NOVEL SIMPLE 60 - Party time
Cheers echoed through the gloomy morning light as Redfield's people crowded around Claire, David watching from his perch atop her back, settled comfortably on her new almost shell-like armor plating. He had braced for the usual screaming and curses upon being seen, but this time, his reputation preceded him. In the few hours it took to return to City Hall and execute their plan, Randal had told everyone the details about David incapacitating Paul a dozen times over. The crowd recognized him as 'the badass bat' who put that snake in his place. Though mentally and emotionally drained, while ravenously hungry, the absolute joy of people frolicking in the courtyard's shallow waters coaxed a smile from David's tired face.
The derelict City Hall courtyard they stood in was a swampy, overgrown mess. Waist-deep stagnant water filled the cracked patio, tinged green from the pervasive algae and moss. Weeds and vines snaked up the crumbling stone benches, adding splashes of verdant green to the dreary grays and browns. Amidst the rubble, brightly colored mushroom clusters sprouted in vivid reds, yellows, and blues. The whole area exuded a dank, earthy aroma of decay and water that was somehow both pleasant and mildly distasteful to David’s nose.
Despite its state of abandonment, the courtyard seemed to buzz with life. Insects of all varieties danced across the water's surface or crawled along the stalks of the cat tails and swamp grass. Small fish and amphibious creatures darted through the submerged foliage away from the disturbances caused by the celebrating collection of creatures as they flopped, jumped, sprang, rolled, and splashed each other with total abandon. ‘Fuck Viktor’ seemed to be the rallying cry of the day as the small crowd seemed incapable of containing their excitement at the surprise liberation, and a few of the members cried happily as were comforted by their friends.
“You still feel bad about it?” Claire rumbled as a particularly elegant squirrelish creature springboarded off her leg and did a double backflip into the water while cheering their names. It hit the water with a huge splash and waved enthusiastically to David from its back as it floated in the few feet of water.
David chuckled and fanned his wings back at the creature, “Yeah, but not nearly as much.”
The first person who had asked him to recount how he’d taken Viktor down had been met with such a blank stare they had immediately excused themselves and scurried off, their fat raccoon-like body sodden with muddy water. Thankfully almost everyone had been watching and they could take a hint, and nobody else brought it up.
“David!” A semi-familiar voice called from below, prompting him to lean over Claire’s opposite side and look down. Randal’s quilled head gazed up at him, stubby legs held to his chest as he sat on his haunches to keep his head above water while chewing on a piece of swamp grass.
“Oh, hey Randal. Glad you guys are safe…You going to head to Riverport?” David asked lamely as he draped himself over Claire’s armored side as comfortably as possible.
He nodded happily, quills bobbing along with the motion as ripples formed around him, “Yeah, we were listening when your lady told us where to go earlier. Don’t you worry, none of us are keen on staying here anymore, too many bad memories.”
“My what?!” David shrilled in surprise, missing the latter half of the statement in favor of the former, ears pinning Randal in place as they locked onto him.
“Sorry boss! Don’t hit me!” Randal cringed away at the unexpected sharp look.
Claire snorted in surprise as she overheard, then again in amusement before she began to chuckle. Upon craning her neck back around to see the look on David’s face when he shot her an open-mouthed look of incredulity, ears still unerring fixed on Randal when he swiveled his head, she burst into a raspy barking laugh that scared wildlife out of the surrounding trees in the swamp. David closed his jaws with a click of teeth, suddenly glad he couldn’t blush in embarrassment anymore.
“Oh, you heard him, hah!” Claire giggled, the sound totally incongruous with her current body, “Oh my god I needed that. Hooo.”
“Har har, Randal you’re good, you can stop edging away like I’m gonna clobber you, dude.” David sighed as he turned his attention back to the man, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you. I forget I’m snarly-lookin' sometimes.”
“No, it’s…It’s okay, just a reflex I guess. God bless you David, your name really suits you, you know that?” Randal waved again happily and scampered off to join in the water fight going on only a few dozen feet away with a hoot.
Claire yawned hugely as she watched him go, and David couldn’t help yawning along with her a few seconds later despite his best efforts to suppress it.
Damn, I’m tired, that nap felt like a drop in a bucket. Bleh. Wish there was somewhere nice and dry to sleep, but everything here’s so damp. You can almost taste the air…and it doesn’t taste good. Weird how I like the smell of it though.
“Hey, David.” Claire hissed amicably, “You good? Went a little quiet there again.”
“Yeah…just tired and hungry. Still kinda…meh.” He muttered just loud enough for her to hear, “Still fresh in my mind, I guess. Watching everyone party hard like this helps, they’re so happy it’s hard to feel bad.”
She nodded her scaly snout in agreement, “Yeah. Honestly, I think they’ve got it under control. I saw a couple of them leave towards the highway already, I think they’ll be fine if we go rustle up something to eat. What do you say?”
He perked up a lot at the idea of leaving Redfield, suddenly eager to be moving again and put the whole thing behind him until he had some more time to process everything. David stretched his wings one at a time, forcing down another yawn as he did so before hopping up to reclaim his new perch just behind Claire’s head, his wings draped around the bony frill that now extended from her skull. Claire took that as a yes and turned to address the remaining survivors who hadn’t already trundled off into the distant city to vanish into the watery streets and crumbling buildings.
“Hey! Uh…Remember what I said about Riverport, ask for Herold. Woodland Park. They’ll take care of you.” Claire rumbled loudly as they turned as one to look up at her fanged maw, “We’re gonna…head out. We were just passing through, and we’re glad we could help but we have to get moving again.”
Within seconds the assortment of people had surrounded them again, cheering and thanking them in equal measure as Claire seemed to bask in the attention, holding her head and tail high as she absorbed their thanks. David felt something inside him crumble away, and the numbness he’d felt since he’d killed the two men finally began to fade as he sniffled a bit and buried his head in his wings to hide his big stupid smile.
Okay. Maybe I did the right thing after all, it’s hard to be sad when everyone is losing their shit like this…
“David, give them a little show. You deserve it.” Claire mumbled quietly as she bobbed her head to get his attention.
Feeling a little foolish, David complied, climbing fully atop her head and flaring his wings out to their full extent in the gloomy morning air, the leathery membrane billowing slightly as it caught the wind. Cheers exploded out of the crowd again as a few of the creatures capable of mimicking his pose also threw their arms out and howled their thanks while others splashed water up toward him in faux mockery, beaming hugely. David’s instincts pinged his attention briefly and he cringed inwardly before he realized what exactly his not-so-subconscious was in favor of at this moment.
–Health: 190/190–
–Stamina: 375/425–
–n/a–
The Moonsong rang out of him and silenced the crowd almost instantly, victorious and pure as the notes blended and formed a harmony with themselves that caused the crowd to go wild within only a few seconds, a particularly large birdlike creature joining in with a long warbling cry that sounded quite nice in counterpoint when he finally furled his wings, allowing the Ability to continue for a few extra seconds before he cut it short. Claire clacked her jaws together happily as she nodded carefully at them before turning to stomp out of the courtyard, heading toward the city limits as David swiveled on her head and waved enthusiastically at Randal before he vanished into the foliage. Claire continued to plow through the water and dense growth as David hopped off her head into the air, and she grunted with mild annoyance at the unexpected action.
“You know, it’s weird, but that made me feel a lot better.” David chittered at her after he’d looped back around to enter a lazy glide beside her head.
“Told you.”