Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The night was closing in.
Wolfgang collected all the gold he had just mined from the few astray veined rocks that just so happened to be around the area, afterwards, he called out to the other two who were with him, assigned to the same task.

-"Clown man! Spider child! We need to go back to camp! The sun is going down! The scary monsters of the dark are going to come soon!"

Upon hearing the call, both of the aforementioned managed to swiftly grab the scattered resources, putting them into their respective backpacks before returning to meet with the Strongman.

-"Do you remember which way was our home, Mr. Wolfgang?" Webber asked nonchalantly, more curious than worried.

Wolfgang stopped to think for a moment, he looked down at the spider boy, then at Wes, sheepishly smiling with a pleading look in his eye.
The mime's expression told, that he wasn't surprised at all by this, for being younger than the Strongman, it often baffled him how scatty the man could get.
He scratched at his chin, then pointed in the direction he thought he recognized.
Webber, Blissfully unaware of the issue at hand, followed the other two who headed up front, believing strongly that the sheer fact that they were older, they knew what they were doing.

Which was clearly a mistake on his part.

-"I can't wait to tell Mr. Higgsbury how lucky we got! I'm sure he and Mrs. Wicker will be very happy with the stuff we found! And maybe Warly will let us have seconds of his gumbo! I hope so! It's so good! I know, right?!"
The boy monologued on to himself,
(what was actually him talking to his counterpart) so the mime and the strongman both listened to him in silence until addressed.

-"–And maybe then Willow will finally stop trying to set our fur on fire! Ugh! She's so mean sometimes! How do you deal with her, Wes?"

Wes just shrugged.
He really didn't, he just prayed that whenever they were in a shared space, he wasn't the main target of her random outbursts. He remembered the last time it happened they had to build a meat effigy for him, Willow apologized at least. Although he was very doubtful she wouldn't do it again eventually whether provoked or not, excluding her bad days though, she was a pretty okay gal! Fiery and passionate, and probably the most charismatic of them all.

Wolfgang remembered too...Oh, the time she thought she had lost her teddy bear, the campsite was almost completely burned down. It was dreadful, to say the least. His magnificent mustache almost got scorched off!
-"Wolfgang doesn't know too. Fire lady can be very scary..."

Webber nodded to him in confirmation.
-"But not as scary as Mrs.Wicker when she's mad! She never really gets mad at us much, but… Oh! She was very mad at Willow that one time! I never saw her scared of anything but water! It was hilarious! Stop saying that dummy! She can be very mean, but that was just too terrifying! You can't deny she didn't deserve it though! I don't know...maybe."

Wes and Wolfgang both nodded and winced at the memory. Mrs. Wickerbottom's face scrunched up into that bloodthirsty expression, thankfully directed at someone else... In the end, Willow was very nice to them for over a week! And didn't even burn much of anything, it was rather strange, to say the least...

Wes proceeded to mime a spear with his hands, putting on a phantom helmet, which most likely suggested that he meant to mime Wigfrid, then he shook his head while shivering and exhaled.

-"You think Miss Wigfrid is scary?"
Wolfgang guessed.

Wes nodded.

But Webber just huffed out in protest, unconvinced.
-"How so? She's very loud but she's not really scary…"

Wes put his hands against his cheeks as if signaling a shout, then took a fighting stance, squaring up, he grabbed his shoulders and madly shook his head again.
Which to them was as clear as day his version of saying:

'Heck yes she is! She's SO loud it's actually scary! And she's very STRONG! Have you seen her?!'

Wolfgang laughed at that.
-"Tiny Clown man has a point, she is strong! She can even kill a nox with her eyes closed! Wolfgang saw! Can't underestimate viking lady, ever!"

Soon after, they entered a very dense, unkempt terrain. A grassland with grass so massive and lush, it almost reached Wolfgang's shoulders.
Vines and never-blooming blackberry bushes were scattered around the place, astray rocks that were covered in a thick layer of moss and the formerly mentioned greenery, it seemed as if no one had been here since…probably forever.
Mother nature, or rather..The Queen in this case, seemed pretty adamant about making this place look as abandoned and old as possible.

Webber was, at last, starting to get anxious.
He didn't know where they were, it was getting dark and the adults didn't apparently know where they were either! Did they even have enough resources at hand to make a torch? Or a campfire?
He glanced at the other two, with a look that still resembled a few specks of hope, although which were rapidly fading.

-"Where are we..? I don't remember being here before..."

Wes tried putting his hand on the boy's shoulder to offer comfort, but the child backed away. Refusing to give up and panic just yet.

Wolfgang really didn't know what to do, he was becoming steadily afraid himself, he didn't know the way back, and this place really didn't help with its creepy, ominous decor.
He, unlike the smallest of the three, struggled to hide the said fact and began to lightly tremble as they stumbled further on.

This situation was getting worrisome.

Webber started looking around frantically, pulling away from the tall grass that loomed over him.

Constantly moving.

Maybe some of his friends were here?
What if they could show them the way back home! Or at least tell them where they were…

He didn't even notice when he got seperated from the others. They probably hadn't either, since they haven't called out for him yet.

He was so small after all.

He pushed back the few remaining grass strands with some struggle.

That's when he spotted it.

A giant spider nest.

He ran towards it so fast, that he nearly tripped several times on sticks and pebbles underneath his feet.
In the meantime, the shuffling sounds caught the attention of the other two, alarmed now, they attempted to call him back, them being mostly Wolfgang, that is.

Webber didn't listen. If they didn't know the way back home, perhaps his spider friends did.

He noticed some of the six-legged creatures dispersed across the surrounding area, exploring and scavenging as they did so at every sunset.
He walked towards one of them and asked in a meek voice.

-"Can you help us, please..?"

The spider just stared at him, confused.

So the boy continued to elaborate.
-"Me and my friends got lost, can you tell us where we are so we can go home?"
He pleaded with the creature who looked down for a moment, then pointed with one of its front appendages at something in the distance.

-"Huh?" Webber wondered out loud.
The spider looked up at him once more, then back the other way again, continuously pointing, eventually, it began to crawl there as if signaling for him to follow. Webber did just that.

The boy tried to ignore all the creepy rock formations and trees that began to take different shapes...Or were they actually those spooky trees that sometimes appeared in the forest? Webber wasn't really sure but either way, he didn't want to know, he tried to keep his brave face on though, he wasn't a cowardly child anymore! He wasn't alone! And most of all, they had each other now. The spider clearly tried to help them, maybe show them the way home? Or at least lead them towards something important–
Oh.
Uh-oh.

This was definitely not the way back home.

There, in front of him was a scenery out of a fairytale, or maybe a horror story? Or both?
Deeper down through the foliage stood a great rock with barely visible golden veins due to the dense moss and vines that were even beginning to grow out tiny flowers. The flora was encompassing it throughout like a comfy blanket.

But what really caught their eye was the statue of a man-shaped...Thing. Touched by the hand of Gaia as well.
It didn't really look like anyone or even an actual human.
Its eyes were gone, replaced only by two abysmal black holes that sucked out any light that tried to reach them.
It was also visibly missing a part of its face and left leg.
Its expression was set on a permanently defeated frown, one that told, that if it were ever alive, it had given up on being so and decided to just stay here, sitting, decaying, and...Was that rust?
Webber carefully walked closer to inspect it, the spider, that he was following climbed onto said rock, as if assuring them that it was safe.

It wasn't alive.

The boy suddenly got an irresistible urge to touch it. That one no kid can resist once it enters their mind.
He extended his clawed hand. He almost could feel the odd texture of its arm, when–

-"Spider Child!"

A voice called out to him. Startling him so much not only did he instantly pull away, he jumped back a few feet, as if caught committing a felony. He turned around, his fur on edge, before relaxing just as fast.

It was just Mr. Wolfgang.

Webber sighed in relief and walked back to the man who was standing quite far off, enough to not notice the strange statue.
It wasn't hard to find him, since he pretty easily towered over all the grass.
Yet that still didn't stop Webber from glancing one last time at the thing.
His spider friend, that still sat on it waved him goodbye.
This statue must've been important, if it led him here, right?

-"Yes Mr.Wolfgang? We're sorry for running off, Is everything okay?"

Wolfgang nodded happily, then bent downwards and extended his hands towards the boy to climb onto his shoulders, the other promptly did so.

Wolfgang really hated spiders, but this one was the one and only exception. He still felt anxious around the boy, but it wasn't really anything close to actual fright. Besides, the kid was so friendly! Adorable even! Wolfgang could manage this once.

"We figured out the way home! We should get to camp just before the night falls." The strongman proudly exclaimed.

-"That's great! Ah! have you seen that weird statue over there Mr.Wolfgang? It looks very sad and abandoned."
Wolfgang turned his neck to the child in confusion, as he continued walking at a fast pace. Wes was already halfway there, sending off a flare signal that everyone back at the camp always carried around to use, in case one of them got lost or were in danger.

(Willow was banned from owning one after the last incident that resulted in the deciduous forest almost completely burned down, she still had her lighter on her person in case an emergency did happen, unfortunately for the other survivors and nearby critters, she didn't quite understand what 'an emergency' was, as it seemed.)

-"Oh, didn't you know, Mr. Wolfgang? There's a statue right over there!"

The boy pointed into the distance behind them, but by now, the statue was long gone from sight, as Wolfgang practically speed walked away from the previous location.

-"Aww.. Well, it's a bit further away now."
Webber mumbled, he felt slightly disappointed Wolfgang didn't get to see it. Although perhaps this was for the better. The man didn't take such scenery well, especially at dusk when the shadows became even if a bit more terrifying.
-"We need to come back for it tomorrow! Please!" The child then exclaimed.

The made the man even more confused. What statue? There was a statue? Why would they go back for it? They don't need marble at the moment...
-"Uh...Um..Well, We'll see...Maybe?"

Webber raised his hands in victory, they needed to come back for it, somehow, he wasn't exactly sure why, but it felt very important.

-"We need'a get Mr-Wil..snn to see– it...and.." The spiderling yawned, giving their best attempt to pursue the conversation, but the soft hum of the mustached man and the singsongs from the owls that lived inside the dense forest up north reminded him of how exhausted he felt and that eventually lulled the boy to sleep.

Wolfgang sighed. He was very tired too. They needed to come back home immediately, he was crossing by the Savanna and the remaining specs of light were vanishing fast.
He very much didn't want to get eaten by any scary night monsters.
Especially the Grue.
The previous times were just about enough of an unpleasant experience for him... He was almost certain everyone else felt the same way.

