The Shaze Syndrome

Disclaimer

First off, this story's on Fanfiction.net as well. I put it here too. There might be slight differences between the two, such as chapter content, small edits, etc but I'll try to keep it consistent. Second, there is a lot of dark stuff in my writing, including some really crazy conspiracy theories that I'm not saying you have to believe, that's just the product of my antisocial tendencies and a computer. Third, this work has adult themes, I'm telling you now, bordering on lemon. If you don't like that, okay. I also have a very...unique writing style that not everyone might like. Just saying. Finally, don't blame me if it's cringeworthy, I'm warning you now. And of course I don't own Pokémon, but I'm just putting this there to be safe.
RATED M FOR MATURE

Legend
:yolo = Pokken, or Pokémon mind-speech (telepathy). I call it Pokken, okay?
The 'glitchy' words eg 'hI thErE' are words that are 'spoken' by glitch Pokémon.
The different colours in telepathy are different Pokémon 'speaking'

Summary

It's been four years since Silver lost to the League, and his girlfriend Kotone has just left him. He's ready to end his life. Shaze is a girl with a secret that can kill them both and a past she just wants to forget. What happens when she saves his life? FanShipping-SoulSilver Shipping-OC x Silver.

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

[SIZE=11pt]:help me[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:wh@t;s-n0[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:it-they-no they can't, not again. why?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i can't believe it, them[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i'm...i'm sorry[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:don't be[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:flicker please[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i'm coming[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no! that's the point. don't for me. i'm not worth it[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:don't talk like that. you are worth anything. you know that[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i don't know anything anymore[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:please, just...i'm so confused[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:iF y0u w0U!d jUsT lEt mE[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:please, don't do something you'll get killed for...for me[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i't! bE oK@y[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:too dangerous[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i;m...n0[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i wish i could take it instead[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:better only one of[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:us[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:please[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i pr0m!se wE wi11 f!nd a w@y. aNy w@y. i c@n;t stand /t anYm0re[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:its coming[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no! i won't. i'm coming[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i'm coming too, and i don't care what you say[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i to/d you. i t0ld y0U i sH0u!d [email protected]?![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i w!ll be wiTh yoU, i pr0m/se[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:this is goodbye[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i love you[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i...i'm so sorry[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no! ple@se be tHere. You d0n't know hoW. n0.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no! no! where are you?![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:please, no, stay with me[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:please[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i promise i will remember you[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Silver's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It will all be over. The pain, but pain isn't a good enough word, the black void surrounding me, I know if I fall there is no way to escape, and sometimes falling sounded good but I fought, but now I can't, and the rushing agony until falling is better, so much pain and burn and it's-too-much and make-it-stop and the breaking down of everything I know until I'm nothing. The nothing. It's always there. I am nothing. But it will all be over soon.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Him. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Partner. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Betrayer. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Friend. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Enemy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Ally. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Killer.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Target.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Victim. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]All words that mark his path. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Two paths, I know one is light and one dark, but I don't know which is which. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Who is he? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]All I know is that I killed [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her,[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and he knows her.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]She took her last breaths in his arms.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Even now, two years later and I can still remember him crying.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Why have I been dreaming about him since-No. I don't think about that time. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Why? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Why? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]But I [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]can't[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] think about him, but I have to, who is he? I close my eyes and let my mind travel down the dream, the futures. It's too much, paths interwinding and tangling; am I supposed to be the spinner in this game? One path of blood. One of something I don't understand, that scares me more that the blood, the end. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Both lead to the end. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]But only one time does he survive. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Everything he does tangles with mine, every thought and breath, until I don't know who's is who's. I should kill him, I can't kill him, I've already hurt him, I should stay away, I can't stay away, I should protect him, but I can't, follow his path or my own, accept my destiny-or write my own. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Storyteller[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The word spirals through my head. I reach out, paper and pen under my fingers, spilling the tempest of thoughts and plans and futures out onto paper, a confused tangle of ink-splattered words I don't know and don't understand. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Sometimes I pause because the language has boundaries and I can't fight past them, a feeling, a distant whisper, a indescribable knowledge I can't write, and I have to record this properly, but it slips away, half-forgotten scraps of memory like burning scraps of paper, and fragmented, broken, is what I am, who I am now. Sometimes I wake up and I don't know who I am anymore, trying to control this destiny.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Ab-sol.' I turn and a smile tugs at my lips. Bloody. She tilts her beautiful head, then notices the pile of scribbled notes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:don't i have enough of those already? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]she teases. Not yet. Charmer, where-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]pain[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]no[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]stop[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]He-he's in danger. Better to let him die or live? He is the balance point. For better or for worse, he changes everything. So I turn and run, the steady rhythm, wind and clear sky, and for a moment I let myself forget.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Forget what I did two years ago.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Forget what this desperate, insane mission is for. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]To save him. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]From himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Silver's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The weight of the gun in my hand[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. The memory of her, Kotone, and how she-no. The memory hurts even just as a flash. What she did burns in my mind like it's been seared there with a branding iron. The iron would have hurt less. She left me, the one person I truly cared about, she was always there even when I shoved her away-literally. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Raise the gun, point it towards my head[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Feraligatr is gone, he'll be safer there. Away from me. When Kotone first left, it felt like everything had gone out of me, scraped raw and bleeding, an open wound that would never heal. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I don't cry anymore. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Disengage the safety[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Why is the world shaking, I won't be able to get a good aim. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]It will all be over soon. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Press the trigger[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-and a hand grabs the butt of the shotgun, angles the muzzle towards the ground, and rips it out of my hand. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What the hell do you think you're doing?' The voice is rough, yet surprisingly feminine. But cold. Blank, emotionless, icy indifference. Anger sparks in my stomach. I can't even die with dignity. I whirl to face the person. She's standing there, wearing a too-big dirty black T-shirt with blue designs and scuffed black jeans. Her feet are bare. Arms lean, with taut muscles, covered in reddish ink. I look up at her face-and freeze. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It's not the angles of her features, the long, narrow scar on the right side of her jaw or the punk-style, tangled, dusky red-streaked hair that stops me. It's her eyes. Glinting from behind the scarlet-edged, messy bangs, they exude an indefinable power. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Dark-bright.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The colour scares me, like something I used to be afraid of.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]It reminds me of my sister's death.[/SIZE]

 

Chapter Two

Silver's P.O.V.

