Late Update and I'm sorry. I've had writers block, and am now suffering from Post-Playoff Depression. My favorite hockey team was eliminated in the first round which is a major shock, as they were the top team in the Western Conf. and a #1 contender for the Cup. Not a good excuse, but I'm sorry.

Chapter Two

Three days. There had been three days of hard back aching travel from Castle Hoenn to Johto Castle. And there were still two days of travel left. Princess May Maple had left Castle Hoenn three days prior with an armed escort of ten men to accompany her to Johto Castle in the Johto Region.

Months before her birth, May had been made a part of an agreement between her father Norman Maple, King of the Hoenn Region, and the King of the Johto Region, Alexander LaRousse. The agreement was that when May was of age, she would be arranged to be married to Drew LaRousse, Alexander's son, to unite the two Regions which would become the dominating force in the Western World.

Now May was less than thrilled about this agreement. The day she met him ten years ago, he had been nothing but cocky, arrogant, flirtatious, and stuck up. At first she thought he was trying to impress her with his swordsmanship, and wealth, but after spending a week with him, she knew it was his real personality.

And every visit she paid to the Prince, he hadn't changed a bit. And now here she was on her way to spend another unbearable month with him. Saying she was upset about it, would be an understatement…

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

May lay against the inner wall of the wooden carriage, dozing peacefully to the sound of the steady beat of the Rapidash's hooves drumming across the dirt path. The ride had been fairly uneventful, after the first kilometer Max had left the escort and returned to the castle leaving May with no one to talk to. She had spoken to the coachmen from time to time, but the conversations were far less than interesting, most of which revolved around what she was going to Johto for, or what she'd been doing around the castle.

May snuggled up against the wall to reposition herself, there was something beginning to annoy her but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Deep within her subconscious she could hear the voices of her escort making conversation and the occasional order being shouted. What those orders were though, she couldn't make out.

After a few minutes she began to wake up, whatever was bugging her was starting to irritate her immensely. Stretching her arms in the air, she let out a long yawn and rubbed her eyes. She could hear her escort clearly now, and the sounds of orders being shouted to each other.

She paled and felt her heart clench tightly at the voice she heard some distance from the carriage, "Get that carriage under control, and move the bodies off the road!" A scratchy male voice ordered. There was a chorus of grunting from outside and May began to panic.

'That's not the escort, something must have happened!' May stood up and went over to the small curtained off window of the carriage. She brought her hand up to move the curtain aside, when the carriage violently lurched sideways, throwing her off of feet and to the other side of the carriage slamming her head hard against the wall and onto the floor.

May groggily felt where her head had impacted against the wall and got light headed when she saw a thin layer of a crimson liquid on her hand. She tried to push herself up, but the strain was too much as a wave of nausea hit making her fall back onto the wooden floor, falling unconscious.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A painful pounding sensation ran through the head of the Princess. Slowly she stirred as she began to regain consciousness. Her head ached painfully, she went to bring her hands to hold it, but something restricted her.

Almost painfully, she peeled open her eyes and took in the blurry surroundings, blinking a couple times to clear the fuzzy image. With her vision clear, she could see she it was night with the star laden sky, and that she was in some sort of camp. There were haggard, sloppily made tents pitched around a small clearing. In the center of the camp lay a large burning fire that lit the entire camp site with a fiery hue.

She could smell the smoke of the fire, and what appeared to be some sort of meat being roasted in the air. But the aroma that out did them all was the heavy lingering smell off alcohol and whiskey.

She tried to stand up, but when she felt the tug along her wrists, she turned back and saw her arms bounded together around a tree. Confusion filled the young brunette's eyes as she tried to struggle against the tight rope that held her secured.

"What happened…?" She moaned quietly as a small wave of nausea hit her making her wish she could hold her head. She shut her eyes, trying to will the aching away so she could remember how she ended up there.

Piece by piece her fragmented memory slowly returned, why she was no longer at the castle, her trip to Johto, the voices she heard outside of the carriage.

The voices.

