literature

Buster's Adventures 4 - Scary Encounter

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“Uh, I'd like three hot dogs, please,” Rocky told the cashier. He slowly made his way back through the swath of hungry people to the outdoors picnic table that Buster and Rose were sitting at.
Buster's mouth watered and his eyes glazed over as he endured the torturous wait for the seasoned meat. As soon as Rocky set down the tray, Buster grabbed a hot dog and took a huge bite.
“Buster! Mind your manners, much? Geez,” Rose commented upon seeing Buster's terrible table manners.
Buster held up a finger as he chewed and swallowed his bite. After he had done so, “Whatever, I'm hungry. You know I don't--”
“Dear Lord...” Rocky and Rose had their eyes closed and were holding hands. They had ignored him and started praying over their food. “...and please help it not to be poisonous to anybody...” Rocky continued, emphasizing the word at Buster. “...and help us to have a great day at the barbeque today. Amen.” Buster quickly closed and reopened his eyes as Rocky and Rose did as if he had been praying with them. Rose gave him a look that said that she knew he hadn't really, but Buster ignored her.
Today the trio had come to a fundraiser barbeque being held for the non-profit company Rocky and Buster's father worked for. It was being held at a local park. There weren't a whole bunch of people here, but when they were all gathered in one place like this (around the food), it sure felt like a bigger crowd.
Buster was getting thirsty, but there were so many people between him and the lemonade... He almost used his power, but quickly decided it wasn't worth the risk. He got up from the table and began making his way towards the refreshment. After having to wait in a short line, he started back towards his table when he heard a girl's voice behind him.
“Excuse me? Mr. blue fox dude?”
Buster spun around. Before him was a teenage, light-gray fox girl, a bit shorter than he was. Her round, blue eyes looked quizzical. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Well, um...” The girl paused for a moment. “This might sound a little weird, but I think I might know you. What's your name?”
Red alarms instantly blared within Buster's mind. He knew it, he knew it, he knew it! His blue fur was unnatural and it stood out. He knew he shouldn't have gone into public!
Quickly he thought of a response. “Well, uh, who do you think I am?”
The girl pouted a bit at having her question thrown back at her... or, wait. Was she actually smiling? “I think you might be a certain special someone...” she replied with a quick flick of her small, curved ears. She tucked her arms behind her back and lowered her eyes with a wicked-looking grin.
Buster blushed. “Wh-What do you mean, 'special someone'?”
“I've only ever heard rumors, but everyone at my school knows about the Blue Drop,” she said. “They say he flooded the entire campus of his school using his super powers!” The girl leaned closer, lowering her eyes more disturbingly. “Cool, right?”
Buster was clearly shaken by the girl's directness. He tried not to show it. “What this 'Blue Drop'? I've never heard of it. Some guy who skydives a lot or something? Listen, I gotta get back to my folks...” He began walking away as quickly as he could through the crowd, but the girl easily followed him.
“No silly, like a drop of water. They say he could bend water to his will! Like... a water bender! Maybe he's the avatar...”
“Er... that's crazy talk... nobody can do that.” He didn't sound too convincing. It had been a long time since he had lied. But he felt as if he needed to.
“But he did! What, you think it was an earthquake or something that ripped the pipes out of the ground?”
Memories flashed by in Buster's mind, repressed ones that stole him from reality for a few moments. “The interrogation's over,” he said forcefully, turning towards her. “Leave me alone!”
“Buster? What's up?” Rose said from the table behind him, sounding worried. Buster spun to look at her with a look of horror.
The girl slowly grinned. “I knew it was you, Buster...” she said equally slowly.
Rocky was the first to catch onto the situation. “Aw, crap...” he muttered silently.

