The Mareep had scattered in clusters, fragments of a larger cloud hurled out over the grassland. Azalea jogged, or cantered, after Chirin, after galloping had caused her to trip on a fallen branch, roll onto her wound and burst it open again. She could run no faster than this. The last she'd seen of him he'd dashed off to the southwest--the direction he had said he was leading them. Except for the blood-smeared patch of grass where Coddy had been, the rest of the hillside and surrounding lands showed no obvious signs of mareep, but the wet-wool scent still lurked in the moist air and droppings still lay within the grass. Chirin had a point, she thought, about spirits and things. Even if she didn't believe it in the same way she thought she understood why he thought what he thought. She continued, poked in the left shoulder by burst blisters, smelling the last fringes of burnt wool around the wound. The smell instilled the urge to fight, electrocute, but she knew that was the last thing her hide could use right now. Azalea was following not Chirin anymore, but Calima. The nasty little nido had gunned off after him, running far faster than Azalea could. But Azalea wasn't about to stop. She let the fain ram taint that his wool had rubbed onto her please her nose as she tracked him down. Calima stumbled back and watched Chirin run off. Her eyes were shining with tears. "Bye Chirin..." she murmured. She heared Azeala trot up to her. But she didn't care. She just wanted Chirin back. She squealed and clung onto Azeala's wool (not the burnt side), crying. "Why did Chirin have to leave?" she sobbed. Azalea wrung her leg, shaking her off. "Hmm, I don't know, let me ponder that for a minute! Could it be because you made one attempt on his life, despite HIS risking his neck for you on several occasions, attracted various enemies to himself and our flock--wittingly or unwittingly--and, last but not least, rarely ever responded to anything he said to you? Now pardon me, I have a ram to catch." Azalea raced away not caring about her burns. She just wanted to catch Chirin--and get the stench of that nido off her. Calima sniffled as Azeala pushed her off. She squealed, darted past her, and raced after Chirin. "Shh, shh, it's okay," said Petunia, holding Selden. "Chirin will come back soon." At least she hoped he would. Oh why had she let Coddy provoke her? She just couldn't hear one more word of them blaming their troubles on Chirin. Well, they couldn't go back to the farm now, she thought, grazing while blocking Selden from the worst of the wind. At first, grazing in this new form had taken some getting used to, but she found that bending down on all fours allowed her spine to straighten out in a line. "Chirin, chirin," Selden bleated, refusing grass as he stood there bleating. ~ Razkel and Berry were currently heading back to the Lake, Razkel having decided he'd had enough of adventures and wanted to go back home to the Lake and hopefully find Twirl and the others. Berry plodded along at a steady pace while the Rattata clung to her back pointing out directions. "I'll be good to get back huh Berry?" The Rattata asked pointing out a path round some trees. "Hmmm" The Rhyhorn rumbled. It was at that point that Razkel realised Berry hadn't talked once yet since they'd met. "Hey Berry you gonna talk anytime soon? would be nice to have someone to have a conversation with" he asked, but Berry only sniffed in reply. Secretly the Ratatta figured that Berry was smart enough to talk, but just didn't. If that was how she liked it then fine. ~ The rhythm of his hooves loping over the grass gave him something to breathe to. He imagined them drumming down the dark, burying it. Like the ground could hold no more water, he could hold no more dark and badness, and it was overspilling him. Chirin slowed down, intermittently running and trotting. Thoughts of Selden, Azalea, all of them began to float back to him like distant tail-signals. Azalea whose tail, and words, had shone with a rich luster. Her thin face and nasal voice, with a way of hiding her light in her legs that always brought out the shine in his. He wished he had waited for her. Why hadn't she followed him? "Do not go Chirin..." Calima gasped. "I'll miss you too much! But... I think you should forget about me... I guess... Cinder is only after me..." Calima said, her eyes shining with tears as she looked at Chirin. Calima was catching up to him again, far away now. Chirin heard her calling. He already missed her and began to slow down, feeling each raindrop on him, driving into him the thought that this was his last chance to turn around. No. Calima was full of darkness, she held it inside her and attracted it from all sides. Staying with her would only bring those spirits of dark crawling back over him and into him. He had already tried to dispel it, he had tried and failed. There was nothing he could do for her, and allowing her to come with him would only carry a trail of those black cold creatures unseen...and seen. He remembered Cinder, Moonscar, the Vulpix... and the ekans. Calima's eerie giggle and red flash in her eyes. In her eyes a red light evil, on the forehead of his Mah-mah a red light good. Darkness often disguised itself as light. Monscar, as Cio. How long would it be before he himself fell prey to Cinder's demons from the inside out? Maybe someday when he gained the power he could help her--assuming that she decided to use those big ears and listen to him. How many times had he asked her something, said something and watched his words drift off unmet? Crying again, Chirin picked up to a gallop, forcing his burning lungs to pump harder. He dashed down into a stream, swollen and muddy from the storm, and splashed along in the shallow flow for a while. His cold-numb feet could no longer feel the difference between air and water. Calima watched Chirin go, and she squealed a cry that could be heard from far away. She sniffled and lay down. She wished it would all end right here. Was she full of evil? She had never belived what Chirin said bout spirits of good and bad... And now because of her Chirin was gone... She had to do something! But... Now she had lost Tok, Lunarix... And Chirin... And everyone thought she was a freak... A thing of the dark. "I AM