Quite the Kaotic Kristmas (a Skylander Second Leaf story)

Prologue - Shorey, it's cold outside

"Come on." Shoria started making her way up the hill. "It's not much farther, I promise."

"We better not be climbing any more trees." Kaos grumbled, kicking at the ground with his bare foot.

Shoria laughed in response, Kaos' blush only growing. He followed after Shoria as quickly as he could, fiddling with the end of the scarf as they walked. They made their way across a frost covered bridge, Kaos' attention grabbed by the endless sky below them, watching smaller islands float beneath them. A single snowflake drifted down from the sky above, landing on the tip of Kaos' nose. Shoria looked back, gesturing for Kaos to hurry along with a smile. He pulled away from the edge of the bridge, breathing a sigh as he watched more snowflakes drifting down from the clouds.

"You said it wasn't far."

"It's not! It's not, I promise. We're almost there."

Kaos looked ahead to the well-trimmed hedge walls of Eon's garden, the intricate silver wire doors closed and locked - as they usually were for the night. Kaos looked up at Shoria, expecting her to turn a different direction, but instead she knelt down, lifting up the small lock to inspect it.

"My my." Kaos clicked his tongue, managing a smile. "Is the goodie goodie fishstick actually about to break into Eon's sacred garden?"

"Oh shove off!" Shoria giggled. "That's honestly rich coming from you, Mr. 'reformed' villain."

Kaos gasped, placing his hand on his chest in mock offense. "I am reformed! And judging by this little rule break, I'll be an even better Skylander than you~"

Shoria laughed as she coaxed a few water droplets out of the air, forming them into a key. She slid the key into the lock, fiddled with it for a moment, then frowned.

"Huh. This should work. Maybe I didn't get the shape quite right…"

Kaos snickered to himself, then looked to the hedge wall. A thin layer of white had gathered onto the densely packed leaves, shimmering in the dim light. He glanced back to Shoria, then placed his hand against the hedge, feeling around. He grabbed onto a sturdy feeling branch, pulling himself up onto the frosted bush. He fumbled around for another good foothold, then after a few moments, managed to pull himself up onto the top of the hedge. He cleared his throat with a triumphant grin, pulling Shoria's attention from the lock.

"Come on fishstick, we don't have all day~" he teased, before sliding off of the hedge and into the garden.

"Oh, that's cheating!" Shoria laughed.

"I didn't know it was a competition," Kaos snickered, watching Shoria climb the hedge, then jump into the garden beside him, "besides, I'm pretty sure forging a fake key out of water would also be considered-"

Shoria cut him off, shoving him playfully. "Come on, short stack. It's just around this corner."

Kaos laughed to himself quietly as he followed after Shoria, trailing his fingers along the hedge wall. Eon’s garden was usually open to the public during school hours, so he didn't know why Shoria was so insistent on coming so early - though any chance to see her break the rules was a win in his book, at least.

"So. What's so important that the goodie two shoes wearing Shoria is willing to break the rules?" Kaos finally caved into his curiosity, looking up at Shoria with a smirk.

"This." Shoria came to a stop, gesturing in front of her.

Kaos looked over, then froze, his jaw dropping. In the center of the garden was the Core of Light, a spectacle even on its own, but now it was surrounded by tens upon thousands of tiny, silvery blooms, all glistening in the light it cast. None of the other flowers in the garden had bloomed yet, most having gone to sleep for the coming winter - but these were fully flowering. They covered the ground, barely making way for the path that led up to the Core, petals of silvers and blues, in all shapes and sizes, facing towards the overcast sky. It was amazing how something so small could be so beautiful. Shoria knelt down, scooping up a few of the frost covered flowers gently, their brittle stems letting them leave with the webbed hand. Kaos sat down beside her, peering at the flowers closely. Each of the petals were covered in miniscule crystals, their formation resembling that of snowflakes.