Chapter II: Lost

"It's been ten minutes," Nom Nom snapped as he followed closely behind the grizzly bear, his arms folded over his chest. Grizz paused every twenty steps or so, placing a paw to his chin as he tried to determine the next direction they should take.

"Okay, maybe ten minutes was a stretch, but I know where we are, don't worry." He waved for the marsupial to follow, who simply rolled his eyes as he trailed behind him. "Uh…we came from this direction, right?" Grizz asked as he came to another sudden stop.

"How should I know?! I was too worried about not being disemboweled to pay attention to where we were going!" Nom Nom narrowed his eyes as he saw the look of uncertainty etched in the bear's face. "I thought you said you knew your way around these woods," he said accusingly.

Grizz turned his head sharply to meet the koala's scrutinizing gaze. "No, I do! I just had to stop and think for a sec," he reassured. He hummed softly as he took another thorough look at the surrounding forest. "It's this way!" he said confidently and motioned for Nom Nom to follow.

The minutes slowly ticked by, with no sign of the cozy little cave, or any other sign of civilization for that matter.

"It's been at least forty-five minutes! Shouldn't we have been there by now?!" Nom Nom shouted, a hint of fear in his tone. He glared at the back of Grizz's head, unfolding his arms to clench his fists. "Did you hear me?! Where are we?! Do you even know?!"

Grizz slowly turned to face the koala, a look of defeat crossing his face as he looked down at his feet. "No…I don't," he admitted softly. He rubbed his arm as tears stung his eyes. "I thought I could find our way back, but…the truth is my brothers and I usually don't stray too far from the cave."

Nom Nom just stared at the bear for the longest time. "So basically, we're lost," he said matter-of-factly. Grizz only nodded, preparing himself for the blowup he knew was coming. Nom Nom crossed his arms again and nodded as he began to pace back and forth. "That's….That's great. You know, that's just fantastic," he said cheerfully, though his sarcasm was painfully obvious. "Just the other day I was saying to myself what a shame it is that I don't get outside nearly enough! What's not to enjoy? I mean, you got mosquitos, poison ivy, and predators that wanna eat your face off! Who needs indoor plumbing and the internet, anyway?! THIS IS JUST DANDY!"

Grizz held up his paws. "Nom Nom, calm down. I promise, we're gonna get out of here. We just got turned around. I'm sure the cave's probably close by. We're probably right on top of it! Let's just keep our cool, all right?"

"Look, just get me out of here," the koala snapped, swatting at the air as gnats swarmed around his face. Sighing, Grizz continued on, a highly agitated Nom Nom following closely behind, muttering complaints under his breath.

ooooooo

"This is all your fault. You know that right?"

"Yeah…you've mentioned it a few times," Grizz sighed as he ducked beneath a low hanging branch.

"Well, I just thought I'd remind you in case you forgot," Nom Nom stated haughtily. "UGH! Look at this! My fur's covered in dirt!" he groaned as he tried to rid himself of the clumps of dirt clinging to his legs. He took note of where the shadows were on the ground and started wondering what time it was, kicking himself for not wearing his watch today. "How long has it been, anyway?"

"A couple of hours, maybe?" Grizz stopped near the base of a tree and plopped down onto the ground with a tired groan. "Why don't we take five?"

Nom Nom kicked a pebble angrily before taking a seat on the ground across from the bear.

"Listen…we might need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that we could be stuck out here for a while." Grizz knew if looks could kill, he'd be six feet under at that very moment. It was hard to believe someone who made adorable internet videos could produce such horrifying facial expressions. "It may be a day or…more before we find our way home. We just need to stay calm and keep our wits."

"Days? No, no, no! I have a video to shoot tomorrow! I can't be stuck out here!" The koala looked absolutely panicked now.

"Well…I'm sorry, but…you might have to miss it."

"Oh, no. No, no, no!" Nom Nom got back to his feet and made his way over to the tree Grizz was resting against. The bear blinked, watching as the koala scaled his way up the tree trunk.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm gonna climb up there and see if I can get an idea of where we are!"

Nom Nom eased his way up through the branches, making his way towards the top of the tree. He gulped nervously as he spared a glance at the ground beneath him, his grip tightening on the branch above him. Grunting, he hoisted himself up and balanced himself atop the branch, placing a hand against the trunk to steady himself.

"What'd' you see?!" Grizz called from the ground.

