Freefall

Chapter One

HAZE

Haze woke up, yawning. She stretched, then stood up, hopping out of her bed. It was pleasantly warm, since fire-types needed the heat to stay the correct temperature.

Her orange fur, which marked her as a “shiny”, reflected the light easily, making her commonly appear glittering to Pokemon that were meeting her for the time.

She sat back down, beginning to lick her fur. It needed regular grooming to stay shiny, and Haze much preferred licking it regularly to taking a bath.

Fire-types naturally despised water, since it made it hard for them to stay as hot as they needed to be to survive. She still had to take baths occasionally, and when she was taking them she had to admit the hot water was comfortable, but she could never get herself to want to take one.

A Espeon with white fur and red eyes poked her head in. “Haze, your mother wants you.”

“Give me a bit longer”, Haze said, continuing to lick herself in no rush. The Espeon hurried away to tell Haze’s mother. She'd probably get in trouble for failing to fetch Haze, but it wasn't a big deal. The worst thing that could happen was she'd get yelled at.

Oddly colored Pokemon, like Haze and the albino Espeon, were highly praised by society. It was unlikely that Haze’s mother would fire a worker as valuable as the Espeon.

Haze then reached for the necklace that was sitting by her bed, on a wooden stand. It had her family's symbol on it, a star made of flame, which was carved out of firestone.

Of course, Haze had a different necklace that looked almost exactly like it but wasn't made of firestone, and therefore didn't give off heat, from when she was an Eevee.

Haze had other necklaces she liked better than this one, but since they had a high-ranking guest over, she was required to wear it. She slipped it over her neck, then turned to the golden earrings that were sitting by the necklace. There were four of them, two for each ear.

They were always a struggle to get on. Usually she had one of the Espeon that worked there help her, but it wouldn't look good to their guest if the host’s daughter couldn't put on jewelry by herself, so Haze had to manage on her own.

She stared at them for a few seconds, wondering if there was a way to manage this without taking hours, when the albino Espeon from earlier reappeared.

“Coffee says that she needs you immediately”, she said.

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Haze sighed. “Well, if you can help me put these earrings on, I'll be there soon.”

The Espeon nodded, hurrying forward to put the earring in Haze’s ears with Psychic. Haze checked them in the mirror, then nodded.

She trotted out, the albino Espeon following closely behind.

Coffee, a shiny Flareon like her daughter, looked up. Across from her, there was an Umbreon.

Haze was surprised to see an Umbreon, since Dark-types were heavily frowned upon, and Eevee evolving into Umbreon was even more discouraged.

The living room of the house was large, with a fountain in the middle (an interesting thing for a fire-type to want).

“This is Everest”, Coffee said.

Haze’s ears flicked up in surprise as she recognized the name. Everest, and in the Mew Everest?!

Coffee nodded slightly, guessing her daughter’s train of thought.

“There’s no need to bow”, Everest said, as though she'd guessed Haze’s thoughts.

Mind reading! Oh, shoot, I forgot about that, Haze thought.

Everest gave her a slightly wounded, slightly suspicious glance, no doubt picking up that train of thought.

Haze sat down by Coffee, trying to prevent herself from thinking anything else the Mew might overhear.

“And what is your opinion on this?” Everest asked.

Haze was surprised by how odd the Mew’s voice sounded, but then remembered that Mews could communicate telepathically.

“I…I think that it's interesting that this situation is happening to the Legends”, Coffee said. “Can you provide any more insight?”

“I cannot say much due to my position, but…I do think Arceus is overreacting. It isn't like she hasn't overreacted before”, Everest said hesitantly.

“What's happening?” Haze asked.

“I'll tell you later”, Coffee said.

“Now I must leave”, Everest said, flicking her ear. “I'm wanted back at the Realm.”

Haze turned to her mother.

Coffee was about to begin explaining when a Vaporeon that was a bit more purple than normal rushed up.

“Some others want to see you”, the Vaporeon said. “Important.”

“Tell them that they'll just have to wait”, Coffee said.

The Vaporeon nodded, then rushed off.

“Apparently there are signs of a revolution among the Legends”, Coffee said.

Haze gasped.

“It's likely nothing serious. From my under- standing, Arceus took a comment from Mew a bit too seriously. I do not think that it will progress further. If it does, it'll probably just end in an argument, or a minor scuffle if Giratina gets involved. Everest was just here to warn us to prepare for the side effects of a minor fight between the Legends.”

“Oh”, Haze said, letting out a relieved sigh.

“Now then, let's go see who our guests are”, Coffee said.

Soon after, a shiny Vaporeon stormed into the room.

“Cranberry”, Coffee said, dipping her head.

Cranberry just lashed her tail. “Did you hear about what happened?!”

Coffee nodded.

“Then how are you so calm?!” Cranberry burst out. “I was told that there is going to be a fucking war. Between the Legends.”

“From my understanding, Arceus just took a comment from Mew a bit too seriously”, Coffee said. “I will admit that we were told by Everest, who may be biased toward her mother.”

“We were told by Terra, who would likely also be on Mew’s side!” Cranberry snapped.

“Terra has been known to…exaggerate”, Haze pointed out.

“I suppose you're right”, Cranberry said, sitting down. She had sat down on the edge of the fountain, where the water spray could hit her.

“Now then, do you have anything else to discuss?” Coffee asked. “We are likely to have a meeting soon, and I would like time to prepare.”

Cranberry nodded, leaving.

“Well, Haze, since our place is the usual meeting spot, we're going to have to clean up”, Coffee said, looking around.

Haze nodded.

The Story So Far

Chapter One: How DO you put on earrings without opposable thumbs?!