Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon, its characters, locations, or names. All of them, with the exception of the original characters, belong to Nintendo

Credits: The original fan fiction Shadow League was based off, Pokemon Master, was written by Acey. I retrieved permission before starting this the first time. Kiall and Elizabeth belong to me. "Paran" is the property of Elemental Sorceress, who had requested that I include her in my fanfiction.

A/N: I have a cold. Dammit. It is probably from all of the stress I have had on me lately, with the stuff going on with SOVA and the like...it sucks so bad. T.T And I still need to figure out what to be for Halloween now.

Warnings: The pairing in this is RivalSibling. This fanfiction has a lot of violence and gore, not to mention some language, and implied rape/sex. Not for kids, that's for sure.

- Chapter 7: Master Meeting -

The fire roared, the bright light dancing on the faces of the Masters sitting around it. Ash sat down on one of the logs surrounding it, Paran taking a seat next to him. There were only about five that were recognizable there: Erika, May, Misty, and then two new Masters Ash recognized as being Lance and Melody. The other few were keeping to the back, doing nothing more then listening. Lance looked around at them, pausing when he saw Paran. "Do you all know why we are all here?" he asked, receiving nods from the assembly, minus Ash and Paran.

"What is this about, Lance?" Ash asked, earning a surprised look from the older man. Sighing, he shrugged. "What?"

"Ash? Ashura? Is that really you?" The Shadow Master snorted, shaking his head in exasperation. Idiot, he thought.

"No, Lance, I'm the twin brother you never knew he had!" he said, "Really now, how thick headed can you be?" Lance laughed, giving the sour Master a smile.

"It has been a long time."

"Yes, it has been, but enough with the pleasantries, we have work to do. What is going on that a meeting needed to be called?" Lance looked past him, to the woman on Ash's right – Paran. There was silence, as the Dragon Master looked questioningly at them.

"And what of her? She is, as you know, part of the League." The silence thickened when he finished, as they all turned to Ash for some sort of an answer; some of their eyes were suspicious and threatening, while others were calm and unbiased. Ash rubbed his temples, feeling the beginning of a headache, as he thought over the answer.

"Well," he started, "Paran has stated that she has decided to leave the League. As it seems to me, she will being traveling with me while I work on halting the opening of the Gates." Misty, Erika, and Melody turned their stares onto Paran, shock etched into their faces.

"You've left them?" Melody asked, her eyes going wide. Ash spared Lance a glance, before cutting off any comment one of them would make.

"As I just said, she has. Now if you don't mind, do any of you know what I need to do?" he asked, changing the subject back to the problem at hand. Humming quietly, Lance cupped his chin in his hand as he waited, letting the others settle down and go quiet before answering.

"I think you will have to go in and kill the 'Chosen' of the Gates, as they're currently being called. That might have changed since I last checked, but I believe Agatha, Sabrina, Blaine, and Gary are them." Lance scowled bitterly. "Of course, Kiall would never place himself in danger by becoming one himself. He still needs to be taken out, however."

Running a hand through his longish hair wearily, Ash sighed. "Kill them all off, got it. Then what do I have to do after that?"

"It isn't as simple as just 'killing them all off,' as you so eloquently put it, Ash," Lance said, looking disapprovingly at him, "You must first bring down Agatha and Sabrina, then become Bonded, then go after Gary, Blaine, and Kiall."

"…Bonded? What in the Shadows is that supposed to be?" Ash asked. May sighed, shaking her head, before cursing under her breath. Several of the Masters looked at her worriedly.

"You moron! Ash, you are the Shadow Master!" Ash turned his own gold eyes to her green ones, curiosity shining in them. "You should already know about the Bonding and the prophecy."

He glared at her, the smirk May getting irritating him even more. "I don't know what it is and have never even heard of it. What the hell is it?"

Lance's lips quirked up in a smirk, watching the snarling pair. "Calm yourselves, Master Ashura and Mistress Marian. And to your question…it is not known what it is…precisely."

In all reality, he knew exactly what it was; Lance just didn't want to be near Ash when he found out!

"And, who, O intelligent one, am I to be 'Bonded' to?" Ash asked, getting more and more waspish. Lance chortled.