[SIZE=11pt]Her unsettling eyes are colder than ice, gleaming with cruel calculation and unnatural intelligence, they pin me down, studying with a piercing and yet simultaneously detached glance. A look that misses nothing. A look that says 'I can always find you'. A look that speaks of knowledge. Too much knowledge. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Memories[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. They rip through my head, claiming sanity, white-hot blades slicing reason to shreds. Hers or mine? I don't know. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Blood, pain, fear, chains rough around my neck, gunfire, falling. Always falling[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. The present swims back into view, and I'm scared...really scared. I recognize some, but the others must be from her. If that's her past...how is she still alive? The night-black shade of her eyes speaks of something else now, all the memories that aren't mine. A lifetime of being hunted, fleeing, fighting for every breath, every second, just to exist is a battle she cannot win. The girl clenches her fists. Did she see the memories too? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'How.' It's a moment before I realize the voice is hers. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'How...what?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'How can you be so cowardly to just 'end it' when you feel it's too much? Are you really like that...I thought you were different. Better. But I see that I was wrong.' Anger flares in me, and I narrow my eyes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I'm not a coward.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Prove it.' Not a request. A demand. 'Stay alive.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Why do you care? In fact, do I even know you?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No. You don't. And you won't-ever.' Something about her draws me, the way she talks, how she looks at me, head turned, bent, hair falling over her eyes, and what she says about how I will never know her hurts, somehow-no! I can't think about her, she knows nothing about me...but the sight of her standing there, wreathed in shade like the princess of the night, calls me. She turns and stalks away into the trees, a lithe grace borne from muscle and sheer force. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The darkness slips over her so easily, for a second I wonder if she's just that-a shadow come alive. Suddenly the thought of her leaving twists something inside of me, deep down. The only other time I felt that was with Kotone-oh no. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]You don't[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Her voice echoes in my head. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Wait!' The faint, blurry shape, like a low-resolution photograph, pauses. I don't know what to say, I can't think, now that I'm looking at her. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What's your name?' At least, I want to know that. She says nothing, for so long I think she's not going to answer. Finally, she turns and walks back towards me, her odd eyes locking on mine. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Nobody can know my real name.' I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It's only right, I don't even know her. She walks off into the steadily-darkening gloom. I watch her leave. Gone. I won't see her ever again. I don't even care about her, I tell myself. So why does it hurt so bad to see her walking away with a predator's tread? At the last moment she turns her head and says softly, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'But you can call me Shaze.'[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I walk across the wooden walkways, planks creaking softly, musty air filling my lungs. I study the thin shafts of sunlight peeking in through the gaps in the walls. The Sprout Tower. Thinking about two girls-one I've known from the moment I started my journey, one I met yesterday...and I've been thinking about-and dreaming about-all night. Why can't I stop thinking about her? She means nothing to me, nothing. But I keep thinking about her, Shaze, the girl with the dark-bright eyes.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The eyes that scare and draw me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I haven't been here since my journey four years ago, where I saw Kotone-no. I shut the memories out of my head. She left, I can leave her. But do I want to? As if spurred on by the thought, memories scroll in my mind, bringing pain. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Not physical pain. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Heart pain. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Kotone would tease me about 'getting soft'-no! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Argh! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Why can't I stop!? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]And anyway, hypocrite, she taught me how to love my Pokémon- [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Are you going to trip on me, idiot?' What? No. She's gone. But the rough voice, the oddly melodic undercurrent...Shaze? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Well, open your eyes.' I realize that while I was thinking, I'd closed my eyes...and almost ran into her. Shaze. Sitting in a dark corner, legs bent, elbows casually propped on knees. She's here. Something, somewhere, raw and weeping, heals. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I thought I'd never see you again.' My voice cracks on the last word, and I scowl. She raises an eyebrow. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You're not the only one. Anyways, what are you doing here?' I open my mouth, and realize I don't know. I try not to return to my journey's path. Too many painful memories. But for some reason, I felt like coming here, so I did.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Are you going to stand there with your mouth open like a retarded Magikarp for the rest of the day, or can I hear your answer?' Her voice is mocking, and yet somehow shy. Still cold by normal standards, but better than yesterday. It's still patronizing, though, and I glare at her.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'And what, you sitting in a dark corner is okay?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yes.' [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]This is the first time I see her smile. A grin creeping onto the left side of her face. It really changes her, from a quiet-looking, shy girl to something fiery and dark and...different. It's beautiful. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What's your name? Or...I can keep calling you 'retarded Magikarp', but...' I cross my arms and debate on it, but the weight of her piercing gaze brings my name to my lips before I can stop it. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Silver.' She stands up. I look at her and realize her knuckles are split. The white scars tell me it's not the first time. Were they like that yesterday? I can't remember. I scan her from top to bottom and realize the dark circles under her eyes, like she's been up all night. The ink on her arms has been joined by deep indigo designs as well, and I wonder what they mean. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You avoided the first question. What are you doing here?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No idea. I just, well, felt like it.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Same. I don't come to places with-with, well, memories.' I blink, startled. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You've been here before?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Once or twice.' She shrugs. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Honestly, I'd never thought I'd see you again. After yesterday, well...' She trails off. Something twitches at the back of my mind. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'That reminds me, how did you know I was there, about to...you know. And how did you get there? I searched the surrounding area pretty well.' She closes her eyes for a long moment. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I knew the place well.' is all she says. 'And I couldn't let you 'end it". [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Why? I mean, thanks, but, why? Why do you care?' For a long moment she simply stares into my eyes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I can't-I wouldn't be able to-why do you care anyways!?' She blinks fast, like she's trying to fight off tears. Something in her voice changes, and for the first time I see not a cold-blooded, calculating mastermind, but just a girl. Staring at me with those freaking gorgeous eyes-Snap out of it, Silver! You can't think about that! But something draws me, and I imagine what she would look like-oh god. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I turn red. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Thank Arceus she can't read my mind, I would be so embarrassed right now. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze shivers slightly, arm straying to her left shoulder. I lock on the movement. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Are you cold?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No, I'll be fine.' Ignoring her, I walk over and shrug out of my jacket. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Here.' I wrap it around her shoulders. She turns her head, breathing softly. For a second my hand rests across her shoulder. What would it feel like to-What?! No! Oh god no! I yank my hand away-as part of me wants to leave it there-as I step back, way back, irritated at myself. And, actually at her for making the whole trying-to-ignore-her thing that much harder. When I look at Shaze, I realize she's blushing slightly too. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Thanks.' she whispers. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yeah.' I stammer, flushing again because of the indecent thoughts running around my head. And the fact that I like them. Why am I-how can I-think this? What is she like-my mind chatters. I internally scream, why can't I stop?! Footsteps, laughter, racing up the Tower. Shaze goes completely white, grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me back into the gloomy niche where she was sitting. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]That's when I realize there's not much room, and no matter how I position myself, I'm still touching her. A lot. My body is betraying me, hormones pumping, my body curled, chests touching, against hers. I want to die. I look up. Shaze's scared-looking face is literally inches from mine. If I lean forward... I breathe in and out, realizing I'm hyperventilating, my breaths are shaky as hell, and spasms are racing up and down my arms. She's really close, I can't think, I can't breathe, the only world that exists is this tiny nook where I'm literally almost on top of her, and I don't know what to do, oh god why am I feeling like this?! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The footsteps thunder by. Two pairs. Sneakers-Hibiki's sneakers. I grit my teeth. Even though we're technically not rivals-that's Kotone's job-I still hold grudges from the notable argument we had a year ago. About a certain brown-haired girl. The second pair-no. White-and-red flats. No. No, of all places, here? Why? As if to rub it in, I catch a glimpse of bouncy brown pigtails. My stomach turns to acid. She can't be here. And seeing her laughing with Hibiki makes me want to storm out and murder that son-of-a- [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Hey.' Shaze's voice is soft and urgent. 'Who's that?' I realize (again) what position I'm in. I scramble off and rub my face, cursing myself for being like this. I glance over. Shaze is half-turned away from me unconsciously rubbing the back of her neck, and swearing under her breath. For some reason, she's reddish too. Why? I'm the one who's thinking about her like-I (unsuccessfully) try to shove all thoughts of the dark-haired girl out of my mind. And failing miserably. Finally, I work up the courage to ask, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What was that about?' Shaze's eyes flare. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Nobody can know about me, do you understand? Nobody.' I barely have time to nod before she runs toward a balcony...and jumps. A scream freezes in my throat. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Charmer!' A burst of sparks and I race toward the window in time to see the distant draconic silhouette.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I rub Charmer's head, and my loyal Charizard starter purrs, sinuous jet scales curling, blood-red wings unfolding slightly. Red. Like Silver's hair. The memory rushes back and I swear under my breath. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]No![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] No, it's dangerous, I can't be near him, I can't be anywhere near him-[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ever[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I've already hurt him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I've already killed his closest friend.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Even if he doesn't know it.[/SIZE]

