Disclaimer: I do not own the ROTG universe or its original characters. This story is written within the ROTG universe. The rest of the characters belong to me.
Sorry for such a long wait guys. I didn't think it was going to take this long to get this chapter done. I almost cried in tears of relief when I was done, but then checked the last date I updated and almost cried in horror at how long it was.
Chapter 9: Just a Little Push
After such a long trip across two states, I was finally flying into Blacksburg's atmosphere. I immediately recognized the buildings and houses down below as I was looking down from above. A sense of security and relief overcame me at the thought of finally being back home. Talk about the feeling of home sweet home. I hope Irwin wasn't too worried about me. We did split up in a burning building and that was like... last night.
Then there was the lantern I was carrying. I wondered how I was going to explain this to him. Telling him that I somehow wound up in a forest in Pennsylvania because a horse led me there was definitely going to earn me a weird look. Maybe I could hide it so I don't have to explain about it, but then there was the matter of where to hide it. Don't think hiding it in the closet was going to work.
As I was pondering on what to do about this lantern issue, I began to notice the familiar streets and roof tops. I was quite sure I've been here before, but I can't seem to remember right away. It's almost like it's right at the edge of my memory, but I'm having a hard time recalling it. It took me a little while before I finally remembered what neighborhood this was.
Oh yeah! This was the place where Irwin brought me to that time when he came to get me some hand-me-down clothes and this was where I found that little girl. What was her name again? Abby? Abigail? Yeah, I think that was it. I wonder where she was now.
I flew in the direction of where her house should be to check if she was home, but when I got there, the house was empty. I tried looking through the windows to see if anyone was inside, but it was dark and silent. No one was home from the looks of it, so they must be out somewhere.
Darn! I was hoping to meet Abby again since I was in the area and it has been a long time since I saw her. I guess I'll just head straight to Irwin's place. I didn't know where Abby or her parents were anyway. Maybe I'll just come back and visit her some other time, I guess.
But right before I took off, I heard voices coming from the sidewalk. A small group of three, consisting of two boys and a woman, was strolling down the path and the two kids were talking happily. I assumed it was a mother and her two sons, at least that's what it felt like to me. I was kinda sure that the two boys were brothers since they did have a lot of similarities.
"Wanna race down the slide once we get there?" The older of the two boys asked. He looked like he might be around ten or twelve.
"Yeah!" The younger one agreed excitedly. "And then we climb the monkey bars and then the wall climbing thingy and then the swing and then the seesaw and then..."
"Woah! Hold on. Are you trying to make me feel tired before we even get to the playground?" The older brother joked.
"YEAH!" The younger brother admitted.
Then both boys laughed as the older brother wrapped his arms around his little brother's shoulders and pulled him close. The older boy gave his brother a good fist rub on his head, messing up his hair. This made him laugh even harder while yelling for his older brother to let go.
"Now, boys, calm down. We haven't even reached the playground yet," told the mother, as she was walking behind them.
The two boys playfully responded with a "Alright, mom" and "Okay!" when they continued to walk down the path.
The playground? Hmm... I believe there was one not far from here. It's not as big as the one in the park, but it was usually where mothers and their younger kids played at since it was not far from the houses around here. Especially, during the late afternoon and around the weekend... Wait, how did I know that? I don't think I've been there before... have I? Maybe I have been there, but forgot due to my amnesia. I guess I'm starting to recall some stuff. Now that I think about it, if most of the kids and parents were there at this time of day, then maybe Abby was there with her mother too. It wouldn't hurt to check it out.
It didn't take me very long to fly over to the playground since it was close by. The playground was a relatively small park. There was a wide grassy area around the playground with about six benches to sit on. The playground itself was a large sandbox with that play-structure that had slides, monkey bars, swings, ladders, and a few other stuff connected to each other. There were also those rocking duck and chicken thing that you ride on and rock back and forth. There were some kids there with their parents, mostly mothers from the looks of it. About almost a dozen kids were running around and playing. Some were screaming loudly as they were playing chase. Mothers were talking to one another as they watched over their kids. I spotted a father trying to get his daughter, who looked around five years old, to slide down a slide. There was also an old lady walking her tiny dog, a fancy french toy dog that reminded me of a butterfly.
