I don't own Monster Rancher. I own some of the toys and the game, but that's it. I don't hold the rights to it. So don't sue.
As the title says, this is part TWO of Hare's Secret. If you haven't read that, this will make no sense whatsoever. So you might want to read that first, unless you like being totally lost when you're reading.
Oh, and please review this when you're done. I like getting feedback on my work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
No matter how far I run... nothing's going to change...
Hare kept running anyway, kept forcing himself to move forward. Tears stung his eyes, blurring his vision, and he stumbled more than once as he plunged deeper into the forest. He had no idea where he was now, he only knew that he had to put as much distance between himself and the others as possible.
The others... Genki... Holly... Mocchi... Suezo... Golem... and...
Stop it! I can't turn back! It's just too late...
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had never dreamed that his past would catch up with him... well, no, that wasn't really true. He had suffered through countless nightmares in which the demons from his past had found him, nightmares which had often caused him to wake up crying, praying that his screams hadn't disturbed the others. But this was different; this was real.
There's no turning back.
He finally slowed down; his legs didn't have the strength to support him much longer. The rabbit glanced around, trying to find a decent place to hide and rest for a few moments. Finally choosing to take cover in the trees, Hare climbed into the branches and clung to the strongest branch he could find. Hopefully, he'd be able to spot anybody who might be following him before they saw him.
I can't believe it's come to this. I never thought I'd have to hide from my friends, too...
Hare began to cry softly, still cowering behind the thick branches. If it had started to rain again, he never would have noticed it.
* * *
"...Whoa..." Suezo finally breathed, breaking the awkward silence that had hung over the rebels for some time after Hare had run off. Like the others, the eyeball monster wasn't quite certain just what had happened a few moments before. The whole thing seemed almost like some surreal dream. In fact, they might have dismissed it as just that: some crazy dream that couldn't possibly have happened.
But there was one problem with that: the whole thing was real. The injuries that they had sustained during the short fight with the hulking monster were real. And the lost disc, still warm where it lay before them, that was real too. None of them were quite sure of what had happened or how, but the entire encounter had happened.
Genki stared at the burn mark on his hand. It wasn't very bad: in fact, it barely stung at all. He might have never paid any real attention to it, except that he'd gained it simply by trying to help Hare up. He couldn't understand it...
"Hare!" Genki suddenly started, looking up toward where the monster had vanished into the forest. He already knew that the rabbit had left; he'd stared blankly as Hare had fled from them, unable to stop him or even call out. As some of the shock from what had just happened wore off, however, the full meaning of that sunk in, and the boy clamored to his feet. "We've got to go find him!"
"I'm not certain I want to find him," Suezo murmured, shivering as he remembered the glowing red light from before. He had no idea what it was, but it had completely destroyed the baddie earlier, and Suezo wasn't all that thrilled by the idea of seeing that happen again.
"But we can't just leave him alone out here!" Genki insisted, glaring at the eyeball monster. In the back of his mind, Genki could see the sorrowful look Hare had given them, and he heard the rabbit's last words to him repeat over and over again.
"I'm sorry, Genki."
"I'm not going to abandon him out here!" Genki said. "He needs our help!" With that, the boy turned and got ready to race into the woods where he had last seen his friend.
"Why?"
The question was simple, but the tone it was asked in was scathing. Genki turned to glare at Tiger of the Wind, both shocked and somehow not surprised that the blue-furred monster had asked that.
"Because he's my friend," Genki replied in a deliberately challenging tone, eyes locked with Tiger's own. The others looked on, obviously uncomfortable with the battle of wills they were witnessing.
"Forget him," Tiger growled. "You don't need friends like that."
"Tiger..."
"Don't even start, Genki. That rabbit is completely useless to us."
"But what if the baddies..." Holly piped up. Tiger glared over at her.
"I hope the baddies DO find him! That liar's too worthless to let live!"
Something inside Genki snapped, and he felt his hands ball into fists. Suddenly he noticed something flash out from his side, and he saw golden eyes widen in surprise. A rough, sudden crack echoed in the suddenly silent clearing.
Holly gasped. Suezo's eye nearly bugged out of its socket. Mocchi and Golem just stared, stunned.
Genki Sakura had just smacked Tiger of the Wind in the face.
