Chapter 3 - Story Time
Fondnesse was downright petrified! She hasn't flown an inch in over two months because of her pregnant belly weighing her down, and now she and her unborn children were falling into a pitch black void. And she could clearly hear Nate's screaming; though, she couldn't hear Whisper's voice or screaming at all…maybe he was still asleep?
But that wasn't Fondnesse's biggest concern right now; her top priority was her and her children's safety. So, as soon as her night vision spotted the ground fast approaching, she used all her strength to try and float, and paddled her legs in the air, as if she were swimming.
"Aah! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!" Fondnesse screamed as she closed her eyes out of terror…but then she noticed something was off; she could no longer feel the rush of air through her fur, and the ground never came.
For a second, she thought she had gone crazy, but Fondnesse looked down and discovered that she had just barely floating a few inches off the ground.
"Phew…ok…I think that's enough excitement for one day," Fondnesse laughed hysterically while gently floating back down, but then realized she was alone, "now, where's your father and uncle?"
Fondnesse's question was partially answered when she barely took two steps forward to start looking, and Whisper suddenly dropped in, his head getting stuck in the ground like an ostrich.
"There's Baby Daddy," Fondnesse stated flatly, and crossed her arms at the sight of her husband trying to pull his head out of the ground since the impact was finally enough to wake him up.
"AAH! What happened?! Where are we?!" Whisper exclaimed rapidly once he was free, and Fondnesse had to grab both of his shoulders and look directly into his eyes to calm him down.
"Relax, Hon, we just fell into a hole, but we're fine…though, I can't believe you slept through the whole thing."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Dear. I truly am. And are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, we're fine, I'm sure of it. And you shouldn't be apologizing to me, you should save your apologies for Uncle Jibanyan," Fondnesse stated angrily while turning around in anger…but then she noticed something else was off.
"And speaking of uncles, where's Nate?"
"You mean he didn't fall down here with you?" Whisper questioned.
"It's highly unlikely that he did!"
Whisper and Fondnesse both jumped at the sudden voice, but when they turned around, they noticed a light approaching them through a tunnel. And even though Fondnesse was very unfamiliar was the person carrying the torch, Whisper couldn't believe he was down here with them.
"Manjimutt?" the butler Yo-Kai asked with surprise.
"'Manjimutt'?" Fondnesse repeated with a cocked eyebrow.
"Yup, that's mah name. Don't wear it out, please," Manjimutt chuckled, and his features became clearer as he came closer. His fur was all matted, and he was covered with faded scares here and there, but the most noticeable and disturbing feature was a large faded scare over his left eye; though, the eye with a scar seemed unscathed.
"Manjimutt, what…what happened to you?" Whisper asked with concern.
"What happened? The life of danger, adventure and survival, that's what happened! After my umpteenth escape from jail, I hid out in the sewers, surviving off whatever thrown out junk people provided me with," Manjimutt explained with a grin, making Whisper and Fondnesse shudder and cringe at the last part.
"How long have you been down here?" Whisper inquired.
"I'd like to know the answer to a better question: How do you two know each other?" Fondnesse added demandingly.
"Nate befriended me and I gave him my Yo-Kai medal, so I would occasionally answer his call for help whenever he summoned me to fight off some other bad Yo-Kai…not that I ever committed a crime. I never scared people on purpose, but people these days are just so quick to judge. It's pretty sad," Manjimutt rambled on dramatically, but he soon perked up and smiled.
"So, what's got a lovely couple like you droppin' by in such a dirty place?"
"We were looking for our friend, Jibanyan…you remember him, right?" Whisper replied.
"Of course I do. Who could forget 'm?"
"Well, have you seen him? We're kinda worried about him," Fondnesse asked nicely.
"Sorry, Mrs. Whisper-."
"Y-you can call me Fondnesse."
"Ok…as I was saying, no, I haven't seen your little cat friend…but, given your situation, your wife's especially," Manjimutt began while smirking at Whisper, "I might be persuaded to help you look for Jibanyan, both him and Nate."
"You would help us?" Fondnesse asked with hope.
"Oh, of course I would. You know how hard it is ta disappoint an expecting and pretty little lady like you?" Manjimutt chuckled, making Fondnesse giggle and blush. But Whisper was quick to act and step in between them.
"So, will you help us or not?" Whisper asked, rather annoyed.
