Scrape's Random Book of Random 'Art'

Drawing #417 - CDC - Day 01

"Blend in With the Enemy"
(Day 01 - Christmas Tree)

For my first time coloring Shoria with pencil crayons, I think it's pretty good. I'm still not used to prismacolors, but I think it turned out okay. I'm going to try to color all of these drawings, greyscale at the least, but hopefully I can get a handle on these prismacolors by the end of it.
Also, Erin my dude, I'm sorry if I got Shoria wrong, yet again. I'm not really familiar with her markings from this angle, nor with her updated outfit, so I just kept her in the Christmas outfit she was in last year. Seeing as sandals seems a tad cold for the winter weather...
Anyway. For each of these drawings, I'm going to be including a little story along with it, because clearly I'm not punishing myself enough. X3
So, without further ado, let's get started.

December had hit like a hailstorm throughout the timelines. Skylands was racked with the worst snowstorm it had seen in eons, islands upon islands covered in snow. Everything ranging from calm pastures and quiet villages to the edges of the Outlands had been covered in a blanket of white, only more falling from the endless expance of sky. Even islands and isles of fire and heat, that were usually balmy around December were covered in a thin layer of frost. Within the first day, the Academy had been snowed in; forcing most of the cadets and Skylanders alike to seek shelter within its bowels. Even creatures like Slam Bam and Chill, who usually relished at the cold, felt that something was off with this freak, flash white out. Of course, that's another story. Our story takes place in the one place that wasn't hit by snow most uncanny. The Control Center. Hoping to start a new tradition, the Creators had invited all of their characters to spend the holidays with them at the one place safe from the usual destruction and doom that racked the timelines, and of course, they had all obliged. Some more willing than others, but all had shown up within the first day once the snow had begun to fall.
The misfit groups sat around a table in the dining room, which had become quite crowded, having to have fit almost five, perhaps six, timelines in at once - not counting the AUs, which had most definitely shown up, as per Scrape's request. The Creators sat at the head; Scrape, Elaina, Lucarian and Quinn. Next, was a few people most didn't recognize. A short, cyborg girl sat beside a taller girl, black markings covering her body - whether they were tattoos or not was another story altogether. Across from them sat a sky-fawn, and two Skylanders, Grim Creeper and Ghost Roasted, although they were clearly not from any timeline they had encountered before. Next was the SL timeline, across from them the Rebellion. Colorblind and the Mirror of Mystery, as well as the Marked and surprisingly the Swapped timelines were gathered around as well. Minecraftia, Homestuck, Twelve Realms, Whisper...
To put it in short, the dining room was crowded and crammed full of every timeline imaginable by the Creators, which was exactly what it was.

