A/N: Well then. I can't believe it's taken me this long to post this. I finished it about three months ago, but school has just gotten so crazy :( I'm currently working on chapter 10, it might be a while (again) before it's posted since I need to focus more on school than I have been. Sorry again about the wait. Also, my apologies if the battle doesn't meet expectations, I'm still working on my battle scenes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.


About twenty or so yard away Paul stood behind his Froslass on their side of the makeshift battlefield. There was such a cold light in his eyes as he looked across the grass at her. It wasn't like he didn't give her the same look most of the time at school; it was different this time, though. His gaze sent chills down her spine. Rolling her shoulders in an attempt to brush the eery feeling away, she spread her feet to balance herself better. "Age before beauty?" she called, grinning.

Scoffing, Paul brushed her taunt into the wind. Waved his hand in her general direction. He was giving her the first shot.

"Fine by me," she muttered. Leaning forward on the balls of her feet she called, "Gabite, Dragon Claw!"

In a motion so swift she barely saw it, Gabite crossed its arms in the shape of an X. An eerie light began to emit from both its claws, shining an ethereal blue. Then it moved too fast for the eye to see. The force of Gabite flying forward blew Dawn's hair into her face and ash in puffs before her; a cloud trailed behind the Pokemon as it raced directly at Froslass.

There was no hesitation. Paul crossed his arms. "Ice Shard."

Froslass was gone before Gabite could reach the Snow Land Pokemon, floating out of its reach. The Dragon Claw was wasted, Gabite slashing uselessly at the space Froslass had previously occupied. Energy from the attack glowed in an empty arc inches from Paul's face. Any other spectator might have thought that it was a miss on Gabite's part, but Paul could tell it had been a close call on purpose. The two stared at each for a long second before Gabite stumbled backward. A large shard of ice pierced the ground between it and Paul. More began to rain down from above. While the Land Shark Pokemon dodged the shards as best it could, it noticed the smug expression Paul wore. The boy stood there, his arms crossed as he watched Dawn's Pokemon hobble around as its sandpapery skin was being cut more and more by the sharp ice.

On the other side of the field Dawn was having problems as well. More than once she had to sidestep shards to keep from getting a deep gash on her leg or arm—one even whizzed by her hair. She swore she could hear the sound of it catching a few strands, shearing right through them. When she was able to gain stable ground again, she pushed as close to the edge of the field as she would dare, calling out, "Gabite, keep dodging! Try to use Dragon Claw one more time!"

Dust peppered the air as Gabite skidded across the grass. Both Pokemon's and trainer's attention was caught by Froslass above them. She'd began to give off an eerie, whispery wail. It wasn't very audible, but was enough so that Dawn could hear her from where she stood a good twenty or so feet from the Pokemon. From side to side Froslass swayed, holding their eyes with her captivating dance. Everything around them seemed to still, the trees and wind going silent. Maybe it was just Dawn's mind playing a trick on her, but it was growing colder, even more so than it should for the time of the year. Was this a special skill for Froslass, or did all Ghost types have this unseen ability?

The hypnotism was broken by Paul's voice. "Ice Beam."

Before Gabite was able to recover, Frolass held her hands in front of her face, aimed, and fired a bright beam of ice shards at Gabite. Glittering in the light as it bombarded Gabite, it send the Cave Pokemon flying. Wails of sheer terror and pain came from Gabite as it landed in the grass, rolling through the ash and coming to a stop at Dawn's feet.

"Gabite!" Dawn knelt next to the Pokemon, her hands hovering above its sandy skin. Just a few inches separated them, but the chill of the ice that coated it from its shoulders to its hind legs reached her palms. It didn't take much to realize that it was done fighting. If she pushed it anymore it might fall to pieces in pain right in front of her. She couldn't do that to it, it was bad enough that she'd forgotten how much Ice types affected Ground types—they were double-effective, she realized much too late. "I'm sorry, Gabite," she whispered as she pointed the Poke Ball at the poor, damaged creature. As the red beam shot out to return it back into the capsule, Gabite gave Dawn a weak grin. Then it was gone, back to rest inside its small home.

