The darkness was thinning, weakening as Phos slowly broke down its 
hold on the woods, hollowing out places of light in the clearings and 
out in the fields. But everything lay in the spying grip of something 
huge and looming, vaulting up into the sky and down again in a great 
cathedral of shadow. It was visible to Chirin's *denki* sense only, 
where his sparks reached out guided by his soul. 

The roots of the trees trembled in the dirt. The trembles wobbled up 
into the grass, the grass of a place Chirin had not been to in a long 
time. It was a long grassy pathway arched over by bushes and trees, a 
place that the spirit world seemed to hold forever in summer, and 
held the faces of places in Pharos, mixing with the lands he and the 
farm sheep had flocked through in the rain.

Chirin was running on four mareep legs in the held breath of pre-dawn 
light, just before the grass broke out in a dewy sweat upon Phos's 
arrival. The apricorn shell bounced on his woolly chest. Not long ago 
he had been woolly and he still often was when he dreamed.

Mure, he was hearing her call out through the mist. Mure...

Chirin ran towards the place where the skull lay. He remembered where 
it was, it was right around these bushes here...

A few birds were singing as morning rubbed its eyes. Chirin was being 
pulled out of his dream-self...but he had an idea. He would not let 
it slip away so fast. He could still hear Mure calling in a swoop of 
bleats. His body sparked, and from there his *denki* sense took off 
through the air, forking out in a bush that filled the glade. To his 
closed eyes the flower glade became the cursed glade and Mure's voice 
was crying to him from just beyond the southern side. 

*Why? Why do you call from there?* Oh, why hadn't he known it would 
always return to that place, the spirits would keep calling him back 
there as long as it lived so vividly in his thoughts? There in the 
shadows Calima lurked, her white fur matted with dirt; another moment 
she was snow-white, "I love you," she said and when she opened her 
mouth out poured dirt.  The next moment, the next image of her formed 
within the grave, her feet pulling at their vine bonds, her head 
thrashing. Calima opened red eyes on him. 

*Chirin, help me...He is here. Chirin, you must--*

*What? Mure, come closer! Here I am!* Chirin surged forward with his 
gift, he was in the glade now and refining his connection, reaching 
out--and then he encountered it. His gift met another and it was not 
Mure.

*Chirin, listen to me. He is seeking to build up his power and make 
everything his own. You must practice your gift and stay away from 
him! In the spring, you will be in danger. You must hone your gift!*

*Who? Who?*

Chirin's electric sense probed the trees, the air, from glade to 
glade. Feeling himself half in one realm and half in another, he 
groped for Mure's stroking voice, her lilting touch that had once 
saved him from his own foolishness, saved him from death in the long 
dark sleep.

He had left a shrine for her in the southeastern forest. He had lain 
there a day and awoken from death. He had to find that feeling again, 
now. *Mure come back!*

No answer came. The signature singing from far away that had almost 
always announced her presence was cut off from him. She had not just 
fled. Something, some great dark power, was blocking him from her. 
Surging into the fray of *denki* that fought invisibly, he felt his 
connections batted about, broken and flung around. 

In the flowered glade Chirin rolled on his back, staring at the sky 
that spun, Watakko whirled with the trees her skirt, she swirled as 
he sweated, lying in the cloud of flowers that were reaching towards 
white through the blue of first light. His eyes saw the blue and his 
other sense "saw" the battle. It kept running at plugged burrows, 
throwing itself against stone.

Iris was a little dissapointed she had to go back, but she couldn't 
make Chirin and all them worry again. She would come back tommorow.

She began to retrace her steps. At first, she had to think about 
which way she came, but then, Iris just began to enjoy the way back 
as much as the way there, not really thinking too hard, just 
recognising certain plants or trees.

She passed a few pidgeys, who were just awakening. Normally, she 
would have pounced, but this morning seemed too special. She couldn't 
really describe it. The peaceful surroundings seemed too pristine, 
and if she pounced on one of it's creatures, that it would all 
dissapear, and become an average forest.

Iris had been in a lot of forests. She had lived there all her life, 
except for the few times that they had ventured out onto the 
grassland. The grassland had been a place they went when they were 
tired of rattatas, pidgeys,(occaisionally pikachus, If they could 
avoid being shocked) spearows,  mostly little creatures. They could 
find Stantlers there, and Ponytas. Lot of big pokemon anyway. 

It was now that Chirin appeared in her thoughts. Why did he ask me to 
go get those herbs? She wondered. How could he have known I had been 
here before, Iris laughed. Many times before actually. Her family 
didn't live far from here, or so she thought. She used to come to the 
glade sometimes, and just frolick in the grass and flowers. She had 
come by a trail, that couldn't be seen from the glade itself, but 
once you knew where it was, it was easy.

But this time, it confused her. This time she couldn't find it, she 
had searched the whole edge of the glade, but nothing. She shook her 
head. Maybe it was just a similar glade. But everything was the same. 
She discarded the thought.

Iris looked up, and was very suprised to see that she was hardly 5 
bounds away from the edge. Her feet must know the way better than she 
did. Iris laughed. What a funny thought! Slowing her pace, she looked 
up at the sky through a gap in the trees. She couldn't see the moon, 
sun or any stars which would help her tell the time, but it was 
getting lighter anyway. 

She walked through the edge of the clearing, and ducked back over to 
where she had been sleeping. Before laying her head down, she looked 
around to make sure everyone was still asleep. They appeared to be. 
With a yawn, and feeling very self-satisfied, she settled down into a 
light sleep.

Chirin's gift felt as thought it were knocking itself bloody against 
the wall that spiked against him. He realized he was enmeshed in a 
gift far more advanced than his own. He was making baby steps, 
slapping with fits of crying against this enemy of stone. Chirin 
tried everything to get through to Mure. He tried reaching through 
soil, through trees...All to no avail. Someone did not want them 
talking to each other.

*Mure, please hear me!* he projected to her. It was not his gift that 
projected his and Mure's voices to each other--it was something 
else...something to do with marowaks and bones and souls. 

His feet curled and clenched. He squirmed in the flowers, jostling 
them from below like splashes on the lake surface. 

*Make your time.* 

The voice was not a voice. It was the trees talking. The branches 
rustling in the wind, formed words, all under the grisly direction of 
a power so far down the path of learning from his own, that it was 
something else altogether.

The something was reaching through his own electric gift, shoving it 
away, shapping connections as it drew closer to his body.

*No...Not me, not here...Not the flock!!*

Chirin's up and down motion on the ground was the heaving of his 
lungs. His breath scraped back and forth in his throat with a sound 
like feet running, claws scratching, one, two, one, two... "Not 
here...not here..." His voice trickled out in fragments of whines as 
the gift touched closer to his fear-blazing eyes. It descended on him 
invisible to the eye and the sky seemed to disappear, becoming blurs 
of colors. All he saw was fear.

He lay trying to remain calm and quiet, next to the sleeping sheep. 
His gift was useless against its push.

*You will tell no one of me.*

Chirin could only weep. All he heard was crying.

The evil gift's touch swished the air right above his skin. Then it 
touched him. Chrin tried to get up now. But the paralysis gripped 
him. His muscles could not move. The force had entered him and 
rendered him motionless. Even no Chirin tried, he used his gift to 
try and break the touch--

The evil one ran hands of *denki* over his sweating skin. It felt 
like bugs crawling, water running..then a poking, a series of 
stinging pricks as it dotted into his skin. Tiny nipples of blood 
appeared on his belly and arms.  Chirin could not open his mouth 
freely. He could not scream. The tears coursing down the sides of his 
face were the only thing that could come out of him...

