welcome to chapter 2! Please don't forget to review!
(Early one morning)
Ash was having a blast, he had been on his journey for a few days now and it was going really well. Although, he wasn't doing a very good job of sticking to Gary's 'don't do anything stupid' rule, he had already dived off a water fall and punched a goblin in the face because he wasn't giving him a good deal for the bear skin he had. Ash had also gotten a lot better at sword fighting, he had stopped in the forest to camp on the first day of his journey and had started practising on some trees, that's when the bear showed up. Ash could have easily used aura since there wasn't anybody around, but instead he decided to put his skills to the test. It turns out that he wasn't the best of the best since he suffered a few scratches, but they quickly healed. Another thing Ash loved to do was ride his horse, he had only just realised that Gary had given him the fastest one, it was dark brown and quite slim. Ash had named it chestnut because of the colour. It was fun to ride his horse since he wasn't able to do it on the mountain trails because they were too narrow and dangerous, but down here, it was all fields and forests so he could ride at full speed.
Ash and chestnut broke through the last of the bushes into a grassy field, "Woo hoo!" Shouted Ash as his horse jumped over a log, "This is awesome! Gah!" He cursed as he bit his tongue, the pain only lasted for a moment and then faded as the wound healed. He steered his horse so that it was running down a shallow hill, "Woooooooo! Hahahahaha!" Suddenly, he heard a girl's voice from behind him, "I see you like to ride!?" She shouted as she rode her horse up next to Ash's, her mount was pure white with a few grey patches. The girl herself had big purple hair that was tied up in ponytails, dark skin, brown eyes and was wearing a yellow blouse with white cotton shorts and a pair of white boots. Ash slowed his horse to a stop and so did she, "Hi, I'm Iris!" She said as she held out a hand, Ash thought for a moment, this was his first proper talk with a human. He knew what they were like, first impressions were everything, he slowly extended his hand and shook hers, "I'm...Ash" He said awkwardly, but he noticed that Iris was looking at his horse with sparkles in her eyes, "Ahhhh, It's so amazing...I wish I had one of those!" Ash rolled his eyes, typical for a human, they always wanted something better than what they already have...
(1 hour later)
Ash yawned, he was beginning to get bored, Iris had challenged him to countless races and had lost all of them...She sighed, "Okay...How much?" Ash raised a brow, "For what?" He asked curiously, Iris looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Well your obviously not going to sell a horse as good as that one but...How much do I have to pay for him to...I dunno...Make a few babies with one of my females? My family owns a ranch and we need speedy horses for the army." Ash frowned, he wasn't going to give the human army any help at all. "Sorry, I'm on a journey and I don't wana waste time waiting for my horse to do a quickie" Iris looked like she had been shot, "But they would make so much money!" She shouted desperately, Ash glared at her, "I don't care about money, I said no!" He walked over to his mount and climbed up on top, "Thanks for the races, it was a 'pleasure'" He said, emphasizing the last word, "But I need to move on, my journey awaits!" Iris rolled her eyes, "You talk like an old man, at least tell me where you're going" Ash thought for a moment, "I'm going to a place where I could make history" Iris had a confused look on her face, but before she could ask any more questions, Ash kicked the horse's sides and took off at a very fast speed.
(3 hours later)
Ash tied chestnut's reins to a tree and looked around, this looked like a good spot to camp, it was a grassy clearing at the edge of forest. There was a large river separating him from the from the forest and on the other side of Ash was a wide open field that had knee high wheat growing in it, he spotted a few cattle here and there. The place that he planed to set up camp was hidden from the wide open field by a small hill, so he wouldn't be spotted by any bandits or patrols. No threats were in sight. He set up his tent, got some water from the river for chestnut, and began to make a fire for the night.
