Naru

Aria was slowly gliding through the air with me on her back. I couldn't really take in the scenery we happened to be flying over, because my head was face down. I still had the worst headache I've ever had, and while it was slowly, very slowly getting better, it was still nearly unbearable. I had clearly been patched up a bit since I received these injuries, so I wasn't really in any real danger anymore, which was one positive for a list of negatives. But, you have to take what you can get, right?

I was supremely grateful for the fact that Aria and Cole showed up in Myriad to help Kuro and I. Them being there calmed me down, helping the stress I had regarding neither Kuro or myself being able to properly fight after yesterday. For all we know, Grace wasn't the only Void member in Myriad, and if we ended up being attacked while in that kind of condition, bad things would happen. Very bad things. It did feel a bit strange to be heading back only two days after we left though, even know we were supposed to be at Myriad for a week. I guess it didn't really matter since we accomplished everything we needed to in those two days. Although, it still felt a bit strange.

A lot happened in our short time back at Myriad, a lot more than I expected to happen. For one, we learned where some of the kids we helped a month ago at that orphanage camp were residing. I was happy that they found a place to go, but worried about the rest of them all the same. I told myself that they would be okay and decided to reflect a bit more.

I got to see Kuro actually let out his emotions for once, which turned out almost exactly as I expected it to. He never showed any type of negative emotions to anyone. At least, never intentionally. He always tried his best to hold back, which began to wear him down mentally. I think that exploring his old home again, as well as visiting his parents' grave after not doing so for longer than usual is what set him off. He had so much buildup that he couldn't handle the environment of his old home without his mind overflowing. It made me happy that I was with him when he finally stopped holding back, even if it was only for that hour, I was glad that I could help him with his distress. It was pretty clear that he didn't know how to handle his emotions too well, probably due to his lack of communication with anyone for such an extended period of time. I may have stayed reserved and didn't really form any relationships while I was withdrawing, but I still talked to pokemon around the town occasionally, hoping that they wouldn't try and hurt me in response. I may have been fearful, but I still communicated, something that Kuro never did. Plus, the fact that he most likely didn't even see many other pokemon that weren't feral meant that he couldn't observe others' emotions, so he had no idea how to handle his own. At least, this was what I thought. The point was, I was happy that I could help him.

Of course, then we made it back to Myriad, and ended up being confronted by my old 'friends.' It seemed like they still had the same thoughts of hatred towards me, which initially scared me, but after telling myself that I've changed, as well as seeing Kuro embarrass the one that did most of the bullying, my fear soon dissipated. The only thing that still confused me was how exactly Kuro knew who they were before they said anything. He had clearly had some kind of confrontation with them in the past, although I had no idea as to what kind, but they had definitely met before. Not only had they met, but they also didn't get along, not like I wanted them to in the first place, but I found it strange. Kuro said he'd tell me later, so I'll just ask him when he gets back to the Nest along with me.

Finally, we were confronted by a Void admin, claiming to be the fourth strongest in the Void, the leafeon, Grace. She terrified me even before she attacked us, but that terror multiplied as soon as she hit me the first time. It hurt much more than anything I had been hit with in the past, and she didn't even use a real move on me, she simply kicked me. That kick hurt more than any fire attack I've ever taken, and that thought terrified me. As for the rest of that fight, most of it was a blur to be honest. I know most of it was spent getting knocked around, and I know there was one point where Kuro shouted something and then landed a decent hit on her. For some reason, that was the part of the battle I remembered most clearly, but I couldn't even piece what Kuro said together in my mind, so I don't know why the rest of it came to me so easily. The last part that I really remember vividly is when I landed a solid hit to the side of her head, and then further hit her in the chest with an ice beam. It looked like it actually did some amount of damage, despite the sound Grace made in response to the attack sounding… interesting. Everything after that was vague, I know Kuro gave Grace a taste of her own medicine with his ability, and she retreated after that, but I think that's where the two of us fell.

Such an eventful two days, too bad only half were positive. I wasn't sure why Kuro wanted to stay for a bit longer and have me leave with Aria first, but he said he'd explain it to me when he got back, so it looked like I was due for an information dump back in our room in the Nest. Hopefully, I won't be feeling as awful as I do now when that time comes.

After flying for a bit longer, I noticed that there wasn't nearly as much wind pushing against my body. I wanted to lift my head to investigate, but I had to will myself to do so. Once encouraging myself mentally, I sluggishly lifted my head up, feeling the awful ache come back with it. I felt like I had a migraine that never went away, just a constant pain lingering in my head. The fact that it never went away bothered me way more than the pain itself, it might as well have been letting me know that it would be haunting me nonstop until I healed. I ended up getting myself past my personified pain, and looked down off of Aria's back. The two of us were now hovering directly above the Nest, its mainly violet coloring sticking out from the dark sky that surrounded us, and also worsening my headache a bit. It's night already? How long have we been flying? Guess I dozed off from exhaustion again…

"Well, here we are! I've been talking with someone with one of those gold… communicator things, someone who works in the medical fields here. As soon as we land, I'll make sure you get something to help with your pain." Aria told me, using a much quieter voice than I was used to, coming from her.

"I appreciate it... " I said before groaning a little bit. I felt the wind from movement clash with my body once more, only this time coming from below me rather than in front of me. It was a light wind, I'd have thought of it as comforting if I didn't have the worst headache of my life right now. Soon, the wind stopped lightly brushing my fur once more, as Aria's movement halted again, only this time we were on the ground, not hovering. I was about to begin to convince myself to get up, but I noticed two familiar pokemon approaching Aria and I. It was Kage and Vero walking over to us, one of them holding a small syringe in a paw, the other, looking like they got into a fight just as bad as Kuro and I.

