A/N - It's not a very long chapter but wow it took some editing! I hope you enjoy =D Thanks so much for all reads, reviews, faves and follows!

54 - Frozen Honey

The group of pokemon nattered quietly as they weaved through the meadow. It was wide open and overgrown, the grass buried under heaps of snow. They didn't know where they were going. They'd meandered as far away from the Moorlands Forest as they could, putting the lab behind them. The ruined abbey stood over them, watching their progress as they strolled out in the wide open. Every so often the moon would peek out from behind thick, black clouds turning the snow a beautiful silver.

A heap of ferns weighed down by the snow shifted ahead of them and they froze, their hushed voices cutting off sharply. A large shadow rose from the tangle of bracken, standing tall and almost avian. Blue eyes fixed on the group, blinking once.

"Are you lost?" The pokemon spoke with a smooth, deep voice.

An azumarill broke from the group, shuffling forwards with an air of confidence. "Not really. We just don't know where we're going."

"Blossom!" hissed one of her friends.

"Relax!" the azumarill said over her shoulder. "Not everyone's an enemy."

The shadow blinked again. Amusement glinted in his eyes like moonlight off a frozen lake. "To not know where you're going, yet to not feel lost. That must be a rather content feeling."

"Kinda," said Blossom. "I just feel like something's pullin' us in this direction, yanno?"

The shadow turned his head to look over his shoulder. The motion was almost owl-like. His icy gaze turned back onto them and he shrugged.

"All that lies that way," he said slowly, "is a maze of disorienting trees. One walks in, but never walks out again."

"Huh. That doesn't sound good," said Blossom.

The other pokemon shifted around her, their unsettled voices rising into harsh whispers.

"Then we should turn back," said one. "If we keep going-"

"Nah." Blossom waved a dismissive paw. "Somethin' is telling me we need to go into those woods. We'll find our way through." She smiled at the shadow. "Thanks anyway though, friend!"

The shadow blinked again. Slowly.

"You can join us if you want?" Blossom spread her arms and shuffled forwards.

A few of the pokemon accompanying her broke away from the uncertain crowd. Then a few more trickled away. Many kept their gazes locked on the tall, avian shadow.

"I won't be stepping claw in those woods," he said quietly. "And you shouldn't either."

Blossom shrugged and strode past him. "Very well."

A large wing swept across the azumarill's path. She stopped and turned to look up into the shadow's ice blue eyes. Canines glinted in his beak, and the moonlight swept across his black feathers, revealing streams of red that snaked across his wings. Blossom's breath caught in her throat and she took a step back. The other pokemon yelled and stumbled, making way for the large azumarill.

"You-" Blossom gulped. "You're from that abbey! That bird-thing!"

Yveltal tutted. He cut before the azumarill with his entire body, barring her path. He cast a glance towards the ruined abbey, still standing tall at the edge of the meadow.

The distraction was all Blossom needed. Water surrounded her body and she shouted to her allies. "Attack!"

The water-type launched herself at the imposing bird. He yelled, swatting her aside with a large wing. He rounded on those bold enough to rush him, scattering them across the snow. Sharp leaves and electricity peppered his feathers. He hissed and opened his beak wide, flashing his sharp canines. A huge, crimson beam fired from his mouth, sweeping over the pokemon.

Blossom watched with eyes widened with terror as her companions had the colour sucked out of them. They stood as statues, their faces frozen in fear and defiance.

Those still standing faltered, their attacks cutting off. Blossom pushed herself to her feet, her mouth curling into a frown.

"No one hurts my friends," she growled.

Her expression twisted with anger and she leapt at Yveltal with a loud roar. His red beam struck her head on and she fell like a rock into the snow. He ended his attack only after it had claimed the rest of the group.

Yveltal shook out his feathers and flicked his tongue over his beak with an air of disgust. "That wasn't the most palatable life I've taken." He looked up at the moon and a deep chuckle resonated in his throat. "But that's one group who won't be finding their way to the Fairy Garden."

Yveltal spread his wings and, with one beat, took off into the night sky.

Below him, small flowers spread out over the snow, congregating around the stone statues. The moon broke free of the cloud, lighting up the snow like diamond dust. The spray of flowers weaved around the frozen pokemon, then trailed off into the Endless Woods like a colourful carpet.

