The Vagabond.

Chapter 15: The Homecoming- Part 1

"Sooo, what, you just want to throw a party? For old time's sake?" Krash said as he sipped from the bamboo cup, a usual activity at Decidueye's treehouse.

"Exactly! And I want to invite all my friends that I haven't seen in so long." Cain took a sip of his own tea, sighing in content.

"...Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to most of them." He continued his speech, sounding more sad than joyful like always.

Lucario took another sip of the black tea; Cain's favourite. It was bitter, with a hint of sweetness . He didn't know what his friend found interesting in it at all.

He set the cup down on the floor beside his legs, looking at Decidueye and narrowing his eyes. The black owl stared back at him, tilting his head and smirking.

"W-What? Do I have something on my face?" He asked, before letting out a long 'oh' and nodding his head. "You're talking to those friends of yours, right?"

"No, I'm just thinking." Krash said nonchalantly and put his paw under his own chin, supporting himself on his knee and humming lowly.

Another 'oh' escaped Decidueye's beak as he shrunk back, picking up his tea and drinking it slowly, careful not to burn his tongue.

How is he supposed to invite these friends of his if he doesn't know where they are residing? Unless he has some sort of tracking device, it'll be near impossible...

Lucario's ears perked up and pointed upward as he suddenly got an idea, a smirk forming on his muzzle. He giggled lightly and stared intently at Cain.

"Do you have any of their belongings? Or keepsakes you shared with them?" Krash asked and reached for his tea, sipping it loudly and awaiting a response.

To this, Decidueye tilted his head to the other side and looking around his treehouse, frantically searching for something connecting his friends to him.

"I, uh... I have this?" He suddenly stood up and walked up to one of his shelves, holding out a tusk of what seemed to be a Mamoswine. He chuckled heartily.

"I...- We found it on Lanakila Mountain. Me and Petro were inseparable, like two brothers." Cain's smile swiftly disappeared the longer he stared at the tusk.

Krash took it in his paws, holding it up against his chest and humming eerily. Decidueye tried intervening, taking away the keepsake, but decided against it.

In the meantime, Lucario was trying to find any sparks or remnants of a long lost aura, still lingering in the small keepsake. Never had he done something like that...

It was hard, but after a moment of searching, he finally found a frequency other than his or the big owl's; it was faint, as expected.

Tuning into its odd pattern, Lucario heard a very quiet voice calling out from somewhere in the city's general direction. It was male, rough, but oddly comforting; like a fatherly voice.

He opened his eyes back up and looked at Decidueye. "So his name was Petro? And he was a... Weavile?" Krash asked his friend.

He was met with a stern nod and a sigh. "We split up some time ago; he wanted to travel, and I wanted to live a stable life. One of my closest friends..."

Sounds like the bond that Cain and Petro shared ran deeper than he had imagined at first. He frowned slightly.

Decidueye looked... down, all of a sudden. His face took on a more sombre look, as if he was grieving over something.