PoHA Shorts 1

Black Jack

The sounds of the front door being opened and a very grumpy Poleepkwa were heard from the main room. A second, cheerier voice was heard, recognized by all as Jasper. A few people turned and watched as the well-known cinnamon colored alien walked in, accompanying a big black and red alien, which shot a couple glances at the others in the room. "*What are you thinking, meeting with humans?!" He hissed to his friend as he tensed up, ready for someone to ambush him.

Jasper chuckled at Jack's reaction. "*I've already told you that it's fine. They're friends, and good ones at that."

Black Jack scanned the room again, noting where everyone was. One of the humans stood and walked up to him, holding his hand out.

"Hello. I'm Rineke, founder of PoHA. You are?"

"*Jack," He said, looking Rineke in the eyes.

Rineke slowly pulled his hand back. "So, you're the Jack that Jasper's been talking about. It's nice to finally meet you." A couple people in the back nodded in agreement, saying 'hello' and 'welcome to PoHA.'

Jack spent most of the meeting by the wall, grumbling about humans and how Jasper had been tricked by them. Nonetheless, he was more comfortable by the end of the meeting. When Jasper asked if he'd like to go back, Jack gave a simple "Maybe."

Patrol

Patrol was a job for the members who felt especially brave that day. Walking around the city at night was not the best idea, and actually looking for trouble was even worse. It was practically a rule that at least one Poleepkwa had to be around, not just to help the victims of any attacks they see (the official reason), but also for added brawn if and when a particularly angry and muscular human decided to fight back.

"I think I see something," Josh pointed towards a few dark forms in the distance, one significantly taller than the others. The group of 5 picked up their pace, hoping to catch up to the group before something happened. Unfortunately, there had been a few cases where the patrol hadn't arrived on time, and someone had ended up either seriously injured or even dead.

As they approached, the distinct sounds of a fight became audible, and it sounded rough. The speed-walk the patrollers shared became a run. Someone was cursing, but the voice wasn't recognizable over the heavy breathing.

The fight was as bad as it had sounded. There were two humans, both armed with knives and obviously at one point a gun, since a small handgun lay about ten feet away. In between them was a Poleepkwa, nearly hidden in the dark, visible mostly due to the pale brown bandit mask-like skin around its eyes, and the occasional glint of blood. The humans were stabbing and slashing at the alien, who was trying to dodge the blades and add in some of its own strikes.

"This is bad," said Josh. He looked back to the other four for confirmation that everyone was ready to go. Amelia was jumping up and down in preparation. Jasper, Kyler, and Rineke all nodded to show that they were ready. Without further hesitation, they ran towards the fighters.

"Hey! Stop that right now!"

"*Break up the fight!"

"Put the knives down!"

Such yelling earned the patrollers a momentary glance from the two humans. The Poleepkwa took advantage of their distraction, grabbing one and throwing him into his friend before taking off.

Rineke, Amelia, and Kyler went over to the humans to make sure they were all right, and to lecture them about harming the aliens. Meanwhile, Jasper ran after the escaping Poleepkwa for a similar check and lecture.

As Josh followed Jasper, he sighed. Patrol was a rough job.