3rd POV

Y/n was currently hiding in the bushes, looking at something. He was looked at mari, who was spreading out her picnic blanket as usual. He let out a small sigh.

"I know your there, Y/n." Mari said, not looking up from the blanket.

This startled Y/n so much that he accidentally fell out of the bush. Mari finished setting up the picnic and looked up at Y/n with a smile, "It's good to see you too."

Y/n got to his feet sheepishly and walked over to Mari, "H-Hello Mari."

Mari smiled up at him, "And hello to you Y/n." she said playfully.

They just looked at each other for a moment.

"So, how have you been?" Mari asked

"G-Good." Y/n answered

Y/n just fiddled with his fingers for a while then he looked up, "U-Um, Mari. I uh, Have something fo-"

"HEY MARIIII!!!" Kel shouted as he, Hero, Aubrey and Omori ran into the playground.

"Hi, Mari! Look! Omori is here!" Aubrey said, pointing to Omori.

"Omori!"

Mari stood up and tackle-hugged her brother. After a few minutes she let go of him.

"Stop disappearing like that! You know my heart can't take it." she scolded him.

She looked around, "Hmm... So there's still no sign of Basil? Where could he be?"

"We're not sure... We've been looking for him everywhere, and still... nothing." Hero said.

Aubrey looked out into the forest and sighed, "I hope Basil is okay... I miss him so much."

"Yeah I miss hearing him talking about all the stuff he's into... like all the flower stuff... and the photo stuff... and the art stuff... and the reading stuff..." Kel said.

"My hair is so tangly. I miss when Basil used to brush my hair." Aubrey whimpered as tears started forming in her eyes.

Then she did a 180 degree turn, physicaly and mentally, "Omori, will you brush it for me?"

"Well, I miss when Basil used to remind me to wash my hands. Look! They're so dirty!" Kel said as he showed his mud-stained hands to the rest of them.

"Ew! Kel!"

"Kel... You should probably wash your hands anyway." Hero said.

"Everyone... I know it's tough right now, but we have to stay positive! We should all try to be like Basil! Even when Basil is upset, he always manages to smile." Mari said with a encouraging smile.

"So... is there anywhere you haven't checked yet?" 

"Well... There is a forest west of the stump, but..." Hero said uneasily.

"It's gross and full of spiders!" Kel said.

Hero shuddered, "Ugh... Spiders..."

"Well... You know what that means." Mari said.

She pumped she arms and looked at Omori.

"Once again, it's time to face your fears, little brother!"

"And that means you too, Hero!"

Hero shuddered more.

"Come on, big bro! You can't back down now. It's just like how it is with Omori. We're here to support you all the way!" Kel said with a grin.

"Yeah, you're right... haha... I'm just being silly..." Hero said, still sounding a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry, guys! If anyone or anything tries to hurt you, I'll smash it out of the way! You can count on it!" Aubrey said brightly.

"And don't forget about me! I'll always be there to help too." Mari said.

"I-I'm no g-good at anything... B-But I'll do my b-best..." Y/n said softly.

"Yeah... Yeah! We can do this together!" Hero said more confidently.

"L-Let's go to the forest west of the stump. Lead the way Omori!" Hero said.

They all started to leave. Mari turned to Y/n, "Oh, right! Y/n, you were saying something before the others came right?"

They all turned and looked at Y/n, Y/n 's face had gone red, "I-It's nothing."

He quickly stood up and and quickly walked after the rest.

Mari looked at him go, tilting her head in confusion.

--------

They were walking towards the stump, Y/n sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Is something wrong Y/n?" Hero asked.

Y/n was silent for a bit and then rummaged around in his bag. He pulled out a handful of flowers, "These...for....Mari...."

Y/n lowered his head lower, "But...Y/n....got.....cold feet...."

Just then he tripped on something and fell to the ground.

"Ow! This guy stepped on me!" a Sprout Mole yelled.

"Oh....sorr-"

"Oi! Did this guy step on you?!" another Sprout Mole shouted.

"N-No...Y/n...didn't...me-"

"I think he just stepped on you!" a third one shouted.

"Y/n..s-"

"Let's get him!"

The Sprout Mole's all ganged up on Y/n and started kicking and stomping on him.

"Hey! Leave Y/n alone!" Kel shouted.

He and Aubrey began beating the Sprout Moles off Y/n, they scrambled to their feet and ran off crying.

Hero helped Y/n up, "Are you okay, Y/n?"

Y/n didn't answer. He walked over and knelt down in front of something, the flowers for Mari, they were trampled to the ground, the petal's ground into nothing.

Y/n gently scooped up what was left of the flowers and looked down at them.

"*Sniff* The flowers...for....friend Mari...."

Hero walked over to him and patted his back, "It's okay Y/n, they're just flowers. You can always pick more."

"Hey guys! Look at this! The Sprout Mole's dropped some kind of tickets!" Kel shouted.

"Let me see!" Aubrey said as she snatched the tickets out of Kel's hands, "Oh, they're front row tickets for some kind of show..."

"Featuring... Sweetheart?"

"Wasn't that Capt. Spaceboy's ex-girlfriend?" Hero said.

"Yeah! It looks like some sort of contest or something! If we happen to pass by, we should stop and watch!" Aubrey said excitedly, "We do have front-row show tickets after all!"

"Well... alright. Maybe we can drop by if we happen to come across it." Hero said.

They turned left at the stump and walked deeper into the forest. They stopped in front of the entrance to the Pyrefly Forest, which was blocked by a giant spiderweb.

"You ready to do this, Omori?" Kel asked.

