When Fred woke up the next morning, she felt oddly energetic. She had something to do, a goal to reach. She wondered what the training would be like, singing probably but what else? She never saw much TV or watched any movies. Her dad was always at the back of her mind and she couldn't relax enough to sit and enjoy watching something.
Fred got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt she found in a bag right outside her door. Surprisingly the clothes were a perfect fit, she hurried to the kitchen. About ten minutes later she arrived at the kitchen out of breath. Baba and Leo were both at the table waiting with food and Leo was dressed in the same grey sweat pants and white t-shirt that she was. Baba was wrapped in her usual shawl and her cane was leaning against the table next to her. Fred hurried to the empty chair and sat down.
"I am sorry for being late Baba, I took a few wrong turns." Baba nodded when she picked up and started to eat. Leo scoffed at her explanation; he had taken her to the kitchen just last night. The rest of the meal was quiet, Fred wanted to ask what they were going to be doing but the atmosphere seemed…heavy. She wasn't sure why but it had felt that way as soon as she entered the kitchen. She also noted that breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal, an apple and a glass of orange juice. She wasn't going to complain but compared to the feast that they had last night she thought breakfast would have been…bigger.
Once plates were put away Leo left the room and Baba led Fred out of the room. They went to the same room that Fred saw Baba and Leo in yesterday.
"The first thing we need to do is discover your 'voice', what you're good at. Do you know what you would be best for you?" Fred looked at Baba confused, head slightly tilted.
"It's all right dear, we'll discover it soon enough." Baba led Fred towards the piano, where Baba sat down and looked at Fred who was standing awkwardly beside her.
"Do you know how to read music?" Fred shook her head and Baba nodded like she expected that answer.
"Do you know any songs that you can sing for me?"
"Y-you mean right now? I can only think of one off the top of my head."
"Then go ahead dear, it's just you and me in here." Fred gave a slight nod before she took a deep breath and began to sing a lullaby that Mari had taught her after her brothers went to bed and she couldn't sleep.
Twinkle, twinkle little star…
When Fred had finished she looked at Baba who looked a little shocked.
"Fredonia it seems you are as gifted as any Fazbear. Just not in the way everyone thought."
/
After that Fred was always busy for the rest of the day Baba 'tested' her, she had Fred 'dance' and 'act' things out for her. Fred thought it was all very ridiculous. The 'dancing' was basically moving awkwardly and the 'acting' was just saying lines out loud.
After Fred finished saying the lines out loud Baba got up and left. Fred watched her leave the room in confusion, wondering where the baboon was going. Fred had to speed walk to catch up to the, surprisingly fast, older anthro. Baba suddenly halted in the middle of the hall way, Fred barely avoided running into her. Baba turned around and looked at Fred with a look that Fred had seen many times.
Anger.
"Go to your room, Fredonia. We are done here." The baboon's voice was cold. Fred's reaction was the same as when her father spoke to her in the same way.
"Why?" Fred's voice was quiet, unemotional.
"I cannot teach someone like you. Forget about becoming a celebrity, it's beyond your reach." The older anthro then continued walking away, never looking back.
Fred stood there before she hurried to her room with her head down, she was about to touch the handle when she froze.
'My room? When had this become my room? I shouldn't be here, I was only ever a guest, a stray they took in off the street!' Fred jerked her hand away from the handle and turned, determined to leave.
She easily avoided Baba and Leo, the two anthros disappeared, when Fred got to the back door she opened it quickly and closed it softly behind her. As she looked to the quickly darkening forest a wave of déjà vu hit her. This felt just like when she was kicked out by her father. How long had it been since then? Six months? Seven? Fred hoped that Mari would be back soon to take care of her brothers.
…Mari! Mari would be back soon and she would definitely help! Fred started running, not caring that the night was still a little chilly or that the sun was almost gone, she just had to find their cabin!
/
Fred finally collapsed against a tree, her lungs were barely working and she was sore from running so long and so hard. The sun had long ago set and Fred felt like she was being watched. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and closed her eyes. She needed to think, figure out where she was and locate the cabin, maybe close her eyes for just a few seconds-
Black eyes flashed in her memory. No. No, she couldn't stop now, if anything she had to hurry and get back so she could save her brothers from the purple man.