May looked up wide-eyed and gazed quickly around the camp, it seemed empty, but with the fire freshly blazing it was hard to tell. Hurriedly she struggled to loosen the bonds that held her tightly to the tree; unfortunately the only outcome of her attempt was rope burn around her wrists.

She stopped her attempted escape when she heard movement behind one of the tents. Her heart slammed against her chest as she saw a horrid looking man appear from around it.

The man had unkempt dirt coated black hair, torn brown trousers, and a rolled up navy long-sleeved shirt under a filthy dark grey tunic. May could smell the thick odor of stale sweat and alcohol surrounding the man as he clumsily and uneasily made his way over to where she sat.

She pushed back against the tree as he stopped in front of her. His eyes were a steel grey, his nose looked to have been broken years before as it was positioned at an odd angle, and his thin lips were tilted upwards in a crooked grin.

"Well 'ello ur' Majesteh!" He bowed drunkenly, a small amount whiskey spitting from his slurred words and onto the Princess.

May winced as the man's breath filled her nostrils, the smell was unbearable. "Where am I? L-Let me go!" She ordered trying to sound forceful and threatening. It didn't really work out.

The man broke into a fit of drunken chuckling and bent down so he was right in the girls face. "Ur' a funny lil' girl ain't yah?" he asked as he patted her roughly on the cheek.

"Do you know who I am; if you don't let me go you'll be sentenced to death for kidnapping!"

The man bellowed with laughter, "I's mighty know who you are ur' highness, gonna bring us some big money for a ransom tha-"

"Ulfric!" A voiced barked angrily from behind.

The man turned his gaze from the Princess and looked back, "Ello boss, what d'ya need?" he asked with the crooked grin plastered on his face.

"Ulfric leave the girl alone and get back to your post dammit, it took us to long to get er' and we lost too many men in the process. So get your shit together and get back to work!" He ordered angrily grabbing Ulfric by the scruff of his vest and dragging him away.

May watched wide-eyed as Ulfric was dragged away and to the other side of the camp where he began to wonder aimlessly deep in the bush. A couple of moments later the man who dragged Ulfric away from her made his way back over towards her.

The man wore the same outfit as Ulfric, but instead of the navy shirt, his was white, with a brown vest. He had dark brown hair and a weathered face that showed his age.

"He touch you?" He asked gruffly as he spat onto the ground.

May shook her head in fright, "Good, you're too valuable, if he had he'd be dead by now."

"Wh-Where am I?" May asked somewhat worriedly, she had no Idea how long she'd been unconscious or how far they travelled.

"A couple of miles from the border to Johto, we're bringin you back to our camp to send your ransom. Once we get it you can act like nona this ever happened." He stated as he turned and began to walk away.

"Please let me go!" May yelled hoarsely as tears welled up in her lively ocean blue eyes. The "Boss" ignored her and returned to the camp and out of sight behind the tents.

In defeat May slumped back against the tree and closed her eyes and began to try and drift off into sleep. She had only tried to fall asleep for what seemed like a minute before her heart almost exploded in fright.

Out of nowhere she felt a hand clasp tightly over her mouth and a presence appear over her shoulder. May struggled but stopped when she heard what the person did.

"Shh, don't make a sound. I'm getting you out of here…" A male voice whispered into her ear. She was about to look back to see who her supposed rescuer, but stopped when the hand left her mouth and she felt pressure against the ropes that held her wrist.

"Don't make a sound, and don't try to run off or they'll hear you!" He whispered as he cut through the rope and removed them from her arms.

May sighed in relief and brought her hands around in front of her and rubbed softly where the ropes had been. She was amazed that her circulation hadn't been cut off after being tied down for so long.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the man appearing from behind the tree and crouching down eye level with her.

"Can you walk?" He asked quietly.

May took in his appearance before answering, the man, or surprisingly young man who appeared to be her age wore a dark blue fedora-esk hat that spiked off in the back with a blue band around it, a blue tunic was worn over a light grey long-sleeved shirt that had its ends tucked into blue gloves that had yellow striped running from the cuff up to a light blue circle on the back of the hands. His grey trousers matched his shirt and were also tucked into matching blue boots.

