Forward From the Past

[Omega]

"Celebi took the tablet before sending us here," replied Sombra, "As of now, I'm looking for a way back."

[wynnyelle]

"Who's to say the celebi won't send you back here again when you do get home?" said Charna. She was just trying to help them see the possible magnitude of the problem. "And it stands to reason that if you were sent somewhere through time, you'll need to find another celebi willing to send you back to where you came from."

[Omega]

Sombra turned his head before replying, "I know you mean well, but at this point, that seems an impossibility. We were sent here as punishment."

[wynnyelle]

"If you are resigned to staying here then you may as well make yourselves at home," said Charna. "I myself am on a mission. My flock is enslaved by rams full of the darkness. I escaped...though I will soon bear his lamb."

[Omega]

Sombra's eyes widened, "So, did you once love this creature? Or did he... Y'know..."

[wynnyelle]

"I was brought to him as a slave," said Charna. "I had no say. For the longest time I believed that this was my lot in life and I had no choice, and things would be easiest if I simply obeyed him. His name is Undertone...and he is cruel and powerful. He had his way with me, and sometimes I feared for my life. I always survived...sometimes wishing that I hadn't lived. I escaped one day by sheer chance. But--he doesn't take kindly when his ewes escape. He will be looking for me. But I am far, far away. He won't find me here."

[Omega]

Sombra looked at Charna with sympathy, "You poor girl. A monster like that doesn't deserve death. Allow me to join you. If he ever comes within sight of you, I will make him regret the day he lost his virginity!"

[wynnyelle]

"My daughter...our daughter...Anneir," said Charna. "She is still with him...he did to her what he did to me. Training her...training all of us. I had no say--and I had to watch." Charna couldn't bear it anymore. Tears ran down her face. "I ran away and left her there...I left for a reason, to find a way out for us, I could not get away with both of us, he had her right in front of him...but I still cannot forgive myself. My mother was a slave too and we, well, we accepted what was done to us. We knew nothing else. We were taught that if we did not obey, Hazagbris would eat our souls."

Charna cried some more. "There's more...I had another daughter by him...and I have a grandson there too..."

[Omega]

"An incestuous pedophile?" said Sombra, appalled, "That monster should be slaughtered where he stands!"

[wynnyelle]

Charna blinked her hazel eyes, almost without emotion despite the tears flowing down her face. She had been brought up this way, and it was normal for her...or it had been. "My grandson...he is full of the darkness and shadow ways too. Why he turned out that way I don't know, but he was trained in the tradition by Undertone. Our rams are all trained to be Flockfathers...and all Flockfathers do what they want to with their ewes and lambs. I just--I couldn't take it anymore. I know I will have my soul eaten by Hazagbris for what I have done, but I could not stay there anymore. I just want to get my children out of there...Someone has offered to help me, he is the one who delivered me here, But first I have to carry out my part of our bargain."

[Omega]

"What might that be?" asked Sombra, eager to assist Charna.

[wynnyelle]

"Find a solution or at least a reason why his race is dying. He is of the Secumbrah, a kind of lightfolk," and by lightfolk, she meant a relative of ampharos. "And the giantfolk. They do not live in this region at all, they only live up far, far north of here, in and beyond the Kavaness. In a place you--or residents of these parts--would call the Far Reaches. There are many giantfolk there, giant pokemon compared to us, the likes of which are never seen here in Erymire and the lands surrounding this."

[Omega]

"I see," replied Sombra, "and how might we find this 'solution?'"

[wynnyelle]

"I wish I knew," said Charna. "He sent me here because he knew Undertone and the other rams of Hallowmoor would never find me here, and also because it is said that a solution may be found in Erymire. That before I can know why the Secumbrah are dying out, I first have to discover their origins. They are said to have been brought into this world by great gods. Long ago, they were much larger than they are now, and their size and strength dwindles with every generation. And although they used to breed much more plentifully, they have been finding it harder and harder to produce lambs."

[Omega]

"Dwindles with every generation?" replied Sombra, "It must have something to do with their D.N.A. Theoretically, cross-breeding could solve their issue..."

[wynnyelle]

"Their size prevents them from cross-breeding with anyone," said Charna. "And they do not want to anyway...they want to remain pure. They themselves were said to have been enslaved race at one point, and they broke from their slavery and founded their own flocks. Over time, though, weakness has set in. Their numbers are fewer and fewer. No one knows why. And so, I am here seeking answers. Perhaps the celebis would know?"

[Omega]

"I wouldn't know where to find one," replied Sombra with disdain.

[Jaemon]

"Rawr!" Zodiac jumped out, trying to bite Sombra, but missed, and ended up going head first into a tree. He rubbed his head. "Oww...." he moaned. Then he reliezed what happened. Zodiac jumped up, facing the two other pokemon. "RAWR!!" he growled. The little Gible tried to look bigger than he was.

[wynnyelle]

"I heard there were many guardian lagendaries in this land," said Charna. "Perhaps we need to seek out one or more of them...."

When the new pokemon leaped out at them, Charna jumped backwards and sparked in surprise. She stood ready to attack, tail lashing. "Don't mess with me," she said. "Or them." Sombra was one she considered a friend now, who seemed willing to help her.

[Omega]

Sombra was, at first, startled, but saw Zodiac and realized he was no threat. He glared at the gible, "I suggest you leave while you can."

[wynnyelle]

Static electricity crackled over Charna's body. However subservient she had been to her original ram owner, she would defend herself viciously here. She stared at the gible and waited to see what it would do.

[Jaemon]

Zodiac tilted his head when Sombra said he should leave. "RAWR me no leave. Me hungry. Me want food." Zodiac had bad grammer, but he didn't care. He looked at the Flaffy, then back at Sombra.

[Omega]

"You had your chance," replied Sombra before charging a powerful shadow ball and launching it at the much smaller gible.

[wynnyelle]

Charna saw that the gible wouldn't relent, so she readied an attack as well. She wouldn't let Sombra fight this fight alone. She readied a thunder punch at the gible, and unleashed it from her spotted flipper, but it missed, instead going to ground in front of him. Charna had evolved due to injuries and abuse at the cruel hands of Undertone, and she had never learned to battle very well. She had been punished severely whenever she had tried to rebel.

All my lambs...all my lambs... Charna had quite a few, including one, her second, a son, who had been stillborn. She had to keep herself together in this strange world if she was to find a solution that would set her children free.

[Jaemon]

Zodiac hit the tree he had hit before again but with more force from the Shadow Ball. Zodiac twitched, then slowly fell to the ground. Then he jumped back up, angry. "RAWR!!! LOOK YOU SMELLY POKEMON!!! ME HUNGRY, YOU THINK IT ME FAULT THAT I CAN BARELY SURVIVE OFF THE LAND?!?! HUH?! DO YA?!" and with that, Zodiac fainted.

[Omega]

Sombra noticed Zodiac had been weakened and moved on for the kill. His tail glowed as he prepared for an iron tail and aimed at Zodiac's head.

[wynnyelle]

"Wait a minute. Before we kill him I need to question him," said Charna. "I was sent here on a mission and that mission's to get as much information as possible." She shouted in Zodiac's face, "Do you know anything about the legendaries that live here? Yes or no?"

[Omega]

Sombra discharged his iron tail, "He's a worthless little imp who should be disposed of as such."

[wynnyelle]

"We will," said Charna. "But I have to make sure. I have several lambs and grandlambs depending on me." More family than she wanted to admit, that she had let down completely until now. Until now.

[Jaemon]

"They BIG super powerful! They hard to find. Me seen one few days ago." said Zodiac. "Why?"