FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 1

Guilty Conscience

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"Is this a police, fire, or medical emergency?" Leal barely heard the operator ask. She kept her focus on the car wreckage ahead while she slowed her own car to a crawl. She had a determined heart for a rabbit, but she had to help if she could, she couldn't resist her chosen nature. Summoning the will to remain calm, she proceeded, and she knew she was tough enough for whatever happened next.

Spring was on the horizon. The scene was bathed in burnt iridescence while the last light of the day fled. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to see the damaged car at the edge of the dark tree line. Luckily, there was only one vehicle involved, and it was involved with an unforgiving tree. Leal stopped her car on the gravelly shoulder and stepped out, listening carefully with her long ears for any cries for help or otherwise. Aside from the crickets chirping in the woods alongside the road, and the breeze blowing through the budding tree branches, it was eerily silent. She had to see if anyone was alive, forgetting she was still on the phone.

"Hello, is anyone there?" The operator called out after the momentary silence.

"Yes, I'm here. There's been a car accident." There was no movement either, and the resilient tree wretched the front of the little and rather old silver car, showing low hopes that anyone would walk away from this one uninjured. "It's bad, someone went off the road and hit a tree head-on..." Her heart was thumping audibly, her breath shallow with tension, then panic creeped into her nerves. Leal ignored the cool air tickling the corners of her scruffy black and white fur, and her short purple-dyed hair flicked with the wind as she apprehensively kept a keen eye trained on the car. There was only the stillness of post-disaster, or possibly death.

"Ok, what's your location? We can use your phone or tracking chip if you can provide an ID number." The operator inquired. Leal didn't want to disclose any of her personal information, and omitted it. There were no road signs north along the lonely highway, then she looked southward in the direction she came, and found a distant but readable mile marker.

"Mile 110 on Falcon Road."

"Thank you, please stay on the line while I send medical and fire responders." She took wide steps through the tall grass up to the driver's side door, her nose wiggling as she smelled the thick, pungent odor of oil permeating the air. Any small spark felt like it would ignite a fire, that would certainly turn things from bad to worse too quickly. The windshield was a dense web of cracks but had remained intact and glass hadn't sprayed everywhere. The door window displayed less cracks and she could clearly see through it.

Slumped unnaturally in the seat was a girl. Leal guessed she was a white sheep or possibly a rabbit like herself, younger than her for sure. Whatever her genealogy was had made her appear rather different, and the hybrid combination of sheep and rabbit was possible.

"There's a female sheep... or rabbit... in the driver seat, she's still breathing, I think." Leal informed the operator on the phone line, and after watching for a moment, the body huffed laboriously for air, shifting her head and showing blood running from her forehead to stain the white fuzz of her nose. "She's hurt really bad."

"Please remain calm, help is on the way. What's your name, miss?" She took a breath to calm herself before she answered.

"Leal Rhinelander..." She told the operator, then regretted the decision, she didn't want to get stuck answering questions, she didn't know why she had just admitted her real name either. She felt externally compelled to do so and it was uncharacteristic of her.

The back seat of the car had a few of the girl's belongings, a bag of clothes, and a couple boxes, and it wasn't much at all. Most of it was scattered into disarray. There was no one else inside. It appeared this girl was going somewhere or moving and she was alone. A soft buzz whirred, then there was a light on the floor below the passenger's seat. It was the girl's phone and someone was attempting to call her. Leal adjusted her grip on her own phone, keeping it to her ear, and jogged around to the other side of the car. A siren was becoming audible in the distance, and Leal felt a wave of relief as someone had finally come to help. No one else but her could have stopped to call the emergency services. Traffic was uncommon on the long wooded road that served as a slower alternate route between two big cities. Even on a busy day, the road was a leisurely drive. She looked through the passenger window and found the phone lying on the floor, and on its cracked screen, she made out the word 'Mum'.

"Ok Miss Rhinelander, an officer is almost to your location, don't touch anything and wait for instructions."

"Thank you." She was indeed grateful, but was planning to ignore her advice entirely. She then thrusted her elbow into the weakened glass of the passenger side window.

It broke easily, and she listened for the operator on the line to take notice of the sound, but nothing was said. Leal carefully reached her arm through and unlocked the car with a push of a button. There was a sulfuric electrical odor that touched her nose, likely from an exposed torn wire, and one of many throughout the damage.

Pulling the door open with a harsh creak, she reached down to the floor and found the phone displaying a message saying that one call had been missed. Next to the phone was a brown purse, and behind that was an empty bottle of cream liquor. To Leal's concern, she wondered how much of an accident this actually was, there was evidence stacked against this girl, and it seemed anyone wouldn't be so foolish to drink and drive. With a quick judgment call, she grabbed the empty bottle, and with all of her might, threw it as far as she could into the dark woods. She then took the purse and the phone to keep safe while the paramedics did their duty, and closed the door before the blaring lights of the police car were visible down the road. She looked through the broken window, wishing she could be more helpful for the white sheep-bunny girl. She felt terribly sorry for her, she has never encountered someone this hurt before.

"Hold on honey, help is on the way..." The girl didn't respond to Leal's voice, and she remained slack in the car seat, struggling for air. She could be drowning in her own blood for all Leal knew, and she couldn't do anything more about it despite absolutely wanting to. She looked at her own phone and saw that the call with the emergency operator had ended somehow, perhaps she had accidentally ended it when she hit the window, it didn't matter anymore, she had done her part. The police car came to a halt on the shoulder of the road at a safe distance away, and Leal tucked the broken phone away to hide inside the girl's purse. She knew how things might look if she was caught with someone else's belongings when the police officer arrived at the scene.

The officer was a fit beta male deer, a whitetail with a full rack of antlers. His silhouette stood tall against the bright lights of his squad car and the red and blue flashers that danced its colors all around. Leal backed off from the vehicle as the officer rushed up to inspect for himself.

"She's still alive!" Leal yelled out over the top of the crashed car.

"Ma'am, please return to your vehicle." Leal stepped away and did as he said, but stopped when her nose twitched, it detected something dangerous in the air. The officer radioed his dispatcher the details of the situation, and Leal interrupted him with a shout.

"Fire!" An orange flame rose out of the mangled engine block. "FIRE!!!" She screamed and the officer rushed and yanked at the driver's door. It opened with some difficulty and the officer very carefully reached in and cradled the girl in his arms.

