Disclaimer: Thank Craig Mccraken. I don't - nor will I ever - own the Powerpuff Girls.
~ CHAPTER 12 ~
Secrets
The past couple of weeks had been absolutely wonderful for Buttercup, though she would never admit it. Her entire life she had been pampered, given everything she had ever wanted, loved, and treated well, like a princess.
It was torturous.
She didn't particularly enjoy it when there were maids tending to her every need, never asking her to do anything for them, being perfect servants. It was just so unchallenging.
But this, this! This was incredible! Pure, unadulterated happiness coursed through her veins each time she rode, each time she loosed an arrow, each time she was with him.
It wasn't that she was falling in love with Travis or anything, such feelings were far too sentimental for her, and she preferred to keep their relationship simple, especially after the last time. It was just that… that he didn't seem restrained at all. Sure, he'd had his strange mood swings when one day he was a kind, gentlemanly person, while others he was brash and wild, but either way, he was free. Free and full of life.
They met up twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to go exploring and hunting, and she almost felt like a child again, with no worries or responsibilities.
"Hey," he called from ahead, turning his horse around to face her properly. He cocked his head a bit to the side and asked, "you okay? Do you need a break or something? We have been riding for almost two hours, so don't be embarrassed or whatever."
She rolled her eyes and shook the reins violently. "As if. I could go on like this for days. Don't use me as an excuse for you to plant your sorry bottom on the ground and gorge yourself on food, you sorry excuse of a man."
For a moment she thought she caught a flicker of irritation in his eyes, but upon hearing his warm, loud, laugh, decided that she was just being ridiculous. Travis was her friend. He was cool.
"Then come on. The ocean is only twenty minutes away, so hurry up!" He hollered, facing forward once again and riding faster, his horse kicking up dust.
Grinning widely, she increased her speed and caught up to him at the top of the hill. Her mind momentarily went blank as her breath was taken away.
"Wow…"
He flashed his trademark smirk and his dark green eyes glittered in the sunlight. "Pretty amazing, huh?"
She nodded, eyes still glued to the grassy cliffs and the blue water that pushed and pulled. She'd never been to the ocean, growing up in a somewhat inland kingdom, where it was a couple hours away on horseback.
He cast the briefest of glances at her, before continuing down the dirt path leading to the beach. After taking in another breath of refreshing salty air, she quickly followed him, eager to get up close.
When they reached the cliff he stopped abruptly, and hopped off his steed, urging her to do the same.
"Wait, what? Why?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him, eyes squinted in confusion.
He tossed his head in the direction of the cliff, tying his horse's rein to a scraggly looking tree with bleached white bark and said, "Take a look, and tell me you think a thousand pound horse could make their way down that."
She handed Spitfire's reins to him, walked briskly to the edge, and peered down the two hundred foot drop with jagged rocks lining the side of the cliff. Off to the side was a small path, with just enough room to for single file, going down at a steep seventy degree angle that lead to the white sandy beach.
"Oh."
He dusted his hands and walked up to her. "Yeah, pretty intense. But you can do it." Travis waved absentmindedly, before breaking into a large smirk. "Or are you too scaaaaaaaared?" He jeered, his white teeth reflecting the bright sun.
Her eyes were immediately on him, the cloudy look in them now replaced by a bright, vicious glint. "Are you challenging me, Storme?"
"You know it, Carleton." He grinned wickedly, then grabbed the satchels she and him had filled with food that morning, and promptly threw them down the cliff. Her eyes widened as it flew in a clean arc, before landing with a explosion of sand on the beach, a couple feet away from the dangerous looking rocks.
"Hey! There was an apple in there! It's probably all smushed now. Aw. I hope you're happy, you maniac," She cried indignantly, smacking herself in the forehead.
"Your loss. So, like I was saying, whoever gets down first get's whatever that want from the other's food bag."
She grumbled, "God, you're such a pig." before nodding grudgingly.
They positioned themselves five feet away from the path and she counted slowly, feeling her muscles tense as her eyes scanned the small dirt trail, looking for shortcuts.
"Three, two, one… Go!"
"This place… certainly is… different." Bubbles commented, running her arm nervously.
Brody chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah. I know. This place is a dump, isn't it?" He tossed his head at a crumbling house constructed from rotting wood and sodden hay.
She grimaced, swatting away fruit flies, and said, "How do people even live like this? Don't they have enough money to at least afford a suitable shelter?"
