Warrior Eevees #1: The Storm of Fire

21- The Travelers

The Plains Tribe territory was absolutely overflowing with Pokémon. If the village of the Plains Tribe had looked busy with just the Lake, Sky, Forest, and Plains Tribes present, then sitting here on the border of the Sand Tribe with the Mountain Tribe and Sand Tribes present as well was so far beyond 'busy' Emmy didn't have a word for it. Glaceon lounged in the shade of every available tussock of grass. The Flareon rolled on their backs in the loose earth. Jolteon chased each other playfully across the flatlands, some relief from stress. The Vaporeon basked in the sun next to the Leafeon, who were photosynthesizing. The Espeon were alert now, absorbing the sun through their fur, and the Umbreon looked half-asleep on their paws due to the same light.

And through it all were all of the Tribes' Eevee, alternating between joyous play-fighting to actual, shrieking, upset bouts of fury. Strong and Loud were pinning down a young Sky Tribe Eevee together, who had done nothing wrong. A litter of three Mountain Tribe Eevee crouched near the Vaporeon, poking at their tails with their paws. They had never seen an Eeveelution except Glaceon before, as nothing else could survive the harsh elements of the mountainside and found the long, fluked tails fascinating. Normally, a parent would stay behind at the village to watch them, but this was far too important for anyone to miss.

Despite their agreement to meet in the early morning, the sun was quickly approaching its highest point. Gathering the Tribes together took time, of course. At one point, the meeting had actually begun to start when the Flareon who had been waiting at the cliffs had arrived with the Mountain Tribe. The Mountain Tribe hadn't been expected until tomorrow, which had put the whole meeting off again for a while to fill the Glaceon in.

Emmy sat where she had been asked to sit, next to Aqua at the base of a large rock that jutted above the chaos, from where the Tribe leaders would speak. Sycamore, despite not having climbed the mountain, had joined her there. Rogue had not wanted to sit among the crush and was instead circling overhead, close enough to listen, and keeping an eye out for Derrick and the Dragonite he had suggested he would bring, Meteor.

Emmy had no memories of Meteor. Rogue had wondered if that this was because his human partner came from a very far away place called Kanto, where Pokémon were stored in capsules instead of allowed to wander at all times. Meteor's trainer kept him contained most of the time, which meant Emmy wouldn't have casually seen him around as often.

"Meteor doesn't mind," Rogue had added when Emmy had shot him an alarmed look. "He's about as big as Derrick trying to fit in that lab, and he can hear and see everything. It's just more convenient."

Now, she leaned back on her haunches, exhausted by the buzz of activity but reinvigorated by her long sleep. She had gone to sleep early the previous night because of her adventure and after spending the entire walk to through the Forest Tribe's territory reexplaining everything to Sycamore. Now he was nagging Aqua for more details, the Vaporeon seeming quite uncomfortable with how much he was being asked to talk.

Claws scraped the rock above Emmy's head, and she knew that the Tribe leaders were making another attempt to start the meeting. She pricked up her ears and turned to face them.

The top of the rock was very crowded with six different leaders atop it. Hollyhock wavered closest to the edge, comfortable with climbing and perching high up with her hooked claws. Right behind her was Avalanche of the Mountain Tribe, swaying uneasily. Starset was on her other side, sitting very straight and formal as if trying to prove herself. Wildfire and Pearl sat right behind them, evidently uncomfortable with each other and being overly polite. In the very back was Stride, who was so tall that it didn't matter where he sat, as he would be able to see no matter what.

The Tribes came to attention quickly. Too quickly, it would have been better if they had continued laughing and talking for a minute or two before they settled down to listen. But the laughter was just a surface level distraction from the serious situation they were now involved in.