Ness stepped out of the Two-son dept. store, a wide smile on his face. Why was he smiling you ask? Was it because he was a powerful boy with an infinite amount of psychic powers? Was it because that only months ealier he had saved the world from an ultimate evil? Or was it because he was in a town where the beautiful,lovely, and quite talented Paula Polestar lived?
He was not smiling for any of those reason. In fact, the reason why he was smiling was simple, but still rather strange.
In his arms he held a bag of fresh, new, white socks.
Oh the joy that filled his tiny heart.
To you, that may be a very silly reason. But to a boy who just came back from a journey, it was heaven found on earth. Travling with only one change of clothes was not the best idea in the world. Sure, he and his team of four had to pack light, but soon they found themselves with torn shirts, tattered pants, and something that got on Ness's nerves specifically, holes in their socks.
Just as soon as Ness got home from his travels, or perhaps a few days after, he remembered the position his clothes were in: Oh so very battered and beaten, blood-stained and boozed, wrecked beyond the point of tailoring it back to normal. He luckily had more shirts and pants in his artilery of clothes, but for some reason, he found that he could not find a new pair of socks to wear.
Luckily, his father had given him some money to spend for his birthday, and he knew the first thing he wanted to buy: new socks. Pure, simple, plain white cotten socks. Socks to wear to bed, socks to walk around with, socks to wear with shoes even!
As soon as the sun had risen, he grabbed his sandals (God forbid he ever wear tennis shoes without socks), his clothes, and his back pack, and got on his bike (That he "never really got around to returning") and pedaled onto Twoson. As soon he got to the Department store, he rushed to find the perfect pair of socks to wear. No, those were two short. No, he didn't like Socks that didn't cover the ankles. No, those ones were checkered.
AH-HA!
Finally, he saw them. Socks, white as snow, long enough to cover his ankles, and felt soft to the touch. He checked the price tag on them, and sighed in relief as he found out he had just enough money to cover for the expenses.
His mission complete, he stored his new-found socks in his back pack and started peddling home. He could not wait until he got home to try them on! Oh how happy mother would be to find his son has a new and comfortable pair of socks to wear! He imagined all he would do in his new pair of socks: Tea Parties, baseball games, puppet shows, you name it, Ness's socks will be there!
So lost in his imagination he was that he did not spot the outcropping rock in the way of his bike. When the rock and the tire made contact, Ness lost all control of his bike, and fell onto gravel-made dirt road under him. A few moments passed before Ness could finally stand up. His hands were a bit scrapped and he found his knee covered in blood, but otherwise, he was fine.
He then stood his bike upright, letting its kickstand down so he could retrieve his backpack, which was thrown several feet ahead of him. He noticed that it was open, all his personal belongings scattered about. He sighed. He got his back pack and put back most of the items that were spilled about: His extra baseball cap, his can of soda, his bread roll, his favourite yo-yo, and his-
Wait, were were his socks?
He checked, double checked, and triple checked both inside and out of the Back pack. He could not find his new pair of socks anywhere! Perhaps he dropped them back on the road? No, he couldn't have! there were no holes in the bottom of his back pack! There has to be a logical explanation for his precious Sock's disappearance!
Behind him, Ness heard a sound he hoped he would never, EVER hear again: cawing. He knew that caw. He turned around: he knew that that caw could belong to none other than ...
The Spiteful crow, The new pair of white socks in his beak.
"You." He breathed, "You stole all my bread rolls and cookies in the past. I will not allow you to take my beloved socks!"
Ness got his yo-yo from his back pack and prepared it like a weapon. "Come at me!" He yelled at the crow.
The Crow did not come at him. On the contrary, he leaped off and took flight. Ness got on his bike and followed closely behind. He would not, COULD NOT let that crow get away with his new pair of socks!!
Ness chased that crow for about half an hour, or however long it takes to get from Twoson to Onette. He made sure never to lose sight of it: He had already spent his money on this lovely pair of socks, he will not return home sockless! Finally, the crow landed on a nearby tree, exhausted from flying so much. Ness had him cornered. An evil smile crept on his face as he began climbing the tree.
The Crow saw him, but did not feel threatened. He heard from his fellow crows that while this kid was good at fighting, the one thing he could NOT do was climb a tree. He thought he would rest his wings here for a bit before flying home to his nest. His Crow Brothers and sisters would certainly like what he had brought home! So happy the crow was that he smiled and gleamed, looking proud.
Ness, on the other hand, would not give up. Already, 3 attempts were made at climbing the tree, all three attempts failed, each time making Ness's rear end feeling sore. He felt agitated enough to use his psychic abilities, which he could easily do. But Paula had heavily advised him not to do so. He never knew why, or even questioned why: He was too busy staring at Paula the whole time she gave him the "Do not use" Speech.
Either way, he found himself helpless at the bottom of the tree, nothing but the Yo-yo in his hand and his Back-pack filled with random things.
Wait, of course! He knew what he needed to do!!
Ness got out the bread roll from his back pack and presented it to the crow. "Oh! What a delicious Bread roll I have here" Ness proclaimed loudly, "Still warm and sof too! Just came out of the oven!!"
The Crow watched with hungry eyes as Ness brought the roll up to nose and gave a big whiff. "Aaaahh! The sweet smell of baked goods! How glad am I to have this perfect specimen of bread." Closer and closer, Ness brought the Bread roll up to his mouth, as if to savor the last moments of this poor roll's life.
The Crow could not stand to watch any longer. His beak opened in sheer hunger, dropping the socks, and he flew right to the bread roll in hopes of stealing it.
POW! Right as the Crow got near Ness, he used his Yo-yo (Plus a bit of his phychic powers, but he'll never admit that) to tangle the crow within its strings, grounding it. The Crow flailed about, trying to loosen his wings from the tangled strings of the yo-yo, but no luck. With Pride, Ness Walked over to his socks, a little dirty, but still wearable and new all the same. He smiled.
Ness put the socks away, then went back to his bike. But before Ness got on, he left the bread roll beside the crow nonchalantly.
"You can have it." Ness said, "It's stale any way."
Ness rode away on his bike, making sure to watch the road ahead of him this time.
