HTF Origins: Flaky

Written by Flaky Ciel

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"A girl who's innocence is lost, and who's mind is sent on a spiral of grief and paranoia."

"Ready for bed, sweetie?" Ruby's mom asked, walking into her bedroom. Ruby looked up from her coloring and smiled back at her.

"Uhuh!" She said, happily. The 12-year-old porcupine girl climbed into bed. Her mother crouched down next to her, kissing her on the forehead and covering her daughter with her blanket. Ruby grabbed her teddy bear, hugging it to her. "Good night, Mommy." She said, sweetly.

The woman smiled, "Good night, sweetie. Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Uhuh…" Ruby responded, uncertainly. She looked around her room, which was almost empty, since most of her things had already been packed into boxes. "How come we have to move, Mommy..?" She asked.

She stroked her daughter's head, comfortingly. "Well, your Daddy and I think it'd be a nice change. After Daddy lost his job, we needed to find a new place to live. Besides, don't you think it'd be nice moving to a little, quiet place like Happy Tree Town?" Ruby nodded, since she liked the name. "Daddy even got online and we've bought a little house there already. It's little, but we're a little family, right?"

She smiled, "Right!" Ruby's mom chuckled a little. She didn't like the thought of moving, thanks to a deficit of money, but she didn't like the city they lived in anyway. Ruby was a little scared, though. Starting a new school seemed frightening. "I'm just a little scared…" She whined.

"Shh…" Her mom cooed, giving her a big hug. "Everything's going to be okay, Ruby. I promise." Ruby hugged her back, being rocked slightly.

"Okay…" She said, mostly calmed. Her mother had a way of always calming her down, and making everything seem safe and better. She smiled, knowing nothing bad was going to happen as long as they were there.

Ruby always came off as a bid of a dependant child, since even as she matured she always ran to her parents for comfort and safety, which she had a very high need for. They didn't mind, though, and were always more than happy to lend their daughter a hug and a kiss to calm her down and ease her worries. After all, they all loved each other very much, and the three of them were as close as a family could be.

They weren't always so close. In fact, the person she called "daddy" wasn't her true father at all. Her real father, the one she grew up with for six years, was scary and abusive towards everyone around him, even his daughter. But seeing the devastating effects it was having on their child, Ruby's mother moved them away from there, finding a much kinder man to settle down with. And Ruby was very happy after that.

Her mom kissed her head again, "Good night, Ruby. Get some sleep, sweetie."

"Good night, Mommy…" She said, snuggling under her covers, drifting off to sleep.

The next morning her dad woke her up, "Time to get up, honey. We start our move today." She sat up and rubbed her eyes, still sleepy.

"Okay, Daddy…" She said, stumbling out of bed. He laughed a little at her.

"Why don't you get your mom to help you get ready while I run out and grab some breakfast?" He asked. She nodded, and he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek before going downstairs. She ran into her mom in the bathroom. Ruby's mother helped her comb and brush through the dense thicket of red quills on her head and back, just like the ones on her mom.

Ruby just closed her eyes, sleepily, and let her mother comb through her hair. Her mom smiled, combing through her daughter's softened quills. Porcupines usually needed help in order to take proper care of their quills, but thankfully for them they all had help grooming each other. Her mom told her that the reason she was named "Ruby" was because of the color of her quills, so she and her mother were always diligent about keeping them soft and clean.

"There you go, sweetie." Her mom said, putting down the brush. She smiled and they both went into her room, packing everything that she really needed, and that would fit in the car. Her dad would have to come back for the rest another time, with a truck. They argued a bit, jokingly, on what Ruby "needed", but decided on some clothes, her teddy bear, and her coloring supplies.

When the man of the house got back with the van, he helped them load their things into the van. "We've already got a bit of a late start…" He said, "We'll have to hurry up if we're going to make it there before night, so let's go ahead and eat in the car." When they all loaded up, Ruby gave one last sad look at her house, before saying goodbye to it forever. Her mom started passing out the fast-food that her dad had picked up, noticing that he had neglected to get some for himself. "I'm the one driving. I'll be okay." He explained.

Ruby quietly ate her food in the back seat. "I miss our house already…" She said, sadly. Her mom patted her on the leg from the front seat.

"It'll be okay, sweetie." She said.

