Chapter 57

"Natual, wait for me!" N heard Whitney call in her sing song voice, using the stupid nickname she had given to him.

"Hurry up, it's getting dark!" He shouted back at her.

He heard his little sister running after him. The bag that was over her shoulder was clanking loudly, almost as if it was filled with small rocks.

Whitney caught up to him and clinged to his leg. She had become very clingy lately. He didn't have the heart to tell her to stop, so he ended up dragging her around.

N sighed and pulled her along. Rapi and the others had made him watch over Whitney for the day. The pokemon had to go to a nearby town, and none of them thought they should come. So N had to be left babysitting his little sister.

"Are we lost?" Whitney whined after a couple of minutes.

"No." said N irritability.

"But you said that the last time we got lost!"

"We aren't lost now and we weren't lost then!"

"But we never found our way back, and Darmanitan ended up finding us! Plus you got in trouble!"

"Whitney!"

"It's true!"

He growled and sped up a little bit. Whitney got on his nerves very easily, even when she wasn't even trying. She would also have moments where she would throw embarrassing events that he was trying to forgot in his face.

"N?" Whitney whispered after twenty minutes of walking.

"What now?" He groaned, looking around at the forest.

"I-I hear something..." his sister squeaked. He winced as her grip on his hand tightened.

"Wha-"

But he heard it too. N stopped and pushed Whitney close to him. The little girl whimpered and clung to his arm. It was a low growling noise, and it seemed to be coming from behind them.

Then Whitney screamed as something leapt over their heads and landed in front of them. A yellow Arcanine was snarling in front of them, its muzzle dripping with blood.

"RUN!" N bellowed at Whitney, shoving her away from the Arcanine.

"But-"

"GO!"

Whitney squeaked and dashed away from them. The shiny Arcanine growled and watched Whitney run. N grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at the Arcanine. It hit its forehead, but it didn't seem to hurt it. It only snarled and pelted toward the same direction that Whitney had ran in.

"WHITNEY!" N shouted, running after the Arcanine and Whitney.

The forest was dark now, and he could barely see where he was going. He yelped as he tripped over a tree root and fell down. He tumbled down a small but steep hill, bumping his head on every rock, stick, and tree root.

N finally landed on a hard rock at the foot of the hill. He yelled in pain as he felt his leg crack. It throbbed painfully as he tried standing up, but he collapsed from the pain.

"WHITNEY!" He bellowed again, looking around for his little sister.

A growl rose from behind him, and he definitely knew it wasn't Whitney. He turned his head to see behind him, and he saw two large eyes staring intently at him.

N yelled in shock and fell backwards. His leg stung painfully as the yellow Arcanine tried pouncing on him. It must have given up on Whitney and had found N easy prey.

He grabbed a rock that was laying next to his leg, and threw it at the Arcanine's face. This time it went right into its eye. It howled in pain and stumbled backwards.

N stood up shakely and pelted away from the enraged Arcanine. His leg kept stinging in pain, but he didn't stop running. He could hear the yellow Arcanine howling and crashing along behind him.

"Natual!"

N then saw Whitney hiding in a small cave underneath a large oak tree. The tree's roots were dangling over the entrance, and a pile of large rocks laid above it.

"Whitney, watch out!" He yelled, running toward the cave entrance.

Whitney screamed as N pushed her further into the cave. He hit his head on the trees roots, and the rocks began to fall. N tumbled into the cave as the large rocks began to block the entrance. He heard Whitney scream as he collapsed onto the hard ground.

"NATUAL!"  He heard her shriek.

Pain exploded all over N's body as a large rock landed on his broken leg. He screamed in pain and clawed at the ground. The last thing he heard was Whitney screaming his name before everything went black.

*~*~*

N woke up from a throbbing pain in his head and broken leg. He let a little groan escape his lips as he felt the cold ground. He could tell that he was still in the cave from the freezing air and the hard ground.

He felt something warm sitting near him. He lifted his head off his arms a little to see what it was.

Whitney was huddled close to him. She was hugging her legs and crying quietly. N was about to sit up, but he noticed that Whitney was singing. He had never heard her sing before. She was singing quietly, but he could still hear the words.

