O12: Cat and Mouse

NOTES:
--For some reason, I had the idea to write this after something Chezza posted XD
--I didn't say their names for most of this, to give it a mysterious feeling.
--Sorry if I mistaken 'leaf' for 'leave', caught myself doing that the entire time x.x

~Cat and Mouse~

The leaves fell gently around his form, dotting his appearance. Colors such as oranges and reds blended perfectly on the floor, covering the lengthy patches of grass crushed by his boots. His hands curled into fists and his body stiffened, a hiss escaping his throat.

Effortless, he reached out and snatched up a green leaf twirling to the ground, and brought it close to his face. It had not been plagued yet by the autumn season, still a healthy green color with undamaged parts. For some reason, this intrigued him as he spun it with his forefinger and thumb.

A memory penetrated his mind, making him stop playing with the leaf. His grip tightened on it’s stem, but did not crush it. Instead he let the memory reel.

*****

“Why is all these, things falling to the ground?” a red head looked to the large tree, blinking his eye. He attempted to grab the falling objects, but failing to touch a single one. It was as if it was raining orange and red.

The girl giggled at his amusing actions. She brushed her raven black hair, shivering slightly. As she zippered up her heavy red jacket, she answered, “It’s Fall. Those things - called leaves - start falling off the tree during this time, and they don’t come back all throughout Winter--”

“They disappear?!” he froze and gasped, looking at the leaves dotting the garden. “That’s not right! Shouldn’t we help them?!” immediately he bent down and started scooping them into his arms, making the girl run up to him and grab his arms. She shook him slightly, making sure he was paying attention to her.

“No! They come back! They’ll come back in the Spring, but this time they’ll be a very pretty green, and beautiful flowers will bloom with them.”

“They won’t be gone forever?” the boy dropped his bundle of leaves, watching them fall to the ground.

“Of course not silly!” she laughed, looking at his jacket. A frown formed on her lips as she pulled it gently. “You need to button up, will all the problems you have, you don’t need to be getting sick.”

“Hey!” he smacked her hands away when she attempted to button up his jacket for him. “I’m fine anyway, and I don’t have problems.”

“You’re dyslexic, half blind, crippled, need I go on?” she raised an eyebrow, her arms crossing across her chest. She leaned on one leg, attempting to put it even farther.

He rolled his good eye, smirking. “Fine, button them for me. But I’ll learn eventually!”

*****

The older red head smirked, starting to walk forward, still holding the leaf tightly. That memory wasn’t such a bad one actually. It could’ve been a whole lot worse, but it wasn’t, and that’s the point. He didn’t realize that he was heading into the bustling town, full of loud and boisterous people.

His cane cracked with every step, but he did not worry of it breaking. It was ‘Ole’ Reliable’, and he called it, his cane was used as a weapon, or an assistance to his disabilities. He found himself gripping it tighter and tighter as he passed a few buildings, one he remembered.

The birthplace of his cane.

Which, really wasn’t all that interesting to most people. But what was humorous was the fact of what it actually was. His old friends mocked him, but he did not care. A decent memory was incased in that place.

*****

“Why can’t you be a normal cripple and get a cane from a, oh, I don’t know, a medical store?!” the girl snapped at him, rolling her eyes at all the ‘things’ staring at her. Animal skins, deer heads, and strange things in jars seemed to be fixated at her being.

“Because partner, I’m a Southerner. Us Southerners like cool things.” her boyfriend grinned at her, a Texas hat now planted on his head. “And mostly ‘cause I dunno where one is.”

“Yeah, well I do.” she leaned against the wall, no longer interested in what he was doing. “What kind of store is this?”

“Dunno. But they got sweet merchandise.” he smirked, looking at the small bucket of canes by the cashier. He smiled at the young man and helped him pick out a cane for him. His girlfriend didn’t even bother to look at him.

“How about this one?” the overweight employee showed him a long wooden cane, good for his height, with a beautiful wood carving of a Wolf head as the handle. “Just came in yesterday. Hand crafted, don’t look bad eh? From your built, a strong animal like this would symbolize you well.”

He immediately grinned, causing Sue to roll her eyes again and give a quick chuckle. “Ay, you have no idea there.”

*****

The adult stopped. Why was he remembering all these? Obviously he knew, but didn’t dare want to admit it. It was getting late, time to be heading home. His family would worry, but he no longer cared for them. He lost the meaning to.

