The Moomins stayed up into the early morning, softly speaking amongst themselves. They did not laugh, and rarely did they smile. Mostly, they were frightened and worried. Papa paced around the home, creating a plan to investigate what had occurred. He was visibly angry, but also visibly exhausted. Mama tried in vain to make her husband sit down and drink some more tea, and while she had prepared some biscuits for her family to eat she was not surprised when they remained untouched. No one felt very hungry, and if they did, one glance at Snufkin and any hunger would dissipate.

Snufkin remained on the floor beside Moomin, who had not moved an inch since he'd taken a vigilance over the vagabond. Moomin had not even gotten up to refill his tea, and so Mama kept the teacup full for him.

Moomin didn't think he'd ever felt so grateful for his family before. He didn't know what he would do if he had woken up one morning to find his mother or his father lying in a pool of blood. And before last night, he didn't know what he would do if he'd found Snufkin like that either. To be perfectly honest, he still didn't know what to do. He didn't do much of anything for his friend during that horrible night. Mama and Papa did everything, Moomin just stood back and watched.

Moomin frowned very deeply. He decided he wasn't okay with just watching, not when he could do something to keep Snufkin from ever going through this again- to keep himself and his family from going through this again. He wanted to protect Snufkin from pain and by doing so, he hoped it would protect Mama and Papa. They never should have cried so much last night because this never should have happened. Moomin knew that Snufkin was a traveler, and Moomin was always very sad to see Snufkin go but he always allowed Snufkin his freedom. His frown deepened even further. He always knew that Snufkin ran the risk of being hurt... or worse... when he left, and he knew Snufkin acknowledged and accepted those risks as well. But something shifted inside Moomin, as he finally put into place the worry he felt for the vagabond when he left with the sheer terror of seeing those worries come true.

Moomin's eyes narrowed as he looked down at Snufkin's still unconscious face. He knew he shouldn't trap his friend, as the mumrik was a free spirit and needed to see the world. But at the moment, that freedom seemed stupid. His eyes followed a row of small bandages across Snuffkin's temple. So stupid. He watched Snufkin breathe unevenly, his breath catching every so often before it fell back into an unsteady rhythm. Stupid! Maybe Snufkin would see that too now. Maybe he wouldn't leave Moomin Valley anymore once he woke up. And if he wanted to, maybe Moomin could convince him not to.

Moomin's hand was wet. He looked down at it to realize he'd been crying. UGH! This was so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He couldn't stop himself from crying, and the sudden feeling of a gentle hand on his back couldn't stop him either. Not even the hug that followed. Nor the quiet whispers of reassurance from Mama and Papa. Moomin felt like he would never stop crying.

He wondered if Snufkin had been crying too.


As the morning settled in, Papa began packing for his investigation. He had invited Moomin to come along, and while Moomin wished to stay next to Snufkin, Mama had promised to keep a very close eye on the mumrik. So he reluctantly agreed to go with Papa. They both wanted to know what happened, and they both wanted to keep it from happening again.

And so the two moomins began their trek outside, trying their hardest not to feel sick from the brown, oxidized blood stains that marked the meadow grounds, and instead feel the motivation of fury to march them onwards.

As they reached the bridge, where the biggest puddle of blood resided, Moomin felt dizzy. Papa placed a hand on Moomin's shoulder to steady him, "Easy now, Moomin. We still have a long way to go, and if you can't handle this then you certainly wouldn't be able to stomach our destination- where ever that may be." Papa let go of Moomin's shoulder as Moomin reached up to hold onto his backpack, staring down at the blood before the bridge.

Papa watched Moomin for a moment and then spoke again, "Perhaps you should go back home. I know this is hard, but it must be done by one of us. I'll go alone and you can watch over Snufki-" "No, Papa! I can do it! I need to know what happened to him!" Moomin was now returning Papa's stare. "I couldn't do anything for him last night, but I can at least do this!"

Papa considered this for a second. There was an internal momentary debate on whether to ease Moomin's mind by telling him he did all he could last night or to simply accept that Moomin would not see it that way and to continue with their journey. Papa chose the latter and the two picked up where they left off: Stepping over dried, coagulated blood, and burying their fingers into the straps of their backpacks in uneasy anger.


Papa and Moomin hadn't gotten far when they ran into other residents of the Valley. Suffice to say, they were all very surprised to see one another. Papa and Moomin slowly approached them and soon realized the townspeople were gathered around the trail of blood.