When the darkness finally enclasped the world, his fear only increased by tenfold.

Once he looked up though, his face brightened up, the welcoming sight of their campsite, now only seperating them by a short distance, and the light emanating from all the torches and fire pits engulfed him with a strong sense of warmth that took away all his fears, he tried not to run towards it as to not disturb the sleeping child on his shoulders, but he still half-rushed there nonetheless, when Wes waved at him, a couple of other survivors did too, just in case he didn't notice.

But he did of course.
He was just so glad they managed to pull through yet another day.

Chapter Text

Webber had a dream that night, about the bizarre statue from the overgrown glade.

It called out to them, crying for help.
-"Please, don't leave me, I've been alone for so long...I need help. Maybe a friend too..."

It's voice was indistinguishable, it didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard.
It wasn't a child's voice, but it couldn't belong to a man nor a monster, It didn't sound very girly either...

It was strange.

Webber was now his boy self as his counterpart stood next to him.

Dreams are always so weird...

They both looked at each other, then at the now live statue, that slowly began to change its form, when it was fully transformed, it looked just like a...Oh.

As its new visage formed, standing before them, neither of the two got the chance to take a better look at it, for the figure became more foggy and distorted every passing second, as for the scenery, it soon completely faded to black.
Although not before a pair of hands and eyes managed to flash before their own four pairs, they think they even heard a woman's laughter too.

Webber was awoken by the sound of two people arguing. Loudly.

Immediately after awakening, he forgot about the last images he saw in his dream.

-"How many times do I have to tell ya, we can't just keep attacking those dumb frogs! Do you remember what they did in spring?! Ye throw a rock at one, then gazillion others jumped at all of us! They almost licked my tail right off! And let me tell ya, it was NOT a fun experience!" Woodie loudly spoke in his not-so-jovial voice.

Wigfrid huffed.

Ah. It looks like Woodie and Wigfrid decided to have a casual squabble just outside their tent.

-"Well, höw else are we suppösed tö get real fööd aröund here?! These översized kalkoner are impössible tö catch these days and we can't just attack the hönörable pigs, för they are prötecting us fröm the vile höunds!"

At that, Woodie groaned in frustration. Webber could almost feel him roll his eyes.

-"Yeah, yeah, because eating a couple of vegetables every once in a while would kill ya. You're acting like a child you know!?"

-"Öh, I'm a child?! I'm a warriör! A mighty Valkyrie! Nöt söme meager mortal peasantry who's meant to cönsume thöse föul things! I risk my life tö prötect this very campsite from cunning foes and this– Is what I'm repaid with?!"

Woodie's eye twitched.
-"Ah, so we're going there now, huh?! That's swell! Jus' blame it on me, why don't ya? If ya don't believe me, that this is a bad idea, then go ahead and ask Lucy! She'll tell you how crazy you sound!"

-"I am nöt göing to cönversate with yöur Axe!"

-"SHE'S NOT JUST AN AXE–!"

Okay, Webber had just about enough of their loud yelling.
He emerged from his tent, feeling crabby.
-"Guys! Will you please stop shouting, you were being so loud, you woke us up!"

Both of the adults instantly felt guilty, once they realized what was happening around them and where they ended up in the midst of their blind argument.
In front of poor, young Webber's tent.

-"I'm so sorry, kid, I didn't realize we were near yer tent, I–"

Meanwhile Wigfrid in all her dramatic glory kneeled in front of the child, and with the use of a couple exaggerated hand gestures, she exclaimed: -"I Apölögize för this grave öffence, tiny spindeldjur! I will leave yöu alöne nöw, but I will bring back an öffering, a sacrifice öf the many froskr, which yöu'll höpefully accept as a tötem wörthy öf my förgiveness!

Webber tilted their head in confusion. What was a 'froskr'?
While Woodie pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.
-"You are NOT attacking these darn frogs!"

Oooh, so that's what she meant.

But Wigfrid was already leaving.

-"Yöu bet yöur arse I AM! Nöw excuse me, för I'll be slaying plenty föul beasts in a mighty battle! Adjö!"
Woodie shook his head, very much annoyed. Whatever. it was her problem now, and until she learns not to mess with these scurvy things, he will not be getting involved any time soon.
He instinctively looked down at the spider boy. Hoping the kid will be on his side.

-"Can you believe 'er?!

Webber just blinked, feeling awkward. He didn't really know how to respond to that. He kind of did expect Miss Wigfrid to attack them but was this the proper response?

Suddenly an image flashed before his eyes.
Then he remembered.

The events of yesterday, their foggy dream…

The statue!

Webber's eyes went wide and he grabbed Woodie's hand in two of his smaller ones, before shaking the life out of it.
-"Ah! Ah!We need to find it! It needs our help! Please!!!"

Woodie almost tripped at the sudden and unexpected eagerness of the gesture.
-"Woah, woah, woah! What are you blabbering about there kiddo? Who needs help??"

-"The statue! The sad statue we saw yesterday when me and Mr.Wolfgang and Wes were gathering colorful rocks!"
Woodie stared at the him for a moment, utterly flabbergasted as to what the kid was talking about.
When he finally processed it in his brain, he laughed. In his defence, what else was he supposed to do after hearing that?!

-"Hahaha! I'm sorry kiddo, but what?! A living statue? I'd hate to burst your bubble, but I sincerely doubt that these things are ali–"
Then he stopped. His amused expression faultered when a realization struck him. He had to remind himself where exactly they were at the moment. Right...The Constant.
-"...On second thought, Anything's probably possible 'round here..."

Yet Webber kept insisting. He wildly shook the lumberjack's hand once more for emphasis.
-"Please you've gotta believe us! Tell Mr. Wolfgang and Wilson to go with us! It's very important! Please, please, please!"

Woodie sighed, relented and patted the kid's head. If he refused Lucy wouldn't let him hear the end of it anyway.
-"Alright, alright, I'll see who's available for today and we'll visit your statue.. friend....Okay?"

Woodie never expected this sentence to come out of his mouth but yet again, weirder things are probably boot to come out sooner or later...

Upon hearing no direct refusal from the scruffy man, Webber's face lit up and he hugged the man's leg, his four additional appendages wrapping around it as well.
-"Thank you, Mr. Woodie!"

Woodie just smiled and patted the fuzzy crown of Webber's head.
This day was steadily becoming more and more ridiculous.

-"Heh, it's fine, kiddo."

In the end, they settled on a 'team' consisting of Woodie himself, Webber, Wolfgang and...Surprisingly enough Maxwell.
He seemed peculiarly interested when a word of an abandoned, humanoid statue reached his ears.

They took the same route as before, but this time it only took about half an hour to get there, considering Wolfgang, learning from his past mistake, had enough sense to memorize the route.(mostly hoping that he could avoid ever coming back there again at all costs, but apparently he couldn't even do that.
He refused to come back at first, firmly set on his decision, but those sad puppy eyes...(How was a human-shaled spider even able to do that?!)
He groaned in frustration. Why were innocent little kids sent to this place anyway?

They all had an inkling they were getting closer, when the terrain started looking more and more deserted.

Webber prepared himself to dash, their instincts telling them to do so in hopes of finding the odd statue, but the strongman stopped him before he could do just that.

-"Don't run away this time, please, we're here for it too." He said. Frankly, he was lying, he did NOT want to see whatever the youngling saw, but he really didn't want the kid to run off on them again. Last time was perturbing enough. If they'd manage to actually lose him...Wolfgang feared what the others would do...

Webber shrunk down, embarrassed.
-"We're really sorry about that..."

Afterwards they carried on in an uncomfortable silence, until Woodie eventually spoke, with the insistence of Lucy who was growing seemingly more impatient.
-"So where to, lil boss?" Genuinely asking.

Webber perked up at the question and decided to look around.
As he squinted, he could see a big, white spot in the distance. This filled the two beings inside with a wave of relief.
So it was real.

This wasn't some form of hallucination induced by insanity. At least some part of it so far wasn't...

It hasn't even been that long since they trekked off, and he could already sense that they weren't too far away, which felt surreal, because Webber could've sworn the last time it took them much longer to get to the mosaic biome that neighbored this creepy and quite offbeat one.
Now he couldn't even see the mosaic biome anywhere near…As if the world has shifted somehow in the span of one night.
Either way it didn't really matter, the sooner they found the prime reason for their traipse, the sooner they could leave this place...

"There! Our spider friends will guide us there!" They gleefully proclaimed.

Maxwell decided this was his time to chime in, although it was a rather cumbersome attempt. Ignoring the topic the boy just mentioned all-together.
-"And what exactly is this..Ehr..Statue, If I may ask? What did it look like, young arachnid?"

Webber hesitated to tell. He still didn't know if they could trust Maxwell after what he did to them.
So instead of being direct, they tried to be as scarce as possible, he'd see it for himself soon enough anyway.
-"It's a...It seemed very sad, it looks kind of like a weird human...thing, like a broken weird human that's covered in lots of moss and vines!"

Well, that response certainly wasn't as helpful as he'd hope, but Maxwell relented on commenting, perhaps if he sees it for himself, he'll be certain…

Before they knew it, they were soon standing in front of the same giant spider nest that Webber saw the day prior.
The three men though quickly backed away, hiding behind the few trees planted furthest from the thing.

If the boy was going to wake his 'friends' up, they definitely didn't want to be around for that. The sole intention of this "mission" was more so an exploration rather than a hunt, they had limited weapons on them, so neither of them wanted to pick a fight, even Wolfgang, (who could easily smash spider warriors with his bare hands) hated the sheer idea of just being around those things.

Just as Webber extended his claw to lightly tap on the den, he spotted something napping just a few feet away from it.
It was a regular black spider, but it wasn't resting in its den like the rest of its brothers and sisters.

He slowly approached it, then whispered gently, as to not startle it once it awakened. Those were never good times when that happened, even now, while he was regarded as one of their own. Spiders were naturally a very anxious species, especially in this World. so anything that was considered too loud for them could easily activate their defense mechanism at any given time, but most definitely when they were asleep.

He already learned that lesson the hard way.

-"Hey...Are you alright, little friend? Why aren't you sleeping inside your home like the rest of your family?"

