Touching Lightning
Arthur / Petta
Petta…”
Arthur’s voice slightly faltered as he watched the rain soaked Leo finish tarping the rest of her flowers that were located in a secluded part of Kalmari Forest. The light rain sprinkling the pair soon became a heavy rainfall, and although Petta claims she’s not affected by the water, he had his doubts as she's partly fired based. He gave a sigh and tried his best to shield her with one of his wings while trying to hold his rather small umbrella to protect himself as well.
“The rain is really starting to fall, you’re going to get sick if you stay out here.” He said, hoping to get her to leave. Arthur, however, knew how important these plants meant to her. Because the Leo raised and single-handedly cared for each one, she was willing to do anything to make sure they were safe; even if it meant putting her health at risk.
“Arty, I’m fine,” She said as she went on to the next batch of flowers. “I’m almost done, so you could go home if you want.”
Of course, he wanted nothing more than to leave as he hated rain with a passion, but leaving his friend all alone, especially in the middle of the forest during a storm didn’t seem like what a good Star Warrior would do. Instead he tightly gripped the umbrella and continued to watch her, thinking of anything he could say to speed up the process.
“Don’t you think this could wait? They’ll be okay for one day….”
Petta just turned around and held up her finger to point to one of the potted plants. It was a rather large, white flower with a blue center and yellow thorns around the stem. Arthur looked at it before focusing back to Petta.
“That flower says otherwise.” She lectured, “Kracko Bloom is its name, and it blooms when it senses a heavy storm drawing near.”
“Huh?” Arthur peered closer to look at the flower she was referring to, but slightly jumped back when it briefly lit up. “W-what in sweet Nova was that? I didn’t know plants could light up!!”
He heard Petta slightly giggle from his startled reaction and lectured her ever so clueless friend, ignoring the fact that it was raining Gaws and Gaos. “Kracko Bloom isn’t an ordinary plant, Arty. It’s names after the demon sky beast, Kracko . The reason you saw it light up just now is because lightning and thunder will-“
-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!-
Before she could finish, the sky briefly lit up as it cried and loudly crackled soon after. Petta glanced back at the flower and saw it shimmering and shining when the lightning struck.
“Arty, did you see that?!! Did you- Huh…h-hey...? Were’d you go?”
The Leo scanned the area, calling his names a few times while walking around to see if she could spot him. “Hm?” Petta saw his green umbrella discarded near one of the trees, and she quickly made her way to the area to see if he was there. A concerned frown formed when she saw the Puff huddled inside a small burrow in one of the tree trunks. His back was turned, and he was covering his whole body with his wings. She reached out to touch him, but he flinched when she made contact.
“Arthur….” She kneeled down and softly spoke to him, putting aside her playful nature for now, “Please come out, what’s wrong?”
The Warrior didn’t respond, and curled up more as the rain got harsher. Petta grabbed the umbrella to cover herself and called out to Arthur again.
“Are you hurt? Do you want me to go get your teacher?” She said as she was about to make her way to his home.
“N-no!”
His wings quickly wiggled as he forced his body out of the trunk to stop her. He grabbed her glove and fiercely shook his head. Petta turned around when he did so and noticed something about the warrior that caused her to let out a small gasp. Although the rain was slightly blurring her vision, she could clearly make out small tears streaming down the warriors face accompanied by uncontrolled sniffles. As she was about to speak, another bolt of lightning stuck followed by a loud roar of thunder, and Petta heard Arthur yelp in fear before going back to the burrow.
“O-oh….” She softly said as a small ping of guilt became visible. She kneeled down again and saw how terrified he’s become, “I didn’t know you were scared of storms…..”
He didn’t respond,
“How come you never told me?”
Again, she didn’t receive a response.
She gave a small frown from his silence and sat near the base of the trunk until he was ready to talk. She figured if he stood out to help her tarp even though he was scared, she’d do the same and wait by his side. After a few silent minutes, the small Leo slightly started shivering. She tried her best to ignite her flame to gain some warmth, but was no use, however, as her body temperature became too low for her to use her ability. She brought the umbrella closer to protect herself from the winds and curled herself next to the burrow where Arthur was hiding.
Arthur gave a small squeak when he felt something cold pressed up against his wings. Since the burrow was so small, the puff was struggling a bit to turn around whilst staying inside the trunk of the tree. When he finally reached the other side, he noticed the exit of the burrow partially blocked by Petta. He saw her body mildly trembling from the weather, and the warrior gave a small cry when he realized she was waiting for him out in the rain this entire time.
