Chapter 7

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The sun shimmered through the trees, waking Serenity. She had been up most of the night searching for any trace of her friends. She rounded a good distance of the beach with no end in sight. Her stomach grumbled as she sat up and she glanced around looking for something to eat. Pulling the pokeball from her belt at her side, she called Pidgy and the little bird chirped and bounced it's way onto her lap.

"Hey, do you think you could help me find some food?" She asked it and it cooed at her, flapping it's wings and launching into the air. It buzzed off into the trees as serenity looked for any fruit bearing bushes. After finding some food with Pidgy's help, she continued her search, looking for anything that would imply someone else's presence. What she found, though, made her lose faith entirely. After roaming another few hours, she looked out into the ocean and saw a series of small islands. Her and her friends could very well be spread across the islands and the ocean separating them looked exceedingly viscous. There was no way she could swim it.

After an hour of trying to see something or someone on what she could see of the other islands, she moved back to searching her own. It took another day before she had made her way around the entirety of the island and her fears were confirmed. No other tracks or signs of life other than her's and Kaiba's were present. She moved to a small creek she had been using for drinking water and decided to follow it to where it poured into a small pond. Her clothes chaffed her body, still stiff from the salt, so she wanted desperately to wash them, and her hair felt awful and kept tangling on branches and vines.

She moved into the pond, undressing once she was completely under and rubbed the clothes together under the water, shaking free the salt and other things clinging to the fabric. After her clothes were done, she hung them over a vine hovering near her.

The splashing noises caught his attention as he knelt to scoop up some water. The jungle like area was the worst to navigate, and he hadn't found any traces of his little brother or anyone else, which was beginning to worry him. He knew someone else was on the island with him. As much as he would deny searching for her, he had been paying attention to his surroundings and trying to keep an eye out for her. She was so small and quiet, it was hard to think she could survive out there for so long. He figured she had another day or so before she came crawling back, but the lack of evidence that she even existed was beginning to scare him.

He followed the water's edge to a small pond where he felt a wave of relief wash over him, followed by a more sinister one. He slipped through the bushes behind her and lifted the drying clothes from the vine she had them on. He waited patiently for her to finish and turn to her clothes. She paused, confused for a moment, then started wading in the water under the vine, sure they had fallen in.

"Looking for something." She shrieked and nearly jumped out of her skin as he made his presence known. He leaned casually against a tree, holding up her nearly dry clothes just out of reach. She fixed him with a glare and lifted a hand while lowering herself farther under the water so he couldn't see anything.

"Give them back." She said angrily. It seemed she was still upset with him from before. He couldn't blame her. She looked like she had been taking care of herself just fine. He felt bad, but wasn't about to apologize.

"You could just get up and get them." He teased. Her eyes narrowed on him and she swiped at something on the pond's edge and threw it at him. He turned, letting it bounce off his hip, not realizing what it was until too late. She was able to catch the now empty pokeball as her Pidgy swiped her clothes from him. He smirked down at her before turning to give her some privacy. He heard her rise from the water as he busied himself with cleaning the dirt from underneath his nails and leaning against another tree.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, I wanted to bathe, but looks like you've dirtied the pond and there isn't another clear water source on the island." She brushed past him, fully clothed and bumped into him purposefully as she moved.

"Looks like you'll have to deal." She started into the forest again, making him rethink his previous tactics. He was still being cruel despite how guilty he felt. Actually, he was being meaner. Seeing her in the pond... bare and vulnerable... He didn't know exactly how he felt. He didn't know why he felt the need to cover these emotions with cruelty. He knew he couldn't allow himself to feel for her... but did he really have to hurt her like this? He was turning her... cold.

"Serenity..." He called softly and she paused. She shot him a confused look but he couldn't find the words he had thought he wanted to say.

"Don't you mean... Wheeler?" He shook his head, sighing.

"Yeah... Wheeler... Have... Have you been able to find anyone?" He settled on changing the subject, not sure if he wanted to remember the reason he called out to her.

"They're not here."

"How can you be sure?"

"I checked all the beaches. If they washed up they would have left tracks or something. There's nothing. No trace." She said deflatedly.

"There are more islands to the north and north west." he pointed out but she shook her head.

"The waters are too strong. No one can swim that." He glanced behind him, unable to see the islands through the trees even though he knew where to look. "How... Have you seen Ember?" She looked up to him worriedly.

"The night you left she came back, but she left the next morning. I thought she came back to you. She hasn't been back there." Serenity's eyes widened.

"What?" Her voice broke a little and she started off into the woods. "She's so little... what if she's hurt?" She said to no one as she panicked a little, searching for her Charmander. A strong hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"That's what I thought about you. But you're fine." He said as she turned back to look at him.

"Are... are you trying to comfort me?" He pulled his hand back as if something had stung him and looked away.

"Please. Your panicking is just really annoying." She slowly turned back towards the forest, now more calmly searching as he looked her over. Yes, he was trying to comfort her, but he was kicking himself for it. Why was it so difficult to remain impassive? Why couldn't he find a happy medium between being an ass and… liking her?

Kaiba took the lead, not wanting to be behind her, looking at her the whole time. He led her back up towards the mountain, sure he was going in the right way to find the pokemon. Half the day went by just searching for Ember before they reached the top of the mountain again. He moved around some of the cliff face to a place Serenity hadn't been before and she could see the large dragons flying around a pillar jutting out of the ocean just off shore.

