Fanta woke with a start. Celebi, who had been prodding him, shot backward, startled.
"Quiet." Nifa snapped at them both, glancing uneasily at the three other pokemon, still sleeping. Fanta glanced back to Charcoal, who nodded to him. Nifa led the four of them away from the Gardevoir and her company, saying.
"Fanatics who think they can control gods. Not something I want to be mixed up in again." He led them out of the ravine, careful to make no noise as he left them. "We make for Snowpoint, plan in the morning."
He set pace slower than Fanta would think was smart, but didn't argue, falling back to the limping Charcoal. She leaned on him, heavily, as they walked. "Do you need some rest?" Fanta asked, glancing from her grimace to her leg, still covered in a cast.
"No." Charcoal said, gritting her teeth.
"Yes you do." Fanta said. "All you have to do is ask me."
Charcoal threw him a glare that melted into a resigned glance as she saw the worry in Fanta's eyes. Truth be told, she had never, ever, asked for anyone to slow down, or to do anything for her. She had never trusted anyone enough for that, or been willing to show that much weakness. "Fine, yes, I need to catch my breath, but that's it." Charcoal said, burying her pride.
"Nifa, I think I hurt myself on the way here. Can we stop for a minute?" Fanta called, managing to put a little bit of pain and a little bit of hope in his voice. Nifa glanced back at the pair of them, Fanta suddenly limping and learning on Charcoal.
"Fine. But only this once." He said, tense.
"Oh, thank you." Fanta said, dropping his act as soon as Nifa turned from them.
"Thank you." Charcoal said, coming to a stop. "For that."
"Anything for a pretty lady." Fanta said, then blushing, squeaking out. "Not that- just- I just noticed, that's all."
Charcoal rolled her eyes. "Fanta. Stop being so nervous saying those things about me. As long as they come from you, I enjoy hearing them."
Fanta grinned nervously. "You do?" He asked.
"Yes, I do." Charcoal said. Fanta smiled, nudging her.
    "You could always say them back." He said.
"Don't push your luck." Charcoal said, but added. "But I do think your a cute lovable furball."
Fanta smiled, mouthing the words 'cute' and 'lovable'.
"Let's go." Nifa called back to them, apparently no longer worried about discovery.
"Come on." Fanta said, helping Charcoal up. Charcoal almost snapped at him that she didn't need any help, but, once again, she didn't.
Nifa glanced behind them, and then ahead. "We're about to walk into a blizzard." He said. "Be ready."
And then he forged ahead, swallowed by the white storm that blazed outside of their relatively sheltered forest. Celebi followed, and then it was their turn. They stepped into the biting cold, pressing against each other for warmth. The pushed through the storm until they managed to make their way to Snowpoint City, slipping inside the same pokecenter they had just escaped, entering through the places where trucks dropped off the medical supplies, hiding in an empty room.
Nifa glanced at the door, but shook his head. "This is the best we can do for now." he said, cradling Celebi closer to him. She glanced up at him, and realized that he was shaking, and realizing that for the first time in all the years she had know him, he was scared.
"What is it?" She whispered.
"They will hunt us." Nifa said. "They've done it before. Our only hope is in their enemies. And I cannot find shelter with them."
Celebi shook her head. "I will stay with you." She said.
"No." Nifa said, shaking his head, and calming himself down. "You will run, and I will run. We will go to their enemies, and pray they forgive me."
Celebi floated up until she was sitting on his shoulder. "Nifa, if you die..." She trailed off. "Nifa, just please don't die."
Nifa snorted. "Not while I've got you at my back." He said, laying back.
Celebi hopped from his shoulder to his chest, laying back on him. She realized, as he fell asleep, that she could feel his heartbeat. And it was that rhythm of life that lulled her to sleep.

    Nifa was once again leading the four, this time on a long mountain ridge, dipping occasionally between the mountains it was made up of.
He glanced back to Fanta, who was trying not to look down and several shades paler than normal, Celebi, who was trying to converse with Charcoal, and Charcoal, who was about as talkative as a dead branch.
Celebi, of course, would not give up, chattering about things from the state of the weather to the lineage of legends to the fact that she had once met an eevee that held his ears in the same way Fanta did, one ear crooked, the other straight, and theorizing that Fanta might be related to that eevee. Nifa turned back, to be stopped by the tip of a long, jet black blade pressing into his neck. attached to that blade was one of the few remaining absols in Sinnoh.
"Nifa the thief, have you come to make amends?" The absol asked.
"Actually, I've come to ask for sanctuary." Nifa said.
The absol laughed, and then cut off abruptly, stepping back.
"You're serious." He said. "I assume you have your own twisted reasons?"
Nifa shook his head. "I made enemies with your enemies." He said. "And I fear we are being hunted."