The spider steered awake, flinching a few times at the sudden disturbance nonetheless, then, as it opened its eyes, it stared directly at them. Once it realized that it was just them, its face brightened and it rose up.
Webber decided to offer their hand towards it, at which point the spider crawled onto his arm and onto his shoulder, feeling comfortable enough to stay there. But then it began to hectically point one of its limbs in the same direction Webber seen before.

It clicked with them almost instantly.

-"Oh! You're the same spider friend from before! How did you know I'll come back here?"
Webber grinned and lightly patted the spider on the head, beaming with joy. He didn't remember any of his friends doing that before, which was quite touching.
The little spider nuzzled into his hand and shrugged the question away.

The boy signaled to the others to come, (who by now, were standing not so far away) he waved with the one free hand he had as well as his other upper limbs, not saying a word, as to not disturb his other, sleeping friends in the nest.

They approached him, then stopped, once they saw the spider perked on top of his shoulder, which hissed in disapproval when it caught the sight of them.

-"Hey, it's okay! They won't hurt you, I promise!" Webber began, which only reassured the creature slightly. It backed down a little, but still kept a wary eye on the humans and particularly him.

-"Are you suggesting this thing is here to guide us?"
Maxwell asked. He knew the boy mentioned something of that sort before, but he was too engrossed in his thoughts to realize the child wasn't stopping by here to just ask these abominations of his for direction.

The boy raised an eyebrow at him, (or, at least it looked like he did.) then nodded in confirmation.
'Did the man not listen when he explained his friends would lead them to that place?
Of course he didn't. Why would he listen to a little kid, much less a monster...'
They bitterly thought, but kept it to themselves.
The spider seemed oddly offended too and looked away from the former Shadow King.

So his creations did remember him! What a truly welcoming way to show it…

Woodie then gave the youngest a thumbs up.
-"Swell! As long as it won't try to bite my ankles off I'm all for it! Lead the way, lil bud!"

Wolfgang just nodded beside him, although after thinking it through, he decided to stand behind the lumberjack, just in case the monster changed its mind... He knew it was silly, and that this creature was barely, (if at all) bigger than a tennis ball, but he just couldn't help it.

Webber looked at his shoulder buddy one last time before it once again resumed its previous task.

The four followed in the general direction the creature was pointing towards.
Naturally, Woodie, Wolfgang and Maxwell kept a line of distance, just in case this turned out to be a trap. More so Wolfgang and Maxwell as Woodie seemed pretty cool about the whole situation.
That, or he was already going insane.

When the foliage began to thicken once more, Webber picked up his pace, which forced the other three to follow suit.

Once he was out in the open, free from the looming hedges, Webber saw it again.
The statue was just as untouched as the last time he saw it, (Or the opposite of that actually) But unlike last time, without any hesitation he ran straight towards it.


It looked so much different in broad daylight. Almost unrecognizable. Almost.

For one, It didn't bring out the same spooky vibe as before, at least.

And this time they were sure 100% that it wasn't a hallucination or a trick of the eye, seeing as all the others present reacted the same way they did just yesterday.

When the remaining three survivors caught up with him they saw it too, and their jaws dropped. Mostly Maxwell's.

Especially Maxwell's.
This was it. It really was here all along...

And of all places...in an ominous meadow.

What stood before them now clearly resembled a man of smaller stature, but one covered in dirt, rust and tons of tons of moss, which made most of its actual body practically indistinguishable.
It casually sat on a rock, but the vines that wrapped around it, made it seem like it had been tied to the rock itself to be kept in place.

As opposed to yesterday's image, the glade now looked like it was magical, the chestnut tree that leaned over the rock seemed so out of place, yet at the same time, it couldn't have belonged anywhere else...

What shocked Maxwell the most though, was the fact that nowhere else did he ever plant one of those during his entire reign, evergreens, spiky trees and modifications of the former called birchnuts were the most common three he accepted into his world, never had he ever created a pure tree identical to its earth equivalent, even the pines were modified in miniscule ways, but this was just a regular chestnut tree, which meant it must've been the work of Charlie herself.

It almost felt like she wanted for them to find it.

The look of absolute horror and recognition that crossed the puppeteer's face must've caught the attention of Woodie, who was glancing at him with uncertainty.
-"Hey there hozer, you alright there? You seem way paler than usual..."

Maxwell tried to speak, but in the end no words came out, so instead, he ignored the other's inquiry and walked towards the being beseated on the stone. Inspecting it carefully.
He didn't really know what to do, or what to say, but the one thing he was certain about...


That it was most definitely them.

Chapter Text

The automaton that he'd somehow lost to time.

While Maxwell was contemplating, Webber decided to poke the 'statue', for not being able to do it before.

Underneath the soft exterior of moss, its surface felt hard and callous, but also pretty hollow, very unlike any marble statue they've come across, it was a little scratchy as well, in contrast to the smooth stainless faces of the other statues.

They even knocked on its chest to make sure.

It was indeed some kind of metal.

-"Woah! His skin is like sandpaper! it also feels kind of like metal, not marble... I didn't know you made statues out of metal, Maxwell!"
The boy exclaimed in awe while inspecting further every square inch of the thing.

This successfully brought back the man's attention, as Maxwell suddenly began feeling dubious about this whole thing.

He should've known he'd dug up his own grave when he decided to follow Webber and the others. His inquisitiveness mixed with sleep deprivation has made him bold and reckless.

Except..

This time, he felt as if he had to be honest, at least once. He owed some and more after these people whom he deceived, at least attempted to stand living in his presence.

This was an opportunity for him to redeem himself if only slightly, but it could also result in him getting a solid beating from a bunch of angered survivors, which is why he was so hesitant about this in the first place.

But eventually, he managed to muster out a vague answer.

-"That's because I don't....And..Ehr..That's not exactly a statue."

The other three stopped what they were doing, then stared at him intently.
Woodie, mostly, eyed him with suspicion.
-"And what is that supposed to mean, eh..?"

Maxwell exhaled.
He gazed once again at the figure situated on the veined rock, with a perplexed expression.

He truly had no way of escaping this situation now, had he...?

-"It's..supposed to be a robot, last time I checked…"

There was a pause.

Webber jumped down from the rock and appeared to be waiting for further explanation.
As did the other two standing before him. Although antithetical to the child, they were far more distrusting of him, which neither really tried to hide, and instead chose to pursue those feelings.

-"Hold up, is this another one of your mechanical clockwork thingies? Is that why you were so insistent on coming with us? To loot some gears?...Or is this some kind of a trap and it's not actually broken at all…?!" The Lumberjack accused while pointing a finger at him.
Quite rude…

-"Yeah! Is this a trap, evil man? Are you trying to trick us?!"

Maxwell all but shook his head.
-"No! How stupid do you think I am? Let's say I attempted to do that, why on earth would I bring you buffoons here of all places!? You're some of the strongest people out there and this place is littered with spiders, even the kid would've had backup, so how do you think I and some rusty robot would be able to defeat you?!"

The men both hummed in thought, considering what he just said.

. . .

Finally, yet begrudgingly they admitted him right. Maxwell did have a point, this would've been a very dumb plan which would only result in him dying and getting kicked out of their camp.

The yelling subdued entirely though, once the youngest managed to state his part.

-"But it's not really your clockwork, is it..?"

This looked nothing like the other three variations of those things, Webber thought.
It looked distinctly humanoid, didn't fit the chess piece pattern much, and it wasn't even anywhere near a checkered flooring.

Then there was also their dream…

Woodie and Wolfgang glanced at him, then at Maxwell, then again at the figure.
They were realizing it too now, but something was still missing.

-"The tiny spider child is smart! Why doesn't it look like the other thingies?"
The Strongman asked.

-"Maybe it's a different variant? The hoser might've experimented a bit."
The lumberjack suggested, and in 3rd person at that! As if the man himself wasn't there at all.

Then Webber chimed in with a word or few and soon they found themselves discussing the origin of this strange automaton.

Very incorrectly at that.

Despite fearing what would happen if they knew the full story, Maxwell decided to not let the daytime waste away on a pointless chit-chat, when there were more important matters at hand.

And so he kept his presence known, kept speaking.

It was best to decimate their foolish theories, they were getting quite ridiculous…
They thought that he turned a person into–that?! Oh, come on! Even he wasn't that cruel!
(What happened to Webber was not at all his doing..)

-"Actually…They do not come from this world. They're from Earth."

The three immediately turned towards him, as if remembering he was still there, when his words reached their ears though, if anything, they looked more awestruck.

-"Huh…I guess you must've gone desperate if you started sending machines out here as well, eh?"
Woodie joked, which brought a hearty laugh from the strongman.
The spider child on the other hand did nothing more than bore eight holes into Maxwell's corrupt soul.

The Former king himself was not so amused.

-"Well, it wasn't really my doing…Although once they fell into this world, I come to realize that they were incredibly smart, unnaturally so, even for a machine. They resembled exceptional signs of sentience too.
There was strong potential in them, and so, instead of imprisoning them like I did with the mime or simply…Eliminating them from the game, I've decided to put them on the main board with the rest of you.
But they had...Some trouble surviving, I think they've eventually grown tired of my games and…Uh..This happened."

Not a sound was to be heard for a few moments, not even the chirping of birds, the buzz of the bees, or the gust of wind. It was as if everything spontaneously died, as did the automaton once upon a time.

Then, Woodie began plodding towards the puppeteer, expression grim.
The lighthearted atmosphere from moments before was gone in an instant.
The dapper man panicked, in the corner of his eye he saw the other two survivors, specifically their expressions.

Odium was the only definition of a word somewhat close to describing their faces.
It's as if the sole mention of sentience was the trigger.

It should've been obvious this wouldn't turn out well for him…

-"So you're telling us, this fellow was alive at some point, and you just let him die like that?! Someone could've spent an entire life trying to create such a marvel, but you, you just brushed it off like it was nothing?! You really don't appreciate any aspect of humanity, do you?!"

Maxwell wanted to interject. In fact, he tried landing them with a hand, a tiny push in the right direction. It wasn't his fault that the fool kept going the wrong way.

-"But can we still fix them?!"

Webber felt like he wanted to cry.
The boy mostly.
They knew of many fates the other survivors have faced and those upset him near each time.
Yet the one thing that was different in this situation was the uncertainty. He didn't know if the automaton could be brought back. And somehow he felt scared for them. Oh, the pity.

His father always told him he was too soft, guess not much has changed since then...

Maxwell looked over at the bot, wincing slightly as he turned to face them.

