Cirenze

[wynnyelle]

" I destroyed the shadows that were on your soul," said Alcatraz. " Now you're yourself again and free of what they did to you at the fortress. Now...we can recover here and I can develop a plan to break the shadows at the fortress for good. How do you feel now?"

[fya]

"I feel..fine," said Jarreth, a bit shaken from what Alcatraz had told him. That was plain scary. "I...was like them?" That bit into him. He'd always thought for some reason that he would have been able to resist the darkness..apparently not. It sort of crushed him.

"Yeah," said Sassano. "Apparently I was too."

[wynnyelle]

" You were, but you're cured now. Apparently, it can happen to anyone," said Alcatraz. He knew that it had never happened to an aruseus before, but could it? Could he have ended up shadow too? He shuddered to think of the damage he could have created if he had turned evil...

[fya]

"All it matters is that you two are both back to normal," said Lelaka, giving both Jarreth and Sassano a smile. She had been afraid that Sassano would have never gone back to normal. Thank the poke gods that had Alcatraz.

[wynnyelle]

" If I only did one small thing at least it was to cure you two," said Alcatraz. He couldn't look after the whole world, even an aruseus couldn't do that. Alcatraz went back to his task of blasting rock out of the alcove, beginning to dig deeper and deeper into it. He had surveyed this place and knew that there were some caves trapped completely by stone. If he could dig an entrance to those caves that would be cool.

[fya]

Coralyn smiled at both Sassano and Jarreth. She was so glad Alcatraz had been able to help them out. She wondered how many other Pokemon were at the Horde. She'd closed her eyes while they'd been there. Probably a good thing, because the kit was not ready to see Pokemon after Pokemon that were in the midst of being turned shadow and the like.

[wynnyelle]

" I guess I'll be staying here for good," said Cirenze. It already felt like home to her.

[fya]

"Good," said Jarreth. "because I am as well." After the little shadow incident, he wasn't keen to head out on his own. Going away was tempting, but the idea of being kidnapped again and not have Alca to save him was haunting. At least here the Horde would learn that Alcatraz was making a home here and the god wouldn't put up with his young friends being kidnapped.

"Cool," said Sassano, giving the other kit a nod.

[wynnyelle]

Alcatraz thought while he worked, about the situation. It wasn't the best situation in the world. The leader of the Horde had been destroyed, but that didn't mean that the Horde was no longer a threat. He would have to work to ensure the safety of this group.

Later on he came out to have a rest. A huge pile of scrap rock lay outside, around the mouth of the created cave. Alcatraz turned fire typed and used his flaming, white-hot breath to soften and shape the pieces into things that could be used, like seats and a low table.

[fya]

Coralyn watched Alcatraz work in awe. The way he could change types so quickly without a hassel...it amazed her. And the work he'd done in so little time! He'd gotten all that rock out as if he were an onix and he'd breathed flames like a charizard! Both types were rare around here. The zigzagoon/zangoose kit watched with admiration.

[wynnyelle]

Cirenze watched, too, it was pretty cool to see.

Alcatraz stopped and turned around. " If you want I'll make rooms for you guys too." Maybe they'd like a little alcove of their own to shelter from in the rain.

He went back into the cave and started blasting again. He was almost to the caves with the bubbling springs in them. Now that would be nice...he felt like having a hot bath right about now. Ahh the pleasures of the mortal world.

[fya]

"Rooms? Like in caves?" Coralyn was a little confused. Most of the aruseus's terms confused her. "Ok..?"

[wynnyelle]

" Yes," said Alcatraz. " Just like that. Your own little caves." It was the least he owed them, for keeping him company. They could have chosen to move on from here and live their lives separately from him but they'd chosen to stay. He would've gotten so lonely out here without them.

And of course, there was Lelaka. Alcatraz noticed she hadn't said or done much lately. He hoped she wasn't sore at him for telling her to stay behind while he'd gone and dealt with the shadowlord.

[fya]

"You..don't want us with you?" It was how Coralyn interuprted that. That he didn't want them with him. "We...can go you know.." She looked away, fighting back tears. If he didn't want them, he should have said so long ago.

[wynnyelle]

" Oh, no, of course I want you with me!" said Alcatraz. " I was just offering you your own alcoves within mine if you ever wanted your own little rooms to relax in. You're more than welcome to share mine."

[fya]

"Oh," said Coralyn immediatly blushing. She heared Lelaka giggle and blushed even redder. "No I want my own! Sorry I thought you didn't want us.." She giggled a little and smiled at Alca.

Sassano grinned. "Sis your pretty slow sometimes." He gave her a playful bite on the ear. "I want my own too if that's cool."

[wynnyelle]

" Sure, I can make one for each of you," said Alcatraz. He went back to work, though his chief ideas were what Dimity might like. He knew Dimity loved swimming so he was glad that there was water right nearby, and for bathing purposes, there was a bubbling spring that he had now exposed through breaking past the rock in the caves.

