#Effect: Grants the ability to see ghosts and wards off harmful spirits. Holding this plush provides comfort in tough situations!

[bxtonpxss]

who cared about santa with sandark around? with wiz the red-nosed rabbit serving as the wings on his back, he descends and lands in a spectacular fashion right in front of opacho. elegant pride accompanies the brief adjustment of the cloth sack over his shoulder --- and yet his expression morphs into a bright, enthusiastic grin full of casual recognition in an instant.

' ... opacho! ' had she gotten anything already from others? but that didn't change sandark's rules for the season. ' merry christmas, happy holidays. i'm here to visit all the good little boys and girls and steal something from them --- yourself included, of course. '

the sack opens, and he digs about the inside of it; soon enough, his hands have retrieved a plush sheep, alongside fresh, scented crayons and an assortment of coloring pages. ' --- in exchange, i'll give you these. so, go on: your loneliness, your sadness, or your worries and fears over the future, tell me anything and everything, and this almighty sandark will take every bit of it away. '

Opacho had just finished putting away some of her gifts actually! So the sudden appearance of the thief comes as a surprise to her. He must have come through one of the pictures  in her room! “Merry Christmas!” She happily chimes back, meeting his grin with a large one of her own, only to pause as his words register. He came to steal something from her?

Her head tilts in confusion, smile slowly fading as she makes a big show of fluttering her arms beneath her cloak to showcase how she had nothing for him to take. “Opacho don’t have anything…” She pauses after that, his words finally registering.

He wasn’t just giving her gifts—he was offering to take something in return. Loneliness. Sadness. Worries. Whatever she decided, he would take it away. Opacho shakes her head, brows furrowing. “But if Dark take Opacho feelings away then he’ll be sad too…” No, she wouldn’t want to burden him with her feelings, they were complicated and their weight was far too heavy. Besides, not even the great Dark Mousey could bring back the dead.

“Opacho don’t want to trade feelings.” She looks at the gifts being offered. There had to be something else she could trade for them. Taking a quick glance around her somewhat sparse room her eyes fall upon the small toy chest tucked in the corner.

An idea immediately comes to the toddler and she rushes over, rummaging through her collection until she pulls out a different plush—a small, worn, plush tiger with button eyes and a stitched smile for a mouth. Toro! Big Ben had gotten this for her back when they traveled through America with Hao-sama. She kept it with her a lot back then when they traveled but nowadays poor Toro doesn’t see much time outside the treasure chest.

Opacho looks over the smiling tiger and hugs it tight as she concentrates. For a split second the tiger is outlined in a pure white energy then it disappears as though nothing were there. “Opacho trade this instead!”

She then thrusts the tiger at Dark after transferring a little of her furyoku into the plush. There’s no telling how long that energy would stay or the side effects but she had to give him something.

“Toro and Opacho help keep bad feelings away!” She surges forward after handing the plush over and setting aside his gifts, latching onto his leg so she could hug him, cheek mashed against the fabric of his pants while she looks up at him with a serious expression. “Now Dark won’t feel bad either!”

@dnangelic