Chapter Four – Six Feet
The bedroom door slowly squeaks open, and a remorseful Sir Higglesworth slowly creeps in, "…Socks? A-Are you OK, dear?"
Hesitantly, he looks around the room to try and find her, but to no avail. She's not lying on the bed, or the beanbag, or simply sprawled out across the floor like he'd first expected. He opens the wardrobe, and doesn't find her there either.
"Where are you, Socks?" he asks softly, knowing that he can't simply leave her in this state. Furret are easily spooked at the best of times, forget in a situation like this, so he knows that he has to do as much as he can to stop any more travesties from occurring.
"P-please, Socks…" he sniffs, falling to his knees and conceding to the inevitable; a single tear slips from his eye. It's quickly followed by another on the opposite side, and he soon finds himself unable to stem the flow, tears cascading down his face and dripping mercilessly onto the carpet.
However, he's not the only one currently upset.
From the depths of the beanbag, a gentle sniffing can be heard as a devastated Socks vents, far beyond consoling.
"S-socks?" Sir Higglesworth sputters, picking up on the soft noises from within the beanbag, "Are you there? P-please, come on out. Let's… talk about this, OK?"
"No! I'm not coming out!" Socks' sniffly voice shouts from within the beanbag, "I'm staying in here forever now! The world's a nasty place without Trainer!"
"Ohh, I know it is, Socks…" Sir Higglesworth soothes, staggering back to his feet and approaching the beanbag, "But you won't know the dangers from amidst that beanbag"
"I'm fine with that!" Socks cries defiantly, "What you don't know can't hurt you!"
"You know that that is a fallacy, Socks…" Sir Higglesworth sighs, kneeling down next to the beanbag.
"Argh, quit with the long words, dammit Higgle!" An irate Socks scowls, coiling herself even tighter from within the beanbag's depths. On top of everything else, the last thing she wants right now is for Higgle to make her feel stupid by using long words that she can't understand. All she wants currently is to curl up in a ball, and hope that she'll wake up from this horrible nightmare…
"T-the dangers still exist, whether you know about them or not" Sir Higglesworth stammers, placing his hand on where he estimates Socks to be, "You can't protect yourself from danger if you don't know about it. And it could come and gobble you up in the night…"
"That's alright with me!" Socks' muffled voice yells, adding some realism to what Sir Higglesworth intended as a metaphor, "That way I can be with Trainer!"
"Oh, that's it, Socks!" Sir Higglesworth yells, "Come out of there, now!"
"No!" Socks sniffles, grabbing onto the edges of the beanbag in an attempt to wrap it tighter still around herself. "It's nice in here! Out there's nasty!"
"You cannot stay in there forever, Socks!" Sir Higglesworth demands, struggling to unwrap the beanbag from around her with his limited strength, "Let's face those nasties together, OK?!"
"But why?!" Socks shouts, "There is no together without Trainer!"
"That is not true and you know it, Socks!" Sir Higglesworth retorts, finding her long tail amidst the folds and grabbing onto it, "You. Still. Have. Us!"
"NOO!" Socks argues, gripping onto the insides of the beanbag for all she's worth, "Not without Trainer!"
"What about 'being here for us, no matter what'?" Sir Higglesworth grunts, straining as he pulls on her tail, "We need each other now more than ever!"
"NOOOOOO!" Socks resists, actually feeling the beanbag move from beneath her due to Sir Higglesworth's sheer determination to remove her from it, "I'm not comin' out! Never ever ever!"
"Yes. You. Are!" Sir Higglesworth insists, giving one more almighty tug on her tail and successfully dislodging her!
"Arrrgh!" A livid Socks screeches, spinning around and raking Sir Higglesworth's face with a furious set of slashes, "I said I'm not comin' outta-"
But her boiling rage simmers away almost instantly when she takes a look at what she's just done.
His face covered with bright, glistening red scratches, and one eye closed from injury, her friend Sir Higglesworth simply stares at her, a horrible emotion showing through even his pained wincing; sorrow.
He made no attempt to counter her painful assail, and Socks realises that she went too far there.
