I slowly opened my eyes, finding myself staring at a wood ceiling. I could feel a soft bed beneath me, and a cozy blanket wrapped around my body. My head ached, my body was numb, but at least I was alive. The question I found myself asking was where I was now. The memories had felt distant, like I had been detached from myself and watching a playback of my own actions. This moment felt very real. I must have awoken from earlier. I recalled Twilight leading me to Watchful Eye's home, handing him a note from The Mare, but nothing after that.

"Good, your awake."

Turning to the voice, I spied Watchful Eye in a chair not far from me. The lighting was dim, but I could see he had brown fur with midnight blue hair and tail. He looked strong, either a warrior or a labor worker. His eye's were a piercing yellow. I noticed that the fangs I'd seen before were less pronounced now as well.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"You managed to find your way here while bleeding to death. You stayed standing just long enough to deliver your message before your body gave out from exhaustion. Since then, I've been nursing you back to health." He replied.

I mulled over his words, starting to recall the moment when he invited me in and I fell. "How long have I been here?"

"16 hours," He began, "I managed to stitch your leg and arm to stop the bleeding. You've still managed to loose quite a bit of blood though, so we'll have to wait for you to recover before we can go."

"Go? Go where?" I questioned once again, wishing he'd explain himself fully.

"Why don't you come out for diner and we'll all talk. Can you stand?" He said.

I nodded to him, not in the mood to play games, and threw the covers off of me. I saw my shirt had been discarded, and my arm and leg were properly bandaged with no red soaking through. Throwing my legs over the bed, I sat myself up only to become disoriented from the movement. Watchful was by my side in a flash, placing a hand on my shoulder to steady me until I got my bearings back. Thanking him, I grabbed onto his other arm and pulled myself onto my feet. Once I was standing, I allowed the world to stop spinning before turning to speak with him.

I was about to ask him to lead on, when I felt nature call. "Do you have somewhere I can relieve myself?" I asked him.

Watchful nodded. "Bathrooms down the right hall, second door on your left. There's a shirt for you in there as well. Once you've finished, just follow the light and sound. You'll find us."

I walked down to the bathroom. Opening the door, I was surprised to see a porcelain throne instead of a bucket.

Fancy. Does it wipe my ass too?

Once I had taken care of business and clean up, I pulled the shirt on and made my way back. Following the light, I found Watchful Eye and two others sitting at a table. One of the others I recognized to be the small pony who opened the door. Watchful invited me over, formally introducing himself and stating his age to be 27.

Joining them, I learned the other two were Watchful's wife, Sunny Rose, and their daughter, Nightshade. Sunny had yellow fur and rose colored hair and tail. Her eye's were bright red, was 24 years old, and she held a calm and motherly disposition to her. Nightshade's fur was grey, her tail and hair being a royal purple. She was a child, only 4 years of age, and was still quite apprehensive of me.

Sunny served us all, the plate consisted of fruits and veggies along with something she had called "hayfries". As we ate, Watchful explained that the letter I had given him had informed him that I was of an extinct species know as "Humans".

"If the humans are extinct, then why or how am I here?" I asked, curious as to learn I was called "Human".

"I believe that's what our princess intends to find out." He stated.

"Princess? Are you referring to The Mare in the Moon?"

He began to inform me that The Mare was actually one of the ruling princesses know as "Luna", and that she had been banished to the moon after becoming corrupted. She had donned the title "Nightmare Moon" and in a struggle with her sister "Celestia", was sent to the moon for 1000 years. This was what created the image on the moon, and thus earned her the title of The Mare on the Moon. Watchful then told me that the letter also stated that the princess was aware of my memory loss, and had stated that over time my memories would return.

"Is this true? Have you forgotten who you were, and if so are you beginning to remember?" He asked.

I looked towards his family with hesitation, but he assured me that whatever was stated here and now would remain between us. I had no reason to doubt him. He had taken me in and helped me recover. His family had also played a part in helping me, his daughter brought supplies while his wife wrapped my injuries.

"...Yes," I said after a moment, "my memories have been forgotten, but are beginning to come back to me."

"Can you tell me what you remember?" He asked. "Nothing personal of course, just any skills or abilities you may have recalled."

I began to tell them what I remembered. I told them of my climbing, my swordplay, and anything else that I could recall. I left out the moments with the old woman and Maiden Goldhooves, along with skipping the more gory detail for the sake of the young one present. As I explained, Watchful Eye nodded along but Sunny Rose had an unsure look on her face.

