Merry Christmas! As a gift for those readers, who are never satisfied with stories and Squids, here's a new Inkinators story for all of you! Let's see what Mirii, Hun, Grina and Bars are doing in those days full of delicious food to eat and presents to unwrap. This story could be seen as a spinoff of the main story, which is Inkinators: a Splatoon fanfiction. Although, it's officially included in the timeline, which it's going to be revealed much later.

One more thing: the summary is announcing that the story is around the 4 main characters (Mirii, Hun, Grina and Bars). The events will be shown later, as said information counts as a spoiler: for now, let's just see what the Inkinators are doing in this story... then the Fantasy/Adventure part of the story will eventually show up.

If you liked this long prologue, please let me know about your opinion with your review!

Fluffy pieces of snow slowly fall down, while zigzagging, resting on the sidewalk. Inklings were walking on the sidewalk, while carrying an open umbrella with one or two hands. Most of the girls were wearing a puffy jacket, some of those even reach their knees.

Young kids were on the field covered by a long snow carpet: they picked up a small chunk of snow, throwing it at each other. They were laughing, others were rubbing the snow off their faces. Other kids were forming a large snowball, with their hands: two kids were carrying a smaller, but still large snowball towards the other one.

They put it on the top of the larger snowball. A female child puts another snowball on the top of the medium one: there were two small pieces of coal above a carrot with the tip pointing ahead. The same girl lies her hands in her jacket's pockets, as she picks out other pieces of coal.

She puts one on the bottom-left part, then she puts another one down-right near the first piece of coal. She keeps putting coal, following an U-shaped arc: the girl smiles, once she backs behind a little. A kid puts a top hat on the smaller snowball: it inclined a little to right. The same kid pulls it to the left, now standing on the center.

A girl wraps a checkered red and black scarf, between the bottom of the small snowball and the top of the medium snowball. Another one puts three pieces of coal on the medium snowball's center side in a vertical line. Two kids are holding one brown branch each: they put it respectively on the left and right side of the medium snowball.

They walked backwards, near the other 3 kids: they all were looking at a smiling snowsquid. They jumped, laughing and singing a song. Not too far away, Grina was staring at the kids: she grows a wide smile, reaching her cheeks. She lets out a loud sigh.

"When snow was down on the ground, the first thing I always do was forming a large snowball…" She turns over, as her head lowers down a little and her eyes are closed. "… and from there, recreating Mr. Snow every year."

"Mr. Snow?" Bars raises his right eyebrow, as his hands were in his black jacket's pockets, with his arms a little bended.

"Yep!" She opens her eyes, widely smiling. "It has been 5 years since I recreate my snow buddy!"

The girl suddenly expands her eyes, hitting her right palm with her left fist.

"Hey, hey… how about… we build him again?!" Her eyes sparkle, her mouth is open and both her fists are close together, as her arms are bended.

The girl was looking from the left: Bars, Mirii and Hun. Mirii was wearing a black Bobble Hat, a long puffy white jacket with the image of mountains on the bottom left: under a text reading "Inkline". She was wearing dark-blue boots, with red laces. She snorted, slowly shaking her head and folding her arms.

"Grina, how old are you?" She slightly raises her head.

"Old enough to build another snowsquid!" Grina stands on her left leg, striking her left fist up in the air.

"Complete nonsense…" Mirii frowns a little. "Kids have plenty of time, building snowsquids around. We don't."

"Aaaawww, come on!" Grina raises her eyebrows, clasping her hands.

"Grina!" Mirii frowns even more, stretching down her fists. "Squidsmas is coming in 3 days and the Arowana Mall announced Last-Ditch Offers for different types of products!"

"Ehm… I knew that, smart girl." Grina raises her left eyebrow.

"Judging from your childish attitude, you were so immersed into your nostalgic dreams, that your mind completely forgot the tasks you clearly stated before." Mirii lowers her eyelids, faintly snorting.

Grina grumbled loudly, as her eyelids were lowered to the middle and her mouth is downturned.

"You just had to attempt at being more annoying than an Alarm clock, hmm?" Her head turns as her eyes were pointing at Mirii, passing ahead from her right.

"Speaks the one who forces her friends, to participate in those kiddy activities." Mirii closes her eyes for a moment.

