Author's Note:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YELLOW! I feel like i haven't posted anything in a while, but it's just been a week XD
Anyways, Yellow is my favorite dexholder EVER and it's her birthday today, so I wrote some Specialshipping goodness! It's also my birthday (not on this exact day, but within this week) so this is my birthday present to myself XD yep. SO, the ending is seriously horrible, and I know a lot of people say that, but I'm serious. At a certain point I ran out of ideas, so I kept writing, and then at the end, I'm like, I just said everything I needed to in the last paragraph, what more can I do? Also, the title freaking makes no sense. Oh well. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YELLOW.

Rant over! Read on! Please review, this is one of the few stories I've really written that I can say I'm proud of :D

-Silvia

P.S. this is an AU, and also I KNOW THAT THE VIRIDIAN FOREST IS IN BETWEEN VIRIDIAN AND PEWTER, BUT I PUT IT IN BETWEEN PALLET AND VIRIDIAN BECAUSE THIS IS AN AU AND I CAN BECAUSE I HAVE POWER MWUAHAHAHAHA

Disclaimer: DISCLAIM DISCLAIM DISCLAIM. I own nothing!

Viridian Enchantress

...A rose without thorns...

Red was always told to stay away from witches. That they were cruel, ruthless beings that should just die and never associate with regular people. Everyone was taught that; that witches and warlocks were evil. In the past, the enchanters had caused great destruction, so since then, if anyone had been caught practicing witchcraft, the punishment was to be hung.

All his life, Red had believed that was right.

But one day, his point of view changed.

It was a sunny afternoon in the quaint village of Pallet. Pallet was a beautiful place with a grassy smell and nature all around. The Viridian Forest was right next to the village, though the thing about the forest was that it was simply like a rose; so gorgeous and perfect that you would want to stroke the soft petals of the flower, or in other words take an effortless hike in the forest, however the thorns could cut you and draw your blood. If the wound was infected, you could even die. Much like a rose, the Viridian Forest was a dangerous place. Who knew what evils could be lurking in there? Dragons, beasts unknown, anything that may attack after they see an intruder. That was why the residents of the kingdom of Kanto had created a path to go around the forest, so that people could travel from the village of Pallet to the city of Viridian with ease.

And so it was that on that particular Sunday in the kingdom of Kanto, a man named Red treaded on that very same path, headed towards Viridian City to go to the market. There was a market in Pallet Town, but Red enjoyed strolling along the path beside the forest, even if it did take longer than just cutting straight through the greenery, and the markets in Viridian always seemed to have the freshest of apples, his younger brother's favorite fruit.

Red soon came to Viridian, and started off through the streets to the market stands, the citizens bustling about as usual. Red caught some attention as he walked; he was a tall, handsome man with raven-colored hair and captivating ruby eyes, who looked quite strong yet gentle. He truly was everything a woman could want in a man, which was one of the reasons his father kept pushing for him to marry. His mother didn't mind, because his younger brother was already engaged to a strapping young woman anyways, but that was just another reason his father was so eager for his other son to marry. Red always shook his head at such thoughts, but he occasionally wondered whether his strict father approved of his brother's choice in a wife; after all, Ruby was such a gentleman, while his fiancé, Sapphire, was…less so. She was graceful, yet wild. Red got the feeling that his father was irritated by Sapphire, but that only made Red appreciate his future sister-in-law even more. He himself wanted someone like her—well not exactly like her, because he wasn't sure if he could deal with someone as uncultivated as she, but what he meant by that was that he wanted someone different. Someone special. He didn't just want an ordinary girl because he didn't think he could love a plain person who followed rules exactly and who always got along with people and who was seemingly perfect. He needed someone that was sweet, though someone unique. It was so hard to describe, and even more difficult to find, so Red doubted he would marry anytime soon to then.

Red continued on walking, adding apples and other assorted goods to his bag and handing the merchants at the stand, and was simply wandering the streets, skimming the stands of the market almost as if he was window-shopping.

That's when he saw her.

He accidentally bumped into a small woman in the street. By small, he meant she didn't even reach his shoulder, though then again he was especially tall and she was especially short. She wore a simple black cloak, an article of clothing that was fairly popular and worn by various people so her clothes were nothing unusual. Underneath her hood that was drawn, he was able to see her face due to her lack of height causing her to look up at the man she had collided with. She had a young face, appearing to be ever so slightly younger than him, with soft, pale features. She had blonde locks that hung in front of her face, though the rest seemed to be down behind her, cascading over her thin back. Her eyes were large and filled with molten gold that captivated him and were filled with curiosity and innocence.

