Seto's Nightmare

by: Terrell James

This is my new Over the Hedge fanfic, with an EDGE!! I borrowed 23's character, so PLEASE don't kill me. Anyways, enjoy!

One night while all the animals are sleeping, Seto kept tossing and turning on the side of the log, moaning and whimpering about the nightmare he's having. He broke out into a sweat on his fur and kept talking softly in his sleep, "No... Mom, please don't go.... I'll save you... Please don't leave me alone!"

Seto's dream

Rufus and the other coyotes snuck around the bushes and spotted Seto's mother, Seto, and his little brothers, Tyke, Mike and Kitt. Rufus snarled silently while he stared at them. He stuck out his tongue and swirled it around his mouth.

"You all ready?" Rufus asked.

The two coyotes nodded as they hopped out of the bushes and surrounded the 5 possums all over the woods. Seto's mother looked at her older son and said, "Seto, take your brothers and put them somewhere safe."

"But they'll take you down!" Seto exclaimed.

"Son, just trust me. I'll be okay. Just take your brothers and put them in a safe place!" she exclaimed.

Understanding her protection from herself, Seto nodded and then ran off. The other coyote spotted his mother's necklace and snarled happily. He then said, "Nice necklace. Give it to me!!"

She looked at the necklace and said, "You can't have this necklace! It's very important to our family."

"Surrender your necklace or we will tear you up!" Rufus yelled.

"Never!" she said.

"GET HER!!" Rufus snarled.

The coyotes chased her mom and she ran off to find Seto and the others to find a place to hide. She almost got to him when the two coyotes blocked her every move. Rufus walked by slowly and said, "Fork over the necklace."

"What do you want with my necklace, anyway?" she asked.

"Don't ask us questions. In order to keep your oldest boy alive." said Rufus.

"I said I can't do that."

Rufus frowned and then turned to the other coyotes. He said, "Kill her!"

With great force, Rufus came in her face and saw the necklace she had in her neck and snatched it from her. He put it on his neck and laughed sinisterly. She panted furiously with fear and Rufus yelled, "Like I said, the necklace is mine now. Boys, ATTACK!!"

The three coyotes jumped to her and captured her by the knees. One coyote raised his claw at her leg and slithered it. She stared screaming loudly and blood started coming out of her leg. Another coyote cut her arm and blood started to come off. She started screaming in pain. Seto heard the screams and told his brothers to stay where they are until he gets back. And then, Rufus came over and tore up her stomach and then screamed louder. and guts were starting to come out of her body. She fell down to the ground, bleeding and and gasping her air because they scratched up and bit her heart. Rufus took the necklace away from her and the coyotes wandered away from her and retreated.

Moments later, Seto ran to the other side of the forest and as he got there, he gasped in horror to see his mother lying down the grass, with coming out of her. He came to her and held her head and asked, "Mother... are you okay?"

She looked in Seto's eyes and said, "No, honey. The coyotes grabbed my necklace."

Seto panted frantically and tears started to come out of his eyes after his mom said that. She kept breathing a couple times, thinking she's not gonna make it. He looked into her brown eyes and said, "Please don't die. You're gonna be okay. We need you now more than ever."

She lifted her hand in Seto's face and said, "You're still very young. From now on, you're in charge of everything. Besides, your brothers really look up to you and they need you. Promise... promise me you'll take care of your little brothers."

"Mother, I... I don't want you to go! We need you!" exclaimed Seto, sobbing.

"I know, but you've seen what the coyotes did to me. Besides, you're in charge of watching out for your brothers."

Seto laid his head down and started crying in her mother's shoulder. She patted his head and wiped his tears from his eyes. She looked at him and said, "You have to get my necklace back. It's the only memory you'll keep to remember me by. Promise me you'll watch over your brothers for me."

Seto wiped his eyes and nodded his head. She look a last look at his older son and said, "Thank you, son. These past 17 years of seeing you grow up has made me... realize that I've been very proud and so thankful for being your mother. I love you, son. Your father would be proud."

After she said her last words, her heart stopped and her hand slowly fell from the ground. Her eyes were closed and her head turned around.... without movement. Seto looked at his mother and realized that she's .

"Mother? Please don't leave us! PLEASE!!" sobbed Seto.

Looking in her corpse dead body, he held her hand and wrapped his head on her shoulder and started crying. Tyke, Mike and Kitt were wandering around looking for his older brother. When they saw their mother lying down, Mike asked, "Big brother?"

Seto turned around and saw his little brothers there. He asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"What's the matter with mother?" Tyke asked.

Seto felt the tears coming out of his eyes and the wind stroked his fur. He started looking nervous, but decided to tell them anwyay. He sighed sadly and said, "This isn't easy for me to say this, but... mom's.... dead."

"What?" asked Kitt.

"The coyotes killed her." explained Seto.

"No, she's not dead!" exclaimed Mike, with tears coming through his eyes.

The brothers came to their mother's body and saw coming out of her body. They all started crying and Seto gave them a hug and started crying also. He whispered to them, "It's gonna be okay."

Hours later, Mike, Tyke and Kitt were all asleep except for Seto, who was awake and looked up at the sky, thinking about his mom. He got out of the log and walked around the forest and climed in a tree, sat in a branch and looked at the night sky. The thought of losing his mother has became very difficult for him because he felt like he was alone, even though he has 3 brothers. He sat down, curled himself in a little ball with his head down and started crying and he was scared that he might forget about his mom and knew that his necklace was the only thing to remember him by.

He got out of the tree and whispered to himself, "Don't worry, mother. I'll get the necklace back. I will."

He went in to the coyotes' place to get his mom's necklace back, unaware that Mike was up, seeing his older brother running off, but was back to sleep when he realized that he had to check on them, hoping he wouldn't follow them.

