"So, where to go next..." V trailed off as her children huddled around her.
"Fight scene!" Iri exclaimed.
"It's to early for that!" Celina argued. "How about a romantic scene?"
Aini gagged.
"Now, now, we'll get to see both types of scenes soon enough."
"I don't know how you're going to do that." Aini said, rolling her eyes. "Uncle Silver has the personality of a rock."
"But Auntie Soul loves him, so there's gotta be something more!" Celina exclaimed.
"Aunt Soul is just puts up with him."
"But Raven-!"
"Is like his father." Aini scowled. "With the personality of a rock." with this, she glowered at her mother. "How come you couldn't have adopted cool people into our family, like Red or Gold or Sapphire?"
"Because I've known Silver for a long time and he's like a brother to me." V replied. "And Raven isn't that bad."
"He barely says anything!" Aini argued.
"Um, Mom?" everyone turned their gaze to Iri. "Can we continue with the story?"
V smiled, ruffling his lighter-colored hair.
"Of course, Iri."
o.0.o.0.o
A Lock of Trouble, Part 2
Silver was running after Will and Carl, darting in between the trees to throw the guards off their trail, though he knew it was kind of pointless. After all, they sent their greatest lead guard, Crystal Kurisutaru, charging after them on her Arcanine. To all criminals, she was notorious for her title, the 'Catcher', known for capturing any and all offending criminals who dared to commit a wrong in her home kingdom.
Silver paused, glancing at a random wanted poster. He glared at it, ripping it free. He looked like... like a bloated, squinty-eyed idiot! He swore, that *bleep*ing sketch artist, Gold, could never get his *bleep*ed face right!
"Feeling vain, Silver?" Will teased. Silver glowered at him.
"He always gets your portraits right." Silver said. He wasn't feeling vain, so to speak, more like insulted. It was like Gold did it to instigate him.
"There they are!" Silver snapped his head up, spotting Crystal overhead with Gold behind her. What was she doing, bring that idiot with her? Maybe for identification?
In a hurried frenzy, he shoved his wanted poster into the satchel with the crown, bolting after Will and Carl. The running didn't last long, though, as they were suddenly facing a dead end. Silver turned his gaze upwards, seeing that he needed to get to the top to keep running.
Silver felt the need to curse, but held his tongue. He couldn't get arrested now!
"Have Xatu fly me up." Silver said, turning to Will. "Then I'll send him down to get you two."
The two shared a glance.
"Give us the bag first." Carl said. Silver didn't blame them, he wouldn't trust himself either. He wasn't willing to give up the satchel, either, as its contents were the only way he would be able to reconnect with Blue.
He suddenly felt Sneasel tap the back of his leg three times, indicating he would get their bounty for him.
"Fine, then." he said, taking the bag from over his shoulder and passing it to Will. He knew Will was physically weaker than Carl, so Sneasel should be able to handle him easier.
He felt Xatu clamp it's claws around his shoulders, carrying him up. Once he landed, he turned, looking over. He watched in satisfaction as Sneasel snuck away from Will, the sliced handle of the bag.
"Sneasel, night slash!" he ordered. Carl and Will gaped as Sneasel leapt up, slashing through Xatu with the super effective attack, then using it's body as a launchpad to get back up with his owner.
"Silver, why would you do that?!" Carl exclaimed.
"You know how the saying goes." Silver shrugged. "All for one and two for me." he held up the bag, handle now knotted, smirking. Then he turned and bolted.
He faintly heard Carl scream his name in rage, but ignored it. He glanced over his shoulder, blinking as he saw Crystal and Gold charging towards him on their Arcanine and Typhlosian respectfully. He knew Sneasel, being part ice-type, wouldn't stand a chance against them.
So he turned and bolted.
"We've got to retrieve that satchel at any cost!"
"Got it, Super Serious Gal!"
"Stop calling me that!"
Silver ducked under a log, wincing as fire scorched the log.
He continued running, when he was suddenly tackled from behind. He grunted, flipping over to face his attacker, seeing Gold trying to pin him down. Suddenly angered by the idiot's sketch of him earlier, he positioned his legs and kneed the other man where it hurt.
Silver nearly laughed as his eyes bugged out and he rolled onto his side, hands flying to the injured area.
