Chapter 56: A Heartwarming Reunion

Bubba and the others meanwhile were in Bubba's house again, looking outside while chatting. Bubba then let out a sigh.

"So CatNap and DogDay are Dark Critters…" He said,

"Same for Holden's brother he's been searching for, huh?" KickinChicken said,

"...And CatNap destroyed the orphanage that raised him… His anger sure as hell got the best of him."

"I feel bad for CatNap…" Bobby said, "And for DogDay, since he was there with him."

"And ya said that CatNap and DogDay were blasted away to a forest behind Playtime Company?" PickyPiggy wondered,

"Yeah." KickinChicken replied,

"Wherever they are, they might as well finish where they started." Hoppy said, "Because I know damn well that they're not who they are. They're being controlled by someone causing this so-called "Hour Of Joy" to occur."

"If they did end up being free from whoever controlled them…" Bubba said, "Then, hopefully they'll finish the same job that we all volunteered for."

PickyPiggy was looking out the window.

"And there's no pink pillars of light scattered around except for one big one that's still covering up the red sky." She said, "So maybe they might get to the root of it all."

"Let's just pray." Bubba said, "That's pretty much the only way since there's still a lot of these masked critters out there, wrecking havoc…"

CatNap and DogDay meanwhile were back walking in the forest the two were in. The two weren't seeing each other all of a sudden when CatNap told DogDay to leave him alone. That is, until CatNap stepped on something that made a crunching sound. DogDay then heard the crunch as he turned around.

"CatNap?" He wondered, "Did you step on something?"

"...No." CatNap replied as he continued walking,

"...Ok."

DogDay then stepped on something that made a crunching sound as well.

"Oh?" He wondered as he went down and noticed it was a flower of some sort, "A flower? Why did I step on a flower?"

"Hey." CatNap said as he pointed to the path now having flowers all over, "Does this answer your question?"

"It does. Where did these flowers come from?"

"Don't know, might as well find out if we continue walking down this path."

"Yeah, let's see what's up."

CatNap and DogDay then continued to follow the path of flowers until they came across a garden of some sort through flowery vines. They were impressed as a river, fields of flowers, other paths from other flowery vines and a hut made out of wood on a small hill.

"Woah…" DogDay said, impressed, "Someone must have spent a long time with this."

"Yeah…" CatNap said as he then looked at the hut, "Someone should be inside that hut."

"If they're available… I guess we might as well check it out and tell them how they did it."

CatNap and DogDay then slowly walked down the now path of the garden to the hut in the small hill. Inside, there was a bed in one corner and a ring of rocks with someone in a hoodie and cape meditating in the middle of it, turning away from the entrance. The two saw someone meditating and wanted to politely ask them.

"So… Who's gonna ask them politely?" DogDay wondered,

"Go ask them." CatNap replied,

"Ok."

DogDay cleared his throat as he spoke up.

"Excuse me?" He asked the hooded someone while they were getting up, "Do you know how you built this garden? Me and friend here are lost and–"

Suddenly, the hooded someone turned around, scaring CatNap and DogDay.

"GAH!" They both shouted,

"WAHH!" The hooded someone shouted as they accidentally took off their hoodie and cape, "DON'T HURT ME!"

CatNap and DogDay were shocked to see someone they haven't seen in forever. That hooded someone, was none other than CraftyCorn.

"C-CatNap?" She said with an emotional smile, "D-DogDay?"

"Crafty?" CatNap said as he was about to cry, "Is that really you?"

"Crafty…" DogDay said as he was already about to cry, "Oh my God… YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!!!"

CatNap and DogDay then rushed over to hug CraftyCorn who they haven't seen in about a year. CraftyCorn also had tears in her eyes as she was so happy to see them, but couldn't resist the urge to shed tears as well.

"You guys…" She said, "I haven't seen you two in a year!"

"I knew you would be alive out there!" CatNap said, "I knew it!"

"We miss you, Crafty!" DogDay said, "We really do! Our friend group was Hell back there without you!'

"Oh… You guys…" CraftyCorn said as she sniffed and was freed from their hug, "I really miss you as well… It really has been forever…"

"You did all of this?"

DogDay looked around.

"Everything looks beautiful…" He said,

"Awww, thanks." CraftyCorn said, "I still got a creative mind after all this time…"

"And you were meditating…" CatNap said, "We've never seen you meditate."

"Oh! Sometimes I get a little insane after being alone for… God knows how long. So I made myself a little zen garden and turned a part of my hut into a meditation circle."

"And what's with your new clothes?"

"Oh, I guess you can say I am one with zen now or something, ha ha… And I've made these clothes myself. Don't ask how I did that. It was a painful experience at the beginning before I could really perfect the art of tailoring."

"And… your charm." DogDay said as he looked at it, "Why is it small all of a sudden?"

"Oh, this? Well, ever since I sacrificed myself for you guys, this charm… How do I explain it? …It grew weaker."

"That's odd." CatNap said,

"Yeah, and whenever I sleep I hear a voice that told me about these other flower charms that I must find, which all turned out to be right here in this little area that's now my zen garden."

CraftyCorn then showed the 5 other flower charms around her mane and tail.

"Each color represents one of the five color petals on my main charm." She said, "I still haven't figured out how I can get them to return to normal, but the voice doesn't know how either."

"Who is that voice?" CatNap wondered,

"Uhhh, what was his name again? Man, it's been a while since I've chatted with him as well."

"GuardianDove?"

"Yes! Him! How did you know, CatNap?"

"Bobby had a meeting with him in his sleep. Same for our English teacher."

"Mr. Wolfgang?"

"Yes, you still remember Mr. Wolfgang!" DogDay said,

"Ha ha, I haven't seen him in a year as well."

CraftyCorn sighed in relief.

"All that aside, I'm so glad to see you two again." She said, "I haven't seen the others in a year as well. Oh man, I'm starting to grow a little shy about meeting them again…"

"By the way, do you even have food around here?" CatNap asked her, "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, how did you survive off of food?" DogDay wondered,

"Fruits grow around and they're always fresh." CraftyCorn replied, "I don't know, but this forest is magical!"

"You have some right now?"

"Do I?"

CraftyCorn then went over and opened a fridge full of fruits freshly refrigerated and ready to eat.

"I got some of these earlier today before the sky turned red." She replied to them, "Come on, let's dig in!"

"Oh, it's great to have you back, Crafty!" DogDay said,

"Yeah." CatNap said as he and the others went to get some fruit, "And we got a lot to discuss as well…"

"Oh, tell me everything later!" CraftyCorn said, "For now, let's just relax and enjoy some fresh fruit!"