Chapter 4: Touring the Clan

Jackal looked down at his paws to avoid Hex's shocked look.

"Nothing? You can't remember anything at all?" She asked, pity barely detectable in her voice.

"Nothing but a lot of pain," Jackal admitted, meeting her eyes again. "If I try to think back, it's like the memories are just out of reach. They just slip away, like they're made of water."

Hex stepped a little closer. "Well, I promise you. I'll help you recover your memories." She paused, and blushed a little. "For whatever reason, I trust you. I don't think you were bad before your amnesia." She smiled a little uncertainly.

Jackal half-grinned back. "Thanks. It means a lot. I just hope your leader- Glacier, was it?- will believe me as well."

"If he's hesitant, I'll talk to him. One way or another, I'll see to it you stick around for a while." Hex looked at the ground for a moment, then back up at Jackal. "How about-" Her eyes widened suddenly. "Oh Mew… Glacia!"

She sprinted off towards where her sister had been knocked aside. Jackal followed close behind. He stopped beside Hex, who breathed a sigh of relief. A Glaceon was sitting in a vague Glaceon shaped imprint in the snow, licking a small Eevee that was rubbing up against her. Glacia paused in her licking to smile at her sister.

"There you are! I wondered where you got off to. After I got knocked aside, I saw you get blasted off somewhere by an Abomsnow. I would have-" she paused in her tale, because she was looking at Jackal as if noticing him for the first time. "Oh. You're awake. Uh… hi. I'm Glacia."

The little Eevee bounded up to Jackal, giggling. "Hiya! I'm Icicle!" She studied him closely, tail waggling furiously. Her eyes locking onto the scar on his eye. "How'd you get that?"

Glacia looked horrified. "Icicle! Be polite!" She scooped back the Eevee, who was looking rather dejected. She flashed Jackal a nervous smile. "I'm sorry, she's just a little hyper."

Jackal smirked. "It's fine, really." He leaned close to Icicle. "I got it from fighting a huge monster. One who enjoyed eating misbehaved Eevees!" Icicle squealed, and backed up as far as she could into her mother, gazing at Jackal in fear and wonder.

Jackal chuckled, and stood up straight, looking back at Glacia. "I'm Jackal. Pleasure to meet you."

Glacia again smiled nervously, and started to back away. "Same here. Uh, we best get going. Um, Icicle has to, ah…" she mumbled something incoherent, and dragged away a protesting Icicle back to their den.

Jackal frowned, and looked at Hex. "Did I do something wrong? I wasn't trying to be mean to her daughter…"

Hex was frowning as well, and was watching her sister and niece as they walked off. "I really don't know. She's usually very friendly." She shook her head, and smiled softly at Jackal. "So, like I was going to say before, how about I give you a tour of the clan?"

Jackal grinned, and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Hex led the way as she and Jackal headed over to the river.

"So, due to our location, and how the clan has been set up due to that, there are generally only three Eeveelutions that are found here. Obviously, there are Glaceon, such as my sister and our leader; there are Flareon, such as Blitz; and there are Vaporeon, such as Kai, our family's closest friend." They had arrived at the edge of the river, and Hex called out "Kai!"

Jackal waited for something to happen, but only the river moved as it coursed along its banks. "Where is he..?" He wondered aloud.

"Right here, of course," a voice said. Jackal took a step back, as a watery shape materialized out of the river. The water morphed into the shape of a Vaporeon, before solidifying, and becoming just that. The elderly pokemon frowned at Jackal. "You need to look with more than just your eyes, boy." Kai's voice was gruff, but he was sounded friendly enough.

Hex stepped forward, and rubbed her head against Kai's flank. "Hello, Kai. Fight go well for you?"

Kai's expression softened as he licked the top of Hex's head. "Of course. I may be old, but I've still got some fight in me." He examined Jackal closely. "You must be Jackal, then. I'd heard you weren't doing so good, but you seem fine now. What brings you around these parts?"

Jackal answered as Hex moved back to sit close to him. "I honestly don't know, sir. I… don't have any memory before Hex found me in the woods."

Kai cocked an eyebrow. "Well, that certainly seems like a problem. Hope that issue gets straightened out." He glanced back at the river. "As fun as this little chat is, I've gotta get back to fishing. Clan needs to eat especially well after a fight like that."

Hex nodded. "Of course. I just wanted to introduce you two. Good hunting, Kai!" She turned around, and looked at Jackal. "Come on, then."

Jackal was about to follow her, but Kai stopped him with his tail. Jackal gave him a questioning look. "Yes?"

