Gaiden, the lone wolf

            I see everything from a distance.  I live in the dark shadows, out of the world, out of light and into darkness.  I am without emotions, no heart.  I am not an enemy; I am a shadow of Society, and cold.  I am a human, and yet I am not.  This is my story; this is my Houndoom and I.  We are both loners, we are both equals.  I'm sorry if this makes no sense, it has never made sense to be, even since my birth, I was been separated from all society.  I come out at dark and head into the towns rarely, not seeking anyone, but something calls t be in each city, I don't know what.  This is my story, this is my life.

            Gaiden let her leg dangle from a rock under a covered bridge and sniffed the air.  Darkness was approaching.  Gaiden leaped up onto the moist grass.  It was raining and the dark was calling her.  Gaiden ran her hand through her solid black hair and put on her mini jacket over her black shirt and pants. (Mini-jacket, a jacket that only comes halfway to stomach, like what Tidus in FFX wears).  Gaiden passed a puddle of water as she emerged completely out form under the bridge.  Gazing at herself she hissed in haste.  She didn't mind her pearly white teeth.  It was her eyes that enraged her.  They were silver, not brown of hazel.  They were bright; she wanted them to be dark, just like her own soul.  Hissing more she cursed her forgotten parents and then grew angry just at the mere thought of thinking about them.  She stomped her foot into the puddle of water and raced off towards the nearby town.  Her long slender green tail following her the entire way.

            Gaiden arrived into the town and twitched her elf-like green ears at every sound.  Few people were about except at a tavern in front of her.  She edged up to the tavern and noticed a group of bulky men inside near the doorway.  Sharply she turned back and leaned against the doorpost so she wouldn't be seen and let her fangs bite into her lips.  She squeaked out in pain and covered her mouth when she felt something hit her feet.  Looking down she noticed a small blue ball had hit her foot.  She picked it up and studied it and had a flashback,

"Stupid Gaiden put it down!" A man in a lab coat stated furiously.

"But I…he's my friend!" Gaiden screamed, she was a child.

The man began beating her and then threw her into a cage.

            Gaiden returned to the present and felt a tug at her leg.  A little girl with thick blonde hair was tugging at her leg,

"Ma'am, can I have back my ball?"

Gaiden threw down the blue ball and concealed herself closer into the shadows so her face couldn't be seen.  The girl stood there, smiling at Gaiden,

"Would you like to come to dinner?"

Gaiden said nothing.  The girl stayed until a voice echoed,

"Mary, time for dinner"

"Coming!"

Mary hugged the bottom of Gaiden's leg,

"My brother can help you…if you want"

Gaiden said nothing as the girl left inside the tavern.  Gaiden ran swiftly out of town and back to the covered bridge and dove under the water and into a hole and up into a room filled with things.  Gaiden plopped onto her bed made of feathers and grabbed a stash of grapes from a nearby growing vine and ate them before drifting off to sleep.

            Gaiden awoke swiftly from a nightmare and looked around her.  Nothing stirred; only light surrounded her from a lit candle.   She sat down on her floor, which was made of stone and sat Indian style.  She feel deep into thought and was unable to get the girl, Mary, out of her head.  She snorted and swam back outside. (Her house is inside the cement of the bridge with a water escape/entrance) Looking around no lights were visible in the town and she ran towards the town and looked around.  No one was stirring and quietly she walked up to the fruit stand and ate some of the fruit before becoming full and noticing an orange glow in the distance.  Wiping her mouth she headed over to the light and noticed the tavern was on fire. 

            Gaiden turned away from the building.  Someone was probably inside, ready to die, and ready to meet his or her fate.  Gaiden had encountered numerous times in her young life.  Gaiden began towards the gates when Mary's image flashed in her mind.  Trapped inside, choking in the flames.  A horrible fate for a young, sweet, gentle child to face.  Gaiden had not remembered the child in the crowd of numerous survivors that had come out from the scorching flames.  For a moment Gaiden hesitated to go back, but the crash of a beam onto the stone streets made her jump a little and she walked up to an older gentleman and gazed without heart into the fire,

"Has Mary come out yet?"

