Chapter 17: Auras Collide.
Summary: Salvia has been captured by the Dark Aura Masters Shade and Hollow, it is up to the unlikely team of Ash and Dusk to save her, Ash realises something important.
Ash and Dusk continued on towards the next city in hopes of catching up with Shade and Hollow, Dusk looked to the right to see Ash was sulking, upset that the person he needed to protect was taken from him, "if you are going to mope like this, you might as well go home, I don't want you holding me back," Dusk coldly informed the Aura Guardian, she walked ahead of the Aura Guardian not wanting to hear any excuses from him.
"No I am going to save her, I don't to keep looking over my shoulder to search for the past," Ash responded to Dusk's cold question, glancing over his shoulder once again, "but sometimes that is the most difficult thing to do," Ash whispered not knowing that Dusk was shaking her head in anger.
"You lack resolve, but if you get in the way, I will kill you," Dusk threatened the young man.
Ash sighed and increased the pace of his advance to the princess, "it is almost dinner time," Ash stated but Dusk ignored the trainer and continued to walk towards the rescue of the princess, "we cannot go without food, we need to keep our energy up, plus I don't think Shade and Hollow would let the princess go hungry," Ash reasoned with the Aura Master.
"You can stay put and eat, but I on the other hand have more important things to deal with," Dusk hissed back at the trainer, she continued on towards the road, but soon looked back with disappointment, she walked back to where Ash was setting up camp, "I see, you know that very soon we will be back to fall strength," Dusk admitted to Ash who nodded his head.
Ash rolled out his sleeping bag and grabbed a cauldron, "I will be getting the firewood," Ash informed the woman, he walked off to gather what he needed, leaving duck behind.
Dusk noticed that Ash had left his backpack behind, she approached it cautiously, taking a moment to see if Ash was returning just in case he had forgotten something, she opened it up and felt a small circular item, she pulled it out of the bag and started to sense the aura on the ring, "he is holding on to this," Dusk whispered to herself, she pulled a picture from the bag and noticed that Dawn was clinging to his arm, her smile broad and with Ash at his happiest, "he asked her to marry him," she sensed as she read the aura on the ring.
Dusk heard the rustling in the bushes, she quickly placed the items back and closed the bag, she looked up one more time and noticed a small pokemon, "you scared me," Dusk growled at the pokemon, her foot hit the bag knocking a pokeball out of the bag, it had a lightning shape on it, Dusk knelt down and picked it up, she immediately felt the Aura of his starter pokemon, she saw his past with Pikachu and his adventures with him.
Moments passed with Ash returning with an armful of firewood, "sorry I took so long," Ash apologised to the young woman.
"I think I understand a little more about you," Dusk whispered softly, she started cutting up the food, she glared at the trainer and pointed the knife she was holding at the Aura Guardian, "your past was filled with adventures and friends, it even had Dawn," Dusk acknowledged the impact Dawn had on his life, thinking back to seeing the close bond Ash and Dawn had.
"So you read the Aura the items had from my bag?" Ash asked the Aura Master, to which she nodded in reply.
Dusk placed the knife back on the table and placed her hands on either side, "alright then I have a question for you," Dusk stated her next move, Ash listened not wanting to interrupt the blue haired master, "what does Princess Salvia mean to you?" she asked the trainer calmly.
"What why would you ask that question? She is just a friend," Ash started to question the Aura Master about her choice of questions.
"Forget it, pretend I said nothing," Dusk replied, she looked up to see the puzzled expression on Ash's face, but also noticed something else, something she hadn't seen before, a slight redness on his cheeks, 'friends, yeah right,' Dusk picked up the knife and continued with the task of preparing the food.
"So you don't remember the past," Ash tried to start a conversation with the Aura Master, Ash heard the knife hit the table, immediately recognising the anger of the bluenette Ash turned away and tried to prepare the fire. "No forget it, we need a plan, we should use this resting period to come up with one," Ash looked over to his bag.
"A plan, we should rush in and destroy the lot of them," Dusk replied as she placed the vegetables in the container.
After starting the fire and gathering the fresh water the two placed the ingredients into the pot, they took turns stirring and keeping an eye on it, Ash looked towards the distance as a feeling of guilt washed over him, the sun was setting and the darkness of night was about to set in, "what is you intention after we defeat the Shadow Lords and the Dark Aura Masters?" Ash asked the Aura Master.
