Tales of the Alternate Universe
Chapter Four: Big Destiny
The way back home was going to feel weird for Flanna this time. Sure, she was walking forward to something she knew well; she was late, she was hurt, dirty, and she had failed to keep her promise. Her father was waiting at home to remind her of all of that and then lock her up for the whole weekend, however, she wasn't feeling like she was supposed to. Flanna smiled, she had a good hunch, but it was hard to accept that the Mertens boy was responsible for it.
Although she knew where she was heading to, her future was uncertain, and she realized it when a powerful shriek froze her feet onto the ground.
"Get your hands off my lady!" a man shouted.
A brief moment of silence, in which Flanna struggled to decide if she should go check the road behind her or continue walking forward, was cut by the sound of a gunshot.
"Miss Hanks…!" the red-haired girl gasped in concern.
She clenched her teeth and sent one last glance to the road before her. She had made a choice. Driven by her own impulsive nature, Flanna Hacksworth ran back towards the apple farm. The scene that she found when her feet took her into Miss Tea Hanks' house left her speechless. Flanna had covered her mouth in an attempt to hide the panicked look on her face.
A short man with a stoutly built body was lying on the kitchen's floor, trying to comfort Miss Tea with a brave grin while she tried to cover a bleeding wound on his chest, as her other hand stroke the bald spot on his head softly. The red-haired girl quickly assumed that he was the famous Mr. Gibb, Miss Tea Hanks' boyfriend.
The poor man insisted on soothing the pouring tears that his "lady" was shedding over him, saying that he was okay and that everything was going to be fine. However, the slow crimson stain that was crawling down his white undershirt said otherwise.
"F-Flanna, my girl!" Tea Hanks shrieked once her eyes had glimpsed her standing on the door "How come you're still here?! You should be in your home already!"
"Are you okay?" the girl inquired, ignoring the previous question. She didn't wait for an answer "I'll go look for help!"
With that, Flanna left the place, using all her strength to run as fast as her tired feet could. She didn't know where she was heading to, all she knew was that she needed to find a doctor. The night had fallen upon her, covering everything in darkness. For a moment Flanna wished that she could be like the flames that her father had showed her one day ago, at least she would be able to see where she was going.
Thankfully her ears didn't need light to work; she could hear a strange noise coming from a nearby meadow. Her eyes grew in surprise when they spotted a small rusty truck just ahead of her. That kind of vehicle wasn't very common around that area, but she knew from her father that they were faster than any racing horse in the world.
"Hey!" the girl shouted as she tried to catch up with it "Stop! Please!" The car's lights went out and its tires stopped their running. Flanna arrived huffing and puffing, a grateful smile gracing her face.
The driver's door was opened slowly and a pair of pink sneakers were the first thing that showed up from behind it. Flanna made some shy steps backwards, the orange-haired man before her was somehow intimidating, but she managed to keep herself cool.
"Well, well, well…" the man chuckled "What do we have here? A pretty firefly who's trying to get in our way!"
"I'm…I'm no firefly!" Flanna replied defiantly "I need help!"
"Help?" a man with pink clothes and a black mask repeated.
"Yeah, help! That thing, that's a truck, right? You could reach the town on it in the blink of an eye!"
"So?" Another man asked as he crossed his arms.
Flanna felt frustrated "Well, I was hoping that-…!" she trailed off, those men had at least ten apple crates on their car and a rifle… "You…you did it…" the red-haired girl gulped "You were the ones who shot Mr. Gibb!"
"Hehehe! Hold on, Firefly!" their leader chuckled "Before you make any accusations, you gotta listen to our version of the story first… Don't worry; Big Destiny will make it all clear…" his men handed him the rifle, then he ejected the spent magazine and chambered a new one.
The girl gritted her teeth, the idea of standing in front of an armed man was taking away the best of her. Big Destiny noticed this and aimed the gun at her, causing Flanna to gasp and stumble back in fear.