"Gold!" he snapped his head up to see Crystal halting her Arcanine. Snarling, he frantically whipped his head about, searching for the satchel. Where was it?!
He heard Sneasel cry out, and he snapped his head in his partners direction. Silver saw his pokémon dangling precariously on a tiny branch with the bag wrapped around his claws.
"Sneasel...!" he exclaimed, scrambling over onto the branch.
"Watch him!" he heard Crystal shout, most likely referring to the pokémon to watch Gold. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the woman balancing on the branch. Was she that determined to complete her job or was she simply stupid?! This branch wouldn't hold all their weight...!
He scrambled closer to Sneasel. Silver knew he was probably nimble enough to leap over Crystal and bolt, but he needed that tiara first. So snatched Sneasel by his wrist and yanked him onto his shoulder. The pokémon faithfully kept hold on the bag.
Then there was a slight crumbling noise.
"Super Serious Gal!" Gold exclaimed, finally standing from the kick to the groin.
Silver lifted his gaze and met Crystals. Both slowly moved their gaze to the branches ledge.
Then they were suddenly hurtling towards whatever was at the bottom of the cliff.
"Super Serious Gal!" he heard Gold shout. "CRYSTAL!"
o.0.o.0.o
Silver blinked.
When he woken, he was a bit confused.
He moved his limbs.
Nothing was broken.
Vital signs seemed okay.
All in all, he was winded and disoriented, but nonetheless, fine.
He glanced up. Maybe the drop wasn't as far as he thought it was. He turned, finding Sneasel sprawled out not to far from him. Thankfully, the satchel was still in his possession.
And just a few feet away was Crystal. Silver got up, backing away from her, only to realize she was out cold. There was a bit of blood staining her hair, indicating she hit her head.
Slowly, he walked over and nudged her leg. Reflexively, she kicked back.
So she was still alive.
"Conscious cleared." he decided, turning and scooping up Sneasel, throwing the bag over his shoulder. No doubt Gold would go all heroic searching for her.
"Crystal!"
See? Already here. And damn, he sounded close.
Silver began to trek through the forest with hopes of outrunning Gold, and maybe, their pokémon. For good measure, he walked through a small stream to throw the pokémon off his trail.
"Crystal! Arceus, Crystal!"
Had he found her already? He works a lot faster than he expected him too. Despite the fact that he literally heard the pounding footsteps of pokémon, he kept calm, taking careful steps to avoid having the pokémon hear him. Spotting willow branches, he decided to hide there, and tried to push them back...
Only to fall flat on his face.
"What?" he hissed, standing up and glancing around. A cave? Willow branches hiding a cave? He wasn't sure if this was a manmade occasion or some natural one, but it didn't matter.
Just as he got behind the branches, he spotted the outline of Gold on his typlosian, with Crystal in his arms. He was looking around, as if he spotted something. Silver knew he could take on Gold easy. The fact that he literally left him incapacitated up above proved it. It was their pokémon he was worried about.
Then, like that, Gold charged on, most likely hoping to get help for Crystal.
Silver scowled for a moment, then ducked farther into the cave. He'd hide in here until he was sure the coast was clear.
Upon reaching the unexpected exit, he actually stopped, staring at what was in front of him.
Now, to be honest, Silver did not get surprised often. He usually just rolled with the punches. But to suddenly escape from castle guards, with his treasure, and managing to shake himself of Will and Carl? Why, he can't recall ever having such good luck.
But now, finding a tower in the middle of nowhere? It was almost to good to be true.
Taking Sneasel from his arms, he stuffed the pokémon in the bag with the tiara, threw the bag over his shoulder, and hoped that Sneasel had enough sense not to tear the bag or jump out if he woke up.
After all, Silver had decided he was going to scale the tower. No way the castle guards were smart enough to actually find this place, let alone determined enough to climb the tower.
Studying the nooks and crannies between the bricks, he decided that, yes, this would be easy to climb. He was skilled enough to scale the cracks of newer buildings. This tower was full of cracks and semi-loose stones, possibly from age, providing the perfect nooks and crannies for foot and hand rests.