"Can you walk?" He asked again after not getting an answer.

May snapped out of her reverie and felt a slight tinge of pink come across her cheeks, "I-I think so," She whispered as she shakily stood up. Which proved to be a mistake, after sitting for so long, she hadn't noticed that her legs had fallen asleep.

The man in blue caught her before she hit the ground; carefully he sat her back on the ground and crouched down turning his back towards her. "Get on,"

May stared perplexed at him, "I-I can walk I-"

"Don't argue and get on, the sentry will be making his round passed here in a couple of minutes and we need to be long gone by then, so climb on!"

May was hesitant, but obliged as she wrapped her arms around the boy's neck and was lifted off the ground. Going from a standstill, she was surprised to see the boy take off with surprising speed and maneuverability as he sprinted into the forest away from the camp and deep into the forest.

The forest terrain disappeared as the boy ran through the bush and continued without a loss in stride, May used this opportunity to take a look at the boy's features. His eyes were concealed in the shadow of his hat, but she could see he had raven black hair that was fairly messy, but it worked for him.

May looked ahead and saw a slight glow further ahead, she was about to question what it was, but was interrupted by a low pitched whistle by her blue hatted hero.

The glow started to grow bigger with each step as they drew closer to the object. Within a few seconds they appeared in a very small clearing and in front of a small white pony that had flames for a mane.

"A Ponyta?" May questioned curiously.

The boy stopped beside the saddle fire horse, and gently let May off of his back, "His name is Blaze," He stated as he swung up onto the saddle and offered his hand to the Princess.

May looked at the gloved hand, and gently grabbed it, but was surprised when she was lifted off the ground and up onto the saddle in front of the blue rider.

"S-Shouldn't I be riding behind you?" She stuttered as a light blush broke out across her face when he took the reins with one hand and placed his other arm around her waist.

"Can't risk it, if they happen to find us then you'll be safe from arrows or crossbow bolts, and I may need you to take the reins if I need to fight back." Before she could answer he lightly tapped the toe of his boot into the pony's side and they shot off like an arrow from a bow.

May turned to look him, she could see from the orange glow emitting from Blaze's mane that the boy had auburn eyes, his face was slightly tanned, but her eyes kept drifting back to his. She could see he was concentrating, but that didn't take out the liveliness, and cheerfulness she saw in them.

The boy noticing her gaze on him shifted his eyes from ahead and to hers, making her quickly look ahead of her with a slight smile adorning her face.

"W-What's your name?" May asked curiously, there was a long ride ahead of them and she wanted to know what her rescuers name was so she could thank him.

He didn't answer immediately, but after the pause he did, "Call me… Strider."

May furrowed her eyebrows at the name, "That can't be your real name now right?"

"No it's not my real name, but call me that for now, you can know my real name once we get you to safety."

"Why can't you tell me now?" She questioned.

"Because the camp has found out your missing, and is starting up a search party." He answered as he applied a little pressure to Blazes side increasing his pace to a gallop.

May turned confused to Strider and gasped when she saw he had his eyes closed and was riding blind. "Open your eyes!" She shouted in disbelief!

He did, "Don't shout, we're still not too far away from the camp and I'd not like to give away our position!"

"But you were riding blind, that's so dangerous!" She scolded, which earned a smile from Strider, "It's alright, we can't crash Blaze here can maneuver just fine by himself right Blaze?" He asked.

There was a snort in response from the fire type which made Strider's smile widen. May couldn't help the small smile that formed on her lips at that, it wasn't very often when a rider and Ponyta or Rapidash talked to each other and received a reply in return.

"How do you know that they found that I was gone?"

Strider slowed Blaze to a canter as they neared the edge of the forest and entered the windswept plains in front of them, "I could see them." He stated flatly.

"How could you possibly see them?" May asked confused, and disbelievingly calling his bluff.

"Aura."

"Aura?" May questioned.

"Yes Aura."

