Snapping off a long reed leaf and pulling it into his mouth with lips and tongue, Chirin stepped backwards out of the reeds he had been combing through in search of tasty greens. Calima peeked through a bush and saw someting that made her heart skip a beet...A flaaffy... Calima slowly walked towards the flaaffy. "Err...Hello there...Err...Have you seen a mareep by the name of Chirin-Chirin? Err...That is...if he is alright..." Calima said, looking at the ground and letting a few tears drop onto the ground. "Oh! So sorry...I am Calima. What might be your name?" He knew the voice easily, though it was a little lower and rounded into maturity. But it had also lost the spring it had once had, and he knew even before he turned to look at her, that that was not from her having grown. There was a light inside that had flickered out. A thin nidorina stood between bushes just up the beach. Wounds and dirt stood out easily on her white body. Her fur was bedraggled. Any fear, any reluctance to face Calima again just slid away like water off Slink's back. A spark ran up from his tail and jumped to his waist before fizzing out. "Oh...Calima..." She had fallen hard from the sprightly hopping young nidoran doe he had met all that time ago and play with in this very lake. What had she been through? What had she encountered? "Calima it's me, Chirin! It's been so long...I'm so sorry!" Chirin broke into a sprint up the beach. He stopped just short of hugging her, instead circling her and sniffing her, but only briefly. Then he hugged her. "Oh Calima, are you okay. You...Something has happened to you, what?" He pulled back, then hugged her again. "Oh, but I'm just so glad to see you again." He sobbed into her soiled fur. "Thank the spirit of the lake, for it brought our light-paths back together." He would help Calima, he thought as his arms wrapped her tight around the shoulders. He would help her to rekindle the spark she'd once had...and quench that dark spirit. Daylight, wind and butterfrees would dance around her again. "It's going to be okay...I'm so sorry I left you..." He looked back down at Mecha, Slink and Selden. Selden was loping up the beach with his tail light blinking. He halted short of them, his tail's happy blink now growing into an uncertain, flashing flicker. Mecha was surprised at the larger Pokemon in place of Calima that acutally WAS Calima! Wow! Chirin opened up the hug, taking one arm away. "It's okay. Calima's back--this is Calima, do you remember Calima? She evolved..." Selden's face remained blank. "You don't remember? Well, by Mother Megga, you were a tiny lamb when we left." He wiped a tear. "The spirits have blessed this day with light. Calima...Mecha's here too! And I have a new friend named Slink, I have to go down the beach again and see how he is." He didn't want Slink to leave yet, not if his siblings were just waiting there in the water to torment him. Chirin gave her a last squeezing hug and parted with her finally, heading back down the beach. "Come on...We're all friends now and you're welcome with me." Selden, still wary, waited until Chirin passed him before falling back in beside him, capering at the flaaffy ram's heels. Mecha grinned at Calima "You evolved too! Into a...umm.." Mecha chuckled "Well, I was never too good at naming speicies...but..." Chirin looked at Calima and saw how weary she really was. Like she had traveled much longer and farther than Chirin had, and gone somewhere...and not come back quite all the way. "She's a nidorina," said Chirin. "So, we both evolved and touched lights again." He touched her back. "The grass that whispered to us, the waters that laughed to us, the breezes that stroked us, all speaking to us to come some day and some way to this place again, were loving." "Ohh.." Mecha said. A Nidorina? Well, it made sense...Nidoran to Nidorina. It had not been chance. In Chirin's mind there was no such thing as chance. The dead had arranged for them to meet. Looking in her eyes he thought he saw a new glint twinkle into them, a twinkle that caused his ears to flicker in uncertainty. He looked back at Slink and smiled. Settling down, Mecha watched the happy scene contently Selden butted in between Calima and Chirin, nuzzling Chirin's side. Chirin grinned at him. "Let's run to the beach!" He had almost taken off when he looked back at Calima, who didn't look up to running. "But...maybe not. I'm sorry, Calima, if you're okay, let's get down to the lake. There's some tasty plants there, you can eat and nourish yourself." He nuzzled her ear. "You poor thing. You look like you haven't been eating enough. Let's get down to the beach, and then you can tell me everything that...that you did while we were away from each other." Selden, seeing that Chirin was still with Calima, trotted back up. He walked in between Calima and Chirin as they all made their way down to the beach again. Ledians seemed to buzz round Chirin's head and he breathed deeply of the spirit-laden air. So much had the spirits rushed in and around him and his friends today! They dances unseen in the sky above him and the ground around him, a carpet and ceiling of unseens, unheards, unowns. Their presence was powerful right now. Chirin let his hand brush on the stantler antler as he walked. He wanted to know how to cast shells and pebbles and read the future. He had read clouds and done things that were like castings, but only Lararu and Chenja had known how to really cast. Chirin might never learn how unless he either found another ampharos in a flock out there who could teach him, or if the spirits themselves showed him how. He made a note to ask them about it the next time he slept. "Slink..." Chirin splashed shortly into the water, seeing the troubled look on the seel's face. "My siblings," said the big trembling water pokemon. And he pointed a flipper out at the water, where two dewgongs were leaping and diving, bouncing in and out of the water towards them. Mecha looked out towards the water, frowning "Again? Didn't they just try that?" He stood up, wondering what they were planning on trying this time. But whatever the case... "Slink, do you want me to see if I can talk to them for you? Or something like that? To keep them from dragging anyone in or anything this time around?" "All you can do...is stay out of the water..." said Slink. "Oh, no..." One dewgong, the bigger one, poked her head out of the water not far out from them. "We almost went to play with those bonehead folks!" The other dewgong popped up next to her. "Caught on an iceberg, poor old blokes!" "We'd much rather Play with you all!" "Here we come, let's have a ball!" "Oh, no, not again," said Chirin. "Light of Phos, light of love..." He flung out his arms. "Please see...that your way of playing hurts those who are close to you!" Both dewgongs burst out laughing. "Oh save me from your spirit things!" said Slappy, the bigger dewgong. "Bells in your bonnet, ring ring ring!" said Happy, pointing at Chirin. "It's not 'bell', it's 'beedrill,'" said Slappy. "Why are you being such a pill?" said Happy. Chirin giggled. "You always rhyme. I love hearing you talk. You should sing songs together." "i'd rather play with Slink than sit here and sing!" Slappy drifted closer in the water. "Beedrill in the bonnet, ring ring ring!" "Beedrills don't ring!" "Oh, sorry, they sting!" Chirin laughed some more, feeling it bubble up in him and squeeze his sides. But then they swam closer still. Chirin rushed into the water, trying to help Slink get out. He saw the desperation in Slink's eyes--and bewilderment, as if he was surprised that they wanted to help him. "Come on...Let's get you out, then if they try to hurt anyone..." He didn't want to shock them, not even just to give them a warning sting, but if it was the only way to protect Slink from much worse abuse... Mecha pondered a way to distract the pair of Dewgong siblings...and came up with one idea. Might or might not help, but... "Chirin, I'm going to try something." Mecha said as he took off. When airbourne, he called out "Silly Dewgongs, always speaking in rhyme. Why not try doing something else with your time? Try other fun games without splashing, slapping and drowning, why not try something like urr..." Looking for a rhyme, he popped in "Just plain swimming, jumping, and other things, even floundering!" Not that he knew what floundering was...was that a word? Chirin stopped pushing at Slink, turning on Mecha with a magic smile and twinkling eyes. He didn't realize Mecha's true intentions. Sing a song with them--what a fun game! Chirin hadn't done it since he was almost too tiny to even think of songs. "Floundering floundering Dip and swirl Dewgongs dive in the water and