Time slowed around him, and that's when Red knew that the little lady before him had all the power to entrance him with just the shift of her beautiful eyes.

Red somehow had the urge to know her. To discover her name and what she was like, and who she was, and everything about her. She was not particularly pretty—Red had seen women far more attractive than she—though to him she was stunning, just in a different manner. She was so petite, quite short and quite thin, but that only made him want to guard her, protect her at any cost. She looked like she would fit perfectly in his arms.

"A-ah s-sorry," she stuttered, a rosy blush flushed her pale cheeks. Red grinned, she was endearing. However, no sooner had she spoken the quiet words in a sweet, melodic little voice than she shuffled past him with her eyes trained on the ground, disappearing in the crowd of people far taller than her. As she disappeared from his sight, Red shook himself. What had he been thinking before? He couldn't have found himself smitten by such an odd little woman, could he have? Regardless, Red still was just wandering around in the middle of the afternoon. He gazed up at the sky, the sun looking bright and happy as ever along with the layers of clouds gathering all around it. Red wondered whether the sun might disappear behind their shade.

He made his way towards the exit of the city and to the path again as—like he'd predicted—the clouds grew thicker and slowly the lighting turned gray and dreary and a crack of loud thunder suddenly boomed, making the people in the city streets jump in surprise. Red had not expected the weather to change so quickly, and he certainly had not anticipated the drops of precipitation that slowly tumbled onto his head, and threatened to soak his bag of goods from the market. If he went down the long path all the way back to Pallet, his trip to the city would have been worthless as the things he had bought would be ruined. He could run down the path and risk his items being spoiled, he could stay in Viridian to wait out the storm, or he could take a shortcut through the bitter and highly treacherous Viridian Forest.

Somehow, it must have been that the winds were blowing an odd way, that the air in the world was not quite right, that the planet was spinning too slow or too fast, but Red took his chances and ventured into the forest just as the downpour began.

It was dark and damp in the forest, but the trees were so tightly packed around the little old path he had chosen that he didn't get wet in the slightest. The leaves above him created a canopy that was pounded by water, though he was completely dry. And contrary to the tales he had always been told, the forest was a beautiful place. The leaves were emeralds, the grass was so fresh and plush, even the soil of the path underneath his shoes seemed to be more fertile than any other. Compared to the depressing, cloudy sky, the forest was a haven of beauty. He wondered if the creatures lurking in hidden places behind the trees and in branches were really so bad that people avoided such a lovely spot of fresh and natural splendor.

They were.

Red estimated he was about halfway back to Pallet, the rain still hammering the plumage above him, when he heard a horrible, terrified, earsplitting shriek. Part of himself told him to keep going, but the hero in him must have had control of his legs, because before he could even grasp the reality in what he was doing, Red raced off in the direction of the screech, dodging branches and shoving away leaves. He burst through brush into a clearing and nearly gasped at what he saw.

A witch.

Every bone in his body screamed for him to turn around and run as fast as his legs could carry him. Witches were horrible, disgusting things that could curse you and turn you into a frog just by making eye contact. He had to run, or the witch before him could cast a spell on him! He had to run, or he would be in deep peril!

But her eyes stopped him. Her eyes of molten gold, the same eyes of the petite girl he had bumped into in the city, the same eyes that enchanted him. He wondered if he was mistaken; could that very same innocent girl really be a witch? She had to be. She was wearing a dark jade dress in the fashion that all witches wore, with stockings and pointed-toe boots, her black cloak from before tossed listlessly on the forest floor. Could he just be under a charm, and that was why he thought so highly of her before? No, witches could only create love potions that would temporarily infatuate the drinker and would put them under some from of hypnosis; they could not create true love (or whatever strange and stomach-turning feeling he got when seeing the girl). Somehow, it was killing him inside to see those eyes so full of fear.

That was when he noticed the thing she was staring at, so stricken with terror, the reason she'd cried out; an enormous dragon nearly three times her height yet with a neck at an arc so its head did not raise above the trees was before her, glaring at her with menacing black eyes the color of oil, dark and murky. Its body was a wingless, sleek, dull blue that twisted and curled like a snake, with razor-sharp teeth partially stained brown with the blood of its past kills. It would be a fascinating creature if it was not glowering at the witch-girl. She herself had part of her sleeve torn on one arm, with angry holes in her pale skin, blood running from her wound and staining her sleeve and hand. Red inferred that the creature had bit her. The image in his mind of it sinking its teeth into her arm and causing her to shriek in pain was enough to make his vision turn red in fury. The dragon drew its head back and bared its teeth, as if preparing to strike, and the little witch, cringed.

