Despite the slightly crisp breeze, that was blowing in from the sea that early morning, and the heavy cloud cover, she and her siblings were very agreeing to going outside. She, and they, went out the door, then crossed the porch, then went down the porch steps in a neatly arranged line; after going a short distance from the porch, they stopped then waited for their mother to do as they had just done.
While most of yesterday had been a roller coaster for her and her brothers the night had been pleasant and, quite surprisingly, so had the minutes that waned both before and after breakfast was consumed. They, about twenty minutes after the first meal of the day was consumed, had discussed the matter of going outside, and with seeing if the puppy could go out with them; she, like her brothers, was really looking forward to playing with the cute puppy that her mam had brought home four days ago and she was also looking forward to when she'd finally get a name—calling her The Puppy, or Miss. Puppy, was getting a bit stale now.
"Have you picked a name for her yet, mam?" Eshal asked after her mother descended the porch steps, then placed the puppy before her and her brothers.
"No. That's you and your brothers' job." Angel replied. "I named my Sekhems, you five pick a name for Miss. Puppy."
"And now it's time for us to fuss and fight over what the name's going to be." Bile joked. "Everyone, grab a pen, and a few pieces of paper, then start writing—ma's to read and then pick one before lunch is made."
She, and most of her brothers, gave Bile a weird look after he said what he did. What a ludicrous suggestion, she thought; she had never participated in something like what he had just suggested and, honestly, she was hoping that his suggestion wouldn't be put into effect. If the puppy was to get a name, then she was to get a name that they all agreed with vocally, and not on plain paper or having their mam choose what it was after they wrote it down on a piece of paper and then gave it to her to read.
In her mind, the act of writing a probable name for the new pet down on a piece of paper, and then giving it to one of the two adults that were in the house, was childish—for her brother, on the other hand, he thought that it was better than their plain fighting about what it was that they were to name the puppy and that it'd prevent some of the adults, who thought that they shouldn't have a dog, from saying anything negative to them when they started thinking and then pinning names to the animal.
Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer obviously agreed with her notion on the subject of their writing a bunch of names on a piece of paper and then giving it to their mother to read and then decide which was to be given to their pet—they started saying a bunch of names that could be placed to the puppy almost immediately after Bile's suggestion was made.
"How about Patrillia?" Hazaar asked.
"Yuck!" Lazeer made a face before taking up a black tennis ball, that had red and green stitching on it. The puppy, after the ball was in his hand, eyed it greedily. "How about Aikma, or Aikme?"
"Jarishka?" Lhaklar suggested.
"Azumi?" Eshal said. "Lazeer, throw the ball. Think Miss. No-Name wants to play chase this morning."
"Heave Ho and away she go!" Lazeer said loudly. He pulled his arm back then he shot it forward; the puppy, after the ball disappeared behind some bushes, ran after it.
The puppy went off, leaving them all by their lonesome; in a way, he didn't mind this because it gave him a chance to think of what had been happening over the last couple of days. He started off with the events that happened after his mother went off to see the man who claimed that his father would have their wholes on a pike for what they did to him and his—after she went off, they took up position by one of the windows that looked out on the front lawn. They had watched for a while before someone came up to "persuade" them from the windows, and then tell them to go to some other part of the house; he, who had done some serious back-tracking after being told to leave the window that he had taken to sit before, had waited the longest for her to return—but, sadly, he hadn't been able to see her come home or see the events that occurred after she came home.
While he had eaten breakfast, and taken a glass to two glasses of the beverage that was available for everyone during the meal down, he hadn't indulged in going to the bathroom any that morning. After waking, he had just gotten dressed, and then brushed his teeth, before going down to say hello and good morning to his ma.
The adults, at around 10:30, had started making a lot of noise—due to his being in the can, taking a much needed piss, he had missed out on seeing all of what they were ranting and raving about. After discovering that she was home, he had tried to find her—dad, after intercepting him before a room that was on the house's second level, had told him to go downstairs and to remain there.
"She's taking a nap, and doesn't need to be disturbed right now, Bile." the man had said.
While he had obeyed the order given to him, his brothers had nearly not done so. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer had come within a fraction of an inch of being daddy-grounded after refusing to leave the house's second level; for their sake, they had backed away, and then gone to either the first or third level before that punishment could be given. It had taken three hours before ma left the room that she was holed up in—it had been quite a surprise after they saw her as coming towards them with the puppy in her arms. With her looking fresh-faced, and looking to of just removed herself from the shower, she did look to of taken a nap. The puppy, she had said, was theirs; a gift from "Uncle Trob" was what she had said after placing the puppy down and then watching their reactions to it barking and running all around them.
He and Lhaklar had taken her to the side after the excitement over the puppy was expelled; they had asked her what happened after she arrived to Mr. Trob's place and she had said that everything was cool between them and that he had accepted her apology and that he was expected to come over for his visit in four days time.
Despite the happy energy that was given off by them whenever the puppy was around, he had a feeling that the one who owned the mansion wasn't very happy about the animal being in their possession or being allowed to roam the house. The Ubalki's, and Qeeta and Triskull, seemed to be rather accepting of their having the puppy while everyone else wasn't—the claim of their not being "ready" for a dog had been made on each of the days that followed December 29, as had the claim of their being spoiled and that they wouldn't take care of the animal.