twirl!" Slappy cut in, beaming a shard of ice towards Chirin. It hit the water inches from him and Slink. "How dare you make light of our talk!" "We'll have our fun till you're too beat to walk!" Chirin suddenly realized what it was that Mecha was doing. He got the feeling he got when he played blow-the-cotton, trying to keep the piece of fluff in the air with puffs from one's lungs. "Spear us not with daggers of ice! All we want is for you to play nice! Why beat down on one of your own When you can bring light to this great lake-home?" "Cut it out with your talk of light!" snapped Slappy, swimming closer. "You're driving us into a fearful fright!" said Happy, swimming up next to her. They both advanced on Chirin and Slink. Chirin backed up against Slink, trying to push him up onto the shore. "Slink, try to wiggle or something..." He wondered if there were any berries or anything nearby, but remembered they were gone and eaten now. Their season was past. Slink needed rest, and also the knowledge that he was safe and secure. However had his siblings gotten like this? What possessed them? "All I beg of you is a day of sun All I beg of you is a day of peace All I dream of now is a place where we can swim free, and dance free... All I beg of you is to let your brother breathe All I ask you now is to love him, or leave Don't turn your slappy fins hitting on his face How do you think he feels? Don't you taste a sour taste..." Mecha soared overhead, and continued on "Being cruel to those close to you And yes, I mean Slink, yes I do... Try to think how you would feel. Being slapped in the face as if his feelings weren't real. You're siblings, through and through... So just try to be nice why don't you!" Chirin let Mecha take over with the song. He realized now what the pidgeotto was doing. "Come on, Slink...I know you can do this. Just one more flop..." He pushed, and fell back in the water. He rested by leaning against Slink a moment. The he touched the antler, drawing ram strength from Haru. Ram strength--that was it! Chirin lowered his head and gently bumped into the Seel's blubbery side, and began pushing with his head. The antler was working, its powers were carrying over to him. With the still-weak Slink flopping his way up onto the beach, Chirin nudged him forward inch by inch, pushing then resting, pushing then restng. "We're almost there!" Slink eased himself up the sand. It didn't feel too nice, since it cut into his skin, but he had nice thick skin so it didn't really hurt, didn't bleed, just left small scratches and irritated, (like the feeling of stubble when you kiss a man who hasn't shaved). They were being so nice to him? Why were they being nice? It wasn't as if he had done anything for them - first they had saved his life and now they were trying to reason with his siblings, using rhyme. He knew it was useless, Slappy and Happy just didn't care what other's thought - in their opinion, the way they did things was the right way, and everyone else could dig under the sand like a shelldur and disappear. And he wondered what Chirin and the others might expect as repayment. He had nothing to give, nothing except himself... And this poor lonely child that haunted Chirin's thoughts... she needed help - she was lost like he was, alone in a harsh world. Only, he was beyond help, wasn't he? But she could be helped. Perhaps by helping her, he could help himself... This thoughts, racing through his head, were not particularly conductive to active movement - he was too distracted to do both, but with the ram's help he eased his was far enough upshore for Slappy and Happy to be out of their element. They would not come on land to cause mischief - they knew that whilst still fast enough, and strong, on the land, the land-based Pokemon had the advantage. "Chirin," he said suddenly, "if I go and help little Goldie, what will happen to my siblings?" Chirin, whose head was crammed against Slink's side and his feet burrowing back against the sand, relaxed a moment. "I...I don't know. Uh...I guess they'd just be, well, without you, in the lake. I'm not sure. If you did go I hope the unowns would let you out to swim around some, but I'm afraid I don't know much about it. They--didn't tell me details. Ow." He winced at the faint headache he received. *Sorry.* A splashing rose behind him. "Ah, I see our brother's being beached!" "What's the idea, little Sheep colored Peach?" Chirin saw Slappy's fins coming for him. He leaped out of the way but it clipped him on the foot. He fell in the water. Slappy floundered up, trying to herd him into the water. "Please, oh please, stop!" said Slink, who floundered the last few feet up onto shore. But surely Slappy and Happy were too smart to try to follow them up, thought Slink. They would wait, knowing he had to come back in the water sometime. He still was not sure why Chirin so desperately wanted him out of the water... Chirin wasn't just scared, he was heartbroken. "I thought we were having fun rhyming before! I know I was! Why can't we just play like that? Please...I still beg you..." "Time to play a REAL game, woolly freak!" Slappy scooped him back into the lake with her fins. She gave the flaaaffy a toss in the air and put a spin on him. Watakko and Mother Megga grabbed each other and rolled, tumbling in circles around him. He summoned up his *denki* while still in midair, and channeled it out from his glowing blue tailtip as his body smacked the water again. "Yes, and don't struggle, you're much too--EEEEK!" Both Dewgongs shouted as the mild surge of electricity coursed through the water and struck them both. "I'm sorry!" said Chirin. "I don't want to hurt you but you're hurting me! I have no choice!" "Nasty sheep, did that come from you?" Slappy fired an ice beam at him. Chirin dived, avoiding half the ice. His arm was still encased in the chill. He shook at it, feeling a wave of cold sting run through his nerve endings. "It's time we gave you some treatment too!" said Happy, also firing an ice beam. Chirin sank into the water and hoped to Phos that it missed. And he struck out with his *denki* again, much harder this time. He heard the buzzing zap of it underwater, his *denki* delighting in the ease of the medium. He surfaced to hear both Dewgongs shouting in protest. "M-mercy me, let's leave this place!" Slappy dove down. "We never want to see your ugly face!" Happy glared at Chirin, still trembling a little from electric shock. He, too, ducked away and disappeared, both siblings showing slight maneuvering difficulty. Chirin pulled the ice off his arm and bobbed there in the water in the brief quiet, thanking his ancestors for his *denki* and just catching his breath. It was one of those moments too sacred to speak or move much, to do anything but relax and absorb. He hoped the siblings hadn't been too badly hurt...He knew that it stung when you took a lightning bolt "the wrong way." And that most creatures had no "right way" to take a bolt of electricity. He watched. The twosome did not come back. If they were anywhere nearby, they were too deep in the water to see. Chirin wandered up onto shore to where Slink lay. "I guess now it's safe for you to go back in the water. I hope now they'll leave you be." He was going to add that Slink could just call for chirin if he needed help in the future, but Chirin did not know if he would always be on the beach. ~ Tod'd was continueing travling north. He was in the tree line right near the water, he made sure he could see the water as he travled. He wanted to be sure he didn't end up getting lost and so that he would be able to find his way back to lake. He wasn't sure where he was going, but it seemed like something or someone was drawing him to them. He just hoped that something wasn't dangerous. He wondered what could be making him go this, or was it just his normal , strange behavior (Who's to say what normal is really?). The last time he had a feeling like this he had headed in the opposite direction. But that led him right to that very bad mean trainer. He just hoped he had made the right decision this time, about going to it, instead of away. ~ And as it was, Phos was heading down to ruminate beyond the trees. The forest up the beach was reaching its shadows past the shore, and Chirin stood in shade now. He made his way back to the reeds for another munch, and called Selden to join him. With winter coming neither of them could afford not to eat if food was there and they were hungry. "The lake nourishes good leaves," he said to Slink, around spits of foliage hanging out the sides of his mouth. Times had been hard for him and Selden and their friends, but this grass tasted good and the wind in the shade brought pleasant