Molly was practically racing Lyre at this point- speeding ahead, powerful legs pushing her further and further away. Her pawsteps, already quiet, faded into near silence. It was truly impressive for a cat to run this fast, and still have light paws.

  Meanwhile, Lyre was out of breath, his muscles aching and throat near-dry. He was running at full speed, and even though he was fast, he was quickly finding out that his stamina was something he really needed to work on.

  Wind gusted, smacking his face and and aggressively ruffling his fur. His eyes watered at the amount of cool air bsting into him. The breeze felt nice, making the still damp amd warm air irrelevant. From time to time, his paws would spsh leftover puddles that used to be mini ponds. Which was odd, because he could’ve sworn the river unnaturally brought in all the flooded water from its bank…

  Lyre felt as if his paws were moving on their own at this point; he could hardly feel them anymore. He really felt like colpsing right there.

  “We’re here~!” Molly chimed from several wolf-lengths away, her voice no more audible than a faint whisper. But she was still very clearly visible, and didn’t look that far.

  The wolf pup, on the other hand, was even further behind.

  In an attempt to slow his pace, Lyre’s legs just gave up and made him stumble onto his side. He nded with a thump, breathing heavily. He weakly lifted his head to look at the sky.

  The sky was a darker yellow-blue, but at least the sun hadn’t set yet.

  Lyre id still, sides rapidly rising and falling like the way Root’s were when they panicked. No. He quickly shoved the image away. All that was meant to be left behind. All of the terrible decisions he made this far.

  His legs refused to move, even as Molly approached him. She had a mischievous grin on her face. “Someone likes exercise,” she teased. “Here, I’ll get you some water!” She then bounded away, as if unaffected by the intense run.

  You’re not the only one speechless here. And that’s not even the worse of her antics.

  Just…shut up… Even by not speaking aloud, it took effort to even think.

  The sound of humming nearing let Lyre know Molly was back. Water dripped everywhere she went. She stopped in front of him and crouched down, holding a strange, faded purple-colored object. It had a smooth but fuzzy--looking surface, and was a bit rger than Molly’s neck.

  “Quit staring and get up so you can drink this already!” She hissed impatiently through gritted teeth that kept the object csped tightly in her jaws.

  Lyre slowly dragged in his sprawled out legs into his chest before rolling onto his belly. His legs didn’t let him do anything else, so he was left ying awkwardly with his legs hugging his fnks.

  Molly crouched lower, as as she did, the object pressed against the ground and water stopped leaking.

  Lyre sniffed at it, and the first thing that attacked his nose was the familiar salty smell. “This water…is salty.” He grumbled through pants.

  “Oh shoot, it is?” Molly let go of the object, and the rest of the water- which wasn't a lot- got absorbed. She sniffed the object, her rounded pupils narrowing as she did.

  With the amount of rain that storm brought, shouldn’t that river water have a less strong smell? The voice asked, sounding genuinely shocked.

  Lyre frowned. How…do you even know…about that?

  The voice sighed.

  “Well, this is where we part ways. Hope to see you soon! Bye!” Molly turned and hopped over the river, ears pricking towards the left before she trotted that direction.

  Lyre watched her as she departed. Only now did he realize just how beautifully the sunlight reflected off of her fur, making her eyes look like crystals as he turned to look at him one st time with a smile.

  Feeling his cheeks flush and heart race as if he was running again, Lyre quickly dropped his gaze.

  Alright, Lyre, grab that purple thing and listen very closely to my next instructions. Or you could leave it there, I don’t really care. The voice said as the she-cat looked away with twitching whiskers.

  But Lyre looked back at Molly, who was humming to herself. It wasn't until her voice faded out that he stared at the object.

  The strange thing in question was in the shape of a square. Its dark color was further darkened by the water that had been absorbed into whatever material it was made of.

  As the aching in his legs finally began to ease with his heart rate, Lyre shifted his legs and crouched to carefully grab the object by the side. The strong smell of saltwater filled his nose. The object felt a bit soft and easy to grab; though that might’ve been the fact that it was damp.

  Lyre shook out his fur as he stood up, stumbling a little on his legs.

  He nearly flinched as he heard panting coming up from behind him, and he whipped around with his fur standing on end. It slowly fttened at the sight of the exhausted wolf pup, who looked just as thirsty as he did.

  Lyre didn’t speak. He only turned back to the river. Upon studying it, he took note that he could’ve been swept away whether it was flooding or not. There were two rocks sticking out of the water, both of which occasionally got covered by water.

  How do I use this stupid thing again? Lyre tried asking the voice, but it sounded as if he was asking himself. Of course he didn’t get an answer, so he began thinking about what he did st time.

  He pointed his paw at the rock closer to him, then pressed his paw against the smooth rock in the hanging socket. The stone felt about as rge as the center of his paw pad, but oval-shaped. Weird…when Quartz was wearing this, it was circur. He slowly removed his paw. To his dismay, nothing happened.

  He tried again. Uh…I want a rock bridge thing. Still nothing.

  Tail-tip flicking as he felt a twinge of frustration, he poked the stone with his cw, only to gasp in pain as a familiar intense pain shot through his paw. It felt like the head pain in his dream. The gasp made him drop the object.

  Lyre instinctively set the paw down, as he was starting to wobble. He winced sharply. The pain pressed firmly against the edge, where his cw was, then quickly spread to his entire paw. He couldn't move it anymore. Darkness quickly consumed his vision as his legs buckled and belly hit the ground.

  He forced his shut eyes open to his front paws ying in front of him as if they were wrapped around a wolf’s neck. Behind him, his sprawled out legs. His left arm was still its normal color; however, his cws, which were unsheathed, were not.

  Lyre tried scrambling back up. But each attempt proved futile, even for his still pained legs.

