Friends
for the Friendless
Angel’s Nightmare
Similar
Tragedies
Shadow Returns
She was running. Always
running. She couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t. Just because she was
different from all Pokémon didn’t mean she was bad. Everyone just assumed the
worst. As a silvery-black fox with golden circles, she seemed to scare them,
but she wasn’t quite sure why. What had
the human called her? Umbreon - the Pokémon of true darkness. That wasn’t what
she wanted to be.
She looked behind her
and stopped to catch her breath. Hopefully the Pokémon that was chasing her had
given up.
She was a Pokémon who
didn’t like confrontations, and fled whenever a battle arose. It wasn’t that
she was scared or weak; she was actually quite strong. She just didn’t like to
see other living things hurt.
For the time being, she
seemed to have gotten away. But, how long until another Pokémon chased her away
from her temporary home? She sighed as her eyes began to well up with tears. So this is my destiny, she thought, to be alone and running all my life.
Teary-eyed, she
sub-consciously looked around for some sort of shelter. Finally, she came upon
a nest underneath the roots of a large oak tree and fell asleep.
She woke a few hours
later to the angry chattering of a Furret and ran out of the tree as it growled
and nipped at her heels. She had learned the hard way that it was someone else’s
home. Sighing, she looked at the sky as water droplets trickled down her face.
Just her luck, it had begun to rain.
She began to walk
through the forest, stepping lightly as the dirt turned to mud. At least the
trees provided some shelter. Shelter. That’s what she needed to find. She
glanced around and noticed all of the Pokémon in that area watching her
closely. She suddenly felt self-conscious and slunk quietly through the forest
until she came to the edge of a clearing.
Wet and tired, she
walked along a fence line until she came to a ditch underneath it. At least it is shelter, she thought as
she climbed in and curled into a ball. Without realizing it, she drifted off to
sleep.
When she finally awoke,
she stretched her legs a bit. It had stopped raining; that was a good sign.
However, her fur was soaked and she was chilled to the bone. Noticing a faint
shadow in the moonlight, she looked up out of the ditch only to see a white fox
staring back at her. Startled, she jumped, and in doing so, hit her head on the
fence beam above her. Wincing, she rubbed her head.
The white fox looked as
startled as she did when she hit her head. He got a little closer, seemingly
inspecting her. She backed away, afraid she may have invaded yet another home.
“What… what are you?” she stammered.
He seemed surprised.
“I… am an Umbreon.”
He was an Umbreon? But,
he looked different than she did. He seemed… she shook her head.
Simultaneously, they both apologized. “I’m sorry. I’ll go now.” They turned
around and looked at each other.
“This isn’t your home?”
she questioned.
“No… it isn’t yours?”
She shook her head.
“Why do you want to leave?”
“You don’t want me to
go?”
She shook her head
again. “You can stay if you wish. I won’t make you leave.”
He breathed a sigh of
relief. “Thank you,” he said as he sat down.
“Why would I want to
make you leave?”
“Because I am
different.”
“What difference would
that make?”
He looked at her
questioningly. “Everywhere I go I am shunned because I am different. My mother
always protected me, but she died when I was quite young. Most other Eons seem
to dislike me because I am not like them.”
She slunk out of the
ditch, careful not to hit her head, and sat down beside him. “That’s sad. I’m
not like that.”
“Why,” he paused, “why
are you alone?”
She looked down,
ashamed. “I was caught at a young age, but quickly abandoned because I didn’t
want to fight my opponent. I seem to scare others because of how I look and
what I am, and Pokémon don’t want me around them.”
“You know, we have a
lot in common.” He held out a paw. “My name is Angel.”
She smiled and they
shook paws. “My name is Eclipse.”
They began to walk
through the clearing, talking for hours about anything: weather, life, or just
whatever happened to cross their mind at that time. Eclipse felt a strange
sensation whenever she was around him; one she had never felt before. Angel
felt the same way, but were both too embarrassed or shy to say anything.
Eclipse thought to herself. Happiness…
even if it is only for a moment, at least I have felt happiness.
As dawn started to
come, they reached the end of the clearing. Eclipse sighed and looked down.
This was the part she had been dreading. “Well,” she said slowly, “I guess I’d
better go now.” She began to walk away.
Not wanting to loose
his first true happiness, Angel stammered for an excuse for her to stay.
“Wait!” he hollered. Eclipse’s face brightened a bit and she turned around. “We
should… uh… stick together… um… because…
ah… after all… two make a better team than one.” He could have slapped himself.
Not only was it a lame excuse, it wasn’t very convincing. He sat there, trying
to pose a smile to encourage her, but on the inside, he was kicking himself. He
knew she would never go along with that.
Eclipse trotted back
over next to him. “You know, you are right.”
“I am?” he muttered to
himself. He was kind of shocked that she had agreed. “Well,” he said aloud, “we
should probably find some place to rest for the day. The sun is almost up.”
Eclipse nodded. They looked around for quite some time, but they never found anything bigger than a small den barely big enough for the two of them. Wanting to respect her rights, Angel stayed outside the cave and lay down. When Eclipse looked at him questioningly, he simply stated, “I can sleep outside. Don’t worry.”
Eclipse sniffed the
air. “It is going to get cold tonight. I don’t mind you sleeping in here.” She
paused. “Just as long as you don’t get any ideas,” she teased. Angel smiled in
understanding and walked in.
After situating themselves, they both curled into balls and
fell asleep, back-to-back. Unknown to each other, they both smiled. It was the
happiest each of them had ever been.
“Mother?
Mother! What’s going on?”
“They
have come again, Angel. The bad Eons. You need to run to the back of the den.
