Mellow Wolves
Takes place on a Wednesday night, 3 weeks after Ameena´s Mask Ceremony.
No... Not again! This was utterly ridiculous!
The past two weeks, Ameena had found herself waking up in the middle of the night... And in the middle of the garden! Despite the fact she clearly had a house right now... Something made her end up outdoors, over and over again!
''I guess this means I'm born to be wild, then'', she giggled, slightly concerned about the fact she apparantly was a sleepwalker... She had never encountered such problems before, she hadn't ever sleepwalked in any of the 17 years of her life!
Just when she was trying to get up - just to walk back home to lay down again! - she felt something... soft, something moist, but still papery in the back of her neck...
''Wraf! Heh, heh!''
Something... barked and panted straight into her ear. Something that certainly wasn´t a Barkbark!
Ameena was an expert when it came to Barkbarks by now. A week and a half ago she'd finally managed to attrack one, and it'd been her most loyal piñata friend ever since.
She had called him Bouncy - after the cute and bouncy way he tended to jump when he barked! - and he'd never deviate from her side during the daytime!
During the nighttime, though, he would withdraw in his little Barkbark house to rest from his exhausting day as an over-active puppy... When that dog was asleep, not even a meteor inpact would wake him up! Totally no watchdog...
She loved him just the way he was, but now she wished he could just be a little more alert at night... She had nocturnal visitors, and she had no idea if those had good intentions!
Ameena took a deep breath as she forced herself to turn her head... Yes. Oh Gosh. Excactly what she´d expected...
Two Mallowolves were staring at her, with those big, expectantly eyes little kids had when it finally was 'Santa time' again. Their huge pink tongues were hanging half out of their mouths, and Ameena was slightly surprised that their breath wasn´t loathful... It was pretty good, actually, did she catch the scent of candy canes there?
''Good Mallowolfs!'' she said cautiously. ''Good, good Mallowolfs...''
Perhaps they would believe they were good Mallowolfs is she told them they were?
''Wraf!'' The one standing closest to her barked again. He seemed enthiusiastic! Well, that wasn't an emotion she needed to worry about!
''What's up, you little Mallowolf?'' Ameena cooed, as if she was not dealing with cold-blooded killer piñatas. ''You's a cute little Mallowolf! Ya! You´s such a sweetie pie...''
It took her a few seconds to gain the courage, but she nevertheless found herself petting the big, light blue wolf between its ears.
''You have such rough fur! You look so much more cuddly than you actually are...''
The Mallowolf howled in agreement. He knew he looked as cute and innocent as a young Bispotti!
''You're the cutest little Mallowolf I've ever seen... Oh! And you're just as cute, of course!''
She had totally forgotten about the other wolf piñata. She assumed that one was female, because it had a bright pinkish color... Then she slapped her forehead for thinking that way. Piñata´s didn't have genders! How could she forget about that, it was about the first thing Doc Patch had ever told her!
''You look special'' she murmured, as she reached out to pet the pink one too.
Ameena had her doubts about the couple. They obviously belonged together, wether this was because they had Romanced with each other or 'cause they were siblings... Then there was also the possibility they were from the same pack, Mallowolves lived in packs, right?
Suddenly she felt the urge to slap her forehead again. These Mallowolfs were tame! They had color, they weren´t black/white like wild piñatas were! No wonder they were so calm and cuddlesome! But who did they belong to?
This situation was getting weirder and weirder... Waking up in the middle of her garden to find two tame, variant Mallowolfs!
The pink one howled indignantly. Ameena didn't know why for a second, but then she realized it must've been because she'd stopped petting. She quickly started again. You never knew how good these 'good' Mallowolves were if you didn't give in to their every wish.
''Oh, yes, you're a very sweet wolve! And... Oh.'' She saw the light blue one watching them in the most piteous way and used her other arm to stroke under its chin, where its paper fur coat was slightly thicker and softer. She sighed. ''How many times, do I have to tell you that you're a sweet little wolve?''
What was she supposed to do with those Mallowolves? They obviously liked attention, so they most probably had an owner who spended loads of time on them...
