"He didn't really say anything. We just found him standing there, shaking." Tanner awoke to the same, female voice he heard in the darkness yesterday. Tanner might have been relieved to hear any voice, if it didn't imply that it was the same creature. And if it was the same creature, then…

Tanner opened his eyes slightly and looked down at himself. Instead of a T-shirt and black jeans, he saw fur. Instead of fingers, he saw dark paws. And beside his legs was a long, wispy, white tail that ended in a gentle pink tip. Tanner closed his eyes again. He didn't want to look. He didn't want this to be real.

"And how did he faint? Were there ferals nearby?" A different voice spoke this time. Also female, but rough like a woman who had smoked cigarettes for too many years.

"No ferals. He just collapsed after we used the escape orb." Responded the male voice of that dog that was back in the cave. Tanner felt despondent.

"Well, he has no bruises or cuts, and he's not poisoned or burned." The gravelly voice spoke. "Despite that, the healing is doing something. Emotional trauma and stress can sometimes-"

"I'm sorry Miss Ramona, but he's awake." Tanner wasn't sure how they knew that. Begrudgingly, he opened his eyes again to see the same blue bipedal dog creature, with blue energy glowing around her pigtails. There was also a giant flower in the room, who spoke next.

"You're awake? You should have said something!" The flower chastised. Tanner looked at the plant, confused. She was about as tall as the dog, with green leaves and a white body. Her petals were more like a frizzy hairdo that had pins and clips in it. It made her look like an old widow. She held out her hands over Tanner's chest, and a golden light washed over him warmly.

"Sorry…" Tanner apologized. There was a lot happening here that he wasn't going to question.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, we're just glad that we found you. What's your name, friend?"

He eyed the blue dog cautiously for a moment, then relented.

"Tanner."

"Tanner. I'm Tessa." She responded.

"And I'm Landon," the black and gray hound spoke, then gestured to the flower. "This is Miss Ramona." Landon the dog, Tessa the blue dog, and Miss Ramona the flower. Tanner was bad with names, though he would try to associate the names with their… faces.

"Eh." Miss Ramona only grunted in response.

"It's lucky we found you. You shouldn't go wandering into the Shadow Grove alone." Tessa mentioned.

"Yeah, well… I didn't want to be there…" Tanner mumbled.

"What do you mean? Was there someone else-" Landon asked. His eyes widened with concern, but Tessa interjected before he could finish the question.

"Chill, Landon- he's terrified."

"No, I'm not." Tanner mumbled again.

"Yes you are." Tessa spoke. Again, blue energy surrounded her pigtails. "Now there's no need to get all wily. We just want to help. Where are you from?"

"I'm not from here." He said quietly. What else was there to say? That he wasn't in his body? That this was all a ridiculous fantasy that he was already tired of?

"Where are you from then? We can get you home, we have kind flying types." Tessa asked.

Tanner just shook his head in response. Something was very wrong, and he didn't believe that these plants and animals could help him. He wasn't sure what 'we have flying types' meant though. Could they fly him around? He didn't believe it, although there was a talking flower in the room. Nothing was out of the question.

There was a moment of silence in the room as if the others were waiting for a response that wouldn't come. After a time, Landon spoke up-

"Do you not want to go back? Is that why you were in the dungeon?"

"He doesn't feel like he's suicidal." Everyone turned to look at Tessa as she spoke. She shrugged and folded her arms. "What? That's what you were implying, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't go out and say it." Landon mumbled. Again, there was silence as the creatures in the room looked towards Tanner.

"...No. I want to go home." Tanner whispered in response after a moment of thinking. He didn't want whatever this was. This furry body, these creatures.

"Okay, so where's home?" Tessa asked again gently.

"Seattle." Tanner expected some confusion. Sure enough, both of the dogs tilted their heads, and the flower's leaves trembled.

"I've never heard of it." Landon mumbled. "Do you remember what direction you came from? How you got here?"

"No. No, I don't remember how I got here." He mumbled again. The last thing he remembered was coming home from school. There was a step missing between coming home from school and waking up in a dark dungeon in a furry creature's body.

"Tanner, we can help you to get home, or we can help you to get better. Either way, you're safe here." Tessa said again, with a comforting voice but looking at him with concern and flat ears.

It wasn't true. They didn't even know where his home was. And if the flower with pins in her hair was any indication, it wasn't anywhere nearby.

He closed his eyes, trying to stop the stream of tears that he felt coming on. Tanner just shook his head.

"Don't hold your emotions in, pal. That's not healthy. Let your tears flow freely." Tessa took a step forward and put a paw on Tanner's shoulder.

"Tessa…" Landon stepped forward as well, though he didn't try to stop her. "I know the dungeon was scary, Tanner, but you're okay. You can rest here for a while."

"I don't want to. I want my body back…" Tanner said under his breath.

"Huh?" Landon tilted his head, confused. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and opened his mouth to speak, but before he had a chance to do so-

"ALRIGHT! That's enough. He's exhausted and delirious." Miss Ramona finally declared and began to drive the others out of the room. She waved Landon back while grabbing Tessa by the ear and began to pull them toward the door. "Shoo! Shoo!"

As he was pushed out, Landon glanced back at Tanner with a look of worry and bewilderment, before he relented, and left.

"You-" Miss Ramona pointed a flowery finger at Tanner. "Rest. Don't leave that bed, I'll bring you some grub. REST!"

Then, she closed the door behind her, leaving Tanner alone again.

Tanner's evening flew by uneventfully. After about a half hour, Miss Ramona brought him a bowl of some sweet pudding, which he tried, but didn't finish. With nothing else to do, Tanner got up and wandered around, examining his body and stressing about it.

He wasn't a normal animal, that was for sure. He was closest to what would be considered a fox, but there was a lot more fur. Like a pomeranian fox.

Tanner paced around the room on all fours. If he focused on walking too much, he would lose balance and fall on his chin. The issue was that if he didn't focus on walking, he just became more upset about what was happening to him.

Maybe he was super high. Maybe this was just a very vivid dream. Or maybe he had died, and this was the afterlife. He didn't like the thought of that. Did his mom miss him? Would his betta fish be okay?

A bird darted by the window, and Tanner glanced at the quick movement out of the corner of his eye. He walked over and sat on the sun-warmed tile, staring at fluffy clouds through the dirty window pane. The details were clearer than normal. Maybe it was just because he didn't need contact lenses.

It was mid-day. Assuming that this wasn't just the longest dream in the world, he would be coming home from school by now. His mom surely was wondering where he was. Tanner's ears drooped more and more the more he thought about it.

Tanner stood and started to pace again, making laps around the outside of the room. He was looking down at his odd, fluffy paws and bumped his head against a chair. He winced in pain and brought a paw up to the bump. Head throbbing, he climbed clumsily back into bed, clawing his way up the sheets.

He lifted up the blanket with his nose and crawled under the sheet, then curled up in a ball. He just wanted to hide away from everything. What if this was permanent? What if he never went back home? If he had to live as a creature for the rest of his life? If he never saw his family again?

Wracked with fear, Tanner cried. He sobbed heaving sobs until he had no tears left. Then, with nothing left to do, he slept.