Curse of the Puppy, Chapter 2
Allen and Merle both stare at Hitomi with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"And then she got pissy at you!?" Merle gasps, holding the icepack to her face.
Hitomi nods and sighs. "Yeah. But I knew an opening when I saw one. I hauled my butt outta there so fast…"
"Well, that's the last time I rely on a psychic…" Allen mutters, also holding an icepack to his face.
They all groan and nod.
Van is sleeping contently in Hitomi's lap, little sleeping bubbles forming on his nose. Hitomi pokes him in the belly softly, trying to think of what to do next.
"Umm…Hitomi, aren't you kinda psychic? Why can't you do a search on him?"
Hitomi looks at Merle and shakes her head. "There's no way I could do it. I need to concentrate on my target. I have no idea what this guy looks like."
"Well *I* do!" Merle shouts defiantly, rising. "And I say we give it a try! Who knows what we could come up with?" Patriotic music starts to play in the background, and Merle puts her fist to her heart. "Why, it's my duty to Van-sama as a subject and best friend, to try EVERYTHING possible to help him! I'm not going to stand around and do nothing!" The Fanalian flag appears in the background. "As whatever god you people pray for is my witness, I SHALL return Van-sama to his normal form, I sha-"
"Merle…" Hitomi starts, rubbing her temples.
Merle blinks and stares at Hitomi. "Yes?"
"SHUT UP!" Hitomi and Allen shout. Merle, offended, stops her speech and plops back down, muttering.
"Why don't we just SEARCH for him like normal people?" Allen grits out, becoming annoyed at the lack of sensible action.
"Oh yeah, going on a wild goose-chase is really gonna help Van!" Hitomi counters, glaring at Allen.
"Well it's better then taking him to nutty old women who are more interested in EATING him then helping him!!"
"GUYS!" Merle shouts, jumping up between Allen and Hitomi before they rip each others heads off. "No fighting! This isn't helping Va-"
"SHUT UP, MERLE!" Hitomi and Allen shout, turning their fury on the poor cat-girl. Once again Merle backs off, muttering about how she isn't appreciated.
"Uhh…guys…"
Everyone turns to look at Van, who is sitting on his hind legs, looking up at Hitomi and Allen with a little puppy eyebrow raised.
"First of all, clawing at each others throats isn't going to get you anywhere. Secondly, I happen to know a lot about Omake, and I know where he would go if he were to leave town."
Hitomi, Allen and Merle stare at Van with open mouths.
"Why didn't you tell us BEFORE?" Allen grounds out through clenched teeth.
Van shrugs. "You guys just looked so content arguing, I didn't want to bother. Besides, it's fun watching you squirm."
Van suddenly realizes that that wasn't the best thing he could have said. He laughs nervously, backing away from three very murderous looking people stalking towards him, pitchforks raised.
"Ehehe…peace?"
Allen, Hitomi and Van launch themselves at Merle, bringing down their weapons just as Merle squeals and dives out of the way.
"GUYS! STOP! WRONG PERSON!!"
They halt their next attack mid-air as they realize that they're trying to mutilate the wrong animal.
"Wait…how…?" Hitomi thinks aloud, turning and looking at Van, who is smiling widely at all of them.
"How the hell did you switch places like that??"
"I'm the main Character" Van answers, smirking. "I can do whatever I want." And with that, he prances away, cackling.
~**~
Grunting, Allen hefts the last of the cargo onto the wagon and wipes the sweat from his brow. "Damn women, who knew they'd pack so much…"
"Aaaaa~llleeennn!"
Allen groans and bangs his head on the side of the wagon. "Why wont she just leave me alone!"
"Oh Allen-pookie!" Millerna cries, racing towards the wagon. Allen silently plea's that she'd trip and bang her head on a rock, but she makes it over safely. "Oh Allen, there you are! Would you mind taking this too?" She gestures to the side, and a servant drops a very big and VERY heavy suitcase into Allen's already strained arms.
"No…" grunt "Problem…."
"Wai! Your such a gentleman!" She giggles, tickling Allen under his chin and bouncing away. Allen curses and throws the suitcase into the wagon, rubbing his abused limbs.
Millerna had recovered fully from…whatever sickness had her before, and she insisted on coming on the trip. They had all been weary to trust her, especially Van, but she ended up coming anyway.
"Are we packed and ready to go?" Van asks, trotting up to Allen. Allen nods stiffly and rotates his neck in a poor attempt to get the muscles to stop aching.
"Yeah, as soon as the WOMEN stop PACKING the entire castle!"
Van chuckles and jumps onto the wagon. "For once, I'm glad I'm a defenseless puppy."
Allen shoots Van a glare before abruptly catching Hitomi's duffle bag and throwing it onto the wagon.
"Nice catch!" Hitomi comments, jogging up to the wagon. "Well, I'm done. Where is Merle and Millerna?"
"I'm here!" Merle shouts popping up from the other side of the wagon, scaring the you-know-what out of everyone.
"And I'm right here!" Millerna shouts, floating down from…er…somewhere. Everyone stares at her with wide eyes as she touches the ground and straightens out her skirt. "Well! Shall we go?"
