Out from the mist, by the frail light of Nuria's back, the very shrine that Ethan was speaking about appeared. Next to it was a certain red-haired trainer that Crystal knew all too well, and one of the Kimono Girls that Ethan had spoken about earlier. She blinked and looked at Ethan and then Red, who seemed stoic about the entire encounter.
"Ugh," said Silver, "of all the people who had to find us in this stupid in the middle of nowhere forest, it had to be you."
Ethan chuckled. "What ever could you mean by that?"
"I've already told both of you to get out of my face," said Silver, "what could you possibly want?"
The Kimono Girl looked at the other trainer. "Young man, I don't understand why you would be so rude to such strangers like this. Forgive him, Master Ethan and company."
"Master Ethan?" Crystal questioned.
The young-adult nodded his head. "Not to worry, Naoko. Silver and I are well acquainted already. His behavior is simply the ignorant denial of the fate that binds us all. May I introduce you to my friend Crystal."
The Kimono girl bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Crystal."
Crystal bowed back. "My pleasure, uh—"
"Naoko, to you," said the Kimono Girl who then turned to Ethan. "Is she perhaps—?"
"Yes," Ethan responded, "of course she is. You know how I was made aware of this."
"Hold on, what?" Silver responded, eyes wide, seeming to understand the cryptic speech between the two. "You talked to her as well?"
Ethan nodded. "I have seen parts of the threads of fate that connect us all; how else do you think I knew to be here today?"
Crystal opened her mouth to speak, to ask what in the world was going on, but the look Ethan gave her made her stop. It was a smile that dared her to try, as if he knew the thousands of questions going on in her mind. But also, as if he knew the fear. She had no clue what just happened, or what any of that interaction meant, but parts of it filled her heart with the terror of staring into some unknown, scary abyss.
"Well," said Ethan, "let us be off. Naoko, you can return to Ecruteak City with me, if that were to suit you. I know you get lost when you come here."
She smiled. "Yes, I would very much enjoy that. It's been a while since you've visited myself and the other sisters. We should catch up."
"Well," Silver interjected, "I'm not going with you lot. I'll tough it out by myself."
Crystal rolled her eyes at him. "Enjoy getting soaked, then. I know you just love the cold."
"Fine," Silver said with a huff, and Crystal smiled at being right.
Ethan said, "Not much of a fight there."
"Shut up," said Silver. "The only reason I'm going is because of what she said."
The walk soon split into a two by two arrangement. Ethan and Naoko began to speak about matters dealing with Ecruteak City. Silver walked next to Crystal, silent and angry. She looked at Red who seemed to be deep in thought, with his head to the ground. Crystal looked around the forest. She could understand what Ethan said about biodiversity. All sorts of bug Pokémon crawled on trees. She spied Pineco loitering around, and Oddish burying themselves in the ground next to the trees.
"I don't really get why you dislike us so much," Crystal commented to Silver, who looked over at her. "It's not as though Ethan or I have done anything to purposefully harm you."
Silver shook his head. "Just leave me alone about it."
She sighed. "You know, I have a theory that perhaps you're not so bad after all, under that uncaring exterior."
"You really have no idea who I am," said Silver, "or what I've been through. You just walk around like some happy-go-lucky little girl who has no idea how fortunate she is."
"Then educate me," Crystal dared.
Silver scoffed. "I'd just be wasting my time. If you can't put two and two together now, you never will."
"I really don't get it," she replied. "You were so kind when I first met you. And yet you act like you are now."
He shook his head. "It was before I realized who you were."
"What?" Crystal asked.
However, Silver chose not to respond. He continued to walk in silence and Crystal fell into a pattern, realizing that even if she continued to pester him, he would stay silent. She still didn't understand what possessed all of them to treat her as if she were an enemy, but there was no helping it. She would have to find out when she met him again, because as Ethan had made it clear, there was some form of destiny that bound them all.
As she continued walking Crystal made sure not to upset any Metapod that were hidden amongst the grass. She kept looking at Red, wondering what the trainer was thinking. She wondered if he was still angry with her, and if he really thought that she didn't trust him. The thought that he could think that was horrifying. But those memories were her own sense of personal horror, just as Red had mistakes unknown in his past. Crystal wondered once again what he possibly could have done.
Red had always been such a dedicated and focused trainer. She didn't understand how someone so passionate and in love with what he did could do something atrocious enough that he would need to beg for forgiveness. However, that was what the contract wanted him to do. She wondered what his role in everything was. Just as Ethan had begun to answer more of her questions, she found herself faced with the new ones. She was sure that it was him who tied their destinies together, but she wasn't sure of how.
Soon, the white mist of the forest began to fade into darker shades of grey, until the light around them was a navy blue. The forest became more difficult to see, pathways shaded with the color of charcoal, the moon's light coming down in glassy shards between the foliage. Dusk was to come soon, and they would have to stop. Crystal could barely see the path ahead of her much less the way out.
As expected, Ethan stopped. "There's a lake a little ways away from here. We'll make camp there and leave the forest at first light."
"Sounds fine to me," commented the Kimono Girl.
Silver nodded at the expression, and Crystal watched as the trainers followed Ethan to set up camp for the night. The lake they ended up camping by was spacious, the light of the moon reflected across the glassy surface. She could tell by its curves that it was waxing to be full any day now. A gust blew by her and she shivered. They needed a fire for the night.
Instead of setting up a tent and camp like the other trainers, Crystal ventured off into the woods to look for firewood. She was cold, beaten down from the events of the day. The mist seemed to hold tight and frigid against her skin, leaving her in a kind of exhausted shellshock from the effect the environment had on her. In truth, even though she had been journeying for some time. It felt as if this were the longest Crystal had traveled while crossing the routes.
