57663
"The slaughter"

Moonbeam awoke with the rain on his ears. The black ram gave his head
an agitated shake. His ears were laid back against his head as if
they'd got stuck there as he looked around his flock. due to the rain
he had overslept. He cursed his own inattendance.

"Up! All of you," he growled, kicking Banrai in the flank. "We
attack!"

"Yes sire," Banrai stood up, followed by a startled, sleepy Sparks.

Maelstrom was on his feet and dreading the day. He kept glancing at
Moonbeam, just glad for now to see that he hadn't won any disfavour
in his father's eyes.

"Where's that ewe?" Moonbeam looked around for Glint. He found the
flaaffy Karui, sleeping, but not Glint.

"Right up here sir." Glint was not only already awake, but she had
climbed up onto an outcrop to peer at Heero-ki's flock from behind
the stones. Moonbeam was ashamed of himself. She had been keeping
watch all morning--a ewe! "I've been watching them. They're barely
awake themselves. Now would be a good time to attack. We wait any
longer they'll be more alert."

Moonbeam disliked her being the one to get the jump on all of this
and especially start dishing out the advice. However, she clearly had
a lot of experience with these situations, and she was a loyal
comerade. He couldn't afford arguments now.

"Everyone did you hear that? We march NOW." Moonbeam faced the
company. "We march and we slaughter. Ewes, lambs, and rams willall
die. Phos and Bangaa know I've given the females the chance to change
and move to my flock. They're all *burakos*. We march, we kill. This
flock has tormented our own long enough."

Maelstrom swallowed. His body felt weak and shaky, like it was limp
and taut at the same time. He had long wanted revenge on Heero. But he 
had not realised Moonbeam would not only attack -everyone,- but take no 
prisoners...what could he do? It was too late to try to warn Heero's 
flock. Maybe he could get his mah-mah Thalanes out of there, before 
she was killed? 

He crept to the top of the ridge and looked out over the flock he had
known since birth. He couldn't make out Thalanes'lights at the moment,
but they were all rather dim right now. He pondered sending out some sort
of signal. It would be all they needed...He glanced behind him. No one
seemed to be looking...

"Hey," called Glint from the other side. Maelstrom jumped.

"What?"

"What're you doing? Bring your lights down, they'll
see us." She glared at him. Maelstrom looked away, lowered his lights and 
glanced around hoping no one took notice. Whatever he did he had to go 
along with the attack now, it was much too late to desert.

 Shiri awoke with a small start, light flashing at the bellow. He
quickly rolled to his feet, feeling cold and sore, fleece dripping
with the rainwater. His ears hung down, heavy with water and spirits,
and the ramling went to stand near them, browsing on what greens he
could get ahold of before they left. It'd probably be a long time
before they managed to eat again, and he at least wanted some cud to
chew on the way. Would the battle last long? Surely their flock was
strong enough to avoid having very many casualties, of which he would
NOT be one. _Somebody_ had to carry on his flock's legacy, after all!

Moonbeam was pleased to see them all scramble to be ready at his
command. "Now--we rush in and rush fast! Kill all you can."

It was a shame they had no weapons. Moonbeam had to get hold of a few
scythers. Their blades were excellent at disemboweling things and
easy enough for a flipperlike hand to wield. Very useful, primarily
because it was unexpected. It was amazing the damage you could wreak
on a flock that wasn't expecting an attack. Even a stronger flock
could be taken by storm if one had surprise on their side.

"I see anyone not doing their part to fight and they will pay. Make
sure you get hold of their leader--he is a large orange ram, slightly
smaller and thinner than me. He is stronger than he appears. Kill
everyone else. I want the entire flock lying dead by the time we're
done." He knew it wouldn't happen, but he would ruin them. He would
break them in pieces and let the few who got away grieve as they
would. Today was the day he had been waiting for for almost a decade.

"Keep close, keep quiet, we steal as close as we can without them
knowing. We march now!"

Moonbeam leaped over the rock he had been standing on. As the others
followed him, he climbed over the ridgetop and used the outcrops and
bushes to conceal him as he stole towards the other sheep that dotted
the slopes further down. He moved like a hunter.

"Everyone had better be with me," he growled as he headed closer. A
ewe and her lamb were grazing nearest to him. Moonbeam eyed them with
no remorse for what he was about to do.

Shiri swalled his fearful disgust and hatred, as he saw the big black
Ampharos slink towards the flock like some great hunting cat. It was
reviling to see a sheep move thus, only solidifying his belief in how
innately evil these strange sheep could be. And he was FOLLOWING them.

Just how low could he stoop in his quest for survival and justice? How
much longer would be be forced to act out this charade? This was
horrible, but nescessary. And a few more sheep would be purged from
the world. He had to do this... hopefully he wouldn't get killed in
the process. The Mareep rubbed his nose against his Mah-mah's light,
prayed, and waited for the signal. Soon, the killing would begin.

Karui slunk carefully after Moonbeam, used to slinking now and then, 
though his own stride wasn't so much like a hunter's as the huge black 
amp's own was, as hard as he tried. He wasn't used to being a hunter, 
though he was used to sneaking now and then..it had been part of traveling with the Mure. You didn't just 
stride up openly, now did you?

Moonbeam was a good leader..he knew what he was doing. He wanted to 
rid the world of evil *burakos*, like Bua had..it was worth following 
him then, wasn't it? 

"It's too late!" Moonbeam leaped out from the shrubs, straight at
the ewe. He grabbed her as she ran from his voice, her lamb at her
heels. He spun the ewe around and knocked her against a rock. The ewe
screamed. Her lamb ran at Moonbeam, trying to defend its mother.
Moonbeam dealt it a kick to the head. The body smacked the same stone
as its mother, and lay still. Moonbeam finished off the ewe with a
slam of her head to the rock. He ran with a bloodthirsty bellow, ran
from the two broken bodies lying by the rock.

Maelstrom, huddled in the back of the group, only heard the scream and
knew it was too late for her indeed. He suddenly wanted out of this,
immediately. He looked for some way to run out on them now, before he 
had to see or do any more. Maelstrom's eyes darted over the foliage.

"Come on!" said another ram running up behind him. Cliffstorm, bringing 
up the rear. "You heard the orders gumaru!"

Banrai ran out in the lead, wielding the severed blade of a scyther.
Glint had found the old remains of the kill; she and Banrai had taken
the valuable spoils. Moonbeam watched him cut into a running youth
and leave it lying, striped with red and staring up. Moonbeam ran hard
at another amp ewe while Banrai slashed his next victim. Moonbeam was
proud of his son.

"Stop them! Kill him!" Heero-ki leaped down from the rock as his
flock was attacked. Rams ran out at them. Maelstrom found himself
pursued. "Run,"he bleated at the other one, but the ram only ran on
after him. 

"Maelstrom,"growled his pursuer and Maelstrom knew who it was. "We 
always knew you were the enemy!"

"Run! You idiot! Run!" Maelstrom hoped the ram would take his advice,
but the other ram only chased him to the edge of the rocks.

Maelstrom wheeled on the other ram, he was a lot taller and larger,
he could take him if he had to. The two of them fell into a
wrestle. Maelstrom cried out as the other ram's teeth bit him in the
arm.

A ewe shrieked as Glint dashed after her. With a shrill cry she swung
her scyther blade. Bellow and blood stench filled the air. Heero-ki's
rams were being driven back.

"Let them at me! Come to die!" Glint bounded after the first ram to
pursue her. Her eyes were mad as her flippers swung. She held the
blade in both palms. Silver and red swung in arcs. Her blade bit deep
into the flesh of the bellowing ram. she slashed and slashed again.

"You have killed yourselves!" Moonbeam kicked a mareep down the
slope. He snared a flaaffy in electricity, frying it in its own
element. He stomped upon the still jerking body. "Heero-ki has led
you to death! You suffer my suffering!"

Maelstrom threw the fighting ram off him. He shoved him away. The
ram kept falling, rolling down the cliff, unable to find purchase 
before he tumbled off the rocks completely and into open air. 
Maelstrom watched him die Dreama's death.

"Mamaaa,"bleated Maelstrom, getting up and running back towards the 
battle. He must find Thalenes! She was a big strong ewe, biggest one
in the flock, she was strong...she had a fighting chance. He did not
care who heard him. "Mama!"

The body of a young ram lay twisted and bloody in front of him. Maelstrom
quickly leapt over it and did not look back. Blood stained his feet from 
walking on the soiled grass.