(Half an hour later)
The sun had set behind the horizon and the temperature was dropping fast. Even though Ash was sat in front of a fire, it didn't help to wam him up much...Suddenly, he heard a voice, it came from the other side of the hill. He quickly doused his fire, grabbed his sword and crouched down low in the wheat. Ash began to crouch walk around the left side of the hill, it was a good idea to set his camp up there after all...Then he remembered something, Chestnut was tied to a tree that wasn't behind the hill, it was near the right hand side of it! Ash quietly cursed and continued to move silently. There was almost no light, since the moon was being blocked out by the clouds, but Ash did manage to spot to dark figures moving through the field. They were either not trying to be sneaky, or were just plain stupid, since the were upright and walking carelessly. Ash could tell from their voices that they were teens, on was a male and the other was a female, they both sounded like they were younger than Ash. "What's a horse doing out here?" Said the boy, "Maybe someone is taking a bath or drinking from the river" Said the girl, "Who would wana take a bath in a freezing cold river, Plus, there could be swamp creepers..." Said the boy anxiously, swamp creepers were weird fish like eels that lived in the murky waters of the marsh kingdom, although, they could be found elsewhere in muddy rivers and ponds. Many careless swimmers had lost their lives to them...
(20 minutes later)
Ash began to sneak towards the girl since she was farther back, she was about to speak but Ash grabbed her, he put a hand over her moth to silence her scream and his sword to her neck to stop her from thrashing around. "Shhh, It's okay...I'm not going to hurt you...I just want to make sure that you're not a threat." The girl seemed to calm down slightly, Ash too in her features, she was an inch or two shorter than him, had amber coloured eyes, brown hair that went down to her shoulders and a cute looking face. Her eyes were full of fear, but at the same time curiosity, she couldn't see Ash's face which meant that she didn't know what race he was. She was always interested in meeting new races. The boy hadn't heard the scrap and continued to speak normally, "Where do you think this horse came from Kate?" Ash looked at the girl, she was looking directly back at him. When the boy didn't get a reply, he turned around, "Kate-" As soon as he spotted the two of them, he pulled out his sword and took a battle stance, "What the hell are you doing! Get away from Kate you bastard!" Ash did nothing, only removed his hand from Kate's mouth, "Wait Carl! He only wanted to see if we were a threat!" Ash was surprised that she had defended him that fast, "I said let her go you piece of shit!" Ash spoke sternly, "Throw away your weapon, then I'll let her go" Carl gripped his blade tighter, "Let her go first!" Ash sighed, "I don't think that you understand the position you're in, I have something precious" Kate looked at Ash, her tiny blush was hidden by the darkness, "And you have a lifeless blade, I'm offering you a girl's life, in exchange for you throwing that lifeless blade away. Pretty good deal right?" Ash's voice became dark and menacing, "Or, you could always refuse my demands and 'cut' her life short..." He said, putting emphasis on the single word. Carl growled, "I said let her go now!" Kate's eyes went wide, "Uh oh! You better do what he says or this could end up bad!" She said frantically, Ash raised a brow, he was confused by her sudden change of mind.
The sight of Kate not being released broke Carl, runes all over his body suddenly started glowing red, as well as his eyes. Ash's eyes went wide, he was a berserker! Carl lunged forward and tried to slash Ash, he dived out of the way, pulling Kate with him, "That idiot! If I had been a real bandit, you would be dead by now!" He said to Kate, "Go and find cover, now!" Kate was about to speak but he cut her off, "Don't worry, I won't kill him" The girl nodded ad ran over the tree where chestnut was.
Ash pulled out his sword and looked at his opponent, he had gone completely mad. Ash knew about berserkers, they had an ability that was much like aura surge. It increased the users strength and speed, as well as giving the user no fear. If a berserker took any damage during the course of their ability, then they would only feel the pain and exhaustion once the ability has ended. Aura surge was slightly different, it increased the power of ones aura as well as strength and speed. Aura surge only ended when the user was either satisfied, calmed down or dead, berserk had a time limit. Berserkers were a race that was devoted to peace and tranquillity, they never engaged in wars and had very little contact with other races to avoid anger or grudges being held against them. Ash was disappointed at how Carl had so little control over his power. A swipe from said person's sword brought Ash out of his thoughts, "I'M GONNA TEAR YOU TO PIECES GAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!" He bellowed as he charged at Ash, the raven haired teen blocked his downward slash and kneed him in the crotch, he then kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying to the ground with a heavy thud. "Sorry pal, I'm okay with staying as one" As said casually.