Genki stared blankly at his hand, completely startled by what he had just done. It was like his hand wasn't even a part of his body anymore: he looked at it like it was some sort of creature.
Tiger's eyes were wide, and he stared at Genki with a look of absolute shock and pain on his face. His jaw ached terribly, and he could feel a small trickle of blood seep out of his mouth. The kid had drawn blood! And it felt like a few of his teeth might have been knocked loose, too.
Suezo saw the blood too, and he could tell by the expressions that the others had that they noticed it as well. Every nerve in the eyeball monster's body went tense as he nervously glanced at first Genki, then Tiger. He could tell that this wouldn't end well.
Genki continued to stare at his hand, horrified to see a small bloodstain on it. He looked over at Tiger, who hadn't moved after being struck, and felt a pang of remorse. Slowly, uncertain of what he could do, he took a hesitant step toward the lupine monster, one hand reaching out in a desperate gesture of kindness.
But Tiger's eyes no longer saw Genki, or any of the others. The blow brought long-suppressed memories roaring back to overwhelm him, and his widened golden eyes reflected nothing but fear as he remembered far too much of the pain:
"You lazy animal! How could you mess up that job again? With all the times I've had you haul things before, you should have it down by now! But nooooo, instead you just screw the whole job up again! You worthless whelp!"
The blue puppy yelped as the whip cracked again and white-hot pain erupted across his back. Pleading golden eyes gazed up at his enraged master, the sorrowful look only infuriating the boy even more. Not far away, another puppy with soft gray fur cowered in the dubious safety of their kennel, watching the beating with frightened blue eyes the color of ice.
It wasn't the young monster's fault that the job had been botched. The rope had just snapped of its own accord, too weak to hold up to the strain of pulling the huge log along. Not that it mattered to the master. All that mattered was that the whelp had failed to complete another job, and that meant he'd lost out on getting paid this time. The whip flailed over the puppy's back again and again, until the tiny thing finally stopped whimpering with each crack. Satisfied, the boy reached down and grabbed the puppy roughly by the back of the neck and half-dragged him back to the kennel. He unceremoniously dropped the little monster into the pen, then stomped off to plan the next day's work schedule.
Sad golden eyes watched him leave. The puppy had no idea why things had turned out this way. His trainer had seemed like a nice kid, a handsome twelve-year old human with wavy brown hair and a friendly smile. He didn't understand why the boy pushed him and his brother so hard. He had expected carefree mornings of playing and frolicking paired with some training, naturally. He hadn't expected to be worked so hard and treated so unfairly by this sweet-looking kid.
The gray-furred puppy had come up beside his brother, and was licking his wounds. The blue-furred puppy let him do so, and slumped to the cold ground. His golden eyes slowly hardened, becoming dark with his suppressed hatred of his trainer, and Tiger of the Wind vowed to someday break free of his master's control...
Tiger of the Wind's eyes narrowed, becoming cold with remembered outrage. His vision clouded, he looked up at Genki without seeing the boy. Instead he saw a forbidding silhouette holding a long whip...
"Nooooo..." Tiger howled, and he flung himself at his long-hated trainer with every intention of killing him.
"Tiger!" Genki cried out in surprise as the wolf-monster leaped toward him. Then sharp white teeth tore into his arm, and he screamed with the shock and the pain.
"Genki!" Holly and Mocchi shrieked in unison.
"Tiger!" Suezo screamed. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!"
Golem stared in complete shock, unable to fathom just what was happening.
He was wounded. Good. Tiger glared at Genki as the boy stumbled backwards, seeing his trainer in the boy's stead. Electricity pulsed around his body, and he roared out his next attack as he sent the energy streaking toward his target.
"LIGHTNING!"
"TELE-PORT!"
The bolt of lightning tore into the ground, scorching the area where Genki had been sprawled out until a moment before the energy hit. Suezo reappeared next to Golem and the others, Genki materializing beside him. The eyeball monster had no time to dwell on how he had managed to make his teleportation work, however, for Tiger quickly turned to glare at the group.
"Stop it, Tiger!" Holly pleaded, frantically checking Genki's arm as she did so. The bite had gone deep, yet she could see that only the skin had been damaged. She was thankful, at least, for that.