-"I strongly doubt that's even remotely possible–"

Which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

The boy started crying, the Woodsman then walked back towards him to scoop him up for a hug, while gesturing to his stronger friend to approach the former Shadow King.

Oh no.

Maxwell soon found himself being lifted two feet into the air by his lapels.

His poor, already ruined suit…

-"I don't care what you say, you made the kid upset, fix it! There has to be a way, right?! Use your dumb magic book or something!"
Woodie yelled.

-"My Codex Umbra will be of little help in this situation! That is unless you want them to be a walking husk fueled by nightmares!!"

The puppeteer felt the grip tighten. Fine, if they were being like that, he'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

-"Ugh, fine! I suppose we could try and save them! Who knows, maybe it will work after all! How should I know, I'm not a mechanic!"

Webber stopped crying for a moment and looked at him, a glimmer of hope shining through.
-"Wait, really???"

He felt the grip lessen if slightly.

Maxwell sighed.
-"Yeah, sure, I suppose we could ask Mrs. Wickerbottom and Sir Higgsbury, they'd know this stuff better than I ever could.

Of course! They'd know how to fix them! Why couldn't he just think of that?!
Webber brightened up and nodded, jumping off from Woodie's arms and walking towards the man (who was still held up by Wolfgang's fierce hand).

The spider that was with him previously, reappeared just to hiss at him.

That thing was still there??? Where had it gone before?

Soon enough the grip loosened entirely as he felt the strongman let him back down.
In one piece too.

He couldn't say the same for his tuxedo…

When there was finally a distance between him and the three, the Canadian reappeared in his safe space once more, this time speaking in a hushed voice.

-"Maxwell, you big hozer, I swear to God, if the bot won't work and the kid becomes upset again. I will beat ya to a pulp, so you better figure out a way to fix this yourself! It's your fault after all! We clear, eh?!"

-"Crystal." Maxwell stated instinctively.

When the four survivors calmed down shortly after, they each picked out any sharp objects that they had on them, to try and carefully cut down the vines that bound the rusty robot to the stone.

But before the ends of their blades even came close to the vines, the plants suddenly untangled as if commanded by an invisible force, followed by a sudden gust of strong wind that blew into their faces.

The lack of support plus the wind caused the broken machine to topple and almost fall off the rock, though Wolfgang was able to catch it in time.

-"Hmm, it's very light." He said to himself.

Were robots meant to be this light? Aren't they supposed to be made out of metal?
The man was strong, nothing could ever overcome his incredible muscles! But there was a certain amount of pressure whenever he held something made out of metal.

That pressure was barely even there in this case.

Webber and his six-legged friend looked at the limp form in the strongman's arms with sympathy.
Webber turned to the small spider and asked.
-"Did you know that he was alive?"
The spider shook its head. It really didn't.

He then looked up at Woodie, who was still glaring daggers at Maxwell.
-"Mr. Woodie?"

The lumberjack's attention diverted to the boy almost immediately, as did his expression, turning into something much more tender.
-"Yeah? What is it lil buddy?"

-"Do you really think we can bring them back to life? If so...Would they be a friend?"
Woodie suddenly felt guilty and he tried to not look directly at the kid, to not disappoint him, if A, they won't manage to restore the bot, B if they somehow do and it goes completely berserk.

-"I...Uh...If luck exists, kiddo, then I'm sure it'll be more grateful than ever and warm up to us real quick! That is, if we do fix it up, somehow. Maybe…"
Woodie really didn't know what else to say.
Webber just nodded and lowered his head, which made the Lumberjack honestly feel even worse, as he could already hear Lucy scolding him for his sucky consoling skills.

They decided to head back to campus right away.

When they finally arrived, the sun indicated that it was just past noon. Not much time has passed.

Which was rather odd, because they could've sworn it felt much longer than that.

Wilson was awaiting their return impatiently with a badly self-made clipboard in hand.
He had yet to notice Wolfgang carrying an unmoving silhouette, as he was situated at the very back.

Webber seemed much happier, once he noticed the lanky man. They ran towards him to give him a hug.
This took Wilson by surprise but it quickly died down, as he smiled at the spider child.
-"What's gotten you so happy now?"

-"We're going to help out our new friend! Help a hurt friend back on his feet!"
They exclaimed.

This slightly baffled the scientist, so he looked to the other three for an explanation.
At once, Woodie and Maxwell stepped out of the way to present Wolfgang and...What on earth was he carrying now?!

Wilson tensed.
-"What even is that thing?! Some kind of plant monster? I thought we've seen enough–"

-"It's actually an automaton of the broken kind. We found him in a very abandoned-looking meadow. The arachnid did, to be exact, the one Webber is still carrying on his shoulder."
Maxwell explained carefully, with a tiny smirk plastered on his face once he got to the last part.

Wilson instinctively inspected both of Webber's shoulders, and just like Maxwell said, there were indeed 4 pairs of eyes staring back at him from the right one.
He slowly backed away from the boy, before the main subject of the matter caught up with him.

A broken Automaton. Huh.

-"Well, this sounds... Exciting! Great job to you Webber! And your...Um.. little friend there! This will be perfect for me to finally test that core theory I've been working on! Perhaps it still has the right parts to–"

The other four became alarmed.

Webber shook his head and glared at him.
-"No! You will not scrap our new friend! He's alive! Maxwell said so!"

Now it was Wilson's turn to become alarmed as he stared at the taller man, demanding an explanation.

Oh boy… Maxwell attempted to fix up his loose tie, which in actuality was him trying to protect his throat from the impending wrath that would inevitably come from the scientist in front of him, once he too learns the truth.

-"It's actually...One of the other survivors...Or it used to be, much rather..." Maxwell said, in a small voice, which all in itself was very uncharacteristic for his person.
Nonetheless, the scientist heard it well enough, as what soon followed was a loud and very disturbing shriek.

-"WHAT?!"
This made everyone who was present flinch away in discomfort. Then Wilson began marching towards the puppeteer who attempted to back away.

-"WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO HIM?! WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE THAT?!"
Woodie grabbed his shoulder before he had the chance to give the dapper man a piece of his mind.

-"Stay calm bud, not yet. Not in front of the kid. Let the hoser explain himself first. Eh?"
Wilson took a deep breath then gave Maxwell a death glare so intense, that the puppeteer was thankful, neither he nor Charlie ever implemented this as a possible way to go, as he would've been dead on the spot.

-"Talk. Now."

Maxwell faltered. It turns out this was going to be a VERY long day…

Chapter Text

After Maxwell explained enough for the other to lose some of the killing intent in his eyes, Wilson inadvertently began to think out loud.

-"Okay, so it's a robot. An actual sentient robot.. Albeit unfunctional at the moment. There might be a chance we could fix him somehow. Hopefully. If this really is one of the other survivors. Then we're dealing with a much bigger issue here..."

-"But how do we fix him, Mr.Wilson?" Asked Webber who freed Wilson from his thoughts.
Wilson looked at the boy for a moment. Remembering suddenly that he was here all this time.

-"Uh…You for one...Can help us clean him up from all these plants, then..."
The scientist walked towards a chest nearby and pulled out a bug net, before handing it out to the spider child.
-"You can go play with the butterflies, while WE–"

He specifically looked at Maxwell.

-"–Deal with the rest!"

Webber dropped the butterfly net and crossed his arms, offended.

-"Are you saying that we're of no help?! We want to help him somehow too! Giving him a bath isn't really that helpful!"
Wilson winced. Looking at Woodie and Wolfgang for some help.

Woodie hummed in thought for a moment just as Lucy suggested an idea.
-"Hey, maybe you could hand out gears and other necessary materials while the geniuses are at work! You know, like a nurse in a hospital, cause they sure as heck are as important, if not more than the surgeons themselves!"

Webber considered this. He knew he didn't know exactly where all these robot parts went, so he probably wouldn't be able to help that way, but knowing that he could at least assist in fixing his new metal friend brightened them both up a tad.
-"Okay!" He grinned, before rushing off to find a sponge and an old rag.

The men all sighed with relief.

Now, Wilson's attention solely focused on the dapper man himself.
-"You. Are going to help us fix this."

Maxwell tried to protest.
-"But I don't even know basic engi–"

-"I don't care! It's your fault it's stuck like this in the first place, so be it, you will help me and Mrs. Wickerbottom restore it!"

Woodie and Wolfgang glanced at the scientist, slightly Irked by the fact that Wilson didn't think about how they could help out as well.
-"And how are we going to be of help? You're not the one who brought him back here!"
Woodie argued.

Wilson paused.

Seriously, is everyone going to act like small children right now?!

-"Look..I don't know, perhaps you could hunt down a few stray clockworks that are still around the island, and collect all the other necessary materials in order for us to bring it back to life."

"Works out for me!" Wolfgang smiled, accepting this idea, and stalked off to find his football helmet and a spiked club.

Woodie still looked unconvinced.

Wilson groaned in irritation. Why was he being so difficult?

Woodie put his hands up in surrender, before speaking.
-"Look, buddy, I'm not trying to sound rude, but I saw you blow plenty of your 'experiments' up, so please explain how I'm any less competent than you are in helpin him out."

Wilson, nevertheless, still looked very much insulted.
He tried to make a counteracting argument, he raised his finger up, but once it actually came to speaking, he faltered.
-"....Okay, you may have a point..."

Woodie then elaborated.
-"Listen, I may not have a degree in engineering, or science or–whatever. But If Maxwell is being forced to learn this stuff right now, then what's stoppin me? I could help out too, ya know..."
The aforementioned puppeteer glanced at the duo, although if not silently agreeing.

Wilson went quiet. He understood where the other was coming from. It was in his nature, that he wanted to help out, he really couldn't blame the Canadian for it.

-"I think..."
He began, as the other two looked up at him.
-"I think that Mrs. Wicker might have a couple of books about robotics that you both could ask her for…Maybe I should too..."
He mumbled.

Woodie grinned and put an arm around the scientist's shoulder.
-"That's why you're my favorite buddy to drink with!"
He then whispered, suddenly turning serious.
-"Don't tell that to Wigfrid, she's already pissed about the frog squabble we had this morning."

Wilson laughed.

Maxwell tried to look gravely serious but had to turn away eventually so as to not break his character any further.

Despite the small lighthearted moment, they all knew this wasn't really a situation they should be laughing in, for neither knew what event would come out in the future.

