Okay, I'm going to try to get chapters out more often. Try ends in 'umph'!...Or 'nomial'. But we don't talk about that stuff much.

Window to the Past

Chapter 7: Vi for Vendetta

"Hey, Chaos. Thanks for getting them out of that," I said, reviewing the chapter he wrote. "You did good."

"Thanks," he said, nodding. "Hey, can I write this one, too?"

I shook my head. "I kind of wanted to write this one. Besides, you can't write every chapter!"

He mumbled something inaudible, but I dismissed it.

Adrian woke up on the ground, with the grass pressing up against his cheek. He tried to push himself up, but his strength faltered, and he collapsed back onto the ground again.

I need to eat.

He looked around for his journal, seeing it a few feet away from him. Someone must have fainted from fatigue. Last night had left all of them physically drained, and it didn't help that they hadn't eaten since they had woken up by that small lake two days ago. Adrian's eyes drooped, and he laid there on the grass for an indefinite amount of time. Eventually, though, he slowly got to his feet. He was feeling dizzy, and he had a headache, but he tried to shake it off. No one else was going to do this; he needed to find food.

Adrian flipped open the journal first, to check for any updates. There was none. He scoffed, although it made sense; you can't write about what happened when you're unconscious on the ground. He began scanning his surroundings, hoping for some sort of sign of progress. This time, he found something. Ahead of him was something that wasn't a meadow. Already, that was encouraging. He couldn't see any detail yet; his eyes were still blurry. But he could make out that the ground was a colour other than green. And to him, that was an improvement. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to coax some clarity into his vision. The scene focused in front of him.

He saw a river. It wasn't big; only about six feet across. But it was flowing. And Adrian was pretty sure flowing water meant clean drinking water. At the very least, it was better than stagnant. And Adrian needed to drink.

The question was how.

Because of the...form he was in, kneeling wouldn't really do much, considering he didn't have knees. His face was too high up on his head, and if he tried to lie down, he might lose his balance.

"Screw it," he said frustratedly and began to jump into the river. Halfway through, he realized he was still holding the book. Thinking quickly, he tossed the book onto the riverside, where it wouldn't get wet. He landed in the water with a splash. The current was strong, but he braced himself against the current using the side of the river. Not knowing what else to do, he simply opened his mouth and let water rush in. This turned out not to be the best idea as his throat became bombarded with water, almost making him choke. Pulling himself onto the shore, he coughed, trying to clear his airway. After that was finished, he gave a dirty look to the river. He sat there for a while, thinking about the best course of action.

Toby woke up suddenly to the sound of rushing water. He saw a river beside him and noticed that he was dripping wet. He sighed, deducing what one of the others must have done.

I'm still pretty thirsty, he realized. Maybe if I...

After going through the same eliminative process Adrian did, he too concluded he had to get into the water to drink. Toby, however, decided to take a different approach. He walked carefully down the side of the river, looking for a shallow part. Finding one about three minutes down, he slowly walked into the shallow water. The current was strong, but he had been prepared for it. He was up to the top of his feet in the water now, and he realized too late that it was cold. Gritting his teeth, Toby thought about his next course of action.

"There's a bit of a drop off there," he mumbled. "If I could just get over the-there..."

Shivering, he waded through the ice-cold water. Making it to the drop, he turned around and began to descend. He couldn't bend down and grab the rocky riverbed he had been standing on before, so he had to do the first part without any sort of brace against the current. Angling his feet so he'd have a better hold, he began to slowly make his way down. Now up to the bottom of his mouth in water, he lowered his mouth a bit and sipped from the surface of the water. It, like its surroundings, was shockingly cold, but after fifteen long, hard minutes, Toby was able to get a drink.

After drinking his fill, Toby climbed back up to the shallow part and got out of the river. Instantly, the wind chilled his body to a particularly unpleasant temperature. Trembling, he made his way back to where the first attempt must have taken place. When he got there, though, he saw something strange.

There was a black cat-like thing with a sack standing there. It was about as tall as he was, and had a very similar shape. And it seemed to be holding something.

"Hey!" David yelled angrily. "That's mine!"

The cat thing gave David one quick harried look, shoved the journal into his sack, and took off like a bullet. David, without a second thought, sped off after it.

David kept yelling angrily at the cat to 'come back here', but it didn't seem to listen. And it was fast. No matter how fast David tried to run, he just couldn't keep up. He watched helplessly as the black figure faded further and further into the horizon. Tears began to line his eyes as his only way to talk to his friends disappeared forever.

"He took something from you?"

