"ROYYYYYYYYYYY!" shrieked a high-pitch voice.
"Zzzz... hn?" Roy answered while still sleeping.
"I had a bad dream!" Marth whined.
"Hmm... Zzzzz..."
It was still a bit dark outside, but the sun was starting to rise. Marth crawled over to Roy and kept nudging him to wake him up. Seeing as that has failed, Marth came up with a devious plan. Putting his shoes on, Marth left the tent and headed to where he took a late-night swim during the night. Marth dipped his hands into the frigid water, wincing from the extreme coldness. Unlike Roy, he could tolerate it more. After waiting a few moments, Marth removed his hands from the water and shook them dry. He could feel that his hands were icy cold. Returning to the tent, Marth took his shoes off and still found Roy sleeping lazily. The pyromaniac was sprawled out on his back, snoring softly. Marth began to remove each layer of blanket until Roy was uncovered. Oblivious to Marth's prank in the making, Roy continued to slumber in dreamland. Marth lifted Roy's pajama shirt up enough for his stomach to show. He knew that the Pheraen hated the cold and that his stomach was a weakness. Grinning evilly, Marth placed both cold hands on Roy's stomach and hoped that his little scheme was well crafted.
Roy's painful screaming echoed throughout the area, startling the birds from their nests. He bolted upright and wrapped his warm arms over his stomach while moaning and whimpering softly.
"Why'd you do that? That hurts a lot!" Roy cried angrily.
"I was calling for you cuz I had a really scary bad dream but you didn't wake up and save me, so I had to do it myself!" Marth grumbled quietly.
Roy was fuming for a few minutes and remained quiet. Marth started to search his sleeping bag for Pan-Pan while enjoying the sudden silence. After the temporary silent treatment, Roy decided to break the ice.
"Ah, man... I'll do anythin' fer a huge breakfast right now." Roy patted his growling stomach, daydreaming about a delicious feast.
"Would ya go take a nice dip in the lake for one?" Marth asked with a sly grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his baby blue eyes.
"Sure!" Roy answered. He ran right out of the tent, barefoot, and leaped headfirst into the cold lake. He quickly emerged, shivering uncontrollably and glaring angrily at Marth.
"Oh, wait... I don't think we have anything for breakfast. You ate all the sandwiches yesterday," said Marth.
"I-I-I-I rih-rih-rih-really hate-tih-tih-tih y-y-y-you f-f-f-for th-th-th-this-s-s-s!" Roy cried angrily. He came out of the water, wrapped his arms around himself and kept his scowl fixated on Marth. His teeth were chattering no matter how much he tried to keep them still.
"Wow... You really are stupid, Roy!" Marth giggled femininely at Roy while pointing at him. Roy returned the comment by scowling even more while emitting a low, deep growl in his throat.
While the wet half-dragon boy headed back into the tent to change into something dryer, Marth began to wash his face in the lake. He didn't have any soap or even a toothbrush and toothpaste with him, so Marth constructed a mental to-do list instructing himself to brush his teeth and wash his face again when he returns to the castle. Marth returned to the tent, only to find Roy half-dressed and fast asleep again. Roy had his pants on backwards (but with one leg through the wrong one and the other leg wasn't inside) and his shirt was inside out and unbuttoned. Marth just sighed and shook his head at the site. Mustering all the strength he had, Marth made an attempt to drag Roy out of the tent and outside. He wanted to get dressed, but he was very self-conscious about changing his clothes in front of anyone (including family members). After getting Roy outside, Marth closed the flap to the entrance and got dressed.
Marth came out of the tent dressed in a cutesy pink shirt with a fluffy white bunny on the front and matching pink shorts. It really irked him when the colors and designs on his clothes mismatched. Seeing that Roy hasn't woken up yet, Marth started howling with laughter. Marth decided to have a little fun with his snoozing partner-in-crime, but the question was how? Spotting some mud by the water's edge and noticing the sticks they played with the previous day, an idea came to the effeminate prince. Marth picked up a stick and gathered some mud on it (he can't get dirty AT ALL because he's afraid of picking up germs and stuff), then headed to Roy. Teehee! This'll be so much fun!
