POKEMON RANGER, OUT OF THE DARKNESS - Chapter Six: Moltres.


The wind blew across her face gently as she sat on the hovering Pidgeot looking down through the clouds toward the water. The sun was setting off to their right and a broken eggshell sunset turned the water and clouds below to flames. The wind was still gentle despite the hellish appearance of the Kanto world around her, and she enjoyed for a moment the feeling of her hair moving with the wind, one of the few feelings that she had truly come to love over the last year. Pueltown had been a quiet place to hide, once she found the small, secluded dock in the back, behind the stairs that led up to the upper level of the town. She had come across it completely by accident, yet it had become her favorite place to stow away for hours on end, just enjoying the breeze.

It had felt like no one could ever find her, and yet Keith had found her on that very first day, at sunset precisely. The same breeze that had once wrapped around her singularly suddenly found that it could wrap around two souls at once, push them toward each other and make them know how much they truly cared for the other. As then, as now, as always, the wind had been her friend throughout every situation she faced, be it alone or with her friends around her.

It felt good to reconnect with the wind again. She felt something in her heart calm down and be contented by the gentle breeze as she floated high above the world on the back of the patient Pidgeot. A sigh escaped her lips as she enjoyed the cold, crisp, clear air high above the world, far away from any uncertain future as she merely enjoyed the moment she had where it was just her, just the wind, and everything made an odd sort of sense.

She looked down at the feathered back on which she perched and patted the crest of the bird, a small smile tugging on her lips. The wind was always there for her, it never left, and no matter what adversity she faced, in the bleak world where everything was unpredictable and strange that she now found herself in, she could always count on the wind to be there.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled slightly back at the other familiar thing on this journey. It was so hard to believe that what had started as an old school rival had become her closest friend and ally, and her partner in crime throughout her adventures. She felt a small twinge in her stomach as she thought fondly of that first Bidoof capture race that had sparked into friendship.

She turned back toward the wind after a second, delving into her own dark thoughts as Keith flew up from behind her, grinning into the wind like an idiot who was thoroughly enjoying himself. The wind was blowing his hair around a bit too, but nothing like her long free strands that she had convinced him to allow her to pull free. The pigtails just… didn't seem… right, not anymore. Not for the memories that they brought from the dark recesses of her mind.

Keith's bright smile never wavered as he watched her face darken. He was determined to make things seem better if only by use of his demeanor. No matter how bad things got, he was going to be there for her… through it all, he'd persevere and eventually he'd be able to tell her the lingering secret he had been keeping from her, the only thing she didn't know about him.

She looked over at him and sighed, "Time to land." Before a second had past, she had wrenched her gaze from his and closed her eyes. He nodded despite her lack of attention, and after half a second of hesitation, he placed his hand lightly over hers on the opposite Pidgeot, hovering his close to hers just to accomplish the feat without falling into the water below.

He glanced downward and scanned the endless blue for a speck of green or brown or gray, something that would indicate land. Four such spots caught his attention, one of which (A gray island with a mountain in the center) looked like it had a very habitable beach that was probably dotted with caves. He patted her hand slightly to get her attention before banking and going down to a point where he could jump off easily. Her Pidgeot followed his on instinct; its rider lost in her own mind, and banked lower toward the land before hovering. Kate, still not paying attention, had her eyes closed.

"Hey!" Keith called up to her from the point where he had landed; having jumped off of the Pidgeot he had been riding and landed with a 'thwump' on the sandy shore. Kate, surprised, shifted unsurely a little too far to the left. Keith, with a yelp and a grunt, jumped forward and stretched out his arms to catch the suddenly falling form of the girl who meant the world to him. A rock lodged itself into his leg as he landed heavily on the ground, cradling the startled girl in his arms gingerly for a few seconds before pain registered in his mind.

"Stupid…!" he groaned, letting go of Kate and rolling onto his back, pulling his leg up to his chest. Kate sat up and looked over at him, confusion and disarmed curiosity on her face as a few strands of her brown hair fell into her face. Her eyes drifted from the wound that was now bleeding to the aggrieved expression on Keith's face. She felt her mouth tug upward as she gently pulled the trembling hands from the bloody limb and started looking it over, pulling out the small rock after a second to a hiss of pain from Keith.