If you hear me yell out your name, get out through the rear entrance I showed
you and run. Run away and don’t look back. Do you understand?”
“Mum?”
“Do
you understand?” she repeated sternly.
Angel
gulped. “Yes.”
“Now
go.” Angel took off running and hid in a small crack in the rear wall of the
cave. Using the psychic technique he had inherited from his father, he watched
and listened as the whole thing unfolded in his mind.
“Moonlight,
hand over the child,” commanded the leader. “He is a threat. There is the
possibility that he may have inherited more than just looks from his father.”
“Don’t
you think I know that?” she questioned. “I have done random tests without his
knowledge to see if anything has surfaced. Nothing has!”
“But
when it does,” said a Vaporeon, “we will all be in danger.”
“But
what if he doesn’t carry it? You will be destroying an innocent child. My
child.”
“We
cannot risk it,” the leader carried on. “If he does carry it within him, then
we could all be destroyed.”
Moonlight
fell to her knees. “Please… please don’t make me loose another. Whitey was able
to control it. Why couldn’t he?”
“You
fail to remember he almost couldn’t. That is why you lost him and your first
son.”
Moonlight
began to growl faintly. “And that is why I am not losing this one.” With that,
she began to glow and black, leathery wings grew out of her back. “You will
leave now.”
A
Flareon in the background screamed. “It’s Starshadow! Starshadow does exist!” A
panic began to ensue.
“Quiet!
Quiet, everyone!” the leader screamed. “She cannot take us all at once!”
“Are
you so positive about that, Sunset?” she asked coldly. “I will take on as many
as I have to in order to protect my child.”
Sunset
stepped back a bit and growled as the rest of the Eons settled down behind him.
“I am positive.” He hollered back to the others, “The few we loose today will
be worth the hundreds saved in the future. Think of this as a battle for your
children!”
A battle for my child, thought
Starshadow. That is exactly what it is.
The Eons all
yelled in agreement as they began to charge at her. Starshadow flew up and
began firing beams of light at the Eons around her, trying to keep them down.
She blocked a bite here, dodged a tackle there, being hit only occasionally.
She appeared to be ahead, until a group of Jolteons combined their forces to
send a huge Thunder attack her way. It was a direct hit, and she screamed as
she fell to the ground in pain, slowed by paralysis. As fast as she was able,
she sent out beam after beam and bit anyone who came too close. After a while,
the remaining Eons learned from the Jolteons and gathered together by group and
type, circling the wounded and flightless Starshadow. She realized what they
were up to and tried to put up a barrier - too late. As she was struck by the
strongest attacks from each Eon, she screamed in pain while trying to absorb as
much energy as she could, even while it pressured her body almost to the point
of explosion. With her last remaining strength, she flew up into the air. I am losing, she thought. If this is the only way to save him, then so
be it. Using all of the energy she had absorbed, she created an immense
ball of mixed light. She held it between her paws as all of the Eons looked up
in a shocked awe. “Whitey,” she whispered, “forgive me and watch over our son.”
She hollered out, “Angel!” With that, she folded in her wings and went into a
freefall towards the ground. The Eons below began to panic, and ran around in
utter confusion. When Starshadow and the energy ball finally made contact, the
explosion rocked the whole area. Only a pitiful few Eons were left standing,
including the leader, Sunset, who had used a teleport at the last minute.
When
Angel heard his name called out, he darted to the passage in the rear of the
cave. Squeezing between crack after crack, he finally made it outside. He
hesitated for a moment, weary of what was going on, but began to run anyway. A
few moments later, he heard an explosion, and a shockwave sent him to the
ground. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but soon got a weak telepathic
message from his mother. Angel, you need
to keep running, else Sunset will find you. Stay safe and happy. Don’t forget
me. … I… love… you… That was it.
The last he would ever hear from her. He put up a sense-proof shield, a
technique she had taught him, and ran for the mountains.
Angel
awoke with short, panicked breaths. That dream… he kept re-living the night his
mother died. Why had they wanted him? He thought it was because of his color,
but now he wasn’t so sure. He glanced over at Eclipse, who was still asleep,
and sighed. “I’ll be back later, I promise,” he whispered as he slid out of the
den.
Eclipse awoke early the
next morning as she felt a bitter draft enter the den. Yawning as she looked
around, she was somewhat shocked to find that Angel was nowhere to be seen. She
stepped outside and looked around. Should she go out and search, or would it be
better to stay there and wait? Her face twisted in thought. What if he had
sleepwalked and gotten lost? There were so many possibilities. Before long, she
had made up her mind. She was going. She sniffed the air for a scent, and after
a few minutes, found one. Positive it was Angel’s, she began to follow it.
After following the
winding trail for almost an hour, the scent suddenly turned stale. She searched
around that location for a bit, but couldn’t find that exact scent again. She
sighed and lay down beside a pile of frosted-over leaves. Eclipse almost cried
at the thought that she had lost her first and perhaps only friend. Suddenly,
the pile of leaves next to her rustled and a dark-colored fox head appeared out
from under them. He glared at her with deep ruby-red eyes. He had the same markings
as Angel, but was dark in color - even darker than she was. Something about him
sent a chill down her spine.
He
looked at her curiously, thinking he recognized her, but he wasn’t sure where
from. He got up, shaking the leaves off as he stood, and began to pace around
her. Eclipse felt the need to run, but it was like her legs weren’t listening
to her head. She just lay there, trembling like a cat cornered by a dog. There
was something evil about him… just evil. He just smirked slightly as he saw her
cowering in fear. “Well hello there,” he stated as he continued to pace. “And
what might your name be?”
