Kallista had mostly stayed in Pisces all her life. She strayed to Eridanus at one point, but soon found herself back at Pisces. While she admittedly did not like water, she found the waterfall to be quite soothing. It was a consistent sound, and she had grown used to it. It always seemed too silent without it, even though she hardly paid the waterfall any attention. She hardly went over to it, instead straying around it. She didn't want to fall in. That would suck. It was slippery mostly everywhere, but even more so by the waterfall. She didn't like getting her fur wet any more than was ever needed...And she never really needed to get it wet.

Besides, the waterfall reminded her of something. Someone. She hadn't seen that someone in a long time, not since she left him when she went to Eridanus. She briefly wondered how he's been. He was the first she ever saw, so of course he would stick in her mind. She decided to go up to the waterfall and peer in the deep lagoon. She could still-faint as it was-recall pulling up the tiny, fuzzy fluff ball of a silver fox out of the water. She didn't really like him at first, something she made clear right away. But as they walked, they seemed to bond a bit more. Kal briefly wondered if he even remembered.

Oh, what did it matter? She'd probably never see him again anyway.

@Todd

Todd had hung around Pisces a lot since he'd found this place, perhaps because he hadn't quite plucked the strength to go very far. It had been an uneventful recovery but at least his limbs didn't burn as they once had. In fact, the little fox could just about walk on them now! Twitchily and jerkily, but he could walk!

It had been a long day spent twitching and hopping and dragging his way around Pisces, chasing little fishes in the shallowest ponds. He wasn't full up and had become quite emaciated over all his time spent alone, but for the first time he felt stronger. Even though he craved something to fill his belly, he'd satiated the need to move.

For now though, he rested in a familiar spot, with his head laid on his paws and his hind legs trailing in the lagoon, the cold soothing his aches and pains. A thin layer of black fur had formed on parts of his hindquarters and tail but other than that, it was crisscrossed and blotchy with many scars. A few thin, long threads of fur remained on his tail but it was no longer thin and skinny and not nice. It was more like the tail of a short-furred cat.

Overall, Todd felt like life was picking up.

Well... Other than that loneliness, but what did he care? Todd couldn't possibly talk to anyone ever again. He'd never wanna play or anything, of course not. They'd hurt him...

Todd was lost deep in thought and only noticed the shadow creeping up as it came uncomfortably close. In a moment of panic, the little fox sank down and tried not to be seen, though his paws still clung to a ridge of rock on the edge of the lagoon.

But, there was something weird and familiar here. That shape, that motion... The sense of deja vu scared him just as much.

@Kallista

As Kallista continued to peer into the lagoon, she realized she was rather hungry. She hadn't eaten in a while. As she looked into the water, she noticed there was fish swimming around. She grinned. Surely, she could catch some fish. While it would likely get her paw wet, her stomach quickly reminded her that it wouldn't matter. There was food in there, all within paws reach. So she looked into the pool, focusing her gaze. All thoughts of Todd had left, and she was now focused on simply food.

As she watched, a flicker of silver caught her attention. Her paw quickly lashed out, and she managed to snag her claws on the fish. She nearly dropped it, but held onto it and brought It closer to her. It was rather small, but something is certainly better than nothing! She quickly began to eat it. It had a really weird taste to it, and was sort of slimy. It didn't have a pleasant aftertaste either, but at least it was food. When she finished, she began to look around. Was another gembound here? Surely someone would be here, somewhere.

@Todd

The sliver fox raised his head a little above the edge of the lagoon. Around his chest the cold water lapped, and he didn't like it touching that bit. It felt colder there, cold and clingy. The young one looked around again. It seemed as though they, whoever they were, had passed him by. They'd settled down nearby at the water's edge.

The more he looked, the more familiar they seemed. The more Todd's heart felt so strange in its cage. But as he took the time to look at them and felt the cold water around his chest he remembered; a distant memory from before these brutal scars.

The fox leaned forward to try and pull himself out but, as though reenacting a distant memory, his paws slid on the wet rock with his bejeweled paw giving a useless, yet loud, clink, as it fell upon the stone. He struggled, he strained, but it seemed this time would be different. the sodden fox hauled himself out, and sprawled out onto the rocks, heaving quiet breaths.

He hauled himself to his paws, shaking- his jeweled paw sliding, his hind legs twitching uselessly for a few moments before he regained control. Then he approached, slowly, keeping a safe distance as he looked. His paw clinked, his claws tapped and dragged on the stone with his erratic movements. Tap... clink... drip... hisss... taptap... clink... tap... hisss.

Kallista- a name rose to the surface of his mind. He remembered now. But all the same, the fox hung back, the bitter aftertaste of his wounds giving birth to a wariness of all living things.

He took a deep breath.

"Do you... Remember me? 'Cause... 'Cause... I remember you."


@Kallista

Kallista looked back into the water when a sound alerted her. Turning, she saw someone struggling to pull themselves out of the water. They seemed vaguely familiar. She watched as they succeeded, and began to slowly make their way towards her. As they walked, they made a clinking sound-the sound of a gem on the rocks. That sound was vaguely familiar. Was it...?