chills over him, after his exertion. He had much to thank the spirits for. He closed his eyes briefly to just revel here in this peace. Slink had flopped back into the water, and hung in the shallows while Chirin and Selden had their dinner. "I won't pretend that I don't have a mission, Slink," said Chirin, seeing that the two of them, and Selden, were alone, so he could talk about the unouns more safely. "My mission is to find Goldie a friend. That person would gain a great friend in Goldie and great protection, but at a cost. Less freedom, less light. At least until Goldie is big and strong enough to leave her shelter in the island." He sweated a little in anticipation, but the unowns did not hurt him. Calima, the whole time, was staring wide-eyed at the dewgongs she never wanted to see again. Chirin, seeing Calima had hopped nearer, let the conversation he was having with Slink drift away and returned to nibbling leaves with Selden. He noticed Selden giving Calima an almost fearful look as he edged up close against Chirin's leg. Chirin chewed his cud as Calima spoke. Mecha had landed when the pair of Dewgong siblings had left, and was again watching out over the water. Ebony was still gone, but perhaps it was for the best that she had run off for now... "Ch-Chirin. I think it is time that I told you what I have been through," Calima began, looking at Chirin. "And I think I should start at the very beginning... You see...When you left me, I met a bellsprout named Bellie...I think, I do not remember her so well. Then Cinder and Moonscar attacked soon after you left. That is why I have a few burns here and there. I evolved soon after they ran away...And I believe that I am no longer dark because of that. My flames are now pure white...See?" Calima said, shooting a tiny white flame up into the air. Chirin winced at the sudden closeness of the heat...it still stirred an instinct of avoidance in him...fire, a tool of enemies. It had nearly taken Azalea. He knew just enough about fire to know that white was hottest. At the flicker of a nearby flame, Mecha's eyes jumped to look in the direction of Calima. The flame made him uneasy...and reminded him of the time of forest had been set alight. And the distant feeling that flames and his feathers wouldn't mix.. "...Anyway...Soon, Bellie left. I met up with Teazel and Snake (remember them? Teazel was the ivysaur, and Snake was the pink ekans?), and a cubone named Onna-Luna...Oh yeah! And Razkle and Berry. Remember them? Onna soon left us, and Teazel seemed to vanish...Don't know what happened to her... So then, it was just me and Snake. We continued. We searched for you high and low. And every day, I was eating less and less..." Eating less? Why? Was she sick? Chirin stored the question for later. Mecha hadn't heard much after Calima mentioning seeing Berry and Razkel. His eyes widened. Were they nearby..? Could he find them as well? He felt guilty for losing them...and Razkel had been one of his closest friends... "We came to the lake soon enough. We stopped at a stream. I couldn't swim, so we stopped. Snake said that she would go find you for me, as I looked a bit bedraggled and she could swim anyway. So Snake left...And I worry...What if Cinder got poor Snake? Soon, I left, away from the stream. I would help Snake... I had to pass through human territory... This might...make you run away from me...But if you do, I understand... One human, a female I think, I am only guessing, was holding a dead nidoran in her hand...She killed it...and...I charged...red eyes...all of it...my m=ind had gone blank...I could see what I was doing, and I was screaming inside my mind, begging for the rage to stop before we hurt the human..." Mecha flinched. More destructive humans...and he felt an odd feeling knowing that he had been created by some. A cold feeling. "I was on top of her, and still I begged and tried to fight off the rage... I got some help with that. A human came, with a gun (ya know, those long, black sticks that shoot fire) and shot me. Luckily, the fire only grazed my shoulder, but it was bleeding badly, that is why my left shoulder and leg are all smeared with blood." "..." Mecha was beginning to wonder if all humans were destructive. But...if that were the case...why did they CREATE him...? "I found Celesteon soon, and we talked for a while...Until I smelled you. I didn't know you were Chirin...And...there is something I need to tell you...I love...I love..." Calima was unable to find the right words. But she tried, and they didn't come out. Maybe Chirin would guess right...Maybe? Chirin didn't know what she was trying to get off her tongue, but he threw his arms around her. "So glad you're alive and here right now. I'll never leave you again, you're my dear friend. You can stay with me and Selden all the while I look for Azalea. That's why I came here to begin with. My light shines for her. "And Calima...You are not dark. There is a wind, a force of fire and darkness inside you that I believe possesses you. It lies dormant and waiting there, then it takes over your body. It's something I wanted to help you with a long time ago. There are ways to get help for that." He thought of Goldie and the unowns, would they be able to lift it for her? He stroked her back and felt the ridge of her spine close under the skin. "You said you'v been eating less and less. I'm worried. Are you sick?" He smelled no sickness on her. "Winter's coming. You've got to gain weight. And if Cinder and Moonscar are still afoot...well, if you talked to Celesteon he probably told you that there is a great big darkness lying, fizzing, down underground, under the lake, under the lands, in Mother Megga's belly. I'm wondering if it is Bangaa himself." "A great darkness..." Mecha echoed with a nod. "I hope Celesteon's all right," said Chirin. "Phos in the stars! There's so much that I need to do, but before I do anything I have to find Goldie that friend." He abandoned the reeds and waded out to Slink, glancing around to make sure the dewgongs weren't coming. "If you want to be Goldie's friend, I'll swim to the island with you. They'll want to see me again too, probably and I want to be there for Goldie. I'm sure she misses me and thinks I just left her. Oh I felt like one of the Lightless for just turning on her and walking up out of that cave..." He swallowed back the emotion because now he knew that what seemed dark, could really be light. If that was true, could what seemed light, in fact be dark? "I'll stay with Calima if you like Chirin...if Slink agrees that is." Mecha said. His mind was still plagued by guilt...he had abandoned two of his friends...not to mention he hadn't told Chirin about...that. Would Chirin even want to be his friend if he found out..? That thought didn't last long. Chirin wasn't like that. But Calima didn't like humans too much Chirin could not help but notice that Mecha's kind offer was not spoken with the same sparkle he usually gave. But then Mecha was a little different than he had been when Chirin had known him before. Perhaps it was his experiences with the dead that had left a weight on him. Chirin knew he too had changed. Well, from now on they would stick together, as much as Chirin could stick with him anyway, on his search. "Lights of the ancestors bless you Mecha," he said, knowing full well that Calima was not always easy to watch. But clearly, in this state she had to be guarded. She was somehow sick and still in distress. "Yes, if I go to the island, can you watch Selden too? Selden can't swim that, he'll drown if he tries." Mecha smiled at Selden, then nodded to Chirin "I'll be glad to." Selden ran to Chirin. "Oh Chirin, are you going to leave us--to go back to that place?" Chirin sat down and scooped Selden up, holding him. This was going to be harder than he had thought. "I'll be okay...and not half so long as we were the last time. And this time you won't be alone. I feel bad, but I don't want you trying to swim and sinking. The spirits might not be so quick to warn me again." He kissed the lamb's cheek. "Oh, you're getting tears all over your neck there. You'll be the beacon for here, right? And...I may not even be going. Slink, would you like to do this? Remember it will not be easy to live down there, in a dark quiet place with little energy, and even fewer smiles." Mecha again smiled at Selden "I know I'm not Chirin...but I'll do my best to keep you company until he gets back. It won't be for long...and like Chirin said, that's if Slink agrees to go at all." Calima felt like slapping herself...She had not told Chirin. "Who is Goldie? If...being her friend means leaving you...But...What about Snake? She left, as I told you, and...I