Eclipse
trembled all over. This was the worst encounter with anything she had ever had.
She just wanted to run, but couldn’t. She stammered to speak, maybe if she did
he would go and leave her alone. However, the words just wouldn’t come.
Finally, she managed to stammer in a harsh whisper, “E…Eclipse. My… my name is
Eclipse.”
He stopped right in front of her, still holding her in a trance with his ruby eyes. “A real pleasure to meet you, Eclipse,” he smirked as he got closer. She began to back away, him following until she was backed into the trunk of a tree. “My name is Demon,” he sniggered. “Now you are going to find out why.” Eclipse’s eyes widened as his paw went back, and then lunged forward, claws bared. She winced, expecting a blow that would end her life. The paw ended up right beside her head, stuck in the bark of the tree. Demon looked as astonished as she did when he saw that his attack had missed. Seeing this as her chance, she took off running. She just ran, tears streaming down her face. She had lost her friend, and almost her life.
Demon
stood there, still in shock. He couldn’t have missed - he never missed.
Something had held him back - something deep inside. He squirmed, finally
wrenching his claws free from the bark. Growling, he stood and faced the
direction that Eclipse had gone. It’s not
over, he thought. We will meet again.
It
seemed to truly be her destiny. Alone and running. She couldn’t understand.
What had she done so wrong that this is what her life would be? Angel… what had
happened to him? He had probably abandoned her… just like everyone else
eventually did. Eclipse slowed her pace and sighed. She had hoped he was
different.
She
continued walking, until she stopped short at a sight she saw in front of her.
The image she saw was rather eerie - it appeared as if an explosion had taken
place. The crater was huge, spanning at least as far as she could see. No
grass, trees, or flowers bloomed inside it. Deciding it was probably faster to
go through it than around, she stepped into the crater and began her trek
across.
A few steps in,
something crumbled beneath her foot. Startled, she looked down and raised her
paw to see what it was. She was even more shocked to find it was a bone. Not
just one bone, but the full remains of an Eon. Looking around more carefully,
she noticed that the whole crater was littered with bones. It appeared to be
the epicenter of a war. Eclipse looked carefully at the remains. It had
happened quite some time ago - the bones were frail, worn, and covered in the
earth around them.
“What could have
happened?” Eclipse whispered to herself. It just didn’t seem right. Suddenly,
she felt a strange sensation coming from further inside the crater. It kept
pulling her in, wanting her to come closer. Gazing into the direction it was
coming from, she gave in and began walking slowly towards the center.
As she neared her
destination, the sensation got stronger, and she could see a dark glow coming
from a stone among the bones. The closer she came, the brighter it got. When
she stood beside it, the stone broke apart, revealing a small, black crystal.
Curious, she got closer to inspect it, when it suddenly began to speak to her.
You
are scared, aren’t you? Afraid of your future. Eclipse
nodded. Lonely as well. Eclipse
nodded again as a tear rolled down her cheek. I can help your future. Make you stronger. Less vulnerable. You want a friend?
I can be your friend. You will never be lonely again.
Never…
be lonely again… this thought rang through Eclipse’s head.
It sounded too good to be true. Or was it? Suddenly, the crystal took on a
transparent Umbreon form. Instead of normal markings, this one was pure black.
“My name is Shadow,”
she said. “Let me be your friend.”
Eclipse was entranced
by the figure. “Be… my friend…”
Shadow smirked and her
figure seemed to be absorbed into Eclipse. “As you wish.” With that, Eclipse
blacked out.
Angel continued
walking. Something was definitely pulling him in this direction, he just wasn’t
quite sure why. He had gone back to the den the next day, but Eclipse had gone,
and he didn’t blame her. She probably thought he had left for good. He wasn’t
sure what happened the day he left; it was almost as if he had blacked out. He
couldn’t remember a thing.
The pulling became
stronger and he went from a trot to a gallop. Something was happening, he just
wasn’t sure what. The area seemed fairly familiar, but he couldn’t place why.
Suddenly, he stopped. A crater lay in front of him. It looked as if a bomb had
been dropped there. He quickly scanned the area, looking for movement. He
didn’t sense anything, until a slight movement caught his attention. Usually,
he would pass this up as a fluke, but this area was too still. He ran to that
location at full speed.
When he could finally
see it, he instantly knew who it was. Eclipse was lying among the rocks, not
moving. “Eclipse! Oh my Goddish, Eclipse, wake up!” Angel nudged her a few
times, continuing to plead with her to wake up. Angel was worried. He should
have never left her. Now he couldn’t figure out what had happened.
Thunder began to roll
across the clouds. A storm was coming and they needed to find shelter. But he
couldn’t wake Eclipse. As the sky darkened, the need for shelter rose. The
storm could get big. Angel kneeled over and struggled to put Eclipse on his
back. Using Agility, he ran towards the other side of the crater. Seeing a cave
on the edge of the crater as lightning flashed across the sky, he shifted
directions and headed straight for it.
Angel put Eclipse down
inside the cave; both of them were soaked. Stepping aside for a moment, he
shook himself dry. He walked slowly over to her, still worried, and lay down
beside her to try and keep her warm. There was still a frosty chill in the air,
and the rain didn’t help matters much. He watched her carefully; her breathing
was slow, almost as if she was asleep. Yet, she wouldn’t wake up. Sighing, he looked
outside and watched as the thunderstorm worsened. Something was up, he just
wasn’t sure what.
As the thunder rolled
through the clouds in the real world, Eclipse was having torment of her own.
She still lay unconscious next to Angel, but inside, two entities were arguing.
