Seasons

Summer
Forest Bravestar's paws pounded on the forest floor as she ran for her life. The fox chased her, its beady, round eyes gleaming ambitiously. Black fog seeped out of its eyes, trailing behind it as it ran.

Oliver trailed slightly behind Forest, and the Phantomized Fox branched off to chase after him instead. Lily, panting, came to a stop behind a fallen tree.

"We can't keep running like this forever!" she panted, her voice rasping in her throat. Forest, also known as Hope, nodded in agreement.

"We need to tell her that they've taken over her. She doesn't know," Forest panted, coming to a stop.

The phantomized fox's eyes switched quickly back to pink and she said, "Sorry guys, gotta go. Dinner."

Forest groaned. Would they ever get to finish a roleplay? She transformed into a coyote and shook out her teal blue coat.

"You sure?" she asked, disappointed.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"It's ok," Lily said, her tail twitching. "We'll just finish it another day!"

Forest left her friend's den, annoyed. She shook her head, wondering what to do. Maybe trade? Sure, let's do that.

She teleported quickly to Jamaa Township, and was astonished by what she saw. Animals were gathered around in a tight bunch in the middle of the town, shivering. An undeniable cold seeped quickly through her fur, her paw pads growing numb.

"W--what's happening?" her voice trembled with fear and cold as she spoke out above the chattering of the cold Jammers' teeth. "It's the middle of summer!"

A Jammer wearing a Unicorn Floatie stepped quickly out of the group to be heard, shivering.

"We don't know, i-- it just g-- got really c-- cold," she stammered. Her dark eyelashes were covered with frost. She blinked once, hard, to clear her watering eyes and shook out her fur as she returned to the tightly-clustered bunch in the center of the town.

Forest took a shivering step forwards, her paw crunching down on freshly-fallen snow. She gave it a trembling sniff and said, "This snow is freshly laid. How long have you g-- guys been here f-- for?"

"About an hour," responded a pink-and-blue bunny, her long ears bouncing above the rest of the group. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses with a scarf, a gardening hat, and winter boots. Forest pulled on a scarf and tucked her well-proportioned ears into her Arctic Hood. She pulled on some winter boots and threw on a coat. She was ready now.

Stepping carefully out into the snow, she heard it crunch under her paw but felt nothing. Suddenly, there was a strong wind coming from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder quickly and broke into a run, barreling into the group. The Phantoms were here!

They came pouring in through a black-hole portal. There must have been about 20 of them, all surrounding the Phantom King. 21 Phantoms in total.

"We," the Phantom King bellowed in a loud voice, causing vibrations to ripple through Jamaa Township, "We have single-handedly, uh, single-tentacledly brought this horrid, insufferable winter to your precious land of Jamaa!"

All of his little Phantom minions bobbed their heads-- that is, their entire selves, pretty much-- up and down in unison.

Forest shoved herself farther into the group, creating lots of space in between her and the Phantom King. She felt a deep, stinging regret about being such a coward, so she pushed her way back to the front, standing up bravely as the Phantom King sized them all up. They all knew that he could utterly demolish their whole entire little group with a single thought or the flick of a large, heavy tentacle.

But just as soon as they had come, the Phantoms left.