Eclipsed 31: Welcome Home

Firework's POV

Around the dimly lit dinner table inside the cavern's chamber sat four Umbreons and two Eevees. They were eating leftover meatloaf. The only female Umbreon, their mother Owl, finished her serving and left the table, slinking into another room. That left the father umbreon with his three sons, two of which were also evolved into the dark type eeveelution. Then there were the Eevees, one male and one female. The girl was pushing her meatloaf around her plate.

She ignored the glares she received from her brothers. After a few minutes of this, the father stood up abruptly. "Firefly, stop."

The Eevee ignored her father. She was sick and tired of this boring cave. At least school started soon so she could get out of here.

"Oh, why can't you ever be serious!" Bat bellowed furiously. "Stop playing with your food! Creativity is for the weak-minded! Why can't you grow up and act like your brothers?!"
Wolf and Raccoon were pretending to be focused on their peas.

"Well, maybe I'd be better behaved if you didn't lock me in the library room yesterday! I feel like you're forcing me to change my personality and who I am! Don't you know you'll never change my character?! I can't live like this anymore! You don't even love us!"

"I love your brothers."

"No, you just love the way they behave." She snarled. It was the truth. That was all he cared about.

"That is ENOUGH! Go to your room now, Firefly!"

"NO! I'm not Firefly anymore! I'm Firework! And Firework doesn't live here!"

"You're sure right she doesn't! Get out of my house, you disgrace!"

"I'm going to restart and live somewhere else! I WILL find home! I'm never returning ! Farewell!"

And she ran out of the room.

Now Firework was in the central cavern. Hundreds of entrances to the separate Umbreon homes surrounded the Eevee. Without her parents and their night vision to guide her, Firework felt lost. She didn't know where to go. After hopelessly wandering around for a while, she finally found the exit.

It was night. The Eevee tried to watch where she stepped, but Firework accidentally went off the main path and slid down the mountain. She desperately tried to regain her footing. At long last she reached the base and came to a stop. Firework sighed and turned around, immediately wishing she hadn't.

"Look at this." A Machamp grinned. "A Eevee." He struggled sounding it out because the grammar wasn't proper, but that wasn't what Firework was worried about. He had two Machokes on each side of him and they were obviously buff. At least they were all brawn and no brain.

"Y-you better not hurt me!" She stammered.

"Ooh, a female! Heard they're rare in these parts!" The machoke on the far left suggested.

"But not in the realm. Females are as common as males. Her hide won't identify if she's a native here or not."
That sent a shiver down her spine. "My mommy and d-d-daddy and two b-brothers are all dark types and they're c-coming right behind me. If you try to do anything to me they'll give you a beating cuz dark type beats f-fighting type."

"Aww, how adorable. I don't see no parents comin' to get ya. You've got yer type match ups all mixed together. Hate to break it to ya, kid, but fighting beats dark. And you know what else fighting beats? Normal." He gave her a mocking smirk. "Ya also said ya got Umbreon blood, eh? Most of the Umbreon tribe, evolved or not, are boys. This makes you even rarer. To make things simpler for ya to understand, we ain't lettin' ya get away."

Firework took a deep breath. With the mountain behind her and the gang in front the only where to run was...

"Between ya' legs, boss! The brat escaped between ya' legs!"

"Well, after her!"

Firework ran like her life depended on it because, well, it did. She could hear the thumps behind her, but the Eevee was too horrified to look. She gathered her courage and snuck a peek. It was the worst decision of her life. The Machamp kept on grabbing at her tail, only missing narrowly.
Firework was running out of breath. She looked up at the full moon, begging someone, anyone, to help.

As if the celestial object had understood, Firework saw a shimmering pink glow from a cave in a nearby mountain. Fueled by her adrenaline, she surged far ahead and climbed up a mountain path, kicking down rocks in hoped of stopping her chasers.

She reached the entrance and looked back to see they hadn't given up. The Eevee was relieved to see a boulder loosened by the other falling rocks crashing down towards the pokemon. She thought she had won, but at that second the Machamp leaped forward and karate-chopped the boulder in two. Firework gasped and ran into the cave ravine.

Continuing down the tunnel, she was surprised it opened up into a ravine. The Eevee didn't exactly stop and stare due to her situation, but she did look around as she sprinted through the glorious wonderland. It seemed like something out of a fairy tale. There were geodes that were pink, purple, and blue. They were dotted with small white orbs that gave off light. The most magical thing of all were the strange pokemon walking around. They were pink and cream with big blue eyes and bows with long ribbons on one of their ears and neck. Firework stared in awe as they frolicked around, not noticing the Eevee running like there was no tomorrow.