"Humph, Mr. Gibb? That stupid man tried to scare us with this, but you see, that guy didn't know that this baby was actually…" Big-D quickly spun the rifle up and fired at the sky "LOADED! Hahaha…!"
"That dork shot himself by accident…!" the other gang members laughed.
Flanna's heart raced crazily, that guy could have killed her if he had wanted to. "Accident or not!" she gripped her fists "You stole Miss Tea Hanks' stuff and left Mr. Gibb bleeding to death, you are a bunch of jerks!"
"Careful guys!" Big Destiny joked, "The Firefly's got temper!" he aimed the gun back at her "Listen little girl, I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that and I'll forgive you this time, you know why? 'Cause these lands will soon be property of the Destiny Gang!"
He got back inside the car and started the engine; the truck dashed away, spinning wildly in perfect circles a few times before returning towards her. The wheel's screeched as his foot pushed the brakes and his head popped out of the window.
"You know what, Firefly? You're quite intrepid for a little girl, it's a shame you're so young… Big-D kinda likes your attitude, be sure to look for me when you grow up…!" he raised his glasses slightly and winked "We could have some fun together, consider yourself part of Big-D's property now!"
The wheels screeched again, this time to fire the vehicle back into the road.
x+x+x+x+x
Finn and Jake were snoring peacefully under their bed's blankets. It was a cold windy night, very characteristic of the autumn season. The boy frowned as he felt a cold gust blowing on his face, was his bedroom's window open? Impossible, he had made sure to close it before going to bed.
The wooden floor creaked, awaking the golden puppy instantly. Jake jumped out of the bed and began to run around the room in excitement. The blonde boy was hardly awake; usually Jake didn't act like that unless someone stepped into the room, or if the doggy felt like going out to water the old tree.
"Jake…" Finn murmured in his sleep "I'm not taking you to the toilet again…!" the puppy continued to scratch the floor and moan impatiently "Shhh, Jake…! You might wake mom up and I haven't told her about you yet!"
Suddenly, something pocked his arm and whispered "Mertens?"
Finn stretched himself up lazily "Jake, how many times do I have to-…" he flinched, a pair of green eyes were staring at him "AGHH-!" his scream was quickly drown by a hand that covered his mouth frantically.
"Shhh! Finn Mertens, calm down…!" his attacker whispered, "It's me, Flanna…!"
The boy forced her to free him with a bothered grunt and pushed her away "Hacksworth! What are you doing here?! No, wait! How did you get in here?!"
"I climbed that tree…" she replied calmly and then shook her head in annoyance "As if that matters! Finn, I need you to come with me!" Flanna grasped his arm, trying to drag him towards the window.
"No! Why would I do that?!" Finn protested, escaping from her grip again "I'm not going anywhere! Do you have any idea of how late it is?! You're insane!"
"Okay, you win…" Flanna muttered "I'm gonna tell you all I've been through...tonight…"
Thus, the red-haired girl began with her story of how she had found a wounded Mr. Gibb at Tea Hanks' kitchen, and of how she had run across the fields, searching for help only to bump into the vandals who had caused the incident in the first place. Then Flanna told him that she had managed to find a doctor and how she had led her to Mr. Gibb as soon as she could. The girl noticed a hint of disconcertment on Finn's face, so she instantly assured him that the pig breeder was going to be fine.
"After that, I ran all the way back home. I sneaked into my room and grabbed everything I could…" Finn stared at her and realized that she had changed her dirty clothes for a cleaner outfit, she was also wearing a leather backpack on her shoulders "Then I left home and ran all the way back here, that's all. Now let's go!"
"Whoa! Go where? Are you planning to chase those guys? I saw them this afternoon, and I can tell they look strong! W-we should tell the adults!"
"The adults?! You haven't listened to a word I said, have you?!" Flanna replied impatiently "Those guys, the Destiny Gang or whatever they call themselves said that they were going to rule these lands! We gotta find out what their plans are and wreck them!"