"Ma'am! Get in your car and back away!" The officer yelled as the flames grew, spread, and the burning oil filled the scene with a dark greasy smoke. Leal wisely withdrew through the grass, and seated herself into her exotic black electric car and threw it into reverse. The tires spun briefly, then she was in motion, backing away until she felt she was far enough from any harm. The girl was pulled from the wreckage just in time before the rest of the car began to engulfed. In a matter of a single minute, the little silver car became a roaring unsalvageable bonfire. The girl had been carried to safety behind the squad car, shielding her from the fire. With clenched fists around the steering wheel, Leal's nerves shivered with discomfort and shock, anxiety gnawing at her emotional armor. All she could hear was her own heavy breathing and the pounding of her heart inside the quiet interior. The girl's purse still rested on her shoulder, and Leal was grateful it had been retrieved, grateful the doors had been unlocked before the fire started, grateful the girl wouldn't be burned to death. Another thought to her dismay had been that she caused the electrical spark when she unlocked the doors. She didn't know what to feel guilty about, she merely acted with very little forethought and impulsively did what she thought was right. She wondered if the girl would survive the night, she could've easily sustained life-threatening injuries, and it bothered her to think someone would be fine one moment and at death's door the next. Mind spinning, her anxiety had become uncontrollable. She wished she was home where it was calm, safe, and certainly comfortable. The large green satchel bag with a red medical cross sitting in her passenger seat was her own purse. Inside it was something she desperately needed to help her relax. She grabbed her smoke vapor pen with a cartridge of a rather potent cannabis extract. She just wanted to take one good puff; to at least ease her jitters and calm her racing thoughts. She needed to take it, it was her only medicine, the only kind that worked for her anyway. About to draw on the pen, her thoughts had been instantly interrupted when the fuel tank of the silver sedan finally ignited in a heavy plume of flames. The car then became a bright beacon for the medical helicopter that appeared over the treetops a moment later. Leafless spring trees swayed in the winds of the helicopter's main rotor blade while it landed far behind the cop's car. The emergency personnel quickly jumped out with a stretcher in their paws to secure the girl and transport her to the nearest hospital. They moved her to the stretcher and strapped her in, communicating in they're medical jargon, radioed ahead to the hospital, and frantically rushed to save her life. When the helicopter began to lift off, it then dawned on Leal that she had something that she will need to return. She put the pen back in her bag without using it and got out of her car. She walked up to the officer who was now laying down road flares and talking on his radio to what she guessed was a fire rescue team. The fire died down a little once the fuel burned up, and the forest narrowly escaped being burned down.

"Sir!?" Leal yelled over the thumping of the helicopter's blades as it ascended. It disappeared over the trees and began its hasty route towards Heatherwood City. The officer struck another flare and dropped it to the asphalt before he gave Leal his attention. "Which hospital are they taking her to?" Leal questioned. The officer scratched his head once.

"Not sure, but they'll likely take her to Heatherwood General, it's the nearest one with a helipad. I can confirm that if you want?" The officer wasn't wrong, it was the best bet, any other hospital would be further across the city and out of range.

"No, that's alright. Thank you for coming when you did." The officer nodded without expression and went back to his duties securing the crash site. The siren of the fire truck had finally come in the distance with more flashing lights, and Leal needed to get moving if she was going to get to the hospital to return what was likely the only thing this girl had left. She was appreciative that she was able to retrieve her purse, her phone, her identification, money, among other important things everyone doesn't go anywhere without.

Leal rushed into Heatherwood General Hospital holding the girl's brown purse in her paw, and over her own shoulder hung her green satchel bag. The white fluorescent lit lobby didn't have anyone else present, a good thing since Leal didn't have the patience or the time to wait in any line. She stepped swiftly up to the front desk to talk to the bored nurse resting her big orange tabby cheek on her paw. Her smartphone occupied her attention as she sifted through mindless social media content for mild entertainment.

"Hi," Leal greeted the nurse, who slowly looked up, completely unenthusiastic. "which way to the ER? My friend just came in by helicopter." The nurse lazily pointed across the room and Leal spun to see a sign for it. She immediately went to the double-doors and the tabby pressed a button to unlock them for her, granting her access with a notifying buzz.

At least an hour had gone by since the airlifted crash victim arrived, and Leal fiercely wondered about her condition. If there was something she could do for the girl, she would do it without hesitation, she just needed to see her, and see if she was alive. Leal tried not to seem too frazzled as she looked for the girl, and around the first corner, an occupied room had a bed with the identifiable white sheep-bunny. Leal stood outside the door for a moment to take in the somber tones of the machines that monitored her vitals and provided intravenous fluids and a nose-line of fresh oxygen. She slowly counted her steps into the room, and in a way, she was nearly brought to tears to hear a steady heartbeat beeping for her. Leal let out a deep sigh and turned to the table beside the bed, then gently sat the brown purse on its surface. Not making a sound, she let it be and completed the first part of her task. There was a whiteboard with the patient's information on it. In the section that would normally have a name, 'Unknown' had been written in its place. Leal opened the brown purse and examined the girl's identification card, learning her name, birthdate, and confirmed for herself that she is registered as a rare sheep-rabbit hybrid. She picked up the dry-erase marker tied to a string hanging from the side of the whiteboard, erased 'Unknown' with her left palm, and wrote her proper name.

"Penelope... O'Dolly." She spoke slowly as she filled in the blank. "Hm, Penelope, cool name." She capped the marker and let it hang beside the board again. Behind her, footsteps entered the room. It was a nurse, a beta male wolf in blue scrubs, and he had missed Leal's tampering by a second.

"Hi, are you a friend or family?"

"...friend." Leal told him, feeling a harsh ping like a flash of a severe migraine on her forehead, but as quickly as it came, it was gone. "How is she?" She asked, rubbing her head. The wolf checked a few readings on a monitor screen, poked them with a finger, and recorded them on the clipboard in his paws.

"Her blood alcohol level was through the roof. She has bruised ribs, a collapsed lung, concussion. She'll learn never to drink and drive again, that's for sure." Leal's heart sank as she learned the severity of the girl's injuries. "If you would like to wait for the doctor, she will be around in a moment to tell you the recovery plan and long-term care." The nurse smiled kindly, apologetic, or perhaps sympathetic. Care and concern was genuine on his furry face despite seeing this probably often enough. He made his marks on his clipboard and left the two girls alone with a solemn smile.

A chime buzzed on Leal's phone. She pulled it from her satchel and read that Paulie had sent her a text message.

"Where on Terra are you!? The team is waiting on you!" Leal had forgotten about her video game match entirely, and who would blame her after the kind of evening she had. She quickly texted her friend back.

"Be there soon, at the hospital. Bad crash on Falcon Road." The delivered message was confirmed with another chime, and a reply came almost immediately.

"Are you ok?" It read.

"I'm fine, I didn't crash. Someone else did." Leal replied back. Paulie took a moment to write out the next message.

"Please come home. I know what you're about to do and please don't do it! It's none of your business!" Leal sat quietly for a moment and watched the monitors draw their lines and make their lively beeps. Leal sighed and weighed the options and possibilities. She may have been the one to set the car on fire, burning it away with all of the girl's possessions. She considered the risks, and her mind was made.