(1 hour later)
Ash felt like he had been fighting for ages, he had managed to deal some decent damage to Carl, but had taken hits in return. He had a slash going from the top of his right shoulder diagonally down his chest and a slash on his calf. Both of his injuries were leaking blood. On the bright side, Carl's berserk was beginning to wear off, the red glow was almost gone...one more hit should do it...Carl was panting, he began to run towards ash, going in for a right side sweep. The raven haired teen brought up his blade and parried the attack, he then head butted Carl in the face and swiped him off his feet with his leg. Carl thumped onto the ground ad fainted, the red glow faded, Ash had won...
The raven haired teen fell onto his rear, he was panting and sweating, which didn't help since the salty sweat made his cuts sting. Kate, who had seen everything, ran over to check her companion. Once she was satisfied that he was okay, she ran over to Ash with a mug of fresh water, Ash took it and nodded in thanks, he was too thirsty to talk. He gulped the whole mug down in one go, "Gah! *pant pant* That's better!" He noticed that Kate was staring intently at him, "What?" He made her jump slightly, "U-U-Um...Well, I just thought that you might be confused as to why two berserkers are in the unowned lands..." Ash shrugged, "Not really" "Do you want to know?" Ash smirked, "Not really..." Kate giggled, "Okay, I'll tell you. We were originally in the human kingdom, but we left since things are different now..." Ash raised a brow as Kate continued to explain, "There are guards and patrols literally everywhere, order is very strict, if you step out of line even once, you are either executed or severely punished. The king says it's because he doesn't want spies or assassins getting into the kingdom, he even set up road blocks at the wall entrances. Although, it's still easy to get in, all you need to do is grease a few palms, if you know what I mean." She said with a wink, Ash nodded, "So basically, there are corrupt laws and selfish guards everywhere and all you need to get into the kingdom is money, no matter what race you are." Kate nodded, "Basically"
(10 Minutes later)
Ash was sitting on a log in front of the fire again, only this time, he had company. Carl was slumping over by the tree, still embarrassed about his defeat, and Kate was tending to Ash's wounds. For some reason, she had bee extremely enthusiastic about doing it, the fifteen year old had blushed like crazy when Ash had taken off his cloak and removed his shirt. She often found herself drooling whenever she looked at his face or chest, she couldn't tear her eyes away for a second. "T-Thanks f-for not k-killing my b-brother..." She stuttered nervously, she was currently on her knees in front of him, rubbing his chest. A scarlet blush would have been visible on her face if it was daytime, but it wasn't, and she was thankful for that. "He's your brother?" She nodded, Ash scoffed, "No offence, but he's extremely stupid" Kate giggled, "I know, but hem means well, even if he can't control himself..." Ash smiled, "He's lucky to have a mature girl like you around" Ash said kindly, his eyes made contact with hers, she quickly darted hers away. The teen girl could have squealed, this guy was such a dream boat! But then a question popped into her head, she looked back at Ash, who was now looking up into the sky and studying the stars. "Um Ash?" She had learned his name earlier when they had first sat down. The raven haired teen looked at her, "Yeah?" He asked curiously, "What race are you?" Ash's eyes went wide...
(The next morning)
Ash bit down on a piece of bread that he was holding, it wasn't exactly a proper breakfast, but it worked. He needed to find a town soon, his supplies were running low, he looked around the log circle. Kate still didn't look satisfied with the answer he gave her last night, 'It's better if you don't know...', Carl had come over and sat opposite Ash. The raven haired teen would sometimes catch him staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Ash finished his bread and stood up, "Well...It's been nice meeting you folks, but Iv'e gotta go." He said as he dusted his hands and grabbed his knapsack, the teen then began to walk over to his horse. He heard Kate speak up, "What! But you can't go! There's still so much I want to ask!" Ash pulled up his hood, "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten about that contract I signed that stated that I needed to tell you everything about me." Ash noticed that Carl had stood up, "Your name is Ash, right?" Said person raised a brow, "So you finally talk..." Carl looked at the ground, "I was wondering if you could-" "Train you?" Carl nodded, a smirk appeared on Ash's face, "Well, get ready for this because it's going to destroy your pride, Iv'e only been training with a sword for five days. Not even a week!" Carl's and Kate's mouths dropped, "R-Really...?" Ash nodded whilst climbing onto Chestnut, Carl and Kate were beside him now. "Can't we come with you?" Begged Carl, "No!" The siblings were taken back by his quick outburst, "Why not?" Ash sighed, "Because...The last time that I had someone with me...They died in my stead." He said as his face shaded over, Kate felt sorry for him, whereas Carl became more curios. "Who was it?" Kate cut him off, "Carl, that's enough..." She could see that this was hard on Ash, the teen nodded at her in thanks. He kicked Chestnut's side and the horse began to trot away, but he stopped and turned, "Oh yeah, about what race I am...Keep this a secret..." He looked directly in to their eyes as his began to glow blue, they both froze, "I'm an aura user...Take care you two." Before they could say anything else, he rode away.