The leaf still lay on his palm as he limped along. Even though he couldn’t see it, it still scented of Maple and Pine. From where he was, the smell of the horrible food served at Wu’s Garden was around his nostrils it seemed.

Suddenly he froze, his nose in the air. It still reeked.

Of her.

*****

“This is where we end it all.” her brother pursed his lips as he looked at everyone down the alley. “This is where Kong Li goes down!”

They all grinned, and whispered to each other about the plan. What could go wrong? It was fool proof, right? The male red head wasn’t so sure. His hand gripped the wolf head of his cane tightly, still surprised he was allowed to go. It felt weird, he felt like Kong Li with his dragon staff. Did a dragon resemble him? But he didn’t spew fire.

She suddenly grabbed his sleeve, looking at him. “This is it.” she whispered. “Are you ready?”

“I should be asking ya’ll that.” he murmured. “You, your bro, and that other one ‘upposed to be knocking the old man down, not some crippled wolf, ya know?”

“But, we need you all.” she kept going. “We just deal the final blow.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because, I…” she paused, then said, “lets just go.”

The young male shrugged, then lifted his head to listen to the footsteps of everyone running. Kong Li was here. And his cousin. Their scents were high in the air. Nearby they were. Without hesitating, he ran right after them into the mob of shape shifters. He would fight until the end for his family.

The shape shifters were easy to knock out, with only one blow they ‘exploded’. “Hey Kong Loser!” his white-and-black haired friend called out to the enemy. “Didn’t find enough of your earwax to make strong soldiers?”

He hooted with laughter as he used his cane as a weapon, not ready to rely on his evil side yet. He truly hated that at times he had to use that side of him in emergencies. There were very few good memories about that side of him.

“Sue, Sid, and Tobey are going towards Kong Li and Jake!” the other red head, the female, yelled at the male, making him stand up straight.

“NO!” he suddenly screamed, running towards them. “He has a--”

Everyone froze as a gun sounded, followed by a pained whimper and a body hitting concrete.

“--gun.” he whispered, sliding down next to the body. The smell of her blood, he recognized it from when they met. But, there seemed to be more, making her lose heat. “Aw no, stay with me!”

But her respirations were slowing. Her eyes opened half lidded as she stared at him, seemingly forgetting who he was, before smiling slightly. “You don’t need me anymore.”

“That’s a lie, and you know it!”

She shut her eyes and winced. “I taught you enough. You can survive on your own now.”

“No! I need you! We’ll just close up your wound, you’ll be ok . . .” he mumbled, taking off his jacket, balling it up, and pressing it firmly to her chest. But she did not react, except place a bloody hand on his.

“I’m going to die.”

“No you’re not!”

“It’s time to let me--” she winced, her head falling on the concrete as she gasped for air. “Time to let me go.”

“But I need you. You’re the only reason I’m still living.”

“You were the reason I was living.” she whispered, having virtually no strength left. “You said that you would die for me, so I lived for you.”

“But…we made plans to grow old!” he wailed.

“I’ll see you again.” she opened her eyes, and there seemed to be the stars of the angels in them. “Just, don’t make sure it’s not before your time. Got it partner? You need to be someone else’s guardian angel.” she winked, before her last breath left her body and her head rolled to the side.

His head shook, staring at her lifeless body. Suddenly he threw his head in the air, and yowled loudly, angst in his scream.

*****

He blinked, shaking away the last of the memory. It seemed so real, so vivid. But, that was years ago. She was dead and gone, so was Kong Li. Everyone was gone, even his cousin. He never felt so alone. He had not noticed that he had crushed the leaf with his hand.

Gary Wolff fell to his knees and cried.

No, Gary. D: *hugs;;*

I like that this was long; I like the way it was written. Switching to the past and back to the present and they way the leaves tied into it all. That was like, super well done!

Is Gary's character different? I mean, he seems like, a lot more Southern than he's been in the past, like when he didn't pronounce the "s" in "supposed". I'm wondering if that was a new thing or if you were just trying that briefly in this particular story.

All in all, well done!

I'm glad you like this! Means alot, I tried very hard on this!

Yeah, I was just attempting to make him a bit more Southern, and adding a cane when he's older with his, messed up legs XD *shot*

An angsty Gary hasn't been written in a while, and I forgot it's fun XD