Broken Boundaries: Prologue

Elinor was the first to sense the fire.
This was quite odd, since she was out gathering herbs with her sister, Arista, who also just happened to be the Healer of their Tribe. Though all Espeons have a sixth sense of sorts, Arista's was the most developed. Lately, though, Arista's senses had been failing her a bit. For instance, right now she was having a hard time sensing the herbs surrounding her and her sister. Perhaps her total concentration on finding the herbs was why she did not smell the smoke in the air or feel the heat rolling in from the direction that the camp was.
"Arista!" Elinor knew it was dangerous to interrupt Arista, but she was extremely worried. Perhaps this was just one of those simple fires that young trainers sometimes lit, but she did not want to take any chances.
Arista quickly looked up from the ground on which her eyes had been fixed moments before. "Yes, Elinor?"
"Don't you smell the smoke??"
Arista quickly looked around. Suddenly, her ears perked up and her eyes grew wide. "Elinor!! The camp! The camp is on fire!!"
Instantly, Elinor turned around and started sprinting towards the camp. Only two words were on her mind… Isabella! Giselle!
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About halfway back to the camp, Elinor almost ran smack into a familiar face. She quickly skid to a halt and gasped for breath.
"Mar…is…sa…"
"Elinor!" The pretty Umbreon quickly rushed to Elinor's side. "Antonio was so worried! He's sent out search parties looking for you… of course, hardly anyone can be spared… so many are still trapped back at the camp…"
"Where… are… Isabella… and… Giselle…"
"I'm not sure," Marissa started. "Antonio sent me out to look for you and Arista. Everything caught on fire so quickly… we're not sure who got out and who didn't. I'm sure Antonio knows, though. You know he wouldn't leave without his daughters…"
Elinor jumped up. "I must find them."
"But… Elinor… you're exhausted!"
Elinor wheeled around to face her.  "I must know if my children are all right! Arista is a little bit behind me… find her and see that she is safe, ok?"
Marissa narrowed her eyes. "Antonio would never forgive me if I left you here like this…"
"Antonio will never forgive anyone if his daughters die! Please, Marissa, let me go!" And with that, Elinor started sprinting once again towards the direction of the camp.
As she went along, she saw more signs of fire everywhere. Smoke hazed through the air, filling her lungs and making it hard to breathe. Pokemon were fleeing in the opposite direction in which she was running. Even though Marissa had tried to provide comfort, something told Elinor deep down inside that her daughters were not safe. They were not with their father. They were still trapped around here somewhere…
Suddenly, Elinor heard rustling. Quickly, she stalked towards the bushes. "Isabella? Giselle?" she whispered.
Whatever was in the bushes didn't reply. Elinor continued to creep forward… and then pounced.
"What do you think you're doing?!?"
Elinor stared down at the Umbreon she had landed on. It was her brother, Dominic. She narrowed her eyes. Though Dominic was her brother, she did not trust him. He was the type to save his own sorry self instead of rescuing her two precious daughters.
"Dominic! Where are Isabella and Giselle!?!"
"How should I know?" Dominic spat. "Their YOUR children with that stupid Antonio. Why should I care about them?"
"THEY'RE YOUR NIECES!!" Elinor shrieked.
"Not anymore." Dominic's voice was filled with hatred. "Ever since you mated with that traitor Antonio, I've no longer seen you as my sister."
Elinor glared at Dominic. "Antonio is not a traitor. You're a traitor for speaking so openly against him to me and Arista."
"His family stole the Chiefdom from ours!"
"That was centuries ago! GET OVER IT!"
Dominic's eyes narrowed. "Centuries old feuds are not forgotten." Suddenly, he smirked. "I don't know where your precious daughters are right now, but I do know that they weren't with the rest of the Tribe. Antonio has been frantic looking for them."
Elinor's eyes widened. "What have you done to them?!?"
"I have done nothing," Dominic calmly replied. "It was their choice which path they took."
Elinor glared at him one last time, and then turned around and sped back into the trees.
Dominic's eyes narrowed as she left. She knew too much, that one. He had been careful about complaining to Arista, since she was the Healer and all, but Elinor seemed to know the deepest, darkest secrets of his mind. She knew far too much…
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"GISELLE! ISABELLA!"
Elinor's calls were becoming more frantic. She knew that if she didn't find her daughters soon… they could be lost forever…
"How much further?!?"
Elinor froze as she heard a familiar squeaky voice.