Nom Nom ignored him as he scanned the horizon, which was mostly hidden from view due to much taller trees blocking his line of sight. He growled in frustration as he swiftly made his way back down. "I can't see a thing! The trees are in the way!" The koala dropped down and hit the ground with a thud. "I can't get high enough in that tree."

"Well, don't try to climb anymore. You might slip and fall."

Nom Nom glanced up at the bear. "So why don't you climb up to get a look? Aren't bears supposed to be good at climbing trees?"

Grizz looked a bit startled by the suggestion. "Eh…not this bear. I don't have a great history with trees," he laughed. "I'd rather not."

"Whatever," the koala huffed. Spotting a moss-covered log over to his right, he opted to sit on that rather than sit in the dirt. "So what exactly are we supposed to do for food?" he inquired, picking more clumps of dirt from his fur, which was becoming messier by the minute.

Grizz thought about it for a moment as he repositioned himself beneath the tree. For now, he wasn't feeling a great deal of hunger since he had eaten such a large breakfast. In that moment, he couldn't have been more grateful that Ice Bear had prepared such a big feast for his brothers this morning, but he knew the big meal would only last him for a little longer, and what then? Remembering what happened to his brothers just two months ago after having gone too long without food made him shudder. He certainly wasn't going to let that happen.

"Well, you probably won't have much of an issue. I mean…you don't eat meat, right? So you don't have to worry about hunting for food." Grizz gestured to the surrounding vegetation. "You're surrounded by food!"

Nom Nom made a face as he had a look around at the various trees and plants. "Oh yeah…my mouth's already watering," he replied sarcastically.

"Well hey, beggars can't be choosers," Grizz shot back with a shrug.

"And to think, I could be back at the coffee shop, enjoying a latte right now."

"C'mon, it could be worse."

The koala shrugged. "Give it some time. The day's still young."

Grizz sighed, slumping back against the tree.

ooooooo

Exhaustion had started to set in for the pair as they continued through the dense forest, their hopes of finding their way back before dark dwindling. Nom Nom was struggling to keep up with the bear, as his tiny legs felt incredibly sore from having walked for so many hours. He was just about to request they take another break when he noticed Grizz had stopped abruptly.

"Hey, look!" the bear exclaimed as he rushed over to a large collection of bushes. "I think we can eat these," he said as he plucked the tiny berries from the leaves and popped them in his mouth. Nom Nom strolled up behind him, eying the bushes suspiciously.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yep. There's a bunch of these growing near our cave. Ice likes to use them in his desserts."

Nom Nom threw caution to the wind as he pinched off a berry from the bush, too hungry to care. He chewed the tiny fruit with a slight grimace, not really caring for the tangy taste. "Now what?" he asked as he plucked a few more. "It's getting late."

Grizz looked up through the canopy, still shoving berries into his maw. He noted how low the sun was and knew it had to be close to six o' clock by now, if not later. He wiped the juice from the corner of his mouth and glanced down at the koala. "Maybe we should call it a day. I don't know about you, but I don't really wanna be walking through these woods in the dark." The bear frowned when he saw just how displeased Nom Nom appeared at the idea of having to sleep outside. "Maybe if we look around, we can find a cave or something to sleep in," Grizz suggested as he continued forward, eating more berries as he went.

"Shouldn't we like…try to build a fire, or something? You know, to keep predators away?"

"Fires usually attract predators. Plus, it could take a long time to start one since we don't have any matches or a lighter." Grizz wiped his paws against his fur to rid himself of the sticky berry juice. "Besides…we'd really only need a fire to keep warm and to cook food. We'll worry about that tomorrow, assuming we haven't made it back by then."

The koala pouted as he folded his arms over his chest. "If I still had my phone, we could send for help."

"That's assuming you'd even get a signal way out here. Besides, I'm sure everybody's looking for us by now."

"But how are they going to know where to look?! They don't know we're lost in the woods!"

"True," Grizz sighed, looking at the ground. There was a momentary silence between the pair before Grizz looked up and spotted what looked to be a small rock formation just ahead of them, which he noticed had an outcropping that looked large enough for them both to fit under. "Look over there," he said as he pointed it out. "That looks like a good spot to crash. I mean, it's not a cave, but it'll probably keep us dry in case it rains." Grizz crouched down and positioned himself under the rock, pleased to see that his head cleared the top by about three inches. "It's perfect!"

"Yeah, sleeping in the cold dirt. Spectacular," Nom Nom snapped as he glared at the damp, bare ground at the base of the rock. He looked thoughtful for a moment as he took note of the fallen leaves scattered around his feet.