A FREAK!! I AM THE CREATURE OF DARK!!" Calima screamed, then she burst into tears again. She had lost everything... She had no one... The copse opened up into more rainy grasslands. Chirin had slowed to a walk now. He was sniffing for enemies, checking behind him, his fears of Calima and the others fading...being replaced once more by the feeling of strange spirits watching him. On he walked under the misty sky, the rain a river in the air. It was beginning to thunder again and he instinctively searched the air with his ears, finding its current, listening to its conversation with him as he walked, attuned to it. With each step he was leaving behind a place full of dark...but also friends who needed him. What about them? What about his old family flock--the flock that was him? Time was widening between him and his family now. He no longer remembered them so freshly. Their souls, the souls of all his ancestors, seemed to be drifting away from him. Like they visited him less during his waking time, they didn't always visit him when he went to sleep either, anymore. Why? Were they giving up on him? Did they sense he was giving up on them? "Oh, Mama I wish I wasn't giving up. I don't want to give up, oh Mama." Why did he feel like he was falling from somewhere where he had always rested? "It's not fair!" He wheeled around, ramming the spirits of the air. He leaped in the rain and shot lightning up at the sky. "You left me!" Lightning answered. Angrily. "Oh yeah?" Chirin fired his strongest bolt up into the sky, directing it right at the cloud the ancestor had cast its *denki* from. "I'm not afraid of you!" His lungs panted in a clashing rhythm of sobs and heavy breathing, both of them warring with each other. Part of him wanting to cry like Watakko, part of him wanting to blow like her wind. He shot another bolt, just because he felt in in him, bouncing up and down his spine to get out. He fired a third. "Yes! I'm mad! Why don't you come back!" "Stop, Chirin. They couldn't help Burakuru stealing her away." Chirin broke down, lying down in the middle of the rainy field. He tucked his head on his forelegs. Hot tears ran from his chilled eyeballs. "I know, i know," he said to Crazy Light. "Thanks for the hug. "I just sometimes get so mad and so sad at the same time." "I know," said Crazy Lights. "That was a lot of darkness back there by the hill. We had to get away from it." "But I still feel worried. I miss Azalea too. And I miss Calima." "You know you can't go back to her. She's cursed by the *burakos*." "But it's not her fault." "It doesn't matter. You're so lucky you didn't get taken by Cinder too. You got away from them. Like you got away from the humans." "But why do I always get away?" He stood up. "Why do I always get away?" "I got away too." "I know," said Chirin, pretending to hug him again, although a tiny part of him said that some part of the hug was real. He sniffled. "Oh...I wasn't nice to my ancestors. I hit one of them. I'm so sorry," he said. "And I'm not giving up either. I'm still going to find you someday." "That's what I like to hear," said Crazy Lights. Chirin sniffed the air, and finding himself still safe, he nosed around to find a good spot to graze. The thing was, they were all good spots. The grass might be flattened with wetness, but it was delicious grass. Still, he didn't enjoy it much, cropping and swallowing it without stopping to savor it any. One mareep visible and carrying a coat heavy with water, one mareep almost beginning to form in the shimmer of raindrops, they grazed side by side, alone together. ~ "Sheesh," said Azalea, picking her way through the reeds along the bank of the stream where Chirin's track had vanished. Her hooves sank in the waterlogged soil and she remembered hearing something about this disease called "footrot" back at the farm. She couldn't recall if it had concerned them or the Miltanks. However, since her shoulder and flank were complaining far more than her chilly feet, she decided to concentrate on one ailment at a time, in descending order of the degree to which they interfered with her sense of physical well- being, from her burns all the way down to her nose, which had become runny, as it usually did when it was cold. It sure beat wondering if she would ever see that ram again. Up ahead light pricked through the trees. If she had any chance of finding him ever again, it was out there, in the open. Of course, there was always the option of calling him with her lightning. However, in this wilderness, she decided to reserve her use of lightning for emergencies, and would only signal for him with it as a last resort. Like the sun shining hazy through cloud cover, the orange0yellow tail bulb glowing just above the level of the grass showed through the rain, out in the distance, where sky and ground blurred together in the storm. The smell told her it was a ram, and she knew what ram. Azalea tucked her own tail under her and strode out, feeling the strange sensation of knowing she saw him, but he didn't see her. She wished she was a human being so she could have a camera, and take a picture of that tiny pinhole of light, gently resting over the misted green. Why had he run off without her? Had he clumped her ugliness and annoying habits with all the other negatives of the past few days? Should she even be approaching him? She kept on walking, his tail light above her blue, rain-glistening nose. She walked out into the beautiful picture she'd framed in her mind, feeling a sense of regret to have to tramp into it and dirty it all up. But Chirin was just one of those things that looked better the closer you got. He smelled better too. Ahh the scent of his wet wool. Azalea broke into a trot. "Chirin! Chirin--" She stopped, her tail whipping between her legs again as Chirin turned around. Thoughts of where he was headed now had begun to dawn on Chirin- chirin. He would have to consult his ancestors. Before he went anywhere else, though, he should go back for Azalea, he had to go back. At first he had thought there was no way he could face that flock-turned-dark again, but Azalea was the one point of light in it, or one of few. "The grass just doesn't taste the same when you're not eating it with me," he said softly. He didn't know why she hadn't