When I landed, I looked around, hoping to find a familiar face like Abby. I spotted her mom since her bright red hair stood out so much from the other adults, so that meant Abby should be here too.
The red hair women seemed to be talking with another mother. There was a hint of sadness and worry when she talked to the other mother. Her smile felt forced and out of place. Something about that didn't sit well with me. I didn't like seeing that kind of expression on her face.
"So Abby still hasn't been running off on her own for awhile now, right?" Asked the mother.
"No, she hasn't," Abby's mother replied. "Though, I should be happy about it since I won't have to worry about her wandering off, but her behavior lately worries me. I don't like seeing her so... depressed."
"I have to admit, it is strange. She used to be a ball of energy and quite a handful. Now she's just... the opposite," the other woman thought out loud. "And I don't think it has anything to do with her age either. Kids at this age are supposed to be wild."
"I know. I wish I knew what happened to make her change like this. She became like this after her disappearance," Abby's mother said solemnly. "Ryan has been trying to get a smile out of her many times, but nothing works. It's like the energy in her just died out."
When she said that, she looked ahead, which made me turn to see where she was looking at . There were a bunch of kids around, but I was able to spot the girl. Abby was sitting at the swings on her own and looking rather... lonely.
Why was she by herself? There were a bunch of other kids around her, yet she was not playing with any of them. She was just there at the swing, all alone, with only her orange pumpkin plush on her lap. Seeing her small figure at the swing like that with all the other kids having fun felt so... wrong.
"I'm very sorry, Cathy," sympathized the other woman. "I wish I could help you, but even I'm not sure what to do."
Abby's mom assured her that it was alright so she doesn't worry the other woman too much. Then as they changed the subject of their conversation to lighten the mood, I kept watch of the solitary girl in the distance.
A sense of worry pulled me towards the girl on the swings, so I walked towards her to check up on her. She had this melancholy look on her face, making the atmosphere around her rather gloomy. No wonder the other kids wouldn't come up to her. It's like Cloudy McGloomy over here!
She was lightly moving back and forth on the swing with one hand holding onto the chain and the other hugging her pumpkin doll. Her head was down as if she was staring down at her feet, but her gaze didn't seem to focus on them. It was like she was deep in her thought, not caring about the things around her.
This wasn't good. A girl her age shouldn't have a face like that. Children her age should be smiling and laughing, not like this… She needed friends , but with her mood like this, there was no way she would take the initiative. There had to be a way to get her to make friends. If only she could see and hear me, then things would be a lot easier. But since that's out of the question right now, I need to think of another way.
According to her mother, she wasn't like this before, so what changed her?
Suddenly, there was a strange aching pain in my chest. I felt sadness, pity, and a very strong sense of... guilt? Strange... Why do I feel like this was my fault? I only met her once before today and she was already like this, so there's no way I could've done something to her to make her act this way.
Shaking that thought out of my mind, I looked back at the other kids running around and laughing, trying to think of something to help Abby.
I wonder… Can any of these kids see me?
"Hey!" I called out loudly so that it can be heard throughout the playground. "Can any of you kids hear me?"
No reaction or response from any of the kids. They continued to play whatever game they were playing. I guess no one here can see me then. Well, it was a good try. Looked like I gotta think of another plan. I looked back at Abby and wondered what else I could do to help her make friends.
"There's got to be something I could do..." I thought to myself out loud. I bent down to be on eye level with her. "What do I have to do to make you smile, Abby?" I said to her, not really caring at the fact that she can't hear me anyways.
So how do I help her make friends when she can't see or hear me? Think Will! Think!
Then my eyes suddenly fell on a stick nearby. Hmm... I may not be able to touch people, but I can touch objects just fine. I wonder...
