In our last chapter, Lilith went a-wandering in the woods at night, and something odd began to happen to her. Now, we found out exactly what happened. Expect this part to be a bit longer than the first part.
Walks-the-Umbra
Chapter 2
She slowly opened her eyes, and was pleasantly surprised to find that no pain accompanied the action. She lifted her head a bit to look around. No pain, but a lot more surprise at just what she saw. She still lay on top of the rock in the middle of the clearing, but she was not alone. Surrounding the base of the rock were Umbreon. Many many Umbreon. And they were all watching her, they're eyes glowing a faint red in the darkness.
"Why are you watching me?" she asked, then clapped her mouth shut. Her voice sounded different somehow. Not rough or dry, or just at a different pitch. It sounded as if she were speaking some sort of other language, yet it sounded perfectly normal to her ears.
One of the Umbreon stepped forward. "You. Why are you here?"
She gasped. Did that Umbreon just talk to me? What's going on? She was so confused. The pain she'd experienced beforehand was starting to fade from her mind, but that didn't explain the presence of all these Pokemon, or why she could have sworn one just spoke to her.
Could it be . . ?
Taking a deep breath, she reached up and looked at her hand, and was half horrified to realise that it wasn't a hand anymore. It was a paw, a black paw, to be exact. Slowly, she turned her head and looked the rest of herself over. A sleek black body met her eyes, golden rings on her legs, and another that ran around her thick tail. Her eyes widened. What the hell had happened?
"I asked you once. Why are you here?"
Finding her voice again, she answered. "I -- I don't know."
Murmurs ran through the crowd of Umbreon below her. Had she said something wrong? She really didn't know how she'd come to be this way, and the 'why' of the matter was even less clear to her. What was she supposed to say? 'Sorry for intruding, but I was once a human taking a walk and now I'm some sort of Pokemon'? Even though that was exactly what had happened, it still sounded crazy to her.
After the murmurs had died down, the first Umbreon spoke again. "You are one of us, but you smell strange. Are you a trained Umbreon?"
"Trained? Me? Not that I'm aware of."
They began to laugh, and it sounded like a strange sort of bark. If she were human, she was sure she'd be flushing a deep red of embarassment. Feeling a little bold despite the situation, she asked, "What's so funny?"
The first Umbreon supressed a chuckle. "Oh, nothing. It's just that one would know if they were trained or not. Obviously, you know little of these things. You are very naive." He took another step towards her. "Please, step down from the Stone. You have my word as pack leader that you will not be harmed."
Pack leader? None of the others moved to counter the claim, so she figured that his word was as good as any. Taking a deep breath, she jumped down from the top of the rock, landing on all fours and marveling at the odd feeling of it. She was sure it registered on her face. "There," said the leader. "Now, I am called Howls-at-Night. What are you called?"
She blinked. Called? She used to have a name that she knew, but what was it? She lowered her head, more in confusion than pain. She couldn't remember anything. "I -- I don't know. I am called nothing."
Howls-at-Night stepped backwards, as did the rest of the pack. "You have undergone the change, and yet you have nothing to show for it. By the Moon, you're nothing but an Eevee kit in Umbreon form!" He paused. "Were you outcast by another pack? Is that why you are here?"
"I'm not sure," she answered truthfully, her head still bowed, but now out of shame. "I don't remember anything before waking up and seeing you all here."
More murmurs ran through the pack, louder than before. Even Howls-at-Night seemed surprised. "So, you have no idea as to who you are, or how you got here, and even less about why you're here. A suspicious story, I think." He paused to breathe. "Still, my word is law, and I say you are to stay with us until you can remember."
One Umbreon stepped towards Howls-at-Night as he said that. "Are you sure that's wise? She's a wilder, she knows nothing of our ways, and she might be sent to --"
"You will hold your tongue, ShadowBranch!" snapped Howls-at-Night. "Unless you want it bitten off!" ShadowBranch slunk backwards towards the others, teeth bared in a snarl, but not at Howls-at-Night. Without warning, he jumped into the shadows of the night and vanished from view.
