The Lost ( A Sequel To The Forgotten )

Riddles At Last

The world is a bit darker since Rolly changed. The sky seems grey, like a blue sky would be offensive. Nobody speaks much. We eat when we're hungry, but that's about the most active we get. There's been no sign of Rolly or any roars, but maybe that's because we haven't gone to the Collections House after the... incident.

As if things aren't bad enough, Shawn's fevers have returned. He's always moaning, and I feel bad, but no one can do anything about it. Everything we do seems to fall apart. I make a sword, but it disappears before my eyes. We solve a riddle, only to find another one we have to solve. We make a good friend, but it turns out he's a monster.
What's the point? We don't have any books... Books. We need a book. Book means a purpose. We need a purpose.

"Tarna! Y-you hid the P.A.T.H. before Axle came, right?" Tarna sits up a little bit.

"Yeah. So what?" she asks, her voice bored.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah..."

"Then we can get the P.A.T.H. back!" I exclaim, excited. The others look over at me, their eyes sad and bored.

"What's the point?" Tarna asks with a sigh.

"We need a purpose!" Everyone returns to their bored, almost lifeless positions. "Come on, guys! We're pretty much zombies! Let's get the P.A.T.H.!" And then, as if I'd made a spark, my friends begin to change. Life returns to their eyes. They begin to stand.

"He's right," Person says. "What have we been doing?"

"Yeah!" Cass exclaims. "We're not dead yet!" The dull mood evaporates, and the grey sky seems to fade into blue.

"Follow me!" Tarna instructs, and begins jogging away. We all follow, and I notice the life around me. Birds fly and squirrels run around. How did I forget all this?

After a bit of running, Tarna stops abruptly.

"Guys, something's not right."

"What do you mean?" Person asks.

"I buried the P.A.T.H. here," Tarna explains. "Except, I can't sense it anywhere..." We all groan.

"Great. Just great," I mutter. And then a voice pops up behind us.

"Looking for something?" We all whirl around, and standing behind us is something I'd forgotten about. Standing there, P.A.T.H. in hand, is Ray. There's a explosion of voices as we rush to him. Ray receives pats on the back, a hug from Cass, and a lot of questions. He holds his hand in the air for silence.

"Quiet, please! I can explain everything. Well, my mind cleared in a area with some trees. My memory was fuzzy after being hit by the tree, but I think I remember all the important stuff. I remember wandering away right before Axle came for you, and then I recovered from my looniness. I grabbed the P.A.T.H. and third riddle, and then searched for you. But after a while, I gave up and returned here. And now look at us! You have a more interesting story to tell, I presume?" After a small uproar, Cass fills Ray in, which takes a while. She explains the cages, Odds And Ends, Axle, and the lunatic tent that got us back here. Ray has a lot of questions, and his final one starts a silence.

"Okay. So, one last thing... where's Rolly?" Everyone finds a leaf to stare at. I take a deep breath and wring my hands together. And so, we bring him up to date on that. Ray isn't as shocked as I'd expected him to be.

"That's terrible. I almost can't believe it... but I kind of already knew that. When I was in Overkill mode, I knew, I think..." We talk for a bit longer, and then it's back to business. We all read over the riddle.