The Forgotten Prompt 1.5 (interlude to prompt 2)

Candy Queen, Anue, and Erimia were laughing and joking with each other as they walked along the crystal encrusted path of the caves of The Beneath. They had spent at least half a days’ time with the Caretakers before they were able to make up an excuse to finally leave. Once their leader had returned they had noticed that many belongings and a decent chunk of their food supply had been stolen but because the surface dwelling trio had quite literally been unable to leave the square let alone sneak around they were not blamed at all. The trio felt happy not only because they successfully assisted the Forgotten in securing much needed supplies but they also made friends with the Caretakers. Candy Queen still felt a little bad about helping steal but she couldn’t argue with the outcome as all sides ended up being happy, or at least content, with the result. Anue didn’t really care about potentially stepping on the Caretakers toes and Erimia was still riding the high she got from all the attention the haedians showered upon her. 

The path they were following was a different route from the one they had taken to reach the Caretakers but one of the Forgotten haedians had waited for them and was acting as their guide back to their territory. This new haedian was gruff, quiet, and didn’t respond when they tried to engage in conversation with them so the trio decided to let them be. After a while of walking the group made it back to where the Forgotten haedians were living, as the trio walked into the dim cavern they could see that the mood had drastically improved. The various scattered haedians were smiling, talking happily, and trading the spoils of their raid amongst themselves. Their guiding haedian quickly disappeared in the activity while the surface dwellers walked past various haedians, looking for the young haedian they had befriended before. Eventually a familiar voice called out to them and beckoned them over, the young haedian was standing beside an unfamiliar haedian with a beautiful halloween themed coat. 

“Greetings surface dwellers, thank you so much for assisting my people,” The beautiful haedian bowed her head slightly in thanks as she spoke. “I know you have just returned and we already have many reasons to be thankful but could we possibly ask for your assistance again? The supplies we gathered with this raid will only last a few days at most. The group that went with you didn’t think about the future when they grabbed what they did.” The haedian looked across the hustling Forgotten haedians both with warmth and concern. “We need supplies that will help us become more self-sufficient so we won’t have to rely on thievery so much.” The trio listened to the leader of the Forgotten a little nervously, they didn’t intend to do this more than once and were now unsure of what they were getting themselves into. The Forgottens leader continued, “I can see my request has made you uncomfortable,” she smiled sadly. “Please take some time to consider it. We will be in your debt.” After saying her piece the haedian walked away to help with disseminating the supplies amongst the haedians who hadn’t been able to join the raid.

Anue was the first to speak up, “oh boy… I think we might've bitten off more than we could chew with this. Do you think they’d be mad if we said no?” the rainbow runner questioned nervously. Erimia leaned down and frowned at the male runner. “Why would we say no? We just need to hang out with the other haedians again while they do all the dirty work. There’s nothing to lose in this situation, of course we should say yes!” The tyrian confidently declared but it was obvious to the runners that she was mainly only thinking about the attention she would get if they agreed. Candy Queen shook her head in exasperation, she was fond of this outgoing tyrian but her habit of only thinking about the benefits and none of the consequences of her actions was sure to get them in trouble at this rate. Candy Queen turned her gaze to the happy Forgotten haedians. Their situation really pulled at her heart strings and while she didn’t agree with theft she did like the idea of helping them improve their situation so that they won't have to steal anymore.

She sighed at herself before turning back to her friends. “I think it wouldn’t hurt to help them one more time.” Anue stared at her skeptically while Erimia nodded her head enthusiastically. “See! That's what I thought!” the tyrian exclaimed happily. Before Candy could further clarify her stance, the massive tyrian wandered off into the throng of haedians. Candy exchanged a glance with Anue who questioned her. “You want to help them steal more? Gotta say, I didn’t expect that.” Candy shook her head, “it's not like that, I just want to help stabilize their situation. And it seems like the only way to do that down here is to steal again…” Anue stared at her questioningly and started to ask, “Why not just invite them to the sur-'' but before he could finish the young haedian came bounding over to them excitedly. “You guys are gonna help us again?! Thank you so much! Boss says we’re gonna raid the Druids next! The raid party is gonna head out in about thirty minutes!” After saying it’s piece the haedian darted back off into the rushing of haedians. 

The two runners stared after it for a few seconds before both coming to the realization that when Erimia had wandered off she had gone to the Forgottens leader and agreed to help them. Anue groaned while Candy Queen pinched the bridge of her muzzle trying to tame the headache she felt creeping up. As the two runners resigned themselves to a life of crime the massive tyrian returned to them, carefully picking her way through the throng of haedians. “Come on guys, what are you just standing around for! Let’s go already!” Erimia trilled in a sing song voice as she quickly started walking toward the path the Forgottens leader had indicated would lead in the direction of the Druids. The two runners begrudgingly got to their feet and trudged after the over excited tyrian.