"Do you not know how to read or write? Do you even know your own age?" She asked me.

"I..," I thought hard before answering, "I am unsure. I don't have any memories pertaining to either, but I have noticed if placed in a situation that requires a skill I will receive a quick blink of a memory pertaining to it. The full memories, or more complete memories, seem to only come when I am sleeping."

"One second." Watchful said, pulling out a parchment and charcoal. He scribbled something down before handing both to me. "See if you can read this, and if you can try writing a response."

I took a look at the parchment, but was unable to make out what it said. The only reason I had assume the map said Ponyville and The Everfree Forest was because I had heard those were my location and destination. Without any form of guidance, I was lost as to what was in front of me.

"I'm sorry, but I can't read this. It would appear I also have no knowledge of this script as I received no memory as well." I told them.

Nightshade snickered at this, quieting herself under her mothers gaze.

"That's alright," Sunny began, "You have a little time before you leave, so we can run you through the basics."

"Leave? To where?" I asked.

"With me. I'm taking you and some supplies to The Grove in a couple of weeks." Watchful answered.

"Why not leave now?" I asked him.

"In your condition?" He started, "You're lucky to be awake right now, let alone moving. It's a three day journey, and with how you are, there's a higher chance of you getting caught."

"Why exactly is that a bad thing? I know humans went extinct, but what's the worst that could happen?"

They were all silent at this, leading me to believe I had said something wrong.

"Come on Nightshade, let's let them talk." Sunny said.

"Okay mom." Nightshade said, her squeaky voice was booming in the surrounding silence.

Once they had vacated, Watchful and I turned to each other. He sighed, preparing himself for what he was about to say. He told me that thousands of years ago, long before Nightmare Moon, there was a devastating war. This war reached world wide, causing cataclysmic destruction too all nations. It was started by the humans, during the age when Luna and Celestia were both children. The humans had no sympathy, no care in their hearts. They sought out to destroy as much as they could, not for gold, power, or honor, but just because they could. Thinking of my memories, I realized that I had been one of them at some time.

That's impossible, this happened many millennium ago. I couldn't still be alive, could I? My grandmother looked to be only 90 at best when she passed, so humans can't possibly live that long. But my memories say otherwise... Was I like that?

"Silvia Blueblood, daughter of Marx and Sevna Blueblood, honor is yours this day whether you prevail or fall. You have done your family proud."

That's what I said, you die with honor. If humans didn't care for honor, then why would I have said that. I also rejected the idea of war at first. So why was I fighting?

"It was awful," Watchful said, pulling me from my thoughts, "and despite the years that have past, many are still apprehensive towards humans."

"So then why aren't you?" I asked, suddenly very uncomfortable with my situation.

He smiled at me, saying, "Because our princess, Princess Luna, found a human child. This child was unlike any human ever seen in history. You could talk to them, play with them, have dinner with them without it ending in bloodshed. That child proved that humans are capable of something other than death, and you are proving it as well."

"How do you mean?" I asked him.

"You could have killed me and my family. You could have leveled this entire town. Yet here you are, speaking with me as though it were a normal every day occurrence." He said.

I thought that over before asking him, "And you believe I still won't?"

His smile fell, "I don't know. Right now you lack your memories, and it's very possible that you could turn out to have something buried deep inside that could end up lashing out at us." His smile returned, "But I'd like to believe that won't happen. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves."

"Hmmm, I see. Well, perhaps it would be best if we discussed something else. Would you mind if I asked a little more about you?" I asked him.

Watchful's eyes lit up at this, "Of course, after all we'll be spending some time together. I believe it would be best if you did."

"What are you?" I asked, the question leaving my mouth before I could stop myself.

Watchful burst into laughter at this, much to my surprise. "Hahahaha, oh sorry. I was ready for a lot of questions, but that one caught me off guard!"

I could help but laugh along with him. It seemed his laughter was contagious.

"Wooo, okay. Do you know of pegasi?" Seeing me nod, he continued, "I and my family are a lot like nocturnal pegasi. Very similar traits, except we prefer nightfall over the day, and have more predatory aspects of our bodies to ward off predators of the night. You'll notice that most of us have dark colored fur as well. That is to help us remain hidden at night if our appearance isn't enough. We're also omnivores, eating of both plant and meat, but most of us prefer our more pony side of the diet. Many refer to us as Bat-Ponies, which frankly many of us consider an insult. Our true name is Threstral."