"I have to." She texted lastly before she silenced her phone and tucked it back into her satchel. In the same motion, she took out her smoking pen filled with cannabis oil. Next, she took out a laundry dryer sheet that smelled like clean fruity perfume. She held these tools in her paws for a moment and looked at Penelope as she was unconsciously absent from the world.

"I have to..." She said aloud to only herself, honestly to herself, and took a long draw to fill her lungs full of smoke. She held her breath and absorbed it until she could feel it flow through her body. It began to make her head fuzzy, and her mind eased from distraction and worries. She held the dryer sheet over her mouth and exhaled, blowing the smoke through the makeshift filter.

The room smelled of fruity laundry and the obvious odor of the herby oil was no longer detectable. She hoped nobody would question it, smoking was never allowed in any hospital. Quickly, she removed Penelope's nasal oxygen tube and carefully detached her IV in her forearm to clear her from her attachments. She was fortunate that the hospital didn't bind the girl in any braces or stints, those would've been far more difficult to detach. Leal took a deep breath and focused herself, feeling numb in all the sharp places, and could feel the energy begin to activate inside her. She was manifesting her gift and made it ready.

Standing at Penelope's side, she laid her paws very gently on Penelope's heart and forehead. After a calming sigh, she let her golden aura expose the invisible energetic wood grain that flowed all around, and surrounded herself with it as she channeled it to engulf the girl. It worked as she remained calm and focused. All of the visible injuries began to fade away, dried blood coming alive again and receding back into her. The deeper damage took a little longer, but steadily, even Penelope's bruised ribs were sewn back together and became like the traumatic event had never happened. Her white fuzz dappled with blood stains was now clean and pure as snow.

She looked like she was sleeping, rather than lost in the painful dark. The healing was successful, and the invisible golden light receded back to her heart, to lay dormant until she needed it again. She took an exhausted breath before taking her paws from the girl's head and heart, and planned to leave immediately, leaving the doctors baffled. Before she could move on, Penelope stirred, murmured, and awoke. Leal jerked her paws back and the girl jolted awake with a sharp gasp of breath. Her sky blue eyes were bright and filled with confusion, and she took quick gasps before coughing like she had nearly drowned. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, then relaxed back into the bed. She looked at Leal with a deeply confused expression.

"Where am I?" She was terrified. Her voice had a gentle sweet pitch to it, and her accent told of her origin, obviously from the island of Yyme. (A place strongly similar to Ireland; that is, if you're a human.)

"Are you ok?" Leal asked, hoping she was.

"I... I am very much confused. Am I in a hospital? How am I here? Was I dreaming? Who are you?" Leal didn't know how to answer any of her questions, and before the silence could get any more awkward, her assigned doctor entered the room staring at a tablet in her paws and wore an earpiece headset in one ear. She stopped with surprise when she saw Penelope was awake.

The doctor was a slim fox, and her natural sly wit might make explaining an inexplicable recovery a challenge. Leal was snared into a situation she didn't want to be present for. Leal held her breath and held herself together, and very much hadn't forgotten that she was still strongly experiencing the effects of cannabis.

"Oh, you're... up?" She said, and looked quizzically at Penelope while she stepped closer. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel rather fine, how am I here?" Penelope asked with concern and fear in her eyes. The doctor looked at the screen of the tablet, and scratched her head in bafflement. She looked at the whiteboard and read the name it provided, and noticed it was inconsistent with the name on the chart.

"Uh, I assume your name isn't really 'Unknown.' Do I have the right room? Yes, I do... says here that you were in a terrible car accident. Bruised ribs, a head injury, and so on." Leal quickly interjected the conversation.

"No, she came in with... abdominal pain." There was the ping on her forehead again, far stronger this time and it caused her to wince noticeably in pain. She hoped she could throw the doctor off until she could sneak out and get away, Penelope seemed ok as far as she knew. "I'm her friend, I brought her here." The excruciating ping flashed again, and her vision blurred red for a concerning moment before returning. Her whole head hurt and the pain lingered. The fox stared at the tablet again and read through the chart.

"Abdominal pain... half of this info is right, female, white rabbit..." She was a hybrid but a clerical error was made, someone listed only 'rabbit', and Leal saw the opportunity.

"That's not right, she's a sheep." The pain in her head had disappeared completely in an instant.

"Yes, I identify as sheep." Penelope insisted. The doctor sighed at the mixed up information. Instead of leaving to correct things at the desk, she simply tapped at the tablet and created a new document.

"Ok, let's start over then. Your name is Penelope O'Dolly..." She muttered as she typed it in. "...and which day during the birth season were you born?" Penelope sat up and stared down at the bed and thought for a moment. Leal thought she could excuse herself shortly and escape to race home to play her game online with Paulie. Moreover, to smoke the stress away at her leisure.

"Aquarius." Penelope told the doctor.

"Not during the Birth Season then, that's really rare. Which day in Aquarius?" Penelope continued staring at the blank white sheet that covered her, and found no answer.

"I... don't know..." The doctor had a surprised look on her face, and before she could respond, Leal had jumped in again.

"No one really knows but we celebrate it whenever we can." Again with that damn ping of pain, she was wondering what the hell it was. Leal was strongly considering finding a way and a moment to excuse herself, walk out, and run home. The unconvinced fox needed to know for the record but moved on..

"Fair enough. Can you tell me what today's date is?"

"31st of Aries." The date was very incorrect. It caught everyone by surprise, and with a moment for Leal to think, a terrible realization came to her. She had healed her wrong. A spike of pure panic struck her heart, this girl healed with holes in her memory, much like how a piercing in an ear will heal to create an open space. Leal felt dreadfully responsible for possibly causing more harm than good with her gift. Her emotions were now iced with a tremendous remorse that it nearly physically weighed her down. Now she couldn't excuse herself to leave at all. She had to think fast or her situation would get out of control completely.

"She's just forgetful, that's all. She seems ok, so can we go home now?" The fox turned away from her and spoke into the headset.

"Hipolito, could you come to ER room one, please?" She released a finger on the headset call button, and after a short pause, Hipolito's voice could be heard from the tiny speaker.

"Be there in a jiff." The fox sighed and looked determined to figure out exactly what was happening. She was unluckily a good doctor, so she stepped to Penelope's side and started gently pressing her fingers on her ribs, examining where she had been hurt. Penelope only minorly twitched with laughter.

"That tickles lots, heh, hehehe!" She giggled and recoiled away from the fox's paws, not in any pain at all.

"You definitely don't have any bruised ribs..."

A human with dark skin and hair came into the room. Leal felt his presence before she saw him. It was like her aura had an intruder, and it startled her. She exclaimed, shocked.

