Fen is having The Dream again.

In The Dream, he is whining and howling. He strains against a thin, silken ribbon that cannot be broken. He knows because he has tried. He has tried for so long. His jaws are split wide by a sword, and around it, he calls for his siblings, for his Momma. No one comes. He tastes blood in his mouth, and he doesn't know if it's his own or from the traitor's hand, the one who fed him and played with him when the gods took him away from his Momma. He told Fen that the ribbon would break as easily as any chain. He promised. He lied.

Fen whimpers and snarls and lashes out with his claws uselessly against the rocks he is bound to. It goes on for years. He misses his brothers. He misses his sister. They were bigger than him when he was taken away, but he grew fast and now, he is left to wonder if he would come up to Hel's waist or if he would still fit on Jory's head. If Váli and Nari, who did not grow big like the other two did, would still play with him. He wants to go home. He waits, bleeds, cries.

There's only one respite to the dream. It is that at the end, when enough years have passed, Momma always comes for him.

She's hurt. Fen sees her, and she's burned and blistered and alone. He wiggles in his bonds and tries to remember how to wag his tail. Momma pulls the sword from between his jaws, and he can finally close them. Fen knows Momma is very big, bigger than giants, but she wears forms that make her very small. He thinks he must be careful not to crush her, but then she lays his muzzle in her lap and pets his fur like he's a puppy. His tail thumps against the rocks. He looks up at her. She is beautiful, like all mommas are, but the form she wears now has a face half melted until it exposes muscle and bone. It's a very old face, despite age hardly touching it, and not one she'll wear forever. Not one she wears anymore. It doesn't look comfortable. Fen wants to lick her face and let her know how much he's missed her, but he doesn't.

"Sorry it took me so long," Momma says. Her voice is all hurt, even though it sounds light. "I got a little tied up." Fen whines and wriggles. The ribbon holds him tight. "Looks like you did, too, kiddo." She tests the ribbon. It holds strong against her. She frowns. Fen lets his head fall. It's hopeless. He's going to be trapped forever. Momma scratches him behind the ear. "They think you're going to end the world, huh? Close. Right family. Wrong kid." Fen doesn't want to end the world. Fen only wants to be free, and go see his siblings, and maybe bite more of the gods that tied him up. They deserve it. "Well, screw them. I'm not leaving my kid locked up." Momma swallows and bends down, hiding her face in his fur. "Someone's got to try to do better," she whispers.

"Hold still," she tells him, and Fen keeps completely still. It's hard. His tail still wants to wag. Momma is holding a sharp, bright dagger, and she says it will cut him loose. It will cut him, too, if they aren't careful. She cuts the ribbon. Fen has fought with it for years, but it breaks instantly for her. Momma is just that strong. Fen has always known that. All her children did. When the ribbon falls to the ground, he stands on his feet and stretches for the first time in a decade, letting his tongue loll out. Momma pats his head. "I think this charade has run it's course, don't you? What do you say we get out of here?"

Fen opens his eyes. He's sprawled out on the floor. He yawns and rolls over onto his back, squirming to try and get at an itch he can't reach. It's dark inside their home. When he sits up, he can see two of the newcomers sleeping on their couch. One of them was awake earlier, but they've both passed out now. They call each other Michael and Raphael. Momma calls them 'stick so far up his asshole he's spitroasted by it' and 'overdramatic shut-in, I didn't miss how seriously they take everything'. There's another one, 'Dad's favorite tantrum-throwing dickbag', but he doesn't sleep inside. Not because Momma doesn't let him, but sometimes, he seems happy when Dickbag leaves. Momma smells like fear around him and around Stick-Up-His-Asshole. Not around Shut-In. Mostly, he smells sad around them. They've all only been here a week, but Fen isn't sure he likes any of them.

He's happy Momma is back, though.

He left for a long time. He told Fen that he couldn't take him with him because there would be people who might recognize Fen where he was going. Fen had to stay at home. Keep watch. Sit.

Fen waited. Momma didn't come home.

He had The Dream a lot those long weeks, but whenever he woke up, Momma would still be gone. Sometimes, he worried that Momma was trapped somewhere, that he needed Fen to come save him.

And then, suddenly, Momma was no longer gone! Fen was so happy that it took him a while to realize that Momma had changed. He was so small now. It wasn't a disguise he wore like how he had taught Fen to. Momma was tiny! Momma got tired and hungry! Momma needed Fen more than ever, to keep him safe!

And the others…

Fen is not allowed to eat them. No matter how upset they make Momma.

Fen hasn't had siblings for a very long time, but he remembers a little of what it was like. So, he won't even bite them. A lot.

(Fen doesn't think he will ever see his siblings again. He only asked Momma where they were once, Jory and Hel and Váli and Nari, and that made Momma sadder than Fen had seen in a long time.)

Stick-Up-His-Asshole and Shut-In don't let him sleep on the couch anymore, which is rude of them. (They also don't pet him. Stick-Up-His-Asshole ignores him. Shut-In sometimes looks like they might before deciding not to. On the other hand, Dickbag has tried to pet him before. He calls Fen a mutt. Fen is caught between a great desire for pets and not liking him that much. Momma snickers and tells Fen how funny it is that Dickbag is fond of him, without even knowing what Fen actually is.) Fen stands and shakes. He pads across the floor to the bedroom door. Momma has left it open a crack for him. Fen nudges it open.

He sniffs the air. The whole apartment smells very different now that new people live here. More like humans than like someone who liked to do human things for fun. Fen, of course, still smells like a wolf, because he has always been one, even though he likes to do dog things for fun. It's not so bad, being small sometimes. It's easier to chase the rats through the halls. The girls who hang out a floor below them give him treats.

He hears Momma make a noise in his sleep. It's not a happy noise. Fen remembers all the times he's been woken up halfway through The Dream by fingers scratching behind his ear or a foot nudging his belly. One way or another, Momma always comes for him, but right now, he needs Fen to help him.

Fen jumps on the bed. He trots across the blankets up to Momma. He's all curled up, shivering a little. Fen noses at his arms until they open up, and then he wriggles into them. He licks Momma's hand.

Momma lets out a heavy breath and hugs Fen closer. Fen closes his eyes. He stays with his Momma until morning.