Howls-at-Night turned his attention back to the newcomer. "You must forgive ShadowBranch. He is young and impulsive, and acts before he thinks. Now come with us. I'm sure by now the kits are getting hungry," he said loudly, more to the rest of the pack than to her.
At his word, the pack began to fall back into the shadows, vanishing as ShadowBranch had done. Howls-at-Night followed suit, leaving the nameless one to wonder where exactly they went. They all seemed to leave in different directions. Soon enough, Howls-at-Night's head appeared out of a shadow. "Well? Aren't you coming? It's much shorter through the ShadowLands than it is to walk."
"The ShadowLands?" she questioned. "Forgive me, but I've never heard of them."
Howls-at-Night bit back a laughing bark. "Yes, you wouldn't have, would you? Not in your state. Well then, I suppose we'll have to walk. I wouldn't trust a kit in the ShadowLands, and I wouldn't trust you there either. No offense," he added quickly. "It's for your benefit, not mine." He stepped out of the shadows and fully into view. "Well, come on then. It'll be a decent walk."
They walked in silence, and she could not tell how much time had passed before she heard the short excited barks of Eevee in the distance. Something clicked in her mind. "Are those the Eevee kits you mentioned?" she asked Howls-at-Night.
He nodded his head without looking back at her. "Yes," he replied. "Our pack is rather large for such a small area, and larger still when you consider how the humans in the Stone Forest fear us."
"Stone Forest?"
He stopped and turned his head to look at her. "You must have passed through the Stone Forest to get to us," he answered. "The tall blocks of stone, where humans live. Humans there fear us, though no one knows why. One elder thought it was because we knew things they did not, but they knew we knew. Many creatures fear those that know more than themselves. Humans cannot know how to enter the ShadowLands. Perhaps that is why we are so hated in their Stone Forest." He resumed walking.
Within minutes, she judged, about ten Eevee bounded out of the bushes towards them, snapping playfully at Howls-at-Night's heels. Howls-at-Night did an elaborate dancing step out of the way and laughed. "My children!" he exclaimed happily. "How do you fare?"
One of the smaller ones sat down at his feet and looked up at him through huge brown eyes. "Father returns!" it said happily. "Happy now! Father is well?"
Howls-at-Night bent his head and licked the Eevee's tiny head, at which the little Pokemon giggled and ran circles around its 'Father'. Soon, however, they all noticed that Howls-at-Night was not alone, and they began to circle the newcomer, some snapping playfully at her, some snapping in anger at the intrusion. The one who had spoken before looked at Howls-at-Night. "Wilder?"
The pack leader turned and growled softly at the Eevee kits, and they instantly turned and ran back into the bushes from whence they came. He looked up at her. "I apologize. They have yet to be taught respect for newcomers. They are but kits."
Shaking her head, she replied, "Don't apologize. Just tell me what's going on." She lay down on the ground, paws curled beneath her. "I'm so confused. I don't know where I am, and already the children of this pack won't accept me."
Howls-at-Night stepped over to her and rubbed his muzzle comfortingly behind her ear. "They will respect and accept you if I say you are to be respected and accepted. They do not question my rule. Now come," he said, straightening. "The sooner you become settled, the better. I have a feeling there is much that will need to be done." He stepped through the bushes in the direction the Eevee kits took, leaving her to follow him of her own will.
She rose quickly, seeing no reason to continue lying on the ground in the middle of the night, Umbreon or not. This is all so confusing, she thought. Why can't I remember anything. Thoughts keep slipping away, and I know I should hold on to them. I can't. I want to go home. Where is home?
With those thoughts, and many others, streaming through her head, she stepped through after Howls-at-Night.
Beyond the bushes, she found herself in a large clearing, surrounded by thick trees on all sides but the place she's entered from. She'd have never found this place had she not been led to it. Even now, she was unsure she could find it again if she left. Umbreon were everywhere, playing with Eevee kits that danced and jumped and ran around as if they hadn't a care in the world, or lying and sleeping, or just talking to others. None seemed to notice her entrance.
It was amazing to see all this. For a split second, she felt as if she were seeing through two sets of eyes. One, her Umbreon eyes, seeing her own kind, and seeing those who may be able to help her. The other, a distant set, seeing rare and beautiful animals that most saw as evil, but she saw as fascinating. She shook her head to clear those thoughts, and her Umbreon eyes took over her vision, making it easier to concentrate.