Shadow, the entity in the form of the dark crystal that Eclipse had absorbed,
was trying to take over all of Eclipse’s thoughts and emotions.
“You tricked me!” cried
Eclipse, tears rolling down her face. “You played with my feelings!”
“I did nothing of the
sort,” replied Shadow coldly. “I promised to make you stronger and less
vulnerable, and I do that when I become you.”
“But what about being
my friend? You promised I would never be lonely again!”
“Tell me this. How can
you be lonely when you don’t exist?” Shadow sneered and began to advance
towards Eclipse.
Eclipse gaped at that.
“You… you mean to destroy me?”
Shadow shrugged. “Why
not? It is nothing personal really, but I cannot have full control over your
thoughts until I destroy you.”
“You can’t!”
“Tell me. What do you
have to live for? From what I see, nothing. You are a pathetic thing with no
friends, you are pretty much defenseless, and are way too gullible.”
Eclipse stared at
Shadow, wide-eyed. This can’t be the way
it is going to end. I can’t let her win! I may not be much, but I cannot lose
my life to a Crystal!
Shadow froze. Something
was going on. The world around them began to swirl in utter confusion. Eclipse’s
eyes suddenly closed, and when they reopened, glowed a brilliant white. Shadow,
seeing something was happening, used a barrier. Eclipse stood on her haunches
and folded her paws together, absorbing energy from the world around her.
“No!” Shadow screamed.
“You cannot do this! You are too weak! You will never defeat me!”
Eclipse continued
absorbing energy until she had a massive ball of it in her paws. Aiming
carefully, she fired it at Shadow. Shadow screamed in pain as the energy tore
through her. Eclipse, sighing yet scared of the sight that was unfolding, began
to resurface into consciousness.
As a massive
thunderbolt streaked across the sky, Eclipse moaned a bit; her eyes still
closed. Startled, Angel looked down at her and nudged her cheek, hoping to help
her wake up. Eclipse’s eyes fluttered a bit, then opened fully. A little dazed
in confusion, Eclipse glanced up to see what was beside her. The image, blurry
at first, became clearer after a few moments. Shocked to see Angel lying beside
her, she gave a yelp of happiness and nuzzled up against his chest, happy to be
safe, away from the entity that had tried to take over. Angel, a bit surprised
at this sudden show of emotion, just ran his paw down her back, scratching it;
making her purr like a kitten.
Shadow, injured and
extremely weak in a remote area inside of Eclipse, growled. She was too easily
defeated. She would need to strengthen herself more than with her last victim.
Of course, she wasn’t able to fully overtake her either. Shadow began her
healing cycle. She would take over this victim. She would not be defeated
again.
As dawn came, Eclipse
and Angel were still side-by-side, and Eclipse was still trembling from her
experience. Angel was still wondering what was up, but thought that if she
wanted to tell him she would, and so decided it best not to ask. Eclipse, worn
both physically and mentally, finally went to sleep from the soothing feeling
of Angel scratching her back. Still a little worried, Angel stayed up for
another few hours - just to make sure she was okay, before finally drifting off
to sleep himself.
“Mum?”
“Yes, Angel?”
“Where is my dad?”
Moonlight’s expression
darkened. She knew this day would come, when she would have to tell him, but
she had hoped it wouldn’t be this soon. “Come here, Angel. It’s kind of a sad
story.”
“Okies,” replied Angel
as he trotted over to his mother’s side.
Moonlight gave a sigh.
“Your father was a remarkable Umbreon. He would do anything for the ones he
cared for.” Her eyes began to have a distant look in them, as if she was
thinking of other things. “He was white, like you, but he had… well… a bad side
to him, one he couldn’t control. He would always sacrifice himself to keep
others safe from Darkie, his bad side, but we were always able to bring him
back somehow.” Her eyes began to get wet with tears. “Then, one day, some of
the Eons here had gotten into a brawl. Darkie could never resist getting
involved with a fight, and so took over him once again. I was elsewhere, your
father had told me to leave in case he changed. However, I had to turn and go
back. I realized that I had left Tmlu behind. He was our son, and your older
brother. When I finally got back, I… I found him, dead.” She wiped away a few
tears. Her voice started quivering a little, but she tried to keep it steady
for Angel to understand. “Darkie found me, and attacked me, showing how much
stronger he had gotten since the last time we had met.” Moonlight winced in
remembrance. “I ended up being thrown through a tree, and knocked unconscious.
When I finally awakened, I saw your father… he was fading quickly… he had given
his life to save the rest of the Eons… and…” Moonlight burst into tears.
“Mum? Are you okay?”
“Yes, son… I’m fine… I
just…” Moonlight sighed. “I just miss your father so much.”
“Don’t worry, mum.
You’ll see him again.”
Moonlight looked over
at Angel. He seemed so sure of that. No trace of doubt in his mind. “Why do you
say that?”
“You just will. Don’t
worry.” Angel got up and began to trot around the cave, looking at all of the
stones in the walls. Coming across one in the back of the cave, he stopped and
turned back to his mom. “What’s this?”
Moonlight got to her
feet and walked to where Angel was standing. She gaped at what he had
discovered. It was an inscription, scratched into the wall of the cave with a
claw - Whitey loves Mlu forever.
Underneath it was a drawing of a feather.
“Who are Whitey and
Mlu?”
“It’s…” She smiled
slightly, and touched the carving tenderly. “Whitey was your father’s nickname,
and Mlu was mine.”
Angel looked back at
the etching. “What is the feather for?”
“Your father was my
angel…” Moonlight hugged him with a paw. “And you are named in remembrance of
him.” Angel smiled. He hoped that one day he would become like his father. “All we can do is keep him in our hearts…
that is the way he can live forever…”
Angel woke up. The sun
wasn’t fully down yet, so it would probably still be a while before Eclipse awoke.
