The Misadventures of Dave: Into the World of Puyo Puyo

by daveping243

The main character of this story, Dave, is found to be a discouraged individual in his world. One day, he sees a portal that transports him against his will to another world. This causes his own body to change in age and appearance before passing out. He discovers that he lies on grass from this said world, as well as a girl. {Rated M for major violence, strong language, and sex.}

78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Christmas Break Begins

For the days leading up to Christmas Break, we remained emotionally wrecked from Primp Town burning from the fifth Yog's fire. Other than that, Primp had entered a rebuilding phase... and being in Primp Magic School for class was mostly the same as it normally was in the past. However, on the final school day before the break... we decided to stop sulking and cheer each other up. First though, there was Potions class... and then Ms. Accord's class, to do exams for the first semester of the school year. In the latter class, me and my classmates all finished the exam early, so we got in some more training. I was having a practice fight with Ex in our signature armor, and I was kind of getting into it. "Say, how about we kick it up a notch with this, Ex?" I suggested. "Are you sure, Dave? You know that this is just a practice fight, right?" He stopped. "Ex, our goal should be this: To push ourselves so that we're ready to deal with the last three Yogs when they do decide to show up." I told him. "If you say so... Just be aware: I've been holding back quite a bit." He readied himself. "Heh. So have I…" I readied myself as well.

For a while, we mostly traded decent blows until we threw our best at each other. Of course, we didn't use our dragon forms, because of how dangerous they were. Accord would have killed us if she found out that we were going completely all-out. Eventually, I tired out and Ex found an opening to hit me hard. He landed his attack and I fell to the ground, making me lose my armor. "Ugh… …" I laid on the snow, in pain. "It looks like I'm stronger than you, Dave." He helped me up. "For now, Ex... But just watch: When I fight you more after the break's over, I'll be the one who's stronger." I said. "*chuckle* Sure, whatever you say…" He smiled. "... Let's get back to the others, I'm sure that class is almost over." I gestured to him. "Yeah…" He nodded.

We came back to where the others were and they just stopped training for the day. "Hey, there they are!" Ringo noticed us. "So, how'd things go for you guys?" Amitie wondered. "Well... we actually ramped up our practice fight a bit. Though, Ex was still the one to come out on top." I answered. "Makes sense, he's been powerful ever since we've known him." Ringo nodded. "Gee, thanks…" I rolled my eyes. "N-not to say that you're weak, Dave. You're still the one that's been keeping all of us together like this." She stuttered a bit. "... I know, Ringo." I cracked a smile. As I said that, the school's bell clapped. "So, what do you guys wanna do for fun? It's Christmas Break now and we don't have anything to do in terms of schoolwork." Raffina asked. "I dunno. This came by a bit faster than I expected it to." Amitie admitted. "Well, I can't stick around with you guys... I have to go back to the SS Tetra with my father." Yui told us. "Okay then, bye." I waved.

Yui smiled at us and she left with Ex. The rest of us walked away from the school while we figured out what we were going to do. On the way, we met up with Lemres and Feli. It took us a good bit before someone came up with something. "...! I got it!" Feli made a snap with her fingers. "What did you think of, Feli? Ringo wondered. "It must be a good idea if Feli came up with it." I got excited. "Alright. So, how about we play a special game of hide and seek in the forest?" Feli suggested. "Special? What's so special about what you're thinking of?" Klug raised an eyebrow. "Well, Klug… I'm very glad you asked that question. I'll be the initial seeker, and you guys will all be hiders. When I find one of you... you'll have to book it if you don't want to be caught. If I grabbed you with my hands, then you're officially an assistant seeker that stays by me. And just to make sure there's no funny business from Dave… ... Hehehe…" Feli explained before using her ring to make herself taller and whatnot.

That's um... "Uh, Feli...? What's this about...?" I got a little scared. "Heheheh... Don't worry, Dave. As long as you're a good boy and not use your armor or dragon forms to fly, then you won't be immediately caught by me. I can feel your energy from those forms while I'm like this… So, you're better off not transforming, if you know what's good for you." She spoke with malice in her voice. "Kyah-!" Lidelle jumped. "Geez, Feli... you're still a scary girl when ya wanna be…" Lemres shook. "Control via intimidation... it's always been my strong suit, even if I haven't been doing much of that for a few years now." She smirked. Fuck... "A-anyway, how about we start this game of hide and seek?" Amitie stuttered. "Yes... So, you guys will have twenty minutes to hide in the forest. Meanwhile, I'll stay here and... meditate, I guess. And when those twenty minutes are up, I'll come to find you... wherever you may be in that forest. Remaining hiders win if they're able to last until sunset without getting caught by me. And finally: No one's allowed to use magic in this game… Does that sound good to you guys?" Feli finished explaining. "I suppose twenty minutes is enough time…" Tarutaru said. The rest of us nodded in agreement. "Then let's see if you guys can hide and or run from me… Your time to hide starts... now." Feli spoke.

The rest of us dashed off as quickly as we could. When we got into the forest, we split from each other in the hopes of finding a good hiding spot. Not all of us were on our own though; I saw Raffina and Lidelle sticking together as they left us. As for me, I ended up by myself. I knew that I didn't have too much time on my hands, so I hurried to find a solid spot to hide. Where could I...? ... I could hide in the snow, but that has its drawbacks. Besides, it's a predictable thing and I can imagine that Feli will be looking in every big snow mound. I COULD hide up in the trees, but it's also possible that she might search the forest through the trees. That, and there aren't very many leaves around the deciduous trees... And coniferous trees aren't that good of a hiding spot in general. God, this is gonna be much harder than I thought it would be. I continued looking and I knew that I was running out of time. I had my phone with me, and the current time showed that it had been already seventeen minutes since me and the other hiders ran for the forest.

With only about three minutes left, I HAD to find a decent spot. If I didn't, then I was screwed. Two minutes passed, and still, nothing. At the last minute though, I saw something off in the distance... something that I had never seen before in this forest. It was an abandoned shack housing some rusty and broken tools. Fuck it, this is in an area that I've never been to before. I might as well use this shack as a place to hide. And so, I did… I covered my tracks as I came to the place, just to make sure. After that, I closed the loose door behind me, and noticed the shack on the inside was rather dark. I found a nearly empty chest that was decently sized toward the back. As one may think: I slipped into the chest and closed it. It was completely dark in there, so I decided to put up a little light from my phone so that I could see. Other than that, I was pretty much set to go from there. Now, let's see if you know me enough to discover where I am, Feli... Who will outwit who? You or me?