“P-Petta….?” He called out, which the Leo acknowledge. Arthur felt horrible when he saw how drenched and pale she looked. He looked back at the small cavern and knew both of them couldn’t fit. Although he was terribly scared, Arthur lightly nudged Petta and crawled out.
"C'mon, let's find another burrow we can both hide in." He spoke.
"S--s...sure." She shivered. As they were leaving, Petta quickly ran to her bed and grabbed the Kracko Bloom since it's able to tell when lightning's about to strike. The pair slowly but surly made their way through the winding forest and eventually stumbled upon another, much larger burrow. Arthur led Petta in first and used the umbrella to block the opening. Once the pair were settled in, Arthur fluffed up his wings and tried to shake all the moisture off of them. He took a seat next to Petta soon after and gazed at the lone plant in front of them. Petta saw, and slightly nudged Arthur.
"Arty, I'm so sorry about all this." She spoke. "If I knew you were afraid of storms I would've left and took you home."
"It's fine...." He softly spoke, still focusing on the flower. "But I suppose if what you say is true, then we'll have more rainy days ahead...."
"Kracko Bloom has never been wrong since I first planted him." She pulled it closer to the pair and and grabbed Arthur's hand. "I know you're scared of storms, but it was said this particular flower was created when Kracko struck the ground with its powerful lightning. I know it's not like facing your fears head on but legend says when you touch its petals right when it lights up, you're touching a strike of lighting as well. Pretty cool, huh?"
"I guess...." He softly spoke.
"Well, do you wanna try?" She asked. "It won't hurt, promise."
Arthur gave a slight squeal when Petta took his hand and held it right next to the petal.
"Now we just gotta wait." She spoke, knowing lightning would strike.
Arthur kept his eyes closed and didn't move an inch. When a bright light illuminated the burrow and the flower shined a a deep blue, Petta motioned the warrior to softly touch it. Opening his eyes and tears still falling, Arthur gently stroked the petals as the light of the plant eventually dimmed down. Arthur lowered his hand once he touched it and looked at Petta who smiled warmly at the warrior.
“How does it feel being able to touch lightning?”
“It was…unusual….” He said, sniffling a bit and focusing back on the plant again.
Sensing that his nerves were starting to ease, Petta decided to speak up regarding the issue that’s been troubling the warrior.
“How come you didn’t tell me you were scared when you followed me into the forest…?”
Arthur became quiet again once he heard her question and turned away from her; slightly shrugging his wings as a response.
“If you thought I was gonna laugh or something, you know I’d never do that to you, right?” She said, thinking he was scared of being made fun of.
“I…I know…” He softly replied,
“So tell me the real reason then,” She spoke when she couldn’t think of any other ideas.
“Because…….” He started to hesitate and whispered the last part with much disappointment in his voice, “I……just want to show everyone how brave I was."
“Brave?" She repeated, not understanding, "Why?”
Taking a deep breath, Arthur turned around to face her. His wings greatly lowered in shame, and he quietly spoke his reasons,
“Because I'm a Star Warrior. We’re not suppose to be scared of anything.”
That wasn't an answer she was expecting to hear. The reason....was because of his title? Petta listened on as he continued,
"Teacher Bate has high expectations for me. He picked me out of everyone to be the leader of my comrades. How could I prove I’m such a thing in his eyes if I’m crying and hiding from something as stupid as a storm?"
“O-oh….” Petta went silent and thoughtfully pondered his question. She didn’t know much about Star Warriors, truth to be told. There were only a handful she really knew about because of her plants, or the tales her parents read to her as a child, but.....
She glanced at Arthur and smiled. Although she may not know every single Star Warrior in existence, she did know one quite well.
“Everyone is scared of something, Arty. You, me, your comrades….even your Teacher. Doesn’t he have one?"
“H-he does, but….that’s not the same.” He stubbornly shook his head as he refused to budge from his beliefs, "Being a leader means I have to be brave and fearless. How would I be able to protect them if I’m scared, then?”
“You can’t have bravery without a little bit of fear, Arty….” She spoke, mulling over her words, “You wouldn’t need to act brave in the first place if you weren’t scared or at least a little bit intimidated.”
“Huh….?”
