If it weren’t for the pitch bck darkness and storm gray clouds, Lyre wouldn’t have known it was nighttime. The storm ended just as quickly as it begun, which was a relief to Lyre, since he’d thought it would’ve gone on forever. Now the raindrops had lightened to a few sprinkles before disappearing; distant thunder still rolled through the sky.

  Lyre was standing in front of a flooded river, only knowing its existence through the sound of the flooded water rushing over the bank and overpowering salty smell. There were already rge, ke-like puddles formed from the ft ground.

  He felt something hit his paw, and he quickly lifted it out, hissing through his teeth. Must’ve been one of those fish Slip mentioned.

  Dipping his paw back in and continuing forwards, he could almost feel how murky the water was as an invisible force slowed what was supposed to be quick pawsteps.

  He stopped only because the current was getting stronger, and he stumbled, heart racing as his paws slipped.

  The wolf pup let out a loud bark of surprise.

  “No!” His yowl was gurgled as water covered his face, forcing his eyes shut.

  You absolute idiot! Lyre scolded himself. Why would you step into a rushing river, thinking you could still cross it, “as long as you’re careful”?

  Bubbles escaped his jaws as his side hit a hard surface. He filed his paws around until his cws met the surface, and tried to pull his body through the current, but the submerged rock made his grip slide away.

  A sudden sharp pain stabbed into his side, and he felt his body slowly getting dragged out. Once he felt the warm, damp air, he realized with a pang of realization that all this time, he wasn't traveling alone.

  Lyre coughed up the sweet-tasting water that made him think he could breathe underwater. His fur was dripping wet all over again, but he didn’t care anymore. His body was mostly out of the water, but he couldn't tell since he still felt it touching his skin. But at least his head was above water.

  “You got all the water out. You’d better stop now before your lungs are next.” Someone mewed firmly.

  Lyre was about to get up, but the pain subsided and was quickly repced by pressure, pinning him. “Get…off…” He rasped.

  “Nuh-uh.”

  A couple moments of silence passed, except for the river and Lyre’s pounding heart. His body was too exhausted to dispy his reaction as the water suddenly but slowly flowed back towards the river, whose current seemed to drag the water that was over the bank. The rapidly flowing water kept dragging the overflowed water until none was on the bank anymore, then the current slowly calmed down.

  The pressure eased, and someone grabbed Lyre’s scruff before standing in front of him and rolling him onto his belly to try and get him up.

  Lyre’s eyes squinted when water began dripping down the front of his face. The darkness obscured his vision, and all he could smell was the strong dampness and the prickly feeling coming from the wolf pup. Where is that pup, anyway? His mind snapped its attention to the wrong thing, apparently, because then the voice spoke.

  You nearly drown, and that’s the first thing you worry about. Lyre, get yourself together already.

  Suddenly the cat let go, and Lyre felt a familiar sensation burning onto his dripping pelt. It only sted for a second before the sound of breathing lowered from above his head to his face. The cat’s breath smelled awful. And as his lungs took in more air instead of what could’ve been water if it weren’t for this cat, the reason for the stench was very clear.

  “Slip?” Lyre exhaled. He could hear the tom’s smirk grow as he spoke.

  “Yes. How did you get yourself into this mess? Actually, don’t answer that. I think I already know. I literally saw you walking for hours wearing that colr that white patterned she-cat was wearing.”

  He sighed. “Can…can I rest first?”

  A scoff was heard, and it sounded like faked annoyance. “Alright. Fine. Be sure you bring that wolf pup or something.”

  Spshes of paws stamping the flood water let Lyre know where the pup was. Of course, as a surprise to no one, it was making weird whimpering noises, which were now becoming more of an issue now that it sounded like the stone covering was completely off.

  I already know the next day isn’t going to be a good one; Slip will keep me here until Root and Quartz show up, and it would only take longer for me to leave. He let out an internal sigh.

  But here’s the catch- you could still leave after you wake up. No one’s stopping you. As nonchant as the voice sounded, it spoke with full confidence.

  Lyre was escorted back to the seemingly endlessly burning wood, although the fire was still small. The moment Lyre reached nd that wasn't surrounded by puddles- which was the bridge- he shook out his fur before going back.

  There, he immediately passed out.

  “Lyre.”

  A rasped voice spoke, its sharpened meow clearer than water.

  Lyre stirred. He was curled up, face buried in his own fur. Whether his eyes were closed or not was hard to tell.

  “Lyre!” The cat hissed.

  Groaning, the tom unburied his face and gred sleepily at the dark figure of a cat. Its dull, golden-yellow eyes stared straight into his bronze eyes, which were gzed with fear. He felt like he’s seen this cat from somewhere…but from where?

  Lyre took in his surroundings.

  Surrounding the both of them were rger, twisted stone trees, whose branches twisted and turned like cws. The ground was bare dirt, with patches of grass and leafless bushes here and there. The sky was bck as night, yet everything was bright, as if being illuminated by an invisible sunlight. Directly above them, high up, was a half-sliced white circle. A thin mist covered the ground, blurring it and turning it pale.