Red dropped his bag in the grass and bolted towards her, as the dragon's head lunged towards her at lightning speed, but Red launched himself into her, knocking them both to the ground, but the dragon was quick and grazed Red's back with its jagged teeth. He winced in pain as he and the little witch hit the ground, but he turned his attention to her. Her eyes were wide in shock, as she hadn't seen him standing there before. He leaped up and pulled her with him, staring into her eyes. "Are you OK?" he asked her. All she could do under his worried gaze was nod.

They turned when the dragon let out a growl and began to quickly slither towards them. Red grabbed the hand of the little witch and broke into a bolt. "Run!" he shouted to her as she followed suit. She had to move her short legs swiftly to keep up and not fall behind into the jaws of the dragon. The two rushed through the maze of leaves and trees, the dragon never far behind. Red thought he had seen the path he was originally on and was about to break for it, when the little witch called out, "This way!" and steered him in a different direction.

The part of the forest she was leading him into was darker and more frightening than the rest, though that may have been because they were being hunted by a menacing beast, roaring behind them to the added sound of the thumping thunder. The little witch slinked her way through crevices that Red could hardly follow her through, yet he knew her plan was working; the sounds of the dragon were steadily getting farther away. When he could no longer here them was when they broke through brush and were instantly soaked by rain gushing down.

They stopped in their tracks, panting heavily, as Red gazed around. They had made it out of the dreaded forest! Red found that they had reached his destination; Pallet Town. Yet, they were still drenched by the rain. Red glanced at the girl beside him; she was shivering like a leaf in the autumn about to be blown from its branch. "Come on," he said, pulling on her small hand that he still held in his much larger mitt. He felt like a giant around her.

He led her through the village—deserted due to the rain, darkness, and late time—over to a cozy house on the outskirts of the other side. Although he still lived in the village he had grown up in, Red had his own home to himself that was still in town so he could visit his family very often.

Once they reached the home, Red shoved open the door and led the girl inside, out of the freezing rain. He closed the door and proceeded to light candles to illuminate the dark room. He found towels and gave them to the girl, allowing her to dry off slightly, though he didn't know what to do about their injuries. As if sensing his concern, the girl had him sit on the couch. She placed her small hands on his back and suddenly, he felt very warm when he should have been frozen by the rain. He closed his eyes and felt very relaxed as all the pain released from his body, flowing out of him.

"There," the girl said quietly, removing her hands. Red was almost disappointed that her warm touch left him. He felt at his back and was shocked that there was not even a scratch.

He turned to face her. "So you are a witch."

She sighed and stared sadly at the ground. "Yes…I am…but never have I attempted to use spells for cruelty!" she defended herself, trying to seem powerful. Red almost laughed; she was too cute to be menacing. He wondered how such a sweet woman acquired the powers of a sinister spirit, but maybe all witches weren't bad. He watched as she placed her hand on her own cut as it glowed. He had never seen magic before his own eyes, and it was truly astonishing to see her wound close. She used the towel he had given her to dab away at the blood.

"Tell me then, little witch, what is your name?" he asked her.

"They call me Amarillo del Bosque Verde, witch of the ViridianForest," she replied. "But I prefer the name Yellow."

He grinned. "Yellow it is then. I'm Red."

She smiled at him, the sweetest smile he had ever seen, as she sat beside him and wiped his face with the towel. "Thank you very much for saving me, Red."

The storm raged on outside. Red just looked at Yellow, a witch, a person who was supposed to be evil and cruel, yet she was sweet and beautiful. He had an urge to run his fingers through her damp golden locks, to hold her in his arms and feel her smooth, pale skin, to press his soft lips against his, and he wasn't sure why. She was just…different than anyone he had ever met before. She was special. Who knew, maybe she was the one that he would marry and have children with, and maybe the two of them could teach their children different things. Things like that witches aren't always horrible. Some are sweet and gentle like the whispering wind. Red knew then that Yellow wasn't perfect—she was a witch, and people would always think poorly of her—but she was perfect for him. He had found a rose without any thorns, and he intended on having her stay.

Red reached over to her and tucked a strand of her wet hair behind her ear, leaning forward. There seemed to be an unknown force like gravity, pulling the two together, their faces inching closer until their lips connected. Red placed his arms around her waist and drew her closer to him as she dropped the towel and threw her arms around his neck. His earlier assumption had proven correct; she did fit perfectly in his hold. They broke apart when they could no longer take the lack of air.

"I will always protect you," Red whispered to her, gazing into the molten gold eyes that were inches apart from his. He leaned in and stole her lips again.