*2 months later*

*Balloon's P.O.V*

It's been about 2 months since we've been found out by the others. 

To say we were stressed was an understatement at best. 

It was constant surveillance on our surroundings at all times. We needed to be on the look out for just about anyone.

Sure. I know they want me back at the hotel. But I'm not sure I want to go back now. Life has been it's best with just us here.

Back at the hotel, it was constant anxiety, depression, fear and hate. I just wanted to climb into a ball or something and never come out while at the hotel. 

Nobody cared about me there. Trophy did, but he wanted to keep up his 'jock' act. Suitcase I'm sure cared about me too. But I just didn't feel like living there anymore.

I never belong there. It never felt like a home or just a place to be safe at. It was a nightmare for me.

But out here? I felt free. I felt safe with these 3 by my side. I felt..... happy. I haven't felt happy in such a long time.

I was happy with Taco and Mepad. Sure. Our situation could be under better circumstances. But I was happy nonetheless.

Right now. I was out on a walk. I know, it's extremely risky to be out on a walk. But Taco had these invisa-bows she somehow forgot!

She had two, but one was with Mic. She somehow got it back so we could use it to sneak around. 

Sadly, we only had the two bows. So only 2 of us could be out at a time. Taco had been out, but she just returned home, same as Mepad.

I needed some fresh air, so I was out right now. The cave is looking a lot more like home now, which is always good.

We had gotten a way in which we could still cook and not be noticed. And that was to just sneak in and do quick meals.

Again, risky sure. But with the bows, it wasn't so hard to manage. Sometimes, we used the sticks and made a fire to cook in a more campstyle way.

Right now I'm just on a simple walk. I needed this, I've been way to stressed for my own good.

On top of that, my insomnia is being a pain in the ass. I haven't slept in a good week now. Taco has noticed this, but hasn't said much. Just a typical 'are you okay?' stare at me.

Man. Today feels soo good! The weather was just right for a picnic! If the circumstances were different, I totally would ask Taco and Mepad if they wanted to go out on a picnic.

But sadly, we can't. Not when our lives are on the line. Wait, I didn't mean to phrase it like that.

Our lives aren't in danger at all. I just mean, we've stayed hidden for this long. It would be very awkward if we had to pop back into society. 

I mean. Me and Taco were the 2 most hated constants on Inanimate Insanity! We couldn't even show the others how we've changed!

Mepad was just here because we needed that 'father figure' part of the team. Me and Taco both have too much drama and emotions locked up and Mepad helps us realize how it's okay to feel weak.

I'm so greatful I have the two of them. It finally feels like I belong somewhere. I'm finally free from all my suffering and pain from the show and the hotel.

Yeah I miss Trophy and Suitcase a whole lot. But this was for the best. I was just so done with my life at the hotel. 

I feel my face frown, and small tears began to form. I couldn't cry out here! Sombody might hear or see me! I wipe my tears and calm myself down.

I feel calmer now. I can't reminise on the past right now. It's called the past for a reason. 

I continue my peaceful walk when I walk past another cave. Huh. I've never seen this cave before. 

From the looks of it, it's a regular cave. Not one full of beautiful gems like the cave we're living in. I probably shouldn't go in there.

Something tells me that this cave is far from empty. I continue my walk around the forest and somehow make it to the open area.

Weird how that happens. My stomach growls. I should pick up some food from the cabin. Taco said that me sneaking into things was a bad idea.

But I can be sneaky! I just need to be careful and be on look out at all times. I'll make some quick lunches for us.

I'm sure Taco and Mepad are hungry just like me. I'll be quick then. I did notice that some cops were around. I didn't see any of the hotel residents, so I should be okay.

I head north of the open area and make my way to the cabin. Once I make it, I hide and look around my surroundings. 

Alright. Looks like nobody is close by. I activate my bow just to be safe and head inside the cabin.

I take my shoes off and hide them. I took them off so I make less noise while I'm here. I make my way to the kitchen.

Okay. What should I make today? Hmm.... How about simple sandwiches? I didn't want to cook just in case somebody came close.

Sandwiches it is! I pull out the bread, meat and cheese along with some veggies. I start making the sandwiches for all three of us. 

Okay! I'm done. Taco has a simple ham and cheese sandwich with some lettuce and tomato. Mepad had a turkey and cheese sandwich with some pickles and mayo. I have a very simple turkey and cheese sandwich.

I wrap them in some napkins and put them in ziploc bags. I need a way to keep them cool. I grab a bigger ziploc bag and put some ice in it. I put the sandwiches in that big bag afterwards.