Roy didn't wake up until an hour later. The hunger was a lot stronger than earlier and he was still a touch sleepy. Realizing that his pants weren't on right, he adjusted them (but they were still on backwards). He didn't bother with his shirt, but began to notice the odd markings on his chest and stomach. Roy headed over to the water to look at his reflection. Not only did he have mud splattered down from his chest to his hungry belly, but he also had a lot of mud on his face. Roy didn't mind being covered in mud or being dirty in general. To him, that's just a boy thing to do: get covered in dirt, mud, and grass stains. He didn't understand why Marth was so advert about such boy activities. Marth, on the other hand, didn't understand why anyone in their right mind would enjoy this.
Roy looked inside the tent and didn't see Marth in there. He did find his friend's sleeping area made up like a bed. The Pheraen prince decided to go look around the campsite for his partner-in-crime. Hn... maybe he went looking for breakfast for us... Roy thought to himself as he meandered around.
Several yards away, Marth was within the massive trees of the forest. He wasn't lost or in fact worried. Our genderly-challenged friend was playing with some of the woodland animals that inhabited the area. Sitting on a stump, Marth was constantly giggling as he watched the squirrels play at his feet, the birds singing their songs, and a baby deer nuzzling against him. With his beloved Pan-Pan resting in his arms, Marth felt at peace.
He began daydreaming about one major "what if" that was constantly on his mind: what if he was born as a girl instead of a boy. Like most people, he wasn't totally pleased with something about himself. Some people didn't like their hair, their eyes, etc. Marth always had this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, this feeling that he was in the wrong body. He constantly wished to be a girl because it just didn't feel right being a boy. He looked more like a girl than a boy, he had the mind of one, and he even sounded like one with his high-pitched voice. Every birthday, he'd wish for this when he blew out the candles. He'd lie to his family and say something like he wished for a panda of his own, for example. Marth was so absorbed in his little fantasies that he didn't know that he was found. A sudden slap on the back aroused him from his daydreaming.
"Eeeek! Who's that?" Marth squeaked with his already high-pitched voice jumping up several more octaves.
"Hahahaha! Boy, you sound so funny when I scare ya!" laughed Roy. He leaned on Marth's shoulders as he continued to laugh.
"Sh-sh-shut up... I don't like that. Plus you hit really hard," Marth whined. His voice didn't go back down to his usual range.
"Why ya all the way out here?" asked Roy once he got calmed down.
Marth shrugged and looked down at his feet. "I dunno... I just like to be alone and think," he mumbled with his voice finally down where it usually is.
"About what?" Roy asked.
"...Stuff."
"What kinda stuff?" Roy was starting to get on Marth's nerves for his sudden nosiness.
"It's kinda hard to 'splain. You'll laugh and make fun of me if I told you. Maybe later..." Marth heaved a sigh and scanned the area for his animal friends that retreated from Roy.
"C'mon! Please tell me! I wanna know now! Ooh, now I can't stop wondering what it is! Pleeeeease?" Roy shook Marth a little, but the blue-haired child shot him a peeved glare at him.
"No, it's nothing. I dunno what I was saying. I've been up too early and I just talk about stuff that people don't know and then they think I'm crazy for doing that, but it's just that it's morning and cold and I'm very hungry right now and I wish that you didn't hafta be such a dang pig and go eat everything like a big fat pig but that's just you and you're the way you are and like it, but not me cuz I wish I wasn't like this, but I like being a girl but I wish I was one cuz it'd be so much easier than saying that I'm a boy when I'm not and it feels so weird saying that, know what I mean?"
Roy just stared off into space for he didn't understand a single thing Marth had just mumbled. He blinked a few times and make a sound in his throat that could translate to as "Uh-huh...".
He and Marth began to leave for their little campsite. As they walked, Roy kept glancing over to Marth to see if he was ok. Marth didn't speak much and heaved an occasional depressed sigh. They finally reached camp and began to pack up. As they started to head back to the castle, Marth turned around to look at his little sanctuary. A few tears began to run down his pale cheeks as Marth thought about some of the wildlife that were comforting him. Along the way back to the castle, both boys tried to keep awake as they ambled. There were a few times when they would start nodding off to sleep while walking only to jerk awake and feel confused, as if they just dreamt. Most of the time, they alternated between starting to fall asleep. At one point, they both began snoozing while walking only to bump into each other.
