Oliver came to a stop before Pipsqueak did, slowing to a walk and then slumping down to the ground. His sides heaved, and he stared after the black cat as she gradually realized he had stopped. She slowed to a walk of her own, then began ambling back to him.

"So... we're done, right? You can take me back to the land of the living now?" Pipsqueak sat up and looked around the forest, eyes alert. She didn't see any rats, but with how they had snuck up on the cats before, she wasn't sure she trusted the stillness of the forest.

"No. We don't have Roger yet." Oliver gave a half-shake of his head. "We can't go yet."

Pipsqueak looked back down at him and gave a slow, disbelieving blink. "Are you serious? The rats – sorry, the 'Natives' – have him now. You just said we can't fight that."

The orange cat flattened his ears as he stared back at her. "We won't have to. The Natives here have no patience. They will wander off soon, if they have not done so already."

"But still – you heard them. I think they're right. That spirit doesn't want to leave. It's argued with you both times you tried. It's a waste of time to keep trying; let's just go."

"No." Oliver flicked his tail and glared harder at the kitten. "I already told you, I was sent here to get him. If I don't bring him back, I will have to deal with a very angry lady attempting to make good on the multiple threats she has already made. She wants Roger back, and she's very willing to commit violence against me if I do not help her."

"How did she even know you can come here after him? This place is weird, and creepy, and makes no sense. I never heard of it before." Pipsqueak looked away from Oliver to stare in annoyance at one of the trees. "Does everybody just know about this place but me?"

"It seems like it. She probably learned about it from her mother, the way you should have. Or maybe she overheard it from Roger or somebody else. Humans are always trying to figure out what happens after they die, and they love to talk. Either way, she knew, and she will be quite upset with me if I do not bring him back." Oliver lowered his ears at the unpleasant thought. "She lives only a few houses down from where Madeline lives, so she can find me far too easily, and I would rather not be forced to leave that nice woman because this lady wants to kill me."

Pipsqueak flattened her ears to glare back at the orange cat. "So what are we supposed to do if you can't bring him back, just stay here forever? Roger might not care about going back, but I don't plan to just be asleep for the rest of my life. And I certainly don't want to spend the rest of my life here. And I'm sure you have stuff you want to get back to, too. If you sleep too long, something will eat you."

Oliver flicked his tail and slowly sat up. "That's not how things work here. No matter how much or how little time we spend in the land of the dead, when we leave we will be at the moment we would have woken up anyway. We can stay here for days and only be gone an hour, if that's how long our nap lasts. No matter how long we spend here to get Roger, it will have taken no time at all in the land of the living."

Pipsqueak just stared at the orange cat. "...how can you possibly know that?"

"Because, as I keep telling you, I paid attention when my mother taught me how to be a cat. You should know this too; why don't you just save your questions until you wake up, and then go ask your mother. Like you should have done in the first place." Oliver flattened his ears and glanced around the forest, ignoring the black cat.

"I can't even remember my mother." Pipsqueak hissed back at the orange cat. "You jerk."

Oliver flinched. "...oh." He curled his tail around his legs and looked back at Pipsqueak, closing his eyes slightly. "I'm sorry. Do you know what happened?"

"Not really. All I can remember was that one day there were a lot of loud noises in the sky, and a lot of water, and that I was very cold. I like to think my mom managed to save the rest of my siblings." Pipsqueak flicked the tip of her tail and refused to look back at Oliver. "All I know is that she wasn't able to rescue me, and I was carried off by the water. When the water was finally gone, I couldn't recognize any of the scents around me, and I had no idea how to get back home."

"That's horrible. No kitten should have to grow up alone like that." Oliver walked over to the black cat and rubbed his head against her side. "I'm sorry."

Pipsqueak's ears perked a little, and she leaned up to return the head bump. "I didn't say I was alone. But... I'd rather not talk about it. How much time do you plan on wasting here? Even if we'll be fine in the land of the living, I just... I don't like this place."

"I want to try this last memory. After that I can at least tell that lady I did everything that I could. Hopefully that will be enough to satisfy her."

"And if that doesn't work, we can go?"

"It will depend. If I think there's something more that can be done, I might want to stay longer."

The black cat flattened her ears. "Ugh. Wasting all this effort just to help some humans."