"Mama!"

Thalenes was nowhere. She had run, then, she must have made it! But
Maelstrom wanted to see her. He wanted to see her alive. Another dead 
sheep, a flaaffy ewe, lay in his path. Maelstrom looked quickly away
from the face of one who had not deserved to die. 

"You!"

A voice turned Maelstrom's head to Heero-ki as the orange ram leaped
towards him. He was bounding, climbing fast up the rocks.

Shiri bounded after the rams and Glint, bleating as loudly as his
small voice would carry. He was no match for the older Ampharos, and
probably not even the Flaafy, and he knew it, too. What he needed to
find was a lamb or other Mareep about his age. Then, he wouldn't be
slacking off under Moonbeam's watchful eye, and possible die for it.

He spotted a Mareep watching it's mother being cut down, looking half
tharn from the sight. It looked bigger and older than he was, but it
was a close enough match. The ramling charged, only to be met with the
thick skull of his opponent, and bounced back from the impact. He ran
again, this time rearing up onto his hind legs, and trying to slash
with his forehooves. He caught the sheep on the face, but didn't cut.
His hooves were rubbery, lacking the sharp edges needed to do damage
with. But still, being kicked in the face was quite unpleasant.

The yearling fell back as a small blast of electricity singed his fur.
That Mareep had learned how to use his *denki* already! Enraged and
stung, he threw his not-so-large bulk forward in a Tackle attack,
knocking his wooly opponent to the side.

Seeing Maelstrom toss a ram off the cliff sparked an idea in his mind,
so Shiri ran for it, bleating and flashing his lights. His foe
followed after, both headed straight for the cliff. The Mareep's legs
pounded away, drawing him closer to a rocky death, and... he swerved.

Heero-ki was coming up the cliff. Maelstrom bounded along the ridge,
looking for an opening out. Or the chance to grab his enemy and send
him whirling down the cliffside to the death he had sent that other
ram to. 

Down below came the screams of melee. Glint jumped shrieking from a
high stone, onto a young, thin-necked ampharos ram below her. The
blade slashed downward. The young ram bolted, bleating, arching his
back. a line of red streaked down almost to his tail. Glint gave
chase, swinging the blade and screaming like a misdreavus.

"A mistake, Maelstrom of Moonbeam." Heero-ki knew his flock was done
for, but he sure wasn't. He'd claim at least one of them. Preferably
this one.

Maelstrom looked every which way. The older ram leapt at his legs
like a dog. Maelstrom kicked at him, narrowly missing his head.

The trick worked, and Shiri watched solemnly as the Mareep tumbled
through the air in total free-fall. He had taken his first life....
Mah-mah and the others would understand, he just knew it. Right now,
the ram that Moonbeam seemed to have referred to earlier was attacking
Maelstrom, was his name? It didn't seem to matter at the moment. Two
bodies were better than one, even if he was next to useless when it
came to fighting, so Shiri barrelled toward the fight, lights strobing
and voice lifted into what would someday be a powerful ram's bellow.

Lights swung in the dark, bodies slick with sweat and blood sizzled
with sparks. Maelstrom evaded the older ram by reflex, but Heero-hi
was slamming his weight up towards him. Quick and young, Maelstrom
was still no match.

"You. You led him to us! You and your damn sister." Heero-ki lunged
for Maelstrom. Dreamer, she wasn't even here! Maelstrom had not even
seen her, amoung the other sheep screaming for their lives. Maelstrom
did not know what had become of his own mama. He only hoped she could
escape. ~This attack would have taken place whether or not you were 
here.~ It was all left behind now. Those days with Pokos and Ki-ki...
he was just glad at least they were far from here.

Maelstrom made a long leap for another rock, that would allow him to
run back down the safe side of the slope. Heero-ki intersected him.
The big orangish ram collided with the smaller yellow one. Both rams
rolled on the rocks.

"Does it make you feel better to know she's dead? Your mama! Thalenes
is here! You and the rest of Moonbeam's flocks...slaughtering her
with the rest! Killers!"

Maelstrom's teeth were bared to the gums, his skin peeled back along
his clenched face. Heero was boring down on him, leaning. He had
Maelstrom pinned. Maelstrom's back lay against the cool cliff.

Heero-ki gave a shove. He slid Maelstrom back. Maelstrom felt open
air under his head. He only needed to shift his head slightly for his
wide vision to bring the cliff's distant bottom into view. Bodies and
all.

"Mama-killer. Lamb-killer. You proud of what you and Dah are doing?"
There were tears in Heero's eyes. Maelstrom had never seen him
looking like this. He kicked and struggled. Heero shoved his
shoulders past the cliff.

Maelstrom no longer struggled. He lay ready to die. So this was where
it had all come down to...joining Dreama, but he had followed her
from the start of all this. He stared crying back at Heero. Two rams
crying at each other, neither one able to stop what they were doing
even though they wanted to.

"*AAAAAMP!*" Glint cut through the air. Heero screamed as her bloody
blade found his back. Glint swung with both arms. Heero rolled off
Maelstrom, bleating back at Glint. He kicked Maelstrom hard owards
the cliff's edge. He leaped, bleeding, to his feet as Maelstrom
scrambled at the edge to avoid falling. Heero was leaping away as
Glint swung again.

"*REEP*!" Shiri bleated, running at them. He could smell the
blood through wide-flared nostrils, the scent almost driving him into
a panic. He forced himself to turn towards the scent instead of away.
Even if he didn't like this one bit, he had to help. Take one life to
spare many others, was the gist of this. What if he died? He was only
a little Mareep! One with no electricity, at that. What could he do?

Not caring to debate on that topic mentally, the ramling flung himself
forward and lowered his wooly head, butting into Heero-ki's leg with
all the force and momentum he could muster from his headlong flight.

Heero-ki wheeled around, bloody and raging. Anguish burst through him
and he aimed a bolt at the little mareep. Maelstrom was gettig away,
tail swinging its light up and down as he bounded over the rocks.

Well Heero could kill this little one. He'd take one of them!

Glint flew screaming in between them. Her blade met Heero's flipper.
The big ram screamed, electricity exploded from him. Blood sizzled in
the attack.

The ewe screamed as she was ravaged. Grinning, Moonbeam finished with
her, then threw her limp body aside. He kicked her rolling down the
slope. Catching his breath he rounded on her lamb.

"you can't hurt Mama! Leave her alone!"

Moonbeam dealt the lamb a bolt of electricity. the long spark struck
the eweling on her back. Her bleat drowned in the surge of light that
boomed to the ground. Smoke rose from blackened grass and a blackened
body, in the wake of the attack. moonbeam had given it all ihs
*denki.*

He had needed this. "anyone else?" He looked for another ewe. He had
liked that one--plenty of fight in her. He saw light behind the
nearby bushes and stepped towards it.

Freckle broke from the shrubs. He had watched his mother being
violated, he had come too late to save her. He ran down towards where
her body lay.

"Mama!" Freckle nudged her, trying to rouse her as desperate bleats
rang out from either way along teh slopes. Bodies lay strewn here and
there, the air smelled like blood. Fearows circled high. Moonbeam
leaped, landed, and caught the yearling ampharos by his speckled
flipper. Freckle's body electrified. He tried to jerk away from the
big black amp. Moonbeam was grinning greedily again. His breath came
loud and fast. Freckle tugged and he tugged back. He slapped the young
amp on the side of the head. Freckle felt the strain on his thin neck.

"Maybe you've got some of your mama in you." Moonbeam flung him to
the ground.

~<>~<>~<>~

Maelstrom searched for his mama over the bloodstained fields. They
had left the flock in chaos and death. and Moonbeam had promised them
this would only be the beginning.

"Mama?" he dared to call. He glanced around him. Heero-ki had fled
from Glint, who was making sure Shiri was all right. Further down the
slope, Moonbeam was doing more horrendous things. Mama was not down
there. The ewe who lay on her back, staring at Wtakko with dead eyes,
near Moonbeam was not his mama. But he knew who she was. He knew who
they all were.

Shiri was thrown back from the force of the bolt, uttering a clipped
wail. His youthful body, despite being an electric type, wasn't made
for handling such large amounts of voltage. He landed hard, the wool
along his side seared to a dark brown-black, smelling of smoke. The
stunned ramling gave a few weak kicks of his legs, managing to roll
himself over after a few tries. Glint was close, and the blood smell
was thick about her, even moreso than Maelstrom or Moonbeam. She
played judge, jury, and executioner, with a blade befitting the role.

