Chapter 5: Beach Day at Harwick!
Back again! I've realized as I'm going over my notes for the story that there isn't as much engine interactivity going on in this story. But once they reach the show there will be though. Just a heads up. Enjoy the chapter!
"You let her get away?"
"Well for one, not everyone has a big as claw on their cabs!"
Diesel had been brought to the Dieselworks overnight and was sitting near Diesel 10. Diesel couldn't move on his own thanks to the water short circuiting his generator, so Den and Dart had to go out to fetch him. Diesel 10 roared with frustration.
"I gave you one job!"
"I know! I couldn't do it. I have no way of grabbing her like you do." Diesel huffed.
"Whatever you've got planned for her, count me out. I don't need this right now." Diesel 10 glared at him.
"Coward."
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Diesel sat there for a moment before realizing he couldn't go anywhere.
"Drat." Diesel 10 sighed.
"I guess you're right though. You dimwits can't physically grab her, so you lot are useless." He looked up to the full moon peeking through the skylight.
"Mark my words. As soon as I'm fixed, I'm coming to get you Amber!" Diesel groaned, knowing that he wasn't going to get much sleep.
'I should have just left you in that dingy.' He thought.
…
The early sunrise was peeking through the curtains of my room. Even though I had my eye's closed, I could still feel it on my face. I could also feel two arms still wrapped around my stomach. It was refreshing to wake up to knowing that Matt was back.
How many times will I say that I'm happy to have Matt back?
You can count on it being said several times to myself last night.
Anyway, I could also feel a small weight on my feet, probably Brionne curled up. I lay there for a moment, embracing the warmth from everything. Then I heard the noise of a photo being taken. I cracked an eye open to see Tat standing there with her phone in her hand. She froze when she realized she'd been sprung.
"Oh! Uhhh… Ah… Ah didn't realize you were awake…" I sighed and sat myself up. Matt must have felt me moving because he shuffled around too. I rubbed my eyes.
"No. that's fine. Let's see it." I put my hand out, gesturing for her phone. Tat passed it to me and I flipped it around to see the screen. On it, was the sleeping forms of myself and Matt. It was very cute. I glanced to Tat.
"Send this to me later." I whispered. Tat nodded.
"Anyway, Ah'm here to get you two up. We need to get up an' ready!" She sidestepped around me and gave Matt a poke. He grumbled something in his sleep and Tat grinned.
"Ah've got the perfect tool for this…" It was then I noticed the air horn in her hand. I shook my head.
"No. Don't do it." Tat gave me a smug smile before putting it in his face and pressed the trigger. There was a loud horn sound and Matt jumped three feet in the air with a shout. Brionne, who was sitting at his feet, got a fright too. The poor seal sprayed water in the direction of the noise and hit Tat directly in the ribs. Tat was knocked over and she dropped the air horn. It fell down and disappeared under the bed. Matt, who was now wide awake, rubbed his head.
"What the hell was that for?" Tat was laughing her head off, despite the massive wet patch on her shirt. Brionne was breathing heavily. I sighed.
"I agree. What was that for?" Tat's laughter slowed to a chuckle.
"Ah… Ah… Ah just…" She couldn't speak clearly due to her chuckling. Eventually, she calmed herself down.
"Ah just came to wake ya up. Today's mah day an' I ain't missin' it to two sleepy heads." Matt stretched before jumping out of bed.
"And the air horn was necessary?"
"Every second of it."
…
After Tat got up Taylor and Sam, she began to explain how the day was going to go.
"Ok. So we're goin' to have some breakfast here. Then we'll catch the seven-fifty-two train to Knapford. When we get there, we'll catch the eight-twenty-five train to Harwick. Once we get to Harwick, it should be about nine-ish an' we'll have the rest of the day to spend at the beach! How's that sound?" I had to admit, Tat had taken her day so seriously. She'd asked if she could organized today's activities and I gave her the A-OK. Taylor nodded.
"Sounds good." Sam agreed. Matt put his hand up.
"I hate to be a party pooper, but I don't have bathers. I lost my bag ages ago." Tat hummed.
"Do ya have money to buy one?" Matt reached into his right pocket to pull out his wallet. He seemed to be surprised as he pulled it out. His eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the cash in there.
