Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this extended dialogue… especially for the one who has so many questions.

~保護者~

"Travel On"

~保護者~

Kial bounded along in search of Espio, certainly not wanting to let him get away. The large, four-legged cat he'd turned into was certainly aiding with that search, if only because he could cover much more ground. He wasn't sure where the chameleon was, and as such was trying to make up for that by covering all the bases he knew to look for him. Steam, meanwhile, already knew the direction Espio went in after the fight, having gone in that direction at more of a jog. It soon proved fruitful when he found the chameleon walking, and the hedgehog slowed his gait to not much more than a walk. "Espio, can I talk to you?"

His question earned a slight scoff and then a less-than-friendly, "No."

"Look, I know you're upset, but please don't take off." Espio didn't answer him, merely clutched his bloodied sword tighter and continued walking. "What are you even planning to do?"

That, for once, was a question Espio had no idea how to answer. As a result of this and his continuing anger, he simply muttered, "Nothing."

"Nothing means somethin-" Steam was cut off by Kial suddenly appearing within view and beginning to shift back into his normal form. "Look, I can't pretend to understand what you're going through, but please don't just run off."

A fraction of a second after these words left his mouth, the tip of Espio's blade was just barely pressing against Steam's throat. The sword hovered there, suspended by a thin aura of Darkness, as Espio lowered his arm and turned to face the hedgehog. "I am not running," he bit out darkly.

Steam's gaze hardened at this, almost perceiving it as a threat but ultimately deciding that he shouldn't take it that way lest it make the situation worse. "Sorry for saying you were," he murmured, teleporting some distance away. Kial had a better chance in this situation and he knew it, so he had to hope that the cat could help Espio. The chameleon's sword promptly returned to his hand and he turned away again.

Kial slowly approached, face showing obvious concern. "Hey, I heard something happened. What's up?" he asked, head tilting.

If only because it was Kial asking… Espio relented and revealed some of what had just taken place. "Various shinobi were revived through necromancy. I killed one of them."

"Who?" the cat pressed softly. It wasn't… like Espio to be bothered with killing.

Trusted friend or not, Espio had no desire to speak to him in-depth about what was going on. He tried, perhaps too weakly, to force the matter to be dropped by again refusing to divulge information. "It doesn't matter." He resumed walking, trying to make up his mind on where to go for now - somewhere quiet and isolated where he could clear his head.

"It obviously does," Kial answered gently, following beside Espio. "You don't mind killing, so the fact that it's bothering you means that it meant something to you." He frowned softly, turning his head to face the chameleon.

There was a long and heavy silence before, eventually, Espio let out an angry breath… and relented. "His name was Shei."

Kial took a few moments to remember where he'd heard the name before his head lowered in understanding. "Your father, right?"

Espio would have answered with nothing more than a curt nod, but such an action was useless, he knew. "Yes," he muttered instead.

"Damn…" The cat was quiet, as if paying his respects before lifting his head once more. "I… I'm really sorry you had to do that." Espio didn't answer him. Kial took a moment before turning to face Espio again. "But that's not all that's on your mind, eh?" Once again, no answer came. "So, I guess I'll try to tackle the elephant in the, uh… forest. I noticed your Darkness… so… yeah. I don't know what to say, but… how do you feel about it?"

Cursing internally at yet another lapse in control, Espio made an effort to reign the energy in… for all the good that fucking did. If anything, it only caused more to trickle out and begin trailing off the edges of his sword. "Nothing," he answered, tone sharper than he had intended. "I don't care."

"I… kinda doubt that," Kial said honestly. "You're reigning it in, so it's bothering or affecting you to some degree. Otherwise, I don't think you'd try to control it." Espio just gritted his teeth and continued walking. "What is it doing, then?" he asked, then thinking to provide a more precise question added, "What's it doing to you as a person?" Once more, Espio had no answer to give. How was one even supposed to answer a question like that? He had no idea, which only served to fuel his irritation even as his mind somewhat distracted itself from his current problems by trying to work out this new puzzle.

