"Fear and panic in the air, I want to be free, from desolation and despair, and I feel like everything I sew, is being swept away, when I refuse to let you go" - Muse "Map of the Problematique"

26 Fallen Leaves

We dug the hole with the help of our Pokemon and a few rocks. Paul was buried before everyone else even woke up. I marked the grave with a large rock. It was awful, horrible, and absolutely terrifying. I held on to a ridiculous hope of Paul sitting up and saying, "Why are you guys burying me? Can't you see I'm perfectly healthy?" But it didn't happen.

In a way, his death was worse than May's. There was a body left over. I watched him die. It was scary, and I didn't like to think about it. Now I knew why Brock drank. He had lost his mother, his father for a time, had ten siblings to care for, been rejected by countless women, and now he had lost May and Paul. It wouldn't be long before Drew and Dawn were following his footsteps.

We trekked back to our meager campsite to find Misty sitting with all her things packed. Her expression said she wanted to get moving as soon as possible.

Drew stirred in his sleep, and Max woke up without a sound. It was a quiet cleanup. We picked up the campsite, and, having buried Paul's possessions with him, we had no extra luggage.

The instant we were ready, we were gone. If you could call it "ready". We walked like zombies and were silent as the dead, but we pressed on. I couldn't believe how awful life had gotten. I should never have agreed to go up this stupid mountain. No, I should never have agreed to let the others come with me. Too many mistakes.

Come to think of it, life probably wouldn't go on much longer. Did I ever tell Misty I loved her? I didn't think so. I should get that out of the way so I wouldn't be kneeling at her deathbed trying to get the message through. Kinda like Dawn was with Paul.

Unfortunately, I didn't think I was ready to say it.

We walked for quite a while in silence. Drew held May's bandana in his hands, examining it thoroughly. I think he hoped to find a note that said "Got you!" or something similar. Something that told him it was all a prank and nothing real.

Pikachu sighed softly by my ear. He was depressed alongside the rest of us. There was no reason to be happy, none whatsoever. I wanted to fall to my knees and scream, to raise my muddy hands from digging Paul's grave to the heavens and beg them to take me, crash a boulder on my head, strike me down with lightning, anything; I wasn't picky. Just get me out of this terrible world.

But I couldn't even let a tear show. Everyone who was left was looking to me. I was always a leader to them, and I knew that. By losing it, so would they, and then…

I blinked, suddenly realizing what was going on. If we all fell apart, Yacaeli would win. If we fell apart and lost all will to keep going, Yacaeli would continue to do the terrible things she was doing and the entire journey would have been in vain. Paul and May… gone for nothing.

I wasn't going to let that happen. We were going to make it to the top of this Godforsaken mountain and destroy the villain at its peak. Even if it seemed hopeless and felt like suicide…

Pikachu suddenly scratched at my head. I flinched away. "What was that for?" I cried. I placed my hand on the scratch and checked for blood.

"Pika," he said, and he pointed up at the sky.

I followed his finger and saw my hat had been picked off my head by the wind, and was now blowing around high above my head. He had tried to grab my hat before it blew away, and didn't catch it in time. My shoulders sagged. "Great," I said.

I picked up the pace, chasing the runaway hat. It twisted in the air, dropping occasionally and then rocketing back into the sky. The others ran after me, calling my name and telling me to stop. I didn't listen; I had lost two of my best friends on this journey, and I wasn't going to lose my hat too.

I chased it up the mountain, steadily climbing. The hat teased me, twirling just within my grasp. I made desperate grabs for it, but the wind would always pick up at exactly the right moment, and pull it away.

Then, for some reason, the wind stopped. The hat dropped to the ground like a stone. I smiled and snatched it up before it could fly away again. After dusting off its superior red visor and placing the cap firmly on my head, I actually looked at where I was.

The wind started howling, causing me to hook one arm around Pikachu and my hat lest either of them blow away. My clothes were in a fight to get away from me, but I hardly noticed. I just stood there like an idiot, staring.