 

Chapter Three
Of my cringy story.

Shaze's P.O.V.

[SIZE=11pt]I should stay away from him. But do I want to? The thought breaks out of some locked-away part of me before I can stop it. I can break the Rules. But I can't, I can't ever, if I want him to survive. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The memory bursts back, triggering something, something I don't know, don't understand. All I know is that I felt like this on the second path. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I close my eyes and try to figure out what I'm feeling. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Scared, angry, ecstatic, heart pounding breath gone I-don't-even-know-anymore help me him voices blurring together[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]...Snap out of it! I tell myself, like I always do when my thoughts run together. I don't know why, I've been trying to control that. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Maybe it's because of that time[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. The mental image of the redhead flashes up again and I press the heels of my hands into my eyes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I killed [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and he doesn't know. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I only murdered one person after I escaped.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]And it was [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I scream. Charmer raises his head. I wince. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Sorry,' I try to think of something else, anything else, but all that happens is the tangled mess of emotions I feel whenever he's around. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Hate, fear, guilt, pain, anger, sorrow, joy, and the pounding emotion I don't know, the one that makes me scared and ecstatic all at the same time, whenever I see him I can't breathe; does he as well, does he see what the paths are, what they lead to as well? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]What he could do and what he might do, every drop of emotion, the confused and confusing hopelessly tangled thicket that is my mind slams against me like a battering ram, like a storm, like a tidal wave, sweeping me away, and no matter how hard I try I can't escape. And sometimes I don't want to. The thought flashes past before I can stop it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I stop myself from swearing aloud a second time.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Why can't I forget about him?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I-I can't concentrate, everything, the events of last night screaming in my brain like banshees; but especially one memory, one that I can't like, I can't, but...I do. Why did I do that, choose that, why? No! This goes against everything, I can't ever-[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]EVER[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-be near him if I want him to survive.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I'm dangerous.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Something in me shatters at the thought of him dying, and I know I have to stay away, but I can't, so I turn, take off, and just try to forget everything. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]One-two-three-four-one[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Scanning the trees. Shut down everything in my mind and just see. Trees, lake like dented ever-folding steel in the half-light, my hair in my face; didn't I cut it? My jacket collar around my neck-I almost fall. What? I don't wear a jacket. I take a closer look. Black-and-red, sturdy, all-weather. Built for survival. Silver's. I forgot to give it back. I should find him now, I should give it back, I can't keep it, it's already too much...but I keep the jacket on. Keeps out the wind chill.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Oh god, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]who[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] am I kidding?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Wings fully extended, soaring, tracing scrolling paths through the sky; I'm free. The odd 'magnet' hums in my brain, drawing me towards him. It's just to give the jacket back, nothing else. I think Charmer's laughing at me. No, he's just someone I don't know, will never know.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Right?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I shut out all thoughts, of the redhead and my murder and my dragon, and simply close my eyes and listen to the whispering wind. The magnet tingles...can something imaginary tingle? It's imaginary, he probably won't even be there...although the topic is interesting...and this isn't the time. I exhale softly and Charmer plunges dizzyingly toward the ground, and despite my confused emotions, I laugh, because my head's clear, and I'm free, free from [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]them[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and my guilt because I killed [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and the constant shadowy presence of my father. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Forever. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I hit the ground, the semi-pleasant shockwave pain racing up my legs. I gaze out at the forest, and I can't stop smiling. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Because of flying with Charmer, I tell myself...not him. Not him, not seeing him and the way he looks at me...I rub my left shoulder, grounding myself. Time to go. I glance at the Shiny Charizard, but he's too busy cleaning his claws to notice. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:neat freak[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]He growls playfully. I walk off into the trees and study the sunlight falling through the leaves, the quiet murmurs of the trees, and the mulched forest floor. Footsteps. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Scan back tree where[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-my survival-honed instincts kick in and I realize I'm in a defensive crouch, dagger unstrapped from its sheath on my right hip and held in front of me. I stare uncomprehendingly at the knife that is my best friend and worst enemy, at the keen edge catching the light, and grip the handle until my knuckles turn white. I'm safe, I'm free, I don't need to fight anymore...but when a blade gives you your freedom, you learn to live by it. But there is no need to run and hide anymore, right? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Yeah, right. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Trust nobody[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. The words, the unspoken rule that dictates everything I do. Only my Pokémon will never betray me is all I know. I jam the knife back into its holder, angry with[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] them[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] for making me like this, angry at my father for, well, everything, but most of all, angry at myself. For forcing me to live this pathetic excuse for a life, and too scared to step outside the shadows where I hide. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]My life isn't the pathetic thing. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]I[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] am. I am for being to cowardly to face them, to face society, to talk to the [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]one freaking human[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] who, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]miraculously[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], I didn't scare off by accidentally showing myself, and who I am scared of, more then them finding me again. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Never be yourself. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Society doesn't accept ones like me. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Don't show yourself, don't draw attention, and never trust anyone...[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]The Rules. Non-negotiable unless you want to be killed. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I made them to protect myself...or did I make them to keep everyone else safe? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I hate them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]They spin through my head, bringing bitterness that coats my tongue and tastes like metal, fiery molten liquid metal and fire replacing everything else until I am gone, gone, and all that remains is the psychopathic, sociopathic demon I try so hard to hide. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]But there is only so long you can hide who you really are before they find out. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I reach out, desperate to control myself, and get my temper under control. My temper...I have a lot, and I mean a lot, of patience. Enough to put up with the b-s that this goddamn society throws at me...[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Get a grip![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] I tell myself. Because if they find out, you're dead. I've never 'snapped' before, as our term for losing control and giving in to the 'psyciopath' as our slang for the fusion of the two is. But sometimes...snapping sounds good, but it scares me, to fall into the endless dark void swirling at the back of my mind. Usually I like dark...after all, it's me. But not this. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The void. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Always there. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]You can ignore it, but it is still there. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]And I've already snapped once.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]To kill [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]If I snap, I'm scared of who I might hurt. Them, the people who made my life a living hell? If I hurt them, I'll enjoy it. But if I hurt Gira, or No, or anyone else I love, I'll never forgive myself, but will I be able to 'heal' before I turn on them? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I still haven't gotten over that horrible day, where my weakness forced No to have to 'flicker' for me. Then he saw I would get hurt, as they wanted him too, and he...left. I haven't heard from him since, and it hurts so badly, and I might snap, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]two years[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] of calling and I don't know where he is. Dead? No! He can't be, he can't be dead. Because it's my fault if he is...am I insane? Thinking like this? I mean, I can think clearly, rationalize my actions, blah blah blah. But if being insane is to be different, being weird, that's me. If to be insane is to walk outside the light, to be the villain, then that's me. I am the princess of the darkness, the shadows are my domain.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]After all, it's my birthright.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Footsteps. I automatically reach for my knife, but pause and pull my hand back. I step softly backwards, into the shade of the tree trunk, and wait. Who is it? A flash of red hair. My heart skips a beat, and I try to ignore the way my mouth goes dry, my hands shake, my pulse goes through the roof, my vision narrows to the shape in front of me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Oh god, I'm hopeless. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]But just to make sure...I wait, watching the boy. Also to take time to try to gather my scattered mind. Silver walks slowly along the scanty trail, kicking a pinecone out of the way, hands stuffed in pockets. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Why am I breathing so fast, why am I so nervous why[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-thoughts running together again. I take a few deep breaths and try to stop shaking. I'm not like this any other time, why is it only when I see him? Or is it related to the vertigo-world-spinning feeling I also get? I touch my left shoulder. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Focus. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I check back, even though it makes me dizzy again. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Dizzy...Why am I dizzy?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] I've heard some people get dizzy because of heights. I don't have a fear of heights. There's really no way for me to be able to be afraid of that, and even if I did, I'm not up high. I'm rambling. Something in me connects it with him, and I recoil. No. I can't-I can't ever-this is [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ridiculous![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] I tell myself, trying in vain to not think of him. I have about as much chance as me going back to my father voluntarily. I have one, one job here, and I'm failing at it. Looking back to the path, I'm scared, but I somehow move one foot, and then another, and then another...[/SIZE]

 

Chapter Four
That sadly, has no mention of a certain Dauntless character.

