A/N: I re-posted the 7th chapter, adding an extra section. If you have time, go check it out.
Thanks to carl1012.0, Bane767, kids rock, and mildirk for reviewing. A special thanks goes to QuaTraZ for the inspiration of this chapter. And by the way, you just lost The Game.
Chapter 8: The game
Okay…how am I going to do this?
Penny scratched her head, duly puzzled. She said that she wanted to find out more about her pets, but so far she'd hit a stone wall that refused to budge. That's because the problem was still the same. It always had been.
"You still can't talk, can you," she asked dully. They shook their heads.
They can understand English, but they can't speak a word of it.
According to her theory she had been pondering since the night before, animals, being immersed in it almost every day through the times, it became somewhat ingrained in their minds, the same way a human child can pick up on any language given the appropriate environment. But because they lack the vocal chords to speak the human language and are unable to express their knowledge, they never bothered, thus eluding the notice of humans for decades…maybe centuries, even.
It was just a theory, anyway.
"Can you write?" Again, they shook their heads. Penny stood up and paced around the room. Her mind was running through various ideas, but none seemed viable.
Darn it! There's nothing I can do to find out about them! Suddenly, she had a feeling that this discussion was going to be a lot less fruitful than what she expected.
"Penny looks really troubled," Mittens commented, watching Penny mumble several unintelligible words.
"She's like that. She hates it when she can't solve a problem. Sometimes, she will stay up an entire night just trying to solve something," Bolt replied.
They watched as Penny waved her hands around her head, snapping her fingers, trying to find a solution in her head.
At that point, Mittens had an idea. It was a stretch, but she had to try anyway. She meowed to get Penny's attention, before pointing at her front paws, making a circular motion around them while staring into Penny's eyes, willing her to understand.
"Mittens? What are you doing?" Bolt questioned.
"Playing a game my previous owner loved to play. It's called charades."
"Charades?"
"Later, Bolt. Later."
Penny seemed to get the hint. There was a spark of hope there—one way to find the truth. She was embarrassed she didn't think of it herself—she was supposed to be the brains of the Bolt-Penny team on the show, the one who came up with solutions to problems.
"You're acting out your name?" Penny asked for confirmation. Mittens nodded.
Yes! There's a chance for this to work! She stared intently at the cat, fully focused on her.
"Okay…you're pointing to your paws…is it paws?" She shook her head, emphasising the circular motion around her paws.
"Wait…white paws, is it white?" She shook her head. "Snow?" She shook her head. It was dumb, anyway. Who would call a black cat 'snow'?
Mittens stopped to think. After a while, she padded up to Penny and placed her paws in her hands.
"My hands?" What does my hand have to do with this?
Mittens repeated the circular motion once again.
"Wrapping around my hand…a glove?" Nope. Nowhere close.
Mittens brought her face close to Penny's hand and exhaled warm air onto it. Penny was puzzled. It seemed that she wasn't anywhere nearer to understanding them.
"Breath? Air? Wind?" Mittens shook her head, pointing to one side. "…Storm?" Again, no. Well, it would have been a nice name, anyway.
Mittens was starting to wish there were a literal pair of mittens lying about so she get this over with quick. Of course, it was never that easy.
"Your breath…it's warm…it's—" Mittens tapped her furiously on her lap, indicating she was on to something.
"Warm?" She nodded. "Okay…something to do with warm…" Mittens pointed to her hands once again.
"Warm…hands?" Mittens smiled. Yes! I'm getting closer!
Mittens once again repeated the circular wrapping motion around Penny's hands.
"Warm hands…around something?" Mittens nodded, making a rolling motion with her hands.
Penny scratched her head. She couldn't think of anything. She thought she was on to something, but in the end it just left her more confused than before. She couldn't think of anything to do with 'Warm hands around something'. Her hope was fading.
No! I can't give up now! She cranked her brain as hard as she could.
Her name… her name has something to do with warm hands…around something. Still nothing. Then, the image of the action flashed in her head. The circling around her hand…
Wait! It's not warm hands around something—it's the other way around! It's something around warm hands!
But warm hands didn't even make any sense in the first place. There wouldn't be any reason for hands to be warm. And yet the cat had specifically mentioned something to do with hands.
Something around warm hands…warming the hands…something that warms hands, perhaps?
She could feel herself getting closer. Yes! Her name is something that warms hands! Something that keeps a hand warm!
For a cat, Penny could only think of one possible name.