Exhaling to steal his nerves, Silver began to precariously climb the tower. It took him a little longer than he would have liked, but all in all, he managed to get to the window ledge. Stepping inside, he flexed his hands, curing the blisters from the climb. Blue always told him to wear gloves when scaling buildings, but he never listened. He aways felt the gloves got in the way.
Now he knew why she advised that.
Silver stood up straight again, shutting the window. Just as it was latched shut, something akin to an electric shock jolted through his body, exemplified in certain places due to the small metal trinkets he had on him.
Exhausted, he fell unconscious.
o.0.o.0.o
Soul let out a startled yelp as the mysterious person who entered her tower fell to the ground with a thud. Mara hissed at him, backing away after giving him a good shock.
Slowly, Soul came from where she was hiding, afraid but utterly fascinated at the same time. Only her mother ever came to the tower, and this was the first time someone outside her mother came up!
Hesitantly, she came forward and poked the back of his head.
No movement.
"I don't know Mara." Soul said offhandedly, stepping back. "Are you sure it's a he? All my books show guys have short hair! And his hair goes past his shoulders!"
Mara rolled her eyes, but nodded. Slowly, Soul turned him over and poked his cheek. Glancing at Mara, who nodded in reassurance, she flicked some of his hair out of his face.
"He doesn't look like a barbarian." Soul quietly. "He looks like he's the same age as me!" Slowly, she pushed his upper lip up, revealing perfectly normal, perfectly white teeth. "No sharp pointy teeth either." she turned and smiled to Mara. "I think he's kinda handsome. Don't you?"
Mara shrugged.
"We should probably hide him, though." Soul mused, lifting him up from under his arms. Or at least she attempted to. This guy was heavy! Were all guys this heavy? Regardless, she managed to lift him up and, with his legs trailing behind her, managed to drag him to her closet.
After more than a few tries, she managed to shove him inside amongst her other dresses and forgotten knickknacks.
"So, I have a person in my closet." Soul said. A pause. "Wow, that sounded better in my head." she turned to Mara. "So now wha..." the word trailed off into a stream of a's as a sudden idea struck Soul. There was a person, a man no less, in her closet! Maybe if she showed Mama that she could handle herself, she could convince her to see the floating lights! But how to explain his unconsciousness to Mama without alerting her of Mara?
She glanced around, snapping her mouth shut.
Maybe she could tell him that she hit him... with a frying pan. Or something.
Soul blinked as Mara began nibbling on the mans purse. The knotted strap had come undone in her many attempts of stuffing him in her closet.
"Mara, no!" she exclaimed, scooping up the little pokémon. "We don't eat other people property!"
Soul blinked, sudden curiosity hitting her. What was in the bag? Despite just lecturing Mara for trying to eat it, Soul assumed he must have had some yummy food in there for Mara, who was usually so well behaved, to try to steal a nibble. Surely he wouldn't mind a peek, would he?
Slowly flipping open the front, she gasped as her hand hit something warm. Slowly, she pulled out a Sneasel. What was a pokémon doing in his purse? Gently cradling the unconscious pokémon, she decided to treat him. Soul carried the Sneasel to her room, placing him on Mara's makeshift bed. Slowly, she grabbed a stand of her hair, and placed it over the pokémon, singing the song.
Soon, the Sneasel was healed of his wounds, simply unconscious.
With nothing better to do, she covered the pokémon with a blanket and continued on her way.
Back in the foyer, she saw Mara poking at something shiny. Due to her love of shiny things, Soul was immediately intrigued, and kneeled down, picking up the object. It was gold, with gemstones lining the entire thing. Glancing thoughtfully at it, she wondered what it was for. Turning around amid her musings, she caught sight of herself holding the item in the mirror.
Then it hit her.
Gently, she placed the thing on her head. Mara blinked in surprise, widening her eyes. Hadn't she seen this somewhere before? It was a long time ago, roughly eighteen years or so, back when she was newly hatched and being presented as a lifelong companion to the...!
"Soul~!" a singsongy voice rang out, cutting both their thoughts off. Soul gasped, whipping around and bumping into the mirror. In a hurried frenzy, she yanked the tiara off her head, grabbed Mara and shoved both of them into a pot with the satchel. "Let down your hair~!"
"I'm coming Mama!" Soul exclaimed, wrenching open the windows and sending her hair down.