"Four days and not once has she been neglected, I think we're doing well for being first-time dog owners." he thought while waiting for the puppy to return.
While waiting for the puppy to return, he looked at Lhaklar—this brother of his, it did seem, was waking earlier than all of them. Four the last four mornings, he had been awake, and dressed, and nearly all the way down to the dining room before they even had a chance to do their bathroom routine after getting dressed for the day. Lhaklar had done this on the occasions where he went out to fish before dawn broke; since it looked like the event of their being allowed to fish, or hunt, wasn't allowed to be done, or spoken about, anymore, this routine of his brother's was odd—but not as odd as the other new routine that he had been noticing over the last two to three days.
Lhaklar was no longer using the bathroom that was adjacent his bedroom. If he had to use the bathroom, he'd track down and then use one that wasn't in his bedroom... and, for some odd reason, he'd always have a darkly-colored towel on him whenever he went to use one.
The act of his having a towel on his person while going to use the bathroom was really weird—up to a few days ago, he had been using his bedroom's adjacent bathroom without a problem, and there had been no issue in his speaking to them or in his being seen as retrieving and then carting around a towel after deciding to make a bathroom visit either. He figured that he was hiding something—a problem of some sort that may be going on in the bathroom that was beside his bedroom—but, then again, that couldn't be it. Lhaklar knew how to re-work certain piping issues that came up in bathrooms, and he knew how to clean a bathroom, and de-clog a toilet and/or drain... if there was something going on with his brother, he was neither speaking or disclosing it to anyone. He was keeping it to himself, which was even stranger than his activity in taking a darkly-colored towel with him to the bathroom when he needed to either drop a load, or take a piss, or wash his hands.
"Yes—suckas!" Hazaar sang at them after the puppy returned, then dropped the ball before his feet. Like with the first time, the ball was picked up and then thrown; the puppy wasted no time in running after it.
"I'm telling daddy that you cussed." Eshal said after the puppy was off.
He, Hazaar, and Lazeer rolled their eyes at their sister's "threat" of telling the old man about the usage of "suckas"; after rolling his eyes, he turned to look at Lazeer. He was very concerned about him! While Lhaklar was being overly clingy with their mother he wasn't as clingy towards her as Lazeer was—along with refusing to leave his room unless having him or ma being there to "escort" him from it, he broke his neck to get and then stay by ma's side. He seemed to be very spooked about something, and he wasn't telling a soul about it. Lhaklar, just two days ago, when he confided in him about the issue, didn't seem to be all that concerned about it, which was just as shocking as it was surprising. Lhaklar's action in not being concerned about their brother's over-clingy ways wasn't like him. Like with Lhaklar, Lazeer was also being very quiet. Unless the puppy was around, Lazeer very rarely threw out the jokes, or did anything that was funny. He and Hazaar, who was also noting this change, and who was also concerned for him, had tried everything to get him to return to how he usually was to no avail.
As far as he knew, the old man was also having a time with Lhaklar and Lazeer—he was talking to them, and trying to get them to speak of their troubles, and they were doing nothing in return, which either made him mad or made him even more concerned for them.
Grampy Shaam claimed that it was just a nerve thing—their mother going off to visit someone, and leaving them all alone, had caused them to feel nervous and get to feeling insecure, was what the man had said about what was going on with Lhaklar and Lazeer. He didn't believe what the man said; their mother, when she had been on Earth, and when she had been employed to work at some establishment, had been away from home for anywhere between six and, sometimes, twelve hours. While they had felt saddened by her leaving them to go to work, and while they had ganged up on the living room windows to watch her as she left to go to work, they hadn't felt nervous or insecure about her not being with or around them—though it took them a few minutes to get over their sadness, they did go out and do their normal activities.
While this had been told to the man—and in "rich" detail too—he was steadfast on Lhaklar and Lazeer's strange behaviors coming from their nerves and from their "dependency" on their mother. The picking-on thing had started happening right after he said that—the man who was his grandfather had started it, then granpappy Duru had come in with his two-cents on the issue, then Irka had come in to speak her mind on the subject, then granmma Cyla had run her mouth.
"You make such a fuss over nothing, Angel. Visiting Trob, then coming home, shouldn't warrant you locking yourself in a room, or acting in the way that you were after coming in." Irka had said during supper four days ago.
"Probably just got a lesson on how forceful, and authoritative, the man can be—my uncle had right in doing what he did, but he didn't mean for you to take it the way you did, Lass." Shaam had said.
Naturally, the issue on his finding them in one of the third level's bedrooms with the puppy and their mother's pet Sekhems had been brought up at the time, which had caused the subject to change to something else. Duru, who had come upon them doing the introducing thing between the puppy and their mother's Sekhems, had said that they were going way wrong with the animals—you shouldn't be introducing them to each other so fast, and you should have someone who has more experience in animal ownership around when the introductions do happen, he had said before trying to take the puppy up and then leave the room with her. Luckily, for them, and for their mother, who had been with them at the time, the puppy voiced her annoyance in the man's action in removing her from the room that they were in—after being caught, and then "cradled" in the man's arms, she had snarled and then bit him, which had prompted him to drop her and then leave the room in a huff.
