Hey ! It's been a long time, really. I'm sorry for the wait. If you are waiting for the chapter 5 of Connected Souls, it's coming really soon, I'm on holidays right now, so I'll try to write a lot. I just wanted to write something else. I actually have three projects right now; this story, Connected Souls, and another story coming soon. Don't worry, I'm not stopping my other story, just writing something new. I really hope you'll like it. As always, it takes me a lot of time to write a chapter because English is not my first language, but I'll try to update a lot during the holidays!

Disclaimer; I don't own Pokemon.

Chapter 1 – Sky.

The cool breeze caressed the girl's delicate skin, making brunette locks fly all over her face slowly, one after the other, her sapphire eyes opened staring at nothing in particular. She didn't move though, instead, her body relaxed even more. She pressed her back against the grass, yawning. The weather in Pyros was her favorite kind of weather; it never rained –or rarely- and the entire country seemed "stuck" in an eternal summer; not the hot kind of summer, but rather a cool and lukewarm weather. She was glad she was born here, and not in Cryos. She wouldn't have survived in the North.

"What time is it?" She wondered. She had no idea of where she was, or what time of the time it exactly was. Suddenly, she remembered, and groaned. A simple look behind her shoulder confirmed what she was thinking.

A big building was standing proudly behind her; it was majestic, and even looked like a small castle. To increase this feeling of supremacy, it was located on top of one of the highest hills of Pyros, overhanging the capital of the country, Helios. The view was really stunning; between the green lands of the country, crossed by the main river, the Styx, the great main city stood there proudly, contrasting with the big perfectly blue sky. In front of the big white stones school's building stood an imposing pure black gate with intricate fire patterns. The Great Military Academy of Pyros.

It was easily one of the most famous and the most beautiful of the country. Along with thousands of other young men and women, the girl had joined the academy to protect her country, and its rulers. Pyros had a unique political situation. Unlike other countries like Gaya, they didn't have a royal family, but two rulers, a man and a woman, chosen every two years.

It hadn't always been the girl's dream to become a guardsman. Actually, it was quite the opposite. But when she discovered that she was a fire manipulator, she had no choice but to use her special power to protect her country. People like her were quite rare, and such a gift was admired by the "common persons". She joined the academy on her fifteen's birthday, and was now turning eighteen; at the end of this year, she would graduate and become an official Pyros' guard, and protect her country's rulers. Thoughtfully, she created a small pure red flame between her index and thumb; the small amount of fire danced in her hand, before dying as soon as it appeared.

Sighing, she closed her eyes once again. She hummed in delight as she stretched; she had been lying there on the grass for about one hour, and she was surprised nobody had noticed she was missing. Maybe they were blind or something. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"May? Where are you?" Maybe not.

The brunette cracked her crystal blue eyes open; they were full of annoyance, and a small pout found its place on her lips. It looked like she wasn't allowed to relax instead of going to class. The girl also known as May wasn't going to your regular math and physics class; she was more special than that.

She finally moved her eyes from the cloudless sky, and with a groan, got to her feet. She stretched, and soon saw who was calling for her. A cute teenage girl was waving frantically at her; she had stunning turquoise eyes, and long golden hair pulled up in a high ponytail. She was wearing the same school uniform as May, minus for the color of ribbon tied around the girl's neck; it was red, while May's was a deep green one. It meant that the brunette had been in the school for one year more than the blonde.

"May! Finally, I've found you." The small blonde caught up her breath; she had been running around for the last twenty minutes, and now she was tired. Commandant Cynthia always told her she wasn't good enough when it came to physical activities, she was way too fragile. The brunette, on the other hand was one of the best students of the academy.

"Cynthia is pissed now; you're lucky she likes you, or she might have already killed you." The blonde added with an apologetic smile. May laughed behind her closed lips.

"Thanks, Kiara. Now, let's go to class, shall we?" May sighed, as she turned around to face the soothing green landscape behind her; she would have loved to relax a bit more. But as a future guard, did she have the choice? Just one year, and you will finally be able to use your gift to protect your country and the ones you love…

The brunette smiled to herself and with a nod towards Kiara, pushed the big gate and entered the academy. The inside of the building was just as gigantic and majestic as the outside. When she was just a junior, May always lost herself in the long white and grey corridors; now every time she was in the academy, it felt like home to her.

