The Tale of a Dog Hero

A Goodbye

Oscar puts away the gun, walks out of the house, and dries his eyes. He begins to head into town and passes two officers running up to the building. "Reported shots  fired. No news on hostages or casualties." One officer was speaking into his collar while running past Oscar. He wandered around the food market, and grabbed a banana. He tossed a copper coin to the stand keeper and continued to walk. A few kids were playing with a soccer ball that went out of bounds. A young feline girl ran up and grabbed the ball after it rolled next to Oscar. When she picked it up and looked at him, she took a step back. Oscar looked dead. His eyes dark and sharp. She took a few more steps back before turning to join her friends. Oscar saw tippy across the road sitting on the curb. He joined her and sat to her left. "Oscar! I called the cops. Hopefully they can do something." Tippy looked up in the direction of his house. "Mm. No." Oscar whispered and held up his right hand. It has caked on blood. Tippy stared at him as he opened the banana. "Is that... Your's?" Oscar shook his head. "Is he...?" Oscar nodded. "So. What should we do?" Tippy said as she rested her head on Oscars shoulder. "Well... I'm gonna finished this banana, then wait for the cops to talk to me. No doubt I'll get questioned, then be in big trouble." Oscar looked down at his hand "I've... Killed someone. I was supposed to use this power for something good, ya know? Now, I have no clue what I am..." Oscar dropped his hands and the banana fell to the ground. "Things have changed so much in the span of one day, yet nothings different."
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After an hour, Oscar was apprehended and withheld a trial the next day. Oscar couldn't find a lawyer in the time given because the news about his family spread like wildfire. The case was an open and shut, but because he was a kid acting in self defense, his punishment was not severe. Oscar was now a murderer and deemed unsafe for the village. The court has come to the decision that banishment would be best. Either that or execution.
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Oscar had 12 hours to gather what he needed to leave. He tried to buy some materials, but most shops would not accept him. Instead, tippy would make the purchases for him while he waited somewhere away from the shops. Oscar fit all he needed in a duffel bag and strapped it to his back. "So. It will be up to you. You can chose to come with me, or you can stay here. No doubt you'd be safe if you stay." Oscar walks with Tippy into the woods to speak with Artemis. "I may be safe, but I won't be happy. I want to see more in my life. Do more. Hopefully artemis can teach me a few things, or let me be a follower." "I don't know about you being a follower, but you can work with me. I'm sure Artemis doesn't want a cult." Oscar chuckled to himself. They made it past his house and were a bit into the woods when two people walked out from behind the trees. They looked to be in their late teen years. One was well fit. Tall, and had a scar on his neck. The other looked rugged. His clothes not the cleanest, but definitely took care of himself. Taller than Oscar, yet smaller than the other guy. "Evening, eh... Oscar, is it? Heard from the townsfolk, you like killin' people. Ya know... There were three boys that went missing a few years back. Was it your doin as well?" The rugged one spoke with a rough, deep voice. Sounded like he was Scottish. Oscar faced them and held his left hand back for Tippy to notice. He motioned her to go left by swirling two fingers to the side. "Who wants to know? Can I learn the identities of the people before me?" The more fit character spoke in a booming tone. We know you did somn' to them boys. He's the cousin of one of em, and I'm a brother of another. Now, we're gonna do what you done did to them. Ta you..." He spoke with a heavy country accent. Oscar saw the Scot man sneak a knife from his back pocket. "I see why you want revenge, but that wasn't me. I was defending myself." The country man grabbed a hatchet he stuck to a nearby tree. "Won't matter. You got a bad record, and everyone'll think you left. All you'll be is dead." The Scottish man swung a right hook into Oscars jaw. Stunned by what happened, Oscar stood still for a moment before low kicking the Scots left leg. Before Oscar could recover, the country man swung his hatchet downward. Oscar lifted his arm to block it, but the Scot had thrown his knife into Oscars hand. The hatchet landed on the left of Oscars head. Blood drained down his face and covered his eye. As he slowly began to stand up, both the men looked shocked and confused. "Do somethin'. Stab him David!" The Scot man approached, managed to grab the knife from Oscars hand while he was frozen, and thrusted his arm towards his chest. Things began moving slowly again. A bit of light shines on the blade, slowly refracting brighter, then darker. Oscar moved one of his hands to push the knife out of the way. At the same time, he took the hatchet out of his head. Everything sped up for a moment, but slowed back down just as fast. There was blood in the air. Slowly, the droplets fell. By now, 'davids' hand is nearly all the way in the air. Oscar takes a deep breath, and time speeds up to its original pace yet again. David fell onto his back with a grunt. "I warned you both to leave me be." Oscar threw the hatchet into the air. The country man looked up which gave Oscar the opening to punch him square in the stomach. David stood back up and readied his knife. Oscar stood still and waited for an opening. He rushed with the knife again so Oscar rushed forward as well. David swung the blade horizontal to Oscars neck. Oscar stepped back just quick enough for the blade to whiz past. David thrust the knife forward, but the hatchet fell onto his hand right as he tried. While David was screaming, Oscar swept him off his feet, and downward punched him into the ground. Oscar turned to look at the man still gasping for breath. "Country boy... I'll leave you alone if you do me a favor..." Oscar walked over to him and leaned forward. "Simply tell anyone who comes looking for me or attempting to hunt me, to give up." Without waiting for a response, Oscar began walking away. Tippy came back from around the trees and grabbed Oscars shoulder. "Hey, are you ok? That hatchet looked like it did some damage." Oscar kept walking without response. The blood completely covered half of his face by now. "Oscar?" Still, he remained walking. Blankly staring forward, Oscar tried to make it to Artemis' shrine. Just as he laid eyes upon it, Oscar fell face first on the ground. "Oscar! Hey, wake up! I can get. help..Just...hang....on....."
