Here's the next chapter. This part wasn't in the original role play and acts as a filler chapter. The next two will have relatively fast updates because they're straight from the role play but we never continued after that so it's all me writing after the next two chapter. Just one more chapter until my all-time favorite part. xD Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Oh and sorry on the slight attack on Dawn but I really don't like her. Too girly. -_-
Chapter 3- The Journey
Nighttime rolled around and all the cats went into their respective dens to go to sleep. Ash, May and Brock laid awake in the 'Apprentices Den'; waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak out. Max was unfortunately stuck in the 'Nursery' because he was a 'kit'.
Brock was staring out in the direction of the Medicine Den with a scowl.
May padded up to him. "Shouldn't we have Joy come with us?" She asked.
Brock shook his head with a frown. "We can come back and tell everyone how to get out when we find out. That and-" He started crying anime waterfall tears, "-she tricked me! I thought she loved me and all she wanted was my medicine position."
"Aren't you used to that by now?" Ash asked with a sweat drop, lying on his back and tilting his head back to look at his friends.
May giggled. "Showin' off your fluff Ash?" She asked, referring to his fluffy underbelly.
"No!" Ash rolled back to his feet with an annoyed huff. "I am SO tired of being called 'fluffy'! I'm tired of being a cat, period. Let's get out of here."
"Keep it down!" Brock and May hissed simultaneously before glancing outside of the den. It was a lucky break that they were the only apprentices in there at that time.
"Can we go yet?" Ash groaned with a slightly lowered voice.
"Not yet… Let's wait a little while longer just to be safe. Be sure to stay quiet or it'll take longer." Brock stated.
Ash just grumbled and lay down.
The time drew on and seemed like forever for Ash. But finally Brock silently signaled for them to follow him out of the den.
"Finally!" Ash sighed. The two glared at him and put their paws to their mouths to gesture for silence. The three then crept out of the den with Brock in the lead and kept to the shadows cast from the cliff walls. When they passed the Nursery, Max appeared and joined the line wordlessly.
"Where are we going?" Ash whispered, shutting up after receiving a glare from all three of his friends and more shushing gestures.
Brock faced forward again and pointed toward a certain area with his paw.
They reached the area and all of the cats scrunched up their noses in disgust from the stench it produced.
Ash opened his mouth to comment but was cut off my Max putting a paw over it.
Brock slowly made his way through the stinky minefield with a grimace and squeezed out of a hole in the back. May and Max followed with the same expressions and Ash practically ran through it. When Ash squeezed out of the hole, he ran a short distance away from it and gagged.
The three shushed him again and Brock ran into the trees, trying to find a way around the cat on guard outside of the camp.
When they were sure they were a safe distance away from the camp, Brock sighed. "Sorry about that escape route guys." He apologized softly. "That was the only way out I could find."
"What was that disgusting place anyways?" Ash asked, gagging again at the thought. "It smelled worse than a sewer full of Muk."
"That," Max raised a paw as if raising a finger in his usual know-it-all fashion, "would be the Dirt Tunnel."
"Dirt Tunnel?" Ash and May asked and cocked their heads to one side.
"Yeah. It's the place where the cats go to… You know, do their business." Max explained.
"Oh," May sweat dropped. "I wondered where we would do that here. I thought we'd just go in the forest though.
"GROSS!" Ash screeched, a little too loudly. "Why don't they have bathrooms or something?!"
May rolled her eyes at Ash fondly with a smirk. "You really don't know anything about cats, do you?"
Ash shook his head sheepishly.
"Well if we get out of here, none of that will matter anyways." Brock pointed out as he continued to lead. After a while he stopped.
"What's up Brocko?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, why'd we stop?" May asked.
Brock turned to them with a sweat drop and a sheepish grin. "I have NO idea where we're going." He stated, making the others fall over anime style.
"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" Ash screeched.
"Well we haven't explored very much…" May pointed out to defend Brock.
"Yeah, and I don't have my Poke'Nav anymore either." Max added.
"Well I think we go…" Ash looked around. "…That way!" He bolted off in a random direction.
"Ash, wait up! You can't just run around here carelessly! We know nothing about this world!" Brock called and chased after him.
"Oh well," May sweat dropped. "Maybe if we keep going a certain direction we'll get through the forest." May said with a nervous smile.
"With Ash leading us," Max huffed, "I highly doubt it."
The two ran to catch up to their friends.
As they were following Ash's lead through the forest, a familiar and girlish voice filled the air.
"Hey! You cats over there! I need to talk to you!"
They all turned to see a blue-gray cat with long fur and two golden hair barrettes holding up part of her fur- much like Dawn's hair style- running up to them. As she made her way over, she could be heard complaining about all of the brambles, dirt and grass messing up her fur.
