Silver & Blaze: Our Story

Conspiracy
Silver: "Justice"

January
Mom called for me again to get up so I could go through my usual daily routine. Take a bath, eat breakfast, walk to school, socialize, come home, eat dinner, do homework. Somewhere in there I get punched or teased by Lucas. Anyway…I didn't get up…after the fourth call. Mom had to come and check on me. The door opened and she had a clothes basket in one arm. She flipped on my bedroom light and yelled at me to get going. I complied and rolled out of bed. Mom closed the door and I shuffled over to my window. Snow. Not enough to close school for the day meaning I'll have to face Lucas sooner or later. I suppose I should reveal the fact that not all of my mornings have been like this since last summer. In fact, I only became this way after the conversation I had with my friends two weeks ago. Knowing that my guilt was what kept me from fighting off Lucas sunk in pretty deep. Right to the point where I asked myself a few days ago "Why even bother?" I guess that answered Bark's question. I am ashamed of myself.

Made it to school with no Lucas encounters. When I reached the comfort of my friends' company, I was relieved. I also realized how unnecessarily paranoid I became. Somehow, they saw it as well.

"Dude, this has got to stop right now. Either you man up and face Lucas or I'm splittin'. No reason for me to keep protecting a scared mouse. Er—no offense Cindy!" Bean quickly smiled to a passing female mouse.

The others didn't say anything which I appreciate them for doing that. Really, I'm not surprised Bean is fed up after half-a-year. He has every right to find better friends than me. Bark reminded us that the bell would ring soon and we went our separate ways. Honey walked alongside me since we had first period together. She tried to cheer me up saying that Bean was just overreacting because of something that happened to him on the way to school. Sure. I went along with it if it pleased her but…that was genuine anger in Bean.

"You don't have to strain yourself Honey." I said to her after a few moments. "Just let things run their course. It'll get better eventually."

The smile she put on…was fake. Now she's having second thoughts about sticking around me. I think.

Lunch time. No sign of Bean…and surprisingly Bark. It was just me and Honey at our usual table. We sat away from the other kids at the far end of the rectangular table. Privacy just felt necessary right now. Honey and I sat opposite of each other eating our lunches in silence. She has to say something sooner or later. I just know it. This silence is probably really uncomfortable for her. When I saw that she had finished her pudding and touched nothing else in front of her I prepared myself for what was going to be another worry talk.

"Even the adults can't help." She looked off across the lunchroom.

That was weird. What's she talking about.

"You can tell a teacher, your parents, any adult you trust and still they won't be able to stop Lucas all the time. I wonder if his parents are aware of how he acts…"

"Beats me. They're obviously not trying hard enough." I said in between bites of my sandwich.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. All the more reason to stand up to him, huh?" she smiled again.

I returned a brief one before going back to my lunch.

"If anything, you should do it for others." She leaned forward.

"Why?" I said after wiping my mouth.

"Duh. To show that you do have a spine and that Lucas can't control you. People are saying things about you Silver…" She started twiddling her fingers. "Maybe if you did something, they'd stop talking. You'd get some respect. Girls kinda like a guy who knows what he wants and where he wants to go."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just being a protector isn't everything. Gotta go on the offensive sometimes, y'know?"

I never gave much thought to what girls thought of me…or anyone for that matter. Maybe that explains a lot though. Since the start of the school year, I've been getting this feeling of…distance from everyone. Like I was being avoided or something. Having friends masked that up pretty well but it was still there. Then there's what Honey said about girls liking a strong guy. Blaze was always scolding me for being too scared to do things. Here I am, scared again but she's not here to pull me through. I guess Honey was onto something then. If I have to stand up for anyone, it's Blaze. She's done so much for me when she was living here. Wallowing in guilt while she's off trying to move on would be an insult to the courage she tried to give me. I have to face Lucas for her sake…and my sanity.

I thanked Honey for the advice and she had her familiar bright smile once again. The atmosphere felt lighter after that.

Now I could've gone about this new approach the direct way, but starting fights just isn't my thing. I know I have to be a fighter but I still want to be myself. Waiting for the opportunity was the only choice I had left. Until then, I walked the hallways with pride and even smiled at other students (despite getting weird looks from them). It wasn't long before Lucas showed up. It was at the end of the day. I was at my locker packing away the books I would need for homework when my locker slammed right in front of my face. The strap of my backpack was caught in the door. Lucas was standing to my right grinning with his hand on my locker door.