"Lila Mary? No, say she's already done and dead"

Gaiden cringed and walked into the fire as some of the villagers screamed at her stupidity.  She breathed in the fire, it wasn't a cold lonely feeling like the one in her heart, and it was a bright feeling desire.  She sniffed the air and raced over to a closet and shoved it open.  Inside Mary lay, her golden blonde hair was singed badly black.  Gaiden picked up Mary and covered her mouth with a cloth that hadn't caught fire yet.  She noticed that the area she had come in from was covered heavily with deathly smoke.  Clutching Mary tightly to her she looked for an exit but found none.  In haste she looked for a cleared window but found only bare walls, singed coldly with the fire's haste.  Mary was coughing and Gaiden felt like coughing herself.  Gaiden turned to a wall near the door, fire had not spread to much to it and Gaiden stepped back, clutching Mary even tighter she rammed through the wall and crash onto the street on her back.  Gaiden lay there as a woman picked up Mary and two villagers looked hard at Gaiden,

"It's a demon!"

"Kill her, no right in letting her life!"

Some villagers began throwing things at Gaiden who hopped wearily back onto her feeet and edged back towards a house.  The villagetrs grew closer to her with knives and sticks.  Some countiued to throw things, when a buff-middle-aged man took the hand of one of the villagers,

"Stop it now, this girl, demon or whatever she is, saved my sister's life, listen, if you want to harm her for doing right, then go right ahead."

Some of the villagers snickered before leaving as an ambulance arrived on the scene.  The man smiled at Gaiden,

"Come to the mayor's house, my sis will be okay, but the two of us need to talk"

Gaiden hesitated and began to leave.  The man pulled out a solid, hard stick and hit his hands with it,

"Listen…please, I need you"

Gaiden began leaving as the man slammed her head with the stick and Gaiden crashed into the ground and the man did nothing but stare at her.

            When Gaiden awoke she looked around.  She was in a dimly lit office.  In front of her was a tall man in his twenties who was drinking a glass of coke.  Gaiden plunged herself at the door and desperately tried to open it,

"You will not keep me here!"

Calmly the man spoke,

"My name is Norman, its okay, one of my men saved you"

Gaiden snorted at his remark and countiued trudging at the door, though she knew it was hopeless,

"Let me go!  I'm not a monster, I'm a human!"

"I understand that, others don't, that's why you have concealed yourself to darkness, forced yourself to forget your past, and live in a bridge outside of town"

Gaiden calmed down and faced the man,

"You…know about my past?"

"Yes," Norman said taking a sip of coke, "You were an experiment, taken form your loving and devoted parents, they changed you, so you would become a true demon…but your parents died freeing you, and thus you became without emotions"

"Yeah?  What are you going to do about it?"

"You have a Pokemon with you, a Houndoom no doubt, you care about him don't you?"

"Yes…" Gaiden forced out.  She cared, but she disliked having her emotions poured out over it.

"I'm glad to hear that, I understand what you've been through, but we need you…to assist us in our quest for darkness"

"Quest for darkness, you mean for evil purposes, or just because you hate the light?"  Gaiden said with a little f annoyance in her voice.

Norman laughed, "No, no, you see, darkness if for the innocent, light is for the weak,"

"Strange, I've heard it the other way around"

"Yes, but you enjoy the dark no?  Your innocent, of crimes and all?"

Gaiden nodded, "So, what exactly is 'The Quest'"

"Simple, I assign you to a mission, sometimes others will work with you, sometimes not"

"I work alone," Gaiden said sternly.

"Alright, whatever, but we need someone like you, you got power in you that no one else has"

"Whatever" Gaiden said turning her back.

