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The Deathstalker ran away, shrieking in pain when the stinger was cut off by the metal stick. The young girl fell to her knees, exhausted from running away for so long. She just wanted to go to sleep. She was surrounded by two-floor apartments, covered in grass and flowers and trees after so many years of neglect by their owners. The little girl remembered how the Mod Frogs had stopped chasing her through the skull of a mega mute who had been stung by a Deathstalker and died a painful death. The mutes must be afraid of the place, the girl figured. She hoped that she would be safe there as long as she stayed hidden in the apartments.
She had realized that the monster scorpions tracked her by her heartbeat. As long as she stayed calm and unafraid and never let her heart rush, she would be safe. Taking a deep breath, the girl walked back towards the mega skull where she had found an apartment. Boards had been nailed into the entrance which was a simple window, but after some effort, the young girl managed to remove them and get inside the apartment. It was just a single room, the doors was also nailed with boards and the girl figured that she wouldn't need a whole apartment just to herself. The average big room was just enough for someone her size. It would also be harder for someone to break into the apartment if boards covered every entrance.
She decided to search through the few boxes in the room to see if she found anything useful. In one of the boxes, she found a pile of inflatable guitars. They didn't seem very useful, so the young girl let them stay there. On the coffee table, there was a jumprope and three sticks. The child was unfamiliar with the tools and therefore picked them up to inspect them. The rope seemed useful, she could tie stuff with it. It had two handles which made it easier to hold without it scarring her hands. She didn't know what the sticks were for, but she figured that they could be useful too.
There was no food or signs of someone else living there, so the young girl decided that she'd stay there. It would be her new home. The word was funny. Home. She'd heard by her old wolf-family that home was a place where her loved ones were and where she felt safe. She didn't have anyone she loved with her and the surface wasn't safe. She didn't have a home. She wouldn't let herself have one. She'd had enough of being nice to people and getting backstabbed in return. She wouldn't let herself ever get hurt like that again.
After searching for a bit more, the girl found a weird tool. It had a handle and a rounded top with a lot of holes in them and a button on the other end of the handle. She pressed the button and spoke up into it.
"Hello?" she said and her voice sounded louder than usual.
After she spoke, a loud, static noise echoed through the whole apartment, forcing the young girl to drop the tool on the floor to cover her ears. She heard another loud noise from outside and a big shadow flew by the apartment. To check for the possible threat, the girl peeked her head out if the window.
A big owl was flying over Deathstalker Territory, letting out a "hoot" every few seconds. The few deathstalkers wandering around outside the apartment immediately seeked a hiding place. The girl observed the mutes' behavior - they were afraid of owls!
She looked down towards the tool again and picked it up, observing it. It seemed to make herself sound louder than before, maybe it could help her keep the Deathstalkers away from her home? She pressed down the button again and took a deep breath before she shouted into it.
"Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!"
She rushed towards the window to check and the Deathstalkers seemed to think it was an owl, immediately trying to hide again. The girl smirked to herself, it seemed to work! She picked the tool up again to put it right by the window in case she needed it again.
"Hoot-hoot." She said to herself, deciding to name the tool that.
It would chase away the mean scorpions.
Turning around, the girl decided to sit down on the sofa to relax for a while now when she was safe. It was then she noticed the small toy underneath the coffee table. Picking it up, the five year old girl realized that it was a teddybear. It reminded her of the one Mar-... That one wolf-girl had told her about that she'd found in the city once.
She hugged it to her chest and curled up into a ball, trying to fall asleep. It was harder than she thought, though. The sofa was rough to sleep on and she was used to a cuddly bed where she sank into the mattress. The sofa was uncomfortable and she didn't want to sleep on it. Sitting back up, she noticed the pile of inflatable guitars from before. They looked cuddly enough, if she piled them up, she could make a bed with them!
She immediately got into action, piling the guitars up beside the sofa. In the end, she laid a blanket above as a sheet. She didn't need a blanket now when she had her wolf-pelt. It would keep her warm during the nights. Yawning, the five year old laid down on her new bed, hugging her teddybear to her chest to fall asleep. Something was still troubling her, though. Opening her eyes, she looked at the teddybear and frowned.
She shouldn't need to hug a stuffed toy to sleep. It showed weakness - that she still needed love and someone to cuddle her to sleep. She did NOT need that, she had proven that after she ran away. She was a big girl and she needed to act like one if she wanted to survive on the surface. Tears ran down the child's cheeks as she threw the teddy away into the wall, letting it fall to the floor. She let out sob after sob. She was so scared, angry, sad, confused and lonely and she didn't like those feelings. She wanted to be tucked in under a blanket at home and whisper secrets to Margot until mama came and told them to go to sleep. It wasn't fair!
After crying herself out, she wiped away the tears and grabbed the teddybear again. She wasn't going to cuddle it, but she could at least use it as a pillow. Yeah, that was what was happening. She didn't pick it up to have some comfort by knowing she had a stuffie with her - it was just a pillow to make sure her neck didn't hurt while she slept.
That's right! Nothing else. She was a survivor now after all.
The girl laid down and wrapped the pelt around her extra tight, trying to get the feeling of her old, warm blanket to help her sleep. She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath before she fell asleep.
She wished that everything would be okay one day - although she was already doubting it...