"Got some time birdhog?" Lucas said.

"Birdhog" was a new nickname he gave me recently.

"I'm not in the mood Lucas." I managed to yank the strap from the locker door. "I got things to do at home."

"I just wanna have a few words with you loser." Lucas stood in my way as I tried to walk around him.

"Go away." I said a little firmer.

I managed to shove past him but Lucas was quick to grab my arm. He started to say something but I cut him off by swinging my backpack in his face. Watching that bulky kid stumble back into the lockers felt…satisfying. It seemed that Honey was right in that I needed to fight back if I wanted to get Lucas off of me. I didn't care if nearly everyone around had stopped to look. Ok, well maybe I did but not because I was afraid of getting in trouble. All of these kids around me are now witnesses to what may be the biggest news in school this year: someone finally stood up to Lucas. There's a chance this could also inflate any negative rumors about me and Blaze, but if I play this scene out right the rumors could go away quickly.

"This is going to be the only time I say this to you." I made sure my voice was loud enough as I spoke to the slightly dazed wolf. "LEAVE ME ALONE. I have done nothing to you to deserve your harassment and I'm sick and tired of you and your friends following me around. Go do something else with your lives instead of wasting other's time!"

After hoisting my backpack on my shoulder, the crowd made a generous path for me on my way out. Cheering followed me as I made my exit and somewhere out there I'm sure Blaze is thinking about me and if I finally grew up.

On our way home, the news had already reached the guys via a text message on Honey's cell phone. Her parents let her have one at her age?

"Well my mom said that it's for if there's an emergency so me and all my sisters got one." Honey explained after I asked. "Anyway, you actually punched Lucas in the face?"

"What? No, no I didn't do that. I just shoved him off of me and told him off. That's all." I said.

Bean was practically on my back at that moment as he laughed heartily still excited over the news.

"DUDE! It was still freaking awesome that you did that! Do you know how popular you're going to get?" I was able to get Bean off of me at that point. "Oh and about what I said this morning…sorry man. Didn't mean to flip out on you so badly."

"It's fine Bean." I almost forgot about this morning.

Bark gave me his praises too, though he was a bit more humble with them.

"It's good to know that you still have enough pride in you to not put up with his abuse. Though, I should remind you that this may incite his anger and he could lash back."

Could've done without the last bit. Regardless of revenge, standing up was what mattered to me the most. If Lucas does have a problem with it, then I have no trouble with him approaching me for a fight. This time I'm ready to take him on.

There are times when I'm reminded that I lack some important traits that either Blaze or my friends have. The ability to see more than one outcome being one of them. While I did anticipate Lucas potentially coming after me directly for a fight, I failed to consider him and his goons going after my friends. Later in the week on that Saturday, it was one of Honey's friends, a sparrow named Tracy, that stopped me while I was on my way to Bean's house in the afternoon. She looked a little roughed up and upset. I had to calm her down to get her to talk slower.

"Me, Honey, and the girls…we were walking to Honey's house when Lucas and those weasels attacked us. We ran…and they caught up with us in the shortcut." The dirt path in the forest. Everyone around here just referred to it as the shortcut since it's an easy way to get to school. "We had to fight back but Honey…she…"

"It's ok. Just go and find the police. Tell them what happened." I said to her before taking off towards the shortcut.

That was probably the first time I ever made a quick decision like that. Then again, it's only because of what happened last week when a police officer kept Lucas and those idiots from hurting me and Honey. Recalling the look on Lucas's face, I'd say that the local law enforcement is the only thing that gets to him. It took me a few minutes but I finally reached the shortcut and could see Honey's two other friends fending off Lucas and one of the twins. Where's Honey and the other twin? As soon as I got close, I tackled Lucas off of Angela, a squirrel, and pinned him to the ground. When he got a chance to look at me…he was happy?

"I knew I could draw you out somehow," the wolf said as he grabbed my arms.

To him, I was nothing more than a rag doll as he threw me off of him easily. My vision was distorted temporarily but when I could see clearly, Lucas's heavy shoes were already coming for me so I rolled up to my feet. The wolf bulldozed me into a tree and held me up by my neck.

"You can't do this Lucas…not fair." I could feel the air leaving me quickly as I struggled to break his hold.

"You're the one who decided to be a man and stand up to me so deal with it." His rancid breath stung my eyes.

