The Hedgehunter: A TAWOG Fanfic

Chapter 7: Life's Work

Leaves and branches crunched underfoot. Tree bark was split by the forceful thwack and slash of iron. Gumball and Darwin's senses were overwhelmed by the sound of their own breathing and their hearts beating like a speedbag. Carrie's would have been hammering just the same if she had one. The three of them dashed and tumbled through the Forest of Doom as quickly as their legs could carry them, while the darkness of the trees consumed them as the tree trunks jutted out around them endlessly, as if willfully trying to keep them lost and disoriented. All the while, they were spurred on by fear and the sound of boots crashing against the dirt and the iron blade of a shovel hacking through the forest.

The three had no idea where they were running. In their desperation to flee, they found themselves lost once again, weaving and winding among the trees. Whether or not they were getting closer or further from the forest's edge, neither of them knew. Their only concern was putting as much distance between them and their pursuer as they could, though they knew in the back of their minds that he was keeping pace with them easily. In fact, he seemed to be gaining ground, and fast.

"Guys! This way!" Carrie suddenly turned a corner sharply, Gumball and Darwin skidding against the dirt to turn along with her.

"Do we even know where we're running?!" Gumball exclaimed, taking a few nervous glances behind him as he booked it through the forest. Even though he could see very little in the blackness of the forest, he could hear the crashing and crunching of foliage encroaching faster with every moment that passed.

"I-I think I remember the way out of here!" Carrie spoke out, clutching the bag to her chest as she darted through the forest along with Gumball and Darwin. "Just follow me! And whatever you do, don't stop run-AHH!"

The metal blade of a shovel slammed into the ground mere inches from where they were running. Even in the darkness of the forest, they could make out the great, massive silhouette of the Hedgehunter charging right next to them. His green eyes stared them down with predatory malice. The three of them all screamed and dashed away instinctively, deeper into the woods.

"Oh gosh! Oh GOSH! This is it! This is how it ends!" Darwin yelped out in a state of pure fear, his eyes starting to tear up. "Guys! Seeing as we have no hope of actually getting out of here alive, I just wanted to say that-"

"DARWIN!" Carrie shouted back at him, trying her best to keep her own mounting fear under control until they escaped. If they escaped. All around them throughout the forest, they could hear the Hedgehunter's deafening footsteps against the dirt. Another slam of iron caused them to jolt away and run off course again.

Somehow, even as the three of them were all making a mad scramble through the trees, overtaken by fear as their unstoppable adversary thundered close behind, Carrie could tell what was happening. He wasn't missing his shovel strikes on purpose. He was spooking them deliberately to try and steer them deeper into the forest, where no escape could be found, where they'd eventually all tire out once again.

"Isn't it wonderful? The fear. The adrenaline. You're living! Well and truly alive!" The Hedgehunter bellowed, barely thirty feet behind them now, a wry smile crossing his face. "Cherish it while you can!"

Darwin had absolutely no desire to look behind him at that moment. He was afraid that the moment his eyes met the Hedgehunter's again, that that'd be it for him. That he'd drop to the dirt out of terror alone, and that he'd have his soul taken just like Mr. Small's was. The sound of metal dragging through the dirt as he ran was like boiling water on his soul.