followed him...he hoped it was just because he'd run too fast and lost her. Like with his family, it was the not-knowing that made it hurt, leaving him to guess at what they told him through the flickers of others' lights, in gusts of wind, in cloud shapes, in the patterns of the rain. When he looked around, hoping to see her as much as he was just checking for enemies, it was as if Crazy-Lights had said, Turn around. Because there she was. "Azalea? Azalea!" Laughter pierced the rain as two mareep ran at charging speed. They tumbled over each other in a woolly heap. "I thought you didn't follow me!" said Chirin, licking her ear. "Ah, silly, like I wouldn't be concerned about your encountering more troubles than you can handle out here? You'll get yourself killed alone. I don't know what it is with rams and traveling alone. Some male thing." Chirin laughed. Azalea broke away from their nuzzles first, and took up grazing. She opened her mouth to crop some grass but words began to come out instead. "I--ah, I, ah..." she began, with her mouth just over the ground. "Just a curious thought, ah I'm just attempting to pinpoint the reason...why didn't you wait for me?" Chirin's big ears sagged. "I'm sorry. I didn't think. At first I thought you didn't follow me and I was going to go back for you." "*Sure* you were." Azalea smiled. "Frankly I can't blame you for making a solo dash for it. They might have been on you in another second if you hadn't. You know they blamed you for turning Fluffy evil too?" "What happened to everyone? Are they okay?" "I suppose they are, although I can't say with certainty. They scattered after you ran. I believe the hill's been completely deserted. Selden's fine, though, I observed him with Petunia and Snapper." Chirin's tail strobed thoughtfully. "He's better off this way." "Look, Chirin, you can't blame yourself for this disaster. They became as superstitious are you--er, ah, but you're superstitious in a good way whilst they took up the negative aspect--" Chirin had to smile a little as she stumbled over her words. "...and as a result they allowed it to overtake their logical thought processes. In other words, you were an easy and obvious scapegoat." Chirin just nodded. "It would have been better if they'd just stayed on the farm." "You can't say that with certainty either. We followed you of our own accord, and if nothing else, well...I wouldn't change my decision even if I were offered the option of traveling backwards in time." "Really?" said Chirin. Her words brought back familiar thoughts of wanting to travel back in time himself and change a few things...but then he would have never met her. He wouldn't be here right now, smiling at her. "Well--for several reasons, of course," said Azalea. "Not the least of which was escaping the extreme boredom, alternating with victimization at the hooves of my flockmates." She quickly took up grazing for real now. "They didn't know what they were doing." Chirin joined her, letting himself swing back to tuning into the storm that still threw angry air and rain at them. The ancestors could tear trees from their roots. But they hadn't avoided being completely taken by surprise-- all of them--on that night back in summer. Maybe this was them showing their anguish. Yet, compassion too--for something, someone had to have led Azalea here. Either that or they had made him wait here. ~ Thyme walked on through the storm, continuing uphill. Her heavy wool weighed her down, her muscles ached, but she couldn't stop walking. The insistent questions rolled in her mind, turning over several times in a minute without surcease. She couldn't see anything around her because her soaked wool hung down over her eyes. The sound of her footsteps in the mud seemed to speak with each step. Mareep. Mareep. Mareep. Father and Mother told her that she was a mareep. Father and Mother told her to find other mareep. What did a mareep look like, anyway? She had never seen one. At least, she didn't think so. She knew that reflections were cast in some water, and she had seen bits and pieces here and there, but she had never paid much attention. She knew that she was white where they were green. When she was younger she though that maybe she would be green when she got older too. She knew that would never happen. The only green she had was in her eyes. Mareep. Green. Mareep. White. Mareep. Thyme stumbled and fell into the mud. She wasn't hurt, but the ground was sodden and unsteady from the rain. Maybe she would be better off staying here for now. She couldn't see anything. She had seen some cliffs once, through the trees. If she had circled aroyund to go up the mountains which led to those cliffs then she could walk off the edge and fall. She couldn't jump off a cliff. ~ Smells drifted to Chirin over the stronger concentration of rain and wet wool: rotting autumn leaves, standing water somewhere not far off, a whiff of Marowaks, even, somewhere very distant. It might even be the same tribe that had always terrorized his family flock-- Marowaks, spawn of Bangaa--against whom their only defense was running away, or calling rain (by way of the older pharamps) which usually took too long. The smell, however faint, inspired him to want to dash away, but it was old, anyhow, and far away, for it was gone as soon as it had come. At any rate no Marowak would be out in this weather. "I highly dislike that stench, whatever it is," said Azalea. "Marowaks," said Chirin, "but if they were here they're not here now." However, someone else was. The unmistakable light of a fellow mareep trailed the ghost of an image through the rain, an image of a mareep's body. "I suppose that's one of the scattered masses," said Azalea. "He or she appears alone at any rate." "Yes," said Chirin. "I guess everybody else is having a difficult time too now. I hope they're all right." He licked his apricorn shell for them. Looking out at the stranger, he gave his coat yet another shake, and began to saunter over. Two was not a safe number for mareep, however much he might enjoy Azalea's company, and one was even less safe. The smell had only served to remind him of what kinds of creatures lurked in these copses and hills. "Let's see if they want to join us, it'll be safer for us and them." "You have a