Feli's POV

Once I knew the twenty minutes were up, I stopped meditating and went through with my hunt. I didn't sense any sort of energy from Dave before I started, so I came to the conclusion that he was abiding by the rules. I made my way into the forest and began to search. Fortunately for me, it only took a couple of minutes to discover Tarutaru. "Found you, Tarutaru~." I spoke. This clearly alerted him, and he only had one thing on his mind. "Uh-oh, looks like it's time to run!" He stampeded. "You think you can outrun me? Here I come~!" I grinned.

Klug's POV

I found what I considered to be a "next level" hiding spot. Where was I hiding? In a small cave, but not Schezo's cave. This was an entirely different one up in a mountain. I figured that the mountain itself would not be a likely place for Feli to look. Admittedly, it did stretch out to an area past the forest a little... but the cave in it is still a part of it. So, I was going by a technicality here with this cave. This should serve me well... I'm not the best runner, so I have to make up for that with a good place to hide. Still though, I've actually never been here before... ... As long as I stick to the shadows, I should be fine.

Amitie's POV

It was hard for me to find a spot to hide, since the forest was mostly a giant sandbox that was filled with snow instead of sand. But, I was able to find one: A tree. This tree wasn't that tall, but at least I could climb up to its top branches. I hope this works…

Lemres' POV

I won't lie, it wasn't easy for me to find a place to hide. But, knowin' Feli for years helped me decide where to hide and it was somethin'. Basically, my hidin' spot ended up bein' one of those coniferous trees. The green pine needles helped me blend into them, since I was wearin' a dark green coat. Once I got up to a high point of the tree, I curled into a ball and stayed there. From there, all I had to do was wait for sunset to come.

Ringo's POV

Finding a spot to hide was a lot harder than I thought and I panicked. Thankfully, the forest was full of snow and that meant a lot of places to burrow into. I eventually got into a position where I was completely encased in a decent snow mound that I saw. And so, I just needed to wait. But since I couldn't see the sun like this, I had to look at the time on my phone periodically. This was so I could guess when the sun was going to set. And not seeing much of anything else in front of me came with another problem: I wasn't able to tell if Feli would pass by at any point, unless I heard her chasing after someone. Still, I thought this was a good enough place to hide in.

Raffina's POV

Me and Lidelle constantly held each other's hands in the hopes that we would stay together. I knew for a fact that Lidelle wouldn't last very long in this game without someone else by her side. And us being together made it more difficult to find a suitable hiding spot. Luckily, I had a good idea in my head. At least, it seemed to be a good idea at the time. "R-Raffina, where are we going to hide?" Lidelle looked at me. "Lidelle, I think I have an idea. I'll hide in that snow mound after I get you up onto the tree above it. If Feli does find me in the snow, then I'll run away from here and as soon as you can't see Feli anymore... jump into the snow mound from the tree. Don't worry, I'm sure that it'll break your fall." I told her. "B-but... ... What if she catches you and you become one of her assistant seekers?" She brought up that possibility. "Please, do you honestly think that Feli can catch up to me? Besides, even if she does catch me... She never said that we couldn't hide any information from her. So, I'll simply make it seem like I don't know where anyone else is. And she doesn't know that me and you are essentially hiding together." I exuded a level of confidence.

Lidelle thought about this idea of mine for a bit. "O-okay, Raffina. If you're confident that this will work, then get me up there in the tree." She nodded. "Alright, hang on tight, Lidelle." I picked her up. She grabbed onto me tightly like a little kid as I said that. I then jumped up to the tree's branches and placed her down. "Just keep yourself curled up, that'll allow you to be kind of one with this tree's pine needles." I advised. She nodded to me again and I smiled. With that, I leapt into the snow mound from the tree and began to cover up the hole that I made with snow around me. So, this is what it feels like to be in something such as an igloo... Surprisingly, it's not freezing cold... probably because the mound's blocking the winter wind outside. It does make me worried for Lidelle though, she has to deal with the wind chill. … Well, she has bulky winter clothing for a person her size, so she should be okay…

Tarutaru's POV

I ran as fast as I could from Feli, who was looking pretty scary at this point. She persistently chased me for a few minutes before I began to tire out. Normally, I have excellent stamina... but the winter air was making it kind of difficult to breathe in with my nose. And then, she came close to grabbing me. "Ah-!" I narrowly dodged. "Not bad, but that won't be good enough...! ... Got you." She commented and caught me. "... It looks like I won't be a winner in this…" I took my loss well. "And that means you'll now go with me all around this forest to find the others." She told me. "That's what you established when it came to telling us the rules." I acknowledged. Thus, I began to follow her wherever she went in this forest.

Dave's POV

I stayed in that chest for about twenty minutes and I didn't hear a single thing, aside from me shuffling around a tiny bit. With that, I knew that I was absolutely fine in my spot. Well, this became fucking boring... ... Eh, might as well stay in here since I have nothing else to do.

Amitie's POV

After staying up in that tree, it felt like it had been twenty minutes or so since Feli began searching for us. Soon though, I saw two figures walking through the snow. …! Oh no! Tarutaru has been caught by her! I really hope I'm not next, 'cause they're near where I'm at. "Say, Tarutaru... how well do you know your classmates? Would you know where they could hide at or in?" Feli asked him. "Uh... I know Raffina rather well. Just not when it comes to knowing where she hides…" He answered. "Hmm... that's unfortunate. I was hoping you would be more helpful than this." She said. "I'm sorry that I can't help you too much, Feli." He told her. "It's fine, the real help won't come until I've found a couple of the others anyway." She spoke back. Please don't find me...! Please go off to another area, Feli! "Hm?" Tarutaru saw something. "What is it, Tarutaru?" Feli wondered. "Footprints." He showed her. "... Bootprints to be more precise... ... Someone's been here recently." She corrected him. "Then, do you think that someone is here?" He asked her. "I wouldn't put it past me. Let's see where these prints lead to…" She followed the prints with Tarutaru.

Crap, those are mine! Am I gonna get found out because of them?! Okay, calm down, Amitie... Maybe she won't think to look up. "... Over here, by this tree." Tarutaru pointed. "Heh. Someone made it obvious... Whoever came here, they weren't very keen on covering their tracks. Wait for me." Feli said before climbing up the tree. Oh my gosh, she's climbing up! I gotta get to a different part of the tree, but I can't make any real noise. What should I do?! I panicked as I got to the other side of the tree and lowered myself somewhat. I hung to the trunk there and waited, hoping that I would still be fine. I heard rustling in the tree for a bit. "... ... Huh? There's no one up here... Strange. I guess someone figured that they could trick me into thinking that they were up in this tree. In that case... ... Tarutaru, no one's up here..." Feli said before telling him that. "Then let's continue looking around, Feli." He told her. "Hey, catch my fall, will you?" She requested.

