Clovis wasn't much of a talker. Having been ostracized by he majority of his family, he didn't really have anyone to talk to. So, instead of talking to express his views and opinions, he drew pictures and wrote poems, all of which filled every nook and cranny of the pages in his diary. It was his own private world, a place he never let others look into. And now, here he was, fighting hoof and tail to get his little pocket of reality back from a jerk who decided he wanted to intrude upon his thoughts. And to top it all off, there was quite a crowd watching this scene, some probably wondering who would through the first punch, others probably wondering when a teacher would show up and reprimand them both. Either way, it was not the kind of attention Clovis wanted, but it was always the kind he seemed to get.....
Cherie had her head in her own pocketbook when she came upon the scene. She looked up, frowned, and wrapped the book around the pen she'd been using to doodle in it.
"What's going on?" she asked of one of the kids on the outskirts of the circle gathered around the bully and his victim.
"Alois has a new target, it seems," came the reply.
That made Cherie frown even more deeply. She elbowed and pushed her way through the circle towards the center and paused to take stock of the situation. Alois was a bully -- and that's all there was to it. There was no doubt in her mind that he was planning to humiliate Clovis...in front of the whole world.
And that was just not nice!
"Hey! Give that back to him!"
Janette had only heard her sister shout for something to happen. It was like a fairy god mother moment, Cherie wished for it to happen, and Janette made it so.
Of course, normally, it didn't happen at school, but it sounded personal and or friend related, so Janette was willing to compromise.
Barging through the crowd, the bully, Alois, was about the same size as Janette, so she was willing to stand up to him. Not before she let Megraph out for some freedom. The eight foot snake slithered out of Janette's messenger bag, hissing at students to back off.
"Thank you Megraph. Now, Alois, you know you wanna give it to me, and be a good boy. Good boys get rewards..." She smiled a sarcastic smile, and Alois gave a dumb one back.
"Give me the book Alois. Now." It seemed like Janette was doing a good thing. Then Alois replied, his thick accent coming through.
"I don' fink ya quite realize tha' it's mine." The boy was about to open the book, before Janette kicked it out of his hands, Megraph actually catching the book in it's mouth, while Janette, who was only wearing a short, loose skirt, pinned Alois to the wall with her shoe.
The snake handed the book to Janette, who looked at Cherie.
"Yours?"
Cherie shook her head slightly. "No. It's his." Here, she pointed to Clovis. "I was trying to get it back for him."
And, obviously, things had taken quite the turn!
Xanti was walking down the hall, minding her own business, until she came upon the large group of people. Alois. Her stomach did a flip-flop that was half fear, half pure hatred. Alois was one of the most notorious bullies in school. And Xanti was the most notorious misfit in school. That was not a combination that EVER ended well. She pulled her hood further down over her face, better hiding her snow white hair.
She intended to slip by and keep walking, but she paused as she saw Janette kick the book right out of Alois's hand! The shadow of a smile slid across her face that someone had not only stood up to the bully, but had done it successfully! Which meant that Janette was someone to be avoided too, probably. In any case, she was glad that Cherie had stood up for Clovis. Determined not to draw attention to herself, as Alois was bound to be furious after that kick, she moved to the wall to ease her way past the group and get out of there.
Janette listened as Cherie said it wasn't hers. If it wasn't her little sister's book, it was Janette's until she decided otherwise. She was one of those sorts of people.
"Sorry sis, in that case it's mine now. Megraph: guard." The snake heard the command and immediately circled where Janette was standing, despite the fact that she was still pinning Alois to the wall. It just circled the one foot that was on the floor.
Janette opened the book, flicking through to find if there was anything of interest in the young boy's book, until she felt Alois move from her grasp.
"Megraph: keep." The command sounded ominous and ambiguous, until the snake did the most disgusting thing possible. It swallowed the book whole. The bulge where the book laid sat about 1/3 of the way down Megraph's body from the snake's head. It didn't move to the snake's stomach, indicating it knew that "eat" and "keep" were different commands. It was just training.
"Cherie, if you tell Ma about Megraph, I will burn your stuff." She warned her sister before looking at Alois, who was about ready to fight.