Tiger slowly advanced toward them, golden eyes glazed with bloodlust. Golem moved to shield Holly and Genki with his arms, bending over the two to keep them safe. Suezo and Mocchi glanced at one another, then moved to protect their respective humans as the wolf monster came closer.
I don't know what's gotten into you, Tiger, Suezo thought grimly, but if you try to hurt Holly, I... I'll kill you!
Yeah, right. I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead...
"Why are you protecting him?" Tiger suddenly growled. Suezo stared at him in surprise, realizing that the monster was addressing him.
Say something brave, say something brave...
"Huh?"
Brilliant. Excellent comeback, Suezo you idiot.
"I said, why are you protecting him? That human doesn't deserve to live after what he did to me!"
"Hey, now, don't you think you're being a little harsh on the kid?" Suezo asked, amazed that he had even found his voice. "I mean, he may have hit you pretty hard, but that's no reason to kill him..."
"It's not just for hitting me!" Tiger howled. "I'll make him pay for all he did to me!"
"...??? What the heck are you talking about, Tiger?"
"I'll make him pay! He'll pay for everything he did to me and my brother! All those times of torment!" Tiger's eyes were completely glazed with bloodlust as he howled out the vow of vengeance.
Suezo was now completely lost by the course of the conversation. Leaning over to Mocchi, he asked the tiny monster, "Just what the heck is he going on about?"
"Chi?" Mocchi shrugged his shoulders, then reassumed a battle position. Suezo turned his full attention back to Tiger: the blue-furred monster was preparing to attack. A cold chill seemed to fill the air as the three monsters watched one another, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Suddenly Suezo felt the rain-soaked dirt beneath him give way slightly, and he slipped. Mocchi glanced over at him, distracted by his concern for the other monster.
Tiger saw his chance. Summoned energy crackled again, and another bolt of lightning streaked toward his challengers.
Suezo and Mocchi looked up in time to see the bolt race toward them. Unable to dodge away, the two monsters could only scream as electric death came straight at them.
Tiger grinned with a grim satisfaction as the energy bolt struck, and a dust cloud temporarily covered his targets from view. As it receded, he waited to see two lost discs appear.
Suddenly his grin faded. His bolt had not struck home. Golem's massive arm was stretched before the two other monsters, the rock shielding them from harm. As the dog-like monster howled in frustration, Suezo and Mocchi looked up at the heavily breathing Golem with a sort of awe.
"Fighting... solves nothing," he rumbled in that deep voice of his. "Especially between friends."
"Tiger... please stop it," Holly pleaded again. "Why do you want to hurt Genki so badly?"
"...Genki? Genki?" Tiger asked, his voice suddenly strange. The others stared at him, startled by the seeming confusion in his voice. His eyes had lost some of their bloodthirstiness.
"Why do you want to hurt Genki?" Holly repeated.
Tiger shook his head slightly, looking genuinely bewildered. "Genki? I don't want to hurt Genki. I'm not..."
"But you are," Holly said gently.
"Not Genki. It's him I want to kill." Tiger's eyes narrowed suddenly in disgust, and the others tensed for another attack. But it didn't come; instead, Tiger just shook his head again. "I'm going to make him pay."
"Who?" Holly risked asking.
"Him!" Tiger insisted, growling softly as his eyes shone with a strange blend of anger... and fear. "That boy... that whip-happy sorry excuse for a trainer!"
"Trainer?" Suezo murmured to himself, eye widening as he realized the full meaning of Tiger's words. "Your trainer?"
Tiger growled again, glaring around. "Where is he? I know I saw him here! Don't try and hide him from me! Let me finish what I started!"
"Tiger..." Holly said gently as the entire picture slowly became clear to her. "You mean you want to kill him?"
"Kill! I'll kill him!" Tiger continued to search for his trainer, golden eyes cold and dark with hatred. "I'll take his arm off! Let me finish..." His voice trailed off suddenly as Golem gently laid Genki down onto the ground, and he stared at the wound in the boy's arm uncomprehendingly.
"Genki? Genki! What happened to you! How did you..." Tiger stopped, and he looked closer at the deep gouges on the boy's arm. His golden eyes widened with pure shock, and he breathed, "But this is what I did to... I attacked my trai... how did you..."
