In the time spent he'd spent idle, new anxieties had propped up in the neglected corners of Vestyge's mind. A strange lethargy had begun to weigh him down these days - was he lulling himself into hibernation? The dark pause between when his eyes closed and opened seem to be growing longer each time. One day he would blink, and everything would be covered in new layers of dust.

Energy, unused. paced around his empty shell. Just cycles before, he'd been working himself to the bone. Now he had nothing to do but wait.

Canis wasn't exactly a comfort. It was a reflection, a memory replayed endlessly to point of ruin. But it was something - or it should've been something. Bones clattered underneath his lazy gait, swept away by his talons.

But then Vestyge realised he wasn't alone here. His attention shifted to something further off, too large to be a lesser. Food in this cave wasn't exactly plentiful, not anymore. He craned his neck, unafraid, but still curious.