Kage

One of these days… I'm going to actually damage him…

I stood in the middle of Vero and I's room, stretching my sore muscles. I just finished a training session with Xen, but it left my bones aching a lot more than usual. I decided to battle a bit more recklessly than I like to, as I was getting close to doing real damage to Xen for the first time. Sadly, I failed in the end, getting nothing but a scolding and extra soreness from my reckless actions. Blitz wasn't even at training today either, so Xen had all of his focus on me, which is usually a good thing when it came to training, but in my case, it just caused me to get more hurt than I usually do. I really want to damage him at least a little bit in the near future, as I feel like I keep getting closer and closer, but he always pulls something out that just sends me into an endless loop of failing to hit him. I let out a large sigh and set myself down on my bed.

Vero wasn't here right now, she was self-training somewhere outside of the Nest for the day, and I'm usually stuck with Xen until past nightfall, other than this exception, so I wasn't sure when Vero actually got back from her self improvement. Come to think of it, I never really asked her how exactly she trains herself. I'd imagine that Kuro gave her some advice, or something to work on from his experience with Kai, but I wasn't one-hundred percent sure. According to her though, her self-training actually helps her a lot, so whatever she's doing, she must be doing it well. I started to glance around the room a bit, at a loss of what I really wanted to do. Because of this, my gaze landed on the picture I kept in the corner of the room like it has so many other times. Like all of those times, at first, I reminisced on the happy memories I had back with the rest of my tribe, but soon after that came the negative memories of what happened to them before I left. I shook my head quickly, trying not to think about it.

I need to do something… Sitting here is just going to make me think about it… I thought to myself. Maybe I should go check up on Shiro… Shiro came to Vero and I yesterday with the assistance of Myra and, apparently, Kuro's mentor. She wanted to find her way to our room in order for her to get a better feel for the Nest, but ended up getting lost in the many twisting paths of the colossal place. It's really not surprising at all, after all, she's really young to be traversing around a place a large as this. At least she didn't get into trouble.

I decided to stand up, despite my soreness screaming at me to rest, and left the room to go check up on Shiro. It was pretty bad timing that Kuro and Naru had to leave right after they took Shiro in, especially since she's had no time whatsoever to get acquainted with this place. I was glad that she was willing to at least meet Vero and I so she wasn't completely alone here for a week. Then again, Vero was the one doing most of the talking when we were introduced. I was never shy in any way, in fact, I would consider myself quite the opposite, but I was never really good with kids… Ever since I had to babysit some younger cubs when I was with my tribe, I could never control a child. I would mess up the most simple tasks such as making a child feel safe, and I always seemed intimidating to children, regardless of how gentle I try to sound. I had no idea why, but I always ended up intimidating others when I didn't want to. Maybe it was just in my personality no matter how much I tried to act the opposite way…

After a few minutes of forcing my sore muscles to transport me through the Nest, I made it to Kuro and Naru's room, which is also where Shiro was staying while they were away. I searched through the bag I was carrying around my neck and pulled out a key that Kuro and Naru lent to me to check on shiro for the week. Luckily, they trusted me enough not to rob them. At least some of my peers aren't intimidated by me…

I located the card-like key in my bag and picked it out in my maw before sliding it in the keyhole of the door. Unlocking doors was always a challenge for a quadruped, but when you live the same way throughout your life, you get used to adhering to annoying things. I really felt bad for those who started out with arms or hands and then evolved into something without those appendages. I imagine that it would be quite the adaptation, something a lot harder than shifting to a bigger version of what you're already used to.

Now that I think about it, Vero used to be a quadruped, didn't she?

After fooling around with the lock on the door for a minute, I managed to successfully unlock it. I pushed the door open after putting the key back into my bag, and walked into the room. Kuro and Naru's room was exactly identical to Vero and I's. I imagined that all of the rooms in the Nest were identical, save for maybe the leaders. As far as I could tell, neither of them really brought anything to the Nest other than the bags and scarves they both wore all the time. Then again, I only brought a single picture, so I guess it wasn't too strange.

After glancing around the room a bit more, my eyes met with a white Vulpix sitting near the edge of the straw bed that she inherited from Kuro. She looked up at me, and gave a shy smile.

"H-Hi Kage." She greeted. I returned her smile, though, mine not being as bashful.