Apparently they weren't the only ones who were oblivious, because Firework almost ran herself into the rocky wall at the other end of the ravine. She found herself on some kind of altar. There was a gap in the cave, far above her. The moon was just the right size to be directly over the gap, allowing a stream of moonlight in. It hit a elevated hemisphere, which was only half of the largest pearl Firework had ever seen.

But this wasn't what she was concerned about. The Eevee was concentrated on the thugs walking towards her, grinning. She was cornered.

"Looks like we finally got ya trapped eh?"

Firework knew she had nowhere to go. She was helpless, at their mercy. Her eyes did not squeeze shut. She had them wide open in terror.

Suddenly one of the strange pokemon bounded out gracefully but quickly from her nearby habitat. The pokemon was elderly, her face worn and ribbons drooping, but she was equally fit. The creature leapt onto the pearl, glaring at the Machamp and his sidekicks.

"What do you think you're doing in my tribe's land?" She glared at him, eyes lacking any kindness.

"This Eevee belongs to us, see, because she ran away from home and we did the right thing by taking her in-"

"Liar!"

One of the machokes said something hushed but still audible to his leader.

"What's it to yer if she doesn't like us? I dunno what pokemon this thing is, but I think it's a normal type! Yer could easily beat this thing up before taking the brat!"

The Machamp grinned. "I think ya are right. Let's show this ol' thing not to mess with us!"

The dispute with Firework, the gang, and the mysterious aged creature had gathered a crowd of the strange pokemon, their ears and tails not as pinkish-gray as the one on the pearl. Some of the early sleepers were poking their heads out the window groggily, confused by the commotion.
The machokes used Helping Hand to support their boss. He looked as menacing as ever as he used Dynamic Punch on Firework's defender. When the loud sound was done after multiple echoes she got the bravery to open her eyes and expected them to be leaning over her, ready to kill. Instead, the pokemon on the pearl was still there, unscathed. Firework was as shocked as her hunters as they all stared at her in awe.

"First you try to kill a young, helpless child. Next, you invade my home and try to make its purity filthy. And now you're provoking bloodshed of the innocent on sacred ground. This is the last straw and prepare to feel the fury of my revenge."

Firework and the three thugs stared in awe at her. The crowd was getting pumped in support.

She didn't seem to notice as she raised her head. The moonbeam got brighter and her ribbons fluttered upward, as if she was standing on a giant fan. Then, a large ball of white swirling energy formed above of the pokemon, sucking all the moonlight from the gap. Once it wasn't growing anymore, the pokemon opened her eyes, but they were no longer blue. They were white all over, glowing like the energy in front of her. The second they were open, the energy rushed at the Machamp. It was so large it somehow hit the machokes as well. All three pokemon were knocked out simultaneously. After a few seconds, everything returned to normal. The moonlight returned to its usual brightness and the pokemon's ribbons dropped. The white eyes returned to their normal shade of dull blue and they filled with warmth. She turned to Firework and smiled.

The crowd erupted into applause. The Eevee was staring at everyone with wonder.

"You must be exhausted after being chased by those three. Come, let's get you some hot tea."

She draped a ribbon on Firework's neck fur comfortingly and led her to the house which she dwelled in.

A few minutes later, Firework was sipping the steaming vanilla flavored beverage.

"So what is your name, Miss?"

The Eevee swallowed her mouthful and answered. "The name my parents chose for me is Firefly, but that holds bad memories so I go by Firework."

"Ah. I suppose you're wondering my name?"

"Uh, yeah. Also, what kind of pokemon are you?"

"I am Sylver." Before she could continue Firework had a question.

"Woah, like Sylver from the tale? So that means you're a Sylveon!"

"Correct. You've found the home of the Sylveon tribe. We are fairy-type eeveelutions and you are welcome to make your home here as long as possible. I am the manager of the tribe and I see you've been through a lot. Would you care to explain?"

"Oh. Well, I was raised in the Umbreon tribe, and my parents aren't really the nicest. They wanted me to be serious but I'm really not. I couldn't take it anymore and my dad kicked me out. Then that machamp and the machokes wanted to kill me for money but you stopped them. I can't thank you enough."

She smiled. "They were going to stop chasing you and get out of tribe territory one way or another. I couldn't take such violence."

Firework returned her smile and yawned.

"It seems like you're exhausted. I can't blame you. You gave them quite the chase. Here, I have a spare bedroom." She led the Eevee to a circular bed with a fluffy blue comforter. Firework gave her gratitude and crawled in. Sylver warmly grinned as she slowly shut the door.