A/N: 16/10/2021. IMPORTANT! Major edit has been done to this story. For those who got the alert letting you know I've updated, you're going to have to go back and re-read because lots of things have changed. You'll probably notice that you've read this chapter before. Because of the changes to this story, things have been added and chapters split and extended. Completely new chapters start when I upload Chapter 23.
A/N 1: This chapter didn't really exist in it's original format so I decided to add a little bit more Lance and foreshadowing and make a brand new chapter. I hope that you like what I've done.
A/N 2: I've got a full time job and a medical problem which means I have little to no free time and lots of stories.
Chapter Twenty: Family Bonding
I spent the night at the Blackthorn hospital under the care of Bankcroft in a privet room. My family were, one by one, taken to a Nurse Joy to be checked over. As each was checked and returned to me, I released them to join me in my room.
Doctor Bankcroft had made short work of treating my injuries. He'd set and braced my arm, tapping the cut on my throat closed and given me a painkiller to help settle my over stimulated nerves.
For the first few hours, Falkner stayed with me. We didn't discuss anything about the attack; instead, our conversations focused on the training and raising of flying types. Falkner had lots of different training techniques for building up wing strength and he was curious as to how I'd built up Noivern and Altaria's wing strength.
Eventually, Falkner was replaced by Chloe who came with the news that Liza was mostly uninjured and that all the paperwork to end my Fostering and beginning of my new one had been arranged. I'd be leaving with her in the morning to get settled at her gym, and my things would be brought down from the Valley in a week or so.
Despite being watched over by Chloe, I didn't sleep that night. I wasn't prepared to face my nightmares.
Instead of sleeping, I borrowed a grooming kit from one of the nurses and tended to each of my family… one by one. I gave each of them an hour of love and care, humming soft songs under my breath for them. I loved singing for my family, especially when they sang with me.
"You have a wonderful voice. Why don't you sing properly instead of humming?" Chloe questioned, shifting the pagers that she was writing on.
I paused my song for a moment to answer. "Because the words haven't been found yet." I went back to humming.
We were silent for the rest of the night.
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"Right then," Chloe marched into my hospital room. She'd left about half an hour before to get my discharge paperwork sorted while I got changed. "Time to go."
"Alright," I sighed and returned my team to their Pokeballs, except for Vulpix who settled on my good shoulder. Because he was larger than was typical for his species, he had to wrap his tale around my neck and support his weight on his front legs. I wanted him to remain out with me because he was the one who had been the most injured and liked his company.
As I was wondering through a city I didn't know, and Lucario was out with me, I unclipped my guide stick and followed Chloe's footsteps.
"Jennifer, you'll be giving a report when we get back to the gym." Chloe informed me as we walked steadily through the city.
"Are you taking my report or is someone else?" I questioned curiously.
"Someone else," Chloe responded mysteriously, not truly answering my question.
With Chloe not wanting to answer my question, the walk to the gym was silent.
Blackthorn Gym was a lot larger than the public domain shown to the city, and extended way back to the 'Dragon Caves' which were nearly completely off limit to everyone. Instead of taking me to the public area of the Gym, Chloe took me to the privet Blackthorn Clan Head Residences which separated the gym from the Caves.
The Clan Head Residence, Chloe explained as we walked through the corridors, had a main kitchen and dining room, eight bedrooms, two studies, a family ball room and a family battle ground with stadium. There was 'other rooms' she explained which were typically turned into bedrooms when necessary.
"What counts as necessary?" I asked curiously.
"When the whole family comes to stay for important events or the city is in danger." Lance's voice came from the room we were about to enter. The echoing of the voice off metal appliances and tile suggested that he was either in the bathroom or the kitchen. Based on the sizes, and probability, I assumed he was in the kitchen.
"How often does that last one happen?" I questioned, a slight smile appearing on my face as I moved into the room using my walking stick to locate a chair.
"Oh, every few hundred years. Although, more often in the last century." Lance admitted, his voice also a little amused and yet still serious.
