Began Typing: 5:08 PM 7/23/2008

Posted: 8:01 PM 8/11/2008

Murder Among Us: Chapter One (Our Fine Feathered Friend)

"I'm really sorry..."

The attending nurse sighed, setting down a trey of tea and biscuits on the nearby end table that posed as a nightstand. He crossed his arms, briefly brushing a stray strand of hair from his bangs away from his deep cobalt eyes. He was not in uniform, the injured boy who had spoken noted, watching quietly as the sapphire-haired boy approached the bedside. No, instead of the required hospital garb that the lead doctor had assigned to ALL the nurses, this male nurse wore his usual tunic with a elegant cape draped over his shoulders, held together with a large broach by his right arm and matching pants with heavy iron boots that began just below the knees. However, it was rather unusual that it was white and not blue, his attendant's apparent favorite color. "I have told you a million times," he spoke quietly, "you don't have to say you're sorry. You didn't do anything."

The victim in the clean hospital bed smiled politely, brushing his unruly auburn hair away from his eyes with the back of his hand, his eyes wandering throughout the room. The attending threw open the curtains, allowing the sun to shine onto the foot of the bed, warming the patient's feet. "Marth-sama, shouldn't you be wearing the hospital clothes that Dr.Mario asked you to wear yesterday?"

The nurse smiled pleasantly, handing him a teacup in a porcelin saucer after he'd sat up against the headboard. "Ah...I suppose, but don't you think that a white outfit will suffice? Be careful, it's hot."

After a momentary pause due to a cautious sip, the boy smirked. "Thank you."

"So," the nurse (Marth-sama, was it?) began, "how have you been doing?"

"Aside from the aching pain in my back, I've been feeling just fine. Really, Marth-sama, there's nothing to worry about."

"Please, just call me Marth. Such respectful terms are not required here or anywhere in this manor. Now, Pit, let me see your back..."

The boy in the bed leaned forwards as the man known as Marth untied the back of his hospital gown, letting it droop to his waist-line. What he saw astounded him. "Pit, what have you done to your wings!?" He cried, taken aback at the sight.

The humane way to describe the angel's disposition was that his wings had been clipped. It wasn't like these two had never met before, Marth had seen the majesty of the general's wings many-a-times in the heat of battle in a tournament not long ago. However, the day after it had ended, Pit was found outside the manor, assaulted and near-death. Now, the once beautiful, pure, feathery white wings were mangled beyond belief, feathers missing if not entirely destroyed. "Well..." Pit grumbled ashamedly. "I...I have been itching a lot..."

Marth let his fingers skim the feather's tips, hearing Pit hiss in response. "I apologize," Marth whispered, pulling his hand back as if it might be on fire, "I did not mean to harm you."

"It's fine." Pit tried to force out a smile. "My feathers are just really sensitive is all. Please be careful."

Marth nodded. He proceeded to wrap the injured angel's wings in clean linen, making sure they were generally loose to allow movement. "Pit," Marth sat at the edge of the bed precariously, "Snake and Samus are trying to figure this out. Can you remember anything, anything at all, about who attacked you; what they looked like?"

Pit shook his head. "I'm sorry, Marth-sama...it was dark and...I was looking at the moon... I think I was attacked from behind..." His head gradually lowered.

Marth sighed. "Don't worry about it, Pit. I'm sure Snake and Samus can track them down. In the meantime, try to get some sleep. You need the rest."

Marth headed to the door of the room where Pit stayed alone. Pit's voice stopped him. "Prince Marth-sama?"

He faced him, his tiara glittering under the panneled flourescent lights. "Yes?"

"Will I..be able to fly again?"

Marth shut his eyes, breathing deeply. Pit's wings were damaged horribly, almost like a small child sat on his back and plucked them out one-by-one. His assailant went for nothing else, just the wings...no other injuries. "Pit...we cannot be sure of that just yet. This is the most crucial part of you stay. Your recovery. After 24 hours, i'll check and see your progress on recovery. Maybe I can tell you then."

Pit nodded. "Okay, Marth-sama. If something's wrong, i'm trusting you to tell me; good or bad, okay?"

The prince nodded in return. "Of course. Now, rest."

Marth shut the door gently behind him, fuming inside. Pit never did anything to hurt anyone, so why did he have to suffer? He let his hand tighten into a fist as he left the hospital and made his way down the expertly decorated halls. They were dealing with a real sick...well...psycho.

Marth danced aside as a door just next to him flew open, nearly hitting him in the face. The large built man who exited smiled widely, giving him a toothy grin that annoyed him to no end. "Hiya there, princess."

Marth huffed, giving the slightly taller bluenette an icy leer. "Must you call me that?"

He shrugged. "Kinda."

The little more than irritable prince swept off, ignoring the man and continuing down the hallway. Unfortunately, the man followed eagerly, biting at his heels, blue spiky hair bobbing up and down from it's lack of being combed. "What's the rush for?" The mercenary asked. "Where're you going? Don't you work in the hospital with the doc?"

Marth rolled his eyes, vexed. "If you must know, I only bother with it because I'm worried about Pit."

"?" The man continued to trail him down the hall. "Why? The boy's fine!"

Marth whipped around, facing him with a face somewhere between an angry mother and a child whose toy was stolen, finger pending to twitch into the wagging position that everyone hates oh-so-much. "Listen, Ike. Pit's wings were...clipped. Odds are, he'll never be able to fly again. The man...woman...THING...that did this to him is still on the loose!"

Ike shrugged again. "Calm down. Snake and Samus-!"

"I know they're looking for him, but they're a spy and a bounty-hunter, not miracle workers...and neither is the doc."

"But they tried."

