Chapter Text
The rain came pouring down from the dark grey cloudy sky, Catnap stared up at the sky with a frown, the purple feline wearing a dark purple raincoat and matching rainboots. He let out a sigh as he opened up his umbrella and held it in his tail, walking a long and muddy trail to Dogday’s house, he and the other critters were going to discuss plans for school, to try and match up after school clubs so everyone could hang out together, Catnap looked up at the moody sky one last time, he didn’t think there was a single critter that would enjoy a rainstorm like this.
Baba Chops slowly opened her eyes to the dreary pitter patter of the rain, she sighed softly, today would be a perfect day to stay in bed, the last day before school started, a perfect moody rainstorm keeping the light at bay, all she needed was some soda, and her favorite brand of chips and she’s set.
“HEY BABA!!”
She groaned as the voice of Icky Licky echoed out from outside, the frog’s voice ruined the metronome of the rain. No doubt the sore losing frog was here to drag her away from her perfect day in, just ignore him Chops, he’ll go away eventually, Baba thought to herself as she slowly slid out of bed and placed her skull pendant around her wool covered neck.
Trudging out of her room with a yawn she turned to walk to the kitchen, Icky’s voice still calling her name from out in the rain “uuggghh why does he need to have the same amount of energy as that big eared tomboy?...” if she was lucky her dad would have already left for work and she’d have the house all to herself, the second she stepped a hoof into the kitchen her luck ran out. “Baba, I believe one of your little friends wants to play…” her father’s eerily calm voice called out from the kitchen table “u-um yes dad..” the ram took a slow calculated sip from his coffee. “Why don’t you go outside with him?, don’t forget your raincoat and have fun…” Baba Chops rubbed her arm as she made her way to where the big yellow raincoat hung, slipping it on and sliding her hoofs into the yellow rainboots, pulling the big hood over her head as she went to open the door.
She slowly opened the door and sighed as Icky smiled and hopped over to her, splashing through some puddles on his way. “Finally!, I thought I was going to get a world record for calling your name!, actually that would have been pretty cool, do they make trophies for that?” Baba’s eye twitched as she glared at the black and yellow frog, “what do you WANT Icky?” Baba’s annoyance-laced question snapped the frog out of his daydream, though he clearly didn’t pick up on the annoyance in her voice. “Oh yea, Simon invited all of us to his place, said he had a back to school gift for us!” and with that the frog began to hop off in the direction of Simon’s home, the black sheep let out a groan as she slowly followed behind him into the pouring storm.
She was slowly beginning to match the frog’s excited pace, she would never admit to this to anyone, but Icky’s near boundless energy had a way of making anyone feel like running, maybe it was the coffee scent that hung around the frog, maybe that’s why his pendant was a hazard symbol, his energy was infectious. The steady pitter patter of rain on the rubbery plastic of her raincoat made the sheep wish she was at home, or at least a type of critter that didn’t need a raincoat, how she envied her her reptilian, amphibian, and shark friends, they didn’t need to worry about getting wool wet, or heaven forbid get moldy, the sheep shuddered and hoped Icky didn’t see, “HEYA ICKORICE AND BON BON!” she groaned as Maggie Mako barged out of the bushes of the forest trail, carrying a snoozing Allister Gator over her shoulder. “Hey Maggie! You heading to Simon’s place too?” the turquoise shark let out a roaring laugh as she smacked Icky on the back making the frog stumble a bit. “Bit of a dumb question there Ickster, of course I’m heading to scaly’s place, can’t wait to see what he got us, I hope it’s a huge cake!” the shark let out a low purr as drool oozed from between her sharp teeth, Icky Licky laughed at Maggie’s enthusiasm for sweets “maybe he got us matching jackets!, that would be awesome!” Baba sighed at the two’s rambling, looking down at the muddy ground, Maggie seemed to notice and slowed down to be in pace with her.
“What do you think Simon got all of us Baba?” the sheep scoffed softly at this question, “I don’t really care, besides why do you care what I think?...” Maggie frowned a bit before pulling the sheep into an embrace. “Cause we are friends duh!, we’re a band of troublemakers, no need to feel so down Baba, I know what will make you feel better~!” Baba’s heart skipped a beat as dread filled her core “please don’t start sing-” too late.
“Nightmare Critters come to play!”
She groaned as she pulled her raincoat’s hood over her face as Icky soon joined in.
“To gross you out in every way!”
“We can’t wait to wreck your day!, so be very afraid!”
“We stalk you when you’re sleeping!”