Happy to see the familiar faces, I dropped myself off of Aria's back, landing rather unsteadily on the ground, and feeling a wave of soreness come over my entire body. Bad idea… After stumbling around a little bit, I managed to stand still on all fours. Kage was covered in bandages similarly to me, which made a memory of a mental conversation Kuro and I had with Core play through my head again. I almost forgot about the whole thing that happened here while we were gone, how the Nest had a Void member break in somehow and almost cause some huge problems. I had the two pokemon in front of me to thank for making sure that didn't happen.

"Welcome back, Naru." Vero greeted. I was about to respond, but I opened my mouth only to release another pained sound, before tilting my head down slightly and shutting my eyes. "Right, before we talk about anything, we can do something about the pain you're feeling." I heard Vero approach me and then felt a prick on the side of my neck. I opened my eyes in response, and then widened them at the new feeling that entered my body soon after.

I felt the ache I had all over my body, including my head slowly disappear, getting better and better with each passing second. In place of the pain, I felt relief wash over my body. My tensed-up muscles loosened, and I let out the largest sigh of relief I ever had. I went from feeling the worse pain of my life to nothing in a few seconds, I had to walk in a small circle a few times and shake my head to make sure that this was real. It didn't seem possible, but I most definitely wasn't dreaming right now, my pain had been taken away from me entirely in the space of a minute.

"W-Wow…" I took in another breath, letting myself bid farewell to my previous pain. "What did you just give me? I feel like I never got injured in the first place!" I hopped on my paws a few times, solidifying the fact that I felt as good as I did.

"I had a similar reaction, it's amazing, isn't it?" Kage said. He must have been given the same thing after he was hurt. "In the Nest's medical field, it looks like we have two prodigies working together to develop medicine that completely eliminate all of one's pain in a matter of seconds. They've been working on this since we first arrived at the Nest, and I don't think I need to tell you how well it turned out."

"No kidding… I feel brand new!" I had the sudden urge to run now that I was free of pain, but my injuries were still present, so that probably wouldn't be a good idea. "Who made something like this?"

"Believe it or not, it was two of the recruits who joined at the same time as us!" Aria chimed in, and I turned to face her. "Scythe and Force, the two of them switched fields just like I did, only they went into medicine instead of transportation. They switched almost immediately after they joined, and have been working on this ever since! They must be the two smartest pokemon I know!" If they really did develop something like this, then I agree.

"We have one for Kuro when he gets back too. Force told me about him wanting to stay behind for a little longer, so I'll give him one when he gets back here." Vero seemed to observe the bandages all over my body for a few seconds. "If he took anywhere near the amount of damage you did, then I think he'll appreciate it." I nodded.

"I don't think he's quite as beat up as I am, but I'm sure it'll help him a lot!" He'll like the feeling of relief that comes from this. I smiled to myself.

"Speaking of which, any idea why Kuro stayed back for a little bit longer?" Kage generally asked among the group.

"He told me that he'd explain when he got back here, so I have no idea yet." I responded.

"He needed to investigate something, but I don't really know what goes on through his head. He's putting himself through something, and I don't think it can just be brushed off." Aria sighed slightly, but I was intrigued, wanting her to continue. I still had no idea why Kuro stayed back, and I wanted to know really badly.

"What did he want to investigate?" I asked her.

"Well, I don't know why he went, but I can tell you what he wanted to look at." Aria took in a breath, ready to explain further. "You see, remember that last task you needed to do in Myriad? The one about the weird shelter somewhat close to Myriad's outskirts?" I nodded. "As it turns out, that place is a bloody mess. More than two dozen pokemon were massacred in that place, and they were ended in a rather gruesome fashion." I shuddered slightly at the thought of this place. We could have walked into that without any idea of the contents…

"Like I said, I have no idea why, but Kuro wanted to go there directly and look at the scene for himself. He had some sort of motive, you could tell by the way he talked, but I have no idea what. I mean, why would anyone want to see something like that? We don't even know who was killed, or who did it." Aria finished speaking and tilted her head to the side, wondering why Kuro would want to do such a thing. What do you want to know, Kuro? Why would you make yourself look at something like that? I pondered his decisions for a little bit before coming up with a theory.

"Maybe he wanted to know who was killed?" Kage said, sounding unsure of himself. The other two pokemon in the group, as well as myself turned our heads to Kage. "I mean, if that many pokemon were killed in one spot, do you think he would have any desire to know who they were?" I thought about the idea that Kage had just proposed. It wasn't impossible by any means, but Kuro wasn't really the type of pokemon to do something like this purely because of curiosity. He had to have some sort of other motive if he wanted to figure out who was killed there, especially if it meant looking at a bunch of mangled bodies.

"Do you think he had an idea of who was killed there?" Vero asked. "If he had some sort of lead on knowing who was killed, then he could have gone to figure that out. I don't know exactly why he would want to, but does that seem possible?" Vero sounded just as unsure as Kage, and I wasn't far behind. Did it make sense? Yes. Did that confirm anything? Not at all.

"Wait! He did say he wanted to confirm something… could that be it? Could he have wanted to figure out who was killed?" Aria chimed, almost excited to be closer to figuring out Kuro's motives, despite the fact he was just going to tell us later anyway.