I heard a loud rustle and saw Feli jumping off the tree from the corner of my eye. It was a VERY scary sight to me. HOW IN THE HECK DID SHE NOT FIND ME?! Then, I heard Feli landing in Tarutaru's arms. Soon, the two walked away from the tree and started making their way towards another area in the forest. "*sigh* That was too close for me…"I whispered to myself. I quietly began to climb back up to where I was before. I gotta be more careful when I get into another situation like this. I should cover my tracks next- Before I could finish saying that in my mind, one of my hands slipped. "...!" I lost my grip. This caused me to fall down into the snow, making a sound that DEFINITELY wasn't quiet. This obviously got Feli's attention. "...! What was that?" She tensed up. From there, I only had one thing left to hide in: The snow. I quickly buried myself and dug more underneath, so that I could get away from that tree. "Where did that sound come from? I'm confused…" Tarutaru looked around. "... Let's look back around that tree, something's definitely wrong with it." Feli insisted.

I heard them approaching the tree and I was basically swimming deep in the snow at this point, just hoping to not get caught. "... ... Okay, this snow dome wasn't there before. ... Someone MUST have been in that tree! Tarutaru, help me dig through this snow. I feel like our little hider must be in it." Feli said before realizing. "On it!" Tarutaru exclaimed. Oh, get real! Don't tell me that I'm gonna get found now! This is SO not wicked! "... ... Ah-ha! So YOU were the hider around here, Amitie... Hehehehehe You better start running~." I heard Feli. "...! CRAP!" I jumped out of the snow. After that, I began to run as fast as I could. "Wh-?! Tarutaru was surprised. "After her, Tarutaru! Don't let her pull a fast one on us!" She exclaimed. "O-of course!" He started to run. Soon, they were both chasing after me. Dang it! I can't run for a long time like the others! This is tiring! "Amitie, you can't run from us for too long!" Feli told me. "I-I'm gonna try my best anyway, Feli! So you can forget trying to catch me!" I exclaimed.

Klug's POV

All was quiet until I heard something down in the forest. "Give it up, Amitie!" Feli's voice echoed. "... Feli's chasing her?!" I whispered. I looked out from the cave and saw what was happening. I saw that it wasn't just Feli going after Amitie, but also Tarutaru. ... So she caught Tarutaru... That doesn't bode well for Amitie, to say the least. She's not very good at running either... About ten seconds later, Amitie tripped on something she couldn't see. "Woa-!" She fell face-first into the snow. Feli soon approached Amitie and grabbed her leg. Well, Amitie's another assistant seeker now... "*pant* Got you, Amitie... Sorry. It's unfortunate that you lost your chance to hide from me. I don't know exactly how you avoided me when I looked in that tree initially, but you screwed up big time." Feli said to her. "... I know... I'm bad at staying hidden. I left visible footprints like a dummy..." Amitie sighed. "Not really, you almost got away with your trick. Now, how about you join Tarutaru in helping me search for the others?" Feli suggested. "... It's not like I can do anything else right now…" Amitie got up.

At that moment, I crept back into the darkness of the cave and thought back to what I just witnessed. Amitie said that she left footprints? Either way, it's a good thing I covered my tracks rather well while making my way up here. If I didn't, Feli would've been curious as to where they lead. Anyway, did Feli just say that Amitie almost got away with some trick? Whatever that might've been, it doesn't matter now. Amitie has been caught and she's now an assistant seeker, along with Tarutaru. ... They're on the move... I hope they don't think that the mountain is a place that hiders could realistically be at. I realize that it's unlikely, but it's still possible. I'll have to get going if they suddenly decide to search this mountain.

Ringo's POV

It felt weird to be in that snow mound for an extended period of time, but there wasn't much that I could do about it. While I rested in it, I began to think about the other hiders. I wonder how Dave and the others are faring... ... I'm sure that Dave's got a spot much cooler than mine, one that doesn't have to do with anything cold like this snow. ... Feli can be relentless with things, so hiding from her won't be easy for any of us.

Feli's POV

I continued to walk around the forest, with Amitie and Tarutaru by my side. Hm... I wonder who I'll find next. If I can predict anything, then I'd say that I'll find Klug next. But he's gonna be tricky, considering he's rather smart. Actually, the rest of the hiders that are left are intelligent in some way... except maybe for Raffina. She's not dumb by any means, but knowing her, her spot is probably something only marginally better than Amitie's. Regardless, it doesn't matter who I find first. I just need to be able to catch them… "Hey... have you seen anyone else coming by while you were hiding, Amitie?" I turned around to face her. "N-no, I haven't…" She stuttered out and answered. ... Amitie isn't someone who's well aware of her surroundings... It's possible that she just missed someone as they came by. "Damn... … It looks like my help so far has not been that helpful... So far, I've done all of the searching and finding." I sighed. "Then maybe we should just end the game now, Feli." Amitie suggested. "Not an option. We've already committed to this, and we might as we keep going." I told her. Ten more minutes of walking didn't really amount to anything as nothing seemed to happen.

Lemres' POV

I remained in my lil' hidin' spot for a while, not hearin' anything off or whatever. That would soon change, 'cause I heard Feli talkin'. She's close by... but who's she talkin' to? Who did she catch? I uncurled myself for a bit to see that Amitie and Tarutaru were walkin' with Feli in the snow. I'm not really surprised that Amitie was caught, but it's unfortunate. Without thinkin' about it, I curled back up into a still ball and listened in. "You know, Feli... Lemres will be hard for us to find, he knows you very well." Amitie said to her. "I know, Amitie... But I also know him very well. … And, for as long as I've known him... he likes to wear clothes that are exclusively colored dark green. Let me ask you something: What color are the pine needles of coniferous trees?" Feli replied before asking. "Uh… dark green…? You mean to tell me that he's hiding in one of those kinds of trees?" Amitie answered. "Perhaps... but I don't think he's stupid enough to just plainly blend in with the pine needles in of these trees. It's more likely that he's hiding elsewhere, Amitie." Feli told her.

Heh. Looks like ya don't know me enough, Feli... I hid in a tree like this one on purpose. I listened to the trio a lil' more before I heard them walkin' away. I'm gonna be on my way to winnin' this game... However, somethin' happened that made me worry for a moment. My hand slipped a little when tryin' to maintain my grip on the branch I was on. This made the tree rustle, makin' enough noise to get Feli's attention. "...! Where did that rustling come from?" She looked around. "It sounded like it came from nearby." Tarutaru concluded. "... Like, behind us?" Amitie turned around. "Yeah... ... Someone might be here, guys." Feli walked back over to where she was before. Oh fuck, that ain't good... ... It's fine, I just gotta stay calm here. "Hey, there's a bush here. Maybe we should take a look, Feli." Amitie suggested. "The rustling did seem to come from this direction, maybe our hider's in there..." Feli took a look. "... Anything?" Tarutaru waited. As Feli looked into the bush, a snow rabbit came out and hopped away. "It was just a rabbit? Well, that wasn't what I expected..." Feli appeared to be bummed out.

