I've been thinking this little story over for awhile now and I decided to go through with it. How can I not? It's my first Christmas as an official fanfiction writer! ^_^ It's so exciting… Anyways, I hope you enjoy this random story and that you're not too ticked at me for throwing this out there and not updating Delusions of the Heart. XD Also, this has nothing to do with DotH, so don't get confused by that. Although since DotH is suppose to be like season 4, I guess this is sorta intertwined with it. Gah, that's too confusing! XD Enjoy! :3
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Monster Rancher or the characters. I'm just a huge fan. Tecmo owns everything. I just own the plot.
Note: This takes place in season 3 between when Mocchi wins the last tournament to be able to enter the Legend Cup and from when he battles Poritoka.
Holiday Dress
Chapter 1: Christmas Plans
The cold streets of a small village were filled with the hustle and bustle of busy people as they passed one another without a single glance. Small flakes of snow fell softly into the ground below as a cool breeze helped to scatter the cold mass throughout the area. The town on the outskirts of the Legend Cup coliseum was filled with life as hundreds of people gathered to watch the famous tournament and to see which monsters would come out victorious that year. The weather was unpredictable, however, and one day it could be sunny while the next day it could be raining. Because of the oncoming barrage of snow, the tournament would be put on hold for at least a week so the weather could clear up and so the arena could be cleaned.
"Man… I'm so bored…"
Genki sighed as he looked out the window of the local inn to see the snow falling lightly and gracefully like leaves in an autumn wind. Although he enjoyed the snowy weather, he wished it hadn't interfered with the Legend Cup tournament. The young boy had been preparing hard to face up against the famous Poritoka and Most, but now their match would have to wait another week or so. This didn't put the boy into good spirits and it made him feel a little down. All that preparing with Mocchi would have to wait. Genki snapped out of his thoughts when a slender hand was placed gently on his shoulder before he glanced up to see the wielder of the Magic Stone looking down at him with concern.
"Oh! Heya, Holly! What's going on?" Genki asked with a smile as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Genki… You've been so down lately. It's because of the tournament being rescheduled, isn't it?" Holly asked with a concerned frown as she took a seat next to the boy. From the look on Genki's face, the young girl knew she had hit the nail on the head and she couldn't help but smile softly. "Don't let it get you down, Genki. Think of it as a good time for Mocchi to train a little more and for you to also have a little relaxation time. Winning all those tournaments took a lot out of you two and you deserve a break."
"I guess that's a good point." Genki agreed with one of his trademark smiles. "Thanks for that, Holly."
Holly couldn't help but blush under the boy's gaze as she nodded her head numbly and averted her attention to their monster companions. Like Genki, the group couldn't help but feel trapped as they could only sit around the inn and stare at the fire crackling in the fireplace. Mocchi slept soundly as he leaned up against Suezo while Hare whistled quietly to himself and Tiger growled irritably at the annoying noise the rabbit monster was creating. Luckily for Golem, the village was use to competitors of all sizes coming to stay at the inn because of the Legend Cup, so even the rock giant had a place near the warm fire as he watched over his comrades with a look of sincerity.
"Golem is glad… to be out… of the cold…" Golem stated with a relaxed smile as he glanced over to the two humans of the group. "The snow… is wet and… is uncomfortable…"
"Yeah, I hear you there. I only have short sleeves and shorts on, so I'm okay with staying in the inn." Genki smiled as he subconsciously adjusted his orange hat to be tilted at just the right angle. "Maybe the snow will clear up soon. It would be awful if the Legend Cup was set back even more…"
Before another word could be spoken between the group members, the doors of the inn flew open dramatically as a lone figure in a dark cloak stepped in before closing the doors to keep the cold air and snow out. The person shook slightly from the chill of the air before going to the receptionist to book a room. The rebels couldn't help but watch with interest as they noticed the traveler's bag moving slightly before the person took the keys to a room and began to walk over to the rebels. As Genki went to ask the person what they needed, though, the stranger suddenly flung themselves onto Holly before squeezing the shocked girl in a tight hug.
"JUST WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?" Suezo shouted in anger, causing Mocchi to groggily wake up and frown from the bad wake up call. The eyeball monster didn't even notice the young monster, though, as his protective instinct flared and his temper sparked. "GET OFF OF HER, NOW!"
"Ooooohhh! You guys! It's so good to see you!" A feminine voice squealed from under the cloak while the rebels stared at her with absolute confusion and puzzlement.