He smiled at the thought of being next to her. There was something about her…
something that made him feel different. Smiling happily, he looked around.
There was something familiar about this cave… his face twisted. Something very
familiar. Angel situated Eclipse so she was not lying against him, and got up.
He started walking around the cave, looking at all of the stones in the wall.
He seemed to know them somehow. Coming to the rear of the cave, he stopped in
amazement. There was the inscription… the one for his mother. He blew away the
dust inside the words, making them clearer to read, and smiled. This was his
home… after all these years... he was back home. Was it destiny, or
coincidence? He glanced back at Eclipse. He sure hoped it was destiny.
Unknown to Angel,
another Eon had been watching ever since he first arrived. The Espeon growled
in a low pitch as he saw Angel enter the cave. “I knew you’d return… and now
the Dark Crystal has a new host. Your mother may have protected you when you
were young, but you have returned, with no mother to protect you. Only a few
remain in this pack - all because of that fateful battle.” The Espeon winced in
pain as he thought of his daughter, Sunlight. She hadn’t made it. He had
watched in horror as she died slowly, the dark and multi-energy combo burning
away at her skin as he stood by. All efforts to save her had failed. And it was
all Angel’s fault. Nothing could convince him otherwise.
Eclipse woke slowly.
Her body ached all over - the storm and cold weather had taken its toll. She
sneezed, sending a small energy ball into the wall in front of her. Great. Just
great. She had a cold.
Looking groggily around
her, Eclipse found that Angel was nowhere to be seen - again. She sighed. Maybe
that’s all he was was an Angel; appearing only occasionally. Looking outside
the cave, she breathed in deeply, only to sniffle a bit and sneeze again,
sending another energy ball, this one larger than the first; flying outside the
cave.
“Whoa!” hollered a
familiar voice. “Watch where you aim that thing!” The voice’s owner peeked his
head into the side of the cave. It was Angel! He gave her a teasing smirk. “I
go out to get breakfast and this is the thanks I get?” With that, his head went
back out of sight, then reappeared, carrying in his jaws a roughly made basket;
filled with berries, nuts, and other edible plants, and set it down in front of
her. “Sorry it’s not much… you wouldn’t believe, but there isn’t another animal
around here for quite a distance.” He kneeled down beside her.
Eclipse looked up at
him thankfully. He hadn’t left - he had stayed with her. “Thank you,” she whispered weakly, and
divided the food equally between them.
“Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry… it’s just
ah… ah… ahh…” she paused and tried to hold her breath; but found that it would
not stop the oncoming rush. Quickly, she turned her head to face the wall and
suddenly sneezed, sending another energy ball, bigger than the first two, into
the rocks, shattering some of them like glass. Eclipse was a bit startled at
what she had done.
“A cold?” asked Angel.
Eclipse nodded and blushed a bit. “Well,” commented Angel as he got a little
closer, “we’d better keep you warm, then.” Eclipse turned her head away as her
face turned bright red. “Come on. You need to eat as well, and we’ll stay here
for a while. At least until you get better.” Eclipse nodded and they both began
to eat.
The Espeon on the ridge
stood, his breath visible in the frosty air. “I see you have brought a friend,
Angel.” He leaned over the edge menacingly. “Her fate will be no different,” he
stated coldly.
“Sunset,” came a harsh
whisper from behind him. The Espeon turned quickly to see a Jolteon standing
behind him.
“What is it, Spiny?”
“You’ve been out here
for quite some time now. What’s going on?”
“He finally returned,”
stated Sunset as he walked towards the rest of the pack with anger in his eyes.
“Angel, the demon - child has returned.”
“Sunset, what is this
all about?” questioned a small Eevee. “You don’t call an emergency meeting of
the whole pack for nothing.”
“You will know when the
rest of the pack knows, Gold.” Gold squirmed awkwardly in her sitting area. She
wasn’t young, she was actually almost as old as Sunset; but never evolved, so
she was still young at heart and wanted to frolic instead of getting down to
business. Luckily, thought Sunset, Spiny hasn’t opened her mouth about this. Another
Eon, an Umbreon, flopped down beside Gold.
“This isn’t gonna take
long, is it?”
Sunset put his paw to
his forehead. Some of the Eons he worked with - he didn’t know how, let alone
why, they had ever survived the battle. “Midnight, it will take as long as it
has to and then you can get back to whatever in the world you were doing.”
Midnight smiled contentedly at this and glanced around.
“Almost everyone is
here,” commented Midnight. “Can’t we get started?”
“No,” stated Sunset
coldly. “Everyone must be here.”
Eclipse was dozing
quietly in the cave, trying to get her energy back up so that the cold would reside
quickly, while Angel paced around, partially because he was worried about
Eclipse, and partially because he had no idea what he was going to do now. He
glanced over at Eclipse, wondering if there was anything he could do to help.
There was a plant; some kind of root if he remembered right, that his mother
gave him when he was young, but he just couldn’t remember what it looked like.
He paced back and forth, trying to force his mind to remember the durned plant.
Maybe if he went out and looked for it, he would know it when he saw it. He
just didn’t want to leave Eclipse alone. He got an idea and grabbed the
makeshift basket he had earlier, set it near Eclipse, and surrounded with
stones. He concentrated for a moment, until a small ball of flame appeared in
his paw, and lit the basket of twigs on fire. There, Angel thought to himself, hopefully she’ll be warm. With that, he trotted off to the forest
area behind the cave, hoping to find the plant that would make Eclipse better.
