Now the moment that you've all (all being DaBraxMan) been waiting for... A chapter with a Purrl part! Also some more Tank/Roald scenes, and a bit more Portia... Let's see how this goes.
Previously: Portia has moved to a town called Silagost, and isn't having the best of times when she realises that the museum is already full.
As always, thank you for the reviews! Tbh I'd rather have 3/4 dedicated reviewers than several different ones each chapter. And good to see my two regulars missing from last chapter back :3
Replieeeees:
unicorn246 - Welcome back, I guess ;\ Great deduction with Mystery... I can't work out why you think he's mysterious xD That sounds fun! And seriously?! At the same time as the others? Give me your town.
DaBraxMan - Purrl does a lot more than speak in this chapter... One of your predictions is right :3 Good! Mystery was always a marmite character - you hate him or love him. Well that's just creepy! And it's good that you're prepared. I'm a high level in those skills. Eh, yeah... Portia's personality's a bit off but I'm struggling to get it right xD I hope it's as good as you're expecting!
KoolKid - Haha, I have seen Frozen, yes xD I love the reindeer.
SpartaLazor - Thanks for catching up! And that sounds embarrassing - were you pushed under it with a crush or? :P And that sounds awesome - everyone in the world will see it. Quick way to be famous! Haha... I'd call it playing it safe/smart. He wasn't trying to be a jerk. Yes! I much prefer K.K in WW/CF, much better than "Club LOL" by far. Thanks!
Here we go... Longest chapter yet, but not so long I need to split it.
Training
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Louis asked with a cheery smile as he approached the plaza. A large crowd of Honevray's residents were gathered around the town hall, where a large mat was on the ground. Tank lay there, straining as he struggled to push up some large weights. "Well that looks... Like the least fun thing in the world."
"Shhhh, silly!" Rosie flapped her arms at him with a stern glare, "He's about to do it!" She hopped up and down excitedly, eye-watering long, pink and poofy dress bouncing with her.
"About to do wha-?"
"GRAAAAH!" Tank roared, heaving the massive weight up once more. A few animals gasped, while a couple of the girls sighed dreamily. Louis raised an eyebrow as he looked to the sweaty rhino, a disturbing expression on his face as the jock struggled. He sometimes wondered why girls preferred smelly, dumb sport freaks over cuddly, nerdy sweet guys. If Tank cuddled someone, he'd break their back. Louis was more of a cushion.
"Thank you for that contribution, Tank." Louis continued talking anyway, folding his arms with a light sigh, "What's he about to do?"
Rosie flailed again, hurrying over to Louis and covering his mouth with a furry paw, shushing so loud that a few of the others turned to glare at her instead. "Break his record, now SHUSH, silly!"
Louis shoved her paw away with annoyance, frowning at her, before deciding to keep quiet and observe the exhausted rhino. Roald stood by him, encouraging him enthusiastically and anxiously. Louis couldn't think of a single moment in history where Roald wasn't with Tank, the penguin followed him everywhere.
"C'mon, man!" Roald exclaimed, pacing besides his friend, "Just five more, b-b-buddy! Five more and you make history!"
"I-I don't need you keeping count, ker-POW! I'm... Fine..." Tank panted, face dripping with sweat as he struggled. He forced the weight up once more, before his strength suddenly wavered, "Argh! No!" The shout was enough warning for Roald, who dived for cover as the weight fell from Tank's hands to the ground where the penguin had been pacing. The object immediately rolled, crashing into a post with a box attached to it, reading 'MAYOR ELECTION VOTES'.
Silence fell in the plaza. Half the crowd's stunned expressions were on the defeated rhino, while the other half were on the broken poll box, the half a dozen slips of paper blowing away into the sky. Tank lay panting on the ground, staring up at the sky and not reacting to anything. Roald picked himself up from the ground, looking to his friend with a look of doubt, even a touch of pity.
"Quick, there's still time, squeaky!" Dora shouted in panic. Tank looked to the mouse with almost a look of gratitude, before she ran right past him to the broken poll box, "Hurry! I need pens, paper and glue!" Everyone stared at her with confusion. "You don't know what Tortimer will be like if he sees this! We can still save it, go, go, squeaky!"
Seven animals hurried off to complete Dora's panicked request, while the rest stared at the now still rhino on the ground. The crowd slowly faded into nothing, leaving the two friends alone.
