“ Mia, what in the world are you doing?!” Jay asked, staring at his sister.

“ Training. What else?”

“  no, I can see that you’re training, but what’s with the hay?”
“ I’m trying to punch a bag.”
“ But why not use a regular one.”
Mia sighed impatiently. “ Because regular ones break too easily. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to train.”
Suddenly, Blackie came running to them, holding a piece of paper.
“ There’s a mystery!”
Mia stopped boxing and turned to her cat. “ What?!”
Blackie nodded. “ I took notes.”
Mia took the paper, and read Blackie’s messy handwriting.
Happened at the beach
Worried
Saw hallucinations.
But the last one was what scared Mia most.
Quills
“ Seems to me we’re dealing with a porcupine.”
Blackie raised a brow. “ Pardon?”
Jay was also confused. “ A porcupine?! But…. But we haven't seen those since-”
“ We were little!” Mia ran to her room, and returned with a picture of young Mia and young Jay. They were holding a baby porcupine, and they had flowers in their hair.
“ Oh, isn’t that Cocoa? The porcupine you rescued?”
Mia nodded. “ Yep.”
Jay shrugged. " What are the odds that the porcupine is Cocoa?”
_______________________
It was Cocoa.
“ O…. kay. That’s…. Interesting.” Jay said,
“ Tell me about it.” Blackie meowed.
“ Wait wait wait. You’ve seen this porcupine before?” Kai asked, shaking his head.
Mia nodded. “ Yep. When we were little, and our parents were alive, we found a small porcupine. It was a baby, and it had no mother. So we raised her. But, when she was old enough, we had to release her.”
Then, she crouched down. “ Cocoa, it’s me. Remember?”
Cocoa took a hesitant step towards Mia. She sniffed her hand, and curled up in her arms.
“ Awwww, seems she didn’t forget you.” Jay cooed, petting the porcupine’s head.
Suddenly, Cocoa let out a grunt, and a smaller porcupine came from behind the rock. It was limping, and it was weak.

“ Jake?” Mia called, summoning her friend. “ What happened to the poor guy?”

“ I’ll ask.” Jake slowly inched his way to the porcupine, who remained calm. He put his hand on its head and closed his eyes.

“ It’s a she. And….. her leg is hurting.”

“ Oh, the poor thing!” Jay quickly scooped the porcupine up, and Kai raised a brow. But Cole beat him.

“ Wow, Jay, I’ve never seen you hold an animal so delicately.”

“ Yeah. You don’t even handle me with that much care.” Blackie grumbled.

Mia giggled and scooped her cat and placed him on her shoulder. “ That’s because he doesn’t pick you up.”

Blackie meowed but didn’t argue.

“ Okay, we need to bring Puddle to the monastery. We’ll help her heal, and release her to the wild.”

They all nodded.

“ Puddles says yippee road trip.” Jake said, and they all laughed.
_____________________________
“ Puds, I need you to stay still!” Mia groaned as she tried to bandage the wiggling porcupine.
“ Maybe you should let me hold her?” Jake pointed out.
Mia nodded. “ Yeah. Four hands are better than two.”
Jake raised a brow but didn’t argue. “ Come on Puddles, be a good porcupine.” jake said, sitting her in his arms.
Puddles relaxed, and Mia was able to bandage the foot.
“ Oh, thank goodness.” Mia sighed. “ But what happened?”
Jake conveyed the message.
“ She said there was a big, moving tree with wiggly things who stepped on her foot and didn’t care.”
Mia raised a brow. “ ‘ Big moving tree with wiggly things who stepped on her foot’? That sounds a lot like feet.”
Then, a sinking feeling came in her stomach. “ You don’t think-”
“ That someone stepped on her foot? Yeah.”
“ Oh, that’s bad.”

Jay walked into the room, looking concerned. "What happened?" he asked, noticing the tense atmosphere.

Mia glanced up from tending to Puddles and replied, "It looks like someone stepped on Puddles’ foot. She’s in pain."

As soon as she said it, a loud **THUD** echoed through the room. Everyone turned to see Nelson, who had just entered the room, now lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Nelson?!" Mia gasped, rushing over to him. She knelt down beside him, gently shaking his shoulder. "Nelson, wake up!"