"You say that most of your kind is dark in color, but then why is Sunny Rose so... not?" I asked.

"I can answer that." Sunny said, walking back into the room, "And no dear, I wasn't eavesdropping on your conversation. I heard you two start laughing and assumed that the nasty part had been taken care of. As for why I'm brightly colored, my father fell in love with a pegasus. She was a bright little thing, yellow coat with a bright blue main. My father would always talk about her, she was his ray of sunshine he'd say." She laughed a little, her face turning somber. "Unfortunately I never met her. My mother died giving birth to me."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I told her.

"Oh don't be sorry dear," She said, "I came to terms with her loss long ago. I just hope I'm making her proud of me, being the mother I'm sure she wanted to be."

"I'm sure she's proud," Watchful said, "I'd bet my life on it. Nightshade's an angel, and I'm sure Melody can't wait to meet her."

"Speaking of Nighshade, and I don't mean to be rude, but she seems to be put off by my presence." I told them.

Watchful sighed, "The school is currently reviewing the history of the war. To say some ponies can be biased is putting it nicely, but hopefully with you around she'll see that not everything is as it first seems."

"And no offense taken." Sunny said.

With that, Sunny asked me to join her in the foyer where she would begin to run me through the basics of reading and writing, as well as any other skills that may need to be attended to.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 weeks have passed. During that time, I had informed the family that I was under the name Grey Sword until further notice. Sunny had aided me in basic reading and writing, along with knowledge of local lands as well as utilizing all my tools. She also had my coat taken to the local fashionista, ironically enough the seamstress was Rarity. When she told me this I was surprised, but wrote it off as coincidence.

Shouldn't be surprised. Steven had said they were all from Ponyville, and given the first pony I ran into wass Twilight, it shouldn't surprise me that the other's would have been around.

Along with increasing my skills, I managed to get Nightshade speaking with me. Our first interaction was... interesting. It came near the end of the first week.

"Excuse me, sir?" Nightshade had asked me.

I looked up from the book I had been reading. It was nothing more than a simple story of a duck coming to terms with itself to test my current reading ability.

"Yes? What can I do for you little one?" I asked her in turn.

She shifted in place, her eyes welling up with tears. Before I knew it, she threw herself into me, wrapping her arms around me sobbing into my shoulder. "Please! Please don't eat my mom and dad! I DON'T WANT TO LOOSE THEM!"

I was stunned by her actions, I couldn't think of what I had done to set her off like this. It took me a moment to realize she was referring to something she had heard in her class. I placed a hand on her back, attempting to calm her as she cried.

"Little one, I promise you that I will not bring harm to you or your family. I couldn't dare. Your parents have shown me a kindness that I wish to repay. You have nothing to fear from me, you have my word." I reassured her.

She sniffled, choking back her tears as she looked at me. "D-do you p-p-promise?" She stuttered.

"I promise." I told her. "Would you help me with something? I'm having trouble with this book, maybe you could help me read it?" I asked her.

"O-okay..." She climb off of me and sat on the couch next to me. I placed the book between us and we began to read.

By the time her parents arrived to see what Nightshade had yelled about, we were on the third book of my studies. Nightshade was laughing at my attempts to sound out the syllables of the words. A neighbor had come knocking at the door, asking if anything had happened. Watchful was quick to assure them that his daughter had had a nightmare and that it was taken care of. After that day, Nightshade spent the remaining week joining me during my studies so she could continue to laugh at me. Strangely enough, throughout the weeks I stayed with the family, I received no memories and recalled none of my dreams. I brought this information to Watchful Eye's attention.

"Maybe it's the setting?" He offered, "You may be in a situation your not use to, so your mind has nothing to recall."

"It's possible," I told him, "but I don't think that's it. I have plenty of memories already of a home and family, so I would think those memories would be triggered if nothing else."

"I'm... not sure what to say. Well, once we get to The Grove, the princess will be informed and maybe she'll be able to help." Watchful said.

"Alright, hopefully The Mare will be able to offer some advice. She seems to know more than any of us." I responded.

"Okay, could you stop referring to Princess Luna in that manner?" He asked, clearly irritated with me.

"I mean no offense by that title, if that's the impression your getting. I refer to The Mare as such because we saw her as the dam of the night. Without her, the night would be dull, dark, and impossibly dangerous without her." I told him.