"Oh my goddess, you look like a human!" Leal accused Hipolito with a point of her finger. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the observation.

"You are correct, Chica." Leal huffed, it wasn't much of a guess. He continued. "I am a Mimeo, a human-created artificial life form that was, to much dismay, left behind. There are no humans left, at least, not on this planet. Save your questions about them, my kind doesn't know where they went or why, so let's all focus on our patient here, hmm?" Leal knew only a little bit, or at least had theories, she learned as much as she could learn about humans and the rare few androids they left behind to roam the planet. Though, she never thought one of them would live in her own home city. She had to feed her curiosity.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" Hipolito chuckled again, and had a charming way of expressing his thoughts with his hands as he spoke more with body language influenced by tropical island life. "Shouldn't you be in a secluded town dancing or making art or singing?"

"Oh Chica, we're not all the same, yes? My aspiration is to be a nurse where I can make a difference, one challenge at a time." He waved his hand as to gesture a dismissal of the topic then cupped his hands together and turned to his patient. "And who might this lovely flower be?" He asked Penelope. She shied away from him when he came near, and Leal wondered if she was feeling the same off-putting vibe from the mechanical lifeform.

"Aye, I'm Penelope, but I'm commonly called Peep." She replied to the debonair android.

"Delightful to meet you, Peep." He said with a formal extension of his hand, to which Peep ignored. "What brings you to this fine hospital?" The fox doctor cleared her throat and began explaining what she knew of the conundrum.

"I briefly saw this one come in by helicopter with rib contusions and now she seems perfectly healthy, not a scratch on her." Leal was sweating in her shoes, nervous and feeling exposed, she was already beginning to think of ways to explain her ability and how to make sure that it remained a secret. If the worst came, she would make a dash for her car. The doctor spoke to Hipolito in a low private tone, Leal's excellent ears overheard anyway. "I need you to scan her and tell me what the hell is going on here." Hipolito's eyes widened.

"I can't, that's cheating."

"This hospital doesn't have the technology to get an instant full spectrum analysis like you can, just scan her." Hipolito looked disappointed, losing a chance to find out the old-fashioned way. He sighed and put his hands on his hips defiantly as his eyes flickered with an internal light. He looked up and down across Peep, then pursed his lips. Leal clutched at her satchel, and considered making a mad dash for the exit before they found out. Paulie was right, she shouldn't have interfered and now she was cornered. Hipolito looked at Leal with a smug knowing expression, then stood upright and proper to deliver his analysis.

"This girl had never sustained any serious injuries. Although I did detect a small kidney stone, it had passed. She has a clean bill of health and is free to go home. There, happy?" Leal was looking at Peep when she felt a strange invisible interaction, but it stemmed from the aura of the android. She detected it, and at that very same instance, she saw Peep slightly flinch with a look of something she knew was incorrect. Hipolito rubbed his forehead and looked at Peep once more. The look in his eyes gave away that he knew something as well. The doctor sighed and poked angrily at the tablet in her paws. She rolled her eyes and muttered nonsense under her breath about proper patient documentation procedures and rambling a couple names to blame. Once the doctor had stepped out to correct the perceived errors at the main desk of the ER, Hipolito giggled. "I suggest you go straight home immediately, and drink plenty of water, young lady." He advised and smiled. This was all too strange for Leal but she couldn't refuse the opportunity to go free.

"Thank you." Leal sincerely said, and the android gave her a knowing wink before he left to help settle the mess, or perhaps manipulate documents to bury something. "C'mon honey, gotta go." She told Peep as she took her paw and helped her out of the bed. Her feet clapped on the tile floor as she hopped down from the bed. Leal couldn't avoid noticing she had similar feet to her own. They were animalistic with fur and pads, but humanly shaped, plantigrade legs rather than digitigrade. She was dressed in a green plaid skirt around her hip, and a plain pink shirt with a green clover as a top. On her wrist was an unfashionable bright-orange hospital tag with the name 'Unknown' written on it. Her head hair was long, curly, and tied back into a poofy ponytail atop her head with a green scrunchy. Peep stood short beside Leal, standing at a meager 4' 9" (137cm) in contrast to Leal's 5' 8" (172cm). Adjusting her shirt and skirt, she grabbed her little brown purse and pulled out her phone to check it. Surprised that the screen was terribly damaged with cracks.

"Oh dard't... How ever did this happen!? Stupid of me..." She tapped at it a few times before Leal took her arm to pull her out of the room.

"I'll explain later, we have to go! Now!" Leal walked with her, pulling the confused sheep-rabbit girl behind her. Her fur wasn't exactly a bunny's fur and wasn't exactly wool either. The best term to describe it was bunny-wool similar to 'Astrex rabbit fur'. It was a short tight fuzz that felt like a soft velvety cotton you'd find on a luxury pillow, it was unlike anything she's ever encountered. Still, Leal held tight and they calmly exited the emergency room in haste, and luckily, no one stopped them for questioning or had even noticed.

They left the emergency room through the door Leal had previously entered through, and to one side of the hall was a public water fountain. Peep nearly threw herself at it with thirst. Leal sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose as she waited for the girl to finish slurping a wealthy amount of water to rehydrate. Once satisfied, Peep gasped and exhaled audibly.

"Right as rain, that is." Leal was exuding impatience from across the lobby. The receptionist wasn't paying any attention to the scene, nor had she cared. Leal motioned her arms and paws in an attempt to rush Peep out the door. Every passing minute she spent in that hospital felt like it increased the chances of something bad happening. Being caught by security or a curious doctor coming to see where they went for the purpose of finding an explanation. Frustration was setting into Leal's mind and rubbed her paws down her face with a groan.

"Come! On!" She exhaled out.

"Yeh, yeh, yeh, but I-" With a grip of her paw, Leal tugged her along towards the wide double-doored entrance. Peep was whimpering and pulling in protest, then as they both were out and under the entrance carport overhead, there was a jerk on Leal's arm and Peep had broken free of her grip. It startled both of them, and Leal had grown very impatient.

"Now what!?" She yelled just beneath being loud. Peep was shaking and looking around in the distance frantically, and fear had possessed her eyes.

"Outside... I can't." She began backing up towards the doors.

"Uugghh!..." With clenched fists, Leal had enough of this. "Fine! Wait here and I'll pull my car around, and for the love of the goddess, do NOT go anywhere!" She barked. Peep nodded worriedly and she waited just inside the lobby doors so they would be closed.

Leal jogged to her car, and in a couple minutes more, she pulled it around to the front as close as she could to the doors. With a reach across the passenger seat, she opened the door for Peep. She stood and stared at the car from the entrance, visibly steeled herself, and then finally set a quick pace to get inside the car. Peep slammed the door behind her, eyes wide and breathing heavily. She was clutching at her long ears and subtly rocked back and forth. Leal took a moment to observe her odd behavior.