fear she might be dying... "Will we look for Snake soon? She helped me so much...She is a good friend...And...I want to thank her..." Calima said quietly to Chirin. Chirin vaguely remembered a pink ekans in the downpour. "I--I can't go look for her or help her right now, I'm so sorry. But--I'm only one pokemon." Still clutching Selden, he ran his flipper along the mareep's wool. "I have too many other things I need to do first. I need to--well, fulfill a task--and that's Goldie. The ancient dead gave me a task and that is to find a friend for Goldie, who is a baby who needs to be protected and hidden right now. That's all I can say about it, I'm sworn to secrecy. You needn't flicker and fret about it anyway...it's my mission." He smiled, trying to lighten things up. "But--I can try to help your friend." He was puzzled that she had an ekans friend, but remembered the magic of the lake that brought all pokemon of all kinds together, regardless of what they ate. It was a beautful light shimmering it spell over them, and that very magic he believed was what had let him and Mecha meet. "I'll go to see Goldie," said Slink. "There's nothing more I want than a dear friend...and protection from my siblings. It's not right of me to ask you to--to stay here guarding me. And I have no one else." "If you're sure," said Chirin, filling up with heat and chills at once. Half of his feeling jumped like fluff and the other half sank like stone. In this stretched and taut inner state of being, he said, "Then I'll swim right to the island with you. Goldie couldn't hope for a better friend than someone like you. And, you're both water pokemon!" He paused, reading Slink's face for any reluctance, but instead a hope had sparked into his dark eyes. Slink and Goldie could certainly give each other light, and Chirin saw no other way for him to escape his siblings. "No," said Selden, rubbing against Chirin again. "Please let me go with you." Selden, I wish I could. But..." He sighed. "Maybe if I carried up, let you ride on my back..." "Yes, yes," said Selden. "I'm stronger now, I'll ride real tight." "That's fine then." Mecha chuckle "I'll stay with Calima while you escort Slink to the island." He paused, then pulled free one of his golden feathers "If she'd like it, then...well, just a present for her." It seemed a bit silly, but... "No, no...that's a wonderful idea Mecha." He remembered giving her the other gifts and how she had delighted in feeling his wool. He kept forgetting how he took the feel of wool and feathers, the taste of fresh grass, splashes of sun kissed water and chills in a cold breeze, for granted. "I'll tell her that the sweetest bird in the world meant it as a present." He touched Mecha's head. Mecha actually felt his face grow warm as he flushed in response to the compliment "T-thank you..." He grinned. He took the feather in his hands. It glinted in the shady light of late afternoon, as he turned it over. He sniffed it and ran it along his upper lip. Another piece of light and life that would be so precious to her in her waking hours. Pidgeottos had great powers of speed and freedom...perhaps this would aid her, too, with her special seer abilities. "Before we go I want to do a running of lights. I know Selden and I are the only ones with lights, but I think it's enough. Slink, can you come up a little closer to the beach? This way you too can be in the circle." "A running of lights sounds like a good idea." Mecha looked over in Slink's direction "Would you like some help moving up a bit?" "No, no, i can move fine." Slink sloshed up so he sat in the edge of the water. Chirin smiled and the light of Selden's tail danced in his eyes. He flung out his arms, lashed his tail and threw his head back. "Light up the night! Light up the night! Away dark evil spirits!" He took off running with flashing leaps, the blue light bounded arcs around Calima and Slink. Selden followed, joining in with his own orange yellow bulb and both of them shrieked and sang as Chirin ran round and round in a wide circle, splashing and wading through the shallows to encompass Slink. Slink watched the running sheep with strange intrigue. It looked like fun. All of the tasks that lay before him, he thought of as he ran fast and hard. Too much for one or even two to fix alone, but with the spirits called here to their side, much more was illuminated and crept into reach. Chirin ran on, growing breathless. He shone his light, garnished with little sparks, and it seemed to leave a brief trail behind him. He ran until he no longer thought...only felt. He could do this. He would be all right on the island. Goldie and Slink would both get what they needed most--a friend. Calima's concerns about Snake thought their way into him too. He wove it all into the loops of light that they wound around their friends. Chirin slowed to a walk. "Night is coming, fast and cold...Let our light be a beacon, let its power linger. Please push away the dark and danger. Shine away, shine away, shadows." Exhausted, Chirin caught his breath, bent over and drew a quick circle in the ground with the end of his flipper while rotating in a complete turn, and sank to the ground within the enclosure of the circle. He sat and closed his eyes, straightned his spine, and took deep breaths, reveling in the sting of cold evening wind on his sweat- beaded skin. His wool felt hot. Deep inside him he brought his light, imagining the sweeping out of all dark and the falling away of all disguises. He would see the island for what it was this time--a holy abode of those so long dead that their powers reached out beyond Mother Megga to the ends of the sea. And this lake was what they had chosen as their home. "I will turn from the shadows. I will seek the light." He tucked Mecha's feather into his belt. Before he made this swim he should secure it better with more silk. Then, sinking back into his inner self, he brought up his "gift" and used it to navigate through himself, exploring the network that was his *denki*. It had more branches and blooms than a hundred trees, it seemed. As he went he felt himself expelling all dark spirits in his path. "I will not stray off my light-path. I will see Phos and follow with my shadow behind me." He rose up only when he knew that he was infused with the spirits and ready to go. He wanted to prepare longer but twilight was setting in. He wanted to be back here soon for Selden and Calima's sake, especially. They needed him. "I was just thinking," said Slink, who was looking out at the island when Chirin sauntered over. "The current is very strong down by the way we would be swimming. I could help you get across easily, but I would leave Selden here with Mecha and Calima." "Chirin, please, no," said Selden. "I can hang on!" Would Slink change his mind about Goldie? Would Chirin decide to take the job instead? It was easy for Slink to agree now, but the dwelling place of the unown felt dark and forbidding. It was a different world, a place he had never envisione could exist on Mother Megga's back. And if he stayed, what of Selden? Could the dead perhaps agree to Goldie having two friends? "I'm sorry, Selden." Chirin hugged him. "It's just too dangerous. I love you, you're my dear dear friend...I'm leaving you here because I love you." "But I love you too," said Selden. "I don't want you to leave me again." Guilt bit at him. "Mecha's here this time," said Chirin. "And Calima, she's big and strong now. I won't be long, and if I run into danger, I wouldn't want you to get hurt." He tried to think of something, anything... He took the sneasel feather off his belt. This had worked well for Goldie. "This feather is a part of me," said Chirin. "I don't want it to get lost in the lake. If you want to you can watch it for me." He placed it by Selden's feet and tried to smile. Selden took the feather up in his mouth. "Oh-kay, I'll stay," he said. "But, please hurry getting back." Chirin nuzzled noses with the mareep. "I'll even bring you back a present or something, if you like." He himself had never thought much about having things just to have them, unless they carried powers he needed or housed souls in need of his help. But Selden's face brightened a little. Chirin retrieved some caterpie silk from a tree just up the way. He applied some to strengthen his belt, and the rest he brought back, just a little bit. He tied the feather loosely round Selden's neck, right next to the blue apricorn shell he still wore. "There you go, now you guard that," he said, ruffling Selden's hair. "You'll be the beacon while we're gone. Phos's light to you, and to all of you here! Clef is coming out soon, and she will be half full!" He flung his arms up, just because