Cirenze watched Alca for a while, then she went back to Sassano and the others.

[fya]

Lelaka watched half heartedly. She'd gone back to thinking about Kuru. Before she'd been too preoccupied worrying about Sassano or Coralyn or Jarreth of Alcatraz. But now with everything currently at peace the pain sunk back in. She sighed and picked up a chunk of dirt and hurled it at a tree. It smacked the tree and fell to the ground. She noticed Jarreth looking at her, but she ignored him. He could stare. It wouldn't make things any better or worse.

After a few moments of watching, Jarreth said, "are you ok, Lelaka?" His ears were pricked and he was looking curiously at the emurit.

"Yeah..I guess," said Lelaka, giving him and the other kids a weak smile.

[wynnyelle]

Alcatraz noticed Lelaka doing what she did and immediately knew his friend was in pain. Not only that, but he could feel her telepathically, and the pain was evident there as well. He transformed into psychic form, his accents changing colour to pink. ~Lelaka...is it anything you would want to talk about with me?~

[fya]

Lelaka immdediatly felt Alcatraz touch her mind. She'd been exspecting it, though she wasn't sure she'd been looking forward to it or not. Sometimes a good chat helped, sometimes not. ~I don't really know...I guess I'm just..still grieving for Kuru.~ It was hard to live for about a thousand years while a fellow legendary had died at only about 15 years. Mews didn't live that long anyway.

[wynnyelle]

~I can sympathise,~ sent Alca. ~I lost my mate to old age, and we never did manage to have any surviving children.~ So much for his fortune that had told him they would bear a child destined to be great. They had buried her before she'd even been weaned.

[fya]

~Thanks....we never even got that far..he was always a child...and I was too really...,~ sent Lelaka. Even pointless chatter felt sort of good to her right now. ~But it's been about 100 years..I really should be over him, shouldn't I? I have great friends anyway.~

[wynnyelle]

~It's been over 70 years for me, and still so hard to move on,~ sent Alcatraz. ~But I have moved on, little by little, I'll never forget her, but I know I can love again. And so can you.~

[fya]

~Yeah...you're right Alca...you're right,~ sent lelaka, wiping a single tear from her cheek that had escaped without her noticing. He was right. But it'd still be hard. She and Kuru had been the escapees, fleeing from everyone.

[wynnyelle]

Alcatraz thought to himself about what would help cheer Lelaka up. Wel, he had five years to kill, so why not put them to use helping Lelaka find a mate? ~Maybe you and I can take a trip somewhere where other pixies live, maybe you can meet someone.~

[fya]

~Maybe.~ Lelaka sighed. Maybe. But her parents were the main guardians. And word traveled extremely fast. She thought of where she and Kuru had lived a bit..maybe she could go back?

[wynnyelle]

~Whenever you feel ready, just let me know and we could take a little journey there.~ Alca didn't know what they would do about all the kits here, but maybe by then they would be a bit more grown up.

" Hello?" said a voice Alcatraz was not familiar with. The tall aruseus turned around and saw a venusaur standing there. They stared at each other for a moment, then Alcatraz put on a gentle smile.

" Can I...help you?"

" Perhaps," said the venusaur, with worry and heartbreak in her voice. " Someone told me Aruseus lived here or had appeared here...He was not making it up, apparently. I have a sickness that is ravaging my garden. Bulbasaurs especially are dying left and right. I come asking you if you would cure this disease."

Alcatraz knew that his kind could perform miracles, but he had never done so before. He began to see why no aruseus stayed in one place outside Arua Islands or a couple of other secret locations for very long. Word got around. " I can try," he said, looking at the sad venusaur. " I'm Alcatraz. What's your name?"

" Florifica," said the venusaur. " I'll lead you to my garden. It's a way away from here..."

Alcatraz glanced over at the others, not sure if they wanted him to leave so soon after they had just gotten home from a terrible trauma.

[fya]

Lelaka looked at the kits. "Why.." She wanted to go with Alcatraz, but the kits couldn't come. That was dumb. She sighed. "I'll stay here with them." The disappointment was apparent on her face. She hated watching Alca leave. There was a chance he'd never be back.

"I want to go," said Jarreth.

"Don't," said Lelaka. "Worst case, you'll get sick."

[wynnyelle]

" I don't think it's something that non-grass types can catch," said Florifica. " It's...well...seems to be something only grasstypes can catch."

" How many of you are sick?" said Alcatraz. " I want to leave but I am wary of leaving here for too long, I've got a few charges here I just got out of danger. If I can I want to remain here. Bring the sick here and I'll heal them."

" It's seventeen of them, last I checked," said Florifica. " And...the Blight is spreading."

" The Blight?" Alcatraz didn't think that sounded good.

[fya]

"Maybe we all should go," said lelaka. It'd be safer anyway. Them all being together. She looked at all the kits to Alca to Florifica. "What do you all think? Should we alll just come?"