"Ohh, I-I'm sorry, Higgle…" Socks mumbles, collapsing forwards onto his shoulder and sobbing, "I am so so so sorry…"
"It is alright, Socks…" Sir Higglesworth winces, stroking the back of her head with his palm, "If anything, I should be the one apologising to you, for putting you through this"
"Y-you couldn't hide it forever…" Socks sniffles, sparkling tears pouring down her face. "I-is your face OK?"
"…I will be fine, Socks" he soothes, hugging her tighter, "Don't you worry…"
But just then, a tearful Sparky bursts in the room.
"What the hell, Higgle?!" She cries, throwing her drawings to the floor, "H-how is that NOT flying?! Miss Holly's not touching the ground or anything!"
"Lady Holly has… fallen into the eternal sleep, Sparky" Sir Higglesworth says, using a euphemism to take away some of the pain, more for his own sake than hers. "T-that's why she isn't touching the ground. I'm sorry, Sparky"
"Eternal sleep?" Sparky shouts, her eyes widening further, "What's that mean?!"
"She has p-passed away" Sir Higglesworth stammers, trying a different euphemism.
"Passed away?!" Sparky cries, "But she's right there! How can she be away when she's there?!"
"Sparky…" Sir Higglesworth sighs, trying to think up yet another euphemism, "Lady Holly is-"
"Dead" Socks deadpans, resting her head against Sir Higglesworth's shoulder, "T-that's all you needed to say, Higgle"
That word tears through Sir Higglesworth like a hot knife through butter. Tears begin to well up in his eyes once again, and he does little to stem the flow, hugging tighter into Socks, who's still sobbing madly.
"D-dead?!" Sparky cries, running up to the beanbag and throwing herself into it, her eyes awash with tears. "W-why didn't you tell me earlier, Higgle?! I thought it was awesome, a-and now-"
"To try and protect you, Sparky" Sir Higglesworth sniffs, staring blankly into the distance, "If you didn't know, then… then-"
"We'd still b-be a family?" Sparky splutters, looking up from the wet patch on the beanbag.
"Oh, w-we are still a family!" Sir Higglesworth insists, "And we'll always be a family no matter what, Sparky!"
"But now we're a broken one…" Socks sniffs, "And you know what happens to broken things. They get thrown away…"
All three pokémon say nothing for a while, faced with this very real prospect.
"Wh-what're we gonna do now, Higgle?" Sparky eventually asks, after what feels like an age.
Staring off into nothingness, a defeated Sir Higglesworth slowly mumbles,
"I… I don't know"
Accumula Town's conifer trees sway gently in the blustery spring breeze as three pokémon stand sorrowfully in their back garden. Rain threatens above, the iron-grey clouds floating across the sky like a menacing sheet of slowly descending madness, but these three pokémon heed it none, for their attentions are currently focused on the mound of tilled soil in front of them. The six feet of dirt, accompanied by a rounded headstone, symbolises their final memories of their beloved trainer, Holly.
Some attempt has been made to scratch a name into the stone, but the only legible shape on it is a very squiggly 'H'.
Six dirty feet surround the six feet of dirt, with the three owners of the six feet trying and failing to control their emotions.
"L-Lady Holly…" A devastated Sir Higglesworth stammers, holding his hat between his hands for a sense of formality, "I… I don't know why, but I am sure you had your reasons. I don't know how we'll survive without you, but I know that you'll be watching over us. G-guiding us f-from af-f-far…"
Sir Higglesworth crashes to his knees on the soft ground, falling to pieces at the foot of the grave, "I'm sorry I f-failed you, Lady Holly!"
Socks takes her turn next, bashfully toddling up towards the headstone and placing her drawing in front of it.
"You… taught me to never be afraid, Trainer…" She sniffs, her eyes gleaming with tears that are all but ready to drop, "Even at night time, when it's all dark and stuff, I knew not to be scared, 'cause you were there, keeping us safe"
She bows her head to try and wipe away tears with her tiny arms, and mumbles, "But n-now I'm afraid, because you were always so brave, Trainer. Whatever made you do this… it must be really scary"
Socks wobbles back over to Sir Higglesworth, and wraps her arms around his head as far as they'll reach, pulling it to her chest and hugging him tight. Tears sparkle in her eyes once more, and Sparky takes her turn.