The reasoning behind everyone's thinking was sound, but, to my knowledge, Kuro didn't really have a way to predict who may have been killed. The only pokemon we really interacted with in Myriad were my old group of bullies, who I didn't think Kuro would have been too concerned about. He wouldn't want them to die or anything, but I don't think he would make it a point to find out if they were killed. I tried to think of anyone else that he may have suspected, and after a little bit of thinking, I remembered another group he interacted with. A small portion of the children that lived in the orphanage camp that we went to for our first mission. Wait… does he think that the other part of that group were the victims..? I pondered a bit more, but then shook my head, releasing the thought from my brain. Honestly, I didn't want to think about that possibility, so I told myself I was wrong and that Kuro would give me the right reason when he came back. They were such a bright group of kids, thinking about them being dead so unjustly stirred up a lot of anxiety within me, so I told myself I was wrong. That has to be wrong, right? [Oh boy, she's in for a surprise]

Our group of four pokemon stood in a silent circle for a few minutes, still thinking of why exactly Kuro decided to investigate a murder scene, but no more suggestions were brought up. My initial assumption kept on coming back to me and I dismissed it every time, continuously telling myself that it was impossible. Eventually, our group collectively sighed, before looking at each other, obviously at a complete loss.

"Well, we'll all know once he gets here and explains it, no use losing sleep over it now." Kage said, with everyone adding a nod, signaling a consensus.

"Sounds good. Now, I need to go sleep." Aria let out a large yawn. "I've been flying waaaay too much today, and I'm exhausted. Also, Naru, one more thing about that medicine. It took away your pain for now, but you're probably going to completely crash in a little bit, so try and stay near a bed." I nodded to Aria. I knew there had to be some kind of side-effect to this medicine, nothing was that perfect. After letting me know that I'd be collapsing in a little bit, Aria flew off, presumably to her own room. Kage and Vero bid their farewells to me after I let them know that I'd be fine to make it back to my room okay, and the two of them walked off to their own.

I began to walk down the twisting roads of the Nest, on my way back to Kuro and I's room, excited to see Shiro again. I knew she'd be back there, and I don't think anyone told her that Kuro and I were going to be back early, so hopefully she'll be happy to have company again. I felt bad needing to leave her so soon after saying that we'd look after her, but it had to be done, and it was less of a deal now than it was when we first left because we were coming back so much earlier than expected. I still felt bad about it, but I was going to half-remedy the situation soon, and Kuro was going to complete it when he came back.

I was happy to care for Shiro along with Kuro, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel strange. I had never really looked after someone before, even back when I lived with a younger brother, my parents were always there to watch over the two of us, never leaving me in charge of him. I completely understood that, as leaving a very energetic young glaceon alone with an equally as energetic young zorua didn't seem like the greatest idea. We weren't troublemakers, but we'd probably break something, or break a few things. Maybe a lot of things. The point is, I knew what it was like to have a younger sibling, but not really what it was like to watch over them, or provide for them.

For some reason though, Shiro didn't feel like a younger sibling to me over the short time Kuro and I have been looking after her. She felt almost like something a bit more… She felt like a daughter. I didn't understand why I saw her like this after only being with her for a few days, maybe it had to do with knowing her situation and how it relates to Kuro's and my own, maybe it was because it was the first time I was caring for someone else like this, I had no idea. I was, however, sure of my thoughts.

I didn't know what Shiro thought of Kuro and I as, whether it be guardians, family, or just friends who want to help her. I knew that she felt safe around us, mainly due to the words she gave Kuro and I before we left for Myriad. Her words embedded themselves into me, and perhaps that was another reason I saw her as more of a daughter than a sibling. Shiro was someone I wanted to protect, and I would. Kuro and I both would. I briefly wondered if he thought of Shiro in the same way, like she was his child. That's another topic that I wanted to discuss with Kuro in the future, but it probably wouldn't happen today. I already have a huge info dump waiting for me when he gets back, no need to add anything else to the pile for now. Although, seeing the way Kuro treated Shiro, I doubted he felt any different than I did. If he has the same thoughts, then… it's almost like we'd be raising a child together.

I stopped walking in the middle of one of the Nest's many paths to linger around in my thoughts. Thoughts that, for some reason, I wanted to both relish in and push away at the same time. Of course, as soon as I wondered about Kuro's opinion on watching over Shiro, a fairly obvious thought popped into my head. I've pushed away thoughts like this in the past, just because they brought me some strange combination of discomfort and comfort at the same time. Like, I was okay with having them, and I acknowledge that I enjoy them, but at the same time, they make me feel very jittery, or uncomfortable. It wasn't a bad type of uncomfortable though, it was like… denial in a way, denial out of embarrassment. Obviously… if Kuro and I are like parents to Shiro… parents are usually…

I felt my entire body heat up from my thoughts. I was no longer standing still in the middle of the path, I was instead pacing around in a circle at a decent speed. I should also point something out, my pacing was involuntary. I didn't even notice I was doing it, being too focused on my thoughts.

I sort of... wanted the thoughts to continue. This was the first time I really felt this way, replacing the unsure feelings I had beforehand. I didn't want to push my thoughts away, I just wanted more of them. Every time I thought about Kuro, the same feelings were evident in my body. The same effect applied too, before, I always got rid of my thoughts the second they became clear to me, and now, I just wanted them to continue.

I had no idea what triggered this sudden change. I wasn't like this before we went to Myriad, only after I woke up from Grace's assault. Since then, I just wanted my previously denied thoughts to keep coming up, the second I looked at Kuro for the first time after I woke up was when this started. Through the entire ride here with Aria, the whole time I had my head down, I was thinking of him. I think I know exactly where this started, now that I no longer had an absolutely awful headache, I was able to more clearly look back on memories I couldn't focus on before, namely, what Kuro shouted right before he hit Grace with a heavy attack. After I heard that… despite the situation… it made me happy. I was really happy that Kuro cared about me that much, although at the time, I couldn't focus on this, I felt it. I think it was passed that point when my thoughts began to change. Past that point… I…

I shook my head harshly and stopped pacing in a circle, going back to standing still. Calm down Naru! No need to rush things… I just had this change less than a full day ago, I can give myself time to think. No need to make assumptions like that…

After breaking out of my trance, I began walking towards Kuro and I's room once more. The spot that I picked to stop and pace was pretty close to my destination, so after a few short minutes of walking, I arrived at the door to my home. I took a second to feel for my bag around my neck, which I thought I left behind at first. I dug my head into the bag, searching for a certain key to get into the room. Once I found said key, I held it in my maw and placed it in the keyhole of the door, before pushing it open.