point," said Azalea, picking up to follow. "However that is entirely dependent on who it turns out to be. I for one don't want everybody back in the group." Chirin certainly didn't either, but he was not just going to stand here chewing cud while someone was wandering in search of help and company. "Meriiipu?" he called, giving a zap from his tail. He kept his eyes on the light of the third mareep, who gradually came into focus as the rainy air between them shrank with each squishy step. "Phos, through the mighty wind of your mate's children, please let me know I'm doing the smart thing. Chenja, Lararu, Mama," he added, quietly so only he heard their names uttered, "please speak to me through the wind spirits, give them a message to give me." ~ "Come and rest," said Petunia, leading Selden back into the now- abandoned burrow. Devoid of light and the warmth of bodies, it was now a cold and scary place. She and Selden lay resting in the mouth of the hole, chewing cud. It looked like they were the only ones here now. She had shone her light on the hill, even sent up a flash, but no one had come. Selden lay awake in the curl of Petunia's body, warmed by her, feeling the faint buzzes and tingles she emitted while she slept. It made their wool rise as if startled, then fall again. Selden had seen where Chirin had gone. He missed him. It was time to go get him. Selden crawled out of Petunia's embrace and straightened up. The rain fell halfheartedly, resting after a recent bout of more high winds. He had always spent storms like this safe in the barn. He started down the hill, sliding the last few yards down to more level ground. He bleated quietly as he got his footing back. Selden took one last look at the weak blue light inside the dark burrow, like a giant black eye in the hill. He turned to the southwest where he had seen Chirin run, and began to run, too. "Chirin, I get Chirin," he said, his voice bumping uneven with the impact of his running hooves. "Chirin-chirin-chirin!" "Wait!" A faint voice called from behind Selden, growing stronger "Wait for me Selden!" It was none other than Ivy, running behind the small lamb. ~ As he and Azalea headed towards the stranger, unsure if the stranger had seen them yet, Chirin heard a small, young voice call from far behind him. "Chirin!" Chirin reared up, whirling around. "Selden?" "Selden?" Azalea echoed. She was actually the one who took off first. Chirin followed, looking everywhere for a smudge of white cottony wool bobbing towards them. But none came. Then, from a sink in the midst of some bushes, a second squealing bleat followed the first. "Selden!" Breathless, Chirin parted the bushes to find the lamb in the middle of a mud puddle, his face open with crying. "How did you get here? Come on, let's get you out of that puddle..." He wagged his tail for Selden to come up out of the water in which he stood belly-deep, but he didn't move. "I believe he is somehow obstructed," said Azalea as Chirin stepped into the puddle. The mud grabbed his foot like a sucking mouth, and he darted back, yanked by instinct. "Oh, Selden..." Chirin trailed off, watching as the rain-stirred puddle began to lap over the lamb's back in the wind. "We'll get you out of there, we will. Phos and Watakko. Uh...Azalea?" Azalea was jumping up at one of the bushes, trying to haul down a clump of honeysuckle vines. "We'll utilize these to construct a makeshift rope! Similar to the maneuver used to extricate you from the pit," said the ewe as Chirin joined her efforts. "Don't worry Selden, we're going to have you out of here faster than Denrai's lightning," said Chirin. "I hear another familiar voice approaching," said Azalea as Chirin, unable to figure out exactly how Azalea was weaving the vines together, turned his head towards the copse he, and Azalea and now Selden, had tramped through. "I'll handle this job, you attend to our next visitor and perhaps inform her of our situation here! We need all the help we can acquire!" Chirin was already running out to meet the other mareep, tail flashing in alarm. "Meriipu?" Ivy stopped, panting for air for a moment. She probably needed more exercise... "H-hi...Chirin..." She smiled "I see I did mange to catch up to you after all..." "Selden's sinking! The mud puddle is eating him!" Chirin cried. "We need your help! We're trying to get the vines to help us pull him out! Come with me, I have to get back and help him!" * * * "It's okay, Selden, it's okay, Chirin's coming right back," said Azalea, trying to wrestle the wet weave of vines aorund Selden as the lamb bleated, tossing his head to avoid the vines. "Mereeeep!" cried Azalea, as her back legs, in the puddle next to Selden, felt the mud climbing up them. Bucking violently, she yanked them out, stepping to the side to try the vines again. "Ah, this isn't working, the mud's pull is simply too powerful! This demands the use of old-fashioned brute force." She held her breath, butted her head under Selden's belly and strained upwards, trying to wrest him out of the puddle's greedy grip. As the mud began to give way she felt a few of her blisters burst open. Ivy felt herself wince mentally. Mud...? Oh well... With a smile, she nodded "Alright Chirin, lead the way then." Chirin flashed her a returning smile, and with a flick of his tail for her to follow, dashed back for the saddle of muddy water in the sink between hills. "Azalea!" he cried, seeing only the ewe's tail showing. Then Azalea's head thrust up from the mud, inhaling with a loud gasp. "The vines are too fragile to function as rope! I've been attempting to haul him out!" she said as Chirin ran into the mud. Following her lead, he took a deep breath, dunked his head and heaved his shoulders up underneath Selden's body, in a tug of war between himself abd the mud that did not want to let go. Please, puddle please, he sent in thought, trying to assuage its greed as he came up for a breath, and ducked again for a second push. "Mahhh! Mahhhh," Selden bleated the whole time. "Uh!" Chirin released the air from his lungs and it bubbled in his face as he and Azalea, with Ivy's help, gave Selden a final heave. The three mareep uprooted the stuck lamb and Chirin fell forward. Scrambling up he lifted his wet mudstreaked face into the air, washed by rain