Moomin felt sick again. Papa called out to the townspeople as he got closer, "Hello. What is going on here? Why is everyone awake and not hibernating for the winter?" The Inspector stepped forward, "Everyone heard screaming in the night. It woke us all, and we were much too frightened to go back to sleep. When the sun rose we came outside and found a trail of what seems to be blood." As the inspector spoke, many of the townspeople shivered, still quite frightened.

Moomin glanced around the crowd, lighting up when he saw his friends. SnorkMaiden, Little My, and Sniff were in the back of the crowd whispering to each other. Moomin left Papa's side to join his friends. If they were up, then at least Moomin wouldn't feel so alone this winter. Even if it was under horrible circumstances.

As Papa explained the situation to the Inspector, stating that the yelling everyone had heard was most likely Moomin calling for MoominMama and himself, Moomin was now stood beside SnorkMaiden. "Hey, guys." He said softly. The group of friends turned to look at him. They all looked pretty shaken. Even Little My.

Sniff spoke first, "Moomin! Is it true?!" Despite their whispering, they must have heard what Papa was telling the crowd and the Inspector. Moomin's ears drooped and he looked at the ground, thankfully not at any blood. SnorkMaiden covered her mouth in shock, "Oh! Poor Snufkin!" She cried out. Little My skittered closer, eager to be a part of the conversation. "Do you know what did this to him?! Was it a nasty fall?! Did he get into a fight with a lion?!"

MoominPapa had intentionally omitted the details of the injuries, instead choosing to simply say that Snufkin was very hurt and that MoominMama had patched him up. And Moomin didn't wish to divulge any more information about Snufkin's condition either, so he turned his head away, a scowl gracing his face, and mumbled to Little My. "It's not a good thing to talk about here with all these people around." Little My didn't pry any further, because even she knew when to stop pestering.

There was a moment of silence between the group, before SnorkMaiden spoke up again, "Where are you going, Moomin?" She had noticed his backpack. Moomin finally looked at his friends again. He lowered his voice so only SnorkMaiden, Sniff, and Little My could hear him. "Papa and I are going to follow the blood back to where Snufkin came from. Papa thinks that if we see the scene of the crime, we'll be able to figure out what happened."

He knew he shouldn't have told them, but even if he didn't, he knew that they would follow him anyway. Little My crossed her arms, "Well I'm coming too!" Moomin shook his head, even though it really would do no good. "No, Little My. It could still be dangerous. Papa told me before we left, that whatever hurt Snufkin could still be out there." Sniff shivered in fear, "R-r-really?" He looked over his shoulder, "Y-you don't think it will come after anyone in Moomin Valley, do you?" Moomin frowned, "I don't know." Sniff shivered some more.

SnorkMaiden looked torn between fear and anger, "Well I for one don't want it hurting anyone else!" Little My uncrossed her arms and stomped her foot into the ground, "That's why I need to come along with you and Papa! If it really is a lion, then I could-" Moomin clenched his fists, "No!" It wasn't a lion. But he couldn't say that there was someone walking around with a knife and cutting people open. Not with all these people around. It would just cause mass hysteria. Moomin hoped Papa would pull the Inspector aside and tell him privately so that they could continue on with their investigation quickly. But Papa couldn't seem to get away from the crowd and their pushing questions. And Papa, being Papa, was doing his best to answer them all, while still sparing the townspeople from as many gruesome details as possible.

Moomin huffed in annoyance and was glad when Papa's eyes finally met his. They agreed silently that they needed to wrap this up and leave. So Papa did as Moomin hoped and pulled the Inspector aside and out of earshot of the crowd.

SnorkMaiden suddenly grabbed Moomin's arm, "I think I'm coming too." Moomin was genuinely surprised that SnorkMaiden wasn't rolling this over in her head a bit more, though he wasn't surprised that she decided to come anyway. Moomin shook his head, "No. None of you should come with us. It's not only dangerous, but it's going to be very scary- and not just because of what hurt Snufkin." He tried to be vague, hoping that the word 'scary' was enough to dissuade SnorkMaiden. He could see Sniff still shivering, and while he hated for his friends to be scared at least he knew Sniff wouldn't be accompanying them to such a horrible place. No, this was something he and Papa had to do alone. They had already seen the awful way Snufkin was left, and he didn't wish to scar his friends' memories with a crime scene.

But SnorkMaiden cared a lot, and not even fear could dissuade her when her loved ones were in peril. And though Snufkin was no longer at the mercy of his attacker, he was still hurt and unconscious back at home, and that was enough to fuel the Maiden's fire. "I-I don't care if it's scary, Moomin! I'm coming anyway! And there is nothing you can say to make me not go!" Little My jumped up and down, "Yeah, me too! You're gonna need my help if something scary does happen anyway!"

