Yeah, I'm supposed to be writing an English paper, but I don't feel like doing it right now. Besides, I need to warm up my typing skills so I don't suck on my computer.

I also noticed that one person (that I know of) asked about who Kaiyou was referring. Sorry, I didn't see your review until I updated. Then I was like, "Aww, crap." Oh well. ::shrugs:: You'll all find out who it is later, if you don't already know. And believe me, no one but one person out there reading this knows who it is. THAT I'm sure of. Hahahaha.

Disclaimer: This disclaimer is going on for the rest of the story unless I add more to it. (Which I probably will…) I own the names, personas, Shayla, Kaiyou, Shayla's Uncle, and that's it. Nothing else is mine.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 13

Family

I now knew where we were. We were traveling north along Route 120, or the route leading up to Fortree City. In other words, my home. We had even walked past a burrow that belonged to a friend of mine a few hours ago. When I had realized where we were, I got extremely homesick. I guessed Saji noticed and came up beside me.

"Hey… Aren't you from here?" he asked. I nodded slightly and kept my gaze on the path ahead of me. In the corner of my eye, I saw another burrow that belonged to my cousin. And beside hers was my aunt's. I remember her as a wonderful, loving aunt who would always bring pecha, sitrus and chesto berries when she visited my parents' burrow. I missed her…

I heard Saji sigh. "I didn't really have a home to be homesick of. Not for long, anyway. My parents had been captured when my younger sister and I were very young -a bug-catching contest was taking place, and both our parents were caught. Then another trainer came and took my sister. When Shayla came, I was alone, and didn't really put up a fight. Shoko was newly evolved, and he was really clumsy with his aerial attacks. So when he used a fly attack against me, I survived it because he only grazed me. And then…" He looked down. "Shayla wanted to test my powers a bit, so she challenged a bug trainer. My… my mother… I had to fight my mother… But, she didn't seem to remember me. I knew it was her, but… she…"

I blinked. Fighting against one's own relatives is always tough, especially when you have to use your strongest attacks. I've never had to do it, except for Hicha, (but he doesn't really count) so I don't know how it feels. It must have done great damage to Saji.

"I don't know how she learned it," he continued, "but she used a flamethrower on me. A flamethrower… She nearly killed me… Then, I got into a rage and used my wing attack. She was always frail -she was born with a weak heart. And… and then…"

My eyes fell. "You… you killed her?"

He didn't respond. Instead, the scizor sighed and turned to me. "If it weren't for that moment, I would have escaped Shayla and returned to my home, even though it was empty and cold. At least I would have been free. At least I would have had the freedom to roam around and breathe the air like I was supposed to, not from the enclosed space of an ultra ball. For a long time I hated it -living like I was." He sighed and shook his head.

"My point is, Demi, do you like being on the team? Or would you rather live here, in this grassy, beautiful forest?" He made a sweep with his claw. "I know your parents still probably live here, and your siblings if you have any. Would you rather abandon the team and go back to living the way you had been before your old trainer caught you?"

Not really wanting to answer that question, I looked up to him with a suspicious expression. "Why are you asking me this?"

He looked down. "Because you're a rebel at heart, are you not? Otherwise, you wouldn't have the nickname 'Xena'. And, ever since I've met you, you've been… wilder than the rest of us. I guess that's because we're all pampered pets now. But…"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Saji, do you really not like being a trainer's pokemon?" I asked. I couldn't really fathom any of Shayla's long-term pokemon disliking life with her; she was actually an agreeable human. The scizor laughed bitterly.

"Of course. Most pokemon do. But why don't they escape? Because, by the time they're strong enough to gather the courage to destroy their own poke ball and possibly murder their trainer, they would be hunted for the rest of their life. If I attempted that… do you really think any trainer in their right mind would pass up the chance to catch a WILD scizor? Especially at my level? You saw the way Shayla jumped at the chance at catching you."

I stared at the ground. "I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?"