"To use Aura you have to be-" She stopped as she realized what she was saying. Turning back to see Strider, she looked into his eyes, "Are… Are you a Guardian?" She asked in disbelief.

"Not quite my Lady, I'm still an apprentice." He replied.

She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when he continued, "Your Highness, I know you probably have plenty of questions, but may I suggest trying to get some rest. We're almost at my campsite so we can get you patched up and ready to take the road tomorrow morning."

May saw the honesty in his eyes, and slowly nodded, "Okay, wake me when we get to your camp," Then with a smile she added, "And if you let me fall off of Blaze here, I'll have your brought in for treason!" She joked.

She heard a snort behind her and looked back to see Strider with a grin on his face and a raised eyebrow looking at her.

"I wouldn't dream of it my Lady, Blaze has a soft spot for Princess's and would probably pick you up and leave me behind!"

May was about to reply when Blaze snorted and nodded his head in agreement, which May burst into giggles at.

Once the giggling subsided, she leaned back into Striders hold and closed her eyes, with a small smile still on her lips as she drifted off into sleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

May felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder and shrugged it away trying to fall back into her slumber. She frowned when she was nudged a little harder, then given a little bit of a shake.

Slowly she opened her eyes and gaped when she saw she had her face inches away from Striders, "You awake?" He asked quietly cocking his head to the side.

May nodded, which brought a smile come across Striders face as he elegantly swung down from the saddle and offered his hand to her.

May took the offered hand, and slid off the saddle and onto the ground. Using this time to take in her surroundings, they were in a small clearing that had a small tent pitched off to one side and a log that was beside a blackened fire pit that looked to had been used recently.

"How'd you sleep?" Strider asked as he went around to Blaze's saddle bag and removed a scabbard that housed a long bladed sword.

May went around to where Strider was clipping the scabbard to his side and answered, "Pretty well, how far away are we from those bandits?" She asked nervously looking over her shoulder.

Strider pursed his lips, "We rode for a few hours, and the our camp is a few kilometers West of theirs so we'll be safe for the night." He answered.

"Then why do you have a sword with you?"

He nodded, "I'm keeping watch, we're heading out in a few hours so once we get you patched up you need to get some more sleep."

For the first time that night May remembered seeing the blood that had been on her hand when she was knocked unconscious in the carriage.

"How did you know I was kidnapped?"

He gestured to the log by the fire pit as he went back to looking through the saddle bag, "I was on my way back from a courier mission when I rode passed a spot on the rode that had blood splattered around the ground," He took out a small package from the saddle bag and joined May on the log.

"I knew something was up because there were no bones, or carcasses lying around from a wild Pokemon attack. So I scanned the area with Aura and picked up a strange feeling…" He trailed off as he opened the small package and removed a cloth, a canteen, and a small vial of clear liquid.

"Some two hundred meters from the road was a carriage and…" He looked her in the eye, "The bodies of your escort…"

May looked down at the ground as she felt her heart go heavy for the men who gave their lives to try and protect her from harm.

"When I saw the bodies, I knew by their Armour that they we're from the Castle. So-" May looked up and gazed at him curiously.

"You… You live at the Castle?" She questioned.

He shook his head, "I live just outside of Petalburg with Alyssa. I rarely visit the Castle, I only go when Alyssa is summoned or… Well that's it." He answered.

"Your apprenticed to Alyssa Cloud!" May asked in genuine surprise.

Strider grinned, "Apprenticed, and raised, but we can talk about that later," He said waving his hand dismissively as they got off topic, "Anyways I checked the carriage and seeing that it was empty, I took it that this was some sort of hostage ransom sort of deal. Then I went around back to where your clothing was stored and opened a few trunks and-"

"You looked through my clothes?" She asked incredulously!

A dumbfounded grin came across Striders face at her reaction, before he answered, he opened the canteen and wet down the cloth before turning to the Princess. "This may sting," He stated as he gently brought the wet cloth across the small gash above her left eyebrow and began to clean the dried blood away.

