here's chapter 2! i hope you like it :) here's where things kinda get interesting. i know it moves kinda fast but bear with me, my ideas are slow-moving right now, especially since we just had a funeral :( ... but please, read and review!

What happened?

Dahlia's eyelids fluttered open to see the dark forest around her. Mist hovered between the treetops, water had pooled beneath her, and the heavy smell of ash and smoke was prominent in the cool air.

When she slowly sat upright, she discovered her pale golden fur was sopping wet. She coughed, trying to get any remaining water out of her throat, but for some reason the water she swallowed seemed to be gone.

"Hello?" she called hoarsely into the woods. "Nada? Tucker? Rena?"

If there's no one here, how'd I get out of the lake? There's no way I swam here.

Something dark moved in the shadows of the trees, a glint of blood-red shining among the night, a flash of faint silver.

Dahlia's muscles tensed as she jumped to all fours. The tips of her tails were flicking agitatedly, the hair on her back bristling. "Whoever you are, come out!"

While she expected a ghost like Midge or Heath to slither out of the bushes, she found herself unable to speak when the large form of a dog, black as the sky with blazing red eyes and sharp raked silver horns, crept out into where she could see him.

The name left her mouth in a murmur, "A Houndoom…" Suddenly she felt incredibly lost and frightened, but she didn't want the hellhound to know that. "What do you want?" she growled, trying her best at sounding brave.

The Houndoom smirked, a horrific smile that showed a hint of sharp white teeth. "Is that really any way to speak to the one who saved your life?"

"What?" She tilted her head, doubtful. "How could you? You're a Fire Type, just like me. You'd drown."

"So you'd think." The hellhound swished a long demonic tail. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "What makes you think I'd trust you with my name?"

"Oh, what's in a name? It's not like you'd be telling me your life's story. No, if I wanted that, I'd have asked for it rather than simply what you call yourself."

The Ninetails straightened her posture a bit, "Dahlia. That's my name."

"I like that," drawled the Houndoom, raising his head proudly. "Now was it really so difficult?"

Dahlia ignored his question and instead asked her own, "And you are?"

"They call me Bandit."

Suits you, she thought bitterly. "Where's my family?" she asked.

"Family? I only saved you."

"You didn't see a Nidoqueen come through here with a litter of Eevees?"

"I didn't."

Her heart dropped. That meant she was nowhere near them. Where exactly had this stranger brought her?

She glared at Bandit as he snuffled about in the dirt, "Where are we?"

"You ask a lot of questions," he said, raising his head. "If you must know, we're on the north side of the lake, near a human town just east of here."

"Why haven't I seen you before? It's not everyday that a Houndoom comes skulking around these parts."

He smirked again, feigning offense, "Skulking? I'm hurt! I only came around because I heard the mountain explode. And then I saw a certain fire-vixen struggling while submerged in her own weakness."

Dahlia's glare was as fiery as her power. "There's no way you saved me out of sheer goodness."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Miss." He moved away from her, further into the trees, where he stopped to stare out across the dark forest.

She growled, "I don't trust you."

"I never said you had to," he said, tilting his muzzle in her direction. "But by pulling the right strings, I might be able to help find your precious family."

"You can?" Curious, Dahlia let her guard slightly down. "How could you do that?"

"I have eyes and ears all over this forest. Stick with me, vixen, and you'll be back with your cubs in no time."

Dahlia wasn't sure how to accept this offer. Was this stranger really trying to help her, or was he as cunning as any Houndoom, seeking only personal benefit of some kind? Whatever the case, she was willing to risk anything for her Eevees.

"All right," she agreed, and trotted to his side. "I'll go with. But you better be honest with me, at all times."

"Can do." Bandit cantered gracefully into the trees. "Now hurry. My accomplices are quick travelers at night."

Together they raced through the woods, taking Dahlia farther and farther from where she'd last seen her family. Bandit's pace was swift, his gait elegant and carefree, and he ran with his head proudly held high as though he were parading along a boardwalk.

"So," he said once they'd reduced their motion to a slow trot, "how exactly did a vixen like you end up with a couple of Eevee kids anyway?"

"I adopted them," she answered while catching her breath. "I consider myself their sister rather than mother, though, because… well, mothering isn't something to be taken lightly. I'm nowhere near that stage."

"Hmph," hummed Bandit, who seemed to be listening though was only half-interested.

