A New Friend
Lucius held onto his father's back as Ronin reared his hummingbird through the trees. Ronin decided that since Lucius never really had a play date outside before this would surely be a good experience for him. They flew on for another few short miles until they reached their destination. Ronin landed his bird as he tied the reigns to one of the tree branches.
"Daddy, where are we?" Lucius asked.
"Why you're looking at it, son," said Ronin. Lucius saw the sight in front of him with wide eyes. There were kids his age running all over the place with parents either trying to catch them or chasing them playfully. There were slides, swings, seesaws, and a lot more attractions all over the place. Lucius eyed the huge playground and looked at his dad a little bit curiously.
"Well, do you know why I brought you here?" Ronin asked.
"Why?" Lucius still had no idea why they were here.
"Because it's a playground, Lucius. You're here to have fun," said Ronin. Lucius suddenly smiled widely and ran over to the sight with Ronin following behind. Lucius looked around to try and find a good spot to start until he saw the slides. He ran over and climbed up the later as his dad watched him safely. He crawled through a small tunnel that ended in a small sliding drop.
"Wheeee!" Lucius laid flat on his stomach as he slid down. Ronin waited at the bottom and caught his son in his arms, lifting him up in the air. Lucius laughed as Ronin started to roughhouse with him. However their fun time was short lived when Ronin noticed a little boy on one of the seesaws. He was about Lucius's age and he was a stick Jinn, sitting alone rocking up-and-down. Lucius saw him, too, and looked up at his dad.
"Aw, that kids seems he doesn't have any friends to play with," Ronin said.
"Then how about I go? I mean, if it doesn't sound weird," said Lucius with a nervous smile.
"Not at all, son," said Ronin. He placed the boy down on his feet and Lucius rushed over to greet the little boy. The little Jinn stick boy looked up and saw Lucius who had a wide smile on his face.
"Hi there," Lucius said happily.
"Uh…hi?" the little boy seemed confused.
"What are you doing?" Lucius asked.
"I'm playing on the seesaw. But nobody's coming over to seesaw with me," said the little boy.
"Aw, how sad," said Lucius.
"My dad said he'd play with me, but now he's talking to some friends," said the little boy with a sad face. Even though Lucius did not know this kid at all, he was sad about the fact that he had nobody to play with. With a light bulb flickering on his head with an idea he hopped on the seesaw and grabbed the handles. The little boy looked at him surprised.
"Now you have a partner!" Lucius said.
"Thanks so much! My name's Evergreen by the way," said the boy.
"I've never heard of that name before. My name's Lucius," said Lucius.
"Nice to meet you," said the little boy Evergreen. The two of them started to seesaw up and down, laughing and giggling. Their legs started to kick faster to give them more of a boost and increase the fun. It looked like this little boy had a playmate after all. Suddenly their fun was interrupted when another stick Jinn came over. He had a stern look on his face and hands on his hips. Evergreen gasped.
"Son, what did I tell you about playing with strangers?" asked the boy's dad.
"We weren't doing anything wrong, dad. I had nobody to play with," said the boy.
"Well you need to play with kids you know, not with some little strangers," the boy's dad scolded. He took Evergreen's hand and lead him off the seesaw, making the little boy stare back at Lucius. He had a sad look on his face as the father lead his seesaw playmate away and out of sight. Ronin saw the whole thing from where he was sitting and ran over.
"Daddy, he took my playmate away," Lucius said.
"I saw the whole thing," said Ronin.
"Did I do something wrong?" Lucius asked.
"Oh no, son. That boy's dad was probably worried about him," said Ronin. Lucius decided to continue to play at the playground without the little boy, but somehow the very feeling of that man pulling him away seemed to bother him. Why would he do something like that?
The next day Lucius went to his kindergarten class where he was greeted by his two best friends, Flora and Raymond. They were playing with toys and pretending to crash into buildings made out of blocks. Lucius was having so much fun he had almost forgotten about the same boy who was walking around. It was Evergreen and Lucius ran up to him excitedly. The little boy seemed just as happy as he was to see him.
"I hoped you'd show up," Lucius said.
"I know. Sorry about yesterday. It's just that my dad doesn't like me hanging out with kids I don't know," said Evergreen.
"I know we barely know each other but I just wanted to play with you since you were alone," said Lucius.
"Hey, Lucius! Who's this?" Flora and Raymond made their way over to the two boys.
"This is Evergreen, guys. I met him at the playground yesterday. He was all alone," said Lucius.
"Well nice to meet ya, Evergreen. I'm Flora and this is Raymond. We're Lucius's best friends!" Flora introduced them both. Pretty soon the kids took Evergreen over to their little circle and restarted the game again. Evergreen joined in and pretended to shoot a gun at the stuffed animal Lucius was holding, making Lucius drop it into a pile of blocks. Flora and Raymond pretended to attack as well, but Lucius charged with his stuffed animal and they all started to smack into each other.
"I'm going to take you down, you vile creature!" Evergreen said.
"Ha-ha, try it! You'll never get pass my acorn cannon!" Lucius said. He held up a tiny toy sword and pretended it was a gun, making sounds that a laser gun might make. His three friends started to bounce their animals around to make it look like they were trying to escape. Lucius started laughing as he pretended to shoot more invisible acorns at his three friends.
