Sombra, Charna, Zodiac et al. {Open!}

[wynnyelle]

"This looks like an alcove to me," said Charna, as the ampharos ewe, now heavily pregnant, approached the alcove that looked hewn from the stone of a low mountain in the forest.

[Omega]

"The arceus should be around here," said Sombra, just catching up with Charna.

[wynnyelle]

"Well, I don't see one anywhere, but I'm starving." Charna went to a clearing nearby and started to graze. Her pregnancy was making her even more hungry, and her bag was filling with milk.

Carni looked at Sombra, then said, "I think I'm going to join her." He went over and starte grazing, too.

[Omega]

"OK," replied Sombra. He began pacing the alcove, looking for any sign of the arceus. "Arceus? Arceus? Is there an arceus here?"

[Jaemon]

Zodiac padded after them. He looked around for some food. He caught glimpse of some Pecha Berries, and ran on over, eating like crazy.

[wynnyelle]

After grazing, Charna lay down on her side, relaxing while she chewed her cud. She was late in her third trimester now and the pregnancy was taking its toll on her energy levels. She knew she was not up to hopping from one land to another in search of this aruseus. "If the arceus lives here, he'd better stop by here rather than us going to look for him any more...I need to take a break from being on my feet for a while. I'm going to give birth in probably only a few days." This was her seventh pregnancy, and she was familiar with the stages her body went through from conception to birth. And it was not only within her body that the rhythms happened. Outside, the world was turning to spring again. The nights were warmer and berries were beginning to come back in season. Lambing time was near.

[Omega]

OOC: Can Alcatraz come soon?

Sombra looked all over the alcove in search of the arceus. After a while, he grew weary of searching and went back to Charna, "I haven't found an arceus."

[Jaemon]

"Fine with me," Zodiac answered Charna as he stumbled back to the group, leaving the berry-less bush.

[wynnyelle]

ooc: Sure, Alcatraz can make an appearance.

ic: Something had drawn Alcatraz back to this land he had made his on-again, off-again home, this morning. The aruseus floated down from the sky and appeared surrounded by a very faint glow. His hooves, which were currently light grey-blue, barely touched the ground. He saw the pokemon who had gathered in his home.

Charna saw the arrival of the arceus and immediately bowed down to him. "My lord," she said, grovelling as her nose and flippers touched the ground.

"Hello," said Alcatraz. "Oh...there's no need to bow. You don't have to, really. Yes...i'm Alcatraz, the aruseus who lives here...well, sometimes I live here."

[Omega]

"Alcatraz," said Sombra, "We require your assistance."

[Jaemon]

"Hi," said Zodiac. "Are you incharge?" Zodiac asked Alcatraz.

[wynnyelle]

Alcatraz smiled. "I hate to be thought of as in charge...that implies I have too much responsibility. I live here, and help out where I can. I'm just a young aruseus, so I don't know much about a lot of things yet. But...what is it you need my assistance with? I can do my best."

[Omega]

"Well," replied Sombra, "I am not from Erymire, I was brought here by a celebi from another dimension and I need to get home. Do you know where the Blackwood Forest is?"

[Jaemon]

"Ok. Just making sure, cause one time I didn't know who was boss, and, yeah..." Zodiac scratched behind his head.

[wynnyelle]

Alcatraz thought. "Yes...that lies within the Erymirian Forest. It's one of the deepest areas, and yes, celebis live there if that's why you were asking about it. But...they tend to be very shy. I've only ever seen the celebis once, and that was at one of their rare gatherings. They have been driven into even further hiding by the growing up of the Horde evil force...down at the Fortress. I tried to suppress it, to obliterate that evil, but it is only rebounding worse this time."

"The horde?" said Carni, coming forward for the first time towards Alcatraz. He couldn't believe he was speaking to a god, at least he thought it was a god. "a horde of pokemon slaughtered my whole flock. They were mixed pokemon, mostly canines. Would that be the same evil?"

"Yes, it very well could have been," said Alcatraz. "I'm so sorry about your flock."

[Omega]

Sombra thought about the horde causing the celebis to hide. He cleared his throat and spoke again, "Perhaps if the horde was rid of, they would come back?"

[Jaemon]

"Are you a god pokémon?" asked Zodiac. Zodiac was very curious about Arceus..

[wynnyelle]

"That's what I'm thinking," said Alcatraz. "I just don't know how to stop the Horde."

"Do you know what the Secumbrah are?" said Charna. "I have a quest myself and that's to save their race."

Alcatraz's fur bristled a little bit. "Yes, I've met them. They are a perplexing race to say the least. I can't say I know how to save them, but I can tell you they are very interesting..."

To Zodiac he said, "That all depends on what you think a god is."

[Omega]

"If we can take down its leader, the rest should fall," suggested Sombra.

[wynnyelle]

"I tried that already," said Alcatraz. "When the leader fell the evil did not go away. Another simply rose to take its place. It's just not that simple."

[Omega]

"OK," replied Sombra, "Maybe... If we could assemble an army of our own, we might stand a chance!"

[wynnyelle]

"Now you're talking," said Charna.

"You mean war," said Alcatraz. "Sadly I do not know that there is any other alternative. They will not listen to reason or for pleas of peace. But there is a darkness that lies there in that land, in that Fortress...that maybe even winning a war cannot obliterate."

[Jaemon]

"A god is a ruler highly respected and powerful. That is a god in my world..." Zodiac said. "Are we gonna start an army?" Zoidac asked Sombra.

[Omega]

"Darkness?" asked Sombra, "Perhaps if we find a way to destroy that darkness, the horde will cease to exist."

[wynnyelle]

"Exactly," said Alcatraz. Then he looked at Zodiac, "Then I am not a god. I'm not a ruler, nor am I even super powerful among my kind. There are many aruseus probably more powerful than me. I'm just a youngling. I don't know how to get at that darkness right now. I do know that first we must strive to understand what it is, where it comes from and where it gets its energy."

[Omega]

"It gets its energy from its followers," replied Sombra, "Do you think it's a possibility to convert some of its followers to good?"

[wynnyelle]

"They are touched by a shadow force," said Alcatraz. "These pokemon affiliate themselves with darkness. They call themselves "dark" pokemon even if their element isn't truly dark. Convincing them to turn good, well, that would be akin to telling them to abandon their Horde and I don't know how effective it would be. But sometimes it happens. If you go to the Fortress, though...take extreme caution."

[Jaemon]

"Power is more than just strength." Zodiac said to Arceus. "You know what would be wierd? If one of us or all of of us, went to join the group then destroy it from the inside out. That would be wierd!"

[Omega]

"What's dangerous about this 'fortress'?" asked Sombra.

[wynnyelle]

"You mean act as spies?" said Charna. "Sounds pretty risky to me...but if it's the only way..." Her maternal instincts were taking over now, though, and she had no desire to go into a dangerous place like that.

"The Fortress is teeming with evil pokemon bent on the enslavement of everyone else in Erymire, enslavement or death," said Alcatraz. "That's what makes them dangerous."

"My flock...those who survived...they would be enslaved in the Fortress now," said Carni.