"…Mittens?" Instantly, the cat jumped into her arms with delight. Penny laughed, almost ecstatic that she managed to get it right. She cuddled the cat in her arms, who was now meowing with glee.
"So you're Mittens, I guess?" She giggled as the cat's fur tickled her skin. Mittens meowed in approval.
Mittens…the cat. It was fitting.
"Wow, Mittens! That was brilliant!" Bolt praised.
"You should be praising her, Wags," Mittens replied. "She's the one who figured it out, not me."
"And what about you?" Penny asked, looking at Rhino.
"Bah, this should be easy," Rhino proclaimed, before standing on his hind paws and outstretching one of his front paws, while the other went behind his head. His eyes bulged, while his tongue stuck out in some inane pose.
Now Penny was truly baffled. Was his name even a word in the English dictionary? There was nothing that jumped out at her specifically when she saw that martial arts imitation.
"Bruce Lee?"
Mittens face palmed herself. This was going to take forever to do, and Mittens had no intention of wasting hours on something as trivial as a name. She clambered off Penny's lap and walked over to the bookshelf, scanning the titles. She couldn't read all the names, but she only needed to see the top book's cover to find what she was looking for.
Penny, who was now up on her feet, seemed to get the idea and helped pull the book to the ground. Mittens flipped it open, and scanned the pages.
"What exactly are you doing, Mittens?" Bolt asked, walking up to her.
"Ending this little game." Bolt now understood why. The book was an encyclopedia on animals. It would take just a simple flip of the page to get Penny to understand. Mittens couldn't read the names of the animals, but she could recognise most of them.
Hey, not everything in life is exciting.
Quail…Quagga…Queen Bee…Mittens flipped passed the Q's and moved to the R's section.
Rabbit…Racoon…Rat…she smirked at the thought.
Finally, she arrived. A picture of a rhinoceros glared back from the page in the book, as if angry that it had been disturbed. Mittens pointed to the picture and motioned to Rhino. Amazingly, this entire time he was still stuck in the martial arts pose, not moving or even batting an eyelid. He was like some frozen wax statue.
Penny looked perplexed—in fact, she was. Why is she pointing to a rhinoceros?
"It's…a rhino," she said slowly.
Mittens nodded. Penny couldn't believe it.
"Rhino…the hamster?" Finally, he broke out of his trance.
"Well you know, my ancestry isn't all hamster. There's a little bit of—" Mittens covered his mouth with a paw, and nodded. This was something she had no interest in going through again.
Penny picked up the little rodent and smiled. "So you're Rhino, I take it?" He saluted and spoke something indecipherable to Penny.
"You know, I still think Bruce Lee sounds cooler," Penny remarked.
Mittens collapsed in exasperation.
The rest of the morning was spent watching tv, at the suggestion of Rhino. Nobody could be bothered to argue with him, so they just sat with him and watched several episodes of the newer shows.
When the afternoon came, most of the good shows had ended, so Penny offered to play outside.
"Hey mom! I'm going out to play with Bolt and Mittens!" Penny called from the living room.
"Alright, just be careful, and don't go too far off," came the reply from her mom.
Penny rolled her eyes, before picking up Mr Carrot in her hand.
"Alright Bolt, let's go." She looked back at the couch. "Is Rhino coming with us?"
"My apologies, Penny, but my area of expertise lies with the magic box! I have some important research to conduct."
"Which means to say he's too lazy to come," Mittens said.
Penny shrugged, leaving the house with Bolt and Mittens, leaving Rhino alone on the couch.
Penny noticed something when she was playing with Bolt. Even though he was more…human-like than she thought, he still acted like the dog she had always imagined him to be. Bolt was still the same cheery, loyal dog that he was, and he still loved her as much as she loved him. Very odd animals indeed…Penny thought. She wondered if other animals were just like them.
"Come on Bolt, you can do better than that!" Mittens laughed heartily as Penny waved Mr Carrot teasingly above his head, tempting him to jump and grab it.
"Why don't you try it, huh Mittens?" He jokingly called back.
"Eh, no thanks. It's a dog thing, ya know?"
"It's always a dog thing…" he grumbled, missing once again. "Why don't you have some good dog fun once in a while?"
"Because I'm a cat. Hello? Did you lose your brain back at the studio?"
"Still, you should try it. You might like it." Mittens shook her head mirthfully.
"Wags, the day Rhino becomes a hero and saves the world is the day I try being a dog."