Abruptly, a tree crashed to the ground ahead of them, causing the two dogs to leap back in alarm. Temporarily dazed, Dahlia shook her head, cleared her vision, and squinted to see what had happened.

Above them towered the massive gray shape of a Rhydon, his eyes glinted in the faint moonlight and his teeth bared.

"You!" he bellowed at Bandit in a voice that shook the earth. "I remember you! Where's the rest of your no-good freaks?"

Dahlia looked quickly to Bandit, who had a morbid smile across his maw. "It's just me, Roderick. Me, myself, and I."

"I know there's someone with you, hell-dog!" snarled the Rhydon, whipping his head sideways, flinging a large string of saliva into a tree trunk. "If you expect me to just let you go this time, you're dead wrong! And by 'dead', I mean it!"

The fire-fox leaned over to Bandit and whispered, "He doesn't know I'm here?"

"Nah," he hissed back, "the old rock's gone blind. He's like the patrol officer of the forest, and he doesn't like me and my buddies hanging around here because he's worried we'll start the place on fire."

Roderick stomped irritably in the grass. "I hear you whispering, mutt! You quit causing trouble or you'll be in the Safari Zone so fast, your horns will spin!"

"On the count of three," murmured Bandit to Dahlia, "go around to his left. I'll take the right. Then run as fast as you can."

Every muscle in her body braced to move. She tensed when Bandit began counting, and the moment he muttered the magic number, she sprinted around the rock-monster's left side.

Roderick continued roaring angrily while they rounded him. His stomping caused such a tremor in the earth that a tree came loose of its roots and toppled down into Bandit's path of escape, halting him in his tracks.

Dahlia whirled around to see him attempting to leap over the trunk just as the Rhydon had turned, reaching a large stone paw out toward him. With no time to think, she jumped, gathered a flame in her throat, and spewed a stream of fire upon Roderick's claw, which caused him to draw back, startled. It gave Bandit just enough time to regain his footing and continue his escape, Dahlia following closely behind him as the sound of Roderick's groaning became fainter with the distance.

"Whoa," breathed the Houndoom after they stopped for breath. "I guess you don't owe me for saving you anymore, do you?"

"No, I guess not." Dahlia sat down and heaved a sigh.

Bandit gave her an admiring look, his crimson eyes gleaming with an indefinable shimmer. "Thanks, vixen."

"I have a name, and you will call me that name. Now, please, are we at least close to wherever it is you're taking me?"

"We are," he replied. "They found us."

"What?"

"Wait for it…"

The woods were still around them. A light breeze swayed the treetops, but other than that silence was as thick as the mist over the lake.

Then from the deeper forest emerged several dark shapes of different random sizes. One of them dashed around to Bandit's side, growling, eyes nearly as red as Bandit's. It was a Mightyena, with a thick bristling coal-black mane and sharp white fangs.

The second shape materialized on the branches above Dahlia's head, a Murkrow with a scar over one piercing crimson eye, glowering down at her.

The third was a smaller shape, but it was unmistakably two-legged with sparkling silver claws and one large red feathery growth on its head—a Sneasel. It appeared in a flash on Bandit's other side, its claws at the ready.

And the fourth was only slightly shorter than Bandit, with abundant snow-white fur and a sharp blade-like protrusion on the side of its head. It was an Absol, but unlike any Dahlia had ever seen—the closer she looked, she noticed a reddish hue to its coat, and instead of blood-red, the eyes were incredibly blue.

Bandit tilted his head to crack his neck. "Vixen, meet my gang. Guys, introduce yourselves."

"Are you sure we can trust her?" hissed the Sneasel, eyes locked on Dahlia with suspicion.

"Positive. Go on, tell her a little bit about yourselves."

The Murkrow fluttered down to be with the others and said, in a low raspy voice, "They call me Cavalier, soldier of the night sky."

Before Dahlia could respond, the Mightyena spoke, sounding rather juvenile, boyish, "I'm Wolver. I'm not as small as I look."

The Sneasel's glare was as cold as the ice it could wield. "Slash," said the unmistakably female voice, and that was all she said.

Finally Dahlia looked to the oddly-colored Absol, who raised a ravishing head to say, "I am Abel, the leader of this group. Welcome, Ninetails—you are the first non-Dark Pokemon to ever willingly set foot in the realm of the Shades."

"The Shades?" she repeated, incredulous.

Bandit smirked at her again, fiendishly. He restrained no conceit in his voice as he met her delirious gaze. "That's us, Vixen."