The New Kid

"C'mon! Hurry! I don't wanna miss the festival!" A young males' voice cries out in ushered tone.

The warmth of the autumn day is a welcomed one. Normally it's cold in this time of year in Australia. Winter would fall in the coming months leaving time to play outside become less and less. So, the young voice who called his friends over wouldn't want to miss a beat. The border collie, named Mackenzie is thrilled to be here today. It's a weekend event for everyone to come and enjoy free of charge. It's a hosted event from the locals that celebrates the falling of the leaves, meaning the time to celebrate winter would soon to come once the last of the leaves fall onto the ground. Everyone knows it and they want to celebrate the last of Fall (and frankly warm weather) before the snow touches the ground marking the first day of winter. The group of friends included who joined Mackenzie today: Bluey, her younger sister Bingo, Snickers, Jack, Coco, Chloe, and Lucky. The parents all agreed together this could be the day where they all hang out together as long as they stayed with one another no matter what. Of course, the group of children would agree to these terms having not wanted to cause trouble, plus there was a ton of games and prizes to be won! One could try to dunk the pitbull diver if one could aim hard enough, or even to see who could play tug of war longer. Mackenzie rushed ahead leaving the group of friends behind having expected them to follow suite instantly. Of course, a lifting sigh came from Mackenzie's dad who just knew that's how his son was. Always wanted to catch the next adventure where it may find him. Chili Heeler, however wouldn't be so lenient with the group of kids being a mom herself, she's just a worrywart for a good reason.

"Alright kids, remember th' rules. We meet here at the front entrance once it gets dark. Everyone stays together for the whole time. Don't wantcha guys gettin' lost in this maze." She cracked lightly. "We all agree on that?"

"Yes, Mrs. Heeler!" The group of kids would reply back in unison happily. They remembered the rules when they got into the car to go to the festival which was hosted in the town square a little bit near the woods. So; now that everything is agreed upon, Chili would bump her fist excitedly in the air. "Alright, go an' have fun, kiddos!"

With everyone dispersing cheering from the front entrance to catch up to Mackenzie who they would have to remind about the rules, although he wouldn't forget surely. He made a promise to his parents that he would follow the rules as asked. Even though he just barrelled into the festival excitedly having forgot about waiting for everyone. He's been waiting for this moment for the longest time. There'd be music! Games! Prizes! Candy! All the sorts of things that could make anyone go crazy in anticipation. Bandit laughs lightly at this.

"I remember when m' dad used to take me to the Fall Festival. I was so hopped up on sugar by the end I ended up vomiting in the car on the way back." Bandit reminisces. "Course, Stripe n' Rad weren't happy about that so they had t' stop to clean it up. Ahh.. memories." A sigh of bliss. Chili laughs.

"Gonna be honest, hon. This is my first festival here. We didn't have all that where I grew up. Lots of ways from here." Chili answers back.

Pat raises a thumbs up. "Well, that's why we're here to make it memorable!" Pat hummed lowly as if thinking. "I know! Come over here. I recommend any newbie to. It's called the 'Splashin' of the Pot.' Basically whatcha have to do is guess which cards match which. It's basically muscle memory."

Chili decided why not go with it. It's a fresh start and it might be fun to try. "I'll give it a shot, sure. Though don' laugh at me if I don't win!" She glared at the two.

Bandit and Pat raise their hands up defensively. "You have our scouts honor." Bandit replies. Chili though rolled her eyes.

"If I remember correctly, you never went to boy scouts." She said smirking knowingly.

Bandit scoffs as if offended. "I'll have you know that I am pure boy scout! Watch, I'll prove I'm a good sport."

