BOO

Bet no-one was expecting to hear from me again!

*ahem*

Anyway, first things first, this is a sequel to my other story "One Week" So, don't read this if you haven't read that...

But this one is going to be a little bit different...

Maybe.

It starts off very same-y, because I'm about as creative as a smiley face on a plank of wood, but I think it'll have a different effect on people as the story goes on.

Feel free to yell at me if I say something wrong, or something right... Hell, just post a comment saying what you prefer, Pie or Cake...

But otherwise, please enjoy.

Oh, yeah, and depending on how I'm feeling when I get around to it, the rating may be changed to "M" for planned future, uhh... descriptions.

.

Prologue

Three hundred and two.

I stood on the cold stone, carving the second mark into this section of the cave wall. How I'd remembered to keep count, I will never know. Maybe it was my father who had taught me. Or maybe it was-

"Are you insane? Perish Song will-"

I rubbed a foreleg across my eyes, wiping away the fresh tears. It didn't matter how many days had passed. I was a murderer. Not a hunter for survival, but a murderer. Was it all a price worthy of my pride?

"… Just hang on Nion!"

Walking back towards the end of my cave, I sat at the cross Shay had placed for him. The only pokémon I'd learned to... The only one who I allowed into my life. Into my heart.

"What the hell were you thinking? Do you know what you've just done?"

No, I didn't know what I'd done at the time. I thought the pokémon centres could cure any disease, stop any infection… Heal any injury…

I growled in frustration at my own emotions. It was almost a full year ago and the memories still play on my mind like yesterday.

My stomach moaned at me for food, forcing me away from Nion's grave and out into the cold. Walking the long path down the mountain, I began my morning hunt. Winter had come around again, and the snowfall was increasing. Driving more wild pokémon and trainers through the cave network of Mount Coronet, rather than up the cliffs.

Just meant I'd have to be wary for my food, Golbat had a tendency to-

I turned around to the west, feeling the bone chilling wind whip through my fur and my blade singing through my mind. There was a storm coming, the first one of the season, and Arceus certainly wanted it to be a good one.

"You are lucky to be alive, if it weren't for this trainer bringing you to us, you could've lost more than a few claws."

I still remember the first moments I laid eyes upon Shay. The contempt I held for him and the rest of the humans. But Nion… No, he taught me so much about the human world... Who they were, what they did… How nice they actually were.

Jumping down a small cliff, I arrived at a wide open clearing, the tips of the long grass just visible from under the snow. The humans had carved out the tunnel to my right, acting as the second safe haven from the dangerous weather, and behind me on the left was a series of cliff-faces the humans themselves could climb. Or ride a pokémon if they were truly lazy.

I stopped in my tracks between two major patches of grass, noticing two dark dots against the snow amongst numerous Clefairy tracks. I sniffed once before a third tear stained the snow below me.

"I love you, Luyo."

"Why wasn't it me!?" I shouted into the sky, channeling a Shadow Ball in-front of my blade. Before hurling it into the sky, immediately throwing a Psycho Cut after the dark energy causing it to detonate a safe distance from the mountainside.

Panting, I collapsed into the snow, feeling more tears run from my eyes. "Why wasn't it me…?" I said again, before burying my face into the snow.

I don't know how many hours I'd spent laying face-down in the snow, but when I awoke the storm was fast approaching. The sun was all by blocked out by the dense clouds, the clearing before me deserted and lifeless. And then there I lay, amongst those who still trusted me. A quick gust of wind quickly reminded me of the situation.

I forced myself upright, there was probably a half hour before the storm really took hold, and even now my vision was obscured at best.

I sprinted across the clearing to the human's carved path, finding it devoid of life, before doing a quick lap of the area searching for anyone still hiding.

Twenty five.

Deeming the area clear, I bounded up to the next mountainside path. This one was much easier to keep an eye on, as the track to my hom-

I growled at the thought.

The track to my cave directly overlooked this area. There wasn't much to it, a few small patches of grass, two human-friendly cliff faces and one designed purely for pokémon.

Eighteen.

I quickly climbed back up onto my path, finding no signs of life stuck out in the-

Purple.

A mess of purple fur lay along my path. Slightly smaller than me, and so frail. This pokémon certainly didn't belong up here.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I shouted at the pokémon, causing it to jump slightly at my appearance. "There's a storm coming, can't you tell?"

The pokémon turned to face me, throwing itself into the snow before my forelegs. "A-an Absol! Don't hurt me! I was separated from my trainer when the storm blew in, and I can't find anywhere to wait out the storm!" The pokémon's wide ears billowed around in the wind, slapping across the red gem centered in the Espeon's forehead. And as usual with psychic types, it was almost impossible to tell it was male from anything but his voice.

"There's a cave down there," I nodded my head towards the path below us. "Jump down here, it's only two storeys, you can brace against the wall. There's a path the humans cleared just ahead which leads to the cave. You can't miss it." I walked passed the pokémon, heading back towards my cave.

"Wait! If the cave is that way, why are you going the opposite direction?"

I sighed and turned around. "Because that's the path all humans take through the mountain, I'm going to my cave so they don't bother me." I widened my stance slightly, also loosing a low growl, probably inaudible over the rapidly building wind.

"But I can't jump down two storeys." I saw the Espeon glance back towards the edge of the path. "At least not without breaking a leg or something."

"You'll be fine," I said through my teeth. This psychic type embodying everything I hated about them. "The snow is thick enough down there that it'd save a Graveler."

"But what if-"

"I said go!" I shouted back, before channeling a Shadow Ball for the second time today. I saw a distinct look of fear in the Espeon's eyes before I saw a different target. Just to my left was a tall stone pillar, long enough to probably make a ramp for him to even crawl down. Throwing my attack into the stone, a massive cloud of dust joined the whistling snow, causing rock chips to bash slightly against my face. Before I was able to open my eyes, I saw a grave error come tumbling down atop me.

"Run!" I'd heard off to my side, but it was too late. The pillar I'd struck had been snowed on all day, and it was this thick wall of white that wanted nothing more than to flatten me against the hard stone.

I saw the Espeon become cloaked in a bright purple dome, before my entire vision went bla-