The Night [5]

Chapter 20: To Family!

Throughout my life in the human world, I would often sit back and hesitate when doing things, especially when it involved being in front of a lot of people, but as I silently sat at one of the tables in the ballroom, staring at my hands, I knew that it was doing me no good just sitting around and just waiting for something to happen. I slowly let a low exhale of breath leave my parted lips as I slowly sat up in my chair and turned my head to look over at my boyfriend, who was currently looking out at the empty dance floor with a pensive, thoughtful look in his darkened scarlet-hued eyes and I couldn't help but wonder what was going through the hellhound's mind for the moment. However, I knew it was not the time for ponding about these kinds of things, so without further hesitation, I heaved myself up to my feet and brushed down my black-and-white dress with both hands as I took a moment to mentally prepare myself for this to happen. I had awaited this moment to finally happen for weeks now and I honestly couldn't believe that we had actually made it to this point. Now it was up to me to put all of this into action though and I knew that it was my responsibility to make this happen without further delay. "Wish me luck, Hyde," I remarked to the dark-haired male beside me, who broke away from his wandering daze as he looked up at me now, seeing how I looked out at the dance floor with a certain serious, determined look in my eye. "You'll do great, Rebecca." He said with a smile now coming to his expression, "Don't worry yourself to death out there, okay? I believe in you and so does everyone else." To be honest, his words did help me with my nerves and I gave him a smile of my own before another sigh left me as I walked away from the table and went over to Freddie and Charlie, who was still looking through the laptop on the table between the large twin speakers with their whiskers twitching contently on their muzzles. Although, their gazes lifted to look up at me as I halted in front of the table before them. "Alright, boys, there doesn't need to be any more music, but I would appreciate some lighting effects for the time being. I have a speech to make to finalize the night." I told them, "Would you happen to have a microphone laying around here somewhere to help with this as well?" Both of them were silent in thought for a moment or two before a spark seemed to flicker in Freddie's mind and he went under the table, rustling through various items that went with the speakers and wiring that hooked up the laptop and much else. A few long seconds passed by with just the older male's tail waving in the air as he searched through everything while trying not to make much of a mess in the process. This ended happily though with the black-furred tomcat returning to us with a small microphone with a wire attached to the end of it. "We'll need a minute to get it all set up, but it shouldn't take long," Freddie mentioned as Charlie disappeared under the table now as he searched for the end of the microphone's cable with a certain quickness to his actions so that he wouldn't keep me waiting for too long. I was glad that this was going well so far.

"Ah, here we are!" The younger male remarked with an excited mew as he returned with the end of the wire, "Let me go plug this in and then we'll switch off the music, then we will be all set to go for your little speech thingie." I nodded to this as Charlie leaped from his chair and stepped on over to the large speakers, careful not to trip over any other wires in the process of doing so. He dipped his head behind the speaker to look through the ports of the wires, searching for the one that would work for the microphone. "Okay, I think this should be the one, but I'm just checking to be sure," Charlie called back to the two of us as he plugged in the microphone to the speakers without further asking. I glanced at Freddie, who held the microphone with a small paw and simply nodded to him. "Test it to make sure that it works," I told him and the black-furred tomcat stared at the mic for a moment, unsure of what to do exactly to test it. So, with a bit of hesitation, Freddie went forward and meowed into the device, immediately having the sound erupt from the speakers along with the music. He seemed to jump slightly at this, but Charlie jumped more due to being directly against the speaker compared to us. This seemed to catch the attention of most of the other creatures in the ballroom and I couldn't help but feel a small rush of heated embarrassment come to my face now due to that. "Alright, that was my fault.." I muttered under my breath as the tomcat handed me the microphone, "Thank you, boys, for all your help tonight." The brothers simply nodded with brightened smiles upon their maws as I dipped my head to them and went away from the table, making sure the cable to the microphone was not tangled and long enough to make it to the center of the large room. To my surprise and delight, it was just the right amount of cord to do so, which was nice to know, considering all the possible stresses that could go along with this now, but I tried to think positively now and be the proud leader that they all now saw me as. I was more than excited now.