as he caught his breath. He and the two ewes dragged Selden the rest of the way out. Selden lay on his side, panting as he looked up at Chirin. Chirin licked the lamb's chilled cheek, throwing him a spark or two for warmth. "Thank you Mother Megga," he said between licks. "That we got you out. The spirits are generous and helpful." "So are your friends," said Azalea. Chirin smiled. "Oh, I meant that the spirits helped all four of us fight the mud puddle. Not just me. I could feel them helping." Azalea winced as she inspected her re-opened burn wound. It was bleeding. "They could've spared a little more assistance, in my opinion. But we did succeed. Selden, may I ask, what brings you to this, ah neck of the woods?" "Chirin," said Selden, as Chirin licked the wool out of his face. He was smiling as if he couldn't even remember having been stuck in the mud only moments ago. "I found you Chirin." "You sure did." Chirin wondered if it was the best idea to keep him with them, but if Ivy was staying too, they would make four, which was a safe enough number. There was really nowhere else for Selden to go now, and looking into the young lamb's twinkling, adoring brown eyes, he would never have told him he couldn't stay. "Welcome to our new flock," he said. "New, because we are rising up out of the dark. Watakko called her wind and the ancestors dropped their lightning and rain, all to wash away the old dark spirits and drive them off. We're going to stay together." Ivy smiled "Exactly what I was hoping for really.." A silent chuckle escaped as she realised she was covered in mud...the one thing she'd hoped would never happen. "Yes, me too!" said Chirin, "I'm going to have a graze down that way, Azalea and me were over there before and it's really good. Come on everybody!" He took off, then slowed down when he saw Azalea appeared to be having trouble. The smell of blood took the shine off his new cheer; a warning from wise spirits to be careful and check for enemies constantly until it healed. Chirin headed down toward where he'd first seen that other stranger. There was no sign of her now, but he smelled signs of a ewe that way, the ghost of a scent that the rain had not yet trampled. As he dug into the grass again he kept lifting his head between bites, looking, listening, sniffing. He wanted to play Denrai now that they were all together, but Selden, trotting after Chirin and beginning to feed at his side, was clearly tired and Azalea also looked the worse for wear. Tonight he would make extra efforts to speed their healing. * * * Azalea eyed Ivy suspiciously, casting her a look she hoped was neutral enough as she loped after Chirin. The pretty ewe, who managed to look sickeningly attractive even when plastered with mud, sure seemed to have experienced an attitudinal shift. If there were such a word as attitudinal. Chirin led the way, although they went of their accord more than followed him, up onto a slight rise, less than a hill but the highest ground around. He sat on the wet grass, which up here was free of standing water, and ruminated. Azalea plopped down beside him. The wool was beginning to grow back around the big wounds, but her shoulder and some of her side would likely not grow hair again. Still, her contently chewing face made him smile and take heart. The happy spirits had stroked her too. Into his head popped a thought suggesting a story, but he would wait till the others haad settled down to join them. "I ah apologize for reeking of blood and other unsavory bodily fluids," said Azalea. "These blisters have been less than cooperative." Azalea watched as Ivy sat herself down on the other side of Chirin. Considering for a moment, Ivy commented "I think there's a kind of berry that can help...since I'm guessing those are burns." She chewed her cud thoughtfully "I remember my mother telling me about all the different kinds vaguely. Unless you've taken them already, then.." Again, Azalea did a mental double take at Ivy's sudden kindness. Yes, something was definitely up. It was more than likely the change in politics. After all, she, Chirin and Selden were the rest of the flock now, and Ivy was no longer under the intense peer pressure that had existed back at the farm. "Unfortunately we made several searches and found nothing available beyond common healing berries. They assisted with the initial healing process but beyond that, left my system to pull its weight through the rest of recuperation. I would estimate that after another several days the skin will have healed sufficiently for my previous quality of life to resume, at least to the extent that I can rest without worrying about whether I roll over onto my 'bad' side in my sleep. As for the scarring...an Arcanine's fire temperatures are not particularly forgiving, not even on Mareep flesh, which is somewhat resistent to heat, owing to our species' liberal use of electrical power." She blinked her tail as a demonstration. Chirin blinked his back. "Isn't she great with words?" Azalea's blinking tail somehow got itself tucked behind her as the ewe looked away. "Ah, now Chirin, I wouldn't venture as far as to say...at any rate you've got a gift with words that far outmeasures my simple verbosity. I'm speaking of your storytelling ability." "Aw, thank you." Chirin felt himself blushing too. "You know, I love stories, and I like to tell them too but I'm not like my grandmother was. She was a really good storyteller. So was my great-grandmother." He chewed a little sadly. "Where did you live?" said Azalea. "I lived with my flock way west of here, down where the big rocks live. Pharos is the leader of the rocks. The big one that the water touches. We used to--climb on Pharos, up into the little arch and shine our lights to chase the dark shadows out beyond the sea. Sometimes you could look down in the water at night...and you would see lights." Those were Lanturns, some of whom were the souls of drowned Ampharos reborn. Others, were just like the Ampharos themselves--born of a bolt of lightning, only one that struck the water, not the land. "We would dance up there...I remember..." Beginning to cry, he put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm sorry," said Azalea. ~ Thyme looked up -- or tried to - but with the sodden wool hanging