The Missing Stranger

Chapter 5 {REWRITTEN}

   If you are confused as to why this is a rewritten version of chapter 5, please read the two A/N's titled "Future Edits Coming Possibly(?)" and "This is happening-- Hold on to your butts."

   Now read on, fellow fangirl/fanboy ;)

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   ¤@^$~?; Jan. 3, 2009
   The Abandoned Observatory
   Mount Alliance¤

   Aphmau sat, leaning against the pole she was still tied to. She was convinced Aaron had been gone for at least two hours at this point, and was completely and utterly bored out of her mind. Now, that's not to say that she wasn't happy with Aaron being gone. In fact, she was quite happy with her circumstances at the moment considering the things that happened when Aaron was there. But she still felt like every minute lasted for way longer than it should've, not that she had a way to tell time or anything.

   "Uuugghhh!" She groaned, "Where even is he? Why do I have to be tied to this stupid pole?!" She hit the post with her elbow, immediately regretting it as she hissed in pain.

   "Okay, that was stupid of me, but I'm seriously bored! I wish there was some way out of this stupid rope." She struggled against her bonds, yielding no results whatsoever. She sighed and slumped against the post, giving up.

   "There's no way I can make a break for it when he's here and awake, he's already proven that. He won't give me the chance to get away at night because so far, he's just been knocking me out! He'd probably tie me up if he didn't knock me out because for some stupid reason, he's set on keeping me here." Aphmau thought to herself, staring at the door bitterly. She hung her head in defeat, sighing again.

   She sat like that for a while before hearing something coming from outside. It almost sounded like... voices?

   "Is that Aaron?" She listened and recognized his voice. For a moment, she felt excited that he was back. She wouldn't have to be tied to the 'stupid pole' anymore. But then she quickly remembered all the things he did to her, and her excitement promptly showed itself out the door. She listened carefully to the voice from outside, and realized that there was more than Aaron's voice. She didn't recognize the other voice whatsoever, which she wasn't sure how to feel about. On one hand, she was happy because that meant that there was other people on this mountain. On the other hand, however, this other person could be just like Aaron if not worse, and that kind of scared her.

   The door to the observatory opened, revealing to figures shadowed by the sunlight shining through behind them. Aphmau squinted as the sunlight beamed into her eyes. The figures came closer and closer until she could actually make them out.

   Aaron, of course, loomed over her with a hint of hatred in his eyes.

   "Don't worry, the feeling's mutual." Aphmau thought, glaring at Aaron. But the person next to him caught her eye. He had silver ears and a tail, with gray speckles on the ears and his tail tipped with grey that faded into the silver color His hair had a similar silver color, and his brown eyes shone innocently with gold along their edges.

   "Oh... so this is the human who snuck in here?" The unknown person said. He sounded both surprised and underwhelmed.

   "Yes." Aaron answered curtly, his eyes never leaving Aphmau.

   "She doesn't seem like the malicious type..."

   "That's because I'm not!" Aphmau finally spoke up, "I'm not here to steal anything or sneak into places. I came here to find Aaron and bring him back to Phoenix Drop."

   "Phoenix Drop? Oh, no, you can't do that." He said, shaking his head.

   "Why not?!" Aphmau demanded.

   "People don't just leave this mountain, hun. That's not how it works. Once you come up here, you'll be lucky if you ever leave." Aphmau's eyes widened at his words. She really didn't believe Aaron when he told her that she couldn't leave the mountain, but now this guy was saying it?

   "But hey, forget about that. I'm Tony. I'm a hybrid, which basically means I'm like a werewolf, but I can turn into a full fledged wolf at will and hold that form for as long as I'd like. And you are...?" Tony's eyes drifted to the pole and then back to Aphmau.

   "...tied to a pole. Why is she tied to the pole?" Tony looked accusingly at Aaron. Aaron met his gaze.

   "If I hadn't tied her up, she would've been lying dead near the bottom of the mountain." Aaron defended himself. Aphmau scoffed and he shot her a glare.

