Silence greeted Shadow as he stepped past the invisible boundary that marked the territory that had once belonged to his family. His silver eyes scanned the area, each passing moment bringing even greater apprehension to his heart as he wondered what his gaze might fall upon next.

It was like stepping into a picture. An environment captured in time, preserved in an unchanging state forever. Everything here seemed to be precisely how he remembered it when he was still an Eevee. The grass was green and healthy, the stream running along the clearing still bubbled peacefully, and the wind still carried the sweet smells of spring with its gentle breeze.

Shadow tentatively stepped further into the area, turning his head in all directions before taking any further steps. There was nothing here. No other Pokemon in sight, no signs of recent habitation, and most alarming, no sign that his parents had perished here. The ground showed nothing out of place, no concerning trails or noticeable damage.

If anything, the absence of such signs was even more concerning than if he had found their remains, but he still hadn't ruled out the possibility of coming across such a sight. This was why he had to insist on coming here without Leaf.

The Espeon's heart pounded in his chest painfully, but he pressed on, heading towards the opposite end of the clearing. Maybe if he retraced some of the steps he had taken on that fateful day, he would come across something, as unpleasant as that might be. After all, he and Leaf had fled from this side, but the actual clash with Diablos had occurred on the opposite end.

The clearing was so quiet that he could distinctly hear the sounds of his paws padding across the grass, and no matter where he looked, nothing stood out to him as unusual. Had he still been living here, however, such open, untouched scenery would have concerned him. His parents never left simultaneously, with the exception of when the entire family left for their winter den. But if the territory had been empty for so long, then why hadn't anything else moved in? Enough time should have passed that some local Pokemon might have noticed and tried to take it for themselves.

Shadow sighed softly. On the other paw, his parents were always able to return here when spring came around and reclaim the area with no issue. He never had thought about it before, but now that he had seen more of the world, the fact they were able to vacate an area for months, even during cold weather, and return with no conflict, seemed...weird.

The Espeon paused at the far end of the clearing, where there was the beginning of a dirt path leading away from his home. This had been the path he had taken on that day, and further ahead he could see the spot where he had first met Diablos. Yet there was no sign of anything else here. The path, the plants, the entire clearing...everything seemed normal, except for the fact that it was empty.

Shadow tentatively walked along the path, keeping his eyes and ears perked for anything out of the ordinary. A gentle wind was passing through the leaves overhead, and even though the sun was beginning to set, the orange glow of the sky still illuminated his surroundings. Shadow stopped at the point where the path turned, and glanced back at his old home, a familiar chill running down his spine at how often this exact vantage point had replayed itself in his dreams for the past few weeks.

His body even tensed, as if expecting the possessed Riolu to step into sight once more, its paw alight with the eerie blue glow. It wasn't until his chest was burning that he realized that he had been holding his breath, and let it out with a loud whoosh.

Studying the path itself was no help. Enough of the area had been exposed to time and the natural elements to leave any tell-tale signs. No blood or other signs of injury, no disturbed earth or damaged plant-life to indicate a scuffle, and nothing more blatantly horrifying like decaying-

Shadow flinched, breaking free from that particular line of thought. Although he was relieved to not have encountered something so disturbing, the absence of any evidence to confirm Cecilia's information left him feeling...hollow and disappointed. He believed her when she said they were dead, but then what could have happened to take their bodies away if they had died here? Had they simply been taken, body and soul, out of existence somehow? Or had someone or something come by and removed the remains?

Shadow closed his eyes, fighting back the stinging tears that were threatening to form. He had come here in the hopes of finding comfort from the lingering doubts in his heart. To find closure in a way that words alone were not enough. But now, coming here had seemed to give him more questions and unease than he had before.

And now, more than ever, the question lingering in his mind haunted him. Why had Diablos come here originally? What did such a entity have to gain from all the pain it had caused him and his brother? Cecilia hadn't known the answer, and coming back here hadn't given Shadow any new information, either. It was something that only Diablos himself seemed to know.

Shadow wiped his eyes with his paw, dispelling the remnants of the tears that had tried to escape, and sniffled. It was at that precise moment that something in his brain clicked, and he jolted himself back into alertness. He hadn't really noticed previously, but now that he was standing next to a small number of flowers, it occurred to him how incredibly strong the scent was. Okay, that seemed stupid to note, even within the privacy of his brain (not to mention absurdly inappropriate to notice at this moment), but other parts of his mind were taking note.

Ever since his evolution, Shadow had become increasingly aware of some of the transformations within his body. The access to psychic abilities was obvious, but the more curious changes were those that would have suited him much better as an Eevee, like the incredible night vision, and better hearing, all which would have been useful when he actively hunted. Hunting had become a rarity as of late, because Leaf post-evolution hadn't needed food as often or with as much urgency, and Shadow was content to go after fish or fruits when available as opposed to meat sources.