“Alright,” stated
Sunset, now that everyone is here…”
“What about Spiny?”
interrupted Gold.
Sunset sighed and
rubbed his forehead. “Spiny,” he replied, “is standing watch.”
“Standing watch for
what,” Midnight joined in. “We have been the only animals around here for
years… since the battle, anyway.”
Sunset glared over at
Midnight and Gold. “That…” he sighed, “is what I am trying to get at here…”
“Oooh…” gasped Gold.
“My bad.”
“Anyway… can we get to
business?” Everyone nodded. “Thank you. Anyone who is old enough to remember
the battle knows what I talk about now.”
All of the Eons grew
dead quiet. This was important. Anything referring to the battle was important.
“Angel,” continued
Sunset, “has returned.” Everyone gasped and began talking all at once.
“What’s going to
happen?”
“What if he’s stronger
than all of us?”
“We can’t let our pack
be destroyed!”
“HUSH!” Everyone
stopped talking again. Sunset usually didn’t raise his voice, but when he did,
everyone listened. “There is more,” he continued.
A few gasped under
their breaths. “More? What else could have happened?” asked Midnight.
“Angel has brought
another with him, and this new Eon has become the new host to the Dark
Crystal.”
Everyone began speaking
wildly. No conversations were audible in the noise that followed. Sunset sighed
as he turned his back to the group, only to see Spiny running towards him.
Using a Flash technique, Spiny got everyone’s attention.
“Spiny,” whispered
Sunset, “what is it? What has happened?”
“Sunset…” panted Spiny,
“Angel has left the cave… and the other Eon has been left behind.” Spiny paused
for a moment for a breath. “The other Eon is sick… this could be our chance to
even the odds.”
A devilish grin crossed
Sunset’s face. If they could destroy the Dark Crystal’s new host first, there
would be a better chance at them defeating Angel. Everyone was staring at
Sunset, wondering why Spiny had left her post. Turning to face them, Sunset
gave the announcement, “I need a small group to venture with me to the cave.
Angel has left; and the host is sick. If we destroy her first, we have a better
chance at beating Angel.”
“Her?” interrupted a
small Espeon. “The Dark Crystal’s host is a female?”
Sunset took a glance at
the Espeon who had spoken. Apollo, who was too young to know what had happened,
had doubts… doubts clouded the mind and interrupted thought. He had to make
sure Apollo was on his side - every Eon mattered in this. “Apollo and all of
the other Eons that aren't old enough to know of the battle need to come. They
need to see for themselves the evil we face here. Midnight and Spiny need to
come with me as well. We will need experience on our side. Hopefully the host
doesn’t have much. The rest of you get your rest. Depending on the outcome on
this, we may be able to confront Angel soon.”
The Eons began to split
into two groups - the younger Eons, along with Sunset, Spiny, and Midnight on
one side, while the remaining Eons returned to their makeshift dens. After a brief conference with the younger ones,
Sunset and the others began walking towards the cave where Eclipse lay.
Eclipse, who was having
trouble sleeping anyway because of her cold, opened her eyes and stared at the
roof of the cave. She had heard Angel leave, and so knew he was gone. Coughing
a bit, she turned and sat up right, facing the fire. The flames seemed to
dance, sending interesting shadows across the cave.
Suddenly, an
ear-piercing shriek filled the air as Midnight used his Screech attack. Eclipse
turned to see a large group running towards the cave. There was a hint of terror
in her eyes as they got closer and closer, not slowing their pace at all.
Spiny, who was the fastest of the group, sent a Thunderbolt ahead of her.
Eclipse jumped back, narrowly dodging the attack.
The group was now at
the mouth of the cave, and Eclipse didn’t know any other way out. Sunset began
walking further in towards her, leaving the rest at the entrance to watch.
Eclipse looked carefully into this Espeon’s eyes. She saw anger in them… anger
and pure hatred. What had she done? She knelt down and cowered at his feet.
Sunset continued to
advance until he hovered over her. This
is too easy, he thought. Why does she
not put up a fight?
“Please…” stammered
Eclipse, “don’t… don’t hurt me.”
Sunset raised an
eyebrow. The Dark Crystal made its host evil… or at least tried to. Maybe she
had succeeded in defeating the entity within? He glanced back at the young Eons
behind him. They had all been taught that the Dark Crystal was bad… now if they
saw her cowering like this as he killed her; they might have doubts about what
their elders taught. Then those doubts might travel around the story behind
Angel as well. He growled a bit to himself. He needed to provoke her; he needed
to make her fight him. Looking at the fire beside them, he smirked. Swiping a
paw, he sent numerous embers flying across Eclipse’s face. She cried out,
rubbing her eyes; trying to take away the burn.
Eclipse began to swipe
around blindly, appearing to the Eons at the front of the cave that a fight was
occurring. When she was finally able to open them, Eclipse swiped her claws at
Sunset, surprising herself in the process. Sunset was struck, and now had three
claw marks down his face. He growled, but smiled to himself. This was how it
needed to be. Sunset began focusing energy, creating massive attacks and
hurdling them at Eclipse. She dodged, but just barely. It wasn’t easy at this
close of range, and besides that, she was sick. She wheezed a bit, tired of
this extreme fight. She glanced back at Sunset, who, unlike her, was still
ready for more. Things weren’t going in her favor… was this how it would end?
Suddenly, there was a
howl, and the group outside the cave began to run in confusion. Sunset and
Eclipse both quickly turned to see what was going on. There appeared to be a
fight outside, but they couldn’t tell whom with. Sunset, a bit concerned for
his group, started forward towards them, only to be stopped short by Angel, who
had just torn his way through them. He growled at Sunset, not really knowing
who he was, just knowing that he was attacking Eclipse. Sunset was a bit
startled by this, not expecting Angel to return before they were finished.
