To Be Proud: Revamped

Chapter 28: Secrets

~Thwok~

I was familiar with many different emotions and feelings, some of which I had felt from others, but one of the feelings that I wasn't a fond of was concern. Ever since we had landed on Cold Island, Bona had struck me as off, concerning even. It worried me, the sudden change in behavior, to a point where I started to try and guess what the cause of the behavioral switch was. If the problem was me, then I didn't know what to do.

The morning that Yool arrived, Bona was the last monster to join the group. I had avoided waking him up, not wanting to upset him further, and exited the hotel with Petite that morning. I met up with Kay, who was talking with Yool and catching up with him. She greeted us once she saw us, and she introduced us to Yool while she spoke with a blue armored monster.

Once Bona arrived in the group, Yool had shifted gears and started talking about an event called "Secret Yool." The premise of the event was as follows: the blue armored monster, Strombonin, would loudly blow into their conch and send out a flurry of papers with different names of monsters on them. Other monsters would then go and grab one of the papers, one that didn't have their name on it. Then, monsters had until the end of the festival to get a gift for the monster they were randomly assigned. On the final day of Yay, gifts could either be publicly or secretly exchanged between monsters.

      "Are we ready?" Yool announced. I watched as all of the other monsters got into different stances, and I braced myself as I looked around for Strombonin. "Strombonin, let it snow!"

At that moment, Strombonin blew into their conch with an unmatched strength and power. The storm of papers glided into the air as monsters rushed about. I saw a Tweedle fly up and snatch a paper in their beak, flying up to the castle to avoid the chaos. While the papers were still in the air, I threw my tongue up and felt one of the papers stick on to the end of it. Pulling my tongue down quickly, I opened the paper I had received and froze at the four black letters staring back up at me: BONA.

Bona. Of all the monsters I could've gotten, I drew Bona's name. I felt all of my gears freeze up as I slowly came to realize the reality of the situation. It was easy to figure out the likes of other monsters, for example Tweedle liked trees and greenery while Pango was drawn more to construction, but Bona was a mystery even to me. Not only was I lost in terms of what he liked, but I was pretty certain I knew who he didn't like: me.

As the crowd around me started to scatter, I noticed that there was still one paper laying on the ground. Being sure not to peek at its contents, I scanned the area to see which monster didn't pick up a name. For a moment I thought that the lone monster was Bona, but he was talking to Petite while holding a folded note in his claws. Nervous, I looked around the area for an extra few seconds.

I soon noticed a lone monster sitting along the edge of the island. They had periwinkle blue fur, and in terms of the ratio of arms to legs they were a reciprocal to Strombonin: while they were two to four, the monster was four to two. They had two large wooden horns growing atop their head, two which matched the cello they held in one of their arms. Two bows were held in a second hand, and the remaining hands were resting against the edge of the island.

Without using my tongue, I could sense the feeling of hatred and sorrow the monster was radiating. They had been through so much, that I could tell. Their gaze along the water was cold, miserable, and I couldn't help but to sympathize. Holding the folded piece of paper in my hand, I walked over to the mon with care.

      "Hehlo," I started in a soft tone of voice, "do you mihnd ihf I sit heuh?" Fully expecting to be rejected, I was surprised to hear the monster's hesitant response.

      "You might as well." Their voice was deep, but not as sonorous as Deedge or even Bona, and their tone hinted more at melancholy than anything else. Being sure to steer clear of loose snow, I sat myself down next to them.