...

The young mothim climbed up the rough bark of the evergreen tree. Lightning had struck it at some point in its life, knocking off the top of the tree, giving it a squared-off appearance. Blackened branches spiked off from the trunk at dramatic angles with green leaves still clinging to it in a desperate attempt to survive.

What the mothim was after lay in the tree's hollowed-out top. A hive of combee had once inhabited it, and had often let the mothim have access to their honey. But they had been driven away by the Darkness two seasons ago. Despite that, some honey still remained.

The mothim leaned over the hole until his upper body was hidden behind it. His body sank with a sigh and he closed his eyes. What little remained of the honey had been crystallised by the blizzard. He would have to chisel it out. He looked at his bucket hanging from one paw, then glanced up at the sky. The sun was still rising. It should be safe enough to climb inside and hack away at the honey.

He turned so he could reverse into the hole and froze. His eyes widened slowly and his heart hit his throat. A black, jagged cloud of murkrow swept towards him, lead by a honchkrow. The honchkrow opened its beak, hunger blazing in its eyes, and let out a long, shrill caw. Its flock responded in kind and parted to surround the mothim.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Lights danced across them, penetrating his closed lids in a flurry of purple splashes. He opened them again and watched as several murkrow dropped to the snowy ground with a series of soft thuds.

"Go!"

The mothim turned at the voice. A whimsicott rushed towards him, raising his arms. The murkrow had turned their attention onto the grass-type, their wicked red eyes flashing with anger and hatred. The whimsicott's paws lit up with a bright pink light.

"Go!" he cried again. "Get out of here!"

Dazzling light swept across the murkrow flock. The mothim didn't need telling a third time. He fluttered into the air, carrying his empty bucket in his paws. He gave one last glance back at the pokemon who had saved his life. Murkrow lashed out at him with their talons and wings as the whimsicott dodged with dainty leaps. The honchkrow, no longer interested in the little mothim, barked commands to her flock as she sought to find an opening in her new prey's defences. Pink light lit up the orange sky yet again, causing the birds to shriek with pain and fury. The mothim turned away and silently hoped his rescuer would make it out of that battle alive.

...

Harlequin checked through her bag one last time. Everything was intact. Her selection of poisons, the mounted nidoking horn, herbs, berries and dried meats. She was all set to go. Satisfied, she tossed the bag over her shoulder.

"Are you sure you feel okay?" Elsa fussed. "You don't need anymore rest?"

"I'm fine." Harlequin met the lilligant's concerned gaze. "Thank you so much for your help. I can't repay you enough."

"You don't owe me anything," said Elsa. "Helping you was the right thing to do." She paused and smoothed down her leafy skirt. "I guess you're going to try to find Enigma?"

Harlequin followed Elsa's gaze towards the window. When Harlequin had woken up, Enigma had gone. Elsa hadn't heard him leave. His absence stabbed at Harlequin's chest. Why had he just abandoned her like that? She bit her lip. There was every possibility he'd gone on a mad revenge spree. She hoped desperately that wasn't the case, but the presence of a nidoking in the river felt too convenient to be a coincidence. Someone had deliberately done that to target her.

But who?

Elsa's voice cut through her thoughts, dragging her back to the present. "Before you leave, I want to give you something. Here."

Harlequin turned her head towards the lilligant's outstretched paw. Her leaf curled around a small vial of pink liquid. The black silhouette of a nidoqueen's head stood out from its white label.

Harlequin's jaw dropped a little. "I can't take that. What if you need it? The river-"

"I've already told you, we use the springs close to the village," Elsa explained. "As for the river, the pokemon clearing it are immune to poison. So you've nothing to worry about. You need this more than we do."

Harlequin looked back down at the vial, speechless.

"Go on. Take it," said Elsa. "If you don't, I'll just pop it in your bag anyway when you're not looking."

Harlequin closed her eyes as she gave a small chuckle. She took the vial carefully in her teeth and popped it into her bag with her poisons.

"Thank you," she said, looking back up at Elsa.

Elsa folded her leafy paws in front of her and smiled down at Harlequin. "It's my pleasure. Besides, you do carry a nidoking horn. If you were to be unfortunate enough to hurt yourself on it, you'd need the anti-venom."