"Ash! What on earth were you thinking, running off like that?" Misty snapped. They were fighting the gales of wind, trying to come up to me. "If you ever do something like that again, I will personally hunt you down and—." She fell silent.

"Yeah," Drew agreed. "Misty's right! You shouldn't—oh." He came to a stop and stared at the sight before us.

Brock and Dawn joined us, pulling Max, who could barely stand against the wind. Brock took one look at the object of our vision and let out a low whistle. "Now that is one big cave," he remarked.

We all nodded. No kidding.

It was as if, a very long time ago, something enormous had burrowed out of the mountain and left a massive tunnel in its wake. The cave was craggily and crude, with stalagmites and stalactites clutching the floor and ceiling. However, the cave was extremely shallow, allowing us to see the end of it.

But, knowing this mountain, that wasn't the interesting part about it.

She was placed at the back of the cave, with four chains of rusted metal pulling her limbs apart by means of manacles. She dangled, head hanging in defeat with her hands drooping at the wrist. Her clothes consisted of a faded blue shirt and a worn red skirt. Hair the color of chestnuts fell from her head in straggly strands.

Whether she was alive or dead, well, that was a question I wasn't sure I wanted answered.

I blinked as I stared at the girl, shocked. She looked so familiar, and I hadn't even seen her face yet. I had this awful nagging feeling that I knew her, though I had no idea where from. I wasn't thinking about anything but the girl, and who she could possibly be, and next thing I knew I was right in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Drew asked. "Leave her alone. She's there for a reason."

I stared at the girl. Now I could see her face. Her delicate eyes were closed in a sick sleep, sunken deep into her skull. Her cheeks were sallow and her skin was gray. Chapped lips parted slightly, perhaps to allow air to get through better. There was a very slight expansion of her chest every so often, and that was the only thing that told me she was alive and breathing.

"I know her," I murmured, and I reached up to touch her face.

"Don't do that!" Misty cried, suddenly behind me. She jerked my hand down from the girl. "If she's dead, you shouldn't be anywhere near her. Now let's go."

"But she's not dead," I protested. I pointed to her chest, where the breathing was still regular. "See?"

Misty stared at the girl. "Okay, I believe you. Now what?"

"Now," I began, "we wake her up."

I reached up a timid hand, caught a strand of her straggly chestnut hair, and gave a small tug.

For a split second, I was afraid she really was dead, and by pulling on her hair I had caused her head to roll off her neck and it would bounce along the ground like a ball, but I soon banished that fear. She was alive, right?

The girl's head leaned to the side I had pulled, and abruptly jolted upright. Her eyes fluttered, but did not open. "Who's there?" she mumbled. Her voice was dry and sandy, like she hadn't used it in centuries.

I wasn't sure how to answer, but my tongue was way ahead of me. Before I could even think, my mouth had said, "It's me," and then left me to take the punishment for the words.

Misty stared at me. I met her eyes and shrugged nervously. But the girl was now wide awake. Her eyes were the color of chocolate, sweetly brown and smooth. And they were transfixed on me. She opened her chapped lips, and she whispered one very confusing word. "Red," she said.

I blinked. Not what I'd expected. So I said, "Huh?" because I'm really smooth and smart like that with speech.

"Red!" she exclaimed. "You got away! How? I came up here looking for you, and then I got chased by a mountain lion, and it tackled me and next thing I knew I was in chains! How've you been?"

This girl was even more optimistic than Dawn. Here she was, hanging from a cave wall, and yet she was asking me how I've been. What a strange girl. "I think you have me confused for someone else," I said quickly.

The eyes of Misty and the others were boring into me. I could feel the heat of their stares on my back. The girl looked at me curiously. "What do you—oh. You're him."

She said it like it was a disease. I blanched. "What? I'm not the guy you were hoping I was. Sorry."

"You're the other part," she continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "The one Red came from."

I stared at her. "Are you thinking straight, girl?" I questioned.

