The Little Artist - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Saturday, December 13, 2014 - The Fox Family

“Daddy?” Robert suddenly heard what sounded like the voice of a young girl. The look in the fearsome beast’s eyes suddenly went away as he heard his little girl calling for him. He moved his snout away from Robert and looked in her direction.

“Lisa.” He replied simply.

Robert sat back up, still a bit terrified. He looked and saw a shorter fox, though she was still humongous compared to him. She was blue, and didn’t look anywhere near as terrifying as her father.

“What’s that thing on the ground?” She asked him, seeing the little Eeveettata in the snow.

“I found him lying here in the snow. It looks like he needs help.” He then reaches down and picks him up with his mouth. Lisa sees him more clearly now.

“Oh my gosh! That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” She walks up to him, with her tail wagging.

“Uh, thanks.” Robert replies, blushing, and smiles a little bit. Then, he realized that he did not have his cape with him.

“Wait! I left my cape back there!”

Lisa sees his little red cape lying there in the snow, and she grabs it and gives it to him. “What are you?” She asked him.

“I’m an Eeveettata, which is a mix between a Rattata and an Eevee.”

“Aw, so you’re two cute Pokémon fused together to make something even cuter.”

“Hehe, you keep making me blush.”

“So where did you come from?” She asked him as the father got closer to the den.

“Well, uh, believe it or not, I fell all the way from the top of the cliff. Thankfully, I was able to survive because I was able to use my cape as a parachute.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s terrifying! You poor thing...” She exclaimed, sounding legitimately sad.

“Thanks, Lisa.” He replied, surprised by how different she is from her father. She was so sweet and concerned, whereas her father was just about ready to devour him. Or, it was just that he was the absolute worst at greeting new people.

“Are you hurting?” Lisa asked him.

“Yeah, a little. I got knocked out when I hit the ground, but at least I’m still alive, thank God.”

“Thank God indeed!” She replied. “That cliff is 3,000 feet tall!”

Robert’s eyed widened. He knew that it was tall, but he didn’t think it was that tall. “Whoa...”

“Oh, I can’t believe I haven’t even asked your name yet! Silly me. What’s your name?”

“Robert.” He replied. “And I already know that you’re Lisa.” He added, smiling.

“Yep, that’s me.”

They start to walk into the den, and the father takes him into their room so he can lie down on one of their beds. He set him down gently on his back.

“Are you comfortable?” He asked him.

“Yes I am, sir, thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome. Lie there as long as you need to.” He replied, and he walked away. He didn’t sound all that caring to Robert, but at least he was helping him and not eating him.

The room Robert was in was lit well by some candles and lanterns. However, it didn’t seem like they had a lot of possessions. As he was looking around at his surroundings, he heard the father speaking to someone who he guessed was probably his wife.

“I found him alone in the snow out there. He told me that he fell off the cliff and had to use his cape to land safely, and he seemed sad too. His name is Robert.”

“Poor thing! I’ll go look at him and see if he needs anything.” She replied, and Robert heard her walking toward the room he was in. Another creature like the father entered the room, but she was blue like Lisa, a little shorter than her husband, and she looked much gentler and more sensitive than him. Robert was not afraid that she was going to hurt him, and even her voice sounded very kind, as though she could be his mother.

“Robert?” She asked, coming in and seeing him on the bed.

“H-hi.” He replied.

“How are you feeling?” She walked up to him and laid down on her stomach so that she wouldn’t appear so large and intimidating to him.

“My legs are hurting, but I don’t think I broke anything. It’s a miracle that I lived.”

“Praise God that you lived.” She replied, giving a warm smile. “Where’s your family?” She asked him.

Robert’s eyes started to become watery. “I...I got separated from them when I fell.”

The mother looked heartbroken when he told her that. “Poor baby...” She said, and she brought him a little closer to herself with her paw, as a mother would bring her little one to herself to comfort them. He then felt her softly brush his tears away.