"Quiet." She muttered softly, ripping her T-shirt hem off enough to wrap the wound. He grabbed her wrist after a moment of hesitation as she finished the knot, a pained frown directed at her as she turned her crystal blue eyes on him.

"Kate." He gritted out, as she helped him up, his heart wrenching in his chest as she kept her gaze reserved and controlled. Didn't she realize how much her touch pained and electrified him at the same time? Didn't she feel the jolt of shock whenever their skin came into contact?

Kate shook her head, a small frown on her face as her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Keith let the matter drop when he saw the small tears pooling on her eyelashes. She felt something; that was for sure. What it was, he wasn't entirely certain yet.

She helped him over to a cave, the many pokemon flooding into it after them as she set him down against a wall and wandered back out with Machop, Munchlax, and her ever faithful Cranidos to go find firewood and food. Keith was left staring after her as she wandered down the beach, leaving him literally drowning in Pokemon and being smothered by his Buizel. Regardless of the menagerie surrounding him, however, he couldn't tear his eyes from her downcast expression; she was very confused.

---

The world was full of "whys" at that moment.

'Why?! Why does it feel so strange to be around him now? Why has everything changed so dramatically from one night of pure nightmare? WHY DO I FEEL SO CONFUSED?!' Thoughts swirled around in countless jumbles of confusion as she kicked a stone dejectedly into the water a few feet away from where she stood with tears flowing out of her eyes. Cranidos and Machop were gathering firewood and Munchlax was attacking a bush of berries while she broke down. She dropped to her knees, picking up a stick from the beach and scratching out a few sketches in the sand, before throwing the stick and kicking the images away.

She didn't want to think anymore. She just wished her brain would stop working; that these confusing thoughts and feelings would just go away. She buried her face in her hands and sighed, tears squeezing out of her eyes. She felt a soft, moist nose push into her arm and lifted her face slightly to see the familiar orange Buizel.

"Bwee?" it cocked its head at her imploringly, a confused spark in its eye. She sighed and raised a hand to pat it.

"I wish I could tell you what was wrong, Buizel. But the problem is that I don't know." She laughed mirthlessly, "Everything's been turned upside down and mashed up and it's all confusing now."

"Buizel Bwee! Bwee, Bwee Buizel Zel!" The Buizel chattered at her, pushing his head into her palm happily before nuzzling her fondly. She smiled slightly at it as it scooted back toward the cave, doubtlessly going back to check on his partner.

She sighed again, standing up as Machop wandered over to her laden with fire-worthy-wood. Munchlax also came back with a handful of berries and with a branch from the bush in one of his paws. Cranidos crunched over the sand to her side, and she patted his head in acknowledgement, before leading the three back toward the cave as the sky darkened even more. She helped Machop pile the firewood in the center of the cave, before directing Chimchar to light it into a good fire. The spark blazed into life and soon they had a merrily crackling fire between them.

Keith's brown eyes never left hers, even though she herself kept her gaze downward. Before long, the fire died down to glowing embers and all the pokemon were asleep, regardless of the two humans who remained awake, one watching the other avidly while the other avoided his gaze. Kate lay down on her side, her eyes to the wall, and sighed softly, "Well… G'night."

"Night." Keith responded, his brown eyes shimmering with untold secrets and sadness. He wanted so much to tell her… but… he just couldn't bring himself to do it yet, not now, not when she wouldn't so much as look at him. He contented himself with just listening to her breathing, doubtful that he would be getting sleep that night.

---

The darkness surrounding her was all too familiar now: the many memories playing themselves out briefly until she was alone again. She turned around into the sight that told her she wasn't quite as alone as she had thought. A flicker of confusion shone in her eyes as she stared at the unfamiliar form before her.

The gaunt figure had stringy, charred brown hair that fell into their face, obscuring their eyes and features. Their shoulders sloped downward in an unnatural angle, as if they had been broken and bleeding far to many times. The rib bones in the chest showed plainly through the tattered rags adorning the thin body. She saw yellow-purple bruises all down the pallor of the twig-like legs. The figure wore no shoes, instead its feet hung down helplessly. Their ankles, wrists, and stomach were coiled in dark flames.