She stared right back at me. It was extremely uncomfortable, considering her eyes were so sunken in and dead looking. "Yes," she said. "Would you mind getting me down? My wrists hurt."

Brock was suddenly in front of me, on his knees and pleading. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! Would you go out with me?"

The girl stared at him, confused. "Hey," she said slowly, "you're the Gym Leader in Pewter, aren't you? Brock, I think."

"YES!" Brock cried. "She knows my name!"

I felt my jaw drop. Even with the girl looking as sickly as she did, Brock still saw some beauty there. Misty hid her face in her hand while the other pinched Brock's ear. "Let's go, lover boy. C'mon." She began to drag him away, much to his protest.

"I'm sorry, Brock," called the girl. "I went to get my boyfriend's missing part. So I'm kinda taken and committed."

Drew stepped up. He and I proceeded to unchain the girl, and she dropped heavily to the ground. As she stumbled, Drew and I caught her, steadying her on her feet. "Are you sure you can move?" Drew asked worriedly.

The girl smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I've been worse. Thanks, guys." She began rubbing her sore wrists. "By the way, my name's Leaf."

Leaf. I knew that name from… somewhere. A long, long time ago, it felt like. Almost another life. "I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu," I introduced.

She nodded. "I know."

"How did you get chained to a cave wall?" Max asked. He pushed his glasses a little higher up his nose.

Leaf shrugged. "A mountain lion locked me up, I suppose." She frowned. "A mountain lion with wings."

Max gasped. "That's Yacaeli!" he cried. "I-I've seen her, and that's what she looks like!"

"You named the mountain lion?" Leaf said in disbelief.

"No, she's this psychotic cat Pokemon that's out for our blood," I explained nonchalantly. "So she had a name before we knew her."

"Oh," Leaf said. Then she shrugged. "That makes sense."

"I think you've been hanging there a little too long," Drew remarked. He tossed the matches we'd been using to make fires with at me. "Looks like we're staying in here, so get going."

I glared at him, then instantly felt bad. Drew was being sour because of May. I needed to give him a break. With a sigh, I knelt down and began burning a pair of my spare socks. "Okay, toss in what you can."

Dawn pulled out a wad of bandaging and threw it into the flame. Then she propped her bag up against the wall of the cave, lay down with it as her pillow, and closed her eyes. Yeah, like she was asleep.

"Why do movies always show people making fires in the middle of the cave?" Misty wondered as she settled down near Dawn. "It's more comfortable if you have something to lean against."

"Eh, it's Hollywood," Brock said with a shrug. "Probably something about camera angles." He plunged his hand into his bag and pulled out something white. "Marshmallows?"

Leaf snatched the entire bag from him. She ripped it open and began wolfing down the little white cylinders with a ferocity I'd only seen in May.

May… the thought of her caused an awful pain in my stomach.

"Slow down!" cried Brock. "You'll puke if you eat that fast."

Drew wasn't paying attention. He gestured to the entrance of the cave. "Just when I think I've seen everything."

I looked outside, curious. At first it appeared to be raining, or snowing, maybe. But then I looked closer, and I saw what were unmistakably leaves. Bright green and blowing about in the wind. They were falling in the millions, and I wondered where they'd come from. There weren't any trees here!

"Oh look at that," Leaf said through a mouthful of marshmallows. "All the leaves." She stared outside with a longing expression. "It's pretty."

Drew nodded. "Different," he said.

Leaf visibly started. She swung her head around to look at Drew. "Do you think I'm weird?" she asked sincerely.

He smiled and held up his hand, fingers an inch apart. "Just a little."

She looked a little confused, but then nodded. Like she had expected an enthusiastic yes from him. "Okay." She turned to Brock. "Do you have anything else to eat? And some water, please?"

Brock arched an eyebrow but he produced a rather squished granola bar and a water bottle from the depths of his bag. "Tada," he said. "Water and food."