I heard him laugh and looked back at him. "Because," he said, "if the chance arises, I want you to get out. You're strong enough to fend off the best trainers. And here, in a forest you know like the back of your paw, it would be easy to escape an abnormally strong trainer. I don't like the fact you were captured after escaping your other bastard of a trainer, but now that you're in Shayla's hands for the moment, I guess it's all right. But once the opportunity arises, and you have a way out, take it. You're brave enough. Make up for my own cowardice and live like you should -like you were born to."

I paused in my walking and stared at Saji's retreating back. I never knew he felt like that. Especially since he told me that living with Shayla was okay. I guess… he wanted to get to know me a little better before he poured his heart out to me, I mused. I sighed and began to walk again, pondering on what Saji had told me.

---------------

I had mused for quite a while when I noticed we were in a very familiar place. I let my eyes roam over the familiar trees and bushes when my eye caught the sight of an entrance to a burrow. I didn't notice my feet stop. So, when Tai bumped into me, I was brought back to reality. He looked at me angrily and said, "Hey, you caught in quicksand or something? Move!"

I didn't really pay attention to what he said, but I moved anyway, in the direction of the burrow, of course. I squatted down and looked inside to see if I could see the messy white fur of my brother or the unusual light blue fur of his mate's. I could see niether. I sniffed and smelled an absol down there, and it smelled like my brother. So, I called softly to him. "Vorren? Vorren, you there?" Then, I tried his mate's name. "Kisha? Kisha!"

I felt Tai come up next to me and looked down in the burrow. "What's in here, buried treasure?"

I slapped him away from the entrance of the burrow with my paw. "No, dumbass," I replied harshly. I turned back to the burrow and saw something stir. "Vorren?" I called.

I then saw a pair of eyes look up at me, one the usual bright red, the other a deep blue. My heart leapt. Those were my brother's eyes!

"Vorren!" I cried. Without thinking, I jumped down the burrow and crashed into my brother. He gave a yelp of surprise, and then turned to look at me with his unusual pair of eyes.

"A… Ayako?" he asked. At my brisk nod, I could see his face break into a big smile in the dim light. Disregarding the proper way to greet a relative, he tackled me and began to lick my face. Then, I heard Tai's voice from above me.

"HEY! What's going on down there!?" he cried. I could hear the slight distress in his voice, and then he attempted to jump down the burrow entrance, but since he couldn't see, scampered his way back up. He then began to pace briskly in front of the entrance.

Vorren stopped licking my face when he heard Tai's frantic voice, and allowed me to get up. When I got to my feet, I saw Vorren looking up at Tai, a slight frown on his face. "Why's a jolteon at the entrance of my burrow?"

I felt my face flush. "Uh… Vorren? That's Tai… a… a comrade of mine. But never mind about him, where's Kisha?" My brother's mate was very nice and understanding, and I knew that if Vorren learned of my… state of being captured, she would cool him down before he would try to kill Shayla.

His eyebrow raised. " 'Comrade'… ? What do you mean comrade?"

I gulped. Vorren never knew I had been captured. Our youngest sister, Raven, had been captured when she was very young, and he never took well to it. I didn't know what my parents told him when I was captured, just that they probably didn't tell him the truth. "Um… nothing! Nothing at all, Vorren! W-where's Kisha?"

He frowned. "In the forest. She's busy gathering and storing berries for the storm that's coming. Is there something you're not telling me?"

I gulped again, and then the light to the burrow diminished as a shadow came over it. I looked up and saw Shayla's silhouette. Oh, shit.

"Demi? Demi, are you okay?" she called. Vorren growled and leapt up the burrow, ready to attack Shayla.

"Vorren, wait!" I cried. When I scrambled up the burrow, Vorren was facing Tai. He'll get slaughtered! I thought. I ran up to my brother and grabbed onto his marred, webbed tail with my teeth. "Vorren, stop! Don't fight him! He's more powerful than you think!" I cried. He turned back to look at me and shook my teeth off of his tail.

"So you do know him? Is this your trainer?" he asked in disgust. "After Raven was captured, I thought you would be careful enough to watch where you went. And then Mom and Dad told me what happened to you -you got caught by an amateur tamer! Is this the trainer that you go so faithfully along with? Did you bring me out here so your trainer could capture me and Kisha too?!"