"Hey Shiro!" I greeted, trying to fuel myself with enthusiasm. "I came here to check up on you, how are you doing?" I kept my voice filled with the same energy I greeted her with, wanting to interact with someone younger than me without the intimidation factor.

"I-I'm doing well." She said, keeping her nervous smile. I knew her stutter didn't come from me specifically, as she had the same tone when Vero was talking as well, so I deduced that I wasn't intimidating her. Hopefully.

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "Just a suggestion, do you want to walk around somewhere around the Nest with me? It must be boring to sit here all day and do nothing, so why not get a little more familiar with this place?" I asked. I kind of felt bad for the Vulpix, having to sit around all day and do nothing, especially as a young child, can be one of the irritating things in the world. At least, I know that's how I thought of it back before I started to train with the older members of my tribe.

"S-Sure, I'll come!" She responded cheerily. I honestly couldn't read this girl at all. She was smiling, and sounded happy, but at the same time, I couldn't help but get a nagging feeling in the back of my head that she was uncomfortable.

I guess I'll just try my best to make her comfortable then.

"Alright! I'll show you more places here that you haven't seen, and maybe you'll get a better sense of direction in this place!" Shiro nodded in response and followed me out of the door to Kuro and Naru's room. We walked on the balcony right outside of their room and then went down the staircase that led to the ground level of the Nest. We began to walk down the path closest to the staircase, and I wondered where I was going to take Shiro. I figured that I'd show her exactly how to get to Vero and I's room first, and then just take her to the shop area, which would be another place that would be good for her to be familiar with. Even if she doesn't have any business there, that's where a lot of Ravens roam around, so if she needs help with something in the absence of the pokemon she knows, then she could go there.

As soon as I started to lead Shiro down one of the paths, I felt my muscles begin to heavily ache again. I was ignoring it for the most part, but every now and then I would feel a spike of pain that ended up being very distracting. Luckily, it wasn't so bad to the point it would leave me injured, but it was probably going to take much longer to heal after a day of walking. I could deal with it though, some soreness wasn't going to stop me from going about my life! That is, until I have to train again…

After a few minutes of walking, I wanted to try and start a conversation with Shiro. Because I wasn't to great at interacting with children, I took my time thinking about what to talk with her about. Instead of trying to discuss a random topic with her, I decided to ask her something I was admittedly curious about.

"Hey, Shiro," she turned her head to look at me. "Where did you end up yesterday when looking for our room? If you want, I can take you there and show you the way from that spot." I suggested. If she ever ended up lost there again, it would be good for her to know a way back.

"Umm," She took a few seconds to think. "I-I ended up a big, open area. There was a lot of grass, and no paths like there is here. W-When I realized I-I didn't know where I was, I f-found the closest path and w-walked down it until someone helped me." She explained. I thought for a second about the area she was talking about. The Nest did have a few open areas that didn't have dirt fields or anything to train, they were just there for Ravens to relax if they wanted to. I appreciated these areas, and if Shiro was somewhat close to the area we're in now, then I knew where she was talking about.

"I think I know where, so let's go in that direction!" I told her, getting a nod in response as we started to walk astray from the path we were currently on. "On another note, you found Kuro's teacher, what kind of pokemon was he?" I asked her. She seemed to think for a little bit before responding.

"H-He seemed nice, he gave me f-food when I was hungry, but he also didn't seem like he w-wanted to talk." She explained. I was admittedly a little bit surprised that he was described as 'nice.' I didn't know him personally or anything, but based on horror stories I have from Kuro, I expected him to be vicious. Then again, mentors aren't themselves when they're training others. I could tell that Xen was a very caring pokemon, but when we were training, he acted like he wanted to rip out my throat.

"I see. Well, I'm glad you ran into a good pokemon. But you should know, most of the pokemon here are nice enough to help you out if you need it, so don't be afraid to ask!" I told her, and she nodded. I don't think I met a single pokemon who wasn't fighting for a good cause here. The only one that left a bad taste in my mouth was Vero's old partner, Lucas. I got a very odd feeling about him the first time we 'talked,' he didn't seem like he wanted to be here, but maybe I just caught him on a bad day. We continued walking on the current path we were following before, when I noticed a large field to the right. Oddly, there weren't any pokemon accompanying the current path, or the field, which was very unusual.

Maybe everyone's just busy…

I walked off of the path and into the middle of the open field, Shiro close behind me.

