Painted Ghouls

Chapter 5

The next morning, the torchic woke from the sounds of the taillow outside chirping their hearty songs. Beady eyes slowly opening, she looked around tiredly, yawning as her eyes scanned the room. Brendan was not in the area, and on his bed laid a neon green backpack. His shoes were placed beside the accessory, tagged along with the cap he wore on his head.

Looking at her feet, she soon realized that she had fallen asleep on his desk. Vivid memories came back to her, flooding through her mind: she was named Athena, after some goddess or whatever.

That'll take a while to get used to, she thought, jumping off the desk with a grunt. Strolling across the carpet, she released a sigh. But I'm sure I'll get used to it sooner or later.

Deciding to be a bit nosy, Athena hopped onto Brendan's soft, warm bed, and peered inside his backpack. Inside of it were a few utilities, such as a toolkit and a small bag of food. She was about to investigate the brown paper bag, but soon Brendan walked inside the room, scaring her. Jumping away from the backpack, therefore falling off the bed, she looked up at him, expecting a scolding. Brendan paid little to no attention to her; instead, he walked over to his desk and grabbed a small journal, then tossed it on his backpack. Athena watched with curiosity as he went through his desk, grabbing a few extra wooden utensils.

What is he doing? she thought, cocking her head at an acute angle.

Padding over to his left foot, she attempted to get a view of the contents inside the bottom drawer of the desk, but to no prevail. Letting out a caw, she gazed up at her trainer, who greeted her with a quick glance of his blue-gray irises. After a few moments or so, Brendan stopped going through his drawers, and headed toward his bed as he began to stuff the items near the backpack inside, except for a few such as his cap and shoes. Athena quickly followed after him, hopping onto the bed with a big leap.

Zipping up his backpack, Brendan stretched out his arms. "I'd say we are about ready," he stated, looking around to make sure he didn't miss anything. The fire type simply chirped in response, flapping her useless wings as she tried to assume whatever he was talking about.

"Mom and Dad left late last night," he informed her, nodding his head in approval. "That means I get to go out and about more frequently." Athena released another chirp, half-heartedly paying attention to the blathering male. "Since it's the summertime, Mom and Dad will be working at the gym a lot. They said they won't be back for a while, so they left some money so I can get groceries."

Grabbing onto the strap of his backpack, he slung it over his shoulder, before tugging on his shoes. After that, he scooped up his cap and placed it atop his brown hair, messing with it slightly to get it in the right position before lowering his arms.

"I say we're about ready," he softly repeated, reaching forward to grab the torchic. Fluffing out her feathers, she bounced off his bed, only to hop next to his feet. Brendan hesitated, then simply shrugged in response.

Walking toward his room door, he opened it, then head toward the staircase. Bending down, he carried Athena down the stairs, and out the front door. After locking the door behind him, he gently placed her back down on the ground.

It was a nice, sunny day, and the small population of Littleroot Town was bustling about. Brendan professionally avoided bumping into others, heading straight toward the back of the town, where a path of shrubbery lay. Stepping over the bushes, he shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing back at Athena to make sure she was still following. Of course, she had no other choice but to follow.

I don't wanna get lost here, she mentally noted, shuddering at the mere thought as she gazed back at the sea of humans.

Every now and then the two took a break, and relaxed under the cool shade the trees provided. Brendan brought quite a bit of food for this event, and even fed some to Athena. The most delicious kind of food for her was this yellow substance the trainer called corn. The corn was smaller than the berries she was used to eating, but it certainly did taste good, perhaps even better.