Angel began to circle Sunset, only to have Sunset circle as well, therefore
putting Angel closer to Eclipse. She stared up at him, almost in shock.
Everything was happening so fast, and with this fever, it was making it all run
together. She was getting dizzy from all of the commotion.
“What are you doing
here?” yelled Angel. “Leave her alone! Don’t you see she isn’t well?”
Sunset gave a blank stare
to Angel. Evidently, Angel didn’t recognize him. Maybe that was for the better.
“The host must die,” he commented.
“Host?” Angel raised an
eyebrow. “Host to what? She isn’t a host to anything.”
“She has consumed the
Dark Crystal. She now is not what she seems.”
Angel was confused by
this, but wouldn’t let Sunset see it. He had heard about a dark crystal - from
his mother, but didn’t know much about it. He shook his head. “This is a friend
of mine. I will protect her. Now leave!” Without warning, Sunset sent a massive
blast of energy towards Angel. Angel simply put up a Reflect and the ball of
energy disintegrated as it made contact. Angel lowered his head threateningly
as his eyes began to fill with anger. Sunset stepped back. This wasn’t going
well. He motioned for Midnight and Spiny to step up beside him. It was now
three against one, being that Eclipse was too dizzy to fight.
Angel was getting
angrier by the second. These Eons had invaded this cave, and attacked a sick
Umbreon, who happened to be his friend! With each attack that was thrown at
him, the angrier Angel got. Suddenly, he stopped. No one was sure why, he just
stood there, his head bowed. Spiny, who thought it best to take this chance to
attack, sent a massive Thunder towards Angel. The electricity in the blast
hurtled towards him, but stopped about two inches away and formed into a ball.
Angel’s eyes opened, revealing that they had turned a deep red. Angel widened
his stance, and suddenly began to burn in a black flame. He gave a slight moan
as the flame burned away his white fur, revealing dark fur underneath. When the
transformation was complete, he raised his head quickly, sending the ball of
electricity rushing back towards Spiny. Even she wasn’t fast enough to dodge
it. She was thrown backwards out of the cave, straight into Apollo, who had
stood there to try and catch her. The fight was now two against one.
Sunset and Midnight
looked on in shock. The once pure white Umbreon that stood in front of them had
changed. He had become pure darkness, exactly like his father. This is what
they had worried about.
Eclipse, who had her
head down before, knew something had happened and so looked up. She gasped at
what she saw before her. Angel was there no longer; the Umbreon who stood
before her now was the Umbreon that had almost killed her a few nights before.
Demon now stood before her, growling fiercely at Sunset.
Sunset backed away
slowly, Midnight following his example. They had no chance - not like this.
Angel had already disintegrated a blast from Sunset, and Demon had stopped an
attack from Spiny, only to send it back at her. Calculating the levels quickly,
Sunset realized that Demon was already at a much higher level than both
Midnight and himself combined. Glancing back at the group of young Eons behind
him, he saw the bedraggled group they had brought. Then, there was Spiny, who
was already down. They had no chance. Sunset growled a bit, then turned to look
at Midnight, who seemed to be eagerly awaiting orders; hopefully orders that
would take him away from this danger. Sunset gave a small grunt as Demon began
to step towards them, the signal to retreat. A look of relief crossed
Midnight’s face as he stood by Sunset. As Demon sent a ball of energy towards
them; together, both Midnight and Sunset teleported their group away from the
cave.
Demon gave a growl. The
chickens had run. He was into a good fight. He turned and looked at Eclipse,
who was still half dazed, half scared that Demon was standing in front of her,
and gave a slight smirk.
“Well, hello again,” he
said in an almost teasing tone. “Care to finish what we started?”
Eclipse gulped at this.
Demon was Angel? How could her one friend be her worst enemy? She couldn’t
fight him now that she knew this. Besides that, she was too sick and tired now
to fight anyway. Demon walked over to her until he hovered over her tired body
and smiled evilly. “I won’t miss this time, I promise.”
Eclipse stared up at
him fearfully. Why this, why now? Suddenly, she got that feeling again… “Ah…”
“Ah what?”
“Ah…”
Demon raised an
eyebrow. “What are you trying to say, girl?”
“Ahhh…”
Demon suddenly realized
what was going on. He started to duck, but Eclipse sneezed, sending an enormous
ball of energy flying towards him. He was thrown into the wall, and sat there,
in shock. The small, timid Umbreon sitting before him had that kind of power?
His face darkened. Now he would have to destroy her. He raised his paws,
creating an immense amount of energy between them, then suddenly keeled over in
pain. What was stopping him from obliterating her? He held his head and howled
out in pain. Stumbling around a bit, he finally fell down in front of Eclipse,
unconscious.
Eclipse looked on in
wonder, still unsure - things were happening too fast. She pulled herself over
to the now-fallen Demon, and watched him. He may be Demon, but he was Angel
too. That could be the only reason she was still alive right now. She began to
stroke his back; like he had done to her earlier, and the darkened fur began to
come off in her paws, revealing Angel’s pure white fuzz. Her face brightened a
bit and she continued to run her paw through his fur until the dark was almost
gone, and there was Angel again… it was Angel. She breathed a sigh of relief as
he began to stir.
His eyes fluttered for
a moment, then opened quickly and he got up, looking around. “Where are they,”
he stated quickly. “Where did they go?”
Eclipse looked at him,
confused. He didn’t know what had happened? “They are gone… you chased them
away.”
