Almost as quickly as it existed, Kass's Feathershard dissipated into cosmic dust. And elsewhere...

---

The garden was revitalized with the new growth that spawned by an equally revitalized home tree. Reborn as he was to be reborn. Remembered as he was remembered. A chrysoberyl chrysalis bloomed near the root of announcements, growing quietly and quickly with a sheen of pink-gold iridescence. Inside rapidly formed the body of the Remembered:

...cougar, green, bark, antlers, plants, life, loved, loved, loved... RIFT...

And he would emerge with the image he was Remembered by. Although he is not as strong as he once was, and he does not remember his own events as well as he might like, he vaguely remembers Sebastian. He vaguely remembers the Kingdom. Wherever his original chrysoberyl lay or exist, it did not matter: his was a copy. A clone. A memory. His gem replaced his ear as it always had, but this time, if the light caught it right, a pink-gold iridescence glinted off of it; but it was chrysoberyl, for all intents and purposes.

"You were Remembered fondly," a warm voice whispers in his waking sleep. "May you be Returned."

The chrysoberyl chrysalis begins to crack.

He remembered…no air. Blood. Black. Green. Sprouts. Orange eyes. And…nothing. It was distant, like a bird call signaling the falling of the sun, like leaves swept away by golden winds. There was peace, but there was pain. There was nothing. What did he remember? What happened? Where was he?

He was…nowhere.

He was so lonely. So alone.

You were remembered fondly.

Was I? What for?

May you be returned.

Returned? Returned to where? Where am I?

And then he was Somewhere. He could feel. He could hear. Cracking. Cracking. More cracking. A spark of fear ran along his nervous system. He was afraid. Afraid of what was coming. Afraid because he could barely remember anything. He felt like he should remember, like there was something he was missing. He reached for it, desperately. Please, tell me… But there was no more time.

Darkness ended. The chrysalis shattered. And Rift rolled out onto the warm grass.

His eyes blinked open and was immediately assaulted by light and color. A haze of confusion seemed to be blanketing every thought that raced through his brain. He felt heavy but also…oddly light. Like he could do anything. He could fly if he wanted to, if he only wished it so. But he felt glued to the ground, his fur heavy with confusion and the sting of loneliness. But…why? What had happened?

But there was a comfort that warmed him, that was a blanket to his distress. The grass that tickled his fur, the flowers that popped up over his head, the sound of rustling leaves and branches…it was so familiar. It sounded and smelled and tasted like love. Like home.

He stood, slowly, breathing deeply in the scents of Eridanus, strength returning to his bones, flowing into the ground beneath his feet. Sprouts began to peek their way out of the earth, a delightful reminder that he was of the forest, he was of life and the growing future. He felt…so alive. So new. So loved.

By who? He couldn’t remember. But the voice had been so sure. It was like the universe itself had opened its heart to him. And there was another…black pelt and orange eyes. Perhaps he would remember better in the coming days as he awakened more but for now…he felt as fresh as a new sprout, as bright as a blooming flower, as alive as each and every leaf of the forest, every bird that sang in the trees.

A new beginning.

Eridanus was a mess. Oliver was moving through it only carefully, his wide eyes taking in the clots of fungus that had grown to spread like a contagion through the forest. Each step was a cautious placement of hind paw or wing-limb, his body kept tucked low to avoid any undue attention. His intention, for now, was to find a quiet place to work on getting rid of it, though he wasn't sure how he'd even begin. How far has it spread? he wondered--not that it was his first time back here, but the sheer density of the infestation was horrifying. He paused, sending out his magicka and closing his eyes, wincing as he found so many interconnected nodes linked by infestation. Here and there were patches of untouched foliage--things that could be saved--and there-...

What is that..? he wondered. He caught only the tail end of it: the sense of distant, powerful blossoming, the revival of plant life, the intense growth of a tree. And--it was in a familiar place, too. That old tree had been destroyed, had it not-? He'd never found out how, never really pursued the question. But something was regrowing it, and though his magic was already faltering, he didn't think it was infested, either.

He made his way more quickly, shifting his path to make for the grove.

