Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of Crawling. Just a quick thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and I guess I'll see you all at the end of this!
"Hmm…so you're saying he seems uncomfortable around you and your mother?"
May, on the other hand nodded to her friend. She did need Dawn's help in figuring this all out. Why is Shadow so uncomfortable around them? Is it something that happened to him before? Should they take it personal?
"I'm not too sure May. I have never heard of a boy that could be acting the way he does. I would definitely pay more close attention to him and slowly try to figure it out."
"Yeah," May sighed. "Thanks Dawn."
"No problem at all May. Wish I could've been more help," The blunette sadly smiled, as the two of them sat at Dawn's bed, talking through the whole night.
"Well, I better be going. We'll need our rest for tomorrow. See you tomorrow Dawn," May briefly said, heading out of her friend's room.
But that entire conversation wasn't enough for the girl. This whole Shadow thing had still been bugging her, and with Dawn's lack of support, May decided to go talk to her mom about just how much it has been upsetting her. Being her normal happily self, May wanted to get along with pretty much everyone living in the castle, and this particular boy would do anything he could to avoid her.
Dawn, on the other had, managed to exchange a quick goodbye to her friend just before she left, while her head softy ad comfortably came into contact with her pillow.
…
That very next morning, the Maple family had arisen from their beds and out into the family room to enjoy a nice breakfast served by Brock as well as the other cooks in the castle.
Norman, Caroline, May, Max, and even Brock had seated themselves at the large dining table. The family had primarily allowed Brock to join them for breakfast to try to make their new Guardian feel more comfortable, which of course, Brock hadn't minded at all.
Right now, they had all been waiting patiently for their last guest to come down to eat, but were surprised to find him not present. Not even the slightest sign that he was even in the building.
"Where is he?" Caroline finally questioned Norman, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the silence running through the room.
"I'll go find him," Norman said, as he got up from his seat.
"Oh, no your Majesty, allow me to. Like you said, you needed me to make him feel more comfortable here at the castle. And since I have known him before, I think it be best if I went," Brock interfered.
Norman seemed hesitant before recalling the short talk he had with Brock, about him staying with them for breakfast.
The king had finally nodded, and sat himself back down.
"Thank you, Brock."
As the king sat back down Caroline spoke. "Norman?... Have you noticed anything strange with our guest?"
"What about him?" The king questioned, taking a sip of water from a valuable wine glass.
Just as the Queen was about to speak, May intervened, "Well, mom and I have been noticing that Shadow has been acting strange...particularly around us."
"Hmm...Oh, you mean like at the very first introduction with him?" Norman said, finally catching on.
May and Caroline nodded.
"Maybe he's just scared of May. I sure wouldn't blame him," Max spoke, jokingly.
Giggling at his previous statement, a fist was buried deep into his shoulder.
"Ouch! Mom, Dad!" Max cried.
"May, enough," Norman snapped. "I'll go talk to Shadow after breakfast, and see what's up. Sound good?"
The women nodded, and the family went back to waiting for Brock's return.
…
Right after Brock took his cue and left, he began to search for the boy. He had checked his room, the kitchens, the other dormitories, and even the training rooms but absolutely no sign of him anywhere.
That pretty much left one place he hadn't checked and that was the garden. Meaning he would have to go all the way outside of the castle.
But oh well. He had already checked everywhere, and this was pretty much his last resort.
Brock, now standing in place with his head peeked through an empty guest dorm, quietly shut the door.
The chef had then made his way back over to the family dining table, where the Maples still continued to sit and wait patiently in peace.
He walked over to them and cleared his throat for them to listen.
"Excuse me your Majesty. I haven't seen Shadow around, but I suspect he may be outside of the castle. May I have your permission to search for him outside?
"Of course, Brock. Just be careful."
"I will. Thank you, sir."
