The Bond

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Past

After the events that transpired in the ninja village, Ash decided he needed some rest. He trekked up to his teacher's home and collapsed on the bed in his room. After a moment, Lucario and Greninja tentatively made their way inside. "Ash?" Greninja took the lead. "Are you okay?"

"No." His short answer didn't put the other two off, if anything, it made them more worried.

"What happened?" Lucario asks, not sure if he should. He soon receives his answer.

"I lost it, okay? I lost control of my emotions! Right now I'm trying to sleep, so if you wouldn't mind..." Ash rolls over so his back is facing his Pokémon. The two exchange a worried glance and situate themselves on the pads on the floor. A stark silence fills the room as Ash tries to fall asleep. He groans, tosses, turns, resituates himself, but he can't get the image of Serena's frightened face out of his head.

Giving up on sleeping, the young ninja silently makes his way out of his room and heads into the forest. Remembering the time at Clemont's house when he painted with aura, Ash closes his eyes and steadies his breath. He dances without a thought of what he is creating. Originally jerky and stiff, his movements gradually become fluid and graceful.

"Strange to see you up so late."

Ash whirls around to face Squishy. "How long have you been there?"

"How long have you?" Squishy takes his place on a rock. "You know, I've killed before." Ash felt a bolt of surprise strike through his chest at the words of the order guardian. "Oh, it's true. There was a time when I was young and reckless, and I killed a Pokémon for challenging me in battle. I thought, 'How dare he! Does he not know who I am?' It turns out that Pokémon did know, and wanted to see how strong I was. He wanted to know who to turn to when everything hit the fan."

"What's the point of this?" Ash asks, impatient with the legendary. "How does this affect the present?"

"You're asking the wrong person the right questions." Squishy observed. "So I'll ask you some of my own. Instead of how does that affect the present, how does it affect you?"

The order Pokémon left with that statement. Ash, frustrated and disappointed with himself, sighed and turned to the picture his dance drew. He started when he realized it was Kagetomo's face. He let go of his control on the picture and watched it turn to nothing. The troubled young man sat down on a log and for once, he didn't think. He didn't move. He just was.

The area around him became swathed in blue as his true vision activated without him willing it. Rather than panic, Ash watched what unfurled before him. A wizened old man, looking like an older version of himself, slowly approached Ash. He was dressed in traditional garb, and watched the ground to avoid snagging his clothing. The old man made his way to the log and sat down next to Ash with a sigh. They sat in silence.

The man ended up being the one to break the quiet. "Ever since my son left my home, I thought my name was to be doomed. No one would wear it again." He, the old man, looked Ash in the eye. "Then you came to Kalos."

"I don't want your name, old man." Ash wasn't in the mood. "I have my own."

"Ah..." The old man leaned back. "But you see, it is mine as well." Ash looked at him for a moment before his eyes widened. "I see you figured it out." The old man, Shane Attrape-Les, chuckled. "You have my haste. I was always rushing around, always doing. However, there are times where you need to just be. Not be present, be sleeping, be eating..." He chuckles some more at the last one "... but be. That is how you will control your emotions, instead of doing everything at once, you will do one thing first, and that is-"

"Be." Ash interrupted his ancestor, who didn't show any signs of displeasure.

"Correct, Ash."

"So in order to not kill, I have to just be." Ash sounded slightly skeptical, and rightly so.

"Ash," Shane sighed, "You will eventually have to kill. It is our duty as ninja to protect, and if someone refuses to cease their actions, lethal measurements may be required." At Ash's open mouth, Shane continues to speak. "Yet you must also know when to kill. Today, you would have killed in cold blood. You could have easily restrained Kagetomo."

The two fell into a silence neither wanted to break. That is, until Ash came up with a question. "Grandfather?"

"Yes, child?" Shane asked.

"What did Zygarde mean?"

Shane shifted on the log. "When he told you the story?" Ash nodded, so Shane began to clarify. "He was warning you not to get caught up in your power, like he once did."

"Oh." Ash thought of another question. "Grandfather, why did you banish your son?"

Shane sighed and closed his eyes. Ash could have sworn he saw a tear trickle down. "I saw in him an apathy towards murder. Even though we must kill, it does not mean we should be perfectly fine with killing, so I had no choice but to banish my son. In you, though, I see the man I wish my son could have been. I am proud of you, Ash."

"Thank you, Grandfather!" That cheered up the young ninja greatly. "I'll make you proud!"

Shane chuckled and waved for Ash to return to the chief's house. As soon as Ash was out of range, Shane muttered to himself, "You already have." He stopped concentrating his aura to form a man and let himself flow along behind Ash, the heir to his legacy.