Amber's Point of View
Amber smiled as she followed the other witches through the corn maze. Huge stalks of corn rose into the air on either side, too tall to see over. The night had been a huge success. Her arms were even starting to hurt from carrying the heavy bags of treats. She'd gotten a dazzling costume, her very own wand, and a painting of a unicorn on her left cheek. Sofin had been right: trick-or-treating was fun! He had helped her all night: first with talking to Lucinda, then with getting treats, and then with making her wand.
"Thanks for bringing me out here, Sofin," she said. "I'm glad you helped me through my fear." But turning to look down, she didn't see a purple cat beside her feet. And looking around, her brother was nowhere to be seen. "Sofin?" called out Amber again, with a tinge of worry. Where was he? "Jade, Ruby, Lucinda, do any of you see Sofin?"
The other witches stopped too, turning each way to scour the field for Sofin. But nobody could see the purple cat anywhere.
"Everyone be quiet!" commanded Ruby. "Maybe we can hear his meows." Amber tried her best to make no noise. But even in the silence of the corn field, she couldn't hear anything but her own panicked heartbeat.
"Where did he go?" cried Amber. Had he gotten lost in the huge cornfield? Oh, why hadn't she noticed? He could be anywhere by now! "Let's search where we came from," she called, and dashed in the direction they had come, hair flying out behind her. Her shoes were kicking up dust and dirt behind her, but that didn't matter compared to finding Sofin. She could hear the thundering footsteps of the other girls following behind. Her eyes tracked the ground, searching for any sign of the purple cat.
But before long, Amber reached a split in the maze. Which way had they come from, again? The left? Maybe the right? Or had they gone straight forward? Amber couldn't remember. Staring at the tall stalks of the corn maze, Amber could start to feel panic set in. What if they never found him? What would happen then? Amber wasn't ready to lose her youngest brother forever.
Ruby and Jade arrived behind her, panting, and then Lucinda came to the fork, also breathing heavily. With a start, Amber realized she was out of breath as well. She hadn't even noticed. "Does anyone know which way we came from?" asked Amber between heavy breaths. Everyone shook their heads. Amber wanted to scream in frustration. Why had she sung that silly song again? She should have paid attention to where they were going.
Lucinda crossed her arms and looked away. "I don't get what the big deal is," said the witch. "Sofin's lost in this maze, just like us. He's smart. He'll find his way out, just like we will."
Ruby took a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were hard as steel. "The big deal," she said, "is that Sofin is a cat." Amber was surprised by the venom in her voice. Ruby continued. "He can't see as high as we do, and he can't ask someone for help. And more than that, he's totally alone, lost, and it's late at night. Who knows what could happen to him? It's dangerous to be alone at night."
Jade moved to stand by her old friend. Both of them glared daggers at Lucinda. "And he's been a cat all night because of you, Lucinda," accused Jade. "He hasn't gotten a chance to do any of the fun things we did tonight. I didn't know that being a witch's familiar meant you couldn't do anything at all." She put one of her arms around Ruby. "Ruby and I thought that this year would be like the last ones, where Sofin and us could have fun together, just with more people. But instead, it's like everyone but Sofin had fun."
The pair turned away, towards the exits. "We're going to find Sofin. He's got to be down one of these paths. Bye, Lucinda," spat Ruby. And then Ruby and Jade walked together down the left fork, disappearing from Amber's view.
"W—Wait!" yelled Lucinda. "You'll just get yourselves lost, too!" But neither Jade nor Ruby turned back. Lucinda collapsed onto the ground, her knees hitting the dirt path. Her wand tumbled out of her hand, and the witch made no attempt to grasp for it. Peering down, Amber could start to see tears forming in the corners of Lucinda's eyes. With some mild discomfort, Amber knelt on the ground to look the witch in the eyes.
Lucinda's gaze met hers. "What is this feeling?" questioned the witch quietly. "It's like a pit, sitting in my stomach. And it hurts—a lot. It feels like I can't focus on anything else. I've never felt this before."
Amber sighed. She knew the feeling very well. After all, she'd been feeling it all day. "That feeling is guilt, Lucinda," said Amber. "It's the feeling when you do something bad, and you end up hurting someone else."
