WHOOOT! 10,000 WORDS!

Hey guys, I'm back with another update! Please keep commenting, it really gives you the motive to push that bit further, to write that extra couple of lines. Brace yourselves for my longest chappie yet! ;) Nearly 4,000 words long!

Disclaimer reader: Moonlite Streak does not own pokemon. But she owns her OC though! :D

Chapter 4: The Encounter

Moon's POV

I felt like mentally slapping myself across the face! How could I, the level-headed thinker Moon, forget to cast a concealing spell on my ears! Sure, I should technically do one for my rings as well, but since its in an artificial light you can't really see them all too clearly.

But that didn't really matter anyways, not in the face of what I was stood before now - this shadow girl! I felt my blood run cold at the thought. Up until this point, only pokemon had been affected by this phenomena. Could it now jump species? Was she a test subject? Different theories raced around my head as I analysed the situation.

When I had walked in she was stood normally (if anything a little bit lazily), her face bright with a huge grin and a shadow orb floating serenely in her hand. No sooner had she blurted out her sentence it was as if she lost control, her body hunching over before she straightened back up again and growled quietly. She cast a mind-blowingly quick glance towards me and flared her nostrils as she sensed my hostility towards her.

I felt great pain and sorrow at the fact that this girl had been possessed by a shadow, as she couldn't have been any older than myself and surely unable to fight it off. Instinctively she slipped into a lower stance, a second shadow orb lighting up in her other hand.

Her eyes betrayed a flickering of emotion, a small spark of uncertainty, and my hopes of her not being totally possessed increased. While her body continued to show wariness of my presence and certain basic animal-like qualities, I could see that she was at least partly in control of her actions.

~..*..~

Streak's POV

I almost laughed out loud as I blurted out the statement, I mean, what would his thoughts be when he walked in on an unstable shadow girl, two legendary pokemon and a mangled bed? But I soon sensed that he wasn't just an ordinary boy. No, he had a much greater power. My instincts were screaming at me to attack him and the hostility was rolling off him in waves.

Before I could stop myself I had shifted, barely in control of my great power, and without my knowing I had unconsciously conjured a second shadow orb. A low growl slipped from my lips, surprising myself, as I thought I had finally mastered the control for this body.

It seemed like I would have to make do with what I had, which meant trying to the best of my abilities to stop myself harming him or anybody else.

My shadow eyes whirred across the room at a speed which was supposed to be way too fast for a normal human mind to comprehend. I suddenly felt unsure of myself, and what I would do in this body. Could I really control it?

The longer I tried to prevent myself from moving, the harder it was to even keep simple, basic thoughts in my head. I couldn't hold out for much longer, but the scent he gave off...it was threatening. He was unafraid, just following routine. Just who was he? That last question spun over and over in my mind as I finally lost the last fragments of control I had remaining.

~..*..~

Moon's POV

Assuming my defence stance with the fluidness and ease that came only with hard, yielding practice, I carefully circled around the girl, tensed for any sudden movement. I could see the intense battle raging in her eyes, the way she relaxed and then tensed again.

Suddenly her eyes turned pitch black and she smiled a grin full of needle sharp teeth, dripping with shadow saliva. My gut twisted with the unease of the knowledge that I would have to attack her sooner or later.

Her black lips stretched even wider, contorting into a blood-curdling scowl. Her eyes were wide open, unblinking, whizzing with an unnatural speed around the room and focusing on myself. Just as I was hoping that she - or it - would decide to surrender, she leapt at me.

I immediately raised my arms in a cross in front of my head just in time to defend myself against her blow, but she clung onto them with those twisted hands and tried to bite my wrist. I pushed her off with a considerable amount of force, taking the time to note the way that she shifted her weight to her left foot when she landed before jumping sideways to avoid a shadow orb that nearly grazed the tip of my left ear.

I held my hands out in front of me as if I was cradling the air and I slowly concentrated to conjure a decently-sized shadow ball. She seemed entranced by this, as anyone would be I suppose, so I took the opportunity to take quick aim and launched it against her ankles. She jumped to the right to dodge, and I almost smiled at how simple it was to take her out.