Ma looked to be very smart with dogs, and she seemed to know what she was doing with animal ownership too. Ma had said that they were doing well, and that no one had right in telling them what to do with their new pet, after the man left the room that they, she, and the puppy and Sekhems were in—she had also said that people introduced their new pets to the already established pets in the household all the time, and that the same thing went with the already established pets being introduced to the new baby that was born and then brought home.
The puppy, while being very curious about the Sekhems, hadn't swatted, pounced, chased, barked, snapped, or snarled at the animals that she had been introduced to. The Sekhems had squeaked twice, and had acted like they were unsure of the puppy two to three times, before coming up and then initiating play with her. Ma had kept her eye on both the puppy, the Sekhems, and them all during the event—this, and this alone, told him that she knew what she was doing when it came to animal ownership. If anything had come up between either them and the puppy, or the puppy and the Sekhems, she would of come in and fast to either stop it or prevent it from happening.
"Alright, it is now my turn to throw." Bile said after the puppy came back then placed the ball before him. After taking the ball up, then drawing his arm back, he threw his arm forward then watched as the ball went sailing. The tennis ball, after being thrown, was heard as making a splashing sound a few seconds later.
"Way to go Hercules!" Hazaar spat. Regardless of the over-done throw, the puppy was off in pursuit of the ball.
They waited for a short while for the puppy to return; when she refused to return to them, and when the game of throwing the ball, so she could retrieve and then bring it back to them, was put on stall, they went towards the spot where both she and the ball disappeared at.
Eshal, who seemed to now be acting very normally around them, and who they did allow to mingle in with them when it came time to their playing one of their game systems, followed them as they went to find where the puppy was. Their sister seemed to be more favoring towards feminine things, and hanging around Ashaklar, Blaiga, and Defe—for the last few days, she had been forced to spend time with Kaasa, his grandparents' young daughter, and Uevaa, his great-grandparents' young daughter; from what Hazaar had told him, she preferred hanging around her grandmother, and her daughters, than Kaasa and Uevaa because they accepted her better and regarded themselves in a better light that Kaasa and Uevaa did.
He could concur with that preference—he preferred to hang around either his brothers or with Phaggo more than Baruk and Sudir and Gaajah and Selik because they either accepted him better or didn't think of themselves as so high and mighty over others. If he wasn't hanging around his brothers, or Phaggo, he hung around his father, or granddad Cheshire, or Uncle Efagti and Amadh.
It took him and his brothers, and Eshal, a few minutes to get past a few thick bushes, then go down a winding trail, before coming upon a section of beach that was close to where the pier was. After getting to this section of beach, they stopped short then gazed at what was before them.
It seemed like a cruel slap to the face that such a nice morning was to turn into, what they believed, a muddled mess—Baruk, Gaajah, and Kaasa were standing in front of them. Gaajah had the tennis ball while Baruk was holding the puppy; Kaasa was doing nothing more than standing between them.
"The sons of the Puppy Thief have finally come to see where their mutt went." Baruk said. Bile, who didn't much like the fact of his mother being called a thief, stepped forward menacingly.
"Put the dog down, Baruk." Bile ordered.
"Don't hurt her!" Eshal cried after seeing that Baruk had the puppy.
"How is it that you're still hanging out with the scrubs, Bile?" Gaajah asked. "You should be hanging out with someone more your breeding. More your speed and—"
"And that, for sure, isn't you two." Bile said. "You'd see nothing more than my dust trail before having a chance to get into a good running pace."
"You bring the name of our family down by hanging out with such filth as they." Kaasa said evilly.
"If you haven't noticed, they are my family." Bile sniffed before issuing out another command to Baruk. "Put the dog down, Baruk."
"Come and get her—if you think you are so tough, that is." Baruk replied.
Lhaklar gave his eyes a single blink after seeing Baruk as taking a step back into the froth that was bubbling up before the rocky shore; Bile had taken a step towards him and he, in response, had taken a step back. This happened a total of six times before Bile stopped and then figured out what was about to happen—the puppy was about to be made as a sort of pawn to create a fight between them; he hoped that she wouldn't be hurt by what was about to happen because, like his brothers, and Eshal, he did like her and he did wish to keep her.
The puppy was whimpering, and was trying her best to wriggle out from Baruk's grip; he didn't blame her a second for wanting to be away from the creep—with Baruk being a bully, and with his thinking that he was king of just about everything, he'd want to be away from him too. The coat of the unnamed animal was wet, so he thought that she had been in the water, probably trying to retrieve the ball that Bile over-threw, when she was picked up and then held as "ransom".
The tennis ball was thrown from Gaajah to Kaasa before being thrown towards Hazaar—Kaasa, it did seem, had been meaning to hurt Hazaar by under-throwing the ball; Hazaar stepped to the side to avoid it then walked on. Seeing as Lazeer was going in Kaasa's direction—he presumed that he was heading towards her as a way to distract her—, he decided to follow and aid him in what he thought he was planning on doing. Hazaar, who had faced against Gaajah twice over the last week, and who had bested him both times, was going towards Gaajah while Bile was fully focused on Baruk.
"How can such a pretty girl as her be so inclined to be like her bully of a brother?" he thought while going towards Kaasa, who's full name was KaasaVile Cvina Surfeit, but who went by plain Kaasa by everyone who knew her.
