Celebrations
8
Sunday, 2nd January, 1966
The carriage landed on the pad on the outskirts of Virto, and the door opened. The water town bustled with the sounds of the people walking the streets and talking. Lord De Jou stepped out onto the wooden dock and handed the pilot some coins before gesturing for the teenagers and his wife to follow.
As Aaron stepped onto the wooden dock, he felt the wood move beneath his feet. He wobbled and grabbed hold of the rope holding the dock together. He took a deep breath and looked across Lake Estok. The water-type pokémon swimming beneath his feet and all across the lake while the citizens surfed, swam and rowed over the water. Footsteps caught his attention, and Aaron fell back.
"I brought the crutches you asked for. I will leave them here," a voice said.
With an understanding nod, Lord De Jou picked them up and carefully tucked the wooden crutches underneath Mylious's arms. He moved Mylious's fingers so they were wrapped around the handles firmly.
The serene sound of the lake water splashing all around them was overwhelmingly calming, and the warmth of the Colran weather leaned on them like a new friend. Beads of sweat had started to form on the teenager's foreheads.
"Sir, it's too hot," Aaron said, hoping the Lord Elite would do something to help. However, his words were ignored, as Lady De Jou and Lord De Jou's attention was still drawn to helping his friend. "Sir?" Aaron repeated.
"Hmm?" Lady De Jou responded with her gentle voice. "What's the matter, Aaron?" she asked, her concern evident. "Oh, are you feeling too warm, sweetie? Well, why don't we find a cool spot for lunch and enjoy the puppet show? After lunch, we can join in the festival activities while we wait for your dad." Her words were filled with warmth and understanding, and she hoped to offer comfort to the overheated teenager.
Aaron nodded, his brain racing with curiosity. "I am surprised it isn't snowy here… or even cold. It's winter." Aaron cautiously made his way towards the non-floating walkway, his steps unsteady until his feet found purchase on the more stable planted dock. "That's better." Aaron's spirits lifted as he bounced on the tips of his toes before jogging over to one of the wooden benches by the water's edge. He slid under the large rectangular green-coloured parasol and sat down. He let out a massive sigh of relief as the shade coated him. "Better. Oh wow! Is that a pink squawkabilly? I've only ever seen blue ones…"
"That's right, Aaron. Here in Colran, squawkabilly are green and pink, sometimes yellow. In Elktan, they are mostly blue and yellow. You know what else is a different colour in Colran?" Lord De Jou asked, sitting down next to him.
"No sir," Aaron said.
"The gastrodon and shellos, sir," Clarence said, sitting opposite Aaron. He let out a deep breath as the shade coasted over him. The squawks of the pink squawkabilly were loud but not unpleasant. Clarence leaned against the wooden table. "Are they dangerous, sir?"
"Mostly the pink squawkabilly feed on water type pokémon like arrokuda, velvuza. Some will go for popplio or even omanyte." Lord De Jou shuffled over and noticed Erik was sitting next to his wife on the other side of the table, still petting the ponyta. "Why don't you boys let your pokémon out? We will pay for food for them and you." He smiled at them. "You can have whatever you want. Here is some money for the stands."
The glowing red of the poké balls consumed the small area as Aaron's Samurott and Salamence popped out. I don't think letting an Onix in a crowded space would be a good idea. Aaron saw Erik's ponyta and houndour sit by the table. Mylious's joltik sat atop his head, happily squeaking and jumping away, while Clarence's alakazam's ears twitched out of curiosity. Before Aaron could stop him, his samurott dived into the water, splashing around.
"Go on, boys, get what you want and come and sit back down with us." Lady De Jou kissed her husband and walked over to one of the stalls.
Aaron followed her. The vibrant stalls and their colourful overhangs caught his attention. The smell of the food wafted into his nose.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Lady De Jou asked, her hands carrying dishes of what looked like potatoes shaped into twists and some fried velvuza.
