Way of the Slugcat

Seeking Peace

The two crawled along in silence, not because of the lizards, but because of something else. A feeling had crept over them both, one that hit Thorns a bit harder than Night, not to say that he was excluded from it. Something told the white slugcat that the end of his journey was nearing him. A faint pulsing from the depths of the earth called to him with its power. A power that he had felt once before, attempting to push him away. Whenever doubt crept into his mind, the pulsing stopped and he was left floundering about in a sea of black, unsure of which way to go. His mouth, while still aglow with orange light, did not gift him much perception. And so, he closed his eyes and thought back to his many lessons.
Cycles ago, before his form had morphed into the rodent he was currently, he remembered sitting in a lecture hall. One of the elders had taken the podium and stood to educate the many young students about the art of...
No. Thorns interjected. The memory was swept away by the brush of his paw.
No, that did not do anything for me. Lectures? Old scrolls? No, they only served to worsen my impatience... which was already bad enough.
Now, his mind wandered to a much more recent time. A time when he had unknowingly made his first, and only, true friend.
"Are you okay?" Came the voice from before, echoing in his memory. Thorns had been so angry and confused at the moment, he had not even registered what those words had meant.
Fast forward to the skyward terror, where his anger truely took hold. He still remembered the trickle of blood running down his friend's neck. With a deep breath, he moved his mind onwards without a tinge of hatred, for the vulture or for himself.
A few cycles later, the red lizard incident. That whole ordeal had eventually turned into a white lizard incident... Thorns hoped the reptile was doing well.
Moving onwards through time, all the way to the bridge and the centipede. Then to the scavengers, farm arrays, the flood, and the raindeer.
All of these things, he thought, have taught me more about how to live than my many cycles atop that can. All because of...
He glanced over his shoulder at the sauntering mass of darkness behind him, then flashed his friend a smile. Night gave him a weak grin in return.
The pull was getting stronger. Thorns could now hear an odd noise coming from the depths below. The further down the two slugcats went, the louder it got. A wooshing noise that ebbed and flowed like waves upon an ocean shore. Finally, Thorns poked his head out of the tunnel's end and bore witness to something he never thought he would be able to see.
A massive cavern opened before him, its vast space stuffed to bursting with wires, pipes, and chunks of unidentified metals. In the center of it all hung the largest piece of machinery Thorns had ever seen.
"A... a void drill?" His jaw hung open in disbelief as he stared at the sharp spiral of steel hanging from the ceiling above. It took up the entirety of the room's center, dead and unmoving. The engine attached, however, had other plans. It shook weakly with what little strength it had left, yelling into the space around it with hisses and pops that fluctuated in volume.
As Thorns pulled his eyes away from the drill, the ground below it caught his eye. Well, the absence of the ground, that is. A massive pit, perfectly circular and smooth, descended into the earth for as far as Thorns could see, all the way down to pitch dark.
"Woah woah woah, don't go down yet!" Night yelled over the engine's cries. Thorns snapped back into reality, having not realized that he now stood on the edge of the pit. Startled, he scrambled backwards.
"S-sorry!" He stuttered.
"It's fine, it's all right..." Night took his paw and gave his ear an awkward scratch. "Just... come back in the tunnel so that I may speak to you without having to scream over that awful noise."
The friends scurried back inside the tunnel's confines, and Night turned to face the white slugcat, making certain that he could see his eyes.
"So... that pit is where we want to go?" Thorns asked tentatively. He wasn't so sure about dropping down into the unknown. Then again, something within him said that it was the right thing to do.
"Erm..." Night's voice was almost inaudible at this point. Thorns watched as his gaze shifted from the wall, to the ceiling, to his paws on the floor; anywhere except his eyes. The white mark above the black slugcat's head came into being, shivering ever so slightly. Finally, Night decided to continue.
"I'm not coming with you."
"Wait... what?"
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Why not? You have come this far! Do you not want to free yourself?"
"I..." At this point, Night's eyes finally found Thorns'. "I'll be honest. You have shown me things that I have never seen before, ways of thinking that I previously thought were foolhardy. I... I thank you for this. I really do. However...
You know how I previously said I had somewhat of a job? That I had done this all before? Looks to the Moon, the iterator that we saw-" He took a deep breath, then continued. "-die during the flood, she gave me that job. She wanted me to lead creatures like you to eternal rest. But now... Moon is gone. So who am I without her? Who am I without my job? What are my ideals? What do I believe in? What... what am I?"
A moment of silence followed. Thorns chose to break it.
"Yourself."
Night's little light shook. His moonlit eyes gazed silently into Thorns'. The white slugcat went on.
"The entire reason I am down here is because of you. The entire reason I am a changed person- er, rodent- is because of you. You are an amazing guide and an even more amazing friend. I, personally, do not think you need to change yourself. You just need to... understand it? I guess? Does that make any sense?"
"A little bit." Night chuckled. "Yes... a little bit."
"Uhm... so you really are not coming?"
"No. I need to... think."
"Do you... do you think I will be alright down there?"
At this, Night let loose a hearty laugh.
"Of course, of course! You don't need me, silly. You made it all the way from Farm Arrays to here by yourself, did you not?"
"I suppose I did."
"Yes, you did, and you'll be just fine! And I will come down and join you in the great beyond one cycle, I promise."
In the darkness of the tunnel, both slugcats stood speechless. A silent communication was in progress, despite the lack of any gestures or movements. Just eye contact and a small grin.
"...thank you, Night."
"Any time, Thorns. Thank you as well."
"It has been a pleasure."
"It really has."
"...good luck out there, friend."
The black slugcat hesitated, his light quivering ever so slightly. Then, he winked.
"See you on the other side, Seven Thorns."
And he was gone.
Seven Thorns, Mourning Wings stood alone in the darkness. But he stood in gratitude.