With that, Chili began to approach the male canine card dealer who waved in a greeting manner. The setup of the tent had similarities but to one of those tarot card readers if one could imagine it. It's color a dark purple with golden ribbons attached to the ground by a wooden stake so it didn't fly away with the wind and neither did the cards. His shimmering sunny yellow and white fur slowly flowing in the wind. "Welcome, welcome! My name's Percy. Would you like to test your luck and memory?" It sounded like a genuine slogan. No hidden tricks. Chili stared down at the board to examine it. A wooden table held a set of four cards in sets of four rows making the total cards in sixteen. So that meant she would have to try her luck in memorizing which belonged to which. "Would you like for me to explain the rules?" The other offered. Chili glances back up nervously smiling.

"If you could mate, that would be amazing." She responds. With a nod, the card dealer sat down into his seat across from her and began to flip over the cards which revealed a picture of varying fruits. From strawberries, to apples, to watermelon, to peaches. They were brightly colored and tempting enough to eat right off of the card itself. His hands pull back once he flipped the cards over.

"The rules are really simple. All you have to do is watch the cards on the table. You'll have a minute to memorize which belongs to which, and then I flip them over. If you at least get 5 cards right, you win. You get three strikes if you don't find a pair. But don't worry. It's a really fun way to test yourself, I think." Dang, this guy was good at throwing a good slogan. Chili seemed bought into it. She glanced up at Bandit who gave a nod of approval.

"Alright then, let's do it." Chili says determined. Once the game is on, the card dealer sat back into his seat and watched carefully at Chili who was staring down at the sets of pictures on the cards. Strawberries in the top left and bottom middle, Watermelon in the second row on the right and top first row, peaches on the bottom left and last in the second row, apples were in the third row middle and first row of the last set. This seemed easily enough. Chili had been pretty good at memory since she had to be. After a evaluated minute, the card dealer sat up in his seat and began to flip the rows of cards back to the table where it would have a blank back.

"Okay, take all the time you need. There's no rush." He would say warmly. Chili nodded in response and began to glance at the deck of cards in front of her. She remembered where the peach row was since that's what caught her eye in the first place. Her fingers slip between the pieces of paper and flipped the pair over easily. Peaches were a match. "Great! First pair found!" Percy said cheering her on. Bandit seemed glad that she's catching on really well. Of course he had no doubts about his wife, though Pat could sometimes take it too far with his pride. So; he just needed to show her support regardless. He's happy though that she's taking the first steps of becoming apart of something wonderful. Bandits been apart of the Fall Festival for as long as he can remember. His brothers were always so happy to go when they were smaller. Stripe and Bandit would beg for their parents to take them to the Fall Festival every November. It's a sendoff to Fall and a hello to Winter. It made for a fun day which surprisingly today wasn't cold at a small chill here and there; but that's just apart of the atmosphere.

"There you go, hon. Should be a piece of cake." He said wanting to support her. Even if she didn't win, he would have been happy for her anyway for playing since everyone here at the Fall Festival came here for a fun time. Regardless if they won or not. Now with remained of the rest of the pairs that needed to be found. She glanced back at the set of rows of flipped blank cards. She continued to do this for the next few minutes, flipping over pairs that she believed she had found. She had found the apples and the watermelons. Though, She couldn't remember where the strawberries were again. Raising a brow, she studied the remaining cards in front of her seeming to be unsure where to find the rest. A nervousness ran through her system. She had all these eyes on her behind her and she's trying to prove she can do it on her first try. In a way, Chili's been a competitive spirit. She doesn't show it often, though it sometimes slips through when she doesn't want it to. There's just a few cards remaining. About 4. Meaning she has a 50/50 chance of it being the wrong pair. She exhales calming her nerves.

'Just a game'. She would reassure herself. She decided to go with her gut feeling, her fingers slip between one card. Strawberry. Okay, that meant she would have to flip another card and allow it to be a pair. Or not. She gripped the edge of another card, swallowing lightly as if unsure if she wanted to see the result. Although she knows that her hand already held the card so she supposed that she would just have to break the tension of it being a wrong card or not. Bandit and Pat would lead in seeming to be on the edge of their seats as well. It's...