"Wha…? I've never… Huh?" I looked over to see several big notes in there. Sam whistled.
"Wow. Since when did you fall in love with a rich guy Amber?" I blushed. Matt seemed to find something in his wallet and he pulled it out. It was a small card with some writing on it. He grinned.
"Lady, you son of a gun!"
"What?" Matt turned the card around and showed it to me. Sure enough, Lady had written on it. I decided to read it aloud.
Matt.
I took the liberty to change over the money that you earned over in the other world. You're rich now pal!
From Lady.
Taylor grinned.
"I guess that won't be a problem now." Matt nodded in agreement. Tat waved it off.
"Ya can buy one when we get to Harwick." Tat turned to Taylor.
"Any chance ya can cook us up some breakfast?" Taylor nodded.
"Of course."
…
Breakfast wasn't as spectacular as yesterday's, but it was still yum. Taylor made a large batch of French toast, which we quickly devoured. After we'd eaten, we cleared up and headed down to the station. We caught the intended train and reached Knapford right on time. We waited for a little bit before Daisy came through for her first train to Harwick. We hopped aboard and were currently cruising along the Harwick Branch Line having just passed through Arlesburgh. Tat watched the sea roll by on the left. She squealed with joy.
"This is goin' to be awesome!" Sam chuckled at her antics. Tat looked to Sam and grinned.
"Wanna know what ah'm going to be wearin'? She asked slyly. Sam's face went as red as a tomato.
"Uhh… something… um… moderate?" Tat laughed.
"Ha! Ya should know me by now Sammy boy! Ah'm goin' full bikini baby!" Sam looked away, clearly embarrassed by her outburst.
"I was afraid of that…" Taylor gave him a pat on the back.
"Don't worry too much. She'll probably be too busy flirting with other guys to cause you any trouble." Sam's face fell.
"That's what I was also afraid of…"
Daisy finally pulled up to Harwick station at about nine o'clock. Just as Tat had predicted. Tat was first off, closely followed by the rest of us.
"Wow! This is amazing!" I had to agree.
There was water far as the eye could see. To my left was where'd we'd come from and to my right, just past the station, the beach ran into the small town of Harwick. Not too far in the distance, I could see a boardwalk going out onto the water. Matt gave a low whistle.
"Nice. Once again, Reality is better than VR." Sam nodded before looking around.
"Hey, where'd Goomy go? You've brought Brionne along, but I don't see Goomy." Matt chuckled.
"Goomy's gotten quite attached to Lady. He went with Lady last night. He'll be back though. He's a lot tougher than he looks."
"Oh."
"So. We goin' to get changed or what?"
The next half an hour went by quickly. We all headed to town first so Matt could get his swimsuit. He was quick to pick and once bought, we headed to the change rooms. Matt left Brionne sitting outside the door because she didn't need to change. I on the other hand, was secretly dreading this part because… well… you know…
Tat.
While she might be a girl that might like the male body a bit too much, she still enjoys doing what they would dream of doing. And today was no exception. I think Sam and Matt, who were changing next door, would have had to really focus to ignore our girly shrieks.
Matt and Sam were first out and changed. Matt had picked out an emerald and black rashie and a pair of sea blue board shorts. He still had his colourful bracelet on his left wrist too. Sam wore a pair of black goggles on his head and red board shorts, no shirt. Matt looked out to the ocean.
"For a nice day, there isn't many people here." Sam shrugged.
"Their loss. Their probably getting ready to go to the show." Matt nodded and looked to Sam. He raised an eyebrow at his blushed face.
"You ok?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."
"You know they'll kill you if the found out you were intentionally listening, right?"
"…That's true." He rubbed his face with his hands to get rid of it. It was about then when we came out.
"Sorry to keep ya waitin'!" Both heads turned to us and poor Sam's face lit up again while Matt gave a low whistle.
Tat (Being Tat.) was wearing a half black, half white bikini set that almost seemed too small for her, but not enough to expose herself tremendously. Taylor wasn't too fussed about what she wore so she wore a white T-shirt that was tied up to show off her stomach with a green bikini bottom. Her blonde hair was pulled into a big pony tail. As for myself, I was wearing a royal blue bather top without sleeves. It showed off a little bit of my upper back before the front came and made a loop around my neck while also showing off my stomach as well. Along with it, I had a black bikini bottom and a sky blue see through piece of fabric tied around my waist. My red hair was tied up into a small pony tail as well. Matt gave a thumbs-up.