Okay then. That should keep them cool for when I get back! Now, all I need to do is clean up and put everything where it was.

Need to do it quick, before anyone sees me. I begin to clean up my mess and make it look like nobody was here to begin with.

Alright! I did pretty good! Now, I just got to get out of here without being spotted. I make my way out the door and grab my shoes.

I'm outside the cabin so I put my shoes back on. There we go, now. To start my trek back to the gem cave.

*30 minutes later*

Phew. I made it. I walk into the cave and take the path to our hidden hideaway. Once I'm close, I deactivate the bow and make my way inside.

"Guys! I'm back!", I annouce.

"Balloon! There you are!", Taco greets.

"Hello Balloon.", Mepad greets as well.

"Sorry I was gone for so long. I decided to make us sandwiches!", I say.

"Wait. You went to the cabin!?", Taco gasped.

"Yea. I know, it was risky... but nobody saw me!", I protest.

"Well... *sigh* I'll let it slide. But you know the rules!", Taco sighed.

"I know. 'Nobody is to go to the cabin by themselves'.", I repeat.

"Good. Now... where are those sandwiches? I'm starving!", Taco asks.

I pull out the bag with the sandwiches from my pocket. I'm glad nothing got squished while I was walking back to the cave.

"Right here! We still have some chips right?", I asked.

"Indeed we do. However, we might need to buy some more snacks. Along with drinks.", Mepad explains.

"Oh. Well. We can go tomorrow. Taco?", I say.

"Hmm. Sure. Me and you will go Balloon. Mepad, are you okay staying here with Ash?", she claimed.

"Of course. I'll stay behind. Would you like me to teleport you to the front of the forest?", he agreed.

"If you want to.", Taco says.

I hand out the sandwiches and we eat and chat. It was nice. This was blissful. Just living life with no worries at the current moment.

I wish life was always like this. No hurt. No pain. No depression. No fear. No backlash. Just, peace.

While we were eating, there was somthing just eating at me. I couldn't put my finger on it. But it just felt like something was going to go wrong.

Something horrible was in store for us. But I don't know what...

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*The next day*

*Time: 1 pm*

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*Balloon's P.O.V still*

Me and Taco were at the store, specifically Walmart. We were buying some more snacks so we could continue to live.

Just small snacks that we don't need to put in a freezer and what not. We got a butt ton of chips, some candy, and other things. 

We also got some sodas and other drinks so we didn't go thristy. I think we should be good for a while with this.

"I think we have enough for the next few months Taco.", I comment.

"I think so too. Does Ash need anything?", she agreed.

"Hmm. I think some pellet food. I would say veggies, but we can't keep them.", I say.

"Alright. Let's go buy some then. Along with some treats.", she explained.

I nod as we head to the pet isle. Dog....Cats....Turtles....

Ah! Rabbits! Here we are. 

I grab some pellet food while Taco grabs some treats and toys for Ash. Once we have what we need, we head to the front of the store.

We get into a line so we can pay for our stuff. I was paying while Taco was putting the stuff up and making sure nobody we knew was walking about.

"That will be $50.20.", the cashier says.

I grab my credit card and pay the amount. Once everything is payed and bagged. We head out to go home.

Since it was easier, we took the cart so we didn't have to carry much. Luckily, we didn't get caught by the store workers or the security.

We decided to just walk back to the forest because we couldn't take a shopping cart onto a bus. It was a rather long walk, but we could make it.

So, we continue our journey our trek to the forest. Dread growing every step the way...

Why was I feeling like this? Are my feelings telling me something?

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*1 hour later*

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.

We finally made it back to start of the forest. Man... I feel so tired. 

"Right. This is as far as we can take the cart. We have to carry the stuff from here.", Taco states.

"Okay. Luckily, we have the reusable bags and not the noisy plastic bags.", I comment.

"Hehe. So true. Right. Let's go Balloon.", she says.

I nod and grab 2 bags while Taco grabs the other 2 bags. We move the cart and hide it, so we can use it again another day.

Once that was done, we start our journey to the gem cave. The weather was rather nice today. Again, a good day for a picnic, but sadly, we can't have one.

We walk and chat for a while before Taco stops. I stop as well and listen out. Oh shit.

"It's been 2 months... How have we not found them?", a voice called out.

"They probably somehow found a new place to stay Knife. But we'll find them!", another says.

'Fuck. It's Knife and Pickle!', I shout in my mind.

"Fuck... We need to go a different way.", Taco whispers to me.

I nod my head, not wanting to draw more attention to us. We slowly back away and go a different way.

