It was one of those common winter nights—you know: long, cold…dark. Well, duh. Of course it’s dark. And this is one of those story openings—dull, uninspired, a clear product of someone who has no idea what he’s typing and is just lazy enough to not care about the backspace. Anyway, this is a story of a boy and his friends and what it means to be together. Find yourself lost looking for the true meaning of the holidays? Well, this is it.
The boy’s name was Fate. He was…something, all right. (Aren’t we all?) He sat alone in a small room that, like this story, was quite unspectacular. In fact, there was nothing in there. Nothing at all. Well, except for Fate, who we agreed is something. And a door. That is, there is a door in the room, not that Fate is a door in addition to being something. His gaze was fixed on that door, as though he was expecting an entrance soon. And so there came to be one.
In walked Xanthe, who did so backwards and on her hands because everything is opposite and upside-down in Australia. They’re weird like that. She tumbled down next to Fate and took a second to adjust herself to the workings of the northern hemisphere. When she had composed herself, she took a curious glance at him and started: “You called?” she said.
“Yes,” he answered, still quite amused by the show he had just witnessed. “Thanks for coming.”
“So why am I here?” she pressed.
“I’ll tell you when everyone else gets here. They’re all gonna ask the same thing.”
“Oh, there are others coming? I thought I was special.”
And she was. Don’t forget that we’re all special little snowflakes. But at that, two more figures came through the door. They sported matching outfits and did this shtick where they’d take turns speaking sentences while forcing them to rhyme.
“The Pika pair are here at last!” Eric-chu started. “Only here because we were asked!” Gemma finished. Both Fate and Xanthe gave disapproving looks that went largely unnoticed. “What is it that you want, Fate?” Gemma started this time. “I hope that we aren’t too late,” Eric-chu completed.
“No, no,” Fate said. “I’ll explain later. Just sit down and stop rhyming, please.”
“But this is what we do!’
“Yup, yup—you know that’s true!”
“Hey, guys,” Xanthe directed at the Pika pair. “I forget: What color is a shiny Metapod?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s orange!” one of the pair replied. And then their eyes widened in alarm and a wonderful silence followed, broken shortly after by a whispered “Thank you” from Fate to Xanthe.
Just then Neo glided into the room, his arms outstretched and his feet very much on the ground. He zipped around the room several times before settling down, facing the others. “Okay, I’m here,” he said. “Why—”
“Wha, I think that’s thunder!” Gemma shouted.
“Is there a storm, I wonder!” Eric-chu added, and Fate and Xanthe breathed a defeated sigh.
“No,” Xanthe said. “It’s just Neo talking. Go on.”
“Why am I here?” Neo completed. “I got the message but there wasn’t a reason given.”
“Fate said we’ll know once everyone else gets here,” Xanthe said.
“How many are coming?”
“Not too many more,” Fate said. “Don’t worry—you’ll all know soon. On that note, here comes another right now.”
Eric-saur entered the room, bringing with him a guitar that had seen much use. “Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah.” he said, and everyone just slowly nodded. “Blah, blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah.”
After a while, Fate finally asked: “Okay, can someone please translate? Whenever he talks, all I hear are blahs.”
“It’s just a regional dialect thing from New Jersey,” Neo said. “It’s okay. I’ll translate. He said that he’s here but doesn’t know why, just like the rest of us. And that he has a special surprise for us.”
Eric-saur nodded. He added, “Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah. Blah, blah blah blah, blah blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!”
Neo translated: “He says that he has a new song that he’s been working on and he’d like to play it for us. And that if we like it, we can listen to it again—as well as many other songs of his—for free online.”
“Well, we’d love to hear,” Fate said and everyone agreed. All eyes were on Eric-saur as he shared with the room his music. During his performance, Shruikan—known to Fate as Shu—joined the room and quietly sat himself in a corner, taking out his mobile phone and losing himself in some games. When Eric-saur’s song finished, they all applauded before jumping at the notice of Shu sitting in the corner.
“Woah, when did you get here?” Xanthe questioned him.
