Paranoia Leaf

April 3rd, 201X

10:03 PM

There weren't all that many available rooms in the New Town Inn, as it was a small inn, so the thirteen of us decided to put ourselves into six groups of two, with one getting their own room. This person ended up being Victoria. I happened to get paired with Ellie.

We were all quite exhausted from our very long walk from the river, so we both tiredly collapsed into our beds. However, Ellie seemed to be having a bit of trouble sleeping. She kept piping up with random bits of information, without even really seeming to think about it.

"Sorry," she said after a while. "I went to sleep really late last night, so I think that might be the reason why I just can't seem to sleep now."

"It's fine," I said. "But maybe it would be a good idea to keep your thoughts in your head."

"You're absolutely right!" she said in a voice slightly louder than necessary. "I'll shut up now. Good night!"

She stayed silent after that, allowing me to drift off into a somewhat peaceful sleep…

Paranoia Leaf

April 4th, 201X

9:15 AM

The next morning, we met in the hotel lobby. Ellie asked if we could have breakfast there, but Sofia reminded her that we had to get to the train station. Thus, we walked back over to the train station where we greeted the Porter, who told us the train would arrive "any second now". Incidentally, the train came into the station right after he finished his sentence.

"Man, talk about lucky!" Marina cheered as we boarded the train. "Isn't this exciting?"

Ellie grinned brightly. "Definitely! I can't wait to get to Willow Falls!"

The rest of us generally agreed with them as we took our seats on the near-empty train. There were just enough seats for all thirteen of us, as well as a couple of animals who happened to already be there. I ended up sitting with Kyle, Sofia, and Crimson.

"So," Crimson began. "Now that we're back on track, so to speak…" She paused so we could get the joke, at which Kyle laughed. "I figured I'd ask you guys why you decided to move from your respective hometowns."

I tensed a bit at the question, not wanting to go into detail on my reason for moving. I hoped that the others' stories would be so long that by the time they finished, they'd forget I hadn't spoken yet.

"Well," Sofia began. "There wasn't really much reason for my moving aside from the fact that I was old enough to. I also decided to bring Kyle with me. I don't know if I mentioned this to you, but we're cousins."

"Oh, I take it you two are close, then."

"Yes, we did live in the same house for a while." There was a pause, probably as Crimson expected her to elaborate, but she didn't.

"What about you, Crimson?" I asked, hoping to prolong my explanation further.

"Well, I guess you could say Pickletown was getting a little too sour for my taste," she said.

"You came from Pickletown?" Kyle asked, giggling.

"Yep, that was its name. So, naturally there were some sweet and sour parts of the town; so like I said, it just got too sour for me." Crimson turned to me. "What about you, Paranoia?"

Relax. You don't have to tell them the whole story, I thought. I breathed in, saying, "well, I guess I pretty much moved out for the same reason you did, Crimson. Majora just didn't really suit me anymore."

Crimson nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

A few more hours into the train ride and many conversations later, a loud noise was heard from above.

"...You guys heard that too, right?" Crimson asked. The rest of us nodded. "I wonder what that could've been…"

Meanwhile…

"Oh, gosh! Do you think they heard me?"

"Of course they did, you idiot! Why would you even jump like that? There was literally no reason to do that whatsoever!"

"That's where you're wrong, friend; it's always been my dream to jump on a train!"

"Don't call me your friend ever again. Also, never speak in my presence ever again."

"Oka-"

"What did I just say?!"

"Hey guys, what was that noise just now?" Mia, who was sitting across the aisle, asked.

"We don't know either," Sofia said. "Though I think it came from the train's roof."

"Shall I go investigate?!" Ellie volunteered. "I'd love to go on the train's roof!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Sofia said. "It'd be very dangerous to go up there."

"But think about how cool it would be to have one of those train fights like in the movies!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Well, it would be wise to check in case anything's going on," Sofia sighed, "but if you see anything suspicious, report it to the porter. Don't… don't fight anyone, Ellie."

Ellie pouted, but climbed onto one of the seats so that she could reach the emergency exit on the ceiling. She poked her head out, looked around, then quickly un-poked her head out from the exit.

"There are two suspicious-looking animals up there!" she hissed, probably trying to keep her voice down.

"Suspicious? Suspicious how?" Marina asked, alarmed.

"Uh… They're, like, wearing dark clothes? Like they're trying to be ninjas or something, except it doesn't really work for them since it's sunny out," she answered as she hopped off the seat. "Not to mention they're on top of the train. I thought was a little suspicious, too."

"They didn't see you, did they?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so, but-"

"We did!" A wolf, followed by a chicken dressed in dark colors (Ellie was right, that really doesn't work in daylight) hopped down through the emergency exit, causing Ellie to stumble back (since she was directly below the exit). The chicken looked blankly at everyone while the wolf glared, intimidatingly and annoyedly. Everyone gasped slightly.

"Well, now that we have your attention-" the wolf glared at the chicken, who gave a sheepish look in return "-now is as good a time as any to tell you all that we've placed a bomb on this train, and we're only getting rid of it if you meet our demands."

"Oh, are you frickin' serious?" Mia cried. "First the train we're on crashes and now this? Screw this, I'm getting rid of that bomb myself." Then she just walked out of the car. Just… walked right out.

"...So, about those demands-"

"Sorry, but could you just leave us alone?" Sofia asked, unfazed. "We've already dealt with a lot."

"Oh, you don't think we're serious about this?" the wolf asked, putting on an evil grin.

"We're serious alright! Serious is my middle name! I'm the seriousest chicken you'll ever meet! Nobody is as serious as me! I-"

"Shut up," the wolf growled, dropping her smile. The chicken obliged.

"Mind telling us why, exactly, you're doing this?" I asked.

"Why? I don't have to give you a reason," the wolf snarled. "You need to listen to what we say. Otherwise, you-"

"'Kay, bomb's gone," Mia said nonchalantly, reentering the train car.

"Wh- how did you-"

"I threw it out the window, duh."

"So, what was that about us needing to do what you say?" I said, giving a similar evil grin to the one the wolf had given earlier.

Instead of answering, she simply glared and began her ascent to the emergency exit. The chicken followed, crying "This isn't over! This isn't the last you'll hear of us! Mark my words, we'll be back! Or my name isn't-"

"Shut. Up."

And then they were gone.

A/N: Reviews are very much welcome! Please tell me what you think of the changes so far. :)