As such, he hadn't had much opportunity to notice his sense of smell. He had briefly noted it back at Solaceon, when he was the only one to notice the smell of something burning prior to Cecilia revealing her presence, but otherwise, smell was the sense he used the least.

The Espeon turned back towards the main clearing, not yet daring to get his hopes up, but maybe there was more to the area than his eyes and ears could perceive. Something had felt off about his old home. The sheer lack of life and activity here was too unnatural to be dismissed, and if his other senses were being misled, then perhaps his sense of smell could find something.

He sniffed the air once he was back in the area proper, closing his eyes and allowing his mind to wander a little, searching idly for any psychic currents, and blocking out the distracting stimuli that his eyes might provide. It took him several moments to fully focus and clear his thoughts like A/C had taught him, but once he had, his mind seemed to connect the dots much faster. He could somehow process the scents in the air and his mind would decode their meanings in a heartbeat, whether he recognized them or not. It was similar to how he was able to pinpoint shifts in the area, but weirdly more precise when first filtered through his sense of smell, rather than the vague ripples he picked up through his psychic abilities.

The first thing he determined was that there was probably going to be a light drizzle late that night, for the scent of rain was already in the air, and the wind was blowing in this direction. The second thing he determined was that the clearing had not been empty for as long as it looked. There was still a very pronounced, foreign scent, definitely belonging to a living creature, and it had been here less than an hour ago.

Shadow pivoted, sniffing again in an effort to pinpoint the scent's origin, and soon managed to differentiate mental 'time-stamps' for the scent. The fresher scent had gone in one direction, and with that in mind, Shadow opened his eyes, blinking a little to regain awareness of his surroundings.

The direction he currently was facing was towards the north side of the clearing, closer to the river. He heading over, pausing to re-evaluate whether he was going in the right direction, and adjusting his path as necessary. When he reached the river bank, he found that the scent changed directions, moving along the river bank, but never going into the water itself. Convenient, seeing as he wasn't too keen on getting his fur wet without good reason.

Memories resurfaced little by little as he walked, following the trail he had discovered. Flashes of an older male Vaporeon showing him how to fish, and encouraging him whenever he failed. More flashes of talking to an older female Jolteon, asking her questions about everyday things, and having her respond with gentle patience, even when he started to get really obnoxious about details. And then the less pleasant memory of a certain younger Eevee pushing him into the water and then laughing hysterically.

Shadow smiled faintly in spite of himself, but returned his attention back to the scent trail. It seemed to be moving back towards the rest of the clearing, or maybe towards the large oak tree that had once served as the family's nesting area. Tears successfully blurred his vision at the reminder that, not too long ago, the four of them would sleep beneath the shade of the majestic tree, in varying formations depending on the weather. A cooler night saw them all cuddled together, with Echo's large tail draped around them protectively. Warmer nights had them scattered about more.

A vague prickling was starting to travel along Shadow's spine, but whenever he tried to focus on it, his mind offered no answers. He could sense something shifting in his surroundings, but for whatever reason, the cause was like a void on his mental radar, eluding any attempts to pinpoint or identify it. The Espeon tensed and stopped walking, turning his head to gaze around the area. Nothing stood out, and no matter what direction he faced, the prickling in his mind offered no help.

The Espeon scowled, continuing to walk back towards the large oak, pausing occasionally to sniff at the grass in pursuit of the scent trail, but he took care to keep a fraction of his attention on the rest of his surroundings. If not for the warning signals his mind and body picked up, he could only imagine how many times he might have gotten caught completely off-guard by a variety of threats. And it almost made him feel bad for the prey Pokemon he had hunted as an Eevee, many of which had no such danger sense and no chance to avert the ambush.

The tickle at the back of his mind faded as he reached the large tree, and he paused to gaze around at the clearing as a whole. From this angle, he could easily see both paths that led out of the area, but he didn't see any living creatures. Frowning, he lowered his head to sniff at the grass again, hoping that his mind would make a few more connections to put him on the right path to actually getting some answers. If it weren't the fact that the scent trail was fairly recent, he would have been tempted to consider the entire venture a waste and just head back to Frost and Leaf.

His fur prickled again and he lifted his head, glancing around him with even greater wariness. He was definitely sensing SOMETHING, but then why couldn't he pinpoint it? He couldn't even get a vague idea of how close the source was, nor if it was actually a threat.

As much as he tried to settle down, the prickling in his mind refused to die down this time, and Shadow had long since learned to trust that instinct. The problem was that even if he chose to flee, he couldn't tell what direction the invisible threat was looming from. The left side was clear, the right was clear, and in front of him had gone unchanged for a similar span of time. The only direction left was behind him, and-

The next mental warning struck with the swiftness and intensity of a bolt of lightning, and Shadow turned, detecting movement behind him far too late to actually react. A blur of white slammed into him, bowling him over with incredible ease. Before he could even register much about his assailant, he found himself pinned against the grass beneath him, staring into the face of his attacker.

