The Dragonite did not agree with her master's insanity. She didn't like how he would kill solely for the sake of doing so, for the sake of seeing his sword stained with blood. But there was nothing she, nor the rest of his dragons, could do to stop him, so they all had learned to just accept his homicidal urges, instead focusing their energies on keeping him out of the grasp of the authorities. It would not be well if the boy was caught.
But such depressing loyalty did Otomé no help as Jet more or less threw her against one of the rough brick walls that made up the alleyway and practically pinned her to it. But his only restraint against her was the switchblade he now held to her throat (not that the hand he had placed on the wall next to her head wouldn't deter her from trying to escape, either). He would've preferred to use his sword, but the space around them was much too narrow to allow such a weapon to be properly wielded. This would have to do.
The silence that followed was heavy and tense, their gazes locked in an unblinking manner. His eyes, she noticed now, were a dark blue, like the ocean… Chiding herself for becoming momentarily distracted, the girl glared up at the dragon trainer, who was at least a full head taller than her.
"Let go of me! Get away from me!"
But the male teenager didn't listen. If he actually heard her, his only indication was the tightening of his grip on the handle of his switchblade. Just like back in the Illex Forest, nothing else mattered; it was just the two of them again and all he cared about were the screams he would soon hear from the water trainer. It never occurred to the boy, however, that such shrieking would surely give him away. He had never been in possession of much common sense.
"Any last words?" Jet hissed back at his prey, pressing the small blade harder against her throat. Just one flick of his hand… One fluid slash…
"Y-Yeah," Otomé replied bravely, trying her hardest to keep her fear out of her voice and eyes. "Get away from me!" At that instant, she had seized the hand that held the weapon, her own hands wrapping around his wrist and tugged hard to get the blade away from her skin before suddenly lunging forward in a move that was a cross between a headbutt and a tackle.
The silver-haired dragon trainer yelped slightly as he was somewhat slammed against the opposite wall, the surprise assault having caught him off-guard. Some nerve that stupid girl had! But said girl was already squeezing past his Dragonite before he could pull her back into the shadows.
Growling, he stowed his switchblade away in one of the pockets of his baggy pants and hurriedly pushed past the golden dragon, half leaping back out onto the sidewalk just in time to watch her dash around a corner and out of sight. Taking a few angry steps forward, his determination to finish the job he had started in Illex Forest began, however, to fade.
For a third time, only his will held him back, yet Jet could not muster up the resolve to chase after the water trainer. It was like something was unconsciously bidding him to leave her alone… Balling his hands into fists at his side, he gave a vicious, yet frustrated snarl before whirling around and storming down the sidewalk in the opposite direction Otomé had fled, once again completely ignoring his Dragonite.
In a slightly hurt manner, the golden beast hung her head, though she should've known better. Her master was always cold and somewhat selfish when he was angered. But that poor girl… How brave of her to stand up to someone like him! Idly watching her trainer disappear into a crowd of people, the Dratini Evolute then turned and headed in the opposite direction, down the same way the blue-haired girl had gone.
The Dragonite would find the would-be victim and apologize, on the boy's behalf.
The Blackthorn native didn't stop running until she was on the other side of the large downtown area. Early on in her escape did she notice that her would-be murderer had not come after her, for some reason, but just to be safe she kept up her pace for a little longer. For all she knew, he could've followed her in the shadows and was now waiting until she was lulled into a false sense of security before moving in for the kill.
Of course, right then it would've been easy to strike. Off to the side, out of other peoples' ways, Otomé was almost doubled over, her hands set against her knees as she panted heavily and gasped for air. She hadn't done any running like that in a while. Luckily, it only took the girl a few minutes to catch her breath.
Straightening once her breathing had mostly returned to its normal pattern, she then glanced around to check where she had run off to. 'Oh, still downtown. Well, that's good, I guess. But I ran past the shop…' Frowning, the blue-haired trainer turned and began to retrace her footsteps. She hadn't meant to go so far.
By Suicune's grace, it had only taken a few minutes for her to relocate her original destination: a small storefront crammed between two larger stores, the weathered sign hanging from a pole and two chains above the door reading 'MR. D'S MUSIC' in faded and slightly peeling orange paint. Regrettably, the teenager was unable to read sheet music, so perhaps the cramped music store had her songs on CD instead?
A tiny bell tinkled as Otomé opened the door and stepped inside, the scents of dust and old leather filling her nose. As long as she had lived in Blackthorn City, she had only ever been to the shop once or twice. She preferred to listen to the radio (mainly for Buena's Password) than to CDs or cassettes or whatever.
The interior of the shop, though stuffed with miscellaneous objects, was rather brightly-lit, a handful of people (mainly teenagers around her age) already sorting through the collections of music that were on display on the three long-tables towards the back.