David looked to his left, where the voice came from. A...being...was leaning against a large rock, staring at the horizon where the cat had disappeared.

"Y-yeah. It was r-really important to-to me..." David forced out between hiccups.

She looks just like me! David realized. Well...I'm orange. She's blue, but...we're both round, and we have these stub things for hands...is she the same...uh...thing...as me?

She smiled calmly. "That's Tac. He's a bandit. Steals anything that catches his fancy. He's a fast runner, too...but it looks like you already figured that out."

"What...what does he do with the th-things he takes?" David asked, sniffling.

"Heck if I know. I don't even know where he goes. He took something from me a while ago, and I've been waiting here for him to show his face again so I could try tracking him," she stated. She was no longer looking at David, but at the path Tac had taken.

"So...it's lost, then...?" David's voice trembled as he started to cry again.

"Not necessarily," she said quickly, pacifying David. "Actually, your chasing him helped me. C'mere."

David walked quickly over to where the girl was, but she held her stub up. "Stop there, or you'll step on it!"

He froze and backpedaled a few steps. He looked down. There were imprints of a sandal against the grass.

"You see it, right? The footprints. Usually, Tac walks so lightly that they don't show up. But you gave him a..." she looked up with a wry smile. "...a 'run for his money', if you'll excuse the pun. And that," she said sharply as she stood back up, "will help me see where he went."

Daphne blinked, utterly confused. Without thinking, she blurted "Where who went?"

The girl looked up at Alice with a questioning look on her face. "I...uh...Tac. The one who stole your thing. He..." she trailed off, and raising her stubs to the top of her head, continued. "Cat ears? Has a big green sack? Runs really fast?"

Daphne quickly realized this girl had been talking to someone else for the past few minutes. Feeling dried tears at the corners of her eyes, she deduced it was either David or Toby. Laughing uncomfortably, Daphne tried to brush off what probably seemed to the girl in front of her as memory loss. "Oh, yes, Tac! You'll have to forgive me, I have lapses in memory sometimes..."

This, to Daphne's chagrin, only made the girl narrow her eyes further. "You...changed suddenly..." She shook her head vigorously. "Never mind. I might just be paranoid. Anyways, as I was saying. If we follow those footprints, we should be able to find Tac. Only problem: I don't know how good of a fighter he is, and I'm not up to the task. Of course, I'm assuming, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Which is where you come in."

Daphne's eyes widened, realizing this girl was talking about her. "Exactly how can I help?"

"You can run fast. You almost kept pace with Tac, which is amazing. So since we both want to nail Tac, I propose you come with me to deliver some justice to his doorstep, and get our stuff back."

Daphne wasn't sure how to take this. This 'Tac' character must've taken something from her, and considering she only had one belonging, Daphne thought it was safe to assume it was the journal. So she'd have to go after the thief anyways. But having a companion seemed dangerous. What if she found out about the others? She's already met one of them. How would her opinion of Daphne change if she knew the truth? And if they traveled together, it would be safe to assume the girl would find out at some point.

"Hey, you okay? Your eyes are glazing over," the girl peered at Daphne curiously.

Daphne jumped, as if woken from a dream. "Oh! Ah...sure. I don't see myself getting my journal back alone, anyways. Thanks for your help."

"Thanks for yours! My name's Vi," she introduced herself, sticking her stub out.

Daphne took it, shaking it gently. When she noticed Vi looking at her expectantly, Daphne realized she was waiting for her name. "Er...Cece. My name's Cece."

Vi nodded, satisfied. "Alright, let's get going."

Daphne called out, suddenly remembering something. "Vi, you wouldn't happen to have some...food on you, would you?"

"Uh..." Vi stopped and turned around. "No, sorry. Why, when's the last time you ate?"

"I think it was two days ago," Daphne said quietly.

Vi's eyes widened again. "What is up with you? Changing your manner all of a sudden and not eating in two days!" She shook her head in disbelief. "Alright, we'll make food a second priority, then. I guess I'm a little peckish, too."

Daphne nodded in agreement. A million questions bounced around her head, but she couldn't find the context to voice them. So she kept quiet.

Vi gave one look at the footprints and stared off in the direction they led. "Alright, Cece. Let's go. We've got a Tac to catch."

Before you ask, Ms. You-Know-Who-You-Are, yes. I named her after that character of yours. No, that does not mean I modeled her after that character of yours.

And yes. I used the other name. I didn't think I would, but I did. So...yeah. As for the rest of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...here's a potato.

[WINDOW TO THE PAST READER GOT A 'POTATO! One of the most versatile vegetables available, you can mash it, bake it, throw it, analyze it, and so much more!]