"Of course, that much is obvious, The Light Mistress." Ash sputtered, standing up abruptly to stare around at them.

"The Light Mistress?" he yelled, earning disapproving looks from many of the assembly, "I refuse to go anywhere near her!" May let out a harsh, bark-like laugh.

"You're acting like a child. Now stop whining and be a man!" she said, earning a glowering look from the Shadow Master, "And from what I was seeing just the other day, you didn't seem to be too upset about Elizabeth being around and active again."

The tinge of pink that appeared was enough to silence her – smirking triumphantly - as Ash turned to the others, most of which were sniggering. "The Light Mistress? Mistress Lizzie?" Paran asked.

"You'd been told before to address her as Liz, and not Lizzie," the low growl caused an uneasiness to break out among the Masters, as they whispered to each other. Misty frowned at Ash, before shifting to look at Lance.

"Why is it even necessary?" she questioned, as Lance smiled. The older man put a hand up, all but his index finger being curled down.

"What would be stronger? One pikachu, or-" Lance put up another finger. "-two pikachu's?"

"Well, two, of course. Two of them." Lance nodded, putting his hand down on his lap.

"There you go then, you have your answer." Ash scowled, rolling his eyes. Hands on hips, he glared at the amused Dragon Master.

"If it involves Elizabeth, then you can forget about it! I am not going to have anything to do with her," he said quietly. Lance looked disapprovingly at Ash, before a slow, sad smile formed on his lips.

"You might not be able to…" They looked in surprise at him.

"Why is that?" Melody asked. Shaking her head, Misty gave the younger girl a quieting look. Nodding, she looked away. Ash threw his arms up, his frustration mounting.

"Make up your damned mind! Will I or won't I?" he snapped. Lance sighed, holding his head up as he watched the curious group. Things were never easy when it involved the Shadow Master, to him.

"In your current mindset, no. This meeting is over."

- - -

With a frown, Ash kicked a stone, watching it hop across the ground away from him. The black sky stretched on overhead, stars splattered across the inky surface. He tilted his head up, eyes closed as the wind blew gently; he felt a comfort in the shadows thrown by the tents and trees, and in the dark that was at its best late at night.

Ash frowned deeper, feeling the prickling sensation that warned him of the presence that was following him, watching him. Looking over his shoulder, there was nothing but clear air to be seen. The feeling still there, he slipped behind one of the tents, his footsteps silent and leaving barely any indication of his being there. He wanted to find who was walking in his wake as soon as he could; he was starting to grow weary from the events of the day, not being exempt from the needs of all humans.

Spotting the dark form that was crouched at the other side of the tent, he walked up behind it. The cloaked shoulders were heaving up and down, the breathing fairly loud for someone that was a Master, and their head covered by the hood. Ash pulled them up, a scowl in place. "Who…"

- - -

Paran folded up her red cloak, setting it to the side for the night. She was tired from being in the Cerulean Battle, then being beaten by the young trainers, and the whole incident of the Meeting. It was causing her to have second thoughts on accepting the invitation to go on the wild goose chase for the so-called Gates…

Crawling onto the cot that was to be a bed, she closed her eyes to fall into a good night's sleep. The fogginess of sleep had started to take over her mind and body, as she was jerked away by a whimper outside her tent. Bolting up out of bed, she rushed out to see who was in trouble or hurt.

It was a small girl, wide eyed and staring at an Arbok – a Shadow Arbok, Paran noted with alarm – which was hissing at the child, it's tongue lashing out as it readied itself to strike. Shooting a fireball at the offending pokemon, she herded the girl into the tent. "What's your name, sweetie?" Paran asked the sniffling girl, smoothing her hair down.

"Angel." The name sounded familiar to the Fire Mistress, but she couldn't put a finger as to were she would have heard it…

"What were you doing all on your own out there?" she asked, as Angel blinked and looked around.

"I was looking for Daddy," she answered quietly, shakily. Paran heard the way it was said – like she shouldn't of answered it the way she did. Deciding to figure it out later, she set out to find out who exactly the frightened child was looking for.

