Event 06
All fun things must come to an end
Last time: Rary competed in his favorite event, the log pull, and learned some valuable lessons about teamwork and help.
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Event 06- Packing Up
The prize tent wasn't hard to miss, covered in golden, silver, and bronze tassels, as well as being right next to the main entrance, which from the side they were on, was the main exit.
LJ, Amur, and Clara were in front, Vivi with her creatures in the rear, so it was easier for them to fall behind when they heard the hiss from the shadows.
"Griffonlanders…"
Rary perked up, Vivi with him. They nodded to each other. "Clara," Vivi called, "we'll catch up with you in a little bit."
"Okay!"
Coming back to the darkened corner where they had heard the whisper originate from, Vivi was not surprised to see Ebris standing alongside Sable, the creature curled up near his feet on the ground. They were tucked away behind the corner of a building, but people were still milling about just nearby. Vivi wondered if the shadows weren't an atmospheric choice as much as a necessity.
Ebris let out a wheezy breath. "You said you wanted to speak with me?"
"I did, in fact, say that." She sat down heavily on a crate, Rary just at her side, while Ebris remained standing. "So…where to start…"
"You know the true nature of my creature," Ebris started.
"Yeah, I do. My faeriedragon cancels out magic, and apparently, for whoever's holding her at the time." Sapphire celebrated her usefulness by blowing a large green bubble.
"That is unfortunate," Ebris said. "The spell that changes a shadow creature's form is powerful. I hoped that no one here would be skilled enough to even know it existed, much less be able to undo it."
"Well, you didn't count on us, as usual."
"Also, I cannot answer your questions."
"What questions?"
Ebris shifted, the shade growing deeper where he moved around. "You asked how I hatched my creature, and what I fed him when he was young. Shadow creatures are spawned from deep underground lakes on nights with dark moons, and eat ashes mixed with water, not food."
"Yuck," Rary said, sticking out his pink tongue.
"We do what we must." Ebris shook his head. "So now that you know, what will you do with this information? Will you report me to the staff?"
"Should I?" Vivi asked. "Have you done anything wrong?"
"I took your creature's form."
"What? Me?" Rary tilted his head.
"Yes," Ebris looked down at the ground, or at least Vivi thought he did, it was hard to tell what he was looking at. "I saw how skilled your griffon was at flying, and deduced his form would also be apt at land-based events because of his strength. I had purposefully arrived late at the air race in order to determine the favored competitors and cast the transformation spell while everyone was distracted with the race."
"Wait," Rary interrupted. "You mean Sable caught up with me from the last position, and you didn't even start the race on time?"
"Well, yes," Ebris said.
"That's amazing! You gotta be a super skilled flyer to pull something like that off!"
Sable raised his head and made a low gurgling noise.
"…He thanks you for the compliment, and praises your flying skill as well."
"Aw, thanks!"
"So," Vivi said, twirling a finger. "We still have to address the main issue. You've done stuff in the whole competition with a creature that basically isn't yours. It's like you stole it."
"Yes…That is what I had feared."
"Great." Vivi slapped the barrel, standing up suddenly. "We're done here."
"That's it?" Rary asked.
"Yup."
"So…" Ebris' voice alone showed his frown. "Will you turn me in?"
"Nope, it's not up to me." Vivi turned to make her way out of the alley.
"Why not?"
She stopped, looking over her shoulder into the dark recesses. "It's up to you do to the right thing, not me. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't going crazy and seeing things. Or, not seeing things as the case may be. You didn't really hurt us in any way, or make things any harder than they already were. If you're going to make this right, then you will. Otherwise, I'm going home."
"I see…" Ebris looked at Sable, who gazed up at him with an inscrutable expression.
Rary watched Vivi leave, then took a few steps himself. "She's a little abrupt, I know. But, I can't say I'm disappointed you decided to pick me for your shadowy copy power and win lots of battles. Thanks for recognizing how awesome I am!"
Ebris shook his head as Rary left too. Sable said something, in some way.
"I know, you're absolutely right…"
"Come on, Vivi, the closing ceremonies are starting in just a few minutes."
