Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dark. Everything is dark. What's going on..? My head hurts.."

Lollipop slowly sat up. She had been passed out.. in the middle of a forest? It was strange, to say the least. How did she get there..?

Struggling to her feet, she looked around. Everything looked the same. She started to walk slowly, figuring the best idea would be to find a way out of this... pitch black forest... that might be hard.
While walking, she started to recall things, slowly. It.. it was a challenge.. they had to escape.. something in this forest.. that was worrying. Does that mean everyone else is here?
Her question would be answered, as ahead of her, she saw another contestant, being Flower. She was asleep on the ground, and.. she didn't seem to be in the best state. Lollipop felt a twinge of concern when she saw her. Usually, she wouldn't care, but something this time made her want to help. Running over and crouching down next to her, she started to shake her lightly.

L: "Flower..? Are you.. okay??"

This roused Flower slightly, as she sat up slowly, mumbling unintelligibly. Seeing Lollipop, she stared at her for a second, before leaning against her and hugging her tightly. Okay, this was strange.. Despite finding it the smallest bit endearing, Lollipop's concern grew. Feeling Flower's temperature, she seemed warmer than usual. She'd have to take her with her until she could find her way out of this forest..

L: *sigh* "Can you walk, at least??"

F: Mmh.. *She shook her head slowly.*

Lollipop sighed again, and picked her up carefully. Flower immediately snuggled into her, yawning softly. Lollipop smiled slightly, and started walking.

Chapter Text

Stumbling through the greenery that filled the forest, Lollipop could faintly see some light through the trees above. It was probably morning by now. It helped a bit, although the forest was still fairly dark. Eventually, Lollipop started to notice that it was getting harder, more exhausting, to keep walking.. Strange. She also started feeling more attached to the sleeping Flower in her arms, like she was something worth protecting. It was definitely slightly confusing.. She should probably focus on the task at hand though..

Walking was definitely getting more tiring at this point.. Until at some point, she heard quickly approaching footsteps. Quickly pulling Flower closer to her, almost automatically. The footsteps were revealed to belong to Golf Ball, who stood there panting for a few seconds before speaking.

GB: “Finally, other people..! Are you two alright?”

L: “...in a way. I'm.. not sure about her though..”

She slightly gestures to Flower, and Golf Ball seems to observe her for a second, mumbling to herself, before looking back to Lollipop.

GB: “I see.. she's affected, isn't she??

L: “...what??”

GB: *sigh* “I can explain what's going on. Follow me.”

Lollipop was hesitant at first, but she didn't really have anything better to do.. She reluctantly followed Golf Ball to.. wherever they were going.

After a while, they made it to some kind of camp. It was small, as if very few people occupied it. Golf Ball ran into one of the tents (made of leaves or something, I'd assume) and quickly came back out with a notepad and a pen. She started writing things, occasionally glancing at Flower before going back to writing. Lollipop just stood there, confusion obvious on her face.

GB: muttering “I haven't been able to observe another affected person until now..! Fascinating..!”

L: “Wait, you mean.. is there someone else here?? Who??”

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"He... isn't here. I swear I've searched half of this forest... But I'll search the rest of that's what it'll take to make sure he's safe."
A few leaves fluttered to the ground, coming from a slightly disturbed tree. It was probably the wind.. probably.

Chapter Text

“Tennis Ball..? You can come out of there..”

Golf Ball tapped her foot impatiently, but also with a bit of worry on her face. When there was no response from inside the tent she was looking at, she sighed and slowly walked inside it. In the farthest corner of the tent, was a terrified Tennis Ball, shivering rapidly, although it slowed slightly when he saw who had entered. Slowly walking over to him, Golf Ball spoke quietly to not startle him further.

GB: “Can you come out..? I’ve found more people, they can help.”

Tennis Ball shook his head quickly, whimpering a bit. Golf Ball sighed again and slowly put her forehead against his, in a sort of hug.

GB: “They won’t hurt you, TB, I’ll make sure of it. Okay..?”

Tennis Ball, after some hesitance, nodded slightly. He stood up and followed Golf Ball out of the tent, not leaving her side once. Lollipop gasped when she saw the state he was in, especially since he seemed to be terrified of her, hiding behind Golf Ball the second he saw her.

GB: "He's been like this ever since I found him. You see... he, and Flower, has been affected by Somnaffectitis. At least, that's what I refer to it as. In this forest, something is making it extremely contagious. It could be the trees, the plants.. or one person caught it and it spread. I haven't been able to study enough to determine the cause yet."

L: she looks down to Flower, a worried expression on her face. "Is- is it fatal..?"

GB: "Not that I know of. But with only two people I've seen affected, anything could happen- I, unfortunately, don't even know all the symptoms yet. The main two, though, is constant drowsiness and affectionate habits, besides having the symptoms of normal sicknesses, like a fever or the flu. ...Also, while we're on the topic of symptoms, could I look at Flower for a while? I haven't been able to study anyone with the sickness besides TB until now..”