"What're you doing?" Grizz asked as he watched the koala begin to gather the leaves into a pile.

"Making a bed to sleep on. I'm not sleeping on the cold hard ground."

Nom Nom bunched the leaves together as best he could, knowing they were a far cry from his comfy, marshmallow soft bed, but it would do. He nestled into the leaf bed, first lying flat on his back, and then shifting onto his side, grumbling.

"You know those leaves probably have bugs in 'em," Grizz pointed out as he watched the smaller animal continue to shift around.

Eyes widening in horror, Nom Nom leapt away from the leaves with a loud yelp, checking his fur for any unwanted guests. He shot Grizz a glare as he heard him chuckling lightly.

"Look, I know this is way out of your comfort zone, but you're just gonna have to tough it out."

Nom Nom sighed irritably as he rubbed his tired eyes. This was going to be a painfully long night.

ooooooo

"All right….thanks, anyway," Panda muttered with heavy disappointment as he ended the call. "They haven't seen him, either," he said as he turned to his younger brother. "I think I've called every one of his favorite hangouts. No one's seen him." Panic began to set in as the panda paced the living room. "What if he was kidnapped?!"

"Ice Bear doubts that," the polar bear replied. He was fairly certain no one would be crazy enough to kidnap the hyperactive grizzly bear.

"How can you be sure?! Where else could he be? It's almost dark and he's not home yet! I know this isn't the first time he's come home late, but…I don't know. Something doesn't feel right." Panda went to peek through the window again in the hope of seeing his brother meandering up to the cave at that very moment, but he saw no such thing. "Look, maybe we should just head into town and start looking."

The two bears quickly exited the cave and ventured out into the darkening forest, Panda rushing ahead of his younger sibling. He only managed to make it a short distance into the woods before he noticed Ice Bear had fallen behind and had come to a complete stop, his attention focused on the ground. He turned back to him, brows furrowing in confusion. "Dude, what're you doing? Come on!"

"Ice Bear found something," his brother replied as he looked his way, pointing a finger at the ground. Panda ran over and looked to the spot where his brother was pointing. He had to crouch down to get a better look, as it was hard to see in the slowly darkening forest. "Are those…Grizz's footprints?" Panda looked up at his brother and then back down to the footprints again. "Wait…it looks like there's another set of prints here. They're a lot smaller."

Ice Bear began to circle the area, eyes trained on the ground. His concern swelled when he noticed multiple sets of footprints close by, which he suspected were made by wolves. "Ice Bear doesn't like this," he stated as he looked back to Panda, who looked very shaken at this point.

"Grizz!" Panda shouted frantically but he received no answer. "Oh my gosh," he gasped, placing his paws to his head. "What if something bad happened? What if he got hurt? Oh, no…no, no, no…When he left the cave this afternoon…I barely said two words to him! I didn't even look up when he told me he was leaving! No, no, why didn't I look at him?!" Feeling Ice Bear's paws on his shoulders, Panda didn't hesitate to lean into his sibling, pressing his head to his shoulder as he tried to fight off the sobs that threatened to escape.

The two brothers stiffened and looked up when they heard a rustle nearby. "Grizz, is that you?!" Panda shouted hopefully, while Ice Bear narrowed his eyes suspiciously, turning around to face whatever it was that was closing in on them and placing himself directly in front of his brother.

A tall figure suddenly stepped out from behind a tree, and just from looking at the creature's silhouette, it was easy for them to tell it wasn't Grizz. "Who…Who's there?" Panda asked as he clutched his brother tightly. He held up his phone to shine its light on the creature.

"Woah, woah, turn off your brights there!" the creature exclaimed as he held up a hand to shield his eyes.

"Charlie," Panda sighed with relief, stepping out from behind Ice Bear. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, I was just passin' back through and thought I'd stop in and say hey! What's all the noise over here, anyway? Where's big bro?"

"We don't know," Panda squeaked, fighting back tears. "He left the cave earlier today and hasn't come back!" He turned and shined a light on the footprints. "And we think these footprints might belong to him."

Frowning, Charlie made his way over to the prints and knelt down to get a better look. "Whose prints are these?" he asked as he pointed to the much smaller prints.

"I'm not sure."

"Hmm…"

"Ice Bear found more prints over here," the polar bear chimed in, pointing at the ground just a few feet away.

Charlie stood up and made his way over to have a look for himself. "Looks like wolves," he said seriously, prompting Panda to gasp in horror.

