I only own Raelin and Emberstep. I wish I owned Gary or Ash, but sadly I don't.

-..-..-..-..-..-..-

Would you relax? That red-furred human keeps giving you looks.

If it hadn't looked suspicious, Raelin would have been pacing. 'I'm sorry! It's just, he was acting so weird last night and—'

Don't pay attention to it. He was trying to make you nervous, remember?

'Yeah, but no human has ever been able to do that.' She fidgeted with a strand of her dark hair nervously, something she rarely did. 'Maybe he's different…'

Don't start that! I hate to remind you of what happened last time you trusted a stranger, but—

'Yeah. I remember.'

The Mightyena cringed when she heard the bitterness in her thoughts. Her head came up from her paws. Hm. He's headed this way.

'Leave him to me.' She stood and faced Gary, watching as he approached. "What do you want?"

"Turn the ego down a little," he said, stopping and raising an eyebrow. "Just because I'm over here doesn't mean I want to talk to you." Chuckling at her angry expression, he called over her shoulder, "Hey, Ash! Up for a battle?"

The boy in question looked up from glancing over his badges. He stood and nodded, a confident smile lighting his face. "Sure. This'll help me get ready for my upcoming Gym match."

Both boys sent out their first Pokémon. Brock and Misty looked on in interest; Raelin tried to act indifferent.

For a while, the two boys were evenly matched. One Pokémon would be defeated, they would send out another and take out their opponent; trading blows. But just when it looked like Ash was going to win, one Fire Blast from Arcanine tilted the battle in Gary's favor.

Raelin glanced over. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but route for Gary—inside her head. When Gary won, he turned to her, grinning. After a moment of eye contact, his smirk got a little bigger, before he turned to Ash. She blinked and realized she was smiling. She quickly composed her face into a blank look before he turned.

"Did pretty well, didn't I?" Gary asked, putting his hands in his jacket pockets as he strolled over.

She snorted and laughed. He scowled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, scoffing. "I'm just savoring the hypocrisy, Mr. Egomaniac."

His eyebrows pushed together thoughtfully. "You know, you have a lot of comebacks for someone who doesn't speak much."

"It's a gift."

"I've noticed."

With the conversation effectively over, Raelin was left feeling more than a little awkward. Gary was studying her again, like she was a puzzle he needed to solve. She dropped her head and suddenly became very interested in her sneakers. And still, he wouldn't leave. She could feel his dark eyes trained on her intently. She heard him take a few steps closer.

"What's that mark on your face?"

She froze. Her head came up slightly to meet his eyes and she immediately severed the contact, sucking in a breath. "It's nothing," she mumbled.

"Doesn't look like nothing. What, is it a tattoo or something?"

"None of your business." Her reply was calm and even as she brought her head back up to glare at him. Gary stared back, just as determined. At last, she turned and called, "Ember!" Her friend looked up and bounded over. "Let's go practice some attacks, okay?" Ember barked.

Gary eyed the two. His eyes narrowed minimally. "Want me to come with you?" He flashed her a bright smile and winked. "We could practice together."

"Sorry. It's a closed practice."

"Well, maybe you could get me a pass in? I hear the Trainer's cute."

'Wh-what?' She knew she was blushing as she answered, putting as much contempt in her voice as she could, "Are we done here?"

"I suppose. 'Later." He strode off, hiding a smile.

Wow. He's not very subtle about liking you, is he?

'What are you talking about?' She strode angrily into the trees, away from the rest of the group.

He likes you. You noticed that. And you like him too, don't you?

"Are you kidding?" She spoke aloud, now that she was out of earshot of the others. "He's an annoying, swaggering idiot who thinks he's the best thing to ever happen to the world. But he's not. And I—"

The Mightyena barked out a chuckle. Do you honestly think you can fool me? We share a mind, Night-Sister.

She stopped and turned to her friend, emphasizing every word. "I don't like him."

Ember's red eyes softened. Her voice whispered through Raelin's head. With things like this, it takes time for your mind to catch up to your heart.

The only sounds to be heard for several seconds were the calls of the birds in the trees. At last, Raelin huffed and said, "Let's start practicing." She took her place beside Ember.

Ember shook her head sharply, causing her ruff of black fur to scatter out. A faint purple glow surrounded her body. Knife Glint first?

'You know it.' She closed her eyes and pictured her companion in her head, focusing on the ebbing light. Focus on the rhythm. Make it stronger. It wasn't even a conscious thought — it was something she felt, in her body and heart. Her heartbeat sped, the pulsing light slowed. Raelin took a deep breath, feeling both her and Ember's heartbeats match. She felt some of the light move to her own hands. Keep it steady…Now!

The light morphed, turned silver, wavered. Ember growled. Raelin eyes flashed open. She ducked forward swiftly, moving as if she were throwing something. The light grew and followed her movements, glinting knife-bright as it slashed the wood.

Raelin inhaled and exhaled deeply. She walked over to the tree in an almost dream-like state. She ran her fingers along the shallow gashes that barely showed. Beside her, Ember huffed.

Not enough power?

'Not nearly enough.'

Distracted? Perhaps by a certain boy…?

The brief flux of power she had felt was enough to restore her (relatively) good mood. 'Shut up.' She said it with good humor. 'I'm just a little tired. Neither of us have recovered fully from the other day, have we?'

No. But I'll give the next one my all.

'Then so will I.' She was back in her stance in a few moments. Ember padded over. 'Just concentrate. Find the rhythm and work with it.'

And stop psyching yourself out!

