Chapter 2
Jorelo and Falkor entered their base leader's office, his office décor was color coated the same dull gray as the rest of the base's structure. Their leader was sitting in his chair facing opposite from the door as he always did when low ranked soldiers of the Piñata Resistance came for debriefings, briefings, and the such. Jorelo wasn't too worked up about what was to come as he knew Falkor was going to get more of the punishment than himself.
"Well well well…" Their leader said in disappointment backed up with some steaming anger, "who's responsible for this… This… This failure!" He choked out. Falkor winced at the words, however Jorelo rolled his eyes, letting it in one ear and out the other.
"I-I-I am sir," Falkor managed to take the rightful blame. The base leader had cleared his throat before he went on.
"Hmph! Just what I'd expect out of an apprentice," the base leader assumed as a beads of sweat trailed down Falkor's forehead. Falkor of course was the apprentice of Jorelo. Jorelo took him under his wing as soon as Falkor joined, simply because it was orders, and in the Piñata Resistance… You didn't go against orders, no matter how much they weren't in your favor.
"I-I'm sorry sir," Falkor apologized nervously, biting his lip soon after to keep his teeth from clattering. The dark fudgehog looked over to his friend, he could tell Falkor was emotionally at his worse right now.
"It'll be over soon Falkor," Jorelo thought to himself trying to see if Falkor could pick up the message telepathically, but the chance of it being successful was ridiculously low, however it didn't hurt to hope for Falkor's sake.
"I have nothing more to say, you're both dismissed until further orders," The base leader shooed them out, clearing his throat violently in a fit of coughs.
"Yes sir," both fudgehogs said as they bowed out of the room. As he exited, Jorelo sighed to himself as he closed the door behind him, taking another good look at Falkor.
"You okay there?" Jorelo was concerned about his panicky friend. Falkor glanced back to Jorelo wiping the sweat from his own forehead before responding.
"I will be, but I thought for a second that he was gonna kill me!" Falkor exclaimed with eyes wide in fear.
"Don't worry, no one's been killed over a mishap," Jorelo reassured Falkor slowly to calm him down, "maybe discharged from the Resistance, but never killed," he patted Falkor on the back as the white fudgehog let out a long sigh, residing in the relief Jorelo offered him.
"Well, I guess the boss likes me then if I'm still here… I don't know." Falkor questioned his leader's actions, "anyways… I'll talk to you later, I really need some sleep Jor…"
"I understand, I remember my first days here weren't the best either," Jorelo reminisced as he waved to the departing fudgehog. Soon recalling the promised he made to Pandora, the dark fudgehog journeyed through the hallways towards his own room, it wasn't that far away either, just a few swerves here and there and you were right in front of the door.
As he finished his short journey, Jorelo slid his ID card through the scanner underneath the doorknob. The contraption unlocked itself with a loud click as Jorelo returned the card back into one of the belt slits at his side. Turning the knob and letting himself in, Jorelo surveyed his room for anything out of the ordinary before putting himself at ease.
"Everything's in place," Jorelo had said to himself as he closed himself in. When Jorelo began his new life within the resistance, he had picked up on many rumors of a malicious someone who liked to ravage through rooms within the base occasionally. Jorelo hadn't seen anything like that for himself, but it never hurt to keep an eye out.
Jorelo walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it, however before he could lie down and relax, a flashing icon and repetitive beep from his laptop caught his attention.
"Must be Malak…" Jorelo mumbled to himself while still gazing at the laptop screen. Malak, a brown mallowolf, also worked with the Resistance but resided in a base different from Jorelo's. The two were great friends along with Pandora back during childhood. However the two were separated from Malak when the mallowolf had decided to do some traveling and sightseeing around Piñata Island.
The dark fudgehog sprang up from the bed and scurried to grab a seat in front of the laptop. Pulling up the instant messaging system, Jorelo was ready to engage in conversation with Malak
-Jorelo: Hey Malak.
Jorelo waited patiently for Malak, the poor fudgehog almost dozed off having nothing else to do. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Malak had replied back.
-Malak: Oh! Hey… Sorry, I was talking with someone away from the computer.
