Lucas
"Arg! I'm a pirate!"Vine yelled as he dashed from the elevator. I couldn't believe I agreed to this. I slowly followed Vine out dressed in a pirate costume as well. I had on a puffy white shirt that showed most of my chest lose, large striped pants on with a bandana tied around my forehead. The finishing touch was a wooden sword tied around my waist.
Sun was sitting on the couch in a thin, long dress. It was yellow at the top but slowly started to fade until it was pure white at the bottom, which showed of her yellow high-heels that made her a few inches taller. Her short hair had flowers in it, and curled into her chin. She had a gold band around her wrist that matched the gold belt she had on. Sitting next to her was Dirt in his costume which I guessed was a biker. He had on a bunch of leather, big black boots, a pair of Aviators and what looked like a real gun in a holster around his leg. And did I mention the bottle of beer in his hand?
"Hey, lookin' good man." Dirt said looking over the couch at me and Vine.
"Yeah, I'm glad someone thinks so." I said under my breath as Vine smiled and ran around the couch to start talking to Dirt.
"I heard that." Storm said appearing behind me. She was dressed like a cat, with a moving tail and fuzzy cat ears. She had contacts in that made her eyes a bright yellow and her pupils look like slits. She also had gloves on that were shaped like cat paws and she was decked out in all fuzzy gray clothing. On her face someone had drawn a cat nose and stuck pieces of fishing line to her checks that made it look like she had whiskers.
"I'm not too worried about that, kitty." I sneered at her. She narrowed her eyes and with those contacts in, it only made it much scarier but I wasn't about to tell her that. She was just about to punch me when Sky came rushing out.
"Storm! Come here I need your help!" He practically screamed. His short hair was covered by a long blond wig and he had on a large white robe with a gold rope holding it on. He was bare-foot and he looked completely flustered behind all the make-up on his face that gave it a soft glow to it.
Storm immediately forgot me and rushed to follow Sky back into the bathroom. I sighed in relief and turned around only to jump back about ten feet. Mystic was standing there, just staring at me. She wasn't dressed up, because she was wearing what she usually wore: a purple and black dress with tons of make-up, and a cold, emotionless expression. She was creepier than Raven and that was really saying something.
I just carefully made my way around her and she followed me while I did so with her eyes. I did my best not to touch her or even breathe on her. When she finally looked away and continued walking into the kitchen I sighed a breath of relief. At least Raven talked so I could make a snappy comeback but this girl didn't even open her mouth, let alone speak. Raven was more dangerous but Mystic was way more creepy.
"First mate!" Vine yelled. I looked at him and he waved his wooden sword. "Come here! We have a mission!" Pirates had missions? I thought as I made my way over to him. When I reached him I crouched down and he whispered the mission in my ear while Dirt watched from the couch and Sun rested in his lap.
"Our mission is to catch the Royal Princess, and defeat the Royal Prince." He whispered as he looked around, making sure no one would over hear us.
"Royal Princess? Royal Prince? What are you talking about?" I whispered back. I don't know why I was whispering back but I did anyway.
"You'll see, just wait until they come down from their palace then we'll jump them." Then he jumped up and ran to the elevator. He flung himself against the wall right next to the elevator door and motioned for me to do the same. I sighed and walked to where he was and gently laid my back against the wall. Apparently, the second floor was their palace.
"Can you tell me who they are?" I asked Vine again.
"Shhh!" Was the answer I got. I rolled my eyes and waited to see who this supposed Royal couple was. I didn't need to wait that long, because I heard the elevator start up and Vine tensed up, his hand tightening around the hilt of his wooden weapon.
When the elevator doors opened, Cotton stepped out in a large pink dress, a crystal tiara on her head, her hair perfect, not a strand out of place. Every ringlet was perfect and her gold rings on her small hand glinted in the light of the living room. It really looked like someone grabbed a princess out of a story book and made them come to life.
"Surrender now Royal Princess!" Vine said jumping out at her. Cotton whipped her head to the side and shrieked when she saw Vine coming at her. But before Vine could even touch Cotton, a pair of white gloved hands flashed out and grabbed Vine by his waist. His face filled with shock as he was stopped mid jump. The hands then threw Vine onto the couch and he landed harmlessly with a little bounce.