I laid my eyes on the room I had been residing in for a while now. Just like the arrival at Myriad, it felt really strange to be going from the place I used to live when I was in a downward spiral, back to a place I worshiped as a nirvana. I wasn't used to the change in atmosphere between the two places, especially since the difference was as drastic as it was. I would have to make it a point to get used to that in the future.

I searched the room, looking for a certain vulpix to greet. It only took a second of glancing around the room to find Shiro, laid out in the middle of the floor. She seemed to have a slow reaction to the noise of the door opening, but once she turned her eyes towards me, they widened, along with the smile on her face. She lept to her four paws and began to run towards me.

"You're back!" Shiro ran up next to me and jumped up onto my back. I stumbled a bit, and nearly fell over, but I was happy to see the energy that Shiro had. I was also happy that Kage and Vero provided me with the medicine that swept away my pain, because had they not done that, Shiro would have just pinned me to the ground on accident. Once I was focused on standing steadily, I felt Shiro press her head to the back of my neck and nuzzle it, which made me smile. I would have returned the gesture, but I wasn't really in the type of position to do so without breaking my neck in the process.

"I'm glad to be back with you!" I told her, and felt her lift up her head from my neck. I placed the key I used to open the door back in my bag and was able to remove it from my neck without throwing Shiro off with it.

"Where's Kuro?" I turned my head to the side the best that I could to make our conversation easier.

"He's on his way here, he just had a few extra things to do." I felt Shiro's body shift again, and it now felt like she was lying on her stomach over me. "What did you do while we were gone?" I was curious as to what she did with the space of time she had alone, other than the fact that she was attacked that is.

"I explored this place more, and learned my way around a little bit. I also got lost, but someone helped me find my way back here!" I wondered who exactly helped Shiro get back, but just assumed it was either Kage or Vero after a second or two. "But, something else h-happened too." All of Shiro's previously stated energy seemed to disappear immediately. I understood why. I mean, she was almost killed after all.

"I already know about it, you don't have to explain." I told her softly. "Just know that it won't happen again, not since Kuro and I will be here with you. We'll make sure nothing bad happens." Shiro pressed her head to the back of my neck again.

"Right!" She sounded muffled, but it wasn't hard to make out her words. "I trust you." I just smiled to myself from her words, further solidifying my earlier thoughts.

"How about we go wait for Kuro where he's supposed to land here? Than we can all come back together." Shiro lifted her head again.

"Okay!"

Honestly, I felt the medicine start to wear me down already, and it was beginning to make me tired, but I could hold out until we walk back here with Kuro, then I'll pass out on the ground. I began to walk towards the door with Shiro still on my back, ready to be fully reunited.

Kuro

I was on Cole's back, while he quickly flew towards the Nest. The wind from the flight loudly flew past my ears, making it impossible to hear anything else, not that I was in the mood to talk anyway. I really appreciated Cole and Aria coming to help us, and I'd love to verbalize it, but it would have to wait until I cleared my mind a bit, so I used this trip back to the Nest to do just that.

Through numerous deep breaths and a lot of mental focus, I was able to calm myself down enough to tell Cyan about what I saw in that shelter, and his reaction was near picture perfect to what I was expecting. It took a lot out of me to seem calm in front of him, but I managed, even if I was obviously ticked off, I still remained calm. I really wanted to let Shine know as well, it was something he had to know, but every time I was about to walk past Cyan to find him, I stopped myself. As much as I knew that it was important for Shine to know about his other friends, I couldn't tell him. No matter how much I tried to will myself into it, I just couldn't. His words ept replaying through my head whenever I thought about notifying him, and it kept me back. Cyan said that he would let Shine know in due time, but he didn't look all that confident in his abilities to translate this information to him either. I was regretful that I couldn't get myself to speak up to Shine, but maybe it's for the better. At least, that's what I'll keep telling myself.

Doing nothing but thinking about what I had just laid my eyes on wasn't going to help me in any way, so I decided to focus on the future, rather than the recent past. I was going back to the Nest after a fairly cluttered two days in Myriad, which I was looking forward to. Not only was Myriad not exactly my favorite place in the world, but a lot had happened there in a short amount of time, and it exhausted me. The Nest was a place I knew that I could be relaxed in, at least for the most part, so I was happy to be going back.

I was also going to be happy to see Shiro again, even if it had only been two days of absence, I did promise her that Naru and I would keep her safe, and the fact that I had to leave so soon after I said that made me uncomfortable, especially considering what happened at the Nest as soon as we left. I sort of saw her as someone I was responsible for, due to the fact that I had been feeding her for as long as I have, and I didn't really have a problem with this, far from it. I enjoyed it, so going back was going to be a breath of fresh air.

After focusing on the future instead of what had just happened, I was in a much better mood. My mind really just flipped around on itself once I started looking at the positives more than the negatives, something I had to do more often. It would certainly help with my levels of stress that have been spiking lately. I needed to pay more attention to where I was now, as opposed to where I was in the past, or what could go wrong in the future. I'm in a good position now, I need to accept that. I felt a small smile grow out on my face as the wind started to get less intense.