We walk a few feet when suddenly.... *Snap* We both stop in panic. I look down and see a snapped twig. ... Oh FUCK....

"You hear that? It sounded like a twig!", I hear Knife exclaim.

"It did! Over that way!", I hear Pickle shout.

Shit! They heard!

I couldn't move. I was petrified. I billion thoughts ran through my mind as I stood there.

Suddenly, I hear someone shout.

"Balloon!! Come on!", a femine voice call out.

I snap back into reality and see Knife and Pickle running. I look behind me and see Taco in front running from them.

She had this panicked look on her face. Realization comes back to me as I panic.

"Holy shit.... Balloon!!!", Knife called out.

"Balloon! Are you okay!?", Pickle asked.

Before they could ask me a million questions, Taco pulls on my arm. She begins to drag me away from the two.

"Balloon!!", Pickle cries out.

"What are you doing with him Taco!?", Knife lashed out.

She didn't answer. I couldn't look back at them. She just continued to drag me away as she ran.

I come back to my senses moments later. Taco looks back at me to make sure I was okay.

"Balloon? Are you alright?", she asked.

"Y-yea... I'm okay.", I answer.

"Thank god. Sorry I had to drag ya.", she apologized.

"It's okay. You can let go now.", I say.

She lets go of my arm as we continue to run from Knife and Pickle. I follow Taco as she continue to lead me further into the forest.

I could here Knife behind us. He's quick!! We have to lose him somehow!

"Taco! We need to lose Knife!", I shout to her.

"I know! I got it! That cave! We'll use our bows to hide ourselves!", she exclaims.

We head to the cave and head in deep. Once we are near the darker part of the cave, we activate our bows.

It's quiet for a few moments until we heard footsteps. Since we were invisable, we could see Knife walking around. However, he couldn't see us standing there in the dark.

"Where the fuck are you two! Show yourselves!", Knife angrily shouts.

"Taco! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE WITH HIM! JUST GIVE HIM BACK AND I WON'T TELL ANYONE SHIT!", he yells.

I panic and look over to Taco. She clearly notices my panic and worry as she warmly smiles at me. I began to feel a little calmer as she mouths something to me.

'Don't worry Balloon. I won't rat you out! I promised you I wouldn't.', she mouths to me.

I smile back as I completely calm down. Knife continue to shout for a few more minutes. Realizing that we 'weren't' here he leaves the cave.

We stayed there for another 10 minutes, just to ensure Knife had actually left. Those ten minutes fly as we slowly deactivate the bows.

"I think he's gone.", I whisper.

"Yea. I think so too.", she whispers back.

We slowly walk back to the enterance of the cave. We look around at our surroundings and breath a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. They're gone.", Taco sighs.

"Yea... phew...", I sigh as well.

We just stay there for a while, resting as we were out of breath. I take a look at the area around me. I regonize this place, it's the cave I passed by yesterday.

Looking back in the cave sends shivers down my spine. I've had these bad feelings ever since passing by here yesterday.

Why was it this cave that gives me the chills? Why did we come here to hide? Why couldn't I just let these bad feelings go?

Something tells me to look down, so I look down. I noticed our shoes had some sort of stain on them. What? When did that happen?

What even is this on our shoes? I place down the bags I had and bent down. I scrapped the side of my shoe and lifted my hand to my face.

I sniffed the goop on my hand. It smelt sweet in a way. I put a finger in my mouth and tasted it. 

Berries. These were berries.

Berries that were stored in a cave. I take a look behind me to look in the cave. I take my phone out and put on its flashlight.

I walk into the cave again with the light source. I walk in further and head to the back where me and Taco were hiding. With the light, I see.....

A sleeping bear cub.

Oh god.

This was a bear's cave.

The berries.... oh shit!

I begin to panic again as I realized that the mama bear wasn't here.

We need to leave. NOW.

I run back to the enterance of the cave. 

"TACO! WE NEED TO LEAVE!", I shout when I see her.

"What?", she asked.

"We. need. to. leave. RIGHT NOW!", I say in panic.

"Calm down. Why do we need to-", Taco started.

"*ROAR*"

We both grow silent. I began to panic again. I can see Taco begin to panic as we both look behind her.

We look at the over hauling shadow that lingered behind us. Oh shit...

Mama bear is back.

She didn't look so mad, but she soon sniffed and smelt the berries on our shoes. I'm not sure how to tell if a bear got angry, but....

She sounded pissed off.

Then the baby bear started to cry. It must've saw that the berries were squashed. The baby sounded hungy as well, which made it cry more.

Now the mama bear sounder REALLY pissed off.

