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Chapter 1: Seer of Shadows

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The sun gilded the leaves of the treetops in the forests beyond Fortree City, the golden light spilling past the green foliage to dapple the ground beneath. The great living spires of the trees still allowed quite a bit of plant life to grow beneath their branches, and berry plants flourished. Here, many small tribes of Pokemon made their home. However, currently one tribe dominated most of the forest territory. From the river to the cliffs, the Veilrunners roamed. The majority of the Veils were of the Mightyena Clan, to which all who called themselves such owed their heritage.

The Veilrunners were a large tribe, tracing their roots back to the War of Blood. They were a clan of warriors and healers, and grew larger than most of their kind because of their vigorous training. The Veils were allied with the Firedancers of Mt. Chimney, a tribe of Ninetales Clan, as well as the Stormchasers of Salamence Clan at Meteor Falls. But, two other tribes of Mightyena lived in these woods, the Doomfangs and the Blackpaws. The Blackpaws were neutral, and seemed not to mind their territory restrictions. But the Doomfangs...were not.

The Doomfangs and the Veilrunners were at a state of hostility; but not quite open war. So far, each tribe stayed within their own territories and watched each other with lowered ears and slitted eyes.

And now, one of the Veilrunners ran patrol in this section of the forest. A gray and black bullet with eyes of fire streaked between trees and leaped over streams with envious grace. The Veilrunner leaped atop a rocky outcrop on top of a hill, and peered over the treetops.

Now that he was still, the Veilrunner revealed himself to be a large Mightyena, larger than the norm. The gray of his coat was molten silver, and his black fur pure ebon black. His eyes gleamed with the vivid flame of Fire Stones, and beneath each of these eyes trailed a clawlike, dark mauve mark. A claw was strung about his neck on a brown cord, and it bounced slightly against his heaving chest. The 'yena's name was Darkheart.

Once he had gotten his breath back, Darkheart lifted his muzzle to the sun. Taking a deep breath, he contemplated his message for but a moment. Then, he let loose a wild cry to the heavens, but instead of being the soul- freeing sound it normally was, Darkheart had shaped his voice into words. His voice was toned for a long-range message.

/All is well on the Southwest!/

Darkheart sustained his howl for a full minute, before trailing off. He perked his ears for the reply.

//The Tribe hears, and releases you from duty// came the answering call.

With an excited yip, Darkheart leapt from the hill. The 'yena bounded into the forest and back towards his pack's den.

****

When Darkheart emerged from the forest to the small clearing that housed the pack den, a large shape collided with him. With a surprised yelp, the Mightyena was thrown to the ground, where he rolled with his presumed attacker.

Darkheart rolled to his feet, and glared at his sister.

"Yuen!" he barked, but happily.

His sister yipped and tackled him again, and this time their tussling was playful. By the time the two disengaged, they were panting heavily. Darkheart's eyes looked fondly at the shape of his sister, for all that she was different.

Unlike Darkheart, Yuen had little fur, except for a long swath of it on her head that was of true 'yena colors and slightly shaggy. Her eyes were a rust colored; not quite red, and a necklace made of Mightyena claws and a few fangs hung about her neck. Clothes made of soft leather and decorated with tufts of dyed fur covered most of Yuen's skin, but where it was visible, it was tanned and laced by scars. Her feet and hands were calloused like the pads on Darkheart's own paws, and her nails were sharpened as if they were claws at times.

"Come hunting with me, brother! I found a patch of Hondews by the river today!" Yuen chirped, her eyes shining brilliantly.

The air around Yuen's body shimmered for a moment, before becoming that of a dark-furred Mightyena, with the same necklace and eyes as the human Yuen.

"Only if you can catch me!" Darkheart yipped, and bounded into the forest of greenery again, Yuen snapping lightheartedly at his heels.

Though they were different in form and slightly of mind, their blood and spirits were one.

******

A large dark green, hybrid pickup truck drove along a dirt road, rumbling across a log bridge and splashing through a puddle caused by the rain. The retracting pickup shell was on, and the back door shut. The truck splashed through two more mud puddles, splashing wet clay on the paint. The lights were off, and the only sound it made was the splashing of its oversize off road tires in the rain puddles and the occasional crash of thunder. The license plate was obscured by mud.