By this point, the others had realized what was going on. Fanta and Charcoal had taken positions on either side of Nifa, and Celebi floated above, all ready for trouble.
"You keep distasteful company, legend." The absol said, glancing up at Celebi.
"I do?" Celebi said, faking puzzlement. "A reformed thief, an eevee learning to survive in our world, and a vulpix to mentor him?"
The absol laughed again. "I will take you to our home, and I will vouch for you, Nifa, because I know that you saved Omen before fleeing. But be warned, we are not the tribe we once were. Even the eve's are uneasy around outsiders." The absol turned, beckoning, and the four followed him.
"So you must be Sight?" Nifa asked, remembering the absol from one of his few failed thefts..
Sight replied. "Aye, that is my name."
Fanta, ignoring them for the most part, heard rustling nearby, and he took a curious half step to see what it was.
It was nearly the last half step of his life.
A Flareon pounced on him, digging her claws into his shoulder, snarling. "You are not welcome here," And opening her mouth to deliver a blast of heat.
Sight, seeing this, cursed, and opened his mouth to snap at her, but before he could, Charcoal had barreled into the flareon, grappling with the larger opponent.
They rolled to the side, and a majestic glaceon stepped out, looking disdainfully at the fighting pair, before vanishing once more.
Fanta got up, wincing as he put weight on his bleeding leg, and glancing over to see the flareon manage to pin Charcoal down. Fanta leather, landing on the flareon's back and digging his claws into her mane.
"Stop!" Sight shouted. The flareon paused, and then violently shook herself, throwing Fanta off, and then stepping away from Charcoal. The absol and flareon had a heated argument, most of which Fanta and Charcoal ignored.
Charcoal was still snarling at the flareon. "We're alright, Coal, you don't need to look like you want to throw her off of a cliff." Fanta said.
"No one touches you." Charcoal said, having evidently ignored Fanta. "No one."
Fanta shook his head. "That's sweet and all, but seriously, we're done fighting. Don't go looking for enemies."
Charcoal turned to stare at Fanta. "She attacked you." Charcoal said. "I didn't have to look for any enemies, I already have one."
Fanta rolled his eyes as the flareon left, followed by Charcoal's glare.
"I apologize for Blaze." Sight said simply. "She is not the trusting type."
Fanta nodded, and put his weight on the now bleeding leg, wincing but still able to walk. "Let's go then." He said.
They once again began following the absol, until they came to the entrance of a cave.
But as it turned out, it was the entrance to a massive cavern, with depictions of every legend. And in the center of all of this, sat a small, unadorned absol, staring across a lake that divided the cave in two.
"Omen, I have brought you four travelers that ask for shelter. One claims that they have made enemies with the fanatics." Sight bowed, and exited the cavern.
The other absol was still, not making any inclination she cared about or realized the four had entered the cave.
Nifa spoke first. "Omen, is that you?" He asked.
The absol chuckled. "Aye, it is me." Omen said, turning, to reveal something none of them, even Celebi in all her years, had ever seen.
Omen's horn had been snapped off near where it met her skull. "I have seen much." Omen said, ignoring their stares. "Enough to know that you four will play an important role in what is to come."
Nifa glanced at the other three, shrugging. "Does that mean we can find shelter here?" Charcoal asked when Nifa didn't speak.
"You will, if you can do what I ask." Omen said.
Nifa cursed. "What do you want done?" Fanta asked, the only one who wasn't entirely unhappy.
"There is a tunnel, southwest of here, that is filled with evolutionary stones. Bring back a water, thunder, and fire stone." Omen said.
"And why can't you do this yourself?" Nifa asked.
"Because the tunnel connects with an active lava flow that flares up every few minutes. To dangerous to risk an absol." Omen said.
"But not too dangerous for a quadruplet of outsiders." Nifa said. "Fine. We'll do it."
Charcoal glared at the absol, but turned and walked out of the cave, alone until Fanta caught up with her.
"You were staring at that absol." Charcoal said.
Fanta paused, and then said. "Wait, are you displeased with me because I was politely making eye contact with someone I don't want to piss off?"
Charcoal was silent for a few moments, and then said. "No."
Fanta gave a short laugh and then said. "Aww, you were! That's adorable." Fanta returned her glare with a grin.
"You were worried it'd be love at first sight, and then we'd go galavanting into the sunset without you." Fanta laughed. "I promise not to do any galavanting into the sunset without you." He finished.
Charcoal shook her head, and didn't reply as Nifa and Celebi caught up with them. "Come on, we need to get to the cave before sun down." Nifa said, taking the lead. Charcoal, who had managed to recover from her wounds even with constant travel, picked up the pace, passing Nifa. Fanta, who didn't care who was leading, as long as he could keep pace with Charcoal, caught up.