"Simple, destroy you," Dusk retorted calmly.
Ash grabbed a bowl, not wanting to reply to the Aura Master, "grab some food," Ash instructed the blue haired woman.
(Near Pastoria City)
Tied up to a tree Salvia was sitting down unable to do anything, she kept picking at the rope that bound her to the tree, she watched her captors eating their meals, "what about me?" Salvia asked the Dark Aura Masters, "surely you can give me some food," the princess informed the duo who ignored her, "are you two listening?" Salvia asked the enemies, but they continued laughing and joking about.
"You better give her something, it isn't like it matters anyway," Shade instructed his teammate, he watched Hollow walking up to the princess with some food.
"Here," Hollow put the food in front of the princess.
"That is great and all, but my hands are tied up and I cannot reach the food," Salvia hissed at the Dark Aura Master.
"Well then you better figure out a way to get to your food princess," Shade explained to the royal, he signalled for Hollow to walk back to him, while the princess looked at the food.
Salvia used her feet to bring the bowl of food closer, tipping a bit of it onto the floor, she looked over to the table where her pokeball was sitting, 'if only I had help from Gardevoir,' Salvia thought to herself as she tried her best to bring the food closer to her, "I am a prisoner and they cannot even look after their prisoner," Salvia told herself as she stopped bring the food closer to her, she looked at the food, seeing that there was less in the bowl and more on the ground.
Salvia tried to loosen one of her arms and eventually wriggled one free, "yes, now to try and break free," Salvia whispered to herself, but soon stopped while Shade approached her.
"Clever little princess," Shade whispered, he knelt down tying up her left arm again, "you know something, you really are beautiful," Shade complimented the princess on her looks.
"I can't stand people like you," Salvia replied venomously.
Bursting into laughter Shade turned away from the young royal, before walking away he glanced over his right shoulder and smirked, "I am not interested in you either, you are just a piece to the puzzle," Shade informed the princess calmly.
She watched the Dark Aura Master leaving her as they entered their tents, her thoughts soon drifted to Ash who wasn't anywhere near her, "Ash," Salvia whispered the Aura Guardian's name.
Back at the camp with Ash, he kept his eyes on the stars unable to fall asleep, he watched the trees swaying in the gentle breeze and the songs of the nocturnal creatures, he glanced out the corner of his eye and noticed Dusk was sound as sleep. Sitting up and slowly undoing his sleeping bag, Ash started walking up to the small river, the moon's light reflected on the surface, "I have been foolish of late, I should be thinking of revenge, but Salvia has managed to talk me out it," Ash clenched his fists in frustration.
Dusk awoken from her slumber and spotted Ash sitting at the front of the river, "what is he thinking about now?" Dusk asked herself, but soon fell asleep, not wanting to waste the night's sleep worrying about Ash.
Ash stared at his reflection, "why am I so concerned?" Ash raised his hand getting ready to punch the water's surface.
Before Ash could punch the water, he decided against it, he turned to the moon's reflection and smiled at it, "you know Dusk, there is something you need to know, it has been Salvia that has comforted me a lot," Ash told the Aura Master who was pretending to sleep.
'So my suspicions were correct, he is in love with her, those two are as guilty as the other, oblivious to one another's feelings,' Dusk resisted the urge to laugh at the expense of her allies.
"It has been six weeks since I lost everything, but now I feel like I have gained a companion for life," Ash whispered to himself, trying his best to comprehend what had happened, "but there is no way Salvia would be in love with me, since she is a princess and me, we I am just a normal person," Ash continued to tell himself, seeing the royal's face in the water. Ash quickly looked back but no one was there to hit him or comfort him, 'you're right Dusk, I have fallen for the princess,' Ash confirmed the suspicions of the Aura Master.
Salvia stared at the moon unable to fall asleep, "yeah, those two can sleep, but it is really cold out here," Salvia complained as she kept her eye on the full moon, 'I don't know how it happened, but after a while, my thoughts were directed at Ash, but he didn't seem to notice,' Salvia thought to herself trying to come to grips with her own feelings, 'but as time went on in the last few weeks, I found myself falling in love, but then again…' Salvia looked at the ground as she took a deep breath, "he didn't notice my deepening feelings for him."
