...THE SECOND. CHAPTER!

The Renegade just stood there, speechless. With confusion evident, he fingered the medallion he had found in the wreckage in front of him. Covered with ash and burn on the edges, the item had been made by his own hand, and he had left it here, in the care of his 'parents'. It was made of some special, unidentifiable metal, with an almost expected image on the front:

A Scythe.

"All our times have come
Here, but now they're gone"

"Why did this happen?" He spoke to no-one in particular, but instead glared at a soot-covered skull, which glared back. Skulls tended to do that.

"Everything hath reason...but, not this...monstrosity." Granted, he had hated his 'parents' with a passion, but, being burned to death? Unacceptable. A top crime on his list. Underneath one other though.

"I had wished for nice, peaceful millennia...But, then this happens..." Placing the item in one of his pockets, he looked at the smooth Staff in his hand; immediately, a soft-coloured blade snapped out the top side of the Staff and glittered as air molecules were split around it.

"The seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind or the sun or the rain
We can be like they are"

The scene in front of him was enough to send any normal person into madness: skulls, the smell of burning/rotting flesh, bones snapped in half with jagged endings, soot and ash, half burned bodies...

Luckily, Giratina wasn't a normal person. Or, a normal anything, for that matter.

"Giratina."

"Come on baby
(Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand
(Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly
(Don't fear the reaper)
Baby I'm your man"

The voice was undeniably female, but he wanted to oh-so ignore the voice, especially if it belonged to who he thought it did...

"Giratina!"

The voice was more insistent this time, more firm; Giratina swore softly before grumbling,

"Yes?"

A long pause; Giratina groaned inwardly and rolled his blood red eyes to the heavens, adding in a forced-respectful tone,

"...Shaymin."

He grudgingly turned around, to look at the voice's owner. Clothed in a dress with the same coloured hair, and a Gracidea Flower behind one ear, Shaymin was clearly in Land Forme. But, this didn't decimate her wild temper. Almost neurotic. Clearly, she was in a good mood. At the moment.

"Valentine is done
Here, but now they're gone"

He backed away from her as she tried to approach him. Giratina narrowed his eyes, trying to appear threatening (an easy task) and hissed.

"I am sorry, but-," He cut her off, eyes flat with...hatred? Maybe.

"Just...leave, Gratitude!" He turned away (reluctantly, he later admitted), and spoke primly,

"Thou are not needed, Gratitude." No response. The Gijinka crossed his arms and huffed uncharacteristically.

"But, Giratina-."

"Silence!" Very rarely did Giratina raise his voice (first impressions were usually good enough), but when he did, most people knew that shit just got serious. He turned around again, almost hitting her unintentionally, since she was a few centimetres away from him. Eyes flashing, he stared her down; Shaymin stood her ground, coolly meeting his infuriated gaze with strange calm.

Backing away, Giratina gathered some of his wits (not as much as you would think) and struggled to make a coherent sentence; the surprise murder of his 'parents' and Shaymin annoying the shit out of him, enraging him. Taking a deep and sot exactly necessary breath, Giratina sighed,

"Just...go away, Shaymin."

So...he knows my name...Shaymin thought, quite surprised at that, seeing as he insisted on calling her 'Gratitude'. Pushing that aside, she assumed a confident expression and replied coolly,

"No."

"Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity
(Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday
(Like Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday
(Redefine happiness)
Another 40,000 coming every day
We can be like they are"

"What?" Rage simmering again, Giratina walked forwards, like Shaymin, with his eyes darkening in colour.

"No. Are you deaf?" That just enraged him further, and he snarled through gritted teeth,

"Thou will leave now."

"No."

"Thou wilt!" Yelling now, Giratina had no idea how close he was getting to her...

"No!"

"Mew dammit! Thou wilt!"

"Make me!"

Giratina blinked at her, incredulity flickering across his face. His blood red eyes darker than before, he hissed,

"Is that what thou really wish for, Gratitude?"

Shaymin, suddenly realizing how close she was to him, blushed slightly and growled in frustration, tawny eyes like fire.

"..."

"Come on baby
(Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand
(Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly
(Don't fear the reaper)
Baby I'm your man"

"Answer, Gratitude!"

"...I know who did this!"

Giratina glared at her, but his eyes lightened somewhat, hope evident. Almost eagerly, he responded,

"Art thou speaking the truth?"

"Of course."

"Evaluate."

"We-ell..." she backed away, and stalked past him, heading to the catastrophe behind them. Examining the ruins, she spoke up. "...Obviously, they both had Pyrophobia, and that a Fire-Type did this, clearly with a powerful attack like Eruption or Heat Wave...maybe Blast Burn..." She turned back to see Giratina giving her such a blank look that she felt a guilty twinge at giving such a lengthy talk. That's something I have to work on! She blinked as this raced through her mind automatically.

"Erm...I understood up to 'Pyrophobia'..."

She sighed.

"I mean, a Fire-Type did this."

"...Oh."

