Chapter Text
In the serene blue ocean, an archipelago laid there, every island uniquely different than the last. That especially goes for an island in the middle of the archipelago.
Once every eight years on that island, a celebration is held there. Celebrating the pioneers that first discovered the land. All the villagers from the other islands would clamor to the middle island and celebrate the only way they know how: have an epic party.
Villagers, from big to small, from cheery to gloomy, all took part of the festivities. Dimly lit lamps were placed around the island, giving the villagers a light on the celebratory night. Party streamers and yellow confetti danced around in the air. A small wooden stage was made in the center of the celebration. It had a long curtain behind it.
All the lights turned to the stage, villagers began to shift their focus to the platform. Out of the lights angle, one person started to walk center-stage. And on the other side, another person was doing the same. Two brown Tanuki’s walked into frame, both wearing identical green Hawaiian-shirts.
“Hello everyone!…Everyone!” They greeted themselves, almost in perfect unison. “We hope you all are having a great time at the festival!…Festival!” As they said that, a few villagers whooped or clapped, that made them smile.
“Well, we know how to make this party a whole lot better!…Better!” They walked to the curtain, both holding the ends of it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to introduce you to…”
“Timmy, Tommy, we got a bit of an emergency,” A faint whisper came from behind the large drapes. The twins froze for a moment before realizing that the crowd was still there. “Oh! Um…we’ll be right back!…Back!” They said before running into backstage.
“What is it, Tom? Do we have to end the festival early?” Timmy asked, looking at Tommy, then at their mentor. An older Tanuki sat on a pull-up chair, distress clear on his face. “Yes, yes. It appears so,” The Tanuki got up, pointing behind him.
A pure white dog searched the stage urgently. On the dog’s back was a guitar bag; it was opened, but the instrument was no where to be seen. The dog finally went and looked at the twins, his thick black eyebrows furrowed. “K.K. Slider?”
“He’s lost his guitar,” Tom explained. “And I need you two to help him find it,”
“But who’ll keep the guests distracted?…Distracted?” Timmy and Tommy questioned their mentor. “I can entertain them?” Tom suggested. The twins frowned and narrowed their eyes, silently letting him know how that would go. “Okay, okay,” Tom turned toward the exit, flustered. That was when his worry went away. “Ah! Hello there. Come in!” He shouted happily.
The small pattering of footsteps came from the exit. A figure hesitatingly went onto the stage. She had fluffy pink hair. Her dark skin shined under the lights. And her colorful sundress made her stand out more.
“Yes! You-“ Tom stopped talking when the girl instantly went to K. K. Slider, holding a picture on him up. “Oh my gosh! It was true! You actually were coming to the festival!” She was thrilled at the sight of him.
“I heard a rumor that’d you come to Castaway Island! I listened to all your songs. I’m your biggest fan! But, like, not in a creepy way,” She backed up to give the musician some space, but immediately went back again to badger him more.
“What was her name again?” Tommy went to Tom. The Tanuki watched as the pink haired girl continued to gaze at K.K. Slider. “That’s Alex. She’s one of the new residents at Castaway,” He stepped forward. “And I’m pretty sure she would love to help find her idol’s guitar,”
Alex’s eyes widen the moment he said that. The dog felt a tight squeeze on his wrist. “I would LOVE to!” Alex’s grip on his wrist tightened. Without a second thought, she dashed for the exit, dragging her dearest guitarist with her.
“Hopefully they’re be back in time,” Tom whispered. “And hopefully I can distract the guests with my charm!” He mused on what material he could use, ignoring the exasperated groans from his two protégées.
A few minutes after they left, Alex still pestered the musician. “So about K.K Bubblegum, what inspired you to make that song? Was there an overall message for it?” She asked the dog. The two walked side by side, searching for the missing instrument.
“Listen,” K.K’s calm voice matched the atmosphere. The wind was calm, the river near them was calm, and the starry night sky was as calm as the rest. “The way I see things, music isn’t about learning the message of the song, it’s about having your own take on it,”
Alex was quiet, seeming to be taking in his words. “I always wanted to make music that could speak to everyone,” The dog’s ears went up, he pointed at a tree stump that was far from where they stood. A guitar laid against it.
“Cool. Looks like we found it,” K. K gestured for Alex to let go of his hand. After she did, he jogged over to the stump. Alex watched as he played one string at a time, checking of all of them were good.
Strange flickering lights came from above. The stars in the sky were bigger, brighter. Back at the celebration, Tom Nook made an appearance, much to the twin’s dismay.
“Looks like it’s too late,” Tommy whispered to Timmy, looking up at the stars. They got to the front of the stage with their mentor, beginning to attract the audience to them.
“Excuse me, everyone,” Tom Nook stood near the edge of the stage. “If I could direct you to the sky, you may see the stars getting bigger. That’s another part of the island tradition,”
The villagers alternated between looking up and looking at Tom. “Every eight years, the stars appear brighter than normal. And on this day, it is said that the people that discovered this island wished on these stars for good luck,” Tom Nook clapped his hands once.
“Now, before the stars go back to normal, let’s all wish ourselves luck until the next festival! Yes, yes!”
