The sun rose calmly against the crystal clear blue canvas of the morning sky as it radiated a shower of warmth over East Liverpool. They rays of sunlight glistened through the catacombs' cracks upon Prim's bed, but there was no sign of the little boy she called her own. An eerie silence was all that existed within the bedroom, and down in the living room unaware of the absence of her precious little one, Prim was tending to the dragons.
"Okay guys, you all eat up, and get your tummies full. I am going to see if my precious little Toby is awake yet." She spoke softly to her dragon friends as they all, along with Flame and Smoke, chittered, and chirped. She smiled warmly at them all, and turned to the staircase to carefully walk up. She started humming a happy tune as she ascended the stairs.
"Toby sweetie, it's time to... AAH!" Prim reached to the very top of the stairs, and looked over at the bed to find an empty space in the bed, gasping. She ran over to the bed, and reached for the bedsheets to see if he might be hiding underneath them. "Toby?!" She didn't find him under the bedsheets. 'Maybe he is in the bathroom.' she thought to herself as she quickly turned, and walked down to the bathroom. She walked in to see an empty room.
She walked into the living room, and looked at Flame and Smoke eating at their salmon. "Flame, Smoke honeys, have you seen Toby this morning?" She looked at them with a look of hope and concern. Flame chittered, and Smoke shook his head. "Oh dear. Maybe he..." Her train of though was interrupted by a knock at the door.
She walked quickly over to the door and opened it expecting the little boy. "Toby?!" She only found Maia. "Oh, Maia." She looked at Maia with a deep concerned look.
"Hey Prim, what's happening?" Maia asked in her usual cool tone. Yet seeing the look on Prim's face, she became worried.
"Oh, Maia I can't find Toby!" She stepped aside to let Maia walk in. "He wasn't sleeping in the bed this morning, or in the bathroom. I asked if Flame and Smoke have seen him, and they say they didn't." Prim was biting her lower lip, panting heavily.
Maia tried to calm her down by gently placed her hands on Prim's shoulders. "Okay, first Prim, you need to try to calm down." Prim started to breathe slower. "That's it. Now, maybe the little guy already left for school, and just didn't want to wake you up. How about we go see, okay?"
Prim nodded with a little smile. "Maybe you are right Prim." She turned to all of her dragon friends, and she got on Flame and Smoke. "Flame, Smoke, honeys, We got to go out, and see if we can find Toby, okay?" Flame and Smoke nodded, and looked up with concern at their caretaker. She gently brought them in for a hug against her chest, and nuzzled between their horns on the top of their heads. "Don't worry boys, we'll find him." She turned to Maia who is now on Spike. "Let's go!"
Together they went out of the sewers toward East Liverpool, to the school.
Deep within the forest, although it was just morning the thick woods appeared to darken quickly. Limbs were covered with moss which hung freely down from them, and there were only a few patches of light shining upon the forest floor through small clear spaces above some of the towering trees. At the base of one of the trees, laid the little boy curled up in a little ball shaking with sobs that barely ceased from the night before.
"Hu.. hu. hu.. I-I would n-never hurt th-them, I-I love them." He whispered quietly to himself trying to calm his tears. "W-why would th-they want to hurt me for?" He wrapped his arms around himself as he thought. "I know it was all a bad dream, but it felt so real. Maybe I really don't belong here, or anywhere. Maybe Layla was right." Tears streamed down his face as his body was racked with sobs.
As Toby laid there curled up, he was unaware of the eerie orange eyes that were peering at him through the thick brush of the forest.
Prim, and Maia arrived at the school where Ms. Stoner was standing out on the front steps welcoming the last couple of her students. She spotted Prim and Maia walking up to them. "Good morning Prim, and Maia, how are you girls doing today?"
Prim looked at her with a concerned look. "Um.. we are doing good Betty.. um.. but has Toby come to school yet? I didn't find him sleeping in the bed this morning... and... um.. Maia thought maybe he came to school already, so not to wake me up." She looked at Ms. Stoner with a small hopeful smile.
Betty shook her head and had a concerned look on her face. "Oh dear, I am sorry Prim, and Maia, but I haven't seen Toby this morning." She looked at the two girls worriedly as she looked behind them to see the Luu Luu and the girls walking up the pathway. "Wait, the girls might have seen him. Oh, girls!" She called out to the three girls.
They ran up to the other three, and replied in unison. "Yes Ms. Stoner.
Ms. Stoner gently asked. "Have you three seen Toby yet this morning? Prim, and Maia couldn't find him this morning at the catacombs, and thought maybe he left already to come here."
The three girls looked at Ms. Stoner then at the other two shaking their heads. "No Ma'am." They replied in unison.
Prim gently stepped toward them, and asked softly. "Um.. girls.. um.. did Toby talk to you three about anything about not being part of the family?"
"What?!" Maia exclaimed as she had a confused look on her face.
Prim turned to Maia with a sad smile. "Well.. um.. last night when I was tucking him into bed.. um.." She started to tear up. "He asked me if I loved him, even though he isn't my child."
Maia gently laid a hand over Prim's back to tried comforting her, but asked shocked. "Why would he ask something like that for?"
