Cat woke up in a comfortable bed, with the smell of delicious food coming from his bedside. It was an awfully nice welcome, considering Malachite was a cruel monster who liked to beat the shit out of the Masks on a daily basis.
Cat sat up and looked around, this was DEFINITELY NOT Malachite's base. It was a nice little bedroom, with walls pained a soft grey and subtle burn marks around the edges of the walls and door frame. Cat noticed his belongings had been neatly placed on a dresser, while there was a freshly cooked meal sitting on the bedside table and a note reading; "Come downstairs when you're ready."
Cat wolfed down his food, he felt like he hadn't eaten in days, which was probably because he hadn't eaten in a couple of days. He wondered why Flail and whoever was with him took him to this nice place instead of Malachite's base, but he also feared that this was all a cruel dream and would wake up in the panic room to lose his mind.
Jaxon watched Flail pacing back and forth, muttering to himself quickly while messing with his hair. He sighed and looked over at Elizabeth, who honestly just looked bored.
"Flail why are you so worried?" Jaxon looked back over at the green haired boy. "Isn't this Cat guy your friend?"
"BLUE ISN'T WITH HIM!!" Flail cried, and grabbed Jaxon by the shoulders, shaking him aggressively. "What if Blue died trying to protect him or something!?"
Elijah spent the last two days looking for Cat, but had no luck finding the red haired boy. He kicked a tree as he realized he had reached the ravine that marked Malachite's land. "Where the hell is he!?"
He could feel himself getting weak from hunger as well as from dread that Cat was captured and he would have to go and rescue the little one.
He stared down the ravine, looking for any sign of the secret bridge. He walked along the edge, hoping maybe Cat would be hidden in a tree or under a bush nearby.
He didn't dare call his name though, not when he was so close to the place that had marked his life to be a worst than difficult one. He didn't want to be caught and tormented to the point of no return, not one bit.
"Well he's obviously tired and hungry, so maybe they were just seperated." Jaxon sighed.
"But what if something happened to Blue!?"
"Well if something did happen, why wouldn't you go looking for him?"
Flail huffed and puffed, turning around to head for the door. But he was blasted into the wall by a powerful gust of wind instead.
"Someone explain where I am, before I trash this place." Cat hissed, mostly glaring at a silver haired boy who seemed slightly annoyed.
"What a great way to thank me for my hospitality.." Jaxon muttered. "Calm your shit before I light you on fire."
Cat narrowed his eyes at him and deactivated his ability, pushing his hair out of his face and looking around, realizing a few more of the people he grew up with were there.
"Now before you get all confused on why everyone is here except a few people and Malachite," Jaxon sighed, "they all escaped without you, because you and your friend took too long to come find and save them."
Flail looked down at his feet, it wasn't Blue or Cat's fault that they were all still trapped there, it wasn't safe enough for them to go back to rescue everyone. He knew he had always hoped Blue would come back for him, but even if Blue didn't, that wouldn't have been his fault. Though something inside him made him want to blame Cat, maybe it was jealousy that Blue took him along, or maybe he just found Cat annoying, but either way it wasn't Cat's fault they were all left behind.
Flail, a lot of the time, came to the conclusion that it was his fault everyone except for Blue and Cat had to stay. Because he was scared of leaving the Masks, and didn't want Blue to leave him behind, he had told Malachite about the plan Blue had come up with. He had almost gotten Blue in worst trouble than he would have already been in.
Cat narrowed his eyes at Jaxon. "Are you blaming me for them being trapped back there..?" He bared his teeth in anger, how dare this stranger even think that Cat or Blue would purposefully leave everyone behind. "Blue and I have had our own problems to face in the past year too," Cat clenched his fists, "do you really think it would've been smart for us to have rushed in to try and save people who didn't know whether they even wanted to escape or not!?" His eyes locked with Flail's as he said that, before looking back at Jaxon.
"What so you're blaming them for being scared?" Jaxon growled. He may not really trust the group, but at least he wasn't like the two who abandoned their friends, though it seemed obvious enough that this Blue character had left yet another person behind. "I don't think I even should be blaming you," he snarled, "maybe it should be your missing friend who seems to have left you to wander aimlessly in the woods!"
"You don't know anything about the situation!!"
"Oh really, I don't do I?" Jaxon bared his fangs. "What do I--"
Jaxon was knocked to the floor, after feeling the smack of Elizabeth's bowstaff hitting the back of his head. He held his head in his hands, hoping there was no bleeding wherever he had been hit.
"Shut up ashes for brains." Elizabeth muttered. "Cat, how about you explain why we found you at the border ravine without Blue?"
"Gladly." The red head spoke with slight caution, fearing Elizabeth's wrath.
He went into detail about what had happened in the past year, all leading up to a couple of days ago when Flail had found him.
He talked about the difficulty Blue and him went through to find food, shelter and even the struggle to have appropriate clothes for the weather sometimes. How Blue would distract people while Cat stole, and how long it took them to get the hang of theft.
The memory of Blue shoving him off the roof and telling him to run was still very fresh in his mind, especially since it had happened just a couple of days ago.
Cat hoped that his former teammates would help him look for Blue, or even rescue him if they had to. But he knew that they didn't trust him, just as much as he didn't trust them.