he felt like it. "Dance in light and roll in wind and water, taste the sweet grass while I'm gone." Crying just a little, he hugged everyone in turn. When he came to Calima, he sensed something about her, when he hugged her. If she had not been of such a different kind from him, he would have thought that Haru had called her towards him. Mecha hugged Chirin extra tight "Take care...and be back soon. We'll be waiting." "Oh, Mecha...You're making me cry again." Chirin gave him a long stroking hug and a nuzzle, hoping that everything would go as smoothly as he hoped. "I don't know why I'm crying, I'll only be gone a little while. And with Slink helping me swim we'll get there much faster." "That's right." Mecha said with a beaky grin "And sorry for making you cry..." He rubbed a wing on the back of his head, looking sheepish (or mareepish ^^;). As if trying to cheer up Selden, Mecha smiled "Would you like a feather too? They aren't much, but.." Selden sniffled and nodded. "It'll be beautiful next to the sneasel feather, and maybe led powers of speed and sight to you," said Chirin. "Oh, as long as it doesn't hurt you to pull those out Mecha, I don't want you hurting yourself." "It doesn't bother me really." Mecha grinned before pulling another metallic feather free "It must be my d--my high resistance to that kind of thing." he said quickly as he held out the feather Chirin fastened it to the other side of Selden's apricorn. It looked beautiful there, and Chirin was suddenly inspired to embellish it more, and then make himself some decorations to wear, made of apricorns and shells and stones and feathers and paint and flowers and grass...oh, and cotton... It would have to wait. "Just in case," he said, summoning up his cotton, "I don't get back for a little longer, you can rest on nice soft beds." The cotton swirled out around him on the sand. He tried to shape it close around him so it would fall over a small area. When the last pieces of fluff had settled, he dropped and rolled on it to flatten and conjoin the bits, suddenly overswept by memories of helping his mother and father do this on some evenings when they had made a new bed. Selden ran and joined Chirin rolling on the cotton. "There, you can sleep on a wonderful soft bed." "I don't want to sleep until you're back." "You can rest here." Chirin brushed flakes of cotton off Selden's face. They stuck to his tears. Chirin made some more cotton and rolled it out into another bed. "For you Calima." He assumed Mecha would not want to sleep down here, he was well rested and needed to watch them. "Mecha, I can't thank you enough. Phos's light to you all and let Clef guard you i your dreams." He circled each bed with a line in the sand and silt, then waded in with Slink, who already awaited him in the deeper water. Chirin tightened his belt for good measure, checking all his special sacred objects, then he splashed in, letting the lake accept him. He paddled out towards the island, his strokes slow and clumsy next to those of the sleek Seel. "No need for thanks.." Mecha looked at Chirin seriously "And Phos's light to you, Slink, and Goldie as well.." He would be sure to tell Chirin when he returned...it was only right to. Sure, Chirin had never asked...but... Chirin took pleasure in the swim, having a silent conversation of thoughts and feelings with Clef as she rose up, half of her light present. Her light dimly silhouetted the unoun island in black. "Stay on that side of me," said Slink, nodding to his left. "The current won't be really bad here--it gets really bad just past here though, where it narrows out. I think we'll have an easier time taking this longer swim than that shorter one. Let me know if you get tired, you can clinb on you know." "Thanks. I'm okay for now." Chirin put a little more muscle into his paddling, not wanting to slow Slink down. "You just keep a watch out for...trouble." "Oh, I hate to hear that word." "I'm sorry--you're right." He held his light up above the surface of the water and blinked it--both to shine off bad luck he might have brought on with those words, and to avoid the twosome seeing it underwater. "Oh no..." Slink popped his head back up above the surface. "I think I see them coming!" "Quick!" Chirin splashed forward, kicking his utmost. "Let's get there quicker!" The island loomed larger. The crags and jumbles of rock grew clearer. Two Dewgong heads popped up in front of them. And Chirin started to pray. "Please...we're on important business," he pleaded the dewgongs as he treaded water. "I--I don't want to have to shock you again." Would they fall for the bluff? Nope. "Don't you know, oh sheep so pink," said Slappy. "That if you shock us, you'll shock dear Slink!" Happy finished, slapping his flippers playfully on the water. Both dewgongs circled Chirin and Slink. The circles grew smaller. "Please, dewgongs, let us through!" said Chirin. "Whatever have we done to you?" Phos, he was talking in rhyme too! Well, it seemed to distract them somewhat...He started paddling again, trying to nudge them all closer to the island. "Ah, you think you can rhyme your way out!" "Time to have fun and play about!" Both dewgongs squirted Chirin's head with water. Slink was fun to play with, but this little guy was so much clumsier in the water, so much more vulnerable! Chirin abandoned any attempt to speak with them and plunged forward for the island shore. *Unowns...Makers of my ancestors. I'm bringing Goldie's friend. But we're both in a little trouble!* "Hee hee hee, this'll be a fun night!" "Playing with you till you die of fright!" They dived back beneath the water. Chirin didn't bother to look for them, he just swam for the island. He heard a splash behind him, coupled with a slapping sound. "Leave him alone!" Slink had bumped up against his older sister and was trying to hold her back. "Swim, Chirin!" She plowed him over, dunking him under while she swam straight across to Chirin. "Happy, brother, where did you go?" "Right behind you Sis, don't you know?" Chirin felt himself bumped from both sides as both dewgongs swam into him, parallel to each other. He was squished in and trapped between their huge white sides, like the meat of a sandwich. "Watakkohhhhhh!" A cape of cotton billowed out from him, under and above the water, swirling into being close around his skin. It flapped out behind him. It was all he could do. He tried to squirm out of the Dewgong vice while their sight was obscured. Pushing against them like a plant trying to sprout, he managed to get his arms and hands free. He wormed out past there but was stopped at his hips. He kicked and tugged. "Please, let us go!" He felt turbulence as Slink swam beneath them. A jumble bumped them around. Slink was trying to free him! "Oh no you don't you pathetic seel!" "Leave us alone, this is for real!" "Then leave my friend alone!" Slink had finally found a friend again, and he would not lose him to these fiends this time. But what could he do that they could not do? Nothing. Chirin squirned down again and found the antler. He jabbed it at the side of one of the dewgongs. "Ouch! that hurt! Come back here sheep!" "You can't escape us, shallow or deep!" Chirin was released into the cold water, swimming free. Glad his hips and ribs seemed intact, he flailed towards the rocky shore. "Let's give him some ice!" "Yes, that sounds nice!" "On the count of three...Once, twice, thrice!" Chirin looked over his shoulder as the dewgongs both fired ice at him. At the same time, his tail clenched and released a bolt through the air. He had not thought, but his deeper instincts had taken over. Lightning met ice with a squealing crack. He was just glad that Slink seemed to have escaped. Had he swum to the other side of the island? "You want to battle?" "Or run to mum and tattle?" Chirin's head was starting to rattle. This was a test, no doubt, sent to him by the very lake and spirits within to judge whether he was worthy to touch the spire a second time. The dewgong pair splashed merrily around him. They were caught up in having secured one victim and were unaware, for the moment, of Slink's absence. "Whee! Sail high and fly!" Slappy scooped her tail under him and flung him from the water in a plume of droplets. Chirin soared up in a spin, and as he hovered briefly at the peak of the throw he glimpsed Clef, watching him with a shaded eye. "For landing is nigh!" said Happy as Chirin concentrated on breaking the surface with his feet. The water welcomed him in like a cold womb; he entered on all fours. He could've been a Persian. The chill evening deep had long since begun to numb him; he could have done with more fat on his frame and if he did not get out of the water soon he would