Needed a pick-me-up today; it was a stressful day, so I have released this chapter a bit early. Updates won't be quite this fast from here on out.

I would like to thank everyone who read the first chapter, particularly if you've reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. Here is the second chapter of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Wolf Quest!

In my dream, I was somewhere else.

I found myself wandering down a long, dark corridor. I could barely make out the sides of the hallway, just the fact that they were there. As you can imagine, it was rather unnerving.

Seconds later, the hallway vanished, and I found myself in a certain type of culinary establishment; a bakery, if you will. The refrigerated shelves were piled high with tarts, donuts, muffins, donut muffins (yes, those are a thing), and pies. All sorts of pleasant smells wafted around the room.

My twin brother and I alternated our time between the kitchen, where we worked to knead dough, fill turnovers and tarts, work the ovens, etc., and the dining room, where we actually sold our baked goods. We'd started this business up six months ago, and had seen a steady stream of customers ever since.

On some level, I wondered if the customers were coming here because they liked the pastries, or simply because they felt sorry for us. Either way, however, we were turning a profit. More importantly, it gave us something to do after the tragedy that had befallen us last year.

Suddenly, the air grew cold. It was as though the refrigerator had expanded to cover the entire building as opposed to just the area with the pastries. I shivered, and I could tell that Elijah was shivering as well.

"Is it just me, or is it really chilly here all of a sudden?" Elijah asked, his teeth chattering.

"I think it's t-the l-l-latter" I replied, trying not to chip one of my fangs. "The central heating must not be working properly."

But that wasn't it. I know this, because the sky outside suddenly became a dark purple. The ground froze into an ice skating rink. Most ominously of all, two bright red shapes appeared on the windows.

"Well, that escalated quickly," I blurted out.

Elijah's jaw dropped. "I don't know what this sudden chill is about, but it can't be good news!"

Probably the most worrisome part about this whole thing was that Elijah seemed scared. Although we were identical in appearance, that didn't mean we were identical in personality; my brother was often more level-headed than I was.

The point, of course, is that if my brother was worried, I had even more reason to be scared than I'd already possessed.

Seconds later, the customers of the bakery all collapsed to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Elijah and I, however, were unaffected.

"Okay, Eliot. Something's just not quite right here! I'm pretty sure mass fainting doesn't happen naturally. We should probably escape."

"Escape? But you've got nowhere to go!"

My lips hadn't moved, and it would make no sense for my brother to reply to himself. Once I looked towards the windows, however, I saw something that was utterly bone-chilling, even if the temperature inside the bakery hadn't been.

Those red shapes I mentioned above? They were eyes. And they resembled the eyes of an Absol more than anything else.

Shivering violently, I dropped the plate I'd been carrying, and it crashed to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

"Ha! You're scared! Well, why don't I lay down the law: Join us, and we'll spare you! Join us, and we'll give you whatever you want, whatever it may be, for the rest of your existence!"

It was a tempting offer, not least because we'd both live. That being said, I couldn't help but feel as though we were being extorted.

I silently debated whether I should go along with what the Absol wanted, but before I came to a decision, my eyelids fluttered open, and I found myself back in a familiar place.

When I woke up in the tent, I felt as though I'd been experiencing the mother of all night sweats. Not only was my body drenched in cold water, but so was the inside of my sleeping bag.

My breathing was rather labored, and I tried to remind myself that what I'd just seen was only a bad dream. It might have been terrifying, but the events it depicted hadn't really been happening at that moment.

Actually, wait…yeah, they kind of already happened.

The sequence of events in real life hadn't been exactly the same as they'd been in my dream. I felt certain that I'd relive the actual events most nights from here on out, even if the last thing I wanted was to experience them all over again.

Anyway, the best way to get one's mind off of something is usually to get busy with something else. So that's exactly what I did; I stood up onto my four paws and looked around the inside of the tent.

It was flooded.

Most tents were waterproof; at least, I'd thought they were. It seemed that the ones Rose had packed were an exception, which made me mentally kick myself even more for not having brought one for myself.