“Well, Robert, it so happens that we will be moving from here tomorrow to go south because the food is getting more scarce here. Lord willing, we will run into your family.”

Robert’s ears perked up a little when he heard that. “Y-you’re moving south? My family’s going south too!” His spirits were lifted when she said this. “Is there a way we can go back up on top of the cliff to meet them?”

“I haven’t been too far to the south before, but if your family is going to where we’re going, then we should meet up with them. We’re going to a valley surrounded by mountains, and it’s much warmer there, and there is abundant food as well.”

“My family is going there too! Wow, what are the chances?”

She smiled, gently rubbing her snout against his little face. “It was no accident.”

“You’re right.” He replied, giggling a little bit as it felt like she was tickling his face.

She giggled too. “You can come along with us if you want, we would love it if you did.”

“Thanks! I will come along!” He hugged her, smiling.

“I’m happy to hear that.” She replied. “We’ll try to get you to your family as safely and as quickly as we can.”

“Thank you. Um, what’s your name by the way?”

“Cassie. My daughter’s name is Lisa, and my husband is Rex.”

Robert almost recoiled at Rex’s name; even his name was intimidating to him.

“Well, Cassie, I’m glad to meet all of you.” He said. “You’re being so nice to me; it’s almost like I’m a part of the family.”

“We just want to make sure you feel at home, little one; there’s no reason why you should feel uncomfortable here.” She then picked him up with her mouth and stood up and started to take him to another part of their abode.

“Where am I going?” He asked her, before realizing that she couldn’t quite speak at the moment. He saw that she took him into a room that had a large wooden tub in it. Over that tub looked to be a faucet of some kind. She set him down in the tub and stood beside it.

“You’re dirty from being in the snow for so long earlier, and it looks like someone got drool all over you. I’m going to clean you up.” She turned on the warm water and it began to pour into the tub.

“A warm bath sounds so good right now.” He replied. He didn’t want to tell her that Rex got drool all over him, especially since they were sharing their house with him for the time being. He didn’t want to do anything that would offend them. “Thank you for doing this, Cassie.”

“It’s my pleasure.” She replied, smiling.

Robert went under where the water was pouring out and he let it run all over him. He felt like all this grime was coming off him and he started to feel lighter. He wasn’t tall enough to reach the soap, so Cassie poured a little on his paws, and he was able to use it. He started to feel so much cleaner when he used it on his fur.

“This feels really nice and refreshing.” He said to her.

“That’s good.” She replied. “The water is actually coming from a nearby hot spring, so it’s not only hot, but it’s also clean.”

“Awesome! I didn’t know there was a hot spring around here.”

“Yeah, there are a few of them along the cliff actually. Maybe you’ll get the chance to sit in one when we head out. They feel great, especially after a long day of working.”

“Well I look forward to it.” He replied.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask you about your cape.” Cassie continued. “I don’t see people wearing capes too often. What made you decide to wear one?” She wasn’t asking in an accusatory or judgmental way, she seemed sincerely interested in knowing why.

Robert’s face lit up. “I was hoping you would ask.” After that, Cassie learned about who Sir Watson was, about how the evil Groudon wanted to kidnap Princess Vanilluxe, and how he has attempted at times to take over the kingdom of Pokélandia. Robert gave her more than the answer to her question; he basically gave her the entire tale of Sir Watson and the history of Pokélandia.

Cassie listened to him, and his energy and enthusiasm made her smile. She could see how invested he was in his creation, and how much thought he had put into it. She was also impressed by the way he described things in vivid detail. He spoke of Sir Watson as though he were a living, breathing character that really existed in a place called Pokélandia. It appeared to her that talking about all this made him forget his troubles.

Eventually, Rex walked in, wondering why the water was still running after all this time. Cassie noticed him walk in, and he looked slightly annoyed.

“Oh sorry.” She said, turning the water off. She had gotten lost in Robert’s storytelling and she forgot to turn the water off.

