Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the creature that carried her to a sure death, stumble and soften the grip on her to such measures, she slipped between his claws and started falling. The ground got closer by the second, and sensing her death, the eevee screamed of fear, and shut her eyes tightly, waiting for a rush of pain to swarm across every bone in her body, and to feel her organs exploding and filling with blood. That impact never came, as her body collided with something soft an fluffy. Gathering all the courage left in her passive soul, she oppened her icy eyes in time to see the crimson crest of a pidgeot beneath her little body, the wind playing with the creamy fur of her neck, and the flaming fur of her tail and forehead. Tilting her head a great conffusion flowed through her body, why did he save her if he wanted to eat her? The response came quickly as the high pitched, angry scream of a large bird echoed in the skies, and she looked up to see again that same golden beak and angry, vicious gaze she had observed earlier. The animal attacking her now was the one that had attempted to eat Ash previously, and taken her instead, however she was riding on the back of a pidgeot, male as well, and that fact was confusing since these animals are known between eevees as one of the most lethal predators to them. Her train of thought was broken abruptly as the pidgeot she was riding on flipped on the air, making the surprised dog fall off his back, to resume his normal position. Elly expected a long fall before colliding with the hard ground, but it was inmediatly after the pidgeot had manoeuvred that way that she made contact with the soft, moist grass. The great bird had been flying low to avoid harming her when he dropped her, "why?" Elly had whispered to herself as soon as she had been able to regain her conciousness after the shock of the previous events. Ash tackled her in a tight hug, breathing heavily and with his face wet with tears, he pressed her against himself, "Elly, stupid, why did you do it? Fool, you are nothing but a fool" he kept repeating over and over, not releasing the hug as in fear she might be captured again if done so. The female creature was surprised about the male's reaction, hesitantly she placed her paws around him and embraced him, but her eyes stared at him as if under a new light, "Ash..." she whispered to herself, being unheard by the teenager.

Both creatures parted away quickly as the shrieks and squeaks of the two pidgeots were heard in the sky. Their eyes stared in surprise at the battle going on, claws clashing with each other in a battle of accuracy and strength, beaks trying to reach the other's delicate wings, and in general both attempting to remain on the winds as long as possible. The new pidgeot, of clearer colour than the previous assasin, evaded a well directed and murderous attack from the darker one and flew down to the eevees, "quick, to the forest!" he yelled at them flying back up and attacking the other pidgeot with a dashing flight and a strong bash in the stomach. The two little dogs didnt hesitate before obeying the avis' words, and their agile and strong legs, wich had become more muscular in the past weeks of journey, directed them torwards the calm looking forest at a dashing speed. They didnt look back, but the sound of battle was right behind them, the yells of war emmited by the pidgeots, the shrieks of pain when their feathers and flesh where slashed, all this sending chills through the canine's spines. The unmistakable sound of a body collapsing reached their ears, but Ash didnt look back, his body was being impulsed torwards the forest by a strange force, a strange magick, and a feeling of fear that pressed his heart until draining all blood from it. He penetrated the shadows of the forest, and stopped inmediatly, a strange emotion penetrating his soul. Elly noticed and stopped, slipping slightly against the humid moss, "Ash? What is it?" she asked cautiously, taking a step back to approach him. Ash stared into empty space, his eyes lost, gazing at some point only he could see, "I...I dont know, Elly, something seems to be really wrong..." he explained in a droned voice, almost as if he wasnt the one speaking, as if it was someone else handling his vocal chords.