"So...I was thinking that Moltres would know, him being the Boss of the Fire Pokémon..."

"His location?"

"...Uncertain. But, I guess we could try Volcano Hill..."

"'We'?" He looked at her with a 'The hell are you talking about' expression on his face.

"Yes." She sounded challenging: Hazel eyes flashing, cocky air around her, smug smirk on her face...

"No!"

Ah, one of his sporadic 'I cannot believe you' moments. Side effects may include, but are not limited to: Emotional Outbursts, Lack of Rationality, Flustered-ness, Rage and Lying through Your Teeth. Conditions apply, results may vary.

"Love of two is one
Here, but now they're gone"

"You're a Grass Type!" He'd dropped his archaic language and now looked horrified.

"...Your point?"

"The hell! Grass, Shaymin! Grass!"

"You're overreacting. Again."

"Am not! You don't understand!" He looked really frazzled right now. Shaymin tried not to laugh; yep, she was gonna win...

"I don't understand?"

"What! How can you not understand!" Shaymin mentally ticked off the side effects: Emotional Outburst- in process, Lack of Rationality- Ending soon, Flustered-ness-Still happening, Rage- Just finished (it only happens for a short time)...now, only one left...

"...I just don't. Anyway, why do you care?" It was a perfectly innocent question, but Giratina just seemingly lost all will and mumbled, defeated,

"...Because Mew would kill me if I let you come along." Ah, there was the Blatant Lie. Giratina, no matter how sincere he looked, had other motives; he always did. It was his nature.

"...Nope. I'm still coming along!"

Giratina took another deep, unnecessary breath and started to walk away, simply saying,

"Screw it. Do whatever the hell you want."

"Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear that she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew and then disappeared
The curtains flew open and then he appeared saying
'Don't be afraid' "

"Thanks for letting me come along!"

"Shut up."

The duo walked along the unused path, arguing almost absently. The day was well into the afternoon, and Shaymin was almost...hyper.

"I wilt kill thee if thou do not shut up," Giratina deadpanned, emotionless.

"Really?"

"Yes, Gratitude."

"I don't believe you."

"I assure thee, I am not bluffing."

"Meh."

"Pretend thy ignorance, Grass-Type."

She ignored that insult, instead focusing on the road in front of them.

"Look, I just want one thing..."

"Oh, Mew..." Giratina groaned, blinking as the sun's glare shone in his eyes. The white haired female beside him grinned and announced smugly, knowing that he would never give her what she wanted,

"A hug!"

Giratina shot her an incredulous glance, sending her all sorts of implications in that glance, not all bad, actually...

"No. Thou knowst that I doth not doest embraces, Gratitude."

"...Then I'll annoy you until the end of time. And beyond, most likely."

Frowning, the Renegade agonized over the pros and cons of the situation, while Shaymin sang out loud to herself an old hymn from her Island. Her voice was quite good, and he found himself drifting away, all his thoughts and worries (millions) just vanishing like dust...

"Fine! I doth consent." He looked embarrassed and somewhat annoyed.

Shaymin looked at him in surprise, scepticism written across her face. Her tawny eyes narrowed suspiciously, as if he was going to trick her of something.

She was eternally surprised when he did hug her, nuzzling her. Her face flushed bright red, and she hurriedly responded, secretly happy when he didn't pull away.

For Giratina, this was...different. No-one had actually even considered him to be of the romantic type, but, after listening and writing elegant, hear wrenching, angst-y poems all your life, one would tend to develop some characteristic flaw. And, Giratina just found his.

Her scent was of Gracidea Flowers, which was particularly appealing; just because he didn't like them, doesn't mean he hated the fragrance. In truth, he often used them of therapeutic purposes. And, right now, he was calmer than ever before.

But, all too soon, he withdrew as if he's been stung by a Beedrill, muttering something like "Happy?" under his breath and stalking off down the road, followed by an absent-minded Shaymin who was grinning like a Haunter. On drugs.

But, now it was clear. He couldn't kill her. Giratina hated to admit it, but he'd liked that hug, and he wished that he wasn't so reactionary. Oh, well. And, if he did kill her, a small piece of his personal Hell would just die, leaving him cold, insane and bitter. Freaking foresight abilities...

But, as the sun set on another day, Shaymin had never felt so secure in the presence of another, not even in her parent's embrace. As she drifted off to sleep for the night, lying on the cold ground, she could feel the glare of Giratina on her, almost encouraging her so sleep...sleep...sleep...

The last conscious though she had was this:

I have no reason to fear him. He shall not harm me...I can feel it...

"Come on baby
(And she had no fear)
And she ran to him
(And she started to fly)
They looked backwards to say goodbye
(She had become like they are)
She had taken his hand
(She had become like they are)
Come on baby
Don't Fear The Reaper!"

Well, I think it's an improvement, really. And, I like all the stuff and crap that I have added!

So...I wonder what the song is...? :P

So...the chance anyone's reading this is minute...ah well!

Barda'sFailings