"There's just… so much… I've never had any of this stuff…" He saw Mylious, Erik, and Clarence also looking around, unsure of what to do. "Wait, I have an idea… Clarence, Erik, Mylious, what if we get something different each and share it? That way, we will get to try all of it! If I get a big dish of those potato twist things and some fried velvuza, Mylious can get some qwilfish on sticks and some of those bitter berry dips, oh and Clarence could get some amoongus and alcremie things, and er Erik can get some drinks!" Aaron bounced on his toes excitedly.
"Always the tactician…" Erik muttered. "Sounds good. You know, you aren't always useless, little brother." He smiled again, petting his ponyta and wandering off to get some drinks from the stalls.
Aaron walked up to the stall and said, "Er… one of er… 'putshavirllgrosté' please." His tongue twisted over the word and he almost forgot to include the letter 'r', however, the young woman running the stall gave him a warm smile back, and served him a large portion of the twisted potatoes and vevulza. Aaron cupped his hands as he held the hot food in its casing and carried it back to the table.
He quickly placed the food down and sat next to Lord De Jou and his brother, Erik. The smell that was wasted from the food was more pungent now, and his stomach rumbled. He picked up a potato twist and took a bite out of it. The bitter-spicy blend danced on his tongue, and he took another bite.
"Good?" Lord De Jou asked.
"Can I have some, please, Aaron?" Clarence asked.
"M-me too… it looks nice… and I didn't really l-like the qwilfish… I-I am sorry…" Mylious whispered.
"Huh?" Erik said, screwing his face up. You wouldn't… all you do is stutter and cry. I'm better than you and I… he sighed. "Here, try the velvuza instead…" he muttered, trying to keep his temper in check, even though it bubbled beneath the surface.
"That's right, sweetie, you need to eat if you want to get your arm re-branded how you want it to look." Lady De Jou handed the honey juice drink to Mylious and another to Erik, Aaron and Clarence.
Aaron scooped up some potato twists and placed them on his plate. There, now my friends get more than I do, and that's fine. It's my fault we are in this mess anyway. His fingers twitched, and he picked up a qwilfish on a stick, taking a bite out of it. The taste of the usually prickly water type flooded his mouth, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. That was… interesting. I don't know if I like it or not. He put it down and took a piece of the amoongus, and the squishy pokémon taste filled his mouth. "Better," he said before taking some durin berry spread and piled it onto some of the potato twists. "Colran food is interesting. I still prefer Elktan food, but I wouldn't mind having some Colran food now and then."
Behind the sitting group, the puppeteer was gathering a small crowd, catching Mylious's eye, and he whispered, "What's that?" Relieved he didn't stutter over his words this time, he watched on curiously.
"Oh, they are going to do the story of the Fire and Ice brothers… the very abridged version anyway." Lady De Jou noticed Mylious's curiosity growing through expression. "We can watch with you if you want?"
Mylious nodded. "Do you think they will t-track us using our holo-d-devices on our arms?"
Lord De Jou turned to watch the puppets. "Perhaps, however, that's okay. We will keep an eye of it."
The puppeteer raised the two puppets and wiggled them around. The first, in red, depicted the Fire Brother, and the one in white, the Ice Brother.
"Farewell, brother! Explore our great island, and tell me what you find!" the puppet of the Fire Brother said.
The teenagers watched on curiously, not understanding everything but giggling at the puppets hitting each other with flimsy cloth swords. The younger children in the front watching the show started to cheer for the puppets as they hit each other, and the puppets of their pokémon, a hydreigon and an abomnasnow, also began to hit each other with cloth swords.
"Oh no, whatever will I do now!" the puppet of the Fire Brother exclaimed. "My brother is dead, and my people hate me."
"Not all your people," the puppet with the scar said, almost too cheerful to be taken seriously.
Aaron tilted his head slightly as the Colrat words went over his head. What is it saying? Why is it so happy? I don't even get what this show is about, but it is pretty funny.
Lord De Jou sighed and looked at Aaron and the other teens. "Well, Colran didn't exist until the Fire Brother made it. You see, Colran's history is minimal compared to Elktan's rich and complex history. We were forged from the failings of a Kilgorese ruler." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Although, the Kilgorese saw it more as a snatch of land and weren't too happy about the whole thing."