Kai, who had been watching the scene unfold, joined Mia. "Did he just faint?" he asked, surprised.

Jay scratched his head. "Why would Nelson faint from that?"

Mia frowned, concern deepening as she glanced at Nelson. "Maybe the idea of someone stepping on a porcupine's foot and not caring was too much for him."

Cole, who had been observing quietly, nodded. "Nelson's pretty sensitive when it comes to animals. The thought of someone being that careless might’ve been too shocking for him."

Jake, still holding Puddles, added, "Poor guy. He must’ve been really overwhelmed by the idea."

Mia gently patted Nelson’s cheek, trying to rouse him. "Come on, Nelson. Wake up. It’s okay."

After a few moments, Nelson’s eyes fluttered open, and he blinked up at Mia. "Mia…?" he mumbled, still disoriented.

Mia smiled, relieved. "You’re okay. You just fainted."

Nelson sat up slowly, rubbing his head. "I… I heard what happened to the porcupine, and I couldn’t believe it. Who would be so heartless to just step on her and not care?"

Kai helped Nelson to his feet. "We don’t know who did it, but we’ll make sure Puddles is okay and find out what happened."

Nelson nodded, still shaken. "We have to. Poor Puddles didn’t deserve that."

Mia gave Nelson a reassuring pat on the back. "We’ll get to the bottom of this. But first, let’s make sure Puddles is comfortable."

Jay, watching the exchange, couldn’t help but feel a pang of admiration for Nelson’s compassion. "We’ll figure this out together. Puddles is in good hands."

With Nelson back on his feet and Puddles resting comfortably, the group resolved to investigate what had happened. There was a lingering unease among them, though—who could have been so careless, or worse, so cruel? It was a mystery that needed solving, not just for Puddles, but for the peace of mind of everyone involved.

Mia clung tightly to Nelson, her emotions swirling as she tried to process everything that had happened. The thought of someone hurting Puddles had already set her on edge, but what Jay said next sent her over the edge.

"It looks like it was a foot on a bike that stepped on Puddles," Jay announced, piecing together the clues.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mia’s eyes widened in horror, and she let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the room. The sheer intensity of her scream startled everyone, and Nelson could feel her grip on him tighten even more.

Nelson winced, trying to calm her down, but he knew it was too late. "Yep, this is bad," he muttered, recognizing the signs that Mia was about to lose it.

Mia’s scream turned into a furious cry as she began to go ballistic, her anger and frustration boiling over. "A bike?! Who rides a bike over a porcupine?! Who does that?!"

Nelson, still holding onto her, tried to soothe her. "Mia, calm down. We’ll figure this out. We’ll find out who did it."

But Mia was inconsolable. "No! This is unacceptable! How could someone be so careless?!" Her eyes blazed with fury, and it was clear that she was ready to take matters into her own hands.

Kai, seeing Mia’s escalating anger, quickly intervened, stepping between her and Jay. "Mia, we need to stay calm. Getting upset won’t help Puddles right now."

Jay, realizing how much his words had affected his sister, looked apologetic. "Mia, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to let you know what happened."

But Mia was too far gone to listen to reason. She started pacing, her fists clenched, as she ranted about the thoughtless person who had hurt Puddles. "I’m going to find out who did this, and they’re going to pay! No one hurts my animals and gets away with it!"

Nelson gently grabbed her arm, trying to anchor her back to reality. "Mia, we’ll handle this together. You’re not alone in this."

Mia stopped pacing and looked at Nelson, her eyes still filled with rage but also with a hint of desperation. "I just can’t believe someone would do this, Nelson. Puddles doesn’t deserve this."

Nelson pulled her into a comforting embrace, trying to calm her stormy emotions. "I know, Mia. I know. But we’ll take care of Puddles, and we’ll make sure this never happens again."

As Mia buried her face in Nelson’s chest, trying to calm down, the rest of the group exchanged concerned glances. They knew how fiercely protective Mia was of the animals she cared for, and seeing her this upset was a rare and unsettling sight.