She blinked as he spoke. "I...Yeah, I remember you. Todd, right?" That was Todd! It had to be him. Who knew that she would find him so soon? As she looked at him, she realized something was definitely different. For one, he wasn't as happy as he normally was. And secondly, he was injured. Quite badly. It didn't seem as bad as it used to, though.

His fur was crisscrossed with scars, and there was hardly any fur there. His tail was rather small as well. Also, he looked absolutely starving! "What happened to you?" her voice was full of concern, eyes wide. All thoughts of how she may have felt about him before gone.

@Todd

It was Kallista! And she remembered him! Although he'd wanted to be seen, Todd found himself suddenly feeling afraid, and awkward, and wished he'd just ran. He gave a slow, small nod as she remembered his name, brown eyes seeming to gaze right through her. His feeble back legs trembled, and he struggled to stay standing strong.

Kallista asked what had happened to him. And the tone of her voice was... different, to when they'd met before. It was strange, odd... very nearly frightening, even. But then again, everything was frightening to him now. He'd never been very good with recognizing emotions, either, and genuine concern was no different. Although, unlike yelling, it did help to soothe, even if just a little.

"Bunch of ah, 'herbivores', they called themselves. 'Ttacked me. Heh. While ago now but... they called me evil, tricky, stupid... asked to play. It uh... wasn't a very fun game."

Todd still didn't know what a herbivore was. He'd just concluded in the end that it was another word for 'mean and angry'.

He looked Kallista over, struggling to find the words to say. Feelings unfamiliar made his chest tighten. "You look.... just like I remember you. Only... better."

He gave a feeble smile.

@Kallista

Kallista listened as he explained. "Herbivores? What is an herbivore?" She had no idea what it was, but she already hated whatever it was. They had changed Todd this much! A formerly happy fox, who now seemed rather scared of anything. They had attacked him, and even though he said it was a while ago, it still made her rather angry. "You're not evil or tricky or stupid," she murmured quietly.

She gave a small smile as he told her she looked better. "Well, I'm not sure about that. My fur just gets dustier and dustier. Don't really ever feel like cleaning it, though. At least the spots are coming in quite a bit..." She shifted her paws. Seeing Todd give such a feeble smile made her heart feel like it would break. It was a rather unfamiliar feeling, and she decided right away she didn't like it. She hated seeing Todd like this, and would much rather see him be happy again, annoying as it was.

@Todd

Todd thought deeply and strained to think. "I dunno, myself," he said with a shuffle and clink of his paws. "I just... assumed it's ah, another word for someone mean and angry alla' time." He was finally starting to relax slightly. Kallista was no herbivore, he could tell now. And so, he heaved a gigantic sigh of relief, giving in in his efforts to look strong. His shoulders slumped and he hung his head just a little. Then he lowered himself to the ground, his hind legs folding in all directions beneath him.

Todd tilted his head to one side, a small grin forming on his face. "I like dust!" he declared, a hint of his old self returning. "'Cause you jump on it and it poofs in ya face!" He gave a yelping laugh. "It's funny." his tail waved happily at the memories of playful romps and of... well, actually being able to jump on dust.

He'd never really been the sort to keep clean. Though the fact he'd spent much of his recent time submerged in water had, perhaps, made him look a little more dignified. Not that he cared, or even noticed.

Even now his fur was sodden and clinging to his sides, just like that day they'd first met.

@Kallista.

"Well, considering what they did to you, perhaps that is what it means," Kallista grunted. She watched as he lay down, noticing that his hind legs seemed to fold in different directions beneath him. "Dust is annoying though. It just makes my fur all messy, and even if I do get the motivation to try and clean it, it tastes gross! Plus it makes me sneeze sometimes."

She then noticed that his fur was clinging to his sides. Just like when they first met. "Hey, are you cold at all? And also...you're absolutely starving, aren't you? I can hunt for you, if you want." She hated seeing him look so starving. His fur clung to his sides, and you could see some ribs poking out. He clearly hadn't eaten much.

@Todd

Todd nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. "If we both think so that must be what it means," he droned with that same old voice that he'd always had. He then shook his head at Kallista's annoyance to Dust; the thing had always been a game to him. Plus, he'd never really been that clean, except for when it came to picking stray scraps of food from his fur. "I used ta roll in it! Even when it made me sneeze..."

There wasn't any dust around here to roll in, or even that much of anything fun, really. If ever he rolled in anything it'd stick to his fur all slimy and nasty. He didn't mind water all that much, now he was used to it.

Todd glanced up at Kallista as she spoke and tipped his head to one side. "Not any more! I think maybe I'm used to it. And ah... Yeah. Perhaps a little. I ate before though, managed to catch some little silvery flickery things out of puddles but, they didn't taste as good as they looked." He didn't try to deny that he was kind of hungry. "Y-you would?" he asked, then pushed himself slowly into a sitting position. "I'll help, I'll help!"