Chapter 4
"He's right." said Fur Foot to the rest of the toadlets. "When Panther Cap comes back from making the path-find, we need to go over what we need to pack." Fur Foot had already explained Panther Cap's words to the rest of the toadlets, and Panther Cap was trying to map out that area of his so that they could get a head start.
"I can't believe this is really happening." said Puff Ball, almost depressingly. "Has everyone gone bonkers?"
"Yeah, I've been scared of moving, too." said Beauty Stem.
Elf Cup just looked at Fur Foot with wide eyes. "But, Fur Foot. We have no idea what's out there! We're safe here."
"But can we really be as safe when there's still a risk of falling into a crevasse?" said Fur Foot. "And one of the branches that held Puff Ball is gone. You heard it cracking, and it couldn't support a blade of grass! It's too torn up. And Oyster and Slippery Jack only saw those two branches, and we can't risk it. We need to leave. We were always scared that we wouldn't find anywhere safer, but we can. If that's what we feel like, it's nature. I'll bet our mom and dad are waiting for us to find a place to stay."
"Why Mom and Dad?" asked Elf Cup.
"Think about it." Fur Foot took it slowly. "I know Dad better than any of us. He wouldn't abandon us unless there was a good reason. I think that reason was nature. When we got out of the pond, there was no one else. I don't like that we don't see our parents anymore, either. But what if they were supposed to? What if we're supposed to find another place to stay? We can't ignore it. If we don't act, this feeling may annoy us for the rest of our lives. I doubt the feeling is coincidence."
"It's not." Panther Cap walked up to the group. "The voice is getting louder. It told me that we have to moved to the Jewel Haven."
"What?"
"Jewel Haven. Those two words just keep ringing in my head."
"Well, where is it?' said Puff Ball.
"I don't know. But I think going to the tree might tell us something." Panther Cap looked at the group, and they all looked very nervous, sad even. All of them had no idea what the future held, and they were about to leave their own life.
"Hey," said Panther Cap with a smile. "Hey, I know things are taking a complete turn. But all of the hard work we put into Goop Haven told us one thing: we must be prepared for anything.
"We've been living in the haven for a couple weeks after we made it our home, and we spent a week preparing it some time after coming out of the deep wet. The best moments of our week making Goop Haven what it was, a nice comfy home, were learning how to do something new. But we've started doing the same thing over again because that's what worked. But this feeling we get is telling us to go to a new place, to have a new and happy life."
The children were amazed. Panther Cap had given a lot of thought into this from the moment he went into the forest and heard the voice. And that though process made a grand speech of the future and the power to overcome the risks so that a wonderful life for all of them could be made.
"You know," said Puff Ball. "Moving doesn't sound so bad when you put it that way."
"It's scary," said Shaggy Mane. "But I think if it's natural, then maybe we can survive."
"I'm still against it..." said Slippery. "But I think I'm outvoted."
Oyster glared at Slippery Jack cheerfully. "Oh, come on, Slippery Jack!" said Oyster. "It'll be a chance for real happiness! We can probably find the other toads! I don't know about you, but I'm tired of wondering where they all went after leaving the deep wet."
"You're really amazing!" Beauty Stem said to Panther Cap as she gave him a kiss.
"I guess it's settled." said Fur Foot. "We pack up some extra food for the road, and set out through the area Panther Cap drew. We'll find out where the voice is coming from."
Shaggy Mane looked confused. "So... do we all believe he heard something now?"
"I don't know." said Fur Foot. "But it's possible someone was warning him about this."
"But Panther Cap said he didn't know what he looked like." said Elf Cup. "He didn't even know what the guy looked like, so how do we know it wasn't a monster hiding trying to eat him."
"It can't be a monster." said Panther Cap. "The voice was coming from very far away, and it was like a whisper. It was in my head, but it felt like the voice was being pulled to the tree."
Every toadlet looked at Panther with one single thought playing back and forth in their heads: huh?
"What do you-"
"It's like a stranger in the sky. Not the wind."
"Panther Cap, it's gotta be the tickling feeling." said Puff Ball, referencing the tingling feeling Panther Cap mentioned. "Musta' worked its way into your head."
"Feeling or not," said Fur Foot. "That feeling's what's going to get us on our feet and to other toadlets. We have always wanted to find the others, but I think we've just been waiting for them to find us. But if we all feel we need to move, we should do that."
"I don't know." said Puff Ball. "I wouldn't go chasing something in my head. I'd just try to get it out."
"And how would you do that?" said Elf Cup.
"I don't know, uuuh... hit it hard enough?"
"Can we focus?" said Fur Foot. "Look, our main concern now is finding the other toads. And the tree's as good a place to start as any. Let's go to the tree. Is everyone gonna be ready by tonight? We'll get a start when it's bright outside."
"How bright?" asked Oyster.
"When the... uh..." Fur Foot couldn't form the words, because he did not know what the giant blue thing above them, and the shining yellow thing in it were.
"When the yellow ball shines on the big blue?" said Shaggy Mane.
"Yeah, that. Thanks Shaggy." said Fur Foot. "OK, like I said. We take some food, and Shaggy's coil. We only take with us Panther Cap's path-find since we won't be needing the rest. We've only drawn the area around us, and we're going into unexplored territory, which leads me to my next point.
"We must always pay attention to the world around. We trust each other, and we stay organized. When the, yellow ball comes up, we leave. When the big blue turns black, we stay in a haven, so we need to find one when the big blue is orange. That's all." So, the plan was simple. Spend the night packing food and provisions, set out in the morning, and find a place to stay at sunset. "Anyone who wants to say goodbye to the haven, we'll do that at the morning."
None of the toadlets were ready to leave the haven. Even though they only spent a couple of weeks in it, they were connected to it. It was a home they spent some time to make, and they had quickly grown fond of it. But they needed to leave Goop Haven.
"Well," continued Fur Foot. "That's that. We'll leave tomorrow."