A Strawberry. Chili wins! Chili exhales a relief of satisfaction upon the results given to her and leaned her head back a bit. Bandit placed his hands on his wife's' shoulders excitedly. "There you go! I knew you could do it!" His giddy tone seeming to outmatch the tension that left the air. The card dealer himself seemed to clap in applause at the sight of Chili winning her first game.

"Congratulations! It was like you were a natural at it!" He said with this huge smile on his face. He's of course happy that someone took the time out of their day to come visit his tent and to play his games. People may have found it boring, but in Percy's mind, a test of wit and a test of memory is something that's fun to do. Even if it's just to distract oneself. He began to clap in applause lightly.

'You have no idea.' Chili would think, though she'd be happy to resonate that energy back to him. "Thanks, mate. It was actually kinda hard if I'm honest." She responded modestly. She's glad that she could play and spend time with her family and friends. As a mother, it's hard to do that a lot of the times. Spent so much doing chores and looking after the kids. Of course she played with the kids at home, but to spend time with people her age for a little while? That's a treat in itself. The card dealer stood up and turned his back.

"For winning so flawlessly, I gift to you the prize of this shirt here AND a stuffed animal." Percy would say and knelt down picking up the two items from his prize bucket. It's a dark pink tee-shirt with a card picture in the middle. Around the card the shirt read 'I won Splashin' the Pot'. The next prize is a stuffed animal deer with silk sunglasses and holding a white and red card in his hooves. They really must've been selling the point of the card game, huh? Chili still took the items with her regardless because she won the game, so her prizes mattered right? She might give the stuffed animal to one of the kids if they wanted it. It's cool looking. Bluey probably would like it. Taking both items into her hands, Bandit places a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh wow, the shirt looks really nice on you. Might have to play this next year." As if imagining the shirt on himself. And who says pink doesn't look good on Bandit?

Pat clears his throat. "Good job, Chili. I'm actually surprised you won that on your first try. I remember when I played this, I didn't win at all!" Pat says a little sheepishly as if embarrassed to admit that. Chili laughs.

"There's always next year, Pat. I'm sure there's still lots t' do here. I want to experience as much as I can before we leave tonight." Chili says seeming as though winning the card game brightened her mood quite a bit. Bandit grins at this.

"Oh absolutely. There's much to be done! And I know where exactly to go next." Bandit would take Chili's hand and pulled her along like a child in a candy store. "Bandit wait! Ahh!" She exclaimed with the rest of the parents seeming to follow suite behind them with their own smiles.

.

.

Meanwhile with the group of children, they had played a game of dunk the diver already with Jack having won the game seeming quite proud to earn a hat with a target icon on it with water splashed around it. "That was so funny! The way he just yelled, it was like "Blaggh!" Jack would imitate following a giggle.

Snickers snorted. "I woulda gottem too if I hadn't hit th' white thing." Snickers sighs defeated. Bluey however seemed to think he did well. They all tried their hand and missed, so, Snickers doesn't have to feel bad. Lucky gives a reassuring expression.

"Don't worry mate, I think it was awesome. We all almost got it! Before the day ends, why don't we try again? Not like there's a limit or anything." Lucky offers which the group seemed to agree upon. There's a lot to do tonight and this is after all their first ever festival. They've heard so much about it from one another from asking about it. Bluey heard it from Bandit at first, then told her friends about to to come join her and Bingo.

Although the pink poodle folded her arms and looked down at the ground as if ashamed. "I don't know, we already did it though and there's a lot I wanna do before it closes.." Coco says hesitantly. Which caused a small disagreement in the group as to what to do further. Bingo looks around for a answer for the group to do.

"How about there? We could listen to the music and dance over there." She says pointing to the group of adults and kids alike seeming to dance and sing along to a performance playing. Everyone looked at one another. Everyone is in disagreement which seemed to put Bingo down a bit. Bluey however gives a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Bingo. We'll go to it soon. It's still really bright out!" Cheering Bingo up, she nodded. Bluey's right. There was still a lot to do events wise and everyone had to take a turn to do what they wanted since Snickers wanted to do the dunk the diver first. Lucky paused to look around himself. His eyes catch a booth where it seeming people are also throwing things what looked like monkeys of sorts?