Finn gave her a skeptical glance, "Should I believe you? You said that you went all the way back to your home and then returned here, wasn't your house around two hours away from here?"
"I-it is…" the red-haired girl mumbled exhaustedly "I couldn't stay there…my father would surely lock me or kill me if he sees me hanging around there at this hour… I'm in trouble for trying to find you, so now be useful and come with me…!"
She pulled his arm towards the window once again; Finn could feel her hand shivering, probably because of the cold or her own exhaustion. When Flanna was about to reach the window, the boy managed to foresee that she was going to stumble down just in time to stop her fall. He quickly reached for her hand and prevented her from collapsing onto the floor, catching her fatigued body in his arms.
"Y-you are indeed crazy, Hacksworth…!" Finn exclaimed, dragging her to his bed "If what you told me is true, then you must be about to faint in any moment now. You can't go anywhere in that condition!"
"There's no time to waste, Mertens…" Flanna muttered "Those freaks are probably wrecking somebody else's life in this moment."
"Yeah, yeah…I get it!" he replied, laying her down on his bed "But you need to get some rest before even thinking about chasing those dudes. Listen, I'll go to the barn and I'll prepare Cecile so that we can ride her, I'll also look for a lantern and some other stuff… Meanwhile, you'll stay here and sleep a little, okay?"
"So, you're actually going to help me?" The girl questioned as he covered her with his blankets.
"Umm…" Finn wasn't exactly in love with the idea, but after listening to what those guys did to Miss Hanks he felt that he had to kick that Big-D guy's butt "I think so, but… Please tell me, why did you choose to look for my help first?"
"Because, like or not, you're the only one I can trust…"
"Umm…" Finn made some steps backwards and stared at his dog "C'mon Jake, mom and dad will wake up in any moment!"
Flanna curled herself on the bed, feeling the warmth that Finn had left before she yanked him out of his sleep. It was still hard to believe that she was actually asking him for help, and it was even harder to believe that he was going to join her despite all their misunderstandings and fights.
A weak glimmer of gratefulness graced her smile as she buried her face on the pillow, followed by a sudden shudder of embarrassment, striking her young body. The sheets were pervaded with Finn's smell, snuggling in that bed was going to be rough if she didn't find a way to keep him out of her mind.
x+x+x+x+x
Finn adjusted a saddle on Cecile's back and stroke her mane gently. A mule was definitively smaller and easier to ride than a horse, he knew that she was the perfect choice, but he feared that something bad could happen to the baby Bartram inside her.
"Nah…you'll be fine, right Ceci? You're a strong one!"
"Grrr…!" Jake suddenly growled.
The farm boy crouched down, searching for the puppy's head and tapped it gently "What is it buddy? Did you smell something?"
Jake's fur frizzed in anxiousness, his paws driving him towards the chicken coops where he stopped to snarl angrily at a strange shadow. Finn grabbed a rake and followed his dog inside. There he met a pair of glowing eyes, glaring at him.
"W-who are you?!" Finn demanded nervously as he threatened the shadow with his rake "Are you part of the Destiny Gang?!"
"Destiny….! Fate…! Are our lives written in stone or do we carve the paths we wish to follow…?" the shadow hissed as it walked around Finn, letting him notice a bucket filled with eggs in its hands "You haven't seen me! You haven't seen anything boy…!"
The shadow pushed him onto the ground. Jake didn't hesitate to chase it down, but Finn's painful groans made him ran back to his side, letting the shadow vanish within the bushes.
"Auw… What the junk's going on here?" Finn muttered as he rubbed his head "Who was that?"
"Bouw…" Jake replied tilting his head.
"Yeah, you're right…" his owner whispered in awe "The real egg thief…"
Author's Notes:
I so happy to hear y'all are enjoying this story! I hope this chapter was as good as the last one, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!
See you next week!
2/06/13 Update: Grammar mistakes corrected.