The flowers overhead, surrounding him with helpless love, brushed 
their delicate petals together in a gentle sound, and it kissed the 
air with words.

*You will not struggle.*

All he saw, all he breathed was fear. 

*You are mine.*

Chirin lay there a long time motionless. He did not feel the evil 
gift recede from him; he did not know when it left him alone again. 
But he knew it had. Even with the little expertise he had with his 
own given *denki* sense, he could now tell when it was nearby. It was 
gone, but it could come back any time...

He sat up after a long time, as if awakening from a horrible dream. 
The flecks of blood looked as though thorns could have just poked 
him. He licked the blood off and the wounds were no longer visible. 
They had left no real harm. 

They had not meant to, he knew, they were a warning. All Chirin 
wanted to do was run and tell Hampty, run and tell Boulder, fall 
weeping against them and hug and lick them until the wound in his 
soul began to heal. What he most wanted to do was talk about this and 
it was the thing he could not do. The spirit from Moonhome was back.

Only it was not just the spirit from Moonhome. It was the one Mure 
had always wanted his help from. She was trapped or tormented by 
it...and now it had chosen to loom over him. Chirin did not 
understand this fully, but he could not think straight. All he could 
make out through the chaos inside his thoughts, was that it was 
happening because he had this gift. Hadn't his flock always said, 
that anything was possible, but what they had not told him was that 
nothing came without cost.

He rolled on his side, faced away from the sleeping sheep. He curled 
into himself and wept.

'I was there,' said Crazy Lights. 'I'm with you Chirin. We'll do it. 
We'll get rid of this spirit. We will.'

Chirin did not answer. He did not reach for his charms for a long 
time, thinking how useless they were against this horror. But after a 
long time, he reached out and pulled them towards him, and wrapped 
his young yellow body around them. His lights pulsed faintly like a 
nervous heart.

"Iris," Chirin whispered. He had not even seen her leave...she was 
always like that, able to slip away unnoticed. After all, she was of 
strong magic. Did she know what had happened? Did she...sense it in 
any way? How he longed to tell the flock, tell someone. He lay there 
without jumping up in alarm, he lay there half asleep even, but he 
was more afraid than he ever had been before. It was just a different 
kind of fear, one that stabbed deeper into who he was than anything 
else. It was fear that came from feeling overwhelmed, and of knowing 
that this power was beyond his ability to do anythig to stop it. Was 
he to simply let it march upon him and his friends? What if it seized 
Selden or Thyme or any of the others? 

It was biding its time...

And Chirin blew out a shivery sigh. He let himself stretch out, like 
he had been coiled too tightly and was losing some of his spring. No 
use worrying...only thing to do was go on with things, cast his 
spells and make his forms, live his life and do what Mure had told 
him again and again to do: hone his gift.

~
(24358)

Cleomie walked with her head down, and kept wiping her bleeding 
nose as she followed with the others, with the rams always nearby. It 
made a red mess on her hands.

She kept feeling her mouth with her tongue, which her teeth had cut 
into when he'd slammed her head sort of sideways on the ground. 
Several teeth were a little loose and where her head and face weren't 
strangely numb and tingly, they were hurting. Dammitall, she was 
going to make them hurt ten times over before this whole deal was 
done. She'd think of a way. She was young, and mad and scared. 

"Halt. Elymus, everyone, we go any further south we could lose the 
others. We'll call them from here. Go do it." The ram who'd almost 
beaten her to a pulp stopped the group, and one of the ampharos, 
apparently the one called Elymus, stepped away from the others and 
with a cry of "*Ampharohhhhs!*" struck a bolt of lightning up at the 
sky. It blinked, a branch of electric fingers finding scant outlet up 
in the air. The boom and the flash of light from the dry lightning 
made Jasmine jump. 

Elymus trudged back to the others, "it's done. Now we wait."

To Jasmine's horror, the ram who had hurt Cleomie yanked Jasmine 
towards him by her flipper. She squealed at the rough jerking, which 
hurt her shoulder. 

"What--what did I do--"

He silenced her with a sudden spark from his head jewel. His grassy 
breath and his musk made her feel a little sick inside as he thrust 
his nose towards her. He sniffed at her wool and the back of her 
neck, and she felt like all the baths in the world would never get 
her clean again.

"I smell another ram on her. This one's been had."

The third ram chuckled. 

"You know what that means," said the first ram with a glare that 
sobered up the chuckler. "Means there's more sheep in the area. We've 
got to send another scouting party up there."

He shoved Jasmine away from him, where she bumped into Tea and Cleo. 
The ram faced all three ewes.

"Where'd you see other sheep in these parts?"

The rams also fed, needing even more food to fuel them for the trip. 
They had already been on the move for many days.

A bolt flashed in the air just west of them, followed almost 
immediately by a boom of thunder. It came not from the sky, but from 
an ampharos in the grass.

"That's them," said the lead ram, and he flashed his light 
powerfully. He waited, then a similar flash answered in the west.

"Should we go?" said one amp. The leader shook his head.

"Let these lambs graze. We don't want'em collapsing on the way, 
although if they do I don't think it'll make much difference."

"By the lake," said Cleomie, her words a little distorted coming from 
a swollen tongue and lips. If she was stuck with these jerks, so 
should the rest of them! Chirin deserved it more than her anyway, 
he'd killed his own friend. And if they went looking for others that 
might distract them enough for her to get the hell out of 
here. "there's a whole bunch of them."

"The lake," said another ram to the first. "We were told to stay 
clear of the lake for now."

"no reason we can't send a scout or two," said the first. "If these 
three are all we get, plus those other three, we can spare one ram to 
at least locate'em." 

At that moment a light flashed brightly in the east, answering the 
bolt from before. "Well, that's them. Come on. We'll tell them when 
we get there."

Cleomie, Jasmine and Tea were prodded into picking up and keeping 
pace with the rams' longer strides.

Snapper would have sparked in anger, if she had yet discovered her 
*denki*. Instead, her tail light just blazed brighter as she continued 
grazing, wincing as she chewed her cud. Ohh...when she got stronger, 
she'd show that jerk for beating up on her! 

Ivy went on grazing silently, showing no reaction to the ram's cooments. 
What would be the point in getting angry with them? It wouldn't get 
them anywhere in the end... What worried her most right now was something 
she had already seen happen. Either Snapper mouthing off unintentionally 
again, or a ram's interest in her. She didn't yet have to deal with that 
concern for herself...not unless she did end up evolving. And she 
wouldn't if she could help it. 

The randy ram grazed close to Snapper, eyeing her peripherally even 
as he held his gaze forwards at the grass. He wondered why a flaaffy 
wasn't showing much sign of electricity...even newborn lambs could 
make sparks, even if they could not control them or store any of 
their electric power. Maybe she was some kind of freak. Oh well, she 
still appealed to him...if only because she was a spirited one, a 
spirit to break like he had broken those of many other ewes.

Snapper felt herself grow uncomfortable, feeling as though she was 
being watched...and the fact that the ram who had tried to pick a fight 
with her was grazing so close. She threw a warning glare at him, jaw 
throbbing. 

Ivy also threw a warning glare at the ram, but for her own reasons. She 
knew better than Snapper did about that sort of thing, and would be sure 
the ram didn't lay a hoof on her little sister. Or would do as best she 
could. Could she really defend her little sister if it came down to it..? 