  Lyre slowly rose to his paws, staring at the cat with widened pupils. His fur bristled. “What do you want?” His tiredness did nothing to help him sound defensive.

  His gaze darted around for a possible escape route. Nothing but trees. Well it’s now or never. He turned tail and took a rge pawstep forwards, but as he did, he saw the dark figure emerge from the corner of this vison.

  “You’re not supposed to run,” it hissed, “if you face it, at least you’re less likely to die.”

  The figure was in front of him again. This time it crouched down. It leapt at him, unsheathing its cws as it did. The movement was slow, which didn’t make sense to Lyre.

  “If you’re so menacing, how come your pounces are so slow?” He asked as he scrambled out of the way. The adrenaline was really waking him up now as a faster swipe narrowly missed his face.

  The cat stood up, expression unchanging. It shed its tail once before leaping again, this time at an angle and managing to snag the skin of his face, close to his ear.

  And then, he felt it; the most intense pain Lyre felt suddenly coursed through his skull, making him colpse. His shut mouth immediately opened as the loud wail followed.

  The wail transferred to his waking self as he heard someone flinch in their nest. That pounding pain was a small headache as another, longer fsh of bright light entered his vision. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to remember where he was.

  Bright light..sunlight, obviously. But did Slip really have to bring me outside? Why is my fur damp? There’s some random warmth beside me…better not be that gray she-cat.

  Lyre slowly opened his eyes, stopping at a squint. The orange glow reassured his worry about where the warmth was coming from. The huge yellow-orange ball was definitely part of the reason for his headache; plus the moisture of the air, and the fire that miraculously hadn’t burned anything down yet. The sky was the same as it was when he first woke in this pce, but except more brighter since the sun was actually a bit higher in the sky this time.

  The cat that had flinched was now staring at him, facing away from the sun. It was Marble. The light beaming directly in his face censored her expression.

  Lyre slowly rose himself from the ground. He turned away from the light, eyes staring bnkly at his shadow. As his eyes adjusted, the persisting headache, though not as bad as the exaggerated pain in the dream was, still refused to let him think.

  Disturbingly silent pawsteps approached from somewhere behind him. There were two pairs of them. As dirt shuffled as compinitive whines sounded, he knew where Slip and the wolf pup were while they let him sleep. Some rest it was. He thought with a huff.

  Slip came out on his right, and sat down in front of him. The pup was nowhere to be seen, but it was heard sniffing aggressively at basically nothing.

  “So,” he started, his light turquoise eyes nearly sparkled in an oddly elegant way as the light yellow light hit them. “While we wait, mind expining just what exactly you were doing?”

  Lyre’s stare moved to behind the dark ginger tom as he avoided his gaze. All he got was ground and sky, so he defeatedly made eye contact, but distracted himself with something else. He thought about why this cat was still interacting with him despite what he did to Velvet. He thought about why he didn’t look that effected by Prairie’s death, like he was.

  His thoughts were forced away as he saw bone gray cws slide out and stab into the ground as if it was his own skin. They flexed in and out as his peripheral located a flicking dark amber tail-tip. The bck pupils were slit, and the elegance was just a mask for the impatience that radiated.

  “The colr?” He reminded as the impatience lined his voice.

  Why’s he so worried about it? He never knew about that rock cat thing, or Quartz- let alone what this thing even does. Lyre frowned, but quickly fixed his expression as he broke into a yawn.

  Finally, he answered. “I honestly don’t know,” he said in a small meow as he made eye contact again. He was doing an awkward half-sit half-crouch. “I guess I heavily second-guessed myself about what happened yesterday, and took it without thinking.”

  “Did she let you take it?”

  Lyre shook his head slowly. “She was…” he hesitated, just now realizing and remembering why he was here, and what got him in this mess in the first pce.

  As if knowing what he was going to say next, Slip nodded and stood up. “Got it…then be gd I followed you. The other two should be on their way shortly.”

  Lyre fttened his ears as Slip walked towards the direction of the bridge. The moment he passed Marble, she got up and followed him with her head. He shuddered.

  Yes, the colr. The voice said.

  Lyre lifted his left paw and felt around his neck. The cor was perfectly intact; even the smooth object at the center. Duh, it’s not literally made of stone. It’s only called The Stone Colr because whatever-his-name-is used it or whatever.

  Which means you can use it too.

  Lyre froze. He already had enough things to deal wtih…but this? This was st on his mind. Instead, he properly id down. This voice annoyed him, sure, but it must mean something if Quartz wore it all the time and seemed unbothered by it, and why it sounded less faint and more clear the moment he put the colr on. I don't know why I never wondered about…you. Whatever you are. He began, very aware of the three sihlouettes emerging from the dense fog.

  Can we worry about that ter? Root and Quartz are gring at you as if you took a very dangerous ‘weapon’.

  Lyre quickly sat upright and found himself licking his fur. To brace himself for the immense feeling of shame that will be brought upon him? For the guilt he felt long after taking the colr, even now?

  Quartz cautiously moved through the fog, ears perking up at the sight of Lyre. Her dark teal eyes narrowed at the colr.