"Is there where you were yesterday?" I asked her. After all, there was way more than one of these fields around, so I wanted to make sure this was the one she found herself in when she was lost.

"I think so." She responded. "This place looks j-just like the one I was in yesterday." She nearly got through her sentence without stuttering, but sadly tripped up on one word. It felt like progress from the amount she stuttered before.

"Alright! Now I'll show yo-" I cut off my own sentence slowly, when I saw a vaguely familiar pokemon walk in front of me. It was a Gallade, and there was only one Gallade that I've seen in my life, and it was the one I beat in the applicants' tournament. However, there was something different about him this time. He had a nasty scar over his left eye, preventing sight from it. I assumed he got it from a mission he went on after the tournament, so I brushed it off as not important. He also had a necklace with a strange stone hanging from his neck, and it looked like more than an accessory.

Why does this guy give me such a weird feeling..? Is it because he's the leader I beat in the applicants' tournament?

Not being able to finish my thoughts, The Gallade walked a few steps closer to me, before drawing his eyes to Shiro. I looked back at Shiro, only to see her eyes much wider than they were before. She also started to shake, and just looked terrified overall. This wasn't a normal reaction, so I turned back to the Gallade with a questioning gaze. However, when I did, he had one of his blades raised in the air, and was giving me a death stare.

"This isn't anything personal, but I need that Vulpix." He said swiftly, before beginning to swing his blade down at me. I just barely managed to jump out of the way, my muscles screaming in pain as I did so. After I jumped away, he pushed after me and crossed his blades, seemingly ready to decapitate me. I ducked under his blades just as he uncrossed them to slice me, missing my an inch. I used the opportunity to charge and launch a thunderbolt as quickly as I could. From point blank, I hit him with a very weak bolt, as when I don't charge any electricity, using electric attacks was more of a defensive maneuver than an attack. The shocks going through his body did make him back up a bit however. After taking a few steps back, he cast me a glare, as if he expected me to just be a victim to his attacks. I was easily able to dodge them, but the soreness in my muscles was getting worse do to the overexertion. I sucked up the pain though.

"What are you doing!?" I yelled at him. It was clear to me that this wasn't the same Gallade leader that I battled at the applicants' tournament, and I wanted answers. After staring each other down for a few seconds, I noticed something on his chest. It was something I've never seen firsthand before, something I've only heard the description of. It was a hand surrounded in an ominous spiral. It was the symbol of the Void.

Why is there a Void member in the Nest!? How did he even find this place, knowing where Shiro was!? Why does he want Shiro in the first place!? I mentally screamed questions at myself as I charged my body with electricity, which was very painful, due to my soreness.

"You're none of my concern. I have no quarrel with you, just give me the Vulpix and I'll leave." He said in a monotone voice, but I can tell he was hiding some kind of emotion behind it.

Like hell… I crouched down, ready to defend Shiro, regardless of how much pain I was in. I wasn't about to let a child get taken by some Void sociopath.

Realizing that I wasn't going to cooperate, the Gallade lifted his blades, which began to glow. He shot off five purple projectiles, aimed to dice me to pieces. Too bad for him, this isn't the first time I've dealt with this. I read the projectiles and sidestepped each of them, before approaching the Gallade at a steady pace. I would have outright lunged at him, but I didn't want to break one of my legs, considering how much I was pushing myself past what I should be. Once he realized I wasn't being as aggressive as I could be, he decided to rush at me. He swiped his blades at me, one after another vertically, aiming to cut down straight into the top of my head. I managed to keep up my pace and dodge each one, but I felt myself getting sloppy. I couldn't move like I wanted to because of my body's current condition, so I started slipping up more and more as I dodged his blades. Eventually, he landed a slash, not on my head, but into one of my shoulders. Luckily, I moved enough so it wouldn't pierce, but he still drew blood from the slash, although, it didn't hurt much, and didn't cause any significant damage. It was almost like a paper cut. Regardless, I realized that if the situation continued as is, I would lose, so I jumped back to put some space in between us. He gave me a glare and bent his body, looking like he was going to rush me.