After I made sure Vine was okay, I looked back at the elevator door to see Tyler crouched next Cotton in an even fancier get up then the last costume he had on. "Are you alright Princess?" He asked in a very caring voice. Cotton nodded, her curls bouncing and straightened out her dress.
"I'm alright, but I didn't like that at all." Tyler nodded and stood up. When he saw me he winked and cleared his throat.
"I have to ask you to tell your caption not to attack my princess again." I was shocked at first, but when he winked, I realized that it was all an act to make it look like we agreed with this and gain everyone's trust. I pulled my wooden sword out and ran over to where Vine was sitting up.
"I follow only my caption orders, not your orders Mr. Fancy Pants!" I said in my best pirate imitation voice I could as I helped Vine up. Vine smiled at me and pointed his sword at Tyler.
"Attack!" He yelled as he charged forward. I followed him and Cotton screamed and hid behind Tyler. He crouched down, his face determined. When we were just about to jump, Tyler spun around backwards, grabbed Cotton and ducked out of the way.
When I spun around I saw him dashing into the living room. Vine followed and so did I. When we got into the kitchen we saw Storm helping Sky attach a large pair of wings to his back. "Hey, ya land-lovers!" I said walking up to them, my arms swinging as I walked. This was actually pretty fun; pretending to be a pirate. One of the best things was that I could talk wrong and on one would correct me, 'cause I hate being corrected.
Storm looked annoyed, but only with me. When she looked at Vine, it was all smiles and love. Sky was holding back laughter but a huge smiled was very clear on his face. Walking forward, Vine said, "You two land-lovers seen a pair of fancy-pants royal pair come through here?" Sky smiled even wider and Storm chuckled a bit.
"No, Caption Vine, we have not seen a fancy-pants royal pair any ware near here." He said around his smile. Storm went back to attaching the wings to Sky's back. 'Caption Vine' sighed and slid his wooden sword back into its leather holder.
"First-mate Lucas, where do you think those two scaly-wags go?" I bit my lip, thinking about it. They couldn't have gone back upstairs or we would have seen them passing up. They weren't in the kitchen so the only other places they could be in the extra little hallway of the kitchen. I know Tyler would never go into Raven's room, so that left either the closet or the bathroom were Tyler got his make-over.
"Caption Vine," I said coming to a conclusion, and continued to play the part. "I suggest we check the closet and the bathroom in the hallway." Vine didn't even respond, he just dashed off towards the hallway. I ran after him.
Tyler
"Are they gone?" I asked poking my head over the counter. Sky nodded and jumped off the counter.
"Yeah, they were hilarious! Did you hear how they spoke! It was so funny!" Sky said trying not to be too loud so Lucas and Vine wouldn't come back.
I helped Cotton off the floor and lifted her over my shoulders. "Hurry Brother Prince! We must get outside before they get back!" I nodded and ran for living room. I was just about to open the front door when I remembered I would get shocked if I ran outside now. "Crap" I said under my breath. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Storm standing behind me, looked a little… what would the word be…flustered I guess.
"Go ahead, you won't be shocked." She said pushing me forward a little more.
"And why won't I be shocked?" I asked digging my heels into the floor. Storm sighed and continued to push me forward inch by inch. With her other hand she pointed at Cotton.
"Her collar has the slip in it and so doses mine. If we all walk through the door at the same time, then you won't get shocked." Storm said avoiding my eyes. She stopped pushing for a moment and I froze.
We didn't speak for a moment or so until Cotton pulled my hair and kicked her small legs against my chest. "Come on Brother Prince! We have to go before the pirates get here!" I laughed and reached my hand up to pat her head.
"Alright, alright! I'm going, as long as you let Kitty Storm accompany us Princess." I felt her nodded her head vigorously and Storm walked towards the door, a smile now on her face. She opened the door for us and I took deep breath and braced myself. I squeezed my eyes shut and took two big steps forward. The only thing I felt was a little jolt and that was it.
