The light was extremely bright and Putiko let out a groan as he rubbed his head while sitting up. He then stopped as he felt just how thin his hair was and opened his eyes all the way to find that he wasn't in the form he last remembered. He was human. His eyes grew wide and he examined his appearance with a look of shock.
Putiko? he heard someone growl from his right. He hesitated for a moment before slowly looking over to see the form of what appeared to be a Clav standing with it's back towards the slowly setting sun, causing their identity to remain a mystery in the intense glow.
"W…who are you?" he asked cautiously, still wondering if this was really happening or if he was dreaming.
No…it can't be you… the beast whined as it walked over to him. Putiko took a sharp breath and held it as the beast's features came into view and his eyes went wide with surprise as he recognized the Clav in front of him.
"W…Washu?" he asked after a brief hesitation. Washu's face then broke out in a wide grin and Putiko slightly furrowed his brow as she jumped around with her tail wagging back and forth to show her excitement as if she were a dog who's owner had just come home.
Putiko! What are you doing here? How did you get here? And…why are you human? she asked as her face wrinkled with slight curiosity to compliment her last question. Putiko shook his head swiftly, wondering if this was really happening or if he was just dreaming and swallowed hard before glancing around him.
"I honestly have no idea. Why are you a Clav?," he muttered as he took in his surroundings.
…I don't know Washu lied. She remembered her dream and the more she thought of it, the more it seemed familiar and she wasn't about to tell Putiko that it was kind of his fault. What's the last thing you remember?
"I remember napping in the garden and some woman with blue hair appeared and told me-"
Blue hair? What did she look like? Washu interrupted.
"Um…well, she looked fairly young and I could see right through her…" Putiko said with a tilt in his head as he remembered his conversation with the woman.
Tsunami
"Tsu-what?"
Tsunami. She's a member of the Chousin. A group of goddesses that reign this area of the universe Washu muttered in an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone.
"Uh…okay…I'll take your word for it, but there's still one thing I don't understand."
Join the club
"Why I'm here and…why I'm human…"
Don't ask me. I'm no Clav, yet here I am. All furry and sweating my nuts off Washu said as she looked over her appearance for the umpteenth time, yet she found herself warming up to the idea of being a Clav.
"So what do we do?" he asked after a long silence and waited patiently as Washu thought about this.
Well, let's consider our situation. Neither of us know where we are and we're both in a form we've never experienced before
"You don't know where we are either?"
Not the slightest idea. I know which way we have to go, but…that's it
"It's better than nothing, I guess," Putiko mumbled to himself as he clumsily rose to his feet with a chuckling Washu walking ahead of him.
***
"So, what's your name?" Ryoko asked as she pushed through the brush behind the pup.
Sasha
"What else did Tsunami tell you?" Ryoko asked. She had been thinking about everything that's happened and still made very little sense out of it.
Not too much. Just little things that most likely don't mean much
"Like what?"
Like how you were taken when you were only four
"What else?"
Is this a game?
"What?" Ryoko asked with a baffled look, wondering where that question had come from.
Is this a game? You've been asking me questions ever since you found me Sasha said as she sat next to Ryoko, who had taken a seat on a nearby rock to rest and think this over.
"I'm just curious. That's all."
Then let me ask you a question
"Shoot."
Why are you so distant?
"What do you mean?"
You ask me a ton of questions and I answer them. I ask you questions and you either answer them with your own questions or you just say 'you don't need to know'. Why is that?
"Because you really don't need to know. It's not important what happened in my past," Ryoko grumbled.
But it is, Ryoko. Your past makes up who you are
"…"
You don't remember your life before your capture…do you?
"No."
Than that explains a lot the pup said as it headed in the direction they had been traveling in.
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" Ryoko growled as she reluctantly followed the pup.
Nothing
"Tell me."
No
"Tell me! I want to know!"
I want to know who you really are, but you can't answer that, now can you? Sasha snarled as she spun around to give Ryoko an extremely unpleased look. Ryoko was surprised to find herself retreating a few steps at the sudden fierceness in the pup's attitude and let out a sigh as she hung her head.
"You're right. I can't answer that."
Ryoko, you need to give up this pride thing that seems to have you in a choke hold. I think things would make a hell of a lot more sense that way Sasha spat as she turned around and continued walking.
"You know, I think you're older than you're letting on," Ryoko stated after walking in silence.
You're a Clav. You should understand why that is, Ryoko
"You think this is easy for me?"
I know it's not, Ryoko, but you need to try just a little harder Sasha sneered before continuing their travels in silence.