"Megraph: stay." The snake coiled up, raising it's head ever so slightly, while Janette stood, rather calmly in front of the bully.
That crossed the line. Clearly, as pointed out by her sister, it was his journal! And, yet this girl, Janette, decided to keep the journal by letting her pet snake eat it. It made his mind boil in rage. If he could have said anything, he would have spoken his mind. But, since that wasn't the case, he did the next best thing.
Reaching under his shirt, he pulled out his knife. Clovis had never had a good reason for using before, but, in this case, he found a pretty damn good reason. Before anyone in the crowd of students could blink, the knife was flying through the air, sticking into the wall only milimeters from Alois' head....
Cherie's jaw dropped. "Janette!" she gasped out, relief at having her sister backing her up turning quickly into dread. "That isn't yours! Give it back!"
She made a face.
"And I don't care if you burn my stuff!" What did Janette think she was, some princess who cared about the pretty clothes their mother insisted she have? Or the trinkets she had really stopped caring about some time ago? The only stuff she cared about was her journal, which was filled with doodles and was, she felt, a worthy sacrifice. That, and the pistol in her backpack.
But it wasn't really hers to begin with...
"And I don't care about your stupid snake. Give it back, or I'm going to write to our parents and to Braxton and to Redly!" Not that all of them knowing would really do any good, but... "And to everyone else!"
The sight of the knife cut her short, then, and she turned to stare at Clovis, like she had forgotten entirely the boy was there.
Well, that probably wasn't good...
Janette looked at the knife now stuck in the wall and her lip twitched. "Megraph: hold." The snake woke up, coiling round Alois' arm while Janette took the knife out the wall, and walked over to the kid who had thrown it.
"Hey, kid, is there a particular reason you are throwing knives at me you little fuckin' punk?" She grabbed the kid by the back of the head, her lip curled into a snarl. "Here's your stupid knife. I have eight knives already, and if you were trying to piss me off, you did it buddy." She threw the kid down again, throwing the knife between his legs, making land in the floor.
"I think there's a new pecking order." She went and grabbed Alois by the back of the head, kneeing him in the groin. "I'm at the top. And as far as I am concerned, anyone who thinks they have any claim against that, can take it up with me."
She picked Megraph up, and hung the snake over her shoulder.
"Megraph: give." The snake seemed to wretch, and it brought the book back up, rather dry and undamaged. "What's in here... Property of Clovis..." She opened the book, looking through at the language she couldn't understand.
Then she saw a picture and gasped slightly, before grinning, and closing the book.
"Clovis... I hope there aren't any of me or Cherie in here..." Suddenly a small revelation dawned on her.
Why else would my sister defend this guy? Oh. My. God. My sister likes this kid...
Xanti may not want to get involved -- but she was about to be drawn in, whether she wanted to or not. Things were going south very, very fast -- and she liked to think she knew her sister well enough to know that the boy was going to get his butt kicked unless someone intervened.
Most kids would have run to an adult...but Cherie was a Treyburn, and that meant that there were precious few adults she trusted. Especially when she was carrying a solution in her backpack.
"Here," she announced, cornering Xanti and putting her backpack into her arms...and not leaving her any choice but to take it. "Just hold this a sec, okay?" So saying, she practically tore it open and began rifling through it. "Okay, there's that. And that. But where's the pin?" she muttered. Homework, folders, and books alike were being deposited on the ground to either side of the pair. Triumphantly, then, Cherie found what she was looking for.
With her back to Janette and Clovis, they had no hope of seeing what it was, exactly, that the youngest Treyburn was doing. Xanti, however, as well as a few kids around them, would have a clear view as Cherie began to assemble a pistol.
"My brother taught me how to do this when I was 6," she confided to Xanti happily as the last piece of metal clicked into place. She reached back into the knapsack to pull out a handful of balls and black powder, chattering away as though this were the most natural thing in the world. "Of course, this isn't as nice as his..." She winked cheekily. "But what can you expect from a math teacher?"
(OOC: Annnnnnd as soon as Clovis starts to cry (or things get way out of hand), Cherie will post again!)