“So, what's your name?”
Rose and the girl had hit it off. Rocky and Buster sat side-by-side, Buster only slightly more pale in comparison. They exchanged a look of discomfort as Rose spoke to the girl.
“My name's Ai, she replied. “Not as in, 'You and I', though. It's spelled A-I.”
“Ai? I've never heard that one before. What kind of name is it?”
“Japanese,” she said. “The dude who married my aunt was Japanese, but he died in a car accident soon after he married her. I guess my parents decided to give me a Japanese name in honor of him.”
“Oh, I see. I'm sorry.”
“Whatever,” Ai said with a smile.
“So, what does it mean? If you don't mind, that is.”
Ai let out an awkward laugh. “It's... a bit embarrassing...”
“That's alright! Nobody's forcing you,” Rose said quickly. “So how do you know Buster? I mean, I guess you must be old friends since he was living in the woods and all.”
Buster gave Rocky a look that only a brother could understand. DO. SOMETHING. ROCKY!!!
Rocky looked at Buster in kind. Th-There's nothing I can do, man...
“Whoa, living in the woods, huh? I had no idea...” Ai gave Buster another maniacal grin. His face flushed up immediately.
“You didn't know? He was there for two whole years! Right, Buster?”
He gave Rose an obvious cautionary look. SHUT. UP!!!
Somehow, Rose took the look as an affirmative to her question, smiled, and nodded at Ai.
“Yeah... sounds about right.” Ai replied. Buster's heart felt as if it was about to explode. Oh, come on! Now would be perfect timing if he were to just faint right now! He had to get out of this. No matter what she seemed to know, he just had to keep denying it. It didn't matter what she thought he was if she had no proof. For all she knew, he had dyed his fur. He felt a bead of sweat roll down his back. He quickly sucked it back in using his power. He had to at least try not to look nervous.
“Say, Buster,” Ai said suddenly, “who's the dude next to ya?”
“I-I'm Rocky,” said the suddenly surprised dude next to him.
“Believe it or not, these two are actually brothers,” Rose explained.
“For the love--” Buster cut himself off. What did he have to do to shut... her... UP!?
“Oh, really?” Ai sighed and leaned back, stretching her arms above her. “Sure is hot today. You look pretty sweaty, Rocky.”
Buster started to feel relieved. She had seemingly changed the subject... Gulp. There was that lowered-eyes grin again.
“But, Buster... you look dry as the desert. Guess you don't sweat easily... heehee.”
Rose looked at the sky looking slightly confused. “Hmm, I didn't think it was that hot today, but... Rocky, you do look pretty sweaty. Are you feeling alright?”
Buster chimed in, maybe a bit too quickly. “You know, yeah, you've seemed a bit out of it today. Maybe you guys should... go home early.”
Rocky stared surprised at Buster for a few seconds. But the glint in his eye showed that he had understood his brother. He had to get Rose away from here!
“Uh, Rocky?”
“O-Oh! Yeah. You know, I have been feeling kind of off all day. I think we should go.”
“Okay. Want me to drive, babe?”
“Naw, I-- Yipe!” Rocky yelped in surprise as Buster's foot drove into his heel. “Er, actually, I think that might be a good idea...” He handed the car keys to Rose. He gave Buster another quick look. You didn't have to hit me THAT hard!
Buster gave Rocky a look. I really don't care about that right now, sorry!
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Ai! Have fun with Buster!” Rose called as the duo left the park. Rocky shot one final glance towards Buster. Good luck!
Buster and Ai sat staring at each other for a few moments. Ai smiling with her eyes lowered, resting on her palms, Buster sitting straight and stiff. He was glad he finally had a moment to think a bit.
He began to get up. “Actually, they were my ride, too, so...”
“Where do you think you're going, Blue?” Somehow she had caught him by the shoulder. She pushed him down into the seat.
“What are you doing!? Why won't you go away~!”
“I'm not letting you escape until you show me your powers!”
“Like I said, you're crazy! I don't have any special powers! Quit your adolescent delusions of grandeur!”
“No way. I can sense it! You have powers! I know, because I have powers, too!”
“Wait... what? You have powers?”
“Yeah! Watch this!” Ai deftly pulled out a laser pointer and slipped it between her left index and middle fingers. She then pointed her fingers and laser at Buster, yelled, “Special Beam Cannon,” and pressed the button on the laser pointer with her thumb while making a buzzing sound, which was quickly cut off when she accidentally dropped the laser pointer because she had pushed too hard on the button.
“...Uhm...” Buster said, narrowing his eyes at the strange girl.
“W-Well, I wasn't planning to kill you anyway! I'll let you live this time! But be careful, because once I start my attack, I don't know my own power! I just might... kill you by accident! But if the stories I heard are true, then you're way strong! You won't have to worry about-- Ouch!” Buster had whacked the girl on the head.
“Yeah, you're delusional. Even if I admitted having powers to you, I don't think it would matter. Nobody would believe you anyway.”
“But they would have to once you showed them your power! Ouch,” Buster had whacked her again. “Stop that!!”
“And why would I do that? Who said I would want my power exposed to the world? I still don't have any, mind you.”
“But it's so cool! It would be totally awesome to do whatever you wanted with water like that! Why would you want to hide a cool power like that?”
Buster almost started yelling to her about the fallacy of that statement. His power was cool? More like dangerous. He hid it for a reason, after all. This girl obviously didn't know the full truth behind the matter at school that day. He hadn't done it to show off. He had wanted to forget all about it. That's why he had gone into the woods to begin with. Now that he had come back, he had hoped people had forgotten about him, but instead he seemed to have become some sort of a legend.
“...Blue?”
“Don't call me that.” Buster looked up. “I don't want to hear any more about it. I'm not as cool as you think I am... And,” he gestured towards the laser pointer, “aren't you a bit old for that kinda stuff?”
“Whatever.” Ai replied as she leaned back with a smile. “It's fun.”
The two stared at each other for another long while. Ai finally broke the silence.
“Well it's a shame, but I have to go now. My parents will be looking for me.” She got up and started walking away. Partway she stopped and turned back towards Buster. “I'll see you again... Blue Drop.” She winked and flipped her short, frilled skirt at him and she turned away for the last time. Buster quickly grabbed for a napkin as he realized his nose was bleeding.
Please note that some formatting has been lost due to deviantART not being friendly towards writers. If you don't mind the way it's presented using dA's options, great! If you would like to see the original text with formatting intact, please read the story on my FictionPress account here: www.fictionpress.com/s/3096464…