"Ha! It worked!" I said standing outside on the porch. Storm walked up beside me after closing the door.
"I told you it would work. What, did you doubt me?" She said walking down the stairs onto the sidewalk. I took that a rhetorical question and didn't answer. Cotton pulled my hair again and made me walk forward. I was starting to feel like a horse.
"Come on Brother Prince! Let's go to the bouncy house so I can see all my people from my kingdom!" She said practically jumping ups and down on my shoulders. I laughed and walked onward.
"Storm, would you be so kind to show us the way to the bounce house?" I said in a polite tone. She giggled and nodded.
"Of course, your highnesses." She replied while bowing. Now that was weird; seeing Storm bow to anyone would have be shocking, but her bowing to me was downright unnatural. I shook off my willies and followed Storm though the thick crowd. This whole fall fair thing was just like Sky had described. Everyone was dressed up in costumes and there were waiters walking around with trays that held bowls with all kinds of candy in them.
Cotton sounded like she was having fun. Storm grabbed a plastic bag from one of the waiter's arms and handed it to Cotton to keep her candy in. All most every waiter that passed us was stopped by Cotton reaching her little hand out to take a handful of the candy from their bowls.
By the time Storm had led us to the castle shaped bounce house, Cottons bag was practically full. I also had snagged a handful of candy. I was chewing on a Twix right now. It was my favorite candy bar since I was a kid.
"Put me down Brother Prince!" Cotton said handing me her bag of candy. I lifted her off my shoulders and set her down on the ground. I walked her to the entrance of the bounce house and I pulled off her small high heel shoes.
"When you're done visiting your people, come back out and I'll take you anywhere you want to go." I said standing back up. Cotton nodded and climbed up into the bounce house. I heard her name shouted by a few kids. She had plenty of friends.
"Yo Tyler! You going to stand there or do you want to come relax?!" Storm yelled at me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Storm sitting at a metal table with a bottle of wine in an ice bucket and wine glasses that wasn't there before. Those waiters were quick.
"I'm coming." I said jogging over to her. She pulled her cat paws off and set them on the table as a waiter appeared out of nowhere and pored the wine into the glasses. As he went to pore mine, I stopped him.
"I don't drink, sorry." Storm laughed and motioned for him to continue.
"Oh, loosen up a little Tyler. Have some fun in your life. A little wine won't hurt you." She said as the waiter walked away, my glass now full with wine. I picked up the glass by its stem, and sniffed it. It smelled… well I couldn't really describe it. This made me curious about what it tasted like.
I tipped it up to my mouth and let a little slip past my lips to test it. It tasted like it smelled like. It was really strong, but not so strong that I would have to spit it out. I could taste the alcohol in it clearly. All and all, it was great. I quickly finished that glass off and poured myself some more.
Storm giggled again and set her glass down. "Not so fast Tyler. Wine isn't meant to be chugged like beer. Take it slow, and savor the flavor. After all, this is one of the finest brands of wine there is. Its high quality and aged to perfection." I took her word for it and slowed it down a little, making my second glass last longer.
"Well! Look who it is!" I familiar voice called out. It was Dirt. He swung his arms around my neck, and his breath hit me. It smelled very strongly of beer and chocolate. He smiled and grabbed my wine from me.
"Hey! That's mine!" I jumped up about to snatch the wine glass from him but there was no need. When he tasted just a little bit, he spit it out. It looked like a spit take in a movie.
"Uggh! How in the hell can you drink this stuff!" He said shoving the glass back into my hands. It was almost empty so lucky it didn't spill onto my white costume. Dirt swung his beer bottle back and chugged what was left of his Bud Light. He swished it around in his mouth and swallowed loudly. "Ahh…that's better! Now, have you guys seen Sun anywhere 'round here? I need to talk to her." He said looking around. I shook my head no but Storm pointed off somewhere.
"Last I saw her she was headed for the costume contest area." Dirt nodded and was off. He had just left when Cotton came running up to me.
"Brother Prince! Can you take me to the carnival rides!?" I stood and nodded.