"I-I finished my drawing, Miss Holly?" She squeaks, placing her three pieces of paper next to Socks', "I hope you like it…"
Her finished drawing from earlier shows Holly 'floating' once again, but this time Sparky has taken the time to add to it… a crude pair of wings.
"A-at first, I thought it was so cool, because I thought you were flying, so I gave you a pair of wings to help…" she sniffs, glancing skywards to avert her gaze. Staring off into the endless skies, she mumbles, "Well, you're flying now, huh?"
"D-do they have nice things in people heaven, Higgle…?" Socks mumbles as Sparky returns to them, collapsing into Sir Higglesworth's shoulder and hugging him tight.
"Yes, they have lovely things, Socks…" Sir Higglesworth sniffs, stretching his arms around both girls to pull them closer, "All of Lady Holly's favourite things will be there. Like knitting, and books, and pancakes… and she'll be able to watch over us whenever she wants to, a-and…"
"It's OK, Higgle…" Socks tries to comfort him, "As long as Trainer's happy now… right?"
"R-right…" Sir Higglesworth stifles, wiping his eyes and standing up again. With a gentle action, he throws his hat towards the grave, where it lands softly between Socks' and Sparky's drawings, "You always liked it when I wore this hat, Lady Holly. Perhaps it will help you to remember us?"
"I-I don't think she'll need any help, Higgle…" Socks soothes, patting him on the shoulder, "As long as we remember her, w-we'll be… f-f-fine…"
Socks collapses into Sir Higglesworth once again, her face streaming with tears, and the three slowly walk back inside. A light spattering of rain falls from the clouds above, almost as if it were cleansing the ground beneath it, and three pokémon watch from the doorway.
"L-look, even the skies are crying…" Sparky sniffs, "People heaven must know how special she is…"
A rumble of thunder rattles through the sky above, and three pokémon slowly walk back into their house. The back door closes with a soft click.
Two girls sit in their respective seats at the table, completely lost for words or even emotions, while a distraught Sir Higglesworth stands in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, lost in thought.
Without their trainer to protect them, he literally has no idea what will happen to the three of them. As far as he's concerned, if they have any future at all, it will be full of uncertainty. Not knowing what the future beholds is a horrible prospect for any Kadabra, as they are pokémon that pride themselves on their ability to read the future, but Sir Higglesworth can't help but doubt himself. After all, he failed to predict what would happen to his beloved trainer…
With a small, inaudible gasp, his eyes dilate as he realises the potentially worst part of this whole ordeal; the three of them could be separated!
Feeling unable to face the girls like this, as the obvious concern would show on his face and worry them further, he retreats back into the kitchen itself. In an attempt to prevent suspicion, he opens the door to the pantry and busies himself looking through it.
"W-whatever happens… we must stay together!" he insists to himself, hoping that his voice is muffled behind the intentional rustling of food packages. However, his improvised searching has him uncovering something unexpected…
His hand brushes over the smooth yet sticky feel of plastic wrap, and this distracts him enough to glance at his discovery. Underneath the plastic wrap, he finds a simple china plate, stacked high with freshly made poffins!
"Ohh, Lady Holly…" Sir Higglesworth sniffs, detaching the post-it note that was stuck to the wrap, showing a hastily drawn picture of… him. Simply drawn in biro pen, yet still focusing heavily on his moustache, Sir Higglesworth studies the little drawing, believing that not only had their trainer shown the foresight to make them some food beforehand, but also the knowledge that he would find this food. Her knowledge that pokémon couldn't read human has even shown through the simple drawing, indicating (in his mind) that this offering was not only a posthumous reminder of just how much their trainer cared, but also a way of saying sorry for turning their lives upside down.
"A-apology accepted, Lady Holly" he almost manages to chuckle, straining to lift up the plateful of poffins, "It would appear that you can read the future far better than I…"
Meanwhile, in the other room…
"H-hey, who's Higgle talking to?" Socks mumbles, her sharp ears picking up on his muffled voice from the other room.
"Probably himself, Socks…" Sparky sniffs, staring into the depths of the tablecloth, "C-cause there's no one else, remember?"
