Comet sat in the clearing of the place where she had always started her hunts for prey. She rarely came back to this place anymore, the memories that is brought back were too painful to think of. And of course, she never went to the rocky fort she had built. Where Mayfal lives. Lived.

Just the name caused a pain in her chest, Mayfal. The name of the fox that she had found ever since they had hatched in the tunnels, and come to think of as a friend. No, more than that. A sibling. Their many frolics together, the fun things they had done. They were all over, they were dead.

It was a good day. Comet had been going to check up on Mayfal again, something she tried to do as often as possible to see how they were getting along. But when she arrived, their scent was stale. Perhaps they had moved? But why? When she walked inside, she got her answer. A chrysalis, made of the same stone as the fox had for eyes, was covered in dust. Untouched for a long time. The pain had hit her then, too much for her to bear. That day she had not returned home, opting instead to sleep next to the chrysalis for what was it-- days? Not eating, drinking, or even moving.

But Comet eventually forced herself to go, having coming to terms with the fact that the fox was gone. Her friend-- was dead. Forever. That was the first time she had ever howled in her life, a heartbreaking howl, one that echoed through out the forest and silenced everything around her. It told of pain, and loss. And the one she mourned for was not there to hear it.

The days since that were almost too much to bear. Added on to the weight of her parent's break up, and all the other troubles, she sometimes found herself drifting off. Usually shining ocean blue eyes were dark and stormy, having witnessed the death of a close friend. But she had to stay strong, keep living for James, her family, her other friends. But how could she when she could never fully recover from this?

@Mayfal

The blind do dream. They have a subconscious. Why wouldn't they dream? It's just not what 'normal' creatures would consider dreaming.

This dream was a long one. For a while, Mayfal felt warmth very close by. It smelled like Comet, and the scent laced dreams with memories. Then, later, they heard a haunting echo. Some thing loud, distant, and filled with immeasurable pain. These were the most vivid dreams that Mayfal could remember.

Eventually, though, the warmth left their dreams. It left for a long time. Cold dreams became tiring, so Mayfal decided to make their own warm dreams. They took in a deep breath, and out came a rolling heat.

They began to dream of the day they hatched. The close, intense heat, the sounds of cracking, the small impacts of tourmaline shards on their fur. It was eerily accurate. But one thing was different:

The rushing stream. They tried to stand, and immediately fell again. How long had they been laying down? They tried again and again, slowly relearning the basics of balance and then of walking. The followed their ears to the stream, where they could stand with less effort.

The algae on the rocks felt a little thicker. And as Mayfal continued to observe, there were small differences to be found everywhere. The smell of prey was just a little more thick. The sound of water rushing up stalks and bark was a little louder. And, worst of all, it felt noticeably colder.

Where was Comet? They had smelled her in their dreams, but she was nowhere to be found. The smell became so faint, it seemed like it had been many days since she was last here. But she was just here yesterday, right?

Something was very wrong. Something had happened and it wasn't good. They had to find Comet at once. They had to hope that there was still a Comet to go to.

Comet had been laying in the clearing for a few hours when she heard something cracking. Probably just some bird eggs hatching, she thought. But then came the unmistakable scent of-- Mayfal? No, it couldn't be. They were long gone by now, and it was not good to get your hopes up. How many times had she turned around, expecting the fox to be behind her, clutching her tail? Only to be disappointed? Too many to count.

But there was still the scent of Mayfal, and it was not coming from the direction of the rocky house. It was coming from the stream. How was that possible? Unless... no. It was not possible. But she had to go see, even if it meant being disappointed again. Comet needed some hope even when there could be none, to help her push through.

"Hello? Who's there?" she pushed through the undergrowth in the direction of the stream.

@Mayfal

It was as if Mayfal's mind had been read. Maybe Comet could read minds? Either way, they found her and could feel... safe again.

"Comet! Comet, that's you right?!" They were a little confused that she had to ask who it was when she clearly could have smelled them out. Whatever! Comet was here now!

"It's me! It's Mayfal! What happened? I though I was only taking a nap but when I woke up, things felt so different. What's going on?"

They started walking out of the stream and towards Comet, waiting for the response. There was nothing to prepare them for what Comet was about to do and say, though.

