-April 9th,
2014-
It was a moderately sunny day in Lavyrn Town, and Natallia had planned a picnic with all of her friends.
She grinned, excited with just the thought of it. It was a perfect day to get together, and she'd gotten together all of the essentials. She'd had a little help from her best friend, of course; he was a much more skilled cook than she was, and he was more than willing to assist her in making their snacks. But nonetheless, the plans had been set, and she was ready to meet up with everyone.
She'd picked her favorite spot in town; a secluded little grove, nestled in the corner between two cliffs, on the upper level of the town— half of the town was built atop a hill, and half of it was built at the bottom. She lived at the bottom of the hill, closer to the beach, but the upper half was where all of the infrastructure tended to be, along with all of the pine trees, oddly enough. Regardless, she'd laid out her blanket near a small pond, underneath an apple tree she'd planted some time ago.
Then, she'd sat cross-legged on the pink and white checkered quilt, picnic basket at her side, and started to wait patiently… Or, at least, tried to wait patiently. She couldn't help but fidget, too wound up to stay still for long. She drummed her fingers along her legs.
The faintest edges of the winter chill was still present, so she'd elected to wear a simple pair of blue jeans rather than her usual jean shorts or a skirt. It wasn't enough to stop her from wearing her favorite t-shirt, though, a simple pink garment with a big, dark pink heart in the center. She ran her fingers along her arms. Perhaps that wasn't the best idea, she mused.
Her thoughts about the cold, though, were quickly lost on her when the sound of footsteps reached her ears. She perked up, a wide grin already spreading across her face.
A friend had arrived!
Unsurprisingly, she was met with Robin, punctual as ever. Upon noticing that Natallia was staring, she gave a slight smile and a wave.
Robin was a bird with jet blue feathers along most of her body. They faded into a lighter sky blue color around the edges of her wings, then to white at their tips. She had reddish-orange cheek feathers, and a bright yellow beak. Today, she wore a kiwi green button down and black jeans. She'd arrived around ten minutes early, as she usually did.
Not only was Robin one of Natallia's closest friends in town, but she was also her next door neighbor. As such, they tended to see a lot of each other, which Natallia certainly couldn't complain about. They had rather different personalities, as Natallia tended to be relentlessly bubbly and full of energy whilst Robin was more down-to-earth, but they were close nevertheless.
"Robin!" Natallia called, beaming and waving enthusiastically. "Hi!"
Robin's smile widened as she reached the picnic blanket and settled next to the human girl.
"Hello, Natallia," Robin greeted.
Natallia threw an arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick half-hug. "It's so good to see you!" She cheered.
Robin clicked her tongue a bit. "You say that like you didn't see me just a few minutes ago, la-di-da."
"Well, still!" Natallia huffed. Then, she noticed something. "Hey, what do you have there?"
"Something for our picnic," Robin replied with a proud smile, brandishing a big bottle of grape juice.
"Ooh, nice!" Natallia exclaimed. "It's the fancy kind and everything!"
"Of course," Robin nodded. "Nothing less for my dear friends."
"Aww, shucks!" The girl giggled, taking the bottle into her own hands. "Ah yeah, this is the good stuff… What year is it?"
Robin blinked. "Natallia, it's grape juice, not wine."
"Hmm… Looks like 2010— no— 2009?"
"If it was that old, it'd be turned to sludge by now, darling."
Natallia pouted. "C'mon. You're no fun."
Before Robin could reply, another voice called out, light and cheery.
"Hey, everyone!"
The pair turned to see a familiar face— Carmen. She was a rabbit, and had also arrived early. She had dark brown fur, with cream highlighting her paws and her face. She had long ears and a gap in her buck teeth, which was always visible because she was always smiling. She was wearing a green plaid dress with thick straps, the hem of which fell just below her knees. She practically skipped up towards them with a bright beam.
"Carmen!" Natallia called with a smile.
"Hi~!" Carmen giggled excitedly, quickly taking a spot across from Robin. "It's great to see you guys!"
"For sure!" Natallia nodded. Robin nodded along with her, smiling.
"Hey, what do you have there?" Robin asked, gesturing to a small box Carmen had in her paws.
"Oh, this? I thought I'd bring something along for our picnic!" Carmen announced, presenting the box with a delighted little flourish.
"Oh, nice! Chocolates!" Natallia exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"Aren't they adorable, nougat?" Carmen gushed. "They're made in all sorts of fun shapes, since it's nearly easter! They were just too cute to leave behind at the store!"
"Ah, they look lovely," Robin remarked approvingly.
"Thanks!" Carmen said. "They've even got caramel centers!"
"Fuck yeah!" Natallia said, pumping a fist.
"You've certainly got a sweet tooth, don't you?" Robin laughed. "Between this and the juice I brought, I'm worried you'll be bouncing off the walls, la-di-da…"
"Ooh, you brought something too?" Carmen asked.
"Yes— right here," Robin replied, gesturing to the grape juice.
"Awesome!" Carmen smiled.
"Indeed— great minds think alike," Robin said, smirking.