“Couple minutes ago,” he replied. “Don’t mind me.” And he got back to his device.
“Sorry I’m late,” a voice spoke up from outside the room. Sloane came in carrying a large journal and a pen. “I would have been here much earlier, but there were so many sights along the way. I just had to stop and jot down some things every now and then. Everything’s so inspirational, you know?”
“Hey, Sloane,” Fate greeted. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yeah—what do you want, Benedict Arnold?” she said.
“Oh, you’ll see. In the meantime, why not fill out that journal more?”
Sloane gave the room a quick survey. “There’s nothing here,” she said. “Well, that’s okay. I’m a writer. I can be inspired by anything. Or by nothing, in this case.” And she continued her work.
At that moment raucous laughter echoed through the room. The voice was unmistakable and quickly discerned by all: It was Speedy. Well, if she was Speedy in her current state. She bumbled into the room, made her way over to poor Shu in the corner, and accidentally kicked his phone out of his hands. “Oops, sorry!” she said. Shu picked up his phone and scurried to the opposite corner.
“Speedy, you look beat!” Eric-chu said.
“You should have a seat!” Gemma followed.
Speedy complied and explained her situation: “When I got the invitation from Fate, I thought, ‘Hoo, boy, it’s some Fate event. I’m gonna need to prepare myself for this.’ So I did. But don’t worry, I’m still good!”
“Blah blah blah,” Eric-saur said, “Blah blah blah blah?”
Neo knew his task: “He said that that’s a smart idea that we all should have thought of. Do you have any left on you?”
“Oh, sorry, afraid not,” Speedy answered. She turned her head to look around the room and stopped on Shu, whom she had driven from his previous location. “Hey, you in the corner: Wanna hear a funny joke?”
“Uhm, no thanks,” Shu replied.
“Okay, so there was this guy and he walks into a bar,” Speedy began, anyway. “And there were these two hot ladies in there. And the guy walked up to them and said—”
“Speedy!” a thunderous voice boomed from the heavens. “You are not to tell that joke here!”
“Oh, right. Sorry, Sarah. Forgot. This is supposed to be a PG story and all that.”
“Anyway,” Fate said with a long pause. “There’s just one more person we’re waiting on and then we can begin.”
“Who is it?” Xanthe asked.
“He goes by Sacred Fire now,” Fate said. “I think he had some other names before, but I don’t know what they are. Weird guy. I don’t know why I even invited him.”
“Oh, him,” Shu spoke from his corner. “I passed him earlier. He froze on the way here.”
“Oh, never mind him, then,” Fate said. “Let’s start. Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” They all sat politely and looked at him with great curiosity. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I gathered you here today in this…very empty room.”
“We’ve been wondering all this time!” Eric-chu said.
“We’re almost too tired to rhyme!” Gemma added.
“If only,” Xanthe muttered under her breath. Everyone but the pair gave her a single, slight nod of utter agreement.
Fate continued: “As you guys know, this is the holiday season, and that’s the time when friends and families come together just to enjoy each other’s presence.”
“Blah blah!” Eric-saur chimed in.
“’And presents!’ is what he said,” Neo translated.
“Very funny,” Fate said. “I know giving gifts and having fancy decorations and all that stuff is fun, but there’s more to it than that, you know? This time of the year is about being together with the ones you love. That’s why there’s nothing here except us.” He stood up and slowly walked around the room to each person. To each, he gave a gentle look. He made his way back to the center of the room and continued: “The truth is, you’re all both friends and family to me. I just had to let you guys know that—how special you guys are, how much you guys mean to me.”
His lips turned to a warm smile and he glanced around the room at all his friends. But though he was expecting the same reciprocation on their faces, he found instead a row of dropped eyes and glares.
“Okay, Fate—cut the crap,” Sloane spoke up. “Tell us: Why are we really here?”
Defeated, Fate gave a short sigh and plopped to the ground. “To get me 200 coins.”
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@Fate YOU STOPPED OUR MIRACULOUS RHYMING, HOW DARE YOU! It's totally unfair cause we're the most awesomest of Chu. 3:
Originally Posted by Chibi Altaria
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