A mammalian face looked down at him, its face colored dark blue, with pale green eyes. Its forehead had a odd black marking, similar in color to its face, and white fur hung from its head, covering part of its forehead like overgrown bangs. The rest of its body was also covered in white fur, but Shadow was ultimately more concerned by the claws that ended each paw, and the odd blade-like horn protruding from its head.

The grinning mouth of sharp teeth wasn't helping matters, either.

The pressure building up in Shadow's skull unleashed a powerful wave of psychic energy, but to Shadow's alarm, the energy passed through the other Pokemon with absolutely no effect, as if it didn't even exist.

"Wha-?" Shadow managed to gasp, unable to comprehend what had happened. The Pokemon pinning him blinked at him curiously for a moment, then peered closer at his facial features.

"Wait, you're a Psychic-type?" the other Pokemon wondered, its voice distinctly feminine, although Shadow didn't consider labeling his attacker's gender to be a priority. "Aww, that takes the fun out of the game," it lamented.

"What?" Shadow asked, bewildered.

The white quadruped grinned again. "I thought you were a fellow Dark-type, trying to hunt something. So I started up a Predator game, where I win if I ambush you before you notice me. I won, as you can tell, but if you're a Psychic-type, then I had such a huge advantage it's not even satisfying to win."

"...is there any way I can convince you not to kill me?" Shadow asked nervously. The other Pokemon blinked.

"I...wasn't actually hunting you. It's just a game," she explained, stifling a giggle with one paw. Shadow immediately tried to squirm out from under her, only for her to pin him again with a lazy grin. "But now I'm curious. How would you convince a legitimate predator that's immune to your psychic abilities to let you go?"

Shadow opened his mouth to reply, only to discover that he had absolutely no idea. He had been lucky to even think of trying to barter in time to suggest it, but when it came to actual ideas, he had nothing. Mostly nothing.

"Um..."

"Thing is, predators don't usually give their prey that much time," the female quadruped mused, as she took a few paces backwards, removing the pressure she had been exerting on Shadow's shoulders. "So if you're being toyed with, they probably weren't after food in the first place."

Shadow rolled back to his feet and grumbled a response.

"Oh, lighten up," the other Pokemon chided, her tail flicking almost playfully. "My name's Astrid, I'm an Absol," she said, lowering her front half into a bow, her green eyes flicking to meet Shadow's. "And you're...a very interestingly colored Espeon. What's your name?"

"Shadow," the Espeon grunted, eyeing the Absol warily.

"A pleasure to hunt you," Astrid replied with a cheeky grin, but then she blinked, her expression sobering. "Wait, are you Echo's kid?"

For the second time in an uncomfortably short period of time, Shadow found himself too stunned to form coherent words. "Wha-? How do you-? You know-?"

Astrid giggled a little at his reaction, but her expression turned solemn shortly afterwards. "Yeah, I knew Echo," she said, a sad smile flicking across her muzzle. "He was a good friend of mine back in the day. We were part of a team, did a lot of traveling together...but that's whatever. When the time came to retire, we all went our separate ways."

Shadow blinked, but then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It wasn't entirely that he doubted her words, but her presence at his old home seemed too...convenient. He may not have known much about his parents' old friends and such, there didn't seem to be any reason for the Absol to be spending time here, where they had lived, especially if it was also the site of their death.

"So why are you hanging out here?" he demanded. Astrid blinked at his tone, but then shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm not. Renard's holding down the fort," she said. Shadow just stared at her blankly, but she either assumed that he understood that, or was waiting for him to ask, because she didn't say anything else.

"I don't know who that is," he growled impatiently.

The Absol's green eyes widened a little in surprise. "Really? But he watches over the territory during winter, or other times when your parents are both going to be absent. He's the reason no one's settled in here since...well, you know," she finished with a casual shrug.

"Do I?" Shadow inquired softly. "And how do you know what happened?" he asked, his words gradually becoming colder as he gazed at the Absol.

Astrid fidgeted, looking a little uncomfortable. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to seem nonchalant about that," she said seriously. "I'm just...kind of used to it."

"Used to what?" Shadow demanded, anger welling up within his chest, but he couldn't really explain why he felt this way. Much like how he felt after his second encounter with Diablos, the strength of his anger seemed irrational for the situation, and he could feel the energy throbbing within his skull, threatening to lash out at anything in its way.

Astrid frowned, definitely taking note of his tone, but unlike Cecilia in similar circumstances, she didn't seem the least bit intimidated by his aggressiveness towards her.