Curiously, she looked nothing like his aunt or uncle; if not for Uncle Kuruk's boasting about how he was "proud" of having created two of the most "beautiful" girls known in the Universe, he would of wondered if Aunt Irka hadn't slept with someone behind his back. Kaasa's hair was a mostly dark auburn color; the four, cream-colored strands, that laced her hair mixed well with that color. The eyes, that looked out from her purple-colored, teardrop-shaped face, were a very enchanting dark blue color. As far as he knew, the rest of her was colored similarly to how her face was. The breeze, that was coming in from the sea, was catching against her blue and green skirt; her matching blouse had a dark green belt around it, which was doing well in keeping it from flying all over the place. Due to her stepping into the ocean's water, he wasn't able to see what type of shoes she was wearing. She wore no makeup, and she was very naked of jewelry.
With her being two thousand and forty-nine years old, she was both younger than Baruk and older than Sudir; from what he and his brothers were able to tell, she seemed to have a normal sibling rivalry with her brothers, and she also seemed to get along "famously" with Dara Dara.
"No!" Eshal's scream derived his attention for a second. When he turned to look at Baruk, he saw that he was in knee-high water; both he and Bile had stopped their game of either going towards or backing away from one another. Baruk, he saw, still had the puppy.
After the two stopped, they eyed one another before movement was done—Baruk, who seemed to think that puppycide was an appropriate activity for that morning, moved the puppy from under his arm then held her steady over the water. This, he knew, caused Bile to about explode.
After seeing this disgusting, and infuriating, sight, he returned his attention to Kaasa, who was now trying to keep a bit of distance between her, he, and Lazeer.
"Daddy! Daaaaaddy!" Hazaar looked in their sister's general direction for a second before turning back to face Gaajah, who was getting into a fighting stance.
"Wimp!" Kaasa laughed.
Baruk, who had just placed the puppy in the water, which was just as cold as could be, was in the process of pushing her under when he was struck in the face by a water-whip that about caused his breath to be taken from him; after releasing the animal, then taking one to two steps back, he was attracted to look in the direction of the south. He watched for only a second as Lhaklar worked to keep Kaasa from going forward to retrieve the puppy, and he watched as Lazeer grabbed the puppy and then carried her out of harm's way, before turning to look at Bile, who was now rushing towards him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Lazeer putting the puppy down; the ill-begotten gift, that was nothing more than a badly bred dog in his eyes, ran off, barking and whimpering all the way, while he and Gaajah faced off against Bile and his brothers.
Kaasa, he saw after having a wave of freezing cold water thrown at him, was running after the animal; he hoped that she ran the creature from the property and he hoped that she'd never return to the ones that she had been "gifted" to.
"That all you got?" Baruk snapped after jumping to avoid the second wave that was thrown in his direction. "You're pathetic if that's all you g—"
A green disc of water rebounded from his chest, then a yellow-colored whip of air sliced through the first two layers of his stomach, then a gust of air forced him up and then out towards the open ocean. He, after finding himself as being in deeper than deep water, swam towards shore then started getting down and nasty towards his opponent.
He threw purple and green water balls, then he shot out a jet of blue water; Bile, quite surprisingly, both caught and then sent his attacks back to him. When he responded by sending an electric current his way, he back-flipped from the water then beckoned for him to come at him—this caused him to be enraged. How dare the little prick beckon for him to come at him, and how dare he be able to withstand his attacks! His daddy had trained him well while Bile, he viewed, hadn't had all that grand a teacher—in his mind, he should be all on top of Bile and then some.
"You haven't got a chance against me!" Gaajah was heard as yelling nearby. "I was trained by my daddy, who's an expert!"
"We were taught by our mother, who's a natural." Lhaklar was heard as saying back.
The green lightning bolt, that came from Gaajah, was grabbed by Lazeer, who sent it sizzling back; for Baruk, this action proved to be close to his undoing. The lightning bolt, after crashing into the ocean, electrocuted him. He screamed, then lost track of his bearings; after coming-to from his brief stunning episode, he found himself as being both away from the water and around six or so feet from the ones that were now concentrating on Gaajah.
Hazaar and Lhaklar, sometime after he became lightning bolt stunned, had made a water spout appear around their lower halves; Gaajah had a golden air funnel around his while Bile was throwing all sorts of discs and water swipes at his funnel's base. Seeing as his friend was outnumbered—while he viewed Gaajah as being tough, and being in his league, he didn't think he was as tough as he, or able to hold himself against more than one opponent like he could—he went to his defense.
Five, red-colored air balls were sent in Bile's direction before a green-colored bolt of lightning was sent in Hazaar's; Lazeer, who was standing all by his lonesome, either hoping to be left alone or hoping to be treated like one of them people who were tagged in after the main duo were done in fighting, screamed after having a ground pike thrown at him while Lhaklar evaded the blast of icicles that he sent at him. After attracting Bile's, and then Hazaar's, attention, he went to war with them.
"Sir," Losal Khrelan said at exactly the right moment where Baruk was going to war with his employer's sons, and when the house's clocks started tolling nine o'clock. "Trobrencus and his family were just seen to the fifth level."
"Oh, is that so?" TazirVile said. After placing the baby bat, that's mother had, for some unknown reason, abandoned it, back in its pouch, and then in its given cage, he left the room that his sick or abandoned bats were kept in then made his way towards a stairwell that'd take him to the house's second level.
