A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Everything in the wilderness around Flat Peak seemed normal. There were no warning signs. It was another section of their game together, and he had no intention of catching her soon, but hearing her run in the distance was amusing. He wished her to be a little more careful with her thigh wound, but he figured that it wouldn't bleed too much. It wasn't like he had taken a large chunk out of her leg; however, such ease didn't last long.

Snaps disrupted his whistling, which he loved to tease her with, confuse her with. He paused and listened, but he couldn't get an exact scent on what was causing the snapping sound. They were closer to his pink flower than to him, which worried him. Unlike him, something else actually might attack and kill her. "Sh*t," he mumbled before he increased his speed to find out what was creating the noise.

When he arrived on scene, however, (f/n) was gone, and there was a dead man, facedown, in the snow. His optics searched the nearby area for her, and he saw the snow disturbed down the hill to his right. He narrowed his eyes and peered down it, but he couldn't see the entirety of it too well with the trees. Blood was heavy in the vicinity, but it wasn't his little partner's that was so close and overwhelming.

His very pale blue optics shifted over to the dead man in flannel. The creature crouched by him and saw how awkward the sleeves were. He lifted them up and discovered that stranger had no hands. A giggle would've escaped him were the situation not serious and he had killed the man. There also was the fact that both forearms were bandaged to help prevent further blood loss. Crimson pooled around the man's lips and had formed a puddle on the snow when he lifted the man's head up.

Pulling open his mouth, the creature discovered that the man's tongue had been removed. He switched his attention to the man's back where the flannel and his shirts were tone. The creature moved them aside and saw a large stab wound from presumably a knife there. Another thing was the odd angle of the man's legs. When he moved up the man's pants, he saw heavy bruising as though bones had been fractured or near to being that way.

If the man had been the one to create the tree branch snaps, that would be impressive in his condition, but someone had caused the injuries and administered the fatal blow to his back. Standing up, the creature faced the hill sloping downward and began to run down it. No doubt, (f/n) had to be at the bottom of it if she fell. In fact, it had sounded too like someone had a fall before he had reached the man, but there had been running footsteps too. Those were slight, but he had caught them.

Those steps worried him unless (f/n) had been the one to kill the man. She did have a knife, but he doubted that she had given the man the other injuries. So even if she did kill him, someone else was around, but he couldn't pick up the individual's scent. When his eyes caught sight of the blood on the one tree and a slight trail down the hill, he sped down the rest of the way. Reaching the bottom, he noticed a larger deposit of blood, and it was (f/n)'s. He could tell by the sweet scent of it; however, she was nowhere to be found, and there was no blood trail to lead him to her.

That predicament had caused him to race around the nearby area and search for her. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to track her down. It was as though her scent disappeared completely, which should've been impossible. Maybe, someone bandaged her wounds, but there weren't footsteps either. The creature knew that after such a fall she probably wouldn't be able to travel too far on her own, which led to the conclusion that the other person had taken her.

A pit in his stomach formed, and he finally decided to dart towards the town and look around there. Maybe, the mystery person had taken her there. His search continued, and he made sure to explore around the path leading to Flat Peak, just in case there was a hidden spot. Never had he seen the dock, though, or (f/n) resting by one of the trees there. The creature's mind, slowly, was entering another panic, and his thorough searches actually were anything but. From an outside perspective, it probably looked more like he was running in circles.

Not until he reached the town and began to explore the buildings did he become successful. He had heard another set of footsteps, but when he went to locate the owner, they always weren't there. The creature thought that maybe he was beginning to lose it and hallucinate. Maybe, all of those times he had teased his partner were coming back to bite him in the a**.

Stepping into the clothing store, he combed his right fingers through his hair and remarked, "Where is she?" The high-pitched quality wasn't in his voice, and he sounded only worried as his optics scanned over the place. His eyes diverted their attention to a piece of paper by the register, which appeared to have a drawing of some sort on it. Curious, he lifted it up and noticed that it was a map; though, his focus changed when his nose twitched. Ever so slightly, he picked up blood. He stepped more towards the stairs leading into the basement. That sweet, yet tart cranberry scent greeted him.

