Small bells tinkled pleasantly on the decorative sash at his waste as Leukos made his way through the streets of the Matoran city, the day cooler than what he had come to expect from this country. The thick clouds blanketing the sky that were rapidly nearing the city were a telling sign of the storm rolling in. Already the inhabitants of the city were preparing for it, though with the calm air of acceptance that can only come with many years of experiencing this kind of weather many times before. Awnings were lashed down, furniture pulled inside, window shutters rolled down and fastened shut. He’d make it to his lodgings in plenty of time, barring any inconvenient distractions or interruptions.
As if hearing his thoughts and deciding that no, things could not be simple for once in his life, there came a shrill shriek from the store next to him. A woman’s shriek. Which was something that Leukos simply could not bring himself to ignore.
He detached the whip at his waste and held it loosely coiled in his hand, approaching the open door. But upon hearing the distressed voice crying out, “Nononono, get out GET OUT LEAVE ME ALONE!”, his heart dropped in his chest and he broke into a sprint. In a rather dramatic fashion that was completely unplanned but happened none the less, he slid with a jarred halt through the doorway onto the polished wooden floors inside, tensed and ready to encounter the worst. “What’s wrong?!”
A young woman stood cowering behind the counter, armed with a broom and the most aghast face he’d seen in a long while, whose head whipped to look at him. “Oh Gods please make it go away I don’t know what to do Father will kill me if I can’t get the shop closed up before the storm comes but it just won’t leave what if it bites me I don’t know what to dooo–“ And at that her words became completely incomprehensible as she broke down into panicked crying, gripping her ‘weapon’ close to her chest.
Leukos looked up to where her attention had been turned, expecting something truly horrific. But upon seeing her adversary, he couldn’t help the completely relieved, surprised, and amused snort that escaped him. Up in the corner on the ceiling was a bright blue and purple reptilian creature he had seen skittering about the rocks and walls of the city many times before, one the locals deemed rather harmless: an Alol. This one seemed to be in particularly poor spirits, hissing and making all sorts of unhappy noises at the girl below it. Leukos side stepped closer to the girl, watching the animal out of the corner of his eye, until he reached the counter and reached across to gently pat her shaking shoulders.
“Hey there, look, it’s going to be fine. Nothing to worry about. It’s just a bit scared is all,” he looked at the large brick oven that sat in the corner, its chimney running up the wall. “You just doused the fire right? It probably just felt the warmth through the wall outside and decided that being inside was better than being stuck in the cold of the storm. I’d think the same thing. So why don’t I help you get it back out there, okay?”
She took a few more shuddering breaths and wiped at her eyes, nodding her head at him without a word. Leukos smiled reassuringly and patted her arm one more time, stepping closer to the animal. He let the whip uncoil to the floor and looked up, addressing the reptile, “Look, you are being very rude right now, snarling at your hostess like that. So why don’t you come down from there?” He brought the whip up and with a SNAP, cracked it against the plaster near its rear. The creature hissed and made to scutter further along the ceiling, but with more successive close-calls from the tip of Leukos’s whip, was herded down the wall and onto the floor.
Leukos stepped closer and crouched down, letting the whip rest against the floor beside him, speaking in a calming tone. “There now, isn’t this better? You wouldn’t want to stay here anyways; it will cool down soon enough. So how about you come home with me? I’ve got a nice warm room you can crawl all over, and we can get better acquainted. So come on, stop that whining, I’m not going to hurt you.” He began to reach his hand out towards it, but clearly the animal had a different plan for where it would like to spend the night, making to dart out across the floor deeper into the store. But with another snap of Leukos’s whip against the floorboards, it turned from the noise and bolted off through the open door into the growing gloom.
With a sigh Leukos shrugged his shoulders and stood again: he was just starting out at this official Beast Tamer business, he couldn’t expect winning results every time. Then suddenly there were two arms wrapped around his waist and he was being gripped in a surprisingly tight embrace, the broom clattering to the floor as the girl hugged him. “OHTHANKYOUSOMUCH!! It just darted right in and I tried to shoo it away with the broom but that just made it mad and I’m so so sorry to have been such a bother!”
Once the shock had died off, Leukos laughed and patted her hand, speaking again, “That’s quite alright. I was passing by and heard your rather startling scream. I’m just glad it was only an unwanted pest and not something worse. You… might want to finish closing up your shop; the storm looks like it’s going to hit us any time now.”
And with that the girl quickly released her grip on him and covered her blushing cheeks, mumbling down at her feet, “Oh Gods I’m so embarrassed, needing to be rescued like some damsel in distress…” She glanced at the counter and darted behind it, crouching down to slide it open and pop something inside into a paper bag. When she returned to Leukos, the girl sheepishly held the bag out for him, stammering, “Um, I’m… please take this. We would just have to toss it tomorrow anyways… and I’d rather you have it. As my thanks. It’s a quiche. But I mean, you’d figure that out anyways, once you opened it, I don’t know why I’m bothering telling you. Oh and now I’ve held you up even longer with my rambling I’m so sorry please take it!”
Leukos pursed his lips as he held back his amused smile, taking the bag and bowing his head, “Always happy to help a lady in need. I’ll get out of your hair now.” He turned and stopped in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder at her and winking, “Might want to shut this door behind me; wouldn’t want any more uninvited guests barging in, now would we?” Her newly flushed face was the last thing he saw of her before he turned his head and ran off to reach the shelter of his rented lodgings, the first drops of rain dampening his hair as a reward for no good deed going unpunished.
[1,217 words]
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