Flippy looked over, seeing a pink... he wasn't sure what they were. They had freckles, a weird, non-furry tail, with a pair of buck teeth. As they stepped closer, he shuffled back, holding up his paws in a submitting way, silently begging to be spared.
"Hey, what are you doing that for?" Another voice asked, a blue skunk coming into a view, an animal he recognised. They had a pink petunia in the centre of their head fur, and a necklace with a pine tree.

Ears perking up, he heard familiar voices. Soldiers. He quickly hid behind a tree. He watched soldiers walk up to the group. Three more were there. A yellow rabbit, with pink bunny slippers, and a large patch of mud on his chest. Flippy presumed that's who he ran into. Another was a pink chipmunk, wearing a large, salmon coloured bow. The last one was a red creature with the strangest back fur he'd ever seen, covered in dandruff.
"Excuse me, have you seen a green bear wearing a uniform like ours? He's highly dangerous, and must be captured immediately," one explained. Flippy clamped his eyes tight, and pulled down his ears, trembling in fear. He was sure the group were gonna sell him out.
"Dangerous? How so?" The weird thing asked, narrowing his eyes. From what he'd seen of the bear, they looked terrified, and surrendered immediately.

"He's vicious, attacking on sight. He spares no one, mercilessly torturing the innocent. While he's on the loose, no one's safe," A dark grey sheep explained.

"If you have seen him, you're lucky he didn't see you," a dark blue coyote added.

"... no. Can't see we've seen him. We'll take your advice though, thanks," the weird creature lied after a pause. The soldiers thanked them for their time, before searching again.

Once they'd left, the blue skunk approached the tree he was hiding behind, burying himself in shrubbery. He looked up her, golden eyes filled with confusion and fear, yet wonder and gratitude. She gave him a hand, helping him up. When she looked at his uniform again, she gasped, pulling out a paper bag to help her breathe.
"Petunia, seriously? Is that really a major crisis right now?" The yellow rabbit asked, pulling off his hoodie in case she freaked out over him next. He, of course, was referring to her panicking over a patch of mud on his jacket.

"YES!" She shrieked at him, before breathing into her bag again. The bear was clearly scared, pulling his beret over his face as he quivered.
"See, look. Now you've scared the poor thing," the pink chipmunk scolded, approaching the shaking animal. He backed away from her. Reassuringly, the chipmunk patted his shoulder, helping him relax.
"My name's Giggles," she stated, turning to her friends to do the same.

"I'm Cuddles," the yellow rabbit waved.

"I'm Toothy," the pink thing greeted.

"... i- I'm F- F- Flaky...." the red creature murmured, shuffling uncomfortably.

They awaited a response from the skunk, but got nothing. She seemed too preoccupied with trying to breathe that she didn't say anything.
"And she's Petunia," the pink thing... Toothy groaned. Petunia harshly grabbed Flippy, dragging him off. He whimpered, unsure wether to attack or not. He decided not to, seeing as he was outnumbered, and they didn't look very hostile.

Petunia finally let him go near a pond. It was the same pond Fliqpy had dived into. Flippy felt shivers go up his spine as he thought about his counterpart.

Petunia grabbed a strange yellow thing, dipping it in the water. Then, she began roughly rubbing it on the mud patch. Flippy looked at the others, who had followed, requesting help. He was thankful he was carrying the documents and USB- both of which were packed with information about the two soldiers- in a shoulder bag. It was the same bag he used to use for weaponry, but now where he kept the teddy from Jitter. The only weapons he had were a few types of knives, a machete, a few grenades, and a pistol. He only had them for when he was being chased. Or, in case he had an... unfriendly encounter.

He cringed at the cold water soaking through his clothing and rubbed into his fur and skin. Eventually, he stopped, looking closer at it.
"Ugh. That's gonna have to do," she sighed, standing, brushing off her own clothing, consisting of a baby blue blouse, and a navy blue skirt.

"So, what's your name?" Cuddles asked, leaning on his shoulder, despite the bear being a good few inches taller. Flippy remained silent, scanning the area for any life. When he saw nothing he turned around to them.
"Flippy Honeydew Areb. Code name: Flippy. Role: previously medic, but now a soldier. Age: 24," he listed, standing stiff and tall, saluting with his right paw. The five were clearly confused by his description, not expecting him to go in depth. He still stood there, unmoving- besides breathing and blinking- and head raised slightly. It was obvious the position was slowly becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but he remained still.
"Uh, you know you can put your arm down, right?" Giggles asked. He flinched, putting his arm down and relaxing.
"S- sorry," he mumbled, lowering his head shamefully, "i- I'm j- just do used to w- waiting for permission..."

"You had to get permission to lower your arm? Why?" Toothy asked, clearly annoyed people could be treated that way.

"Respect. Honor. Patience. Tolerance. Obedience. There are many reasons," Flippy explained, fumbling with his tags.

"So, w- what's i- in the bag? N- not to be n- nosy!" Flaky stuttered, gesturing to the bag.

"Yeah, what's in there?" Cuddles repeated, reaching for it, only for Flippy to step back.

"I- I can't show you. I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking away

"Why?" Petunia asked, looking uneasy.

"I- it's private... p- plus, i- I don't want y- you to k- know what my friends a- and I have been through..." Flippy murmured, giving them a pleading look.

"Ok. Anyway, I say we all go back to my place. I'm gonna guess you don't have anywhere to go," Cuddles suggested, looking at Flippy. He shook his head, seeming nervous.

During the walk back, everyone exchanged jokes, comments, stories, and general chat. Flippy, despite the circumstances, relaxed.