Once Is Enough

Part 10

Maybe now... Zoar could help him once more?

Warm droplets streamed from Avian's eyes.

"I... I'm sorry, Zoar...!" he whimpered. Zoar's eyes widened.

"Huh? 'Sorry'? Why?" he echoed.

"P-pl-please don't be mad at me, okay...?!" Avian managed to choke out. Zoar was still trying to process what the child was saying.

"Ave, how can I be mad at you?" he said. "Just talk to me."

Reassurance filled Avian, like it did before. He grabbed at his paws.

"My parents... They're not home..."

"What do you mean...?"

"B... Before... Before I met you, my... My parents were..." He gulped. "...We were attacked by a pack of Pokemon..." Zoar tensed coldly, completely silent. "I was too scared to do anything... But then my parents came." The devastated Riolu let the scene play back in his mind, hiccuping and gasping. "Th... They... My father was fighting off some of the P-Pokemon, and th-they jumped on him all at once...! My mother... She dived in to save him... Th-there was red... And then... Th-they...!" He couldn't go on. Avian let out the culminating sobs that were trying to conceal themselves under his shell. "They promised they'd be back for me, Zoar...! They promised!"

He could feel it. Zoar was probably starting to regret saving him. He's probably thinking of how he should have killed me...! This would've never happened, and he could be living back at his pack peacefully...!

There was a long pause. An awkward, yet very ominous instant that left a chill of anxiety in the air. It almost lasted forever...

...Until Zoar pulled the pup close to his body with his paw, startling him.

"Oh my Arceus... Ave..." he breathed. "I'm... I'm so sorry..."

...He's not...? Avian thought to himself. Zoar voice and expression was sorrowful along with him, perhaps even more so.

"I can see why you didn't want to speak to me about it..." he admitted. "It must be so hard for someone as young as you to witness that and... Just run. Live on their own... But you..." He darted his eyes to their corners. Avian leaned against him for comfort, which he received a gentle lick on his forehead for. His tongue felt warm and sandpapery, just like his parents when they washed him. It seemed to soothe him slightly, and his crying lessened. Zoar looked to be in deep thought. "A pack of Pokemon... Near the Barren Earthside...?" he pondered aloud. Avian could only watch the older Pokemon follow his train of thought.

Then, it clicked.

Zoar's once intellectual face immediately turned into a mortified one, filled with horror. His pupils dilated, and sweat formed on his fur as his body tensed in complete dread.

"N-no... It can't... The midnight patrol... They couldn't have stumbled out of the territory on purpose to...!" he whispered. Avian could sense the fear in his tone, and cocked his head frantically.

"What... What are you talking about, Zoar...?" he asked anxiously. Zoar slowly turned his head, not wanting to look at the Riolu's reaction when he spoke.

"...Ave... I... I think I know who attacked your parents that night..." he uttered.

"...It was my pack."

A shock ran through Avian's body, one he could barely handle. It was like the world had stopped turning.

He couldn't move. He couldn't think. He couldn't speak.