Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Charon's Pursuit ❯ A Confrontation ( Chapter 10 )

“Is this where we have to stay?”

Calien, the male vulpix, frowned. With the dark mask of night upon the forest’s doorstep, the four mammals had sought out an appropriate shelter to protect themselves from the dangerous elements, since they lacked the time to form a decent shelter themselves. However, they had traveled so far from familiar territory, where they knew of shelters no longer owned by creatures, that the vulpixes, the raichu, and the pichu grew desperate for shelter before the darkness spelled opportunity for predators. After much searching, they came upon the first vacant shelter…but it was hardly luxurious. The sole candidate for shelter were two holes in the ground, separated quite some distance, each leading to a burrowed, pitch-black cavern within the soil only a tad larger than Charon himself.

Lily, the pichu still close to her side, frowned at the lack of space. “They’re…so small.”

Charon grimaced. “Pffh! These holes sure aren’t like the cave we had last night. There’s no way in heck that we’re going to cram ourselves into just one of them.”

“Charon is right,” Calien acknowledged, “The only way this will work is if we divide into two groups for the night.”

Upon saying that, the male vulpix had turned a glance towards his mate-to-be. A smirk crossed his face flirtatiously. Lily began to blush while Ivy looked back and forth between the two vulpixes, struck with confusion as to the meaning in Calien’s face. Charon, however, was not so innocent. He quickly acted upon the opportunity, hoping to squelch his growing temptation before it had a chance to go beyond the thresh-hold of self-control.

“Well, you two need some time together for the night,” Charon stated, “Maybe Ivy could stay with me, so that you two can take care of things?”

The thought of having to share space with Charon immediately sent a chill down the pichu’s spine. She huddled closer to Lily, her grasp nearly squeezing the blood out of the maiden vulpix’s leg. Charon frowned upon the pichu’s reaction and let out a gentle sigh, knowing full well that he shouldn’t have expected enthusiasm towards his suggestion from someone scared to death of him.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Charon remarked.

Calien suddenly grew quite desperate, approaching Lily rapidly as to plead to her. “Lily, please! You promised that tonight would be the night!”

Lily looked to Calien sadly, her fox ears wilted down. “I know, Calien, but…Ivy wants to be with me. She’s still too scared of Charon.”

“Why would that be a problem?” Calien retorted, his desperation twisting his reasoning skills, “Just think of how educational it would be for Ivy! She will have to go through the same thing when she’s older so she might as well get a head start on what’s coming to her!”

Charon cringed. Calien, you dumbass…

The raichu watched in pity as Lily, suddenly infuriated by Calien’s boneheaded suggestion, shrieked “Gah! You PERVERT!” promptly bitch-slapped her poor mate-to-be. “Oooow!” Calien cried, dazed somewhat from the blow. Ivy, still close to Lily, could not help but cringe as well, for the bitch-slap was quite fierce.

“This is supposed to be our private occasion, not some public show!” Lily snapped.

Calien began to grow teary. “But…you promised me…”

“I know I did, but…we can’t. It’ll have to be another night.” Lily said apologetically.

The male vulpix was overwhelmed with sadness, as he began to sniffle and cry. “You promised, Lily…you promised me! Does a promise mean nothing to you!?”

“Of course it does, Calien, but things have happened!” Lily quickly stated, dismayed at Calien’s sudden depression. But it was already too late. Calien, now sobbing, wailed out as he scurried away from Lily, Charon, and Ivy, disappearing into one of the holes for shelter tonight. The sounds of Calien’s weeping were now cemented into the atmosphere. It struck Lily deeply as Charon, glaring at the hole the male vulpix escaped to, strained not to violently curse. It was awhile before anyone could summon the will to talk again.

“Well then,” Charon spoke with forced calm, breaking their uneasy silence, “I guess this means that I’ll have to shack up with Calien.”

Lily looked away from Charon, feeling guilt. “Yeah…I guess so.” Lily turned to the offspring beside her. “Come on, Ivy,” she said softly, “It’s time to go to sleep now.”Ivy nodded, and followed Lily into the second hole. “What was he talking about?” the pichu asked.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Lily answered.

Charon had watched the two females depart from the open surface, entering their shelter for the night. When they were out of his view, the raichu slapped his brow. He dragged his paw down the length of his face, stretching the skin, in a futile effort to exert his stress. Once that was done, he turned to look at the hole where Calien had escaped to. After some hesitation, he started to walk forward to that hole, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Yet, before he got to the entrance, he stopped.

What am I doing? Charon thought.

The raichu turned around, looking back to the other hole. A sense of determination struck him, straightening his posture and mangling his expression. Why am I acting so damn helpless? All I felt was infatuation that night…nothing more! I haven’t been struck by the scent yet - that scent that sets off the sex drive like an echo sets off an avalanche – so I still have some time! If I somehow get Lily to keep her promise tonight, it’s one less thing I have to deal with – and the less problems, the better.

The raichu marched forward to Lily’s hole. The only way to do that is to find out why she’s so willing to break her promise. Hell, the fox doesn’t seem the type to do that.

It did not take long for Charon to reach the shelter. Peering down into the darkness, Charon called out to her. “Lily? Lily, I need to talk to you!” the raichu spoke, his voice stern.

