"Sofie" - Completing the Team

The gang continued their way through the field, now seeming to be devoid of any discernible landmarks.
“UGH, THIS IS BORING,” Teak complained. “HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL WE GET TO THIS STUPID TOWN?”
“Just a little longer, I think,” Cole reassured him. To be honest, he wasn’t quite sure where they were, either.
“Great, we’re lost, aren’t we?” Tundra said sarcastically. “At least I have the premise for my new book: Lost: a Tale of Three Dummies.”
“No, that’s not true,” Cole protested. Cole pointed as a town appeared over the horizon. “See? I knew where we were going all along!” Cole smiled to try to hide his relief. “All we have to do is head down this hill and-”

SMACK! As he turned back around, Cole ran face, first into an object. Shaking his head, his eyes focused on a strange, spherical pup, still dazed and confused.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
The odd pup smiled in return.
Something dawned on him. “Hey, you’re one of those new pups that Lalna just invented… a Wilspup, right?"
The Wilspup smiled even brighter, giving a slight nod.
“So, what are you doing here, anyways?” Cole asked, attempting to spark a conversation.
The pup just floated there, smiling innocently at Cole.
“Okay… do you have a name?”
Again, the pup just stared at him.
Cole was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “So, uh, what’s that stuff on your face?”
The pup blinked twice and kept smiling, eyes widening. The smile had gone from cute to just plain creepy.
Cole smiled nervously. “Uh… Well, it was nice meeting you, but we better get going. Come on, guys.” Cole slowly walked away, closely followed by Teak and Tundra.

As they continued down the hill, Cole had the eerie feeling that someone was watching him. “Uh, Cole?” Tundra whispered. Cole turned around to see Wilspup following close behind, smiling happily.
“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOLLOWING US?”Teak exclaimed. “KNOCK IT OFF! YOU’RE CREEPING US OUT!”
The Wilspup’s smile faded from her face, replaced by sadness, almost ready to cry. Defeated, the pup began to sadly float away.
“Wait! Don’t go!” Cole stopped the strange pup. “Sorry about him. We’re all just a little on edge lately.”
Teak looked sadly at the Wilspup, seeing he had hurt some feelings. “SORRY.”
The pup smiled again, feeling both relieved and consoled.
Cole smiled gently. “Do you want us to help you find your partner?”
The pep looked troubled, unable to answer with a “yes” or “no”.
Tundra, having been examining the strange pup the entire time, floated forward. “I think she means she didn’t like the battling.”
The pup smiled and nodded approvingly.
Cole thought about it. “Well, would you like to come with us, then? Don’t worry; you won’t have to battle if you don’t want to.”
The pup smiled brighter than ever and nodded happily, excited to join the party.
Cole smiled. “I guess you’ll need a name, then. Let’s see…” Cole thought about it. “… How about Sofie?”
The pup nodded approvingly, grinning widely.
“All right, then. Sofie it is.” He smiled gently. “Welcome aboard.”

“Go ahead. Pick whatever you want.”
Sofie looked around uncertainly, as if asking if it was okay.
“You’re fine,” Cole reassured her. “Consider it a welcome home present: a way to welcome you to the team.”
Sofie floated away happily, looking for something to wear.
Teak pouted. “I NEVER GOT TO PICK ANYTHING.”
“Because I only thought of it a while ago. But if you want something, go ahead and get it.”
The clerk behind the counter smiled. “We have all kinds of accessories to choose from.”
Teak grinned happily and quickly bounced off, in search of some “sweet new gear.”
Cole turned to Tundra and spoke quietly. “I’m sure you want to get something, too, right?”
“Nah,” he replied. “I think I’ll stick with the bandana. Bandanas are cool.”
Teak dashed in front of them, sporting a pair of aviators’ shades. “WELL? HOW DO I LOOK?”
“Um, aren’t those a little… counterproductive? I mean, you are part plant, after all.”
“And they don’t exactly have anything to sit on,” Tundra added, pointing out Teak’s lack of traditional ears.
Even the clerk seemed unsure. “Are you sure you don’t want something else, sir?”
“NOPE, THESE ARE GOOD,” Teak said confidently before promptly running into a display case.

Cole rolled his eyes. “Okay, Sofie, have you found anything you want to wear ye-” Cole stopped mid-sentence as he turned around to see Sofie wearing a navy-blue newspaper cap backwards.
“… You realize that you’re wearing that thing backwards, right?”
Sofie floated there un-movingly, smiling innocently.
“… Is that what you want?”
Sofie nodded.
“Well, alright then.” Cole turned to the store clerk. “Just the hat and the glasses, please.”
“Certainly, sir. Let me ring those up for you…”
Sofie hissed as the clerk reached for the hat to ring it up.
The clerk smiled nervously. “… I’ll just grab another one from the rack.”

The bell chimed as the group exited the store, Teak and Sofie happily sporting their new gear.
Cole smiled at Sofie. “Ready to go on an adventure?”
Sofie smiled happily, her round body floating in the wind.
Cole smiled back at her. “Okay, then off we go!”

~The End~

(Wrote this up a while ago, got lazy, finally decided to type it up, forgot about it, and then... well, here it is! and wow, this whole color-coded word system's getting a little out of hand, isn't it? At least you can tell who's who!

Guess this also counts towards Cyborg's new challenge thingy, but w/e~)

Great work, on both this and Beneath the Ice~
It's good to see somebody who's got the origins of their team sorted out ^^'

Thanks! Though I'm sure plenty of people have their stories figured out. I'm just one of the few shameless enough to post them on the forums *dies*~

Welp, it's something for the indecisive folks like me to read~
Oh, is Sofie mute, or does she just not like talking?

(I haven't completely decided, but I like to think of it as she doesn't like to speak, for similar reasons as why she doesn't like battling. However, she's still fully capable of both. As to why she doesn't battle... well, I'm not gonna say anything more than that it might have something to do with that stuff on her face...)

Okay, Welp, I guess I'll wait about and see what happens~)