"I have a big surprise for you dear!" Mckenzie exclaimed.
"Uh, I do to." Soul exclaimed, heart hammering with anticipation.
"I bet my surprise is bigger!" her mother shot back playfully.
"I seriously doubt it." Soul murmured as she began to pull her mother up. Mckenzie sat on the ledge with a grin.
"I brought back pecha berries." she brought her legs into the tower with a grin. "I'm going to make pecha berry cake for desert, your favorite!" she extended her arms. "Surprise!"
"Well, Mama, I have something big to show you too." Soul smiled, going towards her closet. Mckenzie didn't seem to be listening, though.
"Oh, Soul, you know I simply hate leaving you after a fight, especially since I have done absolutely nothing wrong." she said.
"Mama, I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier-"
"I hope you're still not talking about the stars." Mckenzie said, back to Soul as she began unloading her basket to bake the cake.
"Floating lights." Soul corrected. "But I'm coming to that, Mama-"
"I really hoped we dropped this, Soul." she said, voice higher than it usually was. Soul swallowed, nerve shaken a bit. Her mother only spoke like that when she was irritated, and her irritation quickly turned to rage.
"No, Mama. I'm just saying that you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself-"
"Oh, darling I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there." Mckenzie said in a demeaning tone.
"But if you would just-"
"Soul, we are done talking about this."
"But I wanted to show you-"
"Soul."
"Oh, come on, Mama, you'd be really-"
"Soul."
"Trust me, Mama-"
"Enough of the stars, Soul!" her mother suddenly shrieked, whipping around in a rage and backhanding her. Soul yelped as her cheek stung, collapsing to the ground and shrinking back against the closet. "You are not leaving this tower! Ever!"
The last word was yelled so loudly that echoed around the room. Soul, with her hand to her still stinging cheek, flinched at her mothers yelling, bowing her head, sniffling. Then she let out a wail and ran to her room, slamming the door shut. Mckenzie blinked, seeing that some of her hair was still on the staircase. She heard the door open again, and the hair slithered out of her sight. The door then slammed shut with as much strength as before.
Mckenzie then collapsed into her chair with an exasperated sigh.
"Great." she murmured sarcastically. "Now I'm the bad guy."
o.0.o.0.o
It was about an hour when Soul slowly cracked open the door to her room.
"Mama?" she called softly as she came down the stairs.
"What, Soul?" her mother responded, tone just as clipped and irritated as before.
"I... I know what I want for my birthday."
"And what is that?" her tone wasn't at all forgiving, still annoyed.
"New paint." Soul smiled. "New paint made from the seashells you brought me that one time and... and some new canvas. So I won't paint on the walls anymore."
Her mother sighed.
"That's a three day journey, Soul."
"I just... thought it was a better idea then the... stars." the word stars came out oddly, almost forced. She knew they weren't stars. She knew that. But she didn't want to fight with her mother anymore, and in order to appease her, the 'floating lights' were stars.
Mckenzie let out a sigh, standing up.
"You're sure you'll be alright, three days by yourself?" she asked, crossing the room. "I know how much talent you have in the kitchen...
"Or lack thereof." Soul smiled. "I'll just live off pecha berry cake and salad. Then you can come home and make me a splendid feast in celebration."
They came upon a silent agreement. Soul took the time to pack a basket of food for her mother. Her mother, in turn, reassured that she would be back in three days time with her presents.
After watching her mother leave, waving enthusiastically, Soul bolted back inside the tower, turning to her closet.
"I hope he's okay, Mara." Soul said offhandedly as the mareep approached her again. Slowly, she reached for the handles on the closet door, then yanked them open.
Only to see the closet devoid of the man she had shoved in their earlier.
"What-?"
Mara suddenly growled as she felt a rough hand wrap around her neck. She squeaked in surprise, realizing her prisoner had escaped.
"One reason." he said. "One reason why I shouldn't strangle you right now."
"Because tomorrow's my birthday!" Soul squeaked. It would be horrible to die right before her birthday! The man blinked, then scowled, releasing her and shoving her away.
"What are you, twelve?"
"Seventeen." Soul corrected.
"With the mind of a twelve year old." the redhead sighed, running a hand down his face.