Kai watched Hex as she walked off, and then locked eyes with Jackal. "Listen, boy. I saw your fight with that Abomsnow. You claim to not have any memories, and for some reason, I believe you. However, you fought incredibly well, and with a fair amount of power. A normal rogue pokemon, as you appear to be, doesn't usually fight like that." He narrowed his eyes at the Mightyena. "A word of caution, Jackal. I don't know what your life was like previous to coming here, but if your memories start flooding back, and they aren't particularly…pleasant, I'm warning you now: Stay away from this clan, and stay away from Hex. She's taken an interest in you, and I will not see her hurt. Understand?"

Jackal met Kai's fierce gaze evenly. He didn't really like what the elderly Eon was implying, but he understood where it was coming from. "I promise you, on our Mother Mew, I'll leave if that should be what my memories are like."

Kai nodded, and then his face broke into a grin. "Then I'll see you around." With that, he melted back into the river, and left Jackal standing there to ponder what he said.

"Jackal, you coming?" Hex called out, snapping him back to the real world.

"Yeah, sorry." Jackal called back.

When Jackal caught up, Hex continued on with her tour. "So, as you just saw, Kai is a Vaporeon. They are our hunters, and the ones charged with protecting our weaker clan mates if we are attacked."

They passed by a very large black dome structure, made out of some sort of rock. Flareon were walking in and out, and they were all serious and tough looking.

"What's that?" Jackal asked, sniffing the structure. It smelled like soot.

"That's one of the Flareon's barracks. They have others posted on the outside of the clan, and our territory, but this is the largest. It's made out of hardened magma, from their Lava Plume attacks. The Flareon act as our protectors and army. Blitz leads them. He's kind of a jerk, but he defends this clan with his life."

Jackal nodded slowly. That must take a while, and he was impressed by the ingenuity.

They walked by the structure, and Hex showed Jackal the rest of the clan. She showed him that most of the clan lived in igloo-like structures, or, if they were close to the river, they lived in domes made out of bent reeds. All the while, Hex told Jackal about her life in the clan. She and her sister were born from a Vaporeon and Flareon. Her father, the Vaporeon, was killed in an attack by the local Abomsnow tribe. Her mother disappeared into the woods shortly after.

"It was horrible," Hex told Jackal, her eyes dim. "We had just lost dad, and mom often took walks in the woods to clear her thoughts. Kai was watching Glacia and myself. She was supposed to be back by sunset, but she never showed up. The clan sent out search parties, but to no avail. I keep hoping she'll someday come back, but…" She sniffed her nose, and wiped a tear from her eye with her tail. Jackal pressed his body against hers for comfort, looking down at her, sadness in his eyes.

Hex took a deep breath, and regained her composure. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Jackal frowned slightly, but didn't know what to say. "Uh, I was wondering," he said, trying to get Hex's mind of her mother, "You said there were usually only three kinds of Eeveelutions in the clan. Why is that?"

Hex laughed softly, mostly back to normal. "Because they either can't exist, or can't evolve here. Our Flareon warriors and Vaporeon hunters are able to evolve because there are hot springs near here that hold a huge deposit of Water and Fire Stones. We can evolve into Glaceon, due to obvious reasons. Leafeon wouldn't survive up here, and there aren't any Thunder Stones near here."

Jackal nodded, and asked, "Why aren't there more Espeon and Umbreon, then?"

Hex laughed again. "Same reason there aren't any Leafeon. It's way too cold for the short fur that comes with those two evolutions. My own evolution was an accident." She blushed a little. "Icicle, as much as I love her, has a tendency to run off. She escaped one day, and was lost in the woods for a day. Glacia and I were horrified that something had happened to her. Finally, after hours of searching, through day and night, I found her sleeping in the base of a tree. I was so relieved and grateful, I evolved as the sun rose."

Jackal chuckled, and Hex blushed some more. "Hey, I was worried!" She looked at the sky, and sighed. "The sun's going down. It's time for you to speak with Glacier."

Jackal sighed as well. He had been enjoying his time with Hex. But, all good things must come to an end. Hopefully, Glacier would allow him to stay, and he could be with Hex some more.

"All right, Hex. Lead the way."

Fourth chapter, for your viewing pleasure! The workings of the clan, and a little bit of Hex's history is brought into the light. Also, I would like to thank my first ever reviewers. Seeing those literally made me smile ear to ear. I tried taking the advice of lengthening the chapters, and of spreading out the paragraphs for when characters talk. I didn't succeed as much as I would have liked, but it's a start, right? I'll see you all later! Love, Hex