"Stick with me," said glint, watching as Heero made his getaway. She
wasn't going after him; she knew her limits. He was much too fast for
her, the old goat. He was a RAM with long strong legs, damn him.
Glint spat on the ground.

She looked around. Dead bodies lay in contorted, floppy positions,
some showing red, others not. A severed flipper lay on the
grassnearby. Whose it was, glint had lost track. She wiped the
scyther blade on the ground and switched it to her left flipper. The
thing was hard to hold.

"Think we;ve just about done the job. I don't see anyone else. Stick
we me, I think Moonbeam'll gather the flock soon."

~

"Get up."

Freckle found himself hauled up by the arm. It hurt to stand, to
walk. His pain showed in his gait as Moonbeam dragged him along.
Freckle did not feel lucky to be alive. He had entered a nightmare
that only death could spare him from. But he winced from the big ram
with the blade as Moonbeam walked him towards the small knot of
sheep.

"We're getting out of here, preds'll be scouring this place."
Moonbeam glanced at Freckle with a satisfied grin. "Our new guest.
He's coming with us. Anyone got prisoners, you watch them. With a
little training they can even be of help someday."

Especially young ones, though he didn't know how much use this one
would be. He'd saved the youth for other reasons.

"Glint!" He called up the cliff. "Shiri! You two get him?"

"No! He got away." Glint was scrambling quickly down the rocks.

Shiri nodded, and stuck close to Glint's side, mind numb. It was hard
to compehend a slaughter of such magnification. It was like...like his
own flock's massacre all over again, only he was on the other side,
now. The thought made his lights stutter in revulsion, and he could
feel his stomachs lurch. He was a murderer too, now. A murderer too...

Shiri shook his head at the query, and raced after Glint as quickly as
his four extremely sore legs could carry him, trying not to slip. The
bitter, hateful words Heero-ki had uttered echoed in his mind as a
refrain, sounding almost singsong-y. ~Mama-killer, lamb-killer...~

Moonbeam shoved Freckle into Sparks' grasp. "Hold onto him."

Freckle found himself in the grasp of a ram nearly as big as
Moonbeam, who smelled like him. It overwhelmed the yearling's smell,
but he smelled more of Moonbeam than anything.

He wasn't a ram anymore...he was nothing, just a frightened sheepling
who knew he faced more torture. He stood there bearing his pain, but
the shame stabbed deeper. If he had tried harder, tried to get away
when she had shrieked for him too...

it was his fault.

The big black amp climbed a rock near the cliff. "My flock! We go
back the way we came! and to all of you that we have shown mercy to,"
not that many, "You have no flock now! Your leader is dead!" Heero-ki
showed no signs of returning. Let them think he was gone, thought
Moonbeam. "You are part of my flock now."

Shudderflare stared at Moonbeam, shaking flippers up in a surrender gesture.
He had watched such wreckage and carnage, and in fact had a nasty (but
shallow) gash across his back from that killer ewe's scythe. Heero-ki was
dead? His dah, well, supposed dad, not everyone was quite sure after the
tussle five falls ago with his mother, Fluttershine, but back on topic, his
possible father was dead? But now he had this sheep... the one, he knew,
yeess, he knew.... it was the one who's flock was always fighting against his
flock... it seemed now that Moonbeam's flock had finally won out.
His lights were shuddering in a way that was almost dizzying to watch,
but might have been a flicker of submission on a normal ram's light. His eye,
his left brown eye, twitched almost in time with his head jewel's flickers.
His tail light was going in an entirely different pattern.
Sure, Shudderflare was a bit different from other rams, who didn't ponder
about homocide every day, who actually slept, who didn't binge on berries w
henever possible, who didn't guard the edges of Heero-ki's flock, whose
mental psyche was intact... but there was nothing wrong with Shudderflare,
noo!!
He looked around to survey who had survived the massacre.

Freckle's frightened eyes met Shudderflare's. Pain was on his face.
Freckle fought down the urge to cry. He had no mama to run to now, no
one to hug him here. He had been spared, and whether that was
something he was grateful for, only time would tell. He didn't think
about that--only searched the sheep for a sympathetic face.

"We march out of here Now! Before the predators come to feast on
these bodies. No one look back. And no one lag behind!"

Moonbeam passed several sheep on his way towards the mountainside
path he had taken. The sheep stepped out ofhis way. Moonbeam stepped
on the face of a fallen ewe as he headed up the path. He signalled
with his tail to tell the others they were going. He would turn around
at the top and if anyone was still lagging behind they would get it.

Shudderflare returned Freckle's gaze, his expression twitchy but apathetic.
Sure, there was blood trickling down his back, and sure it hurt, but, if he
showed that pain like Freckle was, he would surely be thought of as a dumb
young ram. Sure, he was only five, but he was by no means a young pokemon!
The skinny ram followed the remainder of his flock and Moonbeam's bunch
in an uneven gait, faster, slower, bigger step, smaller step. One might think
it was to avoid stepping on the flesh of the dead flock, but if you looked,
you could see every so often he did step on something. The severed bloody
flipper made a gooey squishy nose as he stepped on it. The uneven gait was
rather how he usually walked, although his running to chase after an escapee
was a bit more coordinated.
He increased his pace to get directly in front of some of the surviving
sheep and then shuffled along at an agitatingly slow pace, and then increased
his speed again. Shudderflare almost stepped on the ewe's face too before he
realized.
It was Fluttershine! His mother. The twig-like ram paused and shuddered
to see how badly mauled she was. He supposed now it was a clean rock, he was
starting his life almost all over again, with the majority of the only flock
he'd ever known dead.
A tear, hard to see, made its slow way down the left side of his face.
Shudderflare loped to catch back up and not be one of those doomed stragglers
who would surely be punished.


Moonbeam led them to the summit. He stood at the top and watched them
trickle up, many wounded and weary. Any wounds would have to be taken
care of before they moved on or they would leave a blood trail
wherever they went.

"Good work with those blades," he nodded to Banrai and Glint as they
both came up. He gave Freckle's haunch a playful smack with his tail.

It was not painful, but Freckle knew its significance, and the grin
that went with it. He didn't care. He was seeing his dead mother down
the slope. He could see her from where he stood. He was too late.
Just this morning he had been grazing along an singing to himself and
playing with his little sister...now there was death all around him.
His mother and young sister were dead.

The use of the scyther blades would make them invincible! Moonbeam
wanted to arm everyone with one. "anyone who spots a scyther, tell
me. I want everyone to eventually have a blade."

"Scyther," Shudderflare mumbled, looking about at the top of the summit. His
very own green scyther blade, to make short work of flocks like that.. not a
pretty thought. But, it'd certainly do good in ripping flesh apart... He
could already feel the weight of a scythe, the thunk as it sliced through an
innocent sheep's flesh, hear the screaming bleat, see and smell the metallic
red blood tinging wool dark red, which crusted and dried into a dull brown
colour, taste the victory as he went on to the ewes of the flock...
Now those sensory details were almost making him sick to the stomach,
too, except the ewe part, but it was almost a comforting fantasy. He'd be a
prized member of Moonbeam's flock, whatever goal it may have. He didn't care,
if he was a good participant of the missions, he'd be wanted. Feared. He'd
get rid of so many predators and untrustworthy sheep that maybe it would be
OK to sleep, and then in sleep he'd have the power to stand up against the
dreams! Yes, he could see opportunity beckoning by following this flock!
And so he steeled himself to be particularly aware of any Scythers around.

Moonbeam checked teh area down below them, for movement. Nothing came
from the bodies save the blinks of dispersing *denki.* Fearows had
alighted on the kills. Moonbeam had half a mind to aim some bolts at
them, but he spared his strength.

"come on." For now they were done here. But Moonbeam knew Heero-ki
would be back. The old ram would be out for his hide more than ever.

Shiri scrambled after the sheep,not wanting to be left behind. He
followed them near the tail end of the group, legs quite sore, and
very much shorter than an Ampharos'. What was with that one ram? It
looked as if he had eaten some mushrooms or bad berries. Maybe he had.
Who knew? All the ramling knew, was that he was a flockmate now.