She finally reached them. "I'm Dawn and I'm looking for some friends of mine."
"Dawn? Well I'm Ash; and this is May, Max and Brock." Ash gestured to each of them.
"Oh! It's you guys!" Dawn said happily. "I knew that you would come and find me Ashy!" She was at his side in a heartbeat, brushing her tail against him in a flirting matter.
Ash sweat dropped. "Ummm…. We just happened to come by…" He tried to scoot away from her. "We snuck away and we're trying to get out of here."
"Oh me too!" Dawn nodded. "I woke up as a CAT! Can you imagine it?!"
May laughed. "Actually… yeah we can."
Dawn ignored her and went on. "My looks are ruined!" She wailed before pulling a disgusted face. "And to make things worse, a person was touching me!"
"Person? There are people here?" May asked in surprise.
"Yeah…" Dawn gave her a strange look.
"So you weren't in one of the clans then?" Max asked.
"Clans? What are you talking about? I was in a house with a person expecting me to eat KIBBLE out of a cat bowl!"
"She must have been a pet then." Brock confirmed.
"WHAT?!" She screeched. "I am NO ONE'S pet!" She looked away in disgust and started grooming herself.
"Well, we gotta go Dawn." Ash said and started leading the way again.
"No way that you're leaving me behind! I'm coming with!" Dawn insisted.
"As long as you don't mind getting dirty trekking through the forest." May pointed out.
Dawn pulled a disgusted face again before sighing. "Fine… If it'll turn me back into a human I'll do it."
Ash just shrugged and continued to lead.
"Ugh! We're lost!" Max spat. "Again!"
"We're not lost," Ash huffed, "I know exactly where I'm going!"
"Then why aren't we out of the forest?" Max sneered.
"I-I'm getting there!" Ash yelled, flustered.
Brock sighed. "Even without Misty here, Ash STILL has to argue with someone."
May looked at Brock with wide eyes. "Actually, Max has been acting more like Misty ever since we saw her last. He really admires her."
Brock smirked. "Admires? I'd say he has a little crush on her?"
May laughed. "Ash sure wouldn't like that, would he?"
"Nope. But he'll never admit it."
"Who's Misty? And why wouldn't Ash like that?" Dawn asked the two, narrowing her sapphire eyes.
Brock and May exchanged a look. "Misty is a girl who me and Ash used to travel with." Brock explained cautiously.
Before Dawn could press further, Ash interrupted them.
"Hey look!" Ash's voice cut into their conversation. "I see light! I told you guys I knew where I was going!" With that he broke into a run toward the break in the tree line.
The others followed eagerly.
When they made their way out of the tree line, they came into a clearing with a shimmering pond down a sandy path.
"Wow! It's so beautiful!" May swooned as she looked at the pond. It had a mythical glow to it and drew the group closer.
"That's amazing!" Ash agreed before sticking his tongue out slightly. "But seeing it reminds me of how thirsty I am."
"Why don't we take a break here?" Brock suggested.
"And sit down in the sand?! Are you kidding me?" Dawn complained.
The group rolled their eyes at her.
They were all glad to oblige to Brock's request- all except for Dawn of course- and started making their way down the sandy path, drawn to the pond like a Mothim to a flame.
After taking their places by it; they all started to drink the soothing, ice cold water. But just as soon as they withdrew their tongues, darkness swallowed all of them.
Ash opened his eyes to see a cat sitting right in front of him. "Who are you?" He asked.
The cat just stared at him silently, her eyes containing a strange sparkle of emotion to them. He couldn't help but just stare at her. She had the most gorgeous sea green eyes he had ever seen in his life and orange fur to contrast them just perfectly. She looked so familiar but he couldn't put his paw on who she was.
She stared into his eyes sadly. 'You've forgotten me, haven't you?' A voice just as familiar as the cat herself rang in Ash's mind. Before he could question it, she disappeared and was replaced by darkness once again. He saw glowing amber eyes glare at him before he suddenly found himself blinking awake in the clearing with his friends just beginning to stir.
"Whoa, what a dream…" May said.
"Wait, you had a weird dream too?" Ash asked in shock.
May nodded, looking equally as shocked. "I saw two cats that seemed familiar. One looked-" she put on a strange face, "-green, with green eyes. And the other was kinda black with brown eyes." She shrugged.
"Wow, how weird! I saw a familiar cat too!" Ash gasped.
"I saw Tigerkit!" Brock swooned, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to leap dreamily in between them.
"I saw a bunch of male cats all over me!" Dawn boasted with her head raised high like her Piplup usually did. They all sweat dropped before turning to Max as he stirred.
"Well I didn't see any cats." Max stated, standing up. "But I saw Palkia."
"Really?!" Ash looked at him in shock.
Max nodded. "And a voice in my head said something weird. It said something about us not being able to return until our hearts are bound. I don't know. It made no sense to me."
