The Gem

Chapter 4

The woods felt rather dark and windy, as Darwin was running through, desperately searching for his brother. He couldn't bear the thought of him hurt somewhere, much less because of whatever he had done earlier. However, it was getting harder to keep going, as his stamina was slowly dying down, leaving him struggling to breathe.

Darwin finally paused, leaning against a tree as he tried to collect himself. It was okay, everything was going to be fine. He could only keep his hope that he would find Gumball safe and sound somewhere, and apologize immensely to him. He still had yet to figure out why his memory was so fuzzy currently, but there was no time to focus on it, not right now.

Just when he was about to start moving again, he spotted a figure shuffling through the area, seemingly having noticed him as well. Relief washed over him, as the goldfish approached. "G-Gumball? Is that you?.."

"Gumball?" The figure came closer, and it was then that Darwin realized who it was. Penny appeared into view, her expression that of concern as she had her attention on him. Her form carried a dim, yet warm glow to it, though was noticeably somber to match her mood. "You haven't found him yet then?"

"How do you know he's missing?" The goldfish raised an eyebrow. Admittedly he was rather confused at this point, questioning to himself why the fairy was even here. Yet, fear was quick to return.

"Your sister told me about what was going on, and I figured it was a good idea to come help you look," Penny replied, as she now stood next to him. "If anything, it's better not to go out here alone. You know how many monsters there are in here don't you?"

"Oh.. Right.." Darwin sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. He didn't really think too much about this search, did he? He sighed. "I've been looking everywhere but there's no sign of him.. What if something grabbed him?.."

Penny placed a hand on his sort of shoulder. "I know it's scary, but we'll find him, I'm sure of it. As much as Gumball can be kind of reckless and stubborn, he wouldn't get knocked down that easily.."

The fish nodded solemnly, feeling in no mood to respond. He calmly began walking, the fairy close behind him, as they ventured out farther into the greenery, observing their surroundings as much as they could. It was only a matter of time before Gumball could pop up somewhere, possibly hiding or in the middle of some hijinks going on.

Before he knew it, they had arrived at a cliff, or at least what was left of it. A good chunk of the rock was gone, leaving large cracks behind. Darwin soon spotted a knife sticking out from the ground. Upon picking it up, he screamed in pain, as sudden memories began flooding in violently, as if someone had slammed bricks into his head.

He remembered now. The necklace he had picked up, how his mood had changed so drastically. The way he had snapped at those around him, including Gumball, who received a slap to the face. The horrific memory of being in this exact spot, how his brother had found him, and how.. He stabbed the weapon into the cliff, how he said those cruel words to his face.

The way Gumball looked at him in horror as he fell into the watery depths, the fact the fish had been smiling at him. He smiled at his friend possibly falling to his death. He could be dead.

Darwin began to sob, falling to his knees as he chucked the knife over the cliff, not wanting to see the wretched thing, much less hold it. He couldn't stop crying, as all sorts of thoughts were clouding his head, making it impossible to even comprehend any of them. Was this why he couldn't remember? Was his head forcefully blocking out this horrid truth?

"Darwin are you okay?! What's wrong?!" Penny quickly bent down beside him, eyes wide with alarm as she tried to comfort him. She flinched as he suddenly hugged her. "Darwin?.."