Salvia watched the clouds starting to cover he moon, the wind showed signs of getting stronger, "if only I was more confident, I would have told Ash, but now, I don't think I will get that chance," Salvia started lamenting the lack of courage that she had, the sound of the nocturnal pokemon started to get drowned out by the strong breeze as rumbles of thunder rang through the air.
Ash watched as the moon's reflection started to disappear, "it's back," Ash smiled at himself, he looked at his hands and then clenched them into fists. Ash turned to where the clouds were coming from, he watched as the storm started to gather intensity, the lightning struck in the distance, instantly starting a fire in the forest. Ash jumped up and started running towards the forest.
Dusk opened her eyes and spotted Ash leaving the camp, "where are you going?" Dusk asked the Aura Guardian.
Ash froze for a moment, he looked up and heard the panicked cries of the pokemon in the forest, "I am going to chase after them," Ash announced his intentions.
Dusk sat up and looked towards the storm, "I see you have fully recovered your aura," Dusk noticed the blue glow around Ash, "alright, if the princess isn't all that important to you, why are you choosing to go?" Dusk questioned the black haired Aura Guardian.
Ash looked at the ground and smiled, "I don't understand really, but it is something I need to do," Ash explained to his friend, he looked back and smiled at the Aura Master, "no need to worry," Ash used the line his former partner would use at him.
"Now I am worried," Dusk replied with a sigh.
"About the fact that I will not save you anyone to fight against," Ash joked before he ran off towards the next fight.
"Exactly," Dusk whispered, she looked up at the orange glow that was reflecting onto the clouds, the thunder grew louder as her thoughts turned towards her own future, "maybe one day I will find a new goal as well, maybe I have to experience life instead of trying to destroy one's life," Dusk explained to herself, "not much longer and my Aura will be back as well," Dusk grinned at the prospect of her participation in the fight.
Ash ran through the road, pass the scared pokemon and some of the people who were leaving the area, Ash closed his eyes and started to figure out where Salvia's aura was, "damn, wish there wasn't so many people," Ash growled at the situation, his concentration broken because of the screams of the people and cries of the pokemon, the continual rumbles of thunder and the crackles of fire, "wait a minute, I shouldn't be trying to find her aura, I should be trying to find Shade's and Hollow's aura, since it is different from mine, it should be easier to notice," Ash reminded himself, he shut his eyes again this time he scanned the area until he noticed the two different Auras not too far from where he was, he started running pass the panicking people towards the where the princess was being held captive.
Shade jumped out of the tent and rushed towards the royal the fires continued to rave through the forest, "Hollow not time to pack our stuff up," Shade informed his comrade, "we are leaving now," Shade informed the other Dark Aura Master, he tied up the princess and pushed her towards the exit of the forest.
"You two aren't going anywhere!" Ash yelled out, punching the ground causing a powerful burst of energy and forming a crater, he glared at Shade and Hollow, "you will give her back," Ash growled at the Dark Aura Masters.
"Hollow, keep the intruder busy," Shade ordered his teammate with a smirk.
Ash rushed towards Shade but was quickly stopped by Hollow, "you will pass me," Hollow informed Ash.
Ash tried to get around his foe, but the burning trees crashed around him, he looked back to discover another branch crashing behind him, "fine, I will not go backwards, not anymore, I will go forwards and that means if you're in my way, I will push charge through any road block," Ash explained his intentions to Hollow, the heat of the fire continued to escalate further.
"So, you want to fight me, Shade never wanted it to come to this just yet," Hollow started glowing with a purple aura, "don't worry, I will only beat you to within an inch of your life, you are still useful, we cannot have you dead yet," Hollow explained his purpose to Ash.
"I am so flattered," Ash charged towards his new foe, a starting to glow a bright blue, he raised his right fist as his foe pulled back with his left fist, "I will not be losing any more important people!" Ash asserted his ideals on the foe. The two fists collided causing a powerful shockwave, knocking trees out of the ground the two combatants leapt back as lightning crashed where their respective attacks had collided.
"Not back for a rookie," Hollow grinned at his enemy.