He watched as his friend tried her best to explain the clashing words, “If you were in terrible danger, for example….caught in the middle of a rockslide while you were training or something."
“Yeah…?”
“Well, if Mr. Bate saw you, don’t you think he’d be a little bit scared?”
“Well, umm….I suppose. But then again, rockslides are pretty scary if you’re-“
“I wasn’t talking about the rocks,” She cut him off, “I was talking about you.”
“Me?” He repeated as she gave a nod.
“Through the eyes of your teacher, he wouldn’t care about the rocks falling towards him as he’s racing to get you. The reason why he’s willing to risk his life and be brave is that he’s scared if something were to happen to you.”
Arthur kept silent as he listened to her words,
“Fear can bring out true heroism if one were to be put in that situation. It’s not a sign of weakness for a leader. Being scared shows, well…that you care. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it, Arty. Besides….” She gave a small giggle, "I admire that more in a Warrior than foolish pride."
“Foolish…?” He distastefully said.
“You can be a pretty stubborn, hardheaded warrior at times.” She admitted,
“Of course….” He rolled his eyes, “My stubbornness is the reason that we’re stuck here, right?"
A small, embarrassed blush became apparent on her face. “I wasn’t being stubborn. I was being a good caretaker to my plants.” She proudly stated. “You should be thanking me, if anything, because you’ve now become the new owner of one of them."
“Owner…?” He question, and saw that she was pointing to the plant in the middle of the pair.
“W-wa-? Really?” His eyes shined bright in disbelief. She was really giving it to him?!!
“Really,” She gave a nod, “Kracko Bloom will help you so you won't get caught in the midst of a storm again. I think you’d be the perfect one to take care of him....and maybe also use it as a reminder if you ever forget what I said."
Petta pushed the plant closer to him, and she watched as a small smile finally showed on the warriors face after a long day of crying.
Arthur’s voice slightly faltered as he watched the rain soaked Leo finish tarping the rest of her flowers that were located in a secluded part of Kalmari Forest. The light rain sprinkling the pair soon became a heavy rainfall, and although Petta claims she’s not affected by the water, he had his doubts as she's partly fired based. He gave a sigh and tried his best to shield her with one of his wings while trying to hold his rather small umbrella to protect himself as well.
“The rain is really starting to fall, you’re going to get sick if you stay out here.” He said, hoping to get her to leave. Arthur, however, knew how important these plants meant to her. Because the Leo raised and single-handedly cared for each one, she was willing to do anything to make sure they were safe; even if it meant putting her health at risk.
“Arty, I’m fine,” She said as she went on to the next batch of flowers. “I’m almost done, so you could go home if you want.”
Of course, he wanted nothing more than to leave as he hated rain with a passion, but leaving his friend all alone, especially in the middle of the forest during a storm didn’t seem like what a good Star Warrior would do. Instead he tightly gripped the umbrella and continued to watch her, thinking of anything he could say to speed up the process.
“Don’t you think this could wait? They’ll be okay for one day….”
Petta just turned around and held up her finger to point to one of the potted plants. It was a rather large, white flower with a blue center and yellow thorns around the stem. Arthur looked at it before focusing back to Petta.
“That flower says otherwise.” She lectured, “Kracko Bloom is its name, and it blooms when it senses a heavy storm drawing near.”
“Huh?” Arthur peered closer to look at the flower she was referring to, but slightly jumped back when it briefly lit up. “W-what in sweet Nova was that? I didn’t know plants could light up!!”
He heard Petta slightly giggle from his startled reaction and lectured her ever so clueless friend, ignoring the fact that it was raining Gaws and Gaos. “Kracko Bloom isn’t an ordinary plant, Arty. It’s names after the demon sky beast, Kracko . The reason you saw it light up just now is because lightning and thunder will-“
-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!-
Before she could finish, the sky briefly lit up as it cried and loudly crackled soon after. Petta glanced back at the flower and saw it shimmering and shining when the lightning struck.
“Arty, did you see that?!! Did you- Huh…h-hey...? Were’d you go?”
The Leo scanned the area, calling his names a few times while walking around to see if she could spot him. “Hm?” Petta saw his green umbrella discarded near one of the trees, and she quickly made her way to the area to see if he was there. A concerned frown formed when she saw the Puff huddled inside a small burrow in one of the tree trunks. His back was turned, and he was covering his whole body with his wings. She reached out to touch him, but he flinched when she made contact.
