Water Wars

“Ever join a turf war before, Starry?”

Hana shook her head, but she was still grinning from ear to ear. After all, the coolest bun she ever laid eyes on had been talking to her fairly often, and she was actually talking about all sorts of stuff! Like they were friends or something! After shedding the attempted punk outfit, Jackal gave her pointers for something that complemented her hair and starriness better, and she found it refreshing to have some darker clothes but not overly so. It was a different vibe! She liked it, and they didn’t always hang out in the alleyway, because she would cough sometimes from all of the smoke.

Parks seemed to be the go-to place, for some reason. At night, specifically.

“The real turf wars are nasty stuff, but this one’s just going to be between some friends of mine. A water war, since it’s summertime. We’re gonna have it at the nearby beach. You interested?”

“Yeah!! When’s it gonna be? Do I have to bring anything?”

“The next Saturday, and just yourself, in something you don’t mind getting wet in. We’ll bring the water weapons.”

Hana giggled at the thought of holding a large water gun and blasting a bunch of buns. It sounded like a lot of fun! And she hadn’t really been in a water war before. Wait, did it involve points and scoring and winners? She could get real competitive if there was a competition involved…

Well, the invitation was only one part of their conversation tonight, but it wouldn’t be long before they went their separate ways for the evening. The anticipation for the water war would pop up every now and then while she was at work, but she was able to stave it off with distractions until the day came.

But Hana forgot that she didn’t like the beach. Sure, she got a seashell from here the other week that still sat on her shelf; that didn’t mean that she suddenly liked the sun, the sand that got stuck on her feet or hooves, and how she was robbed of her comfort of wearing sweaters.

Water war though! And Jackal was here too! Over there, with a few other dark-looking buns that were already holding plastic guns with canisters. There were also buckets of water balloons, to which a few buns were still in the process of tossing more in there. She couldn’t help but notice that a number of them had horns similar to Jackal, but there were other horned buns here too.

“You made it.” Jackal had her hands on her hips; a small smile on her face. Hana had never seen her with a grin any bigger than that, but it just added to her super cool persona.

“I did!”

And with that she was unceremoniously handed a gun.

“We’re starting soon. Take this red bandanna and tie it around somewhere visible. You’re shooting the blues.”

“Oh!” well, it made sense that there were indeed sides. Hana tied the bandanna around her neck before testing out the gun. It only then dawned on her that Jackal was in the opposing team. She had to go against her?! She wasn’t sure if she could do this…

But there were always other buns to hit! There was a sort of referee in the middle who was going to keep tally of the scoring. Hana wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to keep track of everything though, yet she supposed that accuracy was not the focus here.

Just as she was thinking that, she felt a water balloon collide on the back of her head, knocking her down a bit and covering her in ice cold water. It momentarily shocked her before she shook her head, letting her ears flop around (she made sure to tie her hair into a bun). Well, Hana was not going to let that bun go unwatered! She took aim at the buns still crowding near the bucket full of water balloons and pressed the plastic trigger.

The afternoon was then filled with screaming, shivering from the cold water, and lots of sand flicked in the air. There were a few trips and face plants on the beach grounds, and it didn’t take long before the referee gave up and also joined in the fray (they somehow managed to get the hose and shower a bunch of buns). All in all, it was a blast, and Hana felt like she had made a few new friends, at least.