He was taken aback by my response, but still held firm. "That's fine, and I'm happy to hear that, but others won't see it that way. If nothing else, then please refer to her as the princess. Most will take The Mare as a strike towards her time as Nightmare Moon."

I nodded, agreeing to his terms.

A few days afterwards, Sunny took me out to a hill near the edge of the town.

"Is it really safe to be out here?" I asked her.

"Come now, we don't want you getting cabin fever Grey. Plus, I brought you out here to show you something. Look." She said, pointing to the sky.

It was nightfall, and looking to the sky I saw the stars The Mare had brought out. However, something was different. Some of the stars looked even brighter.

"Why are those stars like that?" I asked.

"Because there not stars." She told me.

Suddenly, the stars came down on us, floating around us. A few of them flew by my face, revealing themselves to be small lighting bugs.

"They're called fireflies." Sunny said. "There one of the wonders of this world we still don't understand. They light up the world around us when all is dark, just as the stars and moon do. I thought it would be nice for you to see some of the world around you before you were forced to deal with it."

I nodded to her, continuing to watch the fireflies dance.

The time had come for Watchful Eye and I to leave. My injuries hadn't healed fully, but were in good enough condition to travel. We both had packs of supplies, and I was now donning my coat once again. Dusk had fallen, and we decided to travel at night to limit exposure. He said his farewells, telling his family he'd return in five days. Sunny wished us both well, and Nightshade hugged her father. She then ran up and hugged me as well, catching me by surprise. I looked to her to see her smiling up at me.

"Remember our promise K? Keep my daddy safe for me." She said.

"I will Nightshade, and I remember what I promised you. I do not intend to break it." I told her.

With that, we set off for The Grove. We were just out of town when Watchful turned to me, his eyebrow raised.

"What exactly did you promise my daughter Grey?"

"She was afraid I was going to kill and eat both you and Sunny. I promised her that I would do no such thing, that you had shown kindness that I wanted to return in kind. I then asked her to help me read which led to her obsession with laughing at my failed attempts." I told him.

Watchful laughed at this. "So that's why she suddenly took a liking to you! And here I was beginning to think you had bewitched her."

I looked at him in shock. "Sir, I would never-"

He cut me off, "It's alright son, I'm pulling your leg. You know, joking around?"

My confused look must have answered his question.

"You don't have a sense of humor, do you?" He asked.

"Not that I remember, and given my past I really don't think I do." I told him.

He looked away, unsure, before I added, "Of course I would find it humorous if you were to trip over your own to feet."

"What do you-" He fell forward, tripping over a rock he hadn't seen.

I laughed at his misfortune as he picked himself up. He was scowling at me, but the smile on his face told me he was amused as well.

"Very clever smartass, now come on. We're burning moonlight."

We traveled for many hours. During that time, Watchful explained more about Ponyville and his role there. He explained that he was actually a decedent of Princess Luna herself, and that his family had been tasked with keeping tabs all across Equestria on the treatment of threstrals. He had family all across the nation, doing exactly as he was. The rest of our journey was spent in silence, listening for any predators or other travelers that may be out and about. We managed to arrive at our first checkpoint without incident. Setting up to rest out the day, I turned towards the night sky to observe the stars dance.

"Your a fan of her work huh?" Watchful asked?

"Yeah, you could say that." I told him.

When dawn came, we got into out respective sleeping arrangements and slept.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once again, I was roused from a dreamless sleep. Watchful was already packing up and making ready to move, but the sun was still high indicating it was afternoon at best.

"Why you up so early?" I asked him.

"This is the most dangerous part of this journey. There's know to be a chimera in these parts, and I'd rather not get acquainted with the damn thing. Besides, if we move now, we may be able to avoid it and make greater time. So move it, lets go Grey!" He barked at me.

I immediately started breaking down my equipment and packing it up. I didn't know what this "chimera" is but if Watchful is apprehensive about it then it couldn't be anything good. Once we were packed up, we took a quick food, water, and bathroom break before setting out again. We were about an hour into walking when I turned to Watchful.

"Why did you tell your family you'd be back in five days? Isn't it a three day walk just to get there?" I asked.

"Aye, it's a three day walk, but by wing it's only two. And before you ask, I'm not flying us there because I know I couldn't do it. I've done supply runs to The Grove before and I know what my limit is." He responded.