"We're headed west from here," said Moonbeam, "and in the timeit
takes us to get there, everyone here who was taken from Heero's
flock, is now in my flock, and you all have the chance to prove
yourselves. Every one of you."

He looked round the group. Not that many prisoners, but that was a
good thing. The easier to watch over them.

Shudderflare nodded. He would prove himself, ohhh yes, he would... Blood
would be shed and lives lost until he got peace...
Chewing cud with extra menace in every bite, the ram kept an eye out for
any movement that could possibly be a Scyther. His attention was brought to
the yellow light struggling to keep up in the back of the flock. He bet that
the ramling would not survive long.
He wondered to himself if the Mareep wandered far enough behind if he
could kill him.

"You back there!" Moonbeam barked like a dog. "Get even with the
flock now! Stragglers attract enemies, don't you know that?"

Freckle looked all around for a chance at escape. He didn't care
where to, only somewhere where he would not have to face the pain,
the shame, all that Moonbeam's grins promised that he would inflict
on him again.

Shiri's lights flashed his understanding, and he gasped in to give an
affirmative bleat. Sweating profusely under his furry fleece, the
ramling forced himself into a run, barreling after the flock to close
the small gap and merge with them again. His breathing was hot and
heavy, air punching into his lungs and back out with rapid succession.

Fighting to regain his breath, Shiri immersed himself in the middle of
the flock, and slowed down, now that he was with them again. Now not
only did his legs hurt, but his sides and chest were throbbing too. He
hurt all over; nothing good had come from this assault. Nothing.

They could not stop here. they had to get away from the bodies and
the smell, and the predators. Moonbeam didn't tell them they would
soon rest. Having to reassure them meant having to show weakness. He
studied Shiri from a distance. That mareep had gotten this far, but
would he last to get back out to the west fields?

Freckle glanced at Shiri and shot him a sympathetic look, even though
he knew he was of this flock. He had to be. Freckle had never seen
him before. He just knew someone who was being beaten on, when he saw
him. Maybe he could make a friend here.

Moonbeam and Banrai had let him go to walk on his own with them. They
all knewthe youth had no chance running away from them anyway.

Shiri contented himself with a quick walk, his breathing evening out
some after his sprint. The Mareep saw Freckle's look, and returned it
with a grateful, though baely perceptible brightening of his lights.
The yearling ducked his nose slightly to rub it against his mama's
jewel, praying fiercely to himself, her, and all his other flockmates.
Once he managed to get away from this flock, someday, somehow...

Freckle still walked with pain. It was going to hurt for some time.
He dreaded the next time moonbeam hurt him. His body wasn't his
anymore.

The youth looked around the slope where Moonbeam halted the flock.

"We'll graze here, we've gotten far enough away." They were on the
north side of the mountain, putting ths ummit between them and
predators who came to feast on the spoils of the battle.

Shiri blipped his lights, and immediately fell to grazing. He was all
but famished from the fight, and he knew that chances to eat with this
flock were often few and far in between. Gorging now and having cud
later was better than just eating a little now, and being hungry. With
that thought, he bolted down the grass as quickly as possible, unsure
of when Moonbeam might require them to move on. It could be anytime.

Freckle grazed under the watch of Moonbeam. He had a hard time eating
anything and hebarely pecked at the grass. It was good grass...even
if it smelled of the tracks that had been left by these killers. At
least they had let him live. He didn't think much about them, really,
he was just a body filled with fear, and gratefulness at once. He had
come to feel a little glad he was still alive.

Moonbeam grazed next to him. He was hungryand the long day's
slaughter was telling on him. He was not a young ram anymore.

"You'll grow to like it in time." Moonbeam ran his long black flipper
over Freckle's pale yellow, finely speckled back. Freckle shivered to
the end of his tail.

As they stopped to graze, Shudderflare grazed in a peculiar fashion. He would
take a huge bite of as much grass as he could in one go and then would sit up
straight and stare around the flock with a paranoid glance as he chewed the
grass very cautiously and swallowed. The grass was all right, but he wouldn't
doubt that it could be poisoned, somehow. And he had to chew it very
carefully in case he picked up something sharp someone might have planted to
cut up the insides of his mouth!
He continued to eat, regarding everyone around him with a suspicious
stare. Could they be plotting his downfall? He would have to kill them
sometime later if they proved to be doing so. But for now, he just satisfied
his body's call for being stuffed.

Freckle gave in to eating. Doing anything was better than doig
nothing. He saw Flare staring at him, well Mama had always told him
to stay away from that ram, just because he was strange and only got
stranger when you talked to him.

He would have tried to say something, but for the suspicious glare he
got from him. Afraid he would be killed if he made any kind of
protest,. Freckle just continued to eat.

Shudderflare continued to graze, his chewing meticulously grinding the grass
into green slush that he swallowed. His lights were still characteristically
quaking, his namesake. That Freckle Denryuu he knew of in his previous flock
looked almost like he was trying to initiate a conversation but was too
frightened of him to do so.
Well that was just fine! Shudderflare didn't care about him! He didn't
need to be social. He wasn't some fluttery ewe who needed to talk. He wasn't
going to say anything to the other ram.

Freckle returned to staring at the grass he ate. Eating was
safe...the grass would not jump up and attack him even when he felt
like the rest of teh world could, and had.

"All right," said moonbeam. "We're moving west. I want us back in the
west within a couple of days if possible. come on, everybody up."

The way Shudderflare ate, you might as well think he thought even the grass
would jump up and attack him. He took one last hesitant bite when Moonbeam
prompted them up and stood up fully, chewing. All right, he would go off
wherever, and get a Scyther blade, and do stuff like that.

Shiri reluctantly took a last bite of grass, and straightened up. He
was still sore, but knew better than to show any weakness in front of
Moonbeam and the others. He swallowed his mouthful of greens, standing
alert. What was so important in the west that they were going to now?

glint was tired and sore. Her pregnancy was showing quite a bit by
now and it cramped her style. It also cramped up her legs. Glint had
always gotten leg cramps when she'd been pregnant. Nothing she';d
cared to suffer again.

She glared at Flash's back. That ram had done this to her, and what
did he have to suffer? Nothing, he just took his sack of seed and
parked behind the next ewe. Glint growled to herself and maneuvered
around some rocks.

Shudderflare picked up the pace. His back wound was crusting up, and he
evened his gait a little bit to assure it would not split back open and
possibly get infected by evil intentions...
He glared around himself suspiciously again.

"we stop when we get clear of here and reach my own flock's grounds.
We'll be resting up there and anyone who tries anything will die. You
two," he nodded at Freckle and Shudder, "are lucky to be alive. You
will fight with us, travel with us and obey my every word and I will
grant you the privilege of dying for my cause."

Well, Moonbeam was certainly a cheerful fellow.
"Ye-ye-yeah," Shudderflare nodded in an exaggerated way, which might have
also been a bow. His lights were still shaking. Death would be just as
peaceful as killing other sheep to get enough power to relax.. no dreams when
you're dead, ne?
But he would like to stay alive, at least for now. He still had many
falls in front of him, falls where there might possibly be enough ewes for
him to have some. He kept on walking along with the rest of the flock.

"Call me *gundah* when you address me." Moonbeam looked around the
flock. "All of you."

It was time he let them all know, and slowly let the world know, that
he was *gundah* all the way. He would work on the world one flock at
a time, for now.

"There is at least one flock out to the far west that we will be
meeting. I will eventually unite all flocks under me. After we rest
up at my flock we are headed there, tomorrow."

Shudderflare's lights stopped in their flickering to blink in acknowledgement
before going back to their normal pattern. *Gundah*, well, it made sense, he
was the head hauncho ram. Okay, find the flock in the west, find a Scyther,
survive. Three good points on his 'to do' list.

"For now we will concentrate on resting up. I don't want to see
anyone wandering out of my sight." Moonbeam eyed the group. Maelstrom
banished all thoughts of running. He knew his sire had him more in
the forefront of his thoughts than some of these others here when he
said that. "If either prisoner escapes, I'll know who's responsible.
Banrai! Keep an eye on Freskle for me." Moonbeam grinned. "I'll take
him back from you later tonight. Glint! Flash! Keep an eye on that
skittery ram there, what's your name?"

"Sh-sh-shya," he tried not to stutter, and moistened his lips, moving his
mouth into a better position to say his name. "....Shudderflare." He felt
special, he had TWO sheep keeping an eye on him, not just one like Freckle!
Then again, he'd better keep an eye on THEM, too, to make sure they didn't
kill him when his back was turned. He stared to see which two sheep would
come.

