Disclaimer: Thank Craig Mccraken. I don't - nor will I ever - own the Powerpuff Girls.
- CHAPTER 8 -
Dreams
He had always wanted a dog. Well, a puppy to be exact, but a dog none the less. He and his brothers were far too different to get along well, and he was often lonely, save for the times when they would terrorize the people of his kingdom.
So you can imagine the great deal of happiness Thomas brought Boomer as he barked, his tail sweeping across the floor, sending pieces of hay fluttering into musty air. Smiling widely, he quickened his pace, anticipating the moment he got to feed his little pet. In his right hand he held a piece of wrapped chicken - boiled, of course - and in his left was a small saucer with water straight from the well.
"Here, you go boy!" Boomer said brightly, setting down the food. "Did you sleep well last night?" Thomas licked his face all over, answering the query. He laughed, gently patting the dog away. "Alright, alright. I know you love me. Have some chicken."
He leaned back, arms folded around his knees, observing Thomas gobble up his long awaited meal. After barely three minutes, he was already lapping up the last bits of water, tail wagging excitedly.
"Come on, we have some business to attend to. We got to give all this loot to the folks in the Hole!" Boomer said, adjusting the satchel that hung loosely from his shoulder as he rose. He turned around, grinning from ear to ear.
"Boomer."
He gulped. "Oh, um, hello Brick… Why - what are you doing out so early?" His mouth turned downwards and the smile became a frown. Behind him, he sensed Thomas retreat back into the coop, whimpering slightly.
Of course. Brick's unnaturally red eyes always seemed to scare off people, not to mention the stern tone he spoke with.
"You know dogs aren't allowed in the castle, right?"
Straight to the point. Classic Brick.
"Well, yes, but… um.. you see, there - he was…" Boomer struggled to come up a believable excuse. "I've always wanted a puppy." He finished lamely, certain that his brother would "dispose" of Thomas after this conversation.
Brick was not a dog person. Especially not after that fateful day on the streets, eight years ago.
"I can see that. Now, I'll keep him a secret but…" His dark eyes glinted in the sunlight. "You need to do something in return."
Boomer glanced back at Thomas's crouched silhouette. "You name it."
"Stop stealing."
He blinked his cobalt blue eyes in surprise. After recovering from the initial shock, he sucked in a breath and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not stealing. For God's sake, I'm a prince. I don't need to steal anything!"
Brick sneered, "Oh, come on already Boomer. That silly girl from Selodia told me all about it yesterday. Jewelry was stolen from citizens of Aleton and Gadrea not two days ago! You came home late that very same day! At twelve o'clock, too! Besides, I took a look in your satchel…"
Boomer gulped and pushed his bag behind his back nervously with his hand.
"Give it."
He forced out a smile and shook his head, "Ha! You don't seriously think I was planning to do something with those jewels, were you? I was just going to -"
"You do realize you just admitted to stealing right? Now hand them over and you can keep your dog." Brick rolled his eyes, fed up with Boomer's feeble attempt to deny the fact that he was a thief.
Sighing disappointingly, he lifted the strap over his head and handed the satchel to his brother. "Can I go now? I promise I won't steal again."
Squinting his eyes at Boomer, Brick nodded slowly.
"Ugh, wow Red. I was just messing around…" Boomer huffed as he shoved past Brick, a small smirk tugging on his lips since he knew his brother hated being called "Red". "Come on Thomas, let's go." He drawled as he walked away from a brooding Brick.
The dog darted out the chicken coop, a blur of brown, and sped past him, into the woods where Boomer led him through the night he brought him back to the castle.
"Bye Brick!" Boomer waved lazily as he strolled after Thomas, hands in his pockets. Glaring at him, the redhead growled, spun around, and stomped back through the back door.
Butch folded his arms and wrinkled his nose as people sped past below, shouting out orders. Capture the flag wasn't that great. Sure, he had never participated in the game before, but he could tell it was. What was it really? A bunch of people running around, carrying weapons, fighting each other, trying to steal some stupid flag.
"Travis! Behind you!" A dark haired girl shouted, and the sound of metal against metal rang throughout the forest as she parried an attack.