Grina slams her hands on her legs, as she looks at Bars, shaking her head. The boy shrugs.

"Girl, maybe another time? Like, I do want to see some funky stuff." He walks over Grina.

"Videogames, eh?" Her left eye winks at him, as her left elbow hits Bars' right side.

"Eh eh! That's a secret to everybody!" His right eye wink at her, as he smiles.

Grina blushes a little, slightly lowering her head and smiling too.

"Wait, Mirii!" Hun runs over the short girl with long green tentacles.

The girl stops, near a small hill of snow on her right. She turns sideways from her left, as her left iris fell on her eyes' left corners, pointed towards the boy: her cheeks got a little red and her mouth opens slightly.

A bright yellow light and a collection of voices are spread within the walls. Numerous Inklings and Jellyfishes were either walking over a direction, staring at the shop windows outside or standing on one of the escalators' steps, as they were moving either diagonally up or down.

Ropes with sparkling lights were tied from one point of the tall walls, going above everyone's heads and reaching another point. Some ropes were forming large shape-like stars and presents. The shop windows' edges had a puffy white material, with 2 inches presents on separated points either colored in red, blue and green, as gold ribbons were wrapped around them, with a bow on their lids.

Hun's eyes kept jumping from one smaller present on another.

"Wow! How did they attached those so well?" His forefinger was slowly moving over a red present.

"Hunley, those are just decoration." Mirii's right hand fell on his right shoulder.

She was wearing wooly, white gloves. Gently, the girl pulls the boy behind.

"Ah… I knew there was something weird about them!" He turns around, as his eyebrows are lowered a bit.

Mirii smiles, retreating her hand and seeing right on his eyes.

"I'm sure you were figuring it out, quickly enough." She closes her eyes.

The boy smiles too.

"Come on, Barsy! Put some speed on those feet!"

Mirii turns on her right, opening her eyes: Grina was staring over a tall tower of trembling presents and shop bags, each of different color. On the center of a purple shop bag, a round magenta logo with 2 transparent circles in the middle with the words reading "Tentatek".

Another shop bag, decorated with mountains on the top and a forest on the bottom, with a lake at the mountain's foot. The logo "Inkline" was located right in the middle. A black shop bag had a Splattershot logo with the word "Forge" under it.

Under the pile of presents and bags, two hands who grasp a rectangular present, one on each side. The legs were bended, trembling violently.

"Anf… anf… uff! Grina! Puff! I-I have a qu-question to ask…!" Bars' voice was heard behind the pile of presents.

"First, put down all the presents." Grina holds her hips.

THUMP!

Grina's hands rest on her head, as her eyes expand. Bars steps on the pile of presents' right side, as he was sliding his left hand on his forehead and sighing loudly.

"YOU, ELEPHANT!" Mirii walks over Bars, frowning a lot. "THAT PRESENT AT THE BASE CONTAINS A FULL SET OF GLASSES!"

"Uuufff…" Bars' back bends forward, as his hands were standing on it and his eyebrows rose. "Girl… like, if I got the world on my hands, my arms can't do nothing but begging for help."

"Tsk…" Mirii slightly raises her head, folding her arms. "I saw you lifting rocks taller than you, as long as your soul demands."

"Well… even giant squids run out of batteries." He scratches the back of his head, as his irises look up-left and his head lowers a bit.

"Hmpf! You think that I'd drink your shameless lie, full of sweats?" Mirii frowns even more, lowering her head but her eyes kept holding their sight onto the boy.

"Yuck!" Grina frowns, as she sticks out her tongue and her left cheek rose. "I don't even wanna know where you get all this disgusting imagination…!"

"Whatever! What's your question, Bars?" Mirii holds her hips, tapping the crystal-clear tile in a rhombus shape.

"Ehm… why I'm the one who has to be the truck?" Bars frowns a little, as his right forefinger points at his face.

"Because you are indeed a truck!" Grina grins, snickering under her teeth.

Bars turns over the girl, as his mouth downturns.

"… a kick-butting, awesome truck that's!" Her right eye winks.

The boy smiles, as his left eye winks.

