Dimming Starlight

The other eevees had their friends, but Prism preferred to be on her own.

She never mingled, she rarely spoke, and kept herself entertained by exploring the forest surrounding Kyrie's cabin. There, she wasn't expected to interact with anyone, not even her trainer, and she could spend her days in lovely solitude.

Unfortunately, after Team Cyber's attack, Prism couldn't do her solo excursions anymore. She went to a corner of the cabin and sighed, resting her head on her paws. At least the others were leaving her alone, even if the cabin was crowded.

She spotted one of the eevees walking towards her. Prism narrowed her eyes.

"Good evening," the eevee said. He appeared to be a normal eevee, though his tail was a flowing waterfall that shone in the cabin's light. "You're Prism, correct?"

"You've heard of me," Prism said.

"In a sense. It's hard to get to know someone when she spend all her time outside."

"I haven't heard of you."

The eevee's ears twitched. "My name is King," he said. "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a walk with me."

Prism tilted her head. "We're not allowed to go out," she said.

"We're not allowed to go out alone," said King. "I believe our trainer specified groups of three or more. I have one other willing to go with us."

"Who?"

"Oh, his name is Firestarter." King let out a long sigh. "He wants to go out very badly, but unfortunately, we're merely a group of two. If you were to join us, we could go out safely."

Prism rolled her eyes. "Just don't talk to me," she said.

"Is that a no?"

She stood up. "I'll come with you," she said, "as long as you stay silent. Tell the same to Firestarter."

King brightened up. "Of course! We will be excellent walking companions."

Prism brushed by him, heading for the door. "Starting now," she said.

---

Firestarter was a fluffy eevee, and his feet were crusted with dried mud that he was futilely trying to wipe off on the doormat. Prism raised an eyebrow. "Have you been out already?" she asked.

"No," Firestarter said quickly. "Just the yard. I didn't break any rules."

"Of course you didn't," King said. "You are always excellent at following orders."

Prism snorted. "I thought I told you to stay silent."

"What?" said Firestarter.

King put a paw on the other eevee's mouth and turned to Prism. "Surely you only meant that we couldn't talk to you," he said, "and not that we couldn't talk to each other."

"Whatever." Prism whipped her tail back and forth. "Are we going?"

Firestarter darted into the kitchen, where Kyrie was, and barked rapidly. What Prism heard of Kyrie's response was, "What? Digital's not here to translate, you're gonna have to slow down."

"We should help him," King said. Prism sighed and followed him through the door.

Kyrie looked at the three of them. "You want to go out, huh, Prism?" they said with a smile. "Well, I'm glad you have King and Firestarter with you. Take care of each other, alright?"

"Of course," King said. Prism just nodded.

---

Having received Kyrie's approval, they went outside.

Prism took the lead, glancing back every so often to make sure King and Firestarter were following. They didn't complain, though Firestarter looked increasingly worried the farther into the woods they went. Prism huffed. Wasn't he the one who wanted to go out in the first place? She ignored him.

This far into the forest, the canopy was so dense she couldn't see the sun. Prism stopped and nodded. "I don't think I've been here before," she said out loud. "Have you?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk to you," Firestarter said.

"I'll allow it when I'm specifically asking a question." Prism looked behind her and paused. "Where's King?"

Firestarter said nothing.

Prism frowned. "I just said that if I ask you a question–"

A heavy weight slammed into her. Prism crashed on her side and couldn't get her feet underneath her before she was pinned down.

"Listen here," King said. "I require something from you."

Prism growled, squirming in an attempt to escape. "I require you to get off me!"

King laughed. "Do you think you have the power here?" he said. "Let me set the record straight. You are a nobody. If you went missing, everyone would assume you simply decided to leave, having had enough of the others who you never even speak to."

"Are you threatening my life?"

"No," King said, "I am merely saying that no one would miss you if you left."

Prism used all her strength to try and throw King off her, but despite him being a small eevee, Prism was smaller. She hissed and dug her claws into the dirt.

"What do you want from me?" she said.

King leaned closer. "What I want," he said, "is for you to listen carefully."

---

When the three returned, Prism went straight to her corner and curled up, facing the wall. Firestarter tried to approach her and was scared off by a growl.

Kyrie sighed. "Didn't have a good outing, huh?" they said. "Well, hopefully this Team Cyber nonsense will be done with soon, and we can all go out together."

Prism's ears twitched. She stayed silent. Kyrie shook their head and returned their attention to washing dishes.