... I uhm...kind of don't know how to start this, so I'll just admit to something before I do... I lied to Kris...

When I was telling them what happened, I purposefully changed what my friend said about me. It wasn't, "You're one of the Weird kids, now." It was, "You're a traitor."

... I didn't want to approach that can of worms. I couldn't... Kris obviously didn't remember everything or they would have known what friend I was talking about and exactly why it happened. I was just being nice and not asking why, but I had no idea they had full-on Amnesia.

... Still... I admit. There was a reason that I reacted in the ways I did. Kris had never said anything so nice to me in my life. I was confused... but kind of happy. I also wondered if I was actually talking to the real Kris... Well... I was, I guess... Though, maybe I shouldn't say anything about that. That's their business.

... Okay. So. I guess... I'll start where Kris had just left into the school, leaving me behind... I was just standing there, waving them off in the middle of the road, trying to seem as thankful as I could to make them feel better...

When I couldn't see them anymore, I.. got really nervous again. It's called holding your chin in thought, right? ... Well, that's what I did next, because I didn't know how to approach things. Every way I thought to approach the subject with them just made me scared to try, because every attempt ended terribly in my head...

... But I didn't get a chance to try any of those ways...

"Wow." The word made me yelp, because I instantly recognized that snorkly voice. "You and the sociopath get along great there, Noelle..." I turned around to see Berdly walking out from behind a tree next to me, just off the sidewalk and road headed into town. I couldn't help the frown on my face and the shiver that sent down my spine.

... Oh. What does Berdly look like? Uhm... Well, he looked kind of... like a blue jay dressed up. And I mean that literally. Maybe a bit skinnier than usual. He even has fully feathered bird wings, though his end feathers can be used as fingers and thumbs. He also had long tail feathers with a white stripe through the middle and darker blue tippings. I guess his legs look more like a harpy's, though.

He's actually kind of handsome... for a bird. It's just a shame that back then, he was always wearing a cruel smirk. He has a sharp, pointed beak and spiked back, thick feathers done like hair atop his head... Particularly bad eyes, so he wears sleek, prescription glasses.

Most of the time and then, he wore a white jacket with short sleeves to let his wings out with a black shirt as a combo. As for pants, short khakis. No shoes, though. Who could wear shoes with hooves like mine and talons like his?

... Well, either way, there he was, standing a short distance away... But he was carrying himself differently than usual. He squinted into me, but he wasn't smirking like he does at everyone else. No... What he was staring at me with was this horrible, bile inducing glare. And he was hunched a bit, shoulders sunk with his hands in his pants pockets...

... He began to slowly walk in toward me.

I was expected something else and that expression scared me, honestly. My eyes wide and my everything shaking, I couldn't move. My hooves were clacking against the pavement and my palms were sweating, along with everything else, making my fur stick. I swallowed and frowned, trying to calm down and speak. "B-Berdly...! P-please, let's just... c-calm..." My voice cut out, even though my lips were trying to form words. It was like my vocal cords just quit...

He shook his head and glared harder. "Oh spare me. You think your scared deer-in-the-headlight routine's gonna stop me from saying what I want? You think I care if you're afraid? I knew you pretty well, Noelle, but I guess not well enough."

I winced away and backed up. I was so upset that I thought I might cry and I was so scared that I thought I'd embarrass myself further than that. I squeaked trying to speak, but I couldn't make my voice climb back out of my stomach... I was never very brave...

He got up close to me and frowned. "Do you know how it feels? You don't, do you? I was trying to protect you from that psycho and her pet. I was trying to keep you safe, because I know she'll hurt you for real or worse. I tried to tell you not to even get associated... I tried! How many times did I try? At least fifty... Probably more." His eyes sharpened into daggers and his eyes leaked tears. "And you kept saying over and over again that you want to be friends with her! And you finally did it! DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT SHE DID TO ME?! DO YOU YOU EVEN CARE?!"

I felt like I was going to vomit if I spoke at this point and I my mind was going blank with fear as I froze up. My body's shakes turned into tremors and my breathing started to shutter, but he kept going... And he looked so... hurt...

He held out his wing and pointed to the abnormal dent in the "forearm" section. "My left wing, Elle! It's never gonna be the same again! I can hardly fly straight! You knew about that and you...!" He sniffled and held his face in one of his feather hands, sobbing openly. "You... s-STILL... *sob!*"He threw his hand off his face and growled through his tears getting up in my face and screaming, "DO YOU EVEN CARE HOW THIS MAKES ME FEEL?! You're friends with my worst ENEMY, NOW! THE SCHOOL'S BULLY! I DON'T CARE THAT IT JUST STARTED TODAY! SHE'S A FREAK!"