"Who are you and how did you find me?" Soul asked, standing up. The man blinked.
"I should be asking you the same thing. Who are you and why are you living in a tower in the middle of no where?"
"I've always lived here!" Soul exclaimed happily. "This is my home."
"So... you're a hermit."
"Hermit? No, I'm not a hermit. I just live alone with my mother, isolated from society!"
He blinked.
"That's a hermit, idiot!"
"It is?"
"Arceus, you're annoying." he sighed, looking around. He then must have realized something, because he began whipping his head around, eyes desperately searching the room. "Where's my satchel?!"
"You mean your purse?" Soul cocked her head.
"Satchel." he corrected.
"Your Sneasel is safe." Soul offered. "A little bruised up, but nothing I couldn't fix~!"
"I don't care about Sneasel!" Silver snapped. "The tiara! Where is the satchel and the tiara inside it?!"
"Ti-ar-a." she spoke each syllable thoughtfully. "So that's what that thing was!"
"WHERE IS IT?!" he roared, finally fed up with her. She blinked, then whimpered.
"Mara!" she cried out.
Then he fell unconscious from an electric shock.
o.0.o.0.o
Silver woke up a little while later, confused, and slightly disoriented. He tried moving his arms, only to find that they were securely bound with light brown...
"Hair?" he blinked, staring at the silky tresses.
Yes indeed. He was tied to the chair with yards upon yards of... hair.
"What the hell...?"
"Who are you?" he jerked his head up at the girls voice. Slowly, she emerged from the shadows, cradling Sneasel with one arm and her Mareep, Mara, standing faithfully beside her. He had heard the argument between her mother and her earlier, and picked up that her name was Soul. "Why are you here?"
"Listen, Soul." he grunted, pulling at the hair again. "I was being chased through the forest, found your tower, and climbed it. The end."
"Does anyone else know of my location?" she demanded. Well, he supposed was a command. It sounded kind of meek, really.
"I didn't even know this was here until I found it." Silver answered honestly. Usually he just lied his way out of any situation, but given that he was dealing with a seemingly childish girl, he figured being honest was the best way to get through to this girl. He glanced around. "Where's my satchel?" he demanded.
"I've hidden it." the girl answered smugly. "In a place you'll never find it." she began walking towards him. "Now, what do you want with my hair?"
"What?"
"To sell it? To cut it?"
"I want to get out of it." Silver responded, tugging at the strands simply to prove his point. She seemed taken aback by that.
"Really? You're serious?"
He fixed her with a blank but serious look.
"Wow, uh... This isn't going as planned..." Suddenly, Silver found himself staring face to face with Mara the Mareep. She seemed to be staring intently at him. Silver stared just as intently back. Slowly, Mara backed away, gesturing for Soul to follow.
Did that electric cotton ball seriously try to intimidate him?
He heard a few mumbled whispers, something about 'needing someone to take her' and 'fangs' and 'floating lights'. Deciding he didn't want to be a part of this idiotic madhouse any longer, he began moving the chair away.
"Okay, mister!" Soul whipped around with a bright grin on her face. "I'm willing to make a deal!"
"What?!" Silver exclaimed angrily. Why couldn't this batty lady just give him back what was his and be done with it?!
"Look this way!" she exclaimed excitedly, turning his chair around then darting over to the mantelpiece. She pulled back the red curtain, grinning. She pointed the painting, which seemed to be that of her watching the lantern show for the princess at a distance. "What are these, mister?"
"You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess each year?" he said blandly.
"Lanterns." she breathed out with a soft smile, looking up at the painting again. "I knew they weren't stars." she snapped her attention back to him, a bright smile on her face. She jumped down. "Listen, mister, if you take me to the lantern show tomorrow evening, bring me back home, safely, I'll give you back your purse,"
"Satchel." Silver interrupted. Soul either didn't care or didn't hear him as she continued.
"With your tiara, and we can all live happily ever after, okay?"
"No." Silver stated.
"No?!" Soul exclaimed, running up, just mere inches from his face. "Why?!"
Silver jerked his head back as far as he could.
"Because there's a reward for my capture and I'm not putting my neck on the line." he stated. "Find someone else. I'll get my satchel on my own."
"But it's your destiny!" Soul cried out, pulling back and throwing her hands in the air.
