Chapter 6
We walked along in silence, not really sure what to say. Our strange encounter with Quex and Quoix left unsolved mysteries that added an extra weight on all of us. What had Quoix meant when he mentioned the sibling rivalries? And how did the two creatures know each other? More over, how did Vendetta find out where we were? And if she was tracking us, how?
I decided to leave these questions unanswered for the time being. After all, what's the point in trying to solve a mystery when there aren't enough clues to finish the case?
So we walked. And walked. And walked. And then we walked some more. Barrel complained of his empty stomach every now and then, but we learned to ignore him. And just as I was about to murder him for whining, Darryl pointed to a cluster of pools.
"There it is! The Christian Holiday Shape!"
We raced each other to where he pointed, looked around, and wondered what the hell it was. I was expecting a rectangle, or an oval, or something like that, but this shape was a little more intricate. The puddles made a connect-the-dot of a large diamond, and a smaller triangle in the diamond's center.
Each puddle had a symbol from its holiday carved out of rock: a colorful egg-shaped rock lay near one point of the triangle. A small Shamrock lay close to a point on the diamond.
And there, completing the triangle, a Christmas tree and pumpkin stood close to their respective pools, the largest bodies of water in the inner-triangle. My breath quickened at how close we were to home.
"Don't get too excited," Darryl said, reading my thoughts. "It may have a pumpkin near it, but that doesn't mean it's the loving land of Halloween that you once knew."
Images of the holiday worlds trying to assassinate their own leaders were pushed out of my mind. I didn't want to think about it. No, I couldn't think about it. It was just too much. So instead, I thought of our mission.
"Alright," I started. "It's high time we go and find Vendetta and beat here sorry ass!"
A whoop of excitement was let out of my companions.
"Vendetta lives somewhere in Christmas Town, so we should start there," Darryl said.
There was a general chorus of agreement, although I saw Barrel glance down nervously at the scars his burns had left. Darryl placed a reassuring arm around Barrel's shoulder, and gave it a squeeze.
"Barrel and I will go first," Darryl said, keeping his arm around Barrel.
"Sounds fine with me," I said, half wishing his arm was around my own shoulder. I need comforting too, you know!
They nodded, and Barrel slipped out of Darryl's grasp. They then proceeded to jump into the body of water, a timid smile on Darryl's face, and a look of sheer terror on Barrel's.
The water didn't actually splash when they went in. In fact, it really just kinda rippled, like the sun did. The ripples continued on to the edge of the pool, where Lock and I stood, staring at them disappear.
A few awkward seconds passed, most of which I spent stealing glances at Lock. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.
"Well…Ladies first!" Lock said with a flourish.
"Then I do believe that you should go before me!" I said with my own grand gesture.
His face faltered while I stuck my tongue out at him. He pushed me backwards, but I ended up swerving, and nearly falling into the Halloween Town pool. My arms waved like crazy, as I tried to keep myself from losing my balance.
Surprisingly enough, Lock grabbed my wrist before I made my dive.
He helped me to back to a standing position, and I gave him a confused look.
"What-" but he cut me short.
"I changed my mind. I think we should jump in…together!" His hand slipped from my wrist to my palm, as we stood on the edge of the pool near the Christmas tree. He smiled coyly, as realization sunk in.
"You're scared, aren't you?"
"Who, me? Pft, of course not!" He gave me a knowing look.
"Well it's not like your holding up any better!"
"Oh contraire, fair maiden. As long as I'm not alone on this one, I'm perfectly fine!"
'Was he just flirting with me?'
Warm smiles were exchanged. I tightened my feminine hand on his considerably larger, masculine one. Tingles sparked up my arm and back down my spine as we leapt into the clear waters that led us to Christmas Town. Together.
Guess what…I LANDED ON MY FEET THIS TIME!!! WOO!!! I really AM getting better at this whole 'world-hopping' thing!