Because she jumped to the right, it was her left ankle that was clipped by the shadow ball. Even though it barely touched her, the force I launched it with managed to at the very least make her twist it, at most sprain it. From that point forward in the battle she kept wavering on her left foot a little after every move, and her attacks were certainly slowed.

Unfortunately it would take more than that to discourage her. Her animalistic tendencies seemed to leave no room for thoughts of personal injury, and with having to mirror her moves in order to avoid being hit, I was already starting to feel the first signs of perspiration running down my cheekbone and dampening the fringes of my hair.

My legs were starting to ache from leaping around and keeping up with her nimble attacks, but I couldn't afford to lose my footing for even a fraction of a second.
That's all that it would take for her to take me out. I couldn't let that happen under any circumstances, I couldn't even begin to think of the expression that would dawn on my little sister's face when they told her that I'd...no, anything but that.

I tried not to let my raging torrent of emotion show on my face and I barely succeeded. If the shadow girl had sensed the weakness in my heart then she would exploit it, twisting truths into lies to fill my soul with darkness, and I would be dead, or even worse a shadow!

I quickly chanced a look at the Shaymin that stood, eyes transfixed on our movements, next to the scraps of wood that remained of what I presume was once a bed. She seemed to almost be glowing...I soon regretted wasting the time though, as the moment I flicked my head back to the girl she was gone. The next thing I knew she was breathing her shadow stench down my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

I could envision her crazed, bloodthirsty grin as she prepared to lunge, but I wasn't about to hand her the pleasure of my blood on a silver platter. I darted to the side at lightning speed, but it wasn't fast enough to prevent her fangs sinking deep into my shoulder. Well, at least it wasn't my neck but damn it, it hurt!

Staggering back, temporarily blinded by the pain, she took the chance to loose a few shadow orb flames at me, a couple at my unprotected stomach and one at my injured shoulder. I forced my eyes open just in time to see her make a lunge for my neck once more before she stopped in mid-stride. My eyes widened at the sudden lack of movement, and I linked the little green-backed pokemon. Wincing at the way my shoulder wound pulled when I moved it even slightly, I slowly made my way over to the Shaymin.

It seemed that the glow I had imagined before was actually real, and it seemed to be...restricting the girl? Well, in a way. Her frenzied eyes continued to feverishly scan the room and she kept growling and hissing at me, but if you ignored those facts she could almost pass as a statue. I sat down carefully next to where I had dropped my backpack earlier and inspected the gaping gash in my shoulder.

It appeared that her teeth had literally been ripped out of it when I jumped out off the way, because there were long, pronounced lines that were much deeper than the rest of the wound that stretched from my armpit all the way to the bottom of my shoulder blade.

It was much longer and deeper than I first suspected, and I gnawed my lip nervously while I contemplated what to do with it. Well my clothes were shredded at the very least. Boss was gonna get mad at me for that one. I was intensly glad that I wasn't the one that would have to bring her the news that I would need my third set of T-shirts this month. And the fact that she was quite the fashion oriented woman didn't exactly help.

"Don't. Panic. Keep. Calm." I told myself. I had a tendency to wonder about irrelevant things like what would happen when boss found out about my shredded clothes and and and...

"There you go again" I scolded myself.

Sighing, I inspected the gash carefully while trying to ignore the blood soaked edges of my torn shirt. I tasted something metallic in my mouth and I stopped chewing my lip, before I managed to eat any more of it. Turning back to the wound I had to suppress a gag at the mere sight of it.

There must have been something in that shadow venom to prevent it from clotting. As a result, the blood just kept flowing freely. Luckily for me though, it seemed that no trace of shadow had managed to get into it. Surprising considering the percentage of shadow content within shadow-girl's salvia. Speaking of which...

Shaymin had released her from the spell and the girl was now sleeping peacefully on the floor. Apart from a few scratches, bruises and a swollen left ankle, it seemed like she was a perfectly normal girl who had had a perfectly normal day. I glared at Shaymin.