"You know, I think I'll take you up on that," he said, before finally latching onto the stick and pulling it free from Penny's grip triumphantly.
"Speaking of Rhino, where is he?" Mittens asked, glancing around the garden.
"Isn't he still watching tv?" Bolt spoke through the stick, before passing it to Penny for another throw.
"I don't think so. The tv's off, and the lights are down."
"Maybe he decided to take a walk and get some exercise?" They looked at each other.
"Nah." They said simultaneously.
1 hour later, they were starting to become rather worried. Rhino had not turned up anywhere in the house. They had checked the kitchen, the dining room, Penny's bedroom, all the likely places he might be. But still there was no trace of him being in anywhere else in the house other than the living room. Penny didn't notice this though; she was busy arranging the photos she had taken for the day.
"Where could he be?" Bolt asked, checking below the sofa for the umpteenth time.
"I don't know, Wags. It's not like him to leave your side. Or the tv, for that matter." She thought about it. "Maybe he got sucked into the tv for watching it too much, like that show last night."
"This isn't the time for humour, Mittens. He could have wandered off and lost his way somewhere."
"No, Bolt, that's just you." He flashed her a glare. She didn't notice it.
"He's definitely not in the house, so he must be outside. Come on, let's go." They left the house by themselves, without Penny's knowledge.
The search was still fruitless outside the house. They checked the barn, the trees, the patches of tall grass, but there was still no sign of Rhino. It was like he just disappeared.
"This isn't working. There must be a way to cover more ground." Mittens said.
"Wait, maybe we could get a bird's eye view around here for more vision."
"How're we going to do that?"
"Literally." He looked up at the sky, where a lone pigeon was flying low. Bolt barked to get the pigeon's attention.
"Hey! Can you give us a hand?" Bolt yelled. The pigeon glanced down, before staring straight back ahead.
"It's not working, Bolt. He's not coming down."
But then, the pigeon dipped to the left, circling a few times in the air before gliding to a stop before them.
"Salutations, strangers. How may I help you?" He had an accent Mittens couldn't place.
"We're looking for somebody. A friend. He's a hamster."
"Ah, a hamster, you say? Perchance, would he happen to be brown, fat, around yea big?" He opened his wings.
"Erm, yes?" Bolt was a little puzzled. "Have you seen him?" The pigeon laughed heartily.
"Hah! It's hard to miss him when he's doing something so positively portentous! Yes, I just saw him a little way down the road. A rather serendipitous encounter, wouldn't you agree?" He chuckled.
"What?" They both asked.
"Indeed, what he's doing is certainly a rather prodigious pursuance."
Bolt and Mittens exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing.
What the heck does that even mean!
"Pity I didn't have time to spectate it though." He mused.
"I don't really understand him, Mittens," Bolt whispered.
"Me neither," she whispered back.
"Hey, where did you see this hamster anyway?" Bolt asked, trying—and failing—to make sense of the pigeon's words.
"Just down the road. You might want to exercise a little prudence when you get there."
"Right, thanks," Bolt hastily mumbled, before taking off with Mittens by his side.
"Hmm…" the pigeon wondered out loud. "That dog…I'm pretty sure I've seen him before…"He shrugged.
"I guess it slipped my mind. Oh well, c'est la vie." Humming a tune, he flew off into the afternoon sky.
As Bolt and Mittens ran, they wondered what in the world Rhino could have been doing. They shared anxious looks with each other, hoping that it wasn't what they feared it was.
"Oh yeah? You think you're so tough? Come on!"
Rhino had to admit: this was probably one of the most exhilarating moments of his life. This was something he had been hoping for ever since they had rescued Penny. But to his major disappointment, there was no action whatsoever among them. The lack of awesomeness had left him restless as the days went by, and the worst part was that Bolt didn't seem to mind! He seemed perfectly content with a sedentary lifestyle.
What ever happened to all the bad guys? They never even captured Calico for sure! He could be somewhere out there, plotting another attack!
But Bolt had dismissed it with a wave of a paw and a cheerful smile. Don't worry Rhino, he's not coming back, Bolt had said.
But how can we be sure? Complacency has killed many a hero!
And so Rhino had taken it into his own hands. He was putting himself under a serious training regime in order to prepare himself for the possibility of a surprise attack. He had been doing it secretly when no one bothered to check if he was there. But today, after watching the magic box, he had decided to take his training up to the next level.
It was a pretty big jump.
"Is that the best you've got?" Rhino taunted, standing proudly in front of an enraged bull.
