Chapter 7

Sunlight. Greenery. A small pond with a shimmer like the night sky, painted with light blue, reflecting the appearance of the tall pine trees that lay near a smaller forest of flowers and clovers. As the toadlets stood upon a hill, they had a grand view of the forest, as grand as the view above the cliff of their old home. The rocks were painted many colors, there was a blue river going across the grass, and the sun had nothing to block its view of the tall and brown trees and the white daisy fields.

"Oh, wow! It's so beautiful!"

"This view is like, almost as amazing as the view from our home!"

"Do you think the toads are somewhere around here?" asked Panther Cap.

"I have a feeling we'll see plenty of things that are more amazing!" said Fur Foot. "Let's get down there."

"Wait! We can't stay!" said Panther Cap. "I just realized that the voice told us to take a left on the Glittering Rock! Besides, I don't see any toads."

"You were the only one who said anything about staying." said Oyster.

"I don't think I was the only one thinking it."

"Panther Cap's right." said Fur Foot. "We should see if any other toads are here, and then we'll check on Panther Cap's rock."

"Um, OK." said Panther Cap. He was worried because that was not what he said, but he wasn't going to give orders. All Panther Cap wanted was for everyone to be safe.

"Alright, toadlets." said Fur Foot. "Let's get down there. I don't see anyone here, so it looks safe. Let's get going! I want to see the big and long wet!" Fur Foot ran and jumped off the small cliff and landed on a mossy rock.

"Hey, wait for us, Fur Foot!" shouted Elf Cup. Fur Foot ran towards the river to get a better view. The others quickly followed after him. And Elf Cup was getting annoyed that he just rushed to it.

"Wait, Fur Foot! We need to stick together!" shouted Beauty Stem.

"Oh, right!" said Fur Foot as he stopped in his tracks. "I'm really sorry, guys. I just got excited..." Fur Foot started to slowly walk back, when he saw a small cave. "Huh?" It was a little hole in the hill. "Hey, guys! Check this out!"

"What is it, Fur Foot?" shouted Beauty Stem.

"It's a little toad cave!" said Fur Foot. "There's probably someone in there!"

Beauty Stem already jumped off the cliff and came close to Fur Foot. "Wait, Fur Foot. It could have something we don't know about."

"You're right. Still, we need to be sure other toads are near, so this could simply be a home. A haven for someone else. We need to ask a toad if they know where any others are, anyway. So, I'll go in first. Elf Cup! Puff Ball! You're with me. Shaggy Mane and Beauty Stem will stay with the kids away from the hole. I'll signal you if everything's alright."

"And if everything's wrong?" said Beauty Stem, worried.

"Well, I'll scream."

Puff Ball followed Fur Foot into the cave. Elf Cup didn't.

"Why do I have to go into a creepy cave?" said Elf Cup.

Beauty Stem walked up towards her. "Shaggy Mane's the only one with a weapon, and Puff Ball and Fur Foot are the strongest of us. We need to balance out the best defenses. And in case a monster is in there, we need at least three in there in case they can't speak so one can warn us."

"OK." said Elf Cup, still a little annoyed. She wasn't hoping to go in a cave this early in their adventure. She was hoping to swim in the river. So she went into the cave with Fur Foot.

Beauty Stem was worried about the three toadlets. However, she knew they were capable. All she could do was hope that when that was over, the young ones would be safe. Then she could frolic through that patch of daisies that she found while the wind brushes through her lavender hair.

Fur Foot didn't like the looks of this. It was dark, filled with stones, and a lot of pointy twigs. There was still some light for them to see. They were scared, but they were unaware that a strange, mysterious guardian was watching them from far away, hiding in the tall pine trees many yards away from the hill and the cave.

"What kind of rocks are these?" said Puff Ball, picking one up. :I've never seen rocks get so long before."

"Hey, look!" whispered Fur Foot. He saw a light in the path they were taking. "Something is in here!"

"I hope it's not a mean something." said Puff Ball while examining the rock.

The toadlets slowly continued into the path. The light grew stronger, and the light behind them (the entrance) grew dimmer. Before they reached the source, Fur Foot noticed something very disturbing. "Hey, look." he whispered, shaking. He saw many of those white rocks in strange shapes. A lot of the longer ones were touching one on the other one. "What are those?"

The piles of rocks were aligned one next to another. But next to another one... was a strange thing. It was like a giant white flower, but its stem was very thick, and it's top had no nectar. It was bouncy. It looked rubbery.

"What is that?" said Fur Foot.

"Why do I get a weird feeling the owner's really, really messy?' said Puff Ball.

"I didn't know rocks this small could have so many holes." said Elf Cup, looking at a strangely shaped on with many holes.

"Th-that's not a r-rock..." Puff Ball said, pointing to something next to the rubbery, bouncy thing. "Hey, th-that guy's a, a toad. And he's..." limp. Immobile. Frozen. Still. "Toad splaaat." Dead.

"What?" whispered Fur Foot as he jumped from the rocks.

"And that rock... that's a mouth on it." said Puff Ball. Elf Cup stared at the rock. She dropped it. Puff Ball looked at the conjoining rocks, the long ones. Two one each one, and many small rocks touching that. "Have you guys ever noticed we can bend our arms one way?" He showed what he meant by bending his arm. Looking at the rocks... they were an arm and a hand. "What if.. that's because those white things are inside of people?"

Fur Foot stared at the rocks, horrified at them.

"Th-" said Puff Ball. "That-th-that-th-that-that's a... person." Puff Ball sank to the ground. "They're all people." He then whispered to himself. "The meat was eaten from them."

Elf Cup was about to vomit. All around the three toadlets were the bones of the dead. Something was eating them.

"Alright," Fur Foot started. "We sneak away from the light to avoid being heard, and we run once we're far enough. When we're out, we get the others and leave."

"Yeah." said Puff Ball and Elf Cup. They began to sneak away.

"That won't work..." said a strange voice behind the toadlets. The three toadlets turned around to see something running towards them, a tall, ugly, hairy creature with giant ears. It carried a long, sharp stick. "Aaaaargh!" it wailed.

It pounced on Puff Ball. Puff Ball's eyes widened as the creature was about to stick it with it's stick.

"Get off of him!" shouted Puff Ball as she tackled the creature.

"Leave Puff Ball alone!" yelled Fur Foot as he grabbed the creature's arm.

The creature grabbed Fur Foot and threw him to the bones. It then slammed Elf Cup into a wall.

"I wanted to take down the biggest, first." said the creature with a sinister grin. "but it seems you like to..." it raised its staff as its yellow eyes stared deeply into the helpless toad. "Stick around..."

WHAAACK!

"Argh!" A giant nail hit the creature. It was flung at him. Whack! Whack! A bejeweled staff hit it multiple times! The rat was facing a larger foe, covered by a hooded robe. Whack! The mysterious figure knocked the creature against the wall.

"You..." said the creature. "You little wretch!" The creature tried to level itself with the wall as momentum. Then, the mysterious man grabbed the large nail that was flung at the creature, and he threw it again. This time, the nail, curved and sharp, was thrown at his hand which was on the wall. His hand was trapped.

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you..." said the man. He had a thick accent of some kind.

Fur Foot stared at this man, bewildered by the bravery and skill he had shown during battle. "Who... are you?" asked Fur Foot, quietly.