"No problem, like I said, I will take you anywhere you want to go." I didn't need Storm's guide skills for this trip. I could see the fairish wheel from where we were so we were standing in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the carnival crowd in no time.
"Oh boy! Where should we go first?!" From then on, it was all rides rides rides. The first thing we did was the fairish wheel of course. After that we did a small rollercoaster. Not like those huge ones but a small one with little hills and drops that made Cotton scream. Then we got on this pirate ship thing that sung you back and forth until you were practically upside down. Now that was some real screaming from Cotton. I just went 'Whoa' or 'Hold on Cotton'. There was no screaming from me. We were about to go on those classic tea-cup ride when some of Cotton's 'people' showed up.
"Princess Cotton, do you want to go in the fun house with us?!" A little brown haired boy asked. He was dressed as a cowboy and he had a plastic gun in his little holster. The other boy was dressed like Aladdin nodded his head eagerly and smiled.
"Brother Prince, can I go?!" Cotton asked looking up at me. I looked at Storm and she nodded. If she thought it was okay to let Cotton go, then I was happy to agree.
"Of course my Princess, but you must be back at the house before sundown, do you understand Princess?" She nodded and ran off, her people following. Storm patted my back.
"They grow up so fast." She said jokingly. I scoffed and brushed her off. "How about we go on the Drop Zone?" Storm said pointing at the intimidating tall metal tower. Screams rang out when the seats suddenly dropped. I had always love rides like that.
"Oh, you're on!" I said running towards it. With Cotton gone, we were free to go on any ride we wanted. We rode this huge rollercoaster with a massive drop and it even had a loopy-lope. Then we got some cotton-candy and went on a gentle swinging ride that felt amazing. Then we ate some burgers and I gulped down a huge funnel-cake and Storm watched in amazement as I did so. After we let our stomachs settle, we got on this ride that spun you so fast you couldn't lift your head up. When the sun was staring to sink behind the horizon, we had pretty much done all the rides there were.
"Let's go to the fun house." Storm suggested as she ate her chocolate covered banana. I didn't get one, I hated bananas. "Cotton shouldn't be there right now." She said swallowing her last bite of her banana and throwing the stick in the trash can.
"Fine by me." I said making my way through the crowd. When we arrived, there weren't many people left at the fun house and Cotton was nowhere to be seen.
"Come on!" Storm said running up the stairs into the house. I followed. In the first room, there was a bunch of hanging punching bags we had to get through. Next room was something no fun house would be complete without, fun house mirrors. We stayed for a while in that room, laughing at what the mirrors did to our looks. After that was a large spinning tunnel we stumbled all the way through. Then we crossed a little wooden bridge with rope surrounding it which led us to a small rock wall we had to climb. I had to help Storm up on that one. Cat paws weren't the best for climbing. The last thing we did was slide down a long, swirly slide. I went, 'Weeee!' all the way down like a retard. Storm was right behind me laughing so hard she was practically crying.
When I slid onto the matt at the end of the slide, I forgot that Storm was right behind me and was flattened. She didn't get off, no. She stayed on me and laughed.
"Storm!" I wheezed out. "Please… GET OFF!"I finished trying to wiggle out from underneath her. She laughed some more before pushing off of me. She helped me up and I slowly caught my breath.
"We should be heading back by now. Cotton will be arriving at the house any minute now." I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but you are going to have to lead the way. I have no idea where I am going." I said smiling.
"No problem, I lead you before so I don't mind." Then she started walking with me trailing her. "And I had a great time by the way. You're not as be as I thought you would be, although, I still don't really like that Lucas." I shrugged my shoulders even though I knew she couldn't see the motion.
"It's alright, I don't mind. It takes a while for anyone to trust Lucas. After all, he is very paranoid about everyone and everything. He also has a tendency to jump to conclusions." Like right now for example. If he saw me with Storm, he would probably think that I was on a date with her or something. He can be so silly sometimes.
"I guessed that much." Storm said back to me. The rest of the walk was silent, not because we didn't want to speak, but because we didn't have anything to talk about. Besides, the no talking thing gave me time to think about something I had been considering earlier.
