The air felt like it was getting cold. Stone cold. Several shouts of commands came from dangerously close to the entrance of the dirt cave. Then, silence. An eerie silence. The only kind of silence that would be found in that misty area.

  And then, the lights dimmed; not because of the firelight vanishing, but because the fmes slowly stopped dancing as they lost their color. The fire stopped moving completely once it was all gray.

  Next was the dwindling scent of pinecones and the increasingly hard touch of the withered and crunchy pnts beneath; pieces of broken, brown leaves became sharpened weapons that made Lyre wince, even though he hadn't stepped on them yet. Even the leaves underneath his own paws slowly began feeling as if they were digging into his paw pads. He lifted a paw, freezing in pce as he saw the familiar color of gray that had paralyzed the small fmes.

  The pinecone smell gradually weakened before vanishing completely. The smell of fish became the new air freshener.

  “Lyre…” Slip whispered, “I think we might wanna…you know…get outta here.” He stepped uneasily on the hard leaves, wincing.

  Marble followed with her head lowered.

  It was Lyre’s turn. He felt something hard and cold on his cheek. The leaves covering my wound! He quickly cwed away, ripping at the leaves until they nded not-so-lightly onto the ground with a sharp plop.

  Carefully pcing his paws, he stared at the ground as he used Marble’s scent trail to follow her up the tunnel.

  Outside, the entire outside entrance was lined with that same gray that felt ominously familiar. The three cats were standing; two of them wide-eyed, one with fttened ears and crouching low to the ground.

  “Lyre! There you are!” Quartz cried as she stopped gring at Slip and Marble. The gem held by the bck material was nowhere to be seen. It was just The Stone Colr.

  “You know this cat?” Marble asked, genuinely shocked..

  “Long story,” Lyre murmured.

  Quartz was about to bury her head into Lyre’s shoulder, but she hesitated. Instead, she exhaled in relief. “What were you doing? Did these cat catnap you?”

  He shook his head. “These are the cats who lived at my old home.

  “Oh.” A distant look reflected in her dark teal eyes. “That’s why you seemed that you were missing someone.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” Slip shouldered his way in between them, his dark amber tail-tip flicking in frustration. “But what's happening?”

  Lyre instantly regretted speaking. But he knew he had no other choice. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Deciding to start from the beginning, he opened his eyes. “The night Velvet discovered Splinter and I-” his voice cracked a bit at the mention of his sister’s name, “-we chose to leave Prairie and that white tom behind.” He winced as all instances of warm kindness and rexed body nguage from Slip instantly vanished like the color of everything in the dirt cave.

  Quartz, however, only widened her eyes in disbelief in shock. “Which white tom…?”

  Lyre couldn't look at her. He felt a mixture of fear and sadness crawl up his spine. He was afraid that if he answered, Slip would get angry at Quartz; not answering would result in a bombardment of questions. Either way, Slip already knew something was up.

  “Why are you worried? Was he your mate?” Slip asked bitterly.

  “No! He’s my brother!” Quartz sounded hurt. “Is there a reason to be upset about him being mates with another cat?”

  Slip fttened his ears. “Yes. Yes there is, actually. Your...your brother took my mate from me. The cat who I loved. And had kittens with her. She then…ugh, what was she thinking…” His voice was silencing at every mention of Prairie, and sounded like he was forcing down his frustration. “Your brother teased me. Harassed me. All because he believed that since Prairie birthed his children first, she would love him more.”

  Lyre wasn't even Slip, yet he felt the painful sting. A cat who you loved a lot hides their affair. Come to find out after you get what you want, a single kitten, the cat you love mistreats that kitten the next day of your departure. As if the love only came from you.

  “I’m so sorry this happened.” Quartz said softly. “Both to myself- because I let him out of my sight- and for both of you.”

  Lyre slowly scrunched himself tightly into a ball and stared bnkly. That must be why Velvet was the way he was. As if it was the correct answer, the cold pit in his stomach returned, and grew even heavier. All this time, Splinter wouldn’t let any of this get to her; I failed to do so. What I did to Velvet was uncalled for. I didn’t understand what the problem is, nor did I ask.

  He shut his eyes before tears could well up in the corners. Was I the selfish one all along?

  “Lyre, focus. Tell the rest of the story.”

  A voice woke Lyre from his mencholic state. He didn’t look, but he knew who the voice belonged too. It sounded like they were above him.

  With another deep, shaky breath, the tom spoke again. “The one time we stopped to rest after entering a forest, I met this wolf, Root.” He flicked his tail over to where the voice came from.

  As always, Root greeted themself, but slowly and with significantly less energy.

  “But we woke one dawn to the mauling of Splinter. One of the many forest wolves killed her. At first I was upset at Velvet for not expressing any emotion of sympathy for me, but I realized that it was wrong for me to expect something like that from a cat who barely even knew her like I did.” Lyre held his breath.

  Slip’s expression darkened. “Why didn’t your father go with you?”