This wasn't happening. This girl was actually filing through his journal... His world, his thoughts he never wanted people to know about, now laid bare for this girl to see. He didn't even care that he was thrown to the floor; the remark, that simple, snide remark brought a few tears to his eyes. The way the crowd looked at him, the way they stared at him when she let the words fly from her lips... It all was starting to get overwhelming, and yet he couldn't say a word....
"You know, I had a revelation..." Janette threw the book at him, keeping it shut by spinning it midair. "I thought you and my sister had something, but then I noticed."
She set Megraph down on the floor. "Megraph: stay."
"Not once has anyone come to defend you. Not even my sister gave you more than words... I'm the only acting force here, and it was never gonna defend you. You know why?" Janette knelt down next to him, her lip curled into an even worse snarl.
"Cause you are just pathetic. Look at those tears welling up in your eyes. You must feel so alone right now, knowing that even when someone is invading your privacy and reading your little diary, no-one is defending you. You're just an outcast. I'll bet you've always been this way. If you have a watching angel, that angel must be weeping. It must be weeping over just how worthless you really are. And part of me would love to pity you. But you're not even worth that." Janette picked the boy up by the back of the head, and took his knife again.
"You threw this at me. You thought it would be funny. Or perhaps you thought it would scare me? Well, you failed. As I'm sure you always do. And the punishment?" Janette stroked the boy's face, then with the same hand, she let a punch fly at his face.
Amid the cruel, evil words, and the continued beating, there was something deep down in his being, buried deep in his mind that snapped. All the times he wanted to cry, all the times he felt weak, vulnerable... alone.... All those times Clovis had not a friend in the world when he was among company just came crashing down on top of him.
He started crying. His tears stained his silver fur as they traced a path down his face... Then, something else snapped within him...
"P-p-please... S-s-stop....." Came a small whimper from his lips.....
(OOC: I'm just going to put this here. If you want more crying and beating first, feel free not to respond for a couple of posts!)
Cherie's cheerful expression faded at the sound of a fist connecting with a target, followed, soon after, by the sounds of someone in pain. "Thanks for the assist," she murmured to Xanti.
And then it was on.
A loud POP! shattered the scene, silencing the murmurs and cutting the chant of 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' dead. The students, as one, turned to stare at Cherie, who was calmly beginning to reload her weapon. She had fired it deliberately up into the air to draw attention to herself but not to hurt anyone.
"That's enough, Janette." She was obviously channeling their father; there was an uncharacteristic hardness in her voice and an anger in her eyes. Now reloaded, she rested the pistol on her shoulder and glared at her older sister. "Give him his book back and let him go."
The circle around the fighting students was widening and parting as students hurried to get out of the way. People were scared of Janette -- but the gun added a new element to the conflict. "Even if the teachers weren't on their way to help before, I know they are now." After all, you would have to be deaf not to have heard the gunfire. "Or do you think the teachers aren't going to tell our parents about your pet?" Since that seemed to be something she was so concerned with; Cherie herself didn't really care if Janette had a snake! "Your choice. Stay here and get caught or go...and no one has to find out about the snake."
Janette was going for another punch when the gunshot went off, and out of pure fear, she cowered for a second, rising to see Cherie with the gun. Her little sister had a gun. A freaking gun.
"Ch-cherie... Lets just calm the hell down, you put the gun away... We don't need a scene now, do we?" Janette walked calmly towards Cherie, trying to discreetly not comply with what she as her now deranged little sister, placing the book in the back of her skirt's waistband, and dropping Clovis.
"Megraph: come." The snake slithered into the bag, and Janette kept approaching Cherie. "Just give me the gun sis. No need to get anyone hurt now..." Janette looked at the hooded kid behind Cherie, and would now address that girl.
"You gave a Treyburn a gun?! Are you deranged?!"
Clea had heard some kids shouting. So she was going to find an actual teacher... but then she heard a gunshot.
A gunshot.
So she ran into the hallway. Eyes wide, she realized what was happening. Or at least her own perception. The young girl—Cherie—had a gun. And her sister—Janette—had a snake. And then there was this poor boy who was crying. Clea knew Janette was supposed to be trouble, but Cherie? She thought the girl would be smarter than this.