Kiara went back to her own classroom, leaving May all alone in front of the big wooden door that lead to her next class, and suddenly, she felt the urge to turn around and run to the place where she was sleeping a minute ago. It took her all of her will to enter the room. There was no teacher yet, the class didn't even start, but all students were here. A small smile came to the brunette's lips; she didn't know why, but she was happy to be here. It felt like a second family to her. She loved all of the students here. Except maybe…

"-Finally, December, you decided to join in and learn how to correctly use your fire. You can take me as an example, if you want to." The smug voice came from her left, and she didn't have to turn her head to see a big smirk on the face of the person that just talked to her.

May's fists engulfed with fire as she saw her rival walking towards her, arrogance shining in his eyes. Emerald and sapphire met, as the boy ran a hand in his perfectly messy green locks, and laughed behind his close lips when he saw the small amount of pure red fire, his smirk broadening.

"Hey, calm down Firecracker. Do you really think you impress me with those pitiful flames?" He extended his right hand in May's direction, and instantly, bright green nestled around his arm, almost dancing. A student gaped at the fascinating sight. The brunette had to admit, her rival was pretty talented. She didn't show it though.

"My name is May, Grasshead, okay? Not December, Firecracker or any of those stupid nicknames!" She yelled, as the fire disappeared from her hands.

She groaned and turned around to go to her seat. I swear, Drew is the most annoying person I've ever met! But Drew was certainly the most talented fire manipulator in the academy; Cynthia often said that they were the two most powerful, but would be even more if they stopped bickering about anything. She wasn't totally wrong; they were both talented, but not in the same domains; when it came to fire manipulation, both of them were good, and on magic battles, it was near impossible to compare the two of them. May was better than Drew in martial arts, being a gym leader's daughter, but the Grasshead often beat her at sword fights.

They also had totally different characters; when May had was short-tempered (earning herself the nickname "Firecracker" from her rival), cheerful and friendly, Drew on the other hand was cold, arrogant, and didn't even talk that much to other students.

The brunette hated Drew. She really did; he was always laughing at her, and attempting he was way better than her at anything. And to be honest, to May, he was. But that didn't stop her from hating him. She turned her attention to the window. Outside, the sky was as beautiful as always; it was flawless. Not a single cloud was there. She smiled. To her, as long as there was this sky, everything was going to be perfect. If only she knew how wrong she was…

Argh, stupid dress… Why do I have to wear such a ridiculous gown again? Oh yeah, princess' duty… Leaf looked down at her dress in disgust. It was floor-length expensive-looking forest green dress, with ribbons and small golden details all over it. She didn't mind it normally; as the princess of Gaya, she didn't have loads of things to do –apart from sitting all day long in her room and reading…- but at nightfall, when she was escaping the castle, this gown was just a pain.

For the second time, she tried to climb the wall to reach for the window, and groaned; this was going to be more complicated than she thought. She extended her arm to grab something, anything that might help her to get out of here, while the other hand was grabbing the bottom of her dress. She heard a small laugh coming out of the opened window, from the other side of the wall. She recognized it, and she felt her face burn up in anger.

"Gary! That's not funny! Help me out!" She whispered angrily.

She heard another laugh.

"Okay, no problem Princess Leafy. Step aside."

She felt a small pressure on the wall, and suddenly, stone stairs came out of the wall. Smiling, Leaf grabbed a cloak and jumped out of the window skillfully; in a second, she was standing next to the boy. She put on her big cloak with a big hood, hiding most of her face. Gary laughed openly; she was ridiculous.

"Leaf, you know, it's night, no one can see you, you don't need to hide yourself." He whispered, taking off her hood.

The girl sighed, taking off the cloak and revealing her beautiful face; she had huge green forest eyes and a fair white skin with slightly pink cheeks. She was way paler than the boy; she spent all of her days in the castle, and the only time she went out was at night. But the most recognizable thing in her appearance was her long, shiny dark brown hair that was barely reaching her thighs. It was tied up with a big white ribbon. Even if she was wearing the simplest clothes she had, you could still guess she was coming from a rather wealthy family.

The boy, on the other hand, was sporting simple clothes; a black polo, purple baggy pants and black wristbands on each of his wrists. He was slightly tanned, and his brown eyes were full of arrogance and amusement.

"My hair is far too recognizable! And look at my dress! Imagine what the country will think if they saw us together? "Miss Green, our dear princess, kidnapped by a poor young man…"" She put the gown back on without the big hood. Gary smirked.

"You mean "by a handsome young man", right?" He passed a hand in his auburn spikes, a smirk making its way on his face. Leaf glared, before returning his smirk.

