Chapter 2
I turned around and saw three plush, red and green chairs that weren't there before. My cohorts and I warily walked over to them. We circled, poked, prodded, but nothing seemed to be wrong with the chairs, so we each sat gingerly on them, not sure what to make of the situation.
"Ah, my sweet candy canes! So good to see you after all of these years! My, have you grown a bundle in these past ten years! Ho, ho, ho!" said the jolly voice. I still couldn't tell who it was, but, for some reason, his laugh stood out in my mind. It was deep, and full of joy and happiness, and it was clear it came from someone VERY old.
"Ten years…But that was the last time we were in Halloween Town…oops!" Barrel blurted.
"YOU BLABBER MOUTH! YOU BLEW OUR COVER!" I shouted at him.
"It's alright children, I'm from one of the holiday worlds too!" the voice cut in.
"Wait…you are? Oh that's right, we couldn't have know that since WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" Lock shouted impatiently.
"Oh! Where are my manners? So sorry, children! I'm Santa Claus! You used to call me 'Sandy Claws' when you first heard of me, though." The voice chuckled as the body of the voice came out of the shadows. He was an obese old man with a black boots and a tattered old hat. His red and white clothes were torn, and his beard had twigs and leaves in it. His bright brown eyes sparkled with hope, and his very presence emmited jollyness.
'So that's why his voice sounded familiar!' I thought to myself triumphantly, finally remembering that crazy Christmas. It was the first time I had ever heard about the holiday, and I was excited because Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, had sent my cohorts and me to go and kidnap Sandy. Once we had the old man, we took him to Oogie Boogie, our then employer, who was going to eat him! The thought kind of creeped me out, but my friends and I were interested, so we grabbed lots of snacks and watched the show. Sally, some rag-doll-corpse-girl, tried to save Sandy, but she was just captured too. Jack eventually came and rescued Santa and saved the day and we got in trouble, but I still enjoyed that night.
But, during my reminiscing, a thought occurred to me. Why was Sandy Claws in the Real World? And why were his clothes torn and his beard full of forest stuff? I decided to ask our old acquaintance, and he sighed in response.
"Terrible things have happened in the Holiday Worlds while you were gone. You're almost lucky that you were sent away! You see, a terrible ice witch named Vendetta cast a spell on all of the holidays worlds, making everyone except for the holiday leaders feel envious of everyone else. Eventually, a war broke out between all the holidays. All the holiday leaders were overthrown upon the grounds that we were too soft for wartimes. I haven't seen Jack, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, or any of the holiday leaders since then! That's actually why I sent Darryl to find you…so you could help…" Santa choked on his last words.
It was odd to see the usually optimistic man cry, but I could understand his grieving. Santa and the other holiday leaders had created a time of happiness; a sort of utopia, if you will. To see that all be destroyed by a single witch must have been devastating!
"Wait…who's Darryl?" Barrel asked.
"I'm Santa's right-hand elf. I helped him escape to the Real World. I'm also the one who you so kindly beat up earlier," Darryl responded. He had taken off his overcoat and hat and was leaning on a wall nearby, and, oddly enough, I found him quite attractive.
------He was taller than an elf should have been. A red hat, similar to Sandy's, but with white horizontal stripes, sat on top of his dirty blonde hair. His nose was slightly crooked, but suited him, and his sea-green eyes were captivating. His Herculean body was complimented by a torn red shirt, green pants, and white shoes that curled up at the bottom. A black belt with a gold buckle fit around his waist perfectly. He had the occasional bruise on his body, and I'm pretty sure they were from when we had beaten him up.
"Oh! There you are Darryl!" Santa said. He wasn't crying anymore and had cheered up considerably. Geez! Talk about bipolar!
"So, Santa…whadaya want US to do about this problem? I mean, we can't even find our way back to Halloween Town!" Lock said in a defeated voice. We all looked down in shame when he mentioned our failure to find our way home.
"No need to worry about traveling, my little holly berries!" Santa exclaimed, delighted that Lock had hinted we were considering the offer. "Darryl will help you on your journey! He knows his way to the Pools of Nowhere."
"The Pools of Nowhere? What the hell's that?" I asked, curious as to how much the old fatso knew about traveling from world to world.
"You all remember the circle of trees in the Hinterlands, right? The one with the holiday doors?" Santa asked us.
"Yeah. We tried looking for the forest, but we never found it…" Barrel responded, his face a mess of depression.
"Well, as you know, those aren't the only portals. I don't know about all of the portals that are out there, but I do know that the Pools of Nowhere lead to every world. And I mean this quite literally, too!"
We looked at each other, not too sure what to make of our situation.
