Mount Silver (Base) || Afternoon
[53] [49]The tension between Blue and Artorias is thick enough to cut straight through. Blue can't recall the last time in the past four years that they've gotten this close to an outright fight; had he really been so blind to how his Umbreon was feeling?
A drawn-out sigh from Red brought both of their focuses back to him. It was difficult for Blue to imagine how he could have also missed how haggard his rival really was; he was almost like a dead man walking.
"Thanks... Blue," Red said,
"but it's not worth it." Not worth it? "We got in a fight and I nearly shot the kid and... Blue, I guess." Red told Artorias, and the Umbreon did not look pleased. However, he didn't say a word, and instead allowed Red to continue speaking, his tail twitching every few seconds or so. Blue didn't interrupt either, awaiting what the man would say next. There was a pit forming in his stomach, a cold feeling of dread starting to creep along his skin.
"Not worth it..." Was Red trying to say that he wasn't worth it, or that trying to keep him from being overwhelmed wasn't worth it? The mountain air suddenly feels as if it's several degrees cooler.
"Look, I...I'm not... right. I'm not well." Red wasn't looking at either of them; was he ashamed of being unwell, or afraid? Blue had condemned him so easily before, made his judgments in a snap; now, though, he could only find himself wholeheartedly believing his rival. There was no point in sugarcoating a problem-Red
wasn't well. It was plain to see. But that didn't mean he wasn't worth trying to help.
I can't believe that. But Red...he believes it. What do I do...?"You should just... leave... guys. It's not far down the m-mountain..." There it was, the one thing Blue had hoped not to hear.
"Indigo P-Plateau is functioning as a haven. If Daisy or Professor Oak are anywhere, it's there. Go find your family and... forget about me." After that, there was only one way for Blue to describe how Red looked, and that was defeated. There was nothing strong or proud in the man's posture, or his speech.
This is-Red doesn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be brought to this state, to have been threatened into shooting his own Pokemon, none of it. Indigo Plateau may have been a haven, but how could Blue ever live in peace if he left Red on this mountain alone, with nobody to help him?
"You don't... deserve... to have to deal with me...""Red, I..." Blue didn't have time to think of a fancy response; Red didn't need something contrived and useless.
"You don't deserve to just be left here." God, why did he have to be so bad at this? Blue had to be the absolute last person in the world that could truly help Red.
I'm pathetic. I can't do a goddamn thing."And, even if I did want to go, I left them, my family...I didn't even try to get back to Pallet. Mom, Daisy, my granddad-they should have been the ones I went to first. But I didn't. And now I might not ever see them again. Hell, you're the first person from before that I've seen this entire time." The words were beginning to form a lump in his throat, but Blue forced himself to keep speaking.
"I was a coward. I ran. I ran from humanity, I ran from my family, I even let Pokemon that trusted me be released into the wild, because I wasn't fast enough to reach them in time." Valjean, Zippy, Kaszal, the three that Daisy had adored and named personally. God knew if they were even alive. As his mind began to drag up all of the bitter, painful memories, the deaths of his Machamp and Gyarados soon followed.
Andre. Ingward. They, too, had trusted him, and now they were dead. Mom could be dead, Daisy could be dead, Granddad too, everyone in his family, he hadn't seen them in so long. Would he ever see them again? Would they hate him for not going back to Pallet, for running away? Blue felt as if he was going to be sick.
"I don't deserve a safe place...and they might not even take me back. Lance, whoever the hell else is at the Plateau, I don't know. Even if my family's there, they'll just see me as...as the coward I am." Why did it have to feel as if someone had punched him straight in the chest, right over his heart?
"I want to help you, Red. I wouldn't be here if I didn't, but...if you don't want me to stay, then my Pokemon and I, we'll go."