Kial took this chance to try and help Espio along in answering the question. "It seems to be irritating you somewhat, or lending to you being irritated easily. I've noticed that change in the short time I've been here, since it doesn't seem to match well with the personality you've always had."

That much was true, unfortunately. But Espio opted for a neutral response as opposed to full-on agreeing. "Darkness is known to have that effect," he mumbled unhappily. His mind couldn't help but recall, in that moment, several statements Nyokae had made in the past… bullshit about his "true personality" and whatever else… but he quickly put that all out of mind for now.

"I'm aware of that much, but it's still something to note. You're not used to being so easily irritable, and I think I may be right to assume that it's lending to your agitation." Kial shrugged faintly. "I don't know enough about these energies, but I know they can have a bit of an impact on your natural personality." After a bit of silence, Kial began speaking once more. "Did something else happen while you were fighting?"

It took a bit of intense internal debate before Espio reluctantly admitted, "My mother was also there."

"...Aniko, right?"

"Yes."

Kial visibly bit his lip for a moment. That's… awful. "What happened with her?"

"She left." Espio was unwilling to say anything else about it.

"I see," the cat murmured. "I'll try to not bring any of that up, then. Sorry for asking about something that… harsh."

Frowning, Espio reiterated, "I don't care." Names mean nothing to the dead. It doesn't matter who they were. He was not my father. And she... she is not my mother.

Kial didn't immediately comment on that, instead taking the time to carefully choose his words. "So… what were you doing? Just walking?" Rather than justify a stupid question by giving it a response, Espio kept on doing just that. Walking. "I mean, I know you don't do anything without a reason. You wouldn't waste time, so you have some motive, right?"

Another pointless expression of the obvious, but at least this question wasn't as blatantly dumb as the other one. Still, obvious questions earned obvious answers. "I'm leaving."

"Why are you leaving?" Kial asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

There wasn't… such a straightforward reason to provide this time. A lot of reasons were urging him to go right now. The fact that being in the ruins of his home was doing nothing but causing constant upset. The fact that there were now more people crammed into his home than there were surviving villagers, and that bothered him. The fact that Sako was obviously still there and he still wanted nothing to do with the child. The fact that he couldn't trust himself not to hurt said child or anyone else because of his fucking Darkness. The fact that, like fucking idiot, he still wanted to see Nyokae again, even after all that had happened. But none of this, none of this was worth telling anyone. It was best kept under wraps.

"Espio... " Kial sighed faintly. "I get what you're trying to do, and you know where I'm coming from on this. Avoiding it won't really help it all. You might get away from some of the problems, but the rest will stay. No matter what you do, there's gonna be issues, and I hate to say it that way. Could you try talking to me about any of it, though?"

Anger suddenly surged, and seemingly for no reason, but Espio did his best to keep his voice level as he replied. "What is there to talk about?" he muttered. He didn't like this idea at all.

"You." Kial answered easily. "There's a lot on your mind, and I know you'd listen if I wanted to talk. It may be worth a shot for you to let me try as well."

"Not interested," Espio muttered, picking up the pace to put some distance between them.

"So, what about Nyokae? I'm assuming something happened recently, since she also seems to anger you?"

At the mention of her name, Espio unintentionally stiffened a little - even stopped walking. After a second, though, he shook his head and continued walking. "She made an appearance," he eventually stated, though he was far from happy to do so.

Kial frowned, speeding up his own pace to keep up. "And I assume something happened, considering that her appearance might've been what sparked Armaris's Darkness before."

There was no use in trying to lie about it (not that Espio enjoyed lying, anyway), so he didn't bother. "It was," he confirmed briefly.

"So, what did Nyokae do to spark that kind of reaction?"