"Listen…your first mission is to sign these papers, after that I want you to head out, I'll contact you via phone when I have your first mission"

Gaiden hastily took a pen and signed the paper that Norman placed in front of her.  Norman tore off the bottom and handed the rest to Gaiden,

"The pledge is on there, and take your phone, you can only keep your Houndoom, the rest of the rules are on the paper, move out"

Gaiden closed her eyes and walked out closing the door gently behind her.  Norman smiled,

"She has great power, everyone has power inside them, and sometimes it takes a lifetime to find"

            Gaiden collapsed back onto her bed.  The sun was beginning to rise and she had gotten little sleep.  It was too late for sleep now though and she turned to her Houndoom who napped on the floor.  Reaching into her jacket pocket she pulled out a slab of thick red meat and tossed it to Houndoom who wolfed it down and fell asleep again.  Gaiden looked up and fell back onto her bed thinking about the night before.  She heard a crash nearby and looked into the water.  Peebles from the roof had fallen in.  Looking up, more small pebbles fell into the water.  They were getting bigger and bigger now.  Gaiden told Houndoom to head outside and he jumped into the water.  Gaiden grabbed what few things she had that mattered and stuffed them into a pack and grabbed the paper and phone she had gotten earlier. Then she dove back into the water and followed her Houndoom back outside.

            "That demon's in here alright" A group of men were using a drill on top of a cement ledge that led into the bridge were Gaiden lived.

"Her parent's might've gotten her out twelve years ago, but it won't work now"

"I kind of wish they hadn't gave her demon age too, she'll live to be at least 600, how old is she now?"

The captain stood in thought a little before answering,

"About 26, maybe 27, not too old, she won't start showing age till she's 300"

"Hey um, sorry to interrupt, but, isn't that her running with the Houndoom?"

The Capitan grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked off into a distant plain where Gaiden and her Houndoom were bolting away.

"What are you waiting on?!  Go get her!"

The others piled into four cars and the captain hopped into car five.  Loaded with tranquilizers they gave chase. 

            Gaiden ran swiftly with Houndoom not looking behind them.  Gaiden was a swift runner die to her demon implants.  It would take a lot before her lungs would burn or she would grow tired.  Houndoom braved the odds and looked behind them.  The cars and jeeps were still in hot pursuit of them.  Gaiden looked behind them, it would be impossible for them to outrun them.  Gaiden clinched her fists and ran harder and looked down at the ground as a shadow, a large black shadow moved above them.  Gaiden followed it and noticed it was helicopter and its ladder was down.  Gaiden didn't know whether to take this as a treat or invitation.  She knew she had no choice and grabbed hold of the ladder and helped Houndoom to cling to the ladder as they looked behind them to see the men angrily shake their fists at them.  The ladder slowly began rising and Gaiden and Houndoom found themselves inside a luxiourious helicopter.  Gaiden noticed Norman who was sitting in a chair near the control panel.  The helicopter was being driven by an older man.  Norman smiled at Gaiden,

"So…how are you?"

Gaiden laughed to herself at the joke but replied,

"What'd you think?!"

"Sorry" Norman said taking a sip of water, "I was trying to make a joke"

"So, where are we heading to?"

"We're heading to the official Convoy headquarters, there you'll meet a few other members, and before we go, you need to be familiar with the pledge"

"Pledge, okay whatever"

"It's not something that simple…I guess you read it"

"Yeah…I pledge…"

"Yeap, that's it, it should take a little while to get there, so make yourself comfy"

Gaiden found a chair and sat down looking outside.  It was not a chair made for her, her long tail made it nearly impossible to ever sit comfortably.  Gaiden decided to take a quick nap and turned to Houndoom,

"Keep a watch kay, you're powerful enough"

Houndoom nodded and looked more alert than ever before.  Slowly Gaiden drifted to sleep, but a dream kept it from being sweet…

Gaiden woke up sweating.  In her dream she remembered how she came to be, starting as a chill they attached a tail, fangs, ears to her, increased her speed.  She was a mutate and a demon.  Gaiden shook her head and turned to Houndoom who looked pitifully at her,

"Houndoom, you're the only one I can trust, my only friend"

Norman leaned down and looked at Gaiden,

"We're landing now, so grab your bag and I'll give you your first mission when we land" Norman walked away and Gaiden tossed a strand of her hair back,

"I've always wanted someone to care, a human to care"

            "Welcome Gaiden, to team Convoy!"

Gaiden looked around the large building another man leaned against a pillar and was gulping down a bottle of water.  The steam from the desert air had risen creating mirages outside.  Norman motioned for the man to come over and Gaiden studied him, he was tall and introduced himself as