I shot up in my bed as I tried to clear my head of the traumatic dream as it quickly faded into nothing. I could never remember my dreams completely after I woke up. The only thing that I could remember was that the dream was of a night ten years ago when my mother died, and of a pair striking green eyes. My father had tried to console me when the nightmares first began, saying it wasn't my fault and that the driver of the SatoMobile had apologized before serving his short sentence in Republic City prison.
That was all before my dad's health began to give out on him though. He first got sick when I was twelve and by the time I was fourteen he was gone. My only immediate family near our old home was my Uncle Toza. He tried staying with me in the house for a while before we both realized it just didn't work there. It held too many memories. So Uncle Toza had me pack up my things and I joined him at the ring as a sort of maintenance woman at him gym.
Slowly rising from the bed I looked around the room before scratching the back of my neck and yawning. I rolled out of the bed and made my way to the small dresser. Looking briefly at my reflection, I frowned at the girl looking back at me. Messy brown hair, soft features, and brown eyes stared right back at me frowning as well.
I picked up a brush and began the daily wrestle of brushing the rat's nest on my head into something manageable. Eventually I was able to pull it all into a loose yet orderly braid before a few pieces fell to frame my face slightly. I glared at the offending wisps but decided it wasn't worth the fight to redo the braid, blowing my bangs up in slight frustration. I glanced back at the mirror and stared at my reflection again. My uncle would always tell me how much I looked like my mother when she was my age but I couldn't believe him, she was beautiful and I was just me. Trying to distract myself I began to put on my work uniform. It was a lot more comfortable than the scratchy one from the gym. It consisted of a soft brown skirt, a flowy white peasant top with a small green apron with the company logo across the center. I tied the around my waist and tried to knock out the nonexistent wrinkles. I then turned to enter the bathroom and went through the usual motions.
After finishing I stepped out into the living area of the apartment when a shock of auburn fur ran across the room at me. I stumbled backwards before eventually falling down and feeling the light pressure of the animal on top of me.
"Hey buddy, I forgot you were here." I laughed I scratched the little ferret's head before sitting up.
I turned to my tiny kitchenette to begin making my morning coffee, drowning it with cream and sugar, then shoving most a small berry filled bun into my mouth while offering a portion of it to the ferret. After sniffing it briefly the little creature snatched the bit of sweet doughy goodness from my fingers and gobbled it down. Looking at the ferret I realized I couldn't just keep calling him 'Little Buddy' and 'Ferret'.
"Well bud if you're going to stay here you're going to need a name. What do you think about about Max? Red? Bo?" The little ferret perked up at hearing Bo and that made my decision. The little fire ferret would be called Bo. I scratched him behind the ear before glancing at the clock. Quickly realizing I had only half an hour to get to Mr. Hadeki's I began to gather everything into my bag and threw on my shoes. I grabbed Bo and placed him lightly onto my shoulder, exited the apartment, and double checked the locks before rushing out to work. I began to walk a little quicker after getting out of the building, only to see the poster the boy had put out the night before. I stopped to look at it, only to see a big picture of Bo staring back at me.
"Hmph, why didn't you say you were that guy's pet" I said looking down at the little ferret. I looked over the poster once more before taking it down and putting it in my bag before once again jogging to the flower shop.
As I approached the building I slowed down and pulled out the poster once more.
"This says your name is Pabu, and there's the number for the probending arena here. That's pretty peculiar. I'll check this out after work, I promise." I smiled at the little ferret before walking into the shop and deeply inhaling the floral aroma of the many beautiful flowers Mr. Hadeki prided himself upon.
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Gently placing the last bouquet in the fridge for the next day I looked around the sunlit shop. The sun was just beginning to set and it was one of my favorite times of the day. Everything seemed to glow with a pinkish orange hue and the light reflected off all the buildings. It was so beautiful. I sighed wistfully and shut the fridge.
"You can't bring that ferret in every day Lills." The gruff voice of Mr. Hadeki broke out behind me. I jumped slightly, breaking out of my trance, before turning around and facing him. Old as Hadeki was he sure was light on his feet.
"I know, apparently he actually has an owner in the probending arena. Do you know anything about this?" I inquired pulling out the poster and handing it over to the aging man.
"Not really, though there was a young man yesterday showing me that same poster asking if I saw the thing. I told him I hadn't but would let him know if I did." He shrugged, turning to lock up the register and finishing up the closing routine for the shop.
"Would you mind if I used the phone here to call him then?" I asked blowing my bangs out of my eyes.
"Go ahead, just lock up the store when you're finished." He grunted before turning to go to his apartment above the shop. Turning to find Pabu I saw him in a corner about to leap onto a ladyhopper he had corned. I pulled the poster back over to me and called for Pabu to come over while I dialed the arena. The little ball of energy bounced over so I could scratch behind his ear as I sat on the desk waiting for the phone to pick up, only to end up waiting for five minutes and being transferred to the operator.
"Huh? Must be a match tonight." I mumbled to myself after hanging up the phone.
"Well we'll just head over after the end of the game and figure this all out." I assured Pabu before gathering up all my belongings into my bag, grabbing a new flower from the fridge for my bouquet at home, and then locking the place up, and double checking the locks as usual. Sitting down on a bench near the shop I tucked my apron into my canvas bag before watching people pass me by in the city for a few minutes before walking back to my apartment to drop off my things and give Pabu some more food.
After getting home I placed the flower into the vase on the table, checking for any decay among the other colorful blooms. Quickly locating the wilted flower, I plucked it from the vase and held it in front of Pabu's nose, playing with him for several minutes. After he grabbed hold of the flower and began to tear it to pieces I turned on the radio to the probending match, there was some big hubabaloo going on that I couldn't figure out because of a burst of static from Pabu bumping the table as he played. Though a few words did manage to get through, "Avatar" "Fire Ferr…." "Victory!". Figuring the match must be over I called the arena again and Uncle Toza picked up this time.
"Hello?" The deep voice grumbled.
"Hi Uncle Toza, it's Lillah." I chirped as I began to twirl the phone cord between my fingers.
"Hey Lillah, how's work with Hadeki, he told me you've been quite the worker bee, you should come visit me soon so we can celebrate." He answered.
"Funny story actually, I'm calling for this little lost Fire Ferret and the number listed on the poster I found was actually for the arena. You know anything about this, or who it may be? I don't remember any teams having pets really." I babbled happily, enjoying hearing my Uncle's voice even if it had only been a week since I last saw him.
"Oh, yeah there's this new team called the Fire Ferrets. They're probably the ones who lost the little bugger. I'm worried they might be a set of trouble makers though, don't get too involved with those boys, you hear me?" He coughed.
"Yes Uncle Toza." I replied jokingly.
"Listen I got to go, I'll see you when you get here." He grumbled before hanging up.
"Okay bye." I replied to the dial tone before hanging up.
I went to my room to change out of my work clothes into a simple light red dress and let my hair down.
"Come on Pabu, let's go find these owners of yours. The Fire Ferrets hmph, not very imaginative when you think of it." I giggled while grabbing my canvas bag and walking out the door with Pabu at my side. I locked the doors and double checked them before picking up Pabu and beginning the walk to the arena.