"How long until dinner..." Kaos grumbled, glaring at the floor. He kicked his legs back and forth impatiently, as if hoping to collide his foot with someone else's just to cause something to break the tension that hung in the air around them, but of course, he could not. Kaos' legs were too short to do any damage. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"I do admit, having so many different timelines here is so tad uncomfortable..." Shoria giggled uncomfortably, glancing down at Kaos before looking around at the packed table.
She recognized a few people, although they had changed quite a bit since the last time she had seen them. Katoptrixs and Crestalre sat directly across from her and Kaos, although something seemed different about them. Katoptrixs eyes were a dull grey, only shifting slightly in hue from the 'white' of the eye to the iris and pupil. Crestalre herself looked older, more sophisticated, although she still stuck close to the reaper. Perhaps they hadn't changed as much as Shoria had suspected.
Kaos grunted, pulling Shoria from her thoughts. "I don't understand why everyone's here. The snow was in OUR timeline."
"Perhaps it's a constant?" Shoria suggested.
"Or a ploy by the idiotic Creators to get us all together for some conviluted scheme they've whipped up." Kaos grumbled, his tail swishing side to side in discontent.
Shoria sighed. "Well, at least we all get to be together for the holidays. This might be good for us, all of us. I've heard a lot of their timelines are tough too."
"Bah." Kaos scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Holidays shmolidays. My first Christmas was a nightmare, how's this one going to be any different."
Shoria opened her mouth to speak, then paused, her eyes growing wide. "Your first Christmas? You don't mean to say last year was your FIRST Christmas."
"That's exactly what I mean." Kaos finally looked up, meeting Shoria's gaze of disbelief with an unamused one of his own. "Villains don't celebrate Christmas. It's a hero holiday, like Easter or something. Villains have Hallows Eve and Thankstaking, heroes have Christmas and Easter."
Shoria was silent, unable to comprehend what Kaos was saying. All her life, growing up at the Academy, she had celebrated Christmas. It had grown to be one of her favorite holidays. Given, last year had been an utter nightmare in some respects, as Kaos had said, with the whole dance and Kyrel incident; but still. Shoria couldn't imagine anyone disliking Christmas. It just didn't seem normal. Then again, Kaos was anything but normal. It was then, Shoria got an idea.
"Kaos. This year, I'm going to make sure you have the best Christmas possible." She stated.
"Will you now." Kaos mumbled. He had looked back to the ground, not really paying attention to what Shoria had to say. He just wanted to eat for once, and get out of there as soon as possible.
Shoria grabbed Kaos' hand, getting to her feet and dragging him up with her. A few people looked over, but most were wrapped up in their own ordeals and didn't notice. Kaos looked up, confused.
"Yes." Shoria smiled. "We're going to have the best Christmas, away from anything that could ruin it, just you wait and see."
"But, dinner-"
"Dinner is going to be a while. Besides, you weren't going to eat it anyway. We both know that. I'll make sure you eat later, but right now, we have to plan."
"Alright..." Kaos still didn't seem sure, still giving Shoria a skeptical look. "I'll play along, fishstick. What's first?"
"We need a tree-" Shoria began explaining, but was cut off by Kaos pulling his hand away, his eyes going wide.
"Oh, no no no. I'm out."
"What? Why?"
"I'm not willingly giving one of those bark covered behemoths access to the one place that's supposed to be safe from all conflict."
Shoria blinked, then laughed uncomfortably. "What? Kaos, trees aren't... they can't hurt you. What are you afraid of?"
"AFRAID!?" Kaos cried, his tail thudding against the ground. "I'm not AFRAID!"
"You sure look it to me." Shoria smiled, placing her hands on her hips. "Come on. What's the worst that could happen? We just need to cut down a tree and find a place to set it up in here. That's all."
Shoria knelt down to Kaos' height, then held out her hand. "Besides, I'll be here with you the entire time. If any of them try anything remotely suspicious, I'll chop them down faster than Mammagma can guzzle a six pack of Lava Cola."
Kaos still seemed uncertain. It was true, Shoria's reassuring smile made him feel a but more comfortable with the concept, but every fiber of his being was still shouting at him not to. Huffing, Kaos took Shoria's hand.
"Fine. But I need to do one thing before we go."
Shoria giggled. "I'll meet you at the arboretum then."
With that, the two walked out, leaving the rest of the timelines to do what they pleased, their happenings unknown to the two. They had their quest, and nothing would keep them from completing it. At least, not for Shoria. Kaos wasn't sure if he would make it past this first task or not, but he was determined to try nonetheless. Or at least to prove to Shoria that he wasn't scared.