All she could think about while venturing into those dark woods, was how much she wanted to be home. She missed the smell of the cider Elm's wife would always make for her and her mother. She missed the feel of her sheets and the soft smile of her mother. Crystal missed the warm heat and watching her favorite sitcoms. She missed the blowing grasses and warm fall colors of the trees. She missed not being on the road, not worrying about making campfires, and not having responsibilities and worries. Crystal missed not being on her own.
Soon the campfire she made was set up. Ethan and Naoko asked her about being a trainer, to which she responded with lies about how it was fun and fine and dandy. She really didn't have the heart and ability to tell the truth. As much as she wanted to talk to someone, anyone about Red and their situation, she feared what would happen if she opened her mouth. Would Red perish if she revealed that she was helping him? Every instinct in her wanted to protect him.
Silver stayed silent through the entire exchange, and to Crystal's surprise, seemed intent on listening to all the trial's she'd been through. She talked about battling, paraphrasing Red's words and ideologies about being a trainer to the group. They seemed intent on listening, and she soon figured that the traditionalist approach to being a trainer was appealing to the majority of the party. The red-head, though, continued to be unreadable. His eyes glistened with the light of the campfire.
Tiredness yawned her slow breath over the majority of the group, and Crystal watched them all go to bed. As the Kimono Girl only had a sleeping bag, Ethan offered that the two of them share a tent. She accepted, and watched as they became as silent as the depths of the lake that they were shored upon. Silver, though, slept in the open air. When asked, he made a gruff and tired comment about the light of the stars, something he probably wouldn't have said if he weren't exhausted. Crystal, though, stayed up.
Slow and steady, Crystal watched the embers of the fire that Nuria made glow with the hottest heat of a fire. Red told her once that she needed to be careful of the fire coals and put them out correctly. He'd apparently made the mistake once of setting the ground on fire. He'd buried the coals without putting them out and almost got burned for it. A good lesson, of course, by him. Not that any of his lessons on being a trainer were bad. Sometimes, she wondered how people without his wisdom would fare on journeys. They could learn a lot from him.
Crystal wasn't sure how long she stayed up from that point, mind in the deep recesses of bitter thought. The moon glided across the ocean of sky as if it had winged fins. This was by far the latest that she stayed up. But she couldn't sleep. The fight from earlier in the day, even if it felt as if it were a lifetime ago, stayed fresh in her mind. She hated fighting with Red. Crystal looked over at Silver, whose face was trained to the sky and whose eyes she assumed were closed. She wished she could have slept as peacefully as that.
"Are they asleep?" asked Red, who was sitting on another log.
Crystal nodded. "As far as I can tell, yeah. Why?"
"Look," said Red, "I've been thinking about something Ethan said ever since we entered the forest and I want to apologize."
She furrowed her brows. "For what?"
"I want to apologize for accusing you of not trusting me," said Red. "The reality is that we still have a lot to learn about each other, and I touched on something deep and personal that you aren't ready to share with anyone yet. I should've backed off, and waited for another time."
She sighed, looking at the fire. "I accept your apology. And really, I apologize for not being able to share with you. You're right in that we need to communicate and share things with each other and I feel regretful that I can't, but I want to when the time is right. I want to share as much as I can with you when I can, but now is not the right time. Is that alright with you?"
"Of course it is," he responded. "If I could hug you right now I would. I hate fighting with you."
Crystal smiled. "Same here."
"They said a lot of interesting things today, huh," said Red, commenting on their travel group.
She agreed. "There's so much that I don't know where to start. It's as if your disappearance were part of something more. But what, I don't know. And what about that comment that Silver made?"
"Do you think he was the one who gave you the photograph?" Red asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know Red. Both Silver and Ethan were there on the day that your photograph was delivered to me. It could be either of them. I really don't know."
"Well, I have a feeling that Ethan knows that I'm here. He keeps looking at me and saying things that resonate with me. Besides, what him and the Kimono Girl were talking about. Is there like some other hidden something that's going on with you, Crystal?" Red asked.
Crystal bit her lip. "Not that I know of. The only atypical things are that my parents were both battlers and I've never really had an interest to journey. Those are things you know, though. I'm just a normal girl."
Red laughed. "Normal is not the word I would use to describe you, but alright."
"Hey," Crystal retorted, "rude. This is coming from the guy, by the way, who is a total Pokémon nerd. I don't think being practically your own version of a Pokémon professor counts as normal."
He rolled his eyes. "Glad to have the old Crystal back."
"Oh, you'll wish you never said that," she said. "Seriously though, I just want to thank you for being understanding. When I get angry I forget all of this is hard on you, especially since the thing you love the most in the world is what pains me. So thanks, I guess, for being a great teacher. I really don't know how I would be if I didn't have your help."
"Uh, how about someone passed out from walking for four days straight without sleep?" He replied.
She rolled her eyes. "You're never going to let me live that down are you."
"Nope," he said.
"What a meanie. I never asked for this," she said.
Red stuck out his tongue. "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit."
"What are you, five?" she said with a yawn. "Come on, I'm finally getting tired, so let's get some sleep. The less time I remember being in this stupid forest, the better."
Crystal took care of the coals and laid out her sleeping bag. As she prepared to lay down in it, she gazed at the rest of the camp. Ethan and the Kimono girl were silent. It was Silver, though, that surprised her. She gazed over at him, expecting his eyes to be closed. However, he was wide awake, the gaze of the moon shimmering delicately in such a fierce gaze. She let out a silent gasp as she hunkered down in her sleeping bag. Although she wouldn't confront him, Crystal was terrified. She somehow got lost in sleep despite her fearful thoughts of what in the world Silver had heard from her conversation.