I saw a set of shells: a large multi-coloured shell beside a smaller one that was completely black. '7...11... my siblings.'
I immediately forgot my position as I slid through the opening that was created between the Spiked-snails. I couldn't control myself as I slid forward without thinking.
I was worried about them the whole time. After I saw Timmy's empty shell that morning I didn't know what would have happened to them. I was scared something happened to them as well. 'Were they killed as well? Were they being tortured for information? How had 60 treated them all this time?' These were all questions that flooded through my head that day.
Immediately, the state of their shells came into view as I slid forward. Through the faint dimming light of the late afternoon, I could see numerous injuries. Their pristine shells were scratched from the top to the bottom. To be honest, I wasn't in the best condition either, but they were probably worse. Their shells were chipped in some areas and there were even holes in their shells.
Seeing this, I wasn't sure if they were still alive or not. Our shells meant the most to us. They were our protective housing and armour. They reflected the state that we were in and clearly, theirs wasn't good.
The circle of Spike-shelled snails closed in around me as I moved closer to the shells of my beaten siblings. I was preparing for the worse, but I was somewhat optimistic. 'They must be alive, right? Why would the Spike-shells contain them in a circle if they weren't?'
"7... 11... are you alright?" I asked as I approached them. They didn't move or respond to me. I crawled up next to them and gave their shells a gentle, yet probably familiar tap. 'Hopefully, they'll come out if they know it's me.' I thought as I tried to stay positive.
I tapped their shells once more.
"It's me. Your big bro... Please come out." I pleaded.
I saw a reaction. A crinkle. A shift. A movement.
Cautiously, a single eye peeked out from under the shell. Upon seeing me 7 immediately popped out. Like seeing an old friend after a long period of time, I patted him on his shell once more as he gave me a surprised look.
"Hello brother," I said gently.
"Were you captured too?" He seemed to ask as he weakly came out of his shell. His face was sunken. It looked like he had gone through a lot in the time I had last seen him.
"No, I gave myself up. But it's okay I'm fine. It's all part of the plan. But what's most important is you and 11. What happened? Are you alright?" I asked worriedly.
He replied with multiple movements as he told me what had happened to them. I watched his movements closely.
It seemed like everything was fine when they left without me. He described that after I ignored their ideas, they had left in a fit of rage. As a revenge of sorts, they decided to act out against me. And thus 7, 11, and Timmy seemed to support the idea. They spent two hours travelling down the branch to the Spike-shelled snails with the intention of completing their diplomatic duty without me.
They were met by a wall of shells. "We are here to talk." 11 called out in a serious tone. "We wish to speak to your leader." continued. But contrarily to who they expected, 60 soon crept out from behind the wall of shells to great them instead of the leader of the Spike-shells. What surprised them more was the Giant Leader of the Spiked-shells seemed to follow around the wall after her.
"Hi, Sis!" Timmy cried out excitedly as 60 and she slid up to meet their group.
"60! Are you okay? How come you're here? What have you done?" asked 11 shot out question after question before 60 even had a chance to answer.
"We can talk later. But yes. My relationship with the Spiked-shells has improved greatly." 60 answered as she turned around and gestured for them to follow her. 7 explained that he had a feeling that something was wrong. 7 immediately acted on his feeling and stopped 11 and Timmy from following 60. Before 60 looked back behind her, he gestured to them that it was a bad idea, but he was immediately shut by Timmy. "Don't such a big brother. We should go. I trust her." he said. "The spiked-shelled snails seem to treat her well." added 11. "Let's give her a chance."
7 felt that it was a mistake to travel to the Spiked-shelled. He continued to urge Timmy and 11 to turn around and return with him to report their findings to me. But he was met with another slew of complaints from Timmy who said he trusted 60.
"Come brothers and sister. I'll show you around and we can grab a bite to eat on the way. I'm sure you are all hungry." 60 called from the distance.
Seeing that 60 had noticed that they had been talking to each other, he gave in.
Unwillingly, 7 followed 60 with Timmy and 11 deeper and deeper into their leaf as 60 began to introduce them to the Spike-shelled snails that she had gotten close. The leader of the Spiked-shells pulled up their rear as the group slid deeper into the leaf. As they moved, 60 explained that she had learned the Spike-shelled language. She screeched occasionally and the walls of Spikes parted way in front of her. It looked like she was telling the truth.
7 said that he remembered feeling slightly more relaxed as 60 had begun to show them around, but he still felt that something was wrong. And it was.
Soon, they reached the centre of the leaf. Unlike the lines of snails that they saw during their crawl across the leaf, they approached three circular formations. 7 thought that this formation was out of place and peculiar.
Seeing 7's face, 60 turned and assured them that it was normal. The circles were special areas with the freshest and most delicious part of the leaf. The leader had allowed them to dine on this part of the leaf that day as a peace-keeping gift.
