Never Known

○◇ Chapter 9 ◇○

They were not sure exactly what was wrong with Monty, but they did not seem very friendly now.

Cassandra hoped Chica was right, that maybe he was just confused, but Cassie feared they may have lost their mind.

She could see Monty's figure in the water, pacing back and forth. Chica stopped her before she could move any closer.

"Be careful... I should probably go in and see what's wrong."

The girl shook her head. "No, I should do it! I'm smaller, it'll be easier for me!"

Chica looked as though she wanted to argue with that logic, so Cassandra stopped her.

"Please, mom! I know I was weak in the past, but I'm stronger now! I got this!" She assured.

Chica gave her a sad smile and knelt down, cupping her cheeks in her hands.

"... I know you do, Cass. You've never been weak." She stated firmly.

The girl grinned at the praise and glanced over to the water again.

"Maybe if I go in, they'll come after me... and then I can just come back on shore, and we can talk to them!"

Chica hummed. "...only if you think you could get out of the water in time..."

The girl brushed it off. "This water looks shallow! I think I'm fine."

She hesitantly went in, listening in for any sudden movements.

He seemed to sense her in the water anyway. She could hear them coming towards her quickly.

She panicked, already struggling out of the water. She had not realized how much faster Monty was than her.

As she was trying to climb out again, her paw slipped, and she found it difficult to climb up on the slipper surface.

Now she started panicking, as she could see his figure gaining on her fast.

Chica finally seemed to notice her struggle and hurried over, grabbing her wrists and lifting her out just in time.

About a second later, Monty breeched from the water and got a hold of Chica's leg, trying to pull her in.

She cried out and tried kicking their head away, but he would not budge. He attempted a death roll that nearly broke her leg completely.

Thankfully, she thought fast and rolled in the direction he pulled her, making the move useless.

Cassie had stepped in and tried to pull Chica out of their jaws, but he was too strong and continued trying to drag her in.

"Monty, stop! It's us!" Cassie begged. She was now beginning to fear that he was too far gone and would not even recognize them.

"Monty, please!" She stepped forward held their face still, which caused him to hiss and try pulling away.

She moved their ruined hair out of their face so he could look at her. "Please stop. It's us, we're your friends!" She reasoned.

Monty's struggling grew weaker the longer he looked between them. The wild, fearful look in their eyes was dissipating.

"...C-Cass...?" They choked out. The girl nodded excitedly.

"Yes! It's me! Chica and I are here to help you!"

He glanced over to the avian, who placed a comforting hand on his head.

"It's okay now, Monty... you're safe." She assured.

The gator finally seemed to calm down after a few moments. Once he came back to his senses, they cursed under their breath and stood up, buring his face in his claws.

"Sorry... s-sorry, I-I didn't recognize -" He tried explaining. The girl silenced them.

"It's okay... we know you weren't thinking."

He turned to Chica's injured leg guiltily. "...sorry..."

The bird sighed and sat back. "It's okay, but we need to stop the bleeding, fast!"

Monty pulled the sash off his hips and squeezed the water out in order to wrap her wound tightly. The bird scowled in pain but allowed it.

"I-I don't have nothin' for the infection..."

Chica took a deep breath and forced herself to stand. "It's fine. This will help."

The girl and Monty stood up as well.

"So, now what?" He asked.

Chica hummed. "We have to find the others. Once we do, we can figure out how to get out of here."

Cassandra spoke up. "There's a dock around here, I heard Gregory tell me about it. If we get there, we can find a ship and leave!"

The others mutually agreed that was a smart idea. Now, they just had to find Roxanne, Freddy, and Gregory.