Wading through several inches of dirty rainwater, I fantasized about how things would be if I'd taken more time to think. I'd have my own waterproof tent to sleep in, but things wouldn't be perfect by any means; Rose's tent was presumably non-waterproof as well.

In that case, I would have been keeping her in a leaky tent. Reminds me of that song "Six Hours In A Leaky Tent" by Split Entei. Jokes aside, that would've been such a shitty thing to do after she already gave me so much.

Shivering almost uncontrollably, I grimaced at the thought of how close I might have come to death. If Rose hadn't found me when she did, I would have been mauled by that Breloom yesterday.

Because my paws were shaking, it was rather tough to unzip the door of the tent. It took me a few tries, but once I was outside the tent, I saw that the weather had changed somewhat.

The sky had lightened considerably; sunrise was close at hand. The rain had also lightened; now, it was the slightest misty drizzle as opposed to a raging downpour. That being said, it still wasn't even close to warm.

I could still hear deep, even breathing coming from the other tent. Rose was evidently still asleep; hopefully she was having far more pleasant dreams than mine had been. If so, she deserved them.

I don't want to wake her up, but I'm quite cold. She's the only one of us who can make fire.

Looking at the tent again, I struggled with the question of whether or not I should rouse her. She seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully, and after everything that had happened yesterday, she had earned her rest. Even if she didn't know everything that had happened to me.

Frowning, I shook my head. Rose deserved to sleep in a bit if she wanted to. Besides, one needed wood to build a fire, so I gritted my teeth and resolved to re-enter the forest in order to collect it.

Within seconds I knew I'd made the right call. Getting my muscles moving again helped keep the circulation in my damp paws. It also warmed up my upper body, and made me feel a little less sluggish.

While collecting wood, I had plenty of time to think about my next move. Surprisingly, for all of this thought, I didn't get much clarity.

After escaping Ilion City, there was no way in hell I'd return there willingly. While I'd made some good memories there, they were mostly overshadowed by what had happened yesterday. Besides, it wasn't safe.

Once I got back to my map, assuming it wasn't soaking wet, I promised myself that I'd give it a good look to help plot my route. And I was kicking myself, too, because for all my desperation to leave Ilion City, I'd barely considered where I would go after that. What city would give me asylum?

After the fourth trip back to the tents, I saw that Rose was sitting outside of hers. She was using one of her tails to give herself a back rub, which looked nice and all, but I wasn't going to ask her for one myself. I knew, of course, what would happen if I touched one of her tails.

Considering all the bad luck I've had the last year, the last thing I need is a curse on top of it.

"Good morning, Eliot," the Ninetales said sweetly as I spat some wood out of my mouth. (Yes, it might not be sanitary, but it's the best I could do as a quadruped.)

"M-morning, Rose" I replied, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept pretty well, all things considered," Rose responded. "Camping's never really been my thing, how about you?"

I grimaced. "Had a nightmare. And the bottom of my tent was flooded."

The Ninetales' eyes widened, and her mouth hung open. "I'm so sorry to hear that," she said. "You must be really cold."

"That's why I was gathering firewood. I was hoping you could build something to warm up these old bones."

Rose frowned. "How old are you, Eliot? Because you don't look elderly to me."

"Eighteen, you?"

The Ninetales frowned again. "It's a bit rude to ask a woman her age. I'd think you would know that."

I felt a mixture of guilt and exasperation, but then Rose laughed. It was a good, hearty laugh that could probably melt a glacier single-handedly.

"Just kidding, it's fine. I'm twenty. But we can hold off on the personal stuff for now. I'll light the fire."

"Thank you" I mouthed, suddenly out of breath. "That means a lot to me."

A minute later, we were sitting around a decently-sized flame, which Rose told me could have been a lot bigger. "We could have built a bonfire with all the wood you brought" were her exact words.

For a few minutes, we just sat there, content simply to have one another for company. The fire took some of the chill out of the air, but not all of it.

"Do you have any food we can cook? We didn't have dinner last night" the Ninetales asked me after a while.

