Warrior Eevees #2: Pearl's Shadow

2- The Wildlands

But Silver eventually did find the courage to set paw in the lake again, although it took Fish many days of standing in the shallows, calling to her. A season cycle had soon slipped by, and then another and another and three more, and Silver found herself larger and more comfortable in the water again, although she couldn't forget the incident, or forget the realization that the color of her pelt was odder than she had originally believed.

It took about ten season cycles for an Eevee kitten to grow into an adult, and Silver and her two siblings had completed nine of them when the ice broke on the lake again. Next season cycle, they would even be allowed to evolve. Unlike some other Tribes, the Lake Tribe had their kittens grow all the way into adults before they allowed Evolution Ceremonies. Mist had called the other Tribes 'too hasty' when Agile had asked, impatiently, why they weren't allowed to evolve now. So, for now, they stuck to swimming lessons and hunting in the lake.

"No chance of taking an Eevee into any of those rivers, even after a moon cycle and a half of drought," Fish would always tell them when he went off elsewhere on a hunting patrol. "The currents are too strong, you'd wash away."

But they wouldn't be going to the river today, or to hunt in the lake, Silver knew, squirming in her fur as she waited on the lake shore. They were going on a border patrol.

Silver, Leap, and Agile had all been taken on patrol before, but always to the border with the Forest Tribe, or along the waterfalls, never to the border of the Wildlands. That was where the Lake Tribe's territory ran right up against the lawless Wildlands where dangerous Pokémon could lurk around every corner, unfamiliar and unpredictable. Finally, they were old enough to see the last corner of the territory, and Silver could hardly wait.

Neither could Tumble or Crouch, two of Pebble's kittens. They had turned six, not even old enough to swim across the lake without help, but seemed certain that they were every bit as capable as Silver and her littermates, no matter how much taller they were. Only Silent, the sandy brown Eevee, ever seemed to be able to contain himself. He'd been born smaller than his siblings, although he was now growing fast, and had been very sick for a period of time that had robbed him of his strength. Maybe he had learned patience there, although he almost never spoke about himself. Or about anything, really, hanging out near the back of the den just to watch.

Agile and Leap always tried to act mature around them, as if to prove that they were so much older. Silver tried not to interact with them, personally. Silent seemed very shy, and his littermates were very loud and moved very quickly, and startled her often by getting under paw. It wasn't that she disliked them, but she didn't really know how to talk to them. There was some kind of balance to speaking to them like they weren't stupid, but while also acknowledging their youth, and Silver hadn't found it, yet. Maybe she should have been able to handle it as the almost-adult in the situation, but it made her feel very awkward.

But there was no time to worry about that now. She sat with Agile and Leap on the shore, waiting for the return of a hunting patrol that would contain the Pokémon Diver had assigned to the Wildlands border patrol with them. Like an Eeveelution, most hunting Pokémon would be least active during the middle of the day, so that was when the patrol would take place. Mist would go with them on the patrol, as well as the Glaceon, Floe, and Geyser.

Silver had spent much of the last six season cycles watching him, too awkward to approach him to properly thank him for saving her life, no matter how long ago it had been. He was so perfect at everything he did, a genius fisher and powerful fighter. When the lake had frozen over too thick for the other Pokémon to crack, it had been Geyser who had found the strength to break through it for their meager share of winter fish.

Eevee were strictly forbidden from diving under the ice. Vaporeon had gills and were therefore at no risk of drowning, but an Eevee could die easily. Silver had no complaints, the water still chilled her even in the height of summer, and was content to watch Geyser flash in and out of the lake, catching more fish than the rest of the Tribe combined. The Tribe leader, Diver, too, spent much of his time observing what Geyser did. Tribe leaders were decided by election, but Diver would have a strong influence in the decision after his retirement, and Silver got the impression there was only one candidate on anyone's mind, anyway. Silver dreamed that one day, she would be a Pokémon to equal Geyser, but that dream seemed impossible to achieve from where things stood currently.