Author's Comment: I think I'm getting a bit faster with these updates! A good sign if I do say so myself! There's also a nice surprise at the end of this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy! Special thanks goes to: ASiriusWriter, thewinkingme, and Kirbyhammer100!
Chapter 7: Rejection
"Quite a set of chompers the little guy has..." Kiru mutters with good humor as Sokudo worriedly treats his wound with the First Aid kit, wincing as the young Ninjask spreads some Oran Berry cream on his snout. "And a big set of pipes, too. I think I might be partially deaf now." But his good-natured comments doesn't seem to have lightened his son's concern and if anything, the Ninjask seems more than bothered.
"You'll get used to it..." he mutters, his good wing twitching. "Unfortunately..."
Silence comes between the two, Kiru tilting his head a bit at his son's grumble. Glancing at the door, he nudges Sokudo with his snout, stopping the young cicada's treatment. "Sokudo, is there something you want to talk about?"
"No," Sokudo shakes his head quickly, not wanting to get his father involved, especially since he already got hurt from his husk. "No..." Also, glancing to the door, Sokudo can sense his brother on its way and he feels his dad give him another soft nudge. Taking a soft breath, he returns to trying to tend the Scyther's wounds. "Just some complications between Kowai and I, with issues coming up like this every once in a while... well, more than once in a while... all the time, really..."
That's all he wished to share and Kiru glances at the already-treated wounds on Sokudo's wing. Attempting to put the pieces together, he stays quiet for a moment before muttering under his breath. "Perhaps you'll be more willing to share this with your mother...?"
"Yeah..." Sokudo mutters back, nodding softly. "I've been thinking about doing that... eventually."
Kiru's about to say more when Ninika returns by the door, a beaming smile in her eyes as she looks over her shoulder. "C'mon, baby. It's okay."
A whimper comes from beyond the door and soon, Kowai floats beside its mother, snuggling. Holding the Shedinja as she flies to the other two, she purrs reassuringly when the little husk hides behind her, staring out at its father. At once, Kiru puts on a friendly smile, wanting to show Kowai that it didn't need to be scared, that he wasn't holding the attack against it.
Whether that message was received or not isn't certain, as the shed only stares at him silently from behind its mother. Ninika gently tries to push the little bug out from behind her, but Kowai shows no interest in allowing itself to be dislodged.
"Kowai, baby," the female Ninjask coos to it with gentle prompting. "Is there something you'd like to say to your Papa?"
Kowai is still silent for a while before a whimper and shudder comes from it. It hides even more, muttering to its mother. "Mama... The instincts..."
"It's alright," Ninika whispers to it, turning to hold it in a hug. "Remember what I said? You can do it."
"...I... I want to hurt him..." it whispers extremely softly, almost incoherently. "But... I don't want to..." It chitters anxiously before gathering every bit of its self-control. "Papa...?"
"Yes?" Kiru gently prompts in as friendly a tone as he can pull off, feeling a bit of hope that the Shedinja's at least willing to interact with him. Beyond biting him, of course.
"I..." It keeps in a growl as best it can, its voice slightly strained. "I'm... sorry..."
"No, Kowai," Sokudo pipes up firmly, very much aware of how the Shedinja tends to parrot the 'sorry' word without sincerity. Crossing his arms, he glares at the husk as he continues to scold it. "If you're going to say that to Dad, then you better mean it!"
Kowai turns and stares at its brother silently for a long moment, and Sokudo's good wing twitches as his only source of uneasiness. He knows he has nothing to worry about himself, but he can see right then and there that a lot of troubling things are swimming in his brother's head. Even with its lack of facial movements, he can easily tell it's dangerously close to having one of its darker moments and he can't help but fear for his dad... But perhaps his concerns are unnecessary as the Shedinja turns back to its father, chittering again to break its silence.
"I'm... sor..." It trails off, glancing again at its brother before whimpering and turning away. "I... I can't..."
"Kowai," Ninika starts, about to continue when Kowai shakes its body with a whine.
"No, Mama, I... I..." It turns back to its Papa, its sorrowful cries coming to a halt. Staring at its father, its tone is cold and emotionless and its voice a deep rumble quite unlike itself. "I'm not gonna apologize, Papa. Because I don't want to mislead my brother into thinking I mean it; I can't lie to him. Or Mama, either... Papa, I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry for biting you and I will bite you again, maybe even worse next time. I don't want you anywhere near brother or Mama, but unfortunately, I can't stop that."
