Story Notes:
Another Harold story. The idea was inspired by the Vengeance Theme, but because of computer issues there's no way I'll have it done in time for that, plus I dunno how well it'd fit in. Anyway... Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
First to Fall
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"Claw him! No, fool, he'll just dodge that! See?!" An angry voice buzzed. "Come on, you're twice his size! Tear the bastard in half!"
"You really enjoy these things, don't you?" A second, much lighter and more chipper voice laughed.
I just stared at the pair of them. The furious one shouting advice and cross words at the television was Thrust, a Beedrill who I affectionately referred to as a total flipping lunatic. Watching him wave his spiked arms in the air and swear loudly at the Pokemon battle tournament on TV that happened to be a repeat from last night did nothing to sway my opinion.
Next to him was an older human with short, brown hair wearing torn jeans and a purple shirt with "Potions are for the weak." printed across the front. That fellow was Amos. Considering he normally wore a suit and tie, he looked odd to me. He was on vacation from work for a couple weeks and had been spending a lot more time with his son, along with Thrust, Risp and I.
Risp, however, was lounging about in the backyard as usual. Not only because he enjoyed being outside, but because Amos' wife Ellen had practically forbidden the Growlithe from setting paw in the house anymore. There were still traces of the stain he had left on the living room carpet.
"Hey, Harold, why not join us over here?" Amos asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
"I can see fine from here." I replied from my spot on the windowsill. "Besides, getting close to Rusty when he's like that is just asking for trouble."
"Kill him you damn idiot!" Thrust snapped at the television.
Amos looked from me, to the Beedrill and back. "Right, Thrust is too hyper for you. I didn't think there were Spearows as laid back as you, Harry."
"I'm not laid back... and don't call me that." I complained, even though he couldn't understand me. He just laughed and turned back to the TV.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Even though I could never remember how to read it exactly, my trainer Christopher usually arrived back home when the shorter stick was aiming down and to the right. At the moment it was pointing up and right. Which meant I still had more time than I'd like stuck with those two. Another cry from Thrust gave me enough motivation to fly off for some quiet.
Chris almost never kept me in a pokeball, so when nobody was home I usually flew around town for something to do. Unfortunately, there was a bit of chaos which resulted in my excursions being discovered. From that point on, I either had to be in the boring little ball more often or keep something on to prevent me from being mistaken for a wild Pokemon. The good part was Chris never considered the pokeball option, the bad was that now I had to wear a "cute" yellow ribbon around my neck. Sure it kept people from attacking or trying to catch me, but it also meant I could be identified when I was noticed doing things I probably shouldn't have been. Helping myself to the neighbor's berry garden, for example.
I was perching on the fence, eyeing the small patch of cheri berries and wondering if the beast next door was watching for me as it usually did. The place quiet enough. No movement from the windows, no sound from the house... it looked like the woman that lived there had gone out. If so, the little beast she kept on lookout for me was probably gone too. Sure, it might not have been a fire-breathing menace like Risp, but it still worried me.
Gliding into the yard silently, I landed so the plants were between me and the house. Once there I listened for any sign that someone had seen me. A few seconds of silence later and satisfied that I was safe for the moment, I stretched my neck out to eat one of the berries... only to get a beakful of fuzz as the blue beast lunged from the bush and tackled me to the ground. Feeling both of my wings pinned by its front legs and my body held down by the rest of it, I didn't try to fight back. Last time I did I just ended up sore and poisoned in addition to being held down.
"How many times to I have to tell you? Stealing the berries Tanya planted for me is a very bad idea." It said. "Though it does give me an excuse to jump you, and that's always fun."
"Yeah, it's thrilling." I said, not skimping on the sarcasm. "Are you going to call her now and get me in trouble or what?"
"Normally I would, but she went out a little while ago. I'll just have to keep you here until she gets back. Which will be about..." The weight on my chest shifted a bit as the little blue demon thought about how long I'd be stuck like this. "...two hours, maybe?"
"What?!" I squawked, whipping my head down to look at her. The little Nidoran just smiled and playfully bumped her head against the end of my beak.
"That's right, Harold. Unless you promise to stop stealing my berries, you're stuck with me sitting on you until my trainer gets home. I win either way."
I let my head drop back onto the ground and sighed. "I hate you so much, Rina."
"Then why do you let me catch you all the time?" She asked in a tone that might have been implying that I actually enjoyed her tackling me to the ground. If so, she was as nuts as Thrust.
