(Saturday)
Waking up I pull my blanket over my head as a cool breeze passes through my room, peeking out from under my blanket I see that Pluto has opened my window "Pluto what are you doing" I ask trying to piece together why he has done this.
"I want to see the sunrise" Pluto says floating towards me acting like being awake before the sun was up is normal
"Can you see it without also waking me up" I say getting out my bed knowing the odds of me falling back asleep were zero, throwing some clothes on I ask Pluto "Well if i'm awake I can at least take you somewhere where the view is better"
"You would do that" Pluto says, happily flying into my pocket"
"Yeah but first i'm going to need to transform"
"Why is that" Pluto asks confused
"How else am I going to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower" I say with grin when I see Pluto's face turn into a wide grin. "Time to Play" transforming I quickly leave a note if my parents care to check on me which they probably don't saying 'I'm on a walk after waking up early.' Out my window as Ruff Rider I run and jump across building towards the Eiffel Tower, each jump filled with a sort of contentedness as I get to see the usually busy city resting for just a moment. As i'm getting closer to the Eiffel Tower my necklace starts to glow and pulsate telling me I got a call, flipping my necklace open to answer it I see LadyBug
"I just saw you jump by is there a problem" LadyBug asks looking as if she didn't get much sleep last night
"There is no problem, my kwami just wanted to see the sunrise so i'm taking him to the Eiffel Tower" I say "What about you what are you doing up so early" I ask
"I couldn't sleep" LadyBug admits "Well just don't let anyone see you"
"I won't, now you go to sleep or I am personally going to tell Cat Noir" I say. Hanging up I get the idea that I could've easily looked on the map and see where LadyBug lived but quickly dismissed the thought knowing I would never go through with purposely figuring LadyBugs or Cat Noirs identity, and then I start wondering if the others have map built they can access on their weapons like I do with my miraculous. Reaching the Eiffel Tower and detransforming at the top I ask Pluto this.
"LadyBug and Cat Noir have a map similar to yours in their weapon but only your map will show the location of a transformed miraculous holder" Pluto says answering my question.
"Why is that" I ask thinking about how useful that would be if everyone had it
"As the holder of the Dog Kwami your job is to protect people and other miraculous holders from harm and you can't do that if you don't know where they are at" Pluto says quite proud of what he does. Sitting down on the top of the Eiffel Tower Pluto rests on the top of my head as we wait for the sun to rise, when the sun first starts to poke its head up and light up the day I am filled with awe at how the sleeping city is bathed in yellows and reds, and I sit up there watching as more people are on the streets and more cars driving down the road. Watching Paris wake up I don't notice the crowd forming underneath the Eiffel Tower until Pluto nudges me out of my trance. "Caleb I think someone saw Ruff Rider jump up here accompanied by a flash of light because there are a lot of people down there" Pluto says pointing out the crowd. Taking a small peek over the edge I see that Pluto is in fact right as more and more people flock to the tower trying to catch a glimpse of me untransformed. Sighing about the fact that I have to acknowledge the existence of the crowd and can't just keep watching the city in peace I transform and sneak down the Eiffel Tower hoping no one will notice me trying to sneakily get away. Sneaking down the base of the Tower I jump to a nearby building and down into an alleyway, looking around I detransform when I see that no one is near. Giving Pluto some jerky he hides in my pocket as I go and join the crowd, looking around I don't see anyone I know and I am about to head home when I hear someone call my name.
"Hey Caleb is that you" turning around I see Adrien
"Hey Adrien what are you doing here" I ask
"Someone posted on the LadyBlog that they saw Ruff Rider climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then they saw a flash of light in the darkness, meaning"
Cutting Adrien off I say "Meaning that he is up there untransformed"
"Yeah I wanted to see if it was true" Adrien says
"Maybe but if it is true what if Ruff Rider just wanted to be alone and enjoy the view without having to worry about people trying to unmask him" I say resenting the fact that one post could ruin my one peaceful moment I have had in awhile.