"Hey, Carmen— what year do you think this juice is from?" Natallia asked with a sly grin.
"Huh? Wouldn't it be this one?" Carmen mumbled, tilting her head obliviously.
Natallia frowned. "Boo, boring…"
"What?"
"Don't worry about it, dear," Robin assured, patting Carmen's shoulder.
"Hmm… Alright!" Carmen shrugged, smiling.
"Ack! Betrayal….!" Natallia swooned, as though about to faint. "Carmen I didn't think you of all people wouldturn on me like this!"
"Aww, there there, nougat," Carmen giggled, opening up the bag of chocolates. "Here, this'll make you feel better."
"All of your crimes have been forgiven," Natallia declared, immediately tearing into the packaging. Carmen giggled harder.
"Hey, what time is it, anyway?" Robin asked.
"Hmm… Noon!" Carmen answered after quickly checking her phone.
"Ah, that's when I said we should all meet up," Natallia said. "Everyone should be here soon… Hey, where's—?"
"Hello~" Came another voice from behind Carmen.
"Ack!" The bunny flinched hard. "Purrl~! Don't sneak up on me~!" She whined.
Purrl just chuckled a bit, and claimed a spot next to Carmen. She was a calico cat, with a sleek white coat of fur. It was dotted with spots in varying shades of brown ranging from clay to caramine. She had bright yellow eyes and naturally long eyelashes, which suited the sly smirk she usually wore quite well. She was wearing a dusky purple dress with lilac accents, and had on a matching eye shadow, fashion-conscience as always.
"Man, you're right on time!" Natallia noted. "Usually you show up a bit later."
"Well, I can't allow myself to become so easily predictable, or I'll lose my mystery," Purrl smirked.
"Mysterious? Is that what you're going for?" Natallia deadpanned, barely able to hold back a mischievous little grin.
"Hmph!" Purrl pouted playfully. "Why, I never! Is this how you treat all of your esteemed guests?"
"Why, I never? What are you, fifty?"
"How rude!" Purrl huffed. "You know, I was going to share the snacks I brought, but now I'm not so sure you deserve them, kitten!"
"No, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it—" Natallia scrambled. Purrl laughed a bit.
"Oh, alright, alright, settle down," she said, rolling her eyes. She offered up some cheese, cold cuts, and crackers, displayed immaculately on a saran-wrapped tray.
"Ooh, fancy!" Natallia grinned. "Man, I didn't know this was gonna be a potluck!"
"Well, it's only polite to bring along food for this sort of thing, isn't it?" Purrl asked, in the tone of someone who already knew the answer.
"Is it?" Natallia questioned, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "I've never heard of that…"
Purrl paused. "Hmm… Well, now that you say that, I'm not quite sure," she shrugged. "Admittedly, I haven't been invited along to all too many picnics. I know it's polite to bring a gift when visiting someone's house, so I assumed picnics would operate under similar rules."
"Huh… Well, good to know," Natallia said. "Geez, wasn't expecting a discussion about proper picnic etiquette today…"
"Well, perhaps you should've expected it when you insulted me as soon as I arrived, hmm?" Purrl childed, leaning in haughtily.
"I said I was sorry!" Natallia laughed, shoving her away lightly. Purrl smiled, unable to fake annoyance for long.
"So, did the rest of you bring anything?" The cat asked, curious.
"I've got chocolates!" Carmen called, jostling the bag.
"Ah, a wonderful choice."
"I brought grape juice," Robin said. "It should go nicely with your charcuterie."
Natallia squinted confusedly. "Char— what?"
"Charcuterie, dear," Purrl repeated. "It's essentially another word for a snack tray."
"Oh, god," Natallia lamented. "You're both way too fancy for me…"
"It's alright, nougat," Carmen said in a mock-whisper, leaning towards the human. "I didn't know what that meant either, for serious."
The pair broke into giggles. Purrl and Robin rolled their eyes a bit, before laughing along as well.
"Hey," Natallia said after they all settled down a bit. "It's a bit past noon now, isn't it? Have any of you seen—"
"Sorry!" The final voice called from the distance. Natallia immediately perked up, causing the others to share knowing looks. "Sorry, sorry, I'm coming!"
And there he was— Bones, jogging towards them. He was a dog, a beagle on his mother's side and some sort of terrier on his father's. He was white-furred, and had droopy ears which faded into a gray color near their ends. He had a brown patch around his right eye, and his muzzle and paws were tipped lightly in pink. He was wearing a brown shirt, patterned in differing shades, and blue jeans. He looked sheepish at the moment, probably because he was late— something that was quite unusual for him— but he wore a toothy grin nevertheless.
He was also, in Natallia's personal opinion, the cutest person on the entire planet, not that she'd ever say it out loud— the others would definitely make fun of her if she said something that sappy. Not to mention that it would probably just confuse him.
"Hey, buddy!" She called. "Woah, what've you got there?"
Bones skidded to a stop, and dropped an armful of fresh cherries on the center of the blanket somewhat haphazardly.
"Ta-da!" He smiled.
"Ah, nice! My favorite!" Natallia said, picking one up. She paused for a moment. "... Why're they wet?"