"Uhm," she paused for a response and received none. "Are you alright?" Peep was silent, staring forward and unresponsive, but peaked at Leal and her face held a hint of embarrassment. Putting her car into gear, Leal didn't know what else to do at the moment but to go home and try to explain all this nonsense to Paulie.

Street lights strobed by as the center of the city shrank behind them in the distance and the residential zones ahead grew nearer. The traffic, for once, wasn't terrible and the drive towards Leal's one-bedroom condominium home was sure and steady. She knew she had likely missed her video game skirmish with Paulie, but she didn't feel like playing games anymore. The hum of Leal's electric car droned quietly on the road. Her guest sat quietly and stared at the screen of her phone and the notification telling her she had missed a call from her 'Mum'. Every so often, she would touch her face and chest, trying to discern what exactly she was feeling. The growing silence was noticed and Peep decided to strike up a conversation about the nearest thing that could be talked about.

"You have a nice car, I've seen none like it." The interior of the vehicle was lined with purple low-lit lighting strips, an all digital display with every bell and whistle, camera displays for safer driving and detection, and the car felt like it was floating rather than rolling on the road. It was luxurious with no expense spared. The only tarnish there was a small mess of candy wrappers, discarded empty paper drink cups, juice boxes, and crumpled up small purchase receipts both on the console and the passenger's side floor.

"My father commissioned it for me." She admitted. "A gift, actually." After a quiet moment, Leal chose to properly introduce herself.

"I'm Leal Rhinelander, by the way." Peep looked at her sweetly and smiled back at her.

"To meet you is a pleasure, Leal." A moment hung between them as Leal focused on the road, still feeling affected from when she smoked her cannabis pen. She could drive easily enough as long as she paid attention, and she certainly didn't want to get into an accident for herself, they narrowly escaped the first one. With a glance, Leal checked in with Peep about her health.

"How're you feeling?" Peep felt her head.

"Like a dry sponge, my head feels tatty with holes... I can't believe today is the fifteenth of Aquarius... and... I can't remember my own birthday, or the pass number for my phone, probably other important things of the like." Leal felt awful about what she had done to her, and wondered if it would ever be worth the steep price the innocent girl had to pay to be saved from much worse pain. She gathered her resolve and figured that if she was going to make a full recovery, her best chance was with the one that could heal with a touch. No hospital or facility would ever be comfortable for her, and her memory needs to be jogged so it might come back, if it was possible. It was necessary to settle for some accountability if Peep was going to hang around for a little while. Leal sighed loudly.

"I'm going to give it to you straight." She began. "I was driving home from a visit with my father when I found your car. You hit a tree straight-on along Falcon Road, just outside the city here. We're in Heatherwood. You were really, really messed up. I called in the emergency and grabbed your purse for you and-" There was a sensation of touch on her arm that was lightly startling. Peep rested a paw on her shoulder, and Leal looked to see a very thankful girl smiling back at her.

"Thank you." She whispered, getting emotional over the sudden life changing event. "Stupid of me..." She said to herself. "Where's my car now? Is it alright? What about my things?" Leal's heart stopped but pressed on anyway through it, she had to know what happened.

"It caught fire just as you were pulled out, and eventually the ethanol tank caught fire... and..."

"It's gone to ashes... the whole lot of it..." She realized.

"Your car was packed like you were moving somewhere. Was you? Where were you going?" Peep thought long and hard for a moment, but there was no moment of realization, no memory nor knowledge, and shook her head shallowly.

"That's a real scratcher. The last thing I do recall is saying farewell to my mum at home, then coming here for education, that was on the thirtieth of Aries last year... I don't remember the school I was going to... I don't remember... How long? A year?" Aries was only two weeks ago, and she was missing a large time period of her recent life.

"I am so, so sorry..." Leal gave a heartfelt apology, and Peep caught her eye just before she looked away, seeing it was wet with tears.

"Aye it's not your fault. Sounds like you made a right lot of good for me." Leal pulled her car from the highway at her exit to stop at a traffic light. They weren't far from home now.

"Perhaps not." She confessed. "You crashed just over an hour ago, and... I..." Peep raised an eyebrow and the sad expression across Leal's face poured out guilt. Peep was surely puzzled by the timeline.

"Ah, what's this now?" Leal held herself together for the moment, and wanted to explain how she healed, she felt undeniably compelled to explain herself. She sighed and figured she had the time to tell some history while the traffic light remained red. She hoped by the end of a myth, she would have the courage.

"Uhhhhhmmm... how can I explain it?" She paused for a moment to start at what she thought was the very beginning. "We animals are all at least a tiny bit human according to legend. They say it's the part of us that is self-aware, stands upright, thumbs," She wiggled her own demonstratively, "civility and so on. They lived on this planet millions of years ago, and they were so advanced that they had superpower-like abilities to do miraculous things. One of the myths talks about how their Prometheus passed his torch to our Anima. I think that's a metaphor for humans giving us parts of their genetics to make us who we are. It makes sense doesn't it? That seems like a scientific answer, right?"

"I don't understand, what's the idea you have?" Peep asked and Leal was unsure if she knew anything about the subject at all. "Was that a human at the hospital? He seemed quite pleasant and ever so charming."

"He's a Mimeo, a robot... Did you learn any of this stuff in school?" Peep shook her head.

"I haven't, m'mum never taught me any of this. I'm only a homeschooled lass." Leal huffed and thought she was incredibly lucky, even felt a little jealous of her for being homeschooled.

"That mimeo lied so we could go." Leal told her.

"I thought so." Peep said, staring out the window at the darkness beyond, which brought forth more confusion. Leal continued bravely.

"I have a very special gift, a human gift. I can heal people." Peep smiled and seemed surprised, perhaps amazed, but Leal didn't share the same sentiments and looked as if a curse rested upon her. It was exciting news to Peep either way.

"No foolin'? That's a rather profound gift." Leal wiped the tears from her eyes as the stop light finally turned green.

"It could be why you can't remember things... I think I messed up... I think I messed you up... and..." She couldn't bear to see the look on Peep's face, she just focused on driving through the neighborhoods to her condo complex.

"Aw Leal, I'm quite glad you used that gift of yours. I ne'er been so badly hurt in my life! Lying in an infirmary bed for days all painfully bludgeoned, that terrifies me. Even now, it feels like my body remembers being hurt, though I don't. I guess like phantom pain, it's irregular. I rather meant it when I said thank you." Leal took a right turn down another street. "I'll remember things again, I do know it." Peep added optimistically, hoping to lift her rabbit friend's spirit.