"Uhh… please… you're… choking… me…" Holly wheezed as she felt herself getting light headed from the lack of air in her lungs. The traveler let out a small 'eep' as she let the wielder of the Magic Stone go before scratching the back of her head sheepishly while Holly gasped in relief at getting some air in her lungs.
"Sorry about that, Miss Holly! I just got so excited to see you!" The girl piped up as she pulled off the cloak covering her face to reveal a familiar face. The girl had short brown hair and brown hair to match while she wore a red outfit similar to Holly's. Gloves adorned both of her hands while her eyes shone with an essence of innocence. Each of the rebels blinked in confusion as they stared at the girl in front of them, but Holly was the first one to smile at recognizing her.
"Oh! Coltia! It's been over a year since we last saw you at the Pendant Ruins! How have your travels been?" Holly asked with an inviting smile while the other rebels still didn't have the foggiest idea about who the girl was.
"Things have been great! I found out a lot more about the first battle with Moo and the Phoenix! It's been really interesting. My Iron Bird isn't that suited for traveling in snow, though, so I landed here to wait for the storm to pass. Fancy meeting you guys here, huh?" Colt smiled as she unzipped her bag to allow her own monster companion some fresh air. Joy, a toucan looking monster, flew from the bag with relief at being free before landing gracefully on Colt's shoulder. "Oh, and just call me Colt, 'kay? So, what are you guys doing here?"
"Mocchi is going to enter the Legend Cup, but the tournament is put on hold until the weather clears up." Holly replied with a nod to the younger monster before turning her attention back to the girl in front of her. "He'll be up against both Poritoka and Most, but I know he'll do great."
"OH YEAH! You're the girl from the ruins that was trapped under those rocks and admitted to never having a boyfriend! Now I remember you!" Hare laughed and crossed his arms over his chest as he blurted out his recollection of the young girl.
"Hey! Would you not mention that again?" Colt flushed red form embarrassment while Joy cooed softly on her shoulder. Her mood changed swiftly, though, as she turned her attention back to Holly before grinning widely and letting out an excited squeal. "Looks like you guys are here for the holidays, then! This is so exciting! We'll get to spend it together!"
"Holidays?" Genki asked with a confused glance to Suezo.
"I forgot all about it with our journey and all… Christmas is coming up soon! How long until then?" Suezo asked with a slightly urgent look as he glanced over at Colt. "Is it next week?"
"Next week? Hahaha! Good one! Today is Christmas Eve!" Colt squealed with excitement as she threw her hands joyously in the air with a small 'whoop'. All at once the rebels' eyes widened in shock at the announcement before each of them leaned back and sighed softly. None of them had gifts, a tree, decorations, or anything to use for a classic Christmas.
"I didn't know this world celebrated Christmas." Genki said with a look of puzzlement.
"Pfft! Of course we do! It's one of the biggest celebrations of the year! People travel from all parts of the world to meet up with their families and to enjoy their company. Ever since our village was destroyed, though, Holly and I haven't celebrated it." The eyeball replied with a tone of slight hurt from the memory. "It doesn't matter, though. We don't have time to fart around here any longer to celebrate. The Legend Cup is coming up and everything we've worked for is riding on it!"
"And what do you expect to do? The Legend Cup is put on hold and a nice snow storm is on the way. Which ever way you look at it, you're stuck here with the rest of us so try and make the best of it." Colt stated with a wryly grin while Joy chirped in agreement. "There's no point crying over it and what not. Just relax and take it easy."
"Squawk! Stuck here! Stuck here!" Joy cooed as she ruffled her feathers and stretched out her long wings with relief from the rough trip.
"Hahaha! We should make the best of this then! We've never celebrated Christmas together before and this will be a great chance for a little fun! Come on, guys! Let's put together a nice holiday meal!" Genki announced epically while Mocchi leapt to his feet and giggled with agreement. "We can't do anything else at this point, so why not enjoy ourselves?"
"And just how are we supposed to do that? We don't have much for money and the shops will be closing up soon for the holidays." Tiger stated gruffly as he glanced over at the group from his spot near the fireplace. "We're not miracle workers, you know."
"You're such a downer, Tiger! If we set out now to buy things, we'll have plenty of time. Besides, Mocchi's won us quite a bit of gold from his tournaments. We have plenty of money to spend a little on an extra special meal and a few decorations." Hare retorted with a nod of his head. "If we split up, we can get everything we need extra fast, too."