Kai nodded to Jay, signaling him to give Mia some space. "Let’s focus on helping Puddles for now. We can figure out the rest later."

Jay, still feeling guilty for triggering Mia’s outburst, nodded in agreement. "Right. We’ll make sure Puddles is okay first."

-------
The next day, Mia was in town, her frustration from the previous day still simmering just below the surface. She was determined to find out who had been careless enough to injure Puddles, and she wasn’t afraid to confront anyone she suspected.

As she marched through the streets, she began to question and blame anyone who seemed even slightly suspicious. “Did you ride a bike yesterday?” she demanded of a startled passerby. “Were you anywhere near the beach?” She gave each person a fierce glare, her frustration growing with every unsatisfactory answer.

Word quickly spread, and people began to avoid her, not wanting to be the target of her wrath. But Mia was relentless, and she continued her quest, her voice growing sharper with each accusation.

Just then, she spotted Nelson approaching her. He had been searching for her, worried about how she was handling everything. “Mia,” he called out, but as soon as she saw him, her temper flared again.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped at him. “Shouldn’t you be helping instead of just standing around?”

Nelson, caught off guard by her tone, quickly apologized. “Sorry, Mia. I was just worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Mia’s eyes softened slightly at his concern, but she was still too wound up to fully calm down. “I’m fine, Nelson. I just need to find out who hurt Puddles. They need to be held accountable.”

Nelson nodded, understanding her need for justice. “I get it, Mia. But maybe you should take a break. You’ve been at this all morning.”

Mia sighed heavily, realizing she had been running on pure adrenaline. She took a deep breath and looked around at the small crowd that had gathered, watching her with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

Finally, she straightened up and addressed them all. “Now, if you people will excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to.”

With that, she turned on her heel and began to walk away, her determination still burning strong but tempered by Nelson’s calming presence. As they walked side by side, Nelson gently took her hand, grounding her emotions.

“We’ll figure this out, Mia,” he said softly. “Together.”

Mia nodded, grateful for his support. “Yeah, we will,” she replied, her voice steadier now. “Let’s go check on Puddles and see how she’s doing.”

-----

A few days later, Puddles' leg had healed, and the time had come to return the porcupines to the forest. Mia carefully checked Puddles one last time, ensuring the bandage was no longer needed. Puddles seemed eager to return to the wild, her tiny eyes shining with energy and health.

Mia smiled as she gently picked up Puddles. "You're all better now, girl. It's time to go back home."

Jay stood beside her, holding Cocoa, the porcupine they had rescued when they were young. He glanced at Mia and grinned. "Ready to give them the proper send-off?"

Mia nodded, feeling a mix of emotions—relief, happiness, and a hint of nostalgia. "Yeah. Let's do it."

Kai, who had been watching from a short distance, walked over with his camera in hand. "Hey, before you two set them free, let me get a picture. Just like when you were kids."

Jay and Mia exchanged a glance, remembering the day they had first found Cocoa. They had taken a picture with the tiny porcupine back then, flowers in their hair and smiles on their faces.

Now, years later, they stood in the same pose, but this time each holding their own porcupine. Cocoa nestled comfortably in Jay's arms, while Puddles seemed perfectly content with Mia. They both smiled at the camera, the bond between them stronger than ever.

Kai snapped the picture, capturing the moment. "Got it," he said, lowering the camera. "You two haven’t changed a bit."

Mia laughed softly. "Except now we each have our own porcupine."

Jay chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I guess we do."

With one last look at the porcupines, they carefully set them down on the forest floor. Cocoa and Puddles hesitated for a moment, looking back at Jay and Mia as if to say goodbye, before scampering off into the underbrush, disappearing into their natural habitat.

Mia watched them go, her heart full. "Take care, you two," she whispered, knowing that they had done the right thing.

As they turned to head back, Kai walked beside them, his camera slung over his shoulder. "You guys did good. They’re going to be just fine."

Mia smiled, feeling a sense of closure. "Thanks, Kai. It feels good to know they’re back where they belong."

Jay wrapped an arm around Mia's shoulders as they walked. "And we’ll always have that picture to remember them by."

Mia leaned into her brother's side, feeling content. "Yeah, we will."