Thankfully, the trio finally left the area where I hid and I breathed a sigh of relief. Shit... that was a close one. Guess this means I can take it easy for the rest of the game. Until sunset, I'll just sit here an' relax... ...? Hey, is that...? … I think I see Klug up in that cave up there on the mountain. ... Heh. Not a bad place to hide, I'll admit. Feli won't really think to look there.

Lidelle's POV

Feli seemed to be occupied with trying to find us, because I hadn't seen her since the game started and that happened a while ago at the time. I might actually win this... and maybe Raffina too! Oh, Raffina... you've been doing a lot for me lately and treated me kindly. If only I'm able to get out what I was trying to tell you after we defeated the fourth Yog. But... ... I'm not confident like you are... Compared to you, I'm just a scared little girl for my age. Oh, how can I actually tell you, Raffina? ... You were admittedly a mean girl for a long while years ago... But ever since then, you have become a lot nicer… especially this year. You protected me from those bullies when we were at that beach… You kicked the third Yog so hard, you sent it back into a dimensional rift... And you saved me from the skeletons we fought off with the others in that graveyard. Raffina... I wish I could tell you what I wanted to tell you. ... I'm just so scared though... I don't know what you'll make of it.

Before I could dwell on those thoughts any further, I heard talking and I immediately silenced my breathing. I began to fear what was coming my way. It was Feli, but she wasn't alone. Amitie and Tarutaru were following her, making my heart beat very fast. In the middle of whatever discussion the three were having, Tarutaru stopped. "*sniff* *sniff sniff* ... I know that smell from anywhere, it comes from Raffina's hair. ... But where is it coming from?" He looked about. "Huh? ... Oh, you mean to say that she wears perfume, Tarutaru?" Feli assumed. "Yes. ... The smell is getting stronger here…" Tarutaru nodded and approached the snow mound that Raffina happened to be in. Ah-! Raffina's in trouble! "That's quite the snow mound... enough to conceal someone and then some. Tarutaru, you know what to do. Amitie, dig through the mound as well." Feli concluded before ordering her assistants. The two began to dig through and I worried for Raffina. Please, Raffina... run!

Before Amitie and Tarutaru knew it, Raffina exited the snow mound on the other side and ran off. "See ya!" She taunted them. "...! It's Raffina, guys! After her!" Feli alerted the others. "Don't worry, I won't let her escape! Hooooooough!" Tarutaru made a mad dash for Raffina. Feli followed suit, leaving Amitie out in the snow dust. "H-hey! Wait for meeeee!" She did her best to catch up. As much as I really want Raffina to get away, I feel bad for Amitie as well… … I'm scared of jumping off from this tree… I don't think I can do it.

Raffina's POV

I ran from the trio as they began to chase me around persistently. Tarutaru knowing how I smell was creepy, buuut it did help him find me. And I know that he never lets me easily escape. It'll be tricky to lose him, but I've evaded him at times in the past. This won't be any different for either of us. I might not be the fastest runner, but I DO have a spring in my step. "RAFFINAAAA! *pant* Don't think you can run away from us!" Tarutaru dashed even faster. Damn, he's catching up quicker than I expected… The chase continued for a whole two minutes before I saw something. Ah-ha! I got it! There's that pond up ahead! If I can just get on to it, Tarutaru won't be able to follow me. That ice looks too thin for him to stand on with it cracking under his weight. And, I'll be able to skate my way through the ice. For once, my elegance can be utilized in something like this!

Feli didn't catch on to what I was doing, which would soon cause problems for her. I came up to the ice and carefully jumped on it. After getting a good feel for the slipperiness of the ice, I began to skate away. "Sh-she's skating on the ice?! Tarutaru, stop! I'll pursue her, guys. Meanwhile, meet up with me on the other side!" Feli realized and told her assistants. "W-waaaaait! *pant pant* I'm tired… …" Amitie stopped in exhaustion. Feli then skated after me, but with less elegance and care. This caused the ice to start cracking behind her. She didn't notice this, which made me brainstorm a bit of a cheeky idea for my standards. I carefully applied more pressure when skating, in accordance to how fragile the ice was. I was hoping to separate myself from Feli by causing the ice to completely crack after I skated on it. At the very least, this could slow her down.

And that is EXACTLY what happened. Ice cracked behind me, to the point where water was exposed. I had successfully managed to create a sizable gap between me and her. "Shit...!" Feli had no choice but to slow down considerably and go around the gap carefully. This bought me valuable time, the time that I needed to escape Feli's sight. I started to skate at full speed, making sure to crack more ice along the way. Before long, I reached the other side and landed in the snow. I looked behind me to see that Amitie was now being carried by Tarutaru and he was dashing toward where I was. But this would prove to be a pointless endeavor. I also saw that Feli was unable to move forward in the ice covered pond, because of the ice cracking. Seeing that bit of success, I ran from Tarutaru's sight.

Feli's POV

And just like that, I was outsmarted by Raffina... "Damn it! ... Tarutaru, help me get back to dry land! It's pointless for you to go any further if I can't catch Raffina myself!" I panicked and told him. As soon as he heard me, he stopped and dropped off Amitie. In spite of risking a case of hypothermia, Tarutaru still swam through the freezing cold water to reach me. I got on him and he swam us back to dry land. At that point, Raffina had been long gone and we couldn't see her anymore. So, we decided to go onward in the hope of finding one of the others.

Ringo's POV

Things were still quiet where I was at and legit thought that it was boring since I got into my hiding spot. Ten minutes later though, and that changed. I began to hear voices, alerting me that Feli is somewhere nearby. Geez, NOW I have to worry about being found? And here I thought this was gonna be all fine and dandy... but nooooo. What the actual hell, guys? ... Wait, is that Amitie I'm hearing...? ... And that's Tarutaru, right? Feli must've found and caught them. I shouldn't really be surprised that Amitie was found... In fact, I'm willing to bet that she was found and caught first out of all of us. ... Did Feli catch anyone else...? As I wondered in my mind, I heard Feli talking. "Hm... there are more snow mounds around here, a prime area for someone to hide in one of these. ... Tarutaru, start digging through that mound first. Uh-oh, looks like Feli's cracking down on some snow mounds... ... Did she find someone else in a snow mound first? Why else would she focus on the snow mounds?

