Alone

Nineteen

Dart was outside in the blink of an eye, fur bristling.
"He's gone?!" Dart said. She couldn't help her anxious tone, and it was apparent. Puck, who had first called them outside, nodded.
"We cant find him." She meowed, clearly anxious too. Dart noticed that everyone was behind Puck, looking about the same.
"Do you know where he is?" Puff called. Dart shook her head.
"No..." Poisonous thoughts filled Dart's mind, clouding out almost everything else.
You did this to him. He's gone because of you. You're just like your father. Dart's breathing started to quicken, but slowed as Twist laid her tail across her back. She gave Dart a concerned look, and Dart couldn't stop her voice.
"He's gone because of me." Dart whispered. Twist shook her head.
"We don't know that. He's probably just lost in the woods." She responded. Dart said nothing more, but held onto the hope Twist provided as if her life depended on it.
"He could be in the forest." Twist said to the others. They nodded one by one.
"Okay, I guess that's where we look first." Puck muttered to herself. "Let's go."

...

Twist's stomach felt like it was knotted. Nervousness clawed at the edges of her mind as the group padded through the forest, looking for any signs of Luke. It was almost the middle of the night, and everything seemed shrouded in darkness.
"LUKE!" Puff called. Everyone else joined in, yelling Luke's name as loud as they possibly could. As Twist screamed his name, she began to feel more and more nervous. Luke could have gotten hurt, or worse... Twist pushed the thought away. She could think about that now. She placed her focus back on calling Luke's name.

When nothing yielded from calling for Luke, the group decided to try and cover as much land as possible. To do this, they split into smaller groups. Twist, Dart, and Benny were put together and told to travel South. Benny quickly explained which direction South was, and they headed off. Benny led the way due to his greater knowledge of directions, and Twist and Dart were travelling right behind him. Twist tried to study every tree they passed, just in case Luke was up one of them. She felt desperate to find him now, despite not being very close to Luke. She wanted to find him so Dart could be put at ease. She looked so stressed and panicked, her fur was standing up and she was very quiet. Twist had tried several times to smooth Dart's fur, but it would always stick back up a few moments later.
"Where do you think Luke would be?" Benny asked suddenly, turning around to face the sisters. Dart looked down at her paws, and Twist assumed that she would be the one talking for most of this search.
"I don't know, I was never really close with Luke." She responded. Twist quickly leaned toward her sister to whisper in her ear.
"Please say something. We need all the information we can get." She whispered. Dart took in a shaky breath and raised her head.
"I don't know where he is now, but I know why he's gone." She said. Benny's eyes widened.
"Do continue."
"We..." Dart paused. "He wanted to be more than friends, and I yelled at him for it. He left because of me." Everything was silent for a few moments, which seemed to stress Dart out even more.
"If that's why he left, you shouldn't feel guilty." Twist said at last. "If he chose to leave because he was mad. It was his decision." Dart seemed to get a little comfort from her sister's words, and gave a small nod.
"Thanks." She murmured.
"Now..." Twist said, turning to Benny. "Where does Luke go when he's sad?" Benny narrowed his eyes in thought.
"I don't know, but..." he paused. "Someone else probably does."
"Then we need to find the others."

...

It took a fair amount of time to gather everyone together, but they were finally all in one place. They were gathered in a small clearing, a ring of dead shrubs and trees around them. Benny hopped up onto a fallen log, digging his claws into the soft bark to anchor himself to its mossy surface. He patiently waited for everyone to give their attention to him. He took a deep breath before starting to speak.
"Okay," Benny started. "Does anyone know where Luke would go when he's unhappy?" The group mumbled among one another until Rusty stepped forward.
"When he was young he would hide in logs 'er holes." He said. Benny nodded slowly, seemingly pondering this.
"Okay, good to know. Anyone else?" He asked. The group was silent.
"Oh!" Mitten called suddenly. "Once when he was upset he hid in a dirt tunnel." Benny nodded again.
"Okay, we're making progress. Anything else?" He meowed. This time nobody stepped forward.
"Uh, I don't know anything else, but I can confirm the tunnel story." Petal said. Dart assumed it was just to break the silence.
"Okay.." Benny said. "Does anyone know anything new?" Dart took a deep breath, remembering one encounter she had with Luke.
"Once I caught him hunting out here." She mumbled. "He seemed happy though." Benny nodded at Dart's words.
"Okay, Good. I assume that's everyone?" He mewed. Nobody else spoke, so Benny continued.
"I guess we're working with what we have. Let's go." He said. The group started to walk once more.

...

"Hey! I think I found something!" Puck called. Twist limped towards her, noticing that she was standing beside a pocket in the ground. It looked large, and most of it was shadowed. Luke could certainly be in there. The group gathered around Puck, who was swishing her tail impatiently.
"Would be be in here?" She asked, gesturing towards the pocket.
"Maybe." Petal said. "We don't know unless we check." Petal's words sent a chill down Twist's spine. Something was wrong, they shouldn't be checking that hole. Petal started to step inside, and Twist decided to speak.
"Um, I don't think we should-" she was cut off by a harsh growl. The whole group stepped back, eyes wide. Twist recognized that sound. It was the sound of an angry fox.