Note: Here! Managed to get it done just before the day ended! I'm really tired as I have lots of stuff to do so I hope you guys'll excuse me for being late... Oh well, this chappie's bound to be interesting... Please do enjoy it!
Rose's POV:
"Well, lead the way Blaze! I'm not the one who has flames all over his mane!" I taunted as Blaze fumbled about with his map.
"Hey! It's not easy to read this thing in the dark, y'know..." he answered in an annoyed tone.
"Well, you're the guy here that has flames... Since flames can provide light... Do something!" I replied, delighting in his annoyed reaction.
"Fine then, I'll just lower my head a little, then... whoops!" he exclaimed in shock as the map touched the flames on his mane.
"Umm... I'm sorry?" he sheepishly replied.
He had just burned the map... Accidentally.
"W-what... just... happened?" I stammered, my personality finally switching back to serious.
"Gah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Blaze panicked, only forbade to step in and defend him.
"Still as clumsy as ever? Never mind him Rose... He's naturally like that so please excuse him," Blade stepped in.
For a moment, we travelled in silence. The flames in Blade's mane served as a torch to guide us through the dark recesses of Midnight Forest.
"So, Blade... Have you found someone yet?" Blaze broke the silence.
"What do you mean?" Blade asked back.
"Well... You know... Someone that you like or something?" Blaze teased.
"W-what? Why being up that topic again?" Blade nervously defended. Even through the dim light, I could see his face burning up.
"Well, it certainly looks like you've found one... Eh heh, though I see you have poor taste, considering the fact that she's an outlaw," Blaze chuckled.
"Whoah there, hothead! I-I'm not i-in any way together with Blade!" I defended myself, despite somehow blushing. Blade just had that kind of effect on me.
"Ah, bickering lovebirds," Blaze chuckled.
I began to raise my hand in preparation for Psychic, but Blade grabbed hold of my hand.
"Rose, please don't start another quarrel," Blade whispered as he held my hand firmly.
Unfortunately, Blaze perceived the gesture to be something similar to "holding hands".
"Yeah, right... Not together, eh?" he chuckled, causing other us to burn even redder.
We continued walking through Midnight Forest. The forest seemed to hold a sinister feel to me as I slowly recalled my past. Images... Images of a Kirlia being dragged away by a Gengar were imprinted into the crooked arms of the trees that stretched skyward.
My head began to hurt.
I knew that those were just illusions of my past. I chose to live in the present instead of the past. Yet the more I tried to push that feeling away, I would always feel e cold hand of that Gengar in this forest.
"Rose... Are you okay?" Blade asked in concern, "You're turning really cold..."
I looked back at him. He had still not let go of my hand.
My heart rate began to slow down as opposed to the nervous jitter ing it did when I remembered my past memories of that forest. Somehow, I was happy that Blade still hadn't let go of my hand. There was a certain warmth that I felt around him, and I slowly allowed it to burn away the fear in my heart.
Sooner though, I began to realize my heart rate go up again. My heart began to thump faster, but this time... It was not from fear... Odd...
"Oh... um... sorry... I think you're probably getting uncomfortable," Blade blushed as he realized that he was still holding my hand and attempted to pull it back.
"No, I don't... I'm fine with it... I mean, I'm not feeling well..." I stammered, feeling my ace burning.
"As much as I don't want to interrupt your romantic moment," Blaze coughed up rather loudly, "I'd like to call your attention here!"
That revelation made me grab my hand back in shock. We both stared at each other, red coloring our faces. I closed my eyes and looked away, there was no way I'm gonna fall for the same weakness I had in the past.
"W-what! No!" I stammered, "That was a misunderstanding!"
"If that was a misunderstanding, then I am Arceus," Blaze sarcastically replied, "Never mind that. Guys! Look at the piece of ground in front of me... I think those vines actually conceal some stairs..."
Blade and I stopped our awkward exchange after Blaze had pointed that out. Now that he had mentioned it, there were some stairs there.
"Well, I have heard about "Secret Bazaars" and stuff of the sort," Blade calmly dismissed.
"Yeah, but listen... Did you know about the "Thieves' Hideout"? They are also found from under concealed staircases, and rumors say that there is one in Midnight Forest..." Blaze gravely returned.
The two then turned back to me.
"Hey Rose..l" they asked in unison, "Do you know anything about the "Thieves' Hideout"?"
I had heard nothing about a so-called "Thieves' Hideout"... How was that possible when I am a thief myself? I tried to find a way to tell them that I knew nothing about what they were talking about in a manner that would still make me look like a "professional" thief or something but none came up.
"I... Well... I'm sorry... I don't have anything," I answered in shame.
"And you call yourself a thief?" Blaze snorted.
"Hey! It's not her fault that she doesn't know about it!" Blade defended, "Um... Sorry... I meant that... You could've hurt her feelings or something... No! That wasn't what I meant!"
Blade struggled with his words... Somehow, I found myself smiling at his sweet attempt to defend me.