All we could do was stand frozen in absolute fear. 

The mama went to comfort the baby for a moment. That's when Taco tapped me on my sholder.

I looked over to her, fear still on my face. She uses her head to indicate that we should slowly leave before anything bad happens.

I nod my head as the both of us start slowly leaving. That's when I remembered the bags! I had put them down close to where mama is!

With panic still in me, as I began to sneak back to the bears. I'm not sure if Taco could see me, but if she was... she was probably freaking the fuck out.

I get close enough to where I can safely grab the bags without drawing attention to the bears. I reach out to grab the bags when the cub notices me.

We look at each other before it got the attention of mama bear. Shit! I grab the bags quickly and race after Taco.

She was indeed looking and looked like she was freaking out. She didn't move as I got closer so, I did something I probably shouldn't do....

I yelled.

"RUN!", I yelled out.

The yelling did the trick as she instantly got out of the daze and began to run.

"*ROAR*!!"

Mama bear was angry!!!

We continue to run from mama bear as fast as we could.

"WHY DID YOU GO BACK!?", Taco shouted.

"I COULDN'T JUST LEAVE THE BAGS! WE NEEDED THEM!", I shout back.

"WELL NOW YOU MADE MAMA BEAR ANGRY!", she yelled upset.

"I KNOW! I'M SORRY! I SHOULD'VE JUST LEFT IT!", I apologized.

"IT'S OKAY! WE JUST NEED TO KEEP RUNNING!", she pointed out.

So, we kept running from mama bear. We ran for what felt like hours! Until I realized that, Mepad doesn't know we're in danger! Crud!

"TACO! WE NEED TO TELL MEPAD!", I yell.

"OH SHIT! YOU'RE RIGHT! CALL HIM!", she yells back.

I grab my phone and dial Mepad's number. It rings for a bit until....

"Hello? Balloon?"

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*Mepad's P.O.V*

"Hello? Balloon?", I answer.

"Mepad!", Balloon answers back.

"Is everything okay?", I asked.

I noticed his tone sounded distressed and panicked. So I tried to calm him down a bit. It seemed to do little justice.

"Mepad! We have a problem!", Balloon says.

"A problem? What kind of problem?", I ask in a 'worried' tone.

"We're being chased by a very angry mama bear!", he yells.

A bear?! Oh goodness. That is not good.

"Are you two okay?", I asked.

I have to make sure my friends are not injured in any sort of way! I am the 'mother' of the group afterall.

"We're fine! Just running right now! In case you don't hear from us! Get help!", Balloon says.

"Help? From who? And why? What about you being missing?", I asked.

"I don't care about that right now Mepad! We don't want to die out here! Just please!", he plead.

I could sense the emotional pain seeping into Balloon. I may not be able to see him or Taco. But I can tell that they are very scared.

"Of course Balloon. I'll get help when I don't hear from you in the next hour and a half.", I promise.

"Thank you! Keep Ash safe!", he thanks.

The phone line goes dead. He hung up. I put my phone up as I sat patiently for my friends.

I hope they return here safely.....
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*2 hours later*

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It's been 2 hours and they are not back.

I feel a very unsettling pit grow in my stomach.

Something bad happened out there.

I need to get help now. I get up from the couch and pick up Ash.

I'm not leaving him alone in this cave. I make sure I have enough energy so I can teleport.

I do! Great. I just need to input the location.... 'Hotel OJ'.....

Okay. Now to press 'teleport' and we'll be there.

I press the button and instantly teleport to the front of the hotel.

I don't knock seeing as this is urgent. I walk into the building and get numerous eyes all on me.

I can hear whispers and mutters around me. I block them out as I search for OJ.

My walking takes me to the kitchen and I see OJ and Paper! I quickly walk to them to get there attention.

"Mr. Juice." I announce.

He looks up from what he was doing and spots me.

"Mepad!? You really are alive!?", he exclaims in shock.

"Yes. But that is not important right now.", I say with urgency.

"Huh? Are you okay? You seem distressed.", he asked

"I am fine. But we need help.", I say.

"'We?' Whose 'we' Mepad?", Paper asked.

I take a deep breath and respond.

"Balloon and Taco are in danger."

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*End of Chapter 33*
-------------------------------------------

Yay!

This is where the good shit happens!

*Evil laugh*

I'm glad I finished this!

(Ugh my wifi got cut off.....)

Had to finish this on my phone. How do those who wrote in the phones do it!?

Anyways ~

Next chapter will be out tomorrow....

Hopefully on my laptop.

Prepare for some drama~

>:)