Three times, he slammed my head into the tree and tossed me aside. I wanted to get up so badly but everything was blurry and I was sure my brain was spinning in place. A girl's voice yelled and I saw Angela try to attack Lucas. She got him…or at least I think she did but he threw the squirrel aside and came back for me. Finally I was upright and made a desperate attempt to punch Lucas…but I missed and he got me instead. The pain I felt was pretty bad but I'm sure nothing was broken or fractured on my face. When I pushed myself up to my knees I could see blood in the patch of snow I fell into and some on my scarf. A nose bleed. Then someone tripped over me and it was the weasel kid, bruised and bloodied, scrambling across the ground as he got up and took off. Screams and swears came from behind and I looked back to see that Angela and Suzette, the badger who fought off the one weasel, had ganged up on Lucas. They eventually got him on his knees where he just curled up to protect himself from their attacks.

"Honey went that way!" Suzette had stopped and pointed off into the trees. "That other twin followed her! Hurry!"

Crap! I didn't get a good look at the twin that ran off. If she's alone with who I think it is… Immediately I ran into the trees hoping that nothing had happened to Honey. It wasn't long before I heard screaming up ahead and picked up the pace. I could barely see clearly through all the foliage the other twin struggling to hold Honey. Suddenly he yelled releasing her and she stumbled away while he held his hand. I jumped into the scene as I leapt over a bush and went straight to Honey. Her red coat had a rip in its sleeve with the zipper broken off. What's even worse was the red cut on her neck. I tried to ask what happened but the second she laid eyes on me, she tackled me down in a hug.

"Oh god, you're here!" she cried into my ear.

I gently pushed her off so I could sit up.

"What happened? Are you ok Honey?" While I didn't want to hurt her anymore, I tried my best to get a better look at the cut on her neck.

Honey just shook her head and held me again.

"He grabbed me Silver… He grabbed me and wouldn't let go."

…It was either the memories resurfacing or natural instinct kicking in that made my blood boil. I didn't think this would happen again, let alone to another girl I knew. Now that it has, there was no way I was going to stand by and do nothing. The bastard had to die. My actions weren't my own after that. I practically flew up and grabbed the pervert by his neck. Apparently Honey had bit him in his hand since it was bleeding a little. I didn't give him the time to think or retaliate. I didn't even care about the pocket knife in his other hand. I just wanted to strangle the life out of him. Soon enough, I forced him onto his back and he tried to get me with the knife but failed. I was able to grab his wrist and twisted it until he lost his grip of the weapon. The other hand with the bite marks immediately went for my face and tried to push me off. Somewhere in the midst of that power struggle, I managed to grab a rock I couldn't see and bashed his face with it. Over and over until he began to cry and begged for me to stop. No. You don't have that option just like the girls you hurt. A gash opened up on the side of his face near his eye and blood spilt out splattering as the rock came down again and again. Help he cried and I was amused. I wondered if his victims said that when he and his brother attacked them. The satisfaction from the rock died quickly and I tossed it aside in favor of my fists. The punches stung a little at first but by the third punch I became accustomed to it and even started to love the pain. The kid was crying now and I wondered if this asshole and his brother felt pleased when they made girls cry.

Before I knew it, the satisfying moment had ended as hands of mercy grabbed my arms and dragged me away. I wasn't done with him yet. Not by a long shot. I struggled against the outside force spitting vengeance and spouting obscenities that I would never utter to my parents. However the outside force continued to drag me away as a police officer walked into view and helped the weeping devil to his feet.

My blood had cooled off by the time the police officers and I were out of the shortcut and at their cars on the side of the road. Everything seemed surreal; my body feeling detached from the scene as I watched a handcuffed Lucas guided into the back of the first car. The twins, also handcuffed with one of them bleeding severely, were pushed into the same car that drove off seconds later. I sat on the cold, hard grass as the few remaining officers talked to the two beaten up girls and Tracey, who I assumed came back when she led the officers here. Apparently, Lucas was able to overpower Angela and Suzette just after I left and fought back in time for a couple of officers to see the girls as victims and the bully for who he really was. After their statements were taken, the three climbed into the second car that drove off soon after. Honey, still crying and holding up her tattered coat, came into view being led by a compassionate looking female officer and I instinctively wanted to go over to her. To my surprise, the same metal cuffs that restrained Lucas and the weasels were now on me. Considering I was the only "victim" wearing them, I had been given the same status as my enemies. Some hero I turned out to be.