K. K carried on with playing the instrument, beginning to get a feel for what he should play on the stage. As he started to get up from the stump, he stopped.
“Okay, the guitar’s all good,” Alex said while looking away from the dog. “We can go now-“ A howl came from the back of the villager. Music was playing at a fast tempo. And the once calm air became a strong gale.
Startled, she called out to K. K. Slider. “Did-Did you hear me?!” She yelled over the mysterious wind. “I said we can go-“
Alex stepped back, covering her face. The wind seemed to be circling the area, like some gravitational pull was causing it. When she removed her arms from her face, Alex saw something she really wished she didn’t. K. K. Slider was playing his instrument, the tone of it felt electrifying. And the musician’s expression was calm. The villager would have considered that normal, but here’s the thing: His eyes were glowing. They were like two golden globes that seemed to bring off smoke.
A low rumbling came from all around the two, dark clouds began to form, too. The air felt hot, it came out of nowhere.
“K. K! We need to get out of here!” Alex trudged toward the stump he sat on. There was no way she would leave her idol.
As she halved the distance between them, a loud snap frightened her. That snap was followed with smaller ones. A long shadow covered the villager. A tree had been torn off the ground from the wind, and it was going to land right on Alex.
Consider it luck, the air pushed the falling tree just a few feet away from her. It dropped with a big thud, causing Alex to stumble. She struggled to get up, all while the fallen tree started to roll toward her.
When she finally got her footing, she dashed for the dog. And at the same time, the wind grew fiercer. It had more than enough force to push the log at her.
She heard every bump the log made as it got closer to her. It felt like she could do nothing but run. She decided to take one last look at the log to see if there was even a chance to get away from it.
The fallen tree was close. Too close. For the few fleeting moments she had before the tree would hit, Alex wished she had some sort of gift that could have helped her out of this. Like, being able to run fast, or skillfully maneuver around the wind, or fly. Yeah, flying would be good right about now.
The bark of the tree got to one of her legs first. She shut his eyes, trying to brace herself for what’s to come. Over the loud squalls of the sudden storm, Alex swore she could hear footsteps. And for a brief moment, she opened her eyes to see if there were.
A man sprinted at the log. From the short time her eyes were open, she mostly stared at him. He had dark brown hair, big black eyes, and some stubble on his face. He also wore a red shirt with a blue number one on it.
The man slammed his palm on the log, and the unthinkable happened. It…It was shrinking. The tree was shrinking, commencing to gravitate to the man’s hand as he put it into his pocket.
Alex dropped to the ground, wondering if what she was seeing was real or not. The man ran around her and started for K.K, who was still playing music. When he stood in front of the dog, he grabbed his guitar by the neck. He then yanked the instrument away from him. And like the storm was all an illusion, the wind disappeared, as well as the clouds.
K. K. Slider fell down, his eyes went back to normal. “Hu-Huh?” He panted. He began to notice how the area seemed different. “Did I zone out?” The man grabbed his guitar and gave it back to him.
“Don’t play this,” He ordered. Now turning to Alex, he plodded toward her, each step growing heavier. Putting one hand in his pocket, he threw a seemingly small item out. And that small item grew ten times its size. It was a tree-no, it was the tree that nearly flattened her.
Both Alex and K.K were stunned. He picked up and threw a tree.
“Wh-What was that?!” The villager shouted. The man glanced at the dog, then at Alex. “It’s something you two may have,” He muttered, staring up at the sky. Seeing him do it made her remember the stars that were up there. When she checked, they were normal, barely a star out of place.
“You, when you get to the stage, say you have to cancel. Make up an excuse,” He said to the musician. K. K raised an eyebrow, he was dazed, dumbfounded, but he nodded anyway, feeling unsure if he could even perform tonight. He slung his guitar over his shoulder and waved Alex goodbye before heading off.
“And you,” The man went to her. “Go home, and do not tell anyone about what you just saw,” He began to walk to the where the Dodo Airlines were.
“Wait!” A sudden pull on the back of his shirt made him stop. “I…I’ll keep this to myself. But only if…” She paused, trying to gather her thoughts. “Only if you tell me what that was,” It was impossible. There was no possible way he could just pick that log up.
The man seemed to figure out was she was talking about. “Oh, I guess I should explain this,” He said nonchalantly. Holding one hand up, he put it to where Alex could see. Nothing was happening at first, until a faint green light came from the middle of his palm. The green light grew, enveloping his entire hand. It took the form of a vortex-like shape, spinning clock-wise. Alex watched in awe as the swirling light bobbed.
“This is called a Horizon,” The man began to walk again, causing Alex to let go. “And you might have one, too,” He left, leaving the villager to her thoughts.
Horizon? What does that mean? Just what was that ability? A gentle breeze blew to the left of her, making that side of her hair go to her eye. As she pushed it out of her way, something from the sky went away. She couldn’t get a good look at it, but she knew it was pink.
Alex sighed. She couldn’t stay there forever, so she trekked to her house. And as she left the area, a butterfly flew just above her.
Just what was a Horizon?