I couldn't see nor feel anything after that. Reality couldn't keep up with me. Or rather, I couldn't keep up with it. I felt like floating in nothingness, drifting away from reality itself. It felt like an eternity before I slowly regained my senses.
Gasp!
I inhaled for air loudly and found myself in a familiar place. I frantically looked around and realized that I was back in the sibling's house somehow. But that's not the thing took my attention the most; it was the fact that I saw my friends sitting there, talking normally, like nothing had happened. They're...alive!
But as soon as I realized that a surge of exhaustion came over my body. But my adrenaline kept me up from this unusual fatigue. What...what exactly had happened?
"Leina? Are you okay? You look a little...pale." Wesley spoke up. He must've seen my reaction.
"Wesley...are you...are you okay?" I stuttered through my words.
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay. Is something wrong?"
"But...I watched you...w-with the others...die! We r-rode the sky tram and we w-were attacked by t-that thing!"
"What!? What are you saying? I'm feeling pretty much alive, thank you very much." Ken argued.
"But you all were there, laying lifeless on the ground after the gondola crashed! Don't you remember!?"
"Leina, calm down. Tell me what happened." Wesley was firm.
"We...we went to ride the gondola together...and...and..." My vision became blurry from the exhaustion before I could mutter the words. And before I knew, I was already unconscious.
I could slowly feel my body again. A soft material was cushioning my back, which I assume was a bed. I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Ken sitting beside me, his eyes full of concern.
"Ken...?" I called weakly. "What happened...?"
"Leina, you're awake! Wait, I'll go get the others!" Ken rushed outside as he said that. Not long after, the rest of them were finally inside the room.
"Leina! How are you feeling!?" Wesley was the one who asked first, as well as being the most distressed one. He was really concerned for me, huh?
"I'm fine...I felt very fatigued earlier for some reason earlier but I'm feeling better now." I let out a smile. I saw him exhaling in relief. That's good, I don't want anyone to worry about me...
Wait.
That scene...was that all just a dream? It felt very real. The pain was there, and... God, I don't wanna think about this!
"Leina...are you sure you're okay? You were saying some pretty weird stuff earlier, which, to be honest, I don't take too kindly for it. I mean, you literally told us that we died! That's just downright absurd." Ken began complaining.
"Yeah...it probably was just some kind of a nightmare...let's just forget-"
"Wait. What if what you were saying was true? What if...you managed to turn back time?" Chris cut me off mid-sentence.
"...what?" Everyone said the same word simultaneously.
"What I'm saying is that Leina did witness your deaths, but he had managed to go back here again. I first thought of this when Ash said she had a premonition of a bad thing happening at the sky trams shortly after Leina lost his consciousness." Chris started explaining.
"Yeah. I began to think about his words more after that, which brings us here. Chris?"
"Okay." He started to fumble with the device on his paw. It was the same device as yesterday. What is he trying to do...?
A brief silence ensued before he continued, "I knew it. Leina," he looked at me with a stern expression, "you have the ability to rewind time."
...what?
"R-really!?" I was struck disbelief. Did I just save my friends by turning back time!?
"Yes. It says so right here. But as always, it only shows the vaguest of words. It says that you can rewind time only on certain circumstances. And like all other perks we have, you will become fatigued once you use it. But still, that's a pretty high-ranked perk."
"Oh wow, it's an Ultra Rare Perk! Even Chris only has a Very Rare one. You are one lucky wolf, you know that?"
"At least mine isn't just Rare."
"Shut it." Ashley quickly ended the topic.
"Oh! Oh! What about me?" Ken asked out of the blue.
"Yours is an Uncommon one." Chris replied.
"That's good, right?"
"Well...you see, the perks have five rankings in total. The lowest one is Common. Then it goes up to Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, and finally Ultra Rare."
"...oh. Uh, nevermind then..." Ken's spirit quickly diminished after hearing his explanation. Poor Ken... Wait, that means...
"Holy hell Leina, I've never thought you get that kind of perk!" Hope was surprised. I think all of us were surprised.
"Heh, you've finally gotten yours, huh?" Wesley made a grin. Was he happy for me?
"Leina, I... I'm sorry I didn't believe you...I'm supposed to be your best friend, but I did nothing but doubt you..."
