"Oh Chih-riiin..." Chirin's long thin ears both boinged up at the familiar young voice in his blind spot. Feeling a nudge on his shoulder blade he turned around and saw her. "Phebes?" "Huh, yup...it's still me..." "Phebes!" Chirin hugged her tight and tried to pick her up in a twirl...she was rather heavy, heavier than she'd been when he had last seen her. He sniffed her over, "wow! you look great...and you are big too. This is so exciting...have you been careful to do a light-dance and small shining for your lamb every night?" "Yup, we started doing that, Nokotta's showing me how," said Phebes. "My lamb's doing good, Nokotta did a light-reading for it. It's got a strong light." "Oh Phebes...it's been so long and I, I didn't even expect you here. This is one of those wonderful surprises." Did he still look like Ysgard? Probably he did...Phebes still looked at him the same way, just with a little less shyness that she'd once had. ~ He saw that most of the others had settled down a bit by now and were grazing. The flock was beginning to melt together again, at least for tonight. Chirin found himself heading over towards Tess again, just to get a peek, just to see if there wasn't a chance... He wasn't the only one. Chirin found Weedu already there, looking intently at her. Tess herself was just poking at the grass, having some last food for the day. Chirin looked at Weedu, not a direct stare, but Weedu did not back away. Chirin stuck his head out on his neck, trying to give him a more threatening posture. They weren't even first in line but this seemed to matter very much all of a sudden. Sometimes being second in line meant getting the chance that counted. Chirin thought of his magic and realized that if he could do a spell...something small, to distract Pyon for a bit during a critical time... Weedu snorted at Chirin and returned the posture. Chirin growled. He found himself sizing Weedu up, the other ram was again older than him, but they matched in height...Weedu might be clightly heavier than he was...maybe, but chirin wasn't sure. They really were about the same size although Chirin knew he looked gawkier, more awkward. He also had more scars. He'd been through tons more than Weedu! Chirin let the sparks fly popping off his head jewel as he lashed his tail in a threat glare. Nearby, Nokotta and Phebes backed away. Chirin hoped Weedu would back down without a fight. Chama nuzzled back in recognition, and then as Chirin went off with Nokotta for whatever reason, he turned his head to look for someone to meet. After all, everyone else was meeting everyone else! So he glanced back and forth for someone to meet. His eyes locked onto Hiro. Hehehe, what a funny looking furry thing! No light or anything. With a smile he sauntered over to the Nidoran, bleating to him in greeting. Nokotta looked about to make sure that none of the mareep were getting in the way of the two rams that she had known would be battling it out the moment she saw Chirin arriving. She was guessing Weedu would probably win. The younger one was sure determined, but determination ran strong in every ram and it didn't always win you a battle. Seeing Chamadis near that strange nidoran, she headed over there immediately. She didn't know this pokemon, even though they were friends-in-the-grass that meant nothing, often. Just because you weren't out to eat each other didn't mean everything was safe. ~ > Chirin hoped Weedu would back down without a fight. Chirin had to be honest with himself as he and Weedu pivoted in slow circles, locked on each others' threat gazes. Weedu might be rather lanky like himself, but he had been picked by Bua's 'Mure' for size and strength. He also had a good year on Chirin. Who knew how many battles he had fought to get here he was--he had fought somewhere, because denryuu like this didn't just spring out of lazy days in the grass. Chirin had grown immensely, but that bit of extra weight Weedu was packing was almost enough to make him back down here. It only took a tiny difference to decide a battle. Chirin's own determination was the one thing on his side. He'd fought Bua himself, and Ebony, and won! Since when was he the type to just back down? He growled and looked at the other ram from under a lowered brow. Sparks crackled on his shoulders as he leaned forward, trying to make himself look as big as he could. Weedu had known the potential for a fight was there when he had seen company coming, but he hadn't expected it to be with Chirin. Still...this one fight would be the only one they would need. He had never fought a battle for a real reason, like a ewe, but he had fought them many times in training. Under the guise of "training," rams in the Mure had been able to release all that pent-up energy and the need to compete. Tess chewed cud from a safe distance as she watched, by Pyon's side. So many things that had felt flowery and new when she had first met Chirin and mingled with him and Selden and the others seemed to have gone sour now. Now there was just fighting, and more fighting. It was all her fault...for coming into her season at the wrong time. Her, the human-tainted ewe who had had to intrude and cause all this unrest. Just like she had intruded in the first place and nearly gotten them all killed. Salt of sweat and musk misted around the two rams, like a spice up Chirin's nose. His feet felt the grass beneath him as he placed