[SIZE=11pt]Silver's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I press my back against the bark of the spruce tree, staring at the needles without really seeing them. I'm thinking of her. Shaze. Why I can't forget about her is a mystery, she's just a girl, I tell myself. An incredibly hot, mysterious girl, my treacherous mind whispers, and I yell out loud. After all, nobody can hear me. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'What-huh?' Or so I thought. I look down, branches striping my vision, and see black-and-red hair. I reject it instantly, the only reason I thought I saw her was because I was thinking about her, but I won't anymore. I promise...which I immediately break, because she looks up, and the narrow profile and scar and those eyes, those eyes like dark fire locking on mine. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I shudder, thinking of my sister's killer, and shove the bloodstained memories from my mind. Shaze didn't kill her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]For the first time, I realize she's still wearing my jacket. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Had to...um, return it to you.' she mutters, looking away. She shrugs it off and looks around for a moment, then glances up at me before ducking her head and blushing. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Does she remember last time? I hope not, I'm still mortified, but I have no idea how she could forget. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Oh, uh, sorry.' She straightens up and places the jacket on a lower branch, then turns and walks away. For the first time, the full impact of what it would mean if she was gone, forever, hits me, burning away anything else until my world crystallizes into a single point, a single focus. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze is different from anyone else I've ever met, quiet and soft-spoken one moment, then I'll see flashes of something else, someone else, beautiful and dark and intriguing or cocky and fiery. I don't know who Shaze is, and for some reason I'm afraid I'll never know. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Wait!' She pauses, still and painted with green-tinged light shining through the canopy. 'Wait.' Will she stay, will she leave, but I don't think I can handle the disaster that somehow passes for my life without her, and the worst part is, if she leaves, I will never find her, see her again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Everything rests on this moment, where the seconds seem to congeal and stretch out endlessly, and I don't know what I'm going to do-she turns, looking up at me, and nods. The incredible sense of relief washing through me feels like I'm alive again, alive like when I'm looking at her. Shaze reaches out for a branch, then pulls back like it burned her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Quickly, she pulls on fingerless gloves. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]What's up with that? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Then she starts climbing. I watch her with some odd sense of admiration, how she swings easily between the branches like she's been doing this half her life-and for all I know, she has. I stare at her, at her form, narrow-framed and-I cut off the thought, trying to not look at her. Eventually I just look at the branch in front of my face. Shaze boosts herself onto the branch next to me and I stiffen, and then the thoughts and images and memories come back-I need something to distract me! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I fumble with the words until I finally say, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What's with the gloves?' Shaze raises her hand and stares at the thin black fingerless, then rips it off and shoves it into her pocket. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Not the time, Silver.' Her voice is bitter. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Well, what can I ask you about?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Fine. One question.' I scan her quickly, trying not to see her in [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]that[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] way, and look away again. I spot a thin black cord around her neck and point to it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'What's that?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Necklace.' she quips, smirking. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Unfair. Any idiot with half a brain can see that.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Exactly [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]why I need to explain that.' I open my mouth to shoot back, but see the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. My insides explode into butterflies and I growl.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Shut up.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Maybe.' Her lips twitch in a half-smile, sending another pleasant jolt through my insides. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Here.' She gently lifts it off and drops it in my palm. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I turn it over, scrutinizing the metal. It feels weird, almost forbidden in the way it's shaped, so perfectly and yet so flawed; it doesn't seem hammered or forged, almost as if was just created out of thin air. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What is it?' I ask, trying to find meaning in the flat, undetailed boxy shape. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'It's a...representation, I guess. Of my...friend.' Her voice cracks on the last word. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Who?' I know I'm pushing it, but my curiosity gets the better of me. Shaze shifts on the branch. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'His name was...he was...I knew him-known him for a very long time. But I haven't seen him in a while.' She says the last sentence carelessly, so casually I would think nothing of it if I didn't hear the pain at the core. Her pain...it scares me. It speaks of something stretching back for so long it shaped her very soul. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'What happened?' I brush her shirtsleeve. She turns and stares at my hand for a moment before continuing. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'He had to flicker for me.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Flicker?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Sorry. Flicker was our-us and some...others-term for distracting, sort of. To...talk, to imagine, to forget the rest of the world for a moment.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Some others?' I ask. 'Who?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'My friends.' she mutters. I snarl, irritated. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You can't just say something like that and not tell me anything else!' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Says who?' Her mouth quirks up on the left side. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Says...me.' I feel like punching her. Something tells me she will punch back. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]A lot harder.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Well, I won't tell you.' She leans back into the branches and smirks. I open my mouth to say exactly what I think, but pause, because the aching, howling weight of never seeing her again is back, crushing me into a tiny ball, gripping me in a freezing iron hold, leaving it's poisonous claw marks across my heart. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Shaze...' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yeah?' How the hell do I phrase this? Hi, can you tell me exactly when and where you will be for the rest of your life so that I can stalk you?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Not happening.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'I-' I can't do it. I can't do it. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Just...promise me I can see you again.' She looks up, and the cocky light is gone, replaced by something brighter, harder, darker...and hotter. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I promise.' Her voice sends shivers racing up my spine. I can see her again. I will see her again. And suddenly the weight isn't so much anymore. On impulse, I reach out and brush her side, under her arm. She goes completely still, like a girl carved out of stone. Finally she breathes out, slowly, carefully, like she's trying to stay hidden. She bites her lip, and butterflies explode into my insides. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Sorry, Silver.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'For what?' I'm genuinely curious about her reaction. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I'm not used to being...uh...' Her face goes red. I don't say anything else. She leans forward, resting her wrists on her knees, and I notice she seems...loose, almost. A subtle but huge difference from the normally tense girl. Her muscles are still taut as cables, but she seems more relaxed, like a panther right before it springs. Coiled and lithe. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I scan her from head to toe, stopping on her shoulders. She's made of muscle, it seems, all wiry and lean, but her shoulders and arms, covered in reddish-black ink, are very defined. Especially an odd corded sculpt stretching down from the back of her neck and attaching near the shoulders. Shaze notices me staring at her and yanks her shirt higher over her shoulder and stares at me, and I recoil slightly, because I don't see hate or suspicion in her eyes, all I get is undiluted terror. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'You saw nothing, okay? Nothing.' Her voice is soft and almost afraid. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What-' She cuts me off. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No. Whatever you saw...you didn't.' Something in her tone warns me that if I don't agree, she will make me. We settle back into our places, me watching the dark-haired girl apprehensively, her staring off into the distance. After several uneventful minutes, where all I do is alternate staring at her and internally yelling at myself to stop, Shaze tilts her head and looks straight at me. I break the hold first. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Do I...unnerve you or something?' she asks, and the corner of her mouth curls slightly. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No. Well...you're really quiet, but not in a studious-quiet way, more of a I-may-or-may-not- be-planning-your-demise kind of quiet.' She grins and shoves her hair out of her eyes in a I'm-being-really-sexy-and-I-have-no-idea kind of way. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Why did I just think that? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I scramble to find something to say to distract myself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Well, then tell me more about the guy you got the necklace from.' Knowing that someone is out there who has known her for so long, who she clearly cares about a lot, strikes something in me, stabbing me like a knife thrown past all my defences. Who is he, who is he, the question repeats over and over in my head, accompanied by a angry flare that feels like...jealousy? I crush the thought. Impossible. Shaze takes a long time speaking, like she wants to hold back the words but they are fighting free. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'He...has purplish-grey eyes. Very...odd colour, very noticeable.' She looks down at her hands. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'He's usually wearing...a old cap, faded dark purple sneakers, ripped jeans, worn over-large light grey shirt. T-shirt. Hair is same colour as his eyes. Tattoo of a bird on his right shoulder. A really weird bird, hooked beak, purple crest, black flange around his-the eye, white belly, purple forefronted wings with black secondaries, tan-orange tail feathers. It doesn't look like any Pokémon you know, trust me. Oh, and he might be wearing a windbreaker. A...bulky windbreaker. Don't ask why.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Him or you?' I demand. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Both. Especially him. Please don't ask me why, I won't tell you.' The blitzing, sparking jealousy is back, and I demand, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'How do you know him so well?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'He's...well, basically my brother.' She blushes. The coals in my stomach flare higher. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Not your boyfriend?' I freeze. I didn't mean to say that, oh[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] god[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]; why did I have to blurt that out, out of all the thoughts in my head? Well, it's better than...I cut off the train of thought. Shaze gives me a long stare. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No. Not my boyfriend. I don't have-never have had-a boyfriend. Why do you care, anyways?' The casual tone is back, but now it's accompanied by suspicion. I duck my head, and sigh. She already thinks I'm her stalker; why not go all the way? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I don't want you to have a boyfriend.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Other than me. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I look up and see her giving me a funny look. That I probably deserve. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Okay...' We sit in silence for a couple minutes before I realize I'm still holding her necklace. I hold it out to her, and she mumbles a 'thanks'. I lean back, tilting my head until I'm staring straight up, and exhale slowly. He's not her boyfriend. She's never had one. I don't know why those words make me feel so light, so free, and I'm scared to find out why. The coals of jealousy settle, and I can't stop the grin on my face. She's not his-whoever he is-girlfriend. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Silver?' I jerk slightly, guiltily quashing all my little fantasies inside my head. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yeah?' I reply, barely hanging onto my suavity. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'If you really want to know...his name is No.'[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze jumps down from the tree from a good sixteen feet, and it's all I can do not to yell at her to be more careful. She watches me slowly climb down with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I dare you to jump from there.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What, and break half the bones in my body?' My voice takes on a bite and I let it come, still aggravated from, oh, everything about her incredibly infuriating self.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I think you'll be fine. You're what, eight, ten feet up? How wimpy are you?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I'm not a wimp!' I snap, the now-familiar annoyance creeping into my voice. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Well then..?' I carefully arrange my feet, take a deep breath, and lean forward. I hit the ground, breath leaving my lungs in a rush, and fall over-or, at least, I was going to, before Shaze grabs me by my ribcage and steadies me. I don't know if the reason I can't breathe is because of my clumsy jump, or because of slightly more hormonal reasons. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]To preserve my sanity, I decide on the first option. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You okay?' she asks, looking up at me with those incredibly sexy eyes. I growl and pull away, muttering a 'yes'. Yes, I'm [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]really[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] scared of you and me but mostly you and where this is going...but I don't want it to stop. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'You dared me to jump. Now it's my turn.' She raises an eyebrow. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Are we playing Truth Or Dare or something?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Maybe. I dare you to meet me by the Dragon's Den at nine tomorrow.' Then I turn and run, because I don't know how much more I can take without self-destructing, all the atoms of my body scattering like dust across the universe.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Because I may have just asked Shaze out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I dare you to meet me by the Dragon's Den at nine tomorrow[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. The words pound in my head, replacing the familiar pain with something quicker and sharper. Panic. I turn over, the unyielding ground pressing into my stomach, and yell. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Feathers brush my neck. I lift my face out of the ground and press the heels of my hands into my closed eyes.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]haze[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The scarlet of his claws deepening to black shifts, and the ancient eye tilts and regards me with a gaze like midnight. I reach out a hand and feel the fragile feathers under my fingers. My fingertips trace the edges of the feather and I almost recoil, because I'm not used to touching things without killing them. But I won't kill him, so I stand, letting the massive wings fold around me and plunge me into bloody twilight. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I'm safe. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]And as the curve of his tail wraps around me our minds meld, and energy, dark power, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]forbidden[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] power, blazes through me and I'm surprised I don't rip apart with the screaming, pounding, exhilarating joy of our minds meeting as if for the first time, so long ago. He's changed since he found me, wreathed in blood making my own gossamer feathers. I would give my life for my spirit Pokémon. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Obelisk. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I didn't even know he was my spirit Pokémon, as the term was, until Blue and Leaf took me under their wing. For a short time, until they realized who my Pokémon was. The desperate escape blitzes through my mind, the shrieking of the other Pokémon, the taste of copper flooding my mouth from where my power, Obel's power was strong, and the rage, the rushing need for revenge burning within me until it burned away all forgiveness, all justice, burned back all the lessons I tried so hard to forget. The other two Trainers who each called a Pokémon did teach me something. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]They taught me how to exact revenge.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I've perfected the art.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]haze[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:hey, obel[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The curved horn dips down to my level, followed by the massive feathery head.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:you're missing your brother again[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I shouldn't be surprised he knows. Every feeling I have is open to him, as his are to me.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:who's silver?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]My mind blanks.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]haze?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Help me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]completely[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] forgot my mind was 'fused' with his. So are my thoughts. Embarrassment floods through me, a crimson tide rushing hot and heavy to my face, the weight making me dip my head, trying to hide.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Unfortunately, there's no escape.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]eriously, 4, who is this kid? and why do you think of him like-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]hut up or i'll kill you[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I feel like screaming. Out of everyone I've known (the list is not expansive), Obel is the second-last I'd want to know about my completely pervy thoughts.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The redhead's the last one.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Do I love having the feathered dragon in my head 24/7? Most of the time. Now is not one of them. I give into the mortification and roar in frustration, whacking my hands over my ears in a hopeless attempt to block out his next, teasing words.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:you like him! you're constantly thinking of him-does he know?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no! no to both![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]That's a complete and utter lie.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Both of them.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i never knew-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:go any further and i don't care if your my spirit 'mon, i will mess you up[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i think i've made my point[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]He has.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I let him know [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]exactly[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] what I think of him right now. He snorts softly, and I scream again, my helplessness only inflaming my embarrassed rage. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Chest tight and face burning, I storm over to the furthest side of the clearing and flop down, knowing I'm acting like a child, but not really caring.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]ne more word on how i think of him and i officially disown you and claim no affiliation[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:if you do that i can spread the story...gira's going to love it[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:don't you d@rE ca11 g!r@![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I stand, hands clenched, seeing red, every muscle spasming sporadically. Scabbed claws tear at my veins, releasing my blood to slam in my head. Acid roils in my stomach, deep down, eating away at my patience.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Obelisk has no right to be saying this.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Especially things of[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] this[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] nature.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I straighten and prepare for another verbal assault, breathing so hard it hurts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]haze what did you just say[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:you're not calling gira[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:it was messed up[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:like you're going to be?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:no. listen to me. you started thinking in glitch[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]My insides freeze. Impossible.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:you're lying[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The serious tone of his mind-voice chills me to my core.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:look[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Foreboding replaces the earlier hot blood. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]My hand shudders and flickers, moving gently to my turmoil of emotions.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]haze, stay very still. don't move. just wait it out[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Dizziness eddies around my feet, tugging and rippling away my unease, replacing it with drowsiness. A second wave washes over me, soothing, more insistent.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]haze, you're passing out. stay with me. fight[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]But do I want to anymore? The mindlessness of the sleep beckons me, whispering promises to just let someone else deal with it for a while. And it's tempting, so tempting, just to let myself go to it. I force my eyes open sluggishly, like my muscles are already asleep. It's too much. Heavy with guilt and the drugged sleep of my 'condition', I let my eyelids gravitate towards one another. My cheek presses into the ground. My knees are sore. And all I can think is[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]bel i'm tired[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Feathers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Wrapping me in inky darkness.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Feathers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Bloody-bright as fire against coal-blackened snow.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Feathers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Belonging to the Pokémon I called two years ago. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The partner of my mind and heart.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The Pokémon who is the pictorial representation of my soul.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Apparently Arceus has a twisted sense of humor.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]No? Explain to me why I called the deity of destruction, the living embodiment of death itself.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Is this some kind of sick joke? I'm not a killer. I promise.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I'm not my father's experiment.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Nobody believes me. Apparently the creator of this universe is no exception.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Because I summoned Yveltal.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I am a murderer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Whatever we touch dies.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Plants, animals...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]...humans.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Just another reason Silver isn't safe around me.[/SIZE]