“It’s okay.” He replied, and then he looked at Robert. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better!” He exclaimed. Cassie then picked him up out of the tub and began to lick the fur on his head, grooming him, and the sensation was making him giggle. She set him down and then took a towel and wrapped him in it so he could get dry.

“Robert here is quite the storyteller and artist.” Cassie said to her husband, making Robert blush a little.

“Oh yeah?” Rex replied. “What kind of stories do you tell?”

Somehow, Robert didn’t feel he could get as spirited and enthusiastic around Rex as he could with Cassie. His demeanor and intimidating presence made him feel like he would be judged as silly for thinking of such things.

“Um, you know, a story about, um, a knight that protects a kingdom from, you know, a terrible monster and his army.” Robert answered, not being able to look right at him.

“Interesting.” He replied simply, and he walked away. Robert finished up drying, and Cassie took the towel from him and hung it back up. She took him back to their room and closed the door, as though she wanted to talk to him privately.

Robert recognized this ominous gesture; it usually meant that he was in trouble. Whenever one of his parents needed to scold him, they would call him into their room, and they would close the door quietly after he entered before giving him a stern lecture.

“Uh oh...”

Cassie walked back to Robert, but she didn’t seem angry, which put him at ease a little.

“Robert?” She lay down again and looked at him. “You can be honest with me; I won’t get angry with you. Okay?” Her voice remained gentle.

“Okay.”

“Does Rex scare you?”

“Well, a little.” He replied, being sort of honest. He was more scared of him than he let on.

“I understand.” She said. “But you don’t have to be afraid around him. He might seem a little rough at first, but he cares about you too. After all, he did help save your life.”

“That’s true.” He replied.

“And the last thing he would want to do to you is hurt you, or make you feel bad for being here. I haven’t told him yet that you plan to come with us to go south, but I’m more than sure he would welcome you. He is a kind person.”

Robert nodded, feeling a little guilty. “Okay. I’m sorry if I was rude to him.”

She gave him a little hug. “It’s okay; he’ll understand and accept your apology.”

However, some of Robert’s worries about Rex weren’t allayed. He was puzzled as to why he greeted him in such an aggressive and threatening way earlier; it had almost seemed that Rex had wanted to eat him. However, he was afraid to ask Cassie because he didn’t want to accuse her husband of being a potential killer. He chose to trust her and believe that Rex was overall a kind person, and maybe he was just having a bad day.

Robert found Rex in another room, and he was just sitting there, thinking about something. He was afraid at first to talk to him and apologize, but he got the courage when he remembered what Cassie had told him about Rex. Robert cleared his throat to get his attention because his back was facing him.

“Ahem.” Robert said.

Rex’s head turned around to look at him, and Robert stood his ground. He looked Rex in the eyes so he could connect with him. He didn’t see the hungry look he had in his eyes before; they looked normal to him now. Maybe he was feeling better.

“Yes, Robert?”

“I...I’m sorry if I seemed impolite earlier. To be honest, I, uh, felt scared earlier, but that was no reason for me to be offensive.”

Rex let out a little sigh, but he didn’t seem mad. “It’s okay, you did nothing wrong. I should apologize, really. I shouldn’t have scared you when I first found you. The thing is, there was someone who looked somewhat like you a few days ago who tried to break in and steal some of our things, and I scared him away. When I saw you, I thought you were him, but I see that you aren’t. What I did to you was really unfair, and I’m sorry I needlessly terrorized you. Forgive me?”

Robert was touched. He no longer saw someone who almost devoured him, he saw someone who was just trying to protect his family, and that he just showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. “I forgive you, Rex.” He replied, smiling a little bit. He went up to Rex and hugged his front leg. Rex seemed shocked at first by this gesture, but he didn’t try to move Robert away. He put his paw over his head and rubbed it gently, in a somewhat friendly manner.

“Thanks.”

