Loomian Legacy Veils of Shadow

A Shooting Starla Falls

Everyone quickly stood up and covered Thane as he shoved the Vanta Logs into his backpack. If the man found the secrecy strange, he didn't comment. "I'm sorry to be a bother." He started as he stepped to the side to reveal the strange Loomian. It was small and resembled a Kittone. It had light coffee brown fur with a coat of extra fur around its neck. It had amber-yellow eyes and a small nose. "I was walking along Route Eight when I ran into this little Loomian. It's been following me ever since." He said. "I noticed you kids were Loomian Trainers." He said, nodding to Embit. "And I was wondering if you could help me with this."

The group looked at each other in turn. "Wait!" Lucas exclaimed suddenly. "You want one of us to take care of it?" The man shrugged. "What else am I supposed to do with it?" Lucy quickly rushed forward and past the man, leaning down to get on a semi-eye-level with the Loomian. "So cute!" She exclaimed before looking up at the man. "I wouldn't mind taking care of it."

Suddenly, the Loomian jumped up and onto Lucy's head, causing the girl to let out a cry of surprise and fall on her face. The Loomian used Lucy as a springboard to leap towards Mabel. It hit the ground running, rushing up to Mabel and sniffing her ankles. Mabel jumped backward, throwing her hands in the air and letting out a shrill cry. "Eeek!!! It's going to eat me!" Thane and Embit deadpanned as Lucy tried to calm her friend down as she got up from the ground. "Calm down, you baby! It's just sniffing you."

"It likes you, Mabel!" Lucas said excitedly. Mabel's face contorted into disgust when the small Loomian licked her left ankle. "Ew, it licked me!" She yelped. Suddenly, a look of realization came over Jake, and he snapped his fingers. "Mabel, this is great!" Mabel shot him a quick look of confusion before turning her wide eyes back to the Loomian. "What are you talking about?" She asked as she took a step back, and the Loomian followed.

"You said you were tired of feeling like a failure and wanted to prove your mom wrong." Jake pointed at the Loomian. "This is your chance to show your mom she was wrong and get over your fear. Besides, you could use a partner Loomian. Thane has Embit, Lucas has Kabunga, Lucy has Ragoon, and I have Searknight." Mabel looked up at Jake with wide eyes as she realized what he was implying. "I think you should take this Loomian as your partner." He said.

Mabel's friends looked at her expectantly and she looked away. She looked down at the small Loomian at her feet, its tail swooshing, and its big eyes looking up at her. "But what if I mess it up?" She said shakily in a voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes locked with the Loomian as she leaned down to its eye level, and her face contorted into a mirage of contorted emotions.

A silence fell over the pier, one that was only broken by Jake as he knelt beside her. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "So what? We all fail, it's human. Every trainer has failed. Thane has failed." He quickly turned to the boy. "No offense dude." Thane shrugged. "None taken." Jake smiled before turning back to Mabel. "My old friends, some of the strongest trainers and people I've ever known have failed. I have failed so many times, failed miserably."

Mabel looked up at him with wide eyes. "And now, you have us. If you fail, we'll catch you. We'll all catch each other when we fail."

Lucas leaned closer to Thane and whispered in his ear. "Jake is very inspirational." Thane nodded wordlessly. Lucy stepped forward and placed a hand on her friend's other shoulder. "We're not like your mother, Mabel. We'll always back you up."

By this point, Mabel was close to tears. She blinked rapidly and let out a quiet sniffle. Mabel fought to keep tears from falling. Everyone waited as Mabel composed herself on the docks. Finally, she looked at the small Loomian with determination. With a trembling hand, Mabel reached forward. She was slow and cautious, frightened. But when her fingers brushed against the soft fur of the Loomian and it began to purr affectionately, Mabel's nervousness reduced significantly.