"What about that? Seems like fun." Lucky pointed at the booth where all eyes catch the booth the golden retriever is pointing at. With no other objections and curiosity arising, The group approaches the booth to investigate what is was further. From a closer inspection, the group of kids in front of them were tossing monkeys as Lucky had thought. They were stuffed animals that had magnets attached to the front of their hands. From what they could gather, they had to aim the monkey into the trees where they would stick and the goal is to get as many monkeys into the trees as possible. Lucky grinned at this. "Oh yeah! This is the one I wanna do." Tail wagging excitedly. Lucky wanted to give his second chance since he didn't win the first game. Chloe giggled.

"Okay, then I'll give it a shot too! The monkeys look really cute. I wonder if that's our prize." With the group game decided for everyone to play 'Toss the Monkey', Lucky would go first up to bat with him grinning happily.

"Hi! I wanna play." He would say staring up at the vendor excitedly, the rest of the kids seeming to follow behind him. Bingo laughing with Lucky.

"Yeah, I wanna toss th' monkeys too!" She said bouncing in place. The vendor seeming to be intoxicated by their excitedness for her to laugh too. Games like these were usually fun for everyone and they attracted an audience when there was nothing else to do. So; these group of friends weren't any different.

"Okay, okay one at a time, kiddos. I got enough monkeys for everyone!" She would kneel behind the counter and began to set out the stuffed animals with the magnets in them. There were about 5 trees in the booth where the vendor would stand out of the way and point to the trees. The vendor would explain the rules so that way no one would be confused. "Alright, guys. Listen close so everyone knows how to play." She continued. "The goal is to get as many monkeys into their trees as possible, and whoever gets as many monkeys into the trees win! Sounds like fun, huh?"

Everyone nodded at her question. They all seemed sold since it seemed simple enough and they all had a fair chance of winning or losing. They didn't win at dunk the diver except for Jack, but this is definitely the second chance they needed. "Alright who wants to go up first?"

Lucky instantly jumped up and down smiling widely. "Me! Me! I wanna go!" Everyone didn't argue since this is the game that Lucky wanted to play. It was the same situation for Snickers when he wanted to play dunk the diver. Everyone had a game they had to choose and play. That's the rules! With Lucky up to play, he's handed the 5 monkeys for the 5 trees, He could aim anywhere basically as long as he got some monkeys on a tree. That's a win in his book. Closing one eye to aim properly, Lucky carefully adjusting his aim and as if tossing something heavy, he would heave the monkey upwards where it's arms could clutch onto one of the trees. And thankfully, it did! One managed to cling onto a tree. He fist bumped the air proudly. "Yes! I got one, guys!" He said turning around to face the group of friends where Mackenzie would approach.

"Awesome! Just four more to go an' you got it!" Mackenzie would say next to him observing Lucky play while waiting his turn. As the golden retriever continued to play. Mackenzie in a way wanted to see how Lucky played so that way Mackenzie knows how to aim and play too. Mackenzie seemed to actually notice that heaving them upwards is actually a good tactic as throwing them wildly would mean that their arms would flail about and not hit at all. With this in mind, he steps back to give Lucky some breathing room. Though, once he stepped back, he noticed that Bingo is staring at something. Knitting his brows, he looks at the direction that Bingo is looking in. He thought at first Bingo was staring at the crowd of people in the music seeming upset that she didn't go yet. Though, her expression wasn't upset, no. It's.. curiosity. "Hey, Bingo. Whatcha lookin' at?" He asked approaching next to Bingo. Mackenzie's question brought the attention of the other kids which unfortunately made Lucky miss one of his monkeys.

