The rushing of footsteps pulled Lane out of his thoughts as he turned back to see a figure darting towards him, he grabbed the axe off his back and brandished it as a warning to the approaching person. The figure did not stop or slow as he came into view, 'Cricket?' Lane lowered his axe as the humanoid approached, completely out of breath. "Sally is dead!" He yelled between huffs of air. Lane's eyes widened in worry. "How is that possible?" Cricket shoved Lane back, glaring at him. "You humans killed her! She's dead! A whole group of them came and tore through everything, my home is gone!" Lane's chest tightened at the news his thoughts immediately turning to the white haired humanoid who had cared for him with such devotion. "What about Moth?" He muttered. Cricket's breathing slowed and he got quiet. "They took him. He's gone." He ran a hand roughly through his hair, his expression becoming darker and irritated. "Why didn't that idiot listen to me? I told him he should never use his abilities or expose himself to humans but that idiot didn't listen. He jumped at them and tried to stop them from killing her, he tried to calm her down and stop both sides but they didn't stop. They tied him up and took him." He sighed before glancing up at Lane. "This is your fault. He was scared of humans. He wouldn't have tried to intervene if you didn't spend so much time with him.
Lane stayed quiet, he wasn't wrong so he couldn't say anything against him. "Did you follow them?" He asked in a low tone. Cricket gave him a confused look. "What? No, I ran." Lane grit his teeth and stepped towards him, towering over him. "Why would you leave him behind?" Cricket scoffed, "What was I meant to do? I can't fight and he got himself in that situation." Lane sighed in annoyance, moving to walk past him. If he stayed here and talked with him he'd want to kill him. "Where are you going?" Cricket called out. "To get him back. I owe him." Cricket frowned, "He's gone. Stop bothering, they would have killed him by now if not they'll turn him in for money." Lane turned back to him, finally done with his chattering. He pulled out his axe and held it up to Cricket's throat. "I'll find him. Which way did they go?"
***
Moth groaned slightly, his head throbbing as he was pulled from his sleep. He tried to move but his hands and feet were restrained as he lay face down in the middle of the wooden floor. He winced slightly as the cart he was trapped in tousled around as it moved over a rock. He tried to move his wings but they were tied together with a tight band and drenched in water to prevent him from using anymore spores. He maneuvered himself so he was sitting against one of the walls of the cart as he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He had night vision that helped him adjust quickly, helping him scan his environment. He seemed to be in a storage cart of some kind as there were random objects and barrels of food and water packed in with him. He looked around for anything that might help him untie his restraints, his eyes landing on the splintered edge of a barrel. With a snap, he quickly removed the ties from around his hands, unbothered as he cut into his palms with the shattered wood, before he moved to untie his feet. Moth then tried to untie his wings but he found that they were tied to be just out of his reach.
'Shouldn't they have just killed me?' He thought to himself. 'Most humans would think that it was too dangerous to take a humanoid alive, they would chop them for parts. What are they thinking?' He could hear mumbling voices from outside the cart so he pressed his ear to one of the cart walls. He heard three or four people outside, but the thick walls made it impossible to make out their words. 'Based on the items they must be merchants of some kind. They probably plan to sell me alive.' A chill went up his spine at the thought, he didn't want to be sold. He stood up, resting a hand on the ceiling to steady himself before he broke off a piece of wood from a barrel. As he did this he heard a slight whimper from behind some of the items. He immediately stopped what he was doing and glanced over to the source of the sound.
"Hello?" He whispered, slightly on guard. "Is there someone in here with me?" After a few moments of silence, a small head peeked out from behind a box. A humanoid child with characteristics of a hare peered out wide-eyed. He seemed to be twelve or thirteen years old with orange hair and his face was littered with freckles while his fluffy light brown ears were flopping down over the sides of his head. He was trembling and tearing up, clutching onto the box he was hiding behind. Moth put aside his own fear, seeing that the child needed to be comforted. "Hello there. I'm not going to hurt you. Are you alright?" He took a step towards the child and pointed to is antenna. "See. I'm a humanoid too."