"Thanks for the compliment," Ash replied with a hint of sarcasm, "but I have experience with aura," Ash snapped at his foe, charging yet again, he watched his foe let loose another powerful punched to which he evaded, jumping to the left the trainer was soon stopped by Hollow who grabbed his arm, sending him flying towards the wall of flames that kicked up as more branches fell around the two fighters.
Ash landed in front of the flames as the wind started to fa the flame, Hollow watched Ash skidding closer to the fires, but soon stopped, "there is no escape for you, but before I beat the crap out of you, I think I will let you in on a little secret," Hollow started taunting Ash.
"A secret, what could it be?" Ash whispered to himself.
"You are an Aura Guardian, but people like Dusk, Shade, Willow and myself are known as Aura Masters, you know what that means?" Hollow asked the trainer after explaining the situation to Ash, Hollow started laughing at the young man who was gritting his teeth in frustration, "simple it means we have mastered all forms of aura, but you on the other hand, you have only mastered one form," Hollow explained the trainer's weakness.
Ash punched the ground releasing a small burst of aura, "one form of aura is all I need!" Ash recklessly rushed towards the more powerful master, "don't underestimate me!" Ash punched the Aura Master knocking him back, but the Dark Aura Master remained focused on his goals.
"One form of Aura?" Hollow started laughing at the trainer as he started to gain a blue aura, "unfortunately for you that will not cut it," Hollow started as he pulled back his right arm for another hit on Ash, the Aura Guardian leapt back to evade the attack, but soon felt a powerful burst of aura tingling up his legs, "Dark Aura Masters also control a corrupted version of the standard Aura you use, as well as our own Dark Aura."
Ash stood back up and smirked at the foe, "we also share the same weakness, the more aura you use, the weaker you become," Ash confidently stated.
"True, but how long can you last before I run out of aura?" Hollow questioned the trainer about the obvious statement.
Meanwhile Shade continued to push the princess further towards the city, "hurry up princess, your father awaits you," Shade started to taunt the young royal.
"Ash will stop you and your plans," Salvia angrily replied, but the Dark Aura Master started laughing at the princess who continued down the road, as the storm started to reach its peak.
"I welcome him to try," Shade challenged the trainer, "look your final destination," the Dark Aura Master pointed to the lightning illuminated city.
Salvia looked at the city as fear started to creep in, her eyes widened, feeling the first spots of rain hitting her face, 'Ash, please hurry,' Salvia wished in a panicked tone.
As the princess was being taken to Pastoria City, Dusk was running towards the fight between Ash and Hollow, 'let's hope I can be of assistance," Dusk hoped as she pushed through the final parts of the crowd of people, she looked up to see the fiery glow of the forest that was now fully ablaze, the scorched earth around her and the lost pokemon caught in the fires, she looked up and spotted Ash jumping around to evade the attack, "I see, he is planning on having Hollow waste his aura while he is using none himself," Dusk whispered to herself, she rush head long into the fight.
"Is that best you've got?" Ash continued to mock the Dark Aura Master, Ash felt his back hit a tree which was behind him, seeing that the more powerful fighter was charging towards him, he waited for the next attack, but before it landed Hollow was sent flying towards the wall of flames by Dusk, "what took you so long?" Ash asked the bluenette.
"Go, you need to save the princess, I will rip Hollow to pieces," Dusk instructed Ash, Ash started running towards the city but was soon stopped by Hollow, who had landed in front of him, "I will destroy you later Ash, but for now you have a kingdom to save," Dusk issued her instructions to Ash, she charged straight at the powerful member of the Dark Aura Masters, while Ash nodded in approval.
Ash started running as the Dark Aura Master was sent crashing to a tree ahead of him, Hollow charged towards him, forcing Ash to defend himself, using a small portion of his aura Ash deflected a burst of dark aura directed at him, "get out of my way!" Ash demanded the Dark Aura Master, gathering aura into his right hand, he rushed towards the opponent with Dusk following close behind him.
After the two allies knocked the Dark Aura Master into one of the fences Ash quickly ran off towards the city with greater urgency, not daring to look back, "I will be there soon," Ash whispered to himself.
While Ash was running towards the city, Hollow started running towards the trainer, but was soon stopped by the bluenette, "where are you going?" Dusk asked the former ally, "now I have nothing holding me back," Dusk started laughing at her foe.