To be honest, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fight him head-on due to my body's current exhaustion, and he could easily dodge any projectile I shoot at him due to the predictability of it. I was feeling so… Frustrated. I knew that if I hadn't pushed myself too hard to try and damage Xen, I wouldn't be in this situation right now. I would be able to fight in my element, up close and personal, not step back because I was being pressured. I'd imagine my face contorted into some kind of angry expression, because the Gallade eased up on his stance and gave me a smirk.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up Raven?" He taunted. I could care less about his teasing, knowing that he was just trying to get under my skin, but I knew it was true at the moment. I couldn't keep up in a close range battle with my current condition, and that is what angered me.

"Why are you even here? What do you want with Shiro?" I asked him in a low voice. I didn't want him to catch just how mad I was right now, so I tried not to shout. In response, he just laughed.

"To be honest, I came here because I caught wind of a certain pokemon living here, the pokemon who gave me the lovely scar I have on my eye." He started to sound spiteful. "However, I then heard that the same pokemon also got away with this Vulpix, and since I know they were living here, you can say I have two motives to be standing in front of you right now." He explained. "Also, Shiro? You gave her a new name? That's interesting, too bad she's going to abandon it momentarily." He shifted back into his original battle stance, and I went back into my own. He dodged the question asking why he wants her… But I guess that doesn't matter right now!

He rushed at me once more, and I knew I was running low on options. Because of this, I engulfed my body in a strong electric charge, and stood my ground. As he approached, I mentally prepared myself for the pain I was about to experience. He ran past me and ended up on at my left flank, but as I was in the process of turning my body around, he stabbed one of his blades into the side of my body. I let out a groan in pain, but I knew this was going to happen. I saw the Gallade begin to flinch, as he was getting shocked by the enormous charge I had stored within my body. While he still had his blade in my side, I released the charge I had been building up. I let out an intense blast of electricity, coursing from my body to his immediately. He screamed out in pain, I smelt the skin on his body begin to burn. Taking advantage of the current state he was in, I swung my body around in a circle and smashed the center of the his body with a sliver glowing tail. He flew back a decent distance, and fell onto the ground. I followed not too long after.

I took in a lot of large breaths, feeling not only the soreness from my overuse of muscles, but also the deep blade wound that I had in on my side. It was leaking out a lot of crimson liquid as well, so I hoped the Gallade was done for, if he got up and hit me any more, I would be at risk of bleeding out. I lifted my eyes and looked at my opponent, watching him convulse on the ground from the massive electric shock I just sent him. It wasn't enough to fry his brain or anything, but it certainly hurt. I then looked at Shiro, who was standing not too far away from where we started, but she had a terrified stare in her eyes, and was shaking uncontrollably. I was glad to realize that she was okay, but I really wished she didn't have to see this, especially since I have a near-fatal wound open on the side of my body.

I was about to say something to Shiro, but I quickly realized that I could barely speak in the first place. Once I tried, the pain in my body shot up like a rocket and I only let out a small croak, followed by more pained groans. I heard similar sounds close to me, and I turned my head back to the Gallade.

Only to see him standing.

"You… You have a lot of nerve… to hurt me like that…" He said in a very threatening voice. He then turned his eyes to mine and observed me, before cracking a smile. "But… I got you better… Didn't I?"

He wasn't wrong. As much as I didn't want to believe it, he definitely disabled me from fighting much more. I might, might have been able to walk, but I couldn't move swiftly enough to actually battle someone. The Gallade began to walk towards me slowly, and I felt fear creep into my body. It's been a long time since I was legitimately afraid of someone standing in front of me… A long time. But this almost matched the experience back then. Almost. Once he got close to me, he leaned down and put his face right in front of mine.

"You put up a good fight, more than I expected. But it ends here. I would have spared you if you just gave me the Vulpix, but you pissed me off too much. So now, you get to die." He rose one of his blades again, ready to plummet it into my skull. There wasn't anything I could do to resist at this point, and I even felt my consciousness start to fade. Was I really about to die just like that? After spending a month meeting new pokemon, helping those who need it, was I really going to get killed by the first Void member I tried to battle? I looked up at the Gallade standing above me, and I saw his arm tense up. He was about to stab through my skull, impale my brain, and kill me. Right in front of a young child at that. I wanted more than anything to be able to get up, fight back, do something, but I couldn't move. I was in the middle of accepting my fate when I saw a green blade begin to fly towards my head, ready to end my life.

Something else entered my vision though, something I didn't immediately decipher at first. Whatever it was slammed into the Gallade's face, knocking him back a few feet, right onto his back. I turned my head to the source of the attack, only to see Shiro standing closer, still shaking heavily. Did she just… Attack him?