Finally, Marth and Roy returned to the castle. Jeigan helped take their belongings inside for they were very fatigued. Marth headed to his room and closed the door (to sleep, perhaps) and Roy headed towards the kitchen. The younger lad couldn't bear the hunger any longer. He took several items from the kitchen and decided to go search for Marth again. While searching and consuming the food he took, Roy found Marth curled up in his bed, fast asleep. He decided to wake him up for breakfast.
"Eh, Mahf? Way guhp! Time foh brehgfast!" said Roy with his mouth stuffed with food. He kept nudging Marth, but he didn't wake up. The trip definitely wore out the elder prince.
Ellis peeked into the room and spotted the boys. She was in her pajamas for it was still too early in the morning to be awake.
"Marthy? Roy? How was the trip?" she asked, unable to contain her cheeriness.
"He's-gulp! He's sleepin' cuz it's mornin'", replied Roy. "I hope the cooks are ready to cook today cuz I'm starvin'! We shoulda bringed more sandwiches..."
He and Ellis left Marth's room to let him sleep. The snoozing lad was dreaming about the animals he saw in the forest, but he was also in the dream as a girl. He (or this case, she) was happily playing with the forest friends without a care in the world.
The summer air grew increasingly humid and the temperatures scorching as each day passed over Altea. Both fathers took the kids to another village to spend the afternoon at. They were nearly done for the day and ready to go back to Castle Altea. Course, Marth wasn't ready to leave without raising Cain while dragging the half-dragon Roy into the fray.
"Ooh! Wookie at the cute wittle bunny-wunnies!" squealed Marth. He and Roy were passing by a large box full of fluffy baby rabbits.
"So many of them!" gasped Roy.
"I want one! Roy, buy me one!" begged the older prince as he grabbed Roy's sleeve.
"But I don't have any money! I spent it all…," mumbled Roy.
"Well if you hadn't spent it all on food like a big fat pig, then you could have enough to buy me a bunny rabbit!" Marth growled at him.
"If you want one that bad, buy it yerself!" retorted the Mamkute.
"Why should I?"
"You have a ton of moneys! You don't need to use other people's moneys!" said Roy.
"I don't wanna use mine," said Marth. "I want one without having to use money…"
"The only way I know is to steal it," Roy answered. "Too bad yer not a thief like Matthew or something!"
Ironically, the owner of the box of bunnies was absent. He was probably attending to some other business. Too bad for him or else this would have came to a quick end. As Roy walked away to go find Ellis, Marth looked at the rabbits again. He saw one that tickled his fancy. It was the same age as the rest of the litter, but this one was larger and heavier with twice the amount of fluffiness than the others. It was black and white, just like Pan-Pan. Marth could not leave without it and he would amount to anything to own it.
Marth ran up to the Pheraen child, panting and clutching something in his skinny arms. Roy took one look and noticed a black furry ear poking out from his arms. The younger prince could not believe this and his jaw dropped to the ground.
"What… are you… DOING?" exclaimed Roy.
"I did exactly what you say I should of done," replied Marth.
"You stole 'im? Did anyone see you?" Roy gasped.
"Teehee! I got away with this!" Marth could not keep from smiling and he began to giggle uncontrollably (yet femininely).
"Lemme guess: 'Ooh! I'm Prince Marth and I want that bunny! You have to give it to me cuz I said so! If you don't do what I say, then I'll cry and tell my daddy on you!'" Roy emulated Marth's feminine mannerisms, voice, and gestures but in a highly exaggerated fashion. Marth growled at Roy and clutched his prize tighter to his chest.
"No one was there, dingbat," Marth objected grumpily, while on the brink of crying.
"How ya gonna get that bunny back to the castle without getting caught?" asked Roy.
Marth thought a bit for he didn't really formulate his plan too much. He looked up at Roy and answered "I could use my money… and you too."