Robert was glad to have done this. Now he would have no reason to be afraid of Rex, and their journey south would be much easier to get through now. However, Robert was feeling a little bad for assuming that Rex had wanted to eat him earlier and for thinking that he could be a killer, and admitting that to him would’ve been incredibly difficult, so he decided to not bring it up.

Later, at suppertime, Robert was feeling more comfortable around Rex, and he was able to tell him all about Sir Watson, Pokélandia, and Groudon of course. He thought Robert’s way of describing things and his passion in telling these stories was pretty cute, and Robert actually managed to catch a little bit of emotion on his face, though it wasn’t anything terribly obvious. Lisa was enraptured in the tales of Sir Watson, and she even started to create her own little stories about him in her mind.

“Cassie was right; you do have quite an imagination. I also didn’t know that you drew.”

“I love drawing! Do you have any paper and pencil here by any chance?”

“I have a lot.” Lisa replied. “You can use as much as you want.” She said to him, smiling.

“Thank you.” He said. “But you draw too?”

“Yeah, but I’m not that good at it. You’ve been drawing for three years already, so your art must look like masterpieces by now.”

“Hehe, thanks.” He chuckled. “I’m probably not that good really, but it’s fun!

“Aw, I bet your stuff is awesome. If you’re not too tired right now, can you show me how you draw Sir Watson? I want to draw him too.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” He replied. “He’s not that hard to draw.”

Cassie smiled as she saw her daughter and Robert talking and becoming friends. She was glad that even though he was a lot smaller than they were, he wasn’t afraid of them. Rex was also happy that Robert felt at home here, and that he seemed okay with him now.

“But don’t stay up too late.” He told them. “Remember, we have a long day ahead of us.”

“I know, dad.” Lisa replied. “Robert tells me that drawing his character doesn’t take a long time to draw.”

“Okay.”

Robert finished eating the food they set before him, a salad with delicious berries in it. “Thank you for the food.” He said.

“You’re more than welcome, sweetheart.” Cassie replied. “Let me take that bowl for you.” She offered, and she took his bowl and washed it. He hopped out of his chair and went to Lisa’s room. She got up after finishing her food too and followed him, and her tail was wagging happily.

Though there was just one bed in the room, it was large enough for the both of them to sleep on. Lisa showed him where she kept the paper was, as well as her pencils and erasers. She showed him some of her art too.

“I know, it’s not that good. It’s really just a bunch of stick figures.” She laughed.

“That’s not bad.” He remarked, and then he pulled out a piece of blank paper, a pencil, an eraser, found a hard surface for the paper, and he got to work.

Lisa watched him draw, and she was amazed by just how easy he made it seem. He appeared to be drawing Sir Watson brandishing his sword in a heroic manner. She was impressed by how easily he was drawing that complicated pose.

“Holy cow, you’re so good!”

“Thanks. It’s just that I’ve been drawing him a lot. If you were to ask me to draw something else, it wouldn’t look as good, and it wouldn’t be as natural to me.”

“But still, this looks amazing! I’d totally pay you for that.”

Robert was blushing, and he could also feel some pride building up in him. He told her that it was God who gave him his ability. She acknowledged that and corrected herself, and he lost that swelling pride.

He then started to color it in and add some shading with the pencil. Using the colors would’ve taken longer, and he wanted this to be something short and not too time-consuming. When he finished it, he signed and dated it, and he let her keep it.

“For me? That’s so sweet of you!” She picked him up and gave him a tight hug, and he hugged her back.

“You’re welcome, but you’re even sweeter for letting me sleep in here tonight.” He replied.

“You’re welcome, but you’re still the sweetest.” She said. “You should be my little brother from now on.”

“Hehe,” he chuckled. “Hey, maybe when our families meet, we can stay friends.”

“I would like that a lot, but since I don’t have any siblings, I’m going to make you my official little brother. I don’t know how old you are though; but I’m going to guess that you’re nine.”

“Close; I’m ten.”