“Arthur….” She kneeled down and softly spoke to him, putting aside her playful nature for now, “Please come out, what’s wrong?”
The Warrior didn’t respond, and curled up more as the rain got harsher. Petta grabbed the umbrella to cover herself and called out to Arthur again.
“Are you hurt? Do you want me to go get your teacher?” She said as she was about to make her way to his home.
“N-no!”
His wings quickly wiggled as he forced his body out of the trunk to stop her. He grabbed her glove and fiercely shook his head. Petta turned around when he did so and noticed something about the warrior that caused her to let out a small gasp. Although the rain was slightly blurring her vision, she could clearly make out small tears streaming down the warriors face accompanied by uncontrolled sniffles. As she was about to speak, another bolt of lightning stuck followed by a loud roar of thunder, and Petta heard Arthur yelp in fear before going back to the burrow.
“O-oh….” She softly said as a small ping of guilt became visible. She kneeled down again and saw how terrified he’s become, “I didn’t know you were scared of storms…..”
He didn’t respond,
“How come you never told me?”
Again, she didn’t receive a response.
She gave a small frown from his silence and sat near the base of the trunk until he was ready to talk. She figured if he stood out to help her tarp even though he was scared, she’d do the same and wait by his side. After a few silent minutes, the small Leo slightly started shivering. She tried her best to ignite her flame to gain some warmth, but was no use, however, as her body temperature became too low for her to use her ability. She brought the umbrella closer to protect herself from the winds and curled herself next to the burrow where Arthur was hiding.
Arthur gave a small squeak when he felt something cold pressed up against his wings. Since the burrow was so small, the puff was struggling a bit to turn around whilst staying inside the trunk of the tree. When he finally reached the other side, he noticed the exit of the burrow partially blocked by Petta. He saw her body mildly trembling from the weather, and the warrior gave a small cry when he realized she was waiting for him out in the rain this entire time.
“P-Petta….?” He called out, which the Leo acknowledge. Arthur felt horrible when he saw how drenched and pale she looked. He looked back at the small cavern and knew both of them couldn’t fit. Although he was terribly scared, Arthur lightly nudged Petta and crawled out.
"C'mon, let's find another burrow we can both hide in." He spoke.
"S--s...sure." She shivered. As they were leaving, Petta quickly ran to her bed and grabbed the Kracko Bloom since it's able to tell when lightning's about to strike. The pair slowly but surly made their way through the winding forest and eventually stumbled upon another, much larger burrow. Arthur led Petta in first and used the umbrella to block the opening. Once the pair were settled in, Arthur fluffed up his wings and tried to shake all the moisture off of them. He took a seat next to Petta soon after and gazed at the lone plant in front of them. Petta saw, and slightly nudged Arthur.
"Arty, I'm so sorry about all this." She spoke. "If I knew you were afraid of storms I would've left and took you home."
"It's fine...." He softly spoke, still focusing on the flower. "But I suppose if what you say is true, then we'll have more rainy days ahead...."
"Kracko Bloom has never been wrong since I first planted him." She pulled it closer to the pair and and grabbed Arthur's hand. "I know you're scared of storms, but it was said this particular flower was created when Kracko struck the ground with its powerful lightning. I know it's not like facing your fears head on but legend says when you touch its petals right when it lights up, you're touching a strike of lighting as well. Pretty cool, huh?"
"I guess...." He softly spoke.
"Well, do you wanna try?" She asked. "It won't hurt, promise."
Arthur gave a slight squeal when Petta took his hand and held it right next to the petal.
"Now we just gotta wait." She spoke, knowing lightning would strike.
Arthur kept his eyes closed and didn't move an inch. When a bright light illuminated the burrow and the flower shined a a deep blue, Petta motioned the warrior to softly touch it. Opening his eyes and tears still falling, Arthur gently stroked the petals as the light of the plant eventually dimmed down. Arthur lowered his hand once he touched it and looked at Petta who smiled warmly at the warrior.
“How does it feel being able to touch lightning?”
“It was…unusual….” He said, sniffling a bit and focusing back on the plant again.
Sensing that his nerves were starting to ease, Petta decided to speak up regarding the issue that’s been troubling the warrior.
“How come you didn’t tell me you were scared when you followed me into the forest…?”
Arthur became quiet again once he heard her question and turned away from her; slightly shrugging his wings as a response.