"Aww, don't be like that, Sparky" Socks stifles, blinking away her lament and shuffling over to comfort her friend, "M-maybe he's talking to her in the sky?"
Sparky just shrugs dejectedly, mumbling something unintelligible. Socks has half a mind to find out who Sir Higglesworth's talking to, but also doesn't want to leave Sparky on her own. However, a simple glance over towards the kitchen solves her problem. She finds her friend standing in the doorway, eyes sparkling with tears, holding onto a plate full of poffins?
"P-poffins, Higgle?" Socks mutters, both confused and dismayed at the sight in his hands, "How did you make them so quick?"
"I-I didn't…" Sir Higglesworth sobs, clumsily placing the heavy plate on the table, "Lady Holly… left them for us"
Socks' face visibly scrunches up at the notion, and she asks, "S-so that's why you were talking?"
Sir Higglesworth only manages a nod as his response, and shows the pair of them the post-it note with his picture on it.
"Ohh… you were always so smart, Trainer" Socks mumbles, barely holding her emotions.
"I-it shows that she still cared for us…" Sir Higglesworth splutters, collapsing into a chair and burying his face into his arms, "In spite of everything…"
And between a confused Socks, upset Sparky and overwhelmed Higgle, nothing is said for a few minutes.
"Umm… Higgle?" Socks eventually asks, choosing her words carefully, "W-what should we do now? We won't be able to stay here any longer, I know that much…"
"What… makes you say that, Socks?" Higgle asks, looking up from his arms.
"W-well…" Socks hesitates, "Trainer used to go into town sometimes and come back with food, didn't she?"
"…yes?" Higgle mutters slowly, both surprised at her insight, and slightly ashamed with himself for being unsure where she's going with this line of conversation.
"I-I think that's why Trainer made us these poffins, Higgle…" Socks mumbles, coming to a conclusion, "Because she knew that we wouldn't be able to go into town and get food like she did…"
"T-that would explain why it's such a large batch, yes" Sir Higglesworth agrees, noting that there are about twice as many poffins here as usual, "Good thinking, Socks…"
"But here's the problem, Higgle" Socks continues, "If we try, we can sorta cook food, but we can't get food. So what're we gonna do when we run outta food?!"
That question has Sir Higglesworth dumbstruck. Try as he might, he can't help but admit that the usually placid and uncaring Socks has made an exceptionally brilliant point.
"…oh" Higgle stammers, not quite able to reach a conclusion in time, "I-I guess we shall have to cross that bridge as we come to it, OK Socks? If we ration the food, it should last longer, and I'll try to come up with something before then. Does that sound good?"
"I… I don't know…" Socks mumbles insecurely, "I can't help but feel like we're gonna be thrown away now, cause-"
"Calm down, dear…" Sir Higglesworth insists of her, peeling away the plastic wrap and handing her a poffin, "You are overthinking, Socks. I assure you, we'll be fine. I won't let anyone throw us away. We are a family, b-broken or not…"
Picking up a second poffin, he places this one in front of Sparky, who hasn't moved since sitting at the table, "Sparky dear? Eat up please. Lady Holly made these for us…"
"Not hungry" Sparky mutters stubbornly, drawing the energy she needs to turn her head away from the tasty looking poffin and ignoring it regardless of its allure.
As even the normally insatiable Socks is only picking unenthusiastically at the poffin, despite it being her favourite Pecha flavour, it doesn't take much guesswork from Higgle to deduce that the two girls are depressed.
"Please, Sparky…" he pleads, dismounting his chair and walking around the table to approach her, "G-going on a hunger strike won't do anyone any good…"
"Just how long were you planning on keeping Miss Holly's death a secret from us, Higgle?" Sparky sniffs, her face eroded into a scowl, "I thought it was awesome at first, and you let me believe that. Why did you lie?!"
"To try and protect you…" Higgle replies distantly, knowing that, despite his best intentions, his plans had backfired catastrophically, "There are just some things that shouldn't be seen, and that was one of them"
"But I had seen already!" Sparky cries, accidentally discharging a few sparks of electricity from anger, "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just told me the truth, there and then?!"
