Re: The Great Belligerency [Round 1: The Rainy Place]
10-24-2010, 04:04 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
"Good deeds beget good deeds," Soft said, grinning. It looked slightly menacing with her mop of black hair covering half her face. "Later on, when facing some sort of threat, this good deed will return to save you."
"Right, right," Cole snapped crossly, still parrying plant-hands. "Can't you...fly out of here or something? If these hands grab onto you again, I might just let them strangle you."
The girl frowned, though it wasn't in response to the threat. "I can't just leave you here. You are my ward and I'll have to make sure you do things right. Also, I owe you now..."
"Yeah, okay, I got it, you can pay me back later. Get out of here already and I'll catch up."
"No!" Soft shouted, sounding rather similar to a whiny kid now. A whiny kid with an axe. "Stop it! I'm trying to help you! Stop trying to get rid of me! You're trying to get up to no good again!"
Cole glanced back at her in disbelief. Even the tips of her pigtails seemed to be quivering in anger. Misguided and stupid anger. "Excuse me? Are you even paying att--"
Unfortunately, the time Cole spent squabbling with Soft was also time spent not exactly paying the closest attention to his surroundings. A couple of hands pushed him over, recoiling quickly afterwards, but more started back towards the still fuming Soft. Cole instinctively reached up and grabbed the stems of a few. Soft took out her anger on the rest and then helped herself to the bushel that the bug man was holding out for her.
"Are you ready to leave now?" Cole asked exasperately, getting back onto his feet. Soft didn't answer. She instead managed to summon a large bird while being incredibly huffy. The black, sleek bird flapped in the air and waited patiently as she went to grab Cole, got shocked, and simply wrapped her hand in her cloak before grabbing it again. With her other hand, she grabbed onto the bird's leg and it immediately took off. The forest still tried to grasp at them, but the bird was a speedy flier, even with the weight, and very soon, they were high in the sky.
The hands apparently couldn't only go so far up. They lingered at this unseen limit before withdrawing back to the ground. The bird hovered above.
"The first part of my debt has now been paid," Soft suddenly recited, sounding as though she were reading off a script. "Asking me twice more is...uh, the limit of my aide."
Cole was momentarily distracted from the fact that he was very, very high up without the comfort of being inside a hunk of metal. "...What?"
"I'm only going to help you out directly like this two more times," she said firmly, as if he was the one who forced her hand. "It's the rules. I was only supposed to be a guide, but oh well."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"I'll have to drop you off somewhere..." Soft mused, expertly ignoring Cole. Which just annoyed him more. "...Oh!"
"What?" Cole asked, wondering if this was a good 'oh' or a bad one.
"...I think...is that the witch down there?"
Cole looked down. He could only see gaunt, waving hands. But apparently Soft saw something, because she said, "Ah, it is. Good."
"What's good?" Cole demanded a little fearfully.
"You're obviously going to go down there and stop the witch," Soft replied simply.
"I what?"
"A witch that is perverting the natural order...sounds like a job for the almost-heroic protagonist," the girl continued, almost dreamily. She was silent for a moment. The giant bird beat the air.
"It's decided then," she suddenly said.
"What?"
"Off you go."
Soft let go of Cole's hand with a cheery wave. The bug man fell for a short while before he grew thin, papery wings and fluttered above the hands for a bit. The bird circled around, its cargo looking very distant.
The thing Soft was waving at him now was an axe. "You better get down there and win, bug boy!" he heard faintly. "Don't be afraid to ask for some helllllp~"
"Good deeds beget good deeds," Soft said, grinning. It looked slightly menacing with her mop of black hair covering half her face. "Later on, when facing some sort of threat, this good deed will return to save you."
"Right, right," Cole snapped crossly, still parrying plant-hands. "Can't you...fly out of here or something? If these hands grab onto you again, I might just let them strangle you."
The girl frowned, though it wasn't in response to the threat. "I can't just leave you here. You are my ward and I'll have to make sure you do things right. Also, I owe you now..."
"Yeah, okay, I got it, you can pay me back later. Get out of here already and I'll catch up."
"No!" Soft shouted, sounding rather similar to a whiny kid now. A whiny kid with an axe. "Stop it! I'm trying to help you! Stop trying to get rid of me! You're trying to get up to no good again!"
Cole glanced back at her in disbelief. Even the tips of her pigtails seemed to be quivering in anger. Misguided and stupid anger. "Excuse me? Are you even paying att--"
Unfortunately, the time Cole spent squabbling with Soft was also time spent not exactly paying the closest attention to his surroundings. A couple of hands pushed him over, recoiling quickly afterwards, but more started back towards the still fuming Soft. Cole instinctively reached up and grabbed the stems of a few. Soft took out her anger on the rest and then helped herself to the bushel that the bug man was holding out for her.
"Are you ready to leave now?" Cole asked exasperately, getting back onto his feet. Soft didn't answer. She instead managed to summon a large bird while being incredibly huffy. The black, sleek bird flapped in the air and waited patiently as she went to grab Cole, got shocked, and simply wrapped her hand in her cloak before grabbing it again. With her other hand, she grabbed onto the bird's leg and it immediately took off. The forest still tried to grasp at them, but the bird was a speedy flier, even with the weight, and very soon, they were high in the sky.
The hands apparently couldn't only go so far up. They lingered at this unseen limit before withdrawing back to the ground. The bird hovered above.
"The first part of my debt has now been paid," Soft suddenly recited, sounding as though she were reading off a script. "Asking me twice more is...uh, the limit of my aide."
Cole was momentarily distracted from the fact that he was very, very high up without the comfort of being inside a hunk of metal. "...What?"
"I'm only going to help you out directly like this two more times," she said firmly, as if he was the one who forced her hand. "It's the rules. I was only supposed to be a guide, but oh well."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"I'll have to drop you off somewhere..." Soft mused, expertly ignoring Cole. Which just annoyed him more. "...Oh!"
"What?" Cole asked, wondering if this was a good 'oh' or a bad one.
"...I think...is that the witch down there?"
Cole looked down. He could only see gaunt, waving hands. But apparently Soft saw something, because she said, "Ah, it is. Good."
"What's good?" Cole demanded a little fearfully.
"You're obviously going to go down there and stop the witch," Soft replied simply.
"I what?"
"A witch that is perverting the natural order...sounds like a job for the almost-heroic protagonist," the girl continued, almost dreamily. She was silent for a moment. The giant bird beat the air.
"It's decided then," she suddenly said.
"What?"
"Off you go."
Soft let go of Cole's hand with a cheery wave. The bug man fell for a short while before he grew thin, papery wings and fluttered above the hands for a bit. The bird circled around, its cargo looking very distant.
The thing Soft was waving at him now was an axe. "You better get down there and win, bug boy!" he heard faintly. "Don't be afraid to ask for some helllllp~"