Tales of Hunter, Polly, and Others

Finding the Hunter

Throughout the year, Hunter continued to sneak to the Twilite Wood. Each time he'd sneak some snacks and toys along with him. When hanging out at the woods, he'd relax by taking in his surroundings. When he wasn't doing that, Hunter would take notes on the baki he saw and sketch them. As much as he enjoyed being with his friends and family, being alone in the Twilite Wood felt natural to Hunter. As soon as he enters the place, he can't help but feel a weight lifted off of his shoulders.
At first, each time Hunter wanted to return to the woods, he had to play hide and seek with Polly. Eventually, he wanted to visit so often, that having to play hide and seek each time made no sense. Besides, with how often he asked to play hide and seek, Polly was getting suspicious of him. Hunter eventually stopped asking and began to sneak off without warning.


One day, Polly was playing musical chairs with some of her friends. Hunter was there as well, but he was one of the first rapos out. Once he was knocked out, he declared that he was going to grab a quick snack and that he would be back soon. Distracted by the game, none of them noticed that Hunter went missing. Well, not until the game was over.
"That was so fun!"
"Yeah! Can we do it again?"
"Nah, I'm not up for it."
"Congrats on winning!"
"Ah thanks!"
Polly crossed her arms. "No fair! I wanted to win!"

A couple of the raposa rolled their eyes at her.
"Rude."
"Too bad!! So sad!!"
"Boo. Hoo."
Polly became frustrated, causing her face to turn red. "Humph!" As much as she wanted to stare them down, she did her best to avoid eye contact. She knew that if she looked at them too much, she would just end up embarrassing herself even more.
Others were a bit kinder to her.
"Nobody's perfect."
"You did a bunch better than I could!"
A smile crawled on Polly's face. She suddenly felt a bit better. "Thank you!" Polly looked at her friends. She felt better, but now she felt uncomfortable. She just acted like a rude little brat, and she couldn't figure out what to say next. She looked for her brother. Maybe he can comfort her somehow. Polly scanned the crowd of kids. Hunter wasn't anywhere to be found. 'Weird. He was here a moment ago...' She began to walk around and search for him. 'Maybe I just missed him?'
The other kids stared at her, confused. "What are you doin?"
Polly looked frantically around. 'Where did he go!?' She finally realized that they were talking to her. "Uhh..." She finally pushed her feelings to the side and asked. "Did any of you see Hunter?"
"Hunter?"
"No, I don't see 'em."
"Nope."
"Sorry!"
Polly sighed. "Where'd he go then?!"
The kids looked at each other and shrugged.
"Don't look at us! We don't know!"
"Last I saw him, he said he was getting a snack or something."
Polly smirked. Maybe he's back at home somewhere. "Thanks you guys! See you later!"
"Bye!"
"Good luck finding him!"

