Thundow Oneshots

Festival

Every year, this town hosted a festival celebrating the coming of spring. The roads around the plaza in the middle of town were closed off for a few days, and rows of shops selling things popped up. Lots of spring treats, flowers, and various knickknacks with no apparent purpose were sold there.

"You ready?" Thunder asked, pulling his hoodie on.

"Yeah." Shadow said simply. He didn't sound very sure.

"Really? You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"No, no, I just...it's a new place, y'know?"

"Yeah. We're still getting used to the surface, huh? Hey, at least this'll take out minds off un-packing."

Shadow smiled. "Yeah."

"Okay, c'mon!" Thunder said, walking out the door. Shadow followed into the bright sunlight, which was definitely not what he needed right now. He winced at the light, pulling his hood up and rubbing his eye sockets with the heels of his hands.

Thunder was busy looking at the bright lines of colored flags and banners and massive bouquets of flowers now covering the streets.

"Wow, they really go all-out for this!" He exclaimed, grinning. Shadow nodded, still adjusting to the light. 

The pair walked down the street, more and more people joining the crowd. The whole town must be here, which might not have been saying much, but it was still an impressive crowd. Most people were in colorful clothing, and Shadow worried he stuck out weirdly for wearing such dark colors. He wrapped his cape around himself a little tighter. 

The square was large, but filled with people. The sound of trickling water came from a large fountain in the center of the plaza, which several people for tossing coins into for some reason. A group had gathered by the drum tent, listening to some strangers playing various percussion instruments together. The sound of the whole crowd of people talking was a lot louder than anything the Shadow had experienced before, and that combined with the bright light and bustling of all the people walking around ended up being incredibly confusing. The only thing keeping Shadow grounded was Thunder's hand in his.

Thunder said something and pointed toward some shop on the other side of the plaza, but his voice was completely drowned out by the crowd. Shadow just followed him. It turns out Thunder was gesturing to a shop filled with paintings someone had made. They were mostly of things like flowers or landscapes painted with watercolor. Some, though, had depictions of animals - wolves, birds, deer, fish, - that looked like spirits. They were silvery and translucent, often standing, flying, or gliding through water gracefully. Thunder was talking to the person sitting by the fold out table counter, asking about how the paintings were made, where the inspiration came from, etc, etc. They were explaining something about "Indigenous cultures," a term Shadow didn't think he knew. He just stood in silence, feeling slightly relieved to be in a quieter, dimmer place than the central plaza.

A faint ache was growing by Shadow's temples, most definitely a result of the light and noise coming from the place. He ignored it for now. It wasn't a big deal, and Thunder was having fun.

They continued to walk around, checking in shops, looking around at all the bright colors, listening to the music. Shadow just followed Thunder in silence, ignoring the growing pain spreading over his head. Thunder seemed completely oblivious. 

Eventually, as the pair were passing between several shops, Shadow pulled Thunder into the space between them.

"Woah, hey, what?" Thunder said, confused.

"Thunder, I need to get out of here."

"Woah, why? Is something wrong?" Thunder looked around, a shade of panic passing over his face.

"No, no, it's not that, I just...It's so bright out here, so loud, so chaotic, I've never been around so many people in my life, I just...please get me out of here."

"Oh, I...I'm sorry. I-I should've realized...I...I understand. Let's go home."

"Thank you." Shadow managed a faint smile, but it ended in some sort of grimace. 

The pair went home quickly after that, back into the calm, dim atmosphere of their home.