in her eyes, she couldn't see who was their. She heard the thunder, and felt it echo from her tail. The odd tingle must come from the storm. "Riii?" she asked. Was there someone there? She thought she heard . . . The faraway call picked Chirin's head up. "It's her again!" He got up and turned around, staring out at the stranger's distant light. "The one who I keep seeing." "I believe you're correct," said Azalea. "Wait here," he said, wanting Azalea to concentrate on healing and not go running around. Her blisters seemed to have stopped oozing again but too much movement would reopen them. "Nonsense, who am I to let you wander into danger alone?" Azalea got up after him. Chirin stopped, concerned for this ewe who never seemed to want to take good care of herself and her body. "Just stay here. I don't want you hurting that wound. Your body needs to heal." He nuzzled her, and, seeming mollified, she lay down again, grumbling something about pesky blisters. Ivy had a point, he thought as he broke into a run, heading straight for the other mareep. Azalea needed berries that just didn't seem to grow in these parts. Well, as good as the grass was around here it was bound to get even better further out, plus he wanted to keep traveling for some reason. This place was friendly enough, but lacked much variety--for one thing, in the way of healing berries. And it was still too close to the pond and other places that dodged Phos's Light. "Meriipu!" He kept blinking his eyes as he ran to clear the rain from them. "Reep, reep, reepu." It was a mareep indeed, by her smell the same ewe he and Fluffy had searched for in the bushes, and she was not one of the farm flock. She lacked their 'improved' wool, and instead it was coarser, like his, and those of the old flocks he had once known. Not wanting to scare her away, he slowed to a trot, holding his tail high and blinking it to show he was friendly. As he neared her he saw that she had something he had never seen in one of the Denryuu--green eyes. Azalea watched Chirin out there while chewing with some degree of apprehension. Who was that other ewe...and why had she been following them around lately--seeming to always catch Chirin's eyes, nose or ears? Her legs filled with the urge to bolt up after them, but were tempered by knowing Chirin was right, and her scarring would only worsen if she kept busting these blisters open. That had to be the only reason he'd told her not to accompany him. It had to be. She bit her tongue by accident with the fervor of her chewing, remembering the sight she must look like... feeling like a huge lump of blisters festering as she watched Chirin greet the other ewe. "Chirin, Chirin! I'm coming!" Selden leaped up, as if he hadn't spent plenty of quality time bogged down in a mud puddle, and bounded after Chirin. "No, stop, don't go," said Azalea, still chewing, watching him catch the other ram up. Azalea couldn't stand it. First she'd tried to ask Chirin to tell them a story (she was dying to find out more of the strange mytholigies and beliefs he had in his head; she still knew next to nothing on it) and had ended up making him sad. Then, just when he had begun to stop crying, a strange ewe interrupted things yet again. Standing up with care not to aggravate her injury, she took off at a gentle trot through the rain, and slowed down when she neared them, sauntering over at a slight angle to try to hide her burns, though she knew the best she could hope for was to merely hide the worst of it. "*Maripu*, light-sister," Chirin was saying when Azalea arrived beside him. The stranger was as pretty as Azalea had feared. Well, if Chirin turned out to like her better... that was only to be expected, and probably for the best. "Hi, Chirin," said Azalea, trying to be chipper. She half expected him to ask what she was doing here, but he didn't; apparently he figured he couldn't tell her what to do. She turned to the strange ewe, who was as good as part of their flock already, she could tell, and tried very hard not to dislike her. "Ah...hi. And...ah whom might you be?" Azalea forced her mouth into a genuine-looking smile. Chirin wasn't surprised to see she'd come. Why did she always seem to feel like she had to? He realized there were many things he didn't understand about her... in fact he knew almost nothing about her, really. He saw something and gave a little tail flick. "What?" whispered Azalea. "You have a piece of grass stuck between your teeth." Azalea's tongue felt along the front teeth of her bottom jaw. There was something he liked about the way it licked. "Did I get it?" "No..." "Did I get it now?" "Almost." "Sheesh." She continued trying to push it out. "Ah, I think it's out now, am I correct?" He giggled. "No." Azalea blew a sigh. She bent her head down and picked at it with her hoof, looked back up and pushed it with her tongue. "Now?" "Yeah...uh...yeah." Actually, it was only almost gone. "No it's not." "Sure it is, it's good enough." "No it isn't, I can tell from your voice." They both giggled. "Whatever," said Azalea. "As if I need to be worrying about a blade of grass stuck between my teeth with these burns. I do amaze myself with my idiosyncrasies." "You amaze me too." Her gaze wandering upwards, Azalea licked and picked at her front teeth, trying to coax out the soggy blade of grass. "Ah, I feel it now. Tricky little nuisance." "Some things are that way," said Chirin. "They're full of mischief, they like to play tricks on you. Especially little things. That blade of grass was touched by a Pia." "Ah...pardon my ignorance, but what's a Pia? It sounds most interesting." Azalea glanced at the stranger, who still stood some distance away and seemed shy. Chirin waved his tail, blinking in agreement. "A Pia is a forest creature of magic and mischief. They look like Pikachus with antlers on their heads. Sometimes they change into Stantlers, but you know if it's a Pia and not a real Stantler if you see certain things. One of them is if it looks yellowish. Also they're usually smaller than a real Stantler. And they always feel electric--a stronger *denki* than a real Stantler. And even if they change all the way into a Pikachu they still have pricky little button horns. They move really fast. And they love to play tricks on