She saw Howls-at-Night step up onto a huge slab of rock that towered above everything else in the area. Everyone else saw this, and all eyes turned to him, silence falling over everything, making each breath she took seem far too loud and noticable. She crouched down, trying to make herself smaller.
Howls-at-Night opened his mouth and let loose a long and haunting cry, one that seemed to explain exactly where his name had come from. Those on the ground answered with howls of their own, and even the small Eevee began to join in with their high-pitched yips and barks. Deep in her mind, the newcomer got the urge to join in their howl, to make her presence known, and to proclaim that she was one of them, all through a simple howl. Her better judgement, however, told her to remain quiet. She was still a 'wilder' to them now, and she didn't want to overstep her bounds.
The howl ended, and silence spread over the night again, with the exception of very faint angry cries of humans in the distance. How far away from that Stone Forest were they? Howls-at-Night took a deep breath and let his tongeu hang out of his mouth in an animalistic grin. "Brothers, Sisters, we find among ourselves a newcomer this night!" he said, his Umbreon voice spreading throughout the clearing and drawing all attention. "She knows not her name, and has never stepped into the ShadowLands, and is no more than a kit for all she knows. Yet her form is that of an Umbreon, one of us. Newcomer, wilder, step forward and present yourself!"
Cautiously, as if terrified the others would turn on her and rip her to shreds, the newcomer stepped forward from her hiding place in the bushes, keeping low to the ground, her ears hanging down the sides of her head. They watched her as she stepped before the slab of rock that Howls-at-Night stood on, and she slunk lower to the ground when she did.
Howls-at-Night did not comment on her display of submission, but it was clear by the tone of his voice that he approved. "This wilder," he continued," does not know our ways, yet comes before us in search of answers. We shall teach her, and she, Shadows willing, become part of our pack. She must have come through the Stone Forest to get to us, and must have been in clear view of the humans because she cannot enter the ShadowLands as we can. It is my proposal that we put her through the Naming, make her one of us. The more we are, the stronger we are, and the better we hunt! Who is with me?"
Excitied howls and yips rose in reply, and she felt her spirits lifting. She had gained the trust of the pack leader, and the others around her seemed to have accepted her. As the calls died, they gathered around her and began to sniff, getting to know her scent. Even the Eevee kits that had snapped at her before seemed happy and welcoming, and she could resist the urge to lick one of them on the head when it curled up around her front paws.
Howls-at-Night joined the group and they cleared a pather for him to reach her. "Wilder, soon you will have a name that all Umbreon recognize, and you will be a part of our pack. Is that what you would wish?"
She looked him in the eyes, and made her decision as her new senses were screaming at her. "Yes," she admitted. "I wish to join you." That brought a few more happy cries from the crowd.
Howls-at-Night nodded once. "Then follow me, and you shall be named."
He led her off away from the rest of the pack, and back in the direction she had come from. In fact, he led her right back to the rock they had all found her on. "This Stone," he said to her, "is where we found you. It is also where we take new Umbreon to be named and find a place amongst the pack. Step up onto the Stone." She did so. "I am going to push you into the ShadowLands. Your task will be to find your way back to our meeting grounds. I cannot guide you, and you will be on your own. I cannot tell you what you will find, nor can I give you advice on how to pass through the ShadowLands. You alone must figure that out. There is a chance you will be lost in there eternally. Are you willing to face that risk?"
Part of her wanted to scream, "No! Don't make me do this. Don't leave me where I couldn't find my way!" However, a much larger part of her demanded acceptance, and in the end, that larger part won out. "I understand. I am willing. I'm not afraid."
Howls-at-Night jumped up onto the Stone behind her, and shoved her off the edge before she could say anything else. Surprised, she still managed to twist in midair to put her feet down, but the ground never came. Instead, she found herself in a dark space, larger and more black than she'd ever thought possible. She could see herself clearly, but there was no light source. Strange, she thought. This must be the ShadowLands.
