Author's note

Sorry for keeping you waiting. I had things that kept me busy.

Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 3: Makarov Finds The Castle

Later on, night had fallen and both Makarov and Mudsdale had not arrived at the fair. The two were now wandering through a dark, murky glen. Mudsdale was nervously taking in his surroundings.

Makarov was busy examining his map, as he said, "We should be there by now. Maybe, we missed a turn. I knew I should've taken that left at…" But then, he and Mudsdale stopped at a fork in the road, as he said, "Wait a minute," and looked at the signs that read, 'Bunny Burrow' and 'St. Petersburg.' Mudsdale just stared at the sign and was about to turn left until Makarov stopped him and pointed him in another direction, saying, "Let's go this way."

Mudsdale frowned at Makarov, but then did a double take as he looked at the road Makarov wanted to go down. It was dark, foggy, and spooky as well as overgrown. The other road, however, looked pleasant and more inviting than the other path.

No thanks, thought Mudsdale, as he turned in the direction of the better road. I'll take my chances going this way.

But Makarov turned him down the dark and spooky path and said, "Come on, Mudsdale , it's just a shortcut. We'll be there in no time."

Mudsdale snorted and reluctantly went down the path. As he did, he nervously looked up at the sky and watched as two clouds shaped like hands seemed to cover the full moon while a gust of wind blew through the trees with some leaves. Suddenly, on a nearby hill, something rushed by and Mudsdale looked scared as he heard a howl.

"This can't be right," Makarov said, examining the map. "Where have you taken us, Mudsdale?"

Mudsdale glared at him in annoyance as if to say, Where have I taken us? You were the one who insisted on going this way!

Makarov started to back the cart away, as he said, "We'd better turn around." Makarov and Mudsdale heard more howls, scaring Mudsdale even more and making him back up faster than he should. "Whoa, Mudsdale. Easy!" But Mudsdale backed up into a tree, causing a swarm of Zubats, Golbats, and Crobats to fly out, freaking out Mudsdale even more, as he started running as fast as he could, until he almost ran over the edge of a cliff. "Back up, Mudsdale," Makarov said. Mudsdale backed off the edge. "That's it. Good boy!"

But then, more howls were heard and Mudsdale fearfully reared, throwing Makarov off of him. The frightened pokemon galloped off into the night with the cart still attached to him.

Once Makarov had recovered, he called out, "Mudsdale?" No answer.

Makarov nervously got up, but then heard growling. He looked up and saw a trio of Houndooms, before he gasped and quickly ran off with the Houndooms in hot pursuit. As he ran, he misplaced a step and stumbled down a hill before he landed before a pair of iron gates. The Houndooms approached and Makarov frantically began trying to open the gates as the Houndooms ran towards him.

"Help! Is someone there?" He shouted. "Help!"

Suddenly, the gates opened on their own and he fell through. Once he was through, he quickly slammed the gate shut with his foot, causing the Houndooms to slam into it. Makarov tried to crawl away, but yelped as a Houndoom grabbed his boot, until Makarov got away, causing his hat to fall off in the process. Once he had gotten away, he looked up and gasped when he saw a tall, dark, ominous castle before him. A storm began as Makarov ran to the door and knocked on it. The door opened and Makarov walked in.

"Hello?" Makarov called. "Hello?"

"Poor guy," a male voice whispered. "Must've lost his way in the woods."

"Keep quiet, you idiot," another male voice hissed, although it sounded more like a lisp. "Maybe he'll go away."

"Is someone there?" Makarov called.

On a table, the owner of the first voice that had whispered was a red echidna with violet eyes and red and yellow sneakers and the owner of the second voice was a black anthropomorphic duck with black eyes, and a white ring around his neck.

"Not a word, Knuckles," the duck hissed. "Not one word."

"I don't mean to intrude," Makarov said, "but I've lost my horse and need a place to stay for the night."

"Come on, Daffy," the echidna, now known as Knuckles, whispered to the duck now known as Daffy. "Have a heart-."

Daffy shushed him and covered his mouth, but Knuckles grabbed a needle and poked him with it, making the duck yelp in pain. Daffy sucked on the finger where the needle poked him.

Knuckles hopped off the table and up to Makarov, as he said, "Of course, you can stay!"

"Who said that?" Makarov said, as he looked around.

"Down here!" Knuckles said, before he tugged on Makarov's pants leg. Makarov looked down and Knuckles greeted him, "What's up?"

"Oh!" Makarov gasped, as he jumped back, surprised that the echidna had spoken. "Incredible!"

"Well, now you've done it, Knuckles," Daffy said, as he hopped over. "Oh, this is rich, I'll say. Just dandy!"