(1 Hour later)
Ash was sitting on Chestnut as he walked along the dirt road, the weather was nice and there was no need to rush, he was whistling one of his favourite tunes that he had heard in his town. He could barely remember the words. It was something about a group of nobles that were having a dinner, but whilst they were eating, bandits broke in and held them up. They apparently requested their lives in return for a good meal with the intruders and it all turned out fine...Ash saw a sign on the edge of the road up ahead. As he got closer, he could see the black letters, 'Evergreen town' The teen shrugged, he decided that he would get his supplies from this town and sped up Chestnut slightly.
(10 minutes later)
The town was surrounded by evergreen trees in every direction, the townsfolk probably got their main source of income and food from hunting in the forest. Nature and civilisation looked to be in perfect harmony, plants were growing on the buildings, but not overgrowing. As Ash rode into the town nobody gave him a second glance, travellers were common here, and there were many different types. Ash would be considered one of the more normal ones...The raven haired teen spotted a market that was taking place in the town centre, this piqued his interest, he steered Chestnut towards the market stalls.
Ash tied Chestnut to one of the hitches in the stables and walked towards one of the stalls, standing behind the counter, was a young woman with blond hair and grey eyes. She smiled as Ash came over, "Hello sir! May I interest you in some of our wares?" Ash smiled back at her, "Hello ma'am, And yes, what's for sale?" The woman nodded and opened a roll of leather, the first thing that caught Ash's eye was a blue sword, its hilt was black and shaped like wings that went up the sword. The end of its hilt was a golden eagle's head. The blade itself was slightly longer than his, about a metre, and looked extremely sharp. It almost looked like it was glowing pure blue. The woman chuckled, "I call that one eagle's grace, it's nice huh?" Ash simply nodded, "Can I try it out?" The woman smiled, "Of course" Just as Ash was about to pick up the sword, a loud voice boomed out over the market, "Is that all! Can anyone beat our champion in a sword battle?! An idea popped into the woman's head, "Hey, tell you what, how about we make a deal?" Ash raised a brow, "If you defeat that guy using one of my swords, you can have the eagle's grace, free of charge!" Ash's mouth dropped, "Seriously!" The woman giggled and nodded, "Yep! I need to get some more customers, and I could tell that you were strong since you knew that this was a good sword." Ash grinned, "Okay, I'll do it, but don't expect miracles!" He joked teasingly, "I can guess which one your going to use" Ash nodded, she handed over the eagle's grace. As soon as Ash touched the sword, he felt an overwhelming power spread throughout his body, he felt stronger and faster. He was ready for the battle...
The announcer looked at the crowd, most of them seemed too intimidated to face the giant muscle man that was standing next to him, his huge broad sword didn't help to draw in challengers. "Are there any other brave fighters among this crowd? Who fancies winning a prize of thirty gold pieces? A very large amount for a very small fight, what do you say?" Nobody raised their hand, "Any one else?! No!?" Suddenly, he saw a cloaked figure ,that was leaning against a tree, raise his hand. "I could use some money..." He said casually, The man grinned, "We have a challenger!"
Ash looked his opponent over, he could tell from his build that he was a brute. Brutes were a race of very strong humanoids, they had larger torsos than humans and thinner lower bodies. They were strong, but were clumsy and slow, also not very smart. Their main purpose in battle was to take all the hits until their opponent was too tired to even dodge, and then strike. They had very thick skin that could resist sword slashes, the easiest way to beat them was to use speed and chip away at them with blunt attacks. Ash held out his sword, the brute grunted, "I am Omar the unbeatable!" Ash smirked, "Not for much longer..." The crowd went wild, they could already tell that this was going to be a good fight.