"What does he look like?" Angel looked at her, nodded in understanding.

"He's taaalll." Angel put her arm up to indicate how tall, and Paran had to stifle a laugh; it was obvious whoever it was she was talking about was much taller then where the child was reaching. "He wears black stuff, like his cloak and stuff. Blue, too." Paran felt herself go slightly pale. "And he has a pikachu! It's like the scary one that was out there."

"Oh?" Angel nodded. Taking the child's hand, Paran stood up. "Come on, I think I know where to take you to."

- - -

"Ouch! Idiot!" The two fell to the ground, as the form struggled to get away from Ash. He rubbed his head were he'd hit one of the stakes, muttering under his breath, before looking at who he had found. May.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, watching her pull her cloak out from under her. May looked away, biting her lip thoughtfully, as Ash waited for an answer. He nudged her as the minutes started going by.

"I wanted to make sure you were fine. The Meeting seemed to have ruffled you a bit." she admitted, gaining a curious look from Ash, "What?"

"Oh…oh." They sat in silence, neither opening their mouths to say anything to the other, until May shot her own question.

"Why did you get upset about whether Elizabeth was called 'Lizzie' or 'Liz'?" Ash shook his head, pulling his hood up to throw his face in a deep shadow. His eyes had turned dark.

"That is none of your business. It's all in the past, anyhow." May sat back on her heels, smoothing down her short skirt. Her eyes darted back up.

"Obviously not to you, by the fact it still bothers you." The silent glare barely surprised the Ice Mistress. Ash pulled his cloak tighter, the brooch at his neck glinting in the minimal light that hit it – May hadn't even noticed the design on it until then – and let out a groan.

"You want an answer? Fine then. I used to call Mistress Elizabeth 'Lizzie,' and no one else was allowed to. By her own words, that was my name for her, not anyone else's." May could feel how deep the anguish was, of the memory that had long been kept locked inside. Ash let out a shuddering breath, his eyes turning to a bright red for a moment, before fading back to gold. May looked around, suddenly unnerved by the change.

"I'm tired. So tired…" he said, nearly whispering, "I'm going to bed."

- - -

The sun was up, shining clearly in the sky, as the small group of women sat in a compact circle. They were enjoying the sunlight, and the warmth it brought, while they still could. Erika grinned, her eyes glittering in the light. "Well, Ms. Marian, you are certainly close to the resident Shadow, aren't you?" she asked, feigning innocence in her voice.

Her eyes narrowed, May turned a menacing look onto the Grass Mistress. "And what makes you think that?"

Paran broke out into a smile, lying in the grass in comfort. "Oh, I don't know. It would appear to me as if there is something between you two…that is, when you aren't trying to rip each other apart."

"I really do have to agree with her on that one," Misty, reluctantly, admitted. She still didn't trust the newcomer, no matter who the Fire Master knew or what she said. Erika nodded, putting her hair band back in as they talked.

"I am not, I repeat, am not, close to that idiot!" May snapped, frowning at them. She didn't feel the need to let them know of the previous night's happenings, and what she had learned; she also didn't feel the need to admit to any of them what was really in her mind and heart. The other women snickered, all of them grinning.

"Oh, really?" Misty asked, "Are you sure? You two playing around the other day doesn't exactly back up your statement all that well…"

With a smile, the dark-haired woman that was standing among the trees teleported.

- - -

A/N: Ok, changes again. I changed how Ash acted in the meeting itself. In the original, I sweat he makes me think of a little kid on a sugar high with how often he was yelling. So rather then go that route this time, I decided to have him be more sarcastic and angry, rather then angry and excited.

I also changed the atmosphere of when he was walking around. I added some details into it (prickling sensation, etc). Then I also had it where you saw what happened before Ash and May were talking. In the original, it went from where he said "Who..." to the scene with Paran (still in here), and then to a scene of him and May talking. Rather then that, I decided to have the beginning of the talking scene show what happened and how Ash realized who it was.

I also made it a little clearer that May was worried, more then in the original. I also changed a bit of stuff in the end. It was a slightly shorter scene in the original, and I added some more dialog into it and detail, but otherwise it held the same idea to it.