Chapter 35

It was over in an instant. Within the second, Solaris had Shadow on the floor. The shock was written plainly across Shadow's face. Solaris squinted his eyes, clearly not satisfied. Shadow hopped back up to his feet and stood ready again. And again, Shadow was on the ground.

"What level of sealing pressure can you withstand?" Shadow asked as he stood up again.

"Ten is when I start to slow down." Solaris answered. Shadow put a hand on his chin as he thought. He then walked over to the wall and raised the dial to level ten. Eclipse and Emperion barely kept themselves from falling over and Shadow seemed to flinch.

"You guys might want to leave." he suggested to Eclipse and Emperion. They nodded without a word and stepped just outside of the room. Shadow returned to his place in front of Solaris and got into a ready stance.

"Are you trying to make things easier on yourself?" Solaris asked. He didn't understand Shadow's decision.

"That would only be possible if I had a higher sealing pressure tolerance than you." Shadow stated with a smile. "If you slow down I can track your movements and study them. Whether or not I can react in time, I can still learn something." Solaris slid into a ready position and Shadow's smile vanished. They trained together until Jay came to get them for lunch. They then continued as if lunch was just a short break.

"It's almost dinner time, you workaholics!" he called into the training space.

"Workaholic?" Emperion echoed quietly, a hint of a scoff hidden within his voice.

"You know what an alcoholic is, right? Someone who's obsessed with drinking alcohol? A workaholic is someone who's obsessed with working and is usually used when someone works for lengthy periods of time." Eclipse explained, standing up to follow Jay.

"Wait, it's an actual word?" he whispered, standing up after him. Shadow was breathing pretty heavily as he picked himself up from the ground for the thousandth time in a row. He hadn't been able to touch Solaris during their sparring. Solaris was breathing deeply but not enough to call out of breath. Shiro, Eclipse and Emperion were sitting on the couch as Jay grabbed the TV remote when Shadow and Solaris came down. Shiro looked up at Solaris as they entered the room.

"Ok, I've been wondering for a long time but who is that?" she asked, pointing up at Solaris.

"Codenamed Solaris. He's the person who beat me up during the DAF exam." Shadow introduced.

"Beat you up?" Shiro said with shock. Solaris gave her a friendly wave before sitting at the island. Outside it was pouring rain. Shadow took a glance out the windows.

"Geez, I know summer's almost over but how is it raining so hard?" he asked himself. He grabbed a cup and filled it with water before sitting at the head of the island, his usual spot. "So, what's for dinner?" he called to the people sitting at the couch. They all stiffened. Shadow was casually sipping his water as if he didn't notice.

"I'll take your silence as a 'haven't thought about it' sort of thing." he let out a big sigh. "Any thoughts, Solaris?" he asked, turning his head. It was a while before he gave a response.

"Pork?" he offered.

"Anything else?"

"Salad… and chips… and soda..."

"You heard him! Pork, salad, chips and soda tonight! And I expect you to eat some of the salad, Emperion." he gave a death stare straight at Emperion as he finished his sentence.

"W-What are you looking at me for?" he stuttered.

"You constantly pick the vegetables out of your food every time regardless of the meal! You aren't a carnivore, you're an omnivore whether you like it or not!" he started, going on and on about Emperion's dietary needs. "Anyways, I need to go shopping since we had to buy pizza for lunch. That also means we don't have lunch, breakfast or dinner for tomorrow so I expect ideas and hands to help me with shopping!" he ordered.

"Can't you just hold everything in your portal thingy?" Emperion muttered to himself.

"It's not a bottomless pit, Emperion. I have my limits, you know." Shadow argued.

"You heard me?" Emperion asked, bewildered.

"Yes! And my weapons take up most of the space in my storage so carrying groceries for a whole day's meals just wont fit. Plus, I spent most of my magic during training today." he finished. Solaris turned towards Shadow, who looked back at him.

"I'll go." he said in his quiet voice. Shadow smiled and nodded his thanks before returning his attention back to the rest of his friends.

"I've got one volunteer. I don't have the energy right now to wait for another volunteer before I drag someone with me so you have until I finish my water to come willingly." Shadow stated as he took another sip.

"I'll go with you!" Shiro said with excitement, raising her hand.

"Are you sure?" Jay asked. "You might have to walk all the way up and down the mountain in pouring rain and Shadow is sure to pick Emperion if no one volunteers."

"What?"

"It's ok. I want to go. Mr. Knucklehead would probably drop something and we don't want wet food, do we?" she said in a cheery tone.

"What?!" Emperion jumped to his feet, fists clenched. "I am not that clumsy! Grocery bags have handles so I can't just drop them!"

"With your clumsiness I wouldn't be surprised." Shadow smiled.

"Excuse me?" Emperion jumped at Shadow once again. Shadow took a sip of his water with an unconcerned expression as he watched a scene play out that he had seen many times before. Once Emperion was within range, Shadow grabbed his hair and threw him onto the floor with ease. He then stood up and put his drink on the island.