"How?" Silver demanded.
"It's destiny that brought you to this tower! Destiny to become my guide to the lanterns! It's just like in the fairy tales I read!"
"Life isn't a stupid fairy tale." Silver responded. "But let me get this straight. I take you to the lanterns, bring you back here, and you'll give me back my satchel?"
"Promise!" Soul nodded. Silver contemplated on this for a moment. He had a feeling Soul wasn't going to untie him, or tell him where his satchel was, until he agreed to take her to the stupid lanterns. And he didn't actually want to take the time, the precious time he had, to look for the satchel. This was a tall tower, after all. He knew if he discovered the path so easily, someone else would, on purpose, and he'd be arrested or turned in.
"Fine." he grunted. "I'll take you to see the lanterns."
"Really?!" Soul exclaimed.
"Yes." Silver ground out reluctantly. "Now untie me!"
o.0.o.0.o
It took a few moment for her to untie her hair from the redhead, but she managed to do so. Silver immediately got to his feet and began prepping himself to make the climb down. At this point, Sneasel had awoken. Silver quickly and bluntly explained the situation, and Sneasel, in response, seemed fine with it.
So he began to scale the tower down. Soul went a little slower. With Mara on her shoulder, she hooked her hair over the hook and hesitantly stepped onto the ledge.
"You coming?!" the man snapped, glancing up to see what was taking her so long. Soul sighed, gripping her hair tightly.
"Ready, Mara?" she asked her partner. Mara nodded in response. Gathering up her hair, she tossed it over the ledge. With a sigh to steal her nerves, she leapt off, going down the tower quickly. She halted her movement just before she hit the ground. Dangling for but a moment, she reminded herself there was no easy way out, and slowly lowered her feet to the grass.
She let out a giggle, collapsing to her knees and rolling on her back, doing snow angels in the grass. It tickled a little, but it was so much fun!
"What are you doing?" she opened her eyes and grinned at the man, who managed to get down the wall.
"This is fun!" she laughed.
"If you want to see your lanterns, we've got to move quickly." he said, reaching for her hair and pulling it free of hook. "Lets go."
Soul grinned, excitement bubbling over as she began to gather her seventy feet of hair around one arm.
"I can't believe I did this!" Soul exclaimed excitedly, running out of the cave. She paused as they passed the willow branches. "Oh my Arceus," she said in a nervous tone. Silver glanced back at her. "I can't believe I did this."
o.0.o.0.o
"Mama would be so furious."
"But that's okay, what Mama doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"
"Oh my Arceus, this would kill her."
"THIS IS SO MUCH FUUUUUUUN!"
"I am a horrible daughter. I've gotta go back."
"I'M NEVER GOING BAAAAAAAACK!"
"I am a despicable human being."
"WOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO! Best. Day. EVER!"
Silver annoyingly leaned against a random rock, with Soul sitting behind it, sobbing into her palms. It's been like this all day, with her being riddled with guilt about leaving her mother to being like a little child, sidetracked by something that made her happy.
Her constant mood swings were annoying him. He was doing this to get his satchel back, and she was hindering them. Considerably.
Now he was going to put a stop to it.
He stomped around the rock, crossing his arms and nudging her foot. She looked up at him, teary-eyed.
"Listen, ditz." he crossed his arms, Sneasel mimicking the action. "If you're going to cause this much trouble, just go back to the tower, give me my satchel, and we'll part ways."
"I can't turn back!" Soul insisted, picking up Mara. "This is important!"
"Why is it-?!"
A snap of a twig caught both their attention. Soul, all in all, freaked out. Clambering onto Silver's back, she glanced fearfully over his shoulder.
"Is it ruffians? Thugs?! Have they come for me?!"
Silver glanced at her, briefly wondering what this girls mother put into her head to make her think every little snap of a twig was someone out to get her. And what was so important about her stupid hair that she feared someone would steal it?
He wasn't going to say he wasn't nervous. No doubt that those palace guards were still searching for him. He did not want them to suddenly burst from the bush and try to capture him.
He stared intently at a bush, only for a buneary to jump out.
"Don't move." he said flatly. "It can probably smell fear."