SnorkMaiden and Little My turned to look at Sniff. Moomin sighed. Sniff was hiding behind his tail. It was rather ineffective. He stared back at the three and gulped, "I-..." He didn't want to go. He really didn't. He hated being scared, and he hated being in danger. But he hated being left out of his friends' adventures even more, and he certainly hated his friends being hurt. "I-I'm coming too!" He declared. SnorkMaiden and Little My smiled at him encouragingly, even giving him a little cheer. Moomin did not. He didn't want them to come. And so he pulled away from SnorkMaiden's arm and almost shouted, "No! You're not coming with us!"

It was then that Papa had come over to retrieve Moomin. "Oh, hello you three." He greeted Moomin's friends once he saw them. "I do hope you understand that this isn't an adventure. Moomin and I are doing an important investigation, and it would not be beneficial for the three of you to see where we are going." Papa had apparently heard the tail end of the conversation and wished to dissolve it immediately. Little My disagreed, however. "We already know where you're going! And we've all decided that we're going too!" Papa put a hand on his hip and waved his other finger, "Now you listen here, Little My-" Little My interrupted, "Snufkin is our friend too!" SnorkMaiden chimed in, "Yes! And he needs all of us!" Sniff shakily nodded in follow.

Papa was very against this. But it seemed he wasn't going to convince them not to come, and it was apparent Moomin had already tried. So with a sigh of frustration, the group had expanded and they were continuing their journey.


MoominMama gently pulled the blanket down from Snufkin's chest. Her eyes watered as the bandages and stitches were revealed, but she was strong enough to hold back her tears. There was a particular wound she was most concerned about. She had been sewing some new clothes for the little vagabond when she had remembered a very disturbing wound she had found in the middle of his left ribcage.

Snufkin didn't move as Mama folded the blankets over his legs. His lack of movement was off-putting and seemed unnatural. Not that she expected him to get up and dance, or even that Snufkin was one to fiddle much. But this still body in her living room, that only showed life through ill breathing and frightening gasps for air was very unnerving.

Mama located the bandage that she had placed over the alarming wound. Slowly, she pulled the medical tape back and lifted the gauze underneath it. A circular hole rested above his heart. When Mama had first seen it, she had thought the worst. Along with all the other obvious knife wounds, she thought perhaps Snufkin had been stabbed and that there was nothing she could do. But when she had inspected it further, she realized that wasn't the case at all.

This wound was a perfect circle, darkened to a near black around the outer edge. Last night, it had been bubbling with blood as though it were hot enough to boil, but when Mama had touched the wound, it was just as cold and sticky as the rest of the vagabond's body. As Mama stared at the circular wound now, and the bubbling had since ceased, she squinted her eyes in hopes of figuring out what this was exactly. It wasn't deep enough to directly threaten Snufkin's heart, but certainly was odd and unlike any injury Mama had ever seen. Though... most of Snufkin's injuries were unlike anything Mama had ever seen, but that's only because there were so many and they were so deep.

Mama was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door. Who could that be? Moomin and Papa had only left a few hours ago, and surely they wouldn't be back already. But perhaps Snufkin had been attacked not too far from Moomin Valley. Mama got up, contemplating this. But why would they be knocking then? No, it had to be someone else.

He questions were answered, though they did give rise to more questions when she opened the door and was faced with several townspeople. "Oh my." She said simply. The Inspector stepped forward, "Hello, MoominMama." "Well, hello Inspector. What are you all doing here?" The Inspector was the only one stood on the porch, the townspeople stood a respectful distance off the porch as to not overwhelm Mama. But it was clear many of them were actively avoiding stepping in the blood that painted the Moomins' home. Mama frowned in worry.

"We're sorry to disturb you, MoominMama. But it's come to our attention that Snufkin is in your home, and he is very hurt. Would it be alright if we came in to check on him?" The question was presented very cautiously, as he was more than aware that this was overstepping boundaries. But everyone was very concerned, so much so that he feared there would not be peace in the Valley until the residents were assured that the town's beloved vagabond was okay.

Mama placed her hand close to her heart and peered over her shoulder at Snufkin who hadn't moved and looked much too bad for visitors. Sighing, she turned back to the Inspector, "I'm sorry, everyone. But I cannot allow that. Snufkin is just not ready for any company right now." She didn't want to explain and hoped that they wouldn't ask her to.

