This is the first chapter in a collection of short-stories I will be posting of my two "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness" characters, Kinka and Shuugo. While all of the chapters will flow in chronological order and focus on the same two characters, there may be large gaps between chapters where information is not given. This is not meant to be a smooth-reading story; the chapters will simply be a retelling of my favourite instances from the game.

IMPORTANT: This story is meant to go along with a series of images I'm drawing. You can find the first here: (remove the spaces) kagariasuha. deviantart. com/#/d377281

Rating: PG-13 ish?

Warning: Will eventually become a HeroxParnter fic. Seeing as my two characters are also males, that would also mean boyxboy. If you're not comfortable with this, please don't read.

A Light in the Darkness

- Growth -

I shouldn't have known what the sun looked like.

Logically, that warm, glowing sphere on the horizon should have captured and held my full attention; my sheltered eyes should have ached as its molten-gold body descended further, painting everything it touched with a faint orange hue. I should have, no matter how uncharacteristic it would have been, taken a moment to marvel in the vibrance, colour and passion of the sight before me. But I didn't.

I didn't spare the brilliant light a second glance. Nor did my eyes linger on any other component of Treasure Town's gorgeous, sunset-cove - things like the rippling waves, the worn, russet-coloured hills; even the glassy bubbles emitted by the ever-present Krabby, gracing the beach with an almost magical atmosphere, were completely lost on me.

All of these phenomenal, natural commodities surrounding me were treated as if they were a given - something I had never lived without, and would never have to live without. Of course, I know better now.

It's been explained to me that, up until that point, the sun (along with a multitude of other sights, sounds and even smells that I was experiencing at the time) had only been described to me in stories; old legends passed down from generation to generation in a desperate attempt to retain any sort of sense as to what the world was like before darkness. Before the end of time.

Looking back, I'm disgusted to find how very little I knew at that moment.

Now, as well as being aware that I was not born into a world full of this raw, natural beauty, I am also aware that these gifts (as impossible as it may seem) are not permanent, and could be taken away at anytime. I suppose that would mean that, being blessed with all of these wonderful things, I should take the time to really appreciate them. But that's never really been my style. Perhaps that's an attitude that was ingrained in me since before coming to this world… after being forcefully dragged back to the place in which I'd (apparently) grown up, I was able to hazard a guess as to why I had a somewhat apathetic outlook on beauty - why I had an apathetic outlook on everything, really. There's not exactly a whole lot to appreciate in a world full of varied shades of grey.

So why was I not astounded to open my eyes to a world of colour? 'No idea. Although, it probably had something to do with the fact that I wasn't in my own body. Yeah, that discovery was pretty shocking. At the time, though, I was more pissed off than I was shocked - it was a huge inconvenience.

Even more distracting than being in a foreign body was him. The whiney little crybaby who acted more like a damsel in distress than an actual man. Cowardly, timid, spineless, brainless… I could go on. Let me tell you, the very last thing I would have wanted to wake up to was that nauseatingly cherubic face of his; those stubby fingers, prodding at me like I was some kind of abandoned corpse.

I later found out that most other Pokemon considered this moron to be 'cute'. But like I said, I don't have much of an eye for beauty.

I can't even begin to explain to you how frustrated I was that this idiot seemed to know, much better than me, what was going on.

The one thing I remembered, my given-name - "Kinka", was soon defiled by that coward's stupidity. I'll admit that, for someone who was such a blatant scaredy-cat, he was ballsy for calling me "Kinka-chan". I don't think I have to mention that I was more enraged by this nickname than impressed by his nerve. Thank God I still can't remember my family name - the last thing I need is for him to tag some pet-name onto the end of, what I know has to be, a reputable title.

I don't think my name suits me in the slightest ("Kinka" meaning 'gold coin'), but it's annoying as shit to be called 'chan' in any case. "Chan" is definitely a prefix more suited to someone as womanly as him.