Lucinda's eyes fell to the floor. "I don't like feeling guilt," she whispered. The tears dripped from eyes and down her face.
"Neither do I," whispered Amber. They were both silent for a moment.
"I just wanted to make your first ever trick-or-treating night extra special," said Lucinda. She sniffled.
"And you did!" responded Amber. "Scaring people, face-painting, even singing that silly song. I loved all of it. You really did make my Halloween perfect. But when you did, you forgot about someone else." Amber sighed. "And I forgot about someone, too."
Lucinda's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No you didn't, Amber! You helped carry Sofin's bag of treats all night!"
Amber looked to the ground. "I know, but I should have realized Sofin wasn't having fun like the rest of us." She looked at her wand, still marked with cat scratches where Sofin had clawed off the extra twigs. "I just wish I had a chance to thank him one last time…"
Lucinda wiped her face and rose to her feet. "Then maybe you'll get one," she said, her voice full of determination. The witch pulled Amber to her own feet. "Come on. We're going to find Sofin."
Amber stood up shakily. "How?" she asked. "We'll just get lost too."
Lucinda smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Not if you're a witch," she said. She grabbed her wand from the floor. "Scopae venio!" cast the witch. She looked up towards the sky, searching for something.
Amber looked at her oddly. "I thought witch spells didn't use words. What does that one do?" she asked.
"This one's special," responded Lucinda. Her eyes continued scanning the sky. Amber followed her gaze. Within just a few moments, Amber saw it: a flying witch's broom in the sky whizzing towards them, visible under the faint moonlight. Lucinda smirked. "And it gives us a ride."
Sofin's Point of View
Sofin was starting to get dizzy. The little girl hadn't loosened her grip at all, and she was running through the twists and turns of the maze as if she would never stop. Sofin didn't even think she had any idea what she was doing. She made another rapid turn to the right, and Sofin closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sense of vertigo. But when he closed his eyes, he realized he could smell, and hear, so much more than he ever could as a human. Right. Cat senses. But the only sounds he could hear were the thundering footsteps of the little girl and the crackling of broken leaves beneath her feet. And all he could smell was the crisp autumn air and—
Wait.
Was that the smell of acorns?
Sofin sniffed the air again. He was definitely right: he could smell the earthy scent of acorns in the air. He opened his eyes and tried his best to pinpoint the scent. There. Right behind one of the walls of corn stalks. Sofin couldn't see anything, but he was totally sure there was a big pile of acorns right behind that wall.
Sofin didn't know why he could smell acorns in the middle of the corn maze. But there was one woodland critter he knew who was definitely somewhere in town and loved acorns more than anything else.
At the top of his tiny cat lungs, Sofin yowled, "Whatnaught?"
There was a moment of silence. Then a familiar squirrel face poked out, between the stalks of corn. Whatnaught was still dressed as a vampire, with his fangs and black costume and all. Sofin felt his heart thump with relief.
"Whatnaught! Over here!" called Sofin. He watched the squirrel's eyes track up towards the cat. "It's me! Sofin! Look at my amulet!" The purple jewel jangled as it bounced around.
Whatnaught saw the amulet, and he immediately chittered in shock, jumping into the air.
"Help!" called Sofin. The little girl had already started to turn and run in a different direction. Whatnaught jumped into action. He squeezed himself out of the wall of corn, and charged the tiny girl, chittering madly.
The girl noticed the tiny squirrel racing at her and shrieked. She let go of Sofin, who dropped and landed on the dirt path. "Vampire squirrel!" screamed the girl in fear, and she started sprinting away from Whatnaught, as fast as she could. Whatnaught didn't chase her; instead, he rushed over to Sofin, still chittering as he looked the prince over.
Sofin took a few deep breaths. "I'm okay," said the cat, to reassure Whatnaught. "Lucinda turned me into a cat for Halloween, but I got separated from them and then got kidnapped." He took another deep breath. "Thanks for saving me," said Sofin.