…
Over in the gardens of the castle, the same place where Shadow had his brief meeting with the Maples, the teenaged boy was doing his normal morning routine, which consisted of a lot of cardio and hardcore exercise. Mainly to maintain his muscular shape and to help regulate the powerful aura from within his own body.
Currently, the Guardian was on his back on the freshly cut grass doing sit ups, his Pikachu sitting on his stomach to add extra resistance to each rep the boy did. Each time his body rose, Shadow let out a sharp huff of air before leaning back down to pull himself right back up.
"Up early I see?" Brock interrupted, leaning against a cobblestone wall that held the castle.
"Morning Brock," Shadow muttered before huffing once again and repeating his exercise, clearly not paying much attention to his old time friend.
"It's breakfast time, so if you wouldn't mind taking some time off and joining us, that'd be great."
"Be there in a second," He muttered.
"Pika-Pi," ("That's one hundred.")
"Thanks Pi," Shadow said, as his Pokemon hopped off him.
Taking not much longer, Shadow got up from the grass, and brushed his cloak off, his hood still nudged over his head.
Pikachu, at that moment, hopped directly atop of his master's shoulder and the two looked around and admired the well groomed garden.
"I know it's nice Pi, but let's get inside. They've probably been waiting on us for a while."
"Pika chu," The yellow rat agreed.
And the two lead themselves back into the enormous cobblestone castle.
…
Back at the dining room, which had portraits, paintings, and other decorations hung around the walls and a long red carpet sitting underneath and flowing down the halls, the family still awkwardly sat around.
They were still waiting for the boy's arrival, which Brock had informed the family he would be here shortly.
Their food was turning cold, and the freshness of it slowly began to fade, but sooner or later, the boy had finally showed up.
If anything, the family had become even more silent than before, each and every one of them eyeing the boy up and down.
Having been used to being stared down constantly, the boy shrugged past it and walked towards the table, where he began to look for a seat.
Gazing at the breakfast laying atop of the fancy clothed table, it all looked so delicious. A variety of meats, different eggs prepared in different ways, toast, and a large assortment of beverages and condiments was neatly spread out.
But now he needed to sit down somewhere.
He looked straight across and that's where Norman sat. At the front of the rectangular table.
He turned to his left and that's where Brock and Max sat. But no seat was available.
To his right the women sat. Caroline and May were on the right side of the table, and sure enough there was a chair right in between them.
Shadow took a rather noticeable gulp and slowly sat down, picking up his silverware, everyone still had keen eyes on him.
"Well then…dig in everyone!" Brock said, rather awkwardly.
Norman nodded, and the family dug in, still enjoying the food that was now cold.
"So Shadow, what have you been up to?" Caroline asked softly, trying to create small talk with the boy.
Just hearing the woman's voice caused Shadow to slightly flinch again, grabbing May's attention as she watched in eagerness at the two.
"Just training," Shadow said barely above a whisper, but still loud enough to hear.
Caroline sighed a bit and continued to poke at the food on her plate.
Max on the other hand was eyeing the boy, himself, with one hand on his face, and his elbow on the table, before asking.
"Say, Shadow, you train a lot every day, right?" Max asked.
This time, though, Shadow seemed less uncomfortable, and even looked up at Max, before replying. "Of course, why you ask?"
"Well, I've been wanting to train with somebody for a while now. I tried to get some of the knights to do it with me, but they're all so busy guarding the castle and everything."
Norman, seemed a bit hesitant at his son's upcoming proposal, giving him a bit of a concerned look and turning to talk to Shadow. "I'm not sure son…I mean Shadow's level of training and yours are on whole different levels…"
Shadow shook his head. "It's ok. I would go easy on him anyway," Shadow grinned. "After all, I haven't trained with humans in a while either. So I don't see it as that bad of an idea."
Norman was surprised to hear Shadow say that nonetheless, but just decided to agree to it. "Alright then. Max, you be careful," Norman warned, wondering if his son actually knew what Shadow was fully capable of.
"Great! We can start today!" Max exclaimed happily, causing May to roll her eyes.