For all the good it did, Espio shrugged. "Nyokae stabbed her in the side," he said, tone suddenly mellow for the moment. Though he wasn't sure why, focusing his thoughts on Nyokae had temporarily eased some of his frustration and whatnot. Admittedly... part of his problem might have been that they hadn't had a chance to just... be around one another in some time. Granted, those moments had always been uncommon, but they had happened often enough. Contrary to popular belief, they didn't always fight on sight. Often enough, yes, they did. Sometimes, however, they would just talk. Maybe spar. Spend a few hours in the house, not talking or interacting much, just doing their own thing in one another's company. Just... simple things like that. Things he was no longer as suspicious of as he logically knew he should have been. Now, however, wasn't the time for any of this. He paused, brushing his thoughts aside, then added in further explanation, "They bickered a great deal."

"I assume she talked to you, though, right?" Kial asked, seeming to relax at this more calm tone.

Just like that, the irritation was back. Fucking mood swings. They were enough to drive any person mad, surely. Though, letting on to that would only draw more questions. So, instead, he curbed his tongue and just replied with a distinctly unhappy, "Yes."

Kial nodded slowly, taking this in with a faint curiosity. "She probably said something that's been making you think a lot, or maybe just disturbed you?"

Very, very reluctantly, Espio soon mumbled another, "...Yes."

"And you probably don't wanna tell me what she said, yeah?" Actually vocalizing the things she had said, and the larger issues that her comments had been addressing, sounded profoundly wrong… as though it were somehow dangerous to his well-being. So, naturally, Espio stayed silent on the matter. This actually said a lot to Kial and he gave a nod. "I won't try to get you to say any of it. What about Sako? I assume you still… don't really know what to do about him?"

"No," Espio answered shortly, frowning again. "I don't."

The cat thought, then asked, "Is it just that you weren't expecting him, or something else?" I doubt that this is the only reason, but I gotta start somewhere.

In that moment, Espio revealed against his better judgement, "This," he conjured some Darkness into his free hand, blatantly allowing it to be sensed by anyone, "should have ended with me. Not continued because of me." He closed his hand into a fist, forcing the Darkness to vanish from view.

"Is that what you believe?" Kial dared to ask. "'Cause… there's a lot in that sentence." Resisting the urge to scoff again, Espio remained silent. "Then how about this. Why do you think it should have ended with you?"

Unable to contain his anger for a moment, Espio rounded on Kial. "Why do you think?" he snapped in harsh retort.

"I want to hear your opinion, Espio," Kial responded calmly. "I don't want to go and make assumptions about something like that."

In an effort to prevent himself from violently making use of it, Espio sheathed his sword with a harsh snap! of metal before speaking again. "Something like this has no place. Not here, not amongst my people, and certainly not with me. It does not belong. Nothing but suffering can be left in its wake. It is something that should have died long ago."

Kial didn't move as he listened to this, fixing his cloak upon his shoulders slowly. "Is that what bothers you so much about it?" Espio said nothing and spun around on his heel to resume walking away. The cat moved after him quietly for a few seconds. "There's more to you, and more to Sako, than that Darkness. Just because you're carrying it doesn't mean you have to carry its legacy as well."

As if it were that simple. But, then, few things ever were. Kial should have known this. Probably did, really, but he was too damn optimistic. At least, he was being so here. "People do not always have as much choice in their lives as you like to believe."

"Armaris. She's demonic, but does she want or have to act like her demonic heritage? Couldn't you learn to control that Darkness and use it in the way you think is right?"

Espio took a steadying breath and stopped walking again. "This is not the same," he said quietly. "Not enough." Her Darkness, after all, was not fully evil. Half of what she'd inherited had been neutral. That had given her a true fighting chance. Had she been born with nothing but evil within her… The outlook for those with such energies was decidedly more bleak. Vastly more often than not, they would be evil through and through, and there would be nothing anyone could do about it. His situation was complicated by the fact that his Darkness had once been entirely dormant, but who was to say the eventual outcome of its awakening would be any different than that of those whose evil Darkness had never been dormant? He, for one, did not hold out much hope that he could change his fate. But maybe that was just his newfound negativity talking. He certainly wasn't going to let things go that way if he could help it, but he still knew better than to just believe everything would magically work itself out. This wasn't a fucking fairy tale.