   "You did tell her, right? That she can't leave because--"

   "Of the dangerous predators and nocturnal animals?" Aaron emphasized, "Yes, I did tell her that. But she seems to think she's invincible or that I was joking when I told her what would happen if she tried to leave." Tony gave Aaron a quizzical look before showing a look of realization.

   "Uh, yeah. He's right. Really dangerous animals." Tony nodded a little too enthusiastically.

   "Can they really be that dangerous? Aaron has a hunting rifle!" Aphmau exclaimed.

   "And you aren't getting it anytime soon." Aaron bent down behind her and started to untie her from the pole.

   "So, what's your name again?" Tony asked.

   "It's Aphmau." Aphmau grumbled, rubbing her wrists as Aaron removed the rope from them.

   "Well, Aphmau, I've been told that you have some... problematic injuries?" Tony cocked his head at her.

   "You mean from this jerk cutt-- Ow!" Aphmau cried out as Aaron pulled her hair to shut her up.

   "She does. Just get me an elixir for it."

   "You sure? I could treat it quicker if I tend to them myself." Tony offered. Aaron shook his head.

   "No need. She'll live. You should get back to the Crystal Caves. He's probably waiting for you anyways."

   "He? Who's he?"

   "None of your business." Aaron snapped at her. She glared at him. Tony chuckled quietly.

   "He is my master. My teacher. He is the guardian angel of this mountain and all the life on it... well, almost all of it." Tony glanced away for a second before quickly speaking up again, "But besides that, he's a potion maker, and he can use some magic spells. It's kind of weird that he was given the name 'Guardian Angel' considering he doesn't specialize in Light Magic." Tony muttered the last part to himself, just loud enough for Aphmau to hear. Aaron shot a look at Tony.

   "Alright, not that this isn't fun, but you really should leave." Aaron pushed.

   "Alright, alright, I get it, you want me out." Tony threw his hands up in surrender and started heading towards the door. Aphmau stood up as he opened the door, and she could tell that Aaron was watching her out of the corner of his eye.

   "Oh, and uh, Aaron?" Tony said over his shoulder. Aaron groaned and looked at Tony.

   "What?" He asked irritatedly.

   "Aleena's back." Tony said seriously. Aaron's eyes widened slightly, leaving Aphmau confused.

   "Who's Aleena?" Aphmau asked

   "Are you serious? I told her not to come back. It's not everyday you get the chance--" Aaron stopped abruptly, glancing at Aphmau, "The chance that she had." He finished. Aphmau's eyebrows furrowed in even more confusion.

   "I know. I just thought you'd want the heads up." Tony said.

   "Uh, hello? Is anyone gonna answer me?" Aphmau interjected. Tony looked at her but Aaron completely ignored her.

   "Thanks, Tony. I'll deal with her when she shows up." Tony nodded curtly to Aaron and gave Aphmau a small smile before turning out the door, shutting it behind him. Aaron sighed and walked to the metal tables, grabbing a box of matches. Aphmau watched him for a moment as the sunlight traveled further and further from him, moving upward as the sun set. He walked over to the fire pit in the back of the observatory, starting to pull out a match. She finally spoke.

   "Well?"

   "Well what?" Aaron said, irritation still in his voice.

   "Who's Aleena? And why the heck were you gone for so long?" Aphmau crossed her arms, glaring at him. He looked at her, glancing over her face and posture. He lit the match, throwing it into the pit. A small fire started to burn with the sticks that were already in it.

   "Answer me!" Aphmau demanded.

   "First of all, do not demand anything of me, ever." Aaron narrowed his eyes at her, "Second, That's none of your concern and Third, I don't have to explain myself to you." Aphmau scoffed and rolled her eyes.

   "Not this again. Why are you so secretive? If you're going to keep me here, then I deserve to know."