The kid darted out from his hiding spot before reaching out and hugging Moth, clutching onto him around his stomach. Moth hugged the child back, patting him on the head. Don't worry, I'll get us both out of here. You have nothing to fear." He pulled back from the child before turning to the cart's closed door. He took the splintered piece of wood and pulled wove some threads around the wood to fashion a make-shift hook to use as a weapon.
Feeling adequately prepared, he turned to the kid and kneeled down to look at him eye to eye. "I'm going to draw their attention, when I do that I want you to run away as fast as you can. You look like a fast kid, you can do that right?" The kid nodded quickly, looking rather scared. Moth put on a reassuring smile before standing up and steadying himself.
Moth planted his hands on the top of the cart before shaking it violently, causing the people chattering outside to go quiet. He heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to the cart door as the latches were unlocked, as soon as light seeped in through the crack in the top in the door, he threw himself at the door causing it to fall on top of the man who had come to open it. The other three men were stunned as Moth leaped out, swinging his weapon at them and slashing them with it. They stumbled back, holding their wounds while Moth took the chance to drop his weapon and started to run, stumbling a little from being unbalanced with his wings tied. He glanced back noticing that the child had ran off in another direction and that the kidnappers were after him. Good, that kid should be safe. He darted into the forest to his left, his body was accustomed to this kind of travel letting him quickly lengthen the gap between him and the kidnappers as he jumped over rocks and logs. Just when he thought he plan was going perfectly, he heard a loud whimper from where he had just come from causing him to stop in place.
"Butterfly! Stop running!" One of the men yelled to him, he had a knife held to the throat the kid. Moth's eyes widened. How did he get caught? He halted, turning back to them.
"Don't hurt the kid!" He yelled. Damn I can't leave him here. "Come back quietly and we won't." Moth hesitated for a moment but quickly did as he was told, he'd never leave someone in such a situation, especially not someone so young. He walked back to them, his body tense. As he got close enough to them, the man who he had crushed under the door punched him in the stomach and pushed him to the ground before kicking him across the face. He could feel hot blood run down his face from the injuries. "Stupid, god damn humanoid." He kicked him a few more times making sure to hit him over and over again in the same spots until someone pulled him away. "Stop, this one's weaker than the rest, don't hurt him too much." The man tugged his arm away glaring at the one who stopped him. "Who is even going to buy him if he can't handle a few punches?" The man grabbed Moth by the hood of his cloak, lifting him up. "We already have a buyer. Tie him up and use chains this time." The little humanoid looked up at them. "Can I take his coat?" Moth's eyes widened and his stomach sank. I got tricked. "Yeah, your services are always appreciated." The leader dropped a gold coin in the boy's hand and he takes the cloak off of Moth, throwing it to the boy who dashes off, glancing back at the humanoid he'd betrayed before disappearing into the bushes. "Knock him out so we can tie him properly." The last thing Moth felt was a blunt blow to his head before his vision faded/
Moth woke up again, feeling more battered than before, he was shivering after being drenched in water again and his cloak taken away. His lip and cheek twinged in pain and one of his eyes was swollen shut. His face was sticky with blood and his stomach was throbbing with bruises. He tried to move his hands and wipe the blood from his face but he found his arms tied behind his back. He groaned in pain as he thrashed about a little trying to get free but he quickly tired himself out leaving him laying on the wooden ground, out of breath. His mouth and throat felt dry and his stomach churned from hunger, he licked his dried lips and drooped his head. He was exhausted, hungry and thirsty but another thing bothered him, his hands were trembling and he felt weak. He had used his energy trying to save Sally and was starting to tremble. 'Poor Sally.' He felt himself tear up a little and his lip trembled. 'At least Cricket got away, he isn't going to come after me though. He doesn't have the courage to. Who would come after me?' His thoughts crossed to Lane but he quickly brushed it off. 'No, Lane is long gone. He probably has found a human colony by now.' He smiled to himself, thinking about it. 'I'm glad though, that everyone else is safe.' He thought to himself as exhaustion overcame him again as he slumped over.