CHAPTER 24: Absence.

Silently, Theo moved through the camp. He had not thought about what to do now. He hadn't foreseen that he would spend this long in the ruins.

Honestly, he was quite disappointed in himself. He had been so stupid and impulsive to go to the ruins, and now he came back this late. On top of that he didn't find anything useful that would justify his absence.

He took a deep breath and walked through one of the more crowded areas of the camp. There were a lot of people distributing and cooking food. The smell drifted over the air with made it easy to identify the different dishes.

Despite the presence of food, Theo could still hear people complain about hunger. He knew that the smell alone wouldn't satisfy many stomachs. Despite this, there wasn't much that he could do about it now. Climbing over the walls whilst carrying prey just wouldn't work and there already were other hunting parties. Officially he could only leave with his, and that one was scheduled on the next week.

The thought of that gave him a bitter smile on his face. Unless word of what happened, las time hadn't spread, no one would be willing to be in the same party as him. So, he either had to stay in the walls for the rest of his stay here, or he had to go alone with Johan. And to be fair, he didn't look forward to that.

He continued forward, just aimlessly wandering through the crowds. Until he suddenly felt a hand on his wing.

"Hello Timon." He said without looking back.

Timon laughed and walked up to his friend.

"So, there is no surprising you?" He almost sounded disappointed as he spoke.

Theo shrugged. "Not if you keep stomping around like a rhino. By the way, now that we are no longer in a life-or-death situation, you're just as bad as your sister." He said while trying not to let Timon know how he felt after what he had seen.

"Come on bud, don't place me this low. You have to know that I grew up with her."

"I know. But that's no excuse."

Theo briefly looked around. In the corners of his eyes, he could see people whisper among each other. And if he focused on them, he could hear what they were saying as well. And in truth, he expected nothing less. A lot of people still found it hard to believe that a creature from the ruins was capable of communicating with humans.

"Timon. Did something happen this morning? Like Johan asking for me."

Timon's eyes widened for a moment. "Actually. No one has seen Johan this entire morning. He probably has some stuff he needs to work on in his office. I'm sure he will be back soon."

Theo couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. If no one had seen Johan, then there was a good chance that he wasn't looking for him. Afterall, there would be a bit more of an uproar if a 'mutant' that could suddenly turn on humans and attack, had gone missing.

"Thank you for your information. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, you. You look terrible. Did you even sleep last night?"

Theo narrowed his eyes. "No. The child of Johan kept me up." He bluntly said. "If that's all, then I need to go check if that kid is okay now."

Right when Theo wanted to turn around and leave, Timon grabbed his wrist, preventing him from doing so.

"No, I don't think that's it. you're extremely pale, your hair is a mess, and your tail was trembling during this entire conversation. There has to be more."

Theo sighed and gave an attempt at fixing his hair. "There is more… But I'd rather keep that to myself for now."

"Alright then." Timon responded. "I just want you to know that you can't just keep quiet whenever something is bothering you. We are here to listen."

Theo only freed his wrist and left.

First, he indeed went to check on Tim. After all, now that he had made that excuse, he felt a bit obligated to follow up on it.

When he eventually found the kid Theo saw that he was sleeping. He had probably stayed up so many nights that his entire sleep schedule was all over the place.

When Theo was about to close the door, the eyes of the young boy flung open.

"Theo?" He asked whilst rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Theo, where is dad?"

Theo sighed and sat down on the bed right next to the kid. "I don't know. But I'm sure he will be back soon."

Tim nodded. "Alright, if you say so…" His voice was still slow and tired. And somewhere deep hidden within Theo could hear a glimpse of worry and sadness.

Suddenly the child jumped up. "Theo, can I braid your hair?"

Theo pressed his ears flat in response. "Absolutely not!" He said in a firm tone.

"Please!" The child pleaded. "It's so blue and pretty, and with how long it is I'm certain that I can make a nice braid."

With less reluctance than Theo wanted to admit, he eventually agreed. "Fine but stay away from the rest of my fur!" he said with a fierce snarl.

Tim happily clapped his hands together. "Thank you so much! I promise that it won't hurt."

Eventually Theo left the room with a few braids in his hair. He really hated it, but he decided to keep them in a little longer, just so the child wouldn't feel bad.

Now that he knew that Johan was absent, and he no longer had annoying people breathing down his neck, he went to do what he was planning on from the moment he got back. Talking to his parents about what he had found.