Arrows flying, into silence

Broken pieces, lying around where it went down

Waters risin, back to silence

Quietly crying, wondering how

And look at us now

We thought our love would take the world by storm

Are we too far apart?

Two worlds among the stars

You’re gonna take a piece of my heart if you leave

So its two separate ways

Or am I too late to say “I wanna fight for what we got

Cause I believe in family”

In family

So are we still trying, or simply surviving

Facing these giants, the bigger they are the harder they fall

But I still believe in the dreams we’ve been dreamin

The hope that we built on

Its never too far, never too far

If we choose to turn and let these walls fall down

Are we too far apart?

Two worlds among the stars

You’re gonna take a piece of my heart if you leave

So its two separate ways

Or am I too late to say “I wanna fight for what we got

Cause I believe in family”

In family, in family

I still believe…

I still believe…

That were not too far apart?

Two worlds among the stars

Don’t take a piece of my heart please don’t leave

It’s not too late to say: “Father show us the way

To fight for what we got

Cause You believe in family, in family

N finally forced himself to sit up, but he yelled as he accidentally kicked his broken leg against a rock.

"Natual!" squealed Whitney happily, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"Whitney, please!" He gasped, his entire body aching with pain.

"I thought you might never wake up!" She cried, sobbing into his long green hair.

N sighed and patted the top of her head awkwardly. He then noticed the items scattered across the cave floor.

"What have you-"

But he stopped in mid sentence. He noticed the bandages wrapped around his legs and arms. N touched his forehead and felt a damp bandage tied across his forehead.

"I brought some stuff along just in case we got lost!" piped up his sister when she noticed what he was looking at.

"What else did you bring?" He asked curiously, picking up the roll of bandages.

"Well I brought a flashlight!"

N yelped as a bright light  suddenly appeared next to him as Whitney turned the flashlight on.

"Point that somewhere else!" He snapped at her.

He heard her sigh, and she pointed the flashlight toward the blocked entrance. Whitney must have been able to move a few rocks, because N could see moonlight shimmering through a few cracks.

"How long was I knocked out?" N finally asked Whitney.

"At least an hour," she replied. "The Arcanine gave up on chasing us."

"Hooray..." he snarled sarcastically, still looking at the huge pile of rocks.

N saw Whitney turn her head to look at the blocked entrance.

"How are we gonna get out?" His sister whispered after a few silent minutes.

"I don't know," N admitted. "We'll have to wait for someone to find us."

"What if no one finds us?" She asked.

"I don't know..."

N felt his eyes begin to tear up. He didn't know what to do. The cave only went back five feet, and there wasn't a lot of room to move. N couldn't move even if he wanted to, since his leg was broken and his body was badly bruised.

He hid his face in his hands and began to cry silently. He wished he wasn't the older sibling. Now he had to be Whitney's human guardian since his mother and grandfather weren't around. But he didn't want to be in charge. He wanted someone to watch both of them, not just him taking care of Whitney.

Something bumped against N's arm as he let out a small sob. Whitney had crawled next to him. She looked scared and concerned as she looked up at him.

"W-What's wrong?" She stammered in her high pitched voice. "D-Did I say something wrong?"

"N-No..." sniffed N, rubbing his eyes. "I-I just miss Mom and Grandpa! I hate being in charge! I hate being the one trying to keep us alive! I hate my life! I JUST HATE IT!"

He felt Whitney flinch next to him as he almost screamed the last words.

"I-I'm sorry!" squeaked Whitney timidly.

"It's not your fault, you don't have to be sorry..." he growled a little to harshly. "I just hate my life, I hate everything and everyone..."

"Do you hate me?" His sister asked suddenly, her voice quivering slightly.

"What- no!" N said hurriedly. "You're the only person I have left! I could never hate you! You wouldn't leave me...right?"

"I don't want to leave you!" Whitney squeaked. "You're my big brother! My bubby! I would never leave you! You're all I have left!"

Whitney watched him nervously as he began to cry again. N couldn't help it. It felt a bit awkward being the one crying when he was the one who usually had to comfort Whitney.

His sister suddenly turned her back on him and began to crawl away.