catch a chill. How to help them see the light? How to perhaps fool them? He knew that he had never been sharp on the art of deception, and now he was minus his sneasel feather. Then, as he backstroked away from the dewgongs who blocked the island, he thought of something. "Perhaps if I gave you a present..." "Silly sheep! Our present is you to play with!" "We care for nothing but a friend to stay with!" Okay, that wouldn't work. "Perhaps, if you let me on the island, we can play a game when I get back." "Why wait for you, and how?" "When we can play, now?" "Then I must get back to shore." Chirin turned and pretended to start paddling back. "Oh now you don't!" Slappy flipped up to stop him. "You can't, you won't!" Happy joined her to block him. "I must, please!" Chirin surreptitiously backstroked slowly towards th island. "If I don't get home by bedtime I might get eaten up, or taken by darkness!" "Too bad!" "So sad!" Chirin felt bottom. He backstroked faster. Slappy and Happy must have realized what he had done. They surged forward in a bounding swim to cut him off. "Got you!" Slappy's mouth grabbed his tail. Chirin discharged a power surge of static electricity into the Dewgong's mouth. Her mouth clenched on it as she squealed. Her body convulsed, and her sheer strength jerked Chirin underwater. In panic he shocked her again. He breached the surface with his arms trying to climb the water. He took a deep breath. Shards of rainbow light cut through the air and water towards him, outshining his own light. Pain wracked Chirin's body, and he pulled on his tail, whose bulb was caught in Slappy's mouth. "Let her go or I do it again!" said Happy. "Mmm mmmm mmmm mmm mmmm mmmmmm!" said Slappy. "I'm trying! Please oh dewgongs of the lake--Please! Have mercy!" Gaining sight of the rocks only strokes away Chirin threw his body towards them. At last Slappy's mouth let go and his energy released, propelling him towards the stony shore. He grabbed the nearest rock, not looking behind him. "He's getting away!" "He must stay!" He saw a snake of blood sliding down his arm--he had cut himself on the rock and didn't feel it through his numbness. He scrambled up, climbing, his hopes lifting. Had he really made it? He dared to look behind him. Slappy and Happy turned away their white heads and dipped into the dark lake. They were going after Slink now. "Wait! You can't do that to your brother!" Chirin let go of the rocks and dived back in. His *denki* twitched up and down his spine and he aimed it straight at them. He heard the buzz echo some distance as the lake was electrified. The flash lit the dewgongs from below, then all was dark again. He had cast it more forcefully than he had wanted to. Chirin tread water and waited for them to come up. Had he knocked them out? Had he drowned them? Two disgusted and weary white heads poked up a bit farther off. "Electric sheep do not play fair!" "Time to leave you out of our hair!" They cut back into the water with clean twin ripples. Their tails flipped up behind them, then the ripples spread out over the disturbed surface. "Slink!" called Chirin, climbing up on the rocks again. "Slink, are you okay!" Hearing nothing, he climbed higher, foot to handhold and hand up to the next stone that offered a grip, a chain of climbing, like a caterpie up a tree. His rubbery, concave hooves kept hold on the smallest nudges of purchase and he ascended the steep rocky outcropping towards moonlit bushes. "Slink!" His call ricocheted on a distant wall of trees. His exertion quickly warmed him up, chasing off his chill as he climbed. He would get to the top and call to Slink from there. Now he was really worried. If his *denki* had drowned the poor soul, he would never forgive himself. His wool still dribbled lakewater down his chest and back as he reached the top of the rocks on the northwest side of the island. Here the climb was at least possible, unlike the straight north side and its knifing drop. Chirin gave his wet head a shake. He wiggled his ears. He sniffed the air. He smelled enemies. *No, no, good Chenja and Mama, no...* He smelled both Marowaks and Houndooms, and his mind snapped to the marowaks traveling off this island and northward, on a block of ice. The spirits in the spire birthed many odd things, they could apparently conjure all sorts of things...but why enemies? Or was it...the darkness brewing below that had sent them? Was the disease that tortured Mother Megga herself, now leaking enemies and darkness onto her surface? He scrabbled up the patchwork of rocks and bald soil that scraped a trail through scraggles of grass. His shadow led him up, cast in blue light. He was doubly glad that he had refrained from using the full power of his *denki* in the water. Sniffing and listening, he crept up onto more level ground. He had to call to Slink and ascertain where he was. But how to be a beacon to his friends without attracting his enemies? He stood still in the grass a long time, feeling more than ever the prey animal that he was. Cud came up and he chewed it, anything to relax him. He had faced worse than houndooms and marowaks together, and survived. ~ Selden was curled up in the cotton bed that smelled of the friend he loved. Chirin had made it. Selden bunched a part of the mat between his front legs and nuzzled it. He could not sleep. It was just like that other night, only on the other side of the lake this time. Calima scared him. Or, rather, the feelings he got when he saw her hugging Chirin, scared him. They were sad and almost angry feelings. Why did Chirin hug her so much? Mecha, the great big bird that he did not remember from before, scared him too, but less now than he had at first. Chirin and Mecha seemed so close, that Mecha must be kind. Everything Mecha had done was kind. "Mecha?" He looked around. Only Calima was nearby. He shone his light harder and stood up. "Mecha?" Mecha heard Selden calling him, so moved closer towards his tail light. He had been looking carefully over the water, worried...but kept his eyes and senses sharp for danger. Or in case either Selden or Calima needed him. "Yes Selden?" he asked as he came into the young lamb's view. "I--I just didn't know where you were," said Selden, trotting over to him. "I got scared. I hope Chirin's going to be okay." Calima looked in the direction Chirin left for a long while. Tears slowly fell from her eyes. She got on the cotton bed that Chirin had made. It was wonderfully soft. She buried her face in it, and made a strange choking noise. She was attempting to choke back sobs, and blink back tears. "Chirin will be back," She said to herself. Her voice sounded quite muffled. "He said so...Then we can find Snake..." And she fell asleep. Resting a wing cautiously on the young Mareep's back, Mecha smiled reassuringly "Everyone gets scared somtimes...the dark is pretty scary really. Even when you do have light," He looked out over the water "Chirin will be fine...he's done some of the most amazing things I've ever seen one Pokemon do. He's got the spirits on his side..." He was worried, really. But with the spirits...Chirin would be fine with them looking after him..right? "Chirin is amazing, he could do almost anything," said Selden, yawning. "Thanks Mecha. I just hope the unowns...I hope he's okay on that island." He padded back through the sand leaving little hoofprints, and settled down on the bed Chirin had made him. He lay there on his side, cuddling into the cotton. Warm thoughts of sleeping against Chirin grew warmer as he closed his eyes. "I hope so too.." Mecha whispered as he looked out over the water. He flashed a smile towards the sleeping Selden before looking back out to the water. Even if Chirin wasn't the son of the forest, he seemed to have the spirits of it, and much else, on his side...he would be fine.. ~ Snake had slithered a little bit furthur away from the human territory, and was now on the shores of the Lake. She saw in the distance, something that looked remarkably like a flaaffy, before falling asleep. She would be sure to search for Chirin when she woke up... ~ He parted the long grass gone gold, silvered pale like his own body in Clef's light. Chirin dimmed his own tail and continued the upwards hike. He reached the level ground where the spire was rooted. He knew where he was now and he edged down the east side by the spire, where he would be able to see the other shore. "Slink?" A splashing far down, black and glistening, answered. "Hi Chirin! Thank you so much!" Slink called. Chirin's flickering light shivered on the bushes and rocks. Any enemy on this island would know he was here now. Marowaks and Houndooms. He could escape them with a dive. He would rather face those