"I can sense you don't have all that much aura left, you should have recovered," Hollow replied sneering at his former teammate.
"I don't need aura to crush you, I will destroy you with my bare hands," Dusk answered back with a hint of sass, she started cracking her knuckles and assumed a boxing stance.
"Again with boxing, I have no idea who taught you that, but this crap ends now," Hollow growled at the Aura Master.
"Try it if you can," Dusk goaded the foe, he watched him rushing towards her, and stepped back with ease to evade the attack, the Dark Aura Master unleashed a flurry off attacks to which Dusk started dodging again, "is that you have?" Dusk continued to tease her former ally, she looked around to see the flames climbing higher into the canopy, the heat started to overwhelm her, 'I need to end this quickly,' Dusk acknowledged the plight of the situation.
"Time to end your meaningless existence," Hollow promised the young woman, forming a large ball of aura that was growing larger.
"So you mean to wipe out this entire area, you cowardly bastard," Dusk hissed with disdain directed at her foe, 'I can deflect that with ease,' Dusk charged towards the ball of dark aura, kicking it into the air, her kick flew through the sphere, much to her surprise, "what happened?" Dusk asked as she fell to the ground.
"Simple that was a diversion, you should have seen it coming," Hollow informed the younger Aura Master.
Dusk looked up to see another much larger sphere falling towards her, "I am not giving up!" Dusk growled at her foe, she formed a ball of aura much smaller than the one falling towards her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hollow replied as he watched the Aura Master leaping up to the ball of Dark Aura, as the two spheres made contact a powerful explosion ripped through the area, sending the blue haired Aura Master crashing into the ground.
Dusk slowly got back to her feet panting after the attack, she noticed that Hollow was now missing, as parts of trees started raining down on the battlefield, she began by scanning the area for Hollow, "where are you?" Dusk asked herself, quietly as the thunder started up again, lightning struck a nearby tree forcing Dusk to jump quickly from the exploding tree, the fires raged on until she spotted Hollow running off from the battlefield, she noticed a trail of blood coming from the direction he was taking, "let the hunt begin," the Aura Master cleared the blood from her nose as she grinned at the prospect of the chase.
Ash continued his pursuit of Shade as he headed to the city, he noticed that there was more light, but the clouds were still dark as the rain started to get heavier, clenching his fists Ash halted for a moment and took a deep breath, "I won't only save Salvia, but I will also meet the leader of the Shadow Lords," Ash understood the fight that rested before him, 'hold on Salvia I am on my way,' Ash started running towards the forces of the Shadow Lords, not showing any hesitation.
"The Aura Guardian is here!" one of the soldiers told his men, but before a defence could be raised the black haired guardian pushed through with his powerful aura, "he isn't stopping," the commander gritted his teeth as his men started to fall and the defence started to crumble.
"Seems like he has made it just in time," Shade laughed at the actions of Ash.
"Shade, it seems like you have gotten reckless," A powerful voice rang in the area.
Shade looked over to a powerful man who was approaching the young royal, "whatever, I have brought the person you wanted Pride, now we need to wait for the Aura Master and the Aura Guardian," Shade looked back to see Ash had finally caught up to him, "here he is," Shade grinned at the Aura Guardian, but also noticed that Pride and Salvia were no longer in sight.
"Where is the princess?" Ash asked his foe, angered by the fact that he was now alone.
"I handed her over to Pride, you missed them by a few minutes," Shade started approaching Ash, but seemed to show no intent in fighting, "my mission is over here, I have another goal in mind," Shade menacingly laughed at the Aura Guardian.
"First you kidnap the princess and now you walk away?" Ash questioned the resolve of the Dark Aura Master.
"You got that right," Shade answered Ash, he walked off leaving the puzzled trainer wondering what his intentions were.
"He is playing mind games," Ash assumed quickly, he turned around quickly to enter the city, "no time to act on Shade, I have to save the princess," Ash rushed into the city looking around with a concerned expression.
Ash missed the princess by a few minutes as the leader of the Shadow Lords takes the princess to Pastoria City where the trap will be sprung, Ash will be left with a choice that will change the course of the conflict.
Next time Chapter 18: The Aura Storms forth