'Got it.' She was in full-on partner mode now, sweeping out all insignificant details—specifically those of a certain boy—from her mind. She took in another deep breath, letting the cool air clear her head.

The beat of the light had picked up, erratic and unfocused. She reached out with her hand and mind, twisting the light. There was a crackling noise in her head, as if the light was too brittle to bend. She gritted her teeth, forcing the light into a blade shape. Her heartbeat was racing, making her hands shake and her head bob. The blade flickered, almost disappeared as she struggled to gain control of the weapon. Using every bit of willpower she had, she forced the blade into a sharp point.

The moment she felt the giant pulse of power, she threw it. A thousand shards flew out, glittering for only a brief second before hitting the target with deadly force.

It was a few seconds before her vision cleared. She panted and stared at the marks, tracing them for the second time—marks that were as deep as the width of her finger. Power…

"Raelin?"

Her breath caught in her throat. Behind her, Ember growled. Slowly, she turned. Her stomach lurched sickeningly.

Gary was standing between the trees, looking thoroughly stunned.

…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…

"Really, the more I think about it, the more I wonder…We don't even really know where she's from, do we?"

"She told us she was from Sinnoh, right? That counts."

"Well, maybe…" Misty frowned. "But she could've been lying. You've gotta admit, there's something weird about her."

Ash grinned. "Well, there's something weird about you and Brock and I still hang out with you two—Aah!" He jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the punch she aimed at him.

"Take that back, now!" She grabbed for him again.

"Okay, okay!" When she stopped trying to hit him, he took the pause to straighten his jacket, which had gotten skewed during the girl's attack. "Jeez. You didn't react like that when she first asked to come along with us. Or when Gary started traveling with us, either."

Ignoring this fact, Misty said, "Don't you think she's just a little bit strange?"

"Not really. What's strange is the fact that Gary's disappeared along with her."

Misty glowered. "And you care about her disappearing with Gary…why?"

"I don't." Now he was frowning too, trying to figure out his best friend's suspicion. "But she's hurt still and—"

"I'm sure Gary can take care of her," she interrupted. She looked up at the sky for a moment. "So, are you sure she's not suspicious? At all?"

Ash shook his head and began to head towards Brock. "Careful, Misty. It sounds like you're jealous or something."

She blinked rapidly. "I-I'm not jealous of anyone!" Ash nodded in response, looking as if he believed her. Misty flopped down onto the grass and began to pick at the little green blades. Ash hadn't seemed smug when he'd warned her against being jealous—in fact, he had seemed pretty serious about it. Just like Ash to not take the hint, Misty thought, pulling several blades of grass up fiercely. But I'm not jealous, because that girl doesn't like him.

Misty glanced up. Gary wasn't back yet. Maybe those two liked each other?

She could only hope.

…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…

"Raelin?" Gary took two steps toward her, thought better of it, and stopped. Instead, he maintained a calm voice and asked, "What are you doing?"

Feeling trapped, Raelin spat, "What are you doing? I told you not to follow me!"

"You told me I couldn't practice with you. You never said I couldn't follow you." His self-satisfied attitude was back in place, but she could hear the slight tremor in his voice. He was afraid. Good.

"Well, like I said, you aren't invited. So leave. Now."

"What were you doing?" he asked again, still not moving.

"Nothing." She instantly knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"That was not nothing. That looked like…" He paused, a crease forming between his eyebrows. "A Pokémon attack or something." He moved forward until he was standing barely two feet away. "What was that?"

"I don't have to tell you everything. Especially not when you're being so annoying. Now shut up and leave."

He didn't. He stared at her with an almost pleading look in his eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him and his gaze shifted to the left. His mouth dropped open slightly and Raelin felt a throb of horror when he pushed past her. She turned, feeling her stomach twist as she watched him step next to the tree. His fingers traced the deep slashes in the wood and his lips moved soundlessly, mouthing "Oh my—". He turned back to Raelin, eyes round with alarm. "What did you do?" he whispered.

She closed her eyes briefly, feeling sick. Her voice was low, almost regretful when she replied, "I told you that you didn't want to get involved with me. I'm not going to tell you anything. You'll only be a liability."

"What?" She opened her eyes and tensed. He was less than a foot in front of her now, looking confused. "Raelin. I don't care what's going on. I just want you to trust me."

"I can't do that. You're wasting your time. And I'm leaving."

"You think I'm just giving up that easily?" He reached out and caught her wrist.

She growled, annoyed. "Ember." Ember's hackles were up and she stepped between the two. Gary let go of her wrist and backed away a few steps, not willing to take on the protective Mightyena. He watched Raelin and Ember leave together. After a moment of hesitation, he followed after.

She didn't talk to him at all that night, didn't even look his way. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him and Ash trade looks across the campfire. Once, Ash mouthed, 'what happened?' but Gary ignored him. Ember tried to talk to her a couple of times, but Raelin was feeling completely exhausted, both physically and mentally—using her powers usually tired her out quickly—so she wasn't in the mood to talk with her friend.

She fell asleep that night with old fears renewed, fears she hadn't had since that accident, 5 months ago. The fear of being discovered.

-..-..-..-..-..-..-

Uh-oh. I liked writing this one, especially Gary's reactions.

And Misty's jealous *giggle* I haven't really been able to write it clearly, but in my mind, Raelin pretty much only talks to Ash (when she does talk) because he's the only who doesn't annoy her. Which ticks Misty off because she (Misty) thinks Raelin's paying special attention to him.

Please review! :)

~ DarkBloodbender937