"Wow... What has happened to you, Blade? Or should I say Mr. Knight in Shining Armor? Specifically, her knight," Blaze snorted.
Blade was about to return with a snide comment but I pushed myself between both of them.
"Guys! Now's not the time for this. Listen, if this really is a Thieves' Hideout... We should check it out... After all, my imposter was seen in this area," I gave my voice of reason.
They both stopped and looked back at me.
"Fine... Let's go... You ready?" Blaze quipped.
"Ready!" Blade and I returned.
We then began to descend down into the stairs. As we finally entered the ground floor, we noticed two Sableye standing guard at the entrance to the hideout.
I immediately tried to hide but the two guards had already noticed us.
"Wheh?" the first one started, "M-miss Rose... I thought you just entered... I-I mean, we just saw you pass by a minute ago..."
"Well..." the second one tried to cover up for his partner, fearfully eyeing at Blade and Blaze, "Not that it matters... err... Miss Rose... Please don't tell your friends to beat us up again!"
Blade and Blaze just let out an awkward "eh?" However, I took the opportunity to drag them in with me before the Sableye could notice.
"What was that all about?" Blade whispered into my ear as we both saw how the hideout looked like.
The hideout seemed like a bar, with numerous tables filled with rugged looking Pokémon, presumably outlaws.
"Blade," Blaze whispered back, "Don't you get it... Since those guys mentioned something about Rose entering through here already despite the fact that she was with us the whole time, we know our target is here!"
"Stick close to me guys... Please... I don't like this place..." I nervously pleaded as I saw several Machoke and Blaziken eyeing me with interest from their tables.
Blade could feel my anxiety and came closer to hold my hand, relieving me of my nervousness. I kinda felt thankful to Blade for being there to calm me down.
The three of us walked in, ignoring the glares shot in our direction from various outlaws. Blade suddenly gave me a nudge as he tried to bring my attention to another table.
On the other table, a Gardevoir was seated at the center. A Gengar sat beside her, with several Haunter filling the rest of the seats. Upon seeing the Gengar, my head began to ache, but I quickly held it against my will so as not to blow our cover.
The Gardevoir said something to the Gengar as she brushed her arms away from him. She began to stand up and leave the table, despite the Gengar frowning and pulling her back, when she stood up, she caught sight of me and seemed alarmed, the Gardevoir quickly but silently moved to a room behind her and slammed the door. The three of us ran towards the door to hear her setting up a barricade on the other side. Unfortunately for her, I knew that the door opened the other way.
I rolled my eyes as I simply opened the door, stifling a laugh at a huge cupboard which proved to be an ineffective barricade.
"All right," I grinned, "Playtime's over!"
I began to try getting in but I realized too late that the Gardevoir knew that the door opened the other way. I only noticed that when the cupboard was given a heave from the other side, causing it to collapse straight into me.
Blaze stepped in and smashed the cupboard completely with a Psycho Cut to prevent further damage. Before anyone in the main chamber could notice, we quickly slipped in the room to face our target.
As soon as we entered the room, the doors slammed itself shut, locking us inside.
"What do you want?" the Gardevoir asked rashly as she teleported behind me, holding her arm against my neck.
"Leave her alone!" Blade growled as he tried to attack her with Night Slash, albeit she teleported away.
"Who are you! Why are you ruining my name?" I started.
"Why? How polite of you to ask," her voice reverberated from the room, "I am Rose! Or that's what everyone thinks... I'd actually prefer to be called Ruse... Fitting, I know... Eeheehee, considering how you're the one who gets all the attention... Still, I was able to utilize such and voila! I'm an instant famed outlaw!"
"So... Rose wasn't lying," Blaze gasped.
"Of course I'm not!" I justified, turning to Ruse afterwards, "Give it back!"
"What's it?" Ruse playfully taunted.
"You know what I'm talking about!" I hissed,
"My, my," Ruse cackled, "impatient, are you... Well... What if I say you can't have it... Without prevailing over me first!"
She immediately lobbed a Shadow Ball at me after speaking. I took the super effective hit in shock. She was quite fast, faster than I would have expected. But my morale was quite high as I was convinced of a sure victory as it was quite an unfair fight, a three-on-one which would soon end in victory for us!
I turned to Blade and Blaze, signaling for them to attack, but they didn't. They just stood there, immobile. I jumped back as another Shadow Ball was lobbed at where I was standing.
"Amazing, isn't it!" Ruse cackled, "Stumped by a strategy you used against males... Yet you bring forth your own demise by relying on them... Nice going, though... Now I'm sure I can erase all evidence of who I really am!"
Own strategy? I stared back at Blaze and Blade. No! It can't be!
One word emerged to my mind: Attract!
I countered another one of Ruse's Shadow Balls with a Thunderbolt of my own.
"Urk! So, you really can fight, eh? Doesn't matter... We aren't standing on even grounds... now," she teleported beside Blade and Blaze and continued, asking Blade, "Aren't we?"