I didn't know what to say. After a few moments of awkward silence, a figure stepped out of the woods. Kisha, holding a leaf pouch full of berries, stared at us with blank, wide eyes. Shayla gasped at her beautiful blue fur. Vorren growled again.

"Your human better not try to get Kisha or I'll rip the damn human's throat out, hear me?" he threatened at me. Tai's fur went up at the threat.

"No one's trying to capture anyone," Tai said in a low voice. "Demi… Ayako wanted to see you, from what I can tell. Shayla didn't ask her to find you or anything. Your sister isn't acting under orders."

"Bull shit," he replied deep in his throat. He turned to me. "You traitor! How dare you lead these punks to the burrow and try to have us captured! Are you after Mom and Dad too? Well, I won't allow it! I'll DIE before I see another member of this family be captured by one of those bastard humans!" With that said, he lunged at Shayla, teeth out and fangs bared.

Shayla screamed, but then Shoko blasted a mouthful of fire at my brother, which caught him in the side and blew him off course. He landed with a heavy thud and groaned. I knew that Shoko was easy on him, but my brother wasn't even half of Shoko's level. I ran to my brother, but he slashed at me with his claws, which I easily avoided.

"Get away from me, traitor!" he cried as he attempted to get up. I was frantic -I smelt the burnt flesh and fur of my brother, but I couldn't help him unless I wanted to get hurt. When he reached his feet, he glared at me. "So you let that fire lizard attack me?"

I shook my head. "Vorren, I didn't think you would attack her… I mean, she's not-"

"She's not what, Ayako? Not mean? She took away your name, dammit! She took away your freedom, your life! She took you away from your home and family and friends! And you let her have her damn charizard attack me?!"

I flabbergasted. I didn't know what to say to these accusations. How could I respond? Anything I could say would be thrown right back in my face with a vengeful edge by my brother. Thankfully, Kisha came to my rescue.

"Vorren," she said softly in her mellow, calm voice, "don't scare her. I doubt she wants to see you captured today. Calm down." She began to walk towards him, but he stepped away from her but closer to me.

"What are you talking about?" he nearly screamed. "That's what any trained pokemon wants to see!" He turned back to me and then tried to slash me, but I dodged that too. He growled in frustration.

"Dammit, Ayako! Stand still so I can kick your ass!" he cried. He charged at me, but I jumped out of the way and he skidded into a tree. I ran behind Kisha for protection, but Tai didn't seem to think this wise.

"What are you doing, Demi?!" he yelled. "He's so weak, Shoko's EMBER almost caused him to faint! You could take him in a heartbeat!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amburna whack the oblivious jolteon on the head with her lithe tail. "That's her brother. Maybe she doesn't WANT to faint him?"

Tai muttered a soft, "Oooh…" when Vorren began to yell at me again. "Ayako!" he shouted, "Get out from behind Kisha! Don't use her as a shield!"

I heard Kisha scoff, something she rarely does. "She has good right to, Vorren," she declared tersely. "You are acting like a psychotic maniac and all she wanted was to see you and I, even possibly introduce us to her companions. And here you are, shunning her like she betrayed the family!"

"She did by leading that bitch of a human here!" he roared back.

Kisha sighed deeply, picked up a berry from her fallen leaf pouch and threw it at Vorren's head. The berry struck its target. "You stubborn moron!" she cried. "How dense can you become?" She sighed again and shook her head. "Well, if you won't trust her, then I will. And, since you are being a complete imbisile, then take these berries to the burrow and put them in the store while I meet Ayako's companions and trainer." With a slight upwards toss of her head, she turned and began walking towards my team. A smile came to my face.

Vorren growled and plopped onto his haunches. "I'm not letting you out of my sight with a trainer around," he replied. Kisha rolled her eyes and then went up to Shoko and began to converse pleasantly with him.

I remained where I had been standing, not really wanting to move. I felt as if caught in the middle of some unseen battle, torn between my brother and my commitment to my team. Thank goodness Kisha was on my side, or else I wouldn't know where to go. Shayla walked towards me and then sat down beside me.

For a moment, she didn't say anything, just watched as her pokemon talked with my brother's mate. She turned to me and then asked softly, "Do you know where Kaiyou went? He's disappeared all of a sudden."

