Dragonfly

The world still spun from the encounter with Spectre, but still I pressed on. Nobody else would help him. So, I met with Spectre's best friend, Fox.

"You'll have to pardon the mess." Fox grinned. "I always intend to clean it, but then I get inspired with my machines and I just can't get back to it." He laughed good-naturedly as I stumbled over a metal trinket on the floor. "Anyway, do you need to ask me something?"

"Yeah, actually. Don't hurt me like Songbird did when I asked her."

"Please, what's the point of fighting someone who won't fight back?"

"Okay... Who's Cloud?"

"Oh. That's it? That's easy to explain, but first, I need a change of scenery. Let's go to his house."

"His house? Isn't that illegal or something?"

"Not if it belongs to a dead man." He grinned.

     We walked along the trail. It was overgrown with weeds and vines dangled from the trees above. I shoved them aside as Fox rambled on about his newest machine. I wasn't really paying him much attention. It was obvious he was proud of his work, and I didn't want to shoot him down with a bunch of questions. "Don't you think?"

     "Wha--? Oh, yeah. Definitely."

     "I'm so glad you were listening! Not a lot of people do these days." He smiled and continued. A branch broke behind us and Fox clung to my arm.

     "Fox... Are you...clinging to me?"

     "Sorry, lad." Fox, you are too innocent for this world. I thought.

The house was old, with a creepy vibe. "Don't look at it like that, it's only been abandoned for four years. But then again, it may be haunted..." He trailed off.

"What?!"

"Meh. It's Spectre's word against ours now. Come on, you won't see much from the front porch." I shuddered and followed him. Cobwebs lined the ceiling. The house looked so eerily similar to my own. Same type of wood, same huge windows, same furniture placement. The only difference was the room placement. And the trees growing through the floor. It was only when I was good and freaked out when Fox started to explain.

"Cloud was older than Spectre by about six years. I can't tell you much about how or when they arrived because I wasn't there, but they were the ones that found me when I arrived. I washed upon the Northwest coast. Cloud insisted that he and brother should scout out new arrivals so that they don't get into trouble. And one day, they found me. The brothers were almost always together. Two peas in a pod, they were. One day, we all went mining. All of the boys that were there, that is. There was an explosion, and rocks came crashing down on us. Oak, Spectre, and I got out, but Cloud..." He trailed off. "Oak flew into a rage once Cloud was confirmed as dead."

"Why?"

"Oak believes that Spectre killed Cloud. He will until we die. I personally didn't see it, so I don't know. Anyway, Oak cussed the poor guy outta there and gave him only a few minutes to find a hiding place before he went after him."

"Oh my God. No wonder Spectre doesn't want people talking about it. What soul color did Cloud have?"

"Orange. I don't know if he was the one who gave Spectre his unique soul coloring, but it seems probable, as he had a reversed color scheme on his." He shrugged. "That's just about all I can tell you. Why do you wanna know, might I ask?"

"I wanna help him overcome this. I think his conscience is tearing him apart over it, and I think it'll help if he talks about it."

"Right. So why not ask him about it?"

"I've already encountered him on the subject. He does NOT want anyone finding out. He threatened me once already, so I feel like it isn't a good idea to confront him."

"Oh my God! Wow, don't confront him, I guess. It all happened four years ago, you'd think he'd be over it by now. Um... Good luck, I guess." As I was leaving the house, I heard him mutter. "Bless his soul, he's gonna get himself killed."

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Do you guys think he's gonna get himself killed? What was the deal with Fox clinging to him? What do you guys think of Cloud so far from what you've learned? Feedback is much appreciated!