***
Tsunami watched the two events unfold and let out a low sigh as she saw just how difficult this was for Ryoko and how difficult this was going to turn out for Washu. Even Putiko might have a hard time in dealing with what's to come of his journey with the ex-goddess/scientist/Clav. Just the fact that he had always seen her as a human and she had always seen him as a Clav was making things awkward as she watched them walk towards the valley. She smiled as she listened to them reminisce about the past and shook her head with a guilty feeling as their relationship grew more awkward by the moment. It had been so long since either of them had seen each other and now they find themselves in each other's shoes in an area that is foreign to both of them. Right now, however, Tsunami was concentrating on Ryoko.
…Baby steps…
***
Ryoko rolled her head over as she forced herself to wake up and felt something soft against her cheek. Her eyes opened to show her using Sasha as a pillow and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up. Her thoughts about everything this creature has told her worked their way to her immediate attention and she found that she couldn't really blame the pup. Tsunami had sent her to help Ryoko for her own, unknown reasons and Ryoko had been patient enough so far, which surprised her. Ryoko having patience? Ludicrous. Yet, with Sasha, she felt as though it was all a game to her. Ryoko hugged her arms with a wrinkle in her brow while feeling the trembles run through her and stood up to pace the area they had chosen to rest in.
"Tsunami, why are we out here? What is this proving?" Ryoko whispered into the night air as she tried to see through the canopy of foliage. She tilted her head and looked back at the pup to see it still asleep and smiled to herself as she made a beeline for the branches above her. She fought her way through the branches and let out a grunt before breaking through and hovering over the tree tops. Her eyes went wide as she gaped at the endless hills of trees and rivers and scrolled her eyes over the land.
"Where the hell are we?" she asked herself as she tilted her head while narrowing her eyes critically. She then looked towards the heavens and smiled contently as she gazed at the sea of stars that stretched out over the dark sky like a net.
…Maybe they can tell me who I am...
You know who you are
…Than who am I…?
Ryoko Hakubi
…Ryoko Hakubi. But…who's that…?
The daughter of Washu Hakubi
…Washu…my mother. The mother who hates me.
She doesn't hate you
…Than why do we always fight…?
I don't know.
…You should. I should…
Think about this. What do you know about your mother?
…What kind of question is that…?
Tell me some specifics about your mother.
…She's got red hair…green eyes…
Ha ha, very funny. Face it. You know next to nothing about your mother.
Ryoko let out a heavy sigh and hung her head as she thought of what she really did know about her mother. Not much. The basics of her past, but nothing else. Washu, on the other hand, always seemed to come up with some remark about Ryoko's past. It wasn't fair. She knew so much about Ryoko, yet she knew squat about her. She then tilted her head in thought before making her way back to the sleeping pup.
What is it? the pup asked as she sat up with a wide yawn after being awakened by the question-filled Ryoko.
"I want to ask you something."
I don't know if I can answer, but I'll try
"You seem to know a lot about me. What do you know about my mother?"
Let's see…she's got red hair…
"Let me rephrase that. What can you tell me about my mother's past?"
Daddy told me that she was very smart and that the King thought of her as a daughter more than a servant
"Why was that? I always thought she was loud and kind of obnoxious."
Daddy did say she had quite the attitude, but was kind of quiet and tried to stay in the background
"Really?"
Yeah. He said she got worse when she found out she was pregnant with you
"Really…"
Well think about it. She doesn't remember what happened and wakes up to find herself pregnant. I wouldn't be too happy either Sasha said as she raised her eyebrows at Ryoko, knowing very well she was right. Ryoko had heard it before but hearing it again from this pup sent her thoughts whirling.
"What happened when she finally did have me?" she asked, unable to keep back her questions. She was actually listening, so why not.
I guess she wouldn't take care of you. Daddy said that she was always in the lab doing something or other. No one hardly saw her much
"Why?" Ryoko asked.
Daddy said it was because she didn't know what to do
"What does he mean by that?"
I don't know
"What finally made her take me in?" Ryoko asked, moving on without hesitation.
Daddy said something about you knowing who she was and pretty much told her there was nothing she could do about it Sasha said with an almost proud smile on her face.
"And that amuses you?" Ryoko asked as she raised an eyebrow at the grinning pup.
I'm just glad you're finally asking about it
"Well, curiosity killed the cat."
But a cat has nine lives the pup chuckled as she stuck her tongue out at the pirate. Ryoko went to counter that, but wrinkled her brow when nothing came out. Got ya
"Anyway…I still have more questions."
What do you want to know? Sasha asked. It was almost as if she knew everything there was to know about Ryoko and it still nerved her up a bit, but she couldn't help it anymore.
"Actually, this might make it easier," Ryoko said as she made herself comfortable. "Tell me the stories your father told you."
It's another short one. I hit a block because I have a few different ideas. I could end this story with this and make a sequel on how this pup is tied with Ryoko and how Washu's tied with the Clav. You know what? I think I'll do that but only if I get reviews about it.