"Who are you?" she brought herself to say, a mere whisper that was swallowed alive by the folds of black around her. The skeletal figure either didn't hear her question or heard her and didn't have the energy to answer or even look up. She watched as the flames surrounding the body started to eat it alive, yet they didn't even look up or flinch, or even twitch in pain. It was as if they were used to the angry gnawing of the darkness.

"I'm a person who's been here too long… a person you know well." The quiet, hoarse voice finally said with a few harsh coughs. Kate's blue eyes widened when she heard the voice, certain she had heard it somewhere before…

…But before she could place the voice, the emaciated person called out in desperation, their voice cracking halfway through their cry, "Disturb not the Harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning…!" a series of callous lacerating coughs disturbed their sentence, but despite the obvious pain that they were in, they nonetheless continued, "…Lest these Titans… Wreak Destruction… Upon the World… In which… They… CLASH!" The body was eaten up completely, disappearing in the black, as the figure looked up and locked eyes with Kate.

Right as blue eyes met blue, Kate felt something pulling her away from the girl who she faced. She raised an arm desperately, reaching out toward the familiar face, the same face she had seen in a mirror countless times before…

---

She gasped as she sat up, her hand to her forehead as tears made their way down her face unbidden. She gasped for breath for a few seconds before sobbing softly. No matter how many times she tried to fight the horrible darkness that was eating her alive… she was still stuck there, still suffering…

The sudden encircling of arms around her startled her into looking around and seeing Keith. His serious face and tired eyes made her sob even more; as she buried her face into his chest and cried, she heard him crooning softly, a tuneless song meant for comfort.

It was a long few hours before sunrise would come, and neither wanted to let go of the other, one for the sake of comfort, and one to be comforted. The sobs that came from the shaking girl huddling helplessly in the tired boy's arms eventually died down to sniffles and shuddering sighs, though she never moved to pull away.

'Maybe this is what it feels like to love…' Keith thought as he rested his chin on the top of Kate's head, '…the feeling that you need the other just as much as they need you…'

As the morning grew cold and wet, Keith released Kate momentarily to pull the two string shot blankets around them, Kate never removing her face from his chest or her shaking hands from around him. He tugged the warming blankets close and buried his face into her hair, inhaling deeply the scent of sea breeze and strawberry. No matter how anything else smelled, he would never admit to have scented anything sweeter than her hair.

His shirt was soaked through with tears when the sun finally poked its way into their cave. Kate shuddered when he regretfully pulled his arms from around her, and she whispered softly, "Keith… I…"

Keith looked into her crystal blue eyes, unable to speak as she struggled with her words. She finally pushed her face into his shoulder, a sigh of content escaping her mouth. "I don't want these moments to end." She finally whispered.

"I don't either… no matter what happens before them… or after them… I just want to live the moments…" Keith breathed to himself, as Kate finally pulled away from him.

Her eyes were listless, and she opened her mouth slightly as she roused the Pokemon. "…Disturb not the harmony… of Fire, Ice, and Lightning… lest these Titans wreak destruction… upon the world in which they clash…"

Keith bit his lip slightly, reaching for any form of humor he could find. "Disturb not the harmony, huh?" he finally said quietly, "Well, we'll just have to take all three by storm. Surprise them enough that the Harmony is kept in balance."

Kate's small, impish smile was all he needed to see to let him know that his humor had reached her. He heard her chuckle as she stood, "Let's just get going, Keith."

---

Further exploration of the island that they were on revealed that it was a highly volcanic island, as the gray sand and rock was the remains of ash and magma. Kate hiked up the slope expertly, offering help to Keith who had to take it for the sake of keeping up. The shrubbery was scarce, though rocks and boulders were abundant around them. Kate used an Aerodactyl that she caught on the way to crush some of the larger rocks that were in their way.

As they finally came up upon the top of the volcano, the wind picked up, sending the pungent smell of sulfur into their faces. Kate started coughing harshly and had to slow to a more achievable pace for Keith. Keith found himself helping her up the mountain.

"If you want to, we can stop." He called down to her when she paused for the third time as they neared the rim. Kate's frequent coughing was beginning to worry him, and the trek was obviously tiring her out. He slid a few feet down the mountain to where she had paused and wrapped an arm around her waist, helping her further up the slope. As they reached the rim of the Volcano, the lava bubbled up closer to the surface and both started to sweat.

