Awaken

The Leafeon strolled through the woods. The day was calm and the sun was high, for some reason beautiful days like these simply made her smile.

Suddenly, she began to feel uneasy.

Her pace slowed down as her nerves began taking over her. She couldn't explain it but there was something wrong around her. It was then when she noticed the woods were in absolute silence, not a single chirp from birds or footsteps at the distance. Since when it was so quiet around here? It was disconcerting.

The more she walked through it the more frightened she grew. Her breath became deeper, to the point it was the only sound that broke the deafening silence around her.

"Hello?" She tried calling for someone, anyone, but it was no use; she was alone.

Her breath became even more elaborated as her pace slowly quickened. What was happening? This couldn't be. She was now scared, never before had she felt this lonely before, not to the point of despair.

"Hello?!" She repeated, her voice beginning to break. Upon receiving no response she felt a wave of shivering cold through her.

"Hello?! Somebody! Anybody! Please!" She repeated once more, her voice finally breaking this time and her eyes beginning to water. The silent response seemed to only feed her already growing fear. She was now running in hope of escaping this doomed place, though something deep inside told her it was of no use.

Ignoring this thought at the back of her mind she closed her eyes kept on, not daring to even look back. By the time her legs were sore she had to come to a halt and catch her breath, though even the very thought of breathing in this silent air frightened. As she opened her eyes she finally noticed she had reached a clearing and saw a distant figure at the distance.

As she drew closer to it she felt a wave of relief as she recognized the orange silhouette of a familiar Raichu. "Ross, is that you?" She asked, her voice slowly returning back to normal. However, the Raichu didn't say a word.

"Ross! Oh I'm so glad to see you. What is this place? It's so scary," The Leafeon began feeling more calm as she drew closer to him. She could now tell Ross was lying on the floor, maybe he had been running just like her; perhaps he was still catching his breath, she didn't blame him for not responding.

The Leafeon kept getting closer to him, but she was slowly losing her courage again for some reason, "Ross, please say something, I-" However, she was unable to finish her sentence.

She lost her breath for a moment, this simply couldn't be happening.

"No..."

Her eyes must have been deceiving her, this wasn't happening.

"No"

A wave of shivering cold ran through her, she was clearly looking at it and yet she refused to believe it.

"No!!!"

She stepped back, horrified at the sight before her: Ross was lying right in front of her, motionless and rigid. Still in denial, she leaned over him and set a paw on him; he was cold, unbreathing.

She began to hyperventilate, feeling even more frightened than she had ever been. "(This isn't happening! This isn't happening!)," she tried repeating to herself, but everything around her told the opposite.

The very air seemed to sting her, the ground below to consume her, and felt how her movement became limited. She would join him in a few moments, it was useless to resist; yet she struggled through this agony, clinging to this horrid world she was trapped into. She felt her strength decay as the world around her slowly faded to black...

***

"Ross!" she gasped as her eyes sprang open, her breathing still sharp. She looked around and noticed it was dark; however, she managed to make out the crackling sound of a nearby campfire and the cries of several Pokemon at the distance: It was nighttime.

"(Was it a dream?)," She wondered as she took another look around: She was at her Master's ranch. However, she also noticed something: The Raichu was lying motionless beside her.

"No..." She muttered under her breath, tears clouding her sight: He was gone.

As she grimly drew closer to him, memories came back to her. Her teammate, her best friend, her secret love. He couldn't be gone, not this way, not without her even being able to let him know that...

It was then when she finally heard it, a soft breathing. as hope came back to her she wiped her tears and was able to see clearly: He wasn't gone, he was simply slumbering peacefully. She also saw a small Pachirisu curled into ball of white fur lying right next to him.

She sniffled as a smile finally came back to her face. Seeing Ross with his foster "Little brother" peacefully slumbering was somehow soothing. None of them might accept it, but Ross sometimes acted more like a parent instead of a brother to him, and deep down that filled her with hope for if that day ever came.

Instead of going back to her previous sleeping place she just lied down right there where she was and nuzzled her head against the Raichu's chest. Ross lazily opened his eyes "Saria?" He asked confused at this rather unusual behavior, but then noticed the tear remains on her eyes, "What happened?"

Saria let out a long, relaxing sigh, "Nothing," she simply said as she smiled warmly at him, "just go back to sleep."