"Hmph. You make it sound like they're dogs or something. It won't kill you to give them a little help." Oliver shook his head and began stretching, working out the kinks in his muscles.

Pipsqueak blinked back at Oliver with a confused expression. "What's your problem with dogs? All the ones I've met have been nice."

Oliver stopped in his stretching to stare openly at Pipsqueak. "...I think all that cold water messed you up in the head. They are dogs. They make loud noises to scare you, chase you up trees, then laugh when you get stuck. You think they're nice?"

Pipsqueak's stare turned back into a glare. "Yes, I do. I like dogs. I've never had a dog spray cold water at me. That makes them significantly better than these humans you're forcing me to stay here and help. I'd much rather go help a dog instead."

"You don't have to help." Oliver's tail flicked as he stared at the strange kitten next to him. "I can go help Roger on my own. I don't think you'll find many dogs here, but you can go back to climbing the trees here instead, if you're that eager to waste your time on a bad idea."

"...jerk. What's your big plan, then? How do we get back to Roger without those rats attacking us again?"

Oliver glanced back behind him, in the direction the last memory was tugging him. "We're going to have to wait. Roger should have a calmer memory at some point, like the first one we found him in. That will let us talk to him without any of the Natives noticing."

Pipsqueak glanced back the way they had come, then blinked. "So your plan is just to watch and hope we get an opening."

"Yes." Oliver looked back at Pipsqueak without blinking. "That is the way you hunt."

"If you scare the prey out of hiding and make it run, you get dinner a lot quicker. Is there any way we can get Roger to come out from the rats?"

Oliver continued staring blankly at Pipsqueak. "I'm sorry. I meant to say, 'that is the way a cat hunts'."

Pipsqueak flattened her ears. "Fine. Jerk. Let's go stare at nothing for a while, and hope we get a chance to help some humans. That's a much better idea."

"Exactly." Oliver perked his ears and flicked his tail happily. "Now you're getting it."

"You are such a- Hey! Where are you going?!" Pipsqueak jerked and got back to her feet as Oliver turned and began walking away.

"I just told you. I'm going to hunt. The proper way." Oliver picked up his pace, shifting into a slow jog. "Now hurry up, and you might learn a few things."

"Ugh. FINE!" Pipsqueak hissed again, flicked her tail for good measure, and then followed after the orange tabby.

~

"This is duuuuuumb!" Pipsqueak yowled from her place beside the tree.

"Don't be so loud." Oliver's whiskers twitched in annoyance, but he didn't look away from the gray orb floating in the distance.

"Why not? There aren't any rats around. Which is also dumb, actually. At least if they were around, then I could chase them, and I would have something to do." The black cat looked at the tree beside her, then growled as it faded into transparency. "We've been here long enough to have two good naps, and none of the memories we saw have been good enough for you."

Oliver's whiskers twitched again. "They weren't."

"What was wrong with that last one? That big black thing with the bright lights on the front. It was making a lot of noise; that would drown out any conversation we had. It would have made for excellent cover."

"Humans call that a 'television'. And no." Oliver closed his eyes and flicked his tail. "The Natives are drawn to happiness. All it would take would be for the memory to shift to something the humans call a 'football game', and the excitement and energy Roger remembered from that would draw a swarm of Natives on us."

"Uuuugghhhh." Pipsqueak grumbled, then stretched out on the ground. "This is so boring. This is so boring that it has actually become exhausting! And you told me I'm asleep right now. How can I get exhausted while I am sleeping?"

"Because you are very bad at being a-" Oliver stopped mid-insult as the forest around them changed once again. Walls appeared around them as a soft carpet formed under their paws. A few pieces of furniture appeared along the walls, but most of the room was dominated by a bed.

The gray orb began drifting upwards to hover over the bed.

"This should be good. A human bedroom." Oliver stood up and began walking towards the bed. "Humans only do boring things here. Sleep, or change the clothes they wear. We shouldn't attract attention in this memory."

"Finally." Pipsqueak rose and followed after the orange tabby, and the two jumped smoothly up onto the bed.

"Hello again, Roger." Oliver took a few steps towards the dull orb, then sat up on the blanket covering the bed. "Do you remember me?"