Purrl sighed as she finished carefully sticking a large poster to the bulletin board, the poster so big it hid the majority of notes already stuck there. There was nothing important - the most notable were Cube's begging for someone to catch him a salmon so he could eat it without feeling guilty, someone's weird rants about Pete, and some advertisement about a spring sports fair. Her announcement was actually real news, the exact kind of thing that should be posted on this board.
"Purrl's Fabulous Fashion Fair..." Louis spoke from next to the cat, his voice full of disgust, "Winning prize is... Some decent clothes worn by the one and only... Purrl. No ugly people allowed? What... What the heck's wrong with you?!"
Purrl made a 'tch' noise, turning on her heels to look down at Louis. Even though she was the same height as him, she still managed to hold a pretence that she was bigger. "Excuse me, kitten? Nothing is wrong with me. And stop looking so angry, it will age you faster. Besides, this contest does not concern you... You can not enter." The cat dismissed him with a flick of her head, turning and gracefully strolling away.
"H-Hey!" Louis eventually exclaimed, realising her implication after a long pause, "I don't want to enter your stupid vanity show anyway! I don't need an insecure, snotty... Snob, criticising my clothing choice!"
Purrl stiffened in her tracks, entire body tensing. She did a quick one eighty, and pounced towards Louis in a flash, slapping him across the face - still managing to stay graceful. "How dare you, kitten!" She snapped furiously, glaring at him, "Insecure?! What could I possibly have to be insecure about? Have you /seen/ me?!"
Louis rubbed his red cheek, holding back tears of pain as he stared at the furious cat. "Geez... I struck a nerve. Don't kid yourself, Purrl. You act like you're better than everyone else because you have a 'great' fashion sense, but I've met a lot of people like you back in my own world, and you're just using fashion to cover your insecurities. Were you bullied in the past? Humiliated?"
Purrl's whole demeanour changed for only a brief moment, but Louis saw it all. The look of fear and vulnerability, humiliation and sadness. But then it all vanished to be replaced with her normal sneer and glare. She shook her head with a long sigh, "Oh, Louis, kitten... You come up with these silly stories and theories. It must be hard for someone like you to understand... Someone who is clearly self conscious... One who has been bullied before, probably for your weight. It must be difficult to see someone like me - someone so confident in themselves and proud. Well, I apologise, kitten... But you are wrong. And I can not have you running off stage in fear and paranoia when people start booing you... There is nothing I can do to help your... Style, kitten. Some people are just made to be unattractive."
Although Purrl's words stung like he'd been hit by a brick, Louis refused to show it. Everything Purrl had said was true, so Louis remained silent as the feline walked away.
He looked down at his clothes, before sighing, "Thanks, Purrl... Now I have to go to the Able Sisters."
"What the hell happened there, man?!" Roald snapped, catching the door to Tank's house as the rhino tried slamming it in his face. "This was our moment, b-b-buddy! You could've made history! You've been drinking too much coffee and slacking - we'll never win the spring fair like this!"
"What the heck is all this bull about we, ker-POW?!" Tank snapped, throwing the fridge door open and retrieving a can of coke, "What do you even do, huh?! You follow me round like a little kid! I screwed up, man, I know it. But give me a break! I was tired, ker-POW!"
Roald sighed, slumping into a metal chair, staring at his friend, "B-b-buddy... You're my best friend. I don't follow you around, you're just the only cool guy in this place. I'd get lonely otherwise. And I get it, just... That prize money is meant to get us out of this hole. We can finally leave and go to the big city! We can be famous, b-b-buddy!"
"Well maybe I don't even want you coming with me, huh, ker-POW?!" Tank crushed the empty can in his hooves, tossing it onto the floor, steam coming from his nostrils, "The prize money is mine. I'm the one who deserves fame and freedom, man, me! If you want it, get it yourself!"
Roald appeared confused, staring to Tank uncertainly, "Woah, b-b-buddy, what are you saying?! We agreed to do this together."
"You hold me back, ker-POW!" Tank snapped with a heated glare, "You're a distraction and whenever the going gets tough you just want to get a frigging cup of coffee rather than train some more! You're meant to have my back at all times and support me or whatever. Basically I don't need you, ker-POW. I'll win this competition without your 'help', so get the heck out."
Roald got to his feet, expression numb, before saying quietly, "Man... This place sucks. All it is nowadays is arguments... I thought you and I were better than that, b-b-buddy... But do what you want. Have fun in the big city if you make it... And good luck finding new friends."
One of the many coffee cups Roald had left lying around Tank's house smashed into the door just as the penguin closed it, followed by silence.
