Frost and Fireworks

Tonight, the forest was overwhelmingly quiet. If a Gachagon dwells within the confines of the brush and trees long enough, like Raiden has, they’ll quickly learn that means something is wrong. Of course, Raiden knew what was “wrong” with tonight. Still, he couldn’t shake the chills that ran across his spine over the thought that something terrible had happened… or worse, was going to happen.

Speaking of chills, Raiden grimaced as he looked at the cabin door. The only thing that could soothe his fear of the forest’s eerie silence was proving to himself that nothing was truly wrong. In other words, he’d have to climb his way up the canopy and watch the fireworks show from the Keep nearby to ensure that the only “abnormal” thing about tonight was the event. He was no stranger to climbing trees, at least, in decent weather. However, when each year’s first frost permeated the forest with its bone-piercing chill, Raiden immediately bunkered down for the winter, rarely surfacing from the warm and cozy walls of his cabin. It already took so much inner convincing to leave its walls to restock vital necessities. Leaving the comforts of his home for a fireworks show seemed like a joke in this weather. However, Raiden just couldn’t stop his thoughts from nagging away at him. He had to see it, if only to settle his mind down.

Besides, it wouldn’t be a completely worthless venture. The fireworks were bound to be quite the sight.

Fine, he’ll do it.

Raiden lumbered out of the pile of blankets he had nestled himself into. Step by step, he worked up the effort to move out of the den and approach the cabin door. With the door handle in his paw, he huffed out a long, deep sigh. He felt some sort of sinking feeling settle in his stomach. Once the cold hit him, he knew he’d be too awake and alive to shrug it off. After he opens this door, there will be no turning back until the new year has arrived.

Raiden’s snout scrunched as the freezing winter air hit him head on. As he expected, he was alert now for sure. From the doorway, he could see… well, that’s the problem. He could barely see anything. The evergreen foliage surrounding his cabin was painted with icy blues and cobalts by the light of the moon overhead. However, as the canopy that waned above the cabin reformed over the forest trail, it filled the forest with the thick, unrelenting darkness of the winter night. He had never realized just how dark it could get until then. 

With a shudder, Raiden threw a shawl over his shoulders and stepped out of the cabin. His mind raced as he tried to figure out which tree would give him the best view — the sooner he got out of the dark and into the moonlight, the better. Surprisingly, it didn’t take him long before he found a good candidate. From what he could tell, the tree he had found peeked above the canopy just enough to get a decent view of the Keep, or at least, the fireworks that would come shooting up from it. It would have to work well as a lookout point regardless, since he refused to venture any further out into the darkness of the path ahead. 

Extreme cold and eerie darkness aside, everything was turning out pretty ni—

His ears turned towards the sound before he even realized there was a sound. He looked out into the void of the forest where it came from, eyes quickly tracing the abyss, hoping to glean some new piece of information from it. However, there was nothing new to be taken in —there was only darkness. With no new leads, his mind began unpacking what had just happened. The sound he had heard was a crunch, as if someone had stepped on something along the trail. Raiden picked up his paw and, to his relief, found a cracked stick underneath. The dark was getting to him, and he had gotten all worked up over nothing at all.

… Right?

Raiden quickly began making his way up the tree. Or rather, he made his way up as quickly as he could, anyway. He’d make little stops along the way up to readjust his shawl or try to warm his frozen bones, but he eventually reached the treetop.

In the end, it really was worth it. The fireworks hadn’t even started, but the view was still incredible. The moon cascaded over the forest, covering the evergreen leaves and deciduous brambles in an ethereal glow. The beauty of it all made him quite content. If he couldn’t start the new year off cozy in the den of the cabin, at least he could ring it in admiring sights like these. With the fireworks show starting soon, those sights are bound to be even more spectacular.

…Yeah, that’s what he wants his next year to be. Spectacu—

Another stick cracked. And then another. And yet another. But this time, there was no shaking it off. Raiden could clearly hear it coming from the trail below him. His ears shifted around, desperately searching for the source of the noise. When suddenly…

The sky filled with a blast of colorful light as a shattering burst of sound cracked the open air. Raiden immediately forgot about the pursuer below and yelped out loud. His ears quickly flattened back to his head as his eyes shut tight, as if they were betrayed by the all-encompassing sights and sound around them. In all his worrying about how quiet and dark the forest was, he had completely forgotten how loud and bright fireworks could be. He barely had time to gather himself before he realized something else had begun to climb the tree. The moment before he decided to open his eyes felt as though it lasted forever. When he finally gathered up his courage, he realized the pursuer chasing him from out of the void and to the treetops… was his friend the whole time.

There, now sitting across from Raiden in the tree, was his old friend Remi. The two of them didn’t meet very often nowadays, but their bond had never waivered in all the years that they’d known each other. Remi stretched out a paw to Raiden, hoisting the shaken Gachagon back onto one of the tree branches. When Raiden had finally adjusted himself back on, Remi overturned his paw to reveal a pair of foam earplugs.

Why didn’t he think of that?

Raiden shoved in the earplugs with haste, desperately hoping that the next firework wouldn’t sound off before he was ready. Just in the nick of time, he managed to fit them both in comfortably before the sky was once again filled with a kaleidoscope’s worth of colors and a now much gentler thud.

Once the morning of New Year's Day hit, the creatures of the forest would surely be abuzz now that the sounds of the firework show had passed. After getting to start his year off with a friend by his side, Raiden would surely be abuzz too.