Oliver stopped dead when he saw the familiar green shape in the distance. "Rift?" he blurted, though still a dozen or more yards away. It wasn't a question filled with joyous emotion, for he'd never known of Rift's horrific demise; the corpses sheltered beneath shattered roots had gone unnoticed by him, given his relocation to Monoceros. It was only confusion, as Oliver's eyes flicked up, taking in all this new growth; had Rift spent time regrowing this place, keeping it clean? Had he worn himself out? He was laying as if freshly-hatched... and yeah, there was his stone. Oliver pressed forward, puzzled. Some sense of dislike still lingered, or more accurately distant betrayal, but these were not pressing. Instead, he paused a few yards off, puzzling now over the light that glinted briefly from Rift's green gemstone. "Are you like me now?" he blurted, eyes widening, as he lifted the stone atop his clawed finger--now infused thoroughly with streaks of purple and gold. Oh--"And, uh--are you okay?"

I probably should've started with that.

@Rift

For his few moments alone, he stretched himself out, feeling like he'd just awoken from a very long nap. He felt very strange, physically and mentally. Calling more sprouts to emerge, as a small test, he found that magic felt...hard. He had a strange sense that he thought it would be easier, but the toll a simple spell had taken on him, while small, was still more then he expected. How odd.

Someone called. Rift. That was...his name. Yes, of course that was his name. He hadn't forgotten that. He turned in the direction of the stranger, tilting his head. A..black dog. Black fur? Orange eyes? No, no this one had blue eyes. Someone else. But still, vague memories shifted through his mind. He was familiar, in a way. They had met before, but Rift could barely grasp at the memories of where. They were friends, but he didn't know anything about him.

"Hi," he called, a little unsure. "What do you mean, like you? And...I'm sorry...but...what's your name? You seem so familiar." It was kind of a stupid question, since the winged dog had spoken to him with such familiarity. He knew Rift, but Rift did not know him...or did he?

This was all so confusing! He felt troubled but also...it was okay. Because the warm feeling of love and the fresh feeling of new life was still so strong in him. Things would work out. He had all the time in the world, had he not? He would discover - or rediscover - things in time. He looked around at his garden, at his home, and purred. "Well, I'm home, so...I guess I'm alright."

He looked back at his friend the stranger and took a few steps closer, curious now. "You know me, don't you? You know my name. How? Have we met before?" His nose and whiskers twitched, trying to pick up his scent, but they were still a distance away and all Rift could smell was flowers and herbs.

@Oliver

Oliver's face scrunched up a little.

Rift had forgotten him-? His mind flitted briefly from one conclusion--that he simply hadn't meant much to the cougar--to the next: that Rift must have slept for a very long time. Neither... worked. There was no way Rift could have simply forgotten him. And nobody he'd known had forgotten friends in their sleep. Or ex-friends, anyway.

But... he could think of few other possibilities. Magic, maybe-? Did someone do this to him? Or--maybe he hit his head, really really hard?

After a long moment of this squinting, staring, and pondering, he shook his head. "You don't remember me-? What happened?" Would he even know-? "Yes, we--knew each other. You remember--the Kingdom of Eridanus? Mercy and everyone else?" Belatedly, he remembered Rift's other question, and he blinked again, frowning. He kept his distance, too, just a little--nervous that this might somehow be a trap. But... he didn't think it was.

"Oliver, I'm--my name is Oliver. And... by 'like me' I meant your stone." He kept his own finger extended, the gemstone still gleaming, bobbing it a little to more clearly indicate what he meant. "Yours. It's like mine. It has the colors on it, the ones from Wishing." Which was--all he knew them as.

As an afterthought he sent out that touch of magic--trying to sense if Rift's stone was truly changed, in any way, as his had been.

@Rift

The dog was squinting at him strangely and Rift squinted back, still trying to place memories, attach names and faces and voices to the fluttering flashes that drifted through his mind, but they were harder to hold onto then water, slipping through his mental grip as soon as he caught them. He knew the name, but he wouldn’t have been able to guess and he didn’t know how he knew. The other names he offered - Mercy, the Kingdom…he knew those too.

He looked quizzical, obviously trying very hard to remember. ”Yes…yes I do know that name. Mercy. And…yes, a kingdom! Here, in the tree. I remember…others. But…it’s very distant.” He looked back at Oliver, apologetic. ”I’m sorry, nothing is very solid. I could have just dreamed it all.” Although logic told Rift that this wasn’t very plausible - if he had been dreaming, then how could Oliver know these things? How could he have a better memory the. The dreamer?

