"Good morning, class." An adult female Espeon projected her voice to the large group of Eevee in front of her.
"Good morning, instructor Adyss." The horde of Eevee answered their instructor.
Instructor Adyss nodded, a signal that she accepted their greeting. She cleared her throat. "Well. Today, we will be moving onto something different from the usual. Can anyone guess what it is?" She asked with a cheerful smile. Though assertive and even sometimes a little strict, instructor Adyss always tried to be upbeat to encourage her pupils.
A few eevee raised their paws in the air, some more confident, with their paws fully outstretched, and others not so much, their paws only slightly above their chests. The instructor took a few steps towards the group.
"Caidea." She turned to a small Eevee in the middle. Caidea tilted her head in thought.
"Umm... hunting?" She stared at her tutor expectantly.
The Espeon shook her head calmly, still smiling. "No, but perhaps when you're older." She turned to another eevee. "Monnar?"
The shy male's ears dropped behind his head. "Uh... um... don't eat blue Magikarp?"
Instructor Adyss chuckled and shook her head. "I think that's more of a common sense one."
Suddenly, a female voice spoke up from beside Caidea. "Is it about evolution, instructor?"
Instructor Adyss smiled. "Yes, Lainym. Well done. Yes, evolution is the most important change a pokemon goes through. Tell me class, can all pokemon evolve?"
The group let out a long 'No' while shaking their heads, some rather exaggeratedly. The Espeon sat down in front of them.
"Not all pokemon can evolve, but you can, because you are eevee, known as the evolution pokemon."
The class uttered an "Ooh!" to match her tone. Instructor Adyss laughed. "Yes. As you all know, your evolution ceremony will take place in about 6 moons, and then, you will all be able to evolve into espeon and officially become part of our clan!"
The class cheered, and the air was filled with excited whispers and giggles. The instructor smiled.
"And, you must also know that after you evolve, the next step in a few moons should be to find your mates. Who knows, they could be sitting right next to you!"
"Ew!" cried a younger eevee at the end. The group laughed, including instructor Adyss. The Espeon then made her way to the front of the room, where a large wooden board was placed. "Of course I'm just joking, you don't have to find mates right way, but the way I've seen things here, it doesn't usually take long..." She smirked, hinting at the eevee. Some giggled, others' faces grew as red as razz berry. She lifted a piece of charcoal from a small wooden desk with her Telekinesis and started writing the title and date in footprint runes.
"But instructor Adyss, what if I don't want a mate?" The eevee's chatter simmered into an eerie silence. Instructor Adyss put down the charcoal on the desk.
"What was that, Lainym?" She turned to the young eevee who just blurted that out. Lainym looked down at her paws.
"W-well, it's just that finding a mate seems kind of... I don't really like any of the males here... Um, no offense guys." She flashed an apologetic smile around the class. The espeon, always with her signature patience, chuckled and smiled.
"Now, now. You of all eevee should know, that as future leader, you will definitely need a mate. You might not be interested in anyone right now, because you're still young, but that will change in the future, trust me." She smiled, almost in a slightly condescending tone.
A worried expression took over Lainym's face. "But... if I marry, I'll be stuck here forever, right?"
Instructor Adyss's face took on a more serious expression. "Lainym, I'm not really the one who should be having this conversation with you, but since you are the daughter of Taenan and Erezel, our leaders, you must remain in the village. Your role is to become the next leader after them."
Lainym stood up boldly, an odd sense of courage overtaking her body for just that moment. "W-what if I don't wanna be the leader?" The class stared at her wide-eyed. Instructor Adyss stepped right up to her, her expression strange and unreadable.
"We will continue this conversation after class. With your parents." She spoke in serious tone.
"But..!"Lainym's ears dropped behind her head in frustration. She wanted to defend herself, but she knew better than to talk back to instructor Adyss too much. Her patience had a well-defined limit. As the espeon returned to the board and continued with her usual lessons, all Lainym wanted to do was just up and leave. But, since she couldn't do that, she figured just pretending she was listening was the best option.
"I don't know what's gotten into her. It's not the first time she expressed this kind of behaviour, but..."
Lainym played with the stick she grasped in her paw, drawing circles in the dirt as she heard her mother speaking to instructor Adyss. Caidea had left a few moments ago, so she had no one to play with. She decided to be honest to herself and admit that she feared her future. She would be stuck here forever? Watching over this village that would remain the same forever? She didn't want that. She wanted to go out and see the world, like the books in the library described it to her. She wanted something different. Something unpredictable. But she couldn't. Because she would always be the daughter of Taenan. No matter how much she fought and rebelled, that would never change.
The door creaked open, and Lainym jumped. Her father stepped out first, his bright stern eyes staring into hers, his expression hard to read. "We have much to talk about at home, young eevee." Without another word, he turned his attention to the path ahead and started walking. Lainym's mother stepped out of the door herself and gestured for her daughter to follow along. The young Eevee stared at the ground as she walked beside her mother. Erezel turned to her daughter.
"Sweetie, you know your behaviour today wasn't the best, right?" Her shiny violet eyes looked tenderly at Lainym.
The Eevee sighed. "But mom... It's so unfair..."
Erezel sighed deeply. "I know it might look unfair to you. Believe it or not, I had the same doubts when I was your age."
Lainym looked up at her mother. "Isn't there any other way?"
Her mother stopped in her tracks, and Lainym soon followed. Erezel looked off at the path, a stern look on her face. "Lainym."
The young Eevee slightly cringed at hearing her own name mentioned. Erezel still had that distant look, but Lainym felt as if she still had her full focus on her.
"You are at an age where you must understand that not everything in life is about you." Lainym opened her mouth to respond to her, but her mother cut her off.
"Tell me, if the clan stopped having a leader to guide them, what do you think might happen?"
Lainym tilted her head in thought, then thought of a good answer. "Everyone would be free, right? They could go wherever they want, and do whatever they want!" She smiled at the thought. However, Erezel remained silent.
"Lainym, remember that everyone in this village does something specific. Some hunt, some gather berries, others build and weave our tents. Some are mentors to the young, like instructor Adyss. If this clan stops having a leader, then that means there is no one to tell them what to do."
Lainym stared at her in confusion, not understanding what was bad about this situation. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Erezel turned to her daughter. "Lainym, you are thinking as a child would."
The eevee felt goosebumps at her tone.
"With no one to tell them what to do, yes, they could be free to do whatever they want, in all senses. Meaning, an espeon could feel free to take another's food. Or hurt another espeon, or start conflicts in a wide scale. Or worse."
Lainym stared at her mom in shock, not really knowing how to respond to that. Erezel looked her daughter in the eyes.
"Do you understand now, Lainym? They need a leader. They need a figure to keep the peace and bring balance. If this figure is absent, this place will succumb to chaos." She looked deep into her daughter's eyes, as if pleading for her to understand. "This is the real reason you must stay here and become the leader after your father and I. You must protect our village, Lainym. From ourselves, if necessary."
Lainym dropped her ears behind her head and stared at the ground, following her mother's pace. Her father was probably already at their tent, and she knew the lecture she was about to get now would be ten times worse.