Omar made the first attack by stomping forward and swinging his broad sword in a circle, Ash hit the dirt and dodged the swing, he then jumped forwards and smashed the hilt of the eagle's grace into Omar's nose. The brute roared in pain as he staggered backwards, holding his injury, Ash could tell that his nose was broken. Omar growled and went for a downward strike, Ash rolled to the left, grabbing a handful of dirt. Once he was back on his feet, he threw the dirt into Omar's face, "GGGGAARRRGGHHHH!" He bellowed in pain, the brute began to swing his sword in random directions, preventing Ash from getting close. As soon as he could see slightly better, he recklessly charged towards Ash, still swinging his sword. An idea popped into Ash's head, he stood in front of a huge tree trunk and waited...As soon as Omar was close enough, he dived to the right, making Omar miss his target and slam into the tree, causing vibrations to ripple through the tree and dislodge a few leaves. The brute was slowly pulling himself up, when a fist impacted with his face and knocked him out cold. Ash stood back up and raised his fist in victory, the crowed roared in applause. All the men and women cheered and all the girls squealed, the announcer couldn't believe what he had seen, Omar had never been beaten before. The man smiled, "Give it up for the challenger!" The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering, "Tell me stranger" Said the man, "What's your tactic?" Ash saw the blond haired woman raise her head out of the corner of his eye, he grinned, "My sword gives me confidence and skill" The crowd began they're barrage of questions, the main on being, 'where did you get it!' Ash smiled and pointed at the blond haired woman, who had the brightest smile on her face, the raven haired teen said one simple word. "Her"
(Thousands of sword sales later)
The blond haired merchant couldn't believe what had happened, her entire stock had been sold, she was loaded with gold pieces! She turned to Ash with tears in her eyes, the woman launched herself at him and brought him into a tight embrace, "Thank you so much!" Ash chuckled and patted her back, "No problem, thanks for the sword!" The woman broke away from the embrace and looked Ash in the eye, "If you ever need anything, go to the human kingdom. You know the capital, Petalburg city right?" Ash nodded, "Well, look for a place called the sleeping hydra, my family owns it and you will always be welcome there. Just say 'the serpent swims' They'll understand." Ash nodded, "Once again, thanks." The woman smiled, she climbed up onto her cart, "Are you sure you're gonna be okay? That's alot of money on there, you know what happens to people with a lot of money on the roads..." The woman waved him off, "I'll be fine, I know some water magic, it runs in my family." Ash raised a brow, "That's rare for a human..." She giggled, "I guess I'm just special..." Ash smiled, "Oh, I didn't catch your name..." The woman chuckled, "I was wondering when you would ask, I'm Cynthia brook." She held out her hand, Ash shook it, "Ash Ketchum." "It was nice meeting you Ash, I hope we see you at our inn soon." Ash nodded, "I'll be there soon, That's where my journey will take me anyway" Cynthia raised her brow, "Really? Would you like to travel there together?" Ash fidgeted uncomfortably, "Uh...I have to make a few stops along the way first, I don't wana slow you down..." Cynthia looked slightly sad but nodded, "Okay, I'll see you soon!" She flicked the reins, making her horse trot forwards, grunting in complaint about the weight of the cart. "See you soon!" Shouted Ash as he waved to his new found friend, she smiled and waved, as soon as she disappeared over the horizon he smiled. "I'm gonna need friends if this is gonna work..."
(2 hours later)
The sun was high in the sky, the temperature was hot and there was a cool breeze, perfect travelling conditions. Ash had restocked his supplies, this time, with some better food. He climbed up onto Chestnut and raised his fist into the air, "Let's go buddy!" His mount reared up and announced its departure, it then began to gallop out of the town. "Woo hoo!" Shouted Ash, next stop, the human kingdom!
(1 hour later)
"Woooooaaaaahhhhhh" Said Ash breathlessly as he looked at the huge wall in front of him, it had to be about thirty metres tall! It leaded off to each side as far as the eye could see, Ash noticed the huge iron gate that provided one of the four entrances to the kingdom, North, South, East and West. There weren't many guards, but still enough to stop an attack, about fifteen. They were currently checking a merchant's cart and questioning the man himself about where he came from. Ash didn't want to end up like that guy, an idea popped into his head, he grabbed a decent sized rock off of the ground. He then leaded Chestnut over to the edge of the trees that they were hiding in, taking a careful aim, he launched the rock at one of the guards. It impacted with his head, instantly knocking him out and getting the attention of all the other guards. They all ran over to check if he was still breathing, whilst they were distracted, Ash rode Chestnut through the gate and into the human kingdom. "Idiots..." Ash said to himself as he rolled his eyes, he took in his surroundings. Even though the human kingdom had a huge wall that was around the edge, there was still tonnes of room inside, you could literally ride a horse from one wall for two weeks and still not get to the other side. The human kingdom was absolutely humongous, and it had many different races and locations inside...To get to Petalburg city, where the palace was located, it would take about three days. Ash patted Chestnut's neck, "Hope your up for a lot of walking, buddy" As if understanding, his horse grunted.