The Inspector seemed to understand, but the fear that laced the faces of her neighbors and town friends seemed to double as she spoke. She regretted having to make them feel so worried. But there was nothing she could do about that. There was a small silence before Mama spoke again, "...I would invite you all in for tea, but I'm afraid that I can't do that either. I'm sure Snufkin would appreciate you all coming to check on his well being though. Perhaps in a few days, he will be better and could accept visitors." She tried to smile to reassure everyone. It worked well enough, as the fear faded somewhat from the peoples' faces.

The Inspector nodded to her, "Thank you, MoominMama. Please let us know as soon as Snufkin is better. I don't think there will be much hibernating in MoominValley this year. Everyone is just so worried." There was a tone to his voice that informed Mama he wasn't done speaking with her but wished to speak in private. Mama nodded to acknowledge she understood.

After she said goodbye to everyone, she reluctantly turned back to face the Inspector, who shook his head in worry. Mama frowned, "What is it, Inspector? What is the matter?" The Inspector folded his arms, "MoominPapa told me that there appears to be a dangerous criminal on the loose. And this criminal is who hurt Snufkin. If you don't mind, I would like to see Snufkin myself to confirm that he was indeed intentionally harmed." Mama frowned even deeper, and slowly stepped aside so that the Inspector could enter the house.


Snufkin's campsite had been rather close. Very close in fact. Hastily set up, as though he had been retreating back to MoominValley. There was blood everywhere. Splattered against Snufkin's belongings, along the trees, and pools that smeared in various directions. It was obvious there had been a huge fight.

Snufkin's hat had been torn to pieces and the pieces were trapped under scattered remains of a fire. The charred wood was even soaked in blood, as though the fight had spilled into the fire pit.

The group stood frozen in place, no one moving a centimeter. This wasn't what they were expecting. Moomin and MoominPapa had informed SnorkMaiden, Little My, and Sniff about Snufkin's injuries in more detail once they had departed from the townspeople. And while they were all frightened by this, and even more worried for their traveling friend, none of them had expected this.

If someone had simply stumbled upon this campsite without knowing the context behind it- which the Moomins hardly knew either- they would perhaps think that they had just walked right into a horror story.

SnorkMaiden began to cry, shaking violently. Sniff was frozen in place, eyes wide like saucers. Little My stood next to Papa. Both of them gulped and slowly made their way further into the campsite. Moomin felt sick. He ran to a tree and vomited at its trunk. He wished he was back at home watching over Snufkin. No, he wished he was back at home, asleep and that none of this had ever happened. That Snufkin was safe and sound and in the South by now. Not... this.

Little My cautiously picked up a blood-soaked twig and tried to speak. Her voice caught in her throat and was barely recognizable, "I didn't know someone could have so much blood in their body." No one responded. No one could respond. Papa quietly examined the crime scene.

The group just stayed there for several minutes. It was several more minutes than any of them could bear, but they stayed. For Snufkin. Moomin and Little My had found some claw marks against a tree, that seemed to match the tears in Snufkin's tent.

Sniff had begun to cry, fearful of this knife-wielding, clawed killer. He was holding onto SnorkMaiden, who seemed grateful to hug someone.

Moomin gathered the pieces of Snufkin's hat and mumbled quietly to himself about how sad Snufkin would be to lose his precious hat. Snufkin didn't have many belongings that he treasured, but his hat was at the top of the list of the things that he would never discard without remorse. Moomin hoped Mama could repair it for him, though he assumed it would be an impossible task with how badly it was torn.

With all this new information, the group picked up the salvageable belongings they could find and made their way back to MoominValley. They all wanted to see Snufkin right away. They all wanted to make sure he was still alive. They all wanted to reassure themselves that their dear friend wasn't dead in the woods at that horrible campsite, even though they had just been there.

As they walked, Papa was piecing things together. Snufkin must have known he was being followed, and that is why he was retreating back to MoominValley. He knew something was after him. Perhaps he didn't know it would attack him. So when it did, it caught him off guard. He put up a fight for as long as he could, destroying his campsite as he struggled to stay alive. The group had climbed many blood stained hillsides. So it wasn't hard to guess that Snufkin had either fallen down them or was pushed. But why did the attacker leave him be once he reached MoominValley? Could Snufkin have injured them enough to make them stay away? Papa didn't think that was the case. Not after seeing the bloodbath that was the campsite.

MoominValley didn't have much crime within its borders. But Papa feared that would change soon.