Without hesitation, I nodded. Perhaps it was a bit rash to offer some of my own food reserves to the Pokémon I'd just met, but I trusted Rose with my life; after all, she'd saved it. Given that, it would have been extraordinarily rude to deny her something she needed if I could help it.

"I've got some rice, beans, canned fruit…we're going to have a gourmet feast!" I exclaimed, trying for a laugh.

Rose had been thinking ahead; she'd brought along a pot and a few plastic bowls in her backpack. Within a few minutes, we'd cooked up some fruity rice with beans on the side.

Contrary to my exclamation described above, our meal wasn't anything close to what you'd eat at a five-star restaurant. Fruit with rice wasn't a combination that went well together, but considering that it was actually a hot meal, it felt almost like heaven.

During our meager meal, Rose tried to make small talk with me, but my heart wasn't in it. Whenever anything came up that might remind me of this past year, I would refuse to answer.

It wasn't out of a desire to shut her out of the conversation, either. I just didn't want to talk; unfortunately, it seemed that just about any topic could end up leading back to my life. Since Rose was similarly evasive, I decided that, for better or worse, we would remain enigmas to one another, at least for now.

In the end, we mostly talked about our favorite foods. It was during this line of talk that I slipped up.

"I really love baked goods," I said at one point. "My brother and I used to run a bakery in Ilion City."

Almost immediately, I realized that I'd said too much. I didn't expect Rose to use that information against me; hell, I didn't even know how she could. But it could easily steer this conversation into some dangerous waters.

Fortunately, the Ninetales didn't seem to think twice about it. She didn't seem too suspicious, at least at first.

"That sounds pleasant. Although I wonder why you're not with your brother now."

Shit, I thought, a lump rising in my throat. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up having to explain the truth about what had happened to Elijah.

"We had a falling out" I said simply. "I needed some time to myself in the woods, and I got lost, so it's a good thing I met you."

With every word, I felt as though I were stabbing myself with a toothpick. To throw my brother under the bus like this, even if he wasn't here to see it, felt wrong. So did lying to Rose about the real reason for his absence. But I didn't see any other choice.

"Uh-huh" the Ninetales responded, nodding. "In any case, we should probably get going. We'll each carry one tent and half our remaining food, how does that sound?"

To me, it sounded like a pretty sweet deal. The cans had really been weighing me down, so it would be a huge relief to have to carry less of them. I agreed to Rose's suggestion.

A few minutes later we were back on the road, the Ninetales leading the way. I asked Rose where we were going, but I trusted her wholeheartedly; if she'd wanted to harm me, she could have simply let me be in that mushroom field.

"We're heading for Angelcaida City on the other side of the forest, '' Rose replied, twirling one of her tails. "We should be there tomorrow, but it's important we reach the edge of the forest as soon as possible."

"Why is that?" I asked.

Rose didn't even hesitate; it was as though she'd swallowed Poképedia and set it to the text-to-speech option.

"The forest is a Mystery Dungeon; it's where two or more ley lines beneath the planet's surface intersect. Reality is…warped within them, to put it one way."

I'd heard of Mystery Dungeons before, and even knew some Pokémon who'd explored them, but I'm the first to admit that I didn't know the mechanics of them too well. I knew the part about ley lines, but that was more in the realm of "book smarts" than "street smarts."

"And the reason we need to get there quickly is because…".

"The dungeon's borders close when night falls. If that happens while we're inside the dungeon, we will not be able to leave until it gets light again. And I'd rather not take our chances with feral Pokémon."

Now that we were talking about Angelcaida City, I remembered the name of the forest between it and Ilion City. On a map, it was referred to as the Forest of Eternal Night, or, more colloquially, as the Forest of Mean.

Needless to say, those nicknames didn't exactly inspire confidence within me. For a Day Lycanroc such as myself, the Forest of Eternal Night felt ominous. It was probably full of hazards; but then again, what Mystery Dungeon wasn't?

As the dawn progressed further into the day, the rain stopped eventually. It felt good to no longer be drenched by falling water, but the sun was still hiding behind the clouds. The numerous puddles that had formed thanks to the storm remained on the path.