"Yeah I can relate with that, my father keeps my schedule so busy that my few moments alone are ruined by fangirls" Adrien says his voice holding empathy for Ruff Rider
"Well I don't think Ruff Rider is up there he would have ran the moment the crowd started forming" I say trying to hold in some laughter since I know Ruff Rider is not up there anymore and all these people are wasting their time.
"I don't think so either but who knows maybe he was up there" Adrien says before his phone rings, "I have to go Caleb see you at school" he says before leaving. Looking around I see that the crowd is dispersing with a few people mumbling about how they just knew a hero would never risk getting exposed like that, which might be true if it was LadyBug or Cat Noir but I rarely think things through which I attribute to being an american. Just as the rest of the crowd leaves my stomach an awfully fierce rumble telling me that I have yet to eat anything today, thinking of where I can go to eat I decide to stop by the bakery for a pastry but the moment Pluto realized where I was heading he complained
"Macarons are not for breakfast"
"Good thing breakfast has already passed and it's lunch" I reply with a smirk
"Macarons are not for lunch" Pluto says facepalming himself trying to understand how his fifth favorite holder has quickly dropped to eighth favorite. Arriving at the bakery I enter and smell the familiar smell of macarons and toy with the idea of just buying those instead of an actual breakfast pastry but decide that maybe it's not the healthiest decision.
"Hello again are you here for macarons" the lady greets me happy to see a recurring customer
Smiling I say "Sadly no but I am here for a breakfast pastry maybe something with blueberries" I say looking at the wide array of goods they sell
"I think you might like this" she says putting a blueberry danish on the counter
"That looks amazing" I say giving her the money and leave happily eating the sweet danish which is amazing "Man the owners can really bake" I say in between bites, finishing the danish I head towards the park to enjoy the rest of the day. When I do get to the park I see little kids and teens alike playing or taking a walk, finding a tree I climb up it and sit comfortably on a branch leaning against the tree smiling as a gentle breeze blows through the park making trees sway and leaves quietly rustle. This serenity was so nice that I fell asleep. Waking up to a pelting noise I soon realize that someone is throwing tiny rocks at me.
"Manon why are you throwing rocks at a tree" I hear a familiar voice say
"There is someone up there" I hear a little girl say, looking down I see a little girl and to my surprise I see Alya
"What did I say about lying Manon" Alya says looking down on Manon
"But i'm not just look" the little girl who must be Manon says pointing at me, Alya looking up sees me and I awkwardly wave like it's completely normal that i'm up here.
"Caleb is that you" Alya asks with a look of disbelief
Jumping down from the branch to the ground I absorb the shock by rolling the moment I hit the ground, springing onto my feet I say while hiding my shock that went off without a hitch "Yeah did you want something"
"No, but why were you up there" Alya asks astonished that Caleb could do something like that
"I wanted some peace and quiet so I found some up there and what about you" I say directing the attention to her
"I'm babysitting Manon for Marinette, she needed some rest so I took the responsibility myself"
"That's pretty nice of you" I say trying not to slip up and say anything that Ruff Rider would which is why I hate the fact I can only be myself around her when i'm Ruff Rider. Which begs the question aren't I always Ruff Rider if I am Ruff Rider or is Ruff Rider someone else because everytime I think about that I get a headache.
"Hello Caleb are you okay" Alya asks noticing that I started to stare off into space
"what...Yeah i'm fine just got distracted is it"
"You're almost as bad as Marinette" Alya says laughing out how it seems everyone she knew seemed to have no attention span what so ever.
"C'mon Alya you said we would get ice cream" Manon runs over to us
"Well see you monday Caleb" Alya says walking away trying to catch up with Manon who is apparently filled with infinite energy from what i've seen. For the rest of the day I relaxed in the park until I had to go home. Sleeping that night I felt better than usual since for the first time in a while I could enjoy a day to myself.
I might be Caleb and Ruff Rider but where does Caleb end and Ruff Rider begin.
(Just a short little chapter, I thought that Caleb has been super busy in all the chapters lately so I wrote him a little day off to relax, right before I ruin his life. Just kidding although do expect an akuma fight next chapter)