Light Show (written story pt 1)
Ignore the title, this is part 1 and the other chapters are in the comments.
CHAPTER 1
The night is cold, a brisk air blowing through the Keep. It's been a long year, considering the recent crazy weather and awful flu season. There's a crowd at the Keep Center -- even more so than in past years. Perhaps it's because everyone wants to put this year in the books and start the new year fresh. There's firework machines the size of the markets all over the place, ready to spit out blasts of light that can be seen even in the Outskirts. It's not even 9:00, yet with the cacaphony of the crowd you'd think it was 11:55.
Alicia is in the Art Cabin, where Keep residents flock to for making and viewing each other's artwork. Her paws are dirtied with paints of every hue, as is her canvas. The fellow gachagons are painting masterpieces -- self portraits, scenery, and art to celebrate the end of 2021 -- though Alicia just feels like splattering the rainbow onto her canvas. Though she's always smiling, there seems to be a particularly blissful aura surrounding her. She turned to face the gachagon on her right, who was drawing their gachapanion.
"I can't wait for 2021 to be over!" Alicia said with glee.
"Same here," the gachagon next to her responded, not moving from where they're positioned and drawing. "That flu season's been pretty gnarly."
A few more minutes pass before Alicia stood up and grabbed her canvas. The canvas is just about as tall as her even when she's standing on stilletos. She hauled the canvas over to the clerk at the Art Cabin entrance.
"This looks so good!" the clerk said, sounding genuine. Alicia simply grinned in response, then darted outside. Even with her characteristic stilletos on, she stayed balanced. She's had them for so long -- perhaps ever since she was conceived. She's wearing a black jacket with long faux fur to ward off the cold of the night. The sky is as dark as her coat and starless, but the gleam of lights all over the Keep keeps it illuminated the same.
Alicia strolled down the Keep Central, moving away from the hubbub already commencing. A gachapon ball hurtled into the air, almost hitting her. But she paid no mind to this; this was regular gachagon behavior when it came to the new year.
CHAPTER 2
The warm glow of street lights gave Firefly Boulevard a nostalgic and comforting vibe. One of eight streets connecting to Keep Central, this one was to its northeast. Markets were commonplace, with both regular stores and hawkers patrolling it. Other gachagons were cruising down it as well. One was just staring at the lights like they were the Gachagon Gods themselves. Another two were bundled up and having light chatter, of which Alicia only heard a second of while passing them. Two more were playing with sparklers and laughing and playing in the snow. A scribblie was throwing snow at incoming cars -- not even snowballs; it was just shoving the three feet of snow on the side of the row in the direction of the vehicles. This street always felt nostalgic to Alicia, as this was where she'd go buy toys as a youngling, but this nostalgia presented itself especially right now.
As Alicia walked down Firefly Boulevard, she saw a dark figure easily twice her height and then some. It was covered in fluff, with feathery antennae sticking up and eleven and one-o'clock. Had the streetlights been off, all Alicia would see would be its bright red eyes, which appeared to shine in the dark. It was shivering and pacing. Alicia came up to it, startling it; it hissed at her in response.
"What's wrong?" Alicia asked, unfazed by the taller gachagon. It didn't speak, though it seemed to gesture and jerk its head around in a way that suggested to Alicia that it was scared.
"Hi there!" Alicia waved to it. "What's your name?"
No response.
"You look kinda familiar ... I see you in the woods sometimes ..."
A lightbulb went off in Alicia's head.
"Oh, you're Twig!" she said. Twig nodded, but continued shivering and panting.
"You good?" she asked. Twig shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Alicia said once more. Finally, Twig started gesturing in order to show words and not emotion. She put her wing-arms together, raised them up, and separated them like an explosion a few times.
"Something about the fireworks?"
Twig nodded.
"Oh, are they too bright?"
The taller gachagon shook her head.
"Too loud?"
Twig nodded, but this time bobbed it up and down like a metalhead for emphasis.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Twig returned to pacing around and shivering. Now being closer in proximity to her, Alicia could hear her hyperventilating too.
"You sure you're okay?"
Twig turned her head to Alicia; her pupils were dilated. She stopped for a moment then shook her head in shame.
"I ... I could maybe find a way to get you somewhere farther away from Keep Central so the fireworks aren't as loud. But I don't know where I could even go. The fireworks look awful big for this year."
Twig simply stared. Alicia turned to her right to see a tourist guide location. This time of year, creatures of all kinds come to the Keep to celebrate. Everybody wants to spend New Years with the magical fae dragons who can shoot out gachapon balls like rifles in their allegedly almost-utopian civilization. Dogs, cats, other animals, and even humans flock to the Keep this time of year, and Alicia could even see some of these tourists in the building behind glass panel doors.
