"Since when did Defenders get lost?!" Gildar yelled.
"Nevermind that!" Skabb shouted. "How are we gonna get back to the castle?!"
"We're lost, you idiot!" Thorne retorted. "We can't get back to the castle!"
Gildar angrily turned on Skabb. "Why did you have to be stupid and run off to the middle of nowhere?"
Skabb growled. "Hey, you guys followed me!"
Just like before, the three continued arguing and fighting all over again. Tempers flared as they exchanged heated words and jabbed each other in the chest a few times.
Ballista watched them in disbelief as they fought with each other. Suddenly, she felt hot frustration from her chest seep deep through her strong arms. She couldn't take it anymore. The whole thing had gone way too far. She growled under her breath like a ferocious lioness, then lifted the Splatbow from her back. She took aim, then fired three splatballs at her comrades, immediately grabbing their attention.
"ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!"
The male Defenders, instantly silenced, kept their eyes locked on the angered huntress's face. She glared scornfully at each of them, then continued.
"This whole thing is ridiculous! You three have been acting like immature Attackers all day, and I'm sick of it! We're Defenders! Essentially, we're a family! Yes, we have our fights, but this has gone on far enough! We wouldn't have gotten into this mess if you idiots hadn't been fighting the whole time! NOW SHUT IT!"
Skabb, Thorne, and Gildar stared at the fierce huntress. Neither of them said anything. Then, gradually, they moved their gazes to each others' faces. They slowly realized that Ballista was right. They looked away from each other as feelings of shame began to build up inside of them.
Awkward silence filled the atmosphere.
"I'll...I'll just...make a fire..." Gildar suggested quietly, beginning to walk away.
"You go do that," Thorne said in a low tone, looking down at the ground.
No one spoke for awhile after that. Gildar kept his word and had gotten a small fire burning. Skabb and Thorne gathered a couple logs and set them around the campfire. Afterwards, Ballista sat down on a log and began to warm her hands. Gildar sat close to her on a seperate log, and Thorne and Skabb sat across from them. As the fire flickered, the males would frequently glance up and give each other shameful looks that read "I'm sorry."
A long moment passed.
The kilted huntress shivered. "Wish we had something to eat," she uttered, breaking the silence. "I'm hungry."
Skabb looked up at Ballista from the fire. He held up his finger and turned around, then began digging through his stuff. After a moment, he turned back around.
"I brought marshmallows," the barbarian announced, revealing a bag of the said small white treats. He paused. "Skabb will share."
The alchemist looked at him, then nodded. "I'll get some sticks," he said, standing up.
As Thorne walked off, Skabb began handing out the marshmallows. He handed four to Ballista, then tossed one into his mouth, then approached the viking. Gildar kept his face away from the barbarian, still feeling a little sting of shame. Skabb watched him for a moment, then held out a marshmallow to him in a friendly manner. Gildar eventually moved his gaze to the treat, then looked at Skabb, then back at the treat. He smiled a little and took it.
"Thanks."
Skabb nodded, then handed him three more. By that time, Thorne had returned with four long, thin sticks and began handing those out. After Skabb handed him a few marshmallows, they both sat down and began to roast them.
Roasting marshmallows around the campfire seemed to fix everything. What had started out as a few mutters quickly sparked into a quiet conversation. Before long, the four were openly talking to each other, then soon even joking around and laughing.
Ballista took a moment to watch the three males interact with each other. Skabb playfully nudged Thorne, and the alchemist lightheartedly smacked him back. Gildar laughed, and then asked Skabb for another marshmallow. Ballista smiled and shook her head, happy that the three had made up. Whatever bonds of friendship that had been broken earlier that day were quickly mended.
Let that be a lesson to you: marshmallows fix everything.
"This is fun," Skabb commented, removing his golden marshmallow from his stick.
"Yeah, we should do this more often," Ballista agreed.
Thorne nodded. "But we still didn't get a tree," he pointed out, almost sighing.
The Defenders glanced at each other and sadly agreed. The viking lowered his head, then looked over to his right. He scanned the area that had been flooded with moonlight. Suddenly, his eyes brightened.
"Hey, guys," he said, standing up. "Look at that."
Everyone looked in the viking's direction as he walked away. Ballista stood up.
"Where are you going?" she inquired.
"I'll show you!" Gildar called back, quickening his pace.
The Defenders looked at each other. Ballista dropped her stick and ran after the viking. Thorne did the same, and Skabb did so as soon as he finished swallowing his roasted marshmallow. When the three reached Gildar, they found that he was standing in front of a large pine tree. He glanced at them, then gestured at the evergreen.
"What do you guys think of this one?" he asked. "Isn't this a real beauty?"
Ballista, Thorne, and Skabb circled the tree. Gildar was right: it was a real beauty. The pine tree was the perfect size for their living room; it was straight; the top wasn't at all crooked; the needles were a nice dark green color; the trunk wasn't sappy; and the pine needles covered the trunk completely.
"Yeah, I like it," Ballista agreed, stepping back a few paces from the evergreen.
Thorne joined her. "It's perfect."