bullying dewgongs than a pack of bloodthirsty hellhounds. He wound his tail round and flashed it to Slink in triumph. Sitting down, he began his descent round and then down the spire, towards the cave. The smell of Houndooms was enough to get him moving to a place where he could reach the water more easily. "Are you okay?" he called as he climbed down. "I didn't mean to spark so hard, I thought I'd made you drown. I was worried." "No, I got clear of you, I wanted you to be able to shock them away again," Slink called. "thank you so much, I wish I could make them stay away like you can." "I...I know it hurt them, though, so I feel bad. The real way to solve the problem will be to help them see the light and stop acting under dark ways." Chirin hadn't meant to make Slink feel inferior and helpless. He landed on the ledge by the cave and crept to its mouth. "Well, we're here now. I don't know if I'm supposed to go in or wait out here." He breathed deep, felt the antler on his belt and cleared his mind, hiding nothing from the ancestors. He had left them with dark in his mind but now was an open bowl of radiance. Or so he hoped. ~ Tod'd was still heading north to his unknown future. As night approached he started to wonder if he should find some shelter for the night. But he decided that it didn't seem like the best of ideas right now. There didn't appear to be a safe place to sleep, and the forest seemed to be a little quiter then normal. It suddenly occurred to him that he seemed to be heading to the place the protector of the lake was said to reside. He had only heard bits and pieces about him. He wasn't even sure what he had heard where true. But from the look of it he'd find out before to long. ~ Goldie sat in the middle of a glowing purple orb, moving her tail about. She had erected her first pyschic shield, and was quite proud of it. All this concentration was giving her a headache, however. "We have visitors, the Flaafy has returned," an Unoun suddenly informed her, and, concentration broken, the shield fell away. "Chirin-Chirin!" She shrieked, so loudly that small stones rained down from the ceiling. "He's back! I must go and see him!" "Very well, but we shall acompany you." And the Unoun swooped down to circle her head - the same three again - "G" "U" and "Y". Goldie didn't care - Chirin was back! She ran through the hallways as familiar as though they were nothing more then a few corridors and not a literal maze of tunnels. The Unoun had to struggle to keep up, and the Apricorn bobbed at her neck, tied on by a piece of cord Mysterious had founf fom somewhere. "Chirin-Chirin!" She shrieked, running from the mouth of the cave. And then she saw he was not alone, and his companion was not Selden. She faltered, panting, and stood, staring. "Who are you?" She asked, with the non-tact of a child. Slink too stopped, and stared. This little round blue thing was what all the fuss was about? She looked like nothing more then a baby - he could see now why Chirin had concerns. He was also, suddenly, very, very shy. "Goldie." Chirin sank down like the tears that rolled from his eyes as he saw the little blue ball of pokemon bound out to him. The unowns attended her, near her head...his gut feeling struck with fear but before it could evolve to the loathing, he reminded himself who they really were and why they had to be here. And with houndours and marowaks plain to be smelled on the island, the danger was doubly real. He hugged Goldie close to his damp-wooled chest. "I was worried about you, I felt terrible that I left you. I see..." he sniffled, "you still have the apricorn I gave you! You watched it so well for me. You're a great friend. And you know? You can keep it. And I have another present for you too." "Really!" A look of mixed joy and relief crossed Goldie's face. "Thank you so, so much!" She paused for a moment. "But what about your lady-friend, won't she need it? Wasn't it meant to be a gift for her?" "It was...but...it became a gift for you. I could get her another gift. You took such good care of it that if you want, you can keep it always." The pink apricorn was known to have powers in the way of love and mates, but Goldie had had it for a while now and its powers seemed to have changed. He sensed a shift, and this was the right way to go--unless Goldie insisted on returning it. She might know better of the inner souls of things, actually. "If you feel it really still should go to Azalea, you may give it back, but anyway, I have a new present. He set Goldie down, and reached around himself, searching his belt for where the feather had rotated to. He found it back near his tail. "This feather was given to you by one of my best friends, Mecha the Pidgeotto. He's a special bird with feathers that shine in the light. See?" The gold feather gleamed greenish in his blue light. Goldie's eyes studied the feather, flicking back and forth, back and forth, with its motion. "Oooh, pretty!" She said. "And you can have it..." He sighed. "Because...I can't..." He looked at Slink. "I can't stay. I came because I found someone who wants to be your friend too. This is Slink, the seel. He..." Chirin wanted to say more but something made his words shrivel up. He looked at the ground. Though he had done as the dead commanded he felt that he had failed. "I'm so sorry." Goldie eyed the Seel critically. "Hello Slink," she said politely, "I'm Goldie. I'd shake hands, but I don't have any and er, neither do you, really." She shuffled her feet a little embarrasingly. It was hard to suddenly be told that someone whom you'd never met before was going to be your friend. Goldie hadn't had her mum's exposure to making lots of friends - she had one whold friend in the world - well, two if you counted Selden. "I'm a Ruriruri." Chirin's heart started to lift up out of his feet a little. Such a difficult thing to have to tell her--that her real friend wasn't here to stay, but he had brought in a substitute--however nice and willing though Slink was. Slink smiled politely in return. "Chirin says I'll be save frmo my siblings here, and that you are lonely, I hope I can help." He stood on his back half and gently took the feather from Chirin with one flipper, tucking it behind Goldie's ear. "Now you look very pretty. I'm not very good with friends," he added, blushing like a walrus, "I've never had one before - but I've always wanted one. Chirin has been very kind to me though." "Unowns," he said, "will these two still have a chance to see the sun now and then? Or the moon? I'll miss them while they're gone, and I hope someday that the dangers will pass, and they'll be able to run, and swim, free." He sniffed, realizing that Slink, too, would become someone he rarely or never saw. Again he felt like he had somehow tricked Slink--even though it was a perfect arrangement. But what could he have done in this situation without feeling...dark and rotten? Would he visit Azalea in the dreamworld tonight? Or would other things still haunt him? Would he finally be able to go in search of her...wherever she was? "I..." He stopped what he had been about to suggest, that perhaps he could stay a little time here before he left. Selden needed him to get back now. If it had been daytime, and Selden were older, it would have been different, but he could not leave that poor lamb in the dark, even with Mecha watching. Mecha had his own mission and life. Chirin could not tie him up with his own responsibilities. The spirits had handed Selden to him. Until Chirin was back, Selden would miss him. He would be swimming back alone and exhausted, but at least he would be free to defend himself with his current. He looked at Goldie and Slink and took a step back, out of their circle. He would let them get acquainted. Now it rushed back to him how the unowns had made the offer to him. How grateful Goldie would have been if he would just stay. How her smile would suddenly brighten if he told her so right now. And...What he could learn from the dead, the ancient oldest ancestors...what they could have taught him, how they would honor him. But it wasn't the same, as feeling the lush experiences in the world outside that the ancestors had made him and put him there to enjoy. Who would look for Azalea? Who even remembered her with love? Thinking about her, a hot blood feeling uncurled in his tired body, starting low and rising to his head. Chirin scraped his hoof on the stone floor of the cavern's lip. "Goldie, I...I have to go soon...I want to say I'm so sorry that I can't stay and I will miss you both." They did not seem displeased. They had forgiven him. Chirin felt he should make some kind of offering to them, here on this island, before he left. But they