 

Chapter Five
This chapter has no caption because I'm too lazy to write one.

Shaze's P.O.V.

[SIZE=11pt]I turn and stalk back across the clearing, itching to reach for the Pokéball resting on my right hip, home to Obelisk, my Yveltal. Oh my [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]god[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out, where is he, is this the right time and [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]oh my god[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-Bloody looks up and raises an eyebrow. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:calm down[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Sorry. I flop down against the wall and plug in my music. Nothing. I open my eyes and check the volume, the battery, the buttons, and the sliders. Nothing. I exhale between my teeth and press my palms into the ground. Great. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Fabulous[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Absolutely [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]freaking[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] fabulous. My iPod's broken. I swear and Bloody sighs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]:calm down[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:that's the second time you've said that in what, five minutes? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:because you need to be reminded. also, why so jumpy? you're usually more controlled[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:why wouldn't i be controlled, in fact i am, i'm calm and i'm perfectly fine[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Bloody glares at me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i could do without the sarcasm[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I pull back. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i'm sorry[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]She shakes her head. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:it's fine[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I turn back to the tiny black device and quietly extend a hand. If this works...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]top [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:bloody. it's who-what-I am. and I need to fix it, and it's not like I can just walk into an electronics store and ask someone to fix it for me[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]top! you remember what happened when no tried that[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:i'm going to do it, bloody. what is the point of what happened if we're just going to deny it?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I reach for the jumbled, broken, scrambled mess that is my mind, and extend my hand. Static screeches through the earbuds and I lose hold, my left hand shimmering in my vision.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]haze! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The static cuts off, abruptly. I hold up my good hand-the right one. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:wait[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The crackling noise is back, but there's a set rhythm, a steady beat. Then it collides in my mind and I gasp. No. He's hacked my iPod and given me one last gift. How? I got the music player after it happened...my mind snatches at the possibility but I shut it down. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I can't believe. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Because of what happens if I fall. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I close my eyes and inhale deeply, my throat to thick to say anything, tears filming my eyes. A song of blood and revenge. A song that promises [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]his[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] death, even if it means our own. Singing through the headpiece, sending shivers up my spine and the music seems to call my very core. Because if he wants a killer, he'll get one. Then it's over, the glitchy soundtrack and the words still humming in my bones disappearing into the loop of my other songs. No. His last promise, that he's still fighting, that in the end we may be gone, but so will he. Bloody raises her head. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:he's still there. for us[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]He is. And I will take him down, with my last breaths and seconds in this life I will rip open my father's heart with the knife that gave me my scar, with the knife that I tore open his forearm with. I will kill my father. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]For No.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I lean back into the cold wall of the building, scrabbling in my pocket for my pens. Red, blue...purple. For my brother. I yank off the cap and set the tip to my skin, drinking in the scribbled thoughts about Silver, my father, and No. Concealing who I am under messy writing and ink. I scan for an empty space and write down the song, the sounds, the purple-blue almost forming veins crisscrossing my skin. I sit back and sigh. Hiding what I look like under my notes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A rustle sounds to my right and I tense, but Silver steps out from behind the corner and my shoulders relax. For a moment before my mind starts thinking [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]very[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] inappropriately and I die a bit on the inside, because oh my god, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Silver[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Get it together, get it together, this isn't what you think it is. Please, brain, stop thinking like that or I might kill myself. He looks down at the pen in my hand and nods. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'So that's what all the ink is. Notes.' I nod. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'My writing is pretty messy, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm permanently marked from doing this twenty-four-seven.' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Marked. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]In more ways than just ink stains.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Silver's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I turn towards her other hand, noticing a small black device. An iPod. Shaze glances at it and raises an eyebrow. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Problem?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No.' Other than my palms are sweating like crazy, my pulse is sky-high, and I'm thinking about you in a way you probably wouldn't appreciate. I walk over and sit down, hoping she can't see how badly I'm shaking. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Sol.' My head jerks up and I see a slender female Absol, Mega Stone on a cord wound around her neck. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Red horn like a sliver of eclipse torn from the night just for her.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Shiny?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]She gazes at me impassively. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Nightfall. She's my second-in-command.' Nightfall yawns, stretching languorously, and pads away. Shaze watches for a moment before looking back at me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Awkward silence...cricket cricket.' I grin. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'So, the Dragon's Den. Gotta get those Ice Beams trained up...that failed miserably. Sorry. I have a horrible sense of humor...and I'm rambling.' She breaks the gaze and turns the other way, blushing. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'I tried to take on the Dragons a few years back. Four years back. With...Kotone.' Her name leaves a bitter taste on the roof of my mouth. Shaze shifts to look at me, layers of shadow striping her face, dividing it in two. Like her personality. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Who are you?[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] I want to ask. The girl who ripped a gun out of my hand or the relaxed, incredibly hot girl sitting next to me, elbows propped on knees? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Kotone? Was Kotone the girl in the Sprout Tower wearing...' She frowns at the ground. 