Icetales listened intently to what Cynthian had to say about him. Those encouraging words truly warmed his heart, and he could feel like he could believe them. He wanted to believe them. Once she stopped talking, he mulled over those words, while his tails swished.
“I want to have faith,” he said at last, staring intently at her. “I truly do. I want to believe that my lineage means nothing and that my spiritual self is what truly matters. That I can be a true companion and a ‘mon like any other, and I want to offer what I didn’t have when I was just a lonely pup. But—”
There was a splash, and Icetales gasped and whirled toward the source. What he saw was his Shadow, dripping red water from his head. The sight could be considered downright macabre.
“Way to spoil the mood…” deadpanned Icetales.
“I almost caught it!” hissed the Shadow, snarling at the river while his phantom flames burned more fiercely. “Damned fish!”
“Can thou clean thyself, at least? That red water is,” Icetales’s tails flailed nervously, “gross, and also very unnerving.”
The Shadow rolled his eyes. “Hmph. I shall…” With that said, he turned into black wisps and blended back with the darkness, making the water splash noisily on the floor. Then, he emerged once more, completely clean. “Satisfied now?”
Icetales narrowed his eyes, unamused and unimpressed, then looked again at Cynthian. “Yes, um… If thou want a living proof of how I used to behave while I was stuck in Chaos,” he motioned toward his Shadow, “there it is. Not exactly a flattering behavior, but this is what happens when thou art trapped in madness for too long.”
The Shadow countered with an unamused stare of his own, before turning once more to the river. His eyes darted and his ears flicked, still feeling the urges to satisfy his hunter’s instincts.
“I took several years of therapy to relearn how to behave like a ‘mon, after going through such an ordeal. My sisters’ healing and spiritual sorcery helped immensely, I reckon. They were… the only ones who gave me trust and were patient enough with me. Other folks were just… too terrified of what I had become.” He lowered his head. “And… I am afraid to say that I had almost relapsed into that behavior, when Sir Joule… used that death sphere, and…”
He took several deep breaths, pushing the darkness back into himself. “And… I do not know what would have happened if Sir Celeste was not there to snap me out of that fury. To make me regain awareness of myself. The thought of what would have happened back then… terrifies me.”