So I picked up the stick and waved it around a little. Feeling like playing around with this a little, I threw it up in the air a few times so it would make somersaults before it fell back down into my grasp. Then I went back to where Abby was and stood behind her so she won't notice what's gonna happen next.
Poke!
Yep, I poked her on the shoulder with the stick. This definitely caught Abby off guard, because she jolted from her thoughts and quickly looked behind herself, looking rather confused. Of course, with her position, she didn't notice the stick at all. Not seeing anybody behind her, she probably thought it was just her imagination, so turned her back again.
And so I poked her again.
Abby turned around once again to find nobody was there. Now she looked really confused, so she got up, trying to find what was poking her. I made sure that the stick was out of her sight by making sure to move behind her when she turned around. Looked like I finally got her attention... in a way I guess. Now time to figure out how to get her to make friends. Don't think Mr. Stick was gonna be helpful in that department though. So what to do?
Arf! Arf!
...Eh?
Chomp!
"HOLY FUDGE NUT!"
Flying out of nowhere, a tiny dog came and snatched the stick right out of my hand! Hey! It was that butterfly dog and now it took Mr. Stick! Oh look how proud it looked for stealing Mr. Stick! It was staring at me with its sparkly eyes, begging for approval, and wagging it's fluffy tail like the happy dog it was!
"Mr. Stick! Bad dog! Give me back Mr. Stick!"
Arf! Arf!
I tried to grab the dog, but it quickly jumped out of my grasp and ran off with Mr. Stick in its mouth.
"NO! Mr. Stick! No fetch! NO FETCH!"
And thus, I immediately ran after the dog to save Mr. Stick.
I tried to fly as fast as possible to catch up to the dog, but that little mutt was darting everywhere! It ran through the playground, up the slide, through the tunnels, and down the stairs. Many of the kids got startled by the sudden appearance of the dog and jumped away out of shock.
"Give me back Mr. Stick, you stick-napper!"
Then it proceeded to run around in circles around Abby, causing me to run around in circles with it. Darn it! I am not putting up with a game of marry-go-round chase here so give me back Mr. Stick!
To Abby, who couldn't see me, it looked like the dog was running around her. She looked perplexed and was turning left and right after the dog, wondering what it was doing. As I continued to chase after the dog, the little mutt suddenly pounced right on Abby, who looked very startled.
"Eeek!" she cried in shock as the toy dog jumped her. The impact of a dog that size wasn't much, but Abby was still pretty small, so she was knocked backwards and onto her little bottom.
"Abby!" I stared in horror at this. Stupid mutt! If you put a scratch on her, I'll make sure the definition of 'hot dog' becomes literal!
"Abigail!" Abby's mother also came running upon hearing her daughter's cry. "Are you alright, sweetie? Are you hurt?" She asked with concern.
Abby seemed to look shocked at first from getting pounced by the little dog unexpectedly, but when that little furball of energy began giving her a slobbering kiss, a smile began to form on Abby's face. Then a giggle escaped her, feeling ticklish from the dog's wet tongue.
Then there was Mr. Stick lying on the ground next to them, left forgotten by the dog.
"Mama! Doggie!" Abby giggled as the dog kept licking her face, covering her in wet saliva.
It must've been a long time since she has last seen her daughter laugh and smiled like this, because a look of astonishment, relief, and joy spread across her face.
"Papi! No! Bad dog!" Suddenly the old lady, the owner of the dog, ran up to them with worry and guilt written on her face. "I'm very sorry about my dear little Papi, dearie. I just let him out of his leash for just a second and he suddenly just ran off without warning," the old lady apologized, looking distressed.
My mother had to assure the poor old lady that it was okay. No one was hurt and Abby was actually enjoying herself. So while Abby's mother was calming her down, I noticed a lump of orange at the corner of my eyes. I turned to look and realized that Abby's pumpkin plush was lying a few feet away from where Abby was. It must've somehow got knocked out of her hands and rolled away. Then I noticed a group of girls nearby, who looked slightly older or around Abby's age. Suddenly, another idea sparked in my head, so I went to pick up the pumpkin plush. I looked at where the group of girls were and mentally measured the distance. Once I estimated how much force I need, I gently rolled the pumpkin plush so it would go up to the group girls and get noticed.
