Hey, I'm back and with an extra long chapter for you guys :D (Ok, well, not THAT much longer, but it's at least 700 words longer than the previous one. Giving this one a little over 2,100 words!). Now, there isn't AS MUCH story progression as I'd like to have, but it's definitely something ^.^ Hope y'all enjoy this chapter! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Oh! And one more thing before I leave y'all with this. How would y'all like it if y'all could submit characters for this? Like, just submitting a Pokemon, their name, and like what Guild you'd have them join (if this happens, depending on how many submit, some would have to go over to other Guilds beside Four Seasons). I thought it would be a cool idea to do! If y'all like this idea, then feel free to shoot me a message with an idea for your characters! Ok, onto the story!

Chapter 6: Shadows of Frozen Forest

"HOOOONK"

Waking from my slumber, I fell out of my warm bed and onto the cold, stone floor beneath me with a startled 'yelp'.

"What the hell?" I groaned, coming to a sitting position while groggily trying to rub the sleep from my tired eyes.

The door to my room opened and in came a bright and cheerful Goodra. "Rise and shine, Lucy! It's time to get ready for your first mission!" She exclaimed happily.

I looked through an opening in the door to gaze out one of the many tower windows. It was barely even sunrise. "What the hell was that noise?" I groaned again.

The ecstatic Dragon giggled. "Oh, that was Trevor, one of the members of the Guild. It's his duty to wake everyone up in the morning. He's an Exploud by the way."

An Exploud? No wonder it was so loud…

Tsubaki stepped further into the room and grabbed my arm, successfully pulling me up to my feet. "Come on, let's go already!"

A male voice chuckled softly from the doorway. "Come now, Tsubaki. Let the lady wake up. Not everyone can handle such cheerfulness this early in the morning." A Sylveon smiled.

"But, Cosmo!" She whined in a high-pitched, child like voice.

"Cosmo's right, Tsubaki. Give Lucy some time to get ready and she can meet up with us in the dining hall for breakfast. Ok?" A female Pyroar spoke from behind Cosmo.

Pouting, the Dragon reluctantly let go of my arm and made way for the door. "Fine...See you at breakfast, Lucy!'

Waving, the slimy Dragon Type closed the door behind her, leaving me to stand alone in the dimly lit room.

Sighing, I slowly shook my head, wondering just how on Earth she gets all that energy. After brushing my fur with a comb I brought from home, I grabbed my Explorers Badge and pack and walked into the bustling dining hall.

After grabbing a plate of sweet smelling berries, I sat down at a table with Tsubaki and the other Pokemon from this morning.

"Good morning!" Tsubaki beamed, picking up a Chesto berry and popping it into her open mouth.

"Good morning." I nodded, glancing at the Sylveon and Pyroar in front of me.

"Oh! Lucy, these are my teammates! This is Cosmo and Sarabi! We're Team Kalos!" She introduced the two.

The other two members of Team Kalos nodded in greeting. "Hello, Lucy. It's a pleasure to meet you." The Pyroar and Sylveon said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." I dipped my head, popping a Pecha berry into my mouth.

Suddenly during our peaceful meal, I felt a glare being sent my way. Looking up, I scanned my eyes around the room uncertainly, only to find myself gazing back at the Shiny Zoroark. He was sitting in a corner by himself, not even bothering to mingle with the other Pokemon.

I quickly looked down, my appetite suddenly gone as Sly's piercing yellow eyes continued to melt away my once cheerful mood.

Cosmo was the first to notice my sudden change in behaviour. "Hey, what's wrong Lucy?"

Tsubaki and Sarabi looked up from their meal in surprise as I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. "...Sly's here…" I flinched as I tuned into his aura. It wasn't as furious as before, but he was certainly angry.

"Hm? Where?" Team Kalos started to search around the room themselves when the eyes and angry aura vanished from the room.

"He's gone…" I let out a shaky breath.

"Really? How can you tell?" The three teammates cast questioning glances at

me.

"I can sense his aura. It left the room."

"Oh, that's right! I forgot Lucario can sense auras! Can you see ours, too?" Sarabi exclaimed.

"Only if I wanted to. We normally try and refrain from using our ability outside of battle. It's rather rude to view a Pokemon's aura without their permission." I explained to them.

"Oh...but you just looked at Sly's aura didn't you? So aren't you being rude?"

My face heated up from embarrassment. "T-that's a bit different...true, we may not be in battle, but with his attitude towards me, it appears he still views me as an opponent. Although I doubt he'll attack me, I feel a bit safer being able to look at his aura. At least until he warms up to me anyways…"

"Awww, it'll be ok Lucy! I'm sure Sly will get over it eventually." She pat my back reassuredly.

"Well, in any case, we should probably get going. If we don't leave soon then everyone else will get the good missions." Sarabi nodded, getting up from her seat.

"Oh, alright. Well, good luck on your mission with Sly, Lucy." Cosmo waved goodbye, following Sarabi out of the dining hall.

After the two had left, I sighed. This wasn't going to go well was it?

"What's wrong, Lucy? Are you nervous?" Tsubaki asked, getting ready to follow her teammates.

"A little...I'm just worried about what will happen with Sly." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It'll be ok, Lucy. I'm sure nothing bad will happen. Everything'll be fine." She gave me a hug. "We should get going now, it's not good to keep our teammates waiting."

Hesitantly, I followed Tsubaki out of the dining hall and into the request room. It wasn't hard to locate Sly while I kept a check on his aura. He was leaning against the far wall, a bored expression on his face while Miss Blair was talking to him.

Walking their way, Sly roamed his gaze around the room, his aura reflecting extreme irritation once he spotted me. At least he didn't seem angry…

"Ah, good morning, Lucy! I hope you slept well. We've got your mission already picked." The Braixen smiled.

