Forward Unto Dawn

Chapter 2

The Twilight Rose

--o-O-o--

He ran, and ran and ran. His lungs burned and every muscle in his body screamed for respite. But he couldn't stop. Not if he wanted to live. He left a plume of dust in his wake but this was a race for survival, he didn't have time to cover his tracks. All around him were the skeletal remains of an old forest, the branches of dead and withering trees hung low and snagged at anything that passed like cold fingers trying to grab on for dear life.

One such branch dragged along his spine, tugging at every tuft of fur it could. His pink-purple coat had long since faded to grey in the unending twilight though faint traces of his old color could still be seen. He'd always had a slightly fluffier coat than most which had always set him apart but now more than ever he wished he didn't. He winced in pain every time he felt his fur getting pulled. He didn't slow down but hopefully taking this route would slow down his hunters.

The espeon slid to a halt as the trees parted and human buildings came into view. He took a few seconds to catch his breath while taking in his surroundings. "This might work." he said to himself just as a cackling purple-black sphere exploded before him.

---o-O-o---

Z heard them before she smelled them. The sound of snuffling as hounds tried finding a scent followed by the cloying reek of rot. She was forced to stifle a sneeze as she got the impression of a Pokemon that had dug up a corpse and rolled in it.

That was bad. Just as she heard one of them howl she slowly got to her paws and moved to the entrance of her den just behind the dangling roots. The shadow of the tree would hide her from view but if the other pokemon were hunting by scent then they just might find her. She knew the city and the surrounding woodlands like the back of her paw. There were very few other pokemon in the city but they all kept to themselves for fear of the ghosts. The only one of them she was concerned of was an arcanine that chose to reside on the opposite side of the city and she never ventured that far.

The night flashed pink as lighting added across the sky. Then she saw them: they had black fur, bony knobs spanned across their neck with the central crest resembling a skull, two long horns curled towards the back of their heads. The two houndoom were sniffing at the ground and as close as they were to the entrance of her den she feared the worst. The only relief came when an explosion flashed on the horizon, both houndoom looked up simultaneously and ran in that direction howling. Once she was sure they were at a safe distance she stepped out of the den and into the night before running after them. What were they hunting if not her?

--o-O-o--

Shiguya stood panting heavily, his legs shook from exertion and the houndoom before him looked like he could go on for days. His maw was a cross between a snarl and a smirk as he prepared to step forward and claim his meal. In a last ditch effort Shiguya spun around swinging his tail in a wide arc. The resulting flurry of golden stars, hitting the houndoom's head and enveloped it in billowing smoke, but to Shiguya's surprise, the death-like hound stepped through the cloud completely unscathed. The temperature in the air began to rise dramatically as the air around his maw started to shimmer and tongues of flame started to dance in and around his teeth.

He was desperate for options but they were far to few; he had several psychic attacks in his arsenal but were saverely misplaced considering Houndoom were a dark type which rendered them useless, shadow ball and swift were proving to be less than sufficient to deal with a houndoom of this level. He could use 'Last Resort' but the strain would leave him utterly exhausted and there would still be two more houndooms to deal with. Ultimately he was trapped with no way out.

--o-O-o--

Z moved slowly in the houdoom's wake, being careful not to make her bells chime. As she got to the denser brush however she became frustrated and loosened the slipknot that held the bells tight to her ankle. Taking the silver orbs between her teeth she was satisfied that the muffled chimes wouldn't be heard. Now able to pick up the pace she sprinted through the dead forest and tried to make up lost ground.

When she came to the edge of the forest she saw what all the commotion was about, three houndoom were in a tight circle, with carnivorous intent as they closed in around a cowering espeon. It's fur was a faded purple color that had long since began to go gray. It was leaned forward slightly and baring its teeth in a vain attempt to threaten its attackers.

