Author's note: I do not own anything apart from the storyline and the new characters.
Blueberry yelled,"Yes, Raspberry! Hit it in the eye! Orange, 7 o'clock! 7 o'clock!"
Raspberry and Orange both concentrated their powers on the blue-eye. It squealed as the mixture of poison and persuasion enveloped it, then dropped lifeless onto the ground.
The two seventeen year olds high-fived, then quickly ran into the safe city whose iron door Blueberry was holding open.
After the discovery of Raspberry's powers, the city had held a meeting, with Avocado as the main speaker.
"I think that we should let Raspberry and Orange practise and learn to control their powers. But how?" he asked for emphasis.
"Perhaps we could call on them to help whenever a monster is attacking," said Melon.
Back in Plum's room for their girl meeting, Raspberry had given all the girls a nasty piece of her mind about Melon. She...well, Blueberry had never heard her swear seven times in a sentence.
Huck had started training with the other boys. "Training" was basically punching, kicking, shooting, and all the stuff that girls were not one bit interested in.
Blueberry, Raspberry and Orange went to Strawberry's room for lunch. When they opened the door, the other three girls glanced at them, said "Hi, you ok, how many blue-eyes this time, Orange" and handed them their share of lamb stew.
Strawberry, though, didn't give Blueberry lamb stew. Instead, she handed her a little basket with blueberry muffins and huckleberry pies in it.
"I suppose you're going to see Huck again," she said.
"Yeah. I'll tell him you guys made this," Blueberry replied. "See you!" she called.
"Bye!" the others waved as Blueberry ducked outside and shut the door.
She skipped down the street, singing softly under her breath. "Under the oak tree, there lies a chest. In the chest, is the treasure you're thinking of."
Blueberry skipped around a car whose bee driver yelled at her, and neatly over a crate of oranges. The air smelled of shepherd's pie, and a little ladybug carried a fresh honey bun out of a bakery.
It was hard to believe that this city was dangerous, that every day it was attacked by grotesque monsters, that Blueberry and her friends didn't belong here.
It reminded her of Berry Bitty City.
Blueberry quickly ducked into an alley, sunk to the dirt ground, and drew her knees up to her chest. Lately, she'd have to keep telling herself not to think of her old home. She just got more and more homesick. And the same nightmare that appeared to her kept on repeating itself, night after night after night. Blueberry was afraid for her sanity.
Always a room full of mirrors. Looking behind her shoulder while running into a wall. Turning around just in time to see the corner of a flapping, empty robe rise behind her.
"Blueberry!"
Blueberry screamed, half from her own thoughts and half from the familiar voice that startled her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's okay," cried Huck, wrapping his muscled arms around her. "It's just me," he said gently.
Blueberry took a shaky breath. "Bookworms on ladders, you scared me."
Huck pouted cutely. "So - wy," he cooed in a baby voice. He perked up on seeing the basket. "Oooooh, is that for me?"
Blueberry smiled. "Yeah, but I was planning to take it to the training centre. You're out early, though," she added, glancing at her blueberry watch. (She'd had it tailor-made in a watch shop run by an old berrykin in the City in the Ash.)
Huck grinned. "Yeah, mostly because I almost smashed the dummy for training. Well, technically I beheaded it," he admitted,"but Coconut had to fix it, so...yeah, pretty much," Huck concluded, and shrugged.
"Beheaded?"
He looked uncomfortable. "I was just swinging my fist, and then I didn't notice, but I was aiming for the separation in its neck, and - well -"
"Ok, I think I get it," Blueberry said, laughing.
Huck smiled in obvious relief. "Yeah," he said. Her laughing finally caught him, and they laughed themselves silly in a pretty little side alley under mistletoe.
Blueberry finally regained her calm attitude. "Did I wish you a Merry Christmas yet?" she asked.
Huck smirked. "No," he said. "So whad'you get me for Christmas?" A kiss? he thought. Oh, just SHUT UP, me, he thought.
"Don't worry, I did get you something," teased Blueberry. She brought out a long, neatly wrapped package (clearly wrapped by Blueberry herself, no one else could be that neat).
"Go on, open it!" she encouraged, when Huck stared at it.
He took it in his hands and unfolded layer after layer. Finally, he could feel something hard poking through the paper. He glanced at Blueberry, who nodded.
Huck pulled the present by something that felt like a handle, and found himself looking at a gold sword.
It had a shining gold blade, honed to a deadly edge. Huck ran a finger down the side of the blade, and looked at his finger. A thin line of red blood ran from his fingernail to his knuckle. He could hear Blueberry saying,"You idiot! What was that for? Good that I brought a bandage," but he was still studying the sword. The leather grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the weight was just right for him.
A thought struck him. Does Blue really know me that well? he thought. Maybe she does, dork. That's a good thing, Huck told himself. Not like he didn't know.
Huck thanked Blueberry fifty-two times, as Blueberry counted, before they reached the inn.
Did you like this chapter? Blueberry's song is just something I made up in five seconds, so don't bother searching it up.