The group of friends had run back to the house, Khloe hanging back to keep her eye in the sky for Cloud, with no luck. Vickie helped Connor with leading Andi back to the house, all of them thinking different things about the same thing.
One thing was for certain: Cloud was gone and they needed to get him back.
Connor lead Andi to a couch to let them do what they needed to do to feel better from the situation they all had witnessed, and moved to the kitchen, sitting down and leaning on his elbows, lacing his fingers together in front of his face in deep thought. Vickie stood at the door, waiting for Khloe to return.
When the bat finally touched back down in front of the door, Vickie let her in and gave her a look of concern and worry. Khloe knew what it meant instinctively, and shook her head.
"He's gone, and I don't know where he could've went."
Connor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't want to ask what was on his mind, but... He needed to know that he didn't imagine what just transpired.
"Khloe? Vickie?" he murmured, hesitantly. "I.... We all saw that, right? I'm not completely mad?"
The two girls on the other side of the room looked at each other, and slowly nodded.
Connor took another, more aggressive deep breath, and ran his hands in his hair, his large ears drooping in frustration.
"Goddammit.... Why didn't he just let us help him?! Why did he have to go and be a- a hero, or something! He doesn't solve anything by doing things by himself, that's why we're here for him isn't it?" The hare had pushed himself out of the seat and began pacing around the kitchen, his hands clenched in loose fists.
The bat watched her best friend pace and get angry at Cloud, and slowly approached him, her wing reaching out for his arm. He stopped pacing as he felt the tug on his sleeve from the bat. He flashed back to the first day they'd seen their friend again since his bonding and what he did to his best friend, and he furrowed his brows again. But he watched as Khloe's face shifted to desperate concern as she spoke.
"Connor... It's not his fault. It's not like he wanted this to happen, he just thought.... He thought something that turned out to be wrong. He wanted to believe he could be comfortable in his fur again. I know I'm not like... the best when it comes to this stuff, but we know Cloud. He... He can't be blamed for this."
It was a new side of her for sure. She'd always seemed more aloof in situations like this, and the first time he lost himself Khloe didn't forgive him for a while. Seeing her find the reasons not to blame him... It made Connor take a moment to breathe and pull her in for a hug.
"I know, I know... I'm just... We could've done more for him, Khlo. What if he doesn't come back?"
"He will. We'll make sure he does."
After watching the two friends talk out some feelings, Vickie turned her attention to Andi, and sat on the chair that touched the couch, getting into a comfortable position just to keep her eyes on Andi. She said nothing, just sat there waiting for them.
Andi's mind had been a whirlwind of grief ever since they had witnessed Cloud disappear from them, go away and be replaced with some... monster. The ringtail was curled up on the couch, tail wrapped tightly around their legs and head buried in a pillow they had clutched in their arms. They couldn't cry, they didn't know if they couldn't or if they forgot how, but they stared into space as their mind raced at a million miles per hour. It roared and growled and shrieked as they lay there, listening to everything going on in their head.
Thoughts swirled and blurred together.
Is he okay?
Will he ever come back?
What if he never comes back again and I'm left all alone again?
I can't, I can't, I can't...
I can't do it.
The dam finally broke as the same thought of Cloud being gone for good repeated itself like a broken record. The desperate partner buried their face into the middle of the pillow and let out a loud sob. Their body shook with the strength of their grief, and it prompted the kitsune to get up from her spot and sit next to the crying ringtail. Vickie very, very gently put her hand on Andi's back as they grieved, and gave them a slow back rub, soft green eyes watching the ringtail. There wasn't too many words that would be easy to exchange like this, so Vickie stayed where she was and made sure Andi had something physical to ground themself on if they needed it.