"Yeah, we'll have each other to make up for it." Her father added. She nodded, cheered up by the idea. She stared out the window as they left her hometown, once again a little saddened by the prospect of leaving it. A few silent hours passed, all of them a little down from the experience.

Ruby got out her coloring books and bear, trying to pass the long drive away. They all shared some conversation, breaking up the uncomfortable silence, talking about their new home and how they'll go about it. Such as how her dad was going to get a nice job to help finish paying for the house. Unfortunately, they also had a blowout, making them waste precious time changing tires. When it started getting dark, Ruby's mother changed to the backseat, so that her daughter could lean against her and get some sleep. She felt her mom's arm around her, protecting her from everything that was around her, and she fell right to sleep.

Suddenly, the whole van jolted, violently waking Ruby up. She screamed and held onto her mom, but everything was alright. Her dad got out, going right to the back door to check on the two most important things to him. They all got out, hugging. "Are you two okay!?" He asked, frantic. They both just nodded in response. They were in a desolate intersection, and their van's front end had gotten side-swiped by a passing car. Her dad hugged them both, thankfully.

They looked back at their van, whose front end was totaled. The other car took off, much to her father's dismay, but he was just thankful everyone was okay. He sighed, knowing how close they were to their destination. Just a few miles, he thought. And both Ruby's parent knew that they didn't have the kind of money needed to get this fixed, or even towed for that matter. But she was happy, having her parents there for her.

But they all shivered and almost froze as the sound of screeching wheels came a second time. Ruby just froze, not knowing what was going on. She buried herself in her mother's hug, but almost screamed as she was wrenched away from her and thrown downwards, onto the cold, hard pavement. She just closed her eyes, and the moment she hit the ground the sound of a loud crash roared out.

When she opened her eyes, she was staring up at the undercarriage of another car. She groaned, feeling the scrapes on her elbows, and forced herself to crawl out of from underneath the wreck. She hugged her teddy bear to her, looking out down the dark street. She turned around, looking for her mom and dad, and, sadly, found them. They hadn't avoided the collision like she had, and were pinned between the front end of the car and their van.

Ruby's eyes flooded with tears, rushing to her parents' sides. "Mommy! Daddy!" She bawled, horrified. They both weakly opened their eyes, in order to look down at their little girl. Ruby looked down at their feet, around which a large pool of blood was accumulating. She ran up to the car, in a vain attempt to move it and free her parents. She looked up at the driver, who's body was merely slumped over the steering wheel. She started crying harder, and then her mother grabbed her hand, tenderly. Ruby looked up at her, sadly, "P-please don't l-leave me, Mommy…" She whimpered.

"Everything's going… to be okay, R-Ruby…" Her mom said, crying. Her dad wasn't able to speak, but he looked at her in an attempt to agree. "Everything's… going to be okay…" Ruby lingered, bawling her eyes out as her parents both passed away, quietly.

"Mommy..?" She asked, woefully. "Mommy, wake up… Y-you can't leave me…" She kept trying to rouse her mother for several minutes, until finally realizing that she could never wake up again. Ruby squeezed her bear, not knowing what to do. She bawled for a long time, an hour maybe, and turned completely around, running from the scene as fast as her little legs could carry her.

She kept running, knowing that her mother was wrong. Everything wasn't going to be okay. She kept running and running, until she just couldn't run anymore. She dragged herself onward for a few more minutes, before collapsing. She curled up underneath a sign reading "Happy Tree Town", shivering, and finally conked out.

When she woke up she kept walking again, sniffling and dragging her bear behind her. Before long she could see the town, and the area surrounding it. Her eyes sparkled with the sight, which to her was beautiful. This was the place her parents had died trying to get to. Her excitement turned directly into to sorrow, as she realized that she was alone. She held in tears, unsuccessfully, knowing that she didn't have anyplace to go at all.

She whimpered, walking into the worse part of the surprisingly large town. She didn't have any place to run to, so she decided to just find the nearest hospitable place she could find. She spotted an old mattress in an alleyway, and she walked over to it and collapsed. She curled up, hugging herself, not knowing what to do. "What do you think you're doing!?" Cried a voice from her side. The owner of the mattress ran at her, making her flee as fast as she could away.