"Kowai, bud," Kiru starts, wanting to appeal to the shed without success, the lack of which made obvious by a soft hiss from the Shedinja.
"Be quiet, Papa," Kowai barks softly, ignoring its brother's growls. "I may not be able to keep you from brother, but I can keep you away from me. Don't come near me, don't try to touch me. In fact, it's better if you don't try talking to me either. I may want to love you, Papa, but the truth of the matter is that I don't and most likely never will..."
"KOWAI!" Sokudo shrieks, feeling incredibly offended, especially seeing the hurt look on his mother and father's faces. This loud exclamation seems to startle the husk, and snap it out of whatever cold state it's in. Confused for a moment before realizing what it said, it whimpers and shakes a bit, backing away into a corner. Staring at its family, it cries and huddles as tightly as it can to the walls around it.
It's done it again; it has hurt its father, its parents. "I... Wh-why do I keep d-doing this...?"
"Kowai," Sokudo starts with a growl, breaking the silence that blanketed the house. "Go back home, now. You obviously don't belong here."
"Brother..."
"Sokudo, please don't say that," Ninika tells him, trying to stay as calm and gentle as she can given the situation, and she hesitates when her son turns to her.
"Didn't you hear what it said, Mom?!" Sokudo retorts, a look of disbelief and anger on his face. "You don't know it like I do! This thing is a MONSTER!" He hears Kowai cry louder, but it makes no refute to his comment. "I'm sorry, Mom, but that thing's hurt me before and I DON'T want it hurting Dad like it did me!" Taking a breath, he turns his glare back to his brother. "I'm serious, Kowai. Go back home and stay there until I come back. You're a danger to MY family and we're all better off if you just leave."
"Sokudo!" Ninika and Kiru chime in at the same time, stunned at this display.
"Don't abandon me..." Kowai can't help but whisper desperately, continuing to cry. Sokudo's glare doesn't soften, but his voice did a little.
"I'm not gonna abandon you, but I'm not risking my Dad's safety," he grunts. "Go back to Tao Village. Now."
Kowai, finding the lack of motivation to object as it usually would have, shivers as it pulls itself from the corner and starts floating for the door when Ninika hurries over and hugs it. Chirping in surprise, Kowai takes a moment to comprehend what's happening before snuggling to its Mama tightly, the mother Ninjask nuzzling into its neck.
"Don't go... I..." She sniffles, feeling herself torn in this situation before looking to Sokudo. "Sokudo, baby, I... I want to talk to you... please."
Sokudo blinks, wondering why she's on Kowai's side before looking to his dad. The Scyther still seems hurt about what happened, but the larger bug does give him a nod towards Ninika and the younger Ninjask sighs, his good wing drooping a bit before wandering over to his mother, who gives him a soft smile.
Looking to Kowai, she nuzzles it in reassuring comfort as she whispers softly to it. "Go wait outside, baby. Don't go too far, okay?"
The regarded Shedinja looks to her for a long moment before nuzzling her silently, saying nothing as it flies out the door and disappears from sight. Now that his parents are safe, Sokudo relaxes noticeably, although he knows that this is far from over. Now he had to convince his parents to essentially reject the shed as a danger to their lives. But seeing the firm look on his mother's face, he knows that'll be a difficult task.
"Sokudo... baby, I... I don't know how to respond to this," Landing by her son, she tenderly places a claw on his shoulder. "Sweetie, don't you think you're being too harsh?"
"Too harsh!?" Sokudo pipes, staring at his mother with wide eyes. "Mom, it threatened Dad!" He looks to the Scyther. "Dad, you can't possibly be on Kowai's side, right?!"
Kiru stays silent for a bit, glancing away before taking a breath. "This is a complicated matter, to be sure... And I would certainly say that Kowai was..." He trails off for a moment. "... out of line. But he's still family, your brother, my son. I can't push him away before I even try to connect with him."
"Connect with..." Sokudo feels his words snag and he looks back and forth between his parents. "You don't understand. That thing isn't normal! It's messed up in the head! It goes around killing people for their souls-"
"All Shedinja do that, Sokudo," Ninika tells him softly. "It's the way they eat and it's not something they can help."
"But it's different for Kowai! It doesn't just do it for food or whatever; it gets a sick pleasure off of it, like a friggin' sadist!" the young Ninjask insists. "And it tries killing anyone who gets near me, and don't get me started on what happens if it gets touched!"