''Tomorrow morning - or; this morning, I guess we've passed midnight by now - I'll take you guys to the Village! I'll unfortunately have to leash you, but you're okay with that, right? I'll ask around if anyone reconizes you - and that must be! You are such pretty wolves! - and then you'll get back to your loving owner again... He or she must be very worried about you!''
''Arhwhoowhoowhoowhoo!'' The blue Mallowolf howled as it shook its head. That didn´t sound like very eager to get back to whoever he belonged to... Would this go the same as with Katchie, the soaking wet baby Kittyfloss she had found on the border of her garden in the middle of a rainstorm? She hoped not! As much as she´d like to have such high-leveled piñatas in her garden, she had no idea how to nurture them!
Like, what in the world did they eat? Barkbark snacks would not suffice, would they? And no way she had the money to buy them a house, piñata houses were more than half a piñatas value! She had no idea what Mallowolfs were worth, but probably ten times as much as she had in her wallet!
She'd made quite a few big expenses lately, varying from investments in over-priced 'special´ fertilizer to an uneccasary collar for Bouncy... She couldn´t help herself, it just looked so adorable on him! And ´cause she'd felt bad for not getting Katchie anything - he was a domestic piñata too, after all - she´d bought him a bow tie.
''Listen, you gotta understand that I can't keep you guys...''
''Arhwhoooo!'' the pink Mallowolf howled now. How on Earth was she going to get rid of these..?
''Whooohoohoohoo!'' the blue one fell in. It cocked its head in a strange angle. The pink one did the same.
What the..? This was getting more and more absurd! What was wrong with these Mallowolves..? What was up with the strange movements they were making?
Suddenly, the penny dropped. Argh, of course, she could've noticed before!
The Mallowolfs wanted to show her something... They wanted her to follow them in the direction their noses pointed!
''Okay then...'' Ameena said with a trace of hestitation in her voice.
''If that makes you guys happy...''
The Mallowolves started to howl more enthiusiastically, and as soon as Ameena got up from the soft, dewy grass, they ran away with such a speed they were not easy to keep up. Ameena however stretched her legs and arms a bit - sleeping on the ground gave the worst muscle ache ever! - and jogged after the impatient Mallowolves that had taken the lead.
They were pretty far away from her by now.
That something that they wanted to show had to be really important... She didn't know much about Mallowolves, but Leafos had told her that after you've tamed them from Sour-ness, they were the most calm and relaxed piñatas ever.
Except for Newtgat's perhaps, but those little salamanders were downright lazy...
''Slow down a bit! Please!''
Of course Ameena's eyes weren't as good as those of nocturnal piñatas, and eventhough she knew the area surrounding her garden pretty well, she had a pretty hard time moving ahead when the dim moonlight was her only source of lighting... They'd strayed pretty much from her reconizable territory, moreover. Those wolves were running fast...
''Stop! I can't keep up!'' She couldn't even see the Mallowolves anymore... Where the heck were they?
''Arwhooooo!''
The howling sound made it easier to detect the animals... Oh, Gosh, that sounded quite far away... Where in the world had they gone to? They were near some... Rocky area, overgrown with weeds and tough, dark bushes...
''Wait! I can't keep you up! Please...'' Ameena managed to say after two more minutes of running.
Of course talking English to wolves was reasonless... But Ameena had kind of expected them to answer her call... They didn't!
Had they wandered to far away from the girl to hear her? Were they too enthiusiast to pick up any sound at all? Or had they suddenly lost their interest in the Ameena, would they get distracted thát easily?
''Wolves? Wolves? Mallowolves, please!'' she gasped as she came to a standstill.
No answer. No howling at a distance, no barely audible cries, nothing. She'd lost them.
''Okay... I'm going home then!'' she said admonishly. Pity that she'd lost track of the Mallowolves - following them could've been very interesting! - but she had to catch up on some sleep... Waking up outside in the middle of the night regularly isn't exactly good for your rest, after all. ''No more running around in the darkness for me!''
''I agree!'' she heard unexpectedly. ''I call it a night!''
''Huh?''
''Oh... You can't see me, of course! Let me come out of the shrubbery...''
A thin, relatively short man with a huge sombrero stepped out of the bushes. He had an amused smirk on his mask.