"Ah, so do you do supply runs for a living?" I asked him, realizing just how little I knew of the man with me.

"No. Believe it or not I'm a carpenter. I just do supply runs for The Grove because they have very few sources of trade and have yet to setup a proper farm. It's a fairly new place, which is why it's not on the map. It's also why it's the safest place for you." Watchful stated.

"That would explain why I couldn't find it. But what of the ponies there? Won't they be a hindrance to me if I am to remain hidden?" I was confused as to why I was being relocated. Though it sounded good, there seemed to be some problems with this plan.

"Not ponies, threstrals. Princess Luna stated that they would be notified of your arrival, and given how much time has passed, I would think they'll be expecting you by now." He told me.

Continuing on, we managed to make good distance before nightfall. Once night came, Watchful informed me that we needed to move slower, as to not attract any beasts. This would also allow us to listen more carefully should anything come for us.

"Alright, now listen. You getting to The Grove is what's important. So if something comes, I want you to run while I hold them off." Watchful said.

"Not happening." I retorted.

"Now listen here-" He began.

"No," I cut him off, "I promised your daughter I'd keep you safe. I gave her my word that no harm would come to you so long as I was around. If you're going to die, I'm dying right beside you. Besides, I'm lost without you. I wouldn't know where to go after the next checkpoint and may end up at the wrong place."

He stared at me for a moment, shaking his head as he continued to walk. "Stubborn bastard aren't ya? I suppose you make a fair point, but don't expect me to sit there and get my ass chewed out when the princess hears about us getting maimed."

With that, we were walking again. We only walked for about five minutes before Watchful paused, his ears perked and swiveling.

"Come on. Get down." He whispered.

I followed him across the path. He crouched down behind a rock so I followed his lead. When he looked back out, he slammed his hand against his mouth to prevent making noise. He must have failed, as he turned to me with fear in his eyes.

"It knows! RUN!" He yelled.

Not waiting, I turned to sprint down the path only to have a large creature block my path. Drawing my blade, I took stance and got a good look at it. From what I could tell, it was a large wolf with snow white fur and brilliant blue eyes. On all fours, it was as tall as I was. It got low, growling at me as it readied to attack.

"That a chimera?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"No, worse. That's a Amarok! These things can kill a pony in one bite. You have to get out of here now!" Watchful commanded me.

"No! I will not leave you Watchful!" I barked back.

The growling stopped, the wolf looking at me curiously. It slowly made it's way towards us. I raised my sword, attempting to threaten it. The wolf stopped, and sat in the middle of our path.

"Well now what?" I asked.

"I don't know! No one has ever lived to tell what happens with Amaroks." Watchful responded.

Lowering my sword, I saw the wolf made no further attempts to approach us.

Go to her

This was a sensation I had never felt. Something in my mind was telling me to approach this beast. Keeping the blade in hand, I began slowly advancing towards it.

"What in the blazes are you doing?" Watchful asked.

"Shut up! Just wait a moment." I retorted.

I continued to inch my way closer to the wolf till I was an arms reach away. It continued to sit there staring at me, though now curiosity had shifted to... recognition? I slowly reached out my hand. The wolf leaned it's head forward and sniffed my hand. Once it had finished, it began nuzzling into it. A blinding white light filled its eyes the second it made contact, and before I could react, the same light filled my vision.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was wondering around near a forest, playing with some butterflies that were just out of my reach. I followed them around, jumping and running after them until I managed to catch one. I was overjoyed in my success. I looked to find my house, only to realize I had wondered into the forest when I wasn't paying attention. The butterflies were forgotten, now replaced with a panic, a need to find my way out. I looked to in fro but I could recognize anything here. I began to call out, hoping my mother would hear me and come save me from the forest. Instead, something else found me. A growl filled my ears, and turning towards the sound I saw to blue eyes piercing into mine.

"Hello..?" I said.

The eyes lunged at me. Screaming, I threw my arms over my head in fear. My fear dissolved into confusion when I felt not the tearing of my flesh, but a tongue brushing against my arms. Looking through my arms, I saw the face of a white wolf pup staring down at me. Having exposed my face, the pup then dove down to assault my face with licks. I giggled at it antics, revealed that I was okay.

"Okay, okay, stop it!" I said, pushing the pup off of me so I could stand.

Looking it over, I saw that the pup appeared to be female and was nearly as tall as I was, only about a foot shorter.

