I SWEAR IT'S SO ADORABLE WHEN YOU GUYS MAKE ME STUFF ;w;

^fanmade cover [THANK YOU again] by tatsu_ <--- has a cover shop [*graphic. pshh what's the difference] so go check that out maybe request or something 

**republished (something happened where it was unpublished)

another stupid filler, sorry :c

8: Decisions and Escapees

 > > Nathan

My house was eerily silent as Lucas and I stepped inside, Piplup toddling at our feet, and I braced
myself to be scared when my mom appeared. But as we slipped into the basement, she never appeared and a part of me wondered where she had gone.

"What are we going to do? That Rowan isn't insane after all." Lucas was the first to speak, worry
lines creasing his forehead. Piplup had sat down a few feet off, watching us with sharp eyes.

"I don't know!" My hands found their way into my two toned hair, messing it up. "We could leave, but we don't know a thing about what we're doing."

"Do you think we should leave though?"

"You're supposed to know the answer to that," I groaned, sitting down at the edge of the chair. "You're the smart one; you're the one that makes the smart decisions."

"This is serious Nathan... I mean, we could die leaving, or we could stay at home. But what he said about us being connected was true, so it's not like he would lie about us dying in two years, right? Or the region's fate..." he trailed off, wringing his hands.

"What about our moms too?" I shook my head, trying to clear the haziness in it.

"We both know my mom wouldn't care," he said quietly. "I mean, half the time it's like I'm not even there and the other half she finally notices me and just bursts into tears at the sight of me."

"So, is it up to me then? Me and my gut feeling that always gets us into trouble?" I joked, only to be met with silence.

"Yeah." It was short and I could barely hear it, but I got the point.

"I think... I think we should go."

"So, now what? Do we tell your mom, or do we just leave?" Lucas asked, chewing on his lip. He stood up, standing awkwardly as he waited for my response.

"I'll do it. You... Can you go and pack stuff? You know where everything is," I replied, already moving towards the stairs. I didn't hear a response as I made my way up.

"Mom?" I called out, my voice seeming awfully loud as I explored the house looking for her. Peeking into her room, a human sized mound lay on the bed.

I pushed the rest of the door open and walked up to the sleeping figure. Long black locks framed her face as she slept, her face contorted into a somber look. She looked so small in the king sized bed alone and that worried me.

She was only one person, yet she carried so much on her shoulders. She carried grief; grief for my father, her brother, her mom. She carried memories; memories of happy times that only made her current life seem even worse in comparison. She carried people, and despite being with surrounded with company, I knew she felt alone.

And loneliness can kill a person.

Was it selfish for me to go? Was it cruel for me to be one of the last people she treasured and walk away? Maybe, and it probably was, but I still felt like I had to.

Picking up the notepad beside her bed, usually meant for her to write down lists and thoughts and such because she could never concentrate on one thing, I began to write. It short and somewhat sappy towards the end; however I felt like it covered what I needed to tell her. I tore the sheet from the pad and laid it next to her, where she was sure to see it when she woke up. Reaching my hand out, I brushed her bangs from her eyes and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Um, Nathan?" I jumped at Lucas' hushed voice, and then turned to see him peeking through the doorway. He motioned for me to follow to him, to which I complied.

After following him downstairs, I could see two bags packed and sitting on the floor.

"So what's the deal?" I didn't see a problem as I looked inside them; they had necessities like water and food, along with medicine and such.

"I can't find the pokémon," he mumbled quietly, looking down. "I found their capsules since you left them in the basement, but they're empty." He held them out, and as I picked them up, they were in fact, too light to contain them.

"Damn it!" I rushed down the stairs, looking around the room. "Chimchar! Piplup!" I hissed, lifting a blanket off the couch only to find pillows. Finding they weren't down there, I went back upstairs and began searching the rooms. Just as I was about to head to the kitchen, I caught sight of a flame and quickly caught up with the two pokémon. Before they could enter my mom's room, I scooped them up into my arms and headed back to the door.

"Okay, let's get out of here before something else happens," I told Lucas, shifting the two pokémon into one cradled arm so I could scoop up a bag. He nodded and we stepped out, Lucas locking the door behind me. He looked at me with the key, but I simply shrugged and jerked my chin towards the mailbox. He dropped it in, and then secured his bag on his shoulders.

"Do you need anything from your house, Lucas?"

"No. I put your important stuff into one of these bags though," he said grimly.

"Let's go then."

With that, we left everything behind. Sandgem town, the lake, our homes, our mothers, our childhood. We were just two boys and two pokémon, with no idea what was in store for us. We were free, yet chained by destiny.