"It sounds like we can't leave yet then." Brock said, snapping out of his love daze. "We might as well get back to the clan and stay put until we figure out how we can get back to our world."
The other three nodded. "I guess you're right…" Ash said with a sigh.
"Well I'm coming with you." Dawn stated stubbornly.
"Actually," Max laughed nervously as they made their way back the way they had come, "we snuck away and intend to sneak back in so we can't bring you with us or they'll know we snuck out."
The other three nodded in agreement.
Dawn fish-sighed. "Fine. But I'm finding you guys tomorrow okay?"
They just nodded as they made their way back to the place they met Dawn.
"See you guys tomorrow." She waved her tail.
"Enjoy eating cat food and being touched by a random stranger. We're gonna go eat good food." Ash snickered at Dawn.
The flustered she-cat glared at him. "That is NOT funny Ash Ketchum!"
"Yeah it is." Ash smirked.
"Come on; let's go before the sun comes up." Brock pushed Ash forward to avoid the argument going further.
"I'm coming tomorrow!" Dawn called after them before she ran back to her house.
"Do you think she'll find us?" May asked.
"Who knows?" Brock shrugged. "Let's just focus on hurrying back now." He looked up at the sky, which had started to grow a soft pink and light blue to indicate the near rising of the sun. "If we get caught, we may not be going anywhere for a while."
The group trekked on and barely made it back to their dens before cats started rising.
"Ah man, I'm beat." Ash groaned as he collapsed in the den.
"Me too!" May sighed and collapsed as well.
"That makes three of us." Brock said and lay next to them.
Right as the three closed their eyes, a voice rang loudly through the air.
"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a meeting!"
The three groaned softly.
"We can't catch prey yet so that can't be us." Ash mumbled sleepily.
"Just ignore him and maybe he'll forget us and let us sleep." May said in a daze.
A cat stuck their head in the den. "Hey! Firestar called for a meeting! Don't be disrespectful to your leader!" She scolded. "And Rockpaw; it's important for you to be present. It's yours and Tigerkit's apprentice ceremony."
Brock shot right to his feet. "Tigerkit?! Oh boy!" He ran past the cat to exit the den, leaving a dust cloud.
The cat blinked before narrowing her eyes at the two sleeping lumps. "Get up you two before I drag you out."
Ash and May sighed before reluctantly stumbling to their feet and outside in a tired daze.
"I guess that's what we get for sneaking out…" May murmured.
The two joined the love-struck Brock in the crowd, who was staring at Tigerkit as her mother cleaned her for the ceremony.
The leader stood proudly on the Highledge as he looked down at the clan gathered before him. "Will Tigerkit, Harmonykit and Rockpaw please step forward?"
Tigerkit and her sister Harmonykit broke away from their mother's fickle cleaning and stepped into the clearing under the Highledge.
Brock still stared in a love-sick daze.
"Brock!" May yelled to snap him out of it. "He was calling you."
"Oh yeah, thanks." Brock ran forward to stand next to Tigerkit.
"Tigerkit, Harmonykit, you both will become Apprentices today. Are you ready?" Firestar asked.
They both nodded eagerly.
"Tigerkit, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Tigerpaw and your mentor will be Nightshade." Firestar continued.
The dark warrior stepped forward from the crowd to touch noses with Tigerpaw.
"And Harmonykit, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Harmonypaw. Your mentor will be Foxleap." Firestar waited for the two to touch noses before he continued. "Rockpaw, it came to my attention that you resigned as a Medicine Cat Apprentice yesterday and passed the duties on to Joypaw. Are you sure that that is your final decision?"
Rockpaw glanced back at Jayfeather and Joypaw, who were sitting outside of the Medicine Den. He remembered all of what he went through and not being able to have a mate being a Medicine Cat. He sighed and turned back to Firestar. "Yes, that is my final decision." He confirmed.
"Alright, then your new mentor will be Foxheart." Firestar finished before leaping down from the Highledge.
"Sweet." Foxheart smiled.
"Oh wow! What an honor!" Brock swooned with hearts in his eyes as they touched noses ceremoniously.
Tigerpaw frowned as she watched them by the corner of her eye, her tail drooping.
Two cats walked up to Ash and May. "Alright, it's time for battle training you two." One of them said.
"Battle training? Alright!" Ash paw-pumped in the air.
The other cat let out a 'mrrow' of amusement at Ash's excitement. "Let's get going then."
The two she-cats lead the way out of the camp with Ash and May following behind.
"You know that 'Battle Training' is actually fighting right? Don't you remember how brutally they fought?" May asked him in a hushed voice.
"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Ash's ears drooped. "But you know what else I forgot?"
"What?"
"Breakfast." Ash groaned.