   "No, you don't." Aaron growled, "You don't get. You are a prisoner. A hostage. Whether you understand that or not doesn't matter. If anything, you should answer my questions. For example, What on earth possessed you to try and bring me back to Phoenix Drop in the first place? If it weren't for that, we wouldn't be having this conversation, because we wouldn't have even met each other!" Aaron yelled.

   "You wanna know why I wanted to bring you back? It's because Phoenix Drop has been whirlpool of depressed and terrified people ever since your accident. Not only did someone die, but you went missing and your mother decided it would be best to just up and leave with no word to anyone. No one has seen her in a year! And no one has gotten over your disappearance because it was the first major accident to ever happen in Phoenix Drop." Aphmau exclaimed. Deep down, she knew this was pointless. She knew that this argument wouldn't get either of them anywhere. But that thought was quickly buried as Aaron continued talking.

   "You just have to be a hero, don't you? You think you can fix everything just by bringing me back? Well, guess what? We can't leave, even if I wanted to, because we'd die before we ever made it back down."

   "You don't think I seriously believe that, do you? Animals don't just patrol the same area forever waiting for an unsuspecting human to pass by to have for breakfast. And you have guns and knives! Why are you so scared of some animals?"

   "You don't have to believe me. I don't care if you do. Go die on the side of this God-forsaken mountain, I couldn't care less. In fact, you'd be doing me a favor." Aaron spat out angrily. Aphmau's eyes widened before her expression twisted in hatred and anger.

   "Have you always been this... this toxic?! You're freaking insane! You know what, maybe you're right. I shouldn't have wasted my time coming here because I don't even want to bring a freak like you back to Phoenix Drop. I feel sorry for that girl who had to spend her last moments in a car with-- AH!" Aphmau dodged out the way as a knife whipped past her. She looked at Aaron in anger, but her anger quickly died as she saw him. His arm was extended from throwing the knife and he was breathing heavily. The fire behind him seemed to burn brighter and larger than it should've, and it cast shadows across Aaron's body.

   "Get. out." He panted out, his voice shaky.

   "Aaron--"

   "Get out!" He cried out, taking a threatening step towards her. She flinched, her eyes widening. She hesitated for a moment before running out towards the door, only looking back for a second as she ran out of the observatory.

   Aphmau ran to the right of the observatory and into the forest surrounding it.

   "W-What was that?!" Was all she could think as she ran deeper into the forest. Eventually, she came to a small clearing with a pond. The water was perfectly clear and clean. The light from the ever rising moon glittered on the water's surface, and Aphmau could see her reflection.

   "How can a mountain that's seemingly cursed be so beautiful and full of life?" She splashed some of the water on her face, almost hoping that she'd wake up in her bed, that she'd wake up from this nightmare.

   "He lost is, huh?" Aphmau jumped up and shuffled back, turning towards the origin of the voice. She relaxed a little when she saw Tony.

   "I knew it'd happen eventually when you first came up this mountain. I knew that you were here the minute you came up. I'm not the apprentice of the mountain's 'Guardian Angel' for nothing. He can't handle such a close interaction with another human being like this. He lost touch with the little social skills he possessed years ago." He spoke softly and with a caring tone. Tony walked forward to Aphmau, gently taking her hand. "Come with me. You can stay in the crystal caves tonight where it's safe." Aphmau nodded cautiously and let Tony guide her.

   "Besides, you should meet my teacher. I think you two will get along nicely."

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   I know I'm an hour or so late from when I said I would publish this on my convo board, and I had the chapter written and everything, but complications kept me from getting to a device that I could publish from on time. Sorry 'bout that.

   Chapter 4 is officially being unpublished (probably at a later time) and is being moved to its new home in my book, "Just for Funzies." If you ever want to read the original, go there! The same thing will happen to the original version of chapter 5 once the rewritten version of chapter 6 comes out.

   Thanks for reading! :3

   Go check out Aphmau's channel ;)

   Word count: 2151

   Writer:
   Nylo
   Editor:
   Nylo