Out from the west came a flock of lights. Rye watched them approach. 
They were too far for him to recognize if he knew any of them, but at 
least one of the blue lights looked, sadly, familiar.
As the other group came into view he saw that among the three amps 
were Cleomie, Jasmine and Tearose--minus Fluffy. So he was finding 
the others after all...

As the other group came into plain view, Ivy dropped a piece of grass she 
had been grazing on, eyes wide. So...they hadn't been the only ones found. 

Snapper noticed too, and was frankly rather glad there were more. The 
more, the more chance they had of getting by these jerks! 

"Hm." The lead ram of the five who had remained with Snapper, Ivy and 
Rye went over to the new arrivals, sniffing each of them 
out. "They've got a strange ram on them."

"I know. From somewhere by the lake, from what they say. Didn't take 
them long to squeal." He squeezed Cleomie's flank with his flipper. 
Cleomie jumped back, sparking out at him on reflex.

The two rams laughed. 

Rye, too shocked to do much more than observe, watched as a bruised 
and bloodied Cleomie was shoved over towards them, followed by 
Jasmine and Tearose. Cleomie glared at them like she glared at the 
rest of the world. 

"I was thinking one or even two of us could go check it out," said 
the ram who had been leading the smaller group. "We could spare three 
and still have one per stranger with us."

"Three's too risky, it pares us down too far," said the leader, who 
had stubby ears and small beady eyes. "Send two. Phalaris," he 
pointed to one of the younger-looking rams, who although somewhat 
tall lacked some of their height, and much of their bulk. He had 
overlarge ears and feet, much like Chirin did, and had hung on the 
periphery mostly while the older rams did the bullying. When the 
leader's flipper pointed to him his lights brightened. "And you, go 
with him. Both of you search this side of the lake." He whirled on 
Jasmine and Cleomie and Tea, and on second thought included all the 
captives in his gaze. "Where did any of you see these other sheep?"


"By the lake, the west side, up north of here," said Cleomie, 
sounding a little annoyed...which was unusually calm and patient by 
Cleo's standards. Her flickering lights, similar to the other 
captives', revealed that she'd never been so scared in her 
life. "Only a few of them," she added to try and discourage them, 
clutching her aching, bruised snout as she spoke. Her nose still bled 
but had slowed down. She'd tell them anything, anything to get their 
eyes off her.

"How many."

"Now that many."

"How many." His light flashed more forcefully.

"Five of'em. Plus some enemies hanging around acting all friendly. 
You can kill those for all I care, they're nasty."

"You hear that?" said the lead ram to Phalaris and the other 
one. "Head up there following any trail you can. Locate them, and 
return to us. We'll send reinforcements as needed." He didn't trust 
Cleo's words, and wanted to see this flock for sure. They had 
alreadyr rounded up a considerable number of rather helpless flaaffy 
and mareep. Despite a couple of feisties, these sheep were the same 
sort of thing--ridiculously easy to catch. They had not kept alert, 
and had basically just sat and watched them approach and surround 
them. The leader watched the two ampharos trot off through the grass 
and then turned to the captive flaaffies and mareep. Six in all. 

"We are taking you to a new home where you will be safe from all 
enemies," he said, "and part of a new flock of light." 

He started walking; the other six rams picked up too. "Come on."

~

How many more shadows would stalk his light-path? How many more 
secrets would they force him to keep? Chirin saw his future as a 
never-ending scramble, to climb out of a hole whose walls kept 
rising. The sheep would wake soon. Thyme. Boulder would wake up soon. 
How could he face the day with this thing hanging on him? How could 
he lapse into pleasant conversation--and not be able to tell them, 
lest this horror hurt them too? 

What would happen if he told them? Would they try to seek it out, 
fight it? Could he even explain to Boulder...that even the steel 
snake's sheer brute strength might be useless against this? How could 
he begin life again now that this was upon him, how could he indulge 
in fun and passions with this secret festering inside him? 

He closed his eyes and rolled on his back again, practicing the deep 
breathing that always brought him calm. Whatever it was he had to 
take this from a calm stance. There was always a way.

"Anything is possible."

Iris blinked, and woke up when she heard Chirin's sigh. For a moment 
she lay there, listening. After a moment, she walked over to him.
'Chirin?' She whispered.

"Iris." He raised his head and opened his eyes. The vulpix sat right 
before him. Chirin reached out with shaking flippers and collected 
her, hugging her gently against him. "I'm all right," he said, 
knowing he smelled of fear and sounded it too. It dripped from him 
with every shiver. But as he hugged her he began to cry again, if 
only for the relief of hugging someone. No matter what, they would be 
all right. Chirin would spend all winter practicing his gift. 
Starting today.

Would the evil one know if he was honing his skills? Would it--he--
try to put a stop to it by harming him or the others? All Chirin 
could do was keep a watch out for the dark other and do what he could 
to use spirit powers to build up a defense for himself and the flock. 
His spell against Bangaa had worked. Surely Bangaa was worse even 
than this evil one? 

"The dawn is soon to wake, Phos just stirring in his dreams," Chirin 
whispered to Iris. "How are you? How was your night-journey--in or 
out of dreams?"

Iris nodded. 'I'm fine.' She whispered back. 'And I did enjoy the 
little solitude, although I'm glad I'm back.'
She hugged Chirin tightly.

She had some idea of what Chirin was going through, but Iris realised 
she could never understand it fully unless she set out to do the same 
as him.

'If you ever need any help against those evil spirits,' She said 
softly, 'I will support you.'

"Oh..." Chirin clutched her in shivering arms, relishing every bit of 
her small furry hug about his shoulders. "You don't know what it 
means to me...to hear you say that. It is so dangerous, so 
horrifying...sometimes I feel so alone and overwhelmed by the dark. I 
feel it eating away at me and I don't know what to do...but then my 
friends they come and hug me and...let me know they'll be there. You 
know that I'll be there for you too Iris...and that you have already 
supported me so well."

For that moment it made no differene whether she was more vulpix or 
more the spirit of the glade. It did not matter. She was his friend 
and support of a friend made no difference as to the strength of the 
friend...it was the strength of the love and the bond that he felt 
mattered most. It was what went into this hug, soul moving muscle to 
embrace another, the best defense against all the evil out there.

~

Well, that was satisfying meal, he thought, leisurely crunching on a 
slightly burnt pine bough. The ashes gave it a nice tang. But gah, 
because of the sap and pine needles, now he had minty-fresh breath!

Best to get back fairly soon, so nobody would miss him. He sighed, 
and stretched out to his full length, listening to the various pops 
produced. He started back, making his movements quieter as he drew 
closer to the glade. He finally settled back down to his former 
position, grining slightly at the still sleeping dark pup.

~

Karama and Fluffy didn't answer right away. Then Karama took a deep 
breath and looked up at the ampharos. 

"Errr," she began akwardly. "Its just...I don't wanna say incase I 
might hurt Iris' feelings...I'm...Iris...errr...Sure you'll 
understand, me being a plant-eater...We are just...Fluffy and I are 
just a...bit nervous around you...If that hurts your feelings then 
we are very, very sorry," she added quickly. Fluffy nodded slowly. 