When we got to the house, we saw Cotton sitting out on the porch with Sun. When Cotton spotted me, she jumped up and ran at me. "Brother Prince! I was so scared!" She yelled as she clung to me.
"What happened Princess?" I asked her as she pulled back. She bit her lip and looked around as if making sure none was here when she spoke.
"Those pirates chased me when I was coming home. My people and I lost them before they could get me but I think they will show up any moment." I held back my laughter at her worry and patted her little pink head.
"It's alright, I will protect you. Now go ahead inside and look at all the candy you got with Storm." She brightened up at this and nodded, grabbing Storms paw. She let herself be dragged away, her face a little confused.
"I need to speak to Lucas, I'll catch up with you later." I whispered in her ear as she passed. She nodded and then began to run into the house. I sat down besides Sun.
"So, how was your day?" I asked her. I don't know much about Sun. I never really had an actual conversation with her.
"Good, I had fun with Dirt. What about you and Storm? It looked like you two had fun." I nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, I did. It was the first time in a while that I had fun." Sun nodded in understanding. Then she cleared her throat and looked at the setting sun.
"Umm…I know it's not my place to be asking but, I am just curious. If you don't want me to know I ah…I would understand." What did she want to know? I wasn't big on keeping secrets if I could help it. "I…I was just wondering if you and Lucas were…well," She blushed harder and I laughed.
"Together? Yeah we are." She blushed even deeper and I rolled my eyes. I didn't mind if she knew because Sun wasn't the one to judge, or one to spread rumors. I barely knew her and I still knew that. "It's not that big of a deal Sun. I don't mind if you know."
"How come?" She asked avoiding my eyes.
"Because I know you won't judge or spread rumors. You're not that kind of person."
"Your right, I won't talk about it unless you're okay with it." She said smiling. "And I won't judge you on it. I know you're a good guy, and I wouldn't be so closed minded." I don't know how, but Sun made it feel like she has been a close friend of mine for years. I was completely comfortable around her and that was a hard thing to accomplish with me.
"By the way, are you and Dirt Married, or engaged?" I asked. I was honestly curious to that fact.
"Engaged, were going to have the ceremony in April." She said touching the ring on her finger.
"That's great; just make sure you don't forget to invite me." I said in a fake serious tone. She laughed at my words and nodded.
"I wouldn't be able to forget you if I wanted to Tyler." I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes.
"Sounds about right." We continued to laugh and when we stopped, she asked me another question.
"How old are you?" Was the first question she asked.
"I'm 16, what about you?"
"I'm 18, and Dirt is 19, and close to be 20."
"Sun! There you are!" I heard a loud voice call out. We looked up and saw Dirt approaching us. He had a beer bottle in hand and his face was flushed. I knew a drunk when I saw one. I stood up as Sun jumped of the steps and rushed over to help Dirt.
"Are you okay!" She said as he stumbled up the steps. I moved out of their way as they went inside. When they were inside I remembered I couldn't get back in without two other pets to help me.
"Hey guys! Wait a sec!" I said running forward, but they were already in the doorway and I got shocked and was shot backwards. I tumbled down the steps and landed on my head. "OW!" I said loudly clutching my head on the ground. That really hurt.
"Oh my goodness!" Sky said running up from behind me to help me get up. I'm sure Sun would have done the same if it hadn't been for the large, drunk Dirt she was keeping upright.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said getting up quickly. "Its fine, but I would like to not go through that experience again." Sky kept his hands hovering around me when he responded.
"I've never once been shocked by the door because I never tried to get out. Maybe you should learn from my past and not try to as well. Maybe then dogs won't have to bite your shoulder off." I narrowed my eyes at the jab, which was clearly directed at me.
"Well, maybe I want to get out of here as quickly as I can. What do you have to say to that?" Sky only smiled.
"If you wanted to get out that badly, you would have left Storm and escaped today." I was left speechless as Sky sat me down on the porch steps again. How could I've forgotten the whole reason I played the part of Cotton's Brother Prince? I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible….right?