Once Wickerbottom was briefly informed of the situation at hand, she immediately pulled out the 3 books she had about engineering, robotics, and such. Despite not being able to bring many books with her to the Constant, her memory, in spite of her age, was sharper than that of most younger folk.
She spent so much time in the library during the last 30 years, that she had memorized at least a few dozen books, including the latter. The ones she did remember, she decided to rewrite in papyrus, just in case they ended up being useful for her at some point.

And would you look at that? She was never wrong.

At least not in the last couple of decades…

She let the two men study the books, while she herself went to inspect the automaton, which was currently being thoroughly cleaned by a very determined Webber, Wilson, and now Wendy as well, who was most likely there because of the spider boy.

The moss that previously covered the whole top of its head like some ludicrous hat was now gone, revealing a big gaping hole in its upper crown area that uncovered the circuitry of its cranium.

The librarian frowned.
This was very upsetting to her. Especially now, with being aware that this once used to be a living being, according to Maxwell that is…

She already had a few ideas on how they could fix it, but kept them in mind, until the others were done with the scrubbing.

There were still a few survivors left, who were yet to be informed about this whole affair.
She was mostly worried about Willow and Wigfrid, especially Willow, as sometimes she tended to decisively overreact under certain circumstances…

She was not ready for that to happen and she would definitely not tolerate another excuse for why half of their campsite was aflame.
That is why she will likely confiscate the young woman's lighter and any flammable materials that she may possess on her person, before informing her of their most recent issue.

And for that measure, Wigfrids spear needed to go as well. She might just try to impale the previous Shadow King, and the librarian truly didn't want to deal with that at any given point in the future.

So, once the two women came back to the campus, apparently meeting with each other halfway into their assigned tasks, while carrying the many, many dead frogs and other animals that succumbed to their ends.
(She can only pray, that they didn't hunt down any poor catcoons...)

They were chatting about whatever two very crazed women in their mid to late 20s would chat about.
When they noticed her though, they both stopped the conversation, their expressions turning serious at once, they stood straight and unmoving, as if they were in a line formation before their commander.

Wickerbottom extended her hand expectantly.

The two looked at each other and panicked, before deciding to give her their decapitated amphibian prey.
She stopped them before they could hand over the gorey mess.

Her face scrunched up uncomfortably.
-"That is not what I expected of you to give me, so excuse me, I should perhaps clarify better. You two need to hand me over all your lethal weapons, for we have a very serious discussion to partake in."

Willow frowned.
-"What? But why would you need to do that for, Ma'am?"

The Librarian deadpanned at her.

Wigfrid tried to protest as well, but once Wickerbottom raised her finger up, there was no further arguing. It was best to not put up a fight against the elder woman.

The latter once again extended her hand, this time eyeing the both of them.

The two reluctantly gave up their weapons.

Wickerbottom still wasn't satisfied. She glared at Willow for a solid moment, who after a minute groaned in frustration and took her shoes off. Letting all the gunpowder spill out.

-"And..?"

This time she looked at both of them. Just to be sure.

The women rolled their eyes.
Wigfrid took out the few daggers she had under her hat and on her belt, while Willow emptied her pockets of the matches she had pouched in there.

The Librarian smiled, seeming finally pleased.
-"Now, let me inform you of the situation at hand."

And so she did.

-"WHAT THE ACTUAL FU–"
Willow screeched but stopped herself when she received a glare from the elder woman.

-"An actual robot? But höw?! Why wöuld this fööl send a robot intö this wörld?!"
Wigfrid was at a loss while Willow kept screaming, already regretting giving up her lighter. She didn't expect something this insane!

-"I do not know, I have yet to ask him, and for the love of God, Miss Willow would you please stop screaming?!"
She exclaimed, raising her voice at the end to shut the firestarter up, it worked.

Temporarily.

Willow crossed her arms and hugged her teddy bear, Bernie, this was already stressing her out.

Not because Maxwell decided to bring in some dumb robot for who knows why. But the fact that this weird robot was here now, and everyone was contributing in order to fix it, even if literally no one knew (Maybe except for Maxwell) what this thing was like before it shut itself down.
For all, they knew this could've been a killer robot and once they'd somehow managed
to repair it, it would pull out some kind of Robo-artillery from...Wherever and shoot all of them down! Yeah, she DID NOT want to go down like that.
She had way better ideas for that.

She huffed and decided to voice her thoughts.

-"Well, what if this so-called "survivor" was actually some kind of war machine that was brought here to either hunt us all down or Maxwell just decided to put it here for shits and giggles!? Either way, if this thing wakes up one day and decides to slaughter us all, I'll burn it like iron, and when it'll all be over with, I'll say to all of you...That I told you so!"

Wickerbottom facepalmed. This young lady was too exhausting to deal with. Not to mention her potty mouth worthy of a sailor.

She had to admit though, that she understood the younger woman's point of view and where it was coming from.
-"Alright, we'll make sure this doesn't happen, okay?"

-"Yeah, you better, because If this Frankenstein-thing wakes up and attacks, I won't hesitate in melting it down to its cereal form!"

-"It's cellular, dear..."

Willow stomped her foot like a child before walking off, not before shouting.
-"Yeah, right, I knew that!"

Wickerbottom then turned to the redheaded woman, expecting another shouting match.
The 'valkyrie' was aggressively chewing on a raw frog leg, which honestly made the librarian want to gag, but she pushed the feeling down.

-"Dear, you do know, I can just ask sir Warly to cook this for you. Right?"

Wigfrid shrugged, before replying, although not stopping with her meal. Making her attempt at speaking sound almost unintelligible.
-"mhmm stuess eeteeng"

The librarian exhaled. She hoped that this situation would eventually resolve itself. And with very few issues, but she sincerely doubted that would be the case…

Chapter Text

When they were finally done with the cleaning, Wilson's frown deepened.
He didn't expect the abrasion to be this severe...All the corrosion damage, the bumps, and the deep-seated cavities in the upper abdomen, cranium, and other body parts looked quite gruesome once fully visible.
He was becoming concerned.
Where would they even get all the brass and steel for the replacements? Sure, they could steal compartments from a few clockworks and maybe melt down a couple of gears, but would that be enough for the whole body?

He was steadily growing more and more unsure of whether they could actually fix the automaton or not.

Webber and Wendy noticed the look on his face once they put away their supplies.

And how defeated he seemed.

Webber's own face began to falter.
Was Mr. Higgsbury giving up? Were the injuries this bad? Could the robot ever be back in one piece again?

Wendy grabbed his shoulder and looked at him, almost expressionless, yet he could still sense the small glint of pity in her eyes, although addressed mostly towards him, not the automaton recumbent on the work table.

-"I'm really sorry, but maybe it was his time to go. After all, we all will meet our end one day or the next…

Wendy was a wonderful person when she wanted to be, but God, she was absolutely terrible at comforting people.

After the loss of her sister, she became obsessed with death and everything about it, while she could relate to anyone upset or grieving when it actually came to making them feel better, she rarely succeeded, the only one she did manage to comfort every once in a while was Abigail; her ghostly twin.

The boy still appreciated the effort at least.

Webber gently put her hand down from his shoulder and backed away, deciding to get some space for themselves and Mr. Wilson, who probably needed it too, given the circumstance.
He knew Wendy would understand and leave the man be as well.

They knew nothing about this robot, for all they knew Willow in all her screaming glory could've been right. And it may turn out to be some 'evil being brought here to destroy them' or whatever was that she had said.

He was just really struggling to believe it.

If his dream meant anything. And it must've since he rarely had any dreams that made sense and didn't turn out to be full-blown nightmares.

Then this was just another poor soul…Or lack thereof, that got entangled in all the mess that was this world, and paid the ultimate price for it…

He hoped the adults would find a way to help them…

They looked up at the sky, realizing while everything was happening the whole day had gone by and that night was approaching quicker than usual.

A full moon night.

The moon wasn't even fully set in the sky and yet It was so bright that he had almost forgotten that it was supposed to be nighttime.

They both noted to themselves to not wander off into the deciduous forest. The pigs scared them enough as it is, their were-forms weren't any better. Quite the opposite actually.

That is why the boy instead decided to sit on a hill he spotted not too far from their home.
A lone Willow tree casting shade against the bright light of the moon.

Strange.

They didn't remember there being any Willow trees…

Despite the oddity, this wasn't really something to be bothered about now.
Neither were their current problems weirdly enough.
All the spiderling could think about was the big bright ball above.
And the sudden questions that came with its existence.

Who knew, maybe it was alive as well?

What if there was life on it too?

Maybe it saw them and everyone else here and questioned how they got here.

Did it judge them?

How would it feel about all of this?

They had so many questions with no real answers…

They curled up in on themselves, grasping their head in between their clawed palms, This was way too much thinking, his head began to ache.
At his age, he should be thinking about playing silly games, picking flowers, and chasing after butterflies, not about strangely philosophical things related to the moon!

Right. He wasn't a normal kid anymore…

-"Ah, le garçon araignée. There you are."
Called out a voice from underneath the hill.

Webber instantly perked up and looked down to see Mr. Warly, standing there, offering his delicious crème brûlée and a warm smile.

Woodie and Maxwell both were relatively quick learners, even though the things written in the book tended to be more difficult to grasp.
Thankfully, Mrs. Wicker tried to explain the topic to the best of her abilities so they got around in the end.

Somewhat at least.

It wasn't the most interesting subject either of them had taken a part in, but both of them were quite determined to figure it out anyway, for their own personal reasons, and because Wilson demanded it.
Mostly from Maxwell, but still.

Woodie was halfway through the whole book, while Maxwell was almost finished reading the one he had chosen for himself.

The silence was rather peaceful, it was unexpectedly… quite nice actually.

Not for Lucy though.
She hated sitting around doing nothing. Perhaps this was the greatest disadvantage of her axe-shaped form. She couldn't do anything by herself anymore.
What was the point of immortality if you were completely immobilized and bored senseless eternally as long as no tree-slaying action was involved.

-"I'm so bored, Woodie! Can't we just go outside and chop just a couple of trees?"

Woodie sighed, slightly annoyed.
-"I'm sorry honey, but you need to wait until I finish. I promised Wilson that I would figure this out first."

-"Ugh, you're such a killjoy…" The Axe wined, deciding on a silent treatment instead, these usually frustrated Woodie to no end.

Meanwhile, Maxwell looked at him, baffled.
-"Excuse me? May I ask who you were just talking to?"