Polly dashed back home to see if she could find Hunter there. She walked in through the front door and began to look around. Polly began her search with the beds. She looked under Hunter's, and when she didn't find anything, she dragged off the covers to see if he was hiding there.
"Polly! What are you doing?!"
Polly turned around. She didn't realise her parents were there. "Oh... Hi mom. Hi dad."
Her mother had her arms crossed. "Polly! You know better than to just make a mess like this! This isn't even your bed!"
"But mom! I gotta look for..."
"Whatever you lost, it is not my problem. Now fix this bed young lady!" Polly grumpily went to fix her brother's bed. "
Wait." Her father walked up to the bed. "I'll help."
Her mom stopped him in his tracks. "Bobby..." She spoke quietly so Polly wouldn't hear. "You're being too soft with her. ...You have to let her do it herself."
Bob thought to himself for a second, and whispered back. "Listen Nixie, ya know I can't do that to her... Besides, I gotta idea." He walked over to the other side of the bed. "Hey, ya mind tossing me the other end o that?"
Polly looked at the blanket in her hands and handed him the other end. "What were you and mom talking about?"
"Nothin, nothin." The two continued to fix the bed. "So. What were ya lookin for under here?"
Polly shrugged. "Nothing really..."
"Nothin? Ya did this for nothin? That don't make sense. You musta had some reason."
"...Did you see Hunter at all dad?"
"Oh, you're playin seek n hide again?"
"It's 'hide and seek' dad."
"I knew that..." They finished. "He popped in a while ago. Nabbed a banya muffin and left."
"Where did he go?"
"I dunno! Thought he would rejoin ya. But guess not."
Polly looked at her mom. "Mom, do you know?"
She looked worried. "I... honestly thought the same thing as your father."
Polly then began to realize that Hunter was ACTUALLY missing. "Uh... oh."
"Somethin wrong?"
"Uh, Nothing! Just thought you knew where to look. Haha... I'll go see if I can seek him! Such a good hider! Haha..." Polly nervously crept out of the house to search for Hunter.
The two parents watched Polly leave the house, confused.
Nixie covered her mouth with her hand. "My poor baby..."
Bob tried to comfort her. "Nix.. Relax. They're just playin around. She'll find em."
Her eyes were watery. "You don't get it. I didn't even know where my baby was. I don't deserve to be a mother..."
"Don't! You! Say that! Listen Nixie... My beautiful... beautiful Nixie. You are the best thing to happen on me... And I know you're the best thing to happen to those kids." He grabbed her close and kissed her.
Nixie blushed a little. She wasn't expecting him to do that. "Bobby..."
"Come on Nix. They're just playin. She'll find him."
"But I have this feeling that they're not playing. Didn't you see her? She looked distraught!"
"I think she's just upset she's losin."
"No. It wasn't that. She was a different kind of upset."
"...What kind?" "I don't know! All I know is that it's the kind that makes me sick with worry."
"You're overreactin. Everything will be fine."
"I hope you're right." She gently kissed him on the lips.
"Heh... Me too."

Polly searched everywhere she could in a short amount of time. "Hunter!" She began to shout for him. "Hunter where are you?!" But he wasn't anywhere to be found. "Stop hiding you dumb baki!!" Polly was getting really worried. Hunter would never just vanish like this. 'Something is wrong. There must be.' Eventually, Polly began to loose hope in finding him. 'What happened to him? It's like he was erased or something.' She was almost ready to give up and cry when she heard whistling. She followed the sound, and sure enough, there was Hunter nearby the Forest Gate whistling to himself. He seemed to be very happy. 'Pretty happy for someone who went missing!'