As she ran through the alley, suddenly the back door to a building swung open, slamming her into the wall behind it. She felt a few of her teeth get knocked loose and started crying, even after the door had closed. She looked down, feeling a sharp pain in he chest. Ruby's face when as white as a sheet when she realized that a loose, rusty pipe was lodged through her ribs. She screamed and flailed, pinned to the wall. Blood gushed out of her open wound, and she started losing strength quickly. Her eyes closed, and she thought, "…M-maybe I can see Mommy and Daddy in heaven…" Before she finally passed away.

Suddenly she became aware of a searing pain throughout her entire body, like the pipe in her chest was heating up and expanding. It went on for several moments, Ruby wondering if she had somehow gone to hell. She woke up, bawling and sweating. She was in the hospital, in a darker room by herself. She whined and cried, trying to hide herself under her covers. A doctor walked in, surprised to see her. "Wh-what happened!?" She cried.

"Oh, you must've died." He said.

"D-died!?" She asked, flabbergasted.

"Welcome to Happy Tree Forest." He said, calmly. She looked at him, not understanding. He sat at the edge of her bed, and began to explain everything. How when someone died, they came back in the hospital she was lying in, how many people stopped aging at random points (usually upon arrival), and how no one knew who built the city originally, or why it was cursed so.

Ruby started crying again, knowing that somehow this was real. She realized her parents wouldn't come back, since they never made it. She bawled and bawled, finally getting enough willpower to get up and leave the hospital. She kept crying, knowing she'd be lonely and keep dying, maybe even forever. And worst of all, no one was there to hold her, or tell her it was going to be okay.

Ruby went back to the alley she had died in, not at all surprised to see her own blood splatter on the wall. She picked up her teddy bear, using it to dry her tears. She weakly stumbled into another alley, aimlessly. She looked up, hearing a crack of thunder, and a downpour started, as if to punctuate the sheer hopelessness. She just sat down, hopeless and lonely. She heard a door open and turned to look, as a wooden crate was thrown into the alley. She sniffled and walked over to it, as to examine it.

It was surprisingly water tight, and when she found a few blankets and an old, worn out pillow, she made herself a bed inside it. "Welcome home…" She cried, hugging her bear, wet, cold, and alone. Her new home stood up fairly well to the elements, but the scraps of food she scavenged couldn't really hold her over very well. Worst of all, something was out to kill her every time she rounded a corner. Even inanimate objects seemed out to get her.

Weeks passed and her paranoia, desperation, and loneliness grew rapidly. As if to add insult, her quills started becoming stiff, and accumulating large flakes of dandruff from not being taken care of. Nothing in the whole world seemed safe. Her phobias skyrocketed thanks to numerous deaths and injuries, and they soon turned into a general fear of everything. Even if it hadn't hurt her yet, she became afraid of things merely be thinking of how they could, even ridiculous things. She was even afraid to sleep for too long, or else she might be mauled by some wild animal or raped by a passing thug, both of which happened to her several times. Someone even took off with her crate one day.

Life seemed at its absolute worst, a living hell for the poor girl. She just sat for several days, shivering. She sat in an alley, where people occasionally passed her a coin or two. Her self-esteem took a blow too, since she somehow thought that it might have been her fault this was happening. She just hid with her blanket wrapped around her, all hope lost. She knew no one would help her, ever. She looked up, however, when a yellow rabbit, ironically wearing bunny slippers, appeared, looming over her. She just stared at him, her eyes huge with sorrow and despair.

"You okay..?" He asked, showing her the first shreds of sympathy she'd encountered thus far. She just stared at him a moment before shaking her head "no."

"I'm scared…" She whimpered, tearing up. The rabbit put his arm around her, trying to comfort the obviously distraught porcupine.

"I'm sorry…" He said, pulling away and beginning to pull a few quills out of his arm. "My name's Cuddles. What's your name? Flaky?" Ruby looked at him, confused. She didn't quite understand.

"Flaky?" She asked, quietly. Cuddles laughed a little and pulled one of the large flakes of dandruff off of her head. She looked away, embarrassed. "Oh…" He looked at her, as if to apologize. "C'mon, Flaky. Let's see if we can't find you a place to live." He said, taking her by her hand and almost dragging her away. She clutched her blanket and teddy, scared, but extremely relieved to have someone try and help her. "My friend, Lumpy, is a realtor. Well, for NOW anyway. He might be able to hook you up, Flaky!"

"O-okay…" She said, hesitantly. She wasn't sure what to say about what she was being called, but she just let it go, not wanting to make waves. Cuddles continued to lead her until they were inside a building, walking up to the desk occupied by a large blue moose.

