Chapter Text
Clink, Clink, Clink, Clink.
He grimaced at each echoing footstep, each footstep being like an alarm to tell those dangerous and hungry enough where he was. It was times like these he dreaded the metal bottoms. His vision lightly bounced at each step. Eye and ears swiveling around on high alert, he kept his breathing to a minimum. His fur rippled at each quiet giggle, and his eyes squinted at each flare of light. His quills bounced softly with each cautious step, muddled and in a complete disarray. The small hedgehog wished more than anything that he could find a safe place to nap, even for just a second. Or maybe a minute. His hands firmly gripped the handles of his grab-pack, which was far too oversized for his little body. It was ironic that he was still alive at all. Though it wasn't to say he would be for much longer. He was very keenly aware that he could die at any given moment in time.
Turning around at the sound of a giggle and a snort, he shot another flare at the small Picky Piggy plush behind him. The small toy shrieked and scattered back into its little hidey hole. Silver, the small hedgehog hero in question, only turned back around to continue forward. He couldn't do anything about his quills being raised up; the adrenaline was the only thing keeping him alert enough to continue. With a quick hop, Silver jumped over a small block in the way. This was the Playhouse. The colored padded tiles lining the walls were covered in dirt and frankly smelled of rot. The hedgehog wouldn't have been surprised if there were dead plushies in the tiles. Silver finally reached a door, happily and hesitantly, he went through it. Closing it behind him, he immediately looked around.
A drained pool with large rubber ducks lay before him. The pool tiles were dirty and mucky, and chairs line the edges of the abandoned pool. Silver gently pulled on his collar with a slight look of disgust, no way that water was drinkable. So still and murky, that would definitely make him sick. The soft clinking of his metal boots hitting the tiles echoed in the smaller room. Just what was Playtime thinking when they built this place? They wanted their children to get lost in it for weeks?? With a sigh, his ears perked up for any giggles. Finding this room seemed to be relatively safe. Silver smiled a little. The small hero wanted to put as much space between danger and himself. So, with the goal in mind, he began walking to the door on the other side of the pool room. Yeah, he was supposed to be getting a stupid battery, but he was sure Poppy wouldn't mind if he took a small nap. After all, he had been going around non-stop for two whole days and nights. Sleep seemed so enticing right about now…
Silver shook his head, gripping his grab-pack firmly. No! He couldn't get distracted, he couldn't lower his guard or nap until he was safe! Ish. Reaching for the red door, Silver paused. The smell of rot and blood is fairly strong. And great, there was a rather suspicious smear on the floor. Either someone had something that disagreed with their bowels, or this was dried blood. The smear made Silver think that if it were injured, someone was being dragged or had dragged themselves through this door. After that analogy, Silver was faced with the prominent thought. Did he want to go through this door and risk there being a new demon he’d have to fight? Or simply sleep in the pool room? Squinting his amber orbs, he pushed the door open. He’d rather fight a new demon and make a new safe place than be anywhere near Catnap and his freaky shrine of PJ-Puggapiller-impalation-shine-of-the-Prototype. Steading his Flare gun, Silver slowly stepped into the new room.
It was quiet.
Only the soft drip, drip, dripping of the leak in the ceiling from a busted pipe echoes in the room. It was comforting and alarming. There had to be a reason why this room wasn't crawling with minis (yes, Silver called the ruined plush version of the Smiling Critters ‘minies’ instead of Ruined Critters) and for its seeming silence. One thing the young hedgehog hero had been taught time and time again, especially in Playtime, was that nothing was as it seemed. It was far too convenient. Wary and slightly annoyed at the possible inconvenience, Silver gently walked further. He wasn't too worried about Catnap being there, since he was sure Catnap was still at the creepy shrine, but he was worried about a horde of minies. As he walked down the hall, the red-ish light mixing with the normal one, the hedgehog quickly realized they were cells. Red flags, along with his quills, shot up.
Why…in the name of CHAOS…would they put cells at the depths of the Playhouse?? Meant for kids!! Or…Silver assumed it was meant for kids. Now he wasn't so sure. It was all so confusing.
All the cells seemed empty, though. Silver mostly skimmed through them as he passed, and sighed as he reached a dead end. The smell of rot was strong, but he ignored it. The hall was blocked off by a cell locked shut, a rather small prison room, but whatever. All the doors were unlocked except the final one, but Silver wasn't complaining. He was so tired…glancing up, he finally felt safe enough to rest. Nothing was hiding in the ceiling, nothing in the cells, and no laughter of the minies awaiting to eat him. Silver sighed, finally letting his shoulders slump and the adrenaline wear off. Turning quietly and walking back down the hall with the intent of picking a cell to hide and sleep in, the sound of shifting fabric and belt hit his ears. Silver turned, looking into the dimly lit cell at the very end of the hall to the left.
“You-”
His mind had been frozen at the sight of the being in the cell, but the moment it SPOKE, Silver broke from his trance of overwhelming confusion. His mind catching up to the reality he had somehow completely skipped over, seeing the large being chained to the wall, Silver jumped back. Quills rose, muscles tense, and adrenaline washing over him. Silver screamed absolute bloody murder. The orange, 5’0 tall dog plush, completely missing his lower limbs, raised his head from the slumped over position. Silver wasn't exactly screaming with fear or disgust, though seeing anything with its legs severed off was frightening; he was screaming from realizing he simply wasn't alone. Silver had completely looked over this toy, even though it seemed impossible to do. After about a minute, Silver settled down, stopped screaming, and just stared awkwardly at the plush hanging on the wall. The clearly injured dog stared back, unsure how to respond to such a sharp reaction.
