[Gift] Maize Maze: Prompt

The news of Father Oleander’s untimely demise shook Burrowgatory to its core. The change of atmosphere within the city was rather apparent, given the recent celebrations brought about by All Sinner’s Day, setting the scene for all kinds of indulgences. However, the recent missing bun reports and murder cases, and now with the death of someone so well-respected and well-loved, finally scared most of the community to stay indoors. As the Church of Sulfur mourned the loss of the faithful Head Priest (along with the loss of his incredible body), word spread as quickly as a rampant wildfire, even to the outskirts of the main city. An air of sorrow, anguish, and even anxiety befell all the Succubuns. As for the Greed bun living on a large farm, their anxiety was through the roof, even though they kept their distance from the chaos.

It was no secret that Mckenna found the city bustle to be stressful, always requiring the companionship of a close friend to be able to navigate without it becoming a head-spinning disaster. Despite Retina Ranch’s reputation that established Mckenna as a competent farmer, they remained hidden from the public for this exact reason. The recent news only heightened their fear of the city and made them fixated on the daily news. Eden could still remember his partner’s panic the day they heard of the Head Priest’s passing, having needed to hold them in place for several agonizing minutes for them to calm down.

It wasn’t enough to ease Mckenna’s anxious mind however – they immediately canceled all their social harvest plans, despite their farmhands’ persuasion. In previous years, they would open their farm for Burrowgatory residents to pick their desired crops, fresh from the farm in exchange for a reasonable, cheaper price. The corn maze was a yearly highlight, decorated with Jack-O-lanterns they had carved and other spooky decorations to set the mood, letting their customers have some fun before vegetable picking. During those years, buns would come to the farm and do a lot of the heavy lifting for them – plucking ears of corn and huge gourds, paying for what they collected by the pound, and giving Mckenna time to harvest more delicate fruits. In the end, they would be left with an empty field and a mountain of carats, which helped them not only last through the winter months, but also afford the expansion of their farm and hire much needed help. 

The recent string of unsolved murders caused Mckenna to decide that closing their farm to the public would be the best precaution to take to protect themself and their friends, even if it meant impacting their business. Not only did they beg their two farmhands to take down all the decorations they had begun setting up the previous month, but they even made them promise to be on higher alert when patrolling the vicinity of the farm at night. 

“Mckenna lass,” Diego coughed uncomfortably, his knuckles pale and sweaty when the brown bun was done with their anxiety-driven rant, trying their best to control their breathing while tightly clutching onto Eden’s hand. He could only look back at both Charon and Diego helplessly, squeezing his partner’s hoof. “We’d promise we’d keep us all safe here.” Despite being the only other bun in the room with a rather strong reaction to Oleander’s death, he was actively trying to reassure his fellow Greed Bun not to panic. 

“And how would you ensure that we are going to be safe? The Church is under the watchful eye of Murmur, yet it didn’t save him.” Mckenna nipped back at the older bun, the visible shock in Diego’s eyes only caused them to bite down on their lip, grimacing as they turned away. A skeletal hand gently tapped the side of Diego’s chair to get his attention. The black-furred bun stared absentmindedly at his husband, like a Freign caught in the headlights. Charon sensed Diego’s growing unease and Mckenna’s anxiety spiraling out of control, nodding in Eden’s direction to signal to him that it would be a good idea to separate these two for now. “Come on, let’s head back to the cabin.” He whispered, helping Diego to stand on shaky hooves before nudging him toward the door, silently hoping that Eden could manage Mckenna on his own.

To distract them from lingering thoughts on Oleander and the murders, Eden stayed near Mckenna for the rest of the day. Even when bedtime finally rolled around, he stayed to sleep beside them, cuddling them into dreamland. Despite the anxiety-filled day, it was a rather peaceful night on the farm… until the sound of howling and barking could be heard outside, which startled Mckenna out of their sleep. Rubbing their eyes with their hooves groggily, they wriggled out of their still-asleep partner’s arms. They hurried out, knowing that Eden was unwakeable until daylight shone through the farmhouse's windows. Mckenna groaned as they ran down the stairs, slowly processing the trauma of waking up at 3 in the morning, wondering just what could have made those noises. It did not take long for them to figure it out, causing them to sigh loudly in exhaustion as they kicked the door open and marched across the yard.