Just as the plush reached the girls, one of them noticed the plush and stared at it in surprise. This caused the other girls to turn around and look at it out of curiosity.
"What's that?" asked one of the girls.
"Looks like a pumpkin doll," answered another.
"So who does it belong to and where'd it come from?"
"Wasn't there a girl that was holding onto this thing earlier?"
So the girls started to look around and spotted Abby, who was still playing with the dog. Then one of the girls picked up the pumpkin doll and walked up to her.
"Hey, is this your doll?" she asked Abby, showing her the pumpkin plush in her hand. "I saw you holding this earlier."
Abby then noticed the girl, who was approaching her with the toy. Upon seeing her pumpkin plush, she looked up at the girl again and nodded, "Uh huh." So the girl handed back the plush back to Abby while the dog kept barking happily.
"Aw! Is that your dog?" One of the other girls squealed, eyes full of adoration and excitement for the canine. "What breed is it? Can I pet it? Please?" She begged with a hopeful tone.
"Um... it's not Abby's," replied Abby.
Arf! Arf! The dog barked before hopping off of Abby and went to run around the girls excitedly. Arf! Arf! Arf!
"Aw!" The group of girls squealed out loud.
"If you want to pet him, it's fine," said the old lady. "Papi is a papillon and he loves the attention."
"Yay! Thank you!" And thus, the little dog was given all the love and attention it wanted.
Abby, on the other hand, stared as the dog, who was now occupied by a bunch of girls. She looked like she wanted to go in and join them, but she seemed to look rather nervous.
Then the girl, that gave back the pumpkin plush, seemed to have remembered that Abby was there as well, so she turned to Abby and said, "I'm Chelsey. What's your name?"
Abby gave her a look of surprise and uncertainty before she finally introduced herself. "I'm... Abby."
Chelsey seemed a little older than Abby by a year or two. Her hair was long and wavy with a light brownish shade color, done in a cute braid headband style. Her eyes were big and bright green like gems. She had this friendly aura about her that helped Abby feel more comfortable.
"So Abby, why don't you hang out with us?" Chelsey said with a friendly smile "I saw you were by yourself earlier."
"Uh... okay," Abby agreed though sounding a little unsure, but seeing Chelsey smile made her smile a bit.
I was thrilled that Abby finally made a friend and better yet, she was going to make more friends with the rest of the girls. Chelsey was already introducing Abby to the other girls and it looked like they might be able to get along.
Well, I've accomplished what I wanted and it was a job well done. I went to pick up the stick that was left on the ground and waved it around playfully. "We did good, Mr. Stick. We did good."
Arf! Arf!
Chomp!
"MR. STICK!"
~Irwin's POV~
How long have I been searching? I didn't even know or care anymore. Since morning, I haven't stop looking for the kid. I just can't stop feeling like something bad might've happened to him. Every time I imagined him injured and helpless somewhere, I kept thinking of the night Jack died. Their similar appearance was already uncanny and I just can't help but feel that their fate would be the same as well. It sounded ridiculous and unlogical to think that, but I was scared and worried out of my mind that something terrible could've happened to Will that I was close to panicking and throwing logic out the window.
Phil and Mikey were also worried. Not sure if it was for me or for Will... or probably both. Phil called in about an hour ago and said that he and Michael didn't have any luck. They told me that they haven't seen anyone that looked remotely like Will. Phil tried asking if there was any place that Will liked to go to, but unfortunately, I couldn't answer him.
"He always stayed at the apartment," I told him through my phone. "If he ever went out, he probably did it when I'm at work."
[Has he ever told you anything and what he does at home?]
"Not really. When I asked what he did that day, he just goes 'Not much' or 'TV'. Something along those line. He just seemed to keep stuff to himself," I explained.
