She sat there in the charred field that surrounded Entei's cave, looking up at the sky and once again just feeling the wind blowing past her shoulders. Keith was out looking for their breakfast with her Munchlax, Machop, and Cranidos and his Buizel, and she was free to relax. She checked the burn she had gotten from Moltres, just an unbelievable week before. It was healing up nicely enough, but it still stung when she touched it. A cold wind passed her and she shivered.
"If it keeps getting colder, we might need new cloaks or something… definitely have to discuss that with Keith…" she tugged her ranger jacket closer around her, shivering slightly, "Pachi, want to warm up?" she asked the little electric squirrel that was almost always with her. The little squirrel type crawled into her jacket and chattered happily as per usual, while she mused over little mysteries that were bugging her.
'Rhythmi called earlier to tell us basically the same thing as last time. No progress in analyzing that little black hair… hmmm. Black hair? Wasn't that freak that dragged me up to Altru before this disaster a black haired dude? And why do I have a strange feeling I know exactly who he is…' she sighed, 'He's definitely not Blake Hall, we took care of him and he's in a correctional facility in Fiore… I don't think it could be Ice or anyone of the Sinis-Trio. Definitely not Lavana… Ugh, her dyeing that bubblegum hair is amusing to imagine. Besides, I bet mister "cool-nerd" Ice wouldn't like it. I bet they're officially dating by now in that Fiore correctional facility. Heath… he's just an idiot; he couldn't manage something as bad as this. Besides… the voice that guy had was annoyingly familiar…'
She continued musing as Keith wandered back with his arms and the arms of the four pokemon he had captured loaded with different provisions and a few Pidgeots and Fearows following him.
"Caught some rides."
"There are a few more than we need, Keith." She noted blandly, nodding to the two extra birds, which she had figured was either a joke or more for later.
"To carry our supplies." He shrugged, "You doing okay?"
"Fine." She paused, "Think we might need cloaks or something though. Winters coming on rather fast."
"If you say so," he helped her up, noting that she seemed more thoughtful than usual, "What're you thinking about?"
"How much I lurve you." She answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Pachirisu chattered at this, and she snorted, "Pachi, I was being sarcastic." Chatter. "No really, sarcasm. It's a beautiful thing; you should learn about it, you little mouse." Pachi sparked in annoyance at this. "Okay, okay, electric mouse."
Keith chuckled, "Kate, you realize you're arguing with something that can't really argue back." Pachi turned its annoyed stare at him before chattering to Kate again.
"Please, help yourself." She smirked, and Pachi jumped off her shoulder and shocked Keith. Keith complained, and Kate ignored him, and all was right with the world.
--
They got a call from a panicking Rhythmi that told them that Wendy had disappeared. Kate had yelled. Keith had protested. Kate had declared it was impossible as she hadn't had a nightmare about it. And Erma had been put on the line to confirm the disappearance.
Kate was simmering as she flew behind Keith on the Pidgeot, the wind no longer a familiar caress but a chilling slap across the face. She was sulking over not knowing about Wendy, and as she thought of who could be next, she realized that there were very few people who were close enough to be some of the last strikes against her. She wondered why they were being taken.
'Is it just to distract me and make me miserable? Or is there something worse planned for them?' She shivered as she flew behind Keith, knowing with some certainty that he would be a high target for the enemy, since he was really the only one who was keeping her sane at the time. She flew up next to him and looked at him as he stared forward, lost in his thoughts as she had been so many times in their journey. She swallowed at the thought of losing him.
'Face it,' a snide little voice told her in her mind, 'You like him more than you care to admit.' She couldn't deny the little voice's claim, so she stayed silent, even mentally. 'He's your tether, the only thing that's keeping you going on this mission. If you lose him, you lose everything. Face it, Kate. You love him!'
'Be quiet.' Kate thought miserably, knowing that snide little voice was telling the truth. She didn't know when she had stopped seeing Keith as the brother who wanted her happy and started seeing him as the friend who wanted her happy, and then as the boy she loved who wanted her happy. She didn't know how he felt but she knew with certainty that the voice in her head was right, she did love him.
'He's always been there to help me, he always holds me close after the nightmares, and he tells me often how he wishes I didn't have to go through this…'
"Keith?" she asked quietly, staring at her Pidgeot's feathers.
