Aiming High!!

Meaning of the name Shadow

After that incident, 7 years have passed. Nike managed to save both Cora and Shadow telling them everything that happened with their father. Now both of them got bigger. Shadow is 16 now and Cora is 10 years old.

Then one day...

"Shadow! Cora! I'm home!" Nike said coming inside their small home. "Welcome home, Daddy!" Cora said running towards him and hugging him. "Welcome home, Nike." Shadow also welcomes Nike with a little smile.

Yeah, Cora called him dad because she doesn't remember her mother and father's face as she was just 3 at that time but Shadow never calls him dad because Nike was not with his father when he needed it. But he still accepts him because Cora needs a hand on her head.

After some time of rest and taking dinner Nike came to sit beside Shadow as Cora slept already. "Shadow, I wanna talk with you." Nike said. "Yes, what is it?" Shadow asked, reading a book.

"You are ok, right?" Nike asks, wanting to start a conversation. "Yeah, as long as Cora is alive and safe I will be ok." Shadow answers politely. "That's really nice of you." Nike said, closing his eyes.

"You need to go, Shadow." Nike said suddenly which made Shadow shocked, "Huh! Where!? Why!?"

"Far from us... Far from Cora..." Nike said in a low voice. "What the- You know what you are saying right, Nike?" Shadow stood, angry.

"Yeah, I know what I'm saying and it's good for both you and your sister!" Nike said calming Shadow because it can wake Cora up.

After some time Nike talks again because Shadow was not getting what it means to go away all of a sudden.

"I remember, Pritha told me that once you ask her why your name is Shadow when everyone has a good name, right?" Nike takes Shadow back when he was just a kid.

Flashback...

"Mom! Why my name is Shadow? I mean Shadow is an evil and dark name then why? While you have a beautiful name, father has a cool name and even Cora has a cute name so why my name is Shadow!?" Little Shadow asks his mom.

"You are still so young to understand the meaning behind your name, Shadow." She pats him and smiles warmly.

Flashback ends...

Shadow comes back to sense and asks Nike, "Yeah, I do but she never told me. I don't know why you need to bring it into this conversation."

"I will tell you now, what exactly Shadow means." Nike said which made Shadow shock.

"Because I am the one who gave you this name." This made Shadow more shocked.

"Pritha, your mom, her name means 'palm', which means she takes care of every one of you. Carew, your dad, his name means 'leg', which means he is the pillar of the family which makes you all stand by sacrificing his everything. Cora is the youngest of you all that's why her name means 'heart' because she is the reason for all of your happiness." Nike stops for a moment while Shadow gets tears in his eyes.

Nike continued, "They are all doing or did their job. Pritha as a mother did everything to take care of you all till her last time, Carew really sacrificed himself for you all and Cora is still here and making you happy. And now... It's your turn Shadow. Pritha and we all knew that this day would come where everyone would be dead or separated and only you have the heart or we can say the power to protect the will of the Whispering Winds." As Nike was talking, Shadow was tearing up.

"You were born to live and protect your sister from behind the shadows. Don't worry Shadow, I found a perfect place for you. It's a revolutionary's place so I think that would be a great place for you where you can learn many things and grow stronger. You just need to find them and make them accept you inside." Nike said, calming the atmosphere.

"But I wanna stay with Cora! I will protect her! I can do that and you always train me, right! Then you can do it till I become stronger like my father, right!?" Shadow was crying and don't wanna leave but Nike grabbed his hand.

"I am going to die soon, Shadow." He said which made Shadow completely shocked.

"Wha- Why!? How can you die!? Didn't my father leave you with us so that you can protect us!? Then how can you leave us, Nike!" Shadow said angrily yet crying after hearing that but controlling himself because of Cora. Then Nike takes him outside their home to talk normally.

"I am really sorry to say those harsh words, Nike... I am just too broken right now... But what do you mean by that!?" Shadow apologized for his rudeness.

"I have a really deadly disease, Shadow. I will die anytime... that's why I wanted to make sure to do whatever I can for you guys, especially for Cora." Nike said facing the sky.

This made Shadow cry and he did cry after that, too much.

"Since when!? And why didn't you tell me before!?" Shadow asks in between his sobbing but Nike doesn't stop him from crying because he never cried in front of anyone for the last 7 years, only for Cora...

"I didn't want to make you suffer more because of that Shadow. That's why I let my disease eat me from inside but I don't think I have more time to go on. That's why leave tonight only. Please, Shadow. You can think of it as my last request..." Nike got tears in his eyes too after the last words, which makes Shadow break and he stops himself from crying.

After thinking and letting Nike cry for some time, he said, "Understood, Dad. I will go after some time. I believe in you that you will take care of my sister till you are alive and then send her to a better place. And tell her that I died protecting you both while you were running... Give her much love which I couldn't give..." Shadow said all of this with a slight smile on his face hiding all the pain he had.

Nike was shocked because it was the first time Shadow called him Dad but hugged Shadow instead, tightly.

"I am sorry for being a bad son, da-" got cut by Nike, "Noo!! I am sorry for not taking care of you, Shadow!" He said tearing, which he couldn't stop coming from his eyes.

After bidding farewell to Nike and kissing Cora's forehead while she was still sleeping, Shadow went from there without knowing where he would go or where to start finding those revolutionaries.

For like 7-8 months he hid, he ran, he cried, he slept in hunger, he struggled too much. After 9 months he finally found the informations about the new revolutionaries and with those informations he found their place and joined them.

Shadow joined the Radiant Guardians at the age of 17, a year before Alisa and became the 6th member of the Radiant Guardians. And till now he didn't get any information about his sister Cora. He tried to find her, or anything about her being alive, but he never gave up on her.

Author's POV:-
So hey guys this is it for the chapter and Shadow's past. The reason why he never stays in the hiding place like everyone else is because of his little sister Cora. I hope you enjoyed it... I don't know about you guys but I was crying xD. Well, enjoy.
Bye Bye 👋🏻