"The Pools of Nowhere lie just beyond the edge of the world." Santa said so quietly, I had to strain my ears just to even barely hear him!
"Wait, I thought that the world was round." I said.
"No, no, that's a myth! Although, I can see where humans got the idea from. You see, humans can only travel so far, and their eyes can only see certain things. The edge of the world is cloaked by the horizon, and unless you're magic, you can't see past the cloaking. Humans lack this ability, so instead of reaching the edge of the world, they just keep traveling for days and days, when in reality, it only takes a few hours to get there!" Santa stated.
"So how are we gonna be able to get there? I know Darryl will be able to see past the cloaking, but we won't! After all, the 3 of us are human!" Lock said in a confused voice. But Santa had an answer for that, too.
"Well, Lock…if you're human, then why do you have a tail? And Shock…if you're human, then why can you perform magic? And what about you Barrel? If you're human, then how do you have webbed feet? And you all have such pale skin; you look like you're already dead! You all lived in Halloween Town so long, you adapted to your surroundings and gained the ability of magic!" Santa exclaimed.
The three of us scrutinized each other, looking for the details Santa had just mentioned. Much to my surprise, it was true; Lock DID have a tail, and Barrel DID have weird-shaped feet, and I COULD perform magic, and we DID ALL have a pale complexion! I guess I've known them for so long, I've just gotten used to these little facts about my friends. It was a comforting thought, though. The fact that our bodies knew we would someday get back home promised a bright future. The only thing that worried me was what we had to do to achieve this future.
"Sandy…as much as it flatters us that you chose us…what can we do? I mean, we don't know how much has changed in Christmas Town, we don't know anything about this 'Vendetta' or her weaknesses, and we don't even know if we're cut out for the job!" I cried. There was so much to take in, so much weight on our shoulders!
"Shock, I know it's a lot to handle, but I've watched each of you throughout the years. You've all been on my nice list for some time now, and I have faith in all three of you! My only hope is that you defeat Vendetta and restore peace in our holiday community! I know I can't ask you to find the other holiday leaders; it's just too much! But, promise me that if you do see them, tell them that Santa Claus says 'Good luck!'" and leaving us with those final words, Santa Claus disappeared into the shadows. That was the last time any of us would ever see the jolly old man.
Darryl ran to see if his master was still there, but when he came out of the shadows, he was shaking his head. He had a look of pure and utter shock on his face. How could he not? Sandy was his closest friend (I presume), and it's quite unusual for a close friend to just disappear out of the blue.
"Well…what do we do now?" Barrel asked, breaking the ice.
"I-I…I don't know…" Lock said, bewildered at what lay ahead.
"Whadaya mean 'you don't know'?! Our home is in danger, and all you two can do is just sit there! I don't know about you guys, but I care about Halloween Town! I'm going with Darryl to the Pools of Nowhere to save the holidays with or without you!" I said as I grabbed Darryl's arm and started walking towards the door while dragging him with me.
"Shock, please! I don't think we should be so irrational about this!" Darryl said, squirming under the force with which I held him.
"SHOCK! WAIT UP!" I heard from behind me just as I reached the door.
I turned around and saw Barrel and Lock running towards me as fast as they could. I waited where I was to let them catch up, and when they finally did, Lock said in between his panting, "We care…about Halloween Town…just as much…as you do!"
Barrel, who wasn't out of breath, said with a smile, "We may not know what's in store for us, but we do know that no one separates Boogie's Boys! Not even a Boogie Boy!"
I let go of Darryl, and stared at them in disbelief.
"Thanks guys!" I said with a smile. "You two are the best friends I could ask for! Oh! Before I forget…"
WHACK!!!
I had slapped Barrel clear across the face as I shouted, "I.WHACK am.WHACK not WHACK. a WHACK. BOY WHACK, WHACK, WHACK!!!!" Lock and Darryl were rolling on the ground, laughing their asses off as Barrel crept into a corner and assumed the fetal position. Pretty soon, we were all laughing, even Barrel, for that's what Boogie's Boys did; we laughed at pain!
And, Although it pleased me to know that my friends would be there to help in our mission, I still felt a twinge of sadness that I wouldn't get some alone time with Darryl. 'Oh well,' I thought. 'There'll be plenty of times for me to show him my girlish charm!'
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A/N: I just wanna clarify some things before I continues. Shock is 20, the last time they saw each other was when she was 10.
Thanks to everyone that read this! I would've preferred if you commented, too, but at least you read it, right!?
Oh yeah! Santa, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all belong to Mr. T to the I to the M to the B! I thought that the whole 'portal pool' thing was mine, but someone told me it's from the first Narnia book…anyone know about that? Everything else…YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!!!(Though if you want to use an idea or 2, just check w/ me!)