-Jorelo: It's okay, how've you been?
-Malak: The usual, I can't wait till this war is over.
-Jorelo: You always say that.
-Malak: And I will until this war's over. It's driving me insane.
-Jorelo: I know, I know.
A random knock on the door had interrupted Jorelo's train of thought.
-Jorelo: BRB
-Malak: Okay.
Jorelo propelled himself away from the desk and scrambled from his seat.
"Be right there!" He shouted at his soon to be visitor as he shut the laptop close, unfortunately Jorelo went unheard as the knocking returned, more impatient, wanting in as it grew a little bit louder. "I said I'd be there! Geez!" Jorelo said, finally making his way to the door. The annoyed fudgehog tore it open only to find his friend Pandora on the other side. "…Oh, hey Pandora!" Jorelo's irritation had instantly drained away as he pulled the door completely open and motioned for Pandora to walk in.
"Hiya Jorelo!" The perky pretztail replied while walking over to the bed to grab a seat, Jorelo sat next to her after he closed the door. "So… How was debriefing?" She asked him hesitantly, expecting a negative answer.
"Eh… Falkor was the one to take the crap this time," Jorelo replied, laughing a bit at it after.
"Serves that idiot right!" Pandora commented, joining in with her friend's giggling. Jorelo had to calm himself down before going on.
"Wel-…" Jorelo started, but was cut off by the obnoxious ringing of his cell phone. "Hm?" He hummed while taking out his cell phone out to see who was calling him, however the number was unavailable. Though the clever fudgehog didn't need to know the number to know who it was.
"I'll need to take this call in private Pandora. I'll be back in a bit," Jorelo informed Pandora as he walked outside his room and opened up the phone while closing the door so Pandora couldn't hear what was going on.
"Yes?" he ask into the phone as a feminine electronic voice cut him off with, "your next mission is at Piñata Central, briefing will take place tomorrow at the aircraft hangars," the receiver clicked out soon after.
"Hmm," he acknowledged the situation as he hung up the phone and stepped back into his room. The dark fudgehog had set the phone down next to the lamp by his bed before sitting back down.
"Who was that?" Pandora asked. Jorelo just shrugged carelessly before answering.
"Ah, no one, just being sent to Piñata Central tomorrow," he said with a slight uneasiness.
"That's funny," the pretztail replied, giving another giggle. The gesture puzzled Jorelo, what could be so humorous about getting thrown back into the battlefield?
"…Why is it funny?" Jorelo questioned his friend while staring at her, his eyes filled with pondering apprehension.
"I'm being sent there too!" Pandora exclaimed as she was all hyped up about the upcoming mission, "I even requested that me and you get put in the same squad too!"
"What!" Jorelo found himself shouting at Pandora, hoping she was only joking, "you can't be serious Pandora!" the fudgehog was on the edge of his bed at this point.
"Nope, you heard right Jorelo," she confirmed with a straight face this time, "I'm going to Piñata Central and joining your squad whether you like it or not."
"But, But-" Jorelo tried to stop her in anyway possible, but Pandora cut him off before he could think of anything.
"What, am I not ready yet? Is that it?" She snapped at him, "remember why we joined in the first place Jorelo?" She waited for a reply, though Jorelo only sighed after recalling the memory of when they willingly signing up for the Piñata Resistance. They both vowed to lay their lives on the line to protect the island and to stop the senseless killings the sours were causing as well as to achieve the dream to see the former glory of Piñata Island once again. Jorelo nodded after spending a moment in reminiscence. "Well I want to keep going without you holding me back, got that?" She glared at him sternly. Jorelo wanted to recoil from the words, but he hid his emotions for the time being.
"Fine… I'll stop holding you back then," Jorelo promised, even though he'd probably start doing it again later on.
"Good… Then as leader, I demand you be my body shield!" Pandora said with all seriousness, soon laughing her tail off unable to play the act any longer. The chuckling pretztail cover her mouth in attempt to reduce her hilarity as she saw Jorelo's anger grow. The fudgehog didn't like the way that Pandora handled most situations like this.