"Sokudo," Ninika once more interjects. "Shedinja are naturally protective, although granted, Kowai's... quite overzealous in his efforts." She sighs, for although she had only known Kowai for a short time, she knew enough to know that's an understatement. "I talked to him earlier and, trust me, he didn't want to react the way he just did. He wants to make things work, but..." She shakes her head a bit. "I've spent nearly all my life around Shedinja, and none had such strong instincts to fight against..."
"It's dangerous, Mom..." Sokudo mutters. "I'm used to it and I know how to work with it to some extent, but... I'm worried about you guys... especially about Dad..." He shakes his head before looking his mother in the eyes, his concern and worries obvious. "I don't want to lose you... especially since I just met you for the first time in years..."
"Sweetie..." Ninika whispers, holding her baby close. Resting her cheek on his head as he snuggles to her, the mother Ninjask thinks hard on her options. Sokudo's really fervent about this and it's not like his concerns are unfounded. But- "Honey... Kowai has... problems, I can see that and I'll admit that. But he's like a child, I can feel it. He needs to be taught and handled gently. We need to guide him, love him, not reject him. How else will he learn?"
"It's psycho. It's never going to learn, Mom..."
"But if we give up on him so easily, he'll never get the chance," She pets his wing gently. "Wouldn't it be better to help him now, than to wait until things get worse? Rejecting him isn't going to solve anything and will only make his condition even harder to manage. As a family, we need to stand by each other, even in hard times like this. Understand, sweetie?"
Sokudo doesn't say anything for a while, pulling away from the embrace only slightly to look at his mother, then at his father. Kiru offers him a faint smile and nods softly in his own approval of his mate's decision. Knowing he's not going to budge them no matter how hard he tries to argue, he lets out a breath.
"Yeah, I guess..."
Its Mama told it not to go too far, but can it really help it at this point?
Pacing back and forth along a short stretch of a stream just outside the village, the little distressed Shedinja continues to cry and mutter incoherently to itself, shaking so heavily that it has to try hard not to fall to the ground. Hell, it takes everything Kowai had not to just leave like its brother told it to. It doesn't want to leave its family, but it doesn't want to hurt its Papa anymore, and it certainly doesn't want to have to further deal with the voices echoing in its head...
We have to go back, Kowai. Your mother told you not to go too far, the calm voice mutters soothingly, much to the chagrin of the other voice occupying the Shedinja's mind.
Fuck off, it barks savagely. Why're we wasting time mourning over this anyway?! It's not like we care!
"Shut up..." Kowai mutters, finally putting a stop to its restless pacing to look into the gently flowing water at its reflection. The Shedinja looking back at it looks the same as it always does, but the only thing Kowai can focus on is its own black mist. Why did it have to be the way it is...? Why can't things be simple...?
I can make it simple, the dark voice murmurs to it. Just let me call the shots again, and I'll be sure to 'simplify' things. Starting with that Scyther.
"I said shut up..." Kowai whispers, never removing its empty eyes from its reflection.
You know it'll be easy, the voice continues. A little Bug Bite to the throat, a Protect to keep out that pesky 'brother' of yours. You've done it many times, why is now any different? We both know that Scyther isn't your Papa, and you said yourself that you don't love him.
"You said that," Kowai whispers. "Not me..."
Ha! Did you forget that I am you? The REAL you, nonetheless! Don't try to deny it, you little demon.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" the little Shedinja shrieks at its own reflection. "I'M TIRED OF THIS, I'M TIRED OF ALL OF YOU! I'M TIRED OF YOU HURTING EVERYONE! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HURT MY BROTHER! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TRIED TO KILL HIM! AND YOU'RE THE ONE ATTACKING PAPA!"
No, you did all those things, the dark voice taunts. I'm just in your head.
"Shut up!" Kowai snarls, finally feeling its shuddering body collapse to the ground, the water splashing as it lays half-submerged in it. There, it continues crying, ignoring the voices, ignoring the feelings, ignoring its vulnerable position. And ignoring the familiar ghostly energy it's sensing arriving a few meters from it, no doubt drawn by all the noise. After a long pause, a soft female voice speaking up.
"Kowai...?"
Kowai doesn't respond for a moment, trying to gather itself before it hisses with its face still submerged in the water, for although it can't see the voice's owner, it knows all too well who it is. Finally lifting its head from the water, it still doesn't look at her as it snarls in a shaky voice.
"Go away, Yams..."