"Oh..." Chirin embraced the two sheep, then drew back. The evil 
attack on him still shook him, but now with his friends coming 
forward and talking to him it gave him something to focus on--they 
needed him and he was still here for them. This was what 
counted. "Iris is way too small to hunt mareep even if she wanted to. 
And you have no need to worry at all. Iris would never want to hurt 
us. She's been with us all day...you never seemed nervous before 
now...although I know that the darkness increases many fears. I know 
I get scared easily in the dark because of the different spirit 
presence. But our lights shine brightly together." Inwardly, he 
wondered why on Mother Megga they did not seem to fear Snake at all--
not even Fluffy. They had both taken to Snake quite easily, and 
didn't seem too shaken by Boulder and Artemis, and yet this small 
sweet vulpix frightened them too much to sleep with the flock? It 
confused and even frightened him. Their behavior was odd, and he 
wondered again what spirits were influencing them. 

"I'm just glad you came out and told me," he said. "Now we don't have 
to whisper and wonder.We can alltalk together like a flock should. 
Know that Iris would never hurt any of us and we would never hurt 
her. She is welcome to stay with me as long as she likes, and Iris, 
any time you would like to I can help you find your home and family. 
But right now..." Chirin embraced Karama and Fluffy again, nosng into 
their silver wool. "You're very precious to me and I love all of you. 
We're all a flock here,  and this is a flock of many colors and 
scents. It's a special one helped along by the beacon light of the 
guardian tree and nurtured by our own souls' shining. But fear is 
normal, at first...I'll do everything I can to help. How about we say 
hi to each other, the two of you, me and Iris? We can all learn 
things about each other's light-paths and how we all came together."

~

Tod'd wondered about aimlessly.  After several times of tripping and 
falling down, he finally managed to get himself to walk more slowely 
slowely.  He had his hands out in front of him as well to try and make 
sure he didn't run in to any more trees.  He managed to think of this 
after running into at least 6 or 7 trees and large rocks.  He had no 
real clue where he was, for all he knew he could have been wandering 
around in circles (which he was).

"IS ANYONE OUT THERE!", he shouted with frustration.  He needed help, 
but he just didn't know what to do.  He finally sat him self down, he 
sat rocking back in forth with his hands on his knees, just trying to 
stay awake.  He was pretty sure it was dark, and he wanted to be alert 
if any predator was to attack.

~

Petunia had woken up too and was nibbling on some flowers. Patches of 
eaten foliage showed like a mange in the meadow. It was time to move 
on as son as everyone was up and ready. Chirin noticed Boulder was 
still gone; it would give him time to collect his soul energy and 
wind his thoughts back together, more like they had been before the 
assault of the darkness on him. It appeared that although it was so 
powerful it wanted to remain hidden. It had not just killed them all 
outright, even though Chirin knew it could have. It was hiding, 
waiting for something. Chirin had all winter to hone his gift. There 
was time...if...he...would let him. Chirin suddenly felt even more 
afraid of being alone.

Chirin sat up next to Fluffy and Karama and Iris while chewing cud, 
and blinked his light just because it always seemed to rouse the good 
around. He went into his deep breathing and self-massage, starting 
with his right foot. It took a little while before he began to enjoy 
it--so deep ran the wound inside, of this great horrible spirit 
placing its burden on him. But slowly as he kneaded his foot and then 
shin with his flippers and gazed around the clearing, the spirits 
came to him and told him there was hope. The flowers nodded agreement.

"Thank you, thank you," he whispered.

"We're a bit nervous because...I remember that black vulpix at the big 
burrow that led you into that pit! Remember? And Snake tried to save 
you?" Fluffy blurted out. 

Snake, who had been watching with one eye open, shook a bit then closed it. 

Chirin let his breath sigh out, keeping it even and calm. That 
horrible day in the rain was not one that he wanted to bring back 
into his mind, nor did he want talk of it in the air. It could 
attract the evil spirit in the glade...and if that was the same one 
that had attacked him...But no, this dark thing that had swooped down 
on him had done so to prevent Mure and him from talking. It was not 
the same one...

Still, best to keep talk about the days in that storm brief. 

"Iris is not that poor possessed vulpix," said Chirin. "I know, I was 
very scared because that was a day of darkness. But Iris looks and 
sounds and smells and acts, nothing like that vulpix. She is a vulpix 
of light, I have felt her light. And even more, I've felt her hugs." 

Why Snake had even come out to try and save him that day, he did not 
understand. He saw her watching him, and included her in his smile 
and then he leaned over and licked Fluffy's cheek. She was very 
fearful, and that fear would serve her well. He gave her a nuzzle and 
picked a flower. He handed it to her. "Here...enjoy a munch before we 
get up and start moving soon."

The spirit's attack on him made him want to get going more than he 
had before. Knowing that it did not matter where he went, didn't 
change his feeling. The ancestors spoke to him with the wisdom of 
avoiding a place where enemies attacked you.

Snake's eyes snapped open. She heared something... 

"Back in a sec Chirin," Snake muttered, slithering towards the sound. 
Before long, the pink arbok came to a strange looking totodile. 

"Did you just yell awhile ago?" Snake asked kindly. "Are you okay?"

"Phos's light to you," Chirin stood and shone his tail towards her, 
then sat down. Night was departing but it stull hung in nooks and 
crannies of the forest, hiding there in shrinking dark islands. He 
would wait for her; it was still very early anyway and some sheep 
were still asleep.

He too had heard the distant cry of a young pokemon in some distress, 
but with Boulder and Artemis both gone he could not leave the flock 
to seek it out. Now could he call out to it, and risk waking the 
sheep up too quickly. No, Snake was the best one to do this. He hoped 
she would bring back whoever it was, here if they needed help. The 
call had sounded slightly familiar.

Chirin continued his self massage, closing his eye and rolling his 
neck around gently. He aimed to knead every lump of darkness out of 
him; a massage did not only help to energize and soothe the body, but 
the soul and mind too. He reminded himself that this evil had 
attacked him before and he had survived. He would again. He rolled on 
his back and stared up at the sky's changing colors. Blue was 
blushing into lavender. It made him breathe in hard and blink back 
tears just looking at it. The day was about to be born. He had 
survived a horrible ordeal that the darkness promised to follow up 
on. But they didn't know the power of light. They didn't understand 
how the heart swayed the soul and gave it strength.

Feeling that now was the time to communicate to the spirits in the 
glade, Chirin donned his belt, after shining his tail along its 
length on both sides, as well as into the sack with the pebbles. He 
did the same for the antler and put it on too. And he let himself 
graze idly, warming up to the coming day slowly. Slow was best; 
otherwise he might miss something. Rush through the journey of waking 
up and preparing to start the day, and you might miss the most 
important messages that everything around you was trying to 
communicate.

~

Tod'd insticively lashed out, but luckly he missed.  Since he realized 
the pokemon wasn't going to hurt him.  The voice also seemed a little 
familiar.  "Y-yeah it was me.  I-i can't see.  And I'm very thristy," 
he said a little shaken up.


~

Phalaris followed Gunya's lead through the grass as dawn approached; 
the older ram had always been one of the ones he looked up to. The 
youth, who had only joined the elite this past summer, was still 
looked down upon by the other more experienced rams. He had yet to 
prove himself and this was his chance to. As Phos prepared to gleam 
over the world again, he sloughed off his tiredness and trotted to 
keep up with Gunya.

These cycles of Phos were taking some getting used to, as were the 
cold nights, but Phalaris was quickly picking up on it, even learning 
to enjoy it.