"Kaiyou?" I asked, and, after a moment, she nodded her head. I looked down at the ground. Actually, I hadn't seen him for a while. The thought that something had happened to him disturbed me a little, but I brushed off the worry. After all, not much could take him down, and he could use the Void when he wanted to get back. "He's probably brooding somewhere where Tai isn't blabbing his mouth," I answered, and Shayla chuckled.

"Probably," she replied, and turned to look at my brother. Her smile fell, and was soon replaced with a somber frown. "Is he always like this?" she asked as her eyes took in his posture, which was reeking of "stay-the-hell-away-from-me-and-my-family". I gulped again and shook my head.

"Only around trainers. Kisha's gotten him to be more adventurous, but not by much," I answered. I saw Shayla nod slightly and look back to Kisha and her team.

"She's a really beautiful absol," she said loftily. "I've never seen one like her -a real rarity." For a moment, I tensed. It sounded as if Shayla wanted to catch Kisha. "Your brother's lucky to have a mate like her. And she seems very nice. Your brother better protect her."

I smiled. I was about to say something, but a sound in front of me distracted me from it. I looked at Vorren, who was approaching Shayla and me looking not very happy. I tensed again and was about to defend Shayla (for some reason I felt compelled to) when he frowned slightly.

He plopped down on the grass and stared at Shayla, who really didn't know what to do. Shoko and the others tensed as well, but Kisha just smiled and told them not to worry. Vorren looked from Shayla, to me, and then back to Shayla. He then bent forward and licked the back of her hand. This caught her by surprise, but then she smiled and scratched his head.

"Well, hello. Nice to see you don't have a stick up you butt," she said playfully. His frown turned upwards a bit and then he looked at me.

His smirk broke into a smile as he crouched down on the ground in front of me. Unbeknownst to me, a smile of my own grew on my face. I knew what he was doing. It was an old game we used to play. I crouched down as well. At this, he scooted his butt into the air, and I did the same. Then he tackled me, and the wrestling match began.

I had never loved anything more than the memory of my brother and I playing out in the open fields when we were children. The sweet scents of the flowers, the soft feel of the grass, the cool air. It was one of the things that allowed my sanity while with my first trainer. And now, I was with him again, like it used to be when the family hadn't been torn apart by the humans.

I had never felt happier…

-------------

It was dusk and we were all crowded into my brother and Kisha's burrow. Shoko and Amburna poked their head in through the main entrance, and Saji poked hi in through the back way. Shayla sat outside, and Tai and I were in the burrow with my brother and Kisha. Thanks to the small, fluorescent mushrooms and mold within the burrow, we could see each other in the dim light. Vorren handed each pokemon present some ratata meat -an absol favorite. I gulped it down gluttonously, as did Tai, and the others ate theirs with patience. After the treat, I looked up to Vorren.

"So are you storing up for the big storm coming?" I asked, and my brother nodded.

"Yeah. It feels like a really big one, so we've had to stock up more than usual. I've talked to Dad about it, you know he's more adept at feeling these things than I am, and he said that it would last a few days, even a week! No prey will be out, at least not anything good, so we've had to stash some away in the cold hole."

Tai turned to me. "Cold hole?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Whenever a rather… strong storm blows in, absols like to stock up on meat, just in case. But of course, meat spoils easily so what absols like to do is dig a hole and put ice and such in it and put a rock over the mouth of the hole, to keep it cold. Then, when the meat's in there, it won't spoil as easily."

Tai nodded. "That makes sense."

Vorren nodded too. "Yup. Which is how we store so much meat at a time." He then paused. "But… I'm not so sure about this storm," he said quietly. I cocked my head and paid more attention to the ripples in the air. It didn't really FEEL different than any other storm I've been through, but it did feel… a little strange.

"What do you mean?" Amburna asked softly. "What's wrong with it?"

Kisha, who had been very quiet next to Vorren, spoke. "It… seems to have a will of its own, like it's controlled by something. I would say Lugia or Mewtwo are possibilities, but I can't recall anything major that would anger them into conjuring a storm. The balance of the three legendary birds Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos hasn't changed. Nothing has, except for this storm."