As I was thinking about that, I heard some snow from nearby being dug through. It didn't come from my snow mound, but I was able to hear it clearly. And after a bit of silence, more snow digging came by. This cycle repeated a number of times while Feli and Amitie were talking to each other. And when I saw that the snow was crumbling around me, I decided to leap out and run for it. "Huh? …! Feli, it's Ringo! She's trying to run!" Tarutaru alerted Feli. "Your alert has been acknowledged, Tarutaru. Hah!" Feli said to him before chasing after me. "Oh crap, she's fast...!" I looked behind while running. I increased my running speed, but it wouldn't be enough to outrun Feli for long. I ran for a straight minute or so and I slowed down to see if she was still tailing me. I didn't see her, so I assume that I was in the clear. "*pant pant* … *sigh* That was shockingly smooth…" I said to myself after catching my breath. A few seconds later though, I was touched by a hand. "...?! Gyaaaaah! ... … Dammit... I thought I lost you, Feli…" I screamed, then sighed. "Nope, there's no way that you would've lost me that easily, Ringo. Though, I admire your attempt to run from me like that." Feli smirked.

With that, Tarutaru joined us... with Amitie being carried by him. He placed her down and now I was an assistant seeker. "I'm sad that you weren't able to hide until sunset, Ringo…" Amitie told me. "I-it's not a big deal, Amitie... ... Okay, tell me: Were you the first to be found and caught?" I faced her. "N-no... Tarutaru was." She answered. "Ringo, did you assume that Amitie was gonna be the first one caught from the beginning?" Feli got my attention. "... I did, actually." I nodded. "What?! You had no faith in me hiding until sunset?!" Amitie sounded upset. "I-I never said that, Amitie... nor did I ever think that, either. I had faith in you, one of my best friends." I grabbed her hand gently. "R-Ringo…" She smiled a little. "Alright, let's get on with finding the others. Ringo, did you see anyone come by since you hid? I ask this because we chased Raffina around a bit... However, she managed to disappear from our sight before I could catch her." Feli said before asking me.

Raffina ran away from them successfully? Well, that's something I didn't expect... "Nope, I didn't even hear anyone until you guys came by." I told her. "... Again? Has no single hider seriously crossed paths with another in this forest?" Feli sighed. "I guess not...? I dunno." I shrugged. "W-wait, hold on. We haven't encountered any of the guys, aside from Tarutaru." Amitie pointed out. "Yeah... you're right, Amitie. Where the hell are they? They MUST have better hiding spots than just snow mounds or treetops." Feli realized and wondered. "In any case, we should hurry before sunset comes." Tarutaru said. "Right…" The rest of us went, before walking off.

Dave's POV

I still rested in that chest, with nothing but my phone's light accompanying me. This is still fucking BORING. Oh well, I guess I'll use this time by deciding whether or not it's truly a good idea to have that date with the girls on Christmas Eve of all nights. The idea itself sounds great on paper, but... I'm still a bit new to going on dates with girls. And, this is supposed to be a date with me and all three of the girls I truly love. Hm... ...

Raffina's POV

I got to relax and hide once more when I evaded Feli. But now the question was: Where did I hide this time? Well, after I ran for a while… I saw the mountain nearby and decided to travel up to see where it took me. I eventually encountered a dark little cave, which I realized could provide a place for me to hide. There was also something, or rather someone inside, that I was surprised to hear. "R-Raffina?" A familiar voice echoed. "Huh? Klug? You're hiding here?" I recognized the voice. "Yes. ... I'm guessing this wasn't your first spot to hide in, was it?" Klug came up to me, nodded, and moved the conversation forward. "... No. I was hiding in a snow mound, but then I was discovered because Tarutaru sniffed out my perfume... I was forced to run and I managed to escape from Feli." I answered. "How did you get away from her?" He asked. "I crossed the frozen pond and purposefully cracked the ice behind me." I explained.

I waited for Klug to say more, now sitting down in the shadows of the cave. "Raffina... I saw Amitie getting caught by Feli from here." He mentioned. "She was with Feli as an assistant seeker when I was being chased. I feel sorry for her, since she can't run like practically the rest of us… N-not to say that you're a bad runner, Klug. ... Hey, can I say something else that pertains to the history between us two?" I told him before I asked. "What…? ... Go on." He looked at me, then waited. "Okay. ... Klug, as friends now: I believe we should take our time to look back on the times we argued, and attempt to... um... ... What's the word I'm looking for...?" I went before stopping. "Rectify?" He helped. "Y-yes, rectify our past hostility towards each other." I finished making my suggestion. "... … If I was still how I was five years ago, then I would have said no to this. However... thanks to Dave, ever since he came into our lives: He changed me in a way I would've never expected at the time." He started.

Yeah... "And?"I waited. "And this also made me realize that I was being stupidly jerkish to you specifically in the past. I haven't fully apologized to you for all that hell I gave you over the years, Raffina. So... I sincerely apologize for that very hell and wish for us to start things anew. Do you accept this?" He finished. "... Of course I accept your apology, Klug... ... I too wasn't in the right all those years ago... Therefore, I wanna apologize as well. I was admittedly a jerk too, you know?" I smiled before releasing a light chuckle at the end. "Heh. I know... ... Raffina, should we hug each other to show that we both apologize with complete sincerity?" He suggested. "Yeah... let's do it." I continued to smile. I pulled him into a hug and he took it. We stayed hugging for a solid minute before Klug decided to let go. "Thank you for taking this time for us to put our turbulent past behind us, Raffina." He rested his back to the cave wall.

I thought about what to say next as we remained together in that cave. "... ... Looks like we're going to be in this cave for a while... unless we're discovered, that is." I said. "It seems so…" Klug replied. "... Klug." I got his attention. "Yes?" He waited. "How did it feel when your body was possessed by that… thing in the book you once carried on the day you apparently fought Dave?" I asked. "So you heard about the details, aside from me wanting to take down my father at the time... ... ... It felt like I was stripped of control over my own body, Raffina... and I was trapped in the book until Dave and Feli managed to essentially undo the possession. I don't know where the book is now, and that's a good thing. Lemres made the right decision to hide the book away to make sure the evil spirit inside never gets the chance to do that again. ... Why bring this up?" He answered and passed the question to me. "... Because, I personally believe that the book should be burned if it causes too much harm to you." I put it simply.

Klug didn't say anything for about a minute before speaking. "Raffina, in retrospect... I wish the book was burned after I regained control of my body on that day. But I suppose Lemres didn't think to do that at the time. I can't exactly blame him for that, because of me wanting revenge against my father at that point. … Heh. We have come a long way since defeating and arresting that bastard... We all trained for many days in Ms. Accord's class, improving our physical and magical capabilities respectively. To think that my father, Dioge Stanford, used to be a lot more powerful than most of us were... But, maybe it was for the best of all of us in the end. Dave became the Demonic Dragon Warrior after being pushed towards death and he's been growing stronger ever since that day passed. So in a way... I thank my father, even though he's still a bastard that deserves to be in jail for life. If it weren't for him... Dave would have just been on par with the rest of us. And, he might not even have gotten this far with defeating the Yogs." He told me before going on a tangent.