[Well, if we ever find him, you better have a talk with him. A proper talk! This keeping-to-himself thing is getting ridiculous! You barely know anything about him and how long have you been taking care of him?!]
"I... I didn't want to push him too much when he's still trying to recover from his amnesia. I thought giving him some space would be fine."
[He's a lost boy with no memories of his past! He needs the attention! Thank god you don't have kids!]
"Hey!" I yelled into the phone, but he already hung up. "That was so uncalled for!"
Damn it! This isn't the time for me to argue with Phil right now. I need to find Will! Where could he be?! I swear we have already searched the whole town and still there was no sign of him. It was like he disappeared into thin air!
"Damn it! Damn it!..." I cursed to myself in frustration. Every moment I search, the more worried I got. If the police haven't already informed me that there were no bodies found at the burnt building, I would think he was burned in the fire. That was the only hope I had that kept me searching for him.
But where have I not searched yet? I swore I searched every corner of the town. Phil and Mikey have been helping too, so we should've covered the whole town already. Where else have we not search for him yet? Maybe the other towns?
I quickly walked down the sidewalk, scanning down the road and every alleys for any sign of the black hair boy. Still nothing. I've spotted many boys, but none of them turned out to be Will. I was getting restless and stressed out as the time passed by. The sun was already falling into the west. It was probably either late afternoon or early evening from the looks of it.
Rustle...
A soft breeze swept through the neighborhood and the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees somehow caught my attention. Out of reflex, I looked at the trees down the streets and then turned to one close to me. The trees were thick with thousands of green leaves of summer.
Leaves... Trees... Wait a minute!
I suddenly realized something and turned to look into the distance. Not far from where I am, there was the forest on the outskirt of the neighborhood.
Why didn't I realized this before? The forest! Of course!
So as fast as I could, I ran in the direction of the forest, taking the route I knew was the fastest way to get to. Praying on the way that Will might be there, even if the chances were slim. It was better than nothing.
Once I reached the forest, I began to shout loudly for Will. The forest looked deserted of life, but the sound of animals and rusting leaves said otherwise.
"WILL!... WILL! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
There was no reply.
I kept on shouting as I walked deeper into the trees.
"WILL!"
Nothing.
"DAMN IT WILL! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
For several minutes, I kept on walking and calling for Will. Only the sound of the rustling leaves and bushes could be heard through the silence. I tried to carefully look around to find any signs of a person being here, but there was none. There were chirping of birds and crickets around me. Maybe occasionally shadows of animals scurrying away, frightened by my presence, but no sign of a human being at all.
Will has to be here somewhere. If he wasn't in town, then this was the only place left I haven't searched. If he's also not here, where else could he be. He couldn't just disappear into thin air.
Snap!
I jolted in surprise at the sound of a snapping twig and looked around like crazy. "Will?"
Rustle Rustle
"Will, is that you?" I called out loudly. There were no sign of anybody here besides me, yet I felt that I was being watched. Maybe it was the animals that were making that noise.
Swoosh!
"Huh?" For some reason, I thought I saw something ran right passed the corner of my eyes. "Will?"
"..."
Again, there was no reply and only silence... Wait... this was unusually silent from just a few seconds ago. I don't even hear the birds anymore. This was unusual.
Swoosh!
Rustle Rustle
There it was again! I turned around in the direction I thought I saw a figure, but it was already gone. I thought I heard heavy footsteps. Whatever that made that sound had heavy feet. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was hooves that made that heavy stomping, but there were no wild horses in Virginia so that can't be it.
"W...Will?" I called out again, getting slightly uneasy.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Unexpectedly, I heard laughter. That completely threw me off guard. I was sure there was nobody around, yet why did that laughter sounded so close and yet… so familiar...
"Will!? Is that you?"
Rustle Rustle Snap!
Immediately, I turned around upon hearing the snap of a twig again and this time I was able to spot something in the distance before it disappeared into the trees. The afternoon sunlight wasn't giving enough brightness to help me see who it was, but I definitely saw something.