"No... Let me tip the scales for you, m'lady..." Blade muttered in his trance, bowing courteously before Ruse. He began to charge at my direction as he started to use Night Slash.
My eyes narrowed. That was the last straw! She can steal all the stuff I haven! She can steal all the coins I have. But if she steals my Blade... Somebody's gonna get hurt!
I ducked and dodged Blade's attack and went for the gold as I clasped my arms around Ruse.
"You want to steal him? Well I got shocking news for you, copycat!" I growled as I let loose a huge jolt of Thunderbolt directly at her, "He's MINE! I am the only one allowed to manipulate him, and I have no intention of sharing!"
Ruse staggered backwards, "Ugh! What are you waiting for, Mr. Knight! This filthy freak is attacking me! Eradicate her!"
Blade jumped between Ruse and me with such agility, bringing the fight back up to Ruse's hands.
Blade then pushed me backwards and began to charge forward with Night Slash. I tried to run the other way but Blaze was there preparing a Blast Burn. In a desperate attempt to survive, I ducked,
Blade accidentally struck Blaze with his Night Slash as Blaze fired off Blast Burn, grazing Blade,
I rolled away from the two of them and struck at Ruse once more with a Thunderbolt. She took the blow of the attack, since she had begun to leave herself wide open ever since she began to use my two companions against me.
"Come before me, my loving knight!" she hissed at Blade, who obediently followed her order as he was still under the trance of Attract.
"Yes, now... you!" she grinned seductively at Blade, "Eradicate her! Make sure she's completely annihilated this time!"
Blade stepped forward to attack me with a Night Slash. I tried to dodge his move but I stumbled onto the ground and fell. Blade, charging forward, tripped on me since I fell, causing me to bring him down with me,
Blade fell down directly on top of me, locking us into another accidental kiss as our lips met.
I began to blush as I relished the moment. However, when the impact of realizing what I had done kicked in, I let out an embarrassed gasp. Blade seemed fully aware of what happened, the kiss breaking him off from Attract.
"Ack! I'm... err... s-sorry, Rose!" Blade blushed,
"N-never mind that! Focus on the common enemy!" I nervously muttered, changing the topic.
Ruse did not seem pleased at what happened at all. In her fit of rage, she sent Blaze forward to Blast Burn us all the way to the Hall of Origin. But just before Blaze launched the attack, Blade jumped in front of me to try deflecting it and taking part of the attack for me. I began to wonder if he always took those blows because he cared for me... I shrugged myself out of the thought and remembered that I was still in a battle.
"Rose! I think Blaze has been infatuated..." Blade called out to me as he landed after deflecting the attack.
You think? I sarcastically thought as I rolled my eyeballs.
"Rose... Do you think you can... um... win him over?" Blade blushed.
"With pleasure!" I giggled as I launched the attack, I was beginning to like the way Blade was thinking, "You do know that this is the second time I'll be doing this to Blaze, right?"
I grinned. I had stripped Ruse of all her pawns already.
"W-what? H-how dare you!" she screamed in rage as she launched a Focus Blast towards Blaze.
Blade jumped before the attack and deflected it back at her. I boosted the attack by combining my Psychic into the sphere of power that was the deflected Focus Blast. It soon collided and exploded at Ruse.
"Kyaaaaaaa!" she breathed heavily ad she held her abdominal region, all beaten up at the floor, "Y-you'll... pay for this!"
"I don't think so!" Blaze returned, having the effects of Attract gone, blasting her with a Flamethrower, knocking her unconscious.
I sighed in exhaustion. Blade and Blaze both seem quite content with our teamwork. They both shot proud grins at each other while Blade soon looked my way and nodded at me.
I nodded back as I grabbed Ruse's bag and opened it up. After rummaging through it, I managed to find it. My Divine Crescent! I held it up after taking it out to show Blade.
"Good going! Now, we must not delay! We have to get to Darkrai and Cresselia!" Blade excitedly stated.
Blaze began to hoist the unconscious Ruse and carry her.
"Don't forget," he reminded, "we still have to turn her in."
A sudden thought occurred to us.
"Wait!" Blade interrupted, "How do we get through unnoticed! I mean, we're carrying an unconscious Gardevoir!"
"Well," I replied with a face that expressed disgust, "I think I may have a plan guys..."
Note: Ooh! Wonder what could Rose's plan be? Oh yeah, special thanks to Lordrereland for thinking up the name "Ruse"! Another thing guys, I'm sorry to say that my next update will take quite a while to come out. Next week will be the start of my fourth quarter final exams... I am not sure if I will be able to update next week, but know that I am trying. The only thing I ask in return as always is a review! Guys! Please leave a review! Opinions, opinions! Lemme hear 'em! After all, opinions are often the fuel to better works! Oh well, gotta sleep now, as it is EXACTLY 12:00 am in my country right now... Good night~