Chapter Thirteen

The world phased around Arric in a whirling tunnel of purple light and he had to fling his hands out in front of him to stop himself from falling forwards as he reached the other side of the tree. Quin held onto him as he slumped forward, kneeling down to the ground as his head stopped swimming. Hiro slipped through behind him, clapping him on the back.

"What did I tell you Arric my boy! Simply marvellous!"

Estella watched them coolly as the two Eevee collected themselves to their feet, with Quin supporting Arric. She waited patiently as they hobbled after her as she led them from the tree down a path through the thicket, with Hiro following behind with a spring in his step. Arric noticed that the trees in the thicket were all an off colour, like they were meant to be green but they were the wrong kind of green. Estella pulled some overhanging leaves aside and let the two Eevee and Sylveon pass before her, letting the branches fall behind her as she passed through. Quin suddenly stopped and Arric lifted his gaze from watching his footing to before him, gasping in silent awe to what stood before them. Two large silver trees rose from the earth before them. Their branches intertwined so tightly all along the length of the tree that it started to get difficult to tell where one tree began and the other finished. Several holes had been carved into the tree, with small wooden railing encircling the openings, allowing the Espeon that peeked out from the hole's safety from falling to the ground. The leaves of the top canopy of the tree were so thick that Arric struggled to see the sky from where he stood and yet the area was lit so well that he had no trouble seeing as if it were day.

Hiro clasped his hands together, rubbing them with excitement, beckoning to Estella the Espeon Home Tree. "Ah Estella my dear, this place always astounds me when I come to visit! Not as ravishing as the Sylveon home I must admit but dashing in its own way!"

Espeon nodded to Hiro without a word and headed for the large hole that had been carved at the very bottom of the tree for the entrance. A few Espeon stood by the entrance, their purple and violet pelts almost shimmering next to the tree. Estella paused at the entrance, giving two of the Espeon a quick nod before pausing to turn to look back and Arric and Quin.

"Two of my people will guide you to the infirmary Arric and then Quin can go and meet with the other Eevee. Get some rest. I understand that there is a lot you want answers for but for now that can wait for tonight."

The two Espeon strode over to Arric and Quin, smiling warmly at them. A violet Espeon took Arric's arm and placed it over his shoulder for support, while the other took Quin's hand and lead him towards the tree opening. Estella raised an eyebrow at Arric as he passed, a look of concern floated across her face as she watched the Espeon lead him into the darkness of the tree. Hiro pulled up beside Estella, watching the two Eevee as well. A sudden serious look crossed his face,

"Avice's scouts have seen small Jolteon groups scouring the trees looking for this place. I don't know if Volke has told them exactly where it is, you haven't exactly been forthcoming to your village whereabouts as of late, I suppose with the recent events that has been a blessing."

Estella did not turn to face him as she replied, her voice even and calm, "The triplets have been careful in gathering information but it won't be long for the Evolution Ritual and I fear Volke won't be as loyal as he claims to be."

"Quin informed me he tried to force one of his daughters to evolve the night this all broke out!" Hiro hissed, his normal aloof demeanour gone, "Where he got a Thunder Stone is beyond me, but we knew he was against the Evolution Ritual, how do we know he isn't just going to storm it?"

The Espeon leader did not answer him. Instead she strode forward through the halls that had been carved into the large trees long ago. They were dimly lit by small balls of light that hung in the air, that shone brighter as she passed. Espeon greeted her as she walked by, their thoughts swirling with her own but she pushed them aside. She felt Hiro follow her as she headed towards the meeting hall where the other Tribe Leaders were set to gather. All but Volke. She had hoped it would not have come to this, that Volke would have waited to see how the Evolution Ritual played out. Estella stepped through a well carved arch way and into the meeting hall where she saw Nia and Avice sitting together at the large round table. Beside them sat Vesper and Karn, a sour look on Vespers face as he muttered quietly to the Vaporeon next to him. Hiro took his place beside Karn, greeting the others warmly with a dashing smile and a wink towards Avice who rolled her eyes at him. Estella's eyes fell on Lycia and the Umbreon gave her a curt nod as she took her place next to her, happy to see that her best friend was unharmed on her travels here. Vesper unfolded his arms and planted them on the table before them, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Arric has been found?" The Flareon managed to hide the waver in his voice but Estella could pick up the panicked nerves from the Flareon leader on the air.