you." He giggled. "Like that blade of grass. I'm pretty sure a Pia licked that blade of grass before you ate it." ~ The young mareep wandered through the forest, finally, reaching a field. She was soaking wet. She shoot herself, sending sparkling water droplets in all directions. She at last spotted a place to rest. She dashed over, and crawled under the tree. There was a gap in the roots just big enough for her to sleep in comfortably. Chirin noticed the green-eyed ewe backing away, and regretted having run to her so suddenly. She must be shy. But there...in the forest...another mareep's light winked to his gaze. The area must be full of refugees after what had happened to the flock. That and he knew well that these lands were full of his kind. "I'm--we're sorry for intruding, light-sister," he said to the green- eyed ewe. "I have to go see who that is down the way, so if you'd like to join our flock we're just up on that low hill." His tail pointed backwards. "I understand if you don't want to join us right away--but I promise, we're all very friendly." He giggled, wiggling his ears. "In fact, tonight I'd like to tell a story for everyone joining us. Well, enjoy the grass--it's sure delicious. You're free to go over to the hill and graze with us up there. We'll be going back there soon. Phos's light to you, maripu." "I can relate to her caution," said Azalea, following Chirin towards the edge of the small copse as Selden capered at his heels. "Not all flocks are open and friendly. I wonder who that is down there? I suppose there are many possibilities." "Yeah. I don't want anyone to have to spend the night alone. I spent nights alone. I know how it feels." The copse itself was but a ghost in the rain, but in the gradually dimming clouds, the distant light showed up all the brighter. Chirin followed it. "Hmm," he said, trotting along in the cool wet and almost enjoying the squish, squish, splash, splash of his feet. He found a pleasure in it if he warmed himself up with sparks, and didn't concentrate on how cold it was. "I have an idea," said Chirin as he drew nearer. "Three of us coming right up might scare one mareep alone. We don't know if that one's from the flock at all. After all that other ewe isn't." He stopped where he was, close enough to be easily seen by the stranger, and decided to introduce himself as if to a newcomer. Before he called out he licked his apricorn shell, brushed his nose against the grass and silently asked that the grass, trees and any others nearby be friendly. His light brightened, attracting light unseen and making himself more obvious to the mareep within the copse. "Meriipu! Mereee! I am Chirin of the flock of Pharos." He paused, flashing his tail. He smelled a ewe, one he didn't know. She smelled unlike those from the farm and clearly had no relation to them. "Friend of light, are you alone?" Karama peeked out of the small area and saw a ram outside. "Pharos?" Karama asked, shaking herself again. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to get you wet. What is your name, ram? I am Karama, from the flock of Phos and Wattako. You, from the flock of Pharos, yes?" Chirin paused, striding up to meet her while the smaller Azalea, who must know she still smelled of blood and burns, lingered back with Selden. He smiled when she shook droplets on him--"Don't worry, the rain got me wetter than this already!" He had said his name, but the poor ewe looked a little flustered. He had never heard of her flock, but it sounded...powerful. She also sounded like she knew of his flock. A hope flickered up...but no, he knew they were gone. But all the same he felt suddenly closer to her. The spirits of his ancestors lived in her too, for they touched her memory. He put his happy light back on. "I'm Chirin," he said. "Yes, I'm from the flock of Pharos. I don't know of your flock, but I guess...you might not know what happened to mine. Humans, or something, took them away. They're of the other world now," he said softly. "I got away, I don't know how. I'm sorry to tell you. The ancient Lights be with them." His own voice sounded to him like someone else's: the voice of an older, sadder ram. He would never have thought those words would ever come from his mouth. He felt tears oozing out but ignored them, hoping they blended with the rain. Karama saw a few other mareep, and there was a faint smell of nidoran coming from the ram. "You met a nidoran yes? I smell it from your wool, I do," she said. Chirin hadn't noticed the smell, but he'd been with Calima so long he wasn't surprised. "Yes... a dark, troubled Nidoran. She had light on her outside--she was all white--but terrible dark on the inside. I hated to leave her, but her dark was possessing her and leaping out to possess others one by one. I tried to fight it but it was too strong for me and it kept getting stronger. So I had to run. Maybe someday I'll be able to fight it, but not for a long time." He looked down. He still felt bad about having left her. But as he looked down he noticed Azalea coming up beside him. "Oh--this is my friend, Azalea. And this is my other friend, Selden!" he said as Selden ran up on his other side. "We're part of a small flock who's staying up on that low swell," he said, waving his tail out towards the darkening field. "We'd love to have you join us. Then there'll be five of us, and a stronger light! Do you want to come?" Karama thought about this for a while. This was quite a handsome ram. And he seemed nice, maybe the other mareep were nice too. Azalea watched the other ewe closely, already sizing her up. She was slightly younger than herself and Chirin, but of course much prettier than Azalea. It wasn't hard to be. And she knew the look that passed from the other's eyes to Chirin...she was looking him over and liking what she saw. "Yes Chirin, I would like to join your flock. And hello to you Azeala. My, that is a lovely name if I do say so myself," Karama said. "Why thank you, and pleased to make your acquaintance." She put on the smile that she'd given the green-eyed ewe. "I was probably named for the azalea specimens lining the flowerbeds in front of the farmhouse. I spied them once when the farmer's daughter gave me a walking tour as a young lamb. They're quite colorful--definitely a wise