[Gift] The Magic of the Ancient Rune - Chapter 3

Celeste continuously fidgeted in her seat, staring at the clock. She twirled a pen between her paws and her legs bounced. Not a single part of her was still. Her seat felt extremely uncomfortable the longer she sat in it. With every tick of its second hand, the weight in her stomach grew. This is unbearable.

 

C’mon Aurora… Class starts in five minutes…  You’ve never cut it this close…

 

The teacher wasn’t there either, which also struck her as odd, but right now her thoughts were clouded with something else. It should be fine to take out her phone and check to see if she texted, lack of notification vibrations be damned. Quickly unlocking it, she opened her texts. Unsurprisingly, no new messages from Aurora. All the ones Celeste had sent beforehand hadn’t even been read. This did not help.

 

Please... It can’t be you…

 

Whenever she heard someone approaching the door, her gaze shifted from the clock. More and more of her classmates were arriving as the school day drew nearer. Lots of them were murmuring to each other. Celeste could pick up some of it.

 

“Did you hear?”

 

“So close to the school, too…”

“Who do you think it is?”

 

She wished they’d all shut up. 

 

The sound of more pawsteps drew nearer, and she looked toward the door again. The pen slipped from her paws and crashed to the ground and her eyes widened as saw the face she wanted to see the most right now.

 

Aurora.

 

She seemed very on edge, much unlike the laid-back approach she often puts on. Her wings clung tightly to her body as if she was hugging herself. Her hat was facing forwards this time as if she was trying to hide her face with the brim. Her eyes looked dark and lifeless and they were rimmed with dark bags.

 

“Aurora!” Celeste bolted out of her seat towards her. “Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

 

“Yeah… I’m fine… Sorry, my phone didn’t charge properly last night…” She pulled her phone which had been attached to a portable charger out of her bag, and turned it on. It had very little juice. This had been the first time it’s been turned on today.

 

“So I guess the news reported on it already? It’s all I heard about in the halls.”

 

“Yeah. This is what I read.”

 

Celeste pulled out her phone again, opening the web browser to a news article that was only a few hours old.

 

“TWO CINNADOGS INJURED AFTER SHOOTING IN FLOURHILL

Two cinnadogs, one with critical but treatable injuries, have been found in an alleyway outside Fortune Bank at Molasses Avenue and Rocky Road after a reported shooting.

A witness who wishes to remain anonymous has said they heard a gunshot around 11:30 pm last night from their residence and went to investigate. They discovered two cinnadogs in the alleyway, one of whom had injuries from a gunshot wound to the side. Both cinnadogs were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. The two victims have yet to be identified.

The weapon was found at the scene. The officer investigating the scene stated, ‘It is currently unknown what caused this incident to happen.’ It is believed the suspect ran away on foot.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have information to contact the authorities.”

 

“It’s all so crazy… A shooting… Why would anyone do this?” Celeste spoke with dismay.

 

“I know… I didn’t want to come to school today. I barely slept…”

 

As much as Celeste felt worried about everything, she knew Aurora was probably feeling even worse. She lived right on Rocky Road. One look at her state gave away that she had heard everything. It was a level of awfulness she couldn’t begin to understand.

 

“My parents walked me over, so I’m fine.” Aurora finished.

 

“My sister walked me. She wouldn’t let me leave the house without her.”

 

Aurora nodded. She paused for a second, then her face fell.

 

“Hey…” she began, “did you think that… I was the one who…”

Celeste’s nerves shot up again. “You know… I kinda did for a second… it’s just, you live right there, so of course I worried about it…”

 

Aurora looked at her with pity, then her expression changed. “The news article specified cinnadogs. I’m a cinnacat. Did you still think it could be me?”

 

“Huh?” Celeste pulled out her phone again and re-read the news. “Oh… right… I guess I read ‘Rocky Road’ and everything became a blur. Sorry…”

 

“Don’t be sorry. It’s ok. Let’s just wait for class, ok?”