Can't say that Lock had any better luck, though. He ended up falling flat on his face. Sadly, because we were holding hands, he ended up dragging me down with him. Can you say 'Awkward situation?' You can? THAT'S GREAT! 'Cause that's the EXACT situation I was in!
See, Lock didn't just drag me down with him. Somehow, I ended up underneath him, with his face in my chest. On top of that, I felt a certain bulge where Lock's crotch was! And let me tell you something, the family that adopted me made sure that I knew EVERYTHING about the birds and the bees, so I was QUITE well aware of what was going through his mind. (Actually, let me rephrase that…what was passing straight through his mind, and taking a one-way trip down to his pants!)
So, reacting on pure instinct, I did the one thing any girl should do in a situation like this; PUNCH HIS FACE IN AND KNEE 'IM IN HIS SPECIAL SPOT!!! (Despite the fact that I didn't exactly mind the situation all that much myself)
"SHIT!! OOOWW!! GODDAMNIT, SHOCK!! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO HIT ME THERE!! THAT WAS NOT COOL! NOT COOL!!" Lock screamed, rolling back and forth in the fettle position on the snow covered ground while blood poured out of his nose. Barrel and Darryl were rolling around on the floor too, but for a different reason; they were laughing! Borderline convulsions! As for me, I'd gotten up after pummeling him, so I dusted myself off and dumped some snow on him.
"Shut up you big baby!" I snarled at him. "You'll draw attention to us! And that's the last thing we want!"
So, using snow to clean up his nose, and a tree as support to get up, he limped his way to where I stood.
"Okay" –he took a big, overly-dramatic sigh- "what do we do now, Miss High and Mighty?"
I scowled at him, and he backed down. I guess he didn't want me to knee him again.
From the looks of it, we'd landed in a clearing in the forest near town. Probably the equivalent of the Hinterlands in Halloween Town.
"Well, at least we won't have to worry about where to spend the night," I said, looking up to the beautiful sun that was rising ever so slowly over the snow covered trees. It was the perfect time of morning; when you can watch the sun rise without burning your eyes. The sun was shaped like a Stocking, and the mixture of purple, blue, red, and orange was mesmerizing.
"It's beautiful, ain't it?" Lock asked, hobbling the last few steps to reach me.
"Yeah…" I whispered in awe.
Now, I don't know what the hell got into me at that moment, but I leaned into him, and rested my head on his shoulder.
At first he looked at me warily, not too sure whether this was a trick or not. But, after deciding it was safe, he put his arm around my shoulder, and his head on mine. His tail slowly swished back and forth, just like a content dog, forming a trench behind us in the snow.
I smiled up at him, and he smiled back. It was probably one of the happiest-if not peaceful- moments in my life. And I let it last for as long as I could. I mean, who knew when Lock and I would have a 'special moment' like this again? So I cherished the feeling of warmth that spread through my heart.
I glanced over at Barrel, and was surprised to see him and Darryl cuddling just as Lock and I were. You know, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought that there was something going on between them…
A/N: Okay, I JUST realized this, but the whole ripple effect sounds an awful lot like Super Mario 64, and I just wanna clarify that I WAS NOT thinking of it when I wrote this! If Nintendo wants credit, it doesn't matter, because this is a fanfic, and I really don't know why they would care, but oh well! Anyways, I just wanted to clear that up real quick. And, while we're on the topic of disclaimers, I don't own ls&b, Christmas Town, OR Halloween Town!
Yeah, yeah, yeah! Complain that there's fluff! I just think it was about time that I added some! Besides, even my profile says that I like to write fluffy fics! So…DEAL WITH IT!!!
Btw, 2 more things. One: really sorry about the temporary hiatus. I was…uh…sorting some stuff out. Not quite done, but hey. This is a good outlet, so I'll stick with it. Two: say hello to the last author's note!...I think…shrugs I'll add one if necessary, but this is pretty much it!
Anyways, BONSOIR!!!