We traversed the sodden landscape for several hours as the air steadily warmed. Before long, my legs were starting to ache from the exertion.

"Can we stop for a break?" I asked at one point, breathing heavily. "I don't think I can keep going like this forever."

Rose shook her head, whipping one of her tails around. I don't think she meant to curse me, but I still had to jump out of the way.

"I'm sorry, but we can't," the Ninetales replied. "If we stop now, we might never get going again. Neither of us slept well last night; didn't you say you had a nightmare?"

"Yes" I admitted, still not eager to tell Rose the specifics. "I did. Which is why I'd love to get a bit more sleep soon enough. Can't we go through the dungeon tomorrow instead?"

Even as I asked that question, I knew it was pretty unwise to do so. We were making pretty good progress, so why stop now?

Rose glared at me. "The best course of action is to reach Angelcaida City as soon as possible. Don't you want to find a nice, warm bed and have an actual gourmet meal?"

I sighed. "You sure know how to convince me."

It was probably about midday by the time we reached the entrance to the dungeon. By then, I was thoroughly exhausted from the journey; true to her word, Rose had not allowed us any breaks.

I didn't blame her, of course; I had no reason to. The fact was, she had a point. If I took too long a rest (and it would be hard to continue after stopping for an extended period), I'd likely just sit there until I died of starvation. Something about being out in the pouring rain had sapped much of my energy.

The sun did come out eventually, which was a major relief. In a way, it was almost symbolic, because it came at a time when the dark clouds were lifting over my mood as well.

My old life is gone, and it's never coming back. But at least I have Rose here with me, and we're going to find Angelcaida City. It could always be worse.

Although I'd never been inside a Mystery Dungeon before, I knew the entrance when I saw it. How else would I have perceived the dark, skeletal thicket of trees, packed so tightly together that I could see nothing of the inside? What else could it be when a considerable layer of mist lay over the whole thing?

"This is it" I mouthed as we approached the entrance to the forest. "The Forest of Eternal Life, is it not?"

"Indeed it is," Rose responded. "Now, I take it you've never been inside a Mystery Dungeon before?"

"How did you know?"

"With all due respect, Eliot, you didn't seem to know the part about the dungeon's borders closing at night. That's probably the most important thing to remember about dungeon exploration, so I'd think you would know it by now."

I rolled my eyes. I knew, of course, that it was wrong to do so to the person who'd given me so much, but one could say that my nerves were getting the better of me. Despite the warming air, I shivered as I peered into the fog.

Rose frowned, but didn't comment on my gesture. Instead, she continued with, "We'd better get inside. Time moves faster in Mystery Dungeons, sometimes by up to a factor of six; that is, an hour passes in what feels like just ten minutes. So time is of the essence."

I sighed. Almost every part of my body, as well as most parts of my mind, were telling me that I shouldn't enter the forest. This was to be my first dungeon, and I had exactly zero experience with them. It would have been much better if we'd had a chance to prepare beforehand.

At the same time, much like earlier, I knew Rose was right. Why is she always right?

Minor resentment aside, there was one part of my body telling me to follow the Ninetales into the dungeon: My brain. And ultimately, that was the organ that won out.

"Let's go," I said simply. "It's just like you said, we have a lot of ground to cover. And we don't know how many floors this dungeon has; is there a sign or something that would tell us that?"

Rose laughed dryly. "If such a sign existed in there, it wouldn't exactly be a Mystery Dungeon, would it be?"

I nearly face-pawed at that joke (if it was even supposed to be one) but I knew better than to argue with her. At least I'd demonstrated some knowledge of dungeons, but I suspected there were no skills I had that Rose couldn't use five times better.

Anyway, I allowed the Ninetales to take the lead into the forest. With each step towards the entrance, my heart beat faster, and I had the urge to step more gingerly than I had before.

Just when the sun had finally begun to shine, we were about to abandon the warmth and light for the Forest of Eternal Night.

As soon as we stepped through the portal to the dungeon (which presented itself in the form of a glowing door made from tree branches), the door abruptly shut behind us. I slammed my body against it, trying to open it back up.