An acute scream echoed throught the tense forest athmosphere, a yell that pulled Ash out of his trance. His eyes widdened in realization as his memory kicked him, reminding him of the owner of the feminine voice that had screamed. The terror of such sound filled his heart, it was emmited by a person who was suffering complete agony, and fear, a fear beyond any known. Ash stood straight, his ears pricked and listening carefully, directing hisattention to the point where the scream had arrived from and calculating the direction he would have to take to reach the owner, "MISTY!" he howled loudly, with all the strenght his lungs could gather, almost as if he could summon the woman by his side by simply howling. Knowing well that magick wouldnt ocur, he started galloping torwards the darkness that had become the forest, forgetting Elly and everything else, only thinking about saving the woman he once loved from the claws of some evil creature attempting to destroy her. Elly saw him vanish into the darkness, but didnt attempt to move at first, her eyebrows narrowed as her heart felt slashed by the claws of a demonic creature, burning with the flames of rage and jeallowsy, and crying with the despair of knowledge, knowledge that the one she loved couldnt forget the lady he still loved, even in animal shape. She shook her head, as betrayed as she was feeling she couldnt leave Ash, one single reason impulsed her forward, torwards the shadows of fear that expanded in front of her, that floated over her shape menacingly, the care he had shown her today. He hadnt left her, he had raced until exhaustion after a flying lord, after the perfect predator, a pidgeot, and he had done that because he cared, and he didnt give up. She was grateful, grateful at his loyalty and grateful that she had found a true friend, she would not abandon him now, now that he was on the blade of the knife. By saying such, she sprinted forward in a gallop, penetrating the darkness wrapping the forest's heart, and only then did she realize how peculiar this was. It was daylight, a bright sun glowed on the sky, glittering with his light of life and awakening the plants and animals as mating season drew near, (something Elly had been feeling very intensely). Yet inside the forest it seemed as if the darkness of beggining had arrived, it didnt feel like night time, since night is a time of the light-darkness cycle eevees adored, it was more as if something really evil was hatching in the core of this woodland. She could see the trees, but their baks were of a peculiar grey colour, not like the Napyn Arpben, the silver tree, of a bright and healthy grey colour. It was a dull grey, approaching black, and you could easily see it's fragile constitution, "oh Mew, these trees are dead...all of them" the canine gasped loudly, stopping and moving in circles, gazing with surprised and fear at the numerous beings that towered over her. The whitish mist that floated around the darkness, blocking all sight and replacing light with a dull, silvrish glitter, filled the female's heart, taking control of it, and directing her emotions torwards feeling the most intense fear and terror ever imagined. She yelled and started running, trotting at full speed to escape the creatures that attempted to race afte her, the impenetrable silence becoming a swish by her ears as her little body raised a tiny gust of wind. As she run, her mind became concious of her situation, of the event that had gotten her lost in the core of all evil, she was there to help Ash. She stopped once again, ad scented the heavy and tense air, praying to the gods that the slightest molecule belonging to Ash or her friends reached her nose.

Ash trotted for a few minutes, not realizing the thick darkness that slowly revolved around him, threatening him, not even realizing the grass crushing under his feet, or the dull grey trees that seemed to slither behind his back in an attempt to grab him with their dry branches. He just raced, guided by his heart, torwards the place where his human friends should be. He leapt over a bush which had turned completely black, as if a flame had devoured the living matter that onced formed the aromatic lavender plant. His eyes widdened at the vision in front of his dog eyes. A large branch made it's way torwards the two humans, the trees seeked revenge and were decided to destroy any creature that looked similar to humans, of which protected them. But to Ash, who had seen many thing and live numerous myths, that was not surprising, he was used to peculiar events, and to fighting the most pictoresque creatures. The surprise came when Tracey, his old friend and rival, moved forward and extended his hand, as if attempting to stop the branch by making such body sing. Ash would have thought he was simply trying to protect the delicate Elven girl, if his eyes hand seen an orb of white light escape from his hand and travel torwards the branch. It was as if the man had taken a star from the sky, and thrown if forward to destroy evil, and for a brief moment, the darknes subsided, and crept under the coolness of rocks and roots. This event lasted little time. As the star reached the murderous branch, it shrieked and crawled, strangling itself and twisting, feeling the burning heat of purity consuming it's corrupted blow of life. As the star vanished into blueish particles that floated magically across the heavy athmosphere, the essence of evil stood up again, poweful and strong, fighting against the powers of good that had sneaked into his spawning pool. But Ash didnt notice, he was shocked at the human, he had always thought he was an Elf, but perhaps his idea was further than he expected, since Elves are known for wisdom, inmorality, beauty and an incredibly powerful healing powers, and the magick of summonin elements. The magick of focusin energy into creating an offensive weapon was not an ability known to Elves, then if Tracey was not an Elf, what was he?