"Ah, nuts." He groaned. Lucky still joined the friends where Bingo pointed at the crowd. "Who's that? I never seen him before." Bingo said as if someone would know the answer. And in the crowd of people when one looked hard enough, was someone that stood out like a sore thumb. Through a crack in the crowd stood out a boy, though he isn't a canine like Bluey, Bingo or any of the friends. He had weird antlers attached to his head and had spots on his face. He looked like a weird, discolored Dalmation. He wore a simple white tee and blue denim pants which the group never seen clothing like that before. Draped on the boys neck is a pink scarf that looked like it's seen better days. So has the boy. He didn't look clean as if he had been playing in the dirt. He had a rip in the denim on the side of his left pantleg. His caramel blonde hair reflecting in the sunlight as if melting like the candy. He's preoccupied by the performers on stage. Entranced by it even. The singing could be heard from all the way to the booth since they were next to the singers stage some feet away.

"He looks.. lonely." Bluey said as if saddened a bit looking about the crowd for anyone that looked like his age. Though, there wasn't anyone. There's kids around him, but they were dancing and he wasn't which was the strange part. He just sat on the ground staring up at the stage. He didn't look like he was singing along either. Just.. sitting there.

Chloe tilted her head a little bit stepping forward. "Should we go talk to him? Maybe he doesn't know anyone here." A lot of the locals came here to the Fall Festival which is why the group of friends were going together. A place like this is much better enjoyed with friends. Chloe decided to go talk with the boy since she had a feeling in her heart that he needed company.

"Chloe wait! Mum said we can't go off on our own!" Bluey said frantically. She didn't want to just abandon her friends either, but Chloe knew what she wanted and she's seen as one of the most empathetic people she knew. Bluey having no choice would quickly follow behind Chloe with Bingo tailing behind her. Lucky just folded his arms annoyed.

"Wait, what about my game!? I still haven't finished!" Lucky knows he's not going to get a response back from Bluey from this far. "S-Sorry, I have to go with my friends." Lucky said to the vendor and quickly bounded off behind the group of friends being careful to not be trampled by the crowd. Chloe who seemed to spot the boy was being careful not to spook him off. His ears twitch and quickly turns his head noticing a huge crowd of kids coming towards the dance area. Although they had their eyes set on him instead of finding another spot in the crowd. The boy becoming uneasy stood up from where he was. He's taller then the rest of the group of friends by a good foot or so. He became spooked it seemed like and began to push away from the crowd of other kids and adults.

"Wait, hold on! We just want to talk!" Chloe called out which no response or action came from the strange spotted boy. He just quickly began to break out into a more paced jog. This is weird. Why would anyone run away from them? They didn't show any intention to hurt or bully him. At least, Chloe was sure they didn't. Pushing past the crowd, the boy began to head in the direction of the woods, which is something that no sensible kid would dare go in. Especially if it's slowly becoming mid afternoon by this point. The boy hesitated finally stopping at the entrance of the woods, ears folding back. Panting in exhaustion, the group of seven kids would catch up to the strange boy. Snickers having the most trouble having to catch up since he wasn't athletic at all.

"Okay... here I am. Whoo, that was a run!" Snickers said between breaths. The spotted boy turned his head to face the group of kids swallowing harshly and panting to catch their breath. He didn't speak or say why they were following him. Moreso, he just stared at them widely. His breaths were uneven. Going to show he wasn't athletic either. Coco furrowed her brows at the boy.

"Why did you run away? That wasn't nice, you know!" Still, he didn't speak. He folded his arms to his chest looking at the ground. The sunlight hitting against the back of his skin through the trees making his face look darker in the daylight then it actually was. Bluey, must've thought of something when she watched this boy. She placed a hand on Coco to calm her down.

"Wait, Coco. Maybe he didn't mean to run away. Maybe he's just shy? I'm sometimes like that when I meet new people. I don't know how to respond." The theory seemed sound in the group. They hadn't stopped to consider they came at him head strong without much finesse about it. So; the boy got scared since he wasn't sure how to respond like Bluey said. Coco seemed to take this into account and sighs.

