Esther checked her watch for the third time in the last ten minutes. 4:40pm and Avi still hadn't returned. She swore she wasn't going to worry yet, but she just couldn't help it! He was her little brother, and if anything happened to him on her watch... she would never forgive herself.

She tried calling him for the sixth time, and again was told by the annoying computerised voice that the number was unavailable. She bet Avi had deliberately switched his phone off. Five more minutes. She would give Avi another five minutes to appear, and then she would go looking for him. All sorts of scenarios came into her head as she thought about all the things that could have gone wrong. Avi could have fallen and hit his head and be bleeding to death... no. He was probably fine. Knowing her brother, he probably just forgot to even set an alarm on his phone and fell asleep or lost track of time.

Esther checked her watch again, 4:46pm and still no sign of him. That's it, Esther couldn't stand waiting any longer. She was going to go searching for him. She climbed into the bus and changed into her jogging shoes, grabbed a jacket and her bag and contemplated taking a flashlight and a medical kit... no too much. Okay, maybe just the flashlight. No, she would take everything. It was always better to be prepared.

Esther headed inside the venue and found all four of the present members of Pentatonix milling around in front of the stage. Kevin spotted Esther first, and obviously noticed the worried look on her face.

"Avi's not back yet is he?" Kevin frowned, despite already guessing the answer.

"No. He's not," Esther replied, noticing the anxiety in her own voice. "I'm going out to look for him..."

Kevin cut her off without hesitation, "I'll come with you," he said quickly, "Just give me two minutes to change." The cellist jogged towards the dressing rooms without waiting for Esther's reply.

"I'll go too," Scott added, "More people can only help, right?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

Esther smiled at the blonde. "Thanks Scotland," Esther replied. "That's true."

"Would it help if we came too?" Kirstie asked, looking almost as worried as Esther herself.

---

Four minutes later, Esther, Kevin, Scott, Mitch and Kirstie stood in front of the forest that Avi had wandered into hours earlier. Armed with flashlights, water bottles and Esther's medical kit, they headed in.

Walking in silence, Esther couldn't help but appreciate the forest's beauty for what it was, despite the circumstance they found themselves in. She kept looking ahead, hoping to see her brother walking towards them on his way back, but the path remained empty. Dark thoughts started to cloud Esther's mind as they got further into the woods...

"He wouldn't have left the path would he?" Kevin asked quietly, walking next to Esther.

"I don't think so. If he was more familiar with this place then maybe, but not when he knew he only had a short time to spend here. He probably walked until he came upon a nice spot to stop and found a tree to lean against while he plays his guitar," Esther explained, having seen Avi do exactly that more than once.

Kevin simply nodded and continued to walk. Esther heard Mitch complaining to Scott about his shoes getting dirty, and Scott reminded him that he did tell Mitch not to wear his expensive boots...

"But they match my sweater perfectly," Mitch whined. Esther couldn't help the small smile that formed. Even Mitch had come out to help look for Avi, even if it meant physical exertion on his part. Avi had better have a good reason for not returning when he said he would.

---

Avi had been slowly walking for about half an hour, stopping every few minutes to appreciate his surroundings, when he heard the sound of trickling water. The air had been getting thicker as the path led downwards, steadily winding down the side of a gully. Avi knew he was getting close, because the trickling sounds were getting louder and the path up ahead seemed to be flooded by sunlight.

A few minutes later, Avi stopped. The sight ahead of him was nothing less thanmagical.

A shallow brook wound its way between and over large moss covered rocks, babbling and trickling between old tree roots and smaller rocks, smoothed over by the passage of running water over the years. A light mist hovered over the stream and the tiny droplets of water caught the sun's rays, forming a hazy rainbow where the light was at its brightest.

Avi smiled and breathed in a breath of contentment. It was perfect. This place, this picturesque scene, was exactly what he had been seeking. Avi left the path and climbed down over a few rocks, to stand on the bank of the shimmering water. Looking around, he spotted a sizable alder tree growing close to the stream and wandered over to sit on the blanket of brown and gold leaves with his back against the trunk.

Avi placed his guitar on his lap, gazed at the view in front of him and began to lightly pluck the strings in a melody befitting the wonderful ambience. Forgetting all about the time and schedules and people and stress, Avi let all his worries dissipate into the ether. He felt completely relaxed and at ease.

Almost an hour later, Avi drifted off into a peaceful slumber, his phone alarm forgotten and unset.

---

"Hey, I can hear running water!" Scott called from the side of the path just ahead of Esther. She had told the other four that Avi was typically drawn to running water, so to look out for any rivers or streams along the way.

"Me too," Kirstie added, looking back at Esther with an excited and hopeful grin.

"Nice work guys, now let's go," she said, jogging ahead when she heard the trickling sounds of water. The five young adults jogged ahead, only stopping when they saw a gap in the trees and the sounds of running water were the strongest yet. Esther hoped to God that Avi was down there somewhere.