So he did care for the Eevee after all, Estella thought.

Hiro piped, "Oh yes! Quin, a Sylveon Eevee no doubt, found him at the bottom of a ravine at the edge of the Jolteon Territory. Poor boy looked like he had been through a wringer mind you, with his leg broken and all."

"The boy was injured?" Karn spoke this time, his voice full of concern as he looked at his brother whose eyes grew dark with the news.

Estella shook her head, "He was injured yes but I don't believe it is broken, badly sprained perhaps. He has been sent to the infirmary to be looked at and rest."

"And what of Volke himself? Has he shown himself outside of Jolteon Territory?" Avice's voice was low.

Lycia leaned forward, her hands clasped together, "My scouts have reported no sign of him but there have been Jolteon groups moving through the forests. I assume they are searching for the Eevee or are merely causing a distraction, which one I cannot say."

Vesper leant back in his chair, a hand massaging his forehead as he groaned in frustration, "We should have just left the Evolution to pure lines and not this Evolution Ritual foolery. Volke would have ended up with two more Jolteon and that is more than any of us."

Nia growled low, "There have only been six Eevee born recently. Six! There used to be hundreds but because of all this infighting and pure lines, our birth rate is dropping! Who is to say that the next few years will be better? I have only had two reports of pregnancy in my people, two!"

"At least you have pregnancies!" Karn stood with a huff, "With the Gyarados attacks, we have barely enough resources to keep rebuilding, let alone have more families!"

The leaders began to raise their voices at one another, Vesper yelling his point to the others, while Karn and Nia rebutted theirs. Avice chimed in a few times while Lycia and Estella watched. Estella sat back in her chair, rubbing her temples with eyes closed. What could they do? Less and less Eevee were being born and they were starting to revolt against the leaders when they wished to choose another Evolution. It was the whole point that they had come up with the idea of the Evolution Ritual in the first place and even then they couldn't bring themselves to work together.

"Tak has informed me that Arric has been having strange dreams." Lycia's voice cut through the others arguing and Estella turned to her.

"What dreams?"

Lycia shrugged, blowing a tuft of her long bangs out of her eyes, "He only said that at night Arric would be tossing and turning, sometimes screaming in his sleep, waking in a cold sweat but he refuses to talk about them. I told Avice and Bowen to suggest coming to you about them."

Estella nodded. Good. She could help Arric with these dreams but not with his pledge. She could not help any of them with it and it frustrated her. As an Espeon she could see things for what they were, what they could be and what potential they had but with Arric she could see nothing and for once she had no idea what to do.

Arric woke to his shoulder being shook. Opening his eyes groggily, he rolled over to find five faces peering down at him. He bolted upright and instantly regretted it as pain shot through his leg and the world began to swim around him.

"Easy Arric, not so fast."

The voice belonged to Tak and Arric blinked back tears as he looked over his friends sitting at the end of his bed. They all looked weary but their smiles were warm. Grace wrapped Arric in a hug, he could feel her hiccup a small sob, brushing away tears as she pulled away to let Bree replace her.

"I'm so glad Quin found you." She said as she pulled away, sitting back at the end of the bed.

"Me too. I was about ready to give up just before he found me. Thanks man."

Quin's cheeks burned red and he mumbled a few words that Arric could not hear but could easily guess. He stretched and looked around at the small infirmary that he had been placed in. There were a small number of cots with sheets hung up around for privacy. Two Espeon sat at a wooden desk chatting quietly to each other, behind them were small shelves filled with all sorts of balms, potions and bandages that Arric had never seen before. There were no other Pokémon in the other beds and Arric pulled back the blanket that covered him to find that his leg had been splinted and bandaged above the ankle. He curled his toes, thankful that only a dull ached accompanied the move instead of the shooting pain he had a few days before.