I looked down off of Cole's back and saw that we were close to the ground of the Nest, and quickly descending. Once Cole made contact with the ground, I hopped off of his back and stretched my legs, which were still sore from yesterday, but I was able to walk. I heard many pops and cracks coming from my bones as I stretched, obviously tense from the flight I just got off of. Cole turned his body to face me, and I gave a small smile.

"Thank you for taking me back, and for helping Naru and I back there. Had you and Aria not come, things may have gotten a bit more complicated than they needed to be." I told him appreciatively. He just nodded his head with his beak curved.

"Not a problem! It was good practice for the two of us. Plus, it was to help other Ravens, something we couldn't turn down." Cole seemed to look around the area of the Nest we landed in for a few seconds, and then turned back to me with a more serious expression.

"Also, I'm not sure what's going on behind the scenes, but I can tell you're dealing with a few things, it's actually pretty obvious by the way you talked to Aria and I." Cole chuckled slightly. "Just know, things will get better for you and your partner. This was just one bump in a long road, a road you both have to walk down. Don't let it be a setback, make it an experience to learn from."

I listened as Cole gave me encouragement. To be honest, I wasn't expecting something like this from him, only because I hadn't really talked with him, well, at all. Not before Myriad. I fought against him in the applicants' tournament, but besides that, we had no communication whatsoever, so this speech wasn't predictable, coming from him. It did, however, give me some insight as to who Cole was as a pokemon, so I just smiled at him.

"Thank you." I looked at the ground, the smile still evident on my face. "I really appreciate it, especially since you don't really know why any of this is happening."

"Hey, like I said, Ravens need to help each other out. This job is stressful, better get used to the communication sooner than later, right?" Get used to the communication… "Well, I'm going to leave for my bed now, it's been a tiring day. See you around!" Cole waved one of his wings at me and I raised a forepaw and did the same. He then flew away to another part of the Nest, and I turned and began walking to Naru and I's room.

I only walked for about a minute, and then I saw a Zoroark begin to approach me from a decent distance away. Vero walked up to me, holding some strange cylindrical object in a paw.

"Welcome back Kuro." She greeted with a small smile. "I was told you'd be here later than Naru, so I came back to where I greeted her. Glad to see you made it okay." I nodded and returned the smile she gave me.

"I had some… business to take care of, but everything should be okay, other than a bit of soreness." I responded.

"About that, hold still for a second." I tilted my head in confusion, but Vero walked closer to me and pressed the object she was holding to my neck, and I felt a small prick. The sensation felt the same as when Grace poisoned me, so I shivered a bit, but once I felt the effects of whatever Vero had just injected me with, my shivering halted immediately in place of energy. The sore feelings in my muscles were sapped away quickly, and after a minute or two, I felt like I had never gotten beat up in the first place. I lifted my forepaws off the ground and put them back down a few times, and then did the same with my back legs. All of my movements felt completely natural, like I wasn't injured in the slightest.

"What exactly did you just do?" I curiously asked Vero. She let out a chuckle in response before explaining to me that two of the other recruits somehow developed a medicine that was powerful enough to nullify pain in a matter of minutes. Apparently, in the applicants' tournament along with us, were two medicinal geniuses. I was amazed at the effects that this injection had on me.

"Wow, I can't imagine how difficult it was for them to make something like this." I said after getting used to my no-longer numb movements. "You wouldn't happen to have one of those for Naru too, would you? She needs something like this a lot more than I do."

"One step ahead of you. I gave her the same thing as soon as she got here, and she felt like a new pokemon." I sighed in relief that Naru was feeling better now. "You must have been worried about her."

"Of course I was. She took way more lethal hits than I did, and she was feeling a lot worse when the two of us woke up. Honestly, just looking at her was stressful at that point." Vero laughed again after I finished talking, and I raised a brow.

"How interesting." She said with a smile, although a different kind of smile than she usually had. She almost looked sly. What's that about?

I was about to bid farewell to Vero and head back to Naru and I's room so I could pass out on my bed, but I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and I froze on the spot. The shape I glanced at lowered to the ground in front of Vero and I, who both glared forward. It was Aven.

He seemed to observe me for a few seconds, as if confirming a suspicion, looking at me as if I wasn't real. I just stood still and glared, but he was unaffected. "Why are you here?" He spoke deeply. What does he mean? Why ask a question like that?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vero growled. She clearly wasn't any happier to see the flygon than I was.

"You should be gone." He pointed at me. "Grace should have torn you to shreds, and then brought you back to the Void. Tell me how you're here." Looks like she hasn't reported back from her failed mission yet. Why is he approaching me like this? Does he honestly want an answer as to how I'm alive? I wanted to respond to him, but I felt a lump form in my throat. I couldn't get words past my mouth, I couldn't make a noise. Essentially, I was frozen in front of Aven. I had always been afraid of him, no doubt about that, but I think that the reality check that Grace gave me, showing me how threatening the higher ends of the Void were, multiplied my fear. It was one thing to see him attack my parents the way he did, it was another thing to know just how little I'd be able to do if he tried the same thing with me. Eventually, I managed to croak some words out of my mouth.

"S-She didn't take the battle seriously. Her guard was l-let down, and she was open for a counterattack." I stuttered like an idiot, but I managed to talk.

"I knew she wasn't reliable." Aven placed a claw over his head, closing his gigantic eyes. "It looks like you need two be separated after all." He opened his eyes and stared directly at me.

"S-Separated?" I was still confused as to what Aven's goals were. What did he mean by separate? Wasn't I their target?