Exactly what he was talking about, we don't know yet. It was finally time to leave and Ellis was searching for her effeminate brother and his pyromaniac friend. She passed by an ice cream parlor and stopped to find them just exiting. Marth was skipping out sans the stolen animal while Roy waddled out alongside him. Ellis took one look at Roy and began to laugh at his comical appearance. Roy's face was covered in various syrups from the ice creams and in the various ice creams themselves. He also looked like he had consumed quite a few because his large belly was sticking out very noticeably. Roy hiccuped and/or burped a few times every minute while Marth snickered loudly.
"What happened, guys?" asked Ellis.
Roy hiccuped in reply, causing Marth to snicker even more.
"Well… I told him that I'd buy him ice cream if he was hungry and boy, was he! He just ate and ate and ate! Luckily, the owner let us have it for free because I'm the prince of Altea! Who knows how much we'd hafta pay…" Marth glanced over at Roy, who still had the bouts of hiccups and burps.
"Hn… I guess you're right about that!" answered Ellis. She turned to Roy and said "Boy, is Lord Eliwood going to flip out!"
"Hic! Yeah…," Roy mumbled followed by a large belch. "But it was so-hic- good! Caramel… chocolate… hic! Can I go back and get some-hic! Burp-more?"
"We can't. We're about to leave, so maybe once we return to the castle," answered Ellis.
The ride back to the castle was a little quieter than usual because of the fact that Roy went a little overboard with the ice cream. Usually he'd be too hyped up to stay still due to the sugar, but in this case he was too stuffed to move an inch. All he did on the trip back was groan and rub his belly. When they finally arrived, Marth and Roy headed to the elder child's room.
"Teehee! You look funny like that!" giggled Marth.
"Well, it ain't funny having to walk around with this!" growled Roy as he pointed to his bulging stomach.
Marth lifted up Roy's shirt and grabbed the rabbit that he had stolen. Roy heaved a sigh of relief and flopped down onto the ground, stomach first. Marth quickly closed the door and began to play with his newfound pet.
"So… What are we gonna name him?" asked Roy.
"What do you mean 'we'? I get to name her!" Marth shot back.
"Sor-ree! What are you gonna name her?"
Marth put his finger to his lip and thought a bit. He then answered "I'm gonna name her 'Snuffles'!"
"'Snuffles'? What kinda stupid name is THAT?" Roy exclaimed.
"It's not stupid; it's cute. Of course, you're a boy and you don't understand cuteness like me!" Marth answered conceitedly.
"…You're a boy too." Roy cocked an eyebrow at Marth along with his reply.
"Yeah… Well… It's um… You'll laugh if I told you, so just believe me, got it?" Marth kept his stare fixated on the floor while Snuffles hopped to his arm.
"Whatever you say…" Roy's stomach growled loudly enough for Marth to hear it. He rubbed it and stood up. "I'm gonna get a snack, want anything?"
"Nah, I'll just play with my itty-bitty wittle baby Snuffles!" Marth cradled his rabbit and began to converse with her in baby talk. Roy just rolled his eyes and left the room.
Marth climbed into bed and took a nap with his new pet with him. Roy came back a little while later, patting his very full stomach. He took notice of Marth, so he decided to steal the bunny from Marth. Slowly and surely, Roy tried to take the rabbit. It began to fidget and Marth stirred a bit in his sleep. The half-dragon child held his breath, hoping that Marth would fall back asleep. He did, luckily, so Roy managed to pick up the rabbit. He would have made off like a bandit if Marth hadn't woken himself up by sneezing.
"Wha… Pan-Pan…" Marth was barely awake and his hand landed upon his beloved toy. "Ugh… Snu-Snuffles?" He looked around and found Roy standing by the door, ready to bolt with the rabbit in captivity.
"GIMME MY SNUFFLES BACK!" hollered Marth.
"Later, gator!" Roy took off running as fast as he could muster. Marth hopped out of his bed and pursued him.
They tore down the corridors of Castle Altea, knocking servants and basically anyone in their path out of the way. Roy came outside and Marth was barely on his tail. Marth tackled Roy, who accidentally tossed the furry friend onto the grass. They began to wrestle each other to the ground while engaging in a melee of sorts. Jeigan headed towards them, confident that he'll be able to stop them.