Harlequin laughed again. "I've been careful so far, but you never know." She trotted towards the stairs and glanced back over her shoulder. "I hope our paths cross again sometime."

"As do I. You be careful now, and not just with your poisons."

Harlequin faltered at the top of the stairs. "Huh?"

"The pokemon in this village won't hurt you so long as you're under my protection," Elsa explained. "But as soon as you leave, they might not take kindly to you. So please keep your wits about you as you go. They're not bad pokemon, but they're very fearful of dark-types. I believe you've changed your ways, but they'll need a little more convincing."

Harlequin nodded her understanding. "Very well. I've got my illusion, so I'll use that. Where are the zangoose?"

"They're both by the river. They left this morning."

"Okay. I'll borrow his disguise." Harlequin's form twisted and rose up into the form of a male zangoose. She chuckled at Elsa's gasp of surprise. "I know. It can be a bit alarming. The first time I used it around Enigma is one of very few times I've seen him taken off guard."

Elsa lowered her paw from her mouth and gave a small smile. "It's very convincing. Just make sure you don't walk right in front of either of them. You might give them a bit of a scare."

"I'll be careful." Harlequin stepped onto the stairs. "Good bye!"

"Take care, Harlequin!"

Harlequin trotted down the stairs and slipped out of Elsa's door. She paused in the shade of the tree, looking over the village. Pokemon busied about, their voices rising as mist in the cold air. Despite her disguise, Harlequin's heart raced as she strolled with a false air of confidence towards the town's exit. Illusion was more than image alone. She had to act like the pokemon she was disguised as, otherwise it wouldn't be convincing at all. She fought the urge to look back at Elsa's house. As much as she wanted to, just to see if the lilligant was watching her, it was too risky. Harlequin had no idea if the zangoose even visited Elsa. A strange sense of sadness washed over Harlequin as she left the kind lilligant behind.

No one stopped her, although a few raised their paws in greeting which she returned. Once she was out of the village, she lowered her head to the snow until she found Enigma's scent trail. The snow was packed down into an icy slick where the pokemon had come and gone from the river. She followed the trail a little way, keeping her disguise as she followed the path upstream. It wasn't long before she spotted the zangoose standing up to his waist in the water. A gliscor had his back to her, and a small number of breloom and shroomish hovered about, sucking up the water and filtering it through their mushroom-like bodies.

Harlequin couldn't exactly walk past them disguised as the zangoose, nor could she waltz past without her disguise. So she deviated from the path up into the mountain where she dropped her illusion. It was an exhausting ability. The smallest distraction could cause her to drop it. She sat down for a moment, panting, her breath fogging in the air. Moving off the path had caused her to lose Enigma's trail. She stared back down at the river, following the path up to the log bridge that had hidden the nidoking. The carcass was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a pink smear on the white snow where his body had been lying.

It was clear to her that Enigma had gone to investigate it. If he'd found it before it had been moved, he might have picked up some clue as to who had put it there. If that was the case, he'd still be on the other side of the river looking for the culprit. Harlequin would have to find another way across. She stifled a groan and her ears drooped. By the time she found another way to cross, it could be too late. No. She shook herself and raised her head. She'd find another way. She had to.

She rose to her feet and with a small skip she leapt further up the mountain. She kept a wide berth from the pokemon working in the river, keeping to the shade of the evergreens. The path pushed her further and further up the mountain. From higher up, she'd have a better vantage point to find another way across the river.

Her muscles burned with the steep climb, and before long her lungs felt fit to burst. Finally, the trees thinned out and the ground became more level. The cold wind whipped at her fur, biting through to her skin. She grit her teeth and turned into it, squinting back down at the river. It looked like a fine thread winding its way through the white snow. The pokemon were only just visible now. She raised her head to look upstream. No sign of another path. With a defeated sigh, Harlequin pressed on, lowering her head as the wind whipped up fresh snow.

The zorua walked for what felt like hours. Her paw prints left a long trail over the snow that capped the mountain. The wind grew stronger, chilling her to the bone. Her breath fogged heavily before her as she fought her way through the snow. When progress seemed lacking, the zorua was forced down the mountain, choosing an easy path that led even further from the river. It wound down the opposite side of the mountain, curling back slightly towards the village. The wind became less as it was slowed by the mountain's towering peaks and the tall trunks of the evergreens. The shelter was a welcome, albeit brief, respite from the biting cold. The trees thinned out onto a craggy outcrop that stood before a cave. Harlequin's ears pricked and she stopped, panting. A cave promised shelter.

