Rordon Village was very lively for this time of year. Flocks of cooties and lovebugs appeared every so often, soaring around buildings, crawling across the ground, and some even chased after poor Misticans who were just trying to take pictures. This was their first stop and she wasn't even...
"Lyra, you're doing it again!" Lyra's cameraman, Evan, commented before moving the bulky camera back up to his shoulder. He had been watching her pace for the past few minutes. A frown worked his way onto his lips when he caught the slight glance from her as she stopped in her tracks. "It's almost time for our segment!"
"I know. They tell me to cover this every year. It's getting tiring, Evan," Lyra commented before going back to pacing, hands curling into fists.
It was the truth. No one else in the news station wanted to cover Infestation. Every year, the reporters would scramble to nab the other, juicier, segments, always leaving her in the dark so that she was the one who had to cover it. She threw her hands up into the air in a huff.
"It's always Infestation. Would it be too much to ask for anything else for a change? Mistmas? Pandoria's birthday? Interviewing the prince and princess...heck, I would even give a report about znakes, and you know how I feel about znakes!" A visible shudder passed through Lyra's body at the mere mention of the creepy pests.
It wasn't fair to her, and as much as she wanted to complain about it, she did have a job to do. The look that her cameraman was now giving her caused her to realize what time it was. Scrambling into place, Lyra fixed her shirt and made sure that she looked professional for the camera. The whole world of Mistica would be watching.
Shifting the camera to his shoulder, Evan rose three fingers for the countdown until she was live. Lyra took those last few seconds to smooth down her mane, turning her attention towards a camera with a fake smile.
Just be happy and get this over with. There are people who love Infestation. Someone might have been waiting all year for this, she thought before raising the microphone in front of her. As soon as Evan's last finger came down, she inhaled a deep breath.
This will all be over soon.
"This is Lyra from Mistic News Channel 3, reporting live from Infestation! It's that time of year again when cooties and lovebugs arrive to spread their love!" The ahbruis faked a happy tone to match the forced smile on her face. At the mention of lovebugs and cooties, she gestured to a large group of them that had gathered in the trees behind her.
Before Lyra could say anything else to the camera, they all scattered, attracting both her and her cameraman's attention. A crinkling came from the bushes near the trees as though something were crawling or scuttling and brushing up against the bushes and dry leaves. It was accompanied by another sound they couldn't explain.
"That's interesting...it appears that something must have spooked those lovebugs and cooties," Lyra said as she made her way over to wear the bushes were rustling, almost forgetting that she was still on camera. Quickly she motioned for Evan to come to her side with the camera. With a brave face, she parted the bushes and searched for what was causing all the ruckus. They heard a hiss and saw a blur of dull color before whatever they were looking for scurried and disappeared in an instant.
"What was that?" Evan asked. "A new cootie?"
"That didn't look like any cootie that I've ever seen," Lyra pointed out. But if it wasn't a cootie, and it wasn't a lovebug, what was it?
Before Lyra could turn back to the camera and speculate on what it was they had seen, a loud, angry shout could be heard from across the park. They both looked up to see two patrons shouting at each other for seemingly no reason.
This was not usual Infestation behavior. What was going on?