(6 hours later)
Chestnut was drinking deeply from the crystal clear river that was flowing past the place where Ash was camping for the night. "Well done bud! If we keep this up, we'll get there in no time!" Ash said as he lit the camp fire, he heard a splash come from the river, he turned in the direction of the sound and noticed that there were several fish jumping around in the river. "Oh yeah!" He cheered as he grabbed a sharp stick, the raven haired teen pulled off his shirt and cloak, as well as his trousers and dived in. "Fish fish fish fish!" He cheered as he began to collect several of them on his makeshift spear. He laughed as they swam around his feet, it tickled like hell. "Hahahah, oh man, Chestnut! You gotta try this bud!" The teen's horse simply raised its head and looked at him, after flicking its ear, it went back to drinking. Ash rolled his eyes, "Killjoy..."
(20 minutes later)
The teen and his mount were laying on the bank of the river, Chestnut was already asleep, but Ash was looking at the stars. They looked different in the human kingdom, less beautiful..."I wonder how Gary's doing..." He said to no one in particular, "I kinda just up and left him, I hope that no one's found out where I've am yet..." Ash burped, he was still full from all of the fish he ate, he took out his new sword and looked at it. It was kinda funny to think that this sword, would be the one that he would use to bring down the king...Ash felt his eyelids beginning to drop so he put his sword down and crawled into his tent.
The raven haired teen slowly opened his eyes, he could see from the exit of his tent, that it was a perfect day outside. He slowly pulled himself out and put on his clothes, after strapping his sword to his belt he looked for his mount. Chestnut was eating some blueberries that were on a bush near his tent, Ash decided to go down to the river to freshen up.
Once Ash had made it to the river, he stripped and dived in, he instantly felt the cool water was over his body. All of his cut and bruises felt better, and the smell of stale sweat disappeared.
(10 minutes later)
Ash was fully packed and ready to go, he climbed onto Chestnut and they both set off.
(A few days of travelling later)
Ash ginned as he made it to Petalburg city, he could see the palace already, it was huge! The buildings on the outside of the city were kind of run down and old, but as you went further in, the quality went up. Ash had decided to look for the sleeping hydra like Cynthia said. But this city was huge, how was he meant to find one building! The teen looked around, there were market stalls and shops every where, this place was a goldmine for thieves and pickpockets. Ash reminded himself to keep an eye on his coin pouch, even though he didn't care for money, he still needed it to survive. A young woman's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Ash? Ash! Is that you?" It was Cynthia! He looked to his left and saw her waving at him, he waited for a gap in the crowd and then rode over to her. "Hey Cynthia! Good to see you again!" Ash said happily, the woman nodded with a smile on her face, "It's good to see you too Ash, but let's go somewhere more comfortable to talk." Ash nodded and followed her on Chestnut.