To the left of the doors was a shelf which contained maps and brochures advertising the Keep. She grabbed a map and analyzed it a bit. Then, she gasped in excitement.
"Snowsboro!" Alicia smirked while pointing to a part of the map on the very lower-right. Twig stared at the spot Alicia was pointing at. "That'll be perfect! It's far enough away where it won't be loud, there won't be a ton of gachas there, and it's a really cool view up there!"
Silence for a moment.
"But how do we get there?" she then broke the silence.
Twig shrugged her shoulders.
"Hold on just a moment." Alicia said, turning and entering into the tourist building.
CHAPTER 3
As Alicia entered the building, the sound of excitement and chatter flooded her eardrums. Individuals of every species imaginable to her filled the building equally so. Every wall was covered in posters and held magazines, brochures, and similar papers advertising every part of the Keep. A human with brown bobbed hair was complaining to a travel agent about something, though Alicia didn't pay the commotion much attention.
It felt like ages as she waited in line to ask a travel agent how to get to Snowsboro. But when she finally got to the front of the line, the agent sighed.
"God," the agent grumbled. "This job is so stressful during this time of year..."
"I'm sorry!" Alicia tried giving as much sympathy as she could behind the holographic wall separating her and the agent. "Anyway, how would I be able to get to Snowsboro? Is there any way to get there before the fireworks go off?"
"Uh..." the agent paused. "I don't know if you'd be able to get there 'fore the fireworks start, but I know if ya go down Firefly, there's a bus station that'll get ya to Southwoods, and then there's another subway that'll get ya to Acorn City, which is still in Southwoods. And then there's a cable car place at Acorn City that'll take ya up to Snowsboro. But that's easily, like, anywhere from three to five hours away from here even on a good day."
Alicia just stood there, a bit dejected but still showing a faint smile. "Thank you." she said calmly, then left the line. The human complaining in another line was now screaming and punching at the holographic wall. Alicia left the building just before some guards hoisted the human up and took her out of the line.
Submitted By sequiem
for Monthly Prompt
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Submitted: 2 years ago ・
Last Updated: 2 years ago
sequiem she/kit
CHAPTER 4 "So..." Alicia said to Twig when she returned to her. "Snowsboro is apparently like three hours away on a good day." Twig lowered her head to the sidewalk, covering her face somewhat with her wings. "It certainly can't be that loud in Southwoods! Maybe if we only get there and there's no one setting off fireworks there, you'll be fine!" Twig raised her head up a bit. It sprung out of her wings like a jack-in-the-box. All her life she'd only known Northwoods, which was much more populated than anything down south. Fireworks went off all the time for all sorts of occasions, and they shook her to the bone. Though guns were foreign to gachagons and only appeared in movies, the gun-esque sound of a firework could easily send Twig into a panic attack. It signalled danger. "Come with me!" Alicia sprinted down the sidewalk, her small vestigial wings flapping eagerly. The piercings on her tail jingled like ornaments on a tree. Twig followed, though she kept to a walk considering her size in comparison to Alicia. She cautiously observed the street, and hissed again when a scribblie hurled a snowball at her. The walk was a long one, but the duo finally reached the subway station with some perseverance. Like the tourist building, the station was packed with individuals of all kinds. However, Alicia lucked out by finding a line with very few individuals in it. She dug through her purse for the crayons to pay for her tickets. After getting the tickets, she gestured for Twig to follow her again to the underground level of the section. It was covered in Southwoods posters and graffiti, and there were mostly non-gachagons down here as well. Twig stayed alert, though Alicia sat down by a wall. When a subway finally came, the crowd departing for Southwoods surrounded the doors. Alicia and Twig entered and found a seat next to one of the doors, but only Alicia sat down. Twig held onto the pole adjacent to Alicia's seat. She was also smiling. At long last: a New Years without panic attacks was to come.