"Yes, that's the problem with wars, I suppose." I agreed softly. "Especially when you guard the home of the dragons… quite a target."
"I pledge my life and honour to the watch." Lance quoted, softly and seriously.
"For this night, and all the nights to come until dawn of life is upon us." I finished the end of the pledge.
Lance had never told me the oath of the Blackthorn Clan, and it wasn't well known. I'd just stumbled across it. He had no way of knowing that I'd know and recognise the quote and be able to finish it. Yet, when he'd spoken the words so seriously, it hadn't just been for him… but for me as well.
"Well, that was unexpectedly serious." Chloe interrupted before Lance could respond to me knowing the Blackthorn Oath.
"She is my daughter," Lance pointed out.
"Yes, seriousness runs in her genes." Chloe muttered. "Now, are we going to eat breakfast? You know I hate hospital food."
"You could have left and got food from one of the restaurants or nipped home. I didn't mind being left alone." I pointed out, finally locating an empty seat and sitting down.
"I wasn't leaving you alone after you'd been in battle." Chloe snorted as there was the sound of plates clanking and being slide across a wooden surface.
"That wasn't the first time my family and I have been in battle, nor the first time I've been tortured." I pointed out, using my hands to explore the table in front of me. There was an empty plate, as well as a knife and fork.
"When have you been in battle?" Lance questioned, his chair creaking as he leant forward. "There is serving dishes in front of you. Egg on the left, then bacon, sausage, beans and toast as you move right. All the bowls have tongs you can use to retrieve the food, except for the toast." He tagged onto the end. "Help yourself."
"Thank you," I silently served myself some food as I thought about how to answer his question.
I hadn't included the battles my family had experienced in the reports I'd written. In fact, the only battle I'd included in my reports was the battle on the small unnamed island that had seen Piplup, Noibat and Froakie evolving. I hadn't even included Deino evolution in my report. Nurse Joy had asked, but I never told her. Just as I never told her what had happened to me on Grasshope.
"You know, it's hard…" I began softly, releasing each of my team from their Pokeballs since I was going to need more than just Vulpix's comfort if I was going to talk about this. Lucario immediately settled into the chair next to me while everyone else settled behind me in various states of relaxed or alert. Hydreigon even rested what I had learnt was her left head on my shoulder, dislodging Vulpix who was forced to jump into my lap with a grumble.
"Hard?" Lance prompted softly.
"Talking about this… any of this. I always remember what happened to me, I don't let myself forget. But that doesn't mean I talk about it. It doesn't mean that I tell people about it." I sighed, placing a piece of egg on my fork to take a bite.
"Are we still talking about a battle you've been in or something else?" Lance questioned.
"It's all the same," I smiled sadly, tilting my head slightly his way. "I never tell people, anything."
"I'm not people." Lance said seriously.
"No, no you're not." I agreed. "I've been in battle a couple of times. But I suppose the one we should talk about is the one when Deino became Zweilous. That's the one where we were almost lost."
"Hyd." Hydreigon grumbled, her middle head resting atop mine while her right head came to rest on my bad shoulder. The closest she could get to hugging me.
"Lost?" Chloe questioned, confused by that term.
"Lost from each other," I elaborated. "I was on a parcel run to Drake. It was a priority run, which means it was important."
"Priority runs, those can be dangerous." Lance's voice had a frown in it.
"We were attacked in the air, Altaria was forced to land because she couldn't fight with me on her back because I ride without a seat and she was outnumbered." I recalled, reaching my good arm back for Altaria who placed her head in my palm for a moment.
"While we were landing, I released Noivern so he could help cover our descent. The people attacking us knew what they were doing, because they were waiting for us in our landing point. I released my entire team; it was the only chance we had. They fought the Pokemon, and I fought the humans. There was three of them, and they wanted the parcel I was supposed to be delivering. Riolu knocked out one of the humans, while I took down the other two. We were forced to kill three of the Pokemon we were fighting, Zweilous evolved while in the middle of using Dragon Rush and she crashed into the chest of one of the Pokemon. The damage was too severe, I couldn't save them." I sighed.