“You-”
The dog started again, Silver registering his gruff and deep voice box. Silver also registered that the dog had its legs cut off. And there was a puddle of dried blood on the floor. And against the wall. Silver screamed. Again. This time, with the proper response of fear and concern, and a slight bit of nausea from the sight of the injury. Silver pointed to the poor dog’s lack of legs, and his eyes widened. The dog glanced at his missing lower half and made an awkward expression of pain and hurt. Silver quickly jumped forward, still freaking out.
“YOU’RE MISSING YOUR LEGS!!!” Silver screamed out the obvious, his voice cracking a bit from the sheer amount of things running wild in his sleepy mind, “ARE YOU OK?!” After Silver screamed that last question, he cringed and face-palmed. Of course, this guy wasn't ok! Silver glanced around frantically, looking left and right and jumping up and down, “Uh, uh, uh, uh-!” He paused, having a mini existential crisis moment, “All first aid knowledge just left my brain.”
The dog tilted his head, “You’re Poppy’s Angel?” His voice box clearly expressed his confusion. Poppy’s Angel? Silver blinked and tore his blank gaze away from the wall. This toy was sane, and speaking to him like a civilized being. Not fighting the chains or trying to eat him…just…talking. As confused as he sounded, there was a hint of underlying hope in his voice.
“What?” Silver tilted his own head, mirroring the dog in a much smaller proportion, “I don’t know anyone named Poppy’s Angel. My name is Silver.” After a bit of thought, Silver quickly added, “I know a Poppy, though.”
The dog seemed to brighten up, “You are Poppy’s Angel, aren’t you? Come to save us!” Silver puzzled over why this toy was calling him a ‘Poppy’s Angel’. Silver wasn’t even sure if he could trust the dog, but hearing the pure hope and excitement from his gruff and radio-like voice box made Silver a bit warmed to the heart. Poppy’s Angel… “Nothing left to save…” The dog’s almost immediate saddened tone spoke, drastically changing as he crushed his own hope, “Not here at least.” Silver couldn’t help but glance at the dog’s missing legs once more.
Silver stepped forward, hesitating a moment. He had no idea if this toy was friend or foe, but something in his heart stirred. Something told him this poor dog was being treated unfairly, that he was wrongfully put in this prison… As much as the young hedgehog wanted to trust his gut, his gut had a funny habit of not….being helpful. Silver had fallen and trusted Mephlies so easily…so maybe his gut wasn’t the best to trust. But then again, he’d learned a lot since blindly trusting Mephlies. Maybe his gut was right! Playtime wasn’t a place to blindly trust, though…
There was a somber silence for a moment before the dog lifted his large head again, “I’m Dogday.” The name sent a shot of shock through Silver like electricity, “The last-“ The poor dog coughed and bounced a little, “-of the Smiling Critters.”
Silver couldn’t help as his mind reeled. Dogday? He was alive?! But his cutout was missing! Silver thought for sure Dogday was dead! Just like all the other Critters, besides Catnap of course! Yet seeing the large dog, only half the plush he was before (literally) made Silver uneasy. He was too shocked to think of a proper response, yet the dog chained to the wall seemed to understand and continue on.
“You're in Catnap’s home, Angel. The Prototype is Catnap’s god. All who oppose the Prototype are deemed heretics. I..am a sad example of what he does to heretics. The smaller toys all obey Catnap to avoid this very fate…” As Dogday spoke, Silver felt the fur on the back of his neck rise. He was about done with this conversation. Silver had put two and two together. Dogday was an ally to Poppy, but that cost him his legs.
‘Ally to Poppy, so an Ally to me.’ Silver thought, accidentally tuning out Dogday. Silver heard enough. It’s not like he simply was horrified and was just done with life, but he heard enough to understand Dogday was worth fighting for. Dogday was a friend and could be a great help to taking down Catnap and the Prototype.
Dogday was looking at the wall, speaking about eating. Silver furrowed his brows. Even if Dogday was absolutely no help fighting the Prototype or Catnap, Dogday would still be company. A companion Silver desperately needed on this journey that was determined to shred his sanity. Sure, he had Poppy, Kissy, and Ollie, who were all allies he spoke with. But they weren’t companions. They all only briefly interacted with him. Silver needed someone to constantly be there and nag him about how he needed to be more careful. Just like every other companion he had. It wasn’t a true adventure without a buddy. Not only that, but Dogday was one of the rare few toys that were legit sane.
“ANGEL!! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!” Dogday shouted in pure fear, the shout immediately bringing Silver back to reality, “YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!! LEAVE!! LEAVE ME, RUN!! RUN!!” Dogday was struggling against the minies climbing up his arms, but due to being chained and probably starved, he was unable to fight.
‘No!’ Silver thought as his eyes widened, ‘Mother of Iblis, not again!’
Jaw clenching, brain being overpowered by adrenaline and feelings, Silver grabbed the trigger of his flare gun. He stepped into the cage, hissing as his quills rose. The young hedgehog shot three flares, two at and hitting Dogday’s arms and one far too close to Dogday’s head. A mini of Picky Piggy, ironically the one Silver had probably shot earlier, scuttled across the ground like a possessed spider. Silver, being at an all-time adrenaline high, brought his heavy metal boot down on the mini and smashed it like a bug. All the minis seemed to freeze and scuttle back a bit, only for a split second, mourning the loss of the poor soul Silver stepped on and smashed to death. Even Dogday seemed to be a bit taken aback.
Silver didn’t realize he killed the poor soul, but he was in fight-or-flight mode. Determined to save his new friend. A tiny voice inside Silver screamed at how right now wasn’t the time to be reckless, how he should just listen and run. But his heart for companionship and mind for justice drowned out the little voice of fear. Used his blue hand to grab belt latch after belt latch, since he was too short to do it himself.