From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat@pacbell.net> Subject: [PW!] Cover Your Ash Date: Saturday, May 15, 2004 7:46 PM William Rendfeld wrote: > #Mewtwo is keeping secrets,# Enigma noted. > > Cass blinked. "That was unusually direct." > > #He may know something about those who attacked Alex,# Enigma replied. #Hope > that he is not somehow connected to them.# > > "I'd doubt that," Aerie replied. > > "So do I," Cass echoed. "Still, it's good to know." As she recalled her five > Pokémon, she added, "I hope. So, Fallarbor or what?" "We are being watched," Kitsu quietly interrupted. "Eh?" Cass looked around. "Whe-" "There!" Derek, Keaton, Aerie, and Kitsu pointed as one towards an oddly-colored tree. The tree's skin fluttered then rolled up, revealing itself to be a well-woven piece of camoflauge. "I see I must improve my skills," said the marowak-skull-helmeted, grey-pajama-clad boy who had been holding up the blanket. His clothes still made him hard to see against the tree; only a slit for his eyes, black equipment pouches, and a belt stood out against the ash-covered tree bark. And the helmet, ash having dulled it to almost the same shade as the whites of his eyes. Derek blinked. "Is that Smasher?" Cass shook her head. "No. He's too short." Kitsu's nostrils flared. "And Smasher didn't smell of ninja." The boy stared at that, then raised his arms and sniffed his armpits. Aerie sniffed too. "I don't smell anything." "Relax, sis," Keaton advised. "He's got at least five friends within sight." "But he does have Smasher's helmet," Kitsu replied. "You sure? There are other Marowak." Aerie squinted. "Hey, she's right! See the way the teeth line up, and how the eye sockets are just slightly uneven? Looks like it's picked up a few new cracks, though." "Ah," the ninja realized. "You know the origin of this artifact. If you have come to claim it, I must warn you: it fell to the ground with no apparent owner. It is now mine by right of salvage." "It belongs to a friend of ours," Cass explained. "We'd like to give it back to him, once we find him." "I witnessed its fall from a distance, but when I found it, there was no one nearby." A pokeball appeared in the grey-clad one's hand. "I shall not give it up without a batURK!" Thanks to a quick attack, one of Aerie's hands pinned the ninja boy's wrist to the tree, leaning on the nerves ever so slightly to prevent his hand from releasing its cargo, while the other removed the helmet. "Sorry, NOT in the mood." Rustling sounded from several directions, as several more ninja revealed themselves. "I don't think that was the wisest idea," Keaton warned. TBC?