The family continued to eat and eat until their second helpings were finished, leaving everyone to get up from their seats and the servants to take the dishes away.
"Shadow, if you don't mind, may I talk to you for just a minute?" The Hoenn King asked.
The teenager swiftly turned to face the older man and nodded, making his way to follow him down a hall and into another living room.
"Take a seat, will you?" Norman gestured to a cushioned chair, one that was directly across from him.
Shadow reciprocated his action, and sat himself down, planting both arms firmly on the armrests and giving the king his undivided attention.
"What's the problem?" Shadow asked.
"Well…it's something…that us Maples have been noticing about you, lately…" Norman drifted off, thinking of the right words to say.
The Aura Guardian raised a brow as he waited for the king to finish his own sentence.
"You seem... uncomfortable around my family. Mainly just May, and Caroline…And I just had to ask if it was something personal...or...?"
Shadow's face remained expressionless, causing him to think back to his past. Oh the horrible things that happened. The cold bloody war…the screams...the abuse…the absolutely horrifying things that happened to him...the people...the women...
Shadow snapped back into reality rather instantaneously and narrowed his eyes at the king. "What did I say about talking about my past?" He replied harshly.
Norman flinched noticeably, and backed off. "I'm sorry. The thought had been bugging me for a while, and I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."
Shadow pointed a threatening finger at Norman. "Last warning. One more question about my past and consider me gone."
Not wanting to push his kingdom protector anymore, Norman nodded. I'm very sorry. It won't happen again, I assure you... But uhm... perhaps you can do me a favor? Just one?"
Shadow readjusted himself and leaned back in his chair. "What?"
"Well you see...my daughter is a very happy and social person, and she had been quite discouraged that you wouldn't talk to her. I want you to socialize…with my daughter. Talk to her about anything. At least humor her.
"Uh…is this really necessary?" Shadow questioned.
"Well. I think it would be good for you. I get the feeling that you don't speak to women very much, so I think you should. Especially with May. She's extremely sociable like I said, so I know you will have an easy time talking with her. Please? If things don't go well, you can stop. Just do this one thing for me. My family."
The teenaged boy sighed and rubbed his face with the palms of both hands, giving it last minute thoughts, before finally giving in. "Fine…If it doesn't go well, you will never force this upon me ever again. Got it?"
Norman nodded and gave a slight grin. "Good. Glad to see that we're on the same page now."
…
Like planned, Shadow and Max were about to train in the training room with the supervision of King Norman. Not that he didn't entirely trust him, but you can never be too careful. This was an aggressive, powerful aura Guardian capable of wiping out an entire army for crying out loud! Of course Norman had to keep a close eye on the two of them.
"Boy, this is gonna be awesome!" Max squealed as he ran across the field of the room.
The room in which the two were training in was quite large like most of the rooms in the castle. This area had looked much like an actual Pokemon battle ground, except there were some equipment some of the men came and used once in a while. There were weights, punching bags made from cloth and sand, tied to a ceiling, and some other items like weapons to be tested with. Old schooled fire arms, swords, blades, even Pokemon…you name it.
"Well, Max, what do you usually work on when training?" Shadow asked.
"I normally do all sorts of stuff! But Pokemon battling and sword fights are my personal favorite!" He exclaimed, obviously still very excited.
"Alright, which one would you like to do first?"
"Oh! How about a Pokemon battle?!" Max shouted. "I'd love to test the strength of my Pokemon."
The boy chuckled, followed by Pikachu. "Alright, kid. Show me what you got. We'll do a one on one battle and whose ever Pokemon still stands wins. "
…
Now Norman was interested. He had never seen his Guardian battle with Pokemon. But by how tough his Pikachu looked, Norman can only guess his skills with battling were just as great as his physical abilities.
"Alright Max, you go ahead and send out your Pokemon first," Shadow said, arms crossed as he stood on his side of the battling field.