"Alright, now that that problem is dealt with, you guys ready to go shopping?" he asked as if nothing happened, walking over Empeiron on his way to the door. Solaris stood up and nodded while Shiro looked at Empeiron with a worried expression.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"He doesn't seem to die everytime so I think he'll be fine. Besides, if that was enough to kill him he'd have been dead long ago." Shadow assured. "And if he was going to die from that, he wouldn't keep charging me. At least I think he's smart enough not to." Shiro nodded and followed him and Solaris out the door. Once they left the house, Shadow scooped Shiro off her feet and flew her down the mountain side.

"Let's pick up umbrellas while we shop." Solaris suggested.

"Good idea." Shadow agreed. He flew them down to the shopping area and walked into the store he was most familiar with. They bought lettuce, raw pork and a bag of chips as well as umbrellas. They left after purchase and went to the next store. In the end, they bought from three different stores and then started on their way home. Shiro and Solaris were chatting (and by chatting I mean Shiro was talking and Solaris was listening) as Shadow walked behind them. Suddenly, he saw something that caught his attention and he stopped abruptly. Solaris noticed immediately and stopped as well. Shiro looked back at them in confusion.

"Shadow?" He had a terrified look on his face as he stared off to his right. Without warning, he dropped the bags he was holding, along with his umbrella, and ran over to the side of the street. There, he crouched by a small, thin figure. It was a black cat with a white diamond on its forehead. It was laying on its side, its bones showing through its soaking wet fur. He gently picked the cat up in his arms and pressed his scarred ear to its chest. Its fur was stone cold and its breathing was faint but he could still hear a heartbeat. A hint of hope sprang into his eyes and he began running for the mountain. Shiro and Solaris grabbed the stuff he dropped and ran after him. Once he reached the bottom of the mountain, he unfolded his wing and took off at terrifyingly high speeds. Solaris scooped up Shiro like Shadow had done before to carry her up the mountain. Once he had reached his front door he threw the door open, startling the people waiting for him on the couch.

"Jay, I need the softest towel we have! Now!" he ordered with a desperate tone to his voice. Eclipse and Emperion were stunned to see him but Jay didn't question it and ran off to the nearest bathroom as fast as he could. Shadow laid the little cat on the ground in between the kitchen and the living room. Jay came running back up the stairs with a fluffy white towel in his hands. He was out of breath as he held out the towel for Shadow, who snatched it from his hands and gently wrapped the cat in it. Eclipse and Emperion walked over to take a look as Solaris and Shiro ran inside, closing the door behind them.

"What's that?" Eclipse asked.

"I saw it on the side of the street like this." Shadow explained, the worry evident in his voice. "Can anyone heal it, or at least warm it up?" Jay nodded and began to cast a heating spell.

"It's just a cat. Why go so far?" Emperion asked, confused.

"I couldn't just leave it!" he shouted. Emperion flinched from his sharp tone. Shadow clenched his fists against the floor and bit his lower lip as his voice lowered to a nearly inaudible tone. "I've seen enough death already."

"There. It should be all dry now." Jay assured. As he said that, the cat began to open its eyes and stare up at them. It gave them the cutest meow they had ever heard and a wide smile appeared on Shadow's face. He looked up at his friends, tears in his eyes. Together, they cheered as Shadow cuddled the cat. The cat purred as Shadow pressed its head against his cheek and he put it back down.

"Hand me that bag." Shadow asked, pointing towards one of the plastic bags Solaris was holding. He pulled out the pork, took a small bit of it and handed it to the cat, who happily accepted. It licked the pork off his fingers and he laughed as its rough tongue ran over his fingers.

"Looks like you've picked up a demon cat." Solaris observed. All eyes were on him in that instant.

"What's a demon cat?" Shiro asked.

"They're cats that can use magic and originate from the underworld. They grow to be huge in size and can be really strong. Once a demon cat gets two tails, it's considered an adult. So basically a demon that's a cat, hence the name." Solaris elaborated. "Most of the demon animals fled to this world along with the rest of the demons during the underworld's collapse and try to blend in with normal animals. Some hide themselves in secluded places where people don't go very often. And of course, demon animals don't just include cats and other house pets. It goes for all animals, and there were even some mutated ones. The underworld wasn't a kind place to live."

"You sure know a lot even though the underworld's collapse was decades ago." Shadow stated, giving Solaris a suspicious look.

"Demons live much longer than humans do, so I was able to learn a lot of things from the older demons that are still alive." Solaris explained.

"Oh." Shadow turned his attention back to the cat. "Well it looks like I have a new family member to take care of." he said with joy.

"We're taking care of it?" Emperion grimaced.

"Yes, we are taking care of her." Shadow confirmed, staring daggers at Emperion.

"Her? How do you know?" Jay asked.

"She told me."