I grunted, swinging the axe down again and chopping the wood in half. I dropped the axe and picked up the two halves, tossing them into the pile I already had.

I examined the pile's size for a moment before nodding to myself and beginning to pick up the wood then placing it into the wagon near me. I grabbed the wagon's handle and began pulling it back to my current home.

My name is Felicia Adams. Age fifteen, sixteen as of next April. I'm not really anything special, though I suppose something has to be said about a girl living in the woods by herself.

Not permanently, of course. You see, every summer, my entire family (excluding my father. He would stay behind and take care of our home.) would take a plane and go to my mother's side of the family, all the way in Algeria. Yes, my mother is Algerian, thank you for noticing.

My immediate family is already rather big, with my parents giving birth to six children. Honestly, I'm fairly certain that it was because my father wanted another boy, but he only ended up getting one. He still loves us all, though he spends time the most with my brother. It's completely normal; he's just teaching him how to be a man, naturally.

Though, if you count my extended family with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins, then my family is even huger. Both my parents came from large families; my mother has nine siblings, with her oldest sister and brother both being elderly enough to pass as my grandparents. Really, they both have children that are old enough to pass for parents for me.

My father has ten siblings. And most of them are married and have large families of their own. Really, I can't even count how many cousins I have. Even though, luck that I have, the only one who's actually my age is a boy, and we share absolutely no interests. He hangs with my brother, who's only two years older than me.

Though I digress.

We live with my father's family, and I stay the summer with my mother's family. Most of my life, I have my family in one way or another.

Except for now. My grandfather (before he died, God rest his soul) and my mother's cousins lived in the countryside. We would go visit them too, and stay a while. One of them had a house out in the wilderness.

Not far out into the wilderness. It was actually a bit close to the town. It was actually the house that my grandfather had lived in. After his funeral, they had cleared out most of his possessions, passed them on according to his will, et cetra.

He'd passed down this particular house to one of my mother's cousins, and he's equipped it with lots of new things. A newer stove, fridge, a TV and satellite, fixed the water system so it wouldn't leak anymore, and so it would give more hot water, and added a new room to the house.

He would usually stay at his own home, but he would also come and live here occasionally. It was more convenient for him to stay there, as he worked directly in town and his real home was closer to there.

This year, I'd been pushing adamantly, and finally, finally, they let me stay here by myself for the summer.

My mother had been against the idea at first, thinking that I was too young to be taking care of myself, but my older sister and older brother had both sided with me, and we had overridden her arguments.

The agreement was that I'd let them make the two-hour long drive from out here from the big city, where my actual aunts and uncles lived, to occasionally check on me, and to call her every few days.

I had been given money, and I had a job that I went into town to do every Wednesday to Friday. The pay was surprisingly good, and I finally get to prove to my mother that I can take care of myself. She has this phobia about all her children that we'll not be able to survive in the world that begins when we turn thirteen and seems to end when we show her that we can adamantly handle ourselves.

For my oldest sister, it was when she began driving (at eighteen. My country has different legal ages.), not crashing the car like she nearly did when she first began learning, going to college (medical college. It's insanely tough there, or so I've been told), getting very fine grades, and balancing that with her social life. Really, at times, I'm shocked that I get to see her around the house, but I see her plenty. I guess that that's another achievement.

The next, my older and only brother, was when he got a job (he's only two years older than me! Holy crap, that's a scary thought.), visibly matured and paying for things himself with his hard-earned money. He'll start driving himself soon.

I was hoping that this would be my moment to shine and let her know that I wasn't really a child anymore. She'd tell me that I was an adult so often, and yet I noticed that sometimes, she really didn't mean it.

I stopped my train of thought abruptly when I nearly tripped over a stray root, and struggled to get the wheels over it without spilling any wood.

So, to the present. I spent my days in peace and quiet. I was a writer, and I hoped to publish something by twenty. Not likely, but a girl can dream, right?

And my games. My video games, to be exact. To be even more exact, Pokémon games. I had watched the show as a child, and then began playing the games as I got older. I'd usually spend my days in a combination of writing, playing, enjoying the scenery, and getting resources.

I'd get fruits, vegetables and stuff like oil and soap in town. I'd also have to pay a monthly water and electricity bill, hence the job.

It was probably boring as hell, and not considered a good lifestyle for most people, but I loved the freedom and peace. I could live here forever, really I could.

I jumped when I heard a slight rumbling, and then breathed deeply to calm myself. No more daydreaming, you. A storm's coming, and you need firewood.