"Nice." Sam on the other hand seemingly had his eye's glued to Tat. Tat gave him a cheeky smirk before grabbing him and putting him in a headlock.
"What do ya think Sammy? Do ah look hot or do ah look sexy?" Sam looked as if he was on the verge of overheating.
"B-b-b-bo-bo-both!" he managed to stutter. Tat gave a hearty laugh and let him go in to which he toppled over and lay on the sand. His eyes swirled around in a comical fashion.
"Good to know. Now, where can ah find some…" she was interrupted by a bubble popping on her nose. "Wha?" I looked around us. Sure enough, there were bubbles everywhere. Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"Where are they coming from?" I spotted a small crowd not too far from the changerooms we were standing in front of. Above them, bigger bubbles floated around. I pointed it out.
"I think their coming form over there." Matt seemed to chuckle.
"If that's the case, I know who's making them." We all headed over to the crowd to have a look.
Sure enough, Brionne was in the center of it, blowing bubbles and tossing them around. She was in the process of blowing up a small bubble with a little boy in it. The mother of the boy was hesitant.
"I don't think this is a good idea Jimmy dear." Brionne gave a small wave, gesturing her not to worry. After a moment, Brionne let the bubble go and Jimmy was floating in a bubble just a few feet of the ground. The crowd ooo-ed and ahh-ed. I turned to Matt.
"Her bubbles are strong enough to hold a person?"
"Yeah. She can get a bigger person to float too. Back in the Pokémon World, she managed to lift one of my other friends up during that performance I was telling you about. And she was an adult." I marveled at this, wondering if Brionne could lift me. Matt pushed through the crowd and went to Brionne's side.
"Now kid, what you're going to have to do now is just make yourself straight, like your standing on your feet, and Brionne will pop it for you. Then you'll land on your feet see?" The boy nodded. He positioned himself and Brionne popped the bubble. Sure enough, he landed on his feet. The crowd clapped to her before turning to Matt.
"What a peculiar seal."
"Is it yours?"
"How'd you teach it to do that?"
I watched as Matt picked up Brionne and answered all their questions. Taylor put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.
"He'd make a great husband you know." I blushed, still looking a Matt.
"I totally agree."
…
By the time Matt had finished talking to the crowd, the sun was high up in the air. Matt gave a sigh of relief.
"Who knew Sodorians could be so curious?" he questioned. I shrugged.
(A/N: I'm not sure if I got that right. The Sodorians thing. Is it Sodorians or Sudrions? Correct me if I'm wrong.)
"Well you do have a blue seal that can blow massive bubbles that are strong enough to lift people."
"True." We stood there for a moment, watching the waves crash onto the sand and the horizon in general. I let a content sigh slip through my mouth.
"It's so beautiful, don't you think?" Matt nodded.
"Hey! You two coming in? Or are you going to stare at the horizon all day?" we both looked to where the slight English accent was coming from. Taylor was standing on the waters edge, waving to us. I smirked.
"Last one in's gotta buy lunch!" I took off to the water, leaving Matt to splutter before giving chase.
The water was cold at first, but after a little splashing around, I got use to it. I think Sam regretted not wearing a shirt because he was shivering like a madman.
When he wasn't blushing a Tat's actions or fuming over the guys she tried to flirt with.
As we splashed our way down the beach toward the pier and shopping center, Taylor's interest was grabbed.
"Hey. Isn't that a beach volleyball court?" I looked up toward the beach. Sure enough, a small court was set up near the wall. A crowd was cheering as two teams bounced the ball back and forth. Taylor gushed at the sight.
Along side being a computer whiz, Taylor absolutely loved volleyball and beach volleyball. She'd pulled me along to every game she wanted to see or to every game she'd played in. She was good. Tat sighed.
"Eh. So what if it is? Ah ain't a sporty person." I rolled my eyes. Tat on the other hand, didn't. The only sport she enjoyed was flirting. We all know it isn't a sport, but she does. Taylor frowned.
"You don't need to have a look. I'll go by myself then." And she stomped out of the water. I chuckled.
"Hey Sam." Sam looked to me.
"Yeah?"
"Keep an eye on Flirty Pants for me ok? I'm going with Taylor." Sam nodded nervously.
"I'll try." Tat smirked.
"You? Lookin' after me? You and ah are goin' to have so much fun…" Sam stuttered.
"What?"
"Tackle!" And with that, she full on launched herself at poor Sam, knocking them both over into the water. Matt sweat-dropped.
"He going to be alright?" I shrugged.
"Sam's got a knack for surviving Tat's onslaught." Matt gave a knowing nod as we followed Taylor.
"That, and he likes her."
"Oh. Does Tat know?"
"I doubt it. She's to intent trying to find her "True Love."
"Who always is standing by her side. Must be hard for him to watch her flirting with other guys." I nodded.
"From what I've seen, it takes a lot out of him."
…
We found Taylor talking to one of the players that had just been on the court. She wore a blue one-piece swimsuit with a white stripe that ran down the middle of her body. Separating the white from the blue, were two small orange lines. If you were to look at the swimsuit sideways, you would get the Sodor flag. They were laughing about something when we walked up. Taylor spotted us and turned around.
"So, you came with me huh. Good thing you did. Sophie here has offered me to play against them in a friendly match later." Sophie chuckled.
"Sure. We'd like a challenge. Taylor was just telling me how good she is." I laughed.
"Just be aware, she does like to stretch the truth a little." That earned me a punch in the arm. Sophie smiled.
"Unfortunately, we're in the middle of a match with the Norramby team so we can't play now. But if you come back at about three-ish, we should be good to play." Taylor looked to us.
"You'll be happy to play yeah?" I shrugged.
"Sure. Why not."
"May as well." Sophie gave a thumbs-up.
"Awesome. A three-vs-three will be cool." Matt lifted Brionne up to his face.
"How about a four-vs-four? She may not look it, but she's really good at throwing bubbles around." Sophie looked to Brionne, who gave a cute smile.
"Eh. Why not. I've never played against a seal before. This'll be interesting." She gave us a wave before joining the rest of her team on the court. Taylor squealed with delight.
"Thanks. You'll both enjoy it!" I smiled.
"I'm sure we will."
…
Soon, after regrouping with Tat and a very worn out Sam, we headed into the shopping center on the Harwick Beachfront. Harwick's shopping center wasn't known for it's size or certain shops, but for it's variety. For example, they had a summer clothing store next to a winter one. There were tons of ice cream and lollie shops around as well. We all marveled at the different places.
"This place might not be as big as the ones back home, but it's still cool."
"Ah have to agree with ya there."
We split up for a little bit, just to have a look at different stores. At one o'clock, we met up at the entrance we'd come in at. Sam had a small bag with him, which immediately made everyone curious. Taylor was first to ask.
"What did you get Sam?" Sam smiled.
"Nothing too special." It was very faint, but I managed to spot a blush on his face. Taylor pointed to the boardwalk.
"How about we head out there? It looks like there's a restaurant near the end. Let's eat out there." I nodded before smirking.
"And Matt has happily nominated to pay for us." Matt looked to me, clearly confused.
"I did? When?" I gave him a sly smirk.
"When you were last into the water silly. Don't you remember what I said?" Matt thought for a moment before grumbling.
"Just because I have the mountain of cash doesn't mean I have to buy everything for everyone." He muttered. Taylor slapped him on the back.
"Thanks pal. And just so you know, I'm going to let you marry my best friend. No ifs, no buts, no coconuts my friend." Matt chuckled.
"Maybe one day." Matt, Taylor and Tat headed up the boardwalk. I stayed behind with Sam, who looked to me.
"What? Why didn't you go with them?" I smiled to Sam.
"Because that thing in the bag is for Tat, isn't it?" Sam looked away, embarrassed.
"Yeah." He mumbled.
"You going to give it to her?"
"When the time is right." I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Go for it Sam. I know how much she means to you. Maybe, if you confess, she'll stop flirting with other guys."
"And it'll all go to me. I'm not sure if I can deal with all that seductiveness." I laughed.
"If you want to date Tat, you've got to go with the full package. Flirt and all." Sam chuckled. I smirked.
"And besides, you like it don't you?" Sam blushed bright red.
"I-I-I-I'm a guy after all. It's not like you'd understand." I shrugged.
"I do to a certain degree."
"You two coming or what?" We both looked to the end of the boardwalk to where Matt had shouted from. He waved to us. Sam chuckled.
"Race you?"
"Oh, it's on!" We both took off down the boardwalk toward the others.
…
On the other side of the boardwalk, a brown-haired man was walking towards the shopping center. He had an ice-cream in hand and was eating it happily.
"I love coming out here. All the fissures around here are closed, the weathers nice and the ice-cream here is to die for! Nothing can ruin this moment…"
He was interrupted when two people ran by him. A flash of red caught his attention.
"Red hair? Don't see that everyday on Sodor." He looked back to where they'd gone and nearly dropped his ice-cream. At the restaurant, a group of four awfully familiar people plus one new guy and a seal were heading in the door. Amongst them, was a red headed girl. One that wasn't supposed to be here anymore.
"What? She's still here? I told them to leave the other day but now there's a fifth person?" The man clenched his fist, crushing the ice-cream cone in it.
'That would explain the large number of fissures opening recently.' He sighed.
"I warned her. Now I'm going to have to remove them by force." He looked down to his hand, which was cold thanks to the ice-cream running down it.
"…After I get another ice-cream. And probably tomorrow. There's too many people around." He turned from where the group had been standing and continued to the Shopping Center.
"Get ready. I'm going to come at you like a bus!"
…
Lunch was very good. Even though Matt was still sour about paying for it, he got over it when he tasted his food. We after we finished, we headed out and discovered that there was a small amusement park at the end of the walk. Sam, being the youngest out of the five of us, begged to go. Taylor agreed, but we had to be down at the Beach Volleyball court by ten-to-three. Tat huffed.
"Ya so excited about this Volleyball game. Ah really don't wanna' go so ah'll stay here with Sammy an' we'll meet ya at the station. About five-ish. That'll give ya long enough to play ya game and get to the station. Sound fair?" Taylor rolled her eyes.
"I guess so." Tat smirked.
"Good. Let's go Sammy!" Tatt headed into the park, grabbing Sam's hand as she walked by him and the two disappeared into the small crowd. Taylor sighed.
"I'm I the only one who's worried about Sam?" Matt laughed.
"He'll be fine." I nodded.
"This is probably his chance too. Let's hope he takes it." Taylor gave a knowing nod.
"That's true." She turned to us.
"Now off you two go. I really don't need to be around with you two kissing and all." I blushed.
"Why would you even think that?" Taylor laughed.
"Kidding, kidding. Have fun. If I don't see you before three, we'll meet at the court." Matt grinned.
"Gotcha! See you then!"
…
Amongst all the things we did, my favorite was the small rollercoaster. In the small space of the boardwalk, it managed to do a loop, a small corkscrew and it even went over the water. Matt wasn't too keen on it, but after a little convincing, he came too. We saw Tat and Sam twice when we were walking around, the first being at the carnival games and the second just as they were hopping on the Ferris wheel. By the time we were finished at the park, it was nearly three. We had to run to the court to make it on time. Taylor, being the most eager to play, was already there. She and Sophie were chatting again. Sophie spotted us and waved to us.
"Hey! You two ready to play?" I took a few gulps of air before nodding.
"Yeah. We're ready."
"Speak for yourself." I looked behind me and found Matt sprawled across the sand, Brionne using his stomach as a pillow. He put a hand up to the sky.
"Gimme a minute." Sophie laughed.
"Ok. When you're ready."
After five minutes, both trainer and Pokémon were ready to go. During those five minutes, Sophie introduced her team.
"As you know, I'm Sophie. I'm captain of the team." She pointed to a burly man that was flexing his muscles in the background.
"He's Finn. He… don't worry too much about him. He likes to show off a little too much." She then pointed to the pair of girls that looked as if they mirrored each other.
"And they are May and Mei. As you can probably tell, they're twins. They like to work in synchronization. It… doesn't always work and they'll have to break it off, but when they do, their teamwork is almost perfect." The two girls waved. Matt stood up and stretched.
"Ok. I'm good now. Let's do this." Taylor shook Sophie's hand.
"May the best team win!"
"Agreed."
We took the right side of the court while Team Sophie to the left. The umpire collected the ball and got ready to start. He announced that we would be playing a best of three game. Matt leant down to Brionne and spoke to her.
"Ok. We're going to be bouncing a ball around in the air. When the ball comes over here…" he gestured around her. "…Hit it over the net. The ball is going to be heavier than a bubble, just keep that in mind." Brionne nodded with determination. Matt grinned and put a hand up.
"Awesome! Let's win this then!" Brionne gave a cry of excitement and the two high-fived (Well, in Brionne's case, high flippered.). I smiled at the interaction. I heard Sophie comment.
"That's cute." Matt stood up and laughed.
"I know right?" The umpire passed the ball to Finn who readied the ball. Taylor moved into her volleyball stance.
"Let's do this!" Finn nodded and on the umpire's signal, served the ball over to our side. It flew threw the air towards Taylor.
"Got it!" She bounced it back over and it sailed through the air towards Mei.
"Mine!" She moved forward and hit it toward our side. I took notice that even though May didn't hit it, she still mimicked Mei. The ball flew toward the back end of the court, where Brionne was waiting. Brionne watched it come toward her before using her nose to bounce it up. It wasn't going to make it, so I jumped in. I intercepted it's fall and sent it flying onto the air. It fell over the net and headed straight to Sophie. She grinned.
"I've got it!" With a powerful hit underneath it, it sailed over the net and fell toward Matt. He didn't seem ready though.
"Uh oh. Uhhh…" Luckily he managed to hit it. Up it went again before coming down to Finn. His eye's twinkled and he bashed the shit out of it. It went flying higher than any of us had hit it. As a matter of fact, it was still going up. I gawked at the sheer power that must have gone into that hit. Sophie turned to Finn.
"Seriously? You do realise that's going to land WAY out of their square." Finn's face fell.
"Oops." Was all he muttered. Sure enough, it landed a few hundred feet away from us. The umpire shrugged it off, clearly seen how powerful he was before.
"Three points to Team Taylor." Finn went wide eyed.
"THREE?"
"I've told you before, if you keep doing that, I'm going to give them extra points." Finn sulked in frustration. We on the other hand, were stoked.
"Good job people! Let's keep this up!"
As we played, the sun began to fall into the horizon. Unfortunately, we lost the first game. But by the middle of the second, we discovered that Brionne could give us power-ups to a degree with her water. We used this to our advantage and we won one the second game. We also discovered that Matt was good at spiking the ball onto their side. By about four-fifty-nine, we were midway through our final game. We were on thirteen points with Sophie's team on fourteen. Taylor called us into a huddle.
"We need to win this! We may be two points away from winning, but they've got one. If we can get two points in a row…"
"We win. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can all do math." Taylor looked at Matt with a glare.
"Don't get snarky at me mister. We can win this!" I grinned.
"What if we get Finn to smack it again?" Taylor began to bounce with excitement.
"Yeah! Let's do that. But how?" Brionne seemed to have an idea because she was bouncing up and down too. Matt looked to her.
"You've got an idea?" Brionne made gestures and noises that I couldn't understand. I looked to Matt.
"Got any idea what she's saying?" Matt gave a sly grin.
"She may have an idea." He explained the plan and Taylor laughed.
"I like it! Not sure if it's considered cheating, but if we can use power-ups, I'm sure it'll be alright."
"You guys ready?" We heard Sophie call out. We got into position and got ready.
The plan was simple. Encase the ball in a bubble when Brionne got it and make it go full moon physics. Once it would reach Finn, he would (Hopefully!) try to smack it again. when he did, Brionne would pop the bubble, thus sending it flying again.
I'm happy to say it worked. Finn was clearly frustrated at the slow-moving ball and went to hit it full force. Sophie must have realized what we'd done at the last second but was too slow to warn him. The bubble popped, and the ball was out of the park! The umpire sighed.
"Again? Sorry guys but I'm giving the last two points to Team Taylor." Finn's face basically shattered at the news. Sophie just shook her head, amused that our plan worked. May and Mei slumped to the ground while we celebrated.
"Yeah! Great job!" Taylor grabbed me and Matt and pulled us into a big hug. She even gave us both a quick smooch, much to Matt's embarrassment. Once she let us go she went over to Brionne and picked her up.
"And you… You deserve several smooches you brilliant seal!" Taylor gave her several kisses, embarrassing her dearly. But that was about when "it" happened.