"Layla Burnside!" The three girls exclaimed.
Ms. Stoner looked at the three, and asked. "What girls? What about Layla Burnside?"
Maia, and Prim turned their heads to look at the three girls.
Luu Luu was the one to speak up first. "Well, yesterday when Toby didn't come sit with us during lunch Ms. Stoner, we got worried, and went to look for him."
"Then we heard a small voice at the side of the school, and we went to go see who it was." Crystal spoke next. "When we got there, we saw Toy standing there shaking, and Layla was in front of him holding up his glasses in her hand." She lowered her head sadly.
Kelly was the last to speak. "We were about to stop her, but Scarlett grabbed his glasses, and gave them back to him." Kelly sighed deeply. "When they were leaving, Layla turned around, and called Toby a mistake." She lowered her head.
Prim, and Maia looked at each other shocked. Prim gave the three girls a sad smile.
"Thank you girls." She then looked at Betty.
"If he does show up Betty, please tell him that I am not mad at him, and just to stay here until I come back." Ms. Stoner nodded softly.
Betty smiled softly at the three girls. "Thank you girls for telling us the truth. I will have a talk with Layla. You can go inside now." They nodded, and walked into the school. She turned to Prim, and Maia. "Is there anything else I can do to help?" She gave a soft smile.
Prim returned the smile. "Thank you Betty, but me, Maia, and the others will look for him. Just tell Toby that I am not mad at him if he shows up." Betty nodded as Maia, and Prim turned, and started flying off on their dragons.
"Oh Maia, I hope he is okay. My precious little Toby is out there somewhere probably scared, and alone." Prim couldn't hold her tears back as she started to cry.
Maia carefully sped up and, stopped in front of her placing her hands on Prim's shoulders. 'Calm down Prim, we will find him.' Maia thought to herself for a second, and intently looked into Prim's eyes. "You go get the others and I will meet you all at the catacombs. I am going to soar the skies to see if I can find him." She gently pulled Prim into a soft hug. "Don't worry Prim, I promise we will find him." She gently pulled away, and gave Prim a reassuring smile.
Prim reached up with a hand to wipe at her tears. "Th-thank you Maia, I know we will. I will go get the others, and meet you at the catacombs. Just please make sure you, and Toby stay safe, if you find him." She looked into Maia's eyes pleadingly.
"You mean when I find him, Prim. I promise I will keep him safe." She turned to look up at the sky, and Spike flapped his wings, and shot up into the sky. Spike hovered a bit, and looked down at Prim. "I will be back with Toby, I promise." She flew off.
Prim looked up at the sun, and whispered softly to herself. "Please stay safe Toby. Auntie Prim loves you." She turned to the path and flew back to the catacombs.
As Toby laid curled up at the base of one of the many big looming trees of the forest, his stomach started to make a little growl. "Auh.. hu. hu. my tummy. I need to try and find something to eat." He whispered to himself. He carefully yet weakly stood back up on his feet, and legs.
He looked around at the thick brush of the forest. 'Maybe I can find some berries like mommy, and I used to do.' He thought to himself as he started to walk, his tears finally subsiding as he wiped at his face. He hugged his stomach as he started to growl a little more, and aching.
As he ventured onward into the forest he found some bushes that had some berries on them. There were berries of red, blue, pink, purple, and black. 'They look good. Maybe I can eat a couple of them.' He thought as he walked up to a bush and picked a red one, and pink one. He popped the red one first. He started to chew it feeling the sweet juice gush out onto his tongue. "Mm.. this one is nice and sweet."
He decided to pop the pink one in next. As he began to chew it he could taste the juice of it, and scrunched his face a little. 'Yuk.. that one is sour.' He thought to himself. He decided to see what the other colored berries tasted like, so he picked them. While he was trying out the other berries he could smell something floating through the thing forest air around him. "Eww.. what is that smell?" He said quietly.
A low rumbling growl could be heard from behind him, and he swallowed deeply as his body shook nervously. He quickly panted as he very slowly started to turn around. He came face to face to what looked like a pair of talons. He swallowed deeply, and trembled as he looked up to see a pair of orange glowing eyes. He was looking at what it appeared to be a Monstrous Nightmare, but this one is different. It was much bigger, has a darker-red appearance the spikes on its back are sharper, and has spot patterns on its wings instead of stripes. It's a Titian Wing Nightmare.
The Titan Wing Nightmare roared at Toby causing him to fall backwards on his rear dropping the berries. He looked up at the dragon with his eyes wide with fear, and whimpering. He crawled backwards as fast as he could into the bush as the creature slowly stalked towards him. Taby was able to crawl back far enough into the bushes to get hidden enough. He heard the creature stop, and suddenly reach a talon into the bush.
Toby backed away some more as best as he could until he bumped into a tree. He cried as now he was trapped in the bushes up against a big looming tree, and with the dragon's talons just a few inches from him. He brought his legs up to him with his knees against his chest, burying his head in his lap. He sobbed hard as he looked back up at the dragon talon, and timidly whispered. "Please someone help me."