Genki gazed up at Tiger, finally understanding, and his eyes not condemning or hateful in any way. The blue-furred monster stared at him, breathing hard.
"No... it can't be!" he howled as full realization crashed down upon him.
"It's all right, Tiger," Genki said, gently reaching up with his uninjured arm to stroke the monster's fur. "I understand. Let's... just call it even."
Tiger looked down at Genki, saw that the boy was gazing mainly at the wolf-monster's sore jaw, and nodded curtly. Regaining some of his normal attitude, he stalked away to sit by himself as Holly gently wrapped a bandage around the boy's arm. He waited quietly, thinking to himself as the others slowly gathered their wits and recovered from the entire encounter. When Mocchi came over and laid one hand on the wolf's back, he refused to acknowledge the tiny monster, even through he was silently grateful for the child's compassion.
Genki got to his feet after a few moments, flexing his arm experimentally. It hurt to move it a lot, but at least it wasn't broken. Hopefully it would heal soon; he had other things to worry about right now. Turning to face the others, he grinned in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.
"Well, let's get going!" he prompted the others. "We can't just sit around all day, people, not if we're going to find Hare before the baddies do!"
"Genki..." Holly said, smiling gently. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all.
"Sure you're up to it, kid?" Suezo asked skeptically, even though he knew what the answer would be. Genki grinned at him.
"Of course I'm up to it," he insisted. "I'm the Monster Champ, remember?"
"We know, we know," Suezo muttered, rolling his eye, smiling despite the resigned tone of his words.
"So let's go!" Genki said, turning and heading off into the forest.
"Let's go-chi!" Mocchi echoed, following right behind the boy. Holly and Golem smiled at one another and went off after the two. Suezo started to follow behind Holly, but paused as he noticed Tiger still standing still.
"You coming?" he asked, glancing back at the wolf-monster. When Tiger made no move to reply, Suezo shrugged it off and turned to follow Holly and the others deeper into the woods.
Tiger of the Wind watched the eyeball monster and the others depart out of the corner of one golden eye. As they headed deeper into the forest, he stood alone in the glade, thinking.
To be continued...
As the title says, this is part TWO of Hare's Secret. If you haven't read that, this will make no sense whatsoever. So you might want to read that first, unless you like being totally lost when you're reading.
Oh, and please review this when you're done. I like getting feedback on my work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
No matter how far I run... nothing's going to change...
Hare kept running anyway, kept forcing himself to move forward. Tears stung his eyes, blurring his vision, and he stumbled more than once as he plunged deeper into the forest. He had no idea where he was now, he only knew that he had to put as much distance between himself and the others as possible.
The others... Genki... Holly... Mocchi... Suezo... Golem... and...
Stop it! I can't turn back! It's just too late...
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had never dreamed that his past would catch up with him... well, no, that wasn't really true. He had suffered through countless nightmares in which the demons from his past had found him, nightmares which had often caused him to wake up crying, praying that his screams hadn't disturbed the others. But this was different; this was real.
There's no turning back.
He finally slowed down; his legs didn't have the strength to support him much longer. The rabbit glanced around, trying to find a decent place to hide and rest for a few moments. Finally choosing to take cover in the trees, Hare climbed into the branches and clung to the strongest branch he could find. Hopefully, he'd be able to spot anybody who might be following him before they saw him.
I can't believe it's come to this. I never thought I'd have to hide from my friends, too...
Hare began to cry softly, still cowering behind the thick branches. If it had started to rain again, he never would have noticed it.
* * *
"...Whoa..." Suezo finally breathed, breaking the awkward silence that had hung over the rebels for some time after Hare had run off. Like the others, the eyeball monster wasn't quite certain just what had happened a few moments before. The whole thing seemed almost like some surreal dream. In fact, they might have dismissed it as just that: some crazy dream that couldn't possibly have happened.
But there was one problem with that: the whole thing was real. The injuries that they had sustained during the short fight with the hulking monster were real. And the lost disc, still warm where it lay before them, that was real too. None of them were quite sure of what had happened or how, but the entire encounter had happened.