"It's no use, Eliot," the Ninetales told me. "You can't exit a dungeon the same way you came in. We'll have to get to the other side before we can leave."

Much like several times earlier in the day, I knew Rose was right. All that I'd achieved by ramming against the door was giving myself a blinder of a headache, which didn't exactly accomplish anything positive.

Instead, I took a look at my other surroundings. And what I saw made me shiver even more than I already was.

Although it had been high noon just outside the forest, the area beneath the trees was dark enough that it would have been very hard to read without artificial light, even considering a Lycanroc's excellent night vision. The sun was no longer visible overhead, as though an enchantment had been used to block it out.

"Do you know how to navigate a dungeon?" I asked Rose. "I mean, I'm assuming you've done this before, but…".

The Ninetales shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Eliot. I don't have any sixth sense if that's what you're asking. Navigating a dungeon is all about trial and error."

I frowned. "That's rough. But I'll trust your judgment still; I've got no reason not to. Ladies first."

It might have been a bit rude to tell a woman to lead the way through a dark Mystery Dungeon, but Rose didn't seem offended. She looked at the three paths before us and selected the one on the left.

"We'll go down this path," she said. "Of course, it might be a dead end, in which case we'll have to retrace our steps. But the layout of a dungeon is different every day, so even if we get out of it this time, when we get out of it, the dungeon will just rearrange itself overnight."

"You said if," I pointed out. "Are you sure we're going to get out of here?"

"Yes, Eliot. We can make our way through to the other side. And if we don't, then we've got tents. We can spend the night if we absolutely have to."

The path was rather treacherous; there were a number of roots we had to step over of various heights. At one point I rolled my ankle on one of them, and Rose moved forward for a few seconds while I was still.

She turned to face me after a moment. "Eliot, we're on a time-sensitive mission!" she snapped at me.

"Sorry about that. I twisted my ankle on a root. I'll be more careful next time."

Once the pain subsided, we kept moving for a few minutes; at least, it felt like a few minutes. If Rose was right (and I didn't see any reason to doubt this claim), that didn't matter one bit.

At last, we reached a dead end. The path was blocked by what looked like a giant stone, probably about six feet tall, hanging from a branch roughly twice that height.

"Do we try to push it out of the way?" I asked Rose.

The Ninetales shook her head. "No, that's a terrible idea. Do you hear that?"

Once we were both silent, I heard what seemed like a slight humming noise. Then, the humming intensified into buzzing, like the sound of a dozen miniature lawn mowers.

"It's a Beedrill nest," Rose muttered. "We'd best turn around and choose a different path. Their stings are poisonous, and we don't have any Antidotes."

I may have only known Rose for less than a day, but I was already thoroughly impressed with all her knowledge. Finding her in the middle of the Mist Continent was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event; if I ever made it back to civilization, it would make sense to play the lottery.

Anyway, we steered clear of the nest, turning around and making our way back down that corridor. This time, I was far more careful where I stepped, eager to avoid a repeat injury.

We made it back to the entrance, then selected a different path. Or, more accurately, Rose selected the path; they all looked the same to me. I wasn't going to argue, not least because she needed me a lot less than I needed her.

The Ninetales had claimed that she had no sixth sense regarding dungeons, but you could've fooled me. For the next twenty minutes or so, we didn't hit another dead end, and I started to wonder if maybe she knew more than she was letting on.

A few times, wild Pokémon jumped out at us. Whether it be another Beedrill, a Pidgey, or something else, Rose never failed to dispatch them quickly. It was almost embarrassing, really; she was having to save me from all these creatures, and I wasn't doing anything to help.

Every time we would encounter an enemy, Rose would look at me as if to say, I got this!, then dispatch the wild Pokémon with ease. I tried not to show my self-consciousness, but it was hard not to be impressed by her ability.

It was quite a while before we encountered something that scared her.

At first, I didn't see what she saw; I only saw her reaction to it. The Ninetales shivered despite her abundant fur coat, leaning into the shrubbery and poking her ear out in order to listen.