"Now, now, gentlemen… Fighting's not going to solve anything!" he said. The old man pried them about, but that didn't really put out their anger.
"Where is she? What'd you do with her?" exclaimed Marth, who was in hysterics.
"I… I musta throwed her over there or something…" Roy pointed and found the rabbit.
"What's going on?" asked Jeigan.
"Roy kidnapped Snuffles and wouldn't give her back to me!" wailed Marth.
"You get to play with her more than me!" retorted Roy.
"Lord Roy, you should not keep Lord Marth's plushies from him," said Jeigan.
"Snuffles isn't a plushie; she's a bunny." Marth hugged Snuffles tightly and began to cry.
"Err… mind telling me where you acquired her?" Jeigan asked nervously. He happened to know all about Marth's kleptomania, along with everyone else in the castle.
"Roy wouldn't buy her for me when we went to the village, so I had to get her myself!"
The redhead looked up at the elderly paladin and gulped nervously. "…We're not gonna be in a lotta trouble, are we?"
"I should take her back. As long as I return her to the vendor and explain everything to him, then no questions'll be asked," answered Jeigan. He reached for Snuffles with his hands out, but Marth turned away.
"She's mine…," whined Marth.
"Your Highness, I need to return her. You don't want to get in trouble for taking something that doesn't belong to you, correct?" Jeigan prayed that his reasoning would work on the awfully spoiled Marth.
"MINE!" screamed Marth. He moved to keep the rabbit out of Jeigan's grasp. Roy was right next to him, so he tried to take it from Marth again.
"C'mon… We'll get in trouble for keeping her!" said Roy.
"NO! My bunny! I keep her!" It was quite obvious that when Marth had his mind set on something, it was nearly impossible to change it.
Roy tried to grab Snuffles again, but a swift kick to the stomach prevented him from doing so. Jeigan also tried, but he stopped and noticed Marth aiming his foot at him. Since Marth's leg was shorter than Jeigan's, he would have kicked the advisor somewhere else instead. Marth then ran back inside, screaming and crying as Jeigan tried to retrieve the rabbit from him.
"DADDY! DADDY!" bawled Marth.
"Sport…? What's going on? Where'd you get that-"
"WAAAH! DADDY! Jeigan and Roy won't lemme keep Snuffles and she's MINE! All mine! I order you to tell them that I'm gonna keep her no matter what!" Marth sank to his knees and cried while his father tried to let it all sink in.
"Wait… Snuffles?" Corneilius looked down and noticed the rabbit in Marth's arms. "Ma… Ma… Did you… STEAL her?" he exclaimed.
"Uh-huh! But of course! Roy wouldn't buy her for me so I had to!" whined Marth.
Corneilius could not believe what he had just heard! He grabbed Marth by the arm and forced him to get into the carriage. Despite Marth's protesting, they headed back to the village that they've been to earlier. Clutching Snuffles tightly, Marth lead his father to where he stole her at. They meet the vendor, who was ready to pack up.
"E-Excuse me, Sir…" Corneilius stammered. "Th-This is my-my son, Marth. He… yuh… kinda took one of your rabbits without paying."
"Oho! I was wondering where it went off to!" said the vendor.
"I'm so sorry about this. I've taught him to never steal, yet he does it anyway… Please, I'm so sorry! Look, I'll even pay for her even though… I… ugh… I'm returning her…"
"I DUN WANNA!" Marth screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Marth! You have to give her back! She's not yours!"
The King of Altea grabbed Snuffles out of Marth's arms and handed her to the vendor. Upset about his lose, Marth threw himself down onto the ground and began to have a tantrum. He shouted all the cliché things that a spoiled rotten child would say when they don't get their way like "You don't love my anymore!", etceteras, etceteras. They returned to the castle with Marth still going at it. When he headed up to his room, Roy was waiting for him.
"So… What happened?" he asked.
Marth kicked Roy strongly in the stomach and pushed him out of his room. "IT'S YOUR FAULT I DON'T HAVE SNUFFLES ANYMORE!" Marth slammed his door shut and stayed in there for the rest of the night, refusing to come out for anything. Roy sighed and staggered to his room, still smarting from his injury.