 

Celeste looked at Aurora. She wiped her tears away and nodded and the two friends took their seats next to each other. Though…

 

“Where’s the teacher?” Aurora questioned.

 

“I haven’t seen him,” Celeste told her. “It’s odd… Mr. Naeggi is never this late…”

 

Before either of them could talk again, the bell rang, signifying the start of morning classes. The teacher’s desk was still empty. 

 

The two friends turned their heads as they heard the sound of someone approaching the door at a hurried pace, but their faces fell when they saw who it was. It was Mr. Foster, who looked very worried and unprepared. He made his way over to Mr. Naeggi’s desk, plopping a huge stack of books he was carrying on it. With a pause to catch his breath, he spoke.

 

“Good morning students. Mr. Naeggi won’t be in today, so I’ll be covering for him today. Apologies for my tardiness… All of this was pretty short notice.”

 

The shakiness in his voice was unmistakable. Everyone in the class looked at him in disbelief.

 

“So… let’s begin. His lesson plan says to take out your textbooks and open to page 163…”

The class reached into their textbooks while murmuring to each other. All kinds of speculation happened in whispered hushes.

 

“Where is he?”

 

“Maybe he slept in.”

 

“I don’t know, he’s not like that…”

“Maybe…”

 

Celeste and Aurora looked at each other with fear. They both had the same look, clearly having the same theory in their heads. The first to speak was Aurora.

 

“... Do you think that maybe he-”

 

“Don’t. Don’t finish that… I don’t want to think about that….” Celeste cut her off dejectedly, ending the conversation. The two of them wordlessly pulled out their textbooks and began to follow along with their substitute’s teaching. Neither of them was truly paying attention though, since they couldn’t shake the conclusion they came to as to why their beloved teacher had to get replaced on such short notice.

-----------------------

Naeggi stirred. A curtain of drowsiness still hung over him. His whole body felt like a lead weight including his eyes. Despite being unable to see, he could tell he was no longer in the alleyway. His body was partially upright and it was soft underneath him. Around him, he could hear the beeping of various machines, one being the trademark sound of a heart monitor. Bright fluorescent lights blinded whatever vision he could get from the gaps his eyelids created as he tried opening them. After trying for minutes on end, he finally managed to get them wide enough that he could scan everything around him.

 

It was indeed the hospital room he assumed it was. White walls, curtains around his bed, various machines around him, all the things he expected. Studying himself now, he saw he was in a light blue gown and propped slightly upright. Trailing his sight to his arm, he noticed an IV needle in his arm that was hooked up to a bag of clear liquid. On one of the digits of his paws, there was a clip that linked up to the heart monitor. 90 beats per minute. That seemed good, at least.

 

All that was left to do now was figure out what the hell happened. The last thing he remembered was back in that alley when Cakeygiri got… hurt. There’s no way he could forget that part. After that happened, everything was fuzzy noise. What was next? Considering he was in the hospital, someone must have heard the shot and found them. Why was he fine? Sure, he felt tired and groggy, but he wasn’t in any pain. There’s no way Zephyr would have just left without doing anything at all. Trying to piece together everything just made his head hurt more.

 

…What about Cakeygiri? Is she fine? Is she here? 

 

Before a million thoughts of worry could swarm in his brain, the door to the room opened, directing his attention to that instead. A doctor holding a clipboard walked into the room and looked surprised when he saw Naeggi sitting up.

 

“You’re awake. That’s good.” They spoke, examining the notes they brought with them. “How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”

 

Naegi groaned in response. “Mmmn… Fine, I guess. No pain, just tired…”

 

“That’s normal.” The doctor wrote down something in response. “I came in to check your vitals, but now that you’re awake, I can do a physical check-up as well. Based on what I’ve seen so far, we should be able to release you by the end of the day, but I can’t promise anything. You don’t have any apparent injuries whatsoever, so it’s mostly for making sure you’re fine to care for yourself when you leave.”