"Maybe I'll leave this to Renard," she said, rising to her feet. "Come this way," she said, applying a bit too much bounce to her words than was reasonably appropriate, and she started walking away from the tree towards one of the more densely forested sections of the territory, away from both the river and the entrances to the clearing. Shadow's frown deepened into a scowl, but he complied, walking several paces behind the white quadruped.

The travel time was ultimately shorter than he expected. Within the more forested area, after navigating a small maze of trees, Astrid abruptly stopped and cleared her throat politely. Shadow gave her a look, but peered past her, soon spotting a larger fox-like Pokemon with vibrant golden-white fur. Almost a dozen long tails fanned out behind its body, each one ending in a light brown tip, and it sat with its back to them, but what it was looking at, Shadow couldn't tell, due to the surprising bulk of the Pokemon's tails.

"What is it, Astrid?" the other Pokemon inquired, not even bothering to look their way.

"So, you remember how my bedside manner sucks, and Echo used to say I should never be trusted to handle delicate topics because I sound flippant?" Astrid asked, her tone weirdly casual for such a self-depreciating comment.

"Yes. We loved and hated you for that reason," the multi-tailed fox murmured, turning towards them. On noticing Shadow, he blinked, and then cocked his head curiously, like a child perplexed at the appearance of a foreign object among its usual toys. "And who might you be?"

"Shadow. Who are you?" the Espeon retorted.

"I am Renard. A Ninetales, as I see by your eyes that you don't recognize my species," the fox replied. Shadow noticed that the fox Pokemon had mesmerizing red eyes, but at the same time, they were like a void, completely empty of feeling, as if numb to the world. The same vibe did not extend to the rest of his body, for his tails flicked idly, and a gentle smile graced his face, despite his otherwise solemn demeanor.

"I'm pretty sure he's Echo's eldest," Astrid supplied.

"I discerned as much from his name," Renard agreed. Shadow scowled slightly. Both of them had quickly determined his identity from his name, completely disregarding his evolution and unusual appearance. Astrid had commented on it earlier, but still hadn't had much difficulty labeling him.

Astrid glanced between Shadow and Renard with slight amusement. "So anyway, maybe you can explain why we're here more...uh, tactfully, than I can?" she suggested to the Ninetales, the flicking of her tail enough to illustrate where her manner was lacking.

"Of course," Renard said, nodding his head towards the Absol before refocusing on Shadow. The Espeon simply frowned, but said nothing. "I hope you will excuse my friend's manner. She has spent much of her life with the ability to sense impending disasters, and is drawn to them, rarely with enough time to avert them. As such, she has become very desensitized to the aftermath of such events, and admittedly comes off as very nonchalant, if not flippant, towards the misfortunes of others. I assure you, she does not mean any offense, she simply copes with life in her own way."

Shadow simply grunted in response. That...at least partially explained Astrid's earlier remark about being used to it. "Go on," he said, gesturing impatiently.

"I regret to inform you, if you are yet unaware-"

"I know that part," Shadow interrupted, internally wincing at how rude he probably sounded at this point.

"Ah, very well. In that case, I took the liberties of preparing this," Renard said, and he stepped to the side, for the first time enabling Shadow to see what had been placed behind him.

It was like receiving a punch to the gut. Shadow nearly reeled, his legs becoming almost too wobbly to hold his body up, and he stumbled a little, tears stinging his eyes. He felt like his heart had just plummeted from his chest down into his toes, and all he could do was stare.

Two simple stone markers stood before him, and a single white flower lay across the ground in front of the markers, connecting the space between them. Upon each of the stone markers was engraved a single word, a name, the only designations they needed.

"We'll leave you alone for a few minutes," Renard stated softly, and he stepped past the Espeon, one of his warm tails brushing across Shadow's side as he passed, leaving the Espeon with a sense of cold as the touch was removed, and the other departed.

But he didn't care. He barely even noticed that they had left. His paw reached out and touched the engraved stone, tracing the letters one by one, as tears ran down his cheeks freely, like the river.

There was no more anger or frustration welling up within him. Those emotions had been swept away like his tears, rolling down his face and falling to the grass underfoot, if not landing upon the soil that grass had not yet resprouted from. All that was left within him right now was the pure, cleansing sorrow he had been craving, and yet pained him to experience.

His tears were like a river, and his quiet sobs seemed to reverberate from the trees spread around him. And there was some bittersweet satisfaction to be found in the appropriateness of it all. In the shadows from the leaves overhead, sound echoed as tears flowed freely.

It was beautiful in a poetic way, and Shadow couldn't help but smile weakly, stepping back from the grave markers and settling himself down on the grass, laying on his stomach and gazing forlornly at the white flower connecting the graves. He just wanted to stay here for a few minutes, and lose himself in the moment, until acceptance overcame his sorrow.

In the back of his mind, he suspected that his parents would have liked the memorial made for them. It was simple, but it was powerful and emotional, the type of strength that couldn't be put into words, and could only be appreciated with silence and respect.