Erik paused his petting of his ponyta, who scowled back at him. Unable to form the words in Colrat, he resorted back to Elkrat, "How do you know? Aren't you the ruler of Colran and our enemy?"
The Colran Ruler's eyebrow twitched at Erik's words, but he looked at his own hands before reaching for the empty glasses on the table. "When I was a young boy, younger than you, a very bad man was doing very bad things. My parents knew I was psychic from a very young age, and the very bad man was purging and recruiting psychics to serve under him. So my parents took me to Yaer City, stashed me on a boat heading for Kilgor and sent me away. I was seven years old. I grew up in a place far from home. I was treated like an outsider, almost as bad as an off-islander. When I came back, the bad man was still doing very bad things, and Colran and, technically, Elktan didn't exist. I forgot the name he called his nation. I suppose I didn't care."
"And then you and Lord Elite Hamilton beat the shit out of him? Right?" Erik exclaimed, hoping to hear about the battle. "Was your army big? Did the Kilgorese help you? What about our dad?"
"It wasn't that simple. He wasn't a Lord Elite back then. He was the bad man's servant. We had no army, only our pokémon – the battle is too gruesome to talk about here." Lord De Jou sighed, turning his attention back to the puppets.
Aaron tilted his head once again, filled with more curiosity. "How come we've never heard about this bad guy? Was it that Ghetz guy?"
"Some parts of history are too painful for people to want to remember – others bury it to avoid repeating the mistake via fanatics. Some people are too traumatised to want to talk about it. Tyrants are bad news." Lord De Jou clenched his fist. "I hope your father stops before I stop him."
Silence rang out, only broken in part by the water slushing against the dock. Even the loud squawkabilly that had been chattering and squawking throughout the play had gone silent. It was as if the whole world was waiting for the man to say something else.
At the end of the table, Clarence tightened his ponytail and got up from his seat. The eyes of the others wandered over to him, hoping he'd break the silence. However, he bowed his head respectably before sitting back down.
Aaron waited a few more moments before saying, "I'd like to hear the story before my dad comes here if that's okay…" He stood up and stepped out from under the parasol. His green hair shimmered and almost looked an odd shade of yellow in the sunlight. "Um, sir, can we do some festival stuff, please? I'd really like to understand more about Colran and stuff. Especially since I assume ice skating is off the list of activities…" He smiled, hoping to lift the mood around him.
The sounds of the arrows thudding into the targets filled the air of the small park as those waiting for a turn whispered and chatted under the single tree in the middle. Beside the tree stood an iron water pump whose tank was being refilled by a blastoise. The blastoise's brown and grey shell looked almost slick, and its grey water cannons were quickly refilling the tank. Its blue body made it stand out among the green flags that lined the benches and stands. Even the flowerbeds refused to show a sign of blue.
Another arrow thudded into the target, catching Aaron and Erik's attention. The two teenagers walked quickly over the grass to get a closer look. A Lord and Lady had both drawn their bows and were shooting at the pokémon cut-outs, which left Aaron stunned. This is pretty cool. I bet Dad wouldn't let anything like this happen. He leaned in, and his elbows pressed against the wooden fence that was stopping anyone from stepping into the path of an arrow.
Erik looked down at the floor and let out a sigh.
"Hey, Erik, let's… are you okay?" Aaron said. He extended a hand to his older brother.
"Seeing all the Colran doing this stuff, and seeing their parents helping them… ugh… I wish Dad had actually done some of this stuff with us. You know? I have my first pokémon now. Mine. I caught her on my own… I wasn't just given her. Now this?" He scowled and slumped down by the fence.
Aaron screwed up his nose. That made no sense whatsoever. A few eyes locked onto them both, but for the most part, Aaron felt as if their nationality wasn't going to be an issue, so with a confident expression, he said, "Hey, Erik, let's have a go. I'm sure they won't mind helping us."
"It's… that's not the point… the point is Dad clearly doesn't care about us – he only cares about having an heir and his current state as Ruler of Elktan. I hate the fact that the Ruler of Colran is less of a dickhead." Erik buried his face in his hands. A hand rested on his shoulder, but the overwhelming realisation left Erik frozen with sadness.