"Keep with your new flock, Shudderflare, and don't try anything on my
sheep. I'll be watching you. You will have teh chance to prove
yourself worthy to your new flock. I don't keep rams who aren't worth
their lights."

Moonbeam's black nostrils moved as he sniffed the breeze.

"Wh-wh-oh-o-oy-ye-yes.. sir!" at first he was going to say whatever, but that
sounded mutinous, so then he was going to switch to OK, but that struck him
as bad to say to the *gundah*, too, so he finally decided on yes, and
remembered to add the sir at the last second. Bleh, Shudderflare didn't like
talking.

'Sir' was acceptible too. It lacked the ring of ~Gundah,~ but he
didn't mind. It got the point across. In the future, though, Moonbeam
had plans for everyone to call him Gundah. That was because he would
be -the- gundah, not just one of a bunch. He would redefine the word.

Far ahead of them he saw the lights of his ewes. Moonbeam flashed
back to them with short, bright bursts of light--concise, strong and
to the point. He hated fancy lightsong, for whatever reason. He hated
frills, singing, all that. There would be none of that nonsense in
his flocks.

Glint's pregnancy was weighing on her--badly. It was getting harder
to run and jump around. If not for her natural speed, she would have
fallen behind both during the attack and since.

Shudderflare bet he wasn't allowed to flash his lights at the upcoming ewes,
but really wanted to anyway. He kept his quaking tail light down low and
tuned down the brightness of his head jewel a little. He kept his pace
steady, trying to keep on making sure that his back wound did not reopen and
get infected.

Moonbeam wasn't worried about bringing the rams in this time of year.
None of his ewes were ready, although occasionally a ewe came into
heat in the springtime. It was often a hidden season--not apparent,
and the only sign was mating. Lambs didn't often result.

"For those of you who don't know and are unfamiliar with my flock,
you can bet your lights I'll grab any ram I find messing around in my
flock, string him from a tree by his tail and shove his apricorns
down his throat. For starters."

Glint grinned to herself, amused. She'd like to see a ram in that
predicament sometime, especially if he asked for it.

Shudderflare swallowed. No ewes, then.. okay.. he could live with that...
yeah, he was all right with that.. maybe he could live through the fall...
no... NO!? No ewes come fall??? That was what he was looking forward to in
the new flock! Now that was just mean...
Maybe by then he could prove himself enough for there to be some sort of
leniency..
But he would not mess around otherwise, no... He didn't want to be strung
up on a tree where someone could kill him or something!

Moonbeam looked at the disappointed lookon that one ram's face.He was
headed for trouble, but maybe Moonbeam could turn this to his
advantage.

"Only rams who prove themselves worthy of working with me, prove
themselves worthy of my ewes. How you behave and what you accomplish
this spring and summer will prove you one way or the other."

They were getting closer to his flock. moonbeam marched on harder. He
didn't even want to know how things had gone while he had been away
on this mission. He hated having to whip everybody back into line
after a long absence.

You could see Shudderflare's face almost melt with relief. He was going to do
his 120% best this spring and summer! Clenching his shaking flippers, he
continued to sniff around and stay on the lookout for any Scythers
whatsoever.

That was the good thing about rams, thought Moonbeam, watching
Shudder's face turn from sombre to sunny. They were pretty simple and
straightforward beasts. Once you knew how to pull their strings and
you had your flippers on the ewe rations, it was easy to motivate
them.


Shudder spun around. He thought he had seen a Scyther! But, as he glanced
back and forth, he couldn't see anything. Had it been his imagination? 


"Scyther!"

The cry was not said pooemon's, but Glint's. It had been a big strong
scyther too. The blade she was using was rather old and nicked. She
wanted a new one!

Glint aimed a bolt of electricity out at the disappearing bug.

"Get it!" ordered Moonbeam.

Ahh, the deep of battle! and he was at the lead of the flock, while
that stupid scyther had appeared in the back! No way could they miss
out on this, but the bug had already evaded Glint's attack. Moonbeam
was shoving his way through the ranks.

"S-s-sc-scyyy-" Shudder gave up on pronouncing it and took off after it,
aiming his own thunderbolt at it. Something sizzled. He ran towards where he
might have hit something, immediately excited. This wasn't just about
survival in Moonbeam's flock, it was about ewes!

"You let it get away!" Moonbeam stopped midway through shoving past
the other sheep. The big ram tossed his head and snarled. "That could
have armed two more rams. "Next time you see a scyther don't wait to
tell me about it! I can't see everything. You in the back, it's your
job to keep watch back there."

"Yes gundah," said Sparks. Moonbeam nodded and turned back around.

"Forward."

Moonbeam didn't want to avel too much farther tonight. They were
getting tired out. the battle had stressed them to their limit. He
just wanted to arrive back at his flock before they retired, and he
could see their lights clearly on the slopes up ahead.

Shudder's ears flattened and for a second there he had thought Moonbeam was
yelling at him. But thankfully, no... he turned back around, ears still flat.
A jolt of pain echoing through his back reminded him of the cut there and he
turned around slowly. It was going to make a nasty scar if he survived it,
and it didn't get infected. At least no more fresh blood was leaking out
anymore.
Then again, didn't ewes like scars? They showed he was big and powerful,
ne?
But, he didn't like the process in getting scars, and the crusted blood
marking the cut was really starting to itch. And he couldn't reach, either!
What was more embarrassing than trying to itch it without reopening it
was that an ewe gave it to him.

Glint couldn't be happier that they were almost at the place where
they could quit. Her legs were bothering her and she was more than a
little fatigued. She was showing, quite a lot. What would she do once
she had her lamb, anyway? She needed to discuss things with Moonbeam.
She would probably be put in charge of guarding his ewes--as she
herself would be one of them now.

Damn it all, she didn't want to retire from the active life! She'd
jsut give her lamb to some other ewe. Glint didn't want to be
bothered with it.

Moonbeam's lights were proud and victorious as he strode back in
amoung his flock. The ewes, little knots of sheep, some frightened,
others just looking weary from a long day, were apparently watching
their lambs and bedding down as Moonbeam arrived on the grass. All of
them watched him approach with many sheep, and a few strangers.

"Gundah." An older ewe rose gracefully. She flickered her light in
submission to Moonbeam. She had stripes the color of soil, all over
her. Her lights were a reddish brown.

Moonbeam gave a dominant burst of light to her. "We were victorious.
Heero-ki's flock is no more!"

As they intermingled with the rest of Moonbeam's flock, Shudderflare chewed
cud and looked around at all of the ewes. Oooh...
A lot of them were really oddly coloured. O_o;; Heero-ki's flock had some
variety in yellow shades, but not to this extent! Shudder took pride in the
fact that he was at least normal coloured, banana yellow skin, pearly white
stomach, brick red lights, and dark black striped.
He watched everyone with a nervous-seeming gaze. Never know when someone
might turn around and string you up on a tree by your lights..

Moonbeam glared around the group. "My flock is the new flock, the
flock that accepts those who are different. some of us have been
persecuted for having the so-called 'wrong' colours. Heero'ki's flock
victimized us for years. Now he is gone!"

Many ewes in teh flock flashed their ights and sparked in
appreciation. Moonbeam soaked it all in. He had earned this,.

Shudderflare nodded, about twenty shallow nods, and flashed his lights (or
seemed to, it was hard to tell) along with everyone else. He wasn't going to
disagree, no! Or else he might get hurt.

Karui nodded in silent agreement, inwardly several thoughts running through his head. He was a murderer, again..but it was for a good cause again, wasn't it? Moonbeam's goals sounded much like Bua's had been. To unite all the flocks and have them live a safe life...at least, Karui assumed that. It didn't appear they were going to be living in underground caverns any time soon, but that wasn't the point really. What mattered was he wanted his kind to be united and safe...wasn't that it?

Though Bua had never had them call him *gundah*...at least, Karui was pretty sure he hadn't. He'd never been corrected anyway. And Bua hadn't done some of the things Moonbeam had..but Bua hadn't suceeded, had he.. Some differences had to be there for success. Moonbeam was likely just doing what Bua hadn't been able to. At least, Karui hoped so. The feeling that all of the amphs would have died in vain left him with a nasty feeling...or was that just because he'd added to it, even if he hadn't had a scythe like Glint had? Inwardly, he sighed. It was all for the best, it had to be...he was just weaker of mind then he wanted to be. He wanted to be stronger, like Glint or Flash were...Moonbeam even. As long as he could be stronger and walk it off, knowing it was for the best that they were dead. He was still just like a weak little mareep...one that thought way too much for his own good. He almost laughed at that mental comment, but kept his face straight. He'd get stronger...if he could be just a bit more like the others were...