The spirit was quiet for a moment... then the gray glow shifted to a soft green. "Oh. Yes. The cat. You were asking me to go somewhere..." The light dulled around the spirit, and the green faded from its glow. "You shouldn't be in my house. It's not safe here for you."

"I will be fine. But you need to come with me. Your lady sent me here to bring you back to her, remember?" Oliver turned to reach behind him and bit at the final memory on his back. The slight feeling of pain grew stronger as he tugged the memory free.

"My... Lady..." A blue tinge came into the spirit's glow as it dropped closer to the bed. "No... I'll just let her down... she's better off without me. She'll find someone else to be happy with."

Oliver just flicked his tail at the spirit's words, then dropped the memory down on the bed.

The ember sent light through the bedroom, then formed into a small pillow as it landed on the blanket. Oliver stared at it for a moment, swishing his tail as he imagined just how comfortable the pillow would be to curl up on for a nap... then he shook his head and focused back on the dull spirit. "There's a pillow here, Roger. Come rest on it."

"Okay... I am very tired. Sleep sounds nice." More blue came into the spirit's glow as it drifted down to the pillow. "Thank you, kitty..."

Another burst of light filled the room as the spirit touched the pillow.

The two cats found themselves lying on the blanket when the light cleared, with the dull orb hovering above them. The room was dark, but a sense of warmth was all around them. A steady sound of slow breathing carried a sense of contentment and peace. Comfort was strong in the memory.

Next to them, the blanket rose in a lump over the other side of the bed. The lump rose and fell with the sound of the breathing, and as it did, the feeling of contentment and peace grew stronger. The lump shifted as the memory progressed – sometimes the man underneath the blanket was on his side and facing away, and other times the man sprawled on his chest. Sometimes the man was on his back, staring blankly up at the ceiling above him, and the rhythmic sound of breathing was quieter.

The memory held a feeling of concern in those moments, but the sense of comfort and warmth remained through it.

Then the man was on his stomach, while his head rested on the pillow and faced the far wall. The sound of breathing was gone. And the pain that Oliver had felt in the memory suddenly replaced the feel of comfort. Distress and panic flooded the room for a heartbeat...

...then the memory ended.

"You have to come back with us. You are missed. You won't ever be able to experience rest like that if you stay here." Oliver stood up, though he noticed Pipsqueak burying her head in the blanket and sniffing at something. He ignored her and moved closer to the spirit. "Come on. It will only take a moment. You'll be back home where you belong, and you'll be with her again. You can get some sleep in this bed, and when you wake up you'll feel much better."

Various colors shifted through the spirit's glow... then it settled on a sad blue. "No... it's gone. They were going to take the bed. The house. If I go back, I won't have this. I'll be sleeping on the street. Some cold hard parkbench. I'll have nothing."

"You can find a new bed, and a new hou-"

"I'VE TRIED!" A wave of red suddenly flared in the spirit's glow. "I've been trying for months. Don't you get it? I want to do that, but I CAN'T! Nothing's worked! All I get is tireder and tireder. All that happens is that it gets harder to keep trying. Nothing changes! Nothing gets any better. Nothing... I just... I can't..." The angry red began to fade, returning the walls of the bedroom to their dull gray shades. "I might not be able to rest here... but... at least I'm not getting any more exhausted. This... this is the best that I can hope for." The dull sphere began drifting away from the cats, towards the door leading out of the bedroom.

The orange cat started after the dull orb. "You don't know that. Your lady will-"

"-be fine without me. Better without me. I'm just a failure. Without me she'll find somebody she actually deserves to be with." The spirit hovered at the doorway as more blue came into its glow. "Just... just go away, kitty. I'm not worth wasting your time over."

The walls of the bedroom began to shimmer and fade... then the cats began falling as the bed disappeared from beneath them. Pipsqueak hissed angrily, but the two of them landed neatly on all fours.

Oliver looked back in the direction of the spirit, but it was gone. Only the dreary trees of the forest could be seen. Oliver glanced in other directions, just to be sure... then he lowered his ears and started walking.

"I guess that's it then. We've done all we can, but you're right. He doesn't want to leave. Come on. We'll give the bad news to his friend, then I'll take you and her back to the land of the living."

Pipsqueak sniffed the air again, her tail and ears lowered unhappily... then she jumped to follow after Oliver.