"You're sneaky, that's how you constantly catch me. I only came here because I thought you and Tanya were out." I explained. "How was I supposed to know you were hiding in the bushes?"
Before she could answer, Risp let out a yelp. "Harold! Don't just drop out of the sky on me like that!"
I blinked, wondering what the Growlithe was talking about when Rina suddenly buried her face in my chest, I glanced down and resisted the urge to knock her off. "What are you-"
She pulled her head back up and sneezed. All over me. Lovely. "No, you're definitely Harold." She sniffed. "No mistaking that scent."
"I could have told you that."
"Then who-"
"Harold?" Risp said, getting her attention. "Why do you smell like... and this..." Panic grew in his tone as he went on. "Amos! Get out here!"
I heard the backdoor open and Amos' voice shortly after that. "Risp what are you howling a... Harold?! Risp, what happened here?!"
"Don't look at me! He just landed on my head!"
Rina quickly jumped off me and I rolled onto my feet, flying to the top of the fence to see what was happening. When I got there, I saw Amos, Risp and Thrust gathered around a Spearow that was laying on the ground. Its feathers had been stained red in places and it wasn't moving at all. It didn't take an expert to know the bird was dead, but Thrust pointed it out anyway. I should have said something straight away to let them know it wasn't me, but I was too fixated on the corpse to speak... or rather, on what it was wearing. A yellow ribbon around its neck. Much like my own.
"Harold, what's going on over there?" Rina asked, but the question didn't really register. I was too confused about why someone would do this.
Thrust was the first to notice me on the fence and hurried over, followed shortly by Risp and Amos. I'm not really clear on what happened from there. My mind was such a blur I don't even remember how I got back into the house. Resting on the arm of the couch by Amos, I heard him muttering on about how someone had a sick sense of humor.
I didn't believe it though. Something told me that it was more than just a joke. A threat maybe, or a warning. I just wondered who it was supposed to be aimed at. Chris might have been nice, but he didn't have many friends. Not to mention I had seen how cruel immature humans could get during a few of my trips around town. Thrust had attacked, and in a few cases killed, more than his share of other Pokemon. It wasn't much of a stretch to think he'd pissed off someone that held a grudge. Actually, I was on the receiving end of some angry looks myself. It was a Spearow, after all, maybe they chose that specifically to scare me. If they did, it worked.
Of course, regardless of who the target was, I was sure of one thing. Whoever did it was even more twisted than Thrust.
"Claw him! No, fool, he'll just dodge that! See?!" An angry voice buzzed. "Come on, you're twice his size! Tear the bastard in half!"
"You really enjoy these things, don't you?" A second, much lighter and more chipper voice laughed.
I just stared at the pair of them. The furious one shouting advice and cross words at the television was Thrust, a Beedrill who I affectionately referred to as a total flipping lunatic. Watching him wave his spiked arms in the air and swear loudly at the Pokemon battle tournament on TV that happened to be a repeat from last night did nothing to sway my opinion.
Next to him was an older human with short, brown hair wearing torn jeans and a purple shirt with "Potions are for the weak." printed across the front. That fellow was Amos. Considering he normally wore a suit and tie, he looked odd to me. He was on vacation from work for a couple weeks and had been spending a lot more time with his son, along with Thrust, Risp and I.
Risp, however, was lounging about in the backyard as usual. Not only because he enjoyed being outside, but because Amos' wife Ellen had practically forbidden the Growlithe from setting paw in the house anymore. There were still traces of the stain he had left on the living room carpet.
"Hey, Harold, why not join us over here?" Amos asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
"I can see fine from here." I replied from my spot on the windowsill. "Besides, getting close to Rusty when he's like that is just asking for trouble."
"Kill him you damn idiot!" Thrust snapped at the television.
Amos looked from me, to the Beedrill and back. "Right, Thrust is too hyper for you. I didn't think there were Spearows as laid back as you, Harry."
"I'm not laid back... and don't call me that." I complained, even though he couldn't understand me. He just laughed and turned back to the TV.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Even though I could never remember how to read it exactly, my trainer Christopher usually arrived back home when the shorter stick was aiming down and to the right. At the moment it was pointing up and right. Which meant I still had more time than I'd like stuck with those two. Another cry from Thrust gave me enough motivation to fly off for some quiet.
Chris almost never kept me in a pokeball, so when nobody was home I usually flew around town for something to do. Unfortunately, there was a bit of chaos which resulted in my excursions being discovered. From that point on, I either had to be in the boring little ball more often or keep something on to prevent me from being mistaken for a wild Pokemon. The good part was Chris never considered the pokeball option, the bad was that now I had to wear a "cute" yellow ribbon around my neck. Sure it kept people from attacking or trying to catch me, but it also meant I could be identified when I was noticed doing things I probably shouldn't have been. Helping myself to the neighbor's berry garden, for example.