May watched as he gently went to work on her wound, the water had stung at first, but that quickly went away and the gentle touch of Strider. After a moment he examined the small cut and took the vial and dripped a small amount of the liquid onto a dry portion of the cloth.

"This will sting, but it will stop any possible infection, and any possible headaches," With that he gently brought the cloth back up to her wound and gently ran it across the cut. And he was right, it did sting, May kept herself from making a sound by biting her bottom lip to focus on the pain in her lip instead of the cut.

Finally Strider replaced the cloth, canteen, and vial back into the package and sat in on the ground next to the log.

"So when I saw the expensive clothing, then the Royal seal on one of the locks I knew that either you or your mother had been taken… Which reminds me," He stood up and went over to the saddle bag and removed a pair of riding breeches, a white silk shirt, and a blue tunic that was identical to his own.

Taking the three items, he handed them to the Princess, "I figured that whoever was in the carriage would be wearing a dress so I grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants because… Well that dress will be a pain to ride in,"

May raised an eyebrow at him, but silently thanked him, "And the tunic?" She asked.

He shrugged, "You don't have to wear it, but it'll keep you warm during the night, and I was in a hurry so I forgot to grab you a vest…" He replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

May smiled and stood up, "Thanks, I'm going to go change," She began to walk off towards a group of bushes when she stopped and turned back to face him, "And don't even think about peeking!"

Strider laughed and bowed, "I wouldn't even think of it your highness,"

May smiled and headed towards the bushes where she changed in privacy, while changing she began to think about the past twenty four hours. She had been kidnapped, had lost her escort in an ambush, and was now travelling with an apprentice Aura Guardian. And she had to admit, she was enjoying it a lot more then she would like to admit.

Losing her escort, left her feeling guilty. And she would feel awful for admitting it, but she was sort of glad that the ambush had taken place. It delayed her from continuing her visit to Drew, and she was now travelling with the mysterious Strider, which wasn't all that bad.

May placed the tunic over her head and realized she didn't have a belt to hold it down, stepping out from behind the bushes and back into the clearing, she saw Strider shrugging a full quiver onto his back and attaching a long bow to the side of Blaze's saddle; which was now on the ground beside the grazing pony.

"Strider?" She asked to get his attention.

He turned around and smiled at her "Yes my Lady?"

"Do you have a belt or something I could use to hold down the tunic?"

He nodded and went over to the saddle bag where he removed a brown leather belt and walked over to the young Princess handing it over to her.

"Thanks," She smiled as she took the leather belt and wrapped it around her waist before pulling it tight. Once it was secured she looked up and saw Strider giving her a quizzical look, "What, do I not look nice?" She asked puzzled.

He shook his head, "Oh no, you look great," she looked down as she blushed a light crimson red at the compliment as he continued, "It's just where were you headed?" He asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Where were you travelling to, you had a full escort and are pretty far from the Castle so?"

A look of understanding and displeasure came across her face, "Oh… Well I was on my way to Johto Castle to see the Prince… And I take it now that you know that's where we'll be going?" she guessed knowing the answer.

He didn't answer right away; he took off his hat and placed it on the log before speaking, "Well… Personally I think it would be best to bring you back to the King to inform him of what happened… But if you really want to we could bring you to Johto, it's your decision really," He informed her.

May gaped, she couldn't believe her luck. She wouldn't have to go to Johto and see Drew, she could go home! With no understanding why, she rushed forward and tackled Strider to the ground into a massive hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed in delight!

Strider stared in confusion at the un-lady like actions of the Princess, coughing apologetically to get her attention he spoke, "Umm… My-My Lady?"

May looked into his eyes, and realized what she had done, blushing furiously she quickly got off of him and mumbled a sorry before looking away from him to hide her embarrassment.

Strider stood up and dusted himself off and looked at the embarrassed Princess, "Soo… You want to go to Johto then…?" He guessed at her reaction.

May spun around forgetting the previous event and shook her head madly, "No, no, no, please take me back to the Castle, I can't stand the Prince he's such a, a, a!" She couldn't find the word to describe him.