He shook his head, troubled by the yearning pit of familiarity without substance. ”I remember the trees. The Kingdom. And…I remember someone. He was…black furred. With orange eyes. When I think of him I think of fire, but the kind that warms you, not burns. And…” His eyes snapped up as he paused again, looking at Oliver with a new sense of wonder. Although he couldn’t remember, truly, he could not stop what his heart was feeling. A sense of trust. Friendship, hopefully still there.

”I’m sorry, I know we just met - or…I guess, I met you - but I feel like I can trust you, you know? Is that…weird?”

At the mention of his stone, a paw came up to touch the chrysoberyl ear. Was it weird looking? He was sure it was a yellowish green color, right? He glanced over avian canine body until he spotted the stone, easy to miss, but upon looking for a moment, he wondered how he had - those bands of gold and purple were striking against the jet black of the rest of Oliver.

He blinked. Did his stone look like that? ”Uh….Wishing? No I don’t really know anything about that. I don’t remember wishing anything. Did you wish for something?”

@Oliver

It was a mix of concerning and almost sweet, to see Rift so open and almost lost. Oliver felt a faint trickle of warmth, one that displaced the last of his old angers--at least for the time being. It was hard to even remember being mad when faced with something so... helpless? It was... sad, even.

The questions, too, so... halting, so unsure. He took a breath, feeling his heart break just a little. "It's--not weird, no. We knew each other, maybe part of you sort of remembers?" he half-suggested, unsure. "You didn't dream it, but... I know what you mean. It feels uh. Distant? Right?" At least, he hoped he understood. "The one with black fur--does the name Sebastian sound familiar? It sounds like him," he explained.

Still unaware, of course, that he had died. That either of them had died.

But at the other question--the one about wishing--he brightened up, some.

"I did! I wished to be able to help people! And my stone changed, but--now I can turn into an owl. It's helped a few times?" he added, unsure. It certainly let him fit into smaller places than prior--for rescue missions--and to carry children to where they needed to go, at least. "But your stone's got the same colors now, so I thought-... I mean, it didn't before," he finished, unsure.

@Rift

Rift nodded enthusiastically. ”Distant, yeah! Like it happened a long, long time ago. Or not at all. I don’t know.” He shrugged, but it didn’t feel satisfying, it didn’t feel right. Everything else did - breathing and speaking and just standing here in the presence of the trees and a friend (yes! A friend!) felt more right then anything.

But it was also the quiet that felt wrong.

He looked around, the garden looked…well-tended, but he couldn’t smell anyone else, nor did he spot any signs that someone was living here before or in his brief sweep of the surroundings. ”So…if you knew me, and the kingdom…what happened? Where is everyone?” Again, memories. Black fur and orange eyes. But others. Brown and springy. The fluttering of wings. White, like brilliant diamond. Hmmm…

He was unfocused and distracted for the moment, but as soon as that name was uttered, his head snapped back to Oliver, eyes wide. Yes. Yes! That was it! His name! ”Sebastian! Yes, do you know where he is? I remember him the most - I loved him like a brother, I think.”

His one ear pointed up in fascination as his gaze took on something akin to reverence. ”Wait you can be an owl? Really? Whenever you want?” He looked all over alive as if waiting for him to just pop into owl form right then and there. ”Is that what wishing did for you?” It wasn’t so much a direct question but more of a pondering wonder - if Wishing had given Oliver bird transforming abilities, then what had it done for him, if he had also been touched by a Wish?

”I wasn’t aware it had changed colors. I mean…I didn’t even know anyone had seen it before today, but I guess I’ve just forgotten. I don’t know what I would have wished for.”. He looked again around the garden and suddenly felt a pant of loneliness and longing. He felt like there were ghosts walking around him, brushing past his fur with soft murmurs. A faded memory of what had been before. ”I wish it was back,” he blurted out without thinking. ”The Kingdom, or whatever it was. I don’t know why. But I don’t think that’s what I wished for, if I did.”

@Oliver

Oliver fidgeted a little, gaze sliding uneasily away, then coming back--almost guiltily--to Rift. The faint ghost of dislike rose back up in him as he drew up the memories that were the answer to the cougar's question. He took a breath, softly sighed it out, and spoke quietly.