“Oh whoops! I guess that means you’re actually my big brother! I’m only nine.”

“Then that would make me your little big brother!”

She laughed. “That would be awesome!”

He laughed with her, enjoying the fun they were having together. Cassie could hear them from their room, and hearing them play together like that warmed her heart. There was actually a tiny part of her that wanted Robert to be her son, but she kept in mind that he had to find his family, and that his family was likely looking for him.

Meanwhile, Rex was rolling a large stone in front of the entrance to the den to block any intruders from sneaking in overnight. However it didn’t cover the entrance all the way since the stone was round and wasn’t wide enough to block the width of the entrance. At least it was still better than nothing. He went back to his bed afterward and kissed his wife goodnight and fell asleep. She fell asleep not long after, while Robert and Lisa were still talking.

It wasn’t much later that Lisa and Robert had gotten really tired too, and they were ready to go to sleep as well. Lisa stored her drawing away safely before crawling onto her bed and curling up to fall asleep. Robert curled up near her on the pillow.

“Good night, little big brother.” She said, smiling.

“You too, big little sister.” He said back. “Sweet dreams.” He fell asleep not long after that, and Lisa brought him in closer with her paw so that he was right against her chest, and she fell asleep with her arm around him, in a loving, protective kind of way.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Cassie was woken up in the middle of the night by a sound her husband was making, and it caused some worry in her. It sounded like he was making a sad, or regretful kind of moan, but it was in his sleep. It sounded like he was suffering. She touched her paw to his shoulder gently.

“Rex...What’s wrong?” She said softly. He stopped making that sound when she touched him, but that didn’t stop her from being concerned. It was a sound she never heard him make before, and she wondered if he had gotten sick. She felt his forehead with her paw, but she didn’t detect anything unusual. It sounded like he was back to sleeping normally again. She decided it would do no good to worry about it now, so she chose to talk to him about it in the morning, and she went back to sleep.

A few hours later, when it was about 6:30, Robert woke up. He felt himself in Lisa’s arm, and it was so comfortable and warm. However, he decided he would get up and see if anyone else was awake yet. He climbed over her arm, which was a challenge because she was holding onto him tightly, and he crawled out of the bed and walked out of the room quietly. As far as he could tell, no one else was awake quite yet. He could hear Rex and Cassie also sleeping.

He decided he would try to go outside and get a little bit of fresh air. He didn’t plan to wander far, he just wanted to stretch and move his legs around a little bit before embarking on today’s journey. He was excited about going with his new friends, and seeing what this journey would have in store for them. The only thing that might ruin it for him would be if he fell off yet another cliff.

“Oh that reminds me.” He said to himself, and he grabbed his cape. “You can never be too sure.”

He came to the entrance of the den with his cape, and he saw that there was a large stone blocking it. He was discouraged at first, until he noticed the small space where he could crawl through. He got onto his stomach and crept through the little opening in the corner. He crawled until he started to feel the snow under his paws. It was still dark outside, and he could see Orion in the west, and the third-quarter moon still shining strong in the eastern part of the sky.

He got up on his fours and walked around a little bit. It was incredibly cold, which was to be expected, and he didn’t anticipate spending too much time out here. He pulled his cape around himself and looked around at this environment. It was pretty quiet, save for a very soft breeze that rustled the pine needles.

As Robert was enjoying the tranquil scene, he was suddenly hit by something ferociously cold and brutally strong on his left side. Panicked and hurt, he tried to get up but couldn’t, and it wasn’t long before he realized he had been frozen solid in a block of ice. He tried to break free with his arms, but there was so little wiggle room that he couldn’t so much as form a crack in his cruel and subzero prison. As if he weren’t terrified enough, he heard the sound of a growl nearby, and it was getting closer to him. He tried to scream for help, but there wasn’t even enough space for his mouth to move. All he could do was stare at the entrance of the den, hoping and praying that someone would come out to help him before it was too late...