A Dragonfly's Cat

         "Theo, are you certain this is the way we're meant to go?" "Oh, you're always worried, Mangi. Won't you trust me just this once?" "I do trust you, Theo, it just seems like a poor idea to be wandering about in the Shadow Woods..." Mangi grumbled as he followed Theo into the woods, his paws crunching slightly on dead leaves. Overhead buzzed Theo, darting about and searching for signs of danger. The dragonfly and cat had long been friends, and were rarely seen apart. Mangi and Theo were assistants to a wizard who lived in the Tower of Storms, searching out certain herbs and fungi for the magician's potions.
         "Oh, Mangi, I know you think you're getting old, but you're barely out of kittenhood. Surely those paws of yours can move you a bit faster?" Mangi hissed, then sped up to a steady jog behind the dragonfly. "Surely, Theo, you couldn't be more annoying, with your buzzing wings and voice?" "Stop teasing now, we've got work to do, haven't we? Look, I think i can see the tree Xavier wanted us to find, he said some sort of fungus grows under it..." "It's called a silverbark tree, and the fungus we're looking for is supposed to be bluish black. Are you sure it's the right one, Theo?" "Well, it certainly looks silver from here, but it could just as easily be grey. We're going to have to go off the trail quite a bit to get through it, and you're going to have to go through the branches, unless you'd rather brave a few thorn bushes?" "Branches are just as fine, as long as it leads us to the right tree..."
         Mangi climbed up a nearby tree, and began leaping branch to branch, trying to stay close to Theo. "Hey, Theo, I'm thinking this is a bad idea... the wood on these trees, It might b-AAAAAAAHHHHH!" The branches snapped, the tree groaned, and Mangi fell- as did the tree, crushing the earth beneath it, and narrowly missing the frightened cat. "Theo? THEO!!!" he cried, but there was no response. Mangi looked around, and the woods seemed to him an entirely different world. The fallen tree was massive, its bark rotten and grey. He tried to climb his way over the tree, but in vain, for the bark simply fell away, and the wood was too weak to hold him.
         Meanwhile, Theo buzzed around desperately, trying to find his friend. The fall of the tree had caused him to fly off in terror, further than he had expected. He couldn't see the fallen tree; in fact, he could scarcely see at all, due to the intense darkness which surrounded him. "Mangi!" he cried, but in vain, for the pressing silence seemed to drown out his cries. He darted around, trying to get his bearings. It seemed that he had ended up in a cluster of blackwood trees, their branches thickly woven together. Theo flew up, and began climbing through them; they were too thick for him to fly through, though he could manage to hover for a few seconds to get across large gaps. Once he had found his way above the branches, he flew high up, and barely visible on the horizon was the city of Draghi. There he hovered, wondering...should he head back home? Or search the woods for Mangi?
         Mangi decided that it would be best to try to go around the fallen tree. He ran at its base, the dead leaves crunching beneath his paws. Once he got to the roots, he tried to climb over them; just barely, he made it, his fur matted with dirt and mud."Theo..." Mangi was beginning to feel the true loneliness of the woods, when ahead of him he saw the trail. "But...Theo..." Mangi paused, wondering: should he go on, leaving the woods and telling Xavier what happened? Or stay in the woods, searching for Theo? The sun was falling, and the woods were growing darker. His mind a mess of confusion and fear, Mangi hid in the roots of a nearby oak, trembling slightly as the night consumed the woods, and the wind rustled the leaves of the trees.
         "Mangi? Mangi, can you hear me...?" Mangi perked up, and with whatever of his voice he could find, he called out, "Theo! Is it really you?" The dragonfly darted towards Mangi, resting on his head. "Mangi, I've found a way out! We ca-" "No, Theo, don't worry. I've found the trail," Mangi said, smiling. Theo and Mangi headed down the trail, glad to have found each other at last, and looking forward to the warmth that would greet them at the Tower of Storms.