In the Shadow of Life: Prologue, Part 3-The Other Side of Life
#3 of In the Shadow of Life
In the Shadow of Life: Prologue, Part 3-The Other Side of Life
I arrived back at my house, presumably on time, because my parents weren't outside waiting for me. "Well, here I go..." I thought to myself as I walked through the entrance. As I entered the den, my dad and mom were talking in a corner of the room, while my siblings were presumably in their rooms, asleep. As I walked closer to them, they turned their heads towards me. Shock lit up their eyes, and then anger. "Leave us alone! Get away from here! We'll fight if we have too!" "Mom, dad, it's me, Shadow! I evolved," I shouted before they could act. Recognition appeared on their faces, but the anger in their eyes only intensified. "How could you? You have dishonored our family! From this moment forward, you will no longer be allowed in this house!" They both started up flamethrowers, so I got myself out of there like a Stantler from a hunter before I became roast meat.
As I slowly walked to Abby's house, I thought to myself, "Why is being an Umbreon that bad? They're my parents; I can't believe that they've done this to me!" When I reached Abby's house, I walked through the entrance to find her putting her boom box into a corner. She turned to me, saying, "Back? Is there something wrong?" I replied, "wrong is putting it mildly. I got kicked out of my own house." She gasped. "That's horrible! How can they do that to you? You're hardly older than 2!" "Yea, I know..." I sighed, "I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I guess I'll have to go find a new place to live. I just wanted to say goodbye before I--" "No you don't," She interrupted. "You're not going anywhere! You're going to stay right there, and you can stay here with me!" She dragged me over to the corner of her room while I tried to protest.
"Please Abby; don't make this harder than it already is. I can't stay here for several reasons. I would only come out at night, and everyone here would hate me the whole time. They would give me dirty looks. I'd be forever an outcast." "But I'd still care for you," She pleaded. "I know that Abs, but you also know that I simply cannot stay. It would make life harder for you as well." "I don't care!" She shouted. "You're one of the very few friends I have. It would cause me great devastation to lose you." I thought about it for a second, then said, "How about this then? I'll spend tonight and tomorrow morning here, and then I'll leave at night, ok?" "If that's all I'm going to get out of you, then I guess so." She replied sullenly. "It's already pretty late, so let's get some rest." Abby crawled over to her nest, and curled up in it. "What's wrong? Don't be shy, come on over," she coaxed. I slowly padded over to the edge of the nest, and then curled up in it. Although I was expecting it, it was still a surprise when she snuggled into my chest and pulled her body closer. What was with the sudden intimacy? "Ah well, it really doesn't matter," I thought to myself, as I slowly started to drift off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to find that Abby was in the same position as when I fell asleep. "Abby, wake up, its morning," I said. I nudged her with my paw, trying to get her to make some kind of movement. After a few more prods, she opened one eye and murmured, "who said I need to get up?" "Don't you, like, you know, have stuff to do?" I said. "Like what?" She replied. "Like, collect food?" I pushed. "I already have a week's worth of food stored up. I can eat that," she replied. "You sure?" I asked. "Yea." She responded. "Ok then, let's talk. What was with last night?" I asked. "What about it? You're one of the only friends I have here, and you're leaving tonight. Do you know how that makes me feel?" Sadness appeared on her face."I'm sorry, but you know I have to do this. I have no choice." I nuzzled her face. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Just don't think about me too much."
She closed her eyes again, and I got up to go get some berries from the back. I brought a few, curled up again, and started eating. Abby sat up and watched, taking a berry every now and then to chew on. "Don't you ever get tired of eating berries?" I asked. "Never. They're so good, and have so many healing properties," she mused. "But still, haven't you ever wanted to know what other foods taste like?" I mentioned. "I guess, but I don't really need to," She replied. We talked like this, rambling on about nonsense for hours. Sometime during this I got up to go get some more berries for lunch. Before I knew it, the light started to fade from the den, signifying that the sun was starting to go down, which meant I would have to leave soon. "Hey, Abby... it's been nice talking to you, but... it's getting late, so I'm going to have to leave in a few minutes."
That look of sadness appeared on her face again. She nuzzled my face while saying "Yes... I understand. But before you go, can we please dance again?" She pleaded. "Sure." I responded, thinking nothing of it. Abby went over to start the song, some very beautiful piece that I didn't recognize. It was loud during some parts, but was mostly slow and flowing. "It's so beautiful," I thought. "How do humans make stuff like this?" As it ended, I stared into her eyes one more time and said "Goodbye." She responded the same, and stared at me with longing eyes as I walked out into the night.
As I walked along a trail, I figured the best course of action would be to find a new home to settle in. I could settle there, collect berries, and just live my own life. Loneliness wouldn't be a problem, since I liked to be alone. I decided I'd head over to the forests near Twinleaf Town. Since it was very quiet there, and not very far from where I was now, it would seem like the ideal place to go. I ran for what seemed like eternity, until I saw some lights up ahead. As I got closer, I was able to make out a few cabins, and even a few houses. "Looks like I've reached twinleaf town," I mumbled.
I headed off into the woods a few miles from the town to find someplace to make my home, like a deserted burrow. I found a few hopeful spots, but there weren't any holes. Then I stumbled across one that looked promising, but there was still the faint smell of a Sandslash there, so I decided not to risk it. Finally, when I thought I was going to faint from exhaustion, I found the perfect looking crevice, almost rendered invisible by some cleverly placed bushes. It didn't smell of anything, so I simply walked inside, collapsed onto the ground, and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, I saw that it was still night time. How in the world can it still be dark? Then I realized that I had probably slept through the day, and that it was nighttime again. I guess since I was an Umbreon now, I was going to have to get used to living at night. I decided to better explore where I was. I exited the burrow and took a look around. The burrow was behind some bushes, which could serve well for protection, and hid the burrow well. The trees around looked to be in perfect health, and from here I could see several berries hanging in them. It appeared that I had found the perfect place to live. "Well then," I thought, "I guess I should start collecting some berries to store up, and get some others for....um....breakfast, I guess..."
For days the routine was the same. Wake up, collect berries, eat breakfast, collect berries, eat lunch, collect berries, eat dinner, collect berries, sleep. After a week I simply could not take the boredom anymore. That's when the greatest idea ever came to me. I would learn how to cook! I had wanted something other than berries to eat, and now I could have something else! For the next few days I went around everywhere, collecting wood I could use for a fire, and sticks that I could use as utensils. I ate the best meal ever that "night". Who knew Sitrus berries cooked in Tamato berry juices could taste so good? I slept with a satisfied stomach that night, thinking of other ways I could cook, and all the different berries I could use.
For the next few days, I cook up everything I could imagine. Some were good, others great, and this particular one that was absolutely delicious. Although there was this particularly bad one, which left me with a stomachache for days. NEVER again will I eat two whole cooked tamato berries with only half a Cheri berry and one and a half Oran berries to soften the flavor. Ugh. It seemed as though my life was moving along smoothly. Then came the day when everything changed.