Lost.
Maple could barely walk as she was constantly shivering, hail covering her with bruises as she ran through the forest-
The forest she once would have considered home.
The thunderstorm only grew louder, and the rain only got worse as Maple desperately tried to run for any cover, any shelter,
tears running down her cheeks as she could barely stand, her legs beginning to give out due to running for hours on end.
Her ears pointed downwards as they lowered, Maple tripping on a fallen branch and falling face-first into a pile of mud, a splinter digging it's way into her ankle as she fell.
They crawled up to a nearby tree, hiding under the branches as they whimpered and sobbed, alone.
For once, the trees didn't utter a word,
The animals wouldn't speak back,
and neither of her new parents were there to help her.
For once in her lifetime, Maple was truly alone.
She turned to the tree she sat next to, trying to make it talk, trying to find some hope-
"Gerard?...Gerard, please talk- My- my moms l-left. They're not here. Nobody i-is. I...I can't do t-this.." Maple spoke as she was choked up, stuttering almost every word as she threw her hood over her head, trying to keep herself warm.
In the freezing cold, pouring rain, her hoodie got soaked.
It only made her colder.
There was truly, no solace.
No hope, no escape.
There was only pain.
She curled up into a ball, moving up closer next to the tree, attempting to wrap her tail around her-
Like Tangle would've.
When Maple was cold, hurt, or needed someone to be there for her-
Tangle would wrap her tail around her, and talk to her, help her calm down.
Tangle wasn't there.
And Maple's tail, obviously, wasn't big enough.
She felt happy, reminiscing on that memory in these dark times,
But regretted even thinking of Tangle as that joy became fleeting, holding her head in her hands as she cried.
"I-I JUST WANT THEM BACK! I REALLY, REALLY JUST WANT THEM BACK!" Maple screamed at the top of her lungs, clawing away at the dirt until her crying became an unintelligible mixture of sobbing and yelling.
She began to bury her head in the dirt, swinging her legs wildly as she kicked the floor.
Maple just wanted it all to go away.
The forest.
Tangle.
Whisper.
She wanted it all gone- she wanted to be gone.
Then, she heard a voice.
Then footsteps.
She began to get up,
and then she could almost figure out whose voice it was-
But the noise of lightning striking against forest interrupted the sound.
Maple flinched, her whimpering only getting loud as she moved closer to the tree- She was utterly terrified, due to both exhaustion, wounds, and the horrible weather conditions.
She thought there was no-one out there for her-
But maybe she'd given up too quick.
She felt conflicted, as she heard the voice once again;
"MAPLE! MAPLE, WHERE ARE YOU!?"
It was Tangle. She was worried- and went out in this weather, traveling all this way into a dark forest just to find Maple.
Maple was conflicted-
They felt like they wanted everything gone, but that was just their anger talking. They knew that, deep down.
But they couldn't shake the feeling of hate.
"GO AWAY! ALL OF YOU, GO AWAY!" Maple screamed, digging her claws into the tree bark.
Tangle and Whisper suddenly entered her vision as she saw them running over-
Whisper ran ahead, almost falling to the ground as she dropped her wispon.
"NO! GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT MY MOMS, AND YOU-"
Then she saw Whisper keep moving.
Whisper's leg wasn't in best condition, after a recent mission she went on and previous events, but she kept running towards Maple.
Tangle put her arm around Whisper's shoulders, trying to help her walk as the two moved over to Maple.
And all Maple could feel was an unmoving feeling of guilt.
It felt like her heart dropped, as Tangle and Whisper scrambled over to her-
Whisper fell to her knees infront of Maple, placing her hand on their cheek, checking for any wounds-
Which Maple had plenty of. To grazes, to bruises, to bleeding cuts and worn down claws.
Maple, for the second time, saw Whisper's eyes open.
But they were different, this time.
Blue, not brown.
For the first time, she saw Whisper look scared, tears running down her face,
and for the first time, she saw Whisper look angry.-
Because Whisper couldn't stand seeing her family get hurt.
Without hesitation, Whisper bit into her cloak and tore off a section off it, tying it onto Maple's wounds like a makeshift bandage.
Whisper's ears sat low as she was filled by a mixture of sadness and rage-
Before she finally spoke up,
"Maple- Who did this to you?" Baring her teeth as she spoke, utterly furious,
then forcing herself to be calm, understanding that anger isn't going to help anyone, not now-
"We need to get you back to Spiral hill- you're hurt. Let's move."
Maple regretted every word she had said-
Choked up, she then spoke,
"I'M SO SORRY- YOU ARE MY PARENTS, AND I L-LOVE YOU- I JUST DIDN'T W-WANNA SEE YOU GONE! I WAS MAD- I WAS R-REALLY MAD!" yelling as loud as she could.
Tangle hugged the two with her tail, wiping away Maple's tears just as Whisper's wisps swarmed Maple, trying to keep her warm.
"Shh, Maple- it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay." Tangle replied, trying to reassure Maple as barrage of hail hit the tree.
Tangle looked concerned and sad, but as Whisper finished her sentence her expression quickly changed, gritting her teeth and helping Whisper up onto her feet, carrying her.