"Not much."
"I bet you're leading us into a trap!"
"Why would I do that? I don't want you to die! You're my sister, Selllie."
"I bet your weird Butterfree friends have set a trap!"
"You're being silly, Sellie."
"Why didn't we follow Uncle Dominic!!??"
"Uncle Dominic has Beedrills in his brain. He was leading straight into the fire."
"I'm going to tell Mommy that when we get back!"
"I thought you said that we'd never get back."
"We won't!!" pouted the voice. "We're following strange Pokemons that I have never met deep into the woods! We'll probably get kidnapped by the big, scary Ursaring that lives around here."
"There is no big, scary Ursaring. That's a legend the older ones say to keep silly babies like you out of the woods!"
"I'm telling Mommy on you, Izzie!"
"See, you really do think that we'll see Mommy again!"
"No, I don't!" Suddenly, cries could be heard coming from an area near the bushes. Elinor quickly walked over to there and gazed through two tall shrubs. Two little Eevees were standing next to a log. One of them was crying and yowling while the other tried to calm her down.
"Sellie! Don't cry! We will see Mommy real soon, I promise! We just have to keep moving!"
"ISABELLA! GISELLE!!" Elinor jumped into the clearing and almost knocked over her daughters.
"MOMMY!!" The two little girls screamed as the tackled their mother. Between licks and purrs, Isabella and Giselle's story slowly unfolded.
"You see, Mommy, we were in a clearing a little ways from the camp when suddenly I smelled smoke…" Isabella began.
"No!" Giselle cut in. "You were playing with a bunch of stupid Caterpies and I had to come find you!"
"Well, maybe I was! And they're not stupid! Anyways, I smelled smoke, and suddenly the whole forest was burning around us! All these oranges and reds and blues of fire! It was terrifying! So, we ran, and then we bumped into Uncle Dominic…"
Giselle interrupted again. "And Uncle Dominic was trying to help us get away from the fire, but Izzie just wouldn't listen to him…"
"Uncle Dominic was leading us into the center of the flames! He's a moron!"
Giselle gasped. "How can you say that about your own Uncle?!? Mommy, tell her that she's wrong!"
Elinor's blood ran cold. Had her own brother really tried to murder her daughters? She pushed these feelings aside and responded to Isabella. "Don't call anyone a moron, Isabella."
"Sorrrrrrrrrrrry," She pouted. "But he really was leading us to the wrong place. So, me and Giselle turned around…"
"You made me turn around!"
Isabella ignored her and kept on talking. "And we went towards this clearing where all my Butterfree friends were going, and then, before you know it, we bumped into you, Mommy!"
"Mommy!" Giselle snuggled against her mother.
"Well, I am sure glad we found each other!" Elinor said while nuzzling her little daughters. "But now we should go find Daddy, don't you think?"
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A few hours later, Elinor was lying on a hilltop as the sun set, quietly contemplating her situation. Suddenly, she heard a rustling. She turned around right as her mate, Antonio, came through the bushes."
"Antonio," she quietly spoke.
"Elinor." There was a quite relief in his voice, as if he still was thankful that she had turned up at their new, temporary camp a few hours ago.
"You didn't punish Marissa, did you?"
Antonio's eyes hardened. "She did disobey orders. However, since by leaving her you were able to find our daughters, I will forgive her."
Elinor responded quietly. "She is a very good sister, you know."
"Yes, I know."
A few minutes of silence ensued, until Elinor spoke up again.
"How many Pokemon were lost today?"
Antonio gazed into the distance. "Many. Possibly hundreds. Twenty from our own Tribe our missing, and I have heard the Rocky's own wife has not been found.
Elinor gazed sadly back at her husband. Rocky was the chief of the Luxray Tribe, and he would be mourning his wife, Rodelia, for many months to come.
"Elinor," Antonio spoke again, giving his whole attention to his wife. He started deeply into her eyes. "Elinor… I was so worried today that I'd lost you…"
Elinor laid her head onto his back. "It's okay, Antonio. I'm here."
"If anything  ever happened to you…"
"Nothing will happen to me, Antonio," Elinor gazed into his eyes. "I could never leave you or our daughters."
Antonio leaned his head close to her ear. "I love you, Elinor."
Elinor leaned her body into his, breathing in his scent. "I love you too, Antonio."
And with that, the two of them watched the sunset, side by side.
This would be the last time they shared a moment together.