Vorren looked at us all. "I want you all to be careful, all right? I don't like the feel of this storm. I don't like it at all. It's a ways away, but that gives you time to prepare. I would hate for one of you to get caught in a storm that feels like what this one does. It's not a Nature-made storm… it's made by something else. It feels ominous."

Tai turned to me uncertainly. "Do you think that too, Demi?" I looked back at him, and. After some consideration, I nodded. His face fell and he looked sick.

Vorren smiled. "Now, off of that subject. I think your human needs some sleep, it's very late for her, I'm sure. She's not nocturnal. Why don't you find a place to sleep? There's a town not too far from here that would be more than happy to give you some room, I'm sure."

I smiled and went up to my brother. I locked scythes with him, and then Kisha in the formal way to say good bye. Tai somehow managed to make it up the burrow with the help of Shoko pulling him up, and I jumped easily out. Vorren poked his head out and swung his scythe around, a kind of wave to say good bye. I did the same to him, and we then headed to Fortree City.

---------

It was late and we were sleeping in the Pokemon center. Well, everyone else was, save for me. I had the top bunk to sleep on, but I didn't feel like sleeping at the moment. My mind was keeping me up.

While I was musing, a dark dog-like figure stepped out of the shadow of the wall and transformed into a smaller human shape. I uncrossed my front paws and asked, "Where have you been? Shayla's been worried."

Kaiyou looked up at me with his golden eyes. He looked tired. "No… Not after the telepathic note I sent her. She shouldn't be worried."

"Where were you?" I repeated. He looked back up at me, and smiled.

"If I told where I was, you wouldn't know. I was just… checking on something. Something that has to be monitored day and night, but I make do with what time I have. I was affixing a… a lock on what needs to be watched." He sat down on the carpeted floor and stole a pillow from Saji, who groaned and rolled over.

"Kaiyou?" I asked. He looked up again. "When… When Shayla was about to capture you… You said that you couldn't be captured. That 'he' would get mad if you did." I saw Kaiyou's body flinch slightly. "Who is 'he'?"

After a pause, he answered, "Why, 'he' is a pronoun."

My face fell. "Yes, I know that. Of whom were you speaking of when you said 'him'?"

His eyes looked about the room. "A guy I know."

I grit my teeth in frustration. "Yes, I got that. What is the name of the guy that you know?"

He sighed and lay down on the floor. "You know, Demi, I'm not going to lie to you." He then rolled over and said nothing more.

I growled and picked up a pillow with my teeth and threw it at him. "What's his name?!" I whispered harshly.

"Who?" Kaiyou asked groggily.

I slammed my paw down on the bed. "Whoever you were talking about when Shayla was about capture you!"

I felt the wood beneath me jump. Tai had kicked my bed. I heard his groggy voice from below me, "Shut up will you? People are trying to sleep!"

I rolled my eyes and focused back on Kaiyou, who was staring at me with a look of mischief in his eyes. I glared. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm not planning on it. Even if I did tell you, what good would it do you or I? There's no point in telling you. You wouldn't know who he was if I did. No, I think you being oblivious to the knowledge of his existence is fine for now."

He rolled over and took the pillow I had thrown at him and put it under his head. He then sighed happily and pleasantly bid me good night.

I grumbled under my breath and laid my head on my paws. I was now determined to find out who this "he" was and know why Kaiyou was so reluctant to talk about "him".

My face formed a smile. Yes… I would just have to corner Kaiyou and get him to tell me.

I should have known this would be much easier said than done…

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Yay! A nice, long chapter for you! ::smiles:: Tee hee, Kaiyou's not going to give in very easily, I can tell you that!

I'm sad, the main character in one of my favorite mangas died… HE DIED!! WAAH!! And my fish is named the same as him… So I was like, "Rain-Rain!" and I went to Rainy's fish tank and made sure he was okay. When he saw me, he wanted food and went to the top, but since I had already fed him, I ignored him and read the rest of the manga.

If any of you know what I am talking about, then…

WAAAAAAAH!!!! RAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN!!!!!!!!

::cries big tears of sorrow::

::sniffle:: Ja ne…