  Root looked suddenly rger, and there was blood on their lips. “Well this is awkward,” they muttered as they stepped next to Quartz.

  Slip rolled his eyes as he joined the two. He pointed at Lyre with his tail. “You. She-cat. Go confront him. I have no business here.” Slip then crawled over to the hole and went inside. A short while ter, he called, “and make it quick! I need to sleep too, you know!”

  Quartz looked at Lyre, who was done grooming himself. Root was pawing at the young pup. Both of them looked as if talking to Lyre was the st thing they wanted to do, but because of the stupid thing he did, they had no other choice but to.

  You can always leave now, you know.

  An annoyed growl rose from his throat, and he made sure to look away before anyone jumped either at him or to conclusions.

  “Lyre…why did you take my colr while we were sleeping?” Quartz asked quietly. She wasn't mad at all.

  Lyre exhaled a breath he pretended to hold in. His “reasons” were really just excuses. But he knew he couldn't just lie to them, no matter how many times he told himself that he could since he “doesn’t care about them”.

  I noticed that whenever you’re confronted with something you’re obviously guilty of, you immediately go silent.

  Suddenly Quartz’s ears perked up. Lyre didn’t notice.

  And I noticed that you never shut up. Geez, if it weren’t for your annoyance, I wouldn’t have recognized that it was you.

  Ha. Look at you. You’re still as moody as ever. Nothing compared to Velvet, though; that kitten was quite talented at dispying so many emotions in such a short span of time.

  Lyre dug his cws into the ground as he leaned forward, as if the voice was coming from the cat in front of him. I’m not moody! His tail-tip flicked in irritation.

  Mhm. The only emotions you feel are sadness, guilt, and all that crap; anger, and then…Splinter.

  Lyre hissed at the air, getting the attention of the two wolves. He shut his eyes as his breaths came in heavily. There seemed to be a pattern with what this voice was doing. He tried picturing the dark figure in his mind, but it kept distorting. It then occurred to him that its shape was never clear when he saw it in his dream.

  He tried calming himself down by thinking about the current problem with The Stone Colr. Right…Quartz is still waiting for an expnation. He opened his eyes to see her sitting down with her ears perked and eyes glued to something on The Stone Colr. He cleared his throat, and she looked back at him.

  “...I didn’t know how you and Root were going to react after hearing the truth, and…well…since you were pnning on leaving me anyway, I just decided to…take…the colr.” His voice was shaking from the forced calmness to hide the faint anger he still felt.

  Quartz did a half nod before looking at Root and the pup. “Can you two stay here? I need to speak with Lyre in private.”

  Again? Lyre thought as his irritation threatened to switch to anxiety. Obviously…she did this before. He got up and waited for Quartz to also stand up and head towards the bridge.

  He followed, staring down at his paws. He didn’t pay attention as the ground suddenly vanished to a thick, mist-covered pit of barely visible bck ground. He froze before looking back up. He didn’t expect there to be this much fog to obscure his vision so much. He quickly trotted along the side until nearly bumping into the bck stick, then walked along the bridge.

  Ahead, Quartz’s white fur was very much visible through the blinding fog that gave him a dreadful reminder of the area with the cracked stone ground. He almost flinched at the rge, dark shape of what turned out to be that one tree whose branch hovered over the ground.

  Quartz slowed before sitting down, and Lyre had to walk in front of her to face her. “Come on and sit next to me.” She said.

  He obliged.

  “Now look.” She pointed at the stone-less forest where the fog had thinned.

  Even in the fog, the bare branches and flourishing life gave Lyre an icky feeling. It just felt so…off.

  “Remember the night you arrived at our home?”

  Lyre answered with silence.

  “Well one time, while you were sleeping, Calico crified to me about a mistake when telling the story about The Petrifier. That stone statue…was not him.”

  Then who was it? Not that I care… both Lyre and the voice said.

  Quartz looked at him straight in the eyes. “I’ll tell you if you promise me you’ll never take the colr again.”

  “Okay-” Lyre began, but froze. Wait a minute. Lyre’s eyes widened as he got up.

  Quartz looked away, a little smile on her face. “It’s no secret. All cats born here have something ‘wrong’ with them; my brother was the only cat in my family who was ‘normal’; I…can get confused about whose thoughts are whose.” She quickly added, “but it’s nothing that’s a huge deal! If anything, it’s weak. And I’m gd it’s that way. Others don’t have such luck. That’s what happened to The Petrifier. The cat who got turned to stone…”

  Quartz trailed off. She turned her head away and sighed. “Anyway…no, I’m not mad at you, Lyre. You did the exact same thing I did when I first got it. And that was the right thing to do.”

  Lyre was relieved, but was also starting to get more confused. So Quartz can read my mind, but not that well because the…skill or something is weak? That doesn’t make sense- this pce doesn’t make sense.

  See what I mean? You’re moody. Now I believe you when you call Velvet your brother.

  He ignored the voice. Now I really need to know where this voice is even coming from. Because it’s clearly coming from someone. And it only got clearer the moment I put on this colr. So that means…

  Lyre stared at Quartz with wide eyes. She met his gaze. They both shared the realization of the moment.