[FIN] Try to Breathe

[BlackPidgeot]

The encounter with Izaya had been less than pleasant. Yuri had been all but too happy to leave when Luke had finally torn himself away from the b*****d and the old run down church.

Accompanied now by Link, they had gone on their merry way across the plains and into the expansive forest that lay between them and Sandalwood. It was spring and the trees had finally started leafing out. The sunlight streaming through the bright green of new growth seemed almost magical as the two young men and the pair of dogs strolled through the forest.

Yuri said little, leaving Luke and himself to their thoughts as they trudged along. Eventually finding a good campsite near a stream as the sun began to set. Luke had been assigned to gathering wood for a fire, while Yuri bent down next to the stream to tend to his arm. The bite from the Absol still fresh as he dipped his wounded arm in the cold water to wash it off. It hadn't been a particularly bad bite, but it had still bled. There had been no clothing to protect him since he always had his sleeves rolled up.

At some point, the large Arcanine had slipped away, leaving Repede alone with the humans. The dog patiently waiting near the designated fire pit for Luke to retrieve the kindling and firewood so that the canine could ignite the fire.  

[Suudonym]

Luke's mannerisms had been a bit brusque after the incident with Izaya, his expression impassive and his movements curt and pointed despite the lovely spring scenery that surrounded them. He took direction without complaint, returning before long with the requested twigs and branches to add to the pit. There was no voice to him, all words occupied by his thoughts.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Once the wood was present, Repede let out a Flame Burst to get the fire going instantly. At that point Yuri had started to walk over and blinked at his furry friend.

"Huh, that's a new one."

Repede wuffed proudly.

"Oh I gotcha, just learned it, huh?" The man said as he sat down, pulling out a small first aid kit from his gear. A roll of gauze was then produced as he wrapped his arm in it. Tearing it off with his teeth when he was done.

In continued silence Yuri pulled out some food and started making dinner as the skies darkened above them. Eventually that silence was broken.

"Soo... you wanna talk about it?"  

[Suudonym]

Luke remained silent for a time even after hearing and understanding the question. He didn't want to talk about it, not really. Something spurred him to speak nonetheless, at length, "I'm an idiot." The words were harsh, hateful of both himself and the source of that hatred that had been left half-conscious on the floor of the church. "That's all."  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri blinked once, glancing over at Luke as he spoke the hateful words, then looked back to what he was doing.

"For letting that b*****d get under your skin? Can't say I really blame you." Yuri would have been pretty pissed too if he'd been in Luke's shoes.

"You care about your brother."  

[Suudonym]

His posture tensed and his eyes lowered, a quieter, familiar remorse intermingling with the scorn in his features. His head dipped once in a terse nod.  

[BlackPidgeot]

"He was goading you on, on purpose. Don't let it get to you. He's pretty good at it." Even Yuri had been pissed just listening to the whole thing, and it hadn't even been his brother the guy was walking about.

"'Sides, from what he said, sounded like he gave your brother a hard time too."

After a moment or so, a thought then came to Yuri, and he reached over towards his bag again. What he pulled out was a brown belt with four balls attached to it. Three being normal Pokeballs, and another one being a strange black one.

"I'd been waiting for the right time to give you these," Yuri admitted, before holding them out to Luke.  

[Suudonym]

The fact that Izaya was a massive a*****e did little to assuage the knowledge that he had been tricked and had fallen for that trick completely. It sickened him to know that he could be so easily deceived, though he certainly hoped that after this experience he wouldn't again.

Luke was content, roughly speaking, to remain in silence, but his attention was drawn to the presented pokeballs, his brow furrowed. "What--" The locker came to mind, and the letter, and the pokeballs he'd been unable to find. His expression softened as he reached to accept the offering.  

[BlackPidgeot]

A small smile tugged at Yuri's lips when he saw Luke's reaction. He hadn't wanted to give them to the boy right away, with everything that had happened. The last thing he'd needed was four more little animals to take care of. But well, now had seemed like a good time.

"They were on him when he died," Yuri volunteered the information. Going back to cooking their dinner for that night.  

[Suudonym]

A slight confusion faded into his features. When he assumed that the pokemon had been left with someone else, he hadn't thought they would be with Yuri. Yuri knew that Asch was dead when no one else made any indication of knowing where he was. Yuri had the letter. Yuri had the pokemon he'd been carrying when he died. "…You were with him," he concluded, unsure of what tone to take.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri froze when those words left Luke's lips. But only for a moment.

"Yeah," he eventually said, not about to deny it.  

[Suudonym]

The understanding released a floodgate of thoughts, most of them angry or desperate or bitter, and with a sudden sense of urgency Luke moved to delve into the darkening forest, "I'm going to walk around a bit."  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri said nothing, nor did he stop Luke. He hadn't planned to tell the guy, but well.. he'd been smart enough to figure it out himself. Should have expected that. The man just stayed where he was as Luke went off.

Repede however, rose to his paws and followed.  

[Suudonym]

The first and persisting thought was that that wasn't fair. A lot of things about everything that had happened weren't fair, certainly, but this was just morally skewed. Yuri had been there as Asch killed himself and had allowed it. Yuri had been there as Luke had attempted the same and had not. To die then would have been to forsake his brother's sacrifice, so he could understand some of the motivation. But then why allow Asch to die? Luke made his decisions, they endangered his life, and he would have had no choice in the matter if those decisions had ultimately killed him.

I want to live just as much as anyone else.

His meandering eventually halted, and he stood tensely in the forest's waning light, unable to find a way to reconcile everything. At great length he returned to the campsite, a dark contemplation in his features and a harsh curiosity in his eyes, "What makes my life any more important than Asch's?"  

[BlackPidgeot]

Repede followed Luke out and remained near his side, looking up at the boy with his stoic blue eye, still holding that pipe between his teeth. The Growlithe remained quiet, simply being there with the red head. However, as Luke decided to return to the campsite, he again followed.

By this time, Yuri had finished cooking dinner and was lounging with his back against a rock, eating. He looked up with a straight face as Luke approached and asked his question. He sighed, speaking with his mouth half full.

"No one is anymore important than anyone else," he started, his gaze watching the fire instead of the boy. "Except to those that care about you."