"You could say I'm kind of a big deal. I'm a lady who can guide you through any destination. I can hit the center of any kind of target you put in front of me. That's all while being a picture of style and elegance," Swanna described.
"Ooh! That sounds so cool!" gushed Unikitty as she dug her paws through a bag of popcorn a walking vendor had brought to her.
"Now, everyone, be sure to put in earplugs or wear headphones if it gets too loud," Richard advised. He put on a pair of noise-canceling headphones that he'd brought along. Swanna had some earplugs in, but the others didn't take any.
A solid thirty minutes had gone by since the gang took their seats, and there was no sign of the Rainbow Raiders or the visitors. The audience cheered with anticipation and enthusiasm, quieted down, and cheered again in a repeated cycle of waiting. In one of the quiet moments, Swanna and Lee seized the chance to give these super cool people a proper introduction of themselves. Any terrain and any climate, they could master it with a dash of determination and Swanna's prowess with styling. When they weren't charting undiscovered territories or helping people plan vacations in pre-explored ones, she'd be creating dazzling and useful outfits for fashionistas and hardcore adventurers alike. They'd also solved problems and mysteries in many places around the world. Swanna's love for exploring inspired her and Lee to set up their own tourism center in the south of the Unikingdom.
"Could we visit it sometime?" Puppycorn asked.
"My door's always open!" she replied graciously.
Richard's eyes drifted to the straight but loose lower half of Swanna's dress. They followed the inward curves from its belting to its hem and then back to its center again. "Did you make this yourself?"
"I know- it's tacky. It's not that great," Swanna told him, lightly stroking her hand across it. "But I had to have started somewhere. I've got a weird bond with this old thing."
Lee's backpack caught Hawkodile's eyes once again, but what grabbed his attention even more was how full of stuff it looked. Its holder, although he wasn't visibly alert, glanced to the left and to the right, keeping an eye out for what Hawkodile could assume were backpack thieves and other snooty wolf knights. "You two look like you came prepared! That I like."
Swanna munched on grapes from a bag that Lee had packed, making sure to wait until she swallowed to reply. "We sure did! You've gotta stay safe when going places. It's why Lee always carries his pack around with him."
Dr. Fox couldn't take her sight off of Swanna's necklace. She'd never seen anything like the red gem on it. It had quite a unique set of facets, and it wasn't even polished. You couldn't find a semiprecious gem in a jewelry store, but you could have one you'd found in the ground while on a trip put on a choker, bangle or brooch. "Statistically, the chances that someone like you will take home a souvenir are extremely high. You wouldn't happen to have any at your tourism center, would you?"
"I've got tons. Not to brag, but lots of them come from destinations I bet you've never even thought of visiting."
If that was the case, then who knew what crazy new chemical compounds Dr. Fox could discover if she planned a trip with her? "So, hypothetically speaking, if someone wanted to find their own keepsakes to study the matter of, you'd be the one to see, right?" the scientist asked again, scooting closer to her.
"Of course!" affirmed Swanna.
"Sounds sick!" Hawkodile said, sticking a gloved thumbs up in her direction. Inside, a discomforting tingle mildly rocked his nerves. He'd known Dr. Fox for a mighty long time, and his heart raced whenever she was around. Despite this, she'd sometimes dive so deep into studying her subjects that she wouldn't talk to other people, not even the rest of the gang. She'd spend as many as eighteen hours underground experimenting. Once, when Puppycorn grew to be the size of a five-story mansion as the result of eating her grow taffy, he'd almost destroyed the entire kingdom. He heard her call his endless growth "an incredible scientific phenomenon" without taking note of the catastrophic damage. He couldn't ask her about that when there was danger afoot, and if he tried to, the battlefield would start to spin. A rousing cheer far louder than the ones before distracted him from the cold solidifying in his gut.
Unikitty was just about to ask Swanna what fun, mysterious and thrilling places she'd been to, but the citizens' vigor swerved her attention away, too.
Around her, she could see all of the citizens leaning forward and throwing their hands in the air. Pumping music boomed throughout the stadium. An excited roar swelled drastically as both teams ran into the crowd's view, a perfect close-up of the central midfielder's face on the humongous jumbotron above the scoreboard.
"Looks like the weather's perfect for giving this season a proper farewell, folks!" spoke Bigbang, a megaphone-speaker emcee, inside of a press box. "In the pink corner, we've got our very own Rainbow Raiders! Give 'em a round of applause!"
Accepting the crowd's praise of them with great relish, the Raiders enthusiastically high-fived and pumped their fists or paws in the air. They took their places on the left side of the field, the goal of which was painted taffy pink.
"And in the blue corner," Bigbang continued, "the... the Dismal Downers. Yaaay."
The noise that had been booming just moments before faded out as the Downers traipsed to their positions on the right side. Their goal was painted midnight blue.
Unikitty's fur color changed into a light blue as tears welled in her eyes. Not one living soul made a noise except for Brock, on the opposite side, who waved with one hand while cupping his mouth with the other. "Woohoo! Yeah!"
❄️
Master Frown opened up Brock's tote to search for the most effective tool in ruining a soccer game packed in it. Right before he could stick his hand in, he noticed something unusual atop the pile of its contents, welcoming in the sunlight. "Brock, why's there a snake bite kit in here?"
Brock looked confused by his confusion. "Why wouldn't I have brought one?"
When Master Frown flipped over the bag and watched as a wrench, a cookbook, a rotisserie chicken and a portable gaming console fell out, he held the bag by its handles, its sides, and its bottom. Just like when it was completely full, it oddly didn't pull him down to the floor. "WHEN are we going to need ANY of this stuff?!"
"I guess you never know," Imogen replied.
"Yeah. Crazy stuff happens here all the time," said Brock.
"Whatever," Master Frown groaned. There was tons of anecdotal evidence to back up that fact, but Frown, pursing his lips, said nothing.
The central midfielder of the Rainbow Raiders walked up to the center circle, right in front of the ball and his opponent. From behind him, the other two midfielders crouched at the ready. He kicked the ball towards one of his teammates in the back, but one of the Downers kicked it to their forward with such force that almost every Raider couldn't see where it was. Even from his spot high up in the bleachers, Puppycorn somehow could. He spotted it between the Downers' defenders, where one of the Raiders' attackers was running through with it between her feet. Another one darted up behind her, swiping the ball from her with their right foot.
Right after they shot the ball straight into the goal, Dr. Fox pointed out the change in numbers on the clock. The gang let out a cheer except for Puppycorn. Drool ran down his chin as his cinnamon brown irises took up most of the space in his eye sockets. His jaw opened and shut, munching into imaginary rubber or synthetic leather. A tooth even pretended to chip.
"Fight it off, slugger," Hawkodile told him, taking his paws off of the head of the guy sitting on the bench below him. A satisfying taste sweetened his mouth, mostly from the successful kickoff, but also from the weird sweetness in the air that hadn't been there a few seconds ago. A strange smell wafted its way to his beak. It was the smell of... salted caramel ice cream?
Hawkodile scanned the area. Some things were hard to make out for a guy who wore sunglasses every second of the day. Yet, it was clear that no one within the premises had any, or any ice cream at all for that matter. Goosebumps then ran up his toned green arms.
His bodyguard senses tingled, and so did his body in reaction to the prickling chills. Where were they coming from, though, when the flaming, beaming sun was right there in the sky?
YOU ARE READING
Broken and Frozen (Unikitty!)
Fanfiction[Book 1 of the Big Bright World series] It's a warm, breezy summer for Unikitty and her BFFs. They're planning on throwing a huge bash to start it off, with exciting events such as an electric parade. But as they're getting things ready, they run in...