She broke into a trot, finding her second wind at the promise of rest. But her aching paws froze as her gaze danced over the black shapes scattered at the base of a ragged tree. What had once been a towering evergreen looked as if it had been struck by lightning. Its bark was blackened and the trunk split about half way up. Murkrow lay broken and beaten around its base. The black feathers splattered over the white snow were telling of a recent battle. Harlequin's heart clenched. It was much too close to the village for her liking. But whatever the murkrow had encountered, they'd been on the losing end.

Harlequin nudged one of the scrawny bodies. Its feminine head flopped lifelessly. Harlequin licked her dry lips and raised her head, sniffing at the air. All she could smell was murkrow. Murkow… and honey.

She turned her head to look back at the cave and froze. A pair of orange eyes peered out at her. A large pair of yellow wings trembled around a small, grey body.

Harlequin turned fully to face the mothim. "Excuse me? Do you know-"

The mothim took off back into the cave, whipping up snow with his wings.

"Wait!" Harlequin dashed after him and stopped just outside the entrance. The mothim stared back at her, his eyes wide and fearful. "Please. I'm not your enemy. I'm just looking for a friend."

"F-friend?" the mothim stuttered.

"Yes." Harlequin nodded and motioned towards the murkrow. "Do you know what happened here? Did you see anything?"

The mothim peered past her and wound his little paws together. "Y-yes. Are… are the murkrow… your friends?"

"No." Harlequin shook her head slowly and looked back down at the mothim. "Did they hurt you?"

The mothim diverted his gaze back into the cave. "No. They didn't hurt me. Because… because… someone… killed them."

Harlequin's heart leapt into her throat. Enigma? She took a step into the cave and the mothim jumped, his orange eyes locking onto hers.

"Who?" she gasped. "Is he in here? Is he hurt?"

The mothim nodded stiffly but didn't move.

"Please let me see him," she begged. "I can help."

"I… I can't." The mothim trembled and screwed his eyes shut. "I'll fight you! I won't let you hurt him!"

"I'm not going to fight you! Please." She sighed and shook her head. "Look. I'm not your enemy, okay?"

"But you work for Hydreigon," said the mothim. "I know you! You're that poison assassin, and you're here to finish off what the murkrow started."

"No I'm not." Harlequin met the mothim's stare. "Yes, I'm Harlequin. But I don't work for Hydreigon anymore. You want proof? Okay. The river near here is poisoned. Someone murdered the local nidoking and threw his body in the river. Enigma warned the village and they're now clearing the water."

The mothim trembled but defiance flashed in his eyes. "How is that proof?"

"If I were your enemy, would I tell you?" Harlequin inclined her head on one side, prompting a response.

The mothim lowered his gaze and sighed. "Okay. I suppose you wouldn't."

They stood in silence for a moment as Harlequin let the mothim process the situation. After a tense pause, he looked back up at her.

"You can really help him?" he asked.

Harlequin nodded briskly. "Of course!" Her heart was racing. Doubt was clouding her mind. It couldn't be Enigma. The mothim's reaction to her suggested that much. Was it Harbinger? She glanced past him but she couldn't see a thing in the dark. All she could smell was honey, detritus and pollen.

"I have healing berries," she told the mothim. "And herbs."

"That's good." The mothim wound his paws together, his expression calculating. "All I have is honey."

He was silent again, but Harlequin didn't press him any further. She didn't want to spook him, but her paws itched. It took all her self control not to push past him.

Finally the mothim nodded and stood aside, although he still seemed hesitant.

"Okay. I'll let you inside." His voice trembled and he sucked in a sharp breath. "If you can help him, then please… I can't wake him up."

Harlequin padded past, and he pressed against the wall, watching her every move. Someone lay deep in the cave, sprawled out over a bed of dried grass and leaves. Leaves were scattered over their fur like a sparse blanket. Harlequin plodded slowly towards them, her eyes trailing over the fuzzy body. White wisps clung to the leaves and dew soaked the pokemon's brown fur, crystallised from the cold.

Harlequin let out a strangled gasp as she froze with one paw in the air. "Mischief?"

...

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