The original plan, when it came to the placement of the TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit Family, had been for most of the family to be on the fifth level while the rest was to be on the sixth; after remembering that Trobrencus was a big family man, and that he preferred for his family to all be on one level, he had scratched that idea and then replaced it by having them all be on the house's fifth level. Though it took him around ten minutes—staff either stopped him to say hello, or to ask him certain things that pertained to what they were to do either that hour or day, or his mother, who wanted to know where Angel was because she wanted to help her in making that mid-day's meal—he did reach the level and then get on with the task of finding the room that the head of the family, and his wife, had been given to stay in for their stay.
He was glad to see that his mother wanted to help his wife in making that day's planned mid-day meal; before resuming his trek to the house's fifth level, she had said that she, Stepper, and Qeeta all wanted to help her in making the meal and that Angel was needed because they didn't want to make any old thing for lunch. After saying I-Don't-Know to her, he had said for her to track down Homsi and then see if he knew—Angel, before giving the children permission to go outside, and then going to retrieve the puppy for them to play with, had been speaking with Mr. Modulavich; maybe he knew where his wife was, or what she was up to at that hour in the day.
With the house having forty-seven people in it now, his wife couldn't rely on just herself, or Ulision, to make the three meals that were eaten in a single day; she, and Ulision, were now to expect to need and get some help in doing so.
After reaching the fifth level, then starting the process of going down its appointed hallway, he paid special attention to the number of doors that he went by. Trobrencus and his wife had been given #13—rather ironically, this number happened to be Trobrencus's favorite; he almost always made an effort in putting both he and his wife in a room that was #13 on the hallway that it was on. When he found the room that they were in, he stopped then reached forward to knock on its door.
It took a total of two and a half knocks before Bahne answered; she, who looked a little flustered, said nothing after opening the door. Trobrencus, who was clad in a plaid red tuxedo, but plain red shoes, turned after the door was opened then gestured for his wife to come to him. He told her to finish up with the unpacking then he came towards him.
"The planet must be getting ready for a rare snow-storm—if I recall correctly, you didn't pay me and my wife a chamber-visit after we, and our family, arrived for our stay when your Ragamuffin was near-due with Hazaar." the man said after approaching him.
"I'd like to speak with you about what happened between you and my wife four days ago." TazirVile got right down to business.
"Yes—speak away, but don't keep me but so long. I do have other matters to tend to."
"Angel was scared half to death when she came back, what'd you do to make her be so?"
While he didn't know the man but so well—the conversations that they had over the phone were, on average, small ones and he might see around four or five letters from him a year—he did know that he was very proud of himself. He was fast in speaking of his accomplishments, and of his doings with his conquered realms; he was loud in speaking of how he regarded himself with both his and other peoples staff; his speeches on what all was new with his castle, or about how the rooms that the members of his family who had passed away over the years were still intact, were generally long and mildly boring; and he was fast in boasting about his horse breeding program. This personality didn't change now—after asking the man what happened between he and his wife, he started getting the answers that he both wanted and didn't want to get.
The man claimed that he and Angel did a "car dance" before she was allowed entrance to his abode. Her vehicle and his had stayed alongside one another for nearly three hundred yards before a "minor", but very much intended, accident occurred. After hearing that it had been the Zephire Double Delux that Trobrencus had used for this feat, he grew angry—that vehicle, despite being newly purchased, was Trobrencus's favorite; along with saying that it had struck a "special" chord with him on the day that it had been purchased, he drove it whenever he had the chance to do so. While the car was a very dark blue color one wasn't really able to notice it—once the special gasoline oozed from the vehicle's body, and tires, then became ignited, no one took notice of what its color was. All attention was on them flames, which dominated almost all of the vehicle.
The inside of the car might stay a comfortable degree but, on the outside, it was hot—this was the reason to why his wife's car had burn-marks on it! His wife was lucky; her car could well of exploded thanks to them flames or she could well of caught fire, or been burned worse than what she was when she came home.
He, after hearing that his great-great uncle did such a dangerous and scary act on his wife, came close to shouting and then telling the man to vacate his premises and not come back. What happened between Mr. TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit and his lovely, and only just returned wife should never of happened!
"I had a point to get across to her, my dear nephew." TrobrencusVile, who had noted his anger, commented. "I wasn't just going to pull up alongside her and say 'come on in, have some tea and cookies while we discuss the reason to why you're here.' "
"You could of just yelled at her. You didn't—"
"Sure and how would that of gotten my point across on what she did wrong in..." TrobrencusVile put a pause to what he was saying to clear his throat. "In my ill-meant anger towards a situation that—ahem—my Disruptor Ray caused? She now knows better than to attack me or my family—think of that as the meaning to what happened between us, Tazir."
When he looked down, he saw that the man had a cane hanging from his belt; no surprise on the man having that on him—but surprising that he wasn't carrying around the one that had the cobra-head as its handle. The wolf, that was on one of the cane's ends, was chrome and was snarling; the teeth of the animal were gold while the eyes were an odd shade of green that looked like a cross between emerald and peridot. After hearing what happened between the man and his wife, then seeing the cane, he decided to keep the man in his sights—his wife's action towards Trobrencus might of been forgiven but, for him, Trobrencus's action towards his wife wasn't worthy of such treatment; his trust in the man was automatically severed after learning what he did.
TazirVile nodded his head, then excused himself, then turned and left the chamber that he had come to pay the owner of a visit. The issue of the man giving his wife a puppy sometime after their "car dance" was done never had a chance to be disclosed; due to how he felt right now, he decided to let the matter drop.