Seto went back to the log and saw all 3 of his brothers asleep. He whispered, "I'll be right back, you guys. Just stay here until I get back."

Then, he left them without another word. 20 seconds later, Mike was awake and found that his older brother was gone. Tyke and Kitt were already up and asked Mike, "Where are you going?"

"We have to follow big brother. He might need our help." said Mike.

"We can't go there. What if he went to the coyotes' place?" asked Kitt.

"Well, we can't risk ourselves getting killed."

Kitt and Tyke sighed exasperatedly and went with Mike to follow Seto. They popped out of the grass and followed their older brothers' every move. When Seto heard a branch , he turned around to see who's there, but there was no one there. He sighed heavily and continued walking until he found the coyotes' place.

He saw them all sleeping, hoping that they won't wake up and he saw his mother's necklace on Rufus' neck. He was sweating nervously, but decided it was the only way to get it back from her. He snuck in place until he heard another branch . He quickly turned around and there was nobody there. He was beginning to feel a little freaked out and went over the bushes to see who it was. Only to find, that it was Mike behind him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Seto.

"We came to help you, big brother." said Mike.

"It was his idea. We had to stay back in the log." explained Kitt.

Seto sighed exasperatedly and put his hand in his eyes and said, "How did you find me anyway?"

"Mike followed your every move." said Tyke.

"I couldn't let anything happen to you." said Mike.

"You do realize that I'm responsible for you guys. Could you at least stay where you are?"

"We will."

Seto turned to the coyotes and climbed to Rufus' neck, hoping that he won't wake up. He slowly took the necklace off his neck, then Rufus kept snoring loudly and turned his body around. Seto feared that he would wake up, but he kept going back to sleep. He sighed with relief and he still tried to take the necklace off, and then, he almost took it off, until... Rufus woke up with one eye and caught Seto taking the necklace.

He growled slowly and Seto started to walk off until she screamed loudly, which woke the other two coyotes up and caught them all with the necklace and screamed, "GET THEM!!"

Seto and the others ran off and the growling and screaming went in full echo, which ended the nightmare.

Back to reality

Seto woke up, panting heavily and sweating through his fur. He sighed sadly and walked out of the log and looked back on that tragic, horrific, painful experience. He sat down on a rock on the other side of the forest and looked up at the sky. A few tears were coming out of his eyes and hung his head down and broke down crying. He looked up at the sky and said, "Mother... I wish you didn't have to die. I brought the necklace back and I did it for you too. I wrote this song for you while I was here with my new friends."

He started to sing the song he wrote for his mother.

The broken clock is a comfort

It helps me sleep tonight

Maybe it can stop tomorrow

For stealing all my time

And I am here, still waiting

Though I still have my doubts

I have damaged, at best

Like you've already figured out

I'm falling apart

I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart

That's still beating

In the pain, there is healing

In your name, I find meaning

The broken locks were a warning

You've got inside my head

I've tried my best to be guarded

I'm an open book instead

And I still see your reflection

Inside of my eyes

That are looking for purpose

You're still looking for life

I'm falling apart

I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart

That's still beating

In the pain, is there healing

In your name, I find meaning

So I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm barely holding on to you

I'm hanging on another day

Just to see what you will throw my way

And I'm hanging on to the words you say

You say that I will be OK

The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone

I may have lost my way now

Haven't forgotten my way home

I'm falling apart

I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart

That's still beating

In the pain, there is healing

In your name, I find meaning

So I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm barely holding on to you

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm holding on

I'm still holding

I'm barely holding on to you....

He finished the song only to find Heather, Ozzie and RJ standing there. Seto looked at them and asked, "Couldn't stop catching me singing again, couldn't you? H-How long have you guys been there?"

RJ chuckles and said, "About 3 minutes ago."

"When did you write this song? Is it new?" asked Ozzie.

"Well, honestly, ever since my mom died and I keep having these nightmares for some time and I started writing that song after you guys took me in, so it's been about 2 days ago." said Seto.

"That was wonderful." excliamed Ozzie.

"Yeah, that was a lot or raw emotion coming out of you." said Heather.

Seto chuckles and said, "Thanks. Sometimes I can't help myself."

Heather puts her hand on Seto's shoulder and sees that he's feeling extremely broken and depressed. She asked, "You okay?"

A tear drops from his eyes and stares at her. He sniffled and covered his eyes to avoid the tears. Understanding his emotional, painful experience, Heather gave him a hug. Seto cried on her shoulder. She then said, "Sorry I should've asked. Maybe you didn't want to talk about it?"

He stared at her and nodded. He sighed heavily and said, "I_I just feel so helpless. I mean, I could've been there. I would've helped him. I've been through so much since my mother died."

"We understand." said RJ.

"There was nothing you could've done, son." said Ozzie.

Seto was touched when Ozzie called him 'son', because he felt as if he was his own. With a small smile, he whispered, "I know."

"She's in a better place now. Heck, if it wasn't for you, you would've been here with us today. Very brave of you, kid." said RJ.

"You gonna feel okay in the morning?" asked Heather.

Seto nodded mournfully and walked back to the log with them. He turned to them and said, "Thank you, guys... for everything."

"No problem." said Ozzie.

"That's what family does, they look out for each other." said Heather.

Seto smiled at them and followed them back to the log, for some much deserved sleep... with his new family.

So, hopefully this one will be a fave! I hope you liked reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. BTW, THRAnitmated.23, don't kill me and try not to make any negative comments on it. It just popped out, that's all. Almost forgot, that was Lifehouse with the song "Broken." Thought it should be a gritty part of this fic. Well, holla!