The two friends rounded a corner and came into the view of a large in that had been painted different shades of blue, the sign on the side of the building read 'The sleeping hydra' Ash smiled, "So this is where it was!" Cynthia chuckled, "It was kind of silly for me to expect you to find it by yourself in a city this big, so I've been going to the city's entrance since I got here to wait for you." Ash raised a brow, "Everyday?" She nodded, "For how long?" "Sunrise till sunset" Ash's eyes went wide, "You didn't have to do that you know!" Cynthia giggled, "It's okay, I didn't have much else to do except look after my annoying little brothers." Ash became confused, "You have brothers?" Cynthia nodded, "Their names are Finn and Tony, they can be a pain in the backside at times, but really sweat at others."Ash chuckled, "Sounds like you care a lot for them." Cynthia smiled, "I do"
Once Ash had tied Chestnut up in the stables, he entered the inn with Cynthia, he was met with a smell that reminded him of his mother's cooking. He became slightly sad, Cynthia noticed his drop in mood, "Ash, are you Okay?" The teen shook away the sad thoughts, "Yeah...I'm fine" He was interrupted by two little voices, "Ooooohhhh, Cynthy's got a boyfriend!" "Eeeeewwwwww" A blush appeared on Cynthia's face but it quickly turned to anger, "Finn, Tony! Get back her now!" She said as she ran towards the two blonde haired boys, the one on the left screamed, "Ahhh, run Finn, the ogres' coming!" "Ahhhh!" The two of them ran upstairs, "I'll be back down in a minute Ash, you should meet my grandparents, I think they're in the kitchen!" Cynthia shouted to Ash as she ran after her brothers. Ash chuckled and walked towards the kitchen's door, just as he was about to grab the door handle, it swung open and smacked him in the face. The force sent Ash to the ground like a sack of potatoes, "Ouch..." He said as he rubbed his head, an old short man walked out of the kitchen, he was carrying several trays of food. "Cynthia, Finn, Tony! Dinners re-" When he saw Ash on the floor he quickly put the food down and helped him up, "Oh my god! I'm terribly sorry my boy! I-I-I-I had no idea that you were there!" Ash smirked, "It's okay sir, I'm fine." The man sighed and put a hand on his forehead, "Not again..." What must have been his wife walked out of the kitchen and saw her husband's gesture, "Oh my goodness! Are you okay honey!" Ash chuckled, "I'm fine! Honestly" The woman smiled, "I'm greatly sorry about my husband, he has a habit if hitting people with doors!" She said as she flicked his ear as punishment, he grunted in pain. The woman continued to speak, "You must be Ash, It's very nice to meet you, I'm Carolina and this is my husband Edger." Ash shook both of their hands, "We heard that you helped out our granddaughter a lot, we are very grateful, if you ever need anything. Just ask." Ash nodded in thanks.
(4 hours later)
Cynthia's grandparents had be happy to give Ash a room for the night as well as free food and a warm bath, only tonight, he wouldn't be using the bedroom...
Ash heard a knock at his door, "Ash? Can I come in?" It was Cynthia, the teen pulled up his hood and turned to face the door, "Yeah! Come on in." The blonde haired woman pushed open the door and became confused when she saw that Ash was dressed in his normal clothes. "Huh? Are you going somewhere?" Ash nodded, "I have some business to attend to..." Cynthia was still confused, "Where are you going? When will you be back?" Ash looked at the ground, "Weeellllll, the truth is...I don't know if I'll be coming back..." Cynthia's eyes went wide, "Then why are you going!?" Ash looked her directly in the eye, for the first time, he pulled down his hood in front of her. She blushed when she saw his face, he was quite handsome, his face looked very serious. "This is something that I have to do, It's my whole reason for coming here..." Cynthia was about to ask but he answered for her, "I'm sure that you're aware of the war between aura users and humans right?" He said as he walked over to the window, he could see the lights of the palace from here. "Y-Yeah..." Ash opened the window and sat on the ledge, with his leg hanging out, "Well, you see, I'm her to kill the king. I'm an aura user." He said as he looked at her with a glowing blue body and bight blue eyes. Cynthia's breath hitched, she didn't care much for the king, the thing that surprised her most was the fact that her friend was part of an extremely rare race. "Y-Your an aura user...Wow" She said breathlessly with a smile on her face, Ash grinned, "Surprise!" He said jokingly, "So, how are you going to do it?" Ash raised a brow, "Your not going to stop me?" Cynthia laughed, "Are you kidding? The king is a selfish bastard who needs to be eradicated, plus, your my friend. As long as you think it's right, then so will I." Ash nodded in thanks, "Well, I'm planning to sneak in through the roof. I used to live in the mountains, so I'm good at climbing. There aren't many guards up there, so it should be easy to sneak in." Cynthia nodded, "Sounds like a good plan...But I would wait until past midnight, that's when most of the staff and nobles will be asleep, it's also when the least amount of guards are active." Ash's smile widened, "we think alike"
(2 Hours later)
Ash looked at the moon, it was more than halfway across the sky, time to move. He turned to Cynthia, who had fallen asleep not long ago, he prodded he a few times. "Hey, Cynthia, I'm going out." She groggily opened her eyes, "Wha...Is it that time already, *yawn*" Ash chuckled, "I'll be back soon." The blonde haired woman nodded, "Okay...Be careful.." She said as she dozed off again, Ash smiled, "Glad to see that your worried about your friend..." The teen jogged over to the window sill and swung himself over, he the jumped to the roof of the next building and made his way towards the palace.
