Hey, dear readers! So, I'm here with a new story. I decided to post this one first, instead of "The royal peasant girl". I'm gonna write this in co-operation with my pal Infanta: I'm doing the whole writing part and she's my idea generator and illustrator. It's a crossover with Ragnarok Online game, but don't worry if you don't know anything about it, you'll anyway understand everything. And if you have any questions about RO, you're free to ask me either Infanta, who's an experienced gamer.
Hmmm, I'm not sure after which season of WITCH this takes place, but this doesn't really matter. The girls are 16 and 17, Caleb is 18.
I don't own anything except those characters I made up myself.
And one more thing before reading: kawaii means "cute" in Japanese – this word will be used here a lot.
Well, enjoy!
Chapter 1
So you ask how it all started?
Everything began on a perfectly ordinary day, perfectly ordinary Friday afternoon, to be more correct. Truly, there was nothing really special except that the weather in Meridian was surprisingly wonderful. Caleb was strolling around one of Meridian green vast forests – he had just finished his training (although he was considered one of the best young warriors in the kingdom, he never failed to devote some time to practicing and improving his martial skills) and now had time to rest. Blunk was dragging behind him as usual – lately he had been constantly hanging out with his friend and accompanied him wherever he went – this might sometimes be a bit irritating, but at the same time very flattering.
Caleb was in one of those rare poetic moods when there are no concerns and everything seems nice and lovely; this occurred to him more often after he had started dating Cornelia and the day was generally disposing to such a state; he was enjoying the weather and thinking where to go next. Blunk wasn't so much touched by the nature's beauty, but he was having a walk with his best friend, the day before he discovered a splendid marshy pool and on top of that he had eaten some delicious rotten mushrooms for breakfast and all these facts were enough to conclude that life was a great thing.
As the two of them were passing by they noticed some beautiful blue flowers growing on a tiny hill; Caleb picked one up with a smile and carefully put it in the buttonhole of his jacket (that would be a small present for his Cornelia) and continued his way. The little green monster also approached the flowers and smelled them. He definitely found them very interesting and in an instant grabbed the whole bunch with his mouth, chewed and swallowed with a wide grin. «Nice tasty flowers! » he stated with satisfaction and went to catch up with his companion.
«So, where shall I go? » Caleb thought aloud as he stretched his arms «Perhaps it's worth going to the river and have a swim. What do you say, Blunk? » The guy turned around to face his monster friend sitting in a big muddy puddle (must have remained since the last time it rained), all dirty like a pig, clapping his hands in delight. Blunk was obviously enjoying himself and didn't feel like bathing.
«Oh, I knew that, it was a silly thing to ask» the rebel leader shrugged his shoulders. «Anyway, I'm gone then» and he headed away from the creature.
Blunk was a bit upset that Caleb left him, but nothing could be compared with such bliss, so life was still a great thing. He poured himself with mud once again and sighed – happiness was such a simple thing! Suddenly some pleasant smell reached Blunk's nostrils. He stood up and went to the direction of the smell to check out what it was. He made his way through the thick bushes which obstructed his way and found himself on an open green clearing. Right in the centre of that clearing was lying a large red juicy apple. The little monster licked his lips in sweet anticipation. «Blunky love apples! » he exclaimed and started to approach the fruit slowly to prolong the pleasure. But when he was just about to pick the apple up, unexpected happened… This outrageous event shocked poor Blunk so much that he would remember it for his entire life.
In the very second when Blunk was ready to take the fruit, something or rather someone strange dashed out of the blue, like a pink light flash rushed to the apple with incredible speed and at one sitting swallowed the whole of it without chewing with its big mouth right in front of Blunk! The poor green creature was once and for all killed with that action…
The next moment a heart-rending scream ran through the entire forest.
Caleb, who hadn't manage to go far away yet, heard the yell and realizing his little companion was in trouble, hurried to rescue to the direction the yell was coming from. Of course, Blunk was sometimes very annoying, always dirty and bad-smelling and had a non-aristocratic habit to eat mud and rubbish, but despite all of this he was his friend and Caleb couldn't let anybody offend him.
He quickly made his way through trees and bushes and ran onto the clearing, with sword in his hands, ready to fight. But when he saw what was actually going on, an expression of genuine surprise appeared on his face. The rebel leader had imagined at least a dozen of giant warriors or a whole army of enemies armed to the teeth torturing Blunk or some other disaster threatening his life, but the scene that appeared in front of his eyes completely differed from those images.
In the middle of the clearing was standing the very horrified Blunk, stiff with shock, terror, indignation and a mix of other feelings. He had such an expression as if he had just been given the insult or humiliation of his life – he still couldn't put up with this dreadful insolence and injustice.