"Oh right.. sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." She apologized to the boy looking at him now turning her attention from Bluey. The by didn't speak, though he nodded in response. Bluey approached the boy cautiously. He hasn't said a word this entire time. They didn't want to scare him again and force him to run into the woods. So; she stood a foot across from him waving.

"Don't be shy, we're all friendly. My name's Bluey and that's my younger sister, Bingo." She pointed at the orange Heeler. "That's Snickers." Pointing at the Dachshund. "That's Coco." Pointing at the pink Poodle. "That's Jack." The Jack Russel. "That's Mackenzie." The Border Collie. "That's Chloe." The Dalmation. "And that's Lucky." The Golden Retriever. They all gave a gave of greeting in unison. That seemed to ease the boy a bit letting his tension lower standing more normally at the group. He gives a once over at all of the group of kids, then breaths in and out.

"S' uh.. noice t' meet you all. M' name is Sub..- I mean.. uh, D-Drake. I go by Drake." Finally speaking. His accent caught them all off guard. It had similarities to Australian, but there was something different about it. Maybe a more advanced accent of Australian? His voice is clearly one that belonged to a child. He's voice is light yet a bit hoarse. He glanced down at Bluey. "Uhm, B-Bluey roight?" She nodded. "Why.. did you guys run towards me? I didn' loike tha'." Bluey laughs nervously.

"Yeah we know we messed up. Sorry, Drake." She apologized in advance. She wishes that they would've gone about it a better way, but what's done is done. Chloe stepped up a bit more closer which in turn made Drake back up a tad bit. This is as far as they were going to get close to Drake. "It's okay, you don't have to be scared of us. We noticed you were all alone and maybe wanted a friend?" She said genuinely. Drake tilted his head.

"F-Friend..?" As if the word was new to him. "I guess.. yur roight. I don' have any friends here. I jus' loiked th' music an' wanted to listen to it." He admits tenderly. He knows that friends were hard to come by because of how he was. Drake didn't even think they would've noticed him to begin with. Maybe because he's a giraffe and not a canid. "I loike music. It makes me feel calm." Drake said to Chloe, a weak smile lifted on his face. Chloe nodded in agreement. "So do I! Me and Bluey play music all the time!" Bluey smiles.

"It's really fun! You just dance and dance until you fall down, hehe!" She giggled at the thought. Though Drake seemed to be a bit ashamed himself from his expression.

"I-I don' know how t' dance. Nevah was taught." Drake said thinking it would change anything. Bluey shook her head.

"You don't need to know how t' dance silly! You just do! Like this." Bluey began to wildly dance in place like there was music playing inside of her head laughing all the while her friends joined in on the dancing leaving the calf confused on what to do. "C'mon, try it!" Bluey said in between laughs. Drake just stared at this spectacle observing it. Watching Snickers spin around in circles kicking at his feet, Drake begins to mimic him in that regard. His rhythm starts slow and janky. As his ears pick up the faint music from the stage aways from him, his movements become more fluid and normal like.

"Am I doin' this roight? I.. I think I am." Drake says looking for the approval of the group of friends. Mackenzie orally agrees.

"Uh-huh! Just like that! Your doin' it right!" He said clapping to add a beat for Drake to follow. Drake still only really knew how to mimic Snickers. Snickers caught on to this seeming proud that Drake, the new boy decided to copy Snickers.

"If ya wanna do a little flair, do this!" Snickers said jumping and then spinning only to fall to the ground on his back. "Oof! Nngh.. but not like that.." Snickers rubbed at his head, picking up his hat and placing it back onto his head. Coco knelt down to examine her friend to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"You okay Snickers?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just hit my back a little."

Drake blinked for a moment. Smiled and then quietly laughed. "You guys are strange. But.. in a good way." He said approaching the pair of kids though steps were still shaky and nervous. Snickers grinned.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said proudly and with Coco and Mackenzie's help, he was situated back onto his feet easily. "So Drake! Wanna come back with us to the festival? There's still plenty to do." Lucky nodded. "We still should finish my game since it wouldn't be fair not to let finish it."