He shook his head, checks tinted a light pink, obviously embarrassed. "I'm afraid not. Gadrea is a rather… money centric kingdom, and those of noble heritage or great wealth are promised better resources and stock, while the lower class starve." He held up a pouch of jewels and shook it. "That's why I'm giving away these."
Bubbles was confused, and quicken her pace to walk next to him. "But wouldn't the rich end up poor and the poor end up rich, then?"
He shook his head again, and replied, "Well, no. You see, the rich have the best jobs, right? The merchants, scholars, noblemen, all that. The poor are left as laborers and servants. As long as I ration my trips, by the time I steal more money, the rich would've earned all their stuff back, though slightly less, of course. In a few years, the poor would've had enough money to afford better living conditions, and the rich would've been taken down by a notch, and perhaps finally understand how the lower classes feel."
She blinked slowly, processing it all in her head. "Okay…" Bubbles nodded, but then something hit her. "Wait, you're only going to stop after a few years? Isn't that a bit long?" She waved flailed her arms about, and exclaimed, "You still have your entire life ahead of you! Aren't you going to get a job or something first?"
He shrugged and swatted her hands away. " I don't know. Can you really see me off in some little shop, working away? I mean, seriously?"
"Well, yes. Maybe. You're a good guy, Brody. And though you might not seem like it, I bet you would do anything to help others." She said, and stopped in front of him. "Just look at you. Stealing and risking your life to help more unfortunate citizens? If that's not something a good person would do, then I don't know what good is."
Brody stared at her, and a terse moment passed. He suddenly laughed. "Oh, Bubbles. You know what a good guy would do? They would work their butts off, and then help the poor with money that was earned fair and square." He pointed to himself, eyes wide. "Me? No, I'm not a good guy. The very least a somewhat decent person. Not good. Oh, no way in hell am I good."
He brushed passed her, ignoring the dumbstruck expression on her face. She stood there for a moment, completely stunned. How could someone say they weren't good? Especially someone like Brody. He seemed so nice, and even tried to help others. Maybe she really didn't know what good was anymore.
Brody took long fast strides, and rapped two times on the door of the first intact house on his right. A frail looking woman opened it cautiously, a baby wriggling in her arms. Her dark hair was thin and matted, and cut at uneven lengths. Her eyes spoke of pain and sorrow.
"Miss," Brody said gently, trying to seem as harmless and helpful as he could. "I understand you have some-" He cleared his throat. "Ah, financial problems?"
The women cowered back, shrinking into herself, obviously terrified. Bubbles felt extremely uncomfortable, like she was intruding on someone else's business. She'd never seen anything like this before.
Back in Selodia, the kingdom provided whatever was needed for the citizens. If there was a sick child that needed help and their family couldn't pay for medicine, her sister would always send a doctor to help. Whenever a man lost their job, Blossom would assign him another one.
Bubbles was used to her sister taking care of everything, making sure everyone was okay, keeping the kingdom prosperous and happy ever since her mother passed away. It had never occurred to her that other lands worked differently.
Brody unhooked a pouch from his belt and told the woman to hold out her hand. She trembled in fear, and slowly brought out her free hand. He carefully placed it in her palm, wrapping her fingers around it.
"Inside this bag are five rubies. Don't show them off to anyone or tell them about how you got it. Exchange them for cash, and buy whatever you need to provide for your family," he said firmly, looking her square in the eye, mouth set in a tight line.
She looked down at the little brown bag, unmoving. Steadily, she set down her child and reached her other hand up to the thin piece of string that held it closed, and tugged on it. The mouth of the pouch opened and Bubbles caught a glimmer of five small jewels, before the woman pulled it closed.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you so, very, very much. I-I can't begin to tell you how hard it has been with my husband dead and a newborn infant. How can I ever repay you?" She said in a raspy voice, though misty eyes.
"Oh, no need to repay me, Miss," he said cheerfully, grinning. "Just doing my part in helping society."
"Wow," Araceli breathed, sprawled on the warm beach, cheeks flushed. She rolled over onto her stomach and grinned upside down at Butch, who's hair too was tousled and covered in tiny grains of sand. "You really do suck at climbing and footraces."
He scoffed and thrust a hand up to push her away, eyes still closed. "Tch. I was going easy on you, Cel. Since you'd never been even in the proximity of an ocean before. If I actually tried, I could totally beat you."
She barked a laugh and swatted some sand in his direction, getting it all over his tunic. He threw her a dirty look and brushed it off. They laid there for a while, basking in the welcoming sunlight and feeling the hot sand between their toes.
"Hey," he said suddenly, "you ever gone swimming before?"