With that Fred got to her feet and started walking in the direction she thought the highway was from her position. She could hear a distant roar, it didn't sound like the highway but she didn't have any other clues to lead her.
The roar steadily grew louder, footsteps could be heard and suddenly Fred was shoved to the ground by a furry weight. She gasped and tried to fight off the weight on top of her. The faint smell of honey reached her nose. Glowing red eyes met blue, Fred, and whoever was on top of her, stared at each other until a shout was heard in the distance. The red eyes blinked then flickered away before looking back at Fred's blue eyes. Fred saw a helicopter getting closer and the attached flood light was painful to look at after being in the dark forest for so long. The figure growled quietly before hauling Fred to her feet and dragging her along.
"H-hey! Let me go!"
"Shh! Idiot, don't let them hear you!" Fred realized the harsh voice was a boy's, she couldn't tell in the dark what kind of anthro he was or how old he might be. Fred started running herself, she didn't want to be dragged around the forest by a stranger. And she figured he was running away from them for a reason. They ran until the shouts could no longer be heard and the helicopter's light was dim. Fred realized this was an area she had passed through, when there was still sunlight. Fred stopped running and tilted her head, listening for the sound of water. Grabbing the other anthro's hand she hurried towards the sound, happy when she found the river she had seen earlier. Ignoring the other anthro's complaints she continued upstream until she found the waterfall.
"HEY! I am speaking to you idiot! Why are you leading me over here!? I need to get away from those people, not take a drink!"
Fred glared into his red eyes, he glared right back. They stood like that for a few seconds before Fred sighed. This is what it felt like to fight with Goldie, she would back out to avoid a fight with him. Fred held out her hand and gently pulled.
"Can you trust me?" Fred watched the red eyes widen, then narrow in suspicion. She smiled and led him to the edge of the river, there were clouds covering the moon but there was just enough light to see the shapes of the rocks. Fred hopped off of the grass and onto one of the rocks. She looked back and could now see the silhouette of the stranger. He was looking at the water, scared to go any farther. Fred sighed before she called out to him.
"Hey! Didn't you say you trusted me?"
"Yes! But that was because I thought you actually had a plan! Not splashing through cold water in the middle of the night!"
"Use the light to guide you! I won't go any farther until you reach me ok?" Fred waited, her hand outstretched, the clouds moved and moonlight shone on the gently moving water. The river around them changed into a river of glittering gems. Fred focused on the silhouette and stretched her hand out a little farther. The figure hesitantly stepped onto the first rock before stepping to the next one and panicking slightly when he slipped.
It was…relaxing. Fred hadn't laughed and smiled as much in her whole life, she enjoyed being with her brothers but the presence of their father always dampened Fred's mood to the point she could never feel truly relaxed. Now she was outside with no one telling her what she could and couldn't do.
"Hurry up, idiot. They're heading this way."
Except this guy.
He had no room to talk considering he was latched onto her arm and kept glancing at the water nervously. Fred rolled her eyes before helping the black anthro across the stones until they were right in front of the waterfall.
"Why are we here!? I thought you had a plan, instead now we are trapped between a waterfall and-grghhr!"
Fred forced herself to stop laughing long enough to jump through the waterfall after the dark figure, who she pushed through the falling water. As she stepped into the small pool on the other side the other anthro was spitting water out of his mouth. Fred wiped water from her eyes and walked towards him.
"Are you ok?"
He glared at her venomously, his lips pulled back, exposing his sharp white fangs. He started stalking towards her. Fred was instantly on alert, she shifted, and soon they were circling each other.
"You pushed me into the waterfall!" he growled. His red eyes were glowing, Fred was trying to stay calm. She had dealt with her father for years and she was not going to apologize or fight with this ruby-eyed, black furred anthro.
"Answer me!" Fred realized the other anthro had been talking to her. She mentally scolded herself; she needed to focus on the present, not on her father. He had kicked her out anyway, but then why did he always get inside her head- thunk!
Fred gasped at the weight of the anthro crushed her again. Her lips started to pull back, but a black paw covered her mouth and she almost missed the finger he pressed to his lips. She relaxed but looked at him confused, he crouched lower until Fred couldn't breathe. His scent surrounded her and she started to struggle. She needed to breath!
She stopped when there was a shout uncomfortably close to their hidden cave. Fred could see the distorted reflection of flashlights on the cave wall.