 

Naeggi went to stare at his paws. So he was fine then. That wasn’t fair. Someone takes a bullet for him and he comes out completely unscathed. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

“Where’s Cakeygiri?” He asked before thinking. After the words left his mouth, he realized there was a chance the doctor wouldn’t even know what he was talking about, so waited on bated breath for a response.

 

The doctor did seem a little confused at first, but soon their face lit up with understanding.

 

“Are you referring to the other cinnadog you were found with? She’s alive and in stable condition.”

 

Naeggi sighed in relief. Thank goodness. At least his guilty conscience can lift a little.

 

“Unfortunately, that’s all I can say right now. I can’t give any specifics of any patient's status to others unless it’s to a direct relative or guardian. On top of that, there’s still an ongoing investigation about the incident.”

 

His face fell in slight disappointment. That makes sense, but it ate at him not knowing her full status. Hopefully, everything was fine with her and she wasn’t suffering. He didn’t want to think about all the negatives, so he kept looking toward the positives. She’s alive. She’s stable. That’s what matters. It could have been so much worse. Just give it time.

 

The doctor turned to him again. “I am going to do my checks now. Do you think you’re feeling fine enough for that physical check too?”

“Yeah… I’m good.” Naeggi nodded. The doctor nodded back and they approached the bed, getting to work.

-------------------

Naeggi walked through the halls of the hospital, scanning the room numbers as he passed them.

 

623, 625, 627…

 

His whole body shook with nerves. He could barely keep a grip on the bouquet of flowers and card in his paws as he paced along. Finally, he was allowed to go see Cakegiri, and he was endlessly worried about the whole thing.

 

Just waiting was one of the worst feelings he’s been through. He had to wait earlier for the results his physical check-up, which felt like took hours. When he did, he was told he couldn’t leave yet and had to wait for the authorities to come and interview him about the incident. Simply recounting the night made him feel horrible inside. Then, when he was finally free to leave, he was then told in order to visit Cakeygiri, he’d have to wait until she was well enough to give her side of the incident; no one other than her doctors were allowed to speak to her until they did. 

 

So, he waited. He sat in the lobby of the hospital, sitting and staring at various things to take his mind off things from the decorative fountains inside to the TVs playing news updates to the various guests and visitors pass by. He tried wandering the gift shop to get his mind off things, though that didn’t help much as all that came out of that was getting a bundle of purple flowers with a matching “Get Well Soon” card. Soon enough, he found himself in the cafeteria eating a mediocre sandwich. It didn’t do much, other than satisfy the growling of his stomach. 

 

He watched the sun set before him, and with each passing minute, he got increasingly worried. Visiting hours would be over soon, and they hadn’t given him any updates. He didn’t know how he’d be able to sleep tonight if they sent him home. He just had to hope for a miracle…

 

The miracle came in the form of a message. A nurse grabbed his shoulder to get his attention, causing him to jump. After an apology, they informed him that Cakeygiri was ready for visitors and what room she was in. Naeggi nearly jumped out of his seat. Thank goodness, he was barely keeping it together. He left the nurse after a quick thanks.

 

The room should just be around the corner… The sign said it was this way…

 

The room numbers kept growing. It wouldn’t take much longer until he found-

 

Room 637!

 

This was it. She was in here.

 

Even with that thought in his head, he couldn’t stop shaking. He brought up a fist to knock but froze. He just stared through the small window. The curtain surrounding the bed was drawn and he couldn’t see her inside, but he could see a heart monitor and its information. It looked right, or at least that’s what he thinks looks right.

 

Enough standing around, it was time to go in. 

 

Naeggi lightly rapped his paw against the door. It was more of a courtesy to show someone was there since he couldn’t hear a response. He gently opened the door and stepped inside lightly, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was followed by the slow closing of the door. Naeggi took steady steps forward, moving to the front of the bed to brush the curtain aside to reveal the occupant of the room.