(10 minutes later)
Ash was silently climbing up the wall of the palace, there were several holes for him to grab onto so it was quite easy. Once he reached the top, he took a peak over the edge, there were two guards. They were both facing away from him, perfect, he could slip in and not have to worry about hiding any bodies. Ash climbed up over the wall and sneaked over to the window, he opened it slowly and slipped in, although he knocked a cup off of the coffee table as he did. The cup hit the ground and smashed to pieces, one of the guards heard it, "Hey, what was that?" "Ah, it was probably on of those new servant girls messin' around, leave it..." Replied the other, they both went back to their posts. Ash sighed in relief, the job of being inside the palace and seeing no action had made the guards soft, they were naive. Ash stayed crouched in the dark hallway, lit by moonlight, he looked left and right. To the right was a door and a staircase leading down, to the left was a staircase heading up. Ash guessed that the king would have the highest room in the palace, he began to move silently, like a phantom, down the hallway.
The staircase winded, it was long and narrow, did a king really live up here. He was thinking of turning back, but then he reached a door, from underneath he could see candlelight. He heard voices on the other side, he put his ear to the door and listened, "Poor you...Your whole family as murdered in front of you and now you get to rot away in this tower, hahahaha, this is great! But unfortunately, I have to leave you my darling, I'll be back tomorrow..." Ash's eyes widened as he heard the footsteps heading towards the door, he quickly looked for a place to hide and spotted a small dent in the wall. If he pulled his cloak over himself he shouldn't get spotted. He did exactly that just as the door opened, it was a boy about Ash's age with green hair and green eyes, Ash could tell from his clothes that he was a noble. A prince maybe? He had a cocky smile on his face, the raven haired teen noticed that he was locking the door with a set of keys, Ash had to time this right...As soon as the prince turned and put the keys on his belt, he grabbed them and let the prince walk away, the keys were pulled off of his belt without him noticing. Ash silently cheered, once the prince as completely out of sight and Ash couldn't hear his footsteps any more, he unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open.
As the door slowly opened, Ash noticed that there were jail cells lined up along the wall of the tower, all of them were empty. Except for one that contained a girl the same age as him. She had brown hair, sapphire blue eyes and a nice figure, she was wearing a ragged brown dress. She hadn't noticed that the door had been opened, Ash could see lines of pure silver that went down her face, was she crying? Ash sneaked in and closed the door, this time she heard it, but she couldn't see anything since only her jail cell was lit by moonlight and the prince had taken the candle with him. "H-Hello...Is anyone t-there?" She stuttered, feeling scared, a voice that she hadn't heard before spoke. "Who are you?" She felt slightly relieved, the voice didn't sound menacing, it had a feeling of safety. "I-I'm M-May Maple, I-I'm the princess of the human kingdom..." Ash raised a brow, "Then why are you in jail?" He asked curiously, "The current king murdered my father and took over, he killed my mother and my brother as well..." She said as she started to tear up, "The only reason that I was kept alive was because...*sniff*...His son liked the 'look' of me..." She broke down into tears, "So he's the one who has been causing all of this?" May stopped crying slightly, "All of what?" Ash became confused, "Don't you know about the war between aura users and humans?" May's eyes went wide and she shook her head, "No! What happened!?" Ash sighed, "It's a long story, but basically, aura users are being exterminated for some unknown reason..." May became curious, "And why are you here?" Ash thought for a moment but decided that it couldn't hurt to tell this girl.
"I'm here to kill the king..." May's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped as she saw two glowing blue eyes light up in the darkness, "I'm an aura user, and I'm here to stop this war..."
Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you had fun reading it! I included a few characters from the actual anime.
*Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but if I did, Ash would be more badass, win more battles, get cooler pokemon and have some romance!*
Please don't forget to review, it helps me a lot and I like to see what you guys think of my stories. So, until next time!
-Killerham5ter