Not knowing what else to do, Clea pulled off her shoes. Nobody seemed to have noticed her yet, but that was soon to change. She threw a shoe at Janette and then her other one at Clea.
And somehow they both missed.
"Stop!" Clea yelled, unsure how to actually enforce it. "Stop, stop, stop! I'm going to have to talk to your parents. And Redly." She knew Redly acted as the fatherly figure of the family. He was the one who came when they started school. "Cherie, I thought you were better than this. Making fun of poor Clovis... for what? His amazing drawings? They're beautiful! And Janette, I heard your snake was forbidden in this school. I will start enforcing that—myself!" Though her words were brave, Clea wasn't the most intimidating person. She knew that... but she hoped they would listen to her anyway.
Clovis wasn't in the mood to be the center of attention. The beating and the verbal assault were more than enough to send him over the edge, the gun and the teacher's assistant just made him feel worse. Without even looking around to see where he was going, he started walking away, then running, crying the whole way... But to where? Where in the school could he go? Ms. Vivien was supposedly out today, and his sister was all the way in La'Marri.... To his knowledge...
((Sorry I'm so late! For some reason I stopped getting emails when there were new posts! D:))
Xanti started as Cherie shoved the backpack into her arms. She froze, standing like a statue as the other girl began to rifle through the bag. Then her discomfort at being forced to engage turned into a mix of disbelief, and sheer admiration for her classmate. Cherie was putting together her gun.
Then, in a whirl of movement that was almost dizzying, Cherie had finished it...and fired it. Aaand suddenly all the attention in the room, hell probably all the attention in the damn building, was focused in Xanti's direction. Dammit, Cherie. Her eyes narrowed, carefully studying the scene. In spite of herself, she almost liked Cherie Treyburn. The girl seemed spirited. Plus (an ENORMOUS plus in Xanti's book), she had actually started a friendly conversation with Xanti...just because! And that was the kind of thing that would earn you points with Xanti Serseri any day. So she kept an eye on Janette, silently vowing to back Cherie up if she needed it. She might be a skinny twig of a thing, but growing up in foster care and being the misfit in a rich kids' school had taught Xanti the basics of kicking butt, if she had to.
"You gave a Treyburn a gun?! Are you deranged?!"
Xanti realized that Janette was speaking to her. But unlike so many of her previous run-ins with the social elite, this time there didn't seem to be taunting involved. Just...disbelief? Did Janette actually not know that her sister carried around firearms on a regular basis?
In a sudden rush of uncharacteristic boldness, she stepped forward to Cherie's side and threw off her hood, revealing the snow white waves that had caused her so much torment over the years, giving her the school-wide reputation of "freak". Beneath her brown contacts, her eyes turned a red so deep that for a split second, her strategically common "brown" eyes seemed to almost gain a reddish tint of their own. Then the hue vanished, so quickly it might never have even been there, and she was staring boldly at Janette with what were once again plain, unextraordinary, mud-brown eyes.
"No, I am not deranged. Nor is this my doing. Although I must say I've met very few people with as many guts as your sister has." This last she said with an admiring tone in Cherie's direction. "But while you're babbling on over there acting like Cherie doesn't know exactly what she's doing, it has not slipped my notice that you still haven't given Clovis his book back. Which, I believe, was the point of the gun...am I right, Cherie?"
(OOC: Yay! Except sad for Clovis. D: Also, Zee, I think some of your post got away from you there...unless Clea is actually supposed to be talking to herself. :P In which case, carry on, carry on!)
All of a sudden, what had had the makings of a serious showdown between the Treyburns positively erupted into action. Cherie blinked dumbly at Clea's entrance, as though she were unsure just what she was supposed to do about the shoes or the threats.
And then, behind Janette, Clovis rose and began to run.
Xanti, fortunately, provided something for the youngest Treyburn to focus on. She shot the other girl a wide, grateful grin. Yes, the book. "If I get the book back, do you think you can get it back to him for me, Xanti?" she asked quietly, eyeing her sister warily.
"Sorry, Clea. If you knew Redly, you'd know he isn't going to care." She lifted the gun off her shoulder and grinned at Janette. "Well, he'll probably be mad I stole my math teacher's gun," she amended, digging herself deeper into the pit. It certainly wouldn't be the first time she was in trouble! Poor Clea.