 

There, in the bed, lay Cakeygiri. She was dressed in a hospital gown, bedsheets nearly covering her whole body. An IV connected to a blood bag trailed into one of her arms, and on her opposite hand, there was the heart monitor clip on one of her fingers. Her hair was messy and her usual braid was missing, showing a lack of upkeep. Her eyes looked tired and heavy, but they seemed to spark upon making eye contact with Naeggi. 

 

“Naeggi.” She smiled. She sounded exhausted.

 

“Cakeygiri!” He spoke, maybe a bit louder than intended. He coughed a bit then lowered his voice. “I’m so glad you're ok!” He took a step forward intending to hand her the flowers, then thought that wasn’t the best idea. He elected to rest them on a chair. “I’m just… going to put these here for now.” 

 

“Alright,” she replied. “ They look lovely, by the way. Thank you..”

He flashed a smile back at her. “It was the least I could do, given…” his face fell. “...you know…” 

 

It was Cakeygiri’s turn look away. “I… I’m alright. This isn’t the first time I’ve been hurt on the job.”

 

“You got shot! That’s way more than getting a little hurt!” He didn’t mean to blurt that out with such emotion, but his nerves got the best of him.

 

“...I mean that’s not the first time I’ve been hurt like that before.”

 

That just made his worried state even worse. “You’ve been shot before!?”

 

Cakeygiri did not reply with words, but her answer to that question could not have been clearer. After that short pause, she replied with something else.

 

“...It’s part of my job to get put in dangerous positions.”

 

“I get it, but…” He sighed. Maybe it was a good thing her stubbornness was shining through, but he didn’t want to keep pressing her. “I’m just glad you’re alive… that you’re ok.”

 

She took a breath in. “I’m also glad. It could’ve have ended a lot worse.”

 

“How are you feeling?” His eyes widened with concern.

 

“I’m feeling the best I can, given the situation. That’s thanks to all the painkillers they put me on. Other than that, I feel exhausted.” She sunk deeper into the bed, closing her eyes. “How are you?”

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.” He waved his paw. “Nothing even happened to me, for whatever reason. I still don’t know why, though…”

 

That got Cakeygiri’s eyes to open as she perked up out of bed. She turned and gave Naeggi a look, raising an eyebrow.

 

“...what?” He asked, baffled by her reaction.

 

“Do you not remember?”

 

“Huh? Remember what?”

 

“...Hmmm. So you don’t then…” She brought her paw up to rest under her chin. It was her signature thinking position.

 

“Can you stop being so cryptic for two seconds?” He sputtered, “I have no clue what you're talking about! What happened?”

 

Cakeygiri remained silent for a moment, doing nothing to help Naeggi’s confusion and bewilderment before she spoke again.

 

“Tell me what you remember from last night first. So I can get a picture of what to say.”

 

“Well…” He mimicked her thinking pose. “I remember… you stepped in front of me and got shot… you fell to the floor, and I tried to get you to move… but you didn’t react, so I just froze… then…” 

 

His voice trailed off. Tapping his fingers against his chin, he tried to think of what happened next. All that came to mind was darkness.

 

“...I think I passed out after that… All I can think of is nothing. Like, the feeling of nothing. Zephyr said something, but I was in such shock over what happened to you that I didn't register anything…”

 

“I see…” Cakeygiri reflected for a moment. “I can tell you this. You did end up passing out, but not when you thought you did.”

“Can you please just tell me what happened? You’re freaking me out!”

 

“I’m sorry. Though, maybe you should sit down. I have a feeling you’ll be rather shocked.”

Naeggi immediately took to her request, taking one of the free chairs in the room, hoping that doing so would make her start explaining. He shot her a look of confusion, worriedness, and a serious look that signalled he was ready to hear it, no matter what it was. She understood and gave him a nod.