"Now now, Sparky…" Higgle attempts to calm her, "Slow down and think about this, OK?"
"That's all I've been doing since you told us, dammit Higgle! Thinking!" Sparky seethes, her fury showing in her hollowed out eyes, "You wanna tell me what I'm missing, smarty pants?!"
"If I had told you straight away…" Higgle sighs reservedly, "You would have argued about it, insisting that she was flying, and when I continued to correct you, you would go and get Socks, to get her to agree with you. You saw what happened when Socks saw her…"
"Oh, so it's perfectly fine for me to see her floating there, dead as a Doduo, but not Socks?!" Sparky rages, "Why's she so special?!"
"Sparky!" Socks cries, appalled at Sparky's attitude, "Stop being so nasty to us! Higgle was just trying to help, OK?! Now that Trainer's g-gone, he's gonna be helping us a… a lot more! S-so you just shut up for once and let him help… OK?!"
Socks' unexpected outburst stuns the both of them into silence. Without another word, she drops the remains of her poffin onto the table and bounds from it with tears streaming from her eyes, dashing off into another room.
"…that is why I tried to hide the fact from Socks, Sparky" Higgle sighs after about a minute, "I was fortunate that you didn't realise just what had happened. We both know how timid Socks can be, don't we…?"
"…I was being dumb there, w-wasn't I?" Sparky mumbles, eyes sparkling with guilty tears, "S-Socks has already had a horrible day, and then I go and make it worse c-cause I dunno how to shut up!"
"No no, don't you berate yourself any further, Sparky" Higgle tries his best to comfort the tiny Sparky, pulling her into his arms and hugging her, "You were right. I should have told you straight away. In the situation we are in currently, it would have made no difference…"
"I'm… sorry I yelled at you, Higgle" Sparky mumbles into his shoulder, "I mean, you're trying your best to keep us together…"
"Don't apologise, Sparky" Higgle instructs, placing her back on her chair as carefully as he could, "If anything, it's Socks we need to apologise to. She needs cheering up right now…"
"…OK" Sparky agrees, albeit with some reluctance, "Once we find her, m-maybe we could all sit in the beanbag together, eat poffins and watch TV? Socks likes the cartoons on TV?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Sparky" Higgle manages a smile. Picking up two fresh poffins – one for himself and one for Socks – he adds, "And I have an idea where she might be. Come, let's go and be a family"
Sparky nods, and grabs her poffin before dismounting her seat with a clumsy jump to the floor, and chases after Higgle. Simply following his instinct rather than checking each room first, the pair climbs the stairs. They find Socks curled up in a ball, sat on the floor of the now mercifully empty bathroom, staring at the point where Holly was found and holding onto her tail for comfort. A gentle sniffing indicates that she's still upset, however…
"G-go away…" she chokes, hearing the pair enter and swivelling away from their line of sight, "I don't wanna talk right now"
"But we can't leave you like this, Socks…" Higgle says, trying his best to soothe her, "We all know you don't like it when you are alone"
"…is it gonna be like this every day?" Socks sniffles after a while, giving into their stubbornness, yet still refusing to look at the pair of them, "All of us getting mad at each other over nothing? I mean, I scratched the hell out of your face earlier, and I yelled at Sparky just because I was mad at the world for taking Trainer away! Is this our lives now?!"
"O-of course not, Socks" Higgle soothes, daring to reach forward and place a hand on her short, silky fur, "Things will get better, I just know it"
"When, Higgle? When?!" Socks stifles, flinching at his touch.
"In good time, I promise" Higgle tries his best to reassure his friend, while all Sparky can do is stand in the doorway and nod, "P… perhaps you would like to join us in the beanbag? We can eat our poffins in there, and I shall see if I can find some cartoons on TV?"
Socks' head slowly tilts back upwards, as if she's addressing the notion directly. "…that does sound nice. A lot better than this floor anyway…"
Slowly, the little Furret uncoils herself and wobbles back to her feet, finally showing her tear-stained face to her two friends again. "I-I'm sorry you guys. I shouldn't get all mad like that…"
"Noooo, no no no, it was my fault Socks!" Sparky owns up, joining in on the conversation now that she finally has something to offer, "It was me being stupid and not thinking about what I was saying. You were just sticking up for Higgle 'cause I was being nasty to him…
"B-but I-" Socks attempts to retort, but Higgle interjects, "Girls, please, desist! It is no one's fault, OK?"