"You think you're funny? I'll crush you!" The bull growled, his tail flicking irritably.
"Well, you've been saying the same thing for quite a while now, so…" That did it. As if something snapped in the bull's brain, he went into a frenzied rage and charged at Rhino.
Coolly staring at the incoming missile, Rhino tensed, not moving an inch. Then, when the bull was inches away and about to crush him with a hooved paw, Rhino ducked and barrel-rolled right underneath his legs.
Using that momentum, he gripped on tightly to one of the bull's hind legs and slowly hauled himself up on the bull's back. The bull didn't notice this however; he thought he'd crushed that rodent into the dirt. So he was very rudely shocked when he heard Rhino call from his head.
"Hey, so have you crushed me yet?"
"What! Get off my head!" He shook wildly, trying to get the irritant off.
"Whoa! Hahaha!" Rhino laughed callously while being lifted off the bull's head, hanging on by only a paw. And yet, he never acknowledged the true danger he really was in. He was blissfully ignorant of the consequences that could…and would befall him.
"Get. Off. Now!" With a resolute roar, he leapt into the air a few feet, throwing Rhino off and flying a good few yards away in the pen.
"Fully awesome!" He yelled as he flew through the air.
Rhino thought that this was probably one of the most blissful experiences of his life, being thrown through the air. It was like he was flying. Without his ball to impede his movement and stop the wind from reaching his face, he felt the full enjoyment of the short flight. He felt alive.
But it was only for a few seconds.
When he landed, the sensation went to the other end of the spectrum. Without his plastic ball to protect him, he took the full brunt of the impact on the hard gravel. Gone were the feelings of euphoria, replaced with a sharp stinging sensation. When he got to his feet, he could see now that mixed with the dirt and gravel over his body, was the slow trickle of blood. He winced in pain.
What…? Why is it hurting so much?
Being shielded so much, he'd never bled before and really felt the sting of real pain, much like a certain white shepherd. The characters on the magic box never really flinched when they bled buckets, but now he was facing a slight trickle and he couldn't bear it? He was understandably perplexed.
He was so absorbed in his problem, he didn't notice that the bull had seen him fly off, noticed him motionless on the ground, and had decided that it was the perfect time to exact his long-desired revenge. Checking his horns, he took a step backward before charging once more. No stepping on the rodent this time—he was going to impale him good. And if that didn't work, his body would probably be torn into two or more pieces.
Rhino however had noticed, and he was ready to go for another round, despite the new handicap he had been handed. He got into a ready stance, poised to evade.
"Rhino!"
But before he could react, something slammed into him from the side, causing him to feel momentarily disoriented. When he refocused, he realised it was Mittens who had grabbed him and thrown him away from the incoming attack. Bolt had stepped into the ring and drawn the attention of the bull away from Rhino. Not appreciative of the increasing amount of intruders and irritants, the bull turned and charged at Bolt.
Growling, Bolt stepped back, timing his move carefully. When the bull had reached maximum velocity, Bolt turned his back on him and gracefully leapt through a hole in the fence. The bull couldn't stop his charge and smashed into the fence hard. The whole fence shuddered at the impact.
"Run! Run!" Bolt yelled, as the bull was fighting a daze from the rebounding blow. Mittens picked the hamster up and ran.
They didn't stop until they were back in the house garden.
"That…was the awesomest thing EVER!" Rhino exclaimed, celebrating effusively.
"Rhino! What were you doing?" Bolt asked, concerned. "That was extremely dangerous!"
"Are you kidding? It was fully awesome!" He replied with enthusiastic motions. "You had that bull by the horns! The way you outmaneuvered that beast…and then drove him to his own demise…it was beyond awesome! It was be-awesome! That's the Bolt I know!"
"But you could have been killed, Rhino!" Mittens argued, feeling a little more than anxious that he was taking this so lightly, especially since he was injured.
"Oh would you relax, cat?" Rhino scoffed. "I've seen Bolt and a lot of other people do this on the magic box a million times. It's perfectly fine. And besides, it's awesome!"
"The…magic box?"
"Of course! Where else could you see such awesomeness like Bolt and his superbark? It would have been so awesome if he used it against that insidious beast!"
Bolt and Mittens shared uneasy glances at each other. They knew this was coming, and they knew what they had to do now. They wished that they'd never have to tell him, but now, after seeing him almost killed, it was apparent they had to. Mittens stepped forward.
"Rhino…we need to talk."
A/N: Countdown...1