That's strange. Aren't pups suppose to be no larger than small dogs?

I was about to question this wolfs appearance further, but recalled the situation I found myself in. I couldn't help but cry, thinking I would never find my way home. I felt something soft and wet prod me. Looking at what it was, I saw the pup looking at me, the smile gone from it's face. I threw my arms around it, happy to have someone to hold onto. Once I calmed down, I pulled myself away from the pup and smiled at it.

"You know, I'm glad you found me. But why aren't you with your pack?" I asked it.

It whined in response, ears drooping as it lay on the forest floor.

"Oh... so your lost too? Well, at least we can be lost together." I said, hoping to cheer it up.

It yapped at this, seeming to perk up a little. Apparently this pup was as happy to see me as I was to see it.

"Soooo, you gotta name girl?" I asked it.

The pup tilted it's head at me in response.

"I guess you wouldn't. Would you like me to name you?"

I yapped again, perking up once more."

"Okay then, how about..." I looked the pup over, examining it's fur and eyes before gasping in realization, "Frostbite!"

The pup yapped at this, standing up and spinning in circles. The smile had returned to it's face. It ran up and nuzzled me, something clicking into place as she did so.

We're gonna be good friends you and me.

"Alright! Frostbite it is then." I said proudly.

"Jon!"

I turned to the voice, it had been my mother.

"Mom! Over here!" I called back.

Within seconds there was a rustling and she appeared. This time I could see her clearly. She has soft brown eyes, and an almost child like face. Her skin was pale, and she wore a simple sleeved dress. Upon spotting me, she began to rush over. She stopped and screamed when she spotted Frostbite.

"Get away from my son!" She shrieked.

"Mom no! She's friendly!" I tried to tell her.

But she wasn't listening. She scooped me up, and as she did two men appeared. One man had a sword and the other a bow.

"Kill that thing!" Mother barked at them.

"Frostbite run!" I yelled over the commotion.

The pup turned tail and fled, but it was too late. I here the thunk of the bow and watched an arrow go zooming after her. I heard a pained yelp and began to cry once more.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The light left my eyes and I was before the wolf once more. I felt shock, fear, pain... and joy.

"...Frost?" I asked, my voice almost silent.

The wolf barked, leaping onto me. I yelled out, crashing to the ground with it on top of me, and felt it's tongue begin to assault my face. I laughed, a feeling of joy filling me with such happiness as I wrapped my arms around the overgrown mutt and hung on for dear life. I felt tears fall from my face once more, but these were the bittersweet tears of reuniting with a long lost friend.

"Frostbite! I thought I lost you that day!" I cried out.

Frost lifted herself off of me and span in circles, just as she had done all those years ago. It seemed she was just as happy to see me as I was to see her. I picked myself up and hugged her once more.

"I have so many questions, but for now, just know I'm overjoyed to see you my friend."

She nuzzled into me, and we enjoyed each others embrace. Breaking away from her, I turned and bursting into a fit of laughter. Poor Watchful looked ready to have a heart attack, but the happiness coursing through me prevented me from being worried. I walked up to him, waving a hand in his face. Once he snapped out of his stupor, he began to sputter nonsense till I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't begin to imagine how strange this looks, but Frostbite here is a friend I made in my childhood long ago." I told him.

Watchful looked at Frostbite, then back to me. Then he fell over. Checking his vitals, it was clear he was merely unconscious. I looked to Frost to see her tilting her head in confusion.

"He's just in shock. Though we won't get very far with him like this. I don't suppose you'd be willing to carry him?" I asked.

Frost just let out a huff.

"That's a no then. Guess I'll just carry him. It's a good thing I know where the next checkpoint is. You coming Frost?"

She barked, running up to my side.

Frost and I began walking the path, an unconscious Watchful draped over my shoulders, and I couldn't help but smile.

This whole situation is insane and I don't like it. But, at least now I have a friend with me.

We arrived at the second checkpoint a few hours later unharmed. While we had an encounter with more timberwolves, as single growl from Frostbite was all it took to drive them away. I was sitting against a tree with Frost laying next to me. I was running my hand along her back as I watched night transition to dawn. Watchful had yet to recover from his episode, and since I was now lost as to where to head next, we simply were left to wait for him to awaken.

Seeing as day was coming, we wouldn't be going anywhere soon anyway. I began to rest my eyes, letting darkness envelop me once more.

Author's Note

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Roger A. Caras