Dawn gripped the Ball tightly, holding it close to her face. "You did well." The ball rocked weakly in her hand, acknowledging and accepting her praise. Clipping the ball back to her belt, she pulled out the one beside it. "Piplup, spotlight!"

Before the red beam was even gone, Piplup was in a rage. He was yelling in agitation at Paul and Froslass. Apparently, he'd been conscious of everything that had been going on outside of his Ball, even Gabite's painful cries. It was obvious he was mad that his newest friend was in pain. The little penguin continued to berate Paul in his own language, pounding on his chest with his flipper then pointing at Paul accusingly.

All Paul and Froslass could do was stare at Piplup's display of anger. They looked at each other for a moment, as if silently asking the other if the penguin was even worth their time. Piplup began his tirade once more when they ignored him, screeching at a volume he could surprisingly hit. Something seemed to hit home with Froslass, since she held a hand out in Piplup's direction. From where she stood, Dawn saw that she was readying another Ice Shard, sans direction. That's never a good sign. Dawn figured that Piplup had struck a nerve in the Snow Land's seemingly calm demeanor. The only thing that stopped her from firing was Paul muttering something to her as he held her Poke Ball in his hand. She looked at her trainer for a moment, glancing over her shoulder at Piplup and Dawn. Before she was returned she flicked her wrist, sending a large needle of ice flying at Piplup. It landed at his feet, startling both of them.

Froslass's disobedience bothered Dawn. "You say I'm not fit to be a trainer, yet your Pokemon seem to do what they want even if you tell them no," she called, hoping to break Paul's confidence at least a little. He ignored her though, pulling out his next ball without even looking at her. This time he chose Torterra, the ground shaking at its massive feet slammed into the ground. His choice didn't surprise her, she already knew it had been in his team somewhere since he only had three Poke Balls clipped to his belt. What she didn't know was what this go around with yield, especially with how bad it was last time with Tobasu. All she could do was hope and have belief in her and Piplup's abilities.

"Piplup, start off with a Bubble Beam!" Light began to emit from Piplup's beak as he opened it wide, shooting a stream of bubbles right for Torterra's face.

Water attacks weren't very effective against the massive Grass/Ground Pokemon, but offense wasn't exactly the motive for using the move. The bubbles gathered around Torterra's face long enough to block its vision, giving Piplup an advantage. Torterra shook its heavy head in an attempt to disperse the bubbles, but they stuck like a sticky web. "Now Ice Beam!" While Torterra had been blinded, Piplup had rushed across the grass as fast as his waddling legs could carry him. By the time the Continent Pokemon was able to see again Piplup was right in front of it. Its eyes widened in surprise as Piplup opened its beak once more, a bright beam of ice shooting from its mouth at Torterra's face.

The force of Piplup's attack slowly pushed Torterra back, its feet digging up grass. Since it was both Grass and Ground the attack caused an immense amount of damage. Torterra didn't give in, though. One by one, it pushed its feet forward, slowly making the beam give way. Using strong resilience and will it broke Piplup's attack.

"Torterra, Giga Drain!"

"Piplup, dodge it!" Dawn remembered what had happened to Tobasu when Torterra's vines had gotten a hold of it, she didn't want to see that happen to Piplup too. "Dodge it, then Drill Peck!"

As she spoke, Torterra's vines sprouted from its massive shell, shooting out to grab at Piplup. At the last second Piplup aimed a spout of water at the ground, shooting him up and out of Torterra's aim. The vines grabbed at empty air; Torterra looked up to find Piplup, but was blinded by the bright sun behind him. With him being so high in the air and the sun giving him an advantage, Piplup decided to use his falling momentum to add to his attack. As he fell, he began to spin like a corkscrew, slowly gaining speed. From the trainers' point of view he looked like a small blue comet falling from the sky.

"Torterra, don't just stand there! Stone Edge!"