"Whitney, I'm sorry!" He yelled after her desperately. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

"Close your eyes!" Whitney then called back.

"What?"

"Close your eyes, N!"

N sighed and closed his eyes. He heard Whitney digging around in her bag. Something like a chain clinked as something was withdrawn from the bag.

"I was going to give you this on your birthday, but I think you need it now." Whitney's voice told him as something was placed around his neck.

N opened his eyes and looked down at the item his sister had put around his neck. It was like a rubric cube, but it wouldn't move. It was painted all golden except for the middle square. The middle square was blackish brown, and a small chain went through the middle square.

"Where did you get this?" He asked after a moment, twirling the cube in his hands.

"You know how Shifty, Scratch, and Airlock were getting rid of all that junk they collected?"

"Yeah?"

"Well this cube was one of the things they were giving away, and I thought you would like it. I've noticed that you don't have any toys and stuff, so..." she trailed off and looked at the ground.

"I..." N started, looking away from the cube and turning to Whitney. "I don't like it. I love it."

Whitney beamed at him as he hugged her tightly. This seemed to make her very happy, because N noticed her eyes tear up from joy.

"Wait, I have one more!" She suddenly squeaked, breaking away from him and crawling back over to the bag.

N listened to Whitney rummaging around in the bag for a minute before she crawled back over to him.

"Remember that small broken sphere that you tried to fix and didn't play with me for a month, and you ended up throwing it away?" She puffed breathlessly as she crawled back.

"Is this a guilt trip?" He asked uncertainty.

Whitney glared at him but placed something in his hand. It was like a necklace with a black sphere attached to it like a charm. It had two glass rings around it, one was yellow and the other was blue.

"You...you made this?" He said absent mindedly.

"Yep!"

"But how-"

"Rapi, Di-Di, Ray, and Pichu helped me!" Whiney squeaked. "I didn't know what you were gonna do with it if you fixed it, so I made that instead."

N twirled the little planet like sphere in his hands and looked at his sister. Whitney was looking at the necklace anxiously. She seemed to be nervous about what his reaction toward the necklace would be.

"I love it, thanks." N told her quietly, picking her up and setting her in his lap.

Whitney squealed happily and hugged him. N smiled and put his arms around her. He could feel her body shivering from the cold.

The two of them huddled together as the cave became damper and colder. Neither of them could sleep. They both knew that they would be trapped in the cave until someone freed them. Whitney was too small to move all of the rocks, and N was in too much pain to even move.

N yelped as he was snapped out of his thoughts. Whitney had gotten out of his lap and had crawled behind him. She was now trying to braid his long green hair.

"Whitney, what-"

"Please, Natual?" She whined, hugging the braid she had started.

"No!"

"You're not in much of a position to get out of this!"

N growled and pulled his knees up to his chest. He couldn't pull or crawl away from Whitney without hurting himself, so he could do nothing but let his little sister braid his hair.

The next hour or so was nerve wrecking. He had to sit and listen to Whitney giggle as she did who knows what to his hair.

"Do you think Daddy was a pokemon?" Whitney questioned suddenly, pulling the old braid apart for the tenth time and making a new one.

"What makes you say that?" N asked in the calmest tone possible. He felt furious whenever the subject of their father was brought up.

"Your hair reminds me of a Zoroark!" She squeaked. "Besides, you said that you rarely knew him either!"

"Is that all?"

"Well you have trouble talking around other people, just like Zorua when he turns into a human."

"And you look like a Zorua too."

"I- hey!"

N winced as Whitney pulled his hair sharply and came into his line of sight.

"I don't look like a Zorua!" She growled angrily.

"Yes you do." replied N.

"How?!"

N smirked and pointed at a tuft of hair sticking up on top of Whitney's head. It had always reminded him of a Zorua's large tuft of fur on top of its head.

His sister's face turned bright red as she disappeared behind him and tugged on his hair.

"Well you got to admit, you kinda do look like a Zorua." N told her with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

After this small conversation, Whitney had began to pull on his hair a bit harder. He winced as she gave his hair one final tug before finishing the braid. She then crawled back around N and climbed into his lap. Whitney pulled N's braid over his shoulder and hugged it. N had the urge to break the braid, but he didn't want to hurt his little sister's feelings.