"It looks like you and your partner can be hard to take down when together. I thought my first attempt to tear you away from each other would work, but you proved me wrong." He shook his head. When was his first try? What did he even do? "You're lucky I have a reason to be here, otherwise the two of you would be dead right now, along with your partner." I growled at him, but found it difficult to form words again. No matter how much I wanted to tell myself that I was getting less scared of the Void, this encounter was more than enough to prove that to be nothing but wishful thinking. "You better watch your back. You know damn well that you're backed into a corner, surrounded by your enemies even in the place you want to call home. Have fun finding a way to deal with that when the time comes." Aven heavily flapped his wings before flying into the air, and went somewhere else in the Nest. I just stared at the space in the air that Aven was just flying, frozen. That was definitely a threat. A very... possible threat. I shuddered, not able to gather my thoughts.

"Kuro? You okay?" I was tapped on the back by Vero, which snapped me out of my trance. I relaxed my mind and took a deep breath. He's gone now Kuro, calm yourself…

"I'm… okay. Just a little bit shaken." I took another breath to further calm myself.

"Really? Kind of unlike you."

"He's… A special case I guess you can say." I looked to the ground. "After seeing what the stronger members of the Void can do personally, I know what he may be capable of. The thought is just… terrifying." I sort of lied to Vero. She didn't know of my past experiences in detail, the only one who did was Naru.

"I guess that makes sense. I can't say I've ever seen one of them battle seriously, just kind of watched him flap his wings a bunch." That's right… I almost forgot that she met Aven when we got taken by the Void. "Well, he can't really do anything as long as he's stuck here doing… something, so it's not worth taking threats at face value right now." I looked up from the ground and nodded.

"You're right. As long as he's here, he won't do anything. I just… need to convince myself of that." It was hard enough to accept that he was here in the first place, but I still needed to tell myself that Aven wasn't going to try anything.

"Just keep that sentiment in mind." I nodded my head. "Now, there is something else that I sort of forgot to tell Naru about earlier, so I'll let you know. It's actually something your mentor told me about, he gave me a lot of valuable information." Kai did what..?

Vero then proceeded to explain to me what Kai told her, some very intriguing information. I was really worried at the start of her explaining, but as she talked more, I was relieved to hear that Shiro's life wasn't in danger, and I was admittedly curious as to what exactly that drug did to her other than memory loss, but I was okay without knowing. As long as it wouldn't hurt her in any way, the other effects didn't matter too much. If it did, then we would find out. After a few minutes passed, Vero had told me everything that Kai had said.

"I have no idea how he knew all of this, or how he knew about Aven, but he gave some valuable information. You should thank him for me next time you he teaches you something." The reason he had all of that information…

"I'll be sure to let him know, and I'll tell Naru when I get back to our room also." I said with a nod of my head.

"Sounds good. Sorry to have to tell you all of this right when you got back, especially after the fight you just went through."

"It's not a big deal. I'd rather know it sooner than later. Plus, I need to explain a bunch of stuff to Naru anyway, so I guess this is just preparing me for that." I sighed slightly. Not looking forward to that… "Speaking of which, I should get back to our room before I pass out in the middle of the Nest."

"Oh! Forgot about the medicine, you should probably get going then. I should go back too." I nodded my head to Vero and she waved a claw at me, which I mirrored with one of my forepaws. We walked off in separate directions, and I had even more to tell Naru. Hopefully she's not passed out on the ground when I get there…

It didn't take too long for me to make it to the room that Naru and I resided in, but I was starting to feel the effects of the medicine I took. I felt a little bit lightheaded, but it wasn't anything compared to how numb I felt after getting injected by Grace's poison, so I could hold out. I walked up to the familiar door that led to Naru and I's room, and stood in front of it, happy to be back. I swung my bag around to the front of my body and bent my head down to search for the key, but instead, I felt myself get smacked in the head by a hard surface, knocking me down in the direction that the door opened, and dazing me slightly.

I looked up from the ground that I was now laying on, and realized that the door to our room had been opened, and subsequently bashed into the side of my head. That door is a lot heavier than it looks… I was still dazed from the impact, but I shook my head in order to un-blur my vision. Standing over me were two familiar pokemon, both of which I was very happy to see. One of them looked excited, the other concerned.

"You're back!" Shiro shouted before jumping onto the side of my body facing away from the ground, making me even more thankful for the medicine I was given. Shiro put her head to the side of mine and rubbed against it, which made me smile.

"Good to see you, Shiro." I placed a forepaw on her head, still laying on the ground from being knocked down. I looked up towards Naru, who was standing still, assessing the situation.

"Wait… did I just..?" She looked down at me. "S-Sorry! I didn't know you were on the other side! Are you okay?" I chuckled in response.

"I'm fine, nothing to be sorry about." I pushed myself off of the ground, and Shiro went from the side of my body to the top of my back, where she leaned against my neck. "How are you feeling?" I asked Naru, still admittedly concerned about her condition.

"I'm doing great! Something that Vero gave me took away pretty much all of my residing pain. I feel like I never got hurt in the first place!" Naru excitedly exclaimed. "What about you? Did you get the same treatment?" I nodded.

"Right after we landed. I agree with you, feels like we never even fought in the first place."

"What happened to you while you were away?" Shiro asked, putting her forepaws on my head and standing up on my back. Naru looked at us and laughed, probably because of the way Shiro and I looked.

"We'll tell you all about what we did, but let's go inside and relax first." Naru turned around and headed back inside the room she just came from, and I followed suit. It really feels like it's been longer than two days since I walked in here. Maybe the clutter of events that happened is messing with my time perception...