Trying to see around the sun's glare, blue rings surrounded Torterra as it prepared its attack. Its eyes glowing green, the rings transformed into levitating stones of varying size. For a moment they orbited its body, then fired at Piplup as he plummeted down.

With his speed, Piplup was able to avoid a majority of the rocks, but some were too big to pass by without taking damage. He didn't let it stop him or slow him down, though. Even as Torterra shot Stone Edge at him multiple times he landed his attack successfully on the Continent Pokemon's broad back. The force of it shoved Torterra multiple inches into the ground. A look of sheer pain crossed its face and it gave a loud roar. Piplup continued to spin though, pushing Torterra even further into the soil beneath its feet. After a few long seconds Torterra's legs finally gave in, collapsing beneath it as the large Pokemon fell to the ground in defeat.

Both trainers stood in disbelief as Piplup stumbled dizzily off of Torterra's back, Dawn's in happy surprise and Paul's in silent outrage. "Useless," she could hear him mutter as he returned the exhausted Torterra to its Ball. She ignored any taunts that danced across her tongue as she congratulated her tired Piplup.

"Good job!" she said as he jumped into her arms. "You actually beat his Torterra. I'm so proud of you, Piplup." She held him close, Piplup crying out in joy. "You deserve a rest." Holding up his Poke Ball she returned him. His victory had caused something to light inside of Dawn, an even brighter feeling of triumph as she looked across the field at Paul. It was hard to keep a smirk from her face, she just felt like she could actually win this!

"It's not over yet," he called. "We still have one more each."

He was right. Dawn still had Tobasu left and Paul had his mysterious third party member. That anticipation from earlier was back, making her twitch again. Just what Pokemon had he been hiding the past few days? She didn't have to wait very long. They both threw their Poke Balls at the same time. Tobasu appeared before her, flapping its wings to keep it afloat before dropping to its feet. Dawn didn't pay any attention to the ash that it scattered, she was too enraptured by Paul's Pokemon. When he had thrown the capsule, the Pokemon hadn't come out immediately like Tobasu had. It landed with a soft thud on the ground, rolling slightly. Then it busted from the Ball in a large flash of fire. Such a showoff, Dawn thought, but then all her thoughts froze when she saw what Pokemon the red beam formed.

No.

No, no, no.

It was impossible. Dawn refused to believe what she was seeing, how could she not? Rubbing at her eyes, she hoped to erase the image before her, but no go. Still she wouldn't admit it, but there was no denying it was true: across the field her beloved shiny Charizard had just appeared out of the Ball. Her childhood friend had been captured and made a part of Paul's team. How could that have happened? Stumbling backward in disbelief, Dawn tripped over a hidden root in the grass. She fell ungracefully onto her elbows, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out. Tears sprang to her eyes as she rolled to her hands and knees. As she raised her head, there was an accusatory light that mingled with tears as she glared at Paul. But he seemed to ignore her hateful stare, looking somewhere behind her.

He did this on purpose.

Climbing to her feet as swiftly as possible, she brushed as much dust and ash from her clothes as possible. She gave up shortly after realizing that it wasn't helping. This wasn't the time to be worrying about her ruined wardrobe—she had to fight back, to retaliate in the only way she knew how. "Tobasu." The Flygon bent its long neck to look over its shoulder at her. "Even if it is Topaz, don't go easy on it. It's a strong Charizard." Swallowing a lump in her throat she whispered, "I should know."

Dawn's words seem to make Tobasu uneasy. It glanced at her once more before turning to face their opponents. Energy began to buzz off the both of them as the adrenaline returned. The two of them were about to attempt something many had probably failed to do before them: fight the strongest shiny in the forest.