Whatnaught chittered proudly, then turned and scurried back towards the scent of acorns. He squeezed through the stalks of corn where he had come from. Curious, Sofin followed behind him. The cat followed behind, squeezing through the corn and pulling himself out the other side. His eyes went wide. He was in a clearing, with only one open entrance. And right in the center of the clearing was the biggest pile of acorns he had ever seen. It would have been taller than him even if he were a human. With a mighty leap, Whatnaught jumped and landed on the top of the pile, scattering acorns to either side. He lounged on the throne of acorns, grabbing one from the top and nibbling on it.
"Is this where you store all your acorns?" asked Sofin, still shocked by the size of the pile. From atop the throne, Whatnaught shook his head.
"You just got these tonight?"
Whatnaught nodded his head.
"There was an acorn hunt?"
Whatnaught nodded his head.
"And you won?"
Whatnaught nodded his head.
"And that's why you wanted to come here?"
Whatnaught nodded his head.
Sofin could barely believe it. "Congratulations, Whatnaught!" he exclaimed. "But how are we gonna take all this back home?"
Whatnaught screeched and jumped to his feet in alarm. It seemed like he hadn't thought of that earlier.
Sofin giggled. "We can worry about that later, Whatnaught," he said. "Just enjoy yourself for now." The squirrel chittered and flipped onto its back, relaxing on the bed of acorns. He seemed really happy and excited. Sofin sighed. He wished his friends could see him, too.
"Sofin!" called two voices at once. He turned to the entrance to the clearing to see Jade and Ruby, running towards him. Both of them were clearly out of breath.
"Thank goodness we found you," said Jade. "We were so scared when you went missing. But we went to search for you, and then we heard meowing from over here."
Ruby nodded. "At least you're safe." Sofin decided not to mention what had happened. "We're sorry for ignoring you all night," she continued. "We were just having so much fun, we didn't think about how you weren't having fun, too."
Sofin smiled. "It's okay, Ruby, Jade." He wouldn't let one bad Halloween spoil all the good times they had had together. "I forgive you. Where are Amber and Lucinda?"
Ruby shook her head. "We still don't know what you're saying, Sofin," said the girl, still wearing her witch outfit.
Sofin sighed. Even though it was cool to have super-scent and super-hearing, he was starting to get real tired of being a cat.
"Hey, what's that?" said Jade, pointing to the sky. Sofin followed her finger, and in the starry sky he could just make out the outline of two girls, riding a broom through the sky. Sofin's heart leaped. It was Amber and Lucinda!
The rider in the front, Lucinda, steered the broom down towards the clearing of acorns, and brought the broom to a stop. She jumped off the broom excitedly, and Amber stepped off, wobbling a bit on the ground.
"Sofin!" said Amber, excited. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She rushed up to her brother and scooped him up into her arms, holding her tight. "I was so worried about you. I'm really sorry." Were those dried tears on her cheeks?
Lucinda stepped forwards towards the pair. "Sofin, I just want to say I'm really sorry about today. I was so focused on making Amber's first time trick-or-treating as special as I could, that I forgot about making sure all my friends were having fun. But I'm here to make it up to you. Amber, could you put Sofin on the ground?"
Amber smiled. "Of course, Lucinda," she said. She placed the cat on the ground.
Lucinda twirled her wand, then pointed it at Sofin. "Unhex!" she cast forcefully. A spell shot out of her wand and swirled around Sofin, covering him with white light. Sofin could feel his arms and legs lengthening, and when the light finally cleared, he was a human again. He still wore his purple cat costume, with cat ears and a tail.
"I can talk again!" said Sofin, excitedly. His friends around him cheered. "Thank you Lucinda. And it's okay. I forgive you." He pulled the witch into a hug, lasting for several seconds.
Eventually, Lucinda pulled away, wearing a teary smile. "I guess I've still got a lot to learn about friendship, huh?" she said.
Sofin nodded. "Being a good friend isn't always easy," he said. "But it's always worth it."
Jade and Ruby walked up to Lucinda. "I'm sorry too, Lucinda," said Ruby. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It was all our fault for not including Sofin."
Jade nodded. "Me too. It might have been your magic which turned Sofin into a cat, but we all should have tried to include him more. I'm sorry too."
Lucinda smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said.
Amber spoke up. "I hate to interrupt the emotional reunion," she said, "but can someone explain to me why that vampire squirrel from earlier is sitting on a pile of acorns taller than I am?" She pointed to the center of the clearing.