"Disturb… harmony… Fire…" Kate muttered haltingly, interrupted by coughs after every word. Keith squeezed her hand slightly, reassuringly, as he stepped up fully onto the small ring of rock. The volcano rumbled a warning shock to them just before the fiery bird burst out of the lava.

"I am Moltres, the bird of Fire."

Moltres.

Kate stopped coughing as suddenly as she had started, staring unblinkingly at Moltres as he rose up into the air, looking at them.

"Who dares disturb the harmony of my sleep?"

"Disturb… harmony… Fire…" Kate whispered again, her eyes widening in realization. She pulled away from Keith, pushing forward, "Moltres, we mean you no harm and we say this with the utmost respect, but we need your help." She knew she had said the wrong thing as soon as it escaped her mouth. Moltres spread his wings with a shriek.

"We need to get back down!" Keith called to her as the lava started bubbling closer to the rim. She stepped back half a step and moved toward him, reaching out her left hand, only to have a stream of fire crash down into her palm. She did the only thing that she could think of doing as pain flooded her system.

She screamed and cried.

Keith heard the pained scream from behind the wall of fire that had appeared, and he yelled out, "KATE!" The flames died away as Kate cradled her burned arm close to her chest, and he sent out his Capture Disc in desperation. He didn't care if his Styler was broken, he didn't care if Moltres turned out to be too tough. He. Hurt. Kate.

His beautiful, courageous, angelic Kate. No one hurt his Kate, not without consequences.

The Styler almost flew around Moltres as he directed it fiercely, one eye on the sobbing Kate, supporting her arm against her chest as the skin turned a dark red, and the other on the capture disc and the capture line, watching to try and prevent too much breakage.

Kate lifted her eyes to lock on his as Moltres began calming down somewhat, then her gaze shifted to the lava that was still growing closer. "Keith!" she yelled, "We need to get off the rim!"

"If I stop now we'll both be toasted!"

"If we don't go now then we'll be burned alive!" she yelled back jerking her head at the lava. Keith nodded, looking at Moltres before recalling his Capture Disc and dashing over the crumbling rocks to Kate, scooping her up in his arms before she could even protest. They were slipping and sliding through the hot rocks and ash down the mountain as Moltres, no longer calmed but now growing angrier every second, flew behind them.

Kate weakly pressed a button on her Styler, before calling out, "GODDAMNIT, EVERYONE HELP US!"

Rocks, bursts of electricity, flames, and bubbles flew past them, and even a water gun from his Buizel all headed toward the gaining Moltres. Kate clicked a few more buttons on her Styler and sobbed as the skin on her arm started throbbing with pain. He gently pressed his hand into hers and continued running, gasping for breath even as he ran.

Kate whispered something that he lost to the shrieks of rage coming from the firebird behind him. Her pained face broke his heart.

"Keith." She said again, more fiercely, "You need to capture him properly." She was holding her arm gingerly, as he ran, and she swung her legs around so she was out of his grip, landing firmly beside her Cranidos. Keith looked into her clear blue eyes and nodded, turning instinctively as he released the Capture disc again.

Kate continued down the mountain, throwing worried glances over her shoulder as she retreated back to the caves.

---

Keith came back.

He actually came back.

She was happy and sad at the same time, after seeing his downcast eyes. He handed her a small reddish orange stone and curled her fingers around it before pulling her into a hug.

"That burn looked bad," he finally said when he let go of her, "Let me take a better look at it."

"It's nothing." She whispered, "It'll heal just fine." She had wrapped the burn with a Caterpie's string shot after she had held it under a steady stream of cool, comforting bubbles from Piplup. The cold water had helped it stop throbbing and the cast was to keep it from moving too much while the skin healed. She knew there would be a scar, but it didn't matter now.

She placed the small, round stone in her pocket with the two others, sighing slightly. "Guess we go to the next island. Ice."

"Articuno." Keith said, surprising her with his knowledge of the name. "Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. Fire, Ice, and Lightning."

"I just hope…" she trailed off as she looked at his tired eyes again, "That when we get back to Almia, we're still both intact."

"We will be." He muttered back to her, hugging her again, "We will be."


A/N: Well, sorry for the wait. The weekend ended way too fast last week, and then school monopolized my time and all that shiz. But it's back again! A lot more fluff for a lot more action.