Across the field Topaz stood hunched in front of Paul. When the boy said something to the Charizard, its wings flicked in recognition of his words, but it didn't make another move. It just stood there looking down at the ground, its tail dragging along back and forth in the ash. It didn't seem to want to fight, then Paul said something to it. The flame at the tip of its tail flared when the Charizard caught his words. Its eyes narrowing in agitation, it glanced sharply at the young trainer. Growls carried across the field to Dawn and Tobasu, both of whom were just standing there waiting for something to happen. They expected some sort of attack or retort to come their way, or at least something to get the battle back on. What they weren't expecting was Topaz to lash out at Paul.

"Topaz!" Dawn watched as her beloved friend swiped at the boy once more. He dodged it easily, stepping back each time the Charizard tried to grab him with its claws. Ash clouded around both of them as they moved through the grass. Out of the corner of her eye Dawn could see spectating Pokemon watch as Charizard chased Paul. When he tried to return it to its Poke Ball, its tail whipped it out of his hand. The force of the impact snapped the capsule in two; both pieces went flying into the trees into some bushes. With the Poke Ball broken, Topaz no longer belonged to Paul.

Freedom didn't stop Topaz. It continued to attack, not paying any mind as Tobasu and Dawn began to cross the field. It wasn't even fazed when Dawn grabbed one of its arms, Tobasu the other. Topaz roared in agitation as it pulled against them, almost throwing Dawn to the ground. "Topaz, stop!"

Dawn continued to scream as her friend resisted. The Charizard was pulling so hard that for a moment she thought she'd lose her hold on it. For a split second she thought she had, but she managed to tighten her fingers around its forearms in a sweaty grip. WIth that split second of weakness Topaz was able to grab Paul by his shirtfront. Again, Topaz gave a deep bellow, continuing to pull as it let out all its frustration and anger from the past few days. Its body vibrated with the intensity of its emotional, thundering voice. Slowly began to calm, but Dawn and Tobasu could feel the Charizard still tremble as its roar died out. Something was wrong though. Even though Topaz had grown silent the sound of the roar continued. Everyone grew still as they listened. The sound stretched on, echoing over the trees from wherever its owner was located. As it died out everything grew quiet. Then the footsteps began.

Far away at first, the sound was similar to what Golen and other Rock Pokemon did to mark their territory for others to know. They would take large rocks and push them off nearby mountain faces, the rocks cracking against the craggy surface on the way down into the trees below. The two sounds were so close, but the footsteps gave off a deeper rumble. Slowly, they grew louder and closer together, as if the thing were picking up speed as it grew closer. Somewhere across the treeline Dawn noticed different bird Pokemon fleeing from their roosts in droves, fear echoing in their calls as they flew away from whatever danger had spooked them. It wasn't long before the ground beneath all of their feet began to shake in time with the footsteps. Ash puffed into clouds for each one as they grew closer.

Finally, one of them managed to gather their wits and return to their senses. Blinking his eyes to clear the confusion, Paul looked at everyone else as he fixed his shirt. Topaz had released him, having moved one arm in front of Tobasu, as if pushing it back, the other wrapped around Dawn protectively. Briefly he thought of how much the Charizard was willing to keep its friends from danger. The only feeling the Charizard had shown him since its capture was stubbornness and indignation. The irony was not lost on him.

Dawn was holding the Charizard's arms meekly, her attention riveted to the booming steps as they continued in their direction. Given the rate of the speed and the amount of ground the thing was covering, Paul supposed they had a few minutes or so before it reached them in the field. Since they were in the middle of its path, they were sitting Duckletts way out in the open with broad daylight shining down on them.

He decided to take action. Two minutes wasn't the perfect amount of time to find a place to hide, but it was better than none. If both dragons were willing they could probably fly off to the safety of the town. But what if whatever it was that was rampaging through the trees somehow made its way into their neighborhood and found its way to the larger area where the suburbs and shops were located? That wasn't his main problem at the moment. He hated to admit it, but his top priority was getting that troublesome girl out of there before she got hurt and somehow found a way to blame it on him.