"Honey, I hope so too." She smiled back at the sheepy girl by her side. Peep checked the time on the cracked screen of her phone. She didn't even attempt to unlock it. "Don't worry about that too much," Leal told her with half of a grin on her face. "I'll buy you a brand new one. Consider it a late birthday gift." Peep really appreciated the generous offer.

"Thank you, but it's not my birthday."

"You're right, it was yesterday." Peep's eyes widened with surprise.

"Oh! I'm twenty-one now!" Leal accidentally hit the breaks a little too abruptly at a stop sign.

"You're only twenty-one!? I thought you were younger." Peep giggled.

"Aye, admitting I'm a bit'o a wee lass, and a habit with the stiff drink likely haven't helped. That was a perk from m'mum for helping with the family business. We own a bed and breakfast in Yyme. It's a lovely place. The Cozy Kettle, in Wendbrook. That's my home, and Yymmish liquor was readily available." Leal didn't cast any judgment. She herself smoked cannabis frequently and she's been doing that since she was 18, about a little over seven years ago. She chalked it up to 'everyone has a vice' and dismissed it with a slight topic change.

"Back when Terra was called 'Earth' by the humans, the month of Aquarius was called February. The 14th was a holiday called Saint Valentine's Day. It was a celebration of mated couples, romance, love, stuff like that. I think it's a pretty cool day to be born." They both felt eased, and to Leal, things were beginning to feel not so bad.

"You know a good lot about humans, don't you?" Leal nodded once and confirmed the observation.

"Just trying to understand that part of me, that's all." It was the whole truth, but what hadn't been made known yet is that she struggled to summon her gift. She slowed and pulled the car into a complex with high rising buildings that stacked five stories tall each. "We're home." Leal announced. It was the familiar part of town where Leal grew up, but to Peep, it was a foreign land.

"Uhm, where are we?" Peep looked around as Leal parked the car in her designated space with an electric charging port and a canopy overhead.

"Luckleaf Landings. It's a sheep-llama-bunny-goat type of neighborhood. You'll fit right in around here."

To no surprise, Peep struggled to get out of the car and to the entrance of the building. She covered her head and rushed quickly like she had before leaving the hospital. The behavior still remained a point of confusion to Leal. There was no concern from Peep before and after she had to move from one place to another, but the isolated moments still remained a mystery she wanted to solve.

Upon entering the mid-sized, one-bedroom, fifth-floor condominium, the mess was afronting with plenty of disorganized belongings strewn about with no care. The living room had bottles, juice boxes, and packages of snacks both with and without contents. Before the couch on a square coffee table holding most of these and half covered with trash, old discarded mail, papers, paper shopping bags, but among all the garbage there was a nice large flat-screen television with a current gaming console attached, controllers laying on the faded green fabric couch cushions with a few old stains. It was definitely very well lived in but not very well kept, garbage was everywhere. Peep bit her tongue and said nothing about the unkempt appearance of Leal's home, but instead, expressed her hunger.

"I'm famished." She sighed. "Might you have something of a bite?" Leal made sure to tell Paulie that she was home safe in a quick text, everyone was alright, caught up with events, and opened her balcony door for some fresh air into her living room. The expressions on Leal's face telegraphed that poor Paulie was worried sick.

"If you can find it, you can eat it. Paulie will come by shortly, she's a very close friend." Leal announced while Peep cut the paper medical band off her wrist with a knife carefully to not cut her own wrist in the process. The couch was a relaxing reprieve for Leal, the TV lit up and the news came on while Peep attempted to navigate the disorderly kitchen.

After Peep raided the refrigerator for fruits and vegetables, she called out to Leal as she packed her glass smoking pipe with fresh green cannabis.

"Do you have any white vinegar?" Peep asked.

"No, I don't... are you trying to cook something? I thought you were gonna grab an apple or whatever." Leal replied and turned to see her guest go back to the countertop for something.

"It's ok, you have red wine, I can use that." Peep popped the cork and set a pan on the range of the stove, which was infrequently used for any real cooking other than boiling water for instant meals. She was a butterfly, naturally fluttering about the kitchen like it was a garden. Leal watched mildly amused, wondering what concoction was on the menu as the sound of sizzling began to fill her ears.

A commercial grabbed Leal's attention after the news program finished its report about some big local charity event. The commercial went on showing many females nude and mating with only a single alpha male dog, and then a well-dressed rabbit stepped onto the scene and spoke.

"Mating season is just around the corner, and at Garden Bay, there are big sales! Twenty percent off all fruits and vegetables, and buy two get one free on all Garden Bay bread-'' Leal switched off the TV with an aggressive press of the power button on the remote, she had missed the weather report anyway and was not in the mood to listen to the forced optimism of commercials. With the way Peep was floating about her kitchen, she'll likely need to replenish her supplies and take advantage of those deals soon, Leal wasn't looking forward to mating season at all this year. She sighed then lit the bowl of her pipe and took a relaxed draw on it, held for a moment, and let the smoke out into the room. Finally, she could relax and unwind from the crazy events of the evening. Peep let the meal in the saucepan simmer, then talked to Leal from the kitchen.

"You have such a lovely home, it's quite modern compared to the B&B." Peep complimented.

"I think I'd prefer the B&B, out on the Yymmish moors, it sounds like a real getaway." Leal replied while Peep returned to her cooking and stirred the sizzling contents of the pan for one last moment.

"I guess so, it was hard work to keep it all together with only my mum, Grammy, and myself. What about this place? What do you do to earn the keep?" Peep took a taste of her cooking from the spoon. Leal sighed and slumped back into the couch. Peep looked to her from the kitchen again, waiting to hear her answer.

"My dad pays for all of my housing costs. For food and entertainment, I have a solid job at Game Throne at the mall." Peep nodded, thinking she was the lucky one, then something caught her eye. Before the open balcony door, an owl flew up and perched on the railing. Peep noticed and gasped sharply, freezing in pure terror. Its form quickly shifted then morphed from an owl into a clothed human girl. Leal couldn't be happier to see her round short and curly dark-haired head. She appeared as a flapper girl from ancient human times, and was draped in a favorite slinky blue dress with pearls around her neck and a lacy black and white garter around her right thigh. She barely stepped inside before Leal wrapped herself around her in a tight hug.

"Bad day, Leal?" She buried her face into her friend's shoulder and nodded, trying to hold back her emotions for how much she missed her. Paulie smelled the delicious aroma of cooking and had to ask. "You don't cook... are you cooking something? Are you actually cooking something?"

"No, my guest is." Leal replied. Paulie put her hands on Leal's fluffy cheeks and gasped at her.

"Please tell me you didn't bring someone home? I told you it was none of your business, stop trying to be a hero!" Leal shook her friend's hands off of her face and defended herself. Leal yelled under her breath.