"It's cute!" Soul exclaimed, scrambling off him and reaching out to the wild pokémon. After it sniffed her hand, it allowed her to pet it. After a few moments, it jumped away. "Sorry," she said, standing up and brushing off her dress. "I'm kind of jumpy."
"Best we avoid ruffians and thugs, then." Silver muttered, a sudden idea forming in his head. If he couldn't convince her to go back via guilt, why not scare her back? He glanced at her. "Are you hungry? I happen to know a great, nearby place for lunch."
o.0.o.0.o
"Any trace of him yet, Explotaro?" Gold asked his Typholsian, still searching for Silver. Crystal was still unconscious, thrown over Arkee, her Arcanine. He came across a poster that he had drawn of Silver, a poster that he drew as a joke to make Crystal mad when she saw them posted around town.
Now the poster was *bleep*ing him off.
Grabbing it, he angrily tore it to shreds. That guy hurt Crystal. That *bleep*ing bastard had hurt Crystal. He swore, the minute he found that guy, he'd get him charged with attempted murder of the guard.
He suddenly heard a startled yelp, followed by Explotaro's growling. Signaling for Arkee to stay back with Crystal, he stepped out of the bushes, only to see him staring intently at a woman. She seemed startled, but otherwise fine.
"Ugh," she said bitterly. "Simply a palace pokémon." she glanced at Explotaro again. "Where's your rider?"
"Right here, ma'am." Gold said, smiling flirtatiously. He may only have eyes for Crystal, but he knew exactly how to charm women for information.
This woman, however, just stared at him with a serious expression on her face. His smile faltered. The last time this happened was with Crystal.
"Wow, I must be having an off day." he mused, running a hand through his unruly hair. "This doesn't usually happen."
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked.
"We're looking for a thief." he said bluntly. "Stole the princess's tiara, if you can believe that. We've gotten two of them, but one got away. He's a redhead, a little taller than me, with silver eyes."
"I've seen no thief like that." the woman responded.
"Ah, well. That's okay." he mounted Explotaro. "He's an expert as scaling walls and hiding, so no doubt he's long gone."
"Scaling walls? Hiding?" the woman asked, suddenly panicked. Gold blinked.
"Yep. Rumor says he's able to scale at least an eighty-foot tower, with nothing but his bare hands."
"Soul." she murmured under her breath, suddenly whipping around. "Soul!"
Gold blinked as she ran off in the direction she came.
"Maybe that woman is the one who was off." he said simply, settling on his pokémon and going back towards Arkee and Crystal.
o.0.o.0.o
Mckenzie ran as fast as her legs would allow, finally coming upon the tower. She bolted to the bottom, glancing up.
"Soul!" she sang out like she normally did, trying to hide her panic. "Let down your hair!"
Nothing.
"Soul! Soul?!"
Impatient, she stumbled to the side of the tower, panic clear on her face as she began tearing the stones away to the secret entrance to the tower. Managing to get in, she began tearing the rooms in the tower apart, screaming Soul's name.
Realizing she wasn't here, Mckenzie began panicking, heart pounding in fear. That girl kept her young! Her magic flower was gone!
She glanced around, and saw a flash of light shining from a random pot. Confused, as she was sure that pot was used for nothing but decoration, she crossed the room and took out a satchel. Slowly, she opened it, and pulled out a tiara. Staring at it, she realized where she recognized it, she gasped, tossing it away as if it burned her.
The palace... the palace had caught up to her!
She saw a piece of paper in the satchel. A map, perhaps? Unfolding it, she glanced it over, and saw it was a wanted poster for the thief, Silver.
She suddenly, all at once, connected the dots.
The stolen tiara.
His talent for climbing.
His own wanted poster in the bag.
The thief had stolen her magic flower.
Slowly, she stood, crossing the room to a nightstand and opening it, pulling out a dagger.
No one was going to steal her flower again, and come out of it alive.
o.0.o.0.o
"What's going to happen to Uncle Silvey?!" exclaimed Celina, suddenly worried.
"You'll have to find out next time!" V teased, poking her on the forehead.
"I liked the chase scene." Iri grinned.
"Silver is still lame." Aini said, crossing her arms.
o.0.o.0.o
So, yeah. My head is kind of pounding. I'm ready for bed. See you next time, everyone!
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^