Ugh. Travis Storme. Butch seethed at the thought of him. He promised him he could pretend to be him and go on the Night Owls missions, but they were boring. And the one time Travis told him to go to a meeting for him, it was to see her. Araceli Carleton, the girl from Selodia! At first she was nothing more than a bratty little wannabe, but after seeing her performance at the bar, he was reconsidering. Of course, she would never be as good as him, but she was… decent for a girl. He looked down.
They were standing back to back, a crowd of the opposite team - blue - surrounding them. His eyes scanned over the burly men armed with enormous swords. Ha! She wouldn't stand a chance. He caught the small movement of her hand as she gestured to Travis. His eyes widened, but he nodded anyway.
Araceli's shoulders tensed, which triggered a explosion of noise as five men charged at them, weapons at hand. The one closest to her went straight for her head and had his sword raised high above his head.
Butch snorted. Pathetic. He could not believe these were the strongest men in his kingdom. They were twice his size, but had less than half the skill he possessed.
She smirked as she brought her own blade up - a thin yet strong finely polished sword, with a leather bound hilt - and deflected the hit, twisting her sword, almost disarming her opponent, but he swept his foot under her, and she nearly tripped. Good, but sloppy, Butch thought, analyzing her every move. She had potential, but from the way she deflected her opponents hits, he could tell she was thinking far too highly of herself, and doubted the men's abilities.
Meanwhile, Travis was doing better and had disarmed one of the opposing team already, and was now working on the second. His movements were faster more accurate, and anyone could tell he had more skill. Storme was far more superior to Araceli, but in the end it wasn't really her fault. He had grown up in a blacksmith, with an expert swords craftsman for a father, and two brothers that were part of the royal guard. To be honest, Butch was rather jealous of him.
He had grown up on the streets, and only had a real home when he was ten years old. Only then did he start receiving actual training from the knights of Gadrea, but when he finally decided that he was going to be a member of the Night Owls, he found out royalty wasn't allowed to join. He had to watch Travis, the boy he envied as a child, receive praise from Hood as he crouched on a tree from afar.
Gritting his teeth, Butch focused once more on the action below. Araceli had - finally - defeated her enemy, but there were still three men left. Realizing she wouldn't be able to knock them all out before the blue team snatched their flag, she nodded once to Travis and he tossed his sword to her, leaping across the small brook that separated the two team's territories.
The men paused momentarily to ponder whether or not to go after him when Araceli swung the two swords in a large arc, cutting all three of their tunics.
"Aren't you going to fight me? Or are you too scared?" She taunted loudly, blades raised, ready to parry any thrusts. They glanced at each other and attacked her all at once, apparently deciding the other people from the blue team would stop Travis.
She laughed and began to duck and weave through them, fighting off almost all their blows and only receiving few injuries. Butch's eyes narrowed at the sight of her, a girl, allowed to participate in such activities, yet him not. His head snapped to when he heard the distant hooting from Travis as he tossed thrust the blue team's flag high into the air, for all to see. Sliding her sword back in her scabbard, she yelled in triumph as she ran over to Travis and cheer with him.
Butch clenched his fist and scowled. Stupid Araceli. Stupid Travis. Stupid game. he resented them all. He decided he had enough of it and wanted to leave when all the people on the red team crowded over to lift Storme into the air, chanting his name. And it especially bothered him seeing her right next to him, bathing in the glory.
He jumped down from the brach he was perched on, and dashed off into the forest, far away from where they were, muttering profanities under his breath.
Blossom was bored. Even though it was the middle of autumn, and she should be making a list of things to stock up on for the winter, she couldn't be bothered to. Besides, she had wanted some relax time.
Except relax time was so incredibly unproductive and boring. Sighing inwardly, she rolled a pen up and down her desk, gazing out at the enormous, white fluffy clouds rolling over the sky. Deciding that she should at least be doing something, Blossom opened her drawer and pulled out a diary.
It was dark red leather, and had a metal clasp that stretched across the entire cover, meeting at the end with a heart shaped lock. She gingerly took out her necklace and placed it in the hole, turned it slowly, smiling when she heard the click. Blossom flipped to the most recent page and dipped her quill in a ink pot.
Dear Diary,
Okay, I know that I'm late. Well, for those of you who live in the East. I was just finishing this up when my friends arrived and had to leave for the New Years party they had organized. Sorry about that. But if you are in the western part of the world, I am fairly certain I made it on time. Sorry for the rather short chapter, but Happy New Years anyway!