"No. Just "a poor young man"."

Gary rolled his eyes, making the stairs disappear with another pressure of his palm against the wall. He had to admit, it was a pain that he had to hide just to hang out with Leaf, but what could he do about it? He was just… "a poor young man", as she just said. She, on the other hand, was the young princess of the country. He knew it bothered the brunette too; her situation was far worse than his. While he could wander around in town, she was forced to stay in her castle all day long, with her guards following her every move. All she wanted was a little freedom. After all, she didn't decide to be a royal. Heck, she didn't even want to be one!

That's why every night, he would help her to get out of her "prison". It wasn't much, but they both cherished those small moments. Every night, it was the small ritual; going on the capital's highest hills, far from the castle, where they could get a stunning view of the capital. Then, practicing their magic for a small amount of time. Finally, going back to their normal lives for another day. Until the next night.

Those were the only moments they could practice. Earth manipulators like Gary were not rare, but all of them had to join the army.. If anyone knew about his powers, he would have to fight for his country, and that meant never seeing Leaf again. As for her, she was a nature manipulator. No one besides Gary knew about it, and it was for the best; if her family and the country knew that their precious, fragile princess knew how to fight… She didn't even want to imagine the consequences. Her mother, the queen thought of element manipulators as monsters and tools to protect the royal family and Gaya.

Leaf didn't hate her mother, though. She didn't hate her father either, but she couldn't exactly say that she liked them. It was their fault if she was stuck in the royal castle, and treated like a weak good-for-nothing doll after all. She just wanted to live an adventure, to run away from this boring life. She wasn't a doll, she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a fighter, an element manipulator, and she was convinced it was a gift, not a curse. She was born for fighting, not dressing up for big events.

And that night, just like all the other nights, after she easily won on Gary, she swept the sweat from her forehead, and slightly panting, she said with determination;

"As soon as we find an opportunity, we run away, together. Promise?" She extended her hand with a grin.

And that night, just like all the other nights, Gary looked at the dark blue sky full of stars and shrugged, before shaking her hand, with a big smile full of confidence;

"Promise princess."

Her footprints and the small rustling of the snow were the only sign of life in this landscape. Snow, snow everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Any foreigner thought of Cryos as the saddest country, but every inhabitant seemed to like it; they had grown used to it, and even liked it.

It seemed to be the case for that girl. Her feet hardly touched the snow, she was almost dancing, smiling at every sound of her feet on the ground. It was starting to snow, and snowflakes were starting to appear on her long hair, deep purple contrasting with pure white. She hummed gently, and stopped when she saw she was arriving in front of a gigantic frozen lake. In front of it, a familiar figure.

Her sharp grey eyes darkened, and in a second, she was next to him. He didn't move his head, but she knew he had seen her. He, too, had his deep purple hair spotted with snowflakes. His onyx eyes were expressionless. They stayed like that for a long amount of time. He was the first to speak.

"Something is coming for us." The girl's breath hitched in her throat, and she turned her head in his general direction. That's when she spotted the pure ice sword in the boy's hand. She opened her mouth to say something, but he was faster than her.

"A war." He was still emotionless, but she saw that his grip on his sword was tightening. She took a step back, her eyes full of fear, and muttered.

"How do you know?"

He didn't answer, as she was expecting. She looked in the same direction as him. Far away from here, there were all the other countries; Pyros, Gaya, Lux, Ergon, and Aquus. Were all of them planning on a war? That wasn't that ridiculous now that she was thinking about it. There were already strategic alliances… But a war… She didn't want to think about it. Deep in her thoughts, she didn't see him turn around and slowly going back to their village. As he was going to disappear from her eyes, she muttered.

"Promise me you're not going there. You're going to get killed. You're not even sure there's something there!" He didn't answer. She yelled this time.

"Paul! Paul, please, don't go!"

But he didn't turn around. Did he even listen to her? She would never know. Tears were starting to form in her eyes, blurring her vision, and the last images she would ever get from him. With a heartbreaking sob, she fell to the ground, her eyes rived on the grayish sky, snowflakes melting on her tearful face.

So? Did you like it? What do you think of the characters ? May and Drew, the two future guardsmen and fire manipulators, Leaf the princess, a nature manipulator, Gary, the street boy and the earth manipulator, and Paul, as emotionless as ever ? Don't worry, Misty and Dawn come in the next chapters, and all the others will come in future chapters... I'll uptade as soon as possible, I promise! Don't forget to leave a review! See you really soon! -LadyLeafeon