And not far from poor Blunk was another strange, unfamiliar creature. Caleb had never seen anything like this in Meridian, it was clear that the insolent creature was a newcomer to the kingdom. It looked like a rather small pink jelly ball slightly bouncing on the ground. It actually was a pink jelly ball. Furthermore, this jelly ball was alive and had a pair of adorable black "puppy" eyes and a pretty little mouth in shape of an upturned 3. It also was an extremely cute little thing which every girl would definitely love to have as a pet, and even Caleb was touched by him. (Yes, you got it; it was the Poring in person – an adorable little 1 level RO monster)))
The sight of such an image confused Caleb and he continued standing where he was with his sword still in readiness and with a bewildered face, staring at the creature. The creature was staring back with interest.
«PORING! » the mysterious jelly guy suddenly yelled, jumped up in Caleb's direction and knocked him down. The rebel leader hadn't expected such a sudden attack and didn't manage to resist and fell on his back, poring on top of him. Blunk gasped with horror and started mourning over his defeated friend.
Caleb awaited the monster to go on fighting, but nothing happened. The poring was peacefully bouncing on his chest without any intention of doing harm to him. He was smiling and seemed to want to make friends with Caleb. The rebel leader knew a lot about fighting and enemies' tricks, he was aware that the creature's cuteness could simply be a red herring to distract his attention, but the little jelly ball looked so innocent, friendly and harmless, they Caleb eventually decided to trust him.
He sat up on the ground and took the poring in his hands. «Po-ring! » the creature smiled to him in the most adorable way. Blunk stopped weeping and cried cheerfully when he saw his companion was still alive and unharmed by that terrible beast.
«I have never seen such creatures, there's no doubt it's not from Meridian. I wonder how it got here…» Caleb said to himself while observing the poring. «Hey, where are you from, little one? Are you lost? » he asked the poring with a friendly smile.
The pink jelly bubble nodded sadly. He must have had a hard childhood.
«At any rate, you can't stay here, it might be unsafe for everyone» Caleb decided. «I know, I'll take you to the girls and Mrs. Lin, they will surely work out what to do! »
«Yay! » the creature squealed merrily – he liked the idea.
Blunk was doing his best to show the most zealous protest, but was left without attention. That was so unfair, how could Caleb trust that dubious jelly guy, that insolent, shameless creature who had eaten Blunk's apple (and Blunk didn't like when his property was taken away from him, especially in such a vile manner)?! And that was not all, now Caleb was going to take that foul thing to the guardians! Was his friend now on the side of that deceiver, who had captured his trust so easily? From that very moment the poring became the green monster's arch-enemy and Blunk knew it was only the beginning of the troubles for him…
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The basement of the "Silver Dragon". Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin were all sitting on the floor playing with the poring in childish delight. Despite Blunk's protest Caleb brought him to Earth and the girls immediately took to the little cutie. They were petting and fondling the creature, admiring his eternal cuteness.
Next to them Caleb and Cornelia with her blue flower were sitting on Caleb's bed together. They were watching their friends' childish behaviour, but didn't take part in it. For Caleb it was clear – he was a man and men can't take part in girly stuff. Cornelia, however, really wanted to join her girlfriends, but she couldn't take such a liberty since she was the oldest of the guardians and she didn't want drop her authority in the eyes of her boyfriend.
Blunk was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room with his back to the girls. He was on a strike. After Caleb had introduced his find to the guardians, things just became worse for the poor green monster. Now the five of them were also on the side of his rival: they were playing with him, making fuss of him, and the unfortunate Blunk was left without attention. And he so much liked attention! He had always been the centre of it until that mean jelly ball captured his position completely. He definitely had an evil plan against poor Blunk, that poring! But Blunk also wasn't in the mood to give up. He decided to protest, to oppose the kawaiiness of his pink-colored foe and to punish the girls and Caleb – if they could get along without him, he would show he could perfectly live without them and not lose his pride! Blunk had a big wooden tub of old apple stumps, which Mrs. Lin had left specially for him, and he was eating them in the most showing-off way in order to intensify the situation and show everyone he hadn't forgotten his recent offence with the big tasty apple.