"I don't know. A lot of bad things happened. Fights and... the Masters being mean. Some of us hid somewhere else. I was upset with you after you let Blackberry go, after--everything she did," and it was hard not to hold that old venom, hard to keep his teeth from gritting. It still felt like a betrayal, still felt like a faint coal smoldering in his gut, an old injustice. But Rift was clearly not himself, and he deserved, at least, an explanation. Or if he didn't--Oliver was too nice to refuse. "So I didn't come back. I don't... know where the others went, except I think Mercy's in Orion now, with his family." There'd never been all that many of them--but where Huckle had gone, and where Sebastian had wound up--that, Oliver didn't know. "I didn't see you or Sebastian again after that."

The unease lingered, almost-guilt plaguing him, so his answer to the other question wasn't as enthusiastic as it could've been. "Yeah-... I wished I'd be better able to help people. I can kinda... help them find things, if they need. And flying and being smaller, fitting into smaller spaces--it helps with that." He'd been able to dive down a narrow cave passage to enact a rescue where others had found it dangerously tight--that alone had been worth the transformation. Not to mention carrying new hatches to suitable homes! "I have-..." Oliver turned, fumbling at one of the small, battered pouches. "This." He held up an old brass compass, and carefully--claws still clumsy at this sort of thing, positioned where they were atop his wings--he flipped it open.

One face was a compass face--worn glass, the thing obviously antique if not outright ancient. The other face swam with a strange void-black: a blackness that could still, lighting slowly with the image of the heart's desire of whomever looked into it. "It shows an image of what you most want, and if you hold it it points to it. If 'it' is anywhere near, I think." And despite old reluctances, that almost manic drive--the internal, maddening demand--to help others prompted him to offer it forward. "If you want to find Sebastian most of all, maybe it can help? I need it back, though," he added.

And in the meantime--whether Rift took the compass in paw or jaw, or not--Oliver glanced around and continued to speak.

"The Kingdom--the ones you pulled together--they were like a family, I guess. But also, they took care of the forest. We took care of the forest. Now it's--bad; the fungus is bad, an infection. It changes you if you eat it. Makes you a slave to the Hive, I guess. They're another kind of magic. Order. It's--bright, and cold, like ice. But back then we had gardens, and lots of Gembounds who came here to be safe."

He fell silent at the end of this, grim memories still trailing along behind--ones he was unwilling to voice, for the moment.

@Rift

Rift frowned, his ear folding back at the mention of fighting. Not in this place.it felt so wrong to imagine violence finding its way into this peaceful place. He sighed and shifted his feet, feeling a strange sense of shame. ” I'm...Sorry. Even if I don't remember it. I can't imagine ever wanting bad things to happen.” Strangely enough, he didn't need to ask about The Masters and what that meant. And the name BlackBerry left a sour taste in his mouth. It felt like anger and failure and blood. He shivered. ”Who was BlackBerry?”

There was that name again - Mercy. Rift narrowed his eyes. ”Mercy. He was…white. Like daisy petals.” It was really all he could recall, alongside a sense of trust, again. Another friend, perhaps? Ugh, if only he could remember more!

For a moment, Rift felt his hope slipping away. He had to find Sebastian. His brother, the only one he could truly remember. Or at least the one he could remember the most. But then Oliver pulled out a small metal instrument and Rift leaned forward instinctively to give it a light sniff. Metallic - of course - and a bit like leather, probably from the pouch it was carried in.

His eyes widened and he sat, lifting a paw to gently take the presented compass. For a moment, there was nothing, and then in the little window appeared a face. Not so different from Rift, but with both ears and jet black fur. Fierce amber eyes stared out from the window, meeting Rift’s own and he felt his heart skip a beat. That was him!

The compass spun and pointed in a direction. He looked up, but it was simply into more woods. Woods that were infested with that disgusting white. White that Oliver was speaking of at this very moment. He shivered, holding the compass out for Oliver to take back. ”Thank you, Oliver. You’re right, it’s pointing me to him. But…the forest needs me right now. Wherever he is, I will find him. When I’m ready, will you help me? Or…let me use your compass? I will give it back, I promise.”

He looked up, back to the forest and resolution fiercely struck into his heart. Yes, now he knew what he needed to do. Perhaps that was why he had awakened now. The protector of the forest called from his slumber to drive out Order.

@Oliver