"I already said I would, but just know that I'm not doin' it for neither you, Jibanyan, or even Nate—no, I'm doin' it for her," Manjimutt stated firmly while pointing at Fondnesse, "besides, you two wouldn't survive ten minutes down here without an expert survivalist like me to guide ya."
"Hmph! My respect for him is quickly dwindling into single digits," Whisper growled to his wife.
"Oh, c'mon, Hon, don't be so stubborn. He just promised to help us look for our friends, and we don't know the first thing about surviving down here," Fondnesse pointed out in a hushed voice.
"So?"
"So, we're going to follow him."
Whisper only huffed and rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.
"Do you know where we can start looking for Nate or Jibanyan?" Fondnesse eventually asked Manjimutt politely.
"Hard ta say. That hole you just fell though connects with many more tunnels that lead down, and they all lead to different parts of the sewers…"
"Perfect," Whisper added sarcastically.
"But not to worry—I can track down anything," Manjimutt quickly added, "but why don't we just set up camp and rest for now. You two look like you need it. I'll even tell you a little campfire story."
Nate felt his head throbbing with pain, as he sat up and rubbed his head. And lucky for him, who couldn't see in the dark, he landed in one of the more active parts of the sewers, where dim but working lights were glimmering down the tunnel.
Nate assumed he was underneath a street, due to the occasional rumbling sound of cars driving by overhead. But cars were Nate's least concern right now; he wanted to know how to get out, or to at least find the others.
"Hello?! Hellooooo?!" Nate called out while cupping his hands around his mouth, but there was no response as he rose to his feet. And Nate started regretting shouting when his choice echoed down the tunnel walls, knowing that that's the best way to attract a monster that would most likely live down here.
And matters became even more terrifying when Nate swore he heard a little splash in the murky water, and he even saw ripples.
"Whisper? J-Jibanyan? Fondn-nesse? Is that you?" Nate whimpered and started walking forward slowly, but he failed to notice the pair of bright yellow eyes submerge from the water.
It took some convincing, but Whisper finally persuaded his wife into resting, like Manjimutt suggested, and so the huffy expecting Yo-Kai laid, as Manjimutt used two rocks to peg his torch between to use as campfire.
"Now, let's see…what story should I start the night off with?" Manjimutt pondered aloud with a grin and rubbed his chin.
"It better not be anything gory. She gets sick easily," Whisper whispered while pointing a finger at Fondnesse, but she heard him anyway.
"I do not!"
"Just yesterday, you threw up after watching Pokemon."
"Shut up…"
"Nothin' too disgustin', huh? Ok…I think I got a good story," Manjimutt cut in, and grinned evilly, "it had only been a few days after I started living in the sewers…"
Manjimutt was just checking out one of the older sewer tunnels after he had finally figured out how to make a torch, but even with the faint sounds of crickets chirping, he swore he continued to hear growling behind him.
But the more he looked back, the more darkness he saw, and he couldn't help but feel the presence of someone…or something…else nearby. So, to calm his nerve, Manjimutt sat down near the dirty sewer water and just started down at his cloudy reflection.
He wondered how he would actually survive all alone down here…but he figured it's gotta be better than prison. But just when Manjimutt started to relax, he noticed little air bubbles rising up to the surface, making him quickly stand back up in case he needed to run…and he made the right choice.
In the blink of an eye, the biggest alligator Manjimutt had EVER seen suddenly lunged out of the water, jaws wide open for the death crunch it was hoping to land on the dog Yo-Kai, who was barely bigger than the beast's head. But Manjimutt was lucky because he just barely able to dodge him, and the gator was only able to rip a sizable clump of fur off of Manjimutt's belly.
And though it may have stung like he'd just gotten waxed, and even made him scream like a little girl, Manjimutt sprinted away, and he was so thankful he even escaped with his life.
"…And from that moment on, I told myself that if I could survive that, I could totally live down here," Manjimutt finally finished, and he continued to smile. And Fondnesse stared at him in awe, but Whisper only rolled his eyes and growled in disbelief, "and the gator? Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! I've chased that gator down for revenge; took me months to grow my fur back, and over time, I decided to give the beast a name—Nikki."
…
"Oh, well, what a relief! I was afraid it was going to be something REALLY scary, like Jeffrey or Bo-Bo," Whisper declared sarcastically while crossing his arms.