«Once again thanks for the flower, Caleb, it's beautiful» Cornelia smiled at her boyfriend «But tell me, where did that little fellow come from? » she pointed at the poring «He's definitely not from Earth»
«Have no idea» the rebel leader shrugged «The only thing I know is that he's not from Meridian either, so I decided to take him here supposing Mrs. Lin or five of you knew something about the creature. But apparently I shouldn't have done that – now the girls are gonna lisp him to death! »
«Awwwwwwwww, he's so kawaii! » Hay Lin clapped her hands with nearly inhuman delight «I love him! »
«Yeah, thanks for bringing him here, Caleb; he's the most darling little thing I've ever seen! » Irma exclaimed while petting the creature.
«Look, he likes when I tickle him! How adorable! » Will admired. She tickled the poring's chin and he purred with satisfaction in response.
«Such a cutie, it's a pity he can't talk» the Fire guardian pointed out. The little monster actually could say one word "Poring", but he kept silence during his short stay on Earth – nobody knows the reason why.
«I know, I know! » the Air guardian cried joyfully. Her facial expression was stating that she had a wonderful, even genius idea. «Let's keep him since he doesn't have an owner! He'll be our pet! »
«Yes! Great idea! » the others cheered in agreement and then all four of them stared at Cornelia and Caleb with puppy eyes waiting for their confirmation.
«Hay Lin, are you crazy? What are talking about, we can't just keep him! » the blonde threw her hands about. She really liked the little jelly newcomer and wouldn't even mind to keep him, but she tried to resist his cuteness and use common sense. «Yes, he's the loveliest little guy, but we don't know anything about him, it might be dangerous for everybody to leave him here! And you seem to be obsessed with the desire to keep different cute monsters; remember how you suggested keeping a piglet monster from Meridian when he attacked us? » (A/N: this refers to one of the season 1 episodes, when the guardians fight against a pig-like monster and his large mother at Sheffield Institute)
Hay Lin bit her lip. She did remember and it now seemed not the best idea in the world to her. But the case with the jelly ball was absolutely different!
«Yeah, Cornelia has a point» Caleb nodded «We can't leave him here, it's risky and unreasonable. We don't know what sort of creature he is and where he came from. Maybe he is very important there and powerful authorities from his world are searching for him right now; they might think we have captured him and keep him as a hostage, they may regard it as a reason for a political conflict and then are very likely to attack both Meridian and Earth! Do you want it to happen just because of your girly fancies! »
«Caleb, you're exaggerating it as always! Don't be so serious, » Irma waved her hand carelessly «it's just a little cute jelly ball and not a reason for a political conflict. Moreover, we are not going to hurt him in any way; oppositely, we'll take care of him and love him! Why can't we keep him? You like this adorable guy yourself, admit it! »
«Yes, pleeeeeease let us keep him! » Hay Lin started whining «Just look at him, Cornelia, he's sooooo cute! » and she took the poring and held him out on her outstretched arms for evidence.
Suddenly the creature broke free from Hay Lin's hands, jumped on Cornelia's high salient bust and after having got settled in her décolleté he looked in her eyes in the most touching way.
Caleb bit his lip.
«Oh, poor little thing! You really want to stay with us! » the Earth guardian exclaimed with pure affection and hugged the poring tightly. She had tried her best, but she liked the kawaii monster too much to be able to part with him so soon. «I know I shouldn't say that, but I'm consent: let's keep him for a while! »
«Hurray! » the four other guardians yelled victoriously and started hugging each other. Poring jumped up and down with joy and uttered a sound of satisfaction.
«Just look at Caleb, I bet he's jealous of Cornelia in her interest to the little one! » Irma whispered quietly to Taranee and both girls giggled.
«Girls!.. » Caleb sighed. He was in minority and the decision to leave the newcomer with them was eventually accepted. Well, if not the possibility of a political conflict, Caleb didn't even mind keeping the creature – he had already taken to the friendly jelly fellow.
Blunk on the contrary was hurt with the news that the insolent little monster would stay with the girls and Caleb for a long time. However, he didn't reveal any of his emotion and just snorted scornfully to show he didn't care the matter a bit.
«Now when the cutie is our pet, we need to make up a name for him! » Irma said with enthusiasm and everybody, including the poring, agreed.
«I suggest Archibald, that's my London cousin's name» Cornelia, who was holding the pink creature on her lap, said. «That's a very sophisticated aristocratic name; my mom says our family has ancient noble roots in Europe! » and she flipped her long blond hair.
«Yes, it sounds very sophisticated, but the little one isn't an aristocrat, he's just a jelly ball! » Will said laughing. «No, no human names! »
«Yup, something like Amoeba or Infusorium would suit him better» Taranee smiled in her usual scientific-like manner.
«No, it can't be, these are female name and he's a guy! » the Air guardian giggled. But then she raised her head in doubt. «Isn't he? »
The girls shared bewildered glances. The creature was just a cute round jelly ball and could as well be a girl. The guardians rested their questioning gaze on Caleb. «What? I'm not his mom to know that! » he hurried to reply.