I suppose that both of our names are a little more than slightly ironic. Despite what you'd probably suspect upon seeing the asinine charm cemented to my forehead, I'm not one for money. Or treasure. Or anything of the sort, really - things like that only distract from self-improvement. "Shuugo", derived from "Shugo", meaning 'guardian' was about the most ridiculous name that timid little mouse could possibly have (aside, maybe, from "Yuuki", literally meaning 'courage'). But no matter how much more that brat deserved to be labelled 'chan' than I did, I never attached it to the end of his ill-fitting name. No, I decided early on that any honorific, no matter how insulting, was too good for the rodent.

I still remember how intense his nervous shaking was back then; whether it was before a battle, during a battle, after a battle, in the midst of a heated conversation, or even at the mere mention of something intimidating, Shuugo's limbs would freeze up. He'd probably be mistaken for some kind of stone carving if it weren't for the tremors visibly rippling just beneath his fur.

What I couldn't understand was why in the hell he stuck so close to me.

I'm not crazy about apologies. Overly sentimental, mushy crap like that really pisses me off, but I confess that (as you've probably guessed) I was less than pleasant to him. None of it seemed to matter to him, though. When I called him out on his lack of masculinity, as I often did, he was always slightly put out, but never angry. I used to wish he'd get angry - all of the moping he did made me feel… guilty. Not that I'd ever admit it.

Maybe that's when my grudging respect for him began? When I realized that, no matter how much of a coward he was, he had ambition - he saw things through - stuck them out… stuck to me.

I'm not an easy person to stick to.

But I've been speaking in past tense for too long. Maybe instead of telling you how I felt, I should tell you how I feel.

Hah, 'feel'. Now there's a word I've never been comfortable with. But maybe that tells you something about my story. Maybe it was necessary for me to start way back at the beginning. How else would you have known that being able to utter the word 'feel' without grinding my teeth together in distaste is a huge feet? How else would you guess that some traits that I've adopted would have shamed me back then? That my outlook on myself, others, the world and even life has been altered?

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I started telling you my story from where I am now, my growth wouldn't have seemed all that impressive… maybe it's not. I have a feeling (there I go again) that if I'd gone back and told myself this story all that time ago, I would have rolled my eyes and called myself a (no pun intended) pussy.

It's rare for me to string more than a couple sentences together, let alone to talk this much. I don't generally think there's all that much that needs to be said, but I know I need to get this off my chest.

I need to say it out loud so that I can actually start to process all of these changes.

I need to talk about my struggle for power, self-control and understanding, how I learned what it's like to be a part of a family, how it felt when everything I'd worked for was being threatened, how I came to know the true meaning of loss, how I discovered who I really am, how Shuugo grew into his name, and why I now eagerly await and appreciate the coming of each and every sunset.

OoO

Thank you for reading!

I think I'll add a brief explanation here, just to clarify some things:

- I jumped on the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon bandwagon waaaaaay too late. XD I regret not giving them a shot when they first came out - they really are beautiful and emotional games. That being said, I couldn't help but fall in love with my character and partner. They're too adorable and expressive. PMD: Darkness was actually the second Mystery Dungeon game I played (the first being blue), but I found that this one was so much more intense and addictive than its predecessors.

I have to admit something: I cheated during the personality test on this one. XP During my first PMD game, I answered the question honestly and was matched with a Pikachu. Anyone who knows me would understand that this came as a surprise (heaaaavy sarcasm here, incase you couldn't tell). I mean, what else would I get, right?

But for Darkness, I decided I wanted to try a Pokemon who's personality was different from my own, so I just chose the answers that amused me the most. I ended up with Meowth. And boy, am I glad I did. Of course, I'm a sucker for Pikachu, so even if I wasn't playing as one this time around, I had to make one my partner. And, thus, Kinka and Shuugo were born.

Anyway, I hope that this chapter (no matter how cryptic and short) was enjoyable.

Thanks again!

- Piro/KagariAsuha