"First of all, I'm the leader here! And second…" Jorelo exhaled irritably as he became annoyed once again, "this is one of the reasons I don't like you doing stuff like this!" Pandora looked over to ground, avoiding Jorelo's glare. She didn't like getting talked down to especially if it was Jorelo doing it. "This crap has got to stop Pandora, this is a war we're in. Piñatas are dying and you sit here and make jokes," then Jorelo said something he would soon regret, "you're acting just like Falkor," Pandora immediately looked back up to him, right in the eye at that. Her stare was filled with new fury, appearing ready to bash some skulls in.
"Don't ever compare me to that dumbass!" Pandora roared as she stood up from the bed, she was almost ready to beat Jorelo to a pulp. The fearful fudgehog tilted back as Pandora leaned closer in.
"Okay! Okay, I'm sorry! You're not like Falkor, okay?" Jorelo shielded himself with his paws to protect himself from Pandora, but instead she retracted from him started laughing once again.
"Boy, it's fun messing with you Jorelo," she stuck her tongue out at him while taunting him with a mocking smile.
Jorelo became mystified with her unusual mood swing as the pretztail continued on, "but seriously, don't compare me to that idiot," Jorelo shook his head to recollect he thoughts as he had some trouble understanding her actions sometimes.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Jorelo calmed himself down, "you really scare me when you do that y'know..."
"Well, since you said you wouldn't hold me back anymore," Pandora started, "I might take your request into deep consideration," she was playing with him again, oh how he hated that. Jorelo took a quick glance at the clock, it read 11:09 PM.
"Anyways, it's getting late…" Jorelo faked a yawn, "do me a favor and get some sleep, okay?" He stood up and walked over to the door, holding it open for her.
"Awww," Pandora groaned, hoping he would let her stay for a bit longer, though Jorelo had enough of Pandora for one day.
"I'll see ya tomorrow during briefing," Jorelo said, waiting for his friend to show herself out.
"…How about we meet up at the lounge early tomorrow morning instead?" Pandora offered. Jorelo sighed at her, trying to keep his cool with Pandora.
"We'll see, okay?" The dark fudgehog replied as he turned the knob around impatiently.
"Okaaay…" Pandora stood up and walked herself out, trying hard not to sound upset about his answer.
"G'night," Jorelo guided Pandora through the door.
"Yup, good night Jorelo," she said as Jorelo slowly closed the door behind her.
"Finally, she's gone," relief came to Jorelo as he fell into a sitting position leaning his back against the door.
"Geez, sometimes I just can't stand her…" Jorelo said to himself with a sigh, he knew he didn't really mean it deep down as it was the irritation that was talking. The dark fudgehogs attention was ripped away by the sound of the instant messenger notification blaring off. Struggling to his feet, Jorelo rushed over to his laptop to check the situation. Observing the screen, Jorelo caught a notification from Malak, checking to see if Jorelo was there.
Malak: You okay?
Jorelo plopped onto the chair and dragged it over the laptop, soon replying to the message.
Jorelo: Sorry about that.
Malak: It's alright, what happened?
Jorelo: Eh, I had a visitor.
Malak: Ah who was it?
Jorelo looked at the clock again, 11:11 PM. He needed to get some sleep and Malak was keeping him up at the moment. Though time spend together was usually scarce and savored, Jorelo really had to cut the mallowolf off for the night. Not getting enough sleep can spell trouble on the battlefield. Jorelo rubbed his eyes, soon stretching out to release another yawn before typing up his reply.
Jorelo: Just a friend, anyways I'm getting tired. I'm gonna go to bed.
Malak: Good night Jor.
Jorelo: You too Malak.
Jorelo signed off the instant messenger and shut the laptop down. With Malak now out of his way, the dark fudgehog got up from his seat to turn the lights out. Fortunately, bedside lamp powered on as soon as Jorelo flicked the switch off, preventing the fudgehog from navigating in total darkness. The fudgehog shed his belt as he crawled into bed and clicked the lamp off. As he was just about to drift off, his cell phone rang once again, lighting flame to Jorelo's anger fuse.