"Hm?" Keith responded, not looking over at her. She glanced up at him and frowned, swallowing before pushing forward.
"I wonder… why you're still here… sometimes…. Why have you stuck around… when all I'm doing is… pulling you down with me?" Her voice was small at the end, and she knew that she sounded weak. She saw him look over, looking at her in surprise.
"Do you want me to abandon you?" he asked her just as quietly, frowning. She shook her head. "Kate, if I didn't help you right now, then you'd only sink faster into the pit of despair you're making for yourself. I can't handle that. I want to help you, I need to help you."
"But Keith, you're being put at a huge risk… I'm only dragging you down with me… It'd be bad enough if you were hurt because you're my friend, if you were hurt even worse because you were helping me…" She closed her eyes and her lip shook, "I don't know what I'd do."
"I'm trying to keep you from sinking too far down, so that when help does come, they can help us both. I'm not abandoning you, Kate. I care about you too much." He reached over to pat her shoulder, resting his hand there with a slightly more confident smile, "Besides, I won't let either of us get hurt. And if we do, I'll make sure I'm the one who takes the most damage, but I'll be sure to keep myself going."
"Keith… thanks." She looked down at the Pidgeot again, a small uneasy smile tugging at her mouth, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten this far. So thanks… for everything."
Keith smiled at her and turned back around again, "After this is over, I'm taking a vacation."
"Agreed." Kate chuckled. "I'll head off with you."
Keith grinned widely, "I'd like that."
And they were quiet for a time, both staring out at the horizon and wondering what they'd be doing for the next battle. Kate started messing with her browser as they descended into one of the other fields she had noted before facing Entei. Two entries followed it that had silhouettes of Pokemon that looked sort of like Entei, so she figured it was two more.
The field they landed in was half dead, as if a thunderstorm had just desecrated everything with lightning, and Keith helped her unload the two extra birds that were carrying supplies. He looked around, "Hey, there's a small town over that way." He pointed out the town, "Must be a Pokemon Center there." He grinned at her when she smiled.
"First let's find this Pokemon." Kate said quietly, "Then we can head into town for a place to stay and such."
---
"So." The pokemon looked at them, not doing anything as it spoke, "You are here to challenge me."
"Yep, we are. And we're going to win too." Kate responded, "Wendy's counting on us for this battle." She clicked a button on her styler, her eyes sharp. The Capture disc jumped free of its compartment and rested next to her foot, and she exhaled, "So let's skip all the banter and just get to the challenging." She leaned back slightly, sensing more than seeing Keith let out his capture disc.
"Yes, let's." the large yellow dog growled, leaping toward them. Kate leaped to the side, Keith following her a second later. The Capture discs flashed and the battle was on.
--
They had retreated to the Pokemon center, new cloaks packed with their other supplies. With any luck, the cloaks would serve them well.
Kate looked down at the shimmering red and gold feather, and the stormy blue with bright yellow swirls stone. They had won against Raikou, but found out that he, like the rest of the Pokemon they had faced, wasn't the Pokemon they had been searching for. She sighed, "I'm starting to think this is just a wild Swablu chase with no Swablu at the end of it."
Keith huffed. "We'll figure this out, Kate. Just give it time."
"We're running out of time!" she snapped, her breath coming quick. "Who knows what's going on in Almia? More attacks, more disappearances? Keith, we may not have the time we think we have. We need to find this Pokemon."
"Are we even sure it's a pokemon we need?"
"Keith…" Kate whispered brokenly, "I can't do this. I just can't do this anymore."
Keith placed a hand on her shoulder, "One more. If we turn up with no leads on that one, we go back to Almia and… and do what we can there. We can capture Darkrai and make him stop, Kate… together."
"It isn't Darkrai."
Keith's eyes widened when Kate said this. Kate continued speaking, her voice low and her tone dead, "Darkrai… isn't taking them… he's just the messenger. Whoever's taking them… is trying to make me give up. And they're really close to doing it, Keith. I just can't take it anymore. The next person to disappear… who knows. It might even be you. And if you disappear…" she took a ragged breath, "I couldn't make it. I would never be able to do it."
