Bloody Roar
"Thats amazing my cloths are almost dry!"
Atton smiled as his Pokémon clasped towards Konan and slowly warmed her, letting all of her wet attire wither. Atton petted Veil softly as he saw her get comfortable; neighing quietly to show affection. It was amazingly soothing to have the warm Pokémon next to him in such a cold weather. Any droplet of rain that dared to go near Atton or Konan n would be almost immediately evaporated by the high temperature of a fiery mane. Atton was just letting himself relax as the rain passed; but his meditation was abruptly interrupted when another anthropomorph; one he hadn't noticed, came up to them with quite unkind words to say.
"Well isn't that cute… Or more like pathetic. You two cats might wanna roll up and get some cat nip to calm those nerves."
The words made Atton's cheek turn burning red; the arteries in his arms became stressed, his fists closed for a punch almost instinctively. He stood up abruptly with a cold and deadly sight and growled angrily at the complete stranger that had just come up to them. Who did he think he was to approach and just say that? Yes; the lion boy was pro-peace, but he wasn't taking this lightly. It's not like they deserved to be insulted; especially, according to Atton, by pretty much a nobody.
"Hah; excuse me? You better take that back before I…"
Atton couldn't even finish talking before Konan stood up as well and raised her voice louder than Atton's. She had an angry look on her face; and it seemed that the fatigue she had been being a victim of suddenly vanished into thick air.
"EXCUSE ME?! What the hell did you say?! You no good, son of a...Son of a.... BISCUIT EATER!!"
With these words; Konan violently let her open palm slap the man on the face. Critical hit; super-effective. . "You dare come here and say that, without good knowledge. Look you're in my place of work, which puts me as the boss since all my colleagues have left, now either shut the hell up or get your ass out of the cafe!" Then, the Neko grabbed the man by the shirt and abruptly threw him out of the building; into the pouring rain. "Jackass…"
"Wow" Atton murmured quietly to himself as he stared repeated in his mind the scene that had just occurred. "Well, Konan... That... I mean… You..." There, he lost it. He started burst out in a very loud laughter; finding it marvelously humorously that she had used the noun Biscuit eater as an insult and the fact that she got all mean to the 'jackass' just after being tired. His laughing, one that was mixed with delicate allusions of roaring, echoed all over the petite edifice, over and over, but he became quiet when Konan walked backed to them and said something mostly to herself.
"I need something to drink..."
Konan immediately headed to the kitchen of the café; who's lights now sparkled on and off repeatedly, and spent a while there getting herself a hot drink. Atton, now feeling a bit relaxed that Konan was back to her normal mood and she wasn't going to slit his throat, sat back on the small couch and got comfortable. He had to turn around, though, when he heard a familiar voice talk to him. In a piece of broken glass in the floor, he could see himself again. The bestial form reflection he had seen on the window was now on the glass.
-"It's your time to leave; she won't notice. Listen to me, Atton…"
-"Dammit, shut up. How come you think in a different way that I do? I mean, you're me, after all."
-"No… Oh, no. I'm a different person. My name is Gado. I live inside you. I…"
-"Yeah right, whatever; just be quiet."
The reflection disappeared from the piece of debris and Konan walked back to Atton, handing him a cup of hot chocolate. Atton stared at the drink for a couple of moments, just delightfully imagining how good he would feel after he drank the whole cup. The weather, which was chilling more and more, would feel like nothing once the beverage ran down his throat. He stared up at Konan as his eyes sparkled and joy, and with loads of emotion he said: "Thank you".
"Here you got Atton.. I mix milk with my cocoa, I don't know if you would like milk with yours, but I do cause well I just do, I wasn't sure if you would like I, but it's worth a try right. I've always liked milk in my hot chocolate, Heh, like in those movies I guess. The cat always likes milk! Go ahead, drink up!"
"And I can see why. This tastes delicious! Thanks again."
It literally took Atton just a few seconds to completely gulf the cocoa down; and once he was done, he gently put the cup in a table and put his hands behind his back, smiling and purring like a very happy cat. Man, had that made him feel good. He felt completely refreshed; and nearly ready to start a new day. He had completely lost the sense of time by now. Because of the dark sky, the rain, the flash outs and a bunch of other factors, he didn't at all know if it was still morning, evening or night. But he didn't care, really. He felt exceptionally tranquil and merry. He stared at Konan while they smiled at each other before she told something. "So, so Atton what made you come to Pallet town in the first place?"
"Ahh, haven't I told you yet?" Atton said as he scratched his head and lifted a brow. Oh, right! He had yet to tell her bout the lights! Everything that had happened in such a short trance had thrown him out of his senses; but now, it was a perfect time to speak. "Well, I came here when I…"
There, Atton was interrupted. Through the peripherals of his right eye, he could see a shady figure darting towards the café; then disappearing in thin air. It was a really weird image, and just having watched it made the Leo shiver and have goose bumps.