Phalaris was one of the only rams newer to the Mure than Gunya-gunya, 
and Gunya hadn't really told him. Because of his mature age, Phalaris 
assumed he'd been with them a while, but that was not the case. Gunya 
had been one of a small flock to the far southwest, taken captive in 
the same way as they were doing now. It had taken long hard work to 
prove his faithfulness to the New Flock of Light. Gunya would not 
return with empty flippers.

The two strong and sturdy rams quickly made their way northwest, 
scenting the air and dipping around in a curve to give room to a 
scent of enemies.

~

Iris looked at the other sheep questioningly. Do you want me to go 
first?

Chirin sensed some reluctance, namely in Fluffy's persistent fear. 
Was she really scared of Iris because of that dark vulpix? Well, he 
had to consider that she was a young sheep who had been the victim of 
possession herself once. Perhaps he was trying to gloss too easily 
over fears that would not just blink away.

He might be asking a little much--he was asking them to reveal 
possibly personal things to each other. Although that had not been 
his intent, they might perceive it that way. "Or, I could just tell 
you all our plans," he said, shivering in the frosty air and gunning 
up his *denki* to wash him warm. He briefly crackled with electricity 
all over, the sparks like slender snakes weaving over him like 
vines. "Goodness, it's cold this morning." He looked at the sky; a 
mat of clouds had moved over the sunrise. Phos would lie hidden 
today. Chirin smelled some sign of rain on the way, but nothing that 
would necessarily hit today. This region really was a lot colder than 
Pharos. "Early in the year for such cold! Although, I'm speaking from 
my personal experience--back in my homeland it is never this cold 
this early. Although it was often quite cloudy. Rainier there than 
here. Oh--hey! There I go, I just told a bit of where I come from--
and I wasn't even trying to! Funny what a little bit of talk about 
the weather will do."

His pleasantly blinking lights, in tandem with his giggle, beat their 
rhythm on the surrounding flowers and on his audience. He had tried 
his best to lighten the mood and he could really do no more for now 
except keep an eye on everyone and move ahead. His well-rested body 
and soul were eager to travel. "Well, it's certainly light enough now 
that we can all wake up some and start moving soon--as soon as 
Boulder arrives. Can't very well leave without him. He's leading us 
all."

Chirin knew the spirits of the glade--espeially with Iris so close--
were helping him to loosen and lighten up after what had happened to 
him with the attack. They were soothing him, telling him it would be 
all right. Such things seemed to have almost become commonplace to 
him--darkness here, darkness there. He had survived so much of it 
that his soul had learned how to bounce back from such horrors 
easily, he supposed. Although he knew he would never really get used 
to it. And when a cold wind whipped the pines behind him he started, 
standing fully up with his lights aflash before realizing it was only 
Watakko's mischievous little children playing games with him...or was 
it? He reached out with his gift to poke around for the dark denki's 
presence, but found nothing. Either the evil hid too well from him or 
he really was alone. Keeping his *denki*-sense aware, he turned back 
to Iris and the two silver sheep. He could keep the connections there 
while doing other things, perhaps; that was one way to practice as 
well as keep a lookout for the dark forces. 

He hoped that the traces of apprehension were not still showing on 
his face. If they were he could always tell them about what had 
happened with the light-run in the glade--that was the truth, and it 
had frightened him very much at any rate. This--other darkness--was 
such a different species from the other, though...

"Anyway," he said as Selden ran over to him and geabbed him from 
behind, "--*amp!* Selden, ahh, always sneaking up on me." He turned 
around and pulled Selden into his lap. "Anyway, all we have to do is 
work together as a flock and I am sure that, like Snake and Artemis 
and Boulder, you will see that Iris may be another kind from us but 
she is one with our flock and as a friend. Selden--"

The flaaffy had stood up and was trying to push Chirin over, 
wrestling. Chirin, trying to make himself playful after what had 
happened to him in the dawn, lowered his head, "*Aaaamp!*" and gently 
butted Selden's head. It felt good to just headbutt something 
sometimes. 

Selden, bumped a few steps back, waited as Chirin got up, then he 
scampered away to the other side of the glade, only a few paces away, 
and Chirin followed. He stood there on all fours to meet Selden's 
headbutt, receiving the impact harmlessly on his large head jewel. An 
ampharos's head jewel varied dramatically in size; some had tiny 
pebbles of lights there while others had a great dome larger than an 
apricorn. Most had one somewhere in between. They were all harder 
than rock and, in the rams, that hardness was often put to the test. 

Selden bounced back, the light collision reflecting on the much 
lighter sheep. He fell back giggling and Chirin jumped on him, 
rolling in the flowers with his favorite wrestling partner. Selden 
bleated in triumph as he pinned Chirin down by his chest. Chirin 
reached up to tickle the flaaffy silly. 

Only this, only a careless play with Selden, could help him put 
behind him what had happened. Mure would not have come to him and 
warned him, told him to hone his gift, if she had not thought it was 
safe to and that there was hope. She had not told him he would die. 
There was hope.

"Everybody who wants to play before we go," said Chirin, trying 
uselessly to fight Selden's tickles, "Join in!" His feet kicked and 
his tail sparked as Selden tickled his under the flipper.

Norra' Flecka woke to gentle lights playing across her face. Shimatta, 
had she fallen asleep after that Otachi snack? Stretching, she noticed that 
Chirin and his flock of sheep had come back. That was good, she was a little 
bored. Gosh, she had slept the whole night away. Was she gaining Upper World 
habits? Walking nearer to Chirin and the others, she noticed him tickling yet 
another of those pink sheep. Ack, she couldn't tell the difference between 
all the Flaaffys. "Ga' morning'a..." she said through a yawn. Geez, she 
really was gaining Upper World habits! She shook her head briskly and snapped 
more awake.

~

Phalaris and Gunya had not slept since yesterday afternoon, traveling 
all night to reach this place without having to wait for tomorrow. 
Gunya knew they had to stop to rest soon. Phalaris was keeping up 
well, but the younger ram strode to impress him and equal his own 
experience-won strength, and neither of them were as alert as they 
had to be out here, especially with only the two of them.

"I smell other pokemon all right, up that way," he geatured 
northwest, "but no amps," Gunya called to Phalaris as they grazed a 
few paces apart. "Growlithe and eevee and--tauros. We'd best stay 
clear of whatever it is."

"The sheep could be hiding from us, in those woods," said Phalaris, 
staring out at the distant forest, plain to be seen. Beyond there was 
the lake and they were not to go there. Too many risks and unknown 
things involved with the lake. Too many powerful spirits. 

"They wouldn't know to hide from us, Laris," said Gunya, fingering 
the wooden charm tied round the top of his flipper. It was frowned 
upon, but never would he have taken a journey like this without its 
protection. "To them we're just ordinary rams on the lookout for 
ready ewes, and nothing more." Thre was a hint of sadness in his 
voice. He picked up and walked on, and after grabbing a mouthful of 
grass Phalaris followed.

~

"Good morning--Norra--" Chirin planted his flippers on Selden's chest 
and pushed him off, holding the giggling flaaffy at bay. If only, for 
a moment, he could be that flaaffy, with no idea of what had gone on 
last night. 

He caught his breath, still smiling, putting on a front that he did 
his best to become. "How was your dream-journey? The clouds have 
crowded in," he said, looking up at the sky, "but I was planning on 
heading out of here as soon as Boulder returns. It might be a wet 
trip," he said with a chuckle. He hoped the rain wouldn't chill Norra 
too much. She lacked wool or electricity to heat her. He remembered, 
then, that marowaks highly disliked the rain. "Are you going to be 
all right if it rains? We're headed out into the grasslands where 
there isn't any cover from it."