"I was the one who chose your difficult task." Mirii strokes her right tentacle, with her right hand, gently. "The reason is all related to your bad habit, which manifests once we enter in any malls…"

"Whoa… girl, I'm like so far away from any animal logic. I mean, I'm a Squid-being!" His thumbs point at his chest, as he grins and his right eye closes.

"Should I really remind you, what's the first thing you always do whenever your feet touches the entrance floor mat?" Mirii's wrists are bended, resting on her hips.

"Ehm…" Sweat jumps out the boy's head. "The first thing I do…? Like… breathing?"

Grina holds her mouth with her right hand, as her cheeks puff and a loud noise generated from the inside of her mouth. Mirii keeps looking at Bars.

"You rush ahead, trying to find one of those videogames shops." Her eyes fell on an old male Inkling wearing a red suit with white lines on the edges, black shoes and a red hat with the same line patterns.

"Ah… really?" The boy chuckles for a bit, as he closes his eyes and scratches the back of his head faster. Sweat was staying on his forehead.

"Bars… why lying on such fact?" Mirii frowns, as she folds her arms. "We always find you inside one of those shops, talking with a stranger or by just looking some videogame covers."

Bars sighs, as his back lowers a little and his arms were slightly swinging back and forth.

"Girl, what we did in those days are either stopping Stingrays bozos or dealing with whatever missions the organization asks for us! Like, I get to play videogames just for an half-hour!" He opens his arms, as his eyebrows rose.

"That excuse doesn't justify your offensive behavior." The girl frowns even more, as she lowers her head.

"As much as I hate to say this… I agree with Mirii." Grina frowns, walking in front of the boy, clenching her fists.

"You too?!" His mouth downturns a lot, as his arms are bended and his palms are thrust forward.

"You bet!" Grina's hands rest on her hips, as smoke came out of her ears. "We all walked together here and YOU dared to accelerate your pace, thinking more about your stupid videogames!"

"W-wait a minute!" Sweat jumps out from his forehead, as his hands moves back and forth in front of the girl. "Grina, I-I didn't want to go there at all, this time!"

"Oh yeah?" Her eyelids lowered in the middle, as her head rose a little. "Then, what were you doing earlier…?"

"Ehm… well…" He turns his head around, as his eyes were resting on a present, situated at the top of a pile of presents and bags, inside a shopping cart pushed by a female adult Inkling: its paper shows a red-white polka dot pattern.

What his eyes pointed next are a sparkling line in a shape-like star; an old man wearing a red suit; a shop ensign reading "Turf Academy"; a small Jellyfish sliding ahead, as a young female Inkling was running behind.

"BARS!"

The boy yells, jumping in the air, turning over Grina: she was frowning even more.

"I can't believe you lied to me!" She stomps a tile with her right foot. "You are a bad friend!"

She turns behind, folds her arms, raises her head while closing her eyes and snorting.

"N-no, please!" He runs over the girl with his eyebrows rose, as his arms wrap around her from her back. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

His neck bends forward, as his head approaches her right ear.

"I'll not do that, again…!" He whispers. "I-I want to stay with you…"

"Hmpf!" She blushes a little. "You care more about those videogames than me…"

"No…! That's not true! Like… like…"

He looks up for two second, then he smiles.

"… like I could spend my salary bonus for something you really want."

The girl expands her eyes.

"Really?!" She slides down, then emerges while turning behind.

She clasps her hands and her eyes sparkles.

"Look, if you are asking me to completely trash out some videogames, I'd pick up a hammer and turn the discs into a pile of small smithereens!" He nods slowly, while the right side of his mouth raises and the other side lowers.

"Whoa, whoa, mean machine!" Grina moves her hands back and forth, as her arms are a little stretched forward. "Your words already blew up all my expectations! I should had taken out my smartphone and took a video of your brave speech!"

"So, Grina…" He smiles. "What do you want me to buy?"

The girl widely smiles, leaving her mouth open. Air wasn't passing through her throat, for a short while. Her eyes blinked multiple times.

"Can you buy me…" She claps her hands, lying them in front of her mouth. "… the limited edition of Virtual Squid?!"

Suddenly, the boy slowly expands his eyes and his eyebrows rose.

"Like… th-that album which includes the Splat Splat 64 T-Shirt with the group's autographs, a Squid-Ray documentary about the band and the band's logo statue…?" Sweat appears on his forehead.

