"Aren't you scared we're gonna get caught?"
"Oh, you're always scared of everything! Lighten up a bit!" Green gave a playful nudge to her partner, the mask gripped tight around his face giving a small jolt. She continued to hold his hand, pulling him along as they ran up the hill looming in front of them.
Snow fell around the duet of children, the wind whipping it across their faces. A few flakes caught in the boy's hair, standing out against the deep red color. Likewise, white speckles found their place around Green's own light brown hair.
Hair.
They didn't have to cover their hair, one of the only things that wasn't uniform in the near prison-like life that Green shared with her closest friend. It made Green smile, the way the flakes caught in her hair, standing out against the natural way of things.
A few cold minutes later, Green and her friend found themselves at the top of the hill. Like most winter nights, the moon was well above the sky, a few stray Pidgey and Spearow crossing the darkness. There was mostly silence, except for the slight breeze of wind that blew by.
"You know, they call today New Year's Eve." Green turned to look at him, meeting only the pitch black eyes of the mask he wore.
"Why's that?" The head behind the mask tilted slightly.
"Well, it's December right now, right?"
"And tomorrow it's January?"
Green nodded, her own mask rubbing up against her forehead. "December is the last month of the year, and January is the first. So they call tonight New Year's Eve, because tomorrow is gonna be a new year!"
"Is it a holiday?" The boy's voice lightened as he spoke.
"I think so! I over heard from one of the older children that some people make up New Year's Resolutions."
"Resolutions?"
"Yeah, they say that they'll change something during the next year, and that when it's New Year's Eve next year, they get to see how much they changed!"
Green tugged a bit at her mask, letting the sides that dug into her skin fall loose for a moment. "You've changed a lot since I first met you, and so have I. It's been a year now, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. But why are you messing with your mask? Are you gonna take it off? You know we can't do that, or he'll get really mad at us."
"Do you think I really care if he gets mad at me or not?" Green's cocky voice slipped through the mouthpiece of her mask as she continued to fumble with it, slowly lifting the mask upwards. "Why don't you take yours off? I never did understand why we weren't allowed to see each other's faces. I'll let you see my face, too."
"I don't want to get yelled at though..." The boy trailed off, his words dulling the atmosphere.
"That's only if he finds out." Green finally lifted the mask off of her face, winking at her partner. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
The boy laughed a little in turn. "Okay, if you say so." He reached up for the mask on his face, almost looking towards Green for a sign of approval. She nodded, which caused for him to remove the mask entirely.
The first thing Green noticed were his dull, silver eyes. They stood out in a vast contrast against his pale skin and red hair, almost glowing from the reflection of the moon. Those same eyes were filled with a feeling Green knew all too well: fear.
"Heh, you look pretty good." She saw the boy turn his mouth up for a slight second. "Why don't you smile? It'll make you look better."
The boy gave out a forced kind of a smile. "Like this?"
"It's gotta be more natural. Here, I'll help you." Green pressed her hands up against her cheeks, sticking out her tongue at the boy with her mouth turned up into a wide smile. The expression she had caught a glimpse of laughter from him. "There, like that!"
"So why did you want us to take our masks off?" The boy let the laughter fade, yet kept a small smile on his face.
"Makes it more personal to stare into someone's eyes rather than a black abyss. Remember the New Year's Resolutions?"
"Do you want to make one?"
"Actually, yeah. Let's change something this year, and let's make it big. What do you think about finding a way to escape this life?"
"Escape?" The boy gave a small yelp, quickly covering his mouth. "There's no way we can do that!"
"Hey, what are we doing right now? Sneaking out. And what makes sneaking out any different from running away, hmm?"
The boy remained silent, looking at the snow on the ground while kicking it around a bit. "Nothing..."
"Exactly. So our resolution this year is gonna be to get our own Pokémon, and then get out of here! Maybe find our family, make a couple friends, and ditch these stupid masks. What do you think?"
"That does sound a little fun..." The boy perked his head up, continuing to watch Green with eager eyes. "Okay, let's do it!" He gave a quick nod, his red hair bouncing in the air.
"Sweet!" Green smiled, looking at the boy. She glanced up to the sky quickly, a bit startled when she noticed the moon. "It's almost at the top of the sky, which means that it's almost a new year now."
"So we gotta start making our change now, right?"
"Yeah! But first, there's one other change I wanna make. What's your name?" She saw the boy close his eyes, thinking for a slight moment.
"Silver, I think. What's your name?"
"Me? It's Green." She took one last look at the mask in her hand before donning it again, prompting Silver to do the same. "Now, let's make it our goal to get done with this resolution before next year, okay?"
"Yeah!" Silver adjusted the mask on his face again, giving it a firm fit. "This year is gonna be great!" He declared, the two walking down the hill.
Green stopped for a moment, watching Silver make footprints in the snow before her. "It sure will be, Silver."
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Word Count: 1052
For izayoix and their contest.
Prompt: New Years, bonus being using a rival character.
I hope using the Managaverse Silver instead of Gameverse was okay!
Background: Silver and Green were raised by Pryce, AKA the Mask of Ice. They grew up like siblings, Green being two years older, before finally escaping.