"Well, when I came outside to come to the picnic, I saw a bunch of these all ripe and good-looking, so I knew I had to pick some," Bones explained. "But then I realized that we probably shouldn't eat them without washing them first, so I had to go back to my house to rinse them off, and then I realized I was late, so I had to run… I might've lost a few on the way, yip yip…"
"Aww, how sad…" Natallia sniffled. "Poor cherries…"
"I know, right?!" Bones lamented, slumping next to her. "So sad…"
"If he was so worried about them being dirty, why'd he drop them like that?" Carmen asked Robin quietly.
"Shh, don't tell him that, it'll upset him," Robin replied. "I'm… Sure it's fine."
"Anyway, now that the gang's all here, it's finally time to reveal my ultimate secret!" Natallia grinned. "Everyone, behold!"
With that, she opened up the basket dramatically, presenting its contents. It contained a wide variety of sandwiches, a large packet of chips, a big cobb salad, a jug of lemonade, and some brownies, along with all of the needed utensils. The group made appreciative sounds accordingly.
"Very nice, very nice," Robin nodded.
"Ooh, peanut butter and jelly!" Carmen exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "Perfect!"
"Wonderful, selection, kitten," Purrl said. "... You had Bones help with it, didn't you?"
"Hey!" Natallia pouted. "... Yeah. He's the best, right?" She admitted with an adoring smile.
"For serious!" Carmen chimed between bites of sandwich.
"Yes, certainly. You both did an excellent job. It all looks lovely," the cat conceded.
Natallia grinned, giving a cheesy thumbs-up. "You bet!"
Bones laughed. "Aww, it was nothing…" He looked around, before noticing everything everyone else brought. "Oh, wow, you all brought stuff too?! Awesome, yip yip!"
"Naturally," Purrl preened. "Really, did you expect anything less of us?"
"Oh, this is great!" Bones cheered. "Wow, we've even got the fancy kind of grape juice and everything?!"
"Of course," Robin smiled, prideful.
"Man, this stuff's the best… Hey, what year is it from?"
Natallia clapped, exclaiming, "That's what I said!"
"Oh, my…" Robin shook her head, chuckling.
"I thought it was 2009, maybe 2010."
"Really?" Bones asked. He leaned in to get a closer look at the bottle. "Hmm… I would've said 2006…"
"Really now?" Natallia said, shocked. "That far back?"
"It's hard to tell, but I think so."
"Well, you know more about fruit juice than me," Natallia nodded. "I'll take your word for it."
"Alright, alright," Purrl rolled her eyes. "Just eat your food, already."
"Thank you for your wisdom, oh great juice expert," Natallia said, bowing her head. "Now it's food time."
"Food time, food time!" Bones grinned, tail wagging as he found a sandwich for himself. Natallia followed his lead, taking one in hand.
"Bon appétit!" She grinned, and chowed down.
As the grass swayed in the gentle wind, the group enjoyed a wonderful meal together. There were plenty more smiles and laughter. Jokes were shared, and warmth seemed to radiate from them all. The sun shone brightly, and all was well.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, everyone!
So, good news! So far, one actual chapter in, I've stuck to the biweekly upload schedule! That's a win. Admittedly, I was actually a bit concerned I wouldn't make it, which would've been pretty bad. Here's a secret; I do, indeed, have a good deal of chapters prewritten, but they're, uh. Not actually in order. So I was a teensy bit worried about that, but we're good, lmao. Next few ARE already prewritten though, so nothing to worry about there, for a while.
I actually decided this chapter would be next kiiinda last minute (i.e., a few days after posting the prologue) because I figured things would make more sense that way. It's still kind of exposition-y, what with introducing all of the main characters and all, but hopefully it's a bit more fun than the last chapter. It's weird trying to, like. Actually be funny in writing again. Hopefully it was entertaining, I guess! And informative about the characters. That's kind of important. Man, trying to write properly is Something.
Usually you don't really have to worry TOO much about character introductions in fanfiction, since generally everyone already knows who everyone is, but Animal Crossing is kind of a special case, considering the main characters (minus Natallia who's an OC) are four out of literally 413 villagers...
Anyway, since I haven't had this one prewritten for literal months, I'm a bit nervous about it, since I haven't had quite as much time to proofread and all. Again, hopefully it's good, and entertaining! Please do feel free to let me know what you think.
Also, fun fact: Apparently, it's actually IMPOLITE to bring stuff along to a picnic, according to Google! Didn't know that until I fact checked it just before posting this, so I had to change some dialogue around, lmao. I would've thought it was the other way around! I mean, I'D be happy if someone brought extra snacks to MY picnic. But Purrl being so confidently wrong about that is REALLY funny to me, so it works out just fine, lol. Anyway, no idea if that's common knowledge or not. Sound off in the comments, I guess?
Well, I guess that's the end of my rambling for now. It's good I didn't go on for quite as long as last time, lmao. Anyway, have a great day, everyone, and see you all in two weeks! Next chapter should be, perhaps, a bit more familiar to anyone who's returning from the original work. :)