It was the last thing I expected from the terrified Vulpix, but she had actually shot an attack at the Gallade. It looked like a small ice shard, and it just saved my life. Shiro just saved my life. She looked at me, and her gaze was now not only terrified, but it had a hint of concern, worried about my condition. Because of this, I tried my best to push myself off the ground, but after raising about an inch, my body yelled at me to stop, to which I fell to the ground again, sending a new wave of pain through my body. I let out a groan, but then saw something out raising out of the corner of my eye.

Of course, the Gallade was standing back up.

I honestly hoped that Shiro somehow managed to knock him out or something, but I guess that was wishful thinking. He rose to his feet, and wobbled a bit. It looked like the blunt hit to his head at least dazed him a bit, but he quickly straightened himself and glared past me. He set his glare on Shiro.

"You…" His voice began to lower even more than before. "You little brat!" He held up both of his blades and a small ball of light formed between them. He then pointed the light at Shiro. "You know, you're wanted back dead or alive, and you just made that decision for me!" With that sentence shouted, he launched the ball, aimed right at Shiro. I looked at her as her eyes widened again, and she didn't move. I tried with all my might to lift myself off of the ground, but to no avail.

She… She can't get hit by that… She'll die! I tried again, this time getting a bit of leverage, but still didn't have the strength to move. The attack was inches away from Shiro at this point, and I wanted to shout at her to snap her out of shock, but I still couldn't find my voice. The attack was about to make contact with her, but a small group of small black tendrils came from out of my sight and pulled her away, causing the attack to miss her and explode on the ground not too far away, kicking up a lot of grass and dirt in the process. I looked to where Shiro was pulled, and then saw her in the arms of someone that made my face light up.

Vero saved her.

Vero had Shiro in both if her arms, glaring at the Gallade responsible for the attack, who was just looking at her with a curious gaze. Vero's eyes then landed on me, and I saw her expression change. She put Shiro down and whispered something to her really quickly before running over to me. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see her.

"V..Vero…" I managed to croak out. My voice didn't sound good though, in fact, me speaking may have just made her more worried. She ran to my side and crouched down before reaching my bag and tearing off a small portion of it. She then stuck it on the source of a waterfall of blood that was coming from my side. I flinched when she put pressure on it, but I knew it was going to heal me, so I beared with it. After she was done preventing me from bleeding out, she glared back at the Gallade before standing up.

"Stay down Kage, if you get hurt any more, it might end up being permanent." She told me with concern. I just nodded in response, as talking was a bad idea at this point, especially considering how hard I was trying to remain conscious. I watched as Vero and the Gallade approached each other, until they were standing about five feet apart. They both held a glare of anger on one another.

"Another one…" The Gallade said. "Why don't you just let me do what I need to do, then leave." He crouched down, ready to fight again, but I could definitely tell that I did some damage to him. He didn't walk away from that blast of electricity without a scratch, not by far.

"Like I'd ever do that. You're a Void member, I'm a Raven. I'm not allowed to let you have your way." She responded, before putting her claws up.

The two started at each other for a few seconds, trying to gauge what the other was going to do. This stalemate was quickly broken by the Gallade running at Vero, starting with their blades crossed just as they did with me. Vero responded by ducking down and getting behind him, and shooting off a stream of dark energy from right next to him. The Gallade just barely managed to dodge it before attempting to slash at Vero with his blades. Instead of dodging, she engulfed her claws in a dark shadow, and they almost looked as if they expanded out. She then countered every slash that the Gallade tried to hit her with, trading blow for blow. They kept at this for a few seconds, just clashing with each other repeatedly. However, Vero got a hold of the Gallade's pattern, and then managed to parry him, making him backpedal a bit. Vero then took the opportunity to land a hard slash right on his stomach, creating three red lines in their place. The Gallade grunted in pain, but vero didn't let up. She extended a large amount of small tendrils from her arms and used them to grab onto the Gallade on both sides. She then pulled him towards her and slammed her claw right into one of the wounds she just created. The Gallade screamed in response, but she wasn't done with him yet. Vero detached her tendril from one side of his body before swinging him around so his back was to her. She then planted another heavy slash, just like the one on his stomach, but on his back, to which he responded with a similar scream. After this, she fully detached her tendrils, and jumped off of the ground, kicking the Gallade's back right on his wounds with both of her feet, sending him flying before doing a backflip to land on her feet. Watching her move eloquently like that was quite the alluring sight, it was clear why she was accepted to be a Raven.