"H-how…?" Allen stammers, pointing to the spot where Millerna landed. Millerna giggles and grabs Allen's extended finger, dragging him up onto the wagon.
"I think wonderful thoughts!" She exclaims happily.
"Any happy little thought!" A boy in green tights and a feathered hat exclaims, flying around them, arms extended.
"Yo, your in the wrong cartoon. This is Anime. Haul your pansy ass back to Disney, flyboy."
Peter Pan frowns at Hitomi and sticks out his tong. "Your just pissy because you've got wrinkles!" and he fly's off.
Hitomi snorts and shrugs. "Whatever. He's just trying to get to me." She stops for a second then touches her face. "Right…? I don't have wrinkles, do I?"
Everyone coughs and goes about their business.
"DO I!?"
"Alright people! All aboard!" Allen shouts, waving to everyone.
Hitomi hops up onto the wagon, holding her face self-consciously.
Allen grabs the reins and whips the horses with them, causing them to trot away from the castle. Van scampers up to the front of the wagon and lets the wind ruffle his fur, his tong hanging out of his mouth.
"Bye, bye castle!" Millerna waves to the castle smiling broadly. "Say bye, bye, Vanny!" Millerna yanks Van off the front of the wagon, grabs his arm, and forces it to wave to the castle. "Bye, bye!"
Van isn't happy about this.
" Shoot me -_-;;;;"
~**~
They ride for days, over hills, on mountains, through rivers –Err…wait…sorry. I got mixed up…
*coughs* ANYWAYS! It was a long and comfortable journey. Millerna busied herself with doing Van's hair, which provided a laugh for everyone except Van. Allen manned the horses most of the time, but occasionally he'd hand the rein over to Van.
Yes people, Van could steer a wagon. I know he's just a puppy. No, I'm not crazy. Shut up, damnit!
"Hey, when are we gonna get to Hollow Wind Forest?" Merle asks, yawning. "This is getting annoying. I'm sick of being in a wagon all day!"
"Oh, quit your bellyaching." Van snaps. "It's not much fun for me either. Try having this bimbo" He gestures to Millerna "put your hair in braids and fuzzy pink bows all day. It's grating on my nerves AND pride!"
"Why don't you BOTH shut up!?" Hitomi snaps, also in a foul mood.
"Okay people, calm down." Allen reaches into a bag and pulls out a huge rode map. "Lets see…" He puts the map infront of his face, completely obscuring his view of the rode. Everyone notices and pale visibly.
"Err…Allen…"
"Not now, Van. Now, this is the Hollow Wind Forest." Allen says jabbing at a spot on the map. "And here's us, smack in the middle of nowhere…"
With Allen busy studying the map, there's no one to control the wagon. The horses jerk to the left, causing everyone to topple in that direction.
"ALLEN!" Everyone shouts, hanging on for dear life.
"Not NOW!" Allen shouts, ignoring their cries for help as they're pitched to the right. "Lets see…if we turn left at the Albardien fork…and then keep going straight for a day…"
"Allen, for the love of Gwad, Look.At.The.Road!!!"
Ignoring Van's pleas, Allen continues to study the map.
"We're all going to die!!" Merle shouts, grabbing onto the side of the wagon for dear life.
"My, my. This wont do at all…" Millerna tuts, rubbing her backside as she's slammed rather painfully into the back of the wagon.
"H-help…" Van rasps "I'm…being…crushed…"
Hitomi turns around to look for Van and shrieks. Van is stuck underneath one of Millerna's huge trunks. Hitomi runs over to Van and grabs hold of the trunk.
"Hang on, Va-AAAHH!!" The wagon suddenly jumps as it goes over a huge rock, and Hitomi is thrown to the back of the wagon.
"Ugh…" Van moans.
Hitomi sits up and shakes her head. She looks determinedly onward and crawls defiantly over to Van. "Hang on!"
"ALLEN YOU IDIOT! YOU'LL GET US ALL KILLED!"
Everyone looks over at Millerna in surprise.
She huffs and crosses her arms "What!? There's only so much I'll take!"
Hitomi reaches Van again and shoves the trunk off him. She sucks in a sharp breath when she sees Van's condition –flat as a bloody doormat.
"Oh, Van!" Hitomi wails peeling him off the floor and cradling him in her arms. "Are you alright?"
"Do I bloody look alright?" Van croaks.
Hitomi, now royally pissed off, stomps over to Allen and grabs the map out of his hands.
"Hey!" Allen begins to protest, but shuts up when he sees Hitomi's angry expression.
"You moron! Look what you did to Van!" She shouts, shoving Van's flat body in Allens face. Allen gulps and laughs nervously. "Now get your stupid ass in gear and WATCH THE DAMN ROAD!"
Allen nods vigorously and grabs the reins again, steadying the horses. Everyone in the back of the wagon sigh and tend to their many bruises.
~**~
End of Chapter 2! I promise more will happen in chapter 3. But I kinda have exams to study for now, so…yeah. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.