"We'll be right here if you need us... right, Hero?" Aubrey asked.

"H-Huh? Y-Yeah! Of course!" Hero stuttered.

Omori stepped closer to the spider web, the feeling similar to when goes near the water, that feeling of something reaching out to get him started creeping up his spine. And then all of a sudden-

OMORI IS NO LONGER AFRAID OF SPIDERS

Omori pulled out his knife and slashed the spider web out of the way.

"Omori... Thanks for taking one for the team." Hero said, sighing in relief.

They entered the Pyrefly Forest, the forest was completely covered in a thick lair of fog. The air was damp and cold, plus there were spider webs everywhere.

"Ugh... On second thought... Let's look for Basil somewhere else. This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." Kel said, squinting his eyes, trying to see anything through the fog.

"Don't be such a baby, Kel. There are just some spider webs here and there!" Aubrey snapped.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!! THERE'S A SPIDER IN YOUR HAIR!!" Kel suddenly screamed.

"W-WHAT? WHERE? GET IT OFF!!" Aubrey screamed, shaking her hair.

"Haha! Just kidding! Look who's the scared one now!" Kel laughed.

"Hmph! That's not very funny, Kel..." Aubrey huffed.

They started making they're way through the forest, being ambushed by spiders ever turn and the thick fog didn't help, and even being attacked by a bear once.

"Basil! Where are you!" Aubrey called.

"BAAASSSSIILLLLLLLLL!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!" Kel screamed into the forest.

"Hmm... It doesn't look like Basil is here either." Hero said.

"Hey look! It's Mari!" Aubrey cried as she pointed.

Mari was sitting on a picnic blanket, how did she get there before they did? Who knows.

"Oh hello, everyone! You all made it through the forest! I'm so proud of you!" Mari said.

"Mari.... I.... I was so scared!" Hero cried as he ran into Mari's arms.

Mari was kinda surprised by Hero's suddenly tackle hug but her being Mari she patted Hero head and reassured him it was alright.

Kel sighed, "It's times likes these I really wish Basil was here. He could tell Hero about how spider are harmless and good for nature or something. Maybe then he wouldn't find them so creepy."

"I'm not sure if that would help him right now." Aubrey said.

"Oh, Hero... You're going have to deal with this eventually.  Like how Y/n has to get over his fear of the water. These things will only get worse over time."

"H-How did you k-know that?!" Y/n said.

Mari looked at him with a mysterious smile, "I know everybody's secrets~" she said.

Hero parted from the hug and scratched his head, "Maybe... Or maybe I'll naturally outgrow it! You never know what the future brings! Heh heh..." he said.

They continued walking, but noticed something weird on the ground, Kel walked up to it and started poking it with his finger, "This rock feels weird." he said.

"Turn back....."

Kel jumped back as the rock(?) turned over and revealed itself to a Sprout Mole.

"Turn back......" the Sprout Mole croaked again.

"What happened to this Sprout Mole?" Aubrey asked as she looked down at the grey withered creature.

"Friends.....look......" Y/n said as he pointed ahead.

The trail was littered with more Sprout Mole carcasses.

They continued on, looking around nervously at the dead Sprout Moles. 

"What happen here...?" Hero said.

"This forest went from freaky to super duper freaky!" Kel said.

"Omori! I'm scared!" Aubrey cried as she clutched onto Omori's arm.

"Poor....Sprout..Moles...." 

Suddenly there was a loud clicking sound from the forest. The sound of scuttling legs could be heard from all around them.

With the rustling of trees something ginormous emerged from the forest.

A giant monster, with a big, ugly head and a bunch of dead sprout moles for a body. It clicked menacingly.

The group stared up at it in horror.

"It's huge!" Kel shouted.

"What do we do?!" Hero panicked

"Protect me Omori!" Aubrey cried.

Without a word, Y/n slowly approached it.

"Y/n, what are you doing?!" Aubrey hissed.

"It.....okay...." Y/n said, continuing moving closer to the monster.

The monster looked down at Y/n with it's red eyes, it's mandibles snapping together.

Y/n raised his hands, "It....okay........It....okay....." Y/n said.

The monster cocked his head to the side. Y/n reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic baggie filled with trail mix.

He opened the baggie and split some of the trail mix into his palm and held it up to the monster, "Here....."

The monster lowered it's head and started eating off of Y/n's hand.

Y/n put his other hand on the monsters head, "Good....boy..."

The monster squirmed and suddenly flipped over on it's back.

Y/n understood what it was doing and started scratching it's long stomach.

"Good boy.....Very...Good boy....." Y/n said as the monster wiggled it's legs in the air.

The rest of the group just stared open mouthed at the what they were seeing.

"Friends.....it....okay.....Kingsly.....is....friendly....." Y/n reassured them.

"Kingsly?" Hero asked.

"Kingsly...big...as..a..king....so...Y/n...named...him....Kingsly.." Y/n said.

Kingsly let out a happy clicks as Y/n finished scratching his stomach and flipped him back up right.

He gave a nod to Y/n and scuttled back into the forest.

Y/N HAS NOW LEARNED FRIEND SUMMON

"Bye...Kingsly...!" Y/n called after him.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" Kel shouted.

They turned to see Kel was standing in front of a hole with a ladder in it.

They all walked towards it and stared into the deep dark hole.

"Well, ladies first." Kel said.

"Shut up." Aubrey snapped.

One by one they climbed down the ladder and saw that it led into a series of underground tunnels.

Hey! It's me! It's been a while, but I'm back with a new chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Well, that all I have to say for now so, until next time, BYE BYE~!