  Keep still for just a second, will you?! The voice hissed, sounding unpleasantly loud, as if whoever’s voice it was were to be standing directly over him. I’m trying to test something.

  His whole paw began turning gray. Lyre felt like the wolf pup; squirming and shrieking and wailing in pain and compint. The pain didn’t travel further, which Lyre should’ve been relieved for. But a new pain started on his other paw, then his hind paws. It felt like they were getting snapped off by some invisible and powerful force. He id still- was forced to y still- once all of his paws felt unmovable and shot intense pain up from every leg and arm.

  It’s as if this colr is bad luck or something. I thought the st bad thing that could’ve happened to me was the death of my family. Not…this. The parts of Lyre’s body that could move writhed as if it could shake off the stone covering on his paws.

  His left paw painfully reached over to the object in front of him. The moment the paw touched it, the purple color quickly lost its color before its soft surface quickly hardened. Once it was completely gray, the surface retained its texture.

  A shudder passed through Lyre’s body as the pain unpinned his paws. He snatched his paw away before getting up, shaking out the fear and shock that had quickly overwhelmed his frustration.

  Staring at the once colored object felt…weird. The fact that The Petrifier could just easily do something like this, it made him iffy.

  I’m not doing that again… The voice muttered in a regretful tone. It makes me seethe to have to help you with the most basic of things. Now pick that thing back up and get back to walking.

  But I need water. Lyre was half-crouched on the ground. We both do.

  You’ll get water when you get there. Now up!

  He slowly shook his head. I’m not sure if I can get up.

  The voice didn’t answer.

  Relieved, Lyre began to close his eyes, but a disturbance in the water made him shoot them open. The rocks in the river rose and expanded to create a path, reflecting off orange light as they did.

  Lyre blinked at the dark blue and yellow-orange sky. The sun was starting to hide below the distant hill already, taking the warm air with it.

  With a grunt, Lyre forced himself upwards, ignoring his protesting legs. I can just walk the rest of the way. After all…it’s only half a day away… Lyre thought miserably. He gnced behind him to see the wolf pup standing there, now panting less intensely.

  The angle the wolf pup was standing at made the orange light outline the pup’s body in a dimly glowing fme, making its dull-brown fur a bit more vibrant. Only its bright yellow eyes pierced through the long shadows that cast along its face.

  Lyre narrowed his eyes at the rocky path when he turned his head back in front of him. How long would it stay that way for? It it still slippery? He picked up the gray object.

  Am I allowed to ask why you’re doing this? Why you’ve just been following me around, watching me every moment of the day, being an annoying jerk, then suddenly helping me? The tom set a paw on the lukewarm surface of the smooth rock.

  The water felt slick and fast in the current, and spshed salty puddles onto the stone. Hurried cw-clicking brought Lyre’s attention to the wolf pup, who was speedwalking across the stone bridge.

  Lyre frowned at the pup as it sat on the other side. He slunk across the bridge more carefully, stopping in fear that one of the spshes would get too close to his paws.

  Can you go any slower? The sun’s already down. The voice snapped.

  Lyre ignored it and continued at his cautious pace until he too reached the other side, before breaking into a sudden trot. Without the bck pit, he knew he couldn't afford to get lost now. So he turned until the river was facing his right.

  Wrong way.

  Lyre stiffened before frantically looking around. Light refused to help him, so he had to rely on his night vision. On the opposite of the pink sky was the dark blue side that showed a rge, golden cw. The dirt ground in the distance was, for once, no longer just dirt; what it was, however, was either a new home or just another trio of cats waiting for him.

  Go diagonally left. The voice instructed. Molly went straight left. About halfway through your walk, you can take a brief stop. No sleeping. I mean it.

  Lyre silently obeyed, gd that at least now he has motivation to not allow his aching legs to continue slowing him down.

  There was no difference between the moon and the shadows now; both loomed over Lyre, fighting over what could cover him and the wolf pup. His paws found comfort in the soft, smooth grasses and pnts as it fttened each and every one of them. Cricket-chirping brought back heart-wrenching but needed memories.

  As Lyre pped up water from a small pond, he had his eyes closed to imagine himself back home. It really felt like he was back in the grassnd, but except the insects were quieter and sounded more peaceful. And the grass wasn't tall enough to stand over him like thin, mini branchless trees. Everything here…felt perfect. But he had to keep moving.

  You can do this, Lyre. One more quarter of a walk to go. Lyre felt his own confidence begin to shine through.

  The peace was quickly interrupted, unfortunately for him, by the sound of seemingly distant pawsteps. They were slow, rhythmic; menacing, even. The air slowly felt cooler than it need to be as the grass where the culprit stepped sounded dry enough to the point that the sound of fur brushing against a solid surface could be heard.

  Lyre opened his eyes and scanned the area. The faint moonlight reflected off the water, but the cw-mark moon wouldn’t provide any more light. The tom sniffed the air, and smelled nothing but the rancid smell of canine. There was no breeze.

  In the right corner of his eye, the water’s clear surface slowly stopped moving as the water stilled. The crystal clear liquid quickly lost its texture, and Lyre felt rock solidness the moment he tried getting one st drink.

  In front of him, reflected in the moonlight, were dull, golden-yellow eyes. A sinisterly calm expression was seen through them like gss. The light quickly outlined the shape of a cat as it stepped onto the now stone surface that used to be water. Short, smooth ginger fur revealed the long, ft bumps that were muscles. Light sandstone fur id ft along the sides of the feline’s muzzle and cheeks, down the front of his neck and to his underbelly. Outwardly-facing ears were painted bck by the shadows that didn’t let light touch them, turning the light pink skin dark and dull.

  “Hello, Lyre. I’ve been waiting for you.” The cat spoke, his voice low and slightly rasped.