The five glances returned to the poring and he nodded his head with confidence in order to confirm he really was a name and something like "amoeba" or "infusorium" could no way suit him.
«Then I have a suggestion» the Water guardian declared. «I vote for Pinky! »
«Nope, it's a silly idea to name him after a stupid cartoon mouse! » Cornelia protested. Poring completely agreed with her.
«Oh, I know, I know» Hay Lin suddenly yelled in an insane tone, which made everybody shudder, and clapped her hands joyfully. «Let's call him Tommy, that will be sooooo cute! »
The guardians and Caleb and even the jelly ball, who couldn't imagine himself under such a title, stared at her, puzzled. Yes, with no doubt this girl was too addicted to cuteness.
«Ummm, but we've come to the agreement not to use any human names» Will reminded shyly.
«Oh yes? Then do you have any variants yourself? » the Air guardian crossed her arms and pouted - she still considered her version of the name for the little monster the very best (and the very cute, which is much more important).
«Well, sine he's just a jelly bubble, let's call him "Bubble"! What do you think? » the redhead pondered.
Everybody nodded in approval and the poring jumped up and down and squeaked merrily – he was finally satisfied.
«That really suits him! » Taranee pointed out.
«And it's such a kawaii name! » added the incorrigible Hay Lin.
«And look, the little one likes it! » Irma smiled «Congratulations, Bubble, now you have a name! » and the epopee with the poring name-choosing was eventually over.
Blunk made a "whatever" face and started eating his apples even in a more showing-off manner.
«Why are sitting here like this, little Bubble must be hungry! » Hay Lin suddenly bethought. «I'll fetch him something to eat» and she dashed from her place energetically and ran upstairs to bring some snack from the restaurant.
In a few minutes' time she dashed back into the basement with a bottle of milk and a small soup plate in her hands, skipped down the stairs, jumped from the last two of them and settled on the floor next to the other girls. «Dinner time, Bubble! » she announced joyfully while pouring the milk into the saucer. «I don't know if creatures like you drink milk, but anyway, help yourself! »
«Yay! » Bubble cried exuberantly and jumped off Cornelia's knees. He bounced in the direction of the saucer and started peacefully lapping the milk up. The girls were looking at him with tender emotion and awe, their hands crossed on their chest. Blunk snorted.
But then something really weird happened…
When the poring finished with the milk, he came up to the empty glass bottle and… swallowed it at once! Everybody gasped. But this wasn't all, after dealing with the bottle the little cutie jumped to the astonished Blunk and in an instant emptied his tube with rotten apples. Then Bubble smiled in the most adorable way as if he was waiting praise from the girls and Caleb for his grand deeds.
Silence was in the air – the guys were just exchanging mute glances. But the most picturesque was the look on Blunk's face. Perhaps he was incredibly stunned with Bubble's unbelievable insolence (it was already the second time in just one day when Blunk's apple property was taken away from him so rudely) or maybe he was really under a big impression of the poring's wonderful ability of eating all kinds of rubbish (although Blunk was a qualified garbage-eater he still wasn't skilled enough to eat glass crockery or other solid items and had a lot to be taught by Bubble) or perhaps both statements were the reason, but that sight was really worth seeing.
After about a minute a silence Cornelia managed to utter a sentence. «Oh… my… gosh!.. » she said slowly and separately, still not believing her eyes. «Has he really just done this? »
«I suppose so» Will nodded unconfidently. «Have to admit, I haven't expected it from such an adorable little thing. Even Blunk hasn't gone that far! »
Even the Air guardian, who had been totally obsessed with Bubble's kawainess, was in a bit of dismay.
This confusion was interrupted with Mrs. Lin's voice coming from upstairs. «Why did you need the milk, Hay Lin? What's up? » the old lady inquired curiously while going down the stairs. The guys had been sitting in the basement of the restaurant for already a while and she guessed something interesting was going on. «Have you planned something? »
As soon as the grandma went off the last stair and stood in the room, Bubble quickly bounced in her direction with a cheerful cry "PORING! " (the first one during his entire presence on Earth) and jumped on her hands. «Poring! »
«Oh, hello, little gentleman! » Mrs. Lin said with a smile and petted the cute monster. She seemed to be absolutely not angry or at least astonished with the presence of a strange foreign creature in her house, on the contrary she gave him a warm welcome. «Where did you get him, girls? » she raised her heads and looked at the girls and Caleb.