Moonbeam walked in amoung the ewes. He was checking them for anyone missing.
"How did things go while I was gone?" he asked the one elder ewe who had risen
to greet him.

"Not a squeal out of any of them, they were marvelous." Her smile was subtle
as she looked around the clumps of sheep. "We kept he troublemakers in line,
in fact, no one caused any trouble."

She didn't mention that one of the young ones had escaped. It was a small one
that Moonbeam didn't seem to notice gone. If no one said anything he was
likely to never realize.

Shudderflare grazed a bit more, watching everyone around him cautiously as
ever. Could never be too careful...
He looked at the ewes.. ooh, he had to do his best to get on Moonbeam's
good side!

Moonbeam stood up from his own feeding. "We march again at dawn. I
suggest everyone rest up now because I don't tolerate stragglers."

Their rest was their own responsibility, now that the time had been
given to them. Moonbeam made his smiling way over to Freckle.

Freckle could only watch him approach, and bear it...bear everything.
He cried out forhis mama only in his mind. He hid his face from
Moonbeam all throughout...not like that wasn't easy. His head
crumpled down low to the ground. He wouldn't give moonbeam that part
of him, his face and his mind, that was what was really him.

Freckle could not sleep. Lying awake, in pain, he watched Moonbeam
himself drift off rightnext to him. Freckle scuttled away on all
fours and lay curled up, faced away from him...his tail tucked
between his legs with its bulb against his stomach. He wanted to hide
his face from the world.

Shudderflare would rest, sure, but he did not dare sleep. Sleep... Nightmares
always plagued him in sleep. He would not sleep, noo...
Sitting on his bottom, he chewed cud and watched around paranoidly. No,
he would not dare do such a thing as sleep..

Banrai kept the watch for now. He wiped the scyher blade clean on the
grass, trying to wipe off the last of teh blood from it, crusted dry
from the earlier battles. He let it sit there while he ate.He could
just snap to and have it in his flippers if heneeded it, and for
enemies that were not other amps, it was much more useful to rely on
his Phos-given *denki*.

Shiri grazed a bit as they stopped, then rubbed his nose against his
mama's jewel, blinking his little yellow light in a silent prayer as
he lay down. The stars were awfully bright tonight. The yearling ram
looked uo and spotted a particularly bright one, not knowing it to be
the North Star. That had to be his mama's spirit, right up there. She
was shining down on him and smiling, sitting right up there with Phos
and Clef. Comforted by the conclusion that he'd drawn, the Mareep lay
down on the grass, chewed cud, and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Shudderflare watched the Mareep, the one that had been falling behind
earlier, fall asleep. For some reason, he kept grating on Shudder's nerves.
Maybe it was just the way his light pattern rubbed off on him, but the Mareep
was definitely agitating him somehow. He had to kill.....
No. No, no, no... He forced the maniacal gleam out of his eyes. Why did
he suddenly have an urge to murder the Mareep? It didn't do anything to him
at all... No, it was just trying to survive, just like he was...
A memory of the earlier bloodshed tore through him suddenly. The flashes
of Scyther blades, the sound of electricity frying something and the smell of
electrical smoke/roasted meat, the dying screams...
It would be so easy. To take out all that stress and fear, to channel it
all into one flipper, and reach out to asphyxiate the young sleeping sheep...
it'd be one less sheep for the flock to worry about, one that'd probably be
taken out by predators anyway...
Shudder clenched his flippers and shook. He couldn't kill the Mareep, it
would get him most definitely on Moonbeam's bad side... Eeeee! How could he
release all this pressure and stress on his mind!?

~

Shudderflare massaged his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. He would be
denied any ewes if he killed the little hindrance of a sheep, he couldn't...
no...
He could work through this, he would not take a life tonight! No one
would have to die. He tried to relax tense muscles. Willpower, willpower
would pull him through, and get him ewes for the autumn rut...
A close-by sleeping ram yearling twitched a leg in his sleep and rolled
over. Ah, there had been a bit of grass there that had been itching his
stomach, and all he wanted to do was get a bit more comfortable while he
dreampt of his second fall, soon to come... A tiny smile was on the peaceful,
sleeping ram's face.
Unfortunately, this ram just happened to have the luck to have bumped
into Shudderflare. He settled down with the warmth of the crazed ram's tail,
which reassured him that there was nothing amiss.
This bump brought Shudderflare another flash of a memory, of the horrible
pain of the Scyther claw sliding across his back as he bleated in horror,
seeing in the back of his vision the blood, his own ruby-red blood
splatter... His inner fury built as he recalled spinning around in total
terror and seeing that it wasn't just any sheep that had slashed him, it was
an ewe! An ewe had given him the worst injury he had ever received in the
five years of his life.
That had to be reciprocated! No ewe could injure him, and help to destroy
almost all that he had known! All he had loved! All he had grown up in! And
guarded! It was so easy, anyone could do it. Just clamp his flippers over the
windpipe of the ram laying on his back. Yeah, it'd just be like that. No more
ram. He had forgotten about the Mareep for now.
He bent down to do it. Of course no one was watching! They were all
asleep! No one would see him... Nobody...
A second thought told Shudderflare that he did not want to suffocate this
ram. It would be TOO easy. He wanted blood, terror, revenge, bleats of pain,
flame against darkness, electricity zapping, the smell of charcoaled meat (,
and the ominous background music! no, sorry)!
But that would alert the whole flock, ne? No, much as he wanted to do it
in a big way, he had to do it quietly. Not even the ram being suffocated
would be able to hear him, no...
A wave of anger swept through Shudderflare. It just wasn't fair! Why was
his flock killed? Why wasn't even his dear, sweet mother spared? Why him?
More sloppily and quickly than he might have done it if he hadn't thought of
his dead mother Fluttershine's face, he placed his flippers on the sleeping
ram's windpipe, and pushed. Pushed with all his might. His mind was reeling
from this whole situation. Why was he killing this ram? He didn't want to
hurt him.. But he was already bending down to do it, he had to follow through.
The sleeping ram's face started to discolour, and his chest heaved as he
subconsciously tried to breathe. He was awakened by a horrible pain as
Shudderflare, leaning on this push with all of his five years' worth of
weight, crushed his larnyx. His mouth opened and tried to bleat out a scream
as he saw by the shuddering red lights against the darkness of the sky,
somewhat blurred by sleepy vision, a ram on top of him. This ram was frothing
at the mouth, with an insane gleam to his eyes.
But the awakened ram's trachea was blocked off almost entirely, and his
voice box crushed. He could not make a peep, not even a squeak of terror. His
chest moved up and down more and his mind tried to bring up his own flippers
to push off the older ram, but it seemed to be delayed.. Fog clouded his mind
and darkness swirled through his vision. His flippers made a halfway attempt
at pushing off the stronger and bigger ram, to no affect.
Shudderflare could see it, it was working! The ram's lights were starting
to dim! And go lower... and dim further yet... he pushed even harder still.
Stars erupted before the poor victim ram's eyes as he tried to breathe
one last time... But no oxygen would come to his young deprived lungs, and
his mind seemed to give up the battle for life... His eyes started to roll
up. No! He couldn't let this ram, this unknown ram, kill him! The ram gave a
last spasm of horror and then his lights faded into the dark red-brown of
nothingness. No more light was emitted from this ram.
Shudderflare saw this, although with the lights of the rest of the flock,
it was hard to tell if he was really dead. He put an ear against the ram's
chest to try and detect any possible heartbeat. ..... there was none.
Shudderflare also noticed that the ram had gone cold.
He stood back, staring at the now finally dead ram yearling, whose yellow
skin was starting to pale. Not all of his stress had been released in that
killing... he brought back his hoof, and lashed out, kicking the dead ram's
stomach with all his power. He kicked the cadaver several more times until
all his rage was out and tears poured freely from his eyes.

The deed was done.

