//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Up and Away // Story: The Party Girl // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// The sun had passed its highest point in the sky. Everyone had stopped for a quick lunch before resuming their work rebuilding the post office and the schoolhouse. Not long after, Flash noticed that someone was missing. “Hey, guys,” Flash asked his friends, “have you seen my brother?” “He, Button, and Pip went into the forest to get more wood about an hour ago,” Sandal replied. “It’s weird that they’re not back yet.” “We better go try and find them.” With that, Flash, Micro Chips, and Sandalwood set off for the forest. They hadn’t gone far when they found three hatchets lying in the snow. “Okay, those three were definitely here,” Micro noted, “but where could they have gone now, and why did they leave their hatchets behind? I mean, I know they have a habit of goofing off when they should be working, but something about all this feels extremely suspicious.” Flash and Sandal were deeply inclined to agree with him, especially after seeing an arrow carved into one of the trees. They turned to where it was pointing and found several more arrows carved into the trees. “Something about all this feels,” Micro began. “Trap-ish,” Sandal finished. “Not a word but yes.” “We don’t have a choice but to fall for that trap,” Flash declared. “The boys’ lives could be in danger.” Sandal and Micro both nodded, and the three of them began following the arrows. They trudged through the snow, growing more worried as they continued to find and follow more arrows. Eventually, the three of them reached a clearing where Lord Tirek, Lady Chrysalis, and their lackeys were waiting for them with First Base, Button Mash, and Pipsqueak bound with ropes. “Flash!” First Base cried as he struggled against his bonds. Flash stared at the scene before him in a mixture of disgust and horror. Then, his face morphed into an angry glare as he turned towards Chrysalis and Tirek. “I knew the two of you were horrible people, but I didn’t think even you would sink this low,” he growled. “Why not?” Lady Chrysalis replied with a wicked smirk. “It’s not like either of us is threatening one of our own people. These three, on the other hand, are outsiders. Why should we or anyone else in Griepsburg care what happens to them?” “Uh, because it’s basic humanity?” Sandal butted in rather unhelpfully. “What are you planning on doing with them?” Flash demanded as his fist clenched involuntarily. “For now, nothing,” Chrysalis continued with a sneer, “but if you want to see them alive again. Then, the three of you should come to the docks after dark alone, without telling anyone what you just witnessed and what we just demanded of you. Oh, and don’t forget to bring your possessions with you. You’ll need them.” With that, the clan heads and their followers began to walk away, dragging First Base, Button Mash, and Pipsqueak with them. “Flash! Flash!” Base cried out as he tried to escape his captors. “Oh, do shut them up!” Lady Chrysalis complained. Later that night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Flash and his friends quietly crept out of Night Light and his family’s cabin carrying their meager belongings with them. By now, the three of them had figured out what Chrysalis and Tirek wanted them to do and why. “Are you sure you really want go through with this?” Micro asked Flash. “Imagine how everyone is going to feel when they wake up and find you had just up and left without even telling them goodbye.” “Of course, I don’t want to go through with this,” Flash retorted. “Not only is it going to hurt people I care about, but I just know Chrysalis and Tirek are going to spin it in such a way that makes it look like outsiders are untrustworthy, which will hurt everyone twice over.” “What I don’t understand is what was so great about the way things were before that they’d go through all this just to bring it all back,” Sandal wondered out loud. Having seen firsthand what life at Griepsburg was like before, Flash couldn’t help but wonder that himself, but he was too worried about the fate of his brother and their two friends to say so out loud. When the three of them reached the docks, Lady Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and about six other people were waiting for them with the three boys. “You weren’t followed, were you?” Chrysalis interrogated Flash and his friends. “No, ma’am,” Flash replied bluntly. “Now, let my brother and our friends go.” “My, kids today, so impatient,” the lady grumbled dramatically. “Don’t worry, young man. You’ll have your brother and your friends back, AFTER we get what we want and no sooner.” “You haven’t even told us what you want,” Micro Chips retorted with an almost uncharacteristic annoyance. “Oh, it’s quite simple,” Lord Tirek added. “You all just need to get on the ferry back to the mainland, leave, never come back, and never contact anyone on this island again for the rest of your pathetic existence. Refuse, and we slit these boys’ throats and dump their bodies in a ditch in the middle of the woods.” First Base and his friends’ eyes all widened in fear at the sound of Tirek’s threat on their lives. Unnoticed by everyone else, the young man with the dark green skin and red buzz cut, who was holding Base and Button by their bonds, frowned in a mixture of regret and uncertainty. Meanwhile, Flash grit his teeth and growled; his suspicions about that the clan leaders wanted from him were confirmed. “It’s not going to work, you know?” Flash replied. “Getting us to leave forever won’t be enough to make the people here want things to go back the way they were before.” “We didn’t ask for your opinion, boy,” Chrysalis sneered, taking First Base from the man who was holding him and pointing a knife to his throat. “Now, make a decision or else.” Flash sighed and reluctantly agreed, “Okay, we’ll leave.” “Good.” Chrysalis threw Base towards his brother and turned to the young man in her entourage. “Pharynx, the payment please.” The young man reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a sack of coins, and handed it to Lady Chrysalis who tossed it to Flash. “That should be enough to get all of you to Paardenstad,” she said to them. “Now, go.” Flash cut his brother’s bonds loose, and the two of them began walking towards the ferry. The clan leaders then released Button and Pip, and they along with Micro Chips and Sandalwood followed their friends onboard. Once the six of them were onboard, they found Cranky Doodle asleep in the cabin. Flash grudgingly woke the ferryman, “Hey, Cranky, wake up!” Cranky started, awaking with a snort. Seeing the six boys on his boat, he said to them, “Leaving so soon?” “Unfortunately. Don’t ask why though. Knowing the reason might get you in trouble,” Flash answered, taking some coins from the sack Chrysalis gave him and paying the old man. As the ferry pulled away from the docks and chugged towards the mainland, Lord Tirek turned to Lady Chrysalis and asked, “You think this will be enough to take care of the boy?” “If it isn’t, don’t forget that we still have that little contingency plan in place,” she replied.