"N?" said Whitney after a few minutes.

"What?"

"Why didn't Daddy like us?"

The conversation had just gotten uncomfortable. N tried remembering when anyone told Whitney the truth about their father. He remembered the private conversation that he and his mother had after Whitney's birth and his father's disappearance. She had told him that she couldn't tell his baby sister the truth about her father by herself, and that both she and N would have to show Whitney that unlike her father, they were blessed to have her.

"Daddy...Daddy had...old fashioned ideas about women..." N told Whitney, choosing his words cautiously. "Whitney, our dad only wanted....sons. He didn't want a daughter. But me and mom wanted you!" He added hurriedly, seeing how Whitney's eyes were tearing up.

"He...he didn't want me?" She whispered, her voice beginning to quiver.

N didn't respond. Deep down, he wanted to believe that their dad had changed. That he might be looking for them. That he would come and take care of them. But it was impossible.

Whitney began to cry. He put his arms around her as she began to cry and whimper into his chest. N didn't know what to do, so he just let her cry.

After a few minutes, Whitney pulled away from him and looked up into his face. It was like she was looking for some kind of sign that he hated her.

"Do you like me, even if I'm a girl?" She asked.

"Of course I do!"

"And you'll never leave me?"

"I promise."

N smiled as Whitney's face lit up. His sister snuggled closer to him and used the braid as a blanket. He scooted back a little against the cave wall and rested his head against it.

He felt Whitney fall asleep after awhile. He wanted to go to sleep too, but he didn't feel safe. He felt that it would be best if he stayed up.

Daylight soon slipped between the boulders and into the cave. N then heard the rocks being pulled away from the entrance. He looked at the blocked opening to see Darmanitan's giant ape-like hand moving the rocks away.

"Natural? Whitney?" called Darmanitan's deep voice.

"We're in here!" N called back without waking Whitney.

"Thank goodness!" The pokemon sighed as he moved all the rocks and peered into the cave. "We all thought you might have- well, it doesn't matter anyway."

N stood up and winced. He realized that his leg was bleeding. He knelt down again and shook Whitney gently.

"Whitney, get up!" He whispered quietly.

Whitney yelped as she bolted up straight. She was breathing heavily and her face was shining with sweat.

"Darmanitan's here." N told her uncertainly.

He watched her look around toward the entrance and squeal with happiness.

"Darmanitan!" She cried, zooming out of the cave and pelting toward the large pokemon.

Darmanitan chuckled as Whitney clung to his massive arm. N smiled and limped after her, picking up the items off the floor as he went and put them in the bag. Each step felt like an explosion. He then swung the bag over his shoulder and climbed out of the cave.

"It was terrible!" Whitney was sobbing. "There was a shiny Arcanine and it chased us, and the rocks fell over the cave opening! N almost died!"

"I didn't!" N said quickly, seeing the look Darmanitan was giving him.

"Well, we should get you patched up," said Darmanitan slowly, observing N's appearance. "Have you even slept?"

"No..." N replied quietly. "I was too worried..."

"And what's with the braid?"

"I made it!" piped up Whitney. "N didn't mind!"

"I see," the pokemon said with a smirk.

N felt his face turn red, but he said nothing. Darmanitan then bent down to let Whitney and N climb on. Whitney was already perched on top of the pokemon's head by the time he had climbed on and settled behind his sister.

Darmanitan waited a minute before beginning to march into the forest. N found it hard to keep his eyes open. His entire body was sore and achy. His leg was covered in dry blood, and he shivered as he saw the skin peeled away.

Not one of the best nights of his life, but he was glad that his little sister that loved and cared for him had been by his side.

***

He thought they could save her.

How could they do this to him?

They had told him that she would live.

Why did they get his hopes up just to let his whole life crash into a million little pieces?

N was sobbing into his hands in the Humilau City Hospital waiting room. The list of White's medical problems was laying on the floor at his feet.

Underweight.

Infected wounds.

Very high fever.

One arm severely frost bitten, now removed and replaced.

Distorted lungs.

Respiratory system filled with dirt and dust.