Not too far from the patio, Mckenna could make out two silhouettes in the dark. It was their natural Impup, Ebi, and their fiendish Loafki Big Man Extra Large, the Second, having a standoff of sorts. Glancing towards the slightly ajar door to the barn, Mckenna could deduce that Ebi had managed to get into the barn and wake Big Man from his slumber. The Loafki’s fur was bristled and he arched his back, showing off his spikes menacingly; he hissed at the smaller imp while his ear wings flapped in agitation. It was clear he wasn’t too pleased about being woken up at the ass crack of dawn.

“Come on you two, go back to bed, it’s too early for this nonsense…” Mckenna grumbled at the sight of the angry Loafki before turning to their Impup. Ebi stopped wagging his tail and was backing away with his tail between his legs. Without any warning, he took off and disappeared into the entrance of the corn maze to get away from the furious Loafki, leaving Mckenna frozen with their mouth agape. As Mckenna was unable to react in time, Big Man lunged after Ebi and began chasing him deep into the field, plotting revenge for the rude awakening. The sound of pawsteps slowly faded as the two imps vanished in the dark.

The sight of two of their imps disappearing brought back the panic that Mckenna had been trying to suppress all day. Without hesitation, they dashed into the maze blindly, swatting at the leaves of the tall stalks as they pushed forward, shouting into the cool autumn night. “BIGGS! EBI! COME BACK HERE!” They yelled, their voice whisked away by the breeze. “You two are in SUCH BIG TROUBLE!” Running in on stubby bun legs was a horrible idea in hindsight; their mind was dead set on locating their imps and dragging them back to the barn, forgetting that they were running in blind, unable to know in which directions they were going. It was unclear how long Mckenna spent in the corn maze, time passed by without any indication of the cavern brightening.

After countless twists and turns, it slowly began to dawn on Mckenna that they might have lost their way. They finally decided to stop to catch their breath, dried leaves crunched beneath their hooves as they skidded to a halt. Panting, they raised their head to take in their surroundings: no matter where they looked, identical corn stalks surrounded them on all sides. Despite this not being their first time growing corn, Mckenna never noticed how unsettling it was, even more imposing now that they loomed over the bun. Perhaps the dim lighting made the shadows much more intimidating, or it could be that Mckenna’s denial was slowly being replaced by the horror of their current situation finally dawning on them. Internally begging Murmur for it to all be a nightmare, the Greed bun pinched themself, only to realize that this was indeed reality. They were alone in the dark, deep into the corn maze, trapped without a visible way out. And knowing Eden, he would not awake until the morning.

Unknowingly, Mckenna’s breathing began to pick up as their head spun out of control, overcome by an overwhelming sense of vertigo. Thoughts regarding the recent news swirled in their brain as the wind howled, almost like an unseen force whispering their thoughts directly into their ears. ‘The disappearances, the murders, Oleander…Surely whoever’s causing this would be confined to Burrowgatory right? Most of the population lives there after all, but what if they decide to turn to those living in the outskirts-’ Mckenna audibly swallowed, their mouth as dry as cotton, ‘What if they come here? Surely they could easily hop the fence? What if whoever is causing this isn’t acting alone, what if it were multiple buns… What if they weren’t buns at all?! What if they are supernatural? I’m just one bun, I can’t fight something paranormal! I gotta get out of here. Stupid Mckenna, stupid, why didn’t you take a flashlight with you?! I should have kept the lights strung up, I should’ve known this would happen!” Little feet kicked up the dirt again as they ran, without any sense of direction, desperate to find a way out.

Mckenna didn’t stop until their foot caught on something, causing them to crash face-first into the dirt. The pain from the impact caused them to hiss audibly as they pulled themself into a sitting position. They wrapped their tiny arms around themself the best they could, curling up into a little brown ball and letting their emotions get the better of them. All that stress, grief, and anxiety bubbled up to a boiling point and they began to sob quietly, tears cascading down their cheeks. Helpless, they could only cry into the night, not realizing that their pitiful sobs attracted someone else to their location. 