He pushes Socks' poffin into her hands while opportunity strikes, and says "Let us agree on that at least…"
"…OK" both girls reply in unison, before glancing at the other bashfully. Higgle walks off towards the bedroom and beckons them both to follow, when Socks can't help but ask "W-what's desist mean?"
"Stop" Sparky replies, following Higgle through the door.
"Ohh, b-but…" Socks mumbles, perceiving Sparky's answer completely wrong, "I-I know Higgle wants us to stop arguing, but what's desist mean? You know I don't like those kinda words…"
"It means 'stop', Socks" Higgle almost chuckles, ruffling her head fur, "Sparky wasn't telling you to stop, she was answering your question, dear…"
"…oh" Socks mutters, once again feeling dumb, "S-sorry"
"No need to apologise, Socks" Higgle answers her, guiding the ditzy Furret towards the beanbag. "You girls take a seat, OK? I shall see if I can get the television working"
"N-no scary movies, please Higgle" Socks feels the need to request, "I-I don't like scary movies…"
"Ohh, of course not" Higgle's muffled voice replies from behind the cabinet, upon which rests the TV; an ancient model that looks older than any of the pokémon in the room. A light spattering of rain against the windows, combined with the slowly darkening sky, has limited visibility exacerbating things for the wise Kadabra, but as far as he can deduce…
"All of the wires and power connectors appear to be in the right places…" he muses, raising a hand to his chin, "And all of the appropriate switches are in the right position. So why are you not working, television?"
"Have you tried hitting it, Higgle?" Sparky suggests, slowly picking away at her poffin, "That always worked with me?"
"I don't think that will work this time, Sparky…" Higgle sighs, giving up and squishing into the beanbag with the two girls, "It doesn't seem to be receiving power, and we therefore cannot operate it"
"Aww, that sucks" Sparky sighs, "M-maybe we should just eat these and get to sleep, then?"
"It has been a long day…" Higgle agrees, glancing over to the evening sky outside, where the gap in the curtains is the only source of light in the room, and even that's minimal, "I'm sorry, Socks. Will you be OK getting to sleep?"
"U-uhmm…" she shivers, seemingly petrified of something, "It's… kinda dark. Dark is scary…"
Higgle and Sparky exchange a nervous glance in the dwindling light. It seems as though Socks' fear of the dark has resurfaced with the loss of Holly.
"Hang on, I've got an idea…" Sparky mutters, closing her eyes and concentrating. Her face mars into a frown as she concentrates, but the tiny Emolga slowly begins to glow with a soft static charge, lighting the room up just enough for the trio to see.
"Wow… thanks, Sparky" Socks whispers, snuggling up to her friend gratefully, "A-and you too, Higgle. You guys have been really nice to me today…"
Higgle opens his mouth to respond earnestly, but Socks forestalls him with "No, really! You guys have, like, tried your best to stop me from getting sad today! I really really mean it guys. Thanks…"
Higgle's face slowly melts into an exasperated but relieved smile, and mumbles, "That's what family is for, Socks"
But his response falls on deaf ears, as Socks has already fallen asleep, with her poffin under one arm and Sparky the 'nightlight' under the other.
"And they say a chipped vase is worthless…" he smiles, shuffling alongside the pair and wrapping his arms around them before slowly drifting off. He doesn't know what the future beholds, but he does know that, whatever happens, he has to do everything he can to save his 'broken' family.
Author's note: Whew!
This one took a while to write!
I hope it pleases readers, and answers any questions you may have about Sparky's reactions, etc. This chapter fleshes out Socks' personality a bit more, seeing as she's been the more neglected of the three main characters thus far, and for once, I haven't ended on some form of cliffhanger. Please read and review if you can spare a few minutes? :3
Oh, and one small challenge; if someone can unravel the meaning behind that last little paragraph, they win THREE internets. :D