The nurse standing in front of him was watching him with a pained expression. She looked just as tired and troubled as he felt. There was no one else in the room to see this, but it was still awkward.

But N didn't care. His only known kin, his little sister, was gone.

Dead.

Destroyed.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mister Gropius," the nurse stuttered after a moment. "W-We don't know what went wrong..."

N didn't reply. He was in too much grief to pay attention.

"I'll come back in a few minutes..." she then whispered, her gaze breaking away from him as she turned away.

Just as the nurse shut the door of the waiting room, N fell on his knees and sobbed harder.

He had failed her. He was a failure. He had been left with one duty, one job that he needed to fulfil, and he failed it. White was dead because of him.

I'm so sorry, Whitney! He thought desperately, I'm so so sorry! I failed you as your older brother! I broke my promise!

He heard a small creaking noise as the waiting room door opened up a tiny bit. N caught a glimpse of blonde hair as the girl disappeared behind the door.

"You shouldn't be walking around, Mira," he croaked, not looking up at the door.

Leia, Hugh, and Cheren had been the ones to free N and Amos from the rock slide, and they didn't stay together very long. Amos, Leia, Hugh, and Cheren had gone to Route 21 to inform Sky Blue and Mira of the recent events while N took White to the hospital. They had taken both of them to the hospital, and it turned out that Mira would have to stay in the hospital for over a month. Despite a broken ankle, Sky Blue was perfectly fine, and was with the others.

Mira pushed the door open a little wider, and N could see that she was in a wheelchair. Both legs were in casts, and she had something on her side. Bandages were wrapped around her shoulder where the bullet had pierced her. She had tear tracks on her cheeks, and she had bags under her eyes.

"I-I wanted to know if it's true," she squeaked, wheeling the chair over to him. "I-Is she r-really d-dead?"

N waited a moment before nodding. Mira then gave a wail of misery and began to cry. He started to feel more sorry for Mira then he did for himself. From what he had heard, Mira had known White for most of her life. They had almost been like sisters.

N then remembered the promise he had made to White before she had died. She had told him to watch over Mira like another sister, even if she lived.

"Come here," he said quietly, taking Mira out of the wheelchair and setting her in his lap.

Mira wailed again and cried into his shoulder. He hugged her gently as he forced back a wave of emotion. The two of them sobbed together, grieving the loss of White.

"S-She told me that there would be a time when she would move on, and that I would have to do things on my own," sobbed Mira after a moment. "B-But I didn't think it would come so soon!"

"I-I know," N choked. "But you're not the only one suffering! We're going through this together!"

Before either of them could say another word, the door opened again and the nurse reappeared.

"Y-You're allowed to see her now," the nurse told them, her voice still trembling.

N nodded and set Mira back in the wheelchair. He watched as the nurse walked over to Mira and she began to push her into the hallway beyond the door. The nurse seemed to have no objection against Mira seeing White. N held back a moment before following them.

The walls were light blue, and the white floor was unnaturally clean. N felt a chill run up his spine as he heard the moaning and crying behind the patients' rooms. He even heard a scream once.

The nurse suddenly stopped at the very end of the hallway. She looked at N nervously as she tilted her head toward the open door. N looked inside, and he had to force himself from crying out.

White's body was laying on the bed in the room. Her eyes were closed and her chest was motionless. One of her arms was gone. It was now replaced by a black, skeletal, mechanical one. The gown she was wearing was speckled with a bit of blood, and she still had a breathing mask strapped on. The heart monitor next to her bed was silent.

N glanced at the nurse before stepping inside. He noticed Tiny the Espeon perched on top of a white cabinet. She was looking at her paws, but N could tell that she was crying. Raichu was also there. She was curled up next to White's motionless body, sobbing into her gown.

The nurse pushed Mira into the room before leaving. N knelt next to White's bed and put his hand on her remaining one. It was strangely warm for a dead person's, but she hadn't been dead for very long. Mira was crying into her hands again, unable to even glance at her dead friend.

"Whitney?" N whispered quietly, squeezing her hand a little. "W-Whitney?"

But she didn't move.

"P-Please wake up!" He sobbed, allowing the tears to fall. "P-Please don't leave me! I can't do this alone!"

