Comet knew that James had gone off to take the transcendence trial with Emuh. She had everything prepared, her congratulations rehearsed, everything! She wasn't sure how long it would take, since not every gembound was given the same test. But after a day had passed with no black horse in sight, she knew something had gone wrong. At first, she thought that James had just gone off to tell others about it, or maybe he had encountered someone and decided to spend a but of time with them. The longer she waited, the more unlikely her thoughts became, until she knew that something had happened.
Oh, if that stupid owl did anything to him she would go beat Emuh up herself! And with that thought in mind, she ran from their house to the small cave in Polaris, where she had taken the test herself. Peggy had accompanied her partway, but had gotten scared and ran back to the house. Comet had to say that something seemed off about the whole thing herself. If her suspicions were right, she didn't want Peggy to see what was there.
As she approached the cave, she noticed something different about it. It was in the same location, that was for sure, but... what was that huge purplish pinkish stone sitting just outside the entrance? That didn't look normal at all. She would have to take a closer look.
Comet increased her speed now, a lump of worry in her throat. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but she already knew that it wasn't. Couldn't hurt to hope, right?
Each step closer to the large stone brought down her hopes bit by bit, and soon she was standing right next to it. By the time she was standing next to it, she couldn't ignore the truth any longer. James was in his chrysalis. There was no mistaking the dragon eye opal that made up the large stone, which matched perfectly with the one he had on his forehead. This-- why? Numerous possibilities ran through her head of how this could have happened. But she finally settled on the most obvious one: he had failed the test.
Comet hadn't failed her own herself, and she hadn't given much thought to what would've happened if you did. But surely the owl wouldn't do such a horrible thing to those who didn't pass? But he did. Rage boiled up in her chest, she was going to kill that stupid owl! But... there was the thing about how Emuh had helped many become stronger. Extremely conflicted about what her next move would be, she plopped onto the ground and laid on her side.
Her heart boiled with a mixture of feelings. Oh, so many feelings! They collided against each other, steamrolling into a bigger and more confusing clump of emotion, a sea of turmoil in her heart. But out of that mess, a few stood out. Loss, anger, and... guilt.
She knew that James wasn't dead of course, but to chrysalise was a last resort. The pain he went through must have been horrible for such a thing to happen. What was she going to tell Peggy? Perhaps she would keep it to herself for now, and tell him later. But, for the first time in her life since she met him, she was without her renny. Sure, she went on adventures alone, but those were for short durations, and he was always waiting for her when she got back. Comet's eyes filled with tears, too many to hold back. They ran down her snout, forming a puddle on the floor.
But through her blurry eyes, she saw something else. Was that-- mushrooms? Using her paw to rub off her tears, she looked at them, realizing that they must've been grown using a spell. Who-- Tahi! Tahi had been here! This quick thought was a temporary relief from her sadness, but then came the anger. Emuh! He was the one who would pay for this! Just because someone failed didn't mean you had to chrysalise them. But then again, the owl was the one who had helped make her magic stronger than ever. Comet wasn't too sure what to think of that, and trying to harm him probably wouldn't work. If he were able to grant gembounds to gift to cast more powerful spells, she couldn't even imagine what he could do himself! But anger was still in her heart, and she wasn't sure if it would ever go away.
Actually, perhaps it wasn't the owl to blame. Sure, he was the one who ran the trials, he could've given a warning to those who tried, but in the end, she could've stopped all of this from happening! She should've asked if there were any bad consequences, and convinced James not to go. It didn't matter that she hadn't known the price for failure, it was still her fault that she hadn't stopped him.
But nothing could be done now, what had happened had happened, and James was in a chrysalis. Gazing at the dragon's eye opal, she willed the rain to come. The clouds gathered, and the raindrops came down, soaking her fur and cleaning the area of dust.
Comet invested every bit of her pain into the rain, willing the stormclouds to gather denser, greyer, and RAIN! But she was exhausted, and the clouds stayed at a constant drizzle. Frustrated at her own inability to show her own emotion through a storm, she howled. The sound carried out her woes for all to hear, although the lump in her throat made it hard to catch. Comet howled until her throat was sore, and she could not stay awake any longer. Exhaustion of her magic combined with her pain lulled her to fall into an uneasy sleep.
"Exit Comet to sleep"