Smiling Critters: A Turn To The Story.

The Runaways.

It would be her little treasure, she would keep it and take it to the grave.

She reached another area, a fort they had improvised with boxes and loose boards. Inside they were resting KickinChicken, who had his back to the ground and with his head tilted to the left, and CraftyCorn was lying down, with her head on Kickin's shoulder and her hoof on his chest.

Bobby thought it was cute, despite those two being a bit weird since the whole catastrophe.

KickinChicken had become more oblivious to the problems and attempted to delegate any responsibility that fell into his hands to someone he believed was more qualified to do so. He had a bad temper when he got angry and the situation made him more irritable, so he usually exploded at anyone, with Hoppy and Bubba being the only ones to stand up to him.
Still, he was still the same impulsive and reckless Critter as always; but it was discovered that he had a slight fear of anything that would harm his friends, although he was very reserved about showing those types of feelings. He preferred to adopt the "cool guy" stance that he always had.

However, he could reserve and express all the love in the world for CraftyCorn.
He had become her guardian without expecting it.

As time went by, Crafty suffered from enormous anxiety that degenerated into suicidal thoughts in extreme cases. She made only one attempt on her life, wanting to jump into a ditch out of distress, but Kickin stopped her in time. There was never another attempt, but she suffered from those anxiety episodes that had her on edge and that only Kickin knew how to soothe.
Still, she was as shy and bashful as before.
Only two things brought her peace; KickinChicken's company and drawing. But since she didn't have supplies, she had to rely on Kickin.

Bobby went inside and shook Kickin a bit. He squirmed and opened his eyes slowly.

Bobby Bearhug: Kickin, wake up, we have to go...

KickinChicken: Five more minutes...

Bobby Bearhug: That isn't an option. Come on, get up!

KickinChicken: Ugh, fine...ngh...morning...

Bobby Bearhug: Crafty...! Come on, wake up.

CraftyCorn: Alright...morning...!

Bobby Bearhug: Okay guys, I'll be getting Bubba and Picky. Mind making a tiny exploration to look for any useful tools?

CraftyCorn: Bubba isn't here, I think. He came tonight and asked for a piece of sharp metal. Maybe he went to investigate again.

KickinChicken: What? Why didn't you say it!

CraftyCorn: I thought it was a dream...!

KickinChicken: How many times do we have to tell him to stop the investigations by himself? He could get into trouble! In big trouble!

CraftyCorn: We cannot blame him for that, Kickin. He just wants to help.

And she was not wrong.
Since DogDay stopped being with them, no one wanted the position of leader, because they knew that no one would do the same good job as him. Anyway, Bubba Bubbaphant took it upon himself to save whatever could be saved.
Over the years, his intelligence did nothing but increase, but he never used his intelligence for his own benefit; everything he planned was to help others.

For a time, Bubba also took upon himself to protect those who got into trouble, especially KickinChicken, as his impulsiveness often put him in greater danger. However, Bubba soon realized that Kickin was only using him as a protector to avoid facing his own problems, so Bubba gave up on it and stopped having contact with Kickin.

Bubba, contrary to expectations, had acquired the virtue of patience. He almost never got angry with anyone and endured the worst of problems like a fighter, and although sometimes the others noticed a murderous glint in his eyes, they could never reproach him for insolence.
He was an intelligent, responsible, serious Critter, somewhat reluctant to show his feelings.
He was also too secretive.
He used to sneak out at night to investigate- or so he said- and usually came back before anyone woke up. Whenever he was caught, he gave no explanation of where he had gone or what he had done.