every step carefully. He had to win this. What would all his suffering in the jungle, and before that, underground and in the terror tunnels be worth? If he could not even pass his blood on, then what was he really worth as a ram? Tess was watching with Pyon from the side. She must be hoping he would win. It had been Chirin who had insisted on going to save her rather than killing her--or letting her kill herself. He had fought and won then. So why not now--when much less was actually at stake? Other rams were turning into the low points of his light-path, that was for sure. He scuffed the ground with his feet. He glared at Weedu wishing he didn't have to...but also just wishing that he wasn't-- wasn't -there,- trying to claim what Chirin wanted. But it wasn't just about Tess, maybe it wasn't even mostly about her. It was just what rams did, or there would be fighting later. Chirin was tired of being beaten down by Pyon already. His lights flashed bright at Weedu, rubbed red by growing rage. Weedu returned the gesture, mirroring the sparks, the growls, everything. They were two halves of a reflection. Hiro looked over at the young mareep who was coming his way. Well, hi!" he said to Chama, grinning at the mareep. "How are you?" He glanced to the side, and noticed one of the ampharos ewes coming towards him and the lamb. Chama bleated happily, his well-ruffled head wool standing up again with the static. "Hello," said Nokotta, seeing that there was apparently no trouble between Chama and the nidoran--right now. "And how's the cutest sheep in the flock doing?" She rubbed the wool on Chama's dead, delighted when sparks flew. Turning to Hiro again, she stood up, standing a bit over four feet--a respectable height for a ewe. "Hi, friend-in-the- grass...what brings you to this hill tonight?" Just down the slope, Chirin and Weedu backed up, ran at each other and slammed their head jewels together with a smack that ricocheted off nearby rock faces. Chirin knew that the stones, too, were watching and exclaiming at the battle taking place. He bounced back, digging his heels into the ground and leaning forward to keep his balance as he took a few steps back. Weedu was much larger than Mieh had been and this would be a tough battle to win. With a ram's roar of testosterone-driven madness, Chirin and Weedu collided heads again in a battle that had wanted to be fought for a long time. "*Amph,*" said Nokotta, shaking her head, as if to say, ~rams...~ "Sounds like no one's going to get much sleep down here tonight. *Pharaa!*" She flashed her lights to any of teh ewes and mareep who were not already near her. She wanted to move the others up the slope. Selden was watching the battle intently from his place next to Juniper. "Chirin will win," he said, "he always wins." Chama grinned back, finding himself at a slight loss for words.. well, he didn't know very many words to begin with! But he didn't know what to say to this pink prickly pokemon... @_@; Nokotta stayed close to Chama, male nidorans could turn aggressive if rubbed the wrong way. This one, though, should have been bounding well away from them by now, but it had come in with Chirin, so there might be some connection there. Nokotta wasn't crazy about all these new pokemon around but she would give them tonight and tomorrow to disperse naturally, they weren't causing real trouble right now. There was already enough of an upset with the two flocks meeting, as evidenced by those rams fighting. Hmph--she looked down and watched them...it was always a show to see at any rate. Nokotta chuckled wryly-- she just hoped Chirin didn't lose what brains he had in there before doing that spell for her. ~ Chirin backed away from the former Mure ram and charged again. The other ram's slightly greater weight slammed Chirin backwards again. He felt his strength fading, but he was far from giving up. He backed up again along the track, over the divots in the grass. He would show Weedu that no one took his place from him. "Ahh, that's nice," said Nokotta, disappointed that she hadn't heard any words from him. Chama was definitely a late talker, although he had been born off season. As a rule, the last spring's lambs were learning words by summer and talking well by fall, but Chamadis looked too young to have been born in season. ~ A clash of heads left Chirin unbalanced. He weaved backwards, snorting and sparking in frustration, forcing himself to keep his path straight. His *denki* was like grass shooting up from his back, a plane of his anger translated into light. Chama followed Nokotta's gaze to see Chirin and Weedu fighting. He watched them with the wide-eyed curiousity of a lamb. He knew both rams, Chirin from earlier and Weedu from the past week or so, but he wasn't sure which one he wanted to win.. Whatever they were fighting over must be important for them to be at it like that.. > grass...what brings you to this hill tonight?" "Nothing too much, really," said Hiro. "I was just following the others, and it looks like they chose this spot to come to..." And he also wanted to go and look for others of his kind, but he left that part out. He jumped slightly at the sound of the two rams fighting. Oh golly...well, it probably was to be expected, what with more than one ram around. Nokotta nodded, "well, there's plenty of grass, like they say. Just be sure to keep out of the way during certain times," she