A Night To Remember

Actions and Words

After getting full of a book page he was eating, Norman threw what was left of it to a neat garbage can, it successfully landed right on it.

He grinned. "Jackpot."

Rooster, who had been watching the scene, rolled his eyes before turning to Roald. "Please remind me what are we doing again?"

"Searching. Remember those weird letters that appeared when your other friend went missing? That reminded me exactly of one of my adventures, one that happened about three weeks ago, in fact. I was helping a rat look for his pigeon friend named Scott. It took a while, but we managed to find a whole trail of his feathers, we followed them and sure enough, our missing pigeon was in front of us. He had gotten stuck in a bush." He chuckled.

"What can I say? It was a very sticky situation."

Daisy froze.

Snowball noticed her disturbance. "What's wrong?"

Daisy frowned for a long time, and the said expression was still there when she answered. "I swear I've heard that sentence before."

"Sticky situation? It's a synonym, it's said by others daily."

At that, Daisy opened her mouth to explain to her best friend that the synonym was familiar in a different manner, but nothing came out of it.

Well, eventually, something did, but it wasn't what she planned on replying with. "You're right, sorry." She looked at her paws and shook her head. "This night is just getting to me."

Liar.

Daisy mentally flinched at the thought that her mind had just scolded her with, but kept walking.

"Are you sure that's all? Your eyes seem...hurt."

No.

That wasn't all.

Did she just...lied to her best friend?

"I-Im sorry, I just need a bit of fresh air."

"I'll go with you, if you want."

"It's fine, don't worry."

The next words didn't help.

"We always sulk together though."

"...Just stay with the rest, we shouldn't be separated anyways, it'll be quick."

She got to the nearest room, which was a very small one, but perfect for her to just relax. She glanced forward, there was a window.

That'll do.

She hopped into its sill. Gazing up, she was met with the tall buildings of New York. Though it was far and covered with forest trees and fields, the city was there.

Daisy closed her eyes, and after several seconds, opened them again to look at the view, she couldn't help but smile, admiring the beauty it offered. She also noticed how the stars seemed to shine brighter here in the woods than in the city.

Yeah, just some alone time was all she needed.

And that's when she was struck once again of what had happened just prior to this.

She had lied to her friend.

A growl formed on her throat, and soon spread to the outside. She was not a bad friend, once they all left from this...landfill of a place, she'll explain that to him, she hasn't lied to him before, and never will.

"Daisy?"

She jumped at the voice, but relaxed when she saw the shape of Rooster. "We have a situation, come on." He informed her, and Daisy nodded and followed him back to the group.

"What happened?" She asked.

"It's Chloe... she's gone as well."

"What?!"

"Guys! Hurry! Over here!"

Both canines didn't hesitate.

Once they reached Norman's voice, everyone noticed the guinea pig trembling, hard.

"...What's this supposed to mean..." His heavy breathing didn't allow him to speak right.

Daisy focused her eyes on the thing in front of the guinea pig, and gulped.

'O', 'N', and 'E' were on the floor. They had been ripped out of a book just like 'I' 'S' earlier.

Roald frowned. "Hold up, does anyone remember the words that we had found earlier.

"Here you guys go!" And, out of nowhere, Liz coughed the letters out.

Norman went towards them, he cringed, but reached to grab them.

"Wait!"

And the hamster let out a startled yelp as he jumped back, fur bristled.

It was Roald Challenger who had yelled. "Allow me, the saliva in them is poisonous to you."

With his claws, he got the wetness out, then nodded to Rooster to fetch the other message.

Now they were together, 'I' 'S', and 'O' 'N' 'E'.

Now it was Snowball who turned to thee lizard. "What the heck is that?!"

Roald just narrowed his eyes. "Just like I had suspected, a message. And all of them are coming when someone goes missing..."

Rooster glanced from the words after a thoughtful expression, and turned to Daisy.

"Wait, weren't you away from all of us when Chloe went missing?"

Daisy just turned to the Welsh Sheepdog with an unamused expression, too tired to object with snarling, she just explained casually. "I was just in another room, looking at the view."

Snowball nodded. "She was. She told me herself."

The lizard tried to hide it, but the Shih-tzu noticed that he was baring his teeth at her. "That doesn't answer why she went missing earlier and tried to attack you, how she wanted to go with Chloe, who's now missing."

"Stop fighting and get in here!"

The rabbit, Shih-tzu, and Monitor Lizard turned away, though still scowled.

"While you were all out there making fools of yourselves, no offense, we figured out the message." Liz explained.

Daisy snuggled against Hu as that was said, not sure if she was trying to comfort him or herself doing so.

"'Is One'." Rooster murmured. "That's what we think this message is all about."

Norman shook his head. "It could also be 'One Is'."

Snowball frowned. "Well, whatever it is, these messages seem to happen when one goes missing." He turned to face everyone. "In other words, we can't afford to lose another of us here." He glanced towards Roald. "I'm so sorry, sir, but we can't stay here much longer."

Daisy nodded. "We must escape before dawn." She frowned. "No offense, Challenger, but if you've been in a lot of adventures, how come you're here and not out there?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Liz seemed kind enough in that moment to explain it herself.

"We just met about a week ago, him and I, and so far, its been my favorite time I've had in a while, let's just consider this as a quiet vocation that he had hoped to have."

Daisy narrowed her eyes.

Snowball avoided the conflict that was currently being formed.

"Let's just try to figure these messages out." He then added in a stern tone,

"And avoid anything that has to do with one of us is responsible for it."