"Good morning, Miss Blair! I slept very well, thank you. What mission is it?" I dipped my head in greeting to the two.

Miss Blair held up a piece of paper in her paw, skimming over it. "You two will be going to Frozen Forest to apprehend an Outlaw known as Scar. He's a Luxray wanted for thievery and you can identify him by the scar located over his left eye, hence the name "Scar" since nobody knows his real name." She finished.

He was named Scar because of the scar on his eye? How creative…

"Oh, and the reward for successfully capturing him is 2000 Poke. Now Lucy, I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Sly, you may go wait outside for her." Miss Blair waited for the Zoroark to move.

Sly groaned and rolled his eyes, walking towards the entrance. "Whatever."

"What do you need, Miss Blair?" I stared at her quizzically.

"I just wanted to tell you that if Sly does anything at all to you while on your missions, come let me know. I'm sure Guildmaster Darian would be more than willing to help set him straight. It's not easy being in a team with him." She placed one of her small paws on my arm, concern lacing her eyes.

"...Ok. I'll tell you if anything happens."

"Alright, good! Now get going, Frozen Forest is normally a 5 day trip from here, but since this assignment is for an Outlaw, you'll need to get there even quicker. Go find Jafar the Alakazam, he'll be able to teleport you there in no time." She ushered me out.

Surprisingly, Sly was actually waiting outside the gate. "Let me guess, she told you to snitch on me if I do anything bad, right?" He sneered, twirling a sunflower in his paw.

"She wants us to go find Jafar so he can teleport us to Frozen Forest." I stated, neither confirming nor denying his question.

"No shit. That's the only way we'd get there in time. If we traveled by foot then he'd be long gone by the time we made it to the entrance." Sly huffed, glaring as he tossed the sunflower to the side. "Now let's go, we're wasting time."

"You know, I'm actually surprised you waited for me." I said, gazing at the scenery as I followed Sly through the bustling Daylight Square.

"It's not like I wanted to." He spat, clearly annoyed with me.

"Why not?" I was feeling quite bold all of a sudden. This morning I was frightened, and now I'm actually trying to make him mad. Although I guess that's because I don't like sitting in silence.

"You know damn well why! Now shut up!" The Zoroark turned to snarl at me, his now furious aura lashing out in great wisps.

I took a step back, mouth opening and closing without a sound, surprised at the fury of it. I knew he would be angry, but I didn't count on him being THIS furious.

When he saw that I wasn't going to say anything, Sly huffed and turned back around, continuing to walk ahead. After a few seconds, I regained my composure and caught up to him as he entered a strange purple tent.

"Ah, hello Sly. Are you and your friend ready to set off to Frozen Forest?" An Alakazam, presumably Jafar, asked.

Sly grunted in response and handed the Psychic Type a few coins, most likely payment for his services.

Without another word, Jafar nodded his head and we were suddenly transported to a world of white. Needless to say, it was freezing. I had never experienced temperatures like this, even in winter it was always sunny and warm at the village.

Involuntarily, I sneezed and shivered, clutching at myself in order to keep in what warmth I could.

"What? Catching a cold are we?" Sly sneered, seemingly unfazed by the chilly weather.

"Oh sh-shut up...I-I-I've never b-been in co-cold weather before…" I was having trouble keeping my teeth from chattering together.

"Never?" He raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head furiously, too cold to properly answer.

Snickering, Sly dug around in his bag and tossed something my way. "You better be glad I packed some Aspear berries."

Caught by surprise, I barely managed to catch the small yellow berry. As soon as my chattering teeth managed to pierce the hard peel, warm, sour juice poured out of it and into my system. The liquid slowly made its way through my body and in no time at all I was feeling warm from head to toe.

"That feels so much better! Thank you, Sly!" I grinned at him, sincerely thankful.

He stared at me for a few seconds, his expression unreadable. "...whatever…" Turning towards the entrance, he shouted to me as he began walking forward. "Now hurry up, we don't want to lose Scar!"

The floors of Frozen Forest were unnaturally quiet, at least from my standpoint. "Does this seem...weird to you?" I glanced around the current floor we were on cautiously.

"What?"

"It's so quiet, we haven't come across any of the native Pokemon here, and...I can't sense any auras except for yours."

That stopped him in his tracks. "What do you mean you can't sense any auras?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I haven't detected a single living thing since coming here."

Sly took a defensive stance. "Something's up then. Scar's definitely gotta be here somewhere."

Slowly we crept forward, still finding no life until we reached the end of the 20th floor where I detected an unsettling presence. "Sly...there's something on the next floor."

"Can you tell what it is?" He whispered as we neared our exit.

"No...but it's weird. The aura...it feels distorted and strange. It doesn't feel...natural." I shivered.

Sly threw a sideways glance my way and crept ever so slowly forward. I followed him, making sure to keep as quiet as possible.

"Where is he?" Sly asked as we made it to the beginning room of the current floor.

"...He's in the room to the left of us."

Painful howls could be heard as we neared closer and closer to our destination. Whether it was from Scar or some other Pokemon though was beyond us.

I had mentally prepared myself for all sorts of scenarios my paranoid mind could think of, but I was completely caught off guard at the sight before us. Several of the local Ice Types lay amid the room in a sea of blood, their eyes devoid of any life on their horror stricken faces. And in the center of that room stood a black as night Luxray with shining blood red eyes, a scar over the left one.

His aura however, is what disturbed me the most. It hung out in great wisps, lashing out in an aggressive turmoil. Several negative emotions hung around it like a thick, eternal fog. Some of them being bloodlust, greed, madness, and great anger. It was like a shadow had possessed it, no light coming from it at all.

What is this horrible creature?