... That's definitely true... "Yeah... ... Either way, Dave's current armor is something to behold. It provides durability to him and he actually worked out his muscles. Plus, he can fly with it! ... Just a few months ago, I remember his arms looking all slim and lacking manpower; now though, he's certainly well-fit. And that dragon form of his is literally dangerous to people like us because of that supposed aura... Also, there was that time during the tournament where one of his spells became more powerful." I nodded and mentioned. "Ah, yes... His Lightning Clap changed to Thunder Cannon while fighting... That happened during his fight with Owlbear, I think." Klug detailed. "Yeah... … Dave's amazing, considering the fact he's changed so much over the past few months. He didn't even have magic when he came to Primp Magic School on that first day of his, and he was shy on top of that. ... I just thought of something, Klug." I said. "What?" He wondered. "We HAVE to give Dave something special for Christmas, he totally deserves a present after busting his own ass for all of us." I brought the idea to him.

I mean, we gotta give him something for all the things he's done... "Oh, absolutely. Even if he didn't work so hard for us, he deserves gifts from all of us for being there for all of us whenever he could." He nodded. "... Maybe we can tell the others that we want to give Dave a present; they'll want to help." I suggested. "If things work out, then perhaps we will. Until then, we shall keep it a secret from Dave." Klug added.

Lemres' POV

More time passed as I sat in the tree and nothin' had happened since I saw Feli and her assistant seekers passin' by. Well, 'cept for me seein' Raffina suddenly travelin' up to that cave that Klug was in. ... Was Raffina discovered at a certain point and managed to get away? Well, either way... she's been up there with Klug for some time now, hidin' with him.

Dave's POV

More time flew by as I thought up ideas for my special date with the girls as I hid inside that chest. At this point, it was starting to hurt after being in it for an extended period of time. Still though, I wasn't about to let go of this spot just because I was feeling uncomfortable. No, I was too stubborn and confident to leave the chest. As I was silently dealing with my slight pain... I heard footsteps and talking somewhere outside the shack. From those, I knew that it had to be Feli and at least two assistant seekers. So, I decided to listen carefully by putting my ear up to the side of the chest. From what I heard, I was able to make out a few sentences. One of those sentences came from Feli, suggesting that the group should look inside the abandoned shack. Soon after that, I heard the door squeak open and more footsteps. I was able to hear the voices more clearly now and discerned that Tarutaru, Amitie, and Ringo were with Feli. Alright, moment of truth: Will it be you who outwits me... or will it be me who outwits you, Feli?

"This place is full of nothing but rusted tools. There's no way that one of the others could hide in here…" Ringo commented. "Yeah... it's dark, but there's no open space to be seen." Amitie agreed. "Hold on, there's something over at the back here." Tarutaru noticed. Oh shit, I hope he doesn't mean this chest...! I'm gonna shut off my phone's light, stay fucking silent, and not move an inch! "... ... It's a chest…" I heard Feli's voice. Before I knew it, the chest opened and hoped to God that they think that the thing inside is just some bust or whatever. However, something came up that I didn't account for. "This shit's too dark to see what's inside. Ringo, mind lending me your phone for a minute to serve as a light source?" Feli asked for. ...! Fuuuuuuck, I didn't think Feli would ask someone for that! "Sure. Here you go." Ringo gave her the phone. Feli flicked the light of Ringo's phone to the inside of the chest and I was revealed. "O-oh, hi... this is certainly interesting... *sigh* It's safe to say that I've essentially been caught, have I?" I waved and awkwardly chuckled before I lost all hope.

Please don't say "yep" or whatever... "Yep." Feli smirked. "URGH! Goddamn it! I thought I was going to breeze through this, no problem! I didn't hear ANYBODY else go by here before now…" I vented my frustration. "Hey, chill... this is just a game." Ringo told me. "Dave, this shack was a unique location compared to practically everything else in the forest. Did you seriously think that I wouldn't investigate it?" Feli pulled me out from the chest. "... *sigh* I had confidence in it, Feli, come on. ... So, what's been going on with the game? Care to fill me in?" I got over my failure to last. Feli put me down as she acknowledged my question. As I requested, I was filled in on everything that happened in the game thus far. So Raffina got away... "Let's get a move on and find the others, Dave." Feli told me. "Yeah, it must be getting close to sunset." I nodded. "Actually, we still have a decent amount of time on our hands." Ringo mentioned. "Still though, let's get going." Feli turned around and walked out of the shack. The rest of us followed suit before walking with her as one unit.

Lemres' POV

It didn't take too long before I saw a group o' figures off in the distance. …? ... Shiiit, Feli found Dave? ... Oh well, at least he still can't use his armor to fly about. ... Ugh, I've been sittin' in this position for too long now. I need to sit properly. And that's what I ended up doin'', but little did I know that the branch I sat on had weakened over time. Soon, it gave in to my weight and snapped. "...! Wooah-!" I fell. I landed in the snow and it broke my fall. Damn, man... I gotta find another spot to hide in. ... But I can't jus' leave tracks behind, an' that's gonna make things harder for me. First, I need to figure out where to hide an' fast. I can't exactly meander at a time like this. ... ... I could make my way to the mountain to hide in that cave with Klug n' Raffina… but it's gonna take me a while to get there, AND I risk myself gettin' spotted by Feli n' such. ... I really wish I had an invisibility candy on me, that would definitely help me here. ... Oh well... looks like I'll have to risk it for the cookie.

In the end: I chose to walk through the snow and get up to the mountain, all while coverin' my tracks the best I could. Fortunately, whenever I saw Feli an' such nearby... I hid in the snow quickly an' stayed there until they went in a different direction. Soon, I made it to the pathway leadin' up to the higher parts of the mountain. Then, I walked up the icy path to the cave. I made sure to lay low, in case any o' them looked at the mountain for whatever reason. So, I crouch-walked to get a balance of speed an' stealth. I wasn't the best at it, but it got the job done. After going through that for bit o' time, I was finally at the cave where I found Klug n' Raffina. "L-Lemres?!" Klug whispered. "Yo, can I come in here with ya? My hidin' spot was ruined by me readjustin' my way of sittin' on a branch, an' I'm now without a spot. Luckily for me, I wasn't seen by Feli an' the others while I made my way here." I explained. "Sure, come in here." Raffina gestured to me.