"Give the book back to him. Might as well do the right thing, now that the Adults are here."
"Cherie. The gun. Give it to me..." Janette realised this had devolved way out of hand. If only her sister hadn't pulled out the gun... She finally got close to her sister, hearing Megraph hissing at Cherie.
"Megraph: no!" Janette realised that the teacher assistant was talking to her as well, and the threat about telling about Megraph was not what Janette needed right now. Not when her 14 year old sister was waving the fluffing gun around.
Lunatic sister. All eyes were on Janette now. Janette needed to get that gun off Cherie and bolt.
It's her fault Janette, if she gets in trouble with Ma and Pa for this, she only has herself to blame... Oh Janette, what is it with you?! You always fall for anything cute, upset, or hot! She scolded herself for doing what she was about to do.
Then she lunged for Cherie, trying to wrestle the gun out of Cherie's hands.
((OOC: Insta-post!))
(OOC: Jumping the queue!)
Cherie looked from Janette to the gun, then back to Janette. "Why?" It wasn't asked with spite; it was asked with genuine curiosity, as if Janette had just asked for a chocolate chip cookie.
And then, suddenly, her sister's hands were wrapping around her hands and the weapon...
...And Cherie saw her chance. Almost as quickly as she let go of the gun, her other hand was reaching for the notebook. Her fingers closed over it and pulled smoothly, and with a twist, she was standing apart from Janette with the notebook tucked behind her back in offering to Xanti. She was hoping the other girl caught on, took the notebook, and went to find its owner.
As for her...well, she was a Treyburn. Trouble was in her blood.
"What were you thinking?" she demanded, not having to fake her horror. "Janette, that gun is loaded. You could have hurt someone! Do you even know how dangerous a gun can be? People who don't know how to use a gun shouldn't touch them. Ever!"
Xanti, who had never been one to be slow on the uptake ((OOC: Even if the person playing her is sometimes! :P)), smoothly slid the book from Cherie's grasp and had it zipped safely inside her jacket in the blink of an eye.
"Yes," she said quietly, in response to Cherie's question about getting the book back to Clovis. She was beginning to like this girl more and more. "Be careful," she added. Then she was gone, sprinting after Clovis. Fortunately for Clovis and his imminent reunion with his book, Xanti was well versed in all the best hiding spots the school had to offer...
((Fox, you want her to actually catch up to him? Or find him somewhere? Or what?))
((Well, Silver, I think this post will answer your question!))
Clovis didn't even notice the girl running after him with his journal. He was too caught up in his feelings to really notice much of anything, really. He simply wanted his journal back from a bully, but, no... It just had to be a huge display.
The boy didn't really have any place to go, no plan of action. He simply turned a corner, and slumped against the wall, crying his heart out. Was he really all alone in this world? Was he worthless?! His sister might tell him different, hell, even his teacher would tell him different... But neither of them were there...
((Awwwwww!!!! Poor Clovis!!! :'( Must helpppppp....))
Xanti caught up enough to see him turn the corner, but she almost tripped over him when she made the turn, only to figure out very quickly that he'd stopped running. Poor kid was sitting there on the floor, by himself, sobbing his eyes out. Her heart panged for him -- she'd been in his current position more times than she cared to think about -- but she'd never been particularly gifted when it came to people. Feeling awkward, she squatted down beside him, pulled his notebook out of her sweater and handed it to him.
"Here. I didn't look in it. Cherie and I rescued it for you. Janette has other stuff to worry about now..." she trailed off and sat the book down next to him, thinking of Cherie and the stolen gun. "I know a lot of hiding places if you want to disappear for a while..." she felt like it was a lame offer, but it was all she had to give.
((Zoz, just post as you can, I understand that you're probably buried under homework))
Janette had landed on the floor, slightly scared for her own life. After all, the only way to get that gun away from he sister safely was to risk her own life.
So as she got back up, she opened her eyes to find that the gun hadn't gone off again, and that she was in fact still alive.
Moving the gun out from between her breasts, pointing the barrel away from her head. And away from people in general. Megraph killed people. Not Janette.
