Tumbling Messenger

Timothy led his friends and sisters through the bustling streets, and most citizens minded their own business.

"Comforting," Trinity said, pulling her feet behind her while following Chiaki as Ayuka did at the very back of the group, thoughtful and silent, "Doesn't look like we'll have to deal with unwanted attackers," She smirked, teasing Timothy, "Trailing Tim does worry me a little. With such a high bounty on his name, who knows who'd come to hunt him down."

Aurora politely barged into their conversation, "Could you keep quiet? We might not get attacked at this moment in time, but you don't know what will happen if his name's spread through the street. They might not be familiar with him since he's from the west."

Timothy crossed his arm, raising an eyebrow, and glimpsed at Aurora unamusingly. "Trinity's too quiet for anyone to hear her. I'm sure as long as Cassidy doesn't open her mouth, we'll be fine." He explained with a slight smile, "And if somebody knew me, I'm pretty sure we'd start throwing hands rather fast. There's nothing that can go wrong."

He seemed confident and sure nothing would go wrong, but he opened his mouth too soon when they suddenly heard a gentle, repetitive sound of clicking or beeping in the distance, "Message for white-haired pirate Timothy! I have a mail! I know you're here at Anison City!"

Timothy's eyes suddenly became unimpressed and irritated to the point of sweat dripping down his skin, "Who... is this guy?" He watched him with his allies and noticed the boy holding a wallpaper in his hands, riding a flying nimbus cloud.

The young man's forehead seemed covered in a black bandana, and he had brown hair. He had a yellow jacket and white t-shirt on, a scarlet scarf wrapped around his neck, and waved behind it. He had a long, orange pole on his back and a black duffel bag that hung from it.

The man's fingers were leaned on his forehead, searching the city behind the glass dome. He kept his mouth open in a round motion as if he was curious and excited.

He gazed and spotted Timothy's white hair, "Found ya!" He sped on his nimbus cloud and prepared to dive, "Here I come-!" But in an instant, his voice got interrupted as his face and body rammed the dome's glass and squashed his expression.

The cloud flew around him while the boy slowly started slipping down the glass with saliva patterns tinting it. "Did he not see the giant glass dome right in front of his nose?" Timothy inquired, trying not to choke on her words.

"Well, there is one good thing about being a blind teenager. To know your parents won't read your diary. Unlike somebody else, I know." She answered, keeping her arms folded below her chest and slightly glimpsing at Timothy.

He remained mute like a mouse but found an excuse, "It wasn't even a diary. They were just some notes."

Aurora became rather angry and presently pointed her finger at his chest, looking up at him due to her shorter stature. "It *WAS* a diary! I named it notes so others wouldn't peek into it!" She regretted her choice of increasing her voice's pitch due to a sudden choke in her throat.

Timothy pretty much shrugged away her complaints.

He and the others ran in the boy's direction, exiting the city and entering its outdoor lobby.

When they rushed outside, they noticed the same person hanging from a tree upside down. "Ai, Ai, Ai! Look who showed up! The white-haired pirate Timothy and random people. Anyway, could ya help me out?"

As Timothy and the others tried to approach and help him, they noticed the boy losing balance and falling to the ground, bumping his head and making a headstand while tucking his bottom and lower body over his torso like a bridge.

They observed him with puzzled gazes, seeing him spring to his feet in an instant. "Sooo... Are you some messenger? I heard you screaming about a message or something."

"Ooh! Yah! Right! Lemme find it!" He began tapping himself out, reaching into every pocket available on his uniform, and even started tossing out newspapers from his duffel bag that piled on the floor or floated away. "Where is it' Where is it? Show yourself stupid paper!" He grabbed a newspaper, looking at it, "Nooo... not you! Drat, I hate these columns!" He started reaching deeper into the duffel bag and licked his lips.

His palm came in contact with something soft, "Aha! Gotcha!" But as he pulled it out, he clutched a peach instead. He blinked in confusion, biting into it, and then tossed it over his shoulder. "How many papers does one man need in his bag?" The boy asked himself and threw more weird items outside.

The yard soon became trashed with unnecessary papers and items a messenger shouldn't need.

Timothy crossed his arms, everyone else waiting next to him in silence. "I don't think he should keep this job." Trinity responded as quietly as possible, "He looks so stupid. Does he realize that?" Inquired Cassidy, wearing an unimpressed expression on her face as if she was trying to fall asleep.

It took a few minutes, and suddenly the boy ran out of items to pull from his bag.

He fixed his footing, spun around, and stepped together while scratching the back of his head, "I have good and bad news. The bad news is I don't have the paper, and the good news is, I dropped it somewhere."

Everyone's expression locked onto the boy and became frustrated, "Neither of those was good news!" They were in sync, and neither had their words delayed. They were pretty much the exact same pitch and perfectly timed, like a sequence of vibrations.

"Well... I did have it in my hands. But then I crashed into an invisible wall." Everyone dropped their arms in front of their knees, dangling left and right with bored, disappointed, and bewildered expressions. "So, you *really* didn't see the glass dome in front of your eyes? Tell me something, random person. How blind are you?"

The boy reached for his chin and began thinking, "Now that you mentioned it. I did see a subtle reflection in front of me, but then it disappeared. I guess that was the dome you're talking about." Timothy slapped his forehead for the hit to reverberate through the lobby.

"Anyway! I have no clue what the heck was in the letter, but I'm sure it's aye-oh-kay! The name's Tarot, by the way, and thanks for helping me get off that tree."

Timothy and everyone else responded in another echo, "We didn't do anything..."

Tarot cocked his head to the side, revealing the confusion flowing through his mind. "Ohhh... right... you didn't. I shouldn't need to thank you then, huh? But, thanks anyway. And peaches are my favorite fruit."

Timothy interrupted, "Nobody asked..."

Chiaki finally became comfortable around Tarot and politely declared a question, "I assume there's no other way to hear or see that message now, is there?"

Tarot grinned and crossed his arms, "Nope, you won't even see the package." The more Tarot spoke, the more everyone became hopeless. They believed he had no help and that he was always this dumb.

"So, Tarot. How did you become a messenger if you lose every paper or throw it away like a stupid monkey?" He shared a wide grin and coughed to explain, "Oh, I'm not a messenger. I'm a shipwright from Itto-Itto Lands. This is just a part job. Now, come on, let's run!"

Neither of them understood what he meant. "Why?" they asked, only to let Tarot point behind them, "Because you're about to get ganged up on by the citizens cause I revealed your name. Sorry."

They rotated their faces around and became terrified. The citizens started running at them angrily, holding weaponry, "Gah! He's not kidding! Time to blast!"

"Come, I know a good hiding place." Tarot added as each and every single one of them followed him, "Are you sure we should follow a person who doesn't even know what a glass dome is?!" Cassidy pondered with a disapproving comment.

"Probably not." Timothy finished his sentence and continued following Tarot.

To be continued...