He suddenly spun around and stared at the rest of the flock, static
electricity crackling off his head and tail in alarm. Had anyone seen him do
it? Had anyone seen him kill this ram, who had a name, a life, and a family,
too? His heart pounded and his eyes were wide, as more foam flecked up the
sides of his mouth. He was going to be killed for sure, for just releasing
his terror and fury!
61646

No one had been awake. They had all gond to sleep on and nearby
rocks, high up on the slope where they were safe. No one was awake,
save for Freckle.

Freckle had been cled h his eyes closed, and awake. feeling the pain
in his body, that had been inflicted on him again and again. Moonbeam
had told him it would lessen with time.

He had not noticed anything going on at first. Only when he heard
some slight scuffling had the yearling rolled onto his back and over
to face the other side. The young amp watched as Shudderflare snuffed
out the life of one of Moonbeam's rams.

Freckle didn't sy a thing. Only his staring eyes and his lights,
brighter in their awake state, told the story of a ram who seen the
deed done. Freckle wouldnever forget watching it happen.All the times
he could have cried out and stopped it from hapening. at any one
point he could have said something, anything...just made a bleat as
if he had awoken from a nightmare.

But he had watched the nightmare unfold, watched those lights dim to
nothing. Freckle was a killer too. It suddenly didn't matter if it
hadeen one of moonbeam's rams or not...that was a dead sheep lying
there, where there had once been a young, living one. Freckle
couldn't even know if that ram had even wanted to be here. He could
have done something...

Freckle stared. There was no such thing as an innocent bystander.

His shoulders (or, where there would be shoulders if you could call that area
where flippers connected to body a shoulder) moved up and down with
Shudderflare's breath as he stared at the rest of the flock, wide-eyed. Was
anyone awake?! Who had seen him?! He scanned recklessly for an awake light,
his own lights flickering. Well, his lights were always flickering, but they
were flickering more than usual now. He found only one brighter light. He
squinted in fear to identify it.
It was Freckle! But he couldn't do anything to the other ram to ensure he
said nothing! Freckle was Shudder's last grip on sanity. The only other
surviving member of Heero-ki's old flock. If he got rid of him, then there it
would all go, his life would be 100% ruined, he would be diminished into
nothing but a maniacal murderous mess of stress. Not that he wasn't already,
but even more so.
It suddenly occured to Shudderflare that his smell was now all over the
dead ram's corpse. Nevermind Freckle right now, how could he get his smell
off that!?!? He had to get rid of the evidence, and fast. He grabbed the dead
ram by his tail and pulled him away from the rest of the flock, unsure of
quite where to put him. Shudderflare finally pulled him to a stand of
scraggly bushes with their spring blossoms in full bloom and stuffed him
inside.
He returned to the rest of the flock. Ugh, he could still smell his own
musk all over the dead ram's trail... how would he explain that away? There
were no predator smells, and, ohhhh, only a very, very big bird would dare
take away a lamb, let alone a Denryuu yearling! His mind reeled. He was in
deep sheep dung...

Freckle had hoped that Shudderflare would break away somehow,
miraculously defeat the flock enough to slip away. Freckle would have
gone with him--but Freckle saw him again for what he was--desperate,
and going insane. Just a spurious murder, and now the dead ram's life
would mean nothing.

He would say nothing. But who knew what would happen when Moonbeam
awoke?

He curled up, trying to forget the entire world.

Shudderflare calmed ever so slightly as Freckle curled around and failed
to confront him about what had happened. Yeahyeahyeah, maybe he COULD get
away with this... maybe..
He stood staring out at the open night sky, chewing cud and trying his
hardest to calm down. The *gundah* sir ram guy powerful-dude was gonna kill
him, oooh... He tried to stop thinking of these things in case he tried to
kill someone else.
~Y'know, mountains are neat... and I just killed a sheep..~ he thought to
himself, and then saw reason to celebrate. Shudderflare had almost managed to
put the dead ram out of his mind for a whole second as he thought about
mountains! Whoo!!! Now he was going to go for the big five-second-er forget...
~And sometimes sheep fall off mountains and die... DIE!! They all fall
off... like how that one sheep did... sheep...like the guy I killed.. only I
didn't make him fall off a mountain..~ no, I'm sorry, that was only four
seconds of thought. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 ewes. Aww, darnit! He
would have to practice harder.
He rocked back and forth several times.

Moonbeam awoke at his leisure. They had had a hard day yesterday, a
long trip, and a hard-won victory. Victory at last, revenge done
except for one detail--Heero himself had escaped. That would not be
forever. Moonbeam knew him too well for Heero to evade him forever.

He got up and surveyed the mostly still-asleep sheep. some were
grazing, others still lounging around. He let them sleep for now.
They'd earned it and they needed the rest.

Stepping amoung the flock and making sure everyone was still here, Moonbeam
found the trail of something having been dragged away. It was plain to see
in the mud and grass, a streak over the rain. He followed the short trail
away into the bushes. His big black feet came to a halt in front of 
young Shadesong's body. He kicked the *gumaru*. The ram was dead.

Shadesong, captured from a smaller flock out in the fields, last
year, as a flaaffy. He was barely a year old, just coming into his
best years of usefulness. Healthy youths didn't just drop dead.
Moonbeam looked around the group. He bent down to sniff at the body,
inspect what had happened. He shuddered with rage, but he had to keep
his calm.

~Damn everything, damn it to Bangaa's caves.~ Moonbeam stood up slow
and stony. Rain rippled down his black hide, the rain that had washed
away the scent of the perpetrator. All he could smell was the faint
residue left on him by many of the rams in the group, including the
one he had been guarding--Shudderflare. Moonbeam was aware of Shudder
from other years; the ram had been one of Heero's fighters. He knew
little else about him except he was extremely high strung...this he
knew from recent experience...

Moonbeam dragged the body by the tail back into the midst of the group. He
let it drop. "I want the person who murdered this youth to stand up and 
confess. Your punishment will not be as severe."

Yes...he would kill them more quickly, perhaps.

Shudderflare's lights' quaking was off the Richter scale. He took a big
swallow, and stared at the other sheep. Why should he say anything!?!? The
rain was washing away his smell from the bushes, the trail, and most
importantly, the dead ram! And there was a chance he wouldn't get punished at
all, if they couldn't figure it out! He swallowed and opened and closed his
mouth a couple of times, unsure of what to do.
He locked gazes with Freckle. Would the other ram say a word? He'd BETTER
not!! But what if he did? Was it better just to say so and get less
punishment than if Freckle ratted on him?
Not as severe... not as severe... not as severe... The words echoed
around his mind. He tried to get his lights to relax.
He might be able to frame someone else for it! It was hard to tell with
all the rain. And he had a perfect way of knowing, after all, how many other
rams tended to stay up all night, or at least most of it?
He swallowed, remembering the horrible dream when he had accidentally
fallen asleep last night. Would it be better to just die, to say he killed
that ram and be punished to the point of death, rather than to go through
this horror the world called life?
You know what, yes, it was. There was so much pain and horror in his
mind, perhaps physical pain and the finality and peace of death would be
better than how he was now!

Several rams' lights were shaking, including the two recent
prisoners'. Moonbeam knew they all couldn't have done it. And killing
one that he thought had probably done it, would mean losing another
precious ram. He needed more sheep before they became disposable.
That's one reason he needed to get them moving west.

"I am waiting."

Shudderflare swallowed. Sure! Death would be much better than this life right
now, haunted in the night by the horrible dreams, and in the day by living in
this flock. It'd be better!
"He-h-m-m-me-I!" he tried to pick the right word, stepping forward. "I
did it! I k-killed that shee-she-sh-sh-r-ruh-ruh-ram!! He NEEDED being
killed!" he was starting to froth at the mouth a little. "He was there... and
he r-r-ro-b-bumped into my-my-me... and so I mur-m-r-aahh-aphyxtrated him!"
He had meant asphyxiated, and illustrated by squeezing his flippers around an
imaginary neck. He didn't like to talk much, it was difficult and he had
trouble with it. One more thing he wouldn't have to worry about once he was
gone and dead...

Moonbeam turned on Shudderflare. He had in fact been wondering if it
was another ram...one of the rams here had never gotten along with
Shadesong.

Never taking his eyes off the unfortunate murderer, he held out his
flipper towards his eldest son.

"Banrai--the blade."

The scyther's scythe was placed to his flipper and he took it between
both palms, the ampharos's awkward way of wielding it.