Marth glared at Ike harshly. "Well! YOU can tell Pit that when he returns to Skyworld and can never use his wings again!"

Ike watched, mouth gaping open, as Marth stormed off down the hall, crossing his arms slowly as he recovered from the
initial shock of the prince's reaction. He knew the prince was a drama queen, but this was a bit much, even for him. Pit would be fine. Knowing the spontaneous little angel, he'd be back up in a day or two, zooming across the sky outside and
somebody would be peeling him off one of the towers window's in no time. Ike shrugged, walking off towards the dining hall as his stomach began to growl. He could sure use some thinkin' food now...

Marth smiled pleasantly (almost bitterly if you must know) as he re-entered the room where Pit lie, watching a show on television about a nautical sponge and his starfish friend playing in a box. Marth hardly noticed when Pit faced him, his eyes still glued on the strange show. "Oh, hey Marth-sama!" He realized Marth was watching the show a moment later, staring at the colored screen with a curious look on his face. "Oh...sorry. Kinda reminds me of Snake-san, you know?"

Marth laughed. "Yes, actually. Now, we need to check your wings."

The prince helped Pit sit up and lean over, untying the back of the gown once again. He made quick work to take the soiled linen off of the mangled wings, wincing. Pit held his breath, finally spitting. "Well?"

Marth shook his head. "Well...can you move them?"

Marth felt himself grow queasy as Pit's wings extended, the angel grunting in pain. Feathers were missing everywhere, leaving gaping holes throughout the once stunning wings. "...how does it look?" Pit groaned.

Marth collected himself, trying to keep his voice steady. "Pit it...if you want to fly, it will take a LOT of physical therapy and practice. It won't be easy, but... I think there might be a chance pending."

The prince saw the angel's wings relax. "Thank Palutena...you had me worried, Marth-sama!"

He shut his eyes, Pit's happiness lost on him. Regardless of the chances, Pit was not likely to get much better...Not only that, who would teach Pit to fly? Metaknight wasn't likely to warm up to the idea and the only other smashers who could fly were puffballs... Pit seemed to notice his lack of a response. "...Marth-sama?"

"Hmn?"

"I want you to help me."

Marth blinked, tucking his fist under his chin thoughtfully. "How can I help you?"

"Well...you could take me to stages and make sure I don't push myself too far, right?"

Marth nodded. "Yes...I suppose I can't leave you alone, can I?"

"Great! When should I come find you?"

Marth pondered the question a moment. "Actually, I have to run this by Master Hand first. It's not a good idea to just use the stages, I'll have to ask first. In the meantime, just try to get used to the feeling of extending them. You're going to have to overcome any pain you feel, if you REALLY want to fly."

"I do, I do!" Pit cried.

Marth nodded. "I know. Dr.Mario will discharge you tomorrow morning. I'll ask before then. Just relax for now."

"Thank you so much Marth-sama!"

Marth shook his head. "What did I tell you about calling me sama?"

"Gomen ne, Marth-sama!"

The brunette stroked his stubble thoughtfully, averting his gaze from the feather-littered floor of the forest to the attractive blond nearby in her leather suit. "We're shooting blanks here." He muttered in his usually creepy tone.

She shot him a glare, spinning a white feather between her thumb and fore-finger. "I'm aware of that. However, Snake, maybe we should review what we DO know instead of flapping our gums uselessly."

Snake tried not to groan. He hated partner work for this reason. No one truly appreciated his genius. "Alright, fine. You go first."

She stood, dusting off her knees. "Well, out suspect is meticulous. He left no fingerprints, no shoe-prints, no sign that he
ever existed...There's no tool of any type nearby. It just looks like Pit molted here, nothing more."

Snake knelt down, fingering several feathers. "There was no tool." He concluded. "Whoever did this used their hands to pull fist fulls of his down straight from his back."

"Oh? And how can you tell that?"

"You see how the bristles of each feather have indents in irregular places, ones that wouldn't benefit aerodynamics? The marks correlate directly with that of the human hand. Our perp is definitely human, Samus."

Samus winced, rubbing her ponytail thoughtfully. "Poor kid. That had to have hurt..."

Snake glanced around. "Where do the feathers lead to?"

"They don't." Samus answered. "This is the only area they show up in. There's no trail."

"Was he wounded elsewhere on his body?"

"Not from what the report Marth and Dr.Mario sent in told us. Only his wings were damaged."

"..." Snake shook his head, pushing up off his knees. "How strange...the underlying dirt shows little disturbance, as if Pit didn't even put up a fight."

"Well...he WAS attacked from behind..."

"So you mean to tell me that if you were attacked from behind, you wouldn't fight?"

"..." Samus shook her head. "This doesn't add up."

"Pit's a capable fighter, or he wouldn't be here. He may have known and trusted his assailant, not fighting until it was too late. On the other hand, our suspect may just be a coward who can't confront his victims. We need to talk to Pit more and make a suspect list as soon as possible."

Samus nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll contact Falcon, he can shorten the process."

As Samus walked away, typing rapidly on her PDA, Snake rolled his eyes, grumbling "bounty hunters..." under his breath as formentioned bounty-hunter began rambling and pacing about on the annoying iphone-like handset, Snake wondering why they didn't just use those appendigies hanging from their lower torso to oh...WALK over to the other person and say something. They were only 2 feet away from each other for God's sake!

Completed: 6:40 PM 7/23/2008

Be kind to your fine feathered friends, kiddies. Please don't pull the birdies wings, regardless of the content here. :P I hope you like it so far. It's not a bad set up if I do say so myself. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Duh-duh-duh!

Disclaimer: I do not own SSBB or the i-phone. D: