Chestnutfest 2022
Crossover
Android 18 was the furthest thing from a nature lover there was. That's not to say she didn't enjoy the great outdoors every once in a while, but she was a city girl through and through. For as much as she enjoyed urban life, again every now and then, she did enjoy the serenity that came with being around nature in a scenic spot.
That being said, when she and her family were set to go out for a picnic with the rest of the gang, she was NOT prepared to go trekking through the woods to find her daughter who'd gone missing.
Marron was more often than not an extremely well-behaved girl who'd know better than to go wandering off, so seeing her, or rather not seeing her, disappear like this was a somewhat new experience for both her and Krillin.
Eighteen had been fully prepared to lay the blame on Goten and Trunks but they proclaimed they were just as lost as she was. Their story was backed up by Videl who last saw Marron watching the babies.
Maternal instinct kicked in like an explosion as 18 nearly went manic trying to find out who hadn't been watching her. Somehow miraculously, Krillin was able to talk her down, though not before getting hit with the old, "Why weren't you watching her!?" (Which Krillin was heartily able to turn back on her. A rare, minor victory that he was not going to let go).
Once everyone's heads had cooled down enough, most everyone split to try and find her. Krillin initially wanted to accompany his wife, but given her current frustration, it probably wouldn't have been the best idea. Thankfully, he could still partner with Goku who had a bit of experience finding kids lost in the woods, a fact that Gohan bashfully recalled.
To make an already annoying situation worse, 18 was advised to proceed on foot, at least until she found a clearing. She was told it was already hard enough to see through the dense trees from above and with how small Marron was, finding her would be immensely harder. Another moment where 18 was glad to have infinite stamina. If she hadn't, she could readily imagine how drained she'd be. Though it didn't help that she was also getting heated.
"Come on Marron, where are you!?" she muttered.
Finally needing a break to cool herself off, 18 leant on a large tree. 'This is getting ridiculous. She can't really have gotten that far…could she?' While 18 contemplated her daughter's potential, she was jarred from her thoughts by what sounded like an echoing voice.
"~Eeeeem…!"
"What was that?"
"~Eeeeem…!" the voice called again.
'Whatever it is, it's not my problem…but what if…?' Eighteen paused as she considered her next course of action. Chances are, whatever that noise was, it was unrelated to her search for her daughter. On the other hand, there was a slim chance that if nothing else, it could at least be a clue. After a moment of thought, she finally made up her mind and decided to head towards the source of the voice.
As 18 zoomed just beneath the trees, the voice gradually became clearer and clearer. Whoever was shouting was female, and pretty young from the sound of it. Eighteen was about 90% certain it wasn't Marron's voice, but on the off chance the echo was distorting her voice to the point of being unrecognizable, she decided to chance it.
Maxing out her speed, she landed firmly at the source of the voice which revealed itself to be a young girl with pink hair, clad in a red dress and tall matching boots. Also…was she a beast person? The pointed ears atop her head would certainly indicate she was anthropomorphic, though 18 couldn't place what she was.
Startled by 18's meteoric entrance, the girl stumbled backwards, falling flat on her back. "Hey, watch where you're…falling? Landing? Never mind." Rolling back onto her feet, the girl quickly demanded, "Who are you and where did you come from!?
With a dismissive sigh, 18 turned and strolled away. "I knew this was going to be a waste of my time."
"Hey! Don't walk away from me!" The pink girl yelled.
Eighteen continued to ignore her until the pink girl zipped her way into 18's path. She was surprisingly quick for a non-Saiyan child.
"Sorry squirt I don't have time to fool around. I need to find someone, and fast."
"Well that's a funny coincidence, cause I'm trying to find someone too," the girl replied.
"Well good luck with that but it's none of my business," Eighteen continued to stroll away, but not before once again being obstructed by the girl. "You're a persistent brat, aren't you?"
"Who you callin' a-!?" Taking a breath to calm herself, the girl shook her head before continuing. "Never mind. Just tell me if you happened to have seen a little girl in an orange dress."
At the girl's question, 18 raised an eyebrow with intrigue. "No but let me ask you this. Have you seen a little girl in an oversized purple shirt?"
The girl nodded. "Nope, sorry. But I'll be sure to keep an eye out, if you can give me a few more details."
Eighteen went to give a brief description of Marron from height, to hair color to her lack of a nose before inquiring the pink haired girl about her missing friend. Aside from what she was wearing, the only notable detail was the fact that apparently, the missing girl was a rabbit.
"Maybe I'm looking too into things, but isn't it a little suspect how Marron and Cream both got lost in this forest? Or is it just a huge coincidence?" asked the pink haired girl.
"I don't know but, one being my daughter aside, two young girls MIA in the woods doesn't sit right with me."
"That makes two of us! Come on, let's go find them and fast!"
"I'll find them. You should probably wait somewhere safe." Eighteen was prepared to take off but was once again obstructed by the pink haired girl.
"Sorry lady, but I'm not leaving this forest without Cream, and you really shouldn't underestimate me!" To prove her point, the pink haired girl swung her arm out and produced a large red and yellow hammer from seemingly nowhere before twirling around and resting it behind her.
"Was that supposed to be impressive?" Eighteen deadpanned.
"I'd be more than happy to demonstrate my skills with this hammer right now if you'd like," the girl replied with a rising tone.
Before 18 could reply, the two were invaded by a small flying creature. Its round, blue form zipped up to the pink haired girl before whizzing jovially around her head. "Cheese, is that you?"
The creature chirped out a gleeful, "Chao-chao!"
An unamused 18 then said "Well if you're that eager to show off, maybe you could start by smashing that weird, big, bug thing that keeps buzzing around us."
"Are you INSANE!?" The girl shrieked. "Cheese isn't a bug, he's a chao. Cream's chao!"
"Chao!"
"Forgive me if I don't know what a chao is," 18 replied.
The stunned look on the young girl's face was telling, but ignored for the moment. "Never mind that. What's important is Cheese may know where Cream is."
"May?"
Cheese flew off and motioned towards the two. "I think he wants us to follow him."
Eighteen once again grew hesitant. Not that she didn't want to help the kid find her friend, but finding Marron came first. Her hesitation was quashed as Cheese flew up and took her by the arm, attempting to tug her along.
"It looks like he really wants you to follow Miss," the girl replied.
With a stern expression, 18, followed by the girl chased after Cheese who flew deeper into the woods.
It wasn't long before Cheese eventually led the two to what looked like some kind of cave, though it was covered in leaves, moss, and other miscellaneous plant life. "What's in here?"
"Is this where the kids are?" the girl asked.
Cheese merely giggled before flying into the cave, again motioning for the two to follow him. Eighteen was forced to duck as the cave seemed to shrink narrower before, eventually being forced to crawl.
"Hey, I didn't sign up to go squeezing through some tiny, dank, cavern!"
"Wait, I think I see light up ahead!"
Sure enough, the small cave soon lead to an illuminated clearing at the end of the tunnel. Squeezing through the cracks, they continued to follow Cheese as he led them to the alluring sight of a large oasis.
A lush, green, stunning field with a lake just off to the side. Small rock formations protruded from a miniature waterfall pouring into the lake. Gathered all around were various small animals frolicking about with more Chao, though they all lacked Cheese's taste in bowties.
"Where are we."
"This is…a Chao Garden!" beamed the girl.
"Garden?"
Eighteen only momentarily took in the serene surroundings, only coming out of her trance when Cheese whizzed by her head again. No words were said as the two followed after him towards the edge of waterfall lake. Near the banks, surrounded by chao and birds sat two little girls surrounded by a pile of discarded flower. One with short blonde hair, the other a small anthropomorphic bunny.
"Like this?"
"Almost. Just tie it a little-."
"Chao! Chao!"
The small rabbit turned to the approaching Cheese and took him in her arms. "Cheese you're back. She greeted. Did you find them?"
Cheese pointed aside where 18 and the Pink Haired girl stood. While 18 was stunned still, the pink girl instantly ran up to greet her friend.
"Cream there you are!"
"Hi Amy!" the two joined hands just as Marron ran past them to her mother.
"Hey Mama!"
Eighteen said nothing as she knelt down and took her daughter in her arms with a warm smile.
Though she didn't want to break up the somber moment between mother and daughter, Amy spoke up to voice a common concern. "Hey so, while we're glad you girls are okay, how did you two get here anyway?" asked Amy.
The small girls shared a look as they recounted their encounter and subsequent discovery of the garden.
Back at the Z-Gang's campsite, Marron was playing with Bulla and Pan. Bulma took her daughter away and soon Pan fell asleep, leaving Marron without much to do in the meantime. That is until, she saw what she thought was a giant butterfly. Naturally she went to chase after it and found out her butterfly was actually a Chao. She eventually got lost in the woods chasing it, but found direction when she happened to come across Cheese who she mistook for the Chao she was chasing. There was some light discourse between the Chao's identity, but all was swept away when Cheese went flying off on his own.
Naturally the girls followed him leading them to the cave and subsequently the garden. While surrounded by the peaceful atmosphere, the two began talking and became fast friends. When they noticed how long they'd been in the garden, Cream sent Cheese to find Amy, but not before Marron asked him to also keep an eye out for her parents (she happened to have a picture of her family in her little handbag).
"Sounds like you've had quite the adventure, but its time to head back now," said a stern 18.
"Awww…but I wanted to stay a little longer," Marron whined.
"If you hadn't come here without telling anybody, maybe I'd have let you. I'm glad you're safe but you disappearing nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Okay…but there's something I wanna show you first!"
Marron ran back towards the bank of the pond, followed by 18. Amy and Cream stood aside, the former giving the latter an expectant look. "By any chance, were you showing her how to make those when we showed up?" asked Amy.
Cream replied with a confirming giggle.
At the edge of the water a Chao floated up to Marron and dropped something into her hands. With a grin, Marron turned to her mother with her hands behind her back. With a gleeful "Ta-da!" Marron thrust her hands forward to reveal a large ring of flowers.
"Now what's this?" Eighteen knelt down to examine it closer until Marron placed it on her head.
"It's a flower crown. Cream showed me how to make it."
"They're very popular at my Mother's parties," Cream joked.
Eighteen's maternal sternness swiftly thawed away as a red cheeked smile etched itself onto her face. Though she was seldom good with words, the tight embrace she held her daughter in spoke volumes.
Moments later, the two duos finally prepared to go their separate ways with the kids waving a saddened but satisfied goodbye to each other. With Marron snugly in her arms, 18 ascended into the air before shooting off.
"When we get back, you and I are going to have a serious talk about going off by yourself," Eighteen admonished.
Marron pouted as she hadn't expected to be punished. She may have left the campsite but that wasn't that bad right? Thankfully, 18's next statement brightened her mood considerably.
"And then maybe we can make a crown for your father. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like fun!"
[]
As the young duo shielded themselves from the tail wind, Amy's eyes widened. "Wait, did she…did she just fly!? Since when do people fly!? People can't fly!"
"But I can fly, remember? And so can Tails," said Cream.
"Yeah but you guys have tricks to fly. Marron's mom is human and humans don't…!? Agh-! Oh no! I just realized, I never asked Marron's mom what her name is!"
"Do you think we should go after them and ask?"
Amy pondered for a moment, but then shrugged. "Naw. We need to get going. Your mom was pretty worried about you too."
"Okay. Cheese, let's go!"
"Chao!"
The girls joined hands and Cream began flapping her large ears, ascending with Amy in tow, Cheese right behind.
"Do you think we'll meet them again?" asked Cream.
"Maybe. We can always hope."