(i still have no idea how to write a start to angst so uhh here)

Butterscotch grabbed a handful of books from the shelf and re-organized them. On the front page of the book that she had held in-front of her read in large bold letters, 

"☌⍀⟒⟒⋏ ⏃⌇ ⌰⟒⏃⎐⟒⌇, ⎅⏃⍀☍ ⏃⌇ ⌇⏁⍜⋏⟒. ⍙⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏁⊑⟒ ☊⍀⟒⏃⏁⎍⍀⟒⌇ ⋔⏃☍⟒ ⏁⊑⟒⟟⍀ ⊑⍜⋔⟒. ⏃ ⎅⟒⎐⟟⍜⎍⌇ ☊⍀⟒⏃⏁⎍⍀⟒ ⌇⍜⍜⋏ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⏃⍀⟟⌇⟒. ⍙⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏃⌰⌰ ⏁⊑⟒ ⍙⟟⋏⎅'⌇ ⍙⊑⟟⌇⌿⟒⍀⌇ ⏃⍀⟒ ⎎⍜⌰⌰⍜⍙⟒⎅ ⏚⊬ ⟒⊬⟒⌇. ⌰⟟⌇⏁⟒⋏ ⏁⍜ ⋔⟒, ⎎⍜⍀ ⏁⊑⟒ ⎎⎍⍀⏁⊑⟒⍀ ⊬⍜⎍ ⌇⏁⍀⏃⊬, ⊬⍜⎍ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ☌⟒⏁ ☊⌰⍜⌇⟒⍀ ⏁⍜ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⎎⟟⋏⏃⌰ ⎅⏃⊬." 

Even thought she didn’t know exactly what it said, it sounded like a poem, and not a very good one.

"Well, i'll burn this later." She said, walking over to the trash bin  in the corner of the room, throwing it inside and stomping on it as hard as she could. "I can't believe someone might be writing in my books."

Olive had walked into the room, and was a bit concerned to see butterscotch stomping on something that they had thrown in the trash, though they assumed this probably wouldn't be the first time they saw something like this. They had zipped up their jacket and threw the hood over their head. They walked a little closer to butterscotch who was still aggressively stepping on whatever they had thrown inside of the trash. 

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, Olive!" she shouted, immediately stopping what she was doing, "Don't mind me i'm just stepping on a cursed book that i threw in the bin."

Olive went silent, just staring at Butterscotch with a confused look on their face.

"Anyways, where are you going at this time of the day?"

They unzipped their jacket a little, enough so they could pull their bandanna over their face, "I'm just heading to steal some food from a market that's nearby."

"Steal? oh no there won't be a need for that. I'll get you some money you can pay with." She said, walking over to the bookcase that would lead her into her room. "I'll be right back!"

"Okay?" Olive said. They were just going to steal stuff and be on their way, there really wasn't a need to pay, but I guess now they had to.

"Alright," Butterscotch said, walking back into the room and handing Olive a 20 dollar bill. "It's not much but hopefully you can buy some food with that."

"You really don't need to hand me money, I'll be fine-"

"No, no, I insist!" 

"Thanks.. do you have anything you'd like, specifically?" Olive asked, putting the $20 In their pocket.

"hmm.. no." Butterscotch said. "But promise me you'll keep your jacket on, and don't let anyone figure out that you're.. well, you. Or else those wanted posters will be up again and all eyes will be pointed straight to this library."

Olive rolled their eyes and smiled, "It'll be fine, I promise. I'll stay hidden."

"And don't die again." Butterscotch interrupted.

"Alright, then you promise me that you'll also stay safe."

"I'll try my best."

Olive walked out, unintentionally slamming the door behind them. There wasn't really much to do now that olive left, and to be honest that book was done being stomped on. So what would they do now? They could continue to reorganize their bookshelf, but that would most likely become tedious in the blink of an eye. They could read, but that would also become dull very shortly. Something that did sound interesting, however, was going out into the woods. She didn't know why it sounded interesting, maybe it was because there seemed to be endless possibilities to what could happen, or she could just walk around to relieve anxiety, or just for fun.

She dashed over towards the door and grabbed some poncho/coat-like-thing— something similar to what Estella wears. Maybe it was some sort of cloak? who knows. She slid on the coat, putting up the hood tight enough that it would cover her hair, but loose enough that her antennae could still be seen peeking out of the hood and tufts of hair were peeking out. She grabbed a small wooden-woven picnic basket that was small enough for her to hold to feel like Little Red Riding Hood, but large enough to fit lots of flowers inside, or whatever she could find in the woods, for that matter. she grabbed onto the handle and opened to door to make her way outside.