Angela had run back downstairs from her room, her face full of confusion as she looked between the duos that were in the two rooms. Her eyes drifted to her brother, her gaze lingering as she watched him with his arms wrapped around Khloe, the two of them locked in somber silence. The rabbit remembered the first time her little brother met the bat and how happy he was to have finally found someone he could trust... and seeing them like this broke her heart. Her eyes then flicked over to the ringtail and the kitsune. The two friends were a more rare sight at the house, but she still knew them fondly. Andi seemed highly distressed, and it crushed her to see someone so confident in themself crumbled under heartbreak. She watched Vickie do her best to comfort them, watched how carefully she treated the situation, like a leaf of ice.
The rabbit took a deep breath and walked over to her brother and Khloe.
"Connor? What.... the hell happened?"
The hare's ears twitched at the sound of Angela's voice, and he pulled gently away from the bat.
"Oh, uhm... We're not super sure yet but..." He looked down at Khloe, setting his hand on her head and holding her close to him.
"I dunno if you noticed since his birthday, but he looks a little different, yeah? So apparently his family has this thing, where when a member comes of age, they're sorta like.... Possessed by these things called Drakes that are like, pure magic I think. If they come from somewhere else that's all I can think. And the first time he ever lost it, his ma told us what it was all about- like it's not a huge secret thing, pretty much everyone knows what happens to the Colvis I think- and his Drake is.... Dangerous. Like, if a fire tornado hit the town and then a hurricane happened right after kind of dangerous. And since then he's kinda been having issues managing like, controlling himself. And I guess it just.... got worse and worse and now he's just gone. That's what it looked like to me, so we... we need to figure out how to get him back."
Angela slowly moved over to the dining room to sit down and listen to her brother talk, weaving her fingers together and setting her chin down on her hands. When Connor finished talking, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Fluttering her eyes open again, the rabbit bit her lip.
"Well.... I suppose that explains him attacking Khloe out of nowhere. He just gets clocked in the head and then all of a sudden he turns into this... creature, I guess. But it wasn't really him then. Hm..."
Khloe took a deep, shaky breath and stepped away from Connor to go over to Vickie and Andi, ready to comfort the ringtail. Connor watched her leave the room, and then sat with his sister, putting his head in his hands.
"What do we do? Our friend is being controlled by this dangerous magic creature and we can't do anything. We can't even find him. He left and he kept us held back until he was completely out of sight. This bastard took our friend and we don't know where to start."
The rabbit watched her brother devolve into defeat- she'd seen it before with him- and she put her hand on his shoulder.
"I think we should talk to his family, Connor. They might know how to deal with this. They might have more answers."
Connor paused for a second. And then another.
"I'm so fucking stupid."
Angela let out a sharp, but light laugh at his remark. "Yeah, yeah, but it's okay. Home was closer and you guys needed somewhere to catch your breath after that. But yeah, go talk to his family, it might benefit you guys."
The hare gave his sister a smile, reaching over and giving her a hug. Angela hugged her brother back, and stood up, dusting her skirt down and letting out a sharp exhale. She left the room to check on the girls and Andi, and it seemed like the two girls finally managed to calm Andi down a good amount. The ringtail sat up and rubbed their face roughly with their hands, taking deep breaths and trying to get their breathing back to normal.
Vickie moved in a little closer to Andi and hummed at them softly. "Do you need something to drink, dear?"
Andi pulled their knees up to their chest, and nodded. "Uhm.... Do- do we have juice here? I want... I want juice."
Angela looked at Vickie, who turned to her, and nodded, going back into the kitchen to get Andi some juice to feel better. She walked back into the room and handed Andi a glass of juice. The ringtail nodded at her quickly and downed the juice relatively fast, letting out a deep, soft exhale, closing their eyes and relaxing their shoulders.
"Connor told me what happened. I think you guys should head out and talk to his family. First off, they kinda need to know what happened, but secondly, they might be able to help with like, information and all that."
Andi looked over to Angela, and looked down at their now-empty glass. They took a moment to think, and nodded when they had an idea. They'd bring it up later, but for now, they just responded quickly.
"Okay. Let's go."