"The other two?" Lance prompted after there was silence for a long moment.
"It was the first time Vulpix used her hottest flame, the Leavanny was dried out. Frogadiar used Aqua Jet for the first time. Sandshrew wasn't able to breathe through the water, and he landed in the sea… by the time we realised that he'd gone under, we couldn't do anything to save him."
"Vulpix's hottest flame?" there was a question in Lance's statement.
"It's in the reports. Vulpix's blue flame." I only knew the colour of Vulpix's flame because of Lucario who'd told me what the hot flame looked like. Vulpix jumped from my lap, and I felt the heat flaring from her tail where she held an Ember on each tail as demonstration.
"Can he dispel that safely in here?" Chloe questioned.
"He doesn't have to." I smiled mischievously as Hydreigon moved away from me, dancing slightly from foot to foot in excitement.
Since we'd come to the Valley, we'd invented a game to help Vulpix learn to control his fire. Everyone except Zweilous and Altaria knew protect, so Vulpix had targeted their shields with his flame until they broke – learning to control and strengthen his flames while also strengthening their shields.
Zweilous had felt left out of the game, so one day she had jumped forward and caught the ember in her mouth. From there, a new game was formed – she played catch with Vulpix's flames. Now she was fully evolved and her body more resistant than it ever had been. I might even help her learn Fire Fang, since she already had the resistant to hold the flame in her mouth.
Vulpix threw her embers, and Hydreigon's heads snapped into action. As her powerful jaws snapped around each ember, the flame dispersed and I could feel the heat disperse from around her. With three heads and six balls of fire, each head got two bites each.
"I wasn't aware that Hydreigon could swallow fire." Lance said in amazement.
"I don't think that is a Hydreigon thing. I think that is my Hydreigon's thing." I corrected. "She likes being unique."
"It's a thing in your family, being unique." Lance chuckled softly. "And you know what, I really love your family."
"You really love my dragons," I corrected.
"Well, yes. Your dragons are amazing, but so are the rest of your family. After meeting them, and reading about them all, I can admit to that much." Lance shifted as I heard Vulpix's feet tap on the floor before pushing of the ground in a jump and Lance breathing out as Vulpix landed on him.
"Vulpix likes being fuzzed behind the ears." I smiled, impressed that Vulpix had taken the leap of faith and decided to show Lance that he was trusted.
"Any particular ear?" Lance quired.
"Right makes him a puddle." I went back to eating breakfast and Hydreigon returned to her position leaning on me.
"Lance, are you here to take my statement about what happened yesterday?" I questioned once everyone had eaten and plates were cleared away. Food had even been put out for my family to eat.
"I wanted to make sure that you were okay, so I did pull rank." Lance confirmed. "Seeing family is so much easier when I make it League business."
"Can I see your face?" I questioned suddenly.
"Pardon?" Lance asked confused.
If he'd seen my medical report, he knew well that I didn't have eyes with which I could see. I'd seen him with Aura, but I couldn't see details like how far his eyes were from each other or if he had a pointed chin or a round one. But I'd like to know what my father actually looked like – the fine details that the world took for granted.
"I can use my hands," I turned my body completely in my chair so I was directly facing him. "Make a picture of your face by feel alone."
"Then yes, yes you can." Lance agreed.
I heard the swish of his cloak as he moved off his chair to kneel in front of me. I didn't need him to guide me for I could guess where his face was based on the sound of his movements and breath, but he took my hands gentle in his and placed them upon his face.
"We have the same chin," I ran my thumbs over the point of his chin, surprised. My hand's continued along the line of his jaw up to his cheeks which were a little higher than my own. I followed his cheeks out to his ears which were rounded and attached at the bottom.
"And I have your ears." I laughed, surprised at discovering such a thing. I went back along his cheek line in order to reach his nose which was straight and unbent. His nose was small, and slightly pointed at the end.