"Check it out," Kevin called, pointing towards the small stream. It was exactly the sort of place that Avi would love. Please let her brother be here. Kevin and Scott half jumped half ran down the side of the gully, pausing at the bottom to help the three girls climb down, including Mitch.

It only took seconds to locate their missing band member. Avi was fast asleep leaning back against a tree trunk, his guitar resting on his lap, forgotten as he slept. He looked so serene, so peaceful, Esther actually forgot about the fact that she was mad at him. She was just so relieved that they had found him and he was unharmed.

Kevin walked straight over to the bearded man and crouched down beside him. The tender, caring look on his face as he studied his sleeping brother made him look like a giant teddy bear to Esther.

"Avi? Bro?" Kevin said quietly, nudging Avi's shoulder. Nothing. Kevin lifted Avi's guitar off his lap to avoid it getting damaged and passed it to Scott. The trio and Esther gathered around their bass, watching Kevin try to wake him.

If they didn't have a show that night, Esther would have actually considered asking Kevin to carry her little brother back to the bus and let him sleep. Checking her watch, Esther sighed. It was four minutes past five, leaving about half an hour to get back and prepare for sound check.

"Wake up man," Kevin shook Avi a little harder, in the effort to wake the sleeping dragon. Finally Avi stirred.

Esther grinned as she watched her brother slowly come back to the real world. His eyelids fluttered open slowly, his mossy green eyes seeming to be searching for something off to his left somewhere, before landing on Kevin. Avi grinned lazily and let out a yawn that was more of a deep rumbling growl than an actual yawning sound. The bearded man stretched his shoulders, before looking around and noticing that he had an audience.

"Hey," Avi greeted the group with a goofy grin, still half asleep, his voice so deep that the group all grinned at each other, impressed. The forest had obviously worked its magic on her brother, because Avi's voice was always at its lowest when he was well rested and not stressed or anxious about anything. It would be a really good show that night.

"Nice place you have here Dragon-man," Scott stated, smiling from ear to ear.

"It's incredible, huh," Avi agreed, pushing himself up to stand next to Kevin, brushing a few leaves off his jeans.

"I'll say," Kevin said with a smile, throwing his arm around Avi's shoulders in a side bro hug as he often did.

Esther just couldn't bring herself to be angry at her brother, not when he looked so happy and content... it was a rare thing for him of late and she didn't want to take that feeling away from him for the sake of half an hour.

"How come you guys are here anyway? What time is it?" the bass asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

The entire band stared at Esther. It seemed like no-one really wanted to ruin the peaceful happy mood the group was currently in, but left the final decision up to Esther. She smiled back, feeling the tension flow out of her body as she decided not to say anything about Avi and his irresponsible attitude and making her worry for his safety. He was safe, and happy and that was all that mattered right now.

"It's just past five right now," Esther replied, "It was getting late, so we decided to come and find you."

Avi's eyes widened in panic. Esther knew that he thought he was about to be lectured, and she didn't want to stress him out...

"It's okay, little brother," she said calmly, "I'm not mad or anything. We were worried more than anything, but you're ok... and in finding you we all got to experience the beauty of the forest." Esther smiled warmly as Avi visibly relaxed again.

"Sorry, Es. I was going to set my alarm, but I guess I must have fallen asleep before I got around to it," Avi explained guiltily, his head bowed and looking up at his sister bashfully.

"It's alright, all is forgiven," Esther replied, taking Avi's outstretched hands and giving them a gentle squeeze. "But, we still have a show tonight, so we'd better get moving," she added in a lively tone.

Avi looked happy again, and the entire group looked extremely relieved that Esther had chosen not to berate her brother for his innocent mistake. All was well in the Pentatonix world.

---

Avi followed his sister and the Trio as they made their way through the forest toward the venue. He was actually pleasantly surprised that Esther hadn't yelled at him for forgetting to set his alarm and making her freak out over his whereabouts...

"Hey, bro?" Kevin asked, walking next to Avi. "When I finally got you to wake up... it looked like you were searching for something... were you?" he asked, looking intrigued.

Avi grinned, having almost forgotten why he was so happy when he had woken up.

"Yeah dude," Avi replied, "I had the greatest dream. I dreamt that while I was lying under that tree and playing my guitar, a magnificent green dragon flew down through the trees and landed beside me!"

"No way!?"

"Yeah, man, it's true! The dragon even seemed to like my guitar playing, so he curled up on the bank next to me and I kept playing until he fell asleep. It was awesome," Avi exclaimed with a beaming smile plastered on his bearded face.

"That is pretty cool," Kevin agreed, looking amused by Avi's dream. "But you're still the dorkiest guy I know!" he chuckled light heartedly.

Avi grinned back, "Yeah but you know you love me."

"That I do, bro, that I do," Kevin replied.

---

The show that night was one of the greatest shows that Pentatonix had ever performed.

I appreciate any feedback, so please leave comments. Thanks for reading.