After about fifteen minutes, the green pickup sloshed its way into Fortree city, parking beside the Pokemon Center. The red parking lights switched off as quickly as they blinked on, and the driver's seat door was kicked open. The driver of the truck was a girl of about eighteen, with dark brown hair streaked with red and braided in a long braid that reached halfway down her back, turquoise eyes and large glasses. She was dressed in a transparent poncho and jeans, as well as a gray and blue shirt that read "Bite me and I'll bite you back" and a pair of hybrid hiking and combat boots. The teen closed the door and quickly hopped across the sodden ground and opened up the back end of the pickup. She unlocked the door and stood aside as a Scyther, a Sneasel, and a Sandslash hopped out. She quickly grabbed a large traveling pack and a few towels wrapped in ponchos and slammed the door shut.

She clicked a little button on her keychain and the car beeped once before two strange looking bumps on the roof rack emerged. The girl smiled, and then ran across the wet grass with her Pokemon and to the Pokemon Center. Once under the overhang over the door, the Sneasel and Sandslash shook themselves, while the girl waited for them to finish. When they were shaken out, the girl took off her poncho and shook it off, stomping her feet to clear the mud, before going inside.

"Oh, hello Tanya. Thanks for shaking off outside instead of getting the floor wet" Nurse Joy said.

"Yer welcome. So, anything interesting happen lately?" the girl replied, unwrapping a towel from the waterproofed package and beginning to dry off the Scyther's green armor. She tossed a Pokeball to Nurse Joy.

"Nothing much. Those invisible Pokemon seem to keep popping up, though. Another trainer tripped over one when they were walking to the Gym. The usual checkup, I guess?"

"Huh. Well, I'm not going back out in this kind of weather. The invisible dudes will just have to wait. Yeah, just the usual, but Phoenix got in a bit of a zap with a Voltorb while we were picking up spare parts in New Mauville. I ran out of 'heals before that; used an escape rope to get out" Tanya said, moving on to the Sandslash when the Scyther was sufficiently dry.

"Hold still, Panzer. I can't get all the water off you if you wriggle like that."

The 'slash seemed to snicker and then complied, while the Scyther, Scimitar, and the Sneasel, Katana, followed Nurse Joy to the back room for a checkup.

Tanya flicked Panzer with the towel after she was finished, receiving a glare from the Pokemon as it followed its companions.

"Don't look at me; you started it, Quillface" Tanya snorted as she watched the Sandslash run off.

She sat down on one of the couches in the lobby with a sigh, checking the contents of her bag to make sure everything was present. Just as she finished the main section, something banged against the outside wall and the Center's doors slid open with a ping.

Tanya looked up at the newcomer from her search. She was dark haired and green eyed, with a yellow shirt and ripped looking jeans, as well as muddy sneakers. Her hair was wet and rather spiky, and in her arms was a rather...battered...looking Eevee.

"Hey Joy! You got a live one here!" Tanya called.

The girl jumped at her voice, and Tanya raised an eyebrow before going back to her search of her pack. The girl seemed no more than fifteen, and she gave off waves of fear that Tanya was almost blown back from.

"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked anxiously.

"B-big d-d-ogs...t-they hurt Rosie!" the girl stammered, hugging the small brown thing tighter to her chest.

Nurse Joy asked her again as she called for a stretcher.

"Huge...Mightyenas, I think" the girl said as the stretcher carted the injured Pokemon off.

"Calm down girl. First, what's your name?" Tanya said in a gruff voice, which seemed to break the haze of shock around the youth.

"K-katie, miss" she said, her former stammer all but gone.

Tanya nodded and continued.

"Now, tell us what happened. Don't rush; we have plenty of time. Sit down, for starters-you're making an awful mess on the floor.

Katie looked like she was about to say something in self-defense, rethought that idea, and then moved over to sit on a wicker chair. She took a few deep breaths, and then started.

"Me and Rosie were hopping across the river-me on my Acro bike, Rosie following me-and we saw these big red vines. I stopped on the other side to let Rosie catch up, and when she got there, we noticed these big green and yellow berries." Katie paused, blinked several times, and then continued. "We were about to go and pick them, because Rosie seemed to like them, when all of a sudden, these big huge Pokemon started up in front of us. They looked like Mightyenas, but they were awfully big, almost as tall as I was."

Tanya perked up at that.

"Well, they looked rare, so I tried to catch one of them..." Katie shivered.