"Cherie! You stupid girl! First: I know how to use a flipping gun!" To demonstrate her point, she began to disassemble the gun, unloading it completely. "Second: I risked my life if you didn't notice." Janette made sure the gun was unloaded, then held the barrel up to the bottom of her chin to show how she'd landed. "Third: if I ever see you with a gun again, I will person kick you all they way back to Matron's Hollow, explain to Ma and Pa exactly what happened, and watch you get kicked out!"
Janette's face was blood red, the anger with Cherie very, very clear.
"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"
Clovis looked up from his crying to see Xanti holding his journal out. He wondered for a moment if she had looked in it, but her words expelled any fear he might have had. Graciously, he took the journal and set it aside. Then, gently wrapping his arms around her, the fox boy embraced Xanti in an innocent, if not desperate hug. After what he had been through, he probably needed it...
OOC: Thanks singer! <3 I'm trying to at least more or less keep up with group threads...
IC:
Clea was frantic. Her attempt at being stern didn't work... nobody even paid her any attention. But the fighting seemed to continue. She couldn't really tell what was going on. It was all happening too fast. But she knew it wasn't good.
Desperate to do something, Clea actually ran up to Janette and hugged her from behind. "Stop fighting!" she yelled, her hope clear in her voice. "Or nothing will end well!"
She just hugged Janette tighter... hoping that it would calm her down. Clea would've tried to take the gun, but she doubted that would work. She's probably manage to set it off.
Xanti started in astonishment as Clovis wrapped his arms around her. A...hug? Xanti had never been hugged before in her life. It felt kind of weird. And...kind of nice. Unsure what to do about this new development, she awkwardly patted him on the back in something that could be considered a small hug in return. "Umm...thanks..." she said softly. She had no idea what to do now.
Cherie simply stared at her sister. There was a look of complete, pensive confusion on her face, as though someone had just presented her with a riddle which she was nearly on the cusp of clarity...
Her eyes, then, dropped to the arms encircling Janette's waist, and she reached up to brush her bangs out of her face. The action left a smudge of gun powder that stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin.
She looked, for all the world, like she had just awakened from a cat nap and was still trying to get her bearings.
"Clea?" she asked sweetly at last, lifting up one hand as though they were in the classroom and she was expecting to be called upon to answer a question. "Should we go see the principal now, or do you want us to return the gun to Mr. Garmin first?"
((@Clever-fox and @SilverShadow: And they called it, puppy love!))
Janette stood in pure amazement at her sister's words, and her jaw felt like it had literally fallen off.
Then she remembered that for some odd reason, someone was hugging her. She was slightly confused, but she tore herself from the hug, and glared at the two mad woman she seemed to trapped between.
"That's not your gun Cherie?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I thought I was a troublemaker..." Janette shook her head, half disapprovingly and half shocked. It still hadn't quite sunk in still that her little sister had wielded a gun.
"I'm not going to the Principal over this, I'm not the one who used a gun." Janette stated it blankly, not really bothered about being in trouble for bullying. It was a thing, it always happened. She had to establish herself as the top. She WAS the top.
Clea store blankly at the two girls. They seemed to have changed so quickly... well, kind of.
Holding out her hand at walking closer to Cherie, Clea sweetly said, "I'll take the gun, thank you very much. And the principal—both of you." Turning towards Janette, she repeated, "Both of you. Now."
And she started walking, not even bothering to check if the ladies were following. Cherie would, she was pretty sure, but Janette was riskier. No matter, Clea knew what to do if the tricky little snake girl didn't listen.
Janette panicked for reasons even she didn't know. Then she calmed herself down, remembering that she had done nothing wrong.
"Yeah, would love to doll. Uh, bye!" And with that, Janette went for the nearest window, opening it, and climbing out and down, hoping to get away. She was adept at climbing, as she used it often to get away from guards who chased her. In their heavy armour, they couldn't keep up with her, the noble thief.
Not noble at all.
Cherie obeyed unquestioningly. Now that the show was over, she didn't mind taking a few lumps!
She half-turned, however, when Janette disappeared.
"Um, Clea? Janette's running away..."
She wasn't really telling on her sister! After all, it's not like Janette was trying to be sneaky!