Never Known

○◇ Chapter 1 ◇○

"Will he want to be my friend??" The girl questioned her mother again while holding her paw. They were on their way to see Bonnie and Freddy. Now that Gregory was old enough to walk and speak, Cassandra was excited to officially befriend him.

Roxanne nodded. "Of course, Cass. Who wouldn't want to be your friend?" She used her other paw to pinch the girl's cheek.

She knew Bonnie and Freddy already. She considered the whole crew family, which made the two of them her 'uncles'.

Bonnie and Foxy were her two favorite relatives. She liked Foxy's stories and found his grumpy attitude funny.

She liked Bonnie because he was fun and easy-going, but not loud or aggressive as Monty was.

They finally caught sight of the home and they could see Bonnie working in the front.

When they were not pirating, everyone had their own separate jobs. Her mom had quite a few of them and never stayed in one job for long, constantly needing more money.

Bonnie worked from home as a seamstress and stay-at-home parent, while Freddy worked as a ship mechanic.

When the bunny caught sight of them, he smiled and stood up, pausing his work to greet them.

"Can Gregory come out and play??" She asked.

Bonnie nodded and invited them, calling the boy down. They could hear small footsteps climbing down the stairs.

The boy came into view a few seconds later, jogging up to his dad. When he turned and saw Cassandra, he grew frightened.

The girl smiled and tried approaching him. "Hi, Gregory!"

The boy quickly hid behind Bonnie's legs, rejecting her greeting. Cassie's ears fell.

"... does he not like me-?" She glanced towards Bonnie. The bunny smiled and shook his head.

"He's just shy, like his dad."

He turned down and placed a reassuring paw over Gregory's head.

"Why don't you say hi?" He spoke softly.

The boy gripped the hem of Bonnie's pants nervously. "...b-but... what if she's m-mean...?"

"She could be nice, Gregory. You won't know unless you give her a chance." Bonnie reassured, stepping out of the way and lightly pushing the boy forward.

Gregory kept his gaze on the ground as his voice shook. "H-hello... Cassie."

The girl felt her mood lift again as she stepped forward to pull him into a tight hug, which the boy awkwardly returned.

"Why don't you go and show her some of your toys?" Bonnie offered a suggestion to the boy.

Gregory visibly relaxed and nodded to his dad, gesturing for Cassie to go with him up the stairs. The girl followed eagerly.

...

Cassandra scoffed and brushed off her coat as she climbed down.

"Of all the places to get lost, he gets lost here??" She complained to herself.

The girl was hidden on the ship when the vessel wrecked. By the time she climbed out through the rubble, everyone was gone, and Foxy was no longer alive.

She had to follow her gut and keep moving. If she had to find her mom and her friends, the only way to go was forward. She reluctantly had to leave him behind, regardless of how it tore at her heart strings.

The girl could swear she heard Gregory's voice but could not find any trace of him. It was not until she carefully but swiftly climbed through the narrow pathway of the cave and into the catacombs.

"Are you there?! Are you there...?  I'm trapped!" The voice returned.

She finally pulled her way out of the narrow tunnel and stumbled to catch her footing. She paused to take a few deep breaths before searching for the source of the noise.

"...Gregory...? I can hear you. Where are you??"

"Help! Something grabbed me... it... it won't let me go!"

"I'm trapped at the docks!"

She glanced back at the dark city and felt her wonder turn into dread. She hurriedly jogged to the side to pick up one of the old, lit lanterns.

"I'm going, but not without a light!" She stated.

She always had a bad habit of talking to herself.

She just needed something to fill the space. Her greatest fear was silence.

She started on her way.