When I asked what was bothering her, she shushed me. I was a bit miffed, but I knew then that she wasn't angry; she was scared. And that caused me some consternation, because thus far, Rose had seemed to possess all the answers.

The Ninetales gestured for me to lean in and listen, so that's what I did. I crouched low to the ground and raised my ears, trying to make the most of their sensitivity.

Within seconds, I heard voices.

"Where is she?" asked a rather high-pitched male voice, almost a bellowing one. "I'm sure we could take her in one shot if need be!"

"She's not alone, is she?" replied a deeper male voice. "It seems like there's more than one pair of footfalls down the path!"

My stomach rose into my throat as I realized that they were probably talking about Rose. Or, if they simply assumed it was their enemy, they were going to attack; they would shoot first and ask questions later.

The next voice was rather feminine, and far more authoritative. It was the one that sent the largest chill down my spine.

"Don't be so cocky, Stu. It's not wise to underestimate your opponent, especially if it's Rose the Ninetales!"

They're talking about Rose. I know it now. For some reason, this group has it in for her. Or maybe they fear her; honestly, if she wasn't on my side, I'd fear her too.

"Why shouldn't I be cocky? I'm not crazy, I'm confident! Besides, Team Nightlock has a pretty strong track record of finishing our jobs, 96% if I remember correctly. There's no reason we can't do this, Jade!"

That was the higher-pitched male voice, whose bearer was presumably named Stu. While keeping my ear pressed to the bushes, I silently appraised the situation.

Okay. So Jade was the voice of reason here, or at least the voice for not jumping through the bushes and attacking Rose right away. It was easy enough to picture her as an Espeon or some other Psychic type, someone who would think carefully about her options before taking the plunge.

For some reason, that was reassuring. It was, of course, rather strange that I was praying for our opponents to be cold and calculating rather than impulsive and stupid. The irony of that situation wasn't lost on me.

"The two of you, please quit arguing" announced the deeper male voice. "We'll get to her when we get to her, there's no need to debate this right now. We have to get through this dungeon first."

They know Rose is here, somehow. But how?

"So you're taking Jade's side, Requiem?" Stu asked the other male. "How pathetic is that?"

"In a way, I suppose I am" the other male (Requiem, I guess) replied. "I can tell that she's with someone else. It'll be twice as difficult to take two of them."

Requiem can sense me too. And I don't know what species he is, but in my current state, he could take me for sure!

"It's three of us against two of them," Stu said in a confident tone. "The odds are heavily in our favor, not least because we don't even know the strength of Rose Ninetales' partner. They're probably a lot weaker."

My heart threatened to rip open my chest. I could barely breathe, barely make a sound (not that I wanted to do that), barely even think clearly. It wasn't just terror that rose within me, but also indignation.

So soon after I'd found what I thought was salvation, it was about to be ripped away from me if they found us. Indeed, they'd already found us; they were just debating what to do about us.

I could tell that Rose was also waiting with bated breath. Would Jade's calmer head prevail, or would Stu be successful in convincing the team to go after us? I wasn't exactly eager to find out, but at the same time, the suspense was killing me.

Finally, after an argument during which we couldn't hear the words, I heard footsteps. These, however, grew fainter and fainter the more time passed, as though they were becoming more distant. Eventually, I couldn't hear them at all.

I stood back up to my full height, sighing deeply. The coast was clear, but I might never know just how close I'd come to being attacked by Team…what was it, again? Team Lovelock? Team Nightline?

Rose was also shaking. She gave me a look of worry as she turned to face me.

"What was that all about?" I wondered aloud. "Why do they want to hurt you? You've done nothing but help me."

The Ninetales didn't answer the question. She twirled one of her tails before pointing in my direction.

"Let's find a different path."

Originally this chapter was going to be titled "Forest of Mean", but after Stu says "I'm not crazy, I'm confident", I decided to title the chapter after the Survivor episode of the same name. And yes, I watch Survivor.

I eagerly await audience feedback on this chapter, whether you read this the day it's being published or many years from today. And last but not least, happy belated birthday to my sister. This story is partly a gift to you.

See you guys next time!