The maiden vulpix soon popped her head out from the hole, glaring at Charon. “Charon, what’re you doing? Why are you talking like that? You’re scaring Ivy again!”

“Anything I do would scare her. I’m a raichu, remember?” Charon stated bluntly, “I need you to come with me. It’s very important.”

“Now? But we were just getting comfortable, and it’s late! Can’t we save this for another time?” Lily pleaded.

“No, Lily. This has to be done now. Don’t worry about Ivy- If she stays in there, she’d be fine. It’s not like I have to drag you far.”

“Alright, alright!” Lily surrendered, “If it will make you leave us alone, then I’ll go with you, ok? I just want Ivy to be able to get some rest.”

“And she’ll get exactly that. Now come along,” Charon snarled, growing impatient. The sudden tone struck an ominous chord in Lily’s instinct as she climbed out of the hole. She glared at Charon even stronger now.

“Charon, what is with you all of a sudden?” The female vulpix asked almost angrily.

Charon hesitated, realizing his emotional slip. “You’ll know soon enough, but you’re going to have to keep your voice down,” The raichu said, his tone suddenly back to normal. “Let’s move over here,” he continued, pointing to one of the trees in the distance, “We’ve got to keep this private.”

“Um…ok, then,” Lily responded, surprised at how quickly Charon’s emotions could change. She reluctantly followed the raichu towards that particular tree, only a short distance away from the hole where Ivy resided. If Lily and Charon kept their voices down, neither Ivy nor Calien would hear their words. That is exactly what Charon intended; but it might prove difficult to stay quiet as their conversation goes on, as the two will soon find out.

Charon, standing on his hindlegs with his forepaws hanging down the sides, looked down to Lily. She was sitting down as all canines do, with the thighs of the hindlegs touching earth, her six tails fanned out on the ground, and her forelegs fully erect. “What’s wrong, Charon? You’re acting so strange,” Lily whispered, looking up to Charon’s face with an expression of concern, “We shouldn’t be out here, you know…someone might attack us.”

“I’m willing to take that risk,” The raichu stated, his voice also at a whisper, “But I’m not a total idiot either. I can’t speak about this easily without wasting time out here, so I’ll cut to the chase: I want to know why you broke your promise.”

Something clicked in Lily’s mind, as she suddenly grew quite nervous before the rodent. “Why I…broke my promise?” She eeped out, her ears wilting before Charon, “I already said it was because of Ivy. W-what else is there to know?”

Charon frowned. “You sure there’s no other reason, Lily? Not to imply anything, but having to care for Ivy was quite a convenient way to sidestep your promise.”

“What? No! I’m telling you, that’s all there is to it!” Lily snapped.

“You’re getting a bit upset, Lily…you sure there’s nothing else? Nothing like…that arcanine?” Charon spoke bluntly.

“What does that have to with anything?” Lily stammered, starting to inch away from the raichu.

“Calien thinks that ever since then, you’ve been scared of mating itself,” Charon stated, not pulling any punches, “I don’t see any reason why he would lie about that.”

“Stop it, Charon! Stop!” Lily pleaded, feeling as though the world was collapsing around her, “You wouldn’t understand!”

“Why, because I’m a male? Or is it because I’m a goddamn raichu?” Charon questioned, “That doesn’t mean a damn thing, Lily! I, out of anyone, would know that if you keep this up, you’re going to suffer for it!”

“What are you talking about?” Lily blurted out, growing ever more fearful.

“Stop acting stupid!” Charon nearly shouted, “Don’t you know what happens to a female in the mating season? They go in heat, Lily! They give off a scent that drives males mad with lust! It hasn’t happened to you yet; but believe me, once it does, your mate won’t be able to hold himself back, never mind any broken animals that happen to be passing by!”

“W-why are you saying this?! You’re lying! You HAVE to be!” Lily wailed.

Oh, shit! Charon suddenly thought, panicking at her sudden shouting. She’ll attract attention!

Frantically trying to quiet the vulpix, the raichu rushed to her in an attempt to close her muzzle. Unfortunately, he did not take into account his weight and size. Poor Lily was toppled over as Charon, in his haste, ended up barging into her. The raichu, losing his balance, fell upon the maiden vulpix, pinning her back to the ground, their eyes level to one another. At the moment that they peered into each other’s faces, they both froze in utter fear. Both, for different reasons, feared retaliation from the other if the slightest movement was made. Had the hips of the fox and the larger rodent been level to each other, there would have been no hope at all.

Charon felt a rush of passion attempting to succumb him, as the temptation to take advantage of the situation grew. His reasoning, however, screamed so loudly that out of fright he practically leapt off of Lily’s body. He quickly turned away, holding his panging head and his throbbing heart, as Lily remained on the ground. The incident happened so quickly that it left the poor vulpix dazed and confused. Eventually, she managed to get back on her feet. She stared at Charon as the realization of what happened was absorbed into her conscience. Silence passed between them both.

“We should go back to the shelter now,” Charon said, his tone soft, trying to pretend nothing happened.

“I…guess,” Lily replied.

The raichu and the vulpix walked back to the two shelters, keeping as distant from each other as they possibly could.