"And your nose. Did I get your hair as well?" I questioned as my fingers travelled over his eyelids which flittered under my thumbs. His eyebrows were raised slightly and his eyes set back deep in his face. His forehead was slightly squared, and disappeared under his hair which I explored, curious to discover that it was spikey.
"Apparently not." I muttered. My hair was straight, and didn't defy gravity. "What colour is your hair?"
"An auburn type red." Lance answered softly. "You got my colour."
"And your eyes? What colour are your eyes?"
If I'd gotten his hair colour, and much of the physical make up of his face, had I gotten his eyes as well? I remembered the colour of my hair, which helped my mental image that was forming of Lance. I just about remembered the colour of my eyes, but I'd not been able to look in a mirror or reflection while I was on Grasshope, so my memory of that colour was a little vague.
"Brown, a light brown." Lance answered softly, taking my hands from his face and squeezing them between his own.
I smiled sadly. "I think my eyes used to be brown." I whispered softly, tilting my head slightly so that I would appear to be staring directly at Lance. "I'm glad I look more like you than I do my mother."
"A true Blackthorn, in all things." Lance squeezed my hand once more. "Jenny, are you up to telling me what happened yesterday?"
I pulled one hand free of Lance and reached out to Lucario while Vulpix jumped on to my lap once more. I squeezed Lucario's paw, and Lance's hand before I started describing a battle once more. This battle was easier because the only deaths were human ones.
"The Alpha Charizard alerted us to the attack, and Riolu noticed that a splinter group was heading to the nests so we moved to intercept after alerting you." I began. "I've trained my team to fight in pairs, to defend themselves against a superior opponent by watching each other's back. After we took down the first wave, they realized what was happening, and sent out a second wave which forced my team to split apart. They used my split team in order to sneak around my team to get to me. I managed to hold off two of them until a third managed to sneak behind me and hit me with that electrical attack thing. When I screamed in pain it triggered a defence mechanism in my team, causing them to evolve and overwhelm their opponents. They knocked out the two human who didn't get past them, then they waited for an opening and took out the three humans who had physically attacked me. At which point, Falkner and Ranger Team Sigma arrived."
"Falkner said you defeated twenty-nine Pokemon on your own?" Lance prompted for details I'd purposefully not included.
"My family did, yes." I agreed.
"And you all sustained minimal injuries?"
"Vulpix took a fracture to his hind leg, and Noivern a cut across the web of his wing. But everything else was minor bruising." I agreed. "I took the worse injuries." This pronouncement got a general displeased grumble from the family despite the fact that I was happy for this fact. I'd rather be the one injured instead of them.
"I knew your family were powerful, but I think I need to face them in the battle arena to get a true level of their strength before you begin the process of being a Fostering Gym Trainer." Lance squeezed my hand once more before letting me go and returning to his seat.
"I'd like that. To see where we really are." I agreed. "But first, I've got four members who need to learn to use their new bodies first. So, can you give us a weak?"
"I'm here for two weeks before I have to returned to Headquarters." Lance chuckled softly. "I can give your team a week to rest and train. That also gives you a week to rest, recover and get used to your new surroundings."
"Also, family time." Chloe jumped in having been forgotten during the process of the conversation. "It's been nearly a decade since Lance has been available for family time."
"Empoleon!" Empoleon interrupted with this exclamation from the other side of the kitchen from where I was sat.
"She's found the door which leads to a garden." Lucario explained.
"A garden?" I repeated aloud, turning my head towards Empoleon.
"Would you like to go outside?" Lance questioned, happily taking the opportunity to not respond to Chloe's statement about how little he had been home.
"Yes, I think we'd all like to go outside." I chuckled softly as I heard the sound of my family moving towards Empoleon before I answered. Lucario was the only one who stayed with me as he knew I'd rather allow him to guide me then use my guide stick and I hadn't let go of his paw yet.
"You understood what she was asking?" Chloe questioned, surprised. She still hadn't gotten around to reading the reports on the rest of my family, I concluded with her question. At least she remembered that Empoleon was a female.