"Atton...evacuate everyone..
It seemed like Konan had too spotted the figure. "Konan, did you see that? It was like…"
"RUUUN!"
The windows shattered violently, billions of glass pieces falling down to the ground. "What the hell is going on!" Atton yelled before the black figure jumped into the café from a broken window frame. The creature gave Atton shills. It stood on four skinny limbs and growled angrily, resembling a nasty dog. Its long fangs and mace-like tails made everyone inside the café run like madmen out through the doors and windows.
"Atton get everyone out of here!"
"But everybody has left already! We gotta go! Come!"
Atton grabbed Konan's wrist and tried to pull her out of the café with him. He had not even the smallest intention of fighting that black beast; so running was the best thing to do. But he couldn't do so. He couldn't because Konan was grabbed by the neck by what appeared to be a woman, and this fragile looking female pulled Konan away from him like Atton wasn't even applying any strength. "Ones better then none, lets report to boss."
"No! Konan!" Atton yelped as he pounced at the woman, trying to grab Konan; but the female and the female and the beast disappeared before he could even get close. Atton landed on the ground and stared around, confused; wondering what had happened. What had those things been. And why did they take Konan? It wasn't going to take long before he could find answers, though; because moments later 10 hellspawns appeared around the café; surrounding the few anthropomorphs inside. Above them, the female appeared. "Veil…" Atton warned. "Make sure no one comes into the café." Veil neighed and nodded and ran out.
"Heh, your little friend is no longer with us, or so you anthropomorphs would say it."
"Who are you?!" Atton yelled loudly as he stared angrily at the female, ignoring the hellhounds around him. If they did something stupid, the other anthropomorphs would probably interfere. Not directly to save him, but to kick some black dog butt.
With this, the floating female pulled out some sort of sphere out of somewhere. The sphere sparkled with a very luminous light, effect that soon hypnotized Atton. Inside the sphere, the light formed Konan's silhouette, and it showed her thrown somewhere around trees. Atton opened his mouth in awe; fearing that the worst might have happened to his friend. "What did you do her?! I promise I'll hurt you if…"
"You see this? This is what your friends SOUL looks like. You, lion-boy. You were the first person that girl met other then Hinata, I don't blame her… You are actually quite cute."
Atton ignored the compliment and stared angrily at the woman, who slowly approached to pet his chin. Once she was close enough, he threw his fist at her face, but the woman vanished and appeared again up in the sky. "You stole her soul?! My God! How'd you do that?! Who are you?! Where's Konan."
"I haven't seen a lion boy in quite awhile, I wonder if you can find your little friend. I'm sure she's stumbling around in the forest somewhere. How should I know? Ta-Ta for now. I'd advice finding your friend before she falls off a cliff...Heh!"
The woman disappeared and the hellspawns stroke. Atton stared around and saw how the hellspawns threw the first attacks to the other anthropomorphs. He, naturally, would've helped; but he was still in shock after seeing and hearing what had happened to Konan. He just wanted to run out to find her, but it wasn't going to be so easy. Deciding to let the others take care of the hounds, Atton hurried to the exit. He was stopped when just one of the black beasts stood in front of him and prepared to attack. That was when Atton's world closed. Everything around shut down for him as it came down to Hellspawn versus Leo. The two stared at each other his hate in their eyes as the waited for the other to make a move. The hound decided to strike first by relentlessly launching itself with a bite. Atton reacted as soon as possible to take the empty cup of cocoa he had drunk from a while ago and slamming it against the dog's face. The cup shattered at contact, for Atton had done this with all of his strength. The hound gave a few steps back and staggered a bit, but he soon stood up like he had just been with a rubber ball. That was Atton's strongest blow; and he was sure it was strong enough like to knock out or kill any Earthly being. But that was the problem. The dog shook its head and then stared at Atton again, preparing for a second attack. It was just there when Gado spoke to Atton from a shard of glass in the ground.
-"C'mon Atton, let me in! I'll help you, I promise! You're not doing this alone! Activate beast drive! Let me in!!!"
"Fine, Fine!" Atton yelled. Soon, Gado smirked and disappeared from the glass. Atton started to feel a very powerful presence enter him; and immediately he started morphing. His fangs grew very noticeably, and his hair changed to a darker color and grew to be a scruffy mane. Atton's eyes turned gray and his nails turned into claws. Soon, there was no Atton. Gado had taken over. Now that he was in; Atton looked more like a lion than like a human. "Bring it on, jerk" Atton teased.