"Why did you release her from your spell? She could still be hostile for all we know! She could wake up this very second and attempt to rip my throat out!" I demanded.

Shaymin flinched slightly but smoothed her features back down. She simply gestured at the softly glowing green scale necklace that lay in the hollow in the girl's neck, moving in time with the rise and fall of her chest. It glittered all the colours of the rainbow, and even as a guy I could see its raw beauty.

I have now imbued that necklace with the power to call forth the power of nature, in other words, harness my binding spell when it is needed. Do not fret Moon of Snowpoint, it will help to restrict the shadow from overcoming her again for a while. She answered in a voice that sounded as gentle as a rustling breeze.

Shaymin seemed distracted, and through the window I watched as a large green pokemon flew off into the distance. I rubbed my eyes – perhaps I was seeing things?

I sighed and noticed that the blood was now running down my arm and starting to spill onto my crossed legs. I wondered if the talking Shaymin had any healing powers and it was then I realised the abnormality of the situation.

"Wait you talk? And wait...how did you know my name? I never mentioned it to you." I asked in surprise.

Yes I talk, and as a legendary I usually know a person's name. She remarked with a wry smile, this time in a slightly less than polite voice.

My answering comment was interrupted by the soft groans of the girl waking up. I looked over to the Shaymin nervously before sitting up in a straighter position and placing a blank but slightly tensed mask on my features. What if she would try to kill me or the Shaymin? I wouldn't have any time to react since she was at such a close range.

I held my breath and wove my fingers restlessly into the thick carpet as she slowly pulled herself into a sitting position similar to mine while stretching her arms out to the sky. She yawned, all traces of those deadly dagger teeth gone and a faint pinkness creeping onto her cheeks as she woke up.

After about half a minute she stopped midway through her stretch to stare at me blankly before blushing madly. I have to admit, the sight of her surprised face amused me to no end, and I struggled to keep my carefully constructed mask neutral.

But her blushing in turn made me blush and I turned my head away, cursing myself for my stupidity. Though I did sneak a peek at her from behind my too-long fringe and noticed her looking at my shoulder wound intently, as if wishing it to go away.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt." I told her, probably more for myself for anyone else though.

"Here, let me look at it," She asked with a kind smile, completely the opposite to the bloodthirsty opponent I was facing just moments ago. I opened my mouth to apologise for my misjudgement but decided against it.

I made a move to stop her touching my agonising wound but stopped because of a warning glare from Shaymin.

She feels guilty, can't you see that? Shaymin told me.

Just let her try and repay you OK?

At this I nearly rolled my eyes but stopped at the sight of hers. There were tears silently rolling down her face as she tenderly probed the edges of the gash with her cool fingers. I guess she felt worse than I originally thought. I resisted the urge to wince and push her away as she probed deeper into the wound and finally she pulled away and sat back up, the movement of which causing her bangs to brush my face. I blinked once, twice, then shook my head slightly and turned my attention back to her.

"Hi, I'm Streak," She said, tilting her head slightly to one side, smiling and holding her hand out.

"Moon," I said gruffly, maybe a bit too gruffly judging by the hurt in her warm chocolate eyes. I instantly felt guilty and so I looked away again. I could tell that she wanted to help me.

"So...are you gonna bandage me up or not?" I asked a bit softer as I sneaked a glance at her face. My question seemed to provoke the right sort of response as her face lightened up.

I shook her still-outstretched hand gently, and felt the first stirrings of a new friendship begin to form.

~..*..~

Streak's POV

From that point forward it was all a blur. Me, darting back and forth across the room. Him, loosing a shadow ball while I stared in wonder. I vaguely remembered the pleasure of tearing flesh with my fangs before it was ripped from me, my teeth sliding down his back.

Finally, I remembered a thousand vines reaching up and winding themselves around my limbs, my torso, rendering the possibility of continuing the battle impossible. The endless green vines moved so fast they were a blur, making them look as if they were glowing. The last thing I thought was thank god for Shaymin, as she released me from her bind and I gave in to exhaustion, falling, falling into the deep pits of sleep.