Ash's train of though was broken as his eyes saw another branch, this attempting to grab Misty from the side, a branch so silent it was going unnoticed, a treacherous apendice belonging to a tree with dark and assasin ideas. Ash growled, baring his teeth, the silky, young fur that formed his body standing on end, trying to make him look larger, the mane around his neck expanded to nearly twice the size, making him look like a male Savhana Persian. He trotted torwards the red haired Elf and leapt, growling at the branch, barking with rage, commanding it to leave, threatening it with a panful bite. He stood over the branch, and bit it hard, getting bit's of bark on his tounge and between his fangs, feeling the metallic taste of blood as the razor edges of the broken branch cut his gums. The banch, weak and dry, snapped under the dog's weight, and broke, releasing a rain of wooden particles of a greyish black colour, throwing the surprised canine on the floor, who wasnt expecting to end the fight so easily. He rolled down and stared up again, staring with calculating eyes at the falling branch. He leapt off in time to feel the silent swish of the air moving as the solid object made it's way down. He didnt see the shocked expression in the woman's face, whose body was frozen due to the continuous waves of shock received, "first Tracey, now this eevee...what will come next?" she thought, not angry or annoyed at their abilities or misterious appereance, but at the fact that in a little while, strange events were happening. Her eyes followed the valiant's eevee movements, a tiny smile twitching at the corners of her fleshy lips as the two creatures, eevee and something else, coordinated their moves in a team battle. Tracey looked at the eevee, his mind authomatically knowing that the little creature was on their side, "eevee!" he called out in a loud voice, trying to overpower the cracks and shrieks of the old, rotten wood in it's wild movement. Ash looked at the human, his eyes studying the boy's body and it unmistakable sings, however, a single glance of his eyes told him the message the human had been trying to send. Union made strength. And so it was, since Ash nodded and that same moment he leapt aside avoiding the furious attack of a branch, acting like a half ton club, trying to crush the little eevee against the hard floor. Ash hadnt recovered yet from the attack when his brown eyes where blinded by the brilliance of a blue light as one of the orbs exploded against the large branch, destroying it. He heard the branch screach, twist and slither away as the burning fire of purity consumed it. It hit him, Tracey was not evil, not if he could handle weapons so sacred as to destroy evil. Ash stood up and smiled at the human, a confident nod sent him the knowledge that he was glad he could trust him, but Tracey saw a deeper message in his moves, "he bears the bravery of Ash, and his same sings, his same moves...his same eyes" he thought, suspicious about the eevee's origins, and the fact that a wild one would desire to help them out. Ash, oblivious to the creature's suspicions, raced torwards the tree, his mane and fur inflated once more, his fangs, now rosy with blood, bared, and his eyes glittering with the light of determination. He stopped on his tracks however, his eyes widdening in fear, his claws digging deeper into the cement solid soil as fear and shock overcame him. Two large leaves with razor edges flew torwards him, aimed at his throat, spinning like wheels of doom. He shook his head slightly, he hadnt expected this, he sure hadnt.

To Be Continued...

AN: ok, sure took me a long time to update, but I hadnt had time to write with all the contests I've been entering, and all the exams I've been having to do this past three months. Well, what will happen to Ash? Also critics are completely welcome, but incoherent flaming is not, if you do not like the story, then shut up, I didnt like Lord of the Ring's first book, too slow, yet I think it's a great book. I like Harry Potter, yet i think it's plagerism. If you think something should be fixed, then review, if you think i suck, I dont have to hear it from you, I will know it myself. There are more cute stories written by me, so you could take a look at them. BTW, thank you to all who read the story, reviewed or not, I hope you are enjoying.