"I can smell the Master! He was by this river!" The shout was accompanied by a howl, the black furred anthro above her tensed.
Fred tapped the hand that was covering her mouth, slowly he removed it.
"Hurry and find him! We cannot allow the Master to leave the area!" She started to push his chest, trying to get him off her. She needed a breath of fresh air but he crouched over her again when the second voice spoke. She could feel a slight vibration in his chest, she knew they would be caught if he growled. Fred wiggled and the ruby eyes looked at her, she shook her head at him. He had to realize they would be caught if they made any noise. The rubies slowly moved up and down before they started moving farther away. Fred sucked in a breath of air as his weight was removed. She instantly shut her mouth as silence settled. The shouts and talking that had been in the background had stopped. To Fred it felt like the world had stopped, she was fairly sure even the waterfall had gone silent.
Then everything happened at once. The black paw that was covering her mouth grabbed her arm and dragged her deeper into the small cave. The sound returned in an eruption, figures burst through the waterfall and Fred was pulled behind the boy she had been traveling with for the past hour. He crouched and growled at the figures that had trapped them against the back of the cave. A few of the figures shined their flashlights on Fred and the boy. A figure stepped up to them and the boy snarled at him, the boy kept Fred behind him.
"Young master! Here you are! Your father is worried sick, you aren't hurt are you? Get some medics up here!" The figure shouted that last part at the crowd behind him. Fred realized she could hear the helicopter.
"Now, Master-" the figured started to say.
"Go away, Peter! I am not going back to that house!" The boy in front of Fred snarled at the figure.
"Young Master! You are the heir-"
"I don't care! I am not going back!" The boy tensed but Fred put her hand on his arm, cautioning him that he would not win this fight. But from what she understood the boy had run away from home. Why? These people didn't seem to want to hurt him, they only wanted to bring him back. The twin rubies looked at Fred who stared back, trying to communicate without saying a word.
"Young Master? What is behind you?" The figure, or Peter, took the opportunity that Fred never meant to give him and separated Fred and the black furred boy. Fred stared up at Peter, he was the first bird anthro she had ever seen, a…peacock? Fred was pretty sure that was right. She didn't know what color he was or anything but his eyes were turquoise and reflected the beams from the flashlight. They did not naturally glow like a certain pair of rubies.
"Another bear? Young Master I know you don't see many people your age but if you would just go to-"
"No! I refuse to go to that stupid boarding school!" Fred saw that the boy's ruby eyes were trained on the figure that was holding Fred's arm very tightly.
"Young Master this isn't just any school! This is Frisbee's School of Magic! The best school in the world to teach a gifted anthro like you!"
"Then why don't we wait another year!? Why do I have to go now!?"
"Because, Young Master, your father wants you to go as soon as possible, the youngest age the school accepts students at is ten years old. But we can discuss this later, for now we must return you to the mansion." Peter waved his hand and two figures held the boy tight when a third moved in front of the boy, who went limp. The two figures carried the boy away, Fred watched in horror as her first friend in a long time was taken away.
Fred caught her balance as Peter roughly shoved her against the wall. He and the other figures started to leave.
"Wait!" Peter looked back at her but didn't stop. The other figures refused to acknowledge Fred. She looked Peter in the eyes. "Where are you taking him!? Bring him back! He doesn't want to go with you, why don't you understand that!?"
"Hah! As if a useless, ugly, low class creature like you would ever understand! We need to keep the Young Master away from filthy things like you." Peter then turned and continued out, a wolf anthro fell into step beside him, the wolf's voice was quiet as they left the hidden cave.
"Was that necessary sir?"
"Do not question my decisions, Captain!" Peter snapped at the wolf, then he inhaled to calm himself down. "Leave that waste of space here, it should die on its own."
Then the figures were gone as quickly as they had come.
/
YAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER FINISHED!
I will admit guys, for a while there I forgot where I was planning to go with this story. Don't worry though, I got it covered!
So, what did you guys think? I reread the first three chapters, I edited the third and plan on rewriting the first two…eventually. I had typed those using a touch screen on a kindle and the autocorrect was terrible. So, I will redo those, I think this chapter is ok!
I appreciate all the favs, follows and reviews I get!
Thank you for reading! XD