Woodie glanced at him, remembering suddenly that he was there too.
-"Ah, just my partner, Lucy. She becomes frustrated when we don't chop trees for a long amount of time."

Maxwell slowly nodded and pretended he didn't hear anything.

Right, he remembered now. How foolish it was of him to ask that.

He reverted back to his book, which read; Basic Engineering for Dummies.

Woodie attempted to return to his own respectable book, but he just couldn't focus on the words that were written there, they twirled and doubled, as he felt a phantom headache creeping in, slowly growing more and more bothersome.

Great…Today was a full moon night.
Curse him for not checking the dates over again.

All this recent mess made him completely forget about it..

He best not cause another calamity like the last time when he turned into were-moose;

It was his most unruly form, that he had yet to take full control over..
And while the chance of that happening again was 1:3, it was still dangerous to grow this careless.

Unintentionally wreaking havoc on people, structures, creatures... It was a true disaster once he came to his senses, when that happened, he felt so bad he offered to do thrice the amount of tasks he usually was assigned to do, and of course repair all the damage he had caused.
The other survivors were too easy on him though, most said they understood and that 'It's okay, we'll fix this as a team.'

Woodie honestly didn't remember his own family being this kind and understanding…

Instead of thinking about his curse, he decided to start up a chat with the previous shadow king, anything, really to delay it.

-"So…This robot. Do you remember what was it like? I mean..It wasn't really some insane killer machine, right…?"
Woodie carefully laid his words, while he had doubted that this was the case, you could never be too sure, especially not when it came to Maxwell.

Maxwell stopped reading once more and scratched his chin in thought, trying to remember exactly what they were like, although his memory disappointingly was failing him a tad.
-"Well…I know for a fact that they didn't go on a killing spree, I would remember something as hilarious as that."

Woodie deadpanned at him.

The Puppeteer coughed into his hand, apologetic.

-"Well...They did seem upset, that they got stuck here, like all of you did, if not for different reasons, but not to that extent. In all sincerity, I don't remember much about them, I'm sorry.."

Woodie huffed out a breath.
-"Yeah, hopefully, we don't mess anything up then. Imagine if we misplaced a sprocket and the thing went berserk. Eh?"

This didn't exactly calm the other man down, instead, he frowned and shook his head.
-"Then perhaps we should stop our little chit-chat and go back to studying these books."

The lumberjack attempted to speak once more, but the unavoidable wave of nausea hit him harder than ever, just as everything started to get more and more blurry.

Oh no.

This finally caught Lucy's attention, who figured out immediately what was up and she was, understandably, not happy about any of it.
-"Woodie please calm down, It's okay, it's just like we practiced. The breathing exercises!"

Woodie tightly grasped his head in both hands and groaned out in pain, addressing Maxwell again.
-"I don't…Think this…will be…possible right now, bud…"

He pointed his very shaky finger towards the opening of the tent.

For that Maxwell stood up, he had a feeling he knew exactly what was happening and he too didn't like the idea as much right now.

Just as he suspected, when he peered out from the tent, the big bright moon in its ominous glory was slowly rising up to the top.

-"Bloody hell…Just swell." He pinched his nose, then turned back to Woodie who was now growing out paddle antlers from his head, steadily becoming bigger and greater..

Even better, it was the were-moose phase again…

Maxwell slowly walked back to the man, who was desperately trying to fight off his transformation.

The puppeteer offered him his hand.

They had to get out of here and go to a more open area for this. It was the only way to prevent all the chaos and destruction that would ensue otherwise.

But as Woodie reached his hand towards him, it turned into a vast hoove, which then knocked the other man back to the side of the tent.

Maxwell ungracefully fell onto a table and groaned out in pain. He could practically feel the huge nasty bruise that was forming on his back.
The ex-magician could distinctly make out an apology that came from the other.

Maxwell decided to get back up, despite the fact it was starting to hurt like hell. He still owed the other survivors, as much as he'd hate to admit.

He oh so loathed being in debt…

Woodie stood now at around 10 feet tall, fully transformed, huffing out in anger like a fearsome bull and staring directly at him.

This made Maxwell stand up more carefully, trying to ignore the pain, he slowly extended his hands in surrender
-"Okay…Calm down, woodsman…Let's just get out of here peacefully, alright..?"
The message only partially came through to Woodie as the real man himself was panicking a lot on the inside right now, trapped in the backseat of his own mind.

In short.
This did not work.

Who would've guessed…

Moose-Woodie pummeled his fists and slid his right lower hoove a couple of times against the floor, indicating that he was ready to strike the puppeteer down at any given moment.

Oh, screw it.

Maxwell dove straight for the exit of the tent once more.

He dodged the few chairs and books scattered all around just as Woodie began dashing right for him, antlers up, ready to impale him, or at least cause severe damage to his entire, scrawny body.
In the meantime, he pushed the aforementioned furniture out of his way as quickly as possible.

(Ms. Wickerbottom won't be too happy when she finds out about this…)

Unfortunately for Maxwell, he wasn't the graceful gentleman he always prided himself on being, at least not anymore. Once he skipped on top of that last bureau, he knocked over an inkwell and spilled the contents all over his suit jacket and pants.
-"This day just keeps getting better and better…" He muttered to himself, whilst making the final beeline towards the opening.

When did this tent become so broad?!

Just then Woodie scud right for him, in this state, he didn't really care about any of the furniture or personal belongings he might've destroyed then and there.

Just as Maxwell reached the flaps, he felt a sudden sheer pain hit his back (again), and yet somehow he managed to catch onto his attacker's antlers, while basically doing a cartwheel...

In any other situation, this would've been quite comical, but he was trying to ignore the fact that his ribs or spine might've been broken by this point.
Once the adrenaline wears off, he'll probably die from the pain alone.

Well, maybe at least the man will lay off him after this for a while.

If he survives till dawn that is.

Maxwell held on, as the crazed moose mutation sped out onto their campground.
-"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!" He yelled out to anyone who would hear.

Chapter Text

Wilson took a deep breath. He had to find a way to fix this little automaton.

He knew he didn't really need to, he still had to worry about his own problems, but the spider boy's hopeful face…He just couldn't make himself disappoint the kid.

Curse him and his affinity for children!

Regarding The Bereaved, she decided to keep him company, for some strange reason.

She wasn’t speaking, just observing from the corner of his eye in complete silence.

She barely even blinked… 

He began to understand now, why Wolfgang was so spooked by her, if only just a little.

Soon, the Elephant in the room grew to an unbearable size. Even the atmosphere itself began to feel off, ever so slightly heavier and muckier. The man couldn't quite put his finger on whether it was because of the small girl or the accursed flower bud that always resided with her.

.

.

.

Wilson decided he couldn't focus like this. He had to politely ask her to leave–

 Though, before he could get the chance to utter a single word, she spoke out first.

-"Why do you care so much about bringing it back to life? What purpose would that serve you?" The question didn't sound to be out of malice, but genuine curiosity.

The man stopped to think for a moment. 

She did have a point. 

Why was he so eager to repair this peculiar machine in the first place?

Because he pitied a child? 

Because Maxwell said it was once sentient?

So were all the skeletons scattered around the world. 

He couldn't bring them back. 

Why should he be bothered to do so now?

Because he could finally do something about it.

-"Well, dear Wendy, that's because…I can."

Wendy deadpanned him.

He cleared his throat. 

-"Perhaps I should elaborate. I want to bring it back because I...I finally…Can do something about it. I won't just pass around a cadaver when I know that maybe…It's not too late, maybe I can still help them. I’m sure you can understand what I mean, but…"

-"I can…I wish Abigail was a robot. At least then we could bring her back anytime too."

She murmured.

Wilson sighed at that.

-Oh, Wendy.."

He patted her on the shoulder.

-"I'm not sure if that's possible, dear, but maybe…

Wendy just shook her head.

-"Don't try and get my hopes up, I've learned to accept it's futile."

-"Hey now, at least she's still around in the end, isn't that right? Even if not exactly corporeal…"

Wilson thought, he could see a glimpse of a sad smile sneak onto her face.

-"Yes. I suppose you're right..." She pulled out the flower from her pocket and patted its petals gently. Abigail was resting at the moment, but she could sense that her sister would soon awake. 

A comforting feeling.

The man refocused back on the bot, he had to start up his brain and think! Come on! He knew he could do it if he just...Think, Higgsbury! Think! There had to be a way, if only they could–

Then came a shout, followed by a loud crash.

They both jumped in surprise, then looked at each other, confused. It definitely came from the outside and its source appeared to be…

Hold on…

Maxwell?!

The only words they made out before things went downhill were…

Warly seated himself next to the spider child, passing him a ramekin bowl, while also handling his own.

-"What happened, Webber? You seem very lost and upset…Is l’automate…"

-"Mr. Wilson doesn't know how to fix them."

The boy cried, rejecting the food the man had offered him.

Warly frowned.

-"Is that so? Did he say that to you?"

The boy looked away, then slowly shook his head.

-"No, but…He looked like he was thinking it!"

Warly exhaled, then ruffled Webber’s fuzzy head.

-"Listen…Wilson is a very bright man, he'll find a way, eventually, he's already done so many incredible things, and with the help of Ms. Wicker and Sir Maxwell, even Sir Woodie, who knows what they could accomplish!”

Webber giggled and wiped at his eyes.

-” I guess you’re right, Mr. Warly.”

At that, the man smiled and offered him the bowl once more.

-” Naturally…Now, come, cheer up a bit, I know it’s one of your favorites.”

The boy nodded and with it, he took the makeshift spoon, attempting to scoop a large bite.

A loud shout and a crash.

Webber dropped the dish, and tensed up, as Warly grew alarmed.

-” W-what was that? Wait, was that-”

The man stood up at once, and looked back at him, his face void of the previous warmth, replaced by solemnity and caution.

The boy attempted to stand and follow suit but was stopped by Warly’s hand.

-” Stay back, Webber, I’d advise you to hide as well. This could be dangerous.”

-” But-”

The man was already leaving, running towards the source of the ruckus, only shouting one last time.

-” And do NOT follow me by any means!”

And just like that, he was gone, leaving behind a very confused, distressed boy, and two scarcely untouched bowls of food.

Wickerbottom faced the bureau of her study room, which in reality was just her tent. Before her, were countless crumbled papers of the many rejected ideas she’s had so far, reflecting only on her frustration. She was hoping to distract herself from her grogginess, but as it turns out, sleep was the least of her problems right now.

