Love and Sacrifice(v3): How can one so young, be so old?
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About two years later- January -2081
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"Shadow? Shadow!" Tahari was worried, very worried. The little guy had been missing for an hour now, and it was time for him to go for his training sessions.
A black ball of fur launched itself from its hiding spot on a counter onto the twenty-one year old's back, knocking him down.
"Get off me Shadow..." He coughed, for the little boy had knocked all the air out of him, again...
Silently, the little 'boy' got off Tahari, his green eyes holding little of the innocent playfulness other boys his age had. "When play?" He asked, speaking in his normal way of using as few words as possible.
"Later Shadow, I need to work, and you have to go for your training." Tahari picked up the five year old.
"When later?"
"At five o'clock, when you're done."
"Why five? Should be four."
"You've been missing for an hour, so we have to add an extra hour."
The boy only half understood, but sighed anyway. "Uncle Ta'ri, why train?"
"Why do you have to train?" Tahari asked, frowning in deep thought for how do you tell a five year old that you're teaching them how to save the world? "Because there's going to be a war, and we need people to help protect us."
"Me protect you?" He asked.
Tahari nodded. "Yes."
"Okay."
Okay? That was it? Nothing more? Tahari was beggining to wonder just what the boy was being taught in his classes, but he and Donna were not allowed to know, they were just told to be loving parents, relatives, whatever, to him.
"Here we are." Tahari put the little boy down. "See you at five!" He called after the little kid.
Donna walked up, holding young Donari in her arms, and with Love, her meowth, walking behind her. "So old for one so young, isn't he? When you look into his eyes..." She trailed off, not knowing how to describe the sad, all knowing look the boy's eyes had. "He was the sweetest baby, rarely cried, so quiet... But his smiles! To see his sweet smile was the highlight of many of my days."
"Was?" Tahari asked.
"Was... Now, his smile is the highlight of very few of my days. I know he loves us, I can tell. He cares about us, Love, Sacrifice and Donari, but... I can't say he's changed, for he really hasn't. He's just grown old so fast." Looking at Donari's brown baby eyes, she smiled slightly. "I feel like my son has grown up and left home, why?"
"I know what you mean Donari. I don't understand what Professor Mikoto is up to, and I don't really like it... But it's for the best, or so he says..." Tahari picked up the meowth, playfully tapping it's nose. "All we can do is love him."
"He hasn't made any attempt to get to know any of the other children around his age that are living down here, though I can't blame him. They tease him so much... I'm only glad that we had Donari, and that we have Sacrifice and Love. We're so busy a lot of the time, at least he has some friends..."
"And that's all that matters." Tahari finished for her. "Come on, let's go visit Sacrifice. They should be done with his tests by now."
"Must they test him every day?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, they seem to think it necessary, Flame being his mother and all. She was one of their best experiments. Very intelligent for a charizard."
Donna just shook her head slightly. Why couldn't they just be a normal family?
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Inside the training room
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If one entered the training room while the discussion between Donna and Tahari was taking place, one would have been amazed at the training the young child was being put through.
First, there was the physical aspect of the training. There was an obstacle course he was made to run through every day, and it changed constantly so he could not memorize where certain surprises were. The course tested his speed, his balance, his judgement of time and distance, his intelligence, and his how fast he reacted to the various hidden surprises in the course.
There was also the mental aspect, in which he was taught like any other child his age. He learnt about pokemon, the world he was living in, and how to read, among other things.
Lastly, there was the emotional aspect of the training. They wanted him to be willing to do anything for his future duty, and that would mean enforcing a strong love of life, of the world he lived in and the pokemon and humans he shared it with. They also wanted him to have a strong hate for wars, for battles. Why would one want their perfect soldier to hate fighting? Because his future goal was not to fight a war, but to bring peace. Although bringing peace may mean fighting a war, that would not be his main priority. They did not want to create a mindless killing machine. That was what had gone wrong in previous experiments of the same type.
"Seikou, stop daydreaming!" The teacher rapped his desk, bringing the little boy out of his dream world. "What is one of the rarest pokemon?"
"Mew." He answered.
"Is war good or bad?"
"War is bad, but it can bring about good things."
"Good." There was a short pause from the teacher. "Name three electric pokemon."
"Raichu, Jolteon and Magnemite."
"Correct."
This was often how his classes went. The teachers preferred to call him 'Seikou' instead of 'Shadow'. He didn't mind anyway since those were both his 'names'. He had no last name, so calling him by either was fine.
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Three years later- 2084
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"Sei? Why are you sitting here alone?" Little Donari looked up at the boy she called her older brother. He was sitting on top of a bookshelf, and most people would normally have just walked right by him for he blended in perfectly with the darkness of the room.
"I'm thinking." The eight-year-old replied.
"Can I come up?" She asked innocently.
He paused, thinking it over, then finally peered over, looking at her with his intense green eyes. "Yes."
She grinned happily. "But I need help up." She pointed out.
He leapt down, landing silently on his feet. "Get on my back." He instructed her.
She immediately obeyed, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck.
"Hold tight." He said, hoisting himself up the shelf. "You can get off now."
She scrambled off his back, then daringly peered over the edge of the shelf. "Its high..." She whispered fearfully. Because, for a five year old, five and a half feet above the ground is very high. She looked at him and smiled. For some reason, she didn't call him Shadow like his parent's did. Instead, she liked to shorten his second name to 'Sei'. "Why do you like being alone, Sei?" She asked curiously.
He didn't turn to look at her, but instead stared ahead into the dark room. "I dunno... I just do." Was his reply.
She scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't like being alone... I get scared. I'm scared of the dark, but I'm not scared when I'm with you!" She gave him a hug, startling him, but he awkwardly hugged her back. "Promise me you'll never leave me, Sei?"
"I promise." He whispered, kissing her on her forehead, then smiling slightly.
"Thank you." She said, though one couldn't be sure if she was thanking him for the promise, the smile, or both.
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