Chapter 3: Missing

"Little one?"

After allowing a moment of pause, Crash pulled back his chair from the table he sat at, and rose to his feet. It was well past noon, and he had not seen any trace of his daughter today. But he couldn't blame her; it had took every ounce of his own strength to get off of the couch this morning, the makeshift bed he had found himself on after his own turmoil had left him weary. He stepped forward, and took a heavy breath as he made his way to the lone stairs in the hall. Trudging up them was a task on its own, for he had little energy left from his sleepless night, but as he came near the top, he halted.

What caught his eye almost brought begotten tears to them once more as he studied the happy family in the portrait. What happened? Before he could catch himself, he brought a finger to the glass, tracing the remnants of Eliza's face into his mind once more; then he suddenly snapped his hand back, somewhat shocked and appalled by his actions as he forced himself to the top of the staircase. He soon came to a stop before Riley's closed door, and he gently brought his knuckle against the hardwood frame in a knock, "Riley, are you still asleep?" Another silence fell through the home as he reached for the doorknob, and eased his way into the room with a falsely composed voice, "Little one, you have to get up. I know that this is-"

It's then that he froze, dead in his tracks as he studied the barren room before him. Terror overwhelmed him as his eyes fell upon the window thrown open, a bed sheet carelessly rustling through the autumn winds outside it. Seconds felt like hours as Crash bolted from the room, skidding through the small hallway and stumbling down the stairs. His hands fell upon the telephone that perched onto the wall, and after a few futile attempts, he finally punched in the correct combination of numbers to hear his sister's soft voice, "Hello?"

"Coco, get over here now."

Her voice grew into a panic as she stammered, "Crash? Crash, what's wrong?"

"Just- get over here now." Was his stern reply, his voice breaking into a trembling mess as the receiver shook violently in his hand, "I'll tell you when you get here."

A small silence fell between the two siblings, but Coco quickly broke it, "I'm on my way."

There was a nervous tension filling the air between the siblings as Crash watched his sister's face from the corner of his eye; the younger bandicoot knitted her brows in a mixture of confusion and frustration, turning over artifacts within her niece's room thoughtfully, "So, let me get this straight: Riley thought that, for some reason beyond you, the whole "split-up" was caused by her?" Coco waited for a confirming nod before crossing her arms, her gaze falling back to the open window, "I see."

"So, what do we do?" Came the anxious father's concurrent question-and-answer, his heels licking the floor in a quick pace, "Should we go out and search for- of course we should, but where would she be? How about-"

The peacekeeper within Coco came out, her hands finding their place upon Crash's shoulders to cease his frantic state as she murmured, "Chill out, big brother. We're going to find her."

But her words fell upon deaf ears as he stormed past her, down the staircase, and towards the door. She once more followed her brother, taking his arm within her grasp worriedly when he reached the front door; she wasn't given the chance to speak, for he took a heavy breath, "Sis, we've got to get to Riley before Cortex's goons do…"

"What do you mean?"

He turned, his stare blunt as he explained, "Cortex's not stupid, Coco. After Brio and half of his own squadron kicked him off that high-and-mighty pedestal he was perched on, he's had them in constant patrol of the forest so that any head-on attacks can be stopped in their tracks."

Gossipers and eye witnesses were frantic across the island, telling tales about how Cortex had once again betrayed his partner in crime, leaving him with no other alternative. Although, at another time, Crash applauded Brio's sudden growth of a backbone, the unstable civil war was the current cause of his boiling blood.

Needless for say, he knew it was lethal to be in the forest alone.

Knowing this only fueled his quickening speed as he darted through the door, Coco close behind.

The sun was hiding itself from Riley as it seemingly melted into the treetops, taking her only light source with it as it left. But she paid it no mind, her thoughts fixated on finding her mother instead.

She could see it all now; her mother would be waiting for her at the end of her journey, arms outstretched for both her and her dearest father. It would be much like the fairytale endings always read to her by the two when she was younger, a small grin gracing her lips, contradicting her tearful eyes at such a thought. And they all lived happily ever after...

But peace had found Riley in her thoughts, her outer shell temporarily forgotten as she walked on, the thin coat dragging behind her left in the dirt without thought.

"We'll live like the story books, daddy. You'll see."