Genki stared at the burn mark on his hand. It wasn't very bad: in fact, it barely stung at all. He might have never paid any real attention to it, except that he'd gained it simply by trying to help Hare up. He couldn't understand it...
"Hare!" Genki suddenly started, looking up toward where the monster had vanished into the forest. He already knew that the rabbit had left; he'd stared blankly as Hare had fled from them, unable to stop him or even call out. As some of the shock from what had just happened wore off, however, the full meaning of that sunk in, and the boy clamored to his feet. "We've got to go find him!"
"I'm not certain I want to find him," Suezo murmured, shivering as he remembered the glowing red light from before. He had no idea what it was, but it had completely destroyed the baddie earlier, and Suezo wasn't all that thrilled by the idea of seeing that happen again.
"But we can't just leave him alone out here!" Genki insisted, glaring at the eyeball monster. In the back of his mind, Genki could see the sorrowful look Hare had given them, and he heard the rabbit's last words to him repeat over and over again.
"I'm sorry, Genki."
"I'm not going to abandon him out here!" Genki said. "He needs our help!" With that, the boy turned and got ready to race into the woods where he had last seen his friend.
"Why?"
The question was simple, but the tone it was asked in was scathing. Genki turned to glare at Tiger of the Wind, both shocked and somehow not surprised that the blue-furred monster had asked that.
"Because he's my friend," Genki replied in a deliberately challenging tone, eyes locked with Tiger's own. The others looked on, obviously uncomfortable with the battle of wills they were witnessing.
"Forget him," Tiger growled. "You don't need friends like that."
"Tiger..."
"Don't even start, Genki. That rabbit is completely useless to us."
"But what if the baddies..." Holly piped up. Tiger glared over at her.
"I hope the baddies DO find him! That liar's too worthless to let live!"
Something inside Genki snapped, and he felt his hands ball into fists. Suddenly he noticed something flash out from his side, and he saw golden eyes widen in surprise. A rough, sudden crack echoed in the suddenly silent clearing.
Holly gasped. Suezo's eye nearly bugged out of its socket. Mocchi and Golem just stared, stunned.
Genki Sakura had just smacked Tiger of the Wind in the face.
Genki stared blankly at his hand, completely startled by what he had just done. It was like his hand wasn't even a part of his body anymore: he looked at it like it was some sort of creature.
Tiger's eyes were wide, and he stared at Genki with a look of absolute shock and pain on his face. His jaw ached terribly, and he could feel a small trickle of blood seep out of his mouth. The kid had drawn blood! And it felt like a few of his teeth might have been knocked loose, too.
Suezo saw the blood too, and he could tell by the expressions that the others had that they noticed it as well. Every nerve in the eyeball monster's body went tense as he nervously glanced at first Genki, then Tiger. He could tell that this wouldn't end well.
Genki continued to stare at his hand, horrified to see a small bloodstain on it. He looked over at Tiger, who hadn't moved after being struck, and felt a pang of remorse. Slowly, uncertain of what he could do, he took a hesitant step toward the lupine monster, one hand reaching out in a desperate gesture of kindness.
But Tiger's eyes no longer saw Genki, or any of the others. The blow brought long-suppressed memories roaring back to overwhelm him, and his widened golden eyes reflected nothing but fear as he remembered far too much of the pain:
"You lazy animal! How could you mess up that job again? With all the times I've had you haul things before, you should have it down by now! But nooooo, instead you just screw the whole job up again! You worthless whelp!"
The blue puppy yelped as the whip cracked again and white-hot pain erupted across his back. Pleading golden eyes gazed up at his enraged master, the sorrowful look only infuriating the boy even more. Not far away, another puppy with soft gray fur cowered in the dubious safety of their kennel, watching the beating with frightened blue eyes the color of ice.
It wasn't the young monster's fault that the job had been botched. The rope had just snapped of its own accord, too weak to hold up to the strain of pulling the huge log along. Not that it mattered to the master. All that mattered was that the whelp had failed to complete another job, and that meant he'd lost out on getting paid this time. The whip flailed over the puppy's back again and again, until the tiny thing finally stopped whimpering with each crack. Satisfied, the boy reached down and grabbed the puppy roughly by the back of the neck and half-dragged him back to the kennel. He unceremoniously dropped the little monster into the pen, then stomped off to plan the next day's work schedule.