I was perching on the fence, eyeing the small patch of cheri berries and wondering if the beast next door was watching for me as it usually did. The place quiet enough. No movement from the windows, no sound from the house... it looked like the woman that lived there had gone out. If so, the little beast she kept on lookout for me was probably gone too. Sure, it might not have been a fire-breathing menace like Risp, but it still worried me.
Gliding into the yard silently, I landed so the plants were between me and the house. Once there I listened for any sign that someone had seen me. A few seconds of silence later and satisfied that I was safe for the moment, I stretched my neck out to eat one of the berries... only to get a beakful of fuzz as the blue beast lunged from the bush and tackled me to the ground. Feeling both of my wings pinned by its front legs and my body held down by the rest of it, I didn't try to fight back. Last time I did I just ended up sore and poisoned in addition to being held down.
"How many times to I have to tell you? Stealing the berries Tanya planted for me is a very bad idea." It said. "Though it does give me an excuse to jump you, and that's always fun."
"Yeah, it's thrilling." I said, not skimping on the sarcasm. "Are you going to call her now and get me in trouble or what?"
"Normally I would, but she went out a little while ago. I'll just have to keep you here until she gets back. Which will be about..." The weight on my chest shifted a bit as the little blue demon thought about how long I'd be stuck like this. "...two hours, maybe?"
"What?!" I squawked, whipping my head down to look at her. The little Nidoran just smiled and playfully bumped her head against the end of my beak.
"That's right, Harold. Unless you promise to stop stealing my berries, you're stuck with me sitting on you until my trainer gets home. I win either way."
I let my head drop back onto the ground and sighed. "I hate you so much, Rina."
"Then why do you let me catch you all the time?" She asked in a tone that might have been implying that I actually enjoyed her tackling me to the ground. If so, she was as nuts as Thrust.
"You're sneaky, that's how you constantly catch me. I only came here because I thought you and Tanya were out." I explained. "How was I supposed to know you were hiding in the bushes?"
Before she could answer, Risp let out a yelp. "Harold! Don't just drop out of the sky on me like that!"
I blinked, wondering what the Growlithe was talking about when Rina suddenly buried her face in my chest, I glanced down and resisted the urge to knock her off. "What are you-"
She pulled her head back up and sneezed. All over me. Lovely. "No, you're definitely Harold." She sniffed. "No mistaking that scent."
"I could have told you that."
"Then who-"
"Harold?" Risp said, getting her attention. "Why do you smell like... and this..." Panic grew in his tone as he went on. "Amos! Get out here!"
I heard the backdoor open and Amos' voice shortly after that. "Risp what are you howling a... Harold?! Risp, what happened here?!"
"Don't look at me! He just landed on my head!"
Rina quickly jumped off me and I rolled onto my feet, flying to the top of the fence to see what was happening. When I got there, I saw Amos, Risp and Thrust gathered around a Spearow that was laying on the ground. Its feathers had been stained red in places and it wasn't moving at all. It didn't take an expert to know the bird was dead, but Thrust pointed it out anyway. I should have said something straight away to let them know it wasn't me, but I was too fixated on the corpse to speak... or rather, on what it was wearing. A yellow ribbon around its neck. Much like my own.
"Harold, what's going on over there?" Rina asked, but the question didn't really register. I was too confused about why someone would do this.
Thrust was the first to notice me on the fence and hurried over, followed shortly by Risp and Amos. I'm not really clear on what happened from there. My mind was such a blur I don't even remember how I got back into the house. Resting on the arm of the couch by Amos, I heard him muttering on about how someone had a sick sense of humor.
I didn't believe it though. Something told me that it was more than just a joke. A threat maybe, or a warning. I just wondered who it was supposed to be aimed at. Chris might have been nice, but he didn't have many friends. Not to mention I had seen how cruel immature humans could get during a few of my trips around town. Thrust had attacked, and in a few cases killed, more than his share of other Pokemon. It wasn't much of a stretch to think he'd pissed off someone that held a grudge. Actually, I was on the receiving end of some angry looks myself. It was a Spearow, after all, maybe they chose that specifically to scare me. If they did, it worked.
Of course, regardless of who the target was, I was sure of one thing. Whoever did it was even more twisted than Thrust.