Even though my body was shut down, my mind was far from it, a million thoughts and feelings keeping me thinking over and over like a clockwork. The most dominant feeling was regret for the pain I caused to the boy, and not too far behind was anxiety, for what would happen next.

Even though I felt like I was going to fall apart and my ankle was throbbing terribly, I wrenched myself from the grasp of sleep and carefully opened my eyes.

I didn't know how long I was out for, but judging from the amount of light that snuck through the curtains compared to how much was there at the end of our tremendous battle it couldn't have been overly long. I heaved myself into a sitting position and stretched my arms out towards the ceiling, hoping to crack some of my aching joints. I felt myself yawning and I briefly wondered just how much sleep I actually got, because I still felt just as exhausted as before.

Cracking open one eye, I stopped mid-stretch. That Umbreon boy was looking at me. Looking at ME! He was so close I could smell his faint Umbreon scent, which smelt like grass and trees and mountainside and...eep! He was just so close! Ack, I'm really shy to strangers...and yet he seemed slightly amused.

My eyes opened wide with surprise, and I felt my face flush red with emotion. Ah why did that have to happen at a time like this? Shaymin almost seemed to be smirking. It was then though that I noticed his shoulder wound. I felt all my breath gush out of my mouth with a whoosh as I tried to comprehend just how I had done so much damage. I felt so guilty, I just wish it would go away and I could make Mr. Umbreon feel better.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt." he said quietly, almost to himself. I noticed he had turned his head away from me, probably in disgust. Just how did he see me? Did he see me as my shadow, or did he see just a normal human girl? I would hazard a guess that it wasn't the latter. Why did I have to do this to him? He must be in so much pain right now!

I felt my tears cascade down my face, so I bit my lip to try and prevent him from noticing. Why was I so weak? Why couldn't I be like my Mom? She was so brave and kind, she would know what to do. Maybe I could take a look and see how to stop the insane bleeding. I knew a little first aid after all.

"Here, let me look at it," I said, smiling and keeping calm surprisingly well. Why was I smiling? I shouldn't be smiling. I guess I just wanted to make him feel better, after all, he did look as though he felt quite guilty. Not that I knew why. He seemed to want to say something but quickly shut his mouth.

I gingerly leant over his shoulder, my bangs nearly touching his face, my fingers carefully feeling the still bleeding wound. Maybe Shaymin could stop the bleeding at the very least, but not even stitches could close up the gaping hole. I felt really sick and lightheaded because of the blood, but I forced myself to snap out of it, after all, it must hurt him a lot worse than I.

After what seemed like eternity I pulled myself up and held out my hand. His composure slipped slightly as I sat up but he quickly regained himself.

"Hi, I'm Streak," I said politely, introducing myself.

"Moon," he answered, nearly grunted. I felt my hand retract towards me slightly and the tense aura that surrounded him was almost tangible. Yes, that proves it, he definitely hates me. He looked away again, probably in fear of me ripping his face off. Or something like that.

"So, are you bandaging me up or not?" He asked, with a slightly lighter tone. I saw him peek from behind his fringe at me, and I was relieved to see that his expression was not one of disgust, or even fear, but simply of apology and a hint of a blush. Ah, I must have been wrong about him! Maybe he does like me after all! Intensely happy after my realisation, I couldn't help but smile, and that smile only grew as he shook my still-outstretched hand.

Author's note: Aw, cute! OK so just to recap:

italics no speech marks are telepathy,

"normal and speech marks" is speaking out loud and

"italic and speech marks" is talking to self, in one's own mind.

Ooh, can you guess who the boss is? But it won't be revealed until Streak actually meets her in person.

By the way, just in case you don't understand, Streak goes through an actual physical transformation when she shifts into a shadow and that's the main reason for it hurting so much.

Her teeth turn into needle sharp spikes, her fingers elongate immensely, her eyes turn pitch black, her lips look like they have black lipstick on, her saliva turns black and the smudge of shadow on her neck starts glowing in an ancient pattern, such as that of the Unknown for example. Ah don't forget to comment!