"Lucario knows telepathy and translated." I explained.
"How goes Noivern's learning of telepathy?" Lance asked curiously. "We've got a couple at the clan, and none of them know such or seem able to learn it?"
"He can project emotions and images clearly. We're still working on words." I smiled proudly in Noivern's direction. "We'll get there, because he is determined."
In response, Noivern sent the image of himself dancing through the sky into my mind. When he'd learnt to send images, I'd been overjoyed because it meant he could project an image of himself and the team into my mind. The images that he projected were the only way that I could see the world in it's true colour and dimension since the only images that Lucario could send to me were the ones cloaked in Aura. So far, the only images he's tried sending to me were the images of the family because those were the ones he knew best. In time, as his control over Telepathy grew, he would start sending me images that he didn't know as well or things he was seeing in the time. But first, he had to be able to send those images to the rest of the family whose mind was closer to his then my own.
"How are you teaching your Noivern? I'm sure some of ours would love to learn." Lance asked as we stepped outside.
There was a gentle warm breeze blowing across the garden. The garden wasn't empty, there was a deep breathing coming from the far corner. From the other side, the sound of flowing water falling into a pool of water – a water fountain.
"Noi, Noivern," Noivern left my side in order to curiously speak with the Dragonite who let out a disgruntled grumble.
"Sorry dragonite." Lance chuckled. "But you know the garden is one of the most peaceful areas in the compound."
A pleased, deep rumbling giggle proceeded the sound of Empoleon jumping into what was likely quite a deep fountain. Greninja chose not to indulge in the water, choosing to stay by me and Lucario. I could hear Hydreigon wondering around the garden and exploring.
I settled into a warm patch of grass, allowing the sun to soak into my cold skin. Altaria took up her normal place curled around my back, also enjoying her time to just relax in the sun. Lucario was settled on my right, Vulpix curled up on my lap once more and Greninja settled on my left.
"Is that your dragonite?" I quired, "That my Noivern is bothering."
"Yes, that is. He's been with me since the beginning." Lance agreed, chuckling at the description of my Noivern's antiques. "And he doesn't mind, not really."
A low rumble from Dragonite precluded a short blast of heat and a delighted laugh from Noivern.
"Hydreigon, would you mind helping Dragonite out. I would prefer it if Noivern was not burnt to a crisp for frustrating the alpha of the Dragon Clan." I sighed in exasperation.
Hydreigon sighed in triplicate, and headed over to sit next to Dragonite and knock Noivern away so he didn't keep annoying Dragonit with physical contact. She couldn't stop him from talking, but she could stop him frustrating him.
"You're first? Dragonite was your starter?" I questioned.
"In a manner of speaking." Lance chuckled. "The Clan has a tradition. All of our children are gifted a dragon egg at some point between their tenth and twelve birthdays depending on what their future plans were." Lance began explaining. "I was gifted Dragonite on my tenth birthday and he hatched four months before I began my Pokemon journey and got my official starter."
"Then who was your first, Chloe?" I questioned curiously.
"Bagon." Chloe said the name fondly. "She's presently nesting with a batch of eggs, so you won't meet her for a little while. We've been together since I was eleven."
"You're a little ahead of the curve, with three dragons on your team. One that none in the clan has, one that is a shiny and reaching hights we've never seen before, and one with more strength of heart and body then is typical of her flock." Lance expounded fondly.
"You're going to give them a big head." I smiled back at him; none could be prouder or fonder of my team then me and I made sure that they knew it.
"They're dragons and proud." Lance laughed. "That's just the way it is."
"They're my dragons, my family." I reached up and stroked Altaria's chin and I felt the preen of the other two dragons. "They are all my family, and they are all proud and amazing."
"You sound too old to just be eleven years old." Lance said sadly, gentle.
"We all grow up in the end." I told him, tilting my head back as though I was looking at the sky. "But some of us have to grow up just a little bit quicker, for those we care about most."