Sofin laughed. "Whatnaught won an acorn hunt, and this is his prize. I just wish we had some way of getting it to the castle."
Amber still looked like she couldn't believe her eyes. "Your pet squirrel won a huge prize of acorns?" She stared at the pile incredulously.
"Well, he's not really my pet, he's just my friend," said Sofin.
"Okay, your friend squirrel won a huge prize of acorns," Amber corrected.
Sofin nodded. "Yep!"
Amber gave a long-suffering sigh. "Sure. Why not? I'll get Baileywick to deliver it to the castle later. But for now, I want to make it up to you."
Lucinda nodded. "We all do." She looked up at the sky, where the moon was rising, but hadn't reached the top of the sky yet. "We still have time in the night. How about we redo this night, but instead of being a familiar, you get to be a witch?"
"Really?" said Sofin. "But I thought only girls could be witches."
Lucinda shook her head. "Not if it means you get left out. Now, come on! We've got trick-or-treating to do!"
Sofin's face broke out into a grin. He could still have a great Halloween night, with all his friends. And plus, it seemed like Amber was already enjoying herself. He could go trick-or-treating, and make a wand, and get his face painted! His tail flicked in excitement.
Wait.
He turned, and tried moving the plastic tail of the costume. It moved. It was still a very real tail.
Lucinda burst out into laughter, and seeing her, Sofin and the other witches joined in. "I am the Trickster Witch after all," laughed Lucinda. "Gotcha!"
"Nice one, Lucinda!" said Jade.
Lucinda smiled, then pointed her wand at Sofin. "Unhex!" she cast, and Sofin's tail flopped down again. It was plastic. Thank goodness for that.
"But," continued Lucinda, "You do need a proper witch's costume if you want to be a part of our coven. "Hex!" she said, and this time Sofin felt his cat costume transform into a pretty purple dress, just like Lucinda's. But unlike Lucinda's, the front of his outfit was covered with dark purple gems, the same shade as the amulet hanging around his neck. And the sleeves of the dress were a light blue, as were the fingerless gloves around his hands. They complimented his light blue eyes very well. The look was completed by a light purple hat, hanging low on his head. Sofin loved the outfit. It just felt right to wear. And he did look very pretty.
Sofin faced the other witches. "I'm Sofin, the Friendship Witch!" he announced. Everybody cheered, even Whatnaught from atop the pile of acorns.
Eventually, the group of friends found their way out of the corn maze that night. They got more treats, and Sofin could actually hold his own bag, much to Amber's relief. Sofin fashioned his own wand to match all his friends' wands. He got a little painting of a cat on his right cheek. And before they knew it, Lucinda had reversed the transformations and it was time for Sofin and Amber to leave.
"Thanks, Sofin," said Amber, as the two of them sat in the carriage. Whatnaught, who had fallen asleep, was lying on Sofin's lap. "I'm so glad we got to spend this night together."
Sofin smiled. "Me too, Amber. We should do fun stuff together more often. And maybe you should try things out with James, too."
Amber seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe I will," she eventually responded.
Sofin pumped a fist in the air. Success!
But it seemed Amber wasn't done talking. "Sofin," she said, "you seemed to really like that witch's outfit that Lucinda made for you. And I've just realized that the swan costume you made for the All Hallow's Eve costume party was a dress, too, not a suit. Do you know what this means, Sofin?"
Sofin's heart stopped. She had realized. He liked girl's clothes more than boy's clothes. That was really weird, wasn't it? How would she respond? What would she think of him? Would she still want to be his friend?
"It means you can help me test outfits I want to wear!" exclaimed Amber. "James never wants to do it. And I can't see a dress from all angles if I'm wearing it. So you can help me by wearing an outfit and I can see how it looks!"
Sofin breathed a sigh of relief. Of course. Amber wouldn't mind if it helped her out. And… testing outfits with his sister did sound pretty fun. "I would love to, Amber!" he responded.
"Great!" replied the princess. "I've got a whole line of dresses I just need to see from the back!"
Sofin laughed. "Oh, Amber."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! The next chapter, The Hidden Kingdom, is a special episode, meaning it'll be about double the length of the episodes so far. Enjoy!