 

“So, right after the shot was fired…”

-----

Cakeygiri hit the ground hard. The pain in her side was immediate and searing. She squeezed her side with immense pressure, hoping both to stop the bleeding and suppress some of the pain. She could feel it soaking into her fur, both in her paws and side. Zephyr had yelled at her for getting in the way, but she had to.  The physical pain of it all was already a lot for her to bear, but nothing matched the emotional pain she felt as she heard Naeggi’s desperate scream and attempted to get her to move. She wished she could get up, or look him in the eyes, but it hurt too much. Any words she tried forming came out only as groans or hisses of pain.

 

She heard his calls turn into sobs. He stopped shaking her. A few splashes of wetness fell on her cheek, no doubt his tears. 

 

He needs to get out of here before something bad happens… I have to get up… no matter how much it hurts… I need to-

 

Her stream of thoughts gets interrupted by a click. Another shot was getting ready to be fired.

 

“Sorry, but I can’t have any loose ends in this. Just standard business.”

 

A deep pit formed in her stomach. 

 

NO! 

 

She fought to stand up. To get off the ground. To open her eyes. To do anything, but her whole body worked against her. No matter how desperately she tried to stop what was about to happen, she was too weak. Her effort to protect him was going to be in vain. If she hadn’t called him for help, all of this would have been avoided…

 

A strong blue light shined so brightly, it even pierced through her closed eyes. It was coming from behind her. Where Naeggi was. The sound of sobbing was being replaced with something else. Heavy breathing, panting, growling…

 

“Huh? What the-?” Zephyr attempted to sound intimidating, but a subtle quiver was heard in his voice.

 

What’s happening?

 

The growling turned into a low rumble. It passed from behind her to over her and then in front of her. Zephyr gasped.

 

“H-hey! Stay back! I’m warning you!” His stammer revealed his true feelings, despite how tough he tried to sound.

 

Cakeygiri was totally in the dark. What was that glow? What were those noises? What was scaring Zephyr so badly? She had to see what was happening, even if it was hard. Naeggi could still be in trouble. Trying was the least she could do. Her eyelids felt like they were glued shut, but she managed to get a small window of sight from one of them. Though, upon recognizing what she was looking at, both of them shot open.

 

Naeggi was now standing in front of her, and right in front of Zephyr, who was pointing the gun right at him with shaking arms. The darkness of the alley and the haziness of her vision made her question it at first, but Naeggi looked… different. 

 

His fur looked slightly longer and shaggier. His arms were down by his sides, revealing that his claws were significantly longer. There was a slight hunch in his shoulders and his back formed a slight arc. The most striking difference of everything she could see was his tail. It looked like there was a giant crack or slice in it, but due to the lack of blood, was not from an injury. He just stood motionless while Zephyr looked increasingly terrified. Eventually, he took one more step forward, causing Zephyr to snap.

 

“I said stay back!” He yelled, then pulled the trigger.

 

Click.

 

“W-what?” He choked out. He brought a paw up to slide back the top of the handgun, but it didn’t move. He stared at it in shock then tried again, yielding the same result. “Shit!”

 

Click. Click. Click. Click.

 

Each pull of the trigger was the same. No bullet fired. He quickly pulled it closer to him to inspect it, trying to decipher the problem. He slammed it against the side of his paw a few times.

 

“Work already, you piece of-”

 

Naeggi had grabbed a hold of Zephyr’s paw, clenching it from the top. His cinnadog paw was much bigger than the cinnacat’s one, so Naeggi basically held Zephyr’s entire paw and the gun in it with ease. Cakeygiri watched as Zephyr completely succumbed to fear, squirming to get away and shrinking under Naeggi’s gaze. No matter how hard he tried to free himself, Naeggi’s grasp was too tight. In a flash, Naeggi’s paw moved, snapping forward and upward.

 

CRACK!

Zephyr let out a howl of pain and Naeggi let go. The gun fell to the ground and Zephyr grabbed his wrist with his other paw, it now being twisted in an abnormal position. He looked back at Naeggi once more, freezing in place. He stared with eyes as small as pinpricks for a few moments before running out of the alleyway as fast as possible, not attempting to retrieve his weapon.