"We need to leave," he said, breaking the silence. His voice startled Dawn slightly; Topaz just ignored him, pulling her beneath its wings to put a barrier between the two of them. The Charizard's blatant disregard of his works irritated him somewhat, but he let it pass. If it wouldn't listen to him he'd have to make it understand forcefully. Pushing Topaz's wing out of the way, he tried to grab Dawn's arm, but Topaz swiped at him to keep him away. It pulled its wings back around Dawn, even when she began to protest.

"This is no time to argue with me, you stupid lizard. Either we leave this field or we risk the chance of whatever that thing is finding us." He threw an arm out in the direction of the pounding steps, his frown deepening as he returned Topaz's glare. "Do you want the girl to be in that kind of danger?"

Tension hung so thickly in the air it was almost palpable on Dawn's tongue. Beneath Topaz's wing, she looked up at her friend as it deliberated. It ground its teeth as it thought, the sound spine-chilling. It was a few moments before it seemed to come to a decision—with an audible flap of its wings, it released Dawn, pushing her toward Paul. Falling forward into his arms, Dawn lost her breath for a moment when she landed against his chest. When she managed to catch it again, she found that she couldn't move. Paul had grasped her arms tightly to keep her stationary; when she looked up she saw why.

Lumbering toward the treeline was Topaz. The air around its mouth began to swirl hotly as fire began to swirl deep within its maw. "Topaz, what are you doing?" Struggling got her nowhere, but she tried anyway. Why was Topaz going toward the trees? It knew that something was stomping their way, why put itself in harm's way? Fear began to cloud her vision as she turned to look at Paul, then back to Topaz as the distance between them continued to grow. What's going on? "Topaz, stop. We have to go."

But the Charizard ignored her as it continued toward the tree line. The canopy of leaves above it were shaking violently; it was so close that the ash clouds at their feet grew taller, blowing away on the breeze. Particles that stuck to her face made her eyes tear up, Topaz's form becoming blurry. Dread fell over her as Paul began to make their way in the opposite direction, pulling her when she resisted. Why did she have to leave her friend? She wanted to stay with Topaz.

"Topaz!" she screamed, but her voice was lost when the trees on Topaz's side of the clearing crashed to the ground, their roots torn violently from the soil. Limbs and leaves went flying in every direction, dirk sprinkling like ash from the sky. The sounds of the forest being destroyed was almost too overwhelming for Dawn as Paul continued to drag her away. The wind suddenly picked up, carrying some of the thicker limbs their way. Neither of them noticed until the last second, and without thinking, Paul jumped in front of them, shielding Dawn from the onslaught of broken wood. He flinched as one branch landed hard against his shoulder, but he grimaced as he pushed away the pain. It was still visible on his face, though; Dawn could see it slightly in his eyes as they clouded for a moment. "Paul?" she called softly, her voice wavering slightly.

Immediately his eyes closed, just as they had earlier. He was cutting her off again, but after a few seconds he was back. Glancing over his shoulder, Paul wrapped an arm tightly around Dawn's shoulders. It hadn't fully registered before that he was touching her, there'd been too much going on to notice something so small. But now, as his hand clasped her shoulder, she could feel her face slowly begin to turn red. He was actually touching her and she'd just realized it.

No, no, this wasn't the time to be doing this. To scramble any distracting thoughts, she shook her head. It didn't help very much, but it worked for the moment. They continued toward the trees, the shadows cast by the sun above falling over them before the trees themselves. For some reason, some wild Pokemon still lingered in the area. Those who were brave enough poked their heads from beneath bushes; wild Ratata and Zigzagoon rushed from tree trunks into the underbrush, crossing their path multiple times. Some Wurmple peered down at them from above as Paul stopped to quickly check his shoulder. His jacket wasn't ripped, but the shirt and skin beneath it was. Dawn saw a small gash had been made from the impact of the limb hitting him moments ago. Beneath it there was an older, healed scar, so close in color to his tanned skin tone that she almost didn't see it. Before she could ask him about it he pulled his jacket back over his shoulder, grabbing Dawn's hand so they could keep moving.