  “He has a name. It’s Whirlwind.” Quartz meowed a low meow. Lyre was thankful at how calm she was trying to be while still taking in and processing the information he threw at her.

  Root and the wolf pup were unphased, and through their awkward expressions, Lyre could see the tiniest bit of pity in Root’s eyes.

  Marble, on the other hand, was not only staring at him the whole time, but was making the sad version of what her face looked like when she first saw him, back when he was half a year old.

  “Velvet looked everywhere for you, Slip.” Lyre continued, “but all he found was some object that pyed your voice.”

  Slip clutched his chest fur with a paw and closed his eyes. “And I assume he suffered the same fate before you got here.” He murmured.

  His stomach churned. This is where it all goes wrong. Quartz would leave to return home regardless. And now that Root has found the pup, they’ll go their own way to find somewhere with more food. Marble…I’m not too sure yet. Slip will definitely kill me.

  “Look at him, he’s shaking.” Quartz said as she walked over to him to gently lick his trembling shoulder. “I’m sure whatever happened might’ve scared you so much to the point where even thinking about it makes you queasy. And that’s okay. No one is going to force anything out of you.”

  He wasn't sure what it was; maybe how supportive she was being, or something else he didn’t know. But Lyre felt a weird sense of comfort and something really small growing from inside of him. And he didn’t like what it was, yet a part of him knew it was coming.

  He looked up st her as she stopped licking. The short, brief eye contact already said enough.

  “You can tell us whenever you’re ready.” She whispered before taking a few steps back and sitting on her haunches.

  Lyre blinked thankfully. He wanted Splinter to be here for what was next, but he knew that wouldn’t be possible anymore. He had to face this alone, and he was ready to. If everyone wanted to leave him, he could still take that wolf pup from Root, especially since all they managed to do was not be so skinny.

  Bracing himself, he shifted from his ball into a subtle crouch just in case. “Velvet…Velvet and I got into a fight. I knew how troubled he was feeling, but I thought he only cared about himself…so I just allowed him to swing his paws at me. I didn’t want to fight back. But I had no choice but to do that after his jaws caught my cheek. So I…I waited until he tired himself out, then I sshed his hind legs before leaving him on the side of the gray path.”

  “You left Velvet…my only son…to die?” Slip’s despaired meow heightened, but only because it was turning into a wail. He shook his head. “What am I to do without him…? Both of the cats who I love, are gone.” He buried his face in his paws and breathed heavily, his body trembling with each exhale.

  Lyre felt a peirce of guilt. He knew what he’d done was wrong. But there was nothing he could do about it now. But maybe, after all this, everyone would understand, and support him on a new journey. A journey to find another pce to live, this time for anyone who wishes to go with him.

  He looked at Root, who just shook their head. Their eyes were closed, but he knew the pity was long gone now. The wolf pup let out a growl.

  “He killed my siblings too!” It whimper-growled.

  “In a grief-stricken rage? Sounds about right to me.” Root added sarcastically. “And don’t even say ‘I didn’t mean it.’ It’s still really bad.” They set a paw on the pup’s muzzle to shut it up.

  Quartz was the only one who was eerily quiet. Lyre didn’t know why he felt tense. He couldn't help but look at the colr. This time, the clear, crystal rock was safe in its socket again. However it got there without anyone noticing.

  Lyre knew he had to expin the fire now, before the death of his family would be put on him. But the moment he thought about it, the tears he failed to hold back began forming.

  Slip rose his head from his paws. “You’re wanting sympathy from us, even though you killed our own family members.” He said in a meow of despair.

  “I’m not seeking pity or empathy or any of that from you.” Lyre said. “You asked me what happened. I told you. May I finish now?”

  Quartz did was the only one who gave an answer; another really short nod.

  “Prairie was…not happy when she saw that I brought the wolf pup back, and I had to leave. I was then stuck in this misty area, and one night I woke up from a nightmare about a fire raging through my old home. Come to find out…” He sniffled.

  Quartz narrowed her eyes. “So you lost not just your home…but your family?”

  Lyre’s silence answered her.

  “I’m sorry…I don’t know whether to feel bad for you, or to be angry for betraying your family like that. Have you ever considered not doing what you did to those wolf pups? And what would’ve happened if Prairie let you stay?”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. You all can leave now, and…give me some time to process this.” Slip slowly got to his paws, and did a slow, shaky inhale as he entered the stone-lined tunnel.

  Marble followed shortly after.

  Lyre didn’t say any more. He was only gd that this was all over.

  “So where will you be going now?” Quartz asked.

  Lyre finally stood up, still quiet, as if he’d suddenly lost his ability to speak. He took several slow, deep breaths to slow down his quick heart beats.

  “Back over there would be a good start.” Root said.

  Lyre heard the two walk towards the wooden structure, and after a long moment’s hesitation, he followed them. There’s no telling what's going to happen next. He did an internal sigh of shame. But whatever it is, I think I’m prepared now.