Cakeygiri just started at what had just happened, unable to react. Naeggi had just successfully disarmed Zephyr and ended the dangerous situation, saving both their lives, but she was in complete shock. What had come over him? Just a few minutes ago he was clutching onto her while sobbing, and now he had someone run away from him. Not only that, but Zephyr looked terrified of him. She had seen him put on stern looks and angry faces before, but none so strong that someone cowered under him. It was also strange he hadn’t spoken a single word…

 

Naeggi had taken a few seconds to breathe. It was heavy, sounding less like a person who was out of breath and more like… a savage animal. He slowly turned his head around, and he looked over his shoulder and down at her. At that moment, she understood Zephyr’s previous reaction.

 

Instead of being met with his inviting and cheerful green eyes, she saw a bright glowing red. Looking closer, they seemed to swirl and spiral around and she couldn’t see any pupil. They felt like they were piercing into her soul. His expression was unreadable, eyebrows sitting in a position that didn’t paint any feeling, however, his face was still stained with tears. Cakeygiri did not know if that made her feel more elated or more terrified. Two fangs poked from his top lip, mouth also resting in a neutral, emotionless position. He stared over his shoulder for a few more moments before slowly turning, letting Cakeygiri finally get a full look at his state.

 

All she could do was watch as he slowly approached. She was still in too much pain to move. She had no idea what he was about to do. If this were a normal situation, she would be feeling relief at his presence, but instead, she felt her heart race, a sense of fear and danger coursing through her. Whatever had happened, this was not the normal Naeggi, and she could not expect him to react the same. His face was still plain and unfeeling aside from the tear stains. It was menacing… and she hated it.

 

Naeggi stood over her and stared down. His head tilted to the side. It was like he was analyzing her. Cakeygiri just lay on the ground, not moving anything else. Had he noticed her looking at him? He lowered himself down, continuing to stare. His haunting eyes bore into her own, making her feel cold. The tension was getting so thick it felt like she could choke on it.

 

His gaze shifted away. He was now looking at the wound she was still holding onto. Like before, he just stared at it for a moment without doing anything else. He lifted his paw, the long claws glistening in the faint light. Then…

 

He gently pressed it, putting his paw on top of hers. Cakeygiri silently gasped. It didn’t hurt, in fact, it was such a soothing gesture. He gave it a light brush and pulled away. The action caused a little blood to soak into his fur, and he stared at it. He then reached out for her again, rubbing her arm. He was making faint noises. It sounded… sad. 

 

She silently watch as he continued to paw at her. It didn’t seem like he had noticed her looking at him, as he avoided looking her in the eye. He was too fixated on her wound. His touch was so gentle, too. It’s hard to believe this was the same guy who hand just broken someone’s wrist with a flick of his owm moments prior.

 

His movements began to slow, and his eyelids drooped. The red glow in his eyes faded away as they shut, and his body leaned and toppled over as he fell to the ground, landing right next to Cakeygiri. He lay there still. She exhaled in shock.

 

“Naeggi…” She said as loud as she could muster, which was only slightly above her normal speaking voice. No response.

 

She removed one of her paws from her side, reaching out to him. It was shaky and slow, her body aching stronger the more she reached, but she didn’t care. She brought her paw to rest on his neck, right under his jaw. Luckily, he was close enough to reach. She kept it there, waiting…

 

A pulse. 

 

Cakeygiri sighed with relief internally. Thank the universe for that one.

 

“Is anyone there? I heard a gun!” An unknown voice echoed through the alleyway. It sounded like it was coming from the streets. Cakeygiri attempted to lift her head to check…

 

…but her lack of energy betrayed her. She didn’t have it in her to move at all anymore. Even her eyelids felt like lead weights.

 

Her judgement was proven right when she heard a loud sharp gasp.

 

“S-Shit!”

 

Pawsteps ran over to them, but her vision was blurring and her head was getting hazy, so she had no clue who it could be.

 

“I …. call … someone!! …. hang on!!”