"We're never gonna make it, captain! What do we do?" asked Flora holding her toy up to Raymond's.
"We fight to the death. Whoever takes down the acorn cannon monster gets the treasure to himself. Block all of the shots!" Raymond said waving his toy around. Evergreen started to charge his toy towards Lucius's, blocking any 'shots' that came his way. Lucius growled and started to spin his toy around to make the battle more difficult. Evergreen started to bounce his toy around to make it look like it had super powers.
"Evergreen," suddenly Lucius's teacher interrupted their playtime. The four friends turned around and saw a rose Jinn woman bending down to them. Next to her was the same man at the playground who took Evergreen away. It was his father. Lucius gulped and held his toy up to his chest.
"Your father's here to pick you up." said the rose Jinn. Evergreen looked down as he got up and took his dad's hand, leading him out of the classroom. Lucius looked at Evergreen who looked back at him.
Once out in the hallway Evergreen's dad looked at him sternly. "I told you not to play with kids you don't know, son! That boy's the son of Ronin the leafman general. His dad's a soldier which means you're not allowed nowhere near him. Understand?" the man asked his son.
"Why can't I play with him, daddy? I like Lucius. We were just playing with toys," said Evergreen.
"Son, look. Jinn play with Jinn, not with leafmen. Ok?" the man asked. Evergreen looked down and nodded sadly. The man took Evergreen's hand and lead him outside. Lucius looked out the window when Evergreen noticed him and held out his hand to him. Lucius raised his arm to the window but he knew the little stick Jinn could not reach him. Once they were out of sight again, making Lucius feel as miserable in the playground.
The next day, Lucius went back to the playground with Ronin and this time Queen Tara, who was off from work and wanted to come along. Lucius ran up to the slides and monkey bars and started to climb across the monkey bars looking like a pro. However Queen Tara was really holding up his legs and helping him across. Ronin watched as Queen Tara helped him get across the final set of bars with a huge smile on his face.
"Looks like your son doesn't know when to stop bothering my kid, huh Ronin?" The army general turned around and saw the stick Jinn father with his arms crossed. Ronin recognized him as one of Bufo's old racers, the stickman Jinn. His name was Rutherford and his looks made him look like he was nothing but a gentleman, but his tough looks and stern attitude made him a serious person.
"Rutherford. Long time no see," said Ronin.
"I don't want your son near mine. Understand?" Rutherford asked.
"Why? The boy just wants to make a friend," said Ronin.
"Remember what happened in the past, Ronin? That little incident when you raced me in one of Bufo's races and you took my winning title?" Rutherford asked.
"Are you kidding me? Is that what bothers you?" Ronin asked.
"Not only that I was the laughing stock in all of Moonhaven. Bufo was lucky enough to keep me because I'm still one of his topnotch racers," Rutherford said.
"Look, Rutherford. It was just one race," said Ronin.
"A race that cost me my honor and dignity. I use to be popular until you interfered," snapped Rutherford.
"Ok, ok. I get it," said Ronin.
"Just keep your son away from my boy. I'm just saying," Rutherford snapped.
"Listen up. I know you don't like me and you don't have to, but don't stand there and harp on all of the leafman and treat them like garbage. They fight for our safety and you're still bothered about a race that happened years ago. Plus your trying to get your son to hate the leafmen as well! I know your family is none of my business, but my son doesn't have to stop himself from trying to make friends!"
Ronin kept on going on to Rutherford, clearly angry that he was interfering with his son's friendship. He closed his rant on saying if his son wants to be friends with Lucius then he should not stop him. Lucius was the kindest boy that his son knows and probably his only friend. Rutherford's expression grew surprised as Ronin finished speaking. Without another word the army general went back to enjoy a nice day at the playground with his family.
The next day at kindergarten Lucius was playing with his two friends with stuffed animals. They were continuing the saga of a toy war they had been. Suddenly Lucius turned around and saw Evergreen with his dad, who held his shoulders and lead him over to the carpet where they were. Rutherford looked at his son and backed away slowly.
"Mind if I play along?" Evergreen asked. The three friends were finally able to have their new friend back and Lucius gladly handed him a stuffed toy. Evergreen sat down eagerly and took the toy and started to join in on the fun. Rutherford looked at his son and slowly backed away more until he turned around and walked to the door.
Ronin waited out in the hallway and saw Rutherford coming out of his son's classroom. He turned to Ronin who had a soft smile on his face while the stickman just nodded and walked on. Ronin smirked and walked outside and saddled his bird before taking off back towards home. Maybe now Rutherford realized his words and would let his son make more friends often.
Ronin turned out to be right, and back in the classroom Lucius and Evergreen were laughing as they played some more with Raymond and Flora. It was indeed the start of a new friendship.
FIN
I had no idea why I needed to do this fic, but I just had the idea and decided to stick with it. The stickman Jinn I did not create! I just gave him a name. His son I did create, and he looks a lot like his dad. Remember if this story seems mary-sueish or has too many OCs, please let me know! It doesn't hurt to be constructive. If anyone's confused, Ronin already knew Rutherford at the playground when he first saw him take his son away. He just needed to focus on Lucis. XD
Now that that long note's out of the way, like it? Don't like it? Tell me in a review :)