"Okay, Where is it?"

You walk upto Lars, your muzzle still faintly scrunched in distaste, but noted his concerned body language and softened slightly. "Where's what?" He yelped and jump when he saw you approach him. "Where do you keep coming from!?" You frowned in deadpan at him, as spinel ran upto your side, staring at Lars with cheerful concern. "What's wrong?"

Lars flickered his gaze between you both and let out a frustrated groan. "Th-The teleporter thing!" He gestured frantically. "Where is it??"

You hummed and leaned to the side, scanning the area behind him. To your alarm, the warp pad had disappeared from sight! That's strange... since when did warps ever do that? That time, Sadie and steven had caught up to you. "Oh, it wouldn't disappear... would it?" She turned to steven worriedly. "No!" He assured quickly. "No no..." there was suddenly a brief pause. "...well, Maybe."

"WHAT!?"

You winced and glared at Lars in indifference. "It's okay! The gems will come and save us when they see that we're missing!" Steven reassured with a nervous air in his voice. Then he lowered it to barely audible mutter. "Eventually..."

"STEVEN! How could you do this!?" He suddenly grabs the boy, frantic in panic. "We're STRANDED!!" The moment he grappled steven, a burning hostility flared up in your chest, and with deep growl, you thrust your head into the orange teen's face, making him yelp yet again and release his hold on steven. "Watch it." Sadie quickly gets between you both and pushes you away from Lars. "Calm down!" She exclaims before looking over to the tall boy while patting your chest to ease you. "Is this really the worst place to be stranded?"

"Ugh, you calm down!" He steps away from the group, not breaking eye contact with you as he did, and turns away, storming his way deeper into the jungle. "I'm gonna find better reception."

~~~~~~~~~~

You all explore deeper into the jungle, coming across many magnificent sights, such as the large shiny geode formations that framed the island, glittering in the dappled sunlight, and a large waterfall, clear blue water flowing down into a relatively large pond. It was really something to marvel at. "I think it's amazing, steven." Sadie states, looking around in awe. "Yeah! So shiny and sparkly!" Spinel adds, kneeling on your back to get a better look.

But not everyone was focused on such breathtaking scenery.

"Nothing!"

Lars was still making a fruitless effort to find some kind of phone service, an endeavor that you knew was pointless for numerous reasons, for one, this is a pretty remote island; there was no human civilization close enough to generate even give a bar of reception. Another reason is quite possibly from the magical aurora that hung around it, which was most likely blocking any service from even reaching here. Can't he just snap pictures of this scenery like most teens would do?

But of course you couldn't be the one to talk about him not paying attention, since you weren't any different.

While you did look around, it wasn't to observe the shiny sights before you. You more or less had your head on a swivel, sniffing at the air vainly, grumbling inaudibly in anxious frustration. Something isn't sitting right right... Regardless of what area you resided in, the heaviness in the air seemed to grow heavier and heavier for you. Following you, almost.

You didn't know how long it had been but after a while, it was time to stop and rest. Problem is, what would they rest on?

"Guys! Look!" You lift your head with a hum, watching as steven ran over to a group of oddly shaped rocks. "I found these rocks that look like pillows!"

You tipped your head to you side, sneering slightly at the odd shaped stones. Pillow shaped or not, rocks aren't very comfortable to sleep on. And while you've grown used to it, you knew for certain that humans sleeping on rocks could result in quite a bit of discomfort. You hummed lightly, bringing a hand to your chin.

"...(Name) has a better thing to rest against."
~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, she's really warm." Sadie chuckled softly, resting herself against your side, your midarm being used as a makeshift blanket. Steven smiled triumphantly, situating himself at your front, nesting into your fluffy chest. "Yup! She's a really good cuddle buddy! Right, spinel?" Spinel nodded cheerfully, sighing in content as she nestled herself deeper into your back fur. Then she met Lars' suspicious gaze.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest against (name)?" Spinel asked with a slight frown. "She's much more comfy cozy than that rock!"

Lars stared at spinel indifferently for a moment before looking at you, and locking eyes.

He glared uneasily. "...Thanks, but I'm not trying to contract some kind of disease." He states flatly, picking up his "pillow rock".

You let out an incredulous snort, in which Sadie sat upright in slight alarm. "Lars!"

"Well, I don't know where it's been! Besides, it doesn't even like me!" Steven frowns at the accusation. "Aw, (name)'s not like that. She's good! Right, (name)?" He pats your arm, and you nodded with a soft hum and forced smile.

It was a bit stretch, but you weren't about to let the kid get a stiff neck or something.

Lars still wasn't convinced, and stubbornly moved his rock far away from you all, and laid against it facing away from you. You practically felt steven crumple at this, as he let his chin fall onto your forearm in defeat.

"Sadie, I don't know what I'm doing wrong..." his disheartened voice broke your metaphoric heart, and you placed a hand on his back, rubbing it in comfort. "Tell me about it." Sadie muttered, sounding defeated herself. "You were going to love it here soooo much," he rolled over to his side, giving your arm a sort of sad side hug. "You'd never want to leave..." he presses his cheek into your bicep, prompting you to nuzzle him in comfort. "Don't worry, Steven. Lars is just a tough nut to crack." Sadie reassures, leaning over your arm to give him a reassuring smile. "He can't keep up the shtick forever." You nodded, nibbling lightly on his ear. "Give it time." You assure" lightly. "Lars will soften up."

"I could do without the audio commentary!"

You snapped your head up and glared in his direction with an irritated growl in your throat. "...eventually."

Steven just sighs sadly. "Goodnight guys."

Sadie frowns sympathetically, settling herself back against your flank. "Night Steven."

"Nighty night." Spinel murmured softly, nestling deeper into your fur.

"Goodnight." You uttered quietly, looking over the sleeping trio nestled against you, before lifting your head to peer at the Lars kid in sad frustration. Why must you be so difficult?

You sighed and decided that you weren't going to sleep.

The air still felt ominous. And these young lives needed to be safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems these instincts appear to spread far...

(...not liking how the pics came out, will probably do a redo in the near future-)