“If you thought I was gonna laugh or something, you know I’d never do that to you, right?” She said, thinking he was scared of being made fun of.
“I…I know…” He softly replied,
“So tell me the real reason then,” She spoke when she couldn’t think of any other ideas.
“Because…….” He started to hesitate and whispered the last part with much disappointment in his voice, “I……just want to show everyone how brave I was."
“Brave?" She repeated, not understanding, "Why?”
Taking a deep breath, Arthur turned around to face her. His wings greatly lowered in shame, and he quietly spoke his reasons,
“Because I'm a Star Warrior. We’re not suppose to be scared of anything.”
That wasn't an answer she was expecting to hear. The reason....was because of his title? Petta listened on as he continued,
"Teacher Bate has high expectations for me. He picked me out of everyone to be the leader of my comrades. How could I prove I’m such a thing in his eyes if I’m crying and hiding from something as stupid as a storm?"
“O-oh….” Petta went silent and thoughtfully pondered his question. She didn’t know much about Star Warriors, truth to be told. There were only a handful she really knew about because of her plants, or the tales her parents read to her as a child, but.....
She glanced at Arthur and smiled. Although she may not know every single Star Warrior in existence, she did know one quite well.
“Everyone is scared of something, Arty. You, me, your comrades….even your Teacher. Doesn’t he have one?"
“H-he does, but….that’s not the same.” He stubbornly shook his head as he refused to budge from his beliefs, "Being a leader means I have to be brave and fearless. How would I be able to protect them if I’m scared, then?”
“You can’t have bravery without a little bit of fear, Arty….” She spoke, mulling over her words, “You wouldn’t need to act brave in the first place if you weren’t scared or at least a little bit intimidated.”
“Huh….?”
He watched as his friend tried her best to explain the clashing words, “If you were in terrible danger, for example….caught in the middle of a rockslide while you were training or something."
“Yeah…?”
“Well, if Mr. Bate saw you, don’t you think he’d be a little bit scared?”
“Well, umm….I suppose. But then again, rockslides are pretty scary if you’re-“
“I wasn’t talking about the rocks,” She cut him off, “I was talking about you.”
“Me?” He repeated as she gave a nod.
“Through the eyes of your teacher, he wouldn’t care about the rocks falling towards him as he’s racing to get you. The reason why he’s willing to risk his life and be brave is that he’s scared if something were to happen to you.”
Arthur kept silent as he listened to her words,
“Fear can bring out true heroism if one were to be put in that situation. It’s not a sign of weakness for a leader. Being scared shows, well…that you care. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it, Arty. Besides….” She gave a small giggle, "I admire that more in a Warrior than foolish pride."
“Foolish…?” He distastefully said.
“You can be a pretty stubborn, hardheaded warrior at times.” She admitted,
“Of course….” He rolled his eyes, “My stubbornness is the reason that we’re stuck here, right?"
A small, embarrassed blush became apparent on her face. “I wasn’t being stubborn. I was being a good caretaker to my plants.” She proudly stated. “You should be thanking me, if anything, because you’ve now become the new owner of one of them."
“Owner…?” He question, and saw that she was pointing to the plant in the middle of the pair.
“W-wa-? Really?” His eyes shined bright in disbelief. She was really giving it to him?!!
“Really,” She gave a nod, “Kracko Bloom will help you so you won't get caught in the midst of a storm again. I think you’d be the perfect one to take care of him....and maybe also use it as a reminder if you ever forget what I said."
Petta pushed the plant closer to him, and she watched as a small smile finally showed on the warriors face after a long day of crying.
-End-
Artist Comment:
May 27, 2016
-----------------
-Click here for full version of illustration-
Another fluff illustration. This time it's Arty and Petta! >u<
Originally I was going to introduce Arthur's fear in another story. (I believe it's located in one of my drabble dumps.) I thought this would be a nice substitute, instead. Arthur was also suppose to have a small design change during this time period, but since I never posted the art for it, I decided to hold off for now. >u<
May 27, 2016
-----------------
-Click here for full version of illustration-
Another fluff illustration. This time it's Arty and Petta! >u<
Originally I was going to introduce Arthur's fear in another story. (I believe it's located in one of my drabble dumps.) I thought this would be a nice substitute, instead. Arthur was also suppose to have a small design change during this time period, but since I never posted the art for it, I decided to hold off for now. >u<
Species © Nintendo/ HAL Laboratory
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