I zipped inside the cave and got into the shadows, like Klug n' Raffina. I told Klug that I saw him in the cave while I was in my spot. I also told Raffina that I saw her enter this cave some time later. From there, we shared our observations an' stuff before seeing Feli an' her group getting back to where I was. We saw Feli noticing the branch that snapped an' landed on the snow because of me. She pointed to it, showing the others. "She probably realized that branch wasn't there before." I said. "Th-that's where you were hiding before, Lemres?" Klug assumed. "Yeah. ... She's checkin' the branches, but she's not gonna find anything there. *chuckle*" I nodded an' watched. After seeing that Feli failed to find anything, I decided to talk to Klug n' Raffina.

Dave's POV

Feli was looking around the branches of a tree for someone, but it was deserted. "Someone was hiding there at some point before... but who?" She wondered. "... ... Hey, that mountain over there seems to be a unique location. Isn't there a decent chance that someone could be hiding somewhere there?" I suggested. "... Maybe. It's worth a shot, at least." Feli said. "Then let's go!" Amitie enthusiastically went. We trudged through snow to reach the base of the mountain and it took a little while. When we actually reached it, the path going upward looked... ominous, to say the least. "Well, this certainly isn't foreboding…" I sarcastically said. "Oh, get over it, Dave." Feli flicked my head with her finger. "Gh-! ... Was that really necessary, Feli?" I flinched and asked. "Yes, yes it was." She replied. Feli began walking up the path, with Ringo and Tarutaru following behind. "Don't worry, you're not the only one freaked out by this path. I'm kind of scared of it too." Amitie told me. And so, we followed the others up the path to see where it led us to.

Klug's POV

Me, Raffina, and Lemres were just having a decent time in this cave when I suddenly heard voices approaching the cave's entrance. "Q-quiet, you two. Feli's nearby." I silenced Raffina and Lemres. We silently nodded in unison after coming up with a contingency plan. When we were ready, we placed ourselves on the cave wall closest to the path going down. It turned out that we got this plan underway just in time, because Feli and the assistant seekers were just outside the cave. "... Hm... … Guys, this cave..." Feli gestured to her assistants. "The cave might be a good hiding spot, we know." Dave finished for her. "It's awfully dark, guys... stay together while me and Dave fire up lights from our phones." Ringo advised. And they did indeed stick together when entering the cave. From there: We found the opening needed to slip outside, quietly step through the path, and get to the bottom of the mountain.

The first one to slip out was Lemres, before Raffina exited after him. I was the last to slip out of that cave and we did our best not to make a single peep while going down the path. This worked for about a couple of minutes before something bad happened. "... *sniff* ... Ah, ah, aaaa-choo!" Lemres let out. "Great, I hope they didn't hear that…" I prayed. Nothing happened at first, but Feli and the assistants ran out of the cave and turned their heads from side to side before spotting us. "...! Damn! They see us from there, run!" Raffina dashed away. "W-wait for us, Raffina!" Me and Lemres followed behind.

Dave's POV

When we ran outside to see where that sneeze echoed from, we looked for a bit before discovering Klug, Raffina, AND Lemres. "What?! Those three were hiding together?!" Amitie was confused. "That doesn't matter now, I need you all to help me catch those three! I can't do that by myself; they'll separate when they get to the bottom. Move it, guys!" Feli got the rest of us moving. We began to chase after the trio as an attempt to catch them. I went in for a full sprint, running faster than even Feli and Tarutaru. It got to the point where I was just behind the trio of hiders attempting to flee. "*pant pant* I don't know how you three got on that path without us seeing you... ... ...but one of you won't get out of this uncaught…! Haaaaah!" I pushed on and managed to grab on to Klug. "Wooah-!" He fell on the snow. "KLUG, NO!" Raffina looked back at him while still running. "*pant* Go on without me, you two...!" He insisted. Feli soon caught Klug and he was no longer a hider. "Just rest easy, Klug…" Tarutaru picked him up.

Me and Feli continued to sprint fast and furiously behind Raffina and Lemres, nearly reaching our speed limit. It didn't take long before Lemres fell over from physical exhaustion, and it was basically over for the comet warlock himself. Feli caught him while I continued to chase after Raffina alone. With the speed I was going at, I was ahead of the others and closing in on Raffina. "*pant pant* I guess I'm no longer surprised that you managed to outrun Feli, Raffina...!" I was getting tired. "*pant pant* Yeah, well, I don't plan on getting caught. I WILL make it to sunset without Feli catching me!" She told me. "Look at who you're talking to...! *pant* I run faster than Feli and I'm pretty sure that I can stop you from getting away." I spat. "Sorry, Dave, fat chance... ... ... Hah!" She suddenly threw a snowball at my face. "H-hey, that's not fair!" I slowed down to wipe the snow off. "*giggle* Feli never said that we couldn't use snow to slow you guys down..." Raffina playfully argued. "... Fine then, you'll get hit by a snowball from me as well! ... ... Alright, time to get going... Hooooooooough." I made a ball and began to sprint at full speed.

I continued to chase Raffina while I held the snowball in my hand. "Just face it: You'll never be able to properly line a shot at me with that!" She turned to me for a bit before facing forward once more in this chase. "... …" I tried to aim. Dammit, I can't get a good aim in while I'm running this fast. And I can't afford to slow down either, so what the hell am I supposed to do? A minute or two later and wasn't able to keep running as fast as I was before. Out of desperation, I decided to line up the trajectory for the snowball to travel and hoped that it would hit Raffina. Come on, snowball... don't let me down here. "... HA!" I chucked. The snowball flew with great speed, but I still wasn't very sure that it would land. Well, I got my answer a couple of seconds later. Out of sheer luck: I somehow managed to hit Raffina at the back of her head and caused her to fall to the snow. "*gasp* Perfect! Time to hold her-" I said before getting sucker punched in the face by another snowball.

Who threw-? Oh, don't tell me... The only other hider left is Lidelle... Did SHE throw snow at me? "R-Raffina, I've given you a chance to run more! Go!" Lidelle's voice came through. "...! Thank you, Lidelle! I'll come get you!" Raffina quickly recovered. She then began running to a specific tree and climbed it to what seemed to be near the top. As for me, I was unable to chase after Raffina. Why? Because I was too damn tired, that's why. As I sat in the snow: I watched Raffina jump from the tree to another one, holding on to Lidelle tightly. And she continued to leap from tree to tree before I completely lost sight of her. The others caught up to where I was, hearing me trying to catch my own breath. "Wow, even Dave wasn't able to stop Raffina from running…" Amitie was surprised. "Are you okay? You look like you need to stop for a bit, your cheeks are red…" Ringo came up to me. "... … Yeah, I'll be fine after staying put for a few minutes, Ringo… Guys, I would've stopped Raffina... but Lidelle just happened to be in that tree and threw a snowball at me." I stood up and pointed. "Lidelle was here?!" The others were shocked. "Yep…" I nodded.