He had only just started down the hallway, and begin the process of trying to calm his seething self down, when he noticed that his daughter was running towards him. At first glance, she was winded, and sweaty, and more than a little freaked out; before asking what was wrong, he grabbed and then pulled her to a stop. He gave her a stern look after doing them two things.
"Walk! Eshal, do we need to have another discussion on why running isn't allowed inside a home?" he said after giving her that stern look.
"D-d-d-d-d—" she sputtered. Eshal was breathing a bit too heavily for his liking, and she was shaking pretty badly too; after noting these two things, he grabbed her in a hug then started leading her down the hallway."
"Whatever you wish to tell me can wait until you've calm down." TazirVile said. "No need to have a—"
"Tazir!" Ashaklar screamed. When he looked up, he saw that she was racing down the hallway towards him; after seeing this sight, he sighed. First his daughter and now his mother, who else?
"Mother," he said. "please don't ru—"
"Get your ass outside now!" Ashaklar yelled. "Bile and his brothers are fighting Baruk and Gaajah!"
She broke her neck to leave the newly-done garden chamber that had recently been rigged up after hearing that her sons were fighting Baruk and Gaajah; once out of the mansion, she transformed into an Eagle then flew off in the direction that the fighting looked to be stemming from.
Jets of purple, green, and black water could be seen; gusts of golden air were able to be seen and felt; and terrific explosions were able to be heard all while she was going towards the area where she thought her sons were in. Her heart was nearly choking her windpipe—up to now, her sons had only had to deal with the physical and verbal aspects of being bullied; now, it seemed, the powers were being dragged out and were being put to use as a way to further bully them. She had only to hear that Baruk and Gaajah were involved to know that they were being bullied—if it wasn't Baruk and Gaajah then it was Selik and Sudir... now that Trobrencus and his family were in the house, would the number of bullies be increased? Would Syamsin join ranks with Selik and Sudir, and would Bohir join ranks with Baruk and Gaajah, or would they be mature in staying away from being involved in the act of bullying her sons?
After hearing a better than terrific explosion, then seeing a gyser of water rise up from the direction that she was flying towards, she started flying faster. As she flew, she couldn't help but feel proud of herself for how she had trained her sons—though some of them had encountered issues with some things, they were all very well trained and it looked like they were putting what they had learned from her to work in subduing the ones that wanted to do them harm.
Angel flapped her wings two to three more times before, finally, coming upon the scene that she both wanted and didn't want to be near; after seeing what was going on before the shallow end of the ocean that was close to where her husband's pier was, she dropped to ground-level then started the process of returning to her true form. Once her true form was gained, she rushed forward to put an end to the fighting.
"Boys!" she yelled after going four yards from where she had stood to change from the form that she had taken on to that of what she had been born as having.
He saw her and he saw her well; regardless of seeing her, and knowing that he should stop what he was doing and then go to her, he kept fighting Gaajah and trying to injure Baruk enough to tip the scales in Bile's favor.
Bile was firing sonic blasts and combination attacks of water and lightning at Baruk, who was starting to back down from the onslaught. Baruk had fought Hazaar hard but Hazaar had gotten the better of him by throwing some fire rings at him—either Baruk didn't know how to evade or do this move; he had neither moved or tried to grab and then return them. Them fire rings had caused the kid to scream, and then drop to his knees; Baruk had looked reluctant to fight Hazaar for a few seconds after regaining his footing under him before returning to the game that he had started by trying to drown the puppy that he and his siblings had been playing with. Hazaar had also thrown a flaming rope around Baruk, which had done wonders in burning his stomach, chest, and back; the rope had only just been released from Baruk's body when Gaajah swooped in for "the rescue".
Hazaar, at the time of Gaajah's assault, had been in around two inches of water; Gaajah had made two, purple-colored ocean waves rise up before shooting them in his direction. Hazaar, along with being struck by them two waves, had also been attacked by a yellow lightning bolt, which had done wonders in knocking him from the fight. At present, he was lying, face-down, on the rocky shore.
Gaajah, along with having him to worry about, was also facing off against Lhaklar, who was madder than a sumabitch! Lhaklar was throwing all that he had learned in Gaajah's direction while he was just using his Acidic powers on him. Judging from what he was able to see, Gaajah was faltering and fast.
While fighting Gaajah, and trying to make Baruk become injured enough to either back off or fall to Bile's fury, he thought back to what happened on the night of the twenty-ninth and then thirtieth. While most of them two days had been somewhat pleasant, the night had been confusing and downright frightening; at around midnight on the first night, he had started hearing a voice coming from his closet, while, on the following night, at around the same time, he had seen someone as coming out from his closet.
In his eye and mind, his bedroom was sacred to him. Along with being the first room that he was able to call fully his, it was his private place. He could go to it, and do as he merry well pleased in it, and think and do things without anyone coming up to either ask him what he was doing or berating him for his private-done activities. He was now terrified of his room; nowadays, after waking up, he threw what he wanted to wear on, then did his bathroom routine, then jumped back into bed—only after ma or Bile came up to see what he was doing, and why he was holding up breakfast, did he leave his bed and then his room. So far, it was only his father who was questioning him on what was wrong with him; his brothers, and his mother, had yet to ask him what was wrong or question the reason to why he refused to leave his room unless someone was there to "ensure that the boogeyman wasn't going to come and get him".