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He was alone. An empty void all around. Complete darkness, yet Oscar could see just fine. Although nothing existed around him, he could still feel the ground he walked on. No sound could be made, yet he could hear a pen drop..."A new soul" a feminine voice sounded from beyond visibility. "You are troubled. Torn between who you wish to be, who you were, and who you are. You want to save people, yet you're the one who needs saving. A being that is broken, cannot fix others." Footsteps could be heard, yet it had no direction. "Although your time was short, it was rather memorable. Certainly more than most who lived a full life." Oscar turned around and around to find the voice, footsteps, anything. "Wait. 'Lived a full life'? Am I dead?" The footsteps stopped. He turned again to see a skeleton head in an all black cloak, wielding a scythe. "I'm afraid so" the voice still had no direction, but the mandible on the skeleton moved. "Although I can bring you to the afterlife, a God is beckoning you. I know this God, and I owe them a favor. Although, I shall let you chose. Life or death." "Wow. How long can I stay here to think?" "As long as needed. Time still moves, yet it travels slower than the living. An hour while dead could be 6 in the living world. " Oscar sat down, and so did the skeleton. "So, what, or who are you? If I may ask..." "I am Death. I guide the souls who travel here to the afterlife." "Why do you sound like a woman?" Death put their scythe on their lap. "I take on whatever form the dead imagined Death would look like. I am female because you imagine me as female." Oscars eyes widened for a moment. "So you're subjected to the form I see you as? Rather strange. So... Tell me about how you came to be." Death didn't move for a moment. "You are loosing time. Before long, you will have to come with me. Or you can still choose before your bodies functions cease." Oscar got up quickly and began to worry. "Well, hang on. Will I see you again?" "In time, yes." "What should I call you by?" "That's your option." Death stood up and began spinning her scythe. "Ok. I want to go back to the living world." Death spun her scythe faster. "Very well. Goodbye, Oscar." "Goodbye... Madam Death." As the blade spun faster and faster, Oscar began to feel light headed. With one swing of the scythe towards Oscar, everything went black.
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Oscar awoke with a bounce to his feet. Everything was spinning and he fell back onto his butt. Tippy hugged Oscar tightly as Artemis was crouched beside them with a tired, yet relieved expression. "Oscar... Please don't scare us like that again. What happened?" She laid a hand upon Oscars chest and began counting the beats his heart was making. "I don't remember much. Just having a fight, winning, then walking here. The last thing I remember is seeing the shrine." Oscar began to get up, but Tippy pushed him back down. "Stay seated. You should rest. You lost a lot of blood, but Artemis patched you up good." "Im fine tippy." Oscar grabbed Artemis' hand and pulled himself up. "Welp. Thank you, Artemis for saving my life, but I came here to say goodbye. Tonight I will be leaving to explore the world. I have no clue when I will be back. Although I'm sure it will be soon. I still have a few things left here, like finding Zuko, and that stranger, Zane." Artemis stood up and walked over to her shine and grabbed something. "Here." She placed a small talisman in Oscars hands. "It is a trinket to keep me with you. Although it isn't powerful enough to summon me, you and I can still talk to each other through this." Oscar put it in his pocket and began walking away. "I was going to call this a 'goodbye', but now that I have this, it can be a 'talk to ya later'." Oscar chucked to himself as he entered feeling in the forest. Tippy gave Artemis a Farewell and began walking with Oscar into the woods.