"An ass?" Strider guessed, seeing the Princess's reaction he knew he guessed right.

"Yeah, how'd you know? Have you met him?" May asked curiously.

Strider nodded his head, and walked over to Blaze, "Only once, it was a few years ago. He called Blaze the runt of the foals, told me they were going to 'do away' with him and give me an 'actually good specimen.' I wouldn't have been one to take that, but having Alyssa there kept me doing something that I may have regretted."

May watched as he stroked Blaze during the retelling of his meeting with LaRousse. May came up beside him and pet Blazes mane which made him shake his head happily. When he did that, she saw the small smile come across Strider's face.

"What's your name?" She asked softly.

He sighed, "Best I don't tell you until we reach Petalburg," he replied simply.

"How come?"

"To be honest my lady, we're going to be travelling hard for the next few days until we reach at least the Rustboro Straight. And come morning, if we run into those bandits, and if they hear my name it could make me a target in the future."

"So I'll keep calling you Strider," She persisted.

He sighed, "You're not gonna stop asking until I tell you right?"

She nodded, "Well…" He looked her in the eye and she gave him a pout which made him chuckle quietly, "Alright."

May grinned and nudged him with her elbow for him to tell her, "So?"

"My name is Ash,"

"Ash?"

"Yes Ash."

May nodded as she thought over his name, "Ash?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"What's your last name?"

"Ketchum,"

"Ash Ketchum?"

A grin had begun to form on Ash's face as the three word conversation progressed, "Yes, my name is Ash Ketchum."

"Where are you from?" she asked to see how much she could get out of him.

"I believe I'm originally from Kanto," he answered.

This caught Mays attention, "Why are you in Hoenn if you were born in Kanto?"

He shrugged, "My Lad-" May cut him off.

"You can call me May, Ash. We are friends after all right?"

Ash didn't expect to hear that, slightly flabbergasted, he nodded his head, "Right we're friends my- May," He replied.

"So why are you in Hoenn?"

"Well May… I'm not really sure. As far back as I can remember I was raised by Alyssa, and well… Well that's about it," He answered truthfully.

"Bu-" Ash cut her off.

"May?" He asked politely.

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep, we've got along day ahead of us tomorrow and you'll be able to ask whatever you want then okay?"

"What about you?"

"I'm keeping watch, and I'll wake you when it's time to leave," he replied as he went over and sat down on the log.

May frowned, "You should sleep, I've slept enough today anyways, so you-" Ash held up a hand to politely cut her off.

"That's alright May, take the tent and get a few hours of sleep. And before you argue back, I'll let you take the reins tomorrow and I'll get some sleep then okay?" He offered.

She pursed her lips as she thought of his offer, slowly she nodded and a smile came to her lips, "Alright that's a deal," She stated as she went over to the low pitched tent and crawled in. It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, in fact she'd rather be sleeping in the saddle again by Ash…

As soon as the thought came into her mind, she quickly shook it off. She had just met him, and the truth was she wouldn't see him very often, it was like he said, it was very rare for him to visit the castle and besides she still had the arrangement her father made still intact.

Sighing she shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep, listening to the soft chatting between Ash and the occasional snort by Blaze.

After a few minutes, she was back asleep, with a long few days ahead of her. And a few mixed feelings as well.

UPDATE: First chapter of the Sequel has been planned out start to finish. I've started planning out chapter two, and I'll give you a slight tidbit of info regarding the first chapter, which is: It'll be similar to the Prologue of Arise from Ashes, but still fairly different.

Now about the chapter, Writing is a little iffy here and there, but overall I'm happy with how the chapter went. I know I said that there'd be action this chapter, but I changed it to fit into next chapter, which I plant to have out on time.

Ash is revealed, May gets kidnapped, and some stuff happens. Other than that please, please, please! Read and Review, I love feedback positive or negative, and one question I'm curious about is, do you like the length of this chapter?

Any ways… Damn, still not sure how I'm going to end this off… How about… Uuuh… Mmm… Okay Fu** this, I'll have something for next chapter! Peace!