literature

Opposable Thumbs - Chapter 2: A Chance Encounter

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*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*

Happy walked alone, quietly seething with anger. Who cared what anyone else thought? It didn't matter to him! Let them go and hold their stupid craft fair and see if he helped.

Happy stopped abruptly, his paws hurting badly from his indignant stomping across the streets of Magnolia City. He blinked, surprised by how far he had come. Wallowing in anger and self-pity he had failed to see where his paws were taking him, and now found himself standing in an alley between two shops.

He turned to leave and tripped over a bottle that had been discarded among the other rubbish in the alley. Happy paused to inspect the strange bottle.

It was the size and shape of a bottle of wine, but blue in colour. Almost the same shade of blue, in fact, as Happy himself. It was smooth, unmarked and apparently empty. However, it was surprisingly heavy for an empty bottle. But none of that had drawn Happy's attention to it.

No, that had been because of the yelp of surprise that had issued from the bottle when it made contact with Happy's paw.

The small cat picked up and shook the bottle, to be rewarded with another shout.

"Haven't you humiliated me enough, you lout! Do you have to torture me, too?"

Happy dropped the bottle in shock. It shattered on the ground...

...and immediately strange bear-like creature appeared in its place.

Happy stared at it. It was no taller than him, covered in long soft, pale brown brown fur and looked not unlike the teddy bear Lucy had hidden in her apartment, at the back of the cupboard where she had taken to hiding everything she wanted to keep from Natsu and Happy's prying eyes. Not that she ever succeeded in this.

But unlike Lucy's teddy bear this creature wore a miniature, formal, old-fashioned suit and top hat and held a cane in his right hand. Or was it a paw? It looked like a cross between the two.

Happy was startled to notice that while he had been staring at this strange creature, it had been scrutinising him just as closely.

"What the devil are you?!" the astonished creature muttered still staring at the blue cat standing in front of him.

"I could ask you the same thing!" the equally astonished, and slightly offended, Exceed snapped.

The thing started. It seemed not to have realised that Happy could speak. "I am Theodore von Ursidus the Third," it proudly proclaimed, as though Happy should have known this.

"I'm Happy," the gloomy cat replied, the irony of this statement escaping him.

Theodore blinked. "If you say so, but you do not seem very happy to me."

"No, that's my name!"

The bear-thing sniffed. "It doesn't seem to be a very accurate name at the moment."

Happy was starting to get annoyed with this strange, and obviously magical, creature. "Well everyone has their problems. And, apparently, yours was being trapped in a bottle and thrown into an alley."

"But no longer, thanks to you." Theodore raised his hat and bowed to Happy, mollifying the small Exceed a little. "If you would share your troubles with me, I will do my utmost and return the favour."

Happy surprised himself by pouring out his troubles to the bear, leaving out no detail, from his return from Tenrou Island to everything that had happened that morning. Theodore listened quietly, but intently. He nodded when Happy finished his tale.

"I see, I see. But it is a very simple problem to solve, very simple indeed!"

Happy blinked in surprise. "It is?"

Theodore nodded with even more enthusiasm. "This may disorientate you a little, but please don't worry. That is perfectly normal."

Happy wanted to ask the bear what he meant, but fell to his knees as the bear began to mutter a spell. A magic circle appeared above his head. Happy's legs suddenly seemed unable to bear him. Darkness crept into the edges of his vision. He clutched at the wall of the a nearby build for support. He collapsed as his knees gave way completely, and darkness filled his mind.

When Happy woke, Theodore was gone. He was alone in the alley. The sun had nearly set. He had better go back home soon or Natsu would tear the town apart looking for him. Quite literally!

He grabbed the nearest wall and pulled himself up. Happy froze, the palms of his hands pressed flat against the red-brown bricks. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. The sight before him hadn't changed.

Pressed flat on the wall before Happy were the hands of human boy.
Sorry it took so long. Writer's block...

If it's not too much trouble, please comment and tell me what you think.

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dusted-birdie's avatar
I like it. Write more.