Post by BlacKitten on Aug 9, 2016 9:52:39 GMT -5
“He’s bounty hunting for fun,” she answered. “Don’t worry! We’re not in any desperate need for money. Pluto has caught bounties before, so we’re very well off.”
Dan had then later offered joining her after changing out of his costume, curious to hear the stories of what the siblings had been up to so far.
“Sure!” The little girl nodded affirmatively, “I don’t mind at all.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Pluto brushed off the topic on his method of entrance. As soon as he could, the boy walked away nervously. His heart sank upon hearing the footsteps from behind, each beat becoming more distinctive the previous one. It could just be that she was just heading in the same direction as him by coincidence. For now, his main concern was finding either Maru or Mari Sue. He had business to handle for either of those two that were present on this island. Since the panda was the most recent target that was spotted, he must be close by. The girl seemed to have seen the bear crashing through the window. She was a witness, so she may know something relevant.
His body tensed up. Asking her for information involved speaking. He hated getting help from others quite frankly; he wanted to figure things out on his own. However, there were no further leads to guide him, and he was having some difficulty focusing when there was this constant sensation of someone inches behind him.
Halting abruptly, he felt the girl bumping into his him from behind.
Well, if she’s here, I might as well make her useful.
“Do you…,” he turned his head around to gaze her cowering behind him with those timid-looking eyes turning left and right as if something would pop out at any moment.
Uh… is she afraid of something that isn’t me?
“Hm?” Her head perked up curiously upon hearing him starting to speak.
“Do you know where the panda you saw before went?” He asked.
“Hmm? Oh!” The girl closed eyes shut, appearing calmer. There was a lack of motion, and she wasn’t shivering anymore. “I can’t sense him. He must be far away,” she reopened her eyes.
Huh… sense him? What does she mean by that? What… does she have a panda-radar installed in her head?
“Um… so exactly how far away are we talking about here? Ten meters? A hundred meters?” Pluto wasn’t sure if her reply was supposed to be a joke or not. He couldn’t sense Maru either as far as the eyes could tell.
“Eh!? Uh… um…,” She gave a frantically concerned look as if too afraid to give a wrong answer. “S-sorry…, my haki isn’t very good, and I’m not good at judging distance like that.”
Haki? What’s that? Well… whatever… it seems the panda is somewhere far away.
“Alright! Let me know when you sense him again,” the boy proceeded to walk away again.
“Yes! Of course!” She nodded with a smile before following from behind.
Oh…, I just gave a reason to follow me, didn’t I? Darn…, I am not thinking straight today. Shoot, how do I get rid of her?
There was a feeling of nostalgia from all of this, a feeling that he ignored for now. This was no time to dawdle. Down a flight of stairs, the two of them went. Through one of the doors, they entered to check out. It was pitch-black inside, but that was an exaggeration. It was only truly pitch-black when the door behind them closed shut where no source of light could be detected.
Suddenly, a forceful yank of his arm caused Pluto to flinch, only being able to identify the potential threat by the frightened shivering on his limb.
Darkness is my natural environment but… I need to transform in order to use echolocation. Otherwise, I’m blind.
Sudden, a pair of glowing green skulls appeared in front of him without warning, seemingly to levitate in midair as they wobbled side to side. Their jaws opened and closed, sounding out chattering teeth in the air.
Oh! I can see myself again. ARUGH!
His entire body lurched to the side as his grabbed arm was yanked in further into the girl’s grasp.
I-is she okay?
She then transitioned to cowering behind him with her face buried into his back.
“Mm?” Pluto transitioned his gaze towards the two dangling skulls before looking back at the girl. “A-are you afraid of the skulls?” He could feel the nod rubbing against the surface of his vest.
Hmm… exactly how did I end up in this dilemma in the first place?