"Both of you are hurt- And I'm gonna make sure everyone in this family gets to Spiral hill safely." Tangle spoke in a determined voice, handing the wispon to Maple as she picked them up with her tail,
"Maple, I need you to hold onto that for me. It's very important to Whisper- But I know you can handle this. Okay?"
Maple only nodded as she held onto the wispon as tight as she could, Tangle grunting as she got up, trying to carry the two out of the forest.
Trudging through the mud, fallen branches, and almost tripping on rocks scattered by the wind,
Tangle felt on the verge of collapse when she finally had left the forest, feeling weary, weak, and twitching slightly.
Normally, she'd stop and rest.
But she couldn't stop.
This was too important.
Her family was too important.
When Tangle finally arrived at the caravan, she threw herself at the door, knocking it open and collapsing, breathing heavily as she laid on the floor.
Maple immediately rushed over, trying to drag her over onto the sofa as she dropped the wispon, which rolled towards Whisper.
"Mom- MOM!? Are you okay!?" Maple said, worried and desperately trying to make sure her mom is okay.
Maple couldn't help, though- She could barely stand, her knees stinging and blood dripping from her hands.
Whisper carefully and slowly got up, leaning against both her wispon and a wall as she took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.
Tangle slowly, shakily got off the floor, exhausted but not quite down.
"J-Jewel's museum...Whisper kept some...medical supplies...in the cupboards...get ourselves together...rest...then go there..." Tangle spoke, taking a break every few words.
"We're...gonna be alright...Maple...trust me.."
Walking over to the cabinets, limping ever so slightly, Tangle wearily opened them and took out a bag of medical supplies.
Maple climbed up on the sofa, holding her tail closely, worried and scared.
Tangle took out a handful of band-aids items to disinfect the wounds, or wipe away any mud/dirt that got stuck in them.
Cleaning and bandaging Maple's wounds, Tangle felt her eyes almost close- she was horribly tired, and needed rest-
But it could wait.
Just a little longer.
Tangle wouldn't hide her pain, but she wasn't going to take care of it now- Now, she needed to get to the museum.
"L-let's move..." Tangle said as she took a minute to regain her breath, holding Maple's hand and helping both her and Whisper walk out the caravan.
Spiral hill wasn't far from here,
but they couldn't take the caravan,-
They were all too exhausted, it'd be more dangerous to drive.
They could make the walk, but it wouldn't be pleasant.
As they entered the town, Tangle's head was pounding- afflicted by a terrible headache.
They were given concerned looks and some people considered helping them,
but they headed straight to Jewel's museum before anyone could try.
The doors flew open, and Jewel leaped back in surprise for a brief moment, before noticing who was entering the museum-
"Oh my god- " was all she could say, shocked by Tangle, Whisper, and Maple's current state.
They all looked injured and tired-
Like they couldn't make it another step forward.
Jewel hurried them towards the chairs infront of her desk,
and forced them to take a moment to rest.
-------------------------------------------------
20 minutes later, Jewel had managed to calm them down, Tangle and Whisper having explained some of the situation so far-
Tangle & Whisper were sitting infront of Jewel's desk, and Maple was curled in a ball underneath the desk, using Tangle's tail as a blanket, sleeping.
Placing a cup of coffee down onto her desk, Jewel then sat down aswell.
"So-...what happened? Why did Maple run off?" Jewel asked, a worried expression on her face as she took a sip from her coffee.
"That's the problem,"
"We don't know." Tangle spoke, visibly upset as she rapidly clicked a pen she had taken from the desk.
"She was angry. Ran away when we weren't at the caravan. Don't know why.- she hated us, when we found her." Said Whisper, speaking quickly in a grave, serious tone, digging her claws into the wooden chair she sat on, her ears hanging low.
Just as Whisper spoke, a mumble was heard from underneath the desk as something started kicking against it.
It was Maple, waking up.
"Mmmm..." She groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, crawling out from underneath the desk and leaning against Tangle's leg.
"..No...that's.." She went to speak, interrupted by a yawn.
"That's...not right.."
"You were there...at the caravan...and you said.."
Maple stopped her sentence there.
Whatever Whisper had said to her, it clearly wasn't something she wanted to discuss.
"What?" Replied Whisper, irritated by the first thought that entered her head-
The first thought being Mimic.
He could've shapeshifted.
Snuck in.
Said that Whisper wanted Maple gone.
Silence echoed through the room.
Tangle began to look more and more concerned, and asked,
"What colour was Whisp's eyes?- If you can remember." in a worried voice. Tangle didn't want Mimic coming back-
The amount of pain that would cause Whisper would be terrible.
And Tangle knew that Whisper wouldn't have the patience for him anymore- She wouldn't be so hesitant to shoot, this time.
Maple looked confused, but answered,
"Brown."
That one word was enough to cause worry.
Jewel, Whisper, and Tangle all knew what that meant.
Mimic was back,
Whisper climbed out of her chair and pushed the museum doors open, furiously storming past Jewel, Tangle, and Maple as she left the museum without a single word- just carrying her wispon.
She didn't need to say a word, though.
They knew what she was going to do.
Tangle and Jewel were horrified,
they knew who she was going to hunt, and they didn't want her going down a path that only leads to murder.
So Tangle ran after her.