"No broken bones," Quin informed him, "Just a bad sprain that is going to take a while to heal."

"So no more falling into ravines okay?" Grace nudged him.

Arric laughed, a feeling he had missed dearly. He spied Hannah hanging at the back of them and the memory of Volke's treatment of her flashed through his mind. He looked down at his hand, the feeling of punching Volke still fresh in his mind. He saw Bree clasp a hand over his, her soft eyes staring into his as he looked at her, a warm smile on her face.

"Thank you for saving me from that night. I…" She trailed off unsure on how to continue. It was Hannah who finished for her, "We didn't know our father was going to do that."

Arric looked over at Hannah, her face was downcast, a sad and regretful look perched on her features. She sat on the bed beside Arric's, taking a deep and shaky breath before looking up at her friends. Her stomach felt heavy and the lump in her throat made it hard to swallow. Every night she replayed that scene in her head over and over. Watching as Master Volke, no her father, pushed that Thunder Stone into Bree's hands and she just laid on the ground like a coward.

"You all have every right to be mad at me." She began, her voice soft, "Our father, Master Volke, had ordered me to convince you all to pledge Jolteon before we had reached our village. He had promised for me to be next in line as Jolteon Tribe Leader if I had gotten you all to pledge Jolteon."

Bree grabbed her sisters hand and held it tight, while Grace placed a hand on her knee. Tears pooled in Hannah's eyes as she continued, "But I couldn't do it. After seeing what happened to Grace's home, after what happened to Tak at the Flareon Territory, seeing how happy everyone was at the Leafeon village I just couldn't do it. You were right Bree. You can't force someone to choose. It's not right but I was a coward. I couldn't face Master Volke just like mother and look what happened. This is all my fault."

Tears streamed down Hannah's face as she sobbed. Bree moved to sit next to her and cradled her in her arms. "Hannah we didn't know he was going to do that. He just told you to get us to pledge. He was never like that before, you had no idea."

Hannah shook her head, "But I did." Her words were swallowed in her sobs, "He told me that if I didn't that he was going to make us all Jolteon, ritual or no ritual. I should have known better. I just wanted to make him proud."

She sobbed into her hands. Bree and Grace stroked her back to calm her, while Quin patted her on the shoulder. Tak pulled a chair up beside Arric and motioned him to lean closer to him. Arric eyed the girls and Quin carefully as he shifted closer to Tak. The Eevee had a wary look in his eye as he watched the two Espeon on the other side of the room.

"Obviously there's more to this than what everyone is saying." Tak started. "Madame Lycia warned me that Master Volke might try something but she didn't say what but to force us into an Evolution, I didn't think it was possible." His voice dropped low so that only Arric could hear, "Madame Lycia has told me that she wants you to meet with Madame Estella to talk about your dreams, maybe you can get some answers out of all this from her while I try with Madame Lycia?"

Arric nodded and pulled away from Tak just as an Espeon with a deep violet coat stepped towards them. He gave them all questionable look as he saw Hannah sobbing but shrugged as he spoke, "The Tribe Leaders are awaiting you in the meeting hall. If you will follow me."

Hannah wiped her face with her hands and sniffed, standing with balled fists. She straightened her shoulders and pushed her hair from her face. "Let's go guys, time to get some answers."

The others nodded. Tak helped Arric to his feet, who only needed a small amount of support from the larger Eevee to walk down the dark halls toward the meeting hall. The six Eevee entered through the carved archway and stood before a large table where all but one of the tribe leaders sat watching them. Arric could not help but feel like they were back in the clearing on that first night beneath the full moon before this all began. Tak helped Arric limp to seat, grateful to finally sit down. It had not been a long trek to the meeting hall but Arric was still tired and it was hard to hop through halls. He chanced a glance at Vesper to find the Flareon eyeing him carefully from across the large table. It had felt like ages from when he had seen him that he felt a small pang of home sickness towards the fiery Pokémon.

