Silvershore

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sky was resting in her den. She was okay, but she couldn't stop thinking about her near-death experience. Usually, even this wouldn't have bothered her for too long, but she just wasn't feeling right lately. Maybe it would all pass soon enough...?

"Sky?" A deep, slightly quiet voice spoke up from outside her den.

It was Jupiter. Jupiter would make everything all better...he had a way of doing that.

"Come in!" Sky put on her happy face, trying to hide the fact that she was still a bit scared.

Jupiter entered the den and immediately lied down beside her on his back. The good vibrations from Jupiter's presence next to her calmed her inner storm to a soothing onshore breeze.

"...Hiya." Jupiter spoke up, after a moment of silence.

"Hi, Jupiter..." Sky sighed, with a small smile on her face.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah! I'm okay. I-It's nice of you to check in on me!"

"...You seem stressed..." Jupiter inched a bit closer to her. "I'm not gonna force you to talk, but, um...do you need...anything?" He nervously flattened his ears.

"I'm fine, like I said! You don't have 'ta worry at all."

"You've been in here for hours, now... did you take a nap?"

"Yeah... a small one. I'm pretty tired, but I haven't been sleeping all that well..."

"It's just that you're usually so...y'know, chipper. It's weird seeing you like this. I haven't really seen you much since the day of the attack, and you usually follow me around like a little duckling... I asked Kenya, and she said she hadn't heard from you much either, which concerned me even more...is there anything I can do?"

"...I don't know what's going on with my brother..." Sky admitted. "I don't know what happened to him, and no one is telling me. I don't like being treated like a pup anymore...I mean, I'm almost done with bein' a trainee!"

"I get it...I think you're a lot more mature than others make you out to be...I mean, after getting to know you...I've figured out you're not happy all the time like everyone thinks."

"I don't like others thinking I'm sad, though. I'm so happy most of the time! Just...I feel like sometimes they just assume that nothing bothers me, like I'm never scared or sad. I have emotions other than happiness, just like everyone else! I've always been told it's okay to not be happy, but it's just this reputation I've created for myself to always be in a good mood. But, it makes the ones I love happy to see that I'm cheerful even after bad things that happen, so I don't really mind it." Sky took a deep breath after saying all of this, as she had been talking quite fast.

"Well...I don't expect you to always be cheerful. If you ever need encouragement...come talk to me...if you want..." Jupiter smiled a bit.

Sky was starting to feel like there was someone there for her that truly understood her and she could talk to...she didn't feel like she had to always act cheerful around Jupiter anymore. Not even Kenya made her feel this comfortable and safe.

"That's so nice of you!" Sky giggled. "I like you a lot, y'know that?"

Jupiter paused for a moment, and bashfully flattened his ears. "...Really...?"

"Yeah! You're such a good friend to me, Jupiter!"

Jupiter paused for a moment again, then chuckled. "Heh...you too...Sky..."

Sky felt a warmth in her heart as Jupiter said her name. She loved how his words always spilt out slowly as if the truth could take its time. It's as if there was a force behind them, yet the kind that is respectful and quiet - a determination that's observant and patient.