Leaf devoured the bar like she'd never eaten something so wonderful. She then guzzled the water bottle dry, gave a small hiccup, and was silent.

Misty stared at her. "You're kinda hungry, huh?" she said.

"I haven't eaten the whole time I was on that wall," Leaf said casually, gesturing to the back of the cave. "So… a few years, probably." Suddenly, she gasped. "I haven't eaten in years! Am I dead?"

"Doesn't look like it," I told her. I had a feeling this girl wasn't meant to be taken seriously. She believed herself, apparently, but the rest of us should treat her like a young child. "Can you stick you hand through your stomach?"

Leaf blinked, and then she tried it. "No," she said, sounding scared.

"Then you're fine," Drew promised. He held out his hand, and coolly flipped his bangs. "Mind handing me a marshmallow?"

She hadn't even realized she was still holding the bag. Leaf stared at it in puzzlement, and then handed it to Drew.

I gaped at Drew. What was he doing? If Leaf weren't so disoriented, she probably would've interpreted that as flirting. I interpreted it as flirting. What the heck was he doing, trying to hit on Leaf like that?

Had he already given up on May?

I couldn't believe it. I'd always thought of Drew as faithful and loyal, even though he didn't always show it. To think he would desert May so quickly was sickening.

But maybe I was seeing it the wrong way. I mean, it was one time. It was very possible that it meant nothing.

I shook my head. This was ridiculous. Our lives were at risk and I was questioning Drew's love life. I mentally slapped myself and decided to decipher the medallion.

There was a fire, and a key, and five other things. A person with yellow eyes. Birds wearing dresses. Yeah, I should leave those two alone for now.

The remaining three images were relatively easy, for some reason. One of them showed two flowers, and from the shading of the stone, they were different colors. One was a jagged stick that seemed to emit light, and I guessed it as a lightning bolt. The last picture looked like a sword.

Did these mean anything to me? Nope! Not a thing. But at least I knew what they were now. Made me feel like I accomplished something.

I decided that I had achieved enough for one night. I leaned against the cave wall, next to Misty. She looked at me pointedly, and then looked away.

I winced. "What was that for?" I asked.

"What?" Misty replied.

"That look," I elaborated. "You looked at me like I had a booger hanging from my nose."

"Well you do," she said casually.

I jumped and immediately wiped my nose. "But that's not the reason you looked at me like that," I pressed.

"I didn't look at you like anything, Ash," she snapped. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"It doesn't, I'm just wondering why you looked at me like that." I felt like I was gaining the upper hand in this argument.

Misty gaped. "I didn't do anything, Ash. Stop being so self conscious and get over it."

"Whoa, I'm the one who's self conscious?" I said, shocked. "Why don't you look in the mirror, princess?"

"Princess? Really, Ash? That was the best you could do?"

"Yeah, because you go around expecting everyone to do what you say without being told to," I spat.

"Oh, you think so? And where did you make this assumption, bright eyes?" Misty replied with a sarcastic laugh.

"I've known you for six years, Misty," I responded. "I think I know you well enough by now."

"See, there's your mistake," she said with fake pity. "You were thinking. Don't you know better than to test your mental health like that?"

I scowled. "Good night," I snapped. Huffing with rage, I got up and went to the other side of the fire. I set my backpack against a rock, lay down, and closed my eyes instantly.

"Don't dream," she called. "You might break something."

I resisted the urge to retort and/or kick the stupid redhead and instead willed sleep to come.

************************************************************Pizza for dinner!*************************************************************

When I opened my eyes, I was in a very different world than the one I had left. It looked like the one I had met Madame Eu-something-or-other when she had told me the meaning of the medallion. The time where my memory was wiped by a certain meddlesome cat (hint hint).

But instead of Madame What's-her-face (I seriously could NOT remember her name) standing in the cloud world, there was a man and a woman. The man had black hair that spiked up in the back, with glowing amber eyes marked with mischief. He was remarkably similar to the face I saw when I looked in the mirror.