They felt empty, and devoid of any life as she knew it. At the same time, they also felt strangely comforting, as if she belonged in a place such as this. Howls-at-Night's words came back to her. Your task will be to find your way back to our meeting grounds. How was she supposed to do that when she was in a different land alltogether? Sighing, she began to walk in the direction she was facing, hoping to be able to retrace her steps mentally and find some sort of exit to this place that led right into the meeting grounds.
She walked, and she walked, and she walked. It felt like she'd been walking for hours, and still she'd found nothing but the same blackness that was everywhere. Surely the sun had risen by now, and the Umbreon back had assumed her missing in the ShadowLands, and forgotten about her. The thought came to her that she had to be somewhere at sunrise, but where? She couldn't remember. Did the ShadowLands steal memory, or was it just her usual confusion at finding herself here?
In the distance, or what she assumed to be a distance away, a pale and wispy shape began to move towards her. An exit, she thought hopefully. I'm almost out. The meeting grounds must hold a beacon in the ShadowLands. She kept walking towards the shape, afraid to make any sudden movements, not knowing what would happen if she did.
Then the shape was right in front of her face, startling her to the point that she skidded back a few steps and had to fight back the urge to run away. It was shaped like her, but pale and transparent and white, like a spirit. "What--what are you?" she asked as politely as she could, hoping this thing wouldn't attack her.
It looked at her. "I am lost," it answered sadly. The voice, so airy and quiet, sent chills down her spine.
"So am I," she said to it. "Can you help me?"
It nodded. "I know these lands well, but I am still lost."
Howls-at-Night's words came back to her again, telling her that there was a chance she would get lost and never be able to come out of the ShadowLands. Was this an Umbreon who had become trapped here? She felt a great swell of pity for the poor thing, having to be trapped in a land of darkness, with no escape.
"I need to find my way to the Umbreon meeting grounds," she said, feeling stupid as she thought that there could be many meeting grounds that this place was connected to.
Still, the pale Umbreon nodded. "I know the place you are talking of. I can guide you, if you like."
Howls-at-Night couldn't guide her. Should she allow something she'd never met to guide her? She shook her head. "No, thank you. But please, tell me how much further I have to go."
The pale Umbreon looked so upset when she replied that she would not be led. Still, she answered the question. "It is everywhere. You know the place in your mind. Remember the feel of it, and open the ShadowLands and leave. You'll find yourself there." With those words, it became nothing more than the pale white shape in the distance that had been there earlier.
She sighed. Open the ShadowLands? Easier said than done. She started to walk back the way she'd came, pondering the words in her mind. Think if the feeling of the meeting grounds. She pictured them as she remembered, full of Umbreon, Howls-at-Night on the huge slab of rock, the Umbreon crowding around her, warm, making her feel welcome, the smell of the trees and the earth in her nose, and the faint sounds of humans in their Stone Forest . . .
A strange feeling came over her then, a flash of understanding. Her body felt as if it were back in the meeting grounds with all the other Umbreon and kits, but her eyes told her she was still in the ShadowLands. An idea formed in her mind, and she stopped walking her slow and careful walk, and stuck out a paw in front of her. She felt something solid touch it, and drew it back on instinct.
Drawing courage from this discovery, she tried again, and saw what looked like a dent in the shadows where her paw was. She was pushing on the shadows themselves! This must be how to open the ShadowLands! Taking a deep breath and holding onto that feeling of the meeting grounds, she threw herself forwards at the shadows . . .
. . . and found herself sprawling on the solid ground. Opening her eyes and shaking dust out of her fur, she stood up, and was overjoyed to find herself back the the clearing, and to see the pack of Umbreon looking at her expectantly. Howls-at-Night stood on the rock slab overlooking her, and she could have sworn she saw that animal grin on his face once more. "Did I -- did I do it?" she asked, too overcome with excitement to be out of those dark lands to think properly.
In answer, Howls-at-Night let out another long howl, which was followed by the harmony of the entire pack following suit. She joined them this time, hearing her own voice join theirs to make a sound so beautiful to her ears she felt she would burst with joy.
"May I present to you," Howls-at-Night cried loudly to the pack, "our newest pack member! Welcome, sister! Welcome, Walks-the-Umbra!"