Gildar stood behind Ballista and Thorne, then grasped their shoulders and pulled them each closer to him.
"Almost as perfect as me."
Thorne looked at the viking irritantly, then shook Gildar's hand off of him. Ballista loosened herself from Gildar's grip, then walked closer to the tree.
"So, we're gonna take this one?" she asked.
Skabb shouted approvingly from besides the tree. Gildar nodded.
"Yeah, let's cut 'er down," Thorne said, circling the tree once more.
"Alright, now how do we make sure all the forest pests are out of it?" Ballista inquired.
"I've got it," Skabb announced.
The barbarian walked in front of the trunk and looked up into the branches. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, then let out a long and loud scream. All the animals living in it instantly ran away or flew away for their lives.
"Good job, Skabb," Gildar complimented. The viking pulled out an axe from behind his back. "Now let me chop this baby down!"
Gildar stood at the base of the tree's trunk, then hacked away. It wasn't long until the tree started to shake. After a little bit longer, it began to tilt, then came crashing down.
"TIMBER!" Skabb screamed, running back about twenty paces.
The tree landed on the ground with a loud "crash." The air was instantly filled with a fresh, crisp pine scent. The Defenders "woo-hooed," and Gildar repositioned the axe on his back.
"Gildar, you magnificent viking, you've really done it again," he said, primarily to himself.
"Okay, we've got the tree, but how are we gonna get it back to the castle?" Thorne asked. "We don't know which way to go."
"I'll check the GPS on my phone," Ballista stated casually, pulling out her portable communication device.
The male Defenders stared at the huntress as she typed away. Skabb and Gildar's jaws had dropped with disbelief. Thorne's left eye twitched.
"Why didn't you do that in the first place?!" he hissed.
"I wanted you dim wits to quit fighting, first," the huntress replied without looking up. "I didn't want to deal with all the screaming and arguing on the way back."
Gildar shrugged and muttered something like "good point" to Skabb. A minute later, the blonde archer looked up from her phone.
"Okay, the castle's that way," she announced, pointing westwards.
"LET'S GO!" Skabb yelled, running towards the tree to grab it.
Less than a minute later, the four Defenders had the tree on their backs and were carrying it back to the castle. Ballista lead the way with her phone in one hand and the tip of the tree in the other. Thorne was a foot or so behind her, and behind him was Skabb, and at the very back was Gildar. Gildar held the base of the truck in one hand, and had his mirror in the other, staring at his reflection admiringly.
You know, with all the time we wasted arguing, I could have been staring at my handsome reflection, he thought to himself.
***
Back at the castle, Shaiden was pacing back and forth in the living room. She was getting a little worried; the four Defenders should have been back an hour ago.
"Think they're alright?" she asked, looking over at her leader.
Knightriss shrugged.
"Maybe they got lost," Kook said, surveying his bird collection carefully.
Shaiden shook her head. "Impossible. Ballista's got a GPS on her phone."
"Maybe she fell into a lake, then," Kook suggested, picking up the dove from his box.
The bird looked over the snow white-colored bird, then set it on the coffee table along with the others. He rubbed his eyes, then looked up to see Knightriss and Shaiden glaring at him. He cocked his head.
"What?"
Shaiden rolled her eyes and continued pacing. Knightriss turned back to the fire, then tossed in another log. Crocness and Tinkor had busied themselves by putting hooks on all the ornaments they planned to hang on the tree.
Suddenly, the five Defenders heard a large thump on the large wooden doors of the castle, then a muffled shout that sounded like Ballista yelling "Ow!" then "Wait until I open the doors, you morons!"
Shaiden darted out of the living room. She reached the castle's front doors just as Ballista had gotten them open. The ninja placed her hands on her hips.
"What took you guys so long? It's almost eight!"
Ballista groaned as she led her comrades inside. "We're here now, does it matter?"
Kook appeared next to Shaiden, then scanned the tree on the Defenders' backs. He grinned. "That's a pretty one!"
"Thank you," Gildar said, still looking at his mirror.
Shaiden pretended to gag, then helped her fellow Defenders get the tree into the living room. Once it was in, Tinkor and Crocness set it up in a Chrsitmas tree stand. Afterwards, the two stepped back and viewed it carefully with everyone else.
"It's perfect!" Crocness cried, smiling.
Knightriss grabbed a strand of lights. "Alright, Defenders, let's get started!"
For the rest of the night, the Defenders decorated the tree with mini colored lights, silver and gold garlands, sparkling ornaments of all shapes and sizes (including skulls and ones that looked like weapons), Kook's decorative birds, and a bright, ice blue star. It was quite a sight to see once they were done.
Gildar, Thorne, and Skabb were well-behaved the whole time. They didn't fight with each other for the rest of the evening. Oh, sure, they'll still fight in the future, but never again as bad as they did when they hunted for evergreen.
...And wow, that sounded cliche, didn't it?
Alright, uh, feel free to review! I really enjoy reading your comments! Even if it's mostly constructive criticism. I would really like to know what you guys think.
Thanks for reading!