Author's Notes!:

I made a new character. She wasn't supposed to cause so much mischief. I deeply apologize.
I'm sure some of you are wondering, and yes, Ai really is a real Japanese name, and, as I understand it, it translates to “love”, the romantic kind to be specific. I don't know if it takes on some other sort of meaning when used as a name, but I thought it was cute anyway, so I went with it. :3
I was surprised at how things just perfectly fell into place this chapter. As I created Ai's character, I thought of a few things that might have gone on in her past. As I did this, I thought about her age and where she would have been as far as her grade in school (I guess there's no reason to hide this; She's sixteen). Two years ago, when Buster wrecked his school, she would have been a freshman in high school. And of course, after an event like that, there was no doubt that rumors would spread quickly on a high school campus. Obviously people would know about the kid who supposedly controlled water, and he was easily recognizable by his blue fur after all. It would all sound crazy normally, though. I mean, a fox with blue fur who could control water at will? Whateeever. So I guess you could say he kind of became one of those local legends on campus, so to speak. I mean, it's a fact that the school was flooded with pipes ripped out of the ground and everything. It stands to reason that kids would talk about it.
So on top of Ai having heard the rumors, Rose, who also does not yet know of Buster's power, goes and unknowingly confirms a few too many things about Buster to Ai, pretty much setting in concrete the idea that Buster is this “Blue Drop” in her mind. But it might be okay, because she might be delusional... But then, she might also not be. It's hard to tell. I wonder what ever could come from this... >:)
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waveguidemarshtomp's avatar
Haha, that was fun!  :D  Rose obliviously feeding information to some mischievous girl about the mysterious and legendary Blue Drop.  The chapter really went smoothly.  And judging from the nose bleed, could this be a possible love interest?  =P