Angel sighed and lay
back down beside her. “Good…”
“Angel… you don’t
remember what happened?”
Angel looked at her,
obviously stumped. “ I… no, I don’t. Why? Did I do something bad?”
Eclipse gulped back
what she wanted to say. Should she tell him? It might be hard to take. “Well…”
she stammered, “You… you changed.” She glanced back down at the dark fur now
lying on the floor of the cave and shuddered a bit. How would he take it?
Angel raised an
eyebrow. “Changed? What do you mean?”
He noticed Eclipse looking at the cave floor and
looked himself. “Whose fur is that?”
Eclipse’s face turned.
She had to tell him… he needed to know. “It’s… yours.”
Angel looked back at
all of the fur on the floor. His was white, except for his rings and the tips
of his tail and ears. Even at that, if he had lost it from those areas, with
that much hair he’d be bald! He glanced back at Eclipse, whose face told him
that she wasn’t lying. “How could that be mine?”
“Like I said, you
changed.”
“Physically?” Eclipse
just nodded.
Moonlight stumbled
through the darkness. Being a Pokémon of the night, she should be able to see;
but her sight was blurred with tears. That entity within her… the evil one… she
couldn’t take it anymore and wasn’t sure how much longer she could hide it from
Angel. Whitey had been killed a few years back, so the only thing that kept her
going was the thought of her son, Angel. If the pack had its way however, she
wouldn’t even have that anymore.
She finally fell to the
floor, exhausted. She couldn’t fight it anymore… it was taking over…
Eclipse woke suddenly,
a massive pain in her chest. Who was Moonlight? Why did she now dream about
this Umbreon? Why… did she suddenly feel like they were going through the same
thing somehow? She clutched her chest, the pain almost too much to bear. What
was happening? She suddenly heard that voice in her head, the one from the
Crystal. ‘I will succeed.’ She ran out of the den, afraid of what was
happening. She fought the urge to just let it take over, to have what it
wanted. She wasn’t even sure she knew what it wanted anymore.
Angel awoke after
realizing there was not as much heat as there was before, and noticed Eclipse
was gone. He stood up and glanced around a bit; still a little tired from the
energy that he had used the previous day. The only thing was, he still couldn’t
remember it. He walked outside, hoping to find her there.
The cave was now out of
sight from where Eclipse was, but she didn’t notice this. All that was on her
mind was the pain… all the pain. She wasn’t sure she could take it anymore. She
kept seeing the dream in her head, and hearing the voice from the Crystal over
and over. It was getting stronger now…
“I will succeed…”
Angel glanced around
and sighed. She was nowhere in sight.
Suddenly, Eclipse
looked up, her eyes glazed over in a deep red hue. She grinned evilly, and
looked back in the direction of the cave as the golden rings on her body began
to fade away to match the rest of her fur. “I have succeeded…”
Shadow smirked as she looked at her reflection in
the water. ‘Moonlight, the fool,’ she thought to herself, ‘She thought she
could actually hold me back. Now, what things can I do to make her miserable
today?’ She looked around. “Why do you always lead me away from your den, dear
Moon? Is there something you wish me
not to know of? Something you are trying to protect? She began to feel
Moonlight fight inside. “Oh no, you can’t come back quite yet. There are things
I need to do first.” Shadow began to focus, searching for the ability within
Moonlight’s body that she was searching for. Finding and tapping in to it, she
began to sense for the cave her host called home. Finding it, she smiled and
began trotting off in that direction. “I will find what you are hiding from me…
nothing you care for is safe.”
Eclipse, her rings now almost invisible against her black fur, began to walk menacingly back towards the cave. “My first run in this body,” she commented. “Let’s see what it can do.”
Shadow peeked into the cave. There was a small
fire burning. She saw a small, white ball of fluff curled into a ball near it
and swore under her breath. “So you do have a child, Moonlight… it is an exact
likeness of Whitey.” She smirked as she took her first silent steps into the
den. “Not for long…”
Eclipse peered through
the night, her appearance somewhat altered and her face much more sinister. She
continued walking towards the cave, then stopping at the mouth, only to glare
in at Angel, whose back was to her. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘time to
finish what I started.’
Shadow walked into the cave softly, her claws
concealed by her velvet paws as to not make any sound. She was hovering over
the ball of white fuzz when it suddenly woke and looked up at her. “Hello
there, little one,” Shadow smirked. “Would you like to meet your father?”
Eclipse grinned evilly
as she stared at Angel, who still faced away from her. “Your mother is gone
now, and this host does not yet know how to fight me,” she whispered as she
focused a ball of energy in her paw. Angel shifted slightly and turned to see
her. “Hello there,” she smiled. “Would you like to meet your father?”
The white umbreon looked up at the pure black
umbreon that stood over him. “Hiyas,” he said. “My name is Angel. Mum says dad
is gone… I know I won’t be able to see
him for quite a while yet. What is your name?”
Angel looked at the black umbreon that stood before him and took a step back as she powered up further. “Who… who are you?”
“I am what I have been
and shall always be. I am what your mother hid from you, and hoped to never
face again.” She grinned and began towards him menacingly. “I am Shadow.”
Angel stared in a stunned awe at what stood before him, and muttered under his breath. “The Shadow? How can this be?”
“Well Angel, surprised
to see me?”
“How can you be here?
You died with mother a long time ago!”
“I am eternal. I do not
perish. Now I have a new host.”
Angel froze. The Dark
Crystal. She was the entity that Sunset spoke of! He now knew why she seemed so
familiar, yet wasn’t. It was Eclipse’s body, yet the darkened entity had taken
control, causing the rings to fade, but they weren’t faded fully like with his
mother.