of Gemma's mouth "And Pisces aren't you worried.... Wait..." Simon finally put two and two together "The pups!" He cried out happily
Crystal gave a small nod crying out as another contraction rippled through her body
Gemma and Simon's faces lit up although beyond the happiness Simon had hints of fear and worry.
About an hour and a half later Crystal was curled around her pups resting with a contented smile on her face, the birth had gone smoothly despite Simon's fretting and their family now had seven healthy pups in it; four Eevee, two Poochyena and one Poochyena that had the colourations of an Eevee. There were four boys and three girls, the Eevee where split fifty fifty the oddly coloured Poochyena the only other female. Like their mother the pups where sleeping soundly, Simon was staring intently at the new arrivals spellbound whilst Gemma and Pisces were busily chatting away debating about names for the kits.
Crystal lifted her head groggily looking into Simon's eyes, as their eyes met it was almost like looking into a mirror they both had the exact same emotions in their gaze; love, hope, fear and worry.
"So shall I..." Crystal said softly her voice sad and low
"What?" Simon asked worried by her tone
"The males..." Crystal said even softer
"What! No!" Simon cried "Leave them! To hell with the tradition I don't want people's kits dying just to ensure they don't fight me later!"
Crystal nodded a tear of relief slipping down her face "Thank you." She said softly
"No problem" Simon waved off the thanks "Look the problem is the kits don't see me as a leader so they resent me and challenge me right?"
Crystal gave a small nod agreeing with Simon's reasoning "Yeah and?"
Simon sighed "So if I spend two or three days a week in the nursery with the kits and befriend them then the problem is gone and no-one needs to die."
Crystal nodded "That just might work."
"So" Simon said changing the subject, "Shall we name them?"
Crystal gave a small nod "Sure, any ideas?"
Simon laughed and shook his head "No not really, I'd imagined I would have more of a warning to start thinking of names"
Crystal giggled a little although her tiredness was starting to show "Well you knew I was far along."
Simon nodded "I suppose I guess I just never thought this day would come."
Crystal gave a small nod "Me neither, I guess we should give it a few days and see what names come into our heads once we see their personalities."
Simon nodded "Sure, sounds like a plan"
Gemma's leaf wilted slightly "We came up with a few names." She said sadly
Simon laughed "Well tell you what, tell us them in three days and we'll see whether they're better than the ones me and Crystal come up with."
Gemma nodded cheered up slightly "Sure!" she agreed enthusiastically "And congratulations, both of you."
Pisces nodded "Congrats!" she echoed happily
Simon and Crystal both blushed slightly "Thanks" they echoed each other.
The girls all turned to eye Simon "Sooooo" Pisces giggled "How should we wake him?"
Crystal laughed and shook her head "Let him sleep for a bit longer, he hasn't had a good night's seep in four days"
Pisces giggled poking Simon with her nose "Frisky for a human isn't he?"
Gemma blushed "It's been an unusual week for him." She defended
Crystal and Pisces both nodded "Fair enough"
"But anyway" Gemma continued "we need to wake him now regardless"
Crystal cocked her head to a side placing her paw on Simon's chest gently "Why?" she asked "Hasn't he earned his rest?" she added jokingly
Gemma blushed heavily "Yes, but that's not the point, the den is just a day's walk away so if we wake him now we should be able to get there before nightfall. With you in your condition I believe that getting back is our main goal" she paused before adding "Plus if I left waking him to you two we'd be here for at least another hour"
Crystal and Pisces giggled at the last sentence but otherwise agreed with Gemma "Good point," Pisces nodded "so how are we going to wake him?"
Crystal turned to Gemma "Aromatherapy?"
Gemma shook her head "I only use that occasionally, Simon hates it and I'm forced to agree. Suddenly snapping to full consciousness isn't nice."
Crystal nodded "Fine I'll wake him." She gently rested herself on Simon's chest and nuzzled his head cooing his name softly
It took a few minutes but Simon eventually began to return to consciousness, gently pushing Crystal away from his face he mumbled something about tickling under his breath.
Simon grumbled under his breath as he got up stretching his muscles "Hey girls" he yawned giving a small wave of his hand, his gaze lingering on Gemma as his cheeks flushed red.
"Morning" Crystal and Pisces replied happily, Gemma however gave a half mumbled "Hey" staring at the ground to hide her blush
Simon yawned again and walked over to his clothes dressing in a semi-stupor, clearly not entirely with it.
"Alright shall we get.." Gemma began her words trailing off into laughter as she spotted Simon trying to force his head through the arm hole of his t-shirt.
Once Simon was properly dressed the group set off, it took about half an hour for Simon to properly wake up.
"So" Simon asked as they walked "Am I going to get a good night' sleep this week?"
Crystal shook her head "Not if I can help it" she said with a wink
Pisces and Gemma both laughed although Gemma's cheeks still went slightly red, Simon laughed and shook his head "I don't know if I should be very happy or afraid." Crystal gave a small growl but didn't say anything
"Aren't you tired?" Pisces asked, considering how little sleep he appeared to have had Simon was very perceptive and active
Simon laughed and shook his head "Maybe a little"
Gemma giggled "Don't listen to him, he won't let on unless his dying. Sometimes not even then" she added shooting Simon an angry glare
"Let it go already!" Simon protested
"Never!" Gemma responded playfully
"What?!" Pisces and Gemma demanded
Simon sighed "I got stung by a Nidoran when we were climbing Mt. Coronet, It wasn't too bad"
"Wasn't too bad!" Gemma cried "You were basically sweating blood by the time you told me anything, and even then you insisted it was food poisoning!"
