Among the emerald green of Clearsky, a zoroark raced through the forest pathways. Behind her, a young sneasel followed. The two had been running for a solid half hour now, but while the zoroark felt like she could run for hours more, her son could not.

He could hardly breathe, each breath a struggle in it's own right, and they came out as a rapid-fire wheeze. His feet were sore from the non-stop pacing, and more than anything, he wanted to stop and breathe. But, this wasn't practice, and he couldn't ask to stop. If they did, the unknown danger his mother called "the bounty hunter" would kill them both.

He was a bit confused when his mother slowed herself down and ran beside him, no longer taking the lead.

"Tai, listen to me," she said sternly. "There will be a small path up ahead soon, to the left. Make your way down there, and I'll meet you at the first clearing, alright?"

As much as he wanted to tell her that he wanted to go with her, like he always had, the pain in his chest wouldn't let him make the words. He nodded his head solemnly in agreement.

His mother nodded back. "Good, now go!" she ordered.

Tai could see the byway up ahead, and with one more nod, he scrambled around the sharp turn, taking the path as he had been told. Immediately, he could see a fallen tree on the path, and he lept over it and stopped. He sat against the fallen trunk, trying to slow his rapid breathing. Just sitting still for the first time in what felt like years was bliss, putting his hand over his chest to feel both breath and pulse slow. Then, Tai had an idea.

It was stupid really. But just once, he wanted to catch a glimpse of his ever present pursuer. He peeked his head over the rather large log, looking at the main path. He hadn't heard it run past, so it had to show up eventually.

While Tai wasn't the most patient of pokemon, the pure adrenaline rush kept him nailed in place. It was if he couldn't move, even if he wanted to. He tapped his claws against the wood impatiently, waiting for something to happen.

He heard it before he saw it. The faint sound of rustling grass and leaves. When the pursuer came into his line of sight, he immediately ducked down. His heart skipped at least three beats in a row, and if he wasn't holding his breath, he would probably have been hyperventilating. All he had got to see of it was a blur of white and black, but he was quite satisfied with just that. He listened as the pursuers rapid footsteps faded away...

After Tai calmed himself, he rose to his feet and made his way down the small side path. As he walked, he noticed an odd silence, which was out of character of the pokemon that lived here. Normally there would be smaller pokemon out scavenging for food, or pidgey and pidove talking throughout the treetops, but now... there was nothing. Just the sound of wind blowing through the trees. It was as if they could sense the danger.

While the silence was a nice change, it was unnerving. So, despite his sore feet, he picked up his pace, hoping to see his mother again soon.

Soon, the path ended, and in front of Tai was a small clearing, smaller than he expected. Towering trees surround it, covering the entirety of the mossy patch in shade. Tai looked over the area again and again looking for any signs of his mother... Nothing.

A clawed hand suddenly grabbed Tai, wrapped around his mouth. Before he could react, it began pulling him back into the dark treeline. He tried desperately to pull it away, or claw at the hand, but to no avail.

Suddenly, it pulled him downwards into a hole, and Tai found himself laying on his back, pressed against the familiar black fur of a zoroark. His mother.

She slowly moved her claw away from his mouth, and-

"MOM! I-" Tai burst out, and the zoroarks hand slapped back over his mouth. She moved the sneasel off of her, and put her finger up to her snout with a "shush" sound. Once Tai nodded, she moved her claw off his mouth again.

The two turned themselves back toward to tunnel entrance and peered out the opening. Four black claws came into view, and Tai watched as his mother's ears went from being on high alert to being pressed down against her head in fear.

"Damn it Arceus," the creature muttered. "Of course she would hide. Her and that brat are certainly determined to stay alive... but don't you worry. I know they're here, and I'll find 'em." The beast started to pace around the mossy clearing, searching. Scanning. He could have sworn the claws had stopped moving while they faced the hole, but it made no moves against them.

On the other side of the clearing, another zoroark suddenly sprung up, as if from nowhere. Tai knew immediately that it was one of his mother's illusions, thanks to the subtle lack of detail. It immediately ran, but the pursuer... didn't. It seemed to turn away from it for a single, terrifying moment, then... casually walked after it, as if in no hurry at all.

Tai found it very odd, and once the footsteps had faded, he tried climbing out of the hole. His mother gripped his arm, stopping him. It was clear they weren't going anywhere until she was sure it was safe.

Tai grew bored of the confined space very quickly, and became fidgety. He started pulling at loose roots, playing with a twig he found, trying to learn dig, just about anything to keep him entertained. A while later, he tried poking his mother's arm. No response. He tried again, a bit more forceful. Again, nothing. As he was about to try a third time, he felt a forceful poke on the nose. When his mother looked back at him with a sly smile, he poked her back in the snout. From there, war broke out.

After much poking, prodding, and at one point tickling, Tai's mom made a small head motion, signaling that it was alright to leave. Tai immediately scampered out of the burrow, happy to free once more. He looked back and watched his mother pull herself out, and noticed long claw marks running down her forearm.

"Um, mom?" he whispered. "What happened? To your arm?"

His mom spoke louder than expected. "Oh?" she said, looking at her arm. "Oh, yeah. You scratched me up pretty bad when I grabbed you," she said calmly.

"I did that?!" he exclaimed. "But... why did grab me from behind in the first place?"

"Well, I was afraid that if didn't cover your mouth-" she said, walking over and patting him on the back. -"you would have screamed."

Tai pretended that he was offended by her statement. "I would not!" he said, laughing a bit. But then he noticed his mother had stopped moving, and was looking up with a look of dread. Following her gaze, he saw what she was afraid of. On a branch halfway up the tree in front of them, he saw a weavile.

"Well, well, well. Long time no see, ay, Midnight?" he asked.

"Tai, I want you to run. Head west, there's a town there. Stay there, I'll come and get you. Don't look back," Midnight ordered, never looking away from the weavile.

"Jeez, Midnight. Why you gotta make this so difficult? Just give me the boy, and no one gets hurt," the weavile said calmly.

"Over my. Dead. Body," she responded.

Tai took off as fast as he could, his claws tearing the moss from the earth, not looking back this time. The last thing he heard of the two was the sound of ice shattering as it crashed into the ground. He raced onward, weaving through the trees and headed west, guided by the sun. He didn't know where exactly he was heading, but he distinctly remembered his mother's words.

"Don't look back."

After much procrastination, Chapter 1 is finished! I put a lot into this story, and now it can finally begin. I would like to thank all my supporters, the ones who sent in there characters to be in the story, and the PMD: Summit Climbers forum for pushing me to get this out. Updates will be as weekly as possible starting today. And PLEASE, leave a review! Whether you liked it or not! I need all the criticism I can get ^^;

Please, enjoy PMD: Welcome to Scolipede Guild!