Looking Shudderflare straight in the eye, Moonbeam stepped towards
him, and lifted the blade to run it through him, from shoulder to
groin. If Moonbeam had his way here, the ram would hit the ground in
two pieces.

Shudderflare was ready to get sliced in half, to die, to go into the infinite
peace of nothingness and oblivion. Sure, there would be pain first, but soon
that'd be all over...
He met the black ram's stare with his own, with a look that told in his
eyes that there was something... just... wrong with him. He rather took a
step forward to the ram that was ready to change him into red-spattered
Denryuu shishkabob.
He kept his eyes on Moonbeam's face, as the blade lifted. Yes, he could
see where the other Denryuu was aiming, almost right down the middle, to
split his chest and stomach and spill out the innards.

Maelstrom had to do something. Shudderflare might be crazy, but he didn't 
deserve this. He had probably murdered out of the need for revenge! Maelstrom
could have done the same. The ram glanced around to make sure no one was
looking. His flipper-palm folded around a stone. He whipped it hard at Moonbeam,
then quickly resumed a neutral stance...ready to run if Moonbeam pinned the
blame on him.

It missed.

The rock met Shudderflare's hoof and, being in a quite awkward position as a
crazily-balanced biped, Shudderflare immediately crashed to his stomach in
front of Moonbeam just before the Scyther arm was brought down. The slicing
blade met his back where the ewe's scythe had gotten him earlier,
intersecting the other slash and scraping somewhat along his spine, first a
bit deep and then getting shallower as he hit the ground.
"Aaahhh!!" he bleated crazily in pain, rolling, which made the blade's
cut change direction and finally skid off. He was up almost in a flash, his
back burning with the pain from the previous slash and this new one. A slash
right there on his back wouldn't kill him unless it got infected or had
slashed a vital vessel and made him bleed to death!

61915

"*PHAAAA!*" Moonbeam was outraged! The ram had taken advantage of
Moonbeam's own slowing reflexes. As fit as he still was, at his
eleventh spring of life he was not as fast as he had once been.

Moonbeam lunged to take another swipe with the blade. Even if the ram
escaped him he wouldn't escape the rest of the flock.

With that roar and with the pain engulfing his back, Shudderflare was up
in a flash. He forgot his suicidal wish and quickly spun around and ran,
instincts overpowering him and telling him he had to survive this.
Electricity snapped off of his head and tail like crazy. Where could he
turn? Where could he go? Where could he dodge!? The flock had clumped around
them as if they were all droplets of water in a slanted container, and it was
difficult to push through clinging flippers and zapping electricity, to defy
gravity if talking in terms of our little simile. His tail lashed about,
probably hitting people. He didn't know and at this moment really did NOT
care!!

A ram was smacked unawares in the side. He went down, he was only a
yearlng and Shudderflare was much heavier. A gap was left inthe group
and Moonbeam could see him going for it. Moonbeam tore down the rocks
after the ram. The little sneasel!

"I gave you a chance! I spared your life and what do you do?" He
bellowed after as he signalled the whole flock to join in the chase.
They would hunt him down easily. "You take the life of an innocent
yearling! You can run but there is nowhere to hide! After him!
Everyone after him but you two--and Maelstrom! You keep back and keep a 
hold on Freckle! You let him go and you die!"

Freckle found himself grasped in Maelstrom's arm, flippers linked.
The youth watched the flock pour down the rocks and his eyes turned
to Maelstrom. He begged without words. 

Maelstrom's eyes begged back.

Shudderflare's mouth hung ajar as he ran for his life, trying to ignore
Moonbeam's booming voice. The flock surged down the slope and bigger rams
tried to tackle him and keep him down for Moonbeam to catch up and give him
his dues. His electricity was of no use in this struggle for his survival. He
kicked the stomach of and swerved out from underneath another ram and mowed
down another yearling with a whack by his lashing and flashing tail light
(which he had found to be as hard as a rock and quite useful here, if
unconventional for normal fighting).
He took a quite risky jump over several rocks to a lower one, overshot it
and tumbled even lower, rolling down quite a bit, around sheep skittering out
of the way and trying not to be taken with him by his weight, which was
slightly on the plus side now from lots of spring grazing. He was up quickly
after being stopped by a scraggly mountain bush, not majourly harmed more
than some bruises which as of now you couldn't see but would certainly blotch
and discolour his skin in shades of purple and blue if he managed to survive
this.
He took off again, trying not to let a limp kill his speed. Pain was
echoing through his body in a million places, including one very important to
him.

Still drowsy, Karui stumbled after the other sheep, forcing himself to awareness as he 
went. Of course, this was what he got for sleeping later than he should...

The ram wouldn't make it, Karui was almost positive. And he didn't really deserve 
to, if he'd commited a murder.

...Just like they had...

Shaking his head, he darted faster after the rogue ram.

Moonbeam was near the lead as they chased after Shudderflare. He
didn't see the stragglers in the rear. He didn't care. He swung the
blade, slashing the air. That ram's lights would roll.

"GET HIM! KILL HIM!"

~

"Please," Freckle's voice was a whisper. He didn't look Maelstrom
directly in the eye. He made every gesture of submission.

Maelstrom listened to the riot-like bleats of the sheep gone away
with the lust for power and blood. What was their kind coming to? He
kept his hold firm on Freckle's arm. The lake wouldn't be far from
here. The eastern mountains...they had a chance. He and Freckle could
run for it. Did he want to? What about Pokos, where was he now?

They had gone down the south side. Maelstrom could just dip down the
north slopes and be away from here easily. 

No, he wouldn't be--there were two other rams having stayed back too. Why,
he couldn't begin to guess. His voice was deep and very low when he spoke in 
Freckle's ear.

Ï can't right now but I'll get you out of here. Give me time and I will do it,
gumaru." He was almost too young to be calling anyone gumaru, but it just
slipped out that way.

Shiri too followed after the older rams, pushing himself hard so that
he kept up with them. After his nice long rest, he was quite refreshed
and ready to chase after Shudderflare, though in his heart he hoped
that the strange ram would get away. After all, he WAS oblivious to
Shudder's previous, temporarily murderous intentions towards him...

Moonbeam slashed a bush in front of him to shreads, rather than juct
jumping over it. Rage had filled him up, its only outlet was through
his scyther's blade.

He kept the rogue ram's lights in his sight. The kill would be
easy...unless a miracle happened, and no miracle happened that you
didn't make happen.

Karui quickened his pace as fast as he could manage, wondering if he should be 
rooting for the escape of the ram or not. No, no he shouldn't..even 
if they had both murdered, Moonbeam had done it for a much 
better reason! He couldn't doubt that!

Shudderflare continued to run, but where could he go? The whole flock was on
an eye out for his lights, and if he ever dared show them again, if he even
got away now...
The ram tore down the mountains at a speed so fast for him, he was
certain to fall if he slowed down.

It was rams like this that threatened the new dawn for ihs flock that
he would bring. Moonbeam bounded down the slope on the ram's tail.
For the first time he began to fear that shudderflare would actually
escape. He had underestimated the ram's sheer speed.

The group had been called off. Shudderflare had made his getaway and,
just like Heero-ki, he was a wanted and dangerous fugitive.

It was with defeat that Moonbeam and the others regrouped.

"I want a search party going out after him." Moonbeam eyed the
group. "You. And you." He pointed to Shiri and Banrai. "And...you."
He nodded to Karui. A mareep, a flaaffy and an ampharos. Banrai was
big enough to take him down on his own, and he'd have the others for
company. Those two needed training to get them up to level, as well.
so it would serve multiple purposes.

Now, for weapons. Moonbeam handed Banrai the scyther blade.

"Use it well and if you can bring another scyther down, I want Karui
using one too, if he can pick it up. Now go!" Moonbean pointed down
the slope.

"Yes sir!" Shiri blinked his lights strongly and turned, running after
Banrai. He really did hope that Shudderflare escaped... After all, the
poor ram had lost _his_ flock and mama too. That was one of the very
worst things anybody could ever do to a fellow sheep, no matter what.

What would they do if they caught him? Would they kill him, or drag
him back, still alive? Was it better to prefer the first or second?
Death was Death...Still, living meant that you had to live under
Moonbeam's rule. Was life worth living when you never really lived at
all? All of these rhetorical questions were giving him a headache.

A random scrap of poetry flitted through his head as he followed
Banrai. ~Perhaps it's better--who can say?--than to watch all this, to
die today?~

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