2022-01-18 00:08:43
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sequiem she/kit
CHAPTER 5 While Twig and Alicia were on the subway to Southwoods, the rest of the world was a blur. Trees, hills, plains, and the occasional building whisked by as the subway sped along the track, only seldom making stops at small towns. Alicia was staring out the window like a cat, watching the Keep's southern forests and prairies pass by. Twig simply observed the subway itself, and those in seats and standing beside poles. "Now stopping at Marshtown." an intercom spoke up as the subway once again stopped. A door opened, allowing for some individuals to leave and one to enter. He was in a business suit and tie, with a suitcase the size of Alicia. He glared at the others in the subway, as if he was above them in some kind of social hierarchy. He then strutted down to where Alicia was sitting, and tapped on her shoulder. Twig stared at the man, her ears folded and her attention unmoving. "The hell ya doin' in my seat?" the man snaps, startling Alicia. "Excuse me?" Alicia asked softly. "I didn't hear you, sorry." "THAT'S MY SEAT!" the man's bellowing voice echoes throughout the subway car. It grabs the attention of everyone else. "I'm not sure what you mean by that." Alicia continued, her ears tucked back and her whole body scrunched up. "THAT IS MY SEAT!" the man repeated, somehow louder than before. "Do ya know who I am? I am literally the CEO of a huge grocery store chain! It's so big that ya creatures have it in your own little world!" Alicia remained confused. "I make your yearly wage in a second!" the man continued seething. "I deserve your seat way more than you!" A murmur of voices can be heard in the background. Most of the voices were talking smack about this alleged supermarket CEO. The man stormed up to Alicia, then shoved her. The impact of the shove pushed her off of the seat, making her crumple on the floor. She wasn't hurt, though she was certainly afraid. In response, Twig hissed and opened up her wings. Her wingspan easily made up a third of the subway car. She kept hissing at the man and flapping her wings to intimidate him. "And what are you gon' do about it?" the man taunted Twig with his finger. She hissed again, then leaped onto the seat using the propulsion of her wings. The man seemed unaffected until she crouched down and stared at him in the seat, growling. Alicia remained curled up on the floor, petrified. Twig hissed once more, then headbutted the man out of Alicia's seat. The rest of the subway passengers applauded Twig for dealing with the man. Some had their phones out, and one seemed to be speaking to a live virtual audience. After a few more minutes of Twig staring at the man with a look that could turn Medusa to stone, Alicia got back up and returned to her seat, sitting next to Twig. "Woah," Alicia said to Twig. "That was really cool!" Twig nodded, but kept her eyes on the man. Even as the man got up and moved to a pole farther away, Twig stared him down. There remained a steady stream of chatter for the rest of the subway ride, of which a lot of it pertained to the scuffle with the CEO man. When the subway finally made it to Southwoods, the people recording the prior skirmish flocked around Twig, asking for autographs and interviews. Twig waved them away and hissed. "Just don't." a gachagon nearby stated. Twig, ignoring all of the attention, got up and walked out. Alicia followed suite.
2022-01-18 00:09:07
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sequiem she/kit
CHAPTER 6 Southwoods at a glance didn't appear too different from Northwoods. It was dark, windy, and caked with trees in any way the average forest would be. However, Southwoods seemed to have a much more rural and reserved vibe to it. At the town Twig and Alicia were at, there wasn't much besides some houses, a few markets, a clock, and a subway station. Northwoods didn't have many subway stations; then again, there wasn't much of a need for them. It was 11:00. Even the rural Southwoods seemed to be filled with travelers. Mostly, it was supposed friends and family reuniting to see the chaos of 2021 end. It was a lot darker here than Downtown at the Keep Central, as there weren't any streetlights. It was up to a sparse set of lanterns to bring some semblance of light onto the roads. "This looks pretty far away, doesn't it?" Alicia turned to Twig. A few adolescent gachagons and a scribblie bounced down the dirt road with makeshift sparklers. Twig looked up at the night sky. She looked at the mosaic of stars, little pieces of glitter spread across an expanse of darkness and void. In a sense, she and Alicia and all other gachagons were like stars in the void that is the Keep. They are the ones who prop up their homes, light up the roads, make something for themselves and for those around them. They turn the blank canvas of the Keep into a masterpiece. And that's precisely why the Keep is such a tourist attraction. Tourist season is like a meteor shower which leaves an marvelous impact on the sky. It's a sight to behold even among other common tourist destinations. And even Twig knew that, in spite of barely knowing anything beyond her forest upbringing. A stray firework from afar swirled into the sky. It bursted into a flower of fire, its shape enamoring both Twig and Alicia. "I think we found our spot." Alicia said. An older gachagon passed by, holding a bag of cups and a pitcher of hot cocoa. "Interested in some hot chocolate?" the gachagon asked Alicia. "Yeah of course!" she responded, and the gachagon poured the drink into two paper cups. Alicia took the cups and offered one to Twig. She sniffed it, and to Alicia's surprise, accepted it. However, she didn't touch it much; she was simply attentive to the night sky. "Cheers!" Alicia grinned. The two gachagons tapped the rims of their drinks together, then drank up.
2022-01-18 00:09:24
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