"Well'a..." Norra thought about it. She knew what a dream was, at least. She 
hardly ever dreamed, and when she did, it was usually about world conquest. 
But Chirin probably wouldn't like to hear about beheading pokémon and making 
the strong ones obey her every whim.... "Norra' canna' rememberra'.." she 
said. 

"Often I can't remember my own dreams either," said Chirin. He 
usually could, but sometimes awakened with only a vestige of a 
memory, more a feeling than anything he could remember seeing or 
hearing. A few snatches of an adventure he had been on all night--the 
sense of who he had been with, and whether it had been pleasant or 
frightening or otherwise...Never had he had a dream all light or all 
dark. There was always a feeling of excitement or curiosity, but 
along with it this urgency, to figure things out and pursue where the 
journey was taking him. He always seemed to wake up before he got 
there.

She looked up and saw the sky rather overcast. Was rain what the 
falling water from the sky was? "Rain'a badda', demo, norra' too long'a 'go, 
gotta' waterra' powers fromma' Waterra' Stone'a. Waterra' norra so badda." 
she finished. "Still'a norra' like'a much'a, though!" she added quickly. 
"Canna' surra'vive'a rain'a." she concluded.

"Oh! Lights of the first ones, I've heard of those stones too! 
Boulder told me all about them. He said they have the power to help 
you discover your soul's powers. So your soul power is of the element 
of water?" That was amazing--so even a marowak could have a soul of 
water, which seemed to run so counter to its nature. "So you'll be 
all right when it rains. That makes me feel very good to know--I 
wouldn't want you to suffer in wet weather."

Norra blinked as she comprehended Chirin's question. "Yessa', I have'a 
waterra' powers." she nodded. "Wetta' weatherra' norra' canna' hurt'a me! I 
amma' Norra' Flecka, the alla'mighty!" Norra cried, clenching her fists and 
tightening her grip on her bone.

Chirin suppressed a slight shudder when he saw those fists grip her 
bone club. She was still a marowak, with power over his kind, whom 
his ancestors remember all too well and who would always strike fear 
into him easily. He understood that right now she probably wasn't 
trying to dominate him, but his lights brief strobe betrayed his 
feelings before he could steady it. The sparks wrapping him in 
sporadic warmth briefly increased, clouding over him. He breathed out 
a globe of frost. "Yes," he said, "yes...Norra, you are quite all 
mighty. But let us never forget that the strongest powers are not 
within your attacks or mine, but in our souls. And the strongest 
forces of all are the spirits who sway the lands. The spirits of this 
very glade have sheltered us well." Even if they had not held the 
dark spirit at bay, he doubted that anything could, save his gift if 
he practiced it enough. He could not hold onto hopes that another 
good spirit would come and frighten it away and break its power. If 
you waited for someone else to solve problems...

"That water stone endowed you with a special gift," said Chirin. "I 
guess down in the underground you didn't have to worry about rain, 
but up here your abilities will protect you."

A thought struck him. "Norra," he said, "when you lived down 
underground...how did you see?"


~

The sleeping Artemis made small groans as the morning sun showed itself to 
her. The houndoom had a dreamless sleep, which in thought she was thankful 
for. At least she wasn't shocked to death THIS morning. With moans and 
groans, plus a pounding headache, Artemis stood up. She was able to stand 
better at least today. But the sun's early rays blinded her b/c of the fact 
she is facing the east where the sun rises. Shaking herself, Artemis looked 
about with blurry eyes...noticing Boulder next to her. With a clumsy walk 
she went and licked his cheek. Then looked about for the others, although 
having big problems...

"Ch-chirin?"

Her voice was crackly, and hard to completly understand. Artemis couldn't 
understand, what was the matter with her.

"CH-CHIRIN!?!"

Calling Chirin like that zapped her mentally and she colapsed.

"Artemis!" Chirin stood up in a puff of static. He ran to her side. 
The evil spirit! His gift lanced out along the lines of the air but 
he did not sense its presence anywhere. Not stopping him, not hiding 
from him. So many evils there were that it could be anything. Din?

"Artemis!" He shone his light at her, "Come back, come back!" Artemis 
had collapsed in sudden death! He crouched over the houndoom and 
pressed his head against her black shoulder, hearing her blood pulse, 
and willing her spirit to return. 

He found the special stone she had given him in his sack, and took it 
out, fumbling it into his flippers. He leaned over her and ducked his 
head down into his hands and pressed the bridge ofhis nose to the 
stone. *Artemis...I call you back...Artemis...*

Artemis smelt Chirin, that seemed to be her only good working sense besides 
hearing and touch. She tried to lick Chirin, but there were 3 Chirin's 
standing in front of her.

"Chirin...I'm here, yet I can't see...or not well at least, and where did 
all the other Chirin's come from? And my voice doesn't sound right. What's 
the matter?"

She whimpered lightly, afraid...her dog brain wasn't acknowledgeable about 
things such as side-effects.

"Oh, no, Artemis..." Chirin sniffed her nose; she was right in that 
it did not smell quite the same as it had before. It was subtly 
different. "Other Chirins?" He looked around and sent his gift sense 
into the air around him. They picked up nothing to indicate other 
ampharos anywhere around. "You're sick, Artemis...a spirit of illness 
has crept into you and is tormentint your soul away from your body. 
It is hurting your body and mind. And...you speak of other 
Chirins...you are having a vision from the spirit realm. Other 
ampharos...other ampharos nearby."

He wriggled in a chill. "Just lie here, you will be fine. As soon as 
Boulder returns, he can help me find the right plant to heal you." 
Rightnow he didn't want to feed her anything. She had eaten a lot of 
plants last night and too much might hurt her or even more, her pups.

"I will shine my light as a beacon," he said with a swish of his red-
bulbed tail. "You must cling to it with your soul and climb up out of 
it as you rest. Everything's going to be all right...we are beacons, 
we are beacons, we are denryuu."

The evil had desecrated this glade. They all had to get out of it 
soon. "We must leave this place, it's been tainted by the evil 
spirits now. It is a good and loving glade but the darkness followed 
us, followed us in."

Chirin pressed his head against her neck and began to cry. He could 
not help but feel that all these spirits had followed him, they 
persisted on his trail and he would never be free, nor would any of 
his friends.

Blinking at the light, Norra' Flecka thought about it. "Verra' verra' dimma' 
light inna' Unnerground'a, live'a therra' long'a anna' eyes adjust'a so yorra 
canna' see. Otherra' pokémonna', like'a Zubatta', they norra' evenna' have'a 
eyes! They use'a Superra'sonic'a 'lots, anna' I think'a itta' help'a themma' 
see." she explained. 

"Fascinating...a light within even the darkest place," said 
Chirin. "I was never able to see this light because my own light 
outshone it so. Our kind's ambience isn't so subtle," he said with a 
smile. 

Then Artemis came in, moaning about something.
 
    "Three'a Shirinna'?!" Norra asked, looking back at Chirin and squinting. 
She only saw one Chirin. She moved her head back and forth, checking if maybe 
there was another Chirin behind the first Chirin, but she didn't see any more 
Chirins. "I onna'ly see one'a.." 

    Norra paid attention to Chirin's whining about evil spirits infiltrating 
the glade. "Well'a, norra' worry, we arra' leaving'a to the grassa'lans 
soon." she attempted to console the crying Denryuu, patting him on the back, 
about as high as she could reach, only being a stout Marrowak of almost 3 
feet, even though he WAS bending over to Artemis. Geez, only a couple of days 
ago, she would have tried to kill Chirin, now she was trying to make him feel 
better. What was the world coming to?