"Would you be willing to learn the secrets of the Clan? The truth behind the oath?" Lance questioned.
"How did you learn the oath, anyway?" Chloe questioned before I could answer.
"Over the years, there have been some words that have stuck with me. The Prophecy of the One, and the Blackthorn Oath are the ones to whom my heart beats in tune. For those who look, and those who should know, it's not impossible to find the words." I continued looking up as I spoke, dancing around a truth that I'd never told to a human.
"Can you recite the entire oath?" Chloe challenged.
"I am the blade in the night. I am the guard who stands on watch. I am the fire that burns against the dawn. The horn that wakes the sleepers. The shield that guards the lands which lie before us. The companion who stands at the side of Pokemon and roars the loudest. I pledge my life and honour to the watch. For this night, and all the nights to come until dawn of life is upon us." As I said the last line, my family all let out a call into the air which flowed with the last sixteen words that I spoke.
"A true Blackthorn," Lucario translated the soft grumble of Dragonite which was said into the darkness. "Her words had the same ring as yours did Lance. Two true Blackthorn Guardians alive, together… Our tales say that when such happens the time draws near."
"Time for what?" I directly questioned Dragonite instead of asking Lucario to translate.
"You can directly talk to me?" Dragonite climbed to his feet and moved so he was in front of me. I tilted my head down a little bit, was still looking up as Dragonite loomed over me even when he sat down.
"The gift of the Aura," I told Dragonite. "Lucario and his father helped me learn."
"You are an Aura user? A Blackthorn Guardian who can use the Aura. Time truly is upon us." Dragonite reached out a gentle clawed hand and touched my cheek.
"Time for what?" I questioned again.
"Time for the oath to be fulfilled. When Dragon and Blackthorn stand side by side. We are on a knife's edge…"
"And something is coming." I finished.
"Will you be ready?" Dragonite quired.
"Yes, yes my family and I will be ready." I agreed. "We've felt it for several years, since we escaped."
"You've been training, preparing. That is why you are so strong. But we don't yet know how strong you are. We will have to determine how strong you are right now. Your human strength increases with your Pokemon." Dragonite determined. "A true Aura Guardian, training your team first."
"Well, they are the best of me." I told Dragonite.
"And you the best of us." Lucario told me.
"Are you bonding, I feel like bonding is happening." Lance broke in. "I've never seen Dragonite do this before."
"Yes, we're bonding." I told Lance. "He knows the truth of the oath."
"All the dragons do. They have long memories and keep us humans honest." As Lance explained, dragonite stepped back and moved to sit behind him while Hydreigon, Noivern and Empoleon joined my Pokemon family pile.
"Pokemon have always been the best of humanity." I told Lance. "They can see the honesty of the world and the heart of the matter. Dragonite see's just as Slowking does."
"Slowking?"
"The keeper of the Prophecy of the Chosen One. The Keeper of the Three." I told him. "He watches and waits for when the world will be in its greatest danger."
"Prophecy? What Prophecy outside of the oath?" Lance asked, suddenly concerned.
"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice or Lightning, lest these Titans Wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting. Alone its song will fail, thus the earth shall turn to Ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three, their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea. From the trio of Islands, ancient sphere shall you take, for between life and death, all the differences you'll make. Climb to the shrine to right what is wrong. And the world shall be healed by the Guardian's song." I recited the Prophecy in its entirety for the first time.
When I was primary school, the lines were broken up and spoken in halves, and when I'd spoken the Prophecy with Slowking he had taken up many of the lines I couldn't remember. The time was drawing near, I could feel it. Less than three years, but more than one… I knew this. As I'd grown stronger, the feel and knowledge of the Aura of life had grown in me. It was with this knowledge that I knew the event that the Prophecy of Three drew closer, and I knew too that the Blackthorn Oath didn't speak of one event. It referred to a series of events and protections that needed to happen for the world to be safe – the Legendary's were in danger or they would be.
So, the oath of the Blackthorn Clan - yes I did pinch it and adapt it.