On the first night, just before the voice was heard, he, who hadn't been able to go to sleep, had been thinking about the list of items that he was hoping to give to his mother at the start of the month; the idea of adding a plane model, or a magazine or two that was about planes or boats, to that list had just come to him when the voice started being heard. It had been faint, and he had waved it off by thinking that it was the air that was coming from the AC vents—after the voice got stronger, and louder, he stopped thinking it as that. With the voice coming in louder, and stronger, and with his now knowing that it wasn't coming from the AC vents, he had sat up and then pulled his legs up to his chin; just one word had been said, and it had been said over and over again—Bruuuuder... Bruuuuder... Bruuuder... it had been enough to make the hair on his groin stand on end, and it had been enough to make him shiver and shake too.
The following morning, he had come under the belief that his ears were just playing tricks on him—that or his sleep-deprived self was making him hear what he had, or that Sudir or Selik were by his room, talking and trying to deliberately scare him. He had been calmed by this, and he had gone by his way for all of that day before, finally, going to bed for the evening; the event that happened on that night had plum scared the socks from his feet!
The word "bruder" had been heard on and off from 10 to 12 before, at around 12:15, the hand was seen as grabbing the frame of his closet door; he, who had, yet again, been unable to go to sleep, had started thinking up things that'd both calm his frightened self down and explain what was going on in his room. That hand, which boasted a set of badly cracked, dark gray fingernails, had remained on the frame of that door for around a minute to two minutes before making the move to open the near-closed door—the door had been slid to being all the way open, then nothing happened for the longest of time, then the outline of a body was seen as coming out from the dark space that was beyond it. His heart, which had been slamming in his chest at the time of the hand being seen, had about stopped beating after the figure stepped out from his closet.
A sliver of moonlight had caught on the figure for only a second, which had verified it being in his room, before the figure started moving towards him. The movement of the figure had been slow, and near-mechanical at first before picking up to being like normal—at the time that the figure reached to within a foot of him, he had been close to screaming and then calling for his mother.
"It's nothing! Tee hee; my tired mind is seeing things. No boogeyman in my room. No boogeyman in my closet. No boogeyman to—" he had started thinking after the figure stopped before his bed. His mind had about exploded after the figure, who had been wearing the remnants of a blue hoodie, and something akin to khakis, and heavy-duty boots, and a slew of chains either around his neck or crossing over his shoulders and chest, spoke to him.
"I was told tha-k-t I had a family—a family that had four sons, who were to be my forever bruders." he had said. "And ye-k-t, when I show up to be apar-k-t of that family, they're gone. Mum runs away from me, and won-k-t tell me why, or where you are all a-k-t, and—"
"Who are you?" he had moaned. "Who the hell are you!"
"Your bru—"
A pop had happened, then a gust of air was felt as blowing towards him; he, who had been too scared to emit any sort of sound, much less scream for one of his family to come rescue him from what he was experiencing, had dived under his blankets—he had stayed under them until the following morning, and the only reason to why he left them was to get dressed and then do his morning routine in the bathroom that was adjacent his bedroom. Once that routine was done, he dove back under his blankets and then waited until a knock was heard on his door and then his mother came in, asking him what he was doing and why he was keeping everyone waiting for breakfast. Since he hadn't had an explanation for what he had experienced, and since he didn't know how to disclose it to anyone, he was just not speaking about it; but he was keeping his mother close and, even more, his closet shut and then "locked".
The two following nights, regardless of that door being locked, he still thought that he heard the figure, whoever the hell he was, calling out to him... the thought of his hearing the door being "jingled", or tapped on, was occurring too.
If it ever got out about what he saw, he was quite sure that everyone would laugh and then say that he had had a dream during them two nights; with his being fully awake, and with his finding his bedding as being wet with piss the morning following them two nights, he was very sure that what he had seen, and experienced, was real.
His mother, his brothers, and the puppy were all that gave him comfort now; the only reason to why he was away from his mother's ever-watchful gaze, and loving eye, was the puppy—the desire in wanting to play with her had overwritten his fear of the figure that he had seen on the night of the twenty-ninth and thirtieth.
"Lazeer... Look out!"
Lhaklar's yell was loud; his attention was automatically attracted in his direction before being derived in the direction that Gaajah was in. The blast of golden air, that Lhaklar had cast at Gaajah but that Gaajah had grabbed and then "casually" thrown in his direction, was avoided; he was no more out of harm's way before dropping to one knee and then starting the process of making some rings roll down his arms. Black smoke billowed from his nose holes; his body quivered as he concentrated on keeping the rings stationary on his arms; and his vision grew slightly blurry before he got up and then shot his arms out.
Gaajah, who had been in the direct line of fire, screamed after four of his black fire rings struck him; Baruk, who had been sent two of his created fire rings, stepped out of the way right after seeing them as coming for him.
Baruk, who looked most like his daddy—his ears, which were a golden color, and had black, Tiger-like stripes on them, went only half the length of his shoulders; the left side of his head and body was a blood red color while the other half of his body was an imperial red color; and his eyes were a fiery red color, and had small, black pupils in their centers—, gave his seemingly tired looking body a slight shudder before jabbing his fists at the ground. He, who stood six foot, three inches, and who's burly body looked very identical to his father's own, gave him a hell of a menacing look before propelling himself at him.