Sad golden eyes watched him leave. The puppy had no idea why things had turned out this way. His trainer had seemed like a nice kid, a handsome twelve-year old human with wavy brown hair and a friendly smile. He didn't understand why the boy pushed him and his brother so hard. He had expected carefree mornings of playing and frolicking paired with some training, naturally. He hadn't expected to be worked so hard and treated so unfairly by this sweet-looking kid.
The gray-furred puppy had come up beside his brother, and was licking his wounds. The blue-furred puppy let him do so, and slumped to the cold ground. His golden eyes slowly hardened, becoming dark with his suppressed hatred of his trainer, and Tiger of the Wind vowed to someday break free of his master's control...
Tiger of the Wind's eyes narrowed, becoming cold with remembered outrage. His vision clouded, he looked up at Genki without seeing the boy. Instead he saw a forbidding silhouette holding a long whip...
"Nooooo..." Tiger howled, and he flung himself at his long-hated trainer with every intention of killing him.
"Tiger!" Genki cried out in surprise as the wolf-monster leaped toward him. Then sharp white teeth tore into his arm, and he screamed with the shock and the pain.
"Genki!" Holly and Mocchi shrieked in unison.
"Tiger!" Suezo screamed. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!"
Golem stared in complete shock, unable to fathom just what was happening.
He was wounded. Good. Tiger glared at Genki as the boy stumbled backwards, seeing his trainer in the boy's stead. Electricity pulsed around his body, and he roared out his next attack as he sent the energy streaking toward his target.
"LIGHTNING!"
"TELE-PORT!"
The bolt of lightning tore into the ground, scorching the area where Genki had been sprawled out until a moment before the energy hit. Suezo reappeared next to Golem and the others, Genki materializing beside him. The eyeball monster had no time to dwell on how he had managed to make his teleportation work, however, for Tiger quickly turned to glare at the group.
"Stop it, Tiger!" Holly pleaded, frantically checking Genki's arm as she did so. The bite had gone deep, yet she could see that only the skin had been damaged. She was thankful, at least, for that.
Tiger slowly advanced toward them, golden eyes glazed with bloodlust. Golem moved to shield Holly and Genki with his arms, bending over the two to keep them safe. Suezo and Mocchi glanced at one another, then moved to protect their respective humans as the wolf monster came closer.
I don't know what's gotten into you, Tiger, Suezo thought grimly, but if you try to hurt Holly, I... I'll kill you!
Yeah, right. I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead...
"Why are you protecting him?" Tiger suddenly growled. Suezo stared at him in surprise, realizing that the monster was addressing him.
Say something brave, say something brave...
"Huh?"
Brilliant. Excellent comeback, Suezo you idiot.
"I said, why are you protecting him? That human doesn't deserve to live after what he did to me!"
"Hey, now, don't you think you're being a little harsh on the kid?" Suezo asked, amazed that he had even found his voice. "I mean, he may have hit you pretty hard, but that's no reason to kill him..."
"It's not just for hitting me!" Tiger howled. "I'll make him pay for all he did to me!"
"...??? What the heck are you talking about, Tiger?"
"I'll make him pay! He'll pay for everything he did to me and my brother! All those times of torment!" Tiger's eyes were completely glazed with bloodlust as he howled out the vow of vengeance.
Suezo was now completely lost by the course of the conversation. Leaning over to Mocchi, he asked the tiny monster, "Just what the heck is he going on about?"
"Chi?" Mocchi shrugged his shoulders, then reassumed a battle position. Suezo turned his full attention back to Tiger: the blue-furred monster was preparing to attack. A cold chill seemed to fill the air as the three monsters watched one another, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Suddenly Suezo felt the rain-soaked dirt beneath him give way slightly, and he slipped. Mocchi glanced over at him, distracted by his concern for the other monster.
Tiger saw his chance. Summoned energy crackled again, and another bolt of lightning streaked toward his challengers.
Suezo and Mocchi looked up in time to see the bolt race toward them. Unable to dodge away, the two monsters could only scream as electric death came straight at them.
Tiger grinned with a grim satisfaction as the energy bolt struck, and a dust cloud temporarily covered his targets from view. As it receded, he waited to see two lost discs appear.