Polly marched right up to him. "Where were you!?!"
Hunter jumped. He didn't notice she was there. 'Oh no. How am I getting away with this one!?' "Wha... What are you talking about!?"
"Don't play stupid! You went and decided to disappear on me!"
"No I didn't!"
"Yes you did! You said you'd be back, but NO!! You disappeared off the earth! I thought you were dead or something!"
"Uh.. I'm sorry."
"Where were you!?"
"Haha..."
Polly looked behind him at the Forest Gate. "...You were in THERE weren't you?!"
"No! No! I was just... wandering... around..."
Polly gave Hunter a look that said 'Really?'.
Hunter's heart was pounding. He knew he couldn't keep up the charade. He had to tell SOMEONE about it. He took a quick look around to see if the coast was clear. "Okay... I was. I was in the Twilite Wood."
Polly cheered. "I knew it! I knew it!"
Hunter tried to quiet her. "Not so loud!"
"Oh! That's right! You don't want anyone to know." Hunter nodded. Polly looked at the gate. She never been through any of the warp gates before, and she always wanted to know what it was like. "...So! Can I join you?"
Hunter jumped. "W... what?"
"Come on Hunter! I wanna go with you! Pleeeeeeeeaase!!!"
Hunter was overwhelmed. He only wanted to be by himself during his visits. Bringing in his little sister would ruin it. 'I don't wanna let her down... But I don't have a choice.' "No."
"...No? Why no!?"
"I... I just want to be alone. That's all."
Polly's heart broke a little. "...Okay. ...I understand."
Hunter was relieved. 'Phew... She's taking this really well.'
Polly felt both sad and angry at the same time, but did what she could to hide it. 'That baki! That dumb, dumb, baki!! You're so dumb you don't even know how dumb you are!!! When I need you you just decide to disappear! You did nothing but let me down all day! You... I know just how to get back at you...'
Hunter looked at the mischief in Polly's face. 'Oh no...'
Polly turned away from him. "...You know what? Mom was really worried about you."
"..."
"She didn't know where you were. ...I think she'll feel much better once she knows exactly where you were!"
Hunter's eyes widened. 'If mom finds out... I'll never get to go back ever again. I know it.'
Polly began to walk off. Smirking. "Well see you later!"
Hunter ran after her and stopped her. "No! Don't! I'll get in trouble!"
Polly's smirk didn't wear off. "So? You deserve it." She tried to walk away, but was stopped by Hunter again.
"I won't be able to go back again!!!"
"Yeah. I know."
"Polly! Please!"
"Hunter stop it! I'm telling mom whether you like it or not!"
Hunter had tears in his eyes. Polly tried to leave once more, but was again stopped by Hunter. He grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. "Please... Please! You don't understand! There's something special about that place! I can't explain it.... I... I feel good when I'm there. When I get there I just stop caring Polly! When I'm there, everything is good and magical! It's the place I go to be me and... get away. I... I'm sorry. But I can't let that go! You don't understand... I just can't Polly!" He began to cry. "I won't.... You can't.... Please..."
Polly's ears drooped. She felt bad. She didn't know how important this was to him. She looked at Hunter, whose face was facing low to the ground. She couldn't see him like this. She looked at the forest gate. "You're right. I don't understand at all. ...But I wanna."
Hunter looked up at her. His face was a mess. "I know you wanna see it... But I can't...."
"Come on Hunter. Just once! I just wanna see it once! ...Please?"
Hunter finally let go of her. 'She really does wanna see it. ...Maybe if she does, I'll have someone who understands.... I mean it's only one time. Besides. She needs to see this.' Hunter gave a weak smile. "Okay."
Polly was overjoyed to hear this. She gave him a big hug. "Thank you! Thank you!"
Hunter hugged her back. "...You're welcome." They let go of each other and went home.

Polly opened the front door. "I'm back! And look who I brought!"
Hunter stepped in the house. "Hi mom. Hey dad."
Nixie rushed over to him. "Thank goodness you're alright!"
Bob followed behind her. "See, I told ya you were overreactin. Hunter, you're alright right?"
Hunter nodded. "Yes sir."
"See? He's fine!"
Nixie gently pushed Bob aside and looked at Hunter's face. "...Where were you?"
Hunter's ears perked. "Uh... I was hiding... Right around that way. I wanted to ...uh spook you guys."
"Well that isn't nice!"
"Uh.. I know. I'm sorry. I learned my lesson I swear!"
Bob shook his head. "*sigh* I forgive ya boy. I'm sure your mother forgives ya too. Don't ya Nix?"
Nixie wasn't listening to him. She was too busy looking at Hunter's face. "...Are you alright?"
"Uh.. Of course mom!"
"Are you sure? Your eyes are red. ...Were you crying?"
Hunter was shocked. 'How did she know that...' He blushed. "No! No! I... You're seeing things!"
"...Well if you say so."
Hunter felt embarrassed. 'Boys don't cry.... Only girls cry! Why am I so stupid? ...I can't stay here. I can't.' "Come on Polly, let's go tell the others I'm alright."
Polly was surprised. They didn't plan to go back to their friends. "Oh! Alight then. ...We'll be back soon!"

The two left the house and wandered off to find their friends. Polly looked at Hunter, who was rubbing his eyes.
"So what was all that about?"
"Hmm? N...nothing really."
"...Oh."
"..."
"...So. When are you taking me?"
"I dunno. I haven't had time to figure it out."
"...How about right now? I mean it's still light out!"
"No. Way too soon."
"Tomorrow?"
"Nah. I need a short break from it..."
"Oh okay. How about your next trip? Whenever it is!"
"...I think I wanna go one more time on my own first."
"Why?"
"I dunno. I just... I mean... I'm feeling tired. That's all."
"...Oh. ...Let me know when you're ready, will you?"
"Don't worry. I will." The two smiled and went to catch up with their friends.