"Sounds like a good plan, Hare. Let's do this!" Genki grinned as he tore through his book bag before taking out a pencil and a notebook. "Let's split up what we need so we don't all buy the same things. Golem, could you get us a Christmas tree? Christmas isn't the same without one."
"Golem will… get the best… tree…" The rock giant replied with a smile.
"Great! Suezo and Tiger, could you two get the meat? Anything we can roast will work."
"Not a problem." Suezo grinned while Tiger merely shrugged lightly.
"Okay then… How about me, Mocchi, and Hare go out to get a variety of vegetables for the meal? With the three of us, we'll get a big selection!" The young boy said with a grin as Mocchi nodded in agreement and Hare gave the boy a 'thumbs up'.
"That leaves Holly and, if she wants to join us, Colt to get the decorations." Genki ended with a small smile of triumph as he finished writing down the Christmas list.
"Yeah! I wanna help out, too! It looks like it's you and me, Miss Holly!" Colt grinned happily while Holly couldn't help but sweat slightly at the young girl next to her. Part of her knew deep down that she would be paired off with Colt from the very start. Joy cooed happily from the young girl's shoulder before she flew onto Holly's shoulder and cawed loudly into her ear. Although the bird was merely greeting the wielder of the Magic Stone, Holly couldn't help but find Joy to be rather obnoxious and down right annoying. She really hoped the bird would remain at the inn while they went out to do their shopping.
"I'll cook the meal for everyone, too." Holly added with a smile while the other rebels mentally cheered to themselves. No one could cook better than the wielder of the Magic Stone and a huge meal like this would be absolutely heavenly.
"Because we don't want to go overboard, let's not buy gifts and just consider the whole meal to be our present. Sound alright to everyone?" Hare asked everyone, and he smiled knowingly as the group nodded their heads in agreement at his suggestion. Buying gifts wouldn't be practical not only because of their watchful eye of their funds, but also because it would be difficult to travel with a huge hoard of new items.
Holly smiled happily as she looked around at her friends talking among one another with excitement over the upcoming holiday feast. It had been a long journey to get to where they were now and she couldn't thank them enough for helping her to find a way to get her father freed from the Mystery Disk. For this group, what better way to show them how much she appreciated their dedication than to cook them up a well deserved meal? The brunette giggled to herself as she watched Hare and Tiger bicker over who would return first with their shopping done, but suddenly her eyes fell on Genki and she found herself look away sheepishly with a blush on her face. Old feelings had surfaced up once again after their long journey together, but this time around it was getting harder to hide it. The young boy had grown up over their year of being apart and he had become even more charming in Holly's eyes. She would never tell him that, of course.
"Alright, guys! Let's go shopping!"
Okay! This will be a short story with short chapters, so don't expect 8,000 word chapters like in DotH. XD You may be thinking that they don't celebrate Christmas in the Monster Rancher world. Actually, they do! In my Monster Rancher encyclopedia, a whole page from Monster Rancher 2 is just dedicated to Christmas. 3 pictures are of a purebred Mew in a cute Santa outfit. 2 pictures are of a Suezo; one with a Christmas cake on his tongue and another of him with a Santa hat on. Anther picture is of a Mocchi with a Santa hat on while standing on a Mystery Disk shaped cake with a piece of holly on it. The last picture is big and is of Colt in a cute holiday outfit pulling a huge sack behind her while a Gaboo is helping carry it, Suezo is hanging from the top of it with a Santa hat on, a Mocchi is walking next to her in a Christmas outfit as well, and a Ducken looks like his body is a huge snowball. Another Christmas related picture is a small one from Monster Rancher Advanced 2. It's of Holly and she's in an adorable Christmas outfit and she looks surprised as she's holding a cake that has a bunch of chibi monsters playing on it. The last one I was able to find online and it's a holiday background featuring an Atlan, Mocchi, Suezo, Durahan, Mogi, Xan, and Mew. I saved it and here it is for you to enjoy! It's actually my wallpaper for the holiday season, as well. Just take out the spaces: http:/ /i78. photo bucket. com/ albums/ j104/ rockyroadsmith/ Random%20Pictures/ MFWallpaper3. jpg
Thanks for reading this and I hope you stay tuned for more! I hope I finish this before Christmas…
RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3