"What do you see, Star?" Anthea asked. The group huddled in the bush, waiting for Starburst to finish observing the simple cottage from across the meadow. The brush between the tree line and the opening was thick, allowing them cover of the vegetation.
"I see... Squash farm," Princess Starburst replied.
"Damn, why can't we get something better this time?!" Prism said in frustration.
"Maybe you would like more hardtack and water for dinner again?" Claire snapped back.
"That's enough, children. Let's check it out." Starburst commanded.
Golden Delicious stayed in the bushes with his musket pointed to the house in case any unwelcomed surprises appeared. With him was Anthea for her protection. Everyone else ran to the house while they kept their head down, but at the same time, looking around for any ambushes. They ran to the wall near the door and lined up against it.
With a swift kick from Turquoise's boots, the door exploded from the hinges and slid inside. Everyone else moved in with their muskets drawn, clearing room by room.
"Empty again. Where the hell is everyone in this empire?!" Princess Starburst asked as she left the lone bedroom. Crystal Clarity waved Golden Delicious and Anthea over from the bush. Everyone dropped their gear where they could.
"I'm starting to get concerned, you’d think we would see another person by now," Claire commented as she began rummaging through her bag.
"Maybe they’re all on holiday? A giant party in the capital?" Cotton Candy added.
"Whatever is going on, I bet we will find out when we reach the valley. Alright, lets call this home for the night. Girls get the bedroom." Star commanded.
"Sweet!" Cotton Candy squealed as she grabbed her sack and ran into the room, hoping to snag the bed first. She threw her bag on the bed and leaped into it with a child's giggle. Even with the stress of the journey, she still had the same spirit as when they’d left home. Her spirit was strong enough to reach in her bag and pull out her mandolin. She played a few melodic plucks while Anthea walked in with her bag.
"Would of been nice to sleep in a bed for once," She whimpered.
"It's big enough to share it."
"Thanks, Cotton, you're a great friend."
"Anytime!"
Anthea looked around. The colors of the blurs were all the same: pink. All she saw in the room was pink, all except two things: a large leaf green blob in the corner of the room that was cotton candy's garb.
The other was on the floor.
She reached down to touch down the item but realized it felt waxy, like a crayon. She felt the waxy part and realized she was touching a piece of paper on the ground.
What?
"Cotton, what am I holding?" Anthea asked.
"Paper!"
"What is on the paper, I feel crayon"
Cotton candy snatched the paper from Anthea and examined it.
"What the?" She said as she got off the bed.
"What is it?"
"I-I don't know, maybe star knows!"
She rushed out of the room and outside, where everyone was planning the daily hunt.
"Guys! Guys! Look at this!" Cotton Candy said, holding up the paper for all to see.
"What... is that?" Prism asked.
"That looks like... a Changeling?" Golden Delicious answered.
"You sure?" Claire asked.
"Yea, they have a big colony far away from civilized lands. We get the occasional straggler trying to get at our livestock. We just put them down and let them rot where they lay, good for fertilization."
"If there are Changelings, we would of ran into them ages ago. It's most likely some kids wild imagination. Cotton, you and Anthea get the kitchen ready for the hunt and draw water from the well. I guess grilled squash and whatever we find tonight!" Star commanded.
***
"What the fuck?" Prism whispered, his complaints heard loud and clear to everyone else hiding.
"One hour. We have been here for an hour and no game or animals? Where are the animals?" Claire wondered out loud, perched on a branch.
"It's as if there's another animal around, but what kind of predator though?" Star asked.
"Bears, mountain lions, foxes. But even the presence of one wouldn't send animals to flee an area." Golden Delicious answered, hiding in another bush.
"Something isn't adding up here...." Turquoise said, hiding in the same bush as golden.
***
"Forget squash! Look at all this!"
Cotton Candy couldn't believe her luck when she discovered the basement. Inside was a collection of different kinds of fruits and vegetables preserved and ready to eat. Anthea joined her but had a more difficult time seeing than she already could, so she just stood.
"Imagine their faces when the comeback and see this! They even dated it, less than a week old!"
They heard someone walk in and assumed it was the rest of their friends when they heard more than one footstep above.
"I found a basement, guys! It has all kinds of food in here!"
The person up there began to make its way to the basement via the kitchen. Anthea and Candy listened, but there was something afoot.
It was growling, and making clicking noises.
"Maybe it's just a mountain lion?" Cotton said, grabbing Anthea and putting her behind her petite figure.
"Mountain lions don't make clicking noises," Anthea corrected her.
"I was afraid you were going to say that."
The creature went down the stairs, exposing itself to the two frightened girls. It was a mixture of green and black, the skin looked like a form fitting armor. Its eyes were large and beady, the claws were sharp as knifes.
"T-That is the creature from the drawing," Candy said, pulling the flintlock out from her side.
The Changeling stared at them while continuing to growl and click.
"Hey little guy, I don't want to hurt you," Candy said, moving Anthea further into the cramped cellar.
The monster looked at them and hissed. The clicked and the growls became louder and fewer between.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you."
The changeling crawled forward like a cat about to pounce.
Cotton Candy began to panic. "I don't want to hurt you! Just go away and I'll pretend I never saw you! I don't want to-"
Cotton Candy and Anthea both screamed as the creature pounced, its sharp claws aimed straight at the young girls.
***
"Did you hear that? Sounds like a gunshot coming from where the cabin is," Golden Delicious asked, hearing the sound of a gunshot echoing through the floor of the mountain pass.
"It does! Anthea!" Turquoise blitz screamed as he left his spot and began to sprint back to the cabin with his friends following closely behind.
"Anthea?! Anthea!?" He hollered as he left the forest minutes later and came into the clearing. He went even faster when he saw a distraught Anthea standing outside. She ran into his arms when he was close enough.
"Where's Cotton Candy?!" Prism asked when they finally caught up. Anthea pointed inside the house. Prism, Delicious, and Starburst pulled their flintlock pistols and went inside, looking around. They heard sobbing when they reached the kitchen between the same voice apologizing to someone.
"Its... downstairs?" Golden Delicious observed. They found the entrance to the basement in the pantry, and walked down to see Cotton Candy sobbing next to the body of the changeling. She was apologizing for killing it as a thick neon green ooze slimed out of the small hole between the eyes of the changeling.
***
After disposing of the body in the squash field, Golden and Prism left to hunt. They arrived thirty minutes later with them dragging a wild boar behind them. Cotton Candy did not leave her bed, the painful feeling of guilt consuming her, even after the assurance she saved her and Anthea's life.
Starburst and Golden Delicious began to skin and butcher the hog outside on a bench while everyone else was busy with their chores. The counter top in the kitchen was not big enough for the hog.
"Could that thing be a stray?" Starburst asked, gutting the vital organs from the hogs underbelly.
"Maybe, but what would it be doing so far south? Even I think of that when I find them at my farm," Golden Delicious wondered.
'Whatever is going on, let's hope those 'things' are not what we are dealing with!" Crystal Clarity Amen'd from inside the kitchen, prepping the canned goods and squash for the dinner.