[TW: Blood, Death, Injuries, Trauma]
"Oh? OH!" realised Wilbur, starting towards the uneven-breathing Fundy. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, I'm sorry."

Teeth gritted beneath a furious frown, his child pulled away and sprinted into the familiar woods, running for at least an hour.

"That really you?" a laugh startled him as a fluffy face swung down two inches away from his nose, feline ears twitching.

"Tina?" asked the fox cautiously, shuffling closer.

"Eryn! Boomer! C! Aim! He's back!"

Beside her, two more faces, Boomer and Eryn appeared, grins wide and warmth in their eyes he hadn't seen for so long.

"You came back. Last time we saw you, you were, what, ten? Eleven?"

"Twelve. A year ago."

"Then you won't know CPK and Aimsey, will you?"

Without waiting for an answer, the tabby grabbed his arm and yanked him further into the darkness.

--------------------

An ominously familiar flapping of wings overpowered Grian's own and the crashing thunder above. Ignoring his better judgement, he snatched a panicked glance behind him, only to regret it. A pair of void-black jaws loomed so close to his ankles he could feel the frozen breath and hear the starved panting, a vast mass of raven tentacles with amber eyes gleaming from each coil. Gripping a netherite sword in his pale hand, the hermit spread his wings wide and shot up in the air. Ravenous teeth snapped at his ankles, followed by a livid roar. Looking over the foggy landscape below for a last time, Grian let himself fall into the snapping mouth below right as darkness enveloped him, he slashed out with a glowing blade and felt cold blood smother his limbs before it all stopped.

--------------------

Sunlight beamed down on Grian's face as pine needles crunched beneath his palms. His wings felt odd, like there was only empty space where they should be. When he glanced back, they resembled the tattered rigging of a shipwreck more than an elegant macaw's flight feathers. Rain trickled down, distracting him from his predicament. In one of the gathering pools on the ground, he glimpsed his reflection. One eye was the same sickly sweet amber of Its many eyes and his freckles had become soot-black. Breathing heavily, he grabbed the bark of a nearby tree and hauled himself up. Nausea and exhaustion filled his body and mind, but he succeeded in staggering forward a few steps before collapsing beneath a large conifer. Back came the tingling feeling, though it was much more welcome in this situation. Flashing images of clocks and cliffs gave Grian a headache as he dragged himself up to sit. He was about to pass out when a sudden voice jerked him back to consciousness.
"Hello? Fundy? I'm sorry, we can go get food at the restaurant you liked!"
Shuffling closer, he glimpsed the man who'd spoken, a brunette in a cerulean 1780's war outfit with an odd flag sewn into the shoulder. Concern glimmered in his tawny eyes as he travelled through the evergreen forest. Another wave of images hit Grian and he instinctively stumbled to uneven feet and fled, glad he was capable of being stealthy and fast. He stumbled to a halt beside a large clearing. In the centre stood a two-legged fox with thick fur and a similar outfit to the person he'd seen earlier, although paler and more splotchy in colour. Around him was a strange bunch: another fox, a bipedal cat, a guy in a frog hoodie, a dark-haired teenager holding a trident and a young girl who rotated a dagger in her fingers. A curious chirp escaped his mouth, and too late he shrank into the bushes, as a tabby and tortoiseshell paw grapped his wrist and yanked him into the open. Two inches from his face loomed a brown, black and orange furred face, accompanied by wide emerald eyes and a charcoal nose.
"Who are you?" hissed the feline, scanning his tattered wings and unimposing, weak stature.
"U-Uhm, my name's Grian."
Suddenly, the she-cat retracted and swung a paw right in front of his nose, holding it out sideways for a handshake. "I'm Tina."
Barely able to stand, he grabbed her mottled paw and pulled himself up. Leaning against a sturdy oak, as Tina turned back to the others and walked to the other side of the clearing, he coughed onto the back of his hand, only to help in alarm of the fresh blood on his pale skin. The smaller fox-human, who'd been peering at him anxiously while crouched nearby, popped his auburn head up and flattened his ears at the sight. Glancing down, Grian only now realised the spreading bloodstain on his faded, soaked sweater.
"Tinaaa?" called the nervous dog fix, hopping from paw to paw in discomfort. "We have a problem!"
An eyebrow raised, the lithe she turned her head and hurried over at the sight of blood covering their new arrival's jumper. Again cane the flashes of painful vibrancy and familiar falls, now accompanied by a scream that echoed constantly through his mind. Strong arms hooked under his as everything went dark for a second time.

A/N: Sooo.... 3rd chapter done! I wasn't aiming to get it done in this time frame buuuut here it is! Already around 5 chapters ahead of the wattpad version on my tiny notepad. Next chapter very short, might even get it out today.
Anyway, do y'all want:

A) Character Sheet

B) Updates to other stories

C) Focus on writing this one

D) Backstories on some things that might not seem important yet, but will be.

E) Cover for story (you could even send me one if you make one!)

Vote in the comments, and always remember to stay safe out there

(Also jeez, 969 words in one chapter? That is a lot, me.)