"No, no, no," he cried quietly, hiding his face in his paws.

"Now, now, just calm down a sec," Charlie said gently, holding up a hand. "We don't know what happened. Looks like the prints lead in that direction," he said as he turned and pointed a finger. "Give us some light, Pan-Man."

Panda held up his phone and shined its light near the wolf tracks. "They lead this way," he said as he went ahead of the others, keeping the light on the ground as he walked, with Charlie and Ice Bear trailing closely behind him. "Grizz!" the panda called into the dark. "If you can hear me, please answer!"

The trail of prints eventually ended, though the trio still kept trudging on in the direction they had been heading, hoping they were still on the right path.

"Woah, hang on," Panda said as he came to an abrupt halt, lifting his phone a little higher. "I see something over there." Holding his light on the strange, purple object, he made his way towards it, unable to discern what it was until he was standing directly over it. "It's…It's a phone," he said as he scooped it up, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Grizz's?" Charlie asked.

"No…" Panda turned the phone over and touched a finger to the screen, hoping the battery wasn't already dead. The light of the screen suddenly illuminated his face and his eyes widened as he took in its details. "This is Nom Nom's phone!" he exclaimed.

Charlie raised a brow while Ice Bear narrowed his eyes.

"Who's Nom Nom?"

"A butt," replied Ice Bear.

"He's a really popular koala who makes viral videos. What in the world would he be doing out here?" Realization suddenly struck him as he recalled the smaller footprints. "You think he's with Grizz?"

"Looks like it."

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, it's good that they're together."

"Ice Bear would disagree."

Panda gazed out into the darkness. "What'd we do?"

Charlie suddenly sprouted a look of serious determination. "All right, listen up! Go home and pack your backpacks! Grab some snacks, bottled water and some flashlights! We got us some missing persons to find!" he said urgently.

Panda appeared apprehensive. "But…what if we get lost, too?"

Charlie smiled confidently, waving the comment off. "Don't you worry about a thing, Pan-Man. I've lived in these woods for nearly ten years! I know my way around, don't you worry! If they're out there, I can find 'em. Now let's hurry! Time's wasting!"

The two bears spared a quick glance at each other before turning to run back to the cave to gather up their needed supplies.

ooooooo

Grizz had been awake for close to an hour now, occasionally glancing at Nom Nom as he shifted around or mumbled something in his sleep. The bear sighed, his mind heavy with thoughts of his brothers and what they were doing at this very moment. He knew they wouldn't be asleep. Not a single one of them ever went to bed until they all knew their brothers were safe at home. I wonder if they went looking for me in the city? Panda's probably called every restaurant in town by now.

Hearing a soft groan to his right, Grizz looked down, noticing Nom Nom was awake and had turned over to glare at him. "I hate this."

"I know."

"I can't sleep."

"I know."

The koala sat up, flicking a leaf off his shoulder. "You don't even look like you're trying to sleep."

Grizz shrugged. "Well, I did try, but I woke up. I've got a lot on my mind."

"That can't be good. It might overheat."

"I was thinking about my bros," Grizz continued, ignoring the jab. "I just hope they're doing okay without me."

"What are you worried about them for? We're the ones who's got the real problems here!"

"Nom Nom, they're my brothers! I can't help but worry about them! I've always been around to take care of them. They've never gone this long without me."

Nom Nom sighed heavily, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Look, uh… Grizz, right? Your brothers are adults, and I'm sure they can handle themselves just fine without you around." Noticing the bear looked somewhat hurt by his choice of words, he quickly added, "Not that they don't need you. I'm just saying they're not helpless."

"Yeah…I guess. Do you think they're worried?"

"I'm sure they're worried," Nom Nom replied with growing agitation as he resettled himself atop his pile of leaves.

"Do you think they're looking for me?"

"If I say yes, will you shut up and go to sleep?"

Grizz slouched against the rock, resting both his paws atop his stomach. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"No," the koala mumbled.

"Do you have any family at all?"

Nom Nom stared at him for a moment before turning over, his back now facing the bear. "No," he repeated, his tone quiet but stern.

Grizz stared at the back of his head for a moment before shifting his gaze back to the dark wilderness surrounding them. "You know…it's kinda peaceful out here. Once you get past the hunger and using leaves for toilet paper, it's not so bad. Hey, you wanna try and spot the different constellations?"

"Grizz, go to sleep."

Author's Note: I'd like to give a big thanks to all those who reviewed and followed this story! I appreciate it greatly! Remember that updates will be every Friday! :)