"You don't understand! I was about to leave but she woke up and then I found out that I had messed her up!" Paulie was shaking her head at her for being so reckless.

"Just calm down, does she know about your gift?" asked Paulie.

"Yyyeeeaaahhh..." Leal drawled dramatically and Paulie palmed her face in frustration, then peaked by to see Peep averting her stare.

"Fine, I guess I should introduce myself if I'm gonna be around. She may need help figuring things out. But after this, never again." Paulie admonished Leal. Leal recomposed herself and walked across her living room to the kitchen. Peep hadn't realized she was eavesdropping as she stood frozen, then began fetching some plates from the cupboard to serve her fresh meal.

"Peep, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." Paulie came around and greeted the sheepy girl gently.

"Hiiii... I'm Paulie Ellis. I'm a writer that writes stories-" Leal elbowed Paulie to stop. "I mean, I'm just a masseuse, for now." The astounded Peep stopped to see yet another human form standing before her.

"Are you...?"

"Human? No sweetheart, I'm an Amorpha, a shapeshifter. I noticed you had already seen me so there's no reason to hide it, also this is my most comfortable form, the original one, if you will." Paulie morphed herself into Peep, and it was like looking in a mirror, from the pattern on her skirt to the scrunchy holding her hair back. Leal then stepped in, thinking things were moving too fast.

"Don't scare the poor girl, between the three of us, she's had the worst day." Paulie changed back to her default human form and smiled almost spitefully at Leal. Peep wasn't sure if she liked this strange new friend or not.

"Nice... to meet you... Penelope O'Dolly, but Peep is preferred. If you like, I made plenty of dinner to have." Stepping back to the oven range, she portioned the saucy fruits and vegetables onto plates for everyone and shook the strangeness of these friends from her mind. It was impolite to stare at guests anyway, and she had to remind herself that even though this place and these people were strange, she needed a place to feel safe.

They each sat around Leal's table, which was a small round wooden table that likely never seated anyone before, the couch was likely the main spot to eat meals. Leal had to clear a space by shifting the old stacks of mail to the floor, which didn't improve the clutter piled up below. Peep served everyone with a plate each, in a professional manner, then returned to the kitchen to serve some for herself. Leal and Paulie both smelled the sweet and savory aroma, Leal nearly taking a bite before Paulie stopped her to be polite, and they waited for Peep to take a seat with her own portion. They each took a bite of the vegetable-fruit medley covered in an orange zesty sweet, sour, and even savory sauce. They both hummed with delight and Paulie had to comment.

"This is absolutely delicious! What do you call it?"

"Dinner." Peep smiled. "It's nothing special to speak of, really. All the cooking at the B&B is mine. Mum has no sense of taste for it, but we work paw in paw to accommodate the guests." Paulie dropped her fork when she heard that bit.

"You have a B&B?" She leaned far over to Leal's floppy ear, stretching her body a bit to get close enough. "Vacation time!" She loudly whispered. Peep smiled with delight.

"I don't mind, I quite like cooking, baking, cleaning, and a good lot of other things." Peep's notice hadn't forwent the disorder of Leal's home, and she thought to help out. It only seemed fair because Leal was a hero in her eyes. With another long lean, Paulie whispered to Leal.

"Don't make me beg." She added.

They hungrily enjoyed the homemade recipe, and as Peep washed the dishes after dinner, Paulie pulled Leal aside to talk.

"You didn't tell me she was a total sweetheart, she has super gentle energy." She was rather happy to say.

"I'm not going to abuse her hospitality."

"Ok, but I was expecting something different. You said she was messed up." Leal stepped through the open sliding glass door and walked out onto the balcony, Paulie followed as Leal continued the conversation outside.

"She is. She can't remember some stuff like her birthday and the passcode to her phone, and... the last year of her life. It could be permanent." Leal braced herself for a tongue lashing but Paulie hadn't strongly reacted at all, only sighed.

"She's sweet but we don't know her. She doesn't really know herself anymore, does she? She feels very trustworthy, and there's something very weird about her, I can't describe it, but she is not our responsibility so the sooner she can be on her way, the better. For her sake at least."

Around the corner in the living room, Peep stood drying her paws with a dish towel, and overheard the conversation that wasn't meant for her ears.

Paulie felt her presence and turned wide-eyed to her. "Oh goddess, Peep, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it in a bad way!"

"I understand..." She said, "I'll rightfully leave when I can remember where I am to go." A silence fell awkwardly between them for a moment before Paulie excused herself, ashamed.

"I've embarrassed myself, I'm sure she's a nice, normal girl... I have work early tomorrow so I'm just gonna go... I'm sorry..." Paulie morphed into an owl again and soared off into the night to her own home a few buildings away. Leal shook her head as Peep stepped closer to the open door, and looked across the lush green grounds glowing in the lamplight. Leal made sure Peep was welcome, feeling horrible for her.

"It'll take some time before she warms up to you. We're just a couple of antisocials afraid of the world. If you do go, we'll keep in touch, but you are welcome here." Peep bravely ventured out into the open air on her own, and sat her paw on Leal's as it rested on the balcony railing, completing a connection. The sheepy girl smiled kindly, but slowly allowed her face to shift to a skeptical expression.

"An antisocial bunny? A contradiction, I do think that is." Leal simpered as Peep went on. "I'm a domestic home-dweller myself, so I gather I shall fit right in." Peep smiled, following closely as Leal ushered her back inside.

"Ok, c'mon, you might stay for a day or two so I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

There was a door on the opposite wall in the disheveled living room. The discarded clutter was swept aside by the door when Leal opened it, and it was her laundry room. It was small but wide as it doubled as a storage room with some shelf space around the washer and dryer. Up against the far wall leaned a spare single mattress. It flopped to the floor when Leal pulled on it, and once it was in place, she grabbed some clean sheets from the shelf and dropped them onto the mattress. "I hope this is enough," She remarked. "or you can sleep on the couch if you really want to." Peep thought about the mess, and it uneased her, but even more so, she wanted some privacy so she can feel safe and relax.

"This is perfect." Peep responded with comfort. "It's about the size of my old room at home." Leal was glad she approved, even if it was small.

"Sometime soon, we can go to the tailor to commission you some new clothes. If there's a shirt or something you want to borrow, feel free. Clean stuff is right here." Leal said, pointing to a full laundry basket. "But if nudity is more your speed, that's fine too. I don't wear clothes half of the time anyway." She left Peep to herself in the room for a moment.

"Leal," Peep called and stood in the doorway looking out. "You're so kind, thank you."