"No, Ken! That's alright, I didn't believe in myself either. So don't take it to yourself." I smiled at him.
"Leina..." Before I knew it, Ken had run up towards me and hugged me. "Is this really the best time though...? You know what, I don't care anymore. I've saved them from death and that's all that matters." I hugged him back with a single tear dropping from my eye.
"So what are we going to do now?" Hope asked preemptively after we all went back to the living room.
"I'm still worried about Leina though. Shouldn't you be resting more?" Wesley was still concerned at me.
"I swear I'm feeling just fine. It was just regular fatigue."
"If you say so. Just tell us if you're feeling strange, okay? We're here for you." He broke a smile.
"Thanks, Wesley." I smiled back.
"Going back to our original topic, I think we should probably go now. It's already been three hours since you fell unconscious." Ken spoke out. Wow, I was down for three hours? That was pretty long...
"...what time is it exactly?" I asked nervously.
"A little past four." Wesley said nonchalantly.
"I…what!?" I was surprised at Ken's announcement of the current time, "I'm sorry…"
"Take it easy. And It's not your fault. If anything, those anomalies are the ones to blame." Ken said assuringly, "Anyways, to top what I've said earlier, I've kinda informed Nick on our where we currently are so I think we should leave soon."
"Wait, you did what!?" Hope exclaimed rather surprisingly.
"It's only for safety measures. But we've gotten sidetracked pretty far."
"Still..."
"Don't worry, trust me."
"As much as it hurts me for being rude, I have to agree with Ken here. Staying here for too long will make you suspicious, given that you're close with the officers." Chris suddenly added.
Hope let out a sigh, "I understand."
"Sorry in advance. It's for our own good. I mean, we are technically fugitives after all." Ashley commented.
"That's true, yes." Chris agreed.
"Guess that's settled then." Wesley stood up and we promptly followed suit before heading to the door.
"Goodbye!" Ken waved to the sibling.
"See ya. And be careful!" Chris informed us.
The never-ending rain was still pouring from the sky above, and we walked away from the house with the umbrella Chris gave us. Just like before.
"Hey guys, why don't we do ourselves a favor and stay away from the sky trams?" I proposed. Everyone immediately nodded. Wow, no arguing there.
"I wonder what your Remorse was to have such an amazing perk…" Ken spoke up all of a sudden after some time.
"Well, I wouldn't call it amazing since I don't know how to actually get it to work and all…"
"It's still high-ranked though. How is that not amazing?" Wesley suddenly cut in, "Anyways, since Leina's ability is to rewind time, I think it has something to do with that. His Remorse I mean."
"Well…" I started explaining, "After Ken died, I was constantly thinking that I could've saved Ken from his demise if I could turn back time. Of course, since that's just impossible I kinda left that thought after a while of coping with his death. And then the same feeling emerged again after seeing you guys...laying lifelessly after a Shadow crashed down our gondola. The urge to rewind time was so much bigger that time and it finally clicked after seeing Ken's body again for the second time. Before I knew, I was already back at the tigers' house."
"That's...really informative..." Hope sounded astonished.
"I see...well the important thing is that we're all fine." Ken reassured me with a smile.
"Yeah, as long as we don't get separated we'll be okay." Wesley added in.
"You say that as if we're going to get separated or something..."
"Hey, don't take things out of context!"
We laughed at Hope and Wesley's small banter as we continued our trek. The train station was beginning to take form in the distance and we quickened our pace. Entering the station, we followed Hope to buy our tickets before waiting for the train to come. The station wasn't as crowded as before back at Metro Station, so thankfully Ken didn't get separated again. Not long after we waited, the train finally arrived with a swarm of mammals pouring out from it. We waited again for them to finish before actually getting on the train. We found our seats quite easily this time. Finally, we're coming back to Savanna Central.
It was peaceful while it lasted.
Sorry for the massive delay, I'm taking a month off from writing due to school stuff. Not to mention the lack of creative juices I'm having. Either way, this is a pretty short update, just to remove the cliffhanger from the previous chapter. I'll try to continue writing if I can, though, so don't worry! But anyways, as always, I will see you on the next chapter. Good night!