@Comet

Comet emerged from the trees to hear that oh so familiar voice. Mayfal's voice. How was this possible? What was happening? "May-- Mayfal?" she stuttered. There was an explanation for this. She was dreaming, this was not reall couldn't be real. "It's you?" Comet reached out a paw to touch the fox's fur. "This can't be happening right now. I'm dreaming." her mind completely refused to accept this.

The pup blinked, then blinked again. "A-- a nap? Mayfal, you've been dead! Dead for weeks!" But wait, she hadn't seen the fox's body, just their chrysalis. Oh wait, they've been in their chrysalis the whole time, they haven't been dead. Once this realization hit her she was almost unable to take it.

"This can't be real, this can't be real..." Comet curled up into a ball and let the tears flow down her cheeks. This wasn't possible. NONE of this was possible!

@Mayfal

Dead? Death. Like what happened to the creatures Mayfal killed to eat. Those creatures were dead. Was Mayfal dead?

But Mayfal wasn't limp and cold like the creatures they had eaten. Mayfal was standing right in front of Comet, very much alive. They were so very confused at Comets words. How could Mayfal have been dead for weeks if they were standing right here right now?

Comet couldn't seem to accept this reality, though. She kept saying that it wasn't real. But how could something real not be real? It made no sense!

"I'm right here." Mayfal said it without malice or offense. Just a quiet confusion and concern. They heard the sniffling of the balled up Comet. They had heard her sinking to the ground and becoming one with the grass.

More soothingly now, "Hey. I'm right here."

@Comet

Comet collected her thoughts for a bit. Mayfal was not dead. They were standing right here, this was indeed, real. "Oh thank goodness. Mayfal I really thought you were-- dead. I came back to check on you, but in your house there was just a chrysalis made of the same stone you have. I waited there for a long time, but you didn't come out." She stood up and looked at the fox, bigger now, certainly. Having grown during the time in the chrysalis.

There had been so many things that had happened during the time that they had been gone, Comet felt the sudden need to fill them in on all other them. But there was one thing that was very important. "Mayfal, things have happened, and-- I'm not moving to Eridanus anymore." she didn't know how they would react to that. And was about to add on, asking them if they wanted to go move somewhere else with her, but she left the statement at that since it was already a lot.

@Mayfal

There was not a word in their vocabulary that could explain the way Mayfal felt at that moment. Yes, Comet waited for them. They were both guilty and grateful. They wished that they hadn't made her wait so long, so many weeks. But at the same time, it seemed that she hadn't waited for them long enough.

It was something that Mayfal had literally been dreaming about. They had been so excited by the promise of sharing a place with someone who was...safe. But that promise had been broken, that one gleaming light in their world of darkness shut off. They bent their head, they brought their tail inward, they stood so still. The information was almost enough to make Mayfal cry. But they weren't the kind to cry in front of traitors.

"I should have known better," their voice was low, "I was so naive."

Mayfal turned to walk back to her house. Everything hurt. Even going back to the house hurt so tremendously. They had never in their short existence felt this kind of pain before. It seemed that Comet had been right after all: none of this could possibly be real.

@Comet

This low voice was worse, much, much worse than if they had yelled at her. Instead of an angry outburst, their voice held a tone of betrayal.

"Mayfal?" This was not the reaction that Comet had expected. What had she said that was wrong? "Mayfal!" The wolf ran to catch up to them, "Wait!" Oh shoot, this must be because she didn't explain the second part. But would the fox care to listen?

This was supposed to be amazing! Mayfal was alive! But they were leaving now. Because of a mistake, her mistake.

@Mayfal

The traitor was following them. They didn't want their company anymore. They didn't want to stick around with someone that hurt them. Mayfal tried to shake Comet off.

"Wait? Wait for what? Wait for you? Just like how you waited for me? I thought you had to move on with your life and move on from me! It's almost as if you needed me to be edad for that to happen! I guess I'll be dead to you then and you can move on without waiting. No, no need for waiting around here or around me!"

Mayfal didn't have the wisdom to understand what they were doing. This was, in essence, their first real argument. They had fought before and been in conflict before, but this experience was the first of its kind to Mayfal. It wasn't hard to tell that they were very bad at it. Especially when it came to empathy and understanding. And the part of Mayfal that wanted to cry while saying all of these cutting words also wanted to run back and lovingly tackle Comet. However, this part of Mayfal was currently being forced into hibernation and would need to be broken out by forces more knowledgable than the two pups knew of.

@Comet