Leal packed her glass pipe with more cannabis then lit it. She sucked in an extra dense cloud and let it affect her body and mind for a moment. She was looking forward to a late night game of War Dogs 3 with Paulie, and she definitely felt like escaping into a fake world where she could be a real hero. At least the challenges would be black and white. Above all else, most of the problems in the game could be solved with bullets. She heard Peep come out of her temporary living quarters to get a drink, and decided to join Leal and watch.

"Hoy'oy." Peep softly greeted as she sat next to her on the couch, wearing only a large long blue striped shirt that stopped about her mid thighs. She appeared to be wearing only the shirt, nothing else, and she was comfortable. Leal turned her TV on and a commercial played its message beginning near its end.

"...be safe, be respectful, be a pleasure to your company. Happy Mating Season from First National Bank." Peep scoffed at the commercial.

"That's so odd for me. My memory being as it is, Mating Season was only a few days ago. Now I gotta do it all over again in a month's time." Peep sighed heavily, feeling swindled by her timeline of events. The TV changed modes via remote to receive the video output from Leal's game console, and then she let the smoke pour from her lungs out into the room before she replied.

"I don't envy you." Confessed the bunny. The pungent wild herb stuck to Peep's nose, and she couldn't help but wonder about it. It smelled bittersweet to her like she had smelled it before, and knew it was the popular herb called cannabis. Her mum smoked it outside between duties sometimes. Something else seemed familiar about it though, and couldn't help but feed into her curiosity. She asked Leal a simple question.

"Why do you smoke?"

"It keeps my nerves calm and medicates my issues, keeps things nice and numb, makes life tolerable. I get pretty worked up sometimes. It also helps me use my gift because it's really hard to use when I'm sober. Cannabis is completely free, the deer around here love it as much as the wolves love their alcohol... which is a lot. It helps people with their frustrations year-round when it's not Mating Season. It's taboo to sell it in these parts of the world. Is it like that in Yyme?"

"I think so, it is implied that way on Yymmish television." Peep did her best to answer. Leal clicked buttons on her controller, signed into her game account, and put her headset on. Leal noticed Peep's shoeless human feet again as the loading icon spun and waited to synchronize with the game's servers. She wanted to ask her if she had a gift herself, if she had something special about her that set her apart from the rest of animalkind. Ultimately, she denied her own curiosity, but asked a different question in its place. "So what does 'Peep' mean? How did you get a nickname Like that?" The sheepy girl finished her glass of water and smiled with a chuckle.

"Penelope is too loopy a name for a little toddler to say, so 'Peep' came out instead, and it stuck ever since. It was my first word."

"Oh... can I ask you about something?"

"Hmm?" Peep responded. Leal sighed, hoping she wasn't about to overstep with her next question.

"When we were leaving the hospital, and getting into the building, and even on the balcony, what are you so afraid of?" Peep was quiet for a moment, sighed, then hung her head with embarrassment. She reluctantly gave Leal the answer.

"I'm deathly afraid of being outside, more so under the open sky. I have an awful, awful fear." Leal took her attention off of the game for a moment, it was still matchmaking and finding a suitable game to fit her skill level.

"Fear of what?"

"Birds..." She admitted. "It fills me with far too many panicking thoughts and emotions. I think something happened when I was a wee babe. I'm sorry."

"Never apologize for that." Leal said to her directly. "We all have our fears, and we cope with them every single day."

The game finally found a good match for Leal to join, and displayed on the screen was her avatar, a mean-looking female jackal with a very long rifle complete with a big scope. Her team was waiting, and Paulie's voice came through the TV from a player tagged as 'EverythingElseGirl'.

"Welcome to the party, ShockMedic." All of the names of all of the teammates were lighting up, and they all discussed strategies and chances together compared to the opposing team. Peep didn't understand any of it, not the locations nor the abbreviations for landmarks and objectives. After a moment of trying, she stood up and dismissed herself.

"I'm interrupting you." She said shyly.

"Not at all, stay and watch if you want." Peep shook her head.

"No, but rather, I'm interrupting your life. My mum calls all the time, and as soon as she does, I'll have her come and I'll leave you be... Good night, Leal." She turned and quietly walked back to her laundry room.

"Peep?" Leal asked, she had to think for a moment for something to say. "...promise you'll tell me if you start to remember things?" Peep didn't turn to face her, but nodded anyway as she went to her bed for the night.

The living room was dark but the TV was aglow with action. The game had intensified as the clock ticked down. Both teams were evenly matched, and Leal and Paulie were doing their best to gain ground on an island beach level with stone barricades, plenty of palm trees, and tall rocks and formations for highground.

"Get on D... Get on D! Would someone please get on D!!!" The match timer was under a minute now, and the tension escalated as Leal calculated her aim and decisively shot her enemy with a rifle from across the arena. "C'mon we got this! They're down one player for forty-five seconds! Just need to-" The laundry door room opened and Peep emerged nude, looking like she came out of a deep haze. Leal's focus faltered for a second and her avatar took damage from a wild spray of bullets. She took cover and moved the speaker of her headset to expose an ear. "I'm sorry Peep! I know I'm being loud but I will be done in under thirty seconds!" She concentrated intensely on the game, but then she heard a metallic sound that pinged on her sense of fear. She glanced at Peep standing in the dimly lit kitchen, she had pulled a knife from the rack. "Peep?" The sheepy girl turned her back to the counter and slid against it down to the tile floor, eyes wet with tears that rained down her cheek. She panted and cried hysterically, then she turned her wrist up to the knife's edge. "PEEP!" Leal leaped from the couch, controller falling idle as her avatar did the same to suffer being an easy kill for an opponent. She flew across the room and grabbed the knife out of Peep's paw and threw it away to slide with a scraping clamor. Leal threw herself to the floor, the warm wet feeling of blood on her palm shocked as it spilled onto the tiles and ran down her arm. The hysterical girl sobbed, Leal having nothing to do but hold her and keep her still as she weakly protested. Leal wasn't ready to use her healing ability at that very moment, so she clenched her eyes closed, and strained to force enough energy through her to perform a healing. The blood receded and the wound sewn itself closed, and even the fuzz grew back to disappear completely. For a long moment, Leal was dizzy and nauseated from forcing herself. She struggled to stay upright and focused, ultimately failing to do so. Peep leaned into her friend, and Leal didn't have the strength to hold onto her and fell sideways with a gentle thump, resting her head on the tile. She allowed the distressed sheep to lay down with her and put her arms around the bunny to cry into her bosom. After a deep stuttering breath of air, Peep put all of her weight on Leal as if she were her foundation.

"Leal..." she whimpered. Leal whispered her concern.

"Peep... What happened? Are you ok?" Peep let more of her tears fall uninhibited and held Leal as tightly as she could, she didn't want to let go for fear that she would shatter. She cried out quietly,

"I remembered something... I killed someone..."