landscaping decision on the part of the farmer and/or his wife." She paused, rolling her cud to the other side of her mouth. "Your name is ah interesting." "Chirin, I know of many different pokemon gods. Dendeona and Dendeono are the nido god and goddess. Ikamolo is the god of the chars, and Larvermota, is the god for the eevee and eons. And so on. My flock knew of many gods and goddesses. The humans have gods to, Jesus, and God. We were a wild flock, but we hear and learn many things. I am sure that my flock is waiting for me. I was only a newborn when taken from my mother and father by humans. They did experaments on me. That is one reason why my wool is silver. And also, my father was a shiny ampharos, my mother was not. I am half shiny pokemon. They are pokemon of a different colour that shine!" Chirin's mouth hung open. That word again, god. What was a god, anyway? He wanted to ask the question, but if she wanted to join the flock there would be time later on, when things got more comfortable. Right now she was still a stranger and he felt that such a question would intrude too much. And there were bigger questions and concerns that her words had churned up inside his head. "Humans took you away right after you were born? That's terrible. What do you mean, they did experiments on you? And...have you seen your flock since you left the humans? How are they, and where do they live?" He assumed she had been with her flock for some stretch of time to know about all those...gods, and things, and shining pokemon. "Humans are terrible. How did you get away from them? But you know, I'm sure glad you did!" Chirin moved forward and sniffed Katama's nose, learning her scent, and wiggling his ears to sense her electric current. Now they had learned each other's names, the friendly spirits were nestled with them, rubbing their wool and letting Chirin know that all was well here. The strangers circled each other, learning the patterns of the other's lights, their sizes, smells, and gaits, sizing each other up in body and *denki*. Chirin felt them clearing out all lingering shadows as they all learned where they stood. Katama was now a part of a bigger body, the being that was the flock. "*Merra, reep*." Chirin sparked his tail and trotted out towards the hill, where Ivy's light kept a beacon, the rain illuminated around it. He looked back behind him, his eyes following their lights in the waning day to make sure no one was falling behind. "Katama silver!" said Selden. The little lamb smiled up at her. "Katama come to hill." Karama lookeda at Chirin and said, "Experamints are whre humans take... anything and do tests on it. It hurts sometimes. Before I escaped, they gave me a shot, where they put a sharp thorn with stuff in it, in your skin so the stuff comes out into your body. That is why my wool shines more then it did when I was with my family." Thyme took several moments to respond. Light-sister? Was that the name of the ewe who had just spoekn to her? Light sister and Chirin. Maripu? Were these also mareep, like she was -- like Mom and Dad told her that she was? She had not been searching for so long, though it seemed as if she had been forever walking through endless rainstorms. It took her several moments to find her voice. If Light Sister's expression was any indication, perhaps she would not be so welcome among them as Mom and Dad thought. "Reep," was all she could think of to say. Chirin reached the low rise in the grass, and sniffed noses with Ivy as the others followed. He saw the green-eyed ewe out there again, all alone in the rain, so shy and afraid. Where had she come from? For that matter, Karama's origins seemed equally mysterious, especially after what she had said about the humans sticking enchanted thorns in her. They enchanted apricorns, so thorns would be easy too, he reasoned. "Well, we're all here now, and much safer," he said. "I'm going back over to that other ewe, I'm worried about her. She all alone, and just because you don't smell enemies doesn't mean they're not there." The lack of enemies--in fact the lack of almost any other pokemon, was all because of the angry weather. The only thing he smelled was a whiff of Tauros, from somewhere beyond the rain-shrouded west horizon. Yet that ewe was feeding not far from a copse and copses were a favorite hiding place of hunters. With Phos fast disappearing, Persians were uncurling from sleep. Even Chirin did not fancy a trip out there alone. "Come on, Azalea. We'll be right back," he said to the others." "Me come too!" said Selden, and in the end Chirin let him tag along. The lamb was as safe with them as he would be staying behind, Azalea reasoned to him. "Meriipu!" he called again to the green-eyed ewe. Azalea trailed Chirin, knowing it was inevitable that such a handsome ram--who big ears only added to his charm--would attract the attention of pretty females. Why did he stay with her, why did he still talk to her? Was he only killing time with her while he made his choice? That didn't seem like him. Yet she couldn't trust the idea that he...liked her, when she was so gross, so un-ewe-like. She hated herself more for the cloud of jealousy that buzzed between her ears and rose sparking on her wool as Chirin met those green eyes again. She tried to squelch it, tucking her tail between her legs to hide that darn light. She perked her ears up. She smiled. Chirin strode forward, feeding his way towards her this time. "Jump! Jump!" Selden cavorted in the rain, running over to the ewe, then dashing back detween Chirin and Azalea. "I jump!" Chirin broke into giggles. So did Azalea. "So much for pretense and formality," said Azalea. "Aw, Selden has the right idea." Selden smiled at them, not knowing what was so funny but happy to laugh along. "Hello, light-sister," said Chirin to the ewe, "we just came over here to see how you are. Selden's so full of energy. Oh yes, that's Selden, and this is Azalea. We're really only a small little flock-- there's just five of us. It's getting kind of dark--and you looked so lonely out here. You come with us, and we can, well, all be together." "Jump! Jump!" Selden leaped up, trying to do a twist in midair. "Jump!" Karama looked at Seldona nd burst out laughing. "He's... so... cute!" She gasped. (15806)