He wasted little time in readying a purple acid ball; once the ball of acid was done in being formed, he twirled then threw it in the direction of the one who meant him harm. Baruk's ground pillar exploded after his acid ball struck it; the pillar had only just broken up, and Baruk had only just started falling to the ground, when an ear-piercing scream was heard—after throwing the first acid ball, he had readied and then thrown another of the same color. This ball, when it struck Baruk's side, caused a shower of yellow sparks to fly from Baruk.
He was just emitting a cheer, and giving a little dance, when Baruk seized his chance in taking him out. The fire ball was purple in color, and was quite big; when it struck him, he felt the flesh on his left shoulder and arm burn. He screamed for just a second before the following attack—a blue-colored lightning ball, that had a ring of water around it—struck him. Once the second attack struck him, he fell into the void of sleep that he didn't want to be in.
He dropped to his side, then he did two jerks, and a single moan, before going still and quiet.
"Lazeer!"
Bile stopped doing what he was doing then rushed past Baruk; he could care less about the fucker right now—his baby brother, who had just been very viciously attacked, was the only thing on his mind.
His injuries, to some, were minor; to him, they were anything but that. His chest, which had a seven-inch long gash on it, was throbbing and causing him all sorts of grief while his groin, which had a four and a half inch long gash on it, was making all sorts of hideous ideas come to his mind. He had come off lucky; Baruk could well of sliced his dick off if he hadn't jumped back to avoid the ground pike that he had made shoot up from between his feet.
"Bile, check Hazaar and Lazeer! I have Baruk and Gaajah." Lhaklar, who was still fiercely locked in battle with Gaajah, who now looked about ready to throw in the towel, yelled.
Bile was only able to do half of what he told him to do; Lazeer was checked, then Baruk came in to prevent him from going anywhere near Hazaar—this, in itself, infuriated him.
Baruk, like Bile, was carting around a few injuries that'd take some time to heal. His shoulders were burned, and he had some cuts to his stomach, and his right arm had a long cut on it; Gaajah's injuries, rather surprisingly, were more extreme and were more numerous.
His stomach had more then three deep scratches on it; his arms were sporting a few, second and third degree burns on them; his chest had two burn marks on it; and there was a two-inch long gash on his right cheek. Personally speaking, after seeing what he had just seen, and after going through what he was still going through, he was more than willing to add more to that list of injuries.
A poorly constructed acid ball, followed by a perfectly formed lightning bolt, took Baruk out while it took him a few seconds to finish the deal with Gaajah; unlike Baruk and Gaajah, he had been pacing himself and watching his footing and keeping the usage on his strengths down until speed, agility, and muscle was noted as needing to be used—Baruk and Gaajah hadn't been doing this, which was why they weren't holding up as well as they probably thought they would.
His mother had always told him to keep his head on straight during a fight and he was doing his very best in doing that. He bet that she, who was just now reaching to within arm's reach of him, was proud of him for his keeping himself in-check. Despite keeping himself in-check, he had a few injuries on himself—his chest had two, deep gashes on it, and his back had a gash on it that was close to being nine inches long, and his inner right thigh was badly burned, and one of his fingers was broken. Even though he was in pain, and was having a time in walking—the burn to his thigh was just not something one could have without experiencing some issues in walking correctly—, he was continuing with the fight that was still being thrown at him.
"Come on!" Gaajah yelled. But did that yell have a fear quality to it? He couldn't be certain but he did think that it had, which made him come close to laughing. "Come on, Weakie! Show me what you g—"
With the kid having grabbed and then "casually" thrown his attack at Lazeer, he was close to wanting to kill him—to him, what Gaajah did in doing that was cowardice. One didn't fire at another unless that person was fully focused or knew what was coming at them—Lazeer had looked to only be half-there at the time of the attack being grabbed and then sent at him.
Gaajah, who looked to be breathing a little on the heavy side, was on a tall, white funnel of air; after seeing him as throwing an electric charge at Bile, then at both of his fallen brothers, he jabbed his hands at the ground then felt the vibration of his being propelled up to his foe's level. After reaching the height that Gaajah was in, he saw that his father, grandfather, and uncle were rushing towards him; seeing as he best finish what was started, he sent the whole of his tornado of rocks and water towards Gaajah, who shrieked after it struck him. A very unsteady stream of acid finished the kid off—while Gaajah plummeted to the ground, then collided and then bounced twice after coming in contact with the ground, he used a form of his Elemental Air powers to cushion his fall; after doing a half run after finishing his "fall" from where his ground tornado's height was, he rushed to where Hazaar was.
Uncle Kuruk was grabbing and then shouting at Baruk while Granddad Duru was scoffing while going to retrieve Gaajah, who had yet to get to his feet; his parents, on the other hand, were coming towards him and Bile. His mother, who looked to want to be with all of them, stopped long enough to decide who to go to first before making the decision to come towards him; his father, meanwhile, had rushed over and then started checking on Bile and Lazeer, the latter who had just woken up and given the first signs of what his injuries were causing him to go through.
After reaching Hazaar's side, then righting him to lying on his back, he checked him for a pulse; it took him just two seconds to sigh—his brother was just unconscious. He was alive. Injured but alive, thank the Gods.