Kial moved to stand in front of him, forcing Espio to stop walking, and frowned. "I'd like to think that you can control it. You can think I'm wrong, and I won't argue with you about it, but I truly think you of all people have the ability to learn how to control that Darkness. After all… weren't your parents decent people, if nothing else?"

"Their Darkness went dormant," Espio revealed slowly, "before I was born. I've learned… it made a vast difference."

The cat nodded briefly to this. "Then what about that? What if it's possible to have your Darkness go dormant again? Isn't that something that will keep that legacy away? And there's still the option of learning to control it regardless," Kial explained. "There are certainly people out there capable of aiding you in learning how to do that."

"You cannot control whether or not a power is dormant," Espio told him, a bit of an edge returning to his voice. After a lengthy pause, he added, "And control involves… acceptance. Embracing the power as it is." He looked away with a scowl. "In the case of an energy like this, do you understand what that means?"

"I wholly understand that, but I still believe you can control it and not be evil. Not be a part of that legacy," Kial stated, a faint tinge of concern entering his voice. "The thing that worries me is you being consumed by it and losing sight of the things that you really care about."

In that moment, Espio found himself thinking that he didn't care about anything, or anyone. And, for a moment (however brief it was), he actually believed it. But just as quickly as it happened, he snapped out of it and did his best to ignore the incident altogether. Was that another result of his Darkness being active? He didn't know, didn't like what had just occurred regardless. Ignore it, he told himself. With any luck, he would have a chance to separate himself from everyone and work out his thoughts and emotions - at least somewhat - soon.

Kial realized this conversation would likely go nowhere, and it might even lead to a worse situation, so he quickly decided to change the subject. "Tell me about the things that matter to you. The things that you'd fight for."

Espio shifted to cross his arms - not in an act of anger or defiance, but more as a move to stand in a comfortable position. After a long moment, he finally said, "There is no point."

"You know I wouldn't say it without there being a point. Surely you can name one thing." Kial thought for a second, then smiled. "What about some person? I distinctly remember that you cared about Armaris." Espio didn't openly agree with that statement but, perhaps more tellingly, he didn't outright deny it either. "What about… someone else in that group? You let Cream hold Sako, and I'm pretty sure you were protective of him. That means you trust her a lot, right?"

Albeit a touch reluctantly, Espio soon huffed and said, "I suppose."

"And what about me? Surely you kinda care about me, otherwise you wouldn't be standing here, bothering to talk." Kial managed a soft grin, chuckling. "Can't tell me that you just don't care after all that catching up we did."

Another huff. Espio looked off into the distance. "Now you are being presumptuous," he murmured… and perhaps he didn't entirely disagree with said presumption.

Kial flashed one of his somewhat goofy grins to Espio in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere around them more. "Says the one who won't admit he's got a friend."

"Who, pray tell?" Espio asked dryly, not serious at all anymore for the moment. "I do not seem to recall anyone specific…"

"Ah, now you're being an ass like the good old days. Making me feel old," Kial chuckled softly, smiling.

"I had nothing to do with that," Espio remarked quietly.

The cat shook his head. "I hate to kill the good vibes, but you're still wanting to leave, eh?"

There was silence for a time before Espio nodded. "Yes."

Kial sighed softly, frowning. "In the end… I can't make you stay. Trying to do so would just warrant you being more likely to just leave anyway. Though, I'll ask if you will. I'm sure me and you can figure this shit out somehow like we used to."

"This is nothing like what we used to do," Espio pointed out, voice still quiet. "...Nothing at all."

"Is anything anymore?"

"No."

