The former is the name of the piece and the latter is a song.

Anyways this is a doodle I made like five minutes ago because I can't fall asleep and someone is reading TCHF again so I have to draw my children. Since the story they're from is dated at this point I thought I'd do a little drabble for them too because hey writing things at 1 in the morning always goes well.

This takes place between "Under the Weeping Willow" and "Love and Hope".

SPOILERS. VERY SUBTLE SPOILERS... NOT IN THE PICTURE BUT IN THE TEXT. JUST DON'T READ THE DRABBLE IF YOU PLAN TO READ TCHF. IF YOU DON'T PLAN TO OR ARE FINISHED PLEASE DO I DON'T KNOW WHY I WORKED SO HARD ON IT IT'S LIKE ONE IN THE MORNING

(oh yeah this is old!Dreamland canon, the same canon used in TCHF at least... hence the one moon and also birds being native to their planet. I know what you're thinking... "What?" but yes, there are two moons and birds don't exist on Dreamland in TSBS onwards. Weird changes? Sure. But I'll justify them later. For now, drabble.) 

It was late out and Gale was, for the most part, sure they were alone.

The Plague had done something strange to the hillsides this far away from the cities. It had scrubbed them free of packs, free of civilization, and free of anything much larger than a squirrel. There was a lurking dread behind the sweet silence of night, a sort of vague emptiness like the kind one might feel after months of going hungry. At this point, there was still the sensation that something should be there, but it was beginning to become hard to remember whatever that something was.

Despite the ominous chill hanging over the land, the air was warm and humid, not enough so to be distracting but certainly noticeable. It was the type of summer night that came a day or so before a storm, warm and brilliant, with only traces of clouds hanging over the star-speckled horizon. It was profoundly comfortable as well, and everything that hadn't died of Plague had long since fallen asleep. Prey huddled in burrows. Survivors slept in groups, teeth bared as they dreamed. Even the fireflies were lazy in their turning circles, their radiance lasting only for mere seconds with long, silent minutes in between.

Still, it was not truly dark. The stars and moon shone up above, glaring down at him with the same contempt they always did, and even the flickers of firefly light amounted to something. 

Darkness, Gale thought, was like a silence of light, and true darkness, like true silence, was by nature impossible. There was always something, no matter where you tried to hide.

He would know. He could hear everything.

There was the soft buffeting of night wind against his ears, for one thing, and the rustle of it over grass. He could hear sighing in the distance, along with birdcall, which meant something edible was nearby. Most importantly, though, he could hear her shuffling and her breath. Rena was so close to him that he could sense her every movement, almost feel the touch of her fur on his, or perhaps the gentle brush of her feathers. Either way, she was close, and she was tired.

Shame, seeing as Gale couldn't fall asleep at all, even on a night like this one.

"Rena?" he asked, and the world hushed itself to listen as he angled his ears towards her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

He felt guilt well up in him, but he had to ask, if only because he needed to know how she'd respond. The last few months had been worrying him and if he didn't say something now he might never work up the nerve to say anything at all, especially with their upcoming journey to Lira City. "Have I ever told you that you die in all my dreams?"

She turned, gaze intent. He wasn't sure how she was going to respond, immediately regretted it, figured the night air was making him say things... but she just murmured, "Now you have." and lay back down.

That was it.

Then, like a miracle, she started again, "You did too, at first. Not anymore, though."

"Oh."  he replied, feeling fortunate that he survived some of her dreams. It was a badge of honor, at least in the way she said it. He had always fancied himself a survivor at his core, and dream or otherwise, he would need to stick around to protect her. 

"Yeah, now it's everyone. Torch. Avery. Riana. Everyone." She spread her paws out wide, as if to gesture to the entire sky. "Sometimes it's Sentients I don't even know. They make me so guilty and I can't imagine why. You know?"

He didn't know. "Mhm." he replied, as if he did. 

"You think we're going to find someone?" she asked, clearly eager to interrogate him further. "When we get there. I think we will." 

Gale didn't particularly care about finding anyone. If anything, he was nervous they would find someone and then there would be more to protect, more to care for, more to devote himself to... it should be exhilarating, but 'more' sounded impossible, like trying to look at two skies at the same time with just the one set of eyes in just the one moment. More sounded terrifying.

The alternative, though, was less. It was her slipping away, it was keeping his eyes closed, it was true darkness and true silence, living for the sake of existing. He didn't want to be alone ever again.

"Still can't believe you signed us up for this." he grumbled, knowing she would sense his concern. She always did.

"I had to." she said. "You don't have to come, but I... I can't just wait here forever. I want to protect someone. I want to mean something."

This time, he did understand. "Mhm." he replied, as if he didn't. 

Darkness, Gale thought, of all creatures, of all things, would be truly impossible as long as there were Sentients like Rena left. True darkness, true chaos, would require an absence of light. Since Rena would be there like the stars in the sky, untouchable, to watch over this world, and since there would always be others like her, the end of all things was still by nature impossible. 

He would know. He was the darkness.

An old voice turned in Gale's head. It had become louder over the last year, and now, even if he was to find silence, there would be someone to greet him. 

She can't save you either.

Oh, but she would. 

Oh, would she ever.