Chapter 36

"You can talk to animals?" Eclipse exclaimed. Shadow nodded.

"You can't?"

"Is it some kind of magic?"

"No." Shadow tilted his head in confusion.

"Mew!" Shadow turned back to the cat and stared down at it.

"Do you have a name?"

"Mew!"

"Any family?"

"Mew!"

"Do you want to stay here then?"

"Mew?"

"Of course. You could help us train if you want. It's all up to you though."

"Mew, mew!"

"But there are some rules you'll need to know." 

"Mew?"

"First, no fur in the food. Second, don't be mean to any one except Emperion. Three, no scaring off guests. Four, no killing anyone without their permission first." He turned his head up to the rest of the group. "Anything else I might be missing?"

"We don't speak cat." Eclipse stated.

"Well she understands human so whether you understand cat or not it won't matter."

"I guess, ask before taking food from the fridge. Don't scratch the stuff we don't want you to scratch. That's all I can think of. And don't be loud when I'm trying to sleep or I'll yell at you." Jay said. 

"If you want to destroy stuff, do it in the training space so that you don't destroy the house." Solaris added. Shadow turned back to the cat.

"Does that sound good?"

"Mew!"

"If we think of anything else we'll tell you and if you do something bad we didn't mention we'll let you off with a warning. Next it's a squirt bottle, understood?" Shadow asked.

"Mew!"

"Great! Everyone, Luna's officially part of the family." Shadow announced, lifted the cat up in front of them.

"You're actually adopting a cat?" Emperion whispered.

"I am actually adopting Luna. She has a name you know." Shadow huffed.

"I can't believe it." he sighed, facepalming.

"Well you will. She'll become a vital part of our family before long, just wait and see."

"You… you think of us as family?" Shiro blushed.

"Family, friends, people who are really close to me." Shadow explained.

"I'm glad to see you have an ever growing family." Solaris congratulated.

"You make it sound like you aren't included. You're all my friends whether you want to be or not." Shadow growled, glaring at Solaris. Solaris seemed taken aback but a glimmer of appreciation showed in his eyes. Shadow smiled at them and lifted Luna into the air. "Now everyone, meet Luna! She's now the cat of our family!" he claimed. Everyone started cheering and clapping as Luna started to pur. Once everyone settled down, Shadow got started on making dinner. Solaris walked over to him and began preparing the salad. It was quiet except for the sounds that came from the TV.

"Did you mean what you said?" Solaris said after a while.

"Mean what?"

"That we're friends."

"Why wouldn't I?" Shadow asked. He then paused what he was doing. "I mean, we are friends, right?" Silence.

"Yeah, we are." After dinner was ready and everyone finished eating, Shadow moved Solaris to his training space. Luna decided to watch just outside of the room. Solaris and Shadow started off with light sparring. Solaris had decided to teach Shadow how to detect the slightest movements and how to respond. Solaris started with a small turn to the right to attack. Shadow squinted his eyes and shimmied to his left. Solaris stopped before straightening his feet to face them towards his opponent. Shadow copied him and held out his hands in a ready position. One of his hands hovered slightly farther back than the other one. Solaris took a leap backwards and Shadow grabbed a dagger from his void storage, throwing it at Solaris with greater speed. Solaris deflected it with his own dagger before landing on tippy toes. Shadow noticed and squatted, but he wasn't fast enough. Solaris dashed forward and grabbed his ankle just as he was about to jump back, making him fall.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Shadow asked out of nowhere. "Earlier, you said you stuck around because you wanted to tell me something." Solaris stayed silent for a moment.

"I wanted to take up your offer to fight again." he started, letting go of Shadow's ankle. "So I hope you make a good decision when it comes." With that, he disappeared, teleporting out of the room. Shadow sat up in confusion. A few days later, he finally received his list of personal trainers. And at the bottom of his list was the name 'Solaris Zastaroth'.

~ * ~

It was a bright night, no clouds covering the stars and moon. Everyone else was already asleep. Eclipse was the most restless after seeing Shadow's list of people, so much so he rushed back to his house to check for his letter. Shadow left the night he turned in his form for a visit to the top of the mountain where Solaris lived. Once he reached the peak, he walked straight up to the cherry tree he remembered so visibly in his nightmares. It still caused him unease but he noticed the little hole that the squirrel couple lived in. He looked up just as the two squirrels poked their heads out. Shadow brightened up as he lifted a finger to the squirrels. They sniffed his finger before he sat down in front of the cherry tree. One at a time, the squirrels ran down the tree trunk before landing on his shoulders. One squirrel snuggled on the top of his head. He looked up at it with love without moving his head.

"Why are you up here?" Solaris' battleworn voice sounded to Shadow's left and he slowly turned his head to face him. This time, he wasn't wearing his mask. The scars on his face were plenty visible. Shadow stared up at him with hardly containable joy.

"It's my favorite spot to calm down."

"You've been up here once."

"Love at first sight?"

"Are you upset or worked up?"

"Too excited."

"I didn't know that was possible for a person."

"You know how I get." A pause. Shadow pulled a bag of squirrel food out of his void storage, opening it and offering a nut to each of the squirrels perched on him. Two small blue birds came flying over, one landing on his other shoulder, the other landing on his knee. Shadow smiled and fed the birds as well.

"So who did you pick?"

"You, of course!" Solaris perked up and tried to hide an embarrassed smile. Shadow let out a laugh, unable to contain himself. "You can't hide your emotions as well as you can with a mask on! It's really strange." he exclaimed. Solaris spun around to hide his face.

"So, why'd you pick me?" Solaris changed the subject.

"Because I wanted it to be you!"

"But why?" Silence.

"Do I need a reason?" Solaris turned to face Shadow, who was staring down at a moonwing moth that had landed on his finger. It was a moth with galaxy blue wings sprinkled with white dots that faded to black as it reached the tips. It was a nocturnal insect that you can find just about anywhere moonlight can shine brightly. "I like to think that people are just big moths. Like moths, people can't help but flock towards the things they like. And then there are moths like you that flock to different treasures, like the moonwing moth. And personally, I like moonwing moths. You have to look for them to really find them but they are there, just hanging around wherever they please." Shadow explained with a misty tone, then continued in a more serious tone. "I chose you because I wanted to. And if you really need a reason, you could say I'm just a moth following one of the lights I treasure. You are the star and I am the moonwing moth that follows you. You can't have a light without a shadow." Shadow said in a calm voice as he stared into the deep blue wings of the moonwing moth. He didn't have an ounce of sarcasm in him when he spoke. The reflection of the moon on the moth's wings sparkled in Shadow's eyes, or maybe it was the light in them showing the depth to his words.

"No. You don't need a reason." Solaris answered, closing his eyes. They stayed in silence for a while as a chilly cool breeze flowed past the mountain top, washing over them, signaling the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

"Solaris?" Shadow started, sounding unsure. Solaris turned a questioning gaze to Shadow. Shadow looked back. "Have we… met before?"