"You. You're always here. What is it?" Portia stared away from the stegosaurus, looking with irritation to the quirky giraffe at her side, currently scribbling on a clipboard without even looking at her. "You. You're scaring my customers."
"I don't see any customers..." Portia commented warily, glancing around the museum, "I'm sorry... Just there's so many fossils I've never seen before, ruffian... I just want to find out where it came from. There's so much history here!"
"Yes, yes. Much history." Spots replied ignorantly, dismissing the subject. "Must start charging for entry. You're dirtying floor. Must stop. New villager must leave now. Museum closed. Goodbye."
Portia rolled her eyes, examining the fossils closely. The bones all seemed so... White. As if they had been cleaned extensively, but that was impossible. Wasn't it? Silagost wasn't too far from Honevray, so why had so many fossils been found so close to each other? Honevray was meant to be unique, yet there wasn't a single prehistoric animal she could think of missing from this museum. A thought briefly entered her mind... Maybe this was where her parents had vanished too all that time ago? Maybe it was them who discovered all this.
She knew it wasn't true deep inside, as much as she hated to admit it.
"...hundred. Maybe three hundred." Spots was mumbling to himself besides her, snapping her from our thoughts. "Yes, yes... Expensive to run... Dog spends several hours here... Could repay debts..."
Portia frowned, staring to the curator. "Debts? What debts, ruffian?"
Spots nearly jumped out of his skin, staring to her in surprise. "No debts! I mean... Nothing! Leave. Now. Shoo, shoo, off you go! Busy man, busy man."
A horrifying thought suddenly crossed Portia's mind, and without thinking about the consequences, she reached across the barrier and touched the bone.
The fossils were fake.
"...No silly, big dresses, kitten..." Purrl paced back and forth, paws behind her back, not even looking at the small crowd of girls in front of her. "But lastly, and most importantly... No ugliness. My aim with this contest... Is to perhaps find an understudy... Someone who can keep fashion in Honevray alive should I ever depart... Now, I am unfortunately not lucky with having potential in front of me... That means that whoever should win this contest, will get my attention... And I can turn them into someone like me... Someone beautiful... Someone perfect, kitten."
"We still get the free dress right, silly?" Rosie asked, sticking up her hand.
Purrl rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disgust. "Yes, yes... The winner is rewarded by a dress of my very own design, kitten... The very dress worn for Honevray's fifty-year anniversary celebration three years ago. It even made the national news, kitten. Of course, for those who are unfortunate enough to not have my perfect body shape... It should get you quite a few bells, kitten."
The cat suddenly spun to face the crowd, tapping a pointer stick into her paw. "You all have a long day ahead of you, kittens. I am generous enough to offer you a selection of my clothes for the contest, for I very much doubt any of you possess anything slightly glamorous... Of course, you must return anything you use after the contest, and things go on a first come first serve basis. If you are too slow... Tough luck. I am even nice enough to handle the washing bills, kitten. At least then I know it is done correct, and there are no more of your... Germs present anywhere on my clothes."
"Oh, well our germs are very offended, I'm sure."
Gasps came from all inside Purrl's house, as the front door flew open. Purrl turned, staring at the three intruders with an expression of mixed disgust and horror. For there in the doorway, stood Louis. And on both sides were Bob and Cube.
"Urgh!" Purrl wrinkled her nose in disgust, clutching onto a chair for support, "G-Get those two out of here, this instant! They... They are lowering the house value each second they are here, kitten!"
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Louis grinned, raising his eyebrows, "Is this not where we sign up for the fashion contest?"
"...Th-The..." Purrl whimpered, eyes widening as she wavered unsteadily on her feet, "...The fashion contest? B-But... You're boys! You are disgusting, ugly, males!" She quickly regained her composure, smoothing down her dress and glaring crossly at the three. "Only girls can enter this competition, kitten, so I regret to say you must leave." Her nose twitched. "And in a hurry, if you would."
Looks gave a false look of dismay, looking to the two lazies at his sides, "How very rude of you! But it doesn't say such a rule on your sign? And you can't send us away after we've walked so far... Poor Cube's flippers are sore!" Cube plopped into a nearby chair sadly, clutching his left foot, proving the point. "And Bob skipped an important meeting with the mayor!"
"Yeah, pthhpthpth!" Bob's ears drooped, nodding miserably, "He wanted to make me Honevray's official party planner!"
"Not to mention..." Louis gave Bob a pat on the shoulder, looking back to Purrl, "Fashion isn't just something for girls. Us gents can certainly look handsome too. Don't you think?"