"Okay, but I don't wanna be crushed in with all those people, it makes me nervous."
"Hmm…alright, how about we watch from the entrance pavilion on the big screens? Then we can leave right afterwards with no crowds."
"That sounds great."
"Hey, squawk! They even have a barbecue stand! I'm already starving."
"I think you deserve something juicy and dead, Rary."
Vivi came out of the prize tent just as the ceremony was beginning. Clara and Amur had spent the whole time during the conversation with Ebris deliberating on what to get, while Vivi and Rary had just picked the first few things they saw that probably added up to their total medals.
Clara sat on the bench near Amur with a bar of blue ice cream in her hand. "Look, it's starting!"
Vivi was distracted by one of the prizes she'd picked, a prismatic glass ball that shone with every color of the rainbow, and a few others besides.
"Okay," Clara said, talking herself through the proceedings. "They're thanking everyone for coming, and handing out awards for…strength, Tinker from Playgroundland got that one. Endurance, looks like Madhu from Desertland, good job for him! Intelligence, Squall from Beachland, I don't think we ever ran into them. Oh, and here's for the individual events. Air race, final heat, goes to…Braveheart?"
"Huh?" He looked up from his meats. "I thought Sable won that one."
"He wasn't a horse," Vivi said.
Clara looked at her oddly, but continued. "I guess not. But you got an award, good job!"
"Yay! Do I get extra prize points?"
"I don't know…and here's the battle pavilion overall, I bet Sable took that one all the way. And…nope, Tango of Dragonland? I thought for sure…It doesn't look like Sable placed in any of the events! How could that be?"
Vivi and Rary winked at each other. The right thing was hard, but always necessary.
__*|*|*|*__
The boat they found to take them home was painted yellow, with a large smiling face on the front and a bell in the middle. The captain was a lady with blue hair and dark skin, wearing an elaborate contraption on her back that made her resemble a busy bee. Small yellow and black robots buzzed around the deck doing various tasks. Every so often, one would start to droop but she would splash it with a bubble of water to perk it back up.
Vivi and Rary settled on a pile of old sails near the hatch below decks, where lots of squishy, happy noises could be heard. The whole ship seemed quite wiggly, but that was fine with them.
"So how about that?" Rary said, lying down and curving his body. "Lots of fun, right?"
"Right. I'm ready for a nap, though." Vivi laid her head down in the space on Rary's side and closed her eyes.
"Me too," LJ said, sitting himself beside them.
"You barely did anything," Vivi said.
"Right, which is why I'm so exhausted."
The ship rumbled away from the port, leaving them with all the days remembered behind them.
"Wait a minute," Vivi cried, eyes wide. "We never found Mira, you left her behind!"
"Oh, yeah." LJ scratched the side of his messy hair. "I remember now, I never actually brought her. She's still at home."
"Ha!" Rary chuckled, Sapphire joining in with a popping bubble of laughter.
"What did you get with your prize points?" LJ asked.
"This," Vivi said, pulling an ornate trophy out of her bag. The top was four glass gems supported by four curved columns, each one wrought with a different theme. One was wooden branches with engraved leaves, another metallic pistons and beams. The third looked was a pillar of stuffed, patched cloth, and the last was split into four sections itself, one band textured like fur, another like a feather. The final two were rough skin like an elephant, and lastly shimmering scales. In the very center was a carving of a cat and a dog, representing the original Land which had split in ages past, but the splintering had made each piece stronger than the whole. "It's pretty nice." She handed it to LJ, who examined it closely.
He pondered the representation of the unity of All Lands, how teamwork was the key to overcoming all obstacles, but only for a moment. "Hm." He handed it back.
The evening sun was still low in the sky, so Vivi held up her trophy to the light to catch it just so. "Yeah, it was quite the day…" She twirled it around to watch the prismatic play of the lights on her clothes, when she noticed a thin bar connecting the two sets of pillars. She wondered how strong it really was, since the trophy was fairly heavy…
A sharp snap carried across the deck. "Oops."
"Squawk! Now we have two trophies!"
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