Nepeta and John were very wet when they eventually returned to the living room. "John, you dummy! Now we're all wet!" "It was your idea missy!" Nepeta stuck out her tongue at John and laughed. "hehe look at Pounce!" Pounce was giving them a puzzling look. He slumped back on the floor with a hiss of slight disdain. "Hehe silly kitty!" Nepeta looked at her clothes. "Wow they really are drenched aren't they?" "Yep. That waterfall sure is powerful! But how are we going to get dry?" Nepeta looked at a basket in the corner of the room. "Oh yeah, towels! You always have plenty around!" John started toward the basket. "Well yes, but it is the boring way." "Huh?" Nepeta smiled. She tagged John on the shoulder and sped out the door. She glanced back to see John rolling his eyes and sighing. "I see..." Nepeta frowned. Was she being grubbish? But she looked up from his fallen gaze to see a laughing John closing the door behind him as he ran toward her.

John and Nepeta ran about the forest for what seemed like hours. John was ready to collapse but he kept on running despite his weakness, he was having too much fun. They had reached a beach when Nepeta finally stopped in her tracks. John almost stumbled face-first into the sand before steadying himself. Nepeta's eyes had widened and her smile had vanished. John walked up beside her. "hey, what's wrong?" Nepeta dared a glance at John, then back to the spot on the beach she was staring at before. John took her hand. "Hey, Nepeta what's wrong?" Nepeta opened her mouth to speak, but soon shut it. John wondered in vain what was wrong.

Nepeta had mistakenly come to the same beach. The one where she found John. Could she tell him? Was now the time? She looked at John, unsure of what to say. "Hey, please tell me!" "I, I uh need to tell you something, John." Nepeta walked John over to the spot where she found him lying unconscious. "Did you wonder why you were in prospit clothes when you came here?" John had a thoughtful gaze on his face. "Well, no. I guess I just assumed I somehow got severed from my waking self, and therefore lost my memory of my life." Nepeta pointed in the sand. "I found you at this beach, unconscious. You were in regular looking clothes."

John tried to wrap his brain around what Nepeta had told him. He had washed up on this beach? But thinking back... he did have a very vague feeling of familiarity at this beach. "Did you try to save me?" "Yes, I did. I assessed your status here, then i brought you back to the hive... and that's where you..." Nepeta's eyes began blinking quickly. The gears in John's head turned quickly. He had been here and been in critical condition. He was in prospit clothes. He had died and Nepeta had brought him back to life. "Nepeta, I-" But Nepeta had put her head in her hands. "John you didn't see your face, your life-less body..." She couldn't hold it in any longer and John rushed to her as olive tears started streaming down her face.

Nepeta couldn't believe how easily she fell apart. John hugged her, telling her he was ok now and to forget about it. Suddenly Nepeta knew what to do. She stiled her tears long enough to take John's hand and rush to the forest. "Hey, wait! Stop!" John was trailing behind so Nepeta continued on. As John continued his exclamations Nepeta saw the clearing in the distance. She turned to him. "Shhhhh!" John stopped yelling and stared at her. She gestured to the clearing just up ahead. Together they walked to the gravesite. Nepeta stopped at the edge and let go of John's hand. John looked at the graves with his mouth open. Nepeta pointed to the one on the far right.

John followed Nepeta's finger to the grave on the far right. He walked over to it, crouching low to read the inscription. "R.I.P. boy with black hair and elongated teeth" John frowned. He was right in front of his own grave. "Oh Nepeta..." He turned around to see Nepeta wrapping her arms around herself. "Thank you Nepeta." "You're welcome John." John hugged her. "I'm so sorry... I-" "hush, it wasn't your fault and you know it." "Let's go home now, thanks for the run." John let out a weak smile. Nepeta returned it. They travelled through the dark woods silently, the only sounds they could hear was the murmur of forest animals, the distance waves, and the sound of the other's breath.

Nepeta and John walked through the front door, no longer wet in the least. Pounce looked happy to see them and, seeing their melancholy faces, tried his best to cheer them up with his puuuuurs and smiles. Nepeta, however, was not so easily swung. Even though John was very helpful and non-chalant about the situation, Nepeta knew he had been shaken by seeing his own grave. Probably like most trolls. But what was John? He didn't have grey skin, or orange eyes, or horns. She had seen him blush red and assumed he was a low-blood but his eyes were Equius blue, and he had bright red blood on the waking-self body. "Hey... um John no offense but what exactly are you?"

John hadn't really thought about that much, it confused him. "What are you?" "I'm a troll." "huh." John searched his mind for what he was. Was he a troll? "I really can't remember, I'm sorry Nepeta." John didn't know why he was different, but he wish he knew. "Well consider yourself an honorary troll then!' John smiled. "Ok!" They both laughed. It felt good to laugh again after all this sadness. Even Pounce was still puuuuring against his leg. "So what about those pouncing lessons I've been hearing so much about!"

Nepeta and John worked on his pouncing and leaping ruthlessly until dinnertime. They ate two smoked squirrels that Nepeta had been saving for emergencies, but they were about to go bad. After dinner Nepeta worked John on his lessons until John could barely keep his eyes open. They both stumbled home, tired. They lay in their respective beds, Nepeta thinking of new techniques for teaching John and John trying to remember his past.

They worked like this for a few weeks, working on John's posture, form, leaping, pouncing, and other important survival techniques late into the night, only stopping to eat and sleep. John was exhausted every night as was Nepeta. John awoke one day to see that Nepeta was already up.

"Good sleep I hope?" "Yep, another restful sleep." Nepeta smiled. "Good, then I think you're up for it." "Up for what?" Nepeta showed John the empty cupboard. "Getting us breakfast by yourself. Now be back soon." John widened his eyes, then slowed nodded. "Cool, I guess. Ok! I'll be back soon!" And with that John sped out the front door into the forest, leaving a hopeful Nepeta behind.