Nose halting its sniffing, he asked relieved, "(F/n)?" When he didn't receive a response, he heard the sound of metal falling down along with something opening. Instantly, he took off down the steps and shoved the map into one of his pants' pockets. "(F/n)!" he cried out, but before he could reach her, the staircase broke under him. His lower half fell through the wood, and he couldn't get himself out fast enough. "Sh*t!"

"Sh*t!" he shouted out again. Pressing his hands against the wood, he almost lifted himself out before the stairs gave out even more, and he fell through. Roughly, he landed on his bottom as old, rotting wood fell around him. His eyes glanced over himself, and he saw that his hoodie was ripped all along his torso. Chips of wood were lodged into his skin, and remnants of blood from already healed wounds rested on him. The duffel bag, though, hadn't been ripped through, but that was the least of his concerns.

Ripping out the shards of wood and tossing them aside, he checked his back for any before he removed those also. Annoyingly, the skin in some places had healed over the chips, and he winced slightly when he had to take those out. As for his hoodie, he figured that he could change that later. Right now, he needed to search for (f/n).

Examining the room, he noted that there was no exit out of it but the stairs. At least, it looked that way, but he had heard what probably had been one of the walls opening. He also remembered the sound of metal. The only thing metal in the room was the lantern. A smirk touched his lips before he checked his pants and saw that they had survived the fall better than his hoodie.

The creature removed the map from his one pants' pocket and glanced over it. He checked the other side and saw that it was a map of the underground tunnels in the town. All he had to do now was pull on the lantern, and he could follow her through the system. Simple. His grin fell, however, when he recalled how he had found the map, and he presumed that she had one too. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't know about the secret entrance in the wall.

Someone had killed that man or at least given him those injuries. That same person probably had picked up (f/n) and carried her somewhere with her injuries. And, that individual most likely had left the maps out for them to find. With how looted the town was, a map leading to hidden tunnels wouldn't just be left out on the checking counter. Such facts posed a significant problem. Whoever the person was, they wanted both of them to enter the tunnels. Or, perhaps, the person wanted him to think that, but if he continued down that road, he would wind up in an infinite loop.

Should he follow (f/n), though, she might make a turn and escape before he could catch up to her again. Or, she might hide out in one of the many rooms in the place and move when he wasn't looking. She had escaped the last set of tunnels, and he wouldn't put it past her to do the same again, though; this time, she wouldn't have help. Rather, she might have someone else trying to kill her or play mind games with her. Ultimately, there was the chance that he'd miss her if he entered the system, especially since she had a good head start, but if he didn't go into them, she might be alone with whoever was messing with them.

Another possibility was that the individual was waiting in the town still. All of the exits led back into the town, not out of it. Therefore, they just needed a good vantage point to watch all of the buildings from. And while he was searching for (f/n) in the tunnels, that person could strike her when she exited them. Given the person's previous actions, he might not be able to reach her in time.

Both options were uncertain and awful. They would've been better had there not been an unknown third party involved, and it pissed him off. Nearly, he crumbled the map in his right hand. Again, someone was interfering with their game, but this time, it was someone who already had demonstrated worrying capabilities. Almost, he had wanted it to be Nick again so that he knew that she wouldn't be in harm's way. Unfortunately, Nick couldn't pull off what this individual had achieved.

Folding up the piece of the paper, the creature reluctantly turned his back to the hidden entrance. He'd wait outside for her. If she didn't show in a few hours, he'd enter the tunnels and hunt her down. The creature, though, hoped that he was making the right decision. Otherwise, he might never forgive himself. "I better see you soon, my pink flower," he commented before he headed up the stairs steadily, so as not to fall through again, and avoided the hole from his earlier fall. Trepidation, however, slithered through his veins and formed a knot in his stomach that he wished that he could ignore.