"Of course I have, what do you take me for? Some kind of idiot? God, use your brains." She shot back, scorn laced in her voice.
"In the ocean?"
There was a pause.
"Well, no…"
Butch sat up suddenly, specks of white grain raining from his hair. "Wanna go?" He turned to face her, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Right now?" She asked, an eyebrow raised, clearly surprised.
He glanced up at the sky. Cerulean blue. A few fluffy white clouds here and there. The waves today were gentle too, and high tide wasn't for another four hours. Only a few jagged rocks over to the other end of the stretch of beach.
He shrugged. "Why not? Perfect weather, and we got nothing to do." She contemplated this for a short period of time, before standing up.
"Sure."
"What's the farthest you've ever been from Selodia?" He asked, sitting next to her on a caved in area in the cliff they found about ten feet above the water, legs swinging in the cool breeze, which felt nice after he rolled his pant legs up to mid-calf.
"I don't know. I think it was a small village way up in the North mountains. I think it was called, what? Baxenbough? Whatever. It was super cold up there and everything was always covered in a layer of snow." She replied, reach behind her to grab another rock for her to chuck into the sea.
"Oh. I think the farthest I've even been was to the West coast. They sell some might strange items there. Think I saw a notebook that never ran out a pages there once. Said a witch had handcrafted it. I pity the gullible idiots that actually paid for that stuff."
She chuckled and thew the rock she'd been turning over in her hand off into the distance, creating a small splash in the otherwise calm water.
His eyes followed the clear arc it had taken all the way back to Araceli's still outstretched arm, and stopped on her. Her long messy hair was held up in a high ponytail, and her undershirt was already starting to dry in the afternoon sun. It was strange how her eyes didn't reflect the bright sunlight this morning, but did now during the later half of the day.
"Hey," she began, tearing him from his thoughts. "It's getting kind of late. I better hurry home or my older sister is going to go all psycho on me again." Araceli stood up and carefully began to maneuver across the small ledge leading back to the path they'd taken down to the beach. "You coming?"
He shook his head. "Nah. I think I'm going to stay here a bit longer. Enjoy the fresh air a bit more before going back to my wreck of a kingdom."
She shrugged and continued inching over, then jumped at the last foot or so to the dirt path. "Suit yourself." She waved, before trekking back up the steep slope.
Butch took a deep breath and turned back to the endless ocean, ears straining to her light footsteps fading.
"I told you to stay away from her, you idiot!" Travis hissed at the unfazed prince before him lounging casually on a tree. "If something happens to her, I'm dead!"
Butch snorted and flapped his hand lazily at the fuming boy, drawling, "Don't worry, Storme. I'm not going to kill her. There's something strange about this girl. Don't want to start a full fledged war between the kingdoms, do I?" He pondered this for a moment, and his lips drew into a snarky grin. "Or do I?"
"I don't care about your crazy kill spree fantasies! This is my life we're talking about! And I've known since I was very little that is something you can't trust anyone with but yourself!"
"Hah! And if I refuse to stop? Who do you think everyone will believe? Me, the prince, or you. A low-life scout? Besides, we look the same, Travis. Practically twins. You have no proof whatsoever it was my fault if that girl manages to kill herself." Butch sneered, his eyes glinting in the moonlight.
"Your brother knows."
The prince's face immediately darkened, and her dropped the nasty smirk. "Brick? Psh. How would he know? All he cares about is power. Why the hell would he spend time with the likes of you?"
Travis allowed himself a little victory grin as he realized that Butch was still clueless and left out of his older sibling's schemes, like always.
"Did you honestly think that you would just happen to run into an identical copy of yourself in the woods? Did you really think I would just let you run around, killing in my name just because 'I was tired of working all the time'? Please, I love my job. As if I'd give it up to some spoiled prince. No, your bother paid me to make sure his little brother had enough 'fun' to keep from having spontaneous violent fits. He guaranteed the safety of my family, and that by the age of twenty, I would be working as the captain of Gadrea's soldiers."
Butch's eyes were narrowed at him, and he was radiating hate and resentment. Travis waved absentmindedly at him, turning on his heels, bathing in his victory. "I suggest you stay away from the girl, or there could be serious consequences."
"I'll pay you," The prince spoke up. "Whatever you want."
Travis stopped in his tracks. His family could use some extra cash. And he'd probably be able to get a new sword and gear. And he'd be the one listing the terms.
"I'm listening."
Ehhhhh? Told ya guys I'd update real soon! A slightly longer chapter too! But you're probably going to have to wait a bit longer for the next one, 'cause...plot stuff...