"Hey there, Cuddles!" He said, happily. Cuddles walked them both right up to the desk.

"Hey there, Lumpy!" He returned. "This is my new friend, Flaky!"

"Hey there, Flaky!" Lumpy said, just as happy. She smiled, nervously, and waved back. She figured she might as well go with her new name, since Cuddles insisted. Besides, her "ruby hair" wasn't in great shape anymore. "So how can I help you, sir?" He asked.

"A-actually… I'm a g-girl…" She said, sheepishly.

"Oh, sorry." Lumpy laughed. "Can I help you the same?"

"She needs a place to live!" Cuddles butted in.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Lumpy asked. Flaky raised a hand to speak but they both cut her off. "Well let's see… What price range are you looking for?"

"A-actually, my… my p-parents already bought a house h-here… Only they're g-g-gone…" She said, already starting to cry again.

"Funny, most people move into a house after they buy one…" Lumpy said, obviously not catching on. He looked at Cuddles, who made a choking gesture out of Flaky's sight. "Oh… I get it… I'm so sorry, Flaky." He corrected, genuinely moved.

Flaky sniffled, happy to have someone to care about her. "Why don't we get you moved in then?" Cuddles asked, Lumpy nodding in agreement. "It'd sure beat living on the street! I could get all my friends to come over and help get you furniture and stuff!"

"R-really?" Flaky asked, touched. Cuddles nodded, and ran off with Lumpy, carrying Flaky in tow. It was only moments later that Cuddles had rounded his closest friends: Giggles, Toothy, Petunia, Handy, and Sniffles, and introduced them. It was only moments more that they were all helping Flaky move into her new home. It wasn't smooth sailing, as Toothy, Sniffles, and Petunia all lost their lives by the day's end.

But the remaining friends all welcomed their new neighbor. Flaky, genuinely touched, was more than happy to have these new friends. "Maybe…" She thought to herself, aloud, "Th-this place isn't s-so bad…" She happily moved into her new house, the one her parents had bought for her, and wondered why anyone would ever move there. She also picked up the others' habit of taking odd jobs, and every week she worked, she got a mysterious check in the mail. She wasn't quite ready to grow up, but in that place she could be a kid and an adult at the same time.

In the months that passed, Flaky's house became more safety-oriented, having suffered several accidents since moving in. Her deep-rooted sorrow started to leave her, with her new, and close, friends to rely on. Though, her paranoia wouldn't leave her for a moment. "C'mon, Flaky!" became Cuddles's most frequently uttered phrase in her presence, since he'd always try to get her to have some fun. "When you've lived here as long as me, you gotta realize that you're gonna die no matter what. So, why not cut loose and have fun before you do?" He told her, sagely.

"I-I'm just s-scared…" She said. "I-I'm afraid to get h-hurt…"

"You can't be scared forever!" He said, cheerfully, before dragging her into another dangerous spot. She begged to differ with his opinion, though, since over the course of a year she remained as jumpy and paranoid as ever. But her life wasn't so hard, at least after gaining such wonderful friends that she could depend upon and go to when she was lonely. Not only that, but they helped her become just a little bit more sure of herself, and made her feel like she was important to them, even if they did pick on her a little.

But she still missed her parents deeply. Lying in bed at night, in her house, alone, she'd always think of them, especially her mom. Her friends were wonderful, but they could never replace the relationship she had with her folks. At least they could come kinda close, she though. She sighed, holding her bear. She looked at her dresser, which had a few snapshots of her with her friends on them.

Flaky smiled, knowing that she could always see their bright and smiling faces, even if it was dangerous to go out. She wished that they'd respect her fear a little more, instead of dragging her into situations they could get hurt in. In fact, sometimes she wished she could just stay home. It just didn't pay to get out of bed, sometimes. But the break of loneliness was worth it, and she couldn't let down her new friends. When she turned her lights off, leaving the night-light on, she remembered that she promised Cuddles that she'd go swimming with him tomorrow and sighed, a mixture of happiness and worry welling up in her.

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(Notes: I tried to do well on Flaky's backstory, and I figured that she'd probably have lived there a while before her first episode. I also tried to explain why she seems so paranoid, and her low-self-esteem and stuff like that. Poor Flaky… I really like this character, so I hope I did good on the story :D )