"Welcome," A less-than-enthused clerk greeted from the register to her right. He looked a few years older than Jet. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Ah, yeah, actually," The water trainer replied and stepped closer, withdrawing—with some difficulty—from one of her shorts' pockets a sheet of paper that had been folded over many times. "I'm looking for these songs. I don't need their whole CDs or anything, 'cause I just need to hear them a few times. I need to learn them, but I can't read sheet music, so this is the next best thing…"
She could've sworn that the clerk gave her a dirty look as she passed to him the rather lengthy list.
Just like the neighborhood in which Otomé called home, the area of Blackthorn City closest to Route Forty-Five was also sparsely populated. This was an expanse of the city where the land was too flat to be considered mountainous, but still too rocky to allow for much settlement. Still though, a few buildings were stationed here and there while one or two were clustered together as if to keep each other company.
Perhaps it was a good thing, though, that the very south most end of the draconic city was nearly deserted. Almost no one was around to investigate the origins of a fit of snarls and growls coming from behind one of the buildings, or the reason behind why it also sounded as though something metallic and heavy was being thrown around.
Yes, it was a lucky break for Jet that either no one was around or brave enough to be drawn to the ruckus he was making as he took his anger out on an old, beaten trashcan, savagely kicking the thing hither and thither. He was at a loss for an explanation as to why he just couldn't bring himself to kill that dumb girl and that confusion pissed him off.
What was wrong with him?! He was cold-blooded! Merciless! Feared and hated in all of Hoenn! And yet here he was in Johto, unable to take the life of a simple teenaged girl. Sure, she was pretty, but like that mattered? He had killed pretty girls before! So why was now any different?
Heavily, he finally leaned back against one of the stone walls of the building, suddenly a bit weary from his expansion of rage and energy. Really, the Gods must hate him. Was this Aruseus' way of punishing him for his sins? To make him mysteriously unable to kill a mere girl like Otomé? Crossing his arms, the dragon trainer exhaled sharply through his nose and glowered at the golden sky above. It was dusk now, the golden hue the same shade as his Dragonite's scales…
It took a long pause before he suddenly realized that, while his Dragonite had released herself from her ball, he had not recalled the beast before storming off. Great. Just his luck. Now he had to search the city for his dragon, too? Sighing audibly in a frustrated manner, Jet was unmoving for a few moments longer before finally pushing himself off of the wall and starting off in the direction of downtown.
No, the clerk had not been too happy to receive such a long list of songs to be found. Otomé silently sympathized for him as she watched the young man grudgingly move out from behind the register and make his way towards the back where the music was, now muttering darkly under his breath. She took care to smile apologetically every time he looked back to make sure she was still there.
But she still had a predicament she needed to find a way out of, so he'd just have to endure it.
It was a good twenty minutes before he came back with a stack of CDs, some covered in dust, some looking brand new. He had only managed to locate a handful of the songs on the list. Unfortunately, the girl also had to buy each and every CD before she could listen to them and only agreed to such due to the fact that she could just resell them back to the shop after the festival was over.
She made a mental note to do that when a different clerk was working, lest this one give her less than what the CDs were worth as some sort of revenge for making him work.
The walk back home had been rather uneventful as well. The boy was still missing and his Dragonite was no where in sight. Perhaps they had finally left the city? She could only hope as she stiffly and cautiously passed the alleyway she had been pulled into earlier, half expecting Jet to jump out and drag her back into the ever-growing darkness.
As the powder blue house crawled into her sights, Otomé was surprised to see Ai standing in the front yard, what looked to be conversing with a Dragonite that stood on the other side of the fence. Was it Kin the Feraligatr was talking to? As she drew closer and got a better look at the creature, she became certain that it was not her own dragon. Kin had teal-colored eyes, like her wingsails. This one had brown eyes.
"Ah, Otomé!" Ai called with a toothy grin once her mistress was within earshot. "We have a visitor. She says she's come to apologize…"
Warily, the girl came to a halt a foot or two away from the tall Dratini Evolute, the bag of CDs she held at her side swinging lightly as a result. "Apologize?" The water trainer asked dumbly, hoping that if she played clueless it'd turn out that the Dragonite was Clair's, coming to apologize for her mistress's brash behavior earlier in the day.
Ai nodded. "She says she's sorry for what her master tried to do and hopes that you are alright and do not bare any hard feelings against him…" The tone in which the Totodile Evolute used as she trailed off alerted Otomé to the prospect that later on, the creature would be interrogating her over what exactly happened while she was out.
"Ah, well…"
Pursing her lips together, the teenager tried to hide her disappointment at discovering who the Dragonite's owner really was, while also wracking her brain for a suitable answer. How was she to reassure the dragon that she would not hate that vicious boy, or not sell him out to the police? He deserved it!
She spared having to answer, though, when that all-too-familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind her.