"We learned to adapt and improvise. 'Course, we had a giant-ass wolf that made it easier, but there's nothing saying that we can't do it again. I'm sure we're both still stubborn enough to tell the world to piss off." In the past, Espio might've smirked at this assertion. Now, however, all he could muster was a shrug. "You willing to give it a shot?"

In the short silence that followed, Espio weighed his options. There were certainly a lot of reasons not to go back with Kial. Conversely… there were very few reasons to do so. The biggest of the reasons to turn his back and continue on his way spilled out without him intending for it to. "I don't want to, Kial," he found himself admitting, frowning anew. He didn't understand why he suddenly had no desire to be around his friends and allies (aside from the now ever-present concern that they would be harmed by him or his enemies), but the need to get away was there. He just wanted solitude. How much of that, however, was actually his decision? How much of it was influence from his Darkness? The fact that couldn't trust even himself anymore grated severely against his nerves.

"And what about me? Surely you kinda care about me, otherwise you wouldn't be standing here, bothering to talk." Kial managed a soft grin, chuckling. "Can't tell me that you just don't care after all that catching up we did."

"Is that your honest choice, Espio?" Kial asked, all jokes and lightheartedness set aside to make way for a much more serious air around the cat. "If you can tell me that, then I won't object to you going as long as you hear me out on one more thing."

Honest or not, Espio had to stick to his choice for one simple reason. He hoped Kial would understand it without him having to explain much… because this part was honest and he wasn't exactly the most comfortable with being so… open with anyone. "I need… to be alone. All these people… I can't think with all of them constantly here."

"Can I go with you? I'll give you whatever space I can, but I just don't want to risk enemies singling you out just because you're alone. If Kaden comes back and decides he wants something… I don't want to know that you had to face that alone," Kial admitted openly, frowning. "That whole battle… none of us were ready for that kind of force."

Though he could very well handle himself, Espio soon decided that he didn't truly mind Kial tagging along. Though he may have done poorly when in the company of crowds for a prolonged period (he supposed he was too used to the isolation of his home for his own good), Kial was… quiet. Quiet was what he needed right now. So, without too much thought, he gave in. "Do as you please," he murmured, turning away and leaning against a tree. That was all the permission he'd give.

The cat visibly was pleased by this, but quickly went to ask another question. "Can you give me just a few minutes? I want a way to be able to let the others know if something happens."

Espio had assumed as much, so he didn't protest. "Ask for a communicator."

"I'll be right back, then," Kial answered, teleporting away quickly. Surely enough, he was back within a minute or so with the communicator Steam had been wearing. "So, uh… I'd appreciate you helping me get this on. Not sure exactly… how."

Huffing, Espio pushed off of the tree and walked over. As he deftly attached the device to Kial's wrist, he quickly tapped a few buttons on the screen. Just like that, the electronics shifted and changed, reforming themselves before settling back into their positions. "It has proper buttons now. They each have bumps on them. The one with two bumps is the one to make or accept a call. Just say the name of who you're calling, if they have a communicator." He left it at that for now, since that was the most important feature, and stepped back.

"Well… should we get going then?" Kial asked. "It'll be just like when we were kids, if you're wanting to do some traveling as well."

"I don't intend on sitting around," Espio idly agreed, turning back around once more to begin walking. He opted not to openly disagree with the rest of Kial's statement this time, although there was no conceivable way that this could ever remotely resemble those peaceful days. Best to leave that unsaid for now.

Kial shrugged, moving after him. "Well… I'm not opposed to that."

~保護者~

4,206 words this time. Should've posted this days ago, but didn't. Apologies for that, but I hope you all enjoyed. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support! Posted (at about 11:40 p.m.) 04-11-20.

EDIT 04-15-20: Fixed a glaring typo where Espio said something, Kial was supposed to respond, and then Espio said something back. Kial's response somehow got deleted, but I recovered it and put it in. Also added the usual disclaimer up top.