"That's right! We forgot to eat!" May cried.
"I'm so hungry!" Ash wailed.
The two cats turned around. "You can eat after training."
"But I'll be too weak from hunger to train." Ash whined with May nodding in agreement.
The two cats exchanged a look. "What are we gonna do with these two?" One sighed.
"Work extra hard and you can get an especially big fresh-kill from the pile." The other encouraged.
"Alright, let's just do it Ash." May sighed while clenching her stomach.
"Man, I don't know if I can survive that long without food." Ash said and mimicked May's actions.
"Alright, now pretend that I'm an enemy cat and I'll instruct you from there." One of the cats stood in a battle-ready stance across from Ash.
"Right," he got into the same stance, "and erm… what's your name again?"
The cat looked at him in shock. "Sandstorm! Your mentor!" The sandy she-cat said in exasperation. "How do you not remember me?!"
"W-we have kinda bad memories with names!" May defended Ash quickly.
"Huh? No I do-" Before Ash could finish, May leaped over to him and slapped her paw over his mouth.
"Sorry, I don't remember your name either." She sweat dropped and looked at the other cat.
"Squirrelflight." The ginger cat answered with slight annoyance. "YOUR mentor."
"Alright, I'll try to remember." She bounced back over to Squirrelflight with a nervous laugh.
"Let's get started." Sandstorm stated and looked at Ash expectantly.
Ash closed his eyes for a moment and tried to imagine that this was a Pokemon Battle and Sandstorm was his opponent. But he then realized that HE himself was doing the battling, not his Pokemon. His eyes opened and he charged at Sandstorm with a battle cry, leaping into the air with his claws instinctively coming out.
Sandstorm easily dodged to the side and batted at him with a sheathed paw before he landed to throw him off balance. "Put those away!" Sandstorm scolded.
"Huh?" Ash looked at her in confusion. "Put what away?"
"Your claws. We always practice battling with claws sheathed as not to cause any injury." Sandstorm explained.
Ash looked down at his claws. "I didn't even notice that they came out…" He looked back up at his mentor. "If we do that, then how do we win battles?"
"We PRACTICE with claws sheathed but in REAL battles we have them unsheathed." She explained.
"Wait, what's sheathed and unsheathed again?" Ash asked.
Sandstorm sighed impatiently. "Sheathed means not having your claws out. We don't practice with our claws out. Unsheathed means that we DO have our claws out, and that's how we do real battles."
"Okay! I get it!" Ash grinned. He looked down at his claws. "But… how do I get them back in?"
Sandstorm looked at him like he had two heads. "What cat doesn't know how to retract their claws?!"
"Uh, well…" Ash stuttered before just concentrating on putting his claws back in. It happened almost naturally like moving any voluntary muscle. "Okay, I'm ready."
Sandstorm was still looking at him weird but got back in her battle ready stance. "Come back at me again."
Ash rushed at her again and leaped up. She swiped her paw at him and hit his underbelly, making him fly back. She leaped on him and held her paw on his stomach before he could roll back onto his feet.
"Hey! Let me go!" He protested.
"If I was an enemy warrior, I would have been slashing at your underbelly right now." Sandstorm stated darkly. "You must NEVER expose your underbelly. That's the weak spot of all cats."
Ash nodded as he withdrew this advice.
She lifted her paw and let him roll to his feet. "You're a smaller cat so you must use your agility to your advantage. You must observe the size and stature of your opponent and have a strategy in mind before rushing headfirst into battle. And your moves can't be so obvious like your last two charges at me."
Ash thought that through for a moment. This battling could be seen as physical Pokemon Battling. It was important to dodge, land an attack, and always have a strategy in mind. "Alright, I think I got it." Ash said, his eyes narrowed in determination.
"Charge at me one more time and then I'll show you some moves."
Ash nodded and ran straight at her again.
She watched him carefully with muscles tensed and ready to react. At the last second, he feinted to the right and narrowly dodged her swiping paw. In the brief second that she was recovering, he ran his paw along her flank. She spun around to face him and he reacted by batting at her cheek. She swiped her paw at him again and sent him rolling.
Gritting his teeth, he rushed at her again, feinted to the right and ran between her front legs, pawing at her underbelly- as she said that was the weak spot. All of a sudden, she collapsed on top of him, making him struggle helplessly.
"Hey! What gives?!" He yowled.
"At this point, put all of your strength into your leg muscles and try to leap up to throw me off balance." Sandstorm instructed.
Ash did as he was told and slightly threw her off. He ran a distance away and panted with fatigue but still with that determination burning in his eyes.
"Great job Ashpaw." Sandstorm praised with a smile and touched her tail to his shoulder. "Now I'll show you some moves that you can use."
Ash grinned excitedly and glanced at May to see her having some good progress as well. 'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.'