Keith knelt down next to her and put his arms around her shoulders, holding her close, "We're close, Kate. I can feel it. I know the answer's right there. We're just not seeing it yet… I'm not going to disappear if I can help it; we're so far along that it would be a waste. I'm not leaving you, Kate. I…"
Kate looked up and sniffled, her eyes full of tears as she locked them on his.
Keith swallowed. Now or never, he told himself. "I…"
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
"GODDAMNIT RHYTHMI!" he hollered, throwing his hands up in the air. He stalked out of the room.
"Jeez, what's his problem?" Rhythmi asked slowly, her eyes confused. Kate blinked for a second, "Hey, uh, Rhyth, any way I can ask you not to call us for about fifteen minutes?"
"Why?"
"Something I gotta do."
"Okay, I was just checking in anyway. The blasted black hair is still confusing Nate. It's the contamination that has him confused."
"Con… contam…" Kate's eyes widened even more. "You said the hair was stiff with the stuff, right?"
"Yeah…"
"That's what it is then…"
"Kate, what are you…"
"He's been behind it… all along. He just… dyed his hair."
"Who?! Who, Kate?!"
"Gotta go." Kate snapped the screen shut and pushed herself up, dashing after Keith. "KEITH! Wait up! I think I know…"
Keith was right in front of her, holding her shoulders, a determined look on his face. He pulled her closer and planted his lips on hers. Her heart skipped a beat. He pulled away, "Let Rhythmi interrupt that," he huffed, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to tell you this, Kate. I think I love you. You drive me insane. I hurt when you cry, I feel wonderful when you smile. Please, smile for me."
Kate blinked, touching her lips softly. Her breathing hitched and she felt herself smiling. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. When she pulled away, he grinned stupidly.
"Damn." He murmured, "That was WAY better than a smile."
Kate let out a giggle, and she hugged him close again. He felt amazing, and she savored his smell for a moment before muttering, "I think I know who's behind this. And what direction we should go in. We face Suicune tomorrow, and after that, wherever this," she held up the feather, "leads us."
Keith smiled back at her, holding her close to him. "We're close, Kate. I can feel it."
"I can feel it too."
--
The crystal was weakening in power. He could tell it was. The luminosity was going away and the darkness was returning to the center of the crystal. He smirked as he held the Yellow Gem in his hand, feeling the first twinges of victory. He was so close.
"Sir." A soldier called as he walked toward him, "We have captured the Flying Ranger."
"Put her with the others. And use that Drowzee that we took from the insane person to put her to sleep like the rest."
Wendy's eyes widened as she recognized the voice of the person in front of her. "You!" she hissed, "It was you who was behind this?"
"Of course." He smirked, "Who else could it be? Blake Hall? Not even he could weaken the crystal once it was fused with the other three. But look at what I've done." He held up the Yellow Gem, "In less than three days, Almia will be plunged into Darkness. Not even your precious Kate can stop me."
"SHE'S STRONGER THAN YOU THINK!" Wendy yelled as she was dragged off toward a pile of people sleeping so soundly that they didn't move. She recognized them as the disappearances. A Drowzee used hypnosis on her and she felt her eyes becoming heavy. She was thrown next to Sven, asleep before she hit the ground.
"You three," He directed toward three soldiers who were waiting for orders, "Find the Sinis-Trio. And You." The young recruit perked up, "Capture the next target. Once the Crystal is mine, Darkrai will have no choice but to aid me in the last steps.
"Yes sir!" the four recruits called before retreating away.
Yes. He was so close he could taste victory.
--
"You're running out of time."
"How long do we have left?"
"Less than three days."
"We'll be back by then. I promise."
--
'Just a few more...' Keith thought as he caught another bird pokemon, his new cloak around his shoulders. With any luck, Suicune would lead them directly to their final pokemon. Two more legendaries and they could head home. He glanced over at Kate and smiled, "Two more, Kate..." he whispered, "Two more and this is all over."
--
A/N: WHEW. That took forever to get finished. I had it half done, then my parents computer pretty much said, "SCREW YOU ALL" and died on everyone. We had to get a New hard drive for it and then there was a total issue with the backup not wanting to work and I was afraid that I'd lose all my progress and UGH. So forgive me for the long as -BEEP- wait. I have an excuse.
I also have a poll.
And a forum.
Check them out after you review, would you?