"What in Skylands are you wearing?" Shoria questioned, stifling a laugh.
"It's a disguise. So the trees don't notice I'm amongst them." Kaos grumbled, smoothing out his robes self-consciously. Of course, they weren't his usual robes. They seemed to be some sort of layered, green outfit, probably to simulate the branches of an evergreen tree. Which, lucky for Kaos, was the type they were attempting to find. Each segment had a snow white trim around it, as well as a few, ruby red splotches of color dotted around it.
"And you've owned this for how long...?" Shoria questioned.
"Glumwad made it for me a few Decembers ago when I refused to go on a walk with him through a forest. He said it would help me blend in, and so it did. So I'm wearing it, whether you like it or not."
Shoria giggled, patting Kaos on the head. "Whatever makes you comfortable, pancake."
"Shut it, fishstick. Let's just get this done and over with."
Shoria took Kaos' hand, leading him through the doors they had been standing by and into the arboretum. Like most of the rooms within the Control Center, it was amazing how much space they really contained. The arboretum was basically an indoor forest, all prepped for the winter season. A light dusting of snow fell from the ceiling above, the light dimmed to simulate a wispy cloud cover. Tall pines and evergreens reached towards the high ceiling, their needles white with snow. Even the trees that had lost their leaves looked beautiful, their branches frosty and glittering in the faint light. Shoria was already making her way into the room, but Kaos merely drew back, pressing his back against the wall. He could feel them staring at him, looming ominously above.
"Come on, Kaos." Shoria looked over her shoulder, giving a reassuring smile like before. "I promise, they won't hurt you."
"Since when did you dictate what actions these oversized sycophants take?" Kaos retorted. "You can't promise anything!"
Shoria sighed, then walked back up to Kaos. "You're in disguise, remember? They won't know it's you. Besides, I'm here to protect you."
"But what happens when we cut one down? They'll know we killed one of their brethren."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes, okay? We can take this at whatever pace your comfortable with. Just know I'm here with you, every step of the way."
Kaos looked off to the side, then took a deep breath. "Fine. Let's get this over with. I want to decorate the lifeless carcass of my enemy and display it for all to see."
Shoria laughed awkwardly. "That's the spirit, I think..."

"RUN!!"
Kaos darted through the trees, stumbling through the snow in a panic, Shoria close behind him. They carried the tree on their shoulders, although the weight they carried was quite uneven, due to the apparent height difference between them. Shoria glanced back, only once, and felt her heart jump into her throat. There it was, the most hideous frost ent she has ever laid her eyes on. The creature looked to be a cross between an abominable snowman and an old, gnarled tree that had been allowed to both grow and rot away for centuries. It lumbered after them at high speed, clearly furious that one of the trees in its forest had been chopped down. For once, Shoria understood Kaos' inane fear of trees, and knew if they made it out of this alive she probably wouldn't step foot in a forest for quite some time. The two managed to reach the doors and Kaos quickly dropped his end of the tree, fumbling with the keypad in an attempt to get the doors open before it was too late. He stood on tip toe, frantically pressing buttons and entering codes, desperately hoping one would work. The ent let out a blood curdling screech and Kaos slammed his fist into the keypad, sparks of both yellow and purple flying before the door slid open with a shudder. Shoria grabbed Kaos by the collar of his robes, dragging both him and the tree out of the room, the doors sliding shut behind them just as the ent was about to enact its revenge.
"I... can see why you hate trees now..." Shoria panted, leaning over with her hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath.
Kaos sat on the ground, in a daze. A few seconds passed of silence before Kaos began to snicker, then giggle. The giggle became a laugh, and that laugh became the Tiny Tyrant's usual maniacal cackling. Shoria looked over to Kaos to find him grinning from ear to ear.
"That was the most fun I've had in MONTHS!!" Kaos cackled, jumping to his feet. "Let's do it again!!"
"A-Again?" Shoria gave a lopsided smile, unable to help herself at seeing Kaos acting so giddy. "Maybe later, pancake. For now, we have to... how did you put it? Decorate the fallen corpse of our enemies and display it for all to see?"
"Right!" Kaos clapped his hands together, then grabbed his end of the tree. "To the commons area, fishstick!"
As Shoria picked up her end of the tree, Kaos smirked back at her. "You know... I think I'm starting to like this while Christmas thing."

Drawing Weapons: Paper, fineliner and pencil - prismacolor