The woman was harder to identify. Her hair was a cascade of fiery red waves, reaching down to the curve of her back. She had the same eyes as the man, but she had a glint in them and something in her smile that reminded me of a fox. A light smattering of freckles went across her nose and under her eyes, and for some reason I knew who she was, though I'd never seen her before in my life.

She smiled her foxy smile and met my eyes. "Hello Ash," she purred.

It hit me like a spark. She was the woman who kept talking to me in my head! "Who are you and why are you always in my head?" I demanded.

The woman tsked scornfully. "Manners, sweetheart. Cináed, I would have expected better from your son."

"Sorry," the man said with a laugh. "I never got the chance to raise him."

"Whoa, wait, you're Cináed?" I exclaimed in disbelief. "You're my father? The guy who broke my mom's heart and didn't even stick around for my birth? That Cináed?"

Cináed looked down at me disapprovingly. "You make me sound like the bad guy," he noticed.

"Of course I do!" I retorted. "Can you put it in a way where you're not the bad guy?"

"Mom!" Cináed whined, rolling his eyes toward the woman. "He's picking on me."

The woman gave him a playful shove. "Now, son, you're old enough to fight your own battles."

"Mom?" I questioned, super confused now.

She nodded. "I'm your grandmother, Adara Malone. Though I really don't look like a grandmother, do I?"

I nodded my agreement. The girl looked like she was twenty-six.

Adara shrugged. "Only plus about dying young. You get to stay young forever."

"You're dead?" I asked. This was too much information to take at once.

"Yep!" Cináed said happily. "And good thing, too. Yacaeli didn't want to take us like she did your friends; she wanted to make sure we couldn't come back and hurt her. So she killed us right off the bat."

I blinked. This was going way too fast for me at the moment. "She took my friends? Slow down, Dad, and tell me what you're talking about." I almost laughed. Calling someone Dad was extremely weird.

Apparently, Cináed thought so too. "Heh," he laughed. "He called me Dad. Wow. I'm not used to that."

"You'd better get used to it, hun, because if Ashy here isn't careful, he'll be hanging around here a lot more," Adara said bitterly. She met my eyes. "Yacaeli is very powerful, Ash. Don't ever try to deny that."

"Okay, Yacaeli is all powerful, accepted. Now what are you talking about?"

Cináed's eyes glinted dangerously. "You know, when it floods, the flowers are the first to be uprooted."

Adara nodded gravely. "And in a herd, the small are always eaten first," she commented.

Were they really talking in riddles? Now? "Hey, I don't have time to decipher your riddles. What the hell are you trying to tell me?" I was getting impatient. Everyone seriously expected me to unravel the mystery of a medallion, a prophecy, and now these riddles? Well, everyone had their standards set a little too high.

"Morning never lasts longer than a few hours," Cináed said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but courage can only take a man so far," argued Adara.

My father watched the rolling of the clouds, pondering. "But the mist usually goes out when the morning ceases," he stated.

"But greatness can last forever, unless the hero is corrupted. And leaves don't always grow back…" Adara said, trailing off.

I gaped at them. What in the world were they babbling about? It made no sense.

Adara glanced at Cináed. "Who do you think it'll be?" she asked.

Cináed considered this for a moment, rubbing a beard that wasn't there. Finally, he said, "The badger," in a very definite tone.

Adara's expression showed her agreement. "Just what I was thinking," she said.

And then, they seemed to wisp away into the clouds, leaving me clueless and frustrated and just plain angry.

*AN: Is anyone else's traffic thing not working? Mine's saying I've gotten NO hits on ANY of my stories for three days now. I need to find the email address and let them know the problem. Well, I hope you enjoyed this eight page chapter. It was fun. Now I'm thinking... I didn't exactly plan this whole thing out. I'm trying to decide how long it will take to end this thing. Ponder, ponder, think, think...

Don't forget to do the poll. Since I'm brainstorming the ending, your votes mean more now than ever before. Help me to decide how to end my story!*