"Come on, Erik…" Aaron said, walking over to the group of Colran hunters who were running the archery game. In his best Colrat accent, he said, "Can we have a go, please?"
The hunters' eyes brushed over them with suspicion. However, they nodded hesitantly. "You shot an arrow before, Elkran?" they asked with a little snarl.
"No sir, no miss," Aaron said as he stepped back with uncertainty. He could feel their cold glares dart over him once more. "We… we just want to have fun. Are we allowed to take part in this game?" he asked again, softening his voice.
"They can play unless you have an issue with them. In which case, you have an issue with me," Lord Bradford said.
"Y-yes, my Lord," they responded, stepping to the side.
When the flaming tauros shit did he get here? Aaron thought. "T-thank you, sir." Aaron stepped up onto the shooting gallery starting line and skimmed over the three bows available to choose from. "What do I pick?" he asked himself. His focus broke at the sound of Erik's footsteps approaching the second starting line.
"So, you two are going for the grand prize?" Lord Bradford asked with a smug grin.
"Grand prize?" Aaron asked back, reaching for one of the bows.
"That. That is one fine bow." Lord Bradford pointed over to the bow on the stand behind the hunters. His branded lower arm was visible as his sleeve fell. He cautiously approached the hunters, stepped past them, and examined the bow. "Is that tropius wood? No, it looks too light…"
"Trevenant wood and the string is made from drampa hair," the older hunter corrected, adjusting their grey cap and jacket.
Aaron's smile widened as he looked at the pattern on the bow. "It looks nice… I wish I could shoot a bow. Then I'd have an excuse to want something like that."
Aaron? I will win that bow, Erik thought, pulling back the bow on his side of the gallery and awkwardly attaching an arrow to the string. "I'm going to win it. Just watch." The string tensed as he squinted. With a full exhale, he released the string, and the bow wobbled as the arrow shot forward toward the cardboard cutout of the sawsbuck, just skimming over the top of its antlers. "Fuck it," Erik shouted and reached for another arrow. I only have four left. Come on…
Aaron pulled the bow he had picked up back, his heart racing from being able to try something new. His hand trembled from the tension, and he released the arrow. It shot at the sawsbuck, but similarly to Erik's arrow, it shot over the top and into the wall. "My arms hurt…" Aaron whispered.
"Ha, yes, I suppose they will if you've never shot a bow before," Lord Bradford responded. Thomas, these kids… are you sure you don't want to keep them and use them against Ellio? He leaned against the fence as he watched Aaron and Erik pick up another arrow each. "Let me give you some advice?"
"Sure," Aaron said, looking to the Lord.
"Straighten your back when you fire. It will make aiming easier instead of slumping over." Lord Bradford took his bow off his back and demonstrated.
Erik nodded. Using his superior strength, he pulled the string back with his arrow and released it. The arrow soared slightly faster than before, and this time, it struck the rear of the cutout. "Nice!" he shouted. "I did it!"
Aaron smiled. Great job, Erik. Now it's my turn. He took a deep breath and drew back the string with the arrow. His muscles tensed, and his hands shook as he fired. The arrow wobbled and flopped down before reaching the sawsbuck cutout. He looked down at the arrow, and his heart sank. "I can't do it…"
"Going to give up because you can't do it immediately? That's typical of an Elkran," Lord Bradford said.
"Oh yeah?" Erik blurted out. "You think you are better? Why don't you prove it?"
Lord Bradford shrugged and picked up the larger bow. He pulled the bow back and tilted his cap back before releasing the arrows again and again. Each arrow struck each cardboard cutout squarely in the head. "Perhaps don't challenge one of the best archers in the Colran Guard to a shoot-out?" He smirked. "As no one else is waiting, I'm sure these hunters won't mind you practising your shots. I will help you. Lord Elite De Jou will be back soon."
"Oh, I believe he is with your blue-haired friend, er… Camerence?" Lord Bradford said.
"Clarence," Aaron corrected and let the Colran Lord help him adjust his positioning so he could fire another arrow.