"Unless they also grew up on a planet orbiting a dwarf star, it is likely a case of convergent evolution."

"I am not a cat. I am asked whether I'm a cat quite often. I understand the physical likeness..."

Her eyes were startlingly blue. She offered a patient smile to the younger girl. "They are, indeed, and you have nothing to fear from me."

An aerial view of a dry, canyon landscape, hues of red and tan and gray with the landscape extending throughout most of the photo, with a blue sky in the distance.

"We don't think much of ants, 'til they're the size of houses and burnin' down the forests. The desert is our home... and we're losin' that, too."

"Heterochromia is quite rare."

shoulders, and yet finding herself more than willing to try.

"After we rest, at least." The words were hardly out of her mouth when a yawn erupted and she quickly covered her mouth.

Something about the idea of burning out the Sundrinker appealed to her. She smirked, thinking of that appalling creature exploding into billions of bits of stardust.

"May we see the light of the Sundrinker forever snuffed out." Tabitha murmured, unsure if she could share the burden she felt on her

Her gaze briefly traveled the silvery tattoos across him, and then her attention snapped to his face when he spoke.

"I do not fully comprehend exactly what the knight did to it, either," she admitted slowly. Perhaps her understanding of the situation was more limited than she thought.

Soup.

"...may have dealt with something herself-" she cut herself off when she saw Miri emerge again, with a strange wrap of some kind in her hand. Was that food? Or meant to be food?

"What is going on?" she looked to Esra.

"I would fight this creature with my bare hands if I thought it would give someone else time to kill it. I will go to the ends of every world to learn how to undo it. If it can be done, then it can be *undone*."

Tabitha's poise never wavered. Her shoulders never slouched, her voice never shook, and yet her words carried a profound, bone-deep sadness.

"I am no fighter. And yet..."

She finally turned toward him, her hand pressing into the blanket for support, and an unyielding fire in her eyes.

group, clad in armor that It has bitten through untold times, without the girl that once bested It, without an army behind us to fight It, with a woman that has dedicated her very long life to fighting it... and our hope seems a dim candle before an endless, yawning miasma of darkness and silence."

months and months of darkness she'd endured before most of them had made their return.

Her back straight, hands in her laps, she considered his question while her tail's tip flicked.

"The monster that destroyed my world seems poised to repeat that same thing on this one, and we are but a scattered

While he took off his armor and then decided on a place to set the weapon-artifact, she remained still, staring at the wall as if by doing so she could wrest some answers from it for him. Amnesia was a terrible burden, and she had no desire to see it last any longer on him than she did to repeat the

"Are you well?" Tabitha stood, peering at Miri intently. "You sound as though you are not at all well."

Curious.

stool and glanced to either side of her. Esra was not yet here.

"Miri?" Tabitha called out, unsure if she were just out of sight behind the bar, or off on an errand somewhere.

Rising early from her slumber, she dressed quickly and quietly and then made her way downstairs, where a few patrons here and there dotted the tables, nursing drinks of fruit juice or the occasional steaming cup of a curious dark liquid.

Tabitha made her way down to the bar, where she sat at a

Technically true...

Ah... An unfortunate allergy.

I don't know him well enough to comment further. I mostly meant Oliver.

her feet were clean and she'd brushed her hair, she was all but wide awake and staring at the wall of the room, her back straight and her tail curled up behind her on the bedspread.

current state, but I imagine you must be somewhat confused."

Now, if only her mind would calm and let her rest. As she took off her shoes and set them aside, then fetched a decent-sized bowl of water with which to wash her feet, her head was abuzz with all the events of the day, and by the time

Ever the stalwart knight. Tabitha entered the room and went straight for the bed, loosening her hair and letting it drape across her shoulders before she gestured for him to close the door and come inside.

"Time has ways of playing tricks on us. I am not familiar with how you perceive time in your

I hope they both find better men.

Oliver is one of the more foul pieces of work I've noted. I don't see what Percival sees in him.

"I have found a few men that are the exception and have found their company to be very pleasant."

Many. Most of them are... unimpressive. Especially when they open their mouths.

A great and unhappy meal.