"Thank you so much Norra, for your words of light...I know, we've got 
to get out of here very soon. Before anything else happens. I'm 
having strong spirit messages for us to all leave--all the glade is 
warning us that we must flee, we must get to safety."

"Yorra' wella'come." Norra said, nodding. "Good'a morning'a, Boulderra'." 
she greeted the Steelix, then turned her attention to Artemis. Was she going 
to be all right?

Never in all his life had he thought he would receive such comfort 
from a marowak. What tales he would have to tell those in Pharos 
should he ever return there! There were, after all, many other sheep 
there besides his flock, and he wondered if they would even believe 
him if he said that one of his best light-friends was a marowak.

 Artemis felt Chirin crying into her...and she smiled. But it didn't turn out 
quite right, her whole body was kinda numb.

"It's okay Chirin, I'll be alright....but I'm still hungry. Where did 
Boulder go?"

She sighed and layed her head on her paws. Although her whole body had this 
annoying buzzying feeling. Artemis constantly flicked her tail, hoping this 
buzz would go away.

"I don't know," said Chirin, "I assume he went to enjoy the night and 
let himself roam free and alone. Many..." he sniffled, "many people 
need to do this and there has been a lot of darkness around. Just 
think of the light, feel my light," his tail rested on her 
body. "Feel the light and let it wash the illness away. Boulder may 
know what is wrong and how you can heal when he comes back. How do 
you feel now? Do you feel any better?"

~

The two large ampharos curved their direction more north than 
northeast as they approached the wood. They smelled other sheep by 
now, both rams and ewes, although mostly young. Wherever they were 
they were too far to smell really clearly. 

They kept their eyes open for denryuu tracks and spoor but saw 
neither. Despite his long days of training in various surroundings, 
including forest, Gunya-gunya rubbed his charm again and stayed back 
from entering the forest that had garnered so many frightful tales 
about the place. Even in a land as distant as his one-time home range 
they had talked fearfully of the eerie lake.

~

Boulder shrugged his way through a bush, twisting to try and 
disentangle himself from it. The only thing he succeeded in doing, 
however, was rip it up by the roots. Dangit! He curved back and 
clamped down on the offending shrubbery, yanking it off with a jerk 
of his head, and stuffed it back where it belonged, his tail pressing 
it neatly back into the soul as he moved past. Ugh, he'd never get 
used to moving in wooded areas. How could people stand having to 
dodge trees all of the time? He remembered briefly when he was an 
Onix and had ventured into a forest. Ge'd probably knocked over a 
score of trees, and gouged or impaled twofold that number trying to 
dodge their bulk. Too bad they couldn't just move away when you came.

He shook himself awake as he saw a bit of sun peek through gaps in a 
cloudbank, and was shaken even more awke by plowing into a tree while 
he wasn't paying attention, just like he was little. The only 
difference between the two times being that now he'd nearly knocked 
the tree over, instead of practically giving himself whiplash. He 
shook a few leaves from his head and finally hit upon the track he'd 
made, suddenly hearing Artemis' voice rise up in a panicked shout.

"What in the magma happened here?" He asked, staring at the rather 
peculiar-- but decidedly familiar-- scene of an Ampharos blaring his 
light and waving a pebble, and Artemis crumpled on the ground, 
groaning. He lowered his head, eyes all but closing automatically to 
preserve his eyesight. He nudged Artemis gently. "What's wrong with 
her?" He asked Chirin, seeing Artemis wasn't in a talking condition. 

Chirin heard the crashing, limb-ripping sound of Boulder's messy 
arrival through forest long before Boulder arrived. He looked tearily 
up at Boulder. "Oh, Boulder, I'm so happy to see you again. I need 
your advice on healing. Artemis must have some down sick in the 
night, maybe she was attacked in the dream-world, I don't know. Her 
voice is different and she sees other ampharos." In this glade! Could 
it be--the spirits of his ancestors were here and he just could not 
see them? Only in her sickened state, perhaps, could she see 
them... "I don't know who they are, and I can't sense them at all. 
Only she sees them. She smells different and is not seeing things the 
same. An evil spirit is afoot in this clearing! It is attacking 
Artemis. Boulder, do you know of any herbs that could help to heal 
her?"

His tail flicked, he bowed his head against Artemis again as he held 
the pebble in his folded hand. 

Selden stood nearby, and he leaned against Chirin, who took a moment 
to hug the flaaffy. "It's going to be okay, Artemis will be fine. 
Remember when you were even sicker and we healed you all right?"

Chirin waved his flippers and brought up a bit of cotton. He grabbed 
what he could, "Selden, help me grab this and place ut under 
Artemis's head." 

He made a crude pillow out of his cotton for her to lie her head on.

 "Hmm... Artemis is seeing three of you, and smells differently. An 
evil spirit is afoot, you say?" He considered the words, looking back 
upon his youth. "I've seen this before. The evil spirit you are 
speaking of... ther is none. Sometimes, good spirits can do bad 
things, you see? One rule of healers is universal throughout all the 
species: The best intentions can have the worse results."

"The best care for her that I can give lays not within herbs, because 
they are what caused this. There are some herbs that are malicious, 
which you can use to inflict great harm unto others with. Most, 
though, are kind to the body, though if you give leave for to many of 
them to enter, they will not leave it in perfect order. She should 
not have eaten quite so much of the herbs yesterday."


"The universal rule of healers..." Chirin breathed in 
sharply. "Goodnes...I didn't even think that..." But of course he 
knew well that good spirits could end up doing bad things. He himself 
had done bad things. Had he done worse by giving Artemis too much of 
the herbs to eat? 

"Oh Artemis--oh great Phos!--I--I shouldn't have fed her so much! 
I...I ate them myself...they told me it was safe....so the herbs 
themselves cause trouble within her, an imbalance? Ohhh..." he 
stroked Artemis's side. "The pups--her pups--oh ancestors and Clef, 
please tell me the pups will be all right," he sobbed. Good spirits, 
good intentions turned foul. Was that perhaps where all evil things 
came from--good intentions? He had slipped too much into the habit of 
labeling a spirit good or bad when he knew that there was really no 
sharp line dividing the two--the closest one got to either one, was 
being mostly good, or mostly bad. Even if it appeared to be all evil, 
like Din...Din had once been a living yipping puppy, with no inking 
that he would one day become a spirit who felt his sole purpose was 
tormenting the living. 

But many things happened to spirits, many things pushed them to the 
edge, turning them into something unrecognizeable to their former 
selves.

It could have been Din--twisting the herb's effects on her to foul 
them up. Only Artemis, perhaps, would know for sure. He could not get 
it out of his head that there were intentions behind this, bad 
intentions. 

"The herbs gave too much to Artemis, perhaps--but who caused them to? 
Din--Artemis, is this Din's doing?"

Artemis heared Boulder's voice and she perked her head, although it didn't 
go up far.

"Boulder?! I can't see, blurry....and as you notice my voice isn't correct, 
and I have this weird buzzy feeling all over. My skin/fur is kinda numb 
too."

She looked about,  and seeing 3 norra's, 3 Chirins, 3 houndooms as she 
looked down at herself,  and 3 boulders she scooted away from them all. Yet 
the 3 houndoom's followed her.

"Too many of you! Go away extras! Go away!"

