It was cold, and the echoes of a broken promise continued to fill his head: words that were spoken with warmth, but now felt empty.
"Don't worry. We'll get you out. Just be patient, okay?"
Looking around the hole where Earth Star now found himself stuck, all he could see were the stars promising a night full of sorrow. Where were his friends? It had almost been a day and a half since they left, and despite his cries for help, other groups simply passed over him, failing to hear, or perhaps not wanting to.
Hungry and morose, Earth Star could barely recall the face of the one the rest called "leader". There were so many "leaders" when he left the deep wet that the vast majority of the groups ended up just following everyone else. Earth Star was happy with the game when it started, and being as overly confident as he was, decided he didn't need a group to reach the safety of Toad Hollow; and so he followed the "faceless ones" from point-to-point, making the odd acquaintence and enjoying the company of his one true love: music.
He had the occasional distraction with a beautiful girl, friendly amphibian or predator, but still, he held his head up high. Yes, despite being so small in a world that wanted to swallow him up, he was on top of it all. He ran faster than the predators, and had loyalty to no one. He had no need of anyone other than himself.
But then, it happened.
The more time he spent playing his music and ignoring the migration, the harder it became to find fellow toadlets to follow. Tunnel Toads helped a little by pointing him in the right direction, but fellow toadlets didn't take kindly to Earth Star's stalking.
Now alone, and unable to hear the voices, Earth Star realized that his carefree nature had landed him in a hole that only grew deeper with every day he let pass.
Thankfully, he found a group that offered him a hand, but unfortunately, the leader was strict, and he couldn't remember a time when a voice hadn't shouted at him to stop the music because someone couldn't hear themself think, and since any sound that could impede on the voices was deeply frowned upon, light-hearted chatter and laughter was also discouraged.
Then not so thankfully, he ended up in a literal hole, and despite being at a distance, Earth Star could hear the leader saying that time was running out and suggesting that they leave him behind. Despite the indignance of the rest of the group at first, they eventually realized that they had nothing to rescue Earth Star with. The trees which were once rich with vines were now stripped clean by the toadlets that had been there before them. Anything else they could find was either too high up, or too dangerous to risk.
When Earth Star feebly pleaded for them not to leave him behind, a solitary voice rang back,
"Don't worry. We'll get you out. Just be patient, okay?"
Earth Star sighed. He had no choice.
"Okay..."
Throughout the day, Earth Star heard other groups passing overhead. They were few and far in between, but he heard them, and despite his cries for help, he was ignored over and over again. He couldn't help but hit the wall, bite his lip and feel resentful as the faces of his so-called "friends" began to blur, all logic and memory being overtaken by rage and sorrow.
But as the night time came, and Earth Star grew cold, all rage left him, and all that was left was sorrow. He glanced at the stars above, then hugged himself, letting the cold slowly numb him, then with a sudden jostile, he heard the ground above him break. He got up to move, but suddenly buckled under the weight of another toadlet.
"Whoops! Wrong turn! Ahahah!"
As the dust cleared, Earth Star looked up to see the glow of honey yellow hair surrounding a fellow toadlet's head like a halo: a light at the end of his tunnel of hopelessness. Looking down, she noticed his face and smiled warmly.
"Thanks for breaking my fall."
"Uh, no problem."
The female toadlet climbed off, and patted her dress to loosen the dust before calling out,
"Rufus? Rufus!"
"Ugh." Earth Star frowned, "Don't bother. If there's one thing I've learned about this hole, it's that there's no getting out."
"Oh, why? Where's your group, and why aren't they helping you?"
"Who cares?"
"Ah, don't worry. We'll get you out. Just be patient, okay?"
"Hmph. Where have I heard those words before?"
Looking up, Earth Star noticed a stick being lowered accompanied by a voice.
"Honey! Grab on!"
She smiled at Earth Star,
"You take it. I'll grab the next one."
Earth Star went wide-eyed.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Positive. My group won't forget about me, and if they do, you can remind them. Okay?"
"Okay."
Earth Star smiled and grabbed the stick which slowly, but surely, tugged him out of the hole. He patted himself off with a relieved smile, but was then met with angry, large, blue eyes.
"Who are you? What have you done with Honey?"
Before Earth Star could answer, Honey's voice rang out of the hole.
"I'm down here, Rameale! Sheesh! Now quit wasting time, and get me out of here!"
"We wouldn't be wasting time if you hadn't gone exploring!"
"Hey!" Earth Star frowned, "Don't talk to her that way; you're her friend."
"Mind your own business."
Rolling his eyes, the blue toadlet lowered the stick back into the hole, and pulled Honey out. Honey hugged the blue toadlet briefly in a show of gratitude, then put her hand on Earth Star's shoulder, smiling all the while.
"Sock Hoppers, this is Earth Star. It would seem his group forgot about him. Earth Star, that's my cousin, Rameale,"
Earth Star forced a smile,
"Charming."
Honey pointed at the blue toadlet.
"Our friend Dune,"
"Wow. I've never seen a toadlet like you before."
"Yeah. Blue isn't exactly a common colour around these parts," Dune chuckled.
"No, I mean, that stick... I've never seen one like it before."
"Oh, I see. You mean my staff."
As Earth Star reached out to touch it, Honey tugged his arm and turned him to face the last toadlet who stood behind Rameale. Rameale moved, and the toadlet stepped forward prompting another smile from Honey.
"And last, but not least, our leader: Rufus."
"Oh... Oh, toad." Earth Star bit his finger nervously, "I never did like this part."
Rufus reached out to shake Earth Star's hand, but overwhelmed by thoughts riddled with anger and sorrow, he refused to complete the gesture. Noticing Earth Star's apprehensive demeanour, Rufus smiled pleasantly and drew him into a hug.
"Welcome to my group, Earth Star."
"What?"
"As long as I live and breathe, no toadlet will be without a group or without a friend."
Humbled, Earth Star returned the hug.
"Thank you... friend."