Seemingly convinced, 11 and Timmy followed behind 60 as 7 cautiously followed behind them.
60 approached one of the circles and screeched. Then the Large leader snail that was trailing behind them screeched as well. The circle of snails parted in front of them creating a small path.
"I'll be back soon." 60 said as she quickly slid backwards and left them. "Feel free to eat as much as you like as you wait. I'll be back soon. I just need to go get some of my new friends and we'll be able to start."
7 explained that he thought that 60 had phrased herself weirdly and seemed to laugh when she said "friends." Just as he was thinking about this, he saw the circle of snails begin to close up. When 7 saw this, he questioned it 'Why would they need to close up the wall if they were just in there to eat?' he thought. Then instantly, he came up with the answer. The circle wasn't made to keep snails out. No. It was made to be a prison!
Instantly, 7 slid as fast as he could as he chased after 60. Rushing through the spiky gap, he fell the walls literally close in around him. He was gaining ground on 60 and was just about to get out of the gap when he heard 60 speak.
"Oh 7, you shouldn't have run. Now I have to punish you." 60 said.
60 screeched loudly and the wall of spikes that were around him stopped moving. From nearby he saw the larger leader of the Spike-shells barrel towards him. 7 knew that he was in trouble. Instantly, he ducked back into his shell and braced for an impact.
And it came.
He felt something huge crash into his shell and knock him off of the leaf. He was knocked into the air and sent flying down the shell back into the Spike-shelled snail's circle.
Dazed, he crawled out to see the worried faces of 11 and Timmy who had crawled up to see if he was alright. It was at this moment that 60 had shown her true intentions. She had betrayed them. The grouped up and waited for what 60 had in plan for them.
They didn't have to wait long because, after an hour, 60 was back. But this time she had a group of tough looking Spiked-shelled snails with her.
The next few hours were very excruciating for 7, 11 and Timmy. 60 promised that if they answered her questions about the current state of the colony, she wouldn't need to hurt them. Unfortunately, 7 and 11 didn't comply. They were instead beaten brutally.
They kept their mouths shut. But with every question they avoided, they were hit and rammed by the "friends" that 60 had brought with her. It was okay at first as they just hid in their shells, but slowly their shells and protection had begun to fade away and chip off with every new hit.
Well for 7 and 11 at least. For some reason, 60 had kept the Spiked-shells from doing anything to little Timmy. 'Maybe they were showing mercy by not hurting a tiny snail-like Timmy.' 7 said he thought at the time. Unfortunately, that was not the case. No. After hours of hitting and scraping, 60 decided to turn her attention to Timmy.
After the hitting stopped, 7 peeked through one of the holes that had been chipped into his shell and saw everything.
"You know Timmy, I love you the most... I don't want to hurt you, Timmy... Little Timmy, I know you want to tell me everything... If you don't I'll have to punish you like 7 and 11. It wouldn't take much to crush flat you know?" She said.
In less than a few minutes, Timmy gave in. "Okay. Tell you what you want. Only if you leave 7 and 11 alone."
"Good. I knew you would listen." 60 said with a smile. And that was the last time 7 ever saw Timmy again.
...
"Timmy is ... He's dead. They killed him." I told 7 as looked straight at me as if I was joking. "I'm serious. 60 brought Timmy's tiny shell to our leaf this morning to scare us. 60 implied that they were going to do this to you too." I added.
Then silence.
I guess we were both giving Timmy a moment of silence as we thought about Timmy.
After a few minutes. I turned around. I could pretty much figure out what happened after that so I turned my attention to the snail that hadn't left her shell at all during our conversion.
"How's 11?" I asked 7.
"She's just resting. She took a harder beating than I did as I think 60 had a vendetta against her..." 7 seemed to reply. "So why are you here?" he seemed to ask me.
Seeing that 11 was still alive, I let out a deep sigh. I knew I still need to kill some more time so I began to explain the whole situation to 7 as the light gradually disappeared from the world as the sunset.
...
I spoke with him describing how I was captured. 11 seem to wake up half-way and listen in too. I told them about my glorious triumphs my skill and how good I was at being a brother and smart snail. I may have exaggerated a few points but still.
...
After an hour or so I stopped.
"Okay enough. We need to act now." I told 7 and 11 when I noticed that it was completely dark and the Spike-shelled snails had all retreated back into their shells to sleep. Through the darkness, I could see the outlines of 7's head as he looked at me with a confused face.
"It's time to escape," I said.
"What do you mean?" 11 asked.
Instead of explaining, I showed them.
With my sharp teeth, I cut the leaf beneath us. Easily I broke through the leaf below me. Like a voracious animal, I munched a large hole into the leaf below us.
With a foot, I gestured towards them.
"You guys go first. We are escaping from the underside of the leaf." I said.
...
It was all part of my plan to rescue 11 and 7 that I had thought of that morning.