'White puffy hat with a red bow, tied on the left side, red white-collared shirt with teardrop indent, overall...things? Shorts? Uh...oh, and white knee socks and red-and-white flats? And yellow bag?' I stare at her, my brain seems to be going slowly. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Do you have a perfect photographic memory or something?' Her brow furrows. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I guess. I've...noticed I remember stuff. Really well.' For some reason her voice carries a bitter aftertone. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Just another mystery to add to the growing pile about her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her head swivels back the other way, almost automatically. Her hand twitches towards her right hip. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What's there?' Her dark-bright eyes lock on mine. Chewing her lip, she boosts herself to her feet, gripping the hem of her pale grey T-shirt. She meets my gaze for a moment before looking away. Shyly, she pulls up the edge of the fabric for a moment, revealing a foot-long sheath. And a flash of skin. Shaze blushes and unclips the dagger with shaking hands. The blade inside is serrated, thin, and razor-sharp. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'So...you carry around a machete with you on a daily basis.' She grins. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'And a gun.' She pulls a sleek black handgun out of the waistband of her jeans, and casually flips it in the air. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Is that loaded?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'No. Do you think I'm an idiot?' She stops. 'Don't answer that.' I grin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Wouldn't dream of it.' She playfully pokes my arm.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Emotion-bot detecting sarcasm. Reacting. Reacting.' Her eyes glaze as she takes on a mechanical tone.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'That sounds exactly like a robot.' I'm not kidding. She sounds like some cyborg.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'One of my odder talents, let's say.'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'You have talents?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Shut up.' I cross my arms and smirk, enjoying the chance to get on her nerves. 'But really, I can mimic voices pretty well. Cadences, inflections, everything. Whole shebang.' My curiosity gets the better of me and I nod.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Let's hear it.'[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Talk.'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'What?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I'm going to mimic you. Talk.' I blink, caught off guard.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Fine. What do I talk about?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Anything. It can be a couple words or something...like I, am, an and idiot for example.' For some reason her cocky teasing doesn't irritate me as much as it used to. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Still annoying, but I almost feel myself enjoying the conversation. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I look the other way, growling, and try to keep my emotions under control.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]And my hormones.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I fail at both.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze closes her eyes in concentration for a moment before nodding her head to some hidden beat.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'This good?' I recoil on instinct. She sounds like a recording of me.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yeah, pretty much.' It's disorienting, hearing my voice on her.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Great. Should I switch back now or do you want me to be a human Chatot for a bit longer?' Even weirder is her sarcasm in my voice. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Am I cynical sometimes? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Yes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]She's sarcastic 24/7.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Switch.'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yes master.' Her usual rough alto is back, and for the first time I realize it had very little inflection...most of the time. Not that long ago, whenever she spoke it was flat and emotionless. Now, I can hear the rise and fall of her speech, like tides going in and out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Let me get this straight. You're daring me to go into an uncharted forest [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]at night[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] and expect me to not be the slightest bit wary?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'It's charted.' Growling, I walk away and try to stop shaking from what I hope is anger. She makes something as simple as a question infuriating and complicated.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Not the freaking point, woman. Now answer the damn question!' Why does she make this so freaking [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]frustrating?![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yes.' Straight to the point this time. Will I ever figure her out?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Ha ha ha ha.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]No.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Why the hell would I do that?' [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Because I dared you.' I growl in frustration.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]'Shaze?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Yeah?'[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'Screw you.' She laughs softly, and when she turns her dark eyes catch the moonlight like a cat's.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]'I like you too.' She slips off, and I'm left standing there with my mouth open like a complete and utter idiot.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I like you too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Shaze's P.O.V.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I smirk and stick my hands in my pockets, watching Silver go from irritated to raging.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Doesn't take long.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Especially for me.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]I know exactly what gets on his nerves. It's my habit to study someone, watch their quirks and personality.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Yes, I am a creepo.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]My shoulder blades pull back without thinking, and I force myself to let them settle to a more natural position. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Don't draw attention,[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] one part of me commands. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The other half says [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Shut up.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]My vision fuzzes slightly, and I tense, alarmed. What's happening-am I dying-seriously, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]right now?![/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] My chest hurts, and I trace it to the fact that I forgot to breathe because I'm so nervous.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Yes, I have a perfect photographic memory for certain faces, but I can't remember to breathe around Silver.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]My fingers spasm, and I press my palms into the rough bark of a tree, forcing my paralyzed chest to draw in the air, and I gasp, bringing tears prickling at my eyes. Annoyed, I blink them back and mentally reach out for Obelisk.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:you doing okay?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:fine, just needed to ground myself[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]:hmm[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]And he withdraws, leaving me with a confused mess of emotions and shaking like a leaf. I force myself to steady my trembling hands and take a few deep breaths. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]This isn't what you think, so no pressure, right? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Oh, the lies I tell myself.[/SIZE]