She knew that this wasn't going to be the most peaceful trip in the woods, it never would have been. The whispering from the forest made her ears hurt. She felt as though eyes were watching her from every corner, watching her and waiting. Waiting for whoever was behind it all to decide her fate. She gently picked the bright blue orchids from the ground and placed them in the basket she was holding. But no matter how many flowers she had, it didn't change the fact that she was being watched. step, to step, place to place. nothing changed. She still felt as though there was another presence looming over her, getting ready to strike. It was starting to make her paranoid. She heard the rustling leaves coming from every direction, almost as if something was running in circles like a hawk to their prey. She walked over to the last flower she wanted to grab, trying to keep her mind off of whatever fear she may have felt when staring out into the darkness. She plucked the flower out of the ground and saw something out of the corner of her eye, not being able to tell exactly what it was, but it's eyes illuminated half of it's face in a way that would send chills down her spine. It seemed to have some kind of prosthetic face, or a mask. It sped towards her at full speed, in which she took a few moments to try and run away. But she couldn't outrun it. It wasn't possible.

She backed up, falling to her knees. The creature, whatever it may have been, could still not be seen from the darkness of the forest. The leaves crunched in front of them as it got closer. 

They felt a sharp, tugging pain at their left wing. Even though they could hardly see, it was clear to them that whatever had been chasing them had tried to damage their wing, preventing them from flying away, if they even could. They couldn’t exactly tell, but, in a sense, they were able to feel the crimson red blood flowing out of their wing like clouds slowly moving in the sky, almost looking as if it was glimmering in the dark. They were confused. Scared. Nothing made sense at the time. it was terrifying. They felt sick just thinking about how ripped apart and mangled their wing looked, pieces hanging on by a thread with tears and rips that created gashes in the wing, making it unbearably painful for her to even move it. Whatever had been sitting in front of them soon decided to make their next move, making a large cut right on their chest. The stinging pain felt unbearable at this point, and she had wished she would just pass out from blood loss so she wouldn't have to withstand it anymore. Nothing had happened for a few moments until-

…

She stared in horror at what she had just witnessed. right before her she watched as it ripped off almost her entire wing, leading blood to drip onto the ground below them and spray on her face. it had begun to devour the paper thin wing as if it hadn’t eaten in days, ripping it apart bit by bit until there would’ve been nothing left.  And Butterscotch had to witness the entire thing right before their own eyes. At points it all seemed to be a blur because of the tears that flowed down their face like a river. Between the massive wound on their chest and their wing, butterscotch’s entire body ached in pain. Her soft cries made her voice shake in fear as she struggled to stay conscious. The creature gasped as it frantically ran away, still tightly grasping onto part of butterscotch's wing that it had ripped off. But there was nothing else that butterscotch could do. 

By 7pm, around half an hour after they left, Olive had gotten back from the market with a large bag of food. they knocked on the large doors that led to the inside of the library, but no one responded. They tried to kick open the doors even thought they knew it wouldn't budge. They looked through the nearest window and no one was home.

"oh CRAP- Did she run off into the forest alone?"

Olive rushed out back into the woods and searched. it didn't take long until they saw butterscotch curled up on the ground, almost directly against a tree. Their own blood covered not only the ground below them, but also covered their clothes as well. She held one hand against her head, as she cried out in pain, Olive standing there just horrified by the sight. 

"Shit, BUTTERSCOTCH!" They shouted, sitting down next to butterscotch, attempting to rip off the sleeve from the hoodie they were wearing before getting ready to wrap it around what was left of butterscotch's wing.

"Butterscotch, it's me, olive."

"this'll stop your bleeding, but it might hurt a bit, okay?" They said, tugging at the fabric and tying it to the ripped part of their wing. Butterscotch shouted out in pain. She had never shouted before, not like this.

"I know it hurts, I'm sorry."

The chorus in Olive's mind grew stronger. It repeated over and over and showed no sign of stopping. 

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"I'M SORRY."

"IF ONLY I HAD BEEN THERE."

Olive put up a hand to cover their face, tightly shutting their eyes closed. They were unsure if butterscotch could even survive this, obviously they were no medical expert.

Is this how butterscotch felt?

Worried that they would never see the one they cared most about ever again? Thinking that they witnessed someone die in their own arms? 

No.. no. They couldn't lose that last spark of hope. Not yet.

Butterscotch slowly squinted her eyes open, pressing down her cold, shaking hand onto Olive's cheek.

"Olive..?"

Olive quickly darted their eyes down at Butterscotch,

"Yes, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." 

"Shit. I'd call for help but I don't know who.. And i doubt that i'd be able to call an ambulance for help." 

"Considering.. well, i think you know."

Butterscotch put their hand back down from Olive's face, pointing over to a flyer that read about.. well, something about therapy.

"Do you want the flyer?" Olive asked,