''Bart!''
''Ameena! I never considered you the type to run through the wilderness masklessly, and certainly not at this hour of night...''
Redness spreaded over Ameena's dark skinned cheeks as she realized that she had taken her lovely pink Tigermisu mask off when she went to bed last evening... Of course she hadn't been wearing it when the Mallowolves woke her up!
''Don't you worry'' Bart tried to ease her. ''It's pretty dark and an old guv like me can hardly see at night... Now that I think about it, surrounding gardeners should really install some lampposts around here... It's so hard for us merchants to find our way to the more remote gardens... Anyways - what brings you here?''
Ameena didn't know what to answer. 'Oh, two crazy colored Mallowolves... They wanted me to follow them, and I was like - shit, lemme give it a shot!'
''I don't know!'' She giggled Goobaaishly. ''I mean, I suppose I am a sleepwalker...''
''A sleepwalker! How interesting... Or does it bug you to wake up somewhere way different than where you went to sleep? If so, I know a great recipy against sleepwalking, all I'll need is a piece of garlic...''
''No... Thank you.''
Ameena appreciated the good man's helpfulness, but she was not a big fan of garlic... And she was convinced that there was something way different than sleepwalking going on with her.
''Oh, don't you worry, a talented frequently praised Tinkerer like me can hide the taste of a little garlic just fine... Wait...'' His masked clouded in such a way it could even be seen in the murkiness... ''You aren't a sleepwalker, are you?''
Ameena shook her head.
''Can you tell me why you are here, then? You don't seem like a criminal type of person to me... But you're certainly no sleepwalker either, so don't fall back on that excuse lady!''
Ameena bit her lower lip. If she told Bart about the Mallowolf-event... would the whole Village find out tomorrow? She didn't want that to happen! People would think she were crazy... Lottie would give her funny looks every tine she walked into the store, Petula - who was overly bland to her now - would start mean rumours about her, and Patch... What the hell would Patch think? That she was suffering from schiziophrenia and that she had made up two little Mallowolf friends?
NO! She did NOT want that to happen!
''Tell me, Ameena, why are you here? Don't you know that dangerous piñatas and... other things are wandering in the bushes surrounding us as we're talking right now... Why are you taking such a risk?''
''Well...'' she sighed. ''Bart... can you keep a secret?''
''Sure I can! I swear on the craft of Tinkering that I can, Ameena'' he said. ''As long as it is not all too disturbing'' he added giggly.
''I don't think it is... Bart...'' Ameena took a few minutes on considering how to formulate this... remarkable situation delicately. Then she plucked enough courage to say: ''Recently, I've been waking up in my garden quite a few times... I mean; not in the house that Willy built me, literally in my garden... Tonight, something even stranger happened... Two Mallowolves were bending over me as I awoke, and, well... They were... tame, but they weren't purple-y grey like most tame Mallowolves are... One was some... sort of light blue and the other one was pink... They were very friendly, but they made funny... gestures, with their heads, as if they wanted me to follow them... I did, but they were moving to fast so I lost track of them... As you can see.''
Bart remained silent. For too long for Ameena to cope.
''What? Do you think I'm crazy now?''
The Tinkerer shook his head, the brim of his hat flapping with the movement.
''Not at all, young lady! I just think... I... This situation is remarkable.''
''I know, right? But what in the world could this mean?''
Bart began to do sentry-go, while throwing in a few assumptions. ''It is pretty obvious they want to show you something really badly... But we can only guess what that is, if we know who these Mallowolves are... And I...'' A worried expression appeared on the man's mask. ''I have a hunch... No... Well, there do happen more outta-the-way things in the Village and environs lately... You know, the 'Dastardos Incident'...''
The mentioning of the Dastardos incident sent shivers down Ameena's spine. The piñata reaper that first got possessed and then just disappeared still horrified her, especially because she'd been witness of the first part of the story... Tsi - the demon that'd token over Dastardos' body - had tried to kill her and Seedos, after all. Luckily the amazing doctor Patchingo came around to save them...
''Ameena, I think I know who these Mallowolves are and what they wanted to show you tonight. But please don't freak out when I tell you what I think it is...''