"Is... that where they live?" She asked in wonder. He nodded in front of her and continued on down the other side of the mountain. She had seen the pillar from the shore, but this high up she could see the caverns carved into the top and the pokemon flying around it.

"It gets steep here, watch your step." He said, turning back and offering his hand to steady her. "I haven't been down here too often because it's dangerous, but I've seen some of the Charmanders go down here." He said as he helped her down a few of the larger boulders. He was about to say something else but the sounds of creatures below them cut him off. They moved around the boulders blocking their view and Serenity gasped as she saw her Charmander laying sprawled across the rocky ground. Two small reddish foxes nudged it with their noses, poking at the poor thing.

Kaiba couldn't reach out in time to stop her from rushing down to Ember. The foxes darted back a few feet but took up aggressive stances, protecting the fire lizard. Serenity didn't care. She knelt before her Charmander and gently moved it over. The lizard stirred slightly and one of the foxes took off, fleeing while the other watched.

"Ember..." Serenity said, her voice cracking as she stroked the small thing.

"Ch-Cha..." It tried but she shushed it, afraid that it might hurt itself getting up. Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she scooped up the fragile little thing and hugged it. Kaiba moved up behind her, but the small fox jumped between them. He cocked an eyebrow at the tiny thing and went to move around it. A beam of fire let him know that was a bad idea and he froze.

He settled with watching from a distance as Serenity ripped strops of cloth from her shirt and bandaged Ember. The small fox turned, watching with fascination as she cared for her Charmander. It sat near her and she smiled down at it as she finished up.

"You should put it in it's ball so it doesn't get hurt again." Kaiba said, a little frustrated to have to keep the distance he was at, but still fully able to see her and her pokemon. She nodded lifting the ball to her pokemon. The small fox watched as she held the ball out and the Charmander reached forward and hit the little red button, zapping inside. Serenity wiped the tears from her eyes and stood, turning to the little fox.

"Thank you for watching my friend. I was worried about her." Serenity said, reaching down for the little thing to sniff her. It jumped back at first, but easily approached her and cooed at her happily. As she stood the little creature caught a glimpse of her belt of pokeballs. It stood against her leg, sniffing the things and Serenity smiled. "Hey, be careful. If you tap one of those, you might get stuck inside. You don't want to do that unless you want to come with me, ok?" She said, pulling an empty ball out for it to sniff. The little creature looked up at her, then to the ball the Charmander disappeared into, then back at her.

"Vul!" It squeaked before tapping the button. Serenity watched as the pokemon didn't struggle against the contraption at all.

"I guess... it wanted to come with..." Kaiba had to hide his smirk as she turned towards him. "Right... we should be getting back t-" Serenity started, but a sudden mist sprayed from the ocean's edge. Both her and Kaiba moved to the cliffs edge to get a better look, but the ground soon rumbled and the rock beneath them began to crack and shift. Kaiba tried to steady himself as the ground cracked beneath his feet. He moved to a solid piece of stone and looked up in time to watch as the rock beneath Serenity fell away.

"No!" He cried, reaching out for her, but it was too late. She let out a scream as she and the rock beneath her crashed into the forest below. He looked around for some way to get down, but the rock beneath him began to shift more, breaking away. As he braced himself, a large dragon landed next to him, offering him a step up. "Forget me, get her!" he said to the creature and it paused, but obeyed. It lunged down as he slid into the rock slide and the last thing he saw was Serenity, unconscious atop the beast.

When he finally came to, he found he had made it all the way to the beach. His mind snapped awake as he recalled the previous events to his passed out state and he shot up. His body reeled in pain as he tried to find his way to his feet. On the beach next to him were a bunch of splashing, panicking fish. He wandered over to the first. It was a large orange fish of what appeared to be below average intelligence. He lifted the fish gently and helped it back into the water, noticing as he raised it, that his right arm was in bad shape. The fish flopped around a bit, as if it had forgotten how to swim, but eventually got the hang of it.

He moved through the fish, setting them free and waiting for each to remember what should have been instinct before moving to the next. When there were only two left he turned to place one into the water, but jumped back. Out of the waves, a large blue dragon rose high in the air. It's body was like that of a Chinese dragon. Long and slender, with a large mouth and no arms or legs... from what he could tell. He slowly continued to release the fish, under the watchful eye of the dragon. Once they were all free he turned to it.

Was this the island of the dragons? He kept running into his favorite creature, face to face with the most powerful and terrifying things he had ever imagined. The dragon moved towards him, gaining on the shore slowly and Kaiba swallowed hard, but stayed put. If he had angered it, it would have charged him by now... right?

It moved steadily to him until it's giant face was right in front of him. He could feel a cold sweat com on as he waited for it's next move, but before it could happen, another of the orange fishes flew from the water, and past him. He cocked an eyebrow as he watched it soar and land on the sand next to him. He glanced back at the dragon and could have sworn it sighed. The dragon slithered up to the small fish and nudged it back into the water. So the dragons protected the little fish. It reminded him a little of himself and Serenity... Serenity! She was hurt in the rock slide. He needed to get to the Charmanders. Needed to get to her.

The water dragon watched as his head turned up towards the mountain top and let out a deep growl. Kaiba's head whipped around and the dragon was glaring at him. His blood ran cold as it got closer. He didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he had an idea that he was about to get sucked into it.

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