What was that scar? she wondered idly as they ran, dodging hidden roots beneath the leafy forest floor. It wasn't the only thing she'd noticed. Not once had he spoken directly toward her, nor had he even really looked at her since their battle had been hastily ended. If he was treating her coldly—at least, that's how she saw it—then why would her protect her at the cost of his own well being? He'd thrown himself in front of her to shield her, the least he could do was answer her when she said his name. Why am I still overthinking thing? It was hard, but she managed to push away any confused feelings.

There was another crash behind them, then a deep, guttural roar. She'd forgotten that since they'd began to run before the thing had made it to the clearing, she'd never gotten a chance to see what had been making such large amounts of damage and noise. Falling victim to a moment of weakness and curiosity, she turned her head to glance behind her.

Horror filled her at what she saw.

Clouds of ash obscured the scene back in the field, but she was still able to make out Topaz's form. It was closer to their side of trees now, firing a Flamethrower at something. When the wind blew most of the cloud away, she could see what looked like . . . a dinosaur? It was something she'd never seen before; she wasn't even sure if it was a Pokemon. It walked on muscular hind legs, its back hunched slightly as it leaned forward. Somewhat-short arms hung over a scaly white belly. Claws took place of what would have been fingers on anything else.

Dawn took in all the thing's features slowly, her distraction from running slowing them down. The most prominent features made her blood freeze in her veins: the crown-shaped horns that adorned its forehead and above its eyes; the sharp, jagged teeth that snapped every time it closed its mouth; the spiked tail that was swinging around it defense. The monster was slashing at Topaz as the Charizard took to the air, firing another Flamethrower at the massive beast. Above it there was a flicker of groom that zoomed past Topaz, then the bright flash of Hyper Beam that crashed into the monster's upper back.

Tobasu.

Dawn's Flygon was taking part in the melee that had begun in the field.

"Tobasu, no! What are you doing?" she cried, pulling away from Paul. The sudden jerk caught him off guard, causing him to lose his grip on her hand and allowing her to become free. Stumbling slightly, roots hidden under leaves caused her to trip as she broke into a wobbly run back in the direction of the field. The only thing she could do besides run and keep her balance was cry her Pokemon's name. How could she have not noticed that her Flygon hadn't been behind her as they'd been running away? Why didn't it follow them? Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she rubbed them away. Her vision was necessary to make it through the shadowy path. If she couldn't see she might trip and fall on her face. Any wild Pokemon she'd seen on their way through were gone, hiding away in their hollows and holes.

As she grew closer to the clearing, the sounds of battle became louder: crashing tree limbs, blazing fire, piercing cries. It was almost too much for the blunette, but she knew she couldn't stop. Once she'd emerged from the trees and reached the edge of the clearing, she was able to see the entirety of what was happening. The monster was still snapping at Topaz as the Charizard flew in circles around its head. It was keeping it distracted while Tobasu attempted to attack again, but the monster swung its spiny tail at the Flygon in enraged defense, causing it to veer away and miss. Instead of its head, the DragonBreath it had been aiming landed on the feathery mane that lined the beast's neck. It singed it immensely, a blue flame lighting it on fire. This seemed to infuriate the monster, its eyes lighting with a dangerous fire. Dawn only noticed this before she shielded her eyes when Tobasu fired a Hyper Beam.

The monster screamed, the earth shaking with its mighty roar. Topaz and Tobasu had angered it; its eyes were almost glowing as it ducked out of the way of the Flygon's attack. The Hyper Beam passed right over it, crashing into the tree whose limb had almost taken out Dawn's head once. It blasted the tree into bits, pieces of bark and flaming twigs flying everywhere. Some of the small flames caught on the dry, already burned grass, a fire spreading quickly across the clearing.

The beast used its momentum to propel itself forward and to the right, aiming for Tobasu as it hovered above. The Flygon saw it coming, but it wasn't able to twist away in time. The monster's hard head bashed into its side, and even though she stood about twenty or so yards away, Dawn swore she could hear a sickening crack. The impact sent Tobasu flying away into the trees, the wind and consciousness knocked out of it.