The fact that there was a creature in need of help, that is if it weren’t permanently deceased yet, and of which structure nor origin she knew nothing about, was more than just mildly infuriating.

There was barely any evidence at all indicating what kind of model it was, who created it, and what sort of mechanism it was supposed to run on, considering the damage that the corrosion left on it. 

If only they just discovered it sometime before, maybe they could've had a higher chance of-

No, no such thinking was allowed. Anything was possible, really, as far as she was aware, there were no actual limitations of this world that ever presented themselves to her.

She tightened the grip on her quill and began to think.

From what she had seen so far, Its head appeared to have a loose screw hanging from the midsection of its left profile, as opposed to the right side, which only had a gaping hole, this would suggest, that perhaps it used to have twin screws on both sides of its head, and to keep them stable, they’d need hex nuts- Oh! they meant to be conventional ears! That made so much more sense than that antennae theory she had prior, considering its frame all in all clearly resembled a person.

This already felt like progress to her, now, as she was certain of its head shape, the body started to gradually come together, creating a mental image of a short, biologically disproportionate automaton. Although she still wasn’t sure whether or not it was supposed to have any eyes-

That's when a loud cry startled her so, that she accidentally knocked over the inkwell adjacent to her onto the finished paper, destroying the blueprint altogether.

-” NO!” She yelled.

The ink even spilled on some of her notes, which made this predicament even worse. 

To say she was livid would be an understatement. She was just about ready to murder Maxwell herself, for he was the source of the noise.

But then a crash came, followed by a small earthquake.

The woman immediately left her tent, harrow overshadowing her anger.

-” What is going on?!” She yelled as she emerged, but quickly enough, she understood why the mayhem ensued at all. Maxwell was barely holding onto the back of a giant moose-like creature, very alarmed and in a lot of pain, it seemed. Meanwhile, the creature was visibly quite upset and trying its hardest to get him off its back. 

The scene resembled some ridiculous form of a rodeo.

But what primarily caught her attention, was the light cast by the moon. Big, bright shining moon, reflecting only what was already clear.

Drat.

The curse.

She stepped closer to the other survivors who were all undoubtedly panicking themselves.

-” Mrs.Wicker! Thank goodness you’re okay! Do you know of a way we can turn Woodie back?”

Wilson called out to her.

She took a quick look at the moose beast and frowned. She was yet to properly decipher how to undo the curse whilst the effect had already begun. The only way she did know of to stop this ongoing havoc would be to–

Just as she was about to respond though, Woodie finally succeeded in throwing the Magician off his back, and with full force at that. Wigfrid and Wolfgang attempted to catch him mid-air, so far to no avail.

Until Warly came running down the hill.

-"Personnes! What is going on!? Why was Maxwell— Oof!" In an unfortunate turn of events, it was then, that the other man crashed into him, knocking them both down onto the ground.

The beast’s attention diverted towards the group, the whites of his eyes now fully gone. He was glaring and huffing at them, entrapped in this animalistic state.

Then, as it so happened, Webber caught up to the chef, screaming loudly:

“Mr.Warly!!! WAAAAAIT!!!!! ”

Woodie’s head instantly snapped in his direction.

The boy came to a halt.

He and the beast stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment. The boy took a few short steps back. 

Everyone else held their breath, they had to do something, and fast, otherwise, who knows what would happen to the kid!

And yet, despite everything, The Moose-beast didn’t seem affected by the boy’s presence at all and decided to simply ignore him, refocusing back on the rest of them.

This gave the people a small glimmer of hope, was Woodie somehow…Still himself? Did he actually manage to–

Nope. The beast reenacted its charge attack.

The survivors barely managed to disperse in time, with Wolfgang scooping in both of the injured men.

-“He’s outta control!!! We need to do something guys!” Willow yelled.

-“Perhaps a distraction would come in hand?” a voice yelled back in response.

-“Yes, that!” 

Wendy stepped out of the crowd, cupping her sister's flower in both hands. Soon enough, it began to float slightly above her palms. An ominous aura seeped from the magical flower as it dimly glowed. 

A mist set in, enclosing the small area, within seconds a bright, red flash followed. blinding everyone and forcing many people to shield their eyes away.

 Abigail's spirit has awakened.

 Wendy smiled softly at her sister, as she twirled around her, ever so happy to see the other once again.

The sisters both concentrated on the beast, who, too, was facing the aftermath of the light.

-"Go hide behind these bushes and ascertain Mr. Woodie's salvation, me and Abigail will distract him, but only temporarily, so think fast." The young girl stated to the rest of the survivors, before striding towards the beast, with her sister on her tail.

-"Wendy!" Four of the people shouted at once. 

-"What do you think you're doing, young lady! Get back here at this instant, this is unsafe!" Wickerbottom shouted, but the order came unheard.

-"Oui! Mademoiselle Wendy! Please come back! " Warly, who only came to; a few moments ago, added, he too got no reply.

Some of the others likely said something similar, but the girl simply ignored all their pleas. She was no baby, nor was she engaging in direct combat, she only wanted Mr. Woodie to be back.

A distraction on the other hand was easy enough, especially with her sister around.

A memory flashed before her eyes.

She, her father, and her then live sister were playing a certain game of which the name she couldn't quite recall...It must've been a long time ago.

She remembered an irrelevant object being placed on the floor, her father counting up to twenty and looking for them both.

He had managed to find and capture Abigail, however,  her sister then jumped onto his back, startling the man, right as Wendy sprinted up towards the unidentifiable object, capturing it and thereby securing a victory for the twins.

-"Hey now, girls, that's just plain cheating!" Their father scolded, although there was no true enmity to his voice. Both of the twins giggled at that, whilst Abigail gave a snarky response.

-"It's not cheating, dad, it's called a distraction!"

-"Just face it, father, you're a sore loser." Wendy added in, feeling rather complacent.

Their father sighed and shook his head before a fourth voice called out to them from the patio.

-" Girls! Jack! Dinner's ready !"

Her face was warped and blurred over, Wendy could barely make out any of the features—

Then, the memory completely faded out.

Wendy exhaled sharply while looking directly at the beast. She tossed a pebble at his back to get his attention. 

It worked.

For when he turned to face her, appearing aggravated, Abigail had struck.

She only hoped the adults would come up with a solution to this mess in time before all her stamina ran out.

-“ We need to find a way to lead him far away from the campsite, and especially the girls!" The librarian whisper-yelled toward the sparse group, who, like her, felt stressed beyond belief.

It already took more mental toll on her, than the time they first fought Bearger, which was saying a lot.

The survivors glanced at each other with uncertainty. Out of the few, Willow was the first to speak up.

-"And how on earth are we supposed to do that, Granny? As I said,  He's gone completely berserk!"

The woman ignored the condescending tone in Willow's voice, considering the circumstances, instead focusing on the question itself.

Now, about that…

Oh!

She was going to tell them of her plan.

…But yet again, she didn't get that chance.

-"H-Hold on!" A raspy voice spoke out. 

Seven heads turned in its direction.

Maxwell, who was still holding onto Wolfgang for support and clutching his stomach with his other hand, attempted to stand upward, although so far, this turned out to be unsuccessful. His expression was grim and that of understanding, so no one dared to interrupt him this once.

-"From...What I've heard, his curse can be overcome by minimalized movement, is that correct..?"

The elder woman nodded.

-"Well yes, but–

-"Then we need to immobilize him.… Listen, I know of a recipe for a simple enough tranquilizer."

He stopped to take a few sharp breaths and looked over at the bunch, they were still intently listening, awaiting further remedy. And so, he continued.

-"They're called sleeping darts, they're meant to temporarily immobilize the foe, as the name suggests. They're easy enough to obtain, in fact, considering the plentiful resources we've got in store, I think we might just have all the ingredients to make them!"

Some of the survivors appeared skeptical.

 -"And how are we to know you're being completely honest here?" Wilson asked carefully, his eyes squinting ever so slightly.

In retort, Maxwell's own right eye began to twitch.

-"Well, Pal, If you haven't noticed yet. I'm very much in pain. I could die at any moment and am completely within your mercy. So tell me, why the hell would I lie right now?!"

The Scientist grew sheepish, as his ears gained a reddish tint, he quickly looked away.

-"I suppose you're right…"

-"But our Therianthröpe friend is fast! Maxwell, höw can we öutperförm him?! För I'm afraid, we can nöt just jump öut öf the bushes like brigands, he'd easily sense we were göing tö attack…" Wigfrid Interjected.

She was correct. How were they to keep up?

Willow all of a sudden shot up, startling some of the people, while she was at it.

-"Hold your horses!"

-"Shhhh!" The Librarian scolded, pointing her thumb at Woodie.

-"Right, right, sorry..." The Pyromaniac lowered down but motioned with her hands for the others to listen in.

"So...I think I might know how we could slow him down, just enough, to actually use these things! Remember that one time, awhile back when he ran into a rock and was all dazed and groggy afterwards? It was hilarious–!"

-"Willow!" The rest rebuked in unison.

-"Sheesh! Okay! –But anyways, what if we make him run into a few rocks and trees huh? That should definitely slow him down a bit."

A moment of silence.

...

After which the elder woman broke into a smile.

-"Miss Willow, that's…Actually quite Brilliant! Well done!" 

Willow stopped and stared at the Librarian as if the woman had just grown a second head. She was completely baffled by the unfamiliar praise. She even felt an itch at the back of her head.

-"Aw, gee…Thanks, Granny, it's no biggie."

-"No, this is great! We could use this to our advantage!" Wilson chimed in.

-"Oui! Perhaps if we led him into a secluded area, such as the Mosaic biome, we could disperse and confound him!" Warly, who stayed silent for the most part, at last, spoke out.

-"One or few of us should stay behind to make these darts, under the guidance of Sir Maxwell. If we'd be able to hide behind sturdy objects, then we could use the common, albeit dangerous tactic of diversion. Considering how feral and impetuous this beast form is, he should take the bait, and if he hits at least two solid objects, theoretically he should be dazed long enough for us to fire. Yes, this could potentially work..."

-"But won't Beard get hurt? I don't want Beard to get hurt…" The Strongman then protested.

At which Maxwell scoffed.

-"The whole point of this is to knock him out, so of course, this'll hu–" 

Wolfgang, peeved, let go of the man, who promptly dropped onto the floor with a pained grunt.