nodded towards the ongoing battle, "and those sorts of things." She was surprised that he was not already seeking out better shelter from the loud, dangerous situation of two rams steeped in their own rage, butting it out. "He does?" said Juniper. She watched the battle also, waiting to see who really would win. Maybe Selden was right, that this Chirin would win. Chirin and Weedu's feet tore through the grass. They had one goal in mind--slamming the opponent down onto the grass, wearing him down and making him give up. Chirin fought off tiredness, the whole day's events wearing him down and steaming him up all at the same time. He met Weedu's head with a glare on his face, mouth open and bleating. The impact jolted down his neck and flared brightly in his tail. He landed with feet splayed and tossed his head in his rage, snorting as he backed up again. Sparks sizzled the sweat that had broken out over his skin. Chirin saw the sheep standing on the grassy slant above them as they fought. Most of them--almost everyone he knew--were watching at least somewhat. They wouldn't love him any less if he lost...what drove him was the ancestors themselves, crying out to him to continue their line. If a ram died before siring lambs, then his ancestors within him lost the chance to live into the nest generation. He was not just Chirin racing towards Weedu over the ground, feet beating the dirt and grass, he was his ancestors, Ysgard, Deyu, fighting to live on. Hiro moved farther away from the fighting rams. As he watched, he had managed to keep the spines on his back from rising; but the sounds of the fighting still unnerved him a tiny bit. Best to get as far away as possible, he thought...although not too far away. Then he couldn't see the action!...or did he actually want to see it? Aargh, he wasn't sure! Nokotta was getting herself to sleep. She climbed up to a higher ridge with Phebes, Petunia, Mimishi, Selenity, and she bleated again to call whoever else wanted to join her, one more time before laying down on the slope. She chewed cud while watching the battle, then she just lay her head down and closed her eyes. She'd seen so many of those things and she was sure to see more in her lifetime. ~ A spark-reinforced clash piled onto the others before it as Chirin and Weedu came colliding again. They threw each other away in a storm of current, static cracked open and lighting the grass with electric blue ambience. Chirin panted back, wobbling as his feet backed him up on the grass. Something was screaming far away in his ears. The repeated impacts tingled in his teeth. Weedu stared, foot shuffling and shoulders rising, falling with his breathing. He waited already for the next charge. Chirin realized he was going to lose. He growled, trying to postpone another charge for just a moment. he needed to grasp just a little more energy from somewhere. His temples pulsed, he had a headache that resounded through his whole body by now. With every impact, the battle mattered more to him. The outcome would have a bearing on their relation for possibly years. If only Chirin had grown just a little more...if only he had somehow had time to prepare for this. But you never had time, battles just happened. Chirin was praying as he charged at Weedu again. He overshot his lean and almost fell forward, stumbling with heavy stomps. He caught himself just in time to meet Weedu's charge, which had a steady starting run behind it. Chirin was thrown off balance and landed on his side. He scrambled up on the grass, feeling a burn on his hip. His ears were laid back as he got to his feet. The twinkling star-pit danced around his rival. Chirin looked at Weedu with hatred. Primal fury laced up into his blood and beat brightly in both his lights. He was still getting up, so he wasn't down yet! He was still going to try. All he had to do was last a little longer. He ran his last strength into his tired muscles like angry stone, imagining himself shoving pillars of rock into them. Raging mad at himself for failing now when he was so close. ~How dare you?~ His battle weary feet thudded clumsy on the ground and he leaped. His head thrust forward and down and met Weedu's with a jolt that sent him spinning into black. He shook his head, refusing to faint. Pain and exhaustion were the only things waiting for him here. He clenched his flippers and looked at the faint haze of Weedu through the stars. He tossed his head, bleating loudly, not sure how loud. Chirin had become lost in the thrust-and-withdraw motion across the grass, back and forth until he wasn't even sure which direction was forward. His heart was pounding in his skull. His chest heaved in and out with breaths of barbed air, scraping his lungs raw. Chirin would not give up. It was his legs that gave up for him. The young ram's tired legs buckled under him and he fell dizzy to all fours. He was whizzing through space, a rush of blood kept him from fainting. Then he saw feet through the stars. Weedu was standing over him. "Well met, in *denki*," said Weedu. Chirin couldn't answer. His lungs wouldn't stop breathing long enough for him to say a word. His flippers dug into the grass, curling around it. He didn't have anything to say anyway. Only that he had lost, and fairly, by the ancestors' way. He was no mighty ram...Tess deserved better, said a self-pitying voice inside of him over the rage that refused to die.