An Eevee's Story Part 29

An Eevee's Story

Chapter 29 ~ In A Hurry

          Where were they? They hadn't gone very far into the woods and already Derek was completely lost. The only reason he hadn't stopped to find out where they were was because Shadow and Star continued to run farther. It was getting harder and harder to keep up with them. He felt like they didn't care what happened to him, only that they needed to push on and find Emmi.
          How could he blame them? He wanted Emmi back just as much as they did, if not more. He kept pace with them, no matter how fast they ran, and only thought about her. That night before Raiu had shown up with her had been the most exhilarating night of his life, and as he was running, he noticed that he really did care for someone other than himself. It surprised him, because only days ago he had been extremely self-centered.
          "Ok, guys. We should stop and rest for now.", Star told them as they approached a river. Derek walked a little farther and then collapsed on the ground, panting. Water. He needed water.
          Suddenly he noticed Shadow above him, where he picked him up and brought him over to the river. There he laid him down on his belly, and watched silently as Derek took long sips of water. "I still can't believe you were able to keep up with us for that long, Derek."
          "Yea, same with me.", he told him through gulps. "I felt like I was ready to pass out at any time."
          "Oh, believe me, we knew about that.", Star said sarcastically as she approached the two of them. "We can sense when your running out of energy, especially when your body is screaming it. If we had continued to push it, we would have killed you."
          Derek stared down in wonder. He knew that Star had psychic abilities since he had talked to her telepathically, but he had no idea that Shadow had the same powers. What's more, they could sense his pain. He didn't really understand how they could do this, but he definitely wanted to do it himself.
          Suddenly he realized something. If they could talk to him telepathically and feel his pain, they could almost certainly know what he had been feeling only minutes ago. He stared at them, almost in shock, and when they questioned his look, he only stared away.
          "What's wrong, Derek?", Star asked.
          "Oh, its nothing.", he said almost defensively. "It's just hard for me to understand how you 'feel' my pain."
          "Well, its also hard to explain it.", Shadow said sympathetically. "You might experience it yourself if you evolve into an Umbreon like me." He smiled. "You know, we can also read minds, too."
          "What?!", Derek shouted as he stared at them questionably. They both smiled back at him, and he suddenly withdrew from them, closing off his mind and everything in it, trying desperately not to let them see what he had been thinking, or feeling..
          Shadow only smiled at Star, who realized what he was playing at. She wasn't at all happy about it, but she let it slip and continued to drink the water from the river. Shadow, seeing Star's annoyance, realized that he should probably stop and began to get ready again.
          Derek, not knowing exactly what they were getting at with this silence, slowly got back up and brushed the fear away as they prepared to set off again. They had their fill of water, and even though they were all fairly hungry, they all set out into another run after only a fifteen minute break.
          After only a mile or so, they branched off from the woods and passed through a clearing. The clearing was short lived, however, and they were thrown back into the brush of the forest. They were moving a lot quicker now, noticing the sun was slowly falling past the mid-day mark. Know Raiu, they only had until the end of the day to reach his house and save Emmi. Derek kept on thinking why his dad would want to hurt Emmi this way, until it finally hit him. "Mom.."
          The little Eevee immediately started to slow down until he came to a complete halt, where he stood silently and just stared off into space. Star and Shadow didn't understand what was wrong with him, so they slowly headed back to where he was sitting and sat next to him.
          "What's wrong?", Star asked him. "You don't look too good. Are you alright?"
          "No.. No, I'm not.", he said sadly as he ran for the nearest tree and threw up. He laid there now, crying and hurting all over. Star came over to him and cuddled up next to him. She didn't ask him any questions, but this warmth and love from a mother, the love he had missed out on as a kid, made him cry even harder.
          After what seemed like forever, he straightened up, fighting back the tears, and slowly asked, "I guess your wondering why I threw up and then started crying?"
          "It would be nice to know, but its all about you right now.", Shadow said slowly. "You're here, and you need help. Emmi might be our daughter, but we also have another child to care for."
          "Shadow's right, Derek. Its as if you're one of my children. I feel like I can connect with you a lot better than anyone else outside of my family.", She told him.
          "Ah, yes. Love. Emmi has it all.", he said sadly. "Emmi has a loving mother to take care of her when she's feeling down or just out of it. I didn't have such luck.."
          "What do you mean?", Star asked. "Didn't you have a mom, too?"
          "You could say that..", he said sadly. "I lost her during a storm when I was a few months old. I can still remember her face as I watched her fall off the edge of that cliff.."
          Star and Shadow only looked at each other solemnly, not knowing what to tell him. This was the first time that they had even learned about his mother, and all they wanted to do was comfort him. Right now, however, he looked like he needed to deal with this one on his own, so they backed off for awhile and let him get control of himself.
          After Derek had stopped crying, Star got the courage to ask him, "Derek? What does your mom have to do with Emmi?"
          "Everything.", he said slowly. "My dad never got over losing her. He knew that some great being like the god of the ocean could bring her back, and when he learned about Emmi's powers after you all moved here, he filled my head with lies that she was evil. He wants her power to bring her back."
          "Well, it can't be too bad, can it?", Shadow asked. "I mean, all Emmi has to do is learn to control her powers and then bring her back, right?"
          "No, that's not all of it.", Derek told them. "Only me and Raiu knew her on a personal level, which is what you need to bring her back. The only way he could use Emmi's powers to bring her back.."
          "What? What is it?", Shadow continued.
          Derek looked up at him again with sad eyes, and fighting back tears told him, "The only way to use her powers is for him to kill her, and then draw the powers from her body into his own.."
          Star stared crying. Derek knew this was reasonable, but he still couldn't deal with it. He curled up into a ball again and began to cry himself, while Shadow comforted Star. After awhile of this, they all regained their composure, and Shadow said, "Well then, I guess this is an even bigger reason to hurry up and find them, isn't it?"
          "Yes, it is.", Star said as she brushed away the tears. "Come on. I'm not letting my daughter die to fulfill this sick bastard's fantasy of getting him wife back." Suddenly she bolted into a run and headed straight for the woods. Derek and Shadow followed straight behind, and were surprised to see her stop after only a few yards.
          "Is everything alright?", Shadow asked slowly, until he heard whatever noises that had stopped Star in her tracks. He and Derek both stopped just in front of her and began to listen. They looked to their left, where the original noises had come from. Then Derek thought he saw something. He moved closer and then saw him clearly.
          Gabe..