-"l'homme fort! Be careful, I know you're worried, but Maxwell's still–"

The world came to a halt, when a cry broke out from a distance, fleetingly freezing everyone on spot.

-"Hey!"

It was Wendy.

"Hurry up, won't you?! We can't keep doing this for much longer!"

The survivors instantly flew out of the bushes, some ready to take on the beast by themselves.

Wendy lay there, propped on her hip and clutching her left cheek, as blood seeped through the gaps in between her fingers. With her other hand, she shielded her sister's flower, clutching it close to her chest.

It appeared Abigail was left torpid, returning back to the pod to regain her strength.

This wasn't good, quite the contrary.

This was terrible.

Wilson instinctively grabbed a stick off the ground and threw it at Woodie's back, purely to get his attention off of the girl. The Moose Beast turned around in no time, hyper-fixated on the scientist.

The man gulped as he looked up at the huge, intimidating creature.

-"Uhh…Bye!" Wasting no time, he took off.

The beast followed suit.

In the meantime, Wigfrid ran straight for the little girl, swooping her up in her arms, before running off to a safer distance, where she dropped the girl into Wes' arms who barely managed to hold her up.

-"Take gööd care öf her and find the child öf Spindeldjur!"

The mime quickly nodded, but the woman was already off to the battlefield. Following the given order, he carried the girl away to the nursing tent.

-"Now what?!" Willow hollered, seeing the man struggle to outrun the beast.

-"I admit, I didn't think this through! Guys, HELP!"

The Pyromaniac made a dramatic sigh and glanced at the remaining survivors.

-"I'm most certainly out of the question, I could not keep up with him at my age, even if I tried. "

-"While I would love to run around like a headless chicken, this wouldn't end the best for me in my current state, besides, as Mrs.Wicker stated previously, I have to stay behind to help you not screw things up.

As opposed, the rest had agreed. 

-"I will go! Help beard!" 

-"FÖR ÖUR KAMRAT!" 

-"Bien sûr, I would never miss an opportunity to help a friend."

The five looked at the chef, skepticism present on their faces.

-"Are you absolutely sure? You're clearly injured, maybe you should–"

-"I'm fine, Mme. I'm not severely injured, I can go–"

Wilson yelled out once again, much more exhausted and frustrated this time.

-"GUYS– SERIOUSLY, CAN YOU DO SOMETHING?! PLEASE!"

The quintet looked at each other one last time and nodded.

Willow was the first to run off towards the beast, who was still in constant pursuit of the man. She threw a pinecone directly at his head, stopping him mid-run. This gave Wilson the chance to get away for long enough to actually catch his breath.

Once the moose-beast locked onto her, she grinned and made a certain gesture with her hand, which only infuriated him further. He changed his course straight away. The woman zigzagged around him, treating this situation almost like a game.

The other three soon followed after, holding several harmless projectiles of their own.

As for Maxwell and Wickerbottom, the two retrieved back to the camp. The Magician stumbled wobbly to the science station, whilst the Librarian jogged off to the nursing tent to fetch a medkit for the man. Once she entered the small structure, she found Wes carefully cleaning up Wendy's wound as the girl still clutched her sister's flower, not speaking a word.

The woman frowned.

-"Are you hurt, dear...?"

The girl shook her head, even if the truth was antithetical.

"Is Abigail hurt?"

This time, the girl nodded.

The Librarian stepped closer, worry present on her face. "Do you think she's going to be okay, dear?"

Wendy peeked at the woman, then looked down at the flower bud which began shaking if only by a bit. Wiping her teary eyes, she responded, at last.

-"Yes, eventually…"

The woman gave her a soft smile in return.

-"I'm glad to hear that, dear. Take care." 

Just as she was about to leave she stopped to think for a moment.

"Has either of you seen Webber?"

The survivors lured and danced with the beast, nearing the path to many trees and boulders. Woodie soon became bluntly aware of this cheap tactic they were using, and so the beast thought to come to a halt. Not making a move, even whilst being hit with small, innocuous objects, that couldn't do much if any damage to him anyway.

Instead, he waited, waited for just the right moment…

Then, once he sensed someone approaching by foot, in no time wasted, he turned around and reared, startling whoever was the closest, as well as any other people from a distance away. As it so happened, the perpetrator in question turned out to be Warly, who upon the sudden movement, stepped back harshly, barely avoiding being stomped on, although a rock did get in his way. 

Inevitably, the chief tripped, affecting his already damaged leg, he gripped onto it tightly, sharply wheezing in pain.

Heavy hooves approached. His grip on his knee lessened as he slowly looked up.

-"Oh, merde…"

Above him stood the moose beast, it was probably one of the most menacing creatures the man had ever faced up close, and frankly, he was terrified, so much so that he could barely move. Unspoken, he began to accept his unprecedented demise.

 At least he didn't have to worry about a real death anymore.

He closed his eyes, awaiting the impact.

.

.

.

But none came.

Confused, he peeked one eye open, only to discover a familiar stature vying with the beast, with the sole intent of keeping him away. Wolfgang gripped tightly onto Woodie's antlers, pushing him as far away as possible. The beast writhed, thrashed, and kicked back, every once in a while gaining the upper hand in the match.

While the wrestling took a while, In the end, Wolfgang prevailed. Taking his chance, the man, using his full strength, threw the beast towards a huge rock. The collision between the moose beast and it shattered it completely to pieces.

The pain became present. Stunned and befuddled, Woodie lay there for over a solid minute. The survivors carefully stepped closer, not too close though, so as to not repeat the same mistake twice. They were worried, especially Wolfgang. Did he throw Beard too hard? Was Woodie going to be okay once he turns back? Did they even have that dart thingy Maxwell talked about yet?

The survivors perhaps waited for a few seconds too long, for suddenly the beast shakily rose up, alarming the quintet. Once he regained most of his senses back, he glared daggers at them, prior to looking down upon the ground. 

The rock dust gradually fell, and the small cloud it had created lessened and dissolved.

Woodie developed an idea.

He reared up once more, frightening the people away once again. When he landed his hooves hard on the ground, the dust rose up high again, so high in fact, it created a makeshift mist.

And by the world's damning will, the mist decided to stay.

Alas, this only caused the survivors to involuntarily separate from one another. The following tension rose even higher than the fog.

The lone folk trudged with a heavy feeling of dread in their chests, awaiting the fierce strike of the beast.

This was not at all a part of the plan! 

With one hand below her forehead and the other gripping tightly to a thick branch, Willow walked, careful and wary of her surroundings.

Why did she agree to this again?

She could've just left while she had that chance.

These people's business shouldn't have been her problem, she never cared about anyone hitherto, not since the…Oh well…

" Perhaps in a world where everything wants you dead, it'd be nice to have some allies. "

Or so she thought.

Thanks to that, now she's stuck here with a bunch of crazy people, one of whom is a friggin vicious monster. She can't even burn the darn beast, because then the others would get too upset about it...

Woe to her and her dumb life choices…

As she took a step backward, she ultimately bumped into something steady. Although, the relief was short-lived, for when she used her right hand to inspect what that something was, her eyes went wide.

What she did feel under her palm was warm, stubbly fur.

She immediately looked up, as her head slightly shook. What greeted her was a large snout, huffing hot air straight in her face.

She didn't dare make any drastic moves, and neither did the beast, thankfully, though his vague expression indicated that he would soon change his mind.

-"Heeey…Woodie…It's, uh...It's nice to see you, ol' buddy, champ, pal! How have you been??"

The beast only scowled at her further.

"We're still friends, right..? You're not seriously still mad about me burning down that patch of trees, right?"

...

-"...Come on! you must be somewhere inside that huge, dorky head of yours!"

His behavior did not change whatsoever which wasn't too bad honestly, but she couldn't help suck in her breath.

"Sooo…I get it, you're mad at us, you want to destroy things, maybe even kill us. I understand! I really do! It's fun to be the one in control, go crazy and kill a bunch of people while you're at it...But you see, there's this teeny weeny issue…You can't do that."

At that, the beast made a sound that closely resembled a scoff.

Yeah, he was definitely not buying into that…

-"And the reason why you can't is…Is..."

As she continued speaking, she momentarily glanced behind Woodie, only to barely make out the silhouette of Mrs. Wicker over the cloud of dust, who, seeing her situation, pointed at something behind the girl.

. . .

Ohhh.

She understood now.

Her condescending smile reappeared.

-"The reason why you can't, is rather simple, it's because you're–"

The grip on the branch, which she had previously hid behind her back tightened, and as she screamed the final words, the end of the stick collided rather strongly with the beast's forehead.

-"–A BIG, DUCKING JERK!"

This set the beast off.

As Willow ran in the opposite direction, the beast pursued, wasting no time whatsoever. He was absolutely livid, this was plain and clear. If it weren't for the sheer luck and also a huge nitre rock in his way, she might've been a goner then and there.

In a blind fury, the moose beast had failed to notice the aforementioned rock over the fog of his own making, until it was too late for him to impede. With no slowing down, he crushed straight into it. The sturdy thing had the higher ground as a part of his left antler broke off.

The rock itself broke into countless of pieces that flew up into the air, flint, nitre, and stone fell from the sky like small meteor showers.

 The Firestarter caught one of the flying pieces and threw it to the Librarian who luckily seized the thing, before loading it into a small contraption, which after a moment began clicking and churning.

Then nothing.

The beast began to slowly shake awake again.

By this point, the mist had somewhat fallen and the sparse group reunited.

-"What the hell? I thought whatever gizmo you'd make would actually work, Granny! Are you seriously trying to play Wilson right now?!"

The girl yelled, growing aggravated.

-"Hey!" 

-"I had no time or paper left, okay?! It does not belong to me! We found it forsaken by the lake, when–" Suddenly the dispenser sprung into action and rapidly so.

As Woodie wobbly stood up, the thing fired 5 darts at him. He stood in place for a few seconds more, and as he gave one final glower to them all, he fell back down, seemingly knocked out cold.

After a few moments or so, he began to shrink down, gradually transforming, becoming more human. In due time, he fully reverted back into his original form. He was bruised, battered, and still very much unconscious.

That is when a bright light from between the mountain crests made itself known, lightening up the whole area. Once the survivors looked up, confused, sure enough, the break of dawn arrived.

A moment of silence followed thereafter.

.

.

.

-"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"