The dog, not noticing the abrupt change, threw himself at Gado again, but now; he was greeted with a less than pleasant surprise. Gado smiled and grabbed the animal's jaw with his two hands. The teeth punctured into his hands, which started bleeding, but he ignored it. The hellhound then couldn't get free of Gado's grasp, who was applying more and more strength to the jaw. "Who's winning now, eh? Let's see how you can bite after this!!!"
Snap. Gado broke the hound's jaw by quickly separating the upper jaw from the lower jaw by breaking the bones of the snout and ripping apart the flesh around them. A very violent move, indeed. The hound's lower jaw swung around like it had just been attached to the face with cheap glue, and the dog started to cry and whine loudly before throwing itself to the ground because of the pain. "Aww, poor dog. You make me sick."
Gado walked over to the dog and kicked the jaw with his combat boots, making the dog cry even more. The lower jaw had been ripped apart and kicked out of the café; making the dog bleeds some sort of black goo. Then, Gado crushed the animal's hind legs with his right foot, making it howl like it had just been shot. "Die." Gado bent down to pick up the glass he was one reflected upon and stabbed the animals head with it, right through the ear. The crying stopped; and so did the thing's heartbeats. Gado smirked, letting out a loud roar before calming down and letting Atton take over again. ~My work here is done… Now you go do whatever you want. I don't care.~
Atton, now back to consciousness, ran out of the café, making sure that the others were fighting the hounds. "Veil!" he yelled as his Ponyta came over to him and he mounted her. "Let's go! To the woods! We gotta find Konan! Run, girl! Run, Run, Run!"
The Leo and his Ponyta ran as quickly as the equine being's legs allowed her to; and in a matter of minutes, the two where inside Viridian's forest deepest areas. It had been a short road, yet it seemed like an eternity to Atton. He never looked back even once; not caring if anyone followed or not. He just needed to get there. Once there, he prayed that that woman hadn't fooled him. She did mention a forest, right? This was the first thing that came to Atton's mind; so he had to search there. For a while, he completely ignored the quest for the lights. Chances were he had skipped the first light already, but he didn't care. All he really wanted was to find his aching friend. Atton closed his eyes, hoping to hear anything out of normal. As a cat, he had a sharp hearing sense; and his ears would twitch anytime something called his attention. It took him a minute or two of just standing there, listening, before he heard something. "Warmth-warmth-warmth-warmth-warmth-warmth-warmth"
The voice sounded… somewhat familiar. He couldn't really identify; but hey, the person seemed to need help. Atton scratched his head; wondering if he should or not follow, but meh, what could he lose. "Veil… Stay here. Rest for a bit; I know you're tired."
Atton sighed and followed the source of the sound, making sure he didn't turn aside for distractions. It wasn't long before he saw a figure of a humanoid lying dead on a tree. Atton opened his eyes in shock and ran towards her, being almost sure she was Konan. He was surprised when he saw the female did in fact look like Konan; but it was… Very different. It came to his imagination that was what Konan would look like when she died. Or, could it… Oh no.
~No..~ Atton thought to himself as he threw himself next to the female, staring directly into her hollow eyes. The showed no vital signs. None at all. He could see her mouth moving, but she was speaking in such a low volume he couldn't put words together. It all came down to the same, "warmth, warmth"
"'S… Is that you, Konan? Are you Ok?" Atton grabbed Konan's wrist to feel her pulse, but a sharp chill traveled through his body as soon as he touched her. No wonder she whispered the same words over and over; she was cold as an iceberg. "My; what happened to you." Atton said with a frown. The figure looked too much like Konan like not to be her; and he could easily identify her cat ears and tail. Her hair color and eyes did scare him though. How was she going to live without a soul? Or… Was she alive? How could he be sure he wasn't something like a zombie? Anyway, he was willing to take a risk.
"Konan" He mumbled as he removed his jacket; letting the rather cold forest breeze hit his arms and the part of his torso that had no shirt (Because he had ripped it to apply a bandage to the bird anthropomorph earlier). He wrapped Konan with his jacket and picked her up with ease. She weighed nothing, literally. This scared Atton; for once again he doubted her liveliness. He closed his eyes and took a deep, sad breath before walking back to Veil. What was he holding? Was it Konan, or was it Konan's corpse? Konan's skin. Konan's shell. Or, was it even Konan? It didn't matter; because, in any case, he was giving the body the warmth she so much asked.
Once he got to Veil, he sat down on the grass, letting Veil lie down next to him to warm him and the body. With still Konan wrapped around the thick leather jacket and around his arms; he stared up at the tree tops; wondering what to do. Should he go back to the café with the other anthropomorphs to see if anyone knew what to do? Should he search for the female to beat her up and ask for Konan's soul? He was lost; and as he sat there, he thought. He thought. He thought.