«Granny, this is Bubble, Caleb brought him today from Meridian» Hay Lin started to chatter in explanation. She had completely got over the tiny incident with the bottle and was again enthusiastic about the poring. «He's our pet! »
«Wow, did you hear him say that? » Cornelia asked the others. «After all he turned out to be able to speak. Was it like "poring" or something? »
«Yes, he said the same thing to me back in Meridian, but I have no idea what this word means» Caleb confessed.
«Perhaps it's his name? Maybe he's Poring, not Bubble? » Irma presumed.
«I think it's more likely to be the name of his species» Taranee said gravely and adjusted her glasses. «I mean many animal species are named after the sounds they utter, so the mysterious "poring" might be the title of his kin»
«You wanna say there are other porings? » Will inquired.
Taranee shrugged, «Not excluded».
«Poring, poring! » Bubble nodded in approval.
«So girl, how did this pretty creature get here anyway? » Mrs. Lin went on trying to elicit.
So the guys told the old lady the entire story with the poring, and during their narration Bubble cried out jolly sounds and Blunk was sitting in his corner with his empty tube with his arms crossed, offended with the whole world.
«I see, » the former Air guardian nodded when the story was over. «I guess Caleb's right, it's not safe to leave the little gentleman here since we don't know what world he's from and the possibility of a political conflict is real»
«See, I told ya! » Caleb crossed his arms and looked at the girls with triumph.
«But Mrs. Lin!! » all the five guardian stared at her with pleading eyes and Bubble sobbed and compassionately whispered his usual «Poring…»
«Patience, girls, I still haven't finished… » the grandma had a sly expression on her face. «It'll take me time to find out Bubble's real homeland and in the meantime I think we can keep him with us»
«Yayx! » the girls cheered and hugged each other. The small incident with Bubble swallowing the bottle certainly had brought a little bit of agitation into the company, but it was soon forgotten. Even despite such a quality of his like gluttony, the guardians liked the little thing too much to let him go. Blunk snorted – he was getting used that everything that day was against him.
«I'm also human, what normal female would resist such a cutie? » Mrs. Lin smiled and hugged the poring as if she was a young schoolgirl.
«So, whose gonna shelter the poring for a while? » Will asked her teammates when they were finished with cheering.
«Definitely not me! » the rebel leader firmly shook his head. He still tried to remain a real man in the all-female company. «Firstly, it's not a man's job and secondly, Blunk just won't let me, look how jealous he is! » Blunk turned with his back to everyone is response – for heaven's sake, he was on a strike!
«Ohhhhh, I know, then let me take him! » Hay Lin started jumping up and down. «Granny, please, please, please, please, please! »
«Alright, girl, you can have it, but just don't let him go into the restaurant – I don't want to lose all my customers! » Mrs. Lin said with fake strictness.
«Hurray! Bubble's staying with me! » the girl jumped up once again and took the poring from her grandmother's hands. «I hope you'll like my room, little one! Oh, I wish granny would spend a lot of time indicating your home world, that way you'll be able to stay with us for a long time! »
«Po-ring! » Bubble said with a wide grin of satisfaction on his cute face. He liked this world and those nice friendly girls. He also liked the pretty green monster and was very sorry he didn't want to make friends with him. The poring had genuine respect towards Blunk and was completely fascinated with his ability of eating mud, but all his efforts to show the Meridian resident his friendliness were vain so far. Well, there would be now plenty of time to correct that! "Poring day one" was soon about to begin…
So that is how everything started. Neither the guardians, nor Caleb, now Mrs. Lin, nor even Blunk could imagine that such a little event and such a little poring could be the prologue to such grand consequences. But we won't run too far ahead in our story. So, we're looking forward to Bubble's first day at Hay Lin's.
That is it, hope you liked the first chapter! Now click the nice little button down there and leave a nice little review for us! Fair criticism is as welcome as praise.
You can also check my and Infanta's drawings for this fic on fanart-central. My nick there is FleurDeLaLune and her nick is again Infanta. Also, check out my album on photobucket to see a few useful reference pictures for you, so that you can better understand the whole thing. Go to type in Titaniafairyqueen, click "View Titaniafairyqueen's album" in the upper right corner, go to "Ragnarok Online" album (the grey panel on the left), then to "Ragnarok special" and then you'll find the Poring's pictures. I'll be adding pictures with each new chapter where necessary.
Oh, and for readers of "Ghost of a rose", I don't know when I'll update it, but I'll definitely do it, so don't worry!
That's all for now, don't forget to review! Remember the author's golden rule: the more reviews I get the sooner I update))
Kisses!
Chelsea Wellhord & Infanta