had no desire to taste sweet grass. Beautiful adornments did not interest them. He thought of making a form for them, but did not see the point; why would they want a piece of his soul, when he was of them, and they had made him? He had not thought that the long-dead reached such a state, when after so long an elapse of time, their passions just settled to the bottom. All the expressions of the dead that he saw in everything told him such a different story. Would he ever reach a state, long after he had died? What really happened to you, when you died? "We will allow the little shaman and her companion out on occasion, once the lake is safe." The Unoun said. "But a darkness is brewing, a bad darkness, and noone is entirely safe. We can just protect Goldie as best we can. The companion, of course, will be allowed to come and go as he likes, provided he is around when she needs him. And you, son of (*inert appropriate name here* I forget all of Wyn's and she's not online to ask...), you have done well. You shall find your lady-friend again." The unoun reached out with a purple light and touched Chirin's forehead. The feeling was not unlike that warm glow you get when you consume alcohol. the purple light answered the purple light they had touched him with once before. Instead of absorption, he sensed a lightness and unfettering inside his mind, like jumping loose from a tangle of grass. Chirin let the feeling spread out to his tailtip and hooves and the ends of his big wiggling ears. Part of him seemed to lift out of his body, and he shuddered. And he knew that what they said was true, all of it...he would find Azalea again. But he had never really considered that he never would. Goldie presented the apricorn to him, with great theatrics. "You must take this," she said, "it is for your lady. And it will bring you luck." Please don't realise I broke it, she added mentally, I healed it good, I did! "Aw Goldie, I can't refuse the request, of such a lovely little lady like you!" He rubbed the top of her head. Taking the apricorn, he ran it along his upper lip, and sniffed it--it had taken on her smell and the smells of where she lived. It held a part of the child's essence too now... and that of her spirit guardians. He donned it. "Thank you very much. When I find Azalea I'll be sure to come back and see if I can visit you. You're a very special little pokemon." She wrapped herself up in Chirin's arms again, feeling the warmth of his fur and his body. She was still a little shy of Slink, and he was shy of her, it would take them both a while to learn, to learn how to be friends. But they would learn together. And Goldie had the natural exuberance of her mother - she would make friends easily, even if she had never had much chance to practise the skill until now. He clutched her tight in their last hug, mentally giving her all the love he could. Would he ever be...a father? Some female ampharos raised their young in all-ewe flocks, while the rams spent most of the year away from them, wandering. Other rams clung to a favorite ewe, and knew and loved their progeny well. Chirin had never really thought of what kind of parent he would be. "Now, Slinkie," she said, "want me to show you the island? Some of its kinda dark, but the water's nice and there's lots of private pools and stuff, and tasty berries to eat!" Slink smiled shyly, secretly pleased at the nickname she had, impulsively given him. "I would be glad to," he said, and then looked at Chirin. "Thank you, friend," he said. "May we meet again, in future times. Thank you for everything!" And then he too moved over to Chirin and hugged the Flaafy close. "Oh, Slink...thanks." He returned the hug, just one more hug that had to be extra strong to last a while after. A part of your soul was exchanged in a hug, even if only a little bit. "Thank YOU for everything. You don't know how much this will mean to Goldie, to the unowns and to me. You went beyond kindness...and you've done far more for me than I ever could for you. You've helped us all to resolve a desperate need, and now I can continue on my search for Azalea." Would Azalea turn into a year-round close mate, a favorite ewe? Was she already, in a way? "Bye Slink. And bye Goldie." He ducked his head and wiped it on his wool ruff. "For all the crying I do...I don't know what I'll do when I evolve and I have no wool to wipe my face on." He gave a little laugh. "Maybe I'll wear a cotton bib, huh." He stood at the cave's open exit, still feeling like he wasn't done saying goodbye. Would he ever feel like the time was right to leave? He felt on his belt for something to give them besides hugs and words of love, but he only had his antler and he needed that. It would not make the right kind of present anyway. "Phos's light to you, Goldie and Slink...There's always a little something I say when I'm heading off on a journey...I will follow the light in the sky and point my tail at my shadow. It's somethig you say when you begin a journey...if you're a denryuu. But I think anyone can say it. It's always a good way to think. Goldie, you're still living here and you don't leave the island, but you're still on your own journey, at least...in a way. And I know you're going to use your gift to do amazing things. Actually you have already! But, even more amazing. Slink, during the times when you leave the island...if you look around the beaches, I might be around, maybe. I know that if I have to leave, I'll still be coming back. "Well...Clef in cotton, I sure talk a lot." He looked at them both, one little, blue and round with pink ears, the other larger and white, framed by the dark cavern and cast in slight shadow by his own blue light. "Phos's light to you and may your ancestors love and protect you." Chirin edged back away towards the rocks he had climbed down, and started climbing them back up. He had wanted to ask more questions, about whether the unowns or Goldie had learned any more about Azalea. But it hadn't seemed right to ask. They had forgiven and embraced him again. Goldie was not angry and sad, as he had feared. She and Slink both looked well on their way to a special friendship that both had been lacking. He should be thankful. Reaching his hands up onto the gnarled bushes at the top of where the spire joined the island body, he got up on two feet again, still smelling houndooms. His ears perked up and his nostrils dilated. His eyes picked over the tips of the rocking moonlit grass. It was all quiet. The marowak smell was still present but faded. If there had been any here, they were gone now. It made sense that it had been those marowaks he had seen sailing on ice. Wherever those marowaks were heading, he knew they had something to do with the dark brewing, and that was one with the marowak who held Azalea prisoner. Some little part of him had known for a while that his light path would lead him to marowaks. Chirin still wanted to do one thing before he left, and that was make a quick offering. ~ Calima had an awful dream. She was standing by the chompera pond. There, swimming around, laughing and having fun, was Snake and Chirin. Calima laughed and smiled as she watched them. She could not swim, but she enjoyed watching her friends swim. Then a dorsal-fin poked out of the water...and the shadow of a large fish the size of a gyarados made its way toward Chirin and Snake... Calima tried to yell out to them, to warn them of the danger. But she couldn't speak! She looked in the water. She had no mouth! And she watched, helpless, as the chompera ate Chirin and Snake. Blood splattered onto Calima. She woke up, pale and sweating. Selden, who had been lying up again, looked through the gloom of his own yellow light to see Calima stirring awake. "What--what's wrong?" Mecha jumped from where he sat, startled by the sudden breaks in silence "Everything ok?" he asked, eyes wide "Do you need help?" Selden just stared. He wasn't sure. Calima looked at Seldon and Mecha. "Uh..." Calima said, feeling suddenly stupid. "No..no..its just...no, just a bad dream..." Mecha sighed in relief and then smiled softly "If you'd like to talk about it Calima..." "No, no," Calima said to Mecha. "It...too scary to even think about. I'm fine...G'night Mecha, and Seldon." And Calima rolled over, as if to fall asleep. But she was only pretending. Mecha blinked "If you're sure.." The talk of nightmares bought back bad thoughts and memories on his part...telling Chirin where he had come from...the think he truely was was seeming more a prority than ever. He smiled at Selden "Can you get back to sleep?" His smile coaxed half a one from Selden. "Yes," he said, but he shivered and huddled in his cotton. "When is Chirin coming back?"