"Amphaaaah,*" Chirin moaned at hearing her howl of anguish. "The 
spirits are crowding in at her. The buzzing, Artemis--that must be 
the denryuu near you." Chirin whirled aorund. "Ancestors of mine, if 
that's who you are, please give her room! Artemis is being crushed by 
too many spirits in her! The herbs have weakened her and now she is 
becoming prey to the tugging and trampling of spirits! Please, 
please, back, back!"

He hald pebbles in both hands and waved them at the air, using their 
powers to ease back their squabbling presence. He could feel them in 
the blowing wind and the sudden heat that beaded on his skin. 

Tears flowed down her cheeks in frustration. She couldn't understand the 
meaning of this. It couldn't be the shock that Chirin gave her...b/c this 
didn't happen before...and the plants weren't effecting her last 
night.......

"What happened? I want to know!"

Artemis demanded, yet Chirin's warm glowing lightbulb felt good, it was 
basically the only thing she could feel besides the buzzing.

"I will find out for you!" said Chirin. "I will journey with you and 
we will find out! Din! You say there is another moundoom here! Din 
might have evolved! He is trying to drag you away forever, but that 
will not happen. Do you hear me, Din? It will not happen, because our 
light together is stronger. Let go of Artemis or I myself will..."

He stopped his bleating. What if it was not Din, but the big evil? 
More and more he was wondering if  it could go unfelt by his gift...

"Artemis, speak to me, do you see Din?"

Norra could do nothing but watch Artemis whimper about extras. She felt 
helpless, wishing she could do SOMEthing. After all, the Houndoom wasn't 
entirely an upper world pokémon-aah, there she went back into her Upper World 
biasing again. Hadn't she gotten past that yet?

Artemis shook her head...the buzzing driving the pup insane.

"I dunno, I haven't seen Din since that past time...when I jumped and we met 
Iris."

She mainly just listened to Boulder's booming voice along with Chirin's and 
Norra's.

"Perhaps possibly that my system usually rejects plants that that could be 
some of the problem too?"

The houndoom was trying to make sense of this all, yet it was fairly hard 
with her problems at the moment.

"That could be...they could be fighting with your essense. I know 
they are in disagreement right now. Your body is made to eat meat, 
and that could be some of the problem. I wish I knew more, but 
luckily we have Boulder with us. I would take his advice and try to 
get some rest. It is only first light and we wil have plenty of time 
to travel later. Right now I don't want anything but for you to get 
better."

A convulsion wiggled Chirin's tail like a rope, only more 
stiffly. "It is good that you sense no clear evil presence." He would 
say no more on Din. Talking about him would summon the dark dog and 
that could possibly kill Artemis.

~

Chirin took refuge in the body heat of his nearby friends--Norra, 
Selden on either side of him. The more he looked at Artemis and 
sought answers in her shallow breathing and the forest's sighs, the 
dents in the cotton mat of the overcast sky, the more he realized it 
must be Din wreaking his mischief again. " Then we'll give her no 
more herbs...a pathway back to her body is what she needs best."

Boulder nodded. "Too many healers fail to remember that, the simplest 
of logic. And yet, it is the thing which often saves or loses lives 
to injuries. Too litle of something and the wound overcomes it, too 
much of something and the herb overcomes the victim. The imbalance 
will only be temporary, as long as they are within her system. And it 
will lessen shortly, once some time has passed. For now, the best 
thing for her is sleep, so she can pass the time until they leave her 
body in relative comfort. Occasionally such imbalance troubles the 
dreams as well." He lowered his nose again, rubbing the side of his 
snout against Artemis' side as comfortingly as he could.

"Her pups are in all probability unaffected. I know that she didn't 
eata massive amount, just a bit of an overdose. It should not be 
enough to harm them in any way." He reassured the Ampharos. "If you 
wish to start the journey early, I can carry her, or we can wait for 
her to sleep away the ill effects." The STeelix suggested.

Chirn looked up at him, not even contemplating going with her in this 
condition. The glade itself might have been penetrated by evil, but 
it was best to keep her here rather than carry her out. That sould 
disturb her rest and weaken her body evern more. "Oh, no, no, I want 
to wait here with her until she feels better. This is much mroe 
important. Artemis is my light-sister now." Chirin's eyes glistened 
as he looked down at teh sick houndoom. Of course the herbs,in too 
great a quantity, disturbed the balance of her body, because the evil 
spirits came in, taking advantage of her weakness. Din danced and 
Cinder clawed. "Artemis, you must shine your own soul-light, stay on 
the path to recover. You will be able to do it. Rest for now...and 
while you are resting I shall rest with you." Chirin lay against her 
with his head by hers, touching his nose to her own. "The two of us 
will journey together to the spirit world and that way you will not 
have to fight alone. For there will surely be trouble in the dream 
realm!"

As he breathed deeply, preparing himself to try to sleep amidst all 
this upset, he turned to Boulder. "I don't understand. I even tried 
the herbs myself and I feel fine. I should have never..." He sighed 
and put his head down. It was no use filling his mind with shadows 
when he must be bright and strong for Artemis.

Boulder would have shrugged if he could, listening to the two 
speak. "Well, you are a vegetarian. Artemis is a carnivore. Her body 
revolts if it is given plant spirits. Other than hat, you tried them, 
whereas we administered them to Artemis. She recieved them in greater 
wuantity than you did yourself. I believe there is a difference in 
your cases." He said, glancing at Norra as he mused aloud.

"That must be," said Chirin, who knew he had eaten more than just 
trying it before. "Some of these plants that you show me are ones I 
often graze on without thinking. I suppose that if I ate meat--" the 
thought made something in him squirm in revulsion--"that it would 
harm me as well. Next time we know not to give her so much."

He lay his head down by Artemis, but he could not sleep.

 Norra would have probably gone on a sleeping-journey or whatever too, but she 
wasn't tired at all, having slept the whole night through. "Guess'a I stay 
uppa' anna' make'a sure spirits orra' anna'thing'a norra attack'a." she 
volunteered.

 Boulder nodded in agreement at the MArrowaks idea. "Good idea. We 
wouldn't want them to be vulnerable to attack while they rest." He 
said, slithering over to settle down beside Norra to watch.

 "That's a wonderful idea, good thinking!" Chirin hadn't even thought 
of that. "Although, Artemis, you be the guide for us and let us 
know...you should try to rest right now, you needn't think of 
anything but keeping your soul trained on a light. Let your ancestors 
give you strength." 

Chirin started to scrawl a form on the ground, at least in a snall 
patch where he found scant soil. There was not enough clear ground 
for him to work, though, and so he turned to another source of extra 
powers--all his pebbles. Chanting of lights and beacons and denryuu, 
he produced them from his sack one by one and began laying them onto 
the ground around Artemis's head, wherever the ground and the pebble 
called to each other. The stones knew where they wanted to be placed 
to work their protective magic best.

Personally Artemis couldn't have thanked Boulder more for being so calmed, 
Chirin usually gave her the willys when he got all going. Personally she 
hated makin' him get all going for his sake, yet even if to thank them, she 
would do it later, now she thought of sleep. Remembering last nights 
dreamless sleep.

"Last night, I had no dream...I just...slept...you can sleep, but it's up to 
you. I won't say anything upon you sleepin'."

Artemis yawned and licked her chops. Before closing her eyes she burped.

Norra relaxed a little, keeping her eyes darting around, searching for any 
sort of pokémon or otherwise who might attack.

(24467)