It was too much to take. I remember being so lost and scared in the moment. Everything Berdly was saying was true. It was inconceivable how inconsiderate I had been...

... I had no good reason to think Kris was telling the truth, but... they've never acted so sincerely... and never been so nice to me. And... I just don't know... ... ...

So, I took a chance I had been wanting to take for a while. I wanted to know something, you see... Why I felt the way I did around her... And in my rush to know, I forgot that Susie... was not the best person ever, either, as you just found out...

... I had just betrayed my best friend...

... I started to sob, tears running my contorted face, my distress and guilt at an all-time peak. Shaking my head, I tried to say, "I'm sorry," but when I was half way through "sorry," Berdly's face tensed and his eyes widened into an outraged scowl. In an incredibly quick movement, his "hand" whipped up and... -Whack!- ... It slapped me across the face hard enough to both turn my head and almost make me fall over, stumbling to the side. I'm sure that under my fur, a red mark was starting to appear.

... I just stood there, cupping my cheek in my hands as it pulsed and swelled a little. It hurt... so bad... and the tears kept dropping down my face... My eyes were probably wide. And I must have looked terrified or hurt...

The bluejay Monster's face was still contorted with anger for a moment... And then it softened, his eyes growing wide... He frowned and shook his head before his hand reached out to me while he said, "N-Noelle... Noelle, I didn't mean to do that, I-I..."

My hand almost moved by itself and I slapped his away. He gasped and frowned even more deeply... making me feel worse... I couldn't take it.

I turned and ran, bawling my eyes out as I shut them tight. I didn't see where I was running. Berdly called out for me in distress... It's obvious I didn't stop. I kept running and running and running, wheezing and sobbing in equal. I didn't care where I was going. I didn't want to be there...

...

... When I DID open my eyes, I was in the woods and surrounded by thick trees... I came to a stop slowly but surely when I saw what put me on edge. I don't know how to describe it, honestly.

The woods had never looked so... unnatural. It was like someone drew it up elaborately on graphite paper...

I couldn't believe my eyes, shaking my head and sobbing a little, still very much upset. Backing away, my eyes went up and soon, so too did my head. I was looking for light... And I wasn't finding much of it. Even straight up, the light was hardly there. I could see the sky, but it was incredibly grey. Almost black and fading darker...

I looked at myself and took in another realization. I myself had all my color and it and was easy to make out, like light was still hitting me... My first thought was that I might have slipped into some sort of terrible mental sickness. I HAD just been verbally assaulted and slapped very hard... even if I had deserved it...

But I had never read about anything like this. No mental illness quite sounded like the world around the afflicted literally turning black...

And then, Just like that, the ground beneath me crumbled and gave and I went falling onto my stomach with a shriek and cough! I groaned, straining to keep myself from falling in, just barely catching a grip on the ground before me. I kicked my legs about for something to catch with my hooves, but I hit open air! When I looked back, I gasped through my horror upon seeing an even darker blackness spreading out and eating the ground away from what remained under me, making a hole! I screamed and turned my head back forward as I began to claw and grab at what felt like grass and dirt but all blackened. Trying with all my might to pull away, It felt like working against suction! And then... everything I clawed for ended up breaking up between my fingers and collapsing under my grasp... and eventually, I fell into an empty, endless void of pure darkness, screaming at the top of my lungs and flailing, falling down into that gaping maw in the ground...

... Dark, darker, even darker... It never stopped getting darker until I literally couldn't see...

-BOOM!-

It was the final sound I heard before I lost consciousness... I think it was the sound of me hitting the floor, but I don't remember pain...

... ... ... I guess it's Kris's turn again.

So legitimately a bit of a short chapter this time. Every time a perspective shift occurs, the chapter will end. Still, I hope this was ... enlightening.

I honestly hurt writing this. Noelle is a good girl, but I wouldn't be surprised if she stuck her nose into trouble if Susie was the one she got in trouble for.

She almost seemed okay with getting treated roughly by Susie in dialogue options, so I rolled with it. I also have a reason for putting Berdly in the way he's in, but I'll let that reason rest until next chapter.

... And I will try to have the next chapter out in the next day or two, but no promises. I don't have much left of that one to write, but I want it to be a good one.