"Whisper, don't be rude," Fondnesse hissed and tapped her husband's shoulder.
"Eh, don't worry. I wouldn't 'av believed me myself," Manjimutt added with a shrug.
"Got anymore fantasies?" Whisper asked sarcastically, earning another glare from his wife.
"Yes, I do, actually. I have faced many a' vicious gator down here, but my favorite battle was when I used nothing but a sharpened butter knife to turn an ALigator—into an ABBYgator," Manjimutt replied with a smirk, and from the looks of his face, that's when Whisper knew it was time to draw the line.
"Ok! Story time is over! Let's get some sleep, shall we?" Whisper suddenly interrupted and looked at Fondnesse expectantly.
"He's usually much more grumpy than this," Fondnesse whispered to Manjimutt sarcastically, who chuckled and winked at her, and Whisper was well unaware of what his wife just said about him.
But while Whisper waited up for a while to watch his wife go to sleep, he soon felt his eyes growing heavier, and he couldn't help but slowly drift down and fall asleep next to Fondnesse, who subconsciously curled into his touch. And while the couple was fast asleep, Manjimutt kept watch over them, as he stared out into oblivion.
"Goodnight, Nikki."
Fondnesse assumed it had been a few hours when she woke up again, but she woke up to a strange sight. The torch was still lit, but Whisper nor Manjimutt were nowhere to be seen. But she tried to keep her cool, as she decided to get up and take a little walk.
But then she heard something scrape against the tunnel walls, sending chills down Fondnesse's spine.
"Whisper?!" Fondnesse called out as she continued walking, but she soon came up to the dirty sewer water, and she saw something dark move just below the surface.
"Whisper?" Fondnesse repeated softly…but it wasn't Whisper at all. Before she could react, two glowing yellow eyes and a huge set of jaws jumped out of the water.
"Whisper!"
"AAAHH! FONDNESSE!" Whisper suddenly woke up screaming from his nightmare, but then he had something furry shoved into his mouth before he could wake up Fondnesse.
The furry object was Jibanyan's paw, as he had shaken Whisper awake when he noticed him whimpering in his sleep. But Whisper stared at Jibanyan with shock and confusion, as he spit his paw out, and turned around to find Fondnesse, safe and sound, curled up into a ball, fast asleep.
"Jibanyan? What are you doing here?" Whisper asked quietly.
"I came looking for you guys," Jibanyan replied in a whisper.
"Well…where's Manjimutt?"
"I think he went to patrol the area. I came to check on you guys after he left."
"What do you mean? Where have you been all this time?"
"Yeah, about that…don't kill me for saying this…but after I ran away, I didn't come down into the sewers, I just stayed in the grove you tracked me into…heh-heh…"
"You what?! You mean we fell down here for nothing?!"
"Look, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have run away. But nyow I'm back, so can't we go home?"
"No, we can't. After we fell in while looking for you, Nate seemed to have disappeared too, and we were going to start looking for the both of you, but now that you're back, the search will just be less of a hassle."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Jibanyan and Whisper nearly jumped when Manjimutt suddenly came back. "I found somethin' that'll prove this search for Nate won't be a walk in the park—fresh alligator tracks, and big ones, could even be Nikki's."
…
"Well, in that case, I'm taking my wife and unborn kids out of this loony bin, and we are going home," Whisper declared firmly, and he gently started shaking his wife awake.
"Alright, fine, go on—if ya wanna get eaten within the next five minutes! Face it, you can't protect your mate, Mate," Manjimutt pointed out in a playful tone, making the butler Yo-Kai growl in anger.
But suddenly, that's when Fondnesse finally woke up with a big yawn and rubbed her eyes, and she stared up at Whisper with groggy eyes.
"Mmm…hi, Hon…where we goin'?"
"We're going home."
"What? No, I don't wanna leave yet! I wanna find Nate!" Fondnesse whined while getting back up on her feet, and she wasted no time in lowering her head to pick up Nate's scent and following it with haste.
"C'mon, boys! We aren't gonna wait!" Fondnesse called from down the tunnel, and Manjimutt and Jibanyan both looked at Whisper and shrugged, basically saying 'You better listen to her,' and they began following her.
"Oh, this woman's going to get herself killed," Whisper sighed in defeat and decided he'd better tag along to keep an eye on his unpredictable wife.
Kudos to those who knew where Mangimutt was going with his next story;)
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!