Estella cleared her throat and stood, addressing the room calmly, "The Evolution Ritual is not very far away. These setbacks have prevented you six from visiting all the territories but I am sorry to say that we cannot push this back. You will need to pledge in three nights' time of who you will want to Evolve into." She eyed the other tribe leaders carefully before continuing, "I know what Master Volke has done is unspeakable but we will not deter your choice if it is still Jolteon. We will keep you safe here to recover and I will have you escorted to the Evolution Ritual where you will make your choice."

Arric began to speak when Estella raised her hand and he felt himself being shut into silence. He suddenly felt no will to speak but his mind raced. His anger flared as he glared at Estella but her cool gaze did not waver.

"I know you all have questions but rest assured that we have our reasons for doing what we did."

Hannah pushed her chair back and slammed a fist on the table, "You've been lying to us from the start! There was not Evolution Ritual before this. Why is it now and why have you been hiding it from everyone?"

Nia sighed and carefully stood, her ears twitched as she spoke, "Before you were born, it was normally pure lines of Evolution were chosen. Leafeon Eevee were always Leafeon, Vaporeon Eevee were always Vaporeon and so on." She paused, glancing over to her sisters, "But it turned out that less and less pure Eevee were being born and numbers in each territory were falling. It turned out that more Eevee were born if their parents were of different Eeveelution. As our territories came together and our Tribe Leaders traded more between the other tribes, more and more Eevee were pushing to be different Eeveelutions than the tribe they were born to. It got to the stage where they were starting to uprise against the tribe leaders."

Arric could not believe it. The population of Eeveelutions were failing and there was going to a war between the tribes over it. He couldn't understand why it mattered so much. They lived so peacefully now for the most part trading with one another. The Evolution Ritual should have worked.

"When my parents decided that my sisters and I could choose who we wanted to be, there was a huge uproar in who should get what." Nia continued, "Everyone wanted choice but everyone also wanted an opinion on who someone should choose."

"So the Evolution Ritual was made." Arric said.

Avice nodded, "Exactly. A chance for each territory to try and convince the Eevee who were to evolve but ultimately the choice was up to them but there was always a chance they could be persuaded."

"Not everyone was up for that idea obviously." Vesper grunted.

"So we took a vote. It was two to six in favour of the Evolution Ritual. We chose not to tell the future Eevee in hope to forge a solid tradition and to forget the past." Estella finished.

The room fell silent as the Eevee took in the information laid before them. It was a lot to take in. Finally, Vesper stood, placing his arms across his chest and breaking the silence.

"I think we have explained everything we are entitled too. I hope you six will make the right decision but for the next few days I suggest you reflect over the past few weeks and come to a final decision when it's time. I'll be taking my leave; I have to attend to my people before the Evolution Ritual."

The Flareon moved around the table and paused to glance at Arric before slipping through the archway into the halls. Karn, Nia and Avice soon followed, bidding farewell to the Eevee before taking their leave. Lycia stood, motioning for the attention of the group. "I will take them to their quarters. It's been a long few days."

The Umbreon began to usher the group out of the hall. Arric slid his chair back to join them but a soft voice sang in his head.

"Stay Arric."

Arric sat glued to his seat and watched as the others slipped from the hall, not even noticing that he was not with them. Soon only he and Estella remained in the hall. The Espeon tilted her head and eyed him carefully. Her blue eyes glinting in the soft light. She stood and took a seat next to him and he had to crane his head up to fully look at her in the eyes.

"I've been told you have been having strange dreams."

Arric gulped and nodded, his words suddenly lost in the presence of the Espeon before him. He could feel power emanate off her and he was not sure if it was fear or excitement he felt tingle through his veins. She took his hands in one of her own and leant forward towards him, her breath a whisper as she locked his eyes with her, lost in the colours of her eyes as they swirled before him.

"Close your eyes."

Arric forced his eyes shut, he could feel a warm field spread from his hand over his arm and through his body, washing over him. His body began to feel heavy, his mind starting to float as he struggled to stay awake.

"Sleep."