"The Pokeball just...exploded. Just like that. Not even three feet from one of them and it blew up. The other one ran forwards and hit Rosie and knocked me off my bike as it ran by, and the other one grabbed something on the ground and followed it. And then I ran in here."

"Huh. Did any of them have any distinguishing markings or scars or what?" Tanya asked after a moment.

The girl nodded.

"One of them was whiter than the other one; when I looked them up, both of them seemed a lot brighter than the one on my PokeDex. And one of them had a Quick Claw tied around its neck" she explained.

Tanya mentally heaved a sigh. //Good. So Mex wasn't found out...//

"Rosie will be okay, won't she?" Katie asked anxiously.

"Your Eevee will be just fine. You say she only took one hit and she was knocked out?" Nurse Joy said, and Katie nodded.

"Hmm...well, tomorrow after the storm clears off, we'll go and see if there's anything left to trace" Tanya said, setting aside her pack and scratching behind Katana's featherlike ear.

"Hey, are you a Trainer?" Katie asked eagerly.

Tanya groaned internally. Why did EVERYONE have to ask that?

"Yes, but we mainly just ship loads of cargo and sell car and mechanical parts we find."

"Can we have a battle after Rosie gets healed? Pleeaasse?" Katie was practically begging.

Tanya shifted away from the black haired girl.

"Yes, now would you please stop doing that?"

Katana giggled and dodged an empty soda can that Tanya had fished out of a recycling bin.

"Insolent beast!"

*****

Darkheart and Yuen were panting heavily when they heard the howling of the pack. No...not the pack. There were more voices this time, far too many to be the pack.

/Come to me, Veilrunners! FLY TO ME, MY TRIBE!!/ Came the voice of the Leader and High Elder, Eclipsed Moon, father of Obscured Moon, the heir to leadership of the tribe.

The two looked at each other, and then sprinted in the direction of the meeting area of the tribe, where the elders and the Seers lived. Around them, the cries of the other Veilrunners rose on the winds. Water dripped from the leaves and branches onto their faces and fur, to come streaming off their pelts in streams.

Three more Veils joined Darkheart and Yuen's path; Starfang, Nightsong, and Blackwind.

"Is the Doom Tribe attacking us?" Starfang panted.

"Don't know" Yuen replied between pants.

The five 'yenas came barreling out of the forest, digging their paws into the muddy earth to kill their speed. Several huge rocks piled up against a cliff face, which a few yards down turned into a waterfall, formed the Elder's Den. Several large trees grew alongside the boulders, and in them perched the Seers; Xatus and their Natu apprentices, holding lanterns to guide the way through the stom. Lather flecked the front half of Yuen's body, but it was soon washed off as the rain poured down on them. As she lifted her head to the sky to sooth her throat with water, Yuen caught sight of a Pigeot winging into the stormy sky with a lamp in its claws-a messenger to Firedancer and Stormchaser. At the top of the cliff was the vague shadow that could only be Eclipsed Moon, with his glowing amber eyes.

The five of them trotted inside the softly glowing entrance, surrounded by carvings made by ancestral claws. Yuen attempted to rein in her heaving chest, and managed to clamp her jaws shut as she and her friends emerged into the large Council Chamber. Almost all the tribe was there, even the pups and the two Absol Shadow Summoners and their adolescent cub, Ani'ju. Leaves and furred hides for the tribe members to rest on floored the Council Chamber; Yuen shook herself off before flopping down on one of them. Her four-legged form shimmered off, and Yuen whimpered uncomfortably as it disappeared.

A few moments after she had settled herself, the Seers and their apprentices came in and extinguished their lanterns. They settled on the perches and fluffed their feathers. After a few minutes more, four more of the Veils trotted in, as well as Eclipsed Moon himself. The normally proud leader's face was contorted with a mixture of rage and sorrow that made Yuen and Darkheart shiver.

Silence fell as the few chatterers ceased upon seeing Eclipsed.

The only sound was that of shuffling leaves as the chief walked towards the Speaking Stone. He managed to keep his head from sagging, and held his tail high. Upon reaching the flattened Stone, he hopped up onto it and turned to face the assembled Veilrunners.

"My tribe and kin...a great crisis has befallen us."

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Aren't I bad? *ducks and hides in a tank* Muhahahahaha! Review or I'll come out of your computer screen and blow your head off! *runs over the county SOL building with the tank* Hahahahaha! DIE you stuck up bigot bastards!

Tanya: -_-;;;