Suddenly his grin faded. His bolt had not struck home. Golem's massive arm was stretched before the two other monsters, the rock shielding them from harm. As the dog-like monster howled in frustration, Suezo and Mocchi looked up at the heavily breathing Golem with a sort of awe.
"Fighting... solves nothing," he rumbled in that deep voice of his. "Especially between friends."
"Tiger... please stop it," Holly pleaded again. "Why do you want to hurt Genki so badly?"
"...Genki? Genki?" Tiger asked, his voice suddenly strange. The others stared at him, startled by the seeming confusion in his voice. His eyes had lost some of their bloodthirstiness.
"Why do you want to hurt Genki?" Holly repeated.
Tiger shook his head slightly, looking genuinely bewildered. "Genki? I don't want to hurt Genki. I'm not..."
"But you are," Holly said gently.
"Not Genki. It's him I want to kill." Tiger's eyes narrowed suddenly in disgust, and the others tensed for another attack. But it didn't come; instead, Tiger just shook his head again. "I'm going to make him pay."
"Who?" Holly risked asking.
"Him!" Tiger insisted, growling softly as his eyes shone with a strange blend of anger... and fear. "That boy... that whip-happy sorry excuse for a trainer!"
"Trainer?" Suezo murmured to himself, eye widening as he realized the full meaning of Tiger's words. "Your trainer?"
Tiger growled again, glaring around. "Where is he? I know I saw him here! Don't try and hide him from me! Let me finish what I started!"
"Tiger..." Holly said gently as the entire picture slowly became clear to her. "You mean you want to kill him?"
"Kill! I'll kill him!" Tiger continued to search for his trainer, golden eyes cold and dark with hatred. "I'll take his arm off! Let me finish..." His voice trailed off suddenly as Golem gently laid Genki down onto the ground, and he stared at the wound in the boy's arm uncomprehendingly.
"Genki? Genki! What happened to you! How did you..." Tiger stopped, and he looked closer at the deep gouges on the boy's arm. His golden eyes widened with pure shock, and he breathed, "But this is what I did to... I attacked my trai... how did you..."
Genki gazed up at Tiger, finally understanding, and his eyes not condemning or hateful in any way. The blue-furred monster stared at him, breathing hard.
"No... it can't be!" he howled as full realization crashed down upon him.
"It's all right, Tiger," Genki said, gently reaching up with his uninjured arm to stroke the monster's fur. "I understand. Let's... just call it even."
Tiger looked down at Genki, saw that the boy was gazing mainly at the wolf-monster's sore jaw, and nodded curtly. Regaining some of his normal attitude, he stalked away to sit by himself as Holly gently wrapped a bandage around the boy's arm. He waited quietly, thinking to himself as the others slowly gathered their wits and recovered from the entire encounter. When Mocchi came over and laid one hand on the wolf's back, he refused to acknowledge the tiny monster, even through he was silently grateful for the child's compassion.
Genki got to his feet after a few moments, flexing his arm experimentally. It hurt to move it a lot, but at least it wasn't broken. Hopefully it would heal soon; he had other things to worry about right now. Turning to face the others, he grinned in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.
"Well, let's get going!" he prompted the others. "We can't just sit around all day, people, not if we're going to find Hare before the baddies do!"
"Genki..." Holly said, smiling gently. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all.
"Sure you're up to it, kid?" Suezo asked skeptically, even though he knew what the answer would be. Genki grinned at him.
"Of course I'm up to it," he insisted. "I'm the Monster Champ, remember?"
"We know, we know," Suezo muttered, rolling his eye, smiling despite the resigned tone of his words.
"So let's go!" Genki said, turning and heading off into the forest.
"Let's go-chi!" Mocchi echoed, following right behind the boy. Holly and Golem smiled at one another and went off after the two. Suezo started to follow behind Holly, but paused as he noticed Tiger still standing still.
"You coming?" he asked, glancing back at the wolf-monster. When Tiger made no move to reply, Suezo shrugged it off and turned to follow Holly and the others deeper into the woods.
Tiger of the Wind watched the eyeball monster and the others depart out of the corner of one golden eye. As they headed deeper into the forest, he stood alone in the glade, thinking.
To be continued...