"I didn't want you to worry!" Simon defended "I've told you this a hundred times!"
Pisces and Crystal were watching the unfolding scene with a mix of humour and fascination "And I've told you that that is a stupid excuse!" Gemma retorted her voice filled with anger and annoyance "It makes me even more worried when I don't know what happened to you!"
Simon sighed "Let's just drop it okay? We just end up talking ourselves in circles every time we do this." He spoke in a much calmer voice his emotions clam and subdued
Gemma gave a small nod "Yeah."
The group walked in moderate silence for a while; occasionally they would stop if they heard something out of the ordinary but otherwise they made fairly steady progress.
"So Crystal" Simon spoke up slowing down so he was level with Gemma
"Yeah?" Crystal turned her head to look at Simon, Gemma shifting her vines to allow the movement without sacrificing the grip.
"You said you would tell us about how you knew Alex?" he questioned
"Ah!" Crystal nodded her head, looking around for any landmarks she noticed a small pond in the distance she knew from experience that this pond was six hours from the den "Well, we have enough time so sure." She nodded.
Simon and Gemma remained silent although Simon's imploring look begged her to continue and Gemma would have been giving her much the same look had she been able to turn her head enough to make eye contact.
"Well," Crystal began "Alex and Scar go well back, they practically grew up together, after Alex took control of the pack from his father.."
"He took the pack from his father!" Simon exclaimed surprised and slightly disgusted at the thought
Pisces nodded "Although the fight was fierce Alex did spare his father, he lived another few years working as an advisor to his son."
Simon nodded his disgust fading although he was still confused as to how anyone could fight their own father like that.
"Anyway." Crystal continued "Scar asked permission to go off and take control of a neighbouring tribe, Alex of course sent him off with his blessings."
Simon nodded "But how do you fit into this?"
Crystal huffed "I was getting to that. Me and Scar were just falling in love around then I when Scar left he took me with him, that was the first time I rally met Alex." She gave a small smile "As I'm sure you're aware Scar beat up Spine and took control of his pack. Alex of course was very happy for his friend and the two often met up, since I was his mate I came along for the trips and frequently met Alex" she gave a small smile "That's how I know so much about him, as for how I know so much about the pack.."
"..Your constant visits coupled with growing up there?" Simon supplied
Crystal nodded "Exactly."
"So we know you and Pisces are sisters" Gemma spoke up "but I thought Eevee came in litters, so how many siblings do you have?"
"Hmmm" Crystal mused "Good question, there were five of us but I only know where two are right now."
Pisces nodded "Ditto, so who do you know?"
"Well yoooooowwwww!" Crystal reply was lost in a cry as her lower body contracted
"What!" Gemma and Simon asked worried whilst Pisces merely gave a knowing but happy smile and waited for her sister to break the news.
"Put... me... down" Crystal panted
"What? Why!?" Gemma demanded
"Just please puooooowwww put me down!" Crystal gasped out through another cry
Gemma complied gently placing Crystal on the ground "What's wrong?" Simon demanded taking the question out of Gemma's mouth "And Pisces aren't you worried.... Wait..." Simon finally put two and two together "The pups!" He cried out happily
Crystal gave a small nod crying out as another contraction rippled through her body
Gemma and Simon's faces lit up although beyond the happiness Simon had hints of fear and worry.
About an hour and a half later Crystal was curled around her pups resting with a contented smile on her face, the birth had gone smoothly despite Simon's fretting and their family now had seven healthy pups in it; four Eevee, two Poochyena and one Poochyena that had the colourations of an Eevee. There were four boys and three girls, the Eevee where split fifty fifty the oddly coloured Poochyena the only other female. Like their mother the pups where sleeping soundly, Simon was staring intently at the new arrivals spellbound whilst Gemma and Pisces were busily chatting away debating about names for the kits.
Crystal lifted her head groggily looking into Simon's eyes, as their eyes met it was almost like looking into a mirror they both had the exact same emotions in their gaze; love, hope, fear and worry.
"So shall I..." Crystal said softly her voice sad and low
"What?" Simon asked worried by her tone
"The males..." Crystal said even softer
"What! No!" Simon cried "Leave them! To hell with the tradition I don't want people's kits dying just to ensure they don't fight me later!"
Crystal nodded a tear of relief slipping down her face "Thank you." She said softly
"No problem" Simon waved off the thanks "Look the problem is the kits don't see me as a leader so they resent me and challenge me right?"
Crystal gave a small nod agreeing with Simon's reasoning "Yeah and?"
Simon sighed "So if I spend two or three days a week in the nursery with the kits and befriend them then the problem is gone and no-one needs to die."
Crystal nodded "That just might work."
"So" Simon said changing the subject, "Shall we name them?"
Crystal gave a small nod "Sure, any ideas?"
Simon laughed and shook his head "No not really, I'd imagined I would have more of a warning to start thinking of names"
Crystal giggled a little although her tiredness was starting to show "Well you knew I was far along."
Simon nodded "I suppose I guess I just never thought this day would come."
Crystal gave a small nod "Me neither, I guess we should give it a few days and see what names come into our heads once we see their personalities."
Simon nodded "Sure, sounds like a plan"
Gemma's leaf wilted slightly "We came up with a few names." She said sadly
Simon laughed "Well tell you what, tell us them in three days and we'll see whether they're better than the ones me and Crystal come up with."
Gemma nodded cheered up slightly "Sure!" she agreed enthusiastically "And congratulations, both of you."
Pisces nodded "Congrats!" she echoed happily
Simon and Crystal both blushed slightly "Thanks" they echoed each other.