"There you are. Figures you'd be here…"
Jumping a few inches forward and dropping the bag of CDs out of shock, Otomé spun around to come face-to-face with her would-be murderer. Again. That blue Salamence of his stood behind him though did not look nearly as fearsome as it had back in the Illex Forest.
"What in Suicune's name do you want?!"
"Oh, put a sock in it," He retorted coldly with a glare. "I was talking to my Dragonite, not you."
"Yeah, you better not have hurt her or anything," The Salamence added as he eyed the Feraligatr warily.
"Why is it here anyway? Sent it to keep tabs on me?"
"Please. She came here of her own free will," Ai threw back at the Bagon Evolute in a slightly insulted tone. "In fact, we were just discussing how nice it would be to stay for the Dragon Festival…"
"Oh please. You wish! I have no idea!"
The blue dragon glared at his teammate when she looked as though she was about to agree with the Water-Type.
And even in the short amount of time it took for such a tiny exchange between their Pokémon to happen, the two trainers had already begun to argue, just like they had done downtown less than an hour ago. This time, though, Otomé made sure to not threaten to turn Jet into the authorities. She knew better now.
"You must be a horrible trainer to let your Pokémon run off!" She sneered, snatching the bag of CDs back up from where she had dropped it.
"And you must be a dumb one to go out without yours!" He shot back, referencing their previous incident. If she had had her Pokémon, she wouldn't've had to rely on chance luck to allow her to escape.
For the umpteenth time, the water trainer was at a loss for what to come back with. It wasn't her fault she hadn't foreseen almost getting murdered (for a second time)! Growling, she turned away from the male teenager without a word and once again hopped over her fence, foregoing the front door and instead stomping off down the side of the house and disappearing around the back.
Still lacking the knowledge to know when to quit, Jet abruptly recalled his Dragonite back into her Pokéball and quickly followed after the girl, leaving his Salamence and her Feraligatr alone to stare untrustingly at one another.
"If he tries anything, I'm going to Ice Punch him again," She warned.
"And if you do that, I'll tear you into pieces," He answered.
The silver-haired boy was slightly surprised to find how huge the backyard really was. It was only a little wider across than the house, but it extended back at least a hundred feet, cut off only by the steep mountain wall—undoubtedly part of the Ice Path—that suddenly rose up from the meager grasses. There was even space enough for a luxurious-looking pond that was probably half the size of an Olympic swimming pool and most likely just as deep.
Of course, the pond was where he spotted Otomé, fore that's where the rest of her team had been gathered; Kin, Umi Nami, and Takumi all lounging on the banks of pond while Miho and a strange, blue fish-type Pokémon, with a splotch of yellow across its eyes and snout and an antenna with a large, yellow sphere at the end curling up from the top of its head, rested idly within the waters.
"Oh? What? Once again unable to think up a good comeback?"
She had unaware that he had followed her until she heard his haughty remark. Suppressing a look that clearly said, 'Why me?', the water trainer turned around with a sigh and scowled.
"Do I have to take out a restraining order against you?!"
Jet dismissed this threat with a wave of his hand. "Like you would?" And even if she did, like he'd observe it? He'd ignore it just to spite her!
"Leave me alone! Go back to the Illex Forest or where ever you came from!" She swept a hand in the direction from which they had flown into the city that morning. "I don't have time to deal with you and your homicidal tendencies!"
"Oh? And why's that?" Right after he finished speaking did the boy realized that he had forgotten to sneer and thus made his inquire seem slightly caring, as if he actually wanted her company.
"The Dragon Festival's in three days and Clair's recruited me as replacement singer. So now I've got two days to completely memorize some songs I've never even heard. And to make matters worse, Clair gave me sheet music! Only, I can't read sheet music!
Why was she telling the dragon trainer of her sticky situation? What did either one of them care? Watch, he'd only probably laugh at her misfortune now! Frustrating, arrogant, headstrong boy! Why couldn't he just get lost already?!
"Then you better go start practicing," Jet remarked after a moment's pause. He tried to sound mocking and condescending, but failed somewhat, much to his surprise. But he managed to maintain his insolent smirk and silently watched as Otomé hissed at him before spinning around, stomping up the back porch, and disappearing into her home with an angry slam of the back door.
Her team had watched their mistress go as well, and once she was out of sight, they turned their gazes onto the cause of such anger. As if he was wholly innocent of the unspoken crimes their eyes accused him of, the dragon trainer simply shrugged with a frown and glanced about. Spotting a tree across from the pond on the other side of the yard, he strolled over to it and swiftly climbed up it, placing himself upon the first wide, sturdy branch he came across.
"What?" The boy inquired in a half challenging manner as he looked down at Otomé's Pokémon. "It's almost fully night. And she did invite me to stay here."
For once, he was telling the truth. So without waiting for any sort of reply, he turned his head away from them and closed his dark eyes, crossing his arms and allowing the sounds of the approaching night to eventually soothe him to sleep.
Salamence would be fine.