 

Only half of their next sentence was processed in her head, the other words sounded like a muffled garbled mess. Things were going black. In any other case, she’d fear the thought of passing out in a situation like this, but someone was coming. She’ll be fine. And so will he. Her last thoughts in her conscious state were relief, comfort, and happiness. He had been saved…

She… saved him… and… he… saved… her…

-----

“The next thing I remember after that was being awoken here. A doctor gave me painkillers, but I quickly went back to sleep afterwards. So…”

 

While telling her story, she had broken eye contact, electing to stare out the window instead. She turned to face Naeggi again. His eyes were wide and his jaw was nearly on the floor from how agape it was. He didn’t say anything, as saying he was stunned was the understatement of the century. When he did finally manage to break the silence, it was incoherent blathering.

 

“W-whu?? WHAT!? I… I d-didn’t-! That-! That didn’t happen!!”

 

“I can assure you it did. I saw it myself. I told you it would be shocking.”

“B-But-!” He brought his paws up, which were shaking. “...No! It couldn’t have!! I don’t remember it!! Not at all!! It has to be a… a trick! A hallucination! S-Something!!”

 

“Naeggi, you need to breathe.” Cakeygiri’s face fell.

 

“There’s no way I could have done that without remembering!! I-It all has to be something else!!” He grabbed his sides, squeezing himself tightly.

 

“Naeggi-” She tried again.

 

“I c-can’t be like this… I can’t… I’m not-”

“Come here. Please.” Cakeygiri sat up more and outstretched one of her paws. He noticed and his rambling ceased. He got up out of the chair with wobbling legs. With a moment of hesitation, he reach a paw out to meet her own. She grasped onto his and squeezed.

 

“You have to relax. Panicking won’t help or change anything, it will just make things worse.” She rubbed circles into the back of his paw with her thumb. 

 

“...R-Right… sorry…”

 

“You don’t need to apologize. I understand that you’re just overwhelmed.”

 

She continued to comfort him until his breathing slowed back down to normal. She held onto his paw for a minute afterwards, like she was debating hanging on. Soon enough, she retracted her paw away, placing it back down on the bed.

 

“Are you feeling better?”

 

“A bit… T-Thanks…” A faint pink dusted on his cheeks.

 

“No need to thank me.” Her face matched his.

 

“...What am I supposed to do now? I mean… after learning that… I don’t even have a clue what to make of it…”

“I was thinking about it myself.” She spoke, “During the whole ordeal, I was trying to figure out what had happened to you. At the time, I didn’t know what it could be… but with all this time to think… I believe I’ve figured it out.”

“You think?” He inquired. Cakeygiri nodded in reply.

 

“If my intuitions are correct… you shifted into a wereform. Another thing I can deduce is that this was the first time that’s happened.”

 

“It is! I mean… I think? I mean-! Wereform?”

 

“Yes, have you heard of them?”

“I-I have… but… I swear I couldn’t do that before… I don’t remember that ever happening before… unless I have and just can’t remember… God… I hope not…”

 

“How did you feel before your memory blacked out? Maybe we can figure out if it’s happened before that way.

 

“Hmmm… from what I can remember, there was this… pulsing feeling in my body… It felt strange… it wasn’t like anything I felt before… It kept getting stronger and stronger… then there was this glow, and-”

 

He gasped. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed the object that had remained with him through this whole ordeal. 

 

The ancient rune.

 

It had looked the same as when he got it from the magic shop, but as he held it now, he felt… a connection to it. That blue glow he saw, it matched the veins in the piece to a tee. It had to be this. The rune had to be responsible for the whole transformation. 

 

Cakeygiri’s eyes widened at the sight of the rune. “...Is that real?” She quizzed.

 

“It really seems like it… but everything that happened… it had to be this, right?”

 

“Can I see it?” 

 

“Sure, but… be careful… I don’t want something happening to you…”

He placed the rune into her paws. Much like he did when he first found it, she ran her fingers over its surface and turned it all around. The veins glittered in the fluorescent lights of the room as she did. Her mouth dropped open. 