The Gallade was doubled over a few feet in front of Vero, trying his best to cover the wounds that Varo had just given him, and then worsened. He was taking in heavy breaths and constantly moaning in pain, which was understandable with what she did to him. He turned his head to look back at Vero, who was walking towards him slowly.

"Leave. Now." She said in a stern voice. In response, the Gallade just gave her an angry glare. He put his head down, the anger on his face increasing greately.

"Twice…" He muttered. "This is the second time… I've been pushed down and threatened by someone. I… I told myself I wouldn't let this happen again…" The Gallade then slowly stood up, and Vero got back into a defensive position. He gave her another angry glare, but then his expression changed to one of… Desperation. "I let this happen again…" The stone on his necklace began to glow slightly, and that glow started to spread to his body. I then had an epiphany as to what the stone was and gritted my teeth.

If he uses that… Will Vero be able to keep him at bay?

The glow slowly started to spread around more of his body, and he put on a disgusting-looking smile. One that a murderous psychopath would put on. But as soon as the glow enveloped more than half of his body, his smile dropped, and the glow instantly vanished.

"No… I promised I would only use it for him…" He muttered to himself. What is he talking about..?

The Gallade put a blade up in the air, and a three, thin purple circles surrounded his body. Right after, he just… Vanished. There was no sign of his body, or the rings he had just summoned in the place he was just standing. The only thing left of him was the blood he left behind. It took my mind a second to register what he just did, but after realizing he probably just teleported away, I let out a deep sigh, hoping he was gone for good.

Vero, presumably coming to the same conclusion as me, walked away from the battle scene, now just a field of grass covered in burns and blood. She walked over to me and crouched down, also motioning to Shiro that it was safe now, to which she also almost collapsed onto the ground out of relief. Vero turned her eyes to me.

"How are you holding up?" She asked concerningly. "I managed to stop your bleeding, but your injuries go beyond that." You have no idea… I thought to myself. I tried my best to summon any semblance of my voice.

"I… I've been better." I said with a small chuckle. "T...Thanks for the save though, I don't want to think of what would have happened if you hadn't shown up." I said slowly, trying my best not to pass out.

"I was just on my way back from training when I saw you on the ground with an awful wound. Then, I saw that Gallade shoot off an attack at Shiro, and I intervened." She said before sighing. "Thank Arceus I left when I did, otherwise that could've ended much differently. But, who exactly was that?"

"I… Have no idea. Apparently he was… here to find another Raven, and take Shiro…" I told her, trying my best not to pause, but I could still barely talk.

"What? To take Shiro?"

"I'll explain more when we… Get back to our room…" I felt my voice getting more and more quiet. Vero just nodded in response. I saw Shiro approach from my peripherals, and I turned to face her. She still looked shaken, to which I didn't blame her. However, I needed to tell her something before I inevitably passed out.

"Hey… Shiro…" I called out. She turned her head to look at me, and I smiled at her. "Thank you… For saving me… Back there…" I told her. "I… Probably would… Be dead right now… If it wasn't for you…" It became harder and harder to speak as I felt my body wear down more. She just shook her head in response.

"No, you saved me, I need to thank you!" She said, but her voice sounded far away. However, no matter how quiet it sounded, I did notice something different about it.

She didn't stutter.

It looked like she was comfortable around me now, enough not to stutter. She was probably the first child to not be afraid of me…

With that thought in mind, I smiled to myself, and drifted into a blank sleep.

Hello Readers!

Another chapter done a lot quicker than I expected it to be. Somewhere in the middle of typing this I kind of… Blocked out everything around me and typed at an unusually fast rate, at least, compared to what I usually do. I was expecting this portion to be around three-thousand words, but when I checked the word count and saw I was already past six-thousand… I was rather surprised. But that's a positive thing, sooo positivity!

Also I just want to be clear in saying that Kage isn't dead. When I was typing the last part of this chapter, it honestly felt like I was typing a death scene, and I didn't really mean for it to come out that way, but it kind of did soooo that's a thing.

I want to thank all of you peoples who have sent me PMs, reviews, etc. I love every time I get one of these and it's not telling me to go drink bleach, so thank you to all who have sent them!

See You Next Chapter!