I don't hate rain. I love it during the day, actually. It's at night that I don't like it. And I unconditionally am terrified of thunderstorms. Maybe it's more the fact that it might cut off the lights than the actual noise and usually harmless flashes, but when lightning suddenly strikes in your backyard in your childhood years, it really tends to stick with you. (It didn't help that I was also nyctophobic to add on top to that astraphobia. More of a summer person, more sunlight and longer days. Cold doesn't agree with me either. Maybe it was a good thing that I've never seen snow in my life, even though I wanted to see it at least once. Snowball fights look really fun.)

Exactly why I was gathering extra firewood. Just in case the lights went out, and I'd need the extra warmth; it would surely be frigid tonight.

I kicked the door open and began piling the wood inside, right in front of the doorway. The wagon wouldn't fit through the door, and it might start raining at any moment. When I was done, I shoved the wagon out of the path outside and closed the door behind me. For the next five minutes I moved the wood to its designated spot, and managed to avoid getting any splinters. I threw some into the fireplace, ready to light when needed, and jumped again when I heard rumble again, louder than the one from before.

I bit my lip and threw myself onto one of the rather cushy chairs, already reaching for the open book left on the small table next to my chair, hoping that I'd be able to drown it out with some music as I also reached for my phone and headphones.

It did the trick as I only noticed the louder rumbles and the flashing from the window. I got up briefly to light the fire, and I then had myself a very cozy atmosphere.

It was only when I reached a page where the villain had taken a hold of an axe that remembered-

"The axe!" I suddenly blurted out loud. I had left it outside when chopping firewood! If it spent a night out in the rain, it'd rust, and then I'd have no more wood.

Luckily, it hadn't begun raining quite yet, though it was very dark outside due the combination of evening and the dark clouds. If I ran quickly, then I should be able to get there and back before the water started.

As soon as that thought came up, it started pouring. So much for staying dry. I grumbled to myself darkly as I threw on my rain jacket, grabbed an umbrella and then ran outside. I belatedly realized (a bit too late) that I forgot to put on boots. Oh well, I should be quick enough to avoid puddles.

It was also too bad that I didn't have night vision as it began getting darker. I knew where my usual chopping place was thoroughly enough to walk there with my eyes closed, so a little water wouldn't stop me.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a little water. Puddles began forming already, and I soaked the bottom of my jeans and my sneakers. My toes were freezing, and I ran faster. When I reached there, I spun around quickly, and spotted the axe glinting in the scarce light. I bounded over and picked it up, also wiping off the water and mud now attached to it. Dear Lord, my toes were freezing.

I turned to go back home, when I heard a voice.

Voice? There's no one here but me and the animals.

I stood stock still for a moment longer, straining my ears for the sound, but all I could hear was the pounding rain.

I bit my lip. I didn't like not knowing. I forced my feet to turn around and begin leaving-

"I can move by myself!"

I whipped around, nearly dropping my umbrella. I knew I couldn't have imagined that.

"Not for long you can't," said another. Two people?!

"Then I'll just wallow in the mud here. If I can't walk myself, then I won't walk at all." the first said bitterly.

"Not while I'm here." said the second defiantly.

"Which you shouldn't be." the second snapped.

"And yet, here I am!" the second snapped back. "Let me help you!"

"Leonith," the first hissed, sounding angrier now. "Leave it."

"It? IT? Would that it happen to be you? 'Cause that's not gonna happen, as long as I'm still breathing, and you know that!"

When the silence stretched, the rain pounded harder and I shook myself out of my stupor. What was I doing? If they were stuck in the rain, then it's pretty much my duty to get them out of it.

I heard a hacking cough, and I pounded in the direction that I heard it from.

"Soren!" I heard the second cry out. I frowned. The voice was rather close; I should've found the two by now. "Oh no, oh no, Soren, please get up!" I heard another cough, louder this time. I couldn't tell if it was because I was closer, or if it was just harder.

I also heard a weak murmur, too low for me to hear, but apparently the mysterious second voice did. "I know you're strong enough! Please!"

I stepped forwards cautiously, now it was almost too dark for me to see. I either find them now, or I'll not be able to get home either. I refused to let these two strangers stay out here, though, so I stubbornly moved through the darkness.

"Come on!" Wait… that voice was coming from near my feet. Could they both be kneeling down?

I squinted, looking at the ground, as I didn't have the heart to poke them with my foot to make sure.

I gasped sharply when a flash of lightning lit the area. Those weren't humans-!

Because right in front of me with one collapsed onto the ground, and the other staring up at me with wide eyes, were a Fennekin and Chespin.