Bingo bounced up and down in place. "Yeah! I wanna go back t' toss the monkeys!" Drake seemed confused. Toss the monkeys? What was she talking about? Drake raised his hand as if he needed permission to speak. "Uhm, toss th' monkeys? What does she mean?" Bingo turned to Drake.

"We were playing a game called Toss the Monkeys. You have to make them land in trees to win." She explained to Drake who still didn't get it, but went along with it.

"I never heard of th' game before. Can you guys teach me t' play it?" Drake asks. Lucky seemed excited to teach Drake something new so he offered up. "Sure! It's back this way." Lucky said wanting Drake to follow him.

Lucky begins to disperse from the area with Drake following behind him away from the rest of the group. Once Drake and Lucky were out of sight, Coco raised a brow and leaned in to Bluey.

"Hey, Bluey? Did you notice anything weird about Drake?" She whispered looking at Drake walking away. Bluey shook her head in response.

"No..? I don't think he's weird, Coco. Maybe he's just never had friends before."

Coco sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We should go back." She says more openly and begins to walk to catch up to Drake and Lucky who were back at the booth again where they had to toss the stuffed animal monkeys onto the tree. It seems Lucky explained Drake the rules out of earshot.

"So; I have t' throw these hard?" Drake stared down at the monkey in his hands and looked back up to the fake trees behind the booth. Lucky hummed unsure how else to explain it better to him.

"Not like.. really hard. Just give em' a toss." Lucky said pretending to throw the monkey upwards towards the tree. "Like that!" Drake watched Lucky pretend to throw a monkey, and then looked back down at it.

"Uhm, okay.." Drake said positioning himself to aim the monkey. Holding the monkey at his stomach, Drake would throw the monkey upwards entirely missinf the tree by it going behind the leaves landing back at the base of the tree. Lucky laughs at this.

"Not like that hard. Here, I'll show you." Lucky takes a monkey from Drake and would stand next to him. "So you wanna throw it, but like not hard. Like this." Lucky would toss up the monkey upwards where it's hands would clasp onto the branch of the tree. Drake's mouth gapes a bit.

"Oooh.. Okay I think I see now." Drake replies and takes a second monkey of the remaining three. Drake eases himself where he stared up at the tree for a few moments, and then just like Lucky gives it a toss onto the tree where it would stick on just like natural.

"See! There you go! Just a good toss." Lucky said patting Drake on the shoulder where he flinched a bit at the touch easing away from Lucky a couple inches.

"Y-Yeah, roight.." Drake notices the rest of the group having watched Drake play the game. "Oh, uhm, I didn't notice you guys came back. You guys wanna play?" Drake offers. Bingo shook her head.

"It's okay! It's fun watching you." Drake surprised by this comment from Bingo, though meekly accepts it. "Thank you, Bingo. S' noice of you t' say." Drake takes another monkey to aim at the tree.

Watching from a distance, Bandit notices the children playing with a new kid since he's sure they came here with eight. Bandit did a VERY quick finger headcount in his head counting the children that came today. Nope. No ninth. Bandit finds that they're smiling and laughing so, it surely must mean a new friend? Bandit thought to himself he should just let them play, but in his years of living, he's never seen anyone like Drake. Someone with hooves, horns and spots. The only spots he's ever seen is Chloe and her dad. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to introduce himself? Besides, the other adults are chatting amongst themselves with water and soda drinks. "I'll be right back, hon." He tells Chili and begins to approach the group of kids at the booth.

"Hey, kiddos! Who's your new friend here?" His voice called out to them. Bandit noticed that upon further inspection that this kid is about the same size to his lower chest. Yeesh, this kid must've hit a early growth spurt. He stood out taller then the kids besides for Snickers who is about the same height as Drake. Bluey smiled at her dad approaching.

"Dad! This is Drake. He's really funny!" Bluey said looking up to Drake. Though, Drake seemed physically uncomfortable slowly backing up behind the group of kids as a shield which Bandit seemed confused about. This kid seemed jumpy, huh? Bingo held at Drake's hand.