"N-" Mira started, but N ignored her.

"Please, Whitney! Please come back! I would do anything to have you back!"

"Natural," Mira repeated quietly.

"It isn't right," He choked, continuing to ignore her. "It isn't right for an older brother to bury his younger sisters! It just isn't right! I've failed them! I've failed my entire family! I've failed everyone! All I want is my sister! I just want her back! That's all!"

The room was silent after he said this. N sobbed and looked away from his sister's body. He lost both of his little sisters now. Everything he had left was gone.

Please God, he begged, please bring Whitney back! That's all I ask! Please don't take my sister away from me! I'll do anything!

Then a noise broke through the silence after a moment.

Beep

Beep

Beep

The heart monitor had come to life. Tiny yowled in shock, and Raichu even fell off the bed as a heavy gasp came from the body. Mira screamed in amazement and N swiveled around.

White was alive.

Her eyes were open wide and her chest was rising violently. She was clawing at the blanket and sheets with her real hand. She was gasping for air, her breathing coming in short ragged breaths.

"We need a doctor, NOW!" Mira shrieked at them.

Raichu hissed in reply and darted out of the room. A doctor and the nurse ran into the room a second later. The both seemed just as shocked as they were.

"It's a miracle!" cried the nurse as the doctor pushed N aside to look at White.

"We need to get her to the ER immediately!" The doctor ordered, his gaze glued on the gasping girl. "If she's made it this far, I'm sure she'll make it through!"

"She'll live?!" said N in shock.

The doctor turned to face him. He looked a little overwhelmed, but he managed to give N a small smile.

"Yes, she'll live, but you need to go! This will take at least two hours!"

N was about to object, but he felt the nurse grab his hand gently.

"She'll be fine," she whispered reassuringly. "We just need time to finish a couple of things."

He sighed as the nurse pushed Mira out of the room. Mira also seemed reluctant to leave White, but she really didn't have a choice. Tiny leapt off the cabinet and landed on the floor gracefully. Raichu was giving her trainer a final look before leaving the room.

N saw more doctors and nurses run into White's room as he was led into the waiting room again. His heart was pounding against his chest.

This was probably the happiest moment of his life.

His sister was alive.

Natural and Whitney Gropius were now given a second chance to start over.

~~~

WHO KNEW SHE WAS COMING BACK?! I WOULD NEVER KILL WHITE. I MIGHT KNOCK HER DOWN, BUT I'LL NEVER KILL HER! WHY DO YOU THINK I'M PLANNING- oh wait, I have to wait till the Epilogue to say this....

I haven't really wrote a flashback with any sibling moments, so I came up with this chapter. I'm kinda nervous about it ;3

SO. I want to say that I haven't really given N a religion in this book. If you want him to be a Christian, that's fine, if you want him to be an Atheist, that's fine too. I don't want to upset some of you readers by giving him a religion.

vvv PLEASE READ! vvv

Another thing that's religious wise, and I think you should hear me out.

So, I have A LOT of nerve making a Christian Pokemon FanFic. I think I might actually be the first to make this kind of fanfiction. (I'm not sure, but if you know about another Christian Pokemon FanFic, please tell me about it, I'd love to check it out! :3)

But please, don't judge this book because of the religion. I feel like people are avoiding this book because of the Christianity and that N has a sister, not a girlfriend. White is N's sister because I feel more comfortable about writing sibling stories than romantic ones. Again, this book was made because a lot of Pokemon books have cussing, gay shipping, and other inappropriate stuff. So for someone like me who's a Christian and a Pokemon fan, it can be really hard to find a good book without that stuff.

So please, I would love it if people would not judge me or Spite Without Shame because of this stuff.

Also, thanks for those of you who have been reading, commenting, voting, and supporting me and this book :) Thanks so much! All of you rock! Even the haters! :P 

^^^

So I think that's everything. I am cutting this story a chapter short, so we just have the last chapter and the Epilogue left. It's kind of sad :( SWS has been around since New Year's Eve, 2013, fourteen minutes to 2014 (yes, I remember) I will be asking a VERY important question in the next chapter or the Epilogue, so stay tuned!

Good night!

(Song: Family by Tobymac)