Naru, Shiro and I all sat in a small circle in the middle of the room while we explained to each other the many things that took place in the past two days. Shiro told Naru and I about her adventures through the Nest while we were gone, but only glossed over the part where she was attacked, which was understandable. She ended up getting lost more than a few times while navigating the gargantuan place, but said she was beginning to get a feel for where a lot of important places were, so getting lost was productive in some ways. The fact that she met with Kai was intriguing to say the least, especially when she described him as 'nice.' I had more than a few uncertainties regarding him, but I was nowhere near in the mental state I needed to be in to think about those right now. I was just glad that he didn't do anything to Shiro, and more so that he helped her. I took it as another tip on what kind of pokemon Kai is, but every time I've thought about that in the past, I just remind myself that he's a part of the Void. It was simple as that, I've seen what he does right before my eyes, so I didn't need to make assumptions of his character. It's that simple, right..?

After Shiro was done explaining, Naru and I went into everything we did while in Myriad. I told Shiro about the groups of kids that we met on our first mission, and Naru described all of the things she did while surveying Myriad. I obviously left out the missing portion of the group, because Shiro didn't need to know about that, not for any reason. Naru and I did tell Shiro about our encounter with Grace, but didn't go into too much detail. We just said that she was the one who hurt us, not saying how she did, or how bad the injuries really were before we had medicine to help with it. Once more, this was information Shiro just… didn't need to know, it would do nothing but disturb and scare her. Once we all finished explaining our activities of the past two days, I was beginning to feel light-headed again, and it looked like Naru was the same way. She got the medicine before I did, so hers had to be worse than mine. Shiro walked over to her bed and fell asleep rather quickly, probably crashing from the over-excitement she just had. Now that Naru and I were the only ones awake, I knew what I had to do, despite how close I felt to fainting.

"Okay, I promised that I'd tell you about how I knew those pokemon who approached us right before Grace attacked, so here it goes," I explained to Naru every detail from the first encounter I had with them, how I inferred who they were, and how their most prominent member attempted to hurt me, but failed miserably. I didn't have to go too far into detail with the last part though, as she sort of saw it when we encountered them.

"Huh, I knew you had to have known who they were when they showed up in front of us, but I didn't know it was to that end." Naru turned her eyes to the ground for a few seconds and smiled. "Thanks for that. It means a lot to me." I smiled in response. I was glad there was more of a meaning behind my actions other than proving a point.

I then explained to Naru everything that Vero told me, which originally came from Kai. Of course, Naru also knew how Kai had all of this information, but there was still a factor to this I didn't understand. Why say anything? Sure, he is a part of the Void, so it made sense that he would know about their agenda, as well as why Shiro was nearly stolen from the Nest, but that still left room to question. Why would he say anything? It doesn't make sense, wouldn't it only harm them in the process? Aven gave information in order to scare me, and also knew I couldn't do anything about it, so the interaction I had with him earlier made a lot more sense than Kai telling Vero all of this. Not worth dwelling on right now…

"We'll have to keep an eye out for Shiro acting different, or if anything weird happens to her." I told Naru, receiving a nod.

"I agree. No need for unnecessary risks, right?" Naru stared at me curiously. "So, why did you want to stay behind in Myriad for a little bit longer?" I internally flinched at the question. I purposely didn't mention it at all in our previous conversation, honestly hoping that she would forget about it. Guess I have no choice…

"Well, I was… suspicious about something. I assume that Aria told you about that massacre that took place in the place we were supposed to look at." Naru nodded. "Well, I wanted to… make sure of something. I made a theory as to who was killed in there, and I needed to figure out if I was right or not. It was… important." I knew I wasn't going to get away with being that vague, so I took a deep breath and readied myself to get into the more fine details.

"Remember how I told you that the orphanage camp we went to on our first mission was split up? I had no idea where the other group could possibly be, and neither did any of the other children from the camp, but if one group made it here, than the other one couldn't be too far away." I took another breath and looked down, the images of my examination of the bloodied shelter coming back to my mind. "I… wanted to make sure that the kids weren't killed, that I was just overthinking the situation. They were a group of innocent children that did nothing wrong, none of them deserved something like that, so I needed to see it with my own eyes." My body began to tense up. Just talking about this made me emotional, it's a miracle I actually managed to not lose my mind while I was looking at the pile of corpses.

"Well, what were the results? The kids weren't there, right?" Naru sounded really concerned, as if considering the possibility just as I did. I just bit my lip, it was becoming hard to talk without choking up.

"T-They were." I said in a pained voice. "The remaining c-children, and the adults l-looking after them, they were in the mess of bodies." I grit my teeth, not feeling confident in my ability to talk anymore. Naru just stood in front of me with a sombre expression, probably holding similar feelings. None of them… None of them deserved any of this… My body started to shake again, just as it did when I initially found the children.

"Who could have done this..?" Naru asked with a low tone. Not many are capable of this kind of brutality.

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't a Void member." I stared at the ground, staring at my shaking paws. "All of the pokemon there were absolutely m-mutilated. I can't see anyone else responsible than a pokemon that works for the Void."

"But, what has you so bothered?" I looked up at Naru, confused by her question. "I mean, this is an awful thing to happen, I'm… not happy about it," She shook her head. "But, you look like you're on the verge of tears, and I know how difficult it is to make you get to that point. Is there something more about this that's eating away at you?" Something more? Of course, the fact that all of those kids were no longer alive was upsetting, but that isn't the only reason why I feel like this, is it? It wasn't too hard to pinpoint the source.