Maggie pointed a claw at Baba expecting her to join in, after a moment of being stared at Baba let out a shuddery groan.
“We’re cuddly, cute, and creepy…”
“Something giving you the jitters?”
The bassy cajun voice of Allister sang out lazily from his spot over Maggie’s shoulder.
“MIGHT JUST BE THE NIGHTMARE CRITTERS!”
Icky and Maggie both laughed and cheered as Allister yawned awake, the imposing castle that was Simon’s home looming over them. The first thing that hit Baba Chops the moment Maggie flung the door open was the heavy heat that rushed out to meet them as the four critters crossed the threshold, the water that covered them seemed to just evaporate, barely given the chance to drip down to the plush rug. The black sheep could see the rest of her friend group gathered around the roaring fireplace as Maggie tossed Allister onto a been bag with a thumb, Icky hopping over and grabbing a can of soda from the coffee table, as Baba began taking off her raincoat and boots she scanned the room, Rabie Baby was whispering gossip to Poe, the raven riding from their book of poetry, clearly trying to ignore the chatty bat, Touille was sitting on the couch, rubbing his hands together as he prepared to dig into a meal of questionable origins, Icky had taken a spot next to the couch and was chugging his soda, Maggie had grabbed two cans of soda and was pouring the fizzy drinks down her gullet, Allister…. Was just laying on the bean bag he had been tossed onto, Baba sat next to him, at least he won’t bother her with chatter.
A loud bang drew the assembled critters' attention, as Simon Smoke grinned down at them from the upstairs balcony, the red dragon hopped over the railing and glided down to the coffee table, he always wanted to make his entrances special. “Alright boys, girls and Poe listen up” he snapped his claws as everyone looked at him. “So school starts tomorrow, lame I know, so I thought how could I improve it?, so I got my dad to talk to the principal, and I got you all something special~” with a flick of his wrist he produced seven shiny platinum cards with their names on it. The assembled critters save for Baba, Poe and Allister all ooh’d and awe’d at the shining cards, the red dragon smirking as he passed them out. “These cards will get you as much food from the cafeteria that you guys want!” Baba turned the card around in her hooves, “sweet swiss cheese smokey!, I feel like a rich rat! Is this what being rich feels like?” Touille rambled out as Rabie Baby let out a valley girl like giggle, “oooo I am totally going to tell everyone at school about this~” Allister let out a yawn as he looked at his reflection in the card. “Mmmm thanks Simon, looks like I don’t got to waste time looking for loose change…” drool dripped from Maggie’s mouth “oooooh I can get so many sweets with this” she let out long moan as she thinks about all treats she could get, Icky hopping around, the card in his hands, Simon grinning widely as his friends were all in amazement. “I hope you guys enjoy, those cards don’t have a limit, so get what you want!”
Cheering and merriment erupted as the Nightmare Critters celebrated the end of summer, gossip was shared from Rabie Baby, Icky brought out the bored games, and whined whenever he lost, Touille bored everyone with trivia on trash, Maggie stuffed her face with sweets, Baba Chops sighed as she looked at the clock, her dad would be home soon, so she got up and began putting her raincoat and boots back on, stashing the platinum card into a pocket as she made her way to the door, only to be stopped by Simon, the dragon leaning against the wall in front of door, “so Baba your old man still forcing you to join that nerdy chess club?” she looked down at the floor “y-yea, it’s no big deal, I do-don’t really mind…” Simon snorts out a puff of smoke “yeah, well if the geezer tries making you join another club you don’t want, just tell me, and I’ll have a word with him” he punctuates his point by letting out a flicker of flame from his mouth “y-yea sure…” the dragon opens the door for the black sheep, she thanks him as she walks out in the cold rain.
Trudging through the trail back to her home, Baba caught sight of the purple cat of the Smiling Critters, the feline waved to her, the sheep half heartedly waved back as she walked by, she didn’t even notice the cat was blushing softly. Once she reached her home and opened the door she called out “dad?, I’m home” no answer, must not be home yet, letting out a long sigh she trudged into her home and shut the door behind her, hanging up her raincoat and kicking off her boots, she fished through the pockets of the raincoat, she pulled out the platinum card, she was confused, why did Simon go out of his way and through all the trouble of get them all cards?, was the rich dragon just trying to buy their friendship?, or was he genuine in getting them this gift, she shook her wooly head, no one would do something like this without expecting something in return. She walked to her room, still looking at the shiny card, flopping onto her bed and pulling the blankets over her, she sighed as her eyes looked up at the ceiling. She was not looking forward to school tomorrow.