It hadn’t been a productive day for Diego either – that was to be expected, after hearing such awful news. Once he helped Eden take down the lights and put away the spooky decorations, he softly excused himself and retired to the cabin for the rest of the day. Thank the demons for his understanding and loyal husband who stayed by his side, gently rubbing circles into his back to help him relax and take his mind off the news. When it came time to go to bed, Diego found it difficult to fall asleep, staring at the wooden beams of the cabin while Charon snored and drooled into his pillow, clearly exhausted. Pulling himself out of bed and gazing out the window at the corn field, the guilt of being unproductive persuaded him to leave the comforts of the cabin behind in favor of harvesting some more of the corn. They were behind schedule after all. 

The sight of two of Mckenna’s imps chasing each other out of the maze startled Diego out of his thoughts, enough for him to take a step back and shake his head. Armed with a flashlight and a basket over his shoulder, Diego began the meticulous harvest in the middle of the night, taking care to note each turn he made so he wouldn’t get lost. The walk through the field was rather relaxing and Diego focused on the mild, sweet aroma of the maize indicating its ripeness, which helped ease his mind. Before he could reach for a particularly juicy ear, something else caught his attention: the distant, familiar sounds of someone’s sobbing. Abandoning his plans out of curiosity and worry that he was not the only one there, Diego cautiously approached the source of the sound… until he found a curled-up ball of fluff in the middle of the pathway. He blinked slightly, he could have sworn he noticed it move ever so slightly, questioning if it was the trick of the light or if he could be seeing things.

“What in Murmur’s name? How’d them tumbleweeds get’in here?” Diego mumbled to himself, squinting his eyes as if in disbelief of what he was seeing, slowly raising the flashlight until he recognized that it was another bun. The sudden light and footsteps behind them startled Mckenna – they almost jumped out of their skin, scared to the point that they fell to the ground, bawling out of shock as each strand of fur stood on its wit's end, mimicking an alarmed Furdin. “That’s not funny! Go away!” They yelled, shifting around in the dirt as if they were about to start burrowing. “Mckenna?” The familiar voice caused Mckenna to freeze and finally look up at Diego; their fluffy bangs, wet from tears, clung to their face as big gray eyes stared at him from between the tufts. “Diego…?”

“What yer doin’ down here…? Forget it, it doesn’t matter, we’d gettin’ you back home.” The worried look in Diego’s eyes didn’t fade when he bent down and brought his hand close to Mckenna, gesturing for them to climb on. The other bun obliged easily, not wanting to spend any more time in the maze. They could add being alone in a cornfield at night to their long list of fears. “I’m bringin’ yer back to the farmhouse. Couldn’t sleep, reckon I’d use my energy to start harvestin’ again.” He explained, earning a tired nod from Mckenna. They immediately glued themself to Diego’s arm, earning a half-hearted laugh from the other greed bun. He could finally understand what Eden experienced on a daily basis.

The walk out of the maze was silent, besides Diego’s footsteps and the rustling of corn stalks. The chilly night air caused Mckenna to shiver slightly before pressing their cheek against Diego’s arm, leeching off the other Greed bun’s body heat. Even though neither bun was eager to chit-chat on the way out, it was clear they both felt comforted by a friend’s presence, especially Mckenna who closed their eyes to rest. There were no monsters on Retina Ranch tonight; it was just their rampant imagination. The farmhand did comment on seeing two imps racing out of the cornfield, which relieved the worried Mckenna, knowing that Ebi and Big Man were safe, though they would both need a stern talking to. 

It did not take long before Diego gently poked Mckenna to get their attention again, before setting them down and nudging them forward. To Mckenna’s relief, the exit was just up ahead, having already envisioned being back in the safety of their bedroom. They couldn’t help but be thankful for Diego, who turned his attention to the crops again, waving his boss goodnight. They called after him once more as he slowly disappeared around the corner, pushing stalks of corn out of the way.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry.”