"Tobasu!" Dawn screamed. It was impossible to tell where her Flygon might have landed, and it was too dangerous for her to cross the field to go and search for it. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees, ash sticking to the legs of her jeans and hands. There was nothing she could do, no way for her to help. She was just a small human, nothing special about her.

At the same time as her scream, Topaz gave an ear-piercing howl. Anger made the flame on the tip of its tail flare dangerously high. Instead of its normal glowing orange and red, it burned a piercing white. Murder shown in Topaz's eyes as it snapped its wings wide open. Fire began to fill its mouth, as if it were going to attack with a Flamethrower once more. This fire was different though. Flames engulfed the inside of Topaz's mouth, covering its teeth entirely. Some leaked from the corners of its mouth, but it didn't let any of it go to waste. Without warning, it set its wings behind its back, dive bombing straight for the monster.

Dawn couldn't watch. She covered her face with her dirty hands, trying to block out the sound of Topaz's fangs connecting with the beast's skin, and the the scream that followed it. She wanted to be somewhere else. She wanted to be home, curled up on the couch with Glammy resting at her feet while she nuzzled her kittens. She wanted Tobasu and Piplup to be sitting on the floor playing a game that they created and could only understand. She wanted her sweet Topaz back, the Charizard she'd never seen attack another living being so fiercely. And it was all for her.

Crashing sounded behind her as Paul broke through some low-hanging branches. Low curses reached Dawn's ears, but she ignored it all. She wanted to forget everything, didn't want to see or hear anything. She was dragged from her oblivion by Paul's rough voice.

"You stupid girl, we need to get out of here!" He grabbed her shoulder and tried to make her stand, but she pulled away from him. "Do you not see what's going on? We were trying to avoid this thing, that's why we were running!" Still she struggled against him. Fed up with her defiance, he snatched one of her arms, tugging her from the ground and forcefully pulling her over his shoulder like a rag doll. "If you're not going to listen to me, then you don't have the option of walking anymore. We're getting out of here whether you like it or not."

"No!" she screamed. She struggled against him even more than before, trying to wiggle out of his grip. She kicked and clawed, but he refused to let her go. "Let me go!" Her foot connected with his rib cage, forcing a painful grunt from him. He ignored it, managing to wobble away as she continued to push at him. She screamed at him, cursed him; she became a Dawn nobody had ever seen before, the only witness a disgruntled teen who was trying to get them out of there.

"We're getting away from this place and that's final," he growled, jostling her as he ducked under a branch. The leaves raked across her back, dragging her shirt almost to her shoulders. She was at such an awkward angle that she almost couldn't stop it from being completely pulled off. "This place has been nothing but bad luck since I moved here."

As he walked, he tightened his grip on her. His nails dug into the side of her leg where he held them down, the other squeezing her wrist almost painfully to keep her from swinging at him again. Behind them the shadows were taking over as the sun was blotted out by clouds. Flames were still visible through the dense foliage though. All Dawn could do as she was carried away was watch as rain began to fall, slowly putting out the fire that had been spreading.

Tears filled her eyes again. She couldn't hear Topaz or the monster anymore, the rain around them was drowning every other sound out. Water dripped from somewhere above, mixing with her tears. Hiccuping, she pressed her face against the back of Paul's shoulder. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Paul had just leaned his head against her side as she began to cry. His hold on her wrist eased up. Blood rushed through her veins and arteries, her pulse throbbing as feeling came back to her hand. He ultimately released her, and she brought her stinging hand to her face. Crossing her arms, she pressed them against Paul's shoulder and rested her forehead against them. She resumed crying, wailing without abandon their entire dreary walk back toward town.


A/N: I had to do a looooooot of research for this. To be honest, I'm not sure why I let this take such a dark turn. But, then again I've been writing this off and on since, like, 2011. Pretty sure it's varied from what I originally imagined. Oh well. I have a pretty good idea of how I want it to end, just gotta make it through! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. Ciao!