Jackson and Raven hadn't made it far before a range of different sounds had gone suddenly gone off, one particularly a gun shot. Though it seemed to have been perfectly shot off when a truck engine behind them burst into flames, Jackson had been trained to differentiate sounds like that. The shot had lodged itself into the tree just a few feet away, and caused Jackson to turn back, but only to grab Raven by the arm and haul her forward into a bolted run. "If we get separated, head North East towards Maine. I've heard theres a Refuge of sorts there." Raven wasn't really focused too much on what he was saying. Her head was spinning and was suddenly feeling the need to throw up. Without warning, Raven collapsed to the ground. Jackson stopped in his tracks and looked back at the wall of fire that was closing in on them, knowing full well who was on their tail, and for a split second he almost thought of leaving her for them. Jackson shook the thought from his head and quickly shooed Electabuzz away from her, grabbing her up and placing the unconscious girl on his shoulders, holding one leg and one arm. Raven lay limp over him in the Buddy-Carry position, Electabuzz complaining to Jackson in his ramblings with Houndour growling at him. Seemed as though Houndour was trying to tell him of Jackson's intentions, and it appeared to be working. Electabuzz followed close behind Jackson as he ran with his passed out trainer, keeping a watchful eye out when suddenly he looked up in the tree to see Sneasel. Electabuzz grabbed Jackson's pack and yanked, pointing towards Sneasel and rambled off incoherantly at him. Jackson looked up at the Pokemon and grumbled to himself, following where the Sneasel was trying to lead them.

Pleased, Razor screeched and bounded off through the trees, stopping every couple hundred feet to hang from a branch and make sure that they were following. Gradually, he led them in an easterly curve, ignoring the gunshots and the roar of the flames behind them. The forest growth became denser, sloping downhill for a bit before evening out.

When they crossed a small creek, and the fire was nothing but a large plume of smoke rising up over the trees, the Sneasel suddenly dropped out of the trees, screeching at them. Creating a pair of Ice Shards in his hands, he planted them in the ground, and began leading them personally along a weaving path, no longer rushing like before but still urgent. Every so often he would plant another small Ice Shard in the ground, hissing and waving them away from it.

After a short while, he clambered back up a tree, pointed ahead of them and gave a short screech before hurrying back the way they had come.

---

At the bottom of the ravine, Shade was finishing up packing her things. The clatter of rocks behind her made her seize her rifle and whirl around, but she relaxed slightly when saw the Electabuzz and pair of humans. ”Didn’t fall in. Good.”

@A Tattooed Girl