Phantoms Within The Snow [ON HOLD]

30| Recollection

Yin's POV 🌺

As soon as me and the others noticed Artemis in tears, our reaction was slow at first before we suddenly started to grow shocked.

Before one of us could say anything, Artemis had already darted out of my quarters and ran off towards Prelude Beach, making me get up immediately and hurry after her, while Lucky, Nightmare and Luna tagged along, worried about Artemis too.

As I ran out of the village and reached to the fields, Artemis was there for a moment until she spotted me and ran off to the beach, where I landed at, at the time I first fell into Hisui.

When we caught up to her again, she was standing at the pier, trembling a bit in fear, while looking at us.

Mostly at me though.

"Artemis, what's wrong?" I asked, giving her a worried look, while cautiously approaching slowly, since I didn't want to scare her even more than she currently is.

In response, she didn't say anything and only whimpered, while backing up a little bit.

Seeing this, I immediately noticed that if Artemis keeps backing up more than what she's doing right now, she'll fall in the water.

"Artemis, it's okay...Just tell me what's wrong." I continued as I got down on my knee a bit, trying to urge her into coming closer to me, rather than making her back away further.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on in her mind, because Artemis suddenly turned away from me and jumped off the wooden pier, that the both of us were standing on, making me shocked, horrified and aware what she was trying to do.

"ARTEMIS!" I screamed out, terrified and worried, before immediately jumping off the pier too and going in the water.

Blinded for a moment, I opened my eyes underwater and saw Artemis sinking further and further down, falling away from me, as I tried to reach out and grab one of her paws.

Unfortunately, I missed on trying to grab her paw before she kept falling further, making me have no choice but to try to continue swimming down to reach her and prevent her from drowning herself.

As I did, I suddenly happened to have caught a glimpse of my zoroark half, staring at me, before disappearing when I passed by.

"Was that...a hallucination?" I thought to myself for a moment before snapping out of it and focusing my attention back to Artemis.

By the time I finally reached her and grabbed her paw, I was almost out of air.

Looking up and seeing how deep I was underwater with Artemis, while I held her small, unconscious figure close to my chest, I knew I wasn't gonna make it in time to swim back up and reach the surface to get air in my lungs.

Without any hesitation, however, I looked back at Artemis and tossed her as far as I could, in hopes that she'll reach the surface, and get taken to the shore by either Nightmare or her older brother, Lucky.

Seeing that I successfully got her to the surface and that she was taken to shore for safety, I smiled weakly to myself a little, before blacking out, as water started to fill my lungs while I continued sinking further down in the water instead.

-  -  -

"You really are an idiot..." I heard someone say as I opened my eyes, seeing that I was in my consciousness.

"Who - ?" I began as I sat up and looked around, while I hovered a little in the pitch black darkness.

After I said that, I didn't get a response, until something appeared and wavered for a moment, before showing me two full images.

It was slightly faded, but, I can make out the figures.

"That's...mom and my younger self?" I went as I stared a little in disbelief.

Not sure what to say, I just sat there and watched...
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~Flashback Memory~

"I want food!" I went before pouting a bit.

"Dinner's almost ready, Yin...Just bear with me and be patient for just a little longer, okay?" My mother said as she turned to look at me, before smiling a bit.

In response, I made a face that looked like I was about to get a little cranky until my father stepped in.

"I'll occupy Yin for you, honey." My father mentions before picking me up and holding me in his arms, as he gave my mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, dear." Mother went as she chuckled.

After my mother focused her attention back to cooking dinner, my father left and went in another room with me before we sat down on the floor together.

"Papa? Are you or mama a zoroark?" I asked as I curiously looked up at my father's blue-green eyes, after playing my toys with him for a bit.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" My father asked, feeling slightly surprised.

"Because when I get cranky every once in a while, mama always told me I start to look like a zorua." I answered.

"And we all have black and red hair, with blue-green eyes, so, those are zorua and zoroark colors...Right?"

"Well...You and your mother aren't wrong. And, to tell you the truth, the both of us might be a zoroark." He began while scratching the back of his head a little.

"I can't really say much about this kind of subject until you're older, but, I can tell you something about your mother's side and my side of the family..."

"What is it?"

"Both of us and our families have always had a connection to zoruas and zoroarks. It's an ancestral thing and something that'll still continue on for generations...

Surely you noticed that connection feeling, when you met your first pokémon, zorua?"

In response, I looked over at my unovian zorua while she looked back at me in response, both of us being curious.

"Yeah, I noticed that when mom introduced me to and letted me keep her." I say as I pulled the zorua close, resting it on my lap, before petting and rubbing it's back soothingly.

"There's something I want to tell you about yours and our ancestors...

Back in ancient times, when Sinnoh region was called "Hisui" , people and pokémon didn't coexist, unlike today. Most people were either afraid of or had grown to despise pokémon for some reason.

In our ancestors' case, they happen to like pokémon, but hate humanity..." My father began.