The Great War

={Chapter 19: A Tiring Afternoon}=

Bryan barely managed to gently put his cat down on the forest floor before he collapsed onto his stomach, breathing heavily and struggling to take in gasps of air. Molten walked over and crouched beside Bryan, gently rubbing Bryan's back as a reassuring gesture, he knew how Bryan was feeling right now, despite Bryan's attempt not to let it show. Molten froze as the brown tabby hissed at him and began lashing it's tail, and it unsheathed it's claws, but Bryan put a shaking hand out in front of Molten. "No, Brownie, he's a friend," Bryan mumbled tiredly as he began to sit up, but the cat, Brownie, continued to hiss at Molten. "Put your arm around my shoulders," Bryan ordered as he laid his head on Molten's shoulder and leaned into Molten, Molten was confused by the order but he obeyed, gently wrapping his arm around Bryan's shoulders. Brownie stopped hissing and sheathed her claws, but her tail continued to lash as she glared at Molten for a moment longer before she slowly walked over and climbed into Bryan's lap, now purring. "Hi honey," Bryan greeted with a sweet tone as he pet his cat. "How's your ankle?" Bryan asked with a slightly worried tone, and Molten only just now remembered he even had a wound on his ankle. "It's fine, it didn't hurt at all when you got surrounded, I'd say the adrenaline must have made me forget about the pain, but I don't have adrenaline," Molten replied with a confused tone as he looked at the bandages wrapped around his ankle, which he could see an oil stain forming underneath the bandages, but the oil wasn't leaking through the bandages yet. Bryan nodded in response with a curious expression on his face before returning his attention to his cat. "You can pet her if you'd like," Bryan stated as he turned his head with a smile towards Molten. "I'm not too sure she'd like that," Molten replied with a slightly joking tone, but Bryan only shook his head disbelievingly. "She won't mind, she loves attention, and she won't hurt you, she knows you're trustworthy," Bryan replied with a proud smile. Molten let out a faint huff before he slowly moved his free hand towards Brownie, who smelled his hand for a moment before rubbing against his hand, and Molten began scratching her head as Bryan stroked his hand down her back. "See? Told you. Brownie somehow seems to know who's good and who's bad, it's odd. She never liked Jon or Davis, no matter how hard I tried, I could never get her to be nice to them. She was nice to Otso and Derpy though, so that's a good sign, but I guess that doesn't matter now that I don't live in the kingdom anymore," Bryan stated with a proud tone and a bright smile, his exhaustion from running slowly warring off. "That's interesting," Molten replied with a confused tone as he continued to pet Brownie. "Well come on, let's go find Foxy and Lefty, we've not got much farther until we get to the cabin," Molten stated before he placed a quick peck on Bryan's cheek and stood, holding a hand out for Bryan. Bryan groaned as he took Molten's hand and pulled himself up, holding Brownie in his arms as he and Molten began walking through the forest.

"There you two are! We thought you two got captured or something!" Lefty stated with a worried tone and expression when he swiveled his head around and saw Molten and Bryan. Molten and Bryan found Lefty in a small, open clearing a little ways from the cabin that Molten had started making. "Foxy! I found them!" Lefty yelled as he cupped his hands around his mouth and turned his back to Bryan and Molten for a moment, before quickly whipping back around. "Where have you two been? And what's with the cat?" Lefty asked as he quickly made a circle around Molten and Bryan, searching them for any wounds, before he stood in front of the two again and waited for a response. "We went to get Bryan's cat from Jon, like I promised him we would," Molten replied calmly as he gave his brother a reassuring pat on the shoulder and smiled at Lefty, trying to show Lefty that nothing was wrong. "Oh, I thought we were all supposed to go with Bryan to do that," Lefty stated in response with a now calmer and confused tone, slightly tilting his head to the side. "We were," Foxy growled out as they stepped out of some bushes and glared at Bryan for a moment, then gave Molten a disapproving look. "Don't look at us like that, it was safer for you and Lefty to stay here, and I don't need your permission to make such decisions," Molten stated with a harsh tone, glaring down at Foxy as he stood up straight. "Maybe that's true, but it doesn't change the fact that you risked your own safety without backup," Foxy argued back, staring up at Molten, they were determined to prove a point, or at least talk some sense into Molten. "I'm your deputy, I'll do what I'd like, wether you agree with my decisions or not," Molten growled out as he took a threatening step towards Foxy. The step indicating that Molten was willing to get physical made Foxy falter, and they let out a huff before walking off.

"Uhm, maybe we should get ready for the night now, it'll be sunset soon," Bryan stated with a awkward tone, trying to change the subject, and Lefty nodded in agreement. Before Molten could agree, Bryan visibly jumped as the sound of flapping wings and a twig snapping sounded in the trees above the three, and they all looked up at the noise, and Molten was the first to spot a large eagle and a smaller, odd looking bird sitting next to each other on a branch, and he pointed them out to the other two. "Woah, that's a Dracula parrot! And a golden eagle! I wonder what they're doing all the way out here, Dracula parrot's are only found in New Guinea, and golden eagles are only found in high altitudes," Bryan stated as he looked up at the two birds in awe. The golden eagle let out a sharp cry before taking off into the air, flying off towards the animatronic kingdom with shocking acceleration, the Dracula parrot let out a squawk and followed the eagle. "That's odd too, in normal circumstances, that eagle would've eaten that parrot by now," Bryan stated with a curious tone as he watched the birds fly away, until they were out of sight. "Let's just get ready for the night," Molten stated, dismissing the odd bird's behavior as he walked off in the direction of the work-in-progress cabin, Bryan hesitated for a moment before following Molten, and Lefty followed close behind the two.