With another calmed breath, I stood in the center of the polished wooden floor with a microphone in my right hand as I looked over at Freddie and Charlie, who was looking around for something that could act as a spotlight for the whole speech and I feared that they wouldn't be able to find anything, however, the two of them eventually found a remote to the lights above the room and played around with the buttons, causing a wild flicker of different lights to set on and off repeatedly until they found the next one. Now that had caught the full attention of everyone, no matter who or what was in the room and I smiled shyly as there was a sole bright light on me now to direct the focus now. I cleared my throat and lifted the small microphone close to my mouth, but not too close, after personal experience with these type of things - like the school spelling bee, which was a story for another time. "Alright then, let's get this whole thing over before I pass out, shall we?" I started out the talk with a slight joke of my own demise, "Greetings, everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful time tonight at the Feral Plains manor as we celebrate our close-knit family that has officially become independent of the human world. Everyone's dances that I saw out here were simply amazing and I am more than glad to have witnessed such a lovely performance. Thank you to everyone who was able to participate in such things, I appreciate you for having way more guts than I ever will at this dance." I said with a slight laugh before continuing, "Ever since I founded this family with Scruffy, who unfortunately could not be with us tonight due to him not being a party-type, I knew that it would become something so much more than just a stuffed animal and an introverted freak in middle school. After Scruffy came along Hyde, then Henry, then Ryuu and Beck and even more than that! Each and every one of you have shaped this family into what it has become today and I just want to say that thank you to each and every creature that is with us on this night to celebrate this, special shoutout to all the warriors from Warrior Cats Online that were able to come out tonight and even our special solo guest from Feral Heart that was able to join us. Some of you came from video games, others came from books and television shows, but in the end, all of you came from your own lives, no matter what they say in the reality plain. I sit back and watch as they tell me that you are just some characters on a piece of paper or just a scribble on a notebook, but are you? No. You are so much more than that." I looked down at my shoes for a moment in silence as I grew a little emotional, "You all have made me so happy throughout the years that we have shared, from the jokes and parties to movie nights and meals that we've had together. Some of you have come from darkened beginnings and I know that as well as you do, but I always knew that you were more than that, so much more than it."

"I believe with my whole heart that each of you are unique and special in your own way, with your own goals and talents that lets you get out of bed in the morning. You all feel love and pain and anger, just like anyone else does and while not many humans believe that - I always will." I couldn't help but smile more now, "As you all know, I am not perfect in any way. I have flaws, have made mistakes and have regrets. I am often depressed and tired from my life in the human world, just wanting to end it all at times. I know that's dark, but it's the full truth. However, I've been able to become a better happier person because of all of you. I've been able to have a supportive older brother, a loving boyfriend, a loyal best friend and so many creatures to call my family. Yes, we all have gone through a rough past, especially after Robin and Morph's corrupted minds. I only blame the twisted minds of humans and they shall not be named. You all know who I speak of. Robin and Morph were creatures, just like you and I, with feelings and emotions, yet they could not get past certain things such as power and revenge. I still regret to this day that I could not fix them. I am happy enough that I was able to show Hyde and Amber the way of family and love. We all come from the same idea in the end and I wish that creatures did not have to die in order for us to realize that." I was silent again for a few seconds. "Nonetheless, they serve as an example of what the human world can do to us. How they can corrupt and change us from who we truly are. We will not let them win though and I know that for certain. This place, this manor, is our safe haven to escape their cruelty. Here, we are a family and I couldn't ask for anything more in my life. Thank you all for being here with me on this night. I love each and every one of you, remember that." As my speech came to its subtle conclusion, there was silence from everyone around me for a long moment before there was an uproar of cheers, meows and barks and chirps of creatures of all types as they rejoiced in the family that they were apart of. "To the Feral Plains family!" Someone shouted, which caused a chant of the crowd, "To family!" "To family!" "To family!" It was a beautiful sight that made a certain warmth spread through me and I was almost moved to tears as they did this. I loved them all, so very much, and there was never enough words to express this to each of them now.