A third houndoom was in the group now that Z hadn't seen yet. It was covered in scars from battles long past and writhing flames waved in the air around its maw as they slowly bore down on the espeon. A memory flashed through her head as they backed the espeon into an alley and it disappeared around a corner. It reminded her of an particular instance when she was nothing but a young pup, one when a pack of mightyena had cornered a squirtle and a chikorita. The squirtle donned a pair of black designer glasses for whatever reason and the chikorita was slightly lighter in color with its crowning leaf was slightly frayed... their screams still haunted her.

Thankfully their attention was focused solely on each other and Z used that to her advantage. Moving carefully to avoid detection Z circled around the pack of houndoom and crept along the side of a human cave until she came to the remains of an old dumpster, completely rusted over with oranges to coat it, ruined. Jumping on to the top she risked it collapsing under her weight until she leapt one final time to the roof. As stealthily as she could be, she stalked along the hazardous edge of the roof overlooking the alley. She was so close now that she could actually hear their growling and feel the heat from the lead houndoom's Fire Fang.

She made one final sharp inhale, the deep breath before the plunge, with a leap of faith she summoned her conviction to offer aid, and dropped into the alley below.

--o-O-o--

There he stood contemplating his ultimate end when a creature fell before him, seeming to have fallen from the heavens themselves, and stood defiantly between him and those that would call him their quarry. Like a god given sign from Arceus himself, her intervention had spoken to him, and maybe it wasn't his time to go... or maybe thats why the absol was there? Was he already dead and she the reaper of death sent to shepherd him unto the halls of his forefathers in the glimmering Hall of Origin? He let out a sigh, he expected the afterlife to be somewhere brighter than this, yet here he was; still stuck in this hell of eternal twilight.

How did he die when the houndoom hadn't attack yet? Surely he'd have seen it, or even felt it, something at least?! Or maybe it was better he didn't, Shiguya thought as he looked the female over. She stood between him and the houndoom, snow white fur covered her entire body from what he could tell, her tail and horn being the only dark color evident. She had two silver bells tethered to her ankle and a pair of pink goggles on her head.

She was leaned forward slightly looking lithe and ready to strike, the air even vibrated from the rumble in her throat. Her growl held more authority than his own, his was simply a defensive measure while hers was a genuine threat.

--o-O-o--

The trio of houndoom before her were all perplexed, none of them had expected in their foggiest daydreams that an absol would just crop up out of the blue and oppose them. And a female no less! But their she stood, her red eyes glared as an obvious heed to her warning. The fire light reflected in her eyes which gave them a ghoulish look. The lead houndoom was the first to step out of it, a chuckle rumbled from his throat as he too eyed the female. "Well I'll be," He said in awe. "What a hunt this is turning out to be. First we chase this little runt to all ends of the Wastes and now our company is graced by something as extravagant as yourself." He said wryly, clearly someone had a silver tongue. "If you wish to share our meal I'm afraid you'll have to wait your turn." The Houndoom took a step forward and Z's growl deepened to a low snarl, her teeth bared at him.

At the back of her head she had weighed the better judgement of making this jump but she felt comfortable she could handle the three houndoom, this was her territory after all. An age old instinct told her that those that trespassed on her territory deserved to be punished and she now stood face to face with three very unwelcome guests... big problem.

Hearing Z's response to his advances he returned her threats with a deep rumble of his own. "Fine." He spat. "If you won't give me what's rightfully ours then maybe we can find another way around this." Z saw his eyes wander to her rear and a wolfish grin crossed Houndoom's maw. "Quite a pretty thing you are, a sultry body with curves in just the right. Places." He emphasized the last word with another step forward. She knew exactly what his intentions were at that point and when the other two houndoom stepped forward she let a grin cross her own countenance.

Houndoom soon realized his mistake when a brilliant pillar of crimson light illuminated the alleyway. When the light faded they saw the glass and scorched concrete left over from Z's thunder attack. Seeing their reaction to the attack reassured her greatly. Any male trying to have their way with her would find she had quite the sizable little bag of tricks....

--o-O-o--