After a while, Shadow and the others worked in silence. They did get his pheasant strapped to the back of the moose. Shadow then took place of Matthew and pulled the strap.

He looked at both Zack and Max. Max may not realize it, but he does look like he was feeling ashamed.

"Do you think he hates me now?" Max wondered.

This surprised Shadow, he turned to his friend and shook his head. "I don't think he does, upset with you maybe, but I don't think he really hates you."

"That was too far, wasn't it?" Max then asked. Zack looks at him.

Shadow then said with a calm expression. "Yeah, that WAS pretty far."

"Fuck!" Max muttered.

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Shadow looks at Zack, and Zack began to speak. "He probably wants us all to be ..........uh .........can I say the word?"

Max shamefully looks at Zack and nods.

Zack continued. "Family. You know he was orphaned right?"

Max shook his head. "I heard him say something about it before..."

"He probably wanted us to be family because he had none growing up. I mean, he saw me as family after we took him in. He wants a hole to be filled in, you know?"

Max didn't say anything for a while until he finally said, "I'll talk to him when we get back."

......................................

When they reached the campsite after a long while, they destrapped the beast and began the process of cooking it.

Rose looked at all of them and smiled. "How was the trip?"

The boys said nothing.

"That bad, huh? At least you got something good out of it, this will last us for weeks!" She looked again at the moose and noticed the bird on it.

"That was you, huh Gabriel?"

Shadow smiled proudly. "Mother always made good pheasant dishes!"

His sister giggled with enthusiasm.

"Where did Matthew go? I was going to talk to him." Max wondered.

"He went on a stroll with Valerian, they'll be back soon."

Max sighed. "Alright."