Ha ha ha ha! Come on Irwin! Last person gets hit by a dozen rotten eggs!
Wait a minute! Those words… that sounded like…
"Jack…?"
But that can't be possible… I must be hearing things.
But most importantly, someone just ran deep into the forest. Curiosity got ahold of me, so I began to run after that person. Maybe it was Will… but why would he run away?
"Hey!" I tried to call out as I ran through the trees.
Rustle Rustle
Ha ha ha ha ha! You're such a slowpoke Irwin!
"Will! This isn't funny! Where are you going?!" I demanded angrily. I was getting out of breath and this game of chase was getting annoying. Even though I was getting tired, I continued running, making sure to keep my eyes on the rustling leaves of bushes and low branches so I wouldn't lose sight of him. I couldn't make out if the figure was Will or not with the darkness starting to envelop the forest, but at least I was able to see where he was going.
I was seriously getting exhausted and was about to stop to rest when I finally ran into a clearing. The sun was able to shine better here with less trees to block it out, so I was able to see where I was. My heart almost skipped a beat when I realized where this place was.
I was at the collapsed mine... Jack's grave...
But... why... why here? How did I end up here without realizing it? I knew the way to get here since I came here so many times, yet I didn't even realize it when I was chasing… Wait, where was Will?
"Will!" I looked around, but I didn't see anybody here. "Will! Where are you?" Was he hiding? Is this some stupid game of hide-and-seek? "If you're hiding, then come out right now! This game is over! Do you know how worried sick I was?! I was looking everywhere for you!"
While I was shouting and looking around, trying to spot any movements, I suddenly noticed something shining from Jack's grave. There was an object there that was never there before.
What was that? Was that gold?
Curious, I walked up to the grave to find out what it was. Once I was standing before Jack's grave, I stared at the object in question with confusion and wonder. It seemed to be some kind of gold cylinder shaped container, though there was a side that was kind of flat and had these diamond shape design on it. What was this thing?
I picked up the thing and tried to inspect it closely. It seemed to be made up of metal of some sort. I'm guessing gold or some alloy that looked like gold. The diamond designs were pretty and shiny too. Though, the object would'v look nicer if not for the black… rust? It stained almost all over the object like some strange contamination. It just seemed… unnatural for some reason.
The weight wasn't that heavy, but not light either. The size of it also fit perfectly in my grasp. Then I shook it a little to find out if there was anything inside of it and I was right. I could hear something clanking inside and it seemed to be more than a few since I heard several of them. So there was something inside, but how do I open this thing. I started to turn that thing around to find a switch or button to open this thing, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to open. Then my eyes fell upon an image at the end of the container. There was an image of a face and not just any face. It was a face that I recognized almost immediately upon seeing. That red wavy hair... those
It was the face of a my best friend, Jack...
Thank you for reading. Please comment or leave feedback or suggestions.
Thanks to RainSonata for helping with editing and proofreading.
While normal kids would say "Last person is a rotten egg." Jack's version is "Last person gets hit by rotten eggs" and he's not kidding about that. I don't know why but he has a secret stash of rotten eggs hidden somewhere and no one but Jack knows where it is. Not even me.
Also, I have given Lantern's parents official names. His mother will be Catherine (or Cathy for short) and his father (already mentioned) is Ryan.
For those of you who kept asking if Will will ever get his memories back, don't worry. He will. Just at the right time.
For Irwin and Will's reunion, definitely happening, just not this chapter. Maybe next? Only if my pacing goes the way I planned that is. (But story pacing almost always doesn't go the way I planned anyways)
Guest Anon: Thank you for the name suggestions for the fire animals. I'll take them into consideration. I have a few other name suggestions from my friends as well, but I have a specific name style in mind so I may or may not use these names. If I can't find a name I like, I'll just stick with Fire animals like I usually do. I use that title often enough but never really considered it their official name. Just a temporary one until I find something I like. I would've gone with Fire Spirit but I don't want to confuse it with Jack O. Lantern when I'm using that word.