I told Naru about the interaction I had with Shine, including the exact words he told me when I talked to him. His determination seemed unwavering, he wanted to reunite with the rest of his group, and was willing to push himself to do it, but it was too late, and he didn't even know, thanks to me not being brave enough. My own actions were also contributing to my current state of mind, but that really wasn't the heart of it. Once I finished explaining why I felt the way I did to Naru, not much had changed. It felt admittedly good to speak it out loud, but it didn't really change much. I looked back on the ground, just trying to calm myself. Naru had moved closer to me and placed one of her paws on my head, which calmed me down a bit. Only a bit though. We just sat in front of one another in silence. Being close to Naru made me feel a lot better than I did when I initially found out about all of this, even if we were in complete silence.

"I… I wish I could say something to help you." I glanced up at Naru with one of my eyes. She sounded guilty, which I haven't heard since the day I met her. You don't have any reason to feel guilty.

"You're already doing enough to help me. Plus, I can tell this upsets you too, you don't need to focus on me so much." I was more joyus than I thought I'd be when I realized that Naru was pretty much tossing away her own comfort to help with mine, but I still thought it was a bad idea for her.

"But, you have more of a connection to this than I do, it's better that-"

"No." I interrupted, shaking my head. "That doesn't matter, you shouldn't hinder your own emotions for my benefit. If you do that… It'll just have the opposite effect." Naru seemed to be taken off-guard, she lifted her paw off of my head a little bit.

"What do you mean?" She gazed at me curiously.

"I don't want you to sacrifice your own emotions for mine. I really appreciate everything you've done for me in the past whenever I was upset for any reason, or unsure about something, but please, only do it if you can without it affecting you. If making me feel better affects you negatively in the process, then I'd rather find a way to cope by myself." She still wore the same confused expression.

"That's nonsense." Naru shook her head. "If I have the opportunity to help you, I'm going to take it. I don't care how it affects me." Please don't think like that…

"I really don't want you to be hurt by helping me."

"And I don't want you to feel upset at all if I can help it."

"It's not worth you sacrificing your own feelings."

"It is if it makes you feel better."

"I… really don't want you to think like that."

"If I think you need help, I'm helping you, end of story." I bit my lip over Naru's persistence. Why is she so determined? I had such mixed feelings about all of the things that Naru was saying right now. Of course, I didn't want her to not focus on herself, but at the same time, it flattered me that she was willing to do what she was in order for me to not have emotional problems. I still wanted to protest though, but I didn't have much of a chance to. Naru had pressed her crown to my forehead, leaning against me. I looked directly into her eyes, about an inch or two away from mine.

"Tell me, the reason you don't want me to help is because you're worried about me feeling upset too, right?" Naru didn't break her gaze on me while she talked.

"Yes. I don't want you to develop the same problem I have." I said, also not looking away.

"Well, I feel the same way about you. Whether I'm upset or not, I want to make sure that you're not having any problems before I solve my own." I wanted to say something, but Naru continued. "Not to offend you, but I know that you have some problems with handling your emotions, yesterday is proof of that. But… I don't have the same problem. I know how to handle myself, and I know how to vent without having emotional buildup. I understand why you do, and I want to help you with it as much as I can." She's not wrong… but I still can't agree with her.

"Even if you don't have the same problem, you've already helped me so much in the past… and I've done next to nothing to help you in return. You're always the one assuring me of one thing or another, and you're even hindering yourself so you can continue. Yet, I still can't find any ways to help you." For the first time in this conversation, I averted my eyes.

"You've helped me a lot more than you think you know." Naru closed her eyes. "You keep on telling yourself that you're not helping, but did you forget the day I met you? The very first thing you did, both when I ran into you and when you saved me from being killed, was reassure me. You cheered me up, and made me feel a lot less guilty than I was at the time. Not only that, but time and time again after we started our lives at the Nest, you helped me whenever I wasn't confident about something, or if I needed to be talked to. I mean, come on Kuro! You literally just helped me overcome a mental barrier I had with the pokemon who used to torture me when I was younger. Saying that you haven't helped me at all is ridiculous."

"Even so… does it even compare to how much you've helped me?" Sure, I've helped her, she proved that to me, but was it anything compared to what she's done for me?

"Why does that matter?" I finally brought my eyes back to Naru's from the ground. "We both want to help each other, so why does the amount matter? All that matters is that we've both done the same for one another in the past." I picked apart all of what Naru just said, looking for anything that might have been inconsistent, but I came up blank. Instead, I just let a smile grow on my face. Naru obviously noticed.

"Just add another one to the list." I said, gaining a chuckle from Naru.

"But that list doesn't matter, right?"

"Right."

Naru and I separated out heads a little bit, and then my body sort of had an automatic motion. I moved my head passed Naru, and rubbed up against the side of her head with my eyes closed. I'm not exactly sure what caused me to do this, but Naru returned the gesture, which made my body envelop in a comforting warmth. I just wanted to be close to her right now, it put me at peace. While focusing on this very pleasant feeling, I felt my body become really weak all of a sudden, nearly making me fall over. I opened my eyes a little bit, only to see a blur, instead of clear images.

Right… medicine… My mind went blank and I passed out.

Hello Readers!

So, longest chapter since chapter ten, had a hard time deciding on where I wanted to end it, but I'm satisfied with my final decision. A question for you all: Do you enjoy longer chapters more? (8 or 9K, sometimes a bit more.) Or do you prefer them a little bit shorter? (4,5, or 6K) Typically, I think a lot of people like longer ones, but I don't want to assume and then keep on writing in a way that people don't want me to, so let me know!

I want to thank all of you who have sent in reviews, or have PM'd me, or given other forms of communication. I appreciate all of it, it puts a huge smile on my face! Also, thanks to my beta-reader for cleaning up my chapters, making them more presentable! (8-BitUmbreon)

See You Next Chapter!