And not just that, either... "Anything else you saw?" Feli pressed me for details. "... Raffina got up to that tree and picked up Lidelle. So now she's leaping through the trees while carrying Lidelle." I answered. "*gasp* Look at the sky…" Klug pointed. "... It's nearing sunset… I'll go hunt her down through the trees on my own. The rest of you, stay here for me." Feli said. We witnessed her climb up one of the nearby trees and leaped to other ones until we couldn't see her anymore. "Damn… Looks like this game is gonna be a very close one." Lemres commented. "You got that right, Lemres…" Ringo agreed. "Ugh… ... My legs feel like gelatin after putting my legs through that." I struggled to remain standing. "Ya tried, man... ya tried hard. There's no need to complain when ya pretty much did your best." Lemres cheered me up. "... Yeah, I suppose I did try the best I could… Perhaps I tried a little too hard. Hahahaha…" I closed my eyes and grinned. The others smiled as we stood there together, sharing our hiding experiences.

Raffina's POV

I leapt through each tree as fast as I could to make sure that me and Lidelle could hide away some more until sunset. For a few minutes, I didn't see anyone tailing us. However, I wasn't going to be slowing down because that risked me being seen. So I HAD to keep moving, but I was getting tired and that made it difficult to keep going. Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind and I panicked. "Raffina, don't think that you'll lose me~!" Feli chimed in. And then, she was visible from my peripheral vision. "Kyah-! Raffina, go faster!" Lidelle pleaded. "I-I'm trying my best, Lidelle...!" I told her. "You have to be getting tired at this point; Dave couldn't keep chasing after you and he ran so fast. So you may want to stop before you end up falling from these trees, and onto the snow face-first" Feli brought up and suggested. "... ... Absolutely not...!" I refused. "Fine. Then blame yourself later when this whole thing is dragged out for an endeavor that will be pointless in the end...!" Feli sped up. "...!" I gasped.

I tried getting my legs to speed up the leaping process, but they just wouldn't. I panted, I should've known that I couldn't go on for much longer. However, I kept going anyway... I briefly looked at the sun and it was on the brink of setting. I knew that I had to last for whatever time was left. My panting was loud enough that Feli heard it. "Please, just do us all a favor and stop yourself, Raffina. You don't have to kill yourself in order to win this game of hide and seek." Feli said. "... ... Screw that...! I am a young lady with ambition, dammit! And I intend on winning this game of hide and seek with Lidelle!" I exclaimed. "R-Raffina…" Lidelle's eyes widened. "I understand that you are indeed stubborn, Raffina... so I'm not gonna stop trying to catch you until either I do, or the sun sets. Ha!" Feli told me and zipped.

The chase somehow continued for another five minutes and me and Lidelle were extremely close to becoming the winners of the game. Feli didn't stop though, and I was truly at my limit with moving about. Lidelle cheered me on, which was the only thing keeping me going at that point. However, I looked ahead and saw that there weren't many trees up ahead. Before I truly knew it, we were around the pond again. I couldn't go through it this time for three reasons. One: The ice was already cracked in many areas thanks to the first time I evaded Feli. Two: I was now carrying Lidelle, which added more weight and I couldn't afford to go on the ice while holding her. And three: To get to the ice in the first place from the last of the trees, I would have to jump off from one of them to land on the snow. If I were to jump incorrectly, then we would go flying into the ice and easily break it. Thus, we would end up in the freezing cold water.

So it was either that I had to jump from a tree and somehow move to a different direction to lose Feli, or be caught by her. I decided to take my chances and jump off. "...! Kyaaaaaaaah!" Lidelle screamed and held on to me tight. I landed roughly and took a turn to the right and behind the tree we were just on. From there, I continued to run with little energy. "...! Oh no, you don't...!" Feli reacted and jumped off from another tree. She landed in the snow before she went ahead and followed behind. Damn! When's the sun actually gonna set?! My body will shut down if it doesn't! ... My heart's beating so fast... My lungs are lacking air... ... COME ON ALREADY, SUN! SET FOR GOD'S SAKE! As I yelled that out in my mind, I heard a voice ring out. "N-no... the sun has set?!" Feli's voice echoed. "...? *pant pant pant*" I stopped. I immediately placed Lidelle down, so that I could FINALLY catch my breath. "...! W-we made it?!" Lidelle looked at the sun. Feli stopped running as well, looking defeated. As the sun indicated, the game was over... making me and Lidelle the winners.

Dave's POV

We saw the sun set and we didn't know who won and who lost; at the time, we all thought it could've gone either way. A while after that, Feli and the other two girls returned. "Guys, me and Lidelle won!" Raffina looked happy. "Wait, what?!" The rest of us went. "Yeah... ... I thought for sure that I would catch Raffina after failing to do so the first time." Feli sighed in defeat. "Aw, don't get upset, Feli... This was something new for me and I feel so happy knowing that I won with Raffina." Lidelle smiled. "Holy crap, Lidelle didn't stutter at all there..." I noticed. "Her happiness from winning must be overtaking her shy-self, so to speak." Klug guessed. "Then I guess it's time for all of us to go home and rest." Ringo suggested. "... Yeah... I'll need a good night's sleep after that crazy chase." Raffina sighed. "Me too…" Feli nodded. She then used her ring to change her body height and such back to normal.

With that, we all said goodbye and Lemres sent me and Ringo back to Suzuran via portal. Back at our home, while we ate... we told Ms. Ando and Serilly the crazy story that was our game of hide and seek with our friends. "My, that's an entertaining story, you two." She chuckled. "Dave, what would've happened if you didn't hide in that chest you were describing?" Serilly asked. "Well, had I decided to go to a different hiding spot… then at least I would've been able to run. And, I can run really fast in short bursts, by the way. So more than likely, I could've at least evaded Feli until sunset would occur." I answered. "Oh, well then… you could've been a winner too." She said. "Yeah." I nodded. Night went further along and I bathed with Ringo. After that, I went to my room to sleep. Come on, it was an exhausting afternoon for me; of course I would need to rest for the night. It didn't take long before I fell asleep and drifted off into my dreams.

---

Author's Notes: Dave and his friends played a game of hide and seek in the forest to kick off their Christmas Break. As it turned out: It wasn't Dave that ended up winning, oh no... Instead, Raffina figuratively carried herself... and literally carried Lidelle to victory as the sun finally decided to set. The two girls ended up very happy, being the ones to come out on top. Everyone decided to return home and rest for the evening. With Dave and Ringo back in Suzuran, they recounted the events of the hide and seek game to Ms. Ando and Serilly while eating dinner. After going through more of the night, Dave turned in and went to bed. Christmas Eve's right around the corner for Dave and everyone else. What will happen to Dave as he arranges things needed for that special date with Ringo, Feli, and Draco? And what else could potentially happen on Christmas Eve? Next chapter, Chapter 79: Preparation Day.