"Okay!" Max agreed, removing a red and white ball from his belt and tossing it onto the field.
"Go Grovyle!" The younger boy yelled as the orb popped open revealing a Grovyle.
"Hmm…this should be interesting," Shadow thought to himself.
Pushing a part of his cape back, Shadow gripped tightly to his own Pokeball and tossed it onto the field.
"Scep!" The Pokemon shouted.
"Woah! A Sceptile!" Max said, gawking at the healthy and tough looking Pokemon.
Norman's expression was one of impression as he admired how well trained the Guardian's Pokemon looked. It looked like that Sceptile had went through years and years of hard work. It seemed even more powerful than his own Pokemon!
"He must be an extremely good trainer. It's time to see if my assumptions are right now."
…
The door to the training room suddenly opened as a young, teenaged girl peeked inside. It was May.
Just in front of her, she watched her brother and Shadow duel with their Pokemon, and by far, it seemed as though Sceptile was having an advantage.
May and Norman could tell Shadow was holding back a lot. Going easy on the younger boy and humoring him every time Grovyle landed a hit on Sceptile.
May began to walk over to her father Norman, who had noticed her as soon as she stood next to him.
"May? When did you just get here?"
"Just now. Brock just finished giving me my daily tutoring lesson."
Norman nodded as he smiled at the small Eevee that was in his daughter's slim arms, giving it a small pet as it cooed in delight.
"Who's winning so far?" May asked, curiously, watching the battle taking place.
"Shadow."
And that was already it. With a powerful Leaf Blade, Grovyle was hit directly in the face and knocked straight into the ground, creating a small cloud of dust.
Just as the dust had come to a clearing, Grovyle was revealed, fainted, and swirls in it's eyes.
"Aw man. That was a good match, thanks Shadow!" Max thanked, as he returned his Pokemon.
Shadow nodded, and returned Sceptile, noticing May now in the room with them.
"I guess we'll train again tomorrow, right?" Max asked.
"Yeah. Later again tomorrow, around this time?" Shadow asked for clarification.
Max eagerly nodded and ran out the room.
This was when May and Norman took their cue to walk over to the victor of the match.
"That was great match, Shadow. I noticed you held back a lot."
"Well of course," Shadow said. "It would be quite brutal if I went all out on your son. He has a lot more to learn, but he has the potential to be very good later on in his life.
Norman nodded in an understanding manner. "Thank you."
"Hi Shadow! You did great!" May enthusiastically butted it, causing Eevee to wake from her short nap.
Shadow, flinched a bit, again. A little less than the last time, but still just a little. "Thanks," He said. "Appreciate that very much."
May smiled, now giving Norman an opportunity to leave. "Well, I've got things to do now, but I'll leave you two down to chat. You know, get to know each other a bit better?" Norman said, looking over to Shadow for his approval.
The boy merely nodded and the king clasped his hands together. "Great! I'll see you two at supper. Don't be late!"
And he was gone.
May didn't have much time to process what her father had just said. He wanted her to spend time with Shadow and he gave her father his approval? Wow. That was new. When would she have ever expected something like that? Just last night her and Dawn were discussing possible reasons for Shadow's behavior around them. Now he's practically offering himself as a friend to her.
Taking advantage of the situation, May turned to look at Shadow, giving him a cheeky grin.
"So Shadow! What do you want to talk about first!?"
The Aura Guardian sighed. This will definitely take some time to get used to.
EOC
Well that's all for now! Leave a review letting us know what you think so far! See you all next time!
And a quick note to my readers, but I haven't quit my other stories yet haha. I've just been busy lately, so it gets hard at times to get new chapters for my different stories.
Currently, I have placed Evolved From The Dead on hiatus until I have finished this story. I may come back to it again sometime beforehand, but it really just depends.
And for Long Wished Love, I'll try to get working on the next chapter soon! Not completely sure when it will be done!
R&R! (All your thoughts and opinions are read and taken into consideration!)
~Ashura Satoshi