The girl nods, followed by humming sounds: her eyes widens even more.

"I saw 2 of them on that music shop, near the entrance! I'd rob a bank to have my hands on that precious, hard to find limited edition…!" Her fingers kept twitching, as she grins widely.

Around the boy, everything got dark blue: his eyes were completely pale and the right side of his mouth keeps twitching.

"Th-that thing is going to eat everything gold I have in my wallet… and it's going to ask for them, even more!" His mind speaks, as he swallows loudly.

"Of course with that fatty wallet you have in your pocket, your purchasing power will be strong enough to obliterate any puny pricing shields standing in our epic, short journey towards ultimate achievement!" She bends her right leg behind, standing with the other leg, while keeping the same expression.

"Ehm… actually…" Bars raises his right forefinger, as his mouth trembles and his eyes are closed, while his eyebrows rose. "My wallet is kinda… uuhhmm… under-level…" He whispers.

Grina's eyes return to normal, as her mouth was now just open: her right leg stands on the tile and her face gradually forms a frown.

"… in other words, it can only tackle those videogame pricing shields…?" She folds her arms.

"Nononono! I-I didn't want to say that!" He shakes his head, as he moves his hands left and right in different orders, while his arms are stretched forward. "I-I meant… my wallet may be as weak as a bug, but I know more than one way to give it some buffs and strategic plans to make it squash prices tags wider than pancakes!"

"So… you…" She rose her eyebrows.

"Girl, let's get to that turfing castle and rescue your limited edition album!" His right eye winks, while smiling.

The girl screams, as she taps the floor with both her feet in a fast pace, bending forward while her clenched fists were in front of her mouth and her eyes were closed. She sprints over the boy, wrapping him with her arms, blowing kisses on his left cheek… when she suddenly stops, with her lips on his cheek.

The two Inklings' faces became extremely red, as both their eyes almost pop out! Immediately, the girl walks back, as she lies her hands on her back and twists left and right, while lowering her head and keeping up a smile.

"Eh eh eh eh… ehm… n-nothing to worry about, big boy! Just… a little… ehm… surprise!" She shows her teeth, chuckling behind them, as her irises slowly rose up.

The boy's left hand falls on his left cheek: he smiles widely.

"Well… better than a videogame's limited edition…" He slowly lowers his arm.

The two Inklings kept looking around, as in one-second moments their eyes meet, splitting up in different directions.

"Ahem!" Bars inhales with his nose, silently. "So, girl… like, shall we move to the music shop…?"

Their faces were still red: Grina nods, as her left forefinger was twirling her left tentacle's upper, thinner side.

The boy turns over the pile of presents.

"Wait!" Grina runs over them, picking the upper part with both her hands. "Your arms must be still beaten up…!"

"Nah. I can carry them"

"No, Barsy!" She frowns a little, as her arms were wrapped firmly over the bags' papers and the presents' plastic. "Seeing you carry that weight will choke my heart! Seeing you with half that weight, will ease the pain…!"

The boy smiles.

"Thank you, Grina."

The girl smiles too: together, the two Inklings walked ahead as Inklings and Jellyfishes were passing nearby… while Mirii's eyes were seeing their actions. Her arms are folded, while frowning a little.

"I can't believe those two… they entered inside their world of dreams, in a second!" Mirii snorted loudly. "At least, Hunley is with me…"

She smiles, turning slowly to her left: her eyes were seeing a short Jellyfish moving to the right and a male and female Inkling adults entering inside a shop, as they were holding their hands. The girl quickly looks around, letting out a gasp, while her eyes expand.

"What?! He's not here!" Sweats jumps out of her head. "Wh-where did he go?!"

The girl turns to her left again: multiple people were walking by, either pushing a shopping cart or holding shopping bags and presents. A bit far away, a large pine with multiple red, blue, green, orange and yellow round ornaments on the edges, along with small golden and silver presents; snowsquids; Inkling figures wearing a red suit, with a beard and red hat on his head; red-white candy canes; sparkling stars. On the tip of the tree, a larger gold-silver star.

Near its base, a boy with his back bending forward, as his eyes were resting over much larger red, blue and green presents, all tied in a bow with a golden ribbon. Mirii sighs loudly, while forming a smile: she starts walking over Hun.