A dark look flashed across Purrl, her features even appearing evil for a moment. But, as always, she was able to quickly disguise it with her usual sneer. "...All very good points, kitten. But one problem... I do not own any male clothing! You have nothing to enter with... Farewell, now." She gestured rudely to the door, starting to turn away.
"Oh, you wound me..." Louis sighed with dismay, folding his arms, causing Purrl's ear to twitch as she paused to listen. "We have our own clothes. Not everyone quite wants to share your fashion taste, Purrly."
"Do not call me that, fool." Purrl spat through her sharp teeth, looking more and more like a wild animal by the second, "Entries... Can only use my clothes. It is a rule. No can do, kitten. Be gone!"
"Lastly..." Louis, Cube and Bob all repeated together, "And most importantly... No ugliness."
Louis took over once more, "That's quite odd... You didn't mention that rule in your speech there, and saying lastly usually means that's the last rule. You obviously have a poor opinion of our chances, Purrl... So why object to us entering?"
Purrl hissed, baring her teeth and claws. "I know how this will go, kitten! Everyone will vote for you and you will win! But not because you deserve it, no... All these dim witted cretins will vote for you to prove a point! And one thing you can not argue with, kitten, is that what on earth is a guy to do with an expensive feminine dress?! You can not be interested in the prize, and it is unfair when the others here can actually use it."
Louis shook his head with a deep sigh, glancing to the floor, before back to the furious feline. "Oh, Purrl, Purrl, Purrl... I'll tell you what. Let someone impartial be the judges, someone who's not aware of this little argument."
"...And who do you suggest, kitten?"
"I know just the three..."
"...I'm far too busy for this." Pete sighed in distress, sat alongside Pelly and Phyllis, watching as several animals posed and strutted across a small stage outside the town hall.
Phyllis was too busy applying new lipstick to her beak, while Pelly watched with interest and excitement.
"Ugh... Alright, times up!" Pete shouted, clapping his wings, "Time for us to vote..."
Purrl stood on the side, watching tensely. She glared at Louis, who actually looked pretty stylish in a nice tux that fit him well. Cube and Bob were distastes, typically. Cube wore clothes far too short for him, revealing his unflattering belly. Bob, on the other hand, didn't quite seem to understand the rules. He was parading in a long pink dress, much to the other girls' amusement.
There was one girl, however, that had surprised Purrl. The girl she normally found hideous and unattractive had chosen a very nice dress that complimented her fur colour and managed to hide her larger body shape well. Although Purrl dreaded having to tutor such an irritating creature in the coming months, she definitely deserved to win the contest.
"In third place..." Pete said loudly, after the pelicans stopped discussing, "Mitzi!"
The shy cat beamed, and everyone congratulated her. Purrl noted how the cat had gone straight for Louis upon the result. Interesting.
"In second place..." Phyllis broke off with a yawn, seeming very bored. She looked to the paper in her wings. "Erm... Louis! (Really...? Pete looks so much better in a tux...)"
Louis smirked in victory, hugging Rosie tightly. Ooh, that's interesting... Purrl observed Mitzi's reaction to the hug. A possible dramatic love triangle here.
"And the winner is..." Pelly paused for suspense, smiling cheerfully, "...Nibbles! Congratulations!"
Purrl managed a genuine smile and clapped her paws as she watched the shocked squirrel get mobbed by her friends.
But then Purrl sighed, "Oh joy... Maybe I can find a way to hide those awful teeth, kitten..."
A/N: Hmm... That was one if my favourite chapters! I hope there was enough Purrl for you, DaBraxMan. I'm quite pleased with how I portrayed her, and it looks like she has a new understudy now!
So... Will Tank and Roald make up? Will Tank win the sports competition? What will Portia do with what she just found out? How will Nibbles cope with Purrl's attempts to change her into a new Purrl?
Actual questions...
1. Have you ever fallen out with someone while under pressure to win/complete something? How'd it turn out?
2. So Mitzi's the one that was upset about Rosie kissing Louis... Opinions on the love triangle?
3. Opinions on Purrl... Go on DaBraxMan :P
Next time... It's Valentines Day! More developments with our love triangle, while the "new and improved" (pfft) Nibbles gets some attention from an unlikely guy. And also, more Laura and Mystery stuff.
All in all a rather romantic chapter. And it's split in two, so there's even more stuff coming after that. Again I wish I could do these around the right time of year, but we'll have to deal with it.
Please review! As said, I'm happy with this chapter, so I hope you are too :)