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Just from the magic shop.”

She looked unamused. “The prop magic store is selling real ancient artifacts?”

 

“I’m serious! I was just as shocked!” He waved his paws defensively. “It was buried in a box of props…”

“What were you even doing in there?”

“Eheh… that’s a bit of a silly story…”

 

Cakeygiri smirked. “Knowing you, I bet it was due to a series of unfortunate events.”

 

“Thankfully not a series this time… but pretty much…” It was met with a chuckle from the purple cinnadog.

 

“Only you could accidentally stumble across a priceless artifact in a tiny town like that. Here.” She passed the rune back to him and he pocketed it.

 

“When I found it, I thought I was the luckiest man in the world… but…” His body sank. “...was it really worth it if it did that to me? What if that’s permanent? What if I have to deal with a wereform for the rest of my life? What if… someone I care about ends up getting hurt because of me…?” 

 

Cakeygiri didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say. Normally, she’d go with a logical answer, but she didn’t have one for this situation. She simply didn’t know. She’d have to go with an answer that wasn’t backed by any physical evidence: an emotional one.

 

“...I’ll admit, I don’t know much about wereforms… but considering how you acted with me, I don’t think you need to worry about hurting anyone you don’t want getting hurt.”

 

“How can you be so sure?”

 

“I can’t know for certain. It’s… how I feel.”

 

Naeggi looked her in the eyes, feeling her emotions. She believed in him, and he felt it deep within his soul. Maybe he should believe in himself, too.

 

“...What’s your advice? On what I should do?”

“Firstly, research. We need to find out as much as we can on the topic. Things such as how they develop, what causes transformations, if they can be removed somehow… anything that will help.”

 

“I see, so- Wait… ‘we’?”

 

“Yes. Did you think I wouldn’t help you with this?”

 

“W-Well… No, I guess…”

 

“Then it’s settled. I promise will help you get through this.”

 

Naeggi felt a rush. He felt so cherished, so appreciated, and so cared for. He gave Cakeygiri a big smile.

 

“Thank you, Cakeygiri… for everything… but, can you please take care of yourself as well? I don’t want you getting hurt like this again…”

 

“I don’t have plans to get shot again currently.”

He frowned, looking much like a sad puppy. “Kay…”

 

“Sorry. Not a good joke.”

 

“Just… be careful, ok?”

 

“I will”.

 

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. A nurse stepped into the room, pushing a cart into the room.

 

“I apologize, sir, but visiting hours are now over. We need you to leave.”

 

“Ah, sorry! I’ll head out.”

 

Naeggi walked over to Cakeygiri and placed his hand atop hers. 

 

“I’m going to visit you every day until you’re released, so if you don’t want to get tired of me, keep getting better, ok?”

 

“Getting tired of you? Please.”

 

He chuckled nervously. 

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”

 

“I’ll be waiting. I would love to hear about your day and all your students.”

 

“Of course. Sleep well, ok?”

“You too.”

She turned her paw to grab on to his for a split second, giving one small squeeze before letting go

 

“Goodbye, Naeggi.”

 

“Goodbye, Cakeygiri!”

 

With a bright cheer, he waved goodbye and headed for the door. All his fear and worry had melted away, and for the first time today, he was stress-free. He wasn’t sure if he’d get a good sleep tonight, not due to him fretting over a million “what ifs”, but now due to excitement of getting to see Cakeygiri again.

 

He took the rune out his pocket to look at it again. This rune had caused him all kind of strong emotions and physical changes, maybe ones he’d have to live with forever. The thought of it began to cloud his mind.

 

But… In the end, that werewolf helped him. Without it, would he even be standing here right now? It helped save not only his life, but Cakeygiri’s as well. He wouldn’t have been able to do that without its help.

 

Even if he had to live with this for the rest of his life…

 

…maybe it won’t be so bad. Especially if she’ll be around to help.

 

Naeggi tucked the rune away and finally headed home.