Lollipop hesitated slightly. She knew Golf Ball's experiments could be.. a bit dangerous sometimes.

L: "You.. won't do anything bad to her.. right? You promise she'll be safe..?"

GB: *sigh* "Yes, I won't do anything harmful. I might take a small blood sample, but that shouldn't hurt her much."

L: "If you're sure.."

Chapter Text

Having been sent into the forest to look for others while GB studied Flower, Lollipop shivered at the darkness surrounding her. It was definitely creepy, that’s for sure. There were also the occasional urges to go back and make sure Flower was okay, for some reason.. She glanced back at the red string she had brought to keep herself from getting lost, but she forced herself to keep going.

After a bit of walking, she heard something. Golf Ball did say that she didn’t know how large this forest is, but with at least 60 more contestants out there, the chances of finding another could be high. She was snapped out of her thoughts by someone suddenly saying her name.

?: “L-Lollipop..??”

L: “..Book?”

Book’s expression was.. A bit heart wrenching, to say the least. After a few seconds, she ran to Lollipop, hugging her tightly, obviously sobbing.

B: "I-I'm.. I'm so s-sorry.."

L: "Woah- woah, it's okay, it's fine-"

B: "It isn't!!"

L: sigh "What's the problem."

B: "I.. it's all my fault, I- I hurt the team- I just wanted to, to make sure no one a-abandoned us again- I messed up, I'm sorry-!!"

L: "Ok, calm down, calm down. We can figure this out once we find the rest of our team. For now, we just.. gotta stay safe."

B: "I- O-okay.."

They both stayed like that for a while. Eventually, Lollipop started to speak again.

L: "I.. know a place you could stay at."

Book just nodded slightly, and they both started walking. At some point, though, Book seemed to be staring at something nearby. She suddenly mumbled something, her eyes wide, then quickly ran past some trees to the left of them. Lollipop, shocked by this, quickly ran after her, before seeing what Book was looking at.

Ice Cube. Book's old best friend. She was sitting against a tree trunk before looking up. Book was just standing there, tears running down her face. Ice Cube's expression could be only described as a mix of surprised, upset, and annoyed when she saw her. Book slowly approached her before quietly saying Icy's name.

B: "I-Icy.."

I: "Don't.. talk to me."

B: "Icy.. Icy, please-"

I: "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU."

B: She stands there, shocked for a second, before her expression shifted into frustration. She stood there for a while, before yelling suddenly. "I-Icy, just LISTEN!! I- I KNOW I HURT YOU, OKAY? AND I'VE TRIED TO APOLOGIZE!! BUT YOU JUST.. WON'T TALK TO ME!!" Then her eyes slowly widened, shocked at her own outburst.

Ice Cube, slightly tearing up, just turned away. Book grew more upset, before suddenly walking over to Ice Cube and grabbing her, tears running down her face.

B: "We're taking you with us. Lollipop, lead the way."

I: "LET ME GO!! I'M NOT DOING WHAT YOU WANT!!"

B: "It's for your own good, Ice Cube. You'll get sick out here. If you're willing to take that over coming with me and Lollipop.. I guess it just goes to show how much I screwed up."

Chapter Text

Getting back to the camp, it was obvious GB had expanded it a bit. A few more tents were visible, plus a small pile of wood for something. GB immediately ran up to them, with Flower slowly trudging along behind her. Lollipop quickly walked over and grabbed Flower's face in her hands, checking her over in a slightly panicked way.

L: "Are you okay?? Did she do anything to you??"

F: In a slightly tired, confused tone “ ‘M fine.. chill out.."

Lollipop sighed in relief, turning back to the others while still keeping Flower next to her protectively. Flower's face reddened slightly, but she just kind of accepted it. Book, meanwhile, had dropped Ice Cube to the ground with a frustrated huff, and went to talk to Golf Ball. Lollipop slowly walked over to Ice Cube, looking at her with a slightly disappointed look. After just standing there for a while, she spoke up.

L: "She.. really liked you, y'know. I mean, back when you were best friends at least."

I: She sat there for a second before replying. "You're not gonna make me talk to her."

L: sigh "I won't. But just so you know, that might be the problem."

After saying that, she left, leading Flower with her. Ice Cube looked to be thinking for a second, before letting out a frustrated groan and storming off to one of the tents. She didn't WANT to talk to her. She didn't want anything to do with her. Book watched her walk away out of the corner of her eye, with a slightly reddened face and sad expression.

A small flame shivered on the ground, apparently unconscious. The sound of gentle, familiar footsteps was heard, along with a sigh of relief after.

It definitely took a while. At least she found him.