Brionne began to glow. It was an almost blinding light that I had to shield my eyes from. Brionne began to change shape and after a moment, was about the same height as I was. The light eventually faded and what stood there wasn't what I was expecting.
It was a large white seal that had a blue mermaid like tail. She had beautiful blue eyes with two pink starfishes on the sides of her head. Behind her head, was a large amount of sky blue hair with two pearl hair ties. She still had a pink bubble nose at the end of her snout. I was mesmerized at the beautiful seal. Taylor seemed to be caught off guard while Matt…
"You can evolve still, even though we're not in the Pokémon World anymore? I would have thought…" Taylor recollected herself and gushed at her.
"A Primarina! That's so cool. You evolved for me?" Primarina seemed to be surprised herself but got over it pretty quickly. She just wanted to test out her new power. Sophie came over to us.
""You managed to win against us. You guys are incredible! Congrats on your seal changing by the way." She grinned to Taylor.
"Have you thought abought joining a team? We could use a team like you here at Harwick." She gestured to her team behind her. Taylor thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"Sorry, but we're only visiting the island. We're not living here." Sophie's face fell for a moment before nodding knowingly.
"Ah well. You're really good." She smiled. "If you want to come back and play some time, we'll be happy to have a rematch." She put her hand out. Taylor took it and shook it.
"Good to know. I might take you up on that one day." I smiled, knowing that Taylor had made a good friend with Sophie. I turned to Matt to see how he was doing…
Only to find May and Mei plastered up to him.
"You're really good."
"Why don't you join us?"
"We'll take good care of you." The said at the same time. Matt gulped visibly nervous.
"Uhhh… Well… I… already…" The girls didn't let him finish.
"Come with us."
"We'll show you to a good time." Matt was sweating. I decided that now was a good time to interrupt them.
"Ahem." May and Mei jumped back from Matt when they realized that I was watching them. They blushed.
"Hi."
"How can we help you?" I walked past them and grabbed Matt by the arm. Even though he still seemed uncomfortable, I felt his arm relax against my chest. The girls froze.
"Sorry to interrupt, but this guy's taken." I said smugly. May and Mei frowned before backing off. Matt breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks."
"Any time." Taylor walked up to us with Primarina hobbling along behind her.
"Well that was fun. But we really need to get to the station. Tat and Sam are probably-"
"Heeeeey!" We turned toward the voice to see Daisy roll by on the tracks. Leaning from a window, was Tat. Taylor's eye's bulged and she wrenched her phone out of her bag. Sure enough, the time was five-fifteen. We'd played for fifteen minutes over and now, we'd missed the train. Tat waved to us as Daisy rolled around the bend. Taylor slumped over.
"I forgot the time. The next train isn't due for another hour." Matt sighed.
"There's got to be something we can do…" It was then that we heard a familiar whistle. One Matt and I knew well. We looked to each other.
"Ryan!" Sure enough, the purple tank engine came out of the station with a small line of trucks. I bolted to the tracks, without waiting for the others. I scrambled up the bank and up to the edge of the tracks where I waved him down. Ryan saw me and came to a stop.
"Amber! I didn't know you were back. When did you get here?" I sighed with relief.
"I got here two days ago. Anyway, my friends and I missed Daisy just now and I was wondering if you could take us to Knapford." Ryan whistled happily.
"Sure. I'm just so happen to be heading that way so I can give you a lift."
"Gee, how convenient." Matt muttered as we got on.
"And with any luck, we might be able to catch up to Daisy." He whistled again and pulled off. Taylor gave a sigh of relief as well.
"And here I was, worrying that we'd be stuck here for the night." She looked out the cab window to see Sophie waving to us. She waved back as we rounded the bend. It was only a moment before Taylor looked around and began to panic.
"Oh no! We left…"
"Nope. She's here." Matt held up a red and white ball in his hand. Taylor stared at it.
"Oh… right. Now I feel silly that I forgot about those. Can I have a look at it?"
…
The trip was uneventful, getting to Knaford station not long after Daisy had arrived. Edward was waiting at our platform though. After a quick thanks to Ryan, we rushed over to the platform. The Guard was getting ready to blow his whistle when we raced passed him. He sighed.
"Be quick. We're leaving now." Matt and Taylor jumped on with me bringing up the rear. I was about to jump on when something caught my eye. I turned to see what it was.
Which was how I missed the train. Edward started off and by the time I realised what had happened, he was halfway through Knapford Junction. I was left there on the platform, in my swimsuit with an astonished look on my face.
"Wait." I knew it would be no use shouting out so it came out as a whisper. I sighed and turned to find the timetable. It wasn't long before I discovered that the next train wouldn't be for another forty minutes. I groaned in frustration. I knew there was nothing I could do. So I went and sat on a bench and tried to ignore the drop in temperature as the sun fell below the trees.
I think I was there for a good fifteen when I heard singing. The sun had completely gone down and I was freezing my butt off. At first I thought I was hallucinating but that changed when I saw a familiar blue and a brightly coloured tank engine roll in. they stopped at the platform and laughed.
"Are you any good at shunting Thomas?"
"Of course. I'm the best shunter on the island." He boasted. The other engine laughed.
"Then you should join the shunting challenge. That's where the best shunters compete. You might even have the chance to win!"
"Really? That sounds…" he looked toward the sign that was sitting next to me. He paused when he spotted me though.
"Amber? What are you doing here? And why are you in a swimsuit?" I chuckled weakly.
"We went to the beach today. We missed the train back, so Ryan dropped us off here and I then managed to miss the train standing right in front of me. It was stupid really." I shivered. Thomas peeped loudly.
"I'll take you back to Brendam you want. I'm sure your friends are worried sick." I jumped into his cab and began to warm myself up from his fire.
"Thanks. It's better than sitting here by a long shot." Thomas looked to the other engine.
"Amber. This is Ashima. Ashima. This is my friend Amber."
"Hello."
"Hi. I'm sure I'll get to know you later but I really need to go home. I'll most likely see you at the show."
"Oh yes. I'll see you then." She looked to Thomas.
"Goodbye Thomas. I'll see you tomorrow." Thomas peeped in reply and backed out of the station. Annie and Clarabel called out after us.
"Good night Thomas!"
As we headed down the main line, I noticed all the splatters of paint all over Thomas. I already knew the answer but I asked anyway.
"What happened to you?"
"Uhhh… I was in an accident. I got covered in paint."
"Are you sure you weren't trying another stunt to get into the show?"
"Pftt. No. Maybe… Yes…"
…
I walked in the door to the apartment around seven. Thomas had dropped me off at the usual pace and I'd walked up. When I walked in, Taylor was pacing around the room, Matt was struggling to brush Primarina's hair and surprisingly, Tat cuddling Sam on the couch. Everyone turned to me and Taylor raced up to me and threw me into a hug.
"Amber! I was so worried! How'd you get back?" I sighed with content at the warmth from her.
"I have friends that can take me around the island Taylor. It was only a matter of time before someone showed up to rescue me."
"Told you she'd be fine." Taylor glared at Matt who shrugged.
"An' in other news, Sammy and ah are an item now." I pulled myself out from Taylor's bear hug and looked to Tat.
"What? When?"
"I may or may not have said something on the Ferris wheel." Tat grinned.
"After ah lil' bit of skimming the ice."
"I got to the point didn't I?"
"He confessed to me and told me how long he's been admirin' me from the shadows…" she smugly planted a kiss on his cheek, catching him off guard and flared his face up.
"Hey!"
"An' now, he's goin' to have to deal with all mah seductiveness." I laughed at Sam.
"I warned you." Tat smirked before pulling the end of a necklace out from her cleavage.
"Have ah look at the fancy necklace he got me!" It was a small gold heart that shimmered in the artificial light. Sam looked away, embarrassed. I shrugged. I'd told him what he was going to have to deal with when dating Tat, and he went with it. I had a feeling he was going to enjoy it though, embarrassing or not.
27 pages! Holy cow! I originally thought this was going to be the shorter one of the eight. I guess not?
What did you think? I liked it, because it's really long. I think, this is the longest chapters I've done thus far, and I'm impressed. I mean, really!
That aside, who's seen the next movie trailer? Big World, big adventures. I think it looks cool. But I guess the only way to find out if it IS good is to go see it. Right? Anyway, see you next chapter!
Next: Protector of Sodor.
PS: if you want to know what caught Amber's eye, read the final chapter!