The Forgotten Sibling

Chapter 10

Riley sank back into the cushion, shocked.

"That makes sense," Tommy agreed, nodding.

"But how?" Riley asked. There was no way that one person could make so many Catwings forget an old friend. It was impossible, at least according to Riley.

"When we were kids, there were these two others who were extremely close. Each passing year they became closer and closer until they were basically brothers," Marissa said.

"One day," Tommy continued, "Crystal came up to one of them and distracted him from his friend by playing dodgeball with him. A few months later, the other guy was completely forgotten by his friend, causing him to move to a different state.

"Which is why I said it makes sense. Crystal's persuasion can make even the smartest Catwing forget someone."

She shivered. A person with that much power shouldn't be allowed to live. If they didn't catch Crystal soon, Jhaufyther's sole existence may be compromised.

"So it's confirmed." Carlos stood up. "As long as Crystal is running around free, Jhaufyther will be gone."

"We don't know that, though," Riley argued, trying hard not to believe her best friend will dim.

"Oh, yes, we do." Sam sat forward and looked at her. "He's dimming, and dimming fast. His friends are forgetting him quicker than lightning, and it doesn't help that he's using all his energy to control Star Tail."

Tommy whistled. "That's a lot of energy, too. There's no way he could use all that up."

He was unconsciously voicing Riley's fears. Jhaufyther's the Catwing of the sky, and he needs a lot of energy to keep it in control. Otherwise, it might as well come crashing down.

"But Star Tail's a cosmic deity," Marissa argued. "Of course, Jhaufyther's going to use all the energy he's got."

"Did you see him though?" Carlos asked.

Riley didn't know what he was talking about. "What did he look like?"

Her friends shared a glance before Sam spoke up. "His fur was not shiny. Like, at all."

"Bloodshot eyes. Empty. No emotion," Carlos added.

She knew that Jhaufyther went insane. Her best friends' descriptions match up her thoughts perfectly.

Sam sank back down into the pillow. "He's not himself right now, to sum it up."

"So what are we going to do?" Marissa asked. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it, and Riley guessed she wasn't just feeling cold.

"We should hang out here," Riley suggested. "It's safer."

"Safer?" Tommy frowned.

"Jhaufyther's gone insane before," she admitted. "Once as a khit, two times with his siblings, and one time with me."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Carlos demanded.

"I didn't think it was important," Riley said. "After all, like I said, he's gone insane before. The problem is, now that he's grown bigger, well..."

"... he can do more damage," Tommy finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Ok, so now we do know what to do," Carlos said.

"True," Sam agreed.

"We just hang out here then?" Marissa asked.

"Pretty much."

As the sun went down, the sky turned cobalt blue and the entire world went dark.

Riley found out how weird it felt without Jhaufyther. Almost as if the entire world fell asleep, she thought.