"It's okay! He's my dad. He's really nice." Bingo said reassuringly to the calf. Drake still didn't move forward or budge. His hand trembling in Bingo's a bit. "Y-Ya sure?" Drake wanted to make sure he's in safe hands. Bingo nodded at him. "I promise. Dad's the most nicest dad on the planet!" She said grinning happily. If Bingo and Bluey said so.. Drake cautiously moved forward from his shield of kids to cautiously approach Bandit.

"It's okay, dad. He's just really shy." Bingo said helping Drake by moving with him up to Bandit. Bingo knew what it's like to meet new kids and maybe Drake is the same way when he met new people. That's why Bluey helped Bingo ease into new people when it happened. So Bingo wanted to do the same for Drake like Bluey did.

"We met him over there." Bluey said pointing at the music stage where there is still a crowd. Some dispersed, but remained a large crowd. Bandit glanced over to the crowd of people. Though, thankful that they weren't getting trampled by the dancing kids and adults. Bandit was still curious about this kid. "That's good, kiddo. Must've been fun over there! Me and mum were just over there. Bit noisy if you ask me."

Bluey giggled. "That's the whole point, dad! It's super loud and fun!" Bandit couldn't disagree with that. "You're right kiddo, guess I'm just too old!" Faking a back ache giving the kids some reason to laugh. Even Drake couldn't help himself from snorting quietly at this. "Hey, I made him laugh! I'm cool!" Bandit exclaimed. Bingo approached Bandit closer.

"You're always cool, dad." Bingo hugged her dad. Drake's laugh faded a bit. It's good that Bingo had a nice parent. Though, speaking of parents.. Bandit thought of something when he looked down at Drake. "Say Kiddo, where's yur mum and dad? Are they around here?" Drake's ears folded a bit and heart picked up. What does he say!? Drake shifted nervously.

"I-I.. uh.. I don' know." Drake replied back to him which in Bandit's mind wasn't a good thing. Is he lost? Drake's reaction is strange, but Bandit would give him a benefit of the doubt. "Why don't we try looking, hm?" Bandit offers. Drake shook his head dismissively.

"It's okay, sir! I-I can find Em' on m' own. It's not that big of a deal." Drake excuses. Bandit wouldn't press further if he didn't want to, though he doesn't know why Drake wouldn't want help finding his parents. Maybe by the end of the day, Drake would find his parents at the entrance waiting for him just like the group of children's parents would. Bandit nodded.

"Alright, kiddo, if you need any sort of help we'll be over there." Bandit says hugging his kids and beginning to head back towards Chili and the other group of parents. Drake exhales in relief, and holds his arms for comfort. Mackenzie raised a brow from hearing this.

"Ya don't know where your Mum or dad is?" He questions seeming to be concerned by this. Drake shook his head. Drake bites his gums tenderly.

"No. I don't know. Look, can.. we please not talk about this roight now? I'll find em' later." Drake pleads lightly. The group of kids look at one another. Of course the concern is still there, but they weren't going to force him to tell them anything that he didn't want to. That would be mean. Still, they weren't going to give up on the new kid.

"Well.. okay if you say so. But hey, we'll help! This place is really big and you don't want your mum or dad to be worried about you when it becomes sunset." Mackenzie said as he would offer a friendly smile for Drake motioning for him to follow him. "C'mon. There's still a lot we have to do today." With that, the group of kids would take their new friend around the Festival teaching him how to play the varying games had to offer. Adding the calf to their list of new friends they'd want to learn more about.

A/N: hi! Thanks so much for reading this far. I know this chapter is SUPER long but I really had a fun time writing this out for my first fanfiction in so many years. Chapter 2 will be out sometime by Monday or Tuesday so please be on the lookout for the next chapter update.

Drake is a strange kid, but the Heelers will soon learn that Drake isn't just a normal, everyday kid. Until next time on, "Heart of Steel." Bye everyone!