But then, he yelped as Makarov picked him up.

"How is this accomplished?" Makarov asked, as he examined Daffy.

"Put me down!" Daffy said indignantly. "At once!"

"I beg your pardon," Makarov apologized, "it's just that I've never seen a duck that-" Suddenly, he sneezed in Daffy's face and Daffy wiped his face off with an annoyed look on his face.

"You're soaked to the bone," Knuckles said. "Come, warm yourself by the fire."

Knuckles started to lead Makarov towards a den and Daffy frantically followed, saying, "No, no, no! You know what the master would do if he finds him here!" What Knuckles, Makarov, and Daffy failed to realize was that a dark shadow was watching from a walkway, before it sped off.

"I demand that you stop…right…there!" Daffy shouted, tugging on Makarov's leg, but lost his grip and tumbled down the three stairs. Once he recovered, he gasped when he saw Knuckles guiding Makarov over to a large chair near the fireplace. "Oh no," he said in terror. "Not the master's chair!"

Suddenly, two footstools named Max and Gidget, who had originally been a Jack Russell Terrier and a Pomeranian, happily rushed past Daffy, who said fearfully, "I'm not seeing this, I'm not seeing this!"

"Well, hello there," Makarov said, before Max then propped himself up under Makarov's feet while Gidget sat beside Max.

Then, a walking stick named Slim wrapped a blanket around Makarov, who said, "What service!"

"Alright, that's it!" Daffy said angrily. "Enough is enough! This is the final-the-the very, very last straw! I'm in charge here and-!"

But then, he got run over by a tea cart steered by a anthropomorphic bunny with cream colored fur with a white muzzle along with light brown markings, brown eyes and wearing a long light purple dress named Vanilla.

With her was another cream-colored rabbit with white gloves with gold cuffs on them, along with an orange dress with a white collar with a blue ribbon and red and yellow shoes with white socks. Her name is Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla's daughter.

The last one was a small male creature that stood one foot tall and it was humanoid in shape. He had sky blue skin with some yellow on his hands, feet, and the top of his head. His head was teardrop shaped and a small yellow ball hovered over his head. The small creature had dark blue eyes and the only clothing he wore was a red bow tie. On his back was a set of pink butterfly wings, which he continuously flapped in order to remain hovering off the ground. His name is Cheese, Cream's Chao friend.

"How would you like some tea?" asked Vanilla. "It'll warm you up in no time."

She poured some tea into a cup and Daffy, despite being facedown, said, "No! No tea, NO TEA!"

"Anything else, sir?" Cream said, handing the cup of tea to Makarov.

"Chao, chao, chao?" Cheese said.

"Oh, hello," Makarov said.

Suddenly, the door to the den slammed open and a strong gust of wind blew into the room, extinguishing the fire in the fireplace. Knuckles turned in horror, while Daffy gasped and dove for cover beneath a rug and Vanilla started to shiver. Cream immediately hid behind her mother as she held Cheese close to her.

"Uh-oh…" she said.

"Chao, chao..." Cheese said in concern.

Makarov trembled in terror, as a large shadow suddenly loomed over the room. Remember the werewolf that was mentioned in the prologue? That's him right now. The werewolf entered the room with a growl, as Makarov continued to tremble in terror.

"There's a stranger here," the werewolf said.

"Master," Knuckles said, "allow me to explain. He was lost in the woods. He was cold and wet, so-"

Unfortunately, he was cut short by the loud growl of the werewolf.

Meanwhile, Daffy nervously poked his head out of the carpet and said, "Master, I'd like to take this moment to say…I was against this from the start. It was all his fault, I tried to stop them, but would they listen to me? No, no, no!"

The werewolf growled again, this time louder, making Daffy yelp in terror and dive back for cover beneath the carpet. Makarov nervously glanced to his left, then to his right, only to see the werewolf glaring at him. Makarov yelped in terror and jumped out of the chair.

"Who are you?" The werewolf demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"I was lost in the woods and-" Makarov began nervously.

"YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE!"

"I'm sorry," Makarov said, fearfully.

"What are you staring at?"

"N-N-Nothing," Makarov said in terror.

"So, you've come to stare at the werewolf, have you?"

Makarov frantically tried to run away, only to be blocked by the werewolf.

"Please, I mean no harm!" Makarov said, as he nervously backed away. "I just needed a place to stay."

"I'll give you a place to stay," the werewolf snarled, as he grabbed Makarov and dragged him away, while Daffy, Knuckles, Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese could only watch, before the werewolf closed the door, plunging the room into darkness.

Author's note,

That's the end of this chapter! I won't be able to work on the next chapter for a while because my brother and I are going camping next week. But I will work on it when I get back.

Post and review!